video / text; @sugarcane

[seafloor]

[ The video opens with a view of some undecorated Everlight dorm room. Panning around reveals little of interest: a made bed, a few cans of vending machine non-alcoholic sake—

And suddenly, the sound of a waterfall surging fills the feed with peaking audio. Bright blue blurs the edges of the feed until the space suddenly becomes a dingy city alleyway. A scarred hand lifts as if being inspected before it rapidly takes on a liquid appearance and the noise returns and the scene shifts again.

Now it's at Tokyo Bay. There's a brief pan of the seascape before the feed cuts. ]

---

Oh, shit. My bad.
I didn't realize that got uploaded.
This tech is still weird as hell to me.
I miss flip phones.

Comments

[yuwon]

Too bad you didn't make first.

Who knows. Though, it's hard to say since the network has its fair share of troubles at times.

[seafloor]

What kinda troubles are we talking here?
Glitches in the system, or beef between users?

[yuwon]

[ give him a second to think on this... ]

Both, supposedly.

I don't really keep track of people's relationships.

[ meaning: that's just an educated guess or what he's gathered so far. ]

[seafloor]

I see...
Guess I have another thing to keep an eye on while I'm here.

How long have you been stuck here?
I arrived shortly before the first attack on the bay.

[yuwon]

A couple of months, so not long.
Oh, back then. Then at least you didn't miss the action.

[seafloor]

[ He has some lingering thoughts regarding the slaying of those kaiju, but most of his initial misgivings have been shelved. ]

Yeah.
I stayed behind to protect the civilians while everyone else went hunting.

[ Above everything else, killing sea life is a tough task to ask of him. That, and I can get away with not having had him active during the event while I was on the reserve list—

Ahem. ]

Have you participated in this round's simulation already?
Damn bugs.

[yuwon]

[ sorry kaito... here is someone with zero remorse.... ]

You must have had your hands full in a completely different way. [ protecting civilians in the standard way never really was yuwon's strong suit.

that said: ] I have. I do think they're a bit more troublesome to draw out than some of the other creatures we encountered in simulation. Their ability to possess another body was also pretty irksome. [ if it were real and not a simulation, would neo tokyo really be ready for it?

but, it's a thought he doesn't actually type out. ]

[seafloor]

[ It's okay... Kaito is here so that someone has a moral dilemma over Murderizing. ]

It was annoying, but luckily I could just pick up anyone making a fuss. [ Literally. ]

The nests were annoying to clear out, from my experience.
I have some tracking skills, so isolating the possessed victims wasn't hard.
What kinda skillet do you have?
All-rounder? Specialist?

[yuwon]

[ bless ur soul. ]

Pick them up? You really must have been busy then. [ he can't imagine just one or two people (rightfully) causing a scene, or being stricken with panic. ]

Well, if you put it like that, it didn't sound like it was too bad for you.

[ which is a good thing as far as he is concerned. the more skilled people here, the better. ]

You're pretty straightforward, huh? Between the two, I can't say I'm really either.

You?

[seafloor]

Personal motivations aside, we're all stuck with each other against whatever LILITH tasks us to fight.
Better to know more about your potential teammates' fighting styles so you can work together with 'em.
Though I imagine there are plenty of lone wolves around here.

As for me... Hm.
These terms are better suited for games and stories at the end of the day.
I guess I'm a generalist?
If I need to do something, I'll do it. That's it.

[yuwon]

[ it's blunt, but he doesn't exactly hate it. he figures it's better than people who play around with their words. hence, he does respond in tune. ] You're not wrong. I'm not accustomed to working with others for various reasons. But, I do mean it when I say my skills aren't so easy to define. Some are also altered or inaccessible.

[ which, he presumes is for everyone in some way, so he doesn't seem too miffed about having to admit that. ] Generalist? So you also weren't any of the options you gave.

In my world, it's normally rude to ask people about their level or stats. [ says him who asked kaito it ... right back. ]

[seafloor]

And in my world, the only stat that matters is your living status.

[ A beat. Kaito looks at his own words for a moment before laughing. ]

Well, that's not true for everyone, and it's a rather edgy take regardless. (´ ∀ ` *)
I'm sure there are organizations who categorize us by some numeric system, but the average person doesn't have a level or stat block or anything like that.
Yours sounds real interesting, especially for folks who like to play games.

