#maeffects

[a-lone-oleander]

You should drink some definitely not filled with soot coffee :3

[That’s certainly one way to get both of them staring at you in confusion! Well, the {X} doesn’t exactly have a face to look confused with, but it does helpfully summon a small holographic chat-box panel with a question mark on it, allowing the emotion to still be conveyed]

No??? Why would I want to do that?

[Oleander’s face scrunches up a bit at the thought of the bitterness of coffee. Hell no]

[And that bit about soot meant this was clearly a poisoning attempt!]

…I’d rather stick to the weird nutrition milkshake

[Which he had been sipping some more of, since it didn’t hurt, and now that it had been proven to not hurt (annoyance at the {X} being right pushed aside) there was no excuse to be sitting here starving when there was food available]

[Even if that food was in the form of a weird milkshake with a slightly wrong texture]

Human: XXII/XXX

[a-lone-oleander]

Have you.. ever met Carnie yet? I don't think you did.. we should bring him here! :D

Prev

<So is it g->

[Its question is interrupted by the presence of another Anon asking about another name it does not recognise. But that was to be expected in this place, wasn’t it?]

[Except wait, no, no- now that it thought about it, it did recognise the name, from that one really long ask!]

<That’s Joy’s kid, right? The uhh, seventh(?) Prototype?>

Joy’s kid is called Carnie?

[The tone was accusatory, as if it had been hiding things fro- oh]

<Did I not mention that?>

No.

<Oh>

[Oops]

<Well you know now!>

…yeahh.

[It was rather evident to it that they still suspected it was hiding something else (or had hidden the name out of malice? Though why would it do that???)]

Also no, you are not bringing him here, I am hardly in a state to talk to strangers!

[A fact which annoyed him greatly, for this entire stupid Magic Anon had done nothing but torment him, first with… ][(dontthinkaboutitdontthinkaboutitdontthinkaboutitdontthi-)]

[…Certain events, then with the weird eldritch algebra, then with all this insistence on eating and drinking, and his hands still ached from that icky ge-]

<Yeah! Four’s a kid anyway you can’t expect them to go against the stranger danger rule!>

[…]

[ugh]

…only because Someone refused to allow us to age

[But they got to, they got to age, and so did everyone else that came after. But nooo can’t even perfect the formula before stealing away a kid to use as-]

<When you were made into something no longer human, right? Because the current MA is called MA.Human so I presume you weren’t human beforehand?>

…yes.

<But you’re older than a kid technically?>

Yes. Just not permitted to age.

<Can you age now though? Now that you’re human?>

[…!!]

I-

[Could they? Did the rules of the gel still apply when they were no longer-?]

I don’t… know.

<I mean you seem fully human to me? Your soul follows the same format as the humans I’ve encountered before, and those weird little threads seem to agree>

…

[But if they were fully human than that would mean-]

Will it hurt me?

[Staring down at it, the carton still grasped firmly in his hands, like it would give him an answer]

<?>

The… milkshake. If I’m no longer…. what I was… will it hurt me still?

<I mean, did that sip hurt you?>

…

[…no.]

Human: XXI/XXX

[a-lone-oleander]

For your time being human you should watch your water intake, its summer

Prev

<Oh, right, I haven’t formally introduced myself yet have I? Silly me!>

[It floats closer to Oleander, who leans away in response]

<I am the Pink Temporary Focal Point, also called the Pink {X} for short!>

…the what.

<…The Weaver hasn’t… uh, explained anything themselves then?>

No??

[Oleander was yet to find out who this ‘Weaver’ was anyway, other than that they were clearly to blame for his predicament. And they would pay for it, eventually]

<Oh. Well a Temporary Focal Point’s job is to follow the directives given by the Weaver, which is mostly to protect the one it is assigned to, though I had some other jobs in my previous assignment to carry out too!>

[It does not remember when the previous assignment ended and it was given a new one]

[It trusts that this is perfectly intentional on the Weaver’s part, and therefore it should not worry about or question it]

Which were?

<Stabilise the universes we were going to, transport my previous vessel into and out of said universes, serve as the main form of communication between my previous vessel and the Weaver, assist the previous vessel in carrying out his direc->

So you’re supposed to be helpful?

<Yeah! Also the ‘Anons’ want you to avoid dehydrati->

Bring Catnap back.

