001 // audio & action

[antwort]

[ Do you hear that Luceti? ]

A-AAAAAH!

[ That's the sound of your peaceful evening being interrupted by a yowling new feather. And a lot of splashing. ]

I don't want to die! [ The book slaps down wetly against the rim of the fountain. Anyone lucky enough to be in the square is greeted the the sight of a red-eyed, sopping wet new feather trying to scramble out of it, brightly colored wings flapping uselessly behind him. He's not having much luck of it. ]

W... where am I?! Konatsu? Lt. Hyuuga? [ A beat, and then a slightly higher pitched, more distressed. ] Teito? This isn't funny! I-it's a really bad joke! This is too far, even for someone like you!

[ And then the panic dies down a little, replaced instead with a terribly confused silence. Any who were fortunate enough to witness it are greeted with a baffled stare, his eyes moving slowly to the wings. ] Where... Is this...?

Comments

[antwort]

That won't be hard at all. [ I'm amazing after all. ]

[generalflirt]

Pah, if you say so.

[ Anyway... ] You need me to give you the welcome intro again?

[antwort]

Yes.

[ He really needs the brushup. ]

[generalflirt]

Alright... [ Well then, he'll get right to it ] So we're on a planet we don't know the name of and there's something which keeps drawing thousands and thousands of people here from all sorts of worlds. A lot of those people who've been here for a long time created this big organization called the Malnosso, and seem to get their jollies off on putting people who just showed up into these sorts of barriers like the one we're in and running controlled experiments on them.

[antwort]

Experiments...? [ There's a faint memory. A lingering feeling of dread. ] Why would anyone do that?

[generalflirt]

Stated goal's that they want to go home. Which is why most of the experiments are related to Shifts. [ Inhale, exhale. ] Shifts are these big supernatural phenomenon here which can change up how someone is, how someone thinks, or what the area around them is like. For example, a Shift cold turn you into a dog, or make you think you are a dog without even changing you. [ He tilts his head ] Though apparently the wild ones out past the barrier are worse than the controlled ones they put on us.

[antwort]

So that's why I went home...? I was Shifted? [ Had he gone home? There's a brief, fleeting hope that maybe he'd just believed he'd gone home and that none of the events that had transpired had really happened.

But that just sounds crazy. He cards his fingers through his hair and blows out a sigh. ]

[generalflirt]

It's possible. It's also ... actually probably a little more likely you went back naturally. See, while I said the Malnosso are stuck here - sometimes for centuries, apparently, the longest anyone's been in this enclosure's around seven years. Going on four years myself, I'm actually one of the "older" people here. Most people who come into Luceti poof right back out relatively quickly compared to the rest of the world.

[ Which is why we're important to study. He assumes. He's not even sure himself, but he sort of hope/assumes Shuri will pick up on that connection. ]

[antwort]

It's still terrible.

[ But he gets it. Probably. Barsburg does things like that... Gathering up slaves and prisoners to use as test subjects for the benefit of the rest of the world. But those were non-humans. Ogres and and Raggsians. Slaves. People like Teito Klein who were... Well, actually people. ]

[generalflirt]

Yeah, pretty much. [ He sighs here, shaking his head ] I mean the other argument is the barrier's keeping us from their war, but they seem to send us out there now and again anyway.

[ And while they are sheltered from the war a lot, he doesn't feel particularly charitable in that respect, not after Zompania was clearly them, the people from Luceti, cleaning up their, the Malnosso's, mess. ]

[antwort]

War?

[ That's not good. He doesn't like the sound of that at all. ]

[generalflirt]

[ Oh, he didn't remember that at all? Bummer. Well then - ]

Yeah, they're at war with these crazy cultists who want to kill everyone apparently called the Third Party for some reason. It's something we're at risk for too, obviously.

[antwort]

W-well...

[ That's probably for the best, given Shuri's less than stellar track record dealing with war and everything having to do with war and violence. Even at that he pales considerably. ]

The barrier keeps them out, right?

[generalflirt]

Mmmhm. That's the idea of it.

[ They did break it twice, but... ]

[antwort]

Good.

[ In a tone similar to it better stay that way. Except entirely more matter of fact and twenty times more bratty. ]

[generalflirt]

Seconded.

[ There's more to say, but for now? The agree. ]

so then i moved SORRY FOR THE DELAY

[antwort]

[ Small, bite-sized portions of bad news are always best. Shuri glances out over the people, mouth twisting slightly.

He seems to have had enough unpleasant thoughts of war for the day. Or maybe a lifetime. ]

It should all be fine.

it's cool it's cool

[generalflirt]

[ He nods, looking over at Shuri again, studying him. It's... actually quire surreal to see the guy unchanged (mostly? probably? he's not 100% sure but he thinks so) to how he saw him before. He might have gone through some more stuff back home, but he hasn't been here in years. The rhythm is totally different. It's mostly on him (he, Masaomi, had changed) but... still ]

[antwort]

[ Shuri would say that he hasn't changed much - but he has. He's younger than he was, recently sixteen as opposed to the near eighteen year old he was. Softer, too, lacking the scars and wear and tear that came from a life in Luceti. Wakaba Oak's protection had kept him safer there on the battlefield, without promise of revival, than being here ever did.

But there's something slightly more mature. Maybe it's the hangover, maybe it's the sense that people are not all what they seem and suddenly he's gone from being the child of one of the most powerful men in the world to having to try to take his place. It's a stillness that wasn't there before.

Of course, the moment is ruined when he lets out a loud, petulant sigh. ]

I want a shower.

[generalflirt]

I bet you do, you stink.

[ Let's make that moment totally ruined ]

[antwort]

I do not stink!

[generalflirt]

Do too, wine-breath!

[antwort]

I do not! You can't even smell it.

[ He says, while subtly trying to smell his own breath. Does he smell?? He was just in the fountain so that should make him clean right.

Unless the fountain is grimy and unkept oh god! ]

[generalflirt]

Oh, you so can. And could that be vomit I smell too?

[ Eyebrow waggle ]

[antwort]

Definitely not!!

[ Mortified. ]