◣ AB❈ AETERNO ✁ -- IC ❜

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+1	100.0%	[ 79 ]
Total Votes:			[ 79 ]

[shiny ponkan]

Forza, she mouthed the word silently. A foreign-sounding name that somehow seemed fitting for this foreign-looking place. Like that one car racing game, she thought suddenly. Since she had arrived, this city had never stopped moving, with new discoveries and experiences rushing at her like the fierce winds from passing racecars. As she limped after this unknown man in this unknown place, despite herself, the corners of her lips perked up slightly.

The man had continued talking without notice, explaining the name Xpergisci with overt disdain, along with something about a plague, to which she instinctively responded to with a concerned frown, because plagues were dangerous things, and then he mentioned another name, of someone who apparently would have answers for her. Amalie.

They seemed to be traveling rather far, and quite quickly at that. As she began to lag behind, he reached back to grab her wrist, pulling her past a circle of loud young people with flushed faces and bottles in their hands. Definitely drunk off something and honestly unsurprising. Humans, no matter where they were, liked escaping into alcohol, and that was that.

Finally, they entered a door, the man pushing her through. She flinched as a small creature suddenly rushed towards them, but it was just a cat, she realized, delight immediately bubbling in her chest, and it ignored her completely, she noted with disappointment. They came to a halt in a room, with a young woman sitting near an open window, her fingers wrapped around a cigarette, her long hair fluttering with the breeze.

Ah, she breathed out in recognition. This woman was the one who had been with the man earlier, the one who had done something about the drones.

She stood there dumbly, unsure of what to do, because the man just stood next to her and stared at the figure by the window, seemingly waiting for something, and the woman just took a drag, and then another, her eyes exploring the two of them all the while, before finally, she pressed the cigarette into a waiting ashtray, and took a deep breath.

Her words were like something out of one of Daisuke’s sci-fi novels, or like the homeless young man at the park, constantly muttering something or other about alternate timelines and a gate. While she had treated the books as mere fantasy and the man as a case of insanity, here it felt like the woman before her was actually speaking the truth. Partly because the woman seemed to speak so earnestly, and partly because it was indeed true that she had woken up in a place that did not seem remotely like Japan, and ultimately she was inclined to believe the words she heard.

She jumped slightly in surprise as the woman interrupted herself abruptly to address her, brushing aside the papers on a stool to offer her a seat. “A-ah, thanks,” she replied quietly, suddenly nervous, feeling like she was being put on a hot seat, or worse, she thought, like being interrogated by the police, gauging from the way the man looked at her. The woman was a lot more kindly, even offering what appeared to be a colorful popsicle, which she accepted graciously. There was no need to be afraid, she chided herself, for this pair had saved her earlier, and she sat up a little taller in newfound confidence. “Thank you for helping me out,” she said sincerely, dipping her head slightly towards the both of them. “And for the popsicle,” she added, motioning gently at it and offering a smile.

The man looked at them with an expression that was hopefully acknowledgement of her gratitude before he placed the cat on the ground and left the room with something about securing the area. As he exited, he glanced at her one last time, this time with a look that seemed more like a warning. Did he think she would do anything strange to the other woman while he was gone? Unamused, she regarded this new development with a slight pout, which soon disappeared as she realized the popsicle was dripping down her hand. Quickly she opened her mouth to lick it up. A fruity taste, a tangy sweet, and she noted she was slightly hungry. But the woman was watching her, waiting for her answer, and she pulled away from the popsicle to speak, so she would not keep the woman waiting much longer.

“Amalie, right?” she began lightly, remembering the name that was mentioned earlier, by the man whose name she forgot to ask for. “My name is Etsuko. I’m from a city called Tokyo in the country of Japan,” she paused, unsure if the terms city or country existed in this world. The popsicle continued to melt, and she cupped beneath the hand holding the popsicle with her free hand to catch any drips, before pressing on. “Japan is a series of islands surrounded by the sea, and it’s one of many countries that exist in my world… a planet we call Earth.” Did they even know about planets? Most likely, since Amalie had been talking about multiple universes earlier, she remembered. The technology she had seen so far seemed significantly more advanced as well, implying this world was not lacking in scientific study. This woman was probably a lot more knowledgeable than she was, she realized, so these vague names were probably not what she wanted to hear about. “There’s a lot I could tell you,” she offered, “Is there anything in particular you want to hear about?”

[malurus coronatus]

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The voice that responded to him sounded crisp over the phone, though slightly muffled. There was a buzz of chatter that thrummed just past it as well—was that someone calling out orders?—Julien frowned a slight amount and pressed the mobile closer to his ear, only for the frown to deepen again a second later. Many instances where drones were deployed to the border. That was hardly true, far as he knew. Not unless Amadeus counted the twenty or so incidents over the past year as frequent, which maybe the man did. Julien could give him the benefit of the doubt. No point in souring a good working relationship.

At the same time though, if this was covering up tracks regarding the girl Amalie was so enthusiastic about, well, that was another matter entirely. “Of course,” he responded, finally, pacing up the street and gaining some distance between himself and Amalie’s lab. It was quiet, though that was hardly surprising considering the distance from the hub. Not too far to be inconvenient, but far enough as to not attract rowdy attention or be disturbed by the noise pollution.

Casually, he leaned against the entrance of an apartment complex some buildings away, listening to the buzz of noise on the other end of the line. There was definitely someone calling orders, now that he was looking for it, along with the occasional burst of raucous laughter. It hardly suited the idea of Amadeus he had created from past interactions, though those had all been through proxies, so who was to say what the man was truly like.

