thehometree | amber -- 001 -- attempt #17

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amber -- 001 -- attempt #17

[wait, seventeen? Yes, you heard that right. Eren has been trying for days to figure out how to make a post to the amber network. This has resulted in.... well. Many very short posts, most less than five seconds, usually upside-down and including Eren cursing colorfully. His face isn't always present

For the sake of not spamming everyone, these will not be posted. You're welcome.

Finally, he thinks he's got it right. Technology. Not his strongest suit. He squints into the glassy surface]

Is it working...? Ok. Yeah. I think it's working.

Sorry, I think I may have messed up a lot. Looking at other peoples' messages hasn't been a problem, but making one of my own... this is so confusing!

A... anyway. I almost forgot what I wanted to message you all about in the first place.

Back when we were fighting the spiders, there was a giant. I just wanted to let everyone know that giant is me, it's my power. So it looks scary but you don't have to be afraid.

Probably.

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...I was wondering. It was a bit, um, daunting. To say the least. But I thank you for informing us.

[Why was Arno surprised anymore? Although.]

We "probably" won't have to?

It was even bigger before. Back home, my Titan is fifteen meters. But I guess if I'm tiny, it's tiny too.

...

Well... uh...

The first couple of times I used it, I uh... control was kind of... iffy.

[he may have almost killed his sister]

I can't even imagine.

[Or rather, he refused to. He remembered his talk with Fenris and he remember his own general views on weird magic.

Nice to know he wasn't really too alone in his feelings. But it's frightening to see someone say they didn't control such a thing.

To think something so huge and terrifying, and not know how to control it...]

So...you feel as if you have control over it now?

I guess for someone who's never seen a Titan, it'd be pretty crazy... It's just really weird for me to think of people who have no idea what Titans even ARE.

[not when it was his whole WORLD back home. Well. That an terrible governments.]

Yeah. I mean, I haven't lost control in a long time. I've got it worked out. But there's always a chance and I think it's safe to warn people.

Can't say I've had the real pleasure of seeing one, no.

[How to even respond to this thoroughly? Should he even ask any more questions than that? Apparently his world was filled with those large creatures? That's what he assumed. Did everyone turn into them? Was there a war? Not many people asked about Arno and he wasn't sure it was wise to ask too much of other strangers.]

Well...that's appreciated. What should we do if you, so called, lose control then?

[Eren frowns thoughtfully. He looks away from the amber slice, unsure if he should give this guy the information... But, he didn't want the tree to be defenseless if he DID lose it. So--]

Titans have one weak-point; at the base of their necks. That's where the human controlling the body is attached. If you cut me out, the Titan body will disappear.

[What...the...

Arno frowned back. Rubbing his temple a bit before even thinking of words to use. Against, appreciative of the honesty of the situation and the information. The kid was straight-forward.]

You don't say?

[He said that with a gruff. Sounded so, so, SO-]

Not necessarily a, well, clean cut job but if you honestly don't mind a mess then that's also good to know.

[well, no reason to beat around the bush. When it came to Titans, they were... weird enough, without Eren adding any extra padding]

Well, it's kind of like the human body becomes the brain of the Titan body, you know? But instead of being in the head, it's in the base of the neck. But don't worry about making any mess. As long as you don't cut my real spine, I'll recover.

That was you? [Korra had been a little distracted with trapping the spiders in ice to investigate at the time, but she remembers seeing the giant in action.]

Wait, what do you mean "probably"?

Unless there's any other Titan shifters around here, it was me. Sorry. I didn't have time to warn anyone about what I was gonna do.

... There's always a small chance that I could lose control. It hasn't happened in a long time, though!! But... I feel like people should know.

[Korra frowns at that.]

Thanks for telling us, I guess. When you said there's a small chance--how small do you mean?

I don't know, I haven't really... worked out the numbers? I guess... [he frowns, trying to remember the circumstances under which it didn't work out] As long as I'm in a pretty good place, mentally, it's fine.

That's...good.

[As long as I'm in a good place mentally. That strikes a little too close to home for comfort, making her pause and look away from the amber and shift the conversation slightly.]

So, is this something a lot of people can do in your world?

No. There's no many people at all... It's way more common for people to be transformed into Titans somehow and lose themselves completely. People that can go back and forth are rare.

[It's a sad fate, though Korra doesn't know the specifics of his world. Her expression tightens a little.]

I'm sorry. [Korra hesitates. Is this a question she really wants to ask? Apparently, yes.] What happens to the people who... can't switch back like you can?

They're just mindless eating machines. All those Titans know is eating humans, at any cost. [he scoffs] Titans don't even need to eat to survive!

[Not too far from her guess, then.]

So you fight them?

[She doesn't think people would just sit by and do nothing when people are being eaten.]

Our choice is to fight, or go extinct.

So we fight.

[She was afraid of that--she sighs.]

How bad is it right now? I mean...did you guys figure out why some people are turning into Titans?

No... we still have no idea. [he sighs in return. Oh, how he wishes they knew. Then maybe they could fix it]

Maybe someone will figure it out soon.

[With his world sounding so bleak, Korra can only try to offer some optimistic words.]

Aside from fighting them, that's what everyone's focused on, right?

You turn into a giant?

