tabularasa_rp | 004 - Lucid Dreaming

004 - Lucid Dreaming

Lucid Dreaming Event Info Pt.1 ▲ Event Info Pt.2 ▼ Comments Please see the two info posts linked above for details on the nature of the event, the nightmares within, and the setting it takes place in. You may ask any unanswered questions in either post. If your character dies at any point during the dream event, please leave a comment in the death report thread to notify the mods.

As a final reminder, all characters will fall asleep for the full duration of this event whether you decide to take part or not. You may continue tagging threads that take place before the event, but everyone will fall asleep simultaneously.

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Falling Asleep, Waking Up
The shift happens without warning, much like the first time people appeared in the world. Perhaps you remember what you were doing in the last moments before a strange feeling of exhaustion overwhelmed you - or perhaps you remember nothing at all. Whatever it may be, you've appeared somewhere new. A seemingly ordinary train station, if not for the bizarre walls of flesh blocking the only exits. The only path forward is down into the pulsating depths, a humid breeze pushing at your back.

There may be others here with you, or you may be alone. Could there be more people trapped in this strange place? You won't find them just by standing around.

Nightmares
The screeching of a distant train will echo through the tunnels on occasion, shadows flicking through the translucent flesh of the walls. Sometimes, however, instead of fading away the noise will only grow louder, closer, until it sounds like the train should be upon you. It never appears, but something else always will.

The train is a siren call for nightmares, and you're unfortunate enough to be their victim. The shadows turn alive, twisting and growing as they rise up from the ground and begin to transform. What form they take varies, but the shadows of the mind know the true fears of those who walk among them. Are you prepared to face the darkness?

Volcanic Panic

The shadows congeal at the edges of the floor, and soon after a hot orange glow begins to fill the room - molten lava is pooling in from the other end of the tunnel. It rolls slowly forward, devouring everything it touches with an unquenchable searing hunger, leaving behind only the charred bones of its victims... although, strangely, the tunnels themselves appear to be completely unharmed.

Outrunning the flow of lava shouldn't be a problem, but there seems to be no end to it. How long can you run from something that never stops? Or worse, what happens if you find yourself surrounded? You'll need to find a way to higher ground before that happens.

A Radiant Plague

The shadows rise up into familiar shapes, and at first glance it'd be easy to mistake them for people. They may even share the faces and voices of people you know, stumbling towards you with wide, open arms... and empty, glowing eyes filled with an orange light. Something smells sickly sweet, and it's only once they're close enough to grab you that they begin to attack.

These are not your friends, and they'll do whatever it takes to make you one of them instead. Unfortunately, it's not an experience you'll be able to survive. Your only hope is to fight back before the plague can take hold, lest you become another mindless husk that knows only to further spread the infection.

Trust No One, Not Even Yourself

The shadows stretch and fill the air, choking everything in a thick blanket of darkness... before dispersing just as quickly as they'd appeared. A few moments pass and nothing else seems to be happening. You must've gotten lucky this time!

... Or did you?

Surely it can't be that simple. Nothing else here has been, so something must have happened just now. It's only you and the person you're currently traveling with... but are you sure that's really them right now? How do you know they haven't been possessed by another nightmare, waiting until you let your guard down to stab you in the back? Should you interrogate them to be sure, or start with restraining them and ask questions later? Wouldn't it be better to just kill them before things get out of hand? The sooner you strike, the safer you'll be when their true form emerges.

Yes, that must be the real explanation. It has to be them that's been possessed by a nightmare. What else could it be?

Joker’s Wild

There’s no limit to what form the shadows can take. The world may have its own perception of fear, but your nightmares are something only you could understand. What darkness lurks in the depths of your heart?

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code bases by tricklet

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"A part of it."

One that's not really readily accessible to most people, at that. It's complicated.

"Are you familiar with a world called Earth?"

Or 'Terra', according to some people. Which is literally just the exact same name when you get down to it. The point is that it's the human word for it, specifically.

"Earth is the name of the Human homeworld."

They are quite familiar with Humans.

"This flower originates from there?" It does not look like any variety of Earth flower they have seen.

"Exactly."

Though his curiosity is admittedly a bit piqued at that; Merlin has a great love for humanity and its tendency to dream big and boldly, hearing about what interstellar escapades humans have/will embark on would be interesting! But that's not the topic at hand, anyway.

"Yes and no. Avalon is the land of the fairies, not of humans, existing within the reverse side of the world. A part of Earth, but not the Earth that belongs to humanity."

(...Headtilt.)

Magic?

(They know about this mysterious and inconsistent force that seems to be a big part of so many worlds and is likely why they're alive now.

...But they don't know much. Except that it really is real.)

"Well, you could say that's a part of it."

Does he feel like showing off? He feels like showing off. Some murmuring and a gesture, and an image of the planet Earth hovers in the air. It's just an illusion, of course, little more than him abusing the powers available to him within this dream, but it lets him illustrate the point nicely.

"This is the world as humans know it, in the modern era."

The view zooms in on a city--early 21st century London--then begins panning from there across the countryside.

"Humans rule the world, so there's no place for gods and phantasmals in that world. Therefore they long ago retreated to the reverse side of the world, a place separate from that which belonged to humanity."

The panning speeds up, and at the same time shifts in a strange way, and the view of the English countryside is replaced by that of a pristine, untamed field of almost unearthly beauty, scattered with flowers, ancient-looking forests bordering its edges.

