driftfleet | dreams in digital

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dreams in digital

[ Calibration Rooms ]
( for A-M characters )

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ROOMS BY CHARACTER

A - C

Connor

D - F

G - I

Haggar

J - M

Lup

(last updated: 1/21/19)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Heyyy, leggo. [She wriggles against him, poking at his side to try and tickle her way out of the headlock.] I'm not doing anything dumb! Who's the one who already blew himself up, huh?

[She learned her lesson! She's not going to run off alone again and act recklessly! Not if she can help it, anyway. These things do happen if it ends up necessary for them to move forward.]

Exactly!

[He dances way from her hands, but keeps his grip on her head, going for a noogie.]

I already have a monopoly on being the dumb twin for awhile, so you have to be the smart one. Got it?

I'm always the smart one!

[And ooh, it's like that, is it? Now that he's started the war, she isn't afraid to fight back. She chases him as he moves, her hands darting forward all the spots she grew up learning to target, where he's ticklish or where to get him squirming. By keeping his hold on her, that means he's still within range of her retaliation. This is a dance they both know well, even if for ten years she'd lost him and he forgot- it's practically muscle memory by now.]

Hardly. I just let you be smarter sometimes so you don't whine about it!

[He dodges as well as he can without letting go of her, giving her a merciless noogie while she pokes and hits every single godsdamn ticklish spot he has. This is a battle of wills though! And he is the better twin! He can PERSEVERE. He will SUCCEED.

Taako bites his lip and flicks the tip of her right ear, trying not to laugh.]

[The ear! He should know better. Well, two can play at that game, and she's not as afraid of getting grossed out as he is- nor is she interested in giving up, either. While she continues to poke and prod at the tickly bits of his stomach, she sticks her finger in her mouth and goes for his ear in return. Wet Willy time!!]

OH GROSS!

[The second he feels something wet touch his ear, he lets go. He really should have known better - going for the gross shit is basically her MO - but still! He dances away, swatting at his ear, trying to clear it of both the feeling and the wetness, rubbing his arm against it frantically.]

That's nasty, Lulu!

[She dissolves into giggles at once, edging towards him with her damp finger still lifted.]

Ain't no rules in this game, babe.

There's always the rule of don't get your gross spit on your brother!

[He dodges back, running to the other side of the counter as if that'll keep her away.]

I swear to all the gods, Lup! [He points to the board on the wall, the one that lists all their death counts]

If you touch me with your gross finger again, I'll add one to your death count!

You can't kill me here, dingus!

[She circles around the table to try and ambush him on the other side.]

Anyway, even if you could I'd just go lich mode, and then I could poke my fingers through you... ooh, bet that feels weird.

Don't. You. Dare.

[If these weird mind zones are like Parlay, then he can be killed and Taako is not about that un-life at all. He flips her a double bird with both hands and starts dancing from foot to foot, trying to figure out which way she's going to come at him.]

I'll stop if you admit defeat~

[She singsongs a challenge, forgoing a particular direction and just straight-up parquoring over the damned table, using Magnus's chair as leverage. Her leg knocks the bottle over, so good thing that's still capped.]

Neve-- SHIT!

[He sees her vault over and Taako drops to his knees, scrambling under the table. He shoots through and starts running, looking around in a panic for anywhere to go. Other than the kitchen, the only other place here is that black curtained room. He's trapped otherwise, so Taako does the only thing he can think of and runs for the curtains, bursting through to the other side and hoping it isn't a wall.]

Wh- Taako--!

[Her voice calls out to him, all mirth suddenly gone from her tone, instead laced with worry and- fear? But by the time she speaks he's already on his way through, too late to stop it. As soon as he passes through the curtain the air hits him like a bucket of ice water. Cold, so cold he should be able to see his breath, though he does not. The chill permeates through every inch of this place, deeper than skin, tendrils winding through his body to find the weakest parts of him and bring them to the surface. To pull him out, to draw him in.

