tongueamok | XOqNI

Entry tags:

g[hadriel],
ic

XOqNI

Hello, this is Carlisle.

I mean, it's not Carlisle as in I'm actually answering you right now, so if you're trying to reply to me at the second, you should probably save your breath because I'm not really here. This is some kind of a recording of my voice, but this is my communicator. I'm going to assume these devices are as common here as they are in other places — not my world, but others, ones more technologically advanced than where I come from— so if you'd like to leave me a message, then you may do so here, or er...

Right. Here is fine. So just leave yo—

[beep]

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[Lance is more the simmering, glowering anger type, but if he were very deeply angry he's be being a lot more vicious in what he says. He's still displeased, for sure, but he's doing his best to put that aside and be pragmatic, especially since it's clear Carlisle genuinely didn't mean any harm.

But he hesitates, still, to continue, at least for another several seconds; he's still tense and trying to relax a bit, mentally and physically. Being overly tired isn't helping with that, but after a bit more silence he thinks he's feeling a little more normal again, and considers Carlisle's words.]

I think I have the most difficulty recognizing the compulsion when it's something that seems logical, or...

[He hesitates again, trying to decide how honest to be, before continuing.]

Or if it's something that seems to have an immediate, serious consequence if it isn't done.

[Which had been the case for the event that started all of this, and why the last command Carlisle had tried had been so dangerous.]

Fair enough.

[Carlisle ponders to himself, trying to think of something that isn't terribly logical (a feat in itself, given how the dominated mind will seek to justify itself no matter what he commands), but also doesn't have a terribly serious consequence. While not terribly creative, he can be inventive when he needs to be, and as such, finds a new suggestion after mulling it over a few more seconds.]

Let's try this, then. Disrobe.

[This choice is, perhaps unexpectedly or perhaps not, is also one of those things that goes though several checks in Lance's mind before he ever does it. There's a very specific and unusual reason for that which most people don't have, and the lack of any apparent need to go against that reason causes this particular command to immediately feel out of place; unlike the previous compulsion, where it warped into feeling necessary, this one just stands out as clearly coming from an outside source.

And, once that registers, he suddenly has a much better sense of what the external influence feels like as opposed to fighting what felt like an internal urge. So, although he gets as far as uncrossing his arms before everything clicks into place, that's it and he immediately recrosses them defensively.

Despite the gesture, though, and some faint annoyance at the particular choice of compulsion, Lance is somewhat pleased at this change; it's nice to be getting somewhere.]

I think I actually felt that for what it was.

[And he's not having to fight it so hard either; he'd have to work a lot harder to convince himself to go along with it, actually.]

Edited 2017-11-22 05:29 (UTC)

Good. [Carlisle smiles a hair, his nervousness mixed with genuine relief, but maintains his gaze on Lance, as well as the compulsion itself. He holds his influence just a few seconds longer than before, pushing his pupil to keep concentrating. He relinquishes it as he stifles another cough, unable to hold it without his own attention. He could have phenomenal control over individuals, it's true, but his curse wouldn't allow it even if his morals would.]

I was not looking forward to commanding you to put your clothes back on once you got to your drawers, but I felt that was harmless enough. Though, in all fairness, there are some who would shed their clothing without a second thought, you do not strike me as the type to do so.

[He does have to keep concentrating while Carlisle is continuing to use the compulsion, but it's on a completely different level than before; it's more along the lines of focusing on reading a book while someone is talking in the background, rather than the exhausting and stressful effort required to resist some of the previous commands.

It's also easier to feel the effects fade when Carlisle stops actively using his power, and Lance isn't so distracted as to not catch the hint of some sort of discomfort; he can't tell exactly what it is yet, though, and instead focuses on the response. That actually earns a small laugh, despite his previous mood.]

There are, and I'm not. Although I wish I could say that an eagerness to undress was the biggest problem with the people here.

[The people here suck in general, honestly. A lack of modesty is a very minor problem in comparison.]

It isn't, unfortunately.

[Carlisle has a lot of gripes about the people trapped in Hadriel, but their poor fashion choices tend to be lower on the list of priorities when they're all being manipulated and used by hungry, would-be deities.]

How did that feel? What were you thinking of to keep your wits about you?

[He gives a small shrug at the question, and although his arms are still crossed he finally moves out of the corner a little, closer to the table again.]

I barely had to think about it at all; it was completely different than before.

[Probably because it's so ingrained--he doesn't even go swimming in public so as to avoid taking his shirt off--that it stood out as a completely alien idea. But he doesn't want to explain any of that, so he tries to figure out a way to answer with enough detail while avoiding the topic.]

With making the tea it didn't seem too unusual, so concentrating on not just doing it was really difficult. And the other time, it just... Warped into a sense of needing to act in self-defense.

[And so both of those had been very hard to recognize and then fight the instincts necessary to override them. But--]

This didn't seem normal and I guess wasn't something that could twist around in my head into being imperative to do, so it was easier.

I need your help. Immediately.

Can't this—

[No, she wouldn't be calling if this could wait, Carlisle notes before the full thought even escapes him. Miss Tua is a very structured sort of person who wouldn't waste time on idle chatter when there are constructs roaming the city.]

