Chapter Text
Here’s how the story goes. There are two worlds - one we know, one we are familiar with, and one that we aren’t, one that we do not know. One small action, one choice, can change everything. Even a simple accident can flip the script, so to speak.
Here’s how the story goes this time-
Sasha James survives the Prentiss attack. She doesn’t get replaced by the Not-Them, isn’t forgotten by her friends. In this one, a different woman from Artefact Storage disappears, but no one notices. Least of all, anyone in the Archives. Sasha James leaves the institute that day shaken and with new nightmares, but she leaves wholly herself.
Timothy Stoker does not lose hope. He doesn’t lose his spark because there are people he knows (and maybe loves) that would never allow that to happen. And when he goes to help stop the Unknowing, he comes home. Because he has a reason to live this time, and he will not let himself be consumed by hatred and a desire for revenge
Martin Blackwood doesn’t lose himself to the Lonely, not by choice. He stays in the Archives because he isn’t the only one left. He has people who need him more than any plan Peter Lukas has. This time, he was there when people needed him and people were there for him.
Jonathan Sims is not consumed by paranoia. When his predecessor’s body is found, he turns to his assistants, his friends , for help. Because in this story, he trusts them, He has lost so much of his life to the mistrust and the paranoia - he refuses to lose anymore. And that includes his friends. He refuses to be another Gertrude Robinson.
But there are some things that will never change, not because they can’t, but because they are not meant to. Jurgen Leitner is still murdered by Elias Bouchard (or the man who wears his face), and Jon is still suspected. After the Unknowing, Jon still ends up a coma, and Daisy is still thrown into the coffin. (Jon still saves her because, at his core, Jon cares. Jon cares, even if she has tried to kill him more than once.) He is still Marked, remains to be the Archivist. He is still kidnapped and traumatized, but this time, he isn’t alone. This time, in this story, Tim and Sasha survive. Martin is still there. Jon trusts them all. They all have each other.
Here is how this story goes.
It began with four. They learn, grow and experience the terrors of the world together. And instead of letting it break them, it brings them closer together than ever. It began with them, and so it must end with them. The more melodramatic may say “They lived together, so they die together.” But a story needn’t always end in death and sorrow. Sometimes it is enough for the characters to get peace, for them to be happy. In this one, Sasha James was never replaced, Timothy Stoker never lost his hope, Martin Blackwood did not lose himself to the Lonely and Jonathan Sims never gave into paranoia. As for how the story will end this time? We will just have to wait and see.