kenoslogs | 2024 catch-all

[ Well, it is cold in Highstorm, so... decent shot that Demeisen at least temporarily gets a coat.

But in the here and now, Amos can at least look at the face of the guy he's talking to. Fading is the novelty of staring over an unfamiliar body type, and he doesn't even have the grace to look embarrassed when Demeisen calls him out on it.

Like, yeah. What else was he supposed to be doing? He's going to consider that answer, a thoughtful little tilt to his head. ]

Where I'm from, I'd never met any aliens. We found a bunch of dead ones' old stuff, but the aliens themselves were already, you know. Dead. [ The shrug is in his voice; what're you gonna do? ] There're some here, though. Bits of life get pulled in from around dying universes, you're gonna end up with a decent bit of variety.

[ Pause. And, without a hint of awareness: ] Most do tend to look more like me, though.

[ Lots of regular humans and human-shaped beings around these parts. Amos settles back, comfortable. ]

Never heard of the Quyn system. I'm from Sol. Spent some time in Ilus, but nobody actually lived there yet. People were only just starting to colonize it back then.

[ He's watching Demeisen as he tosses names out there, curious on if any are gonna stick. Chances are incredibly likely they're from entirely separate universes, but... who really knows, right? ]

[Amos’s comment about the various people in Kenos prompts a raised eyebrow from Demeisen, amusement passing over his face. That he could have gathered without any help from the man; after all, if there’d been a plethora of people with varying pan-human physiognomies, he wouldn’t have been so baffled by the appearance of an apparently-human man with Demeisen’s “mismatched” proportions.

In any case, Demeisen will have occasion to experience Kenos’s demographics for himself soon enough, so he’s not particularly interested in following that specific thread.]

Never heard of either, [he says easily, unaware of any potential hopes he might be squashing.] Entirely possible someone where I’m from would know what you’re talking about, but low-level pan-human civs are largely outside my area of interest, and—except for my brief visit to the Sichultian Enablement—outside my personal experience as well.

[Could they be from the same universe? Maybe even the same galaxy? Demeisen is actually assuming the answer is yes, but he’s hardly all-knowing, and Amos’s home just doesn’t sound especially relevant on any scale beyond his own home star system.]

So, Amos—this place seems pretty deserted. [He spreads his hands, indicating the idyllic landscape of moss and tree around them.] If you weren’t expecting anyone to sprout up from the ground at present, why’d you come?

[ Never having heard of Ilus would be passable enough; the place was still new and not everyone gave enough of a fuck to bother learning about its existence. If it weren't for the people he'd been with, Amos wouldn't have. Never having heard of Sol, though, where all human life originated from, while this guy does look mostly human—

It earns an incredulous blink, slow and obvious. That would... not be possible.

Low-level pan-human civs is a collection of words he never expected to be ascribed to him, so it washes over him easily enough. He's still fixed on the point that Demeisen hasn't heard of Sol, of all systems. It's kind of completely derailed his train of thought here.

Opens mouth, closes mouth. Sol is dead anyway, as is Ilus and these Quyn and Sichultian places, so...

So Amos looks at those odd hands spread not as far as they probably should be, chalks it up to a planet or even an entire universe where gravity just works differently, and looks back up at the Tree. Meets Demeisen's eyes again. ]

Was doing some thinking.

[ What an answer. A beat before he elaborates. ]

Don't get me wrong — place I live, Highstorm, is quiet enough. Good place to think. I should probably take you back there at some point. More that...

[ Hm. Soul rocks were one thing, but factional forces... ]

This place is as neutral as it gets. There're... In all likelihood, your soul's gonna get drawn to one of two forces, Zenith or Meridian. I went with Zenith. Recently fully embraced it, and I was curious if being here would feel any different. Or if the Tree would have any thoughts about it, since it seems to do that sometimes. I dunno if it does or if it has, though.

