towerofanimus | O1O >> the world is heavy (and stars have died so that you may live)

Entry tags:

O1O >> the world is heavy (and stars have died so that you may live)

Characters: Hidetoshi, and the rest of the population of the

towerofanimus.
Setting: Floor 38 and the dormitory levels.
Format: Actionspam to begin with, but switching to which style the tagger uses. Prose is fine by me, but be warned that using it equates a slower tagging time from me.
Summary: Hidetoshi thinks a great deal about the recent events that have occurred in the Tower and on the network, reflects on his mild levels of stress and more or less, decides to devote a few hours of his day to enjoying the prefect cup of coffee.
Warnings: No... thing? Save for the usual Tower of Animus fare.

[ SCENARIO A || DORM LEVELS: OPEN ]

[ As what was rapidly approaching normal for this place, Hidetoshi feel tired and tensed. There were faint bruises hanging under his eyes, like somebody had pressed their thumbs hard against his skin. Sleep still came, relatively dreamless but he wasn't always as fortunate as to escape the nightmares that left Hidetoshi shaking noiselessly in the middle of the night, jolted awake again. Claws. Blood where there shouldn't be blood, where he didn't think it was possible to be blood. Screaming. Dying, alone and frightened out of his wits. His lungs, burned and tattered and scorched to the point where it hurt to breath. Powerlessness. That was a common theme. Always, always he was powerless to stop what was happened and forced to experience the consequences.

He'd creased to wear his school uniform everywhere once one of the monsters had torn it to shreds while killing him, and had went with a simple combination of a white shirt and black pants instead.

The teenager was seated on the edge of his bed, trying to think all the data through throughly. Hidetoshi rubbed his chin idly. The end results of both the collar check-up boycott and the hacking attempts had made themselves known by this point, of course. They were not pleasant consequences, though they were on the informative side of things, Hidetoshi supposed. Some new possibilities opened up.

There'd been a ruckus on the network. Honestly, it seemed there'd been a constant string of ruckuses recently.

Unsurprising.

He'd checked the network as part of his ordinary, clockwork routine without commentary, deciding that engagement would not be worth the headache, and discovered that while usual babble was still present, an audio post from the administration had appeared. The child administrator, Zo, and Jason caught in the middle of conversing, and some disgusting gloating from a few of the other residents in the comments. "Learned helplessness"? That's a quaint quip, he thought resentfully. The belief that nothing one can do will change a situation so one creases to try even when presented with an opportunity. Hidetoshi knew that. He had some scathing things to say in response to that—it was probably true but godforbid people react like rational human beings with emotions and logical fears to trauma and abuse, and so forth. But he didn't.

Logically, he was aware he was vaguely stressed by this place. The argument with Nesir (he needed to somehow make amendments with her, he reminded himself) the fact that he had refused to participate in something as foolhardy as the boycott, the Tower itself, his second, violent death, the lack of productiveness in the meeting earlier, the monsters, everything but objectively, Hidetoshi was also aware it was much best to focus on other, more productive matters and reducing that accumulation of unwanted stress later.

Such as: on the matter of the container of blue collar fluid he and Naoya had removed without permission from the unguarded check-up room, it had taken some debate, but they had settled on concealing within one of their mailboxes since leaving it unguarded in a room with regular traffic appeared risky.

Since it was his good fortune that he had no potential as a large threat, didn't have a retrieval unit constantly following him throughout the Tower, or a member of the resistance, Pandora, Hidetoshi had suggested they use his own mailbox for the purpose. The teenager had wadded it up in cloth and string like a package, and stuffed it carefully inside. ]

[ SCENARIO B || FLOOR 38: LOUNGE ]

[ There were many distasteful elements about the place he and the other residents currently staying in, but Hidetoshi still found it in himself to be grateful that this was Zo's turn to be in charge for the month. When the kid was in charge, it meant one month of no wretched experiments to struggle through and protect others from best he could, alongside the regular trials of life in the Tower and that was certainly appreciated.

