do you bare your fangs at us, sir? MOONLIT RIVALS LOG 2, SCENE 2

[libraryassistants]

Who: Readers and Actors
What: The werewolves who are not sneaking into the party cause a bit of mischief... and did anybody actually agree to keep the peace tonight?
When: The night of the ball itself. [ooc timeline: Feb 6th - 19th]
Where: The city of Montica.
Content warnings: Please include any warnings in headers.


Waxing Gibbous Moon

In Town

Above the city, the Umbra Mansion stands tall. Its grand doors and windows have been opened, spilling light like a beacon. Music lilts in the air, drifting so far as to be faintly heard even in the neutral centre of the city.

The streets have emptied, particularly in the vampiric half of town. Most of the vampire loyalists have joined the masquerade, leaving their homes and shops unattended. Tonight is a special night - a once in a century event, and they wouldn’t miss it for the world.

Even some werewolves and neutral citizens have been enticed to attend. Jadis the Mystic has created a lotion that will disguise the scent of a werewolf; an effect that is broken by shifting, breaking the skin, or the gradual passage of time. It is not widely distributed, but rumours travel fast. The lotion is only given to any Guildulf-aligned werewolves, but… well, there’s nothing wrong with a little trade here or there. Right?

For all of the wolves in town - with the moon so close to being full, it’s natural for them to feel a bit more excitable. Energetic. Ready to take on the world. And seeing as Montica is so empty, it’s like a playground has just been opened up. The young wolves in particular are eager to take advantage of the empty streets, the sound of not-quite-mature howls breaking through the air in their excitement. There are hardly any people around to be scared if they play too rough or run too fast, and they are taking advantage of this with great enthusiasm.

In the highly-debated 'neutral' zone, some small packs of adolescent werewolves are gathering. There's banter and roughhousing, the not-quite-adults playfully shoving each-other over the invisible line where the vampire territory begins.

Some of the bravest amongst them take the challenge to dart over and brush their fingers over silver doorhandles - their yelps spurring courage and adrenaline in the others. What starts harmlessly enough quickly escalates as they urge each-other on, teenage excitement and the thrill of the moon encouraging all sorts of bad choices. The longer they go without reprimand, the more bold they become; and somewhere along the way, bulbs of garlic start winding up in places they wouldn't normally be found. (There is at least one group who is excitedly challenging each-other to leave the garlic in more and more absurd places. If they happen to sting themselves on some silver ornamentation on the way, all the better.)

Not all homes are unoccupied, though - sooner or later someone’s going to disturb someone else’s peace, and tensions are already so high. Hopefully there are some Responsible Adults around to curtail the worst of the mischief before someone’s temper is sparked.

Comments

[starandhope]

"Thank you, Rin," she says earnestly. "You're very kind."

It's simply stated, and she only pauses, then shakes herself. Rin doesn't seem the type to offer an arm to a lady. So she gathers herself and prepares to follow - a step or two behind, so that Rin can (hopefully) stay between herself and any further danger.

[ugh_emotions]

Yeah, no, it does not want to offer an arm. Ew.

It walks just ahead, leading the way while also keeping pace. It doesn't look at her.

"It's...SecUnit," it says, and then immediately regrets it. There's something awkward and tense in the way its carrying itself that has absolutely nothing to do with the hostile fauna people. "But Rin's good for Stories."

[starandhope]

"...Sec...Unit?" Mina repeats, baffled. Not offended, or afraid. Simply confused. The term is completely alien to her. It bears no resemblance to any name she has ever heard.

[ugh_emotions]

There's a good reason it doesn't resemble any name she's heard. Mainly because it's not a name.

"You can call me SecUnit," it says, still walking. Still not looking at her. "Except when it'll confuse the humans."

[starandhope]

As a human, Mina is, in fact, a little confused now.

"That is... your real name? Not Rin?"

[ugh_emotions]

"My real name is private," it says.

It doesn't look at her. It keeps its head studiously turned away from her, well away from any risk of eye contact. And it doesn't intend it, but its Act Like A Human code translations something of how tense and anxious its feeling right now into its body language.

(Why did it think this was a good idea? It shouldn't have said anything. It should have just let her keep calling it 'Rin', keep thinking that it was human.

But Mina had been...nice. She deserved to know. Even if it meant she wouldn't want to be around it anymore.)

"It's what I am," it says. Still tense, still avoiding looking anywhere near her. "A Security Unit. I'm a construct."

[starandhope]

That is... a lot to take in. So Rin - or, well, Sec Unit? Isn't human? A construct? She considers that for a moment.

