trans_9 | Forest at Night isn't Scary for Everyone [Open]

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Forest at Night isn't Scary for Everyone [Open]

Shadow Link had heard about the sensorium. To say the least, it sounded interesting. An illusion that became a reality? He knew there were things that could appear an illusion that hurt, but in the end, the thing was truly 'real.' And illusions could be used to hurt and mess with people. But having a physical presence? That was knew.

So he had decided to try it out. Of course, the setting wouldn't be bright. Actually, since he was in control, he had for something that might be nice. Namely, a forest at night. Even as a shadow, he did still feel a bit of joy in nature. Not so much he wouldn't have willingly destroyed it before for his goals, but...

Well, he was still questioning what his goals were, so why not embrace that joy a bit more? And it certainly felt like a real night sky, with a light breeze and everything. He looked around and sighed.

He walked further into the sensorium, quickly climbing up a tree and resting on a branch and for the first time since he actually arrived on the ship, he relaxed. What harm could letting his guard down for a little while in his own illusion could do him anyway?

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Shadow Link's relaxation was sadly short-lived, and interrupted by a voice that reached his brain and entirely bypassed his ears.

< Hello? >

Ax stepped a little further into the Sensorium, looking around and trying to determine if someone was already present, or if Stacy had thought that this was what he wanted.

If it had just been a voice, he might have reacted better. Voices in his head though? Oh, that was never a good thing.

Especially since it's a hell of a lot more surprising.

Shadow Link jerked, managing to keep from crying out in surprise and started to fall out of the tree. And despite his best efforts to stop, he didn't manage to grip the branch well enough that it didn't stop his way down to the ground again.

Judging by the crashing noises, Stacy hadn't provided this scene out of the goodness of her...the ship's equivalent of hearts. Whoops. Ax swiftly picked his way through the forest debris in the direction of the noises.

< Are you all right? >

Shadow Link groaned, pushing himself up. "Oh, just fine," he said, sarcasm heavy in his voice, rubbing his head. "Should have just gone intangible..." he muttered, berating himself for letting down his guard.

He looked at Ax. And stared. "...what the heck are you?"

Ax said, eying the figure before him. He looked vaguely human. 

Just ignore the tail blade.

 he explained. < My apologies. >

"So you're another alien thing," Shadow Link said, eying the tail warily. He pushed himself to his feet, still keeping an eye on the blade. "Why are you talking in my head?"

...what? He's seen PLENTY of things talk without a mouth without it being in his head.

< Because that's how my species communicates while in our natural bodies, > Ax said. < We don't have mouths, as I'm sure you've noticed. >

Ax wasn't aware of any mouthless species that could talk without thought-speak!

"I noticed, but I've seen plenty of monsters and a sorcerer talk without it being INSIDE my head. At least not like you," he said. No, it was Ganondorf who spoke in his head.

And he didn't like that.

"Can you read thoughts?" He asked, looking at Ax suspiciously.

< Monsters and sorcerers use magic, correct? > Ax asked. < My people don't use magic at all. Just science. >

He'd have said that magic didn't exist, but with all of the dimensions Stacy had available for picking and choosing, he really couldn't say that.

< No, I'm not telepathic. Thought-speak only goes one way. > Ax shook his head. Because the other Animorphs had also been in Leeran morph, and it had taken a few minutes for them to figure out how to close down the telepathy. < Can you read thoughts? >

"Not all monsters, but usually the ones without mouths did," Shadow Link said. "And who just uses science? Magic does a lot of things science doesn't."

He thinking of the science back home. which wasn't that advanced. He thought Stacy was just some sort of natural being.

"If I could, do you think I would have asked you if you could read thoughts?" Shadow Link retorted. He was a bit rude, but he wasn't quite as bad as he could have gotten. He still wasn't sure if he believed Ax couldn't read his thoughts and he didn't like the look of that tail blade.

< There isn't any magic in my universe, > Ax said. < Of course, there's a human saying that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, but I've only encountered very advanced technology. >

The Ellimist could do so much that it might as well be magic, but Ax knew it wasn't.

< Perhaps you were being polite and simply not invading my mind without asking, > Ax replied, a touch archly. < The telepaths I've encountered on board this ship do possess manners. But I can understand your concern. > He'd certainly freaked out when the subject of mind-reading had been broached.

Shadow Link frowned at that. "That'd have to be very, very advance to come even close to magic," he said.

Shadow Link scoffed. "I'm not much for being polite when I don't know someone," he said. "But I'll keep in mind that the telepaths are supposedly polite."

< My people have developed technology which allows us to copy the DNA of any living creature we touch and then transform ourselves into that creature, > Ax said. < And we've been traveling to the stars and beyond since before my grandparents were born. Our technology is very advanced. >

He hoped that this person didn't come from a dimension where the technology and magic were just as far along, or even more advanced. That would be embarrassing.