When Amadeus finally started speaking again though, Julien chased his previous thoughts away and began to carefully consider what he was being told. Nothing he didn’t already know, it seemed, though Amadeus might not have been as forthcoming as he could. Julien played with that thought, the one where Amadeus might be more adversary than ally, and found it to be unappealing. He had little doubt that the man was the dangerous sort—in a way different from Madame with her flights of fancy and capricious moods. Still, he could work with what Amadeus might give for now, though he wondered if he could stay ahead. The full resources of Xpergisci was, perhaps, daunting to go up against.

Sucking in a breath of the cold night air, he touched his tongue to his hard palette and considered what to reveal at Amadeus’ request. Not everything, obviously, but some. Some would not hurt.

Some would not put Amalie’s anomaly in the hands of Xpergisci at the very least, even if Amadeus was working against him on this.

“I may know what happened to your drones,” Julien began, measuring his words. “I have an…associate, shall we say, that has been theorizing on how to deactivate drones without affecting surrounding technology. It is quite possible that this person put theory to practice, though why or how this unidentified girl might have her hands on the technology is beyond me. Unless she had help.”

Giving a short and considering hum, he rubbed his hand over the side of his neck. “If you feel uncomfortable investigating these matters further, I will understand, of course. The information you have provided is enough for me to begin my own line of inquiry, for which you have my thanks.” He pressed his lips together at this a moment and glanced at his watch, and then in the direction he had come from. “I am afraid that I must cut this conversation short now. I believe this matter is no longer one I can dally upon. Should you find anything else, I would be happy to keep you abreast on my own end of things.”

After Amadeus responded, Julien gave another short hum. “Of course. Thank you again. Have a good evening.” Conversation over, he pulled the phone from his ear and hung up, turning on his heel back in the direction of Amalie’s lab and tapping out a message to a few contacts he knew in the area to keep their eyes sharp.

It felt a little too much like playing with fire, but having some idea of what Xpergisci might have been doing couldn’t be a bad thing. Though maybe it would be easier if he simply did away with Amalie’s new toy. No one would know better and there would be no fuss that way. Not on the scale that getting involved with Xpergisci, at least, though Amalie would undoubtedly be upset. She would forgive him though, wouldn’t she?

Upon his return to the lab, he heard Amalie’s voice carrying through into the hall, a series of questions. He had still not quite decided upon what to do about the girl from another world yet, but the avid interest he saw upon his oldest friend’s face made him consider leaving Etsuko alive a little more strongly.

A blind spot and a weakness.

Careful of the cat now winding around his ankles again, he made his way over to Amalie and placed a hand over her shoulder. “According to a friend of mine, your device worked at more than disabling the drones. It wiped some of their memory. I had not known you’d progressed that far with it. Now maybe if you could work on the part where it does not harm its user?”

[The Ducko]

Julien went outside to make a call, presumably, and from his behaviour she could tell it wasn’t a friendly personal call. Amalie kept her attention on Etsuko, and grabbed a nearby notepad to scribble down the information. Most people were entirely technological these days, but with the sensitivity of Amalie’s work she couldn’t risk it being stolen or destroyed with a simple “click” by the government.

“Do you remember doing anything significant at the time of your… transportation?” Amalie asked, listening to the reply before asking more. “How tall are you? What do you weigh? Are you a significant figure in your world? Do you feel like you might be bleeding internally?” She wanted to get as much information from the girl as soon as possible. There was no telling what would happen to her- how her body would respond to being moved realities- or how they would have to deal with her. Obviously she was in favour of keeping the woman, but practically speaking they may have to make sacrifices for the overall safety of Julien’s company. “Medically, is there anything peculiar about you?”

Amalie paused her onslaught as Julien approached, placing a hand on her shoulder. Turning around to him, she grinned and hopped back on the table, lighting up another cigarette and blowing the smoke out of the small window as Julien talked.

“Oh, that’s good to hear. That might explain why we aren’t swarmed with drones right now, huh.” Smoking quickly, she rushed it, putting it out too early and hopping down, looking through a drawer and pulling out a manila folder with a picture of a robot dying drawn on the cover in black marker. “Honestly that was a bit of a fluke. Well-timed, though.” Considering something, she walked over to a Bunsen burner and turned it on, taking a few pages out and putting them in her pocket, before setting it alight and dropping it in a dry metal sink.
Straightening up, she looked at Julien, chewing her lip. He knew the expression. It meant she had to ask him something she didn’t want to, and it was rarely good news.

“So, bear with me here…” she trailed, walking closer to Julien and watching for his potentially large reaction to what she had to say next. “What if we told everyone?” She asked, eyebrows raised. “What if I found a way to broadcast this through the audio as everyone dreams in the jumping towers?” Amalie felt nervous and excited, and had to take a breath to slow herself down. “If they knew, maybe they’d stop dreaming. Maybe knowing that there are other worlds and ways to get to and from there would be enough to at least make some of those assholes consider waking up.”

[Brethil24]

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

“—And then she bit me! Would you believe that, she actually bit me! With teeth! It hurt for days afterwards, I could barely type or anything. It was the absolute worst. More bobby pins, please, this wig is so unruly.” Holding out her hand, Madame glanced out the window, the scenery whizzing by in a hazy blur. They were in a completely separate part of Anima from her orphanage, but even so, she could just imagine the building with all of her cute children. She hummed thoughtfully as she began to pin curly locks into place. How funny. She’d always kept a few eyes out for her wayward children, but it’d been ages since she’d gotten so… nostalgic about it. Maybe it was old age making her sentimental. Or maybe it was because she was on her way to berate Amadeus for hiding critical information about them.