The room he finds himself in now isn't nearly so domestic as the kitchen. There are no decorations, no furniture, no windows or doors. Every wall is draped in that same black fabric, soft and pliant but impassable, the floor a single layer of black material, like the glass left behind by the Phoenix Fire Gauntlet. Any attempt to search beyond the room is futile- even the path he'd come in from is suddenly gone, lost in a sea of identical fabric swathes. The atmosphere of this place is also... oppressive, steeped in negative emotions: there's fear, there's anger, there's loneliness.

There's so much loneliness here.

no one comes here

no one finds me

YOU SHOULD'VE--

There's no voice, but those thoughts, those feelings, linger nonetheless, bouncing around him like a specter trapped in this place. The room is empty, save for him, a frozen chamber of isolation. Lup is, for the moment, gone from his sight, and he's trapped.]

[It isn't a wall that greets him - although as soon as that bone-deep chill hits him, he thinks it might have been. The contrast between the Starblaster kitchen and this place is so stark his brain can't register the change at first. It's dark and cold and so cold he has to wrap his arms around himself and it still doesn't ward it off. The darkness recedes as his darkvision kicks in and he realizes this room isn't just dark, it's black. It's completely made of black fabric.

His footsteps are muted, all sound cut off. Taako turns and tries to go back, but the door's gone. He pulls at the curtains, but nothing gives. It's just endless rolls of fabric everywhere and he begins to panic. He has to get back. He needs to get out of here. This isn't where he's supposed to be. The panic deepens when the emotions start to hit him and his breathing goes ragged, ripping at the curtains to no avail.]

Haha? Very funny? Okay, joke is over...

[There's no answer. Just that oppressive loneliness and anger and fear. His ears stand straight up, goosebumps forming on his arms.]

Okay! I'm done now? Let me out! Lup? Lulu!

[He knows loneliness. He knows this feeling. He hates it. He thought it was gone when he remembered Lup, when he got his sister back. Why is it back?]

Lulu!? Lup, can you hear me?! Let me out of here!

[For a little while it feels as if she isn't here, or as if she isn't coming. His calls echo through the chamber and silence is the only response he's given. Finally, though, a quiet, ethereal voice is heard at his back, wherever he isn't looking at the time.]

I don't know how.

[And just like that she's with him again, but not like before. Her body is gone, leaving only the spectral lich form, a hooded figure in a red robe standing at the edge of the room near one of the curtained walls. Skeletal hands are visible below the sleeves, and eerie, glowing red eyes peer out of the shadow of her hood, any other features half-formed and buried in the dark around them. Even with darkvision, no amount of squinting can chase it away.

It's Lup, but... too reserved to be Lup, at the same time. Too quite, too still. Even as a lich Lup is usually so full of fire and energy, moving about, playing with her magic, hovering close to people so she can have a good-natured laugh when they're startled by her ghostly presence. The lich in this room carries none of her usual body language, none of her spirited nature. Like an empty husk, it watches him blankly.]

[The longer he's in here alone, the more difficult it becomes to tamp down on that rising panic. What will happen to him if he's stuck in Lup's mind forever? Will he cease to exist? Will he go into a coma? Shit - what will happen to Lup? There has to be a way out of here, right? He's not stuck here forever, right?

And then the answer comes and Taako jumps, almost used to the silence everywhere. The voice is so familiar, but it's...not. When he sees the lich behind him, he almost feels relief until he realizes something is wrong. He'd gotten used to Lup being a lich over the years, but there was always that fear in the back of his mind of what would happen if she ever lost control. Liches were insanely powerful and very unstable. Seeing her dab right after becoming one had done wonders for Taako's nerves, but seeing her here like this?

He feels all that fear and worry come rushing back in, leaving a copper watery taste in the back of his throat. He has to be strong though, especially now. If Lup is losing herself here, then having him lose his shit will only make it worse.

Deep breath in, slow and sure, then he steps forward, hands out.]

Lulu...? Are you okay? What's going on?

