Freedom Can Be Confusing

[2nd-dii2ciiple.livejournal.com]

Characters: 2nd_dii2ciiple & whoever would like to talk to him!
Setting: Room 2-08 and surrounding areas
Format: Any!
Summary: He's... not quite sure what to make of this
Warnings: slightly broken troll ahoy



The first thing he noticed when he woke was that he was not where he was supposed to be. There was no sign of his control block, or the biowires that should have connected him to his ship. The constant ticking of the computer in the back of his mind was gone as well - he wasn't connected to anything at all.

Panic tried to encroach as his conditioning insisted that he needed to get back to where he belonged right the fuck now, but he fought it off. He hadn't brought himself here, so it wasn't his fault he was disobeying. And flailing around in blind panic wasn't going to get him back to his station any faster.

Besides, if he was very lucky, this might be his opportunity to finally break free of his punishment of slavery. He'd almost lost hope that this moment would ever come.

The distress of finding himself dressed in plain white without even the tiniest indication of his symbol was enough to distract him long enough to read the letters and scout the tiny room. Thankfully a cursory search was more than enough to reveal the clean change of clothes waiting for him in an otherwise empty trunk, and he changed quickly.

Not a single hole for the biowire connectors. No sign of his hated helmet. He felt more like the Ψiioniic than the Helmsman, for the first time in nearly a sweep. Although he couldn't remove the collar, and he assumed the blue colour meant he was now owned by a blue-blood of that shade. It was actually a fairly ingenious method of identification. The problem was that he had no idea who it was, or where to find his new master.

Or, for that matter, why the Condesce would have suddenly decided to sell her most powerful Helmsman.

Time to find out what was going on.

Outside the room he found himself in a corridor full of doors just like the one he'd come out of. He turned to look back at his door, and saw a list of names, presumably the occupants. His was the last.

Right above it was a name he'd thought he would never see again. The Signless.

Just the sight of it was enough to send his panic rushing back in on him, intensified by the forbidden name. He reeled against the wall, staring in shock and disbelief. It couldn't be him. The Signless was dead.

And a part of Ψiioniic had died with him.

Comments

[thekidsare0kay]

A thud attracted Sollux' attention as he approached his room. He looked up and stopped dead, staring at the tall adult troll who had just impacted with the far side of the corridor.

The troll was wearing yellow, and had four horns.

"Oh...shit," he muttered, and walked down the corridor, approaching the obviously frightened troll. And he asked a question he'd asked already once before. "Are you me?"

[2nd-dii2ciiple.livejournal.com]

Ψiioniic spun around, startled by the unexpected question from behind him. Red and blue crackled between his horns for a moment and his mis-matched eyes glowed brighter, but the moment he saw who he was facing the power died away.

"What... how..." he stammered, beyond shocked. Facing him was an adolescent troll who in every way matched his own memories of himself from that time. The only difference was the dual-coloured glasses the boy wore - and there was a tiny part of Ψiioniic that was jealous he hadn't thought of the idea.

[thekidsare0kay]

Sollux prepared to defend himself as the troll whirled around and crackled with energy that he recognized. But thankfully there was no need. He smirked wryly and held up his hands in a shrug.

"Fuck if I know, but thith plathe hath been bringing all kindth of people from different univertheth and timelineth. Tho it'th good to know I live to adulthood, I guethh? Athhuming you really are me," he said. Pollux and Castor had already trolled him with that one.

[2nd-dii2ciiple.livejournal.com]

"I don't know," Ψiioniic said slowly, still studying the other troll. His lisp was still very strong - Ψiioniic had slowly learned to overcome it a bit, though he still only managed to say about every other 's' properly. "If you're me, I mean, though it thertainly seems that way. But altho, I don't know if you should be glad you live this long, if you are me."

Living to adulthood... yes, he was grateful for that. Not for anything would he give up one moment of the time he had spent following the Signless, and all the things he'd learned in that time. But what came after... that part, he wasn't so sure he'd be willing to do again if he could go back and change things.

Except that the former was tied to the latter, and so to have one, he had to have the other.

[thekidsare0kay]

The way he talked gave Sollux a bit of hope. Maybe he could overcome his own lisp one day, at least a little. He still sounded like a tool, but maybe not as big of one.

"Well, I've already been burned by thith onthe," he said wryly. "Tho let'th thtart with nameth. I'm Thollukth Captor."

[grimauxilatrix.livejournal.com]

[Kanaya was walking down the hall when she saw him]

Another Sollux?

[Have Dolorosa's descendant]

[2nd-dii2ciiple.livejournal.com]

Dolorosa? [The words are out before he realizes she's too young to be his friend.] Wait, no... who are you?

