"Damn, I hate that man." Lynine finally is fed up with working: "Why am I in charge of this machine building? There are definitely more suitable people for this crap."
"We are almost done." Sannet calmly states: "Besides, it is an honor to work with you. Lord Trazyn, he speaks highly of you. I cannot imagine the possibility of living through countless dimensions."
"Well… Thanks? But it is not really how it works, imagine every other reality is like dreams for you. If one shatters, you wake up from another. I can purposely wake up, but it will also mean destroying that reality." Lynine answered as if this was nothing.
"Are you a… god?" Sannet asks.
"No, not really. But I have met a lot of them. They are really arrogant assholes though. Honestly, besides the fact that I live forever, destroying reality is infinitely useless, as I refuse to do any of that." Lynine takes out her wielding mask and drinks a cup of water.
"Why? Don't you have infinite realities to do anything you want?"
"That's exactly the reason, isn't it?" Lynine looks at Sannet: "No matter what I do, it has already happened in some reality. And as a being of higher dimension, I sense them all of the action of my alternative selves. Through my endless life, I realized that what I can do is insignificant than what others can develop by themselves. So, I choose mediocrity or to phrase nicely to observe. It is either this or destruction."
"Must have been tough… You have my condolences." Sannet looked up for a second then continued to work on her part.
"You understand it, isn't it? Living forever, senseless, but it changed after you met that man. Didn't it?" Lynine suddenly wanted to know more about this girl in front of her.
"I do not remember my past. But when i was awoken by lord Trazyn, i was selected by him as his personal assistance. I did not know why. But i obeyed because he is my overlord."
"Don't you want to know?" Lynine has a smirk on her face: "I believe in your ability to keep your mouth shut, right?"
"What are you trying to do?" Sannet suddenly has a bad feeling.
"You see… for me, time is just a hill that i can walk through and realities are just like the puddles of water on the ground. I can show you what your past life is… no one has to know about this between us two. Do you have any regrets in life?"
"I don't." Sannet answered directly.
"Then, why don't we find out about your life before being a necron?" Lynine's palm suddenly has some distorted semi-transparent energy orbiting around her hand: "Are you ready?"
Sannet hesitated for a few seconds, she paused her action but then put her hand in the orb. From outside, they are still here. But their mind has been transferred into another realm: "I think you are familiar with this, since necrons already have time manipulation technologies. Compared to your body, your mind can withstand the flow of time more easily. However, … What you will see further ahead is for beings of higher dimension. Your mortal mind will shatter and reformed into a way that allows you to access the information."
"Just get on it. I am ready."
"As you wish." Lynine snapped her finger.
At first, there's only darkness, then comes heat, and later… Light. Sannet could almost trace back to the birth of the universe. But then her mind was pulled back to a realm… a void that is so… empty, as if because the universe is too big every particle is being pulled away in a great distance. Nothing will react or meet. However, a beam of light shoots through the void, as if a blade that slashes through nothingness. And when Sannet woke up, she was already on a planet that she only remembers with a book.
Lynine has an eased-up expression on her face, she helps Sannet to get up: "I was so afraid that your mind was already shattered. I guess Necrons do have stronger minds than humans."
"Are we on…"
"Yes…but the name itself is cursed through space and time. Infact that the planet itself was a curse. I suggest we do not mention it." Lynine checks around: "Hmm, this place is less radiated than i imagined."
"Wait… how are we still fine after exposing to the radiation?" Lynine is still in her human form for some reason.
"It is only your mind that is transferred into this part of history. We are in another dimension, so they can't see us, and we can't touch them." Lynine explains, but then she sees something familiar: "Wait… Is that the crest of Trazyn?" Lynine points at the symbol of Solemnace.
"Yes… but I do not believe that he is here…Because I am sure that this symbol already existed before the tomb world of solemnace was established… In fact, I do not know anything about time like this." She walks around, examining the deadland, nothing can be raised in this world. And yet the obelisks and the entrance to the underworld are a fresh reminder that a race has been struggling through and achieved advancement under these circumstances.
Sannet and Lynine enter one of the entrances, it is at least hundreds of meters deep. Lynine was already fed up, so she teleported them to the underworld directly. Honestly, the looks of necrontyr didn't really give Sannet a nostalgic feel when she looked at them, because all she can see are just living corpses, waiting for their day to come.
