[ Trying to do something. That's always step one, isn't it? It's why Minato shakes his head. ]
No, I don't think that will be a problem...
[ That's how it's always been for Minato. Rarely can he think of reasons not to do things, and it's how he inevitably ends up getting pulled into others' shenanigans.
Guinaifen gives his foot a friendly nudge. It leaves Minato glancing down at their feet as he carefully returns the gesture, slowly poking her foot back with his own toe. ]
I'm not very good at thinking of reasons to not do things.
[ This, of course, may be extremely dangerous information to disclose to a complete stranger. ]
There is. [One that he has created, specifically to give what was once just a bunch of disorganized monsters and absurdities enough of a common scope of knowledge that communication and a sort of shared culture and sense of values could be established.]
The supernatural has always existed alongside the world you humans are familiar with. It would have been weirder if we'd stayed a bunch of uncivilized monsters who can't even read and write while humans have compulsory education and modern schooling systems.
[They even have higher job-specific educations, standards and things like driver's licenses for youkai nowadays.]
Math is among the subjects taught, sorry to let you down. We cover a whole range of the more 'classic' general disciplines like Japanese, Science, History and PE, but there are also more youkai-specific classes like Spookology.
[-and the way Guinaifen carries herself shifts ever so slightly, for a moment. She's a bit more guarded- not in that way, no, not in the shuttered way in which someone puts up a facade and promptly holds their secrets close to their chest. It's in the guarded way when they're somewhere somewhat dangerous (not outright dangerous, but with the potential for danger) and they know something could be listening in or something could happen and they might need to react fast. That sort of way. Because while Guinaifen wouldn't consider herself a warrior, she also grew up in an impoverished mining town in which the authorities looked the other way so long as the residents didn't cause trouble and meet their quotas and paid their taxes.
Speaking of-] That makes sense. Networks always have moderators, and I'm used to watching myself there. No sense in getting an audience if you go to far and get yourself banned.
[...fuck it.] ...and I grew up in a place which kind of reminds me of here, a little. It wasn't as nice as this place was, and the food was terrible, but it also had a...uh, it had hands on owners who let the people get away with a lot in certain respects, and not that much in others. What mattered is if they got what they wanted.
None of the other [she makes a face, because it really makes her feel like a chuuni saying it] Chosen have been asked to do anything besides stuff related to their crime, have they?
What's your name? I must remember it. [ If not just to remember a single reasonable person around here..
And yes, she's realizing maybe that weird username is his attempt at entering a name, but in that case she has no idea where his first name ends or his last name starts.. Half of that looks like a keysmash to her. ]
And if you have more questions about this place at any given point, you can ask me them.
I don't mind helping out actually reasonable people.
[There's a lot to be extrapolated from what he says. A king marked by the successful finish of a race, instead of a succession line. Accomplishment instead of cutthroat. Tendi has to wonder for a second -- what would the Syndicate be like, if they had someone like that in charge? A queen, more likely, and she's sure her mother would contend for that particular throne...
But, freedom? She never felt free when she was living that life. The life of a Prime never had any freedom to it at all.]
That...sounds nice. [Her expression is somewhat wistful for a second. Maybe people would have a better opinion of Orions if their pirates were a little more like Luffy.] What're you gonna do, after you become king?
A holonovel is a-- [wait. stop. temporal nonsense, prime directive, et cetera et cetera, plus there is way more important stuff to talk about.] --never mind. Does this thing talk to people...regularly? I mean-- how often have you been in communication with it?
[She also has no idea where they're going, help, they're two excited chihuahuas just wandering around getting into trouble.]
Um, Orion. I'm...I'm from Orion. What kind of projects have you been doing? That sounds really cool, actually. Like you're helping people out.
Faces in the rocks? Wow! I mean-- totally weird, but that's so cool! Do you think they were sleeping? Or was it just like...they didn't need their eyes to see? I guess if it's a whole planet like that, maybe it's one whole symbiotic system and they communicated in some rock-language or something!
[Oh. Oh no. The gears are turning. She is thinking way too hard about this.]
You're right though, space is the best. And-- I'm sure there's some cool stuff to discover on this planet, too! There's gotta be more to it than just this city, right?
I know, you're right. We're not gonna get the answers all at once. I just-- hate that! Not knowing stuff is the worst!
[Science nerd short-circuits over inability to figure things out, news at 11. But-- okay, this is fine, they're all gonna be just fine. They'll figure all this stuff out! Just...not immediately.]
