[OPEN] Blue Dragon goes to town

[maskeddragon]

Who: Shin-ah and you!
What: Shin-ah exploring the Near Shore and experiencing massive technology shock
Where: The streets and a subway at The Near Shore.
When: May 11th
Warnings: Nothing right now.


[Shin-ah has done an awful lot of sticking close to his god ever since he arrived, and maybe because of that, he hasn't explored much. This seems like a problem, because there are all kinds of curious places and things that don't resemble anything he thinks he knows.

So today, he ventures out to The Near Shore to learn more about all of these new curiosities. As a tall guy in a skull mask, it's perhaps a good thing that most residents don't even really notice him.]


A) Smile: you're on camera!
[The residents aren't noticing him much, but the security cameras are. And as he walks into the view of one with a live display mounted to the wall, Shin-ah freezes and looks warily at the monitor.

Why is he on the wall.

He turns to walk closer—and the figure on the wall moves too! This is legitimately the most disturbing thing he's ever seen, and with his eyes, he's seen a lot, he's quite sure. Like a perfect reflection. Shin-ah squints at the wall, and suddenly shoots his left arm up. Up it goes too. Right leg out. Same with the wall. Shin-ah frowns deeply and shakes his head at the Shin-ah on the wall frowning deeply and shaking his head right back.

Right, this is war.

Shin-ah draws his sword, intent to put an end to this wicked sorcery...]


B) Subway Stowaway

[The ground had a cavernous hole in the middle of the paving. Shin-ah follows the steps down to a row of short shiny walls with three thick shiny prongs poking into each one. Beyond that is a massive chamber with people and columns and it's loud. And there's something coming, it's gigantic and going so fast and there's a single light shining from the front of it. It's full of people.

It slows and stops, and many people get off. Many different people then get on. Then it leaves again. What...just happened? It takes some fighting, but Shin-ah manages to get past the pronged monsters and joins the throngs of people at the platform, wanting a closer look at what's going on as another one approaches and stops at the station like the last one.

He didn't mean to get eaten by it.

But the crowd was tight, and Shin-ah found himself swept along with them as though trapped in a river current. The door shuts, and he panics a little—this is scary! It's loud, it's packed, he doesn't know what it is or where it's going. He looks around the crowd with an expression of clear distress.

Help?]

Comments

B

[razzledazzles]

[Ah, Shin-ah is out on the move today? That's surprising. What's more surprising is that he seems to be alone. Zeno's presence is off somewhere else, and that just means it's the perfect chance to harass him alone! Er, that is, to learn about what he can without the knowledge of a god getting in the way.

He's so quick, even through the crowds, that Shin-ah might not notice his presence until it's so close that it almost disappears. He's good at navigating crowds, and he's seen this underground bus before! So, here, he steps up from behind his dragon brother and places a comforting hand on his back.]

I didn't expect to see you here, Shin-ah. [Nevermind that he tracked him down on purpose. He holds out his free hand for Shin-ah to take, so that when this subway starts up he doesn't startle and fall over.] Is everything alright?

[maskeddragon]

[Shin-ah knows that voice!!!

It's just as well that he isn't one for many words, because there probably really aren't any for the kind of relief it is to hear that voice, and then realize that indeed, Green felt very close.

Never mind that hand. Shin-ah goes for a full-body hug around Jae-ha's middle and just. Clings.

Save him.]

[razzledazzles]

[Oh. Suddenly this large guy is attached to his middle. Jae-Ha laughs lightly in his surprise, moving that hand to wrap around his back in both a comforting motion and also a hold for when they start moving. His other arm reaches up to grab something to hold onto.]

Ah, Shin-ah, hello. [So close.] You wandered on here by accident?

[maskeddragon]

[Shin-ah nods vigorously at that.

And the fact that Jae-Ha doesn't seem alarmed is calming him rather quickly. He trusts Jae-Ha's sense of danger, and so after another few seconds, comes out of that two-armed bear hug.]

What is this?

A

[royaltyloyalty]

[If Doku had any hesitation in believing the Far Shore beings are mostly invisible to the Near Shore mortals, this has thrown all of it right out the window - and almost into a storefront display, apparently.

He jogs up near the very oddly dressed person and holds up a hand, preparing to press down on the handle end of the sword.]

Oi, oi- What's going wrong here, huh?

[He's now in casual human attire - shirt + jacket combo and jeans - with a flat cap that mostly hides the tips of his ears.]

