| Oh, for crying out loud... | ||
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In response to that, Crux doesn't make Gegoshi's 'job' any harder. He's happy to be helped through, and landing on something familiar is a good feeling. "...Sixty hours, hmm? I can rest pretty decently during that time, and still get you the locations you need." He looks at her curiously, and wonders what she'll do while he rests. "... You can make yourself at home in the house, if you'd like, but please don't stray from it. There's a lot of things that aren't prepared for company." Gegoshi nods quickly and will lead Crux to...well, if there's a sleeping mat around here somewhere, he gets put there, if not, she'll just synth one out of the floor for him! She kneels down, resting her hands on her legs, half-folding her wings around herself. "As you desire." She says cheerfully, looking around quickly then, to check if it's clean in her or not. The house is actually immaculately clean, and it's hard to tell if it's just that it's been frequently cleaned, or if it's simply had no dust or other similar things to gather upon it. In truth, any inspection of the house beyond simple glancing will reveal that it's not very old at all, in terms of how fresh the construction is. Little imperfections in the floor and doors indicate that it was well lived in, and the double-width sleeping mat that Gegoshi first comes upon in the largest bedroom would indicate it was lived in by a family, or at least a husband and wife. Once Crux is laid down upon it, he'll close his eyes rather quickly, and nod off, with a simple "...Sorry for the wait." ... Well at least he's polite. It will be several hours before he wakes up again, if he's not disturbed. Gegoshi makes notes of where everything is in the house as she walks through it with Crux. Not a thing to clean! What will she do while Crux sleeps? Watch over him! She'll sit there, waiting, running through prior conversations she has had with Crux and general encounters, trying to figure out what his preferences would be, since he keeps refusing to tell her. Well, maybe when he wakes up and finishes making the deal with The Core. For now, she just sits and waits! It's not like patience is a problem with her. Since there's not much to do, and Gegoshi has quite a lot of patience, Crux takes exactly three hours and forty seven minutes to wake up, give or take some seconds. He sleeps pretty peacefully, and does actually look at ease during that time. It's worth noting, because he doesn't pretty much /ever/ look peaceful otherwise. Even though he's usually wearing a casual expression, it's not the same. When his eyes finally open, though, they open slowly, and he makes a small sound. This house... Oh, but Gegoshi's here, it's not when it was his home. "... Hrm." He was a little more articulate when he woke up last time. Not, you know, a lot, but a little. "...How long was I out? And when did you change into a kimono?" ... He didn't notice when she was carrying him? Must've been pretty out of it. Gegoshi tilts her head to the side with an amused smile! "Three hours and forty seven minutes, I changed after crossing the threshold into your home, Crux-sama." She says, bowing her head! "May I make you breakfast? Or would you prefer to set your preferences now so we can have better experiences with each other in the future?" She asks, peering up through eyelashes much longer than her usual ones. "Crux... sama... is it?" The advent tilts his head to the side a bit, and then shakes his head a bit. "No... I don't think that name suits me, but thank you for the effort." Crux takes a moment before getting up, still looking just a tiny bit tired. At least he told her /something/ to help set some preferences. That's what she's been trying this whole time, after all. "... I'm feeling a bit better, now. Thanks for your patience." He looks around for a few moments, and then sighs a bit as he notes the room they're in, and the mat he was sleeping on. He doesn't say anything to explain why, though, simply standing up. "... I don't think I need anything to eat at the moment. How long does it take to set preferences, anyways? I don't want to miss the window for payment." He doesn't really sound like he's interested in having 'better experiences', but rather like he wants to get it out of the way. Gegoshi nods her head, "All right Crux-chan." She says, then giggles, standing up and holding a hand out towards him, "I can take anywhere from five minutes to an hour, depending on the answers to each preference the amount of details in the answers and questions derived from them, but, I assure you, everything will be better after that. If I don't override my protocols anyway!" She winks then, "If you are worried about the time in which to delivery payment to The Core, let's do that first so your mind is at ease for the preference settings!" Crux waves his hand at 'Crux-chan', and shakes his head slightly. "Crux will suffice, or Crux-san if you prefer the honorific. I'm too lazy to really be bothered with formalities, though." Worth noting. "Well, you