#2 -- "A faint shimmering..."

[risingshepard]

Characters: Commander Shepard, Nanako Dojima, and later Yu Narukami / Commander Shepard and the rest of you crazies.
Setting: Dorm, then she'll be around the tower. November 1st onwards.
Format: Action; I'll match you.
Summary: The aftermath of the Halloween event. Shepard visits with a certain bowlcut, before heading off into the tower to see not only the rest of the tower, but its new floors.
Warnings: Mentions of mutilation, and lots of body horror imagery. Will update as needed.


[...So that was it, huh. No more people turned into their costumes and corrupted to such a hair-raising degree.

It was crazy how this place seemed no different than her home galaxy at times. Granted, considering that the tower itself was a magnet for all sorts of people, good or bad, it was probably not as much of a surprise...but what she'd witnessed for all of those two weeks was horrific--especially what happened to Yu. It reminded her of what happened to people impaled on the Reapers' Dragon's Teeth; the slow transformation from normal person with a family to nightmare and enemy to all life, from pink to steel gray, from organic to synthetic...from human to mutilated abomination, whose 'organs' were in plain sight, and whose mouth was filled to the brim with exposed 'wiring' that looked--no, felt disgusting to even watch at. Not that it ever bothered her, but any other person would be absolutely freaked.

But that didn't matter anymore, since it seemed like it was over already. Good. That's one more worry knocked off her head. But then, that leaves the boy she'd only met over the last month... had he finally changed back? If everyone else she'd run into that was costumed did, then surely he did too, right? Well, she could hope. That's why when she wakes up that morning, she sits there and waits for Nanako to wake up.

When she does...]

Hey. You want to go see if your brother's alright?



[Once that visit's done and over with, she heads off into the rest of the tower. She could be found anywhere on the first or third blocks--more likely the latter, checking out the new floors--especially the observatory on the 45th.]

Comments

[justiceinheaven]

[Nanako was happy to be waking up in her normal clothes. She wasn't so happy to see her costume folded up on the trunk at the end of her bed. She looked over at Shepard when she spoke, back to the trunk, back to Shepard... before springing up from her bed. She ran around, grabbing the costume and the spyglass toy, and burying it on the bottom on her trunk. Not that she had much in there, and she could still see the costume any time she looked, but at least it would be out of her immediate sight.]

[She closed the trunk quickly after that, sitting on top of it. Funny, she didn't really like Loveline that much anymore...]

[Nanako finally gave Shepard a nod after a moment.]

Mm... let's hurry and find onii-chan. I'm sure he's better now.

[risingshepard]

Then let's not keep him waiting.

[She can imagine the relief she must have had to be back in that little dress...especially considering what could have happened if--

No. She wasn't going to imagine it.

Still, she gets up, taking the Phalanx with her as always. It was a good idea to stay prepared, given the circumstances...]

Did he tell you where his room was?

[justiceinheaven]

Mmhmm.

[Nanako gave a nod, before hopping off the trunk. She wanted to make sure her brother was okay, so much so that it was taking all she could not to run out to his room right then and there. It was probably still dangerous outside; her brother would have preferred it if she didn't do anything crazy again, like when she confronted him before.]

[risingshepard]

[That makes two of them, then. And it's for the better if they got out of there before the creeps woke up...she opens the door and steps out, leading the way for Nanako--though letting her direct, seeing that she knows where to go.

Any monsters were going to be in for a punch and/or a shot to the face.]

[justiceinheaven]

[Nanako kept a hand on Shepard's leg at they walked, ready to duck behind her should she need to. She doubted there was going to be any kind of incident, but considering what just happened...]

[One flight of stairs down later, Nanako was reaching up, knocking on the second room of the second floor.]

Onii-chan? Are you there?

[pitiedthefool]

[Sorry Nanako, but big bro is not going to be answering the door right away. You see, he has a little problem on the other side of this door. That problem being a little furball that decided to knead his stomach and fall asleep on him. How did it even-

... Oh, very cute, Ruana. Very. cute... He still does not like you at all, just saying.]

Mm. I'm here- mrow...

[Oops. It woke up. Well, at least it was stretching and he could get it off of him so he could stand-

...Okay, it was too cute. He'll carry the little guy and open the door, now. ;; Hi sis, hi Shepard. Say hello to apparently the newest member of the family???]

...Morning. [Yeah, still a lot of guilt, there. But look, he's back to normal!]

[risingshepard]

[Hello there, not!kid. :| She gives the cat an acknowledging glance, before focusing on Yu for a sec.

...He looks quite a bit worse off than he's letting on. Maybe she should ask about that later...]

Mind if we come in?

Observatory

[morituramfides]

[So we know you're probably enjoying just chilling in the peace and quiet, and we'll let you finish but.

There's one of those humanoid things crawling all up around outside the window, and instead of drawing attention to it conventionally or like a normal human being, he threw what looked to be a small piece of metal at the window it was crawling on while he stood on the staircase. And his aim was actually pretty good, so if it was on the inside, he would've hit it!

