Re: The Phenomenal Fracas! (GBS2G6): [Round Two: Witch's Haunt]
11-10-2010, 12:47 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by Anomaly.
"Subject 384. Can you hear me? Respond."
The serpent groaned in response as Dr. Hikaru's voice crackled through his head. Implanting the device directly into his brain had not been a simple task, to be sure. The fact that his physiology was so drastically different from that of humans only exacerbated the situation, requiring multiple minor vivisections by the scientists before the device could even be completed. They were not especially careful, considering his powerful regeneration abilities. Subject 384 was slowly growing to dislike Interstice.
"Is that a yes? Am I coming through clearly?"
"Y... yes. You're clear..." He could barely focus due to the aftereffects of the sedative. Hikaru continued, unabated.
"Good, good. What we've implanted into your head is essentially a two-way communicator. No matter where you are on the planet, we'll be able to contact you with it, and you can respond as you just did. The device uses technology from our classified "Dimensional Gate" project, by the way. Not that it's actually relevant, but you should theoretically be able to adjust it to different "dimensional frequencies" and pick up transmissions from beyond our own universe simply by focusing on the device. I'm sure you can figure out how. Of course, it won't be necessary now, or possibly ever, but perhaps after this war is over...." He trailed off. The serpent was confused by his tirade and tuned out most of it before again falling unconscious.
The next day, he would be sent to war.
- - - - - - - - - -
Syvex picked himself up from the ground at the lakeside. The experience underwater seemed almost like a dream, or rather, a nightmare. The voices... he had to have been imagining them. But no, that wasn't possible. Something was down there, far beyond his ability to comprehend. And he would be hard pressed to focus during the daytime, especially in his severely weakened state. Left with no other apparent options, he decided to return to the manor and search for anything that might explain what was going on, or perhaps to find Eureka or even Tamerlane. He cringed at the thought of the latter. He would have to die at some point. Soon was the preferable option.
Syvex made his way back along the path to the manor, determining from the position of the most intense light that it was somewhere around noon. There would be no solace in this round. The path wove lazily through the hilly grounds, with little discernable pattern or order in its
<font color="red">forget what i saw it sees it knows forget
Syvex stopped immediately. "Who's there?" There was no one in sight, no sound besides the rustling of leaves as the wind blew through the trees. "...Probably... probably nothing."
forget forget it sees you it comes no stopping can't forgetcan't stop it can't run
Again, no one around. The voice seemed to be in his head, just as before. Great. Now I'm going crazy, too. Syvex started back toward the manor, pledging to himself that the spectral voices were nothing but a delusion. Deep down, however, he knew it wasn't that simple. The voices, the spatial disconnectedness of the manor... The little girl had to have something to do with it. There was something... uncanny about her. Especially so, considering the lack of human remains in the lake.
Before he could think on it anymore, Syvex's view was replaced in a brief flash by... something. Something almost incomprehensible to him, though a humanoid species would not find it quite as alarming. In that fleeting instant, his field of vision was narrowed considerably. Stranger still was the... vibrance of the scene. One would be hard pressed to describe the feeling of seeing colors for the first time. And despite the ambient light of the scene, everything was clear. The lake. The path. The little girl. The life.
As soon as it had begun, it ended. Syvex stumbled forward, clutching his head. Whatever he had seen, it had been here. But assuredly long ago, before the supernatural had taken a strong hold. Taking a few more moments to stave off utter disorientation, Syvex continued along the path. The last leg of the rather short journey was completely silent, besides the faint swishing the serpent made as he slithered down the gravel path.
As he came back to the front door, Syvex was by now nonplussed by the fact that it was perfectly undamaged. With any luck, it would actually lead to the room behind it rather than the attic or a washroom. Sure enough, the manor was once more euclidean, and every bit as unpleasantly bright as before. Without a second thought, Syvex headed for the hallway leading to the basement, and once again descended the staircase. The door was once more sealed. Syvex could tell it was pitch black behind the door, but was strangely unable to open even the smallest of rifts within. Sighing, he slunk back up toward the lobby, then ascended to the second floor.
