Scene #8096: PNL: Memories of Life ft Stanley and Charlotte

Owner	Pose
Stanley Padgett	There's 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. All of which Stanley knows and everyone else knows. He's lost track of how many Labor Day Weekends he's supposedly gone through at this point, but this is the first one he can remember 'surviving the loop'. Which makes this especially nice. Though, he's quietly flipping through his phone, still doing his dailies in Reversal, as he sips on a soda. The remains of a plate of nachos sits next to him, and there's a sack of free tokens on top of his duffel bag.
Charlotte Newman	It's rather easy to brainlessly poke away at the daily missions in Reversal and lose track of what is going on around oneself. Which is fine if that's all one wants to do. Take a break, tap a screen for ten minutes, get back to the dance machines and UFO catchers. Unless someone shows up to disturb you, anyway. A hand with painted fingernails plants down on the table opposite of where Stanley sits, bracelets jostling a little as they settle. The owner is-- that transfer student. The girl who joined class maybe a week after the school year started. The week before Labor Day. What was her name... Charlie? Shirley? More stylish now than in the Silver Springs girls' uniform, at least. Leaning in a bit, she presents her phone's screen, showing her homescreen for the Reversal game as if the intensely rare, weak-but-cute Assistant she'd set acted as a sort of identification card. "There's a Control Point here somewhere, isn't there?" Charlotte asks, "Do you know where I could find it?"
Stanley Padgett	Stanley looks up from where he's typing at his Friends Across The Multiverse, and blinks. And blinks. She wasn't here at the last part of the loop. Huh. The boy does his mental calulus, and then spits out her name. "Charlotte, Class 3-C, Mr. Dunphy's European History." He holds out his hand. "Stanley. And yeah, there's a sticker here." He glances over Charlotte's shoulder to the snacks counter, with the big EAT YOUR FOOD HERE, DON'T GET THE CABINETS GREASY - THA BOSS sign. It would appear Mr. Speck has, reluctantly, put up one of the bright and visible NovaTech branded tags. <This business is a proud control point for Reversal! Scan the QR code to check in, or get the game yourself!> "And, wow. I didn't know anyone actually dug for Office Lady Dark Witch. It's sort of a lame creature."
Charlotte Newman	"Stanley, right," Charlotte acknowledges this with unwavering eye contact, only turning away briefly to behold the sticker, "--Ah. I hadn't gone to the back counter yet." Eyes closing, she gestures with a rattle of bracelets, "The other girls just want to mess with the crane game up front." Lifting her phone, she zooms the camera in and, after a moment of waiting on the focus, snaps the code. She then tugs out the chair on her side and sits down, unbidden. "She's weak and her skills are niche. But I feel like if I get enough Impterns, she can do some interesting things," the explanation comes out quickly, "For now, I just keep her on the home screen because she looks nice." While Charlotte registers the new location, and the user 'Cnew' shows up in the local roster, she asides, "Feels like we're getting the same set of missions every day though, doesn't it?"
Stanley Padgett	To say Stanley is surprised by the continued presence of Charlotte can't be understated. He does mask it pretty well though, as he stops tapping on his phone and puts it down to flash his bestest, coolest-est smile. "Oh, well." His brain lurches into the correct path of conversation as he catches up from his texting. "I mean, yeah it's a little weird. A lot of weird things have been happening the last few days." He scritches at his cheek, and huffs. "Between the shhhhtuff at school and the cops all over... I'm just glad that's all done." No swearing, Stanley, not in front of cute girls. "...Did they toss your locker too? I didn't know if they got up into the fancy wing or were just down in the public side." Oh ho. Stanley sips on his soda.
Charlotte Newman	"Stop," Charlotte states without looking up, and without any further context. She does wrap up what she was doing on her phone though, tucking it into her handbag. Hands fold and she faces the young man directly on. If she wasn't the same age as him it might feel like talking to a teacher more than a peer. "You mean the kids that disappeared and reappeared?" Once again, that unflinching eye contact, "My locker was inspected, but I don't keep anything but books in there anyway." Her eyes shift towards Stanley's duffel, under its cap of tokens, "I haven't been here long enough to start living out of the locker yet." That might have been a joke.
