vatheon | Life's no fun without a good scare

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Life's no fun without a good scare

It starts some time around 3am, Tuesday morning. Thin whispers of fog start appearing all throughout Vatheon, creeping through the narrow, winding streets, up the steps, and over the park. It starts in the lower district, but as the night progresses and daylight approaches, it spreads to the other districts as well, growing thicker and thicker as it does. By the morning rolls around, the mist is thick enough that visibility has been compromised greatly, and the temperature seems to have dropped a few degrees, an odd chill filling the air.

And on the walls, there are stains.

They are infrequent at first, just a odd ruddy brown smear and a oddly bright red drop here and there, but the closer to the Plaza, the more numerous they become. There is a large smear across the steps leading up to the Plaza, as if something big was dragged up them. In one place the blood -- for it is blood, there is no deny it at this point -- pools thickly as if whoever was responsible took a casual break there, leaving the poor victim to bleed out on the steps.

On the plaza, the mist is thinner, but that is no relief. Rather, it just functions to make the gruesome scene all the more clearer.

A woman is draped upside down on the coral. Or, well, woman. It was once a woman, certainly, but now it is nothing more than something straight out of a nightmare. The flesh seems to have been torn carelessly from her limbs here and there, showing the white gleam of her bones, her nurse outfit torn as if raked apart by giant claws and her head...

well, it isn't there anymore.

The ground in front of her is smeared with blood as well. But where the previous smears had been accidental, these are deliberate, long lines curving and meeting to spell out

hel pm e

But no help had been forthcoming, clearly. No, it seems that this murder, this brutal murder, was nothing more than a game to whoever did it. The walls of the buildings surrounding the plaza are coated in bloody, spelling out a long string of mocking 'HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA's and directly in the center, behind the coral.

Who is next?

The notice board seems to have been hit too. The killer did not tear down any of the notices on the board already, but they did cover the entire board with blood-stained sheets of paper, each adorned with the same text over and over and over again.

Chop chop, sweet Charlotte Chop chop till she's dead Chop chop, sweet Charlotte Chop off her hand and head.

For those brave enough to check, no, the poor girl still has both her hands. Was the killer just sloppy, or does this mean this is not Charlotte? So many unanswered questions, more born every passing moment.

Who had done this? Why? Where they going to strike again? And why had nobody heard anything?

[ooc note: Consider this your mingle log. Have fun, go forth, threadjack.

And as a further note, the fog does not seem to be clearing up as the week goes on.

]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

So, ist it normal in your vorld to just die und come back from zhe dead, if I may ask?

[Is always goes back to the respawn system with him...]

Vhat ist your spezies being called anyvay? Und... You all know one anozher already?

[Odd enough. He only has met two people from his own world so far.]

[So many questions! It's a good thing Kanaya is just as curious to find out the differences between these different worlds.]

We call ourselves trolls, and this sort of thing is pretty much unique. As far as my culture is concerned rainbow drinkers exist only in books or movies. There is another way that the dead have been brought back, but that's a little complicated and quite a long story. I suppose the short version is that my friends and I found out that our world was doomed to end by meteors. We played a game that allowed us to escape the confines of our universe. As a part of that game resurrection is a possibility, As we all had extra "dream lives" that would give us a second chance if we were killed while progressing through the game.

When I was killed the last time I had already lost my extra life. There was no reason that I knew of for me to come back again. I should have been dead for good. I don't think it has anything to do with what killed me either. I was not the only person killed by him, and she.. his other victim never came back...

[A painful memory, and a very strange situation for a teenager to deal with. Feferi died for good then, and now both Fef and their killer are here in this place... She's been trying to not think about that, but she'll probably have to explain the situation anyway. Might be good to get it out in the open with an unaffiliated party.]

[Trolls. Medic only knows that term in reference from spirits dwelling in the woods. Mythic creatures that don't truly exist outside of fairy tales. But down here in the bubble he had run into odder beings, so... Why not?]

So you died inside of zhat game und came back despite being supposed to remain... Dead. Zhat ist... Quite peculiar, I haff to admit. Several people dieing zhe same vay but only one returning to life as some sort of vampire. Zhere ist no true rule vizhin zhat.

[This seems tricky enough. But Medic doesn't even know if there aren't any details missing within this already quite complex setting.]

Und you got brought hier before you could ask someone zhat might be able to help you...

Yes. That may be a gross oversimplification of the entire story but it's not really wrong and the whole thing would take ages to explain, so I suppose that will do as a summary. Even if I wasn't removed here or if I go back, I don't think there would be anybody to help me anyway. We escaped the death of our home universe and as far as I know there were eight individuals left after the deaths of our universes. [pauses, thinks for a second...] I, uh, used the plural there for a reason. The universe that we came from was destroyed, as well as another universe that some humans escaped from, through the same game we used. There was only eight of us in that area we took refuge in, and before I left none of us would have had any idea about this condition.

