trans_9 | Is Your Love Strong Enough? Part 2 - Personal Interwoven Soulcatchers

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Is Your Love Strong Enough? Part 2 - Personal Interwoven Soulcatchers

Following you awakening and talking with a few of the members through the communication systems by way of the three kind people who had awakened her, Nezaitben realized how the crew was stuck in a terrible mess.

So many of them felt sad and depressed. Considering the entire ship, it wasn't too hard to see why. The next day, there had been an unusual amount of magical flowers spreading all over the ship. Nothing that damaged the controls (she might be naive in the way humanoids were, but Nezaitben was no fool either) but they were found in the most unexpected of places. Her own awakening area was now blooming in a flower paradise, the wooden palace standing proudly on top, the smell and pink cherry blossom strong enough to carry through most of the central city area where most people resided.

Yet the ship was still sad.

This would not do.

That night, or what passed as a night for in the ship, Nezaitben took to the 'sky', letting pieces of her own essence fall on top of the sleeping populace, or those that were not sleeping finding themselves feeling the need too. Enveloping the ship into a peaceful slumber, she searched their dreams. The powers granted to her by the pantheon of gods in her homeworld allowed Nezaitben to weave a series of dreamcatchers giving her the ability to see those whose hearts connected true.

These noble souls would do. Lead by example had always been her philosophy. She would give them a great gift - communication with each other in a single body, allowing them to share everything together. Their two soulcatchers were woven together that night into a single, grand ones, hanging in the garden's trees.

A few minutes later, the empty husks of the bodies that weren't being used showed up at her palace. With a smile, she welcomed them like her own children and began to dress them for their task.

That morning, some of the crewmen would wake up to a strange surprise...and that would just be the beginning of a long, strange misunderstanding and young gods trying too much to please everyone.

[OOC - Just a few rules. Keep in mind the listed rules. You can all start your own threads of waking up in the bodies of others. If you feel like leaving a 2nd post for other people to intact with them, start a reply to your own first post with OPEN header. That way everyone else will know where to post and if you don't feel like having an open interaction post right away, you won't have to!

There will also be another post for all the soulless characters to go around spreading joy and love, so look forward to that too!]

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"Actually, if you don't mind, would you enable the voice function? I can alert Security about the problem while I'm at it." He figured that they might be a little better equipped than most of the ship at dealing with a Synthetic Human on the loose.

"As for who or what caused this... I have no idea. I remember being back at the inn, and feeling suddenly drowsy. It was unusual -- I wasn't due to sleep again for some time yet. And then I woke up here."

"Of course. Give me a moment," Ildraniath picked up her omnicomm and began to fiddle with it. It was a bit eerie to converse with herself in her own voice.

"Perhaps we should try attempting communication telepathically. I think speaking to myself will get... disorienting if we continue," Ildraniath managed a wry smile and then continued, "And my experience was very similar. I fell asleep, despite being very well-rested. The next moment, you're sharing my body with me."

Not to mention thoughts. It's very disorienting.

Well... it was certainly strange to be speaking with someone else's vocal cords. Once Ildraniath had gotten the Omnicomm working, he dictated a brief message, then attempted this telepathic communication.

I understand. And I... apologize if I startled you at all. Believe me when I say I was extremely confused to find myself suddenly here. Er, in these circumstances.

Things looked different from Ildraniath's eyes. Not in terms of vantagepoint, exactly (though he did seem to be looking at things from a bit of a lower angle), but... the very nature of her vision was different than what he was used to. In fact, it was devoid of any sort of notation or augmentation at all. He caught himself looking at a distant object and expecting it to appear before him in magnified view, as always... and it didn't, of course. This, he thought, was how the other people aboard the ship saw. Strange. And a little claustrophobic.

He found something else tugging at his senses as well -- thoughts, perhaps, or emotional echoes. The other crew?

Ildraniath could sense his curiosity and his discomfort - albeit a bit distantly, but much closer than normal. It was almost like they were her own, simply once removed. Now that bothered her more than anything else. It was like having her own mind and emotions muddled with another's (well, exactly like it) and it made her feel rather uncomfortable. She did not have a sense of his own body or what he might be like where he there, but she did have the idea that he didn't normally 'hear' other people's emotions or thoughts.

Yes, the crew. It's rather constant, except from those who realize that they broadcast and do their best to shut it down.

She paused and then continued.

And no need to apologize. This is all rather sudden.

Zouichi could feel Ildraniath's discomfort, and... well, apparently today was just going to be a very strange day for the both of them.

I see. Is it... irritating? It certainly was difficult to describe the sensation without having felt it before, but Zouichi himself wouldn't exactly describe it as uncomfortable. Merely alien.

Actually, everything was different about this body. The relatively loose-fitting clothes, the strange additional weight of Ildraniath's hair, considerably longer than what he was accustomed to... even her heartbeat which, though at rest, was much faster than he'd expected. He wondered how Eldar snipers worked around that.

Generally not. It's a bit reassuring at times and at others, merely background noise. Of course, I'm accustomed to it by now.

She carefully stood and let her hair fall back into place, suddenly acutely aware of how it felt. Perhaps that was partially Zouichi. Sharing a body was certainly disorienting.

And Eldar snipers hone their craft through long years of practice and breathing techniques. OF course, I never walked the Path, but Alendian did, once upon a time. Perhaps you should ask her, if she feels inclined to actually share.

