towerofanimus | In which there are unpleasant conversations

Entry tags:

In which there are unpleasant conversations

Who: Lorelei

seventhsong, Jade Curtiss

sarcasmancer
What: Tending to a delayed conversation.
Where: Floor 89.
When: December 13th, Evening
Warnings: The Tower and Jade are involved. PG-13ish?

When Lorelei found a message from Jade about his decision to ask again why he wanted the things he did, the people he did - it seemed appropriate to find somewhere to speak where interruption was unlikely, or eavesdroppers for that matter. Lorelei knew where his isofons were and keeping them out of his head was an easy matter. Finding a location others might not wander into.. harder.

The hotel is selected simply due to being able to reserve a room. Paying the price had taken most of a day in attempting to beat down a strange monster in the pyramids and retrieve its still-beating heart but once the price was paid he had a room to himself for the night. It would have to do. And it gave him some time to mend the damage the monstrosity had done, carefully knitting back together bloody wounds and burns. He'll deal with his clothing later.

It's just a matter of waiting, then. The room thankfully had chairs and a small table as well as a bed, so there wouldn't be an issue of the Colonel finding somewhere to sit. Dinner is even provided! ...So what if it's meal bars it's still food, and that's something. And Lorelei was nice enough to even save the little chocolates left on the pillow so there's dessert afterwards.

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There was really no getting around it. No matter how many corkscrew paths Jade's mind followed, ultimately there was but one solution that seemed feasible based on what Lorelei had told him and what he knew.

Jade hopes he's not right. He really hates being right all the time sometimes.

Nonetheless, he can't confirm that without talking to Lorelei directly. As such, he left him a message, waited for the aggregate to confirm a time and place, and then set off to join him at the hotel once said confirmation arrived. It doesn't take him long--he has taken this week to get further acquainted with the Tower, and while there have been some close calls, he hasn't died yet--to reach the appropriate room and knock twice on the door.

When it's opened up, Jade gives a curt but polite nod to the Luke-a-like who lets him in, then enters the moment he's able to/invited in. "Lorelei," he says by way of greeting, all business.

Jade's taking this seriously. That can't possibly mean good things.

Lorelei on the other hand is not exactly as sober. He's not good at sobriety for long, which means when the door is flung open, he looks thoroughly pleased. "Colonel! I'm glad you found it without running afoul of anything unpleasant." Monsters. Ganon.

Whatever it might be. He beckons, intending to close the door as soon as Jade is inside and locking the door behind him. "I saved you a chocolate thing. And some dinner. It's just a meal bar but it's better than nothing." There hasn't been a lot of fine preparation but there has been a little. He didn't think being discourteous was a good idea, and working on his human meant keeping things like meals and after dinner chocolate things in mind.

"I assume you've actually come to a decision, or did I lock the door for nothing after all?" It sounds so innocent.

Jade is still getting... used... to this entity. In the course of mulling over things, he came to realize that he had relaxed around Lorelei much more quickly than he usually did around a stranger. In considering the big bang effect and that it was potentially Lorelei who emerged on top of the three personalities, a part of him had acknowledged that the Luke he knew was somewhere in there, even if he was not in the forefront. And that...

...had led to some useless sentimentality that Jade's really quite upset at himself for engaging in. He doesn't hate Lorelei, but he really should know better than to conflate him with who he looks like, wherever Luke's mind and memories may be in there.

So it's with considerably more courtesy that Jade finds himself a seat, noting that locked door even if he doesn't remark on it. "Thank you," he says, though he doesn't help himself just yet. It's an incredible exercise in willpower, not simply wolfing down those meal bars where they lie, but somehow, Jade manages.

Lorelei's friendliness, meanwhile, is met with more Jade-style cool politeness, as expressed by him peering at the aggregate sentience over the rims of his glasses. "I came for a discussion," he clarifies. "If you have access to all of my memories, you should know that I'm not one to rush into a decision."

...anymore.

"I'll cut straight to the point," he continues. "I didn't want to believe it, but I've contemplated it since then and now, and I can't think of a scenario that fits anywhere near as well given your powers and remarks." The way he wanted Asch and Luke to perfect their hyperresonance powers, the way he was hoping for Jade to help out, his assumption that Saphir would be coming soon after. "Lorelei... you intend to remake the world, don't you?"

Meal bars were boring but perfectly reasonable food, and Lorelei had no issue with him. Restraining himself from all but inhaling the little chocolates however, had taken immense effort. He was rather proud of himself about it. The coolness is a bit of a change from the last time they'd crossed path, but it's accepted. It's a serious subject, and one that tread uncomfortably close to things Jade really didn't like.

He didn't.. quite have access to Jade's memories, but he knew in exacting detail Jade's history. It wasn't quite the same, the difference between experience and reading it in a book. "No, this is very true. Which is why I waited."

Had it been anyone else he'd have asked if perhaps something was wrong days ago. But for Jade a week might be just about right. As the proper conclusion is reached, there's a heavy, almost unhappy sigh from Lorelei. He leans back against the now-locked door, crossing his arms over his chest. His hair didn't quite make a curtain over his eyes.

"I don't have much of a choice. What other option is there? Leave everything gone?" He shakes his head slightly. "It will take time, and mean returning to the core for ... an unknown amount of time, but all of it can be put back. Auldrant is dead. It shouldn't be. Not like that. Not so unexpectedly. It should have had more time. Even that aside, knowing I can restore everything that has been destroyed, how can I not do something about it? You ... aren't, strictly, necessary. Nor is Saphir, or my isofons. But it would make the work faster."

