towerofanimus | (no subject)

Characters: Garry and you!
Setting: The kitchen and cafeteria.
Format: Action, but I'll switch to prose if you want!
Summary: Backdated to shortly after the end of the event. Garry has just arrived in the Tower, and after freaking out for a while, he's come to the realization that he is going to need something to eat eventually, meaning a trip downstairs is in order.
Warnings: None. If getting something to eat somehow ends up requiring a warning, I will be very surprised.

[Garry is so very unsure about all of this. Waking up to find a letter saying that his world was destroyed? After his experiences in the Guertena exhibit, he's a little skeptical as to the veracity of that, to say the least... but that didn't stop him from freaking out at first anyway.

Said freaking out, however, was eventually interrupted by his growling stomach (and a brief moment of disbelief at his own body-- how could he be hungry at a time like this?) and the realization that just sitting around in the room wasn't going to do him or anyone else any good. That letter had said there was a cafeteria on the bottom floor of the Tower, so that's where he's going to head; once there, he's practically strong-armed into eating a bowl of oatmeal that doesn't do all that much to satisfy his hunger (and certainly doesn't give him a better impression of this place), meaning that he'll end up poking around the kitchen after that to see if there's anything he can use to make a decent meal.

Hmm, at least the kitchen itself isn't too shabby...]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Oh, it's no trouble at all! Really, I like helping people, especially new residents. It's a little scary when you first arrive here and don't know much.

[Tohko then took a deep breath and looked over everything in her head before giving Garry an infodump.]

This is the Tower of Animus. Four people now run it-Riki, a secretive man who builds the Tower and is in charge of the records, Zo, a small child who can bring souls here, Jason, a sadistic medical doctor who sometimes experiments on the residents. He, I believe, helps transfer your soul when you die. Finally, there’s Ruana, a woman who has been here for thousands of years and doesn’t quite understand human empathy or emotions, and hates it when people go against her. She may seem sweet, but she is capable of removing free will and cannibalizing her own Administrators.

There used to be a fifth Administrator named Dax. He was the most humane of the bunch and did his best to protect us from Jason and the monsters here. He even managed to sneak people down to the Administrative levels in order to let them know more about this place. However, when he tried to go against Ruana..she killed and ate him, possibly absorbing his powers in the process. He was a good man.

Death isn’t permanent here. If you die, you’ll just wake up in your bed the next day. However, don’t throw your life away for foolish reasons. For one thing, you’ll probably get punished if you die too many times, and for the other…your body is made up of recycled parts. Only your soul was pulled to this universe. Your body, and the ones you’ll have afterward, are not your original body. That’s why you have the collar. It helps make sure your soul safely stays in your body.

I’m sorry to say that your universe is destroyed. You may see people you know here, but they won’t be from your own universe or point in time. I don’t know exactly how our universes were destroyed, but I do know that it was caused by Ruana watching our universes, for some reason.

Monsters roam the Tower at night, and some of the higher floors have monsters that attack if you get too close. If you can’t fight, then I would suggest learning. There are plenty of people here who would be willing to teach you.

[At first Garry just nods along, listening to and absorbing all of this information, until...]

... she ATE him? That's gross! How could anyone do something like that?

And what do you mean, my body is made up of recycled parts? That sounds like... ugh! This is all a dream. This must all be a dream. I'm going to wake up in bed and laugh it off because this is just too much... this is so not good for my mental health...

[Tohko just sighed and..tried to pat Garry on the head.]

Because Ruana hated the fact that Dax was going against her and 'disciplined' him. She's not human..so maybe she wasn't bothered. And I can assure you that this isn't a dream. I've been here for about seven months and died a couple of times as well. This is no dream.

[Sob. At least his hair is nice and soft and fluffy.]

You don't discipline someone by eating them! Human or not, that's just disgusting! And creepy!

[..It was more to comfort him, but yes, it was soft and fluffy. Not that Tohko really paid attention to that fact now.]

By our standards, it is. To Ruana..it's not. That's how different she is compared to most normal humans.

She wouldn't happen to be a piece of artwork by any chance, would she?

No..not that I'm aware of. Can artwork become sentient in your universe?

Not in most cases, no. And that's quite a good thing, if you ask me. It's terrible on the nerves to wonder if a painting is going to suddenly jump out at you when you walk past.

I'd imagine that is pretty terrible and frightening..but what causes paintings to become sentient in your world, if you don't mind my asking.

Oh, it wasn't in my world... it's a bit of a long story. I'm still not exactly sure of all of the details myself.

Ah, I see. That's alright! I won't force you to tell me if you don't want to or can't tell me all the details, but if you ever want too, feel free to tell me. I'm the book girl, so I'm always happy to hear and read any story I can get my hands on!

The book girl... ah, I never gave you my name, did I? How rude of me, to just keep on asking you questions without even telling you who I am.

I'm Garry. And you?

Oh, that's alright! Don't worry about it. It can be pretty scary when you first get here, so asking questions and getting answers is alright. It's nice to meet you, Gary! I'm Tohko Amano, the book girl.

That's a pretty name. I'll be sure to remember it for later.

... assuming that I'm not going to wake up and discover that all of this was just a dream.

Ah, thank you! Hopefully you'll be able to remember it..but I can assure you that this is no dream. After all, I've died here a few times, and you tend to wake up from a dream if you're about to die.