[ What a tonal shift. It's impressive, actually, and Neve lets it play out so she can observe instead - both Miu and the barista, because this will at least give her an understanding of how people actually react to some kind of friction. It's short-lived friction but still present, and Neve's expression remains at the level: mostly neutral, a small smile that's more polite than anything else, and she goes along with whatever the two are talking about.
The cogs are turning, though. ]
Just a regular coffee, please. I need something to pick me up.
[ Not untrue but, you know, not the full point. And she still ends up paying - she did offer, after all - and steps away from the counter so the barista can get started on the order and to move on to the next person. Neve says nothing rather pointedly until they get their drinks, so she can go with Miu to the table, and they can have some modicum of privacy.
She smiles, this time with something a bit more real. ] Nice job. You can just turn on a dime like that?
[Aloy has to ask questions. After a childhood of wanting to know, after hearing the recording of the woman she would call mother saying she would have wanted a curious daughter - what else can she do? Especially now that there is nothing to keep people from talking to her. Or cultural attitudes that make people treat her like a strange barbarian. Aloy has a lot of opinions about withholding information, too.
Which means she has to answer, doesn't it. Aloy sighs.]
I'm Aloy. [No need to identify her tribe. It's nice not to have everyone peg her as Nora the moment she's seen. Though the next part has a bit of surprise in her tone.] The device - it's a Focus. You can't identify it?
[ She does, in fact, take a bottle. The silence allows her to actually focus on her surroundings, which hall, which door, but also to gauge just how many rooms this tavern might hold...and how many others might be here as well, stuck like they are. The numbers are sobering, even if they might mostly be empty.
She follows her in, dipping her head in a slight nod. The fire is appreciated; Neve lets out a faint sigh, now that she's fully out of the cold. She sets down the bottle as well, and allows her gaze to roam and take in the room. ]
I've met and worked with Varric Tethras as well. He and Harding came to Minrathous looking for Solas. They helped me with a few things.
[ Like with the Venatori and helping some slaves. Not particularly important in the context she might need. She works at one of the bottles, popping the cork and pouring. ]
I haven't met the Inquisitor personally but Rook's been to see them, to my understanding. And they've been trading letters. I know Lace has been keeping tabs on the Inquisitor and the scouts that remain.
Is that something like a...force or like some kind of entity?
[ Another god, perhaps? Might not necessarily be a 'person' with that kind of logic. But it doesn't really add up, so a 'something'... Hmm. Something to think on. She frowns, crossing her arms. ]
So this thing wants everyone to believe it's just a thing in the hopes to...what, subjugate us? Keep us in this illusion? [ Sounds a little too parallel to some other things she's seen. ] What do you believe it is?
[That stumps her. She can anticipate someone asking why Faro built the war machines in the first place - oh, Aloy has such opinions about Ted Faro. But the why for Elisbet's part in the fate of the world, that's something Aloy always took at face value.]
To give life another chance. As far as people knew, Earth was our only shot.
Anything alive was going to be consumed. But they save and hide - seeds. Uh, "zygotes." Genetic material. It was the only way forward.
[And as much as Aloy spends thinking about the old world, she always wants to keep moving forward. Doesn't everyone?]
People were always trying to start shit with me, regardless of gender, so I guess I just stopped thinking about that. If someone comes picking a fight, you gotta finish it.
[Now away from the barista, Miu looks tired, flopping gracelessly into one of the seats at the table.]
Hmm? [She takes a long sip of the coffee and makes a slight face--too much coffee, not enough sweetness--but shrugs in response to Neve's question]
I can become anything, or anyone. I'm an actress, back home, and a model. I'm really good. [She doesn't sound like she's bragging or anything, it's stated very matter-of-fact. She's good, and she can become anyone, and this is just a fact of life.] 'I'm nothing, I'm empty. That's how I can become anything.' [She quotes herself and it's a big cringy, maybe, but it's still.]
What kind of person do you like? I can become that too, if you want.
[ He garners a little smile of sympathy for his trouble. ]
Well, there was no good way of bringing those up without sounding at least a bit strange. But he didn't even have the sense to react to it negatively. [ Interesting. ] I received a lot of similar feedback. So they're terrified about something that doesn't involve the coffins - and they don't seem particularly concerned about the latter.
[ Like they don't even exist to them, or they're so old hat that it doesn't matter. She doesn't know what connection she wants to draw from that, so she lets it be for the moment. Neve takes a longer sip of her drink, considering. ]
It's not a solid conclusion, but we can at least surmise that the danger at night is external: something they don't have control over and something they have an active interest in, unlike the coffins.
[ Neve doesn't fully believe the coffin problem is caused by the common person. It's more that these nighttime issues are more of a tangible threat than random coffins and people in the streets. And perhaps that's a good gauge of what that danger should mean...but she isn't sold on that, not completely. ]
Did you get the impression that people seemed perturbed by friction? Almost as if they wanted to go back to their day-to-day and ignore any deviation as soon as possible?
[ A familiar voice calling her name gets her immediate attention, as well as her all of her efforts on the coffin the sound is coming from. ]
I'm here, just hold on. I've got you.
