I12DT: Machine Were Men and Men Were Lions

by **Mallory Davis** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 6:30 pm

"An errant thought stole it away under her cloak." she says, moving one of her own pieces in response.

by **Narrator** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 6:39 pm

"Wrong," Jack says, "I have it in my pocket."

Jack reaches into his coat and takes out a quarter. The sides have been rubbed smooth by a stone or something similar.

by **Mallory Davis** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 6:43 pm

"Curious. How did you get it?"

by **Narrator** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 6:49 pm

"I stole it a long time ago," Jack says, "I cut it out of the sky with a dagger made from the bones of a nightmare."

by **Samantha McManus** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 6:53 pm

A flock of ravens was headed over the buildings and trees, towards the park.

by **Mallory Davis** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 6:59 pm

"Aah and there's my acquaintance now." she says, craning her neck at the flock of birds.

by **Narrator** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 7:35 pm

"A long time ago, we used to be friends," Jack mumbles, paying the ravens no mind.

by **Samantha McManus** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 7:45 pm

The flock dipped down among the trees, and shortly thereafter a woman with red hair and a dress made of black feathers stepped out towards them.

by **Narrator** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 7:48 pm

"Hello," Jack says to Sam, "Is this a party? I'm sorry. I don't have a speech prepared."

by **Mallory Davis** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 7:50 pm

"That's quite alright."

Turning to Sam but not really lowering her voice in anyway she says "That's him. I'm not sure why but someone has messed with his head something fierce."

by **Samantha McManus** » Wed Jul 24, 2013 12:37 pm

"What did you find?" She said, looking to the man.

by **Mallory Davis** » Wed Jul 24, 2013 12:54 pm

"I'm not sure. His thoughts are surprisingly guarded. But I could tell that almost everything I could get a glimpse of was fabricated and connected without rhyme or reason."

by **Narrator** » Wed Jul 24, 2013 3:24 pm

"I'm not crazy," Jack says, firmly, "I'm not."

He struggles for a moment, "...It was a Hallow's Eve moon. There was a great man in the sky. Were you there? Did you see him?"

by **Mallory Davis** » Wed Jul 24, 2013 5:40 pm

Mallory just gives a slight shrug at that, looking to Sam.

by **Samantha McManus** » Wed Jul 24, 2013 5:50 pm

"None of them related, none of them real, so he just... pushes them together, to see what fits. It never does, does it?"

by **Mallory Davis** » Wed Jul 24, 2013 5:52 pm

"Who knows. I didn't want to force my way in and play jigsaw puzzles."

by **Narrator** » Wed Jul 24, 2013 6:55 pm

"Of course not," Jack says, "The kitten plays chess. It's all feints and false openings."

by **Samantha McManus** » Wed Jul 24, 2013 6:59 pm

"Sometimes you almost make sense," Samantha said.

by **Narrator** » Wed Jul 24, 2013 8:06 pm

"Sometimes you're someone else," Jack says, locking eyes for a moment with Sam. His eyes are the color of ice over a rock.

by **Samantha McManus** » Wed Jul 24, 2013 8:20 pm

"I'm always myself, no matter what face I wear."

The unseen flock crowded around the man as she prepared to make contact.

by **Mallory Davis** » Wed Jul 24, 2013 8:27 pm

"He's not exactly all the way there, even when he gets something right." Mal points out, watching curiously as the birds descent towards the man.

by **Narrator** » Wed Jul 24, 2013 9:24 pm

As Sam made contact, she would find herself in the same maze that Mallory had been. A series of interlocking false memories that never seemed to go anywhere in particular.

by **Samantha McManus** » Thu Jul 25, 2013 12:48 pm

As the headmistress was someone who was more than a little familiar with having a mind like a labyrinth, the flock split up at this point, going in as many directions as she possibly could, sorting through the false memories.

by **Narrator** » Thu Jul 25, 2013 1:52 pm

Splitting up might have been a bad idea. There was something in the maze of memories, a golden figure with two faces, who seemed to not take the intrusion lightly. He was hunting the birds, destroying any that he managed to come upon with a grim determination.

by **Samantha McManus** » Thu Jul 25, 2013 1:59 pm

Once the presence was realized, she used it as her point of reference for navigating the man's mind, bringing gathering the flock closer together, and circling around as she tried to analyze it.

by **Narrator** » Thu Jul 25, 2013 2:41 pm

It was a bearded, two-faced figure holding a golden scepter. Sam could sense an enormous amount of power radiating from the figure. Unfortunately, that power was making it difficult to get a proper read on the thing.

It wasn't quite an avatar, but it also wasn't apart from the man. It had the same "feel" as the mental maze. A sense of falseness or purposeful construction.

by **Samantha McManus** » Thu Jul 25, 2013 2:43 pm

"I'm not here to harm him," she sent from multiple angles in the flock, to keep it from homing in on her.

"Are you?"

by **Narrator** » Thu Jul 25, 2013 2:48 pm

We guard what is not yours.

Leave. There is nothing for you here.

by **Samantha McManus** » Thu Jul 25, 2013 3:43 pm

"He shouldn't have to live like this."

by **Narrator** » Thu Jul 25, 2013 4:13 pm

That is his choice. Not yours.

by **Samantha McManus** » Thu Jul 25, 2013 4:25 pm

"He chooses this? These hundreds of lies?"

by **Narrator** » Thu Jul 25, 2013 4:51 pm

He chooses security. Thieves are caught in the labyrinth and what belongs to him can never be stolen.

Perhaps a bit paranoid, but...well...here you are.

by **Samantha McManus** » Thu Jul 25, 2013 4:53 pm

"I saw a man who had been nigh-irreparably harmed."

by **Narrator** » Thu Jul 25, 2013 4:57 pm

As you say.

Sam was reaching the limit of the constructs capabilities for discourse. It wasn't designed for complex ethical discussions.

by **Samantha McManus** » Thu Jul 25, 2013 7:06 pm

"I wonder, do you know what made you?"

by **Narrator** » Thu Jul 25, 2013 7:11 pm

Not what. Who. I was created by Janus, to protect him from his enemies.

by **Samantha McManus** » Thu Jul 25, 2013 7:14 pm

"Suppose I should have expected that..."

by **Narrator** » Thu Jul 25, 2013 9:04 pm

Meanwhile, in the real world, Jack had begun muttering to himself.

"Metal hearts and metal minds."

by **Mallory Davis** » Thu Jul 25, 2013 10:28 pm

"Where did you see a metal heart?" Mallory asks almost absentmindedly, having focused more on the mental exchange happening.

by **Narrator** » Thu Jul 25, 2013 10:45 pm

"An untested squire, ages ago..."

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