[ChicletPrime]

Chapter 4: Annihilation

to say that i am bracing myself for this would not be an understatement. hoo boy. okay. Annihilation, huh? 

• okay, supernova explosion is just about to reach us. brace for impact, everyone!
  
• okay, weird little object in the.. sand? flashback. oh. Caleb has a project, huh.
  
• they are weirdly stressing the 2300 light years away on this thing. massive red supergiant, kk.
  
• awww. ' you should protect me, like how a ring system protects its planet. ' i am weirdly sure that Grandma said that but boy-Caleb's having none of my crappy memory. 
  
• hiiii Caleb. i was just thinking about you and your dumb project.
  
• (my nerves might just be fraught, but he's still so handsome.)
  
• my eyes, possibly brimming with unshed tears and/or raw accusation are giving me away. i will look at you however i want, Caleb! and yeah. yeah. he's acting like there's absolutely nothing different or wrong.
  
• can i blame his possible memory chip? maybe they're wiping and rewriting him? yeah, i'm clutching a little here. i hope that's not it, i want this guy to be doing everything very, very intentionally.
  
• Caleb, i am really not a little girl, you don't have to... Caaaaaleb! 
  
• even the girlfriend is questioning herself. maybe that wasn't his voice in that garden. 
  
• "How could Caleb change? No, he hasn't changed at all. If anything's different, it should not be him."
  
• So Much Straw Clutching.  
  
• oh my god. the GIRLFRIEND SUSPECTS THE CHIP.  that is the first moment of utter insight she's had this entire way. 
  
• aww, my loyal shield, standing between me and the crowd.
  
• interesting question. does he regret being admitted into the Academy and becoming one of the very rare few Deepspace fighter pilots.
  
• (sorry, fighter pilots? is there something in the Tunnel that needs guns? maybe i just missed it, i thought they were just mapping the place.) 
  
• hah! yeah, as a kid i would have begged Caleb to lift me in the air with his evol too. maybe not into space though.
  
• do i still dream about exploring the universe? aren't dreams like that for kids? 
  
• "Caleb raises his head. There's a fleeting sadness on his face. I almost wonder if I had imagined it." 
  
• oh. oh MAN.  did somebody break MY wings? 
  
• REVELATION: "Back at the shelter, I remember you said your home was beyond the stars. But we couldn't even get past the walls and barbed wire."
  
•  he's busy kidnapping kids and potentially working with the group trying to end life as we know it, but its crushing me to see him sad.
  
• "We'll figure out everything about this world. One step at a time." 
  
• and Caleb is a walking vault of secrets right now. "I can't tell if my thoughts are written all over my face to the point where he can see everything."  girlfriend, you can't lie to anybody you love, you are certainly not going to be able to start now. your entire everything is probably burning like a fire.
  
• oh crap, he's going to deflect, isn't he? oh, Caleb.
  
• oooh, supernova light!?
  
• "It's starting."   
  
• yeah. the light. the dying, already dead star. the plan that's starting again Caleb, what is it? 
  
• "The people around us look toward the sky, but his gaze remains fixed on me. I almost lose myself in his eyes."
  
• /Le Heavy Sigh
  
• /singsongs - open your hands and close your eyes and you will have a big surprise...
  
• are we giving him back his necklace? 
  
• yeah. yeah we are. if you're going to wear a choke collar Caleb, let me remind you it should belong to me.
  
• (god i feel so possessive over him)
  
• now that's a happy brother, for the next four and a half seconds.
  
• three and a half seconds. the light just went out of his eyes.
  
• "Who gives the same gift twice?"  "Who lost a precious gift from others? If it disappears again, there won't be a next time."  your one and only warning, gege.
  
• time skip -- back home, shields have been raised over Skyhaven to block electrowhatsits from interfering with the float... device... things that keep it aloft.
  
• "Tonight, Caleb will go out again. Skyhaven's lockdown will be over soon along with the cleanup. In the dark hours of the night, I eventually hear the door being pushed open. The faint sound of footsteps draws closer. Realizing it's Caleb, I keep my breathing steady. As I pretend to be asleep, a gentle touch lands on my forehead."
  
• (He's gone. Why did Caleb...)
  
• aaaaand we're now actively tracking Caleb as a target through our Watch. did we... did we spike the necklace? 
  
• aaaaand i'm right! 
  
• oops, our bedroom door is locked. that's gonna put a crimp on things.
  
• fantastic! we just shoot the doorknob off because why the hell not. that's gonna leave a mark.
  

Well, that was juicy as hell.