it's all in your hands...

[notachickenhawk]

Characters: Tobias and you!
Setting: Room 1-10 and surrounding rooms, Floor 32 ("Earth" forest), Floor 1 (Cafeteria)
Format: Either.
Summary: Tobias wakes up and attempts to figure out what's going on.
Warnings: None I can think of. Suspicious birdface?


[Room 1-10]

Tobias bolts awake, wings flapping, because part of his brain has sensed that this is an enclosed space and he needs to get out. He screeches and flips himself up off the bed, hawk instincts screaming at him that he needs to get out!

He flies towards the door, and lands on the knob, trying to turn it. Out out out he has to get out!

Someone might want to try to calm down the panicking bird with a green collar on.



[Floor 32]

Finally, he's found something that looks familiar. Tobias wheels off from the stairs to go head into the forest. He needs some food, and he needs to rest his wings. But something's wrong.

The instant he leaves the staircase, he heads into a dive. It's uncontrolled, and he screeches. Tobias flaps his wings desperately, trying to get himself to fly - but he crashes into the ground, stunned. It'll take a few moments to get himself back to enough of a mental state to try to hop back towards the staircase.



[Floor 1]

A quick peek at this level had revealed it was a cafeteria, and while he's suspicious this place seems built for humans. So Tobias had flown up to the level above and morphed human - finding himself in a skintight white suit. He's not even going there right now, but he heads downstairs (barefoot), squinting a bit at terrible human sight.

When he gets down there, though, he freezes. He hasn't been in a cafeteria in years. And yeah, this isn't a school cafeteria, but he doesn't know the rules. Someone might want to get him to move - he's blocking the stairs.

Comments

[bloodyashes]

[He hasn't heard of any of those people, either, which shows on his face.]

Both. Everything in between, everything above and below.

[One thing you gotta say for the Tower, it has variety.]

[notachickenhawk]

... Right. So what about you?

[Well, he did say that colors more towards purple were more likely to have them.]

[bloodyashes]

[And an appraising glance at the green collar, with a hint of a smirk.]

You first.

[notachickenhawk]

[He widens his eyes, trying to look surprised. It doesn't work so well when his expression doesn't otherwise change much.]

What makes you think I have powers?

[bloodyashes]

After your world being destroyed, it's the subject you had the most reaction to in this conversation.

[You tried, Tobias. You tried hard.]

You swallowed changing bodies without the slightest bit of concern, as though you had some experience in the subject. You have some way of taking vengeance against someone who might destroy your world in more normal circumstances. You admitted to contact with a semi-omnipotent being.

[He folds his arms, pushing away a last bit of nutrition bar on the plate.]

And greens usually have something, even if it's not terribly impressive.

[Tower oldbie.]

[notachickenhawk]

[He's quiet for a few long moments. He's stuck. He could deny it, but the truth's obvious. The area around them is mostly empty right now, and he'd rather not make a scene right now.]

[He pulls his knees up to his chest, and closes his eyes. A feather pattern appears on his skin, and he quickly shrinks, bones and body parts melting and extending until there's a bird sitting on the bench, staring at Asch.]

[He considers going Hork-Bajir but no. Not now. He just glares in the redhead's direction.]

<Satisfied?>

[bloodyashes]

[It says something that he doesn't flinch from the warping of flesh, although the mental voice gets a raised eyebrow. Seems a bit much for a greenie.]

You could have just said so.

[You probably don't want to try eating the oatmeal like that, though.]

[notachickenhawk]

<Yeah, because this is so believable.>

[He takes a few moments to catch his 'breath', before morphing back to human. Thumbs are useful right now.]

[bloodyashes]

By Tower standards? It's not so noteworthy.

["I can turn into a bird." "Yeah, okay, did you find anything to eat but nutrition bars?" Asch is more interested in other things.]

Does that mental speech go both ways?

[notachickenhawk]

You mean can I read your mind? No.

[... Pauuuuse.]

I mean. Unless I turned into something that had that ability naturally.

[Might as well go all out.]

[bloodyashes]

[He just nods like it makes total sense because that's what you do in the Tower.]

Too bad. Two-way comminucation would have been too useful, I suppose.

[The universe had to nerf the kid somewhere, apparently.]

