Scene #3074: Don't Gaze Deeply

Owner	Pose
Septette Arcubielle	Kyra and Kotone, at least, are familiar with the Deep City: a gorgeous sunken ruin rebuilt into a thriving metropolis, shielded from the ocean's crushing pressure by a magical bubble. The coordinates that Septette distributed for the festival are within a quarter-mile of the Deep City's center, but above sea level rather than below it, and they lead to the flipside of that coin: the prosperous and sunny port city of Armoroad, cut off from the Deep City in the cataclysm that lies outside of even Sept's memory. The chalk-white buildings and streets of Armoroad are almost blindingly bright in the midday sun, with the shadows of the flowering bushes and trees giving some small comfort. Seemingly uncultivated wildflowers grow in the interstices of buildings and even cobblestones; the upper branches of gnarled trees almost blend in with the traditionally-green roofs of the city, giving the impression that the trees and buildings form one continuous canopy. The warp coordinates lead to an unadorned and almost-vacant plaza where Septette waits, wearing a warm smile and her white-and-pink blouse. Behind her, Yggdrasil towers over the landscape, ready to cast a shadow over the whole town when the sun sets behind it. To the opposite side- the east- the streets slope gently down to a crystal-clear azure ocean. Elsewhere there are sounds of music and merriment, echoing through the alleyways, but here the only signs of a festival are the unattended carts piled high with fresh produce.
Kyra Hyral	Kyra is indeed familiar with the Deep City. But the particular place that the festival has been selected for is certainly not somewhere the errant white mage has visited. It's actually a little surprising to her that the festival would be connected to the place in some way which, by all Kyra's counts, seemed mostly abandoned except for its keeper AIs. She warps in and yelps in surprise as she finds herself in direct sunlight. The hood to her hoodie is pulled down just a little more to shield herself from the sun until she can move into some more paletable shade. "Hi Septette!" she greets cheerfully before giving the android a very careful hug. "Thank you for inviting us!"
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa knows of the Deep City yes, she's still a bit skitish after what's happened the last time here. Well given the event is above sea level? She's very much fine with that. There shouldn't any problem here. She's clad fairly casually today as she keeps her self from getting blinded by use of a pair of sunglasses on, she gives Sepette and Kyra a wave. "Hey!" She's not as chipper as she normally is, but given what's going on in her life it's kinda of expected...
Zwei	Somehow, despite hearing of it plenty of times, this is Zwei's first trip to Septette's world altogether. With some business of dubious nature wrapped up just over a day ago, the Armiger is more or less entirely free, and hearing about a festival of such significant cultural importance with an open invitation provided after only just a /little/ pushing is way too interesting to pass up. As such, both halves of the whole have showed up, Asche being impossible to stand out any further against the predominant colours of scenery and architecture, though thankfully not likely to tower over any nearby buildings, and Weiss still in her default appearance until she gets an eye on some locals. It's probable the latter is the one who's going to be doing all the socializing, so that probably means Zwei intends to do the equivalent of poking around at all the knicknacks on their dinnerhost's shelves with the former. "Ooh! When did you get that shirt?" is asked by the obvious suspect, trotting over the paving stones whilst waving her hand over her head. "I guess this makes a lot more sense for a festival ground than what I was thinking of." //I do not believe those to be conventional singularities.// /Still not going to ask her./ //Unless it becomes immediately relevant.// /But what are the chances of that?/
Septette Arcubielle	"Don't be silly," Septette gently chides as she hugs Kyra with just as much care- if not a little more. "You didn't even need an invitation, strictly speaking- a festival like this is open to anyone and everyone who wants to participate." That red pom-pom gets an affectionate tousle as Arcubielle steps back. A moment later, she brightens as if recalling something suddenly, and turns to grab something strange off of the cart: it looks vaguely like a branching carrot, but with dark purple coloration. Overall, it's about the size of an orange, and there seems to be a candied layer on it as well. "Here you go," she says cheerily, handing it over to Kyra. If the young healer's brave enough to try a taste, she'll find that its flavor is oddly like that of a caramel apple, but with a slightly-spicy aftertaste. Kotone Yamakawa is the second to materialize, and Sept greets her with a warm smile and a friendly wave- followed by another of the odd candied vegetables, thrown in a lazy underhand arc intended to be easy to catch. "Glad you could make it, Ko. Here, catch~!" The cyborg's demeanor isn't unexpected, but perhaps today's festivities can improve her spirits somewhat? Septette greets Zwei- specifically, Weiss- with just as much enthusiasm as she does the others, stepping forwards and offering to shake her hand. If the Armiger decided to pull her into a hug as well, Sept wouldn't object, but she tries to allow Zwei to set the pace here. Besides, she's a little preoccupied with thoughts of her own... There's no way that Zwei could've missed something like those 'dead zones'. And it's almost certain that they know that she knows. So how will Zwei go about digging for more information? Asking directly, scanning discreetly, or something else? ... Perhaps it's unfair for the robot girl to set up a 'test' like this for one of her friends, but it isn't like there's a wrong choice here. It's just an opportunity to learn more about how Zwei thinks.
