paixaorpg | It isn't the Apple, but it's enough. [Active]

Current Mood: chipper
Current Location: Niflheim
Current Music: New York, New York

Entry tags:

It isn't the Apple, but it's enough. [Active]

Characters: Brain Gremlin, Xigbar, drop-ins?
Time: Late morning.
Setting: Just past Niflheim.
Summary: The Brain Gremlin arrives, and would like some company for coffee.
Warnings: None at all!

The Brain Gremlin's eyes snapped open; he wasn't alarmed, but he was startled. One moment, he had been part of a large musical number, drawing in breath for the next verse... and then the next, while he'd shut his eyes, the sounds had stopped. The music, the crowd noise from the gremlin rabble, the alarms in the background? All of them were gone. He was no longer in the Clamp Center, preparing to explore New York, but in front of a large silver gate, as part of a line.

He could see buildings beyond the gate easily enough. A different city? A town? Very well; he'd explore that.

The little reptilian reached the gatekeeper's booth eventually, having to back away to better see the person inside. When asked his name, he had to admit to not having one. The blonde inside shook her head, insisting he answer to something. "We have to keep some record."

"Very well. I am the Brain Gremlin. Now, may I...?" Gesturing towards the buildings, he raised an eyebrow.

"Of course--but, sir! Here." Pamphlets and a journal were offered and accepted. "Please, enjoy your stay in Paixao."

"Thank you; I'm sure that I will. Ciao!" Revealing rows of small, sharp teeth in an impish smile, the gremlin continued on, taking a seat at the base of the first tree he came across. (Its construction was noted and dismissed; everything in the Clamp Center had been artificial, as well.) He wanted to see what could be done with the journal, and would.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

To say Xigbar had been skipping work, while technically true, would not be entirely fair to the nobody. He had been around the city; watching and waiting but mostly letting the real workload fall onto the shoulders of those below him.

In Xigbar's book, he had been hard at work and had earned himself a break, a quiet moment to recharge and satisfy his morbid curiosity about a bizzare lizard creature he had found on the journals. Whatever it was, it drove him crazy not knowing, he was after all and observational scientist.

He had even changed his clothes for the occasion, to a loose half-sleeve dark navy button shirt and a pair of black slacks to appear more casual.

Stepping from a portal just a short walking distance from his new acquaintance and subject of interest, the one-eyed nobody brushed his shoulders and started walking, pretending to look for his "coffee-mate" before taking notice and making his way straight for the lizard-thing.

The gremlin had just bid Alice farewell, exiting PIMP and sighing as he stretched. If every visit was so pleasant, he would rather enjoy his stay in Paixao... As far as visiting went, now, was this his other acquaintance? Closing the journal, Brain climbed to his feet and began walking to meet the man halfway.

"Good day, sir." Brain stopped a few feet away, tilting his head as he looked up at the nobody. Being so short really was unfortunate; he had no idea what could be done to encourage others to take him seriously, despite his height, and it made meeting in person awkward. "I trust you're well enough?"

As the creature approached Xigbar, he began to take note of its qualities as they walked toward one another. It was smaller then Xigbar had expected and it certainly didn't walk like he had expected either and when It greeted him, had it not been a 3-foot-tall lizard-man addressing him, Xigbar would have immediately recognized him as a high-class man of culture.

"And a good day to you" Xigbar replied, the foreign words leaving a strange taste in his mouth. As, while Xigbar might be more easily considered a man then his new compatriot he was not typically one of culture nor one of a particularly cordial nature.

The nobody decided trying to speak out of his own character would probably cause more problems then it would solve and relaxed his tone of voice.

"I'm the least bored I've been all day" ,Xigbar continued, hunching over to address the Mizard (the name Xigbar had begun to adopt in his mind for this peculiar specimen)

"and yourself?"

"I am fine and well, pleased to meet you face to face, and delighted to be here! It was an unexpected arrival, but there isn't anything I ought to be doing elsewhere. Even if I did have engagements elsewhere, I daresay this city is interesting enough to justify a certain inaction towards meeting them." Brain laced his fingers together, all enthusiasm, bright orange eyes, and brown-green mottles.

"Would you happen to know the location of the nearest cafe, or what currency is accepted?---I'm afraid I don't know where my manners have gone! Pardon me, please... We haven't even been properly introduced and I'm already questioning you! You must feel free to ask me whatever you'd like; I've already explained some points of the biology of my, ah, ethnic group to a charming young lady over the messenger. Now, before I'm drawn to another tangent: I'm Brain. You would be...?"

