Monstrous (Chapter Six)
Friday, March 6th, 2015 07:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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mindcrackloveLast time, our monstrous friend Vechs realized that he was in way over his head.
And now we get to explore exactly how far in he is.
This chapter's a bit shorter than I thought it would be. I also didn't get to run it past jiminee to check for mistakes, so if there's any issues please let me know.
Chapter list: http://tanadin.dreamwidth.org/382.html
Chapter Six
Kingdom of Traz'madar, Minecraftia. June 5, year 323. Time instance 483Z.
Vechs’s introduction was met with dead silence. He grew tense, eyes flitting around between the twenty-something people in the room.
Eventually, Paul broke the silence. “This…this is my friend that I told you about. The one who was turned into a monster by a lab in the wilderness. Vechs, why are you-"
“I didn’t hear anything about this.” said one of the worldbuilders- worldbuilders!- that appeared to be dressed like a ninja with one eye covered.
“He didn’t tell everyone. It wasn’t exactly breaking news.” Pause pointed out.
“A lab? What do you mean?” asked another worldbuilder.
Vechs was growing seriously uncomfortable with all this talk about the lab. He shifted his arms and the wings attached.
“We can discuss this later.” Paul interrupted the conversation, sparing Vechs (earning a nod of gratitude). “There are more important matters at hand.”
“Like how the hell we’re going to get back up to decent numbers!”
“I’m fairly certain Paul was referring to- Generik will you please pay attention this is a serious meeting!” Guude glared.
A man who looked like he had just crawled out of a cardboard box looked up guiltily. He had been having a whispered conversation with another worldbuilder, who was hidden mostly from Vechs’s view. “Sorry.”
Guude cleared his throat and looked back at Vechs. “Anyway, I think that Paul meant we needed to figure out what to do with you. I-“
Yet another worldbuilder, this one in a red hat, interrupted him. “I want to know how he got in here. The door only opens to worldbuilders, and-“
“-and I’m sure Guude is tired of being interrupted.” snapped the masked man from before.
“Seth, we will fix the door later. I can help if need be.” the creeper-cyborg added.
“I didn’t touch the system or the rock or anything.” Vechs put in helpfully. “I just jumped through the door as it was closing after Paul and that guy-“ he pointed at Pause- “opened it.”
“’That guy!’” huffed Pause. “I’ve never-“
“Are we going to talk about anything important or should I just take a nap?” growled the masked man. “We’re fucking acting like children.”
“THANK YOU, Blame.” Guude crossed his arms and glared around the table. Seth was nodding thoughtfully, Blame looked annoyed through his mask, and the others seemed to finally quiet to listen. “Does anyone- one at a time- have any ideas what to do?”
“You could make him a worldbuilder.” Paul said quietly.
True silence reigned at the suggestion.
“What?” Guude finally said.
“We were just discussing that we need more of us, weren’t we? I can vouch for Vechs. He has a maniacal streak-“ Vechs grinned sheepishly, remembering a few pranks he had pulled on the older man- “but he’s as good on the inside as any of us. Make him a temporary worldbuilder. Don’t give him full powers. See how he tests out.”
“He’s right.” Pause admitted. “Desperate times call for desperate measures.”
Paul looked at Vechs again. “What do you say?”
It suddenly dawned on Vechs what he was being offered.
Immortality. Almost unlimited power. The ability to build entire worlds with their own laws, their own rules, their own ways of functioning.
Vechs didn’t know what to say.
“He doesn’t know anything about us. He might do something stupid or betray us for another group.” Blame grunted.
Vechs drew himself up taller, but Paul spoke before he could tell Blame off. “Vechs wouldn’t do that. Like I said, give him temporary and limited powers.” He looked at Guude. “We need him. He knows about us, so we’d have to do something anyway.”
Guude looked around at the others, judging their facial expressions. “We’ll vote.”
Vechs was still a little stunned and could only watch.
“In favor of giving Paul’s friend a chance?”
After a short pause, about fifteen hands were raised.
“Against?”
Half a dozen.
“Vechs? What do you think?” Paul asked him quietly.
The universe was at his fingertips. All he had to do was nod.
He hesitated.
“What…” He couldn’t form the question.
“If it doesn’t work for you, you can be mortal again at any time. Vechs, we are not gods. We’re worldbuilders. We create what we want in the Vortex, a parallel dimension to this one. We have power here, in Minecraftia, the staging area, but we are not all powerful. This…this would be a huge change for you, I know, but-“
Vechs nodded slightly. “I know. But…this is where you go, isn’t it? Every three months. What do you do here?”
