Scene #8087: PNL: COOL KIDS ARCADE NIGHT

Owner	Pose
Stanley Padgett	There's a simplicity in an Arcade. The place is dimly lit, save for fancy and complicated neon lights, there's the smell of old carpet and popcorn and electronics and sweaty kids and the din of video games being played. But there's also something warm and safe and cozy feeling about the Happycade Game Junction. WHich is one of the reason's Stanley's here tonight. It's Labor Day Weekend, school starts back up tomorrow, and hopefully, everything with Dr. Hun will have blown over and he'll be gone and... Stanley, however is exerting himself tonight. his big bag of tokens is only half gone, as he takes a break next to one of the dancing game machines. He's currently slamming back a bottle of water to hydrate. A small gaggle of teens is currently up to play, and Stan is looking at his phone. Dang, guess his new friends didn't want to show up after all.
Kukuru	Arcades are not the sort of places Kukuru usually frequents. They're loud, they're dark, and they're kind of sticky from all the food and soda being carelessly left around and spilled without anyone even thinking about cleaning it up until later in the night. However, it's this arcade in particularly that someone visibly old enough to be several someones' mother shows up at the Arcade tonight. Despite all her usual misgivings about these kinds of places, Kukuru's chosen to come to anyway after hearing about someone sending out invitations. She's brought snacks, too, but she's not sure if this is necessarily a party or just a little get together. Regardless, she finds the first person she can at the entrance, then hands off the big greasy package over to them. Even though the fried shrimp balls inside are safely inside dense plastic containers, the paper towels covering it are still greasy as hell. "He-llo there~ Do you know where... Um..." She forgot his name already. She hems and haws, and she peers further into the arcade to try and figure out who it was that sent the invitations without actually knowing what he looks like.
Rita Ma	Rita, in her white blouse and black pleated skirt, looks slightly overdressed for the arcade. One can forgive her, though. It's not like she's been to one before! "Mr. Stanley! Sorry I'm late!" She's too short to be seen through a crowd, so her appearance- squeezing between two chatty teenagers and an unused cabinet- is abrupt. Her eyes drop to the half-empty bag. "You've been here a little while already, haven't you? I had to wrap up cooking dinner, but then I came as fast as I could." "What would you recommend for a beginner? They don't have 'Melty' here, do they? I think that's the only game I've really played..."
Stanley Padgett	Kukuru an Rita are BOTH greeted on their way in by the guy behind the counter, who sits up a bit sharper when NEW PEOPLE arrive. "A NEW CHALLENGER APPEARS!" The man's voice booms across the room, over the cheers and jeers of the juveniles playing games and whatever chiptune nonsense was playing in the background. He's tall and severe looking, but has the joviality of someone who has never been an adult a day in their entire life. "It's Bemani Monday, kids, and we're in full swi-" And they scoot right past him, over towards Stanley. "Oh ho. STANLEY, your friends are here!" Stanley looks up at Rita and the new face, and waves. "Hello! I've only been here like an hour or so, it's fine, I was catching up on stuff that had to be done for Tuesday." He huffs. "Mr. Ishirou wants to make sure I'm being cared for, so." He looks up and taps the console next to him that no one was currently using. "Okay, so, this one is a guitar game, and the one these kids are at is Dancerush." Said gaggle of lanky teens and young adults are currently stunting and dancing on a fancy flashing pad, in time to music. But something Rita says filters through the crowd, and dimly, the guy at the front desk hollars. "THIS IS A TEKKEN HOUSE TAKE THAT AMATEUR CRAP OUTSIDE." Oh. We have strong opinions on Melty apparently.
