002 [ Video ]

[doctoral_bird]

[ It may be an unfamiliar face to many! Malkus is actually appearing on the feed without his signature mask. Even a plague man like him needs fresh air now and then. His sickly facade wasn't far from the norm! That's just... his face. ]

Greetings fellow residents. It has been some time, but with the lull in disturbances I feel now's a better time than any to- ah-... discuss...

[ He scratched his claws against the wood of the bench outside, trying to remember what the hell he was going to say. As the pause grew, he could feel his social anxiety build.

Don't give them dead air, Malkus! The people hated pauses! ]

I am sorry, sleeping outside has left me- e-eh-... melancholic. I'd forgotten what I wanted to bring up. Ah! Yes!

[ He moved the feed to the mask sitting beside himself, placed daintily on a heap of papers and glassware. ]

As it often becomes a point of conversation, I would like to ask my fellow residents if anyone has actually had an epidemic ravage their land. I've come to realize I may be alone in this topic.

Comments

[doctoral_bird]

[ ... Malkus had to take a moment to process that. It wasn't absurd, but he hadn't considered "not going home" to be an option. It certainly wasn't one he would take, but how would you even go about that? ]

You don't? Where will you go?

[hasitsthorns]

[ In Rose's case, she isn't making the choice so much as it's made for her. ]

Probably stay here. Can't really go back to my home world or the one I was in before.

[doctoral_bird]

Ah... I suppose I can see why you would seek to make this place more befitting of a home.

[ But still, living in Hadriel? Making this your entire world? Malkus figured making allies of the gods would be necessary for someone like that. ]

[hasitsthorns]

[ Well. At least he's not knocking her for it, like a lot of people do.

But there are worse things. She could go back to Haven, be deep frozen. ]

I mean, other than natural light, it's got just about everything someone needs. And even then, we got good 'ol artificial light for that.

[doctoral_bird]

But isn't that a big thing! It's so sad! Or, at least I think so. I miss the sky.

[ Malkus missed birds, mainly. But there hadn't been any life in the wastes he called home. And what he did see still haunted him. Needless to say, human survivors weren't the only things corrupted by that strange eldritch taint. ]

Also it's quite small wouldn't you think? Maybe when the ah- the whole... situation with these Null- [ He stopped himself from saying "friends" at the end of there, thankfully. ] Null folk is settled, things may change? Once there's little need for a big dome over us.

[hasitsthorns]

I miss the stars. But... someone took care of that a little bit ago. Not quite the same though it's close enough to satisfy.

[ Thanks, Sans. She hopes you're doing alright, wherever The Door took you. ]

I don't know! We'll see, I guess. I'd like a little more room to roam. Maybe see what's at the end of those tunnels finally.

[doctoral_bird]

I've wondered about that! I chalked it as a trick of the gods, but it's nice to know that such a marvel is the doing of one of our own.

[ "Our own" he used lightly. The residents of Hadriel were not much of a family, but they were all here. In this little stone bubble. ]

There is so much here that baffles me. But I suppose it must be easier to move a city underground? Perhaps the Null control the skies, or something. Like... harpies. I don't know- It sure makes for an interesting existence here. Horrid as it may feel.

[hasitsthorns]

No, that was... one of us, yeah.

[ It's hard, sometimes. Rose will never as close to people here as she was to those in Haven. But, she can't deny they are a nice little community to have. Most of the time. ]

Interesting is one word for it, yeah. I'm sure there's a reason we're kept here honestly, but...

[doctoral_bird]

I understand the feeling. This Door of theirs... It feels like, in some way, there has to be a reason we specifically are pulled through it. You'd mentioned before that you were in a place like this, hadn't you? Some not-homeworld. A place just before here.

What was it?

[hasitsthorns]

I was.

[ So were you, she thinks but doesn't say. She knows this isn't a Malkus that remembers. It's almost enviable, honestly. ]

A place called Haven. They kept us under a dome and confined to a certain space. Every month there were... experiments. They eased up a little, after a while, but only in that they didn't happen as frequently. I was there for I think close to two years.

There was no writing, so. It was hard to tell time.

[doctoral_bird]

[ Malkus had been taken at a much younger age, back then. Nearly a decade had passed since that period that may as well have never happened. A horrifying little blip that erased itself from his timeline. Would Hadriel be the same? Who knew. Forgetting everything meant all of the doctor's research would be for nothing. This entire fight of theirs would mean nothing to him. ]

Goodness, that sounds like here! Only less- eh-... here is less violent, I guess. Hard to believe, but maybe one can even say that Hadriel won out in that contest. 'Least here we have writing. Even if the library is an infuriatingly illegible mess.

[hasitsthorns]

[ It's something to think about, anyway. The ins and outs of timelines and what it all means in the grand scheme.

Nothing sounds about right. ]

Hadriel is way better than Haven ever was. At least here sometimes Delight or Tranquility takes the reins, sometimes... Sometimes we get nice things. Haven took every hope you could have and crushed it. Usually, right before your eyes.

[ It took everything from Rose, warped her into a monster she barely recognized some days. ]

Yeah, that's one nice thing. I haven't checked out the library much myself but the only thing I'd probably read these days is sheet music. If you find any, let me know.

[doctoral_bird]

Admittedly, though they also align themselves with their cruel brethren, it's hard to find fault in the nicer entities.

[ He hadn't met them. He hadn't met any of the gods on a 1 to 1 level yet. Malkus preferred to keep it that way, in the unlikely event that he'd end up actually bonding with one. Eugh. ]

I'll keep an eye out! Certainly! I know a bard, even! Perhaps he can compose something. At any rate, I'll look into it!