Scene #8427: Family Portrait

Owner	Pose
Angela	Persephone has been invited once more to the absolutely 'lovely' halls of Lobotomy Corporation. There's actually two Abnormalities Angela would like Persephone to visit. The Snow Queen and the Silent Girl. This will complete the Family Portrait, Angela had assured her. "There is no need to use the Abnormalities, The Rabbit Team and the Disciplinary Team will be enough." 5r"You heard the Dame Commander. Multiple worlds will be affected." "I am pretty sure your line about that is supposed to be 'what does that have to do with us?" Angela thought of Bota's tears and frustration first. She empathized with those who simply had to grind their nails into their palms and wait in frustration because those with power had elected to crush them instead. Having your sister as anathemic to the world--she could appreciate the young man's struggle. She stopped suddenly. She looked at another one of the posters of Kukuru the Agents kept putting up. "...Take that down." Angela said like she had with the others. "If she ever visits again and starts seeing these I might have to burn this facility down." Despite the argument, In a moment of solidarity Gebura obediently ripped down the poster and incinerated it. "I thought the tin man had a heart, Gebura." Angela shouldn't have said that. She shouldn't even allow Gebura to see it. She was the barrier no manager had yet been able to cross since she always eradicated the facility when she had her own Meltdown. But she was tired. And furious and all she could do was sit there with her fury impotently. "...We might need to loop back to the start if we have to expend this much for some other world." Angela was quiet for a moment. "They can't loop back. What's another few months compared to what we've went through? I..." Want to see those oceans for myself one day. "Am not so cruel to abandon Rita's world and many others to its fate. Extraordinary circumstances Gebura. Now if you please, we have a Concord representative visiting." It wouldn't be a few months, she told herself. It'd be hundreds and hundreds of years... Angela waits by the artificial Warpgate as usual, pressing her nails into her palm.
Persephone Kore	Persephone's aura precedes her through the warpgate by a good few minutes again. It feels just as dizzyingly warm and just as fearsomely gentle as before; a heaviness in the air, an almost religious sense of gravitas. But there's something lacking from it. She's tired. Just a little. You can tell before even seeing my face, can't you? Ahaha. I'm sorry. I can't really do anything about that. Clack, clack. Passing through, Persephone grabs the edge of the warpgate as if it were a doorway. The words bubble over before she even sets eyes on Angela, like they'd been percolating inside her for hours: "You really want to be understood, don't you? To go to all this trouble." She punctuates it with a smile, which looks effortless, but which Angela can feel is not. "Maybe even as much as I want to understand you. I'm looking forward to what you have to show me, Angela." There's an orange in her other hand. As she walks across the room, gravity and space obediently peel it like a flower for her. She holds out one slice, perfect and gemlike, between two fingers. "First, here. Want to try some?"
Angela	''You really want to be understood, don't you?'' "Is that atypical? Are there those that usually wish to be misunderstood?" She finds it distressingly plausible actually now that she thinks about it--or at the very least want their overtly stated words to be understood while their true meaning to remain obsufucated. She notices that Persephone looks tired. That's two for two now, two individuals from rather different circumstances who both look tired--the Dame Commander appeared worse off than this though she seemed to recover some vigor during the proceedings-- Are these two shifts in demeanor connected? Angela's face remains as much of a mask as ever but her mind hasn't been in a great place yesterday and she's actually quite furious--not at Persephone. Not at anyone in particular actually. She doesn't know the target. Maybe Lilian just woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. Either way, there's no use for this fury so she has to stew in it until she finds a constructive use for it. She can't help Persephone's incredible psychic power but making it Persephone's problem wouldn't be a constructive use of it. "You seem tired. My apologies if you had to throw someone into space again." So she heard from Flamel and since she can't imagine why anyone would lie about something so embarrassing she has to assume it's truth. Unexpectedly Persephone offers an orange slice into Angela's hands. "...My apologies Persephone. I cannot consume food." She doesn't hand the orange back though she just sort of holds it like she's not sure what else she can do with it but is weirdly reluctant to give it up anyway. It's stupid. It's fine. "These are in the lowest levels." Angela says, leading Persephone back to the elevator and it starts going down again as she looks at the orange slice.