Stanley Padgett	Stanley also holds his hand out to Kukuru, after wiping it off on his tie. "I'm Stanley Padgett, nice to meet you?"%
Timespace Riders	Sougo Tokiwa enters into the arcade with Woz in tow. The former looks much more excited to be here--although Woz's usual disdained expression seems just a little less obvious, for whatever reason. The Demon King is keeping it simple today; highwater jeans, brown ankle boots and a white tee. Woz very much isn't--favoring his usual double-breasted wasteland duster affair and that ever-present scarf. "Hi, Stanley, Rita, Kukuru!" Sougo gives a wave, but winces slightly. "Ah, I'm still really sore... mm, sorry to keep you waiting! I got a little held up on the way here." He offers Stanley a sunny smile. 'Held up' here probably means some kind of fight or rider shenanigans. "I'm down to play anything!" His smile fades slightly, as he remembers Persephone's advice: be a little selfish, every once in a while. "Um... just not anything that's too demanding," he adds with a soft, embarrassed chuckle. "I'm still recovering from a really good sparring session. Maybe that thing the guy at the front was yelling about?"
Kukuru	Like Rita, Kukuru is dressed a little too formally for this party, too... Maybe. It's her usual white blouse and green/brown skirt combo, but with a few irregular reddish brownish splotches at the edges. She tilts her head slightly when the man behind the counter announces everyone as challengers, but she takes it in stride with a pleasant sounding giggle. "That's the one! Thanks~" And then she's off to join Rita and Stanley at the machine, giving the former a fond pat on the head and the latter a firm, yet still soft handshake in return. "Stanley... Go-ot it. My name's Kukuru. Ku-ku-ru. It's nice to finally meet you." Sougo's and Woz's arrival, too, are met with pleasant smiles and light pats on the shoulder. "I don't know what a Melty Tekken is, but I'll try anything. Oh, I hope nobody's got hearing trouble, though... Sounds tasty." She clearly has no idea what any of these words mean.
Stanley Padgett	Woz and Sougo get a wave too, as Stanley levers himself up from his spot, grabs his sack of tokens, and then leads the squad over in the direction of Fighting Game Land. Despite assertions that this is a Tekken House, there are in fact more games than just Tekken back here. There's some Street Fight cabs, an ancient Virtua Fighter, and then all of the Tekkens. "Here we go, if you want ot learn to play fightan, this is the place." A soft chuckle. Stanley, however, is undressing. At lest his taking off his tie, which gets put into the token bag, and unbuttoning the top button of his shirt. "...I guess I have to thank you, Sougo, for the other night. For helping me figure things out."
Stanley Padgett	And Kukuru... Stanley resists the urge to hug someone he's just met. He REALLY has that urge though. "So these are games where you beat other people up. I know that's... probably a little weird hearing that from a situation where you're used to that IRL, but..." He shrugs. "Ah... again, I'm still getting used to being special.
Rita Ma	"A challenger?!" Rita glances around, anxious and baffled, before looking back at the severe man. "Do you mean Ms. Kukuru? I'm sure I can't challenge anything!" Rita settles back into her rhythm when she gets to grill Stanley about his life. "Oh, Mr. Ishirou was asking about programs you could get help from, right? Were you enrolling in some of those?" She leans against a cabinet. "You definitely deserve to be cared for. So thank you for doing that." The front desk man yells again, and again, she startles. "'Tekken'?? Well, if you think that's better, then... I can give it a shot!" Her nervousness is plastered over with a compliant smile. Eventually, her gaze magnetizes to those red-brown stains on Kukuru's clothes. But the smile doesn't go away. "You do look exhausted, Mr. Tokiwa. That dance game looks really demanding, doesn't it? It might be too much for me, too." Rita takes one half of a Tekken setup, figuring it can't be that different from Melty anyway. "Can I borrow some of your tokens, Mr. Stanley? ... How do you feel about fighting, anyway? You're not used to it yet, are you?"
Timespace Riders	Sougo receives Kukuru's shoulder-pats with a beaming smile. Woz looks at her like she's grown a second head. "I've seen posters for the newest ones around town! There's some kind of tournament that's going to happen in a few months." Sougo smiles even wider for Stanley. "I'm glad when I can help even a little bit," he softly admits. "It makes me really happy to hear that, Stanley. And happy to know that Ishirou is helping you. About your birthday--I'm still serious about getting you a present," he says, holding up a futuristic pocketwatch. A stylized white LCD displays the year AU30 on it. "Especially since the present you gave me is so strong." Rita's question earns her a nod from Sougo. "I've played them once or twice before, but I have two left feet even when I'm not sore and achey!" He takes up the spot beside Rita, leaning slightly against the cabinet. "A temporary setback, and a minor one at that, my Demon King," Woz says, with a coy smile and a flourish of his free hand. "When you and Rita have finished your bouts, I shall be happy to rejoice in your place." A grandiloquent sweep of his hand towards the dance machine. The retainer casts an eye towards Stanley, then to Rita. "However he may feel about it, dear Stanley is not the worst to have by one's side in a fight."
