2017-09-16: Critical Hyperactivity
- Log: 2017-09-16: Critical Hyperactivity
- Cast: Xantia, Seraphita
- Where: November City - Downtown
- Date: 2017-09-16
- Summary: There is such a thing as too much hyperactivity.
==========================<* November City - Downtown *>========================== Downtown November City is the wealthiest part. Here, some of the largest corporations in the Seed City make their headquarters. Buildings can reach as high as six stories, with immense stone facades and modern construction that remind onlookers of the technological prowess of the Seed Cities. City Hall dominates the sight, with a beautiful stone facade capped by a large dome. Outsiders are less common here. The police presence is strong and actually capable; while November welcomes Drifters, it doesn't welcome them here, where the wealthy and priviledged live and work. One can find expensive restaurants, fancy hotels, and top-tier apartment living for the rich merchants and government officials. These well-to-do people would rather not be reminded of the dusty, dangerous Drifters that make their livelihoods popular. At the heart of the city is a curious building that hasn't finished construction. Massive beams of steel have begun to reach into the sky, at ten stories high and growing. The Bernadelli Insurance Company purchased the land and is constructing the building, which they call a skyscraper. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0VLPzQF4tQ
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Xantia has been a Person Of Interest on Solaris's radar for some time now. By now, it's been quite definitively proven that her bracer - her ARM - uses technology comparable to Solarian tech. Except nobody in Solaris, or indeed anybody at all, seems to know anything about the background of either the ARM, or Xantia herself. Some have already drawn their conclusions based on that alone.
There's also the matter of her fighting style bearing a remarkable resemblance to that of noted Gear-stealer and village-destroyer Fei Fong Wong, and her being sighted in his company quite a bit as of late. Moreover, she has displayed the ability to generate and manipulate electricity, leading to speculation that she might be capable of harnessing Ether.
All in all, plenty of reason to keep an eye on her activities, and the possibility of her knowing more than she's letting on. So far, there has been little evidence that her purported amnesia might be an act, or indeed that she knows what she's doing at all. But every once in a while, disturbing incidents like her nearly killing Fargo Foobach upon being cornered in a battle at the Lacour Tournament of Arms make one wonder exactly what she's capable of.
One thing she is clearly not always capable of is understanding How Things Work In The World. As evidenced by the fact that at this very moment, she is getting forcibly removed from the Chateau de Iles restaurant. Very forcibly, a towering bouncer helping her on her way by literally throwing her out on the street.
Xantia effortlessly spins in the air to land in a crouch, then rises to her feet immediately, but is nonetheless distraught at this development. "But why? You serve food, right? I have money, right? Why won't you let me have food?" The giant man in impeccable three-piece suit doesn't respond. He merely crosses his arms, and remains blocking the doorway in case there's any funny business.
While Xantia's pretty confident she could force her way in, well... even she realizes that violence would only make it less likely for them to want to give her any food. Unfortunately, 'punching the problem until it goes away' tends to be her plans A through Z. And so, just like that, she's already out of ideas. Ejected and dejected, she lowers her head, sighs deeply, and starts to walk away. So sad. Nothing brings her down quicker than being denied tasty food.
<Pose Tracker> Seraphita has posed.
The truth is, you don't deploy Seraphita when your goal is a covert operation. You don't deploy her when your goal is to spy on someone, and certainly not when your goal is to identify technology of any kind. You deploy her for one very good reason, and it's to burn things. There's also the far less orthodox and military-approved "to befriend someone" which no self-respecting Solarian officer would admit to having done most of the time.
So what turns out to be easier is to arrange circumstances such that Seraphita meets with who she's supposed to without anyone, including her, being aware there's any setup in play. If that sounds convoluted that's because it is.
The only interference anyone had done, was to hand Seraphita a big pink cloak and tell her to, for the love of Cain, please wear that over your uniform if you're not going to bother changing out of it. Seraphita likes her uniform, because it was given to her by Ramsus, so good luck getting her to take it off.
This is how one can find the pink-haired rabbit catching a glimpse of Xantia's misfortune. That pink cloak is the exact opposite of subtle, and she prances to the hungry girl with no intention to hide. "Hiiiiii! Are you having trouble? I was gonna go eat so you can come with me if you want!" she says, insisting via means of grabbing Xantia by the arm and tugging her towards another restaurant. Noodles, apparently.
"When people are mean you just have to move on!! They probably won't change their mind because they're mean." A normal person might introduce themselves but she's already thinking about what she'll have.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
The similarities begin already. It's best not to ask Xantia to do anything that requires subtlety or deception. You ask her for help when you want things smashed, bad guys punched, or you're having trouble finishing your food. Too bad that last one doesn't happen more often, but smashing things is plenty fun, too.
