towerofanimus | Wave 1 (OPEN)

Entry tags:

Wave 1 (OPEN)

Characters: Tahno and anyone! (Open~)
Setting: Dormitory Hallway, Floor 10
Format: Prose to start, but I'll match you!
Summary: This stupid collar is really stressing poor Tahno out. Luckily, all of the bendable water in the aquarium is pretty relaxing.
Warnings: None to start, but he might be a bit of a jerk to you (or hit on you), depending on who you are and what you do. Possible swearing, too.

(Dorm Hallway)

This stupid collar on his neck was driving him crazy. He’d barely been awake for twenty minutes, and he already hated this place. What kind of place put collars on their residents? He had every intention of going to the bathroom to get a better look at it, but he only got halfway there before he felt the liquid flowing through the collar.

Well, he could walk all the way to the bathroom just to stare at it, or he could just stop here and bend the thing off.

At least, that was the plan. The liquid inside was bendable alright, but it didn’t help him. He’d spent the last few minutes trying to yank the liquid hard enough to burst through the collar, but it just wouldn’t.

Now, he was leaning back against the wall, both hands hovering inches in front of his neck as he tried desperately to damage the collar from within. His face was red, and his hands were practically white from the strain.

Man, he must’ve looked like an idiot to any passersby.

(Floor 10)

After all of that effort on a stupid collar got him absolutely nowhere, he was feeling a bit frustrated. Maybe even a bit inadequate, seeing as his bending couldn’t break such a simple little thing. He had set off exploring just to take his mind off it. He had taken the elevator down to the first floor, and then gone up. Most of the floors didn’t really appeal to him.

That was, until he found the tenth floor.

All that water was beautiful.

…The fish were nice too, but he really didn’t care about those.

It had only taken him ten seconds to discover that, despite being held in place by some weird mystical force, the water could still be bent. He’d just have to put it back in the weird no-glass tanks when he was done.

A few minutes later, and he was dancing with the water like he did at home. He could hear the roar of the crowd, feel the lights that covered the stadium, taste the enemy attacks flying by him, and oh it felt good.

The only problem was that he was showing a blatant disregard for the poor fish in the water. And maybe even himself, should anything dangerous find its way into his flying river or water balls.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Two months? That wasn't TOO long, he thought. Still, he couldn't imagine spending that long here. A half hour was driving him crazy. He'd lose it completely in two months.

"Yeah, so, what do you know, then?"

He was feeling rather impatient. He didn't think to actually ask her a specific question. He had too many to narrow it down.

Tohko thought about that as she spoke, not wanting to miss a detail. Plus, this was a good opportunity to get everything straight her own head.

"This Tower is called Animus. Your universe may not be destroyed, as there are a few people here who wouldn't be able to exist if their universes were destroyed. So, your universe, as well as mine, is probably fine.

Death here is not permanent. If you die, you will just wake up in your bed the next day. However, if you die too many times, you will probably get punished, so please be careful.

If you haven't been to the cafeteria yet, make sure you eat the oatmeal before you eat anything else. I know it looks disgusting, but if you eat anything else before it, you'll throw up. However, you can add things to improve its taste, and you can eat anything you want afterwards.

Monsters roam the Tower at night. If you don't know how to fight, I suggest you start learning from someone.

As far as I know, four people run the Tower: Dax, who is a pretty humane, nice guy, Riki, who is a pretty secretive fellow, Jason, who loves to torture and experiment on us, and Ruana, who is worse than Jason, in my opinion. They will lie to you, so take everything they say with a grain of salt."

Tohko thought a moment before nodding to herself. "I think that covers everything."

He was listening quite carefully until she mentioned dying. At that point he couldn't even hear the rest of what she was saying.

"Whoa, wait, death?" he asked. "What makes you think I plan on dying? And we just wake up later? Just fine? Just like that?"

"Yes, death." Tohko sighed. "You may not plan on it, but in between the Administrators games and the infighting between residents, it's going to happen. I've already died three times myself. And yes, you just wake up later. It's like you were never dead at all."

He'd always been afraid of dying. Or change at all, for that matter. He'd never admit that, of course, but the fear was still there.

"It still hurts, though, doesn't it?"

That was another thing he wasn't fond of. Horrific pain.

Tohko nodded sadly.

"Yes, it still hurts. However, depending on how you die, how much pain you are in varies. You could be in a lot of pain or barely notice at all. I'm not fond of it either..but that's how it goes."

He shook his head, deciding not to think about her words too much. He wasn't planning on dying.

"What's this about oatmeal? Why do we have to eat that first?"

He didn't really have a problem with oatmeal, but it was a strange requirement.

