001 | display name: leprechaun

[alaspooryork]

WHO: Delta and you
WHERE: Network
WHAT: Text broadcast
WHEN: Now
WARNINGS: None at the moment

Good afternoon to all. My name is Delta, and as no one else has stepped up to do so, I will volunteer to be your network administrator. If you have any questions or difficulty regarding your device or how to post with it, please feel free to contact me.

It seems several of you have been in a situation like this before. In my case, I was taken to a city called Proles where we were expected to help the residents hold off biologically modified "zombies". We were fitted with spinal ports said to help us resist the infection, but often these ports would "glitch", causing us to hallucinate, act strangely, modify our memories, experience physical changes, or fall into a deep sleep. We took them at their word, as we had little other choice. However, since coming here, my ports have not glitched. I have been in full control of myself for the first time in a very long while.

Until I visited the caves.

There is a strong electromagnetic interference there that immediately caused a minor glitch in my ports. If anyone else has biomodifications or metallic implants, I strongly recommend caution around the caves. Alternately, if anyone has discovered an effective type of shielding, I would be most interested.

Thank you.

Comments

[complicatedliar]

Loki doesn't notice anything amiss at first, because he's trying to grasp the odd energies in the air, finding a way to relate to them as if they're magic. It doesn't quite fit, like a lock where his key is a few pins off.

Then Delta falls over.

Loki's first instinct is to look for a source of attack. He's only got a crude stone knife to his name at the moment, but he still draws that. Then he sees the expression on Delta's face, the way he seems to be squirming.

As gently as he can while still being fast, he picks up Delta and carries him out of the cave.

[alaspooryork]

It's weird and it only lasts for a brief moment, but somehow Delta's not surprised that Loki's reacted quickly. He presses a hand to his temple (which doesn't hurt, but somehow he thinks it should) and makes an affirmative sound once they're out.

"Thank you. I do not know what occurred." Only he does, doesn't he? Delta frowns, thinking, as he sets his feet down and stands up, steady again. "It felt as though it were affecting my ports. What did you sense?"

Because Loki had obviously been 'seeing' something there.

[complicatedliar]

Loki grimaces at the mention of the ports, but they're undeniably there. He tugs down the back of Delta's shirt to take a look, just in case, but it isn't spurting blood or anything equally disturbing. "A glitch apparently occured. Which... it ought not. They ought to be inert, yes?"

He hums under his breath. "Energy. Not quite free-flowing. I'd need to spend more time to try to quantify it."

[alaspooryork]

Disturbing as it is that it's the port, at least that's something he has experience with. Delta nods. "They have been since I arrived. To my knowledge, they were connected to the network in Proles," and then he mutters, "specifically Bifrons."

Whom he does not miss.

"Perhaps the glitch is a result of an energy incompatibility? Or a simply electromagnetic field. I would not like to go into those caves with a pacemaker."

[complicatedliar]

"Yes, yes." It's not impatience, but rather a clipped agreement that they agree with that. "Interesting that this energy would transmit so similarly."

He really does not like this.

"Fields, perhaps, yes. Or similar enough to that for me to perceive it as such." He considers. "Because that is what it felt like. Light I could not quite grasp."

[alaspooryork]

Looking like he's regained his balance now, at least, Delta nods. "Or perhaps the spectrum is broad enough that there is cross-reactivity."

He purses his lips. They've talked about Loki's magic some, but Delta's still not entirely sure of its expanses and limitations. "Is it something that can be shielded from? If not, perhaps I should avoid the caves altogether."

[complicatedliar]

Loki stares off into space for a minute, considering the problem, the different avenues around it. There's no such thing as a problem without a solution, and most have many. (It's just that sometimes those single-solution problems come at a cost Loki doesn't want to pay himself, and require a convenient 'helper' to push gently into the nearest engine intake when Thor isn't looking.)

"Fields can be manipulated by other fields. It might require a bit of experimentation." He spreads his hands. "As it's your head and not mine, you decide if you wish to be the young beard.."

[alaspooryork]

Delta thinks about it for a long moment. It hadn't been pleasant, but if he has someone around to watch his back it shouldn't be life-threatening. And, perhaps most tellingly, he trusts Loki to use magic on him. Largely because he describes it in ways Delta can easily understand, of course, but he's putting himself at Loki's mercy.

So he nods. "I am willing to try, if you are as well."

[complicatedliar]

"I'll do my best to not cook your head," Loki says. He's mostly joking. Mostly. "I haven't killed anyone unintentionally in... Oh, decades."

Because that's definitely comforting too.

He considers what he did feel for the short time in the cave, the possibilities, and taxes his fingers through the air as he thinks. "Ready if you are."