JUNE-JULY MINGLE.

[lasteden]

THE STARS, THEY GLITTER ABOVE. WHO. Everyone. WHERE. Inside the White Moon. WHEN. July 1 - 15. WHAT. The first wave of foreigners arrive. WARNINGS. None for now. A DREAM, OF A SOUL AWAKE. You are asleep. Perhaps you had slumbered in your own bed, in a forest, in darkness - as of now, you are dreaming. The dreamscape ripples, resolves into a vision of a foreign land, and then a world of pure white. A voice. ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ, ʜᴇʟᴘ. There is the sensation of rising through deep water, regaining consciousness, and then you find yourself in a room of white marble. Sunlight filters in from a skylight. You see others around you, equally confused. Your items may be set on the floor around you, or you could have arrived bare-handed - whatever it is, you should get your bearings quickly, because the door at the other end of the hall will open in about two minutes. A woman strides in, her emerald eyes sharp but not unfriendly. She is unarmed, a short dusky shawl draped over wood-hued clothing. Regardless of where you come from, you can understand what she's saying. Her voice is businesslike, any hint of annoyance kept out. "Your attention, please. I expect you will have questions for us, and we will try our best to answer them. Before that - we have no idea how you got here, neither can we return you back where you came from. You are on board the White Moon. We will extend to you our hospitality as long as you cooperate." It seems like you will have to do what she says if you want any answers. TO THE STARS, WE ENTRUST OUR DIRECTION. You will not be allowed to leave the Sanctum until you have chosen your allegiance - to one of the four nations aboard this ark. Once you have signed your name, one of the attendants will usher you out into the light of a new world. As promised, the keys to your residence are in your hands. You are free to go and do as you please, as long as you obey the rules that govern this land. Look up - the sky is not blue, but rather a ceiling of peaks looming above the clouds. And the Sun is no longer the soft orb that you may be familiar with. It shines overhead, an incandescent crystal of white. It will dim at dusk, leaving a night sky without stars. Should you turn back to face the Sanctum's doors, you will see someone else in the doorway. A youth with white hair and dressed in grey, oddly familiar. You blink, and he's gone. Maybe he was never there at all. ADMIN. Welcome to Last Eden's first monthly mingle! It is intended as a catch-all for threads that are not put in log posts. Please direct any questions about this log to the OOC post here. Feel free to post toplevels for the month and tag around to each other. For this month only, most of the faction leaders will be available to interact with upon arrival. To thread with them, tag in to the NPC toplevel and mention who you would wish to thread with. If you wish to have your character meet them later on in the month, please submit this to either the interaction turn-in on the OOC post, or contact the mods to arrange it.

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Comments

[deem]

[And here he has, once more, failed to let go of Naoto's hand in a timely manner. The reflex to salute as he normally would reminds him of this fact, and he releases his grip, letting his hand drop to his side]

It's nice to meet you too.

[He certainly seems to mean it, as that brighter disposition has gone nowhere. Among so many confusing elements, this isn't so bad, really. And he's learned something new and interesting already]

[rota]

[Naoto being Naoto, she doesn't see much of an issue with her hand being held that long. She may have been desensitized just a bit by her experiences in United Earth, especially surrounded by some non-humans and humans who were just the touchy kind. And the more they speak, the more Naoto is convinced that 9S is the former.]

Now, at least, our arrival here is feeling less lonely, don't you think?

[deem]

[Loneliness is a state of being that 9S has become far too familiar with for his liking. It was something he accepted after a certain loss, more unwilling than unable to escape it, to seek some new source of companionship. His rage and grief had dominated all else. 4S had seemed to sense he was on the brink, when last they'd spoken with one another.

No regrets, okay? We need to think about what we're going to do from this point forward

Except he was too far gone then. He'd lost too much, cut adrift from anything that gave his life meaning. But now, so much of what he tied to that very sense of purpose was given to him so quickly and so easily that it's difficult to process. It feels unreal.

But he has to agree with Naoto on one thing]

It does seem less lonely.

[More than this human can know]

[rota]

Mmhm.

I've found that making connections in an unfamiliar location helps with settling in considerably. [Spoken with no small amount of experience.] Of course, there's nothing like a face from home, but if you interact with others who are in the same situation as you, you can rely on them for support.

[Still more experience. Naoto knows she and Yosuke wouldn't have survived the aftermath of her ill-advised jaunt out of the city into irradiated territory without her friend's own friends to help them out.]

[deem]

[Familiar faces from home... 9S does have the luxury of that, as impossible as it ought to be. He takes some comfort in it, for all that he's unsure how he'd function as the only android among so many humans.

