[05] || [Back to the Tower] || [Open]

[doc_brown]

Characters: Doc, his dog (Einstein) and YOU.
Setting: Room 3-04 / Dormitories Floors, the Elevator, the Cafeteria and Library (Floor 03).
Format: Prose or action, whichever you prefer
Summary: Doctor Emmett L. Brown wakes up in the Tower of Animus. Indeed, after a few months miraculously spent in a notably less horrific world (namely Hinoto-Ri from Destiny Strings), Doc is back to the tower much to his chagrin. And he realizes how terrible his life has become.
Warnings: A panicked and distressed scientist, lots of incomprehensible scientific bla bla, weird ideas to make the situation better. Basically, no real warnings.



• Dormitory Floors (and Room 3-04)
When Doc awakened to the familiar letter informing him about his world having been destroyed, his rational mind retreated and he assumed this to be a joke, even though nobody he knew would make such a joke. Let's face it: He had been prisoner of this tower for months last year, but then he managed to leave it through means that still escaped his comprehension. Due a miraculous coincidence, the world that subsequently welcomed him sent him back into that very tower for a "mission" that lasted roughly a month.

And now, he'd be back in the tower, for a third time? No no, that was too unrealistic. The odds of his world being destroyed and he being the one single survivor taken to the tower for a second time were astronomically low. While this was scientifically possible, with such low odds this was not even a possibility in his mind. Yet, his room looked a lot like the usual Animus dorms... Slowly the Doc got up and opened the door--

"Great Scott!!"

Alright this could not be a joke. The message okay, but remaking in such a perfect manner the corridors of the tower? In a horrified and overly over-exaggerated manner, Doc looked around the corridors before going back into the dorm.

"This cannot be!" he spoke to himself in a panicked voice, walking between the beds in the room "The tower... But would that be true, the consequences for Hinoto-Ri and all the attached universes would be absolutely disastrous!" he then sat down on the bed before turning to the truck. Everything was identical to his first arrival. Maybe this was a nightmare and he was about to wake up.

But somehow he doubted it.


• The Elevator
You could find the Doc standing next to the Elevator, apparently waiting for the elevator to come. Next to him was his dog, Einstein. The least that could be said was that the Doc looked perturbed and greatly troubled at being back in this tower. Who wouldn't be? On that note, Doc was dressed in the extravagant, weird futuristic clothes from 2015. As the only alternative was to wear his western-era clothes, he had no choice but go with it.

"I am afraid this tower will not let go of us that easilly Einstein!" Doc said to his dog as the elevator was about to arrive. With a sigh he waited, it shouldn't be long now.


• Cafeteria
After having eaten and immediately forgotten the typical oatmeal earlier in the morning (who even cooked that sort of horrible thing?), the Doc was sitting at a table, his meal before him as he scrutinized the food with both fascination and suspicion. He had to admit it, the administrative team had made some serious effort in the food department and it was much appreciated. With caution, he proceeded to try and taste his meal.

"This is amazing." he said once he was done with his lavender meatballs "Lavandula-shaped nutriments that feel like edible meat." Doc spoke as he looked at the empty dish, before getting up and looking at the menu options he had neglected, namely the sunflower pasta salad "And this I suppose are raw vegetables arranged in such a fashion we could mistake it for a Helianthus!"

He crossed his arms and looked at it for some more seconds, amazed. It helped that for a scientist, any form of cooked food was a miracle in itself "Truly amazing." he finally said "I can only assume Dax is in charge of the tower this month."


• Library (Floor 03)
In the library you could find Doc sitting at a terminal, going through various posts and trying to find what had happened in the tower lately, starting with January. Meanwhile the dog was walking around the library. Needless to say, Doc looked very focused on the terminal. Whenever he found something of interest he commented on it, before moving on and quickly looking over posts.

"Great Scott, things are truly getting worse and worse here..." he stopped and opened wide eyes upon reaching the 'wank storm' that had happened on the network before February. Could the residents...? "Damn... Damn. Damn damn."

Comments

Cafeteria

[withak]

That wince when Dax's name was mentioned might have been visible.

"You were taken to the other world and brought back to the tower, weren't you?" Katsuya had vaguely remembered seeing him. "I have some bad news."

[doc_brown]

Thankfully Doc didn't see the wince, turning to Katsuya only when he addressed him, nodding as an answer. He looked familiar but he wasn't sure to have talked to him before.

"That's right! Have we met before young man?" Doc asked before frowning at the idea of bad news. This entire day was a succession of bad news. "Bad news? Of what kind?"

[withak]

Katsuya shook his head. "I've seen you around and spoke to the person in your body when the bodyswitching was going on, but this is our first conversation, I believe. My name is Katsuya Suou.

"And Dax... Dax is dead."

[doc_brown]

"I see, you must've spoken to Sertoria then! I am Doctor Emmett L. Brown, my pleasure!" he said but then was taken aback by the news he broke in.

Dax, dead? Who in the world would have killed Dax, out of all administrators? Nobody in their sane mind would aim to kill the only respectable one out of the lot. He would not have been surprised if he had been told Jason was dead, but Dax-- Alternatively, maybe this was a natural death.

