ximilialog | [Mostly Open] So we'll press, and press 'til you can't take it anymore!

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[Mostly Open] So we'll press, and press 'til you can't take it anymore!

CHARACTERS: Precursors and you. And Eventually Newton. Hopefully!
LOCATION: A holding room in Ximilia Station.
DATE: Est. two days post-mission, after the kaiju is defeated and the orb is retrieved.
CONTENT: The precursors are revealed — and are finally removed from Newt's mind.
WARNINGS: Possession and the bodily autonomy issues that come with that. More will be added if necessary!

Closed and opened starters will be added as I go, which will be announced on plurk! But if you don't use plurk or would rather keep an eye out by email/tracking, feel free to use the tracking option and mark to receive notifs any new top level comments posted to this log! The log will involve an open starter to visit the precursors where they're cuffed/contained in the room, so stay tuned.

Also no rush once the open starters are posted!

Feel free to focus on the player plot log first and come back to this later.

CLOSED STARTER | THE DOCTOR
DARKLING'S TOP LEVEL | WHILE NEWT WAS SLEEPING...
OPEN STARTER | THE PRECURSORS, REVEALED
CLOSED FINAL CONCLUSION | THE PRECURSORS, REMOVED
OPEN PROMPTS | NEWTON GEISZLER'S RETURN

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[Word gets around quickly enough, and while eventually Rosinante does want to check on Newton, the knowledge that these things, whatever they are, are the ones responsible for so much conflict and cruelty within their crew is what has brought him here today.

He's not here to pretend to be pleasant, so he doesn't sit, or even slouch. He stands with arms folded, a cigarette between his fingers, as he eyes Newton's form and reminds himself that that is not the man himself before him and probably hasn't been for quite some time.]

Enjoying yourselves yet?

Oh, hey Rosi.

[They've been having a great time, thanks for asking. (Or, well, they'll pretend they're having a great time; really, they're just stubbornly clinging to this body because they refuse to be booted by a bunch of weak morons.) Sitting back against their chair, the chains around their ankles and wrists cling a little.]

No hard feelings about watching you get the shit beat out of you in Giva, right?

Eye for an eye, and all that. We were just looking out for Newton's best interest.

[And it was a funny parallel to come full-circle.]

Somehow I doubt he'd agree it was in his "best interest". Is he still in there?

[Not that he's sure he'd trust the answer to that question.]

Mmm. Parts of him.

[He'd be wise not to trust. They seem pretty confident, though.]

Why do you ask? Don't tell me you're hoping for the best case scenario; that's an unhealthy way to live, you know.

Just trying to understand exactly what it is I'm talking to.

[Except of course he's hoping. He has to. It's what he does, even when the rational part of him knows hope is no guarantee of anything at all.]

Seems impractical for creatures like you to want to stay trapped inside one human body. Can't be a comfortable fit, can it?

Oh, how rude. We're not an 'it'.

[They don't sound all that offended, though.]

Unless you mean — 'it' as in Newton's body. It is kind of an object at this point; nobody really rolling around in the upstairs brain, and all. [They're not really the kind of being to put any worth in another living body, left alone the soul inhabiting it; shows a lot, doesn't it?] Truth is, we could start to disentangle ourselves and leave... but isn't it more fun to consume Newton's consciousness into our own and linger around to annoy all of you?

Sounds counterproductive.

[Not that he'd like the things in there to come out and cause more destruction like they presumably want in general, but maybe there would be a moment of vulnerability in that departure that would allow them to be trapped independently and for Newton to be spared.]

Also sounds like a dumb gamble on your end. What happens if he dies with you all trapped in there?

... Who says we're trapped here?

[Their lips twist up.]

If he dies, we'll feel it, sure, no different than when we feel one of our creatures dying. We'd felt the kaiju on the train die, after all. [A pause.] It's fascinating though, isn't it? Feeling another living creature die... novel concept. Almost euphoric, in some way, especially when you know they're dying for you.

If Newton follows the same fate? We might have it in us to feel proud of the little guy.

After all, there's nothing more beautiful than dying for a cause.

[Rosinante looks unimpressed, again refusing to be goaded into reacting. He's not going to be their little entertainment show for however long he's here.

