People you wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

5 minutes ago, MacThorstenson said:

"Not here it wouldn't. The alleys are safer here, so if you had stepped off it wouldn't have been too bad. But it would have been irritating. But you aren't answering my question. Im not phrasing it the best way, but I need to know what you thought it was like. 

For some people, when they start trying to alley travel, they think of themselves manipulating something. And that is how they believe that the alleys are under their control. One guy a while back thought of it like a con-job, but he was a mess for a variety of reasons. There needs to be something that you think you are doing, whether its playing with clay or baking a cake, otherwise you can't manipulate the alleys without knowing their true nature. And that takes forever to figure out. So what is it for you?"

"Ah," Lita said. She decided not to confess her own con-job parallel, forcing down another round of blushing.

You're not just a scam-artist anymore.

She twirled the end of her hair around her finger, then stopped, looking down at the plait. She held it up by the middle. "Would braiding something work? Hair, string, ribbon?"

[MacThorstenson he/him]

6 minutes ago, ZincAboutIt said:

"Ah," Lita said. She decided not to confess her own con-job parallel, forcing down another round of blushing.

You're not just a scam-artist anymore.

She twirled the end of her hair around her finger, then stopped, looking down at the plait. She held it up by the middle. "Would braiding something work? Hair, string, ribbon?"

"It would generally work, but I need to know what you did last time, because it could be part of the reason why you popped out screaming. The alleys, while they bend to your will, also know about you and know you. If they think you are messing with them when you shouldn't be, they will punish you. 

For example, the guy who played with them like clay. He molded them like a lump of clay, using hand motions as a trigger. The first time he did this, the alleys were molded around to fit him. He didn't make a new path like i have been doing, he changed what was there. After we got him supplements everything was straightened out, but still he tended to move pathways instead of making them. I'm concerned that even once we give you these with supplements, whatever caused you to collapse and scream will still be affecting you."

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

23 minutes ago, MacThorstenson said:

"It would generally work, but I need to know what you did last time, because it could be part of the reason why you popped out screaming. The alleys, while they bend to your will, also know about you and know you. If they think you are messing with them when you shouldn't be, they will punish you. 

For example, the guy who played with them like clay. He molded them like a lump of clay, using hand motions as a trigger. The first time he did this, the alleys were molded around to fit him. He didn't make a new path like i have been doing, he changed what was there. After we got him supplements everything was straightened out, but still he tended to move pathways instead of making them. I'm concerned that even once we give you these with supplements, whatever caused you to collapse and scream will still be affecting you."

Lita rubbed a hand over her eyes. He wanted to know what she'd been doing, what she'd been thinking, when she barely knew herself. She fought down the urge to kick the wall, instead tapping the toe of her boot against the stone floor. With a sigh, she folded her arms and looked up at Mac.

"I suppose I may have thought that I was...fooling the alleys into taking me back here," she said, looking away again. It all sounded infinitely unwise now, but in the quiet of her own thoughts it had made perfect sense. Honesty had never been her strongest suit, but this place was cleverer and more terrifying than she ever would be. What had she been thinking? 

Rusting idiot. Did you think you could somehow pull one over on this place?

"When you say that you 'create a new path,'" Lita went on, hoping she didn't sound too eager to change the subject. "Is it like pushing a needle through cloth?"

Edited March 14, 2019 by ZincAboutIt

[MacThorstenson he/him]

15 minutes ago, ZincAboutIt said:

Lita rubbed a hand over her eyes. He wanted to know what she'd been doing, what she'd been thinking, when she barely knew herself. She fought down the urge to kick the wall, instead tapping the boot of her toe against the stone floor. With a sigh, she folded her arms and looked up at Mac.

"I suppose I may have thought that I was...fooling the alleys into taking me back here," she said, looking away again. It all sounded infinitely unwise now, but in the quiet of her own thoughts it had made perfect sense. Honesty had never been her strongest suit, but this place was cleverer and more terrifying than she ever would be. What had she been thinking? 

