System Admin
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Administrator
Posts: 1,477
Player Name: System
OOC Username: M00K
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Post by System Admin on Nov 1, 2023 17:06:44 GMT 9
The Cat's Meow - Briarbane Settlement's resident cat cafe, saloon, and not-so-secret speakeasy. The password changes daily, and there's an entire fan community online dedicated to providing it each day, if you know where to check.
The password today is 'fluffy', but that's not what you're looking for. Not today. You're not here to visit illegal Litten— you're here to find someone.
A few days ago, you received a letter from the former Professor Ash. You may not have realized at the time, but something just didn't sit right with you about it.
Would Professor Ash— academic, altruist, and artificial intelligence— really make so many spelling mistakes?
Letter in hand, you stand at the door of The Cat's Meow, staring down the eyeslot. It slides open, revealing a pair of squinting black eyes. Nothing out of the usual. Nothing to explain the blinking quest marker with the maddening title of find professor ash.
"Password?" the proprietor demands, waiting for an answer.
What do you tell him? The next mod post will be on November 9.
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orioncayge
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Bandana Guy
Round 2
Posts: 770
Trainer Class:
Arena Points: 20
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Post by orioncayge on Nov 2, 2023 1:14:49 GMT 9
Orion had a lot of questions whirling around in his head as he made his way down the side alley that lead to the Cat's Meow. Nagging concerns that churned and roiled in this head, threatening to spill out of his cranium if it wasn't covered with his sick Noir inspired bandanna. Where did the professor go? What was the meaning of her coded message? What was she doing now that she wasn't part of the three ringed circus that was the expedition? When the fuck the Briarbane get some many fucking buildings?
You are unlike anything I've ever seen before.
His heart fluttered as he recalled the line. Some silly part of him wanted that to be personal, aimed right at him, Orion Cayge. But he knew that it was a general hook for all of the players, something mass produced and sent out to everyone who'd gotten it as loot. A nice little story quest, something to engage the players. Yet even knowing that, he couldn't help but make it personal. This world, for all intents and purposes, was real to him. The people in it weren't just zeros and ones, they were just as real as he, or like...Borama were.
I do not understand you. Not yet. But I will.
His jaw clenched tightly as he found himself standing before the door. It seemed almost cruel, a quest line about professor seeking to understand something so...borderline eldritch for her reality. At best she would be fed some half truth that fit within her worldscope, an acceptable answer involving "pokepower" or some such in universe explanation. Maybe she would never find out, vexed eternally to puzzle upon some unknowable quandary. But what if she did find the truth? To discover that her world, and her existence were some artificial construct made the amuse higher beings?
Even the most stalwart of minds would buckle and fracture under that weight.
Yet even in all of these odds, she still put her best foot forward. Even without funding, she'd chosen to continue her pursuit of knowledge. He wasn't about to leave her high and dry, even if it meant possibly facing some uncomfortable realities, and difficult situations. So as the peephole opened up and he was asked for the password, he didn't answer with the usual fair that had been posted on today's R/UNOVR thread. He let out one singular word, not knowing where it would take him.
"Plasma."
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Verai
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You Can't Take Me
The Creed
Posts: 877
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Miyagawa Tarou
OOC Username: spibe
Arena Points: 38
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Post by Verai on Nov 2, 2023 6:57:40 GMT 9
Verai had taken time to pour over the letter. At first, he had simply treated it like anything else he’d gotten in the game, and bade the interface open it, Ash’s voice reading it aloud to him. He still had SEER equipped, and so couldn’t read it himself- this was normal. He was used to it.
Until Ash’s voice skipped, like a dusty record, strange enough to make him pause. It continued, fine, until it wasn’t. He waved away the audio, retreated to his little cave in the Steppe, and opened the letter again.
And, her voice skipped again, struggling where it hit the same words. Supernatural and anomalies. He frowned, and forced himself to keep listening. It… seemed fine- maybe an error- and her voice slipped forward on inaccessible, drawing the whole of his focus again. Stuttering over academics. And, with a promise of understanding, a sign-off.
Supernatural anomalies. Inaccessible academics. But what did that mean?
Begrudgingly, he unequipped the trainer class, sat there to let his eyes adjust again, and read over the letter properly. Supernatural… had one p. Anomalies had one l. Ash would know this-
As she would know incidents and faithfully. Certainly better than someone who learned English as an adult.