Of course, most of the time, Xantia isn't asked to do anything in particular, and when left to her own devices... things like what happened just now will happen. The world should be a lot more simple than it often is. Just when it feels like you've got it all figured out, people won't just take your money and give you food in exchange anymore, it's crazy!
What good fortune then, for someone to turn up and aid in taking her mind off things. Rather abruptly, getting her arm grabbed before she can even fully parse the conversation that suddenly happened out of nowhere. "Huh? What? I was just--" This is a rare moment, Xantia being completely flustered by the spontaneous actions of someone else. She's usually on the other side of this equation.
It's just as effective as when she does it, too, letting herself get pulled along by Seraphita quite readily. Though most people take longer than she does to accept the situation. The next words spoken already manage to cheer her up quite effectively, it seems. "...You're right! I should've known they were bad guys, they were talking about Black Ties and everything." Of course she'd assume the restaurant staff was talking about the arsonist gang when they said that, who wouldn't?
Even so, she lets out one more forlorn sigh. "I was so looking forward to eating there, though. I heard the food there is the best in town!" And that's literally all she actually knows about the place. "Oh well... I won't give up! I'm sure I'll get to eat there one day!" Not to worry, Xantia obviously understands completely that food is way more important than introductions.
<Pose Tracker> Seraphita has posed.
"Is it?!" Seraphita blinks, stopping. That's a new variable in the equation! She looks back towards the restaurant Xantia was kicked out of and ponders. "It wouldn't be too hard to break in!! ... but usually when you set things on fire the staff flees so maybe we wouldn't get food if we did that." A grave problem indeed. The rabbit makes a face that might imply she's thinking before her wide grin returns and she resumes dragging Xantia towards the less best-food-in-town and more best-noodles-in-town restaurant. Not that she knows that.
It's because the sign in the window is VERY colorful.
"We'll just eat here today but maybe one day we can come back and there won't be mean people blocking the way! Mean people usually get bored and wander off!!" Or their shift ends, which is more likely.
"By the way I'm Seraphita!! What's your name? And do mean people stop you from eating places very often?" If so, what a terrible life, the beastwoman thinks. Perhaps, even, the WORST life. No, make that definitely the worst life.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Xantia nods in agreement when Seraphita assesses that setting things on fire usually doesn't help to make people more cooperative. "I could throw that guy further than he threw me, but then they'd probably just get mad and I'd have to fight everybody there, that wouldn't solve anything! ...well it would solve getting in, but not getting food." That's the whole problem, clearly. The notion of setting the restaurant of fire doesn't seem to have struck her as an otherwise invalid solution.
She cants her head in curiosity when Seraphita looks like she might be trying to come up with another plan, only to go "Wah!" when suddenly pulled along again. Well, she can't argue with the alternative of 'some other kind of food' rather than 'no food at all'. "Okay! There's probably some trick to it, there has to be if other people can get food there. We just have to figure out what it is!"
Already making plans for the next time, completely ready to join forces with this random stranger who approached her out of nowhere. This is fine, this matches Xantia's view of how the world should be working.
Besides, it's easy enough to no longer be strangers. "I'm Xantia! Spelled with an X!" There, fixed. Thankfully her answer to the following question is no cause for sympathy. "No, this is the first time! Actually, very often people have just given me food without me having to ask!" People will see her staring forlornly at food, and they just give or buy her some. It's weird, but she's not complaining!
One of those people was Kahm in disguise, in fact. The sudden spike in food-related costs on his expense account is an effective reminder.
<Pose Tracker> Seraphita has posed.
"That's normal! Food is important and tastes good, so everyone should always have some! Especially those who don't!" Having food beats not having food, and this constant is global. It's a Truth, capital t, and Seraphita would never steal someone's food. Unless Ramsus ordered it. But he'd never ask something like that, right?
With Xantia in tow, Seraphita answers NOODLEBER CITY, which is a name fit for November City's premium noodle and ramen restaurant. It may not actually be that, but it smells great and like food, so who would complain? It's a cozy little place without any tables, just a very long counter people can sit in front of to eat. There's a few clients, assorted clothing indicating they're Drifters, and the owner very quickly asks the two what they'd like.
"I want your biggest bowl of everything!" Seraphita declares. The owner quirks a brow, asking what she means. "I mean every flavor in one bowl!" He nods and resigns himself to create some kind of frankenstein bowl that tastes like 20 different meats and therefore probably doesn't take like any one of them at all anymore. The rabbit turns to look at Xantia. "Whatcha want?"
Step one, order food.
