in his coat and his boots and his blackheart machine

[realitymods]

[Every girl's crazy about a sharp-dressed man, and this man is dressed sharply indeed. How can you not like a guy with a top hat and a cravat? Tall, blond, and smiling, he catches a note that appears in the air in front of him. He is smiling even as he reads it and murmurs,] You monster.

[And then the note burns away in his fingertips, and the man turns to the Plane at large, showman-like.]

Ladies, gentleman: I am here to invite you all to an event two days hence at the Coliseum, where four of your fellows will battle to their deaths. The food is free; the sport is costly. These will be the first of fights but not the last, and we hope you enjoy the entertainment we offer in these next few weeks. A fair few of you will have your chance to live or die, whether or not you wish to.

[He fixes the angle of his hat.] And someone should try to keep the children from it. Small mercies.

[ooc: IC announcement for this!]

Comments

[charmandsmiles.livejournal.com]

[rolls his eyes] As if you don't.

[realitymods]

I prefer riddles. They're prettier.

[charmandsmiles.livejournal.com]

Give me a riddle, then.

[realitymods]

On command? I am no sphinx, nor a philosopher or a Norseman. The Norse love their riddles. Or they did or will do or have always done---dear me, my head aches under all of this relative speaking.

[charmandsmiles.livejournal.com]

[flatly] Reality's relative. You'll live.

[realitymods]

That's very likely.

[charmandsmiles.livejournal.com]

Who are you, anyway? A name would be brilliant, don't think I ever got one from the black hole bloke.

[realitymods]

Weber. Caleb Weber. But a man like a black hole, that sounds interesting. I've met a few of those before.

[charmandsmiles.livejournal.com]

Not like a black hole, he just went on about the one on the Plane. Y'know, the Black Hole That Isn't.

[realitymods]

Did he? What did he look like?

[charmandsmiles.livejournal.com]

[thinks] 1990's. Jeans, boots, trench coat. Blond. Ring any bells?

[realitymods]

Oh yes, and it tolls for us all. But I have a weakness for smokers. I think it's the poison that draws me in.

[charmandsmiles.livejournal.com]

Can't say I'm surprised. But I've got a question...all this death. What's it for? What's the point?

[realitymods]

Doctor dear, you must know that already. You're old. You've seen this old play before, repeated through the stars. It's trite and it's cliché and it's so inescapable. If only they could find another plot. It's for power, Doctor. It always is.

[charmandsmiles.livejournal.com]

[frowns] I might've seen it, but I can't remember it. ...You mean that literally though, don't you? It's a Machine, and machines need power to run. Cut off the power supply, and the machine stops working.

[realitymods]

That might be so. I'm just a mouthpiece, not a technician.

[charmandsmiles.livejournal.com]

You've still got a brain. Nobody who enjoys a good riddle hasn't got one.

[realitymods]

I've met some kings who enjoy riddles without knowing what they mean. But to answer the real question, I've never seen the machine. Most haven't. It's a bit of a family secret, for a relative definition of family.

[charmandsmiles.livejournal.com]

A machine that hasn't been seen? Maybe it's invisible, like that big block of invisible metal by the black hole.

[realitymods]

That thing is probably invisible just so someone can laugh when people walk into it.

[charmandsmiles.livejournal.com]

Might be. D'you know what it is, though?

[realitymods]

I don't, and neither does the man I'm talking for. At my best guess, anyway, and I like to think I read him well.

[charmandsmiles.livejournal.com]

[eyebrow] Who's the man you're talking for? Maybe I could ask him a few questions.

[realitymods]

I wouldn't be talking for him if he wanted people to know who he is.

[charmandsmiles.livejournal.com]

You wouldn't be giving me hints if he didn't want me to figure things out either, would you?