5720/MDCC: Arcade

MDCC: Arcade
Date of Scene:	26 February 2018
Location:	The System <TS>
Synopsis:	Social scene set in the Emerald City of Adventure, Arcade, featuring the resident Drive Core Controller-- Alea.
Cast of Characters:	Lexicon, 707, Silica, 1119, 1149, Deelel

---

Lexicon has posed:
    "Lexicon~," A matronly voice sounds from the Silver DCC's computer. Immediately, Lexicon hunches down in her seat, scowling at the book in her hands. "Leeexicon~...!" She slouches even lower. "Come on~, is that any way to treat me? I promise it's only a small favor~..."

    "Oh for fuck's sake," Lexicon un-slouches herself, whirling her seat so she can glower at the smiling face on her video chat, "What do you want?!"

    Pleased, the young woman closes her eyes, lacing her fingers together, "Actually, I'd like some contact information~..."
--
    Welcome to Arcade, the Emerald City of Adventure.

    The sprawl of the city is very inspired by squares. The buildings have a cuboid look to them, and some even appear to be made out of cubic blocks which become more obvious when the architecture attempts something other than 'square' in its design. Others appear to have a finer 'definition' to them, though are still obviously made out of cubes. Just smaller cubes. At a glance, it at least looks like a normal postmodern city..!

    Well, except for the floating platforms, and the roving band of two-dimensional bugs that skitter across the street just outside the System Bus terminal. An equally two-dimensional...person? pursues them with a blocky vacuum cleaner.

    Other programs inhabiting this part of Arcade seem more ordinary, though are in various stages of polgonal development. Some look a little offputting, even, but are also apparently robots. Others look almost human! Like the blonde seated primly on a bench, in her elegant green dress. She rummages in a paper bag, then scatters small yellow blocks on the sidewalk in front of her.

    Stylized black 'm' shapes float down, become 'r' shapes on the ground, and start pecking at the scattered voxels. This place is ... a little strange. But at least it makes sense, in an equally strange way.

    The invitation came from someone named 'Alea' this time. Those who responded to Cadenza were met by Saltavi right out the gate-- could this be her?

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
The city is actually NAMED "Arcade," did you seriously think that a certain sage fox otaku wasn't going to show up?

.... Even if it's more like the inside of an arcade game than the outside. That's still pretty awesome. In any case, Xiaomu is doing her best not to go jumping around on the floating platforms, and staying out of the way of the bugs, the sprite with the vacuum cleaner, or the birds for that matter - maybe out of courtesy, maybe just as a precaution. She seems to have gotten here faster than Saltavi did, or maybe just missed her on her way through the gate.

Seeing those birds clustering around the voxels offered by that blonde woman does lead Xiaomu to take a closer look, though. "Huh. So they really are your version of pigeons. Or are these more like seagulls?"

Silica has posed:
    Keiko Ayano, human, brunnette. She steps off the System Bus, reaching up and gently petting at the little dragonling coiled around her shoulders. She has a device over her left eye, coiled around the back of her head and dipping a 'microphone' boom down her cheek. She looks around, making the little pigtails sway with the motion. "It's like one of those video games Dad likes to play..." she comments, watching the 2d bugs being chased by the vacuum guy.

    Pina noses her cheek, causing Keiko's eyes to readjust to the woman sat on the bench. Well, Saltavi and Cantio came to meet her and the others, why wouldn't this 'Alea'? So she approaches, lifting a hand to wave politely. "<Konnichiwa!>"(Good afternoon), she calls out.

Josuke Higashikata (1119) has posed:
It was fortunate that the invitation showed up after school, since Josuke needed something to distract him from what had been a typical Monday. Mondays... BLEH! Anyway! He's showing up to this, and he's again going for the fitting in angle -- he's wearing a school uniform in a dark green color, his shirt is blue, and his shoes are a lighter lime green.

He seems surprised at the boxy nature of the place... almost like everything was made out of pixels! His video game knowledge might be a little more limited than usual, being his world's in the 1990s, but he at least recognizes that.

However, the woman feeding cube-things to pixelbirds draws his attention. "Oh, hello!" he greets, with a bow. Though he looks at the birds again -- either on the ground if aren't scared off by the sudden arrival of people, or in the air if they are.

