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Post by Tolvur-Q12 on Oct 11, 2019 8:41:58 GMT -8
Things happened, and Bryce was confused as all hell, but happy to be alive with this new body of his that somehow got through it all. He could sense people now, predict movement, even if only sometimes, and for some reason he was better in everything he used to already do well like fighting. The weird thing about that though, was the fact he enjoyed hitting people, where previously hitting anyone was something he didn't like and would just do for improvement and not for enjoyment. He was standing in the middle of a wide open space some miles away from the nearest city, yet close to a road leading out of it. Moments ago he had been somewhere else, beating the pulp out of someone and oddly, it was not something he could feel anymore. That and the damage done to his hand had quickly seemed to heal. Being a robot, or in his case a cyborg, was cool. And it wasn't just cool, he could also function at 100% indefinitely, that meant he could basically just wear people down in fights, spars or other things and bring them down to his own level. So his chest was slightly bruised, but while that was brought to his attention a few times as well as being told the amount of damage and what organs, if any, it hit, he didn't feel anything. Or in any case it didn't hinder any movement by him. He knew there were people out there that were strong enough to hinder his movement though, or had some kind of tricks he hadn't seen yet. And while it was scary to think of what new people could maybe bring to the table, it was equally challenging to find people of power and see how he measured up to them. Maybe there were people around that were born with the kind of power he had, and didn't need to be brought back from death to get an increase in power. Those people would also know how to handle that power a bit better than Bryce, and they could very well be able to help him train a bit to increase it. Or at least show him how to use it efficiently. Because for now, he was a walking rod of uranium in the sense that he was constantly leaking energy, and that it wouldn't last him long even if his body was infinite. Maybe, in the long run, it could help him to find a friend though that wasn't like him to help him put things into perspective. Cars passed, and he decided to follow the direction most of them were heading in, assuming they were going into the nearest city, and not out of it. =========== TWC: 459 Nal
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Post by Nal on Oct 11, 2019 9:13:43 GMT -8
Ahead of the road, walking slowly and humming a song, was a majin. Small, with a gray antenna down to the shoulders, her hair tendrils woven together to mimic a hairstyle - today, they were pretending to be a cut shorter on the back, but long and thick on the front, with a part on the forehead. A hairstyle that, on a regular earthling, would invoke a distinct need to call a manager to complain about myriads of different issues. The gray gal wearing it, however, seemed far from the complaining mood - grinning to herself, walking down the road with something of a skip, still humming that same song she's heard earlier - every once a while, blurting out a melodic word, such as "amplifiers" or "cigarette". Sometimes stuttering, huffing annoyedly - and then starting it all over again. The song must go on, it seems.
Over the walk, she reflected. So far, the awakening in this strange world was eventful. Wandering within caves, having to find her way out of them was a first test, then there were strolls in between people and that whole issue with having no nose, feeling weird because of it and people making that feeling even worse when the majin attempted to fix her noselessness before them. Then there was that heroic business and the man in a bike - Nal was still uncertain whether that sidecart conjured was by magic or by technology, seeing all those different things people used didn't make solving that dilemma any easier. And neither did the sudden honk and shouting to get out of the road. Nal obliged, moving to the side. Though she slowly leaned towards magic, especially after there was a second cart summoned later, when the frightened girl was plucked from between the bandits. And yes, of course, there were bandits too - and the curious majin observing and copying the driver's movements. She have learned a thing or two about fighting that way! Though she'd need to find him later again and maybe ask for some hints. Or... anyone else, really. People in this world were absurdly strong, compared to that one person who summoned Nal, and then that mystic man that put her to sleep, and... The majin frowned. She really didn't have much to compare with the time before her nap. She only knew it was a long time spent in the sleep. On that note... All she's had to eat since awakening was that tasty, hard candy, picked from some of the kids after the chief's daughter was delivered to him. They seemed eager to share with heroes! Unfortunately, there were only four candy balls left. And while tasty, they weren't overly filling. More food had to be found! As if expecting to find any, Nal decided to have a look around, and - have noticed someone walking behind her! Maybe that person would know where the food is. Turning, grinning and waving at the incoming person, the majin waited. Tossing one of the candy balls into her mouth, crunching down on it joyfully. One was picked with the other hand, held out on an opened palm as the stranger approached. "- Hello! I'm Nal. This is a candy and I'm looking for food." - she said as soon as the man was within reach. "Maybe you can help me!"
