towerofanimus | 001 Ring

Entry tags:

001 Ring

Characters: Red Savarin and anyone else.
Setting: Room 2-10, Floor 1
Format: Action, but I'll try to match you!
Summary: Red wakes up and discovers that something very strange has happened. Oatmeal follows.
Warnings: Possible angst and vomit, maybe at the same time. Also, lots of text. Sorry.

[Red's eyes flutter open. The first thing he notices is the ceiling. This definitely wasn't the Asmodeus; what the hell was going on?]

[The second thing he notices is that he can't move. His eyes dart around, trying to figure out where he is, but unfortunately he doesn't glean terribly much from the ceiling. After a little while, though, Red manages to get control of his body back, leaping off of the bed.]

[A white catsuit? That's the least of his worries right now. There's a letter near that bed, addressed to Red. He rips the envelope open, beginning to read...]

...What? No way. This has gotta be some cruel joke. When I find whoever set this up--

[He cuts himself off, staring up at something he'd finally noticed by the bed. A robot. His robot. Whoever had brought him here, at least they'd left him his companion. If the letter was true, and his world really was destroyed, then surely they wouldn't leave him that?]

[The dog-man sits there for a while, poring over the letters. If this was still a joke, something meant to fool Red... it was detailed. For the first time, fear begins to well up inside him. Was this the truth? Maybe there was someone else that could fill Red in; there's four beds, after all. Surely someone else must be using them, and if there's nobody around, maybe he can wander the halls for a bit.]

---

[There was a lot of time to think over things. Red had taken an elevator down to where the cafeteria was supposed to be, leaving Dahak behind for now, and the trip lasted at least half an hour. He still held hope that none of this was real, that maybe he'd gotten stuck into another simulation. What purpose would a simulation like this serve, though? He couldn't readily explain this, and that's what scared him.]

[Food would help. It always did. Unfortunately, what Red got wasn't food. It was a bowl of lumpy beige glop, served without comment but with a spoon. It wasn't disgusting, but neither was it very pleasant. The other people here - something else that gave him pause - had actual food. Why did Red have to suffer with this mush?]

This stuff's gross. I'm gonna see what's goin' on here.

[With a measure of wariness, the Caninu man starts to approach the other tables, asking for whatever food the other cafeteria-goers can spare. A collared dog begging for table scraps; it's too bad the irony is lost on Red, who's never seen a normal dog in his life. Who wants to spare their supper just so he can lose his lunch?]

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[What are those, anyway? Some kind of fried... things, possibly meat. They look good, or at least better than oatmeal. Red keeps glancing down at them while he talks.]

Look, I tried that, and what they gave me ain't exactly food. How'd ya get those things?

[Because he'll be damned if his first meal in this place, real or not, is that stuff.]

Huh, you're supposed to just be able to ask em and they'll give-

[Wait. Hang on. This seems familiar. Exactly like how he was on his dirst day.]

Woah, hold on. Did ya eat their oatmeal yet?

Oatmeal? Is that what that slop is? Nah, I haven't touched it and I ain't gonna.

[Is there some significance to it? Nothing in this damned place seems to make any sense. Red's still not eating it unless he absolutely needs to.]

Ugh, I know how ya feel; hated that bowl of... stuff when I first ate it. [It doesn't even deserve to be called food, that .]

But trust me, you'll want to before eating anything else. Really.

[Red slams his hands onto the table, making it shake briefly, and glares at the man across from him.]

Listen, I woke up in some weird place with a letter tellin' me my world's gone, someone took my clothes and gave me this thing, and now I got a collar on. I ain't in any mood to be trustin' people. Gimme that!

[He moves to swipe one of the pieces of food from the Apprentice's plate, and should he succeed, he's definitely taking a great big bite of whatever it is. Oatmeal rule be damned, Red wants real food.]

Woah, easy there, big guy. I know how ya feel, since my world was destroyed to- wait, DON'T!

[Yep, probably should have guarded his plate better. He was about to eat that fish stick, damnit. He's going to stand up, and step back ever so slightly now.]

Well, don't say I didn't warn ya.

[Hmm. Tastes like some kind of fish, probably. It's not bad, but this guy's reaction is definitely strange.]

Oh, relax, nothin's gonna happen! It's just food! Look, I'm fine!

[He downs the rest of the fish stick, then takes a seat across from the Apprentice. So far, so good... but that'll change soon.]

Now, how do I get somethin' like that and not oatmeal?

[He sighs, well aware of what's going to happen in the not-so-distant future.]

For now, anyway. You can have mine, I'll just go get another plate.

[He pushes his half-finished meal over to him- if Red's going to puke his food right back out, he might as well enjoy the rest of the food first.]

The guys over there at the cafeteria would give you some, but only if ya finished eating a bowl of their oatmeal first. It's kinda stupid, but there ya go. The whole place is insane anyway.

For now? Huh?

[Well, Red's never one to turn down a meal. He'll gladly take that and dig in, although less hastily than before. Fish and some kind of bird meat, not bad.]

Lemme eat this first and then I'll get my oatmeal. It's gonna be gh-- gross, but--

[At first, he thinks it's because he thought of the oatmeal; a wave of nausea spreads over the dog-man, making him gag, and then a second wave hits. His eyes going wide, Red practically leaps out of the seat and runs as fast as he can towards the trash cans, just barely managing to make it there before he starts vomiting. Well, can't say he wasn't warned.]

[The man can only sigh, getting up and following him as Red runs to the trash cans.

Obviously keeping his distance, that is one overwhelming smell.]