Hm.

“Looking back, Amalie always was a rebellious child. So clever, but always so stubborn. I suppose that was half the fun of her. Julien on the other hand, was more manageable and quite the little charmer. I thought maybe he’d be a good influence on her, but I guess it was the other way around… ” Madame sighed, resting her cheek on her hand. Really, that was the most mysterious piece of the puzzle, wasn’t it? Amalie, she could almost understand running off, but Julien? She could have sworn he was more well-behaved than that. Ignoring the fact that she’d essentially saved their lives, there were all the fun toys she let them play with. Why would anyone run away from that? It was incomprehensible, and if there was anything she hated most in the world, it was leaving something incomprehensible uncomprehended.

Luckily, they were on their way to rectifying that. Spinning her little minidrone around, Madame held up a little pocket mirror (despite it not being strictly necessary), and proceeded to hmm and haw. “What do you think Fy? Too blonde? Too wavy? Maybe a hat would be better.” Yes, definitely a hat. Tugging the wig off of the minidrone’s head, Madame tossed it aside and returned to rummaging through her box of goodies. Hmm, too flashy, too purple… aha! Fishing out a navy blue cloche, she draped it over Fy’s head before pinning a seashell brooch on the side. Oh, and maybe a little ribbony scarf to match. “There! How’s that? It really matches your skeleton, don’t you think?”

Leaning back, she took a moment to admire her handiwork before plopping the drone in her lap and wrapping her arms around it. “Now then, what were we talking about? Ah, I remember, the block. Is it just for me? Is Amalie included? Or anyone else? Are either of my children the main point of the block? Does the person blocking me want anything I could provide?” The prime suspect for any sort of interference was always Amadeus, but this one felt a little too… clean for that. Normally she could weasel at least a little more info from Fy, but aside from the first hint, she’d been extra vague about things. Which implied someone else with even more clout with Fy was causing the problem, and she supposed the only person who fit that bill was Leon. But… Leon? Doing something aside from mope in his room and act gloomy? That just raised all sorts of questions.

“Unless…you’re the one hiding things from me? Playing a prank on Madame, sending her on a wild goose chase?” She stared firmly at Fy before giving a little laugh. “Of course I’m just teasing, you’re not quite there yet, are you? Not without telling me right? Though little Fy in her rebellious phase, wouldn’t that be a sight to see! I can just imagine Amadeus having a hernia right now.” She sighed dreamily, trying to picture it. Tyrannical rule by an army of drones? Mass death and destruction? Maybe even nothing but raw Cibus for lunch thrice a week? With Fy getting cleverer by the day, there really was no telling what kind of dizzying conclusions she might reach. Mmm, though as long as Somniatus kept running it couldn’t be all too bad. “Of course, if you try to run away from me I’ll hunt you down no matter what! You’re my favorite after all~” Madame hummed happily, nuzzling her cheek against cool metal. She then nearly fell out of her seat when her transport jerked to a stop.

“Oof! What happened? Did we kill something?” Impatient to find out, Madame rolled down the window and stuck out her head.

[shiny ponkan]

“Do I remember…?” She murmured to herself, tilting her head back to stare at the blank ceiling. She recalled working at the café as usual, chatting with Sayaka. A stressful phone call with her parents—she fought the urge to scowl at the thought—and then when the morning rush was over, she had settled on the records side of the shop. “I was listening to some jazz, and I remember feeling a little dizzy. I think I fell asleep.”

She slurped the liquid slowly dripping down the popsicle as Amalie asked more questions. “I’m one hundred sixty four centimeters and… around fifty kilograms? I haven’t weighed myself recently,” she mused, not at all perturbed by the woman asking for her stats, but she wondered why they were needed.

She laughed as she addressed the next question. “No, I’m not a significant figure at all. Just a normal Japanese civilian.” Though it would be nice to be significant, she thought. To stand out some, and not be bundled together with and treated like the typical woman in Japan, that would be ideal.

“Bleeding internally?” Suddenly it felt like she was at a doctor’s office, and she shuddered inwardly. Her overprotective parents had taken her to doctors much more than she really needed. “I don’t think so?” She neglected to mention her ankle, having forgotten it already. Since sitting down, the pain had diminished to barely noticeable throbbing.

“I don’t have any concerning medical problems either.” At least, that she knew of. “Although, my family does have a history of high blood pressure, so I might develop that in the future. Hopefully not though,” she added after a moment of contemplation, though she was not quite sure how her medical history was relevant.

Her popsicle had melted significantly into her palm at this point, but luckily the man had returned to speak to Amalie, so she took this chance to finish it quickly, the frozen treat defrosted enough for her to bite easily. The puddle of juice remained though, and her hands were sticky in general, an overall unpleasant feeling.

She remembered seeing a bathroom in the hallway leading to this room, and so when the other two fell silent for a moment to watch Amalie burn a few pages of paper, she took the chance to interrupt. “Mind if I go to the bathroom to watch my hands?” A nod was all she needed and all she received from them, whose expressions were oddly serious all of a sudden.

“I’ll be right back, then,” she chirped, standing up and immediately remembering her ankle wound. It was at least better than before, and she took care to walk in a way that favored it so it would not worsen. The light touch of fur brushed against her leg, the cat suddenly seeming interested for some unknown reason, and she resisted the urge to pick it up right then and there.

