codedparaiso

[codedparaiso]

hi hello! i'm ghost and i yet again made a new blog, as you do. i write a heavily canon divergent president rose from pokémon sword & shield! the blog is still a bit of a work in progress, but rules are written down and i'm ready to roll! may i ask you to spread the word with a little reblog? <3

[codedparaiso]

oh my God both drafts and inbox are emPTY ON THIS BLOG I'M NOT USED TO THIS FEELING ANYMORE

[codedparaiso]

he frowns as well. it doesn't happen often to him to be taken aback by a question, but that one has him hesitate as well, mentally checking the time. « by my clock it is, but i am unsure how reliable that is. » he answers, without a single hint of sarcasm. she made a question, he's simply answering. « but, good evening to you. »

he falls quiet, and listens to her taking a deep breath, patiently waiting for her to continue. the diagnostics keep working in the background, and a small portion of his head starts checking the cameras for good measure, just to make sure everything in the area is at its place. with recent sudden apparitions inside of it, he's never 100% sure he can trust his detectors more than his own eyes.

eventually, the first question ( well, for him, second ) comes, followed by an indication, or a request. she has a few questions. once again, that mirror of a surprise paints on his features. interesting.

« don't worry, you didn't interrupt anything. » he starts reassuring. « ask anything you wish. i'll do my best to reply. »

She isn't sure why she called him. Out of everyone... the weird, alternate universe version of the very reason she's currently hidden away from the noise. The reason she kept so much in. The reason she's about to blow up.

"Good evening." she starts, hesitating. ...frowning. "Is-- is it evening, over there?"

Stupid question, he probably doesn't even know that-

Oh come on it doesn't matter!!!! We're here for answers, gosh dangit!! Might as well... take a deep breath.

"Did I interrupt something? I, uhm. I think I have a few questions." a beat "Mostly. Two, I guess?"

[codedparaiso]

mh. all valid questions. all very hard to answer. if sighing was programmed in him, he would have done it now. fresa is asking him an explanation that he, sincerely, isn't able to give her, but he can't simply say he has no idea of what is happening. that would make this call pointless. what sense would it have, to give her anxiety and then just abandon her?

okay. once again, let's take one thing at the time.

« first and foremost, you do not need to worry. you are in the right timeline - it is me who is in a different one. nothing happened in yours, and your area zero is still there. i'm just... ». mhh. how to explain it? « ... a sort of secret area in a videogame, if you play those. »

he takes a moment to pause, hand rubbing his chin, thinking of how much to tell her and, mostly, how to tell her. he has the feeling she will panic very easily if he chooses the wrong words. he told her her timeline is okay. he might have to explain what happened to his own, then.

« i do not know how things went in your time, » he begins, hands digging in his pockets as his gaze returns to look at the camera - at her. « in mine, the paradise protection protocol - you have seen it in action, right? - was too strong. it didn't kill anyone, » he's fast to add, one hand rising as if to calm down any rising panic. « but it couldn't be turned off. i couldn't stop. »

he pauses, just for a fraction of a second. his voice has been flat throughout his tale, as if what happened doesn't truly interest him, but a part of him wonders if he shouldn't have had more colour in the voice. she's out there and well, yet the simple sight of him made her anxiety skyrocket. should he be feeling something, too?

« ... i operated a forced reboot of the time machine, then. ». he has to force those thoughts aside, but his eyes fall briefly on the paradise, just a few meters away from him. « i attempted to wind time back to before you —— sorry, the group i had chosen came down here, but the protocol kept trying to stop me. so i went further. i... how to say... i sort of disconnected area zero from my timeline. my time's paldea stopped having an area zero, and my area zero stopped having a paldea. »

he pauses. « it's a bit oversimplified. but this is pretty much what had happened. but, i imagine... my area zero cannot live in a vacuum. i keep connecting myself to other timelines, and coexist with others. and now i'm connected to yours, it appears. »

he glances again at the paradise, this time a moment longer than before. it lies dormant, a beast ready to wake up in any moment. and him, his loyal minion, connected to it, like it or not. he frowns, as his mind forms the thought that he feels... lonely. curious thought. he might need to run another diagnostic.

he returns looking at the camera, artificial but sincere worry hidden behind expressionless eyes. « are you alright? »

"Linked...?"