But the way Naoto phrases it comes as a surprise to him. It's true that companions could be a source of that, but it reminds him of his own role]

Support, huh... I'm used to that being my job.

[rota]

[A person with a support role having his own support system? How... odd. Of course, Naoto cant even being to imagine how his world works, especially when the most tactical support she's experienced is from Rise, who works in tandem with her Persona in order to guide them. Perhaps 9S' work is like that?]

Hmm... I was speaking more of emotional and physical support, and occasionally health if one were to do questionable things.

I assume you were thinking of tactical support?

[deem]

It's a bit broader than that... But I help in the capacity a Scanner can.

[That and a little more, since other Scanners are incapable of melee combat. Most of all his ability to hack enemies and perform maintenance set him apart from another combatant, but he doesn't know whether to elaborate on this point or not]

As for emotional support... I'd just get reminded emotions were prohibited if I'd put it that way.

[2B always put up a strong front, and knowing what he does now, he can't be sure he's ever bolstered her in that way]

[rota]

[Way to dump even more terminology she understands on a basic level but doesn't actually understand given the context, 9S.

Sheesh.]

Well...

Look at it this way.

[Words, what are they.]

Who would be enforcing the rules if you're here and not in your home world? The laws of this land are likely to be completely different from what you know. [Naoto Shirogane, Detective Prince, telling someone to screw the rules?

Why yes.]

[deem]

[If he were asked a technical question, he could belt out far more terminology... And might just meander off on a tangent or two. He'd been asked where the wind came from once, in point of fact.

9S had never been willing or able to adhere to the rules regarding emotions. After a while, he'd ceased to be corrected, perhaps because there wasn't much point in it.

Still, Naoto's reasoning is sound[

I guess this place will have its own laws... Not to mention its own infrastructure.

[rota]

It does, in fact, have its own laws and culture.

[Naoto did make sure of this earlier when she spoke to the empress of Spring.]

Rather, each faction enforces its own laws, creating an identity that separates it from the other three. [Naoto raises four fingers now, thumb, index, middle and ring, counting from the last to the first in order.] Light, Spring, Blood and Ice seem to all be different, and naturally each of their heads have their own unique titles and mannerisms. It's like four different countries have decided to be neighbors.

[deem]

Wasn't that the case with nations on Earth?

[Wasn't it, because that too is ancient history for them. They still call those places by the names they had in the Old World, though national borders have since lost all meaning. They're simply something to call a given location, whether for coordination or dispatch purposes, and little more than that]

Although I don't know how large this area is by comparison...

[Whatever the case might be, Naoto has saved him time in establishing these details. It's too early to tell, but he might've made a good Scanner himself]

[rota]

Earth is not quite like this, no. [Is, compared to 9S' was.

Only now does Naoto register the choice of words in her mind-- Earth, a was?

Of course, the end is an inevitable occurence given science, but for her that's supposed to be so far into the future that there would not even be fossils of the people of her current time remaining during then. There wouldn't even be people anymore, if the ideas were correct. But still it's an unthinkable situation to her. Difficult to imagine.]

It's... [Naoto takes a breath, to steady herself, pull her mind out of dwelling on that.] The different nations of Earth have a few similarities to their neighbors. Those with drastic differences are usually separated by an ocean or a wide landmass. I wouldn't be able to describe much without a world map in hand.

[deem]

[Earth as it was would surely be more accurate, though 9S doesn't realize the need for such clarification. Naoto's explanation makes enough sense to him, if only because on the level of description alone, the concept isn't unfamiliar to him...

But details of cultural differences? Those he doesn't know, and true to form, he's certainly curious]

I can provide something like that...

[After a fashion. To demonstrate, he lifts a gloved hand, a screen made of nothing but light springing into being in front of him. He taps this surface with one finger, and a flat map of Earth is displayed]

How's this?

[rota]

Ah, this... [Is a hologram?

Certainly it's one thing to hear about them or even see them in media, but another to see them. As advanced as Exsilium was, it didn't have technology for projecting holographic images into the air.]

In any case. [Here she goes with a short lesson. Naoto raises a hand, gravitating instantly towards Japan.]

This is Japan, my home country.

[deem]

[9S follows Naoto's indication, watching the small landmass that he points out. A chain of islands, it seems to him, surrounded by the sea on all sides some distance from a continent. He's not unfamiliar with Japan as a geographical location, though he knows no more of it than that]

I know the name, but... [So very little else. Bits and pieces, and no more] What's it like?

[He's never had humans around to ask about their world as it was]

[rota]

[How to explain an entire country when Naoto's only been in certain parts of it?]

It's extremely busy. People are working, some during the day, others during the night, in order to do what they need to. They're determined and hardworking, but many still find time to play and enjoy themselves.