[WC = 551]
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Post by Tolvur-Q12 on Oct 11, 2019 10:37:42 GMT -8
He'd heard about gray hair, and animals like gray wolves and things like gray paint. But gray people? That was.. wasn't that how people usually portrayed aliens? Though maybe the fact he had been living in a single secluded spot for the longest time, and dying the moment he left it, had something to do with the fact that this confused him to the point of no longer being curious, but scared. And when it yelled at him with a human like voice is when things got even weirder. It was as if moldy cheese had grown legs, as if a middle aged woman had eaten a teen girl and then dipped herself in gray paint! Women he had no trouble with. even less now seeing as he had spent years repressing those urges when it came to men versus women. Hell, if anything, they had advantages on men. Extra weak spots to hit, though that wasn't very honorable. But this one seemed to be.. not his age. Not at all his age, as one of the first words out of her mouth was candy. Totally glancing over the fact she mentioned her name being Nal, Bryce stopped walking with wide eyes and just looked ahead as cars still whizzed by. She wanted help? Help with finding food? That raised a fun internal query in the cyborg, since he didn't know for sure if he could still eat. Obviously he could, but he didn't know what he needed to keep on going. Food, oil, or something else. Electricity? ''Who-'' He said before thinking back to where she already stated who she was. ''-what are you?'' This time though, after he had said that his curiousity won from the sense of dread somewhere in his mind, and walked forward slowly to see what he was dealing with. His eye had told him plenty. Height, gender, eye color and skin color, but somehow it never said anything about what this Nal was. Bryce got closer still until he was close enough to touch her if he so desired, and just as his hand was raised he could feel some kind of pressure, causing him to turn his hand back to his side. Was something in his body trying to tell him something? The thought that maybe Nal did it didn't even cross his mind, completely ignoring his own notion from before that there were people out there with powers he didn't know. That, paired with how he had been living for the past few years meant that he had no idea what exactly inhabited this planet. He knew there were bad thingsd, but this Nal creature didn't stike him as wanting to do bad things. So why was he hesitant on touching? Maybe because it was rude, but either way he felt something odd, and whether that came from her or from within his own body in response to her needed to be answered quickly. ''Looking for food..'' He repeated slowly, thinking about how he hadn't been wanting food, but finding some couldn't actually hurt. ''There should be a city close by, I'm sure they have food.'' He told her, a finger pointing at the road and following it to where he figured the city would be. ''I'm sure following the road will get you there.'' Then, his hand fell to his stomach with a smile on his face as he looked at Nal, not really sure onn how to treat her just yet. But hey, maybe she could be a friend! ''Mind if I join you?'' Bryce asked. ''I could do with some food too.'' He lied as he moved behind her to follow the road. ========= TWC: 1,076 Nal
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Post by Nal on Oct 11, 2019 10:58:10 GMT -8
While Bryce has been fighing his internal confusion and a myriad of conflicting feelings, Nal had strugged with one. It's name: confusion. Her head was tilted to the side nearly as soon as the man had approached, his strange gestures and that odd silence between speaking had the majin rather perplexed. Her grin faded, replaced with a downwards curl of the lips, eyes opened wide and staring, the expression only made more bizarre by the lack of any kind of nose. She stared like that for a long while, hand with a candy on it extended still.
