#— inkyara 01.

[36rai]

THE MOMENT SHE WAS put in her place, she left it. With her heart racing, Reko scans the bright and raring line-up of bokeh blurs on the boardwalk. This photographer's dream is sickening. What a child would find larger than life is a graveyard to her. There's no way she can call this a home — there were only supposed to be eleven attractions, and she thought she'd finished her last.

"Kh... Damnit!"

She carves dark grooves into the decking with her shadows. She stomps the lulling waves into a tempest, boots shaking the earth. Her bongos cla-clunk-cla-clunk against her thigh. She can't tell how much of it is real.

That is, until she sees him.

"It's you... You fuckin' asshole! What are you doing here?!" Reko makes a beeline for that unfortunately familiar face, right at the centre of her dutch angle. "Is this another trial? I've had it with this shit!"

It's just Sou. There's no Kanna in tow. Something feels amiss, yet she puts herself mere inches away from him, staring him down. Maybe if she peeks down, she'll catch metal.

@inkyara

[cladinivcry]

"I can respect that," They say with a nod. "you came to the right ward then. Archimedes has all the architecture, art, and history. There's a theater here, some arts under water, all of it."

They continue to lead the way, falling silent as they think about what they want to say next. "I'd like to get to know you a lil' better. I don't have many friends and you seem like a cool guy." It's the truth. Having somewhat just arrived here, there weren't many people that Indigo knew well enough.

"Wanna check that theater out?"

His question about Archimedes was a test, a probe to gauge Indigo's knowledge and intentions. Sou remains cautious, though knowing Indigo is familiar with this ward eases some of his concerns.

"Places of knowledge and beauty appeal to me," Sou shares in an amicable tone, hiding the calculations happening under the surface. "Architecture, art, history - anything that reveals the ingenuity of the human spirit. But I am always interested in new experiences."

[darkenforcer]

@inkyara ( continued from here ! )

did he really need a reason? sure, this might've been in the running for Worst First Impression Ever, but sou didn't look capable of hurting him or anything.

"you're not that special," (maybe he could ease the tension somewhat if he kept things laid-back), "practically half my social circle's made up of people who've threatened me at some point."

and if sou had murdered someone before... well, he couldn't judge him on that fact alone. that'd take some serious hypocrisy.

he extended his free hand, an attempt at a clean slate. "i said my name's yuri. and it's not like i can't just leave if you cross the line again, so... that a good enough reason for you?"

[cladinivcry]

@inkyara

they sit at the back row of the pew, silently listening to the preaching in the Church of Onoma. So, maybe Ofiuco isn't the god here or something. Or maybe there's multiple gods? They don't know, but they seem interested at least to learn. Not for the religion itself. They were never known to be religious to begin with.

"they got just about everything, huh?" They whisper as to not create interruption. "You come here often?" Today was their first day at this Church.

[darkenforcer]

yuri took the verbal assault with an air of indifference, the only slipup being a slight frown when he's labeled an assassin. that had to be a coincidence, though, he doubted the stranger had any way of knowing what he'd done back in his own world.(who'd use a frying pan as a weapon, anyway...?).

"....yeah. oho," he echoed after a deep sigh, more from exasperation over wasted time than anything else; flaring tensions up again with a snappy response didn't seem like the brightest idea, so he needed a second. "that mean you get it now? my offer still stands -- only 'cause it looks like you seriously need it -- but even i've got limits when it comes to getting weird-ass threats hurled at me."

if yuri were more patient, he'd likely try unpacking all the concerning things he'd just witnessed, but he really wasn't in the mood to pry. let alone risk another rant.

Sou clawed his fingers between the knitting of his cap and pulled, his white knuckles straining at the effort. He squeezed his eyes shut, and when they again opened, his grin stretched to his ears. His expressions seemed to be twisting from confusion to smug glee.

"So that must be your REAL name! Why, I'm your greatest threat and killer, Sou Hiyori! You don't even remember... figures! Memories aren't impossible to alter, after all! If you're trying to help, what's with the scabbard? Get tired of your frying pan, assassin?" Sou straightened his back, standing as tall and big as he could manage. It wasn't by much, but he would work with everything he had to impose. His crescent-shaped eyes widened suddenly, as with further examination and overwhelming flashes of clarity, the other man's eyes... there was such vivacity to them, and his voice... even his calm voice lacked the manner his mind sought.

