Chapter 30

Their home wasn't on the platform itself, technically. Like so many others who worked in terraforming, their place of residence was somewhere in the territory they were assigned to work.

Each one was temporary, built of sturdy modules on springs and jointed legs that kept them from the ground. Some Mew had huge walls and defense systems, but Quinn and Avery felt no need for that. They'd grown up with the "wild" Pokémon, and had no reason to fear them.

The home was a mismatch of different sizes and scales—large sections were built at Mew proportions, with tools and controls on every wall. Others were more open, large enough for the towering Sirius to navigate even after his evolution.

It was not the native Pokémon they feared—but spending too long around the Mew of this era, and accidentally sharing something they shouldn't.

In this earlier age, even Avery's greater training and preparation made her one of the weakest, least disciplined cats in all the world, which already put them under enough scrutiny. Males were rare and powerful—why had one chosen her?

They had a far easier time keeping that mystery while safe on the jungle floor, far enough away that not even intense emotions would reach the platform. Given how badly many of the Mew feared the ground and its Pokémon, this only worked to increase their mystique when they visited the platform to take Rose to school or pick up supplies.

And just as importantly, when they had visits to make by private jumper or direct teleport across the planet, no cat thought it that strange.

Stella floated in from the balcony as they appeared, yawning and stretching with the moonrise. "Wondered when I would see you again, Avery. Safe trip to Starfall?"

"Maybe the last," she said. "Sinnoh thinks I've done everything we can to get the Separatists on a good footing. If we stick around much longer, they might start to realize who I'm coming home to. Another persistent variant."

Cedrin floated through the home towards the indoor garden. It stood directly under large skylights, with fountains that trickled nutrient-rich water whenever a Pokémon stood there. Useful when two Celebi lived there. Rose followed him, bobbing unevenly when she flew. She remained a few inches back from the gravel floor that framed the trees and ferns, so none of the "gross water" would fall in her fur.

"Like the ring of that one," Cedrin said. "Better than what they called me. Degenerate."

Avery remained close to him, up against his chest. Her feline heart raced, faster than would be comfortable for a Pokémon her size. Losing their own lives was bad enough, but the world could take away more than that.

"If we are successful, Vitari would probably be disappointed," Stella said. She floated close to him, little tags fluttering on her huge star-shaped head. "I recall she was eager for the conflict. Our success will rob her of a chance for violence."

"We can hope," Avery thought. Not quite privately—she sent it to the two nearby Pokémon, but not the younger ones a little farther away. "There may still be violence. Sinnoh's notes were… afraid. Some members of the Admiralty will still want war. If it is destroyed, the knowledge of our ancestors dies too."

Quinn dropped right out of the air, his wings stopping abruptly. He stumbled a few steps away, wandering towards his daughter and the rain of moisture where Cedrin rested. Several Pokémon stared at him, even Baast, who had already reached the steep cat-ramp leading downstairs.

"What's wrong?" Avery followed him, though she kept far enough away not to touch him this time. Far enough away to let him think clearly, instead of vomiting out disordered thoughts. Even his daughter turned to settle on her haunches and stare.

"Avery, do you remember the explosion in the accelerator? The one that sent us back here… a long time ago?"

She nodded. "Not very clearly. Those memories are muddier than when I was a kitten. Confused."

"That mew I told you about, from the future like us—she told me something. Starfall was destroyed. In our time. She felt super guilty about it, apparently it was her friends who caused it. Point is—we know this whole plan with Separatists and exile won't break it."

Avery landed too, eyes wide. "If we go back to our time, my friend will already be dead? And everything our ancestors ever accomplished, everything they discovered—it will be gone forever?"

Quinn nodded along. Avery had been like this since they reunited, talking about the ancient Mew and their civilization in terms of "we." She got protective and even defensive when talking about their flaws. She blamed the admirals for isolation hospitals and deadly treatments, not the culture more broadly.

"It's an AI. One you haven't even talked to for…" He tilted his head sideways. Time got confusing when he barely felt it passing. "A while. Seems like it would be good news to me. You know it makes it all the way forward to our old present."

That was what it was now—a relic and a memory. Quinn wasn't a PhD candidate anymore, just as Avery wasn't a student of Parapsychology. Both had grown into more than they were before. He couldn't even be sure his mate wanted to go back.

And why should they, when their present was so wonderful. They had a daughter. Even Cedrin had followed them back, and had his own second chance.

"Not good enough. I have to help the computer. Make sure there's… some way to rebuild. It doesn't matter if it's all destroyed in a thousand years or ten thousand."

That brought Rose floating back over to her. Their daughter bobbed in the air, trailing her long tail through the carpet. "Momma? Why are you so upset?"

Not unusual that Rose didn't understand what they were talking about. She knew very little about their origin, except that her parents were special and came from far away. Kittens were not exactly renown for keeping secrets.

