Re: LAST. THING. STANDING. [S!1][ROUND ONE: TELEVISION LAND]
01-05-2012, 02:19 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by Pick Yer Poison.
Aaron mulled over Change's idea. Meeting other contestants was probably a good plan. While not being threatening made Nizzo harmless to keep around, it also made him a useless ally. The thought of killing him to help his own chances crossed Aaron's mind, and he quickly dismissed it with a slight shudder. He didn't want to kill anyone - or anything - unless he was pressed into it, and even then it would be hard enough. I'm was just too nice for a battle to the death, he thought wryly.
A door came into view ahead of them. James Hyphenated-Surname headed straight for it, with Aaron, Change, and Nizzo in tow. He pulled the door open and the cacophony of noise only show animals could make greeted them. It was nothing compared to the relative peace and quiet he'd seen in the previous room. Owners and pets were clustered everywhere - in most pairs either one or the other was clearly not enjoying themselves. The group halted abruptly as their path crossed with that a frantic woman chasing a low-flying tortoise with feathery wings protruding from its shell. Aaron wasn't a pet expert, but he was pretty sure that wasn't normal. Change agreed. Nizzo was busy radiating happiness and swirling around inside the tank, and in all honesty wouldn't have known what a tortoise was to begin with, wings or not.
James directed them towards another door nearby, with a cluster of stars covering it. "You looked so lost back there. It's nothing to be ashamed of! Everyone is confused the first time they come here. Now, I'm quite sure you were looking to be in the show and not the show, if you know what I'm saying?"
Aaron had no idea. He was slightly worried that he'd managed to stumble into some black market jellyfish smuggling scheme.
"Why, the live show, of course!" James chuckled. "Not that what you just saw was the dead show." He opened it into a plush room with beanbags for chairs. "Please, right this way, Mr. Abstract. I'll just want to have a few short words with you before we put your fantastic pet on display, mmm?" He looked at Change thoughtfully. "Oh dear. Marvelous as your aquatic friend here is, I just don't think he's going to fit through my door! Best to just leave him outside, mmm?" Without waiting for a response from Aaron, he pushed him into the room and slammed the door shut.
Nizzo had become bored of his tiny aquatic environment, and this-male-one-of-riches had become occupied with something else, so he began to explore the mental landscape of the area he was in. He sensed the hostility in the thoughts of this-one-of-changing-shape and elected to avoid them. Instead, he occupied himself with reaching out to the minds of those nearby. To his surprise, he found that, other than this-one-of-changing-shape, this-male-one-of-riches, and this-male-one-of-honor, there were no sentient minds to be found. There were, however, plenty of non-sentient ones. Nizzo wasn't about to ignore a feast.
Change felt Nizzo's mind brush his own and quickly break off contact. Good. I don't like you anyway. For once, he found himself unwilling to reach out to Aaron, and closed his own thoughts to the aurumancer's. This left him with only his own thoughts, and he quickly found they weren't very interesting. There was nothing of value in them that he didn't already possess. But he'd already decided to give Aaron a taste of his own medicine by ignoring him until he stopped being so interested in Nizzo, and he wasn't about to go back on that so quickly. He decided to just watch the various antics going on around him instead.
Nizzo couldn't remember eating this well in a long time. Instincts told him that he only needed to leave three of the creatures alive. In his native environment, there had been no need to distinguish between different kinds of non-sentient minds, as animals were never in mixed groups. Leaving three in any given group meant there would likely be at least a male and a female left to breed and produce more to feed on.
Change realized something was wrong when people and animals alike started to collapse on the ground in the middle of whatever they were doing, still breathing but with their eyes glazed over, but it was only after about five had fallen over that it truly registered that this was not right. He looked around for the cause, but he had no idea what to look for and thus quickly failed to find anything. It occurred to him that Aaron might be in danger, and he immediately reached out to the aurumancer to warn him.
Nizzo suddenly felt the presence of four new minds who were definitely sentient, albeit singleminded. It was easy for him to figure out what their purpose was, as they were making no effort to guard their minds from his intrusion. On the other hand, he had no idea what a "copyright" was; the concept of punishing one for duplicating something another had made was a foreign concept to him. In fact, the idea of one sentient being punishing another was totally alien. He reached out for this-one-of-riches to try and see if he could make sense of it by using his mind as a starting point.
The copyright police really couldn't care less about any of this. Two of them ran up to Change and threw a blanket over him to cover the logo, then began pushing him towards a flatscreen television the other two had propped up in front of him. The screen flickered between static and various locations in some kind of bunker. Armed guards patrolled the hallways, and screams emanated from what were clearly interrogation rooms.
Change's thoughts and Nizzo's inquiries slammed into Aaron at the same time as he sat listening to James drone on and on about each and every pet in the show, combining to form a wall of mental white noise. He winced, then began to slowly pick out individual thoughts. Change, being more familiar, came first, and as soon as he deciphered the warning he sat up in his chair. When he realized what Nizzo's query about the men implied, he stood up and ran out the door, arriving just in time to see Change getting pushed through the television screen into an empty interrogation rooms, weak treads fighting uselessly against the two inhumanly strong agents. Aaron sprinted towards the screen as the other two agents raised hammers in preparation to smash it, jumping through just as the view changed to that of a small, empty kitchen. Then the hammers came down and the flatscreen was no more.