"Great Scott! How is that possible?"

Library

[tohko_amano]

[Since Tohko was a librarian and a book girl, she was taking care of her library duties and doing her best to avoid her stalker drone whenever she wanted to eat something. However, when she saw a dog in the library, even she knew that was passing queer. Maybe someone had let him lose when they were reading or checking the terminals.

So, dodging through the shelves, Tohko reached the terminals, her drone in hot pursuit, and saw Doc. It had been so long that Tohko had assumed he vanished, but..if it was the same one, it was both wonderful and horrible that he was back.]

Pardon me..but are you the same Doctor Brown that messed with radiation awhile back?

[doc_brown]

[ Doc certainly looked identical, with the only difference probably being the collar. Last time he had been in the tower, his collar was orange-colored, while now it was yellow. When Tohko addressed him he stopped his searched and turned to her, both smiling and looking intrigued. ]

Yes! I remember you, you lent me assistance before I proceeded with the nuclear experiment for Sertoria. Tohko, right?

[ He paused, adding to clarify his answer: ]

Well, yes and no. technically I both am and am not the same Doctor Brown who was present here last year if my theories are correct!

[tohko_amano]

[At that, Tohko sighed, but she did put on a small smile.]

Yup, I'm Tohko Amano, the book girl! I'm glad you remember me..however, while I don't know what your theories are, I can say that you're not physically the same person. We've..found out a lot since you left, Doc..and a lot's happened.

cafeteria

[bow_of_the_galadhrim]

Legolas had been sitting down to eat, the variety adding some cheer to the tower this month in addition to Haldir accepting his proposal. After the previous month, it had been a pleasant change and a welcome distraction and yet nothing would erase the memories of what everyone had endured.

And then Doc's final words registered in the mind of the elf and his appetite was suddenly gone. Standing with his untouched food, Legolas moved to throw it away and passed by Doc.

"Dax is dead." He said simply.

[doc_brown]

Doc quite clearly remembered the Elf, his words had once greatly troubled him because of all the illogical things they induced and because first and foremost, Doc was a man of science. When he saw Legolas pass by he was about to greet him with a smile, when Legolas decided to break in that information.

"Great Scott!" he said and opened wide eyes, following Legolas with his eyes as he passed by "How can you say such a thing with such a lack of emotion?"

[bow_of_the_galadhrim]

The prince threw away his food, wiping his hands carefully before turning towards the Man. He knew for a fact that he hadn't been there the previous month, time spent as a retrieval unit and monitoring the residential floors had shown as much when he could keep track of names on the rooms.

"Do not mistake my apathy for a lack of emotion. The shock of it has worn off those of us that witnessed it." The elf said, eyes hard. It was plain that this was the Doc that had previously been in the tower, how or why he had returned was beyond his knowledge. And interest. It only added to the people he'd have to either protect or watch with caution.

Elevator

[emilia_galmar]

Emilia approaches the elevator warily, clutching a frilly umbrella for lack of a better means of defence. Her approach becomes even warier when her eyes land on Doc's eccentric clothing.

"Sir." She gives him a polite little nod of greeting as she comes to wait for the elevator, but keeps a wary distance. However, much of that wariness melts off when she spots Einstein.

"Oh, Chou chou, are you trapped here too?" She holds out a hand for the dog to sniff.

[doc_brown]

Fortunately Doc being the absent-minded scientist he is, doesn't seem to notice how wary this young woman is as she approaches the elevator, instead replying to her greeting with a short nod.

"Ma'am." Doc replies politely as he sees that Umbrella she is holding and looks at it with an intrigued stare-- Quite strange, it does not look like it is raining on any floor! And of course the Doc doesn't imagine for a second the umbrella used as a mean of defense. Yet again he's the one who uses bullets-less guns to defend himself.

"Unfortunately he is as trapped here as we all are!" Doc comments on her words as Einstein slowly walks up to her and sniffs her hand when she offers it-- The dog appears to like her!

[emilia_galmar]

The stare is rather unnerving, but Einstein's response is almost enough to make up for it. She scratches his ears.

"Is he yours, sir?" She smiles politely, but still keeps her umbrella clutched in he other hand. He doesn't look like he'd be able to hurt her... but appearances can be deceiving.

Elevator

[untiemyhands]

The color white was not supposed to exist in this quantity. It was a luxury reserved for clouds, not human architecture, and the very look of it made her depth perception fail at.. percepting, at proper efficacy. This place lacked any sort of natural tone, something even Polyhedron had carried with its paper texture. Klara hadn't even strayed from the dorm levels yet, feeling out the horizontal limits first, but the tower bugged her already.

Klara had watched comings and goings from the elevator with some confusion earlier; for all she could understand of it, it was a small room with no exits, yet people entered and vanished entirely, and exited from it with no source. She would intermittently stray to poke around elsewhere, but came back to the odd double doors and the erratic room they led to without fail. This time, she returned to find an elderly fellow in exceptionally strange wear accompanied by a dog. She considered just leaving all over again - Klara didn't much care for dogs - but he looked like he was here with some intent. Obviously, he knew the trick of that little room, and she had a mind to ask about it. Gingerly she approaches, making sure to give a wide berth to the dog.

