thebastion | An incognito arrival

Entry tags:

An incognito arrival

Who: Erek King and anyone!
Open: Wide open!
When: Day 247
Where: anywhere in the Bastion
What: An android arrives and skulks about hidden behind holograms before saying hello.
Format: prose preferred, but I'll match either!
Warnings: none

Erek's holographic emitter isn't projecting when he becomes aware he isn't home. That is already worrying, even before he takes in his surroundings while raising the illusion of a human boy around himself. An expression of relief flickers across the holographic face, thousands of years making shifts in expression a well-founded habit. His emitters aren't down, at least.

This isn't Earth, though, and it's the most bizarre planet Erek has ever visited. As he takes a step, the ground shifts around him, creating a path on which to walk. ...Interesting, if concerning. He doesn't think it's based on magnetism. The planet itself probably isn't sentient either. It's a matter for later investigation, though. There are more pressing concerns.

He sees a light in the distance that looks promising and replaces his human hologram with one of invisibility, blending into his surroundings. Erek will wait until he sees what species inhabit the planet and do his best to blend in. He sets off toward the Bastion.

When he arrives, Erek stays out of sight until anyone comes into view. He plans on taking up an appropriate hologram as soon as he's gauged the people well enough. Of course, should anyone human-shaped be present, it's easy enough to duck behind the edge of a building and emerge as Erek King, a fairly unremarkable teenage boy. He assumes that no one will see through his camouflage in the meantime. It hasn't happened so far, his emitters sufficiently advanced that it would take a very specialized sort of eyesight to see anything through the illusion.

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"If they're only nasty when under outside influences, maybe monsters isn't the best word," Erek comments lightly, keeping his tone non-critical. Aliens, maybe, or creatures. Something without all the negative connotations that monster carries.

"Are any of them likely to have the means to harm me? I don't picture 'monsters' armed with dracon beams, and my body is fairly sturdy when it comes to physical impact." It's much easier and safer to be non-violent if anyone likely to try and harm you is physically incapable of doing so. Erek will avoid the Skyway unless the risks are fairly low. Between his resilience and his holographic emitters, those risks might be acceptable.

<They'll try to attack us if we get too close. They're pretty territorial. But they probably won't be able to hurt you very much.>

He's only been using the terms other people have been using, but Erek's right. <For now we should probably get you settled in. I can give you more of a tour if you want.>

"I can hide myself from most eyes, and probably withstand the attacks should that fail. I'll need shards, you said, in order to bring any new species into the area, and I have to go out there to get those?"

Erek nods acceptance of the tour. "Do you want to fly or for me to carry you?" he asks. After all, it isn't as if Tobias would be any sort of burden, and it might make more sense for something like this.

<Yeah. I can help pitch in, though. Like I said, I don't really need anything.>

Tobias flutters up and perches on Erek's shoulder. It's a little weird since the hologram is slightly off from where he makes contact, but on the other hand he doesn't have to worry about hurting him.

<Let's see... we're in the northern part. That building over there near the trees and stones is the bathhouse. An onsen, I think most people call it? A lot of people go there to relax after Skyway trips. That bigger building is the workshop. Colin's usually in there, but anyone who wants to use the machinery can. I don't know much about it since I don't know much about machines, so I stay out of it.>

"Is the hunting alright here?" Erek asks. Tobias does need food, even if he's used to living very simply.

Erek doesn't even notice the weight on his shoulder. He was built for gravity four times stronger than that of their current location, which seems to be very similar to Earth in that respect.

"I don't have any use for the onsen, but I would like to see the machine shop at some point." Erek could soak in an onsen without suffering any ill effects of course, he just wouldn't get anything out of it except as a social exercise. "Any idea whether it's simple machines or more advanced technology? I wouldn't mind access to the information from other worlds' computers."

<It's okay. I can find enough. If it's not a very good hunting day I can always morph human and eat at the kitchen.>

He tilts his head a little bit. <I think Colin has some computers, but it's hard to get a computer that's in one piece. Everything got thrown all over during the Calamity. That's what they call the thing that broke up the worlds.>

"I'm glad you have options. Is your morphing and identity common knowledge here?" No Yeerk presence and the comment regarding Erek's holograms would suggest so.

Erek nods. Computers will be considerably lower down his list of priorities than the other plans set in motion by their talk of the monument. "I can do without well enough for now."

<Yeah, it is. You'll fit in just fine. There's a giant dragon here - you're not even close to the strangest thing in the Bastion.>

Where next... <Let's head over to the west. Near the big building with an oven on it. That's the forge, and the armory is next to it. The armory has a bunch of stuff like clothes and pencils and paper and stuff like that - it's not just for weapons.>

"I might stay hidden for awhile," Erek says, hesitant to drop the illusion he's maintained for thousands of years. The Chee were hiding long before the Yeerks invaded, so the lack of Yeerk presence doesn't mean quite the same thing to him. "Old habits die hard." He grins, then, adding, "I'd like to see a giant dragon, though."

Erek nods approvingly at the note about the armory having purposes other than just weapons. He doesn't need clothes or weapons, but it's worth checking out later to see what else they stock. "Is the forge available for public use, or is there a blacksmith who does everything?"