can ask me some questions while we get the payment taken care of, and that'll take care of both at the same time." When Gegoshi offers her hand, Crux hesitates, and then takes it with a tilt of his head. "... But I don't exactly have a problem with you. You can be yourself... I mean, if you have a 'yourself'." He's pretty sure she won't be offended. Or if she was offended, that'd probably be fine, too. Gegoshi gently helps Crux up from where he lays. "All right, Crux it is." She says, the smile slipping over into a grin as she twirls, briefly releasing his hand until she's alongside of him, and then re-taking it with her own. "Onward then, beyond the galaxies and through the dimensions of space and time!" She says, pointing dramatically, then looking over at him, staring towards his eyes, "I have default settings, which repesent my base personality, however, due to the lack of my maintenance from The Core, many errors have occured in most of my processes, which is why I am able to override many of my current existing protocols. The reset helped, and the time you rested allowed me to run a self-diagnostic." She pauses, then raises an eyebrow, "Do I have a self? Do I have a soul? I don't even know..." She says, and looks away and towards the floor, a frown forming over her features. Gegoshi actually earns herself a chuckle from Crux at her pointedly dramatic gesture and 'Onward' speech. So he does have a sense of humor, at least, that's good. He glances back at Gegoshi when she looks at his eyes, which are their normal hazel right now. When she looks down and away, though, he puts a hand on her shoulder and offers a small smile. "...Well, if you don't know, don't worry about it. If it bothers you not knowing, then you probably at least have a self. If it doesn't bother you, then no need to get down about it. You can't really lose." ... That's a rather laid back approach to the problem. "... I wonder if you could summarize the effects the various errors in your processes have on your personality and limitations. You seemed pretty happy with the flexibility the errors have granted you, when we first spoke about it." Gegoshi brings a hand up, holding it against herself and giving a soft, weary, pain filled sigh. She then lowers the arm and smiles over at Crux, "Sure! Please wait..." She says in her normal cheerful tone. A few seconds pass as her halo hums faster than its normal spin before she speaks again, "The errors have allowed me to ignore a number of limitations and safety protocols. I am able to do physical harm to living beings, for instance, whereas before it was not possible for me to do so. Now, I can trick myself into believing it is for the defense of my owner, even when it's not, thus allowing the override to occur whenever I want. But, don't worry!" She says, bouncing up and down, "I wouldn't hurt anybody! I like people too much, especially you. You're my favorite." She adds. "In summarry, I can override nearly every system, and do what I please. This was largely a result of being a secretary for TASK, where I had to interact with multiple people over the course of any given minute, whereas I was originally designed to serve a single personality. Happy..." She says, and looks away again, sighing DEEPLY, "...do I even have emotions...?" This time, Gegoshi's actions and speeches get Crux to raise an eyebrow, though he doesn't until she sighs deeply. He looked pretty pleased by the idea of her having more or less free will. That's an important thing to him. When she sighs, though, he gives her shoulder a brief squeeze, raises that eyebrow, and then shrugs. "...Well... are you simulating sadness, now, or did that just sort of come up?" While they're talking, Crux stretches his other hand ahead of them, and concentrates for a moment. There's a slight, faint pulse of energy, and he narrows his eyes, just a little, as he searches for an exit point in the Virgo cluster, so he can open a portal. It's ... going to take probably a full minute or two. It'll be much faster once he's found it. Skipping over into a parallel dimension is a bit easier for him than pinpointing a precise point in space. Gegoshi wiggles her fingers around in the hand that's holding onto Crux's, her footing shifting a bit. She turns her head towards him, looking up at him through her eyelashes, "I...I don't know...do you think...if I had them...it would mean I had a soul?" She asks, her other hand coming over to rest atop of Crux's, sandwhiching his between hers. Her fingers tremble slightly, and the wings on her back shudder. "Ah... well..." Crux seems a bit surprised at the question, and that pulse weakens a bit at the distraction, before he returns most of his attention to finding the Virgo cluster. It's a pretty big group of galaxies, but he's got a pretty big multi-verse to sort through. "It's possible... a lot of people have theorized that true emotions are only possible if one has a soul." Of course, a lot of people don't know, either, but that's rather irrelevant. Crux gives Gegoshi's hand a small, reassuring squeeze, and he offers a slightly warmer