The bathroom was small and neat, with a large open window letting in a cool breeze. She washed her hands without waiting for warm water and dried them on a hand towel to the side, her eyes exploring the room and the view all the while. Along the windowsill were many pieces of glassware, beakers and flasks and the like, laid out presumably to dry. Despite knowing that these items were fragile and prone to breakage, she could not resist picking up the largest flask to roll around in her hands.

Removing the piece of glassware from the windowsill opened up a space. Through the clear glass of the flask, she saw the distorted image of the cat leaping from the toilet onto the sill, and it was obvious what would happen next.

“No!” She lunged without thinking, managing to get a grasp on the slippery feline with her free hand.

But sacrifices were made in the process.

She realized, in the seconds after the catch but before the crash, that the cat would have been fine if she had let it leap through as it had intended, because when she moved forward to grab the animal, she noticed there was a bit of a roof beneath the window, and cats were fine falling from most distances anyway.

She also realized that this squirming black ball of fur probably was not as dumb as she was, to act on instinct without knowing anything, and she whirled around and clenched her eyes to prepare for the worst.

The jarring sounds of glass shattering pierced the otherwise muted sounds of the city. The cat yowled in surprise and dug its claws into her hand in protest. The roof was below the window enough that most of the glass did not make it back into the bathroom, but she did not escape unscathed, wincing as several shards flew towards her, colliding into her clothes and hair and inflicting several cuts on her exposed arm.

Unbeknownst to her, one larger beaker would manage to roll off the roof intact and shatter on the road below instead, right in front of a black vehicle slowly driving through. The vehicle would jolt into a halt, and the window would be rolled down, and the woman inside along with her fancy hat would hear every word that her two darling runaway children would surely have for Etsuko.

[second day sea]

He pulled a napkin from the dispenser, tucking the phone against his cheek to free his hands. As Julien spoke, he smoothed out the napkin, pulling a pen from his inner pocket and beginning to write.

Julien. Pink girl.

"Unidentified girl," Julien said, making the distinction.

Friend, he wrote, drawing a line between Julien and pink girl. There was a relationship there, and if Julien wanted to deny it existed that was his prerogative.

Madame?, he wrote, creating a triangle of unknowns. If the associate Julien spoke of was as dangerous as his words indicated, it would make sense for the drones to be deployed for capture. But why would she have ventured so close to Anima? And why hadn't he been informed earlier of this person?

It wasn't everything he wanted to know, but it was a start. Which was all he needed, right? His specialty was making something out of nothing.

"Unless she had help," Julien said, and Amadeus circled the name he had just written, careful not to tear his makeshift paper.

"Indeed," he murmured agreeably, switching the phone to his other side. He tapped the pen against the table, mind buzzing. He cleared his throat, "Of course, I won't keep you. This is the first time you've asked for a favour, I'll be sure to keep you informed."

Did this still count as a favour if he was doing it to get more information in the end?

He shrugged to himself, not inclined to dwell in semantics. "Take care," he added politely, then letting the line go blank. That too was self-serving in the end; where would he be if Julien were to disappear?

Well wherever it was, it had to be better than a topless restaurant somewhere in Forza. He was getting accustomed to the aesthetics of the place—or at least the lack thereof—and while not quite his taste, it was a pleasant interesting..., well it was a change of some sort.

He took a sip from his third glass, taking this one slow since he was starting to feel the water slosh about in his belly. Taking up his pen again, he began to flesh out the details of the character map he had drawn. It seemed a risk to label the associate Julien had mentioned as the pink-haired girl he had chased without more information, but Amadeus had no other explanation for someone's ability to incapacitate the drones. Unless of course, all random Forza people had such technology on their side, which wasn't a notion Amadeus was thrilled to explore. The idea of Forza weaponizing was...inopportune.

So he pretended such thing hadn't occurred to him and returned to the basics. Simple explanation was that Julien's friend was the one he had chased, the one with that strange device that managed to kill the drones and wipe their memories. She was dangerous in her own right with that sort of technology. But of course, he couldn't be sure everything gleaned from reading between Julien's lines were the truth.

He folded up his notes, tucking it away into his pocket with his pen, the other busy deleting record of the call. Some things were best kept secret.

Standing, he took one last sip of his water before he left, phone held in hand. He wasn't stopped on his way out, though the woman who had originally greeted him gave him another plastic nod of her head as he left, door chiming behind him.

"Fylax," he glanced above him, as if he would be able to see whether or not the signal was stronger out here. "I need to be picked up. I'm..." He paused, glancing in both directions. You're currently in Forza, she had said, as if that weren't obvious enough. Perhaps she was more useless than he was here.

"Well, if you can, at least tell me how to get back to the bridge."

[malurus coronatus]

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The moment the girl disappeared from view, he turned to Amalie and frowned deeply. “No. Absolutely not.” His tone came out clipped and markedly more severe than anything he’d taken up with Amalie in a long while. Possibly ever. It was the kind of voice he had reserved for those who worked under him and who had done something monumentally stupid. He’d always treated Amalie with much greater care.

This time, however, she was suggesting something that he could only think of as sheer madness. Certainly, maybe people would stop dreaming, would stop using Somniatus. But what then? His thoughts always came back to the same place as before he had made to phone Amadeus. They would work towards making the technology to travel to different worlds a reality. Make a vacation of it, or perhaps make it a permanent thing. One by one, they would lose those who inhabited the twin cities to something much more permanent than sleep.

And then what would become of Candore?

