towerofanimus | 004 | Something has to break

Entry tags:

004 | Something has to break

Characters: Sephiroth & Open
Setting: 22nd October; Floor 3 Library & ANYTIME between 23rd - 26th October; Floor 38
Format: Prose to start, Action if it's easier.
Summary: This Halloween game has gone far enough! On top of everything else that's happened since his arrival Sephiroth's anger is starting to boil over. He will not accept to be a puppet in this show and may well take anyone who tries his already strained patience
Warnings: Not-so-cool and in control anymore but with a broody facade. Possible violence, death (if Ok'd), mutilation & homicidal tendencies.

22nd October, Floor 3 Library: (End of the candy hunt...)[ooc: After this.]
Sephiroth was near ready to put a fist through the terminal by the time he was done but scratchings nearby drew his attention first. A group of three Miniblin were scuttling along the nearby corridor of bookshelves and seemed to have picked up his scent. It was times like this that made him wonder if perhaps he shouldn't try to keep as clean as he was, the monsters may be less drawn to him.

Thankfully they couldn't have been better timed, Sephiroth being helpless just caused him to get more angry easier. As cliche as it was he needed to vent at -something-. He needed to figure out how to end the game before the number of mutilated residents outnumbered even those that hadn't been selected. Surely if there were no more candy collectors, then the game would be turned on those who hadn't first been involved. This is why he'd kept his own small stash of candy in the closet in the dormitory, only to wake yesterday and find it all gone. He'd considered hunting down his roomates in case they had stolen it but no one had been there when he'd woken and considering the size of the Tower they could be anywhere. How he could keep himself one step ahead of their keepers now was a question for much consideration and the short network messages hadn't made it any clearer. The only way, it seemed, was to follow his natural instinct. Destroy them all.

Three miniblin later and Sephiroth felt even more sure of the plan. Only the little voice of logic in the back of his head telling him that this could be exactly what their keepers want him to do kept his growing homicidal tendency in check. He had to have a reason; the reason right now was becoming a violent need to exert his willpower over others here and more importantly to make a statement to their keepers that he won't be bullied around or cornered quietly. No specimens, no experiments. No games. Then maybe he could try to get to the bottom of what was going on in this place.

ANYTIME between 23rd - 26th October; Floor 38 (Approach with caution.)
Sephiroth had a prior resolution to check out the so-called meadow and forest floors for hunting, now that he'd done the research and obtained a very convenient book from Shion as well he should be all set to venture out. However every day that he intends to head down from his morning workout in the gymnasium to find said floors he ends up caught in the floor just beneath the gymnasium. The view through the glass windows just draws his gaze and holds it. The rolling fields of fog beneath this floor outside, the sky lit up occasionally with the constant thunderstorms within the clouds above. Thunder that echoed Sephiroth's mood and lightning that threw all the colors into stark white for a split second, eliminating shadows.

Several times, Sephiroth wandered closer to the glass for a closer inspection of outside as if it might hold some answers. Maybe the weather itself calmed Sephiroth down to a certain extent but occupying his mind this way put a hold on his mind wandering to more violent instincts, instincts he couldn't allow to be sated lest the very inevitability of him snapping was part of some game. He knows that collar check up is going to be tomorrow and just like last time he fully intends not to be cooperative. And if that meant putting other residents or monsters in the way then he would do just that. No calling any shots this time, Sephiroth would be ready for anything.

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[There was another presence in the room, a tall man pressing his hand to the glass. The weather reflected his mood as well, though it was normally this bad. He was just good at hiding it when he had to. He'd stayed away from most of the humans who were twisted by this - he had no intention of playing this game. It was pointless and for a holiday he didn't even know.]

[However, he couldn't ignore the other silver-haired man in the room for long, so he turned and nodded to him in an acknowledgement of his presence. He wondered if this man could feel his spiritual pressure... the man did feel like he had some sort of power, though it didn't feel like it was from an Endless. Curious.]

[The other presence couldn't go ignored on Sephiroth's side either. It was like it pulsed at his awareness even if the other man was out of his line of sight. Almost as if the other's power called to his own power; needing to be noticed.]

[About time, the acknowledgment passed between them. Sephiroth slightly inclined his head in return but nothing more. It was purely a gesture, and with Sephiroth's own psychic powers glinting behind bright, intelligent, knowing emerald eyes; words didn't need to pass. Acutely aware now that the other was also powerful, there was an automatic air of caution created. Two alpha-types like these would either compete or mutually respect each other.]