"Xigbar, usually." the nobody replied with a bit of a laugh, "it's good you've taken such an interest in the city, most newcomers don't take to the change so well."

Xigbar dug into the journal briefly before turning back and finishing, "Ah, yeah, There's one just a while through a residential district. While we walk, if you wouldn't mind elaborating on your.. biology?"

"It's a pleasure. I must admit, I wasn't in New York long enough to grow attached to the place. For that matter, I hadn't seen enough of it to find something to grow especially attached to." The gremlin clapped his hands together and shrugged, before gesturing that Xigbar lead on. "I wouldn't mind--not at all. What would you like to know?"

The Second began walking, making sure he wasn't taking too large of steps and .
"You had just moved to a new York? What happened to your old one?"

The nobody didn't fully understand what he had just said, but felt confident that he had faked it well enough.

Taking the creature's openness as a license to ask anything, Xigbar briefly considered his next question and after a brief moment decided on, "Well, what exactly are you and what are they like?"

"Oh, no, not quite." Brain waved a hand, before pushing his glasses up with a claw. "I'm not quite certain what would have happened to the original York, but I hatched in New York City. We mature very quickly, you see... and, well, what we are; there's the rub. There isn't any exact answer, as no one has named the species, to the best of my knowledge." He laced his hands together with a small shrug, and continued.

"The closest answer I can offer to your first question is that we are closely related to the mogwai---a small, bipedal mammal, which rather resembles a teddy bear, albeit one with large, unusually bat-like ears. When one eats after midnight, it will be found cocooned soon after, and from that cocoon, one of us will appear. We've been referred to as 'gremlins' by humans so far, presumably due to destructive habits, and a highly aggressive nature. Most of my fellows are rather bestial, unfortunately." Although tone of speech didn't change, the little academic did look somewhat embarrassed to admit this.

"Aggressive." The second mirrored the gremlin's speech while in thought, wondering if he could get away with naming them after himself 'Gremilcous Xigbarae'. It had a certain ring to it, but it was Brain's further exposition that truly drew him in.
He was more then interested now, he might even be doing research that could be considered useful to the Organization. He wondered what kinds of heartless such 'destructive' and 'bestial' creatures could create. Even more importantly, the nobodies they could make and if they matured as quickly as this one implied, the armies they could create. This could be useful, in fact, it almost assuredly was. Xigbar's next question came quickly,
"So where do mogwai come from?"

"I'm afraid I can't answer that question at all, because I have not heard a single word on the topic. It isn't in any encyclopedia, it isn't on the internet, there seems to be no media holding so much as an echo. It's a pity." Brain sighed, shaking his head sadly. "I have wondered on numerous occasions, myself. Mogwai are native to Earth, in all probability, but even that isn't certain."

"Ha, and more specifically then that?" Xigbar asked and then thought he should clarify himself, "That is, how is it that your kind reproduce, if you don't mind?"

Casually, Xigbar looked around, glancing for clues of where along their path they were, expecting to arrive soon enough.

"Not terribly, no, since it isn't anything we can be held accountable for; we multiply when wet. Infants form in a number of...I suppose they could be considered blisters, of sorts, on the back of an adult. The number of offspring depends on the amount of water one comes in contact with. Once about this size," Brain held up his claws to demonstrate, "the blisters break, and that new generation is already scampering about and hunting for itself. The entire process is finished in a matter of minutes." He paused, thoughtful. "I have no children, myself, so I speak with little authority, but it doesn't look at all pleasant, and it tends to make an awful mess."

"You don't say... that's very interesting." The nobody said with interest and glee, this creature was giving him an excellent idea and it only needed one more detail before he knew whether or not it was viable. As he was about to reach on his final question, he instead saw the coffee shop rise over the horizon.

"Ah, we're here! I'm glad I decided to meet you" Xigbar was actually being fairly honest, he was as glad as he could feel with no heart, but he was beginning to feel another faint glint of emotion as well, he was anxious and as they reached the door of the establishment, he popped the most important question of all.

"Do you have hearts?"

"It is something different, isn't it?" Brain beamed; he could smell the shop's stock already. "Excellent! It's certainly been a pleasant chat; I'm glad for it, as well."

He raised a horned eyebrow at the question, blinking behind his glasses, but answered anyway. "Why, yes...three chambers, just like any other reptile---or rather, the majority. Why would you ask?"

"Well, to be frank, to warn you" ,Xigbar said pushing the door open and requesting a table for two with a gesture of his hand.

"There are creatures here that sometimes come from outside the city, as best we can tell, they attack based on the nature of your heart. I figured I should warn you before you might come across a Lumen."

