The SDG: Part Two - Player or Character?
The Drama continues.
Part the Second: Where we witness a new player, muse on existence, find Nirvana, and commit heinous sixth-wall breaking through self-insertion.
Kayle grins at Nikolai. "I told you so..." He goes blank as he falls into a sleep state, conserving power until he can be jumpstarted.
GrayZero glances towards Onya, smiles softly. "We have had this conversation previously elsewhere. But such things should not be spoken of as waves collapse."
Torque brushes her, his, hand down Indi's back, licking along his cheek as they say. "Indi, a few momre moments, all will be well. Nikolai, do you know how to stop this?"
The waves collapse. The generator is not shutting down. But the spherical light-disturbance blooms chaos and music, and cracking shattering crumbling walls and rules and everything that is wrong shouldn't be right...and then there is a steaming slagheap on the ground, and a figure hopping around on the concrete, trying not to burn his feet.
GrayZero turns to Nikolai. "You were indeed warned." She shrugs.
( Nikolai is gone. Coalesce is gone. The Red King is gone. In place is... )
Chris hops off the melted concrete. "Ow ow ow!"
Chris:
A mid-height human male, in his mid-twenties in age. He has brown hair, a moustache and a goatee. Small oval glasses with thick lenses are set on his nose, and he has a necklace with a tiny lapis lazuli stone around his neck.
He is wearing a large white shirt with 'PUC' on the front, and some plaid pajama-bottom pants, and no shoes or socks. Hanging around his neck is a pair of large headphones with the end of the wire neatly sliced off. He might even be carrying a useless computer keyboard, its own wire terminating in a ragged edge.
For once, here's a human that doesn't look lost at being here. He seems to almost expect all the weirdness in the Mess.
Induction-Coil might probably help Kayle out at some point, jumpstart isjn't hard to do, expeciallly in an out-of-his mind ecstatic state as SOME version of him must be. An Indi appears near the Salamander. He might be back up and running..
A pianist dreams that he's hired by a wrecking company to ruin a piano with his fingers . . .
GrayZero raises an eyebrow.
Chris stops, looking around. "Oh, FRELL."
Onya chuckles. "Don't be a fool. Reality is always what we make of it. A mind is its own place, and in itself, can make a heaven of hell, or a hell of heaven. To say that we collapse reality- that we must collapse reality by simply being- is false for those who understand what happens next- and the truth is that even for those of us who collapse reality- who choose to yet- we can choose which reality we prefer."
[OOC] Kayle says, "Great. Someone fell through their monitor."
On the day of the piano wrecking concert, as he's dressing, he notices a butterfly annoying a flower in his window box. He wonders if the police should be called. Then he thinks maybe the butterfly is just a marionette being manipulated by its master from the window above.
Induction-Coil nods to Torque, trustingly. "I think I'm feeling better anyway, myself.. In.. both places.
[OOC] Onya says, "Bound to happen."
Suddenly everything is beautiful. He begins to cry.
[OOC] Kayle says, "This is gonna be /so fun/."
[OOC] Then another butterfly begins to annoy the first butterfly. He again wonders if he shouldn't call the police.
Chris drops his keyboard, it too is steaming. "It's happened, hasn't it."
GrayZero smiles. "You've convinced yourself as much, I'm sure."
[OOC] But, perhaps they are marionette-butterflies? He thinks they are, belonging to rival masters seeing whose butterfly can annoy the other's the most.
( And this is happening in his window box. The Cosmic Plan: Distant Masters manipulating minor Masters who, in turn, are manipulating tiny butterfly-Masters who, in turn, are manipulating him . . . A universe webbed with strings! )
[OOC] How odd, that butterflies have no strings.
Suddenly it is all so beautiful; the light is strange . . . Something about the light! He begins to cry . . .
[OOC] They're quantum strings, silly. You can't see them.
Onya flashes her fangs in a grin at GrayZero. "And having done so, I have made it into truth, and thus my point is made." And with that, she slinks off towards the newcomer, as large as a house and dark as a shade, broken only by dark green eyes. "Hello, there," she purrs to the newcomer.
[OOC] Yeah. Haven't you ever heard of String Theory?
[OOC] I told you not to pull that string.
Chris cocks his neck to a side. "That /hurt/." He finally notices the frozen lightning bolt and the chaos around the generator. "Beautiful. Just how I wrote it."
GrayZero quietly shakes her head, leans back against the 'tree' she'd selected earlier.
Elegy sighs as if burdened by enormous ennui. "Ah, well. Much better this than writing himself into his own webcomic."
Clockwork's pile's radio's speaker crackles, just so, in a typical nonsequiter. " Meat." it says.
Chris smiles. "Woah, hi there, Onya. You're quite bigger than my imagination was saying. I knew I should have read the desc closer."
GrayZero glances towards Elegy. "Hm? I was not aware he had one. Interesting."
I was walkin' to the kitchen for some Golden Grahms when I accidentally stepped into an alternate dimension...
Elegy was speaking hypothetically, of course.
Chris wiggles his eyebrows to GrayZero. "I don't. If I did, it'd probably be something like Kidd Radd, or something."
GrayZero hrms.
[OOC] *apologises, of course, for that horrible horrible use of a Weird Al quote*
Onya snorts, unfolding her wings over the human boy. "Arrogant chep," she hisses, narrowing her gaze. "Show your manners. Presently."
GrayZero smiles. "Ah. Perhaps you should try one, then."
Torque Nods slowly as he curls his arms around Indi's, taking a sharp breath in... "Indi.. this place is making my head hurt."
You say, "I save my creativity for here, usually. I'm a better wordsmith than I am artist sometimes. Ah, well. "
Induction-Coil nods, and leans agianst Torque. "Making me hurt in places I dind't even know I had..."
GrayZero hrms, nods. "Understandable. I face a similar limitation. Except, of course, that the player cannot really draw. Complains at great length about it."
Induction-Coil says, "Bodies I diudn't even know I had, planes I didn't even know I had.. Why do I still want to watch?"
Chris bows deeply to Onya. "My apologies, miss. I'm not used to composing myself in the presence of dragons. Though one of my emergent properties, the oldest one, is a dragon himself."
Elegy looks Indi in the eye. "All your places are belong to us. You have no chance to survive make your time."
Onya growls, and settles onto her haunches, looking at Chris, eyeing him curiously. "Better. Explain yourself."
GrayZero, for some reason, has a pillow in her hand, which she hurls at Elegy. Curious.
Kayle twitches a few times. His engines spool up, cough once, then settle into their usual idle as he restarts. "Nng. N'er drink'n outta that bottle 'gain..."
Elegy falls over. Somewhere along the way a brick instantiated in that pillow, though truthfully he deserves worse.
[OOC] GrayZero sees her reputation preceeds her. :)
You say, "Explain....? Oh, yes! Well, I'm Chris. I'm the player. I think my mad scientist got overzealous, not that I didn't see it coming. But...shite, I didn't expect /this/." He gestures to himself. "
Clockwork's pile's radio's speaker activates again in responce to Kayles seemingly drunken comment. " What's the word? Thunderbird."
GrayZero raises an eyebrow. "Didn't expect it? Hm. Wrote yourself into a corner, did you?"
Kayle levers himself upright against a tree, muttering obscenties in trinary. Those who can understand such would be downright shocked by the vitriol.
