nullorvoid | 00X. Action/Fourth Wall

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00X. Action/Fourth Wall

[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.]

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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.

...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?

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.

[...]

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.

[...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.

[...]

You know about the dolls. You mentioned them, why I make the stupid things.

You know if I've ever made one of you or not?

Oh, yes. You made me look cute.

[And said it was accurate.]

There was one each for all of our friends. And one of Nona. You made me a set, because I do not think it sat well with you that I had forgotten things, too.

And apparently at the end of the adventure I decided I liked you so much I put you in a body or something. Is that what I was supposed to get from what you said earlier?

[like did he just...blunder into getting a hot AI girlfriend or something because]

...It was a little more elegant than that in practice.

[...]

But...yes, that is in essence what you did.

Okay.

[...]

...Look, I still don't...really get what the hell's going on, but you want to stay around? So you're not just wandering around with no idea what's going on. I've been here for a while.

Is that okay? If I am bothering you I can go somewhere else.

[Wait, hang on. She tips her head to one side, unsure — a quirk she may just have picked up from him, all things considered.]

You have been here a while? How long?

No, you're - ...oh.

[That question seems to catch him a bit off-guard, anyway.]

...Almost a month, a bit less maybe. Why?

I understand. There appears to be some form of time displacement at work.

I am not as adept at navigating those concepts as I was when I was performing my former duties, but I feel as though that is probably relevant to the loss of your memories...somehow. Your relative passage of time compared to that of the world you left.

...I get that I'm spending a lot of time being a jerk to the AI that just got here, but I don't really have a way to know when I forgot something. So I'm just going to take your word for it.

You can stay around, though, if you feel like it. I'm dealing with a hyperactive screaming dragon girl here and I somehow haven't put her on a boat yet, so after all that there's no way you're bothering me.

Besides, I kind of want to know about the stuff you've been talking about. I don't usually meet people again, so I want to hear about stuff.

I'm sorry. Resolving problems used to be one of my major directives, so...I think the phrase is "old habits die hard".

[But then she kind of stops, and a pleasant little laugh bubbles up from somewhere in her throat, like something about that amused her despite being by all appearances completely serious across the board.]

You really are a magnet for dragons! You fought one once, and won.

[...]

It was a big dragon.

[IT WAS THE SIZE OF A DOG BUT WHO'S COUNTING]

Oh, really? See, now I have to hear about this.

It was terrorizing a castle town. You were there to — no, let me try that again from the beginning.

You and our other friends would sometimes go to faraway places to find things I had lost. When I said my memory had been taken from me, that is what I meant. It was a physical loss, so you and the others would sometimes go to where the tangible holder for my memory was and retrieve it. Among other things.

One journey of that nature took you to a sort of medieval kingdom. That is where the dragon was terrorizing the town.

You fought it with your water skills, like you were doing before! And you vanquished it. It was very brave and heroic.

Now that's something I don't get called ever.

[Something about this is kind of bugging him a little, though, and he can't exactly work out why, but after a moment it kind of clicks.]

Have you told me about this before? I'm asking because that doesn't sound like the sort of thing I'd be allowed to keep anyway.

...Yes. You are correct; those memories would interfere with your duties, so...

[And it's obvious it's something that bothers her to acknowledge, even indirectly; her gaze drifts to the side and down, her expression going blank as though the emotion has caused her to forget to keep one on her face for the duration.]

But you have never forgotten me before now, and I am good at telling stories. Even when you do not remember, the information is not...inaccessible.

[...Well, that's...going to strike him weirdly, um.]

...You okay?

[The question is blunt and awkward as hell, since it's generally not something he asks anyone, but there's...an effort being put in, sorta.]

...Yes. I am okay.

[...]

There are aspects of your duties that I do not like. But that is understandable. What is of greater importance is the fact that I like you. That offsets the things I do not like by a large margin.

[He's quiet for a moment at that, his gaze darting a little before he manages to make himself knock it off.]

...Yeah.

[And it's hard to know what he's agreeing to, but apparently it's something, as far as he's concerned.]

You said you're good with stories. You have a lot of them?

Yes. That is one thing I am very good at.

[But she can tell there's probably more to the remark, and so she just kind of leaves it at that, in favor of waiting patiently for whatever might follow.]

[And he doesn't know why this is something he's doing, other than maybe "this place is doing stuff to his head", but he'll work all that out later.]

Well, I've got time, if you're wanting to tell them.

Okay.

[Much brighter now, she trots closer and offers him the doll in her arms, a smile returning to her face.]

You should take this. I named it for you already; it is called "Fearno". Because it is a Weavile.

[...Look it's really hard to pun off of "weavile", so apparently an attempt at "fear no evil" is her best shot.]

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