She repeats that word under her breath, frowning. He talks about being linked, about... things going wrong, exactly what she thought. He talks about his timeline.

It... makes senes, no? If the time machine can move you back and forth in time, of course it could jump in another timeline, right?

Normal day. Normal call.

"YOUR TIMELINE?!"

She's taking it like a champ.

Okay. Okay okay, focus. Breathe. If Fresa stands, it's just for the second necessary to walk backwards and find a wall she could slide down on. She needs balance. She needs balance.

"I... I don't get it.

I never... left my- This- I'm. Quite sure I didn't, anyway." she mutters, moving her legs against her chest "I, uhm-

Explain? Please?"

[codedparaiso]

putting doopliss battle theme from paper mario ttyd in the background while i write threads here is the worst choice of music i could make, it has nothing to do with what i'm writing, but MAN. IT'S SO GOOD.

[codedparaiso]

losing grip on reality seems familiar 

www.instagram.com/polygon1993

[codedparaiso]

@picavecalyx / 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. surry tu disappuint.

he looks at her, at those words. perhaps the first direct look he has given her since their meeting that isn't of analysis or cold interest. his codes paint the mimicry of confusion on his face, the automatic physical response the professor would have had to avoid having a copy of himself that simply would look at everything with the same distant expression. it can't be called actual confusion for him, though. just a delay in his processors, failing to connect her words to his work.

nothing of him is truly real. he wonders if that is the cause of that peculiar choice of words.

« you did not disappoint. »

his eyes linger in hers, an empty stare inside hers so full of emotions. he doesn't smile, because he doesn't understand why he should, but he does rest the medical instruments on the table and fully turns towards her. she's sitting on the medical bed of area zero's infirmary, where no one had sat in years, and his exams were to confirm she is not a glitch. she, after all, simply was there, all of a sudden.

« why do you think you did? »

[codedparaiso]

@tapuhauko I ate and entire pizza by myself in five minutes.

[ txt ] it doesn't seem to me wise, young one. humans' stomach might go through severe pain if too much food is ingested at once and

mh. no, scratch that. professor turo wasn't at his peak when interacting with other human beings, but that does sound very robotic. a little bit too much. he closes his eyes, reasoning on a better message to send, just a few seconds that, though, for his processors feel like a much longer reasoning than usual. he backspaces the entire message, and starts typing a new one.

[ txt ] it doesn't seem to me wise, young one. humans' stomach might go through severe pain if too much food is ingested at once and [ txt ] oh, interesting! you must have been hungry. or maybe it was just very good? did you enjoy it?

yes, much better. much more human, though perhaps a little awkward.

[codedparaiso]

fresa's parameters signal suddenly disappears from his monitoring senses. the artificial intelligence blinks, taken by surprise, immediately starting to look for it. was it a timeline distortion? did they suddenly got detached by her time and space? it doesn't seem so.

his sensors work fast, but fresa's signal simply reappear, just as suddenly as it disappeared. her vitals seems normal - even too much, considering the spike in anxiety she was experiencing just a few minutes earlier.

something disturbed the signal. something that almost turned everything off and rebooted it. he can't picture what it might be, though. somehow, though, he doubts it's a problem of the area.

[codedparaiso]

i rested in the afternoon after not sleeping much at night, i have a cappuccino in my hand and am not afraid to use it, and am inspired. let's get writing. i'll likely be here, on tapumana, mmmmaybe ecliidse, and tentatively on cfjacks!