And it also granted him a chance to go unhurried to the twenty-first floor, and while he had to sacrifice three pillows from empty, unaccompanied dormitory rooms and two especially bloodthirsty rabbits from the forest to get it, Hidetoshi had walked away with a steaming, warm mug of coffee like he'd been craving for awhile ~~the final, lingering impact of his future self~~. Miraculously, he'd been spared from being tasked with one of the complex, random requests to fulfill and had been given simple tasks to complete with twenty-four hours or else. Hidetoshi was too attached to his fingers or his left kidney to give it up easily.

After doing that, he'd walked up to one of his favoured floors—the lounge on the thirty-eighth floor, where there was no immediate threat of maiming via monsters and which had a comfortably sensible layout of couches, sofas, and tables. He still wanted sensibility right now. The want was a thin, splintery ache in his chest for the comfort of normality and safety and home. The view could even be called morbidly impressive, if you found looking over an endless sea of dull grey fog stretching out past the horizon to be interesting.

So, whenever somebody walks into the lounge, they'll either find one of the sofas occupied by a grouchy high school student, both hands wrapped around a mug of hot, delicious coffee and taking long, slow sips from it with his eyes closed. On one of the tables, he had left a small plate of warm cookies and a few crumbs (also from the twenty-first floor) along with a tidy stack of sprawled notes tied together in a knot with a thin string, and a short, stubby pencil.

Because Hidetoshi had decided that unless he wanted to be even more useless than he currently was due to collapsing under the pressure, he was going to take a hour or two out of his day to postpone his worries, selfishly enjoy this damn perfect cup of coffee on a floor where he was reasonably certain nothing would attempt to murder him brutally, and try to not start yelling at thin air out of frustration. That was his plan. Then it would be back to the regular grind, he would track down Nesir to properly... Uh, apologize to her, and he would find some of the people he'd been meaning to speak with for some time and have a discussion with them. There was also the container of blue liquid to deal with. Hidetoshi couldn't hide it forever.

He wondered how Minato-kun was faring. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

*There's someone already there when he arrives. Enoch is lying on his stomach on a sofa, arms folded on the armrest and his chin resting on them. He's gazing out the window he's facing with a thoughtful look. Sephiroth had been here earlier, and had approached him about scientific equipment, and a break-in Ganon was organizing. He wasn't the only one who needed such equipment. He had come here because he was feeling so old, but there was work to be done. Who to tell, how to tell them they would be relying on Ganon to get inside.

The smell of food he wasn't used to smelling in the cafeteria catches his attention and he looks up as Hidetoshi comes in. The smell seems familiar, but the last time he'd smelled it was-

Oh. February.

It was misfortune, plain and simple, that the earliest credible reference to coffee was from the fifteenth century and he was from well before that. That coffee was not as mundane to him.

It was fortunate, then, that it didn't have an indelible tie, that he'd actually had it before. The result wasn't aversion, but a mild discomfort as his thoughts were pulled to the rest of that menu and Ruana - so much pink (not associated with love or femininity, but instead in the same category as red, including an association with blood). Had it been an uncanny coincidence?

He realizes this pause has gone on just a little too long and he nods in greeting, if belated.*

I'm sorry for that delay, you've caught me lost in thought.

Edited (forgot parentheses on the aside) 2013-07-25 03:53 (UTC)

[ It had taken awhile to walk up to the lounge. Progress had been slow thanks to the fact Hidetoshi'd had to balance the small plate of cookies, the bundle of notes he'd stacked under the plate, and a pencil in one hand without dropping any of it, and keep his fingers curled around the handle of the coffee cup at the same time. He'd been wary of encountering monsters along the way since his normal method of fighting would have been badly encumbered.

