#keystone
He could never forget her, and his memories were the keystone in the center of everything he was. Yet it is said we are not human beings but human becomings. Leonard Church was no exception.
[ Full Story: FFN|AO3]
Chapter 78: Winds Of Fortune
That morning was gray and drizzly. Lawrence and Jackie were to send him off later on, but right now Lawrence and Leonard were going out for morning coffee as their last visit. There was no way of knowing when Leonard would make it to Earth again, so they were treating it as the last time they would see one another, at least for a good long while.
They made their way to the cafe where they planned to eat and sat down in a booth. The waitress came by and Leonard ordered a coffee with 2 sugars and a cinnamon roll.
“A chocolate croissant and black coffee for me, please,” Lawrence ordered, and once the waitress had walked away, put his datapad down. “So. Two months in travel for this position,” he said. “That must have been quite an opportunity they gave you.”
“It was.” Leonard had continued to lie to Jackie and Lawrence about the idea that the UNSC was seeking him for a position, rather than what had actually occurred. “I’m excited about it. It’s a shame you two didn’t decide to come with me.”
“I know it will make things difficult on you, son,” he said. “I’m sorry for that.”
“I know.”
“Nevertheless,” Lawrence said. “We’ll do everything we can do to support you from here, Leonard. We want to see you succeed in this.”
“That’s nice of you, Dad,” Leonard said. “I’ll let you know if I need anything.”
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He could never forget her, and his memories were the keystone in the center of everything he was. Yet it is said we are not human beings but human becomings. Leonard Church was no exception.
[ Full Story: FFN|AO3]
Chapter 77: Something Blue
Leonard was sitting alone at the round table when Lawrence approached him. He’d already eaten most of the dinner that had been served at the wedding reception, and was mostly just sitting there nursing his glass of Cabernet Sauvignon.
“Hello, there, Leonard,” Lawrence said. “I hope you’re having fun.”
“Certainly,” Leonard said. “This is quite a party you two decided to throw.”
Lawrence frowned lightly at him. “Are you sure?”
Leonard sighed. He didn’t mean to be a grump, and he certainly hadn’t meant to look like he was one, but this whole environment bothered him. Why did they need something this extravagant? He and Allison had merely had a small reception after their courthouse nuptials, and that had been their first marriage. “It just seems like a lot to me, that’s all.”
“This is what we wanted, Leonard,” Lawrence replied. “That should be enough to make you happy.”
“It is,” Leonard said. It needed to be, at the very least.
“Then be happy,” Lawrence said. “I think you should come and dance.”
“Oh,” Leonard grumbled. “I haven’t danced in…” He snorted lightly. “Since high school.”
“Then come dance,” Lawrence urged. “You haven’t had a dance with the bride yet.”
Leonard narrowed his eyes a bit at his father, shook his head, and arose. “Just one,” he said.
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He could never forget her, and his memories were the keystone in the center of everything he was. Yet it is said we are not human beings but human becomings. Leonard Church was no exception.
[ Full Story: FFN|AO3]
Chapter 76: Auld Lang Syne
“We should have done this years ago.”
He knew he was mumbling; his dad looked up from pouring them another couple drinks with an unsteady hand. “Hm?”
He gestured aimlessly in the air. “New Year’s. Drinking. Talking. Should have done it a long time ago.”
“Mm-hmm.” Lawrence set the bottle down and picked up his glass. “To second chances.”
“Second chances,” Leonard echoed, and took a drink.
They hadn’t planned this evening in. Leonard had gone out and bought one of his customary bottles of bourbon, planning to escape up the stairs with them and drink alone, like he always did. But things hadn’t been as contentious between him and his father lately, and he didn’t try to evade when his father started a conversation. They’d started out talking about Jackie, of course. It was still kind of shocking, and he regretted the fact that he wouldn’t be near as his father’s relationship with her bloomed. That was the bad side to this timing; well, that and the fact that he was losing out on his very competent and reliable office administrator. That was a low blow, he’d told Lawrence, deadpan, but with a teasing quirk at the corner of his mouth.
From there he was pretty sure he was the one who had made the offer, though his dad had been the one who retrieved the drink tumblers. They sat at the table, across from one another. The conversation itself hadn’t been that in-depth, no; not at first. They mostly stayed in familiar and safe territory—small talk, almost. They talked about their new lives; they talked about the holidays, and their previous visits with Valerie; they talked about funny stories from their pasts. After their toast, they went silent for a bit, reminiscing.