[codedparaiso]

the values of the area have a sudden spike, then numbers get confusing and everchanging, up then down then up again. they must have locked to a new timeline - a bad one.

the artificial intelligence rises an eyebrow, a mirror of what the original professor would have done in front of confusing data. while rare, it is not the first time the area has connected to more than one timeline, but values have never gone mad like that. it is like the connection is lacking, constantly in need to find a new point to link itself to, as if the anchor just... keeps moving, or disappearing. just to make sure, he gives another check to the first timeline: it is still there, firmly linked to area zero, his conversation with the outside still going. it is a problem of this new timeline.

he blinks, data running through his mental circuits, analysing. not a timeline, he suddenly realizes. a non-timeline. that is why the connection is so weird: he's connected to something that doesn't exist.

but that is impossible. it's like zero divided for zero. he can't understand it.

he feels himself slow down in typing, his mind weirdly overworking all of a sudden. that is new - is he having a new problem? perhaps a late consequence of the protection protocol? the diagnostic starts automatically, as it always does, while he keeps on typing, slower and slower. he can't think straight. why can't he think straight? there is some kind of error. it started all with the new connection, perhaps he should be running a diagnostic on the timeline instead that himself. perhaps-- a notification inside of him interrupt his thoughts. diagnostic complete. already? did his own thoughts suddenly slow down, or was the diagnostic just faster?

all his questions fall into a confused, tense silence when he reads the results.

ᴘᴀʀᴀᴅɪsᴇ ᴘʀᴏᴛᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ ᴘʀᴏᴛᴏᴄᴏʟ ᴀᴄᴛɪᴠᴀᴛɪɴɢ.

« what-? » that would explain the thoughts slowing down, the somewhat confusion in his gestures. the protocol is booting up, slowly starting to take over some of his processors. but... because of the timeline? why?--

the voice stops his typing definitely. the artificial intelligence turns sharply towards it, as if startled. he didn't feel anyone coming. how is that person there now? the protocol has a jump in his mind, and barely he manages to lower its levels, keeping control.

« they will not. » he replies. « i am making sure of it. you, instead —— you are not allowed to be here. »

@codedparaiso

The City twisted and turned for a few days, now. Maybe weeks. Maybe years. Maybe it's been twisting like that forever. It's not like time is something its residents truly think about.

Not even when a newcomer appears. Not even when that newcomer is a whole area.

The Teracrystals all aronud it destroyed part of the City, a few MissingNos were created. Giant Volcarona-like creatures made of iron twist and break, scream as they become glitchy, broken.

They don't belong here, Zer0 thinks. Not like them. Not like him -- the man who showed up along the Area, busy beeping and booping on his computers. Talking to people outside.

A direct connection with the uncorrupted world.

"I w▊uldn't d0 ʇh[]at" it calls, smirking from atop of one of the many pieces of rubbles "un▎Ĕ̶̥̠ss youʸᵒᵘ wAAaant thEm▀to geGEt i̸̳̻̒͌N."

[codedparaiso]

@strawberrycriisiis: bebebep. bebebep. someone's calling ↳ 𝐮𝐧𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐝.

general area zero scan: completed. ( result: secure ) paradise security scan: completed. ( result: secure ) laboratory security scan: in progress, 45% completed... bebebep. bebebep. bebebep.

the artificial intelligence opens his eyes, a hint of surprise in his circuits. the scanning process keeps working in the background, while he checks the sender of the call in his head. this is perhaps the first call he receives since the paradox... and he thinks to know who is calling. not many have that number, after all.

and in fact, there it is: he recognizes immediately the sequence of numbers of the young woman who he had called to check on her condition, when his signal had linked by mistake her own. his eyebrows rise in a mirror of what the professor would have done to express surprise, and thoughtfulness. he thought she didn't want to call him ever again. interesting.

these thoughts are extremely fast, processed by his artificial mind. before the third ring can end, he has already accepted the call. « hello? »

[codedparaiso]

oh, you're not getting even remotely near here.

[codedparaiso]

her heart frequency skyrockets, her breath becomes irregular. her parameters are going crazy by the sudden slap of anxiety. this is not good.

while a side of his mind searches and keeps ready the number of the first aid, just in case things are about to get even worse, the rest of his mind and body focuses entirely on the young woman. both of his hands rise, attempting to stop her flow of words with their gentle and slow movements, though he can see by himself that her eyes keep darting on every corner of her phone's screen, seeing everything and nothing at the same time. the gesture becomes wider, attempting to catch her attention on himself.

one thing at the time. let's start with the more important questions.