The vehicles are similar to what Necrons are currently using but a few of them have been deemed to be too 'outdated' after the war in heaven. Suddenly, a necrontyr seemingly is female collapsed on the floor.
The crowd didn't even look at her, then a few people came in and took her to a tomb. Death is literally the only meaningful thing that can happen to a necrontyr peasant. Because this way, their body will be used for something at least.
Suddenly, they see a man carrying a lot of scrolls and books running through the street. He bumped into a few people and then finally stopped when an enforcer-looking person stood in front of him.
"How many times have I been saying that you cannot run on the street after finding a new idea?" It is a female enforcer; you can't really see it under the death mask.
"I am so sorry officer, but my studies depend on this. This way, we will be closer to finding real immortal life!" The man sounds excited.
The officer scoffs and pats off the dust away from the man: "Whatever, you always say some crazy shits. Just don't get yourself into trouble again, or i will have you put down."
"Thank you, officer Sannet! I will see you tomorrow." The man ran off again.
"Sannet?" Lynine stands next to the officer: "I think we found you… Interesting, you were an enforcer in the undercity."
Sannet looked at this figure in front of her… she felt no connection, even if this is her. It has been way too long for her to actually remember anything about it. But then again, this trip is about seeing the past but not remembering the past.
Necrontyr Sannet sits on the stairs, she's waiting for the next batch of people to be sent to the bio transference. She's on duty to guard the library, as some of them are still very stubborn about the order.
"Maybe we should head to the library." Lynine doesn't really want to stay in this place, it is awkwardly muddy. No dirt can be stuck on her, but it is just uncomfortable to be here. After another snap of the finger, they arrived at the library and the running man had just arrived. The library's layout is similar to the ones Trazyn have, the man was just returning those books and then heading directly towards the shelves, as if looking for something.
They followed him, and after a few minutes of searching. He finally found his target behind the shelves and seemingly reading a book: "Well,well well. My friend Orikan. It seems like your plan has been a failure."
"Trazyn, your taunt means nothing to me. I am trying to secure a lineage for every single necrontyr. The fact that you are here means they already accepted your report." Orikan has that look of wisdom on his face, while Trazyn however is as arrogant as he is in his necron form: "Do whatever you want with me but give other people a chance."
"Oh? Tch, i think they didn't tell you. But your family is already on their way to the furnace." Trazyn has a fake smile on her face: "Apparently someone told them that you have already changed your mind."
"Trazyn! I will kill you!" Orikan leaps forward and is having a fist fight with Trazyn.
Lynine looks at those two, and covers her mouth: "Dear me, Trazyn is a terrible person."
Sannet remained silent, what's in front of her, is the real historical event that has happened in the past. She has always known that Trazyn is a bad person, but he always has a reason when doing something harmful. She wants to know the reasoning behind Trazyn's action.
Just when they were about to rip each other's face off, the guards came in and stopped these two: "Send him to the furnace!" Trazyn shouted while wiping away the blood on his face.
Orikan tried to resist but the bat swung from the guards quickly made him realize any resistance is futile. They dragged him on to the transport and then headed to the furnace. Seeing him gone, Trazyn let out a satisfied smile: "You see Orikan? It is I who will be the last necrontyr in this world. I will be remembered as the one and only."
"Oh?" Sannet's voice came from behind Trazyn: "What you have just said is enough for me to report you. The silent king will be the last necrontyr, what you are saying is treason."
"Dear, Sannet. What are you trying to achieve? We are all going to dip into the bio furnace. Everyone, no matter what your status is, will be in one of those mechanical bodies. But before that happens, i am still a lord, you? You are just a lowly enforcer."
"Trazyn, I have always respected you because of your work. Every publication and every talk you organized; I have attended all of them. But… Now, I see you are just as pitiful and selfish as any of us. You don't deserve to be a lord."
"You watch your mouth, or I will report you as well!" Trazyn takes out the communication device. But Sannet pulled out her side arm and shot Trazyn in the shoulder.
Trazyn fell on the floor, screaming in pain. Sannet however just carried him into her vehicle and then drove directly towards the furnace: "Lord Trazyn… Maybe next life… We will be able to become friends."
Sannet looked away when she and Trazyn fell into the furnace, after a few more minutes their bodies were completely gone. What rose from there were just mechanical bodies. Then they marched back to the land, lifelessly.
