hugtopia | Video: Achtom 6th

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Video: Achtom 6th - Early Morning

[Cor was not intending, initially, to do this as a video. Such requests would certainly go better if someone has a face to go with the voice, can see the type of person they'd be working with. He's as stern as ever, even if there are subtle indicators that he's been exerting himself recently. The ever-present jacket discarded for once, sweat clinging to his face, breathing slightly elevated.]

I know I am not alone in being unused to such... quiet. I suspect many of you are from worlds where such unquestionable peace is not the norm. I am a soldier, as I have ever been, and there is familiarity in the discipline of body and mind.

[A noise off screen, an animal perhaps? Something dying? A lazy king snoring? The deepening scowl on Cor's face makes it apparent that whatever it is Cor isn't happy about it.]

If anyone would like to join me in the mornings for training routines perhaps we can teach one another of the fighting styles of different worlds.

[Again a noise, this time more like a chainsaw or motor boat than an animal and Cor takes a moment to wipe sweat from his brow, heave a sigh and his expression turns a touch apologetic.]

Also if anyone has access to a chess board or mahjong table they'd be willing to share I would greatly appreciate it.

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So it's... not an animal at all?

[A sentient object being thousands of years old makes a lot more sense.]

It's a Pokémon! You really don't have any Steel type animals on Eos?

[Animal, object--past a certain point, the distinction is blurred to non-existent when it comes to Pokémon. Nobody would ever argue that things like Magnemite aren't alive or don't have emotions. Why should it matter if they happen to be (at least partially?) made out of inorganic substances?]

Steel type... no, we don't have animals made of metal. All of our natural beasts are flesh and blood.

[His expression darkens slightly though]

Daemons on the other hand.

How strange..... I didn't know that kind of corruption could change what something is made out of. We have plenty of Pokémon made out of things like metal or stone, though. There are even a few made out of things like sludge or garbage!

[Will looks positively flabbergasted by this revelation, to be honest. He's clearly never even considered the idea that non-organic creatures might not be just one more variation on the natural order of things, Havenwell's locals aside. Why wouldn't they be, after all?]

garbage....

[Will you're going to break his brain. ]

The Scourge works differently it... it creates a type of miasma that spills off the infected person for hours, sometimes days before they succumb. It... eats at a person so that when they die the miasma mutates their body into... something else. When the Daemon dies it disperses into that same miasma and that's what has been blocking the sun for the last two years.

[Enough creatures have died and turned to dust to block out the sun for an entire planet. If that gives you a bit of scale for how horrific the Scourge is. And you wonder why he's Like This.]

[Don't blame him, blame how bizarre his world is. Trubbish is a perfectly normal creature!11

That explanation, though..... it really puts the scourge into perspective. A horrific wasting, twisting period where you can feel yourself slowly being destroyed from the inside out, dying inch by inch until you finally give in to something fundamentally Other, body and mind and soul alike. Millions of deaths, blanketing an entire world in their anguish, stealing all light and hope even from the survivors left breathing in their remains.

Maybe it's not quite like that. Maybe his imagination is running wild. But Will's expression flickers as he looks away from the camera, a momentary flash of nausea. Now it's even clearer how desperately important Verstael's work is.....]

.....I'm sorry.

[The look on Will's face is a reminder that things are far more grim on Eos than this cheerful young man is used to and Cor feels a little guilty for even bringing it up.]

You've no need to apologize. There's no blame to be had, save Niflheim's arrogance. And they've suffered far worse than the rest of us for it.

[He sighs, shakes his head a little, trying to dismiss it.]

So... you really have a pokemon made of garbage?

What do you mean?

[Niflheim caused this disease somehow? How? Why? How are they getting punished for it more severely? Whatever they might have done, nobody deserves to suffer like that.....

It's hard to drag his mind away from such dark, gruesome thoughts back to a simple pollution problem. Will hesitates a little, making a vague gesture with his free hand.]

I have no idea what kind of weird chemical reactions or mutating energy do it, but yes. Trubbish is basically a living garbage bag, and Grimer is basically living toxic sludge. They both come from areas of especially bad pollution--Grimer actually naturally prey on Trubbish. Probably because they're both so poisonous they're one of the only species able to do so safely.....

A-anyway. Now that people are getting so much better at cleaning up pollution and using greener ways of doing things, both of them are starting to get pretty rare. They might even die out soon--although I guess Alola will probably manage to keep some Grimer around.

I see... so they developed in response to the environment. That doesn't sound all that different from some of the mutations I've seen.

[Creatures develop according to their environment, that's true even for daemons in some ways.

