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Kale Hearthward Kale's been talking about going to check in on Nico for a while. Today seems to be the day for it.

It's been a long time since this whole chain of events kicked off, really. The Infinity Train (not actually literally infinite, but still immeasurably long) had been kidnapping people and subjecting them to what was described as Forced Puzzle Therapy' against their will. That turned out to be masterminded by the being known as Lance, whose smothering desire for everyone's safety and well-being lead them into a trap that they had to fight their way out of.

Events from that lead into the Forces of Assorted being invited to the Balan Theatre, where they were treated' to the opportunity to build their own Stage (capitalization intended) - a sort of semi-holodeck where they could construct a placid courtyard, a gauntlet-like tower, and a crown' holding their personal treasured space.

Shortly after that, the group got pulled into helping Balan with a difficult client - a giant cat that turned into a computer, inside of which was a dying reality that wasn't real, a lightbulb that was also the sun, and a second smaller cat (who was not actually a cat but was real).

Nico, the not-cat trapped inside the computer, was rescued and freed to return to their home, the fake world inside the computer was saved, and the computer (named World Machine) (who turned into a third small not-cat) was left to recover in Wonderworld.

And that, was that. For the time being.

... All of that is important to know. And yet, it is not important to know. It is the inherent contradiction of a story that builds upon itself as a grand continuous series of events, but also presents itself as a fresh starting point for any new adventurer eager to jump in.

Two contradictory things can be true at once. That is the second absolute truth.

- - -

Earlier this week, everyone here would have received a message from Kale Hearthward. It concerned two topics.

The first being: A trip to visit Nico in his home village, as well as to visit World Machine, and check in on them. The group visit is expected and preapproved by the village, they aren't just dropping in unannounced.

The second being: An expedition. To a neighborhood whose inhabitants live forever. The Everhood'. (No further information provided at this time.)

Both events happening roughly at the same time and the same place(?), at a less-populated point out in Spring. Uncharitably, you could call it the sticks. More charitably, it's rural farming communities out here, and the closest warpgate is in what can only very charitably called a town'.

"Right," says Kale, as the majority of people assemble. "We've got Nico's village back..." he thumbs over his shoulder. "About an hour's travel southwest. That-a-way. I've got my ship ready for anyone who needs a ride."

There's a small Sundew-style airship parked near the warpgate, with Kale's crew waiting nearby. It's large enough to seat the expected dozen or so people comfortably, with room to stow gear and equipment - but not much in the way of amentities or features beyond that. It's a far cry from the East Wind, which had hammerspace and personal cabins and a full-service breakfast restaurant onboard.

"... That said, I know not everyone here was at the OneShot' incident and knows who Nico is, or if you don't feel the need to check in on them - if you'd like, we can get a head start on opening up the path to the Everhood, based on the intel I got. The entrance isss..."

He looks over in a different direction. "Not exactly a set place. We'll need to perform a ritual under certain conditions, and fortunately there's a suitable spot not far from here."

"I've already stopped to check in on Nico, so I'm good going either way."

A path split! (Or everyone can just go visit Nico before anything else.)
Aidan Proudpick You don't know how much you miss flying until you can't do it anymore. Being able to soar up across the clouds, being able to just be away from problems AND see new things. Where nothing is a concern. Just, feeling everything move around you. So, Aidan is eager to be on the airship. If he can sit on the prow and just look out, ignoring the ship behind him, he can almost feel like he's the one soaring. Sadly, Aidan has not seen any movies about boats sinking.

Aidan is equipped in his general 'go out on adventure' gear. A sturdy flannel shirt, sturdy jeans, both too short for Aidan as thrift stores never have clothes in Tall sizes. A side bag with a few things. Rations, small knife, flashlight, medical supplies. Everyone gets an eager wave as he comes in, not bothering to sort people by who should be lacking one. 'I can't wait to see this place!" Even if every OTHER place like this has been during a time when Aidan has completely cracked and crumbled into powder. This one will be different. Surely.

Despite not having formed a close bond with Nico, Aidan grins, "Let's all go. I bet they'll be excited to see everyone happy to see them."
Madeleine Cadrasteia     Madeleine arrived a little early, and was waiting at a bus stop (the nearest available seating) when Kale's ship got here. Something's got her antsy to get a move on, and it's not meeting some 'Nico' she's barely heard of before. "I don't care one way or another about the cat," she opines, "so if y'all are going there first I can find like, a Starbucks or something. If this town *has* a Starbucks. Whatever. Just don't forget about me on your way to this 'Everhood' place." She's clearly itching to meet a community of immortals.
Ishirou Ishirou is here today.  His outfit consists of a lightweight black sweater, with the fringes of what seems to be a plain white shirt beneath it. It's the comfortable ensemble that one could wear around the house, tidied up into something more professional by the lower half - a pair of relaxed-fit pants in dark gray, belted and finished off by a pair of black, casual-lean dress boots.

Arriving at the warp gate, he waves at Kale and listens to the split decision.  He opts to meet with Nico first, having had a chance to get to know them, and wanting to expand that chance to form a lasting friendship.  However, when Aidan wants to go meet them he waivers for a second, not wanting his bad influence on them.  He pauses and decides to let it go.  

After all, Petra is a friend of theirs too, and he knows she'll try to avoid anything awful around Nico, and will likely keep Aidan in line.  With a sigh, he gets on the ship ride from Kale, ready to meet Nico in person.  He frowns at Madeleine, speaking up to her.  "They're not a cat, they're a person."
Futaba Nuki After so long of not seeing Nico, it doesn't take much convincing for Futaba to join Kale and company in checking in on the cat-esque child. She's been a little antsy about how they're doing since the last time, after all, and she even shows up early at Spring with a fully charged phone to while away the time.

"That's not too far from here. I can hoof it, although if anyone needs a ride..." Futaba starts, considering Kale's offer to get on the ship more closely. "Never did try riding on the outside of an airship before.. Think I could make it the whole way without fallin' off the top?" She asks Kale with a mischievous grin that suggests she's definitely going to try holding her balance atop the flying vehicle.

Later, anyway, once it's time to fly. "I'm donw to visit Nico! It's been way too long, and I've got something I wanna give 'em when we get there." As she says that, Futaba takes a rather innocuous looking box out of her pouch. It doesn't look like it's taped or anything, though, or even wrapped up like a gift box should be. "Never did get to show off all my ninja stuff, so... I wanna surprise the kid, mhm!"
Sarracenia      Sarracenia had also been curious about Nico and World Machine. She was looking forward to seeing both, but she felt a bit more kinship with World Machine since it seemed had been trapped and basically alone for quite a while before it met Nico.

     The princess arrives in her usual red royal gown with her burgundy red metal lotus in her hair and forearm length rose gold metallic gloves. She offers a courteous curtsey to Kale. "Hello Kale."

     When she sees an airship in her kingdom's style she eyes it with some interest. "Oh! Did our shipyard finish the substitute for your lost ship already? I did not realize we had received the plans already." she says with a proud smile as she heads toward it. She won't be stubborn about riding in Kale's airship this time. Since, you know, it is basically one of her airships.

     When she sees Aidan aboard she offers a wave and a smile to him as well. "Aidan~ It is good to see you!" she says, moving to join him. "How are you? It seems as though we have not talked in months!"

     Ishirou being here dampens her smile. As does his comment. "One can be a cat and a person, you know." she says. Futaba joining them brings it back though. How can you be grumpy around a cute tanuki? "Hello Futaba~" she calls out, offering a friendly wave.
Xion Xion being invited directly by Kale had been a slight surprise, the noirette Nobody having no strong reason to expect Kale to be up to foul play.

Or, at least, no strong reason to think Kale was going to use the rather pointed invitation as a pretense to jump her for a duel. It was *possible*, but not likely. Kale had been working on himself!

