towerofanimus | Code 004 [OPEN]

Entry tags:

Code 004 [OPEN]

Characters: Hakuno Kishinami and YOU!
Setting: Pick a floor, all throughout the event
Format: Action, but I can match
Summary: Hakuno was dragged off, and an effigy takes her place.
Warnings: Obligatory body horror and brainwashing warnings that comes with this event; violence and death will also be happening at some point here.

[It starts in the dormitories, of course. Anyone walking through the halls might pick up on a strange... creaking sound. A moment later, an even stranger figure appears; at first glance it looks to be a doll dressed in clothing some people in the tower might find familiar. But upon closer inspection, it doesn't look quite like just a doll. The arms and legs, as pointed and spindly and artificial as they are with glowing red lines cut into them, are attached to a very human-looking body, and the head... well. At first glance it looks human... until you look closer, and notice that the girl's face has been completely smoothed out. The only distinguishable feature, aside from the carved red lines similar to the ones on her artificial limbs, is a single brown eye in the center of a circle carved into the right side of her face.

Hakuno, or the thing that used to be Hakuno, can normally be seen simply puttering about. She'll be checking in on the other groups often, making sure that they do their work, but unlike some of the other Group A victims, she won't be bossing them around. She'll just watch silently, speaking - and it is possible for her to speak, despite having no mouth - only when she has something to say about how they're going about performing their task.

At other times, she shows surprising lucidity. The one visible eye on her face is clear, and often looking panicked. In this state she'll be muttering incoherently, obviously scared witless over the horrible modifications done to her. She'll shy away from most people in this state, but it's still possible to approach her.

And then, of course, there are the moments where Hakuno, just like all the other modified residents of the tower, will malfunction. She won't snap into a berserk rage, so it's not immediately obvious she's malfunctioning, but she will still attack anyone, friend or foe, that tries to approach her in this state.]

[[OOC: Just specify a floor and a state of mind! In the case of the third option, please specify if you want your character to be injured/killed.]]

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[Shinji obediently does his chores—but, then, he doesn't have much choice when he's like this. The way his body ignores his mind's orders grows no easier with time. If anything, the opposite is true, his thoughts increasingly frantic with each passing hour of lucidity he has.]

[That his assigned tasks happen to lead him through Hakuno's path is pure luck. It isn't good luck by any means, though, the way his arms and legs and part of his face have been erased and replaced with blank light more than likely too familiar for comfort to her. The eye that hasn't been blotted out by that energy stares at her, even as he scrubs at blood left behind on the floor. (It's a mess. He needs to clean it.)]

[Her modifications are familiar to him, too. He might wonder about that, if he weren't too busy desperately thinking so he doesn't lose himself.]

[For a moment, it doesn't even look like Hakuno reacts to Shinji's appearance. Then again, it's hard to judge what she's feeling at all, due to her lack of facial features. But her one visible eye is wide, almost panicked even, as it scans the boy up and down, and she can almost feel her stomach turning.]

... Shinji...?

[ Unaffected by the madness of the tower, it was in rare form for Rin to be on her own. Still waiting for Shirou and Sakura's letters to return to her, she goes on a hunt to see just how many of her allies she can come across.

Not recognizing Hakuno at first, she holds up an arm as though she thought her to be one of the many monsters here. ]

You there, what are you even doing here? [ This floor was usually vacant and for good reason, the forty-forth floor had a manner of disturbing with one's mind. ] Hello, are you a monster or something?

*Enoch was camping out for a little while at the far end of this floor, sitting on an iron bar and holding onto it tight for when it shifts. He needed time to gather his thoughts, to calm himself, to come up with a plan of action. He's had too many harrowing encounters lately, and he seems to have missed his friends that weren't modified every time. He's worried for them, but isn't sure where to look for them. Lucifel could be literally anywhere in the tower, and Raphael isn't likely to be in his usual haunts, as heavily trafficked by the newly aggressive worker units as they are.

