hadriel | 001 Text

[You rang?]

The gods did not keep detailed records of the history of this place. Believe me, I've asked. Tranquility claims he made the city, but that's about all I've been able to get out of them.

And you're welcome.

You're the author of those notes? Thanks again for the help.

And I believe you. I've been told a couple of times that these "gods", for lack of a better term, aren't that forthcoming with answers.

I am. You're welcome. It seemed more efficient to have a document on hand for new arrivals, so those of us who have been here wouldn't have to keep answering the same questions over and over.

You can certainly speak with them yourself, if you'd like. They're all easily reachable through the directory on your phone. They are, in many ways, straightforward and pragmatic, but in others, you'll find directness entirely lacking.

All the details in the world won't help you understand this place or make it any easier, but I can give you a detailed history of the city since the opening of the Door, if you think you really need it. It's mostly just people suffering, dying, and being tortured for the sake of dickbag deities.

I've heard enough about this place to know that the laws of nature don't always apply, and that the gods can mould reality as they see fit. I agree that there's little more that needs to be understood outside the basic premise outlined in the introduction pamphlet.

But if I'm to live here, then I think I need to know what's happened here in this city. And I told someone that I'd ask around if anyone's tried to get out of Hadriel. I figured I'd combine the two requests and learn more about this place.

Thank you for agreeing to help me. Would you prefer text based communication, or a face-to-face meeting?

Text is fine.

People have tried to leave, some harder than others, but so far, no one's gotten anywhere worthwhile. No gods have been killed and the people that have tried usually get their ass beaten down no matter how powerful they are.

When it comes to what's happened here, it's a pretty long list, but I can give you a dirty rundown.

1) Fear forces us to see our worst fears.
2) Hope gives us each readable books.
3) Fear decides that he'd like to see how we survive heavy snow and fucking yetis.
4) Rage is brought back, brings with her an armory and makes people feel pissed as fuck.
5) Fear buries half the population alive and the other half had to dig them up before they died.
6) Fear and Rage fed us human meat and people turned into monsters after eating said meat. A lot of people went vegan after that.
7) Hope hands out mirrors that showed us whatever he thought would bring us hope. You think it'd be good but when you know how things are meant to turn out, shoving fake hope in someone's face is a shitty move.
8) Delight gets brought back, brings with her a bar, lots of loud music, bright lights, and fucking fireworks. Don't drink her energy shots. They may taste good but you'll feel the effects after.
9) Rage makes us pissed at a singular person and people go off to either brutally murder their target or just beat the fuck out of them.
10) Delight sends out fireflies that give you warm fuzzies when you're near them. Too bad they usually made people stupidly cheerful and some idiots forgot to eat while around the bugs because they were so chill.
11) Fear thinks we all need to have nightmares. The other gods decide we should have dreams based around their emotion. We also ended up in other people's dreams, which was just fucking great.
12) I took over for a time in an attempt to either get back at the gods or get home but I failed.
13) Sorrow is brought back and brings with him plenty of shitty feelings and an orchard full of weird ass fruit and vegetables.
14) Rage fucks with the phones and people send out texts they had no intention of ever sending, along with a bunch of memes, which makes people a little pissy.
15) Fear tries to convince us all to tell spooky stories and scare other people. It was stupid.
16) Delight and Hope decide that the faucets need to spew candy and that we need some fucking weird ass pets to follow us around. There was music, too, and the world looked like someone went and up the saturation on every color.
17) Zombies. Fear sends out fucking zombies.
18) Confusion is brought back, brings with her GPS for our phones but only after leaving us to wander around like lost fucking puppies for days.
19) Hope and Delight finally decide to try and figure out the Door so we can go home but instead bring in dragons, newcomers and items from our homeworlds.
20) Fade rifts start to appear and bring in demons that possess people. Luckily, we had Cecily here to close them.
21) Rage decides we need to hate inane shit, so she makes us all hate something. I got stuck with hating sleep while other people wanted to blow up buildings or rip up jackets.
22) Tranquility comes back, cleans up the city, gives us ugly ass mopeds, and makes everyone think they're at the beach. I've got some hilarious videos of people playing in what they think is water but is just dirt and grass.
23) Confusion, I think, sends out doubles of ourselves who are hellbent on destroying our lives.

