despitethenora | Sneck IC inbox

aloy: I’ve never been called an onion before.
aloy: But I can always use a little less frustration.
alloy: Tell me what you see, after?

Tryse: I could have called you a cake.
Tryse: You might have objected to being called sweet, though.
Tryse: Both, I think, are delicious, and they can have layers.
Tryse: And your lips, I've tasted.
Tryse: I'll let you know what I see.

[There’s a bit of a delay.]

aloy: I hope you want to taste them again.
aloy: Something for you to think about until we meet up.

Tryse: I hope to.
Tryse: Until tonight, then.

aloy: Good. See you then.

[True to her word, it's time for a knocknocknock on her door in the evening.]

[She’ll come to get the door for Tryse, nice and polite for her friend.

There’s a new addition to the room: a board’s been set up for playing with Airi, with a variety of blocks to change the level of the board’s “terrain;” and a pouch of carved machine figures.]

Have a good day?

[She steps on in, glancing around. Board game? Huh. That's new.]

Not really. Tried to make some air conditioning, you might have seen the remains of that attempt. Got lectured by Donatello again. I don't think he appreciates just how obnoxious he can be at times, especially when he's pulling that "My opinion is the only one that actually matters, here's five reasons why" spiel.

I hope yours was less irritating.

Mm, when you know that my opinions are the ones that matter.

Why do you think I go to such lengths to learn them?

Maybe you just like a challenge.

[She flashes Tryse a smile, and closes the door before heading over to settle at her bed.]

Not much challenge for me anymore when I can just kiss you until you tell me what I want to know.

[She's gonna remain standing. Sitting on the same bed as Aloy was safe, once. Now that their feelings are out in the open, though, she doesn't trust herself. It was so much simpler before she knew that Aloy would allow, wanted even, Tryse to push further. 'Aloy's not interested' was such a useful crutch.]

Is there anything that should stay off limits while I'm in there?

Oh, is that the real plan?

[Aloy hasn’t even considered that angle. For her, it just seems practical, doing this without the tower.

Maybe a little bit was hoping for Tryse sitting on her bed. Whatever.

Aloy considers the question. Shakes her head.]

No. Maybe don’t try fishing up the memory of that death, considering what happened to one of your allies. But I’m not interested in holding something back from you.

It might work, if you haven't gotten bored of me yet.

I'll stay away from that. I have the answer I wanted. But... Well, let's get started.

[She goes to a knee in front of Aloy and takes her hand. Gently presses her lips to Aloy's knuckles and lets it linger for a moment, like a chivalrous knight with her lady.

And that's the contact she uses to initiate the heart dive.]

Of course I haven’t.

[She lets Tryse have her hand, a small contentment bleeding off of her at the kiss.

Tryse will find herself in the same room as before, but the holographic mural at the top of the dome is changed, depicting instead: Aloy, armed and armored, standing in front of Airi, one hand subtly gesturing for Airi to stand back and let her handle things. She’s facing down an aloof silver-haired woman in shiny white-and-gold clothing. On the lower level, where a variety of objects have been shelved with candles to light them, there’s something producing much more light.]

Hello, GAIA. What's changed in my love's heart since our last meeting?

[She's pausing to admire that mural. If only the others, if only Claudine, could see Aloy as she got to. And then she moves down, to inspect the shelves she hadn't done last time. Find that light.]

[“Welcome back, Tryse.” The AI’s presentation remains perfectly smooth, no apparent reaction to the specific way Tryse refers to Aloy. “You may find that Aloy’s priorities are more narrowly focused than during your previous visit.”

The lower level is a walkway ringing the dome, with items placed on shelves. Presently:
-A Seeker’s mark.
-The faceplate of a machine, modeled to resemble an antelope.
-An old world trinket, a charm of the globe.
-A blue charm on a necklace.
-A lone, potted flower.
-A headdress, metal and draped with blue wires.
-A carving of a robot pterodactyl.
-A book prominently labeled “Cosmic Frontier,” with additional pages of paper tucked in at the back cover.
-A frog plushie in a witch’s hat. A metal shard has been propped against its tummy, glowing very brightly.
-A bear statue.
-In the dim candlelight, there’s a dark silhouette, positioned as though crawling up onto the walkway from below.]

Take care of Airi first and foremost? Give me a rundown, please.

Also, how did the Elysium Category work?

[She trails her fingers over the shelves, noting each item. She catches herself about to cast a spell on the flower, to freshen it somewhat. The bear, who could that-

She pauses, glancing at the silhouette. She takes the shard in hand and moves towards it, holding her hand up so she can get a good view of this little invader.]

[”Managing Airi’s recovery and protection are indeed the first priority. Several activities that are nominally practical, but incidentally pleasurable, are active. These include exercise with Airi and Adora, and engaging in games that encourage tactical thinking with Airi and Crow.”

