revivalproject | What do you see?

Entry tags:

What do you see?

WHO: Jon & You
WHERE: Temba
WHAT: Energy Storm of FEAR
WHEN: End of October/Beginning of September
WARNINGS: A few vague body horror descriptions

A - Throughout the City

Of course they were greeted by a storm. A storm not only messing with their powers, but also making them see things that have no right to be there. But if the Archivist is accustomed to one thing, then it's his fears manifesting and attempting to kill him.

Fortunately, these are merely illusions. Projections of actual terrors Jon has already encountered in his life. And while he still fears them, he knows way too well that these projections aren't real. It's this understanding that lets him move past their mocking faces and threatening stances with a stubborn scowl as he searches the city for those actually trapped by their own fears.

"I am very proud of you." The ever present specter of a tall man in an expensive suit croons with satisfaction in his tone and the way he has his hands flawlessly clasped behind his back as he follows along. A tall mannequin dressed as a ringmaster follows close to him along with a woman wearing the remains of a red dress, her body honeycombed with holes of varying sizes out of which a seemingly endless stream of worms pours down to the ground, resulting in a squirmy trail left in her wake. But those are but the first three of the Archivist's little entourage of terrors that every once in a while passes a seemingly stray yellow door. There is also that short woman that seems to be melting. The massive monstrosity of a man who barely holds the shape of a person. The two identical deliverymen. The old man and the young woman who easily look like murderous maniacs. That strangely stretched-out being whose long limbs may or may not actually be able to appear like a person. And at the very end that perfectly normal looking woman with the focused look on her face and the knife at her hip.

"Hello?" Jon calls out as he reaches the next building and looks inside, his following lingering nearby and muttering a variety of taunts Jon stubbornly refuses to hear. "Is anyone in there? Do you need help? I- I believe I can help!"

B - He Row Soup Lies Building

"... Right." Jon mutters with an exhale as he tosses another stuffed thing aside and pulls out the blanket underneath to hand it to the nearest person. "At least we're remotely safe in here." Safe, of course, being relative, considering their overall situation. "And I can say that the library is putting up well enough with this storm." And yet that building can hardly be considered a shelter.

Jon turns around from where he has been going through some of the boxes, leaning on the table with one hand and its restlessly tapping index finger as he addresses no one in particular. "Does anyone even recall how long these storms last?" There is a plethora of further questions Jon has already lined up to ask, but knowing that there likely aren't going to be any answers is nothing but frustrating.

It's the way the tone of his own tapping finger changes slightly that has Jon look down at his own hand and frown at what he is seeing. Rather than tapping on wood, he is now tapping the cover of a book. And it's reading the book's title that makes him freeze, seize the book that has no business feeling this solid in his grip and angrily hurl it out into the storm before the idea of actually opening it can even cross his mind. "No!"

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"I-It... It's complicated." Jon replies, eyes quickly darting from Echo over to the still grinning illusion of Elias and back. At about that moment a low, harrowing shriek tears through the sky as it cracks open from what feels like one end of the horizon to the other.

And then the sky slowly blinks its one, massive eye open, to watch.

Jon just stands for a few moments, staring at the most recent addition of his haunts, then manages to close his mouth again to turn back to Echo, his manner and gesturing now more agitated. "Look, I- ah... I can explain. Just- L-let's get to t-t-the shelter. Out of the storm! Away from--" He just vaguely gestures around them. The door somehow scoffs.

"How complicated are we talking– what the?!"

Echo spits an unfamiliar swear, also looking up once Jon looks back at him. Fortunately for the both of them, he's still able to move his legs. It's just hard to ignore a giant eye taking up what used to be a gray, stormy sky.

"Yeah, you've got lots of explaining t'do," the ARC Trooper grouses, determined to get to wherever this shelter is. It'll be safer to discuss things indoors than out in the open, anyway.

How complicated? Complicated enough. That sure is the promise made by the massive, unblinking eye above.

"Huh. Should've killed you when I had the chance after all." The perfectly normal looking woman comments off-handedly, her attention up at the sky. Most of the remaining terrors hardly react to the eye above. A few sneer or growl a little, one or two chuckle. The specter of Elias only grins wider, practically beaming with pride while Jon makes an effort to ignore the uninvited group once more.

"I know. I know." The Archivist replies through grit teeth, the words directed at Echo. Though his voice returns to wavering. "Just- Let's move. It's... It's not far. N-next to the hotel."

Moving on is the best course of action. That and ignoring the rest of the party.

"The closer, the better," Echo agrees, each step stiff at first before he's able to smooth out his gait. "I don't wanna wait around for another surprise."

Obviously he has great timing when he says this, because a voice calls out of nowhere.

'Thought you could run, Echo? You aren't even trying!'

This voice sounds like Echo's, albeit deeper and gruffer in its tone. And Echo bites back an aggravated sigh. "–Knew I couldn't lose them," comes some modulated muttering. This forces him to pick up the pace. "Lead the way, Jon!"

