Private Comms
Jul. 1st, 2021 04:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
notsosouThe klaxons rang. The red lights flashed. The station sections slowly listed in the dark. Long past the edge of effort, long past the boundaries of hope, Stacy kept struggling, but there was no use to it; and in the end, even the static and the voices in her headset ceased to shout.
It was a jewel to her, the moment that she understood that it was over—
That willpower could not fix this. That effort could not fix this. That even “being better” could not have helped.
It was a jewel; it was an unfolding, glowing flower. It transfixed her with the simple beauty of it.
Her eyes no longer saw the console that spread before her. Her ears no longer heard the bells. Instead her eyes were fixed on that pure and clean and inner darkness, and the silver glow that burned within it; then up, beyond, and past it, to the beginning of the world.
- Glitch, by Dr. Jenna K. Moran
It was a jewel to her, the moment that she understood that it was over—
That willpower could not fix this. That effort could not fix this. That even “being better” could not have helped.
It was a jewel; it was an unfolding, glowing flower. It transfixed her with the simple beauty of it.
Her eyes no longer saw the console that spread before her. Her ears no longer heard the bells. Instead her eyes were fixed on that pure and clean and inner darkness, and the silver glow that burned within it; then up, beyond, and past it, to the beginning of the world.
- Glitch, by Dr. Jenna K. Moran
COMING IN HOT WITH ETHICS
Date: 2022-01-20 08:58 am (UTC)Heeey. Hiya. Hellooooooo.
[Sara will get the feeling she's rising up from a deep sleep, maybe a nightmare she can't remember; that same feeling of disorientation and unsurety of place, head lifting from... a schooldesk she's apparently been conked out on. Maybe it's familiar?
The rest of the room is... hard to make out. It's dark... there's the thin white outline of something like a blackboard behind the thin white outline of the silhouette in front of her. There's a lamp or spotlight... but it isn't actually illuminating anything, in the way of dreams. It might not even be really there, so much as the idea of it being there.]
Sleeping in class, huh? That's not going to get you anywhere! Guess that's why you're in remedial tutoring. So let's start with an easy one for you.
[The silhouette steps to the side, the board, like a screen, revealing two stylized people, in red and blue, pointing little stylised guns at each other's heads.
MISS RED: Put down the gun, I don't want to hurt you.
MISTER BLUE: Why don't you put yours down first, then?]
Looks like these two sure are in a pickle! By the way... which do you think should lower theirs first?
no subject
Date: 2022-01-20 09:06 am (UTC)[ She lifts her head, mussed hair and muzzy lipped from sleep. The darkness fails to arrange itself into a sensible room. Sara rubs her eyes, squinting at the figure in front of her. She can't...quite remember why she's here. It must be important...in fact...she can feel the importance on the tip of her tongue, the last wisps of some kind of desperate urgency. She was trying to do something?
...
...Was it related to falling asleep in class? No, that didn't seem right. She was great at school. ]
Maybe I'd stay awake if you turned a different light on. [ She grumbles. ] I can't see a thing...
[ A click, and her eyes alight on the board. She frowns at the strangeness of the question. The sense of urgency curdles into unease. It's dancing right in front of her eyes, but the familiar(?) figures eyes are upon her, and she feels the strange need to answer. ]
I don't know, Mister Blue? [ Because she gets the weird sense Miss Red is supposed to be her. ] They both should...? It's not nice to point a gun at someone.
no subject
Date: 2022-01-20 09:19 am (UTC)Then Miss Red lifts hers and shoots Mr Blue in the head without warning, almost too fast to process. The screen goes dark, becoming the idea of a blackboard again, and the shadow tsks.]
Awww, what a shame... Just goes to show, you really can't trust anyone these days. Full marks! Brilliant answer! Sure isn't nice.
no subject
Date: 2022-01-20 09:27 am (UTC)[ Her eyes are still locked on the idea of the blackboard, a dark pit in her stomach. Supposed to be her...so she thought. She doesn't like her little mental comparison now, spurred on by the gender and slightly relevant color. She's glad the figure can't read her mind, and pick it apart. Sara's never shot anyone. It's fine. She tries to put it away, to soothe her thoughts. Look the figure in the eye (where are its eyes?) ]
What are you trying to say?
