monochromatically: (Alone... Always alone in the end.)
Móno ([personal profile] monochromatically) wrote in [community profile] aterat2022-09-16 09:46 pm

Signal Interference

Who; Mono and whoever happens to be around
What; Log
Where; Harbor district sewer entrance to start
When; Mid September
Warnings; I will update if specific warnings are necessary. To start I would say: Mentions of solitary confinement/isolation, and abandonment
Note;Mono is now canon-updated to the end of game, and he is not going to be particularly rational atm, so it'll probably take a while for him to calm down and get both himself and his abilities under control depending on the way your character approaches. For more information, see his canon update here.


A young boy stumbled out of the sewers in the harbor district, looking disorientated and somewhat skeptical of the world around him. He shouldn’t be there, really. Not in the ‘children should not be in dangerous places in the dead of night’ kind of way, so much as the… he shouldn’t be in this world, kind of way.

This couldn’t be real, after all. He’d spent months in that room. Months feeling eyes on him despite the presence of the walls he’d built up around him with his powers. Months alone to ponder and let the hurt and anger gnaw at him after his friend… After Six dropped him. After she abandoned him to make her escape from the tower alone, letting go of his hand in the last moment. Just as he had thought that they were going to be free and could resume their joint escape from the city in search of a better place.

This had to be a wishful delusion of a place far better than the Pale City. A place he would much rather be, with people who cared about him (or could they betray him as easily as she had?).

But it wasn’t real, it couldn’t be real. The more the thoughts spun in his head, the more anxious and angry he got at whatever had changed the appearance of the space around him to look like something he couldn’t have. “It’s not real.” He mumbled, the light static that flickered in his sclera more pronounced as he frowned at the sight of the harbor district around him. “It’s not fair. It’s not. Stop trying to trick me.” He balled up his hands into fists. Seeing a place like this, it was too upsetting. He didn’t want to see something he couldn’t have. Mono needed to change it back, to stop being taunted by it. “CHANGE BACK!” He yelled in a desperate and unsteady tone. Energy rolling off of him in waves that seemed to thicken the air unchecked as the already small, rundown harbor buildings around him shuddered almost as though they might really change back.

If he had been more clear minded, he might have remembered that if he’d been in his world… he wouldn’t know or remember this place at all. That fact didn’t even begin to edge its way into the child’s mind as a few windows nearby exploded in shards of glass from the strain. The illusion wasn’t changing, the surrounding images weren’t changing like they should be… It was more like when he’d been outside the tower still and trying to get the hang of his abilities to get to the tower faster before everything had gone south.

Why…? This couldn’t be that place. This couldn’t be real, right? So why…? Was that thing behind this? Was it taunting him out of boredom? Could it even do that?


soulsword: (pic#14121984)

[personal profile] soulsword 2022-09-21 07:21 am (UTC)(link)
Ah. Well, that certainly explained his panic. What he said was relatable to her in a very distant way. Thinking back to the how the Darkchilde had taken over stirred similar emotions in her. Similar emotions and similar thoughts. People should be scared of her. People should run from her. After all she had done terrible things, both as a child and a soulless reconstruction.

"I see..." she frowned as she looked at him, still trying to keep some degree of eye contact. "But you're not him now." The most observant observation one could ever possibly make. "Whatever you do here, there are people who could stop you. I killed Elder Gods. I could stop you." Was she actually certain of that? No. Not at all. Was she able to sound completely confident of it? She certainly was.

"Why were they watching the TV?" Perhaps it would help to know a bit more about his power.
soulsword: (pic#14122001)

[personal profile] soulsword 2022-09-23 06:56 am (UTC)(link)
"Kind of is not a certainty." There was a firmness in that statement. "What you are back there doesn't matter here." Here they could be different people if they wanted to be. That was what people told her and that was what she would tell him. Perhaps it would be enough to convince him of it. If not then perhaps enough time back here would. She met his eyes directly and in a confident voice she said: "I promise." Though...truthfully she hoped it wouldn't come to that.