Step two, presumably eat.
Step 3, ????.
Step 4, FRIENDSHIP.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Wow, such sage food philosophies! Xantia is completely on board, nodding vigorously. "Yeah, I agree! It's kinda weird that you need so much money for it!" There, her frame of reference is a little different than most. Because she eats more food than most. "There's always monsters, I guess." Those are free, and everywhere. Nothing wrong with eating monsters, in a pinch. Tends to be less tasty, but it's food.
But who'd want to settle for that when you have NOODLE BAR, or NOODLE BER or whatever it's called, Xantia doesn't care. All she cares about is the food, the nice smells quickly making her forget about any other places she might have wanted to eat. "Ohh, I haven't eaten here yet... it smells so good!" She gives a friendly wave to the assorted patrons, because they too are all very nice strangers, she's certain.
Yeah, that whole step-by-step plan is far more elaborate than necessary. She and Seraphita are already friends, as far as she's concerned. Gosh, they've known each other for, like, minutes, and they haven't tried to kill each other even once! If that isn't friendship, what is?
Seraphita makes the very sensible decision of a bowl of everything. Xantia has half a mind to follow suit, but when prompted to order something, she instead looks pensive for a brief moment. Would a single bowl, even a big one, really be enough? Certainly not. So she settles on, "I'd like a bowl of everything! I mean seperate bowls, one of every flavor you have!"
The owner looks very dubious about that one, which makes her reconsider. "I guess that might be a bit much. Okay, then just five bowls, of the five best flavors!" That's normal, right?
<Pose Tracker> Seraphita has posed.
"Ooh, you eat lots! I get really hungry too after working out but I haven't done any of that today so I'm only kind of hungry!" That state when you're hungry but not for a lot. But still definitely hungry. Seraphita reaches for her waist and produces a pouch of gella, which she hasn't counted - presumably, someone in Aveh did, before sending her off to November City in the vague hope of running into Xantia (or information about certain statues). What they should have probably counted on instead, instead of counting the money, is that Seraphita wouldn't know its value.
And so she just hands the owner of the restaurant what must certainly be enough to pay for well over fifty clients, not two (or considering Xantia, three to five). "Heeere, mister! I was told you would want this in exchange for things!"
It's possible Xantia is getting her countless bowls now.
Seraphita sits down, which is a feat, and Xantia might catch glimpses of that red and pink uniform underneath the flamboyant cloak, complete with Solaris logo on the sleeves. Whether that matters or not depends on her knowledge!
As they wait for their food, Seraphita asks: "So what do you do for a living? Oh oh me first! I'm a hero! I have super secret missions to help save the world!!" This is true from a certain perspective. She leans in closer, putting a finger over her mouth. "But I think it's supposed to stay a secret so shhhhh!!"
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
"I do eat lots! I'm always hungry!" The way Xantia says it, it's like she's proud of it or something. It's really just facts, though. She does tend to count for at least three people where it comes to food. This has made her acutely aware of the value of money, learning what the numbers mean by virtue of how much food she can get with things, so when Seraphita just casually hands out a big bag of it, her eyes go wide.
"Wow... you have so much money! Is it really okay to spend that much?" You know it's bad when even Xantia wonders if you're spending too much on food. Still, far be it from her to tell other people how to spend their money. Especially if it means she gets to eat lots of tasty food! Everyone's going to have a good day today!
Xantia joins Seraphita in sitting at the counter, not remarking on the outfit one way or the other. Perhaps thinking back to this moment later, she'll end up realizing something, but it won't be today. For the moment, it doesn't look any more notable to her than any other outfit.
Xantia does look duly impressed when learning of Seraphita's job. "Wow, a hero!" Wait, she was supposed to be quiet. She lowers her voice to a whisper. "I mean, wow, a hero." Aaand back to normal volume. "That explains it, I guess you make a lot of money as a hero! I thought you were a Drifter, like me."
Although... that's not actually all she does anymore now, is it? "Ohh, wait, I guess I'm a pirate now, maybe? I don't think I've really done any piratey things yet, but I do have a room on a pirate ship!" Probably also not a thing one should be saying that loudly, but that clearly never stops Xantia. "I think I'd like to be a hero, though," she muses. "What do you have to do to become one of those?"
<Pose Tracker> Seraphita has posed.
"Yeah! I was given this in case I got hungry while here, so that's what it's for!" Gebler's next business expense report is going to have a lot of things to justify on it. This is what happens when you don't put Tolone in charge of Seraphita's money.
Their order might take some time to get here considering the volume, but it'll probably be more than worth the wait. That's what the owner says, anyway, and in the kitchen people already sound incredibly busy. It might well be the Drifters in the restaurant have noticed the large amount of money going around, too. Luckily none of them see to be bandits for the time being.