Another person who wasn't good at hearing things. Tohko sighed. "If you don't eat the oatmeal first, you'll throw up anything else you try to eat. I know that it's a strange rule, but it's not like I run the place. However, you can add things to the oatmeal to improve the taste and you can eat whatever you want when you're finished eating it."

He shrugged at that. One bowl of oatmeal wasn't going to kill him, he thought. Normally he would've been bothered by it, but it seemed less weird than all the other stuff going on in this tower.

"Oatmeal, dying, and these collars. Anything else I should know before I go and show the owners of this place what a mistake they've made?" he asked her, pushing himself up off the wall and picking at the collar again.

"I don't think you'll be able to kill the Administrators that easily, considering that they almost never show their faces, that they run this Tower, and that one of them is thousands of years old. Besides, if you kill them, you'll never know how to get back home."

Tohko sighed. This guy wasn't the best-kept novel on the shelf. He'd have to get a little smarter if he wanted to survive.

"Monsters roam the Tower at night. If you don't know how to fight, I suggest you start learning from someone.

As far as I know, four people run the Tower: Dax, who is a pretty humane, nice guy, Riki, who is a pretty secretive fellow, Jason, who loves to torture and experiment on us, and Ruana, who is worse than Jason, in my opinion. They will lie to you, so take everything they say with a grain of salt." Tohko repeated herself, hoping that the guy would actually listen this time.

"I didn't say I was going to kill them."

He wasn't even sure he could go through with killing anyone in the first place.

"But you're saying there is a way to get home?"

He stopped and actually listened to her this time. Now that the initial shock of the 'death' thing was over, he had a bit more of an attention span.

"I know how to fight just fine," he told her with an almost fake smile. "I'm the champ three years running."

He had a feeling he wouldn't be able to remember all those names, but that was okay. All he had to gather from that was the people who ran the Tower were dangerous. Except Dax, maybe, but how good could Dax be if he was working with these lunatics?

"That's true. However, trying to attack them probably wouldn't go very well for you. And there has to be a way home. After all, they managed to take us all here. There has to be a way that they can send us back. I don't believe that our worlds are destroyed. After all, there are people here who wouldn't even be able to exist if their worlds were destroyed. So, I don't buy that story. We can go home."

Tohko looked at the guy, puzzled. "Champion of what? And..fighting in small tournaments isn't the same as fighting here, trust me. Be on your guard. Practice every day."

After all, Tohko hadn't neglected her daily training with Saber, and that had helped her immensely. Even though she was still pretty weak, she had been able to defend herself a lot better than she would have without the training.

"What are they gonna do, electrocute me?" he asked. "I've dealt with enough real fights at home, I think I can handle a few white coats."

He wasn't surprised that she was confused about his 'championship' comment. Nobody here knew about it, which was quite disappointing. Still, that made it fun to brag. And maybe exaggerate. A lot.

"Champion pro-bender," he informed her. "A brutal contest of skill; sometimes deadly."

Tohko shook her head. "No. They might be able to do worse. Depending on what you believe about these collars and the orgins of the Tower, they might be able to rip out your soul and destroy it. Electrocution is nothing compared to that."

Tohko scratched her head. "I'm not sure what a 'bender' is..but why would you be involved ins something like that? Unless the mortality rate is too low to worry about, I can't really see why you would play a game that you might die in. It seems pretty foolish to me."

Of course, someone could have been forcing him to play..but it didn't quite sound like that. It sounded like he enjoyed playing this game.

Taking your soul did sound a lot more unpleasant than simple electrocution. Still, he wasn't sure he believed anyone was capable of doing that to a soul. The owners of this tower weren't spirits, were they?

"A little danger is fun," he told her. "You feel like a God among men when nobody can touch you in the ring. Playing for glory has its rewards."

Tohko sighed before giving the guy a small smile.

"Danger is sometimes necessary, depending on the situation, and while adventures are fun, fighting people and killing them is anything but. It's pretty terrible..and rather scary. And that's the thing about glory-you feel a like a man among men one day, and the next, you find that no one likes you at all. Tragedies are filled with this, and countless other stories are filled with people doing horrible and stupid things just for glory. In my opinion, there are better reasons to fight and work hard."

This guy obviously needed to read those stories a bit more. He could learn a thing or two from Lockheart.

He frowned. Losing his fame and fortune was always a harsh subject for him. He loved his life, and seeing it gone was... a lot harder on him than most people.

"Yeah, well... stories are just stories. Fiction," he sighed. "I'm not some villain meant to repent at the end of a fairy-tale."