And now you're up to date on all shit that's happened since the Door was opened. These events never last too long, so there's always the knowledge it'll end, but then there's the knowledge that next week will be a different shitshow.

[...wow. That's certainly a list. Danse begins to note each event, but when his eyes scan down somewhere halfway down the list, number 12 in particular catches his eye.]

You tried to take over Hadriel? How so? Was there a reason why your attempts failed?

[Tact, Danse. Someday, he'll learn it.]

I can alter reality. I failed because I wasn't powerful enough to find them or the Door. Oh, and because when I alter reality it affects everyone, I had a bunch of people up my ass about the monsters that may or may not have come in. Or the fact that it was foggy and people were scared.

So, most people ran and hid in the temples, giving the gods more power, and then I died somewhere along the way. It was fucking grand.

[...wow. OK. This is...well. Far from what he's used to. It takes a moment or two before he replies. On one hand this is a clearly irresponsible individual who has so carelessly put people's lives in danger in a reckless attempt to find a way out of here.

On the other hand it must have happened some time ago (item number 12 in the middle of the list, so maybe 6 months?) and this person died for their mistake. If anyone wanted to confront them for their behaviour, then it would have already been done, and further judgement/reproach would be unwise. Right now they're being quite forthcoming with information, and it wouldn't do to piss them off.

So in short? Keep things neutral. Professional.]

So do you think if you had enough power back then to surpass the gods, you could have found the Door? Can your powers control the Door as well?

Edited 2017-03-05 13:28 (UTC)

[ Smart man, Danse. She got an earful when she warned them and has since basically turned herself into a wandering hobo that paints dramatic murals, drinks a lot, and threatens the gods on the occasion they deign to speak with them. ]

Probably not. I might be able to kill a god or two but I don't know anything about the Door. Not that it wouldn't stop me from studying and trying, which would likely wreck havoc on all of us and then I'd be hated even more.

[The benefits of text-based communication; Sharon can't see the disgust on Danse's face when she so casually speaks of killing people for the sake of finding a way home.]

Have there been any other attempts by other individuals to discover a way back to our individual worlds? Either through the door or through other means?

[ Text also doesn't give off the absolute vibe of own self-disgust, loathing, and heavy amount of failure that would couple the tone of her words. She likes to play it off and some days are worse than others. ]

I think two people tried to take on the gods physically but, you know, smack down happened pretty quickly considering that they don't really physically exist in those human states we see.

Other than Hope and Delight's total failure because they didn't bother to try and convince Sorrow to part with the knowledge he knows about it? No one else that I'm aware of.

[ But can you see why she'd be a little haughty over her attempt? At least she did something. At least she did something is something she tells herself a lot, just to feel better about it. ]

[The pros and cons of conversing over the network. Though he is starting to see why she's crowing about it.

And since she mentioned those two? Seems like now's a good time to move onto the next question.]

So Hope and Delight tried to figure out the Door to get us home, but Sorrow refused to provide information to aid their efforts. I've been told that Sorrow does not want to let us go. It would make sense that him and his kind would prefer us to remain.

What do you think were Hope and Delight's motives then?

I think they were just tired of the constant bitching, honestly. We do it a lot but, then again, they like to mentally, emotionally, and physically torture us for our emotions, so... I don't know, they kind of deserve the constant bitching.

[He wouldn't put it that crudely, although Danse understands that some of the gods really like to make life soul-crushingly difficult for everyone just to get their jollies.

Still, he's not too sure that Hope and Delight would want to send their power sources home just to avoid said bitching. After all, what's a little complaining when you're slowly regaining your powers, enough to bring back the rest of your kind?

No point bringing that up here, but at the very least there's no known malicious intent from Hope and Delight. Maybe he could talk with them directly later on, try and figure out what those two are on. At least those two tried; Danse suspects Tranquillity would rather leave things be and take the easy way out. Confusion and Fear were, to quote Rey, "collective assholes", and Rage didn't seem much better either.]

