❄ The new kid ❄ [open]

[pinnaculum]

Characters: [au2] Sephiroth and YOU
Setting: throughout the tower: dorms, cafeteria, library, floor 81, anywhere with monsters to fight.
Format: Starting in action, but will match prose
Summary: A new Sephiroth arrives in the Tower. He's a bit smaller than the other one, and looks a lot younger.
Warnings: Mentions of human experimentation.


The dormitories; room 1-18 and hallways:
[Waking up in a completely unfamiliar place isn't a novel experience for Sephiroth, but it isn't one he likes. He rises from the bed and quickly searches the room. He reads the letters he finds and changes out of the white jumpsuit as soon as possible, exchanging it for his own dark gray, utilitarian clothes. He has a pair of dark goggles that he rests on top of his head. He uses them at times to disguise his glowing eyes, but he doesn't pull them down now. The last time he woke in a strange place, it was cold and snowing. This is a warm room. It is preferable, but he still has much to learn about his current location. He ventures out into the hallway as soon as he's dressed.

He doesn't see Mr. Valentine. He's supposed to stay near him. Maybe he can find him somewhere nearby.]

Floor 1; the cafeteria:
[Who has absolutely no problem with eating his oatmeal? This kid. After all, soldiers in the field eat rations, and this is no different. He is eating the bland food at a steady pace with a remarkable lack of expression and quiet determination. Seldom has oatmeal been eaten more seriously.]

Floor 3; the library:
[Sephiroth doesn't see the need to ask for help, though he's frustrated that he still hasn't found Mr. Valentine. The network terminals aren't difficult to operate. With in no time, he's accessing them and looking through the old entries. He frowns slightly. A lot of these entries aren't very useful. He doesn't need to know about people feeling sick or playing pranks or insulting each other.

After spending some time at a terminal, Sephiroth makes his way through the shelves and locates a nice, extensive section of science books. In no time, he's amassing quite the collection of thick tomes on biology, genetics, and chemistry. He pulls down all the books that seem interesting. The ones on the upper shelves are harder for him to reach, so he leaps up several feet into the air and grabs those he's selected from the shelf. This acrobatic display seems effortless.]

Floor 81; the observatory lounge:
[Sephiroth has walked out onto the bulging glass windows, so that he almost seems to be suspended in midair. He isn't doing anything in particular. He stands silently looking upward, watching the stars.]

Any dangerous floor, near dusk:

[It's growing darker, and it's probably a good time for children to be heading back to safer floors, but Sephiroth, instead, is heading out. He has a sword with him, a rather long sword for someone of his height. Kids, swords, and monsters: always a good combination.]

Comments

floor 3

[liquidouroboros]

[Liquid was often one for ridiculous acrobatics himself, but that? That was impressive, even by his impossibly high standards.]

...Where did you learn to do that?

[pinnaculum]

[Sephiroth stopped in his efforts and turned when spoken to. He saw no reason not to answer the question. He held his latest acquisition, a book titled New Frontiers in Bioengineering, to his chest.]

It is an innate ability.

[liquidouroboros]

[If he hadn't been interested before, he was now. Liquid closed the book he was reading--apparently a Sherlock Holmes collection--and focused on Sephiroth, trying in no uncertain terms to figure out just what his deal was.]

So you've always been capable of that? Seems a bit unusual.

[pinnaculum]

Yes.

It is not usual where I am from.

[Sephiroth placed New Frontiers in Bioengineering on top of the other books he'd collected. He'd never had the run of a library before, and he was enjoying the freedom.]

[liquidouroboros]

So what is it that makes you so different?

[Tact? What's that?]

The Cafeteria

[oathshackledbird]

[It is almost like the tower is taunting him with things he can't have--his own children--and things he can't protect--those as dear to him as his own children. It had only been a day or so ago that he'd run into one small child here. Now another sits eating the oatmeal at a table not far from where the first had sat.

This child is different, though. That is readily apparent the moment Diarmuid spots him. Already in this place he's run into children who thought they were adults and adults who thought they were children, but this child is different from both of them. He might look young, there there is a aura of something much older around him. Something trained, focused, and cold.