[notachickenhawk]

It's still pretty handy. It makes for good airborne warnings.

[There was a reason he was usually the scout. ... Aside from the fact that he doesn't have school.]

[bloodyashes]

Makes sense. Not much call for that here - most of the floors are too small for any kind of large-scale battle, and even if they weren't, I'm sure the administrators will be single opponents.

[Oops he militaried all over this.]

[notachickenhawk]

Even single opponents can need large-scale battle plans. It depends on the opponent, and if you're trying to defeat them or run away.

[He can keep up just fine.]

[bloodyashes]

In a situation like this, though, it will be more tactics than battlefield.

[God you're letting him talk military strategy professionally you're a really good bird.]

We'll use Jason as a representative case, since all indications are that he'll be our next opponent. His primary method of attack is precisely thrown scalpels, but he usually aims to injure, not kill, though it's a safe assumption that he'd do otherwise in this case. Normally, I'd assign a unit of fonists to take him out from a distance, but since he can suspend the glamour entirely that's a moot point.

[He takes a sip from his glass of water, thinking. Probably a little dangerous to strategize like this out loud, since Jason could hear it, but it's not like the man is an idiot. No doubt he's already prepared for a number of hypotheticals like this.]

So in this case, I'd look for small, quick fighters - as many as I can find, since our lives are ultimately pretty disposable to him. Ranged weapons and melee both - have the meleers keep him moving and keep the attention off the ranged fighters until they can at least get him injured.

And I wouldn't take any of those who have a particular grudge against him that they can't leave behind, because they're likely to not follow orders when presented with the chance to punch his face in.

[notachickenhawk]

When you've only got six available fighters like at home, things are different. If you're going for a kill you want to keep people moving, and everyone has to be a melee fighter since none of us have weapons. I generally go for blinding people while the others take some of the heavy hits.

[He eats a spoonful of oatmeal, finally, and scrunches his nose up a bit. It's not too bad, though.]

Healing's not that much of a problem for us. I've seen one of my friends beat someone with her own severed arm.

[That was both super disturbing and super awesome.]

I don't know what this Jason guy is like but it'd depend. Our most dangerous enemy at home can also change shape, and he's got a lot of ones that have abilities that we just can't get. But if this guy can't, it shouldn't be that hard...

[bloodyashes]

His true nature is disguised by the glamour, but as far as I know, it doesn't change.

[Six fighters... That would change the strategy a lot.]

In your scenario, strategy would be focused on using each fighter to their best, as opposed to here, where it's finding the best person for the job.

[He chuckles darkly.]

Honestly, seeing that sort of thing here wouldn't even be surprising.

[notachickenhawk]

Oh good. Then I'll fit right in. Fight off an alien invasion with a few other teens for two years, get dragged into a screwed-up tower. Seems like a logical progression.

[He's just gonna keep eating his oatmeal.]

[bloodyashes]

At least it's not boring.

[Yeah he's gonna take a bite of one of the nutrition bars he slid aside earlier.]

[notachickenhawk]

You still didn't answer my question of what you can do, though.

[He's not that easily distracted.]

[bloodyashes]

[...Ah, well, a guy can try.]

Most of my abilities are combat related - sword artes and the like.

[You'd call them magic, Tobias.]

But the reason I'm violet is likely this.

[And a quick glance around - no one paying attention - and then he glows, and a humming noise fills the air.

On the table in front of them, there's a small, matching golden light, which slowly cuts across the plate in front of Asch - where it goes, it disappears nutrition bar and plate both, leaving a gap in the dish about an inch wide.]

[notachickenhawk]

[He watches, eyes wide. That's. That's pretty useful. Probably. On a large scale, definitely.]

... Huh.

[bloodyashes]

[It's definitely useful.]

It's called hyperresonance. Vibrates matter apart on an atomic level.

[A disgruntled noise.]

Unfortunately, that's still just a glamour duplication of it.

[notachickenhawk]

So... even when I change shape, it's not actually me changing shape?

[That's super dumb.]

That's... frustrating.

[bloodyashes]

In that case, I don't know.

[He shrugs somewhat.]

Our bodies aren't simply glamour, but framework with the glamour laid over. And I don't know if the wire would change or not.

But otherwise, it's all illusions, and that's how the administrators can deactivate it so easily.