| A Girl With Secrets | ||
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Behind her, however, is a somewhat large suitcase... Or would trunk be the better word? Despite her casual appearance, there's something oddly utilitarian to the trunk, which looks like it's clearly intended to be stacked and stacked upon. Strapped to the side of it is a four and a half foot long case that looks to be of the same manufacturer as the trunk. A frown of concern marks her face as she sees nothing familiar in the area, and she then walks straight up to the bar and says, "Excuse me, I seem to be lost. What dome is this?" There is a young man at the bar. He's a thin blue-haired young man, probably not too far off in age from the girl that just entered. There's a plate of food in front of him, and he's about half-done with it. Slightly to his right there's a bowl of chocolate custard that a small chibi catboy fairy-thing is using a spoon about longer than his body to eat. He looks up as the newcomer approaches the bar. "Dome?" he inquires. "I haven't seen any domes here yet." The fairything looks up from his custard, fixing wide yellow eyes on the girl. Notably there's a small spot of custard on his nose, but he doesn't seem to have noticed it yet. Himet turns her head to look at the tiny catboy. Really, she thought it was a plushie when she walked up. "Oh... um... But what about..." She looks towards the door. "It looked like there was a sandstorm or something of the like outside of a dome." She manages to look a bit confused. Well, that's normal for a new arrival. She's clearly trying to keep calm despite the odd - to say the least - situation. "Then where is this? Am I on the entirely wrong planet?" She then turns to look at the small cat boy, reaching up to poke at him. "And what are you, for that matter?" Ikuto gives an affirmative grunt. He thought so. "A newcomer." It's hard to tell if that was a question or not, though. He looks up, turning his head to regard the woman fully. "You probably are," he notes, in response to being on the wrong planet. "Though wrong 'dimension' might be the better word. This is a place called Twisted. I'm new myself, so I don't know a lot." At the poke, Yoru drops his spoon and flails his hand-paws a little at Himet. No claws though. "HEY! Don't poke-nya!" And Ikuto smirks, turning to put his elbow on the bar and prop his chin in his hand. "He's a Guardian Character. His name is Yoru. My name's Ikuto." Himet retracts her hand and stands up straight again, holding a hand out to Ikuto in a manner that suggests she's expecting a handshake. "And I am Himet Suko. It seems we can both not know a lot, in that case. I'm not certain what you mean by dimension, though. Regardless, I'm going to have to assume I won't make my... appointment." From her utter lack of addressing Yoru, she's apparently back to assuming he is some sort of toy. "Probably not," Ikuto replies. "I'm to understand getting back where you came from isn't that easy unless it's connected to this place. And it's not always connected." He pauses, looking thoughtful. "If not 'dimension'.... 'plane of existence'? Does that mean anything to you?" For his part, Yoru is accustomed to not being addressed Besides that he's got chocolate custard to eat! Himet says, "You mean like... Another... Universe?" The slow dawning of realization seems to come across her face. Several emotions seem to cross at once, several responses seem to cross her mind, but she seems to settle on, "No, really, what planet is this? Being in the wrong place like this already screwed up my timetable, so I'd just like to get back to the Sol system." Yup. She's settled on complete denial." Ikuto nods when the mention of a different universe is mentioned. "Actually I don't know what planet this is. I've just heard it called 'Twisted'." Though it doesn't look like she believes him. So he tries again. "What year is it where you are?" The 'what year is it' question, of course, brings back the look of confusion to Himet's face. "I've not heard of a planet called Twisted. By Sol's calendar, it's 2451. By Tyr's, it's..." She seems to be thinking to convert the calendars in her head. "13971," she decides. "And I'm going to assume an answer of 'that's not the right year' is coming up next?" She's starting to sound like she's not quite trusting Ikuto's answers. The amiable extroverted invertebrate enters the establishment with a nudge of the low-hovering disc of the field generator against the bottom of the door. Serenity slides in through the opening, bringing along a blob of brackish water with a faint wintergreen odor. Ren wanders over toward the bar with an undulation of the aquamarine fins, along the way reaching down with the lower edge of one of the fins to grab a damp, double-bagged jar. Ren glances curiously between the trunk and its owner, but doesn't immediately remark upon either. And sure enough, he nods. "I'm from 2015," Ikuto replies. "Earth, Japan. I don't know what the year is here. But that's my experience." He pauses as Serenity comes