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

The very, very young clone literally has no concept of a lie, yet. Fortunately here.

[project_kuron]

Subject Yani's eyes widen as he's trying to understand this all. He probably wouldn't, without the mental image provided.

Finally, he, unsure how to react, does a Galran salute.

Then, he whispers,

"Safe is no checking the Subject's responses."

That sounds too good to be true. However, Mantis says so, therefore, so it is.

"The Subject Yani are safe under Mantis's watch?"

He's just making sure he's heard right. He's almost sure, so he smiles.

Mantis can do what he can to keep this poor clone safe. He's starting to genuinely feel bad.

[ginger_firebird]

Mantis taps a fist over his heart and nods.

"Subject Yani is safe under my watch. You shouldn't be left alone like this."

He hopes that Subject Yani will at least understand that he did his own salute. There was enough programming to get as far as analyzing his surroundings, and that's good enough for now.

"Subject Yani will get new clothes. Follow me. I know where to buy some."

Awww. :D What a nice Mantis. <3 XD :)

[project_kuron]

Oh.

He has no idea what clothes is, but since apparently the Mantis knows and maybe will reveal? He doesn't ask what clothes is, waiting.

He also doesn't know what alone is, but... ditto?

"Follow. Understood. Vrepit sa."

He smiles, again.

"Can sleep after?"

He hesitates, and begins to tremble a little, but asks, suddenly, loudly,

"Can sleep not in healing pod?? Yes, no??!"

[ginger_firebird]

Oh boy... Mantis is grateful more than ever he's got telepathy to get him by. He feeds a soothing kind of order into Subject Yani's head as he walks, minding to go a little slower.

"Subject Yani needs clothing. Cloth that is worn over the skin to keep warm and clean." With that comes a small slideshow of different kinds of clothes. Shirts, pants, shoes... "When we have secured clothing, you will sleep on my couch." A new image, one of a couch that folds back to become a temporary bed. Subject Yani will see blankets piled up on each other for cushioning and pillows.

"No more pods for you. You're a person now."

[project_kuron]

The Subject Y0XT39 would be grateful, maybe, for the telepathy, too, if he knew what telepathy is and that it's not something in the air and in the water and in the body, everywhere, always.

Yani looks at his own clothes, such as they are, and pokes them, and then looks at Mantis's as if he's just itching to poke them, too.

However, he doesn't try to do that. It's just utterly obvious that he suddenly really, really wants to. He's even rocking himself slightly.

However, he sighs lightly and stops that, to follow Mantis. Follows him, far enough behind, not too closely.

The mind images are shocking, really. And they feel great.

And... no pods...?!!

"I love you, my..." Subject Yani says, suddenly.

He was wondering how to respond and if Mantis looks at him, it's obvious that the young man has no idea or almost no idea of what any of the words in this sentence means.

The words are said, judging from tone of voice and the feelings that come with, the way somebody could say wow, results just in, I won this lottery! or thank you!

An undefined and not at all understood emotion of feeling that being near Mantis does not bring more pain with it, no understanding of those words beyond that.

By the way, if Mantis, might notice another presence, adjacent to Yani's mind, but definitely not a part of Yani's mind, such as it is. Thoughts from someone else's mind, very different.

[ginger_firebird]

There’s a certain level of impressiveness in watching the man retaining cognitive skills and apply them to both conversation and just processing what’s going on around him. Mantis keeps an eye on Yani as they walk, eventually lifting himself off the ground so he can more effectively keep an eye on the man while leading him to a clothing store. The simple way that he feels joy and expresses it gives Mantis some hope that there might be a way to at least teach Subject Yani how to function a bit more on his own. There was a ton he needed to learn, but he had the skills for it.

And then he saw it. That secondary thought that lingered in Yani’s head. He moved a little closer, one hand lightly brushing hair away from Yani’s brow.

“You can thank me when you’re laying down and resting.”

He honed in on that side-stepped mind and threw as much of his old bile into his telepathy as he could. Congrats, mysterious stranger, you found the angry side of Psycho Mantis. You fucked with someone in a way that just hits all those lovely buttons he thought had collected dust over the years. His message is short, but clear: “Touch him again and I’ll kill you.”

[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?"