[At the sign of being noticed, Fou-Lu chuckled slightly. This man was... interesting. There was something about him. And so Fou-Lu walked a bit closer, though still maintained some distance. He had no reason to intrude on personal space as of yet, after all.]

Greetings. We do not think we hath seen thee around this place as of yet.

[Boundaries of what was considered 'personal space' were somewhat inflamed in Sephiroth currently, due to the edge on his anger that this mood dictated. Sephiroth's burning eyes didn't leave the other as he came closer, though grateful that he was apparently intelligent enough to keep his distance. Sephiroth wasn't the social type in the first place, and right now was completely the wrong time to be meeting new people. Another one with a strange way of talking as well.]

It's a big Tower.

[... Ah. He could catch the edge of that anger, and took a few respectful steps backwards. There was no need for fighting amongst themselves at the moment - at least among those who still had their senses.]

Indeed. It seem to be even more vast than the towers we hath seen built in the land we are from - though we suspect there be some sort of technological advancement that allows this.

[He was curious, honestly, to feel out where the power and the intentions of others in this place were. All the better to protect Mami, after all.]

[... As well as any other mortals he deemed worthy of protecting.]

[Smart enough to back off without a 'what was wrong' or 'can i help'; not bad.]

Towers are structurally weak by their design. Even ivory ones.

[Sephiroth was only musing. He didn't yet have a plan. Another lightning bolt illuminated their floor momentarily. Dimming the glean of Sephiroth's eyes to whiteness just until the shadows took over again.]

[He wasn't stupid enough to attempt tearing it down, complex as this place was. It's foundations had to be similarly complex. But it had to have a foundation...]

[Fou-Lu chuckled darkly. He'd had the same thought himself.]

If thou art able to find the correct stone to pluck from the structure, the entire thing shall come toppling down upon itself. 'Tis only a matter of finding it.

[Structures of power worked the same way. He'd seen enough to prove that during those ten years of war. Eliminate the key generals and strong warriors and there was nothing to prevent you from pushing the entire thing over.]

Edited 2012-10-30 04:01 (UTC)

Exactly.

[Sephiroth chuckled also, of course why should he be the only one to have figured that the inevitable end to this arrangement would be the destruction of the Tower.

A particular fork of lightning outside of the window caught Sephiroth's attention away from his current companion. For the moment it didn't seem like there was any threat from them, though Sephiroth remained like a spring under tension; ready to move if needed.]

Do you think the means to finding that one stone would be somewhere here? [An honest question, couldn't hurt to ask.]

Such a point be always evident to those who doth spend enough time searching in the correct locations. Said location has yet to be found, at least on our part, but we hath confidence it exists.

'Tis not as if we hath worry of growing too old to find it.

[Though the faster he could find it, the faster he could get back to where he was. He had no illusions that such an act would likely mean he could never see the farmer again, but he always knew his time with her was limited.]

But then there is the question, what happens next? What awaits for us, out there?

[Sephiroth's gaze is drawn back outside, the seemingly endless thunderstorms dancing for as far as the eye can see.]

Or to destroy this place would be to shatter the illusion and all would return to their homes? And then what if our worlds are truly gone?

... 'Tis not an easy question to answer. 'Tis one that even the gods doth struggle with. If we art to return home and find it gone, those that can shall make of the nothing a new world for themselves. If we art to remain in this world, then those that can shalt make their place in it. Those that cannot, or that are corrupt and wilt lead the civilization towards destruction shall die or be eliminated.

I'm not comfortable living with 'if', the question bears too much consideration perhaps. Maybe if we stopped looking for the answer it would become clearer -

[Sephiroth made a frustrated noise and smacked the palm of his hand on the glass on the inside of the window. He couldn't bear with his mind going around and around the same theories, the same questions. He couldn't figure out what exactly he should be dedicating his time to in this place and the way the administration liked to flex their muscle and shoulder his own independence away from him was simply unacceptable. However the idea of breaking out and somehow going home, Sephiroth wasn't entirely sure that would do him any favors either -

One thing was for certain. He had to break the system.]

... Thy frustration be echoed by many here. We shalt find a way out of this place. Of that, thou canst be certain.

[There was no other answer. It wasn't a matter of 'if'. It was a matter of 'when'. He could deal with what came after when it arrived.]

... What be thy name? We art Fou-Lu, God-Emperor of the Fou Empire.

[A name and a title. That made him pause and consider first. Sephiroth could put a title on the end of his own name if he wanted to but it hadn't really been necessary back on Gaia.

But then again, he wasn't there anymore was he? But then did he really want to be so open in giving details about about himself in a title. This particular individual hadn't given Sephiroth any reason to reveal such things just yet.]