<…>

[It already tried that earlier. Though maybe the cooldown had…]

{Query.MA.Catnap}

{MA.SpecialGuest.Catnap is currently on cooldown for {ERROR: Instance ‘Counter.Cooldown’ is missing or corrupted} asks}

<I can’t, it’s still on cooldown>

…

<But! I will once it’s no longer on cooldown!>

[It did not mention the broken counter. It would… fix itself eventually. Everything would]

Human: XIX/XXX

[a-lone-oleander]

*puts tv down on table and plays Bluey for them*

Why do you all keep…

[They trailed off as Bluey started playing, distracted by it]

[The {X} also watches, fascinated by this human show it had never heard of]

[—Timeskip Jumpscare—]

[The fourth seemed more unstable again. It did not particularly want them to start spiralling, so it should probably do something about it]

<Do you not like it?>

….It’s lying.

[He grips the star plushie tighter, as if to punctuate that last bit]

<Do you want it to stop playing?>

Yes.

<Okay!>

[And with a flourish (aka glowing brighter, it is a floating algebraic symbol after all, it can’t exactly do much in terms of expression) it fired a laser right through the TV screen, shattering it and nearly hitting Preston in the process. Before floating back down to hover before Oleander, who glanced between it and the broken TV with newfound awareness of the threat posed by the entity beside him]

…what are you?

Human: XVIII/XXX

[a-lone-oleander]

You could photosynthesise if ya dont wanna eat or drink

Oleander is given a red light lamp.

[????]

…But I’m not a plant??

[Okay now you’ve confused both the amnesiac eldritch being and the child. And Preston, since they’re still in the side room]

[I mean I suppose that’s certainly one way to snap him properly out of the daze. But still, what?]

Human: XVII/XXX

[a-lone-oleander]

Yes we shouldn't be trusted But not always we are wrong

Kid you not some get good ideas occasionally wild i know-anyway

It's alright if you don't feel like eating, and cookies aren't exactly the best option, proteins or electrolytes would be better but i'm not an expert

Do you think you could manage a sip of water? A small one at least

Anon takes water bottle and pours into a cup in a way so Oleander can see then offers the cup.

[He looks up again, glaring at the Anon speaking to him, disliking both the insistence that food and/or drink was a good idea and the continued offering of both]

No.

[Water, cookies, other unnecessarily sweet things, all turned into poison by the one who first offered them after ruining him]

[So why would he trust anything they offere-]

<Arguably Four deserves the good stuff, like Apple Juice or J2O after an ordeal like that! Not just plain and boring water>

[?]

[They glanced over to the floating symbol with distrustful confusion]

….J2O?

[They obviously knew what Apple Juice was, but that other name was unfamiliar to them]

<Yeah! The Weaver likes Apple & Raspberry specifically but there’s an Orange & Passionfruit one too if you like orange flavoured stuff>

[Huh]

…Nnever heard of it.

[They curled back up into the star plushie, still confused as to why an algebraic symbol would know about random drinks they’d never encountered before]

[Or who this ‘Weaver’ it kept mentioning was]

Human: XVI/XXX

DeTablet: {ERROR: File missing or corrupted}

[a-lone-oleander]

Anon takes the star plush and kneels in front of Oleander, takes his hands gently grey skin doesn't exactly feel like skin but is warm in comforting way and puts the plushie in their hold.

There. Focus on its softness, the warmth okay?

<!>

[Oleander had forgotten he’d been given that. Instinctively he tenses at the touch of the Anon, before relaxing slightly when they let go, leaving the softness of the star pressed tightly against his aching form]

[…Is that a Tumblr Anon? is it even wise to ask?]

[For even now, that their mind had stabilised (though they were unsure whether that stability would stand the test of moving from this position they’d been in for the past…. hour? Or two?), they still hurt. Not as much as before, but the ache was an ever present darkness at the fringes of their mind]

[…no. that would be too risky with so little information]

[It was harder to ignore like this.]

[He hugged the star tighter]

Human: XIV/XXX

DeTablet: XXVIII/XXX

[a-lone-oleander]

*Pancakes suddenly appear in front of you.

...Blows up pancakes with mind.

<Oh nice! Panca- wait what- >

[Pancakes Explode]

<My fu- >

[It remembers there is a child in the room. Its previous human had told it that it should never swear in front of children. And then told it not to swear at all when learning of its age, but that was hardly the point]

< -My bloody pancakes!>

[It glows significantly brighter in annoyance. Not that it was planning to eat the pancakes itself, but hey, Four could use some cheering up!]

<Meanie >:( >

Human: XII/XXX

DeTablet: XXVI/XXX