"... ... ... ... ... ... Oho." That was when he knew he fucked up.

[idaego]

Es had truly never been to a store before. She'd read about it in books, seen it in picture books, told about it in brief stories regaled to her by her precious wanderer... This dream of hers was spoiling her, showing her a life she's never had the chance to live. The lineup of different soups and canned goods rest upon the shelves and she truly didn't know what to make of it, walking along the aisle without paying attention to where she'd been going—

The cart is a surprise, having briefly stumbled into it. She's unfazed despite this incident. If anything did happen, she certainly wasn't sure if she'd wake up, but that wouldn't matter. She couldn't have left her world. Giving the individual a once over, she takes a few steps to the side as he similarly moved out of her way.

"Don't worry," comes her dull response. She doesn't seem to be accompanied by any basket or cart herself... The thought of buying hadn't even crossed her mind. Rather— "I'm only window shopping."

While her gaze appears disinterested, she walks closer to him, curious despite her expression. Why is he trembling? And the scarf... Es can't help but stare, unblinking.

"Are you cold?" Frankly, she doesn't know what cold feels like, but this is an educated enough guess given all she knows. "Stores usually have hand warmers in stock." That's what she assumes at least. From what she knows, it'd be weird not to have them. This is a world of her own creation after all. Right?

Sou was like a ghost, wandering through a cleanly split fog of existence. For the moment, he could almost swear he was Shin again, weighing two cans of soup in his hand and mentally calculating how much he could live on, how much currency he could spare. It was a part of mundane life he barely could believe was happening. He was a definitely a ghost in his own body. In the Death Game, his meals were full of splendor. Wasteful final suppers that no one had the appetite to pick at, let alone he and his distaste for turkey. He shivered. With nourishment, he might have survived his hasty execution longer.

"O-Oh... my bad. I'm in your way, huh...?" Geez. He needed to pay more heed to the people around him. Sou pushes his shopping cart aside with a trembling arm and fixes a smile on his face.

@idaego liked for a starter!

[36rai]

THE WHITES IN THOSE teeth Sou has ground down to only let lies through, Reko can see them with startling clarity. He defies those honest, child-like smiles that never show his gums, that never meet his eyes. By all instruments of observation, he is testifying the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

However, what he testifies is complete nonsense, and may as well be written in iambic pentameter for how little it parses on virginal touch. Security system? Mishima AI? Nao? He knows something about Nao that she doesn't? Again? God, give her a break!

Reko's fist rears back, pinpricks of his blood decorating her knuckles and none blossoming underneath. Between the draw of her bow and the empty quiver, there is a window. She dares to look through it: snivelling children, snot-nosed and red-eyed, tethered to a fight that they only play the role of audience for. Blights and annoyances, shouldering their way into business that they could never understand.

And yet —

That's bizarre! It's like… it's like you're not Reko…!! You've changed!! You were so… full of affection…!!

Her hand lunges forward — holding her digits open threateningly. "Give it back." No profanity dresses her threat. She can't punch him in this position. Rather, she won't. "I don't wanna see you ever again. I know you don't want to either. So give it back."

Shin staggers backward with the force of her blow, wincing in pain as heat radiated from the wound. With a cocktail of shock, disbelief, and horror, cortisol raced through his arteries. He knew her body was inorganic, but he never imagined it would be so easy to remove one of her limbs. Still... his fingers curled tightly around the cold ceramic, feeling it's weight and texture with his median nerve. He knew it was a strange and macabre to do, but this gambit was a tangible piece of evidence that confirmed his suspicions about his and Reko's true natures. Vindicated, he tucked the detached limb under his arm and raised his other in front of his face. Blood seeps out of his mouth as he speaks. "You're wrong," Shin's fear and anger betrayed his coarsened tenor, "You need to stop lashing out with incomplete information, if you even can! There was more than our collars keeping everyone trapped — an entire security system was deployed in case someone like me decided to revolt! I'm just a programmer, Reko! I couldn't even hope to disable it on my own!