Pausing to listen, he heard a faint noise emanating from a nearby room, whose door he found to be stuck fast. Opening a small duo of portals, he was able to listen in more closely, hearing distinctly the voice of Eureka Finch. She seemed to be mumbling something in her sleep (why was she sleeping now?) about her "sister", but peculiarly, instead of a name, random gibberish syllables escaped her lips instead. Seeing as she was in no immediate danger, Syvex decided to look around a little further before returning. Another faint sound in the background led him down yet another corridor, before running face-to-face into Riko.
Memories of Dr. Hikaru, stronger than ever, rushed back to the serpent. His constant masked condescendence, his betrayal... Syvex hated scientists more than anything. It didn't help Riko's case any that he vaguely resembled Hikaru, albeit with more hair. Syvex did what seemed natural and, to the scientist's confusion, fled through the closest door. Through the door was a rather large conservatory, with various dusty instruments strewn about haphazardly, untouched in decades. Most of them Syvex did not recognize, as his experience with music in general was very limited. Before Syvex could do anything more, a voice crackled faintly in his head, unintelligible save a few words due to interference.</font>
"....victim... battle t... eath.... home.... Vand.... hardt.... battl.... asters.... ultiverse...."
"Not this again..." Syvex mumbled. He failed to notice at first that Riko was peering quizzically through the now-open door.
"Not what?" Syvex immediately took notice at the scientist's question and backed against the wall, taking the opportunity to close the curtains on one of the windows as well. Seeing no other exit, he decided the best course of action was to talk his way out of it. His fear was likely irrational in any case.
"...A message, maybe. Something about victims and a battle to the death and some guy named... Um... 'Vand... something somethinghardt.' Or maybe I'm just hearing voices yet again."
Riko stepped into the room. "It's not just you. I received a similar message a few minutes ago, possibly the same one. How, exactly, are you receiving it?"
Syvex immediately remembered the long-unused communicator. ...you should theoretically be able to adjust it to different "dimensional frequencies" and pick up transmissions from beyond our own universe simply by focusing on the device. "Some kind of implanted communicator thing. I don't really know how it works, but it works between dimensions, I think." He stopped and attempted to "focus" on it, but was unable to do much of anything to clear up the interference.
"Nope, not working." He thought back to the Prestidigitator's introduction of the man, the only information Syvex knew about him. "...Do you have something that could restore my natural abilities, maybe? Might be worth a try."
"I think so... Syvex, was it?" The scientist rifled through his surprisingly large collection of vials before producing one and holding it up in the dim light. He was hesitant to part with such a potent solution, but, as previously demonstrated, the serpent had the ability to warp space. A potential escape from this macabre "contest" was enough for him to take the risk. He handed the vial to Syvex.
"...By the way, just in case you're trying to poison me, I'll just tell you now that it won't have much effect. Just a thought for you." As a test, Syvex ingested a small drop of the sludgey fluid. Immediately, his surroundings grew clearer, and he felt more empowered. As a test, he shut the curtains on another window, then focused and opened two portals, one below a dusty violin and one immediately above. He imperceptibly chuckled to himself as he broke the loop, smashing the instrument to pieces. He then remembered that Riko was still watching him, wondering if it was really a good idea to help the serpent.
"Erm... right. Nothing." Syvex downed another small part of the solution, his power rapidly returning to him. He recapped the vial and handed it back after about half, just in case it were to be needed again. He hesitantly thanked the scientist before focusing in on the communicator, finding himself able to adjust the frequency slightly through application of his vaguely-understood "shadow energy". The static cleared slightly, but of course, the message didn't play again. Nonetheless, Syvex formulated a response.
"This is Syvex. I don't know who you are, but I'm in another of these battle-to-the-death things you mentioned. I'm guessing it's the same deal with you, randomly pulled from your home to kill some people with no real explanation. Honestly, I'm content with just escaping, since I doubt that we can take down someone with this much power, let alone several of them. If I find some way to get out of here, maybe I could help some of you as well. But I doubt that I could do much alone regardless. I'll leave my communicator on this frequency. Syvex out."