[grimauxilatrix.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry my name is Kanaya, I don't know who Dolorosa is. Apparently I look like her?

[2nd-dii2ciiple.livejournal.com]

Yeth... only, you're so much younger than her. [He shakes his head and studies her curiously.] I'm called the Ψiioniic. What did you mean, 'another Thollux'?

[lethechained.livejournal.com]

Naminé had not yet explored every inch of the tower, and although she was curious, her awareness of the dangers present in this place had kept her from doing so for some time. Still, as each day passed and she managed to make her way to the bottom of the tower for meals and all the way back without (much) incident, she began to become more comfortable with the idea of having a more thorough look around. She was aware that there was another set of rooms above hers, and up until that point she had not really had a look.

No better time than the present. When she made her way up the stairs, she did so with a hint of caution, and upon reaching the top, she peeked carefully down the hall, one way and then the other. She knew that it was possible, or even likely, that someone else would be about, but she had not been expecting someone quite like the person she saw pressed against the wall. She was aware of the existence of trolls by now, and she also knew that, despite their slight similarities to Heartless, they seemed to be in no way related. However... this was by far the largest troll she'd ever seen. (Admittedly, this was not much of a title to have; she'd seen so few, after all, and those were all adolescents.) Her trepidation about exploring in the first place and his unusual position kept her rooted in place, quietly observing him.

[2nd-dii2ciiple.livejournal.com]

The Ψiioniic was too busy freaking out to notice the timid alien peering at him from a distance. With his back to the wall he slid down until he was sitting on the floor with his knees pulled up to his chest, hands clutching at his head.

"I can't be," he insisted to himself. "It can't be. He'th dead. He'th dead. This is a dream. It hath to be a dream."

The only problem was that he didn't dream anymore, because he was never allowed to sleep. Hooked up to the computers as a living processor, he didn't need to. So how could he be dreaming?

[lethechained.livejournal.com]

Naminé found her caution ebbing away as she watched and listened, the current quiet making it easy enough to catch what he was saying to himself. It definitely sounded like he was a newcomer. Her brow knit as sympathy shoved away her discomfort regarding strangers. It seemed like it wasn't that long ago that she was in exactly the same situation, and when that had happened, someone had stopped to talk to her. Shouldn't she do the same for this person, slightly more intimidating than the average stranger or not?

Gingerly, she stepped out from her hiding place and moved just a little closer, enough that it would be easy to spot her. Her collar happened to be violet, and there was nothing to hide it from view due to her simple attire. After taking a brief moment to wish that she was more experienced at this, she worked out a small smile and decided to start off with a gentle, "Hello."

[2nd-dii2ciiple.livejournal.com]

He jumped at the sound, not having any clue that he wasn't alone any longer. He nearly gave himself whiplash as he jerked his head up to stare at her, and red and blue electricity crackled between his horns as he readied himself to deal with whatever threat he was facing. He'd been acting contemptuously vulnerable, and most trolls facing something that pathetic would probably kill it to put it out of their misery.

Instead he found himself facing a completely unthreatening girl, at least as far as he could tell. She was an alien of some kind, with pale, delicate-looking skin and equally pale hair. She didn't even have horns, or sharp teeth, or claws - he was pretty sure she wasn't actually capable of hurting him in any way, unless she was a mage.

He let his power drain away, and ducked his head sheepishly. "Uh, thorry," he murmured. "You thurprised me."

[weirderscience.livejournal.com]

"...Hey. What are you doing?"

In his continuing quest for a decently-sized lab, Mao had come across another one of those... things. But he managed to contain his urge to cut things up this time (what if this one had a trident too?), only serving to become randomly peeved when the shellshocked troll came into view. Though it didn't stop him from being a jerkass in an obvious time of distress.

[2nd-dii2ciiple.livejournal.com]

The irate question brought the Ψiioniic's head up in a panic. He had no idea what sort of alien was standing in front of him, but judging from his tone, he was someone in authority here. And he'd caught Ψiioniic slacking off, just standing around when he (presumably) had a job somewhere to do.

"I'm thorry, high-blood," Ψiioniic blurted out, dropping to his knees and bowing his head automatically. He wasn't sure if the title applied to an alien, but it was the standard all-purpose honourific that had been drilled into him.

[weirderscience.livejournal.com]

Mao stood there, blinking for a moment down at the thing. 'High-blood'? Um, what. But... he was bowing...

"...Hey, not bad," Mao told the hunched troll. "This is the first time anyone's showed me the proper respect in this tower. You're the first person to pick it up." Because even though he may not be a highblood or whatever, he's next in line to be ruler of the Netherworld, and therefore requires the proper respect. Even back where he came from, everyone always undermined his position, not to mention his abilities...

