00X. Action/Fourth Wall

[nullorvoid]

[So this place just went insane over the last couple of days.

While it'd normally be enough to send Ginti back to the network, wanting to know exactly what's going on and perhaps more importantly why we all have weirdass powers bestowed on us by the powers that be this weekend, the fact that he's also feeling kind of different lately is more than enough to make him pause before he does it; beyond that, it's a matter of verifying that his eyes are back to the way they should be and time doesn't feel like it's passing for him physically anymore because it quite simply isn't (and that's one of the weirdest things he's experienced here, it's just not something he's wanted to put into words for anyone) and, well.

He's always carrying some sort of water supply on him, even here, because old habits die hard; it's been a while since he's gotten to use it; it isn't long before he's found a route and Prima's sent out and he's trading blows with her at very high speed – not physically, but rather through his own particular brand of slightly less-broken waterbending bullshit. It's fairly obvious that they're not aiming to do any actual damage – Prima is a little slip of a Horsea still but she'd probably manage to ruin a human's day if she really felt the need to do it, and Ginti can very definitely ruin people's days if he really feels the need to do it, but as it is this is looking to be one of the few things Ginti has enjoyed doing since he got here.

Because god, humanization sucks.

So if you want to talk to him...well, he's probably going to be soaked as fuck by the time he's done messing with his Pokémon over there but at the very least he won't mind the sudden approach half as much as he usually does, and sometimes that's about as much as anyone can ask for.]

Comments

[archetypically]

[Oh. He's doing the thing. c:

It looks as though it's shaping up to be an exciting day all around, then, because by now she's been to Goldenrod City and made a few concerted efforts at the games, which resulted in some glorious winnings in the form of a Weavile doll — and she's always sort of fundamentally understood the concept of winning a prize, but while she's been somewhat familiar with the idea of handing them out and with being given a gift, the experience of receiving something in reward for an effort is still sort of new and delightful, and she's clutching the doll to her chest with no small measure of pride as a result.

Games are fun, when there's no real penalty for losing and something wonderful in store for winning.

She doesn't outright seek to get his attention, not while he's busy with his waterbending...everything, but she is hovering a little off to the side with the aura of an eager student waiting to be called on; her smile is unusually natural in comparison to some of the other ones she's been flashing around today, but that's only to be expected from the fact that here, at last, things feel natural and at home and happy.

And that is why there's a girl with brilliant red hair standing a little off to the side, dressed in a somewhat severe-looking ensemble of sweater and knee-length skirt with a Skitty on one shoulder and a big Weavile doll in her arms, just waiting for senpai to notice her, apparently.

Because of course he will.

Why wouldn't he?]

[nullorvoid]

[Prima notices her before he does; it's not really through any concern that she's going to get wet or anything, though that should probably be a concern, but more because Prima really, really loves new people. She's always been of the somewhat clichéd line of thought that strangers are friends you haven't met yet, and while that's something Ginti finds a little annoying to deal with sometimes, it's not anything he's really determined to break her of, either.

Again, Pokémon are pretty good at ruining a human's day if they want to; she can look after herself.

Though he does have to wonder what got her attention all of a sudden, and that's about when "senpai" notices the girl and the doll and the...blob that's passing for a cat, and he kind of tips his head a bit at her like he's trying to figure out what the hell she's waiting for, because she does appear to be waiting for something.]

...Hey.

[It's sort of an awkward greeting, but at least it is one.]

[archetypically]

[There's nothing strange about that. It's the typical greeting, after all.]

Hey!

[She gets the inflection right this time, for once; the familiarity she wants is in the word, and she frees one hand from her doll to wave slightly at him.]

I'm glad I found you. I got lost for a while.

[nullorvoid]

What?

[He looks her over again, quickly; that's...new.]

...I think you're looking for someone else.

[archetypically]

...No?

[Okay, that's...strange, but it's that sort of weirdness that she can't quite pin down just yet, that sort of uncertainty where you know something's wrong but you don't know what it is or why, and you figure that maybe if you just keep smiling it'll pass and be fine.]

Why would I be looking for anyone but you?

[nullorvoid]

Why would you be looking for me?

[The response is prompt and more than a bit agitated, the sort of thing fired back because he's got no idea what's going on but it might be nice if it...stopped going on.]

What, do I look like a guy you know? Because if that's the case, you're wrong about it for a lot of reasons.

[archetypically]

...You don't know me.

[It's a statement that comes out in an odd sort of monotone — not flat, exactly, but mechanical, automatic, like reciting a formula and arriving at a conclusion, and it's not the conclusion she wants to reach but it's one she can't exactly deny, either.

But it's also an incomplete answer, and she's hugging her Weavile a little tighter as she answers, but to her credit she's holding her ground and reminding herself to stay patient, because it could be as terrifying as she cares to make it but it doesn't have to be.

This isn't the first time she's seen him do this; it's just the first he's ever done it to her.]