Diarmuid approaches the child carefully. Despite his youth, this one has obviously been trained for war even if he has not see it yet. Diarmuid might understand the necessity--his own training had started young--but that didn't mean he liked seeing it in others. Not in this day and age anyway.

Still, he can't argue that training won't give the child an edge when it comes to surviving in this place.]

I'm glad not every child I run into in this place is foolish enough to argue with necessity. Tell me, what have you been told about this place so far? I will be glad to help answer any questions you might still have.

[pinnaculum]

[Sephiroth finishes his current spoonful of oatmeal and focuses his gaze on Diarmuid when the man addresses him.]

Hello.

[He studies Diarmuid. He has been trained to assess people as potential threats. This man appears strong, and his movements are sure, and that makes him interesting, but he also seems to pose no threat at the moment. Sephiroth remains seated and undisturbed.]

Why would someone argue?

[He sees no problems with the oatmeal. Bland and nutritious food, that's what he's used to.]

I received two letters. One said my world had been destroyed, and the other informed me about this tower. I know where to sleep and eat and that there is a network.

[He pauses. There is a pressing matter on his mind.]

I have been looking for Mr. Valentine, but I have been unable to find him. Do you know him?

[oathshackledbird]

I'm sorry, I don't know anyone by that name. However, if you feel comfortable with the network already, I think the easiest way to try and find your friend would be to ask there if anyone has seen him. There are so many different people in the tower and right now seems to be a period of new arrivals so leaving a notice or request where it can be seen at any time will increase your chances of finding him if he is here.

Just be aware that locking or filtering a post doesn't always work as well as it should and the administrators can see anything that is posted to the network whether filtered or not. I wouldn't suggest posting anything there you don't want others to know.

[Since the boy doesn't seem to bothered by his presence, Diarmuid takes a seat at the table across from him.]

Not everyone is as...used to this kind of thing as people like you or I might be. Just the other day I had a nice long argument with a boy who didn't want to do the things needed to survive here. He seemed to think he was special enough that the rules that applied to others didn't apply to him. I wish him no ill will, but I think he is going to be learning some very harsh lessons about this place very quickly. He is just fortunate that death isn't permanent here.

There is quite a bit of argument about whether or not our worlds have actually been destroyed so I would encourage you to believe whatever you wish to on that front.

[pinnaculum]

Mr. Valentine is tall with black hair and red eyes. He wears a red cape and a clawed gauntlet on his left hand. His weapon is a revolver with three barrels and three cylinders. If you see him, you can tell him I am looking for him. He is my appointed guardian, and I have been instructed to stay with him.

[This is a lot for Sephiroth to say all at once, so he grows quiet again, considering what Diarmuid has said, filing it all away in silence.]

Thank you for the information. I have not used the network yet, but I will try.

[He might say "try", but he sounds completely confident that he will succeed. He sounds completely confident in general. He is also pleased that Diarmuid includes him in that "people like you or I". He wants to be taken seriously as a warrior.]

Those who cannot fight should defer to those who can. I am trained to survive in harsh conditions. My primary purpose is combat. I have heard there are monsters here to fight.

[He's looking forward to the "fighting monsters" part. Diarmuid is providing him with a great deal of useful information, even though not all of it makes sense.]

Death is not permanent? What do you mean? Then it is not death.

[If someone is still alive, how can they have died? Maybe Diarmuid is referring to a spell like Life.

Sephiroth is aware that others would likely be more upset about the idea of their worlds having been destroyed, but what he feels is more curiosity than anything else. He wants to know the truth. He can't believe something because he read it in a letter, but the fact that he is in this place with people from different worlds suggests that there might be something to the claim.]

There was a great calamity on my world before. Perhaps there was another one.

Room 1-18

[disgracedvoid]

[Just as Sephiroth goes for the door, Darkleer steps into the room. The gargantuan troll looks down at the boy, bending his neck a little to get a better look at him. Certainly not the child that used to room here, before. Well then.]

Excuse me.