[Sigh.] Like I said, it's a very long story. I still have left out far too may details on what really happened, but I don't think any of that is really related to this problem. Without any source of information s to this condition I'm afraid I'm reduced to determining the rules of my existence by trial and error.

[The RED merely gives a nod. Trial and error. His entire area of work pretty much consists of that anyway. He looks down at the blood for a moment, pondering.]

Nun. Vhere I come from, vampires only exist in novels. Oder... At least zhat ist zhe most common idea.

[How can he tell for sure? There is the Headless Horseless Horseman roaming Mann Mansion after all.]

Zhe stories about zhem differ. Some only drink zhe blood of zhe living, avoiding dead blood, ozhers only drink from animals. You said yourself you haff not eaten in veeks, and zhis I assume it vas some sort of instinct zhat made you react to zhis mess ve haff hier.

[He gestures vaguely to the ground before carefully removing his thick red rubber gloves.]

Zhe blood ve haff hier ist cold already. Dead, in some vay. Yet, it still seems alluring enouff as potential food source.

[Medic raises a single brow.]

Ve can do a simple test right hier, if you vish to.

Instinct, or compulsion, yes. I assure you I would not have chosen to make such a display out of myself if I had the choice, nor would I have gotten blood on my dress like this.

[Kanaya face matches the Medic's raised brow. Is he really suggesting what she thinks he's suggesting? Before she could ask for confirmation she was already taking a step towards him. She manages to stop herself from going straight for it though, asking a question the Medic has doubtlessly heard far too often.]

Are you sure about this Doctor?

Ach, of course I am!

[There is a somewhat questionable smirk creeping onto his face and Medic uses his right hand to draw a scalpel from his pouch, quickly uncapping the small blade with a brief flick of his thumb.]

Recreating a szenario like zhis at a later point vould be too much of a hassle. So vhy vaste zhe opportunity? Ve are currently surrounded by blood zhat may be cold, but still causes a reaction. So zhis is a perfect opportunity to haff a direct comparison.

[He nods and without further warning pushes the small, yet sharp blade into the palm of his hand, the metal not showing any trouble with putting through his skin and flesh and instantly drawing warm, red blood to the surface. That brief glint of insanity in the man's eyes may be ignored as he holds out his hand towards the young troll.]

Your instincts, vhat do zhey make of zhis?

[She ignores the insane look and just about everything else the moment that blood comes forth. She goes right for the hand, first licking up the initial gout of blood before surrounding the cut with her mouth before she begins to suck, drawing out more and more.]

[OOC note: The established canon for rainbow drinkers is not specific as to the feel of the bite, though one character (the only other living character she's ever bitten) was knocked unconscious by the event. The stories in alternian culture follow the more modern "romantic vampire" tropes, so it probably doesn't hurt at the least, and may have a V:tM style euphoric effect. I headcanon it as being at least somewhat pleasurable, but who knows how it might effect a human, or even a human from your specific world. Feel free to play it however you want.]

[Medic watches in silence. There is a faint tingling in his hand and his fingers slowly go numb from the lack of blood. The usual dizziness that comes with a greater bloodloss, however, didn't set it. But Medic knows better than anyone, that that sort of thing would require a few more moments to occur. Especially with the way his own body works.

He decides to just concentrate on the effect for the time being. Her reaction to the blood speaks for itself after all. Also, there seems to be hardly any pain involved. Rather, it seems very well tolerable.

The man smirks, refuses to chuckle, though, and just waits for the troll to finish.]

[[ooc: Hmm~ The effect might be entirely screwed up with Medic anyway due to his regeneration, so I'll just keep it shallow and vague~]]

[She continues to drink for quite a while. The sunlight and coral had helped her somewhat, but it has been several weeks since the rainbow drinker last fed properly. She feeds for a handful of minutes before finally stopping. She opens her eyes slowly and starts to look around, as if she was only now becoming cognizant of the situation. She felt the need to apologize to this human for her behavior. Even if he did offer she felt bad about her reaction. The fact that she couln't control it just made her feel more embarassed.]

I'm sorry. I don't know if your vampire stories match the rainbow drinkers in this way but I don't believe you will be changed into one from the bite. At least nothing of the sort happened to my first living victim.

[He merely chuckles a little while pulling his hand back to himself.]

Nein. I do not zhink zhat eizher. My system ist quite stabile und razher vehement if it comes to hunting down foreign organisms.

[Medic briefly inspects the cut on his hand which is already closing slowly. He adds a short nod.]

But zhis vas, indeed, quite interesting. You may vant to try to gain control over zhis sort of zhing at one point or your instincts may get you into some trouble even.

[She silently notes the rapid healing of this human, and now seems quite under control... though her eyes are darting away to look at the blood on the ground every minute or so.]

Thank you for the advice... and the experiment. I think that drink helped a little. I will try to keep myself under control, but I'm afraid I may need to feed out of choice lest I feed out of uncontrolled necessity. Still, it has been almost a month since I came here, and thus about a month since my last... meal. It's possible that the need for sustenance will not come very often. Would you happen to know of a source of blood that would be reliable and reasonable to use for this purpose?

