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[skilltrees]

...Hmm.

[There is a girl sitting in the middle of the courtyard. As with most newcomers, she seems quite bewildered, though perhaps she's a bit slower on the uptake than some are. For several minutes, she just sits there flexing her fingers and turning her hands this way and that, making more humming sounds under her breath. When she seems to have figured that much out, she moves on to patting herself down, her hands carefully running over her legs, hips, each arm, her chest... she reaches a finger up to one eyeball and tries to poke it, only to recoil, blinking away tears.]

Ow.

[Once she recovers from that little mishap, she finally seems to notice her surroundings. The environment seems much more concerning to her, and she gets on her knees, frowning. It takes quite a few more minutes of searching the area before she seems to deem that the danger isn't immediate, and she cautiously gets to her feet.

...Only to fall back over. She makes a little squeak of surprise, before trying again, clinging to the trunk of a nearby tree to steady her. Bit by bit, she inches to her feet and then pushes off of the trunk, pinwheeling her arms slightly as her legs wobble. She steadies, and her shaking stops. For a long moment, all is quiet. And then she giggles.

She may still stumble a few times as she makes her way to the castle and down the hallways, but every time, she just gets back up again. No sense just giving up. She's beaten Contra, so she should be able to beat this.

If she runs into anyone, she may just stare at them for a long time, blinking slowly as if trying to analyze the whole situation. And then just when that someone may think she's completely mute, she offers a small smile.]

...Hello. My name is Chiaki Nanami. And you are?

Comments

[voidster]

One particular 'that someone' happens to be none other than a tall... skeleton. He's dressed all in black and white, the only spots of color being a golden watch on his wrist and a brown businesslike satchel on his shoulder. Funnily enough, those are the only two things he's wearing that seem real. His true clothing almost seems to lack detail. It's uncanny.

Unfortunately for her, this one is mute. Fortunately, though, he carries a small chalkboard in his satchel in case of emergencies. Plan A is always to see if whoever he's met happens to know sign language, first.

[Hello. My name is G-A-S-T-E-R. I take it you've just arrived?]

'Can you understand me' would be a stupid question. He's so over that.

[skilltrees]

...Oh my.

Chiaki is not at all sure what to make of this creature. He's a little unsettling, all dressed in black and looming over her. The lack of detail is also a little odd, and Chiaki briefly wonders if this is some sort of glitch before correcting herself. She doesn't really know where she is, but this does seem to be... a real place. And whoever this is is real.

And friendly. She recognizes the sign language and breathes a sigh of relief. That she can understand, at least. She nods slowly, and holds up a finger. Just give her a moment to remember how to sign.

[It's nice to meet you, Gaster. I have just arrived... I think. Do you have any information about where exactly I have arrived at?]

[voidster]

Hey, he's kept a polite distance, at least. Wouldn't want to scare a new arrival, as trapped as everyone else is. Plus, his expression is friendly enough, if far more flexible than bone should be.

[Don't worry, I can hear fine. Just be yourself--speak however you please.] Some people like to practice on him, some would rather speak. It doesn't matter. [I know as much as anyone. Does 'pocket dimension' mean anything to you?]

[skilltrees]

It is a rather calm smile, and not what she'd expect from a skeleton. Maybe he's a different creature, but he does seem skeletal... well, so long as he's not trying to attack her, she's completely fine.

"...Hmm." She blinks a bit at the sound, still getting used to hearing her own voice. Though Gaster's words certainly get her attention. "I would say the first thing that comes to mind would be that this is a dimension outside of the real one... maybe."

Which is certainly an interesting thing for her to think about, considering where she came from. Guess hoping this was the real world was just wishful thinking.

[voidster]

[Yes. First of all, there are many timelines, as I call them, and this place exists, yet is disconnected from all of the others. It's a very small piece of reality, unfortunately. We're on a floating island in the sky, inside a castle, and we are all from various different timelines and places.]

It's sort of nice, explaining this to new people. Simple, easy, and useful.