So Xion appeared at the gathering point climbing out of a black spot of ink in belted black jeans, checkered Converse, black cloth tank top and leather motorcycle-style jacket over top. While there's plenty of spots for studs or spikes, there's only empty silver rings across belt and jacket.

Spinning a keychain around index and middle finger with her left hand and holding her phone in her right, Xion catches her spun keychain and slicks back her hair on arrival, a few antenna getting away but the rest obeying the slight gelling effect of the post-Corridor ectoplasm.

"Oh, not only were you serious, but there's a party!" Xion observes pleasantly, tucking phone away into jacket pocket and flashing a thin smile at Madeleine.

"I think we can find a better cup of coffee than *Starbucks* if we looked. And if it's a door you need opened, well..."

Xion hadn't made it to any of the previous gatherings, and was somewhat certain she was asked for because of her XL Key of Opening for the 'ritual'. Coffee with Madeline sounded nice!
Calvin Nash EARLIER THIS WEEK

    Calvin reads the message aloud from the bulky portable computer on his wrist, one thumb hooked through the beltloops of his uniform, a blank expression on his face. It's his go-to posture for looking like he knows more than he actually does.

    His light truck cools down behind him, engine tick-tick-ticking over a backdrop of crickets and tree frogs emerging in the early evening.

    A green-skinned figure, half humanoid, half scorpion, listens, standing beside Calvin in the shade of a moss-draped wax myrtle with his human hands clasped politely before his chitinous, legged abdomen. Pinprick white lantern eyes peer from shadowy sockets, shifting towards Calvin in a quiet 'are you getting all this' that goes unanswered.

    "...the Everhood," reads Calvin, adjusting his hat a tick backwards, as a slain zombie dissipates into its constituent emotional energy, returning formlessly to the realm from which it came. "Sounds a little familiar. Reckon it'd a good way to dip a toe into this other-world business. Let's head back into town and let the Director know. Give 'er time to find a fill-in."

NOW

    Kale gets a firm handshake from Calvin, who is here (apparently) sans any demon partners, having arrived in a white pickup (more on that in a moment). The door 'whumps' closed and he strides up to Kale. "Glad to meetcha, Mr. Hearthward." For a newbie, he's pretty unsurprised by Kale's bird-ness. "It's Calvin. Calvin Nash--we talked a little on the radio not too long ago."

    Little greetings are given to the people he'd met previously; introductions follow for the people he hasn't yet, complete with hearty handshakes from the callused hands at the end of his thick arms, eyebrows raising above the frames of his aviator sunglasses.

I've got my ship ready for anyone who needs a ride.

    "No need, here," says Calvin with a touch of pride, slapping the hood of his truck. It's a 90s-era light pickup painted in matte white. The doors bear livery: an inverted pentacle, reading 'SOUTHEAST ASSEMBLY' across the top and 'DEMON MARSHAL' across the bottom. A dull metal roll bar behind the cab sports two spotlights.

    "I'll follow y'all down to meet Nico, make an introduction, chitchat, and take off for the Everhood soon as when you're ready." He'd left the truck idling with the window down--getting moving is just a simple matter of hopping back into the driver's seat and taking it out of park. The right hand guides the wheel, the left rests casually out the door to feel the breeze.
Petra Soroka     Petra receives a letter from Kale Hearthward!

    Well, rather, Lobotomy Corporation does, and Petra's pretty sure Kale doesn't even know her apartment's address in the first place. She hasn't gone back home to check whether she received one too, but after a week on the Etrurian Sea with Roy's army, she has enough work to catch up on that she barely even left the facility since. And honestly, how dare Kale, if he didn't send her one too? Petra gets mad just thinking about it, this situation that she made up in her head.

    Sitting on the edge of Angela's desk in her office, kicking her feet, Petra reads the letter out loud to the two people who've been with her throughout the whole arc. After the situation with Yuri, dragging Cinder into Angela's office might seem a little poorly-considered, but Petra reasons to herself that she'd rather fight an Arbiter than force herself to consider that possibility.

    "So that's that. I guess I'm a little bit impressed that Kale actually thought of *asking* Niko's parents whether it's okay to visit, rather than just dropping in on her, but that sort of feels like being proud of a dog for doing addition." Petra stares at the letter for a few second longer after orating it, then folds it up and leans back, looking over at Angela on the other side of the desk. "I mean, it's *impressive*, but not really breaking any new ground, you know?"

    "Anyways;" Petra hops down from her seat, passing by Cinder on the way out. "I'll go get the Eggpack ready? Cinder, we'll meet up at the Delta-Pi warp hub in, like, thirty? Of course we've all gotta go."

    And there's also some other thing going on too! Something about a whole bunch of immortal people, or whatever. Petra vaguely remembers it being mentioned in that book the Author wrote inside the computer, but she has no faces to place to that neighborhood, and she *does* have a face for Niko.

"Let's all go. I bet they'll be excited to see everyone happy to see them."

    "If you say anything even the *tiniest* fucking bit creepy, I'm beheading you." Petra offhandedly confirms Ishirou's expectations, spitting in Aidan's direction as a bonus. That's for upsetting Lilian on the Dia's Lily, rather than any of the many reasons before that.

"Just don't forget about me on your way to this 'Everhood' place."

    Petra looks blankly at Madeleine for a few seconds, as if not recognizing her in the slightest. "... Who are you? Do you need a ride, or something?"

    After a little mean-spirited giggle at her own joke, Petra continues on normally. "Don't be a bitch, Niko went through a lot of stress. *I'll* be happy to see them again. You can wait however fucking long you need to, before we get to that part."

"Oh, not only were you serious, but there's a party!"

    Petra waves at Xion when she arrives, Eggpack equipped on her back. Her outfit besides that is an almost-Spring-appropriate jeans and flannel around her waist, ready to be shrugged on over her t-shirt to make herself more visually presentable for Niko and their family.

    "Oh, yeah, it's been a whole arc." Of course she'd call it that herself. "It kicked off, like, a year ago, and back then I tried to murder Kale. But yeah, it's a real thing, and we've actually done some real good, with this kid, Niko, and all."
Angela Lobotomy COrp got a letter!

Angela was, once again, also sitting on her desk--next to Petra this time instead of just herself by herself. She moved around once Petra went up front herself. Cinder is also sitting on Angela's desk, next to Petra's, so she can look at the letter. Angela's eye twitched a little but she didn't protest (and Cinder teasingly stuck her tongue out at Angela who frowned for several seconds then smiled down at her hands a few seconda aftr that but then went back to frowning after.

Angela considers that Kale actually asked permission first. "Do not worry I am certain he will disappoint us later." Angela doesn't sound thrilled to say that--presumably she'd prefer if Kale was reliably one or the other, but this middle ground makes it frustrating for her.

''We'll meet up at the Delta-Pi warp hub--''

"Sounds good! I know my way around the Warpgates sooo much better now!" Cinder chirps, sliding off the desk and giving Angela a quick pat on the shoulder. "Nico is gonna be so happy to see you two...!"

She then jogs off to get ready.

NOW

Angela IS indeed on the Eggpack, though she doesn't threaten anybody yet but she does wave with the Eggpack's arm towards Xion, smiling briefly again before remembering she doesn't want to get in the habit of doing that too often. Not yet.

"Hey Xion!" Cinder agrees. "Here for another adventure by the sound of it! And--oh gosh!--you didn't meet Nico...you're going to love Niko so much!"

Obviously Angela's priority is to visit Nico but both she, and Cinder, are following Petra--one out of loyalty, and one due to having no choice in the matter.
Kale Hearthward Aidan gets a glance. Kale's wondering if he should ask about whatever trouble Aidan got into recently. Ultimately he decides it's not his problem. And Petra will probably behead and then push Aidan overboard once they get up to altitude and to a spot out in the middle of nowhere where his body will never be found (also still not his problem if he's not going with the group).

