Loife's Humble Dam

It was a very stormy night. Loud thunderous claps accompanied the heavy relentless downpour and ensured Niko's restless state. It was well past their bedtime, yet they hadn't slept a wink. They'd usually been able to handle these circumstances, but not tonight it seemed.

The cat-person had taken their daily nap much later than usual, delaying dinnertime by at least an hour, closer to the day's end. Thus, Niko's body was both full and well-rested, further inhibiting their ability to sleep anytime soon.

THOOM. The thunder continued to roar outside, sending a harsh shiver down Niko's spine. A yawn escaped their quivering lips, before Niko sat up and removed the blanket keeping them safe. Off to the Multiverse Machine, they suppose.

Though, mama had explicitly restricted traveling into cyberspace for tonight, fearful that the storm would knock the power out and trap Niko within. She had every right to be concerned, considering it happened before.

...They'd yet to tell her that the World Machine didn't need a computer to return them to the physical world, but how could they even find the right words? As much as they've learned from Cameron, the village IT guy, and the nerd, it seemed nigh impossible to explain.

Besides, they'll have Rekka, their data-borne second mama (or "mumma" going by her accent). Things'll be just fine!

Niko made sure to take silent steps, tip-toeing to the box-like monitor and pressing the big power button on the tower. The screen's brightness took them by surprise, and the high-pitched hum from the CRT seemed louder than they would've liked. Luckily, everything else seemed undisturbed by the booting computer.

...Oh no, the boot sound-

In the nick of time, Niko was able to mute the speakers to keep the loud boot effect from sounding off. They're brought to the user select screen, four options listed with icons selected from a default list. A photo of a sunflower was next to meemaw's login, followed by a soccer ball for mama's, a stack of delicious pancakes for Niko, and a gray silhouette for potential guests.

Niko clicks on the pancakes, bringing them straight to the desktop with a solid teal backdrop. They scoured the various application icons, searching for the light blue cube that was the gateway into the multiverse-spanning cyberverse.

Instead, however, they discover an icon that seemed almost familiar. A yellow upright lightbulb. Curiosity gets the better of them, and they double click on the strange application.

"..."

Niko couldn't help but pause, gazing upon the new window that had opened. Blocky text across the top read OneShot, with that spherical lightbulb in place of the first letter. Two options displayed on the right side of the window, vertically sorted with a noticeable gap in between: Start and Quit.

The one part Niko couldn't quite grasp was the person looking off into the distance.

It was Niko.

After a few minutes processing the sight, Niko clicked the mouse on Start.

...

Enter?

That appeared to work. Judging by how the mouse pointer disappeared hovering into the window, they guessed the keyboard was going to be the primary control method.

The window captured this other Niko waking into the program, before zooming out to a top-down perspective of a dreary bedroom with a desk, bookshelf, and a slightly lit window.

"Oh... Oh no..."

Memories of their journey within the World Machine flooded Niko's mind as soon as they noticed a gray desktop computer sitting atop the desk next to the bed.

Cedric had explained long ago that Cameron held no real power over the world, at least at the time, their role as god was only due to them being able to 'generate' the world, whatever that meant.

With that in mind, did Niko...

Did they just become god?

. . .

>"H-hello?" The Niko trapped within the world spoke out.

Right, the guide should probably get to guiding-

Niko presses enter a couple times, prompting them to walk out of bed and to the computer. Interacting with it brought up a password screen, four digits. Though, none of them seemed to be color-coded like in their memories...

Niko goes ahead and hits enter, resulting in an incorrect answer. They figured as much, the remote control hadn't been found yet. It wasn't long before it was, in a suspicious lump under the carpet.

...Okay, how do they get to their pockets? Niko begins randomly pressing keys, hoping to randomly find it. Thankfully, they found it fairly swiftly, bringing up an odd menu with a few selectable options: Items, Equipment, Notes, and Quit. Niko presses enter, selecting Items.

The only item they had at the moment was the remote control. Niko selects it, making the other Niko take it out, and interacts with the window.

>'In the faint light Niko can glimpse the face of the remote... All of the numbers except 5, 2, 9, and 1 are missing. They're marked in bright colors'

...Why are they colored if the password screen didn't seem to color-code?

