If you could only see the beast you've made of me

[why_me]

» WHO? Garion and you
» WHEN? just after he wakes up near the gym
» WHERE? Around (basically anywhere public is fair game)
» WHAT? There's a wolf walking around the station
» WARNINGS? None so far. Happy to use [ ] for any replies.


There is a wolf wandering around the station. A large wolf. A large white wolf with blue eyes.

Because he woke up in a chamber near the gym, that's where he's likely to be found, but he's wandering now, trying to sniff out something, anything, to tell him what's going on. Now, of course, he's not just a wolf. He's also a man by the name of Garion (or Belgarion, technically) but given that a wolf can cover distances much faster than a human can, that he'll have the advantage of a nose that can sniff out nearly anything on his muzzle, and the fact that between his teeth and his claws, he'll have more a weapon in that form should he encounter anything dangerous...

He's always scouted as a wolf. Really, this is no change. Or he tries to remind himself it's very little change, even though he can't sense his Aunt Pol or his Grandfather or even Durnik anywhere. Even though his wife is nowhere to be found and he can't smell her, not even on his own skin, not on the clothing he woke up in. Neither his wife nor his children and it's upsetting on two legs, but on four, it just gives him a sense of urgency.

So if you happen to see a rather large white wolf near the mess or the bar area or one of the crew quarters or just in the hallways, well...

He's as new to this as you are.

Comments

[neuralnet]

[ Haruto ideally would have wanted to earn enough money to move out to the country, where he may have run into a wolf. But as it is, he's only ever been to big cities, like Hiroshima and Tokyo, and then this place. This is the first wolf he's ever encountered.

Except... Suddenly the wolf isn't there anymore, and there's a man in his place. Haruto freezes again, dumbstruck. He points dumbly, mouth hanging open. ] You... Wha--? How did you do that?

[ Yokai. ]

[why_me]

[ ...he's not really WRONG.]

It's something my grandfather taught me.

[ Which he says like most people talk about learning to tie their shoes.]

But you didn't answer my question. Food?

[neuralnet]

[ SO CASUAL. And yet it doesn't explain anything.

But, Haruto has met people here who have gills, and people who speak to deities through the radio. So what is one more strange encounter to add to the list? ]

Y-yes. Sure. Food. Follow me.

[ He will lead the wolf-man out of the gym, down the corridor towards the lift to deck two and the mess hall. ]

I have to warn you, the food here is not very good.

[why_me]

Oh, I've had it a little earlier.

[ He tilts his head towards the room he'd woken up in.]

I woke up a few hours ago and went exploring. But I figured we could talk and eat.

[neuralnet]

[ Haruto nods. So the wolf-man was fairly new, but not as new as Haruto had thought.

Soon enough, the lifts open up to deck two, and Haruto steps out, heading for the mess hall. ]

What would you like to talk about?

[why_me]

Well, the main topic's fairly obvious, I'd think.

[ He's walking beside him, easy as you please.]

How long've you been here?

[neuralnet]

About a month. [ Haruto answers, likewise easy as you please.

In reality, it's been one month, one day, fourteen hours, and three minutes. Give or take. ]

I take it you arrived more recently?

[why_me]

I woke up a few hours ago. No telling when I was brought here, though. At least I should think.

[neuralnet]

Well, you weren't there yesterday.

[ Haruto likes to keep a set schedule, so he goes to the fitness center around the same time every day. He would have noticed a sleeping wolf-man there. ]

[why_me]

That doesn't mean I wasn't aboard the ship. I've noticed a few barred doors, after all.

[neuralnet]

[ That thought makes Haruto pause in his steps. ] You think people are being held somewhere, unconscious, then moved to the parts of the station we have access to?

[why_me]

[ He looks down at himself and then up at Haruto. ]

Possibly. After all, I certainly wasn't wearing this before I came here. They had to change me somewhere.

[neuralnet]

No, that's a good point.

[ All this talk of the mysterious "they" who brought them here, who changed their clothes... Haruto doesn't like it. He's already paranoid enough. ]

Do you gave any idea who "they" are?

[why_me]

The only idea I have is so unlikely that I doubt it. But I've learned since I was a boy not to discount the improbable too quickly.

[ He's walking and chatting and being amiable, but he doesn't look as if he'd be doing that if he knew exactly who'd done this. ]

[neuralnet]

Well? [ Haruto turns to him, inquisitive. ] What's your idea?

[ He's seen so many impossible or improbable things since he arrived here, he's liable to agree that the improbable shouldn't be discounted. ]

[why_me]

The Universe herself.

[ He glances over at the other man. ]

But she's usually not this... unsubtle.

[neuralnet]

[ Setting aside the fact that the universe is a "she," Haruto finds an immediate hole in this logic. ]

That might work, but there are multiple universes represented here. Multiple versions of the same planet, with different histories and circumstances.

[why_me]

Which means that every Universe decided to contribute someone, or a few someones. Or this... Multi-verse decided it needed certain people for something.

[neuralnet]

"...We tried to save the world." [ He recites, hollowly. Maybe the wolf-man is right. Maybe they're here because they've been chosen for some grand purpose.

Haruto takes a deep breath, as they finally arrive at the mess hall. ]

You would think the Multiverse could at least provide better food.

[why_me]

[ Garion nods. Slowly. ]

When something goes wrong, terribly wrong, the Universe takes steps. Our presence here has a purpose. We just haven't figured out what it is.

[ He shrugs about the food. ]

I might have to see what can be done. I was raised in a kitchen, and good food is important.

[neuralnet]

[ Haruto fetches two plates and hands one to the wolf-man with a curious expression. ]

What kind of wolf is raised in a kitchen?

[why_me]

[ He takes the plate from Haruto with a dip of his head. Thank you. ]

I'm not a wolf.

[ He pauses as he realizes how that might have looked. ]

I can be a wolf at times. My grandmother was a wolf. But I was born a man and grew up a man.

My family can just do some things other folks can't.

[neuralnet]

[ Haruto just stares. Then, he does that thing he's had to do so frequently here, where he just decides to pretend that what he's just heard makes complete and total sense. ]

Oh. I thought you might be a yokai. But you're really just... a quarter yokai.

[why_me]

What, exactly, is a yokai. If you don't mind me asking.

[ IT doesn't sound like something bad. But you never know. It sounds sort of... Melcene?]

[neuralnet]

Oh, well... It's a creature in Japanese folklore. Legend says that if an animal lives long enough, it can turn into a human.