Krusty (1149) has posed:
    The Emerald City of Adventure. It's only fitting that an Adventurer be one of those that shows up in response to the invitation. Stepping off one of the arriving busses is such an Adventurer, namely Krusty. Upon arrival he looks around at the sights that this city has to offer, instantly recognizing the various game-like constructions.

    Of course, one particular sight catches Krusty's attention the most, for as much as he is a gamer, he's a man first. He adjusts his glasses, "Interesting."

    Krusty wanders up to the blonde on the bench, careful to not disturb the letters. To the woman he smiles, "Greetings. A beautiful day, no?" Of course, the others are not unexpected too. If the previous invitation to this world was anything to go by. So to them he gives nods of greetings as well, though refrains from introductions for the moment as that will likely come soon from their host.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel got an invite to Arcade and with a name like that she'd been curious around it and honeslty exploring another digital world evne one a little strange by her standard was a wonderful change of pace from all the material worlds of the multiverse as a whole for the Multi Media Program. Spo she struts in and feels more at home as she sees the local as they get a welcome. 5R
"Greetings Programs."

Is what Deelel has to say as she falls in with Xiaomu.

Lexicon has posed:
    "Hmm~?" The blonde glances up at Xiaomu's question, then down to the letters, "They're letters." It's stated rather matter-of-factly, "Though they represent birds in certain contexts~." Flicking her hands, she scatters them, and they turn back into 'm's and flutter away by waggling their ends like wings, "But I suppose they'd be like pigeons." She dusts her hands, then, dismissing the bag into a burst of digitized light before she rises to her feet. Hands folding, then, the woman bows lightly not just to Xiaomu, but to Keiko's greeting, "Good afternoon~!" The bow is repeated when Josuke addresses her, and when she straightens, she lifts her hands to lace her gloved fingers together.

    "How simply delightful. You must be the extra-system adventurers I've heard about." Eyes opening, she tugs at her dress while dipping into a courtsey, "I am Alea. The Drive Core Controller of Arcade, as some of you may have guessed by now."

    "I imagine many of you are here to see to the virus Barbarossa, but~ for now please be my guests while we locate his hideout."

Krusty (1149) has posed:
    Placing his hand against his chest, Krusty bows to Alea as he introduces himself, "Krusty. Round Table Alliance representative and Guild Master of D.D.D. At your service."

    Straightening again, Krusty smiles some more, "I must say, it's quite an interesting city you have here. While the specific sources elude me, I recognise quite a few of the styles of constructs. As if someone took aspects from an entire timeline of game development and placed them all into one location, side by side. Fascinating."

Silica has posed:
    Keiko bows in return, more a dip of her head than a full kowtow. She looks back up, and beams a smile. "Well, since I've been helping Miss Lexicon and the others here and there, I thought I should help out where I can." she remarks, absently petting Pina's head. "Oh, I don't fight like this, I'd totally get myself killed." she beams happily, clicking her tongue gently to make Pina lift into the air. She then speaks firmly. "Link Start!" a transformation overtaking her body, sourcing from the device on her face. Wireframe covers her form, then fills in with an outer layer of 'texture', a cat tail and large expressive ears flick as the shift resolves. The device isn't visible anymore, and the Cait Sith looks a bit smaller, a bit younger, but is obviously the same person. "I'm Silica when I fight. Pleased to meet you Miss Alea."

    Pina lands again, chirping happily and nuzzling the Tamer's cheek.

Josuke Higashikata (1119) has posed:
Josuke also offers waves and smiles around as he notes the others that have arrived. A few he even knows! And he peers at Pina, confused. He's never seen a creature like that before! His attention is drawn back to Alea when she introduces herself. "Pleased to meet you, Miss Alea! I'm Josuke Higashikata!" He doesn't have any titles or anything to give, since he's... well, basically just a kid.

He blinks at the mention of a virus in Arcade. "Virus? There's one here too?" Apparently he didn't know about it. Either way, he nods. "I'm willing to help with it," he replies, pretty much instantly. And he takes a step back when Silica's transformation occurs, watching with wide eyes. "Whoa, kewl! Just like a magical girl!"

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
Actually using letter to stand in for pigeons. That's older-school than Xiaomu expected, and she's visibly taken aback for a moment or so.