So upon arrival into the lounge, it takes him a few seconds to register there's somebody else present on this floor and that he knows them. Enoch, sprawled out tiredly on one of the sofas, looked exhausted and preoccupied when he looks up to see Hidetoshi. There's a silent delay Hidetoshi wonders at before the man greets him. The teenagers nods a polite greeting back. ]

No need to apologize, Enoch-san. [ He walks towards one of the couches near a table to set his things down on, painstakingly careful to not slip or spill anything. ] You did seem preoccupied before I arrived. It's good to see you.

And it's good to see you, Hidetoshi. *Enoch looks at the food and drink as he sets it down. The initial reaction to the smell - or rather, the remembrance of when he'd smelled it last - seems to have passed.*

I don't remember seeing those in the cafeteria.

They aren't. I had to run several errands for that bothersome restaurant located on the twenty-first floor for them. [ Hidetoshi sits himself down on the couch, his back remaining stiff and straight. He reaches out for the handle of the coffee mug before pausing. ]

Would you like some of the cookies?

You've already found what you needed, then? *Good. Good, he won't have to suffer as he did.

After a moment's hesitation, he reaches for a cookie. It was rude to decline, after all.* Thank you.

*A pause as he takes a bite. It's sweeter than he likes, but it's food and he actually hasn't eaten today.* You should be wary of that level.

Indeed. [ He held up a hand, covered in angry, reddened scratch marks and grimaces. ] I never want to see any rabbits ever again in my lifetime, to be honest about the matter.

You're welcome. [ Hidetoshi lifts up the coffee mug, stream still raising from the hot liquid and takes a small, experimental sip. He was aware of the dangers of that floor and felt as secure in dealing with it as he was convinced of the intelligence level of an exceptionally backwards, syphillic goat. ]

There is little in this Tower I'm not wary of, but thanks for the warning.

I knew about it too, when I first came here. I'd thought it was worth it for something. I wasn't lucky enough to get an objective I could meet.

[ Hidetoshi thought about that and then tried not to wince. The only reason he'd dared deal with it was that he was genuinely concerned he was going to crack soon, and attempting to avoid that. ]

I'm sorry about that.

*Enoch shakes his head.* It was...a year ago, now. I'm glad you're unharmed.

That's appreciated. [ Well, if Enoch says so! Even if he clearly is affected by the memories of that event. Hidetoshi sets down the coffee mug, deciding to allow it to cool a little while he pulls his notes towards him. ]

... You look exhausted. [ It has the air of a question and a statement. Then again, Hidetoshi looks tired too. ]

It's nothing new. I have bouts of feeling run-down from time to time.

*It comes with being so old.*

[ :/a ]

Very well.

[ He untied and flips open the notes, frowning at the few papers that had slid out of organization. He pulled those out and shuffled them back into place. ]

*Enoch's attention is drawn to the rustling of paper at least.*

A project?

*He wants to know what other people might have observed. The more knowledge they have, the better, and keeping everyone as up to date as is possible and safe is important. He'd be willing to supplement anything Hidetoshi might have if he can.*

[ Hidetoshi blinked. ]

Correct. It's notes on what data I've gathered on the Tower over time... But the information I collected is probably hardly contains any new finds on the Tower.

[ Trusting Enoch as the reasonable figure of authority he perceived him as, the teenager showed him the contents of the packet of paper he had flipped open and spread out on the table:

Should the older man chose to take the offer and look through them, it shouldn't be hard to understand them. The earlier notes contain information and musings on a phenomena referred to as 'Persona', education, math problems, schooling, and only a few scattered theories about the Tower, including records on activities on some of the floors and some ranting about injustice. Several passages contain more random words such as 'animus = anima?' and 'Shadows' and 'soul/ego/denial of self (repression) = urge to kill host ~~???~~'. Sidenote, handwriting more awkward like he doesn't understand the phrase: 'the bubble doesn't know it's been popped!'