Right. Where?

[No. It cannot.

Maketh sends over their coordinates immediately.]

She is dying. Hurry.

[She? Who is she? Is Maketh talking about herself? Did she take such a bad blow to the head that she thinks she's someone else?

Carlisle decides, wisely, that he should probably save those questions for when he gets there.]

I will be there shortly.

[After her chat with Rose and Law, Rey remains undeterred by her mission objective to help Rose and her particular diet problem. She's beyond being conspicuous at this point, now that she knows that the issue at hand doesn't have something to do with physical sciences or genetics.

[In a way, that's almost a good thing, because that just means that Carlisle is her next stop.]

Hey. You got a moment?

Of course, Miss Rey.

[These have been trying times, what with the sand and suns and hard conversations with certain individuals, but Carlisle always tries to make time for Rey. He owes her more than she'll ever allow him to repay, after all.]

I've been meaning to call you myself, if for no other reason than to check on you. See how your recovery was. Been distracted, of course. The weather and all.

[Also, something about not wanting to remind Rey about how her girlfriend is gone, he's sorry, etc. She understands and probably doesn't want to hear it, surely.]

Edited 2018-01-23 04:08 (UTC)

...Ah.

[That's all she can manage at first, mostly because she has a very distinct feeling already as to what he means by her "recovery". It would explain the initial reason for what summoned him to her place a few weeks ago.]

Don't worry about that. We've had a lot of shit going on.

[Another pause. Right. Might as well get down to business:]

There's someone here who has a bit of an... eating problem, because of this experiment some asshole did to her the last place she was. Sort of like your spaceship.

Was looking for a way to reverse what happened to her, but it turns out it's not as simple as biology and science. Actually it isn't even physical at all. So, um. Wondered if maybe there's something you could do about it, if it's magic-related or something. Would really rather avoid going to the gods about it. [For reasons Carlisle can understand.]

Is it magic-related?

[Because he can do magic, but if it's something else, well. They'll maybe cross that bridge if they come to it.]

Experimentation sounds like it'd be better suited for an alchemist or a doctor than a cleric, but if it isn't physical, then I suppose it could be magical. Or aural. But what kind of magical eating problem is it, if it is magical?

The one doctor who could look into it said that it wasn't physical, despite the experiment changing her physiology. So that puts us back to square one.

[More or less. But it does give them a better idea on what is going on now than before.

[She's quiet again for a few seconds. This is the part she wasn't looking forward to explaining.]

It... makes it so that she can't sustain herself on anything but human flesh. She couldn't even finish a damned cup of tea because nothing sits well with her now.

Hope was providing her with meat, but it'd be better to look into something more permanent than cutting more deals with their kind.

[There's a reaaaaaaaal uncomfortable pause.]

Is... is she an undead?

Don't think she is...?

[Rey recalls the way Rose turned into a more beastial type form than something zombie-like.]

Pretty sure she's not.

Ah. Good. The whole, ah. Flesh-eating thing. Usually indicative of an undead, or some kind of terrible beast. Demonic, perhaps.

[Oof, this is awkward.]

Well, she did say that her kind were born from negative human emotions, which is probably why she's been made to only eat humans after what was done to her.

[It's a good thing that Rey got curious and started asking questions about Rose's people, because this is good stuff to know if she's going to be doing this.]

But she's trying not to, to the point where she's starving herself because she can't eat anything else. [AND THAT'S NO GOOD.]

[Negative human emotions, eats people, 'her kind.' Oh. Oh.]

It's Rose, isn't it?

[Guess it shouldn't come as a surprise that Rey wouldn't have been the only one Rose shared her predicament with, to some degree.]

Y... es...?

[Shit, is this going to be a problem already?]

I see.

[Another quiet pause.]

I would need to know more about this energy that she's made from. More about just how this experimentation affected her, and how it continues to affect her. Find out if it can be manipulated in any way. I mean, I work in energy, utilizing its positive nature for healing, but the negative version of it isn't foreign to me. Just...

[Uncomfortable.]

Tricky. In my world, such arts are primarily used for necromancy, with demons being called from other planes rather than created from energies around us, as she has described. Clerics deal only in positive energies, but...

[A soft hm on his end comes through the speaker.]

My... particular set of skills might actually be just what she needs.

[You know, Rey. Those skills.]

She talked about this shit called "ki", but it sounds like you might have a better grasp on that than me.

[Rey isn't even going to try to describe that weird Japanese mythology crap because it all seemed so weird. Interesting, but weird.

[While Carlisle's answer does sound promising, it's disconcerting as well. She's already seen what the mere act of healing does to him>]

Hey, this wouldn't seriously hurt you or anything, would it? [Because it sounds like it would seriously hurt.]

[Annnnnnd another pause. His voice softens with uncertainty.]

I don't know. I admittedly have not tried anything like this before, so... I don't know what it could do. I can control aural energy, but what about that which is demonic in nature? Could it taint my own energies, like a possession? Or will it rebuke my attempts to interact, even if on an unconscious level? Or will any lapse in control on my end result in her being exorcised in some way from her own, corporeal form?

[He sighs. All of those potential consequences are... frightening at best, and dire, at worst.]

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