boxfullofzeroes | voicetest the voiceless

voicetest the voiceless

They're not dead.

Less dead than they'd felt, at least. Their shell doesn't normally take so long to reform.

Then again. Their shell doesn't usually break of their own violation as they ascended in a boiling rage, ate at least one realm, a god, and all the Godseekers.

(That last point is debatable, actually. There's some odd sense, deep under their...shell? Void? Wherever they once stored things like Isma's Tear, much deeper now...that the sea-mind is still there, sluggish and held in a stasis. They're already adjusting enough, and they don't seem to be dying or trying to kill them, so that problem is neatly sorted as 'for later'.)

They push their body to stand. Their horn clangs uncomfortably loudly against the grate they've apparently woken up beneath. They're somewhere in the Royal Waterways. A quick check of the map--or, not so quick, as it takes time to locate where it had been--shows they've risen about halfway through, closer to the City of Tears than the White Palace. They'll go to the Stag Station in the City Storerooms next.

So they think. Complications arise on the way.

The Infection is gone, leaving dead Flukes, Pilflips, and Hwurmps in piles enough it takes time to force their way past. Their body seems too small. No, their body is fine--there's something wrong with perception itself. That will take time to adjust to.

Then, they discover the Monarch Wings now stretch and warp when used, twisting around the nearest pipes after landing before the Knight forcibly calls them back. Shade Wings, they decide to call these.

Once they're high enough to hear the rain above, they realize a noise they'd ascribed to water running in the distance is, in fact, something swirling behind their mask. Many somethings. All the fragments of Siblings with enough self left, staring out from their eyes. It's disconcerting.

By the time they actually get out of the Waterways, they're using their Shade Wings to grip ledges and drag themselves up, with those holding onto things better than their own arms are with the Mantis Claw.

The Knight faceplants awkwardly onto the floor of the building Lemm's shop is in. If the City is the same as below, there's little left to try killing them in the area.

They'll just take a moment here, thanks.

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They stare. They wouldn't, especially not with--

--oh. Teasing. Lemm gets a soft swat where they'd just hugged.

And then they point to the center of the Crossroads. He's reminded them. The Failed Champion's--Hegemol's--armor might still be there, where Cornifer's label still is.

(The Knight did hit it a few times. It felt there was even less damage than when it was worn.)

He looks rather pleased that he got them with that one. At least it's distracting, which was the goal.

Lemm peers down at the part of the map they indicate, cogs turning. Hadn't they talked about this before-?

"Ah. I'd be willing. Might take our minds off a few things." He does pause, though, and affords some more thought to it. "...Thought we'd be putting the expeditions on hold for a while, though." He supposes they're already quite off-track. The Moth did throw things into disarray.

They remember to shrug.

I was going to question my siblings next but that can wait. We're near Dirtmouth, and the armor is on the way. if you like. And if it's still there.

"Hm."

Content with that answer, Lemm pushes up off the seat and scoops up his bag.

"Herding me to Dirtmouth against my better judgement again, eh?" This, too, is teasing. There's nothing in his tone to actually suggest he's against the idea.

He waits to be sure they're following, and goes to the door. On his step across to the platform, he does actually opt to give a voice to the thought:

"Kingdom's full of husks. Can't look good to tourists." Morbid? Yes. The only way of putting it that doesn't let the depressing aspect take the forefront? Also yes.

They're too off-balance to think of a proper reply, so they only nod. He doesn't seem upset. Even if he is, he's not made of glass.

Their first thought is still rather depressing: generally the tourists are the husks. Rather than write such, they shrug a little, again. Whoever decides to be Tour Guide will have quite a job to do.

"Don't look at me! I can't think of a thing worse than dragging around a sorry lot of rubbernecking strangers." He'd rather be on corpse cleanup by himself! ...Too grim to say out loud, maybe.

...Although.

The voice he puts on is flat and disinterested, and accompanied by dull little gestures at nothing.

