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[notsolomon]

This is William Twining. I shall reply to your message at my earliest convenience. Thank you. ***BEEP***

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[notsolomon]

It would hope I would still be around

Is something wrong? Are you well?

But I shall do as you say.

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[jyajyaaan]

Thanks! I'll drop by and explain things as soon as I can.

[Lo and behold, there is really a knock at William's door later that day at a more civil time. Vector looks ruffled and keeps blinking and rubbing his right eye with the hand that isn't carrying a small bag, but beside some increased jumpiness he appears fine.]

[notsolomon]

[He was a bit surprised by the fact that Rei was coming over but well it seemed serious. And so when his sort of friend came over William made sure to allow him in.]

Well then, what is the trouble? Though I suppose you might wish to sit down first.

[jyajyaaan]

Thanks. [He smiles at him as he politely makes his way inside, stopping only once briefly to slip his shoes off.

Raising the small bag, he gives William a sheepish look.]

I bought a small cake and some snacks as apology for just coming over like that and causing such a ruckus. I hope you like chocolate and nuts.

[notsolomon]

I love chocolate so that is fine. You didn't have to apologize though.

[William had become so used to people barging in on him that he almost missed it.]

Did you want something to drink? I have a pot of coffee on, otherwise you can help yourself to anything in the icebox.

[jyajyaaan]

Some iced tea would be nice if you have some. I'm not sure I'm old enough for coffee.


... Did you have a dream of a strange robot killing a woman too a while back? I think it was around the time when they were rebooting all of the city's systems, when things were starting to go haywire.

[notsolomon]

[He headed for the kitchen to grab coffee for himself and some iced tea only to pause at the question.]

...yes, I do remember something like that. I did not understand it at the time though.

[jyajyaaan]

[He takes the offered drink with a nod and a low 'thanks'.]

I think the woman that that person killed was somebody who claimed that she wants to help us and who spoke against CERES before. Lylith. I think she's supposed to be a native, or at least not like us.

[He pauses, tilting his head in thought.]

I man named Hermes was looking for her and some others mentioned her on network posts too. From what I understood she vanished and couldn't be found ever since. Maybe that dream was the reason why it was like that.

...That said, at the end of the tour to Ceres we all got knocked out by pain that was sent right into our skulls. I woke up back home. On my CereVice there was a video call of that robot who had killed the woman in our shared dream.

He looked at me and then smiled and said thanks. Then he was gone and all the data on my CereVice was gone too.

[He chuckles sheepishly.]

I was that spooked out that I thought it had somehow a way of getting to us right through the CereVice like the evil spirits in the tv shows do a lot, so I ended up calling everybody I know in order to warn them about it. Sorry about that.

[notsolomon]

[He had poured himself a cup of coffee and listened carefully as Rei explained everything to him. Most of it William understood, as far as that was possible, having not been in this place for long and having only the vaguest understanding of the advanced Technology of the future.][He frowned as he thought on it.]

So do you think Ceres had her killed?

[jyajyaaan]

That woman?

[He gives William a look that might be surprised before something flickers over his face and Vector's expression turns into an amused smirk.]

Hell no. If she is clever she is definitely still alive.

[notsolomon]

[Well that is an odd expression to have? Did he say something funny?]

So, is it all a hoax then? That death on screen? Or was that a real attempt? I fail to see why that man would smile and thank you otherwise.

[jyajyaaan]

Huh? What- [mistake did Vector make? He has told this story so often by now that he's losing track of what information was already shared and what not. Shit!]

Oh, no! Sorry! [He escapes into a sheepish laugh, rubbing the back of his head.] I was lost in thoughts for a moment and got something mixed up! I thought you were talking about that weird woman that we found being held captive in one of CERES labs, not Lylith!

...that said, I think Lylith is dead. Whatever that man wanted from her, he most likely got it. ...and that's also why he thanked us after the end of the tour. I only don't know why.

[notsolomon]

I see, that makes more sense then.

[Sort of.]

Perhaps you need to just make a bunch of notes you can look at when discussing this?

[But anyways...]

So a strange woman imprisoned, huh?

[jyajyaaan]

Haha, yeah.

Sorry, I've been telling it to a lot of people already, so I'm ending up losing sort of track.. It's probably for the best to give you the gist of what happened in a chronological order.

[Raising a hand, he begins to tick off points by his fingers.]

I went to the tour, thinking it might be a good idea to learn more about CERES. There were many other people there too. At first we were divided into groups. Our group had five people in it, including me. Mr. Mosley went with us to a high security area all the way up at the fifty-seventh floor. We had to walk up there because the elevator was broken.

[Ok, the context is given. One down.]

Then Mr. Mosley suddenly acted strange. The moment he left us alone an alarm went off and the guard robots wanted to shoot us as intruders. That was scary!

[Next one down.]

We somehow managed to escape and eventually made it to what looked like an empty lab that had this pretty woman with claws as hands and feet all shackled and locked up there. There were lots of cameras.

[Next.]

We couldn't understand her at first, but then she started talking to us in a language we could. She was very angry and thought we belonged to CERES.

[and again]

Eventually we managed to get her trust and she wanted to tell us something, but the moment we got close she hissed and shouted that 'they' are looking through our eyes. At that point my right eye suddenly started to hurt real bad and I fainted.