[He waits patiently for the boy to move aside, so he can reach for his trunk and retrieve his weapons as he's in the mood to do some practicing today. Hopefully, this one will have better manners than the one before him. Hopefully. But from what Darkleer has noticed about humans, he doesn't really expect much.]

[pinnaculum]

[Sephiroth's sword is drawn as soon as the door opens and he sees the large shape in the doorway. He's used to fighting monsters, some of which appear humanoid, but when Darkleer says Excuse me, he makes no further offensive move. He looks up at the troll curiously, then, lowering but not sheathing his sword, he nods and politely takes a step to the side.]

[disgracedvoid]

[Darkleer looks at the sword with a bored air, wondering idly if he's going to be forced into a fight. When the child stands back, however, Darkleer moves further into the room, heading for his trunk and kneeling by it to recover his bow and his quiver. As he hangs the bag of arrows from his belt, he risks another look at the small human.]

If you have just woken up here, I suggest you make your way to the cafeteria.

[pinnaculum]

[Sephiroth sheathes his sword without a word, watching as Darkleer kneels by his trunk and withdraws his weapon. Though unfamiliar in appearance, this person isn't behaving like a monster.]

Why?

[He studies the bow and arrow, as interested in manner as Darkleer was bored when eying his sword.]

Are you going to practice, or is there something to fight?

Floor 81 (Takes the plunge....)

[neverbeamemory]

[Floor 81. The new Floor 45. This one has less human-like things crawling around on the glass outside and it does have it's spectacular view of the starry sky above the Tower. Being also an elevator-floor, undoubtedly it will be one of the more traversed floors which meant that for precious reflection time it probably wasn't all that suitable. It's a new floor still though and Sephiroth did like to stare up at the constellations last time he'd rested up in here after the 1st leg of his exploration earlier in the week.

The reflection started in the lift on the way down from the Dormitories. Hojo had gone from the Tower, that distinct feeling was no longer there. Sephiroth couldn't tell when exactly he'd noticed that the professor was no longer within his scope but in all honesty he was glad. No more picking apart his faults like he was still part of the Project. He knew that there was a Remnant here as well now, though what would be the purpose to go hunting that one down? If it was the creation he expected it to be, then he'd be best left to stew in his own juices first. Sephiroth had to adjust to the Tower - Kadaj could do the same.

Besides Cloud though, there was -something- else. Not quite as significant as Cloud felt but certainly -something-. It was an unknown and he couldn't quite pinpoint how he would go about finding it either it was that faint of a trail. That is until Sephiroth stepped from the elevator on the 81st Floor and approached the windows and met a sight to stop him dead from taking another step.

This kid can't have been more than 7 or 8, short silver hair, plain clothes and gazing up at the sky. If he hadn't known better, if actually perhaps he could recall better - it could have been...

They really weren't kidding when he'd read about different versions of the same people that they could bring here. But this?]

[pinnaculum]

[He liked to watch the stars. They made him feel something he couldn't quite name. When he watched them, he felt peaceful, but also experienced a low quiver of excitement, almost anticipation. It was difficult to describe, and he wouldn't have tried to articulate it to someone else, but he enjoyed it.

When the elevator opened, he turned, alert to every sound. He studied the man standing there, as he studied every new person he'd met: measuring, weighing, as he'd been trained to do in unknown territory. In some ways, he was a perfect war machine, conditioned in the laboratory.

This man was different, however. This man resembled him. He'd never seem someone who looked like him before: the same hair, the same eyes. Yet as odd as the experience was, it was somehow familiar... Like the stars, which were both calming and agitating. Sephiroth took a few steps toward him, his feet leaving the glass for more solid-seeming ground.]

Hello. Who are you?

[It's a natural enough question to ask.]

[neverbeamemory]

[It would be too easy to just accept that this kid was him, brought here from years ago on Gaia. There were several other worlds from which the Tower drew it's specimens and Sephiroth himself had met a handful of kids with silver hair as well during his time here.

But he couldn't dismiss that feeling which seems, now it's been encountered to be now glaring at his non-human senses like a light being shined too brightly in his eyes. What else could it be but his own DNA reacting to it's dormant familiar in the young child.