Lynine pats Sannet on the back: "Do you want to go back?"
Sannet almost collapsed on the floor, the truth just came in too quick. What she always believed in was a lie. After breathing deeply for a while, she finally managed to get back on her feet: "Let's leave."
Lynine nods, with a snap of her finger. Sannet regained consciousness in her body. She finds a chair and sits quietly while looking extremely empty. Maybe she's regretting the decision. After a while, she just kept working until Trazyn had to actively stop her.
"Sannet, your hand is bleeding. You need to get it treated." Trazyn grabs Sannet's hand, because she wasn't listening to her.
"..." Sannet pulls her hand away, she is avoiding Trazyn's gaze. She doesn't know what to do now.
"Sannet?" Trazyn noticed something wrong: "Did something happen? Report to me now!"
"I do not report to you…" Sannet whispered out, after serving Trazyn for millions of years, this is the first time she acted rebelliously.
Trazyn is about to pull out his weapon, but Lynine stopped him: "You need to talk to Sannet, we… kind of looked back in history…"
" You did what?" Trazyn is looking at Lynine in a very annoyed way: "What now? Are you not going to tell me what happened?"
"Well…." Lynine looked at Sannet, she's a bit too much of a coward to actually tell what happened to Trazyn.
Sannet suddenly has a look of horror, as if Trazyn is nothing but devil himself. Instead of engaging more with Trazyn. She ran, she ran so fast and didn't turn back even once. When Trazyn tried to call her, she didn't pick up.
"Well, fuck." Trazyn lays down on the seat: "Thank, Lynine. You are really helpful, isn't it?"
"I am sorry, but i think Sannet deserved to know the truth." Lynine gives Trazyn the piece that she was working on: "At least she left after finishing all the work. The time travel machine is ready."
"Sannet…" Trazyn thought about every little detail that he had spent with Sannet, but on the other hand, he did tell Sannet to be free. At Least he got what he wanted… But he wanted this process to go a bit better: " Prepare the machine, we are leaving."
"Do you want to know about what happened?"
"I cannot care less. We forge our own destiny. Those who are shackled with the past are doomed to not be able to advance into the future." Trazyn for once sounded very annoyed.
On the next day, everyone is outside. Monika, Nova, Trazyn and Emilia are ready to step into the machine. Before leaving, Noel hugged Monika for a really really long time. Noel looks at Monika in a concerned way yet she's also feeling really happy for Monika. Her childhood friend is finally going to achieve her dream, to save the world.
There were no speeches, just people bidding farewell and waiting for the moment of a new age. They stepped in, the machine activated while drawing an insane amount of power, making the city nearby go dark for a few seconds. After a flash of red light. They are gone.
A red ball lightning appeared in the open field, then four of them fell out. Monika landed first and managed to catch Nova princess style. Then Trazyn fell flat on the floor while Emilia landed on him.
"Aw… Honey, why didn't you catch me?" Trazyn asks.
"Sorry, Traz. But if Nova got hurt, the mission will be a bit harder…" Monika bends down and pats off the dust on Trazyn's clothes: "I can carry you from now on if you want~"
"No, it's fine. Thanks for the offer."
"So, let's split up? Emilia and I will go to the supreme command and you two will stop Monika from getting close to that cave." Nova is assigned the mission and then off with Emilia.
"Stopping yourself? Now that sounds exciting," Trazyn can't hide that smile on his face.
"Why?" Monika asks.
"I always wanted to know who would be stronger between us."
Monika just did a helpless shake of her head then set course to the location of that bar where Monika kissed Trazyn on the cheek. If Monika remembers correctly, this is the time when she got the memo about the cave where she and Trazyn got ported to Mirrordin, so if they can somehow get her phone and delete the email, then she will never know about the location of the cave.
"So, that's all it takes to create an abnormal event that can change the timeline? I don't think it's that easy." Trazyn pauses to think for a few seconds: "What happens if it doesn't work?" He takes out a device: "This will tell us whether the time split has been created or not, right now there's one dot, when it's two we will start to merge the timeline."
Monika nods to acknowledge what he just said. Later, when they finally arrived at the bar, they didn't go in. Instead, they lay traps for Monika when she's going back to her office: "Do you know where she is?" Trazyn asks.