There's a steady shift towards the later notes, focusing more on the workings of the Tower, the administrators, their mouths in charge, records of past experiments from October onward and some guesswork on previous experiments, and the revelations concerning the Glamour System and wire frames, all that and so forth. Underlined on one of the early notes is "the monsters are an accident re: Zoe." Scratched on the margins are things such as 'Epimetheus (foolish??)/Epiphron(care) + the True Self !?' and 'power cores/time limit = 1 year before '

Scribbled near the end of the packet is 'confirmation of the destruction of our homeworlds.'

All of the notes themselves are meticulously done, excessively neat but not particularly organized by subject matter or importance. Tucked near the front is a copy of this message.

And there are pictures, as well. His drawings aren't particularly artistic, but they're precise and practical, including roughly most of the relevant details. On one of the newest pages however, there is a pencil rendering of a object Enoch might recognize. A container of blue liquid, presumably collar fluid. ]

*It's certainly giving him something to do to distract him from feeling, well, old.

Enoch doesn't quite get to the picture of collar fluid, considering he takes an interest in a message in the margins, something he doesn't understand at all amidst things that he absolutely knew about the events here.

He points to the note 'Epimetheus (foolish??)/Epiphron(care) + the True Self !?'.* Does this have something to do with the rest of the things on this page? I haven't heard of anything like this.

[ Hidetoshi drinks his cup of steaming, perfect coffee with silent relish while the older man looks at the notes and when Enoch asks, he glances at the message left in the margins that he's pointing at. He frowns, then shakes his head. ]

Hm, no. That's a personal note to myself more than anything else.

Ah. I'd wondered if there was something I hadn't considered.

*And then he sees the drawing of the blue container. If only his retrieval unit drone wasn't here! He didn't want to implicate anyone who hadn't been in that room. As many containers needed to go without leads as possible!

But...seeing as how it's only patrolling the area and not standing right over him?*

Do you have something to write with?

Uh? Oh, sure.

[ Hidetoshi picks up a short, stubby pencil off the table, well-used and rolls it between his fingers before taking his gaze from his notes to the older man. ] Would you like to borrow it?

Only for a moment. Would you mind if I wrote something here?

*Considering he didn't bring one of his own, thick notebooks. He wasn't expecting to write.*

No, I would not mind. Here.

[ He assumes Enoch isn't the sort to scrawl messily all over his notes after all and it's not he would ask for no reason, would he? He holds it out, handing the pencil over to him. ]

*He writes something quickly and hands it back to Hidetoshi along with the pencil.

Under the drawing of the container, he's written, I know two people who have two others. You have this too?*

[ He glances up and his eyes flicker as casually as they can, checking the area (the walls have ears and eyes and all that) noting the distance of the retrieval unit, then Hidetoshi's attention returns to the writing under the sketch of the collar fluid container.

He pretends to thoughtfully deliberate, then flips the paper over and writes a reply before pushing it across the table to Enoch. Neat, squeezed together to preserve space print; Correct. During the mess with that collar boycott, the checkup room was unsupervised. Myself and another resident took advantage, as did others I presume.

There's a lopsided circle drawn around the words "two others" with an arrow that leads to the contents of the container we took becomes clear when the liquid is exposed to air. does the same hold true for the others? ]

*Enoch does the same act, even adding for good measure,* You have interesting ideas.

*He then writes something below that: One of the containers has fluid that is already clear. He passes it and the pencil back to Hidetoshi.*

Same goes for you. Hmm. . . I didn't even pause to consider that method before. [ Calmly bullshitting. Hidetoshi wasn't as practiced an actor, but his thoughtful expression, brow crinkling as he held up the paper as if inspecting a diagram, was believable. ]

[ He presses the paper down, writing a reply out behind Enoch's handwriting; There must be some sort of signifi~~enc~~cance to that. Does it react to air differently then, if it's already clear? then stopping.

He scribbles down next carefully; What have been the others' suggestions on the subject of using them? We can hardly merely leave them lying about, gathering dust. and then he returns both paper and pencil to the older man. ]

*Enoch studies the paper and appears to be thinking on Hidetoshi's alterations as he writes slowly.

