Event Log - Level One

[lucetimods]

Who: Everybody
What: Lucetians reverted back to level one!
When: Well. Now. Right away. It ends on the 25th, so chop chop.
Where: In Luceti. You think you guys are getting out of here after that stunt you just pulled?
Summary: Well. So sometimes the Malnosso actually do legitimate experiments that aren't heaped in heavy plot. This is one of those times. Look, just go read the mod post, would you?
Rating: P for Prologue-licious.

Remember to tag with your character like so: [canon] character name

ALSO, all the journals will be completely wiped clean for the duration of this event. Nothing prior to this log will appear on the journals until after the 25th. So good luck figuring things out!

Comments

[i_speak_softly]

[The last thing he remembers is the Lair collapsing. Now he's waking up in someone's arms, but it feels wrong. Not one of his brothers. Too warm, but not soft enough: not his Sensei either. Who else could be holding him in such a protective embrace?]

[He opens his eyes and peers through the gloom; blinks and refocuses; tries to see the image before him as anything other than a human face. Can't.]

[Screams.]

[semper_cogitans]

[Can you sleep through the surprisingly-sharply-pitched scream of your lover? Huh? Can you? Because Robert can't, especially not when it's practically right in his ears. Jolted awake, he blinks not-quite-focused eyes widely up at his Turtle... he's still fuzzy from sleep, but something is subtly wrong about Don's face, isn't it...]

... What... kararbo...?

[i_speak_softly]

[Car-what-about-his-bo? Never mind - Don gets his elbow free and palm-strikes the human's face, using the equal and opposite force to flip backwards out of what he's now registering as a bed. All of his instincts are telling him to run, but none of them are answering the critical question to where. What is this place?]

[semper_cogitans]

[Sleep-deadened reflexes don't kick in quite fast enough for Robert to twist away from the unexpected blow, and pain shatters the scientist's consciousness in a blinding flash. Training taking over, the human wrenches himself backwards, bringing an arm up too late to shield against other blows even as a single question burns itself brightly into the backdrop of his mind:

Why?

Impostor? Some kind of sleep terror? Or something else?]

W-Wait...! [He forces it out through the pain; it's been awhile since Don has hit him hard even in a spar, and this strike was purposeful, there's no doubt about that.]

[i_speak_softly]

[Don instantly assesses this human as a combatant, though not a very well-trained one.]

Who are you?

[The question contains an ultimatum: provide a really good answer, right now, or Donatello is out of here.]

[semper_cogitans]

[... He doesn't know? Robert desperately tries to scrape his composure together for some kind of answer, but for once, he's completely taken by surprise.]

... Wh-what did they do to y-you...? [He says it slowly, almost wonderingly; it's too dark to make out much, but... Don seems... small...]

[i_speak_softly]

[That's a weird way of phrasing the "What are you?" question - almost as though this person were mistaking Don for someone else.]

[At any rate, it doesn't incline him to stick around. He casts about the room for anything useful he can take, finds nothing, then looks for an escape route. He bolts for the first door he sees.]

[Unfortunately, it leads to a bathroom.]

[semper_cogitans]

[This might be mildly amusing later. Right now it's nothing short of disturbing and heartbreaking to see Don sprinting away from him like he's an object of terror...

Robert goes to get up, but he's dizzy; the palm strike did a lot to incapacitate him, and he stumbles upon getting up, nearly collapsing against the opposite wall. His hand comes away from his own face a little slick... blood? Not much, but he supposes that he shouldn't be surprised. He's still too weak when it counts.]

P-Please... [He needs to explain, to tell Don everything's alright - unless it's really him, really his anger... even the possibility chokes Robert's chest like a vice.]

[i_speak_softly]

[Damn it. Caught between cornering himself and engaging the human again, Don decides to take his chances with this strange enemy. He edges back out of the bathroom, keeping his fists up defensively and looking for a clear path to the other door.]

Don't come any closer! I don't want to have to hit you again!

[semper_cogitans]

... [Well, that settles it. Whether Don's in his right mind or not, Robert can't bring himself to impose on him now. He slumps as though Don really did hit him again and presses himself into the wall, hunching slightly and dropping his eyes away from his love.]

... I-I... M-my apologies...

[i_speak_softly]

[These reactions, so different from what Don has been trained to expect, are deeply unsettling. He needs to get to a safe place, find his family, and have some words with Master Splinter about humans and their behavior vis-a-vis mutant turtles.]

[He escapes through the door to the living room, and from there quickly finds his way outside. The open space and daylight almost drive him back in, but the path is empty and he makes a break for the woods. For now, he can make himself invisible among the trees.]

[semper_cogitans]

[It's only long after Don has left that Robert can bring himself to move again. He realizes, almost dully, that he's been crying.

