5910/Ringing the Bell

Ringing the Bell
Date of Scene:	17 June 2018
Location:	The System - Locus
Synopsis:	The child found during Seeker's raid in Locus is questioned by various Concord agents.
Cast of Characters:	1103, 6258, Deelel, Lexicon

---

Theurgus (1103) has posed:
    It's been a few days... and after having settled the little girl found after the battle with Seeker and Topaz Soul into a room in the Cathoderal, Charta has put out a Guild Notice, letting people know they can come interview the girl if they wish. Those who arrive, are greeted by an LDF Captain, layered armour, a crystal rifle slung over her back, a full helmet over her face, only showing her mouth as she speaks. "Welcome, I have been tasked with guiding you to the living quarters we've prepared for the girl. I can tell you some basic things we've managed to coax out of her. She calls herself 'Bell', and claims to be eleven cycles old." the captain then turns, beckoning those to follow. "Follow me, please."

Lemeza Kosugi (6258) has posed:
    The professor's got some catching up to do. Though he was there to stop Blaster's theft, Lemeza had other business keeping him from aiding in the defense against Seeker. Now that he's got more time at his disposal, it's time to catch up. Today, instead of taking notes on architecture, he's here with a more direct goal: probing for more information about these Four Felons, and maybe turning up some information on their history. Probably the same as everyone else, so... well, it doesn't really matter who asks, as long as everyone gets their answers, although there's one thing bothering him. He follows the welcoming committee of one, asking a burning question on his mind: "Think she might be overwhelmed by everyone's presence? If you have to 'coax' information out of her, might be best to still let her rest."

Deelel has posed:
Deelel had been curious about the girl, to use a human term? She had a hunch about her, but it might be off after all. This isn't her home system this is not a Flynn OS at all. After all there are children programs here. There were never children Basics or even ISOs, Deelel is as she was the day she was born barring life experiances."Greetings program!" Deelel is chipper as ever as she falls in with the group though Lemeza gets a bit of a look from her. "A possible point."

Theurgus (1103) has posed:
    The LDF captain says, "I used the term coax loosely. She has been reluctant to speak, likely due to trauma from the battle... however she has perked up a little bit in the last millicycle or so. We've provided what care we can, though all searches for her parents or anyone who would claim guardianship have turned up nothing." the captain turns a corner, leading the group through the labryrinthine hallways of the massive structure. A far larger Cathoderal than the other Drives, but this building serves multiple functions on top of being the central junction that feeds System Resource to the rest of the drive.

Lemeza Kosugi (6258) has posed:
    "So she's an orphan, then." Lemeza muses, following Deelel and the captain through this apparent maze, and -- okay, so he /is/ taking notes on the local architecture. It would be a waste not to, given how unique this particular world is. At any rate. The orphan. "Hm. Do you or anyone else have a long-term plan to provide care for her?" And, to Deelel, "While we're still walking, any background you can give me on Seeker? And the other Felons, while we're on the topic."

Deelel has posed:
Deelel says "Humm is that so Captain? I see I'll be gentle then." There's a nagging feeling about this kid though one that nags the hell out of her still. She'd distracted for a moment and she looks to them for a moment. "There's a program that has been working with several Virus hitting various points about the drives. The latest one was at a factory where the primary job was to Rezz Security grade hardware."

Lexicon has posed:
    "I wanna play outside!" a young voice demands. A far quieter voice mumbles in response, unclear at this distance since this adult isn't shouting back. "I'm so bored being inside all the time!"

    'perked up a little' might be an understatement.

    Once the room is reached, the trio are greeted by another LDF trooper in the standard uniform, trying and failing to issue a 'settle down' sort of gesture to a small blonde girl in a black and yellow sweater. There's paper with doodles all over, and a few playthings scattered about. This is not a tidy child. Nor is she behaving, as she pushes both hands down and shouts again, "I wanna go outside!"

    She goes quiet, though, when others start filing into the room she's obviously been kept in. Her tense posture relaxes, and she tilts her head with a blink of those big ol' blue eyes of hers.

Theurgus (1103) has posed:
    The LDF Captain lifts her visor, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "I may have been understating the 'perked up' part. She has become quite the handfull." she admits, gesturing to her subordinate. "You're dismissed, Sergeant... please ask Lady Diamond Soul, or the Oracle to attend, they seem to have a calming influence on her."

    The beleagured LDF trooper salutes, then all but dashes out of the room, and away from the loud girl they've had to deal with for goodness knows how long. "I shall take my leave also, Lady Diamond Soul or Lady Charta should be down soon, should you need anything."

