dualislogs | sheets all on the floor just like an ocean ...

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sheets all on the floor just like an ocean ...

WHO: All y’all!
WHAT: Your regularly scheduled NAPs event for the month
WHERE: Fort Pillowtown
WHEN: Oct. 7-10
WARNINGS: Please use these if applicable!

Look at all of these bright, shining new faces! There’s even a few less bright, less shining faces - maybe even a few folks without faces - but hey, this city welcomes all types. Chances are, if you’ve just arrived, you're seeing some pretty crazy things, unless you're used to an eye-blinding amount of neon, robots, weird-ass technology, magic, and an omnipresent police force...and hey, if you are, congrats, you're gonna settle in juuuuust fine. But for the rest of you, the Head knows this has gotta be pretty overwhelming, right?

Well, since your quaint individual processing units are probably having a hard time, why not link up with another one? By which the Head means...

Hello, new citizens of Dualis,
and welcome to your monthly Network Adjacency Protocol~!

NAPs are a monthly community networking event similar to the Earth concept of speed dating! Two citizens (new arrivals and old hands alike) are placed at a table together with a handy cue card of queries to help break the proverbial ice. Ask queries and receive results, or ignore the card and yeet yourself straight into a brand new friendship! But don't be too shy, you've only got ten minutes together, and if you just sit in silence for the whole ten, the Network Admins are likely to come supervise and try to repair the uplink through a mild shock to the ol' central nervous system. You might find yourself saying all sorts of unintended facts about yourself if that happens...probably better to just make friends, right? Who doesn’t like friends?!

This month’s event is held at a new, super-comfy all-ages establishment called Fort Pillowtown. As the name suggests, it’s a large indoor space filled wall to wall with permanent pillowforts. There are a variety of sizes, shapes, and colors, with each individual fort constructed of gauzy hanging sheets, strings of soft lights, warm blankets, plush toys, a mini television with on-screen menu for choosing movies to watch and video games to play, and yes, lots and lots of pillows. Snacks and drinks of all sorts are available for purchase, as are whimsical onesies and comfy slippers to wear. Board and card game sets are also available to borrow or buy. Sounds like a dream, right?

So pull up a pillow pile, get to know your new neighbors, and enjoy a well-earned and comfy chill-out session. And hey, if you end up napping at NAPs, rest assured that it’s absolutely allowed.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Aren't we all?" Unless there were some idiots here that stayed by choice. Somehow she wouldn't actually be surprised if she did learn there were people here that wanted to help or something like that. Personally she wasn't particularly interested in fighting someone else's battle. She's got enough fights of her own to get back to.

"Five months?" She shakes her head and can't hide the disappointed droop of her shoulders. "Made any headway on finding a way to send people back without waiting the year out?"

"No." Aleifr replies with a shake of his head. His expression doesn't shift much, but his frustration bubbles to the surface as he draws in a long breath through his nose and lets it out in a sharp exhale.

He's quiet for a moment, studying her. Seeing the obvious disappointment.

"But all of this is beyond me." He says, gesturing to everything around them. "We don't have skyscrapers, or metal men."

"Or pillow forts."

The no is another disappointment but she's not going to linger on the subject any further. There's no point if someone doesn't actually know anything.

"See now, you're lucky to not have the last one. Now you get to experience pillow forts with fresh eyes," the words are soaked in sarcasm.

"So what do you have?"

She manages to get a brief snort of laughter out of him with the sarcasm-laden reply, but after that comes another stretch of silence.

"A sea without end," he finally starts, "full of islands that are driven up or torn down by the summer quakes."

He nods his head back towards the nearest wall. "We don't build like this because there's no point in it. No telling whether the land will be good for one year or a dozen. Eventually we have to set sail and move on."

She leans forward as he speaks about his world. "That sounds different." Different seemed like it could possibly be something of an understatement. It's interesting though and she can't help but wonder just how different it is.

"So, you're from a nomadic people?" It's a simple question that's really just posed as a prompt for him to tell her more if he wanted to.

"Yes." He nods. "Though the island we live on's been stable for a good few years. Or was, at least."

Considering winter had been nearing it's end when he arrived in Dualis, that might have changed.

"My experience with islands is pretty much limited to the stereotypical postcard image of a sandy beach with palm trees and margaritas." It was a sheltered view, but growing up as a secret in a small town surrounded by farm land hadn't left her with a wide range of travel experience.

"Your home's more like this, then?" Aleifr asks, cocking his head to one side.

"Not exactly. It's not as changing or as Blade Runner," she gave a shrug. "But it's got big sweeping cities and apartment complex's like where we dorm here. My world's got a really different culture than this place though."

