A Question of Changes [A couple days into liminal]

[mytearsaremine]

Uh, hi. I'm Jolie. And I'm not screaming at you all this time. Sorry about that. I was just kind of scared and stuff, and didn't know what I was doing, since I'd kind of just showed up and all. But now I do, so no more yelling.

Only now I kind of have a question? And I wanted to ask as many of you as possible, so I guess I'm doing it here, and like this, even if it's kind of creepy still that people talk in my head. But it's not a bad talking in my head, and everybody says you can't do anything to me with it, so I'd better get used to it, right? And no better way to get used to something than to do it.

So anyway, the question, right. Do these Trump guys ever... change what you were before you got here? Like, your abilities or appearance or something? Besides the mark things. I've seen a couple of those. I mean like other things.

Has that happened to anybody?

Comments

[thornsofmalkav]

Yeah, actually. I haven't been able to use any of the higher levels of Auspex--that's a vampire discipline, I'd used to be able to use it for viewing auras and psychometry--ever since I got here a year ago.

[mytearsaremine]

Wait, what, vampire? Are you a vampire?

[thornsofmalkav]

... yeah? Why?

[mytearsaremine]

Okay, I guess that sounded kind of judge-y. And I really don't have any room to be jugde-y since I'm, uh, not exactly normal myself. I was just kind of surprised, I guess.

[thornsofmalkav]

There's two of us right now. I won't say we don't bite, but... we do our best not to hurt humans.

[forcechanic]

It's weird. The psychic network lets me hear actual words from people, but something about it stops me from picking up feelings around me like I can at home.

I've heard about people who were aliens and such keeping that as an option, too.

[mytearsaremine]

Yeah, it is kind of dead-feeling, isn't it? The network thing. It's like nobody's talking right. All formal-professional and stuff.

So it's definitely a thing. It seems like, though people are losing like... good stuff. Abilities they miss. Is that all that ever happens?

[forcechanic]

Some people can manage tone but yeah... dead feeling. I don't get the same sort of life flow around me that I'm used to.

People get new stuff too. Some of what I've picked up almost compensates but it still feels wrong.

[mytearsaremine]

Well, yeah, I mean, you showed me how to keep some sorts of people out of my head, so I know you can learn stuff. Thanks again for that, by the way.

[forcechanic]

You're welcome. I felt really weird when I got here too. Like all my usual defenses were missing because the Force was so wrong.

[brokers]

Yes, they do. I have spent the majority of the Jaunts I can recall either Infiltrating as a human, or appearing as one to the population of the worlds we visited. I believe most Travelers who are not human have had a similar experience.

They also alter the native abilities of those of us who were capable of some form of telepathy before we were chosen, so that we make use of the telepathic network rather than the abilities to which we are accustomed.

[mytearsaremine]

Somebody else mentioned feeling other people's feelings, too. Which I guess is kind of telepathic. Maybe it just gets in the way of the network thing so they have to like turn it off or something.

So nobody will look at me funny if I'm not... uh. Totally human-looking and stuff? Even when I'm myself?

[brokers]

Unless the world we visit is one that is accustomed to species other than humanity, no. Neither those who are native to that world nor those of us who are Infiltrating will notice anything amiss. I believe it would be inconvenient to our captors' designs if we were to incite panic on every undeveloped world we visited.

[mytearsaremine]

That's pretty weird. What if you had like. Extra limbs and stuff? That could carry things and knock things around. Will people notice that or write it off as like your elbow or the wind or something?

[shiroganeheir]

That is certainly a thing that can happen, yes. There are multiple skills and abilities that Travelers have acquired that change who people are or can be.

I personally have acquired the ability to turn into a Hecatite, which is a silicon-based rock life form.

[mytearsaremine]

Wow, really? I knew some rock people back where I was last time. They weren't called hecatites though. I think they settled on trolls. We, uh, kind of didn't get a lot of info about what we actually were changed into.

But you say you have the ability to turn into it. They didn't change you permanently?

[runawaystory]

Not to me, but then again, I wasn't anything special before I wound up here.

[mytearsaremine]

Lucky. I'd rather not be anything special, really. Special kind of sucks.

[runawaystory]

Tell me about it.

[neverfeltthatway]

As a rule, people who have telepathic or teleportation powers find that their abilities no longer work once they become a Traveler - though they are often more adept at using network and liminal skills, respectively.

There are other examples of such things happening, but the rest are generally on a case by case basis.

[mytearsaremine]

Is it always good stuff that's changed? Like, stuff you'd miss? Do they ever like take away something that really sucks...?

[solvethepuzzle]

What about you changed?

[mytearsaremine]

I was wondering if anybody was gonna ask that. Short answer is, I don't know if anything changed yet.

Slightly longer answer is, I don't wanna talk about it here cuz it might freak people out. But if it changed, it's a very super good thing that it changed and I might like want to kiss the Trumps or something for doing it.

[solvethepuzzle]

[Somebody had to ask.]

Well, we wouldn't want to start a panic. But what reason do you have to believe it would do such a thing? People here have seen much and are surprisingly accepting of a great many things. [Yeah, he's still fishing a bit.]

[mytearsaremine]

If you wanna know, come find me in person. I'm not gonna talk about it here.

[She is stubborn, Near, sorry.]