Intro Log: Eight Legs No Heart

[hadrielmods]

Who: New arrivals and everyone else!
What: The intro log for June.
Where: The colosseum and all around the city.
When: June 10th-15th
Warnings: Spiders. Soooo many spiders. New people. Probably swearing.

For once, the new arrivals to Hadriel will not be waking up on the cold hard ground of the colosseum. Oh, sure, you'll still awaken in the arena - but this time the Door has been kind enough to ensure that you wake up comfortably arranged in a very nice chair. Or maybe not so comfortably. Some of those look pretty awkward - hopefully you didn't wake up with a crick in your neck! And hey, feel free to try to drag some of these super cool chairs to your new homes. They're probably not cursed or anything.

As you make your way out of the arena, be careful getting to close to the walls - well, except that's the only way out, so good luck! Chilling up on there waiting to get the drop on you are Skulltulas. These funky-looking spiders have squishy underbellies, but their upper exoskeletons are hard and very difficult to break through. They really just want to nibble you a few times, and maybe suck out all of your blood. No big deal, right? Have fun!

Have you conquered your arachnophobia and managed to escape? Great! Feel free to go explore the rest of the city! Find a house, find a new monster, or simply scavenge for supplies. Good luck, and enjoy your stay in Hadriel!

► This log covers June 10th-15th.
► Feel free to make your own logs as well!
► All characters arrive with phones that have network communication.
► Please put your character's name and open/closed in the subject line of your starters!

Comments

[whichend]

Quite certain. I am not quick to trust, whether it be human or monster.

[ But that much should be obvious. Arya isn't especially warm, although she's being unusually nice to Gottlieb. Perhaps it's because she saw him in that dream. Perhaps it's because he's not especially warm either, so she doesn't feel pressured. Either way, she'll probably still be safe. He strikes her as smart, but not much of an immediate threat.

That's a strange thing to say. Arya raises her eyebrows, her first display of emotion, as small as it is. ]

Why not? Are you already dead. You look nearly dead.

[ Tactful, this one is. But there's something about fighting for one's life all the time that makes politeness seem useless. ]

Or do you not care if you live or die?

[ Arya felt that way, when she was being taken to Harrenhal against her will. But now, she lives so others can die. So that things are right again. It's better than nothing. ]

1/2

[verinumeri]

[ To that, Hermann gives an approving nod. It doesn't mean he would himself eat monster meat, but she gives a good answer. Young, but wary, knowing enough to have made sure of it.

Hermann chews and swallows before answering. He'd never thought oats could taste this good. Trick of his current condition, of course. Chewing and swallowing, even such a small torus, gives him a moment to decide how to react, too. She's horribly rude, but horribly honest, too.

Like children are, perhaps. Newton still has some of that, his own take.

No use being offended by the truth. Hermann shakes his head, smirking. ]

No, I'm not already dead. Well, probably not. As far as the observable data tells, let's say. I've been better.

[verinumeri]

[ The last question's more difficult. It isn't because he's torn as to the plain answer. That is, indeed, plain enough. He gains time to reflect through another pop, chew, swallow. ]

I care. [ Softly. ]

[ And with a second Cheerio down, the conversation ongoing, the subconscious becomes more conscious, or the latter takes note and remembers the walls. What an odd, inappropriate thing to say to a little girl, even a strange one. ]

I suppose it's complicated. Thank you for the Cheerios.

[whichend]

I should hope you've been better. You look like you'll die soon if you're not careful.

[ Arya doesn't expect Gottieb to live all that long. It's not a judgement, just a blatant observation, backed up with experience. That's probably for the best. She doesn't think Gottlieb would like it much here. He's not like her or the other people who escaped something far worse. Arya figures she knows that much, based on their shared dream.

She uses a thin knife to reach into the box and slide the tip of the blade through a cheerio, drawing it out and popping the little torus in her mouth. She could do that for ages. Arya likes to tell herself that it builds accuracy. Or something like that. She's mostly doing it for fun. ]

Life and death is complicated. Wouldn't be very interesting if it was easy. Comfortable, maybe, but not interesting.

[ Arya ducks behind the checkout counter and grabs a marker. ]

Wait. You can't take them yet.

[ She crosses out the O in cheerio and replaces it with cheeri-torus. Perfect. ]

1/2 sry again

[verinumeri]

[ Just as the walls remember themselves, as he remembers himself, as reality's edges look concrete again, Miss Arya says just the thing to nudge him back inappropriate. It's too much like what's been long, long on his mind.

He smirks again. Only just brittle. ]

Oh, yes, I'll die soon. [ Matter-of-fact. ] In fact, how careful I am doesn't influence the numbers much.

