"Why would they? Wait... just how do you think I cure people?"
Come to think of it, causing nanites to self-destruct would be a neat trick to learn. For all of Rex's efforts, the number of nanites in the world hadn't actually gone down since he had shown up as the solution to the problem. Then again, that kind of power could easily lead to a whole load of problems on their own and there were quite a few people that would easily find a way to weaponize them. Probably against him too. Maybe ignorance was the better option for now.
The nanites in his build, and really, everywhere in his body were put on alert by Eve's own nanites. They viciously sought to dismantle whatever had made its way to their territory—it was too much like themselves which made it particularly tricky to actually find the threat. All that effort and the lack of actual physical danger made his smack hand collapse into scrap to preserve resources. And... nothing had changed.
"Was that your big plan?"
Whatever her idea was, it hadn't achieved much. At least nothing that was immediately obvious to Rex. As he saw it, it was justified to keep chatting with Makoto.
It wasn't your fault
She regularly blamed herself for a lot of things regardless of it was appropriate or not so it was worth reminding her that this case in particular was just bad luck that hadn't ended in anyone's death. And if he could tease Eve some more in the process, that was cool too.
"Oh by the way, Ben is looking for you. I can't possibly imagine why"
Library Lobby
Since Rex might be taking a while at this rate, Makoto decided to do some investigating on options for...after all their time in the City was up. She didn't like thinking about it, but it was inevitable and today might be their last quiet day to work something out. She could at least ask and see what challenge would need to be done before starting anything.
"Stay here, Doug..." she said, before leaving him to continue shaking the choker. She went up to the front desk and took out a paper slip and pencil to write down her message. Now how to word this?
Makoto's Note
With only a moment's hesitation, she slipped the paper into the suggestion box. her phone got a text, and she smiled slightly when she read it. Even if it didn't work out in the end, asking was still definitely worth it. She'd try her best to find a solution.
Edited by ScorpioRat on Jan 5th 2019 at 11:50:11 AM
Two, :c , Library
Was Brother Marcus unable to not comply to his superiors' wishes? "Well, what if you could show them that someone is back to life good as new, even should you put your utmost in killing them? Surely, they would realize that there is nothing that you can do." Perhaps his fellow brothers were fanatics who would keep trying anyway, but Brother Marcus, Two hoped, had been softened by his stay here in the City. Whatever horrors he faced back home, it likely was nowhere near as threatening here (albeit probably more frustrating).
"It is alright. I too ask you to forgive me, I should not have called immature." Genji asked Ben, he should not have called him immature, that was immature of him.
"Although I do believe you should try and control your emotions better in situations like the ones we found ourselves in." He suggested to the boy hero in the most respectful tone he could manage.
"Oh, uh," Arcade hesitated as he tried to come up with an answer, "I don't know, just anything, I guess." He glanced over at Daisy, begging her to come up with something, causing her to chuckle.
"We can talk about whatever you want to," she said, "maybe you'd like to hear some embarrassing stories about Arcade? I bet he never told you about the first time he had a crush."
"You promised you wouldn't bring that up again," Arcade interjected, sounding betrayed.
I say that aloud too sometimes, just: "man, no life.""I...know more about Arcade than I think even he realizes, but...I think I would like to hear that story." Cole tilted his head to look at Arcade again. "He does find a certain type more attractive, I think. When I talked to my friends before and he was with me, I noticed him watching The Iron Bull a lot."
"Hariyama, huh? Well it looks strong," Ben told the Pokemon trainer, examining Hariyama's Pokedex page more closely. "It says here it... evolves from something called Makuhita?" he asked. "Arm Thrust, Fake Out, Force Palm, Whirlwind, Knock Off, Vital Throw... are these the attacks it gets?" He continued looking at the page. "Whoa! A hit point value of 144 and an attack stat of 120!"
He scrolled down the page for a bit, squinting at a few small lines of text at the bottom and reading them out loud.
"Hariyama's thick body may appear fat, but it is actually a hunk of solid muscle. If this Pokémon bears down and tightens all its muscles, its body becomes as hard as a rock," he read. He smirked. "Sounds awesome." Ben closed the book and put it into his own bag of holding, before folding up the bag that he had got for Eve and putting it into the same bag.