Stanley Padgett	A handful of tokens are dumped on the surface of the Tekken cab's control table. "Here you go, knock each other out. Stanley perks up a bit at Rita's question. "I mean... I was good enough at it to take down Dr. Hun, and not get got while doing stuff in the Reversal. So..." He shrugs a bit. And I did pretty good with Zi-O like Sougo says, so I"m... I'm getting better at it." He puffs up ever so slightly, before watching the pair start up their round of Tekken.
Kukuru	"Oh! Like the one with the cars and all those guns and the... Um." Kukuru snaps her fingers a few times, trying to recall that one specific mechanic after Stanley explains it to her. "Insurance!" She is probably not thinking about the right thing. "It's not weird, though. Sometimes, you just wanna... Do things differently from how you usually do. There's nothing wrong with that, as long as you know the difference between what's real and what's not." She reassures with a pat on the shoulder this time. "Tekken... Tek. Ken. Sounds funny, doesn't it?" She comments afterwards while noticing Rita looking at her (but not where specifically). She opts to make another guess at what that's all about, gesturing at the bag of fried stuff she left at the counter and starting to say something before remembering something. "You-" Somehow, Kukuru actually manages to stop herself after only one word instead of an entirely wrong sentence, then digs out a medium-sized plastic container from her pocket and slips it into Rita's hands. There's a rare (bear) steak in there cooked in a bit too much salted butter. "Let me know how it is. I hunted it this morning~" Sougo's and Woz's looks are noted, and Kukuru tilts her head again as it seems that there's already some history between them, Stanley, and Ishirou. "Oh, have you all met before? That's fantastic~ So! Did you all work together, or were you fighting each other?" She asks as easily as one might ask about last night's dinner, still smiling the whole time.
Rita Ma	"Oh, really? Were they fun? I've never played them at all," Rita says. She spends a lot of time picking out a character, though her selection criteria seems to come down to 'whoever is the scariest-looking girlboss'. She has a Type. "If you're sore, that means you're getting stronger, doesn't it? That's what my big sister would say. So congratulations!" Even if she doesn't know any of the moves or mechanics, her playstyle and fundies have been sharpened beyond the level of a total beginner by Bercilak's party. When she's in a pinch, she shuts her left eye and her right flicks across the screen in quick saccades. Her reaction time is distinctly unfair. "Mmm! I know you must be good at fighting, Mr. Stanley," she says over the clack of buttons and joysticks. "But that's not what I was asking. I was asking how you feel about it. Does it feel easy? Is it fun, or do you feel bad about it? Are you scared, but being brave anyway?" She doesn't give any indication of what she thinks the 'right' answer is. "Oh! Thank you, Ms. Kukuru!" Rita accepts the steak cheerfully, but her hesitation isn't completely banished until she cracks the tupperware lid and smells it. Then it seems to meet her approval, for whatever reason. She isn't given utensils. She doesn't ask for any. Instead, she just slips off to somewhere between games, and returns barely twenty seconds later to return the empty container. "That was really sweet of you, Ms. Kukuru. I really wish I'd brought some of my cooking from home, now. What kinds of food are your favorite?"
Stanley Padgett	Rita sneaks off to have her snack, and Stanley blinks and hops on her stick so that the token isn't wasted. He cannot cheat at Tekken like she can, unfortunately, so he quickly fumbles the bag. "I mean, it's not been bad, I... I understand why I'm fighting, you know, but not... what I'm fighting for yet. This is all still a really big mystery." Stanley looks back to Kukuru though and smiles. "I'm only really just arrived on the scene, so to speak. So... you all are much more experienced at these sorts of things. I was /okay/ with my rapier before, but now I can do... frankly amazing things." Rita, while you're around that corner, you feel like someone is watching you from behind one of the cabinets.