"I didn't create you, and I didn't create that twisted game! I was powerless! But you...! There was always the risk that you were coded to destroy us from within! Nao knew that better than anyone after the Mishima AI appeared in her room, and she took the burden into her own hands!" Shin touched his swollen flesh, the shortness of his breath making it difficult to remain standing. The crowd trickling in grew more oppressive the thicker the air between them raged. The onlookers could feel the weight of their words, and the implications of their relevations. "I'll say it one more time since you're stubborn as hell! Get ahold of yourself! This is a place children play for pity's sake, not the Death Game!"

[36rai]

THOUGH REKO'S EYES GRASP for the silver straw that could — should — ring around Sou's neck, she hasn't even caught a glimpse. Is it because he doesn't have one, or is it just hidden in the shadows? Come to think of it, she'd never seen one on him in the first place.

"Y... You..." she starts, no longer projecting from her diaphragm, still forcing the hiss through her teeth. There is an ounce of surrender in how she turns her volume dial all the way down - even when her softer tones deliver venomous words. "What, you want me to give you time to make up more bullshit? What's the excuse this time?

'How could you be taking a stroll in the middle of this? None of this is real. A... Are you even..." Her eyes bore into the back of his head through his own, expecting a battery embedded into his skull, or lines of curly brackets and semicolons. This place is clearly some kind of simulation — is he?

But he's all she has to ask.

"Fuckin'... fuck, shit." Her cursing is robbed of the wind in its sails, breathless and broken. "Beanie guy. Explain what the hell is going on, now."

A fluffy ball of pink and blue sugar breaks Reko's descent in the stead of a bed of spikes. It was a soft and inviting cloud to lose oneself in. Sou's fleeting, melt-in-the-mouth indulgence couldn't shake the flashes of despair despite the attempt at refreshing his own deathly context. Children laughing in the distance faded bitterly away, and suddenly he was back to scheming just to skate by life-threatening attractions. "A-Augh!!! H-Hold on, hold on...!!" Emptiness lingered within him before, but now... the taste of grounding sweetness against his teeth dulled, and his heart sank into his stomach. Sou raised his hands in a placating gesture, dropping the cotton candy he failed to savor. His moment of solitude was shattered, and now all he could do was brace himself for Reko's wrath... still...!

"St-Stop for a second! Ugh, you're always so hateful to me! I'm not hurting anybody by enjoying a little stroll! Sheesh!" This was looking more and more like a warzone than an amusement park. "Calm yourself, Ms. Reko! Please!"

[36rai]

"OH, YEAH?! YOU WON'T fuckin' believe how hard it's been to hold back every time I've had to see your punchable mug walking around smug and scot-free, assh—"

Click. It's heard not with her ears but in the caverns within her body. A breath hitches in her throat, then crawls back inside her.

Honest and hollow, she watches her hand fall free from her wrist.

"No... no, no, fuck no, I'm real," she says in the tightest whisper, a secret meant only for herself and the child she remembers in the deepest recesses of her past. But hers is not a hippocampus. Hers is a solid-state drive, buried into the folded liquid cooling that comprises her temporal lobe, and here Sou unravels her programming as easily as he'd guessed an eight-character lowercase password.

The effort doesn't send pain shooting up her nerves, nor does blood pour from the hole it leaves. It simply hangs in stasis for this infinitisimal moment in time.

This, this is very much real. And she — tragic she — is not.

Thud. Those moments catch up with her. In clumsy momentum, her still-consolidated arm swings right at Sou's face, striking him across the face. Her wrist is empty, divorced of its modular limb; its exposed metal threading catches the sunset in its gleam.

A nearby child screams and runs away, followed by a chorus of horrors.

"It's not me, please, it's him — you, what is this?! Why did you make me like this?! You sick fuck!" He has to have known what she was from the start, traitor as he is. Even she hadn't thought this was possible... Even she had still hung onto hope.

A tight, unyielding grip wrenched him off his feet; cold outside of the hellish kiln whence it came. Panic was explosive within Shin's agrestal glare. His hands enclosed her vice, deathly pale and looking bloodless together.