[ A shrug, like he's not exactly bothered by it. He did end up distracted pretty quick, after all. ]

[The reaction—or rather, the lack of it—he gets from Amos about his unfamiliarity with his civilization makes Demeisen look a little puzzled. He was expecting a little more curiosity than that, especially to follow up his obvious confusion. Does he really not care what Demeisen is or where he came from?

So strange. He’ll never understand humans.

But he, at least, does have questions. When Amos mentions the tree again, Demeisen regards him with interest.]

How would you know?

[He hadn’t noticed anything about the tree so far that would point to it being intelligent, or even animal-dumb, but it does give off some interesting readings when he focuses on it.]

Is your “embracing Zenith” something you’d expect it to care about?

[ A lot of humans tend to not understand Amos either. Demeisen's already doing great.

He can only assume any puzzlement is regarding his new situation — the new way he's going to have to live — on Kenos, which, yeah, that makes sense. That's something somebody would be puzzled over, for sure. Shit, he's kind of a little puzzled now too, now that Demeisen's making him think about it.

Turns out go to the Tree and see what happens wasn't actually much of a plan (even though it did yield something. A productive visit, in a far different way than he was expecting). ]

I dunno. That's why I came here. [ He shoots a look at Demeisen; duh? ] Thing is, there's harmonizing with a force and then there's... I dunno how to put it. Becoming one with it sounds like stupid hippie shit, but...

[ He shakes his head. No, that's stupid hippie shit. ]

I don't think anyone in our generation's hit this level yet. Just me. [ A beat. ] Guess you're part of our generation too now. Huh.

[ Like it's only just dawned on him; this is a guy Amos is going to be fighting alongside or against for Oracles at some point. It's really easy to slide into the peaceful air around here and forget about everything else, even when he's in the midst of plotting something that's anything but.

He regains his focus. ]

I've heard about the Tree leaving impressions on people, though. Trying to talk to them. Not with words, but... I dunno. Somehow. Probably easier to describe when you've experienced it for yourself, but I guess it's just being a tree right now.

[The impression Demeisen is getting from his new pal is that Amos didn’t really have any concrete expectations for his trip here aside from that he’d show up and see if anything happened, so really, he’s not surprised that the venture hasn’t availed him anything aside from an unforeseen run-in with a new member of “his generation”.]

Well, good thing you happened upon me, then, [he observes,] or you would’ve had fuck-all to show for your little excursion.

[The tree does rather seem to be doing normal tree things at the moment: photosynthesizing, and the like. Demeisen sends it a cursory mental ”hello” just to be thorough, but as expected, it remains inscrutable.

At this point, he decides he’s had enough of sitting basically in a hole in the ground, and, after a luxurious seated stretch, picks himself up so he’s finally standing upright. This seems to present less difficulty to him than perhaps it might for a newly-formed shard-bearing human—which is for the best, given that supporting the weight of his rather thin frame would certainly be more difficult for his present companion than Amos might assume.

Having gained his feet, Demeisen takes some sweeping glances around their immediate area.]

You going to show me around? Lovely though our current surroundings are, they do present a bit static.

[ Amos blinks at the bluntness.

Just. Blinks. It's almost the kind of thing he'd say to someone else, although probably with fewer words. And in a flatter tone of voice. And not directed at... himself.

Huh. Well, can't get mad at that one; the point is conceded to Demeisen.

Amos blinks a second time as Demeisen stands up. He then follows him with his eyes, tilting his head back to really, truly see the all of him — and for a moment, Amos is thinking of him as a tree. That you could probably take his long legs out from under him and yell Timber! as he fell, a weird little intrusive thought floating behind a blank expression.

And then, at his prompting, Amos finally stands up — a little shorter than Demeisen; likely more solid, though his clothes certainly help with that.

... Right. ]

Well, you've seen everything you're gonna see here. Unless you want to go back underground again. [ He is guessing that's a no, though. ] I should take you back to Highstorm. Plenty of shit there; there're bathhouses and food and drink and skating and...