"I see." She wouldn't tell him that was impossible, that everyone could turn their powers off. That would be a lie. There were plenty of mutants who couldn't turn their abilities off no matter how hard they tried to learn. "What is this tower though?" Was he trying to say he created it? Or was there something else to it. Really, he wasn't making too much sense but she was trying to follow.
soulsword: (magik139_2)

[personal profile] soulsword 2022-09-25 02:50 am (UTC)(link)
"Thank you." In most cases she'd have thrown out a sarcastic comment or maybe even a warning that someone should. Not with him though. With him she wanted to be trusted, she wanted him to believe her, and to believe in her. No matter what happened she would try to protect him. There had been much worse foes that she had fought against besides a child with powers he didn't fully understand.

"How strange." Not knowing where it came from certainly complicated matters. Though more so for him in his city than for here. For here it only made it more complicated to try to understand his abilities and what he was trying to explain to her. Still, she listened. "The thing with all the eyes? Is that what controls the tower?" He could change it to cover up the thing with all the eyes. She repeated what he said in her own mind and looked as though she was thinking silently for a few seconds. "Then it's luring you." Her expression twisted slightly as she considered the things with many eyes she knew. All of them with few exception had been some sort of eldritch being. Was it possible that was what had ended up on his world? Something eldritch that then used his power?
soulsword: (magik115)

[personal profile] soulsword 2022-09-28 03:15 am (UTC)(link)
"Eldritch abomination." Her eyebrows scrunched up and her mouth twisted in disgust. What other option was there? Again, she found herself hesitating for a moment, unsure of what to say or how much to share. Sharing helped sometimes, didn't it? Comparing a similar experience was meant to bring people together. But her experiences were ones she rarely spoke about and so they were slow to come out. "I traversed time to find a solution to my problem with my soul. In doing so I ended up in different realities at time. Different places that will not come to be in my own. One the Elder Gods had won. Giant creeping eldritch creatures were absorbing those they ate, causing too many eyes to pop up on them with each new addition." It'd been the worst timeline she'd visited. For a lot of reasons. "Too many eyes seems to be a calling card for them. That and tentacles. Too many tentacles." But, it sounded as though what he was describing fit into the ancient eldritch abomination type of category. Which was....unfortunate for him and his world. Even if it did explain why he knew so little about it, how it worked, and what it wanted. It was nearly impossible to know those things about creatures like that.

"Interesting. That seems to confirm it's trying to lure you. Or to get your attention. Maybe it needs you." And time travel seemed involved somehow too. Odd how similar their lives seemed to be and yet how different they were too. "People with power are often coveted by Elder Ones. They want that power for their own use." Perhaps that was what it wanted with him: his power. Or perhaps it even needed it's power to fully take over his world.
soulsword: (pic#14122059)

[personal profile] soulsword 2022-09-30 07:43 am (UTC)(link)
With more gentleness than Illyana usually showed anyone she squeezed his shoulder. "I'm sorry." He shouldn't have to go through that. Nobody his age should. But shouldn't wasn't how the world worked, that she knew all too well. The world of eldritch entities had no malice but it also had no concern for who her what it used. The more he described the more certain she was that was what he was dealing with. It was something that consumed without thought.

"Perhaps. Or perhaps it would simply hibernate until it found another that it could use." His line of thinking was logical, but she had too much experience with creatures like that to believe it was that simple. A part of her felt guilty for not being able to offer him more comfort, but she didn't think he'd prefer her lying just to make him feel better. One thing she could offer him comfort for was the idea that it couldn't be here.

"I think it's safe to say that. The circumstances are very different here. You're safe." And she strongly doubted they could be the same here. That didn't mean she thought his powers definitely couldn't hurt someone, but from what he said it seemed less likely that it would cause the destruction he seemed so afraid of.
soulsword: (pic#14122048)

[personal profile] soulsword 2022-10-01 07:28 am (UTC)(link)
"I'm sorry..." Something inside of her stirred and knotted in her stomach. Guilt? Perhaps it was guilt over not being able to give him more. Anything else she might have said in regards to what might happen with the creature from his world would just be a lie. From what she knew about him he wouldn't want a lie just for comfort. Besides, he was a smart kid. He'd know it was a lie. He would also know that whether he wanted to or not he'd go back to his world just like he'd never left.