"If I ever find one of those things," said Ben, "I wanna see if you can catch it for me, Louie. "Or a... Makuhita or whatever it's called. Or... I guess if you battle one of those when you get back to your world you can... think about me?" He sighed, not really wanting to think about being separated. He put his hands behind his head idly, trying to think of something to change the subject to something less sad.
"Y'know, this Hariyama thing reminds me of a game I played in my world. It's only the coolest video game ever made in any universe. It's called Sumo Slammer Smackdown!" he exclaimed, balling his hands into fists and pumping them excitedly. "It's about the sumo warrior Ishiyama, who uses his awesome sumo powers to defeat his arch enemy Kenko, the evil shapeshifter!"
He then turned to the cyborg ninja. Ben nodded at Genji, looking a little sheepish.
"Yeah, I know, people tell me that all the time," he admitted. "I'm always trying to be a better hero. Yuna was talking with me about it. So no hard feelings, Genji?" he asked with a grin.
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither."No hard feelings." Genji said to Ben, it's good to know he's trying to better himself. Maybe he could give him some advice later on about controlling your emotions. Zenyatta's teachings will come in handy at that.
"Now excuse me, I have to make a call. See you around" And with that Genji walked into a quiet little corner and mentally prepared himself to call Winston.
"Oh, I get it, I'm in hell," Arcade deadpanned, "this is me, dead, and in hell. I'm finally getting what I deserve. Right, no, that makes complete sense."
"Ignore him, dear," Daisy interrupted, clearly holding back laughter, "it's not so much the boy himself, it's what Arcade did to impress him. Arcade was about 14, and we were hiding out in a quiet little village with only one bighorner. Do you know what those are? Animals with huge horns that are as big as Arcade was then. It was a bit temperamental, so whenever anyone had to milk it, it was entertaining enough for everyone in town to watch as the farmers tried to keep it calm.
"Well, apparently, one of the boys his age mentioned how 'cool' it looked when they did that. Arcade thought it would be a good idea to try and calm it down himself, just to impress him. We could hear his screams as it started chasing him around the pen all the way across town. Fortunately, it wasn't interested in really hurting him, just pinning him to the ground with its horns. It took three people to pry him out from under it."
I say that aloud too sometimes, just: "man, no life."Cole listened to the story, eyes going slowly wider as she talked, and even though he didn't laugh, it was hard to tell exactly what reaction he was having to the story overall. Finally, he just looked back at Arcade, sounding vaguely concerned.
"You didn't get hurt by that, did you? It sounds as though it were very frightening..."
Rather than a note appearing, there was a sound in the air around Makoto of someone taking a pen and writing on a piece of paper, and she saw words appear in her vision.
"I'll be forwarding your request to the more relevant parties."
After that, there was another sound in the air, but different. It was... Some dice rolling, followed by electronic beeps like someone navigating a menu in an old video game. Then, what seemed to be a straight up dialogue text box appeared in Makoto's vision.
Then there was a familiar voice behind Makoto from the crowd, as Silanea had entered the library and made her way towards the desks. "Hello Makoto, how are you today?" the lamia greeted Makoto in a friendly tone.
Meanwhile, over at the other conversation taking place in the lobby, Brother Marcus looked to Two. "Perhaps..." Brother Marcus muttered, his tone doubtful. "However, I can hardly see how I would be able to prove such a thing on this current day" the space marine pointed out.
Off to the side, at first Louie was nodding along as Ben read off. "Yeah, those are moves" Louie answered simply, then got a rather confused look as Ben suddenly read off the pokemon's hit points and attack stat. "Huh?" the trainer muttered, a bit bewildered for some time there, until snapped out of it by Ben continuing.
"Sure, I'll go ahead and get one back home. It could never match up to Ace, but I'll make sure it gets nice and strong!" Louie boasted in a proud tone, grinning and giving a thumbs up.
Edited by FirockFinion on Jan 6th 2019 at 9:15:54 AM
You are reading this.As embarrassed to hear the story again, Arcade managed to overcome that to answer Cole's genuine question. "Yes, I'm fine," he said, "it didn't hurt me or anything, just pinned me to the ground with its horns. It taught me not to try and show off like that again."