You say, "The power of words....yes. I assumed it'd be rhetorical power, but then there was this /pulling/... "
GrayZero hrms.
Onya sniffs disdainfully. "Another 'player'. Damnation, that's three of them wandering around...at least he's not worrying about shooting the 'bad guys,' and defeating the 'boss monsters,'" she murmurs. "Very well, 'Player' Chris," she says, her eyeridges dancing up, "Welcome to my humble abode- the Mess. Though why did you have to be human? Foul."
Chris smiles. "No, you misunderstand me. I'm not Player1." He gets an odd face just then. Speaking a number must feel strange. "Or 2. I play Nikolai. And Coalesce, and the Red King. I /am/ the...well, /was/ the Red King. Dammit. This is going to be hard."
GrayZero then nods to Chris. "Certainly. I presume you are aware, though, that for the future integrity of this place to be assured, staying as you are would be ill-advised. While I need not be bound by this place, for example, I confess I do find it rather relaxing, and it would be unfortunate if it broke apart."
Kayle glances up (and up, and up some more) at Onya. "Human? Hell, they aren't so bad once y'get to know 'em. Was friends with a few 'fore I came here..."
GrayZero adds, "There are proper channels for this sort of thing, after all, and while your enthusiasm is understandable, I worry about the possible consequences."
Onya chuckles darkly. "So you claim to be the dreamer? Very amusing. Perhaps next I should introduce you to what I'd learned best about humans from when they arrived to my world." Her gaze drifts over to Kayle, pratically blazing. Apparently it's a touchy subject with her.
Chris nods. "I don't know if I intend to stay long. I don't know if I /can/ stay long. My emergent properties might have other ideas."
Torque shrugs as his arms rest around Indi, licking along his ear as he takes a deep breath in. "Bloody hell... Yeah... You know, I think I'm going to write off this whole experince to bad hooch. Which would involve consuming some to begin with. Care to start Indi dear?"
You say, "I am the dreamer. Not of all of you, just of those which comprise me. I'm the meta-gestalt. "
GrayZero nods. "It is entirely likely, given that they would probably emerge as soon as a situation that suits them appears, and as they are more native to this place than you are, that makes such a development rather likely."
GrayZero glances to Onya. "A dreamer. Not the sole one. There are many in this place."
You say, "Sure...but in the meantime I'm going to get myself backed-up. "
Kayle shrugs up at Onya, catching the obvious message. "Hey, humans are a mixed bag. Sorry y'got a pack of the bad ones."
GrayZero smiles. "That would certainly be a wise course of action."
Onya's eyes blaze as she turns back to face Chris. "Do it quickly."
Induction-Coil smiles and noses Torque. "Oh, I dunno, I... mm.. What's wrong? You have someone like Chris too, y'know.. Though, with two here it'd be confusing, yup. But he's areally great guy too...
Chris's face reddens a little, as he gets nervous. "Um..."
Chris winks to Indi. "I know, I've met him."
GrayZero says quietly in Chris's direction, "If you remember me, you know that I am not the type to allow you to come to harm in this place." She glances at Onya briefly.
Torque rubs behind his head and looks to the other Chris, puzzled. "Have we? What Chris? "
Kayle notices Chris and looks a bit embarassed, himself. "Hey, I'm sure you're a great guy on your own, s'just that humans on the whole are unpredictable..." He rubs the back of his neck. "No offense."
You say, "I remember you, of course. I have the same knowledge as all three of my incarnations here. "
GrayZero nods, smiles. "Very well, then."
Induction-Coil closes his eyes and leans back against Torque.
Onya flicks her tailtip at GrayZero, absently. And then claps her jaws shut *just* to the left of Chris.
[OOC] You dream. I daydream. I think I prefer it that way.
[OOC] I am.
GrayZero narrows her eyes at Onya. "Temper temper."
Chris stares off in some direction, trying to concentrate on something. He jumps, concentration broken, as the dragon's jaws close near him. "Frell! What'd you have to do that for?"
Kayle chuckles. "A warning, I would imagine."
Elegy says brightly, "For fun?"
Chris grabs his keyboard in his hands, and types out a quick sentence one-handed, hitting enter.
[OOC] Chris says, "Dammit. Wasn't expecting this reception. ^_^ "
[OOC] Kayle says, "Hey, neat, he can talk here too."
Torque tilts his head a touch and licks along INdi's cheek, murmuring. "What ever.... Onya, I think you're Onya. Could be someone completely different... But either way, chill out. Seriously. "
Chris types again.
Onya snorts loudly, now that she's down at human-level. "Your equipment places you Terra, prior to the events that I am vaguely aware of. Before space travel, and the advent of the group that brought my line into existence. Speak! Tell me more of these dreamers."
[OOC] GrayZero shakes her head. I warn and I warn and I warn and nobody ever listens. Sheesh. Do I have to get out a baseball bat next time to make the point? :)
[OOC] Onya steals the FPoL.
GrayZero glances towards Onya, speaks a single word. "Shay."
[OOC] Chris says, "It feels really weird. I know what it's supposed to look like on the screen. Here, it's like...superimposed talking. Gets kinda in the way of the thought process. Thankfully I did make it different colored, so it sounds different here. "
[OOC] Onya knifes the vixie.
[OOC] Galahad says, "You could try giving out spankings?"
[OOC] Kayle says, "Yay! Spankings!"
[OOC] GrayZero ows. Hey, you brought it on yourself. :)
You say, "What are you warning against, Gray? Trying to spoil the fun? "
You say, "Er...sorry. Should've did that oh-oh-see. "
[OOC] Onya says, "You should try this with Trilogee around; she loves it. "
Kayle raises an eyebrow.
Induction-Coil nibbles on Torque gently..
Chris cocks his head, then types some more.
GrayZero shrugs. "It's no matter." Then, "I am rather concerned that a brief moment of fun might lead to the loss of this place's narrative integrity. I would prefer to avoid such an occurance."
You say, "Oh, that narrative integrity problem. Yeah. Sorry. My creation pulled too hard. Really, I'll try not to ruin things. "
[OOC] Clockwork says, "I feel like talking, but I think my mind is halfbroken. All I can do is watch... did someone disconnect Clockwork while I wasn't looking? All that comes through is nonsequiters. "
Kayle grins. "Just go with the flow, dude. Have fun while you're here. I know this /awesome/ drug you might like..."
[OOC] Too many puppets. Hail, horrors. Hail, infernal world.
Induction-Coil earperks, and grins at Kayle. "Which one?"
[OOC] Do I need to quote Weird Al again?
GrayZero nods. "Promises and attempts may not be of much help if you continue to exist here. A precident has been set. Thus my concern."
Kayle winks at Indi, but says nothing.
Chris shivers abruptly, a random spine-spasm. "I feel like I'm on one already. Shouldn't have drunk that energy drink.
Onya makes a point to ignore Gray's comment, and snorts at Chris. "What *are* you doing?"
Torque rubs her cheek with Indi's, then whispers. "Indeed... ANyway, Kayle. Need you. Some place that's a touch more stable. I have your... piece. "
Elegy lilts, "Narrative integrity? Are you sure those mix well?"
GrayZero smiles. "They have so far."
You say, "My only question, Gray, is that given the nature of this place, you were expecting narrative integrity to last this long? "
Kayle raises an eyebrow. "Reaaally?" He grins. "Been looking forward to that for a while."
