towerofanimus

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Intro

[Characters]: Lorelei and anyone who wants to play.
[Setting]: Lots of places. Room 2-08, the floor outside. Floor 95, 73, Cafeteria.
[Format]: Starting prose, can switch to action on preferences.
[Summary]: Lorelei's arrival to the tower, and some minor explorations.
[Warnings]: It's the Tower. There might not be violence and horror right now but that could change suddenly.

Waking up at all is strange and disorienting. 'Sleep' isn't something that happens to Aggregates for the most part, fonons don't sleep. So waking up in a strange place, on a bed, in clothes, in a physical form, is deeply unsettling. If any of his new roommates have ever encountered any of the Lukes or Asch, Lorelei's appearance is immediately recognizable, just ... a little older than they. He sits up abrubtly, the note left nearby picked up.

Reading it ins interrupted by marveling at the fact that he has fingers and really shouldn't. But there's no surprise at what the note says, only resignation. It's tossed aside, and almost immediately later he tries to get up.

This doesn't go well. Lorelei hasn't exactly tried to walk in a long time. He knows how it's supposed to work, knows how it worked before, but actually pulling it off and managing to do so in a smooth and graceful manner simply doesn't happen. Leaning on the bed keeps him from falling over at least, and frowning fiercely, he sets to work figuring out his own coordination. This might take a bit.

---

Just passing through! Having figured out how to manage this walking thing again, Lorelei's not really going to hang around this particular floor too long, it's just not as interesting as what must surely lie elsewhere. But if approached or spoken to, he'll likely stop.

---

Lorelei could have taken the elevator. Instead he chose the stairs, and had poked in to each floor as he went. But only this one actually stops him and lures him inside. There were multicolored balls, everywhere. Everywhere. The other floors at least made sense to what he was familiar with, but this is a new thing. Ball pits were not something he's ever encountered, or even directly dealt with the memory of from others.

So he wades in. Walking on balls is not an easy thing to do, but it's interesting, and there's nets and trampolines and it's not that hard to completely bury himself in the multicolored orbs. Lorelei's going to be here a while, part because trampolines and nets and balls are a real challenge to navigate around when he only dimly recalled ever walking before, and part because it's simply ... fun.

---

Eventually Floor Ball Pit loses its interest, and off he goes again. This particular floor seemed familiar somehow, in a way he wasn't quite sure about. Snow and ruined castles. Auldrant had plenty of both, depending on the season. His long coat and scarf provided some protection against the bitter cold, so exploring a while before it gets too chilly even for him surely can't hurt.

---

The oatmeal is dealt with. Eating it still hot means it doesn't actually taste all that bad honestly, and with it finished with, Lorelei's waited a little while and then gone back for pumpkin seeds.

Except he's no longer in the easily recognizable humanoid shape anyone familiar with his isofons would be able to identify. No, there's a small furry vibrantly red creature determinedly picking its way across the floor now, with a bowl of pumpkin seeds balanced neatly on his head. The tower had monsters, and one might think this one had escaped, but no, it's collared as well. The shape of a cheagle is small, unassuming and to most people incredibly cute.

But it comes with its own challenges. Like trying to get into a seat or onto a table, with a bowl full of pumpkin seeds, without spilling any of them.

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You're made of fonons.

[He's still having trouble with this speaking thing. It's careful, a little halting, a little awkward, but it's intelligible. And he's not going to be doing a lot of it because frankly compared to Lorelei's favored methods of communication, it's weird and unpleasant!

Gesture fills in where words fail; it's just difficult. And this particular body has never spoken at all before now.]

Crude methods!

[Inelegant, this relying on .. on vocal chords and tongues and lips and all that nonsense! A twig is flicked petulantly away. Lorelei would master speech swiftly enough through sheer persistence. Right now it's awkward.

He carefully pulls the hair already freed over one shoulder so he can keep a better eye on it. Asch seemed to have this all figured out so perhaps it isn't that difficult if it only takes less than twenty years to learn.]