Supernatural, anomalies, incidents, inaccessible, academics, faithfully. It still didn’t feel like anything. Verai looked at the paper again. It wasn’t the words- it was the errors.
p l a s m a.
Plasma? A quality of blood, life that flowed through animal and man. The transitory intangibility of fire, of space. But what did that mean?
It took days to realize- days before the quest appeared, drawing him to Briarbane, to the Cat’s Meow. He made his way to the door, prompted for a password- one starkly not cat-themed. "Plasma," He offered.
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Laguna
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World Traveler
Mythstar
Posts: 514
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Abigaelle Gauthier
OOC Username: Magnere
Arena Points: 0
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Post by Laguna on Nov 2, 2023 8:38:32 GMT 9
Laguna had come to the Cat's Meow so often, she was practically a regular. Despite not really owning any cat pokemon herself, she really enjoyed the environment. The hot tubs were just the perfect place to soak after a long day of adventuring and to be quite fair, she had grown a fondness for all the different cat pokemon, even if she didn't own any herself.
But today, she was here for something different.
Orignally, Ash had sent her a letter. A heartful letter, seeking to understand the trainers. And she had sent a letter right back, equally full of emotion. Promising to help in any way that she could.
And yet, she had been so blind to see the truth behind the letter until she read it again just last night.
P L A S M A.
Team Plasma. There was genuinely no other answer to the meaning behind that word. Either they were involved, active again, or... something else. UNOVR was based on Unova, after all. But it was always easy to see the world as entirely different, just the similar landscapes and maps.
But maybe, the history and stories too. On one hand, she couldn't help but be excited to find out, but on the other, worried. It meant everything just got a lot more complicated.
When the individual behind the eyeslot of The Cat's Meow asked for the password, she almost on instinct said today's password. Fluffy. But that... wasn't the answer she needed to give, was it?
Ash was taking refuge here. The one place where she truly could hide in secret. It was no doubt that she'd have another code in place to protect herself, and others.
Giving the person behind the door one of her signature smirks. "Plasma."
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Wolf
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The Tempest
Mythstar
Posts: 458
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Genesis Fox
OOC Username: Outcast
Arena Points: 90
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Post by Wolf on Nov 2, 2023 9:38:42 GMT 9
The letter was… strange to her. It didn’t seem right. And most importantly, it creeped her out more than anything. In some ways, it felt like she got a love letter from a secret admirer who apparently didn’t know how to spell with a crap. Like seriously, did the mod devs not proof read it before sending out? What’s going on?
It took Rhaenyra some time to figure out what the letter could possibly mean. She won’t admit to it, but she wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed when it came to riddles or clues. This why she refused to go to escape rooms or things of that nature for that exact reason. However the more she read it, the more she felt that maybe there was something she wasn’t seeing. And for the longest time, Rhaenyra ignored it.
That was, until the woman logged on for the day and got a heaping pile of notifications to read through. And although the sounds of a new area to explore got her buzzing to.. well… explore, a quest marker on her screen refused to be dismissed no matter how many times she tried. find professor ash “Fine,” the hybrid growled, cueing up the quest and following its marker on her mini map, “Fine. I’ll go.”
The marker brought her to a place she had yet to be at, The Cat Cafe. Brow scrunched together in confusion, unsure of what she expected. Wolf kept moving, suddenly feeling like she was being watched going down a dark alley way. It made her hair stand on end, finally reaching set location and meeting the set of dark squinting black eyes.
It eyes felt cold and unforgiving, staring at her soul even through screen. “Password?” The hybrid questioned back, her facial features twisted into puzzlement, “What password?” The eyes narrowed even more, looking about ready to jump through the peep hole and kill her. And in that moment, she remembered reading the online forum discussions and quickly prompted the password that she never figured out until after she looked it up. “Plasma.” It was so clear now, too bad she wasn’t smart enough to figure it out herself.
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odile
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The Tempest
Round 2
Posts: 125
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Claudia Kingsley
OOC Username: mar
Arena Points: 20
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Post by odile on Nov 4, 2023 0:05:55 GMT 9
Odile wished she could say that she had figured out Ash's Letter quickly, that it had been clear to her. That she had seen the spelling errors initially, figured this whole code out like she was Sherlock. However, she was not Sherlock. Not even close. Claudia was a ballerina, someone who, if she was going to be a cut mean to herself, just twirled and pranced about and looked pretty while doing it. Odile wasn't much different. Play what you know.