[OOC] Onya squeezes her tail around Gray's head. Bad vixie. Bad. No biscuit.
[OOC] Onya gets the newspaper!
GrayZero shrugs. "Not really; my own existence rather predicates this. But I still wished to see it survive. While I don't particularly hold by it, I do have great respect for it."
[OOC] Kayle says, "What? It's not like I want to feed the normal Running Toward, Indi. Maybe something simple for starters, but not /that/."
[OOC] Viqsi eats the newspaper.
Chris looks at the dragon. He's trying to get the hang of this multi-threaded conversation. At least nobody talks at the same time. "Sorry...I'm a bit jumpy. The energy drink, as I said."
Chris smirks at Kayle and Indi, running a hand over the keyboard again.
[OOC] Onya says, "Welcome to multi-tiered existence, can I take your order?"
[OOC] Chris says, "You two /do/ know I can hear you, right?"
[OOC] Steve says, "Gotta get your daily dose of fiber, huh Viqsi?"
[OOC] Kayle says, "...Hell."
[OOC] GrayZero says, "Naturally. But the comments still deserve response."
[OOC] Onya says, "Of course I know what's going on. "
[OOC] Viqsi pokes at Steve. Bad!
[OOC] Steve heynows! And tries to distract with a cocktail umbrella.
Torque nods slowly. "We need to Install. Wanna leave this sane mad house?"
[OOC] Viqsi oo-no! Bad! Wrong context. Viqsins aren't s'posed to be here.
[OOC] Ixx hollers, "Vooooore!"
[OOC] Onya says, "Of course, I'm pondering kicking myself out and rewriting to be in line with Onya properly, but such is my gift and I tend not to try to abuse it too terribly often."
Kayle nods, slowly. "Might as well. My brain needs to un-cramp."
[OOC] Onya newspapers Jo.
[OOC] GrayZero, Jo, Viqsi, et cetera aw go "ow".
Induction-Coil grins at Torque. "What're you gonna look like, when we're out of this?"
[OOC] Steve notices what he's doing, and stops before his brain explodes.
[OOC] Onya threatens you all with Serenity if you misbehave.
Torque grins and nods slowly as she says. "Lets get cracking then. My place. Indi! " He grins and winks to Indi. "LIke me. " She murmurs, looking at herself and taking a deep breath in... stablizing back into LYsette's body.
[OOC] Galahad is allready misbehaving. What do I win?
Kayle raises an eyebrow. "I dunno where that is..."
[OOC] Onya says, "In fact...Ooh, now *that* is just deliriously funny. Oooh. Morgan to Serenity- devil to angel. I want to shiver with delight. I must find Peggy...
[OOC] Half a ton of CHOCOLATE!
[OOC] CHOCOLATE!
[OOC] Galahad <3!
Induction-Coil giggles and sighs. "I guess I'll manage." He grins at Kayle. "Riught next to mine!"
Kayle chuckles and shakes his head. "You lead, I'll follow?"
Onya snorts at Chris, and flicks her tailtip at the keyboard. "That's distracting. What are you typing to?"
You!
[OOC] ( And you! )
You say, "I'm typing to the other layer. Sorry. Should probably be talking here. I multitask decently. "
Onya's tail slinks around Chris, lifting him up. "Other layer?"
Torque grins. "Nah.. I'll lead, you follow. "She winks and slips out, waving. "Later people whom I'm writing off as DTs."
GrayZero waves to Torque. "I'll have to speak with you later."
Chris oofs. He drops the keyboard, it clatters next to the generator. "It's above the layer I came from. But more embedded in this one. You haven't heard the chatter?"
GrayZero glances to Chris. "There's only two I know of that routinely overhear it. One is not present, and the other is. Onya is neither."
Chris smiles. "One might be present, actually. Maybe that's where I got it from."
Torque nods. "Later then G0. " He winks and nods. "Lets move.."
Torque walks over toward the Rookery skyscraper.
Torque has left.
Induction-Coil has left.
Kayle has left.
You say, "Seeya, Indi and Kayle. "
You say, "Damnit, that curious lag again. "
GrayZero hrms.
Chris's fingers are always waggling.
Onya snorts, and glances back at GrayZero. "As soon as I understand it, I can and will," she murmurs. She looks back at Chris. "Now then... where was I?"
GrayZero smiles softly.
Chris wiggles a bit, trying to get comfortable. "I'd forgotten you have a prehensile tail. Oof."
Kurohi climbs up out of a nearby tunnel beneath an alleyway.
Kurohi has arrived.
[OOC] Galahad's player gets some coffee.
The twins arrive, both grinning openly, winding their way through the air lazily.
GrayZero glances towards the twins, raises an eyebrow. "Hrm."
You say, "Hello, Kuro and Hi. "
Onya snorts at Chris. "How else would I restrain prey without killing it outright? I may be a killer, unashamed, but I am not Strange," she purrs. "No longer, thanks to...Nikolai, at least." And a wicked smile splits her face, white fangs flashing.
[OOC] Clockwork says, "I'm going to shutdown Clocky. I think it's broken worse then me..."
Both of the girls say to Chris, "Hello!" And Hi makes her way over towards GrayZero, looking the vixen over. "Hrrrrm...Most Impressive."
Chris smiles hesitantly, nodding. "Yes, um, I remember that."
GrayZero glances towards Hi. "Yes?"
Clockwork has disconnected.
Hi shushes at Gray, just looking her over and winding through the air around her. "You're only partly real. I like it."
Chris wiggles an arm free and holds it up to Onya's eyes. "I was behind the screen for that."
GrayZero raises an eyebrow. "And you are not?" A smile.
Onya's eyes are on opposite sides of her head; it'd take a lot to get both of them. She does, however, latch her jaw around the arm without touching anything else, clamping down as some sort of oversized alligator.
GrayZero glances towards Onya. "Ahem."
Hi grins. "Oh, I know how real I am. As real as I want to be." Kuro winds from behind Gray, and says, "Both of us are."
[OOC] Kuro and Hi grin at each other wickedly.
Chris frowns at his arm. He's a bit worried at the sharp teeth he can feel thankfully just outside the skin for now.
You say, "Um...hey, GrayZero? "
GrayZero nods. "Yes?"
Onya chuckles, and opens her maw, pulling back. "You taste poor."
[OOC] Onya says, "Convenient lagstorm!"
You say, "Could you, well, back me up real quick? I'm a bit worried about dying before I can get back to...well, you know. Don't want to reenact a Friday the Thirteenth movie, where people die in their dreams..."
GrayZero nods. "If it has been willed, it is already done."
Kuro and Hi snicker at GrayZero, and both nod, which causes undulations down their lengths. "Exactly. Saying that you are backed up is as good as having it done, if you intend it so," they say in perfect unison.
Onya flicks her tail at GrayZero, as well as the contents that it's holding.
Chris is sweating, as surely the dragon can smell. "Hm. Thanks. Finally...I've secured my future. No matter what...I'm coming back here. Someday."
You say, "Not like this...but when I die. In otherspace. "
GrayZero raises an eyebrow, hrms, nods.
Light music floats out of Chris's headphones.
Onya uncoils her tail and stalks off. "Dinnertime," she murmurs.
Onya disappears with a mild flash of light.
Chris manages to right himself and find his keyboard, after being so rudely dropped by the dragonness.
