Re: The Fearsome Encounter (GBS3G8) [Round 1: Circumlocution]
01-29-2012, 07:17 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by Sanzh.
Cthaasa was bleeding. Blood ran freely along the torn skin. Cthaasa stood up, uncertain of his balance. The ithaqu attempted to put some of his weight on the injured limb, and immediately recoiled as pain spiked along it. The wounded appendage was nigh-useless-- the gyrfalcon's beak had done a surprising amount of damage.
The alien watched the mannequin leave, wishing that it was within his power to destroy that wooden vessel. Cthaasa could almost feel the birds contained within Parliament watching him, regardless of what they were actually doing. He shivered, thinking of his encounter with his test subject and now-mockingbird. While part of him thought the passerine was a nonentity, he still regarded the former ithaqu as a threat that would need to be dealt with. Sometime, when he wasn't in imminent danger of bleeding out.
The ithaqu limped away from the lake, making sure to avoid being noticed as best he could-- he doubted anyone was there to notice him, but even then he did not want to be preyed on. He wished he was back in the armored pod standard to commanders-- or, better yet, back in his laboratory, away from the assembly of degenerates he was grouped with.
As Cthaasa walked, he idly reminisced about times when his life was in less danger-- even his penance in the military was better than this, or the experiments he had performed, or the times when he had performed esoteric tasks for the Controller for the promise of another fail-safe, keeping all of his plans safe from disruption--
The leech paused. He had no recollection of anyone called the Controller. Had someone tampered with his mind? The ithaqu couldn't dismiss the possibility that his own experiments in consciousness had somehow left him in a state where he could be equally manipulated-- that was something he never bothered to test. He stopped fully, allowing himself to think more fully. There were many abilities his experiments had not tested, but were nonetheless theoretically possible. Perhaps now was an opportune moment to perform a field trial?
Cthaasa closed his multitude of eyes, isolating himself from that sense as he lapsed further into thought. He could feel the familiar thrum of his implanted enhancements as they connected to neuronal fibers, and felt a host of possibilities begin to emerge. He began to make an attempt at scanning for other consciousnesses-- he wasn't entirely sure how, but surely it was possible.
In response, Cthaasa felt the vague presence of others-- the familiar pulse of neurons as others thought and acted. But there was something else-- thought without neurons, much more noticeable than the other consciousnesses. It was certainly an anomaly, Cthaasa assumed that much. Whether it was the source of these false memories remained to be seen.
A sharp pang of pain brought him out of his trance-like state. He needed to find this mental anomaly-- as well as retrieve his coin, get back at his former test subject, and at some point reacquire the priest as a thrall, but those were all extraneous goals for now. He picked up speed as best he could, limping with an odd gallop.
It was then, just as he began to draw near to the anomaly, that the imposing figure of Pope Triumphian emerged-- a figure that was in the way of his present objective, and that Cthaasa was in no state to fight-- and not likely to use his psychic abilities against. The ithaqu began to speak, his voice raspy and parched.
"H-hello?"
Cthaasa was bleeding. Blood ran freely along the torn skin. Cthaasa stood up, uncertain of his balance. The ithaqu attempted to put some of his weight on the injured limb, and immediately recoiled as pain spiked along it. The wounded appendage was nigh-useless-- the gyrfalcon's beak had done a surprising amount of damage.
The alien watched the mannequin leave, wishing that it was within his power to destroy that wooden vessel. Cthaasa could almost feel the birds contained within Parliament watching him, regardless of what they were actually doing. He shivered, thinking of his encounter with his test subject and now-mockingbird. While part of him thought the passerine was a nonentity, he still regarded the former ithaqu as a threat that would need to be dealt with. Sometime, when he wasn't in imminent danger of bleeding out.
The ithaqu limped away from the lake, making sure to avoid being noticed as best he could-- he doubted anyone was there to notice him, but even then he did not want to be preyed on. He wished he was back in the armored pod standard to commanders-- or, better yet, back in his laboratory, away from the assembly of degenerates he was grouped with.
As Cthaasa walked, he idly reminisced about times when his life was in less danger-- even his penance in the military was better than this, or the experiments he had performed, or the times when he had performed esoteric tasks for the Controller for the promise of another fail-safe, keeping all of his plans safe from disruption--
The leech paused. He had no recollection of anyone called the Controller. Had someone tampered with his mind? The ithaqu couldn't dismiss the possibility that his own experiments in consciousness had somehow left him in a state where he could be equally manipulated-- that was something he never bothered to test. He stopped fully, allowing himself to think more fully. There were many abilities his experiments had not tested, but were nonetheless theoretically possible. Perhaps now was an opportune moment to perform a field trial?
Cthaasa closed his multitude of eyes, isolating himself from that sense as he lapsed further into thought. He could feel the familiar thrum of his implanted enhancements as they connected to neuronal fibers, and felt a host of possibilities begin to emerge. He began to make an attempt at scanning for other consciousnesses-- he wasn't entirely sure how, but surely it was possible.
In response, Cthaasa felt the vague presence of others-- the familiar pulse of neurons as others thought and acted. But there was something else-- thought without neurons, much more noticeable than the other consciousnesses. It was certainly an anomaly, Cthaasa assumed that much. Whether it was the source of these false memories remained to be seen.
A sharp pang of pain brought him out of his trance-like state. He needed to find this mental anomaly-- as well as retrieve his coin, get back at his former test subject, and at some point reacquire the priest as a thrall, but those were all extraneous goals for now. He picked up speed as best he could, limping with an odd gallop.
It was then, just as he began to draw near to the anomaly, that the imposing figure of Pope Triumphian emerged-- a figure that was in the way of his present objective, and that Cthaasa was in no state to fight-- and not likely to use his psychic abilities against. The ithaqu began to speak, his voice raspy and parched.
"H-hello?"