So no, she didn't catch the spelling errors when she looked into her messages and saw the letter. She caught feelings though. A lot of them, a lot of them she didn't really have names for, but she felt something. If that wasn't enough to prove to her that something about this was real, that these zeroes and ones meant something, then what could?
Odile still wanted to apologize. If there was a chance to do so properly, in front of Ash, then of course she was going to take it. When the maker on her UI popped up, she dropped every idea she had about doing anything else in UNOVR but to do this.
I do not understand you.
She had been reading the letter for the fourth or fifth time before she finally began to notice the spelling mistakes. A bit odd but at first, at the first one, she didn't think much of it. Not like Odile was that great at spelling either. Who was she say much? Though as she noticed more, it struck her as... weird. Ash was a professor. Someone way too smart to be misspelling so much. One typo, sure. Five? That's a bit too much.
Not yet.
What was going on then? Was she okay? Was this some sort of code? The whole "blink twice if you're being held captive" sort of thing? This felt something out of a crime drama, and while she's not a big fan of those, her mother had on one too many episodes of Law and Order growing up. Something was up, and as she looked deeper, as she walked to the Cat's Meow, it finally hit her. Oh. It's one of those sorts of things. Hiding words in the typos. Oh Professor Ash was a smartie wasn't she? But then... why did she even need to do this in the first place?
"Password?"
But I will.
"Plasma."
She'll come to understand you too Professor.
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Kazuki
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You Can't Take Me
The Creed
Posts: 883
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Himura Atsushi
OOC Username: Sleepy
Arena Points: 113
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Post by Kazuki on Nov 4, 2023 0:28:40 GMT 9
It was the first time he had ever gone to the Cat’s Meow. Kazuki knew what he wanted out of the game whenever he logged in, and cafes, virtual drinks, and apparently illegal cats were not draws for him in any capacity.
He crossed his arms as he’s prompted for a password, pulling up once again, Professor Ash’s letter.
Despite everything, from first meeting her at the tent that once housed her lab, to her advice that he failed to heed during the Steel Yourselves quest, to the grand finale of Thunderfall—
Kazuki’s feelings towards her remained ambivalent.
Perhaps it would’ve been better if he was a decent player, or a decent person in general. But instead he was the player who threw beaker at her head, the player who refused to heed her urge for him to call for help, and one among many who had turned against her once things got too complicated with Zapdos.
And yet, he’s here. He had read the letter in its entirety, multiple times. He had asked REN for help interpreting what he had issue with, and had them to credit for the password, compensating for his troubles in English grammar and spelling. Though he felt hassled, the thought of trashing it had not crossed his mind.
“Plasma. That good enough for you?”
For the simple fact that she was the Professor. She bore within her, in the depths of her code or her being or whatever it is that she truly had, the capability of finding answers. She had seen something beyond her understanding and had welcomed it into her home—demanded it, if anything. The letter was not a cry for help. It was a declaration of war; a promise that felt as if it would end with him and every other player under a scalpel, with every secret aligned and meticulously labelled on a metal table, orchestrated again by Professor Ash.
And honestly, after everything he’s seen— he was sorely tempted to let her.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2023 18:40:42 GMT 9
Kallisto still wondered why he was given a letter, when it felt like he barely had a connection to her besides being the first NPC he saw in the game. He thought back to it, when he was still trying out the avatar he so painstakingly created to get a better idea of how to act the role he was given. It was hard, moving around in that cape and in those stuck-up clothes, and knocking down his tone a pitch, like he was back at work. In hindsight, it was a painfully stupid idea, and now he had a penguin calling him Master (even if none of his other Pokemon followed) and a scarred memory that made him quit his career as a streamer (on paper, he simply graduated).
Maybe that was why he paid so little attention to the letter until it turned out there was a quest associated with it. And then he sent a message to a "friend" (though the term was being stretched) because he didn't really felt bothered enough to solve it (he had to admit that he honestly didn't notice the spelling mistakes either. Maybe he would've caught it if he gave it maybe a few more reads, but he only skimmed through it once, and he was left with...little). The contents of the letter, after all, were already things she said before, specifically during the Thunderfall Raid. It was nothing new to him, though it was nice to read them rather than hear them being shouted amidst pouring rain or popped through the notification bar.
