animus_network | 1st Message

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1st Message

I-Is this thing on?

[The screen shows Tara, looking more than a little confused and lost as she fiddles around with the settings on the terminal. Those of who you know her might be able to tell that she's different in appearance. Gone is most of the softness to her body. Now, muscles can be seen on her arms, as her shaking hands move over the terminal's settings. Her face is leaner, more angled, less round. Even so, she still looks healthy. She's lost weight, since being voted out and dropped back into the tower. But she hasn't starved. She's taken care of herself.

She also looks like she's been crying. Even now, Tara takes a swipe at her eyes as though chasing away the last few tears.]

It's...is it usual for people to be just...gone? To just...go away and, a-and not be here anymore?

...does anyone know what happens to them? I mean...our worlds, th-they're gone, right? So...if they're not here...w-where are they?

[But she knows. She knows in her heart what's happened. And so Tara plunges on, onto new concerns, onto new friends, onto new life and new problems that she might just be able to do something about. Tara wipes at her eyes, sniffles a bit more, and then forces herself to look back up at the camera.]

Well...it looks like the food's back, a-and the power, and...I've seen some people that, th-that I thought were in the pods with us. Guess that means it's over, right? That's...th-that's good. That's s-something.

Are you all okay? Everyone? Being back here, and all. I mean...I-I can't do a lot, with healing. But I can do some. I know a potion. Trust me. I-It helps. So, i-if you're still not feeling great...give me a call.

...I'm okay. [Some of you will know that this is directed very deliberately at you.] I mean, I'm tired, but...I-I'm okay.

[Tara turns to go, but stares down at her feet when she apparently bumps against something. Her eyes go wide in recollection.]

Oh! [Here Tara reaches down to her feet, and comes up holding a much battered library book. The title reveals it to be a book on edible plants. All in a rush, Tara forces out this last, sounding as though she's practiced it in front of the mirror] ...for later once, um, everyone's rested a-and gotten back on their feet a bit...I, I kind of think maybe we should prepare? In case something like this happens again.

I mean...it seems like they fight a lot. I, I wouldn't be surprised, if they all started fighting and left us here some time again. So, um, if anyone's interested...maybe we could all meet up? Swap tips? I only know about, um, plants from my world. Didn't know if, if there was anything else f-from somewhere else that I could have eaten.

...th-thank you.

((ooc: Holy frack, sorry for the TL;DR. But these were all the points weighing heavily on Tara's mind, and I thought it made sense for her to get them all out of the way at once. I'll be making a proper log post in a couple of days, in case anyone would prefer to catch her there.))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

No, it's fine. I can walk over there right now, if you don't mind waiting for a little bit. I've been wanting to see that place on the inside either way..

Okay. I don't mind at all. So...I'll see you in just a little bit, okay?

[She'll wait by the monitor, untangling some spare pieces of twine while she waits just to give her hands something to do.]

[ There's a nod and she leaves the network station she was at just now to hurry over to the music room - literally hurrying too, considering she's actually running there. She does really want to see Tara, after all.. except it results in her being all out of breath once she does arrive there, so she needs to take a moment to regain it. ]

[Fortunately, Urotsuki arrives at a moment where the instruments...or whatever decides to play the instruments when no one else is using them...are silent. The music room is a big room, but that also means it has some pretty good harmonics, even to the sounds of someone's exhausted breathing.

Tara will leave her things on her chair and come looking for the girl. So, Urotsuki will likely find her when Tara peers out from behind a harp.] Urotsuki?

[She beams happily when she sees the girl, and then frowns a bit when she sees Urotsuki catching her breath.] Are, um, are you okay?

.. I-.. I'm okay.

[ And she does seem okay after a moment or two - really, all she had to do is catch her breath, so she's fine again then. She even smiles at the sight of Tara, and after a moment of hesitation (what if she'd find it weird..?) she takes the last steps over to just wrap her arms around the older girl to hug her. ]

[If Urotsuki hadn't done so then, Tara would have stepped forward to hug her in another minute. She wraps her arms around the younger girl to return the hug, just...happy to have her safe and here again.]

Good. I'm glad.

...hi.

.. Hi.

[ She returns the greeting, pulling her head back from Tara just enough to be able to look up at her - a smile appears on her face. ]

It's been a long time since I saw you like this.. .. Um.. it wasn't too bad in the tower, right..?

[Tara shakes her head, smiling faintly in turn.] Nah. It w-wasn't so bad. W-We got oatmeal, just a bit after I got here. And there were, um, lots of plants, a-and I learned how to fish.

Some monsters got into the dorms but, um, I don't think they hurt anyone.

[That didn't mean it hadn't been hard. But she'd known it would be hard. She'd expected it. Recovery always was, and she had recovered. The hunger and the uncertainty and the weakness were just a nagging feeling in the back of her mind, not an all consuming addiction. It was easy to be around people, now. It was nice.]

I'm really good. I-I'm a lot better.

[ That's right-- Urotsuki vaguely remembers all of it somewhere in the back of her mind, all the things she had talked about with Tara, about her being.. well, maybe not sick, but it was something like that, right? About how she had to get better..

