Enter the reflection

[darkerstripes]

The first thing he notices is that he's no longer plugged into his charger base. He wasn't asleep- he doesn't have the need- but he'd set his senses to 'hibernate'. It passes the time faster than being alert all night, when his (caretakers? friends?) humans are asleep. He has his danger alert system on, so if something entered the apartment he would know.

Apparently the same was not true of exiting the apartment. His eyes come back online with a soft green glow and he starts in surprise. Dust, cobwebs... stone. Nothing is familiar. That isn't possible. He doesn't dream, and he sensed no change, no movement. Hesitantly, he stands, glancing around, poised at every joint to run or dodge.

No danger is apparent, no matter how many times he scans. He can't trust his sensors, though, because they didn't even detect his arrival here. How could he have been moved without noticing?

"Kotetsu?"

He calls to his host. His own voice echoes back through the room, sounding eerie as it returns to his ears from the outside. They buzz with light feedback. He frowns. If anything has happened to Kotetsu... The android feels his eyes flash red for a moment at the thought.

He can feel the anxiety rising in his wires, sparking circuits and making his voice box feel squeezed. He remembers what Barnaby taught him, about controlling fear. Breathing in three, out five. In three, out seven, in three, out ten. Focus on your physical form. Take stock of what you know is true, toss out what you're assuming. Start over.

He is in a throne room. There is no immediate danger. He is unsure how he arrived. He is unsure of Kotetsu's whereabouts. The android takes out his phone and attempts to send a message. No signal. He does another breathing exercise. He doesn't actually need the air, of course, but his body requires the pressure change to speak, and the rhythm of it soothes even his synthetic body.

All other options exhausted, he must explore and search. He opens his map program and begins with a fresh, empty blueprint. He estimates the dimensions of the room, adds in the doors. He chooses one of those doors, and begins his exploration.

Comments

[ojisankink]

The hallway H-13 walks out into is fairly empty, but there are a few key points to it. It's bright for one thing, sunlight filtered in through windows, stained glass turning it pretty colours. It's the perfect place to sit and relax, which is probably why there is a cushy-looking couch against one of the walls.

It's here that the android will find one of his caretakers. Barnaby is seated, legs folded beside him, flipping through a book he found at the library. The commotion of someone stumbling outside catches his attention, and he glances up. Kotetsu? He could have sworn he was still sleeping. And where did he find the change of clothes?

"Get a little lost? The kitchen is in the opposite direction," he chuckles.

[darkerstripes]

Very, very bright. Toshi is thrown for another loop, having expected it to still be nighttime. He frowns at his internal clock (his literal internal clock) as he feels his aperture adjust to the light.

That's when he spots Baranaby. He opens his mouth to greet him, both relieved and confused, only for Barnaby to speak first, confusing the android all the more.

"I am incredibly lost, but not for the kitchen." He cants his head. The voice will be perfectly familiar, even if the formal cadence is not. But the green LED glowing eyes under the brim of the wrong-colored hat will give away the misidentification.

"Barnaby, how did we get here?"

[ojisankink]

He looks pretty out of it. Maybe he just woke up, but the rooms had switched around on him? He stands up, already feeling himself shaking his head. If Kotetsu had just woken up at a proper time, he wouldn't be like this...

The formal tone does confuse him. Kotetsu... never talks like that. He's never heard him speak so calmly and properly. He looks at him in surprise, only to notice those green, glowing eyes. It's like they're lit up from within, like...

"Kotetsu? You got here a few days ago..."

[darkerstripes]

Something cold and horrible grips at Toshi's synthetic stomach. He feels the stored water for cooling in him turn to ice. Lack of recognition, even looking into his robotic eyes. Did Barnaby have memory troubles again? Did it have to do with this place? Who does he have to teach a lesson to, for hurting him?

He calms the tide of rage, shutting his eyes for a moment against it. He opens them again as he shakes his head.

"Not Kotetsu, and I only just... arrived. You two have been here... for days...?" How does that begin to compute? Toshi feels dizzy. One thing at a time... that's what Barnaby would tell him. If he... remembered who he was. Fuck.

"Do you... know me, Barnaby?" He takes his hat off, to make his eyes even more visible. His most notable trait aside from being Kotetsu's twin.

[ojisankink]

He looks... frightened. Frightened and angry, though Barnaby can't exactly blame him. From the way he's talking, it sounds like he's only just gotten here, and both Kotetsu and Barnaby had reacted much the same to finding the little moments one remembered and the other didn't.

Except those were just moments. Barnaby wasn't expecting to forget an entire person. Someone who looks like Kotetsu, no less... he feels his heart getting tight, and as he reaches up to brush his hair away from his eyes, he tugs on it just a bit, just to ensure he's still in reality.

"I... I don't know you. I can see now that you're not Kotetsu, but... I-I'm sorry."