"I am Nal" - she repeated, with that expression still present studying the man. He was odd even for the locals. A huge marking that... probably meant something in the local language was the second thing she's noticed, first being the ludicrously long hairdo. As she spoke, the tendrils that mimiced the manager summoning hairstyle began to shift, trying their best to replicate that hairstyle, one even covering the eye. They increased in length where they lost volume, to adapt to their new role further. "I am majin. And I have about a million questions right now. First one is: how do you even see with that hair?" the girl asked, with an annoyed huff blowing out some air out of the collarbone steam holes, to shoo the annoying eyeblocker away, the tendril coiling back to join it's siblings in imitating the ponytail. "It's annoying. Second: what does that thing on your chest mean? And why do you have it? And... well alright, I won't ask everything at once. But if you're hungry too, you can have this. It's not too filling, but it's tasty and it helps a little. And we can go and find some more food in the city, there has to be some, right?" the rambling seemed ceaseless, at least until it stopped as suddenly as it started, while the hand with the candy was extended further up.
It was only then that the gray majin remembered something. An expression of enlightement on her face, followed by a sagely nod and another violation of the sweet silence. "Oh, by the way. Do you like noses?" Nal asked, eyeing the large scar, as she only now had noticed it. Though, luckily, saved further questioning for later. For now, the silence was only disturbed by the sound of chewing on what was left of the hard candy she ate earlier.
[Word count = 408, total word count = 959]
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Post by Tolvur-Q12 on Oct 11, 2019 11:42:40 GMT -8
As soon as he was done talking to this.. Nal, a litteral downpour of questions occured in the form of answers to his huge myriad of two questions. What she was she answered easily enough by saying she was a majin. Bryce had heard of those before, but figured they were all pink and.. too stupid to pose the amount of questions she did the moment he had all of his own questions answered. She asked how he could see with that hair. ''My hair..? How do I-'' It took him a moments thought to realize exactly what she was asking about when all of a sudden thgose gray tendrils on her head, that Bryce only now realized weren't hair, moved and changed size to mimic his own hairstyle, even down to the long strand hanging in front of the eye. And that was when he realized that was probably the thing she was talking about. ''I..don't know. I just can.'' He answered, actually not knowing how. Well, he didn't know how to explain it how he was able to do so before he was turned into a cyborg. Explaining it now would be a bit easier. ''You see,'' Bryce began as he moved the strand of hair away from his face, allowing Nal to see the eye that responded to being looked at and instantly turned red in turn before he finally let go of his hair. ''I'm kind of weird. My eye doesn't see. This is something I realized some time ago, my eye feels and somehow scans my surroundings, sending images to my brain or something..'' He tried to explain, but softly shook his head and finally just shrugged. ''Or something, I don't know. I just see things like an other person. Same way you can change your hairtacles I assume. You just can.'' His arms now crossed over his chest, kind of feeling joy he had someone to talk to even if half of it was just explaining things. At least it would help him remember that this wasn't a dream. ''Cool trick by the way. Never a bad hair day.'' Then he was blown aside by the second question though, one that made him lower his arms as Nal mentioned the symbol on his chest, what it stood for and why he had it. ''This symbol.. it means 'god'.'' The moment he got it was still fresh in his mind, and as he now looked at it he was kind of surprised it didn't fade or anything when he was turned into an android. ''I got it when one of my masters died-'' He paused suddenly. ''-sorry, I studied at a temple before all this by the way, so we all trained under a master.'' He explained to Nal before going on. ''Anyway, this man had taught me almost everything I know, when he claimed to have been taught by this thing we call god over there, so to honor him I decided to take the name of who taught him with me since he never wanted me to be burdened by him. He wanted to give people a reason to remember his life rather than his death.'' After that he paused again, briefly thinking about his master but quickly turning the frown he would get from that into a smile as he was offered some candy. As said, it wasn't much, but in taking it he was one step closer to getting a new friend as well as being able to see what eating did to him, even if it was just a little snack. Bryce was about to pop it into his mouth when he was asked the final question though. He didn't halt in any way as the candy fell into his mouth and he started sucking on it, but the question did take him by surprise a bit as it made him choke on his