apocalypsehowcomm | [OPEN LOG] who's gonna take you home?

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[OPEN LOG] who's gonna take you home?

Who: Full Frontal and YOU.
When: Throughout late July
Where: ADI headquarters and ADI housing
Summary: Adjusting to life in ADI is a difficult feat... aka, the log where I put intro-y prompts.
Warnings: None as of yet!

I. HQ Canteen

[ Out of the recent arrivals to ADI's ranks, Frontal likely looks like one of the stranger ones if only for the metal mask with the red eyes that he has yet to take off even once. For a few days now, he's been a fixture in the headquarters. Striking in appearance but quiet, only observing. When he's standing in a corner, unmoving, it might be easy to mistake him for a mannequin.

Today, however, he seems to have made up his mind to stop being an extraordinarily unsettling potted plant and instead actually interact with somebody else. Are you about to settle down with your food? So is Frontal and you'll find him approaching with a polite nod. ]

II. The Docks (after the Kelpie crisis)

[ If you're by the docks sometime during the day, you might find Full Frontal (still masked, still unnaturally still in the way he is standing) staring out at the ships. Being one of the few who did not participate in the hunt for the Kelpies, he's not yet sick of looking at the water at least.

He seems to recognize you as you pass by, having memorized your appearance during his time examining the headquarters. There aren't many others around, so he feels comfortable striking up a conversation: ]

III. ADI Housing - Laundry Room

[ And finally, you can find the masked man facing a rather mundane problem. Though usually his lieutenant Angelo is the one who does the laundry for him and Angelo is still very fortunately by his side... today, Frontal has decided to pull his weight around the household. Different times call for different measures.

The only problem is, he does appear to be reading the entire backs of several different detergent bottles, struggling to decide what would be most appropriate to use. Please help... ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Frontal has never given much thought to the whole first and last name construct of his name, really. It would feel more appropriate to say both are his given name and neither is his family, for he does not have a family. He has a feeling saying that won't go over with well, so he leaves it.

The second question is loaded enough, really. ]

For the oppressed, the two can be the same.

[ For Frontal, the mask represents failure. It represents a reminder of a man who lost, who left this world defeated. It represents propaganda and a world that refuses to change.

But to those who see it... well, primarily he supposes it represents the possibility to not think for themselves and follow a leader instead. Not something he'll say out loud at a first meeting, however. ]

But to answer the question you are actually asking, I am not interested in starting a war in my world or in any other.

[ Terrorism is fine though. ]

[ to the question he's actually asking? keith scoffs at the framing of that, dipping his chicken into honey mustard sauce. ]

I don't know how you'd even start a war here with the resources you have. [ blunt. ] Assuming we're all standing on even footing here.

[ but even so, it doesn't escape keith's notice that "starting a war" is really just one phase of a war. propagating it, raising tensions, refusing to end are all components here that are, either unintentionally or perhaps very intentionally being left out. ]

You didn't answer my actual question about your name though.

[ Frontal is not sure if his name is a better or worse subject of discussion than his attitude towards war. Both at once, somehow. He takes a break to actually take a bite of his food before it goes cold. He'd be scolded if he wasn't taking care of his body by eating proper meals. ]

I would file 'Full' as my first name in paperwork if necessary, yes. I don't think of it in terms of first name and last name though.

[ There are so many worlds, apparently, so this can't be THAT weird. ]

Speaking of names, you never told me your own.

[ infinite realities sure sure. maybe this is all normal for full frontal over there, but keith is not necessarily following. >/small>]

Uh-huh. And names like Full Frontal are common where you're from?

[ he supposes it could be worse?? either way: ]

I'm Keith.

[ and with that, he's going to take a hearty bite out of his chicken tender. ]

Keith, then. Pleased to make your acquaintance.

[ Frontal gives a smile that is hard to parse - is it genuine? Is it condescending? Is it both? Is his face just a little weird? ]

I'm a bit of a unique case as far as names are concerned, I admit that. I named myself.

[ a pleasure is really not what keith would be calling meeting anyone under these circumstances, but a pleasantry is a pleasantry. he gives a curt nod, and notably is not smiling back. vaguely annoying smile is vaguely annoying, however. ]

And you were ... what. Surrounded by people named things like "Full Steam Ahead" and "Maximum Throttle" which is how you came to pick that name for yourself?