Well, regardless, Niko moves away from the window and to the computer once more to input the passcode. 5291.

>'Access Granted.'

It booted into a screen that looked remarkably similar to the desktop surrounding the window. System messages appeared in the center, one after another. Though the exact wording was different, the Niko acting as god felt it very familiar.

...At least, until the message continued further.

Quitting was permanent failure and murder.

They suddenly had a very bad feeling about this.

The door unlocked behind the other Niko, prompting them to investigate the rest of the house.

>"Helloooo? ...anyone?"

The first thing Niko did was head to the fridge to grab a bottle of alcohol, before backtracking to the bedroom's lavatory to take a stick off the withered plant, just like how they remember.

Niko navigates through the menu to try and find a crafting option, though to no avail. That is, until they select the bottle of alcohol whilst already having the dry branch equipped.

>'Niko dips the branch into the alcohol.'

With the crafting system seemingly sorted, Niko heads back out to the broken TV and interacts with it while holding the wet branch, setting it alight! They use it to light up the fireplace, revealing a glimmering shine in the ground. Upon investigation, Niko finds it to be the basement key.

They use it to gain access to the basement, before walking down a flight of steps and passing through another door, winding up in front of...

The lightbulb. The sun.

The messiah's burden.

At first, Niko was hesitant to pick it up, knowing the oncoming struggles awaiting the poor Niko ripped from another world to save this suffering one.

Though, it was impossible to progress without it. Swallowing down their nervousness, Niko approaches the bulb and interacts with it.

Everything lit up around them as the sun flared to life and bound itself to the young messiah. There was no turning back now.

Selecting the sun from the Items menu, Niko approached the leftmost doorway and inserted the sun into the bulb-shaped keyhole, transporting them into the Barrens following a pixelated transition. Exiting the train car gave both of them a view of the far-reaching tower, before giving them the freedom to move once more.

A pair of boots sat to the left, which Niko picks up and puts on. They appeared to be running boots, allowing them to move through the world at a faster pace. Wasting little time, Niko rushes down and to the right to meet up with Prophetbot in front of the outpost and get the lay of the land.

>"Ah! That lightbulb...! You're here!"

Niko allowed the two to converse before the robot began accepting questions, though it seemed they could only choose out of four options. Niko read through the other three, about the world, the lightbulb, and going home, before selecting the final one.

"...The computer?"

>"In the house, I found a computer talking to me, though also talking... about me."

>"Oh, might your name be Niko?"

>"...Yes?"

>"That is also the traditional name of our god. Perhaps it was fate!"

Maybe it was...

Niko proceeds to close their eyes to communicate with the one outside, in reality.

>"Hello? Niko? Is that really your name?"

Niko was presented with a yes or no prompt. They hovered over yes, though something caught their attention out of the corner of their eye. The disk tray was outlined with a purple glow, somehow... urging Niko to press it.

Curiosity gets the better of them once more. The moment the fine fur coating the tip of their finger reached the tray, they were suddenly subject to digitization, like they were being transported to the Multiverse Machine.

Niko silently screamed, still not wanting to wake mama from her deep slumber. By the time they realized this called for such noise, it was too late. They'd been sucked into a dying world once more.

"...God? Are you there?"

The other Niko's voice moved through the ears of their hat and caused them to perk. The voice was distinct, yet uncannily familiar. One might've thought they've since gotten used to hearing their own voice coming from other versions of themself, but the simple truth was they still hadn't-

Hesitation forced a few more seconds of delay before an answer could be given.

"Yes..."

The messiah opened their eyes to confirm to Prophetbot, though they immediately got startled from the mirror-like sight. Luckily, they instinctively hugged the sun close so as to not drop it.

"You're..."

"...me. I know."

Niko breathed a sigh. Prophetbot watched the situation play out, undisturbed from the sudden appearance of the nearly identical cat-person. "Please look to them for guidance." Though, the messiah was no longer paying attention.

"You're... god?"

Despite filling the role as such, the Niko from reality didn't really feel comfortable being referred to as such. Call it foreknowledge, but they weren't a fan.

"It's... complicated. Call me your guide."

The messiah remained very confused, though briefly shrugged it off and turned back to Prophetbot.