"If you turn to your left you'll see a sheer drop with spikes at the bottom of it. On your right, another sheer drop full of spikes. Expect me to say this a lot. Now those of you unlucky enough not to have wings, say a prayer or two and follow me down this stairless flight-shaft. Three guesses what's down there!"

...He doesn't continue this little tirade any further, thankfully, just ending it with a dry little pah and letting his arm drop.

It is a fairly quiet journey from there on out; Lemm has little to say about the scenery on the way, though the few anecdotes he does bring up are a lot more positive. (He can't stay mad at you, Hallownest. For a practical bug you're a nightmare, but your arcades are delightful.)

Alright, that's enough to inspire real amusement, and stronger nodding. Amusing and correct.

Its easier to listen to Lemm's architecture ramblings this time, and easier to keep moving. Lingering grief settles somewhat, and they choose not to poke it. (For the Knight's own sake, but too, their Siblings match their displeasure. Seer looked at them, and they were wary; then she insulted their Strongest, and now they're unhappy with her. Best to move from that.)

At their goal, the armor is still there. The Knight takes a moment to pause at the edge of their former arena, surprised. They expected one of the Maggot siblings to take it eventually. But no, it's still lying upon its front in the middle. The Maggots, if they're still above, are keeping too quiet to hear.

They flutter over and strike the side of that empty armored shell. Ting!

He is at first more interested in the scenery, though that is usually included in the list of reasons why Lemm goes anywhere.

But it isn't long before his attention is drawn straight to the armour lying on the ground, partly because of their smacking the thing with their Nail (which he opts not to comment on this time, it had been his suggestion). His pace quickens to cover the last bit of distance.

"Aye, look at that..."

Oh, definitely metal. It should be on a stand somewhere, seeing it lying on the floor is maddening. Trouble is he's got absolutely no chance of lifting it. Lemm gingerly puts out a hand and smooths it over the shoulder piece.

... Ah.

He snaps to look at the Knight. "You fought this."

They've wandered a circle around it, peering into where the Maggot had stuck his head out. They'd glanced in before every time they passed, but they'd been too preoccupied to do much more. Their horns and mask were too inflexible for them to properly wriggle inside anyway.

At least back then.

Lemm will see their head bob, half-hidden behind the armor's horns. The Knight sets their paws on each side, thinking. They could melt a little and get in now.

...They'd be more enthused if in a better overall mood. Their claws tap lightly over the metal.

"It's massive!"

Yes, Lemm, it is. Very astute. Mostly he's just commenting in the way of you had no business fighting anything this big even though he knows it's... more complicated than that. Still, hadn't they not had the power of the Shadelord back then?

He is equal parts disapproving and impressed.

"What are you looking at?" Lemm comes around to join them by the head of the armour, and his interest piques. "Ah. Oh, that's interesting."

Lemm peers over the Knight's horns at the hole in the neck, and gives a thoughtful hum. He disappears for a moment to go and borrow a lumafly light from a nearby post, and returns to hold it carefully past their shoulder to see into the hollow space.

It looks rather complicated in there.

"Finger trap hazard if I ever saw one," Lemm remarks, faintly amused.

Edited (too many italics >:/) 2023-03-19 08:21 (UTC)

I couldn't damage the outside, but the Maggot within had problems and couldn't keep his head inside at all times. An easy target, albeit confusing. Going up against him the first time had been alarming.

They shift partly out of the way, peeking inside with a single eye. There are lots of mechanical parts, many being anchored to some kind of cable.

They nod agreeably. And, since they aren't fingers, stick a strand of Shade Wing inside rather than the whole of them.

There don't seem to be leavers or the like, but when they prod one cable--very intentionally, opposite the side Lemm's on--the whole arm twitches as its elbow joint jerks.

"Hm. It does look like it'd take practice." He's fascinated. Lemm is so very tempted to stick his hand in -

"- Ah!" he exclaims, flinching back from the arm that moved. He huffs at himself. "...Responsive, isn't it."