Just after Trazyn asks the question, Monika rushes out from the bar while her face is bright red. She sits on the stairs while covering her face, seemingly muttering something. Trazyn took a picture secretly, Monika saw this and asked: "Why did you take that picture?"
"I will call this, the first sign of love."
Monika immediately took away his camera then put it in her pocket dimension: "You will not get it back, ever." Monika winks at Trazyn then turns her head while looking at her old self. Monika remembers this, she was actually waiting for Trazyn to see if he ever got out. But eventually, he didn't come out. Thinking about this, Monika's face is also turning red. She forgot how emotionally simple she was.
The Monika sitting on the stairs finally stood up and started walking towards the city. These two also are on the move, they are ambushing in a cross section where there's usually nobody there. Monika always takes this route because of how quiet it is.
Suddenly, A man with a bat and a person with full armor blocked her route: "Give us all your valuables, so you won't get hurt." Trazyn said while sounding very sassy. Monika also pulls out a double headed meteor hammer. And starts swinging it at full speed.
"..." Monika didn't reply, she pulled out the sword on her back and she was ready to fight.
Trazyn suddenly charges forward, he throws the bat at Monika with immense speed then pulls out his staff. Their weapon clashed with spark, but clearly Trazyn's strength is more superior. Monika tries to strike back with the sword, but the other person's meteor hammer strikes relentlessly, eventually, one hit Monika on the chest and she fell on the floor.
"You have one more chance." Trazyn said.
Monika on the ground wiped away the blood on the edge of her lips, she had a smile on her face: "Sis, you can come out now."
A blaze of lightning strikes directly on Trazyn, but his void shield displaces it. Nova comes out from invisibility and pulls out her rifle: "You two have some balls to rob imperial officers. I will make sure this one is going to hurt."
Trazyn shoots a secret message to Monika via the eye implant, he will go for the younger Monika and Monika will stall Nova as long as possible. Monika replied with a winky face emoticon then she charged directly to Nova. Pushing her into a bush.
"Get off me you-" Nova is about to unleash another blast of lightning but Monika takes off her helmet. Nova is shocked, she in fact is just sitting there, not moving.
Monika smiles warmly: "It is nice to see you have a different expression from time to time." She holds Nova's hand: "Sis, we are from the future, and we are here to save the world."
"Save the world? Explain." Nova is curious about what will happen in the future.
While these two are chatting, Trazyn finally gets his chance to fight Monika. Even though this one is a lot weaker than his wife, and yet, he will get plenty of combat data out of this opportunity: "This opportunity is hard to come by. Surrender is a valid option. If you cry, I will make sure this won't hurt a lot."
"Arrogant prick." Monika picks up her sword, her eyes full of rage. She charged forward and swung her sword. But it was just a mere illusion of Trazyn. He grabs her by the hair and smashes her on the floor.
"How sad." He said while taking out Monika's phone: "I was hoping you are-" When Trazyn unlocked the phone, in the background was a picture of her and his mechanical body.
In this instant, Monika rises up and slashes off Trazyn's forearm: "Now you will die." She will not let anyone that has seen this picture live. She raises her sword and is about to slash his head off.
Trazyn already hacked into the phone within the short contact, he's quite bothered by the picture itself. Monika seemingly already liked him even at this point of the time. Before, he thought Monika fell in love with him because of the human body. But seeing this… he is surprised that she actually liked him beforehand, because with that personality and attitude. He thought Monika would never like a jerk like him.
Just when the sword was about to hit, he suddenly grabbed the sword by the blade and instantly squeezed it into pieces. He then grabs Monika by her collar then pushes her against a wall. Just when Monika is about to kick him. He used one hand to grab Monika's leg and unleashed a series of stunning electric shocks. Soon enough, she's unconscious.
"You two are having fun?" Trazyn drops Monika onto the grass in front of them: "Are you going to help us?"
"Creating a world changing event? Like xeno invasion, nuclear explosion and natural disaster?" Nova asks.
"Exactly that." Trazyn answered.
"Hmm…" Nova is thinking: "Maybe we can cause a fire in the city."
"No!" Monika answered: "Traz, Let's not hurt anyone…Please?"
"Sister… you are getting really soft."
"Honey, don't worry. We will come up with something." Trazyn holds Monika's hand.