"No, it's all good," says Kale to Madeleine. "Actually, you'd probably be good to help with this stuff... since you handle weird stuff regularly, right?" At least that's what Kale remembers of her.

"Oh yeah, it's fun," says Kale to Futaba. "I'd recommend trying it at least once." Then he pauses. "You - can fly, right? Or at least survive the fall?"

Sarracenia gets a nod. "Yes - I just needed something simple to keep operations going. Thank you for that."

XIon arrives. Kale perks up. "Oh! You made it." He wasn't sure, given that they've had a bit of history. (He suppresses the desire to duel her. That can wait.) And then he nods to the key. "Yeah- probably won't need the ritual, with that thing. I'd still like to walk Madeleine and whoever else through it just in case."

Calvin gets a handshake and a thumbs-up. "Glad to have you. I'll get you the coordinates and the satellite map - expect a bit of off-roading, this isn't exactly a well-developed area."

"Okay, I think that's everyone - get on the ship, everyone who's going that way. Madeleine, Xion, I *think* there's a bar here, at least..."
Kale Hearthward The airship lifts off. It's a short, smooth flight, and enough seating room to stretch your legs (assuming you're a medium humanoid or smaller). Shortly after takeoff, Hazelthistle comes through the cabin with drinks andd snacks, but only does so *after* individually interrogating everyone about food allergies. And she makes an attempt to push spring water on anyone who asks for a soda or alcohol.

"*Beep bong* This is your pilot speaking," comes Skye's voice redundantly over the intercom, as everyone can already hear her normally from where she's steering the ship. It creates a minorly unpleasant bit of audial desync. "If you look out the window to your left, you can see... nothing. If you look out the window to your right, you can also see... fuck all. We're out in the sticks right now."

"Incidentally, this is probably a very good place to hide a body. Just thought I'd mention that, little bit of fun trivia."

Calvin gets to take his truck off-roading. Well - there's roads, but they're built for carts and other low-tech transportation solutions, and taking the shortest route does involve going through some rocky fields, dense woods, and (if he feels daring) jumping a ravine.

The airship occupants can see it first, about an hour after takeoff - the tiny village that matches Niko's descriptions of his home. Handful of houses, schoolhouse, wheat fields... and...

... Gathered in the center of the village are a dozen people, all wearing cat-like hats similar to Niko's, and together holding up a large cloth banner angled towards the airship, and waving with their free hands:

                                WELCOME: HEROES                                

"Thank you for flying Kale-keeps-forgetting-to-give-the-ship-a-name airlines. If you have comments on the quality of your voyage or the performance of the flight crew, please fill out a provided card and place it in the feedback bin near the door as you exit." There's a trash can.

The airship comes in for a landing not far off, and the ramp descends...
Kale Hearthward With everyone else going off to see Niko, Kale stays behind with Madeleine and Xion to talk some.

There is indeed a bar (more like a tavern) in the warpgate town, and they do have coffee.

"So - what do you know about 'oeuvre'? I mean the metaphysical concept, not the dictionary definition."

"It's... something that came up back during the Secundus resonance surge. This was a couple years ago, we were sort of... bringing low-oeuvre areas into existence just by being present and active in places. Oeuvre, it's a sort of..."

Kale makes a vague gesture in the air. "A... measure of density of presence. Of reality. The richness of realness. Like, the difference between being somebody and being nobody-"

"- Sorry, sorry, bad choice of words."

"But - that's what's at play here. Everhood is in such a low oeuvre area that it doesn't actually have a physical location. So we sort of..."

"... Create our way into the entrance."

"Xion, your key should do most of the work for you, I think? But Madeleine, do you know how to... draw, write, play music, anything like that?"
Madeleine Cadrasteia     "Actually, you'd probably be good to help with this stuff... since you handle weird stuff regularly, right?")]

    "I mean, cryptids are my usual deal, but yeah, I'm pretty good with the supernatural." Smug hair toss.

    "I think we can find a better cup of coffee than *Starbucks* if we looked. And if it's a door you need opened, well..."

    "Come to think of it, there's bound to be a local place in town. I wonder if they do their own bakery..." Madeleine's already walking away, though she does glance over her shoulder to check if Xion's following.

    Not ten minutes later the trio are sitting outside at the 'Deja Brew' cafe and bar, just a block past 'Art Smart's Dart Mart (and Juggling Emporium)'. Madeleine orders an iced latte and a cherry danish, and insists on picking up the tab for Xion's and Kale's orders as well. "So how *have* you been? We haven't had a chance to talk since..." since the ice rink at the mall, for Xion. Since Meika disappeared. Longer than that for Kale, but Madeleine doesn't finish the sentence. "Anyway. Love your outfit, Xion!"

    The huntress seems in good spirits today, eager to chat about her normal work (relocating an entire community of yetis from one mountain to another takes *work*, unsurprisingly, even when the yetis asked for help with the move), Elite activities (possibly-undead dragons! Demons in Georgia! Goat-themed hotels!), or anything else Xion or Kale wants to bring up.

    "But Madeleine, do you know how to... draw, write, play music, anything like that?"

    "I do photography, so I have a good handle on visual design? Hopefully that'll be of use."
Aidan Proudpick A grin back at Sarracenia, "We should get coffee between missions! Does the Sundew Kingdom have anything to do?" How are you?

Lilian gives a signal. A bullet snaps out, aimed for Aidan's- Aidan digs his claws into his palm to pull his thoughts away. The spackle of cheerfulness that Aidan uses to keep his emotions steady falters and his smile wanes. Rather than crumple in on himself, there is a faint hint of anger directed at something else. Aidan squeezes a bit more, just a touch of blood leaking from his fist, "A lotta stuff happened. Maybe we can talk about it some other time."

"If you say anything even the *tiniest* fucking bit creepy."

"And you keep your BDSM gear hidden," Aidan bites back. A little bit of white air slips through his lips as he keeps it on hand for Petra's favored mode of silver attack.

IN THE AIR, Aidan sits out on the prow of the airship, as he promised himself. He'll accept springwater and whatever vegan snacks Hazelthistle supplies with a quiet nod. He is not quite aware of Skye's particular joke, since he's not thinking about being murdered mid-air, just enjoying the scenery. Peace overtakes him again, the wheat fields, the open land. Even just open land, this high up, the breeze blowing through his fur. When they land, he leaps off eagerly, waving both hands over his head. "Heeey! This place looks beautiful!"
Ishirou "If you want to call everyone in Niko's village cats... well, that's on you I guess," he shrugs.  Nico was clear, they were a person, not a cat.  They had cats and just because they share some traits with cats doesn't /make/ you a cat.  He'd argue this a while ago, but now he doesn't feel like it'd be worth the breath.  

'And you keep your BDSM gear hidden'

"You just don't know how to keep your mouth shut.  That's the kinda stuff we keep telling you about." Ishirou snaps at Aidan but continues on the ship.

On the ship, he does greet Angela but tries to avoid Petra... which is weird given Angela is on Petra's back.  It's a game of trying to stay out of Petra's vision.  Not that he's afraid of her, but rather he doesn't feel like causing a fight.  Right?  Right!  He will then look over the side of the ship and watch Futaba fly near the airship.  

The calls from Skye get a weird expression on his face and a frown.  Who would want to know where to bury a body besides... and he glances at Petra and then at Aidan.  The comments about the emptiness of the area were just uncalled for, he continues with his thought processes again.  

Then the village has a banner for them, he waves down from the airship to the villagers who are excited to see them, and he's happy for the welcome.  Trying to put everything else outside of his mind right now.
Xion Xion isn't the biggest fan of parties, actually. Her enthusiasm is the affect of someone who could excitedly declare how ready they were to watch paint dry - at least a few times. Being swept along for several cutscenes in sequence or light social encounters with people was a part of her life, casual barter of being involved in adventures...

