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--- sessions:2016-06-11 [2016/06/20 15:51] – created pinkgothic
+++ sessions:2016-06-11 [2017/11/18 15:34] (current) – external edit 127.0.0.1
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-Something about the composition of the world has changed. That's the first thing apparent to Laure's senses - like a transition from a dream into lucidity, something not quite tangible sharpens.
+Something about the composition of the world has changed. That's the first thing apparent to [[character:Laure Joubert|Laure]]'s senses - like a transition from a dream into lucidity, something not quite tangible sharpens.
 The second thing apparent to Laure's sense is that there's a cat in the library.
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 <fc #884400>"Hello, sir cat. Did you follow someone through the doors?" she asked soothingly as she crouched near the feline and extended one hand. Hopefully it would be sociable and allow itself to be picked up. "Will you come with me? This is a place for books, not cats."</fc>
-As Laure approaches, the cat's attention swerves across to her, left forepaw rising - then as she crouched nearby, it turns to run two metres further away, then casts its gaze back at her, curious and cautious, both. For a few moments, it looks like it's interested in playing the role of the White Rabbit in her lucid dream - then it glances up just as a shadow falls across her, cutting across the light from the skylight. Perched on the top of one of the shelves is an inverse image of the stray cat that led her into this aisle, though it's the size of a large dog. For a moment, it looks like it's just a strong silhouette - then she realises it has no shading at all, and the glowing pinpricks for eyes are **its actual eyes**, not some effect of distorted lighting. As if it wasn't content with the impossibilities already witnessed, its mouth opens into a grin, revealing a set of sharp, white teeth, their shape strictly speaking having more in common with short needles than cat teeth.
+As Laure approaches, the cat's attention swerves across to her, left forepaw rising - then as she crouched nearby, it turns to run two metres further away, then casts its gaze back at her, curious and cautious, both. For a few moments, it looks like it's interested in playing the role of the White Rabbit in her lucid dream - then it glances up just as a shadow falls across her, cutting across the light from the skylight. Perched on the top of one of the shelves is [[character:Theta|an inverse image of the stray cat that led her into this aisle, though it's the size of a large dog]]. For a moment, it looks like it's just a strong silhouette - then she realises it has no shading at all, and the glowing pinpricks for eyes are **its actual eyes**, not some effect of distorted lighting. As if it wasn't content with the impossibilities already witnessed, its mouth opens into a grin, revealing a set of sharp, white teeth, their shape strictly speaking having more in common with short needles than cat teeth.
 <fc #884400>She should be terrified. Objectively she knows she should be terrified, but her brain is stalling at there being a panther in her library. Except it's not a panther, it's a cardboard cutout of a panther, because it was flatly black. Except it's not cardboard, because it is FLAT black and cardboard has ripples and edges and does not come in 'blacker than black'. Except it's not a cutout because it has glowing eyes that don't illuminate the rest of it, and any moment this is going to be revealed as an optical illusion or a trick of the light or something that actually makes sense.</fc>
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 <fc #884400>When she'd fainted there hadn't been the pain, of course, and maybe that was why her breath restarted with a rush and her eyes cleared and everything still ached and she was flat on her belly in the grip of a monster. Still trapped. Laure sucked in a deep gasp of air and tensed to begin desperately thrashing again. Before she could fire bloomed against her wrist and darted blazingly along her arm and the stored breath was spent in screaming.</fc>
-An instant later, the creature above her lurches, tearing her body with it slightly, aborting a sound that might have morphed into a syllable of speech. At the edge of her vision, the corporeal silhouette seems to have bunched itself together a bit - it takes a bit over an instant to identify that its arm has risen and its hand and fingers cross the line of sight to those seaserpent teeth, the tips extending the featureless of its head, and a hiss begins to gather itself. Then something swings for the creature and it half jerks back, half is struck near its head with a dull >**thud**<, and-- it disintegrates, as if into geometric shapes. The visual effect is too abrupt to identify with certainty - but the weight keeping her down disappears. The silver-furred cat has taken the hint and bolted, it seems - it's certainly not where it last crouched. Instead, the black, unreal monster reappears as if through teleportation, sitting on the table the patron abandoned earlier. Its invisible lips peel back from the exaggerated white of its teeth, pin-prick eyes glowing. A woman in boots steps past Laure's right shoulder and inserts herself between her and the monster like a shield, wielding a plastic bag full of ice cubes like a weapon, posture tense, her attention entirely on the creature she seemed intent on banishing. With ice cubes.