I say that aloud too sometimes, just: "man, no life."Library Lobby
There was a scratching on paper sound, and then she saw words in the air again, just like a few days prior. She took a moment to adjust to the odd subtitle effect before responding.
“Relevant parties…? Um, okay.” Who else would be needed? Wasn't it just the Writer? Makoto was only more confused with the new sounds, until a literal text box popped up, startling her. Was she no longer speaking to the Writer? She frowned as she read the words, reminded of when she had attempted to help Silanea with her own challenge and was rejected. As if on cue, Silanea called out to her, and she turned slightly and tried to smile. The text box actually followed her around. Weird...
“Oh, um, I'm alright. I'm just trying to organize something…” she said to her, before returning her attention to the text box. Could anyone else even see it?
“Why? I...I don't know what qualifies as important or interesting enough for a challenge, but…” Makoto sighed. “I don't want to lose him so soon after we met. I didn't think this relationship would go this far, but...it has and I can't stand by and let it end without trying something to stay together. Our worlds can stay mostly separate, I just want us to be able to freely visit one another.” It was a bit awkward to have to say it out loud, but who cared about embarrassment if it was for something this important?
Edited by ScorpioRat on Jan 6th 2019 at 10:50:03 AM
"Oh God, no," Arcade muttered under his breath before Daisy jumped in.
"Anders? Who's Anders?"
Not giving Cole a chance to explain even if he wanted to, Arcade answered, "just a guy I met here. We... talked." Daisy's look turned way too knowing for Arcade's comfort, so he continued talking just to keep her from putting her two cents in.
"Look, I hadn't even seen other people for years before all of this, except ones that wanted to kill me. It was nice to have someone that was... you know. Nice." He really didn't want to discuss why he liked being wanted with his mother and son.
I say that aloud too sometimes, just: "man, no life."Rean looked over Ben's shoulder to look at the book. "Whoa." There were all sorts of creatures in the book, and while Ben predictably thought a lot of them were lame, he was really interested in this one fighter-looking Pokemon.
Then Genji walked off to make his call.
"I think I'll make my call now as well. You said you wanted to introduce your sisters, right Two?" Rean said, looking around for a quiet place to sit. "If the rest of you want to meet some of my friends, you're free to come along." And with that, he headed upstairs.
Library
"Showing you cannot hurt anyone would probably also work," Caboose chimed in to Brother Marcus after a long period of silence. "Hard to kill anyone that you can't hurt. That is how today works, right?" He wasn't entirely sure, considering that he had to have break days reexplained to him earlier today already. But it made sense to him.
Still, the business with Marcus wasn't of much interest to someone like him. The space marine would surely work this out on his own because he was pretty smart like that... or at least that's how he remembered the weird changeling thing yesterday. His memories on that were kind of strange.
Better to stick with what he knew. And what Michael J. Caboose knew was that he wanted to see what Rean's friends were like. "I'm in!" he told Rean eagerly, following the boy.
Why is a yam attacking me?Ben smiled at Genji and waved as he walked away to make his call. He then grinned at Louie, returning his thumbs up.
"Awesome! You make it the strongest Hariyama you can!" he exclaimed. "Hey, Rean, Two and I are gonna make calls. You wanna meet Two's sisters? And Rean's friends?" he asked, starting to follow Rean (and potentially Two). "C'mon!"
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither."Who are you talking to?" Silanea said, looking around with slight confusion. There was another audible dice roll, and beeps, which Silanea seemed to hear given her suddenly looking around. "What was that?" the lamia asked, though had no reaction to the new text box, which only Makoto could see.
Meanwhile, Brother Marcus shook his head. "I will pass" Brother Marcus muttered simply after Rean's offer, with the tone of someone clearly not interested at all yet trying to be polite. 'Trying' being the operative word in the sentence. With that, he turned his attention to Caboose. "I am not certain there would be a way to demonstrate that effect without it being called into question. I could aim my bolter at you and fail to fire, as I did with the repentant at the arena, but that could be accused of me simply not pulling the trigger" the space marine tried to explain to the red team soldier; not for a lack of trying, but instead not fully understanding Caboose's ability to get a grasp on concepts, or rather, lack thereof.