Timespace Riders	"Thanks, Stanley! Hm... 'what you're fighting for' in the sense of what your heart tells you, or in the sense of what's behind all the recent activity in the Reversal?" Sougo slots a token in. "And thank you, Rita." He wears praise with adorable sunny radiance. There's a rider who's very good at video games. Despite having his power, Sougo is not that rider. With an oblivious smile, he picks 'the silliest looking character.' His technique, if it can even be called that, starts at mashing and ends at 'finding one or two things he can remember the inputs for.' "Wow, you're really good at this, Rita! I don't think I've taken a set from you yet! Have you met this guy named Emu? He's some kind of... gamer doctor. Or doctor gamer? I'm not really sure. . ." When Rita walks off to enjoy her steak after thoroughly waxing Sougo, he nods enthusiastically at Kukuru. "Mm! Woz and I have worked with Stanley and with Ishirou. But not both at once--not yet, anyway. I hope we can work with Rita, soon!" Woz, meanwhile, takes the opportunity to snag a token from Sougo and get set up at the dance machine. Kicking off his low cut boots, he steps onto the platform. With a flick of his wrist, he tucks an errant lock of black hair behind his ear, and hovers over a hard-difficulty track. "IWAE!" He proclaims, arms thrown wide. "I am the chronicler of past and future, prophet of the one true timeline... my name is Woz! And with this dance," he dramatically announces, head held high, "I honor the radiance of my Demon King!" Sougo blushes and smiles bashfully, rubbing the back of his head. "Who among you is bold enough to join me, and set free your spirit with the timeless art of dance?"
Kukuru	Kukuru watches the fights going on with wide-eyed curiosity, her sense of disbelief suspended for almost all of it right until the juggling starts up. "Is that how bodies are supposed to move?" She asks aloud, looking towards Stanley and Woz with a blank expression as though... Well, Stanley's clearly the expert here, and something about Woz strikes her as more knowledgeable about these topics than he lets on. Or she just really likes his hair. She's definitely staring at his hair from time to time, for better or for worse. Rita's approval of THE MEAT, meanwhile, gets another broad smile from the lady with the glasses. "Aw, don't worry about it. I've got all sorts of stuff packed away just for occasions like this." She explains with a proud little puff of her chest. "But you're welcome~ What do I like...? Meat's good. Fried, raw, shrimpy, meaty... Fried stuff is good, too, but I hear it's supposed to be bad for humans, so I try not to eat too much of it." She reaches up to rub one of her drill-horns idly while blatantly lying about that last part, then shrugs lightly and offers Rita a sealed wetnap afterwards. "What about you? Aaaand you three?" She asks, looking from Rita to Stanley, Sougo, and Woz. "I haven't talked to you three much before, so I wanna know what to keep prepared for next time." She explains with a determined grunt. "You'll get better at fighting stuff as you go. It takes time to learn, you know? Just like school and professional jobs." She states reassuringly to Stanley again. "I'm getting better at fighting, too, even if I'm not super smart like everyone else." Sougo's eagerness to work with others has Kukuru smiling a little more brightly. "Oh, that's wonderful. Rita's really good at getting around places, so I'll be counting on you two to help me grab everyone's attention when we do." Speaking of grabbing attention, though, Woz is on the dance machine! "Oh! I will, I will~ How's this work?" She asks while joining him at the machine, marveling at all the shiny lights and the strange pads on the floor. "I saw some people stepping on this earlier... Is there a lot of jumping and stuff?" The answer may change how damaged the machine ends up if she starts jumping. Regardless, Kukuru proves to be summarily terrible at actually keeping up with the faster tracks, but her timing is somehow spot on once things slow down.
Stanley Padgett	Stanley smiles over at Kukuru and Woz as they get their dance on, the young Fool going back to the Tekken with Sougo. "...You did a lot for me, you know, and we barely know each other at this point, so..." He sighs and slumps his shoulders, the interruption getting his dude kicked right out of the ring. "Oh, crap. Dangit."
