"The King Neverwas!"

[misterhix]

It doesn't really look like anything but it is certainly there, a shape you know but don't see. The fluff is real, or more an idea of what fluff is. The teeth constantly grind giving the impression of "It" being stressed but then again that could only portray an idea, not proof. How would a thing like this even conceive of stress?
For all it knows it may not even exist.
The crown is real and yet it is transparent, like an image of a thing painted on glass. The illusion of a thing.
It is in the heart of the plaza, it is here, all can see it and soon a small group come to gaze at the sheer oddness of it's being.
It floats ten feet square and dripping a substance onto the floor from matted clumps of what can be imagined to be hair or fur.
The being itself is still but for the mild drifting up and down so methodically important to the illusion of floating that it might be doing it on purpose.
It is aware of the people and aware that they are aware of it. It has begun to realize itself and in the budding moments of it's first ever thought it feels an overpowering surge within itself, a driving force with no destination and no rudder.
What does a being that was not even aware it could be a moment ago say?
Without moving it's massive jaws the words carry on the very winds of consciousness to all who are near.

"BEHOLD. I AM!"

Comments

[shardofwinter]

Reynard has seen some... strange things in his time. Stranger upon entering the Nexus. But this... this thing? It's definitely up there with the most ridiculous and impossible and... perhaps even awful things he's witnessed.

The booming... noise(?) stops him dead in his tracks. There is nothing subtle about his staring. Surely that's alright. The thing doesn't even have eyes so he should be fine on that front at least. The fact that is appears to be primarily made of teeth is... far more unnerving.

But it's the Nexus. What could possibly go wrong?

He takes one step closer, keeping his eyes very firmly fixed on the beast(?). "Indeed you are. As am I." Well that felt ridiculous to say. Reynard shakes his head at himself and moves on to ask, "Who are you?"

[misterhix]

Who? The notion was new, it barely had any definition as to What. Although the confirmation of its previous statement wrapped its attention squarely on Reynard as it rotated slowly until what could loosely be described as the "front" of the being was facing him. Now it was confronted with the task of what to do next. The being before it was also present in the same reality and experiencing it in the same central chronology as it was but what to do with that information was not as obvious to this being as it might be to others more used to existence on a linear material plane.
"I AM THAT IS!"
Came its response, not from any point on its form in particular and certainly not from its grinding teeth that set in a rhythm of constant pressure flowing from one side of its mouth to the other.
As its awareness focused on the man in front of it certain peculiarities became known to it, form was not consistent here, wherever "here" may be. The notion would have to be dealt with provided the existence of "there" could be confirmed.

[shardofwinter]

"Charmed," he purrs uncertainly. At least he hopes he's charmed. Or inebriated. No, wait, if he was drunk he might have a chance to forget the massive grinding teeth and the liquid-fur in front of him. On the one hand he should offer up his own name to be polite... On the other, he doesn't want this thing visiting out of the blue. Not until he knows more about it at least.

Hazarding further questioning he continues, "May I ask what you are? I've never seen anything like you before."

[misterhix]

Nothing like this thing had ever existed moments before. The very fact of its being raised enough questions to drive one to madness.
It began to take stock of itself, trying to will some innate knowledge about its becoming that would yield an answer to the man's question. The resulting spewed statement was directed solely at Reynard's own mind. It was jumbled and words ran over like many sentences spoken at once.
"THOUGHTS FLOW, TIME COUNTS, RIVERS BEGIN, END. SAND INSIDE GLASS. SKULLS WRAPPED IN CROWNS. SQUEEZE. BURST. SOMEWHERE A VOICE DIES UNHEARD. A HEAD WITHOUT A HAT. A THRONE WITHOUT A LORD. I AM THAT IS!"
Understanding was not a problem for the being. It's mind was not yet moulded to suit its surroundings, if at all it had a mind to mould. It was after all, only a few moments old.

[shardofwinter]

Once the thing starts 'speaking' Reynard flinches, but as it continues his palms press against his temples and his shoulders hunch up as if that might somehow dull the noise.

"Alright! Alright!" He snaps more curtly than he usually would. His limits with loud, overwhelming telepathy are easily reached it seems.

"Yes or no answers it is," he mutters to himself. He takes a moment to clear his throat, plaster on a smile and resume his pleasant demeanour once more. "Are you new here?"