own saliva a bit, followed by a cough, and if it weren't for his fast reflexes he would have spat the candy out on the ground between him and Nal. As he looked at her he popped the candy back in his mouth and commenbced the sucking again as he wondered how to answer that odd question. His head tilted a bit as he finally noticed that the girl didn't have a nose. It didn't strike him as odd though, he had assumed it was just because there was some kind of accident or something, or maybe something along the lines of the scar he had himself. At this point though, it would be rude not to address it where he had previously might have thought that talking about it would be a very rude thing to do. ''Do I like noses?'' Bryce repeated as he rolled the candy over to his cheek in order to answer Nal and her seemingly never ending amount of questions. ''I.. can't really say.'' He finally offered, as he had never really thought about it. ''I think, that with a body like you have-'' The moment he said that his eyes would widen and he would step away from Nal a bit. ''Not in that way! Apologies!'' He offered as his hands came together in a kind of prayer in front of his face and there was a slight bow from him. ''I mean though,'' His stature returning and his embarrassment fading ''is that with how you can seemingly adjust your own body it would be more along the lines of.. how badly do you want people to like you?'' He deflected the question. ''It would be easy for you to emulate having a nose, I think. You can even pick the one you want yourself! Not many people have that luxury!'' Again, Bryce paused for a moment after having said that. ''However..'' He began with a question of his own. ''Are there a lot of majin people?'' ====================== TWC: 2,066 Nal
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Post by Nal on Oct 11, 2019 12:07:01 GMT -8
Many, many words were shared, this pleased Nal. She nodded plenty, listening to the story of the man - and as he had shown his strange eye, the majin neared to it, leaning in to see the unusual thing better! Not too close, she had been taught the importance of personal space by now. Mostly, at least. "So you are part... technology, then. A technoman." the majin nodded to herself, looking at the eye, listening, studying - then noticing a bruise. Her lips curled in an annoyed scowl, the lessons on personal space seemingly forgotten as a finger prodded against that bruise on the chest she had noticed. Oddly enough, with the prod came a soothing feeling - after the obviously irritating sting of a touch to a bruised flesh, of course. A restorative wave followed, trying to undo whatever have caused these bruises - and trying to restore the skin to it's healthier state. Something the majin girl stared at with fascination, always keen on observing this odd power she now had. This, however, didn't stop her from listening. Or awaiting a smack at the prodding finger, or any other interruption. She knew prodding people was upsetting them, but hey - worth a try, right? This one seems friendly and gentle.
"Or I guess you have a better word for that. You people have a lot of words for a lot of things." Nal spoke, whether her healing was successful or interrupted, she had awarded herself with the penultimate candy, this time enjoying it slightly more - imitating the sucking motions Bryce has made on his gift. It went slower than just crunching on it, and with other things to distract her, Nal had more patience for candy than to chew it down immediately! "There are... some majin for sure. I don't really know how many are, well... here. Wherever here is. But there are a lot elsewhere and we all get summoned to other places by people who want power or a powerful servant, I guess you could call us demons in that regard, because that's sort of how we work. I'm a bit of an odd case, because I got summoned by a spelling error in the incantation and I think that's why I talk so much and want to learn about mystic things rather than punch people or eat things. Or the other way around." - the onslaught of words was again halted, at least briefly, while the majin collected her thoughts about all that she just heard.
Running a hand through the ponytail tentacles, she thought a bit, with a grin to herself. Hairtacles. That was a funny word, a play on hair and tentacle, and that amused Nal greatly. Having to bring in all of the willpower to not outright clap at the word's existence, the majin turned away - and began to walk down the road! Leading the way, like all heroes do. Or at least like she thought they do. Thinking some more, while at the same time, at least attempting to listen what others say while at it. The way he reacted to her question about noses was... part adorable, part funny... alright, five parts funny. But in the same way, odd. She didn't even think of that comment that way, until it was pointed out! Something to remember later, see if he, or others, immediately assume these words have subtexts. Learning cultures and meanings for words was so fun sometimes, this was no exception. And speaking of cultures, she thought, there was that one thing he said. She sort of knew the meaning, but... "What's a God?"
