[closed, backdated to pre-volcano week 3]

[youbarium]

Who| Carlos and Some
What| After the storm inside calms, the storm outside begins, and Carlos leaves the no-longer-safe planetarium to check out the display on muttations in hopes of learning something about Capitol technology. There is very little sunlight, and aside from the lightning, it is very dark.
Where| Floor 4
When| Early week 3, before the volcano.
Warnings/Notes| None so far.



The electrical storm had claimed so many lives. The science crew had split up for the moment, deeming the planetarium unsafe, and Carlos? Well, honestly, he wanted a better look at that display on Capitol muttations. As long as he was here, and probably going to die, he might as well learn what there was to be learned, right? So, unlit flashlight in one hand and pocketknife in the other, Carlos padded on down the stairs in his bare feet to take another look at floor four, hoping that recording would still be playing.

He moved surprisingly quietly for a man his size: not silently, of course. Actually, Carlos only ever seemed to be able to move silently when there was actually something horrifying in the room that he was trying to avoid. Odd, that. But no matter, he was moving quietly now, and with the flashlight off and the storm raging outside, he wasn't easy to see, either. Slipping into the hall of skeletons, Carlos moved toward the display of the headless dragon, listening curiously as the voice went on about how brilliantly designed the featured creatures were.

"Genetic engineering!" he breathed to himself in the dark, looking up to stare at the enormous dragon, thrown into sharp relief by a dramatically-timed lightning strike. "Remarkable."

Yes, he was whispering to himself in the middle of a museum full of six dozen people out to find and kill him. Yes, the theatrics were worth it. No, it wasn't a play for sponsors. Carlos was actually just like this.

Comments

[gruesome]

In the dark span between strikes, something happened very suddenly. Some had made a mistake. He'd tried to teleport outside the museum. He'd thought that maybe, just maybe, they'd overlooked his powers, the ones he'd never before used in any Arena, and he'd been very wrong. He appeared on the fourth floor mid-ricochet, after slamming off the barriers that kept them in this building, and slammed hard into a display, knocked off his feet by the impact. With a pained snarl, he sprawled into a tangle of limbs on the floor, doubling up to try to get the mask off. First with just two hands, then with five, six and a shout as the hooks resisted.

[youbarium]

Carlos nearly jumped out of his skin.

Scrambling back, away from the sound, Carlos flicked the flashlight on, trying to get a good look at what had -- unless he was very much mistaken -- just appeared in the darkness. The writhing, groaning mass of black fur and too many limbs set off alarm bells for Carlos: inhuman, probably dangerous.

But he did not run.

Instead, Carlos maintained a cautious distance, keeping the flashlight's beam on the creature, and tried to discern its shape. Centaurlike, he supposed, with -- how many limbs? It was impossible to tell.

[gruesome]

There was a nasty, small sound of ripping as he flung the mask away from himself, and he scrambled up onto four feet, growling and gasping, pressing his hands to the bleeding marks around his face, hidden in his fur. "Stones!" he swore breathlessly, finally drawing himself to his full height, those limbs all sorting themselves out. Four legs, four arms, and a tail that stayed pressed still against his body.

Some became aware that the light was being held by a person a little belatedly, and startled, ducking his head to shield his eyes with a forefoot. "Turn that away!"

[youbarium]

My Goddard, thought the scientist, it talks. It actually talks.

Whether or not that changed things remained to be seen.

"I don't think so," Carlos said aloud, wishing his voice were steadier. "I've been in the dark with too many things to turn off a light when I have one." He took a deep breath. "I don't trust you. Even if you can talk."

[gruesome]

Some stared at him, all eight eyes narrowed through his fingers, jaw tensing. Even if he could talk?

"I talk two languages, and write nearly so many. How many do you have?"

[youbarium]

Wasn't that a complicated question. It took Carlos out of the Arena for a moment -- back to his home and family, who he hadn't seen in...how many years?

"Two," he said quietly, but slowly as if he weren't entirely certain. "Well...more like one and a half. I understand it but -- look, that's not important right now. We can talk about it later, when I'm sure you're not about to try to kill me."

