Difference between revisions of "Life Hacks/Hallomod(tod-pre-Cora)/This is too weird, better check with Loki"
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'''How do you respond?''' | '''How do you respond?''' | ||
*[[Life Hacks/Hallomod(tod-pre-Cora)/Bring Cora to Loki|"No, I'll go get it."]] | *[[Life Hacks/Hallomod(tod-pre-Cora)/Bring Cora to Loki|"No, I'll go get it."]] | ||
*[[Life Hacks/Hallomod(tod-pre-Cora)/Bring Loki to Cora|"It makes sense for us both to go."]] | *[[Life Hacks/Hallomod(tod-pre-Cora)/Bring Loki to Cora|"It makes sense for us both to go."]] | ||
*[[Life Hacks/Hallomod(tod-pre-Cora)/Loki gets Cora|"Couldn't I just wait here?"]] | *[[Life Hacks/Hallomod(tod-pre-Cora)/Loki gets Cora|"Couldn't I just wait here?"]] | ||
Revision as of 14:14, 27 December 2016
You find yourself freaking out a little bit, a condition that is becoming a rare thing for you. You aren't certain if it's the effects of the strange doll, or just your own anxiety; but you're not about to mess with the thing until you have some more information. With everyone's attention on the doll, now would be the perfect time to use the duck and stop time. Then you can use Loki's knocker and ask him what the fuck that thing is.
You set Decy down, and he immediately rushes to March and hides behind his legs. Reaching between two buttons on your shirt, you pull the duck out of the Infinity Pocket and give it a squeeze. You think for a second, and coordinate your movements to appear as though you are making the sign of the cross as you dilate time using the interface. With time paused you find yourself calming down. You actually feel a little silly, and wonder for a moment if you're over-reacting. You still feel the dread and arousal emanating from the doll, and decide that you are not.
There appears to be no doors in the attic. You sigh, and walk over to the stairs. The entire stairway is block by the rest of the Holiday clan. You carefully clamor over them, and make your way to the closest door . . . April and May's door. You take the antique knocker from your Infinity Pocket and put it on the door. It appears to stay in place of its own accord. You pause for a moment as a wave of indecision washes over you, then knock three times.
The door opens inward, contrary to the arrangement of its hinges, and appears to be attached to a much larger door on the other side. Before you is a massive hallway. The floor appears to be fine, polished white marble with a wide crimson rug, or carpet, stretching the entire length of the hallway taking up the center half of the width of the hallway. The walls appear to be made of mahogany siding inlayed with ebony, gold, and marble. They tower to at least twenty feet tall, and culminate in a vaulted ceiling painted with scenes of Norse Mythology. All along the walls spaced out approximately every five feet, appear statues of the Norse gods, carved from a strange black stone . . . or perhaps metal . . . that you don't recognize. Each statue stands on a dais of the same clean white marble that the floors are made from with a gold plaque on each dais. There are Norse runes on each plaque, but you can't read them due to their orientation from your current position. At the end of the massive hallway is a set of finely carved wooden doors that must be the counterpart to the door attached to April and May's door . . . meaning that there is likely the other door of this pair just to your right when you should enter the hall. Above the doors on the far wall is the unmistakable statue of Loki himself, but dressed in Norse garb. It is, in all, a breathtaking sight.
You steel yourself, and walk through the door. Your footsteps echo in the quiet of the hallway despite the plush rug, giving you the sense of solemnity that one gets at a museum. You walk confidently toward the doors at the end of the hall. You almost want to linger and read the inscriptions on the plaques, but there are more important matters to attend to. You stride straight to the doors and, noting the orientation of the hinges, pull them open. Inside you are take aback by what you see.