She's not really that excited for it. She's not excited for meeting someone after she could become important to them at the performance party she didn't deserve, recognizing things she didn't do for someone she failed to be there for. Certain kinds of parties weren't her speed at all.

The most complicating factor is how excited Aidan is for it, after Cinder's glowing recommendation. "Oh," Xion begins, giving the ill-fitted shirt squirrel a complex look - a smile she doesn't mean, and a glare she definitely does. Distasteful and trying to play it off, the noirette shakes her head and strokes her chin and cheeks with her charm-coiled hand and shake her head.

"It's not really my speed to only show up to the after-party. I hope you enjoy spending time with your friend!" She offers Cinder and Petra with an apology in her tone and gives Angela's fading-out smile a real one of her own. "We can catch up when you're back. Nice to see the rest of you! I'll see you in a bit!"

Only excited in parting, Xion departs with Madeleine while the airship makes to take off (and Calvin muds off in his truck over Extremely Body-disposable terrain).

---

At DEJA BREW, Xion settles in with her ceramic mug of pinch-of-salted black coffee, having managed to get her order in first but having to wait to settle into a spot. Sipping from the golden-bubbled rim slowly after a nasal exhale to clear steam, Xion listens first with a catlike pouted grin. The conversation had shifted from goatmen to work once again, and Xion shifts from catching up with Madeleine to Kale.

"I think I remember the events, even if the noun's escaping me. I remember a lot of that stuff - the time you nearly started another empire twice and we had a duel in a bar?"

'the difference between being somebody and being nobody-'

Xion gives a little giggle. "Hard to avoid, isn't it?"

Crossing her legs at her seat and sitting back, Xion gathers the ideas from Kale's insinuations and her general idea of how things work, closing her eyes to recite: "You mean, you're looking to perform a reinforcement of the threshold - to summon the door by putting all the right pieces in place. With my key, it'd be a breeze to open the path-" The noirette giggles, now using air puns instead of Nobody references. "-but you still have to find the door." She winks open an eye. "Something like that?"
Calvin Nash If you say anything even the *tiniest* fucking bit creepy, I'm beheading you.

    Calvin knows nothing about Aidan, but has heard almost exclusively negative opinions towards him. He points at Aidan wordlessly as someone would a dog snooping too close to an upright trashcan--again, not because he actually knows anything, but wants to look like he does. Then he does the same thing at Petra, just in case he's wrong.

    After that largely useless gesture, he pulls out, following the airship. Roads in good condition are a rare luxury back home--the offroading Kale mentioned is handled expertly by the driver and soundly by the truck. When roads end or even when they're more circuitous than the path the airship takes, the truck can be seen from above veering confidently across the rocky fields and through the dense woods, the thin outline of Calvin's arm resting level out the window even as the truck bounces several feet in the air at times--higher, when he jumps the ravine.

    By the time he arrives, the matte white paint and the protective undercarriage both sport a badge of honor in the form of freshly dappled mud and dirt. It drops into park not far from the airship's ramp, the whine-growl of the engine fading out as he pumps his arm to roll the window back up.

ARRIVAL/AIRSHIP LANDING SPOT

     "Hoo-WHEE! Nothing like a ravine to put some damn hair on ya chest," he exults, slapping the hood of the truck appreciatively. Rolling on the heels of his boots, he checks the flip-up screen on his bulky wristmounted computer, jaws working on a mouthful of ginger. Old-school black-green interface is reflected twice on his shades, a readout of the features of the surrounding landscape good enough to navigate by.

     "What now?" he asks, generally, rolling on the heels of his boots as he closes the COMP definitively, hands resting at that familiar spot on his waist. "Don't see no... nothing, actually."
Petra Soroka "And you keep your BDSM gear hidden,"

    Petra sneers at Aidan, completely unimpressed. "Oh, you're real proud of that one, huh? The best insult you've got is fucking harping on about an outfit I wore once? I dress myself a million times better than you do, freak." Is she just forgetting that she's wearing a collar right now? Has that stopped registering to her?

"Incidentally, this is probably a very good place to hide a body."

    Lounging on her bench in the airship, Eggpack to one side and Cinder to the other, Petra automatically glances at Ishirou when Skye says that. She just barely resists saying it out loud, but it's so clearly communicated on her face that her plaintive objection is still nearly audible. 'But *I* hid a body in the middle of rural nowhere, and it didn't work for *me*.' Of course, she had to send the coordinates to Candy back then, so she's just being needlessly contrarian inside of her own mind.

    More usefully, she could bury Aidan's body out here. The idea that she'd even want to hide the fact that she'd killed him seems alien to her for some reason, and as the kind of girl who's watched true crime shows and vaguely fantasized about both inflicting and receiving both ends of that, she gets fixated on that idea for a bit.

    Idly, tapping her foot on the bench, she says, "Hey, Ange, Cinder. Do you think I'd make a good serial killer? Like, hypothetically. I feel like, my gut answer is 'no', right? When I was in high school, you know, me and my friends, we'd watch these documentaries and scare each other coming up with methods for hiding each other's bodies, or whoever else's at school, or whatever, and I feel like I was always really good at it. But you know, now, I think I've lost a lot of the cultural context for the-- I don't really worry about getting arrested by the police anymore, is the thing. I mean, I don't really need to kill anyone besides other Elites at the moment, but-- besides that. I think there's sort of an, imbalance in the way that I deal with society, now, that makes me kind of unable to get at the magic of being a serial killer."

    She blinks. "Not that I ever really planned on doing it. I never killed anyone 'til Ishirou. I'm not, like, bloodthirsty."

    Thank God she worked whatever the fuck that was out of her system before meeting Niko's parents.

WELCOME: HEROES

    Before getting off the ship, Petra makes sure to layer her flannel on under the Eggpack. She might have sneered at Aidan earlier, but-- she does very intentionally tug her sleeves down as far as they go, and lay the collar of the flannel shirt down to mostly-cover the less dignified collar.

    "Hi! Hello!" Still, she's sincerely all smiles when waving and walking up to the small group of villagers. If there's ones who are clearly Niko's moms (for instance, due to standing by Niko), they're who get her attention first, but she doesn't rush in to immediately go for too strong familiarity at first. "I'm Petra, um, if Niko, like-- said any of our names, I guess. How's she doing, since? Everything good?"

[ansi(243,"Hoo-WHEE! Nothing like a ravine to put some damn hair on ya chest,")]

    In a not-exactly hostile way, just default exasperated, Petra rolls her eyes at Calvin. "Yeah, uh, I'll pass. 'Now' is just a little visit with hopefully nothing at all that we're actually 'needed', like, professionally, for."
Sarracenia      Ah. There's Petra. Somehow Sarra had let her hopes get up that Petra would not be able to make it. But, not only did she make it she once again brought an entire crew with her. It really irks the princess. And she is quite certain that Petra knows it. Sarra can't quite keep herself from casting a sour look toward the L Corp trio when she sees them.

     "Of course the Sundew Kingdom has things to do!" Sarra replies quickly to Aidan, then is quiet a moment as she actually thinks on that. "...well, not a -lot- to do, I suppose. Once you have ridden an airship, shopped along the main road, and seen one of our fireworks shows..." She trails off there.

     Aidan's reply to her simple 'how are you' draws a look of slighty worry and confusion from Sarra. She notices the blood trickle and gasps softly. "Goodness, Aidan...!" she exclaims quietly before pulling out one of her green mushrooms and offering it to him. "It seems we should definitely talk about it."