Kyra Hyral	"Oh, so I can come crash your world anytime I want to?" Kyra teases right back, laughing as Septette flicks the pom pom on her head. It springs around and sways like a cat toy. "Though to be honest I'd probably only do that if it meant I got a chance to hang out with you. The other guy...Steven? I'mmmm not sure I trust him enough yet to visit him alone." Presented with the oddest-looking food item she's seen in her multiversal travels thus far, Kyra accepts the odd gift and gives it a sniff. Her KEEN CULINARY SENSES detect /sugar/ in the outer layer so she doesn't spend much time examining it before biting into it. She chews slowly, clearly surprised. "Huh....oh, wow, that has some kick to it, doesn't it?" She waves with her free hand, "Hey Kotone! Hey Weiss!" Obviously Kyra's in a good mood right now too, which may have been an improvement over the last time either has seen her in person. Especially if it was around any of those "pimple" incidents.
Zwei	/Wow, even the neutrinos?/ //I know I did not expect it to be so simple to identify by profile.// /Right. That'd be too easy for the multiverse, being honest./ //They appear to be too shallow to be something intentionally guarded and obfuscated. Especially with so much ocean beneath them.// /Go look?/ //No. Not yet. It was offensive enough before.// "Oh, what's that?" Weiss is busy leaning over the weird looking vegetables(?) as if she actually needs to be right up against them to see them with perfect clarity. "Fructose and capsicum equivalent seems like an odd mix. What's it like Kyra?" she then asks as the white mage bites into one. Thankfully nobody is making the faux-pas of shoving one on her. "And are these really just free? Is that intentional, or did the merchants decide they had better things to do and ran off?" She deliberately cocks her ear in the direction of the distant noise. As surprisingly social as Asche can be with his propensity for being far more genuine than his more mercurial and fickle half, he isn't about to stomp around a big happy occasion just yet. He makes no real effort to hide a swift, understated ascent over the shoreline, hovering out some distance to get a good view of the island city, and also for more obvious purposes of further triangulation. Septette isn't told anything, but there's no move made to conceal it.
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa catches the item that's thrown at her pretty defly she sees the candied thin and hey it's food she'll give it try. Hopefully the festivities might help a bit. She is digging into it well enough. She's picked up a little bit and she's going to enjoy this bit of food. It's not really the most imporant thing but Kotone still eats, her mind craves it even if her body does not need it anymore. Maybe it's the things like that she hangs on to, which helps keeps her sane. She gives a bit of a wave with her free hand to Kyra and Zwei. She'll say more once she's got some food down. She doesn't have the means to know what Zwei's up to for good or ill. She does stop eating however. "This is a lot like a Candy Apple. A Fruit that has much the same thing done to it back home."
