exsilium | duel two (video.)

[The screen flickers on to show Utena sitting on the foot of her bed. Said bed is unusually rumpled, and she looks bleary-eyed and tired. Her hair is disheveled too, but when she turns to the camera, she manages a sleepy grin. It's only a little forced.]

Uh, hi, to everyone who's been here, and all the new people. I think this is around the time new people show up, is that right? For everyone who doesn't know me, I'm Utena Tenjou. I'm fifteen years old...I think. [She rubs the back of her neck, and sheepishly adds:] My birthday's gone by since I got here, but I'm not sure if that counts. It's good to meet you all.

[Her voice sobers some, and she slows down.]

Ah, I wanted to thank everyone who helped me and Himemiya out a few weeks ago. It means a lot. I wasn't really myself then, so...sorry for any trouble. [It almost looks as if she'll stop the message there, but she continues after an overlong pause:]

Say, I was wondering, well, when I was, ah...well anyway. I noticed there's a lot of buildings around here that are run-down. That big greenhouse in the city looks pretty bad, and I thought maybe a bunch of us could get together and help clean it up a little. Y'know, get all the glass fixed, and plant flowers. Where I'm from, there's gardens everywhere, so I miss it a little.

[Her gaze drops. She looks off to the side, and then starts a little, as if suddenly remembering something:] Oh! And to everyone I asked about sports the last time, there's a way we can play without finding a field. I asked around, and that VR machine'll make any kind of field or court we want. That's great, huh? I wanna host a game soon. Maybe we can have something like that once a week. It gets dull around here.

Mm, that's all. [She rests her hand against her mouth, looks and sounds thoughtful. Mumbled:] If anyone's interested in a game or in helping with the greenhouse, you can find me around anywhere, but I stay in room 705.

I had one last question. Does anyone know how to cook? I wanna learn. There's not a lot of instant stuff to eat here, and I'm not so good at cooking from scratch yet...

[After a while:] Hey, Nanami-kun. Are you still here?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Racing? Wow, really? That's so...cool.

[It's super cool. Enough to make her sit up a little, attentive.] How long have you been doing that? Oh, right...and I'd definitely teach you any rules you needed to learn!

Sounds good, I look forward to it!

I've been racing for just a few years, now. I don't do it professionally, but there's a racetrack where I live for testing out new vehicles as well as racing. It's just part of my family's lifestyle.

[ Putting it very generally, but her family's reputation hardly matters here. And at this point of their lives, between she and her father, that's kind of a good thing. ]

That's really something else. [Racing. She wondered if Akio did such a thing...and decides perhaps not. It was cool, but perhaps not very adult. Though she wasn't entirely clear on what being an adult was, anyway.] Say, would you mind teaching other people? If this VR thing works, maybe you could make a racetrack.

Absolutely! I would love to make that happen. We're a little limited on vehicles around here, though.

[ She's lucky she has a motorcycle at all. But still, if she could get something like that to happen, well. She would be very proud of herself as long as she's here. ]

That's true...

[She frowns, scratches her head...] Well, there's gotta be some way to produce 'em, right? I think the vehicles around here are electric, which makes a lot of sense. Still, there's parts, and finding people who can do stuff like that...I'm not really good at that sorta thing, but maybe there's someone in the Initiative who is.

You think so?

[She pauses to ponder it. Her weapon had to have come from somewhere, although Asami figures it just came from another time and place.]

Who knows, maybe I'll have to bring it up with them. It's just that even one car takes so much time and care without a factory and an assembly line. But I guess if we want it that badly...

I dunno! Maybe. It's worth asking, I'd say. They might like the idea. Besides, even though a lot of things are damaged, this place is pretty advanced. They might have faster ways to make stuff that we've never heard of.

Alright. Well then I'll see what they say and get back to you; how does that sound?

That sounds great! Gee, I hope you can get something like that up and running; it'd be amazing.

[-Ah, she'd forgotten.] Geez, I'm such a scatterbrain today...what's your name?

Oh! I guess I should've mentioned, huh? My name is Asami. You said your name is Utena, right?