hadriel | [3] video (post Delight's event)

Entry tags:

[3] video (post Delight's event)

(Newt's sitting cross-legged on the floor and has his phone set up to be set on him in a very steady image. He's got a sheet of paper with what looks like a map drawn on it next to another, slightly more different map. For anyone who bothers to look at the floor anyway. Newt, however, is not looking at the floor but at the camera itself.)

You know, I've been thinkin' bout the monsters here lately. Went explorin' out in the caves the other night and I kinda realized something. I know it's gonna sound bloody insane but hear me out.

I kind of feel for the monsters. I mean, think about it. They're being treated just as unfairly as all of us, aren't they? They were dragged outta their worlds too and thrown into this place. I know they're violent but they don't seem...that bad? Mostly they stick to the caves and yet we go on in there slaughtering them all of the time and not always for food. Maybe I'm wrong but...that doesn't feel right to me somehow. Throwing all these creatures into a small section of this place then just tearing them apart because the gods tell us they'll give us rewards for it.

And trust me, I'm no bloody saint there - I'm guilty of it too but now that I've taken a step back and really thought about it, I have no idea why I ever thought that was okay. They're not robots. They're living creatures. They feel pain too, don't they?

(Newt frowns, twisting at the ends of his sleeves.)

Half the time- no. More than half of the time they don't even do anything to us. So maybe we should stop killing them unless it's for food. I 'unno.

(He sighs, looking off to the side of his room. Maybe he doesn't understand the world enough to understand something like that. But then he looks as if he's remembered something and grabs the two pieces of paper and holds them up to the camera so that everyone can see. The maps are of the tunnels.

Except one is different.)

By the way, the tunnels change. Discovered that. I'm kind of disappointed. That's how our Maze was too so I can't say I'm all that shocked here. Our Maze would change every night and it turned out that if you aligned the patterns, they spelled out words. So if anyone cares about seeing why the tunnels change- there you go. Wish you luck.

(Annnnd that's about it actually. He flips the video off after that casual reveal.)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I uh... I wonder if anyone here came from somewhere or sometime when something screwed up wasn't going on.

[Because everyone here seems to have some awful story. Maybe that's what links them, and maybe that's how they end up here. Who knows.]

Okay, awesome. Are you sure it's made of copper?

[Because that's really interesting, if so. Chris may not be good with appliances or wiring beyond the very basics, but he does know computer parts and anything related to them. Copper is a very strange material to make a computer chip out of for specific reasons, and if that's what it really is it might tell them a lot more than just a burned piece of metal might otherwise seem to.

He's lost in thought on this topic enough that there's a brief delay before he registers that next part of what Newt said.]

Wait, they just like... Gave him telepathy?

[That's... Definitely a little beyond even everything else. But different worlds, different rules, which kind of fits with what Newt says next. Chris knows all the people Newt mentions, at least distantly, and many others as well whose worlds are all so incredibly different from each others' in different ways. With so much variation and yet still often common themes, Newt is right; there's no reason Hadriel should be the only world that works as it does.]

Yeah. Yeah, you're right, I mean... It'd be really strange, actually, to think this is the only place where this goes on. And uh... We already know that this Door thing connects to all the different worlds we all come from, so maybe it connects to another place like Hadriel too.

[Which is interesting, though he's not sure if--provided it's even true--it would be helpful.

Newt's mention of Thom reminds Chris of something else though, and it's a slight change in topic but--]

Oh uh, do you know Thom pretty well? Maketh told me I should ask him about something, but I've only talked to him once so I just...

[He'd feel kind of like a jerk.]

Maybe. Maybe not though. Might not generate enough emotions to drag in people from calm settings.

(It actually did make sense, now that Newt thought about it. Chris had a pretty valid point.)

Yeah, pretty positive. I mean, it's burnt to a near crisp but I recognize it to be copper.

(He could always be wrong. He had limited knowledge but something in his gut told him that he was right about this one. Newt wished that maybe he had confided in Chris sooner about this but then again, they hadn't always been quite as close.

Newt nods. Telepathy.)

Him, her, and another kid. Still have no bloody idea why really.

(He was pretty sure there was another girl too but she had died long before him or his friends had ever met her. It didn't matter now anyway.)