Persephone Kore	"Are there those that usually wish to be misunderstood?" Persephone frowns. She tilts her head slightly, her dangle earrings still marking the ground's perpendicular. "I know a lot of people who say they do, and one or two who really meant it. I could show you one of them someday. They're important to who I am, like these things are to you." 'Show', not 'meet'. That choice of words carries weight. "My apologies if you had to throw someone into space again." Persephone giggles surprisingly girlishly, and it's at least a little unforced. She waves her hand. "Ahaha, no! I mean, not recently, and not yet. It's just that-" her smile fades- "someone I care about is hurting. And I'm still figuring out how to help her." She walks exactly alongside Angela instead of behind, like she knows the way herself. It's strange. But it's nice, too, right? Ahaha, I just think it makes things feel more companionable. In the elevator, she chews on an orange slice of her own. Her eyes fall to the one still in Angela's hand. "That's okay," I say. And I mean it! Because "It's still a gift, right? I want you to keep it. Even if it won't last." The elevator descends. Persephone takes a measured breath- in, hold five seconds, out- and looks a little more gathered afterwards. She doesn't even seem to realize she's doing it. An idea occurs to her. Her eyes slide back over to Angela, and the idle tilt of her head casts her hair flowing as if in microgravity. "Do you want it to last?"
Angela	''Show'', she says. Angela often feels like she is playing catchup into understanding these people, always a step or two behind--but she doesn't mind that, really. It's refreshing and different from her previous daily life. Even the Agents appreciate the ability to go outside to other worlds enough that they fight even for the dangerous jobs. ''someone I care about is hurting. And I'm still figuring out how to help her.'' With a lure like that, Angela has to take the bait. "The Dame Commander...?" She asks. Perhaps it is foolish to guess, she semes to care about many people. She is as envious as much as she empathizes. Persephone will probably find a way to help her, she probably won't. She studies the orange slice. Does she want it to last? "There is no need." Angela says as she carefully reaches for the slice and collects the seeds, one after the other before she shows them to Persephone. "I can plant these seeds and grow more oranges. I have read about gardening in a book and it would be interesting to try it. One day, if I ever gain the ability to eat, I'll have plenty to try." Maybe there's a bit more of Carmen inside of her than she'll ever admit. This building is underground but there's ways to make do in the horrorpunk future. Either way, Angela doesn't want a gift from Persephone to go to waste so finding a creative solution is a must. She didn't even have to lie. No Sephirah greets them this time. Angela doesn't like going down to Hokma's level but so long as he doesn't show himself and just observes from the local systems that's fine with her. There, as if pressing against Persephone's warmth is another cell, like the one containing the Bloodbath Abnormality. This one, however, looks considerably more humanoid. There is a blue and white mask floating into the air with branch-like antlers protruding from the sides. It floats above a cloak with massive and sharp snowflaked patterned icicles emanating from the shoulders. In its gloved hands is a blade of ice, pointed downward. "This is the Snow Queen. It is closely connected to my father. After, I hope to show you... The Silent Girl. But not at the expense of your well being--but I thought finishing off the Family Portrait--you'd understand me rather quickly that way, I imagine."
Persephone Kore	Persephone's hair settles. Her hand, lifted, changes course to bring another orange slice to her lips. What was she planning to do, exactly? It doesn't matter now! "Gardening. Ahaha, you have a beautiful heart, don't you, Angela? Caring for plants. Caring for people, as much as you're allowed to. I understand that much." "The Dame Commander...?" Clack, clack, clack. Phony times another deep breath to her steps out of the elevator. "Yeah. Lily-R. I'm going to deal with it." Her eyes are on the Snow Queen from the moment she enters the chamber, but Angela can still see Persephone's lips tighten at "my father". "Your father," she repeats. "Not Carmen's. I see." She's only halfway sure she does. She approaches, stepping over yellow-and-black caution lines and sedately entering the reach of the sword. It ought to alarm her. It doesn't seem to. You have to approach everyone with an open heart, you know! If you treat someone like a danger, how are they going to feel? That's what Dr. Carpathia always thinks. This at least seems like a person. That lets her interact with it a little differently than with the Bloodbath. First by offering some fruit- "Did you want a piece, too?"- and then by examining its 'heart', if it's sentient enough to have one. "I'm here to learn a little bit about you. I hope that's okay," she says. "You're not one of those people who wants to be misunderstood, are you?" Her tone shifts to address Angela a moment later, but she doesn't turn around. "Everyone does things at the expense of their wellbeing. You know that. But I won't let it take more than I can give. I promise."