When one of those newly pink-collared people he's trying to avoid starts passing through the central stairwell and then suddenly stops, body language all panic, too human, too normal, Enoch gets up and starts hopping his way across the bars.*

Hey! Are-... Are you...?

*He means to ask if the person's all right, but it's kind of hard to speak when you're focusing on not missing such a precarious jump, whether he has a midair jump to save him or not.*

[Caster had come to the meadow again, ready to really begin pushing Hakuno hard in their training and stay close by for a while after. Things were getting kind of weird, and they both needed to be able to ready just in case.

With a grin, she approaches, waving and smiling.]

Ohhh, Master, what--?

[She freezes in place, finally really registering what she is seeing, and not just feeling. Her face melts into shock for a moment, before she locks that down behind a mask of ordinary surprise. She doesn't need to upset Hakuno any further than she already must be by showing her own feelings about this.

She raises a hand, trying to reach out to Hakuno.]

...Master, what happened to you?

[There isn't much he can do or say in reply, since his body is dead set on performing the tasks that have been assigned to it. The thought Who does it look like? flits through is mind, but it's not with the spiteful vehemence it might have under more normal circumstances. He's just...tired. Tired and scared and exhausted from spending so much time fighting to stay conscious.]

[He looks at her a moment longer, and then his face turns away, back toward the chore in front of him.]

[The disfigured girl jumps in surprise at the sudden voice, artificial limbs creaking with each movement. Ohhhhh no, this isn't good. Not good at all... she hadn't wanted Caster to see her like this. Well, she didn't want anyone to see her like this, but Caster more than most of the others.

When she turns to face the Servant, she can't even hide the fear and anxiety in her one visible eye.]

I, uh... [She shifts, limbs creaking again. She can't fidget at all in this state, so it's hard to see just how distressed she is.] I was picked. For one of Jason's experiments this month.

[For a few moments, Hakuno doesn't acknowledge Rin. She continues walking, observing the area, looking for anything out of place... but there isn't. The tendency for others to avoid this floor meant that it was in better condition than most, so she wasn't needed here. She begins to walk towards the stairs...

But then pauses, raising one of her handless arms up to her head.]

Ugh...

[After unsuccessfully trying to rub her head, she shakes her head a few times, then looks around. Finally spotting Rin.... looking like she's about to attack. Her single eye widens in panic, and she takes a few steps back.]

Wait, it's me! I... [... No, that's right. She's nearly unrecognizable in this form, isn't she?] I-It's Hakuno. I'm not a monster.

[...] Well... not completely, I guess...

Come on, you have to be able to say something, right...?

[That blank look hurts, it really does. Even if Shinji had been less than kind to her (for good reason!) for his entire stay in the tower so far... Hakuno would rather have that than this creepy indifference.]

[The girl - and it's definitely a girl, even with the artificial limbs and lack of a face - freezes on her way up, to somewhere a bit safer. Eying Enoch warily, she takes a step back as best she can on the stairway.]

Am I... what?

[Ryuunosuke has been around taking in all the new changes to his towermates - when he spots this particular alteration, he whistles.]

Geeze. What happened to you?

[Even if he's murdered he still won't be concerned.]

*Enoch lands on the safety of the stairs and catches his breath. He is so relieved to see someone with a pink collar (was there orange in there too, catching his eye?) acting human.*

You're normal, you're...you're yourself...

The administrators did this...? Oh, my poor Master.

[Caster can't help herself. She moves forward, taking Hakuno's... hands? Upper limps? She doesn't know what to think of them, but she ignores that line of thought, forcing herself to take them into her hands and hold them gently.

Her jaw locks into place, and she stares determinedly into the single eye left. She is not going to cry. She is going to beat the living hell out of the bastards who did this sick thing to her beloved person and make them reverse it. And when that's done, she's going to kill them in the most painful way she can think of and comfort her hurt Master for as long as they both need it.]

