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rainbowfic2026-03-20 03:59 pm
paradoxcase) wrote in rainbowfic2026-03-20 03:59 pm
Entry tags:
Warm Heart #21 [The Fulcrum]
Name: Nyecchea
Story: The Fulcrum
Colors: Warm Heart #21: Caution
Styles and Supplies: Panorama
Word Count: 896
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Characters: Setsiana, Qhoroali, Cusäfä
In-Universe Date: -10,000 (Not on-screen, per se, but they left from 1912.5.3.6)
Summary: Qhoroali investigates the Nyecchea.
“Nyecchea?” Cusäfä asked, puzzled. They were back with his tribe again, and this time Qhoroali was asking about the strange substance that had been implicated by the note as interfering with Mirrors. Setsiana had not yet worked up the courage to say anything more to Qhoroali like Liselye had suggested, and dreams had been frustratingly scarce in the past days.
“Nyecchea,” Cusäfä said again, more slowly, and then began mutating the sounds. “Nie-c-ch— Niechhee? Niexxee!” he exclaimed, suddenly. “That’s what it has to be, at least in the 25th century. I don’t think it could be anything else.”
“What is it?” Qhoroali asked. “This ‘Niexxee’.”
“It was a cleaning compound,” said Cusäfä. “Very popular for cleaning bathrooms and drains at one point, circa the 22nd century, I think. It started out as something they used to clean hospital rooms and equipment — it was considered the only thing good enough to truly kill any pathogen, guaranteed. Then the company started advertising it to regular people to use in their houses, to capitalize on that reputation.” He opened his mouth again, as if he might have more to say on the subject, but then closed it again, regarding Qhoroali pensively.
“But it wasn’t used anymore, by your time,” Setsiana inferred. “Why not?”
Cusäfä turned to her, seemingly more willing to talk to her about this than Qhoroali. “Well, first, it was discovered that some people’s bathroom fixtures were being negatively affected. Something in it was eating away at the material, after repeated use. And then there was a notable uptick in certain ailments… cancers, lung problems, chemical burns, miscarriages… they did studies. And they all correlated to people who frequently used the Niexxee, mostly maids, housekeepers, and housewives. They did tests on animals. It turned out you didn’t even have to spill it on yourself to do damage, and it had compounding effects over time. So after that, they banned it.”
“Do you know why it might have interfered with Mirrors?” Qhoroali asked. “That’s what the note said.”
“I don’t know, unless they just meant it eroded the material they were made of,” said Cusäfä. “But even then, that was something that happened over long periods of time, with fixtures that were cleaned with it again and again and again. I can’t imagine they would have had a reason to do that with Mirrors.”
Qhoroali put her chin in her hand. “I think if it was destroying the material they were made of, it would have said something else,” she said. “It said ‘interferes’. I think that could only mean it blocked the functionality in some way.”
Cusäfä inclined his head. “You know the language better than I do,” he acknowledged. “Probably more about Mirror functionality, too. I think everything that was explicitly about Mirrors did actually get destroyed by the government in 2307.”
“I wouldn’t say I know that much,” said Qhoroali. “Some theory, sure, but I’ve never touched or seen one to actually use it. From what I remember, they create a temporary timeline on a direct path to wherever in the Tree you’re trying to get to, so that the distance is always very short. They’re also very brittle, and can’t be seen without a Mirror, and can’t break through the 2307 wall.” She paused for a moment. “I guess, to build a timeline, even a brittle one, it has to borrow some Time from the source.”
Cusäfä frowned. “What makes you think there’s a single source of Time?” he asked. “I would think that to the extent that Time is a substance, it would be something that just exists generally, like photons, or hydrogen.”
Qhoroali grinned at him. “I’ve seen it with my own eyes,” she said. “I could take you there and show you sometime, if you’d like.”
Cusäfä shook his head. “I’ll leave that to you. I think my sense of adventure has gone out of my head now, to be honest — I have a project here, a godson, a family, of sorts. So I’ll take your word for it. But what is it you’re thinking the Niexxee does? Destroys Time?”
“Or just repels it, maybe,” said Qhoroali. “Damages it enough to destroy that brittle timeline. Can you make some for me?”
“No,” said Cusäfä. “Like I told you, that stuff is bad news. It was banned for a reason. Also, the formula is incredibly complex. But you know there’s a much easier solution, right? You can time travel. Just go to the 22nd century, when it was still being sold in the grocery store right next to the orange juice, and buy some.”
“They use funny money in the 22nd century,” said Qhoroali. “Unless you have some of that to give me, I can’t buy it.”
“You have people from that time period, right?” asked Cusäfä. “I bet you there’s someone in Mosetai’s building who’s been making a killing on the stock market in that era and has more ‘funny money’ in some timelines than you could possibly dream of. Trust me, there will be someone.”
“Alright,” Qhoroali conceded. She hesitated slightly, and then almost cautiously, asked, “How is your godson, anyway?”