They're definitely trying to feel for his buttons to push, though. Doing a decent job of it, too. If he wasn't so used to concealing his own feelings they would've gotten somewhere with that last statement in particular.]

So not only are you not trapped there, you're not really in there. You're just tapping into minds and bodies from a remote location? How many at once can you access?

There ya go. There's the idea. Congratulations on having ears and a fraction of common sense; we know it must be hard, considering how little of that brain you all tend to use.

[They lean against the backrest of their chair, relaxed.]

I'm guessing you're fishing for information at this point?

Trying to see if we can do the ol' switcheroo to someone else's brain?

Not exactly. I'd like our brains to all stay more or less in the state they're in, aside from Newton's here. But I am curious. I've never encountered anything like you.

[This is, of course, not the response that first jumped to mind, but it's a lot less caustic. Of course he's fishing for information, isn't that what asking questions is by definition? Except for when it's smalltalk, but surely whatever these things are, they're smart enough to know he didn't come in here to have a friendly chat.]

Wow... never ever, huh? Probably for the best.

People don't usually encounter us unless we're pilfering their planet and destroying their cities.

[At least they're honest about it. Maybe a little too honest.]

... It's a damn shame. If it weren't for the rabid light magician and her weird, fucked up boytoy, we'd have blown you all to smithereens.

[Yeah, he'll have to thank those two later.]

How many planets?

[Though maybe the number is meaningless. It seems like there are more planets in the universe than he can wrap his mind around. What number would it have to be before they're a genuine threat to everyone?]

[... Hmm.

They smile at the thought.]

We never bothered keeping track. Should we have?

[Oh, but they do try. Half-heartedly.]

Scoop up a pile of beach sand in that big hand of yours and count the grains.

It'll probably balance out.

[All right. That got him. The horror registers pretty quickly, in fact. Hair rises on the back of his neck as his eyes widen. It could be a lie, of course, just to instill more fear, but he feels like this might be something better taken seriously.

How in the world does one stop something like this from continuing to consume everything in their path? No wonder Newton's world sounds like a horrifying, stressful place. Every world has the potential to be that, too.

Well. One step at a time.]

And that's just what you do, is it? Consume everything. Some day you'll run out, won't you?

[They look so very pleased by the look they're given.]

The universe is a very, very vast place.

... Endless, some say.

Do you really think we'll run out?

What kind of life is that, endless destruction? What's the point of it all?

[Because as terrible as it is, it doesn't seem like there's any goal if they truly believe the universe to be infinite. Just... exist to destroy? Why?]

Such a bleak outlook.

It's endless destruction for the worlds and people we wipe away, sure.

But for us, it's our community flourishing.

[Their head leans to the side, and they seem to study Rosinante.

Like something in a little jar.]

And don't we all want nothing more than to see our own flourish?

[They're not human, and they don't think like humans. Perhaps that goes without saying, but his exposure to non-humans both at home and here all still showed them to be similar enough, with similar wants and needs.

The similarities here are harder to find. They're right, these things - every community, every village and every nation, wants to grow and prosper. Sometimes because they all work together, but sometimes because those at the top are endlessly greedy. This feels like both of those things have merged into one, creating a species of ravenous hunger with no care for anything else.

Well, he wanted to know what they were. Goal accomplished, in some small part.]

I'd like to see our own flourish alongside others, without one consuming the other. There's space enough in all these worlds for everyone. Except, perhaps, your people. I'm sure our own here on the station will find a way to dig you out of Newton, because there's no place for you here.

[They're smiling, attempting to look terribly casual, but-

Their eye twitches, expression a little more forced.]

We'll see about that, Rosi.

You'll all have to just learn like Newton has, what happens when you try to fight back.

[Aha, so the tension can indeed go both ways. Good. Maybe he didn't exactly strike fear into the creatures' minds, but he'll take what he can get, for now. Keep them on their toes. These humans aren't going to roll over and give up so easily.]

Oh, I'm sure we'll all have some learning to do. Enjoy the lesson.

[Time to get out of here. Let someone else investigate. He needs a cigarette.]

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[Mostly Open] So we'll press, and press 'til you can't take it anymore!

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