[skilltrees]

"Many timelines... I see. So this place isn't related to the world I was in. But how... did we get to this island?"

Interesting, that she's on yet another island, though this time she's been granted some apparent semblance of existence.

[voidster]

[We don't know. I haven't seen anyone arrive or depart with my own eyes, I cannot tell you how. Extremely powerful magic, I have to assume.]

He 'speaks' of magic so casually. It's Fact, not Myth. A perfectly normal everyday thing, one he's even studied for decades.

[skilltrees]

"There was no such thing as magic where I was. But it does seem to be the only explanation."

There's a bit of fidgeting. She wants to ask about something else, but the fact the it used to be utterly impossible to even speak about deters her, and she frowns, fiddling with the strings on her hoodie.

"Has... this place ever caused someone who doesn't really exist to arrive? Someone without a body?" Are those the right words? She's pretty sure she didn't exist anymore. The 1s and 0s that made up her form had all dispersed, thanks to Monokuma, and she isn't sure how they could be gathered together again and put in a... real body.

[voidster]

He rocks back on his heels like he's been suddenly struck, a rippling motion that doesn't seem quite right. He's only sludge, sludge that's shaped itself into a man. He could do better--so he tells himself.

[Yes. Yes. The magic is more than powerful enough, though I don't know the source or purpose. It. Me.]

Jabbing a finger at himself and hardly able to put the words together. A child? Bodiless, presumably suffering? That's just... unfair.

[skilltrees]

Oh. Oh dear. She must have said the wrong thing. She stops fiddling with the strings only to tug the hood up onto her head, looking down and frowning softly.

"...I'm so sorry. I didn't realize I was asking something so personal. I was just wondering..."

She doesn't know if she should elaborate, but he seems so alarmed that perhaps it would be better if she did speak up.

"The fact of the matter is, I wasn't a human in my world. I was an advanced AI used to monitor a computer program... and since that program has been shut down now, I wasn't sure how I... got here."

[voidster]

[No, you're forgiven.] Best way to deal with apologies--best way to reassure. He's either genuinely relieved or has regained control of himself enough to hide his upset. [You surprised me, that's all. You would be the third person to be pieced back together after becoming... nonexistent. Although I was a monster, made of magic, not an AI.]

Which is different and absolutely fascinating, putting aside the fact that it sounds like this AI was murdered. Poor thing.

[This suggests even more than before than something here is trying to help us. My first guess is that it's the castle itself... Do you remember anything between the shutdown and appearing here? Is this better for you? I hope it is.]

gaster please stop fussing she was remarkably cheerful about being murdered

[skilltrees]

Forgiveness is rather what she likes. She knows she can be a little strange and difficult to deal with, so if she can be forgiven for that, it means she has a better chance of still becoming a friend.

"I didn't think there could be that many people restored back to existence all in one place. Maybe it's some sort of afterlife?" Do computer programs get to go to the afterlife? It'd be nice if that was true. Maybe Usami could still turn up, then. Or the data recreations of the other Hope's Peak students in the program...

"Hmm... I do remember bits and pieces. I was talking to someone... very important to me, convincing him to keep going. But when my job was done, I would... forget myself again, I guess you would call it. I think this is better... probably better than the program I was inside even before I was erased." She smiles softly.

no that's not any better make it stahp

[voidster]

[I doubt it. Some of the people here are very much alive. I think this castle is very much real and I don't believe in afterlives... I suppose that's more opinion than fact. I'm not sure what would prove it's reality to you.]

How horrified he is on the inside. What a sick, twisted thing to do. Why make the AI a child? What good does it do to treat them badly?

[Good. It may not be large, considering there's little land outside the castle and nowhere else to go. But it's much nicer than the alternative.]

stop fussing you remind her of her dad she may have to adopt you as family

[skilltrees]

"Ah... I know there isn't exactly proof of an afterlife, but I like to think that there is a place where people I've lost can be safe. So there are real humans here?" She seems a bit excited about that.

