Looking For A Lost Friend

[museicalmarty]

Have a confused Marty wandering around the general question area, looking like he's searching for something -- or, rather, someone. "Where the hell -- okay, you know what? Place is for questions -- anybody seen Victor? He said he was going to 'clear his head' about an hour ago, and we thought he'd be back by now."

[For those curious, Victor does happen to be in the Nexus -- passed out on a rather large couch that Marty just hasn't come across yet, thanks to the weird way space and directions work in this place. Maybe it thought he needed the sleep]

Comments

[palmerthing]

Yeah. Bones thicker, feet more centered and better supported, maybe a few knee adjustments. More muscles, too, and lots of padding. There's a reason elephants don't have arched feet. Too damn heavy!

[museicalmarty]

Feet more -- centered? [Marty attempts to picture that] Oh, that just looks weird. . .but yeah, I figured. And the really heavy animals are in the ocean, right? 'Cause then they can rely on the water to help support 'em? I know blue whales are the biggest things that ever lived. . .

[palmerthing]

That's right. Thankfully I'm not heavy enough for that to be an issue. Unlikely to ever become so, either, unless there are a few elephants going spare.

[museicalmarty]

Look, you never know in the Nexus -- though admittedly, haven't seen that one yet. [pause] I am -- pretty sure somebody mentioned sky whales once, though.

[palmerthing]

They can't be as heavy as regular whales if they can fly, though. Not without a lot of magic at least. *He laughs.* And now I'm taking magic seriously, man.

Not sure what it says about me that my first reaction to sky whales is 'can I eat this,' mind you. *It means that he's still a ruthless predator under the surface, of course, but admitting that openly might scare away what's becoming a friend.*

[museicalmarty]

[Marty raises an eyebrow] Doc and I did mention the whole "kidnapped by faeries" thing, right? And did we get into stuff like Victor getting deaged and Alice getting aged up temporarily at one point? Trust me, dude -- take magic seriously.

. . .means you wanna know what it's like to be a sky whale? [Because that is sort of what eating something entails for him, if he's getting how Thing-ness works right]

[palmerthing]

Yeah, that's why I have to take it seriously now. It's just weird still.

Hah, yeah. But what's left of the old Palmer is still upset by it. It's weird, feeling the unhappiness of a dead man.

[museicalmarty]

Yeah, okay, fair -- it never stops being weird. Magic is just kind of inherently weird, I think.

Bet it is. . .but I guess it's just something you gotta live with now. As long as you're gonna keep being Palmer, anyway.

[palmerthing]

Yeah, it ain't very magical otherwise.

Don't worry, man, I still wanna be him. You'd know if that had changed.

[museicalmarty]

Suppose that's true!

Yeah, I bet I would. [pause] You, uh -- got any idea how long you're gonna hang onto him?

[palmerthing]

*He smiles reassuringly.* Don't worry, if I start losing track I'll find a world with no people and stick with that. I think I can stay being myself--himself--for a while yet, though. Maybe even years.

[museicalmarty]

[Marty smiles back] Glad to hear that. I do hope you stick around for a while.

[palmerthing]

What can I say, being a person is fun. There are books and movies and shit like that, and at least part of your mind can actually understand it. More fun than trying to take over and way more fun than just being an animal. Not a very smart animal, either, it doesn't take a lot of thought to wait until you're alone with something and then grab it.

[museicalmarty]

Not much in the way of entertainment when you're a Thing, huh? Might as well take advantage of everything humanity's got! Video games in particular have gotten -- pretty incredible these days.

[palmerthing]

Only if you find it entertaining to constantly plot ways of catching people alone for your entire life. Okay when you have no other options, maybe, but right now I can read and watch TV and play video games! Hell, just talking to people for its own sake opens up whole new realms of thought outside of 'what should I say here?' and 'so hungry' and 'danger!' Not that the Thing isn't smart, it is, but it has very primitive goals.

Can you think of any games I might like? *Not that he's sure of what he'd like, except that heroic humans fighting monsters isn't it.*

[museicalmarty]

Heh, yeah, exactly! Trust me, I know the Thing is smart -- dumb monsters don't make for good horror movies -- but it must be nice to have goals that aren't just "absorb all the things."

Hmmm. . .part of me wants to recommend "The Sims," part of me is like "he's kinda already doing that."

[palmerthing]

Yeah. I might even find things to learn about that aren't biology! *He chuckles.* History and literature and math and all kinds of fun shit. Who knows, maybe I'll try normal food.

I am? What, is it just pretending to be a random person? *That doesn't sound like much of a game to him, even aside from the fact that he's doing it already.*

[museicalmarty]

I thought you did try normal food and decided it wasn't for you? I mean, we're all happy if you want to give it another go. . .

Not really -- it's more of a game about taking care of virtual people. They're called Sims, and you have to build or buy them a house, fulfill their needs -- make sure they go to the bathroom when they're bustin' for it, eat when they're hungry, stuff like that -- get them jobs, make sure they complete their life goals. . .it's basically a "everyday life" simulator. Hell, latest one makes you do laundry if you have the right stuff pack.

[palmerthing]

I tried it a bit, but . . . maybe rare steak, something like that? Whatever's closest to what I usually eat, just so that I can join in with people. Unless you're okay with, you know, the frogs and shit.

Yeah, that sounds slightly redundant. So are games where you play a monster, and I'd rather not play a game where you have to fight monsters . . .

[museicalmarty]

Rare steak probably would be the closest, yeah. That or sushi, that's raw fish. I mean, if you need to get frogs, I'll just look away, but -- yeah.

Right. . .problem is, that rules out most games. [thinking again] You might like Portal? That's a puzzle game, involves robots. Pretty short, but it has a longer sequel.

[palmerthing]

Both of those sound good. At least enough that I can eat them okay, even if it's not very nutritious.

Ooh, yes. Those are fun.

[museicalmarty]

At the very least, you got options for anybody who might be too freaked out by the frog stuff. Though given how the people at the ice cream shop didn't even bat an eye at that. . .

Yeah, some of them get really complex -- makes your brain hurt, but in a good way.

[palmerthing]

You did, though, so I should probably try it. I don't wanna gross you out too much.

Cool! Is there a way to do it with multiple people?

[museicalmarty]

[awkward smile] I tried not to? Sorry, just -- some stuff you still gotta get used to.

First one, no, that's all single player. Second one DOES have a two-person co-op campaign, though! You don't even need to be in the same place!

[palmerthing]

I get it, man. Humans haven't eaten raw meat for a million years or so.

We'll have to do that, then.