Timespace Riders	Asked about his favorite foods, Sougo has an answer--and an answer on behalf of his retainer, too, given as he turns a token over curiously in his hand. "Mm... I like most things except things that taste dry or bitter. And Woz seems to really like sweets!" "Most excellent, Kukuru," he says with a smile. "The arrows which will appear on screen correspond with the pressure plates below us. Stepping on them too early or too late may mean less points, or even none, if your timing is entirely insufficient." Indicating them with a sweep of his free hand, "You may use the bars to support yourself as you dance, if you wish." Once Kukuru's selected her difficulty, Woz locks in a song and begins--fully intent on dancing with the book tucked under his arm. He's actually doing really well, his feet finding their placements right away, even adding in spins and flourishes. "I like the funny panda," Sougo says simply, after ringing Stanley out. "That's why I wanted to come by! Someone who fights with their heart, for the reasons you did... that's someone I want to know and support. Do you mind if I ask..." Stanley takes a round from Sougo, as the latter takes a moment to boggle at Woz's flamboyant display. "Haha! Oops. Um, now that you can use your heart in a way most people can't... if you could do one thing with it, and be absolutely sure you'd succeed, what would it be?"
Rita Ma	EARLIER: Rita tenses up when she feels those eyes on her, but tries not to show it. She pulls out her phone, as casually as she can, and pretends to be scrolling through it. Then she surreptitiously takes a photo over her shoulder with the selfie cam, hoping to catch her watcher without cluing them in. She only checks the camera roll once she's out of there. NOW: "Ah... thanks, Mr. Tokiwa!" Rita accepts compliments with a similarly adorable sunniness, but betrays a little more embarrassment than he does. "I know there's people who are a lot better than me. I just had some good teachers, that's all." The name clicks a minute later, and she abruptly perks up. "Oh!! Dr. Emu... I met him once, now that I think about it! We helped him solve the Bugster stuff. I never had time to play games with him, but he seemed really nice." Rita beams at Kukuru, too, once she's got a minute off from the vidya. "Fried... I still haven't tried frying things much. But the next time I get to cook for you, I'll give it a try!" Then she startles. "Humans...? But Ms. Kukuru, aren't you human too? I mean, I know you have these-" she taps her own ear- "but that's not enough not to count, is it?" When she's asked about her favorite food: "There are a lot of raw fish dishes I love! Sort of like sashimi. But my favorite these days is gejang. There's a few different kinds, but it's always made with brined crab!" She takes a break, later, from being entranced by Woz and Kukuru on the dance machine to smile bashfully at Stanley. "I still don't feel used to it. I've only been doing 'heroic' things for... about a year now, I think. It hasn't stopped feeling kind of scary for me. So if you feel that way, you're not alone! We're not all veterans."
Stanley Padgett	Rita's camera roll will see... THe 'corner' she snuck into is actually a well crafted cubby-hole made out of the backs of arcade cabinets, all pressed up against each other to create a little nook. Deliberately so. And in the flash of the camera, something stands out. A little reflective sticker on the back of one of the cabs. It's the logo of the Reversal game itself, a tiny chibi woman in a blue cafe attendant's outfit, carrying a book. Stanley blinks up at Sougo and considers that, stalling on selecting his next fighter while he thinks. "...I'd like to prevent this sort of thing happening to any other kids. I mean, my situation. That'd be my wish, you know. If we're going all out on things." He taps in his selection, the guy with the snappy hat, and starts in on Sougo. "...But otherwise, I know that if I follow my quests from the game, I should get down a good path. I'm confident. It's the first solid directions I've had, after all."
