◇ 001; video

[turns]

[ she's put this off for almost a month now. what with looking out for madoka, keeping an eye on oriko mikuni, examining the surrounding areas and moving in with three other magical girls... there simply hasn't been time for something as frivolous as this. nonetheless, it's something that needs to happen at some point, and thus she has holed herself up in her room with her tablet at the ready.

today is the day homura akemi finally contacts the network.

when the feed comes on, a young woman with long black hair can be seen. some of you may already know her, for any number of reasons; her cool, formal demeanor is in effect as always, even if it's significantly less icy than it's been over the past few weeks. ]

My name is Homura Akemi. I arrived here a little over one month ago, and I've been working on settling in ever since. [ her words have a certain practiced, muted tone to them, as does the slight bow she gives the camera. ] It's nice to meet you all.

[ she closes her eyes, takes a breath, exhales- when she finally opens her eyes again, she resumes speaking in that controlled way of hers. ]

If the network is reliable, I've been to this place several times already. As such, some of you have likely met me before. I'd be very interested in meeting with anyone I once knew.

[ a slight pause, another breath, and then- ]

Thank you for your time.

[ and with that, she unceremoniously reaches out and closes the feed. ]

Comments

[Video]

[speakveryclearly]

[She shouldn't be so free with this information. But why not tell her? Why not be honest? Who'll care? Who'll know? If nothing else. Scare the poor thing straight.]

An alternate version of myself killed the person I loved.

[Video]

[turns]

[ how is one supposed to respond to that? all the gestures, all the little niceties she has repeated time and time again fail to cover a statement like that, and as for actual empathy...

she sighs, lightly closing her eyes before speaking. ]

My apologies. I shouldn't have pried.

[ "she wasn't you." if only she had such luxuries.

her sins are hers, and hers alone. ]

[Video]

[speakveryclearly]

Yes you should have. [Of this much she's sure. If she tried to pry apart the vices surrounding this crime - why if she lost her memories she would do the same thing, what the other party could have done to attract such an infraction, how many of their friends feel the same way - that would be too much, she would recoil. But she wants Ms. Akemi to be aware of this risk at least.]

If I hadn't wanted you to know, would I have responded?

[Video]

[turns]

...I suppose not.

[ this alien, whoever she is, is... helpful. not exceedingly so, but she certainly is doing her best to provide information. whether she is trying to warn homura for selfless reasons or selfish ones is an entirely different question, of course. ]

Then thank you for your warning, at least.

[Video]

[speakveryclearly]

[Kanaya puts her hand to her jaw.] I'm trying to think of what else a transport in your position should need to know. With your initiative and duration of stay so far it seems likely you've gotten a handle on, for example, locations in Exsilium.

[Video]

[turns]

That would be correct.

[ she's roamed the area for almost a month now, and what few places she hadn't bothered checking on madoka had been more than keen to show her personally.

she doesn't speak up after her affirmation, choosing to wait on kanaya's next words instead. ]

[Video]

[speakveryclearly]

[Aw. This reflects well on Homura but Kanaya does love telling people about where to buy clothes and such.] Mm, I expected as much, but... it's been quite a long time since the last mandatory mission as assigned. With the timing of your arrival, you haven't had any experience with those yet, have you?