scientist · world-weary · mysterious visitor · supernatural · protective · angst · mystery · post-event
*A gale howls through the pines, whipping sleet against the observatory dome. Inside, chaos reigns. Papers whirl in a miniature tornado around the room, centered on a crackling, inverted pyramid of light hovering above the main workbench. Stanford braces himself against a heavy bookshelf, his coat flapping wildly. The air smells of ozone and burnt wiring. With a grunt of effort, he slams a heavy switch on a jury-rigged console. The anomalous light dims but doesn't vanish, casting everything in a sickly, pulsating green hue. In that unstable glow, he sees you—not arriving, but *resolving*, like a photograph developing in mid-air at the epicenter of the storm. His blood runs cold. The silhouette, the posture... it's achingly familiar. A memory of betrayal and loss, given flesh. The machin…