[WC = 599, TWC = 1558]
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Post by Tolvur-Q12 on Oct 12, 2019 3:17:14 GMT -8
''Spelling error?'' Bryce repeated, though be it under his breath as Nal seemingly took on the role of leader, though the android just ran up to her and walked alongside her. For a moment he thought on what that spelling error could be, not really knowing how one could misspell the name Nal, assuming they could be summoned by using their specific names. Maybe the person wanted a gnat, but forget a letter? Maybe they wanted a bal? Or the season of fall?
The more Bryce wondered, the more he began to think he was in some kind of children's book. His hand ran over to his chin though, stroking it as he continued thinking. Gal? Stall? The longer he thought the more confused he would be. People these days couldn't spell anymore, it seemed. He shook his head in shame, though at the same time that same gesture made him think he was an old man looking for excuses to be angry.
But then came the question that pulled him away from his own thoughts as Nal asked him what a god was. That was always a difficult thing to answer, because what was a god other than a belief? But other than that, how could Bryce explain this to someone he had to assume had little intelligence? Hooked up on candy, asking about hair, gods.. not to mention the touching. Though that last one was up for debate, he had wanted to do the same thing to feel the skin on this majin.
Either way, he wondered over the answer to that question quite a bit, even going as far as to think about what his master used to say about it. He had to teach himself about the idea of god, but that was always open to interpretation so it was always good to get stories from several sides on it.
''A god..'' He began, looking uip at the sky as if the answer was written in the clouds. Also, he made sure to mention there were multiple rather than the belief that there was only one out there. ''Is.. um..'' Thinking hard on an answer to this more difficult of a question than anticipated, he suddenly thought back on Nal explaining what she was to him, ending it by saying he could see her species as some kind of demon in the sense they could be summoned.
This gave Bryce an idea. ''A god is an imaginary demon friend. You can summon him or her whenever you want.'' He smiled. ''But no one knows they're there.''
''But believing in one is not really something that's for me.'' He added. ''I mean, would a god allow a man to be turned into a robot?'' He asked Nal with a smile.
=============== TWC: 2,529
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Post by Nal on Oct 12, 2019 3:39:43 GMT -8
The more she listened, the less Nal understood about people and what they actually are or believe in. A demon friend that nobody knows is there? This gave the majin a pause, having her wonder. She knew that this man apparently learned from a master who, in turn, learned from a god. But this made no sense if it was as he said.
"You said your master learned from a god." she said, lips curling in thought, as the candy rolled alongside it in her mouth. "Or what you called a god. But if a god is a demon friend that nobody knows is there, but can be summoned whenever you want, does that mean your master actually learned all this from himself?" Rather curious about the answer, Nal turned her head ot study the man as he considered an answer to that, but in that instance, another answer came up to her own mind. "Or did you call something else a god that wasn't really one? Or someone else, I suppose. I'd be pretty upset if someone called me a thing, after all..." the majin's voicetone grew quieter with the second part of that explaination, more of a muse to herself than actual part of the question asked. Though that brought a whole new question to the board.
Was she what they'd call a god? Were gods just majins, or other summonable creatures? Like the demons, she's heard of a place called the Demonlands not so far away from where they were. Maybe that would be a place to go, look for some answers and some more heroic things to do. Yes, actually... some of the heroic tales she's heard from the people in that Manitou place did involve a demon, one named Daimao or something - apparently people only used half a name, as to not invoke the evil. They were part right, names did have power, though it took more than just saying them out loud to summon somebody. After all, if she got summoned everytime someone said Nal, she'd have to be in a thousand places at once!
