(Untitled)
Who: EVERYONE
What: Event stuff happening!
When: RIGHT NOW?? Can be starting on the 27th and onward.
Where: EVERYWHERE
Summary: Creatures and creations and whatnot from the Battle Dome are appearing all over. This is for the sake of having a mass log available for everyone, so have a free-for-all~
Rating: ...Unrated, too many people 8 ( Read more... )
What: Event stuff happening!
When: RIGHT NOW?? Can be starting on the 27th and onward.
Where: EVERYWHERE
Summary: Creatures and creations and whatnot from the Battle Dome are appearing all over. This is for the sake of having a mass log available for everyone, so have a free-for-all~
Rating: ...Unrated, too many people 8 ( Read more... )
The lopped-off tentacle writhes a moment before disappearing with a flash of light.]
B-but they're usually c-completely docile...! [Whatever this is, it's not what Robert knows. It can't be the harmless aerial omnivore he's familiar with...
And zie's a sapient, everything in Robert screams not to harm another sapient - even one trying to harm him - and even if it's not real, though the simulation is so painfully accurate it's like Giles just cut the arm off one of his friends.]
Oh gods...
[The dirigible jelly is not deterred by losing a tendril. After all, they grow back (in a few months). Zie pulses twice with an almost mesmerizing purple tone before hovering closer to Giles - not that much closer, but zie's clearly sizing him up.
Robert's eyes flicker to the door. As much as he doesn't want to leave, it's dangerous if they get stung. Gentle or not, dirigible jelly venom is fairly potent, this one is clearly aggressive, and neither of them need to have heart palpitations when the clinic isn't even reliably accessible.]
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Come on...come and have a go.
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The jelly whirls, flashing deep blues with alarm - three bright flashes, the last one almost bright enough to stun - before zie lashes out again - zie can't reach far enough, though, and the tendril rebounds; the jelly pivots in midair, bright patterns exploding across zir surface like fireworks in a crystal ball. The translation magic conveys the feelings - frustation, irritation, annoyance, desperation - as the jelly turns to lash out at Giles instead, nematocysts primed and at the ready. The jelly is aiming at Giles' eyes - the bright blue stands out from the rest of him.
Robert sets his jaw and concentrates on the security pad. If Giles can hold the jelly off long enough...]
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Robert, what the hell is this thing?!
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He doesn't want Giles to get hurt. For a beat, the desires to not harm sapients and to protect Giles war heavily in his mind. He pauses, fingers in midair, body poised in a half-turn, and then...
He sprints the short distance back to the jelly even as it glows in another brilliant pattern of anger while some of the extended nematocyst-encrusted cilia are sliced off. Without quite acknowledging what he's doing to himself, he aims a blow at the soft tissues of the lower edge of the gas bell, above the eyes.
... As expected from Robert, it's not exactly a strong blow, but it's enough of one to get attention. Robert wasn't aiming to kill, he was aiming to distract. But even hitting the dirigible jelly in that way, even knowing it's not real - as the flesh gives under his hand in that instant where his fist connects, he feels real revulsion. It's basically like he punched a simulated family member in the face.
He shoves the nausea down, backing out of the way even as the enraged jelly swipes at his face with the remaining tendril.]
... D-Dirigible jelly. S-Sapient from Terra.
[Oh dear gods I just hurt a sapient...
Robert winces at the wrenching in his gut and mumbles,] They are... f-full of hydrogen... if you burst the ch-chambers in the bell...
[He's too sick with himself to say any more. Simulation or not, he's telling Giles how to kill a sapient. A sapient that, at home, was perfectly harmless and intelligent and he even knew some of them by colour-name and now he can't even bring himself to look at this simulation without wanting to choke.]
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But even if he'd been sick later, he'd done it.
His voice isn't unkind when it speaks. It's just rushed, and wary, and sad.]
Robert, cover your ears. Close your eyes.
[And Giles stabs out, aiming for what he's relatively certain are the hydrogen chambers.]
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The membranes might be tough, but they evolved in a world where practically everything is a gas bag. They are not equipped to deal with direct puncture wounds from metal implements. The jelly's bell tears open at the point as it pierces, somewhat like stabbing a sandwich bag full of water - and then gas begins rushing out of the punctured chamber, making a hideous whistling, rasping noise as the bell collapses inward. The jelly flashes brilliant colours of panic - a dying star - writhing in pain as several of the colony members struggle to repair the damage...
... And then nothing. It vanishes, in a burst of light that is much different - much harsher, less biological - than the jelly's glowing colours.
After a long moment of silence, Robert sobs. Just once.]
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Like Anya or Willow, it probably really isn't that bad in its normal environment, under its own power.
Giles rests a hand gently on Robert's shoulder, an announcement that it's over.]
Robert.
Can you get us out of here?
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... Not real. Not a real person. Just a simulation, a copy... that's all.
He finds the strength, somehow, to stand up. Then he nods.]
... Yes.
[And he slowly retraces his steps to the security keypad. Now that there's nothing to distract him - nothing like a real person - he'll be able to open the door easily.]
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He simply watches, and waits for Robert to let them out, and says nothing.]
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But it feels better. It... it feels better. He can focus on this.
With a soft sigh of pneumatics, the doors slide open with no further resistance.]
Th-there.
[The hallway continues, just as technological and sterile as the rest of the building, full of smooth curves - Giles will notice there are absolutely no stairs, just ramps.]
... I... had expected the simulation to truncate soon. Perhaps it... e-extends further in these directions...
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...lead the way.
[He'll...y'know, Be right behind you.]
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He walks down a long aisle, from which other rooms occasionally deviate - ending in mid-air in some cases, where a freestanding console inside will just suddenly be bisected into another simulation - until he reaches an entrance hall.
It's empty right now, but it gives the appearance of being a room that would be very busy were there to be people in it. Everything still shines, and there are a few Internet port-studded towers here, publically accessible to those who enter the building. The towers are metallic, topped with orbs that glow softly as electricity flickers inside them.]
... A-And this is where the exit would normally be...
... I am sorry that... I could not show you Terra at a better time. This is... c-certainly not the most pleasant moment. [And any real chance of it being less than horrible has been summarily erased.]
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I can, um, I can see how you would be very happy here.
[Now that he's had the chance to settle down without some eldritch abomination trying to attack him, Giles can survey his surroundings with a bit more fascination and a bit less horror.
He still stays behind Robert.]
"Would normally be"...?
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[Robert looks around the hall, trying to find places where the simulation might have failed. But, at least in this room, it looks pretty much spot-on.
He approaches a console slowly, taking his nanocomputer from a pocket on his lab coat, and slides it out of the case. This isn't the situation he imagined Giles first seeing it in, but...
Attempting to connect the nanocomputer to the port results in nothing but an error message holoprojected in angry red.]
Same issues here. The simulated computers can only do so much...
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We can't open the doors without a real computer?!
[He sounds...remarkably freaked out, at the thought. Like, serious concern is being expressed here.]
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