The voice catches Jon's attention for a moment, but it's quickly pulled back to Echo at the man's urging to get moving, which Jon does, mindful to keep an eye on Echo in case the clone falls again.

As they move, the long, distorted figure that has been part of the group following Jon around separates from the rest, long limbs with too many joints carrying it quickly as it calls out with an equally distorted and oddly vibrating, yet still eager voice. "More friends? Goood!" The words trail off into a rattling hiss as the creature skitters onward and easily past Echo and Jon, joining up with the yet again waiting door.

"Who is following you?" Jon asks, not daring to look behind them, yet fully aware that the voice he has just heard was almost identical to Echo's. At least he can already see the hotel and the smaller building next to it the Agrii are keeping safe somehow.

There's a smug air in the distant clone's chuckling, amused by the other illusive presences.

'Look at this,' the illusion grandly gestures. 'Just look at him, runnin' scared! You think walkin' with a civilian'll keep us away? You didn't even stick with that so-called Jedi back there! Sloppy work, ARC Trooper.'

Like Jon, Echo doesn't look back. "Hevy," comes his eventual answer, a touch of sadness tinging his overall annoyance. "I had some trouble with him earlier. But if he's here, that means Cutup and Droidbait aren't that far behind..."

"...Droidbait." Jon echoes the name with a hint of disbelief at the names he's been given. "But what do they want? I mean, aren't they-" -other clones? Jon doesn't finish the sentence, but a short gesture of his hand probably makes the intended words clear. "Are they trying to bait you into a fight?" At least they're calling Echo a coward.

He points up the small building up ahead without slowing down. "It's right over there. The storm has no effect in there."

"I know," Echo's immediate reply goes hand-in-hand with Jon's momentary disbelief. He does realize clone culture is weird to anyone outside of being a clone, but he'll get to it once they're technically safe.

A few more clone voices drift in and out in the distance, but he at least doesn't have to hurry as much as he would have if the building was farther away. "They kind of did, earlier," Echo begins to explain, limply gesturing at himself. "Hevy did most of this. Cutup talks, but this one knew how to hurl insults. And Droidbait...he was awful and tried to lead me off a cliff when I was running over here.

"He almost did it, too," the ARC Trooper chuffs, although mirthless in meaning. "But none of them are supposed to be like this."

"Well, of course not. This storm, it... I believe it draws on our fears. Our worries. Manifests them and blows them out of proportion to use them against us." As he says this, Jon casts a quick glance back at his own following. His own fears...

They reach the small building they have been approaching and Jon pushes the door open to let Echo into this little Agrii-provided shelter at the center of the city. At least that should rid them of their respective illusions for the time being.

Upon getting to the shelter, Echo clicks his tongue. "You're tellin' me," he says, the tension running through his body slowly releasing once they're out of the rain and temporarily safe from their respective illusions. The helmet dips forward, forming rivulets that drip off and down the front of his armor. "They're not exactly fears, but..."

How can he put this? A lot of thought has built up and he now has the time to sort through everything. He may as well tell a little more about his own history considering that Jon has seen the result of his personal ghosts.

"...They used to be a part of a unit I trained with back on Kamino. Hevy, Droidbait, Cutup, Fives and I made up the Domino Squad. We weren't the best cadets, but we all set our sights on becoming ARC Troopers." Another pause, and he goes to break the seal of his helmet so that he can remove it. "Cal warned me about this, but...it happened. And it still affected him, too."

After making sure the door is closed behind them, Jon walks further into the building's main room and towards where most supplies have been stored. "Fears appear in many shapes and variations. It's not only deep terrors that haunt us at night. They are also our concerns, uncertainties and anxieties. Especially those we don't necessarily perceive as such." He sets up some water to be boiled before turning back around to tilt his head slightly in Echo's direction.

"An unhealthy companionship is a trait associated with the Corruption, the fact that they have hunted you obviously points towards the Hunt and that they seemed off is an aspect of the Stranger." Jon lets that piece sit for a moment, then lightly gestures towards the doors. "I can even tell you which ones of the creatures following me were the respective avatars of those Fears, but..." A little shrug before concern settles on his face. "You said Cal was affected as well. Is he out there in the city somewhere? Have you seen him?"

The way Jon categorizes and delves into the topic shouldn't surprise Echo; he did say he was an Archivist and that he deals with supernatural phenomena on a regular basis, so having a near-encyclopedic knowledge of such really gives more of a concrete background to work with.

"A Corruption? That's comforting to know," he comments, obviously not comforted in the slightest if Jon catches onto the change in his now unmodulated tone. He tucks the helmet under an arm, heading inward to look at whatever is stored in the shelter. "That and this Hunt you're talking about is bad enough, but what – or who – is the Stranger?"