[maskeddragon]

[Shin-ah stops when someone approaches, not wanting an innocent to become caught in the middle of this duel. The impostor is decent enough to wait as well.

At the question, Shin-ah issues a hard point at the image of himself, as though this explains everything.]

[royaltyloyalty]

Ah...

[Yeah he's immediately confused. At least the guy has stopped.

He looks over at the screen. He doesn't know the intricacies of the technology, but he recognizes a mirror image when he sees one.]

Yeah. It's a mirror. Or maybe a TV. Like a Security monitoring camera.

[But if the guy's attire tells him anything - and the fact that no one's stopping to stare - that's part of the problem. Doesn't he know what a mirror looks like...?]

A

[savemeomi]

[ One thing Ouka really misses about being alive is shopping. Today, she's just exploring shops and doing some window shopping. It's nice to be inside high end stores. There's something about them... the feel of the materials, the display, even the smell. They're just so--

She walks past one set of doors and freezes. ]

Hey!

[ What is that guy even doing...

Don't you dare destroy one of her favorite stores, though!! ]

[maskeddragon]

[That's strange. Most people don't notice them, right? But that voice makes him freeze, because he's pretty sure it's directed at him. After verifying that the other seems to have warily paused as well, Shin-ah turns to look in the direction of the voice.

What...]

[savemeomi]

[ Hello? She's talking to you!!!

The strange man seems to have at least paused, though he hasn't lowered his sword yet. So Ouka takes a few steps toward him until she's only an inch or two outside of range of his weapon. ]

What do you think you're doing with that?!

[ Don't make her come closer. ]

A 1/2 sorry not sorry

[eternalshield]

[Oh, oh, Blue Dragon is doing a little dance for us, that looks like f--]

Eh?

[Oh. He isn't dancing anymore. He appears to be... drawing his sword and...

Zeno looks both ways. Technically Blue Dragon is dead, and the living don't typically have much awareness of the dead (or spiritual beings, gods like himself). His own wanderings haven't brought him to see anything that would require a sword, but... well, he trusts the Blue Dragon's threat assessment, if not necessarily his judgment.]

2/2 def not sorry

[eternalshield]

Yay, Blue Dragon!

[This is your one-dragon cheering section.]

Show 'em what for!

/is not sorry back

[maskeddragon]

[The fact that other-him has drawn a sword as well is alarming. Honestly, Shin-ah isn't sure what to make of this. It's both real and not real. He can see that there isn't really another person there, and he can also see the illusion of one. And it frightens him, as though he's facing a genuine phantom. How does one beat what's not really there?

He has support, though. He hears it, and he feels Yellow's closeness. And it's the most curious thing, but just having the reassurance of Zeno closer is enough to dispel some of that fear. He thinks for a moment, then returns his sword to rest. More cautiously, he steps in, slowly reaching a hand out as the other reaches one as well...

And then the reflected image's hand disappears. Just like that. There's a sharp horizontal line at the forearm and it just stops there. His own hand is still there. The other hand still isn't. He draws back-- and watches the other hand just seem to grow right back to where it should be. Reaching forward, and it vanishes again.

And so what follows is Shin-ah in an exercise of discovery, watching in confusion and wonder as he moves his hand closer to and further from the wall, and the hand that should be doing the exact same thing is, in this case, instead disappearing and reappearing in perfect time.

Then he gives up on this mystery and turns, summoning Zeno over with a point to the point of sidewalk next to him. He needs to see this up close for himself.

Unbeknownst to Shin-ah, the camera is still capturing what it sees. His arm is simply moving beyond its range as it gets too close to the screen.]

B

[shockshot]

[She had been thinking about doing some exploring, just to see if she could find some grocery stores in the area, and clothing stores for her god. And too, she kind of wanted to ride the subway because she could. It was kind of neat!

But seeing someone-another, who she didn't know if he was shinki or god-clearly in distress-she couldn't just sit back and enjoy it. She waded through the crowd, still as tiny as ever, but waved her hand as she came close up.]

Here! Hold my hand. Are you lost?

[She was smiling, though she was worried for him. Poor Shin-Ah, the Near Shore was an overwhelming place.]

[maskeddragon]

[Shin-ah doesn't know who this person is, but she seems nice, and she seems to not be afraid, which means maybe he doesn't need to be afraid too. And it's startling just how meaningful that gesture is to him, reaching out with that easy kindness. It makes his chest hurt a little.