There's a slight gesture towards Jade. "And any help will be deeply appreciated. Your expertise, and his, means I don't have to do it all in person. The machines still exist, and could be put to use. With my assistance, there will be no imperfect replicas. No 'big bangs' either, with the original bodies gone."

But first they'd need to escape the Tower, and get the collars removed. This, before the monumental task of rebuilding life from the bacterial stage up, was a fairly minor thing.

Oh, yes, certainly reasonable. Jade has no problem with them either, particularly since there's no point in complaining about the repast when they're all subject to, from what he understands, a mass experiment. Jade would have questioned if their worlds had actually been destroyed, given that most of what appears here is apparently an illusion, but...

...well, when the closest thing to your home world's god tells you that yes, it was destroyed, it's not difficult to extrapolate outwards. It's possible that only his version of his world was destroyed--or rather, only the worlds of whose who had an independent way of confirming it, so as to fool the rest who couldn't--but Jade finds that unlikely.

Really, it's ALL unlikely, but some options are unlikelier than others.

And true enough, he might not have Jade's explicit memories--Lorelei had said as much when last they spoke--but enough people around Jade had died over the years that he no doubt had a clear enough image. Even without that, he didn't necessarily need to know the "why"s to see the "how"s of how he did things. But that's not called out aloud, and Jade instead watches the aggregate and listens to what it--he--actually says.

The logic behind what he says is undeniable. The scientist in Jade acknowledges that what he says is perfectly reasonable. His journey had been one to prevent the destruction of the world of originals. If that's already happened through no fault of his own, then why shouldn't he cooperate in making a world of replicas? It might not be the same world as before, but at least there will be a world for those here who'd survived to return to. It might be as good a solution as they could get. Furthermore, while Jade would doubt the ability of anyone to live up to these claims... that's anyone human. With Lorelei using its power at its purest, it might be a possibility. But first...

"Let's say for a moment that I'm willing to go along with this," he says, which might imply to Lorelei that he's not exactly sold yet. "After speaking with Asch, I understand our current artes are mere illusions of what they actually are, and that our real bodies lie elsewhere. How do you intend on maneuvering around this obstacle?"

It might be minor compared to rebuilding a world literally from the ground up, but it's still something that needs to be addressed. If it can't be overcome, then what Lorelei suggests is moot.

"Nothing." It's a simple, straightforward answer, and terribly blunt at that. "I have no reason to. What's one container for a soul compared to another? The current arrangement is far more convenient. You and the others are functionally immortal, so long as the Tower remains. I do intend to remove it, but not yet. Not until I have Auldrant stabilized. As it stands if when lowering the Outer Lands so I don't have to worry about it crumbling to pieces in a century or two, if I drop something and all of you happen to be on that piece and die, you'll just come back."

There's a rustle of cloth and shrug. "I would prefer avoiding unnecessary pain of course but I'd also vastly prefer even over that knowing any mistakes I make at the start won't have lasting consequences."

'Nothing.'

Jade's eyebrows go up. The answer he receives... is remarkably pragmatic and practical. He could see himself giving such an answer. If he has to recreate an entire planet by himself, there's no guarantee that he'll succeed, either immediately or at all. Ensuring that those who would return remain functionally immortal until that is certain would mean a functional lack of casualties. It would also mean that experiments could be conducted with little concern for collateral costs. If the options are permanent death and temporary torment, Jade knows which he would pick.

And yet he's still uneasy. It's a sight different from what Van had been trying to do, but there is a problem here. Jade is certain of it; there has to be. He just needs to put his finger on it.

"Why would you begin from the point where the Outer Lands need to be lowered?" he asks, frowning, as he starts from the most obvious issue. "Wouldn't it be simpler to start from a place where Auldrant is already one piece of land? I should warn you also that without replica data, there is little fomicry would be able to do. I'm not necessarily against it if you just need to replicate land masses, bodies of water, and so on, but..."

Lorelei's actually thought this through pretty thoroughly. He's had a lot of time on his hands, and without much to occupy him, all he has left to do is see what he can come up with. The last time he did this he came up with the Score; thankfully his new fix isn't quite as permanently world-ruining.

"I need a starting point where divergences haven't gone so unpredictably that I can't reliably put people back the way they were." Lorelei doesn't seem particularly bothered by this. "At roughly the point of lowering the Tartarus into the Core, my memory of what should be happening, and my knowledge of what actually is happening, begin diverging. It's very disorienting. I prefer a more stable point of origin, I'm more likely to catch everyone that way." He didn't want to accidentally leave someone out because they existed in one timeline and not another, that would just be embarrassing.

Lorelei figured if something was worth doing it was worth doing right. "I could go as far back as before Akzeriuth's destruction to avoid the most wild divergences, but I'm fairly certain I can return the miners to their place without much of a hiccup." He'd thought about leaving them all dead too. Their deaths served a purpose.

But if he's bringing back some, he might as well put them all back. Fairness and all? "Not really a concern. I can provide templates fairly easily. I've found when ... occasionally returning to Auldrant that everything is still there, it's just dead. With even a lack of bacteria, the dead aren't decaying. They can be put to use, and the needed information gathered before we reintroduce microbes back to the planet. I'm sure it would be fairly easy for me to alter things enough to acquire a viable 'living' sample, even if they are not."