Sephiroth.

[He'd spent a long time with people knowing who he was. It's still strange to him that in this place only Mami knew to react to his title - and she was the one person he didn't want to react that way to it.]

A pleasure.

I'm sure.

[The following silence hung. Small talk didn't seem to be for either of them. Sephiroth dragged his eyes over the details of Fou-Lu again in the gloom, trying to figure where it was exactly the heavy presence that he felt as coming from. Green eyes like dimly lit orbs in the darkness

As if 'God-Emperor' wasn't enough to go on.]

Kariya hadn't been dealing with the candy hunt well. He wasn't technically involved in it, and he had done his best to stay out of the way, but he hated seeing what happened to people, the panic and the dread. Considering his own state, he wasn't able to be of much help, though he had donated what candy he'd been able to find to the cause.

He had been trying to remain on the dormitory floors, where it was ostensibly safer, but he was restless, so he'd thought he could risk venturing to the library, which wasn't so far. It hadn't been the best idea. There were monsters here. He was already considering going back when he caught sight of Sephiroth.

It had been some time since Kariya had seen the other man, but Sephiroth wasn't someone who was easy to forget. Kariya noticed that he seemed agitated. Maybe there wasn't much he could do, but he would always try to help, if he could.

He called out to him: "Hello--Sephiroth. Are you all right?"

He turned on a beat, Masamune in hand towards Kariya. It's lengthy edge curved upwards from the hilts resting place in his left fist at his side. One of the miniblin twitched at his feet but a sharp stamp down silenced it's life finally. Once certain it wasn't going to get back up, Sephiroth raised his gaze again to Kariya.

Kariya was also none-to-easy to forget, being one of the first people Sephiroth came across a near month ago now.

"Kariya." He acknowledged, before dropping his gaze at the question, before too much pent up anger could leak out. Again trying to silently guess why the other guy would even care if he was alright or not.

"It's been a pretty dismal week."

It would have been hard to miss the huge sword, even from a distance, and Kariya took it in. It wasn't that he was unwary, but he wasn't particularly alarmed, not by Sephiroth. He didn't like to see the dying creature, but he'd grown more used to the sight of blood and death than he once was. "You must be used to that. Fighting, I mean. Are there monsters, where you come from?"

He had his own means of fighting monsters, but it was one he'd prefer to avoid, if he could. The worms he could direct were skilled predators, but using them came with a price.

"I'm sorry. It has been, hasn't it? Whoever's in charge here, they're the real monsters." His voice rose slightly. He was genuinely upset by the things he'd witnessed in the tower. "They shouldn't be allowed to treat people this way. Someone should stop them. I wish I could--!" He feels a sense of his own helplessness, however. What is he supposed to do, by himself? He takes a breath to calm down.

"You could say that." Sephiroth wasn't about to disclose that fighting was indeed one of his greatest strengths, some might say his only true skill was killing ~~people~~ things. He had other, much more complex strengths but they weren't that obvious as first impressions.

Sephiroth couldn't say that he completely agreed with Kariya. Some people undoubtedly deserved to be treated this way, others just invited it. Some were naturally more easy going and submissive in nature than him and maybe it was safer for them to be like that.

The outrage was quite simply, that they dared to exert such control over him.

"I hope they are enjoying it while it lasts."

"You must be a warrior," he said. Who else would have and know how to use a sword like that? "I don't have any skill with weapons." Except for the worms, he had no real defensive or offensive capabilities. "It's good that you're able to fight. You can help. You can kill the monsters."

As far as Kariya was concerned, no one should be taken advantage of or mistreated, especially not the weak by the strong. The weak should be protected.

He thought over what Sephiroth had said. It was undoubtedly a pointed remark. "Are you going to do something, to stop them?"

Until now, Sephiroth hadn't even considered Kariya as one of those unable to defend themselves. He hadn't even considered that such people, from whichever world, would have been 'candidates' for the grand experiment that was obviously being played out within the Tower.

Under normal circumstances, Sephiroth would take pride in the fact that he was so obviously superior, however with this revelation it only left Sephiroth guessing further about Kariya's purpose within the experiment. Did it put him actually at an advantage really? After all there were more ways to torment one who was superior than inferior. More foundations to chip away at, more ideals to crush.

"I fully intend to do so." It was almost an automatic reply. "Though the specifics of how are very much still unknown."

That was quite simply, the closest anyone might get to Sephiroth admitting that he doesn't know yet.

Kariya nodded. He could admire Sephiroth's determination. One thing he had no shortage of himself was determination. No matter his condition or the odds against him, he didn't give up.

