redshiftrp | video; @Qubit

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video; @Qubit

[ Though Qubit generally prefers text, he's found that for whatever reason, people seem to think he's more sincere when he uses video. So he goes with that - you only get one first impression. ]

Good morning, Anchor. You may have noticed a grocery store, of all things, has appeared just outside the main airlock... Ah. I'm Qubit, by the way, should have led with that. Anyways, I've taken the liberty of scouting the place out, and I have good news and bad news.

Good news - near as I can tell, the food's still fresh. Bad news - that's more than I can say for the customers. If you do go, don't go alone, and be ready to defend yourself. It turns out the place has a bit of an undead problem.

[ He shrugs, as if to say "because of course it does." ]

On the plus side, the radiation levels are rather lower than I expected. I'd still recommend suiting up if you can, but you should be all right provided you don't - aah!!

[ As he was talking, something whirred in the background, and now a laser bolt hits the wall not a foot from his head. Startled, he drops the comm, but his voice can be heard receding in the background. ]

Son of a bi- [ the feed ends. ]

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[ Qubit sticks to the plan, baiting the shamblers into the traps with renewed optimism. Yes, yes, excellent work! That allows them to wrap things up quickly and tidily, and with Carlisle not much worse for wear.

It's so satisfying when a plan comes together! Why, it's almost enough to make him forget that Carlisle sicced the damn things on him in the first place. (Almost.)

So that leaves just the one, flailing ineffectually in a puddle of vinegar with his bottom half trapped under the fallen shelving. Easy pickings, fish in a barrel. But he's got a better idea... ]

Actually... come with me.

[ He approaches the final zombie, motioning for Carlisle to follow, and scoping out the area as they go. It seems they've handily cleared out the front of the store with that little stunt, at least. He can see some milling about at the far end of the aisles, but they haven't noticed the commotion up here. Perfect. He stops a few feet outside its reach, turning to Carlisle. ]

Care for a little experiment?

[Carlisle gives Qubit a quizzical look, but does as he's told, a little relieved that he may not be stomping in another husk's skull. He gives the zombie a disgusted look as they approach, the fellow thoroughly pinned beneath the shelves and bottles. It'd be a piteous sight if it hadn't happened to such an abhorrent creature.

Not that Carlisle has much room to talk, much to his chagrin. His eyes go from the pinned undead to his companion, wondering where he's going with this. At least they aren't arguing anymore, and Qubit isn't accusing him of... well.]

I suppose it depends on what said experiment is and what it entails.

Edited 2019-09-22 01:14 (UTC)

Well, you said you're imperceptible to them, correct? But I'm not so sure. That last batch was definitely responding to you in some way.

[ And he's got a hypothesis: that Carlisle has some sort of unconscious influence over them, and further, that it's tied to his emotional state. Actually divulging that hypothesis at this point, though, would taint the experiment. On the plus side, this is a much more controlled setting: a single zombie, immobilized, and they've already eliminated whatever others would fall within his sphere of influence. They'll have no better opportunity to try this.

The simplest test: nothing more than replicating a previous observation. Which, in layman's terms, means he'll need to provoke Carlisle again. And he knows exactly what'll do it. ]

I could be wrong, but I assume it's got something to do with your undead state.

[ Which is part of his hypothesis, true, but also possibly the least diplomatic way he could have worded it. ]

[Carlisle doesn't like the notion that the undead were responding to him, especially as a man who has never managed to get a purposeful response out of an undead in his life. It's one of the few perks of his affliction, and something that ended up aiding him in his work, both with the church and for hire. It took him far too long to figure out that the best way for him to live up to his family's lineage was to deal with the shamblers that plagued the region himself, just as they would have done. The key difference between someone like himself and his uncles was that he could get close to the undead without provoking them. He didn't need evocation magic or a weapon when he was practically invisible to them. It made his work easy -- almost trivial.

Well, it's not trivial now, and neither is the way Qubit addresses him. True as it may be, he feels his hackles rise immediately, the bait taken wholesale.]

And here I thought we may have more pressing matters than circling back to your insults. I am a cleric, I have an affliction, and you should leave well enough alone.

[ Qubit tilts his head upward, staring derisively down his nose at him. He's hooked; now to reel him in. ]

Leave well enough alone? Your "affliction" has been endangering this mission, and my safety, since the very moment we walked in here. You know this, yet you stubbornly keep refusing to admit it!

[ He is, however, keeping half an eye on how the zombie responds. ]

My affliction is none of your business! And I even warned you about it! If anyone is endangering us, it's you just by being here, since you're the one they're interested in.