"I might have missed the bit about the virus," the sage fox admits, "but I'd be glad to help out such an awesome Drive as this one. My name's Xiaomu, it's good to meet you - both you, Alea, and Krusty here as well." The sage fox grins, bowing politely to both of the relative strangers. "Lead the way, Alea!"

Lexicon has posed:
    "Oh, my," Alea's response to Krusty's incredibly formal introduction shows just how delighted she is by all the ...formality of it, fingers lacing together with a laugh, "Well~, Arcade is a Drive that stores a great deal of data related to video games. So the city has been influenced by what it was made from, you see?" Turning, she gestures to the various programs who continue to wander about their daily business. In the distance, a car in the middle of gridlock traffic transforms into a robot and steps over it to the sidewalk.

    "Ah, mister Josuke?" Alea nods lightly, "I'd heard about you from Saltavi. Such a polite young man, from what she said. And a talented fighter, as well~? Welcome to my city." There's a slight nod, "Mm. Viruses are everywhere in the System. Barbarossa happens to be the most despicable thing in this Drive of Games and Entertainment." Head tipping forward, her eyes are cast in shadow, "A /pirate/."

    Alea's about to address Xiaomu with more details when the lightshow gets her attention. She glances back when Keiko switches over to Silica, surprised as the girl transforms. By the time Silica is fully present, however, the Emerald DCC's eyes are filled with stars, "Oh my, how positively ~adorable~. And you can transform, as well?" Trotting over, the woman leans for a closer look, "Hmm~... Yes, yes. Extremely acceptable. While this may not be proper Digital Divinity... Yes." Straightening, she clasps her hands together, "I've come to a decision. You may live with me as my younger sister."

Silica has posed:
    Silica actually manages an actual sweatdrop at Alea. Her eyes lid and she giggles incredulously. "U-Um...?" She rubs the back of her head, ears folding lightly down against her skull while her tail sways uncertainly behind her.

    Pina gives off a squeaky growlchirp at the tall blonde, shifting to perch on one shoulder and puff herself up, trying to look threatening, like she feels Silica is in danger and is trying to ward off a predator.

    All the dragonling manages to do is make herself look even more adorable. A squeaking feathery puffball.

Krusty (1149) has posed:
    Krusty is not unfamiliar with Silica's transformation, having seen it before. However.

    "..."

    Welp, Silica has been adopted. Moving along.

    Krusty chuckles quietly at the display, particularly from Pina. However, back to serious business, "A pirate? I can definitely see how such a virus would be problematic. While I'm sure you have the situation well in hand, if there's anything we can do to assist in his discovery, please feel free to ask."

Josuke Higashikata (1119) has posed:
Josuke nods to Alea at the mention of his name. "That's right," he confirms, of his name. He blinks at bit at the description of Barbossa. "Oh, that makes sense... pirating games is bad, so of course in a place that was based on games, a virus would take the form of a pirate," he reasons.

He's... not sure whether to be amused at Alea's sudden decision to 'adopt' Silica or to be worried, honestly. And... honestly he doesn't really know what to say. So... instead he nods to Krusty's words, agreeing.

...The critter is adorable, though...

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
Yep. That right there, that thing about 'this Drive of Games and Entertainment'? THAT'S what drew Xiaomu more than anything about a virus, or even about a pirate. And Keiko's transformation into Silica doesn't even faze the sage fox - she's seen people starting up their Augmas before, she can appreciate the modest spectacle, but she refrains from oohing or aahing like the others.

Even when Silica gets adopted. RIGHT on the spot.

"I'm curious about one thing," Xiaomu says mildly, possibly in an effort to get the group back on track. "Piracy doesn't get very far if there isn't somebody to receive the pirated goods or warez ... so, who does this Barbarossa sell to?"

Deelel has posed:
Deelel says "Greetings the ID is Deelel I am a multi media program."

SHe pauses to look at Krusty for a moment nodding She looks him over or a momentr then to Xiaomy for a moment.

"A Virus? I'm happy to help mend and defend. It's good to meet you all as well." She looks over to Josuke and is happpy to see he's here too if they got a virus to hunt? Then I would be happy to be of help."

Lexicon has posed:
    Alea at least keeps her relative distance. Considering the response, she nods once, "We'll discuss this at home later. For now, big sister has to work~."