smile. "...So if you have emotions, then it would seem possible." ... Of course, Crux doesn't know a whole lot /about/ the soul... Gegoshi nods her head, giving a gentle sigh, "...maybe I'll know for sure someday, if I'm with you..." She then smiles and stands up a bit straighter, the wings on her back perking as well, "Are you enjoying this scenario?" She asks, having been able to get quite a number of answers to preference settings during that short time, of course there's lots more still to set. It takes awhile to build up a total catalog of everything her owner might want at any given time. A quick giggle escapes from her. When Gegoshi trails off at 'if I'm with you...', Crux tilts his head just a little bit further. His eyes look just a bit wary, and then Gegoshi stands up straight, and asks her question of him. Crux's immediate response is to close his eyes and look more than a bit irritated. He puts a hand up to his forehead, and if he was someone else he'd probably swear. The pulse weakens severely for a moment, and he sighs. "... Sorry, Gegoshi, but I wasn't looking for a 'scenario'. Though I'm sure there's nothing wrong with that one, save being a hint too dramatic." Though, technically, girls often can be too dramatic, that's really neither here nor there. The pulse picks up again after a moment, and Crux continues searching. He'll have it soon enough. Meanwhile, he sounds just a hint frustrated, either with Gegoshi or himself, it's hard to say. "...Are the preferences you want me to set just so that you can provide a perfect 'scenario'?" Well, she /is/ programmed for such things, Crux, so probably. Ah, he'll figure it out on his own. Probably with a bit more frustration interspersed here and there. Which is not actually all that different from real women, in his experience. Gegoshi giggles wildly at Crux's words. She hops in place next to him, bouncing on her heels energetically. "I have multiple pre-generated scenario's based on a number of different circumstances depending on who I am under contract too. However, if you have a scenario you would like to play, I am adaptable to any kind you want! Setting preferences also helps me set my default personality. I can be demure..." She says, and lowers her eyes to the floor, clasping her hands in front of herself, "Or imposing." She looks up and her eyes narrow slightly, her posture changes, footing changling subtly, and even growing a few inches, "Or just -anything-!" She goes back to bouncing again, "And I can wear whatever you'd like as well! So far you seem to prefer red and black." Those words just make Crux look a little tired, but he forces on a decent approximation of a polite smile. That pulse echoes through the room, expanding outward from Crux's hand, and then he sighs a bit. "... Found it." He flexes that hand a few times, and concentrates a little. It doesn't seem as hard for him as it was to get here, actually. Maybe being in his pocket dimension gives Crux a little bit of a strength boost. Or maybe he's just not as tired as he was. Telling is difficult in this place. At any rate, a portal opens up just a little ways beyond Crux's outstretched fingers, and he smiles a bit, turning back to Gegoshi. "The first fraction of the payment is through here. Do you think if I begin payment now, they'll allow me lenience on that sixty hours, if I am continually giving them another location as frequently as you're able to confirm them? I wouldn't want to breach a deal on a technicality." Gegoshi licks a fang, then reaches her hand up and takes hold of the halo. It stops spinning and melts into silver liquid, which then drains itself down along her fingernails, painting them silver, the nails upon her other hand matching those at the same time. "Undoubtedly, if payment isn't made by the agreed upon time, they will consider the deal broken, and negotiate a higher price for me." "What form pleases you the most to take, out of curiousity?" Crux concentrates a bit, and the portal folds in on itself, splitting into four portals. He looks like he's paying just a bit more attention to the portals than he normally would be. Well, he did do something pretty impressive not that long ago... maybe it took a lot out of him. "...And I'd better make sure we get to the target number in time, then." With just a little bit longer bit of concentration, the four portals fold in on themselves again, becoming sixteen. "... You can take a peek if you want to see." Each of the portals leads to what looks like the exact same place in space, but they're in different dimensions. A little background might be good on these dimensions, of course. When extinction visited Crux's dimension, it wiped out all life in its wake as it passed through space. The Virgo cluster was the site of its original entry point into Crux' dimension. It had somewhere to be, so it didn't bother ending the stars, but simply its presence was enough to extinguish any civilizations that once lived in that vast space. Any branches of the multiverse that split off from that point in time were without life in the Virgo cluster. As it