The beam of the flashlight did leave Some's face, though. It moved across Some's body as Carlos took in the size and shape of what had been little more than a pile of too-many-limbs in the dark. Fascination began to temper the horror: here was something Carlos had never seen before.

[gruesome]

Some moved, deliberately taking himself out of the beam of the flashlight, moving like a deer in the dark, all long angles and bony shapes visible through his dark fur.

"I am not about to attack you." He padded over to pick up the mask, sniffing suspiciously at the hooks that still jutted from its sides. "This attacked me."

[youbarium]

Carlos didn't let him escape the light, not completely. He would keep an eye on Some as long as he could -- the mistrust was still clear on his face. Forgive him if he didn't believe Some about not attacking, but trusting strangers twice your size seemed like a terrible idea.

...but he was curious about the mask. "...what is that?" Carlos asked almost despite himself. He knew he had to keep his guard up, but -- well, trust Carlos to ask questions no matter what the situation was. The spirit of inquiry cared not for deathmatch arenas or monstrous apparitions: knowledge was knowledge, and Carlos had to know what that thing was.

[gruesome]

"A mask..." He held it up to show him. It was a round, deep bowl of a shape, with two long slits for eyes, sheltered by thick 'lashes' made of some kind of grass. A huge open mouth was painted on it, with square, graveyard teeth. Stylized as it was, its face was much more human than Some's own. "It is magic, or maybe electirc. Electreec." He frowned, and gestured that word away. "But then there were these." He turned it around again, teeth baring as he showed him the nasty little hooks that ringed the sides of it, slowly withdrawing already. "I think it was not supposed to come off."

[youbarium]

"Electric," Carlos corrected him, "and magic isn't real. It must be science." His tone is distracted, though, and he had no real investment in correcting Some: his attention was all on the mask. Those hooks had blood on them, he saw -- red blood. He looks at Some's face -- but has the decency to keep the beam of light from pointing directly at Some -- and sees the injuries around Some's face.

"What a cruel device. Did you find it in the exhibit?"

[gruesome]

Some gave him a flat look. Another of that kind of human, apparently. "I have my own magic," he said levelly. "I know what is real and what is not." He pushed at one of the hooks carefully, two pairs of eyes looking at the mask, two watching Carlos.

"Yes, the floor..." He twitched on realizing that he wasn't sure which floor he'd wound up on, and swung his head up to look around for a sign, upper body twisting nearly all the way around. "It was on the third floor." And he was on the fourth, now. Good. He could have been flung anywhere, but this was not so far.

[youbarium]

Carlos came a few steps closer, curiosity overcoming his better judgment. He let the magic comment slide; it would be worth inquiring about further later, but for now, he wanted a better look at the mask.

"Why on earth did you put it on?" Carlos asked. "We are trapped in a dark museum with wax effigies, monster skeletons, and a dormant volcano, all at the mercy of a capricious government who plans to televise our deaths for this planet's entertainment!" Honestly, the situation was straight out of classic sci-fi. "The danger level is off the charts -- obviously, since only one out of, oh, I don't know, several dozen people is meant to survive -- and according to this recording, monsters have been deliberately created to hunt us down and kill us. Of course the mask was booby-trapped -- why would it be here if it wasn't?" He gesticulated with his free hand as he went on, illustrating his exasperation with a repeated, open-palmed sort of why, God, why? gesture.

He pulled a breath, deep and steadying.

[gruesome]

Some gave him another narrow-eyed look, scowling as he rubbed at the side of his face.

"I am not stupid. I put it on because it allowed me to use my magic," he said, with blatant emphasis. "And too because-"

He broke off, all the warning he gave Carlos before he reached out, less a lunge than an unfolding that let him add his entire body-length to his reach, and snatched the flashlight out of the human's hand with a hiss. "Because there are blind people like you running around with these and I have eight eyes."

[youbarium]

Oh, shit.

Carlos shrank back several steps, blind for the moment -- his eyes had grown used to the light, and only the sporadic flash of lightning gave him enough light to see by.