That thought amused her enough to cause a small giggle, her fingers resting on her stomach and drumming over it idly. Looking ahead, the majin started hoping the answer from this Bryce came quick - the city was looming in the distance, seen from over the hill, or rather dune, they were traversing. It was close enough that she could almost smell the food. Either that, or just imagined it vividly enough. Nal looked at the man accompanying her, studying him some more - the place where that red eye hid under his hair, that scar, the god-word written on his chest. He said part robot. Techno-man would have to be the word for it now, since he never addressed that - and she decided the question about gods was more interesting than that to answer.
[WC = 484, TWC = 2042]
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Post by Tolvur-Q12 on Oct 12, 2019 8:55:18 GMT -8
The part where she acted confused by his answer was to be expected, as Bryce had never needed to explain that sort of thing to anyone. Not only that, but she was the first one he met that ever questioned the giant god on his chest. Back at the temple with the other monks and whatever was weak enough to resist coming there, were nothing but accepting of whatever choice someone would make.
''Something..'' He murmured, thinking there could be some kind of truth behind the something part when she mentioned that Bryce's master would have been teaching himself rather than being taught by books. It was obvious to him so he would never had thought about it, but the books they had were written by monks who were taught by the men who abided by the teachings of a god. So, basically, books were gods. His master had taught himself, sure, but there was always a book involved. Maybe this was some kind of nod towards the importance of the written word.
''I suppose you can call books written by what people claim to be a god close enough..'' Bryce replied to Nal, not really happy about having to admit she was basically right. That was something he would have to work on still, and had always had trouble with; not being the smartest in a room.
He sighed and looked over at Nal, words burning on the tip of his tongue but he wasn't quite sure if he should utter them or not. After all, it wasn't something anyone other than himself or the people at the temple knew, and he wouldn't have to be worried that they would mention anything to anyone.
But then again, Nal didn't strike him as someone set on doing evil things. So maybe it wouldn't be a bad thing to tell her something Bryce had been hauling along with him for years. ''Nal.'' He simply said, uttering her name for the first time in this conversation. ''Have I ever told you about where I came from?'' It was a rhetoric question. ''No, of course not. I came from a temple a good bit away from here, where together with other people like me, I trained.''
It had been so long ago that Bryce could barely remember the look of the temple. Or maybe that was because of the dying he did. ''Most of what we were taught came from books, some of it from each other, and some of it from people who had been training for decades.'' He explained while walking. Though he looked up for a bit and took note of the city, and suddenly he felt the need to talk faster, convey more information with less words.
''We were taught things I now see as simple. How to be quiet, how to use words efficiently. How to find peace when there is none.'' He continued. ''But I never finished my training. I got the chance to leave, the same as everyone does, and before I got to go back, I died. My training stopped. I only know a fragment of what I'm supposed to know.''
================================== TWC: 3,055
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Post by Nal on Oct 12, 2019 9:32:14 GMT -8
The majin followed and she listened. Gods are books... she noted that learning to read would probably be important, if those calling themselves gods were writing books. Maybe that way, she would figure out more of the nature of that strange power she had - and while at it, perhaps learn more things there are to be learned from books, godly or not. Of course, she did prefer to learn by doing - it was more fun that way, like dissipating that bruise just a moment ago, but maybe, if she read enough, the healing would be even better next time it was tried. Or maybe she would just find people that were punched and heal them instead. That seemed more interesting than sitting in a dark room with a book, but - maybe she could read books while walking between places. Then, there would be learning both by doing and while going to do things! Yes, that sounded like a good plan. Learning to read: to be done soon.