Your name is Ginti, and you work in a bar called Viginti on the twentieth floor. Yours is better than Decim's because he is only on floor fifteen. Your cat is named Memine and you sometimes make kokeshi dolls of people who have meaning to you because you'll forget them someday.

My name is Arche. I think...maybe you have forgotten me.

[nullorvoid]

[...Oh. Oh, that's awkward.

Okay, he's...not totally sure what to do with this because he isn't sure why this person would have that much information - the only one who should come close to knowing any of that would be Mayu, because Mayu's the only assistant he's had, she's the only human he's kept for that long. Isn't she?

...Shit, would he have any way to know if she wasn't?]

Arche. Right.

[He's never doubted any of his judgments before Mayu that he knows of, but there's literally no way to be entirely sure and he knows it; it's entirely possible that this is one he kept for a while and then sent to the Void and if that's the case then this might get really bad really fast.

He isn't sure why she'd be glad to see him if he had done that, but humans are stupid and weird and they tend to cling to familiar things even if they know there's no point. Maybe that's what this is, but maybe the apprenticeship hadn't been all that bad, maybe he'd Voided her because she had nothing else to get out of life, maybe she'd fucking volunteered, he doesn't know...]

Look, it's been a while. You know how the tower works.

[archetypically]

I know. ...I also know it is very frightening when someone is hoping you will remember something, and you realize that you do not.

[All those questions, all those repeated queries and processes that kept ending up in error, error, error; it's frightening to have everything slip away and be left with nothing but the essentials needed to properly do one's job.

It will be okay. This has happened before. She can help him remember, like they all once helped her.]

...Maybe you should be the one to ask me questions. I think that would be preferable to me just telling you things I know.

[nullorvoid]

...I'm going to be a jerk about it and say that that whole "hoping I remember something" deal usually doesn't happen, for really obvious reasons.

[Okay. Okay, just...he's got this. Right. It's fine. And he's heard about that too, that sometimes the humans they keep don't remember things for a while, he thinks that was the case with Decim's girl, she didn't know she was human for a long time. Right?

Hell if he can remember what that girl looked like, but he's pretty sure those were the circumstances.]

Let's start with why this matters to you, because I can think of a lot of reasons why it shouldn't. I'm not too quiet about what I think about people, and being on excellent terms with humans isn't something I do. Why would you be seeking me out?

[archetypically]

I do not think it is likely to make you remember. Rather, I am...trying not to be creepy.

[She hugs the Weavile a little tighter.]

I am not human. I have never been human. I am an artificial intelligence that was once tasked with a particular duty, much as you are an arbiter tasked with a particular duty. There is a long story behind how we met, but the circumstances were mostly my fault. You discovered me when I had no memories of my own. They had been forcibly removed, and I was frightened. In helping me to recover them, you also helped to shape my personality as it is now.

You became very attached to me. That is why I have a body now. And...why my expectation was that you would recognize me.

[nullorvoid]

[...]

Is it bad that now I'm just wondering how many bizarre adventures I've actually gone on by now? Because if that's true, this is the second, and apparently I'm just destined to not remember a damn thing about either of them.

[...Okay, let's...try to sort through all that.]

Let's start with the part where you're not creeping me out. I've seen a lot of weird stuff, I don't get creeped out very easily. I also don't think you're making this up, because "You liked me a lot when I was a robot" isn't something people make up unless they have major problems and you're talking too clearly for someone with major problems.

So I guess the question is...I don't know. What do you want, maybe. If this could go anywhere you wanted, where would this be going right now, I guess.

[archetypically]

[...Oh. Um. That's a really good...question...isn't it.]

...I was going to tell you that I won a prize.

[She holds out the stuffed Weavile, for emphasis.]

I intended to give it to you. Because it is a black cat doll with red...hair.

[novemdux]

[Well. This sure is a thing.

There are a lot of things that she could have been doing today, and waking up in what looks to be the living world wasn't exactly on the list. It takes a bit of time to get her bearings, mostly because there are so many people around. None of them really bother her, though, (perhaps they think she's a young trainer, seeing as she's short enough to be mistaken for one) so it makes it easy for her to start heading somewhere to see what she can see. Clearly she didn't just wake up here for no reason, but since there's nowhere else to go she might as well...go somewhere.

She doesn't at all like this feeling of uncertainty she's getting from...whatever the hell is going on around here, but at least she wasn't unfortunate enough to have to deal with being human for some time. Just as well, she'll get to the bottom of this in due time. But for now...

It isn't long before she recognizes the sight of pseudo waterbending in the distance, but she doesn't approach Ginti or interrupt him. Instead, she slips into the forest nearby, watching in silence until she locates a small tree with a low hanging branch she can climb up onto to get a better vantage point.

After Ginti and his seahorse have duked it out for a while he'll hear a voice from the foliage as Nona calls down to him, her chin propped up in one hand while her legs swing idly over the edge of the branch.]

Having fun?

[Just beside her a Purrloin lounges, stretching her paws forward with a lazy yawn.]