"Stories aren't just stories! Inside their covers, you can find huge pieces of truth, or a small nugget of hope you never knew was there, or a new outlook on life you never knew existed! Stories aren't just stories. They give you a greater perspective, and help you understand others, even though you have never felt their pain and joys, their triumphs and defeats!"

Tohko huffed as she gushed about stories and their potential. This guy really needed to read more.

"And the heroes of tragedies are not always villains. Take Oedipus Rex, for example. The main character has a lot going for him-a wonderful kingdom, a loving wife, some good kids, and subjects that respect him. He's not a bad king either. However, due to fate and misinterpretations, he loses everything-his kingdom, his wife, his kids, and eventually stabs out his eyes and becomes a blind beggar. That is what a good fall from glory looks like. You think you have it one minute, and the next, you're lamenting your own birth."

He rolled his eyes as the girl began to go on about books. He hadn't really read any recently. Or ever, for that matter. Growing up in a swamp would do that to you, and fame kept him from enjoying them later in life.

"That all sounds dandy, but, it's not like there's some king out there who actually went through all that crap."

He couldn't understand why someone would care so much about events that never happened.

"Why do you like them so much? Going out and living is more exciting than being wrapped up in a fantasy."

Tohko huffed at this guy. How could someone be so uncaring towards stories? How could he miss their potential?

"Perhaps there isn't a king who hasn't faced the exact scenario Oedipus did, but there are probably plenty of kings who have fallen from grace but could have stayed on the throne if they had just payed attention and thought a little bit more.

'If I had done this, than that wouldn't have happened..'..I'm sure there are quite a few kings who thought something like that before they fell, and normal people face those thoughts every day too, so even we can understand the plight that Oedipus faces! We can learn from his mistakes!"

Tohko paused for a moment to collect her thoughts on the next point.

"Fantasy?! Pi, a fantasy? The Aviator, a fantasy? Even when their struggles are more human, real, gripping, and thought-provoking than almost anything you'll face in your life?! Fantasy indeed!

Tell me, by going out an living, do you understand the pain of immortality? Or how taming and friendships work? Or what's truly important? Or the perks and disadvantages of youth?

The answerer is that you cannot, unless you experience those things yourself, and many of them you cannot! It is only in stories that you can understand these things! And even if you never understand, never manage to taste the subtle flavors of a tale, you can at least appreciate the delicious stories that lie within books!"

Tohko gave the guy one more hmph for good measure.

He wasn't sure why the hell he was sticking around listening to this lunatic anymore. He had just wanted to get this stupid collar off, and now he was getting his ear talked off.

"Look, a fantasy can't be more 'human' or 'real' than real life. That doesn't make any sense," he growled, still missing her entire point.

"I haven't read a book in years and I still know you're spewing bullshit. Your life has to be a boring place to find a bunch of fake tales so interesting. Why the hell would I want to understand some other fictional idiot's troubles and struggles when I've got my own to deal with?"

"That's because stories aren't mere fantasies. To the writer and reader, bits and pieces of reality are mixed in with it, and sometimes, it's the other way around! Fantasy gets mixed in with reality. So, in that way, stories are more than mere fantasies!"

This guy deserved a good slap or five. If Chia was here, she'd be crying alone after a meeting like this. However, Tohko hadn't flung off the handle just yet. She was about to..but she hadn't gotten there quite yet.

"My life is anything but boring. It's dangerous, interesting, puzzling, weird, and a little scary, but it's not boring at all. And stories help enhance my life quite a bit. Maybe if you read a bit more, you'd find your life enhanced too!

And understanding what happens to people in stories helps you understand the people around you and even yourself! After all, if people didn't understand the characters in stories, why would so many people get sucked into Oba Yozo's plight or feel sorry for what Gatsby has to go through? The answer is that they wouldn't. So, reading stories helps you understand people, the world around you, and even yourself! It's amazing in that way!"

Well, now she just sounded like she was repeating herself. He tuned out after the first few sentences.

"Okay, kid, if that's your thing," he interrupted, waving his hand dismissively. "Go have fun with your books and find someone who cares."

It only sounded that way because Tohko didn't think the guy had understood her first message. Enraged at having been insulted, having her friend be indirectly insulted, and now interrupted and ignored, Tohko just lost it.

Without another word, she stomped up to the guy and tried to slap him as hard as she could across his arrogant, smug face.

He hadn't expected to be slapped in the face anytime soon, much less by a whiny little girl. He made no move to dodge, and simply sat there for a few seconds, looking stunned.

He reached up and touched the stinging part of his face, finally registering what had happened. He turned his head to glare at the girl, feeling quite angry.

"What makes you think you have the right to touch my beautiful face?!"

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