"I want to stop them, too. If there's anything I can do to help... again, I will." He clenched his hands into fists.

"Have you tried anything yet? I've been searching. I still haven't found anything to help, but I've met some powerful people." Few people could be more powerful than a Servant, and there were a number of them in the tower. "Maybe, if we work together, we can find a solution."

"I shall bear that in mind." Sephiroth dismissed Masamune to nothingness after taking another careful look around to make sure there weren't any other monsters around, or indeed other residents that may attack them.

"There will no doubt be sacrifices that need to be made on the way." As extreme as it first seemed to Sephiroth when he thought about it, the more he pondered the more it seemed worth a try; removing some of the puppets from the show might provoke something, then again it might not and might be only part of the role they expected him to play here.

Pooling resources wasn't an automatic option for Sephiroth but he took a moment to consider it. Did the benefit of having someone work for the same cause outweigh any possible hidden agenda that the other person had. Well it depended on the details. Was it worth the risk? Maybe.

"What are your thoughts about it?"

He was surprised to see the sword just disappear. So it wasn't just an ordinary weapon. That made sense, as Sephiroth didn't strike him as an ordinary man. He could be a mage of some kind, or something else altogether.

"Sacrifices?" he asked, then nodded. "Yes, there always are." He knew sacrifice, almost too well. "We can't gain without losing something." He'd give himself up, if he thought it would do the others any good. As it was, he was walking wounded, not serving much purpose here.

"It's like a game to them. The costumes, the candy. It must be an experiment, but I don't know why they're doing this. What are they testing? It's cruel, that's all. They want us to fight each other, to be isolated. That's what I think. So that's why working together seems like a good idea."

Sephiroth waited for Kariya to finish. Apparently he had a much more rosy ideal of how they could work together than Sephiroth did. Sephiroth by his very nature was isolated, no Tower made any difference to that. He'd always been better on his own. He was branching out into the unknown, cooperating like this. But he had to admire Kariya's conviction and his own determination near matched. Maybe this could work, after all.

"We could spend forever trying to find out the why and how to the experiment." By 'experiment' Sephiroth means the entire Tower set-up, not just this particular event.

"Both libraries have removed sections, and I'm certain it's not accidental. So research will bring up nothing, they have control over what we can access in here. What is important is disrupting them, taking the control away from them. The more we do to provoke them, the more we can hope to unveil."

Like taking the game away from them, however bloody might be the means.

Sephiroth felt a hot creeping hand of anger clench around his insides at the thought of the latest failure; his failed attempt to avoid his first collar check. The fact that he knew it'd come around again soon. He had to keep himself under his own control. He had to resist this time. Lest next time they do more than simply allow him to get away with it, they could have done anything while he was out.

Edited 2012-11-01 22:46 (UTC)

Kariya was a solitary man in many ways, but not by choice. He would rather be with others, with friends, though circumstances often left him alone.

"It's true. I don't know how we'd find out more." He understood what Sephiroth meant. This whole thing was one giant experiment. "It's frustrating. They clearly don't want us to know anything about it. What they're doing or why. I saw the missing sections, too. Everything we can find out is only what they want us to find. Maybe just another part of the experiment, to see how we react."

He was familiar with this kind of thing, in a way. His family was like that, manipulative, plotting.

"It's a good idea, but how do you think we can provoke them? It seems like they want to provoke us. If there were more of us working together, carefully, we'd be more likely to get a reaction from them." In his own life, his own world, he was working alone, but here, there were others in the same situation. He didn't want to discount possible allies, especially powerful ones. Like Sephiroth himself seemed to be.

"Agreed. It would be something of a shot in the ocean if only one person stood up." Sephiroth couldn't believe he was saying that in some ways. He'd always been so sure that he can handle anything himself. That being said, his encounter with the red-collars before did throw something into sharp focus; it was easy for them to contain a single individual. This did need to be proven though, Sephiroth wasn't about to just submit to their collar checkups.

However, if here was a group of them, all doing something coordinated how would they react then? It was worth a thought that was for sure.

"Or we disrupt their experiment little by little. This Halloween deal, for example; they wouldn't be able to run it at all if there weren't any people to play with" Psychotic leanings tingled beneath Sephiroth's calm facade; how satisfying it would be to relieve some of this pent up anger, at the same time disrupt the game and gain some self-certified revenge against the Tower.

"One person couldn't do it, no. Not even someone powerful. But a lot of us working together... We might have a chance." Kariya had been forced to embark on his own private mission alone, but what if he'd had someone to help him? He wouldn't have said no.

