Beast Boy (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
thebeastwithout) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
recolle2018-08-18 08:14 pm
thebeastwithout) wrote in recolle2018-08-18 08:14 pm
Entry tags:
[open] 006: The Human Zoo
WHO: Beast Boy and You
WHERE: Dreamdive
WHEN: August 20th
WHAT: You know what
WARNINGS: Some mild body horror, violence, can definitely opt out of anything that you'd rather not see.
[He hasn't wanted to make a fuss over it. The timer on his hand... The timer that everyone else had... Of course it didn't feel quite right. It would probably end with the detonation of a bomb that leveled Recolle or something horrible like that. So he ignores the pulsating feeling... ignores the increasing tension and pressure...
Until it is too much to bear.
He collapses in the middle of a street and the world around him vanishes.]
[I: Admission]
[You are in a zoo.
A dark, dilapidated place, falling to pieces. The sky above you is blanketed with billowing, purplish-black clouds. The cages are rusting and all of the animals inside are restless, uneasy. There is not enough space to maintain these exhibits. There is no bedding, no food, no habitat. Just... an empty steel cage.
The animals are commonplace, at first. Raccoons and squirrels and chipmunks and finches. One animal to a cage, every one of them staring out warily at those who pass by. But as you progress, the animals become... more exotic. Cassowaries. Leopards. Caimans. And then... and then you turn a corner and you are face to face with a Tyrannosaurus Rex, barely constrained within a cage in which it can barely move, its razor sharp teeth mere inches from your own.
But it does not attack. It simply glowers... And you are free to move on. ...There is much to see here, if you care to linger. Every animal you could possibly imagine. Maybe some you can't.
...Is that a unicorn?]
[II: Feeding Time]
[The path through the zoo is circular. A wide subtle loop, so that it might not be obvious that you are going around in circles. But as you clear the outermost loop and you progress further into the heart of the zoo, the exhibits change.
Monkeys become apes. Apes become unidentifiable simians. And then...
Humans. Humans in masks. Masks and costumes, each of them standing stock still as if they are made out of wax. There is a boy in a domino mask wearing red and green with a cape billowing out behind him. A tall man, perhaps still a teenager, half his body made of mechanical parts. There are more like this, people who look... exactly like one would imagine superheroes to look. Superheroes... and supervillains. You can take a closer look if you'd like.
At the end of this path, one of the exhibits glances up as you approach. And without any provocation whatsoever...
The figure draws two swords, casually slices through the bars of his cage like butter, and begins to walk straight towards you.]
[III: Special Exhibit]
[You've escaped Slade. Or perhaps you managed to miss his exhibit altogether. You're through the second loop and you're closer to the heart.
And now, the cages become few and far between, but as you approach the first one, you can see that trapped inside... is Gar.]
H... Hello?
Hey... Who is that?
[But if you begin to speak with him, you might find that it's not quite the same Gar you know. For each person who comes by, they'll find someone a little different in each cage...]
[IV: The End]
[You've satisfied the various manifestations of Gar's anxieties and hidden desires and needs and longings. Perhaps they were a little too needy, but... they've let you on towards the end. And it really is the end, at last.
At the very center of the zoo, sitting cross-legged on the ground, Gar is contemplating a thick, tangled knot.]
...Hey, dude.
It's me.
Like... really me. [...] You can tell 'cause I said 'dude'.
WHERE: Dreamdive
WHEN: August 20th
WHAT: You know what
WARNINGS: Some mild body horror, violence, can definitely opt out of anything that you'd rather not see.
[He hasn't wanted to make a fuss over it. The timer on his hand... The timer that everyone else had... Of course it didn't feel quite right. It would probably end with the detonation of a bomb that leveled Recolle or something horrible like that. So he ignores the pulsating feeling... ignores the increasing tension and pressure...
Until it is too much to bear.
He collapses in the middle of a street and the world around him vanishes.]
[I: Admission]
[You are in a zoo.
A dark, dilapidated place, falling to pieces. The sky above you is blanketed with billowing, purplish-black clouds. The cages are rusting and all of the animals inside are restless, uneasy. There is not enough space to maintain these exhibits. There is no bedding, no food, no habitat. Just... an empty steel cage.
The animals are commonplace, at first. Raccoons and squirrels and chipmunks and finches. One animal to a cage, every one of them staring out warily at those who pass by. But as you progress, the animals become... more exotic. Cassowaries. Leopards. Caimans. And then... and then you turn a corner and you are face to face with a Tyrannosaurus Rex, barely constrained within a cage in which it can barely move, its razor sharp teeth mere inches from your own.
But it does not attack. It simply glowers... And you are free to move on. ...There is much to see here, if you care to linger. Every animal you could possibly imagine. Maybe some you can't.
...Is that a unicorn?]
[II: Feeding Time]
[The path through the zoo is circular. A wide subtle loop, so that it might not be obvious that you are going around in circles. But as you clear the outermost loop and you progress further into the heart of the zoo, the exhibits change.
Monkeys become apes. Apes become unidentifiable simians. And then...
Humans. Humans in masks. Masks and costumes, each of them standing stock still as if they are made out of wax. There is a boy in a domino mask wearing red and green with a cape billowing out behind him. A tall man, perhaps still a teenager, half his body made of mechanical parts. There are more like this, people who look... exactly like one would imagine superheroes to look. Superheroes... and supervillains. You can take a closer look if you'd like.
At the end of this path, one of the exhibits glances up as you approach. And without any provocation whatsoever...
