2022-01-29: Somewhere Too Far For Us To Find
- Log: 2022-01-29- Somewhere Too Far For Us To Find
- Cast: Lamia, Akane Shinjo
- Where: Tsutsujidai
- Date: January 28, 2022
- Summary: A Somnium finds a dream. The dreamer finds him in short order.
<Pose Tracker> Lamia has posed.
This world should not exist.
And yet, here it is. Outside of proper space and time. Flourishing with what is essentially human life. They cannot be human, though, as human life does not exist within the cracks of reality. At least, that's what Lamia figures. Still, there are too many questions, and jumping to conclusions will do him no good.
Removing a pair of sunglasses from his jacket, the lone Somnium slides them over their face as he begins his attempt at reconnaissance.
It's a mostly quiet one, given how he spends his time walking down the streets, but he eventually pauses his fruitless wanderings as he passes by a flower shop, stopping as he thinks to himself...
A few moments passes since he walked in, but the alien intruder walks out, a bouquet of white lilies in hand, and a slightly emptied wallet.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
Something slips between the cracks. Akane heads home from school. Normally, she walks straight home; it's on the low end of Tsutsujidai's heat index today, so she's fine with walking instead of taking transit. (Honestly, would it kill her to turn her perfect world down like... five degrees?)
There's that split-second prickly sensation that Akane has come to associate with outsiders. It's an intuition that draws her on, in the way she just 'happened' to be staring at a shooting star as it fell, or just 'happened' to draw the attention of a bored seijin...
She changes her route just slightly. It's not long before she sees the mystery man; he's a bit of an odd one, to say the least... which means he's probably from outside. Akane makes very few 'interesting' people.
She approaches cautiously. For the casual observer, her movements are small, halting; to someone keyed into all the myriad layers of reality, though, they're *ponderous*. This isn't the movement of a young lady curious about flowers; this is the movement of a Lord Monster seeing something enter its domain.
"Nice flowers," she says, glancing at them, pretending unawareness of her beacon-like presence. "Are they for a special occasion?"
<Pose Tracker> Lamia has posed.
"For those who walk amongst us but no longer have a voice. A custom I have borrowed."
The Somnium doesn't turn to answer Akane, nor does he move his mouth. His deep, almost melancholic voice instead simply rings clear in her head.
It isn't hard to deduce that Akane is different, and it's not just because she is the first person to approach him. While no one else here is a suitable seedbed. She is. Should be, but also isn't. Perhaps, she is a human who has broken free of Algernon, or perhaps she is something else entirely. It doesn't matter, in the end, even if it is a curiosity.
"This realm should not exist, humanity has yet to fully grasp hold of the land between. So tell me, are you here of your own volition, or are you trapped in this false world, unable to move?"
Lamia's head finally moves to acknowledge Akane, turning and tilting downward to look at her. Having nothing to really hide any longer, he also removes his sunglasses, revealing a piercing set of red sclera that almost bore into the small Lord Monster.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
When Akane realizes she's being spoken to without 'speaking,' she visibly startles. Another non-human... even Newtypes haven't generally been said to be able to do *this* kind of thing, from her admittedly limited understanding. She visibly reels a half-step back, hands balling into fists for a moment, as if she expects a fight...
... but when she works through his explanation, there's actually -- a connection there, a bit. She thinks she understands what he means... and it's the type of thing she orients on too, actually. "Oh. That's fine," she says; she can't communicate back with him along that axis, even if she's perfectly receptive.
Red again, she reflects. There's a lot of red, lately -- though Lamia's is distributed differently, there's still that sense of commonality. Akane's sunset reds meet the lavender-on-red of Lamia's eyes, and she takes a moment to size him up. Unlike with Yuta, who comfortably presents as human, this... is a monster, Akane realizes, and she treats him accordingly.
Which is to say, she gives him a fuckton more latitude than she would anyone else.
"I ditched the outside like a year ago, and I don't wanna come back out," comes her answer. "What about you? How'd you get in here?" She feels like the world's edge gets weaker when Gridman's around, or when there's a fight, which makes some sense, but right now things are at that comfortable standstill... which leaves her to wonder.
<Pose Tracker> Lamia has posed.
"To open up oneself so easily before shutting the rest of the world out... I see. This world should not exist, but for the mean time, it serves a purpose for you. For either good or ill, I cannot say. That is something those with human hearts must answer."
There's no judgement in the Somnium's mental tone, just a flat statement and apparent understanding. He can't read minds, nor would he, but it is very easy to read Akane. Or perhaps, more accurately, it's easy to read Akane through the lens of someone he isn't, but possesses the memories of nonetheless.
A young, naive girl. Hurting. It's a familiar sight, but not one he's personally equipped to help with.
