dragon dreams | open telepathy

[oneandmikleonly]

[after swimming into the Void and having a very unfortunate dream encounter, Mikleo wakes up gasping and distressed.

he doesn't often take advantage of the wider telepathic network on his own, but he makes an exception a little closer to noon, when most people are likely to be up and about. anyone in range in/around the base will hear his announcement; it sounds very stilted, partly out of embarrassment and partly because his head is still full of distractingly horrible dragon roaring at intervals.]

Hello? Hi. Ah. Mikleo here. I think I made a bit of a mistake yesterday. Since the songs in the dream world seem to be the key to pulling us there, I thought I might try to communicate with whatever was singing in the strange dreams and deep sleep people arrived in some time ago. That song does have a source in the dream world, for anyone who wasn't with us on that mission -- we found it in the Void there, some kind of green light.

It turns out that it's actually a -- a sea dragon of some sort. I heard it while I was awake, but its roaring caused psychic backlash and I only saw its actual form when I went to sleep, so I'm not sure how present it is in dreams versus the real world. Here's what it looks like, though.

[there's a brief broadcast of something huge beyond reckoning, the space all around it wreathed with strange black flecks. he sends only a still silent image, and tries to minimize the impression of it so it's not nearly as direct and terrifying as what he experienced, but it's still pretty freaky.]

I tried to talk to it, but it was...highly malevolent, and not all that communicative. It told me 'it had already begun' -- this might be a reference to those deep dreams -- and when I asked it what it wanted, it just said 'my will.' The Reapers call themselves 'the will made manifest,' so they're probably related to it as well.

...sorry, this doesn't make a lot of sense to everyone, does it? I'll answer any questions if you have them, but I really would like to figure out what to do about this situation, and some way to investigate further. The Reapers have made it plain that they don't like us on this planet at all, so this bodes poorly all around.

Comments

[ninepercent]

That thing is responsible for putting us in that dream and later trying to lure us out into the sea?

[Andrew is still quite angry and sore about all of that.]

Who the hell are these Reapers you mentioned?

[oneandmikleonly]

It's not like it would confirm it, but the connection seems pretty clear.

[he sounds calmer now that someone's asking questions, and sends a second image over. look at that thing.]

That's a Reaper Leviathan. They're big predators that hang around near the Aurora; they've barred and attacked us before and the last time Sorey and I tried to negotiate with them we got in a nasty fight for it.

[ninepercent]

If it can only be seen in dreams can it be killed there as well?

[He doubts he'll get an answer, but it seems clear to him that if this thing is acting maliciously towards them, it's going to need to be taken down somehow. Best to start thinking about how sooner rather than later.]

They do have a certain 'lackey' look about them. How strong are they?

[transited]

[ neil's immediate thought is, "isn't mikleo sorey's invisible ghost friend?"

and then he actually takes in everything that is actually said. that sounds problematic. ]

So that thing might actually be out there swimming somewhere?

[ considering how much trouble they have fighting against reapers this. this definitely seems problematic? ]

[oneandmikleonly]

[well the ghost thing and the problematic thing are both pretty correct]

It might be swimming around, or it might be trapped down in the Void and sending out Reapers in its place. Which -- seems like it would be more ideal, actually, because the Reapers are more than enough to deal with? But it'd take going down there and checking to find out either way.

[transited]

I know that you all have cool powers and everything, but I have the feeling that isn't something we can take on. So maybe we should skip the going down there and checking out.

[ because like mikleo said... the reapers are more than enough. and they'd probably have to send all of their heavy hitters? and if something bad happened to them, that'd leave everyone else defenseless so.

nah. ]

[potentite]

[Hmm. Mikleo wants to figure out what to do about this giant monster thing.]

What if we wrangle everyone together and engage in a hefty scrum against this foul creature?

[They could just try killing it?? CAN'T GO WRONG.]

[oneandmikleonly]

Well. I can't say that's not straightforward. We might want to figure out how much of it is actually physically there first, though.

[they're gonna feel real silly if fifty of them dive a mile down and the dragon's on a completely different plane of existence]

[potentite]

Good point, old chap. [Kind of hard to kill what might not even exist.] In my humble opinion, there are two types of monsters in the world: the kinds you can fight and the kinds you hightail it from. So we just need to categorize this fucker.

[splinten]

[Dirk takes all of this in, even when some elements of the freakiness came in. After a bit, he sends this image telepathically.]

We met someone like this in the Void. It said "Beware the one who mimics me."

Do you think they could be the same species?

[oneandmikleonly]

[there's a brief silence while he actually. tries to analyze that]

...they've got similar glowing tendrils and they're on a similar scale, but it's hard to tell otherwise. If it is mimicking the one you met, though -- there were two songs, yes? And the one you met used the original, less dangerous song.

