Mage - The Spiral [IC]

[Fanog]

streets of Boston
Boston, Massachussets
October 2002, around 11:30 AM

The old man gives Jason an empathic looks at the mention of the fire. "Yes they are. Just as they can influence you by their presence, so can your presence affect them. As I told you, not everyone is aware of them, most people are oblivious to the true essence of things. Because so little people can feel them, these entities draw to those that can - to you."

He takes a looks at Jason, trying to prepare him for what's next. "These entities draw to you and can feel things about you, your emotions. They have the power to act upon these emotions and have done so in the past. When you wanted to forget, they removed you memories. And when you wanted revenge, they saw to that too." Jason gets the nagging feeling that the man might just be right. In retrospect, he has often felt something, or somethings. Things happened some times, if he felt desperate enough. Those things weren't always what he really wanted, but they did seems to follow some of his most basic wishes, at that time. The fire, the forgetting, the bus? And there were other instances as well, earlier...

"I hope that you will see that it is only for the best that you learn more about this. These entities do what they do because you want them to. In the past they have also done things that you did not really want, but you can learn how to avoid that... It is possible to control this by learning more about these spirits, and to learn how to commune with them. You must learn of the pact: you are their guide to this world and in return they grant you their power..."

OoC: Jason

 

[Byrons_Ghost]

Taylor gets more apprehensive when he sees the man aiming his weapon. He tenses on the back of the bike, waiting for the man to fire.

At the right moment, Taylor again reaches out with his mind, this time focusing on the energy pattern of the weapon's shot. He pictures it crumbling apart as it travels toward him, loosing coherence until it dissolves harmlessly in the air...

 

[Keia]

Returning to Leo's home
Denver, Colorado
Saturday 12:15, October 2002

As Leo returned from the gas station, Leo decided that the best way to accomplish the task was to shorten his stride, effectively halving it. Shortly the pace by half would require Leo to double his speed to arrive at the same time in the same number of steps. He concentrated on the task, not wanting to lose count nor travel too far to quickly. He controlled his body, regulating his breathing to accompany the faster rhythm his steps had started.

Leo thought briefly on the words of Mr. Masuda about running the exact same route . . . How is that possible if I'm starting from a different location and ending at a different point from the first path. Is it possible that I really never left or is this exact return route the goal?

Now that Leo's body, rhythm and counting had been firmly established, Leo worked on not holding back - guidance given or learned from the night before.

 

[Fanog]

industrial area off of the M6
London, England
October 2002, around 10 PM

As a rapid steam of orange projectiles of light speed towards Taylor, he can almost see the energy holding them together. Focussing first on one, he follows the knots of energy, pulling away the strands one by one until the bolt dissipates in a few trails of harmless orange light. However, more of the bolts are on their way, closing in on him. His mind works ever faster in dissolving the bolts, but a few manage to fly by. Some of them miss due to the zigging motion of the bike, but one manages to nick Taylor on the shoulder, leaving a burning feeling, than numbness.

The motorcycle rounds a corner, leaving the broad-shouldered man with the strange eye-piece behind. Taylor hangs on to the old man driving the motorcycle, while he takes them away from the industrial area and somewhere near the outskirts of the city, a quiet place off of the motorway.

The old man pulls over to the side of the road and gets off of the vehicle. He regards Taylor by the yellowish light of a street lantern. "Yes you are a quick learner. That is most fortunate... You did well..."

OoC: Taylor
_______________________

back at Leo's home
Denver, Colorado
Saturday 12:15, October 2002

Leo's thoughts are occupied on the way home, with counting and trying to figure out what the running is supposed to do. He find that the running is quite tiresome by only taking half paces. His tempo is high enough, but the stride is just really awkward.

He makes it home in a good fifteen minutes, only about twenty paces short of what he should have taken. As he approaches his house, Leo sees Gus and Mr. Masuda standing in front of it. The two men stand a couple of feet away from each other, seemingly not really comfortable in each other's presence. Gus is peeking at his watch, his face a bit worried but proud when he spots Leo. "Hey, there. Seems like you did an excellent job. Good work, how are you feeling?" His face shows that he's not really sure how Leo is supposed to be feeling...

Mr. Masuda hooks on to Gus' question as he approaches Leo. "Yes, it seems you did well. Please tell me how it went... What did you think about the walk, do you know yet why I asked you to do this?" The man stands there, obviously quite excited to hear Leo's answer.

OoC: Leo

 

[Byrons_Ghost]

Taylor studies the man, trying to garner some sort of clue as to who, or what, he may be.

"Yes, well, thank you... and for the ride as well. I gather that you were expecting to find me there- can you tell me what is happening?"

Frowning at his shoulder, Taylor twirls and massages his arm, trying to get some feeling back into the limb.

 

[kuroshidaku]

Ty goes to the coffee maker and pours himself a cup, listening to the rain drumming on the roof. All the talking had made his head spin. Finding some pizza in the fridge, he zapped it in the microwave for dinner.