Don't worry! Tamamo is so, so sorry she wasn't around to protect you from this, but there's a way to fix it. There must be! So, your this Servant of yours will find it, and put you back to the way you should be soon enough!

[As much as she hates to, Hakuno pulls away from Caster's grip. It's not that she's ashamed of her current appearance - afraid? Yes. Definitely. But she just... doesn't want to be in direct contact with anyone. She's not sure just what's triggering her blackouts, so she doesn't want to risk anything.]

If this is the same as all the other experiments that have gone down in this tower, then there's nothing anyone can do to fix it. We just have to wait.

[But can she wait? Hakuno wasn't in any pain, so that's okay, but she's not sure how long she can deal with those damned blackouts...]

[Luckily, Hakuno's malfunctions aren't triggered by any sort of action or topic. So he's safe, for now.]

... Jason's latest experiment.

[Even as tired as she is, Hakuno still manages to sound unamused at his question.]

[Oh... okay. She relaxes a bit.]

Oh, yeah... for now, at least. I guess the administrators messed up somehow.

I figured something like that. Man, I got off easy this time.

[It's easier to answer Hakuno's question than it was the others. In fact, he nearly feels compelled to do so. Even so, he doesn't look at her as he shakes his head, the movement a quick twitch one way and then the other, nor does his expression change from what it had been. At this point, he's afraid of exhausting his mental energy with fruitless efforts to do anything more than that.]

[Is he... bragging?]

Yeah, you did. Congratulations, I guess.

[Most other people might be glad that the administrators finally found a way to shut Shinji up... but not Hakuno. This is just... heartbreaking. And really gross. Who would do this kind of things to a kid, regardless of how he's acted so far?

If she could have, Hakuno would have frowned. She didn't really want to do this, it was gross and manipulative, but...]

Shinji, listen. You don't have to keep doing what you're doing. [There's no kind of authority in her voice, but it can easily be recognized as an order of a higher-ranked drone to a lower one.] Go back to the dorms and try to rest, if you can. Maybe then you'll be able to snap out of it.

*And now all the tension drains from him. A mistake? Jason might well get sloppy in his glee at not having Dax around to tell him not to do things, Enoch thinks.*

It's good to know...the way the tower has been lately.

[His body stops when she tells him to listen, and when she dismisses him from the task at hand, he stands. This is new, and he isn't sure how to feel about it. He almost wants to be angry—his body is still acting on its own, and how dare she be the one to order him around?—but for once, he can't manage to work up any fury over a perceived indignity. Maybe he's just doesn't have the mental energy to do so anymore.]

[Or maybe it's just that being tasked with resting is better than being given an actual chore to do, as far as indignities go. He nods when she tells him to go and rest, and his body immediately does an about-face, feet intending to carry him back to the elevator.]

How're you taking this?

[Having her grip rejected stings her heart a bit, and Caster can't help but let that show. She doesn't mean to; it's just very difficult to hide things from her Master, when she's so used to letting her guard down around her.

To cover it a bit, she waves her now empty hands, trying to encourage Hakuno.]

Even so, I've never gone after them at my absolute best! If Master needs me to, Tamamo will work her hardest to find a way to fix it! And if I can't, we can make sure this doesn't happen again, okay?

After all, even a Servant like me can defeat a final boss, when I play the hero! ♥

No. [She shakes her head quickly.] Caster, I'm not doubting your strength at all. In another world, you helped me win the Grail War like Saber did, right? There's no way I could doubt the strength of a Servant that can claim to have done that. It's just...

[She looks down, away from Caster.] There's still a lot we don't know. We can't just run into the final fight without getting all the information. This is just like how it was back home.

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Code 004 [OPEN]

lucid :|b

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open to whatever

Floor 42 (bars), lucid

the meadow, and whatever state you like

also I forgot to pick a location so it can be idk the infirmary for a change of pace

Start off with lucid and malfunction from there 8)b

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Infirmary works!

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Stairway, lucid

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sounds good! o/

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