     A threat is already thrown at Aidan. Sarra crosses her arms and mmphs in annoyance. "And perhaps try not to fill the poor child's head with venom and profanities." she adds toward Petra. Seriously, she thinks, how is Cinder - someone who seems otherwise quite kind - dating Petra? Then, very quietly she adds to Aidan, "...but...they are a child so...do be careful..."

     During the flight Sarra also accepts the refreshments, and does have to be persuaded to take the spring water instead of a soda. She loves her sodas. Skye's comment about the desert being a great place to lose a body draws a slight stare from Sarra. First at Skye, then slowly moving to Petra as she imagines that Petra is imagining just how she might get away with dumping Aidan and Sarra in that desert. The sentiment is probably quite clear on Sarra's face.

     Ishirou's comment draws some slight confusion from Sarra. She might have missed the conversations where Nico said they were a person and not a cat since she really only poked her nose in at the very end of things. "...okay then." is all she can think to say to Ishirou.

     At the comment about the ship having no name Sarra is kind enough to offer one. "How about...the Summer Breeze?" It is not a compass direction sure, but this ship is basically a stand in and comes from her kingdom where it is basically always summer in a rain forest.

     The banner makes Sarra smile happily. Being called a hero always does! And when the ramp descends she exits with the expectation that fanfare will follow. Focused in part of her of course for her massive contribution to saving the digital world. "Thank you for your warm welcome! We are honored! I am Princess Sarracenia Sundew! I am just glad I was able to be of help, no thanks or gifts are necessary~" She also starts to approach Niko's moms, but Petra gets there first and...well, while she is loathe to admit it, Petra and the others have much more right to Niko's and their moms' attention. She will wait her turn.

     Whenever she gets a moment close to Calvin she offers a smile. "I saw your driving! Quite impressive, as is your vehicle! What is it they call these? A 'pick-up truck'?" she says with the air of the royal who has probably never driven a car themselves. "I do not wish for excessive hair, but jumping a ravine did look fun~! Perhaps I will ride with you on the way back!"
Futaba Nuki "Cats can be people, but can people be cats? Maybe..." Futaba asks as she glances between Ishirou and Sarracenia, giving them both a friendly nod and quick two-finger salute. AFter that, she closes her eyes and puts on an intense look of concentration as she sprouts a pair of bright orange cat ears. Her tail's still raccoon-y as ever, though, and her eyes still have those dark markings over them that make it even more apparent she's no cat at all.

"I don't think this counts."

She turns to Xion and Madeleine afterwards, nodding quickly in agreement with Petra and Cinder in short order. "The train stuff was something, alright! And the stuff with Niko was... Honestly, probably not as nuts? But the kid's cool, yeah. If you're not comin' with, though, can... You pick me up one of those crappy little breakfast sandwiches?" She asks while forking over a bill that's just too small to afford one, then switches it out for one that could buy three. "I haven't had one of those in a long while. Wonder if they ever started toasting 'em..."

Calvin is a familiar-enough face from that one meeting a little while ago, too, and Futaba greets him with a fist raised like she's going for a fist bump. Or a forearm bump? She's making it vague just to see where he goes with that. "Nice ride... HMm. Wonder if.. You got room for one more in there? For the way back."

She really wants to surf on the airship at least once, after all, and she nods at Kale's question about flying. "Flyin', survivin', I got it all! Don't know if I'd want to test hitting the ground that fast, but I like my odds."

As promised, Futaba does indeed clamber to the top of the airship instead of riding inside the cabin. She's even doing it with regular sneakers and legs, too, to really get that feeling of the wind hitting her at full blast. She lets out excited little yips and yelps as the airship goes through that short flight, really getting her balance sorted by the latter half of the ride. She only slips back inside briefly once Hazelthistle is about halfway through getting everyone's orders, getting a quick drink before continuing her topside stuntwork.

Upon reaching Niko's village, Futaba does one last stunt to cap it all off, leaping forward off the airship with all manner of weird flips and twists through the air in a high arc. She mistimes her landing, however, slipping on her heel and falling flat on her ass with a heavy thud just outside the ship. Undeterred, Futaba lifts herself up off the ground with just her tail like some kind of freaky tail-having villain, then starts moving along with the group while raising/slightly elongating one arm to wave at the townsfolk giving them that warm welcome.

"Oeuvre...? Uh. Never heard of it. Sounds kinda like a roundabout way of getting places unified, though. You're saying we need to... Uh. Force this Everhood place to unify in here somewhere?" She asks while ordering herself the crappiest-looking breakfast sandwich this place has on the menu.
Angela Angela frowns faintly at Kale but doesn't do anything yet. She reminds herself of the last time she acted out instinctively it was an error on her part that she, frankly, regrets. She curls the Eggpack's digits, frowning.

"I have suggestions for the name." Angela huffs and she looks at the banner...

She stares at it. "..." It's in real life where she clenches her fists so that her nails scape against her palm, failing to cut due to the nigh-invulnerability forced upon her by her creators.

She pries her fingers back and doesn't involve herself with the trash can.

She notices that Ishirou is trying to get her attention and greet her while trying to avoid Petra. "Hello Ishirou. Why are you trying to get behind Petra?" She pauses. "You have not paid a visit in quite some time and I have not heard from yuo in ages, outside of some incidental glances."

''We can catch up when you're back.''

Angela nods to Xion. "Mm. Thank you, Xion."

''Then he does the same thing at Petra''

Angela stares at Calvin for precisely one second (1000 seconds for her).

''Keep your BDSM Gear Hidden''

"It is good to see the real you." Angela tells Aidan. "Rest assured, any BDSM gear we brought along will only be utilized in a professional capacity today. Try to be less of a liability today, I do not want to kill you in front of a child. Pick your fights with Petra now because if you act this way in front of Nico, it will not be you that pays the price."

''Do you think I'd make a good serial killer?''

"You can do anything you put your mind to, babe." Cinder says.

"...I am unsure if you would limit yourself to the singular characteristics typical of a serial killer." Angela says. "Serial killing isn't about killing, after all, it is about the serial part. The pace you have to keep."

Angela dips her head, following Petra's lead. "I am Angela. Petra and Niko's friend."
Kale Hearthward MADELEINE, KALE, XION

> "So how *have* you been?"

"Well - oh, yeah, you were there shortly after I became psychic... I'm getting a better handle on that."

"Lost my airship, gained a country - think I came out ahead in that trade, but I still miss the ship."

> "I do photography, so I have a good handle on visual design? Hopefully that'll be of use."

"Bring something to take pictures of, or get people to pose for you. We need to head to a low-oeuvre area to make the connection, and - well, there isn't going to be much there to photograph."

> "Something like that?"

"Something like that," agrees Kale.

"Worst case, I would guess that even if the door appears a little bit, the key can stabilize it enough to get through. Or once you know what the door looks like? I don't - actually know how your key works, aside from that it can open pretty much anything."

He gets through about half of his coffee, and then sets it down. "That's, ah, that's not the weird thing, though. Thresholds and rituals and such are... I mean, that's just magic, and magic stuff."

"But - the thing is, I got this intel, the intel and the locations, from... myself," says Kale.

"From the future."

---

EVERYONE ELSE

BEFORE THE FLIGHT:

> "And you keep your BDSM gear hidden,"

"There's a shovel in the back of the ship if you need it," mentions Skye to Petra in passing.

AT THE VILLAGE:

"Hello! Hello - good to see you all!" One of the not-cats breaks away from the group to approach. Out of those here, she looks the most like Niko - maybe their mom? (One of their moms?) "It's good to meet you all! I've heard a lot about you!" This is including Calvin, maybe she just assumes that Niko left him out or didn't describe him well.

"Let's see - Petra, you made them that little toy they came back with... and there's Angela - you really are stuck in that little box?" The not-cat pauses. "Oh, I'm sorry if that was rude, I hope they find a way to get you out of there though..."