<It's okay. If that's what you're comfortable with, then it should be fine. I... don't really know how you power it so I didn't know if you had to worry about power reserves. And I'm sure you'll see him. He's kind of hard to miss. I can morph into him, too - I asked him if I could and we thought having more than one dragon around might help in a pinch.>

Plus, it's kind of a nerd fantasy. Don't judge him, Erek. <There's a blacksmith, but if you wanted to use it and showed him you knew how I'm sure he wouldn't mind. There's nothing like rocket launchers available - it's Industrial Era or earlier, I think.>

He turns his gaze over towards the farm. <The ranch and the farm are over there. There's a food storage building next to the barn, which has a synthetic meat lab. The distillery's where most people eat. Rin usually cooks and is kind of protective of the kitchen, so if you see a girl with a tail at the stove tread carefully. At least until she gets used to you.>

"I'll be fine for quite awhile. Don't worry about it. The Pemalites built things to last."

Hey, Erek's been hearing human myths about dragons for a very long time. Seeing the real thing sounds fascinating, and he won't begrudge Tobias that nerd fantasy. "The dragon let you acquire him. A sentient dragon?" Even more interesting. Erek already plans on making a point of meeting the dragon. "What's his name?"

The food supply sounds fairly fairly standard, except for one thing. Erek turns to look at the hawk on his shoulder as he responds, "A synthetic meat lab is a great idea, it just seems a little out of line with the level of technology available here."

<Oh yeah. His name's Paarthurnax. It means 'Ambition Overlord Cruelty' in his language, but he's not any of those things. Not anymore. Dragons in his world have a natural desire to be conquerors, but he opted for isolation and meditation. Kind of like an old Zen master or something. He's been teaching people the dragon language, which is the closest we have to a common written language in the Bastion. The translator's on for spoken language only, apparently.>

He 'laughs' a little bit in Erek's mind.

<Yeah. That one was Colin. And actually now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure Bon has a rocket launcher. I just don't think that's a thing that the forge is really equipped for. I should have said that the tech native to this world is around that era.>

That description only makes the prospect of getting to know the dragon more appealing. Paarthurnax's nature is very different from that of most people Erek has admired, but the choices he's made are admirable ones. "I definitely want to meet Paarthurnax, and I do pick up languages quickly. I'd be willing to learn his." But then, a concern comes to mind. "Are the dragon instincts overwhelming when you morph him? We wouldn't want you going on a conquering spree before you could get those under control."

Colin again. Colin seems to be tied up in most of the things of technological interest here. Erek nods again, musing, "So while I personally would place priority on living things, the technology level here is negotiable if we can afford to pay the cost of it. That's good to know."

<They're not so bad. The conquering thing took a little getting used to but overall it's not... that different. I've been a dinosaur before, and I've been a hawk, and it was kind of like a very smart combination of both. I've got it handled, don't worry. My morphs are limited to three a day here though... but that seems to be common to a lot of people who have abilities that can be turned on or off.>

Anyway... moving on... <There's a swimming pool and a volleyball court over there. Aoi's in the pool a lot. There's a few training halls nearby that I've never really looked into. The houses and apartments are in the south. They're kind of self-explanatory.>

Nodding, Erek accepts the reassurance at face value. He won't continue to question Tobias. "I'll keep that limit in mind in case it applies to my holograms and force fields as well. I wouldn't want to run out when I really need them."

Erek doesn't see much need for the pool or training halls, though he will probably at least peek in the doors of the latter. "We can choose any unoccupied place to live?" No system of buying or reserving houses, it seems simple enough.

<Yeah. I've been staying over in the field, or sleeping on top of one of the buildings. I've got a bag with things in it, but there's so few people here it'd be easy to find a thief.> Not to mention that he has a few morphs that could track a thief by scent.

<That's pretty much the whole place, though. It changes as people buy things, but that takes shards, which take time to gather.>

Nodding, Erek acknowledges the locations and makes an offer. "I'll look for you there if I need you. If you'd ever like company, let me know. I'm sure you can find me easily enough." Ax isn't here for Tobias to visit, so Erek hopes Tobias has been spending time around other people in the past couple months.

"I won't be making any changes to the place, but seeing other people's could be interesting. It looks like you've got a mix of cultures and technology levels here." If Erek makes changes, they'll be alive. The Chee are nothing if not predictable when it comes to their feelings on dogs and their creators. Tobias knows full well what every shard Erek saves will go toward.

<Thanks. I appreciate it.>

He can't help but feel a mixture of hope and sorrow at Erek showing up. On the one hand it means other people might have survived. On the other hand if they haven't shown up by now, where are they? He does his best to pull himself out of his thoughts and try to turn his attention elsewhere.

<I've been thinking of getting some more books for the library - one of the houses doubles as one of those. It'd be nice to finish a book rather than just get pieces from reading over someone's shoulder.>

"Are all the books from Earth, or are some from other planets?" Erek certainly hasn't read every book on Earth, but he's had time to become very well read. He would be very interested in knowledge that isn't native to the planet he's spent several millenia on. "The library sounds like a good thing to invest in, especially given that no one here will find anything strange about a hawk enjoying a good book. What genres do you like?"

<Some of it's from other worlds. I think Colin has some stuff in his database too, but birds can't work touchscreens that well.>

The question makes him laugh in thought-speech a little bit. <I... like fantasy. Or I did. I read a lot about brave warriors setting out on quests to defeat ancient evils, or people exploring new planets and interacting with the locals. I used to hide in the library at lunch when I went to school. I read Lord of the Rings as soon as I could get my hands on it.>

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An incognito arrival

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