[Carlisle's tone has fire behind it, and that flame seems stoked in the undead on the floor, who is suddenly filled with more vigor than he had a moment prior. He tries to pull himself out from the shelving, spittle flying as he hisses, but only manages to displace a few of the bottles around him in a vaguely threatening manner. He's not as aggressive as the ones that had come running after them, but he's certainly trying.]

[ Well, now, that's interesting. It was already aggro'd, of course, but the angrier Carlisle gets, the more energy this fellow has, too.

Should he keep pushing it? Even if the complaints he's raising are things that genuinely irritated him, he's not really as upset as he's acting, and he doesn't by any means dislike Carlisle. He feels kind of bad needling him like this for the sake of an experiment.

... Okay. Just a bit more, then he'll call it off. ]

Oh, please. You'd never have made it over here without me.

Right. I'd have never 'made it over here without you' because without you, I wouldn't be out here in the first place.

[On the floor, the zombie keeps hissing and writhing, making more of a mess as it pushes the bottles around -- and also noise, enough that it draws Carlisle's attention. Undeads interrupted their first argument, and now Qubit has the gall to accuse him of endangering them -- which he did by knocking over the walnut stand, but that has nothing to do with his current state or what he was and they are not talking about this. They're arguing again, only for another zombie to be making a racket. Carlisle growls himself, roaring at the trapped shambler as he fails to stifle his rising temper.]

Oh, would you be quiet!

[And with that, he kicks a bottle that rolled close to his foot in the trapped zombie's direction, but rather that alleviating some of his anger by watching the vinegar slam into the undead's rotten face, all he ends up doing is sending the container spinning across the floor, injuring his own toe in the process. The radiation suit and his boots beneath do nothing to insulate his frame; he lets out a yelp (and four or five colloquial swears), grabbing at his foot to soothe the dull ache.

Whether or not that, too, affects the zombie goes unseen, as his lower half is hidden by the shelving; his only reaction is a visible twitch.]

[ Which is too bad, a zombie trying to hop on one foot would have been hilarious. Oh well.

As if flipping a switch, Qubit abruptly drops the argument completely - along with all pretense of being angry - and shifts his focus to the zombie, crouching to get a better look at it. SCIENCE: ON. ]

Just as I thought. It's your anger, Carlisle. That's what they were reacting to!

[Qubit goes into science mode; meanwhile, the zombie is still furiously trying to grab him, his fingers oozing as they press against the tiled floor, the skin at his back ripping as he literally tears himself apart to try to reach his prey. As far Carlisle, he's still angry, now with a dash of confused and incredulous.]

I'm sorry, what?

[ Ha ha! Wow, that's disgusting. And yet fascinating. Like a train wreck, but with zombies! Which I guess is just the plot of Resident Evil 0. ]

Look at this. It's taking itself to pieces trying to get to me. I've never seen one so aggressive...!

[ He leans in a hair closer than he should, and a swipe of those oozing fingers misses him by like two inches, making him jump. And then scoot back a skosh. ]

[Qubit scoots back, and Carlisle takes a step forward, putting a foot between his companion and the undead. He's doing his best not to focus on the organs starting to leak from the undead's side, and thinking about how much worse that is than the rotting brain matter still clinging to his boot.

What is definitely the worst is where the conclusion of this experiment seems to be leading. Fear starts ebbing into the former clergyman's tone.]

Of course it's aggressive! It's an undead! They are mindless, feral creatures of endless hunger, and you're dangling yourself in front of it like a scrap of meat!

[ For a moment, Qubit studies Carlisle, surprised. Just now, he sounded... afraid? Not of the zombie itself, surely - he's in no danger from them. Was it something he said? ... One of the several somethings he said, deliberately, with intent to offend?

No, wait. That's it. They've hit upon the crux of the matter. It's that an undead is, rather than has.

Their very existence is an abomination to his goddess. A goddess he's devoted his life to, and under whose teachings he has a sacred duty to annihilate them. It's not like Reynir's conception of them, as unfortunate souls that couldn't find their way to the afterlife, nor like the victims of the Jackson plague, their skeletonized bodies reanimated by an alien virus.

They aren't afflicted. And as a corollary, whatever Carlisle's mystery affliction is, it isn't undeath.

Not that he thinks he's wrong about Carlisle being undead, necessarily - most damningly, Carlisle himself hasn't explicitly denied it. But he no longer thinks that's all that's going on with him. ]

... Of course.

[ Qubit stands and backs off by a couple of meters, adjusting his radiation suit. ]

Carlisle, I ... I apologize. Truthfully, I was just trying to get a reaction out of you. But I clearly crossed some lines. [ He straightens up, resting a hand on his hip. ] I assumed the affliction you referred to was nothing more than a euphemism for undeath. But that isn't the case, is it?

