Arrival; And through timeless words in priceless pictures...

[momentbymoment]

Visiting places she's never been, walking into realities that aren't truly real, these are things Eva is used to. Maybe too used to, if the veteran agents are to be believed, but usually she enters them of her own volition. On purpose, and with the memory that she has done so.

She's altered so many people's memories over the years, with their consent and for their own happiness. Never before has she felt her own mind so tampered with.

At first, she was certain she was dreaming. Why not? A castle with a room full of candy, and seemingly endless corridors? That's the stuff of sleep and dreams. Not usually of her's, but these things aren't always predictable.

But when the dream doesn't end, no matter how she wanders or what she does, she starts to get suspicious. Everything around her is so solid, and time seems to flow fairly normally. So if she isn't dreaming... then what? Someone's memory is the most likely culprit, but she has no memory herself of a client. Did something go wrong? ... Again? After that incident with Johnny she thought she more than had her share of drama for at least a few months.

She's just starting to wonder if she should panic when she passes the lab. Like a moth to flame she's drawn in. It's more well-equipped than she expected and... feels oddly familiar. The set up of the hood, the type of tools and equipment, even the smell of it. Her eyes narrow suspiciously as the feeling of de ja vu only grows.

Then, behind her, a meow. The first indication of a living thing. She'd rather it be human, but as she turns to look at the creature, a tidal wave of emotions hits her hard. Of all the cats in the world...

She crouches down and holds out her hand for it, smiling in a tired sort of way as it moves to bump its face against her. "Now you were not what I was expecting." It meows again.

"Not a bad job, considering..." Not that she'd admit that aloud if Neil was in earshot. She can tell it's a data projection, of course. If it was a real cat she could write it off as a coincidence. Unfortunately, it isn't, and that means Neil is here, too, for better or worse.

That doesn't answer any of her questions. "Do you know where Neil is?" She asks the cat as she picks it up. It's the only company she has, and it's coming with her. She continues her investigation of the lab and the castle itself with a datacat purring in her arms.

Comments

[sansational]

Eventually, Eva will find her way to the double-doors outside. And when she first steps outside, she'll find herself faced with quite an elaborate garden setup. There are trees, flowerbeds, green grass bordering the paths. A hedge maze is visible in the distance, with a few fountains dotted around. Birds flutter from tree to tree or, in the case of the peacocks, stalk irritably through the grounds.

Though even they make a point to give a wide berth to the enormous, skeletal thing dozing peacefully around the nearest fountain. It's skeleton isn't quite recognizable as any one animal - it's the size of a particularly large polar bear, though there are also hints of horse and its skull is more like that of a dog or a wolf.

And it can feel Eva approach - it opens one eyesocket, and regards her with a bright blue glow in the eyesocket where a pupil would be on an ordinary creature.

"...hi?"

He doesn't recognize her. But that's happening with increasing frequency, these days.

[momentbymoment]

At first, Eva was pleasantly surprised to find doors to the outside at all. She was starting to feel a little trapped, and even claustrophobic despite being in a... castle. She takes a deep breath of the fresh(?) air, and smiles around at the flora.... until her eyes settle on the skeleton beastie resting near the fountain.

She starts with a quiet yelp, dropping Goku and lifting a hand to her chest, ready to find a blunt object to defend herself with... when it simply greets her.

What in the hell.

Still frozen in a pose of terrified surprise, she slowly starts to relax. ".... Hello?"

[sansational]

She doesn't seem to recognize him. Which is also happening with increasing frequency, these days. Well, maybe it won't hurt to ask. From the way she's staring at him, a stupid question will still be pretty low on her list of concerns.

Sans gets back up to his feet and stretches until he hears his joints crick. Then he settles down on his haunches, regarding her with his head slightly tilted. "New here?" The words are accompanied by a soft grinding sound that might be identifiable as his jaw moving in ways a jaw isn't supposed to move.

[momentbymoment]

A stupid question is at the bottom of her list of concerns. Right at the top, of course, is where the hell Neil is and what sort of trouble she's going to have to bail him out of, and right below that is what this skeleton creature is, and if it's going to try to eat her.

Would a skeleton even need to eat? She isn't sure she wants to know.

She tenses as he stands, poised to run if he comes at her. He may have been friendly so far, but sometimes wild animals change their minds about you when you least expect it. She has no other scheme to deal with this thing than to assume it's an animal.

He (?) sits, and she relaxes a little more. Talking is a good sign, it means intelligence. Even if the sound that jaw makes when it moves is sort of awful. Eva straightens herself and puts on her best professional face. It's a little more lacking than usual. "Yes. I have to admit I'm a little baffled by everything."

[sansational]

Sans lets out a huff of equal parts amusement and irritation, and nods his agreement. "Baffling." He wishes he could say that it doesn't get any easier the longer you stay here, not really. You just get used to it, especially if you come from a place with a lot of baffling phenomena. But that's a few too many words.

He can still try to offer some reassurance, though, not least because this is one detail that Sans always views as eminently assuring. He rolls a little further onto his side, the better to stare up at the sky, and adds: "Nice, though. Safe." More or less. Certain humans would probably give her significantly less trouble than they'd give him.

[momentbymoment]

The huff is an interesting touch, and doesn't really make it any easier for her in deciding how to cope with a talking skeleton bear. At least he agrees that all of this is pretty weird, for whatever that is worth.

When he rolls onto his side, she does relax a lot more. Flopping over is a universal sign of harmlessness, and he can't lunge at her from that position anyway. It's her turn to snort quietly. Safety... not really something she's ever needed to look for. Not for herself, at least. Though she guesses it's a small comfort that that won't be changing. "I guess it could be worse then, though I'd really much rather go back home, and get back to my job."

Don't suppose you know where the exit is, big guy?

[sansational]

"Most would."

Not him, though. Even when he's entirely in his right mind, he likes it here better than home. It's mostly people that he misses, and not even that many of them.

And because he gets asked this question enough that he can still remember it even now, Sans adds: "Don't know how." He knows it happens, he's just never seen it happen or been able to trace when's or why's. But that explanation would take too many words.