XX1: A Familiar Unknown

[stupidgenes.livejournal.com]

[There's a seemingly familiar young, red-haired soldier stepping forward from the midst of the Plane. He is unarmed but battle-ready with brows furrowed and stern gaze still locked ahead on an unseen goal. Hiding uncertainty with hardened eyes and set jaw, he takes another step forward while studying his surroundings.]

Dammit.

[What he once thought illusion is now a disorienting reality in tangible form both before and around him. He feels like he knows it; his eyes flash with recognition because he's seen bits and pieces of this before. Especially that 'inconspicuous' shop he's seen time and again.

Then, he turns around quickly, spinning on the balls of his feet. Something's behind him--at least, that's what he thinks.]

Who's there!? Come out!

[Even unarmed, he's a force to be reckoned with. He might not be stuck in that trap in Auldrant, but this could just as easily be another one.]

Comments

[promisedsomeone.livejournal.com]

[St. Binah? Yeah, that's going to fall soon. But it hasn't fallen yet. Why the hell is everyone from the future?

His eyes narrow somewhat.]

You saw that weird shop, didn't you? The people who own it are the ones who brought you here. You can go back to Auldrant by thinking about it, but you'll never be free of this place. Or them.

It's an experiment. [He practically seethes through the last word.]

[stupidgenes.livejournal.com]

What do you mean I'll never be free of this place!?

[The idea seems to insult his very nature. It sort of reeks of the Score, but at least, in theory, it was possible for Auldrant to be freed of its hold. However, who was to say freedom from the Score was any kind of freedom at all? How did those shop owners take him here? Are they entities powerful enough to maintain an influence as strong as--if not stronger than--the Score?

Asch is still thinking about not being free from here. He hasn't even gotten to the experiment bit that his other self mentioned.]

Can't I just stay in Auldrant by thinking about it all the time!?

[promisedsomeone.livejournal.com]

That won't work. Everyone spent six weeks here once, and there have been other times we were trapped. People have been forced to fight each other to the death, too.

[It isn't hopeless. He has to believe that. If he can just get control of the Machine, if he could get access to it like back then...]

[stupidgenes.livejournal.com]

[He's quiet for a moment, processing what his other self is saying. It sounds kind of crazy, but he's doubtful his other self is anything but serious.]

...so this is all an experiment. What kind is it? Where will I wind up if I think about Auldrant? The same time and place?

[promisedsomeone.livejournal.com]

I don't know. Some weird cross between a social and science experiment. Whatever it is, we're just toys to them.

[He folds his arms.]

You'll go back to the same place like nothing happened. It's pretty convenient until it breaks.

[stupidgenes.livejournal.com]

...until it breaks. [Huh. What the hell could he mean by that?] How does something like that break?

[promisedsomeone.livejournal.com]

Like any other piece of junk. It might not look like it but we're standing inside of a machine. Sometimes you can hear the gears turning, usually when something breaks down.

I've been trying to access the controls for a while now. I only managed to get to the surveillance panels, which gave me a limited readout of my own file before security shut me out.

[stupidgenes.livejournal.com]

[...even more curious than before. So this place is merely a machine--and those people from the shop are the ones who control the world within it. Asch honestly isn't sure how much better or worse this is from being shackled to the Score.]

So those people who brought us here are the ones who control the machine. How did you get to the surveillance panels?

[promisedsomeone.livejournal.com]

That's right. A few months ago, the Plane broke down and some people were given power over it. I came across one of the affected and used him to get into the system.

[That's not even taking into account the different timelines. Things are so messed up.]

The only thing separating them from us is knowledge of how to work the Machine.

[stupidgenes.livejournal.com]

Then there'll probably be another chance to take advantage of a breakdown in the future. Does it happen often?

[promisedsomeone.livejournal.com]

I've only witnessed it twice. They happened about twenty weeks apart, and it's been... [He pauses in thought.] Eighteen weeks since the last one.