[ She says, and then stops abruptly, eyes locked with... It doesn't have eyes. There isn't a light in this room. There is wrong, dream logic afoot but everything feels real and it makes her feel dizzy with confusion. Sara shoves the chair back with a loud scrape of metal on ambigious floor, turning away from what her eyes can't make sense of. ]
This isn't right. [ She mutters. ] This isn't what I'm supposed to be doing. I have something to do.
no subject
Date: 2022-01-20 09:56 am (UTC)Hmm? What am I trying to say? It's cruel?
[The eyeless figure tilts it's eyeless head.]
Sheesh, you're not getting far with an attitude like that! These are important life lessons to learn... You know, if you want to have a successful future.
[Or a future.]
You're in a hurry, huh? Alright, since we're getting close to end of class, how about a practical exercise? Just find the way to leave!
[Eyes open in what must be the walls, round, lidless, all shape and sizes. They roll, rotate, dart, and one by one and all at once, fixate on her. Red liquid pools beneath them, begins to drip down and flow out in increasing rivulets and pools across the unfinished floor. The next time Sara glances down at the desk, there's a revolver on it, bright metal glittering in the nonexistent spotlight. Or maybe it's a knife? Your choice, Sara.]
Let's go.
no subject
Date: 2022-01-20 10:06 am (UTC)[ It comes at a strained as it does fierce. She takes a step back, trying to put distance between her and this thing...but there isn't really any space, is there? She's not in a room, she's just here, in a place with a blackboard and a figure. It doesn't make any sense. Her shaking hands are balled into fists. ]
This isn't real. [ Fear and gritted teeth are enough to clear her thoughts that much. ] I'm not listening to you...I..!
[ The walls open, and she grips her hands to her chest with a gasp. Judgmental eyes, bloody liquid, distracting, panic inducing, not entirely unfamiliar in emotion, just in shape. The knife on the desk becomes a gun the second she grabs it, pointing it at the figure with a shaking hand. ]
Shut! Up!! [ She squeezes her eye's shut, and doesn't pull the trigger. ] Leave me alone! I'm not here for you! I'm looking for Shin Tsukimi!!
no subject
Date: 2022-01-20 10:33 am (UTC)If anything, it gets wider when she trains the gun on it. Not real? Then why are you so scared? It should be easy if it's not real, right?
...
There's a ripple, as she says the name. Across the floor... maybe across the whole of the small dream, like a single drop of water. The grin vanishes off the figure's face, leaving only the silhouette, still. Then it starts walking towards her, fearless as if the gun were a toy, a prop for demonstration purposes.]
Shin Tsukimi, huh... That's a name I haven't heard in a while.
[There's a light touch on her wrist, her elbow, hands that don't feel like anything at all guiding her arm with surprising gentleness.]
If you want to see him, then it's easy enough! Why didn't you just say so?
[That's when she'll realize the position he's putting her in, should she allow it. The gun, up to her head. The trigger still hers. The grin returns, glints like metal.]
All you have to do is follow him! Alllll the way to where dead things like him go. You're practically halfway there already!
no subject
Date: 2022-01-20 10:47 am (UTC)This is a rescue. [ Muttered to herself. A rescue a rescue a rescue. She's here for something good. Save someone in the dark, its possible. She came here alone, without any help or any magic, but its possible. There's magic enough in this school to get her through, her own soul should be able to withstand Sou's for a while, just focus on what this is. A rescue a rescue a rescue....
The blood sloshes around her feet, she cracks an eye open in time for its hands to meet her wrist, pulling her in shocked muteness into position. Up close, its face is worse then nothing. ]
W-wait. [ Her hands try to twitch, but her finger's on the trigger. With the cold metal on her temple the fear is almost to much to move, lest one small movement spell her doom. ] Y-you're wrong. He's not dead. I've met him.
[ She knows the shape of him, and this isn't it. She's not sure what to do, too scared to struggle, unsure about fighting back. There isn't anyone else here to take cues from. Just her...
...