When he passes it back, under the first sentence he's written I don't know. We haven't tried. Under the second is They tried examining it using the tools in the laboratory, but tools of film cannot analyze real material. I have learned recently that someone else has been planning an infiltration already, and I am fairly certain he will allow myself and others along for our own ends.*

[ Hidetoshi reads it over twice, not slowly but not so rapidly it would like they only exchanging notes, focusing mainly on the mention of the infiltration and the attempt to examine it in the laboratory. He brushes away the loose pencil lead on the paper, and hands it back.

The first sentence has no comment under it, since he feels it asks that question.

The space under the second portion of Enoch's writing is a very simple response; Is there anything I can do to help?

He'd be worse than useless for an large-scale infiltration, he knows that even if the unfriendly-sounding whoever was planning it allowed it, but there must be other areas where he can contribute, no matter how small. Hidetoshi did want to be of help. ]

*This time, when Enoch has to pause to think, it's not an act.

Finally, he writes something and passes it back.

If you do not wish to join us, you may be able to help in some manner with the results. However, the results of infiltrations are unpredictable, so I cannot say for sure what it is we will need.*

[ Yeah, he would just get killed like a tool if he went along on the infiltration.

He studies the response, mulling over his thoughts. Then he wrote down something on the paper and hands it over.

Alright. I hope you guys have a measure of success in this infiltration. I'd be willing to aide with the results you produce from it. Hidetoshi felt completely justified in not fully trusting the resistance, Pandora, but he harbored no ill will towards it either. Enoch wouldn't ask him to do anything unreasonable. ]

[And a small while later he runs into Naoya, who was busy training.]

Did it fit?

[He's never been that great with conversation, but the last few weeks had made him go back to his usual simple and to the point way of speaking.]

[ Hidetoshi folds his arms and nods briskly. ]

Yes, well enough it's entirely out of view. I don't imagine anybody will find it anytime soon.

[ Rather than stupidly poking into view where anybody in the mailbox could notice the suspicious parcel left in one of the mailboxes. ]

[Ryoji usually wasn't one to hang around the lounge very often. He was only doing so to take his mind off of the situations he'd been thrown into lately and even then, he wasn't able to just sit there. He was antsy and needed something to do, even if he was just spending some time relaxing. He needed to watch a movie or read or find someone to talk to. Something to keep him preoccupied, so he doesn't think about this messed-up Tower and everything's that happened to the people in it.

He's standing there awkwardly, wondering where to sit. He'd like to find someone to talk to, but he doesn't see his friends, and he isn't going to talk to someone completely out of the blue if they seemed preoccupied...

That is, unless they were someone fairly familiar. He's certain he's seen the other boy around Gekkoukan, and he fits the description of one of Minato's friends. Not only that, but he thinks he remembers seeing him when he'd first arrived and Nyx had taken over. That last part makes him nervous, but curiosity gets the better of him, so he taps Hidetoshi on the shoulder.]

Um, excuse me, but that's a Gekkoukan uniform, isn't it?

Edited (h-how come every time I tag you I screw up royally) 2013-07-29 23:37 (UTC)

[ Hidetoshi almost jolts in surprise at the sudden, rather unexpected tap on his shoulder since he certainly didn't hear anybody walking over to the couch he was seated on, but regains his composure and manages to not spill any hot coffee on himself out of surprise, luckily. He blinks and looks over his shoulder, setting down the drink on the table in the process. The teenager he sees standing there awkwardly isn't a face he can place.

But they recognize the Gekkoukan uniform.

So he settles for a polite nod. ]

Hm? Oh, yes. It is. I assume... You're from my world as well, if you recognize it?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

O1O >> the world is heavy (and stars have died so that you may live)

B - and then I tl;dr'd introspection I'm sorry

B - s'fine~!

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Re: B (whoops tl;dr sorry)

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Team stuff things in mailboxes

certainly the best team with the best method to hide shit

B and Laaaaaate

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