Delta Catch All

[daddy_topside]

Who: Subject Delta (daddy_topside) and pretty much everyone!
What: Delta v (small) Civilization
When: Varying times of the day!
Where: Varying spots but mostly around the outer edges of Pumpkin Hollow!
Warning(s): Canon typical violence (Bioshock). Will add anything if they come up!


Open - In Town! (Daytime)

Subject Delta was created for the sole purpose of attending to the protection of a singular Little Sister. When he wasn’t doing that, he was hunting for leaks and doing repairs on a megalomaniac’s underwater hell city.

Figuring out mundane things like housing and groceries isn’t… quite in his repertoire. You might as well have thrown a tortoise into a lake and gotten about the same level of drowning incomprehension.

Typically, Delta would commit to the fine art of simply disregarding everything anyone tried to tell him and forge his own path. It’s just this time he’s so far out of his depth, he doesn’t even have the familiar to fall back on.

In the end, stunned by the endless be-clouded skies and the sheer shock of it all, Delta simply parks himself on a rocky hill and contemplates insanity.


For Grace - Downtown (Daytime)

Money, at least, was a familiar concept to Subject Delta. Cash to be traded for goods (and services, but you didn’t exactly get service between the splicers having the run of the place and just plain being a Big Daddy). You didn’t crawl out of a libertarian’s wet dreams without at least learning that.

The question is just what to spend money on. Deprived of his weapons, Delta instead muddles about Downtown, accumulating frightened and wary stares from the sparse populace as he contemplates the window of a woodworking shop.

Comments

near the trolley station, outskirts of town

[woocas]

At first Lucas walks right past the hunk of metal staring up at the sky. His focus was in his notebook, feet taking him on the now familiar route to the trolley and back into town proper. But the message does get through, stopping the young man dead in his track.

"What the...?"

Backpedaling a few steps Lucas still manages to jump at sight of the big metal guy, clutching his notebook to his chest "Woah nelly! Uh...hi??"

[daddy_topside]

The glowing porthole turns onto Lucas. There's a brief moment of what can almost be interpreted as contemplation, heavily tinted with something awfully unimpressed.

Still, Lucas gets a half-assed two-fingered salute in answer for his troubles. Honestly, it's like no one's seen a big daddy before around here.

[woocas]

Okay, so this is new. Lucas has definitely never seen anything like a Big Daddy, not even in this strange little town.

"Cool," He says mostly to himself, almost like a kid whispering in awe at a giant gundam statue.

"What're you doing way out here, big guy?"

[daddy_topside]

The surprisingly positive reaction makes Delta somewhat less irritated. He gives Lucas a curious look and offers an honest shrug in answer, palm upturned.

The better question is what he should be doing out here, really. There's some kind of labor gig he's going to start soon, but for now, it's mostly just dawdling around until they figure out what to do with him.

[woocas]

Alright, so it seems big guy can't talk. He can work with that!

"That's fair," Lucas takes a few easy steps closer, shrugging in kind. "Half the time I'm like twiddling my thumbs and wondering what to do..."

He pauses just a moment, voicing the thought immediately after, "I'm guessin' you're not one of the villagers or I think I would have heard about you before now. Right?"

[daddy_topside]

Delta turns to look at middle-aged man making his way down the street. The man takes one look at Delta and immediately turns, disappearing around a corner at record speed.

Turning back to Lucas, Delta makes a gesture: how's that for an answer?

[woocas]

Oh dear. Lucas winces on Delta's behalf.

"Well, guess that answers that. Sheesh!" Not that Lucas can exactly blame the poor guy, but still.

"...So, uh. Do you know how to write?"

[daddy_topside]

Delta makes a 'so so' gesture. Not his preferred method of communication but the kid's not done anything to annoy him, so it's only fair to put it on the table.

[woocas]

"Okay, well that's good to know. Talking ain't your thing though, huh?" It's the investigator in Lucas to pepper people with so many questions, he really can't help himself. Plus Big Guy seems to be okay with it for now!

"Well, I guess the least I can do is give you a heads up about the crazy stuff around here. Mostly like critters right now, but who knows what this island's got up its sleeve." He purses his lips a moment, "Hopefully not literally, though. Anyways, the brutok seemed to be slinking back to the forest but they're these little tree guys like yay tall-" he gestures to show their diminutive size "-and seem to enjoy puzzles and turning people into trees. Which isn't exactly permanent but I'm sure it's not pleasant. Oh! And some people have been seeing some kind of bigger guy out there, but I'm not really sure what it is yet other than hungry."

[daddy_topside]

Admittedly, this isn't the weirdest topic of conversation Delta's sat through. You listen to some bizarre stuff with little sisters under wing. Riveting one-sided conversations as she digs through a splicer's innards to dredge out the last bit of ADAM. Angels and palatial shining halls and all that.

Tree people are somewhat less within Delta's range of topical experiences, though. He listens to Lucas's descriptions with some interest, pulling out the slate and chalk Grace had gifted him a bit ago.

how big? he scrawls.

[woocas]

Watching Delta curiously, Lucas looks over the question and nods. "Oh yeah, they're like little guys. One or two on their own is just going to be a pain in the ass, but they tend to group up and that's where the real trouble begins."

He does make a point to gesture with both hands, giving Delta the approximate size of a teddy bear plush for a size reference.