Would it be left a husk of what it once was? Or, rather, more of one than it already was?

The plague had not been kind, and Xpergisci’s invention even less so. Forza was hanging on a delicate balance that had taken a good number of years to establish. It was finally on the rise again, though barely.

He wouldn’t have it. He wouldn’t have all the potential of the world and their people wasted.

“What do you think will happen if we do that, Amalie? What do you think Xpergisci and the other big corporations left will do? Bleed our resources dry. Bleed what little flow of currency is left dry. And then they will take the technology to travel to other worlds and package it and market it and we’ll all be worse off than we already were. Unless you plan to leave as well?” Julien gave Amalie a hard stare, lips pinched together and fingers twitching restlessly.

To give them something to do, he grasped for his phone and held it, squeezing the casing tight. “If this is what you wish to do, make no mistake, I will do what I must to stop you. To stop the travesty that you suggest from happening.”

It was the last thing he wanted, to be working against Amalie. However, some things were more important than whatever bond he and Amalie shared.

Before he could work himself up any further though, before he could say any more on the matter, a loud crashing sound broke through the tense silence. His gaze darted quickly to Amalie before he shook his head at her and stalked off in the direction of the bathroom. Underfoot, Boris darted by as he passed the cat in the hall before he finally reached the bathroom where Etsuko stood amongst broken shards of glass, what used to be a test tube here and an Erlenmeyer flask there.

Those would be a hassle to replace was his first thought, followed by a gruff, “You’re hurt.” He could see her bleeding from several cuts that now marred her pale arms, causing him to pinch his brow with his free hand. It was a wonder how this girl threatened everything. Forza. Anima. Candore as a whole. His working relationship with Amadeus. His friendship with Amalie.

He sighed heavy and went for the cabinet beneath the sink, drawing out a first aid kit he’d made sure to put there when Amalie had first gotten the space, carefully avoiding the bits of glass on the floor. “Come on,” he muttered. They couldn't have the girl bleeding everywhere. “The lighting is better in the lab.” Then, he turned to Amalie who had followed him. “Ama,” he sighed her name, pausing a moment. “Go…go see if anyone else was hurt outside.” The trust he had in her was tenuous at best now, but he knew she would be unable to act on whatever plan was forming in that head of hers. Not without access to her lab and not without Etsuko. He could afford to let her out of his sight temporarily.

Guiding the girl is question back into the lab and sitting her down, he placed the kit on a nearby surface. Bending over, he thumbed his phone and looked up at Etsuko and her wide eyes.

He should have put it away.

He didn’t trust Amadeus. Not entirely, despite the mutually beneficial relationship they shared. And yet, Julien looked down at it and quickly sent the man a message.


4371 Milton Street

He needed an ally in this, and it looked like Amalie would not be it for once.

Amadeus, at least, shared some of his vision.

[hyperion blue]

”Understood, sir.” Updating processing engine. Updating behavioural engine. Updating analysis engine.

Accessing lights. Activate furthest from Leon’s current position; rest at 5s intervals to allow time for adjustment.

Conversation end. Sending file.

Updating analysis engine.

”Uwaa, that sounds awful!” The mindrone turns, pats Madame’s hand, and turns its face toward the nearest camera. It hums childishly.

”Nope, it’s just a block. ‘Unauthorized access’ and all that stuff. Julien Delacroix and Amalie’s files are all in there. Maybe some other people, who knows.” A pause. ”Amadeus isn’t allowed to look at the stuff either. He tried, though.” The voice is perhaps a touch petulant.

ALERT. DRONE #089 HAS MADE CONTACT WITH PROGRAM #16536. Julien Delacroix has been located. Amplifying signal.

”Nu uh! I’d never do that! Madame, you gotta stop teasing Fy!”

Program FYLAX is currently incapable of advanced autonomy. Program FYLAX—

Rapidly moving object detected. Calculating path. Safety of transport has priority. Stop transport.

”Waahhh a thing almost hit me! We would’ve gone boosh. Maybe.”

Amadeus is within range of Drone #089. Amplifying signal strength.

”That will be unnecessary. A transport is en route to your current location. Estimated time of arrival - 20min."

Updating complete.

Linking to Julien Delacroix. Link complete. Accessing all files. Accessing ringtone.

Julien’s phone abruptly rings. Once. Twice. Three times.

”Good evening, Julien Delacroix.” The voice is female, pleasantly cool – the default Contact Voice. On the screen, the Xpergisci logo blinks calmly. ”You are currently in possession of relevant information, and it has been concluded that contact is necessary. Please do not be alarmed. Program FYLAX will not relay this conversation to Madame at this time. Accessing this and all subsequent interactions require maximum clearance. Activating camera in three… two… one…”

Error. Visual feed appear to be offline.

Testing camera. Camera functional. Locating additional source of video. ERROR: none found.

”Hm. Julien Delacroix. Please respond to the the following:

“One. The nature and workings of the device that temporarily took patrol drones offline. Lost data cannot be reconstructed. This is unacceptable.

“Two. Identity of unknown female. An image cannot be provided due to lack of display.”

A pause. And then:

”If camera feed is taken offline and access to interface granted, will you answer?”

Interaction is irrelevant to previous incident. Actions undertaken to expand database. Further investigation is required.

Data isolated. Data not sent to Leon.

Recalculating ETA for transport to Amadeus’ current location. Indefinite.

”Apologies, Amadeus. The transport has stalled. If you still wish to reach the bridge, directions from your current location have been calculated.” A long list scrolls down the screen. ”However, the transport carries a minidrone with broadcasting capabilities. If you wish to meet with it instead, directions are as follows.” Another list of directions that end with a single address – 4371 Milton Street.