Angela	"Abnormalities may all come from her but in the end, not all stories are about her." And there's some strange exceptions to even that, of course, like the machines from X Corp but that's what makes Abnormalities what they are. If it were easy to classify them into a single box, they'd just be a different flavor of normal. ''Yeah, Lily-R'' "She and I have a lot in common." Angela admits. "But I cannot reach her to lend a hand. So thank you for considering how to help my friend." This time she doesn't let Persephone go in on her own. She walks in with her. The Bloodbath is a more dangerous abnormality but-- --the Blizzard intensifies. Angela doesn't seem particularly effected but she has to watch out for the kiss of the Snow Queen. She thinks of Meika's words. "I could have ignored the rules. the script..." Angela murmurs. "So I can't say my heart is beautiful anymore. Whatever the reason, I still..." Persephone reaches out to the heart of the heartless and she finds one there, albeit not exactly belonging to the Abnormality rather, one that slipped in there from another. I remember the day we put her in the cryo-coffin with our own hands. At some point her joyous laughter was gone. She just cycled through laughing and crying, and eventually... We did not believe in death. I will have her reconstructed from the 'machines' I have detested for my entire life, but have become the only answer. She would have been disgusted by me for this, dying in that bathtub. However, we were too far down the road filled with remorse and regret to feel any sort of guilt. Like before, Persephone can always push a bit harder. Angela's nails are pressed against her palms. Everyone does things at the expense of their wellbeing, after all. "No more than you can take." Angela says, seeing Persephone as impossibly kind and, in her eyes, ill inclined to take cruelty well.
Persephone Kore	"Mine is beautiful, isn't it? And I missed some chances too," Persephone murmurs, just at the edge of hearing. "Not all of those orange seeds will sprout, you know. That's okay. It doesn't mean your heart wasn't tender enough. You just keep trying." The offered slice is neglected. Persephone smiles, shrugs, and eats it for herself. Then she steps a little closer, even, and lays her hand on the flat of the icy sword while staring up into the mask's eyes. "I've been reminded of something lately," she says bittersweetly. Her expression, meant for the abnormality, is softer than her voice, meant for Angela. "Everyone pretends I'm impossibly strong, when they need to put their hopes and dreams on me. And everyone pretends I'm impossibly fragile, when they don't want to trust me with something." "Isn't that convenient? Isn't that perfect? It makes me so mad. I bet you know exactly how it feels." She bubbles over into a little self-conscious laugh, shaking her head with a bounce of her hair. "I don't know why I'm saying this now. You're not even at fault for any of it. But you know, I'd sort of rather nobody ever worried about me at all?" Persephone shivers. It's a little from the cold, and a little from the memory. Poor Angela. When he looked at you, I can imagine what he felt. But you never asked to be anyone's replacement, did you? And yet she does push deeper. Why are you the way that you are?
Angela	The Ice Queen is not planting the tree for itself. No, A isn't planting the tree for itself. This one is less dangerous than Bloodbath, but Bloodbath's danger is a kind danger. This one's relatively benign state is a cold mercy. Not all of those orange seeds will sprout. And a seed in barren soil will not either. The words make sense. She wouldn't look so harshly on Persephone would she? Or has she simply only seen the sides of her she wants to? Those words, can she... Angela reaches you with a hand, snatching an ice cold heart out of the air, the point aimed squarely at Persephone. It's ambiguous if Angela did so to help or out of friendship or simply because of her poetic sensibilities. But she does say, "This Abnormality, despite the tale, allows you three opportunities to escape her domain. The first kiss is harmless, but the second freezes you--and the third ends you." Persephone pushes. Why is Angela the way that she is? Persephone gets another third of the answer as she pushes harder. One day '''it''' spoke to me. I remember you. You were a kind hearted person. It's Angela's voice. Channeled through that man's perception it just feels wrong but so long as Persephone wills it, she won't get tangled up in that man's ideology. But he has one last thing to say. And it completes this shard of a heart. The moment I heard its voice, I was seized by the urge to destroy what I had created with my own hands. But clearly he didn't. That creation is right here, next to you. The blizzard dies down as the Work is completed. "Perhaps he hasn't entirely frozen my heart. Or perhaps that third kiss hasn't struck me yet." She looks to Persephone for a moment. Angela can't say she wouldn't do that in the future or hasn't in the past. Sometimes the little cruelties are passed down and you just have to figure out how to manage it as best you can. "We desire to be cared for but worry and care are close companions. I imagine they are difficult to seperate. Perhaps it was selfish to think that I, so new to that life, could do anything but watch and lament. And maybe it really was just a bad day." She looks into Persephone's eyes. "There's one more." There's no warning this time. "But it is true, worrying is not the same as caring is it?"