"I think a bunch would give even you some trouble, so just keep an eye out for weird stone structures of bunches of leaves out of place if you go into the forest, okay?" Dying is no fun, even if it doesn't stick.

[daddy_topside]

fire?

Not that Delta has any plans in the near future to go into the forest: he might be small for a big daddy, but he's not small enough to comfortably get through the thicket. Still, it might be pertinent to know, just in case those creatures decide to come into the town.

[woocas]

"Yeah! You can punt them too, sends 'em scurrying. Fire's probably the best option unless you're standing in the middle of some underbrush or like, in town obviously."

The villagers probably wouldn't appreciate that too much.

"I'll be damned if I've found a way to get rid of them permanently, or where they're coming from. It seems like most people here don't want to find out, either. At least the villagers, I mean."

[daddy_topside]

Delta hums a low, thoughtful note. The townsfolk probably lived with this for long enough to know the human cost of just trying to endure it.

who did you ask? Delta writes. Congrats on the longest sentence anyone's gotten out of the big daddy so far, Lucas.

[woocas]

Where is his award? Lucas wants a sticker for that!

"Well, I talked to Miss Leeds about the brutoks. She seems to collect information on all the strange happenings around town and beyond. She has a manor and hosts the Historical Society there, or is nose deep in a book at the library. I've also talked to Degas, the guy that runs the Temple in town. He knows everyone here, so that's handy for following up on things. Uh...oh!" He snaps his fingers, one can almost picture a lightbulb going off over his head.

"And Neil! He lives out in the forest and studies dreams? Might not be too useful for something like brutok but someone to keep in mind around here anyways. he seems pretty skeptical about what's going on and another point of view is never a bad thing. Right?"

[daddy_topside]

Fortunately for Lucas, he doesn't see the face Delta makes at the mention of Delgas. Maybe it was just an inauspicious meeting, but it still didn't leave a good taste in his mouth.

The library probably wasn't going to be easy to access for a big daddy either, not without a willingness to deal with more people than Delta wants to. Sitting back, he contemplatively rubs the edge of his porthole.

studies dreams? he asks Lucas after a moment.

[woocas]

"Yeah, I know. It sounds kind of weird but there's a science to it." Lucas says with a shrug. "At least there's a science to it back home. Neil seems..."

He trails off, bringing up the memory again. "Pretty level-headed, I guess. A little weird but I don't think that's a problem. Although I gotta ask," Lucas pauses, feeling stupid for asking in the first place considering he's talking to a big stuck in a big metal whats-it, "Do people have any supernatural abilities where you're from?"

[daddy_topside]

Rapture doesn't have 'supernatural abilities', Rapture has The Miracle of Science(TM), so Delta doesn't at all give a second thought to the gesture he makes in negation.

Lucas will probably discover this minor miscommunication in time just because Delta isn't shy about plasmid use. For now though, sorry for the bad new, Lucas.

also apologies for the weird sentence in my last tag, my fingers type faster than my brain!

[woocas]

And this is exactly why Lucas is still a rookie investigator! Sometimes he doesn't think his questions all the way through.

"Okay, so this might sound weird then but where I'm from it's common too. So Neil can, like, project himself into people's dreams. So, he can help people figure out what they mean or see if there's a reason causing them in general. Like, say, you go through something traumatic and then you start having nightmares."

no worries! o/

[daddy_topside]

Considering Delta had piggy backed on a Little Sister's brain and hallucinated wildly while trying to help free himself, well. Dream surfing wasn't as weird of an idea as it could be.

He's not particularly inclined to try and convey that though, so Delta just kind of inclines his mantle in a thoughtful nod. The psychotherapy aspect of that doesn't seem terribly appealing.

why? he writes in puzzlement. There seems to be easier ways to do the investigation that isn't straight up hopping into people's heads.

[woocas]

Lucas shrugs, his shoulders bunching up near his jawline for a brief moment.

"Why not? If you had an ability like that, why not put it to good use?" Of course he's coming from that mindset, being trained to use his own abilities from a young age for good rather than ill.

"I think it could be handy later on, depending on what happens around here. But listen to me yakking away and not even asking your name." he scoffs at himself. This was pretty bad even by his standards! "I'm Lucas."

[daddy_topside]

Not really the question he was trying to get answered, but figures there'd be limitations to slate, chalk, and big hands. If an ability like that existed in Rapture, he knows exactly how it'd be put to use and that's a grand old 'no thank you' from this big daddy.

delta, he offers in return.

[woocas]

"Delta. Well, it's nice to meet you, dude." He glances towards town before looking up at the big guy, brow raised.

"So since you're not staying in town, uh...you're welcome by my place if you need anything. I'm out from town at the last trolley stop." A nice perk of being an enforcer. "Us newbie gotta stick together right?

[daddy_topside]

The kid's alright, Delta supposes. Bit odd, but not odder than anyone he's seen in Rapture.

sure

He does not actually tell Lucas that he's staying in town, but the situation needs to be more dire than this for him to actually bother writing that much out. Sorry Lucas.

[woocas]

You know what they say about making assumptions, and Lucas was making a pretty big one there.

"Right. Well, I've probably yakked your ears off enough," He says with a sheepish grin. "I didn't really mean to interrupt if you were in the middle of something but...don't be a stranger?"