I could only imagine. I think that kind of thing is like, what, alternate universe theory or multi-universe theory?

(It probably wouldn't be helpful. For Newt though it provided a small sense of hope. The kid didn't have anything after this if Hadriel just stopped being.

The change of topic doesn't seem to bother Newt. Instead, he just nods.)

Yeah, I live with him actually. We're fairly close. Maketh's great too. What were you gonna ask him, if you don't mind me asking?

Yeah, maybe. I mean, the gods claim they don't pull people in on purpose, but even if they're telling the truth that doesn't mean the Door itself doesn't have something to do with emotions the way they do.

[He nods, gaze distant again, but just because he's thinking about the whole thing. He'll wait until he sees the actual chip before he does anything, but he's already wondering what sort of computer circuitry is in the timers and controls of the appliances here, if any. He also wonders about the phones, but there aren't any spares of those to take apart like there might be stoves or microwaves or something.]

Okay, awesome. If like, it's the same sort of computer chip as I'm used to, copper would be really weird because of the way it's charged and interacts with the other metals used in computer stuff. But that could uh, tell us a lot.

[But that'll have to wait for now.]

That's um... Really weird. The person your friend could talk to, was she like, outside of your group?

[He nods.]

Right, yeah. I mean, it's a little more complicated than that and has to do with like, branching paths and new universes being created every time any tiny choice is made. Like, if you choose to go left on a path, there's another world where you choose to go right. But on a really huge scale.

[This isn't his field of study, but it's something he finds absolutely fascinating.

And okay, good, he can talk to Newt about his opinion on this.]

Okay, awesome. Yeah, no problem; I uh... W-When the whole wendigo thing happened at home, I really messed up my knee while I was uh... Fighting with one. A-And then I screwed it up worse when I got here. So Maketh's been nagging me to do something about it and suggested I talk to Thom, but um, i-it seems like a jerky thing to do to ask something I barely know to use their magic or whatever unless it's like, really easy for them.

[So he's hoping Newt can tell him if it is or not; Chris doesn't know how any of this magic stuff works.]

That's also a really good point too. The Door itself is pretty mysterious. And also the fact that the Door can send people back and pull them back all in the same instance.

(Like when he had gone home for a long duration of time and then come back to Hadriel. He had been gone for months but when he arrived in Hadriel, Peter had said he had only been gone a day and a half or so.

Newt sits on the edge of his seat, literally, to listen to Chris talk about computers. He had worked with computers before the swipe- that much he knew. He had ideas of how to fix Chris's phone even -though that wasn't going so smoothly. His ideas were right though he just didn't have all the right parts.

His eyes narrow a moment and he feels a familiar coil of dislike.)

Yes. Our Glade was only boys and then one day she showed up and after that, everything changed. Then she betrayed my best friend in an awful way. I...

(Hate her didn't really need to be said. She could not be trusted.

Newt also finds it fascinating. If only the kid had more of his memories then he'd probably even be able to contribute a whole lot more. Even so, on his end of the camera, he picked up his sketchpad and began to draw something out. He took plenty notes in there as he tried to work out the world around him.)

That stuff makes me feel so small. I can never tell if that's more exciting or scary.

(He sets his pad aside though once he's finished and just in time for Chris to start talking. Oh Chris. You thought Maketh would nag you? Welcome to Mother Newt. He crosses his arms over his chest and stares at Chris in this very intense, maybe even familiar, sort of way that was nothing but stern concern.)

You will go to Thom. And he will help you.

(That was an easy one.)

I met Thom when I had just gotten back from going home. I was a wreck, dude. I had chunks of my scalp missing, bruises everywhere, broken bones and cuts, just. A total wreck. He saw me and in the first, I think, two or three minutes of knowing me? He healed me. He's a really kind person with a big heart and he just wants to help people. I think he even likes to help people. Go to him.

(That is actually not a suggestion but an order, dude.)

It's...not super easy on him. He can get sick from it but if your wound is as fresh as you say it is then he can probably help, I'd imagine. Let him try at least.

Yeah. It uh... My friend Mike disappeared for like two months, then showed back up in the arena like he'd just gotten here for the first time. But he remembered everything.

[It was... Really weird. He knows something happened with Newt too, since Kazuhira told him when he'd talked with him about Mike.