It's awfully morbid. "It won't be the first time you're working with dead, so hopefully it won't bother you too much." There's a pause. "Presuming you're willing to help. Really, the hard part's going to be not liquefying everything when the Planet Storm's amplified." He pauses, then scrubs his face with one hand, expression gone a little annoyed. "All of this is so serious. I'm never going to get a vacation, I should just... accept it."

Edited (typos. qq) 2013-12-14 21:56 (UTC)

"The point when we lowered the Tartarus into the core? That's when it starts diverging?" Jade wonders, holding a hand to his chin. Curious. Not at Akzeriuth, then? "May I ask how, precisely?"

His hands slip into his pockets, and he gives Lorelei a long look, when he suggests he can return the miners from death. Part of Jade's fomicry research had been how to implant memories back into a replica. He had never been successful, of course, but... "What do you mean by 'return them to their place'?"

...but he was, in the end, only human.

He can return to it? Curious. "There's still a breathable atmosphere on the dead worlds?" he wonders, touching his chin again. The remark on the dead gets him a shake of the head. "No, that's never bothered me. There are fewer ethical concerns with replicating a corpse. That doesn't mean there are none at all, however. You know that fonon bonds will be particularly weak with so many Seventh Fonons about; they'll be naturally attracted to one another."

No vacation. What a human thing to complain about. Jade gives Lorelei a troubled look, but says nothing.

"You weren't supposed to," is the disturbingly serene response. "Within two weeks of that point people should have begun dying by the thousands. Not enough to throw off Kimlasca's prosperity, but enough to hobble Malkuth to the degree where the war would truly be a near effortless victory." It did happen. It didn't happen but should have. It was very, very disorienting to know, absolutely, two different outcomes were both true.

The question about the miners earns a bit of an odd look. "Well I'd have to put Akzeriuth back. In order to keep the entire crust stable plugging the holes seems like a good idea, don't you think? If I'm doing that I might as well give the miners back what they lost. It's not difficult. Create replica, isolate the specific memories of a single individual, apply them to replica, go."

... It's not difficult for the aggregate sentience of the Seventh Fonon, anyway. Good luck everyone else.

"Auldrant seems a bit dicey thanks to possible miasma, but as the atmosphere of the world is mostly inert gasses and nothing that requires living things to keep going for quite a while, there's no reason it wouldn't have an atmosphere. It's simply sterilized." It's just waved off, literally. Air is the least of their concerns. "I kept my isofons separated for the better part of seventeen years, while trapped in the core. I can do far more when free. If I do not wish for parts of me to act in a certain way, I simply won't allow them to."

He pushes himself away from the door finally and just plunks down on a chair instead. "I do hope all of this exposition goes for a good purpose. If it doesn't, I'm more or less handing you the means to permanently cripple all of my intentions. I can't make you go along with it, after all."

For a moment, Jade remembers the Score that Ion read in his last moments. He himself had been busy freeing Anise's parents, but he'd been close enough to hear every word nonetheless. The throne of Malkuth will be stained with the blood of its last emperor... He hadn't shown it at the time, but it had been a chilling realization, knowing that an on-track Score meant Peony's death. Jade has no doubt that he would have died as well, likely fighting to the last in defense of His Majesty.

Even more disturbing is when Lorelei confirms what Jade had suspected: that he would literally bring people back from the dead. Jade only stares at him, eyes slightly widened. He understand all of the implications there. And if he understood the feelings of those who had died, then she...

....no. No, he couldn't. That was his punishment for killing her in the first place. Jade adjusts his glasses, lets it go, and focuses on the rest of what Lorelei has to say. It's not much better. Jade keeps his poker face on, even when Lorelei takes a seat opposite him.

"And you can't simply kill me either, since death doesn't stick. At least, not for right now," the Necromancer points out. He notes the part about 'not allowing parts of him to act in ways he doesn't like.' If Asch had taken up the extremist position he'd once rejected, then could it be Lorelei's influence? Unlikely, but... "Incidentally, have you discussed this with any of your isofons? You do seem quite fond of them."

"I don't like killing." The admittance is subdued. He didn't. Never really did. It was different somehow on a grand scale, or fighting battles, but he never really liked it. It sat a little uncomfortable, knowing that's a wound even he couldn't heal. He could make a new body, but that wasn't the same, was it? Things he couldn't overcome were unpleasant. "I'd have to find some other way. Tie you up and lock you in a closet, I guess."

That wouldn't work very well.

Questioned about Luke and Asch, he pauses for a moment, then shakes his head. He spoke of very little with his isofons. One seemed to loathe his presence, and the other.. well, he was a stranger and that's all that Luke seemed to need to know. "I am .... extremely fond of them. I suppose in human terms you could say I love them. They are extensions of me, after all." Perhaps more the way a father loves his children, but there's little real experience with that. "But I'm uncertain either one has the ... temperament or willingness at this point in time to want to assist me."

His smile is brief and wistful. "Or any point in time, I suppose. I very much want their help, it just doesn't seem doable right now. They are content with their ignorance, or insist on figuring things out themselves. My efforts to approach them have been more or less completely wasted." It hurt. It doesn't show in expression or voice but it cut deeper than a knife could. His own isofons didn't really want to deal with him at all. Didn't even want to talk to him unless he forced the issue himself. "I hope it's not inconvenient. Perhaps by the time it becomes important they'll be more willing. My isofons work well under pressure."