< A large percentage of the crew tends to be polite, > Ax said with a shrug. < We're lucky that the telepaths on board are among that percentage. >

Speaking of being polite, Ax offered a small bow of greeting. < My name is Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill. 'Ax' is also acceptable, if you would prefer something shorter. >

Shadow Link's eyebrows shot up at the mention of the technology. "Not sure what DNA is, but you can become anything you can touch? And you can actually travel among the stars? That's really possible?" No, he hadn't actually figured out where Stacy was traveling. It was just bright lights out those windows, not the night sky he knew and loved.

"Weird, that many people in this situation can be," he muttered. It was a stressful one, after all.

"I've just been telling people to call me Shadow." No, he wasn't going to give his full name. And the advantage with just Shadow is many people might think it a fake name. And he's quite happy with letting them think that.

< DNA is essentially the map for building and developing living creatures, > Ax said. He liked to think that he'd gotten good at dumbing down scientific explanations enough that they could be understood. < But yes. And yes, it's possible. Stacy is doing something more advanced. Didn't you see the stars out of the windows in the Observation Deck? >

He shifted from hoof to hoof, experimentally tasting some of the grass. It didn't seem like any he was familiar with.

 Now he was really beginning to wonder about this "Shadow" person. Had he somehow missed the briefing after being released from the Pod Caverns?

"I have avoided that place since the first day," Shadow Link said. "Stars aren't that bright. They're like that," he said, pointing up at the night sky.

"Ah, that's right. Because they all want to go home," he said. It was quite obvious in his tone that he really felt nothing for that goal.

< Stars are actually just as bright as the sun, they are just much, much further away, > Ax said, although he dutifully turned a stalk eye in the direction that Shadow pointed. < Were you able to obtain an omnicomm, at least? >

Shadows apparent disinterest in returning to where he'd come from was noted and mentally filed away to be considered later. < Yes. Also, for shipboard survival. Stacy was severely damaged before people began waking up in the Pod Caverns. We'd had to fight for our survival more than once. >

Shadow Link looked at him like he just said the sky was green. "What are you talking about? Stars are stars and the sun is the sun," he said. "And yeah, I got the magic box thing." Not that he used it. He was considering chucking it too.

"Oh, yeah, survival. Which is why there was a riot over some slug thing."

As if green skies weren't possible. Ax had grown up under a red and yellow one.

He took a moment to word his thoughts properly. He'd explained things to the Animorphs before, but humans had at least reached the point of space travel. < I'm sure you've noticed that objects in the distance appear to be smaller than objects that are closer to you, > Ax said. < It's the same thing with the sun and the stars -- 'the' sun is merely a star that is closer to the planet in question than any of the others. >

He winced at the mention of the riot. < That was hopefully an anomaly. >

Shadow Link rolled his eyes. "Sure, the sun is a star," he said, not sounding like he believed him. Sadly, Ax, you're dealing with someone who has very little idea of what space was like.

"I doubt it. Violence is just in the nature of...well, it seems anyone who can think. Or even not think. Like animals."

Someone was getting directed to the science classes, clearly.

< Perhaps, > Ax said. He could hardly refute Shadow's statement using examples from his own life. < But considering how important it is for us to work together to survive this, we can hope that people will now voice their concerns rather than try to take it into their own hands. >

Sadly the chances of him going were rather low.

"You really have a lot of faith in the people here, don't you?" Shadow Link asked. "Just because something is the better idea, doesn't mean people are likely to listen to it."

< In my experience with them, humans have demonstrated a great deal of fortitude in the face of overwhelming odds, > Ax replied. It was something of a non-answer, although he did recognize Shadow's question as being more rhetorical than straight-forward. 

Earth was not his home. It was simply the planet he'd crash landed on after the Yeerks had destroyed the Dome Ship. It wasn't where he really belonged.

"If you can keep the crew together long enough to find that way home. Thought take too long even with hope and they might still tear each other apart," Shadow Link said, smirking just a bit.

< We're very close, > Ax said. At least, that was what Jaime Reyes seemed to have indicated. < We'll just have to hope that we don't take too long, >

He didn't see what was so amusing to Shadow about the situation. Even if he didn't want to go home, did he could hardly want to be on board this ship.

"When you say it like that, you make it sound like you think you're close," Shadow Link commented. "What are you close to doing?"

Shadow Link honestly didn't care where he was anymore as long as it wasn't the World of Light. What he had found amusing was the crew tearing each other apart.

He was kind of a jerk that way.

Ax said. < At which point, we may be able to send everyone home. > Or at least they would be after they took out whatever had locked itself in up there.

No offense to Shadow then, but Ax hoped that the rest of the time on this ship was incredibly unamusing.

"So, if you can break through to the bridge, and if you can figure out a way from there how to send them home. So it is just a think," Shadow Link commented, leaning against a tree.

Ax said. Between Dox and his counterpart, Allen, and all of the other brilliant people on board, he doubted that they'd have too much trouble once they were in control.

"Just controlling a vessel doesn't mean you can always go where you want," Shadow Link said with a shrug.

< No, but it's certainly better than not being in control, > Ax said. < Especially considering how very little control we have now. >

"Would the ship really let you get control?" Shadow link asked. "Doesn't it have things to stop u?"

Ax said. < We're certainly not going to be able to do anything without it. >

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Forest at Night isn't Scary for Everyone [Open]

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