A toddler in need? AKA one slight deaging

[project_kuron]

There's a young man, about twenty five by the looks of him, in the middle of the square. Plaza. Whatever.

He's looking either cofused out of his mind, or slightly upset as if he's spilled his soup or something, or was late for school, who even knows, just by looking at him one might think so, or mighty bored, it might be hard to tell.

He might look very familiar to some.

If he sees you, whoever 'you' might be, he might gesture vaguely at you. Maybe asking for some clarification. Or. Well. Whatever it is, it's definitely a question, one can judge that by his face expression and a vague spoken (sounded?),

"...a-ah?? Uhm, uhm, o-...ee??"

Comments

[project_kuron]

Yes, he has all the skills. If one put him into any army, he'd somehow progress even more impressively, and very, very, very quickly, but he doesn't know that, and neither does Mantis. And he wouldn't necessarily be happier.

"When Subject Yani are sleeping? How can thank when asleep? When asleep, only whisper can talk to the Subject."

He shudders.

"Whisper with voice of her, the High Priestess. It's... pain. To Subject Yani."

And then, when Mantis does what he does, the young man twitches violently and screams. There's a link, a taut one, it's a link that's almost like a noose, not some comfortable mind link at all.

He calms down, after. The other Quintessence recedes, it's further now.

Yani is shaking, almost spasmatic, but that's slowly calming down.

"Mantis enemy of she?" he asks, tentatively.

Then adds, in a whisper, "She can discard Mantis. Mantis know?"

If one looks at his mind, it's obvious that by that, Yani means to say that Honerva can kill Mantis. Whenever.

[ginger_firebird]

Mantis gasps. He’s never gotten that kind of reaction of pain from someone before. Yani will find Mantis standing in front of him, leaning over a little to better see his face. What the hell had that been? Was it part of how the man had been programmed? What caused his mind to become so simplified? It spoke to powerful telepathic skills, but that just served to make him angrier. This is senseless torture. No purpose, no reasoning, just causing pain.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know it would hurt you like that if I tried…” His words were a bit rushed, but low. “Did the High Priestess do this to you? Did she hurt you?”

It’s clear she did, but Mantis shakes his head at the warning.

“That bitch can try. I’ll discard her first.” He gingerly takes Subject Yani by the elbow, pulling him towards a shop. “Come on, we’ll get you some sleeping clothes and you are going to bed. You’ve been through enough today.”

[project_kuron]

The clone freezes once Mantis touches him.

Silent, unmoving, he closes his eyes and keeps them shut.

[ginger_firebird]

Mantis crouches just slightly, lining up his head with Subject Yani's. He pulls his mask up just past his mouth and drops the pitch of his voice. "Can you hear me? There is no High Priestess here with us. No one but Subject Yani and Mantis. Subject Yani is safe. Safe. Can you try and say 'safe'?"

He sighs. "Mantis is sorry for scaring you. He will not do it again."

[project_kuron]

The young clone gasps.

He tries to listen to what Mantis is saying. Who knows what might happen, otherwise?

"Safe," he says, his voice stiff, and tumultuous emotions almost muted.

He has no idea what sorry might mean, so, to the subject, the word means nothing, only more confusion.

[ginger_firebird]

"Sorry is..." How does he explain it? He conjures up an image of hugging someone after pushing them down. It's asking forgiveness. You feel bad for causing pain. Never to happen again.

He hopes some of that clicks with Subject Yani.

"It's like that. We're close a store with clothes in it, so you'll be able to sleep soon."

[project_kuron]

Ah...

"Can... that thing Mantis shows... can Mantis do that to Yani?"

He means the hug. Though he can't name it, so Mantis will probably either have to guess that, or read that from Yani's mind, when the idea is very clear, wordlessly, almost like a baby in that area - no, a baby knows much more about hugs and cuddles than Subject Y0XT39 does. Much more.

He's shaking a little. Scared. But despite that, he wants that right now. More than anything. That thing that Mantis's just shown him. He searches for a word. A word used around him, that is, in his presence, never to him obviously. But he's guessed the meaning, as the word was frequent enough, sometimes, after hours so to speak, almost. Never to Subjects, obviously, but in their hearings.

"P-pleaze?"

Please...

[ginger_firebird]

It's nothing he doesn't know how to do. This man is so clearly broken that he doesn't even know where to begin with the possibility of curing what Yani has going on. Mantis nods and holds out his arms. He can suffer through a hug if it means calming this mess of a mind.

"Hug. It's called a hug. In my language, we call it obnimat'."

using this account for face expression. XD

[somekindofspaceuncle]

Subject Yani gingerly hugs Mantis. He still looks - and feels, if Mantis checks - like a child who's waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Then, the young clone leans more into the hug. And smiles softly at first, before... beginning to cry.

No, he's not hurt.

Baby boy!

[ginger_firebird]

He's never been one for hugging just about anyone, but there's exceptions that can be made for the traumatized. Mantis sighs and wraps his arms lightly around Subject Yani as he begins to cry. There was once a time when he wanted to be the one getting hugged, but that boy vanished a long time ago. He shakes his head to chase off the bad memories and focuses on patting Yani on the back and back of the head.