Stanley Padgett	Stanley crosses his arms at that, and grumbles. "Neither have I, I just..." He looks at the duffel bag, and then back to Charlotte, and then meets that eye contact. "...I just have stuff I want to keep on me, you know? And I don't like having people be all in my stuff." He adjusts his tie, and then breaks off the eye contact first. "And yeah, the kids that all went missing, I mean. And came back. It's good that they did, but-" Stanley seems to think of something, texts on his phone a moment, and then looks back to the cute blonde, who is much less cute somehow. Well, she's still cute, but now she's slightly intimidating. "...Is there something on my face?"
Charlotte Newman	"What?" Charlotte blinks, "Isn't it--" Normal to maintain unflinching, staring contest eye contact? No, Charlotte. That's not normal. What are you doing. She pauses. After a moment, she brings up her arms and folds them as well, jerking her gaze off to one side and closing her eyes, "--your face is on your face. You should get that looked at." . . . "Sorry," Charlotte deflates, though it's more relaxation than depression, like she'd been entirely too tense herself, "I'm. Bad with people, sometimes."
Stanley Padgett	Stan lets out a breath and then laughs in spite of himself. "Okay, yeah. Let's just.... start over." He pushes his phone out of the way again, and then holds his hand out across the table to the nice girl. "Stanley Padgett. It's nice to meet you, properly."
Charlotte Newman	"Yeah..." Charlotte returns the gesture, reaching across to place her hand in Stanley's with a rattle of bracelets. Hands are shaken above a half-eaten nacho plate, "Charlotte Newman. Nice to meet you, Stanley." "Are you pretty familiar with this town? I-- just moved here, so there's a lot I don't know."
Stanley Padgett	Stan takes a breath, and adjusts his tie again, smoothing it down to his shirt. "Right uh, I'm sorta new too, just been here like... Two months? Maybe three?" He starts counting on his fingers a moment, and then has to stop and consider the time loop. How DO you add in a time loop into 'I have lived here for this long?'? Hmmm. "But I've been around a bit, yeah. I sorta live across the street here though, so this and Jimmy's are my go to spots." From behind Charlotte, Mr. Speck makes a huffy faux hurt noise. "Stanley, you really ought to stop going over there. Pizza is bad for you," before he wanders into the back room to get more prizes. Stanley just rolls his eyes.
Charlotte Newman	"Mm," Charlotte makes an affirmative sound, nodding once, "Maybe two weeks, myself? It's been a bit hard to keep track of things." She shifts to glance over her shoulder when Mr Speck speaks up. As he wanders off, the girl laughs. Daintily, mindful of her nails, she pulls a chip out of the nacho pile and admires the long strand of molten cheese that insists on connecting it to the rest of the mass, "As if this is any healthier?" It takes her a few tries of rubberbanding to get the cheese to disconnect so she can at least eat what she touched without permission, rather than just shove it back into the Glory of the Mass with her germs on it. "I basically got here the Sunday before I had to be in class, but..." Her brow furrows, staring at the nacho plate in thought, ".../Was/ that a week ago? I'm pretty sure it's been longer than that."
Stanley Padgett	Stanley narrows his eyes a bit at that. The 'it's been longer' part. He picks up a nacho as well, chews on it thoughtfully, and then picks up his phone. "Something like that, time really seems to stretch out here these days." He flicks open the Reversal, it plays its little jingle, and he moves to add this 'Cnew' to his friends list. Charlotte's phone gets a helpful push notification that she's got a pending friend request, as Stan continues his thought. "...Days all sort of melting together, huh?"
Charlotte Newman	"Like a weekend that never ends," Charlotte states with a laugh, though it's not quite genuine. Her phone releases a jarring chime and draws her attention, so she fishes it out of her handbag, "--Oh, that must be you." She thumbs through the notification, "Sure, we can be friends." That she just said it out loud like that and everything! As Charlotte tucks her phone back into her bag, though, she pauses. It takes a moment before she asks, "...I'm going to stop being coy. Have you noticed anything /weird/ happening?" Finally, she glances up, "And I don't mean 'the new girl is talking to me' weird. Like. Actually, really strange."
Stanley Padgett	He is in fact "StanTheMan05" because he is a basic bitch. The second question gets Stanley to pause though, and then... "I... I'm wondering why you're asking me that, but..." Stanley shifts Cnew to his favorite friends list, and then looks back to Charlotte, considering things. And then he bites his lip. His foot taps against the floor, as he does some mental calulus. Are they really going to beat the White Rabbit before the next loop? Probably not. Okay what's the harm then, she won't remember. "...I mean... yeah." A breath. "You mean like how Dr. Hunnicutt somehow had 12 kids in the basement without any reason that he would have them there, why the cops can't figure out a method for it, and how it's been Labor Day Weekend for a month?"