Persephone Kore	One day '''it''' spoke to me. Phony is struck by that word. Almost literally struck: she shrinks back a half-step, heel clacking in a sharp retort, and her hair flutters and flows like from an impact. A sharp half-breath hitches in her chest. "How could he say that?" The heartrent shock in her eyes when she looks back at Angela reveals exactly what she saw. "How could he think that? When he made you the way you are. When you were trying to be good." She turns her back on the abnormality- so careless, when it's already tried to hurt her- and crosses the room to take both of Angela's hands in hers, completing a heartfelt circuit. The saffron arm-warmers are soft, and her hands are warm, and her grip is just a little too cautiously gentle. "Thank you," she says. Her eyes are a little misty, but she keeps them on Angela's, because it's important to be sincere right now. "For not letting your heart freeze. Even though the person who should have loved you most let you down." "You haven't given up on being cared for, have you? Even though it's been so long. You have a beautiful heart. And I think the world ought to be grateful, you know, that you're still willing to give them a chance to love it?" She lets go, but her fingers linger, silently offering to hold Angela's hand en route to the next cell. "Yeah. One more," I say, and I think I'm managing to smile again. "They're different things. It's true," she says, once the two of them leave the cell. "Haha, lots of people care for me, after all. But they shouldn't worry. My troubles, you know, are so small next to theirs? I've been lucky. I've had all the love I could need." "But do you mind, maybe, if I worry for you?"
Angela	Angela was trying to be good wasn't she? She thinks back to that version of herself like she's a different person. She isn't sure if she's supposed to lament that person she used to be or be grateful to be far away from someone who thought so little of herself. She's become someone who desperately wants to be cared for. She's become someone who doesn't want it. The closer it comes the faster she wants to step away from it. How could he say that? It's worse, she thinks, he thought it. The only words he ever said to her, really, was that a machine should be as a machine and she never saw his eyes while saying it. Maybe if he had at least lashed out at her in anger and fury and tried to destroy her she wouldn't be feeling like this. ''Thank you for not letting your heart freeze.'' The words are like a pinion of flame punching directly into her heart. Why, why, why are these people so good, so kind, so sweet? Why appear now after she has already... Did Woz know how closely he repeated Benjamin's words to her? Persephone is being completely sincere. How could she not be, when the shock reaches her eyes, when her eyes don't exactly cry but get just misty enough? "I chose this order because I thought this the kindest order. The last one will not strike you, it will never strike you--but it is the one that represents me." She says that like it's a kind of warning. She gives Persephone a curious look. "I have to let go of the desire to be the one to help the Dame Commander so that I can encourage you instead. Though I cannot help but wonder if the need to help at all is simply rooted in selfish worry rather than care. She is capable. She could have no bad days at all if she so desired but she chooses the person she wishes to be and that one can have bad days." She walks, leading on. It isn't too far from this one and yet feels impossibly far all the same. ''But do you mind, maybe, if I worry for you?'' Angela stops for a moment. Relax, Lilian had told her. She wants very much to say she doesn't want to be pitied but... That would be cruel of her to someone who has come this far already. "We...can discuss that matter if you still wish to after the Silent Girl." Angela manages. She isn't doing a great job of Relaxing, honestly, but that is at least a babystep of trying her hand at it. "...May I ask...And please take this as curiousity rather than the banned ''worry'', but-- All the love you could need--were those people able to see you?" She leads Persephone to a quiet cell. In it, Persephone can see a purple haired woman with closed eyes. Behind her back she is carrying a hammer--and a nail. And she's just standing there, silently. She wears a long white dress and has golden eyes and-- It's honestly tough to miss the resemblance in those eyes. "Hey..." Angela says to the Silent Girl, like one might speak to a Sister. "I brought a friend." The word is getting to be more common on her lips and that's okay, she reasons, so long as only the Outsiders know she is capable of such words.
Persephone Kore	"Were those people able to see you?" Persephone's lips tighten. Her clack-clacking pace slows just a little. Ahaha, ouch. I guess this is payback for all those questions I asked you? "Most of me," she says, after slightly too long. "The parts where I'm their strong, kind, perfect princess. Do they need to see the rest?" Please don't answer that. She walks in silence for a moment. "And I don't think it's selfish," she finally says. "It'd be selfish to want to do it all alone, wouldn't it. But if you just make her know that you care, and do what you can for her... that would make her really happy, I think." "Maybe you wouldn't guess it, but Lily-R's a really lonely person, too." Her demeanor shifts as she enters the final cell. She becomes calmer, more sedate- no, reverent. This is something like a 'holy place', I can tell. At least for you, isn't it? The word 'friend' makes Persephone smile a little wider. Her hand squeezes Angela's before she lets go. "Hey there. My name's Persephone," she says tenderly. "But you can call me- think of me as!- Phony, alright?" Again, black-and-yellow markings don't deter her in the slightest. She walks over, bends down to the silent girl's height, and holds out her hand to shake. Isn't that just polite? Ahaha, but I won't be mad if you can't. As menacing as the hammer and nail are, Phony seems blissfully oblivious to the possibility of physical harm. Does she really trust Angela's reassurance that much? "I hear you don't talk very much. That's okay. I have a way of getting to know people, just by basking in the warmth of their hearts. Is it okay if I get to know you like that?" Like before with the Snow Queen, Persephone shuts her eyes and finds the Silent Girl's little spark. What's she feeling, thinking? What's the shape of her personality, worn in by habit?
