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

His infectious smile is practically a super power. But now he's definitely intrigued. Earth is a place he hasn't heard of, and a fox is an interesting thought.

"I miss foxes. Not that they were all that big on stealing things back home. Near where I grew up there was a lot of frogs, and the foxes like to hunt them. So they learned this neat trick of hopping onto the frogs, as if being more like them will make them easier to hunt."

"I don't think I've ever seen a lot of frogs." She knew what they were but most of the places that Wanda had visited were frogless. Even the village didn't have many frogs, at least none that Wanda had noticed while living there. Then again, she didn't wander through the woods unless she was hunting and then she wasn't looking for frogs.

"I do not think I have seen a fox hop."

It produced a cute image in her mind though.

"Well, you definitely deserve to see both of those things. I mean, the frog would be better if they couldn't turn you INTO frogs as well, but magic, right?"

His world was full of weird things. But Zack thought he made a fetching frog.

Wanda had taken that moment to take a sip of her water and nearly snored it out of her nose. "Turn you into frogs?" That wasn't the weirdest thing she'd ever heard but it was hard to imagine.

"What would you do as a frog? I take it doesn't last forever?" Or she wouldn't be talking to a man now.

"Magic can really be a pain, you know?" Zack smiles, shaking his head. "And like a lot of status magic it does wear off in time. But it sucks while you're there if you don't have friends around with a bottle of maiden's kiss."

Yeah, when he talks about it to strangers, his world must sound weird.

"I do." Though she'd never experienced the kind of magic that he was talking about. "Is that how you turn back? I can't say that people are turned into frogs in my world or, if they are, they're never turned back to talk about it."

Her smile was warm, wide and evident.

"What is maiden's kiss exactly?"

Well, most people wouldn't want to talk about it if the condition wasn't common enough among people who fight.

"I really don't know. Some... kind of potion that counteracts the spell? I don't like to think about it. Could be something disgusting."

"Does it involve kissing?" She felt like it was an important question to ask.

"Like princess and the frog?"

"Man, it would have been hilarious if it had. Because then you'd have all those troopers getting awkward about who was going to have to do that kiss. But I think the story is why it's called that, to be poetic or something."

And he's a guy that likes the poetic stuff like that. But he chuckles and shakes his head. Nah, it wasn't like that.

"it's a potion, you pour it on the person."

Wanda laughed. "Good to know."

His world sounded very strange but also very interesting. She wanted to know more about it. "You said troopers? Were you in the military or something?"

"Oh, I was a bit more than merely military. I was what was called a SOLDIER. All capital letters. First Class. The best of the best. Infused with Mako energy and super well trained."

He's strong and fast and super good at what he does, and he grins in confidence in it all.

"Impressive." Her brow furrowed slightly. "I have powers of my own that were... infused into me." The process wasn't that nice but Wanda made a point not to talk about her time with Hydra. It was a maddening experience and without her twin brother she wouldn't have lived through it.

"What is Mako?"

Hey, Mako infusion processes also aren't nice, but his wasn't torture. Okay, so it was, but he didn't really think of it as such.

"So, Mako's sorta like the lifeblood of the planet. Supposedly. I think it's probably true, after some of the things I've seen. It's also the origin of materia, which is said to be the knowledge of the Ancients, a race that was around long before humans were. It's... energy, in a purer form, run through with knowledge. It's supposedly tied to the Lifestream, where we come from and go to after we die. It's also why my eyes glow."

"That almost sounds like the infinity stones."

Almost. There were differences but that much power was dangerous. "Your world, there is a lot of fighting, isn't there?" When there is that much power, there are those who seek to use it and misuse it.

"Infinity what now?"

Those sound weird. Ah, but the other question. Zack frowns and nods. Yeah, there's a ton of fighting.

"You figure that out from the whole 'enhanced soldier' thing? Yeah. There's... been a lot of conflict. I've been in a war myself."

"The infinity stones are stones of power from my world. I got my powers from one of them." It wasn't something she usually shared with someone upon first meeting them but she had a feeling that Zack understood.

"Sorry. That was a little heavy. Should I ask what your favorite ice cream is?"

Oh, cool. Zack smiles and reaches into his pocket, bringing out a glowing green orb.

"Stones of power like this? This is a materia. This one in particular is ice, it lets me cast ice-based spells. I get magic powers from it."

Don't worry, he doesn't get that the powers she got was from torture. Just figures it's something like his form of magic.

"And chocolate, all the way."

Wanda reached forward but didn't touch the green orb. Instead there was a red spark from the tips of her fingers that gathered into a mist. It was this mist that curled around the glowing green ball of energy.

"Yes. Similar to that." Though the infinity stones are much stronger.

She smiled briefly and lowered her hand, the red mist dissipating. "I like chocolate with peanutbutter."

Chocolate with peanut butter? Zack's left staring at her in shock. Almost more so than with the display of magic.

"Okay, we'll come back to the red in a moment. Promise. But why would you put chocolate and peanut butter together? That seems wrong."

Wanda laughed softly. "You should try it before you make a face at it. It's called Reese's in the states. I tried something called a Fastbreak that was peanut butter and chocolate. It's very good."

It was hard to describe the taste though.

"What, you going to buy one for me? Seeing as I'm new and don't know my way around?"

Is he teasing? Yeah. It's fun and she's charming in her own way.

Wanda laughed and shook her head. "I suppose I can. Do you want to right now? I think our ten minutes is almost up."

He was amusing and Wanda didn't mind buying him a Reese's cup or whatever chocolate peanut butter combination they find.

"Yeah!"

Zack grins and gets to his feet. And then frowns at his slippers. They're going to get hurt.

"I need to change. Meet you outside in fifteen?"

"Sure."

Wanda rose to her feet and headed outside. She didn't have to do anything as far as changing so she looked around and tried to see if there was a convent store close by that might sell candy or ice cream.

If they were lucky they might found a reece ice cream bar.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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

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