She looks the thing in the eye. When its just her, all she can do is be brave. ]
Where is Shin Tsukimi?
no subject
Date: 2022-01-20 12:35 pm (UTC)Huh? Didn't I just tell you? Geez... I guess you really aren't listening.
[A slow shake of the head. Yareyare...]
But it's okay. Everyone goes there in the end. It's not like it matters which way... Aren't I right, Sara Chidouin?
[There's just a little lilted weight on her name. The shadow cocks it's head up at the ceiling as a faint sound slowly working on becoming audible resolves into a noise that had always been there for a while; a barely there scratching, in the ceiling, in the walls, going in and out to silence as it had moved. The shadow exhales.]
Sigh... how tedious.
[The scratching disappears. A drip of water later, two maybe, the doorknob (was there always a door?) starts rattling, insistently. Off and on... off and on. Going for a while, stopping, and then going again. The figure cups it's hands around it's mouth.]
We're not buying anything! Try the door across the hall! [This doesn't seem to affect the rattling in the slightest, but the figure turns back to Sara.] Nooo thank you... Where were we?
no subject
Date: 2022-01-20 09:46 pm (UTC)[ It's not new, its not nice...its just shallow and hateful, and not the person she's looking for. Now she can see the clear outline of who this figure resembles, but its words aren't his. Too Midori-like, too cruel. To much of what seemed forced in hindsight. She doesn't want to deal with it...but if this is Sou's soul, then shooting it dead might be a massive mistake. It's not real, but this represents...something to Sou. Sara bites her lip, wondering only now if she really knew what Sou really felt about anything. Was she going to find out?
She looks with the figure at the sound, the rattling door. The thing in the room with her seems only irritated, but to Sara it screams of a last oppertunity.]
Hello? [ Ignoring the figure entirely now, she walks across a room that is now a proper room, resting her hand on the doorknob. ] Can you help me?
[ She turns it slightly...does it feel unlocked? ]
no subject
Date: 2022-01-20 10:40 pm (UTC)[It's not sharp or pointed. It's too cruel to be; the proud, warm earnest tone of a teacher encouraging an insecure but bright student and then... underneath it, that same, empty, hollow onlooking amusement. There's nothing underneath.
There's no reply, but the doorknob... as she rotates it there's an unlocking sensation, as well as a sort of cracking sensation, like if you twist something too far and it fractures a little in warning, or if the entire thing had been coated in old dry paint arresting movement. It opens, as someone on the other side pulls it open, stopping to look down with some small consternation at the massive quantities of blood that have just washed over their shoes and across the blue wireframe carpet behind them.]
Umm... Err...
[It's... Shin Tsukimi? Seventeen years old and with blue scarf. He blinks, and then visibly seems to rally despite the strangeness of the situation.]
Hello? S-sorry to interrupt, I heard voices... I think I've gotten lost. Can you help me?
[He's glancing between Sara and the silhouette with equal uncertainty, the latter like he's having difficulty seeing anything there, or his gaze just wants to slide off it. The silhouette doesn't appear to acknowledge him, just widens it's grin.]
Oh? This'll be interesting.
no subject
Date: 2022-01-21 06:15 am (UTC)[ Hunching her shoulders at the tone behind her, Sara takes a step outside the room with stiff single step. She doesn't entirely trust this newcomer, its a little too close to what she had said to the figure, like perhaps this place is showing her what she wants to see...but it doesn't matter. Behind her is blood and someone she doesn't want to be around and in front of her is...not exactly the person she's looking for, but close enough.
She grabs Shin's hand in hers without hesitation, dragging him away from the bloodsoaked room and down the hall. ]
Sara Chidouin.
[ Her grip is not gentle, shaking and too tight. ]
Don't listen to that thing. I don't care if it follows us. I'm going somewhere else.
no subject
Date: 2022-01-21 06:51 am (UTC)Class Dismissed! Ahaha, don't forget your homework!
[The door swings shut behind Sara with a soft yet loud click and no apparent master. If she stuck around to look a ripple of that shadow moves across it, not so much color so much as the sense this is now just... a door, that happens to be black. The doorknob and key hole are gone.