Rusting idiot. Did you think you could somehow pull one over on this place?

"When you say that you 'create a new path,'" Lita went on, hoping she didn't sound too eager to change the subject. "Is it like pushing a needle through cloth?"

Ahhhhh. It makes sense now.

"To answer your question, not quite. 

But your response makes sense. I would caution you against doing that however. The alleys, while they aren't alive, are intelligent. They also look at what you are trying to do when you alleytravel.

What you did worked. You did con the alleys and you moved them. But they knew that you were conning them, and they didn't like that. They had to follow your mind, but they tried to make you suffer because of it. A bit like if you are driving a horse that hates you.

You can continue trying to con the alleys, but when you do so, you need to make sure that you believe that you can do it 100%. You need to believe it so completely, that there isn't even a con. To get in the mindset of alley traveling you can think about it as a con job. But when you actually travel your mind needs to be clear, that you are doing something normally. That nothing is wrong. Does that make sense?

But back to your question. There are two types of creating new paths. The one that most people do, and yourself included, is taking alleys and moving them to make a path. Like laying down bricks to form a path. What clay boy did was change where the alleys that he was in were. He stretched them out and slid that one alley around so that it would connect. He didn't create paths,  but moved one path to end at a different place.

The other type of creating new paths is something that only me and Voidus can do. Essentially we make new alleys to get us where we want. These alleys rarely last long without voidus' help however. So when I make them they tend to be very temporary. But they are incredibly versatile." Mac paused. "Do you think you can try alley traveling again? Or do you have more questions."

Edited March 14, 2019 by MacThorstenson

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

6 minutes ago, MacThorstenson said:

Ahhhhh. It makes sense now.

"To answer your question, not quite. 

But your response makes sense. I would caution you against doing that however. The alleys, while they aren't alive, are intelligent. They also look at what you are trying to do when you alleytravel.

What you did worked. You did con the alleys and you moved them. But they knew that you were conning them, and they didn't like that. They had to follow your mind, but they tried to make you suffer because of it. A bit like if you are driving a horse that hates you.

You can continue trying to con the alleys, but when you do so, you need to make sure that you believe that you can do it 100%. You need to believe it so completely, that there isn't even a con. To get in the mindset of alley traveling you can think about it as a con job. But when you actually travel your mind needs to be clear, that you are doing something normally. That nothing is wrong. Does that make sense?

But back to your question. There are two types of creating new paths. The one that most people do, and yourself included, is taking alleys and moving them to make a path. Like laying down bricks to form a path. What clay boy did was change where the alleys that he was in were. He stretched them out and slid that one alley around so that it would connect. He didn't create paths,  but moved one path to end at a different place.

The other type of creating new paths is something that only me and Voidus can do. Essentially we make new alleys to get us where we want. These alleys rarely last long without voidus' help however. So when I make them they tend to be very temporary. But they are incredibly versatile." Mac paused. "Do you think you can try alley traveling again? Or do you have more questions."

Lita breathed out slowly, then nodded. There was something extraordinary about the idea that she could get what she wanted without having to fool someone. That her mind could somehow rearrange this place, and it would do so as she needed. No need to lie about it. No need to hint and nudge. Only her own belief. She wondered if this man knew what he was giving her.

"Where should I go?" She asked, standing up straighter. She could do this. She would do this.  

[MacThorstenson he/him]

3 minutes ago, ZincAboutIt said:

Lita breathed out slowly, then nodded. There was something extraordinary about the idea that she could get what she wanted without having to fool someone. That her mind could somehow rearrange this place, and it would do so as she needed. No need to lie about it. No need to hint and nudge. Only her own belief. She wondered if this man knew what he was giving her.

"Where should I go?" She asked, standing up straighter. She could do this. She would do this.  

