(no subject)

[bluediligence]

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.

Comments

Video

[experiencepoints]

[If she was expecting a response, it probably wasn't from the one who kept setting all her shit on fire...]

Aoko? Is that you?

[bluediligence]

[ It's a surprise, but not all that much of one – Aoko still isn't convinced that this isn't just another game. One of Iota's, probably. Although ... she doesn't remember any calls, or being asked if she'd test another simulation. ]

[ Weird. ]

Nightingale! Hey! [ She brightens, smile blossoming into something distinctly more relieved. ] What are you talking about? Of course it's me – and it's really great to see you, too; I was starting to get worried I was all on my own here.

[experiencepoints]

[oh, fuck, it is her.]

... Yeah, there's... A few of us from the castle here.

Please don't freak out if I explain?

[bluediligence]

[ A few of us from the castle … ]

[ There's a tiny pinch between Aoko's eyebrows before Nightingale's finished with her first sentence, let alone gotten started on asking her not to freak out. From the castle. Who even says that anymore? They were in Nyssa's realm even longer than they'd ever been in – wait … ]

[ She lets out a hard breath, raking her fingers back through her bangs. ]

Uhm. Sure! Go ahead. I promise, it's not gonna be the weirdest thing I've ever heard.

[experiencepoints]

Okay, well... First of all, I've been here for over a year now.

Second of all, do not ever mention any Echoes specifically. Please.

[bluediligence]

[ Well, okay. ]

[ On second thought, maybe that is one of the weirder things she's heard, and it shows in her expression – she blinks. Blinks again. Blinks a couple more times for good measure, mouth opening and closing a couple of times. ]

Okay …

[ The unspoken "why" is loud, clear, bolded, and underlined. ]

[experiencepoints]

... The short version is, we're supposedly on TV here. Being broadcast to trillions of more around the galaxy. I don't believe it, but just in case... If the hundred of us back there thinking of Echoes made them that strong, imagine how strong they would be with that many people thinking of them.

[SHIT WOULD SUCK.]

[bluediligence]

[ WE'RE SUPPOSEDLY WHAT ]

Wait, wait! Wait a second. [ She leans back from the screen, both hands raised in the universal SLOW YOUR GODDAMN ROLL gesture. ] Start from the top!

You ... You said you've been here for a year, right? When was the last time you saw me? What happened, exactly?

[experiencepoints]

... The first time I arrived here was right after this.

[she takes off her glove to show the scar on her elbow- the one from the realm change GM game.]

After that, I fell asleep and got more memories back from there. Last thing I remember happening there was Bellbird, Swallow, Siren, and Condor showing up a couple days ago.

[bluediligence]

[ Aoko flinches hard when she sees that scar, looking away with her bottom lip caught between her teeth. Shit. It's not even her own memory being stirred up – it's Sparrows, overlayed and intertwined with so many others. ]

[ No. Nope. She forces her thoughts away from all of that, focusing on the here and now. ]

Got more memories back? Like … a shard? But you just said the first time you arrived, like you'd left and then gone back. [ Where does falling asleep enter the equation? ]

Action

[survivalistcookbook]

-oh, hey.

[The jingle's pretty unmistakable, and in short order one of the Wonderduck's crew is peering in on the bridge. Flour-speckled coveralls, towel tucked in his pocket - just about everything reads as normal, expected ship's cook except the left leg that's mechanical-angular bare metal prosthetic from the thigh down. He gives a crooked grin, lifting his hand in a lazy half-wave.]

Welcome aboard.

[bluediligence]

[ Like the smooth, utterly cool cucumber that she is, Aoko jumps. ]

[ Badly. ]

[ For a second there she looks—and, if she's honest, feels—much like a cat that just had its tail trodden on, but she recovers quickly, rising the rest of the way from the crouch she'd ended up in. She quickly slides the communicator she'd been playing around with into one of her skirt's many pockets, freeing up both of her hands. ]

Hi there! I, uhm. [ She laughs a bit, rubbing the back of her head. ] I should have realized that there'd be other people around here somewhere. Sorry to barge in on you like this.

video;

[robitussin]

[surprised as she is, she leaves the video function on without a thought.]

—Holy shit. Aoko?

video;

[noprophecies]

[what in the world - she prefers the other options, but she switches on the video feed regardless]

Aoko?

[experiencepoints]

It is.... really complicated. Imagine falling asleep for a week, and when you wake up, you just... Have more memories.

[she puts the glove back on, though, noticing her reaction.]

... Sorry.

[bluediligence]

[ What. ]

[ Aoko's smile drops into wide-eyed, open-mouthed surprise. Because – no, seriously, what. She can hardly believe what she's seeing. ]

Clover?! When did you—how did – I didn't know you were back!

[bluediligence]

Opal!

[ Aoko immediately brightens, relief and happiness chipping away at tight sheepishness she'd worn before. ]

It's so good to see you, I was starting to think I was all on my own here! Where are you? Are you okay?

[bluediligence]

[ She's not sure where to start with that, so she jumps for the most obvious hook. ]

Sorry? For what—? [ She waves her hands, no, no. Everything is fine. ] It's okay, you haven't done anything wrong!

More importantly, are you okay?

[experiencepoints]

You looked freaked out by...

[She gestures to her elbow.]

I'm fine? Are you okay?

[noprophecies]

[well, that's a new reaction]

What do you mean, back?

[bluediligence]

Eh? [ What does Clover mean, what do you mean? Aoko tilts her head, confusion warring with that surprise – and happiness, there's plenty of happiness, too. They'd never been spectacularly close, but she'd missed Clover. ]

You were asleep in those pods … and this is a game, right? So you must have woken up!

[noprophecies]

[huh. Tempest frowns at the screen, head tilting, before she shakes it]

This is not Kyriakos, Aoko.

[bluediligence]

Oh, uh …

[ Drat, caught. Aoko rubs the back of her neck nervously, glancing off to the side. How exactly does she go about explaining that awkward moment when she doesn't just know that her mind-controlled big brother curbstomped over half of Nighingale's team so he could (slowly, horribly, painfully) murder Sparrow without interruption – but that she, Aoko, saw the whole nightmareish thing from Sparrow's point of view? ]

Don't worry about me! Sorry, I didn't mean to … [ "Make a big deal out of it" is not the right thing to say here, either. ] I'm okay, too.

[bluediligence]

[ 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?

[robitussin]

I'm on a planet nearby.

Are you okay? How long have you... Did anyone explain stuff to you yet?