The hallway is dark blue, picked out in a mesh of brighter blue lines that lends it shape and feature and light; it's reminiscent of the game's first floor but... that hallway wasn't this long, and there definitely weren't this many doors, all nondescript and of varying hues, equally blank. The newcomer's fairly easy to pull down it, taken by complete surprise, stumbling a little.]
H-hey...!? Um?? Oww, that hurts...
[He does try and come to a stop once the initial shock of a strange girl grabbing his hand and dragging him wears off; how successful that is is up to Sara, but he'll keep going if she does. She seems like she knows what she's doing?]
Y-you have a really strong grip, ehehe! Er, I don't know if there is a somewhere else... I've been exploring upstairs and downstairs and there's just this place... f-for a long time... You and... um, that thing? [A careful repetition of the phrasing.] Are the first people I've seen here, I'm starting to get a bit nervous actually... My phone doesn't even have signal, my parents are going to be worrying so bad...
[He scratches a cheek with his free hand.]
Ah! Sorry, I'm rambling, aren't I?
no subject
Date: 2022-01-21 09:44 am (UTC)You don't know anything. [ She sounds defeated. Does she want to explain they're inside someone's soul? Would that freak him out, if he didn't know? Maybe she should just pretend she doesn't for now. ] I don't know much either...I suppose you could say I'm looking for Shin Tsukimi...
[ She gives him a tired stare. He really does look young, no longer pixelated by a screen but real and warm and living. Probably about her age, slightly shorter, brighter eyes, a different scarf. A thousand little details an AI didn't pick up. ]
I'm Sara.
no subject
Date: 2022-01-21 10:20 am (UTC)Oh! That's me! Right, I forgot to introduce myself... You seem to know me, though? Er, how do you know me? Have we met somewhere before? Did you need my help with something, or... is this a rescue?
[There's not a trace of suspicion to it, just puzzled interest. And... maybe a little concern, as yet unvoiced.]
Wait, that's a Sonnobenno uniform, isn't it! I go there too... I guess I must have more of a reputation than I thought, ehehe. [His face falls a bit from the small delight of finding a peer in this creepy place.] Ah but... don't tell me the weekend is over... How long have I been stuck here?
[He scratches his head, the spikes of hair fluffing and settling.]
I'm Shin. Nice to meet you! [He shakes the hand she's still holding. His poor circulation...] There, now it's been done properly, after all...
[He trails off, tilts his head a little as she looks at him, thumb rubbing his scarf.]
Um... a-are you okay? You look tired... Maybe you should rest. Even a little helps, right?
no subject
Date: 2022-02-09 06:34 am (UTC)[ It's a cool line, but she feels exhuasted saying it, nerves worn raw by that appirition. She keeps looking behind Shin's shoulder to see if its following. ]
...But we haven't met before.
[ Not this Shin, not this person. Sou would say he was dead, and even if Sara can't say she understands his strange relationship with himself...she doubts anything she knows about Sou matters with this gangly teen in the same uniform as her. She's not even sure if this is really the person she's looking for, saving Shin Tsukimi of the past might not mean anything at all...
...Well...she can't leave him. What would Sou say if she did that? ]
Rescuing is hard work. I just...I'm not sure how I got here...or how I'll get out. Have you seen anything? Maybe someone who looks a bit like you with a red scarf...?
no subject
Date: 2022-02-09 07:43 am (UTC)That's okay, we're meeting now, right? [He scratches a cheek nervously.] A r-red scarf? Um, no, I don't think so, sorry... I don't even have one that colour...
[His hand leaves his blue one as he says that, which only makes it's prior absence more glaring. It's comfortingly soft not... clutched onto like some kind of lifeline.]
Seeing another me... that'd be scary. That thing back there was kind of creepy, too. Where are we... this can't just be some big prank, right?
[It's clear he's really hoping this is just some... impromptu escape room thing.]
...I did see something but... I don't think- I didn't get a good feeling, looking at it. It, um... I'll show you! Maybe you'll have a better idea about it than me, ehehe. Err, f-follow me!
[He sets off at a fairly brisk trot; this Shin isn't a jock but he does get out and about and has more stamina than the counterpart she's more familiar with. She's still holding his hand... should he say something? Would that make it more awkward? Help... he ends up putting it off all the way there, turning blue corner after blue corner in seemingly random pattern until they arrive at the open end of a cul de sac, a dead end.