Lemm glances around, suddenly curious, and eyes the pole that once made up part of the False Knight's weapon. He pushes the glass light into the Knight's hands distractedly and goes to drag the pole over, setting it against the armour's open gauntlet, and steps back.

"Should be a way to make it grab," he hints, looking very interested indeed. "Watch yourself though."

Sometimes this is just what a Relic Seeker's curiosity looks like: not entirely dissimilar to a child with a new toy. He would likely be displeased to have this pointed out.

It can't be as complicated as it looks. They hold the Lumafly up (out of habit, as their vision in the dark is better these days) and prods around a little more.

The armor's body shape is roughly like their own, but the mechanisms inside seem designed for more limb movement than they're used to in this form.

The whole arm scrapes across the floor without much trouble, and they manage to make it bend on command, but the hand and individual fingers are more tricky. The stone gets several scratch marks as they try to get it on top of the pole, let alone gripping it.

The increasingly-frustrated Knight sends some new respect to the Failed Champion lain above.

Lemm spectates, hands stuck expectantly on his sides. If he could actually see what they were doing he'd probably be trying to give them tips, not that he has any idea how it works either.

Seeing the obvious struggling going on, Lemm fails to stifle a faint snicker.

"S'harder than it looks, eh? Never seen anything like this up close." He looks thoughtful, and adds: "Knowingly."

He sidesteps, keeping out of what he estimates to be the range of any mistakenly-flailed limbs, and gets a look at it from a side angle.

"Look at the weight of that! Fierce thing to go up against, and a feat of engineering at that. Great Knight indeed." ...Should he be encouraging them to muck about with this armour, really? Maybe he'll tell them to stop. In a minute. They're busy with puzzling it out, which feels like an excellent change of pace.

The Knight ends up stepping onto the edge of the armor's space for face to concentrate better. Shifting into shade and sliding in there is becoming more and more tempting.

They do not get it to hold the pole. They do, however, get its palm to lie flat and lever the whole thing up on the one arm like it's going to stand, still braced inside the face armor. At least it's a somewhat better angle to examine the portly front.

When Lemm looks at them next, they shift their many strands of unoccupied Wings into a vague shape of the amount of limbs it seems to need to pilot the thing.

He circles further around to the front, watching them get to grips with... at least some of its functions, and looks suitably impressed.

"Ah, look at how the plating shifts! Subtle, but it looks like it's for freedom of movement - it'd bend almost any way a real bug might." He winds his shoulder experimentally, like he's mentally comparing the two. "It'd have to for combat, of course, but I wonder if that didn't go a long way towards Hegemol's image..."

Lemm tilts his head thoughtfully as he observes the Wings they put out.

"What's that? The controls?" ...Ah, no, how the controls are used. He twigs a second later and squints. "Isn't that a suspicious number. What're you thinking, then? Hegemol's a spider, is he?"

They can't do much more than that from the outside, Wings or no. The armor is settled back onto its front in short, jerky movements. (It survived a fall down a full story, and it's armor, but letting it drop seems disrespectful.)

Hopping back off, Wings still extended, they use all those not-quite-limbs in a shrug.

Possibly. The Maggot had many limbs and controlled it well, but he must have had time to practice.
I might be able to get inside.

"Hm. That'd track well enough."

Oh, he really should discourage this sort of thing. Playing around with the arms is far enough. It may be armour, but it's also a relic, absolutely so. A memento of a Great Knight, no less! He absolutely should not be an enabler here.

Lemm's hands come up and he fidgets with them, picking at his blunt claws and clearly having some heated inner debate about it as he stares at Hegemol's armour intently, with the occasional glance back at their writing.

"...Oh, I can't be stuffy about this, can I. Just don't break anything."

Only a little stilted, the Knight flicks a paw at him. They won't.

Probably.

The Void pools from beneath their mask, curling up at the same time as their Shade Wings go full dark. It's not spacious enough to Dash inside, so they step in and fold, liquid-like about their horns. A strange sensation. Likely stranger to see.