He squinted, giving it a couple of reads. Anomalies was the L, supernatural was the P...he had trouble finding S, but once he had all of the other letters, he could guess out the word they were trying to form. What did it even mean, though? According to the internet, there was apparently a Team Plasma that was like the main bad guys of Unova, and one didn't need to spell out what UNOVR was named after...
Was the game bringing them back in some way? Kallisto wouldn't even know how that would work nor what they did other than the light reading he did. In any case, he might be entangled and forced into finding out. He wondered: was Professor Ash going to follow the trend of meta-breaking characters they have been seeing in recent years, where pre-programmed faces cry out into the void, wishing to break free from their chains, but could never do so? He supposed that was entertainment, to make them think. He would like to see how far the game decided to push this narrative, then. (And it didn't mean that he didn't care, because he cared about his Pokemon, who were also bundles of data and code. He just...maybe his circle of compassion was smaller than he thought).
❝Plasma.❞
The door would open a couple of moments later, and he was invited to step inside a place he had never been.
Time to see what the cat dragged in.
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Tuesday
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Battle Legend
The Creed
Posts: 1,602
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Martín 'Mars' Marzán
OOC Username: Stells
Arena Points: 138
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Post by Tuesday on Nov 7, 2023 8:02:51 GMT 9
Here's the thing: nothing against the Cat's Meow and all, but when you're a hyperealistic cat girl with a nice design and an extremely fluffy tail, things can get weird and fucking creepy in a place like this. So, yeah, as Tuesday approaches the quest marker, all too well does she remember how things had gone the first and last time she was here: Can I touch your ears?Can I pet your tail?
Can you meow for me?
That last guy had gotten himself roundhouse kicked in the face. Professor Ash might be here, though. So claims the letter she had received after the raid, and because the letter claims that, here she stands now — her own golden eyes meeting the dark ones of the Cat Meow's proprietor. The tan ears of a cat flick to their sides, and a tail akin to that of an Angora cat sways in a slow motion. "Password?""Plasma. And none of the creeps in there better try to touch my tail, got it?"She'd add a very serious and honest 'or I'll stab them', but she'd rather not risk her opportunity to enter and find the professor.
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Jinx
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The Tempest
Player Character
Posts: 152
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Sheila Michaels
OOC Username: Haberdasher
Arena Points: 20
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Post by Jinx on Nov 9, 2023 9:59:46 GMT 9
Jinx couldn't have explained, exactly, why she kept reading and rereading the letter from Professor Ash, at least at first. She knew the Professor a bit, had spoken to her back in the raid... but then, so had everybody else, often with more thoughtful questions and queries than her own. So why her? What made her so special?
Well, that much the letter explained pretty straightforwardly, at least. Jinx was special because she was one of the players. They were all special, in a way, to the NPCs. And hearing that was... oddly touching. Sure, she knew that really the words had been drafted by some nerd behind a computer screen somewhere, but they felt real. They felt... right.
Except for the spelling mistakes, that was.
"Suppernatural" she caught on first read, and it made her smile a bit every time. Supper-natural? Natural like supper? Thinking about how supper worked in the Pokemon world too much would just lead to trouble, though. And most people probably didn't even use that word. A lot of people not from the South just call it dinner, like some weird TV newscaster.
"Incadents" she caught quickly too, if only because Jinx herself had trouble with that word sometimes. But Jinx always tried to put an S in there instead of the C, she didn't futz with the vowels like Professor Ash did. "Incadents"... trying to pronounce it in her head, it didn't even sound like the word it was trying to replace. What kind of Professor was Ash, making sloppy mistakes like that? I mean, maybe she was in a hurry, or stressed--well, the stressed part probably went without saying at this point--but even so, to swap out letters like that in a word that didn't even make sense when you said it out loud... why would she do something like that? What could leave her so predisposed to making mistakes that even Jinx never made in all her years of bad spelling?
Unless... unless they weren't really mistakes after all.
A secret message. A code. A letter within the letter.