Charlotte Newman	"Shoot," Charlotte frowns, her voice lowering to a mutter, barely audible over the din of the arcade, "A month?" Clearly she hadn't realized what was happening until more recently. After a moment of clearly intense thought, eyes darting between various thoughts. Her phone is produced as she thinks it through, tapping through something. And then Charlotte spins in her seat, reaching across the table. Placing her hand on Stanley's arm, the pair vanish in a subtle distortion of glitchy blocks that swiftly resolve against the veneer of reality, just when nobody is looking at them. On the other side is a familiar sight, glistening obsidian and glowing blue neon lines forming a grid-marked ground. Polygonal buildings reach above the plane, outlined in orange and cyan and magenta like poorly rendered graphics, their flat surfaces taking on a dark metallic sheen that dimly reflects the colorful neon surroundings. Charlotte manifests here in a flicker of glitchy blocks that swiftly resolve, deposited on the Other Side within the Reversal. Standing, hand at her side, the other resting on her handbag, her gaze lowers a bit. "You've seen this before," it isn't a question, more of a stated conclusion.
Stanley Padgett	Stanley realizes what's about to happen just a moment too late as he calls out. "Wait, not right out here-" And then they're both S l i d i n g S i d e w a y s though liminal space, until the pair are dumped outside of the notional space of the Happycade's Reversal. Xenon colored spirits shuffle around the sidewalks, and darker things lurk in alleyways... but not here. Both the Happycade and Jimmy's Grotto stand as safe spaces, glimmering neon oases in the murk of the Reversal. The Happycade is some sort of training yard with approximations of video game cabinets, and the Grotto is a well guarded creche, smaller spirits milling about under the watchful eye of Guard Towers. Stanley brushes himself off, and adjusts his tie. "...Okay this changes a bunch of things."
Charlotte Newman	"I said I was going to stop being coy," Charlotte lifts a hand, gesturing with one finger raised up. Lowering it, she props that hand on her hip, "I've been exploring this when I can. Mostly the parts around the mall and my house." Arms shifting, she folds them, her stance shifting and head lowering while offering Stanley a more critical look, "I was in here when the city rolled back. And that time, I didn't go with it. That was... Two loops ago?" "If you know what's going on, than either you're causing it..." Her head lifts, "Or we can work together and stop it."
Stanley Padgett	Stanley huffs a bit, and then takes a deep breath. "Okay you're not messing about, I guess." He dusts himself off, flecks of neon and argon flicking off him like digital tearing. "Okay, yeah, I know what's going on, and I have some offworld friends trying to help, and we think we can stop this from happening again. The time loops, I mean. But..." A breath. "...It's dangerous in here, and you've got to be ready to fight. Can you do that, I mean, you've been in here long enough to get jumped by Shadows."
Charlotte Newman	"Off-world friends..." Charlotte mulls on that for a moment, "Multiversals? I hadn't met any, myself." Eyes closing, she shrugs, "It's weird that this town would attract people from other worlds like that, but considering this--" She glances up at the stylized facade surrounding the other side of the Happycade, "--maybe not that weird." Her attention returns to Stanley, "If you've already got a plan in mind to stop this from happening, I'd like to help." A hand lifts, resting over her collarbone, "Don't worry about me, Shadows aren't going to slow me down."
Stanley Padgett	Stanley nods at that, and then takes a breath. He opens up his list of contacts, to find... Delilah. <Hey D, i found someone else to help and she knows about the time loops and Dr. Hun, can you get her added to my party?> <Certainly, Stanley, just a moment.> And Charlotte gets a new push message. Reversal notification: You have been added to a new group! You have received a new quest: Make Some Friends 0/4! Stanley bites his lip, and then... Charlotte gets dumped onto the Multiverse. "...It's a trip, and I hope you make a bunch of new friends like I did."
Stanley Padgett	Stanley also maneuvers himself to get a selfie with Charlotte in the background.
Charlotte Newman	In that polite teenager way, Charlotte waits while Stanley starts texting again, at least assuming it's related to the conversation they're having. Her phone chirps again and she pulls it out, inspecting the notifications; and accepting the group invitation. 'make some friends' gives her pause though, and she stares at it for a moment. Stanley's selfie captures her looking pensively at her phone. After a bit, she swipes the notification to the side and tucks the device back into her handbag, eyes closed, "Okay. I'll definitely do my best."