towerofanimus | Holy water cannot help you know

Characters: [AU1] Chidori Yoshino; OPEN
Setting: Anywhere, everywhere
Format: Action, but I'll match if you prefer prose.
Summary: Chidori can't quite get back into simply existing in the tower, especially after the month she's had.
Warnings: Mentions of body horror, suicidal thoughts, righteous fury, possibly language if she gets worked up enough.

[Everything is still the same, and she's not sure whether it's depressing or infuriating.

In the month without them there, despite everything they've been forced to go through, how much they've been cut into, 'enhanced', mutilated for the sake of 'science- the tower remains just as she remembers it before leaving. Nothing has changed, save for the fact that some have gone and more have come in their place. Unsurprising, as most things in the tower were at this point- it was just another part of the routine, something to be seen, noted, and taken in stride. Nothing she couldn't do, and nothing she hadn't done before. The only thing that was different was that it seemed that some of the other residents of the tower had taken to emulating their captors, using the others against her will.

She could still feel a twinge where she'd been run through again.

Medea, for her part, has been nothing short of insufferable; the steady chatter of her derision a steady stream of sound in the back of her mind. Every day is an even greater failure to her, but as ever, Chidori ignores her and continues about her days as best she can. But the strain from the last few days is evident in the way she carries herself, the frost in her gaze and the derision in her tone, when she can be persuaded to talk. But she keeps the anger controlled, a seething roil of emotions held in check beneath her usual impassive mask.

It won't be too long before she can't keep her hold on it anymore though.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[It had been about that time to cook, and now that he was hunting for his own food, he could at least cook some nice deer meat. Hard to find deer, but he had managed to make enough meat for a few days. Setting some nicely cooked meat, the aroma ever so tempting, he was just about to go to his seat when he spotted the woman he knew, the one from the pods.

He stared at her direction.]

You were in the pods, weren't you?

[The last thing she's been caring about is food- but there's a point where even sheer willpower can't keep a person going without sustenance. She isn't expecting anyone to be there, much less making their own food, but she's content to go about her business quietly. The question is only a little bit unexpected, but she stills nonetheless and closes her eyes against the onset of an unpleasant memory. The voice is familiar, however, and it only takes her a moment to place it.

The one who had been in another experiment before this one.

She turns to look at him, fingers settled lightly on either side of a bowl.]

I was. Jason's, correct?

Yes.

[That pod, the one he'd rather forget, yet couldn't. Honestly, it was better off that way, so he could fully expect what the madman would do next, be prepared, and eventually form a counter. And if all else fails, make his spirit stronger. Right now, with the loss of his allies, it was breaking a bit.]

We discussed details of the scientists and the facility. Do you recall that?

Of course.

[She refrains from mentioning that implying she wouldn't is something of an insult- even if even she wouldn't blame anyone for blocking any part of that experience out. She pauses to look over the oatmeal with disdain, but simply grabs as much sugar as is readily available and decides that she can make due.]

...how are you faring?

[He notices the sugar she aims for. Not a bad way to make oatmeal better, but there were other methods. Of course, the kitchen had cut out quite a few options down.]

Better than some would expect. Being able to actually cook, despite the lack of materials, is refreshing in a way.

[The facility had no such kitchen at all, only water and health bars offered, with occasional food from Facility 3.]

And what of you?

[It's the most effort she's willing to put into feeding herself at the moment, and doing any more would require she actually feel up to it. So the sugar will do, for now.]

You would think things were bad enough without coming back to a situation like this.

[Because effort though it might be, a good meal still does go a long way for some- like the other members of Strega, who she should probably check up on, honestly. Left to their own devices, the elder boys are liable to forget about food.]

Alive.

[It's all that matters, at the moment.]

Those here are taking the situation better than expected. It is certainly not an easy task.

[Considering he had gotten shocked twice, and was even tied to a bed, forced to endure that horrendous sound that was known as music. Really, it wasn't the experiments that pushed him over the edge, but other matters catching his concern, if his network post was any indication.]

It's not the first time something like this has happened.

[Be thankful you weren't around when the labyrinth happened, Hei. Things got more than just a little ugly in there.]

It likely won't be the last. Or the worst.

Right, I had heard only little of the previous experiment they conducted from one of those in the pods, regarding the labyrinth...

[And lord knows what else had happened in there. He heard only little, but it was enough for a clear picture.]

How long have you been here?

I'd take the labyrinth again over the pods any day.

[Which, considering the fact that the Labyrinth is kill or be killed, says a lot.]

...it has been a long time. If we count the first time I was here as well, it has been nearly ten months.

[He couldn't make that decision for himself. There were similar situations in the past, and comparing them with now, he could at least spare those he cared for the pain of drastic experiments. Still, he would avoid the situation altogether if he could.

Then her words opened another door.]

First time? What do you mean?

I was here for a brief time before, and then I returned 'home'. Or I assume that's what the wasteland I was in was meant to be.

[She starts stirring in the sugar into her oatmeal.]

Then after some time, I returned.

So that's where the missing people go?

[Then they--no, it couldn't be true. Facility 3 has proven that such things could be recreated with images and such and feel real.]

I'm not sure.

[A pause.]

I certainly hope not. I wouldn't wish being the only living thing on a planet on anyone.

Given where I am from, it is possible to create a world through data alone, an illusion to make others think they are elsewhere.

We referred to it as Facility 3. While I don't have proof, there is the possibility the destroyed wasteland you saw was nothing more than a ruse to fool others.

So you think this is all an elaborate illusion to keep us thinking that things really are gone?

It's only a possibility for now. Without real evidence, we can't figure out the truth.

I certainly hope it isn't true. I would be far more cross with our captors than I already am, were that the case.

Wouldn't you rather be relieved to know that your world may still exist?

That's not what I mean. I mean I'd be even more angry to find they'd been keeping us from our homes on purpose than if they had simply been destroyed for real.

Had they ever even made any attempts at restoration of the worlds, or even finding the threat that supposedly destroyed the worlds?

Not that I am aware, though it is implied that it isn't that they will not, but that they cannot.

And they offer no other information aside from that?

Holy water cannot help you know

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