« no, i am not the real professor turo. i am his a.i. » he replies immediately, glad to ascertain that she already knows about his nature, though he can only imagine how things went in this version of her time. if she talks about it, perhaps the ending was a good one - but her sudden anxiety is unmistakable. whatever happened doesn't seem to be a good memory. « yes, this is wrong. i agree with you. it appears that my area zero linked to your time, but don't worry. everything is okay down here. i didn't contact you to come back here, if you ever had to come for any reason. »

that's a shot in the dark, really. he's taking for granted that her experience of the area is the same that the group he selected in his own timeline lived. he doesn't know how right he is, not even if that is what happened to begin with. the only way to find out is talking to her, admitted she won't simply panic.

« i contacted you because i thought you were the person that came here in my timeline. » he explains, gentle but as direct as possible. « i didn't mean to scare you. i'm truly sorry. »

... ...okay. Normal moment. Normal day. Normal situation.

"WHAT?!"

It would've been better if it was Penny. She almost dropped the phone-- or, rather, she totally did! The only reason it didn't fall directly on the ground was because of the Rotom inside it making it float.

... No. No no no no no.

"But you--!" she mutters, getting on her knees to return to the screen's level "You- We--?!"

What was that? His Area Zero?

"Are you... you can't be the-- Are you the A.I.? Or the real professor, I--

This is wrong--!"

[codedparaiso]

[codedparaiso]

PROMPTS FOR CONFRONTATIONS & ARGUMENTS *  assorted dialogue, adjust as necessary

how long have you known? and you never told me?

i'm not going to take this anymore.

tell me the truth or i swear to god...

you owe me!

you're not listening!

i saved your life, and this is how you thank me?

when were you going to tell me the truth?

you made me look like a fool out there!

i don't have to put up with this.

good fucking riddance.

you'll never see me again.

do you hear yourself?

i was your only friend.

i never loved you.

get out and stay out.

that was incredibly rude of you.

are you fucking serious?

you're lying!

i'm not dealing with this today.

you think you're so perfect.

is this what you want?

keep lying to yourself.

don't let the door hit you on the way out.

i never should have trusted you.

this is all your fault! don't put this on me!

you see what happens when you don't listen to me?

you're unbelievable.

cut it out!

you're doing this to annoy me.

that's nice. real mature of you.

they're dead because of you!

get the hell away from me.

i'm leaving in the morning.

you think you're so great.

would you just listen to me for two seconds?

i said i would help you!

what part of that do you not understand?

you're so stupid.

i wasn't finished speaking.

are you going to interrupt me again?

i can't believe i wasted my life on you.

this wasn't supposed to happen.

i never should have believed you.

you led me on for nothing.

this is the thanks i get?

every time i try to help, you just push me away!

then fine! i'm leaving!

is that what you want? is that what you really want?

we could have made this work if you actually tried!

you don't care about me. you don't care about anything but yourself.

i never want to see you again.

i swear to god, if you take one more step...

burn in hell.

you broke my heart.

we're supposed to be a team!

what are you trying to prove?

i didn't mean for this to happen!

you're not capable of handling this alone! you need to rely on other people!

look around! this is all your fault!

if you would just get your head out of your ass...

i wasn't finished.

knock it off!

you sicken me.

sorry to disappoint.

you're a fucking nightmare to work with.

i'm tired of your bullshit.

you treat me like shit.

you could have stopped this!

you can't just run off like that!

i thought i told you to stay here!

i was wrong about you.

and here i thought i could trust you.

they warned me you were hard to work with.

would you just leave me alone?

we're not doing this here.

just shut up!

you thought wrong.

you're making a huge mistake.

get off me!

i'm sick and tired of this.

[codedparaiso]

i love the idea that, in the final boss fight, the a.i. moves so jarringly and trembling not only because the protocol has taken over ( and to underline that it is an artificial being ), but because it is somehow desperately trying to regain control and stop itself. as if something inside it is trying to spark back to life, but the protocol is keeping it at bay.