Septette Arcubielle	"We have candied apples here too," Septette replies with a little smile. "They're popular year-round, whereas the hexroots are much more of a seasonal, symbolic treat." Hexroot? It sounds rather ominous, but a close examination would show that if they had any detrimental effects, the method of preparation must have neutralized them. Perhaps it's a little like fugu? "Of course you may, Kyra," Septette answers with equal good cheer. "I don't expect you'll do much empire-toppling or pillaging during your time here, after all. And if you're talking about MIKE..." A look of mild exasperation crosses her face as she says the name. "He's trustworthy, but I wouldn't blame you for not wanting to visit him. Heavens know I don't." "The cuisine might seem odd to you, Weiss, but there's nothing strange about it to me," Septette replies, executing an abrupt segue. "Surprisingly few qualia are inherently and universally pleasant or unpleasant, after all. Palate is largely a construction of culture, and in some places, sweet and spicy are considered to go hand in hand. And as for this..." She waves a clawed hand over the wooden cart. "It's not quite free, but it's far cheaper now than it would be at any other time. So I bought a cart or two," the robot admits somewhat sheepishly. "Traditionally, the foods eaten now are whatever we've harvested that wouldn't last the winter anyway. All perfectly good to eat now, but nearing its expiration date. So really, you almost might as well give it away!" A handful of people do start to filter through the adjoining streets now, all headed towards the shoreline. Most look like ordinary townsfolk, but a couple of them are dressed peculiarly, sporting scars and weapons or tomes. They're much too irregular to be any kind of guard- adventurers, more likely. None of them seem overly concerned or frightened by the Multiversal visitors, though Asche does get quite a few stares. One almost-preternaturally fleet-footed lady dashes along the canopy after the Armiger, crossing each rooftop with two or three strides: it's a race she's not going to win, but she seems to be having quite a good time nonetheless. It's fairly obvious to those on the ground, and even moreso to anyone with a birds-eye view, where people are slowly congregating: the townsfolk are spread out more or less evenly along the steep, rocky shore.
Kyra Hyral	"I dunno." Kyra answers Weiss when first questioned about her snack. She seems to have no trouble eating it, at least, giving Septette ample time to answer Weiss's question with the true identity of the mysterious fruit. "It tastes like an apple covered in caramel spiced with cinnamon and cayanne peppers. The spiciness is kind of a surprise!" She doesn't seem all that bothered by the name, really. 'Hex' has a number of different meanings to her and not all of them synonymous with 'curse'. "Where's the name come from? Does the plant it comes from have some kind of six-based pattern to its growth?" Mentally, she's picturing roots spreading out like a starfish. "OH RIGHT, /MIKE/. I knew it was a guy's name and a pretty...um. Well, no offense but I kind of expect AIs to have fancier names. I'm afraid if I visit again he'll make me stay with him. Foooreeeveeeer." As the locals start coming in, Kyra turns to watch them curiously. She's expecting some humans, yes, but so far, Septette has been her window into this world. She, realizing now, hasn't heard all THAT much about how the remaining human civilizations keep themselves together here. "Oh, there's a party-" Kyra starts pointing out the adventurers, "-they look like a party. They seem to be a party but Id on't see a tank.." She doesn't sound too surprised and seems to be able to point these guys out pretty easily. "I like that idea, though. Have a big party to eat all the food you can't save."
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa says "So it's might as well use it up before it goes bad? I get that and why not have a bit of fun with it rather than waste it right?" She kinda get an idea of the sort of party this is. She doesn't seem to mind at all. She looks to Sept for a moment, "It's got to be strange to you that I still love to eat, given I almost am past being made of meat." She takes a moment now to listen about food and such she smirks a bit. "All too true, I always loved being in port cities due to all the cultures crossing in such places." She looks to Kyra for a moment and tils her head for a momebt blinks about Mike for a moment. "If they want to have a name like Mike? Which is short for Michael which means God like, so it's not a bad name." "Humm an adventuring party maybe?"
Zwei	Weiss pauses imperceptibly to count the number of branches on the hexroot, just to make sure it isn't a numerical reference rather than a magical one. She isn't going to be sidetracked by that discussion though! "Wait wait, who's Mike? What's all this about huh? You were hanging out here before?" She voices it with mock antagonism, before visibly cracking up at the rest. Okay, maybe she /will/ get sidetracked. "A /cart/ or two? I hope you're taking some of that back to the Union, because I don't think Kyra or Kotone are nearly big enough to fit all that inside of them~" She sweeps her finger towards each of the vacated stands, a silent, near-invisible beam of what superficially appears to be electricity zapping over each of them, causing fruits and vegetables to pop out of existence one after the other. "You could stack these in your matter manipulator if you'd actually gotten one." she verbally pokes. Asche meanwhile seems to be taking interest in his following. He'd perhaps been assuming a less favourable reaction to his appearance, but then the people here do have a positive working history with Yggdroids, which are very, very loosely similar. He turns over partway in mid-glide to watch the woman following him. Though he doesn't actually need to face what he wants to look at as his 'face' would suggest to the uninformed, it makes it obvious he is aware of her presence and not opposed to it. One would imagine a combat model to be more dismissive or competitive, but he deliberately throttles his acceleration to stay only just ahead of her, diverting sharply several times. Is he analyzing her superhuman parkour prowess to determine how she does it, or deliberately entertaining her? It sure as hell isn't primary objective.