Lemeza Kosugi (6258) has posed:
    That's good to see. The kid's mentally fine after... whatever, so the incident couldn't have been TOO bad. Still, would she be all that cooperative in just answering questions, rather than going out to play? Lemeza's still considering his first question when the LDF trooper who was keeping guard just FLED. Yeesh. Surely a child can't be that hard to deal with. Well then...

    "Young girl, do you have a home you can go back to after this?" It might be a bit blunt, but to Lemeza this is easily the most important question right now. Presumably she survived the incident with Seeker, but if she's going to keep surviving she needs someone to take care of her.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel looks to the girkl and smiles at her tilting her head a bit. "So you want to go out side? I think we could make that happen if you help us out a little bit." Oh god how to deal with a child. Most of the children she has known are elites and she knows they are anything but normal kids. SO she's winging it here.

Lexicon has posed:
    When both troops retreat, the girl starts to object, but it's too late-- both are already gone. With a huff, she folds her arms and puffs her cheeks out in a pout. Lemeza addresses her and she glances right at him. She pouts a bit more, though after some time the girl just deflates and plunks down on her backside, "Don't call me little girl, call me Bell." A paper sheet is withdrawn from her inventory, winking into her hand in a flicker of code, and she lays it out in front of herself, between her own knees. This done, she stares at it thoughtfully. Reaching a decision, she produces crayons in the same fashion and leans down to start drawing again, "Bell has a home. But it's not a house, and kinda big and lonely."

Theurgus (1103) has posed:
    Charta comes floating along after a few minutes pass. The little bookfairy clearing her throat as she enters the room. "I heard our guest has been wanting to go outside... we can do that if you like." she offers, smiling gently at Bell, and lowering herself down closer to her level. "How about we go to the atrium, then we can sit and talk over some drinks and sweets." She looks to the others, to see if they're okay with moving location too.

Lemeza Kosugi (6258) has posed:
    Well, that wasn't perfect, but it definitely got Lemeza plenty of information. And he's raised a kid before, so it sonds like maybe that experience is going to come in handy here. When Charta makes the suggestion to change venues, Lemeza nods in agreement, and prepaers himself for more following someone else to some location. A bit tedious, but at least he's in contact with the kid now. "So. Bell. It's big and lonely where you live... is there nobody else your age nearby, then? And, do you have parents? What's it like living with them?" Assuming Bell even /has/ parents...

    Deelel's question comes across as a little... vicious. Like an ultimatum. "Oh COME ON! Cooperate with us and we'll set you free? She's not a prisoner here." Lemeza can't help but go off and address this blatant disregard for etiquette.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel looks confused as from her perps4tive Lemeza goes off like a nuke on her. "...what?" She's just plain out confused here she seems very confused, its akin to a record sceatch. It may become more clear she may not have any experiance /with/ children at all.

Lexicon has posed:
    When Lemeza blows up at Deelel, Bell glances up again with confusion on her face. Apparently she hadn't made that connection, and by the look she's pulling, still probably doesn't. She glances down at her picture again, forming some boxy figures, "Bell doesn't have parents. But one of the others, I call her mom and she likes that." Sitting back, she picks up the paper. Then she just crumples it up and tosses it, unhappy with the outcome, "But there's just us."

    Charta's offer instantly gets her attention. Bell rewards the bookfairy with a huge smile, eyes closed, "Yeah, snacks!" She hops to her feet, then crouches to collect her crayons and dismisses them to her inventory in flickers of code.

    Upright again, she fixes a look on Deelel, then Lemeza, "But you know Bell. So who are you?"

Theurgus (1103) has posed:
    Charta nods, then gets a middledistance stare for a moment. Her blue eyes get a little 'signal transmission' decal over them for a brief moment, then she comes back to herself. "Alright, snacks and drinks will be waiting for us... shall we?" she gestures. "We can talk as we go."

Lemeza Kosugi (6258) has posed:
    Oh, right! Introductions! When Bell asks Lemeza who he is, he knows just what to do. "I'm Lemeza Kosugi, explorer and archaeologist extraordinaire! It's my job to explore the most dangerous ancient ruins to learn all about the history of those who came before us! It's quite the challenge, but I've got plenty of stories I can share if you're interested!" Before he /completely/ derails himself from his objective, though, he redirects the conversation to the entire point of his visit. "That can, um, wait though. From what I hear, you were in a building that collapsed recently. What were you doing there?" Finally, to the heart of the matter. Maybe.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel pauses for a moment "My name is Deelel I am a multi media program from the Grid." She notes for a momenthe also looks to the kid given LEmeza's reaction she gets okay that weas the wrong thing to so she hangs her head a bit to the kid "I'm Sorry I didn't mean to come off like that..." She's going to let the more kid experianced folk do the talking now.

