Dangerzone High -- an unofficial morbit story

[Lilium Mortem]

Hmm. I expect that whatever happened is extremely gruesome. If you go in there you're going to be filled with terror unlike anything you've experiences yet, I think. But it might be important for you to go in, if you're the protagonist. No judgement either way, I think you'll be fine choosing to either go in or stay out. It will just answer a question about your 'character'. Do you think you can face this? Should you?

[King-Clod]

Take their advice, don't go over. From what your teachers are saying it sounds particularly gruesome.

Maybe talk to Volley, do what you can to calm her down? That'd be something you could do to help without getting to close to the carnage.

[cosmo]

was... was alicorn your friend? i’m so sorry.

[anima]

I'm...

I'm not used to this. None of us are. We've been seeing death for more than a year each now, but we don't ever get used to having the people we care about-- could have cared more about-- taken from us. Alicorn was kind, he didn't deserve this, he should have gotten the chance to wake up-- ah, probably worth mentioning he became comatose a few months after I first met him, so at least it's... possible he didn't feel any pain when he left.

But he still didn't deserve whatever happened to him. I don't think I want to learn about the state his body is in, not right now.

RIJK: Teacher, where's Volley?
TORPEDO: I have no idea, honestly--
TORPEDO(?): She's somewhere safe.

Two... of them. The Torpedo in front of me can't be the Torpedo that called from behind the shredded medical curtain, fighting off the three remaining sligers.

RIJK: Who are you?
TORPEDO(?): I'm Armament. We should probably get this body somewhere safer.
RIJK: I don't want to look--
ARMAMENT: Volley's. Don't worry, she's alive.
RIJK: I... don't understand, but okay.

A hand of thick steel from the proxy before me-- bullet scrap affinity, if I'd have to guess-- grips my forearm and drags me down the hall. The stranger, Armament, seems to be taking me towards student quarters. A million questions run through my mind, but I don't know where to begin with them, and I remain silent.

[King-Clod]

Probably best to stay quiet for now.
Hang in there. I'm sure it'll all be explained soon enough.
Would you like as to give you something pleasant to focus on right now? It seems like we can send images pretty easily, I could send you some of landscapes and stimmy things.

[Lilium Mortem]

I agree with the sentiment of taking your mind off things. take some time to process stuff. I'm willing to answer more questions about home, like we're gearing up for landing people on another planet. already did the moon, we're going back there too.

[anima]

Following your advice, I stay silent, thinking about you aliens and what you've told me about yourselves so far, and let Armament lead me-- towards the dorms, staying on the student level of the winding structure, taking a familiar path-- pulling free Volley's student ID card from somewhere... I let out a nervous noise, against my will.

ARMAMENT: Are you alright?
RIJK: I'm... I'm worried about Volley...
ARMAMENT: She's fine. Panicking, but fine.
RIJK: How can you tell, how do you know--

The proxy shimmers and fades, revealing... Volley? No, not quite-- this Armament could be her twin, if not for the differing pattern of halos. Where Volley's make her resemble an angel type TCP-- you know, the non-Morbit angel ones-- Armament's make him look like...

ARMAMENT: The resemblance is intentional.
RIJK: What?
ARMAMENT: It's a little bit like angel things... It's as if I'm Torpedo from another timeline, only I'm sharing my sister's body instead of keeping my own. I'm used to this by now. I don't remember clearly how many years it's been since I woke up here.
RIJK: What?

What?

Can I even process this? Am I sure what's being said right now? Am I having auditory hallucinations-- no, Moon Logic's scrap side effects are... more clearly puzzles. This isn't trying to tell me anything I can directly understand, there's no pun or riddle here. I just have no idea what's in front of me.

ARMAMENT: I don't know how to make this clearer. I was Torpedo, once, but now I'm not, and Volley and I share a body. We're not the only ones here, mind you, but... I'm taking care of her. She's safe as I can make her, especially in her room. Make yourself comfortable, while you can.
RIJK: I... Okay.

I take a plush of a long fish and idly begin playing with it. Ah-- can any of you explain this?

[Lilium Mortem]

listen, You have aliens talking to you, making you the protagonist of a story. how is this what trips you up? Accept these people share a body and just move on.

[King-Clod]

I'm not sure if I can, really. Maybe it's angel junk?

[anima]

That's a fair point. I've seen weirder than two people sharing a body. I've... Well, I'm thankful it's peaceful, the weird situation I'm in this time. This isn't a scrap ghost aggressively trying to replace another person, or scrap-sensitive plants telepathically begging not to be killed, or anything else like that. It's just that there's two of Torpedo and one lives inside Volley now, and probably has for much longer than I've been aware of it. I'm making a bigger deal of it than I should be.