So Psiioniic, have a Mao looking down at you with a somewhat-but-not-quite-sane grin on his face.

[2nd-dii2ciiple.livejournal.com]

Ψiioniic peered up through his bangs, and winced when he saw the expression the strange alien was giving him. But he didn't seem angry, and his words were even praising. The grin didn't really bother him, he'd seen much worse on the faces of both the Condesce and his previous owner. High-bloods were not known for their kind, gentle, sane natures.

"Yeth, high-blood... uh. What should I call you, thir? I don't know if that's correct." He hesitated to use 'master', since that title should be reserved for one's actual owner and he had no idea if this was his. But hopefully the alien wouldn't be angry with him for daring to ask a question.

[allthefeelings.livejournal.com]

What was it with all these Solluxes on his floor? Eridan was FALLING DOWN all these Solluxes, seriously. He couldn't help but eye him cautiously from his doorway, though. Even if this one was ALSO going to toss him about with psionics. This one seemed to be a proper adult, though, even if he was having some sort of panic attack or something.

Actually, the panic made him bold and he left his room completely to stride over and stand in front of the yellowblood.

"So, wwhich is it this time?" he asked. Maybe he could shoot at this one as well, collect a full set. "Alternate univverse or adult vversion? Don't try and trick me, either, freak."

[2nd-dii2ciiple.livejournal.com]

Ψiioniic looked up at the sound of the voice... and froze. He plastered himself back against the wall, keening faintly as his windtube closed up in terror. In his already near-panicked state, he didn't register that the aquatic troll standing before him was far too young to be the Orphaner Dualscar he'd known.

"M-m-master," he stammered, and all but flung himself to his knees, head touching the floor as he shivered in fear. When Dualscar had ordered him to infiltrate the Signless' rebellion and kill the heretic, he'd also promised that for each day Ψiioniic was gone, he would add one more stripe to the collection of welts on his back.

Ψiioniic had been gone for more than two sweeps.

[allthefeelings.livejournal.com]

Eridan's eyes practically popped out of his head, he was so stunned. Was an alternate universe scenario finally working out for HIM? Or, shit, was this the FUTURE?! It was lucky for him Ψiioniic wasn't looking at his face because it wasn't even close to impressive.

He gathered himself together fairly quickly though.

"Fuckin' right," he said. "For once, you get it fuckin' right."

[2nd-dii2ciiple.livejournal.com]

Shit, that didn't sound promising. Dualscar sounded angry and contemptuous. And so he should be, when Ψiioniic had not only not returned, not only failed to carry out his orders to assassinate the Signless... he'd joined the rebellion for real, and nearly helped them to win the war.

"Don't kill me, pleathe, don't, I-I'll behave, I'll be good, oh god I'm thorry," he babbled, breathless and almost keening with the tightness in his windtube.

[fractus-animus.livejournal.com]

[ Hey, have an ~alien~ human boy with blue hair. He is curious because he's never met an adult troll before now.

He smiles just slightly, attempting to be friendly. ]

... Hello. Are you new here?

[2nd-dii2ciiple.livejournal.com]

"Ah..." Looking up with a start, Ψiioniic found himself facing another of the same pale, fragile-looking aliens that Namine had been. He'd forgotten to ask what her species was called. This one was a little bigger, though still considerably smaller than the adult troll. A male? Or an adult version? He couldn't really tell.

"Yeth," he said, a little wary. Just because Namine had been sweet didn't mean all of her species would be the same. At least he knew this wasn't his potential master. "I just woke up."

[fractus-animus.livejournal.com]

Minato looks contemplative for a moment. He... honestly, he knew that wariness well himself, so he surmised that this troll had not been having a pleasant time before he came here. Or perhaps he just had a colorful history, as he himself did? It was hard to guess.

"Well, in that case," he began, "I should warn you about this tower. It's dangerous, so be careful of the Shadow monsters that roam here. They tend to disable certain abilities and can kill you." He'd found that out the hard way, unfortunately.

"My name is Minato, by the way. You're a troll, right...?"

[2nd-dii2ciiple.livejournal.com]

Well, if the alien was familiar with trolls, that probably meant he was one of their subjugated races. Or just that he'd encountered other trolls here in the tower, Ψiioniic reminded himself. Better not to start by assuming this was a member of one of the slave races.

"Yeah, I'm a troll. I don't know what you are yet, you're only the thecond I've met of your species. What kind of 'certain abilitieth' get disabled?" He could take care of himself against any monster just fine... as long as he still had his telekinesis. Without it, he'd be pretty much helpless. He hadn't been the most physically able of trolls to start with, and a sweep hanging motionless in the biowires had left him even weaker than he'd started.