001. Action for Goldenrod City/Video

[ardent]

[ACTION FOR GOLDENROD CITY]

[Well, if you're on the streets this evening in the general vicinity of the Radio Tower, you will likely come across a figure in what looks like a cross between a white gakuran and a military uniform (no, seriously, those boots cannot be school issue, can they?); he's got his arms folded tightly across his chest, almost as though he's cold despite being nothing of the sort, and he's staring rather intently upward.

Not at anything in particular. Just looking up at the sky.

However, if you're close enough (and you're probably close enough because he is pretty much the opposite of subtle), it'll be fairly obvious that he's probably not seeing much of anything despite the intensity of his gaze, given that he's got an impressive amount of tears going on. Like, "that should probably not be coming out of human eyes" levels of impressive. Holy shit. Tears. All over. Like he's seen the face of God or something.

Someone might want to poke him or make sure his brain hasn't just shorted out or something, he'll be here all night otherwise.]


[VIDEO]

[Hello, Johto! Sometime this evening you are being treated to some serious jittercam, courtesy of one of your newer arrivals (after he's come out of whatever trance he was in earlier because good lord almighty there is sky out here). It's not quite enough to make you seasick, but more than enough to make you wonder exactly how it is your life has come to this and who gave the complete amateur a camera before everything seems to even out. The video eventually seems to settle on a rather...uh, severe-looking kid with short, dark hair, red eyes and eyebrows that go forever, and whatever he's doing, he seems deeply annoyed with it, goodness. Who invited the spawn of Satan to the Poképarty...

And then he seems to figure out that he is, in fact, filming, and his response is so immediately joyful it'll give you whiplash if you are not properly strapped in. His grin is open and incredibly genuine, the expression entirely unguarded; he sets the device down on a table in front of him, as he appears to be outside still, and he immediately starts waving at it a bit - both through utter glee and trying to see if it actually is tracking properly.]

Ha ha ha - so it does work! This is excellent news, excellent! Now, if I can get it to -

[His voice is a bit odd - it's loud and enthusiastic, but it's strangely blunted, as though he hasn't...quite worked out how voice inflection works but dammit, he's trying. He reaches out while he talks, the conversation dissolving into rather pleased muttering to himself as he tries to turn off the 'Gear and promptly...uh, sends the video, good job.]


[VIDEO, TWO MINUTES AFTER THE FIRST]

[Well, Captain Eyebrows here seems to have gotten himself under a bit more control, though the amount of volume is still going to make people why he even bothered with a video - surely he can be heard in Kanto by now. He's clearly trying to sound authoritative; the effect is just...horribly shouty.]

My name is Ishimaru Kiyotaka, a student of the 78th annual class at Hope's Peak Academy! It's excellent to have a way to contact all of you, even if the situation that's brought it about is very weird indeed!

Whoever is responsible for this turn of events, I would like to both thank you for your generosity regarding the situation, and yet express my general confusion at what it is you expect me to do here! It would be appreciated if I could thank you in person - or...speak to you properly or knew who you were...hm.

[He...seems to have lost himself for a moment, hang on - ]

At any rate - if I've learned anything in my studies of others, it's that cooperation is the best way to ensure success! If you could introduce yourselves and tell me where it is you come from, I would be very grateful - let's make the most of this weird situation by working hard and working together!

[End feed!

...Ishimaru, please...]

Comments

[nostabbing]

[Maybe that's why potatoes grow underground. So their eye-ovaries aren't hanging out in plain sight for the sky to stare at.

#logic]

I think.

[Probably. Yes. We'll go with that.]

So you're just appreciating the sky.

[ardent]

Yes, that's what I was doing!

[...]

What were you doing out here with me, anyway?

[nostabbing]

Walking.

[Beat.]

And then seeing if you were dead.

[Beat.]

And then appreciating the sky too, I guess.

[ardent]

[boy

that escalated quickly]

And why would I have been dead?!

[nostabbing]

You were standing really still.

[Also crying like a prepubescent girl at the end of Titanic.]

[ardent]

Most people aren't standing when they're dead.

[Or, you know, crying like a prepubescent- HEYYYYYY.]

[nostabbing]

Mummies are.

[CAN'T FIGHT HER ON THAT ONE, CAN YOU.]

Besides, weird stuff happens here all the time. Like the ledges you can only fall down, but can't climb up. Or the thing about how if you die in the wilderness you just get zapped back to the hospital without actually dying. You could've gotten glitched or frozen in the middle of the game or something. So I checked.