"You will be coming back here. Follow me." Mac turned and started walking. He then stopped at the wall and poked it. Opening up a long dirt path that looked like it was cut into a mountain.

"Step through here, then I will close the door. Come back to this alley. Remember, don't look at the void. Good luck."

Edited March 14, 2019 by MacThorstenson

[Voidus]

The screaming was definitely new, Laurelai didn't accompany many new recruits through their Alleytravel training, but none of them had screamed upon re-entry. A few had cried afterwards, and one of them had thrown up. But those were more likely reactions to specific Alleys they'd passed through.

Mac seemed to think it was due to the nature of her methods of Alleytravel, but Laurelai herself employed something fairly similar. She was already used to changing the way things ought to be, convincing something stubborn that it should be something else. Maybe the difference was the confidence? She'd already known that she could do it. Lita was still unsure.

She gave Lita a reassuring smile as Mac led her off for her second attempt, hopefully this one would end a little better.

"We wouldn't have brought you in if we didn't think you could do this." She said. "Just relax, you've got this."

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

2 minutes ago, MacThorstenson said:

"You will be coming back here. Follow me." Mac turned and started walking. He then stopped at the wall and poked it. Opening up a long dirt path that looked like it was cut into a mountain.

"Step through here, then I will close the door. Come back to this alley. Remember, don't look at the void. Good luck."

Lita walked through the door and into the new path, shivering a little as Mac closed the doorway.

Right, she thought, breathing slowly, trying to clear her mind. You are doing something normally. Nothing is wrong. Lita closed her eyes and remembered the last alley. It was there, in her thoughts. The walls, the cobbles, the nearly-hollow silence in between words. She focused all her thoughts on the alley. Alley 5937. She could smell the air, feel the tiny breeze on her skin.

This is real, she thought, her breath coming slow and even. You can do this. She opened her eyes and stepped forward. The path sprang up beneath her feet, one step after another laid down like strands of hair. One, then the other, then the other. There was no room for fear in her mind, there was only Alley 5937. Smooth stone, grey walls, chill breeze. The path went before her, and she looked forward, only forward. Nothing is wrong. The urge to look at the void tugged at her, but less so now. She could do this. She was doing it.

There was a sudden pull to her right, an impulse to leave the path. Moment of truth. She held her breath, and turned.

The alley was just as she'd left it, Laurelai standing a ways back, smiling a little. The shock of her success was almost enough to make Lita start crying again. Almost. 

[MacThorstenson he/him]

22 minutes ago, ZincAboutIt said:

Lita walked through the door and into the new path, shivering a little as Mac closed the doorway.

Right, she thought, breathing slowly, trying to clear her mind. You are doing something normally. Nothing is wrong. Lita closed her eyes and remembered the last alley. It was there, in her thoughts. The walls, the cobbles, the nearly-hollow silence in between words. She focused all her thoughts on the alley. Alley 5937. She could smell the air, feel the tiny breeze on her skin.

This is real, she thought, her breath coming slow and even. You can do this. She opened her eyes and stepped forward. The path sprang up beneath her feet, one step after another laid down like strands of hair. One, then the other, then the other. There was no room for fear in her mind, there was only Alley 5937. Smooth stone, grey walls, chill breeze. The path went before her, and she looked forward, only forward. Nothing is wrong. The urge to look at the void tugged at her, but less so now. She could do this. She was doing it.

There was a sudden pull to her right, an impulse to leave the path. Moment of truth. She held her breath, and turned.

The alley was just as she'd left it, Laurelai standing a ways back, smiling a little. The shock of her success was almost enough to make Lita start crying again. Almost. 

Mac almost burst into applause. That was beautiful. Absolutely amazing.

"Amazing." He said softly. There was nothing like teaching someone to alleytravel. It was like watching a kid walk for the first time, but way cooler. "Perfect! Do you know why what you were doing before was wrong? Because the alleys don't like to be tricked. They will change for you, because they have to. But if you are tricking them, they will make you suffer. But now we can get onto lesson 2, and can start adding supplements for you. These will be small spikes that take away some of the mental strain of alley travel. Let me explain why you need them. He paused them opened up a door from nowhere to his office. Once they were all inside, he shut it and sat down.

