⇨ THE MATRIX

[ringleaders]

Who: EVERYONE!
When: S1:D22 - S1:D??
Where: Visiting the Matrix.
What: The carnival arrives at its next location, as outlined here. This is a general mingling log for convenience purposes, but players are welcome to make as many other logs for this purpose as desired.
Warnings: Could be a lot of things.

THE MATRIX↴ "What IS the Matrix? The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you're inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it." ► INSIDE: On the inside, it all seems so normal. Beyond what you know of the reality you've stepped in, every bit of this place feels just as real as it did back in the carnival. If you were to forget where you'd just come from, would you know any different? The simulation of Chicago is identical to how it would have been in the early days of the new millenia, to anyone who comes from a similar Earth. Humans bustle around you, oblivious to the world outside of the Matrix that they were born into. One bright side to it all is that this hyper realism means the coffee tastes just as good as it does in real life. Anything you could do in real Chicago you can do here - and perhaps even more. ► WHITE ROOM: But before that, you were here. The White Room is a loading program, intended to port objects and people into the Matrix. You arrive as a reconstruction of your true physical form, but common sense suggests that for some of you, entering the mundane world looking like yourself isn't the best idea. It's in this empty world that you will be able to load in whatever physical objects you are, and change the way you present your own body to the system. Changes can be little, or big, but whatever you do, the body has to be able to function according to Earth's physical laws. Don't forget, if you die here, you die in the carnival too. ► DEJA VU: It doesn't matter what you're doing, but at some point you'll notice it - something around you has repeated itself, like a line on a skipping record. Maybe it's the same person bumping into you twice in a row, or the same cab driver yelling at you to get out of the way. It's like reality has rewound and repeated itself, and after the fact you have no proof of it happening beyond the memory of what you saw. You don't know what it means, but something about it is chilling. It may be a good time to find a buddy. ► THE ONE: It won't necessarily come naturally, but in a moment of need you may find yourself bending the world of the Matrix through sheer belief and force of need. How you bend it will always stay without the rules of the universe, at least for now, but when it comes to enhancing your own physical characteristics, just about anything is possible. It will not be easily reproducible, not now, but it could be your first view into the window of what's possible.

Comments

Tanyuu Karibusa | OTA

[fourthscribe]

A: White Room

The initial uplink was jarring in and of itself. The feeling of being digitized and physically changed into raw data isn't a pleasant one, though not painful. Just...strange. Very, very strange and nothing like what Tanyuu has dealt with in the past.

She also wasn't expecting to land right on her face as soon as she got to the White Room, but that's what happens when your true self-image has a a bum leg.

She's fixed the 'bum' part of that leg now, and settled into a rather nice outfit for herself, but Tanyuu's not quite ready to leave just yet. Instead she's very, very slowly walking around the blank non-space, her grip tight on a cane she created for herself. If she's going to learn to walk, she had better do it where it won't be attracting undue attention--and where the people that might see this travesty will at least understand why she looks like a newborn deer right now.

B: Wildcard!

( Hit me up with any other ideas you have either by PM or over at gryphcat! )

WHITE ROOM

[starseedling]

"You have legs!!"

Steven is there, suddenly, and he's throwing his hands up in surprise. Of course, he expected that if people were going to look like normal humans that people would be changing in appearance - but he's never seen her as a not-snake person.

Then, noticing her lack of balance, he steps forward, putting his hands out as if to support her.

"Whoa, are you okay?"

[fourthscribe]

"Ah--!"

Tanyuu reaches out to catch Steven's hands, wobbling for a moment more before she finds her balance again. With a small sigh she pulls herself upright again, leaning on the cane and smiling down at Steven.

"Just getting used to being able to walk normally. I didn't think just four months with that body would affect me this much!"

[starseedling]

"Oh!" Yeah, he guesses that makes sense. Walking with legs and slithering must be totally different experiences. He starts to reason out this idea verbally. "Well, when you think about it, even if they only have one leg, snakes have way more leg than any of us do. Even if they don't have arms."

He's had to convince himself of this to be at peace with the snake's armless state.

"But hey! You get to have a super long leg and arms, most of the time! So.. just having two small legs is weird in comparison!"

Thanks Steven that was really enlightening.

[fourthscribe]

She smiles and nods, covering her mouth to hide a soft chuckle. "It felt a little bit more like having a very long stomach, but you make a very good point! The movements involved are all very different."

Tanyuu glances down to her feet, wiggling her right foot back and forth. "It's nice to be normal for a while, though."

[starseedling]

Steven smiles more brightly when she returns the gesture, and shifts so that she can hold his hand or leave a hand on his shoulder if she wants. He's sturdy, it's okay!

"Do you... wish you were normal all the time?" he asks, a bit more shyly. It would be optimistic to think that everyone is down with shapeshifting, but... it'd be nice if they didn't hate it, at least.

[fourthscribe]

She accepts the offer of his hand, her smile growing warmer. Steven really is a very kind child, and one she's growing increasingly fond of the more she gets to know him.

"Hm...not particularly, I suppose. I was never quite 'normal' even before I started changing, to be honest, so this is more a novelty than anything else." Sure, it hadn't been to the level of having six eyes and a giant snake tail, but she can move around without relying on others for help anymore.

