This is gonna sound weird but

[ten_zero]

Characters: Bisi and YOU
Date: Month of June
Location: Wood Sector, Tony's Lab, Throughout Keeliai, and in Hatal as Mag
Situation: Bisi is following up on a strange dream. The Somatic Link is completed. Also a catch-all for the month!
Warnings/Rating: None.

A. Hooked on a Feeling

Bisi found herself following an inexplicably familiar path into the wood sector,towards a very particular patch of soil. Unlike in her dream, she couldn't walk the path, so she wheeled her way through the dirt in her chair, uncertain the spot even existed.

It was hard to say with 100% certainty that this was the place that she'd seen before but... it felt right. She haltingly stepped off of her chair and settled onto the ground and started to... dig. The dream had made burrowing into the ground with your bare hands seem a lot simpler than it was in practice. She'd only gotten through a few inches of topsoil before her hands were throbbing and her nails cracked and bleeding.

"Ow..." She should have brought a shovel.

B-1. 80's Montage

Bisi's discovery of the dreaming medallion, a theory about how to set up the somatic link, and work proceeded quickly from there. The somatic link would function as a beacon in the dreaming, allowing Bisi to follow it towards Mag. There was no cryogenic chamber to freeze Bisi in time, but there was a device to put her to sleep.

Bisi slid the headpiece over her head. "Wish me luck!" Trial run commencing.

B-2. Lucid Dreaming

The device powered on and Bisi woke up somewhere else - Bisi immediately recognized the grand halls of organic smooth walls and bioluminescent plants - an Orokin tower. She took a step - noticing immediately again that she could walk. She was momentarily startled by the nearby sound of gunfire. She turned to herself on the front lines of a battle - Grineer lancers exchanging fire with Corrupted Corpus.

"I'm dreaming," Bisi said, saying aloud the revelation. At her words, all the soldiers and corrupted stopped and turned to her, waiting. It wasn't here, it was...

Bisi rose into the air and flew. She passed twisting hallways and grand galleries, through the gateways into the Void beyond. She was flying to Earth... no, to its moon. The moon wasn't on earth anymore. The Lotus had moved it. She rushed through the void, coming upon the massive satellite, and further down she went, to the Orokin installation she was looking for. The one with The Resevoir. Mag was there.

She floated down in front of a large waterfall, and six pods began to emerge. The first one pulled in front of her and opened, beckoned for her. She climbed into the pod, relaxing as it closed down over her. Darkness. Then Light.

B-3. Full of Stars

Bisi didn't wake up - Mag did. Her movements were lazy, languid. She was waking up for the first time in awhile. Her faceplate was alight - not glass, but translucent all the same. Energy shifted around in complex and mesmerizing patterns.

Bisi was still asleep in her chair - this time, the voice came from Mag and Mag alone. Mature, only the slightest hint of cold otherworldliness.

"Hello."

Mag studied the faces around her. She knew who all of these people were, but she was seeing them for the first time all the same.

C-1. Paint the Town Red

Mag is extremely happy to be Mag again, and is absent the hotel and most of her usual spots while she just roams. She revels in her newfound mobility, springint down thoroughfares, scaling buildings, and running atop rooftops with abandon.

C-2. Ooops

Of course not every surface in Keeliai is necessarily designed to take a relatively heavy humanoid robot running and jumping all over it, and Mag finds herself accidentally breaking off a chunk of building as she climbs along the side. She lands heavily on the ground, debris falling in small pieces nearby, shattering a window and some nearby tables and chairs.

The Kedan inside are reasonably upset and Mag tries her best to de-escalate the problem.

"I'm sorry, I fix it, somehow. Please calm down."

C-3. Souvenir Shopping

Suddenly extremely mobile, Mag is free to visit Hatal! She's glad she had a chance to do so before the turtle broke landfall. Many people have recommended visiting, and it was difficult with a wheelchair.

Mag can be found in just about anywhere in Hatal, exploring, looking all the tourist a strange silver metal woman with a glowing face can look.

D. Is For Distracted

Bisi is very scarce in her usual hangouts this month. She doesn't come by the hotel at all in her chair, opting to sleep in Tony's lab, leaving only to get food near the college.

E. Wildcard!

[ PM or hit me up on plurk to plan! ]

Comments

[ten_zero]

She exited Tony's lab, already lamenting being back in her chair after having been back inside Mag. Still, there was something to be said for being able to feel the cold air rather than reading a thermometer, and smelling... was that Adrien? He smelled nice.