"Subject 384. Can you hear me? Respond."
The serpent groaned in response as Dr. Hikaru's voice crackled through his head. Implanting the device directly into his brain had not been a simple task, to be sure. The fact that his physiology was so drastically different from that of humans only exacerbated the situation, requiring multiple minor vivisections by the scientists before the device could even be completed. They were not especially careful, considering his powerful regeneration abilities. Subject 384 was slowly growing to dislike Interstice.
"Is that a yes? Am I coming through clearly?"
"Y... yes. You're clear..." He could barely focus due to the aftereffects of the sedative. Hikaru continued, unabated.
"Good, good. What we've implanted into your head is essentially a two-way communicator. No matter where you are on the planet, we'll be able to contact you with it, and you can respond as you just did. The device uses technology from our classified "Dimensional Gate" project, by the way. Not that it's actually relevant, but you should theoretically be able to adjust it to different "dimensional frequencies" and pick up transmissions from beyond our own universe simply by focusing on the device. I'm sure you can figure out how. Of course, it won't be necessary now, or possibly ever, but perhaps after this war is over...." He trailed off. The serpent was confused by his tirade and tuned out most of it before again falling unconscious.
The next day, he would be sent to war.
- - - - - - - - - -
Syvex picked himself up from the ground at the lakeside. The experience underwater seemed almost like a dream, or rather, a nightmare. The voices... he had to have been imagining them. But no, that wasn't possible. Something was down there, far beyond his ability to comprehend. And he would be hard pressed to focus during the daytime, especially in his severely weakened state. Left with no other apparent options, he decided to return to the manor and search for anything that might explain what was going on, or perhaps to find Eureka or even Tamerlane. He cringed at the thought of the latter. He would have to die at some point. Soon was the preferable option.
Syvex made his way back along the path to the manor, determining from the position of the most intense light that it was somewhere around noon. There would be no solace in this round. The path wove lazily through the hilly grounds, with little discernable pattern or order in its
<font color="red">forget what i saw it sees it knows forget
Syvex stopped immediately. "Who's there?" There was no one in sight, no sound besides the rustling of leaves as the wind blew through the trees. "...Probably... probably nothing."
forget forget it sees you it comes no stopping can't forgetcan't stop it can't run
Again, no one around. The voice seemed to be in his head, just as before. Great. Now I'm going crazy, too. Syvex started back toward the manor, pledging to himself that the spectral voices were nothing but a delusion. Deep down, however, he knew it wasn't that simple. The voices, the spatial disconnectedness of the manor... The little girl had to have something to do with it. There was something... uncanny about her. Especially so, considering the lack of human remains in the lake.
Before he could think on it anymore, Syvex's view was replaced in a brief flash by... something. Something almost incomprehensible to him, though a humanoid species would not find it quite as alarming. In that fleeting instant, his field of vision was narrowed considerably. Stranger still was the... vibrance of the scene. One would be hard pressed to describe the feeling of seeing colors for the first time. And despite the ambient light of the scene, everything was clear. The lake. The path. The little girl. The life.
As soon as it had begun, it ended. Syvex stumbled forward, clutching his head. Whatever he had seen, it had been here. But assuredly long ago, before the supernatural had taken a strong hold. Taking a few more moments to stave off utter disorientation, Syvex continued along the path. The last leg of the rather short journey was completely silent, besides the faint swishing the serpent made as he slithered down the gravel path.
As he came back to the front door, Syvex was by now nonplussed by the fact that it was perfectly undamaged. With any luck, it would actually lead to the room behind it rather than the attic or a washroom. Sure enough, the manor was once more euclidean, and every bit as unpleasantly bright as before. Without a second thought, Syvex headed for the hallway leading to the basement, and once again descended the staircase. The door was once more sealed. Syvex could tell it was pitch black behind the door, but was strangely unable to open even the smallest of rifts within. Sighing, he slunk back up toward the lobby, then ascended to the second floor.