[The apology takes Carlisle by surprise, his own look at first defensive, as though waiting for another barb to deny; however, he's met with compassion, and his expression softens. There's still irritation in his brow -- deserved, as he didn't appreciate Qubit's argument or the feelings of conflict that arose in him because of it -- but there is discomfort, too. Guilt as his eyes hit the floor. He doesn't like to discuss his affliction, but he'd rather do that than have Qubit jump to conclusions -- no matter how true said conclusions may ultimately be.]

I am twice-cursed.

[He paws idly at his chest; the radiation suit and his many layers beneath make it hard to feel the holy talisman of his order hanging around his neck, but he knows it's there.]

It is a condition that exists in my world, but- but maybe not in others. It... is complicated to explain, and better saved for safer venues.

[Ones that don't have zombies prowling around them. Speaking of the undead, the one on the floor has definitely calmed down within the last minute or so, no longer struggling against the shelves. At the moment, it lies perfectly still, as though resting.]

... I see. That's not one I'm familiar with, but... I'm sorry.

[ Whatever it is, it sounds incredibly dire. And his reluctance to call it by name speaks volumes. ]

You're right, the full story can wait. But I would be interested in hearing it, if you're willing to tell it.

[ It introduces a whole other set of variables, more than likely. The situation isn't as well-defined or straightforward as Carlisle being a special kind of zombie that can influence other zombies. But the influence itself is strongly evident. Qubit doesn't fail to notice the vinegar zombie's sudden quietude, mirroring Carlisle's, just as it was mirroring his anger only moments before. This just means he can't jump to conclusions about the causation. ]

Well, whatever the reason for it, I'm certain they're reacting to your emotions. Look.

[ He approaches it again, slowly, trying not to make too much noise. But even once he's right where he was originally - possibly even a little closer - the zombie doesn't react at all. Qubit waves his hand cautiously in front of the creature's eyes, and still - nothing. ]

[Carlisle watches as Qubit gets closer -- too close, then dangerously close -- but just as he has been right about so many things, so too is he right about this. The zombie, once frothing at the mouth and tearing himself apart to reach his prey, is now remarkably docile. He doesn't react when Qubit waves his hand in front of his face, and when he finally does move, it's away, using his ruined hands in a barely coordinated effort to push himself back into the shelving pinning him down, as though to hide there.

And that just about mirrors Carlisle's own reaction: he steps back stiffly, his glowing eyes affixed on the other undead, his brow knitted with trepidation.]

I... I was endangering you. Cisth, I- I didn't mean it. I didn't know, I- I didn't know. Why are they doing that?

[ If nothing else, Qubit doesn't seem too bitter about the whole endangerment thing. Look, he's repeatedly had to work with people who did actively want him dead; a little unwitting endangerment is small potatoes by comparison. ]

I don't know. Could be any number of mechanisms, and with magic involved, your guess is probably better than mine. We'd need further testing to be sure.

[ Which they could get started on now, if he's up to it... ]

[Qubit might be nonplussed by this turn of events, but Carlisle is doing his damnedest to not look as utterly horrified as he absolutely is. Though he's the one who was asking, he has a suspicion on just why it is the undead are listening to him, influenced by his very mood. He had the ability to compel the living before, a "gift" from his curse; when agitated, his grasp over it would slip, letting it affect those around him. Why would he not have it now?

His control over his affliction worsened over the years, leading him to seclude himself more and more -- better that than to wrest someone's free will from them by accident. The main difference here is that he was never able to compel the undead before, and certainly not with such relative ease. He used to have to command people verbally, anything passive occurring only in times of peril. Yet even now, his current fears are manifesting in the zombie on the floor, just as it had in all the ones around when he'd been so angry. They turned on Qubit because he was furious, all because of an accusation that was technically true.

But he'd never felt his grasp over his abilities slip. He'd always been able to feel the pull of his own aural influence before. Can he only control the dead now? Are the living also affected? Qubit didn't seem to be, but that doesn't rule out the possibility entirely. This does require further testing, no matter how terrified of his full potential he may be. The Blight Heir managed to bring an entire region to ruin all on his own. Who knows what Carlisle, in full control of himself, could do if he wanted?

He shifts uncomfortably.]

Right. I... I suppose I would prefer knowing the extent of this, um. Effect. Even if I do not yet know the exact cause.

[ HANDWAVED: They do a few further tests and discover that yes, Carlisle can also control the zombies intentionally, "to his absolute chagrin." They take out a few more zombies before calling it a day. ]

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