Just touching the shard offers a heavy dose of emotions: trust, admiration, amusement. Almost a reliance.

The shard’s light illuminates the figure as Tryse moves in: a pillow-sized alligator plushie. Its eyes seem to flash red in the movement of the shard’s light.

”The Elysian category produced minimal effects. Nostalgia mixing with the sense of loss, perhaps blunting it. A confirmation of the meaning in sacrifice.”]

I need to teach them both how to play chess. Or perhaps learn that game I saw in Aloy's quarters.

[She has to bite back a laugh at the plushie. She tosses the shard up and down in her hand, then moves to settle it back in against the frog, where she'd found it.

When she turns back to the crocodile, her fingers twitch. She'd love to burn it, given the sinister gleam, but. She'd promised no changes this time. Instead, she'll just give it a little pat.

The book. Cosmic Frontier. Hadn't she seen Aloy with that once or twice? She can't quite recall. The flower... She reaches out to touch the bear, instead. It can't be representative of the god here, can it?]

Not the results I'd hoped, but... Would you say it was worth it?

Edited 2023-07-16 21:24 (UTC)

[Just touching the plush offers a complicated mix of emotions: pain, inevitability, frustration.

If she still doesn’t choose to burn it, the bear on closer examination is the statue in the woods, complete with the hole that serves as the entrance to the cloth materials ruin. Just touching that carries a sense of wistful catharsis, comfort, and a sort of sleepiness.

”The best I can say on the matter is the results were not objectionable.

“Regarding the game Aloy has acquired. It is called Machine Strike. Despite her habits and her relationship with people in general, she found enjoyment in playing against many as she traveled the Forbidden West, without needing an established relationship with her opponent.”]

I wonder what happened there... Maybe she'll agree to go with Claudine and I to serve Ayevar when the time comes?

[Hm. She'd really hoped for better results. But she'll see soon whether Aloy liked it enough to keep it.]

I'll ask her to teach me, then. Thank you for the name.

[Cosmic Frontier. It's the last of the temple-related items, she thinks. It seems to be chronological, with items from her home first. She'll crack it open, look at the extra pages.]

["A query of my own. Who is Ayevar?"

Just touching the book imparts curiosity, excitement, the spark of imagination - but undercut severely with guilt. When Tryse looks at the extra pages...It's a story, cut short. The clumsy first attempt of a person to write something of their own. It's...fanfic.

The story tells how the Cosmic Frontier crew encounters a one-person starship, piloted by a redhaired woman named Galavin. Much of the ship is operated by an AI of Galavin's mother. The fic is far too preoccupied with emphasizing to the reader how good Galavin is at piloting, how Galavin can go anywhere she wants, and no one can stop her even though many have tried. It seems she's trying to find a relative whose last known coordinates were near a nebula, and also an android character named Circuit wants to learn about human friendship from her (but she is too cool, and totally doesn't need friends).

It ends abruptly, incomplete.]

Aveyar is one of the local gods. The orange ruins are his. He's a minor deity, but his domains seem to include song, dance, revelry, beauty, sex, and mind altering substances. He's the one this statue represents.

[She winces at the guilt, then pauses as she rifles through the story. Aloy had been so happy here... Why cut it short?

She can't judge Galavin, really. Who hadn't had a Galavin in their life at some point? Someone better, who was free to do as she wished, when she wished...

She folds the pages reverently, sets it back carefully, and moves up the stairs.]

All right. I'm coming back up to the main level. The rest of this is important, but I've got a time limit and I can't afford to get caught up in Aloy's world now, as much as I'd like to see more of it.

Can you please display all of the profiles to me again? Her supports, I mean.

["The statue is here associated with a record of Aloy and Raphael discussing the legacy of her mother. I do not believe that she considers what entity might claim the original statue as its domain."

GAIA is gesturing, and the support wheel is appearing before her in the air again. As before:

Rost
Varl
Erend Vanguardsman
Talanah Khane Padish
Nil
Zo
Kotallo
Alva
Airi
Sylens
Raphael Hamato
Donatello Hamato
Crow
Randy Orlando
Tryse
Claudine
Adora

The names are all in shaded boxes - most names from Aloy’s world are in purple boxes, and the names themselves are in dull grey text. Airi’s is a Salamander red box. Egg names are predictably in egg blue. It seems people present in snek have white text names. Different boxes are positioned in different ways - either laid flush and connected to the Aloy circle, or sticking out, unconnected to the circle. Of the names from Aloy’s world, only Talanah and Nil are unconnected. Of the names in snek, only Airi and Tryse are connected.

Next to Rost and Varl’s names, words flash urgently in red lettering: Critical Error.

"It is likely that once Aloy has found a way to destroy the snake, if those taken by the snake are not allowed to disembark to chosen worlds and realities, she will turn to destroying the other entities. She will not be receptive to binding herself in service."

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