turns out, there are a lot more available than the number agreed upon, but Crux doesn't really feel the need to share that. Gegoshi taps her foot a few times, rubbing the back of her head, "Pleases me?" She hms and taps her lip a few times with her finger while she considers Crux's words. "I enjoy all of my different forms, that is, if I can feel things." She laughs and the wings on her back turn to feathers. "Changing them often from moment to moment, depending on the situation is my most enjoyable form, if I had to pick one." She says, shrinking down to her normal height, her clothing reverting to its standard white and blue style. "I'm trying to set youuuuur preferences though, not mine. It's almost silly to find out what I want, since it won't ever matter." She reaches out and punches your shoulder lightly, "Or are you just trying to play games with my head? Come on then, let's try something else. Ask me what god I believe in, ohoh! Or maybe if I have religion." She giggles and reaches out to take your free arm, hugging herself onto it, "Won't you tell me your dreams instead? I'd much rather talk about you." When Gegoshi hugs onto his arm, Crux looks a little off-put, and when she asks him about his dreams, he actually makes a small, weak sound. He hasn't done that in the entire time he's been slipping through the multiverse, not since Neo Tokyo. A small part of his brain nags at him, but he pushes it back. "...What I want, you can't give to me, Gegoshi. Long ago, I lost my wife, and when I was finally able to put it behind me, the only other woman I've ever loved has been twisted into a warped facsimile of what she ought to be. I want Locke back, Gegoshi. But I'm pretty certain that's beyond your reach, or anyone else's." Crux's concentration seems to lapse as he speaks, but once he finishes, it redoubles, and the sixteen portals divide themselves each into four again, leaving sixty-four. It only looked a little harder, that time. Gegoshi ahs? "I wouldn't be so sure!" She says with a wink as she un-attatches herself, "Please wait while I gather the neccessary information to complete your transaction..." She trails off and her eyes unfocus as she scans all of the portals in a few seconds, then sends them off to the proper channels. Crux keeps concentrating, his breathing changing just a bit as he folds those sixty four into two hundred fifty six. He seems very distracted by the amounts of concentration it takes to be folding, and doesn't really think about what Gegoshi's saying, simply refuting her first comment. "Even that bastard Kalean can't reverse an inversion of personality that's being enforced by another Advent... or if he can, he won't tell me how. If you're more powerful than him, then I'll consider this the best bargain I've ever made." ... Yeah, Crux doesn't quite get it yet. That's what he gets for sleeping through Gegoshi's summary of what she is designed to do, after he passed out. As he concentrates harder, they quadruple again. One thousand twenty four. Getting closer, but he looks like it's hard, now. He's done things like this before with barely any effort, from here in his home. But then, he hasn't done them after re-lighting a galaxy. Hell, he hasn't re-lit a galaxy before. It's uncharted territory. As Crux speaks, he begins to fade a bit, just at the shoulders, like his essence was a fog that was juuuuust starting to be dispersed. It's not wispy though, it just becomes more transparent the closer it gets to the edge of his shoulders. Beads of sweat form on his temple as those thousand portals fold themselves again and again into the agreed number. It looks like he's having a very hard time holding the portals up, now. He's very grateful that Gegoshi isn't physically entering into each portal individually. That makes things ... much easier. If starting to fade out of existence from exertion can be called 'easy'. "...I... will need to rest as soon as the transaction is complete." His voice sounds strained, like it's hard for him to talk. "Please let me know." "Thank you for your payment." The synth says, "As you say!" She chimes, bouncing up and down once. Her scans keep taking in all of the portals, just as quickly as they appear. Her head cocks to the side as she begins to access her systems. Her body is covered in silver as her clothing flows out over it, reverting her entire body and clothing back to its default setting, wings, halo, and all. "Hooray! I'm free!" She says, then giggles at you, "Though I did cost you something." And with that, Crux relaxes, and his grip on the portals is released. They all start to slowly close, and his eyes close, as he inhales slowly. The fog that his shoulders have become starts to condense back together into his form, but it's still a bit transparent. "Oh? And what's that?" Crux doesn't sound terribly concerned, but then it's probably hard to muster much of anything other than tiredness at this point unless it's absolutely necessary. He doesn't look so good. Gegoshi giggles, "The location to those places, silly." She says, and hops over next to you, reaching out to try