"Agh!! You just want to take someone down with you! Let go! I don't want... You're out of your mind!!" Shin squalled. His desperate grapple did nothing to curb her iron onslaught. Each sentence was waspish and rippled like the bullet that once tore through his girdle. He didn't possess any strength to ebb away. Her knuckles were brassy and sheathlike, but beneath his skin... the blood rutted in a burst of flame. "St-Stop! You always make the easy choices! Y-You never...!" His chest heaved as if she'd caught his breath instead, and the effort it took to draw in oxygen was making him dizzy. His lungs kept pushing for shallow air, pulse beating against her as a scathing brine blurred his peripheral. He felt detached from his legs and torso as his head swam in tears. Yet... Driven by adrenaline and determination, Shin poured all of his grievance into roughly twisting Reko's wrist. Threads and crests scraped within the joint... a well-oiled metallic squeak invaded his ears; lacking resonance but enough to give her a unique sensation.

[36rai]

SILENCE FILLS THE BUFFER between them, trickling in until Reko is up to her neck in it. The echoes of Sou's words refract around them, developing into foreign vocabulary, masquerading as sentences that are inevitably turned away at the gate of her mind. All she has to protect herself is her stubbornness — Sou's sentiment is parried by the tried-and-true defense of That doesn't make any sense, the incessant question of What does he mean by zero? Should the rest remain unswallowed, Reko is fine not knowing. She's happy to.

Yet Nao's face is still carved into her retinas. Not the wide smile she always sported, pulling her features into a marquee of beautiful ideas for sale. That image is too noisy now, muddied in the tarry slurry pouring 'neath her eyes. No, it's Nao's look of dark desperation boring into her, panting and posturing, erasing her regard for Reko with every solitary blink—

"You think it was her 'right to choose'? It was you fuckin' kidnappers that made her make that decision. This ain't how the real world works. It's you and your made up rules, your made up world— Like hell when she was faced with that choice, she was ever gonna choose me! When every single one of you were calling me a 'fake' — only one person was delusional enough to fight for me!

'So don't you dare tell me I never fuckin' cared for her! It was all of you that discarded me first! Not Sara, not Nao, not Q-taro, and definitely not you, you fuckin' traitor."

There's no scarf in their way now. Her hands lunge for the neckline of Sou's shirt. She'll embed it into her palms, she'll sear her knuckles into his collarbone, she'll make him a part of her if he refuses to believe they're the same.

"Yeah, you can't fuckin' put this on me. You and your scumbag Floormaster friends put us in this situation. You're the reason Nao's professor is dead. You're the reason Kanna doesn't have a sister. You wanna activate this collar and kill me for breaking your bullshit rules? Go ahead. I'm taking you out with me. I'm not playing your game anymore."

She's a murderer, through and through. But at the very least — it's all she has — she knows now that Sou is worse.

Sou's quakes, his laughter, and even his breath wound back up abruptly; snapped up like strummed puppet strings within his windpipe. His eyes leered at his scarf retreating from his view as his hysteria came down. It was like an ugly carp streamer fleeing his mania. He put his hand over his neck, covering his collarbones momentarily. He had always used that scarf as a crutch, something to hide behind when scared or unsure. Sou stood in the exposing sea breeze and swallowed the taste of bitter liberation as the ghost of Shin Tsukimi possessed his senses. He'd been putting up a facade for so damn long, he didn't know who he was... but his knees stopped shaking.

"... ... ... Ahaaa. I see." The gates of Hell opened simultaneously with his cold parting teeth. Bells were pealing again, just as they would for two locked under a timer. "I've been set up... I was mistaken! You're not who I thought you were at all. You're another zero!" His hand skimmed down his chest, taking in that suffocating clarity. All this time, he didn't have to hide... but he did anyway, just in case someone like this doll came back to crucify him. Shin Tsukimi settled back over him like a heavy blanket. "You know... one thing I never did was steal another zero's right to choose. Nao told me and Kanna all about what you did... I seem to remember Ms. Sara's testimony too. You never split the clear chips you earned that were supposed to go to Gin. You killed Ms. Reko when it wasn't your place to decide. That was Nao's decision, and you spit on her trust. You want to stand there and scream at me that we're the same...? "You don't care about what I'd do or why! Don't use that pathetic excuse. You just wanted to take someone down with you! You never cared about any of us, just yourself!"

[36rai]

SEVEN-POINT-SEVEN PERCENT?