in, and then offers her a pleasant wave. "Hi there-nya!" Yoru replies waving his spoon in greeting at the mollusc. Himet says, "Riiight." She looks over to whom the two are greeting, and, well, of course, does a double take. Why, she even briefly opens her eyes more fully, but she somehow recovers. "Aaaand that's not a species I'm familiar with." Perhaps she's now starting to come around to the idea that something's much more wrong than just being lost." "Hello," Ren rasps in reply to Ikuto, raising a 'wing' from the water with some vague hints of a nonexistent arm in a sleeve folded into the surface. Yoru still gets a brief inquisitive look before Ren nods to Himet. "That's an experience I still have at least once a week," Ren remarks to her with a grin. Motioning to the trunk, Ran adds, "Are you looking for lodgings?" "She isn't a species I'm familiar with either," Ikuto states flatly. He's not trying to be offensive. He just doesn't really know what Serenity is. "But there've been a few people of species I've never seen before. You get used to it." Nom. Now he's sort of idly eating his food while watching Himet, sort of like the way a cat might idly eat while watching something that interests it. Maybe the feline creature that's with him isn't such a coincidence after all... He quiets when Serenity begins dealing with the newcomer. He's not exactly the best sort to be greeting people that are new to Twisted. Not only because he really doesn't know what's going on, but because he really isn't overly nice and welcoming. Ren is a people person. Er, people mollusc. "Ah... Hello," responds Himet to Serenity. "If it's going to be difficult to return home, I suppose I will have to." She puts her index finger and thumb from her right hand to her chin. "I suppose I'll need to do a lot, then." "Unfortunately, that is very much a problem with Twisted," Ren remarks to Himet with a frown. "This would also not be my first choice for a vacation spot, for a number of other reasons." Ren motions out to the sides, then gestures to the door before continuing in a more optimistic tone, "However, we do have apartments available free of charge, and I'm sure the staff here would be happy to help with food if you let them know that you are a new arrival." Ren indicates the kitchen with the upturned edge of a fin. "I can also try to offer some suggestions if you'd like to express any other needs." Ren then extends the extruded edges of a pair of fins toward her through the forcefield, scalloping the edges something like fingers. "You may call me Serenity." Himet looks down at the proffered 'hand'. With a light shrug, she takes the fin into her own and says, "You can call me Himet Suko. Completely free apartments? I'm going to have to say I'm a bit skeptical of that, even with the other oddness around. As far as other needs?" She tilts her head a bit and gives a light shrug again. "I'll cross that bridge when I arrive at it." Serenity offers her hand a light squeeze with the damp muscular sheets. "I think that's a fair thing to be skeptical of," Ren says with a nod. "I could be wrong, but I choose to attribute the free rent to their different notion of economics- the building seems to employ assembler nanites, among other things I'm even less familiar with. Medical Mechana also takes every opportunity to advertise its generosity. Goodwill is harder to manufacture than rooms, it seems." Himet lets go of the fin and returns her hand to her side. "I see... Advertising based, then... But nanites? Sounds highly experimental... The tenants might be little more than beta testers, then. Interesting. Have there been many accidents?" She's definitely still being very cautious about this idea. It seems she doesn't accept that simple good will would be enough of a reason. Serenity frowns at the remark. "Hhh... I saw the technology employed elsewhere in town and assumed it to be already mature. In fact, I hadn't considered that it might be experimental until you suggested so." Ren glances up at the ceiling and over to the bar before returning eyes to Himet. "That said, no, I'm not aware of any accidents. Within the boundary of the town, animals from outside and residents inside seem to constitute the bulk of the safety issues for the town." Himet frowns a the mention of dangerous animals and residents. "I'll need to be able to defend myself, then?" She seems to ponder this for some reason, her left hand gripping the pulling handle on her trunk a bit more tightly. "It sounds like an overall unpleasant place, then. At least I can take heart in the apartments apparently being safe. Hrm." "You shouldn't need to defend yourself," Ren offers with a reassuring tone and perhaps less-than-reassuring words. "The security force, TASK, is responsible for protecting residents. There is a small risk involved with going out after dark, on account of some current problems. But I hope that you will feel, with reason, secure in your apartment and when going about everyday business."
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