Lexicon has posed:
    Bell falls in step behind the floating bookfairy, arms swinging in an exaggerated way with each step. She glances back at Lemeza's next question, "Huh?" Glancing forward and up, she taps her chin, "Um... Well, I fell down there. Then I took a nap, and woke up under a bunch of stuff and everything was hurting and Mom was gone."

    Eyes closing, she shrugs, "That's everything!" Glancing back over her shoulder, she nods once, "'Meza and Dee, huh? Okay!"

Theurgus (1103) has posed:
    Charta leads the way to an open courtyard area. There's a table set up with drinks and various local snacks. There's little cakes and biscuits, and little cups of pudding. Lemonade, tea and coffee... or at least, the local equivalents that aren't too different.

Lemeza Kosugi (6258) has posed:
    Huh. That wasn't much help. If Bell was asleep the whole time, that means she didn't see anything of note. Which means that she'd have no information on Seeker, or Topaz Soul, or any of the Elites that showed up to handle the incident. She fell asleep before anything important happened, and woke up after everyone had left, including her mother. Wait--MOM!?

    "H-hey wait just a moment! You said your mom was gone when you woke up? Hmm..." Lemeza starts probing this avenue rather hard in an attempt to confirm a suspicion of his. "Do you know where she went? Maybe we can look for her, see if she's fine. Can you tell us what she looks like?" He catches himself before he dumps /too/ many questions on the poor kid.

Lexicon has posed:
    A terrace, outside! And snacks! As soon as Bell sights the table, she throws out her arms and dashes past Charta with a laugh. This one's got energy to spare, it seems, as she runs a few circuits around the table before picking a seat for herself by simply hopping onto it, then sitting down. Reaching out, she doesn't wait for permission to snag herself one of the puddings, dragging it to sit in front of her.

    "Mom's real pretty! She's tall an' has pink hair an' she's nice most of the time even if she has to be mean sometimes." Patting around, she produces a small spoon, brandishing it, "But Mom's never mean to Bell." Glancing down at her treat, the girl hums, "I didn't see where she went."

Theurgus (1103) has posed:
    Charta giggles softly at Bell's antics. "She is quite the joy to have around the Cathoderal. Even if she can be a bit abrasive, many of the aides actually enjoy having her around." she says, glancing at the Program and the Archeologist. "Please, sit, take what you like, if there isn't anything you wish to partake of, I can have something else brought out.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel follwos the group out into the coutyard and she looks at Lemanz for a moent thinking over what Lemzna ahs asked, she will listen to the girl if she does end up talking about how her mother looks like? She'll boot up some art tools and start to render an image. She shows it to the child as she works.

Lemeza Kosugi (6258) has posed:
    Aww. Pink hair, not blonde. So much for that theory - Bell's mom isn't Topaz Soul after all. Ah well. Even so, Lemeza figures he may as well avail himself of the amenities while he's here. He picks up one of the biscuits, half-expecting it to dissolve into code or something as he bites into it. He spends more time analyzing its properties than actually enjoying whatever it may taste like, still uncertain quite what the nature of this world is.

    Well, there's really no more information to be had, so Lemeza shifts to pleasantries. "Alright. Hey, Bell. You seem to like it here. Think you'd enjoy staying here instead of where you live now?" Then to Charta, he asks, "Would she be allowed to reside here? Seems everyone would enjoy it."

Lexicon has posed:
    Bell blinks when Deelel starts drawing, tilting her head. She doesn't seem to get quite what the program is doing. And, being completely unaware of how she just crushed Lemeza's theory, Bell looks down at her treat again, prodding it with her spoon.

    "Living here? I dunno. This is where the scary lady lives. With the scary laugh." No doubt who she means by that vague description, "An' if I stayed here than I'd never see them again." Closing her eyes, she smiles, "Bell's been a good girl to not cause any trouble, but Bell's a virus, living here would be bad. So I should go find Mama soon."

Theurgus (1103) has posed:
    Charta frowns a bit, shaking her head a little at Bell. "She keeps claiming that, but every single test we've run comes back as an unattributed Program." she shrugs. "We're more than willing to let her stay, but if we find where she actually lives and she wants to go back, we aren't really in a moral position to stop her from leaving."

Lemeza Kosugi (6258) has posed:
    "Huh.... isn't a virus just another type of program though?" Lemeza's getting confused over the subject. Virus, program, drive controller, none of this is making much sense. He's doing the best he can, but there really isn't much headway to be made, at least that he can tell. That about wraps up his investigative efforts here - his latest question was more of a musing than anything else.