"I don't usually get lots of money, I just get things when I ask for them!" She tends not to ask for insane things, so it helps. Keeping Seraphita happy is probably cheaper than giving her a full salary. Said salary goes to someone who can actually use money properly. Probably Tolone, again. "But it's a lotta work being a hero, you gotta train and train and often go different places where you're needed!" It's really just like being a Drifter. Then to answer the question: "I was recruited by the Commander! He said I had a lot of untapped talent and wanted to help me dev-e-lop it." Longer words are hard, okay?
"But wow, you're a pirate! I have a friend who wants to be a pirate too!" She's JUST smart enough not to namedrop Elly there. "... she never said what the names of the pirates were. Um... they have a ship. Like, a desert ship! Maybe you know them?"
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Xantia can't really call that one into question. She understands being paid money for work, but she still doesn't fully understand why certain people just went and gave her money to use before she even did anything. Doesn't make much sense, but apparently that's a thing that just happens sometimes.
Even if it's apparently not the norm, Xantia still concludes, "That sounds nice," regarding getting things when you ask for them. She doesn't really feel she needs money, just give her the food right away, cut out the middle man! "Hmmm... but I already train and go to different places a lot! Did I become a hero without noticing?" It's more likely than she thinks.
Xantia quickly grows bored and impatient when forced to wait, though the only indications so far are her placing her hands on the back of her head, and looking in the general direction of where the food comes from. "Hmmm... I guess I wasn't really recruited, I just wanted to go with them. But maybe I also have a lot of untapped talent?" Also more likely than she thinks, even though it only makes sense in her case, given her amnesia.
Strangely, for those able to sense such things, she sure doesn't seem like a source of untapped talent in the magical sense. By all appearances, she's about as magical as a rock. That doesn't match what's known about her displayed abilities at all. Perhaps another detail that won't seem notable until later.
Xantia is a bit surprised by a hero seeming impressed by a pirate, but the following explanation helps to have it make sense to her. "Oh, we have a desert ship! It's called the Yggdrasil! If she wants to be a pirate, she should talk to Captain Bart. He's real nice, I'm sure he'll say yes!" That's been her experience, anyway. Just go up to pirate captain with a huge bounty on his head and ask what you want, it's fine.
<Pose Tracker> Seraphita has posed.
"Maybe you are!" Seraphita excitedly exclaims, eyes lighting up. "Do you save people?! Do you want to make the world a better place?! Then you might already be a hero!!!" Is the punctuation multiplying? Oh no, it is. The rabbit has now gotten up, unable to remain seated as she wildly gesticulates.
"You might have secret super powers that'll only come out if you train hard enough!!! You need to find a mentor, someone super awesome you can look up to and who'll teach you how to be a hero!!!!" Her excitement does not die down as Xantia identifies the pirates. It just keeps increasing, like a reactor going critical.
"That's the one!!!!! The Commander says I can't be a hero and a pirate but my friend just wants to be a pirate now so it's okay!!!!! She has good reasons for it and also wants to make things safer for everyone so it'll work out!!!!!!" You can't fathom how excited she is she found useful information. Or information she THINKS is useful, anyway. Elly's secret mission amidst the pirates can double as an investigation on Xantia, Seraphita actually did something right! That's how she's looking at it right now at any rate.
Finally she calms down a little bit, hopping back onto her seat. Upside-down, doing a hand-stand. The cloak falls all over her head and she quickly realizes that was a terrible idea while wearing it. She flips back off the seat and onto her feet again, shaking her head with vigor and flailing to get the cloak back on correctly. Eventually she succeeds. Maybe with some help.
"Aww, but, I don't think I was supposed to tell you all that because if people find out she wants to be a pirate we're gonna have to like, bop her on the head real hard." Well, oops. Maybe this'll actually HELP Elly? One can hope. "So how come you're a pirate?"
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
So much excitement!!! It's hard not to be a little infectious, but this much overwhelms even Xantia, whose eyes grow progressively wider. She can't really manage to get much of an additional word in, in the face of all that, she mainly just starts to look more and more concerned. Is she okay? Is this okay? Somehow it feels like this is not going to be okay!
Until Seraphita does her handstand, and the cloak falls over her head. Xantia can't help herself - a snicker quickly turns into full-blown laughter. Just, all that, and all it led up to having the bunny girl looking extremely silly. What can you do but laugh?
Though at least she gets up from her seat, offering, "Here, here, let me help," while still failing to understand the cloak was worn for a reason other than just liking it. That's why she wears hers, after all, as impractically as hers is generally worn.