It's hard to drag his mind away from Niflheim as well, from home, from all the unfinished business he's left behind.]

Even inanimate objects mutated on your world? I thought you said they had to die first.

[Because that's what this is, right here. A bunch of chemicals spilled on a bunch of trash, and suddenly the same literal pile of trash is imbued with life and intelligence, and able to be captured and trained. He doesn't understand how it works, but this shit is still completely normal to him.]

No, no... not inanimate objects but the idea of these creatures developing as a response to the environment makes at least some sense. Even if inanimate objects becoming sentient is utterly illogical.

[But then, there's a walking talking suit of armor that's owner is at least 2000 years dead so why not?]

Mmhmm. Plenty of Pokémon adapt to their environments. But what's so illogical about being sentient after coming to life? It'd be pretty hard to use that life without being able to think and feel.

[Maybe the fact that chemical reactions and X-rays from the moon shouldn't bring trash to life in the first place?]

Will... both are illogical. Trash shouldn't be alive.

[And yet we have Ardyn.]

[Awww, poor Ardyn. He might agree with Cor's assessment though, and that would be doubly sad.]

It's usually not, at least? The whole species is like some kind of freak accident; scientists have been trying to figure it out for years.

[It's inexplicable and illogical, yes. But it's still just a normal type of weirdness to take in stride, right?]

[Cor's quiet for a long moment, just side-eyeing the phone and sighing in exasperation.]

Well if it's stumped your scientists then I suppose I feel a little better about having no idea how something so peculiar exists.

[Couldn't you have lead with it being a freak phenomenon, Will?]

Tell me you don't have one.

[Is that really the best way to start, considering it's happened enough to form a whole species with wild populations and natural predation? He laughs and waves a hand.]

Oh--no, no, definitely not. I wouldn't feel safe handling either of them without some specialized training in Poison type ownership. Grimer and Trubbish are both incredibly poisonous. Breathing in too much of the gas a Trubbish produces can put you in the hospital for weeks, you know. It could probably kill small enough children and the sick or elderly outright.

They're that inherently dangerous?

I'm surprised they haven't been hunted if that's the case then. But if they're inanimate can they really be killed?

I'm not actually sure if they can die, short of being completely destroyed..... it might be sort of like when Exeggutor lose their heads?

[Because creatures losing their heads and not dying--plus the heads not dying--is also so normal that it can be a casual aside.]

They're not usually in heavily populated areas unless they belong to someone, so it's not as dangerous as it could be. And we've made some pretty amazing strides in cleaning up the environment, so there aren't nearly as many these days, either.

immortal... animated trash heaps.

[Sweet Shiva ]

You realize the implication there is that these executors survive decapitation.

Something like that! But Exeggutor aren't getting decapitated or anything like that, don't worry. It's more like..... fruit getting overripe, you know? It's not the healthiest thing ever if it doesn't happen naturally, but losing one or two heads is just a normal part of the life cycle. It helps new Exeggcute be born, too.

[Sweet Shiva indeed, ~~Ardyn~~ immortal animated trash should absolutely terrify you. This topic, at least, seems perfectly natural to Will though. He grins.]

I do own an Exeggutor. Fingers crossed you two can meet someday!

[He actually just sets the phone down on the kitchen counter so he can lean on the counter, face in his hands, groaning softly. A deep breath, another scrub of hands over his face, and then he finally looks at the camera again.]

Will... nothing you just said makes biological sense.

Ahahahaha! It's not that bad, is it? Maybe animals don't work that way, but Exeggutor do.

Oh--wait, maybe you're actually..... I forgot to mention that they're Grass type, that would probably help for context. Grass and Psychic type--they look like trees with legs, and multiple heads that look kind of like coconuts.

They're differently shaped in Alola, though. Much taller, too.

Grass type. So it's a plant?

[But also an animal? But also has multiple heads and-]

Will? I need to take His Majesty his breakfast and, honestly, I don't have the Titan-given strength to process all of this before my second cup of coffee.

[That's it, he's tapping out of pokemon logic.]

Hehehe..... It's not important in a place like this, no need to worry about it too much. Go get both of you fed and caffeinated!

[Will ~~levels up from this decisive victory~~ makes a little shooing gesture at Cor, entirely too amused at his exasperation as he moves to end the call. Honestly, what must animals be like, if people have trouble understanding just the idea of Grass types? That's just basic knowledge of how the world works, isn't it? Plants are plants, Pokémon are Pokémon, and Grass types are both!]

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Video: Achtom 6th - Early Morning

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