Day 55: Cafeteria

[mustbethesuit]

Comments

[moarnomsplz]

[from here]

Ax followed the human male silently. He had not performed the morning ritual, about which he was normally more dutiful than enthusiastic. He wished to do it now. However, doing it aloud would have been the equivalent of plastering his species on his artificial skins. Human artificial skins were all much the same to him, but these were not the clothings he had been wearing when he left the mall. These were mostly black, and more complicated than what Rachel had given him.

From the water that gave birth to us..., he thought, and felt somewhat better.

He reached I, Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill, Andalite warrior-cadet, offer my life, as he was led into a room full of humans, male and female, young and old. He no longer had a tail blade to press against his own throat, but he felt it was having done as well as he could that mattered. Wasn't that a human concept? Sometimes they were wiser than they seemed.

The humans here represented two different groups, some in black, like the clothings Ax had, some in different artificial skins. Those had primitive human projectile weapons. The man who had ordered Ax to follow him left him with the unarmed group, where Ax looked around at the varied humans, many of whom appeared to be as confused as he was. There was no single enemy to face, then, and no answers. Not yet, in any case. He also discovered around his neck a metal chain, which had jingled as he walked, and on which was stamped, Alexander Kusnitz, D Class, 02946454M. Trying to make sense of this, he paid little attention to the human female issuing orders. They had confused him with someone else, clearly, possibly someone who had had a hand in a violation of the rules here.

"I believe, leeve, there has been a mistake. Miss-take," Ax said to one of the armed humans, showing her the pieces of metal. "This is not my name, and I was not here for the infraction, shun."

"You heard her. Start cleaning," was the only reply he received.

Imitating the humans being forced to clean as best as he could, Ax found a bucket and began to swipe at the floor with a sponge. It did not seem as if they were creating Controllers here, and if anyone knew who Ax was, there had been no sign. It wouldn't have made sense to infest humans, only to keep them locked up. But he would remain wary, in case this were a new Yeerk plan. He could use his skills at passing for human to blend in, and try to learn what the purpose of this place was from one of the other unlucky prisoners.

[for Brainy!]

[emotionl4arobot]

Brainiac 5 woke slowly, the hazy cobwebs of the night before gradually clearing away in the light of morning and it dawned on him that something was different.

He sat up at once, peeling back the blankets and staring down at the clothing he'd been given now. A military uniform of some sort, outdated by his definition but clearly meant for that sort of role. There was even a strange hat of sorts with a pin set in it that, when he looked at it more closely, made his stomach seem to sink. It was unsettling enough that Peter knew of what had happened, but now he apparently had to wear a constant reminder as well.

He wondered if he could remove it and leave it in his drawer, and was contemplating doing exactly that when the door opened and instead of a nurse, a soldier from the day before appeared and ordered him out of the room in a tone that brooked no discussion on the matter.

Brainiac 5 had had enough experience in the past with the Science Police to know better than to try arguing or demanding answers at this point, so he remained silent as they left the room and headed into the cafeteria where, instead of the meal he'd been expecting, there was a large number of cleaning supplies and some very basic, almost insulting, orders.

Apparently keeping quiet until he knew more for certain was going to be more difficult than he imagined.

Fortunately the Coluan knew well enough that he could survive without a meal just yet, and he doubted the plan was to starve them, so he did his best to ignore the empty feeling in his stomach as he took a mop and headed to another part of the room. There was another patient there already, and judging from their reaction, they didn't know much about what had happened the day before. It could possibly serve as a distraction while he worked to talk with someone else, not to mention he did try to help others where possible, so Brainiac 5 waited until the other boy got back to work before approaching him.

"I'm guessing you weren't here for yesterday, were you?"

[moarnomsplz]

Ax looked up at the young human male, then pushed some of the hairs away from his eyes to get a better look. This head covering was restrictive and annoying, and served mostly to remind him that he only had two eyes now. He did not like the feeling that anyone could sneak up on him from behind.