Carefully, he reaches out and takes the offered hand. It's warm, like his own. Lost may not be exactly it, but there's a thin line between being lost and being confused. So rather than answer the question directly, he clarifies.]

What is this...?

[shockshot]

It's an underground transport. It helps people get from place to place faster then on foot.

[She saw someone who needed kindness, so she offered. And someone who needed to understand what was going on. Being a shinki, she'd been struggling to understand so much-like the music and the flat televisions and the online network.

No reason to patronize him for not understanding. Instead, she curls her fingers around his own, so he might feel a little support.]

But we can call it a subway.

A!

[hackberrydragon]

[ Why do the strangest things always happen to him when he's out shopping for parts?

Leave it to Eno to walk by with a small bag of spare computer parts. He's taken to collecting them for some reason, like a magpie. As he walks past one electronics store, he pauses just in time to catch sight of this... stranger... about to draw his sword.

Judging by the fact that no one seems to notice what he's doing, this guy's probably one of them.

So he's just going to rush over, attempting to get between this guy and -- well... attempting to get in front of this guy and his sword. ]

E... excuse me! Don't draw your sword!

[maskeddragon]

[Shin-ah abruptly stops when someone appears in front of him, as he certainly doesn't want to hurt anyone. It's a somewhat confusing order, but for now, he'll listen, and lets his sword go back to rest against his back.

But the illusion on the wall still makes him rather uncomfortable. He points to it, wanting to know why this is an okay thing.]

[hackberrydragon]

[ Well that's a relief. He deflates slightly, his shoulders slumping as the sword goes back against the man's back.

When he points at the screen though, it takes Eno a half second to make the connection. A man of few words, huh? ]

I... it's okay! It's just a monitor! They're connected to the camera over there.

[ And pointing out that camera now. ]

I'm... guessing you've never seen a camera before.

A

[papas_bunnydoll]

[Most people watching, or rather those who would be watching if they could see them, are likely shocked to see someone draw a sword in the middle of the sidewalk. Tot's not most people, though. This is actually pretty funny as far as she's concerned.

Shin-ah will hear her laughter before her image joins his on the monitor. Both girls waving at each other.]

You should put that up before someone gets hurt.

[maskeddragon]

[Laughter. That isn't a sound that belongs with a threat, and it leaves Shin-ah awkwardly frozen in place with the sword raised for a strike as the girl approaches and waves. And, true to form, she obtains a double on the illusion wall.

He doesn't want anyone hurt, of course. He just wants to take care of whatever that thing is that's trying to fool people with fake copies of themselves. Why doesn't she seem to mind it, though? She's looking straight at it same as him, isn't she?

He doesn't act with his sword for now, instead directing her attention to the offending object with a point.]

That piece of the wall is deceiving people.

[papas_bunnydoll]

[She turns her head looking at the man completely puzzled.]

It's not deceiving you, it's recording you. Don't you know what a television is?

[She looks at the window for a little bit and then points once she finds the camera that was being used to monitor them.]

See, there. That takes your picture and transmits it to the screens. So, there's you and there's Tot. [She points at their images as she says this.]

smile!

[bon_bon]

[ He's just walking, minding his own business. Konzen doesn't teleport unless he absolutely has to. Something about disappearing and reappearing that bothers him a little bit, in light of recent events.

In any case, he's walking along at a clipped pace, as he's got groceries in his hands and he'd like to get back to the temple to make dinner for the kids. But then he sees something very odd just ahead of him. A kid in a mask, it's kind of hard to miss. He's staring at a screen in the electronics shop. And then without warning, he whips out a sword. ]

Shit!

[ Konzen staggers back, even though the sword isn't aimed at his direction. It looks pretty lethal. ]

Oi! Put that thing away! You're gonna hurt someone!

[maskeddragon]

[Shin-ah doesn't want to hurt anyone, but he doesn't think he will, either. He isn't planning to strike at people. Still, keeping his guard up at the phantom of himself on the wall, he looks over his shoulder at the protester.

For now, he's neither proceeding nor backing down, and not offering any explanations. He's waiting to see what this person is doing next.]

[bon_bon]

[ Konzen can appease him, if it's animosity or aggression that the boy directs toward him. Somehow, it's not quite what it is, though. He seems more wary than hostile. ]

You're from the Far Shore, aren't you? It's all right, these people can't see you.