digitalemperor | Heart Game

Entry tags:

!heart

Heart Game

You have the sensation of falling--no, drowning. Your lungs burn, you can’t breathe, you try to struggle but the current drags you down down down and just as you’re losing consciousness you know you’re dying...

You jerk, abruptly, the landing a little rough as you stand. Your clothes are dry and there’s no water in your lungs. You can breathe.

You find a bluetooth headset on your head, it crackles with static then goes silent.

((Join #sharkbait. Go ahead and start right here. Unless you're Nezumi in which case start here. If you're late check with me on IRC where to start.))

((POWERS: all combat and non-healing powers are ON in this heart. Status removing powers and items are off. Healing powers and items are almost completely ineffective at the start, I'll tell you if it changes. You have all your equipment.))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Yeah yeah, hi."

Edited 2013-01-06 01:09 (UTC)

Sorry to intrude.

[little awkward headduck]

"Whatever. It's not like you did anything in the first place."

Well... I hope we can fix what was done, one way or another.

"You can't do much worse. Probably. You understand him, so maybe you'll help."

Ah... that's my goal, anyway. Do you have any advice?

"Depends on what you want to do. And what you think you can."

I want Shark to really feel like he would normally. I want him to have the usual amount of control over his actions and reactions.

"Great. That's going to be a lot of work."

Yes, I figured. Though I suppose I hoped that putting things back to default would be better than forcing change...

"You and he both believe in a reset button huh? But it's never that easy."

Calling it a reset button is a little tidier than I'd have thought. Just that... I suppose I'd thought that emotional and mental habits would have built themselves a groove, maybe.

My biggest fear is making anything worse. Can you give me any advice?

"He's resilient but it's been getting worse. As for advice--the best way to rebuild is from a clean slate."

Aka, break everything.

Are you serious? That doesn't seem right at all...

"Well, you can use your own judgment."

I-I just... don't see how destroying *everything* results in a blank slate instead of a lot of destroyed things that were once his.

"You've played video games before?"

Probably not, sorry. The term's not familiar.

"Damn. Well, try to think of it like a knight's quest."

In that the cause and effect might not be clear...?

Re: New Room

digitalemperor - 2013-01-06 03:30 (UTC) - Expand

Re: New Room

everfixedmark - 2013-01-06 03:31 (UTC) - Expand

Re: New Room

digitalemperor - 2013-01-06 03:33 (UTC) - Expand

Re: New Room

everfixedmark - 2013-01-06 03:34 (UTC) - Expand

Re: New Room

digitalemperor - 2013-01-06 03:37 (UTC) - Expand

Re: New Room

everfixedmark - 2013-01-06 03:42 (UTC) - Expand

Re: New Room

digitalemperor - 2013-01-06 04:07 (UTC) - Expand

[also tapping the bluetooth thing] Nezumi? Are you here? Did you make it in?

[there's a bit of a pause, but eventually Nezumi's voice]

Hey. So much for sticking together, right?

My confidence is at an all-time low.

Where are you? What's going on?

Don't give me that. I don't want to hear it. None of us really knows what to do—we knew that coming in here, and we knew it'd be dangerous, and it's possible we could majorly fuck up. But we're not idiots, and all we can do is apply the skills we have and use our common sense and handle whatever it throws at us. Confidence in success isn't the same as self-confidence . . . so don't hesitate.

I'm in what looks like a control room. I just reinstated the communication functions, and I should at least have a map up and running soon.

[sighs]

I'm talking to a projection here. He's blond, dressed like a knight, and irritated with the group for what they did last time. I asked for advice on helping Shark go back to his usual self and he said the best bet was to break everything and make a blank slate.