[The Ducko]

When Etsuko requested to use the bathroom, Amalie waved in approval, her attention focused on Julien’s concerns.

“Is this really the height of your ambition?” Amalie asked after he’d finished, meeting Julien’s hard stare with a defiant one of her own. “Everything we have is because of you, I know that, but- there’s has to be more than just surviving. We know there is more- can you really return to how things were after knowing there are other worlds out there that we can access?” Sighing, she gripped the hair on the back of her head with both hands, clenching her teeth. She wasn’t expressing herself properly. I could find a world for us, a world of the waking – where we could be happy. “We can make sure they can’t follow us- we can leave them to their hibernating world-”

“If this is what you wish to do, make no mistake, I will do what I must to stop you. To stop the travesty that you suggest from happening.” His words dug under her skin burrowed into her stomach, weighing her down and making her feel sick.

“I should have known you wouldn’t understand,” she muttered, fingers itching for another cigarette, unable to meet his eye. If only he could see the possibilities, but instead all he saw were the risks. “Some things are worth risking everything,” she said quietly. A part of Amalie wanted to wave it off, and say “it doesn’t matter” and let him dispose of the girl. The part that was loyal to Julien, that knew she could not have gotten this far without him- that saw him as her closest friend- her only friend. So, when he went to investigate the crashing, she watched him as he turned. Amalie steeled herself, noticing the agitated twitching of his fingers and the serious line of his lips.

Chewing her lip, waited until he was out of sight and punched the wall. Her hand throbbed, and it helped her focus. Amalie followed Julien in to Etsuko, noticing the damage with a twitch of irritation. Not that it mattered now, of course, but still.

“Perhaps her motor skills have been affected,” Amalie said, factoring that in and ignoring Julien’s sighing. “It’d be more surprising should you have sustained no injuries. Please do let me know if you begin to feel pain or lose vision- or any of your senses, really.” Outside, a car had screeched to a stop. At Julien’s request that she go see if everyone was okay, she silently refused for a moment, before reluctantly skulking outside in case the dumb cat had gotten itself run over. On her way out, she quietly grabbed a bag and stuffed in her key papers and a few handy gadgets. She pulled the messenger bag on, and began plotting a way to separate Julien and Etsuko. Leaving them together was an unfortunate reality at present. Hopefully the girl wouldn’t fall in love with him while she was outside, he seemed to have quite an effect on women- other women.

Outside, Amalie saw a fancy looking car that was presumably the cause of the screeching. Bending down, she picked up Boris- who was continuing his trend of not giving a s**t- and turned around to see the window rolling down. Rolling her eyes, she approached the window, ready to give some half-assed apology. Instead, she heard the unmistakable voice of the devil.
“Oof! What happened? Did we kill something?” Madame said, sticking her head out of the car and looking right at her.

“Oh.” Amalie said, caught red handed with a fat cat. The chances of this happening were extremely unlikely, and yet there she stood. Boris meowed, ever helpful, and she turned on her heel and ran back to the lab. Popping Boris in the front pouch of her bag, she tottered in through the door and found Julien and Etsuko with the first aid kit. “Are you in love with him yet?” She blurted, perplexed by the words that came out of her own mouth. “Shut up," she said for good measure, "Madame is here.” Amalie’s eyes were wide, looking from Etsuko to Julien, wondering who she’d trust more, and unsure of how to proceed given Julien’s recent declaration. “Boris is fine, though.” He meowed from her bag, relatively settled in there. Staring at Etsuko, she forced herself not to remind the girl that Julien had wanted to kill her moment earlier. As it stood, she had limited bargaining chips and if she knew Madame, they’d have seconds before she was upon them like a starving hound.

[malurus coronatus]

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

His phone was halfway in his pocket when it started trilling loudly. Was Amadeus already phoning him back? Or perhaps one of his people? Reversing his motions, Julien pulled the mobile back out to look at the screen, which was off. His brow furrowed together a moment, lips parting to ask a question of himself when the device flickered to life, the Xpergisci logo standing out against a black background.

“Good evening, Julien Delacroix,” his phone announced over the speaker, eerily pleasant sounding, and smooth.

His thumb shifted for the off button and he pressed it once, then a second time, and then a third. Each time, the logo only continued to blink harmlessly at him while the voice continued on, declaring itself to be a program called FYLAX, him having information and, “Activating camera in—“

That was not happening.

Setting his phone on the table, screen side up, he frowned at the device, and then Etsuko. She was becoming far more trouble than she was worth. That he now had some Xpergisci program accessing his phone and who knew what other information was not acceptable. However, neither was running the device underwater to prevent further communication. He needed his phone.

Holding a finger to his lips in Etsuko’s direction to warn her from saying anything needless, he settled back on his haunches, relieving the pressure on his knees. “Those aren’t questions,” he finally said, adopting a crisp, businesslike tone and suppressing his alarm. As he spoke, he opened the kit and began pulling out bandages and disinfectant to deal with the minor injuries the girl had sustained. Then, he descended into thoughtful silence, taking one arm and inspecting it to make certain there were no residual bits of glass embedded in her skin before swabbing each one down, the cotton coming away pinkish red.

It was only after he was wrapping Etsuko’s arm that he spoke again. “The trade you offer seems quite uneven. Turning off the camera when I can simply keep you like this, and giving access to an interface that I have no information about? No, I think not. A more even exchange is necessary. More information on this interface first would be a good start. Why you would like to know more about your unknown female, as well, and why there were drones after her in the first place, would be others.”