"I was not," he told the human. "I do not understand, stan-duh, the purpose of this punishment." He stopped moving the sponge across the floor to consider the human. He appeared to be older than Ax, and not yet an adult, but Ax was still not a reliable judge of these things. "The ones who caused the disturbance should be the ones cleaning-ing." He had little information from which to determine the purpose of this place, but causing humans to resent each other didn't seem productive.

Perhaps there was a reason for it he did not understand. Ax recognized that it was possible he was unable to think this through due to his embarrassment and worry over being stuck in this body. Human emotions were not, in general, pleasant. They affected the entire system in ways he was unused to.

[emotionl4arobot]

Brainiac 5 tilted his head, brow furrowing both at the boy's odd method of speaking and his answer to the question. He set his mop on the floor and pushed it around a little in a way he calculated would imply he was working without putting out too much effort. It likely wouldn't work for too long, but it would be long enough, theoretically.

"I don't think they really took a list of names on who was directly involved in the disturbance yesterday," he answered after a moment. "This is likely a tactic to show dominance, since the general's only just taken over."

He doubted it would be entirely effective, however; at best all it would do would show the patients - was that even the correct term any more? - the extent of the general's forces and if there were any problems with them that could be taken advantage of. Which was something he was intending to keep an eye open for, but he didn't imagine everyone else had the same ideas.

[moarnomsplz]

There were so many ideas swirling around in Ax's brain, he wondered if the human mental capacity were not as efficient as its Andalite counterpart. Foremost among them was the thought that his friends must have noticed he was missing by now, and would be on their way to find him. If he had not been incarcerated, and had had his morphing abilities, he would have taken this as a given, but right now, it made his human throat feel sore in that odd way again, the one that seemed to mean his eyes might leak water soon. He tried to ignore that, and to push his fear, not befitting a warrior-cadet, away, and focus on the human's words.

"There has been a coup?" he said. "I do not know where I am at all. A-tall. I have no memory of being-ing transported here."

Marco had once told him to restrict his answers to human conversation to simple "Yes"es and "No"s. Ax felt a more proactive approach was called for in this case, and at any rate, Marco was not his prince.

[emotionl4arobot]

"Something of the sort," Brainiac 5 affirmed. "And you're not alone there. In fact, my research indicates that no one here is aware of arriving beyond waking up in their rooms."

He allowed that to sink in for a moment, taking the opportunity to look over the new arrival carefully. While visually he didn't seem that unusual, the way he spoke seemed very unusual and the Coluan couldn't think of a single time he'd met someone who seemed to enjoy repeating sounds and words as the other boy did.

Of course, speech problems didn't tend to be common in his own time, so it was possibly something like that.

Filing the thought away for later, Brainiac 5 spoke up again. "Since you're new, I'd be happy to supply information that you may need. You can call me Brainiac 5."

[moarnomsplz]

Ax was concerned for a moment by the numerical designation, but when the human stopped at only one digit, he relaxed. That was not the system the Yeerks used, but neither did it sound like a human name. "Brain-ee-ack five," he repeated, quietly. "That is an unusual name. Mine is Phillip, Phil-lip-pah." He used the name Prince Jake had given him for his day of school, and couldn't help but emphasize the last syllable. The P sound was so satisfying to say with human mouthparts, almost as good as Z. "I am from out of state." He felt certain this explanation would account for any small lapses in his excellent imitation of human behavior.

There were many, many questions he wanted to ask, but Ax began with the most important. "Why are we here?" He stood up straight, careful not to become unbalanced (two really was an inefficient number of legs), and showed the human the metal pieces on the chain around his neck. "And why do we have these? I tried to explain, plane, that this is not my name."

[emotionl4arobot]

"It's Coluan," Brainiac 5 answered. "So it's understandably unusual when compared to human names."

If he was entirely correct about things, then it was actually more of a title than a name, but it was difficult to explain to those unfamiliar with Coluans in general. And he was certain that Phillip would far prefer to hear more about the institute itself than Brainiac 5.

