The observatory towered above, a curved dome atop a large, square concrete block with no windows or other significant, noteworthy features, save for the stairs which seemed to jut outwards from the stone. They were heavily weathered by the wind, rain and salty sea-air, and in places looked to be crumbling, but half-way up Jasper could see a doorway leading inside. He shivered as he started his ascent.
The skies had clouded over, and the sea had slowly risen as he'd made his way to the building. Though the waves crashed far, far below their threatening sound still rose to his ears. Cautiously he stepped along the stairway.
“Pretty sure this concrete isn't meant to be springy,” he muttered as he felt the stone flex a little under his foot.
He reached the door safely. Atop the wooden frame was a plaque which read Respect, Loyalty, Fealty. Jasper stared at it a moment before trying the door. It swung open easily to his touch.
Inside the doorway Jasper was surprised to see oil lamps lighting his way. The room immediately opened into a wide open room with what looked like old computers lining the walls and floor in aisles. Immediately before him was a pit, where the floor looked like it had collapsed into a lower floor.
“Looks like I'll have to go down before I can go up.”
Jasper clambered down slowly. The rooms were large, and though well lit it was still quite a drop into the unknown. All he could see was a pile of broken stone – hardly the most comfortable of landing zones, he thought to himself, but he had come this far.
He fell into a crouch as he landed. There was a noise of cracking stone, and he held his breath, but the room remained stable. He was about to move when something caught his eye. Dislodged from the ceiling above a single sheet of paper floated down from above, and he snatched it out of the air.
#34
I saw him in my dreams again. I was there too, but far away. Sometimes it feels like I'm worlds away, trapped on a rock. He was smiling. Never did like to sit still long. Never did like to let it all get too much.
Jasper stared thoughtfully at the paper. There were other, similar sheets, mostly blank. They looked like pages from a military logbook, fine, lined paper with columns towards the margins. He looked for one with writing on, but most were covered in incomprehensible symbols and graphs. He decided to venture further.
The room he had dropped into appeared to be the corner of a corridor, but the cave in had blocked one side of it, leaving him only one way to progress. He walked to the end of the corridor, only to be met with another one, this time leading left and right. To the right were stairs upwards, but another piece of paper caught his eye on the left, and Jasper moved to take it.
#12
Sometimes I wonder if you even know who I am. Is it possible I don't even exist in your little world? That's how it feels. Sometimes.
A door on Jasper's left opened to his push. A storage room, filled with seemingly random assortments of stationary and office supplies. More paper and ink lined the walls in ordered boxes, but this paper didn't match the rest. At the end of the short room was a wrecked shelf. It looked like something had been thrown against it. Jasper grunted dismissively, and was about to leave until the stains behind the shelf caught his eye. They were made of oil, dried against the plaster, and at first glance were entirely random, but he noticed he could make out words if he tried.
Always watching, always blind.
Jasper shivered. He wished Juni was here. In fact, he wished anyone was. Why is it he had seen no one since arriving at this strange world? Why was it he couldn't remember how he had got there? Why was it he felt...
He stared at the ink again. It was a creeping feeling. He should have noticed it straight away. He cursed at not noticing it. It was a deep, howling loneliness that had been seeping into him from the moment he had stepped inside. It grew within him like a hunger. Perhaps it had even been before that. He had been drawn to the lamplight. Light meant company. It meant civilisation. It meant... he was not alone.
Jasper stepped back out of the storeage room, only to have his foot brush against another page. He picked it up slowly.
#365
Anniversary. But you don't even know. You never were much for birthdays or anything like that. I should have insisted. I should have made you come. I wonder... if I'd just asked in the right way...
Jasper dropped the page. His face was grim. There was one more door on the corridor.
The room hummed softly as he entered. Big round green machines whirred and clicked on either side, lining the walls. Generators, he assumed. At the end of the room was a desk, complete with chair and writing pad. A sheet laid on the desk. The ink still looked wet.
#600
Hope, no hope, no hope, no hope, no hope, no hope, no hope, no hope...
Jasper shivered again, his fist balling up at his sides. He felt... feral. Something tugged at him from behind and he span around, growling.
There was nothing. His eyes darted around nervously, but then he heard it. Fire. It crackled in his ears from the next room. He darted outside and back down the corridor, pausing as he saw flames covering the wall at the back of the storage room. The oil had been set alight, and burned without smoke. He swallowed hard as he realized the message, or part of it, still remained.
Watching, always
Jasper's eyes darted around the storage room, and spotting a large, heavy blanket he took action and batted it against the flames. It took several attempts from the human, but eventually the fire fizzled to nothing, leaving a gunky mess on the wall, and a singed blanket and Jasper.