"Let's see, Aidan - there's some milk and crackers in the house over there, if you need some... I know a growing boy like you needs snacks..."

Sarracenia gets due attention for being a princess from those assembled. Some of them look like if they're wondering if they should bow. A handful of the younger and more feminine not-cats start surrounding her to ask her the typical questions about being a princess. Calvin gets approached by some of the more masculine ones (and one of the feminine ones) to get pestered questions about his truck and the possibility of being given rides.

"Well, we did prepare some food, to welcome you all," says Niko's Mom. "You're welcome to everything we have, as thanks for getting our Niko home safe and sound... Oh - my name's Felia, by the way... and Niko and Daelia and Worldy will be out soon to greet you too, hopefully."

There's something hovering near one of the houses... it's one of Petra's ratbots?
Ishirou ON THE SHIP:

Between Angela calling him out and then Petra talking about her ability to be a serial killer makes Ishirou more than a little nervous to want to be around her, even though he knows she's doing it to get under his skin.  He sighs, and speaks up to Angela, "Because I'm not trying to cause trouble, and trying not to interact with someone who killed me is a great start."

"Sorry I haven't been around lately, I'll have to change that.  I've been trying to get in touch with myself and trying to figure out what I want to do now that uh..." he shrugs, "Home isn't an option."

AT THE VILLAGE:

"Hello I'm Ishirou, Niko and I didn't talk much but I hope they're doing alright?" he says, asking after the child and trying to put off his feelings about what he wanted to do.  He did choose the people over Niko, but was eventually outvoted, and somehow they found a way to save both Niko and the World Machine.  

"Nice to meet you," he says lamely, to Niko's mother.  
Petra Soroka BEFORE THE VILLAGE . . ."And perhaps try not to fill the poor child's head with venom and profanities."

    "Kill yourself. Fucking seriously." Petra wields 'kill yourself' offhand without thinking, usually, dropping it as a cathartically freely felt denial of human worth without even looking-- but to *that*, she grits her teeth and glares, spitting it with *intent*.

    "You self-righteous piece of shit, you weren't even *there*. Don't tell me I can't be trusted around *kids*, freak. *She's* more worthy of dignity than either of you, and it's up to *me* to get rid of *you* if you can't control your fucking garbage around Niko. You don't get to decide the same for me."

"Hello Ishirou. Why are you trying to get behind Petra?"

    Petra actually doesn't mind having people sneak around back to talk to Angela face to face without acknowledging her. She doesn't even really register that Ishirou's doing it, automatically shifting her torso around to give him easier access to her screen without a second thought; but when Angela calls him out on it, Petra realizes how weird it is that *Ishirou* is doing it.

    "Huh? What the fuck, Ishirou? If you wanted to talk to Angela, you can just say something. Anyways, yeah, been a while." She doesn't seem to be very hostile to Ishirou at the moment-- he's the third-worst of the evils here, at the very worst, and her ideation about serial killing is entirely unrelated to him.

"Rest assured, any BDSM gear we brought along will only be utilized in a professional capacity today."

    Petra mutters to herself, barely audible to anyone else, "Oh, god. I'm so tired." It was a long week on that boat, for Petra.

"Serial killing isn't about killing, after all, it is about the serial part. The pace you have to keep."

    This is, for some reason, a point Petra will argue. "I could totally pick a *theme*. I've *got* a theme, kind of. Like, you know, it's not like I'm super invested in having variety or whatever, in killing. And it's not like I couldn't justify whatever victims I choose, even if I'm just in some shitty ass town somewhere like serial killers always are. By my standards, practically anyone off the streets deserves it, but, you know, I'd still start with the *worst*."

NOW . . .

"Let's see - Petra, you made them that little toy they came back with..."

    Petra lights up at Felia's recognition, lapsing into a particular tone that maybe no one here has ever heard out of her before. She extends a polite handshake, then pulls out her mirror to retrieve Twopence for a moment as demonstration, talking cheerily.

    "Hi, it's nice to meet you, Miss Felia; yup, that's me. I'm sort of a hobby roboticist, and I was hoping a... *cute*, little thing to remember all that by, would help them recover and integrate back home a bit better. And, maybe selfishly, I guess I don't hate being remembered, aha."

    Petra gives a vague little querying gesture towards the house with the ratbot-- implicitly, 'oh, is that your house?'-- but since Felia said Niko was coming out soon, she's got no reason to approach the house. When they do join the group, though, Petra's a little awkward for a moment, but if Niko is excited to see them all-- or her specifically-- she excitedly crouches down and squeezes them in a hug.
Madeleine Cadrasteia     "Well - oh, yeah, you were there shortly after I became psychic... I'm getting a better handle on that."

    Madeleine shifts uncomfortably. "Oh, right." She'd clearly forgotten. Is he reading her mind *right now*? Her thoughts, whether or not Kale is listening, are suddenly swamped with mild anxiety.

    "But - the thing is, I got this intel, the intel and the locations, from... myself. From the future.""Mhm, mhm." Madeleine seems entirely unperturbed by this concept. Has it happened to her before? Any mental examination will reveal that it hasn't, but one of her old friends had to deal with it all the time. She misses them, but there's nothing to be done about that now... returning to reality, the vaguely wistful look on her face fades and she finally asks, "Was it like, a warning, or just 'hey check out this place, it's pretty cool'?"
Aidan Proudpick Calvin's authoritative point gets Aidan to mind his business on the airship and the village.

"That's the kinda stuff we keep telling you about."

He looks at Ishirou, tired, gritting his teeth. He finally just nods once and returns his look forward. A glance over at Angela as well, then returning his head forward. Just... breathe. A quiet nod in her direction as well. Just breathe.

A smile at Sarracenia as he takes the mushroom, biting into it to heal the wound on his hand. Then a sigh, "I'm not going to get into a fight in front of a village. Just the only way I can think of from keeping myself from thinking certain things," he wiggles his fingers to test them, looking at his palm pad.

"Let's see, Aidan - there's some milk and crackers in the house over there, if you need some... I know a growing boy like you needs snacks..."

Aidan IS only 22 summers(23 in two months, dangit(Still below the christmas cake cutoff!(He's not gonna die alone!!))). But there's something else. Aidan is immediately warmed by the gesture, turning all of his frustration off in a second. The small village. The offer of food and concern.

Blinking away the beginnings of tears, "Hello!" He straightens up. "Pleased to meetcha, Felia." He is immediately shamed to say, as if it's a grave disappointment, "Oh, crackers and- I'm really sorry. I don't eat anything that comes from an animal. Eggs, milk," A tiny crack, "But thanks so much!"
Angela THE SHIP

"I see." Angela says. "You did help us a great deal with Niko. I hadn't forgotten." She doesn't comment on Ishirou's journey of self discovery, though she does think about it, mostly because she's not sure what she'd say. 'Good luck' feels a little trite.

''Don't tell me I can't be trusted with kids.''
[ansi(153,"Petra, of course, can be trusted with kids. There is evidence of her doing so. I will be frustrated if the evidence is ignored ''purely'' for spite.")] She hesitates for a moment before adding, "We probably should pretend to get along for the sake of Niko but even if I am peaceful now, actions can always be taken later. I would prefer to not deal with the hassle."

''I could totally pick a theme''

"I know you could pick a theme but--would you want to constrain yourself? I know there's a tendency but you seem to like to keep your options open."

She hesitates and then admits, "Certainly, I don't imagine you'd have a shortage of targets."

She glances at AIdan again.

Cinder pats Petra's shoulder lightly to reassure her over that long week. Not that she really knows all that happened.

''You really are stuck in that little box?''

Angela opens her mouth but th not-cat clarifies further later. "Not precisely. I am stuck in one building but this ''box'' allows me some level of engagement with the outside world."

She thinks about how Marcus called her calm.