[misterhix]

It stops upon request and ceases bobbing for a moment when the question is posed to it. Perhaps it was thinking.
Binary answers provided little information and yet this one preferred them.
It was pondering to give a complete answer, the last one was accurate and it caused this one the sensation of anxiousness and distress.
A few thousand possibilities ran by, correcting themselves inside the creature as it began to answer.
"YES!"
The voice was still loud but slower and less intense somehow.
It was perhaps the best it could manage at the moment.

[shardofwinter]

That was more interesting than he'd expected. Reynard eyes the thing up and down. He hadn't expected it to be considerate. He wasn't sure it was capable of it. If that is indeed what it's doing.

What doesn't take him long to decide on is not to protest the change. Yes and no are significantly easier to handle than the alternative of a telepathic barrage.

Now he just has to remember to phrase his questions simply, carefully. "Are you lost?"

[misterhix]

Lost? The concept of not knowing where one is. This was true, it had no idea where anything was, literally.
Again it stalled in the air in contemplation of the motion.
Eventually it had an answer, still loud and with the distinctive deepness it held.
"I KNOW NOT!"
A being of its size and ability might feel shame at the admittance of its complete and utter ignorance had it not popped into existence. As such the statement hung in the air as simple a fact as the beings own existence was.

[shardofwinter]

That's an interesting answer. Being uncertain about whether or not you know where you are isn't a common thing. Certainly not for Reynard, but then he does spend much of his time getting to know his surroundings.

He continues his questioning, eyeing the thing as if that might satisfy his curiosity. "Do you know how you got here?"

[misterhix]

It stayed stationary, completely still as it readied a response.
"I KNOW NOT!"
The reply was the same as the last one, exactly the same as if a perfect recording of it played. One may be forgiven for thinking it was an automated response were it not for the rippling pink hairy goo that consistently dropped to the floor.
""I AM HERE BECAUSE I HAVE BECOME!"
This attrition came only a moment after the last and no sooner had this statement come than it started to slowly hover up and down again.

[shardofwinter]

His eyes narrowed, widened, and narrowed again. It may not be the kind of responses he's used to, but he can figure it out, surely.

"You've just been born?" It might go some way to explaining the... pink gooiness of the thing. He briefly wondered if a wash would clean it. And then if he'd regret seeing what was underneath the hairy goo.

[misterhix]

It resumed hovering then pauses again.
"I AM THAT IS AND ALWAYS WAS!"
A particularly long chunk of soggy hair/flesh slapped onto the floor.
"YOU ARE WHAT IS AND HAS NOT BEEN LONG."
Hanging in front of him the being tilted slowly and stopped there at an angle.

[shardofwinter]

The slopping hair makes him wrinkle up his nose a little and wonder if that's a good sign or not.

Turning his attention back to the creature he tilts an eyebrow at it. "That isn't something I've been accused of often; youth." Although that does depend on whether or not the being knows what he is as well as what he looks like. "Are there more of your kind?"

[misterhix]

It stopped, quite unlike the pauses it had earlier this was a stillness of self somehow emanating from the mass of fluff and teeth. Introspection had begun and in the midst of it all it had remembered with a kind of perfect multidimensional clarity that it had never given any thought to the concept that it may be unique in all the universe. Of course as soon as the question was poised it knew the answer and that answer evoked a great many reactions.
In one reality a great noise was heard, like a call with nothing to answer it. In another a violent shockwave quakes the ground. In others the being vanished and was never seen or heard from again. In one reality it simply stopped and remained so, becoming a strange monument to lamentation itself. People sat with it and sang to it others prayed and told it secret things. In the coming eternity it is still there when people have long forgotten what it was or what world had been there when it arrived.
However in this reality it simply adjusted itself and replied.
"I AM ALL THAT ARE."

[shardofwinter]

Thoroughly informative. Of course, that is in part because of how easily overwhelmed he is by the creature's more complex answers. It seems ironic that something in the form of a giant mouth doesn't use that to speak.

As it is, his line of questioning isn't getting him much in the way of useful information. He still has little to no idea about the thing. "If you can answer simply, perhaps you can tell me what it is you want?"