"So... that's them?"

"I apologize Messiah, but I do not recognize them," the robot responded, increasing their confusion. Niko rested a hand on their shoulder.

"Prophetbot probably won't recognize or talk to me, it's not worth trying." They could think of the reason why, though they didn't wish to generate panic in the messiah, especially so early.

"O-oh..." The messiah shut their eyes, letting out a subtle disgruntled whine. 

"Everything'll be fine, okay?"

"I wish you luck," Prophetbot bid farewell, before waving them off. The messiah, to be specific. It seemed the robot never even acknowledged the other Niko's presence other than that single instance.

"Well, messiah, we should get going. The world isn't going to save itself!" Niko cracked in an attempt to raise the mood. The messiah let out a silent giggle, though they could tell that they weren't super thrilled.

After some hesitation, Niko walks into the outpost, ushering the messiah to come along. Reluctantly, they head inside as well.

The outpost was very different from how Niko remembered it during their time in the world. Other than Prophetbot, it seemed the settlement was devoid of any robots, even ones that were depowered. Quite unsettling...

The two of them looked around the room, Niko keeping close to the messiah. They manage to obtain a screwdriver and discover the box holding the battery, though they had no way of prying the lid off. They needed the crowbar to do that.

"Check areas thoroughly, alright?"

"O-okay.."

They enter a nearby train car, dysfunctional like mostly everything else. "A-ha! A metal rod!" Niko speedwalked over and picked it up, briefly looking it over before offering it to the messiah, who was still holding the sun.

They... very much misunderstood the gesture-

"N-Niko, I'm not going to smash the sun!" They slightly backed away, nearly into one of the holes littering the floor of the car, prompting Niko to drop the rod and catch them before they could fall backwards.

"Careful, me! I was giving it to you to hold onto."

The messiah, still recovering from the near catastrophe, motioned towards the sun in their arms. "My hands are full, though..." Right... Niko withdrew the offer, putting the metal rod in their own coat for later.

"That's not where I remember finding it, though..." They mused. "This place really is different..."

Seems the messiah overheard, though. As they walked back outside and further towards the right, they asked about it. "You've done this before?"

"Yup! Different world, though."

The messiah tilted their head in confusion. "But... aren't you the god of this world?"

"Please don't refer to me as god. It's... complicated, I'll explain later." Such an explanation would involve having to reveal that the world was merely a simulation, and now was not the time.

"Oh, okay..." the messiah sighed.

Moving further, they discovered a sponge sitting at the edge of a cliff. A strange place to leave it, Niko thought.

"...What's it doing here?" It sounded like the messiah agreed.

"I'm not sure, but we should take it. We'll need it for later." The messiah nodded, carefully picking it up while ensuring no harm came to the large lightbulb.

"It has a rough surface," they commented.

In the distance, Niko took notice of a large jelly-like bubble forming atop one of the shrimp pools, pointing it out to the messiah.

"We'll need that later as well, take a mental note. C'mon."

Niko led them around the curve among the shrimp pools, now heading up towards the dormitories in the distance. To the former messiah's surprise, it wasn't blocked by a vent zone.

"Odd..." There were things to do, though. Niko couldn't get hung up on the differences between this world and the world they had explored over a year ago.

The wall of sleeping areas seemed much smaller, albeit just as abandoned. A pair of rubber gloves sat at the base of some machinery. The messiah took a closer look, trying to discern their purposes. Mineral refinery, solar panel...

"Garbage compactor. Specifically designed for heavy-duty crushing of metals," They read from the rightmost machine. The mention of 'metals' in particular piqued the other Niko's interest.

"Say, we could use that to turn this into a crowbar to open that box!" They exclaimed, bringing out the metal rod. "Stand back, this is dangerous."

Niko cautiously sticks an end of the bar into the machine and activates it.

CRUSH. CRUSH.

It gets compressed twice before Niko turns off the machine and takes out the newly formed crowbar. The messiah pockets the pair of gloves while Niko puts away the crowbar. "C'mon."

The messiah looked on, puzzled. "We've got the box to uncover, though."

"We've gotta get one last thing before opening it. It'll speed up the process."