Many people are also rather creative and enterprising, and if I were to say that every day would bring some new novelty invention just because someone can make it, I would only be slightly exaggerating.

[She shrugs. She's seen some strange things, traveling to other cities for work.]

It's mostly peaceful that one can leave their belongings on their table at a diner to use the restroom and not worry about those being stolen, but that doesn't mean crime doesn't happen.

[deem]

[They're interesting details, in more ways than one. 9S listens quietly, intently — because he's recording every word. He intends to share what he learns with 2B, and if he should see 4S again, him as well. Scanners value such information more than any other unit, understanding the weight of it in a unique and concrete manner. But all YoRHa (those few who remain) could benefit from this.

Despite all their efforts, they know so very little about culture. And more than what Japan is like is what Naoto considers important about it. What he focuses on tells him as much as the points of elaboration themselves.

Only when he's sure Naoto has finished does he speak up]

What's a diner...? [This is vocabulary with which he isn't familiar] Since your country is surrounded by the sea, is fish a staple? And what kind of inventions were there?

[There are more questions, so many more, but he paces himself. Sort of]

[rota]

Ah-- [Wow, one question at a time, 9S. Though lucky for him, Naoto is used to that kind of questioning that she can respond easily and in a way that includes all of her responses to each question.]

A diner is a small restaurant that sells food made quickly and easily, specializing in serving multiple guests at any given time. On the other hand, restaurants take longer due to making sure the quality of their food is better, but are far more expensive due to the effort. Some specialize in certain dishes, yes, including fish, though rice is the staple moreso than fish as no meal is complete without it. [Unless you want just bread in your meal, or are eating something with noodles.]

Rice is important enough that the rice cooker had been made specifically to cook it in a much simpler way several decades before my time, as before that it needed to be boiled in a pot and checked regularly for it to come out perfectly.

[deem]

[Diners and restaurants... They're interesting notions to compare, and 9S can understand the sacrifice of quality for efficiency, even if he doesn't agree with the practice. Maybe in combat one had to improvise, caught up in the rush of dismantling an enemy and avoiding the same fare, but with food surely it wasn't so dire.

It must be interesting going somewhere and having food prepared that way though. He wonders if such things exist in this place. Maybe 2B would want to see something like that for herself—

Ah, but he can't let his thoughts wander too far]

So inventions come down to utility...it makes sense. Even refining existing technology serves a similar purpose.

[rota]

[Naoto crosses her arms to think about that.]

Hmm... that's accurate, I suppose. [Even if overly simplified.]

Though I would say that it's done moreso to make life easier. Because humans are always working, convenience of anything from basic necessities to luxuries are always in high demand.

[deem]

Always working?

[He echoes the words curiously, because it's not really what he imagined for humanity. They had commercial facilities to go shopping in, and holidays, didn't they? Surely they weren't constantly operating the way androids do...

And even androids need rest. Even YoRHa, designed to be effective weapons above all else, needed that much]

[rota]

Many businesses close for the night, but those that are primarily digital have many employees. [Naoto shrugs, oblivious to the questions in 9S' mind.]

Hospitals never close either, given the important nature of their work. People have shifts, but the doctors and nurses never shut their doors to anyone who needs their assistance.

[Otherwise they would not be doing their jobs, and would be a violation of their oath.]

[deem]

So what do people do when they aren't on active duty?

[As a YoRHa unit, he doesn't have firsthand familiarity with this system of shifts, but he understands the basic concept. He thinks, anyway. Humans being this busy is news to him, although he knows that they have work. The documents relating to Project Gestalt made it clear enough that researchers were occupied with the task before them...

But even so, he had thought that humanity enjoyed some recreational activities. Even he and 2B went fishing from time to time]

[rota]

Hmm? [Excuse her, she was occupied with thinking of more establishments that never close, aside from hospitals and police departments-- meaning, not the obvious.

But she looks up and brings herself out of her memory to respond again.]

Oh, that. I suppose people do whatever they do for leisure. Rest, play, make plans with friends... Occasionally on longer breaks they would go out of town to visit and spend their time elsewhere.

[deem]

[They're all concepts he can easily grasp, and some of them he can relate to... Though going out of town and elsewhere aren't quite the same for him conceptually. Androids went where they were dispatched, unless they defected and ran away. At that point they were hunted down, so it wasn't much of a leisurely life.

It makes him wonder where it is that humans would go, but he's asked quite a bit of Naoto as it stands, and he's aware of it. His natural curiosity might be insatiable, but he's very aware of the potential to impose, doubtless owed to a natural deference to mankind]

I see... I guess it's not very different from androids, for the most part.