(Day 1 EA) Curious Curiosities (Expecting)

[Naila Drooten]

Snip

Naila picks up a ladle that starts barking at her and then quickly sets it back on the shelf.

"Allergies? Quite a few, mostly plant based. Frankly I think the wilds were a mistake. But at least they're easier to avoid in the Cage."
Although curse ever berk who tried to cut through a park to get away.

"When you say yet...do you know roughly how old you are? I know it's another personal question, but I can present my own age and other personal facts if doing so would make you more comfortable."

[Bob]

"No worries but I'm not really sure to be honest. I've been truly aware for about five years now. There was a time before that but, understandably, I don't know truly how long it was. Could have been years or could have been centuries." Another shimmy to emulate a humanoid shrug, or so Bob hopes.

"I assume the allergies aren't fatal if you're here now. How would you say they were in terms of suffering?"

[Naila Drooten]

Snip

"So 5 years of consciousness, but an indefinite time before that...how would you describe your relative level of maturity? Do you feel the need to establish your identity by pushing back against authority? Do you feel like you're finding yourself at college? Does the idea of a quiet night in with a book sound more attractive than partying?"

She starts rummaging through a display of 'very slightly enchanted whisks' wondering if rust counted as an enchantment.

"In terms of suffering? Assuming a wholly rational scale of 1-10 instead of the frankly deranged 10-10 or 5-5 system many people use, I would say a 4-6 depending on length of exposure and the particular plant. Considerable but not debilitating discomfort, like watching one of those plays set in a dramatic universe."

[Bob]

The benefit of not having a face is that there is no expression as you try to quickly process a barrage of questions most of which you had never bothered to think of before.

"Relative? I guess I seem to measure up to the adult specimens of most species I've met so far at least in terms of judgement and thought. Playing catch up in the realm of experience but I seem to be making good headway. Authority? I wouldn't say pushing back against it is related to identity. I mean I tried it for awhile to see what it was like, and I can't say I care for it - too limiting, but I don't thumb my nose at it just for the sake of it."

They pause and shake in what one might assume is a laugh, "What a fun idiom 'thumb your nose at it' when I have neither! I wonder when I picked that one up." It extrudes a thicker pseudopod and, with seeming concentration, forms the crudest facsimile of a humanoid face. Truly little more than bumps and divots in, roughly, the appropriate places. A second, thinner one, joins it splitting into five tendrils at the end, eventually remembers to modify the size and shape of the 'thumb', then tries to figure out how exactly one is supposed to thumb their nose.

After a few seconds of this it collapses back into their more liquid form, "Oh, sorry, got distracted there for a moment. I can try that on my own time I suppose." Recalling the topic that had caught their own interest they return to it, "I don't suppose you'd be willing to experience such a reaction at some point where I could share in it, would you? I'm glad to hear it's not lethal... it is very hard to get people to share lethal experiences."

[Naila Drooten]

Snip

"Well it certainly sounds like you're post adolescent and at adult maturity, probably more mature than a good number of the local factions."
Naila watches the crude face and hand appear then collapse down into the greater Bob, her mouth was half open to follow her original line of questioning before she pauses.

"-Wait, share experiences with you? How does that work?"

She tries thinking for a moment. Concentrating on Bob with her mind and asking him if he was psychic.

[Bob]

If the blob was psychic it was apparently non-receptive. Given their overall openness it likely just isn't such a being.

There's a moment where, were she the psychic one, she would observe Bob trying to find the right words for something they simply... did.

"I can sort of... link? Yeah I guess that's a good enough word. I can sort of link with someone. If I touch them, and they're willing, I can use their senses for a bit and experience what they're experiencing. Just physically. I can't get inside your head and pry out all your secrets or anything like that. Though I guess if I was they type who could and would do that I'd say I couldn't...."

[Naila Drooten]

If the blob was psychic it was apparently non-receptive. Given their overall openness it likely just isn't such a being.

There's a moment where, were she the psychic one, she would observe Bob trying to find the right words for something they simply... did.

"I can sort of... link? Yeah I guess that's a good enough word. I can sort of link with someone. If I touch them, and they're willing, I can use their senses for a bit and experience what they're experiencing. Just physically. I can't get inside your head and pry out all your secrets or anything like that. Though I guess if I was they type who could and would do that I'd say I couldn't...."

"Well I'm pretty good at reading people and sapients more generally."
Naila cocks her head for a moment, regarding them.

"So if you give me your word it won't result in you consuming my brain or the like I'd be interested to try it. How long does it last for?"

[Bob]

"As long as I focus on it. I'm not sure if there is an upper limit... other than eventually needing to sleep I guess. Usually I just do a few minutes unless the experience itself requires longer. I've managed up to a few hours before but that's a rare occasion."

[Naila Drooten]

"As long as I focus on it. I'm not sure if there is an upper limit... other than eventually needing to sleep I guess. Usually I just do a few minutes unless the experience itself requires longer. I've managed up to a few hours before but that's a rare occasion."

"Intriguing. So do they carry you around as they go about it? I'm trying to think of practical applications but they seem limited. You know, the Sensates wold probably be fascinated by just this sort of thing."

[Bob]

"Ah, right." The issues of trying to explain things that are second nature to oneself, "Touch is required to create the connection but not to maintain it once it's established. So no continuous contact, nor carrying, required unless experiencing their sensation of my touch was the intended goal." At the mention of the Sensates there was another bobbing 'nod', "They do indeed. We found mutual benefit early in my arrival in the city."