[ Pause. Another blink. ]

And snow. And cold. [ And Demeisen is very much naked; Amos is already moving to shrug his coat off. ] Shit, you want something to cover you up? At least until we can get to Yima's. They'll have more clothes for you there.

[It’s just as well that Amos isn’t sensitive enough to take offence to Demeisen’s observation, given they may end up seeing considerably more of each other in the future. Having to apologize for his behaviour would be tedious, and probably start to get tiresome if he had to do it every time they crossed paths.

“Snow, and cold” does attract his attention, lending Demeisen’s expression an interested cast for just a moment. The Tree’s surroundings certainly aren’t particularly chilly, but he also can’t see any nearby landmasses that might support populations if people. It seems the place they are going is either reasonably far away, or sectioned off from this one.

But fortunately for Amos’s body heat, Demeisen has never cared about either chilly climates or modesty, and he’s not about to start now. He waves away the offer of the man’s coat, flapping his hand his way with mild unconcern.]

Not biological. [It doesn’t appear to occur to him that someone might wish to be covered for reasons other than insulation.] You’ll certainly need it more than I.

[ Amos already almost never apologizes for his behaviour. They'd probably get along great, inadvertently offending people who actually do take exception to things at every turn, albeit their styles are probably different. Amos' facial expressions are nowhere near as animated.

Case in point: not biological earns another blink. A raised pair of eyebrows. As though Demeisen has merely imparted a trivial detail upon him, which... kind of?

And if the guy is unconcerned about leaving his entire weird body out there for people to gawk at, then who is he to judge? ]

Well, alright then. We got a little teleportation network here, so follow me. [ As he starts to head towards the cornerstone for Highstorm... though Amos does look back over his shoulder, as though a thought's just occurred to him. ] Are you an android or something? Thought those were only in science fiction.

[ he's allowed to get a little meta on occasion. this one calls for it ]

[Demeisen is indeed far more interested in seeing this teleportation network in action than in worrying about trivial things like covering up his nudity, and when Amos begins to lead the way to the nearest cornerstone, he follows along like the two of them are simply going for a stroll. He has already moved on from the topic of his own personal weirdness in his own mind, and rolls his eyes a little when his companion looks back and asks him about being an android. Humans really can be so slow on the uptake.]

Or something, [he agrees.] Ship avatar, if you want to be precise.

[His face scrunches up then, displeasure writing itself plain over his features.]

Not that the ship in question is present in our local reality, assuming you’re correct about that universe destruction you mentioned.

[He’s not actually assuming that, but it’s certainly true enough that the ship isn’t near enough for him to so much as make contact with it. Until something significant changes to alter his assessment, he’s decided that the best course of action is to play along so he can learn more.]

For now, I’ve been left to my own devices, so android’s true enough.

[ ... Ship avatar.

Amos blinks, once. It really isn't that much to take in, this being only a fraction of technology he's unfamiliar with. He can connect the dots easily enough. ]

Huh. Yeah, it's gonna be just you, sorry. I haven't been on my ship in... shit. Gotta be over two years by now. Goddamn. [ His voice is a little filled with wonder at that. Not everything he's learned about Demeisen so far, but just how long it's been for him. ] Roci didn't have an avatar, though. That one's new to me.

[ Congrats, Demeisen! You're new. And interesting. ]

Well, if you ever find yourself in a bit of trouble I was a ship mechanic, so I might be able to help you out there. [ Could he operate on Demeisen if it came to it?? He doesn't know. Seems plausible enough though. ] Otherwise it's a whole lot of magic shit... rules are probably different here from what you're used to.

[ Case in point: the cornerstone, where they have now arrived. ]

We're going to Highstorm; just do what I do and follow me.

[ At which point he touches it and is gone, just like that — though he fully expects Demeisen to be right behind him. ]

[Amos is right for caring about his own shit instead of Demeisen’s weirdness. That’s not important.]

