[log] Monster Mash [semi-open]

[rubikscomplex]

Characters: Clayton, Enoch, Dio, House, Miranda, Clem, and Quark
Location P10 - BUILDING 110
Date: Day 041, evening
Summary: Gas Station slumber party! Following a monster attack.
Warnings: Will add as necessary, but general House disclaimer for insensitivity.

[The evening is drawing in around them as Miranda and House make their way toward the gas station. It's a somewhat familiar road to tread, at least, and there's the promise of his meds at the end of it... also people to distract the irritating woman walking with him from his company.

Epps should be good for that. He seems like the sort.

There's a sudden hiss from somewhere behind them, when they're still a good distance from the building. House glances back, then does a double-take when he sees a four-legged shadow monster pounding across the snow after them. That... what is that? It doesn't look like a robot. It doesn't look anything but absolutely real.]

Six o'clock!

[The words are snapped out as House turns, gauging the thing's speed. It's moving too fast for him to reach the gas station in time, which means improvising.]

Comments

[warriorscribe]

Corruption from without is only being covered in vileness. Corruption from within...

[He has to pause, a little shudder to his breath matching a shiver that audibly rustles his clothes. He pulls his arm tight against himself, under his cloak.]

...it is delivered by a demon that forces its way into one's body.

[He seems to be unwilling to go into detail, his eyes on the tile at their feet.]

[cloneprincess]

[ Well, that's a disturbing image, and obviously not something he's keen to talk about more at the moment. It's interesting enough that she feels compelled to push a little, though: ]

Possession? Different from what we saw days ago, but...

[warriorscribe]

No-...

[He starts and immediately stops himself, a brief pause before amending:]

Yes. ...It can be. Someone so corrupted can be controlled...

[His voice is breaking as he speaks. Difficult as it is for him to recount this experience, even if he's not relating it as a personal experience, he's indulging her curiosity. Because if it's anything like what's happening here, they will need to be prepared.]

...But the corruption itself...it's not possession.

[cloneprincess]

I'm sorry, I know this must be difficult for you.

[ She doesn't actually sound particularly sorry; it's clearly a rote phrase borne from the necessity of acknowledging his obvious emotion before moving on to things she considers more important. ]

Do you believe that those - [ she indicates the monster scrabbling behind him ] - are related phenomenon?

[warriorscribe]

I don't know...but they look like some of the demons I've seen...deformed creatures with too-long limbs that would rise from the shadows.

[The panic seems to ebb just a little. The demon he's talking about, they're small fry that have nothing to do with the ones he was talking about before. The degree of separation helps him bounce back - on the surface at least - the way he always does.]

Given the...thing that preceded them, [he pauses to take another deep breath, trying to keep calm] I wouldn't be surprised if they were demons...

[cloneprincess]

[ It's with some relief that Miranda realizes he's calming down; she's no good at dealing with emotional responses even with someone she does care about deeply. It's just not in her wheelhouse. ]

They don't really look like anything I've ever seen, though I had my own suspicions about them. I'm almost willing to accept literal demons at this point.

[warriorscribe]

I hope I'm wrong. It would mean a demon prince was likely behind whatever happened here, and they are immensely powerful...

[He takes another deep breath, and steers the topic of conversation away.]

What was your suspicion?

[cloneprincess]

[ She lets it go, though there are several alarming things in that sentence that are probably worth investigating. ]

The same as most people here, I think: that something nasty from back home had followed me, or even brought us here.

[warriorscribe]

Well, one of us may be right. Would you mind telling me about yours?

[His is a sensitive subject for him, and he knows full well it could be the same for anyone he meets.]

[cloneprincess]

- Well, I suppose we're going to be here a while.

[ Might as well, then; Miranda lets herself get as comfortable as she can, under the circumstances. ]

Back home, the galaxy was under attack from a race of aliens called the Reapers. They were incredibly powerful and incredibly advanced; if anything I know of might have the technology to bring us here and keep us this way, it would be them.

[warriorscribe]

["Galaxy" is not a word he knows. He knows of the true nature of planets and stars and the space outside the atmosphere, but doesn't know anything beyond that. He skips it in favor of delving into the theory, thinking he can ask about it later.

It means he utterly misses the scope of Miranda's problem, unfortunately.]

And these Reapers of yours would have the motivation to capture us and put us here?

[The fact that demons make almost too perfect of an explanation is one of the reasons he's gathering other theories. He doesn't want it to be demons. He's never been equipped to handle a demon prince, and he's already been tortured and possessed by one. He doesn't want to be up against them with even less support...]

[cloneprincess]

[ She makes a frustrated noise and shakes her head. This is where the theory falls apart, especially in the face of a competing one. ]

Not any that I can work out. From what we've seen, they either convert their captives into mindless slaves or destroy them to aid in their own reproductive cycle.

[warriorscribe]

So there's no reason at all for this from them...

[Enoch's good at hanging onto an idea for better or worse, at least, and he finds a reason her theory could sort of hold, however likely or unlikely:]

Might it be someone using their technology or methods?

[cloneprincess]

[ A complicated expression flits over Miranda's face before she nods and makes a noise that might, from a certain terrible point of view, be called a laugh. ]

That sounds incredibly possible. To what end, though, I don't know.

[warriorscribe]

...I suppose we need to learn something more about that first. Motive has always been missing, hasn't it.

[He slumps a little, but quickly straightens back up as it gives the monster on the other side of the door a little leverage.]

I suppose it's a strike against my own theory that I can't imagine why demons would do this, either.

[cloneprincess]

So you don't think we're in some kind of hell, then? Punishment for our sins?

[ That is what demons do, isn't it? ]

[warriorscribe]

[Not in his world. For surprisingly logical reasons.]

...Are demons considered agents of God where you come from? The demons I know are not interested in teaching us we were wrong, and in fact one doesn't need to do wrong to be taken by them. They are only interested in expanding their own power.

But... [he averts his eyes again.] ...it would not be unusual for someone corrupted by a demon to believe it is their own fault.