poly_chromatic | ♦ ♦ 12th Contract

~~A breach in the City's barrier?~~

[ He's noticed this population-influx in past Network entries. Tourists. Some leave with the weekend, taking Citizens with them. Others stay behind -- semi-replacements. A law of equivalent exchange -- something gained for something lost? ]

[ He doesn't know. ]

[ He's caught between observing the phenomenon up-close, or retreating Underground. But parsing his separate threads of choice, he decides to stay Topside. To, for once, maximize instead of satisfice. There might be familiar faces. There might be outsiders with answers. He wants to learn more about the City. He wants out. ]

[ And solving any problem is predicated on understanding it completely. ]

It's really crowded today, isn't it? [ Li sits in a bustling little caff, enjoying breakfast. He slices into the strawberries with a fork. The juice runs out, dark-red, like blood. He smiles at his device -- calculated, a perfect mix of innocence and sweetness. ] It almost reminds me of rush-hour in Tokyo. But hopefully there's no need for train-tetris or pushmen. It's sort of a Fact Of Life back home. But not everyone here would enjoy that, would they? [ He skates the strawberry around with his fork. Bites into it neatly. ] I wonder how many of these visitors have been here before...?

[OOC: Gimme all the trolling! Gimme! Just please avoid spilling his real identity over the Network :3 ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[and she's quiet on that long, long moment, locating somewhere to sit that isn't near too many people - do not want, do not want - settling as she waits.

there's a smile ready for him (it's him, good, that's- vulnerability but she feels strange). everything is strange, but hei's here.] Hei.

This city works in strange - [strange, strange, strange] - ways, doesn't it?

[ Strange is an understatement. The world pivots and spins as he gets his bearings. Since coming to the City -- no, since the disappearance of Heaven's Gate -- it seems that grief and isolation have turned him dim and stupid. ]

It does. [ A breath, a small swallow. He can't smile. Not yet. He needs to know what point in time she's from. Needs to know if she's real. ] Pai ... What happened just before you arrived here?

[...?] You don't remember?

[bai (xing, yes) doesn't know if that's good or bad - she was inside of him, existing, but here and now she's not and she doesn't know if he remembers the war or making a decision.]

—you had shut down the particle accelerator... [slowly, gently:] do you remember?

[and she sounds confused, as if this is something he should know - because he did it. that was his decision, wasn't it? amber gave herself up for it. for him.]

[ It's nearly impossible to regroup his thoughts, to focus on anything but Pai right here and now. Her words sink in, incomprehensible, and not just because of the shock still seeping like a dark bloodstain through him. ]

Particle accelerator? [ He shakes his head, half-negation, half attempt to focus. ] What do you mean?

[ He hasn't seen her since Heaven's War. Doesn't know anything about Amber's agenda, Evening Primrose's motives, beyond what his mind, warped by misguided hatred, can allow him to think. ]

[what does she mean...? then he doesn't remember. a time discrepancy, then? it could be responsible and therefore blamed, but it wouldn't do anyone much good to assume.

still... it seems pretty clear, and she closes her eyes a moment to think. she doesn't open them again - blue, blue, blue - before she's ready to speak, having given her brother a moment.]

...what's the last thing that you remember, then? [soft, even as she wonders what's happened herself and doesn't... answer his question, not right away. goodness.]

[ While she pauses, he tries to marshal his shock. But he can't move, is just his two staring eyes. Taking her in whole, without blinking, like a camera. Her question jolts him out of it. The last thing I remember? ]

[ In Heaven's War? Or before the City took him? He hesitates, then answers both. ]

In South America ... Amber had given you something. A meteor shard. [ One that unbalanced all the Contractor's abilities, pitting them against each other. That made his sister -- nearly half a continent -- vanish in a wave of blinding light. ] And before entering the City, I'd completed a mission in Tokyo. [ Or sabotaged one, to help Kenji and his Doll escape. ]

[ ... A dry swallow. Then, urgent, ] Pai [ Xing ] We should meet up. [ I need to see you. ]

♦ ♦ 12th Contract

Private|Unhackable SKDGSKAG oh baw hei :(

Re: Private|Unhackable He will be sadfacing for days afterward ;;

Private|Unhackable oh no ;;; i'm sorry ;;;;; also i'm sorry RUSTY MOE IS RUSTY

Private|Unhackable Don't be sorry, I'm loving it<33

Private|Unhackable lskvjaoi yayyyy <333

Private|Unhackable chus~<3333