Cusäfä’s face lit up, and he began talking about the baby, and his parents, and their daily lives in the tribe. The three of them sat there and talked for some time more before Setsiana and Qhoroali left again.
Story: The Fulcrum
Colors: Warm Heart #21: Caution
Styles and Supplies: Panorama
Word Count: 896
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Characters: Setsiana, Qhoroali, Cusäfä
In-Universe Date: -10,000 (Not on-screen, per se, but they left from 1912.5.3.6)
Summary: Qhoroali investigates the Nyecchea.
“Nyecchea?” Cusäfä asked, puzzled. They were back with his tribe again, and this time Qhoroali was asking about the strange substance that had been implicated by the note as interfering with Mirrors. Setsiana had not yet worked up the courage to say anything more to Qhoroali like Liselye had suggested, and dreams had been frustratingly scarce in the past days.
“Nyecchea,” Cusäfä said again, more slowly, and then began mutating the sounds. “Nie-c-ch— Niechhee? Niexxee!” he exclaimed, suddenly. “That’s what it has to be, at least in the 25th century. I don’t think it could be anything else.”
“What is it?” Qhoroali asked. “This ‘Niexxee’.”
“It was a cleaning compound,” said Cusäfä. “Very popular for cleaning bathrooms and drains at one point, circa the 22nd century, I think. It started out as something they used to clean hospital rooms and equipment — it was considered the only thing good enough to truly kill any pathogen, guaranteed. Then the company started advertising it to regular people to use in their houses, to capitalize on that reputation.” He opened his mouth again, as if he might have more to say on the subject, but then closed it again, regarding Qhoroali pensively.
“But it wasn’t used anymore, by your time,” Setsiana inferred. “Why not?”
Cusäfä turned to her, seemingly more willing to talk to her about this than Qhoroali. “Well, first, it was discovered that some people’s bathroom fixtures were being negatively affected. Something in it was eating away at the material, after repeated use. And then there was a notable uptick in certain ailments… cancers, lung problems, chemical burns, miscarriages… they did studies. And they all correlated to people who frequently used the Niexxee, mostly maids, housekeepers, and housewives. They did tests on animals. It turned out you didn’t even have to spill it on yourself to do damage, and it had compounding effects over time. So after that, they banned it.”
“Do you know why it might have interfered with Mirrors?” Qhoroali asked. “That’s what the note said.”
“I don’t know, unless they just meant it eroded the material they were made of,” said Cusäfä. “But even then, that was something that happened over long periods of time, with fixtures that were cleaned with it again and again and again. I can’t imagine they would have had a reason to do that with Mirrors.”
Qhoroali put her chin in her hand. “I think if it was destroying the material they were made of, it would have said something else,” she said. “It said ‘interferes’. I think that could only mean it blocked the functionality in some way.”
Cusäfä inclined his head. “You know the language better than I do,” he acknowledged. “Probably more about Mirror functionality, too. I think everything that was explicitly about Mirrors did actually get destroyed by the government in 2307.”
“I wouldn’t say I know that much,” said Qhoroali. “Some theory, sure, but I’ve never touched or seen one to actually use it. From what I remember, they create a temporary timeline on a direct path to wherever in the Tree you’re trying to get to, so that the distance is always very short. They’re also very brittle, and can’t be seen without a Mirror, and can’t break through the 2307 wall.” She paused for a moment. “I guess, to build a timeline, even a brittle one, it has to borrow some Time from the source.”
Cusäfä frowned. “What makes you think there’s a single source of Time?” he asked. “I would think that to the extent that Time is a substance, it would be something that just exists generally, like photons, or hydrogen.”
Qhoroali grinned at him. “I’ve seen it with my own eyes,” she said. “I could take you there and show you sometime, if you’d like.”
Cusäfä shook his head. “I’ll leave that to you. I think my sense of adventure has gone out of my head now, to be honest — I have a project here, a godson, a family, of sorts. So I’ll take your word for it. But what is it you’re thinking the Niexxee does? Destroys Time?”
“Or just repels it, maybe,” said Qhoroali. “Damages it enough to destroy that brittle timeline. Can you make some for me?”
“No,” said Cusäfä. “Like I told you, that stuff is bad news. It was banned for a reason. Also, the formula is incredibly complex. But you know there’s a much easier solution, right? You can time travel. Just go to the 22nd century, when it was still being sold in the grocery store right next to the orange juice, and buy some.”
“They use funny money in the 22nd century,” said Qhoroali. “Unless you have some of that to give me, I can’t buy it.”
“You have people from that time period, right?” asked Cusäfä. “I bet you there’s someone in Mosetai’s building who’s been making a killing on the stock market in that era and has more ‘funny money’ in some timelines than you could possibly dream of. Trust me, there will be someone.”
“Alright,” Qhoroali conceded. She hesitated slightly, and then almost cautiously, asked, “How is your godson, anyway?”
Cusäfä’s face lit up, and he began talking about the baby, and his parents, and their daily lives in the tribe. The three of them sat there and talked for some time more before Setsiana and Qhoroali left again.