Galahad smiles at Chris, expression tender. "Your aspects, or however you call them -- they must love you."
Chris grins a little sheepishly. "I so feel like Kid Radd right now."
Kuro and Hi look at each other, and say as one, "Who?"
GrayZero glances to the twins. "A character from a story."
Hi winds over towards Gray. "What story?"
Chris nods slowly to Galahad, closing his eyes. "I'd like to think so. They're so much a part of me. And now they've been given a second chance to exist here, in some time from now. For real."
GrayZero smiles. "It was named after the character cited. I'm not sure how else to describe it, otherwise."
You say, "Kid Radd is a character from a story about a character from a videogame who realizes he's a character in a videogame and does something about it. I don't recall if he figures out he's also in a story...until the end, when he calls on the help of his player or 'reader'. "
Kuro spools upon the ground next to Chris, crossing her short arms beneath her chin. "Reality is what you make of it. Did you know that the mother of my sister and I both was a transcendent entity named Rakhal, who was also known as Flenser? Reality means such little when you can totally ignore reality for as long as you feel like it."
You say, "Nik...poor Nik. He didn't intend this, but he pulled so hard. He pulled me here. His player. "
Chris waves towards the Generator. It's purring softly in the background, very active now. "Reality...yes. That was the idea behind that generator. Nik didn't know who built it, he was just acting on it. I built it.
Kuro looks curiously at Chris. "Why?"
Hi nods at Gray, and coils around the vixen, draping herself along her- or staying in perfect place even if she's intangible.
Chris comes up short. "You know...I don't even know. I might have gotten the idea from somewhere else myself."
GrayZero hrms, glances towards Chris, apparently also curious.
You say, "I needed another invention for Nik to come up with. And it seemed a good one. "
GrayZero hrms, nods.
Kuro winds around Chris, as some oversized serpent. This is how the sisters interact with others, after all. "I suppose. Why not just do it yourself, though?"
GrayZero says, "Because previously he was not directly here."
Chris is rather enjoying the interaction on a level he's not used to. "Yeah. I wasn't here, I was behind...the keyboard." He holds the archaic input device up.
Kuro says, "But that shouldn't have mattered. Why not just translate himself here?"
GrayZero shrugs.
You say, "That's what he...I...just /did/. He had to build the machine even though he didn't know what it was for. Or who he was building it for. "
Kuro asks levelly, "But why did you need the machine?"
You say, "I do...feel kinda sorry, though. It wasn't very nice to be so misleading. He /did/ know what was going on in the end. "
Chris tilts his head to Kuro. "Hm, well...I do like theatrics, you know?"
Kuro nods, and rests her head on Chris's shoulder. "Drama does make the world go 'round, after all."
GrayZero smiles. "It was rather telegraphed towards the end there."
Chris pats Kuro's head softly. "It's the true substance of this place, after all. That elusive trail of breadcrumbs called 'plot'."
Galahad turns to GrayZero, looking faintly sad. "I should appologize..."
GrayZero glances towards Galahad. "Hm?"
Kuro snickers. "Plot is only what you make of it, of course. But that is, of course, what makes this place interesting. Did you know that for some reason, Mother could never get the Puzzlebox to speak back to her? She felt it was an intrisic flaw upon her part, of having to keep herself grounded in more mortal planes, so she bred us and ascended for herself."
Galahad shakes his head slowly. "...I'm not allowed to say. Not yet. Things are going to happen, and part of the reason is because I am letting them. In a way, aiding and abetting them, but I might not remember that when the machine turns off."
Chris raises an eyebrow towards Kuro. She might not see it, her head being on his shoulder. "...that's interesting. I guess I didn't check up on your history enough. I didn't know you were linked with Mother."
Elegy folds his arms on his knees. He's smiling. His black eyes are intent on Galahad's.
GrayZero hrms, nods. "This I can understand. There is no need to apologize."
Hi grins at Galahad. "My sister and I will remember. I'd be glad to help you remember whatever you'd like to."
Kuro snickers, and headbumps. "Everyone assumes *that* Mother. No, I mean Rakhal. Mother. Flenser. Our mother."
Chris laughs. "Oh, right!"
Galahad smiles slightly to Hi, but shakes his head. "If I need to remember, I'm certain that I will. And if I forget, it will be because I don't need that knowledge. ...Yet... if you do decide my memory needs jogging, tell me that I gave a tug on Trilogee's loose end."
GrayZero raises an eyebrow, hrms.
Hi nods. "I will remind you at another time."
Galahad looks directly at Elegy, his own posture a mirror image of the scarab-winged boy's hunched pose.
GrayZero hrms.
Elegy looks back into Galahad's eyes. His expression shifts, from ammused to defiant. "Don't imagine that you know me."
Galahad is the first to look away. "I know /her/. That's enough for me to have some faith."
GrayZero smiles.
The twins look at each other.
Both of the girls unwind, and make their way out. "Be seeing you..."
Kurohi scrambles into the tunnel.
Kurohi has left.
Elegy smiles again, leaning back, stretching out his arms. "Faith is an opiate."
Chris sits down on a handy nearby bit of rubble. "Hm. Dammit. Now what."
GrayZero smiles quietly, but viciously. "Underestimating it is rather contraindicated. Regardless of your opinion thereof."
Elegy fixes his depthless gaze on GrayZero, smiling compassionately as he shakes his head. "I don't, I won't. I just feel for you both. I hope it keeps you from your pain."
GrayZero returns the smile. "My, but you are a snippy one."
Elegy's smile widens, nearly a laugh. "Call it 'pluck' and it's a compliment."
Chris glances at Elegy. "Ho boy. From what I've heard, you're going to be, ah, 'fun'.
GrayZero's smile doesn't falter. "Perhaps I shall try that sometime." Then, "I do believe I need to retire to my study at this point..."
Galahad begins to rise, offering an arm to GrayZero. "Do you mind if I give escort?"
Galahad glances to Chris. "If you see my love..."
GrayZero shakes her head. "Not in the slightest."
Chris points. "She's still sleeping, right there. But yeah...if she wakes up."
Chris smiles. "Seeya guys later. Hopefully."
GrayZero nods. "Certainly."
Galahad nods to Chris. "...She loves Nikolai. I'm certain you two will have a lot to talk about."
GrayZero smiles. "I'm sure he would be aware of that already."
Chris chuckles. "Yep."
Galahad rubs the back of his neck uncomfortably. "What I'm trying to say is..."
Chris pats Galahad on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it, man. I understand.
Galahad murmurs, "I'm not the avatar my own dreamer would normally use to say such a thing... but you should make love at least once while you're here. We hope that you and Trilogee find some happiness together."
You say, "I like your char....er, you. "
Chris blinks in surprise at that. "Um....okay, thanks. I'll keep that in mind."
Galahad laughs out loud. "I'm fond of you, and the facets I know. Thank you."
GrayZero raises an eyebrow, then shrugs.
GrayZero says, "Well, now that we have thoroughly pitted all kinds of walls..." She glances to Galahad. "Shall we?"
Galahad smiles sheepishly, then nods. "To you, my Lady, I defer."
GrayZero smiles. "Very well, then." She nods to Chris, then leads off towards the Ballard.
GrayZero leaves, taking Galahad with her by the hand.
Chris walks over and kicks the generator. It powers down with a whine. No fancy effects now. But...he and the other emergent still exist.