The dark blue fades into an obsidian black at door there, which will be familiar to Sara from the game's second floor, the bright blue lines becoming delineating white. A rectangular area in front of the door is marked off in yellow and black lines of hazard. The sign above it reads '01'. The actual doors look like those of an elevator, a line running down the middle; there's no sign of any buttons of any sort.
The entire thing exudes a heavy, waiting, watching air. Shin stops a good meter before the warning line, swallowing, eyes fixed on it like a deer.]
I-I don't know where it goes but... It feels kinda dangerous... you should b-be careful, Sara. Um... maybe we should go somewhere else, now you've seen it, ehehe... Some of these doors have to open, right?
[There's a weight in her pocket... it's probably been there for a while... probably. Vaguely key-shaped.]
no subject
Date: 2022-02-09 08:52 am (UTC)[ It's cute and blue and soft. Even if Sara is tired, Shin's stuttering genuine demenaor tugs a grin out of her. It would have been nice to meet someone like this for the first time. She loosens her grip on his hand belatedly. ]
Don't worry. I'm...pretty experienced with situations like this! We should be fine.
[ He can take that however he wants. But this place is...well its not really a death game or a trial. It's someones heart. Nothing in here should really want to hurt them, so protecting Shin shouldn't be hard. She still has the gun...
...It's weird to walk behind Shin, but she lets him lead the way without much comment. Show her the door. ]
The door to the main game... [ She shakes her head. ] No, this has to be it. You can stay outside till I'm done, but...
[ She fishes around for the heavy weight in her pocket. There's no keyhole, but maybe if she holds it up to the number? ]
This is something important to you! Even if its scary, I think I should see it.
no subject
Date: 2022-02-09 09:58 am (UTC)[Well, maybe he will then? If someone this cool thinks it looks cool. His hand pulls back to himself; he's resisting the urge to shake it out because she really does have a strong grip. It feels like he's lost circulation.]
M-main game, what's that...? You've seen this before, Sara?
[The key is a thick green one. The blood drains out of Shin's face as she walks forward, shoulders squared, holding it up.]
W-wait... Sara!
[There's an odd doubling to his voice; he catches her sleeve in his outstretched hand just as she crosses the tape border.
The heaviness in the air intensifies; there's an arcing flicker of light as electricity crawls up the walls, threading static into Sara's hair and clothing. The counter above the door ticks down to 00 with a sound that seems to echo way too loudly for what it is, with all the finality of a prison door. The elevator doors slowly, glacially begin to open but she's fixed, rooted to the spot. The electricity gathers... pounces.
Then it all goes black. There's no pain to any of it, beyond the way you know, as in a dream, that it really should be there; it's simply like a book has been shut on her existence. She's right about that at least. Shin's heart can't truly hurt her.
Waking up the second time is a little less disorienting. She's lying on grass, the smell of it, as well as the acrid smell of... scorched plant? Overhead, the sun filters through wisteria petals and lands on a teal head leaning over her, concern writ across it's corresponding face. It could be a twin for the Shin she'd been with moments ago, except there's no beanie to be seen and he's in uniform now; Yogen uniform.]
Err... hello, miss? Are you okay? I don't know if that was brave or stupid... Probably stupid.
[There's a chagrined look as the new Shin sits back onto his legs where he's kneeling, and then gets up to his feet, tugging his red tie into a better position before holding out a hand for her. The grass under her will reveal itself to have a magic array scorched into it in lines and circles. The key has returned itself to her pocket. The faithful gun never left.]
Ah, that's rude, isn't it... I got you out as quick as I could when I realized... Just don't make a habit of it, okay? Haha, this is new to me too... I don't know what will happen.
[He gives her a smile. It's warm and genuine, if a little harried, and like before, utterly without recognition.]
Listen, I promised I'd meet a friend... if I don't go he might wander off, or just forget. That's been happening more and more lately so... Can you make it to the nurse okay?
[Much as he's worrying about his mysterious friend, he'll go with her if the answer is no.]