And so Jinx's rereading took on a new light as she painstakingly spellchecked every word, putting together the misplaced letters, trying to find a code, thinking vaguely of the codebreakers back in World War II and how she'd dreamed of being one back when she was in middle school, even writing letters to friends in the clearly unbreakable code of "swap letters out for the number of each letter in the alphabet"...
P-L-A-S-M-A.
Jinx didn't know what significance "plasma" had in Pokemon, if any, and while she could have just gone to Google and searched for "plasma Pokemon", somehow that felt too much like cheating to her. She was going in blind, if she was going in at all.
But Jinx did know, vaguely, of the meaning of the word plasma. The fourth kind of matter, wasn't that it? Or part of your blood? Either something they could take out of your blood and donate to those in need, or the kind of stuff you only found in stars... either way, seemed a bit ominous, but that fit the tone of the rest of it well enough.
And when Jinx got that quest marker about find professor ash, while she hadn't known where to go, she had a pretty good idea about what to say when she got there.
"Plasma?"
Jinx hadn't meant to sound so unsure of herself, but... she was pretty unsure of herself, truth be told.
Professor Ash was gone, sending secret messages in code, and Jinx was left scrambling to put together the pieces.
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System Admin
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Administrator
Posts: 1,477
Player Name: System
OOC Username: M00K
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Post by System Admin on Nov 10, 2023 11:01:33 GMT 9
#s://c~l3n~co/i/m6HRZz~jpeg The eyes in the doorslit widen.
"Ah. That one."
The slit is slammed shut, and the sounds of many locks unlatching come from behind the door before it opens, revealing a dimly lit interior. A chorus of meows come from within as resident Litten and Torracat lazily greet you. For those with Poke Speech enabled, you hear the whispers.
<Howdy!> <Welcome to the Cat's Meow.> <Got any treats?> <They're here for that woman...> <Hello, human.> <Are you her friend?> <Where are you going?>
"Not there," the proprietor says, turning away from the warm, steamy interior with its many blinking eyes. He unlocks another door, this one leading down a long hallway. You hear the thump of Litten paws as one or two of them jump down and trail after you, tails held high. "Here."
101. 102. 103. The doors are marked like hotel rooms, and they probably are— the shop functions as a bed and breakfast, among other things. At 104, he stops and knocks.
"Someone's here to see you, miss."
The door swings open.
"It's good to see you again," says System Admin:ProfessorAsh.
She looks... different, outside of work. You've clearly caught her in the middle of having coffee: a mug sits steaming on the bedside table, where you can see her signature lab coat draped over the wooden chair.
"I'd like to offer you a seat, but I'm afraid options are limited," she says, clearing her throat with a hint of embarrassment, "Bed or chair?"
The barkeep brings another cup of coffee (or other drink of your choice) and the former Professor begins.
"Thank you for coming to see me. The password you used to find me—Plasma—is a reference to a historical group which was once said to believe in equality for Pokemon and people. The idea of Pokemon being on par with people is not a new one— the ancient Unovans had an entire sect dedicated to this ideal."
Ash looks like she wants to say more, but stops herself, eyes shadowed. "I have many questions, but they can wait. I recognize I have only just returned, and you may have... things to say to me. I am ready to answer."
She gazes at you steadily, unflinchingly, inviting you to do your worst.
The next mod post will be on November 16.
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orioncayge
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Bandana Guy
Round 2
Posts: 770
Trainer Class:
Arena Points: 20
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Post by orioncayge on Nov 10, 2023 14:48:57 GMT 9
Orion would casually step into the dimly lit establishment, reaching a hand out and scritching the waiting ears of a litten posted up on high, right at perfect scritching access for anyone coming in. He was clearly the greeter, and purred sonorously as Orion laid some love on him. What a perfect spot for their reunion, when he and Ash had first met she'd handed him a kitten that had grown up to be his Ace. Now they were meeting in an illegal Litten den. His pulse quickened as the proprietor led him down the hallway, his heart pounding. He was expecting some sort of group pow wow, and had seen others lurking outside. Yet it appeared that the moment he'd stepped through the front door, reality had schismed and he was sitting in some sort of...instanced event maybe?
Curious.