    Hands finally lower, folded primly in front of herself, and she steps back so she can more easily address the accumulated party, "Mm~... This pirate is also an otaku," The worst kind of nerd, "He doesn't steal games to sell them, but to play them and never return them." Eyes closing, she admits, "He'll do anything to play something before anyone else. And has even stolen the only copy of some of my own works. It's really quite vexing."

    By the look on her face, Alea really does find this concerning, "By now there's no doubt Barbarossa has a large collection of rare game from all over Arcade, and if he's not stopped, then no one but he will ever be able to experience them."

    Lifting her hands, she laces her fingers together again, "So~ the obvious solution is to delete him and return his treasure to the rightful developers."

    Spreading her hands, she indicates the Drive around her, "I have a private eye hot on his trail and we'll soon know his location. Until then, please be my guests in the City of Adventure~! Shall I prepare some tea?"

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
"Pretty much just as bad," Xiaomu replies dourly. "If he likes the games that much, he SHOULD pay - show his appreciation for all the hard work that went into making the games he loves, and help invest in more games being made by the same development teams and studios. And if he's stolen the only copies so that the makers can't sell them to anyone else ... So where's this private eye right now? I'd be glad to lend a hand!"

It looks like the offer of tea may not be enough to keep Xiaomu from going after Barbarossa on her own.

Deelel has posed:
"So a gaming is big to them. There'sd a whole multiverse of games he's likeluy not played. I think I would be willing to help with this though this does not seem to be the sorts or crimes that would warrent termination. Stopping him and liberating his collection yes. I'm in on this we should get this whole affair to compile."

She looks at the Tea fdor a moment she is glad to take it.

"I would be happy to share a cup of tea while we wait. Xiaomu you should slow down a bit humm?"

Josuke Higashikata (1119) has posed:
Josuke nods to Xiaomu's observation. "Good point," he offers. "Though, if he's pirating data itself, maybe he's using the data himself somehow? He could be installing pieces of vehicle data into his ship to make it cover more ground... or something like that." Pirates have ships, right? But he has no idea how that works in a system like this. He also gives a thumbs-up when Deelel looks in his direction.

Alea explains what sort of piratey business this particular pirate is up to. "Ohhhh... that's EVIL!" Yeah. Of all the things Barbossa could possibly be doing, Josuke hones in on THAT as The Worst Ever. "He could at least return them!" The mention of tea, though, brings a nod, and he calms. "Thank you," he says politely, with a bow. "That would be really nice."

Krusty (1149) has posed:
    Krusty does look concerned as Alea goes into detail about the virus in question. Piracy on its own is bad enough. But to also deprive others of the chance to play them? That's down right annoying. Krusty nods in agreement with the sentiments from the others, almost just as anxious to hunt this virus down as Xiaomu is.

    That is until Alea offers some tea. He supposes the hunt can wait for the moment, "A nice cup of tea would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. And perhaps you can tell us more about yourself and the city?"

Silica has posed:
    "W-Well, Miss Alea, I can't stay here..." says Silica finally, booping Pina on the snoot to calm her down. It's like opening the neck on a balloon, letting the air out. Pina deflates and returns to lazily coiling around the Cait Sith's shoulders.

    "Anyway, yeah, that's not good, hoarding things so noone else can enjoy them is just wrong." the Cait Sith agrees, nodding firmly. "Once we know where he is, we'll delete him before he even knows what hit him!"

Lexicon has posed:
    "Mm," Alea nods once, "It's quite troublesome. I do agree that normally, deletion would not be my go-to punishment. But..." Eyes closing, she lifts her hands, "It is a virus, which is malware and my duty to destroy, after all. The personal stakes of recovering my work is tangential to the elimination of harmful programming~." Closing her eyes, she twirls in place, then leads the way, "For now, a cafe and a conversation~."

    To Xiaomu, the DCC comments, "I'm actually not sure!" Lifting a hand, she projects a holographic screen that displays 'NO MESSAGES', "She'll contact me when she's ready, though. I prefer not to interrupt delicate work." With a shrug, she dismisses the screen, "It'd be terrible if I called her and the phone's ringtone gave her away, after all~."

    With a hum, she nods to Krusty and Josuke, "I'd be delighted to field any questions you have about myself or my city while we wait."

    Silica's admission, however, causes the DCC to visibly deflate--just slightly. She recovers quickly and puts a spring in her step, though, "Well then certainly you must visit as often as you are able so I can spoil you. But for now, it's time for tea~!"