[ She coats the side of the coffin in ice, letting it seep into whatever mechanism is keeping it closed. Gripping it, she allows the ice to shatter, and she has just enough leverage to pull the lid off with Emmrich's help on the other side. Neve stumbles back a step, wide-eyed but pleased to see him emerge. A hand goes out as a precaution, there to help if needed. ]
No, not the Necropolis or the Fade. [ Despite her misgivings, she actually would prefer either of them instead. She frowns, taking him in, looking for signs of injury or otherwise. ] I woke up in a casket just like yours a little bit ago. Nothing here looks familiar, but I damn well feel like I'm freezing in the snow.
[ So not a dream or an illusion, unless it's a very powerful one. Nothing familiar, no one she's recognized besides him so far. ]
And no one's come looking, either. [ Not a soul around. She shrugs, a lofty lift of her shoulders, but the way she holds her hands close hints enough at her concern. ] Are you all right otherwise?
[ There comes some soft scratching sounds coming from the interior of the coffin, as Heimerdinger starts sketching out equations on the inside wall with his finger. ]
And how tall would you say are the flames, from the base to the tip?
[ There is an equation here he is trying to solve for, to maximize melting efficiency while minimizing the risk of actually catching aflame. ]
[ While A2 is sighing that the chair can hold her, Heimerdinger has set his cup of hot chocolate on the low table and is scrambling to pull himself into the chair which is, as is typical, made for someone much taller than him. ]
Mm? Yes, a few varieties. I wouldn't call it a favorite, but it can be quite satisfying, especially on a day as cold as this.
[ Finally settled in the chair, he reaches to pick up his cup and breathes in the warm vapor, getting a little bit of whipped cream on the bottom of his mustache, which he quickly licks away. ]
[ Heimerdinger listens intently, but the more Ekko speaks, the more concerned he becomes. ]
This man— this... Herald— Did you catch his name?
[ He can't help but remember the remnants of the mutated hexcore in Jayce's office, with the empty cavity which once held the man who had been his cherished assistant. He doesn't want to believe that he could have failed to protect Viktor so thoroughly that he had become twisted and tainted by the wild arcane power of the hexcore, but... What else can he think? ]
[ As humiliating as it is to be carried under an arm like a duffel bag, Heimerdinger tries to make the best of it, adjusting his goggles atop his head as he is swiftly jostled away from the threat. ]
Really? What other sorts of anomalous events occur in this place?
[ He's been filled in on bits and pieces of this new location he's found himself in, but is eager to get as complete a picture as he can. ]
They learn it from childhood, I believe--they don't even remember that they have learned it.
[Visas assumes that she knew all these things once, before her mind was dashed into ruins as her planet burned. She can sympathize with someone else, lost in the endless complexity.]
It is a type of beverage, consumed solely for enjoyment.
[ Heimerdinger's help may not have been requested, but it is being given regardless. ]
If we know they are coming, then we can corral them into a particular area, then destroy them in a concentrated wave. That will maximize the efficiency of our attack.
[ He eyes the young man curiously, still not knowing how it was he summoned the blades from the hem of his garment, but that seems to be the lad's weapon of choice. ]
[she rubs the side of her face. to be quite honest, even if she's been here for so long, it's still hard to wrap her mind around. she'd gotten used to magic, and tech and shit that she'd never seen before.
but simulations? still way out of her league.]
For "rehabilitation" [air quotes]. Apparently it was programmed to... change criminals or something? I'm still not sure what I believe, myself. It's hard when it's not something you deal with in your home world.
Ah, yes. You know how this place [ He makes a vague, grand gesture to the space around them, indicating the world they have found themselves in. ] exists outside of Runeterra as we know it? Well, there exist as well dimensions closer to Runeterra, but with key differences in events or timelines.
[ In one of which he just spent the better part of the last three years. ]
Silco? [ He frowns slightly. ] The name is familiar to me, although I don't believe I have ever met the man himself.
Vi, Vi, Vi... [ Heimerdinger walks through the held-open door, muttering to himself as he tries to recall. ] Yes, I do believe I may have met a young woman by that name. I was unaware at the time that she and Jinx were sisters.
[ He's spent more time in bars over the past three years he spent in the alternate Runeterra, but he still doesn't frequent these establishments with any regularity. So he stands a bit awkwardly in the space, holding himself with too much pomp and posture as per usual. ]
[The last time she'd let anyone touch her to repair her was No. 21. It was the job of a Scanner to run diagnostics, to deliver the maintenance required during combat missions. Then, she had been pristine and new. Then, she had endured No. 21's lecturing and advice with a sheepish smile. But that had been a long time ago. She hadn't bothered with even the rudimentary repairs she knew how to do herself. When she broke something, she'd ignore it until it became too difficult to move. Then she'd scavenge the corpses of her fallen brothers and sisters, take only the bare minimum, and she'd begin to hunt for machines again.
The filter Pod had insisted on her getting from the Resistance base had been the first time she'd done something like that for someone else's sake, and the look in Anemone's eyes at the sight of her had made her ashamed. Now this human stares at her like she's a marvel — something new and valued, and not what she was. Her gaze drops to her hands. Begrudgingly, she nods at his offer for assistance.]
I'm not that special. [She says after a moment, her voice diminished. Couldn't he see what she'd done to herself?] B-but... [Her teeth are chattering again and she clenches her jaw to stop it.] I'm guessing this isn't common here.
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