"Well this is going to be an interesting experience, but what do i have to lose?" biting into the pizza. Nothing else of intrest happend in the night (ooC: I hope ), and he lay in bed wondering about all that had transpired today.

 

[Fanog]

outskirts of London
London, England
October 2002, around 10 PM

To Taylor, the man seems exceptionally calm considering what just happened. All of his new-found senses tell Taylor that the man's presence is very strong, and that he is very much in balance with his surroundings.

Even his calm voice seems to reinforce this picture, once he speaks again, in his accented English. "I had hoped not to find you there... I was at your house today, but found out that they had already gotten to you first. It was good that you did not accompany them any further that you did, otherwise I might not have been able to help you. Please, let me help you with that shoulder..."

The man regards Taylor for a moment more, eying him in just the same way that Taylor had looked at the man, before focussing on his shoulder. The old man rubs his hands together for a moment and then, quite rapidly, grabs Taylor shoulder and applies pressure with his fingers. Taylor feels a momentary jolt of pain as the man's fingers dig in his flesh, but the sensation is gone as soon as he releases the shoulder. His arm feels pretty good again after that.

"There, that should help... I can tell that you have come to an understanding concerning the world around us, this must have happened only just ago... Tell me, what do you already know about these people you were just with?"

OoC: Taylor
_______________________

Ty's home, city centre
Cambridge, England
October 2002, early morning

Ty has a quiet evening and has very little difficulty finding sleep. When he wakes the next morning, he feels quite energetic, ready to start working. He finds that yesterday's conversation has had the time to sink in, and that most of it has found its place.

Practice with the man this evening, and begin with a theory until then. A theory that allows me to do things. Any theory?

As he sits on the side of his bed, Ty begins to wonder. What kind of things would I like to be able to do? Start small, I guess. Take one or two common things and make a plausible theory for those. I'd better have something to show him tonight...

Ooc: Ty

 

[loxmyth]

streets of Boston
Boston, Massachussets
October 2002, around 11:30 AM

Jason shakes his head, still reeling from the enormity of it all. What this man was saying was flying in the face of all the rules he knew about how the universe worked. But if he was correct...

"So how do I control these things? What's this pact? How do I stop it from doing things I don't want it to?" His heart is beating and his breathing shallow from the anticipation of understanding why the world has always seemed... off to him somehow. "I mean, you said I would be a guide, so what does that entail? What do I have to do?"

 

[Keia]

back at Leo's home
Denver, Colorado
Saturday 12:30, October 2002

Mr. Masuda hooks on to Gus' question as he approaches Leo. "Yes, it seems you did well. Please tell me how it went... What did you think about the walk, do you know yet why I asked you to do this?" The man stands there, obviously quite excited to hear Leo's answer.

Leo walked around as he spoke, getting his muscles to wind down from the 30 minutes of running.

"Well, actually I had some question as to the wording of the instructions. To follow my 'exact path', I would have had to start again from my home to the gas station. I didn't do that but I did get awfully close on the number of paces," Leo said. "Other than that, I tried to maintain my concentration during the run and let the rhythm of the run work for me."

"There were some other things I thought about as well, but I really don' know what is important to you," Leo offered. "As for the why, I'm thinking it either had to do with paths and distances, or that some people have to work twice as hard to get where they're going in the same amount of time, or even that you wanted me to understand the formula to accomplish the task even though the formula involved my body and rhythm rather than numbers."

 

[Fanog]

streets of Boston
Boston, Massachussets
October 2002, around 11:30 AM

"This pact is an agreement you come to with these entities. Once you are fully aware of their existence, you will not not only be able to feel their presence, as you did earlier. You will also be able to interact with them, communicate.Then you will be able to negotiate with the spirits who are close to you, and settle the pact."

"One of the main reasons that there have been accidents, is that they can only pick up on your basic impulses. By learning more about them, you will be able to control what they do. However, as always, there is a price... As payment for their powers, these creatures will want things from you. What exactly, depends on the spirit. There are as many diferent ones as their are leaves on all of the city's trees, and even more. All of them are different, too. Some are fickle, or generous, others are shrewd and greedy. You will learn about some of them, and get to know them better. Others, you will learn how to avoid and to protect against. Awknowledging that they are indeed real is a great step in learning how to interact with them..."

OoC: Jason
_______________________

back at Leo's home
Denver, Colorado
Saturday 12:30, October 2002

The old man laughs as if he was just explained a joke. "Oh, I am terrible sorry. You must have read too much into my words." He straightens his face. "I meant the exact same route, so you would actually walk the same distance. Same route, but in reverse. The exact same path for both 'to' and 'fro'; interesting...." Gus just looks at him from a distance, trying his best to convince himself that the old man was not a lunatic.

"As for the things that you thought about... It is not about what is important for me, but what is important for you. Remember, you already know everything you need, I am just here to guide you to that. In the end, it is you that has to decide what you have learned. I will give you one more direction, though... You have now figured out how to do the same path with twice as much work. Now try to find some way to make that knowledge useful. It might help if you repeat the exercise first; run to the station in three times the paces, if that will help... Good luck."

Ooc: Leo