.... How do you get back?

Most worlds don't have fonons. Meat is more of a trans-universal constant.

[Sorry, Lorelei, this is how they do it on other planets, too.

And frankly after the quarantine in the dorms, that silence, that force of quiet - Asch is glad for the sound of his voice and the feeling of air pushed through his throat. If he can make noise, he's alive and free.

The question takes a moment to figure out, but, well, it's kind of obvious with the way Lorelei's complaining.]

Everything goes back to normal once you leave the floor.

[He pulls another chunk of hair out - sorry, that one probably tugged a little.]

Get used to the idea of speaking like a normal person, because you won't have any other options when the glamour is down.

[Other planets do it wrong.

Lorelei's way is the only proper way thank you. Even the other Aggregates use it, when they're not in a physical shape! Asch's answer draws a pause and a nod, then a point through the vines. It didn't answer his question but he hadn't properly articulated it either, so there's not a trace of blame or annoyance when what he wanted to know isn't answered.

That's the general direction of the exit.]

There's a gap.

[It's way over there and he's way over here and he doesn't think flying is an option somehOW.

Okay the tug on his hair earns a bit of a dirty look as Lorelei weighs whether that was an accident or not. Eventually he concludes it had to be an accident, as surely Asch was incapable of being deliberately mean. Accidents happen all the time!

The glamour thing is considered, and then he frowns, actually thinking about it for a moment. This one's going to be hard to articulate properly.]

Aren't we wireframe when the glamour is down, not meat?

[While it takes him a bit to get through it, it's a whole sentence!]

There's a spot down below that moves you there.

[How do you think you got over here, silly sentience.

Asch is more patient with the time it takes Lorelei to form a sentence than he is with the entity's hair - there's another small tug, more of a "lean your head this way" pull than anything. If lorelei doesn't respond appropriately, Asch'll probably just grab his head.]

The wireframes are designed to work and feel like meat. I don't actually know how they make sound, but it requires the effort of speaking.

[Lorelei got here by flinging himself off a staircase. The rest is more of a blur of panic and alarm. Though he tries to see where this spot down below might be there's obvious problems with that, such as foliage. It'll just have to be investigated once he's a little less ensnared.

On the bright side, he doesn't need to get yanked around, a small tug is all it really takes to get him to move a little. Having hair pulled hurt, which is the only reason he's up here at all!

He's quiet for a few minutes as he works on finishing untangling himself and figuring out how wire and film is supposed to feel like meat when the glamour is off.

Seems odd they'd bother leaving it in. To prevent panic maybe? Carefully Lorelei begins stuffing his free hair down his own jacket to prevent further snaring in the near future, then works on tugging free the last remaining strands.]

How do you get used to it? The quiet.

[It's not that quiet. But by the way Lorelei makes it sound, there's deathly silence everywhere.]

[At least they're almost done - there's not actually any more hair Asch can reach from his position, so he leaves the rest to Lorelei and hangs on casually.

The question brings a frown, the kind that says that they'd treading dangerously close to something he doesn't want to talk about - he's still trying to process last month, locked in the dorms. But he knows one thing for sure.]

This? This isn't quiet.

[Peaceful, maybe, with only their voices and the sound of leaves and flowers blowing in the wind, but quiet? No.]

[Lorelei shrugs. Semantics. 'This' quiet, some other quiet, it was all the same; stiflingly silent compared to what he's used to.]

Question stands.

[Because it really, really bothers him. He hides it pretty well but what he sees as silence chews at him constantly. It's going to be rough when glamour fails and he's stuck this way for longer than an hour or so.

Why it would be a sensitive subject, or an adverse one, he doesn't know. Can't know. All he knows is he feels completely cut off from everything, and by now surely his own isofons have figured out how to get around it or at least.. adjust.]

Find some noise. Or make some.