[It makes plenty of sense to Demeisen that Amos’s ship didn’t have an avatar, and not only because he’d literally just said he didn’t know androids were real. Civ like that, only just starting to explore other star systems, probably didn’t have AIs to boast about. No need for a ship avatar when the ship itself wasn’t even smart to begin with.

But Amos’s offer makes him bark out a laugh, full-throated and incredulously amused.]

May as well attempt brain surgery after taking a fucking first-aid class. For pets.

[Which is to say, Amos wouldn’t even know what he was looking at, much less how to fix any issues. So, no, he’s not interested in letting a “ship mechanic”—grief, what an antiquated term—operate on him. But at least he got a good chortle out of it, and that’s something.

He doesn’t quite follow after Amos immediately. Demeisen spends a few moments inspecting the cornerstone after he watches the other man use it, trying to understand exactly what this thing does and how it’s meant to be activated. Ultimately, though, he isn’t figuring out shit without his full range of systems being online, and the intervening minutes between his waking beneath the Tree and now have not allowed him to make any progress on getting them up and running. Eventually, he’ll just need to touch it and follow wherever Amos has gone, still naked and covered in sap and dirt.]

[ While waiting for Demeisen in Highstorm, Amos has been busy pondering what, exactly, he meant. Wouldn't brain surgery on an android be the same thing as digging through a ship's guts? Isn't it all mechanical anyway? Yeah, there's some shit he doesn't know — whatever the fuck was going on with the protomolecule and its builders, for one thing — but that would trend more towards the realm of magic, which he's had the chance to learn while here.

Huh. Weird.

He's still thinking it over — could he magically build the Roci, somehow? Or something with flight control, at least? — when Demeisen suddenly appears.

Amos blinks; oh. There you are. What took you so long? And looks Demeisen up and down again, now that they're in a much colder environment, and he still looks like, well. Someone who just crawled out of the ground. ]

Are you sure you aren't cold?

[ First-aid for pets... Well, he knows enough to be able to put a coat on a dog. Maybe now that Demeisen is here, in the cold and the snow, he'll have a different opinion. ]

[Demeisen looks human—mostly, even if in sort of a misshapen, alien way—but he isn’t one, and one of the salient ways this makes itself obvious is his reaction to appearing in Highstorm’s streets, barefoot and naked in the snow in sub-zero temperatures. That reaction being… no reaction. He looks exactly as he did among the roots of the Tree of Life, unbothered by concerns like cold or even modesty. Though his flesh looks real enough for one to quite reasonably expect it to pimple from the chill, his skin remains completely smooth.]

Quite.

[He turns to look at the cornerstone he’s appeared next to, observing first its own unique shape, and then the surroundings where they’ve found themselves. The lack of crowds is probably for the best, given that even Amos is skeptical of whether Demeisen should be walking around naked in this weather. Though maybe walking around naked at all is also an issue. He’s still trying to suss out the local feel.

After a moment of looking around, he nods.]

Quaint. Wasn’t expecting this. [He waggles his fingers in the directions of the twin moons and the shifted constellations.] We really are in a different place entirely.

[ Amos quirks an eyebrow as he looks Demeisen up and down, like he still doesn't entirely believe him — at least until he's forced to admit that he has to, considering the guy's complete lack of reaction to the cold. He isn't even shivering or anything, and doesn't seem the type to play bullshit tough guy, so he really... must not be cold.

He's just all out there instead. Alright then. Amos offers one more pointed look — is it at Demeisen's long legs, or just above them? — before meeting his eyes again, catching that nod. Following his fingers to look up at the night sky. Back at Demeisen, question written on his features. ]

Well, yeah. We were at the Tree of Life. Now we're in Highstorm. [ Obviously? Keep up. ] What were you expecting?