If they're not the same species, they may be similar enough to try and occupy the same niche.

[splinten]

That was it. Unfortunately, it wasn't as syntactically inclined, so it's hard to work out what to do with the rest of the message.

I'm beginning to wonder if we've been asked to rescue one Horrorterror and stop the other one. Frankly, I don't feel ready for either task.

[Yes, Dirk is actually admitting that this isn't a boss fight he can take on. It's a miracle. But no matter how impressive their team is, there is more at play here. Something has interfered with the powers of at least a few of them. Who is to say it isn't Cthulfoe fucking them up, and that it can't do the same thing if they go down to fight it? They need more information.]

Our next best course might be to try to find the friendly one. I'd say based on what we saw that it's a lava area somewhere deep in the Void.

[hopefragment]

...

Are you trying to say that this "sea dragon" or whatever is what's responsible for bringing us here?

[As one of those deep sleepers, Hajime's understandably a little concerned. And perplexed!]

If it's related to the Reapers like you say, and they don't like us being here... why would it bring us here in the first place?

[oneandmikleonly]

That's what I'd like to figure out. I can't quite put together how the two things correlate. I can tell you that the Reapers have fought and tried to kill us before, and the deep dreaming that song put you in would have had a fatal effect on your real bodies.

Maybe it needs...our dreams for some reason? Our ability to manipulate the dreamscape? Just temporarily.

[hopefragment]

[There's a quiet, mental hum of acknowledgement, then silence for a few seconds.]

The only thing I can think of that might make sense is if that thing is... trying to use us, for some reason.

Has anyone given you any ideas as to how to move forward...?

[mythbuster]

You sought out the source again on your own, did you? You're an intrepid one, Mikleo.

[ His telepathic voice is gently chiding, though not especially critical. Mikleo prioritizing communication over safety? Forgive him if he's not shocked. ]

[oneandmikleonly]

...if there was some detrimental result, I didn't want anyone else to get affected.

[he's not going to deny it was kind of a dumb move no matter how he frames it, but he'd thought it was worth the risk at the time, worried by the influence of the song on the people they'd recently rescued.]

Though I've been told to be a little less intrepid in that vein next time.

[imsorey]

[Sorey doesn't actually wake up until halfway through Mikleo's telepathic broadcast; he tried to stay up even after Mikleo fell asleep, so even with the telepathy it takes some effort to fully wake up. Since he's heard most of this already he just sits quietly until Mikleo is finished.]

Couldn't sleep?

[oneandmikleonly]

[he was actually making them a late brunch while he thought the wording over, so...hi, Sorey, here is a plate of food.]

I had an unpleasant wakeup. You slept in a bit yourself, though...good morning.

[octoroom]

Indeed, this does not seem good.

[Though. That said, this is not their planet. Certainly not their sea. Were he to place himself in the place of sentient creatures that might live here, their presence would be unwelcome indeed.]

What it's will and want is... is what I am curious about.

[oneandmikleonly]

There's a clue in what Dirk's group found in the void; there are two creatures of that scale, and the one I encountered seems to be 'mimicking' the other to some purpose. Other than that and the Reapers trying to kill us repeatedly, I don't have much idea what it's going for. It wouldn't really answer my questions.

[Telepathy]

[bonomial]

So there's some kind of giant, dangerous thing out in the ocean, and it wants to impose its will on everybody? Sounds like a serious problem.

I've been working on the Shell Sub Mark Two. It's gonna be an armed submarine, and it might be able to get us down into the Void. Then we can figure out what this sea dragon really wants... and whether it means business.

[oneandmikleonly]

There's actually two giant dangerous things, but one is trapped and seems willing to help us. I'd like to look in on it at the same time, but I'm not as worried about it.

--oh, yes, I had noticed the construction happening...it seems like the best option is to send a small drone down first instead of going personally? But if we do choose to descend for whatever reason, all of us going in an underwater vessel seems much more practical than swimming.

thanks for the nightmare fuel

[splasher]

...that can't possibly swim by the shallows, can it?

[makoto is proud for sounding more calm than what he feels. this is the stuff nightmares are made of, and now the ocean has become a lot, a lot scarier than what he had initially considered.]

[that being said, he has the sense to worry. (if he is shaken up, imagine mikleo)]

Are you alright?

sorry buddy

[oneandmikleonly]

I'm all right. It was just unnerving, and its roar has -- psychic echoes, you might say. But they're fading already.

[he considers the first question, glancing out the window of the room he's in]

...it's probably too big to be that direct? Unless there's a way up from underneath. ...sorry.

[he doesn't really want to make it MORE frightening, but there's a lot of unknowns here.]