He wasn't sure if he was ready to face her alone, after everything had happened, after what he may or may not have started backfired and blew up on her. Ruining her career, drawing the ire of so many angry players incapable of understanding what was happening, the sheer confusion and anxiety that must have run through her head. That is, if she was even capable of feeling those things, but as far as he was concerned she had? So that was enough for him. Still, he couldn't help but fear that she harbored some sort of resentment against him. Or maybe she was mad he was keeping secrets from her, secrets he could never divulge to her. Not from a desire for secrecy, but she either couldn't or wouldn't understand, and perhaps that was for the better. What could he possibly tell her? You exist at the leisure and pleasure of higher beings who venture into your reality to play a fun little game? That sometime in the next however many months or years Hydance might shutter the server and by extension kill her?
The door swung open, and Orion braced himself for the worst.
Yet it didn't come, there she sat, dressed down from her usual attire though the lab coat was not far from her, ready to be shrugged on at a moments notice. She was drinking her coffee, just like she always took it, hells if anything HE was the one bringing a tense air into this room not her. He would let go of the breath he was holding and give her a casual two fingered wave and a hesitant smile.
"Yo! Welcome back."
Taking the porcelain cup filled with black coffee, Orion would glance between the chair and the bed before carefully striding across the room and taking a spot on the bed, admiring the softness of the mattress while she went through her whole spiel about Plasma. It...made sense, this was Unova yeah, she would know about them he supposed. Of course, he tangentially knew of them as well, but in a...different context. He would listen and listen until finally it was his turn to speak, but for once in his life he found his words abandoning him. Nervously he would take a sip of his coffee, scalding his tongue.
"Fuck! that's hot."
Grimacing he would blow on the drink slightly before finding a safe place to set the cup, it was a distraction and would probably not help as he imagined his might engage in some Cayge hand waggling through this whole speech.
"So..."
His hands clapped onto his knees, slowly gripping tighter and tighter as he willed up the words he wished to speak. Where to even begin? How to even begin? He would take another deep breath, hold it, and slowly release.
"I suppose I should say that I'm sorry. I feel like you gave me a choice back when we were discovering everything there was to know about Asper. We could go north, or across the ocean, and I said we should go north into Mystra. I don't know if I was the sole deciding factor on that or not, but frankly even if I wasn't I still feel like I played a part in creating the situation that went down." His jaw clenched tight, and his gaze shot to the floor, staring at his shoes. "I could have done a million different things, I could have told you we can talk to Pokemon, I could have picked a different direction, I could have tried to de-escalate the situation during the Zapdos fight, so many countless things that could have been different. So many ways you could have kept your job, so many ways to save your reputation, just..." he practically deflated as he spoke.
"So much of what happened can be traced back to me, and I have spent all of this time wallowing in that guilt. But I know..." his grip on his legs tightened, and he could feel his digital molars about ready to crack from the pressure his clenched jaw was exerting. "That wallowing in that guilt will do nothing going forward, so once I again." He would bow his head as low as his seated position would allow him. "I'm so fucking sorry."
He let that hang in the air for a moment before, as if to reinflate himself, he took a deep breath and raised his head back high. His clenched fists released their grip of his stylish jorts and his hands rose up to slap his face, as if to smack the sorry right out of him. Sad boys were only attractive on Tumblr, and here he was on a one on one coffee date with the fucking professor.
No need to blow it by being a sad sack of shit, get it out and get over it was what gramps always said.
"But if you want questions rather than apologies, I guess my question for you dear professor, is what's next? I know you didn't just send me a letter with a code hidden in the text just for coffee, you could have just asked me out for a cup anytime you wanted. You-" he would raise an eyebrow, all traces of sorrow that had been lingering in his blue eyes were quickly being routed by a a burning bonfire of curiosity. "Have something cooked up. What are we up to? Where are we going? You give me a challenge and I swear on my bones I won't ever let you down again. I'm already elbow deep into Ostellia and the shit cookin up in there, so if you need a man on the inside I'm on it like peanut butter on jelly."