[He's not really sure how else to answer, but that's the best he can do. Since Lorelei's hair is nearly free, Asch starts climbing back down without a further comment, although he pauses about halfway down.]

I'm probably not the person to ask.

[And then he's descending the rest of the wall, simply letting go of the vines and jumping off in a controlled fall about ten feet from the ground.]

[It would take a lot of noise to drown out this quiet. The response, and then the addition, draw thoughtfulness but no immediate response of his own; it requires a bit of thinking.

Primarily weighing what he knew of Asch (a lot - from his world, and not in this place) versus what he's being told, and debating if he's more or less being told to figure it out himself. Lorelei doesn't climb down immediately, instead working on making sure he has himself completely free of likely tangles again (including shaking out that scarf and using it to further wrap things), and then picking his way out of the vines and branches with far more care than he'd had going up.

It's not a mistake he'll make again.

Once he reaches the ground, without jumping the way Asch did as he's pretty sure that would result in bad things, Lorelei goes looking quite deliberately for whatever method was supposed to take him back to the staircase. The arrows looked likely.]

I think I can mitigate it.

[Mitigate, not eliminate. And it's going to cause problems with words again!]

[A lot of what Lorelei knows won't be as relevant, now; Asch is trying to change, in a two steps back, three steps forward kind of way. There's not really any direction to it, but it keeps happening and he's not fighting against it anymore.

Going with the current to protect himself is one of the lessons he's learned hard, recently.

The arrows are indeed the way back to the staircase! When Lorelei's made his intentions clear, at least, Asch starts heading that way.]

Good, because even the floors with ambient noise won't help much - that's all, glamour, too.

[And on that note, stepping onto the arrow and back to the stairs now!]

[Only time would remedy that one. Lorelei's a fast learner at least, and if Asch is adjusting to a new way of being.. well, that's not a bad thing. He likes surprises.

The arrows are only a small surprise.

And fairly immediately, the somewhat older looking redhead tests them two or three times to make sure they always bring him back right where he's supposed to be - namely the stairs. This doesn't mean he didn't catch what Asch said, only that he's testing something else out first.

And then deliberately waits outside the floor's nullification zone, until Asch is likewise outside it. Having one's proper senses switch back on is apparently a great cause for dizziness. But it's a good dizzy.]

What is the ... ah, default shape that the glamour takes when it's not working right? A humanoid one?

[If not he has a good way to further nullify his issues with lack of sound. Cheagles have amazingly good hearing! Maybe if everything just seems louder, it would be less awful!]

[There's no denying that he's more comfortable back on the stairs, but it's for a wholly different reason. Although Asch considers himself reasonably competent at defending himself on a no-powers floor, he still prefers to be where he has artes in case he needs to defend himself.

The question gets a thoughtful look.]

For you? Probably. I don't know for sure - it's whatever a person's natural form is, but clearly that doesn't apply here.

[Since natural form = cloud of fonons. Tobias had been a hawk, though.]

[Lorelei hasn't fought anything personally in longer than a few civilizations have been around. Whether or not he can still defend himself is a very good question. Well at least he has hyperresonance.]

I don't know if I have a 'natural form' here. I feel.. restricted. I don't know by how much.

[There's only one way to find out. He hasn't tried to throw aside a physical form yet. Which means promptly, he tries.

Fairly immediately, the crimson-black-white humanoid form dissolves into motes of gold and then something like a flickering flame. But it seems impossible to maintain, lasting mere moments before contracting suddenly into .. a far smaller shape.

Rather cheagle-like in fact. The violently red not-cheagle examines himself for a moment before looking as satisfied as a tiny fuzzy monster can.]

Well. I can still manage this much at least.. But maintaining my proper form is ... Difficult.

['Impossible', apparently. You can't collar a fonon cloud.]

[He should probably figure that out. Ideally before nightfall.

The look Asch gives the little cheagle is damned confused and slightly bug-eyed. Things he did not expect include that - and the glamour would pick now to decide to work perfectly. It's a minute or two before he can get his brain around again.]