"Hold up, are you Trazyn? And you two are…" Nova covers her mouth, she almost fainted on the ground due to anger. But soon enough, she managed to get back on her feet and talk in a rather polite manner: "I guess, I can see what we can do… if there's a mountain that's ok to blow up."
"Maybe we don't need to blow up anything, we just need to say the other Trazyn is on the planet and make him the center of target." Trazyn proposed.
"I will not allow it. I don't want you to be hated." Monika insists.
"You two are really something, aren't you guys?" Nova comments: "Well, any more people you can think of might cause a huge trouble."
"Hmmm….Wait…" Trazyn realized something: "Immotekt."
"Immotekt!"
Trazyn and Monika said at the same time. The storm lord is indeed here at some point and if Trazyn anticipates correctly… His personal ship is somewhere around the orbit in stealth mode.
If they somehow can make Immotekt attack them with that ship… This surely will be a xeno invasion event.
Just when they are celebrating, Monika suddenly regains her consciousness and sees another Monika and his assaulter is seemingly celebrating something: "What the…"
But Nova managed to realize this earlier enough to cause another problem here. Later on, they manage to arrive at Monika's house safely and then finally have a chance to explain themselves.
Monika and Nova sit on one side, then the other two on the other. This scene is somewhat familiar if Trazyn has to be honest. The younger Monika is very unhappy about the recent events, while Nova on the other hand is just sipping her coffee and ready to enjoy the show.
"So. Who are you?" The younger Monika asks Trazyn.
"I don't think you want to know too much about your future…" Monika replied instead.
"Oh? Are you embarrassed? Because he's just a jerk that has some power complex." Monika narrowed her eyes: "The way he talks is just so condescending. In what universe would I ever like him?"
Monika didn't really have any comeback on that, her best guess is that she's just gotten used to this: "Look, why don't we ask another question? Because what's the point of knowing your love life if you don't even get to experience it yourself."
"But I need to know about it. So, I won't let him pass away in life." Monika insists.
Seeing this, Monika just closed her eyes and shook her head: "He's Trazyn." She then sips her tea. Waiting for the shocking truth overwhelms her.
"..." Monika's expression is rather stale: "So… Trazyn is a real human now? This…" She paused and approached him; she held his hands while looking very conflicted: "Why?"
If this thing continues, they will talk about phyrexians and because of this Monika will surely go to Mirrodin to fulfill her own destiny with Trazyn. This will not be allowed: "I am that version of Trazyn that somehow learned how to invade the human mind." Lies, but quite airtight.
"Tell me." Monika asks.
"I'd rather not." Trazyn refused her.
"Why? Am I not allowed to earn my own happiness? Why can you two become a couple?" Her voice doesn't sound very stable.
"Go to him, he will respond to your feelings." Monika replied. She's speaking from experience.
"But he's still a machine!" Monika finally spoke out her truth: "I like him… but the physical barrier is just unthinkable for me." She then pulls out her sword: "I will do whatever I can to fulfil my destiny with him."
"Stand down." Monika also pulls out her sword: "This will not go down like you imagine it."
"Then…" Monika suddenly dropped a few flashbangs and smoke bomb. Then disappeared in an instant.
"I honestly have a bad feeling about this." Nova comments: "If there's one thing you two did not anticipate is that Monika is a very bratty and stubborn person. Maybe you will be different in the future, but now? She will do something you cannot imagine."
"Honey, what will you do?" Trazyn asks.
"Let's blow up the cave…if the world can survive based on my own sadness. Then... it's worth it." Monika said.
"It's not your happiness. It's the happiness of another you. I suggest you tread lightly." Nova replied.
Monika gave it a thought but still gave the same answer, she and Trazyn will head to the cave to face Immotekt and this world's Trazyn in the cave. After they were gone, Nova finally said to a corner of the room: "What are you going to do?"
"I will get what I deserve…" Monika's eyes are as if blazing in flame: "No one, not even myself will stop me."
On the other side of the city, Nova and Emilia are trying to find the entrance to the supreme command building. They have the badge and require documents to explain themselves, in order to avoid unnecessary oversight.
Emilia, however, didn't seem to be very happy the moment they landed, Nova decided to say something: "You know, looking anxious isn't going to help with anxiety at all."
