inheritai

[inheritai]

“That’s the long and short of it, yeah!” It was still weird to get used to being so open about Aiba's existence. She herself hadn't known about her for a few years until after she met Date, given ABIS was supposed to be a top-secret program, and their technology even more so.

Here, though...how many times had she just had Aiba out on her shoulder like this? At least it made it easier to explain why she sometimes just went silent while conversing with the AI in her head.

"I was designed to be an ideal partner," Aiba herself piped up now. "Mizuki is not the first human I've been paired with, but I am no less content being here with her."

"So she resides in your eye?" The question was partially rhetorical, but the teenager seemed excited enough, and he was always happy to oblige excitement and interest in organic and inorganic studies.

That, and, well, she may very well be the expert - her and this Aiba.

"And Aiba, you are able to move around freely in different forms. Conclusion: this symbiotic relationship allows for both analysis and travel that may have been impossible otherwise."

"That is a wonderful example of how organic and inorganic life can work together."

@inheritai

[inheritai]

'...Mizuki. You do not usually act like this when you remember her.'

"I know. It's just remembering Mother's Day in particular as a thing. And not even knowing if I should have any kind of reflection about her or..."

[inheritai]

In all fairness, Mizuki hadn't quite notices the hoot pun in the words that were exchanged. She was too busy chiding Aiba, who...well, she definitely could've done it intentionally. She could fluctuate between completely serious and unable to do anything but joke at a moment's notice.

"Pretty much! Kinda top-secret tech back where I come from...but since we're not there, she's what's called an AI-Ball. I just call her Aiba, though."

"PEWTER called me Aiba, so everyone else has too. I bet HE wouldn't talk so callously about replacing me..."

Engle nods to acknowledge the girl's gratitude. "Just doing my duty." She avoids the "hoot" pun.

"What is it, exactly? A living prosthetic?" She gestures at the eyeball in the girl's hand, having not seen anything like it before.

[inheritai]

A startled yelp pipes up from the fleeing AI-Ball, her tiny hands and feet flailing about before she stumbles to a halt. This gives Mizuki just the opportunity she needs to lean down and scoop her up into a palm.

"Ohhh! I can't believe this! You had another person you've been in cahoots with this whole time! Does the betrayal never end, Mizuki?!"

"Hard to be in cahoots with someone you've never met before," the girl counters with a sardonic edge. She turns her glance up to the anthropomorphic owl with a smile. "Thanks for that- she can be needlessly difficult sometimes. I dunno why it's so fun for her..."

This is the first time she's seen anyone running after their... It looks like a gelatinous hamster? But Engle is nothing if not adaptable, and luckily, the eyeball is heading her way.

"I'll get it."

She stomps a combat boot right in front of Aiba, aiming to stop her in her tracks. This sapient prosthetic, or whatever it was, is clearly the mouse to the teenager's cat.

[inheritai]

"Aiba, get back here! It's disorienting going this long with just one eye."

"Oh, have you not already gotten a NEW partner to help you with that? You seemed so invested in getting one just a few minutes ago."

"A romantic partner- come on, you know damn well what I meant! Valentine's Day is coming up and I was just thinking about that a bit. Quit messing with me!"

Aiba was indeed messing with Mizuki. But it seemed as though it'd be a bit longer before the game was given up...

[inheritai]

"Yeah, that's a decently common sentiment around here." Mizuki may not have met this guy before, but she could relate to the feeling of aimlessness this place could instill. Even during the good times, they were still stuck here. "There anything you did back home that gave you something to work towards...?"

❍ "Been a long time since I last felt like this. Like I've got nowhere to go." Ever since he'd reunited with Tifa he'd felt like he'd found a purpose in AVALANCHE. Cloud didn't know what to do without that now.

[inheritai]

The wave of intensity overtaking this person set Mizuki on-edge. Shit, she might've charged headlong into a poor situation to do so in. Harrowing as this drone's experiences sounded, the levity with which she treated human mutilation didn't bode well for her further reactions. One of Mizuki's feet slid back, her body winding up to fight back if necessary...

And then the last words spoken throw her off entirely.

"I- what? Uh...yeah, I understand where you're coming from. That doesn't sound very...Gucci Gang." This girl was like Iris had become something out of a sci-fi apocalypse. "It sounds awful and traumatic, actually. But I've never really believed in answering atrocities with further atrocities- that's how everyone ends up miserable."

θ "Ha... Ha... Ha... You've got SPUNK. Pip-SQUEAK." Oh, this one seemed fun. So quick to lash out at her when most would simply just run away. "Very DEMURE. Very MINDFUL. But also very NAIVE." The human had no knowledge of her world, of course, but even a human that did would surely feign ignorance.

The Xs in Cyn's eyes shrunk. "Do you KNOW what it is LIKE to claw your way o-o-out of a PILE of CORPSES of your own. kind? Not just a FEW, but HUNDREDS upon HUNDREDS? Do you THINK that S I N is lesser than THIS? Drones are. SENTIENT. We have F-FEELINGS. But hu-mans treat us like GARBAGE. It wasn't very. GUCCI GANG."

[inheritai]

"Well, ideally no. Games are never really worth getting in a physical fight over, but...I dunno, Monopoly's just one of those ones that can get people particularly frustrated."

"The family-friendly party game series Fabio Soirée is another one. Funny how things so benign can cause such intense emotion..."

"Well... I mean. It's a game, right? Nobody's gonna start a fist fight over a game, we're pacifists." ("Probably.")

[inheritai]

Okay, this… yeah this was a new one. The shit she’d had to live through wasn’t even close to on this level.

“What the fuck?! Yeah, no shit people won’t want anything to do with you if you do that! How comfortable would you be if I were just walking around using the hollowed out skull of someone like you as a popcorn bucket or something?”