+An instant later, the creature above her lurches, tearing her body with it slightly, aborting a sound that might have morphed into a syllable of speech. At the edge of her vision, the corporeal silhouette seems to have bunched itself together a bit - it takes a bit over an instant to identify that its arm has risen and its hand and fingers cross the line of sight to those seaserpent teeth, the tips extending the featureless of its head, and a hiss begins to gather itself. Then something swings for the creature and it half jerks back, half is struck near its head with a dull >**thud**<, and-- it disintegrates, as if into geometric shapes. The visual effect is too abrupt to identify with certainty - but the weight keeping her down disappears. The silver-furred cat has taken the hint and bolted, it seems - it's certainly not where it last crouched. Instead, the black, unreal monster reappears as if through teleportation, sitting on the table the patron abandoned earlier. Its invisible lips peel back from the exaggerated white of its teeth, pin-prick eyes glowing. [[character:Margreet Wauters|A woman]] in boots steps past Laure's right shoulder and inserts herself between her and the monster like a shield, wielding a plastic bag full of ice cubes like a weapon, posture tense, her attention entirely on the creature she seemed intent on banishing. With ice cubes.
 <fc #884400>It was... gone? Everything still hurt but there wasn't anything pushing on her and she could esc- a single jerk at her wrists showed she was still trapped like a landed fish, so escaping was not happening. Her fingers burned and her arm blazed and getting upright or even to her knees without her hands helping was not happening.</fc>
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 She pushes herself to her feet. "If this was your first encounter it's unlikely Theta will be back, unless he wants to prove a point." She's speaking rapidly, clearly pumped full of adrenalin herself. "So, you need to learn: They hate water. It fucks them up good. They can't pass through it like through everything else." Said, she's leant down to pick up the ice pack, dithering for a moment - then hesitantly trying to press it against the bleeding arm, perhaps hoping to take the edge of the pain. "You need a doctor or a hospital, we need to get that stitched."
-**✘ IN PROGRESS**
+<fc #884400>Hissing at the chill of the ice against the wound Laure finds herself pliantly going along with the women, content to let someone else who knew what was happening take the reins. Her own mind was too busy scrambling to make sense of the world. "That was an alien?" the librarian asks at last. Alien did not seem possible, but the monster - the Cheshire, she corrects herself - was not possible, so two impossibilities should combine into one terrifying encounter.</fc>
+<fc #884400>Perhaps it really did intend to eat her. But why would it hunt a human, when the countryside was full of many fat cows?</fc>
+<fc #884400>Her wrist throbbed. Water. Water repelled them, and the stranger suggested it could harm. Earth was a poor planet to attack then, given how much of it was simply lying about, but she should not attempt to psychoanalyse a nonsensical being whilst bleeding over her nice clean floor. "I... yes, my colleague will take over when she sees I am hurt, that will not be a problem," Laure stammers before a thought occurs to her. "But what if it comes back! If that... Theta Cheshire? If it comes back, it will hurt others! We must close. And inform..." Her words faded off. What sort of authorities did one call when an alien invaded your building?</fc>
+"'Theta'. Just 'Theta'. Not his actual name, obviously, don't know or care if he has one," the stranger says. "If Theta comes back, we have a serious problem - emphasis on 'we', I'm certainly not letting you out of my sight until you're properly patched up. As for others, it's no use trying to warn anyone." As she speaks, she slips out a mobile phone out of a pocket with one hand, flicking through the applications with practised motions until a map glows up out of the screen. "Okay, so the nearest hospital is, uh," she comments, visibly tense, flicking the map screen around a bit, before holding it so Laure can see. "Only two blocks away." She taps the screen with the edge of her thumb's nail to indicate their destination. "Can you walk that far?"
+<fc #884400>"I can." She hoped. Two blocks did not seem far, but she felt giddy and ill and shaky and was not sure how much was bloodloss and how much raw shock and fear. But adrenaline was supposed to help you, and surely she could use that to continue putting one foot before the other until it was safe to collapse into a little ball and cry for hours.</fc>
+<fc #884400>The stranger seemed confident that this 'Theta' was gone. "Does that mean there are another eight of those Cheshires? More?" Laure found herself wondering as they moved towards the door. She was not sure how one told one impossibly matt black monster from another, but she could not tell sheep apart and sheppards managed, so it was not surprising that an expert could. That must be why she did not inform anyone; she was part of those that needed to know, and thus they already did.</fc>
+"More, unfortunately," the stranger grimaces. The pace of her stride seems undecided whether it should be one of haste or one of caution, if she should hurry Laure along or if she should make sure she stayed firmly attached to her by proxy of the bag of ice and by - after the phone disappears back into her pocket - a hand gently held against her shoulder, ready to steady her. "How long have you been lucid?"