Edited 2013-12-15 21:25 (UTC)

"Oh, you don't, do you?" Interesting. Jade will have to keep that in mind. How far did that go, he wonders? After all, this is an entity capable of unmaking just about anything in an instant through the power of hyperresonance. The talk of locking him in a closet gets the aggregate an amused smile. "Oh, I think you'd have to try a little harder than that."

The topic changes to Luke and Asch, and Lorelei admits to not having their cooperation. The way he refers to them as extensions of himself--well, it makes sense for what would technically be the original isofon, but Jade imagines that the long-haired Luke wouldn't have the patience to listen to what Lorelei had to say, and Asch would be nothing short of completely offended to be referred to like a replica. He'd been dedicated to helping Lorelei back in Auldrant, but perhaps that worked better when he only occasionally heard its voice in his head.

Of course, he'd also been dedicated to stopping Van's plan of world destruction. Perhaps Asch only cared so long as Natalia and Kimlasca were around to be affected by that destruction. Strictly speaking, with neither of them around, he had no reason to think of trying to revive the world, whatever else he said about wanting an alternate solution.

"I see. I can't say I'm all that surprised," Jade muses. "Asch in particular seems to have fallen prey to the madness endemic to the Tower. Perhaps I, too, will go mad before long." It's a sobering, even frightening thought. Still, if Ion had managed to keep hold of himself despite being in the Tower for months, perhaps it would be all right.

And anyway, with power failure imminent in only a few months, it probably wouldn't be much of a problem anyway.

"No, not particularly," he adds, in regards to it being inconvenient. "I've heard that there will be a return of 'real' powers. I imagine this should make your own role much easier, though I'd wait and see what happens to the others first before committing to it."

In other words, use the people who jump at the chance to get their powers back right away as research subjects to ensure there aren't any unpleasant... side effects.

"It would be a very complicated lock," is the muttered response. "Very complicated." Clearly this means it would work for longer than five or ten minutes. "With lots of buttons and switches." Because locks had those. "On the outside so you can't get at it." He hasn't really thought any of that through, instead just thinking it up as he goes along. The chances of him ever trying it were astronomically small, especially as Jade hasn't rebuked him yet over it being a stupid idea.

Which means there was merit in it to the Necromancer.

Jade's given a sharp look at the not-quite insinuation that his isofon's gone mad. But it's not that he addresses. "Forgive me for saying this, Colonel, but you're already crazy, I don't think you can go mad." The things Jade got up to..! "It seems the best way to stay stable, if you really were interested in such a thing, is to ... not give up hope for a better outcome. Those who surrender to despair are the ones who seem to be. ...Mm, less than sane." He's observed a lot of people, but then again Lorelei's idea of sanity and madness might be a little skewed. "He's seemed sane enough. Asch is ... just driven. I haven't seen any cackling at all yet."

The mention of real powers, however, draws a long, long pause. It was the collars that inhibited him, kept him from tearing this place apart, kept him from rebuilding Auldrant.

To be freed of those would be disastrous for many people not Lorelei.

"Who did you hear this from? When is this to happen?"

At the least, it seems more well-thought-out than what Asch was doing. To someone who had just come back from saving the world from a man out to kill everyone on it, Asch's attitude towards causing the countdown was very much not something Jade approved of. Of course, he only has the barest idea of what people have experienced in the Tower... but then, Jade already said he didn't care.

It probably won't turn out well, no matter how it goes. Regardless, it means that Jade has to seek out other alternatives, and Lorelei's suggestion has a certain weight to it. If nothing else, it has an 'after.'

Lorelei points out that Jade is already crazy. Most would probably expect him to make some kind of wisecrack; instead, the fonist adjusts his glasses. "I suppose I can't deny that," he mutters. He pulls away his hand and continues at a more normal volume, "Perhaps, but there are degrees to these things."

The ones who give in to despair are the less-sane ones. Yes, that sounds about right. Jade nods once, then gives the aggregate a cool look. 'Just driven'? Either Lorelei was ignorant of what Asch had done, or...

"From Asch," he states simply. "I'm afraid I don't know the details, as he only mentioned it in passing. We had a... disagreement, shortly thereafter."

"This is true. A useful madness is better than a cackling lunatic running through the Tower wearing nothing but a towel around their neck." That's an awfully specific example, Lorelei. "At the least you've always been driven in a beneficial direction, be it for an individual or many." Nebilim or Peony or his friends, it didn't matter. It was for more than personal power.

When given that briefly frosty look, one crimson eyebrow rises. "What? It's true." Very driven. Asch didn't really seem to understand the idea of even compromise, never mind actually giving up. It was admirable, surely!

"..Ah. That's interesting. I'll have to find out details, soon." As soon as possible, in fact, but he's not so rude as to rush off right now. "...I can imagine, if you take any stance he won't like he sort of digs his heels in. Don't be too harsh with him over it, he just never really learned to let go. I'm sorry you've had trouble." It sounds like a genuine apology, too. Lorelei had little to do with his isofons, but he still felt responsible. Maybe if he'd found a way, forced a way to be more involved as they aged, they wouldn't be as damaged as they are now..