[ munch. ]

[ Frontal knows prickly teenagers and he does not care in the slightest that Keith is not bothering with all the polite formalities. They are having a casual lunch together here, it's fine.

It's not like Frontal has ever had a casual lunch with anybody before, so for the first time this is going decently well. ]

Nothing of the sort. "Full Frontal" stands for having nothing to hide, though "full frontal assault" is certainly not a bad association either.

Having nothing to hide is the last thing I'd assume about a guy hiding behind a mask.

[ just putting that thought out there. keith dips his chicken in more sauce and pauses. ]

You're sending a lot of mixed messages there.

Do you consider yourself as hiding something for wearing clothing?

[ Frontal doesn't sound particularly irritated or anything, it sounds like a friendly question. ]

Beneath my mask is a pair of eyes and a forehead, just as beneath my sleeves are arms and so on... I don't ask people to prove the truth of their body just because my immediate vision of a part of it is obscured.

[ if frontal thinks this is sound logic, well... ]

That's literally the point of clothes. You're trying to cover up so people aren't staring at you naked.

[ he's not saying "duh" but his eyebrow is raised so high over having to explain this. ]

Wearing a mask is more significant than that. You don't wear those unless you're specifically trying to conceal your identity or keep people from making eye contact. Tends to be kind of suspicious. [ a beat. ]

You don't interact with humans much, do you.

[ Frontal would have offered to take off the mask and reveal that he is indeed merely hiding a pair of eyes, but... the way Keith explains the sinister purpose of masks so haughtily makes him reconsider that offer altogether. ]

... not in an off-duty capacity, no. It's never been necessary.

[ He talks to Angelo in what is a mixture of duty and leisure, but Angelo worships the ground he stands on and that makes for a very different dynamic than this little chat. ]

Though, as you already wondered about regarding names, part of the oddity we perceive from others here might be due to cultural difference between dimensions as well.

[ the admission that full frontal doesn't deal much with people at least earns him a point in keith's favor. if nothing else, it's relatable even if in keith's case that might be more of a self burn. the frowning eases up ever so slightly as he takes a sip of water. ]

Very likely.

[ a beat. ]

So are you actually from a version of Earth then? Or are you some other kind of alien?

[ for all he knows the mask's there to hide some crazy alien eye going on. of course, one doesn't actually have to look alien to be alien, but what would keith know about that anyway... ]

I'm from the Earth Sphere, but I've never been on the planet itself before coming here.

[ Frontal looks... well, he looks a little bit off and not quite human but in that uncanny valley way a good wax figure doesn't look human. No alien physiognomy, just a really weird guy. ]

My last place of permanent residence was Palau, a mining asteroid. We're not aliens though, the people living there have merely been space colonists for one or two generations.

[ right. so in this alternate reality of earth, there are space colonies full of people with odd names and possibly space radiation has altered the way people look? kinda interesting. ]

I see. So people are settling on space colonies... and fighting wars against aliens?

Mhm, that would be the more exciting option, wouldn't it?

[ At least to Frontal who still continues aliens nothing but a trope used in fiction for teenage boys, not something that is close enough to have any bearing on his reality. ]

Unfortunately, mankind simply is at odds with itself, as it always was and always will be.

I wouldn't call it exciting at all.

[ said in that very deadpan tone that makes it fairly clear that keith has had some not so great experiences with aliens, actually. there's more he could say about this "always will be" take on humanity, but actually.... he kinda feels like this is just going to launch into some maudlinn armchair philosophy that he doesn't actually want to listen to.

grom nom chicken tenders. ]

[ Keith is making a very wise call here, you do not want Frontal talking about the fate of mankind. ]

It would have a degree of novelty compared to the tradition of man-made wars. But you are right, in the end it would still be a calamity first and foremost. Are you speaking from experience?

[ expression flatlining; ] Yeah. [ a beat. ] Trust me, it's not exactly a novelty you want to be dealing with.

If the aliens find you before you find them, that's probably because they're thousands of years ahead of you and have the kind of technology that makes nuclear warheads look like firecrackers.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[OPEN LOG] who's gonna take you home?

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