He was somewhat fixated on the idea of cooperating, even though he wasn't part of an organized group. He still thought it was the best chance.

"Disrupt their experiment? What do you think we can do? Anything we do will still be a reaction to what they've set up, and part of the experiment." He thought about Sephiroth's words. "How could we make it so they had no one to experiment on?" He had no notion of any psychotic tendencies on Sephiroth's part, asking his question with earnest curiosity. "You mean, if we all planned together we might be able to orchestrate something?"

"There is always the question of whether they will expect it. That's the problem. Work out a plan with several others, maybe. But what if they already figured who would pull together in that way? It would be pointless."

Sephiroth wasn't about to go and sell his idea to a group of randoms. They might be randoms to him but he had no doubt that the admins may have figured which particular weaker willed individuals would have been drawn to Sephiroth in the first place. There was of course the possibility they'd known that Kariya and Sephiroth would meet. Not only that, but who knew what other individual agendas there were.

"I was thinking more of well-" He raised both eyebrows momentarily, as the former idea danced behind his eyes. "Removing people."

He listened. Working out a plan with others was an idea he had himself. He hadn't been able to think of a suitable plan on his own, or anything like one. His thoughts weren't always easy to make clear; his ailment affected his mind as well as his body. "They can't anticipate everything we do. People have free will. There's chance involved." He wasn't ready to give up hope in the idea so easily.

"Removing people?"

Kariya considered, then shook his head. He didn't like this idea. "You mean--hurting them? But isn't that what this place is about? They'd only like it if we started harming each other. That's what they keep making us do."

"If that's what it takes, then yes. Anything to break the system. Sure they set some things up but how about if it spiraled further out of their control."

Sephiroth was more thinking out loud, not really getting the compassion that Kariya seemed to have in abundance. Judging by Kariya's body language he wasn't convinced of Sephiroth's idea. He wasn't too sure of it to start with either but every day that went by it seemed to be the only way that he could start turning the tables.

"As you said, people have free will. I am certainly no exception."

"I know that people don't really die here. They come back. So maybe it doesn't matter in a way, but they'll still suffer. It's still the same thing our captors do, treating us as expendable. I don't know if it'll make a difference. They don't seem to care how many of us die." He honestly couldn't see how it would help, when things were already set up for people to die in numbers.

"It's true you have free will, but you can choose not to do this."

Kariya's words rang a little in Sephiroth's mind. He's been there, not caring how many people got hurt or even killed as a by product to his desires. Hell, not too long ago he'd even enjoyed seeing all the suffering he could cause both within the Lifestream and on the surface. After a while, he'd wanted to have a body again because of it; to let them all know that it was his doing!

It had been a side effect of his plans then, but it had gone some way to satisfy the burning vengeance inside that they had all left simmering when they'd betrayed him again and again.

Sephiroth couldn't help but smile darkly a little, how after all that had happened before, indeed he did have a body again. Albeit he wasn't on Gaia anymore and was apparently indebted to whomever it was that placed that damn collar around his neck.

"We are the choices we make." He answered Kariya, his tone having dropped with his smile. "That is the consequence of free will, regardless of the control they can exert over us here."

He watched Sephiroth, a little uneasy, but still mostly calm as he wondered what was going on within the other man's mind, the other man who spoke so easily of removing people, as if it didn't matter. It reminded him a little of his uncle, Zouken, to whom people were objects to be used--or not--but Sephiroth didn't seem quite so bad, and unlike Zouken, he'd been polite to Kariya.

Where his own choice was concerned, Kariya wouldn't budge, and he wished Sephiroth would do the same. Someone so strong could do great good, couldn't they?

"We are the choices we make, you're right. I choose to help people here, if I can. I can't tell you what to decide, I can only decide for myself. But you could choose to help, too."

He tried not to scoff, though with his mood at the moment it was difficult. Instead Sephiroth shook his head at Kariya; he really isn't a people person.

"Most aren't worth the effort." He carefully used 'most' instead of 'all' - resisting the temptation to refer to the entire human race. Based on his current situation within the Tower, where other people indeed were proving to be the most eye-opening about this place - it would be hypocritical to then say that all were not worth it. Kariya himself, for example, had offered sound advice on his first day here.

Still, some just weren't even worth listening to, nor even considering in anything - their uselessness outweighed whatever they might know that he didn't. Signs that indeed humans should have bred themselves into oblivion a long time ago.

Edited 2012-11-27 22:44 (UTC)

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004 | Something has to break

25th

Re: 25th

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apologies for lateness, busy weekend!

No problem, I understand completely. :)

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22nd

Re: 22nd

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