Familiarity sounds a faint chime within her, but she doesn't truly know the statistic of which he speaks. It's reminiscent of a conflict that feels foreign now, distant and displaced. The words he wields as weapons torrent around that sharpened phrase, embedding it in a black box. Clenching her body to ward off malice, Reko roots herself into the concrete. From her teeth, she grinds blood — nay, metal.

"Ain't that what you wanted, for everyone to hate you? All you did was lie and cheat and screw up everything on purpose. Now I know it was to get us killed, for the kidnappers you've been bootlicking this entire time!"

Her vocal chords aren't used to this reverberation, unrestrained and lacking in a guiding passion, clanging up to eventually be ripped through her esophagus. It hurts. This is one of the few times she's screamed and it's hurt.

"And I'm not a killer! I didn't kill her because I wanted to! I killed her because I didn't have a choice! You've had a choice, every damn time, to work with us — you just saw us as pieces in your little fuckin' game! If you were in my place, you would've done the same thing and then some!"

Reko tosses the scarf straight down onto the boardwalk, except it never reaches the ground. It gets whipped up by the ocean wind and tumbles down the pavement past her.

Sou could have been plucked up by the scruff without all of Reko's brutish violence. He'd at first resisted being seized by her, but when he felt the harsh air erupt against his neck... ... ... he let it go. Involuntary brittle laughter oscillated as Sou backed away from her. He consumed Reko's besetting hatred as it ebbed into his flesh. His bones ingested it and it intoxicated, enthralled, and thwarted him so; just like Sara's rueful plea, don't kill Sou; he was engulfed by loathing! This was... his trial, not hers. He hated the sour pit in his belly! It was a sensation unlike any other, his sunken heart attempting to feed him blood through his twisting gut. "That's fine...! That's fine, Ms. Reko! Ahahaha, aha! Maybe it's a trial, maybe it's something else! That's all I know! I'm not going to threaten you, I'm not! I don't want to die... but it's my right! It's my right, and you'll see to it, won't you? You love doing this every single time, don't you, Ms. Seven-Point-Seven Percent?!! You hated me from the start! You hate me!

"Don't you want to survive? You'll vote for me! You'll kill me! You'll do it... I can always trust you to make the right decisions!" Sou convulses with self-satisfaction, agony, and euphoria. He shows his pointy teeth in menace, or submission. His phone fell forgotten by his feet.

[36rai]

WHITTLED DOWN TO BEADS, Reko scans the words Sou puts in front of her. Horror creeps into her features, embedding itself in every shadow cast by the beachview beside them. It's not Floormasters — it's Stars. It's not a facility — it's this Radial Island...

She can still hear the beeping. The metronome she had no hope of keeping up with. Trembling and white-knuckled, her hand ascends to the level of her collar, her dormant volcano. It's still locked tightly around her. It could very well be a part of her.

If this isn't another trial, then why...?

Though they've the make of porcelain, her hands still bear the stains and scars of the sin she had condemned all her recent years. The adrenaline of hatred still possesses them. Without hesitation, she yanks Sou's scarf forward, and he can either sway with it, or let it go.

Either way, the only thing down there is skin.

"I can't fuckin' trust you, Sou. You've been with them this entire time, huh?" she spits. She's plugged in her amp again, bellowing from the core. "I'm not surprised! You're going to tell me how exactly to get out of this — this hellhole trial! Don't you fuckin' threaten me!"

Sou knows Reko is not a force to be trifled with, and he needed to tread carefully if he didn't want to taste her fist. He tried to collect his thoughts, tucking his chin under his scarf while he gripped it securely. He might not have had his collar anymore, but he was definitely still tethered by the article he held close; his very own eye-searing leash. "Look, Reko," he starts, his voice measured with a heavy lilt, "Firstly... I know this is... crazy, but have you checked your phone? For some reason, we're being assimilated to this Radial Island... I don't get what the stars want with us, but I would advise against trying to leave the city. I tried some of the teleporters and.... it's useless, at best. At worst...

"... ... ... It's excruciating. Like it or not, this is our reality. You can find out for yourself, but I warned you. If the pain doesn't get to you, something else might." Sou paused to let his words sink in, his hand grasping the phone in his pocket. He studied Reko's face for any sign of understanding or recognition. ... He didn't like the remote look in her eyes one bit. Quietly, Sou pulled up the first text he ever received and offered his phone for her to examine.