The figure draws two swords, casually slices through the bars of his cage like butter, and begins to walk straight towards you.]
[III: Special Exhibit]
[You've escaped Slade. Or perhaps you managed to miss his exhibit altogether. You're through the second loop and you're closer to the heart.
And now, the cages become few and far between, but as you approach the first one, you can see that trapped inside... is Gar.]
H... Hello?
Hey... Who is that?
[But if you begin to speak with him, you might find that it's not quite the same Gar you know. For each person who comes by, they'll find someone a little different in each cage...]
[IV: The End]
[You've satisfied the various manifestations of Gar's anxieties and hidden desires and needs and longings. Perhaps they were a little too needy, but... they've let you on towards the end. And it really is the end, at last.
At the very center of the zoo, sitting cross-legged on the ground, Gar is contemplating a thick, tangled knot.]
...Hey, dude.
It's me.
Like... really me. [...] You can tell 'cause I said 'dude'.
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...This is it for me...
[If his voice slowly begins to sound a little bit... toneless, he doesn't seem to notice.]
I can't leave.
This is the only place... I can stay.
wtf I swore I sent this tag
[He looks up at the bars, trying to figure out how to break them open]
You don't deserve to be stuck here. I'm going to get you out.
no worries!
[Gar's quiet voice has become even more monotone as he bows his head.]
I don't want to get out.
[And as he speaks those words, there is a sudden rattle as the bars of his cage begin to shake... and one by one, falling between the open slots in rapid fire, more and more bars appear until they are so thickly crowded that Gar is barely visible now through the slots.]
It's safe here.
No one can hurt me.
Nothing can hurt me.
[The voice doesn't really... sound anything like Gar anymore at all. It is perfectly neutral and lacking distinction in every way.]
I'm finally where I want to be.
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No! It's not safe here! You're just trapped in a cage!
Gar, no one should have to live like this!
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It's to keep everything else out.
[And with that, there's a sudden crackle of lightning from above. Nearby, Elliot can hear the sound of rushing water as a storm begins to brew overhead.]
When was the last time I had anything good? [The same emotionless voice drones on, but now it sounds... as if it's coming from all around. Gar's body is still and barely visible through those bars.] People hurt you. People leave you. In this city... every month is more and more we have to bear.
Why should he be a part of it...?
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[He glances at the sky above, trying to see the storm, before he looks back at Gar's cage.]
G-Gar! That's just... [Jeez how does he put it] I'm sorry you've had so much pain, but locking yourself away won't stop it! It'll just make you sadder in the end!
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[Gar had stopped feeling sad a long time ago. Nowadays, he just kind of felt... nothing.]
He's just... tired.
[And then the rushing water is upon them before Elliot can respond. It pushes between Elliot and the cage purposefully - just a trickle at first, before it abruptly broadens into a crashing flood that forces Elliot back lest he be carried away by the waters.]
...You should go, Elliot.
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[He struggles in the flood. trying to hold onto some bars to keep him from being washed away, but he's not a very strong person physically, so it won't last]
Oh this is bad...
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[No further words seem to be forthcoming. Gar's figure is still and motionless inside the cage.
And the water continues to push...]
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As he is being borne away, he will find, to his surprise, that the water is much deeper than he thought, because while he was standing on his own two feet a few moments ago, he is plunging down, down, down into the depths of the river as he is being carried away.
He might think he's in danger of suffocation, but...
Whenever he begins to gasp for air, he will find that he breathes perfectly fine.]
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Finally, only when he runs out of air (which take awhile because music nerds got lung capacity), does he gasp out and notice...he is breathing just fine.
What the heck?]
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More relevant, though, is Gar's cage - now suspended in the water and completely barricaded off as the flood, too, had overtaken it.
And in this dark and sunken place... he may or may not notice things flickering at the edge of his vision.]
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He glances up first at Gar's cage, trying to figure out if he can reach it. But as he does that, he notices the flicking on the edge of his vision. He'll glance to see what it could be]
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An unconscious red-headed boy floating in the water.]
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But as he draws nearer, the child's eyes fly open and he begins to flail frantically underwater.]
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I mean sure Elliot can breath, but maybe this kid can't and anyway talking is harder underwater. ]
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Somewhere completely foreign.
It looks like a river in the middle of a jungle...
The boy surfaces as well with a choking splutter.]
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Are you okay??
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Mom! Dad!
[It is about now that Elliot may notice some other details - mostly, perhaps, the large amount of wood splinters floating in the water, and a slick of oil coating the surface.]
Mooooooom! Daaaaaaaad! -- Where are they?!
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I-I, uh-
[this is bad. He tries to look around for shore]
H-Hold on, we need to get you to safety first!
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[He tries to flail away and go paddling towards the shipwreck, but it's pretty clear that he barely knows how to swim. Not too surprising, given that he looks to be five or six at the oldest.]
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But...there was no time for that. He had to make sure this kid got somewhere safe. He had to make sure he didn't drown in the process either. So using what little strength he had in his body, he'll be trying to get a hold of the kid while swimming himself, looking for any place of land or even just a big piece of debris to put the kid on. ]
I-I'll look for them once you're safe! Okay?
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[He's thrashing, but also he's five and weighs like twenty pounds and can't actually swim, so it can't be that hard to pull him away. The shore nearby is within reach. Actually, the river is not that unruly at the moment, so it's safe to surmise that whatever calamity caused this wreckage has already passed.]
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