kaisou | Intro!

WHO: Dolores Madrigal & you, maybe?
WHERE: Labyrinth, then the city
WHEN: Jan 28th
WHAT: Dolores arrives!
WARNINGS: n/a

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i. labyrinth

... Hello?

[The last thing she can remember is standing with her family in front of a camera, her heart full with joy and affection, and the next moment... she was here. Whispers feel like they're hemming her in as she strains to hear them, barely understanding anything they say. Dolores stands very still and listens for what feels like an eternity before she speaks and is immediately startled by the sound of her own voice. She's all but whispering, herself.

But the hushed voices around her continue, and they don't seem to be talking to her at all.]

H... Hello?! [A little louder as the panic starts to build. As she feels her heart begin to pound and goosebumps rise up on the skin of her forearms. She pulls her arms in close to herself, hands clasping at her chest, and she takes a breath. Another breath.]

Okay. Okay, Dolores, just take it one step at a time...

[So she walks, and walks, and the whispers continue around her. Soon enough she's covering her ears, her expression pinched, barely looking where she's going. They aren't loud, but they are everywhere, and why doesn't covering her ears seem to be helping? She can't find an exit, either, and the anxiety that has been coiling in her chest since she popped into this cave begins to rise to a fever pitch.]

Oh, be quiet, please... [Dolores hisses, stopping and squeezing her eyes shut.] Just be quiet and let me think-- Hello? Hello!? Is anyone there!?

ii. the city

[Either alone or with help, she eventually makes it out to the city. It doesn't take long after that for her to locate the little book of instructions and the odd device on her person, and she perches on the edge of a chilly bench to read it. Dolores is clearly not dressed for the weather but with a lack of anywhere else to go (and still feeling oddly numbed by the barrage of strange experiences) she resolves to simply make do for the moment.

So she sits and tries to understand the instruction book, a deep frown furrowing her brow as she mouths out words and concepts that have no meaning to her even if she understands the phrase independently.

Somebody walking by might see her looking exasperatedly from the instructions to the phone as she does her best to grasp how it works. Maybe help a girl out?]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Oh, so that was the problem huh? Well, considering Bruno didn't seem to know what an airplane and said where he lived was very isolated was...yeah, it's safe to assume wherever they where didn't have any phones either.]

Mm, I'd say so. Phones are useful for communication and looking up information.

[He glances around, since he is still on shift. But the cafe is quiet enough. Usually is at this time of day]

I can show you the basics. It's not so bad once you get the hang of it.

Ah... all right.

[She shuffles to one side a little on the bench she's perched on and gives the spot beside her a small pat. It seems that the stranger danger has abated for now, at least, as Dolores replaces it with the understanding that she's really going to need some help if she's going to get anywhere while she's here.]

Looking up information. Like a book?

[At the gesture, he'll nod as he sits down at the patted spot. ]

Yeah, like a book! But it can update much faster than a book can, so it's great for newer information and keeping up with what's going on with other people. [So ... gossip, in other words]

... Ohhh...

[She grasps the implication immediately and her eyes widen a little bit. While her sensitive hearing has always meant she has been party to the gossip of others whether she wants to or not, she can't say there isn't something exciting about... knowing things.

Dolores holds the phone in her hands, looking down at it.]

Show me.

[Well, that sure seemed to catch her interest. ]

Haha, alright.

[He'll slowly walk her through how to unlock the phone, and how to access apps. Starting with a news app for the first one. It's one of those that show a mix of variety articles about stuff going on in the city -- look don't make me walk through each step tag by tag no one wants that ok. ]

So this is a local newsfeed. It covers stuff that's happening in Kaisou like concerts or restaurant reviews.

[Having someone take her through it helped it sink in a lot more easily than trying to work her way through instructions where she only really understood half the words. She takes to it quickly, using her pointer finger to swipe across the screen and sticking the tip of her tongue out between her teeth as she concentrates.]

So this is how people find out what's going on around here.

[A place as big as this, it does make sense.]

This is fascinating.

[It's nice to see Dolores taking to it so quickly. Jun's a fan of the internet overall, so he nods]

Yep! It's very handy if you want to keep up to date for stuff.

You do have to be careful of people making stuff up sometimes, but I can send you guides on how to look out for that.

[She nods. With how much she's heard over the years... Dolores is no stranger to lies. In this new environment though, it would be best to keep herself up to date.]

That sounds like a good idea.

[Dolores flicks through a news story, skimming it.]

Do people do a lot of that? Making things up?

[Jun shrugs, as he pulls out his own phone to text her with different websites devoted to those types of fact finding tips]

Sometimes, especially depending on the topic. And there's even some places where people share personal stories that are fake or heavily embellished, but they're still entertaining to read.

I know when people are doing that, at least.

[Years of listening to the gossip in the Encanto has made her very aware of when people are stretching the truth or outright lying. Even in the most idylic of places, people still want to make themselves look good in front of others.]

Reading it will be different but I think I can get the hang of it. [It's just another way to hear everything going on right? Except she can choose to engage with it, which is great.] Is there something on here that can tell me about where we are?

Haha, thought so. So I'm sure you'll catch onto internet lies in no time.

[She seems like she's pretty good at reading situations. Most likely won't fall for a Nigerian prince scam- so good!]

Yeah, though it depends on what you mean by what you want to know. About the town's history, geography, stuff to do... the easiest way to get specifically what you want is to use Google. You can ask specific questions and it'll turn up the websites it thinks will answer your questions best.

Google...

[The word sits strangely in her mouth and she gives Jun a sidelong look as if trying to work out if he's messing with her. 'Google'? Surely that's a fake word. Is this some kind of test?

Dolores looks at the young man speculatively.]

Is 'Google' a real thing?

Haha, yep. Believe or not. Weird name right?

[He'll pull out his own phone and load up the google search engine. to show her]

See?

I see!

[And there it is. 'Google'. What a funny word. Jun might notice her mouthing it a few times while she reads it.]

So... I ask this thing questions? [She squints at the phone.]

How does it hear me?

Yeah. [he nods]

You can either type it out with the keyboard. [He'll pull that up to show] Or if you hit this button [gesturing at the microphone] You can use voice command. But you have to make sure to speak clearly with that, or it might misunderstand.

Oh, I see...

[How strange. It's definitely going to take some getting used to, and for the moment she isn't going to experiment with it too much. She'll do that when she's by herself and won't be horribly embarrassed by her own incompetence.]

I should probably try to find my family, though.

[... Can this thing do that, too?]

Right, the other Madrigals.

[He considers, before texting her Zodiac's office address as well as google map directions]

Here. This should give you directions to Zodiac. They've been dealing with a lot of people coming here, so they'll probably know where they're staying

That's great!

[It doesn't look too hard. She looks at the map and then off up the street, turning her phone as she tries to orient it to what she can see.]

I won't keep taking up your time, but you've been really helpful.

[he'll give a nod]

Anytime. And feel free to come by again if you want coffee.

[What this being a coffee shop. Either way, he'll give a nod before getting up and heading back to the counter. Time to get back to work]

Intro!

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