There's a pause. "Speaking of whom, may I ask a question? It seems our timelines are slightly out of sync, and there's something that's been troubling me." He's going to ask anyway. "How do my isofons die? The deaths I foresaw for them wouldn't have ended ... in the implied way you've mentioned."

That is a very specific example. Jade gives Lorelei an odd look before it settles out into something more neutral. Beneficial... "I don't know about that, but as my research has had some positive results, I suppose I can't argue," he says neutrally. Luke and Anise had both said they'd been glad he'd created fomicry, if only so Luke and Ion could have been born. It would be rude to dismiss those sentiments now, even if they aren't present.

"Oh, you have no argument from me there. He's rather more than driven, though," Jade laments, skirting around the real issue. He looks back up, giving Lorelei another odd look when he tries to make excuses for Asch. He has no doubt that Lorelei is being sincere, but... "Is he aware of this plan of yours, to reconstruct Auldrant?"

But Lorelei has a question of his own, and this actually surprises Jade. Shouldn't he already know that? --unless--

"Before I answer that, I'd like you to clarify something for me. How is it that you came to acquire a human form, Lorelei?" he replies, once again dancing around the issue. He'll answer the question, just... in his own good time.

If Lorelei sees anything odd about his comment, there's really no sign of it at all. As soon as Jade says at least some of his own work has been worthwhile, the aggregate smiles brightly. No, fomicry had its problems, but also brought countless miracles along for the ride, ones he wouldn't trade for anything.

"You think so?" He folds his hands on his lap. "Is it a human perspective difference, I wonder? He might seem less driven to me, in comparison to .. others." Such as Efreet. But Jade might have a far more narrow focus, and that might well change things. "No." Pause. "Yes." Another pause and a frown. "A little. I implied. He was uninterested. Concerns with his friends in the Tower, was the impression I had." And it bothered him too. Didn't Asch want to rebuild his world? Know how to use the power to do so?

He is aware Jade is avoiding the question. Which suggested he wasn't going to like it, at the very least. "All Aggregate Sentiences are capable of taking a physical shape of any form they like." It's a simple answer. "It's just a matter of putting fonons together in a new pattern, though it's not our natural state. This is one of the forms I chose when I fought at the side of Yulia." His smile is warm, but it's not for Jade. "I don't know if I wear this shape because my isofons would one day look the same and I obliged the Score, or that they have that appearance because I influenced them through the same. I answered your question, answer mine."

"Perhaps," Jade hedges, side-eyeing Lorelei just a bit. Yes, he supposes to a creature not human, Asch's behavior, attitude and decisions might not seem such a big deal... Though at least it seems they have nothing to do with one another. Curious. Then again, not surprising; Asch went to quite a few lengths for Lorelei, but that was when he was a faceless entity trapped first in the core and later in Van's body. It was probably less about Lorelei itself and more about defeating Van for him.

It did say a lot, though. So much for being the first one there the second an alternative were offered.

"I see. How nice, having friends," Jade remarks blandly. Perhaps it's a combination of Van's upbringing and influence from his new friends, then... Impossible to say without acquainting himself with these friends of his.

More important for right now, though, is what Lorelei says about his form. The Necromancer's eyes widen slightly. So this isn't the result of the big bang? Then he had just--

Almost involuntarily, Jade utters a chuckle. "I see. I completely assumed..." So then there was no Luke or Asch anywhere in there. He frowns, though more at himself than at Lorelei. ...So even he could be sentimental. Weak points indeed.

Ah, yes. The question. Well, if this isn't the result of a big bang, then there's no point in holding back. "Asch died run through by several Oracle Knights, by Luke's report. Luke himself... technically as far as I last knew was MIA, but he was dying at the time anyway. If he had died, he died releasing you into the fon belt," Jade reports. "Apparently the big bang had been near for the both of them, but... I'm not so sure it had actually begun to take place. This took place about a month ago from my perspective."

"I know what you do for your friends," Lorelei points out mildly. "Stones, glass houses." It's a rebuke; not a very seriously strong one but it's there anyway, and tinged in a bit of amusement.

Asch likely simply wanted to stop Van. Or perhaps saving something he never really met or had to deal with was easier. Lorelei didn't know, and he didn't want to know. "... I did warn you time was strange here." This is quiet. Making assumptions about when anyone was from was as bad as 'where', and the revelation that Jade assumed he was post whatever events had occurred to kill his isofons began making a lot more sense.

Asch, after all, wasn't the original. Lorelei was. If the big bang followed through its natural progression, it's likely not Asch or Luke that would survive it. "Though it does explain a few things. I'm sorry. I am not your friend, and I am sorry for your loss. I would like to be your friend, but he is not here in that sense and I can't rely on him to build that bridge. My appearance must make it even more difficult." And sound, for that matter. Lorelei sounded a little different, as Luke did from Asch, but it might be close enough. "Let me ... see if I can make things a little easier."

But nothing happens immediately, because there is an explanation on how his isofons die. Asch fighting, Luke restoring. Wasn't that how it seemed to work out, time and again? As if someone had taken Lorelei's behavior and split it down the middle, isolating destruction from reconstruction and letting them grow separately. ".. In such a situation I can see why you'd assumed." What Jade had assumed was pretty obvious now. "I could keep them apart in those events, but it would be ... more difficult, especially with one already gone. Likely I could only restore one of the pair, not both. Not separately." It's very clearly not something he wants to think about for long. There's a moment's pause. "Oh, right."