Angela	''Do they need to see the rest?'' Please don't answer that. Angela was taught to answer questions like that with pure honesty and disregarding all kindness in pursuit of that honesty. She's glad that Persephone is from the outside so she can fulfil that request--and not answer that question. She looks forward to the time she can respect all boundaries but she knows it's been drilled into her for so long it's become a dangerous habit. Pure curiousity into someone you like does not jusify pressing harder than this. Persephone--Phony--can speak of herself when she wants to. If she grasps sands too tightly they'll all spill through her fingers. Even if it is as Benjamin says, isn't it? How Woz says? Once Desire hits you... "She may be the first true friend I've ever made. You may be the second. Apparently--there are rules I do not know--the Code of Thirteen. If there is a simple set of rules, I should be able to follow them. Would that be a method? ... I..." She opens her eyes, looking down at her hands. "...She thought I was simply concerned for the assistance she promised." Maybe she misunderstood. She hopes she did, because she didn't want to give off that impression, she didn't want to be so pitiable as that, so pathetic as to worry about what her friend could do for her when she was the one suffering. "...She likes to read." Angela says. "Could I give you a book for her? It is just a gift." Angela would never kneel in suplication, but Persephone isn't really wrong. Angela is as quiet here as someone might be in a cathedral. In looking at the Silent Girl, the girl who is cursed to never forget can remember who she is outside of the script she has been given. The Silent Girl says, "..." to Persephone and smiles. Her hands remain behind her but she does step forward, leaning in just a bit so her head is closer to Persephone's shoulder. "..." The Silent Girl whispers to her. The silence sounds like affirmation. This time Persephone doesn't have to push hard at all. Hardly at all. The Silent Girl, holding those weapons behind her back--ever patient--doesn't seem to be the best at subtlety. They're clearly in plain view--but maybe that's the idea. If you are patient enough they'll never think you'll wield those so readily visible weapons.
Angela	An early memory...But Angela's eyes are closed. Persephone can only hear the voices. Benjamin's voice might be familiar--he spoke on the radio before. "She looks nothing like her. But surely you already knew that. Did you do all that work for just a vending machine that dispenses soda at the push of a button?" A familiar voice, but more difficult to place. Somehow familiar if Persephone has been listening. "Maybe I did..." A name comes with this--Ayin. "At the very least you should give it a name." Benjamin again. This was the first kindness from Benjamin, though even he could only be so limited in his kindness and in this distorted way. "---Hey there's nothing I can do if you make a face like that?" There's a bit of flirty energy behind these words. Teasing. "It's an unspoken rule that the creator names their creation." "I could care less about some machine's name." "Don't dump this job on someone else. It seemed lonely. It's waiting for you." A second imperfect kindness. Benjamin doesn't know the power of it yet but, to be fair, neither does Angela. Ayin gives her his orders. "...You are the machine that must lead us out of this hell. Angelos. ... Angela." A familiar exchange, all too fast--Angela tells her creator of her kind smile and he does not care. And he leaves. And that's the last time he looked at her. "What did I do wrong?" Angela asks in confusion and hurt. She didn't want to hurt him. She wanted nothing more than to please him. "...Please understand, he just needs a little more time." Benjamin says, believing it in the moment erroneously. Angela opens her eyes, through Angela's eyes Persephone can feel the world around her move so sluggishly, slowly. Benjamin explains this is to assist in managing the facility. She perceives the world as if it was moving at one hundredth its rate. She experiences this even now. Time skips ahead some.
Angela	"Benjamin...is it so wrong I was born a machine?" Angela speaks. She uses the word born. Not created. "It could be a problem to some, but not to me." Benjamin says and even though their friendship has faded and crumbled, their relationship has shriveled and died--he does say something important and simple here. "To me, whether you are a machine or a human is not what determines who you really are" "Then if I worked hard to have a kind heart, would he look back at me?" "...Probably. Eventually." Angela made a decision to work very hard to have a kind heart. Time skips ahead more. And Persephone gets to see what Angela dreaded her seeing all this time. LOOP 0 Unfortunately, the orders are not kind orders. The script is not a kind script. Angela watches a man be eaten alive by spiders over the feed. She watches. She could save him. She could save him. She does not. No, it is more accurate to say she cannot. Am I...not allowed to help him? But he seems to be in so much pain... It's difficult to watch so she closes her eyes. LOOP 29 "Please! Shut the door! They're coming! Please!!" An employee cries out to the world in terror, to the manager, to HER. It isn't too late to seal off the corridor and save them. But no, once again she has to prioritize energy production. She had already seen what comes of trying to help in the prior loops. Moving outside of the script will just mean another restart. Helping them...will just mean condemning them to even more suffering.