Well, she'd more sensed the question than actually heard him ask it, but considering that the two of them could hear thoughts, it wasn't entirely unexpected. At least in her opinion. Although she did think that it would've been worse to share a body with a different mon-keigh. At least she liked Zouichi.

He was a little startled at how accurately she'd read the pattern of his thoughts; this took some getting used to. I suppose the same goes for any profession. You can't excel at it without putting in considerable practice.

If he were in his own body, he might have laughed a little. She is usually on the side of 'disinclined'. However, she was kind enough to show me her cameleoline cloak. It was fascinating.

He felt his thoughts running in an unusual direction: how it might have been worse had he had to share a body with someone either than Z-- ah. Zouichi wasn't used to having to sort out which thoughts were his own. But he tended to agree. Things could have been a lot worse. He could have been stuck in Kang's body or something. At the very least, he was glad his own presence wasn't too much a source of discomfit for Ildraniath. Causing her distress was... undesirable.

I'll try to be a good houseguest, he thought wryly.

Ildraniath frowned as a sudden thought - wait, was that Zouichi's or her own - popped into her head: how difficult it was to sort through which thoughts belonged to which person. Even as a trained psyker, it still took effort, especially when the minds were this... intimate. She rubbed at her temple once more and tried to concentrate. But at least he was right. Better Zouichi, someone she thought highly of, then someone else she didn't even care for. That would've been even worse.

Thank you, she replied, just as wry, It will mean less of a mess later on. And I wouldn't want to damage you, in any case.

After all, then he wouldn't be nearly as pleasant to talk to. She'd miss their conversations if anything were to happen to him.

...That had to be the first time anyone had ever said that to him. Zouichi tried to remember the last time someone who had known of his abilities had expressed concern that they might hurt him... and could not. Especially strange was that in this case, the concern was valid. Ildraniath could hurt him, particularly in this venue.

Vulnerability was... a strange sensation for him. He should feel more ill at ease with it, but found he did not. Stranger still.

My thanks, he said. And then, ...What is that flower doing here? There was indeed a rather exuberant pink flower blooming straight out of a datapad that had been left on the table. It did not appear to be rooted to anything. Could it have some connection to what had happened to them?

Edited 2011-11-28 20:18 (UTC)

The feeling of comfort (there really was no other word to describe) that she received from Zouichi was strangely gratifying. It meant he trusted her, at least to the extent that he realized she wasn't going to try and harm him. Of course, there was also the shared sense of vulnerability. IT was difficult to keep her own thoughts separate.

More disconcerting was feeling her eyes move and focus without her realization or input. Still:

I don't know. It certainly wasn't here beforehand.

She crossed the room and plucked the flower from the datapad, holding it at arm's length while she examined it.

It's entirely possible it's related.

It was, admittedly, difficult for Zouichi to relinquish control as much as he had. Likely it would have been exponentially more difficult had they been in the middle of battle; the urge to react, to do, would have been incredibly strong. He simply wasn't used to being an observer in the body that he inhabited. He had to catch himself before he tried to examine the flower, feel its petals, try to understand the mechanism with which it had been attached to the pad.

But Ildraniath's presence made things easier, somehow. He did trust her.

Unfortunately, I am unfamiliar with any type of flower that might have brought about this change. It might also be connected to the appearance of that statue earlier. Hard to tell.

Yes, the statue. A statue he distinctly remembered warning that pink pony away from, though he rather doubted that she'd listened. And then there had been a hundred other small matters to keep his attention, in which that one detail had been lost. Perhaps this was the fault of those relics Dr. Jackson had picked up, or they were traveling through some space nebula with bizarre properties. Or perhaps this was the ship's way of reminding them who it was they were traveling around in. Things were much simpler before he'd awakened here.

Ildraniath felt the catch, the hesitation from Zouichi and quietly thanked him for not trying to seize control of her body. It made the situation so much easier and less panic-inducing.

Whatever the cause is, we're going to have to find out what and then reverse it. Sharing a body permanently is not something I'm particularly interested in doing for the rest of our trip.

Or longer.

Perhaps we should investigate this statue you were speaking of.

He did try to be helpful. And if he actually had his own body, he'd likely be smiling. A little. It's not exactly what I'd call an ideal long-term situation, either. I only hope that it will be as easy to reverse as it apparently was to set into motion.

The crew member I talked to said that it was somewhere in the City. She included a map, for what that's worth. It looked a little vague to me at first glance. Do you have a copy of the message?

I believe so, if it was posted publicly.

She plucked her omnicomm up again and began to scroll through it, lips pursed as she searched for the entry.

If we aren't the only ones affected, we may be able to enlist the aid of others.

Yes, of course. I suspect the aid of the Magical department may prove useful here. I certainly don't understand the mechanism that led to this.

As if to punctuate his words, another flower sprouted gaily from one of the fatty chairs. It looked ludicrously out of place.

Neither do I. I've never encountered an artifact or power that could do something quite like this.

Ildraniath irritably snagged the other flower. What was the point of this?

I suppose we should get moving.

The flower was surprisingly fragrant in scent.

Lead the way, Zouichi said. Best to find humor where he could. While they were talking, another flower sprouted from the desk.

I don't suppose your jetbike is capable of negotiating the ship's transport tubes?

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Is Your Love Strong Enough? Part 2 - Personal Interwoven Soulcatchers

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