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--- sessions:2016-06-11 [2016/06/25 16:16] – Today's stuff 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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 "...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?
-**✘ IN PROGRESS**
+<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.