[A crackle of lightning courses its way through her body, making her shudder, similar to what she'd experienced when she'd first become a lich, and just like back then it fades a moment later, though this time there's no silly dab to reassure him- only her voice again.]

You weren't supposed to be able to come here. I didn't- [Another flash of arcane energy, and she backs up a step, away from his hand.] I didn't want you to get hurt.

[A sudden wind rushes through the room, brief and brutal, carrying with it an angry howl, a scream of desperation and terror. The sound echoes, Lup's voice but... not. There's something wrong with it, something alien. She's never made a noise like that before--

nononononoNONONONONONOnonono

no one knows

where are they?

please let me go

As if summoned by the wind, faint lights glimmer at a series of points around the room, wisps of energy, not yet formed. There are five points in total, and their presence lends some light to the place, though there's nothing else to see aside from the room itself and the two of them.]

[He can't help but flinch when the lightning crackles around her. It's a bad sign, a very bad sign, and it worries him for her. How did she go from being fine in the other room to this? Where did her body go? Rather than stepping back though, he moves forward, not sure what he can do other than maybe hold her? Reassure her? Barry knew this shit better than him.

When she backs up though, he lurches to a halt, frowning.]

I'm not hurt. I'm--

[He claps his hands over his ears as an inhuman howl rips through the room carrying despair in Lup's voice. She's afraid, she's in pain, and it rips Taako's heart straight from his chest. He's only just gotten her back but it feels like he's losing her already. Panic rises in him again and he reaches for Lup, brings his hand back, then does it again, holding her hands out to her reassuringly.]

I'm not hurt, Lulu. It's okay. You're safe. I'm back, see? I'm not going anywhere.

[She doesn't move away this time, though she does... hesitate, and she doesn't reach back for him.]

You're not back. You're not. As soon as you leave here, you'll forget again, won't you?

[The lightning comes again, bolts of it shooting off her body and striking each one of the little dots of light now decorating the room, and as each hits that light becomes an object. First comes the Phoenix Fire Gauntlet, then the Umbra Staff, then the Animus Bell. Aside from the relics there is also a human skull and a paper note, folded and sealed with her kiss. They don't have the same call as the objects in the other room, but they still cast that same light, making themselves known.

The lich in the room calms again, the sparks fading, but she's trembling, the robe rippling softly in the air.]

You'll forget, and I'll be here. Like always.

[He doesn't have an answer for that. He has no idea what triggered his memory coming back in the first place, or what would take it away when he left. If that's how it is though, he doesn't want to leave. He'll stay here with her as long as it takes for them to figure this shit out and bring her back to her body and his memory back to him. They've been running from the Hunger for a century, they made the Grand Relics, they fucking survived and that's exactly what they were going to do now.

He jumps at the bolts of lightning and sees the objects form out of that spooky energy, and realizes that this? This is still a part of his sister's mind; something in her that is full of fear and uncertainty and loneliness. And it hits him like a brick wall: this must be what she's been feeling since he can't remember her.

Is this all his fault?]

You aren't. I won't. I--can't promise it, but I can... Fuck, Lulu, do you think I want to forget again? You think I won't fight back? We'll figure something out, like we always do.

[And fuck everything. Even if he gets blasted through time and space he's going to hug his godsdamned sister when she's having a bad fucking day. Taako reaches for her again, trying to grab her hand.]

I'm not going to lose you again.

...N...no... that's not what I...

[Her voice is growing increasingly torn, grief mixed with regret mixed with sorrow mixed with pure unfiltered pain, the sound reverberating through the room like the echo in a cave. It bounces off the curtains and brushes past his ears, weaves around his hands, lifts his hair. She's always had a hard time hiding how she feels, when she's a lich. The form itself is raw arcane power bound together by emotions, and just because she'd chosen joy and love as her centers doesn't mean she feels nothing else.

This place is... a collection. Ten years of sorrow and loneliness and impatience all wrapped up neatly into one angry package, and he's been thrown into the box.