[ He'd said there was a teleportation network... ]

[Amos’s pointed look at Demeisen’s fully exposed junk—also unaffected by the cold, it would seem—either flies right past the avatar’s awareness, or he just chooses not to worry about it. After all, if the other man isn’t concerned enough about it to say something, it must not really be that important. A little awkwardness is considerably more than it would take to put a dent in Demeisen’s confidence.

As for what he was expecting, he considers this for only a brief moment before giving a small nod, as though to himself.]

Fewer lunar bodies.

[There hadn’t been any moons or suns in the vicinity of the Tree, after all. Even if they were going to end up somewhere else, he hadn’t expected the distances at play to be that significant.

Well, that’s a puzzle for later.]

Anyway. There a dispensary of some sort for supplying the newly-arrived?

[Amos had mentioned baths and food and drink, but he hadn’t mentioned where any of these things were to be found, at least not specifically. Also if Demeisen needs money to acquire any of that stuff, there are going to be some issues.]

[ Well, if Demeisen is fine, then so is he. Amos gives him a single nod, clapping him on the shoulder as he turns to head in the direction of the manor, expecting Demeisen to be right behind him. ]

Yeah, Yima's'll have everything you need. Food, shelter... clothes, if that's a thing you want at any point. [ He still doesn't get it, but he doesn't get Demeisen's physiology either, so maybe this is just. a thing where he comes from. ] I mean, she gets it, you know? Your universe dies and you don't got anything with you. Pretty much anybody'd need a helping hand, so that's what she offers. S'how I got back on my feet.

[ A pause, as the manor comes into view; not only is it not too far away, but it also does kind of dominate the skyline a bit. Amos turns to look back at Demeisen. ]

Helps if you decide to stick around, though. I mean, you get back on your feet, but it helps to stay on them.

[ You should probably join up while you're at it, buddy — all with an amicable tone. ]

[Demeisen does indeed follow right along when Amos heads off, walking beside him instead of behind, as he sees no reason not to. If they see any passersby on their way to the manor, any stares are bound to be met with complete nonchalance—though he does still make note of them, to file the reactions away.]

Food, no.

[How many times does he need to say he isn’t biological? What’s he going to do with food—incinerate it in one of his reactors?]

Clothes won’t go amiss, though. [Though he has no real attachment to this body’s appearance, and thus no shame about it being ogled, he’s assuming that public nudity in such a cold environment will earn him some rather pointed looks. If he wants to blend in with the locals, he can’t keep walking around naked. But there is one matter he needs to attend to first:] After I shower off the dirt, at least.

[He says this with a little twist of his mouth; washing is something he’s never had to do before. It’s a little annoying to have to bother with it now, given the relevant systems in this body seem to still be offline.]

Stick around in what capacity? I’m not really a “sign up for the duration” kind of guy.

[Or any kind of guy, technically, despite certain very obvious anatomical features. Nonetheless.]

[ Amos ignores the odd passerby who does, indeed, do a double take to look at Demeisen, the all of him out there as the two of them walk through the snow together. Yeah. What're you gonna do?

At least Demeisen is starting to seem open to the concept of clothing. (The food part, Amos ignores. Food is great. Everyone should have some.) That, and — okay, at least the guy isn't a total freak, because, ] Didn't know if the dirt was bothering you. Yeah, you can wash off at Yima's. One of the best feelings in the world after you've been where you just were, right? There're bathhouses to soak in up north, too.

[ Spoken like a biological creature who has not always had access to the glory that is simply submerging oneself in water. Bathhouses don't quite meet the same reverence in his voice as Yima does, but it's close.

Which, considering, he shoots Demeisen a look. ]

You're probably going to want to sign up for the duration, though. I mean — there ain't exactly anywhere else to go. It's the end of all universes; you're going to need to stay somewhere.

[ Technically he could go to Springstar, or camp out in Alenroux or Kowloon, but... nah. Highstorm's got everything covered, right here. ]

2024 catch-all

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