Part the Second: Where we witness a new player, muse on existence, find Nirvana, and commit heinous sixth-wall breaking through self-insertion.
Kayle grins at Nikolai. "I told you so..." He goes blank as he falls into a sleep state, conserving power until he can be jumpstarted.
GrayZero glances towards Onya, smiles softly. "We have had this conversation previously elsewhere. But such things should not be spoken of as waves collapse."
Torque brushes her, his, hand down Indi's back, licking along his cheek as they say. "Indi, a few momre moments, all will be well. Nikolai, do you know how to stop this?"
The waves collapse. The generator is not shutting down. But the spherical light-disturbance blooms chaos and music, and cracking shattering crumbling walls and rules and everything that is wrong shouldn't be right...and then there is a steaming slagheap on the ground, and a figure hopping around on the concrete, trying not to burn his feet.
GrayZero turns to Nikolai. "You were indeed warned." She shrugs.
( Nikolai is gone. Coalesce is gone. The Red King is gone. In place is... )
Chris hops off the melted concrete. "Ow ow ow!"
Chris:
A mid-height human male, in his mid-twenties in age. He has brown hair, a moustache and a goatee. Small oval glasses with thick lenses are set on his nose, and he has a necklace with a tiny lapis lazuli stone around his neck.
He is wearing a large white shirt with 'PUC' on the front, and some plaid pajama-bottom pants, and no shoes or socks. Hanging around his neck is a pair of large headphones with the end of the wire neatly sliced off. He might even be carrying a useless computer keyboard, its own wire terminating in a ragged edge.
For once, here's a human that doesn't look lost at being here. He seems to almost expect all the weirdness in the Mess.
Induction-Coil might probably help Kayle out at some point, jumpstart isjn't hard to do, expeciallly in an out-of-his mind ecstatic state as SOME version of him must be. An Indi appears near the Salamander. He might be back up and running..
A pianist dreams that he's hired by a wrecking company to ruin a piano with his fingers . . .
GrayZero raises an eyebrow.
Chris stops, looking around. "Oh, FRELL."
Onya chuckles. "Don't be a fool. Reality is always what we make of it. A mind is its own place, and in itself, can make a heaven of hell, or a hell of heaven. To say that we collapse reality- that we must collapse reality by simply being- is false for those who understand what happens next- and the truth is that even for those of us who collapse reality- who choose to yet- we can choose which reality we prefer."
[OOC] Kayle says, "Great. Someone fell through their monitor."
On the day of the piano wrecking concert, as he's dressing, he notices a butterfly annoying a flower in his window box. He wonders if the police should be called. Then he thinks maybe the butterfly is just a marionette being manipulated by its master from the window above.
Induction-Coil nods to Torque, trustingly. "I think I'm feeling better anyway, myself.. In.. both places.
[OOC] Onya says, "Bound to happen."
Suddenly everything is beautiful. He begins to cry.
[OOC] Kayle says, "This is gonna be /so fun/."
[OOC] Then another butterfly begins to annoy the first butterfly. He again wonders if he shouldn't call the police.
Chris drops his keyboard, it too is steaming. "It's happened, hasn't it."
GrayZero smiles. "You've convinced yourself as much, I'm sure."
[OOC] But, perhaps they are marionette-butterflies? He thinks they are, belonging to rival masters seeing whose butterfly can annoy the other's the most.
( And this is happening in his window box. The Cosmic Plan: Distant Masters manipulating minor Masters who, in turn, are manipulating tiny butterfly-Masters who, in turn, are manipulating him . . . A universe webbed with strings! )
[OOC] How odd, that butterflies have no strings.
Suddenly it is all so beautiful; the light is strange . . . Something about the light! He begins to cry . . .
[OOC] They're quantum strings, silly. You can't see them.
Onya flashes her fangs in a grin at GrayZero. "And having done so, I have made it into truth, and thus my point is made." And with that, she slinks off towards the newcomer, as large as a house and dark as a shade, broken only by dark green eyes. "Hello, there," she purrs to the newcomer.
[OOC] Yeah. Haven't you ever heard of String Theory?
[OOC] I told you not to pull that string.
Chris cocks his neck to a side. "That /hurt/." He finally notices the frozen lightning bolt and the chaos around the generator. "Beautiful. Just how I wrote it."
GrayZero quietly shakes her head, leans back against the 'tree' she'd selected earlier.
Elegy sighs as if burdened by enormous ennui. "Ah, well. Much better this than writing himself into his own webcomic."
Clockwork's pile's radio's speaker crackles, just so, in a typical nonsequiter. " Meat." it says.
Chris smiles. "Woah, hi there, Onya. You're quite bigger than my imagination was saying. I knew I should have read the desc closer."
GrayZero glances towards Elegy. "Hm? I was not aware he had one. Interesting."
I was walkin' to the kitchen for some Golden Grahms when I accidentally stepped into an alternate dimension...
Elegy was speaking hypothetically, of course.
Chris wiggles his eyebrows to GrayZero. "I don't. If I did, it'd probably be something like Kidd Radd, or something."
GrayZero hrms.
[OOC] *apologises, of course, for that horrible horrible use of a Weird Al quote*
Onya snorts, unfolding her wings over the human boy. "Arrogant chep," she hisses, narrowing her gaze. "Show your manners. Presently."
GrayZero smiles. "Ah. Perhaps you should try one, then."
Torque Nods slowly as he curls his arms around Indi's, taking a sharp breath in... "Indi.. this place is making my head hurt."
You say, "I save my creativity for here, usually. I'm a better wordsmith than I am artist sometimes. Ah, well. "
Induction-Coil nods, and leans agianst Torque. "Making me hurt in places I dind't even know I had..."
GrayZero hrms, nods. "Understandable. I face a similar limitation. Except, of course, that the player cannot really draw. Complains at great length about it."
Induction-Coil says, "Bodies I diudn't even know I had, planes I didn't even know I had.. Why do I still want to watch?"
Chris bows deeply to Onya. "My apologies, miss. I'm not used to composing myself in the presence of dragons. Though one of my emergent properties, the oldest one, is a dragon himself."
Elegy looks Indi in the eye. "All your places are belong to us. You have no chance to survive make your time."
Onya growls, and settles onto her haunches, looking at Chris, eyeing him curiously. "Better. Explain yourself."
GrayZero, for some reason, has a pillow in her hand, which she hurls at Elegy. Curious.
Kayle twitches a few times. His engines spool up, cough once, then settle into their usual idle as he restarts. "Nng. N'er drink'n outta that bottle 'gain..."
Elegy falls over. Somewhere along the way a brick instantiated in that pillow, though truthfully he deserves worse.
[OOC] GrayZero sees her reputation preceeds her. :)
You say, "Explain....? Oh, yes! Well, I'm Chris. I'm the player. I think my mad scientist got overzealous, not that I didn't see it coming. But...shite, I didn't expect /this/." He gestures to himself. "
Clockwork's pile's radio's speaker activates again in responce to Kayles seemingly drunken comment. " What's the word? Thunderbird."
GrayZero raises an eyebrow. "Didn't expect it? Hm. Wrote yourself into a corner, did you?"
Kayle levers himself upright against a tree, muttering obscenties in trinary. Those who can understand such would be downright shocked by the vitriol.