But we don't have much choice for now. I guess that means we're at the "research" point of the scientific method: gathering as much data as we can.
[It smells like home. Well-- not like literally, because the cooking methods are way different, they probably don't use half the same spices she was used to on Orion. But it smells like real cooking, and that's close enough. It's not like she hasn't had shore leave, either -- it hasn't been that long since D'Erika's wedding, and the food was amazing. The Tendi family spares no expense for things like that. But still! It's nice.]
Four? Were they that good, or were you just that hungry? [She means it, but it's also a good way to slide right past that comment that, in retrospect, might sound a little weird. Starfleet had rapidly expanded over the course of his tenure on the Enterprise and then as an Admiral, but...she knows enough about history to realize that none of that happened until later in his career. Maybe, in part, because of his career. Because the crew of the Enterprise had laid the groundwork.
Standing in the footsteps of giants, and this one ate four hamburgers in one sitting. It's-- it's wild, that's for sure.
She points out something on the menu --a "corn" dog? it doesn't look like a dog or corn, but it's on a stick, which is pretty neat-- and frowns thoughtfully at his words. Three months? He seems to still think she's from his era, so his guess makes logical sense, in that way...] It-- could be something like that, yeah.
[Or maybe there's another temporal element at work here? Maybe he manages to travel back to the moment he left or something. That sounds right, for one of those time travel scenarios.]
... Hold on. [a beat; don't say Ambassador Spock for the love of every god under the sun don't--] you mean your-- first officer was here first? But not like the same, it's more like-- ...different universes? Wait, how exactly did you work that out? I mean-- what's the evidence for that?
I mean, we had once, it does not like me, I think, but probably it's fair, because I was trying to hack in it, but I found out if you talk to it in binary it answers you better, almost like it's happy you're speaking it's language? But don't anger it, it will lock you out or change your name to something real ridiculous!
(just met this person, giving all the good good exposition. it's fine, she looks fine.)
Uh, mostly what is needed by the community, so I work with whatever people bring us. We do apps, or chemistry stuff if needed, and fix gadgets and make gadgets too.
[ Ah, well- Rafal isn't wrong. Still, he wonders if that was a jab at him or just a statement of fact. ]
You have a point there, I do concede that. Yet, I think there are also other equally important measures of strength such as knowing when to not spill blood.
[ That 'hustle and bustle' is a bit overwhelming to Dimitri, it's true. But he has found common ground in others despite the different setting already. He supposes that there is some truth to what Claude speaks, but also... He's deflecting, isn't he?
They don't work together, it seems likely. He'll have to find out why but, again, at another time. ]
It helps that my title means nothing to most people here, I'm sure. [ He struggled with it at the academy, being seen as different or other'ed by his peers because of his status. ] And I'd be glad to help out wheresoever I am needed.
It's not surprising to hear you've made connections even here though. You always were... much better at that than I.
If 'proper' is all she thinks of him so far, she isn't wrong. Despite his distaste for being treated so different due to his nobility, the mannerism aren't about to leave him anytime soon.
"Yes, that is... certainly different. All of this is," he agrees. "So there really is no way to contact home." He knew but her saying so really confirm it all: He's an entirely new place, separate from all that he's ever known. He doesn't even have a way to connect with those back home and ensure that they're, at the very least, okay. He'll need to see what he can do to figure out if that is the case.
"I wasn't even traveling when I arrived here. I should have been going to do something tasked of me, but then... It gets fuzzy, admittedly." The sinking feeling that something was wrong, mostly, and he needed to fix it in that last battle. Did he? He hopes so. For now, he can't know but- Maybe someday since people from his future are here. Someday, he'll learn his fate.
For now though? All he can do is enjoy some tea and company and try not to worry so much for once in his life.
It is, [ he agrees, solemnly. The unknown is... terrifying, honestly, and he won't pretend it isn't. Yet, he can at least acknowledge that it's out of his hands.
For now. ]
Yes, that seems the best course of action. A bit overwhelming when I'm still unsure of how to even start, but... Maybe as I settle in and get more familiar with everything, it'll be easier.
Also, everything tends to be easier with people to help.
[ Sheesh. Fighting a tyrant? Some.. lying tyrant, judging by the last part of what Ekko is saying, or at least a tyrant that seems to have convinced people into accepting him?