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Tuesday
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Battle Legend
The Creed
Posts: 1,602
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Martín 'Mars' Marzán
OOC Username: Stells
Arena Points: 138
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Post by Tuesday on Nov 10, 2023 22:38:22 GMT 9
As is no rarity for this ever loquacious Alchemist, Tuesday has words. They're not kind words, they're not cruel words, they simply are what they are, and in their existence, they are true. She had thought quite a lot about these words, after all. She had thought about them much more than what she likes or will ever admit to. She had thought about Professor Ash, about everything that had led up to this moment, about Thunderfall, about their mission, and about how she truly hopes that this artificial intelligence had not abandoned its previous goal because new unrelated information had been acquired. Hope. Motherfucking hope. Am I fighting alone again?The question at the forefront of her mind is pushed aside as she enters the room with a deep breath, and when her golden gaze finally falls upon the professor, there is a smile — although perhaps much fainter than Tuesday's usual ones. "It's good to see you again, Ash." The contrast in their appearance has always been heavy, and today it's heavy as well. Clad in an adorned full plate of armour and cloak of white feathers, Tuesday is decidedly not dressed to be at a place like this, yet it is with all the elegance and grace that she wordlessly takes a seat at the edge of the bed. Coffee comes then, but it goes untouched. Legs crossed and hands laced, the Alchemist Knight simply listens: "...a reference to a historical group.."
"...Pokemon being on par with people..."
"...I have many questions..."
"...you may have... things to say to me. I am ready to answer." "I'm glad that you no longer see Pokémon as mere animals. I agree, that's not what they are." Tuesday doesn't see them as people either, however. Her own Pokémon are her companions and comrades in arms, no more and no less than that. She will protect them just as she will protect everyone else who matters to her in this place. "That they may be on par with people doesn't change the urgency of our situation, however."Her gaze is piercing, her words full of intent. Tuesday had promised to fight for the professor, she had seen the importance of cleansing Mistra and made that her goal as well, and then the professor had left. Had she really abandoned them?"Do you remember Bronstanton Manor, Ash? You realised how perilous the situation was before anyone else. You convinced us all to subdue the source of Corruption and defend the settlement from becoming overrun by it. We called it Briarbane because of what we vanquished that night." How foolish Tuesday had been back then. She had just been happy to fight, happy for a proper challenge. She had not understood the real threat before her, but Ash had, so where the fuck is her concern over that threat now? "You were right. I've seen what Corruption can do, Ash. I've suffered at its hand. It showed me a pain I thought I had long left behind. It took Ancile from me and I had to fight to get him back. It hurt the people who matter to me, perhaps irreparably... It's a dangerous, evil, fucked up thing that cannot be allowed to exist."She needs to protect them. She needs to make sure that Corruption can never again hurt those who matter to her — Pokémon and people alike. "...But Mistra is still there, Ash. You said we needed to cleanse it and then you left. How many more have been hurt by the corruption since then?" No, that's not a question for Ash to answer. Tuesday shakes her head and takes a deep breath, looking at the professor that had once let her down and seeing how they all had failed. "Tell me that you didn't just selfishly leave. Tell me that you didn't abandon Asper. Tell me that no matter what new things you have learned and will continue to learn, you still care about protecting all of us. Tell me that you have a plan, that you don't intend to leave things as they are."Then, quieter: "Please, Ash. No matter how strong I get, I can't defeat it all alone. Do you still care about saving this world from Corruption?"In that question, Tuesday places all of her hopes for this world.
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odile
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The Tempest
Round 2
Posts: 125
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Claudia Kingsley
OOC Username: mar
Arena Points: 20
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Post by odile on Nov 11, 2023 5:49:08 GMT 9
The meowing made the place feel more homely, little whispers of the kittens around as Odile wandered inside, bowing her head and thanking the proprietor. He led, and she followed.
<They're here for that woman...>
I am.
<Hello, human.>
Hello little one, it's nice to meet you.
<Are you her friend?>
I hope I am. I hope she lets me be one.
<Where are you going?>
Somewhere better, hopefully. The fourth door opened, and there she was. It was almost odd to see Ash out of a professional environment, not even having her lab coat on. She looked different. Looked... well enough, at least. Odile wasn't quite sure what she was expecting; maybe some hair frazzled or what have you, but she there, alive, well, even had a cup of coffee. It was almost like nothing had changed.
But things had changed. So much of it. It would be easier to list off the constants rather than the variables.
"I'll take the bed if you don't mind." Odile quietly offered, legs crossing over one another as she took her seat. The barkeep was kind enough to hand her a cup of it herself, and a soft nod was given, thanking them once again. The mug didn't even reach her lips, violet eyes trained onto the professor as she began to speak. Immediately she felt dumb. Plasma. Of course it was about Team Plasma. When she actually played through the games, she remembered thinking their goal was noble, just going about it the wrong way. Didn't help their leader (the real one) was more than a nutjob. Still, she remained silent, letting Ash speak uninterrupted. The professor was ready to answer. But was Odile?