It was a bit awkward, but Brain climbed onto the chair quickly and easily enough. He made himself comfortable in a thoughtful silence, removing his glasses to polish before speaking. "I quite appreciate it; as interesting as this, certain surprises are never welcome, and I would like the information available. Is there anything else you could tell me about these Lumens?"

As he took his seat, Xigbar pondered what information it was anymore that was common knowledge about the lumens and whether or not it he was at risk of saying something stupid.

"Well, as best anyone has figured, so far..." The nobody leaned in across the the small table, his torso spanning it like bridge held aloft by his elbows. He paused briefly again and gathered his thoughts before starting again, "Our current belief, is that they are creatures, either made from or infected with some sort of strange super-concentrated hyper-light. Which, I guess makes sense when they're named something like 'lumens'." Xigbar gave a single congratulatory laugh to himself for squeezing a joke in there.

"They come in from outside the city, terribly dangerous place, people go out there and only parts of them come back. Which, I suppose, is another thing I should do my best to warn you about, so as you don't make the mistake of going there. See this city is domed for a reason and while I don't know the specifics I do know that if you put your ear against the walls where the domes meet the ground, sometimes, just sometimes you'll hear what sounds like gigantic claws scraping against the metal in what I can only imagine is an insatiable bloodlust."

Xigbar wasn't really sure why he made that up. There were several good reasons; to keep citizens from exploring the island, to make himself sound more trustworthy or even just the mild pleasantness of messing with someone's head a little. Good reasons all, but he wasn't sure if he really needed one.

"Hyper-light? Mmm, it seems I am a fortunate fellow..." Deciding it best to explain, Brain propped his chin on a claw and continued. "You see, strong light poses a particular problem for my, ah, ethnic group. We don't tan, we don't burn; we melt. I happened across an opportunity to treat myself with a formula for those of a nocturnal persuasion, a sort of genetic sunblock, and it is only because I seized it, that I am still here. Carpe diem, and all that."

Brain could only chuckle at the description of the noise. "Fascinating, in all honesty. It may beg investigation in the future." He'd seen bloodlust at work, and while it was far from acceptable in today's society, it did seem to be a great deal of fun---even to a casual observer.

Well, that wasn't quite the response he was expecting, he was trying to scare people away from the outside, not build interest. Had he any real emotions, disappointment would have shown all over his face. Instead, he gave a soft pause to the creature's words, considering the implications of such weakness. These creatures sounded oddly like heartless and yet distinctly different.

Brain himself fell silent for a beat, looking up at the nobody; the composure of an established academic muffling the inquisitive nature of a monkey after its fourth expresso shot and warred with the cheeriness of an enthusiastic tourist---a stranger in a strange land, searching for stranger yet. He leaned forward, lacing his claws together in the posture of an English professor.

"What do you suppose is outside the city, other than the lumens, and some sort of terrible monster?" The horned ridge over one eye lifted itself, making Brain look even more like some small scholar, scaly with age. "A shoggoth on the roof?"

Xigbar looked back down against Brain's glare that was pointed up against him with the same projection of nonchalance he would give if he were staring down the barrel of a gun. Inside, he was racking his own brain to figure out some way to discourage this brain from his incessant curiousity about the outside.

"Not much, I'd wager. I've never been myself. I've only had to clean up the messes left when someone decides to ignore better judgement and go."

"Alright." And he let it go, at that, that easily. Doubtless, if the host of his fellows had been present and night had fallen, Brain would have gone himself; as it were, he was small and alone and there was certain safety to be found in numbers, although those numbers could compose a godless green horde.

He supposed the savagry was entirely understandable; they had had no fall from grace. Still, they wanted to be civilized, and at least there was that want; it was a start, if anything was, and he could hope. Why wouldn't it count for something, the recognition that there were better ways?

"Care to share any information about the innards of this place, then? I've still got the brochures, but anything else would be greatly appreciated. You see, I had been about to embark on the tourist routine before being pulled here. Fine dining, concerts, theatre, a good deal of street crime---though we could watch that for free."

"You'll find plenty of the niceties of life anywhere and everywhere in the city, though real culture is a little fleeting but-" Xigbar paused to let a smile grow on his face "but, there's always plenty of opportunities to cause street crime"

"Excellent! We want the nicities; chamber music, watercolours, oils and marble, expensive pastries and convenient credit, even if we've been turned down in the past." The grin, for all Brain's reptilian features, was slightly vulpine. "To cause and to witness, I would hope."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It isn't the Apple, but it's enough. [Active]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject