[open]

[ambassadorasshat]

Characters: AU!Luke and anyone who has enough patience to wants to bother him
Setting: Dorms, Floor 3 (library), Floor 10 (aquarium); morning/afternoon-late evening
Format: Action preferred, but will match prose, albeit more slowly
Summary: First day in the tower. Exploring!
Warnings: Possible violence/swearing.

Dorm Level 4

[If you happen to be on this floor, you might run into this redhead. Possibly literally, as he doesn't bother to check if anyone's in front of his dorm door before stomping out of it. He's read (and confettied, in his irritation) the note he woke up with, and has decided to go investigate the tower for himself, not trusting it.]

Library (floor 3)

[And here is Luke seated between a couple stacks in the library, having gotten distracted looking through the books. Seems he's forgotten he's in a death tower for the moment.]

Aquarium (floor 10)

[Someone should probably get this kid to stop terrorizing the fish. He's not actually sticking his hand in the water, that would get his glove (and arm) all wet, but he's more than happy to poke his sword in instead to see how the fish react.]

This place is so weird. What's up with the water?

Comments

Floor 3

[seekinganswers]

Asch?

[Sheba was just browsing through some of the shelves, but as she comes out from them with a book in hand, she sees a redhead between stacks of books. Going off context - red hair and having enough patience to read - the conclusion she comes to is not that strange.

Sorry, Luke; with another you and a version of your older brother who is actually the other you's original around, this was bound to happen eventually.]

What are you reading?

Floor 10

[fragileprophet]

Luke!

[The voice is frantic and troubled. Ion didn't intend to enter the water-filled floor. It was interesting, sure, but it looked quite dangerous. The others probably wouldn't appreciate him going forward alone.

...and yet...

He couldn't help but step down into it and hurry forward when he saw the way his red-haired friend (or at least who he assumed was the same red-haired friend he knew so well) was bothering the watery residents.]

You should be careful! What if they're aggressive creatures?

[ambassadorasshat]

[But what if it's actually a picture book, Sheba?

And it's not so strange to be mistaken for Asch--well, when he was younger, anyway, and the handful of people in Baticul who nearly called him by that name last time he was in the city--but he hasn't been mistaken for his brother recently and he looks up at the name.

Unfamiliar blonde, hi.]

No, I'm not. Who are you?

[He's browsing a cookbook, but he's not answering the question regarding it. The pictures accompanying the recipes are fairly obvious, though.]

[seekinganswers]

...!

[It's not Asch, it's Luke; but it's a different Luke, because she's already met the other Luke and this one doesn't know her and... oh, this tower was confusing. When she frowns, it's not because of anything he's done, but because of her frustration with not knowing.]

My name is Sheba. I... guess you just arrived here, huh?

Dorm Level 4

[sonof_thrain]

[ooc: love Tales of the Abyss so couldn't resist]

[Thorin was wandering like a lost soul as he pressed a hand against the cold stone walls. Perhaps there was a weakness in the structure somewhere? He could use his dwarven strength to perhaps kick a piece of the wall through. He needed to get out of here.]

Greetings. Have you arrived here recently, lad? I am seeking a way out of this prison.

DORM FLOORS ALL DEM DORM FLOORS

[bloodyashes]

[And a bit down the hallway - hey, Luke, hey, yours isn't the only curtain of red hair wandering these halls. It never even occurs to Asch that there might be another Luke behind him, because the one that's already there is supposed to be meeting him down at the cafeteria so that they can get ready to go hunt some food.

So feel free to... yell at him or whatever, before he gets away.]

10th Floor

[lightofhumanity]

No one is really sure.

[chaos, who had been seeing how this person was annoying the fish, had entered the room to try and help him out before something horrible happened.]

But I would advise you to stop putting your sword in the water. Not all of these fish are friendly, and they will fight back.

Floor 10

[relinquishing]

Luke?

[He'd barely spotted him as he walked up the staircase, but the redhead thrusting his sword into the wall of water was peculiar enough for Guy to jump off and walk over, brow knitted in confusion.]

...What in the world are you doing?

My internet exploded before I could get this tag out before

[ambassadorasshat]

Then I'll skewer them--Ion?

[Hey! If Ion's here, that means that the rest of the party is somewhere, right? Right?]

Is everyone else here too?

[fragileprophet]

[Confusion is clear on Ion's face. Didn't Luke already know this...? He's talking like he's just arrived, but that couldn't be right, unless he had a double...]

No...not everyone. I've only run into you, Guy, and Asch so far--but I was told that Jade is here as well. I'm sure he'll turn up in time.

Re: Dorm Level 4

[ambassadorasshat]

(Yay! I like all CR.)

Yeah, I just woke up in there.

[Gesturing behind him at his room.]

What is this place?

[Hope you don't mind him following you, Thorin.]

[ambassadorasshat]

[Oh boy, one of the few people he didn't want to run into. Well, at least his hair makes him immediately recognizable. There's a strong temptation to go up and yank said hair just to irritate him, but he won't. He'll be making his way over as soon as he spots Asch, making no effort to be sneaky.]

Hey!

[bloodyashes]

[A spin, Asch's tabard flapping as he stops to give Luke a sincerely confused look. That hey is not the kind of hey he would have expected out of his replica at this point - it's way too angry.]

Weren't you downstairs?

[ambassadorasshat]

[Excuse you, he is not a replica. And he's allowed to be angry, he just woke up in a strange place with strange people and doesn't know what's going on.]

...What are you talking about? I didn't even know there was another floor.

[bloodyashes]

[The confused look only grows - okay, no, this is something newly weird and different. A check to the mental link turns the confusion into mild exasperation - okay, there is a Luke downstairs, who is distinctly not the one in front of him.]

...Great, there's two of you now.

[This is just what he needed in his life, clearly.]

[ambassadorasshat]

[Awesome, another familiar voice (that doesn't belong to an enemy). He stops, turning to Guy.]

Checking out the fish? I'm not sticking my hand in there.

Re: 10th Floor

[ambassadorasshat]

So it just...stays up like that? There's no glass or anything to hold it.

[Unless it's really...squishy glass or something. Gel? Whatever, it's weird. But he'll stop poking at it, either way. He doesn't want to have to kill the fish or anything, just harass them.]

10th Floor

[lightofhumanity]

There may be some gravitational devices to keep it up. It is only a guess though. I do not know much about this technology, and not many people are really sure either.

[ambassadorasshat]

[At least there's not another Asch to induce further confusion yet? Too bad all three redheads all have violet collars.]

Sheba, right. I've been here...I dunno, a couple hours. Long enough. Are you a prisoner here too?

[ambassadorasshat]

You haven't seen Tear?

[Slightly disappointed, even though it would likely mean an argument in the near future. Also, gonna assume he ran into Asch before running into Ion.]

Jade can take his time showing up anywhere.

[ambassadorasshat]

[The more confused Asch gets, the more confused Luke gets. Except Luke is still confused when Asch stops being confused.]

...What?

[There hasn't been two of him since he was 10.]

[fragileprophet]

I'm afraid I haven't. [his voice gets a bit softer and sadder] Anise isn't here, either.

[He tries to shake off the feeling and focus on the positive. At least Luke seems to be in good spirits! Even if Ion's still kind of confused about this sudden difference in attitude from the Luke who found him on the stairs.

He smiles at the Jade comment.] I suppose that's true.

[bloodyashes]

[And Asch is blissfully unconfused, but that doesn't mean he's not annoyed. He is. This is exactly what he needed, clearly. Just when he's sort-of getting things worked out with one Luke, throw him another, thanks admins.]

The Tower takes people from their worlds individually, and sometimes it brings in duplicates. There's another you here, and he's been here longer than I have.

[ambassadorasshat]

[Lukes everywhere. Maybe a third will appear at some point.]

Duplicates? Like replicas...?

[bloodyashes]

[Asch looks slightly startled - a Luke at this stage shouldn't know about replicas - but then writes it off to... shenanigans, really. Whatever, Tower, he will officially give up on his life making sense, if that's what makes you happy.]

No, not replicas. Replicas don't have any memories when they're created. The duplicates the Tower pulls in each have their own full lives and memories.