His voice breaks for a second and he forces himself to breathe. Frisk had said this may happen. It's someone from another universe, or from his future. There are plenty of possible explanations that don't involve another part of his mind getting scrambled again.

"I may be from an earlier date, before we met. This place is rather strange with how it handles time."

[oldmantiger]

Kotetsu heals quickly. Even without actively using his powers, it's just part of being a NEXT. He's still a little banged up, with his injuries from fighting Croc piled on to his injuries from facing H-01. But now that he knows Croc is a threat, Kotetsu has at least settled into a routine of patrolling the hallways regularly, in case anyone needs help. Besides, this place is just that huge. Even after unwillingly spending days here, he keeps finding new things.

Even so, it's late, and he hasn't yet found an easy way to make coffee, so Kotetsu is thinking about sleep. He's just started wandering back in the direction of where he dimly remembers the stairs being. At least the throne room is always where he remembers it.

He's just passed by the double doors when he hears them open. Kotetsu tenses, looks back...

...and feels his heart grow cold with dread in his chest at the sight that greets him there. Because the sight that greets him is his own face, looking back at him.

For a moment, he's exhausted and scared and lost and looking up at the face of his own armor done up in reds and blacks, and feeling himself falling apart...

Kotetsu lets out a strangled gasp and whirls around to face the newcomer, even though he immediately takes a step back afterwards.

"W-What the...?"

[darkerstripes]

Of all the unexpected strange things to happen to Toshi today, in the last twenty minutes, by far the strangest is the way Kotetsu reacts when Toshi opens the door.

In the instant the human's heart grows cold, Toshi's chassis is warming with relief. But only for a beat, before he sees the horror, the familiar expression he recognizes now as "flashback". Instantly Toshi's hands are up, palms out, in a gesture of surrender.

Has he failed so utterly that Maverick is back, toying with them again? Did someone else do something to Kotetsu? It's been so long since the hero looked at Toshi with such fear and distrust, and it makes his circuits smoke. He forces his jaw to unclench.

"Kotetsu..." He wants to say 'there you are', but something stops him. The lack of recognition. He tries something else. "It's me, Toshi. It's okay."

[oldmantiger]

Toshi. Not "Kotetsu", and not "Wild Tiger". That helps. The recognition in the...stranger's gaze doesn't help. But it's not the first time he's come across it here. That doesn't make it any easier, to come across another memory he's apparently lost, but at least he has an explanation.

Kotetsu takes one deep breath, and then another. In three, out five. In three, out seven. And slowly, very slightly, he settles. It's only then that he realizes that his hands are up, defensively, and he lowers them as Toshi raises his.

Not a replacement. Not a copy. It's hard to keep that in mind, because that's his face, that's his voice. But he remembers what Frisk told him. Other people from other times. This is...him, but not him, but he knows him? A twin, maybe?

"I'm...sorry," Kotetsu says, after a moment. He still sounds wary, cautious, but he also does sound a little apologetic. "If we've met...I don't remember it." He musters up a bitter sort of smile, adding: "That's been happening a lot more than I'd like, nowadays."

[darkerstripes]

Toshi is patience embodied. He stays still and calm as Kotetsu centers himself, smiling just a hair at the recognized breathing exercise. A hair more when Kotetsu lowers his hands.

Unfortunately, a replacement. A second-best stand-in. Or began as one. Became something else, though. A prodigy? A reflection. Toshi, his mirror.

A slow breath from the android, and he lowers his own hands, lifting his head together in a fluid motion. Revealing a clear view of his obviously mechanical eyes. Lightly glowing green.

An apology. An admission. Toshi's vision spins and he closes his eyes. More memory fuckery. Kotetsu has... been here? That seems to be the implication. Wherever here is.

He's a horrible, useless bodyguard.

Last he remembers he was saying good night as Kotetsu settled into bed and Toshi put his system into resting mode to charge. How did this happen?

He tries to stay calm, for his friend's sake. "Ah. Then, I apologize as well. Especially if you've been... having trouble." Should he press this, if Kotetsu doesn't remember him?

[oldmantiger]

It was really the only other possible explanation besides a brother he might have had somewhere else, in another time, instead of Muramasa. That doesn't make the fresh spike of alarm that lances through Kotetsu at the sight of those eyes any less intense, though. Without realizing it, he takes another step back.

He hasn't had good experiences with robots. One bashed his head against a wall until he fell unconscious. One stole half his identity and went even further in nearly killing him. The fact that this one speaks distinguishes him from H-01, but even Cis apologized on some sick loop as she tried to cave in his skull. This one is definitely acting a lot more...fluid than either of them, though. That could be a good sign, or a bad one.

Even so, he forces a smile as Toshi carries on. Given a choice between a conversation and a fight, Kotetsu always has his preferences. "Hey, don't worry about it. Not like it's your fault. Though, uh...maybe you can fill me in? Trust me, whatever story you've got to tell, it's probably not gonna be the weirdest thing I've heard all week."