[he stops, dropping his hand.]

When I came to my senses I was back home. I felt sick and I couldn't see through my right eye. That's when I got that scary call from that robot.

[notsolomon]

...that makes a lot more sense then. As much as anything around here makes sense.

[He pulled out the notebook he always carried with him and made a few notes, summarizing everything he had heard.]

Your eye is doing much better though?

[jyajyaaan]

It does? That's a relief!

[He laughs sheepishly, before he instinctively touches the skin under his eye.]

It's slowly improving. I think it should be fine by tomorrow.

[He pauses, his expression turning troubled.]

It feels a bit as if they're repairing the camera inside it. I know that's nonsense, but I can't help comparing it to the robots back home in my head. ['Except that the robot this time is ME.' The sentence isn't spoken, but hangs very loud in his words.]

[notsolomon]

...I imagine they find it inconvenient that they can't follow you as easily. At least that's how I understand that it works.

[The idea of such things being implanted in one's body had been a shock to him, made worse by the fact that William was just coming to understand what the technology was.

It made more sense if he thought of it as a contract of sorts, something that was being used to bind him.

It didn't sit well.]

But what are you planning on doing now? Since it seems you are investigating.

[jyajyaaan]

Huh. I didn't think to see it that way. But I think you just figured something important out, William!

[He'll have to look further into this, but this opens a whole slew of new ways of working around this annoying constant over the shoulder peeking. Maybe even a simple eye-patch could do the trick!]

Anyway... To be honest, I'm not really sure of that myself, haha~ [He grimaces a little, looking down at the glass in his hands.] But I know that I need to do something, this time. I can't just keep running around trying to be helpful while actually being in the way until something awful happens. I ....I used to think that things will be fine if I just respect borders and let people come to me when they think I should know something important, but after what happened last time...

Just smiling and being there when my friends need me doesn't work anymore. I can't be anybody's home to return to, or their piece of normality to cling to or whatever else they call it in mangas. I have a feeling that a lot is going on, even way more than what we can see - and that the dangerous things will keep happening until we figure out more! That's why I have to do something!

You... You understand. Right? I'm not just doing this on a whim.

[notsolomon]

[William swallowed as he listened to Rei's words, because he understood that feeling, if not to the same extent. Wasn't that how he had felt back home?]

...I do understand that. The desire to not just stand idly by and be thrown around by fate.

[He rubbed the back of his neck, because it felt awkward to be so open. But well, if Rei was expressing such genuine feeling, then it was only fair.]

When you do not have a lot of power, you have to grasp whatever is offered to you. Otherwise, you end up always relying on others, burdening them and yourself.

[He smiled then.]

I am sure you can do something though. Especially when you have managed to stumble upon such a unique chance.

[jyajyaaan]

[He ducked his head for a moment, red tinting his cheeks at the belated realization of his rambling.]

It's not even about something as big as that. If somebody wanted to pull my threads they'd just do it.

[There's a tiny note of bitterness that was quickly shaken off in order to look up and present William with yet another smile.]

Thanks, Will-kun! Sorry for being such a downer for a moment, I really do think that I'm lucky being given this second chance!

A couple of people already asked me to share any finds I might come upon with my investigations, so I figure that's what I'll do. Just inform people and trust in them!

[notsolomon]

It is fine. I believe everyone deserves a moment or two like that.

[Especially when they were as young as Rei was. Despite how normal their day to day lives tended to be, they were still trapped in this place. And everyone back home was possibly dead, though William still refused to accept that possibility.

How could one not become depressed over all of that? And how could William not wish to support someone who would have been the same age as one of his juniors back home?]

I do not promise I can do much, as I am still learning how everything works here, but I shall render whatever aid is in my power. I am a better strategist than a fighter though.

[He was still learning how to deal with certain bits of technology here that most of these people took for granted. And he had Kevin depending on him. There was only so much William could offer others at the moment.]

But perhaps we should put depressing matters aside and have some of that cake you brought?

[jyajyaaan]

Will-....! Thanks! If you ever need any help or have any questions about technology feel free to ask me anytime! It might not mean much, but the place I am from has a bit more advanced technology than the colony so I can understand a lot of it easily.

[An offer which is all kinds of ironic considering that Vector's past life as a human prince dates back to the times close to ancient egypt and that his current, alien self had to learn most of the human world's technology and culture in a few weeks' crash course.]

Anyway, yes, cake!♥

[notsolomon]

Ah, well I shall keep that in mind, though I am confident in my ability to learn most of it on my own.

[He's still a little prideful despite how nice he is being.

But well, all this serious talk has made him hungry.]

But yes, let me get some plates so we can partake of this wonderful gift you brought.

[jyajyaaan]

[Vector just nods with a smile.]

It's not hard to figure out once you get the hang of it. The most challenging part is adapting the way you think, I think, and you just said that you're good at that, right? I'm sure it'll turn out for the best!

By the way, how have you been faring since the last time we met? Got used to the city already?

[notsolomon]

There is nothing I cannot learn if I choose to.

[But he's already grabbing some eating utensils and setting them down at the table, because sweets are serious business.]

I believe I am doing admirably well. People are just... different here. I feel like Kevin is having a more difficult time of it though.