Intro; 2 logs + 1 network video

[lovemax]

WHO: Tachibana Hinata and... you?
WHERE: Her labyrinth, the city, or the Network
WHEN: 2/18
WHAT: Arrival! Several prompts below~!
WARNINGS: Tachibana has a potentially info-moddy ability, so hit up Tachibana's permissions post


[ A. ACTION: The labyrinth ]

[ This has to be a dream, Tachibana has decided on. An endless maze of cubicles? The trashy motivational posters? Corporate memos? Computers that look like they came from the 90s -- no, the 80s?

This is the classic office worker's nightmare.

And she wasn't even back in her old body! She was wandering this nightmare of cubicles as a girl too short to even see over the tops of them, dressed like some JRPG character! Which she kind of was? But still. ]

Ugggh.... helloooooo? I give up! It's way past closing time and I didn't sign up for any OT!

[ She pulls a chair out from the nearest cubicle and slumps down for a minute. She needs a rest. She's not cut out for this.

A motivational poster of a cat in a tree stares back at her. Why is a cat in a tree motivational? That cat probably wants out of the tree.

....How long is she going to be stuck here? ] Seriously, how long is this dream going to last...?

[ This is a dream, isn't it? If it's not.... well, she's seen weirder. But if it's not, Jinguuji would be here. With her. He wouldn't have left her side, not again, not after...

Right? ]


[ B. ACTION: Brick Alley ]

[ Tachibana staaaares out at the world around her. This... isn't the world that she just came from.

It looks like Earth, but this ain't Japan, that's for sure. All the signs are in English, for one. Is she in America? ...No, not enough cursing or American flags. Somewhere in Europe?

Or somewhere altogether different? Maybe she shouldn't be making assumptions.

She's not quite sure what to make of it all, really. If this is Earth, why didn't she get her old body back? Did that crappy goddess do this? Is this all her fault?? Okay, that was a dumb question. Who else would it be? Maybe somebody else defeated the Demon King, so she was sent back home?

...Is she still...?

She tries to pull up her Status screen, and is just a little surprised when she succeeds. It looks like an old black-and-white 8-bit RPG menu: ]

TACHIBANA HINATA
HERO
SEX: FEMALE
LEVEL: 1
INTELLIGENCE: 30
STRENGTH: 1
DEXTERITY: 1
LUCK: 80

SKILLS
PASSIVE

NONE

[ So she still has that? And what's with her stats? She's level one again!? Wait, no, more importantly! ]

MY SKILLS ARE GONE! [ She doesn't CARE if she's attracting attention now! It's safe! It's finally safe! She cries a couple tears as she stares at her status screen... ]


[ C. NETWORK: Video. un:tachibana ]

[ The smiling face of a young(?) girl appears on the screen, a rather friendly expression despite the shark-like pointed teeth. ]

Heeey! Nice little social network thing going on. But I'm a new face in [ checks sign ] "Kaisou" [ she tries to say that like somebody who speaks English better than she usually does? and fails ] and was wondering if anybody knew someplace I could stay? I don't have any money, but I have some silver coins that are probably worth something! Or I could do chores? I'm flexible.

Actually, if you know some place that might buy these off of me, that'd also be great? Then I could find a hotel. [ She gets a bit of a far-off look in her eyes. ] Haven't stayed in a hotel since my last business trip, that might be fun. Even if Jinguuji handled everything back then.

[ GAH, snap out of it, Tachibana! You're on video right now! And it's only been a few hours since Jinguuji abandoned you! You can handle this all by yourself! At least last longer than a day before you wish for him! ]

So! Please let me know if you have anything useful for me! Thank you!

[ A little formal with that last bit, like closing out a job interview. But it's good enough! She cuts the feed off there. ]

Comments

C. UN: hikari-vi| text

[whiteshroud]

[Those are some sharp teeth. But with the way she's acting, he's betting she's new]

Have you heard of Zodiac? I heard they've been helping house new arrivals.

[lovemax]

Zodiac! Yeah, I had to sit through like five of their ads already. They make this social media app don't they?

[whiteshroud]

Yeah, that's them. I've heard they're run by a bunch of big corporations.

They have an office in Undertown.

[lovemax]

That sounds super shady! You realize that sounds super shady right!?

A bunch of big corporations got together and decided to help house new people?

[whiteshroud]

Yes, I know it's shady.

But what're your other options?

[lovemax]

[ Good point. Especially since she's without Peerless Beauty. Normally she'd just be able to charm somebody into-- wait, no, that'd be dangerous in a different way, for a number of reasons.

Well. Still. ]

If I can find somewhere to exchange currencies I'll be golden. Or silver-en. Then I could find a crappy motel for a week or two.

Do they have capsule hotels here?

UN: SUZUME

[suzume_odori]

[It's!

A MASSIVE FUZZY DOG- get out of the way stoutland.

There's a 'wff' sound, and the dog lowers as the camera moves down- and now!]

Um...when I came here with mister cherry, [His name is Kakyoin actualy] I went to a place called 'Zodiac'...

[It's drawn out- it's still a kinda funky word, for someone whose been gradually learning a Lot of those.] And that's where I live now, so maybe that's where.