[misterhix]

This one was most interesting. It was eager to learn yet the being felt a pang of what may grow into something that resembles guilt since it did not ever think to want anything, at least nothing more than existence and freedom, which it now had.
Pulling its awareness out and back in time it tried to spy a thing it desired, a feeling or an object. Nothing really satisfied, there were things it could converse with and things it could observe and be quite content until the end of itself but it did not actually WANT these things. Then it came to an understanding.
It began to answer but only a jumble of half formed words spilled out for a moment before it recalled this one's desire for a simple answer.
It gave it some thought, floating gently as a pile of pink soggy hair grew on the floor underneath it.
"I WANT TO EXPERIENCE."
The subtle difference between "simple" and "vague" was not yet fully understood by it.

[shardofwinter]

Reynard's brow lifts and his head tips to one side briefly in a motion of approval at this apparently simple desire. "Then you have come to the right place. The Nexus has experiences aplenty."

A thought occurs to him and he shifts his weight, peering at the creature. "But try to avoid hurting anyone when you seek it out. That can cause problems. The bad sort that you don't want coming after you." A warning is a meagre substitute for a defined moral compass, but it will do.

[misterhix]

It does not understand the nature of future tenses, therefore it could not perceive of ever hurting anyone or problems for that matter. A thing is and sometimes a thing ceases to be. This is how it understands cause and effect so it mimicked the tilt of the head with its own slight inclination to the side and replied.
"I KNOW OF NO PROBLEMS."
It continued in its booming voice that made no audible sound.
"I DO NOT HURT!"

[shardofwinter]

The paradoxical nature of a mass of gloopy teeth shouting those things leaves Reynard staring for a long, long minute. "Right." He tries and fails to keep some scepticism from his voice. "Good."

"Well. For experiences..." He turns around to scan the area, pointing in each appropriate direction as he lists off places. "That street is lined with bars and pubs. Over there is a rather nice theatre. And the wilderness, of course, that is always a pleasant experience."

[misterhix]

It's awareness stretched out to encapsulate these places. The bars were closest.
"TO DRINK, TO TAKE PART, LAUGH, BECOME LOST IN THE SELF, POISON THE BODY, KILL, SUICIDE, UNDO THE PROCESSES OF THE MIND, SICKNESS, WANTON DISORDER."
Then further to the forests and woodlands. It felt the thoughts of the animals and birds. The commanding pheromones of insects that govern their actions. Even the slow intentions of the plants and trees, every bit as violent and desperate as any other being.
"THE CLUSTER OF LIFE YOU CALL WILDERNESS IS SUFFICIENT FOR ME."
It then examined the forms and ways of those things in the wild places of this world. It took note that its form was not compliant with the general structures associated with them.
Any sufficiently powerful entity in tune with the flows of energy might notice a rush of air, like a back draft, sucking in towards the being as it hovered in the plaza.

[shardofwinter]

After the creature finishes giving a rather apt description of the bars, Reynard's all smiles and only partly sarcastic. "Yes, good fun all round."

The thing's preference of the wilds is a little surprising to him. It doesn't look natural to him, or perhaps it's natural but in an unusual form. Better to say it looks alien to him whereas nature is incredibly familiar. He looks the being up and down, unsure what to make of it, barely noticing the gust of wind while he tries to figure out the entity in front of him. "Good choice."

[misterhix]

At those words it collapses, the great pink square of mass hit the floor with a thud and broke into dozens of parts, wet shag, huge teeth, even the crown fell and hit the floor, a perfect 2 dimensional object, totally immovable from where it fell.
In the heart of the broken pile of matter there was a large egg that immediately fractures and from it sprang a mass of tendrils that weaved into a human form, though much taller than the average human. They incorporated pieces of the broken shell like armour, on the chest, pelvis and head, arms and legs. Accenting joints and such.
It's head was not wholly unhuman with the typical features marked by depressions and protrusions but all through it the red veins worked in and out of it. Knitting the being together.
It all happened in maybe a second and a half before it stood there in front of Reynard as if nothing peculiar had happened at all.
"CHOICE IS ALL, ACTION IS. GOOD IS IDEALS, MALLEABLE, SUBJECTIVE, YOU ASK A QUESTION IN IT. WHAT IS GOOD?"
Two answers would be better than one. The other timeline would grant this one perspective. It however did not perceive of this, it merely knew it had asked the same question twice and that it asked both at the same time to different people in different realities.