He moved to automatically assume his preferred stance for delivering information, but caught sight of the soldiers watching them a second later and, with a faint sigh, resigned himself to trying to appraise Phillip of the situation while cleaning the floors instead. He hardly wanted to attract undue attention, after all.

"As near as anyone seems to know so far, we've been brought here for a largely nebulous purpose. Judging by the changes today, we're being trained to participate in something, but as to if it's someone's private army or something else is difficult to tell. Almost everyone seems to come from different times and universes, so it's hard to say which world and time we're in exactly. Either way, I'm afraid you're unlikely to be seeing anyone you're familiar with any time soon."

He should likely be more sympathetic about that, but as he saw it, it was simply a fact that everyone had to deal with, so trying to make it easier on the boy would hardly change anything. Instead Brainiac 5 glanced at the metal identifiers, similar to his own.

"We're also given false names here by the staff. I'm not certain as to why, but there likely is a reason to it all."

Even if that reason was only to confuse and keep them off-balance enough for them to be less effective against those in charge.

[moarnomsplz]

While Ax had not strictly paid attention to xenobiology lessons, that species was entirely unfamiliar to him. He thought he would have remembered hearing the name, if nothing else. Besides, the Coluan looked exactly like a human, and Ax was certain (pretty certain) no other species had evolved so bizarrely.

Different universes should not have been possible, unless the Ellimist had disrupted the order of things, and this did not feel like his doing. Ax distrusted him on principle, but he was not random in the ways he chose to interfere, and whatever his reasons, something on this scale did not seem to be his preferred method of interfering.

He considered again that this place was for creating Controllers, and rejected that idea again. Once humans were their prisoners, it was not like the Yeerks to attempt persuasion, or waste time preparing the hosts for something else.

Ax also had no reason to doubt that Brainiac 5 thought what he was saying was true, nonsensical as it seemed. "Are you saying-ing," he said, slowly, "that even if I found the means to contact my friends, it is possible, si-bull, I would not be able to reach them? And, it is not that I don't be-leeve you, but you appear completely human."

[emotionl4arobot]

"It's highly likely that, yes, if you found a way to try contacting anyone outside of this institute, you still wouldn't be able to contact your friends. Not unless you're extremely fortunate and this turns out to be your own world and time, but that's not statistically probable."

Yes, it was likely harsher than he should have been, but, again, he saw no reason to break things slowly when the truth would be painfully apparent (in more ways than one) later.

Besides, it stung a little that the boy felt the need to point out that Brainiac 5 appeared human here.

"Everyone does," he answered flatly. "Regardless as to what we looked like before. Anyone who isn't normally human or at least appears human does here. It's rather... unsettling."

[moarnomsplz]

Emboldened by that admission, Ax decided a calculated risk was called for. It made him feel flooded by human adrenalin, which was always disconcerting, but his need to know the extent of the danger he was in was greater than a primitive system's chemicals. Perhaps, too, the news that Prince Jake and the others were out of reach was making him somewhat reckless.

"I am not human, either," he said, with more boldness than he felt. "I lied about my name before. I am Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill. Ist. Isth-ill. It is not so easy to say with human mouthparts." He took a breath, because his human body seemed to demand it, before revealing the most potentially dangerous fact, as if the name were not enough to make it clear. "I am an Andalite."

He watched Brainiac 5 carefully for a reaction to this. Outright violence would be impossible here, Ax judged, but this did not help him feel less uneasy about it all.

[emotionl4arobot]

He very, very carefully avoided pointing out that the fact 'Phillip' wasn't human was not exactly surprising. While initially Brainiac 5 had been willing to assume he simply had a very strange speech pattern, this answer explained a lot more.

"I'm assuming then that you're rather different in appearance from humans?" he asked dryly, with a hint of amusement. At the very least he apparently had a different vocal system, if 'human mouthparts' were so odd to him.