His steps slow as he looks for a clear spot to sit down for a while, his mouth forming a line before his lips part again to speak. "I left Cal on the shuttle." Regret is very clear in how tight the statement ends. "I'm sure he hates me a bit more for running off like that, but no one was responding to his calls. So I headed out. I tried to used the communication device to keep him informed, but I don't know if anything actually went through."

Brown eyes then glance upward to meet Jon's gaze. "Although it's still risky, I intend to head back out there as soon as possible." As he lets that sink in, he eventually asks, "...Which ones were actual Fears in your case?"

No, none of this is comforting at all. And that includes the part where Cal may be wandering the city as well. Hence it's with a concerned frown that Jon looks back at the clone trooper, lips pressed into a thin line as he turns that possibility over in his mind.

But one thing at a time. He nods with a sigh. "I... I said it's complicated. They were all... Fears. In a way. The avatars of said fears, to be precise. And- These fears, these... Entities. They are beings that exist outside of reality itself and feed on the deep fears of all living beings. And while it's a bad allegory, think of them as evil gods, if you like? And these avatars are their followers. The Stranger, for example, being the fear of the unknown, the uncanny, the unfamiliar. The creeping sense that something isn’t right. Its present avatars were the two deliverymen Breekon & Hope, Nikola Orsinov, who was once a clown, then let himself be turned into a mannequin, the one wearing the ringmaster uniform. Then there is the NotThem... Basically a changeling. Dreadful thing. That was the, ah- The really stretched out one."

Jon pauses there, folding his hands in front of him and taking a deep breath before going on. "And most of those creatures, these avatars you just saw... Tried to kill me. They're responsible for all these scars you see." He unfolds his hands to use the one marked by a big burn scar to gesture at the scar across his neck and the patches of pockmark-like scars littering his face. "There are a few more covered one. And Jared took two of my ribs." Another pause, and a sigh. "They usually aren't as amiable as these illusions, but I suppose that's because as long as they act hostile towards me, I can still pretend I have not yet fully turned into a monster myself yet. So before you ask: Yes. I'm an avatar myself. I am the Archivist, avatar of the Eye. The fear of being followed, watched and having your darkest secrets known. I can sense... See peoples' fears."

Is this a lot? Yes, this is a lot and Jon is perfectly aware of it, so he turns back around to use the by now boiling water to start preparing some tea.

It really is a lot to take in.

Echo's full attention latches onto Jon's winding explanations of who these Fears are and what they represent, his brow furrowing with every name brought up. But he leans back a bit when he gets into the more violent encounters he's had with the few left on the list, eyes widening once the Archivist drops the small, metaphorical bombshell of a tie to all of these avatars.

There really isn't much to say when one has to process all of it in its accompanying silence, but the clone has a viable comment once he finds his voice again. "No wonder you're used to this. You've already gone through an experience ten times worse than this..."

Although it begs another question, somewhat related to what has been already answered. "What do you mean by 'pretend?' How long have you been like this?"

Well, it's about as winding and complicated as Jon has promised, at least. And there is still plenty he hasn't even touched upon yet. Is it any surprise that he is already going grey?

Jon leaves the tea to sit after listening up at Echo's question. "Hm... Two years now. Give or take a few months. I don't... I don't really know the exact date the... Change started. According to my boss it's a choice I made through my actions, but..." He shrugs. "I had no idea these things even existed until it was too late. And right now I... I only hope I can remain as human as possible for as long as I can. I have no idea what I will eventually turn into. As it is I already can't simply die anymore. I heal faster than I can cut off any of my fingers, I hardly sleep and food..." He gives a short, dry laugh and starts filling two mugs with the tea. "I feed on other peoples' fears. And I don't like that. It- It's dreadful. But at the same time it feels... Right."

Picking up the two mugs, Jon then walks over to where Echo is sitting and kneels down next to the clone to offer one of the hot beverages to him. "And I'm not going to make this a competition, but I only deal with supernatural entities, you fight in an intergalactic war, doing your best in the face of actual horrors. To me that's far more terrifying than being chased by hideous monsters. What awaits you out there is far more horrid than my collection of insubstantial terrors. I will look for Cal- And anyone else who might be out there. As I said: I can sense a person's fear." Like an animal tracking down a food source.

Echo doesn't mind the complexity and length that's necessary for Jon to talk about these things. Even if part of it is covered, it's still information that gives him a fraction of insight on how Jon thinks and functions.

Two years, however, is both a short and a long expanse of time. And to see Jon acknowledge the foray into a type of immortality the way he does is...rather unnerving.

Fortunately, the degree of nonchalance the Archivist exudes steers it into a more matter-of-fact issue lower on the short list of priorities they have right now. "Horrors on a spectrum, maybe," he says, accepting the mug offered, since these fears sound challenging on another level. A steady sip is followed by a nod. "Again, thanks for helping me out. We'll be able to cover more ground this way."

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