On the 'walk', Bisi was busy trying to think of things to say. She wasn't really used to this. Most of her knowledge and time was spent maintaining guns and swords, or doing biology research on Infested flesh.

Suddenly she was reminded of the cat-boy she met at the hotel.

"Do you ever think about secret identities?" she found herself babbling out loud.

[purrns]

He'd been walking next to her wheelchair, making sure to keep his pace with it when she asked the question. He half-stumbled, letting out a nervous laugh because wow where did that come from.

Of course, the answer was that he did, a lot. He knew it was becoming less and less important for him to keep his double life a secret here in Keelai. And yet, he still clung to it because- why? Because he was afraid that if Papillon showed up, he'd attack people who could, by and large, look after themselves? He didn't know. It was a step he was not yet willing to take.

"...Sometimes, I guess," he offered. "We have superheroes back home. So I guess there's always the wonder of who they really are behind their masks."

That was only a half lie. He ALWAYS wondered who Ladybug was. If she was someone he already knew, or a complete stranger. Who was behind the dotted mask. It was the sort of thing that kept him awake at night.

[ten_zero]

"And superheroes here, too. I know at least one who claims a secret identity. There may be more. Foreigners you think you've met once but you've actually met twice. It's been months now and I'm still meeting new people. They come and go with confusing frequency."

She were coming up on the library now. She got suddenly self-conscious, pushing some of her bangs back nervous.

"Sorry, I don't know where that came from."

[purrns]

Is that a nervous laugh? It sounds like a nervous laugh. For a second there, he thought he was rumbled. Not that is especially matters here, but still. It's a secret he wants to keep for a little longer.

"Yeah, that's true. I mean, Chat Noir's here, and who knows who he is," smooth, Adrien, real smooth. "It's just a big mystery."

Yeah, he covered that one great. Good job, hero.

"It's okay, it's an interesting subject. A friend of mine back home would probably talk your ear off about it. She loves superheroes."

Frankly, how Alya hasn't figured out his identity when she sits behind him every damn day in school is a miracle in of itself.

[ten_zero]

"Are there any superheroes who can't control their powers? That people are scared of?"

Well now she was just talking without a filter. They enter the library.

[purrns]

"Well, both Chat Noir and Ladybug seem to control their powers fine. Sure, there are people who think they're just vigilantes, and once Chat got framed for a crime he didn't commit and became a wanted felon, but that's just...people. People not understanding and being afraid that there are those among them with magic- even if they'd never use it to hurt anyone."

He's still a little bitter over the Copycat thing. Fuck you, Theo. His smile turns a little more concerned as they step inside.

"I think the real problem isn't the heroes, but the people they fight. The villain in my world? He'd do anything to get hold of Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculouses- uh those are the jewellery that make them able to turn into superheroes," always best to clarify if it's something Chat has explained and Adrien has not. "If he knew who they really were, he'd be able to attack the people they care about the most. He'd hurt them, threaten them, do whatever he wanted to them to make Chat Noir and Ladybug give up their power to him."

And that, ultimately, is why he still keeps his secret here. Papillon may never appear on the turtle, but he can't gamble with that chance. Not when people's lives are on the line for it.

[ten_zero]

"Oh. You know a lot about Chat, don't you?" Seemed passionate about it too.

"He's quite a character."

[purrns]

That was definitely a nervous laugh. Quick, Agreste, backtrack!!!.

"Well, that friend of mine keeps tabs on both of them pretty well. She's got a blog and everything," okay so that blog was pretty much 90% Ladybug but Bisi didn't need to know that. "Plus they save Paris a lot, it's hard not to know much about them."

Was that as save? God, he hopes that was a save. Still, her comment does make him smile again.

"You think so, huh? So you've run into him here?"

[ten_zero]

"Yeah, he dropped into the hotel one time. Didn't want a room though. I think he might have been ducking in to avoid someone? Hopefully not that Pap- Papillion? Person you mentioned.

"He told me a story about stopping the weather. It involved a blanket I think? Rather convoluted. He talked a lot about Ladybug too."

[purrns]

"That sounds about right. Probably doing superhero work," he winces a little. "I think if Papillon were here, a lot more people would have been infected with akumas by now."

Or rather, they would have all been infected with the same Akuma and that would have just been messy.

"Oh right. That was the weather girl, I think. She made it snow in the middle of summer," and that's ALL HE KNOWS ABOUT IT, YEEEEEP.

He brightens up at the mention of Ladybug, a smile like no other crossing his face. Actually, it looks a lot like Chat's doofy Ladybug-smile.