      RADIALE: Radial Island.     Home to the city of spirals.     Travel outside of the city may result in unpleasant side effects.     Communication of further details complete…

[cladinivcry]

"I'm very familiar with this place," They say, turning to face Sou with a wink. "The stars thought it'd be a perfect place to house me in. Which, I think they did a pretty damn good job. It's nice here. You ever been to Savior's Respite or Water of Styx? Two of my favorite places. I've got a few, but those places are nice."

Indigo places a finger under their chin in thought and hums, "What do you like Sou? We can see if this place has anything like it?"

"We will see about that," He responds cryptically, "but first..." He'd tailed after her, doing his best not to appear like a lost duckling. Sou was worryingly eager with brushing off the topic and breathing new air into the discussion. He broadened his strides to walk alongside her instead, and his hat was returned to his head.

"... How familiar are you with Archimedes? This is... my first time here. I don't know my way around, besides going back where I came." He smiled his amiable smile from before, as if nothing happened. Behind it was something chilly, some stilted strain that twinged like an overstretched muscle.

[cladinivcry]

They nod. They can relate to that. And they don't take it to any offense at all. Why would Sou open up to someone he just met? WHY would they talk about things they kept close to their chest to someone they'd just meet? It didn't work like that.

"That's alright. You don't have to." They say, a small smile forming at their lips.

They've pushed their-selves off the wall of the Church and starts to lead the way, "You know, I guess I never really worried about the whole true colors shit. What you see in front of you is what you get, when you're around me." They pause, hands slides into their pockets, "I mean, aside from something I wanna hide, but who doesn't right?"

"... ... ... That sounds like a horrible idea," Sou imparted more suspicion, more reluctance... "that's precisely how the strong ensnare you. They tell you, it'll be okay, just trust me, and it's all at their convenience...! I can't just... pour out my heart to someone I only just met!" He sighed, then he took off his beanie. The pitfalls of black and white thinking were steep, but he knew this was the only right thing to say, for his own sake. He wasn't going to risk his neck after dying once. "We shouldn't have this kind of discussion here. I'll agree to that, at least. You'd never show your true colors in a place like this, now would you...?" Despite his standoffish reply, his tone turned into something quite gentle.

[cladinivcry]

"Mmm, that's alright." Indigo catches the pain in Sou's voice, the way his body language speaks to them. Hm, what could it be? Indigo smiles and shrugs, "It's nothing to get.

You know what's crazy? Inhuman strength and strange powers are just something one can't get. Likkkeeeee, I have pretty much an unlimited ammo of shit I can do, so to speak, but even I don't get HALF of it."

"I wouldn't know anything about that." Sou's voice was pained. He gripped his beanie to secure himself, suddenly apprehensive in the presence of the other. His traitorous gut-response... his doomed weakling status... it all came crashing back to him. Waves jittered up his spine as he failed to empathize. This was just... trifling... compared to the constant flirt with death weak people like him had to scrap by. He couldn't keep up his friendly mask, it was just too intense. This was why he didn't socialize. "People everywhere with these... inhuman strengths... don't get it."

[cladinivcry]

"Sure, Sou it is then." Easy enough. Are they about to smoke right here though? They're thinking about it, but in the end opt out on doing so. Indigo just slides their hands into their pockets and turn to address Sou,

"Definitely not from here." They say with a laugh. "Uh...It's kind of difficult to explain. A normal world where creatures like me exist," In secrecy, "and people with no powers exist. It's weird seeing so many beings from different worlds. You know, you're so used to being the only one who can do things like conjure up fireballs, so seeing others who can do the same or more...It's wild."

Preferring a parasocial approach to spiritualities, Sou nodded in a swift motion and began to squeeze out of the pew and past the aisles. He watched for his acquaintance with glances behind, and once he'd led their escape he crossed his arms over his chest. He leaned against the outer wall of the premises and watched people go by.

"By the way... just Sou is fine. Even better, in fact," He thought it best to nip it in the bud immediately. He couldn't stand hearing others address him as Hiyori, but he couldn't just leave it at Sou either. It had latched on to him like a parasite, but it was still apart of him. "Where did you come from...? There's surely people from all over Spirale that come here, but I don't know about outsiders like me."