"That's called crying. We do that for a lot of reasons."

[project_kuron]

He touches his own cheek.

Oh. That.

"That happens when hurt. See that happen to other Subjects, too."

But... huh...

"Yani not hurt."

Pats are apparently good, too, seeing as he leans into them like a kitten. While still crying.

[ginger_firebird]

"An excess of joy or anger or fear can do the same thing."

Mantis feeds brief images of the many kinds of tears that can fall. He relaxes more into the hug and moves his fingertips in small circles on the back of Yani's head.

[project_kuron]

This is all also good, it seems. Slightly helps with a chronic headache which Yani still has. It feels... so good.

So good.

Mantis might notice how relieved Subject Y0XT39 feels right now. Such amazing feeling. Never felt before.

And then, he hears Mantis's words.

"Excess is bad," Yani says.

It's not connected to the images he's received. It's something he's learned before. Not in Nexus.

He's suddenly shaking. In fear.

"Yani is no good?" the young man asks, shaking. Trembling so much... and his eyes widen in fear.

"Subject Y0XT39 is yet another failure????"

[ginger_firebird]

It’s a relief to hear the thoughts calming down, but Mantis is constantly surprised by just how much Subject Yani seems to be set off by the mere thought of doing something wrong. He had no concept for being a human, an immense fear of some female figure who seemed to be responsible for his current state, and no real idea of where he even was. Mantis sighs again and shakes his head.

“You’re not a failure. You are a person.” He lets Yani see into some of his own memories. Yani will feel an immense rage followed by relief and calm. “Feeling too much isn’t failing. It’s what makes you a human.”

[project_kuron]

"A human. What is 'a human'?"

[ginger_firebird]

Does he not even...? Mantis stops the head rubbing and sighs deep. He feeds Yani images like anatomical models, flashes of a blond man with a smug smile, a raven haired woman with a giant rifle, any kind of people he can remember from his life.

"Human is what you are. You and I are human. It's why we look the way we do."

[project_kuron]

He doesn't know yet, not really. How'd one know if no one tells him.

He looks (and feels) interested, at least, getting all those pictures.

Then, Yani frowns.

"You not looking exactly same as Yani. And those showed, not look like exactly same as Yani. Why? That means... humans can look different, also?"

Then...

"Why all Subjects look same as each? Yani can't... understand why."

[ginger_firebird]

"Humans can look very different. Different shapes. Different sizes. Different colors." He tries to make sense of the description Yani gives of the other subjects. If they all looked the same... Were they all clones? But who could build up the tech to make that many?

"Even if there are many who look like Yani, you are still human. My friend-" He brings up the image of the blonde man with the smug smile again, then flashes a man with brown hair, and another brown haired man into the mix. Their faces are nearly identical except for small markers of age and hair color. "He's a clone. A copy of a man who already exists. But even though they all look the same, they're all different."

[project_kuron]

Hmmmm. Hmm. Hmmm.

"Copy. Clone."

'The Subject' might be realising something.

"Subjects are called clones, sometimes. Part of a secret project. Project Kuron. More such projects? With that human you show? Or something else?"

The only feeling now is slight confusion. For example, is Mantis a clone? And if not, why not? But these are more feelings than thoughts, and not truly quite formed.

If Mantis looks into Subject Y0XT39's mind, he will see all these.

Rows of pods, and in each, a young man who looks exactly the same. Many of such men. All asleep or unconscious.

And then Subject... Yani... thinks back to what Mantis's shown him, apparently trying to compare.

Seems to make sense. Though there's something he has no idea about, so he asks, "What is a friend?"

[ginger_firebird]

So he is a clone. Mantis can work with that to figure out how to talk to Yani and better explain the idea of what a human actually is. At least there's enough comprehension to build a sense of self-awareness that he can use.

The images of the pods scare him more than anything. He knew Liquid was originally one in a set of octuplets, but that... That was a level of production that probably bordered on illegal, if it wasn't already. Yani knew it was a secret, so it stood to reason that there were many ulterior motives at play.

"A friend is someone who makes you happy. Someone you can trust." Yani will see the image of a blond boy next to the image of the blond man from before. "A friend protects you."

[project_kuron]

He doesn't even really know what a secret means, but he knows that the Project Kuron is secret, yes.

So that's what a friend is.

But-

"Impossible. How can someone do that? Isn't possible. No someone can."

[ginger_firebird]

"My friend took me away from people who wanted to hurt me." Another image. Someone holding a shield while standing in front of another. "You might not have experienced it yet, but it is possible."

[somekindofspaceuncle]

"Maybe. But..."

"No one waits for Yani. Who ever wants to see Yani and not hurt Yani?"

[ginger_firebird]

"I don't know about that. You and I know each other now and I wouldn't hurt you. It's surprisingly easy to meet someone who would want to be your friend." His head perks up a little. "If you mind gets back in order, I might even be able to see into your future."

[project_kuron]

"Mantis is a friend? What Mantis gains? What can Mantis use Subject Y0XT39 for?"

"Head hurts. Right arm hurts. Can Mantis fix that? Yes, no?"

Wait...

"No. That's unnecessary. Subject Y0XT39 knows. Yes? No?"