Catching a glimpse of a soldier frowning at them, Brainiac 5 sighed and pushed the mop around the floor more while he considered Aximili's revelation. Much like Brainiac 5 himself had initially, he was waiting for a sign of recognition or something of the sort. He doubted it would happen much in the institute, however. There were too many people from different worlds interacting here.

"I'm unfamiliar with the species, much as you are with Coluans. But since I've been here for longer and had to get used to being trapped in organic, human form, I can empathise with your difficulties. Are Andalites vastly different?"

[moarnomsplz]

The aftermath of the adrenalin rush was almost as strange as its arrival. Ax felt his shoulders slump in relief, felt a sudden odd weakness, and his human mouth turned up in a smile without him consciously trying to make it.

"Yes, we are very, verr-ee different." Ax also noticed the armed human looking their way, and knelt down to rub at the already-clean floor with the sponge. This made conversing somewhat easier, because he was not preoccupied by keeping his balance. "My human friends tell me I look like a blue deer, crossed with a scorpion. Ee-on. And I do not... did not... have a mouth." He looked down, the smile gone. He would have traded the fun of human speech and the wonders of being able to taste to have his tail back. "I was also able to change forms. Form-zuh." He had never had to explain this, having always been able to assume someone knew the moment he said 'Andalite.' It was unpleasant to have to use the past tense. "But I cannot anymore."

Something the Coluan had said was interesting and distracting, fortunately, and Ax looked back up at him. "You are not organic in your usual state? I have encountered androids before."

[emotionl4arobot]

A shapeshifter who wasn't as fluid as Durlans tended to be, perhaps. At least the power set wasn't anything Brainiac 5 was unfamiliar with, so there wasn't even a flicker of surprise on his face at the revelation.

"That's an extensive level of difference, so I can understand at least a little about how difficult the change must be for you."

Which linked back neatly to his own situation and Aximili's comment. "No, Coluans are... well, androids are likely similar enough for the purpose of explanation. I was at least humanoid, however, so the shape differences aren't as much of a concern for me, however the emotional side of things..."

He smiled slightly, expression softening to match the other boy's. "It's very disconcerting initially."

[moarnomsplz]

"I have been human before, but now I am stuck." Ax didn't like that word. There was a finality to the harsh sound that nothlit lacked.

"And I have had the same experience. Human emotions are more distracting-ing than what I am used to." He appreciated Brainiac 5's calm attitude about all of this, finding that it helped him to maintain his own calm. "As are the sounds they can make with their mouths."

He would have mentioned taste, as well, but though this room looked similar to the one in which the teenage humans had eaten at Prince Jake's school, there were obviously not going to be any delicious foods served here for now.

"Are Coluan emotions also very different from humans'?" Ax could not help but think of the Chee, and of Erek, who had cried from his simulated human eyes tears that had seemed real, but had been a holographic expression of a true emotion.

[emotionl4arobot]

The word 'stuck' seemed to hold a particular emphasis to Aximili, and Brainiac 5 felt an odd pang of sympathy for him there. He'd felt much the same way initially; trapped in an organic body that, while something he'd always wondered about, had been thrust upon him with little warning or consideration for his own comfort. He imagined being a shapeshifter that was incapable of change would be equally disconcerting.

His smile widened at the comment about the sounds mouths could make, choosing not to pass judgement there, since while it was unusual, he couldn't see what harm would come from it. People hadn't targeted him for not being human, after all, with the worst he'd gotten in regard to that being some disbelief. He didn't see why the Andalite should be too worried about blending in there.

Instead he focussed on the question asked. "In a way," he began. "Generally speaking, Coluans don't feel emotions. My people like to think they eradicated such so-called pointless things some years ago, relying instead on pure logical thought and reason. I, however, disagree with my people's chosen path. Where they seek to move away from the organic world Coluans used to be a part of, I seek to understand it, maybe even be a part of it. For that reason, I created many complicated programs and subroutines that were designed to mimic human emotions."

He smiled wryly. "But this experience has taught me that I may need to make some adjustments to my programs, assuming I ever find myself back to being Coluan again."