hugtopia | How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,

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How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,

[He normally would try to lay low in a given world. Faust, too, has suggested he's should. Brining attention onto himself is a bad, bad, very bad idea.

But he can't help it. There's working internet. And he has the power of typing and bad ideas on his side.]

Hey new world! I'm Teo! Just got here. I'm from Earth, but from my last world, I learned that's pretty common, and every Earth seems to be different from the others. Who's from somewhere new and who here's from Earth? And for those from Earth, what's the thing that makes it different?

Alternate introduction question: What's everyone's favorite thing to do here?

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[He hopes no one's going to need that, too. It's sad that so many seem to hail from broken worlds. Teo must've been through so much between his own world and those after it.]

Sounds great. Naturally, it's the same from my end. If you're okay with it, I'm also open to physical contact; however, I understand that it isn't for everyone.

Forgot about the contact thing.

[If just for a second. He wants it. Of course, he does. But there's still the nagging anxiety. Will the gloves he got be enough? Can he be sure that everyone will be safe?]

Wouldn't mind it.
Maybe.
Probably depends.

[Louis is ready to abandon that offer the second he receives the first reply, but then there's more. For whatever reason, Teo seems wary of contact. In that case, Louis will mind the boundary.]

Then I'll leave it up to you. No one should feel forced to do something they don't want to do.

It's not that.
It's complicated, but, it's not that.
I appreciate it. Really.
I'll keep you in mind.
Thanks, Louis.

["It's complicated." He'd like to understand at least a little better, but this isn't the forum for such a discussion.]

I'll keep you in mind, too.

[He pauses.]

It doesn't have to be now, but, if it isn't a bother, I'd be interested in further discussing the differences between worlds.

No bother at all.
I'm up for it.
Whatever's not too personal.

You don't have to answer if it is. Can you tell me about the zombies you mentioned before?

They're undead.
Corpses that walk.
They're hungry and the hunger never stops.
They're not conscious. [Usually.]
They infect fast.
They tear people apart.
And if you're infected, a fever hits.
It takes everything.
All of who they were.
There is no cure.
There is no vaccine.

Those are the ones on my world.
I can tell you about the other as well.
If you wish.

[It's about what he expected, but that doesn't make it any less worse. What a dreadful infection. How must the infected have felt at the onset of the fever?]

I can't imagine how those on the other world can be worse as you've said. What are they like . . . ?

[He remembers how he felt. It seems a subversion, an unfairness, that that memory should linger when so little else did. But he remembers.]

About a hundred years before us otherworlders showed up, there was an outbreak called the Rash.
It's what it sounds like.
A big rash that took over and eventually killed people.
Animals caught it too, mammals I think it was.
But not all of them died. Some changed.
I only saw pictures and one up close, but
they're mutated beyond recognition, made into monsters.
Bones and bubbled flesh, teeth and beings fused together
Some as big as giants.
I don't know how to describe them perfectly
but if you can imagine the very worst night terror possible
that would probably be it.

I've gotten used to the dead.
These ones terrified me.

But worst part was that they could speak into the minds of certain people.
The one I encountered begged for help
for days.

[Heart-wrenching is what it is. It's one thing to face something so monstrous; to hear their agony is something else. Their cries must haunt those who hear them, and Teo is one of those.]

Nobody deserves such misery—not on either end. It must've been difficult beyond words.

[They'd thought it might be a living person at first. They didn't know what they could do, or how the person was calling to them. Making first contact, realizing the person was infected, that was first blow. The second was the shattering of his foolish hope that he'd found a being like him. He'd cried and felt like an idiot and a monster for it at once.]

One girl on the island took it pretty hard that she couldn't help.
The boys both wanted to go fight.
I ended up killing it and helping its soul pass on.
My friend helped me through much of it, kept us all from doing anything too stupid.
All in all, it probably could've been worse.

[Much worse, he's sure. Sometimes release is all that one can grant. Still, he can understand why the girl took it so hard.]

It's a terrible fate, being trapped. I'm glad you and your friend were able to help.

Pretty glad too.
I didn't have that sort of power before that world.
Worked it out on sheer luck.

What about you?
What are your revenants like?
If you don't mind me asking

[Sometimes luck is all one has, and it's what one needs to turn things around. Louis is truly glad for those involved in that incident.]

Revenants are corpses who were brought back to life by a parasite. Unlike the zombies' hunger, we thirst for blood; without it, we lose ourselves and become creatures of violence known as the Lost. That is, the parasite seizes control of the host with the singular desire to slake its bloodthirst.

[A parasite. A parasite taking over when the hunger is too great...]

How do you know it's a parasite?
Is there a way you find out?

When Lost, can people come back?

The parasite was originally under research for medicinal purposes. After horrors emerged in the wake of the Great Collapse, endangering what remained of humanity, the decision was made to raise those who'd died to combat them.

But no. Once we're lost, there's no coming back. Nor can we be killed.

[It's a fate worse than death for revenants, and the reason why he was gladdened by Teo's ability to help the aforementioned soul pass on. Death is sad, but it can be a release, too.]

Can't be killed.
Not even if one were destroyed?

[He'd managed to kill a troll and he knew well that he could be killed. The idea of being stuck like that, forever, is horrifying.]

What is the Great Collapse?

Not even.

It was a global event marked by the emergence of enormous thorns from the earth all around the world. Countless cities were destroyed, and about half of the world's population fell around that time.

[His heart doesn't beat but he swears it does an anxious flip then and there.]

That's horrible.
I'm sorry.

[It's horrible. But so are the circumstances of Teo's world, if it's been struck by a full apocalypse. The more he learns about other worlds, the more he realizes that this sort of suffering isn't uncommon. And he wishes that didn't have to be the case.]

Everyone is doing what they can. That's why I want to help this world. In doing so, I hope we can find a way to help others, too.

You still want to help despite everything?

[It's not as if the thought confuses him. He's wanted to help too. But it's surprising to hear from another. Particularly, another hungry creature.]

That would be nice, helping other worlds.
I know at least one other that needs it.

I do.

My power alone isn't capable of much, but ripples can form when we work together. If that sounds like something you want to do, I'd be happy to help this one with you.

I don't know that I'm much help anywhere at all.
But I can handle the dead.
At least the kinds I know.
Maybe someday I'll find a use for that.

Thank you.

I think it'll be good to have someone like you around.

[Someone who not only has those experiences, but who also has the strength and compassion to liberate another. Not everyone has them.]

I'm glad we got to talk. I hope you settle in well.

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ghoulserrand - 2022-01-27 05:59 (UTC) - Expand

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