[The rest is of little importance to him, seeing as he missed the spiders, and it looks like Eren has enough of a grasp to figure out the rest on his own. (not that Hakuryuu makes much of a teacher). Is it some form of Djinn equip? Probably not, he's learning there are a lot of magics in this place.]

Probably?

[He's not afraid, necessarily, if nothing else he has Belial and not much stands up to that Djinn equip's power. He's not really keen on revealing that just yet. At least if worse comes to worse there's that?]

Yes. It's called a Titan. They're the scourge of... my homeworld, I guess? If this really IS a different world after all...

[that concept blows Eren's little mind to bits, to be honest. To go from a boy who's never seen the ocean or anything to being in a completely different universe? His grasp on his current reality is... tentative, at best.]

Probably. There's always a slim chance something could go wrong.

I've never heard of a Titan, only Southern or Dungeon Creatures and they really only occupy the south or dungeons.

Though this is assuming this is a different world.

[And not someone running amok. He doubts it, now at least.]

Is this not a power that can be mastered? Or is just what the cost of the ability is?

[He's not sure what else it could be, but he heard some have high prices.]

I've never heard of those myself. Different worlds... rrgh. I don't want to think about it!

[he shakes his head]

It can be mastered. But it takes a lot of practice, I guess. The other shifters I know seem to have mastery of their power, but.... I can't really talk to them. [because they are THE ENEMY D<]

That's a lot simpler then thinking someone is messing with your head.

[Like he thought when he arrived. Some Djinn can do that! He would know, he's got one.]

Other 'shifters'? What is a shifter?

[He doesn't understand the whole can't talk to thing. Won't talk too sure, but why not use them for their knowledge? Then you even have knowledge of what they can do, where they are, it can be beneficial!]

That's... what we're called, I suppose. People that can "shift" between being a human and being a Titan. Though it's not really that I transform into a Titan, because my human body is inside the Titan body.

Like an equip, wearing the magic?

[This is the best he's got and he's never heard to it making anyone huge. Tiny sure, Kouen had one that made him look like a child.]

... I guess? It's not magic. It's almost like a... giant suit of armor, I guess? Like if you were driving a cart, but the cart was attached to your nervous system.

[Soo magic? He's having a really hard imagining something like that, that isn't magic of some sort.]

Which makes at least a similar to an equip.

[IT'S NOT MAGIC!! ... except it kind of is magic. Maybe. Um. No one really knows]

I... guess? When you say "equip" do you mean, like, equipment?

Yes, to put on. Like one would a piece of armor or a robe.

[Yes, magic. Magic needs no explanation...except it's weird magic. He has weird magic too, and technically speak, he can't use "magic" but he does. Weird rules for weird places.]

... Yeah, I guess that's actually a good way to think about it. Like a big suit of armor. Except, armor you can feel through.

[He's going to file that away as a really strange Djinn equip. Makes the most sense to him.]

Magic armor tends to come with strange rules.

That form was very impressive. I was certainly happy that we had the help of someone more than six centimeters high.

If you have any more trouble with the amber, I'd be glad to help. [There may be a gently teasing inflection there, after all the truncated upside-down cussing, but she does mean it.]

It ended up being pretty useful, didn't it? The thing I didn't think about was getting out of the tree... I had to dump the Titan body inside it. I hope the steam didn't cause any damage.

[he grumbles and blushes a little] It's just weird, alright? We don't have ANYTHING like this back home! ... It would make missions so much easier, though.

I didn't notice any damage, so I think it was all right. [...] Do you mean you turned back, or is it more like you pilot it?

Rapid communications have done a lot to make the world an easier place to live in. But you don't have phones or walkie-talkies? [She thought his clothes looked modern, but maybe she was wrong?]

I use both words, but... I guess it's more like I "pilot" it. Because my real body is still inside the Titan, just attached with muscles and nerves and stuff.

[he shakes his head] No. I don't even know what those things are. We communicate long-range with letters and smoke signals.

It sounds quite complex. And it follows the movements that your body makes?

[If so, it would be similar to the way she piloted her Mashin.]

Both of them are ways to communicate over long distances, using electric wires or radio waves... but we don't have the resources to build anything similar here. [Not even tin cans on string.] Knowing smoke signals would be more useful--[Another thought strikes her.] What about tapping and light signals, like Morse code?

Yes. Not that I can actually move inside the Titan... I'm not really even aware of my real body most of the time. Only vaguely. It's really hard to explain.

... Er. Electrical wires? Radio waves? I don't know what you're talking about...

Hmm, it sounds like something a biologist would have lots of questions about.

Ah--well, electricity is a way to power machines without labor, and radio waves [are the stretched-out lightwaves from the Big Bang SHE DOESN'T KNOW THIS IT JUST STILL AMAZES ME] are a way to send messages over very long distances.

A giant... ?

[ It just seems ironic when they are all teeny tiny, and he doesn't look like much of an exception. ]

Well... comparatively. I guess compared to a normal sized human, it'd still be pretty small. It was probably only about... 40 centimeters?

H-How did you manage something like that?

It's just my ability.

Well... a larger version of you is still you, right? So it doesn't feel like something anyone should be afraid of.

... Yeah. I suppose.

[he doesn't really want to admit that people SHOULD be scared of him. He's not exactly stable, and he knows it]

Nothing to worry about, then.

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amber -- 001 -- attempt #17

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