sakedrinking | [Audio]

As much as I dislike encouraging people into lives of sin, take a few sips of sake, it will help.

People do build up relatively stable lives here, all things considered. Maybe you'll be luckier than I was.

B-but... my brothers and sisters... *sobs, hiccups*

They'll either be here or they won't. Either way, you still have to look out for yourself for now. And if you don't calm down that's not going to happen. *sound of bottle being pushed closer* Go on. Don't decline a perfectly good gift.

*there's a bit of quiet sniffling, but apparently she does as she was told because when she speaks again she's a bit more composed*

Okay. So... I-I... guess... what do I do now? Any suggestions? ... besides drinking. I can do that well enough on my own.

You find a place to stay, perhaps a job. If you're lucky, you'll fall into a group of friends.

I recommend Neon City's Hyperion Inn for the long run, it's owned by a friendly fellow named Lorne. In the short term, there are a few rooms at Axoryi's hospital not in immediate use. I can have it arranged so that you're at least looked to for a couple of days.

I-I don't... what if... nng...

This isn't working, chief. She's about three seconds from cracking. I haven't seen a reaction this bad in... a long damn time.

Better to have it out and over with rather than let it fest while you still can, I think.

Shall I tell you a tale?

... I'm not sure it'll be good for her, coming from you. But shoot.

Heh, well, you can screen it, then.

Once upon a time, there was a little boy who got lost trying to find his younger brother. He looked all over town for him, but had no luck. He looked for hours, until eventually he was so tired that he retreated to the temple to rest. By the time the afternoon came along, he was napping at the central altar. Then, suddenly, the temple doors opened and Buddha, clad in light, led his little brother to him. Buddha disappeared, but the boy's brother was still very much there.

Faith manages.

*quiet*

Oi. Haku.

*sniffles, mumbles something that doesn't quite get caught by the microphone, but after another second passes she hiccups again*

Th... thank you... sorry I yelled earlier...

People yell at me all the time. I'm really quite used to it.

No matter, though.

... you don't seem... horrible. I mean that was a little jarring, the way you explained it. But you gave me sake. Can't be all bad.

... so liquor really is the answer to all your problems?

... maybe. What's it matter if it is?

*sigh* Some help this one's gonna be...

HEY! I am perfectly capable of... doing... things!

...

Don't be fooled, I'm really a horrible ogre who eats the bones of little children.

I think there's still a kid I delivered in Africa, given my name, who apparently exists as a testimony to this.

...

*nervous laugh* That can't be true. ... *hisses, apparently to Phasco* Can it?

No. He just likes being a jerk. You'll get used to it.

It's not, but I might as well be given my background as Chosen Child pariah.

Chosen Child?

Don't look at me. He's the one fielding your questions right now.

You're really not all that helpful, are you?

The Chosen Children in my world are much like the tamers in this world: they were chosen to fight a war in another world they were poorly-equipped to fight. These Chosen Children aligned to specific crests which represented their strongest attribute. Courage, Friendship, Kindness, etc. I was Darkness, and because of this, I was barred from ever entering the Digital World because the Powers That Be were afraid of me siding with the badguys and/or Millenniumon. Then I started dating Millenniumon's partner, which made me more of a pariah, then we sort of became the dirty little secret of the Digital World: spoken of in secret but never officially acknowledged, often regarded in fear.

Fortunately, I've apparently been dead in all but one of the other realities, so the Chosen Children in those universes didn't have to worry so much.

... O... oh. I'm sorry...

I-I... really can't relate. Not completely. But I know what its like to be an outcast from those you're supposed to be with...

It's not exhilarating, no, but frees up time to actually construct a life.

*snorts a bit* I suppose it does, if you're human...

This place has cyborgs and robots, too. I don't think you'll be particularly lacking in opportunity for a social life.

No. I suppose I won't be. But it wasn't easy the first time around... *sighs a bit* ... you probably don't want to hear about my sad excuse for a 'life', though.

Go for it. It probably beats the pathetic shadow of what passes for my life here.

... there's these things called Vocaloids. They're basically cyborgs made for one real purpose: to perform. Sing, dance, play instruments. They're idols, only... without the need to wait for some one to get old enough to be one, or get a new one when that one gets too old. 'cause, yehknow. Cyborgs don't age.

Well, only one company was making them. Which was fine. Cause they made them right. Well another company decided 'we want in on this' and tried to steal their secrets and make their own. But they didn't get everything right. And... that's how Neru and I came along. I can't sing very well. I couldn't hardly dance, and I'd never even picked up an instrument before. Of course I was built, so I didn't know I was wrong until the original company sued the one that made us for everything they were worth. We were left homeless.

And... the original company did eventually take us in out of pity, but for a while it was really scary. All the Vocaloids are kind of... dependent on one another to a certain extent. We can fix each other if something goes wrong, and other things too. Neru tried to leave and go on her own a couple of times... and we both started having issues shortly after. Weird glitches, errors... things like that.

So the other company took us, but not all the other Vocaloids accepted us. The twins were okay with it, and the two other older ones liked having me around as a secondary babysitter of sorts, but Luka and Gaku never talk to me, and Miku is far too nice to ever really say it out loud, but she flaunts it a bit, that I'm basically her copy. I learned some other skills... still can't sing very well, but it hasn't been all bad.

I just... don't always feel like I fit in unless I'm with Rin and Len or Neru... and now that I don't have any of them...

That's... how I feel without my husband here. He was my world, and now he's not here. There's a teenage version of him from a universe where I died, but he's dating someone else and I'm just... lost without any version of him to look to. Oh, and I don't have my job anymore, nor any of the things that ever meant anything. I have nothing anymore.

You have a much better chance to be fixed for the better, though. You may want to go to Junk City if you wish to have those glitches and errors taken care of. There are many skilled mechanics there, and surely one will be able to fix whatever you wish if you so wish it.

I'm sorry that happened to you... family is important. I've learned that much. Losing them is difficult in any manner.

I'm not really sure if they can be fixed. They tried a couple of times, but... they're difficult to reproduce. And after they took Neru and I in, we were around another 'loid almost all the time. They worried about risking irreparable damage if they tried to deliberately trigger them.

*softly* Not that I blame them. Its terrifying, basically feeling your own mind backfire and collapse on you...

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(this is him being completely and utterly deadpan)

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[Locked to Haku because Osamu trusts no one]

Re: [Locked to Haku because Osamu trusts no one]