The humanoid, crimson-haired form dissolves suddenly. Jade's seen similar things before, but they tend to just fade away right afterwards, not briefly simply become a haze of fiery golden radiance. But it doesn't last; he can't maintain his natural state anymore, and is forced back to physical form almost instantly. Except this time it's not humanoid, it's that of a bright red cheagle.

Cheagles look and sound nothing at all like Luke OR Asch.

"That should help a bit!" Lorelei settles back onto his seat, looking as pleased as such a small creature can. "Unless my isofons figured out this trick before they ... before more recent events, then I might just be out of luck by way of trying to make it easier for you."

Mild rebuke it may be, but it earns Lorelei an annoyed, frosty look all the same. "I'm afraid I've put pointless mass murder behind me by now," he replies, tone glacial.

Jade does not bother to explain what he means by that.

That aside, Lorelei confirms that Jade's assumption had been erroneous and apologizes for not having any Luke inside of him. "It's not something for which you need to apologize," he reassures him, despite his irritation from a moment ago. "It was my own fault for blurring the lines mentally; I should know better than that."

What Lorelei has to say in the event of a big bang is interesting, too, though a thoroughly moot point at the moment. It's even more moot when Lorelei unbinds his own fonon bonds, creating a cloud of blazing light. Jade, instantly fascinated, leans forward to watch closely, and holds a hand to his chin in thought when it converges into the form of...

"A cheagle? ...So this is why they're sacred to the Order of Lorelei," the fonist muses. "No, I had no idea such a thing was even possible. If you'll excuse me--"

And, unless Lorelei evades his grasp, Jade reaches forward to attempt to pluck him up and get a better look at him. Fascinating. If this is nothing more than a glamor, then how does the size change reconcile with their metal frames? If he picks the cheagle up up, is he merely hallucinating the change in weight? For that matter, if their powers are mere illusion, how is it that they're able to harm or kill anyone at all?

Ahh. He won't admit it out loud, given the kind of people their administrators are, but Jade would love to experiment.

"None of it was ever pointless," the redhaired man demures. He had a very different perspective on the matter, but that couldn't be helped. "Save 'pointless' for things where no possible good result could ever arise." And something did arise that was good. Many of them, in fact. Lorelei isn't going to pursue it for long, because there are other matters at hand. Like Jade's mental hiccups when it came to dealing with someone who looked like Luke and shared some of his behavior patterns.

At least that was one problem he could very easily solve.

And just as at ease with being small and fuzzy as humanoid, Lorelei settles comfortably where he is, radiating satisfaction. That should fix it. "And I should have known better than to face you with a form you know all too well so soon after losing a friend. It was thoughtless and cruel."

He sounds the same. He could adjust his voice to fit the form but he doesn't bother. He's not actually speaking anyway, the sound of his voice simply manifests. Cheagles didn't have the mouths and voice boxes to properly maintain human speech. "Yulia was terribly fond of them," he says brightly, ears perking up. "I went to the cheagles first, you know. Such a kind people. --Ah?"

And then he's picked right up. He feels exactly as a cheagle should, small and light and fuzzy and warm.. and rathe wiggly for several startled moments, small limbs kicking in surprise. But when he's not suddenly dropped or stabbed or anything similar, he relaxes quickly enough.

Foolishly or not, he seems fairly sure Jade wasn't going to suddenly hurt him. "It's just a matter of rearanging fonons. It's not that hard, really, but the collar means I can't pick some other form besides these two. It's a bit restricting. Probably anyone could do it, if they had enough control over every fonon in their body."

His eyes are the same color of vivid green, and wide and round. "Will it help like this?" No confusion between him and Luke now, surely.

Save 'pointless' for things where no possible good result could ever arise.

There's nothing Jade can say about that, at least in regards to what he was referring so, so he says nothing. The reference to Asch... well, Lorelei has already made it clear that he values his isofons highly. It's probably pointless to discuss that matter with him.

...Not that Jade was really forthcoming with that information even earlier, but then, he had to be sure Lorelei didn't agree with him.

Lorelei's apology for being thoughtless and cruel is ignored. It's not that Jade doesn't acknowledge it; it just makes him uncomfortable, and if he doesn't have to deal with something that makes him uncomfortable, he won't. The talk of cheagles and alternate forms is more than enough of a distraction from that matter as well.

"Did you? No, I didn't know that. I doubt anyone does," Jade replies, completely unfazed by Lorelei's struggling. On the contrary, he deposits him onto a palm, holding him in place with a smile until the aggregation sees fit to behave. No, Jade won't hurt him; he knows better than to needlessly provoke an entity capable of vaporizing him where he sits.

Needlessly.

"Fascinating. I'll have to do research into that," he replies, holding his chin. Enough control over every fonon in their body... Truly, truly fascinating. Jade doubts that a human being could manage that, even one like himself, but it's worth looking into--if only to sate his own curiosity.

Naturally, he won't let himself get out of control with it this time. But if death, accidental or otherwise, isn't permanent here anyway...

"Yes, this will do nicely," Jade replies, standing up and walking to the window, red cheagle still in hand. "I assume you still have control over all of your usual powers like this?"