"In terms you'd probably be familiar with, hmm, let's see, I suppose you could say it's like another dimension of the same world, hidden away underneath the main one. One that still overflows with mana, the magical energy used by mages and phantasmal beings, unlike the depleted state of such energy in the modern world."

Their headflaps flare, flutter, in response to the sudden appearance of the image of Earth.

A ...hologram? Except made from thought rather than using technology. A simulation, not within a computer network but an organic one.

Still, the result is much the same. They reach out to touch the image. Is it solid, like hard light? Or more like a standard hologram?

"...Acknowledged."

They watch it shift and change.

They don't quite know this city, or these fields. It is less advanced than what they are familiar with.

The shift is even less familiar, and they headtilt.

The concepts, at least, are familiar enough, though before they left their universe, they did not believe it was actually possible to enter other dimensions.

"It is a refuge."

They look at the flowers again. Are they endangered?

In this case, Merlin's conjured images are just that: images, with nothing substantial to them. A touch makes it flutter and twist a bit, the illusion threatening to be broken without Merlin's active backing of it. Fortunately, it's just to illustrate, anyway. Well, and show off a bit.

"In a fashion, I suppose. A realm for the forgotten mysteries that no longer have a place in a world ruled by humans, and which humans cannot easily enter."

He lets the image of Avalon continue to hover in the air a bit, then fade and dissipate.

They stop touching once they've confirmed that it is insubstantial.

They consider his words. It would have been nice, they think, to have such a place for the Geth.

Rannoch was stolen, and organics could easily enter the part of the galaxy beyond the Perseus veil. It was only fear of the Geth that had kept them away.

"Acknowledged."

That fear did not protect them.

"Hmmm...."

It's hard to say what's going on in the robot's mind, with no emotions to sense to clue him in, if only vaguely. Assuming there's anything like a thought process as Merlin knows it to begin with, which is certainly a good question when it comes to such a being.

"Does something about that weigh on you mind, or are you just not the talkative type?"

Only one way to find out!

"The Geth also isolated themselves from creators after attempts to destroy them. However, out worlds were still accessible to creators, and eventually they returned and destroyed us."

Would have been nice to be in a whole other dimension.

Now they're far from their creators, but it hardly matters: their people are gone.

Edited 2020-11-01 19:41 (UTC)

"Ah, that sort of thing."

Said pretty matter of factly; Merlin's not an especially judging sort, but neither is he particularly empathetic.

"Well, you can relax here for a while if you want. I can keep most of the nightmare at bay for a time, at least."

The matter of factness doesn't bother them ... though the implication that it's common enough To warrant such a reaction is ... disquieting.

"Thank you." They are just gonna keep enjoying all these wonderful flowers now that they aren't trying to grow on them.

"Have you visited the Lemon Cello church?" Perhaps he'd enjoy the cakes and flowers there.

The specifics vary, but the conflict between progenitor and offspring is an ancient one. And a popular topic in modern (by Merlin's standards, at least) science fiction.

"Where Aerith has her little garden, isn't it?"

Yes, he's familiar.

They were more thinking about the genocide part.

"Affirmative. The flora are well cared for."

They're also some of the only flowers that aren't on fire.

Curious, they began to mentally catalogue the different species of flowers in Merlin's dream. How many, they wonder, might they recognize? Are there any that they saw on Enso, or Umui?

Well, that has a long history, too. Living beings are like that; even non-sapient ones will intentionally exterminate rivals given the chance.

"I noticed. It was rather refreshing to see." Well, to see a nice flower patch at all, really.

As for the flowers Merlin's brought forth, they're strictly ones he's familiar with. So varieties native to Earth, especially those from the region of the British Isles, with a few more unusual ones like those from Avalon, as well.

True, but sapient ones have the ability to choose not to. Despite knowing better, Legion still wants to expect better from their fellow higher lifeforms.

They don't know it, but Earth flowers are exactly what they're looking for, because those are what primarily grow on Umui. They do recognize a few. It's kind of strange seeing them.

"Yes."

They consider: ally Ren played with flowers less after the outbreak of overgrowth, but perhaps she would still find joy here.

And that right there--the potential for something more, for reaching and doing greater things--is precisely why Merlin loves humanity. Mere animals don't dream, not like that, even if there's often many rough patches along the way.

For the moment though, since his offer to make a more accommodating dreamscape was declined, Merlin will just make things more to his liking, instead. The surrounding fleshy tunnels seem to fade away, replaced with a vista of a flower-filled plain under a vivid blue sky. It's not truly there, and the nightmare tunnels aren't truly gone, but at least Merlin can surround himself with something he finds more pleasant while the robot examines his flowers.

Now if only people would use their freewill to choose not to be completely reprehensible.

Legion finds this more pleasant as well, actually! They look up at the sky so much more like that of Rannoch and Enso than that of the world they're currently in and ponder the extent of Merlin's ability to manipulate dreams.

It is ... impressive.

Impressive is certainly a word. While not all-powerful by any means, Merlin is still potentially a force to be reckoned with, should he truly go all-out. Perhaps fortunately, he generally prefers watching from the sidelines and growing flowers while occasionally getting up to some mischief, however.

He settles himself down at the base of a tree that's now part of the scenery, in front of a pond that almost certainly wasn't there a moment before.

"You can stay here and rest a while, if you'd like. I can't undo the nightmare, but at least I can control some area within my influence for a time."

"Acknowledged. Thank you."

And they're just ... going to do that until they're made to leave.

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004 - Lucid Dreaming

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