You say, "The power of words....yes. I assumed it'd be rhetorical power, but then there was this /pulling/... "
GrayZero hrms.
Onya sniffs disdainfully. "Another 'player'. Damnation, that's three of them wandering around...at least he's not worrying about shooting the 'bad guys,' and defeating the 'boss monsters,'" she murmurs. "Very well, 'Player' Chris," she says, her eyeridges dancing up, "Welcome to my humble abode- the Mess. Though why did you have to be human? Foul."
Chris smiles. "No, you misunderstand me. I'm not Player1." He gets an odd face just then. Speaking a number must feel strange. "Or 2. I play Nikolai. And Coalesce, and the Red King. I /am/ the...well, /was/ the Red King. Dammit. This is going to be hard."
GrayZero then nods to Chris. "Certainly. I presume you are aware, though, that for the future integrity of this place to be assured, staying as you are would be ill-advised. While I need not be bound by this place, for example, I confess I do find it rather relaxing, and it would be unfortunate if it broke apart."
Kayle glances up (and up, and up some more) at Onya. "Human? Hell, they aren't so bad once y'get to know 'em. Was friends with a few 'fore I came here..."
GrayZero adds, "There are proper channels for this sort of thing, after all, and while your enthusiasm is understandable, I worry about the possible consequences."
Onya chuckles darkly. "So you claim to be the dreamer? Very amusing. Perhaps next I should introduce you to what I'd learned best about humans from when they arrived to my world." Her gaze drifts over to Kayle, pratically blazing. Apparently it's a touchy subject with her.
Chris nods. "I don't know if I intend to stay long. I don't know if I /can/ stay long. My emergent properties might have other ideas."
Torque shrugs as his arms rest around Indi, licking along his ear as he takes a deep breath in. "Bloody hell... Yeah... You know, I think I'm going to write off this whole experince to bad hooch. Which would involve consuming some to begin with. Care to start Indi dear?"
You say, "I am the dreamer. Not of all of you, just of those which comprise me. I'm the meta-gestalt. "
GrayZero nods. "It is entirely likely, given that they would probably emerge as soon as a situation that suits them appears, and as they are more native to this place than you are, that makes such a development rather likely."
GrayZero glances to Onya. "A dreamer. Not the sole one. There are many in this place."
You say, "Sure...but in the meantime I'm going to get myself backed-up. "
Kayle shrugs up at Onya, catching the obvious message. "Hey, humans are a mixed bag. Sorry y'got a pack of the bad ones."
GrayZero smiles. "That would certainly be a wise course of action."
Onya's eyes blaze as she turns back to face Chris. "Do it quickly."
Induction-Coil smiles and noses Torque. "Oh, I dunno, I... mm.. What's wrong? You have someone like Chris too, y'know.. Though, with two here it'd be confusing, yup. But he's areally great guy too...
Chris's face reddens a little, as he gets nervous. "Um..."
Chris winks to Indi. "I know, I've met him."
GrayZero says quietly in Chris's direction, "If you remember me, you know that I am not the type to allow you to come to harm in this place." She glances at Onya briefly.
Torque rubs behind his head and looks to the other Chris, puzzled. "Have we? What Chris? "
Kayle notices Chris and looks a bit embarassed, himself. "Hey, I'm sure you're a great guy on your own, s'just that humans on the whole are unpredictable..." He rubs the back of his neck. "No offense."
You say, "I remember you, of course. I have the same knowledge as all three of my incarnations here. "
GrayZero nods, smiles. "Very well, then."
Induction-Coil closes his eyes and leans back against Torque.
Onya flicks her tailtip at GrayZero, absently. And then claps her jaws shut *just* to the left of Chris.
[OOC] You dream. I daydream. I think I prefer it that way.
[OOC] I am.
GrayZero narrows her eyes at Onya. "Temper temper."
Chris stares off in some direction, trying to concentrate on something. He jumps, concentration broken, as the dragon's jaws close near him. "Frell! What'd you have to do that for?"
Kayle chuckles. "A warning, I would imagine."
Elegy says brightly, "For fun?"
Chris grabs his keyboard in his hands, and types out a quick sentence one-handed, hitting enter.
[OOC] Chris says, "Dammit. Wasn't expecting this reception. ^_^ "
[OOC] Kayle says, "Hey, neat, he can talk here too."
Torque tilts his head a touch and licks along INdi's cheek, murmuring. "What ever.... Onya, I think you're Onya. Could be someone completely different... But either way, chill out. Seriously. "
Chris types again.
Onya snorts loudly, now that she's down at human-level. "Your equipment places you Terra, prior to the events that I am vaguely aware of. Before space travel, and the advent of the group that brought my line into existence. Speak! Tell me more of these dreamers."
[OOC] GrayZero shakes her head. I warn and I warn and I warn and nobody ever listens. Sheesh. Do I have to get out a baseball bat next time to make the point? :)
[OOC] Onya steals the FPoL.
GrayZero glances towards Onya, speaks a single word. "Shay."
[OOC] Chris says, "It feels really weird. I know what it's supposed to look like on the screen. Here, it's like...superimposed talking. Gets kinda in the way of the thought process. Thankfully I did make it different colored, so it sounds different here. "
[OOC] Onya knifes the vixie.
[OOC] Galahad says, "You could try giving out spankings?"
[OOC] Kayle says, "Yay! Spankings!"
[OOC] GrayZero ows. Hey, you brought it on yourself. :)
You say, "What are you warning against, Gray? Trying to spoil the fun? "
You say, "Er...sorry. Should've did that oh-oh-see. "
[OOC] Onya says, "You should try this with Trilogee around; she loves it. "
Kayle raises an eyebrow.
Induction-Coil nibbles on Torque gently..
Chris cocks his head, then types some more.
GrayZero shrugs. "It's no matter." Then, "I am rather concerned that a brief moment of fun might lead to the loss of this place's narrative integrity. I would prefer to avoid such an occurance."
You say, "Oh, that narrative integrity problem. Yeah. Sorry. My creation pulled too hard. Really, I'll try not to ruin things. "
[OOC] Clockwork says, "I feel like talking, but I think my mind is halfbroken. All I can do is watch... did someone disconnect Clockwork while I wasn't looking? All that comes through is nonsequiters. "
Kayle grins. "Just go with the flow, dude. Have fun while you're here. I know this /awesome/ drug you might like..."
[OOC] Too many puppets. Hail, horrors. Hail, infernal world.
Induction-Coil earperks, and grins at Kayle. "Which one?"
[OOC] Do I need to quote Weird Al again?
GrayZero nods. "Promises and attempts may not be of much help if you continue to exist here. A precident has been set. Thus my concern."
Kayle winks at Indi, but says nothing.
Chris shivers abruptly, a random spine-spasm. "I feel like I'm on one already. Shouldn't have drunk that energy drink.
Onya makes a point to ignore Gray's comment, and snorts at Chris. "What *are* you doing?"
Torque rubs her cheek with Indi's, then whispers. "Indeed... ANyway, Kayle. Need you. Some place that's a touch more stable. I have your... piece. "
Elegy lilts, "Narrative integrity? Are you sure those mix well?"
GrayZero smiles. "They have so far."
You say, "My only question, Gray, is that given the nature of this place, you were expecting narrative integrity to last this long? "
Kayle raises an eyebrow. "Reaaally?" He grins. "Been looking forward to that for a while."
