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(no subject)

Who: Aoko Nakamori and you.
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: S.S. Wonderduck
When: Now

[ After having been forced to play through tens of dozens of quote-unquote games — to say nothing of living through not just one, but two counts of interdimensional kidnapping — Aoko's more than used to suddenly finding herself in an unfamiliar place. It's just, you know, one of those things that happens. ]

[ The confetti's kinda new. So's the pudding. ]

Wow, uhm … [ Aoko grins sheepishly into the screen, parked on her butt on the S.S. Wonderduck's bridge with confetti all up in her short, fluffy mop of hair. It looks like she's been trying to desperately brush it out with her fingers – or maybe it's just naturally a mess? Mysteries abound. (Spoilers: it's naturally a mess.) ]

[ The silence drags for one beat. Two beats. And then — ]

Knock, knock.

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[ This isn't Kyriakos. ]

[ The words give her a pause. A long one, during which her mouth snaps shut and her eyebrows furrow. ]

Oh. [ Well, that was anticlimactic! Aoko rubs the back of her neck and then slides her fingers higher, running up through her hair. (It's still weird to have it so short.) ] … Are you sure?

I am very certain. [she notes the short hair and decides to ask about it at another time]

[ Give her a moment while she decides how she wants to react to this … ]

[ … ]

[ If she's here, and this isn't a game – what about Kaito? What about Puma, and Church, and all of her other friends? The thought of not being able to go see them whenever she wants their company makes her gut clench uncomfortably tight. ]

[ At length, she puffs out her cheeks and clenches her hands briefly, giving herself an encouraging fist-pump. It's fine! It'll be fine. She's worked with worse before, and it's not as though she's really alone here. ]

Say ... Clover, how long have you been here? Is there anybody else we both know around? I've seen Nightingale-san, and Opal from Henwen.

[at least, the usual anger that used to come with her or Kaito popping up where she didn't want them to be is no longer there. Kyriakos had been months ago for her, not even including her time here. She was past it, and most of the habits born in that place had been laid to rest.

Most, anyway]

Blade and Miles are here, as well as the young man they were friends with from Gullgalana. [she tilts her head in thought] The fox girl from Henwen is also here, Citrine. Lace was here at one point, but she has left. [she faintly shakes her head] If there are others, I've not spoken to them.

Blade and Miles … oh, those two! I remember them. [ She'd never gotten to know either of them very well. Actually, come to think of it, she'd outright avoided Blade. ]

[ Should she do the same here? The thought makes her sigh, shoulders drawing in tighter. ]

I know Aria-san, and Lace … you said she left? People can do that here?

[her expression darkens just a bit, but it's there and gone as she looks off screen for a moment. Like she's reigning in her usual attitude about things.

This isn't Kyriakos. There's no need for the usual responses]

Yes, they can. It is assumed they go home.

[ The reaction doesn't go unnoticed. But after a brief pause on Aoko's end – she decides against pursuing it. ]

Huhhhh … [ She nods, thoughtful. ] So, what about you? How long have you been here? It's been – geez, it's really been a long time since we last spoke!

I have been here three months. But it has been longer than that since I was in Kyriakos.

[ HOLD THE PHONE. ]

[ There's a distinct pause as Aoko takes that in, and she makes no effort to hide the furrow between her eyebrows. ]

It … has?

[ Come to think of it, "a really long time" only adds up to two months, give or take a few days. ]

[she raises an eyebrow at the pause]

Yes, a few months. I went home for a time.

Wait …

[ THREE, TWO, ONE. ]

What?!

[ Wow, Aoko. Rude. ]

I . . . went home for a time?

[now that she thinks about it, Aoko is the first one she's spoken to who actually knew she'd been in the mirrors and such. Well then]

Ampere went with me. We did not have the usual party, though. It just sort of . . . happened.

[ She opens and closes her mouth silently, kind of stunned and absolutely kicking herself for it. ]

The … the last time I saw you, you were in the mirrors … Since day two-oh-seven. Not that I'm not glad you managed to get home anyway!! I really am!

. . . and what is the last day you remember?

It was …

[ She brings her fingers to her chin and curls them, glancing away from the screen. ]

Two eighty four. I think. We beat her about a week ago.

[almost eighty days. Hmm.

She would comment on that but the second bit is far more important]

Beat? What do you mean, beat?

It's exactly what it sounds like. She's gone for good.

[ There's absolute confidence in Aoko's tone, although there's her expression soon wavers, something troubled flickering in her eyes. ]

Although, it's kind of weird … I couldn't tell you how it happened, just that it did.

That damned witch is dead?

[well, that's certainly the best news she's heard. But the lack of details - she frowns, head tilting]

Why can't you tell me how? Do you not remember?

Ding dong. [ Aoko gives a single, sharp nod of confirmation. She doesn't take any joy in the thought – it's just the way it'd had to be, by that point. No amount of wide-eyed idealism could have changed how that story ended. ]

And … yeah, that's right. I know I remembered it back there, it's only been since I came here that it's been like this.

It is about bloody time you lot killed her. [later, when she goes to handle her problems in her usual fashion, she'll drink to the stupid children finally doing it]

That's . . . incredibly worrying.

[ Aoko winces at that rubbing the back of her neck uncomfortably. … wait. ]

[ What is that? She blinks hard, running her fingers across the small, unfamiliar bump she'd felt. It's like there's something … something under the skin, and – nope. ]

[ She's not going to think about it, nope, nope nope. She drops her hand like she's been burned, a faint shudder in her breath, and if she's a little paler than she'd been a few seconds ago, well. She's not going to call any further attention to it. ]

So it hasn't happened to anybody else that you know of? Weird.

[Tempest tilts her head, a bit curious as that reaction. It takes her a moment or two to figure out exactly what's wrong]

Not to my knowledge, no. But I am not as close to the others here as you are. And the ones I am, they left Kyriakos the traditional way.

[she lifts a hand and gestures to her own neck] Has no one explained this to you yet?

[ Trust somebody as cool and smart as Clover to have noticed Aoko's complete overreaction to something that is probably not completely horrifying, no matter what her stupid brain is trying to scream at her. She winces again, looking embarrassed this time. Damn, she's really going to have to work on making herself less obvious. ]

Uhm, no. It must have slipped their minds.

[Tempest makes a habit out of studying people. She might miss verbal cues, thanks to some still standing language barriers, but physical ones? Those she was good at. She had to be]

It is called an augment. It has information in it that will tell you how to do your job, and how to use certain things here, like the shuttles.

Augment … huh …

[ Her fingers twitch, curling unnecessarily tight around her communications device. ]

Is there any way to get rid of it?

[ Because the thought of leaving it there, useful information or no, makes Aoko's skin crawl. ]