DUNGEON LOG: KEYSTONE REEF

[phantasmods]

Expedition day dawns, as usual, with an android mass text -

Okay, so, this time we're aiming to go out and stabilize the Fissure in the reef you can see up a little to the north of here. The waters are usually pretty calm this time of year, so if you can swim instead of needing to take a boat, that'd be a great help. We only have a few of them.

Also, I know that last time was a mess, so I'm just gonna say this: If you need to get out for any reason, just send us a message and a picture of your location. We'll get a drone out to you as soon as we can and bring you home. No questions asked.

( ﾟ▽ﾟ)/ Stay safe out there! When you're ready to go, meet us down at the beach. The rocky, sparkly one, not the sandy one.

Unlike previous expeditions, this time there's no rooftop sendoff - instead, as Charm noted, the tables are set up on Glitterstone beach, along with a series of boats pulled up on the sand. Two rowboats that could maybe sit six people but probably better suited for four, a trio of inflatable rafts (with motors attached to the back, all mismatched) of about the same size, a two-person dinghy and a long canoe that could hold two or three.

Besides the little fleet, there's also the usual bagged lunches (in gallon ziplocs this time, and other such watertight containers), and every boat is equipped with a large number of those chepa dollar-store water bottles, all with their airtight store seals. There's also a selection of life vests and other floatation thingies in a box next to the table. Strange hovers over the setup, checking watertightness of a handful of first aid kits with a spritzer and a bucket to submerge things in. They give a little wave to anyone passing by headed to the boats.

For those who opt instead to swim, everything seems perfectly normal until you reach the border of the Fissure... When, very suddenly, it isn't.

Comments

[founderinglight]

We're identical, so you're stupid too.

[myocordial]

Limited. Human. Perspective.

You just can't appreciate all the differences, you look alike and immediately think "ohhh, we're identical, there's no difference, it's just the saaaame!" when there are so many things that aren't the same? God, humans can be so stupid, no appreciation for nuance whatsoever.

[founderinglight]

Insofar as anyone can tell, my physical appearance is literally based off the one he had for the two thousand years prior to meeting you, because I was in the ring without a body for so long I forgot what those subtle differences were.

It's not my fault he went off and aged a year without me.

[myocordial]

It goes beyond the physical, that's the whole thing. You forgot all that, but you're still you and that will always shine through in some ways. Even if they're not obvious to you.

As someone who very literally copies someone else's appearance, I think I'd understand that.

[Wow, look at that... he actually had it together there? Maybe that means the effects are wearing off. Maybe Heart is finally back to norm--]

...And that's why Ardyn is prettier.

[Oh never mind, there it is, it was just a rambling lead up.

Carry on.]

[founderinglight]

...Wait, so there actually is someone who looks like that?

[Sorry he's distracted by the fact that someone just walks around looking like that.]

III.

[theosophomoric]

[Sonja's about at the limit of how deep she can comfortably go, midway down the gap. A bona fide dumbo octopus would be fine going deeper, but apparently there's still enough of the human about her in this form to limit her, tentacles and stabilizing fins notwithstanding. Her night vision is somewhat better than most humans', long-accustomed to the candles and gaslight and bioluminescences of the Neath, but perhaps still not up to the standards of something meant for this abyssal environment.

Which is to say she's really beginning to wish she'd brought a light source.

When she sees the green light in the darkness, she goes still against the wall of the canyon, watching carefully. It's an eerie sight, but if she'd panicked and flailed every time she'd seen a strange light in the dark, she'd never have set foot outside her own lodgings in London.]

[myocordial]

Yes?

[He fails to understand why this is shocking information, because he still doesn't get that people think he's hot.]

I mean, I assume. He should still be. It's been around fifteen-- sixteen... [oh god numbers again, hang on...] Eigh...teen years... since then?

[Oh he is not nearly lucid enough to the math on this.]

[founderinglight]

Fffffffffffuck, I thought you were just made that way. That's not fair.

[myocordial]

No, I was not. We have to actually copy someone's appearance.

Technically, I could look like anyone I felt like.

[founderinglight]

[If Heart is paying attention, Izunia's tentacles, previously a reddish orange shading more red-pink as the high takes effect, are now a deep, vibrant crimson.]

That's not fair. I can't believe someone just looks like that.

[He buries his face in his hands.]

[myocordial]

[????????]

I don't... understand the problem.

That's how appearances work?

[serrata]

Well, I'm guessing you must've floated up here, but...

[ How do you just... not notice that happening? Especially for someone like Heart. If this was Arianna (sorry princess), maybe she'd be less concerned, but having their resident robot boy who's never done anything wrong acting so strangely has her doing a concern. ]

Did you get into some kind of trouble down there? You're not concussed, are you?

[founderinglight]

I like dangerous men and your face is unfair.

[myocordial]

[A quizzical headtilt. Like a confused puppy.]

What? No. That's not a thing that I can be. I think.

...I'm about 95% certain. 90-- 80%.

[a beat.]

I didn't hit my head.

[nojohnyouare]

Fun... Understandable. I haven't done it much for fun. But training the people in Florida... Nice.

[serrata]

We'll all protect each other. That's what we're supposed to do, isn't it?

If you get into any sort of trouble, just call for one of us. I might not be able to do much up here, but you've seen how many of us there are around. We'll be okay, Mai-chan.

[myocordial]

[??????????????????]

I really don't get what's wrong with my face.

[...]

Dangerous?

[serrata]

[ ... ]

Are you absolutely positive?

[nojohnyouare]

...

[Yuuri's been around Mai long enough that she can probably recognize the extremely slight uptick in her facial expression as a smile.]

Okay. And there's probably something above the water, too. Something only you can do. So I believe in you.

[myocordial]

[Give him a second to think. Or like five seconds.]

...Yes.

[At least he sounds confident?]

Yes, I'm very sure of that. I did fight some sharks. But they just bit me a few times.

[founderinglight]

There's absolutely nothing wrong with your face. It's flawless. That's why it's unfair.

[Beat.]

...What?

[myocordial]

I understand less and less the more you talk. I'm not sure that's because of the-- the me being high thing.

[Headtilt. And then he looks oh so very amused.]

You think I'm dangerous, do you?

[founderinglight]

I would have thought that would be obvious.

[myocordial]

Haaaaaah.

Did you think that before you first saw me transform?

[power_of_dominance]

So they overlap in some people, like what's happened to me?

[Soma sighs and shakes his head.]

I have people to apologize to. I know it's not my fault I didn't recognize them, but I still feel bad about it.