When his hand touches hers, it phases right through and the chill returns tenfold; it's almost like when he touched Kravitz in the Chug & Squeeze, her body little more than the absence of warmth and tangibility. She hesitates, lingering close to him as if drawn to the heat and vitality he holds within him, then hastily backs away, instability coursing through her lich form with another jolt of lightning.]

It's not... it's not your fault. I never blamed you. And- and I'm okay. I'm okay, Taako.

[He shivers involuntarily at the sensation, but it isn't anything he can't deal with. He's been getting used to the clammy coldness that seems to cling to Kravitz, so why not this? It's a little weirder since she's not solid, but the way she lingers near him before drawing away is like she needs the contact.

This place is horrible. It drowns in its negativity, like a neverending spiral that draws every speck of light into an unseen center, funneling it through itself over and over again until it's like there's no escape. He can't imagine being in this place for more than a few hours before it drove him insane, but Taako gets the feeling Lup was here...a lot longer than that.

When she draws back, he chases after her, desperate to keep hold of her in case she somehow vanishes again. Especially since he can see that paper note out of the corner of his eye. He has a feeling he knows exactly what's written on there and with his memories freshly returned, that pain is back again as clear as the day he found it and she didn't come home that night. Or any night after that.]

How is this okay? How is any of this- [He gestures to the room around them.] -okay? You were just fine a minute ago and now you're--

[He waves both hands at her.]

What happened?

I'm fine when I'm not… here. No one comes here. No one's… supposed to. I hid it away for a reason. [She hesitates, and then repeats,] You weren't supposed to be able to come here.

[A ripple passes through her body, shaken to the very core by something unseen, and she retreats from him until her back hits the curtains and she can go no further. Despite her incorporeal nature, the fabric is impermeable, blocking her from moving beyond, until she has no choice but to face him directly. In the darkness of her hood, her face is beginning to form some definition and features, or at least the illusion of one, and she looks kind of scared. Her red eyes dart back and forth, looking anywhere but at him.]

You know what this is, don't you?

[It's not rocket science, and he's a smart guy. She knows that she can be grim on occasion but this… her heart shouldn't be this dark. She doesn't think it should, anyway.

She's growing less sure over time.]

[He might pretend to be stupid and simple to make his life easier, but Taako can figure some shit out. The red robed figured lying in a cave, Lup's strange disappearance, the Umbra Staff in the skeleton's hands, a power to eat the magic of defeated wizards, a lich being nothing but arcane power, the way the Staff acted whenever he was in danger.

The letters L U P burned into the cafeteria wall.

He'd found her. It'd been a decade of not knowing she even existed, but even so, he'd found her. If he'd known, if Fisher hadn't stolen his memory of her, he could have saved her so much sooner. Taako pulls his hands back, looking at the darkness in this room, the impenetrable wall of inescapable grief and loneliness pervading this space. It pains him to think of her trapped in a place like this. It has to haunt her nightmares even now.]

...I can guess. Y-you know that...Even if I can't remember? You can talk to me, right?

[He can't let her feel this alone ever again.]

Because, I- well, I'm still an asshole, sure, but even then I can't exactly refuse you. You know that, right?

[Of course he'd offer that. He wants to help, and she's glad for it, but at the same time it's an unintentional cruelty. More than anything, she wants to be honest with him, and this place, this fragment of her soul isn't... healthy, the way it is... but the risk is unfathomable.

He has to understand that.]

Taako... would you trust me? If you knew what I am, if you knew where I'd been while you carried the staff? Without these memories, would you still want anything to do with me?

[She chose this life- or unlife- and it's a decision she'd make again, if she were forced to. The fact that she and Barry were liches and basically got one free death each cycle had saved all of their asses a few times, until they made it to Faerun. It helped them to survive and it meant that she could still exist back home, even if it was just as a spectre, after she died. Otherwise she'd just be a corpse in a cave, and Taako might be dead, too, without her to control the Umbra Staff when he needed it most.

But the thought of telling him here, when he still doesn't trust her- the thought of him rejecting her? She can't. She can't.]

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