Pausing to listen, he heard a faint noise emanating from a nearby room, whose door he found to be stuck fast. Opening a small duo of portals, he was able to listen in more closely, hearing distinctly the voice of Eureka Finch. She seemed to be mumbling something in her sleep (why was she sleeping now?) about her "sister", but peculiarly, instead of a name, random gibberish syllables escaped her lips instead. Seeing as she was in no immediate danger, Syvex decided to look around a little further before returning. Another faint sound in the background led him down yet another corridor, before running face-to-face into Riko.
Memories of Dr. Hikaru, stronger than ever, rushed back to the serpent. His constant masked condescendence, his betrayal... Syvex hated scientists more than anything. It didn't help Riko's case any that he vaguely resembled Hikaru, albeit with more hair. Syvex did what seemed natural and, to the scientist's confusion, fled through the closest door. Through the door was a rather large conservatory, with various dusty instruments strewn about haphazardly, untouched in decades. Most of them Syvex did not recognize, as his experience with music in general was very limited. Before Syvex could do anything more, a voice crackled faintly in his head, unintelligible save a few words due to interference.</font>
"....victim... battle t... eath.... home.... Vand.... hardt.... battl.... asters.... ultiverse...."
"Not this again..." Syvex mumbled. He failed to notice at first that Riko was peering quizzically through the now-open door.
"Not what?" Syvex immediately took notice at the scientist's question and backed against the wall, taking the opportunity to close the curtains on one of the windows as well. Seeing no other exit, he decided the best course of action was to talk his way out of it. His fear was likely irrational in any case.
"...A message, maybe. Something about victims and a battle to the death and some guy named... Um... 'Vand... something somethinghardt.' Or maybe I'm just hearing voices yet again."
Riko stepped into the room. "It's not just you. I received a similar message a few minutes ago, possibly the same one. How, exactly, are you receiving it?"
Syvex immediately remembered the long-unused communicator. ...you should theoretically be able to adjust it to different "dimensional frequencies" and pick up transmissions from beyond our own universe simply by focusing on the device. "Some kind of implanted communicator thing. I don't really know how it works, but it works between dimensions, I think." He stopped and attempted to "focus" on it, but was unable to do much of anything to clear up the interference.
"Nope, not working." He thought back to the Prestidigitator's introduction of the man, the only information Syvex knew about him. "...Do you have something that could restore my natural abilities, maybe? Might be worth a try."
"I think so... Syvex, was it?" The scientist rifled through his surprisingly large collection of vials before producing one and holding it up in the dim light. He was hesitant to part with such a potent solution, but, as previously demonstrated, the serpent had the ability to warp space. A potential escape from this macabre "contest" was enough for him to take the risk. He handed the vial to Syvex.
"...By the way, just in case you're trying to poison me, I'll just tell you now that it won't have much effect. Just a thought for you." As a test, Syvex ingested a small drop of the sludgey fluid. Immediately, his surroundings grew clearer, and he felt more empowered. As a test, he shut the curtains on another window, then focused and opened two portals, one below a dusty violin and one immediately above. He imperceptibly chuckled to himself as he broke the loop, smashing the instrument to pieces. He then remembered that Riko was still watching him, wondering if it was really a good idea to help the serpent.
"Erm... right. Nothing." Syvex downed another small part of the solution, his power rapidly returning to him. He recapped the vial and handed it back after about half, just in case it were to be needed again. He hesitantly thanked the scientist before focusing in on the communicator, finding himself able to adjust the frequency slightly through application of his vaguely-understood "shadow energy". The static cleared slightly, but of course, the message didn't play again. Nonetheless, Syvex formulated a response.
"This is Syvex. I don't know who you are, but I'm in another of these battle-to-the-death things you mentioned. I'm guessing it's the same deal with you, randomly pulled from your home to kill some people with no real explanation. Honestly, I'm content with just escaping, since I doubt that we can take down someone with this much power, let alone several of them. If I find some way to get out of here, maybe I could help some of you as well. But I doubt that I could do much alone regardless. I'll leave my communicator on this frequency. Syvex out."