towerofanimus | [OPEN] standing dumb in the light

WHO: Kanaya Maryam and YOU!
WHERE: Dormitory levels
WHAT: Kanaya wakes up, she is not at all fond of her circumstances. And so the Tower receives a glowing alien girl conspicuously and shiveringly sneaking through the hallway.
HOW: Action

[ thirty seconds of sleep paralysis is a hell of an introduction to a new setting. by the time it's worn off, kanaya has found plenty of time to begin panicking. it doesn't look like any memory she's ever had, so the most reasonable explanation is that it must be someone else's. it's a dream bubble, right? it has to be. that doesn't explain the collar. something is wrong here. who put her in this ugly jumpsuit? who would even make such an ugly outfit?

once she's on her feet, she spares a moment to wonder if she should make the bed before deciding that there are bigger problems at hand, and ends up missing her introduction letters in the process. she elects to sneak out into the hallway instead, only to find it's cold. unreasonably cold, especially in this miserable outfit. her best hope is to keep moving, see if the bubble doesn't change if she does, stopping at each corner to peek around it. you never know what you might encounter in these things. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ she looks in the same way he had, weighing her options. ]

Where are the stairs? That is what had brought me to where I am to begin with, so I'm a bit afraid that another method would only bring me further within this labyrinthine system.

...What is it on the lower floors that I should put so much effort into avoiding?

They're in the same place on every floor... near the center. You'd be better off with the elevators.

Uh, well, firstly, there's about forty-five of them. They stop in some places, and it's too easy to fall off... monsters are on all of the floors that aren't dormitories or the cafeteria, and if you fall, they will jump on you. Uh. The stairs actually stop in a lot of places, and-- ...you're a Space player, right?

...Yes. A Sylph, but it...it doesn't really mean anything anymore. I don't know that it ever did.

Just be careful around some of the floors. They don't really... conform. To physics.

So if you have any powers, they might be affected by that or something.

Then I suppose it's lucky that I was essentially useless in my role, as I drew no power from it to speak of. But I will heed the warning, and appreciate it being given.

[ she frowns and looks around the hall again. ] So, uh, which way is it the the floor's center?

It's alright. All I seem to do is get headaches.

[He looks around a bit.] Um, that way. [He points down one of the halls.] Take the first left, and then walk straight. You should run right into it.

[ she's about to go, she even half turns to the direction he told her, but instead stops herself and looks back at him. ]

You...you were a Space player also?

I never... stopped being one, but yes.

Well there isn't really much to continue it with. What do we really have left once the frogs and Prospit are gone?

...There was a God Tier Space player in here at one time. She had no duties left, either, but she was certainly able to keep her aspect in prominence.

Ah, well... That's also a god tier. Lacking godhood myself, my own position in relation to the aspect is far more moot.

...Or had you attained godhood as well?

Me? Oh. No, no. Not me.

[He shook his head furiously.]

Only the Life player achieved God Tier in our session... it was Vriska.

Vriska as a Life player? Well that's a thought I find difficult to resolve.

Well, she was extremely effective with us...

I suppose she tended to be...in her own way. Though that way could be extremely volatile for the rest of us.

A Thief of Life would be a horrific combination, but I could hardly imagine it not to be effective.

Thief?

...Oh, n-no, you misunderstand. She's a Knight. Knight of Life.

You're [ fucking ] kidding me.

Vriska Serket?

...Yes?

[Quiiiietly shrinking into himself.]

[ she rubs the bridge of her nose, trying to think her way through this. ]

Alright. So.

You're a goldblooded Equius. Inexplicable as that is, that couldn't be the only difference on your timeline, if something so drastic has changed. The question then is how this would have reflected in her.

I... I've never met any Vriska other than the brownblooded one, so... I wouldn't know. But... yes. Everyone in my timeline [assuming that's what it was] is of a different blood colour than yours. As far as I can tell.

[ her brows continue to furrow and her thins draw a tight, wide line. brown. she can't begin to fathom what that would look like. she makes a low humming sound, dipping her head and shaking it about, trying to make this make sense. it doesn't. she'll have to work with it anyway. ]

Well! That's... [ baffling, beyond comprehension, something that raises a lot of questions, news that she will probably never be able to resolve. there are about a million good ways to finish this sentence. ] ...Really interesting. [ and that wasn't one of them. ]

I don't even...how does that happen?

[Equius sighs. He'd reacted in about the same way when he'd first realized that there were versions of his players with different bloods, though with significantly more internal shrieking; Kanaya, too, seemed to be much more affected by the news than most other people he's told over the course of his time in the Tower. He shrugs apologetically.]

I... I really don't know. Your guess is good as mine...

I think I need to just... [ she crosses her legs under her, slowly lowering herself into a sitting position right there on the floor, her palms against her forehead. equius is yellow. vriska is brown? and a knight?? of life???

what does this mean for the rest of them and does she even want to know because she isn't convinced that she wants to and this is all just really weird and big and her brain hates that she's expecting it to process all of it. she doesn't move, doesn't say a word, but her glow seems to have grown brighter, little by little. ]

[Equius stands there, watching her like an idiot, wringing his hands a bit. This is... new. He wouldn't have expected Maryam to just throw herself onto the ground like this, and somehow it didn't occur to him from the brief time he talked to the other jade Kanaya that she would do it, either. Mostly because they were sitting down, and having a relatively calm and happy conversation, at the time. But that obviously wasn't a thing anymore, as this Kanaya was taking the whole thing not nearly as well; unnerved by the glow and somewhat fearing for his safety, Equius spoke very uncertainly.]

I-if you want... I'll just go.

[ she takes one hand off her head and holds it in the air to stop him, there's bound to be more she'll want to ask him, but after about ten seconds she can't get a single word out or settle on one. the hand drops to wave him on his way.

she'll just sit here and think about things for a bit, and eventually remember how cold it is and go find her room. ]

[OPEN] standing dumb in the light

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