[starseedling]

His smile brightens, that response resonating with him. He nods in understanding.

"I know how you feel. I'm not very normal where I'm from, either. So... I guess I'll just be even more different, for a while!" He pauses, and then adds. "Though I guess all of us being different kind of makes us more the same."

White Room

[pipers_son]

And there, before her, is a hand outstretched. One of flesh, too, and Joker's expression is helplessly fond even as he grins encouragingly.

"Looks like I shoulda grabbed the wheelchair from the carnival, huh?" he says playfully. "Want a hand while ya figure everythin' out?" She might notice that his usually empty sleeve has been filled out, the attached hand tucked into the pocket of a plain coat. Tanyuu's not the only one figure out how to work a limb again, but at least his is a little easier to hide.

[fourthscribe]

"Oh!"

Tanyuu takes Jokers hand and steadies herself again, smiling up at him with a hint of embarrassment.

"I'm a little worried I may have to make one to bring in with me!" She spots that arm and her smile warms by considerable degrees. "I'd appreciate the help. I didn't think that walking on two legs would be quite so different from only being able to use one."

[pipers_son]

“Well, you’ll figure it out sooner or later! And we got all the time in the world, in here.” He adjusts himself, making sure to keep himself steady for her so that she can lean on him whenever she needs to. In his memories, he remembers doing this same sort of thing for Dagger and Beast, when they’d first gotten their prosthetics. It’s not easy, but they’d learned too. “Just gotta mimic it in yer good luck a bit, and then find yer balance. A lot of focus on how it feel, yeah?”

[fourthscribe]

"That we do!" Tanyuu chuckles and shifts her hold on his arm to something a little more comfortable, and starts that slow walk she'd been attempting once again. "Yes...really, it's that I feel anything from my leg that's throwing me off the most! It used to be entirely numb, except for the pain."

[pipers_son]

“Oh yeah?” Funny, how he’s still learning things about coworkers he’s worked alongside for over a year now. Joker glances down at the leg in question as they walk, his steps small and slwo to let her set the pace. “Do ya want ta just sit and stretch it out a bit first or somethin’? Would that help?”

[fourthscribe]

In all fairness, Tanyuu's condition was something she tried to avoid talking about the specifics of for a great many reasons, the biggest of which is she simply didn't want people to be worried.

"Hm...it might? I just started trying to figure out walking right away, really." She chuckles and looks down at it as well, very careful of how she sets her foot down with each step.

WHITE ROOM

[dontpokethat]

Ginko, meanwhile, has no intention of leaving until Tanyuu's figured out her legs. Once he considers himself basically ready to go - which pretty much just consisted of changing his hair and eye color, since he sees no need to change out of the clothes he typically wore back home - he comes over to hang around while she practices.

"Hey; how're you doing over here?"

[fourthscribe]

Tanyuu sighs and leans heavily on her cane, frowning down at her feet.

"Well, I've only fallen on my face two times, so I'd say I'm doing well enough. I didn't think a few months would be enough to make me forget how to use legs, but you learn something new every day, I suppose."

Then she glances up, and her bemused expression quickly falls into a flat look.

"Ohhhh no, you're not going out in that."

[dontpokethat]

"I guess so. Looks like you're making progress, though."

He starts a bit, then frowns down at himself. "Why not? This seems like it'll work fine to me."

[fourthscribe]

"You look completely shabby! You'll be taken for someone hopeless in an instant." Tanyuu hobbles her way over, frowning and reaching for Ginko's coat to shake it out into something shorter and far less threadbare. Smoothing her hand over the wrinkled shirt changes that as well, in both style and material. "You have any full pick of clothing here, you can be comfortable and presentable, you know."

[dontpokethat]

"Well, that's not inaccurate."

Ginko frowns down at himself, hunching his shoulders as Tanyuu changes his clothes. "--Hey, if we can wear anything, I don't see why I can't just wear what I want. It's not as if we're going in here trying to make an impression or something."

[fourthscribe]

"We're trying to not make an impression. And a shabbily-dressed man of your stature will stick out quite a lot." She dusts off his pants, pauses, frowns, then dusts them off again. There, that's better. She takes a step back and crosses her arms, looking Ginko up and down.

"Hmm...could use something else..."

WHITE ROOM

[nowingsyet]

There's not much about her co-worker and partner that has changed in the white room, she looks the android girl she knows, clad in all white. But her manner has changed since entering the Matrix. She actually emotes with concern when she sees Tayuu strugggle with walking and she walks to her, wishing. "Tanyuu... do you need any help?"

[fourthscribe]

"Nona?" Tanyuu is actually taken aback by the change in the android girl, staring in surprise for a moment before straightening back up as best she can. "I...yes, please. It's been a while since I had legs, and I never had two functioning ones. It's a bit much to learn so quickly!"

[nowingsyet]

"Was it your desire to have two working legs?" After all, there's a lot of this strange thing called emotion swirling about her head...

[fourthscribe]

Tanyuu nods with a faint frown, looking at NONA1 with concern. "It was, yes. Has something changed for you that you did not intend?"

[nowingsyet]

"I wouldn't say so..." It's always been a dream of hers to emote properly.