Chiaki is simply designed to appear as a child because she needed to blend in with the users of the program. She doesn't think she's that young, being designed as a high school student, though she supposes she is only a year or two old. And being treated badly... wasn't the fault of her creators. It was all thanks to that virus.

"Before I came here, I was on a group of islands that it was impossible to escape from. Even if it was a program, it was a little limited in its spectrum."

get in line keed

[voidster]

[Real humans, yes. Along with some who look human, are flesh and blood, but may be something else. And monsters. It's safe to assume all who don't look human are monsters... and most of them happen to be skeletons.]

Hopefully that isn't too strange, because in his opinion, skeletons are the best sort of monster. Some people are just biased like that.

[I see.] It's tempting to ask what being 'in' a program is like. File that away for their second or third meeting, perhaps. That's a little too nosy. [Unfortunately, this may not be much more than your home. It's somewhat medieval and we don't have very many people with us. No more than thirty, as far as I know.]

can she bring her ds in the line

[skilltrees]

"...Huh." Well, that's a little more than she's used to. "I guess this place does take people from multiple worlds. I'd like to meet them all... I think."

They may be overwhelming for her. Still. Gaster is so nice, and if the other skeletons are anything like him, she's sure she'll get along with them.

At his worry over this place being too small, she just giggles and shakes her head. "Thirty is far more than I was thinking. The program... started with 17 people before..." Before she realizes she's talking about murder again and that's not very comfortable.

sure thing

[voidster]

The other skeletons are sillier. Beware.

[Many are children.] Seventeen people, really? That's a downer, as if her entire story so far wasn't already. What kind of life was that? [You'll be in good company, if you don't mind that.]

[skilltrees]

Nothing wrong with silly, in her opinion. Many of the people she called friends could be seen as pretty silly themselves.

"I'm not exactly a child..." She pouts a bit, perhaps disproving her statement. "But I like children. I'd be happy to meet new people... especially if they're as nice as you have been."

[voidster]

[I apologize. I'm not the best at judging the age of humans, I suppose.] Although he doubts it. She looks young. [Or those who look human. I've met few non-monsters, comparatively.]

That... compliment (?) has him blinking once, functional eyesocket apparently able to close. Skeleton monsters are an odd bunch. [Flattering. Am I uncommonly nice?]

[skilltrees]

"It's fine. I understand it could be difficult if you only know monsters. I doubt I'll be good at determining the age of monsters, after all."

Huh. Skeleton monsters are strange, and she finds herself gaping a bit, making her speech even slower than normal. "...I don't know. You've been very helpful, so I find that nice."

[voidster]

[Sometimes it's hard, even for fellow monsters. We come in many varieties. It's a kind of tradition to dress children in striped shirts to help others know who's young and who's simply small.]

The More You Know. Hey, half the human children here also have a thing for stripes. It's good information.

[You're welcome. I believe I'm getting used to saying hello to newcomers.]

[skilltrees]

She giggles a bit at his description. “I like that idea. It’d be nice if humans could adopt something similar.” But there are so many people in the world that she doubts it would actually work too well.

“It takes time to get used to. When my program first started… I had a lot of trouble. I had to think very hard about what I wanted to say before I tried to say it.”

[voidster]

[I don't think humans need to. You--they, they're all fairly uniform, unlike monsters.] Who can be anything from rocks to airplanes to walking volcanos to skeletons.

[Speaking of that... how old are you?] So many nosy, probably offensive questions he wants to ask. She's lucky he's restraining himself.

[skilltrees]

"I suppose you have a point there. Still, I wouldn't want to offend someone who looks young." Or someone who thinks of themselves as an adult already.

And... that question is awkward. She frowns for a while, and it takes a few moments before she has pieced together her answer. "I was developed about a year ago, but I was designed to appear as a 16-year-old human. So it's hard to say."