[nullorvoid]

[He doesn't freeze up any at the voice, though there is what's most definitely an eyeroll and what's probably a silent "well, dammit," though at least he doesn't seem to be in a fucking mood when he finally locates the source of the words.]

...I was wondering when you'd come here.

[Because it's never been so much an "if" as a "when."]

[novemdux]

Well, it's not like you made it hard to find you.

[She sighs, moving to rest both hands on her face while she eyes him from above. For a moment she doesn't say anything else, letting her gaze wander to the Horsea nearby.]

Who's your friend?

[nullorvoid]

Prima.

[It's really not any better than "Memine," but you know what, he tried.

His gaze flicks to that Purrloin for a moment, though.]

You know I'm not here because I want to be.

[It's nowhere near an apology, and it's incredibly curt and probably more blunt than it needed to be, but at the same time it's verification; he didn't just fuck off to the living world because he felt like flouting orders or disregarding his purpose or because he just decided it was a good idea that day, he's got no damn idea what's going on.]

[novemdux]

I know.

[She replies just as quickly, bringing up one leg to her chest while the other continues to dangle.]

Because neither am I.

[Nothing in the tower happens without her knowing about it, and she's sure she would have known if Ginti had done exactly that.]

...but you make it sound like you've been here a while.

[nullorvoid]

Wait, what?

[N...o nonono hang on, sorry, he's pretty sure that is not how anything works - ]

You know everything that happens in that tower, how are you here without wanting to be?!

[NONA HE WAS KIND OF HOPING YOU COULD FIX THIS SOMEHOW]

[novemdux]

[That just gets another sigh from her, this one a bit more exasperated than the last.]

If I knew that, I would have told you.

[..well actually that's debatable, but she certainly wouldn't have kept that sort of information from him deliberately without good reason.]

However you ended up here, I didn't have anything to do with it. So I want you to tell me how long you've been here, Ginti.

[Either he's been here for a while or he showed up when she did and just happened to decide that playing water guns with a seahorse in plain sight was something he wanted to do today.]

[nullorvoid]

[...Okay, somehow he turned "We're going to run Quin's test on Decim" into "We're gonna fight the shit out of Decim," so while that last bit isn't what he actually did would you really put it past him.]

Twenty...five days? ...Twenty-six, it's the thirtieth today. So twenty-six.

[So, like, five minutes in the grand scheme of things.]

[novemdux]

[NOT REALLY, NO...

But that is also exactly what Nona didn't want to hear, and it's evident by the way her expression hardens and the leg she left dangling stops all movement. The Purrloin looks up at her without moving her head, seemingly sensing the shift in atmosphere but not having much intention to care either way. As far as she's concerned, this place is good for napping so she'll do exactly that while he trainer does her thing, as cats tend to do.

Nona lowers her hands to brace herself against the branch before hopping down to the ground, approaching Ginti now with her arms folding over her chest.]

The last time I saw you couldn't have been more than a few hours ago.

[Which isn't much time at all, but not knowing where Ginti is for a single day is enough that would have caused her to notice...if it had happened, which it didn't. No matter how it relates to them, time simply doesn't work that way.]

As far as I've known, you never left the Tower.

[nullorvoid]

Yeah, that's what I thought you'd say.

[Because while his previous response may not have been what Nona wanted to hear, hers actually is what he wanted; it confirms what everyone's been saying since he showed up here.]

There's something weird about this place, outside of just the time thing. The locals here start a new day every five minutes, find one and talk to them and they'll tell you the same things over and over again like it's a new conversation every time. There's some really confused old guy that likes to talk about the animals after asking you whether you're a guy or a girl, and I don't know about you but I don't think I'm that confusing looks-wise.

The other thing is that no one dies. People age, accidents happen, people throw themselves off cliffs. Nobody dies. They just get up a few hours later and go on like nothing happened. We're both pretty aware that there's no way that anything should work that way, no matter what rules a place plays by.

...I don't think this is the living world. There's something wrong with it. I've just got no idea what.

[novemdux]

[Nona's eyes close while she listens to Ginti talk, her grip on her forearms tight as she racks her brain to try to make sense of the situation. She's never heard of any place quite like this, but she's inclined to agree. This isn't the living world, just something similar with most its rules broken or nonexistent with new ones written where they have no right to be.

When she opens her eyes and fixes Ginti with her gaze again, her violet eyes are sharp.]

Are you and I the only ones here?

[She doesn't need to spell it out for him to know what she's asking. ]

[nullorvoid]

Yeah, we are.

[Which, on the one hand, means Quin and Decim aren't, and Clavis isn't, and there's pretty much no one that's either useful or familiar.

...On the other hand, it also means Oculus isn't here.

That said, he doesn't seem...overly concerned? Nona being here's generally a good sign, because Nona is one of those people that fixes literally everything somehow. You don't get to be a manager if you can't fix things, right? So it's going to be fine. Eventually.]