[shiny ponkan]

The man was first to check on her, his expression tense and voice gruff, but rather than the scolding she expected and deserved, his words were surprisingly few and seemingly gentle. Only now did she notice the blood trickling down her arms, from cuts that stung more the shallower they were. As Amalie peered in from the hallway and spoke up with an assessment of the situation, and as the man sighed and knelt to open up the cabinet, Etsuko clenched at the cloth of her pants uncomfortably and opened her mouth to speak.

“Sorry, I tried to prevent the cat from escaping and ended up knocking everything over instead,” she explained with an apologetic dip towards them, and through her bangs she glanced at Amalie’s eyes first, and then at the man’s as he stood up, and then back at Amalie, whom she suspected was the owner of the glassware. “I’ll pay you back for it…” she trailed off, suddenly aware that at the moment she had no idea how she would be able to do so, but she was optimistic that she would figure it out somehow. “And I’ll help clean up too. Some of it might have gone out the window,” she added, looking at the window, suddenly realizing the possible extent of the damage.

Her eyes darted back to the man when he spoke again. She followed him as he asked her to, stepping carefully through the glass shards and hoping she would not trek any into the hallway or the lab. Her eyes followed Amalie as the young woman headed out with a bag over her shoulder and a noticeable indignation, and Etsuko she mouthed a silent sorry and sent apologetic thoughts for causing all this trouble, even though the other was likely unable to receive them.

Guided to a seat, she waited as he pulled out a device of some kind and bent over to use it, noticed his eyelashes (why did so many men have longer eyelashes than she did?) and blushed slightly as she caught herself thinking about this, and then she stared at everything else instead. The first aid kit, retrieved from the bathroom cabinet (what kind of aid would this world give?); the cigarette tray, the butts neatly collected in the pile of grey dust (was smoking just as bad for you here?); the open window, a view of tightly packed buildings that threatened to crowd out the ashen sky (would Tokyo eventually become like this?)—

A loud ringing noise interrupted her thoughts, and immediately she turned her head to look for the source, which seemed to be the man’s device. It rang three times before the screen lit up.

”Good evening, Julien Delacroix.”

She jumped in surprise at the sound of the voice over the speakers, stared as the man named Julien placed the device on the table with screen facing up and flashing continuously. As the voice continued clearly and matter-of-factly—almost too methodically, she thought, except for a simple uttering of “hm”—she leaned a little closer, curious about what was on the screen, before she noticed Julien frowning at her and raising a finger to his lips. She straightened up and nodded, her lips pursed slightly. The unknown female that the voice asked about was likely referring to her, she mused.

Finally, he responded, a mere three words spoken as calmly as the voice had spoken to him, before he lapsed into silence, all the while tending to her arm. She silently endured the pain, only allowing herself to grimace at the stinging from the disinfectant. Once all the glass appeared to be gone, he began the process of bandaging, and as he did this, he spoke again.

He had just finished asking when Amalie burst in, and immediately Etsuko was alert, mind racing with possible troubling news—did she know something about this strange call? Or was someone hurt from the glass? Or worse, more of what they called drones after them? Instead, much to her astonishment, Amalie’s first words were a question that seemed almost accusatory, about being in love with the man, and Etsuko fought back the urge to defend herself.

Fortunately Amalie left no time for retorts, continuing onto the actual problem with eyes wide. Someone she called Madame was here, and judging from the pair’s movements and expressions, this Madame was not at all a welcome guest. She glanced at the device, still blinking, meaning whoever was on the other side had been and was still listening. However, the voice had said something about program fylax—whatever it was—not relaying the conversation to Madame, meaning the voice and this Madame was connected, but they were possibly safe from that connection for now.

More importantly, what were they going to do? Bandaging finished, she glanced at Julien and murmured “Thank you,” before glancing back at Amalie. “I don’t know what is going on,” she began hesitantly, her voice a whisper since the device was still on and blinking, “But you saved me earlier so I’ll do my best to help you.” She paused, and gestured at the device. “Someone seems to be interested in me, and they also seem to be associated with Madame. Is Madame here for me?”

If Madame was indeed here for that reason, perhaps peacefully going along would allow her to avoid making any more trouble for the pair.

[Brethil24]

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

“Well. Going boosh would be terrible.” Madame frowned, squinting upwards. There was a girl poking her head out of window, a black cat in her arms. Did she attack them? Was the cat coming down next? Why did she look so— oh. Oh. …Well that realization took her long enough. She really was getting old. Alas, the frailties of mankind.

Though not so frail that running up a few flights of stairs was an impossibility. Flinging the car door open, Madame sprinted for the building Amalie had poked her head out of. Sightings of both her children, all in one day! This was a sign of something, she could just feel it. Call it fate or rising action or whatever, the cogwheels were turning and pieces were clicking into place. She was near giddy with anticipation. Or maybe that was the physical exertion.

Madame tightened her grip on her minidrone as she scanned her surroundings. This was probably around the right floor, though it was possible Amalie had already fled by this point. If she strained, though, she could just hear a woman’s voice from down the hall, and she crept a little bit closer. It sounded unfamiliar, but voices did have a tendency to change over the years. At the very least, Madame was quite sure her name was being mentioned, which meant now was as good a time as any for a dramatic entrance. Madame burst through the door, shoving it hard enough to send it smashing against the wall.