[Anyway, hey, that's a baby-]

[lovemax]

[ HOLY SHIT THIS IS A LITERAL BABY

How does one deal with somebody this young? Techibana's sister is a lot younger than she is, true, but it's still been years and years since she was this little. ]

So you live with these... "Zodiak" guys, huh?

Are they nice? Do they treat you okay?? [ SHADY COMPANIES TAKING CHILDREN?? ]

[suzume_odori]

[In the words of so many others, 'what the heck, even the babies are getting worldnapped!'

She's handling it like a champ though.]

Un. [Accompanied by a small nod.] I have...a lady named Nanny [no that is her JOB,] And I'm going to school, like Haha was going to show me.

And there's places in weird gates, like where Muuland was, where the weather is different.

[Muuland, the large dog, gives a 'wff'.]

[lovemax]

[ She has literally no idea what this bitty child is referring to with gates and weather - pet stores, maybe? She got her dog in a pet store?

Putting that aside, the rest of it. ] They're not making you do anything weird, are they? You can let me know if they are. I can get the police.

[suzume_odori]

Weird?

[What defines weird....there's just so much....

Oh wait-] Umn...I got grounded after going to the gate place instead of home after school, because it's 'dangerous alone'?

[That is the opposite of weird!]

[lovemax]

[ Okay, that is. Actually the opposite of concerning. ]

I don't think I can call the police about that.

As long as they're just feeding you and sending you to school and making sure you go to bed on time, that's fine.

B

[motiv8]

[Rean swears, every time he goes to this coffee shop, something weird happens. Is it cursed? It might be cursed.

But more important than that, the weird girl is crying, so naturally Rean is tossing aside everything about this being weird and going right on over.]

Hey, is everything all right?

[He's already digging in the pocket of his coat for a small packet of tissues, which he immediately holds out for her.]

Here, if you need these...

[lovemax]

[ Tachibana is genuinely taken aback at being approached with tissues? She doesn't have any skills right now, which means the only thing attracting people to her would be the fact she's making a big scene in the middle of a public space, and--

Ohhh. Right. That'd do it.

She's also taken slightly aback by just how much this guy approaching her looks like Schwartz von... Schwartz von Ligh.... Lichten.... Schwartz-kun. ]

Oh, um, no it's okay! I'm fine! I'm just... so happy right now.

[ The Status window is still up, in fact, showing her complete lack of any and all appreciable Skills. And also that she has an RPG-like status window. ]

[motiv8]

[Yeah, it's 100% the making a scene in public thing. That, and Rean is just drawn to trouble like a moth to a flame.]

Oh? I heard you talking about something being gone, so I assumed you were up...set...

[It is at this point that his gaze is finally drawn to the stats screen. How did he miss it until now? Because it's funnier that way, is why.]

...Is. Is that an RPG status window.

[That is a rhetorical question. It's obviously an RPG status window. He's just dumbfounded.]

1/3

[lovemax]

[ Oh, right. Yes. That.

Hm. ]

2/3

[lovemax]

[lovemax]

[ And then, with the expression of a lying liar, ]

What RPG status window?

[ It's still there. ]

[motiv8]

[That expression is met with a Look™.]

The very obvious one floating right in front of you. Obvious to me, anyway. I don't know about the others in this city.

Are you another one of those otherworlders?

[lovemax]

[ ! ]

Wait! Have there been others??

A guy in a suit and glasses, ridiculously handsome? Or maybe a guy with short black hair who looks exactly like you and has a ridiculous name like Schwarz-something!?

B

[biothermal]

[Tachibana might not care if she's attracting attention or not, but even so, she might or might not notice that she is; Nina's been mostly wandering, mostly-aimlessly, trying to figure this place out (the city in general, not just this specific part of it) and all of that, but she can't help but stop and glance over when she hears an exclamation that, currently, makes no sense to her.

She should probably just continue on her way, she thinks, but since she's really not sure where she's even going right now, she just kind of hangs there for the moment.]

[lovemax]

[ ...Okay, immediate clarification; Tachibana thought she wouldn't care if she made a scene. And it's true that it wouldn't be dangerous for her (without her creepy Skills acting up.) But she was still a conflict-avoidant Japanese office worker at heart, you know?

She dismisses her status window and lets out an awkward chuckle. ]

Sorry. I guess I was standing out a bit too much, huh?

[biothermal]

[It's not clear if Nina had managed to see the window or not.]

I don't know. [Really. She doesn't know what's considered normal here or not.] I thought I would have stood out a little more myself— [Because, you know, blue hair, but she's not aware that most people here will just assume that it's dyed.] —but I guess I don't.

Sorry for um. Yeah. I should probably just get going.

[lovemax]

[ Oh! Tachibana gets what's going on. The hair, the attitude, a teenage girl.... yeah. She gets it.

She's trying to stand out more! That's why she did her hair. ]

Oh, yeah! You totally stand out. That bright blue hair, I love it!

[ She's great at cheering up teenagers! She has a little sister, so she's used to this. ]

[biothermal]

W—what? [There appears to be some kind of a misunderstanding here, as Nina is now clearly going on the defensive for...some reason.]

I don't want to be noticed, the last thing I want is to be noticed. [What she really wants right now is to just go back to where she came from, but 1) she doesn't know how she even ended up here to begin with, and 2) if it's going to involve that damned snow maze that she woke up in...]