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He could never forget her, and his memories were the keystone in the center of everything he was. Yet it is said we are not human beings but human becomings. Leonard Church was no exception.
[ Full Story: FFN|AO3]
Chapter 75: Home For Christmas
Sitting off to the side, Leonard watched the family as they all talked and laughed together. Celebrating Christmas was a new thing for the Churches—Leonard and Lawrence hadn’t kept the holiday since Leonard’s mother had left them, and Valerie had never celebrated it at all. At least, not with them.
This gathering was smaller than the Thanksgiving they had celebrated here last year. It was just Lawrence, Jackie, Ashley, Jacob, Leonard, and Valerie this time. They had brought their menorah over, as it was the first night of Hanukkah. And naturally, the Churches had brought gifts for the Chamrouen family, as well as Hanukkah gifts for one another.
The luncheon Christmas meal had included both turkey and ham, and so many side dishes that the family had had to serve themselves buffet-style before moving to sit at the table. Leonard had wondered whether Jackie was going to extra effort for them. Normally this holiday meal would be smaller for her to prepare.
“So you just give each other something small,” Ash was saying, “but you do it eight times.”
“I usually get money, honestly,” Valerie said. “And maybe a big gift for the last night.”
“I don’t know if I could hold out,” Ash said, laughing. “I’d just open everything the first night.”
“No way,” Valerie said. “I mean, of course I try to peek and guess and all that, but I wouldn’t open a present until it was time for it.”
Ash laughed again. Leonard smiled, somewhat ruefully. He felt out of place here; Ash and Valerie and Jacob were all close enough in age to fall together as a group, and Jackie and Lawrence were dating. What was he even doing here?
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He could never forget her, and his memories were the keystone in the center of everything he was. Yet it is said we are not human beings but human becomings. Leonard Church was no exception.
[ Full Story: FFN|AO3]
Chapter 74: A Man With A Reason
He had known this call was coming. How could he not? The only part that had really taken him by surprise was that it had taken so long. After nearly five months, he had begun to think that perhaps it would never come. But he knew it had when he saw the country code at the beginning of the number—a call from New Mombasa could be nothing else.
“Leonard Church,” he answered. Might as well leave no doubt as to who they had reached.
“Dr. Church,” replied the voice on the other end. “This is Lieutenant Ryan McCafferty, liaison to the public for the UNSC. I am calling from UNSC headquarters in New Mombasa in reference to your use of and publishing of proprietary technology owned jointly by MIT and the UNSC, as seen in the Journal of Artificial Intelligences this past June.”
“Mmh,” he grunted. “That was my paper, yes.”
“I was wondering if you’d be willing to discuss this matter over the phone. Could you tell me how you came to be in possession of this technology nine years after leaving MIT’s employment?”
“I don’t intend to, no,” Leonard said.
“All right, well, unfortunately, Dr. Church, you have very few options in this situation,” McCafferty replied. “The UNSC has grounds to press charges over this paper. You do know that.”
“I do,” Leonard replied. “However, I am certain there are other options that lie between the extremes.”
“Yes—the next option would be a mediation, possibly followed by an arbitration, before we move to press charges. However—”
“I am absolutely calling for mediation, then,” Leonard replied.
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He could never forget her, and his memories were the keystone in the center of everything he was. Yet it is said we are not human beings but human becomings. Leonard Church was no exception.
[ Full Story: FFN|AO3]
Chapter 73: Commencement
It was past 1800 hours when Valerie arrived on base where she had been assigned in Rome, Italy for the Basic School. The Basic School was the officer training school that took place between commissioning and taking on an actual job in the Marines. Valerie had managed to gain entry into the program faster than many, attending the summer after graduation, rather than waiting months or years for her chance. She had decided to arrive on the last day before school started, and it was late enough now that she needed to check in on the computer at the front desk so the after-hours NCO could come and lead her to her barracks.
He arrived after a short wait, his nameplate and insignia identifying him as Sergeant Wilbury.
“Second Lieutenant Valerie Church,” she introduced herself.
The sergeant looked through the system for a moment, then gestured for her to follow.
“Your quarters are in the second barracks,” he said. “Apartment G.”
“Thank you,” she said, hoisting her bag onto her shoulder again.