“Spread news. Make sure everyone’s still alive. Try not to get attacked. General meeting stuff.” Guude put in.
“Attacked?”
“There are other clans of worldbuilders out there, Vechs. In the Vortex, there are…smaller dimensions, I guess, but that’s not quite what they are. They’re called chunks. The more chunks a clan controls, generally the more powerful they are, the more they can do, et cetera. We recently got attacked and lost six Mindcrackers and several chunks to a rival group. That’s why we need more people. If we don’t keep growing…”
“…we’ll die out.” Paul finished. “What do you say, Vechs?”
Vechs looked at his claws, then up at Paul. He looked around the room, blue eyes flitting from one worldbuilder to another. They all looked at him expectantly, several seeming to hope he would leave but most wanting him to say yes. The fact was, they needed him, whether they liked it or not.
Vechs’s gaze settled on Paul again.
“I’ll do it.”
Paul nodded and stood, followed by the others. Guude closed his eyes and held out his hands, focusing. Energy drew itself towards him, the torches on the walls flickering wildly, fire bending. Orange light swirled around him and focused in his hands, forming a glowing orange crystal. Once he had opened his eyes, the energy of the room was back to normal.
“This will give you limited worldbuilder powers. It can be removed at any time by any worldbuilder, whether they’re a Mindcracker or not.” Guude said, walking around the table towards Vechs with the crystal in his hands. “So if you misbehave or tangle with another clan, you could be stripped of it. The Vortex usually violently expels or destroys non-worldbuilders it detects, so I advise against that.”
He stopped in front of Vechs. The monster reached to take the crystal, but hesitated.
“Go on. You’ll feel a shock and probably- there he goes.”
Vechs had taken the crystal at the words ‘go on’ and had immediately been hit with a fiery shock through his system, not unlike that which had turned him into a monster in the first place.
And, similar to that previous time, he blacked out.
And now we get to explore exactly how far in he is.
This chapter's a bit shorter than I thought it would be. I also didn't get to run it past jiminee to check for mistakes, so if there's any issues please let me know.
Chapter list: http://tanadin.dreamwidth.org/382.html
Chapter Six
Kingdom of Traz'madar, Minecraftia. June 5, year 323. Time instance 483Z.
Vechs’s introduction was met with dead silence. He grew tense, eyes flitting around between the twenty-something people in the room.
Eventually, Paul broke the silence. “This…this is my friend that I told you about. The one who was turned into a monster by a lab in the wilderness. Vechs, why are you-"
“I didn’t hear anything about this.” said one of the worldbuilders- worldbuilders!- that appeared to be dressed like a ninja with one eye covered.
“He didn’t tell everyone. It wasn’t exactly breaking news.” Pause pointed out.
“A lab? What do you mean?” asked another worldbuilder.
Vechs was growing seriously uncomfortable with all this talk about the lab. He shifted his arms and the wings attached.
“We can discuss this later.” Paul interrupted the conversation, sparing Vechs (earning a nod of gratitude). “There are more important matters at hand.”
“Like how the hell we’re going to get back up to decent numbers!”
“I’m fairly certain Paul was referring to- Generik will you please pay attention this is a serious meeting!” Guude glared.
A man who looked like he had just crawled out of a cardboard box looked up guiltily. He had been having a whispered conversation with another worldbuilder, who was hidden mostly from Vechs’s view. “Sorry.”
Guude cleared his throat and looked back at Vechs. “Anyway, I think that Paul meant we needed to figure out what to do with you. I-“
Yet another worldbuilder, this one in a red hat, interrupted him. “I want to know how he got in here. The door only opens to worldbuilders, and-“
“-and I’m sure Guude is tired of being interrupted.” snapped the masked man from before.
“Seth, we will fix the door later. I can help if need be.” the creeper-cyborg added.
“I didn’t touch the system or the rock or anything.” Vechs put in helpfully. “I just jumped through the door as it was closing after Paul and that guy-“ he pointed at Pause- “opened it.”
“’That guy!’” huffed Pause. “I’ve never-“
“Are we going to talk about anything important or should I just take a nap?” growled the masked man. “We’re fucking acting like children.”
“THANK YOU, Blame.” Guude crossed his arms and glared around the table. Seth was nodding thoughtfully, Blame looked annoyed through his mask, and the others seemed to finally quiet to listen. “Does anyone- one at a time- have any ideas what to do?”