"The alleys, as you might have guessed, have a lot of variability." He started. "Some areas are safer, while others are more dangerous. Some alleys can be walked through easily, others will drive you insane. As such, when you travel you either need to know exactly what alleys you need to take, or you need to mentally specify all of the possible dangers that you could encounter and that you want to avoid them. In addition you need to specify how long of a path you need to take, where you want it to go through, and 1000 other factors.

These supplements change you slightly and force you to always have these things in your subconscious. They are a bit like training wheels, you keep them on so that you can safely use the alleys, then you start to remove them piece by piece when you remember to keep those things in your mind. They enable you to train yourself with the mental discipline to use the alleys more safely. Of course it all depends on what you consider a danger, but the main supplements keep you in alleys that are 3d, safe-ish from the void, and keep you on alleys that are empty. That totals to about 20 spikes. Even then you still need to make sure that you are choosing to stay on the path. With a few more mental stability supplements you can look around as you alley travel, but I would suggest avoiding that until you are a bit more... adjusted." Mac took a large breath. "That was a lot of rather boring information, but basically it sums up to, don't kill yourself. We are giving you training wheels so you don't do that. Any questions?"

Edited March 14, 2019 by MacThorstenson

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

Twenty spikes, Lita thought, eyes widening just a bit. Where will they find the room to put them? She briefly imagined herself as a pincushion.

Not helpful.

"No questions," she said. "But I do want to thank you for your help, both of you. I'm not sure what I was expecting, honestly, but I appreciate all your attention."  She extinguished her tin and started filling her brassminds, pulling her wrap closer. "I promise to do everything in my power to avoid killing myself, you can be sure of that."
 

@MacThorstenson @Voidus

Edited March 14, 2019 by ZincAboutIt
forgot to tag people

[MacThorstenson he/him]

16 hours ago, ZincAboutIt said:

Twenty spikes, Lita thought, eyes widening just a bit. Where will they find the room to put them? She briefly imagined herself as a pincushion.

Not helpful.

"No questions," she said. "But I do want to thank you for your help, both of you. I'm not sure what I was expecting, honestly, but I appreciate all your attention."  She extinguished her tin and started filling her brassminds, pulling her wrap closer. "I promise to do everything in my power to avoid killing myself, you can be sure of that."
 

@MacThorstenson @Voidus

Mac grinned. Now was his favorite part.

"Great! And it was my pleasure, I enjoy teaching alleytravel to people. Now, its time for the fun stuff." Mac pointed to the other side of his office and a hemalurgy table appeared along with a jar full of blood. "If you could, please seat yourself at the table."

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

14 minutes ago, MacThorstenson said:

Mac grinned. Now was his favorite part.

"Great! And it was my pleasure, I enjoy teaching alleytravel to people. Now, its time for the fun stuff." Mac pointed to the other side of his office and a hemalurgy table appeared along with a jar full of blood. "If you could, please seat yourself at the table."

A little bit of Lita's earlier gratitude evaporated at the sight of the table and the... was that blood? 

By the Survivor, she thought, feeling all the hairs on her arms and the back of her neck stand on end. Lita looked down at her right arm, where the blood had dried in several rusty, blotchy stains along the linen sleeve of her blouse. It was probably all for the best that she'd already gotten her blood on it. She was glad she'd turned off her tin, as she definitely didn't want to feel more of this than she had to.

Right, she told herself. You just walked through some kind of weird portal world. You built a rusting path with your thoughts. After that, being stuck through with twenty spikes should be no problem, right?

She stifled a rather pitiful giggle with a cough. Lita felt herself stand up, and was rather impressed that she didn't pass out on the way across the room. She sat down on the table, feet dangling over the edge, and waited.