"Niko really endeared themself to all of us. It is a pleasure to meet you, Felia. To be honest, I was not sure if we would be able to meet again--but since we can ... that is already more than enough for me. ... The Eggpack cannot eat, so please do not trouble yourself by preparing a meal for me--but if you have a glass of something sizzling, I do enjoy listening to the bubbles--"

Her eyes slant towards Pence(?).

"...Worldy." She adds, far more simply than she feels.
Calvin Nash EARLIER

    Futaba gets a fist-bump from Calvin, and his assurance he'd be happy to take on a passenger if she's so inclined.

NOW

Yeah, uh, I'll pass. 'Now' is just a little visit with hopefully nothing at all that we're actually 'needed', like, professionally, for.

    "Well, you know, it prolly puts somethin' somewhere that's good for y'all." What? He pauses, then looks over at the village. "Right." One hand is lifted to point at her with an index--in acknowledgment, rather than the wordless admonishment from before the trip. That's exactly what he said he'd do. Of course. He hadn't forgotten after the excitement of offroading. And he definitely didn't miss the giant--

WELCOME: HEROES

    "Anyway." Calvin clears his throat and approaches.

I do not wish for excessive hair, but jumping a ravine did look fun~! Perhaps I will ride with you on the way back!
Kids: Ask about the truck

    "Yep, we got us a little fleet of 'em back home." He swells with evident pride. "We try to find ones that'll survive the roads and the backcountry just about the same. The old Toyotas like that one there," he says, motioning with a little backwards tip of his head, "Those're harder to come by, but they'll take a lickin' and keep on ticking. Have to, to live as long as they did, I s'pose." Sarra gets the same assurance that he doesn't mind company on the way home that Futaba did.

    And for the kids asking: "Right happy to have y'all along for a little ride sometime, *if* your parents say it's okay." He holds out a qualifying index for that last part, and smiles down the frames of his sunglasses at them.

It's good to meet you all! I've heard a lot about you!

    "Oh--this'd be my first time meetin 'em, ma'am, but I'm glad to, and glad to meet you, too. Calvin Nash." Handshakes for her, and for the rest of the villagers. Each one, even the kids.

Well, we did prepare some food, to welcome you all.

    "Well, thank you kindly, Ms. Felia," says Calvin with genuine enthusiasm, tipping his hat at her. "I'll have to bring some home cooking by for y'all sometime my own self."
Xion "My condolences, still." Xion asides, on the matter of being psychic. "Hearing the cries of 'everyone's hearts' is a difficult burden to bear, but if you're very careful it can be a boon to you and others. If you're careful."

She can tell Madeleine immediately takes an anxious bend to the information, the Nobody leaning forward to clink cupsides with the momentarily distracted huntress. "He's past the wobbly first steps, Madeleine, and I think Phony would run him up for abusing the things he learned from people, so... Same as usual, right? Some people hear more than others."

Like herself, but not everyone needs to know that every single time.

Confident while she sits back, Xion twirls her keychain charm once about her hand and then tilts back her coffee-mug. "Show me a door and I'll work the lock. But you're right, the lock," Slururup. "Won't be a problem. It's finding the door. Sympathetic connections are the most important among Corridors, so I'm--"

'From the future.'

Putting her cup down, Xion clasps her hands before her. "Kale, you didn't tell me you were developing causal abilities as well."
Sarracenia      Some might not be able to tell cat ears from raccoon ears when on a raccoon person, but as an enthusiast Sarra can't help a smile at the change. She also appreciates wanting to ride atop the airship, but stays inside to keep her hair from getting frazzled by the wind.

     Sarra's jab at Petra lands, and the resulting tirade makes her smirk. "Oh please. If you can manage to control yours, I am in no danger at all of losing control of mine. I am surprised you can be trusted around anyone at all considering how quickly you decide on killing as a proper response." she says smugly. "And I -was- there. Even if it was only right at the end."

     Angela joins in with decent points, and while Sarra just frowns lightly and hmphs softly at the first she does nod lightly at the second. "We should." she agrees. "Actually getting along would be better, but I think that ship has long since sailed."

     In the village Sarracenia is delighted by the attention of the younger and more feminine not-cats! She happily answers questions about being a princess, though some of her answers might be a bit untraditional. What does a princess do all day? Why, shop and fly airships! What's her favorite ice cream? Rainbow Vanilla Bob-omb! (which she explains is vanilla with fruit flavored stripes and pop rocks) What is it like being a princess? Super fun an exciting, though it can be boring when you do get dragged to meetings on affairs of state. And surprisingly dangerous!

     And since they are being so nice Sarra reaches into her purse and pulls out a pristine flower for each person that approaches her. There are various types and colors, all non-powered flowers. Even she isn't so silly as to give random non-elites fire flowers or something.

     Sarra can't help a slight giggle when Aidan is offered milk and crackers. She supposes he is still fairly young but he is not small.

     When Felia introduces herself and mentions the rest of the family, Sarra brightens at hearing the name Worldy. "Oh! Is Worldy living with you all now? That is wonderful~!" she says happily. "I was concerned that Worldy would not be able to reach this place."

     Sarra blinks as she sees a ratbot. Is that the one that Petra gifted Niko? She assumes so. Aidan seems to be having difficulty today, so Sarra stays somewhat close to him even while continuing to answer questions and give out flowers. As his voice cracks she looks over then places a hand on his shoulder.

     The princess follows the others' leads in thanking them for the meal. "Yes, thank you, Ms. Felia~" she says, curtseying politely.

     Calvin brags a bit about his truck fleet, and Sarra looks intrigued. "Are older 'pick-up trucks' preferrable for such things?" she asks.
Futaba Nuki The BDSM talk from earlier still weighs on Futaba's mind as she greets the townsfolk, trying to comprehend why it came up at all and only having the context of Angela, Petra, and Skye addressing Aidan about it either directly or indirectly. She shivers and tries to shake it off, then greets the not-cats with a bright smile. "Y... You did, eh? Great to hear! Hope we didn't scare the kid too much with all of us coming by."

Futaba laughs lightly, and she stretches her arms out over her head to to get a few kinks out of her shoulders after the landing. Pausing to tap her chin lightly and distract herself, the ninja adjusts her scarf a bit before dipping into a light bow to Felia. "Good to meet ya, Miss Felia! Ah, we can't stick around too long, but I won't say no to a little snack."

Laughing lightheartedly, Futaba pauses as she hears a few more names coming from Felia about those that'll be coming to see them. It takes her a moment before realizing she's talking about that Worldy, and she laughs again while crossing her arms beihind her head. "All three of 'em? Oh, awesome. This should fit all of 'em, but I'll have to drop off some extra ones next time we come on by."

True to her word, Futaba takes out that weird little box she had shown off briefly prior to the ride. Once Niko, Daeia, and Worldy come out, she greets them with a hurried wave and easygoing smile while unpacking the thing. "Watch closely... This thing'll take up a whole bunch of space if you don't put this back together right later. Not hard, though, so don't worry too hard about it."

The box turns out to be some kind of giant kite, easily big enough that even Futaba could lay down on it with her limbs outstretched and still have room to move. It's clearly just a kite, of course, and definitely not her giving the kids a cool ninja kite to have fun with, especially with Calvin's pickup being right there and a convenient point to launch off of.
Kale Hearthward XION KALE MADELEINE

Kale winces.

"I'm not picking up on thoughts involuntarily anymore, unless you're thinking loudly like that," he says.

"Look, whatever it is you're worried about me overhearing you think about, I promise you that while I've only had these powers for a few months now, I've *already* overheard *much* worse."

Kale's eyes unfocus for a second, as he stares off a million miles into the distance.

>>> Don't think about how Kale's eyes would taste. Don't think about swallowing them whole versus biting down. Don't. Swallow drool and smile. The shrimp don't cut it.

