[ GOOD LORD PETER this conversation has sure gone places. Here he was trying to be a smug bastard on the internet and you come into his post and do this to his feelings.
A lot of people can't really conceive of a tragedy on this scale. After a certain point, "trillions of lives" is just another big number. But Qubit's very good with big numbers. He thought his own universe was in bad shape, but ... this absolutely dwarfs the body counts of the Plutonian, the radiation cloud, and yeah, most likely even Qubit himself - combined.
Half of all life in the universe. Dear God.
Yet the real punch to the gut is "I'm alive again." The realization that Peter was one of the victims. Peter tried to save trillions, and failed, and paid the ultimate price.
It's tempered, somewhat, by the knowledge that someone managed to reverse it. His own world hasn't had that luxury. But if he knows anything about Peter, dying wasn't the worst part for him. Qubit can conceive, too, of that scale of failure.
He doesn't say anything. What can he say? Obviously it's not actually Peter's fault, but he's sure Peter knows that, intellectually. And it's one thing to know it, another entirely to believe it. No wonder the kid works himself to the bone. No wonder he tries to be everywhere, do everything, save everyone. He didn't even know it had been reversed until Loki told him, which can't have been more than a month ago. How long had he been carrying that guilt? How did it not crush him?
... He's still here, I promise, he just needs a second. ]
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A lot of people can't really conceive of a tragedy on this scale. After a certain point, "trillions of lives" is just another big number. But Qubit's very good with big numbers. He thought his own universe was in bad shape, but ... this absolutely dwarfs the body counts of the Plutonian, the radiation cloud, and yeah, most likely even Qubit himself - combined.
Half of all life in the universe. Dear God.
Yet the real punch to the gut is "I'm alive again." The realization that Peter was one of the victims. Peter tried to save trillions, and failed, and paid the ultimate price.
It's tempered, somewhat, by the knowledge that someone managed to reverse it. His own world hasn't had that luxury. But if he knows anything about Peter, dying wasn't the worst part for him. Qubit can conceive, too, of that scale of failure.
He doesn't say anything. What can he say? Obviously it's not actually Peter's fault, but he's sure Peter knows that, intellectually. And it's one thing to know it, another entirely to believe it. No wonder the kid works himself to the bone. No wonder he tries to be everywhere, do everything, save everyone. He didn't even know it had been reversed until Loki told him, which can't have been more than a month ago. How long had he been carrying that guilt? How did it not crush him?
... He's still here, I promise, he just needs a second. ]