Why? Why did Don seem to not recognize him, or - worse - not want to be around him? Why did he act so differently from usual? If the Malnosso are responsible - and he hopes against hope that they are - then what have they done to his memory?

The scientist tries to check his journal - only to discover that it's empty. Completely and totally empty.

There's nothing. No evidence he could use to back up any of his claims in it. No... anything.

He doesn't even know what to think.]

[i_speak_softly]

[Don has been in the tunnels a few days. He's established a lair, but hasn't been able to locate his family. His Shell Cell is nowhere to be found and his sewer-sign has gone unanswered.]

[He did find a neat little bundle of food, and took it with him: not to eat, but to see what would happen. Another bundle appeared and he took that too.]

[Now, he's staking out the tunnel intersection where the packages were left. He has his suspicions about who's behind this, and he can't deny he's curious about the strangely-submissive human from the other morning. Maybe, it wouldn't hurt just to watch...]

[semper_cogitans]

[Let's give Robert some credit - it took him only a few hours to analyze the situation enough to make a declaration. Experiment. Empty journals, random amnesia - and the clincher was noticing children (including Helios) who had not been.

He's still not exactly certain of what the experiment entails, but he has deduced by now that it involves a sort of "rewinding" of people, and he has been (thankfully) spared the trauma of regressing to a time before Luceti. However, it's even more apparent by now that Don hasn't.

And Don, he knows all-too-well, is a ninja at his core. He is doing what he does best: blending seamlessly into the shadows. Robert may be aware of some of what Don has learned, but he's not nearly gifted enough to trace the Turtle.

So he did something else.

Robert arrives at precisely nine fifty-two a.m., and approaches the third tunnel intersection. He has a strange, almost-ominous feeling as he deposits the carefully-organized-and-bound container of donburi at the same spot he left it before, close to the wall. He's about to step back and leave the tunnels again, but something compels him to hesitate a moment...]

[i_speak_softly]

[At last, Don's vigil is rewarded, and he freezes in fear: partly of the human, partly that Master Splinter will find him at exactly this moment and he will be in so much trouble. His heart races, but he forces himself to stay completely still, hidden in the shadows.]

[semper_cogitans]

[The scientist, observant as he is, is vaguely aware of... something. He doesn't know what, but something.

Not certain what to do, he hesitates, drawing back a few paces but not leaving... waiting for the something to materialize itself.]

[i_speak_softly]

[Don doesn't like this. All his instincts are telling him to stay silent until the human goes away. On the other hand, his instincts don't seem to count for much in this strange place he's suddenly wound up in.]

[He turns his head, so his voice will echo off the walls and disguise his true location.]

Hey, you.

[semper_cogitans]

[Don's voice. Robert goes stock-still, and the smallest of strained smiles flickers across his face.]

Ah... hello.

[He picks his words carefully to placate Don, oblivious to just how strange it seems to have the reaction he's currently having.]

[i_speak_softly]

["Hello"? That's it?]

Who are you?

[Since you didn't answer that one the first time.]

[semper_cogitans]

... My name is... Professor Robert Hastings. [Robert tugs at the lapel of his lab coat almost self-consciously.] I come from a... a variant, of your planet in its f-future... termed "multiversions" in my culture...

[He stops, waiting for Don to process this information and not certain of how the Turtle will react to it. He has precious little to convince him with...]

[i_speak_softly]

[Don noticed the lab coat, and he doesn't like it.]

My planet? I'm not an alien, pal.

[semper_cogitans]

I know. [Robert ticks his gaze slightly to the side, searching for those familiar eyes.] I am... simply unused to referring to my planet as... anything else, I s-suppose... even after so long spent here in Luceti...

[A pause. He's not really sure how to sum up the years of time he's spent with the Hamato family in any way that's convincing.]

... Luceti is... the name of this compound. All of those here are... impounded by callous "scientists" [- still bitter, and clearly forced when he says this -] who modify the conditions of the enclosure to... s-suit their needs, generally without our consent. This... is an example of such a modification...

... I can... p-provide evidence to you. [Hopefully.]

[i_speak_softly]

[Don shifts backwards, taking care not to show himself.]

You don't make a lot of sense, do you know that?

[semper_cogitans]

... I a-apologize. As a scientist, it... is in my n-nature to attempt to provide accurate information, but... the information itself is... d-difficult to frame without the proper reference...

[He trails off helplessly, and then adds in a quieter voice:]

... I... I was c-concerned for you. Presumably, you... were aware of my leaving food for your sake... [Else he probably wouldn't be talking to Don right now.]

[i_speak_softly]

[That sounds way too much like what Don says to his brothers when they tell him to slow down and speak English. He's pretty sure this human just called him stupid.]

I noticed. Why are you doing that?