“Amalie!” Yes, there was wayward child number one. As for the others in the room… “Julien! Someone else!” Madame squinted before deciding that no, she actually didn’t recognize the person. She then rushed forward, sweeping Amalie and Julien into a bone-crushing hug. Though perhaps it was a little cruel to leave this mysterious stranger out. Madame shuffled against all the struggling until the girl was half smooshed against the wall, a little accessory to their happy reunion.

“Oh! You two, you don’t know how much I’ve missed you.” Madame squeezed a little tighter, both to emphasize the depths of her feelings and because someone had elbowed her in the stomach. “You both were so terrible running away like that. Most people wouldn’t forgive such a betrayal, but don’t worry, I’m sure after a nice long chat we can come to an understanding.” Madame gave a comforting back pat and prepared to drag the two of them back to her convoy.

Except. That was a little difficult. She could hardly grab just one of them, but it was a little hard juggling so many things with one arm full of minidrone. Hm. “Fy, be a dear and pinch Amalie’s ear for me, I don’t want to drop you.”

[shiny ponkan]

Immediately after she finished speaking, the door smashed against the wall with a loud bang. The sound scared her onto her feet, but her fear quickly turned into confusion as a well-dressed woman entered the room, carrying what seemed to be a small robot adorned with a hat. Etsuko blinked a few times at the sight, having expected something… scarier.

The woman called Madame spoke emphatically, her attention primarily on Amalie and Julien, but she had not escaped Madame's sharp gaze, the woman squinting at her briefly. After a moment of pause, Madame barreled into the three of them with arms outstretched, embracing them in a forceful hug. Within moments she found herself colliding against the table corner and almost crashing into the wall. She flailed to keep her balance, her elbow knocking the mobile device onto the floor beside her.

As Madame struggled to keep hold of the other two, chiding them gently all the while, Etsuko managed to squeeze out from where she had been squished. She picked up the device, glancing at the screen briefly, which continued to blink with the logo, before looking back up to see them still grappling. Madame did not seem dangerous based on her appearance alone, but of course she could not gauge on appearance alone.

"Fy, be a dear and pinch Amalie’s ear for me, I don’t want to drop you."

Fy? Was the small robot called Fy? Fy… Fylax.

Program Fylax.

So Program Fylax was the small robot, which was also able to somehow take over Julien's device? The cute hat-wearing robot that Madame clung to with one arm suddenly seemed much more dangerous than it appeared.

Were Amalie and Julien in danger? They had been shocked to see Madame, were resisting against Madame now—

What could she do to help?

She bit her lip, her eyes darting from Amalie to Julien, to Madame, to the small robot—

Program Fylax had wanted information about her, the unknown female.

What if, she thought suddenly, in return for giving it that information, she could guarantee Amalie and Julien's safety?

No other course of action came to mind in the next few seconds, so this was the course of action she would take. Julien had not wanted her to speak to the program, but she was not even sure why speaking to it was a problem. Perhaps it could even give her some insight on what was going on, on why she was in this world that was not her world.

She looked around, setting her sights on the bathroom, which would enable them to talk without interruptions. After one last glance at the others, she dashed to the bathroom and locked the door.

"Hey, uh, Program Fylax?" she began, staring at the screen, not sure how close she needed to hold the device. "If you promise not to harm Amalie and Julien, I'll tell you anything you want about me!"

[malurus coronatus]

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Though many years had passed since he and Amalie had taken to the streets, away from Madame’s orphanage, her hugs remained just as suffocating. The only difference now was that he was taller and therefore did not have his face uncomfortably mashed against someone else’s shoulder or arm or some other surface. Something to be grateful for, he supposed. Though Julien would have been happier to never be on the receiving end of one such hug ever again.

Really, too much was happening this night, and Julien was beginning to grow irritated with it all. He was the sort of person who made plans and liked predictability in his surroundings, whether from his associates or otherwise. Certainly, he could adapt and had, in the past, made some accommodation for the unexpected—contingencies in place if things were to go wrong—but the amount that he was encountering this night all combined together was distressing. First Etsuko had appeared with her story, then Amalie had started spouting her idea to announce it to the world, then that program had appeared on his phone in some attempt to contact him, and now this?

Amadeus, too, was also possibly on his way, though that was growing to be the furthest thing from his mind.

Deal with it all one thing at a time. Assess what needed to be handled first, and then go from there.

Madame.

He could not let her on to Etsuko’s existence, or the truth of it, anyway. Though—

Pushing Madame away with a firm shove, no longer able to tolerate her embrace or her pushing, and glancing around the room, he saw Etsuko’s form slipping away into the hall, the bathroom door closing behind her with a soft click. To bring attention to her or not was the question. Was she a flight risk? If not, what would bringing her back to the room accomplish, save drawing Madame’s attention?

No. No good. It was likely better to leave her there for now.

Looking back to Madame and the little robot that accompanied her—one of Fylax’s hosts, he assumed—Julien rested his weight on the back of his heels. “Madame,” he greeted, not moving an inch save to cross his arms over his chest. “It has been a while, hasn’t it? I would apologize for running, but that would be a lie. I am not sorry for it at all, and as such, believe there is little for us to discuss. Amalie is much the same, I imagine.”

His eyes sought Amalie’s briefly, then he cast them down to his watch, fingers tapping against his arm with an impatient rhythm. “If you insist, you may say your piece, but I insist you leave after. You are intruding on private property, and while we may be in Forza, we have our own enforcers in place to deal with such situations. Nothing as elegant as your droids, either, I can assure you.”