“You could make him a worldbuilder.” Paul said quietly.
True silence reigned at the suggestion.
“What?” Guude finally said.
“We were just discussing that we need more of us, weren’t we? I can vouch for Vechs. He has a maniacal streak-“ Vechs grinned sheepishly, remembering a few pranks he had pulled on the older man- “but he’s as good on the inside as any of us. Make him a temporary worldbuilder. Don’t give him full powers. See how he tests out.”
“He’s right.” Pause admitted. “Desperate times call for desperate measures.”
Paul looked at Vechs again. “What do you say?”
It suddenly dawned on Vechs what he was being offered.
Immortality. Almost unlimited power. The ability to build entire worlds with their own laws, their own rules, their own ways of functioning.
Vechs didn’t know what to say.
“He doesn’t know anything about us. He might do something stupid or betray us for another group.” Blame grunted.
Vechs drew himself up taller, but Paul spoke before he could tell Blame off. “Vechs wouldn’t do that. Like I said, give him temporary and limited powers.” He looked at Guude. “We need him. He knows about us, so we’d have to do something anyway.”
Guude looked around at the others, judging their facial expressions. “We’ll vote.”
Vechs was still a little stunned and could only watch.
“In favor of giving Paul’s friend a chance?”
After a short pause, about fifteen hands were raised.
“Against?”
Half a dozen.
“Vechs? What do you think?” Paul asked him quietly.
The universe was at his fingertips. All he had to do was nod.
He hesitated.
“What…” He couldn’t form the question.
“If it doesn’t work for you, you can be mortal again at any time. Vechs, we are not gods. We’re worldbuilders. We create what we want in the Vortex, a parallel dimension to this one. We have power here, in Minecraftia, the staging area, but we are not all powerful. This…this would be a huge change for you, I know, but-“
Vechs nodded slightly. “I know. But…this is where you go, isn’t it? Every three months. What do you do here?”
“Spread news. Make sure everyone’s still alive. Try not to get attacked. General meeting stuff.” Guude put in.
“Attacked?”
“There are other clans of worldbuilders out there, Vechs. In the Vortex, there are…smaller dimensions, I guess, but that’s not quite what they are. They’re called chunks. The more chunks a clan controls, generally the more powerful they are, the more they can do, et cetera. We recently got attacked and lost six Mindcrackers and several chunks to a rival group. That’s why we need more people. If we don’t keep growing…”
“…we’ll die out.” Paul finished. “What do you say, Vechs?”
Vechs looked at his claws, then up at Paul. He looked around the room, blue eyes flitting from one worldbuilder to another. They all looked at him expectantly, several seeming to hope he would leave but most wanting him to say yes. The fact was, they needed him, whether they liked it or not.
Vechs’s gaze settled on Paul again.
“I’ll do it.”
Paul nodded and stood, followed by the others. Guude closed his eyes and held out his hands, focusing. Energy drew itself towards him, the torches on the walls flickering wildly, fire bending. Orange light swirled around him and focused in his hands, forming a glowing orange crystal. Once he had opened his eyes, the energy of the room was back to normal.
“This will give you limited worldbuilder powers. It can be removed at any time by any worldbuilder, whether they’re a Mindcracker or not.” Guude said, walking around the table towards Vechs with the crystal in his hands. “So if you misbehave or tangle with another clan, you could be stripped of it. The Vortex usually violently expels or destroys non-worldbuilders it detects, so I advise against that.”
He stopped in front of Vechs. The monster reached to take the crystal, but hesitated.
“Go on. You’ll feel a shock and probably- there he goes.”
Vechs had taken the crystal at the words ‘go on’ and had immediately been hit with a fiery shock through his system, not unlike that which had turned him into a monster in the first place.
And, similar to that previous time, he blacked out.
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Date: Friday, March 6th, 2015 02:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Friday, March 6th, 2015 02:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Friday, March 6th, 2015 02:41 pm (UTC)Thank you for the comments <3 And the jolt will affect him, but probably not in the way you're imagining. >:3
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Date: Saturday, March 7th, 2015 12:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Saturday, March 7th, 2015 01:52 am (UTC)Honest
:3
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Date: Saturday, March 7th, 2015 03:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Saturday, March 7th, 2015 03:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Wednesday, December 14th, 2016 11:35 pm (UTC)and now i'm not in awe because she's my friend and a massive nerd