"I... I've been thinking a lot on what I was going to tell you, Professor." Odile started, her eyes falling down to the dark liquid in the cup. "Even before the raid ended, I wanted to speak to you. Like this. Us alone, so we could maybe... come to an understanding."
Crimson hair cascaded forward as she bowed her head. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. What I said to you was uncalled for. To suggest that you shouldn't be a professor... that was cruel of me. Just because I haven't seen much of your research, that I didn't... that was me being ignorant. If the tables were turned and someone suggested that I didn't care about my career, what I've worked so hard for... I..." Her voice broke like glass, a hand coming up to her lip, trembling. "I think I would have acted a lot less gracefully than you did."
A few quiet moments passed before Odile forced her head up, eyes struggling to hold back tears. "I don't have an excuse for saying that. I don't. Even under the stress we were under and the situation we were in, it wasn't called for. I hope that you may come to forgive me, but I wouldn't blame you if you didn't. I'm just thankful I have the chance to give you this apology and that you wanted to see me, despite everything."
Odile exhaled a shaky breath, bringing the cup to her lips finally, taking a tiny sip. Warm, luscious, it filled her cold core. Did she feel better, to have finally gotten that off of her chest? She wished she could say yes, but there was still this nasty coil in her stomach. Maybe it was the people pleaser inside of her, the one that came alive whenever she danced on the stage, but this couldn't be nearly enough to begin to earn acceptance. Nights were spent in bed, staring out a night window to the orange headlights outside, trying to formulate this. It was almost like she was back in front of her always disappointed mother, trying to say something to satisfy so that maybe, she would be graced with a smile.
Almost. As much as Claudia would hate to admit it, there wasn't ever pleasing Victoria Kingsley. There still might be a way for Odile though.
"I want to make it up to you, Professor Ash. I truly do. If there is anything I can do for you, anything..." Her knuckles were beginning to turn white as she gripped onto her mug tighter. "I would love the chance to help you. I would love to show you that I'm not the same person who shouted at you during the raid. I would... love to come to a place of understanding with you, Professor Ash."
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Verai
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You Can't Take Me
The Creed
Posts: 877
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Miyagawa Tarou
OOC Username: spibe
Arena Points: 38
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Post by Verai on Nov 14, 2023 11:08:00 GMT 9
Verai kept quiet and patient, as the door was steadily unlocked, as he was led through the halls. His ears twitched at the choir of mewling, but still he said nothing- no good would come of any sort of information spilling from him. Cats could be just as powerful informants as people, here.
He followed the proprietor away from the baths, down a quieter hallway. Some litten followed, paces curious; he saw no reason to turn them away. They walked, past a few rooms- the prprietor knocking at one. The door swung open, and Ash's voice greeted Verai, soft and familiar.
If she looked different, it went without notice- but her voice was not quite so steel, embarassment and other humanities seeping into her tone.
"It's good to see you as well, Ash," Verai said, gesturing towards the chair before moving to sit in it, letting Ash have the less official, but more personally hers, bed.
Verai took the coffee, holding it musingly as he listened to Ash speak. Equality for pokemon and people... An old idea, even. But clearly not one well liked, today, given how Ash hadn't brought such a thing up until now.
Ash paused, and turned the discussion to him. Verai did not answer, at first, taking a slow drink of his coffee, setting it on the table gently.
"Before I came here, to Unovr, I grew up in a similar situation to you. My worldview was... sheltered. I lived in a place, full of people and- those less than. I was taught that they were living creatures, yes- they had emotions, and lives, and thoughts- but nothing on the same vein as personhood." Verai frowned, taking a slow breath.
"Unlike you, as far as I can tell, I was taught that it was not just alright, but encouraged, to- ... to kill them. It was always me or them. It took me far too long to realize they, too, were just people. Worth no more and no less than I was."
He tipped his gaze towards her again. "You, fortunately, had an army of people yelling for you to understand. You have a lot less blood on your hands for it."
"... you don't have to answer to me, Ash. I'm certainly in no place to judge you." His smile was tight, humorless. Pained. "Ask, and I'll answer what I can."
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