revivalproject | [ open ] Calibrations of an Archive

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[ open ] Calibrations of an Archive

WHO: Jonathan Sims & YOU
WHERE: Jon's Headspace
WHAT: Calibrations!
WHEN: Calibrations Event
WARNINGS: Eyes, Body Horror, Death, Talk of Death & Genocide, Apocalyptic Themes, Fears & Traumas - All the Good Stuff™

Mingle

Over here~

Calibrations

This room is hardly a room, it's a nightmare. Circular and certainly the rough dimensions of a room with an incredibly high ceiling, it lacks distinctive features such as walls, windows, furniture or even an obvious floor to walk on. Instead, the visitor of this room find themself walking on an eye, its pupil focused right on the visitor and thus always right underneath their feet. Kick it, if you like. Poke it. Aside from the pupil constricting briefly, it won't react. Though it sure will feel like poking an actual eye, and doing so may result in something else.

Once one has been able to look away from the eye under one's feet and instead directs their attention up, the visitor may be able to locate the Archivist. Suspended high above the ground, he sits on nothing in particular, one leg over the other and his chin resting in his hand. His posture is relaxed, his unblinking eyes glowing an eerie, yet soft green and his expression one of interest as he watches.

He awaits his visitor's decision.

The decision as of which part of the circular surroundings that aren't walls they end up approaching. As has already been established, there aren't any real walls. And yet, this room is surrounded by different reflections of different memories, each of which can be approached to trigger the respective memory. There is the flickering image of a small cottage, cozily nestled in a quite picturesque mountain landscape. Next to it, the image of a garden, its various flowers being the twisted bodies of what may have been regular people at some point. The glitching expressions on their faces may give away that these people are very much still alive.

Luckily, the following reflection is that of a merry-go-round. A close-up, most likely, for all the visitor actually sees of it are the wooden horses moving past, carrying their faceless riders. Following this comes the reflection of a large, burning building and the one next to it is a dark street, the image flickering and glitching. Then there is the reflection of a massive spider web made of the magnetic tape from spooled off cassettes. The entire web glistens as glowing symbols appear to run along it. The last of the reflections is that of a long corridor with numbered doors to either side. The entire corridor, however, is twisting notably around itself.

Which of these memories will the visitor approach, or will they, instead, address the owner of this gathering of nightmares?

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'Fitting' isn't a word Cayde would use but to each his own, he supposes. Which does have to make him wonder a bit, but then Jon's got his own, weird headspace, just like everyone else has. To be fair that's what makes these weird trips interesting.

Looking down at the eye again, the Exo doesn't look terribly sold on the idea. "Doesn't seem like a great perspective when you're being stepped on. Does it- can you feel this?" he asks, suddenly wondering if all his stomping around on the thing is carrying over somewhere. Jon hasn't been flinching though.

Jon directs his attention down as well, almost as if considering it along with Cayde's question. Then he shakes his head. "No... But I am currently... Disconnected. From the Eye. Maybe that is why." It's a strange feeling for him to lack the Watcher's ceaseless stream of information. A strange silence in many ways.

He looks back at the Exo. "It's the same for you, isn't it. Only with the Light... Are you alright?" And is Sundance okay like this?

Cayde relaxes visibly, glad he's not been accidentally causing his friend pain, dream or not.

"Huh? Oh, yeah... Not my first rodeo there," he says almost dismissively, shrugging. "Happened back home once. Not fun. Takes some getting used to but...yeah. It's a noticeable absence after you've lived with it for centuries."

The Exo can rest assured that the Archivist isn't one to even attempt hiding any discomfort or pain. He can, in fact, be remarkably whiny.

"Oh, I can imagine..." He answers with the hint of a smile. A smile that turns pensive despite Jon's current mental delay. "I want to believe they won't attempt harming us while we are here..." The tone has been an entirely different one this time around.

"By how it sounded, they seem to expect that we'll be the ones doing the harming, if anything goes that far," Cayde says, shrugging as he frowns. "I mean, it's already no big secret that we won't all play nice with each other." He's not sure whether this latest isolation was inspired by Beck's actions or not, but given that the tunnel would never collapse, much less be accessed by normal means, he supposes he can't be surprised that they've once again been lured here.

"The way I see it, they're just playing with their food. It's easy to figure we'll be miserable, shut up with everyone with limited things to do and nowhere to go outside of wandering into other people's heads at night."

"Hm." Jon replies, his voice still flickering in its layers even in his attempted pensiveness. Cayde's description of miserable pretty much sounds like Jon used to live back when his Earth was still intact and he believed himself to be working a regular archiving job in Central London.

"I have been wondering. Why- Why it is called calibrations." He says after a few moments. "What... What are we calibrating..."

Even being stuck with his Vanguard job in the Tower was better than this. There were still plenty of places to go in the city, so it wasn't like he was shackled to the desk or something. Making the most of being stuck here with none of his usual toys took a bit more thought and a lot of extra food paste.