It's not an uncomfortable place to be. Someone's hands were nicer than a cold tile floor. "Yulia knew." She knew many things, and didn't see fit to pass them on. Of course, Lorelei's not really had contact with anyone at all on the surface since then, save for Luke and Asch ... and his efforts to reach them were never for idle chatter. Would that it had been, perhaps the endless stretch of centuries would have been more tolerable.

"It might be harder for normal humans, you're all kinds of fonons. It's not just controlling a single element. I have it easy in that respect." Jade's palm is patted comfortingly. It'll just be more of a test of the Necromancer's power. "But you can think of it kind of like a ... controlled mutation. Of course if you get it wrong your body will probably make you regret it for the short time you have left but mistakes do sometimes come at high expense." It didn't seem to bother him at ALL. If anyone could figure out how to do it without turning into a horrible death ball.

For now he's content where he is, and willing enough to indulge questions unrelated to the original reason they'd met here. "Yes. Along with a cheagle's usual arsenal." There is a brief puff of flame, barely more than a good lighter might put out. "Changing form doesn't change my nature, after all."

Silence then, for a short time. There was much to mull over. Not only that Jade hadn't exactly agreed to assist him yet, or the useful necessity of Dist the Reaper/Rose/Runny, but that the future he'd remembered would go so awry. He would have his freedom. But at the cost of his isofons?

"Was it worth it?" It's a sober question. "The price you and Auldrant paid to nullify my song. I imagine now, in this place, it's not worth it at all. All that effort, gone to dust. But at the time, before silence fell, was it a price paid willingly?"

Jade is about to say 'anyone still living,' but he stops. From a technical standpoint, assuming that their worlds truly are destroyed--a token doubt, given that Lorelei says they are and the aggregate consciousness of the planet's memory would know--the only ones still living are whomever happen to be here right now, and they don't necessarily need to be from the same time. That means that at some point, an Auldrantian from the Dawn Age, including Yulia Jue herself, could potentially appear.

Such a migraine. Though at the same time, when he thinks on it... "It occurs to me that, if people are brought in from destroyed worlds all the time, there are worlds not yet destroyed out there. If it's possible to find a way to access, we may not need to rebuild the world. With power failure imminent, that might be a more prudent course of action than building a planet from scratch, which, even with your power, is hardly an overnight venture," the fonist muses. "Do you have any idea how feasible this is? Given the malicious nature of most of the administrators, I doubt they would tell us truthfully if this were possible or not."

Colorful. Yes, Jade can just imagine what might happen to one if one lost control of one's fonons in the middle of self-inflicted fonon separation. Death would hardly be the worst-case scenario. "If I'm going to play with death for an experiment like that, I may as well do it at a time when death won't stick," he points out. "Though I'm in no rush to try, either." He nods at Lorelei's confirmation of his power, not so much as blinking when he breathes a puff of flame in his face.

But then there's that question. Jade's crimson gaze lingers on the red cheagle. Now, in this place? It matters little. Regardless of when it happened, everyone but him would still be dead. It is frustrating that all the effort he put into saving the world was for naught, but that would be the same regardless of when in his journey this happened, and the experiences he gained from that journey--the memories he has of them--are never in vain.

But at the time, before silence fell?

"It was," Jade murmurs, regard unwavering.

Lorelei would probably be thrilled to pieces if his missing friend was ever brought here. Time had never dulled his memories of her,a nd it would be effortless to pick up where they left off. For other people.. it might be harder. Especially with alternate realities weighing in. "Yes, in theory." He pulls an ear down and begins thoughtfully grooming the tufted end. Keeping clean as a cheagle was much easier than dealing with four feet of hair. "I suspect it's an outwardly expanding bubble." He had no real evidence to the matter but if he was right about what was causing the problems, then that might well be true. "Though I never intended to rebuild a planet from scratch! Just fix what's broken. Auldrant is still there after all, it's just dead."

The ear is let go after a moment. "There's also no saying that the world we find outside of this pocket of death will be anything like our own. But I don't think it's impossible. At the least, one of the administrators has alluded to other towers, and the desire to find a backup for us. But as things stand any world we move to could be subject to the same fate." It's a rather grim idea. What if they built new lives on a new world, only to have it snuffed out again?

He'd rather stop all this mess with the Tower, and put Auldrant back the way it should be. And if he didn't bother giving humanity his vision of the future again, then he doubted that would hinder anything at all.

As his question draws no immediate response, Lorelei simply waits for something, be it agreement, denial, or possibly being tossed out a window. None of their struggles came to much, now. They were the only survivors left, the tattered remnants of countless worlds.

There is a sigh, tremendous for such a small frame, when the answer does come. "Good."

If Jade were Tear, his three-sizes-too-small heart would no doubt melt into a puddle of goo at the sight of cheagle ear-grooming, which is an adorableness almost beyond the human capacity to measure. Jade is not Tear, though, so he merely takes note of this cheagle-like behaviorism and the fact that Lorelei switched from one set of behaviorisms to another as easily ("easily") as he changed forms.

"Possible," Jade agrees. "Unfortunately, I lack too much information to be able to postulate anything solid. What's more, without knowing how and why these worlds are being destroyed, your scenario is far from impossible. In short, we'll need the administrators alive for questioning."

The Necromancer may not have explicitly agreed to cooperate with Lorelei, but that 'we' speaks volumes all the same. As of right now, there are precious few other options and just as little time, and Lorelei, whatever he may be and as little as Jade finds he cares for him on a personal level, would be a powerful ally.