ARMAMENT: I suppose I'm lucky Judge didn't meet you, instead.
RIJK: Judge?
ARMAMENT: Another of us, who live with Volley. It's technically everyone's body in turn, but as Volley has trouble leaving it to anyone else, we sort of consider it hers.
RIJK: How many of you are there?
ARMAMENT: Let's see... There's myself, Volley, Judge, Moonlight, Konpeitou, View, Extra, and Comrade.
RIJK: Why would it be a bad idea for me to meet Judge?
ARMAMENT: If I'm... somewhere between another version of Torpedo and simply Volley's view of him, then... Judge is the same, but for Bullet. Do you see where I'm going with this?
RIJK: Bullet is fine, I think... But... I don't know him as well as Volley must. He does seem like the type to be... maybe not the best sibling, I'm not sure, I'm not really a good judge of these things--
ARMAMENT: You're right, though.

It's strange to hear Volley's voice, shifted down in pitch as far as someone else's soul can take it, and know it belongs to another person.

ARMAMENT: I... I'll admit I was not the best sibling I could be before coming here-- or even after I did, for that matter. I have been... on occasion avoidant, on occasion overzealous.
ARMAMENT: But I'm trying, now. I'm being... about as good as I can be, I think. I'm keeping Volley safe, and... I suppose my counterpart is too busy keeping everyone else as safe as he can to bother checking on his sister. It's almost funny.
RIJK: I see... How are you helping Volley right now, exactly? I don't doubt you are, I'm just curious...
ARMAMENT: Inside. Within the mind, I can interact with her, and I can look more like myself as I do. I'm holding her close as she cries on me.
RIJK: ...I'm kind of envious. I want to be held... I think I want to cry...
ARMAMENT: That's a natural response to the situation you're in. If you're comfortable with someone who knows more about you than the average stranger doing so, you can--

I crash into the body Armament currently occupies and cry onto his shoulder. He wraps arms around me, hands much more slender than the ones that had gripped me as he'd led me here. I can feel my tears leak out hot onto rubbery skin and soft cloth alike, minutes at a time spent in silence.

ARMAMENT: I'm curious.
RIJK: Hm?
ARMAMENT: You, out there. Our audience.
RIJK: The people behind the pin?
ARMAMENT: Yes, them. The ones you're responsible for.
ARMAMENT: Have you ever heard of something like what I am happening to anyone else before?

[Lilium Mortem]

Well we don't have magic, so take all of this with a grain of salt, might be different for y'all. There's something called Dissociative Identity Disorder, In which someone's mind makes different consciousnesses, for lack of a better term, to cope with trauma, usually childhood trauma if I'm remembering correctly.

There are folks that can have multiple people living inside them naturally, without trauma, but It might be rarer than DID. Collectively they are called Plural and/or a System. Whoever's in control of the body is doing what is called 'fronting', There's apparently some kind of inner world in the mind that's referred to as 'headspace', where System members can take radically different forms and kind of exist in this world when not at the front.

uh, there's a lot more, but I'm not really qualified to talk about it from the top of my head. I could go find like a FAQ or a wiki page or something if you want more info.

[King-Clod]

Why do you ask, anyway?

[anima]

That's... a lot. I take out my sketchbook and immediately begin transcribing your responses.



I hand them to Armament, who reads them over intently.

ARMAMENT: Why do I ask...?
ARMAMENT: Interesting question.
ARMAMENT: I suppose I wanted to feel less alone, and now, knowing this, I do.
RIJK: Hope it helps, I think...

We sit in silence for an extended period of time, with Armament simply thinking of what to say and I holding this very long nice fish plushie.

ARMAMENT: My hold on... fronting... I'm not convinced this applies to me, but the term seems useful in this situation.
ARMAMENT: Anyways, my hold on fronting is slipping.
RIJK: Oh?
ARMAMENT: Prepare to meet Judge, within a few seconds.
ARMAMENT: Any final questions?
RIJK: Why don't you think it applies to you?
ARMAMENT: I don't doubt Volley and the rest of us are a system; she's been through some shit.
ARMAMENT: But I'm still fairly certain I'm from another timeline.
ARMAMENT: I remember the moments I left there and got here, after all.
RIJK: That makes sense. Hold on, I'll see if anyone has anything else.
ARMAMENT: Make it quick, for both our sakes.

[Lilium Mortem]

oh right. uh forgot something applicable to Armament's situation. Hmm... how to put this... I forget the term for it, but like, a fictional character, can split into it's own member, that from their perspective, just started to exist in this person's mind, totally believing their source material is real, and having memories from it. I don't know if that can happen with real people. like people who aren't fictional, but I don't see a reason why It couldn't. 

So like, maybe you aren't from another timeline, and the differences between you and the Bullet you know are because of what Volley thought of Bullet, their image of that person in their mind, was different from reality. Then your memories of leaving that timeline would be another kind of coping mechanism so that your personality doesn't self destruct. Or you could be from an alternate timeline. Honestly I'm not sure it makes any kind of functional difference, if there are infinite timelines there would be an Armament exactly the same in one of them. 