Loki's apartment, in stark contrast to his hallway, appears to be a large, modern apartment. It is preternaturally clean, with an open floor plan. The entire front and side walls consist of full height windows looking out into an idyllic temperate rain forest as seen from above complete with a spectacular waterfall. The view gives the impression that the apartment is protruding from a cliff. The furniture is modern and minimalist, but with an excellent sense of order and Feng shui. There seems to be a theme to the space, with the furniture consisting of predominantly stainless steel, glass, and suede. The color pattern is limited to black, white, and red, with black taking the most prominent role.
The kitchen area to your right seems almost sci-fi, and opens immediately to a dining area on the far right of the large room. Loki's dining table is a glass tabletop with an actual babbling brook encased in the glass floating above a disc of stainless steel. The dining chairs are similarly floating above stainless steel discs, and the black suede upholstered cushions seem luxurious and inviting. In the center of the room looking out toward the forest is a similarly floating sofa and chair set. There appears to be no television in this living area, but the window just in front of the sofa looks a little off, allowing you to make the assumption that it is, in fact, the television. Beyond the window is the outer deck which is predominantly filled with an infinity pool. Just to your left is a room that you presume to be the bathroom, and on the far left another that is likely the bedroom. Just beside the bedroom is a work space where Loki sits manipulating holographic code in a manner not at all unlike that seen in the Wonder Comics movie Steel Man in the work space of genius billionaire playboy and inventor Thad Stearn.
As a god of chaos you find it a bit unnerving that his residence is such a tribute to order.
"Have a seat Xander," says Loki without looking up from his work. "I'll be right with you." You make your way to his sofa and take a seat. As it is floating like all of his furniture you half expect the couch to dip down when you add your weight, but you sense no more give than any other sofa as you take your seat. "I just need to finish . . . where the fuck did you go? Come out, come out, wherever you - AH HA! Found you, you sneaky little . . . just gotta route the subroutine around your sneaky little ass . . . and . . . no good. Damn, thought I had it." Loki suddenly spins around in his floating chair. "So, that didn't take long. What's the issue? Did you miss me?"
"Um, I wouldn't bother you," you reply, "it's just that . . . well?"
"More questions?"
"What, no . . . I mean not right now. I just saw something pretty strange that I can't explain, and I was hoping you could . . . I don't know . . . let me know what was going on I guess."
"You're going to have to be more specific. There is a lot of stuff that you could have seen that would seem strange to you."
"It's a porcelain doll. It appears to be Victorian. It's about three feet talk, dressed rather provocatively by Victorian standards."
"That's not hard, what can you see it's ankles," he says, then mocks distress, "oh my!"
"Yeah," you respond sheepishly, "and it's shoulders."
"How scandalous," he says with a chuckle, "what else? I know you didn't come here for a slightly out of place antique."
"Well, it gives off a sort of . . . vibe . . ." you say nervously, wondering if you should even be here.
"Ugh. Out with it man. What kind of 'vibe' are we talking about here?"
"When anyone sees it they feel anxiety or fear . . . but when guys see it they feel arousal too."
"I see, interesting," he said with a casual smile. "Are you sure it's not just a creepy but hot doll?"
"Well, it also sort of . . . glowed."
Loki perks up. "Glowed you say? Now were getting somewhere. Describe the glow. What color was it? Was it steady, or did it pulse? Details man!"
"Well it was a deep red . . . I'd say scarlet if I was forced to choose a shade. It was weaker than when you select someone and it slowly pulsed . . . I'd say a sine wave pulse at around 30 hertz."
"Good," says Loki, "I didn't need quite that much, but good." He furrows his brow in thought.
"So do you know what it is?"
"Yes," says Loki very seriously, "I just don't know how it exists here and now. It's a cursed item. The pulsing glow indicates a special item. Red indicates magically cursed. The problem is that there is no magic, so any such object should be inert, and therefore not be glowing." He gets up from his seat, and paces a bit. "I guess I should see it. I don't suppose you brought it with you?"
"No, I . . . the thing freaks me out a little."
"Of course it does," said Loki, "it's designed to. I guess if it bothers you so much I can go there . . ."
How do you respond?
Infinity Pocket
Loki controls the local area.