+<fc #884400>Lucid? "I am not sure what you mean," Laure said in confusion. "I don't think I fainted during the attack."</fc>
+"When," the stranger rephrases. "Did you feel like you were startled out of a particularly deep daydream, or comparable?"
+<fc #884400>It was a very odd question and she wanted to dismiss it, but it was framed as if it was important. "...there was a cat in the library," Laure responded slowly. "A beautiful silver cat. I noticed it while shelving books. I went to catch it, and suddenly there was a grinning shadow behind me."</fc>
+<fc #884400>Had that been only a few minutes ago? It seemed so distant. There were too many strong emotions to fit into such a limited timespan. And why was she being asked if she had been startled from a daydream? Could these Cheshires secrete some sophoric musk that dazed those around them?</fc>
+They're outside by now, on the streets. If anyone is paying attention to Laure and her wound, it's invisible to Laure. Everything looks roughly normal, but she feels a touch invisible - not enough to be bumped into, but sufficiently as that her own searching gaze and her state are provoking no return glances. "Everyone you see," the stranger says almost sternly, addressing the topic of conversation rather than the evidence around them. "Everyone is still stuck in that state. They cannot help you and you cannot currently help them, unless the kind of help you need is a script they've been taught to follow. I am telling you this so it does not surprise you when you cannot afford to be surprised."
+<fc #884400>That does not make sense. It does not compute. It is even less comprehensible than the idea of alien felines invading a Parisian library. "Are you claiming that all of Paris is trapped in some mind-controlled daze?" This woman has saved her and proven she knows how to drive the monsters away, so she will be given trust, but Laure felt that surely she must be misunderstanding her.</fc>
+"...a sizeable chunk of Europe, actually, possibly more. That said, I wouldn't call it mind control, it's fairly subtle - near as we can tell it's mostly just curiosity that's disappeared. That's been shockingly effective in rendering people pliable." There's anger in the stranger's voice, as if she considered the status quo deeply insulting and unfair. People push past them on the street, matching the narrative with a single-minded focus that promises no interest in anythinng outside of practised motions, outside of daily routine. There's still a chance it's just a coincidence - people are in a rush or absent-minded even without losing their curiosity - but given the narrative, the world around Laure threatens to adopt a creepy air. If she believes what the stranger is telling her - a stranger! who thinks it's reasonable to attack impossibly strong silhouette-aliens with a bag of ice! - it also implicitly casts another question into the ring: What is different about this stranger and Laure that they are 'lucid' and everyone else is not?
+<fc #884400>It was inconceivable. Laure found herself seeking justifications and alternate explanations that sounded less like a poor sci-fi movie. How could a loss of curiosity cause such a thing? There were entire industries that would shut down! "How could that be?" she protests. "Surely it would be noticed! A... - a telescope spotting a spaceship, or scientists not sciencing, or..."</fc>
+<fc #884400>But if everyone continued on autopilot with part of their brains stalled, would it be noticed? "Or the inventors not inventing and being chased by the tax office! A sudden increase in dulled humans not noticing danger and being eaten by crocodiles! Something!"</fc>
+"Assume those symptoms are given - do you think anyone's going to guess people have lost their curiosity without being curious about the cause, much less find out the cause of that, in turn?" the stranger frowns sternly. "Wildlife deaths are undoubtably up, but people who take note of that go precisely as far as to take note of it."
+And then she pauses, holding Laure back for a moment, long enough to prompt her to stop, then rearranges her undamaged hand to hold the ice-pack against her arm on her own. A moment later, she's stepping into the path of a young man with a slightly neglected looking mohawk dyed a bright lime, prompting him to swerve to the side - she repeats the process, stopping him from actually gaining any distance.
+After half a minute of the awkward dance, she steps aside and lets him continue on his walk unobstructed. "That didn't even register as implausible behaviour to him," she says, coming back to Laure and resuming her duty with the ice. "He could have questioned my motives - instead, I was just an obstacle." There's a fearful exasperation in her tone, transparently directed at the world. Then she shakes her head as if to physically dislodge her train of thought. "Come, the hospital's over there."