"Does that mean someone made you?" she asks. Perhaps Rin - Sec Unit! - is something like the Bride?

[ugh_emotions]

"...Yes," it says.

That's exactly what it means. Not quite like the Bride, exactly. But...also kind of a lot like the Bride.

(Mina kept thinking that 'Rin' was strange. Maybe now she knows why, a little.)

[starandhope]

Mina considers this as they walk. Obviously, Rin is not made up of human corpses the way the Bride is. But they are a "construct".

"You're an automaton?" she asks eventually. "One crafted for... security?"

Security Unit, after all.

[ugh_emotions]

It tries to look up the definition of 'automaton' in its language modules. But it's not a term that gets used by anyone in SecUnit's time. In the end all it has to refer to is word's brief use in a historical docudrama to get some context for it.

"Kind of. We'd call automaton bots. They're completely inorganic. Constructs have both organic and inorganic parts."

Hence, you know. The fact that SecUnit had a face. And skin. And all sorts of other very human looking bits.

[starandhope]

"So... you're a little bit like the Bride, but with some machine parts," Mina says carefully, attempting to slot this new information into place in her mind. She's fortunate, in that she's already had some practice with this sort of thing since arriving in the Library - it means she's skipping a few of the steps, and moving pretty much immediately to the "Acceptance" phase.

"Why didn't you say so earlier?" she finds herself asking. There are so many strange people in the Library, after all, and none of them have been so secretive. Some of them are dead! Or from other planets!

[ugh_emotions]

"...Because SecUnits are dangerous," it says softly. "We scare humans. Especially ungoverned SecUnits."

And it would be clear, to anyone who even knew a thing about SecUnits, that it was not governed. (And sure, Mina clearly didn't know anything. But Mina wasn't the only person in the Library. Someone else might know. Someone else might have realised what it was.)

[starandhope]

"Dangerous, yes," she agrees. She saw what it did to that werewolf. Obviously, if it wanted to, it could rip her apart.

But it won't.

"But you protect the innocent," she says. "You keep people safe. Why would I be afraid of you?"

[ugh_emotions]

SecUnit's face briefly crumples into an expression. For a moment, its insides go all melty. (She thinks it is safe. She thinks it protects the innocent. She's not afraid.)

Without consciously choosing to do so, its arms come up to wrap around its own chest.

"A lot of humans I've known don't think that way," it says. "And...I could hurt you. You wouldn't be able to stop me. Being scared of SecUnits makes sense."

[starandhope]

"Perhaps being scared of your kind as a whole makes sense, for those who are familiar," Mina says thoughtfully. "But I only know you. And for me, trusting you makes sense. Because you've proven yourself trustworthy."

[ugh_emotions]

Oh. Now there’s even more melty feelings.

(It thinks about Mensah. Who always trusted it. Always was so sure that it was a person, and that she was safe with it.

Mina reminds it a bit of Mensah right now.)

Saying anything feels impossible right now. And Mina doesn’t have a feed device that it can tap in acknowledgment. So it just…nods.

[starandhope]

At this point, it no longer bothers her when Rin - SecUnit - doesn't respond. She's gotten used to the silences.

But she does have one more thing to say.

"Thank you. For choosing to help."

Because it does choose. Over and over again.

[ugh_emotions]

(Well. Not it's definitely not going to be saying anything, because it's having another fucking Emotion.

No one ever thanked SecUnit before it met its humans. It's still not used to hearing it. It still doesn't know how it's meant to respond.)

It just nods, again, because it can't figure out anything else to do, apparently. Also the thought of actually trying to saying anything makes it feel like it would fucking combust.

When they finally arrive at the Laurelthirst, it's grateful for the distraction.

"We're here," it says. Just in case Mina missed it somehow. (Maybe she did. Sometimes humans were weird, and missed things right in front of them.)

[starandhope]

"So we are," she says with a faint smile. It's been a harrowing evening, but the Laurelthirst is a safe haven, so her shoulders relax just a bit.

"Thank you for escorting me. And - for confiding in me. I'm honored by your trust, and I'll try to be worthy of it."

[ugh_emotions]

(It's face twists. It wasn't trust, not really. It was only telling her this because it had been found out, back in the library. Its secrets had already been exposed. At some point, Mina would have found out anyway. It should tell Mina that she's wrong, and it doesn't actually trust her.

It doesn't do that.)

"Stay inside. You'll be safer there," it says. And then leaves, before she can do something terrifying, like thank it again.