Kukuru	"So that's how it works... Thanks, Wozzy~ I'm gonna do my best, and then we can eat something tasty after!" Under Woz's careful guidance (and actually understanding what she's looking at), Kukuru actually does moderately well! Even on normal difficulty, though, the fast parts still end up being too fast for her to keep up. Those are theparts where she'll only get one out of every two or three steps, but her timing is top notch for those steps rather than just tapping away wildly and hoping for the best. She ends up scraping by upon getting to the very end, carried mostly by a huge number of perfect steps, missed steps, and almost none in between. "That must make for a pretty good workout... Do you do this often?" She asks while slumping against the bars, looking fairly tuckered out after she's done and letting out open-mouthed yawns all the while. Returning to Rita, Kukuru looks like she's about to fall over after all that dancing, but that's fairly normal for her. She does, however, produce a towel from her pockets and just wraps up her entire head with it before offering another one to where (she thinks) Woz is standing. "Frying is pretty fun! It's loud and poppy and... Kinda dangerous if you're not careful. Oh, but don't throw ice in there. That'll make a big mess." With her responsibility talk of the day done, Kukuru tilts her head slightly when Rita asks if she's human, then shakes her head. "Nope! I'm..." She pauses for a while, then shrugs, clearly not knowing nor caring what the actual answer is. "Humans are super neat, though. They're so... Persistent. And clever. And really smart. It's all stuff I wish I could do sometimes, but without being so... Squishy, you know?" A laugh, and then Kukuru taps her chin when Rita names some dishes. "I've heard of crab and sashimi, but not gejang. Is thaaat... Korean? Or Vietnamese?" She guesses, pausing for another moment before suddenly looking excited. "Oh! Do they use shrimp paste in?"
Timespace Riders	"A few weeks," Sougo says, glancing at Stanley. "A few months," he continues, index pointed at himself. "And a little over a year... hmm! I think... us newbies should look out for each other, then!" While Stanley hovers on the figher select screen, Sougo hears him out. "That's a good wish, Stanley," he says, nodding and placing a hand on Stanley's shoulder. "I'll help you with it, however I can." He gently squeezes, then returns his hands to the controls and locks in his character. "This game... is it the same one that told you to make friends?" 'Wozzy' is in a trance-like state of transcendent bliss--lost in the iwae-sauce. The look on his face seems, in fact, a little inappropriate for the setting. Thankfully, Kukuru's question is enough to startle him from his post-dance glow and send him nearly toppling over. Clearing his throat chastely, and wiping a sheen of sweat from his brow (heavy coats and scarves aren't the most breathable!) he answers. "In matters of rejoicing," he says simply, "I am something of an expert--all the better to herald every step my Demon King takes towards his future coronation.~"
Rita Ma	"Right. No frying ice. I'll remember, Ms. Kukuru!" Rita tilts her head, eyes shut, and smiles. They open again, and her smile takes on a nostalgic tone, when Kukuru gushes about humans. "Yeah. They really are amazing, aren't they?" Her eyes drift over Stanley, Sougo, and Woz. "But, whatever you are, I think you're pretty great too, Ms. Kukuru." The bittersweet undercurrent is banished again when Kukuru asks about shrimp. "No, I'm sorry! At least, not that I've ever had. Maybe you'll figure out a way to make it taste good with them, though?" Then: "Korean, yeah! Most of the foods I've made are." Sougo's declaration makes her eyebrows shoot up. "Only a few months?! But you're already so confident, Mr. Tokiwa. I thought for sure you'd been doing it longer than me! ... I'd like that a lot, though. A newbie support group... I don't think I'll keep up with you two, but I'm happy to try." When he gets a moment away from his Tekken-ing, Rita surreptitiously shows Stanley the picture of the sticker on her phone. "Do you know about this, Mr. Stanley?" Her voice is lowered, so as not to distract the others from their fun. "While I was back there, I felt like... like something was watching me."
Stanley Padgett	Stanley smiles at Sougo. "Yeah well. I'd be happy to help, you know. 'Words are easy, like the wind; Faithful friends are hard to find.'" He puffs up, and then murmurs. "Yeah, something like that, I..." Stanley opens up his phone to show that his quest log HAS changed. "Huh, weird." Spring Ahead - Fall Back: 0/2 Stanley blinks at the phone, and then grumbles. "I'll figure that one out later. And huh?" A look to Rita's phone, and then he looks around the corner to spot the.... little cubby hole. "Oh. Weird, that's really weird." He taps her on the shoulder, then then steps into the aperture of the space. "...I mean, this is pretty neat. And that little sign, that's how you know that you're in range of a control point." He lifts up his phone, and the Reversal app, and points it at the sticker to let Rita see. The screen lights up, and shimmers, and the little figure on the sticker... resolves itself into a person, inside the screen. A full sized version of the little lady, is suddenly trying to peek through Stanley's phone. "Oh good, you did find this place. Hello Stanley, Hello New Friend. How was your meal?" Stanley drops the phone and yelps.