Having a physical body is apparently a requirement around here.

[The little red shape pulls on his still-present collar, looking as annoyed as a cheagle possibly can.]

I think it's these things.

[And apparently Lorelei isn't switching back. Not yet at least. Each form had its uses. He sits down with a tiny (but for a cheagle, tremendous) sigh, right on the stair. Which is suddenly far bigger than before.]

I'm not sure how I'm going to teach you and the other you and the third you how to manage such a thing if even I can't right now.

[He's not picking you up. Just for the record.

He will crouch on the stairs, though, because making someone look up that far is rude.]

I doubt trying to teach us would work with the glamour anyway.

[Maybe if they had the real thing. But they don't. Not until the scientists get their shit worked out.]

[Lorelei is just fine with not being carried, he wasn't particularly used to being toted around anyway. Besides, as it is, Asch is showing plenty of consideration, actually carrying someone around might be too much!

As it is it's still a bit to look up at Asch but not terrible.]

Certainly it would. Think of it as mental exercises.

[He gestures with small paws a bit.]

This vessel might not be your proper vessel but the mind is the same, right? So even though you're not really practicing on yourself, you're practicing on something you can't ... really ever break or destroy. So really, it's better. You can't accidentally vaporize yourselves here and have it stick.

All the safe mistakes in the world don't matter if there's no possibility of getting it right.

[Which there isn't, as Lorelei just demonstrated. Bodies are a requirement, even if fluffy cheagle bodies.]

And personally, I'd like to avoid messing with my body composition until I know what this one is actually composed of.

[Seeing as the collar fluid is so esoteric that none of the scientists they have can make sense of it, Asch doesn't doubt that the wires of the framework are much the same. Even if they weren't, unlike the replicas and Lorelei himself, Asch is composed of normal matter - atoms and a mix of fonons - not the Seventh Fonon in a pure state.

The Luke who is a replica might be capable of this trick, someday, but Asch is unfortunately very solid.]

Giving up before you even make an effort is a really fantastic way to fail and not much else.

[Lorelei hauls himself back up to his full (tiny) stature and begins picking his way down the stairs. It occurs to him about two steps down - which is taking a lot of climbing about - that there's probably an easier way to do this, and a moment later he's back to humanoid shape and size.

The fact that he can now tackle the stairs much easier seems to please him to a remarkable degree.]

I wouldn't suggest it, my isofon, if I didn't know it was possible. Here, perhaps not, but in the cradle of Auldrant, where these damnable collars won't be there? Have faith in me, Asch.

[He's back to not using vocal cords, for the most part. Now and again he's actually using proper voice, but it's still a pain and he needs a lot of practice and it's just faster to simply use the fonons around him.]

What's further on down this way?

[Lorelei you're still not very good at the body thing. Asch coulda told you being human would be better for human sized stairs.

He looks away, expression muddled. He doesn't have faith in much of anything.]

The next floor looks different to whoever steps on it - it's whatever you think "home" is.

[So for him, the manor. For Guy it was Hod. He doesn't know what anyone else sees.]

I'm not holding your hand all the way down.

[He's figuring it out on his own. It might not be easy but sometimes the best lessons are the ones that you stumble into! He seems to be finding a whole lot of them today. Stairs as a cheagle are hard to manage, climbing trees is hazardous to his hair, humans have no sense of hearing whatsoever..

It's all a very enlightening experience.]

Ah.

[Home. He's managing the stairs much better as a human-shape, and better than the last time he'd tried them too, so at least Lorelei's getting the hang of this quickly.]

I think if you held my hand all the way down I'd fall over. It's best to have both free.

[And it's probably true. The added ability to grab onto things if he stumbles is so much better. Still, Asch's refusal to lend a hand, and Lorelei's counter-comment, is both regarded with equal cheerfulness.]

What happens if you don't think of anywhere at all as 'home'? I don't have one. I never have.

[For anyone else that might be kind of sad.]

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