"Well, she is pretty incredible. Keeps Paris safe and everything."

[ten_zero]

Fortunately, Bisi was turned away from Adrien while he was reminiscing, looking for a table. She pulled up to a small one, wheeling her chair up to one side that lacked a chair.

"What else have they done?"

[purrns]

Adrien moved to the chair closest to her, beaming, more than happy to talk about his favourite subject.

"Oh wow, lots! Paris gets an akuma victim pretty regularly. They've never failed to protect the city and keep us all safe," a pause, then slightly embarrassed: "Well, except for their first time. But they fixed that mistake once they realised what they got wrong. Everyone's allowed a slip-up on their first day, right?"

[ten_zero]

"Oh, you have a Paris too. I wonder if Paris existed on my earth at some point."

She seemed more interested in that than the mistake.

[purrns]

At least Midii has prepared him for Earth's that have not fared that well. Not that it's a comforting thought. In fact, he's only too aware that it would be one slip up from him or Ladybug and they could have their own mini-apocalypse on their hands.

"Maybe? I mean, it's a pretty important city. Not very big, but it makes up for it in character. I wouldn't be surprised if if existed where you call home, too."

But this does mean that her own earth isn't...well. He glances over, a mixture of sympathy and concern crossing his features.

"What is your home like? I- uh- if you don't mind me asking, that is."

[ten_zero]

"Ah. It's-" A ruinous wasteland swarming with Grineer?

"I live on a ship, my Liset. It's a personal craft. I spend most of my time with my Cephalon, Ordis. I think you might know it better as an 'Artificial Intelligence'?

"I'm also part of a Tenno Clan, and we have a Dojo in an abandoned Orokin tower."

[purrns]

These are all pretty new terms for Adrien, but he listens, rapt, all the same. He loves learning about new worlds, no matter what their state. One thing he can be thankful for being brought her for is the broadening of his horizons.

"An AI? That's...really cool. So is he part of your craft? Or maybe...a robot?" he offers an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I don't know a lot about futuristic sort of stuff."

After all, his power is seemingly the other way, very, very ancient.

"I know what a Dojo is, at least. Not sure on Orokin."

[ten_zero]

"More like... a computer? He could probably control a robot body if it called for it, but its not what he's designed to do. For all intents and purposes, the Liset is his body.

"You don't need to know much about the Orokin. They've been gone for... a long time now. The only thing left are the neural sentries, and we make sure those are disabled before we start making use of the towers."

Ah, shoot. She hoped he didn't ask about the neural sentries.

[purrns]

"I think I get it," robotics isn't really his thing, but he's pretty sure Max was talking about the potential of AIs at some point, it's what Max does.

Bisi, he is going to disappoint you. Best get used to that feeling.

"Neural sentries. I take it they're...guarding the towers? That's what sentries do, right? Guard things?"

[ten_zero]

"Yes. They do... that."

LET'S CHANGE THE SUBJECT.

"So what is Paris like? When it isn't being attacked?"

[purrns]

He pauses, at the sudden change in subject. He;s not exactly greatly attuned to understanding social cues, but he at least realises this is probably...not something she wants to talk about. Anyway, Paris is always a great subject for him.

"It's very beautiful. Lots of old buildings, great views. It's a very peaceful place to live...attacks notwithstanding."

[ten_zero]

"I haven't spent a lot of time in cities. How does it differ from Keeliai?"

[purrns]

"It's not as big. A cities on Earth go, it's pretty small. But it's really pretty. There are a lot of amazing, old buildings and monuments there."

He pauses, considers, then brightens, pulling out his phone.

"Actually, I think I have some pictures if you like."

[ten_zero]

"Oh, pictures sound great!" She did her best to move the chair closer and lean in.

Which she immediately turned more red doing.

[purrns]

Which, of course, Adrien manages not to notice at all. Instead, he starts flicking through photos of his phone, showing various Parisian landmarks as he does so. Of course, most of these aren't just the monument itself- these are things he sees every day after all. A lot of them are in the background, with various people posing in front of them. There are a few faces that make more appearances than the others.

"Okay, so that's the Eiffel Tower, it's our most famous landmark, "he narrates with a great deal of excitement and love for showing off his home. "Oh oh, this big glass pyramid is the entrance to the Louvre. It's a museum, lots of art there. And this is Notre Dame de Paris, right by the river. It's called La Seine...uh, the river, that is."

[ten_zero]

Bisi smiled as he went on. There were very pretty structures there- such a different aesthetic approach than the Orokin.

"Is one of those your friend that is a superhero expert?"