Aaron mulled over Change's idea. Meeting other contestants was probably a good plan. While not being threatening made Nizzo harmless to keep around, it also made him a useless ally. The thought of killing him to help his own chances crossed Aaron's mind, and he quickly dismissed it with a slight shudder. He didn't want to kill anyone - or anything - unless he was pressed into it, and even then it would be hard enough. I'm was just too nice for a battle to the death, he thought wryly.
A door came into view ahead of them. James Hyphenated-Surname headed straight for it, with Aaron, Change, and Nizzo in tow. He pulled the door open and the cacophony of noise only show animals could make greeted them. It was nothing compared to the relative peace and quiet he'd seen in the previous room. Owners and pets were clustered everywhere - in most pairs either one or the other was clearly not enjoying themselves. The group halted abruptly as their path crossed with that a frantic woman chasing a low-flying tortoise with feathery wings protruding from its shell. Aaron wasn't a pet expert, but he was pretty sure that wasn't normal. Change agreed. Nizzo was busy radiating happiness and swirling around inside the tank, and in all honesty wouldn't have known what a tortoise was to begin with, wings or not.
James directed them towards another door nearby, with a cluster of stars covering it. "You looked so lost back there. It's nothing to be ashamed of! Everyone is confused the first time they come here. Now, I'm quite sure you were looking to be in the show and not the show, if you know what I'm saying?"
Aaron had no idea. He was slightly worried that he'd managed to stumble into some black market jellyfish smuggling scheme.
"Why, the live show, of course!" James chuckled. "Not that what you just saw was the dead show." He opened it into a plush room with beanbags for chairs. "Please, right this way, Mr. Abstract. I'll just want to have a few short words with you before we put your fantastic pet on display, mmm?" He looked at Change thoughtfully. "Oh dear. Marvelous as your aquatic friend here is, I just don't think he's going to fit through my door! Best to just leave him outside, mmm?" Without waiting for a response from Aaron, he pushed him into the room and slammed the door shut.
Nizzo had become bored of his tiny aquatic environment, and this-male-one-of-riches had become occupied with something else, so he began to explore the mental landscape of the area he was in. He sensed the hostility in the thoughts of this-one-of-changing-shape and elected to avoid them. Instead, he occupied himself with reaching out to the minds of those nearby. To his surprise, he found that, other than this-one-of-changing-shape, this-male-one-of-riches, and this-male-one-of-honor, there were no sentient minds to be found. There were, however, plenty of non-sentient ones. Nizzo wasn't about to ignore a feast.
Change felt Nizzo's mind brush his own and quickly break off contact. Good. I don't like you anyway. For once, he found himself unwilling to reach out to Aaron, and closed his own thoughts to the aurumancer's. This left him with only his own thoughts, and he quickly found they weren't very interesting. There was nothing of value in them that he didn't already possess. But he'd already decided to give Aaron a taste of his own medicine by ignoring him until he stopped being so interested in Nizzo, and he wasn't about to go back on that so quickly. He decided to just watch the various antics going on around him instead.
Nizzo couldn't remember eating this well in a long time. Instincts told him that he only needed to leave three of the creatures alive. In his native environment, there had been no need to distinguish between different kinds of non-sentient minds, as animals were never in mixed groups. Leaving three in any given group meant there would likely be at least a male and a female left to breed and produce more to feed on.
Change realized something was wrong when people and animals alike started to collapse on the ground in the middle of whatever they were doing, still breathing but with their eyes glazed over, but it was only after about five had fallen over that it truly registered that this was not right. He looked around for the cause, but he had no idea what to look for and thus quickly failed to find anything. It occurred to him that Aaron might be in danger, and he immediately reached out to the aurumancer to warn him.
Nizzo suddenly felt the presence of four new minds who were definitely sentient, albeit singleminded. It was easy for him to figure out what their purpose was, as they were making no effort to guard their minds from his intrusion. On the other hand, he had no idea what a "copyright" was; the concept of punishing one for duplicating something another had made was a foreign concept to him. In fact, the idea of one sentient being punishing another was totally alien. He reached out for this-one-of-riches to try and see if he could make sense of it by using his mind as a starting point.
The copyright police really couldn't care less about any of this. Two of them ran up to Change and threw a blanket over him to cover the logo, then began pushing him towards a flatscreen television the other two had propped up in front of him. The screen flickered between static and various locations in some kind of bunker. Armed guards patrolled the hallways, and screams emanated from what were clearly interrogation rooms.
Change's thoughts and Nizzo's inquiries slammed into Aaron at the same time as he sat listening to James drone on and on about each and every pet in the show, combining to form a wall of mental white noise. He winced, then began to slowly pick out individual thoughts. Change, being more familiar, came first, and as soon as he deciphered the warning he sat up in his chair. When he realized what Nizzo's query about the men implied, he stood up and ran out the door, arriving just in time to see Change getting pushed through the television screen into an empty interrogation rooms, weak treads fighting uselessly against the two inhumanly strong agents. Aaron sprinted towards the screen as the other two agents raised hammers in preparation to smash it, jumping through just as the view changed to that of a small, empty kitchen. Then the hammers came down and the flatscreen was no more.
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