"Aunt Nova. I have a really bad feeling, I can't explain why. But this entire thing… is going to blow." Emilia replied honestly: "Something just doesn't feel right…"
Nova stopped, they are not going anywhere as long as Emilia is going to talk like this the entire trip: "Well, why don't we stop for a minute or two for you to voice your concern?" She honestly doesn't dislike this girl; Emilia is serious and nice. Something Nova wants from Monika all the time.
"Ever since we have landed here, I sensed something very familiar… in a bad way. Because with my knowledge nothing in this world is familiar to me. Something is off." Emilia explains.
"Maybe you have been living in our world for so long. It might have changed your perception. Honestly, if I were you, I would just lay back and chill for a bit." Nova is quite confident about what is going to come. After all, this plan is airtight. She doesn't know what the other two are doing but surely it won't really be very troubling.
While these two were chatting, a girl wearing a purple dress appeared from the clock tower nearby. Her orange eyes are staring dead straight to these two, in her hands the old-fashioned rifle is as if screaming for blood lust. The wind blows suddenly, making her brown wavy hair flow with the wind. She reloaded her rifle and turned invisible.
While they are arguing about something insignificant. Nova suddenly sensed something was firing at them. She immediately turned back on time. And found out that it was not a single bullet but four different ones. After enough tries, she managed to dodge all of them and then pulled Emilia with her.
"What's going on?" Emilia asks.
"We are being attacked. It was not an ambush, otherwise we'd be dead already. This person…" Nova suddenly sees someone she recognizes: "Minka…?" She zoomed in with her implant. It is Minka, but the expression on her doesn't seem like she's welcoming these two.
"Deviants…" Minka mutters then shoots a few more times at them. But due to the time reverse ability from Nova. She managed to dodge all of them and kept running. From Nova's understanding it is that Minka is someone at the top of the strength level in the hero of the imperium. They stand no chance of confronting her directly.
"We need to find a way to talk to her… in the worst-case scenarios we will ambush her." Nova analyzes the situation.
"Why is Minka here? Did she make stops before coming to your timeline? But it shouldn't be possible…" Emilia tries to analyze the situation: "The timeline travel machine does not allow going back to the same timeline."
Nova shoots a few times to draw Minka closer then shouts towards her direction: "Minka! I know you are a reasonable person; can we just talk instead of going for each other's throat?!" For once Nova is thinking of a non-violence solution.
Minka stops advancing, instead she puts away her weapon and sits on a table: "Come out, we can talk."
"Minka. Are you the same Minka that we know of?" Nova asks.
"Minka is the name of a model that was developed to ensure the continuation of the Terra bloodline. So, you can say, yes, I am. However, I am not the exact one that you know of. She's a deviant and we are here to protect your timeline." Her tone and voice are colder than the Minka they know of. As if she's more like an android than a human.
"Our Minka is a deviant?..." Nova asks.
"She's the one that the archivist decided to raise. We are the ones that were made to spread across different timelines." Minka replied.
"For what?"
"To ensure the purity of Monika. We are here to annihilate any foes or obstacles that will ruin her purity. The archivist requires a perfect specimen. And thus, there's always two Minka units being deployed in each timeline." Minka suddenly pulls out her rifle: "This is why deviants like you cannot be left alone. I am sorry but this has to be done." Minka aims her rifle towards these two.
"Then…" Nova's eyes suddenly turned blue, a wave of strange looking lightning attacked towards Minka. She countered it with reflex. But the lightning somehow turned itself around and hit Minka directly on the chest. Minka's dress is burnt, and within a flash of light. Minka is in her black agent armor. But she's already hurt badly.
"Damn you…" Minka mutters, her eyes blazing with golden light. Suddenly the entire building started tumbling and eventually collapsed. Five minutes later, Nova and Emilia came out from the ruins and tried to find Minka. But there's nothing here anymore.
In an unknown location, Minka teleported out and immediately collapsed on the floor. The hit that Nova did was really precise, and it was meant to kill her. If she isn't enhanced, then that lightning could've killed her on the spot. Minka tries to crawl towards the healing pot. But something strange has happened. The second Minka suddenly walked out from the pod, looking at the Minka on the floor with a smirk on her face: "You… how are you still alive?" The Minka on the floor said.
"Took me a while… but i have to say… family does come with great benefits." Minka pulls out her rifle and finishes off the one on the floor, she wears her purple dress and fixed her collar: "Mom… dad… I am coming."