video ♪ anxiety

[chosenfake]

[The feed shows a teenager with red hair. Really red. He's more ginger than a Weasley. He's still trying to figure out the device, apparently. The setting seems to be a kitchen, nothing special.

He sighs, making the bangs fly away from his nose, if only briefly.]

That mission was... something. I want to thank everyone who helped me when I first got here. As it turns out, I've got a couple questions for anyone who wants to answer them.

First, where can I get a journal? Nothing fancy-- I just need a place to write things down. As long as it can handle being shoved in an item bag, it'll be fine.

Also, is everything the Initiative told us true? It's not that I can't believe what's in front of me, but I like to see things for myself. I just got here, so I don't know much. About anything, really.

I think that's it for now. ... Thanks. [He fumbles with the device a bit, brow furrowed, and then it shuts off.]

Comments

[chosenfake]

['You can't save everyone.' He's heard that before, seen it in action. Hadn't he tried to talk to Van one last time?]

I... I know. But that doesn't mean we should give up before we've even started.

[Despite his shy demeanor, there is something stubborn about this kid. Maybe it's the red hair.]

I'm good with a sword. I can protect other people. That's enough, right?

[abjection]

No, it doesn't. Just that we shouldn't expect too much of ourselves.

[There is so much potting and kettling here oops.]

It's more than enough. What I meant was that you can still find out more about the Initiative before you decide how to use your sword. There are a lot of Transports who have been here for months, who could probably tell you more. I'm a more recent arrival.

[chosenfake]

That's... true.

[It's okay, Luke isn't gonna call you on your shit if he doesn't know you.]

Even if the list of things they do wrong goes on for a mile, I'm not sure that-- that fighting the Initiative outright is a good option. Something needs to change, but I wonder if we can talk to them first. If there's communication with these people, if they genuinely want to help, maybe we can reach some sort of agreement...

[HE'S SO NAIVE IT HURTS]

[abjection]

At the moment, our primary form of communication with those in charge is an A.I. that looks like a cat.

[If this were voice, that would be dryer than bone. Entertaining as A.I. is, Kariya still thinks of it more in terms of a voice messaging system than anything else. It's about that helpful.]

I agree with you, though. Fighting among ourselves might hurt more than it helps.

[Naivety is excusable -- he's a new arrival, after all.]

[chosenfake]

... I'd say I've heard weirder things, but that sounds pretty weird. What's an A.I.?

[Good to know.]

I'm glad I'm not the only one. [Now he manages a faint smile.] Thanks for helping me make sense of all this. Or at least trying. It's still complicated, but talking it out does a lot.

[abjection]

An Artificial Intelligence. In other words, a computer with personality.

There's no need to thank me just for talking. I'm glad I was able to help somehow.

[chosenfake]

... Like if the tablet could talk back?

[He's not from a technologically advanced age, okay.]

[abjection]

Yes, you could think of it as part of the tablet. Truthfully, I'm not totally sure how it works, either. There's a lot of technology here beyond what my world knew.