"It's nothing, sweetie," she lied, taking the kitten out of the air and up against her chest. She rocked her gently back and forth until she started purring, and forgot whatever troubled her.

But Quinn could not be so easily assuaged, of course. They spoke again in the early hours, when the sun transformed into a dim glow on the horizon and all the others had gone to sleep. Avery's pain remained, like an acid in the air between them. Until Quinn finally broached the silence.

"You're planning something. You should tell me what it is, Avery. We're a team now."

Their bed was soft and comfortable—not quite what humans would've used. More a cushion, soft enough for even their light bodies to get support. And just as importantly, resistant to claws.

Avery looked away from him. "You made friends in the past you want to protect. I did too. I think we can both keep them safe, but…"

"But you don't think we can do it together," Quinn realized. He lifted away from her, small wings buzzing. "You want me to leave, don't you?"

She nodded nervously. "For a while. There's… there's a way through this. I've made connections in Starfall. They think I have vision. Don't realize it's because I have help, but… doesn't matter. I could go join them. Make sure our lies stick. Of course that does leave me… focused on that. Means there’s no one to save Sinnoh. One day, a long time from now, the machine dies. We have to stop that from happening.”

“Can’t.” He sat up in their bed, wings buzzing nervously. Sure enough, that reaction provoked indignance from his mate. He read that expression without her even opening her mouth.

We’re Mythical Pokémon, what can’t we do?

“It’s a time travel thing, Avery. The universe acts to protect itself from Paradox. Or… Dialga does, anyway. Remember the explosion in the Blueberry Experimental Collider? That was a piece of the Starfall we used as our particle trap. If the ship doesn’t get destroyed in the future, there’s no experiment—I’m not a Celebi, we never came back here. See the problem?”

Avery shifted atop the blankets, pacing around in a narrow circle. She prodded at them under her paws, before finally settling again, unhappily. “I… already have enough to worry about,” she admitted. “Changing the way Mew think about other Pokémon will take a lot of work. I know that was never your mission. But I think it could be mine.”

“In a way it was,” he said, running one paw down her back. “I came here to recruit you. Have a cat on the inside of Starfall, to change their minds. Make them not want to wipe us out. Kinda… got away from me, after all these years.”

She looked up at him, then rubbed her neck up against his arm. “You succeeded, I guess. I’m going back to Starfall. Just not the era you thought. I’ll change their minds now, give them different ideas while there aren’t very many ‘persistent variants.’ We would save a lot of lives that way.”

“Seems like it’s mostly you doing it…” he muttered. Yet that was always the point. The Mew didn’t care what he thought, but they would listen to one of their own kind. It had to be her to change their minds. But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t be helping.

“The AI is that important to you?”

Avery pounced on him, tackling him to the bed and pressing her forelegs up against his chest. “More than anything, Quinn! Sinnoh is… our last link to the past. The place we came from, everything we used to be. Our knowledge from when we were a galactic power, on a stage even the Mew of today don’t understand anymore. If we let that die, we lose… more than we can imagine.”

He pushed her off his chest—easy enough, since she wasn’t using her claws. She was usually careful about those, when she remembered. “I’ll save him, then,” he said. “A… backup, anyway. I’ll go far enough forward that no one will be there to stop me. Then…” He made a short gesture, snatching at the air. “Bring him somewhere safe. And when you’re done, I’ll come back for you.”

She brushed up against him again, more affectionately. “There’s something else you’ll have to do. Our daughter—Rose can’t stay here with me. If the truth about us got out—I can’t be a figurehead of purity if you’re her dad. I can handle the pressure, but she can’t.”

Quinn glanced towards the wall, where her cozy room was protected by velvet blankets. "She needs her mother."

Avery nodded tearfully. "We have a little more time. I don’t have to go to Starfall tomorrow. A few more years with her first.”

He glared. "Avery, why do we have to do this? We’re two people—there’s a whole village of mythicals in the future. Maybe a Mew you could train to hide thoughts like you do. Keep them hidden.”

“They won’t be able to. It’s foreign for Mew to hide their feelings, disgusts them to be untruthful. In a way, it’s better than we are. But lucky me, I spent years of my life lying about who I was.” Avery shook her head tearfully. "How could I live with myself if I knew I could change things, and I ran?" She wiped her face against his chest. "A long time ago… I wanted everyone to learn psychic powers, remember that? I thought everyone could learn it. Turns out I was right. I was just wrong about how."

He dropped down beside her, and held the cat close. "A few more years?"

She pressed up against him, brushing her fur against his chest. "Long enough to give Rose a sister. And after that… you're a time traveler. This won't be the last time we're together."

Quinn could save a computer—the AI had helped give them this life together, it deserved a little loyalty in return. And maybe after, he could be a single dad for a while. For her.