"I don't think you will cause anything like that here." She understood being concerned about hurting people here, far too well. But in all the time she'd spent here she'd yet to actually hurt someone. In a way it brought a certain realization to her that she might have gotten a bit complacent here.

"I understand worrying. But there's no need to. The circumstances aren't the same here. You're safe here." Or as safe as someone could be.
soulsword: (magik132)

[personal profile] soulsword 2022-10-05 12:24 pm (UTC)(link)
"It is. But sometimes the truth sucks," she said with a light shrug. What a childish thought for her to be having. She might be a tiny bit disappointed with herself if she didn't feel so bad for him. Still, she also couldn't bring herself to lie. Not to him and not about this. It might have been easier if she could have. Though maybe lies were never easy, at least not if you actually had a soul.

Life might have been easier without one.

"You should. Having a power you don't understand can be dangerous. It's always better to understand them." She thought again about lying to comfort him. Watching him fidget with such uncertainty made her want to comfort him. She felt like she could at least try to comfort him with a follow up: "I don't think you'll be dangerous." Just to clarify so he might not worry more. "I can try. I went to a mutant school, we all had different powers but were taught the same." This shouldn't be too different. Right?
soulsword: (pic#14122027)

[personal profile] soulsword 2022-10-07 01:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Once she felt his shoulders relax some she took a step away from him and straightened herself back up. For a while she'd wondered if she could really give him any comfort or not and it was somewhat of a relief that she'd seemed to manage at least something. Even if it was a small something it was much more than she'd ever seen herself capable of. Maybe she was getting a bit better at this whole interacting thing after all.

"Okay," she confirmed with a half-smile. "I understand. That's why I tried to learn even more about magic in Limbo. Dark magic corrupts." And she was corrupt enough. This was about as close as she was going to get to admitting that she sometimes scared herself. "We'll learn together." Maybe she'd finally be able to do something to make her own mentor proud.
soulsword: (magik115)

[personal profile] soulsword 2022-10-10 04:29 am (UTC)(link)
"The Academy would be the best location." It slightly away from things and it'd been used for the study of magic before. That was close to the studying powers. Besides, it made it feel a bit more like the school she'd gone to. There were memories there and not all of them were bad for once. Some were good memories of good friends doing things she hadn't done in a very long time. Or maybe she'd never done it. How she was brought back to life left a lot of that as a question.

"We can start as soon as you'd like." The problem seemed like something that should be tackled sooner rather than later.
soulsword: (pic#14121978)

[personal profile] soulsword 2022-10-13 02:38 am (UTC)(link)
"Good. And if you ever get lost I can teleport you in. Just message me." And he too can be the recipient of being magically transported out of nowhere by a portal that kind of vaguely smells. At least it'd never seemed like he'd had too much of a bad association with the smell. Most people from her own world associated sulfur with demons and hell, evil things. Which wasn't entirely inaccurate, but that didn't mean she had to like the comparison.

"Just ignore Dresden if he's there." She had absolutely nothing against Harry Dresden. She just kind of found it funny to pretend that she did though.

"Sounds good to me. Do you want me to take you there?"
soulsword: (pic#14121980)

[personal profile] soulsword 2022-10-13 05:40 am (UTC)(link)
"Deal." And it was a good deal! Unlike the kind Belasco used to do. She was clearly a better sorcerer supreme of limbo than he'd ever been.

"Not yet. But he over worries about everything. Makes him no fun at all." Plus he might do something. Probably not, but he might! He'd probably do it in a way that made it look heroic but really it was just boring. Boring and fun ruining.

"Sure," she didn't even really pause before the portals appeared around them both, swiftly transporting them both to his home and plopping them down. It only took a few seconds to go from where they were to here and she gave him a smile. "I'm a taxi back home sometimes too."