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[vecna]

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[vecna]

[Apparently.]

My experience is limited, but no. I don't think I knew they could be this tall.

[It's honestly very ridiculous. But it seems to fit the bill where this prison is concerned, at least.]

Still, one new locations means... one more portal for you, right?

[striketwice]

[ Quirks a brow. ]

Buildings or malls?

[ Now he is teasing. Henry has seen Alec's memories of Chicago by now, he surely knows about skyscrapers. But as to the rest, he makes a face. ]

Probably two, since it's so damn big. We'll have to see what's inside.

[vecna]

[Wow!! Skyscrapers existed in the 50s SIR,,, just not where he lived]

Malls.

[Very funny. But he hardly seems bothered by Alec's teasing; it's just a given at this point.]

Two? Ambitious. Then we better get started.

[striketwice]

[ Then get started they shall. He turns to Henry as they step through the doors into the lobby. ]

Have you even been in a mall before?

[vecna]

[The lobby opens up -- it's large and open (currently empty, they're the only two visitors right now), but strikingly unremarkable on this floor. The escalators are humming gently as their stairs climb up, up or down, down, though there's also an elevator shaft with ribbons of yellow CAUTION tape plastered across it.

They probably don't want to go that way. Henry's going to head towards the escalators.]

That's a... simple question with a complicated answer. I've not physically been in a mall before today, no.

[striketwice]

[ By Alec's reckoning, this place looks more like a hotel than it does a mall, so far. Alec opts to go up first, stepping onto the escalator and turning to regard Henry with an arched eyebrow. ]

So you were, what? Mentally in a mall?

[vecna]

In a way.

[He looks up at Alec from a couple of steps below as they ascend. This is not the most comforting tale to tell, but since when has anything about Henry been reassuring where his past is concerned?

His pause is not hesitation so much as it is trying to simplify the answer. The skeletons in his closet have long been exposed for Alec to see.]

I told you about the particles I found in that other dimension. Remember? The hivemind?

[striketwice]

[ Alec isn't exactly expecting a happy story here. He assumes, at the very least, there will be some traumatized teens in the equation. ]

How could I forget? The tale of a boy and his weird dog.

[ No, he's never gonna let that go. ]

[vecna]

[If only Alec could have seen this weird dog.]

There was another gateway open beneath the mall in Hawkins. Long story short, I ushered some of those particles in, infected a group of people, and created ["""created""" skips a few gory details, here] a spider monster.

[Of course he did.]

So I was practically in the mall, in that way.

[striketwice]

Hang on, hang on. You created a spider monster. Out of-? The people?

[ This is a perfectly normal conversation to have with one's boyfriend. ]

[vecna]

[You signed up for this, Alec.]

That’s right. The infected people could be controlled, but more impressively, they could be changed. Mutated into not much more than… a pile of flesh. From there, it was easy to coalesce them into something more impressive.

[In a moment of self-awareness:] I know it sounds unpleasant.

[striketwice]

It sounds like something out of a horror movie.

[ Alec gives Henry a pass on a lot of things — far more than any sane person should — but every now and then he's reminded of just how terrifying his abilities are, and how he has often used them without remorse.

Congratulations Alec, you're dating a supervillain. ]

I really don't think that piloting a monster made of people goo counts as a mallgoing experience. Just saying.

[vecna]

[He sure is. But Henry looks at him pleasantly enough, quirking his smile. You'd hardly guess it by looking at him.]

I wanted to be free. And I would have done anything necessary to make that happen.

[Ah, but he nearly shrugs.]

But no, if you mean to ask if I've ever been shopping in a mall, then I haven't. This [the whole concept of a "mall" in the modern day] is all after my time.

[striketwice]

I know.

[ That much he understands, the need to be free, probably better than anything else. Does that make Henry's actions right? Hell no, but that isn't the issue here. It never has been. ]

Well, in my time, they're a dying breed. [ Malls, that is. ] One by one, they're slowly going defunct.

[vecna]

[He can't say he's sorry for it. What he saw through the eyes of the goo-spider-monster was gaudy and superfluous.

But maybe he's a little biased.]

And why's that?

[striketwice]

[ A shrug. ] Recession. Internet. I'm really not kidding when I say you can do anything on the internet.

[ Speaking of dying malls, the escalator lets them off onto... an empty floor. Alec's eyebrows go up. ]

Seriously?

[vecna]

[The internet really did change the world, didn't it? Henry would like to assume that's it's not all for the better, given what he knows about humanity.

But that thought is put on hold for now, as he steps off the escaltor and is greeted by... an empty floor.]

Well, that's disappointing. [He sounds a little amused, actually.] So much for my shopping experience.

[striketwice]

No kidding. Did we really just get an empty-ass skyscraper?

[ He motions to the escalator up to the next floor. ]

Wanna keep going and see if we find anything?

[vecna]

Sure. But if we go through all these floors just for you to create a portal in an empty building, I'm going to laugh.

[TO THE NEXT ESCALATOR, which is no remarkably different than the first esclator ride, drifting them upwards, slowly...

Though the scent of food starts to waft in the air, catching in their noses. Is this... a food court? Henry vaguely recognizes it.]

Oh, you won't have to cook for everyone anymore. [He's kidding, quipping as he steps off.]

[striketwice]

If the building is empty, I'm not gonna fucking bother.

[ So then they'll have gone all the way to the top for literally no reason. Hooray?

Ah, yeah. He smells the food court long before they see it. Huh. Maybe this is a mall after all. ]

That's a lie and you know it.

[vecna]

What, you don't think...

[Okay, what kind of food is sold at a food court? That, he didn't quite catch during his rampage through Starcourt.]

...mall hot dogs [maybe] can give you a run for your money?

[striketwice]

"Mall hot dogs"? At least try to make it sound appealing, Henry.

[vecna]

Mall... corn dogs?

[He tried.]

I don't know what kind of food is sold in places like these, Alec.

[striketwice]

Okay, okay fair. Guess the only way to broaden your horizons is to take a look.

[vecna]

[Well, then let them see what this place has to offer.

It's big, and empty, filled with neatly-lined tables and chairs currently unused -- a sense of traversing an oddly liminal space does not go unnoticed, at least for Henry. But he drifts off closer to one counter in particular that reads--]

"Mobile order pick-up". [Strains his poor 1950s brain to assume:] We can order from our phones?