[ Before that encounter with Pyramid Head, when he'd been so careful for so long, he'd had it at a varying 89.784%. That figure rarely improved in Haven. Funny, really, how long he'd been looking awful odds in the face -- sometimes, frustratingly, unwittingly, like the realization their desperate last plan against the impending kaiju end of the world wouldn't have worked, if not for that suicidal Drift -- but at least, in his world, he'd been able to do something about it.

In any case, he hasn't enough information about this place, whether it's Haven reconstructed or the Hadriel of some self-proclaimed gods. He doesn't expect the numbers to improve that much, if they do. It isn't resignation -- he cares -- it's simply what they say.

Until then, there are Cheerios and a young lady who is deft with her knife. He considers telling her to be careful, or she'll cut her tongue, but his smirk softens as he watches her. ]

[verinumeri]

We do ensure that, people. Humans make it complicated by getting emotional about it.

[ Thing is, that's one of the things he likes about humanity and emotion. The impulse to fight the odds. Even if it makes objective sense to not waste resources on the probably doomed, people tend not to think that way, and it's inspiring. It's what makes them more than beast.

And things like this.

He blinks as she moves, at a loss until she's finished, and then he's staring, and then there's nothing else for it. After all, it is and isn't a dream, and it's Cheerios and impending doom and all that rot. It's a lot, is what it is.

Hermann starts laughing. Cheeri-torus. It shouldn't be that funny, it's charming more than funny, but there he is, just this side of giggling. ]

P-Perfect. Brilliant. Can't imagine why they didn't call it that to start!

[ Obviously Cheeri-torus has more of a ring to it. No one should ever hire him for marketing. ]

[whichend]

All men must die. Too many get far too bothered by the when.

[ Arya says, cooly, like she's not one of them. She'd like to not be one of them. But too many have been killed before their time. Her father, her mother, her siblings. All people she loved. Sometimes, Arya wonders why she's not dead with them, until she remembers that she can hold a sword. She can use it. She can avenge those deaths, those injustices that don't make sense to her, and probably never will.

Arya doesn't notice Gottlieb watching her when she eats her Cheerios. Frankly, she doesn't really care. Her way has flair, and that's important in these trying times.

She does manage to smile a little when Gottlieb starts laughing. She didn't expect him to. She barely understands her own jape, so how can it be that funny? Perhaps his sense of humor is different due to their different cultures. Or his hunger. She chuckled a little too, a rarity these days. Good job, Gottlieb. ]

Perhaps because no one knows what a torus is? Or they did not have enough space on the box. Yes, that has to be it. The space.

[verinumeri]

It isn't necessarily a bad thing. That sort of bother has lead to terrible things, but great things, too.

[ She might as well not be, for all he knows, for all the difference it makes. Well -- she seems young for it, but that applies broadly.

Still shaking with laughter, he's struggling a cloth out of his blazer breast pocket, pressing it against his eyes, then mouth, steadying his breath. Shaking his head, he keeps it out, long enough to fold then refold it. His eyes are still wet and bright with it when he looks at her, smiling. ]

They might've used a smaller font size, but that has less -- [ there goes his nice fold as the handkerchief waves in the air, seeking the word with him ] -- pop?

[whichend]

[ Arya is silent for a moment, considering what Gottlieb just said. The fear of death, creating great things? Arya has felt that fear, has lived with that fear for years now. It doesn't feel especially great. Most of the time, it just makes her feel hollow. Once in a while, it makes her feel determined.

Maybe that's what he meant. The determination.

Still, the Cheerios are easier to discuss. ]

Maybe. Or perhaps it's because cheeri-torus is hard to say? You need the dash, but cheerio doesn't. Besides, they look like o's, too. Maybe they're just called toruses in your world, but oh's in wherever these are from. We don't have Cheerios in my world.

forgive me for spitting out wiki

[verinumeri]

[ Medicine, for one. A search for meaning and truth beyond the small limits of a human life. Didn't some part of that determination fuel men on the moon? He's sure of it.

Cheerios.

Hermann nods, considering. ]

All good points. I'm afraid torus isn't a particularly well-known word, it's geometry -- a surface of revolution. Revolve a circle in three-dimensional space about an axis coplanar with the circle.

[ Obviously. ]

So it's hardly surprising they'd prefer an O. Things have gotten harder to come by, in my world, but we've got them. Different sorts, too. Let me think...

[ Give him a moment. German born, British boarding school, German university, worldwide service in the Pan Pacific Defense Corp., much of it in Hong Kong. He honestly doesn't remember much about the variety of Cheerios products. ]

Honey something. Honey nut? They may've gone gluten-free... bother. Well, it's all cereal.