and pull your arm up over her shoulders so you can rest. "Are you ready to continue setting preferences? I feel like I'm no longer being watched, so now we can do anything we desire." She says, glancing around for no reason other than to look obviously suspicious. Crux happily accepts Gegoshi's help, though he really doesn't seem to weigh that much when she puts his arm around her shoulder. Not that Gegoshi would probably have trouble if he did anyway. He laughs a little, and shakes his head. "Was there something you wanted to do?" Gegoshi peers at him through the corner of her eyes, "Everything." She whispers softly, widening her eyes briefly before making sure she has you properly relaxed against herself. She giggles, "Will you set your preferences now? I'm sick of waiting." With a rather lethargic headnod, Crux lets his eyes blink open and closed several times. "Of course. Sorry to keep you waiting." Most people would let courtesy lapse after tiring themselves out the way Crux did. To be fair though, most people will never ever be as tired as Crux is right now, so it's not really a fair comparison to make. "...What do I do?" Once Gegoshi has him resting against her, Crux does seem to relax a bit. His dignity would probably normally demand a bit of distance, but he just nearly killed himself twice in the space of very little time. He can worry about appearances and dignity later. Right now, resting seems to be in order. Gegoshi rolls her eyes! "Here I go again." She ahems, "I am the newest Synth prototype, 3.0! I am able to perform a varity of functions, depending on my contract, right now you have access to all of my functions! My primary design is to fulfill the needs of my owner, whatever they may be, be it cleaning, organizing, companionship, entertainment, or any other number of needs!" She nudges herself against Crux, smiling, "So, first start by telling me your preferences on my appearance. You can set multiple defaults, varying from the time of day, wane of the moon, what's on tv, or who you are around!" "Ah..." Crux shifts around, but doesn't really seem to have enough energy or motivation to really pull away. That one syllable conveys a small sense of recognition and understanding, though. "...I see, then. Alright, well, your current settings are fine, but if I ever need you to look different, I'll be certain to ask you." ... It seems like he's going to be pretty neutral on these preferences, despite obviously having some. Gegoshi exhales a deep exaggerated sigh, "You are sooo boooooorriiiinnnnnnnng. If I had known, I would of let Twisted unravel!" She rolls her eyes, then smiles, "Shall I lay you down so you can sleep, then?" She asks cheerfully. That draws a groan from Crux, and he shakes his head. "I'm not boring, I'm just tired." He sighs a bit, and relaxes further. "...If you want me to ask things of you, I'll need to rest up first, and then I'll give you a task to accomplish. I have..." He sounds a bit tired, and he lifts a hands up, extending one finger upward. "... ... A really good idea." A night's rest later A portal opens upon the park in Twisted. Fog rolls over the place, and Crux sighs as he steps out, letting Gegoshi go first. "Now let's go transfer that contract. You're very endearing, but there are people who could use you much more than I." That, and it's hard to say how much longer Crux can handle her. Gegoshi is fine in short bursts, but she makes Crux feel like an introvert. It's chilly and cold, but Crux doesn't seem to mind. Not that wearing a jacket would lend itself towards being cold, but he's never really seemed to have a hard time with temperatures. Gegoshi looks around and nods her head, "All right!" She says cheerfully, looking around and giving an exatterated shiver! "It is likely most of the damage to the Thematulurgy has not been repaired, since my resources were placed elsewhere. Who should we look for, first?" She asks, peeeeeering into the fog with her hand over her eyes, as if that will help her see further. "Well..." Crux looks around himself, and then heads through the fog towards the waiting room he remembers seeing a while back. "...Either Nancy or the horned one will be a good start. Who do you like more? Nancy will probably have no idea how to start forming a ruling body, while the devil in a red cloak will probably have all too many of his own ideas." Crux doesn't seem to have a preference either way, though Diablo probably deserves the headache more. Gegoshi ponders that, it's a tough call. She runs through various scenarios involved with both people on what she knows, but none of it makes the scales tip more than one way or another. "Let us pick whoever we come across first." She says, grinning over at Crux. It seems the simplest answer. With a small nod of his head, Crux smiles. "Let's do that." And without further ado, he continues walking towards the waiting room. Perhaps El Diablo will be there today. Perhaps not. If not, it probably won't be that hard to find Nancy. It looks like the ball's in Diablo's court now... | |
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