It really doesn't take much effort to read the subtext from Newt's words and expression, and he's sure there's a whole story there but it isn't his place to ask. He understands that feeling of betrayal though, and can empathize.]

Sorry.

[It's quiet, and of course not actually an apology, just an expression of understanding. If Newt wants to talk more he'll listen, but otherwise won't pry.

He offers a small smile.]

Yeah. It's uh... Really awesome, but really like... Ominous at the same time, I guess?

[Definitely huge.

And wow, Newt, wow. Don't turn the mom look on him. He raises his hands in a gesture of surrender, though he doesn't exactly agree right away either. He's a little more distracted by Newt's description of his state upon returning to Hadriel, because that sounds...]

Ouch. Um, w-well, that's... I'm glad he was able to heal you. That sounds really awful.

[Not only do people seem to show up here from terrible situations, but a lot seem to appear with injuries as well. Everyone from his world did, and he's heard a lot of stories of others so far.

And he's not totally convinced about the whole asking Thom thing, especially at that last part.]

I-I don't want to... It's not worth potentially like, making him sick. I-I mean it's been a few months, and it's healed a lot, so I don't...

[It's not a new injury, really, and if that's going to be a risk for Thom he'd rather just keep dealing with it.]

Yeah that- that happened to me. And then I was apparently here before even that and didn't remember it.

(The Door, in short, was incredibly weird.

It's one of those stories that Newt isn't too prone to sharing. Some aspects of his life were too vague and all encompassing not to share but that was one of the ones that he didn't feel like prattling on about. Maybe he'd tell Chris some other time.)

Yeah.

(Newt gives Chris an appreciative nod all of the same. There really was nothing one can say to something like that.)

That's a good word for it. Ominous.

(He likes you Chris. Such a good kid. What he'd do to have someone like Chris around in the Glade back in the day.

Oh, dude, he is going to Mom you really hard. Newt continues to give Chris a plain stare. He doesn't bother to feel much distraught over the past. He does that plenty enough at night. This conversation was to make a point.)

It was. But thankfully he was around. He's still around to help. He wants to help.

(Thom was a great person like that. It's half the reason Newt had asked Thom to live with them in the first place.

Oh Chris. Newt's look evolves into an even bitchier look if that was at all possible.)

How about you let him decide that for himself? How about this- you go to him, tell him the situation. If he wants to help him then you should let him try. The worst is that he won't be able to do anything for you and he'll be able to tell pretty quickly whether or not he can. It's worth a shot.

(He does understand Chris's reservations on the matter a bit himself. But at the same time, it felt to Newt like Thom was looking for any way he could to be helpful. To be important and good where he could be. Who was he, or anyone else for that matter, to deny the kid of something like that?)

Just go to him, Chris. I'll even be with you if you like. At least let him look at it, yeah? So even if you can't help him you could figure out a way to help yourself.

That's all... Messed up, but at least it means we aren't really stuck here. There's a chance to go back that doesn't involve, you know, being shredded in the process or something.

[Which Fear had seemed surprised at after Chris spoke to him.

He understands not wanting to tell a difficult story and doesn't ask further; he has his own stories he doesn't want to share, after all. Maybe sometime, at least, but not now; he definitely thinks Newt is trustworthy, but some things are just too difficult to talk about without particular reason.

He's still not totally convinced, glancing offscreen every so often, not at anything in particular but just from agitation. He's not sure what to do; he wouldn't even care about fixing his leg if he were at home, since it's fine as long as he's careful with it and it's not like he was particularly into athletics, but here... Here it's been a hindrance. Here it could actually get him killed if he can't run, or if it gives out for some other reason during a dangerous situation.

But at the same time he's worried about the risk to Thom, and something twists in Chris' stomach at the thought of putting someone else in danger because of some threat to himself that might or might not actually happen. He'd done that once before and nearly got Emily killed, and he's not interested in making the same mistake again.

So he's silent a long while, weighing options and considering what Newt said, before his shifts his gaze back to the screen and fixes Newt with a serious look.]

O-Okay. I'll uh... I-I'll talk to him, at least. But if it's gonna be like, d-dangerous for him, then I can just... D-Deal with it how it is.

[It's been several months now; he's gotten pretty used to it.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[3] video (post Delight's event)

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]