awashlogs | Event Eight.

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Event Eight.

To thee I'll return, overburdened with care;
The heart's dearest solace will smile on me there.
No more from the cottage again will I roam,
Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home.

he Town is quiet this week. No sudden quests on the forum post, no roars of werewolves in the distance... just peaceful, peaceful quiet. Of course, it's hot as hell right now, but that aside, it's pretty pleasant. You probably don't want to wander around the Town right now, but...

Naturally, now's when the Town is going to start thoroughly encouraging you to do just that.

You do want to find your doorway back home, don't you?

Better get searching! And don't mind the other worlds you might end up stumbling into first.

Welcome to Awash's eighth event log, everyone! Further information on this event can be found here at the OOC post.

You are welcome to start your own posts or logs for this event as well. If there are any questions, please ask them here. Thank you!

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[Hmm... Ophiocordyceps, so like a fungi?]

No, not really. [He was too busy with the occult, honestly.] Explain it to me.

The Cordyceps is a parasitic fungus that slowly takes control of its insect host. It gradually infiltrates the host's tissue and alters its behavior to facilitate reproduction.

[ Zombie ants are an actual thing that exist in nature. Fascinating, isn't it? ]

There are demons capable of taking over people through other means than merging with them—I encountered one that had the ability to turn into fluid and take over people's bodies by entering their mouths. Unlike the usual takeover process, this didn't kill the host, at least not in the short term.

In other words, you're wondering if there could be a demon doing something similar with you?

[It could add up... If Ryo is encouraging demon activity even while trying to stop it. But... that's strange. It's beyond anything he'd expected from demons.]

Yeah. It would explain the inconsistencies. A demon that slowly takes over like a parasite—or perhaps, needed to keep me alive so I could instigate the war between humans and demons.

[ Ryo is a very bright person; a smart enough demon could advantage of that and let its host do the thinking while influencing him into carrying out its will. ]

I see. That's dangerous, if that is the case.

[Hmm... but there's not much they can do without knowing for sure.]

I can keep my eyes on you, but there's only so much that it does. If we're both aware, though, at least that's something.

Yeah. Short of cutting me open to see if there's a parasite somewhere inside my body, I don't think there's much that can be done besides keeping an eye on me.

[ He releases a sigh that sounds very loud in the large room, flicking his gaze over to the large windows. The sky is an endless expanse of calming blue, but he knows the world out there is anything but calm. ]

...I should have noticed that something was wrong sooner. I wanted to help humanity by exposing the demon threat to the general public, not put them on the fast track to self-destruction.

[ His voice is calm as ever, with only the barest perceptible edge. This wasn't how it was supposed to go, is what he wants to tell himself but his heart feels otherwise. Everything is going exactly as planned and he knows he shouldn't be feeling this way but he can't help it. Humans are weak, fragile things that only have themselves to blame for their imminent extinction. ]

[Interesting. It's interesting to see that Ryo does have feelings in there. He's frustrated, he's stuck, and he's all but asking for help. Guren wants to answer him, help him, but he's also not sure how. These differences in their demons, when they barely understood their own... it's going to cause a big problem.

But Ryo's family, just like the others. He's decided that, and so he's going to do whatever he can to help.]

Don't worry. [He says it calmly, confidently.] Whatever's going on with you, we'll figure it out. I won't let up, so get used to me bugging you.

...I appreciate it.

[ Honestly, Ryo kind of doubts Guren will be able to help him because sometimes the grim reality is that there's nothing that can be done, but it's appreciated regardless. He'd rather have Akira support him through this, but Guren is a lot better than no one at all. He can't do this alone, not when he wasn't even able to recognize the warning signs without someone else pointing them out for him. ]

Would you like me to show you around my apartment?

Sure, if you don't mind.

[He's curious. And Ryo may not be confident, but Guren thinks he has a better chance of doing anything than anyone else. Dextera will blindly accept just about anything, and everyone else is too distant to know a thing. Guren will pay attention.]

[ Thanks, Guren, you're a real pal. That said, Ryo will start the tour by heading into the library, where hundreds of books line the shelves on the eastern side of the room—books on physics, psychology, genetics, anthropology, religion. You name the subject, it's probably covered. ]

This is my personal library. I've been an avid reader since childhood.

[What a fucking NERD]

These portals seem a little unsteady. Do they have anything in them? [Partially memorized, fully? It'd be interesting to know. But, he learns plenty just from this.]

You seem like the type, anyway. I guess you really made money for yourself.

I haven't checked yet. [ He moves to pick up the nearest book. It's a thick tome on linguistic anthropology, because he's a nerd like that. ]

I'm entirely self-made. I didn't inherit a cent of what I have, yet I have been quite successful.

[ Though he supposes he owes some of his success to Jenny. Moving to the US with her opened doors to opportunities he wouldn't have had otherwise.

He flips the book open to a random page in the middle and finds it completely blurry. ]

...The text is illegible.

A rare case of talent getting you somewhere, huh? That's good.

[Ryo definitely has it. No connections, just pure talent? He envies that. Guren comes over to take a look at the book with a hum.]

The ones in my office weren't much different. Entries that I had memorized were clear, but the rest was jibberish.

[ Ryo is the definition of an orphan success story. He started out with nothing but a stolen box cutter and worked himself up, relying only on talent and hard work. Now he has a PhD at sixteen, plenty of connections, and more money than he knows what to do with. ]

I see. If this place was created from memory, it would explain why the text looks like this. [ He slides the book back onto the shelf and pulls out the Bible instead. He opens it and this time the text is perfectly clear and sharp. ]

I guess so.

[He can completely believe Ryo has the bible memorized, but god that's so lame. He watches him quietly and a little curiously, though.]

I wasn't sure what sort of illusion it might be, but it seems clearly tied to our memories of places.

Yeah. It's a little odd that Jenny isn't here, but maybe the town didn't want to recreate people, so it gave us uninhabited sets instead.

[ Which he's kind of grateful for, actually. An illusory Akira or Jenny would be mere props in a toy world. ]

The door to my world leads to a high school that's normally filled with people. It was empty, too. There weren't even any demons.

[Like that's a normal thing to find at a high school, but whatever, gather that it's a weird post apocalyptic high school with a demon basement.]

I see. Then it's likely the same for every portal. [ He'll have to do some investigating before he can confirm it as true, but if the literal high school is devoid of people then he doubts he's going to find anything but empty stages. ]

I must admit, this is a pleasant break from what the town usually throws at us.

[ Hanging out in his air conditioned apartment is vastly preferred to dealing with living shadows or having to resist temptation when the things you want keep popping up around you.

As he speaks, he pushes the Bible back in its place on the shelf and leads Guren to the terrace. Look at that giant pool he never uses and the view over Tokyo. ]

I don't trust it. That banquet from earlier, and now this? It seems too peaceful.

[But Guren is a paranoid cynic, so what can you do. He follows Ryo out to the terrace, staring at the pool and then the view. Tokyo. He recognizes it, which is probably the weirdest part. The same here and there, even if things are so different...]

I wouldn't be surpised if my apartment is overrun by demons in a few days, honestly. But for the time being, I'm going to consider it a break from the usual fare of having to deal with talking furniture or werewolves.

[ He gets you, Guren; he doesn't blindly trust the apparent peace and generosity either. What are your intentions, town? ]

Haha.

[Okay, that's fair, he has to laugh, as short as it is. It's real!]

Well, that's not a bad way of looking at it. You're not the type to let his guard down, so it's fine.

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Event Eight.

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