To say that she now had some trust issues would probably be an understatement, but after learning that there was more to the storms than meets the eye…

Well. At the very least, she certainly wasn’t unconcerned.

After being freed from her most recent Potato Episode, Ekstrom had been doing her best to wrap her mind around everything that had happened to her, as well as everything that was happening around her. Transcending was one thing, but as if that wasn’t enough on its own, then came the deal with the Code and her ancestor, the Chaos on her Wonder, and now there was some kind of storm that was making its way across the galaxy, maybe even across the universe for all they currently knew (which, unfortunately, didn’t seem to be much).

She sighed quietly as she sat and stared down the console in her quarters. She now had two options to try and communicate with the Code–this very console, or making the trek to the Primary Grid and having a face to face conversation, so to speak.

Did she have the energy to go? Yes.

Did she want to? …Not really.

It wasn’t like there’d been room to discuss or for her to really formulate and ask questions back when it laid everything out for her. It did what it had to, as far as it was concerned, and while it felt all kinds of invasive…to some small degree she did understand. It took lots of time, lots of thinking, and lots of thought-provoking music, but she did finally come to a similar conclusion on her own. It did the best that it could given the options at its disposal, so she just…had to come to terms with that.

She was nearly there, but not quite, so after another moment she eventually decided that a conversation over the console would probably be best.

Pulling up the window, she watched the now familiar cursor appear and slowly start blinking. It took another second to gather her nerves before she began to type.

    Any idea what this storm is about?

It felt…colder than she intended? Or maybe it was as cold as she intended it to be. She wasn’t up to being warm and friendly with the Code at the moment, so that made sense. All the same, the cursor continued to blink slowly for another minute or two before the Code started to respond.

    Not in the slightest.

Great.

    I don’t have eyes on the outside of this so I’m afraid I can’t give you more information.
    It’s very hazy, I don’t feel complete right now.

The screen flickered a few times, and even went out (which caused a bit of panic to rise before it flickered back on) for a few seconds before coming back. The Code was still replying.

    I can sense the other Code pieces on Mercury but I feel cut off beyond that, and what I can sense isn’t instilling much hope.
    I was hoping you could tell me more but I suppose not.

Despite herself, Ekstrom felt a wrench in her chest at the idea that something was affecting her Wonder again. She had just restored its power, and now something was happening to it again, enough that it was even affecting the Code Piece within.

    Are you okay?

    Also, no.
    It’s taking too much focus to even just keep my form together.

She worried her lip at that, and flinched when she bit a little too hard when the screen flickered on and off again. When it eventually came back, it seemed…more static-y. Unstable.

    Is there something you can do?
    Activate some defenses or something.
    I need a break from all this lightning.
    Something’s going to short circuit.
    If your Wonder goes offline–

And again, the screen glitched and hiccuped, and now it was starting to hum as though something was interrupting the signal somehow. Not only was the flickering happening more often now, but it was taking longer and longer for the screen to come back. At this rate…

Ekstrom waited quietly on the edge of her seat, until it came back again. She was about to type something when she saw the Code was still speaking.

    –Don’t let it go offline, Ekstrom.
    You’ve worked too hard to lose it now.

She read and reread the first line a few times before the screen flickered off. And this time, it wasn’t just the screen.

The entire room went dark, and for a while she just…sat there, eyes closed as she listened to the storm raging outside. It was only vaguely audible while the lights were on, but now that no energy seemed to be flowing through her Wonder, she could hear it almost perfectly.

And that…was irritating.

– [ ] –

The power was back by the time she made it to the front entrance, so she made her way outside and up the steps to get to the ground above her Wonder. Even from the bottom of the trench that marked the entrance to her Wonder (or death for anyone who wasn’t welcome), she could see the storm up above. Intimidating as it was, she wanted to take a look, to see for herself what was happening. How much damage was being done to the planet.

To her Wonder.

Once above, she scanned the area directly above where her Wonder was situated. To her knowledge, it was supposed to be buried deep within the ice shelf it was inside, so the idea of being struck directly by the lightning seemed…off. Like she was missing something, maybe. A quick skyward glance and a look at the quietly ominous clouds overhead had her considering doubling back for her PC so she could get a proper scan of the space.

The thought barely crossed her mind when a deafening thunderclap resounded above her, and she could suddenly sense it. All of it.

The air around her crackled. Her hair stood on end. Her skin tingled. There was the taste of metal on her tongue, and she could swear something smelled different.

It was just…off, and she suddenly felt as though her very life was in danger if she didn’t find shelter that instant.

Ekstrom had time enough to turn and take two steps back toward the trench before she was on her stomach, shoved to the ground by the force of the lightning strike. It was a different kind of pain that surged through her body as she lay there, convulsing for some length of time. She didn’t know, she had blacked out for a few seconds before finally coming to.

She imagined it’d only been minutes, possibly even less than that, and despite knowing she was still likely in immediate danger of another strike she waited for her strength to come back before she very slowly, very carefully peeled herself off of the ground. There was so little strength in her at that moment, it was almost like she was moving by sheer will alone.

It wasn’t like she had a choice.

So Ekstrom made her way back down, all the while ignoring the way individual strands of her hair stood on end. And she did her best to focus, to fight down the intense headache that she now had, and the ebbing and flowing waves of extreme nausea that came along with it. Getting back to the entrance was hard enough when she was at her best, but in her current state…

Each step was a struggle, but she made it down.

She felt a bit more of strength come back to her as she walked toward the door, and just when she thought she made it back safely, a loud CRACK of electrostatic discharge zapped her as she passed through. It brought her to her knees, and her outcry of pain echoed in the empty entrance hall of her Wonder as the door closed behind her.

And when she opened her eyes, the lights were out again.

1207 (gdocs; Ekstrom only)
Backdated to 3/7/24.