I don't like having my emotions manipulated. The mistletoe was fairly harmless, but the next god might not be so kind. I'm not looking forward to what the gods have in plan next.

What caused the Door to begin bringing people into the city? If it had been dormant before the first group of prisoners, something or someone must have set it off. Was it one of the gods?

Edited 2017-03-09 17:35 (UTC)

[ No one ever looks forward to what the gods will bring with them next, even when it's the easier gods like Delight and Hope. ]

Fear opened the Door without much knowledge other than the fact that it would bring him things that would give him more power. You could talk to him about it but they're tight-lipped about things like the Door, or how to kill them.

I've been informed on their reluctance to discuss the Door, but it's good to get double confirmation on the matter.

What of the rest of them? Do they also desire more power? Some of them are opposing emotions, which would imply some measure of competition for our emotions.

And judging from your list, there does not seem to be an established pattern to which god will strike next. How often do they cause one of their events? The guide has given a timeframe of at least one year since the first group of abductees; would it be accurate to assume an average of two events per month? How often does the Door open as well?

They all desire power. It's kind of how they keep from dying again. They hope. (Side Note: All the gods but Fear and Hope were killed in some excruciating way by something they won't tell us about and it's likely it's what killed their previous worshippers/inhabitants of the cave)

Fear does the most bullshit. It's been over a year now since the Door was opened, by nearly three or four months now. Two events a month? Yeah, that sounds accurate, though it really can vary. Some last days, some last weeks. It's a grab-bag. The Door opens once a month or every couple of weeks. It's on a pretty set schedule.

That explains why the guard were present at the colosseum. I'll be sure to try and keep track of the dates. I'm not part of the guard, but I'd still like to see if there's anyone I can help.

There's the guide, the city guard, and the clinic. Would you happen to know if there are other initiatives taken to assist newcomers?

Rey set up a generator using the river, which gives a portion of the city electricity without having to rely upon Hope for it. Richie's got a pawn shop set up. Emily and Pell have opened up their own little sewing shop. There are also secret caches around the city full of emergency supplies for when situations get out of control. They're bright red, impossible to miss; all you have to do is look for a triple moon symbol painted on the wall and it should lead you right to one.

Thank you. This is all very useful information, especially about the emergency supplies.

I've taken up a fair bit of your time, but if I can, I'd like to have one last question. It might be a little personal.

You can ask but I can't promise an answer. [ Honesty is the best policy. ]

I understand.

[Switching to Private now.]

Did you regret the danger you placed people in when you tried to find the Door?

[Maybe this person was bored and had nothing to do but answer a bunch of random questions on the network. Or maybe they were genuinely trying to help him, in which case they might not be as flippant as he originally thought they were.

He'd like to know which one he's dealing with.]

Edited 2017-03-18 15:26 (UTC)

No. I mean, I do, people died, but I don't... I can't regret trying. I won't. To others, that may seem cruel or thoughtless, but I've spent all my life being used by others or hunted to be used. I'm not going to regret fighting back, even if it endangered others. We're in danger every single day we're here. I would rather try, fail, and die a thousand times over than to roll over and let myself be used by them.

[ And he likely won't understand. Most people don't and she understands. She's used to it by now. ]

[For a while he doesn't answer. He stares at the message, his hand gripping his mobile phone hard as he thinks again on the past.

Nora put up a strong face. But Danse knew she regretted the death that her choices had caused. Vault-Tec had pushed the angel from the Vault into the deepest pits of Hell, and not even she could emerge untainted by the violence that marked the land.

And that regret had been eating her alive.

No wonder she found another's shoulder to cry on, another's embrace to fall into. Danse just simply couldn't give her the support she needed. He didn't want to give her that support. She was his saviour, and he would always owe his life to her. But he doesn't think he has it in him to ever forgive her for betraying the Brotherhood.

He ponders a response. He should give one. Words unsaid in the deafening silence as she gazed wretchedly at him, her face wet with tears, eyes filled with desperation. He knows he's mixing the people up. He knows that Nora isn't this person. But if he couldn't say them to Nora, then at least he could say them to someone else that's in a slightly similar position.]

