these truths are not gated

[snacklist.livejournal.com]

Characters: [OU] Alphonse Elric and YOU?
Setting: Room 1-08, and then exploring the tower. Just mention where you are in your subject or tag!
Format: I'll mimic you.
Summary: Al wakes up in the Tower, and wonders what the fudgsicle is going on.
Warnings: Copious amounts of puppy dog faces? welkrj idk, none on Al's end! Will edit if anything happens.

As soon as the sleep paralysis had worn off, Alphonse was sitting bolt upright in his bed with a start, breathing hard and fast--

...

Where...?

Disoriented, his eyes quickly seek out his surroundings, but... he doesn't recognize anything. Not a single thing, and when he turns his head, he finds something odd and vaguely tight around his neck. Fingers lift to investigate, and...

A choker? Some kind of collar or tubing? He's even more perplexed and bewildered, simply confused and at odds as he almost numbly finds his feet with caution. Had someone kidnapped him...? But he doesn't remember anything unusual before he had fallen asleep, and... aside from the addition to his anatomy, he doesn't appear to be injured.

When he tests it, he finds the door isn't locked, either. (He's completely missed that handy little note, hasn't he?)

Al is wary and on his guard, uneasy -- concerned as he carefully pokes his head out of the door and into the corridor. This is all so strange... what exactly is going on here? It looks like it might take a little exploration before he can find out...

Comments

[snacklist.livejournal.com]

[ah-- now that she's up close, he finds he can hear her voice without much trouble, and after a moment to get his bearings back, he offers his hand politely for a shake. she's wearing a collar, too...]

Don't apologize. It took me off guard, too... it's a little strange.

[she seems very calm for all this...]

Did you wake up upstairs?

[floreatnoctem.livejournal.com]

A while ago, yes.

[She takes the question to mean that he just has, and raises a hand slightly in a gesture to indicate the cathedral.]

This is the quietest place here, to a degree. Some of the rest are... unpleasant.

[An understatement if there ever was one- but she acted as if they were simply annoyances that she had learned to deal with rather than anything really troubling. Alphonse would learn she treated most things like that, however.]

Are you looking for someone?

[She had been, when she'd arrived- even if now she wouldn't even wish this place on S.E.E.S.]

[snacklist.livejournal.com]

[looking for someone? he pauses thoughtfully, before nodding.]

Mm! My brother, Edward. He's about this tall, with blonde hair and gold eyes... I haven't been able to find him yet if he's here.

[but Ed definitely wouldn't have taken it quietly if Al had gone missing and he hadn't been taken too.]

Did you find who you were looking for, miss?

[floreatnoctem.livejournal.com]

I have seen him, I think- in passing, at the very least.

[She recognizes the features a bit, now that she's closer to him, and she has a vague idea who he means.]

I found one, but not the rest.

[She doesn't want to think about what that means for them.]

[snacklist.livejournal.com]

You've seen Edward--? [AHH. he perks up, immediately, relieved-- and a little worried. what did he and Brother get themselves into this time?]

[floreatnoctem.livejournal.com]

Yes, though I could not have told you his name before now.

[She blinks a little, curious.]

Had it been long, since you last saw him before waking here?

[snacklist.livejournal.com]

We were together at home before waking up here, but when I didn't see him with me...

[well, it's not a stretch to guess he had been worried.]

[floreatnoctem.livejournal.com]

I see. It's an unusual thing, the way we're brought here, isn't it? But perhaps it would have been better if you were not both here.

This place is not what it pretends to be. Not at all.

[snacklist.livejournal.com]

I don't think I understand, miss.

[he's gathered it's hardly a very... 'friendly' environment himself, but...]

[floreatnoctem.livejournal.com]

They tell us we were 'saved'. Rescued from doomed worlds.

They don't tell us, initially, that we are simply here to be test subjects.

[snacklist.livejournal.com]

Test subjects? [that isn't very comforting, Chidori >:]

[floreatnoctem.livejournal.com]

Yes. They have been experimenting on some of those that have arrived. The results have not been pleasant.

[She figures he deserves to know the truth, and she's not one much for sugarcoating.]

[snacklist.livejournal.com]

What kind of experimentation...? To what ends?

[al DOES NOT APPROVE. :|]

[floreatnoctem.livejournal.com]

[Chidori doesn't either, having been an experiment herself for most of her childhood.]

Their methods are varied- body modification and tampering with the abilities of those here seems to be what they are currently doing- however, that could change at any given moment. They are not exactly forthcoming with information in this place.

[snacklist.livejournal.com]

Abilities...? You mean, like the usage of alchemy?