+<fc #884400>Clutching the ice to her arm she watched her rescuer accost a young man and expected her to say something, to challenge him verbally in a way that would trigger whichever response would prove her statement. Instead she merely blocked him. And again. And continued, until Laure's heart was in her throat anticipating at least a string of curses and likely a punch.</fc>
+<fc #884400>That never came. The man reacted with less autonomy than a robotic vacuum. There was no protest, no bewildered expression, no frustration or attempt to reroute in any but the simplest of fashions. Even a roomba would have made a plaintive beep. Nothing.</fc>
+<fc #884400>The note of fear in her voice is entirely justified. Laure could feel the prickles of panic begining to creep up her spine once more as she managed only an animal sound of distress.</fc>
+Whether mercifully or not, the stranger's quiet for the rest of the trip. In the hospital, she sits Laure down in emergency admission, but rather than wait for her to be noticed waltzes up to the nearest member of staff and directly addresses them in a slightly louder voice than might have been necessary in another situation, narrating that 'her friend' has gotten her arm slashed and needs stitches and disinfectants. It takes a little longer than it should, but eventually, Laure - both physically and mentally exhausted - is being tended to, a numbing agent taking the worst out of the sting of a needle being threaded through her skin. The stranger is sitting beside her, holding her free hand, squeezing it reassuringly.
+<fc #884400>"He would not notice if we were to discuss Cheshire's right now, would he?" Laure asks with a nod towards the doctor currently sewing her back together. She watched the doctor out of the corner of her eye, anticipating a glance towards her or a chuckle or the 'how did you hurt yourself like this?' questions that had not come. Everything in her gut said that he would react, but... well. She was no longer sure how long she had been sleepwalking in the same way. Were her own memories of active humans suspect?</fc>
+<fc #884400>Nor did it explain how she had woken up. "If the Cheshires are causing this fog to dull resistance, what are they doing here? Why create something that breaks if one of them gets too close?" A thought struck her; if proximity was a cure, perhaps that deaf man was likewise wandering about confused at being ignored.</fc>
+At the initial question, the stranger shakes her head quietly, although her facial expression suggests that it's more complex than a yes/no question - it's clearly 'no' enough for her to prompt Laure to continue, at least. Once she does, though, the stranger gives her a confused glance for a moment, evidently struggling with the interpretation of her words. Then she shakes her head lightly. "I haven't witnessed how close they are making a difference. I don't know what does, but we have the grim suspicion they have conscious control over the mechanism." A pause. "In other words, they choose if they want you lucid."
+<fc #884400>Her grip tightens noticably. "But, why would they want that?" It's less a question and more seeking reassurance that her conclusions aren't correct, but the horrified expression creeping across Laure's face suggests she has an idea. 'Feline' was the first and most persistent adjustive she had applied to Theta, and she's witnessed how her Napoleon has toyed with a captured mouse.</fc>
+The stranger stares at Laure in response to the question, a stubborn flavour of silent concern in her expression. Then her gaze slips down to the wound as it's being treated, giving Laure's hand another reassuring squeeze. "I don't think now is the right time to discuss that," she says, her tone struggling for 'soft and soothing' but coming across as a bit more abrasive than that, product of obvious tension. Her gaze creeps back up to Laure's face. "I haven't even introduced myself," she sighs, briefly pulling a face in clear distaste at her own lack of ticking all necessary social checkboxes. "Sorry. I'm Margreet Wauters - or just Greet, if you prefer."
+<fc #884400>Laure crumples slightly but drops the subject. There must be good reasons for not talking about it. And look, now she has a name to go with her rescuer. "Laure Joubert," she offers in response, before wondering softly: "What happens now?"</fc>
+"What happens now is that I protect you until it's clear Theta isn't interested in you personally for some reason," Greet says, matter-of-factly. "And try to get you up to speed on details, maybe make you a Cheshire survival kit. Maybe the more important question is: How do you hope I can help you?"
+<fc #884400>A hysterical giggle was startled out of her. "I really do not know. A monster attacked me and society has been crippled so I don't know if anyone is fighting them and people aren't able to notice and I want all of this to be a bad dream. But I cannot hope for you to fix that, so I do not know what I can do."</fc>
+"We're fighting them," Greet says, softly. "Not... yet very successfully, perhaps," she adds in awkward, self-conscious afterthought. "But we're trying." For a moment it looks as if she wants to say something more, then she decides against whatever it was with halting body language. Instead, almost a non-sequitur: "Do you live alone?"
+<fc #884400>"I... no, I have a housemate. And a cat." Did a cat count? Did cats suffer the same curiosity-killing as humans? "Is that a problem?"</fc>
+"...not a... problem, directly, but you might find your housemate perhaps harder to tolerate now that you'd lucid," Greet comments, haltingly. "Just... something to keep in mind," she adds, sounding like she was trying to downplay something witnessed personally.