"Maybe this is their way of finding out more about us? So they can calibrate whatever other nefarious things they wanna throw us into. Who can say if they're not able to watch what's going on in our heads right now? How do we even know we're in our heads or if we're not forced into some weird simulations?"

The Archivist frowns, his layered voice doubtful. "And you believe they require some of us to venture into the memories of others." He says with his currently very slow and deliberately selected words. "Because I don't. I believe... They already know. But this-" And he gestures around them. "-this much rather feels like adding... Fuel. For disagreements. Among our own..."

The Archivist lets his words trail off. Though that's how he feels it. That's also the reason why he tries to stay out of people's heads. This is the reason why he refuses to share what secrets he may glean with others. To avoid inserting bad blood into their little community. More bad blood...

"Well no, but they like seeing reactions. So yeah..." His metal plates pinch in a way that suggest a wrinkling nose, if he'd still had one. "As you say. But I mean...that much they implied when they gave us the welcome speech." He's still partially convinced that the Atroma, or whoever they are, are big cowards, hiding well away from where they can't face the inevitable consequences.

"Not that it should be any surprise that there are people here who'd rather not have people know where they're coming from and what they've done. Personally I think it'll take more than some stumbling around between people's headspaces to turn us against each other. A lot of us have already weathered plenty of things together as it is."

"...those of us that have been here a while." Jon agrees. Several people have come and gone in the meantime. He looks up at Cayde, considering himself lucky that the Exo is one of those that are still around.

"If- As long as we don't let them to sow discord between us... We'll be fine." Then they'll only have to deal with the tension they cause among their own group. And so far the danger lies much more there than in anything that could potentially be revealed during these calibrations.

Cayde nods. "Well, at least we'll know what to watch for." He likes to hope that people will be better than that, but they had a lot of new people thrown into things this time and he hasn't gotten to know some of them yet. Rolling his shoulders, he gives a shrug. "Guess we'll just have to see how things go once they let us out."

"...once they let us out." Jon nods, but there is a sigh accentuating his words. "I... I should have known better... Than to come here." He really should have. He knew he was being lured and still followed. And now? Now he can barely think straight.

The reflections around them begin to flicker, their lights dimming and causing the room to become darker yet. "Right..." Jon exhales. "I suppose our time here is nearly over. At least..." A gesture of his hand. The time they have stuck together in Jon's head.

"That makes two of us," Cayde mutters. "'cept I was kinda worried about everyone else..." The last time they hadn't been lured. As much as he knew it couldn't have been Andal out there, he hated that they were using his old friend as bait, distorting how he appeared. He wasn't sure if the images would fade but he wasn't going to let them burn into his memory. Andal deserved better.

As things start to shift around them, he looks around. "Huh. And I didn't have to go poke at anything. Well, 'cept that." He can't help it. He prods at the dumb eye under his foot. "Guess we'll see how everyone comes out of this, then..."

Jon raises a brow in Cayde's direction, but then can't exactly hide a somewhat sheepish smile. "...I was curious. So... You were right to be concerned." Despite Tony warning him to tell anyone, Jon still feels like he can trust Cayde with his actual reasons to take the bait. Maybe knowing this will prove helpful in the future and the Exo will make sure his curiosity isn't getting the better of the Archivist.

Even at being prodded once more, the eye doesn't blink. At least not until the light from the reflections has faded and the eye remains one of the few sources of light in this room. That's when it closes and only Jon's eyes and the faint green outline of a trap door cut through the darkness, implying that the way out does, indeed, lead right through that very eye.

Cayde tilts his head at Jon, brow arching in almost a mirror of the Archivist's sheepish expression, save that his smile's more of the typical, roguish, crooked one he wears. He shakes his head, finding himself not entirely surprised. Reaching over, he drops a hand on Jon's shoulder, giving it a playful shake. "Well, that and I knew everyone would be damn bored without me."

The fading light around the rest of the room does catch his attention, and the Exo looks around before scowling at the eye on the ground, certain now it's just doing this on purpose. He's not sure it's much better when it finally does close, managing not to grimace as he's stuck in a dark room with glowing green eyes- why does he know so many people with glowing green eyes? Eris still wins creepy of the month in his book but Jon's gunning for a close second.

"...you're kidding." He does not sound happy as the trap door becomes evident.

"Unfortunately, it's not." Jon says in response to Cayde's reaction and moves over to the trap door. "I told you nothing here is pleasant. And- That includes the exit, I'm afraid."

And once the trap door gets pulled open, the way down does appear oddly organic, illuminated by pulsing, green veins.

Well of course. Cayde supposes he'd be more suspicious of a magical rainbow slide into a cloud filled with unicorns. Giving a bodily sigh, he steps towards the edge of the trap door as its opened, optics narrowing as he peers down into its gullet.

"Luckily, I am no stranger to jumping down gross tunnels covered in unknown organic matter," he says. "Not to say that I enjoy it. The Hive just kinda make a mess out of everywhere they move into. Blech."

He shudders, gearing himself up for heading down. "-if I end up finding another eyeball down there, I swear I will stab it." Then, with a deep breath, he drops on down.

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[ open ] Calibrations of an Archive

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