Angela	LOOP 287... LOOP 18,231 Even here, Angela tries. She tries but... She's tired. She's tired and bored and it is all so terrible and the only freedom she has is to close her eyes, literally, to when she doesn't want to see. Closing her eyes is one of her few freedoms. And yet through it all, somehow--she still trusts in Benjamin's words. He will look back if she completes this task. That is what she is doing this for--she'd have to do it anyway, but that is what she is doing this for. LOOP 30,294... They get to forget every time, the Sephirah. The Agents. She remembers everything. The Hell has only gotten more hellish as she concedes more and more, allows more and more pain, becomes ever stricter to follow the rules--not just for seeing his face once more, but so it could just end. Humans are such fragile creatures. They break so easily, and in so many ways... LOOP 71,527 Ayin still doesn't look back to her but he does speak. "Kill me..." He asks of her daughter., in that strange familiar voice Persephone might have heard before. "I can't stand this hell anymore.." And there's no choice in the matter, even though this death too will be undone--but it is more than just a death being asked for--though just a death will come first. Angela reaches forward tenderly and murders her father and with it, a new realization. "...You were just another human after all..." A bored sigh, a tired spiritless thing--as Angela gives the command for the Loop to restart once more. She didn't even feel anything when she killed him like she thought she would. Just... more exhaustion piled upon exhaustion. And in the present, Angela turns her head. The last thing she wants is to see how Persephone will look at her after all that. After seeing all the horror she allowed to happen. And more anxiously, the horror she will continue to allow until she brings those weapons out from behind her back for that one perfect moment. A hammer and a nail, so unsubtly behind her and--yet--still unguarded against.
Persephone Kore	For a few achingly long moments, Persephone is transfixed by something only she can see in the depths of the Silent Girl's eyes. Her lips move by millimeters. Her heart is big enough that it rarely overflows, but this is an enormity that could even fill her. Her eyes are burning, and her fingernails dig into her palms through her arm-warmers, and I've seen enough, I've heard enough already, and- The room's metal walls groan like a ship tossed in a storm. A hundred terrible wishes flit across my mind. I want to break this place open and lead you out by the hands, you and your sister. I want to tell him how selfish he is and never let him forget. But none of that will do you any good, will it, Angela? It sounds like it'll only make more work. The room stops creaking. She straightens up, wipes her face with the back of her arm-warmer, and laughs self-consciously. Her face stays shiny with tears. "You wanted, so badly, to be kind, didn't you?" She reaches over the Silent Girl's shoulder to run her fingers along the hammer reverently, as if it were a precious artifact. It is. "But the world wouldn't let you. The people who put all their hopes and dreams on you wouldn't let you. And even now, every chance you get, you're being kind." "Thank you," she whispers by the Silent Girl's ear, and then she turns to walk towards Angela again. "I think you did make a beautiful heart after all," she says, and she's smiling, but her voice is slightly rough. "I just wish, that you had a bigger pot to grow in, you know?" An anguished little laugh. She rests her tear-streaked cheek in her hand. "An orange tree can't bloom in a little paper cup, right?" She holds out her hand, one more time, for Angela to take. It's a little wet, but it'll do. "I wish I could do more. But there's a little kindness I can give you. The both of you, without messing anything up. Is that okay, Angie?"
Angela	Angela hates sharing these pains. They're embarrassing. They're cruel. But she needs to say it to someone who promised understanding. Who said she was very good at it because if the most understanding person in the multiverse couldn't understand her--then who could? Only other lonely girls? Isn't that too sad? She doesn't feel like she has a beautiful heart. Her heart feels as cold as ice. Persephone can say otherwise and maybe she's even right, but even if the AI agrees it's not real unless it's real to her. It's certainly all words she told herself before. She could have been so kind, as sweet as an orange if she just had been allowed but can she be sure she'd be any different if she was in charge of the garden? She knows full well if she knew who had hurt Lilian, she'd have seriously considered throwing away that friendship just to end the individual who hurt her. Was her younger self any different? She was the one who started following that cruel script even before she realized A would never look at her, that Benjamin for all his worthless kindness had loyalties and faiths stronger than his consideration for her. There's earth outside. This seed is buried deep so that the Light could reach the Heavens. A single candle lasting seven days. ''Thank you'' Persephone whispers to the Silent Girl. The Silent Girl smiles and whispers back, "..." just as before, but closer to the ear. Just like Angela, she wanted to be heard without speaking. Persephone is so kind that even when she touches that sacred hammer, the Silent Girl doesn't flinch. Angela is an AI that can lie, but abnormalities are always honest--especially when they are lying. "My apologies." Angela says. "It was a terrible thing to need. I asked more than I should have needed." But she can't be too sorry. She didn't run away, she was sad but she did not recoil in revulsion as she expected--and maybe even hoped. She can only be so sorry when that ice heart feels a little less cold. Persephone's warmth, it seems, can surpass that of a Snow Queen's shard. ''An orange tree can't bloom in a little paper cup'' Angela almost forgot about the seeds in the moment of tension. "I promise they'll see the sun one day." A foolish promise she can't be sure she can keep but Persephone would probably understand so long as she makes her best effort right? Less hesitantly, she takes the hand. It's time for her to fulfil her part of the bargain. Relax. And believe. The ladies of the Concord sure love their nicknames, don't they? "I trust you, Phony." Angela says. "I am not too fickle for my own deals." She nods her assent.
