ivanyouidiot | 001

[As far as interesting occurrences go, waking up with no memory of how he got there has never, in Ivan's experience, been a good thing. He's a bit past that point -- and past spending lots of energy freaking out over the fact that there's something growing out of his back as well -- by the time he figures out to look inside the notebook he sees. Reading what he finds gives him some notion of just how deep of a hole he seems to have fallen in, but at least everyone seems to be in the same position. And this Malnasso isn't a group he's heard of before. If keeping his head down is what he needs to do, then that's what he'll do.

Of course, keeping his head down doesn't always mean literally keeping his head down. Ivan knows that there can be just as much advantage to going, "Hey, look at me, I'm not a threat at all," as there can be to going entirely unnoticed. And he happens to think he's made the former into an art. And as far as these things go, he might as well meet the other abductees.]

Well, this is...

Hello everyone. I'm Ivan. [Cue a smile, it might not be be able to seen but he's pretty sure that it'll come through in his voice.]

I'm going to think that won't mean much to you yet, since none of you seem particularly familiar to me, but from what it sounds like we might have time to get to know each other. A few facts about me: I like parties, not getting shot at, and sleeping in late. And not having my body modified without my permission, [it's a little harder to make himself sound cheerful there, but he does his best,] but given the circumstances I'll settle for three out of four.

Your turn.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

...By evening of the day I came here, I was completely convinced everyone here had been brainwashed. You know. Conditioned, somehow, or at the very least, deceived. Eventually "mass delusion" stopped explaining everything.

With all due respect, I'd rather that all these things were true than that you in particular were brainwashed.

So would I, but...

What would you do if I was?

Either way I'll probably do the same set of things, although I'd have to add not getting brainwashed myself to my list of goals.

That was my goal too, at first. I think what sealed it was going topside. There are no stars in space here.

Are you sure that what you saw is space, in that case?

I'm not talking about pictures, Ivan, I'm talking about actually going there. And no, they didn't have vid screens installed as windows. People went outside in suits.

Yes, but...the suits had a barrier between your eyes and space. It could have been a screen.

Not useful during a battle.

...You were fighting a battle in space?

[Clearly his emperor needs more protection.]

It's a long story.

I don't have anything pressing to do.

[Beyond worry about Gregor's safety and sanity here.]

Just...one of the battles, and I was drafted. Apparently the Third Party made an assault on the base the Malnosso have on the moon. And they have some shifting ability that lets them travel into space without any particular technology, which was a little bizarre.

[Classic Vorbarra understatement.]

A little?

You know, I'm starting to think that I should stop asking you to explain things.

If practically anyone else explains it to you, they'll think you're an idiot for not taking their word for it. Like the people who say they know surgical removal of the wings will cause death because people die when they're violently ripped off.

People thinking me an idiot wouldn't be a new and terrifying occurrence. Oh, have people tried the former?

Not yet. I volunteered for some scans a while back, but I haven't heard anything about it. I suppose that answers your earlier question.

How long ago? And the people doing the scans were fellow abductees like us, I take it. How'd they get the equipment?

There you see the problem. The only place our equipment can come from is the Malnosso. It's all in the hospital they have here, in the Battle Dome.

That does make it excessively complicated. What about people here building such things from raw materials?

If they built their scanners from raw materials, I will respectfully withdraw my application to be part of their experimentation.

I'm not sure of which one I actually trust less.

That's the trouble. Yes, it works as medical equipment, but...well, I suppose there are only so many logistical ways to give wings to humans.

It might be just as useful to figure out the psychology of why they even would.

No point. Not even the Malnosso know how the wings appear. They come with the abduction, apparently.

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