[ At which he looks away from frowning at the box, to ease his expression, to focus on her. He suspects he knows the answer to his next question. ]

Had you any cereal?

at least hermann didn't try for the topology defenition

[whichend]

[ Arya tries to follow Gottlieb's mathematical explanation. She does a halfway decent job -- she gets the idea of revolving, at least, if not coplanar. She spins once in place, trying to get the feel for being a torus. She doesn't feel any more enlightened. Oh well. ]

But nuts wouldn't fit inside one of these. Unless you chopped them up small, but what's the point? And what's gluten?

[ Arya likes these Cheerios, thank you very much. She'll defend them until the end.

Arya shakes her head. ]

We don't have any foods in boxes.

[ Cereal. So that's what it's called. Arya automatically assumes that every food that comes in a box ever is now cereal. ]

screams

[verinumeri]

[ With a different sort of revolution in mind, Hermann doesn't understand why she spins, but it is sweet. His mouth's got a quirk to it, an upward incline, as he watches. Then, it shifts as he thinks. ]

Honestly, I'm not sure, I haven't had them. If they still use nuts, despite all the allergies, I suppose they're ground up with the oats. Likely, the way things were going, it's all additive flavors. Flavor's the point, I suppose. Not so much these days, with all the rationing, but especially in America it... well, marketing and commercialism, that's another topic.

Gluten is a term used to refer to the proteins in wheat. It, er, a lot of companies were removing the gluten because more and more people had allergies or autoimmune responses.

[ No food in boxes. Likely nothing mass-produced, he thinks. ]

Well, we'd all sorts of that. They put cookies in boxes, crackers, pasta, cake mix, candy... The container stacks neatly for the shelves, perhaps.

[whichend]

[ Most of that goes right over Arya's head, but she still listens, mostly so she looks smart and capable. She doesn't care much about what other people think of her in general, but she'd still like to not be thought of as an idiot.

That's the second time Gottlieb has mentioned shortages and rationing. ]

Is it winter, where you're from?

[ It sounds like it. Arya still assumes that all winters kill about half the population and involve lots of rationing. ]

There are all kinds of boxes here, too. [ She doesn't really trust them. Cheerios are an exception. ]

[verinumeri]

Winter?

[ January 12, 2025. Hong Kong. Hermann nods but the question's still in his voice, as he's not sure how she guessed it. ]

Yes, in fact. However did you know?

[ The seasons were the least of anyone's worries, but it was a temperate one, even for Hong Kong. Mostly that jacket of his had been unnecessary. Long lost, now -- though technically, he's the one that got lost.

Another nod at her observation. Some of it's better than he'd seen in a market back home in years. Not that he so often left the Shatterdome, got to a supermarket, in those days. ]

It's an impressive variety. I don't recognize all of it. This, however --

[ Never mind the fact it has no business being in a cereal aisle, but it isn't as if the store's got a whole cereal aisle. Still, what Hanuta is doing here, he cannot begin to fathom. Almost a particular dig at him, which is unlikely. ]

-- this I've never seen outside Germany.

[whichend]

[ Arya shrugs. Shouldn't it be obvious? ]

You're rationing, so it's either winter or you're at war. Or both.

[ Rationing is generally a good idea. Arya does it almost instinctively. If winter isn't here already, it's certainly coming.

Arya blinks at the Hanuta. ]

What is that for? Is it another arti...arti-fishal... [ Arya's brow furrows. She can't quite say artificial flavor. ] A cereal?

[verinumeri]

Ah. War, actually. Most countries haven't needed to ration during any season, not for years.

[ The evidence mounts that Miss Arya comes from a world that has not yet had its industrial revolution and perhaps not the agricultural one that might precede it.

He wonders, idly, what sort of damage he might end up doing to what time there might have been like, if she returns some day with such information. If he sits her down and asks what sort of techniques the farmers used, if she knew. This bit's probably immaterial, or not as much on him. He didn't put the boxes here. ]

Artificial flavor.

[ The easy, automatic correction. ]

Cereal? No, no, this is rubbish. That is, a snack or dessert, mostly no good for you. It's for spoiling children and getting fat. Let's see--

[ Hermann grabs at his glasses, putting them back in place, as they must've slid off when he laughed. He turns over the box, peering down the list. ]

Zucker, well obviously it's mostly sugar, pflanzliche Fette, vegetable fats, Weizenmehl, Haselnüsse, Kakao, Kakao, Kakao... [ Once again, Hermann is much too pleased to be able to stand and read down an ingredients list. ] Claims there isn't anything artificial, imagine that, but it is mostly flour, hazelnuts, and chocolate.

Here, [ Angling his cane into the crook of his arm, he opens the box at its marked seam, and pulls out a gold-wrapped packet. Tearing it open, he extends it to her. ]

I hope you aren't allergic.