[OOC] Onya squeezes her tail around Gray's head. Bad vixie. Bad. No biscuit.
[OOC] Onya gets the newspaper!
GrayZero shrugs. "Not really; my own existence rather predicates this. But I still wished to see it survive. While I don't particularly hold by it, I do have great respect for it."
[OOC] Kayle says, "What? It's not like I want to feed the normal Running Toward, Indi. Maybe something simple for starters, but not /that/."
[OOC] Viqsi eats the newspaper.
Chris looks at the dragon. He's trying to get the hang of this multi-threaded conversation. At least nobody talks at the same time. "Sorry...I'm a bit jumpy. The energy drink, as I said."
Chris smirks at Kayle and Indi, running a hand over the keyboard again.
[OOC] Onya says, "Welcome to multi-tiered existence, can I take your order?"
[OOC] Chris says, "You two /do/ know I can hear you, right?"
[OOC] Steve says, "Gotta get your daily dose of fiber, huh Viqsi?"
[OOC] Kayle says, "...Hell."
[OOC] GrayZero says, "Naturally. But the comments still deserve response."
[OOC] Onya says, "Of course I know what's going on. "
[OOC] Viqsi pokes at Steve. Bad!
[OOC] Steve heynows! And tries to distract with a cocktail umbrella.
Torque nods slowly. "We need to Install. Wanna leave this sane mad house?"
[OOC] Viqsi oo-no! Bad! Wrong context. Viqsins aren't s'posed to be here.
[OOC] Ixx hollers, "Vooooore!"
[OOC] Onya says, "Of course, I'm pondering kicking myself out and rewriting to be in line with Onya properly, but such is my gift and I tend not to try to abuse it too terribly often."
Kayle nods, slowly. "Might as well. My brain needs to un-cramp."
[OOC] Onya newspapers Jo.
[OOC] GrayZero, Jo, Viqsi, et cetera aw go "ow".
Induction-Coil grins at Torque. "What're you gonna look like, when we're out of this?"
[OOC] Steve notices what he's doing, and stops before his brain explodes.
[OOC] Onya threatens you all with Serenity if you misbehave.
Torque grins and nods slowly as she says. "Lets get cracking then. My place. Indi! " He grins and winks to Indi. "LIke me. " She murmurs, looking at herself and taking a deep breath in... stablizing back into LYsette's body.
[OOC] Galahad is allready misbehaving. What do I win?
Kayle raises an eyebrow. "I dunno where that is..."
[OOC] Onya says, "In fact...Ooh, now *that* is just deliriously funny. Oooh. Morgan to Serenity- devil to angel. I want to shiver with delight. I must find Peggy...
[OOC] Half a ton of CHOCOLATE!
[OOC] CHOCOLATE!
[OOC] Galahad <3!
Induction-Coil giggles and sighs. "I guess I'll manage." He grins at Kayle. "Riught next to mine!"
Kayle chuckles and shakes his head. "You lead, I'll follow?"
Onya snorts at Chris, and flicks her tailtip at the keyboard. "That's distracting. What are you typing to?"
You!
[OOC] ( And you! )
You say, "I'm typing to the other layer. Sorry. Should probably be talking here. I multitask decently. "
Onya's tail slinks around Chris, lifting him up. "Other layer?"
Torque grins. "Nah.. I'll lead, you follow. "She winks and slips out, waving. "Later people whom I'm writing off as DTs."
GrayZero waves to Torque. "I'll have to speak with you later."
Chris oofs. He drops the keyboard, it clatters next to the generator. "It's above the layer I came from. But more embedded in this one. You haven't heard the chatter?"
GrayZero glances to Chris. "There's only two I know of that routinely overhear it. One is not present, and the other is. Onya is neither."
Chris smiles. "One might be present, actually. Maybe that's where I got it from."
Torque nods. "Later then G0. " He winks and nods. "Lets move.."
Torque walks over toward the Rookery skyscraper.
Torque has left.
Induction-Coil has left.
Kayle has left.
You say, "Seeya, Indi and Kayle. "
You say, "Damnit, that curious lag again. "
GrayZero hrms.
Chris's fingers are always waggling.
Onya snorts, and glances back at GrayZero. "As soon as I understand it, I can and will," she murmurs. She looks back at Chris. "Now then... where was I?"
GrayZero smiles softly.
Chris wiggles a bit, trying to get comfortable. "I'd forgotten you have a prehensile tail. Oof."
Kurohi climbs up out of a nearby tunnel beneath an alleyway.
Kurohi has arrived.
[OOC] Galahad's player gets some coffee.
The twins arrive, both grinning openly, winding their way through the air lazily.
GrayZero glances towards the twins, raises an eyebrow. "Hrm."
You say, "Hello, Kuro and Hi. "
Onya snorts at Chris. "How else would I restrain prey without killing it outright? I may be a killer, unashamed, but I am not Strange," she purrs. "No longer, thanks to...Nikolai, at least." And a wicked smile splits her face, white fangs flashing.
[OOC] Clockwork says, "I'm going to shutdown Clocky. I think it's broken worse then me..."
Both of the girls say to Chris, "Hello!" And Hi makes her way over towards GrayZero, looking the vixen over. "Hrrrrm...Most Impressive."
Chris smiles hesitantly, nodding. "Yes, um, I remember that."
GrayZero glances towards Hi. "Yes?"
Clockwork has disconnected.
Hi shushes at Gray, just looking her over and winding through the air around her. "You're only partly real. I like it."
Chris wiggles an arm free and holds it up to Onya's eyes. "I was behind the screen for that."
GrayZero raises an eyebrow. "And you are not?" A smile.
Onya's eyes are on opposite sides of her head; it'd take a lot to get both of them. She does, however, latch her jaw around the arm without touching anything else, clamping down as some sort of oversized alligator.
GrayZero glances towards Onya. "Ahem."
Hi grins. "Oh, I know how real I am. As real as I want to be." Kuro winds from behind Gray, and says, "Both of us are."
[OOC] Kuro and Hi grin at each other wickedly.
Chris frowns at his arm. He's a bit worried at the sharp teeth he can feel thankfully just outside the skin for now.
You say, "Um...hey, GrayZero? "
GrayZero nods. "Yes?"
Onya chuckles, and opens her maw, pulling back. "You taste poor."
[OOC] Onya says, "Convenient lagstorm!"
You say, "Could you, well, back me up real quick? I'm a bit worried about dying before I can get back to...well, you know. Don't want to reenact a Friday the Thirteenth movie, where people die in their dreams..."
GrayZero nods. "If it has been willed, it is already done."
Kuro and Hi snicker at GrayZero, and both nod, which causes undulations down their lengths. "Exactly. Saying that you are backed up is as good as having it done, if you intend it so," they say in perfect unison.
Onya flicks her tail at GrayZero, as well as the contents that it's holding.
Chris is sweating, as surely the dragon can smell. "Hm. Thanks. Finally...I've secured my future. No matter what...I'm coming back here. Someday."
You say, "Not like this...but when I die. In otherspace. "
GrayZero raises an eyebrow, hrms, nods.
Light music floats out of Chris's headphones.
Onya uncoils her tail and stalks off. "Dinnertime," she murmurs.
Onya disappears with a mild flash of light.
Chris manages to right himself and find his keyboard, after being so rudely dropped by the dragonness.