"What do you wait for?" she asks, with little pre-empting. Her voice sounds.. not quite right. Like the very sound is dusty.

[doc_brown]

When he saw the woman approaching the elevator, Doc nodded politely as a greeting. However he rose an eyebrow at that question. He thought what he was waiting for was fairly obvious, after all nobody in their sane mind would favor taking the stairs over the elevator in this tower filled with monsters. He replies shortly--

"The elevator of course!" He waved to the closed double doors as he spoke "Unless we have a death wish, it is much safer than taking the stairs on top of being an efficient and fast transport equipment!" he concluded, well unless the elevator blocked but it had never happened to him in the tower.

And in spite of all her efforts to avoid the dog, she soon would be able to find that the dog wasn't quite avoiding her on his end. Indeed, Einstein would try to approach her and look up at her before long.

[untiemyhands]

Elevate-or. Why not elevatoir, like abattoir? Well, she knows what the word it's based from means, so - it lifts things. That's straightforward enough. It's a small room for fast transport that operates through lifting, and is apparently more reliable than the corkscrew of stairs.

"Of course," she bluffs. She didn't want to come off like she lacked too much common knowledge; she didn't want to reestablish her curious reputation so quickly. "I think, it would have been better to ask the "Why--""

Klara had followed Doc's wave to stare at the doors, and almost missed Einstein's approach if not for the lovely gift of peripheral vision. She twists about to face the dog in a swift motion, and looks like she might start skittering away from Einstein any second. Could it smell the earth on her, she wondered? "No, no, shoo..! Stay with your master!"

Library

[evokingfool]

Minato's been looking into a few things in the library. He was carrying some books when he saw a familiar looking person, and paused to stare in surprise.

"...Doc?"

He sound genuinely surprised.

[doc_brown]

"Minato!" Doc stopped what ever he was doing on the terminal upon hearing the familiar voice and turned to face him with an expression of surprise and a slight smile. He clearly remember him from both his last stays in the tower--

"It is good to see you again young man, albeit not only good but terrible at the same time I am afraid!" he said, both happy to see him again and at the same time sad as it meant he was still prisoner of this tower.

[evokingfool]

Seeing that it's truly the Doc--not a trick or an illusion, or so he believed--Minato smiled back, just a little, as he walked over to the older man.

"It's good to see you too, Doc." Even if it means being subjected to the administrators' experiments again. "But...does that mean the world you were in was...?"

That other world he heard of from Doc's last visit...did it end?

Cafeteria but not adding to the revelation train, haha...

[warriorscribe]

"It's Riki this month," said Enoch from a nearby table. He'd heard Doc get the explanation already, about what had happened to Dax, and didn't...particularly feel like going through that again. "Zo has taken...the empty place in the cycle."

If these had been explained, though, Enoch hadn't listened. He didn't particularly feel like reliving the shock and pain through a newcomer.

sob Yeah Doc got enough revelation for a lifetime

[doc_brown]

"Great Scott, Zo?!"

Riki giving such good food was sort of surprising, but giving Zo a full-time administrative role sounded just plain cruel. Yet again, Ruana and Jason did not seem to ever run out of cruelty.

"No child should have to bear such a burden."

I can tell...

[warriorscribe]

"He ran it quite well, actually, aside from trouble changing the seasons. He seems interested in making good on his wish for us to 'be happy here', much like Dax...from up here, it appears he handled it well."

The food was good, if odd, after all, and Zo had apologized and tried to make right what he'd inadvertently destroyed. Besides, he'd rather Zo have taken the place than to be left with a tighter cycle. It would mean more of Ruana and Jason, after all.

It helped that, to him, a boy of Zo's apparent age would already be doing work of some sort - more chores than actual work, but all the same.

"...Next month is Ruana's - anything put into the suggestion box next month goes to him. We could ask him how he likes the position, himself."

Library (so late...)

[cutestprogrammer]

[Chihiro is working in the library as usual when he spots Einstein and recognizes him as Doc's dog! He approaches the dog rather cautiously.]

Eh? What are you doing here?

Never too late!

[doc_brown]

[ The dog approached Chihiro when he called him out and looked happy to see him. To 'answer his question' so to say, Einstein then barked briefly and walked a short distance in the library, to lead Chihiro to the terminal on which Doc was currently working-- Which wouldn't be too far away from their current location.

From his seat, Doc wouldn't see Chihiro just yet as he was reading the 'reports' about what residents had found in the administrative levels whilst himself and many other people from Hinoto-Ri were in the tower. All that stuff about their bodies, the souls and so on.

And this was seriously disturbing him. ]

[cutestprogrammer]

[Chihiro pauses for a moment, wondering what Einstein wanted before understanding and following after him. He soon spotted the familiar white-haired scientist but he doesn't really want to bother him as he seems to be very focused on his work. So he settles for petting Einstein for now.]

You remember me then?