Jeez, I don't know enough about this, I feel like I'm butchering this explanation since it's all second hand knowledge I haven't paid much attention to.

[1011686]

Is everyone else also alternate timeline versions of Volley's family members?
And does anybody else know about this?

[anima]

RIJK: Does anyone else know about this?
ARMAMENT: You're the first we've told out loud.
ARMAMENT: Come to think of it, we don't talk about this condition online, either...
RIJK: Is anyone else.. an alternate version of someone?

The silence that follows is ominous, as are the evolving expressions on the face of the body before me. The laughter that erupts from the voice of someone I'm sure is no longer Armament is cackling, echoing.

JUDGE(?): That's for us to know and you to keep guessing.
JUDGE(?): It's Judge First, for the record. Heya.

Judge slides a hand and a cocky grin in my direction, a gesture I somehow can't help but perceive as being covered in grease. I take his hand politely and shake it, nevertheless; his grip is tight as a vise before it dissipates.

RIJK: Hello, Judge.
RIJK: I had another thing the audience meant to relay, if that's okay with you?
JUDGE: Sure, sure.
RIJK: There's a concept called an "introject" in which people with the... situation you all seem to have in which a person, real or fictional, is copied into the mind and begins existing separately from their... source.

A brief pause as Judge makes a mock gesture of being deep in thought.

JUDGE: Ah, interesting.
JUDGE: I might go ahead and antagonize Armament with that, that'll be fun.
JUDGE: Of course, he might be able to do it right back at me...
RIJK: Oh?
JUDGE: Oh, I'm an "introject" for sure, of nothing and no one you're gonna know about.
RIJK: Ah...
JUDGE: To be honest, I'm kind of tired of you right now?
RIJK: That's okay, I'm sorry, I'll leave--
JUDGE: No, not yet--
JUDGE: Although, actually, that's not a bad idea.
JUDGE: If you're not gonna stick around and play therapist for our broken as fuck mind, you can just scram.
JUDGE: I can take out what I'm feelin' on roguelikes instead of on you, I guess. Volley counts you as a "friend." That's ridiculous, she never talks to anyone. She doesn't have any friends.

I think on it for a moment, glancing between the door and Judge... I suppose playing therapist for a moment seems like the more interesting thing for the audience, and I do... want to try and help, I admit. I'm used to being belittled by my own mind, why would it be so different from someone else?

RIJK: Alright, I'll... try to play the therapist for you.
RIJK: Where should we begin...?
JUDGE: Any ideas, doc?

[Lilium Mortem]

hoo boy I am not qualified for this. give me a sec. OK, I looked some stuff up and got some ideas. Firstly, y'all need to get along. You share the same mind, the same resources, and hurting each other will only lead to hurting yourself in the long run. 

To help with that you need therapy, which I guess we're doing now. It might be a good idea to pick up meditation, at least so you can be more aware of each other and your... hold on, forgot the term, Headspace! yeah, your headspace. next idea is creative therapies, such as art/music therapy. you all are your own person, and you need to be able to express yourselves. pick a hobby, something creative, and each of you spend a bit of time on your hobby, expressing yourself.

Those are more general ideas, but if you want us to get into the nitty gritty of it, you need to talk about your life, what led you to where you all are today, what happened to make each of you split, if there is a cause, sometimes there's not, or so I'm told. Get a fainting couch and get comfortable because talking about your feelings is hard.

Also, and I cannot stress this enough, I AM NOT A PROFESSIONAL. SEE A LICENSED PSYCHOLOGIST. a supportive friend, and a support system are great things to have, but seriously therapy is nothing you should mess around with unless you have no other choice which maybe you do you're stuck in a meet shredder of a school that's seemingly sole purpose is Darwinist kill or be killed horror survival trial by fire lunacy.

[cosmo]

honestly, don't play therapist for your friends. share coping mechanisms, give them space to vent, sure, but you are not a therapist. and judge i know you are in a bad mood but taking it out on rijk isn't fair and i'm sure you know it. wanting help is one thing but telling someone they aren't worth being around if they aren't comforting/helping you is incredibly shitty and honestly says that You aren't worth being around instead. i'm sorry you're struggling but lashing out with manipulative behavior won't help anything.

[King-Clod]

Don't play therapist because you think it'll be more interesting for the audience. As the audience, I really don't want to see you people treat you poorly unnecessarily.
While it isn't great to play therapist for your friends 24/7, it especially isn't great to have your first experience with someone you just met be that. It's not a great basis to start a friendship, especially with how he worded it. You aren't obligated to make this person feel better.

[Lilium Mortem]

...I did not pick up on that. well I picked up on Judge being a bit mean, but like, not that bad. eh. I mean by all means you should stand up for yourself, and not get pushed around. I just didn't see that because I suck at people.