I don't agree with what you did. It was a gamble with too high stakes. But I don't hold your choice against you either. If no one else could figure out a way home, then you did what you thought you had to do.

[Brotherhood, Railroad, Institute. Danse, Deacon or Shaun. Lover, Companion or Son. There were no right choices for Nora. Of course, you can't compare apples to oranges. This person could have chosen to wait and work together with others instead of using her powers irresponsibly. That fault and guilt should stick with them, always. It's only right that it does.

But this person is more than a bad choice. Danse would like to think that like Nora, they have their heart in the right place.]

It's heartless for me to say this, but I'm glad that you at least seem to regret that people died. It means that you care, in some way or form.

Edited 2017-03-18 16:10 (UTC)

A lot of people didn't agree with what I did. A lot of people still don't. I also don't care about that. I fought when others wouldn't. [ which, to her, means everything. she hasn't stopped, either. she's just being a little more intelligent this time around, working on her abilities, working on closing gaps in her mental armor, working on becoming more powerful than the things that hold them. ]

And I do care. [ A lot more than she gives away. She may not care if someone agrees with her actions but she does care what happens to them because of those actions. ] Most people wouldn't believe that, though. I'm usually heartless, careless, a bitch, or that kid with too much power. [ Her nose starts to sting, a signal of oncoming tears. She wipes at her eyes quickly. It's her own fault people think these things of her, she knows that, but it still kind of hurts. Then again, people have thought those things about her all her life.

The witch. The demon. The bitch. She should be used to it by now. ]

why

it's just more of the same shit with the occasional chill event

if you're trying to just be prepared for the future, don't even bother, there's no way of knowing what'll happen next

I acknowledge the veracity of your statements. But while you're absolutely right that we can't predict what those so-called gods will throw at us, I'd prefer to know what each god has done so that I can decide for myself how to regard each of them as individuals. I've also been asked by someone if anyone has attempted to devise an escape from this cave, and I told them I would ask around.

okay

one time, rage made us all want to murder someone. one time, rage and fear put human meat in the food supply and wound up getting those who ate it turned into wendigos. once, for like a week, we were randomly visiting one another's dreams and nightmares. once, cheesy-ass music started playing, and everyone had like some magical animal companion hanging around, and candy poured out of the faucets

omg, when confusion showed up, no matter how hard you concentrated when you were going somewhere, you got lost. ALWAYS. it lasted for fucking days, that was so annoying

if you can figure out a way they can get emotions from us, then you can figure out the kind of things that'll happen

[Believe it or not, Danse is actually copying this all down. Is he glad that he wasn't around when people could cross into dreams and nightmares.] From what I've been able to gather, Confusion is hardly pleasant in terms of the events she's caused, and her own personality leaves much to be desired.

I'm guessing Delight was behind the confectioneries and the magical animal companions. If she's behind such saccharine events, then it's possibly also her that caused the mistletoe and the snow. [...he can't believe he actually typed that down. Magical animal companions.]

I've counted six events from your description, and I'm able to match them to the relevant mural on the coliseum wall. Thank you. If you have the time to spare, then I'd like to hear about the remaining events as well.

Edited 2017-03-02 01:57 (UTC)

it's true, she's a bitch [...says Emily, of all people.

Get used to weird shit, Danse. Just roll with it, it's better that way. Emily stopped fighting it long ago.] you're probably right, yeah. it seems like her kind of thing

i actually have to get to my sewing, but there's probably more than a few people willing to talk about the other events. good luck

[Yeah, Danse is looking at that long list of events that Sharon just passed him, and his eyebrows are rising higher and higher with every number. He's...definitely going to want to ask questions here.]

Thanks again. I'll leave you to your sewing.

I just realised I didn't ask for your name from the start. My apologies.

[Good luck, buddy. Here's hoping your eyebrows don't merge with your hairline.]

emily

A pleasure to meet and speak with you, Emily.

same, danse. the sewing shop is always open

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