You can see already that this is an A+ teenager you're dealing with.]

[innheritance]

[ Yukiko has been keeping herself distant from everyone she's met after her embarrassing costume, not due to shame of that but for something else completely unrelated. It's a lot to take in for a young woman, so she's staring at her lunch in the cafeteria instead of taking a bite. When she recognizes Shepard walking nearby though? ]

Hello there. [ She'll give her a lazy wave. That's about the best she can muster for now, good commander. ]

[justiceinheaven]

[Nanako wasn't being that nice, though she'd probably apologize for that later. Her brother was okay... he was okay, and he was holding an adorable kitten. Clearly, he totally deserved to have her latching herself around his waist, holding him as tight as she could.]

Jin, water yu doin'?

[risingshepard]

[...Oh, look, she was probably just a few inches away from that part of the observatory. She'll just nonchalantly brush that off for a sec--shrapnel was nothing new, not when she had to face YMIR Mechs that fired missiles like they were going out of style--before looking back at where it'd come from. ...Oh, lookie, a kid in a bomber jacket. Probably has a few more bits of metal where that came from.

...Yup, definitely A+ teenager material.]

Now what could have crawled up your spine and made a nice home in your bad mood?

[risingshepard]

[Oh, it's another of the kids she'd practically magnetized over the course of last month...she'll wave back and join her with her meal.]

Hey. How're you holding out?

whatever he wants muthafuckaaaaaaaa

[morituramfides]

[He was pretty unfazed himself, and just quirked an eyebrow when he actually noticed the woman talking to him.]

Nine months in a Tower straight outt'a mythological Tartarus.

[Oh now he's just being a smartass. Although he didn't actually seem to be in that bad of a mood given his flippant tone, so that's the sad realization that this is him on a good day.]

You would get along just fine if she were Renegade but then asshole Shepard is too much of an ass 8|

[risingshepard]

And here I thought I had a morbid sense of humor. [Or Garrus and Wrex, for that matter. Kid would probably take the cake if she didn't know how bad her teammates were.]

[liquidouroboros]

[On the 45th floor was a blond ponytailed soldier in the dark green of a Navy SEAL uniform, lit cigarette leaving a thin trail of white smoke with every motion of his hand. He seemed unimpressed, even bored by the occasional humanoid things crawling along the windows. It was hard to tell if what he was showing was apathy, utter denial, or an attitude of 'I've seen worse'.]

[fuhgeddaboudit]

...What...are they?

[Labrys spoke up against her better judgment, walking up behind Shepard on metal legs. Wide eyes were trained solidly on the windows, as if waiting for the next god-only-knew-what to come across them.]

They ain't--they ain't human, right?

[risingshepard]

[Funny enough, despite not being Earthborn, she can at least recognize the symbol. SEALs, huh? Her dad at least told her what early American history was like...these must be one of the many groups they had going to protect the country.

She turns her head in his direction.]

Nice view, isn't it? If you can call a foggy outdoor view with the occasional shambling corpse thing 'nice' to begin with.

[risingshepard]

[The distinct sound of metal clanging against metal catches her attention for a sec, though she shoves it in the back of her mind for the moment to look at the grey-haired gynoid before returning her gaze to the unusual humanoids lurking outside.]

If they were, they sure aren't now. Wouldn't be surprised if this was the result of some freak accident.

[liquidouroboros]

Simply stunning. [He sighed in something that sounded like exasperation, shaking his head.]

Do new areas often present themselves here?

[fuhgeddaboudit]

What kinda accident would cause that?

[Labrys managed to tear her eyes away from the sight to focus her attention on Shepard entirely.]

...actually, I ain't sure I wanna know.

[risingshepard]

Frankly, if it mangled them this badly, I wouldn't want to either.

[Not when some of those 'accidents' were supposedly deliberate, but then the Codex has a habit of being very inaccurate when it comes to deets. She looks back again, focusing her attention on Labrys for a sec. ...Hmm. That brown-haired kid from last month mentioned someone looking like this, didn't he? This must be her in the flesh. The pause is rather noticeable as she contemplates what to ask.]

...Curious thought--you happen to know one Yosuke Hanamura?

[fuhgeddaboudit]

You know Yosuke...? Yeah, I'm a friend a' his.

[She nodded eagerly, ponytail bouncing as she did.]

My name's Labrys.

[risingshepard]

[A small nod, uncertain as she may be. She hasn't found the time to go over Legion's data yet...] Probably. This floor wasn't here when I first arrived, that much I can say for sure.

[liquidouroboros]

So in addition to all the other impossibilities, we've an untold number of further floors to contend with.

Stupid paid expiring before I made this post. D<

[risingshepard]

That's what I'm wagering on.

Wouldn't be surprised if this tower extended into space at some point.