They turn and solidify back to their usual form, mostly. Since the armor's on its front, the Knight is also on theirs, in a push-up. They need to lie down fully a moment to position themselves, face-down.

More intuitive this way, at least. Their legs poke down into rings attached to cables that, in turn, twitch the armor's legs.

...Hm. A subconscious part of them expected to be able to feel the armor as an extension of themselves. But it's only armor, and they can tell things are moving by how it shifts them and by the sound it makes.

Tilting their head back up, their horns clip something the top and the face slams shut in front of theirs. The whole thing bucks as their minute statement is made opposite with the cables. They nudge it again, and the face slides back open.

...Yes. More complicated than they expected.

Lemm, who has a healthy sense of self-preservation, steps well back.

He gives a soft huff at the sight of the Knight Void-shifting into the armour. It's probably not going to be unsettling forever to watch them do things like that. Might stay a novelty, though.

"Aye, aye! Mind your face, will you?"

Oh, it does look like they're going to have some trouble here. Lemm gives a quick glance around at the environment they're in, familiarising himself in case there's any particular need to duck for cover.

"Easy does it," he advises. Then, with a hint of amusement: "Oddest thing I've seen in a while. You look like it tried to eat you and got beheaded."

They flick their paw at him again. This would possibly have more impact if they didn't move extremely carefully to keep from knocking into something else.

The arms were already figured out from the outside. They tuck their paws below the faceplate and put their Wings into place there. Both arms flex against the ground, wrists spinning in a way that might look painful--the Knight can't see it--and stretched out in front of them, like it's going to try crawling.

They make sure the hands are both pressed flat before pulling them back, slowly levering the body up. The middle is rotund enough to nearly support itself from the bottom.

But there are still the legs. They scratch against the ground as the Knight tries to figure it out from sound alone. This doesn't work very well.

They'll hear a very indignant scoff in response.

"Lucky for you you're wearing that or I'd come over there." Emptiest threat he's ever made.

Despite his best efforts, it is becoming rapidly more obvious from the outside that Lemm's inner debate earlier was more about trying to talk himself out of this, not into it. He's hovering, absorbed in what they're doing and apparently having a grand time watching them fumble about.

Or it's practical research on a well-preserved relic. Take your pick. Either way, good thing the Knight seems very distracted.

Maybe he can be helpful?

"Bring - bring a knee up," he suggests. "Leave the other one! See if you can get into a kneel. Might be somewhere to go from." So that they can stand. Also so that he can see what a kneel looks like on Great Knight Hegemol. "No, bend that one..."

That prompts them to briefly stick their head out and slap their mask around their eye. Look, they're trying, they can't see what they're doing.

This frustration is soundly dumping their earlier sadness out. It's for the better, but being cognizant of this makes them even more annoyed.

They get the knee to bend. They do not get the knee to settle on the ground at a correct angle to hold up the body at all, so it just looks sort of broken. If it was an actual bug's leg, it would be.

Some more fumbling. They give up on that leg and try the other one, and end up...sort of kneeling. At an angle. The Knight glares down the empty hallway they're facing.

Lemm flags both hands at them in a defensive gesture. "All right, all right! Don't mind me, will you."

Lemm tilts his head at the rather snapped-looking limb situation and makes a mildly displeased noise.

Telling them a second time not to break anything is probably moot.

"Ugh. Stop moving so I can come closer," he directs. "I've a theory and I don't fancy getting my shell cracked while I test it."

They repeatedly straighten and un-straighten the elbows until it feels steady. Then they use a tendril, careful, to beckon Lemm over.

(It looks sort of like a tongue sticking out.)

Then they stay in place, keeping still as they can make themselves. They don't want Lemm to get a cracked shell either. Or a flat one, should it tip over.

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absolutely would be a semi-playful middle finger if that was a hk thing. and if they had fingers

u little squit

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