Plus, it'll be nice to see Silver again. The messiah follows their other self to the cliffs. Neither are big fans of heights, but the ground was at least stable enough to soothe their concerns.

"Hey, what's that over there?" The messiah inquired. Niko glanced over to see a familiar electronic safe, where they'd obtained the gas mask to go through the vent zones previously. It had required a code that was all but lost from the world, so Niko expected a similar situation.

There was the issue of the code being somewhere only the operator could access, though they'd cross that bridge when they get there. Hopefully this World Machine recognized that its operator was inside the world itself.

"That's for later. C'mon."

The pair eventually find themselves on wider ground approaching a settlement familiar to the former messiah.

"That's our stop, the Head Engineer."

The two entered through the open doorway and stood before Silver. She looked smaller than Niko remembered-

"The lightbulb... Are you two the messiahs?"

The sun-bearer spoke first, "Well, not really-" before the former messiah interrupted. "Yes we are, actually!"

Silver looked mildly surprised. "Two messiahs? I can't imagine..." She briefly shut her eyes, sighing. "You two look so alike, with those catlike eyes and whiskers."

"I'm not a cat!" the two Nikos exclaimed in unison, prompting them to pause and briefly giggle.

"Fine, fine. Personally, you might be better off leaving and just letting the world die naturally. It's literally falling apart, y'know?"

Niko heaved a sigh, before approaching the tamed robot. "We're not gonna sit aside idle and watch it burn. We were sent to this world to save it, and by golly we're going to!"

Silver was visibly taken aback by the cat-person's admirable statement. "Well, who am I to stop you? It's not like you can just leave. Well, the very top of the spire holds some incomprehensible power. Who knows, it might send you home after your journey is complete."

"Oh!" That spark of hope rekindled the messiah's motivation.

...

The former messiah though was... not as thrilled. They remembered the choice that they would eventually have to make, and... it scared them. It was a hard choice even with Cameron's input, but now Cameron wasn't even here.

"Are you okay?" Silver asked, having noticed Niko's less enthusiastic expression.

"A-ah, yeah. Yeah, I'm fine," Niko replied, trying to smile and dismiss the negative anticipation. Despite that, the messiah took notice of their apprehension, though chose not to question it right away. The two bid farewell to Silver and head back out and further to the left.

There was a collection of busted robots beyond repair on a strip of land just next to Silver's home. Sitting in the middle was a broken camera, though the lens seemed fine enough for them to use.

"Screwdriver, please?" Niko asked of the messiah, who briefly set the sun down against a robot to fish the screwdriver out of their coat, before handing it to the other cat-person.

"Thank you." Niko then used it to wiggle the lens free and discard the rest of the device off the edge and into the abyss below.

"H-hey! We might've needed that," the messiah objects, to which Niko simply shakes their head. "We won't. Not until the Refuge anyways, and this camera's already busted." They then put the lens in the messiah's coat pocket.

"We've got everything, let's head back."

Reclaiming the sun, the two Nikos embark back to the outpost for the box containing the broken battery. It wasn't a short walk, so the messiah took the opportunity to ask the question that's been bugging them since leaving Silver's place.

"...Am I not gonna be able to return home?"

Hearing the foreboding question, Niko stopped and silently sighed, upset. They didn't want to tell them the truth, though it was impossible not to. It was another version of them, for crying out loud!

Following entire seconds of suspense, they turned back to the messiah and spoke with a warm smile. "You will."

The messiah wasn't sure they liked the preceding hesitation, though. They glance down to the sun they bore, sighing. "I..."

// welcome to the future au ask blog! I've had this idea for a while and only now decided to do it.

This au takes place 15 years after Oneshot solstice where most of the characters have grown up (obviously) and with the world machine's help, you can now just casually communicate with the characters and see how they're doing.

Note that this au is in HEAVY spoiler territory, so apologies if you end up getting spoiled through this blog-

Now for the characters that are currently available to talk to

The more characters that are revealed, the more characters that'll be available to ask a question to. You can also ask a group of characters although it might take a while for me to even respond to those

Some ground rules as well

- despite this taking place in the future, No Nsfw asks!

- other blogs may interact with this blog! But do expect some time travel and dimension shenanigans although it may be non-canon

With those out of the way for now