Kukuru	"Is that what that's about? Aw, that's lovely. Being so devoted to someone, I mean. It's... I don't see it a lot these days, so it's really great!" Kukuru compliments Woz with another lighthearted, if still somewhat fatigued giggle. Step dancing is not a thing she's used to doing, apparently. "And now that you're both part of our family, you've got even more people that can support you in doing all that." Sougo gets a thumbs up at that last part, too, even if he might be busy with the gamings. Rita's compliment to Kukuru, meanwhile, gets the vaguely older lady blushing. "Aw, thanks Rita. I try! Even if..." She lowers her voice briefly. "We can't be like them, we can support them. Help them learn to do better than we can, so their kids can..." She pauses, then laughs lightly. "Oh! Sorry, I... Don't know if you can do that? Um." There's an awkward lingering pause from her, and then Kukuru just shifts focus right along to the topic of... "Watching you? Is there someone else here that knows you and Stanley?" She looks over at Stanley next, following him over to the strange hole. "Control point? Is that what holes are these days?" She asks with a light giggle, moving over to watch him do something strange with his phone and the sticker. She clearly has no idea what she's looking at, but she lets out 'ooh' and 'aah' noises regardless. When a person appears on Stanley's phone, she lets out one more 'ooh' noise and starts to say something when he drops the phone. Without missing a beat, Kukuru squats nearby to pick it right up and hold it up for the group. "He-llo there~ Are you supposed to be in there?" A beat, and then she looks over at Stanley. "Wait, do you two know each other?"
Timespace Riders	Woz holds his head high as he receive's Kukuru's praise--being told that he's a good retainer is very highly esteemed, it seems. The notion of receiving support from the Concord, for whatever reason, seems less warmly received. With a guarded, neutral kind of expression, he steps down from the platform. "Perhaps," he says, tossing his scarf over his shoulder. "Certainly, Persephone Kore's counsel was well given." Sougo, curious as always, can't help crowding the phone to see. "Oh! That's really amazing--UWOH!" Phones can be expensive. When Stanley drops it, Sougo's eyes bug out, and he dives without thinking, hitting the arcade floor. His sore muscles make their discontent known--but at least his head broke the phone's fall. "Oww..." When Kukuru picks it up, he stands up with some difficulty, using a nearby cabinet for support, and rubbing the back of his head. "Hi, phone lady! Gosh, that's really..." He glances at Rita. "Realistic, isn't it?" Back to Stanley, "Were you not expecting that?" he asks, dusting himself off. "Oh! Maybe it's a new feature?"
Rita Ma	"Even if we can't be like them... Rita averts her eyes. Her bittersweet smile gets a little more bitter. "Yeah. Even if..." Then confusion, fortunately, banishes her sadness. "You don't know if I can do what? I'm very good at helping people, you know!" Then Stanley taps her on the shoulder, and she follows him into the cubby, standing on her tiptoes and craning her neck so she can see his phone. Having fewer preconceptions about technology, she's merely 'startled' rather than 'shocked' when the woman appears. "... It's rude to drop people, Mr. Stanley. Hi, though! I'm Rita Ma! It's good to meet you!" She bends over to wave at the phone on the floor. Then she's taken aback by a sudden realization. "Wait... 'meal'? So you were watching! Do you have cameras here?! That's kind of creepy, isn't it?"
Stanley Padgett	Stanley stammers a bit, before looking at all the efforts to save his phone... and then he plucks it up again. "Yeah, that's Delilah. She's Mr. Igor's assistant. And she... she's not supposed to be this close to the rest of us, I..." The Fool snags the phone, taps the screen again, and steps into the circle. "Stanley needs to come with me for a moment, I'll be just a moment~" And then there's a sudden uncomfortable yawning sensation in the area, and Stanley simply slides sideways, and out of this plane of reality. The phone comes with him.