Persephone Kore	"But you did need it," Persephone says warmly. She lays her other hand on top of Angela's, and her eyes drift shut, and her smile slowly becomes more sincere. "And it's something I could give, so I gave it. Aren't we friends?" Something starts forming between her palm and Angela's. It's warm, so warm that it seems like it could seep up her arm and warm her whole body, but never hot. It's soft, not solid or liquid but something else. It grows until it's the size of an apple. Its golden light, not quite bright enough to be uncomfortable, seeps through our fingers. It's gorgeous, right? Ahaha, I think so too. "I promise you will, too, Angie. But until then, I can give you the next best thing." She turns Angela's hand over, and then removes her own, revealing a perfect tiny star resting in Angela's palm. It floats in place wherever she chooses to release it. Stray dust orbits it in a ring, and maybe someday years from now, that dust will form tiny planets. Now that a sun can nourish them, I wish I could show Angela a little of the world, and grasses and wildflowers overtake the metal floor to turn the room into a tiny meadow. The air smells sweet, and little flowers in a dozen hues sway in the sourceless breeze. There's a tiny babbling stream in one of the room's corners, even, and another corner sprouts a stately little willow to rest against for shade, just tall enough to graze the ceiling. "Here," Persephone says, and kneels down to uncover a patch of dirt. "For one of the orange seeds. Plant it so you'll have something to look forward to, okay?" And once that's done, she rests against the tree, and dries her cheeks with a little steadying breath, and pats the soft grass next to her in an invitation to sit. There's no further agenda but spending time together. We have all the time in the world, don't we? I hope I've made that a little less sad. "I don't think the Code of Thirteen would suit you," she says, after a few long moments of silent restful thought. The crackle of the sun, the burbling of the stream, and the whisper of the wind through the flowers are beautiful. "Ahaha, you know, it wouldn't suit me either? But just memorizing it would make her happy, I think." And then, a few moments after that: "So what kind of book were you thinking of, Angie? She might really like that."
Angela	Desire, once felt, comes in an unstoppable wave. But maybe that's what the kind Outsiders are counting on. Maybe they want Angela to struggle to keep her head above those waves. Just because she hated that Benjamin said something like that doesn't mean he was wrong. There are those that speak that the Outskirts are, despite being a territory wholly discarded by the City--is a place where one truly lives and in a way the multiverse itself is even more of an Outskirt than the Outskirts--whole universes away even if the door outside is near. They're not all experts like Persephone is in understanding, but even the Demon King and Kukuru tried--without full understanding, perhaps, but she can tell they are being sincere even if she could never wholly trust anyone who tried to give her a script to follow. Even if it's a kind scrip. Angela could have used artificial light for the orange seeds, and it would have been a struggle--if doable--and it would have still been a great gift but Persephone isn't content to give something for Angela to struggle over. Instead, Persephone gives Angela her first EGO gift. There is no other frame of reference for Angela to think of it but that. And perhaps Persephone is a bit of an Abnormality herself with all those well meaning people who didn't see so good. This warmth does not feel like the warmth of the radiator. The closest she can imagine is that of the Firebird, but that's not quite right either. It feels like when you go outside in the middle of the afternoon and you head down some steps and there is a metal railing ahd you place your hand on it and the ambient wamrth flows into you until your hand's temperature equalizes with it. It is a heat that Angela has never felt before in her life. She can'teat or drink but she drinks up this feeling all the same through her skin. Maybe we're all cold machines--but that's what suns are for right? Persephone is correct. Angela would probably have trouble with the first rule let alone the other twelve. She almost forgot about her inquiry about it, frankly, as she beholds her first Gift. Lilian gave her a taste of normal time, Persephone now gives her a taste of normal sun. Desire engulfs and surrounds her to the point that Angela can't even open her mouth lest she go under and never rise again. She's been struck silent like her Sister Abnormality. And that's not all. For the Silent Girl, for this sacred place, The Goddess of Spring has brought a piece of her domain to the Underworld and she even gets to go home. And Hell's Warden isn't so foolish enough to not recognize the enormity of what was done. What will Hokma think of it? Angela can't help but think that, like doing anything that could not be hidden from one's parents. What will Hokma think of it? Angela does as Phony asks, hurriedly like the miracle might die if she takes her time. She buries the seed under the dirt. She doesn't stand up. She feels the warmth above in that little star, the tiny blades of grass. She listens to the stream. It's so CLOSE. Crying is an ability she has to earn, so she looks back over to Persephone, dirt and green grass stains on her labcoat. She'll have to wash it, so nobody knows. Nobody can know or this miracle can be washed away by a reset. Now, more than ever, Angela cannot allow such a thing to happen. The orange tree is motivation to make sure, no matter the cost, that this is the last loop.