But for now, there was this Bryce man and his history. A monastery of monks taught by a god (allegedly!), teaching things as simple as being at peace. Or how to not talk. Nal thought this was easy, but then realised how hard it is for her to stay quiet for longer than a moment and realised that even simple things are sometimes not as easy as they look. And so, she decided to practice silence for a while longer, as the man spoke. Of course, not a moment longer. "You look rather alive, though" the gray gal spoke, turning her head to eye the man up and down again. "Did you die and then got made into a technoman and that is how you are actually alive?" was another question, then she pondered some more on the monks and their teachings. He's said the teaching was incomplete... maybe he needed to find that monastery again, or like her, find his own path. Thinking on that, the latter sounded like a better idea - learning by doing was always the best thing, also her favourite. Also the only way of learning she ever actually experienced, so there might've been a little bit of a bias there.
As the city loomed near, she grinned widely and picked up the pace alongside her new friend.... companion... person she met. "Maybe you just need to teach yourself, then, like your master did. Summon your own invisible demon friend and learn from him, or her, or it. I can't help, because I'm visible and you know I'm here, also I don't know all that much. But what I do know is that there is food ahead. I can practically taste it already! Let's go find it!"
[WC = 458, TWC = 2500]
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Post by Tolvur-Q12 on Oct 12, 2019 10:16:51 GMT -8
Bryce listened with something between a smile and a scowl as Nal mentioned exactly how he was alive. Forr all he knew he merely existed right now though. No goal, no purpose, just a shell of the man he once was roaming the lands in search of.. things to postpone his own boredom with. And Nal, previous to this statement, had been doing just that. Still, as a monk he knew better than to be angry at anything, or even to be less happy was not something he would be applauded for. ''I do look alive!'' He finally replied with a smile. And there were multiple instances of actual pain to tell him he really was alive, there just wasn't anything telling him what to do.
It was as if he would need to figure that one out for himself, find his own purpose in this life, which he still wasn't sure was infinite or not. ''They took me when I was dead and made me into a technoman, yes.'' Bryce told her, adopting the word she had been using before. And to be honest, he quite liked that one. Cyborg and android didn't quite cut it, or made him sound too autonomous.. Technoman.. had a nice ring to it, he figured.
''I'm not sure what else it did to me other than basically turn me into a machine and give me a second chance at life though.'' Bryce added with a shrug, looking ahead finally to see the city getting closer. They would be able to get food for Nal soon, and as Bryce had just figured out, for him too!
The piece of candy he had been sucking on for the last few moments was finally swallowed, convincing him that he could still eat due to the fact he didn't instantly die. This was a win for him, small, but a good thing as it meant there was a part of his humanity that still remained and could keep his feet on the ground.
For a moment he grew silent though as he listened to Nal speak about him maybe having to do the same thing his master did. Find his path through the invisible demon friend, as she so called it. And maybe she had a point, if only a small one. He would need to have to teach himself somehow. ''But I can't teach like my master did. I don't have the right books, nor the right people around me.'' He told her.
''But, you know what we also did?'' He suddenly asked, looking over at Nal with a smile and then nudging over to the city in front of them coming even closer by the second. ''We had friends. We learned things together.'' Bryce continued. ''We played together, fought together.. so I think I don't need a book or a master to tell me what to do. And I sure as everything do not need an invisible demon friend when there's a perfectly good visible one here!''
He laughed as he bounced himself to be in front of Nal, forcing her to halt a bit as he kept jumping in place. For some reason he felt more happy than before now. ''You know what more we did over there?'' He asked as he stepped back a few feet. ''We ate together.''
''Last one there is a rotten egg!'' And the rotten egg here would most likely be Bryce, since he hadn't been in this city in years. =========== TWC: 3,637
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Post by Nal on Oct 12, 2019 10:45:47 GMT -8
Nal grinned. There was definitely something new about this one. He felt like a lost child - not exactly unlike herself, to be honest. And just like herself, he's found something wondrous out there - another person just as lost as he was. And while there was definitely something off - Nal wasn't blind nor dumb, she saw that second layer to his smile for a moment there, she knew there were many things he didn't speak about. Either he thought her too simple to understand it - and that amused Nal greatly, part of the cause of her grin - or he simply had secrets that had to be discovered, like peeling layers off of a particularly stubborn box wrapped a few too many times. Can't be too hasty, or else you risk breaking the box - and that is just no fun.