[MacThorstenson he/him]

"Excellent." Mac said cheerfully. "Now don't worry, these spikes are pretty small compared to normal size." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a metal spike twice the size of a railroad spike. 

"If you could please lie down on your stomach. These spikes are going to go into the underside of your forearm. Each spike on its own doesn't actually have a bind point there, but once we stab you with 5 or more of these spikes the sub-spinal bindpoints shift to your...." He continued rambling on about the science as she lay down on her stomach. 

@ZincAboutIt

Edited March 15, 2019 by MacThorstenson

[old man moomba he/him]

A balding man in a full face mask took notes. 

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

Lita felt her mind go blank the moment she saw the spike, and laid down on her stomach mechanically, feeling the table press into her cheek as Mac continued speaking. The edges of her vision started to fuzz.

Let me faint, please, Lita thought desperately. Did they have some ether around here? At least a drink?

Quote

Sooo should I assume she'll be awake for this or should I have her black out and miss all the blood and screaming fun?

@MacThorstenson

[MacThorstenson he/him]

Mac was incredibly confused about how a man had made it into his office without Mac's permission. Mac warped a solid aluminum box around the man to be dealt with later.

After Lita had lied down, Mac reached into the blood jar and pulled out about 20 thumbtacks. He chuckled to himself as he placed them on Lita's forearms. He shouldn't joke like that, but it was fun. Once each tack was in place, he tapped it in with the large railroad spike. When all that was done he pulled out a few mental stability thumbtacks to keep the weakness from showing.

"There you go." He said. "How does it feel?"

@ZincAboutIt

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

26 minutes ago, MacThorstenson said:

"There you go." He said. "How does it feel?"

@ZincAboutIt

Lita looked at her forearms, feeling relief flood her body, quickly followed by irritation. She stared at Mac flatly; he looked quite smug.

"Much better than I expected," she said archly, looking at the railroad spike in his hands. "Stings a bit but I imagine that's expected."

Now that she thought about it, she did feel a little different. Lita looked at the little metallic dots on her forearms, hoping they worked as Mac had said. "Will they interfere with my brassminds at all? Or my tin?"

[MacThorstenson he/him]

"No, they shouldn't. These don't mess with identity enough to impact your ability to fill metalminds, and your ability to burn metals shouldn't change at all. Now, if there is anything else you would like to know, now is the time to ask it. Otherwise, I will take my leave now." Mac started to clean up the blood and spikes. "I will be in contact when I have a job for you."

@ZincAboutIt

Edited March 15, 2019 by MacThorstenson

[Voidus]

Laurelai shook her head as she watched Mac brandishing the railway spike around. He'd tried to trick her with the same ruse when she'd first started learning to Alleytravel. But she didn't ruin the joke, allowing Mac to eventually reveal the actual spikes that they would be using and completing the relatively painless procedure.

Still, she might be a little overwhelmed after all of that. Might be best to take a bit of a break for a while.

She assisted in cleaning up the room, first wiping the blood off, then spraying the area with disinfectant and wiping down again. The cleanup crew would do a more thorough cleaning at some point but in case the lab was needed urgently it was still best to keep things ready.

"If not, I'll show you where you can sleep for a while, though of course if you have rooms in the city then you're more than welcome to return there."

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

Lita nodded at Laurelai gratefully, gathering up her wrap and rolling down her sleeves. "Some sleep sounds wonderful, actually." She had a flat in the city, but suddenly she wasn't sure if she could get there without falling asleep on her feet. Better to be safe.

She thought about bowing to Mac, then decided on a respectful nod. He was all business, mind already turned toward something else. If she wasn't so tired, she'd have been curious. Now, however, all she wanted to explore were the secrets written on the insides of her eyelids.

Still rather dazed, she walked across the office to where Laurelai stood.

"Lead the way," she said.