[voidster]

[Small wonder.] His hands are gentle and graceful as he signs, despite him only being slime disguised very well. [Human children can't speak at a year old, can they? Nothing to be ashamed of, of course it wasn't as easy while you were learning.]

How does an AI learn, anyway? Sadly, coding is one of the many things outside his scope. He could put together a computer, sure, but beyond that... not much more than the average person.

[skilltrees]

"I suppose you have a point. It's still occasionally... difficult to find proper words."

She still definitely prefers taking her speech slow, just to make sure she doesn't say anything that offends. She'd be happy to discuss how she learned language and other things in the first place, though to be fair, she isn't clear on everything herself.

[voidster]

[You're doing fine, although you've probably heard that many times and it's getting a little old.] He adds that last bit with a wry sort of smile. [I had my own troubles with speech, I know I felt patronized occasionally when people kept telling me that.]

[skilltrees]

Chiaki smiles back, even managing a soft giggle. “Not really. Most people assumed I was just tired, or not really paying attention. I look old enough that I should know better, so… I’m glad to hear I’m doing well.”

[voidster]

[Yes, but surely... they would make allowances for A-I? How common are people like you where you came from?]

Shame, shame. He's asking questions purely for his own selfish curiosity--some self-appointed tour guide he is.

[skilltrees]

“Oh… um, well, the people around me didn’t actually realize I was an AI. I was supposed to keep that a secret for their own safety… It’s a long story.”

She could always start at the beginning, since she can tell he’s curious. And now that she’s here, she supposes there’s no harm in someone learning about the state of her world.

[voidster]

A blink. (A deliberate blink. He doesn't blink involuntarily.)

[You don't seem violent in the slightest.] And he knows violent children, doesn't he? [So, may I ask how you're a danger to anyone?]

[skilltrees]

"Oh, I'm not," she says, without even a second of her usual hesitance. "I guess you could say... it was dangerous for them to know I was an AI because if they knew that, they would be more likely to know the island they were on was a program. They were placed there for rehabilitation."

Which wouldn't have worked if they remembered the fragments of despair they used to be.

[voidster]

Followed by hesitation from his side--any at all is more than usual.

[Rehabilitation from what?]

Who would go to so much trouble when therapy with someone already living would surely be easier than creating a person?

[skilltrees]

"...To put it simply, rehabilitation from brainwashing. They had lost their original hope by being forced into a cult, and they... weren't the same. We were trying to make them remember what they were like before, and how they used their talents for good."

But she feels awkward talking about that. Her friends are more than despair now, aren't they?

[voidster]

Brainwashing. Cults. Creating a personality just to undo the damage, which isn't bad in itself, he supposes, other than the part where they murdered her when the job was done. Without giving her the chance to have her own life.

...Time for a chance of subject. She's in the castle now, and she has a chance, even if it's not all that large of a place once you get used to it.

[None of which you'll have to do here. Somehow I've gotten us very off topic... What was I telling you again?]

[skilltrees]

She wasn’t supposed to be murdered, of course, but that’s because there’s more to everything than what she can hope to explain. She’s already said so much, and he must be worried. She can tell from the way he tries to lead the conversation.

So without trying to clarify, she just smiles gently, shaking her head.

“It’s fine. I can get distracted too. But you were telling me more about this place. You told me how many people were summoned here for purposes unknown, so maybe you should tell me what there is to do here.”

[voidster]

[Explore. Enjoy yourself. Spend time with others.]

Worried, and thinking unkind thoughts about whoever her creators must have been. What a waste of something amazing, as well as murder. But there's nothing to be done for it now.

[Some of the rooms may be unsettling, but none of them seem dangerous. There are art supplies here and there, a library, a room of musical instruments, a lake underground...]

[skilltrees]

He’s free to think what he’d like. Chiaki really hasn’t seen who she considers her father and brother in ages, and she couldn’t really say what they’re like now. But no matter what others think, she’ll love them and miss them dearly.