And now she really is better? Well, that's good, that's one thing she knows for sure. ]

.. So.. leaving was a good thing after all, right?

Leaving was a very good thing.

[Even if it had meant having to die. In the time between where she'd been switched off like a broken fuse and when she'd woken up back in her room...it had been almost like an angel had appeared, to give her the strength needed to take advantage of her second chance.

She'd made good use of those two weeks. She'd avoided people, yes, because she'd been focused on surviving, and testing her limits, and understanding her strength and that she did have strength that went beyond magic. She wasn't useless. She didn't need to take from other people to take care of herself. Sure it was harder, if she didn't, but...such was life.

It had been an important realization, even if it had been a long time in coming.]

I took some time, a-and I took care of myself, and...now I'm better. I mean, of course I wish I could have stayed to help all of you, but...now I can, if s-something else happens.

I'm okay, Urotsuki. Really.

No, it's okay.. I mean-.. as long as you're happy and okay, Tara, then me too. [ She nods a little, smiling. ] If the people I'm with are happy, then I can be happy too.. I only made it through the last weeks there since after you left Kidou-kun was by my side to help me.

Kidou-kun...? [Hm...Tara casts her mind back but, nope. She might have heard the name spoken around the place, in the background, but she never met the boy in question. Even so, she smiles reassuringly.] It's, i-it's good you still had friends there. Th-That's, that's the best kind of team, right?

Have you found him again, too?

Hmm. I talked to him. [ She smiles a little at that-- it might be the kind of smile that signifies a near puppy-like crush.. ]

He was the boy with the special hair and the goggles. He was really nice to me, so I was glad.. .. especially since I was.. really sad about you having to leave. He was the one who cheered me up.

[Tara gleans a bit from that smile. It's also, quite possibly, one of the most adorable expressions she has ever seen. Even if she does have to hold back a laugh at the words "special hair".]

He, um, he s-sounds like a really good boy. I'm glad you both were there f-for each other.

Did you know anyone else, in the pods?

Not a lot of people. [ She shakes her head slightly. ] There was someone else I talked to once or twice, just a little bit, but.. I haven't talked much with the other people.

.. They were playing music though. It sounded pretty, and it made a lot of people happy..

Music...?

[Tara casts a thoughtful look arond the room they've come to find themselves in. A room of music, that sometimes doesn't even need people to bring it out.]

Music is, is kind of like magic. In the right hands, it can do a lot of good things.

[And in the wrong hands, it can ruin lives.

Or maybe that's just Sunnydale.]

.. Yes. I thought that person was trying their best too by making music for everyone.. [ she did like listening to it back in the pod, after all, even if she hadn't joined in with the rest. ]

Do you like music..?

...sometimes.

["I'm under your spell. How else could it be anyone would notice me?"

Yes, Tara has had some unusual experiences with music. Ever since Taro had put on his little impromptu performance, though, she's been feeling just a twinge of nostalgia for guitar playing.]

I-I don't really know how to play anything, though. [Ask her to sing, though, and that's another story.]

That's okay. Sometimes it's really easy to learn. ... Ah, I think singing is pretty easy too, isn't it?

[ She smiles, and after a moment Urotsuki realises she can show something! With a smile she pulls out a trombone. It wouldn't be as surprising if it didn't come out of seemingly nowhere, and it's not like she grabbed one of the instruments in the room either.. but it seems normal to her, since she still smiles a little. ]

I play this.

[Did she just...?

How did she...?

Did Tara see that right...?

...oh, Urotsuki, now Tara is really, really glad she detoxed before she saw you again and you just did that. As it is, she forces her look of surprise to be replaced by a smile.]

Wow, r-really? I-I didn't know that. How long have you played?

[ Maybe Urotsuki didn't notice the surprise, or maybe she chooses to ignore it - either way she just moves on to the explanation, the answering of the question, as if what she did just now is still very normal. ]

Since I was young. I liked playing music, since it gave me something to spend the time with. [ something to take her mind off loneliness. ] .. I practiced by myself though, so I'm not very good..

[Tara is torn between pointing out how Urotsuki is still young and fairly staggering amounts of sympathy.

It's amazing, the things a kid will turn to when they have no one. She knows that much.

And, speaking of...]

I-I'd love to hear you play, but...I left something by my chair. Just, um, let me go get it.

By your chair? [ for a moment she lowers it, blinking curiously at Tara instead - maybe even trying to peek behind her already. ]

Sure, but.. what is it?

[What Urotsuki will see on the chair is a battered book, a stuffed pink pig, and what looks like a tangle of string and rocks.

Tara comes back tucking the pig into her pocket, and holding what appears to be a colored stone tied with string.] S-Sorry. Um... [She indicates the pig.] I-I found this. It's supposed to be, um, from the boy. Zo. And, and it belonged to a friend, and I kind of want to keep an eye on it.

I think it looks pretty cute.. the pig. [ She's staring at it until the pig is tucked away, either way, but then she just glances back at Tara. ]

'The boy' gave it to your friend?

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