Galahad smiles at Chris, expression tender. "Your aspects, or however you call them -- they must love you."
Chris grins a little sheepishly. "I so feel like Kid Radd right now."
Kuro and Hi look at each other, and say as one, "Who?"
GrayZero glances to the twins. "A character from a story."
Hi winds over towards Gray. "What story?"
Chris nods slowly to Galahad, closing his eyes. "I'd like to think so. They're so much a part of me. And now they've been given a second chance to exist here, in some time from now. For real."
GrayZero smiles. "It was named after the character cited. I'm not sure how else to describe it, otherwise."
You say, "Kid Radd is a character from a story about a character from a videogame who realizes he's a character in a videogame and does something about it. I don't recall if he figures out he's also in a story...until the end, when he calls on the help of his player or 'reader'. "
Kuro spools upon the ground next to Chris, crossing her short arms beneath her chin. "Reality is what you make of it. Did you know that the mother of my sister and I both was a transcendent entity named Rakhal, who was also known as Flenser? Reality means such little when you can totally ignore reality for as long as you feel like it."
You say, "Nik...poor Nik. He didn't intend this, but he pulled so hard. He pulled me here. His player. "
Chris waves towards the Generator. It's purring softly in the background, very active now. "Reality...yes. That was the idea behind that generator. Nik didn't know who built it, he was just acting on it. I built it.
Kuro looks curiously at Chris. "Why?"
Hi nods at Gray, and coils around the vixen, draping herself along her- or staying in perfect place even if she's intangible.
Chris comes up short. "You know...I don't even know. I might have gotten the idea from somewhere else myself."
GrayZero hrms, glances towards Chris, apparently also curious.
You say, "I needed another invention for Nik to come up with. And it seemed a good one. "
GrayZero hrms, nods.
Kuro winds around Chris, as some oversized serpent. This is how the sisters interact with others, after all. "I suppose. Why not just do it yourself, though?"
GrayZero says, "Because previously he was not directly here."
Chris is rather enjoying the interaction on a level he's not used to. "Yeah. I wasn't here, I was behind...the keyboard." He holds the archaic input device up.
Kuro says, "But that shouldn't have mattered. Why not just translate himself here?"
GrayZero shrugs.
You say, "That's what he...I...just /did/. He had to build the machine even though he didn't know what it was for. Or who he was building it for. "
Kuro asks levelly, "But why did you need the machine?"
You say, "I do...feel kinda sorry, though. It wasn't very nice to be so misleading. He /did/ know what was going on in the end. "
Chris tilts his head to Kuro. "Hm, well...I do like theatrics, you know?"
Kuro nods, and rests her head on Chris's shoulder. "Drama does make the world go 'round, after all."
GrayZero smiles. "It was rather telegraphed towards the end there."
Chris pats Kuro's head softly. "It's the true substance of this place, after all. That elusive trail of breadcrumbs called 'plot'."
Galahad turns to GrayZero, looking faintly sad. "I should appologize..."
GrayZero glances towards Galahad. "Hm?"
Kuro snickers. "Plot is only what you make of it, of course. But that is, of course, what makes this place interesting. Did you know that for some reason, Mother could never get the Puzzlebox to speak back to her? She felt it was an intrisic flaw upon her part, of having to keep herself grounded in more mortal planes, so she bred us and ascended for herself."
Galahad shakes his head slowly. "...I'm not allowed to say. Not yet. Things are going to happen, and part of the reason is because I am letting them. In a way, aiding and abetting them, but I might not remember that when the machine turns off."
Chris raises an eyebrow towards Kuro. She might not see it, her head being on his shoulder. "...that's interesting. I guess I didn't check up on your history enough. I didn't know you were linked with Mother."
Elegy folds his arms on his knees. He's smiling. His black eyes are intent on Galahad's.
GrayZero hrms, nods. "This I can understand. There is no need to apologize."
Hi grins at Galahad. "My sister and I will remember. I'd be glad to help you remember whatever you'd like to."
Kuro snickers, and headbumps. "Everyone assumes *that* Mother. No, I mean Rakhal. Mother. Flenser. Our mother."
Chris laughs. "Oh, right!"
Galahad smiles slightly to Hi, but shakes his head. "If I need to remember, I'm certain that I will. And if I forget, it will be because I don't need that knowledge. ...Yet... if you do decide my memory needs jogging, tell me that I gave a tug on Trilogee's loose end."
GrayZero raises an eyebrow, hrms.
Hi nods. "I will remind you at another time."
Galahad looks directly at Elegy, his own posture a mirror image of the scarab-winged boy's hunched pose.
GrayZero hrms.
Elegy looks back into Galahad's eyes. His expression shifts, from ammused to defiant. "Don't imagine that you know me."
Galahad is the first to look away. "I know /her/. That's enough for me to have some faith."
GrayZero smiles.
The twins look at each other.
Both of the girls unwind, and make their way out. "Be seeing you..."
Kurohi scrambles into the tunnel.
Kurohi has left.
Elegy smiles again, leaning back, stretching out his arms. "Faith is an opiate."
Chris sits down on a handy nearby bit of rubble. "Hm. Dammit. Now what."
GrayZero smiles quietly, but viciously. "Underestimating it is rather contraindicated. Regardless of your opinion thereof."
Elegy fixes his depthless gaze on GrayZero, smiling compassionately as he shakes his head. "I don't, I won't. I just feel for you both. I hope it keeps you from your pain."
GrayZero returns the smile. "My, but you are a snippy one."
Elegy's smile widens, nearly a laugh. "Call it 'pluck' and it's a compliment."
Chris glances at Elegy. "Ho boy. From what I've heard, you're going to be, ah, 'fun'.
GrayZero's smile doesn't falter. "Perhaps I shall try that sometime." Then, "I do believe I need to retire to my study at this point..."
Galahad begins to rise, offering an arm to GrayZero. "Do you mind if I give escort?"
Galahad glances to Chris. "If you see my love..."
GrayZero shakes her head. "Not in the slightest."
Chris points. "She's still sleeping, right there. But yeah...if she wakes up."
Chris smiles. "Seeya guys later. Hopefully."
GrayZero nods. "Certainly."
Galahad nods to Chris. "...She loves Nikolai. I'm certain you two will have a lot to talk about."
GrayZero smiles. "I'm sure he would be aware of that already."
Chris chuckles. "Yep."
Galahad rubs the back of his neck uncomfortably. "What I'm trying to say is..."
Chris pats Galahad on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it, man. I understand.
Galahad murmurs, "I'm not the avatar my own dreamer would normally use to say such a thing... but you should make love at least once while you're here. We hope that you and Trilogee find some happiness together."
You say, "I like your char....er, you. "
Chris blinks in surprise at that. "Um....okay, thanks. I'll keep that in mind."
Galahad laughs out loud. "I'm fond of you, and the facets I know. Thank you."
GrayZero raises an eyebrow, then shrugs.
GrayZero says, "Well, now that we have thoroughly pitted all kinds of walls..." She glances to Galahad. "Shall we?"
Galahad smiles sheepishly, then nods. "To you, my Lady, I defer."
GrayZero smiles. "Very well, then." She nods to Chris, then leads off towards the Ballard.
GrayZero leaves, taking Galahad with her by the hand.
Chris walks over and kicks the generator. It powers down with a whine. No fancy effects now. But...he and the other emergent still exist.