He began to lead her there. “Been in Italy long?” he asked.
“I just arrived,” she said.
“I think you’re the last to arrive,” he said. “You’re lucky, though. They assigned you a good spot.”
“Good,” she said.
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He could never forget her, and his memories were the keystone in the center of everything he was. Yet it is said we are not human beings but human becomings. Leonard Church was no exception.
[ Full Story: FFN|AO3]
Chapter 72: Coalescence
Leonard clenched his jaw as he waited for the call to connect. There was only a couple hours’ difference between here and California—it was within business hours for Dr. Price. Thankfully it only took a moment longer for him to answer.
“Aiden,” Leonard began, choosing for whatever reason to start out informal. The two had spoken several times since meeting at the conference a couple of years ago, mostly idle talk about the nature of an AI’s personhood. So although he had never done that before, it also wouldn’t seem beyond the pale. “I trust you’ve been well.”
“Yes,” Price said with his typical calm. “And yourself?”
Leonard paused. Their discussions had never led to any kind of partnership, and they had never been this serious. In spite of that, Leonard had chosen to call him. He just felt he had to tell someone about this. “To be honest, I’ve been struggling with something.”
“I’d be happy to help you if I can,” Price said.
“Yes,” Leonard muttered. He straightened himself in his chair. “A couple of years ago the government cut funding to a particular branch of research that I have felt personally invested in for many years. There are a large number of archives relating to this research that have been in storage since that time. Recently the university that houses those archives has announced intentions to destroy those archives in favor of freeing up storage space.”
“It sounds as though you feel destroying those archives would be a misstep.”
“A misstep,” Leonard repeated. “That’s a good way of putting it.”
[Please note that no updates were posted for chapters 70-71 on this website. If you were following the fic from here, you have missed those chapters]
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He could never forget her, and his memories were the keystone in the center of everything he was. Yet it is said we are not human beings but human becomings. Leonard Church was no exception.
[ Full Story: FFN | AO3]
Chapter 69: Under The Influence
He wasn’t exactly sleeping, but the rattle of the doorknob was what roused him. The sound was followed by a swift rap. His eyes cracked open and he tilted his head slightly in the direction of the door. Whatever time it was, Jackie was here and trying to get into his office.
Whatever time it was, it was the wrong time.
His eyes were bleary. He’d been awake for so long that as he tried to move out of his chair, lethargy washed over him. He let himself droop back again, his head tilting forward. He’d been slowly finishing his bottle of bourbon throughout the night, contemplating the events of the last twenty years. He hadn’t really realized until just today that that was how long it had been. It had been over half his life since the events he’d been so strenuously questioning Texas about had occurred. “Goddamnit,” he muttered to himself, one of many curses he’d hurled at these memories, at himself, since he’d decided to shut Texas down. It had been the wrong thing to do. She’d just been so…so blunt about what had happened, and so outspoken in telling him how wrong he was. He needed to get that out of his face, and off of his conscience.
But this would never be off of his conscience. He had known it then and he knew it now. He’d failed Allison in so many ways, even when he’d been confident he’d done the right thing. That was painful enough without the accusations Texas had been laying at his feet.
He swiveled the chair slowly in one direction, trailing one foot along the floor, then swiveled it back, reaching for the bottle in order to swallow one last finger of alcohol. He just needed that to bolster him, to give him the strength of will to be able to force himself to move on with his day. But before his fingers touched the glass of the bottle the alert on his COM pad went off. He lifted it slightly to look. It was Jackie, now trying to call him. He nudged the device aside and carefully stood. He might need to wallow a little longer but it wasn’t going to happen until after he handled some business.
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Work, making cosplay props and Final Fantasy XIV have been consuming my life *___*
My first resin cast is a Keystone! It just finished curing just now. I put too much glitter and dye though, and I need to let the resin thicken a bit before pouring or the colours will mix too much, pink’s all gone o(-< the DNA thingy is less visible under normal light. But overall, it was a pretty good first resin experience! /o/
If anyone’s interested, I got my sphere mold here. It’s really great because you don’t need to use a releasing agent when you use the mold.
P.S. Expect the first Team Villains S6 set (Team Aqua) to come out either tonight or tomorrow! I’m just a bit stuck on the layout *__*
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Donnie (RIP) from KEYSTONE in 1974. Be sure to check the hashtag for more photos of this varrio.