I have some pretty complicated skills myself, though it seems most of them have either been toned down or removed entirely during the course of my transfer to Neo Tokyo.
It's probably not a hot take that many of the others have been hit the same way.

Well, I won't linger on that if it's a faux pas where you're from.
What do you think about the implants?
And how easy it is to keep modifying these bodies?

[yuwon]

Was that supposed to be a joke?

I suppose people could consider it similar in some ways. Though, that isn't to say that people could handle it being their new reality. Those who adapt end up going far, and those that don't... [ well, it's obvious what happens. ... was this also edgy? ] I don't actually care, but I think skills and abilities are better assessed on the battlefield.

I've heard of others who have gotten their bodies modified, but it doesn't seem like an easy process. As for the implants— I don't necessarily like the idea of them, but removing them doesn't seem to be an option, either.

Why? What were you planning?

[seafloor]

Fair enough. The battlefield is where they'll matter most.

A girl from Brimstone warned that the process would be excruciatingly painful, and there'd be no anesthesia.
I imagine it'll go over the same for the other body modification processes.
LILITH was even advertising a prosthetic limb, but it looks a little too simple.

🤷‍♂️
I don't know.
These aren't our true bodies, so I'm willing to take more risks and accept more 'permanent' changes to mine if it means staying ahead of the curve.
For now, that doesn't mean much.
But if push comes to shove with the kaiju, I think I'd be willing to let them augment me further.

...Saying it out loud is honestly kind of jarring.
But adapting to the circumstances is important.

[yuwon]

[ girl from brimstone... it probably doesn't take a lot to consider the possibility of who that could be. but, he doesn't necessarily debate it more than he has to. ]

It depends on the types of modifications offered, doesn't it? Not that it's any of my business. You know your body best. This may be pointless to ask considering I don't know your specific skills, but what type of modification would you want done? Any specific power you wanted?

For the most part, I think people do what they have to do. As long as no one crosses a line... [ but, even then, he doesn't know if he'd invest that much of his own attention in it. ]

[seafloor]

The shapeshifting modification seemed interesting.
But it's too bad that we're limited to disguises around our own size.
I think I would have jumped for it if I could shift into a cat.

[ Katto Nyagano... ]

The line's pretty subjective if it isn't LILITH presenting it.
But I agree.
I'm the kind of person who seeks out power pretty actively, so long as it doesn't go against my personal standards.
Power's important to have—so long as it isn't wasted.

[yuwon]

Is that how it works? You can always give yourself the body of human, and the head of a feline. [ though, for what purpose... yuwon presumes that is Personal and doesn't clarify. ]

I don't think there's anyone who hates power. But, you could say I'm in a position where I need to be a lot stronger. Though, I'm sure we could all use it for both our personal goals and for our missions here.

What would you consider a waste?

[seafloor]

I'm satisfied knowing that yokai exist. I don't need to be one. 💧

There are plenty of us who could use more power, ne?
For whatever reason.

Power that is sat upon is power squandered.
Is that a dangerously vague blanket statement? Sure.
But that's how I feel. I can only control myself, so I make sure to use my power to create the best outcomes that I can.
I don't like many politicians as a result, but I also try to stay out of politics to begin with.

[yuwon]

You sure? It might be a good look on you.

[ ^^ ]

I don't doubt that's the case here, too. If power exists, there are probably those who take advantage of having it. I don't care about politics, either. [ says someone who is basically on the path to dismantling a whole organization that ruled a good portion of the tower... ]

Did you have any specific goals here?

[seafloor]

You can tell me now if this is for my sake or yours. [ ♪ ]

Just gathering up information. And power.
I'm not really the sort who enjoys rocking the boat, and especially without a plan.
We'll see what happens after a few more kaiju attacks.

'Sides, there are plenty of go-getters among us, I imagine.
They can take the initiative if they want.
I can wait a little.

[yuwon]

You looked like you were looking for a specific answer. [ look, turning into a cat... is a very niche desire.

unrelated to that, he does think the individual he's speaking with clearly seems to have their own plans. taking things in stride and biding ones time was also skill. ]

True. It's not like we have a whole lot of insight into their operation. Besides... [ there are a few things that don't necessarily add up to him, but he's not about to express his skepticism on the network of all places, and so. ] Well, good luck.