open to all | questions and apologies

[tresemme]

[ if you’re lucky, you’ve never heard this voice before. if you have, you’ll probably notice that he seems considerably less grouchy than he did making his greeting rounds in springstar and highstorm. tony has had time to settle in, and more importantly, he’s made some big decisions about what side he wants to support here.

…for now, at least, which is the quiet motivation behind his demanding communion. he seems utterly at home invading people’s minds, and there’s the sense of him stretching out like he’s been here the whole time and was just waiting for you to get home. ]

People here are from all different worlds, right?

[ rhetorical question, and he continues. ]

I want to hear from whoever’s been to Terra. The third planet in the Sol System. I know some of you call it Earth—the fact that you have a name for it means that you know about it. [ a pause. ] I’ll torture the knowledge out of you if I have to, but it’s easier for everyone if you just cough it up.

[ that seems to be the end of that, unless you’re a zenite, to which he then narrows his focus. ]

…sorry if you heard me say I want all the humans to die. I know we have to work together.

Comments

[lockedon]

[ Sure, Jan Tony. Whatever helps you sleep at night. ]

Humans have a tendency to keep things to themselves. [ But anyway. ] Where are you from, if not Earth?

[ Look at him, avoiding all these questions about Earth he wasn't going to be able to answer anyway. ]

[tresemme]

[ at least this guy gets it… ]

I was born on a planet called Nazca. It was destroyed even before all this stuff happened, though. [ he thinks for a moment. ] …thanks to humans. They’ve been nothing but a thorn in our side, so the least anyone can do here is tell me what they know.

[lockedon]

[

There's a slight lull as he processes that information. ]

I've never been to Earth so I don't have any answers to give. [ Sorry. ] But it didn't sound all too unique from what I've heard.

[tresemme]

[ tony isn’t sure whether he feels disappointed or vindicated in hearing that earth didn’t amaze this guy, and since he doesn’t want to examine that feeling further, he… tries. to socialize. ]

Well, then where are you from? Maybe we’ll go there instead.

[ he’s harmonized with zenith, but it seems he hasn’t completely internalized “everything is gone.” ]

[lockedon]

[ Look at Tony, putting in the effort... ]

The skydoms. [ Which has never rung a single bell with any of the people he's met here thus far so he may as well elaborate. ] Floating islands in the sky.

[tresemme]

…huh?

[ yeah, no, he doesn’t know. ]

Why are they floating?

[lockedon]

[ why would you ask me this, mary ]

You'd have to ask a scientist for that. [ He has better things to worry about than why islands do or don't float. ] They've been floating for as long as anyone has lived on them.

[tresemme]

[ he has to know ]

The gravity on your planet must be really weird. [ at the very least, it seems he’s already mentally moved on from his tragic past and grudge against humans in this particular conversation. ] Have you ever been anywhere else?

[lockedon]

[ There's an automatic shake of his head before he remembers this is Communion. ]

Not until I arrived here. There was no easy way of leaving the skydoms while I was there. [ .... ] Is that different for you?

[ Do people from other worlds have easy access to intergalatic transportation?? ]

[tresemme]

Yeah.

[ simple, casual. sorry that you losers can’t space travel. ]

I mean, it’s too far for one person to fly, but as long as you have a decent ship, you can go anywhere. Space is pretty vast, though.

[lockedon]

What do they look like? The ships you use.

[ Airships would just immediately combust in actual space, he's pretty sure, so color him curious. ]

[tresemme]

Well… they’re metal.

[ he’s thinking really hard, but in thinking, he realizes he could probably just project a picture into eustace’s mind. so, that’s exactly what he gets: the image of a massive, massive spaceship, probably itself the size of a city. there’s an inner illusion of a garden, even, with unnaturally bright green grass and an equally bright blue sky. ]

There. Like that.

[lockedon]

[ the magic of ✨ communion ✨

But wow, that sure is something, on a level vaster and bigger than anything Eustace's shriveled imagination could have possibly come up with. There's a notable feeling of awe as he takes the image in, doing his best to process everything contained within. ]

That's one ship?

[ bruh are you for real right now ]

[tresemme]

Yeah. We’ve got some smaller ones for battle, but everyone lives on the Shangri-la.

[ it’s weird, he’s never felt… pride for it before, and yet feeling eustace’s awe, his mood swells with his ego. the smile in his voice is not mocking, for once. ]

We all work together to keep it running. There’s no need for fuel or anything—we move it by psionic energy.

[lockedon]

[ Huh. Give him a(nother) minute to roll that information around in his head to try and suss out its meaning. ]

Psionic? [ Is that similar to psychic..... ] So with your mind?

[ ????? ]

[tresemme]

Yup.

[ eustace sounds surprised, but not hostile. not yet. tony is not accustomed to that, so he’s still willing to talk. ]

We’ve all got psionic powers. That’s part of what makes our species.

[lockedon]

[ Damn. Please hold while he mulls over this a bit more. There's a lot he could say, though should he say it to someone who just stated they would torture for information about Earth??

Much to think about. ]

Does that mean you could read someone's mind if you wanted to know something?

[ At least he just sounds passively curious while asking. ]

[tresemme]

Sure.

[ the passivity, and eustace’s relative acceptance of everything he’s said so far, is doing a great job at keeping tony chill and friendly. he’s cocky, but that can simply be ignored. ]

Don’t worry, I’m not doing it to you now. My grandpa taught me it’s rude.

[lockedon]

[ There's a very slight flicker of amusement at that. ]

Reading minds is rude but murder isn't?

( 1/2, again )

[tresemme]

( 2/2 )

[tresemme]

…whatever! The point is, I’m not going to read your mind without asking. We’re not talking about anything else.

frees you from my clutches so we can both move on to fresher pastures

[lockedon]

[ Tony.................. ]

I appreciate that. [ Really. ] Good luck getting the answers you want.