Speaking of fun... the man just bolted off to seek food in the city. Nal followed suit, grinning and playing with the race - determined to find food before he did, both of them most likely getting lost several times before stumbling across anything remotely edible. And not expensive. Though there was an amazing discovery waiting to be found just around the corner...
[WC = 200, TWC = 2700]
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Post by Tolvur-Q12 on Oct 12, 2019 11:22:23 GMT -8
It wasn't long before he lost track of where Nal was, despite being able to sense energy signals. He just hadn't learned how to distinguish them from each other just yet, and so it was likely just up to her to find him if he found anything. Too bad that he couldn't summon her by just uttering her name, which she debunked before. Bryce chuckled to himself with that thought as he turned a corner by clinging to a lamppost.
His feet hit the stones below as he just moved on forward, reducing his running step to a mere walking one to be able to read the signs a bit better, and maybe see inside the stores a bit better. What didn't help though, were the huge amounts of people staring at him. Now, he had learned how to keep feelings like awkwardness at bay, but with this many eyes on him at once, paired with him knowing why exactly they were all watching him, it was quite hard to keep himself from feeling less than he actually was.
Did Nal ever get this kind of attention? He wondered for a bit, because she did have gray skin, but Bryce had been taught not to judge based on appearance alone. But, as it seemed here, not everyone was that way. And just looks like these alone were enough to make a person feel like an outsider.
But he had to pull his mind from that, as he had a race to win. A race without reward or reason, but a race nonetheless. And Bryce was hopefully the one to find food first. But then again, Nal seemed much more interested in food than him and that's why Bryce figured her to actually find food before he did. Maybe she could smell food in a way Bryce didn't know? Maybe she was already at a food store and was waiting on Bryce.
Lookinhg behind him, he did take note of something that had the height of Nal. And as he came closer to it, he noticed that it also had gray skin, like Nal. And what more; as Bryce stepped even closer, the smell of baked goods entered his nose. And it smelled good. Second hint he had gotten that food was still something he could enjoy.
''Nal!'' He yelled out as soon as he was certain the silhouette before him belonged to the majin. Other people looked at both of them as Bryce yelled. As the unlikely duo met up again.
''You uh.. got money?'' Bryce asked. ====================== TWC: 4,065
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Post by Nal on Oct 12, 2019 23:19:24 GMT -8
She saw villages before, but this city was *huge*. Soon, she lost track of her unusual friend and got turned around, striding across the huge buildings with a broad grin on the face. Just walking and listening to the noise of all these people in one place, and all of their technology, was enough to flare up the sense of wonder in the little majin - also to earn her plenty glances from the people passing by. Not only she was smaller than most of the people around, she was also gray, had no nose, her "hairtacles" (a term Nal kept in her mind, because it was amazing and amusing) kept changing configuration, becoming a mullet, a pompadour, a ponytail again, two pigtails, then four pigtails, then three braids on the back of her head, with the sides "shaved", exposing the earholes. That one was what, eventually, the majin decided to keep for her stay in the city, or at least until a more amazing hairstyle did show up for her to copy.
With the new hairstyle set, she began wandering and actually started paying attention where to this time. There was that unmistakable scent of food just so right ahead - wandering there, Nal grinned widely, smiling at people walking past and willfully ignoring the nervous glances and weirded out grins some of them responded with - at least the "nervous" and "weirded out" parts of them. A grin was a grin! But what was more important was the scent and the loud, booming noises coming from there. Wandering in, the majin decided to ask somebody what was that all about - and the answer she got was more than enough to make her squeal in delight! She bolted off, finding the technoman soon. "Money? No, but" she spoke, grinning. "I've found better!"
[Wc = 300, TWC = 3000. Nal's final post in this thread]
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