[A nod.]

Nun, I zhink zhere may indeed be a sourze you could make use of. Zhe hospital for example alvays has blood preservations in store. Those are fairly easily accessible for everyone vizh a job zhere.

Zhat ist one solution. One zhat vorks as long as preserved, bottled up blood vill suffize.

In case you are more interested in fresh blood, however, I zhink zhe two of us may be able to come to a little agreement.

Oh? And what sort of agreement were you thinking of? what would you want in return?

[She hasn't been very defensive in this conversation, but something about the way he's talking to her has lit a few warnings in her mind. She's known far too many people who would use a situation like this to gain an advantage over someone in her position. ]

Nozhing too difficult, actually. It ist just zhat I require some assistanze vizh my vork from time to time.

I am currently vorking on, vell, somezhing. Somezhing zhat I vill haff to test at one point to ensure it vorks. Part of zhis I can test on myself, but seeing zhat zhere are quite a few of your spezies around hier as vell, it might be vise to get one of you for additional tests as vell to ensure it has zhe intended effect und does not cause harm to an organism I am not yet familiar vizh.

If its all the same to you I'd rather take my chances with the prepared blood, thank you. I don't think I would be a suitable standard furbeast teasting unit for you anyway. My physiology has changed compared to other trolls, any data on how your [with a bit of a snidely exaggerated accent] somezhing worked regarding me would not be applicable to other trolls.

[Sigh] then again my condition and the mechanicfs of death in this place mean that I wouldn't be in too much danger. I'd rather try the "dead" blood first. I may contact you later regarding this offer of yours, should the blood prove unsatisfactory.

It ist your dezision.

Zhough if it helps vizh your qualms: Zhe intended effect of zhe übercharge ist not to kill anyone. On zhe contrary. It ist supposed to prevent harm from being done to zhe body.

[He performs a fairly light-hearted gesture with his hand.]

It vould be easier if I could just use zhe same implants as ve use back home. But... Zhat vould be far too much vork only to be prepared for zertain szenarios zhat require multiple conditions to be fulfilled at zhe very same time.

[A technology to prevent harm? You have her attention. Keeping people from harm must be her fifth or sixth favorite hobby!]

Your ubercharge is meant to prevent harm? How does it work?

I am afraid zhat I can not share all zhe details about it. But it uses zhe bloodstream of a person to make zhem invulnerable for several seconds.

[Using the bloodstream... Who knows how a technology like that might react with her. Then again, it couldn't be too dangerous, and he is a doctor or something. Better to go the safe route though. If packaged blood doesn't work out maybe she could take him up of the offer later.]

I suppose that doesn't sound too dangerous. Still though I would like to give the preserved blood a try. I'm interested in seeing if that would prove sufficient. Thank you for your help in this matter.

[Besides, she really didn't like the idea of this one human being her only source of sustenance. Well, her only consensual source. She really didn't want to have to feed on the unwilling like what happened so often in her books.]

Edited 2012-04-19 16:23 (UTC)

[He simply shrugs.]

Try it. If it vorks, it vill be less troublesome for you to maintain yourself. Just make sure to inform me eventually how zhings go vizh it for you.

Alright. I will let you know how this works either way. As for the results of our little test there, the living blood causes a much stronger instinctual reaction, as you saw. The blood also tasted different, a sort of sharp metallic taste. The dead blood had no flavor at all, only texture. Speaking of, the warmth of your blood is persisting despite the small amount I ingested carrying very little heat energy to me. I feel very warm, and the effect is persisting. I also noted a slight but effective feel of euphoria while drinking, and the warmth made the effect rather comforting. Finally, your blood also carried a tingling sensation, though it seemed to pass as I was drinking it, tingling only on my tongue.

I trust this is sufficient information for this experiment? If I find another willing human source I will let you know if there are any differences in the effect.

Yes, zhose information are quite interesting indeed. Zhank you for sharing zhose details.

[He nods, then extends his hand towards her.]

Feel free to contact me vhenever you haff any furzher information on zhis regard und I vill take down zhese notes for research purposes. Maybe ve can figure out more details on zhis zhat vay.

[Kanaya takes the Medic's hand and gives it a short shake.]

Alright. Thank you for your interest in this, I hope together we can make more progress in understanding this condition than I would have alone.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Life's no fun without a good scare

Gah... Work prevented any earlier response. Sorry.

Re: Gah... Work prevented any earlier response. Sorry.

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Meanwhile, in a thread three weeks from now the packaged blood isn't working out...

Really? loool... oh my~ XD

Oh yes. In fact, she's "hunting" her crush from canon, who's been drinking.

XP ~ Excellent. Heh. That poor guy btw~

Oh, you don't even know the half of it... Ever run into Vriska? Blue blood; bluh bluh, huge bitch?