θ "Humans. are. SO mean. You G-G-GRAFT one onto your body and they won't e-ven MAKE eye contact with you."

"It's ma-chine WASHABLE, you. know?" Cue her playing the washing machine cycle finished song through her speakers.

[inheritai]

"Yeah, I don't know how good an idea that is. Sounds like that'd be the best way to make people abandon the very principle that brought the club together."

"Not everyone is so quick to jump to violence as you, Mizuki."

"Maybe we should have a pacifist's club in the city or something. Maybe we could all not be pacifists for a while if we play a game of monopoly." ("We can apologize after the game or something but maybe some capitalist-fueled slapstick might do us some good.")

[inheritai]

"Just don't end up letting your mind wander and accidentally give out a cold one to the trick-or-treaters. That might get you into some trouble."

" The only downside of living in a penthouse during Halloween is I can't hand out candy like normal. Guess the only way I could fix that is t' just sit outside the building while I'm in costume. "

" I just hope y'all don't mind me drinkin' a six-pack at the same time! "

[inheritai]

While most “events” set Mizuki on-edge, she’d been at nothing but her tip-top since the moment she woke up in her new hue. She felt ready to tackle the world with everything she had, passion filling her every action and thought. The color wasn’t her typical style, but she sure wasn’t complaining about how it made her feel!

An unfamiliar voice called out in her direction, making her head whip around toward them. It was a guy probably around her age, commenting on the hue she was starting with. She gave an enthused reply as he was given ample time to register that she wasn’t entirely pink.

“Hey, thanks! It’s weird, honestly- I’ve never really been that into pink, but I can’t remember feeling better than I have since waking up covered in it!” A light chuckle escapes as the irony of the situation washes over her, before she looks him over and gives a bright grin.

“It must be great to have multiple colors going on, too! I think that could help me turn down the energy I’ve got going on here!”

@inheritai // event starter !

Pink.

Now that was a color he could get behind. Josuke hadn't gotten many colors yet, but he was missing a bright pop of something. Most of the colors he had were pretty muted, and that wasn't much his style. This girl had exactly what he needed.

Great!

But now...

...how did he approach this without sounding like a weirdo? Ugh. Might as well dive in and hope for the best, right?

"Hey! Sorry to bug you. But...pink's a pretty great one to start out with, nice and easy to see. Pretty flashy. You got lucky with that!"

[inheritai]

[aiba] -> Your message has found me quite well, Mr. Geddarm. [aiba] -> In fact, I feel so well at this moment that I would like to share with you an amusing video starring one of my favorite forms of life: insects! [aiba] -> Behold!

[volo] -> GREETINGS TRAVELER !!! [volo] -> I HOPE THAT THIS DIGITAL MESSAGE FINDS YOU WELL !! [volo] -> IF YOU HAVE RECEIVED IT CORRECTLY, PLEASE RETURN A MESSAGE ENCLOSED WITHIN YOUR METAL ARTIFACT. [volo] -> IF NOT THEN PLEASE INFORM ME IN PERSON. [volo] -> YOUR MOST TRUSTED SCRIBE, ARCHIVIST, WIZARD, CELEBRITY, [volo] -> VOLOTHAMP GEDDARM.

[inheritai]

It was a pretty good day when Mizuki got to hand some jerks' asses to them. Four guys had been harassing an older man for a reason she hadn't fully grasped, and without a badge she could flash them it was entirely on them whether they chose to deescalate.

Maybe she shouldn't have been so happy that they hadn't.

She'd caught the sound of small hurried steps coming toward her after she'd made sure the old man was okay, but it was only when the excitable little voice speaks up that she turns to see the little girl a few feet away. She's practically bouncing up and down at her unintentional display...honestly, it leaves Mizuki feeling kind of flustered.

"O-oh! You, ah...thank you?" How is she supposed to respond?! She's never had a kid express excitement over her fighting ability! "If your Mama can fight like that, I really think she should be the one to teach you- or, I should at least have her permission before I teach you anything..."

★- There was a commotion going on - and Anya couldn't help but watch in complete awe. In the middle of it was an older girl, much older than she was dealing with some people, who ran at her, yelling and everything - but she dealt with them!

The girl was scared for her, but she seemed to manage fight them off, with such expertise. When everything was done, Anya was in complete awe.

She ran towards her, in curiosity, awe and everything else.

"That was so cool!" She exclaims, hands flailing, as if unable to explain how she felt. "The coolest… ever! You were just like Mama! How did you fight like that!? Actually, teach Anya how to fight like that!"

@inheritai

[inheritai]

"Wh- hey, wait! That's my partner!"

"AAAAH!! Let me go!" The gelatinous hamster-esque form of Aiba wriggles in this stranger's grasp. "Mizuki, I would like to go back into your eye socket now! It's safe and secure in there!"

"WHOA! Hey lookit that varmint. Watchit kiddo-" He reaches out and snatches the...Thing...off the girl's shoulder. "Well, shoot, lookit this thing."

"What in the- It's some kinda...Rodent?"

[inheritai]

"You've been out of your socket for three hours now. Can't you get back in already?"

"Your shoulder is much more comfortable, though. And besides, a girl has to stretch her legs every once in a while."

"You don't even have legs, just feet!"

Not the strangest conversation to have taken place outside an electronics store...

[inheritai]

"Not sure what that is, but I'm betting it's not the cause of this." She reached down to help up the other young woman- not too much older than herself, from the looks of it. "Weird crap just kinda happens every now and then thanks to the jerks running this place. I guess it might be a kind of test from them?"

" is... is this a test...? " she contemplates from her knees on the ground, newly stirred from what seems to be an impromptu slumber, " did... father use the black mercy...? "