He breathed heavily for a moment, the distinctive scent of burning leaving a tingle in his throat as he took his breaths.
“They say fire cleanses everything, in the end.”
Jasper spun around, his heart skipping a beat in terror, before coming face to face with Juni. He stumbled backwards a little, but regained his balance.
“Would you forget, I wonder?” she continued, leaning backwards against the wall of the corridor looking at Jasper's face with what amounted to contempt.
“Would I?” Jasper shot back. “I didn't have a choice.”
“That's what you think,” she said, “but here you are, treading on memories. Maybe we should burn them all.”
“I don't understand this place,” Jasper said. “You don't make any sense.”
Juni shook her head. “You've done all you can here. Go on up. He's waiting,” and she stepped around the corner.
“Who's waiting?!” Jasper said, pulling himself out of the doorway. He sighed slowly. She had already disappeared.
Jasper was alone again, and with only one option, he proceeded up the stairs. The next floor was the computer room. He took a quick look around, but nothing caught his eye. There didn't seem to be a viable way to reach the entrance again to get out of this strange nightmare either, so again he took the only option available to him and ascended once more.
The staircase opened out as he reached the top, the large dome of the observatory covering the room. It was a metal structure, and the walls were lined with cogs. They had rusted over time, and seemed to be caking away in places. Wind and water had got to them long ago. It did not take much effort to realize why. Where the dome opened for the telescope the wall had collapsed, leaving only a pile of bricks beneath, and there, looking out into the night was a man, and beside him a small telescope on a tripod and empty bottles. He did not react as Jasper approached.
“Hello?” Jasper asked slowly.
The man held up a hand, as if signalling for silence, then, when Jasper made no further attempt to speak, beckoned him forwards.
“Look,” he said, gesturing out of the hole.
The hole opened out on to the edge of the cliff, and far below the waves crashed against the rock. Further down the beach flattened out again, and the waves had yet to draw that far in-land. There, just before the sand was a building, nestled at the base of a distant cliff, but surrounded by grass and trees, in obvious shelter from the tide. It seemed impossibly safe and modern in comparison to the observatory, with big glass windows covering the front and stylish panelling over the walls facing them.
“Two people live there,” the man said. “And perhaps they don't. They are lovers, at any rate. I know that much.”
“You spy on them?” Jasper asked.
“I... watch,” the man said.
“Gross.”
“Heh... do you really think so?” The man said sadly, and then turned to Jasper. He grinned broadly and Jasper frowned. He recognised the man instantly. It was Jasper himself. A clone, perhaps.
“Yet another person who knows more than me, only this time it is me,” he said with a sigh.
“Must be hard for you,” the second Jasper said. “This is all new to you,” he said, with a wave of his hand, turning back to the beach. “Here, this is for you,” he said, and withdrew an envelope from a pocket. Jasper took it wordlessly and opened it.
#1460
Four years is plenty, I think. Watching, waiting. Sending smoke signals. Staring into space. Staring into the uncaring eternity of your eyes. I wonder still, even now, what you're writing. What you're thinking. What you're doing. I wonder if any of it is about me. Do you still... want me to succeed? Is that still important to you? I just want you to come home.
And as for me, well. Who do you think is writing all of this anyway?
Jasper stared at the words. His heart ached with longing, and he felt suddenly exhausted. The paper fell from his fingers as he sat down. He didn't even realize he had been standing. He looked around, but he already knew what he would see.
“Juni,” he said, as she approached from behind. The second Jasper was gone, and he was sitting in his place. His mind ached, like a section of his brain had swollen under sudden pressure. He dropped the pen and paper, and they blew away in the wind. “I remember him,” he said, closing his eyes.
“Figures this is the first place you'd come,” she said. “It always keeps bringing you back.”
“What do I do?” he asked.
“You could run away again,” she said slowly. “It's not that bad really, once you get used to it.”
“Or?”
“Or... we see if we can make it out the other side,” Juni said, and came forward and sat with her legs dangling over the edge. “There's lots of old demons here. It's not like you're missing anything, are you?”
“I don't want to remember any more,” Jasper said.
“Well, that's three choices then,” she said, tossing a stone out into the wind. “Keep going, try again or try something new.”
“Who are you, Juni?” Jasper asked.
“Me?” she folded her arms and turned away. He saw a trace of a frown on her feline features before they disappeared. “I'm not important.”
“But you know... who he was? Who he was to me?”
She was silent for quite some time before she next spoke. “I know how little everything else is. But I'm trying to help.”
“What would you do?” Jasper asked.
She stood up suddenly. “I would keep moving,” she said simply, and began to leave, but Jasper stopped her, grabbing her arm.
“I've made my choice.”