Lorelei heaves a sigh and voices his approval. Jade doesn't outwardly react to it; instead, he asks, "Was there anything else?"

It's a good thing Jade's not Tear, then. He's not anticipating being hugged or squished by enthusiastic young ladies right now, and if Jade fell into such behavior patterns it would be surreal beyond even Lorelei's ability to handle. "I suggest Riki or Zo, then. The latter seems directly interested in our health and happiness, the former the architect of this place. From what I can tell, Riki is already looking for alternatives to leaving all of us in this tower. Of course he also might be looking for more space to practice worldbuilding too."

There isn't much Lorelei doesn't overhear, when it's in a large room full of people chattering. Sometimes it's actually useful.

Time is the one thing he doesn't have. None of them do. As Jade asks his question, he perks back up, thoughtful. "It's 'December', which means it's Jason's month. The Administrators have popped up in person a couple of times. Do not approach or engage this one, if he does appear. He's worse than you were, when you were young. Much worse. There's no telling what he might do to you out of simple curiosity alone, and the changes the administrators make can be permanent, to mind body or soul. If he's motivated by more than just curiosity.."

Well it's a bad thing. "It will go poorly. Even Ruana doesn't seem to stir the anger and fear Jason does in the people here."

Anything else.

There's countless things. Endless things. He doesn't address them immediately. "..One other thing. It may be asking a lot, but I will ask anyway. Please don't unduly torment my isofons. Especially Asch. He's unusually obstinate already and I'm worried if people from his own world pick at him too much it might only grow worse. If I am to ever teach him how to do more than destroy, I'll need him at least some measure of cooperative." Given it's Jade, that might be too much to ask. Jade has difficulty not picking at people.

"Mmm. I did hear that they were the more benevolent of the administrators," Jade agrees. "I heard Zo was in charge last month, so unless there's a way to contact a specific administrator on an off-month--" entirely possible, if Zo wants to help the denizens of the Tower; Jade just doesn't know what it is "--I doubt he'll be available for questioning for a while. In any case, if all Riki cares about is building, he can still be used. Recreating worlds will require architects, after all; there's leverage enough there to potentially sway him." Even if he has a twisted sense of aesthetics. Not that Jade is bothered by twisted, but he can acknowledge it all the same. "I take it the administrator rotation follows a set pattern?"

Then Lorelei warns him against Jason, and Jade frowns at the description. Asch had described him as being the second-worst, after Ruana; Lorelei's description makes him sound the worst by far. Anyone who can be described as 'much worse than a young Jade' must be a true monster, even without the actual descriptions of what Jason has done in pursuit of his curiosity and worse.

"I see," he says simply. "I will keep that in mind."

Then Lorelei moves on to the matter of his isofons, and Jade's expression doesn't change. He's not surprised by this request, even if it does irritate him. The fonist affects a sigh and sets the aggregate down on the table. "Lorelei, are you aware that Asch and his friends are the ones who caused the countdown to power failure? According to him, he didn't know that would happen at the time, but if given a chance to do it over, he would still make the same decision."

Jade peers down at Lorelei, unsmiling. "I fear you're too late to wean him off his taste for destruction."

There is a small shrug from the crimson cheagle. "I don't know exactly. I have heard of people writing the various administration letters, it's possible the active one could just pass on the note." But he sounds a bit dubious. If any would at all that'd be Zo handing it to other people, and he's still a ways off. "They do. Ruana was before Zo, and Riki before her, so we should as of the next month be dealing with Riki again." Lorelei was fairly sure unless something went horribly wrong that this was so, and since horrible things did seem to happen with relative frequency.. "The months here are strangely short, and they only have twelve of them. Every thirty days they swap to a new one, and a new administrator." It's important to know; Jason won't be there for another fifty days. He wasn't even precisely sure how this calendar would line up against a proper one.

Jason was worse. Ruana hurt you because she was flippin' crazy. Jason did it on purpose, with calculated deliberation. Lorelei came to that conclusion after a good month and a half of working it out. "Be careful."

Jade would do as he pleased. Lorelei could offer caution anyway. He wasn't going to directly interact with any of them if he could avoid it!

Set down on the table, he looks around briefly before finding a comfortable place to plunk down. There's still a meal bar waiting, and the carefully saved chocolates, if Jade ever remembered they were there. If not, well, a second dinner for Lorelei. He was okay with this.

The loss of power in this place was what gave it a deadline. There isn't an immediate response, as he weighs what Asch could possibly have seen as a good outcome from giving them all an expiration date. It might have been accidental, but to willingly do it again.. "Apparently you had a more interesting conversation with him than I thought," the cheagle says slowly. There's no immediate snap reaction one way or another. "Did he mention, when speaking about how willingly he would doom us all, what benefit has arisen from such actions?"

Maybe something's come out of it beyond pain and suffering. He hasn't been here long enough to know. There's a brief shake of the head. "Destruction and construction are two sides of the same coin. I may not have to wean him off it.. just teach him to rebuild what he's ruined." But it's subdued, this. Asch could have found an outcome Lorelei didn't know about. Maybe such efforts meant there was a greater chance of escape one day. "It sounds ominous. I can agree to that. But what things sound like, and what they truly are, are sometimes different. What else leads to this?"

There is no blind acceptance one way or another. He needed more information.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

In which there are unpleasant conversations

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