"As for my being here, this is a land between. A dream, but not. We are attuned to such places, though one this big is strange. The fact it was not noticed sooner is perhaps even stranger."
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
Lamia's word choice hits a bit of a strange spot for Akane. It's not joyous, but it's not really unhappy, either. Something about whether she's a real human has been gnawing at her. Does the stranger's word choice leave her a say in what happens to her world? She doesn't actually know, anymore.
... but that's a question that's a hair too abstract, a hair too strange, a hair too frustrating for her to wrap her head around. So, like most frustrating things that present as impossible instead of solvable: Akane kicks that can down the road.
"It was *supposed* to be closed off," Akane grumbles. "Alexis sure told me it was. But then someone broke in. And now EVERYONE'S breaking in." Normally, of course, Akane would play more coy -- try to present herself as a perfectly normal young lady. But it's increasingly hard to do that, as people come in and ask all these pointed questions! Keeping up the facade is the pits.
"So who's 'we'? Don't tell me you're, like, thirty psychic worms with pretty good taste in fashion," comes Akane's question. It's easier than engaging with the idea -- floated now twice in as many days -- that this space is somehow 'psychic,' somehow 'dreamlike.' Alexis sure didn't mention that part.
<Pose Tracker> Lamia has posed.
Lamia is eerily silent as he lets the last question sit a bit. The awkwardness that builds up the longer he remains quiet is almost palpable, but finally, he breaks it.
"Everything has an end. Life leads to death, Fall leads to Winter, and peace eventually is replaced by war. What is happening now to this world is no different. You can lay down and accept it, or you can fight and adapt to the new beginning that is soon to start."
Having stood almost completely still this entire conversation, Lamia suddenly starts moving, his long legs carrying him down the sidewalk as he slips his shades back on. Whether Akane follows him or not, he doesn't seem to care, as his 'voice' carries perfectly fine no matter the distance.
"We. Those who have safeguarded humanity since the dawn of time. We call ourselves Somniums, you humans, however... Know us as Betterman."
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
This... doesn't seem to make Akane very happy. She doesn't much like the notion of having to fight the outside to protect her world. When it was just their mystery guest, she could write him off as a glitch in the equation and approach him accordingly, but now...
... well, right now, she's going to fight either way, she thinks. "I think I've got the fighting part down just fine. My next kaiju is gonna crush those Vessels of Light for *sure*, and then I can go back to what I was doing before," she says, confidently. She follows along with Lamia; despite him being able to reach her, she doesn't anticipate the alternative.
She turns the word over in her head. 'Somnium'... she does know an okay amount of French, thanks to Tarabaman. Somnium, Sommeil -- Dream? Her brow furrows. "Why that name? You seem pretty real to me," she reflects aloud.
<Pose Tracker> Lamia has posed.
"Leaving little trace that we ever existed behind. The fact that we dream of our promised day...A name holds multiple meanings, and changes with context and the person. Perhaps the others think differently of the name, but that is what it means to me."
Perhaps, rather concerningly, Lamia is walking into a dead end alleyway. The kind one would expect to find brutal muggers and dead bodies in, but luckily, the only thing of note other than the two living bodies present are a couple of strewn garbage bags and rats.
"You wish to stay behind, so I would not follow an further. I have spent enough time here, I must leave to prepare. The end of both this world and the one outside comes soon, and I must fight to help usher into the new age..."
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
Akane has seen a lot of scars carved into the world for a 15 year old. The idea of something impermanent, something that leaves nothing behind... That's an interesting one to Akane. A protector that doesn't leave any trace of itself behind... a dream...
"... A kaiju?" she thinks aloud. It's a strange thought. Just what is a 'kaiju,' at this point, anyway? Obviously Red King is one, but that's just a big lizard... Ghoulghilas is one, and that's the protector of Akane's dreams! This 'Somnium'... maybe he's somewhere in the middle.
"... something that ends this world *and* the one outside..." Akane draws the connection. It's top of mind, after all -- she's already talked about it with Kaworu recently. "... If you need somewhere to hide out when you're not fighting, here's fine," Akane offers. "Just don't freak my people out, okay?" She wants to ask questions, to beg for more information than she has --
-- but that'd require her to make a real, significant request of someone she's just met. That's still hard, right now.
<Pose Tracker> Lamia has posed.
Lamia pauses at the offer. He doubts, honestly, he will ever take her up on it. He is, after all, not afforded those sorts of luxury. However...
"...I will consider it. Lamia is my name. Remember it, if you wish."
Making his way all the way towards the very end of the alleyway, the Somnium places a hand on the dirty wall, the object giving way as if it wasn't even there to let him through.
There's no further farewells, no wave goodbye. Just as easily as he entered this world, he exits it, leaving almost no trace outside a handful of cash and some memories.