[ardent]

But I'm obviously not -

[...okay, wait, he's not even going to argue that anymore in favor of focusing on the whatever-it-is you just said.]

Wait. Wait! What do you mean, "without actually dying"? Do people not die here?!

[nostabbing]

[She shrugs.]

That's what everybody says. I think it's because of how the game works, like you've just got a million lives or something. I dunno, I didn't try it or anything.

[ardent]

[...nonononono

what are you talking about

games are bad

games that involve

dying

are bad

this is not good not good notgoodnotgoodnotgood]

What...what sort of game are you talking about?!

[nostabbing]

This.

[She motions expansively with one hand (thankfully having pocketed the wallet that was previously in it already, or that might've been a little awkward to explain) to the surrounding area.]

It's a video game. That's why there's background music that everybody hears.

[As opposed to the things that occasionally only she hears.]

[ardent]

[Parker. Parker, u ok]

That isn't possible, though!

[nostabbing]

[NOPE NOT IN THE LEAST.]

Why not?

[ardent]

[.........................did you really just]

How would it be?!

[nostabbing]

Parallel universe. We all got zapped into a video game between there and here.

[Obviously.]

[ardent]

The many-worlds interpretation, then?

[.............]

Huh.

[...you actually may have managed to placate him just now with that.]

[nostabbing]

Well, it's definitely not Earth. We don't have fighting mushrooms on Earth. Or teleporters. Unless the government has teleporters and they're just not telling us, but I'm pretty sure we'd know about it if there were teleporters. Maybe.

[Memo to self: ask Hardison to hack the FBI/CIA/NSA/Other Assorted Acronyms secret files and find out if they have teleporters.]

[ardent]

P-Perhaps - but that still doesn't resolve the question of how we got here to begin with! Do you have an answer for that?!

[nostabbing]

Not yet. But nobody does.

[Although she did see those files in the Rocket mainframe about something called The Machine...]

Does it really matter? We're here. Whether or not you remember how you got here, you still got here, right? So it must've happened, or you wouldn't be here.

[ardent]

It matters!

[In contrast to the usual...oddly-blunted shouting, that actually sounds almost hostile.]

Awakening with no memories of how you got into a situation - nothing good comes of that! Nothing!

[nostabbing]

[And it's that sudden burst of vague hostility that prompts Parker to pause, setting her full attention on him and staring intently for a few moments.

(If one didn't know better, one might almost think she were appreciating him.)

Then, at last: ]

What were you doing before you got here?

[ardent]

[He tenses a bit, but in general, he doesn't seem to mind; he'll allow her to do...whatever it is she's doing without complaint, at least, though he isn't breaking eye contact.]

There was an...incident. At my school.

[nostabbing]

[Oh. Oh, jeez, this poor kid. Parker isn't always the greatest at empathy, but school + kid + incident rarely adds up into something good.

Accordingly, her expression goes less severe and more like comforting, and maybe a little sad.]

You're safe here.

[Did anyone...had anyone told him that? Someone should tell him that.]

It's okay.

[ardent]

A-Ah...

[It seems there's going to be a lot of mutual appreciation going on today, given that he just kind of. stares at her for a while after that's out there. It's kind of hard to know whether he's going to just...start crying again, or if he's trying to come up with something to say, or what.

He doesn't distrust her, though. That isn't something people lie about. Either you're safe or you're not, and it's incredibly cruel for someone who's actually seeming to be decent (and she seems rather decent) to tell you that you're safe when you aren't. Monobear had always been very straightforward - they weren't safe - and despite the whole criminal-organization thing, there was no indication that he was going to be expected to do...anything like what was expected of them in Hope's Peak. There was a massive difference between unpleasant and safe. This place was possibly unpleasant. Possibly not unpleasant because it allowed him outside. But possibly unpleasant. Nothing to indicate it wasn't safe.

...And then whatever thoughts may have been evident across his face are gone in favor of grinning, and laughing a bit too openly and the sound is a little forced because that's what it sounds like when he's nervous, and everything is really, really fine because of course it is.]

Thank you for the concern, White-san, and I appreciate the reassurance! But everything will be just fine! Things already seem better here!

[nostabbing]

What?

[No, wait, hang on, some wires got crossed here.]

No, my name is Alice.

[Look, she understands if you forgot it, considering she forgets it herself about three times a day, but where the hell did you get "Whitesan" from? Whites and what? Colors?]