It feels like a wild story compared to her own situation. Not that that one isn't wild, but.. well, it's wild on a different level. It doesn't really have to do with fighting a tyrant, after all. Ange doesn't even really doubt his story. Not that she knows for sure he's telling the truth, she mostly just thinks this would be a weird thing to lie about to a total stranger after arriving in a different world. ]
Alright, tyrant-fighter.
[ It's said a little dryly, but Ange doesn't mean it badly. If that's really what he's doing, it's pretty admirable in its own way. ]
I guess it'll be natural then for you to fight our tyrants here, since the Council is pretty much like that as well. Corrupt. Lying about their intentions. Subjecting us to all sorts of dumb stuff for no reason at all. It sounds like it's perfectly up your alley with that experience.
That question is definitely reasonable, and she doesn't mind answering it-- but there's no way Ange can focus on it when Ruca then moves on to say that. Ange's poker face fades a little bit, instead replaced with something more openly surprised.
It's hard to not let surprise show when it comes to this, after all. No matter in how many other situations she's capable of hiding it. ]
Wait, are you saying you're worried about me?
[ Ange is definitely sounding like she thinks that sort of thing is impossible. It's surprise, mixed with confusion, mixed with disbelief. ]
[ It's at least a little less incomprehensible than the whole vlogging thing she just got described to her, but it still stands out enough anyway that Ange can't help but address it.. ]
Isn't that a terribly inconvenient way to live? [ Then again, some worlds just are weird, huh. If there's anything Ange has learned in this place, it's that fact. ]
Not really. That time our memories got messed with-- I don't think anyone saw that coming.
[ Even Ange hadn't, after all, and she's pretty prepared to deal with anything here. She's actually been looking into so much stuff. But even she hadn't found a clue that all of that had been possible in the first place before it had happened.
It's not fun news. And - really, Morph is looking more upset by this than she imagined they'd be. But it's not like Ange is going to soften the blow of the news when she thinks this is important for all new people to know before it catches them off guard. ]
I've been trying to find ways for a year now, but.. [ She shakes her head. ] I'm not powerful enough.
[ She isn't sure if anyone here is, given that people way stronger than her also deal with the same problems.. ]
Though I've gotten some more information about this place since then, I haven't come across anything that might be useful for stopping what's going on here. Especially when they have done this entire thing with other groups before us, disposing of them after a while before starting all over again with new people. [ SORRY, MORPH.. Truly none of this news is a great time!
And it probably doesn't help that Ange talks about it so stoically, despite looking like your average teenager otherwise. ]
[ Ange just lets out a groan the moment he's listing out actual regular school subjects that apparently even supernatural beings have to deal with. Then what's the point in being a supernatural being when you still have to deal with something as annoying as human school? ]
And here I thought being a youkai was cool.
[ Apparently the youkai existence is, in some ways, just as mundane as the human one, huh.. ]
I thought they'd learn more about their powers or something. Where else are you supposed to learn that?
"Is that so?" he muses, to her comment. He isn't actually asking her but definitely curious. He wonders then what exactly that 'look' is but he's sure he'll be told eventually. Dimitri nods along though to the mention of beasts. Even here, it seems, people aren't always safe.
He's a bit concerned to hear of the beasts that apparently prowl in this reality as well, but... It does mean that there might be a need for his skillset after all. That's good, even if people dealing with monsters aren't. "Oh, you could teach me that? I would like to, if possible, since while I am a soldier I know the merit of the healing arts at well. Magic was just never my specialty so I didn't pursue it."
"Ah, yes- Marianne is where I'm from." Although, actually, he needs to make a small correction: "Technically. It seems some of her history differs slightly from what I remember but apparently that isn't entirely uncommon here."
As for Claude, at least, he is from the Fodlan that Dimitri remembers. "Claude, too, is also from Fodlan... Although they are both from a time beyond mine. A few years, I think."
Figured as much when I got this ridiculous piece of paper, maybe Silco put them up to this shit again.
[Pulling out the citation from his back pocket as they continue walking, the boy savior unravels the piece of parchment to reveal the sentence in full. "You have been charged with TERRORISM and in accordance with the doctrine of this world, you have ▬▬ until you will face your sentencing. Prepare your defense adequately or face the repercussions." Rolling his eyes as Ekko slaps the page with the page of his hand before crumbling it up in his hand without concern and shoving it away.]
Can you believe that load of crap? First home and now here they try to put these lies on me.
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expiationlogs2024-06-10 07:58 am
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