You okay? And well, I told ya. Better go eat your oatmeal first before trying anything else. I'll get ya some soda and cake once you're finished to wash away the taste.

[You think it's bad with your nose? The poor dog-man's trying not to breathe, lest he suffer another bout. He just coughs and spits out the last of it, carefully raising his head.]

No, I ain't okay. Is this-- did this happen 'cause I didn't eat that oatmeal stuff? Really?

[Red coughs again, trying to relieve the burning in his throat.]

Gimme a minute and I'll go get it. Ugh.

Yeah. I told ya this place is insane.

[While the man is still expelling his latest meal in the trash, the Warmage goes and gets him a bowl of oatmeal, setting it down on a table nearby. A rather smaller bowl of it, of course; he doesn't want to torture the poor guy more than he already is.]

Easy there, big guy.

[Red's not exactly a big guy, but he appreciates the help nonetheless. After a little more coughing, he finally pulls himself upright again, trying to see where the Warmage is.]

Oh, ya got me some. Thanks, pal.

[Not wanting to stray too far from the trash can, just in case, Red shuffles over and picks up the bowl of oatmeal. It still looks disgusting, but if it means he'll get real food... he'll wolf it down, chucking the bowl into the trash afterwards. Now, to see how that sits.]

[He sits there, patiently waiting until the dog-man finishes the bowl of... stuff, before handing him a cup of soda.]

Here. Wash it down. Unless the tower thinks you still haven't had enough and makes you chuck it back up again.

Obviously hope that doesn't happen.

[Whatever that stuff is, it smells good and it's a welcome reprieve from bile and oatmeal. Red grabs the cup, downing it about as fast as he ate that beige glop.]

It better not. I ain't eatin' any more of that stuff--

[Oh, god, something's happening. Red sort of twitches for a moment, holding a hand over his mouth...]

[No, false alarm, he just belches loudly. He drank that soda too fast, that's all; looks like that was enough oatmeal after all.]

Okay, okay, I think I'm good now.

[The moment he started to twitch, Warmage already flinched and move back.

Okay never mind then.]

Ya only have to suffer through that like once. Unless those guys change the rules.

Great, 'cause I don't ever wanna see that stuff again for the rest of my life. Gimme a bit.

[Red pulls himself upright and heads back into the cafeteria line. In a minute or so, he returns with a tray of fried things and a mint milkshake, the latter mostly for throat soothing.]

If I still can't hold this stuff down, I'm blamin' you, mister... uh, whatever your name is.

[It takes him a few moments of chewing on fish sticks to realize that he ought to be polite.]

I'm Red, by the way. Thanks for your help.

[He casually takes one or two of his fish sticks- after all, he did take some of his. Quite rudely too.]

No problem, Red. Glad to be of some help. Ya know, what with all that 'do unto others what others do unto you.' Or something along those lines. Never did pay attention in class.

Anyway, I don't really have an official name, but you can call me Warmage. Last of my kind and so on. Well, was.

Last of your kind?

[That gets Red thinking. He's the last of his kind, too. Maybe there's a pattern here.]

Maybe that's what's happenin'. We're gettin' saved because back home, we're unique or rare or somethin' like that.

[The food does seem to be sitting well with him now, which is a relief. After downing a chicken nugget, he'll add one more remark.]

Of course, if any of this is real. Still got my doubts.

Well, here's the problem. I was last of my kind, but I was just about to train some more mages. Well, 'I' in a broad sense.[Meaning he's doing mostly nothing while his companion does most of the actual tutoring. Best teacher, bar none.] So that theory's thrown outta the window.

Then again, I could be just too awesome to not be saved at the last moment. Would be nice if they saved a lot more other people though. Was my job after all, saving people and looking cool while doin' so.

I thought that too. Riiiight around three months ago. I guess I'm one of the 'lucky' ones? Some of these people have been stuck here for an year or so. Maybe even more.

Edited 2013-03-14 16:44 (UTC)

Hey, me too! What kinda gig was it? Back home, I'm a great Hunter... er, which means people make job requests and I take 'em on for money. Did ya do somethin' like that?

[At least the two of them have something in common. Too bad about that theory... and being stuck here for a year or more. That's pretty awful, too, but now Red's got an idea.]

Maybe I can set up somethin' like that here. People need stuff done, no matter where you go, and there's gotta be things for rewards...

Ah, killin' orcs to prevent them from getting to the human world. Don't want villages to get sacked and all that. Thankless job, but hey, it pays the bills. Just enough. Also I can learn magic while doing so. Smacking things with a magic sword and looking handsome while doing so. Can't ask more than that.

That sounds like a good idea! [And it can probably give him stuff to do rather than wandering around the tower doing nothing all day.] People always want stuff done, after all. Favors for favors.

Yeah! If I'm really stuck here, then I'm gonna look into settin' this up!

[He looks excited for once, happily eating as if he hadn't just been thrown into a very dangerous tower.]

You've got experience killin' monsters, I can do the heavy liftin', and other guys can join in too! Just gotta figure out what kinda things there are for rewards.

[His face is stretched by a big grin- finally, something to do.]

To be honest, there ain't really anything people can pay with. But as I said, favors for favors! Dunno when someone's expertise can come in handy. 'Specially when there's a so many different people with different abilities in here.

[That makes him pause, half a fishstick dangling out of the side of his mouth. Other people, right. There were quite a few in the cafeteria, but...]

How many are there in this place? Gotta be enough to get some good business goin', or else this ain't gonna work.

[He really should be thinking about all the bad stuff that's happened, about the reality of the tower he's stuck in... but this is Red, and right now he's happy enough ignoring all that.]

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