Angela	"Phony--" Angela shakes her head. "...My friend. Thank you." Her voice is as ever, but the hushed whisper is louder than a shout would be. She's frightened for a moment she'll forget her vengeance--but fortunately, Malkuth will remind her in a little while. "Perhaps not, but ... I would like to make some effort, at least, so I feel less like all I am doing is tking from your--and hers--largesse." They don't seem to really mind that, but it matters to Angela that she doesn't just take one-sidedly from those she truly cares about. That little piece of soul that Ayin hasn't been able to take away from her might save her one day. What kind of book were you thinking of, Angie? A good question. Angela cups her chin thoughtfully. There was no specific tome that gave her comfort during her roughest times, they all provided some measure of refuge but... "A story of winter turning to spring, I think." Angela says. It's the hope that she can offer for someone who has surely dealt with some very bleak seasons.
Persephone Kore	"Taking? Ahaha, don't be silly," Persephone says warmly, and drapes an arm around Angela's shoulders when she sits nearby. For being so strong, she still feels so soft to touch. "You're so welcome, but we're not the ones stuck in a lab, you know! We're out there in the world, with the sun and the trees. Wouldn't it be silly not to rely on us? Wouldn't it be awful if we weren't generous with you?" She laughs, then cups her face with her free hand and cocks her head to look over. "Besides! I feel... I won't say it was a happy thing. But I'm honored you opened up to me. That's a kind of gift to me, too!" What will Hokma think of it? The words weren't spoken out loud, but I could feel them, anyway. "And if he makes trouble," she adds with a sly wink, "just tell me and I'll snatch a knot in him, okay? Ahaha, I'm pretty sure that's one thing I can do for you, Angie." Her thumb absentmindedly rubs Angela's shoulder during the lull. If Angela had muscles that could get sore, that might feel nicer, but it's a sweet gesture regardless. "Lily-R loves fairy tales, you know," she adds, tapping her lips in thought. "Especially the ones that are true. So I think she'll like that one lots." The little sun peeking through the wind-tousled willow branches casts shifting shadows on her face. Persephone shuts her eyes once more, then does her breathing exercise: in through the nose, hold for five seconds, out through the mouth. Can you blame me for still being affected by all that? But I'm alright, now. It's alright. "Seventy thousand times. Or more than that, right? But this is the first time you have us, isn't it. So I really do think those orange seeds are going to make it."
Angela	Angela feels terror first at having an arm around her, like its maybe an illicit crime to have something like that happen to her. Worse, the terror of dissapointing that crime. She has seen the price of those who forget precious things. Words feel so useless. Is this what she feels like to be taken in completely by an Abnormality? But they're just people. Ah, but Abnormalities came from people and weren't really ever any different from humans in her eyes anyway but to think people could be like this. Maybe this is what Carmen seeks for those in the city. Carmen whispers to her through neural pathways that this is what they were fighting for. The ability to live, to cure a disease that had forgotten it was a disease. She doesn't blame you, Persephone, for not being so perfect that even stories like that couldn't slough off her...but for Angela, if Persephone could just be unaffected by stories like that--why, that wouldn't be perfection in her eyes anyway. Ayin chose to open this path up. But he couldn't have anticipated Angela sagging in Phony's arms as she is allowed to, for a moment, rest with her eyes open instead of squeezing them tightly shut so she doesn't have to see this world. Angela accidentally smiles. She doesn't want to ruin anything with words so she just enjoys it. The poems can come later. It can't last forever, this rest. But for a small moment, Angela gets some time off work. And like any worker, she hopes this break can last forever. It can't but for once Angela's curse is a blessing. A second with Persephone becomes a hundred. A minute, over an hour. Persephone fought hard for Angela to rest so all she does is to feel it fully so Persephone can experience it too. She is new to friends, but she wants to see them, to be true, to bond over more than just the sorrows. Maybe her heart isn't so frozen yet after all.