Or at least, he dearly hopes so.

[dustless]

He will find a child sitting outside--specifically, in a window, one leg hanging against the side of the building they're in, one inside. They've got their arms folded against the stone wall, resting their head against it. The perfect picture of relaxation.

Their eyes are closed, but one cracks open a few seconds after they hear the door. "Hi, Kotetsu."

[darkerstripes]

He's dual wielding with his eyes- watching where he's going as well as building a map of the castle. He is not yet aware how futile of an endeavor that will turn out to be. He takes longer than usual to notice the small child lounging in the window. They look so at peace, it gives him pause, makes him smile.

A smile that turns somewhat strained at the mistaken identity. Well, he should get used to it. Or be used to it. He always figured the red and black clothes, or his eyes, would give him away faster. Perhaps his old Master's constant disapproval of his inaccurate eyes made him extra aware of them, where most people are not.

"Sorry, not exactly." He really does sound apologetic.

[dustless]

He's not close enough for them to notice the eyes just yet. The clothes are a bit more obvious, but they're not going to judge if someone goes hunting for new stuff if they feel like it.

"Mm?" Frisk opens both eyes, finally, sitting up a little. Somebody new already? "...Who're you, then?"

[darkerstripes]

"Don't let me interrupt your nap!" Naps and sleeping always sounded so lovely to Toshi, he would hate to ruin the serenity this child had been floating in.

But he was asked a question. "I'm Toshi. And you are?"

[dustless]

"'S okay. I wasn't asleep." The thing about sleeping is that it comes with dreams, and dreams can easily be bad ones. Frisk's tend to go that way half the time, and they'd rather not fall to the ground because they thought they were dodging a set of teeth bigger than they are.

"I'm Frisk." They tilt their head, looking at him a little more closely. "You look like Kotetsu. But you're not, you're new. Newer. Right?"

[lostinmyway]

Someone is asking for Kotetsu. Since she saw him not that long ago (or was it yesterday?), she can help.

"Hello?" Grune calls back as she begins walking toward the person who asked for Kotetsu. Or, at least, she thinks she's going in the right direction. The echoes in the castle make it a little tricky to find her way.

[darkerstripes]

Toshi hears a voice echoing down the vaulted hallways. He pauses, waiting for the sounds to dissipate. He can't pinpoint her.

The voice, since she knows Kotetsu, is probably very familiar. "Yes, hello?" He speaks softly, hoping to control some of the echoing. He waits for a response, looking down the way he thinks is most likely to be right.

[lostinmyway]

"Hello!" she calls again, happily this time.

She rounds the nearest corner to the hallway and looks about. Is this the right direction?

[darkerstripes]

The cheer in her voice perks him up, too, even in the face of his concerns about being in this strange place and why. Someone so friendly could surely help...

They seem to have both guessed well, because he's facing the corner she rounds. "Ah!" He smiles a little. "Are you the kind voice?"

[lostinmyway]

Grune beams back, but soon her expression shifts into puzzlement. "The kind voice?"

What does Kote--hmm, no, this isn't Kotetsu, is it? Kotetsu's eyes are a warm brown, and this person's eyes are such a pretty green. And he wouldn't be looking for Kotetsu if he was Kotetsu, would he?

[mediadarling]

And behind Door Number Three, Toshi will find...one robot pop star, doing vocal exercises. His back is to the door, and the sound of his voice rising in broken chords, key by key, covers any noises Toshi's entrance might have caused.

Say hello?

[darkerstripes]

Toshi has never witnessed a Robot like this before.

Actually, he hasn't met another functioning AI system before, aside from Cis, and she was a model a few generations behind him. Many of her fellows were... deconstructed, in the process of research that led to Toshi's creation.

This particular robot has an impressive voice box. Toshi is awed enough to be stopped in his questing, to listen. He slowly edges around the room to make himself noticeable, so he doesn't startle him, or have to interrupt.

[mediadarling]

He catches movement out of the corner of his eye, and--oh, my. He has an audience!

With the grace of the dancer he is, he turns and strikes a pose, giving said audience a once-over. Well now. Is this the handsome newcomer he's seen around lately? No matter. It's time for a proper introduction.

"Why, hello there, gorgeous. It seems you've caught me in rehearsal. Are you looking for something in particular, or did my singing draw you in?"

[darkerstripes]

He perks up in curiosity as he's seen, and the series of movements that prompts. Such fluid grace! He's impressed!

And incredibly, cripplingly embarrassed. Did this other robot just call him gorgeous? He sputters a little and places a hand on top of his hat, tilting his head down to hide his face.

"I-I was lost, and found you by a-accident, but when I heard... Yes, I was... drawn in."

[mediadarling]

...Oh, now, he likes this man. Oh yes he does.

He sashays forward. "Such refreshing honesty! It speaks very well of you. But I don't believe I caught your name--who might you be, darling?"