There really was reason for excitement there though, wasn't there? What if she really is a hero, who needs hero training? She should definitely ask somebody about this. As for Seraphita... it's true, she did uncover new information. Though Xantia was previously spotted in the company of people affiliated with the pirates, her actually being with the pirates, that sure is something new. The concern that follows is summarily waved off: "It's fine, it's fine, I don't know who your friend is, right? Just don't tell me who it is, and there'll be no problem!" Xantia's unknowingly even helping Seraphita to do her job!
Given how freely she's willing to talk about everything, it should be little surprise that she offers her reasons for becoming a pirate freely, too. "Well... because Fei's with them! I was gonna follow him anyway, so it just seemed easier to get on the same ship instead of having to run after it." Yep, that's it. That's the whole reason. She has absolutely no reason to assume Seraphita will know who she's talking about, but that's just what she does. Talk about things as if everybody shares her own frame of reference.
"You keep mentioning a Commander... are you in some kind of hero team or something?" Oh right... Seraphita has been doing the same thing, hasn't she?
<Pose Tracker> Seraphita has posed.
Fei... Fei... Fei? Seraphita taps her chin, blinking. Sounds familiar but clearly she must have slept through THAT meeting. For the tenth time. Something about... a robot? There was definitely something about a robot in the story. This might actually help clarify things if she wasn't from Solaris, land of robots. Mostly giant ones, but some sewer ones too.
So instead the bunny focuses on Xantia again because it's easier than trying to recall where she heard a name. Also to say "thank you!!" when Xantia helps her get her fabulous pink cloak back on correctly. There's a reason Seraphita doesn't even wear her skirt: clothes get in her way. This cloak is even worse.
"It sounds like you already found your mentor then! So now you just have to follow his orders and train with him until you're a hero too!!" Which, surely, is that easy. She's asked, then, about the Commander and her team. She nodnods happily.
"Yupyup! There's the Commander and then four of us! We're the most elite of the elites even though none of us are blonde!" What... does that have to do with anything? "But I'm the only one with these!!" Seraphita grabs her ears and flops them around, because they're long, fluffy and floppy like that.
"It's like having a family!" Which, technically, killed your previous one. But if she's capable of feeling sad about that she has never shown it. Or sadness about any other thing for that matter.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
The similarities do keep coming, don't they? Clothes getting in the way: literally the only reason why Xantia is now wearing ripped denim shorts. I mean, obviously, who'd ever buy pre-ripped clothing? That'd never catch on. ...okay, aside from that brief fad while she was a participant in the Tournament of Arms.
"That's exactly what I was thinking!" Xantia is only too happy to consider the possibility of having Fei as a mentor and getting to train with him more often. Or maybe that's how it was all along? People did ask once if she was Fei's student... who knows?
Meanwhile, Seraphita describes her team. Five people, only one bunny person, no blondes. No clue what that means, but Xantia'll remember that anyway. She's not about to forget any details ever again, no matter if they might seem useless now. It all has a bit more significance when you have no idea just how many important details you've forgotten.
Speaking of which... Xantia's smile fades a bit, showing clear signs of sadness when she says, "That must be nice." The reason is volunteered right after: "I don't know if I have a family. I... don't really know what it's like to have one. I can't actually remember anything from before this year."
Still not exactly a fun thing to bring up, but it's getting a little easier each time. Besides, asking friends for help in this only makes sense, and she's definitely friends with Seraphita. Doubly so after paying for all that food! "So, while you're out heroing..." That's a word, right? "...if you find anybody who knows something about me from before then, could you please tell me?"
<Pose Tracker> Seraphita has posed.
On the other hand Seraphita has already forgotten half of the important things Xantia may or may not have said, and half of the ones she vaguely remembers about her. She's not good at it.
What she IS good at it detecting sadness and resolving it. And so, still standing, she reaches for Xantia and grabs her into a tight, probably uncomfortable hug. Maybe the only unusual thing about it is that the bunny's body temperature is definitely higher than a normal person's by a few degrees. Enough that you'd notice! It must be all that hair.
"Aww, it's okay! When you have amnesty you just have to try super hard to remember until you do!" That wasn't the right word but points for effort. "I bet you will eventually!! Just don't give up!"
She nods, firmly, at the request. "If I do I'll let you know! Maybe you should look for people who can recognize stuff you had on you when you came to? Like if your clothes are from someplace special! Or you have weird jewelry or something!" Or a certain technowristband, no doubt. "But if I find anyone I'll tell you right away!!!" She doesn't, case in point, Solaris wants to know who Xantia is too, and if they don't know odds are high few people do.