Careless, careless, careless --! he berated himself. Is this it? The end of the line? Carlos was actually fairly certain that he was going to die at the four hands of Some, who had the advantage in literally every way here.

...but, he thought through the wide-eyed terror, if I AM going to die...I might as well ask. What do I have to lose, right?

"....what exactly were the effects of the mask?" The fear he was feeling came across in his voice, sure, but so did real curiosity.

[gruesome]

He spent a second puzzling out the switch, and turned the device off. His first instinct had been to smash it. This was restraint. Relieved without the flashing beam of light, he tested the weight of the flashlight, jiggling it in one hand.

"It let me have my magic back." Both mouths made a little wry shape, in light (so to speak) of what Carlos had said a few moments ago. "I am a Some. I teleport."

[youbarium]

"Oh, teleportation's not so unbelievable," Carlos said, honestly somewhat relieved. "I've seen it before. I wouldn't call it magic, but it's certainly possible. I just can't explain how, or what induces it. Anyway, you said that mask gave you back the ability to teleport? As in, until you put it on, something had been stopping you?"

Carlos really had no idea when his death was coming, but until it did, he was going to keep on asking questions.

[gruesome]

He gestured vaguely around them. "Something they do. I am not the only one. Anyone who can do more than a human loses something. Even with that..." He gave the mask an unkind look, shoulders slumping. "I was trying to leave the building. I struck something."

[youbarium]

Carlos nodded slowly, remembering that his conversation partner could likely see him.

"If that's the case, the technology here is even more advanced than I thought," he said, sounding both concerned and impressed. "Did the hooks activate when you tried to leave the museum?"

[gruesome]

Some touched his temples, where the gashes were deepest, and winced. One of them really ought to be stitched; the whole side of his neck was wet with warm blood.

"No, a few moments before, while I was making the decision."

[youbarium]

Carlos, unable to see the blood, shook his head. "That's inconclusive," he said. "There's not enough evidence to say for sure what triggered the hooks. It might have been your thoughts of escape, or it may have been reacting to something else entirely. Have you talked to anyone else who's put on a mask?"

[gruesome]

"Very little. I saw... the Psiionic, I think. I saw him with one, and all of his own magic engaged. I did not stay near long." In fact, he shuddered at the very memory. For a heartbeat, or a heartstop, he'd thought he'd been seeing Light himself.

"But he took his mask off when he saw me afraid," he realized.

[youbarium]

"That tells us that they can be removed safely." Come to think of it, hadn't he seen someone working magic in a mask, early in the Arena...? Funny, he couldn't remember. It probably didn't matter, he decided, and his pensive expression turned to an uncertain one.

You see, Carlos wanted to test the mask. Except he didn't. He wanted to know the rules by which it functioned, but he really didn't want those hooks in his face, especially with both human doctors dead and Zoidberg his only option for medical care.

"Look, are you going to kill me or not? I'm pretty sure I couldn't stop you. You have at least three advantages over me right now, and I'm getting pretty tired of standing here wondering about it."

[gruesome]

He froze in place, eyes tracking over to focus on Carlos before he turned his head. Had he been expecting that this whole while?

"No. I try not to. I was a horrible hunter in the world before this one, and I refuse to be one here, while I have the choice." Deliberately, he offered him back his flashlight, still off.

[youbarium]

...luck, it seemed, was still very much with Carlos. He had been remarkably fortunate to meet the individuals he had. Slowly, he accepted the flashlight, but refrained from turning it on. "I think it's best that I keep this off," he said. "Like you said, most humans can't see in the dark, but they will see this flashlight, which would make me a target."

Holding the flashlight did make him feel better, though. Less defenseless. It may have been a false confidence, and Carlos knew that, but it calmed him nonetheless.

"Speaking of humans, you said you were a...Some?"

[gruesome]

"And with it on, I can barely see anything at all," he added, trying to get the edge out of his voice. He sighed, made himself stop rubbing at the smaller gashes.

"I'm a Some, yes. Name and... title. My species is grue."