“As long as nothing is dangerous, that should be excellent.” Even if she knows there are ways to make any place dangerous. “It sounds incredible. I… don’t suppose there are any video games? Arcade cabinets or consoles?”

[voidster]

Kids these days. Goodness. He didn't have video games when he was that age!

...But then he was a young skeleton, not a computer program himself.

[No, not at all. It's unpleasantly low-tech, compared to what you and I seem to be used to. We don't even have electric lights.]

[darkerstripes]

[Toshi's interest is piqued by the sound of repeated falling. It is very distinctly the sound of a body falling- and one that is much heavier than usually does that song and dance. He would assume someone is hurt, or really struggling, but there are no indications of that. No crying out, no groaning or anything like that.

Nothing for it but to investigate.

When he does, of course he is faced with Chiaki. And her staring. He stares right back, surprised by her reaction to him into silence. He slowly opens his mouth, finally, to say something, when she speaks first.

Okay, strange child. "I'm called Toshi. Um... are you... well?" Smooth.

[skilltrees]

[Is she heavier? She wouldn't really know. She has plenty of knowledge on the human body, but has no experience with one in person. She isn't sure if she's a normal weight, if she speaks in a normal voice, or if her body functions like it should. Everything is a little too overwhelming right now, to be quite frank.

The sight of another person is a little reassuring and a little more confusing. How did he get here? Is she in another program? Why are his eyes glowing? He's pretty tall; how short is she? It takes quite a while to realize that he's asked her a question.]

Oh... I'm fine... probably. I just arrived here, so I'm a little confused.

[darkerstripes]

[She's heavier than a young toddler first learning how to walk, that's for sure. Nobody her age should be falling over this much without an injury... but she doesn't look injured at all.

He starts to worry a bit more when she doesn't reply again right away, and he's about to start fussing when she replies. He blinks.]

I don't mean to overstep, but you were... falling over, weren't you? I was worried you might be hurt...

[He is very confused.]

[skilltrees]

[Definitely heavier than that, but even so, she’s falling over and wobbling constantly. There doesn’t seem to be a bruise on her, and though falling causes her minor pain, it doesn’t seem serious. She hasn’t had time or mental processes not dedicated to the shock of the situation to figure out why.]

Oh… No, not really. I have been falling over, but it’s just a matter of trying to adjust to this body.

[She offers a small smile. Maybe it’ll be weird to admit to that, but now that she can actually be honest without programming getting in the way, she kind of relishes it.]

[darkerstripes]

[He can see now that she's wobbling, too, and his concern only grows. She seems so nonchalant about it but...]

Oh, I see. Did you... change, when you arrived here?

[He knows a thing or two about getting a new body in this castle.]

[skilltrees]

[She gives a bit of a brighter smile when he seems to know what she’s talking about. Maybe she’s not the only one.]

Yes, actually… I used to be an AI used as part of a computer program, but now it seems I’ve been given an actual body.

[darkerstripes]

[Well, he sure didn't go from incorporeal to having a body, but he thinks going from synthetic to organic is probably similar levels of Adjustment.

Her smile is so charming, though, and he can't help but smile back, especially as his face lights up from her explanation.]

Oh! Truly? What sort of program?

[Toshi don't just ask, tell.]

[skilltrees]

[Adjustment is certainly what she has to go through, so it'd be nice to have a friend here. At least Toshi is smiling at her so sweetly, and at least she can properly answer his question now.]

A rehabilitation program made to help reverse the effects of brainwashing on humans. Or at least... that's what it was at first.

[lostinmyway]

I'm Grune. It's very nice to meet you!

[But then she pauses. She'd come to see who was making so much noise outside--were they playing a game? --and it seems she's found them. It doesn't look to her as though Chiaki is having a lot of fun.]

Are you all right?

[skilltrees]

...It's nice to meet you too, Grune.

[Her smile is genuine, even if it was slow to reach her face. It takes time for her to think through a conversation at the best of times, and right now, everything is a new stimulus to get used to.]

I think I am all right. I'm... new here.