@MacThorstenson @Voidus

[MacThorstenson he/him]

"OK." Mac said, returning the nod to Lita. He bagan warping the tables and vials of blood to the cleaning department. Once he was done he turned to the wall, and he looked through the wall into the alleys.

He saw all of them. Every single one.

Even the ones that most people didn't consider alleys, like the alleys in between atoms and molecules. The small alley in between an bed and a nightstand. Every single one. He saw it all and understood it. Then he calmly picked up a fractal alley and moved it infront of him. He took a step forward and into the alley.

All someone watching would have seen was a guy go from existing in 3 dimensions to 1.58 And disappear.

Edited March 15, 2019 by MacThorstenson

[old man moomba he/him]

The balding man stuck his hand into The Abyss That Lies In The Bottom Of The Peanut Butter Jar and accessed the alley there. He folded up into a peanut butter covered knife, which then compressed into a single point of light. The light winked out as the notetaker disappeared.

[MacThorstenson he/him]

5 minutes ago, Dr. Dapper said:

The balding man stuck his hand into The Abyss That Lies In The Bottom Of The Peanut Butter Jar and accessed the alley there. He folded up into a peanut butter covered knife, which then compressed into a single point of light. The light winked out as the notetaker disappeared.

Quote

I'm fine with it in this specific instance, but I would note that the ability to use and access alleys that aren't typically seen as alleys isn't an ability that someone can access without millenia of training. In addition, it's not actually usable outside of the alleys any more for anyone due to sudiov.

It's one of the peak's of alleymatics and gives someone roughly 20000 character points as it puts them on par with Mac.

Typical alleytravel is limited to connecting the alleys to move from spot to spot generally.

I would prefer it if you didn't do stuff like that outside of the alleys.

 

Edited March 15, 2019 by MacThorstenson

[old man moomba he/him]

Quote

:^)

 

[Voidus]

Laurelai approached Lita carefully, ready to support the other woman if needed. Exhaustion and exsanguination did have a tendency to leave one a little faint. She wouldn't be the first to pass out on their first day with the DA.

"Alright, I'll show you to your rooms." Laurelai said.

She led the woman through further Alleys, trying to keep the path simple, until the came out in another of the more traditional Alleys, large red brick walls loomed over the pair on both sides as they appeared, and a number of doors dotted the walls.

"This is near the department of records, I spend a lot of time around here researching and most of the more... interesting experiments happen in different departments so it's usually quiet at least." She explained as she walked further into the Alley, eventually stopping at a nondescript pale blue door. "And here we are."

She cautiously opened the door, peering into the room before entering to ensure there weren't any stray experiments, then gestured Lita to follow her in. Laurelai shut the door behind them and flipped the light switch, illuminating the interior of the somewhat plain room. The floors were a dark, polished wood, the walls a featureless white plasterboard, and a number of corridors led into other rooms.

"Kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, personal lab." Laurelai said, briefly pointing to each one in turn. "The lab's only got basic stuff, if you need any charged spikes or anything fancy you'll need to pick it up or head to one of the proper labs. Some of the kitchen's have Soulcasters in them but I'd avoid that and just use the normal food, Soulcasted stuff tastes weird if you haven't tried it before."

She gave a quick rundown of the house's facilities, instinctively lapsing into a somewhat dull monotone as she did so. A bad habit she still held from her days of solo research when she'd relentlessly muttered to herself about everything. Part of her early attempts to create Essence Marks.

"And that's about it." She finished. "I'll let you rest up and see you in a bit, if you need you can try tapping that copper medallion and see if you can pick up Alleycant, the memories should all be there."

Laurelai turned to leave, heading towards one of the corridors to begin Alleytravelling to the records departments, there were a few files on experiments she'd wanted to go through and she reasoned that she might need to pick up a bronzemind if she wanted to be done by the time Lita was up again.

 

Quote

Feel free to stop her if you have any more questions, otherwise she'll be heading out.