Louie hopped up from his seat and had a short stretch. "Sure, why not?" Louie said simply, following Ben.
Edited by FirockFinion on Jan 7th 2019 at 2:34:22 AM
You are reading this.Library Lobby
“I thought I was speaking to the Writer, but I think this is another being…” Makoto tried to explain to Silanea as she read the new textbox. She winced and didn't immediately respond to the Developer's accusations. Maybe it was selfish. Maybe… But Rex cared about her as much as she cared about him, right? It wasn't one sided.
“...I trust that my friends and I can fix our situation on our own. Rex is just as capable, and I believe that he and Providence can save their world too. And...there are ways to cure his amnesia that wouldn't need a wish. As far as I am aware, neither of us have the power to cross into each other's universes. That's why I'm asking you,” she answered. “Call it selfish or not, but that's my reasoning.”
Maybe this being that talked like a game would reject her anyway, but least she tried. Perhaps it was a bad idea in the first place.
Two, Grim Determination, Library
"I'll join you shortly, guys." She smiled at Rean and Ben as they left. What she had in mind now was probably best not shared with anyone. "And no, Caboose, I don't think that will do. It could be taken for an illusion." She had a plan, but it required goodwill from Miss Tairee - and perhaps a more private place. Caboose too was gone, so perhaps even here...? But she caught sight of Arcade and Cole talking with someone, and disturbing them wouldn't be any good.
"...Miss Tairee, can I ask you to lift the day restrictions for a moment for me and Brother Marcus?" She asked one of the librarians. "...just for us, so no one else is hurt by accident."
Miss Tairee #6 shook her head. "I don't think I can, actually; it's written in by the Writer, so I shouldn't simply override it. You'd have to take it up with him" Miss tairee #6 said.
"... I would not ask you to subject yourself to harm on my behalf" Brother Marcus said, sounding a bit disapproving of the idea.
Meanwhile, Silanea looked worried when Makoto first spoke. "Another entity? I thought I heard about there being a couple more, while the event in my mind was occurring... I'm not sure if I heard correctly, though" Silanea said, looking around a bit. She refocused on Makoto though as the Phantom Thief continued. "You're... Asking for a challenge" the lamia added, a bit concerned in tone. There was the dice roll and more beeps heard around Makoto, along with another text box for Makoto to see.
Silanea looked up at nothing in particular with a slight frown, as if she may look directly at this entity that she could hear acting but not see what it was saying. "Are you sure this is wise?" Silanea asked Makoto simply. There was then another dice roll, and more beeps, before one more text box appeared for Makoto to see.
Eve | House | Curiosity Killed The Cat...
Eve sneezed. Twice, as Rex's smack hand collapsed into nothingness. "Interesting..." she mused, mostly to herself. "And no, it was just... testing a hunch." From the reaction she had felt, Rex's nanites had reacted aggressively, while her own had played mostly dormant. It was odd, and slightly concerning, but they would see. "Also, I just assumed that you destroyed the nanite infection. It's what I did when dealing with the Lucifer bullet, and the Beserker nanomachines." And the Immortality nanomachines, but Eve didn't want to have to explain those.
Eve Looked at Rex again. "He's probably just concerned. Nothing weird about that, considering that I holed myself up in the Library for most of yesterday."
[TOP SECRET]

"Alright then, one moment" Miss Tairee #5 said to Genji, and not long after there was a blur in the air in front of Genji as the communicator device appeared. "It will allow you to make one call back to your home universe, before this day ends. After that, you should be able to use it to access the radio channels within the city" the fifth librarian explained to Genji.
Meanwhile, Brother Marcus was unfazed. "I meant you do not have the experience to understand" Brother Marcus said, a bit flat in tone.
"Isn't that the same as calling him dumb?!" Louie said, still angry.
"No" Brother Marcus stated simply and firmly.
Louie didn't look convinced, but seemed willing to drop the subject as Ben poured through the book about pokemon and came to a certain page. "Ah, hariyama" Louie muttered with some recognition. "They're in my region; I haven't fought one yet though" the trainer mentioned, donning a grin as he added, "I'm sure they'd be a fun challenge for Ace."
Edited by FirockFinion on Jan 5th 2019 at 10:11:18 AM
You are reading this.