His brow furrows slightly at Blade Runner -- evidently films are outside of his ken as well -- but he doesn't speak until she's finished.

"Different how?"

"Things are more divided." The tone she uses is purposely flippant and nonchalant. It bothers her but she doesn't necessarily want others to know that it bothers her. "Especially now. A pretty big line has been drawn between humans and mutants. Some communities are even fully one or the other now. Not uncommon to see signs that say no mutants allowed." So far in this place though it seems like different people are getting along pretty easily. It's weird.

"Mutant?"

Inconceivable as it might seem, considering that it's the issue on everyone's lips on her world, Aleifr seems genuinely confused. As though he's not even heard the word before.

There's a moment where she has genuine surprise on her face before she has the chance to correct her expression. "You're not familiar?" Well, that's new. She can't really decide if it's a good or bad new. "People born with the X-Gene and hated for it?"

Aleifr just shakes his head.

"Don't know what an 'X-Gene' is either."

Closest connection that's being drawn in his brain is someone being born under a bad omen, something that would set him on edge, normally, but, well ... for every wise gothi who can read the signs, there's another that's full of shit. He tends not to put too much stock into prophecies unless the person speaking them has his respect.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Whole new place and all," she responds with a bemused expression. Maybe this would be a good thing, maybe people wouldn't be afraid.

"In my world some people are born with the X-Gene. It makes us genetically different from humans. Some would say gifted." That some happens to be her. She classifies it as gifted. "Aside from the difference inside some of us have outside differences," she lifts a strand of her hair up. "and all of us have... abilities."

"What sorts of abilities?"

So far, nothing about Aleifr signalled fear. Cautious, certainly, and a touch wary, but more than anything, he seems curious under his stony exterior.

She tilts her head and then takes one of her bracelets off and places it on the table in front of them.

"For the most part it's different for every person," a tiny grin tugs at her lips as she raises a hand up. Green mist surrounds her hand and she moves the bracelet up into the air. She pulls her other hand up and makes a pulling motion causing the bracelet to twist and then flatten out. It's not as flashy of an example as she might have usually tried for, but it's harmless. Sometimes harmless is better if there's a fear of someone being unhappy with her display.

That draws a larger reaction than she's been able to coax out of him so far. He leans back in his chair and his eyes widen.

There was unease in his eyes, because to him, her 'ability' looked a good deal like magic, and magic wasn't something to trifle with. It was dangerous - as dangerous to the wielder as it was to the person it was being wielded against. If you didn't know how to work it and keep it sweet, spells would turn. Unravel the good they did for you and take a heavy price on top of it.

Along with that uneasiness, though, there was a fair bit of surprise ... but not the plain-faced shock of someone who'd never seen anything like it before.

"That's you?" His eyes flick from the woman, to the bracelet dancing in the air in front of her, and back again. "Not some wight you've conjured?"

She moves a hand to wrap the bracelet back around her wrist and then waves the mist away. It's not surprising to her to see his reaction but there's a hint of disappointment in her own expression. She blinks back the disappointment and tries to replace it with a crocked smile.

"All me. Also not sure what a wight is." Looks like they were even in terms from each others world. "I control metal. It's more complicated than that but easiest explanations are the best."

"Wights are spirits." Aleifr says. "Some are helpful, some of them are monstrous, but shamans can call for their help or keep them at bay if they know enough magic to manage it."

Controlling metal, though? Twisting it up like a ribbon in the wind with just a thought? He's only known one person who could do anything like that.

"If mutants can do things like that, though ... might know one after all."

"Ah. I don't think my home has anything like that. Might be kind of cool if it did though." Actually, the more she thinks about it the more she thinks it probably wouldn't be that cool. Humans freak out enough with just mutants. If magic was a thing too she can only imagine how messed up things would get. If they could even get more messed up than they already were.

"Oh?" Now that's got her curious.

"A friend of mine." Aleifr confirms with a nod. "Someone I grew up with."

The tension eases, and he leans forward a little. "When she was young, the gods started giving her visions. Things happening far away that she'd have no way of knowing about, or things that wouldn't happen for a while to come. She wasn't always right in the way that she expected, but she was always right."

"Sounds like an impressive ability. And a useful one." Also one that sounds like it's got the potential to be really overwhelming. Or go really badly. "Are all abilities in your world from the gods?"

Aleifr shakes his head.

"People can call on spirits or spells for power, but that comes at a cost."

"Ah the ominous cost," a smile touches the corners of her mouth at that. "We're not talking a 19.99 price tag though I take it?"

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