Sephiroth himself wouldn't have liked to have been lied to about this, if real, then this kid has already been lied to enough in his short life so far. Not that any of that really mattered now he was here. It was a little worrying; surely if his own past has been changed by the very fact that this kid is here now, then by the laws of space and time shouldn't he be changed also? Maybe the Tower exempts them all from that?

The liquid in our collars keeps us alive and stable here. He'd been told once. Perhaps this was proof?]

I'm your future, or so it would seem.

[There was that feeling he hated, that slight twinge of regret that he no longer had the memories to back up that statement]

[pinnaculum]

[Sephiroth took a moment to consider these words. His future. It wasn't difficult for him to guess what that meant, but even if he understood, he was still confused. This man was saying that he was Sephiroth himself, from a future date. Was that possible?

He did look similar, as Sephiroth had already noted. More than similar. He took another step closer, looking up at the much taller man (himself?) with a curious expression, tilting his head slightly to one side. The way he was dressed, his obvious strength, his bearing... these things all seemed in line with how he saw himself in future years. A powerful SOLDIER. Although, he kept having to remind himself, there wasn't any SOLDIER anymore. That was something he wouldn't be able to become, as disappointing as that was.

What had this man become? It might be him, but he wasn't completely convinced. He had met people from different worlds, and with different magic, and this place was very strange. That meant it could be possible, but it also meant things might not be what they seemed. Just as with the matter of everyone's worlds being destroyed, he hadn't seen enough proof yet to be sure of anything. Proof: that was what a researcher needed. He wasn't a scientist, but he knew that proof was important. He would be careful and get proof before he decided.

But what if it were true? That would be good, wouldn't it? What better company could he have here? Maybe he could even spar with himself. He wasn't intimidated by the man's greater size and age.]

You are Sephiroth? What year are you from?

cafeteria;

[mayatama]

You're actually fine with eating that?

[ She'll just blink at the guy, certainly surprised. Because this is new... ]

[pinnaculum]

[Sephiroth considers the oatmeal anew. Is something wrong with it? It's not too different from the food in the lab.]

It appears nutritious.

[mayatama]

Well, it's not really all that great for you... but at least you're eating it! That's a good thing!

[pinnaculum]

Carbohydrates are nourishing. Is something wrong with it?

[But she says it's good that he's eating it. So is it good or not? He continues to study it very seriously.]

I was told I should eat it.

library

[looselips]

[At some point, when Sephiroth returns to his stack of books with another tome in hand, he'll find a second child flipping through whichever one was left on top. He's slight and somewhat frail-looking, and he doesn't seem to be paying much attention to his surroundings.]

[pinnaculum]

[Eying the newcomer soundlessly, Sephiroth easily classifies the other boy as a non-threat. He stands watching him, his new book in hand. It has something to do with the principles of cloning. He's never been able to read all the books in a library before.

He also hasn't seen any other children here. In fact, he's had very little to do with other children in his life, so he's curious about this one.

Sephiroth approaches soundlessly, and with such speed that he seems to appear beside Shinji.

Hello.

[looselips]

[Shinji is definitely bright for his age, but these books might be a bit over his head. It doesn't help that the subjects that interest him lie elsewhere. Regardless, though, he flips through the pages of the book he has picked up, skimming its content rather than attempting to read it thoroughly.]

[He jolts at Sephiroth's sudden appearance, not having expected the interruption. But he doesn't feel particularly guilty for what he was doing, and the voice doesn't sound especially threatening, so at least there's no embarrassing yelping as he whirls around to face the other child.]

...What?

[As in, "What do you want?" Not that it's very clear.]

[pinnaculum]

I have been assembling these books.

[It's not the proper way to treat library books, stacking them on the floor to create the desired pile, but no one ever told Sephiroth that.

They're all the books that look most interesting to him, and possibly the ones that would seem most tedious to others. The more technical, the better.]

Would you like to read them, too?

[Because this is how you socialize with other children, obviously. Shared scientific reading material.]