"Much, much worse."

He coughs, and brings himself back into the present. "So..."

> "Was it like, a warning, or just 'hey check out this place, it's pretty cool'?"

Kale gives Madeleine an odd look. The reason for the odd look doesn't come till a few seconds later: Madeleine turns out to be spot on. "Yeah, actually, it was... pretty much 'You should come check this place out'. Like he was doing me a favor."

> "I think Phony would run him up for abusing the things he learned from people, so..."

"Yeah, I'd get a bad grade on my report card," says Kale's beak before his brain can catch up with it. He coughs again. "More seriously, again, I've heard much worse, from much worse people, and I can keep them to myself."

"And between Persephone, Lilian, and - some others," he quickly stops himself before he can name the third, "I'm starting to think that getting your mind read just - isn't as big a deal as people make it out to be, if so many people are doing it on purpose and acting like it's okay."

> "Kale, you didn't tell me you were developing causal abilities as well."

Kale coughs. "I - don't know. Persephone is granting me a limited set of abilities, and Flamel's group are only teaching me how to control those. That's it. It's not like I'm going to develop anything further."

"I mean, can you imagine if like, I actually did start developing something? Like some sort of... cross-germination from exercising gifted psychic powers so much I activate latent psychic potential independently, or something. I think I'd know if something like that was going on," says Kale firmly. "So no. I think this is something else."

"But - he knows things nobody else but me should be able to know, and - well, the information's been good so far. I just don't know what he wants from me." Kale's fingers drum on the table. "There's gotta be a hook, or something. Something he gets out of it."
Kale Hearthward EVERYONE ELSE

Sarracenia hands out flowers! Soon there's an array of not-cats with flowers in their hair.

> "Oh! Is Worldy living with you all now? That is wonderful~!"

"Yes - they're... well, they're a joy to have around, they're making themselves useful..." says Felia, in the manner of someone tiptoeing around something they shouldn't say. "I'm sure they'll fit in well enough here soon enough."

Aidan doesn't drink milk. "Oh, well, there's lemonade, if you don't like milk," offers Felia. "And - there's a bottle of champagne in the pantry, I'll get that shaken up for you, Angela."

"(Who doesn't like milk?)" one of the other not-cats can be overheard. Aidan gets a few other glances and comments. The way Niko was talking about him, apparently they had described him as though he were a middle schooler.

> "Right happy to have y'all along for a little ride sometime, *if* your parents say it's okay."

The not-cat kids look pleadingly towards the not-cat adults, who nod, somewhat reluctantly. And with that they start piling towards the truck. (One of the adults looks jealous, but hangs back.)

"Oh, yes! Ishirou! Yes, Niko was talking about you too, you work on... machines and such, right?" says Felia

"Do you fix tractors?" asks one of the adult not-cats, before he gets shushed by another.

Niko eventually does come out, and gets hugged by Petra. "Oh! Hello, Miss Petra."

They return the hug, as well as hugging anyone else who wants one.

"I'm really glad to see you again..."

... But they seem... down?

"Uh, can we... talk?"

"Worldy - I mean... World Machine is..."

Niko glances to the side.

"... They... they're upstairs, in our room. They... want to leave with you, instead of staying here."
Ishirou ON THE SHIP:

"Alright, next time I'll just walk up normally instead of trying to sneak around, I'm sorry," Ishirou says towards Petra.  

AT THE VILLAGE:

"Uh, yes I do work on machines... computers specifically," he says, to clarify what it is he does.  "So sorry, I can tell you what's wrong with a tractor but I don't know how to fix one," he says to the person who asks about the tractor.  "Sorry!" he says, waving to the adult.

He quiets up when he hears Niko, and moves up with Petra to pat Niko on the head.  "They want to leave with us?" he asks, looking at Angela, then Niko, then Petra.  He isn't sure how to feel about this, but it would be their choice.  Just a matter of how.  
Aidan Proudpick Aidan takes this in stride. He was going through a lot that entire journey. He brightens back up. "Lemonade would be great."

"I'm sure they'll fit in well enough here soon enough."

A frown from Aidan, "I was hoping to come and see them. Are they not doing okay?" He is moving towards the house for the promised lemonade. And away from the reminders of his struggles.

As Niko comes out, Aidan squats down to take that hug, but immediately seeing their down. Aidan moves from a squat to sitting on his butt, elbows at his knees, "What-"

"They... want to leave with you, instead of staying here."

"Oooh... Did World Machine say why?"
Madeleine Cadrasteia     @emit     "He's past the wobbly first steps, Madeleine, and I think Phony would run him up for abusing the things he learned from people, so... Same as usual, right? Some people hear more than others."

    "I... mmm." Madeleine refuses to elaborate, but nods. "I guess so."

    "I've *already* overheard *much* worse."

    No he hasn't, Madeleine thinks, inadvertently loud enough to be overheard by Kale. She has no idea.

    "Yeah, actually, it was... pretty much 'You should come check this place out'. Like he was doing me a favor."

    The huntress narrows her eyes. "Well that's obviously bait of some variety. Even if he doesn't mean you harm - I'd be surprised by that, at least - he needs something from you. To be at the right place at the right time to get *him* where he'll be in the future. And you're taking that bait. Bold."

    "I'm starting to think that getting your mind read just - isn't as big a deal as people make it out to be, if so many people are doing it on purpose and acting like it's okay."

    "There's - what? There's *so much* stuff that people just pretend is okay because it's convenient for them. Give someone power and they're gonna justify using it eventually." A bleak edifice of shame and contempt looms to the forefront of Madeleine's psyche. It feels like your gorge rising before you vomit. "It starts with a moment of weakness, then it becomes a sometimes tool, then they give up on having qualms about it at all. Just because you can bore into my head as easy as breathing doesn't make it *okay*," Madeleine sneers. "It just makes you no more immune to temptation than anyone else." A pause. "Wait, did you say the *Dame Commander* can read minds?" Maddie looks like she's been pricked with a pin.
Futaba Nuki It's Niko! "Hey, Niko! You been doing alright?" Futaba gives them a hug, of course, and she notices that down-ness rather quickly. "Sure thing. What's on your mind?" She asks, squatting in place before settling back on her tail like it's a seat. Unlike the way she usually does that, though, it's not actually flowing underneath her so much as she just stuffs it under her legs.

Hearing that World Computer wants to leave with everyone has her furrowing her brow lightly, and she looks over at the house as thought that might help her think about this better. IT doesn't, but the gesture makes Futaba feel better. "That so...? Hmm. I mean, it'd probably be safer here than where we're headed, but..."

She closes her eyes, remembering the last conversation with World Computer so long ago. After several long seconds of thinking, the tanuki lets out a little chuckle. "Could be good material to work with. They ever get any new hobbies since living here with everyone?"
Calvin Nash Are older 'pick-up trucks' preferrable for such things?

    "Nobody's makin' cars brand-new no more in our neck of the woods," he says. "Not a big need for the average person for a coupla reasons. So the ones we can fix up tend t'go to people that need to go places you can only get to by car. Even if we wanted to make 'em again, all the biggest factories are holes in the ground these days."

Kids: Go for a ride!

    "Right *now?*" Calvin laughs, removing his hat and running a hand through his blonde mullet. He taps the brim against a thigh, and relents: "Well, I can't hardly say no to all them little faces." Besides--he doesn't know Niko as well as the others do, and they can probably fill him in on anything they might've said if it's necessary.

     "Alright, alright, y'all pile into that flat part--yep, just like that!" He helps any Strugglers (tm) with a gentle hand. "Watch your knees now. Alright, I'm gonna introduce y'all to a friend of mine, Mr. Pally. He's big, he looks different from you 'n me, but I promise he's friendly. Y'all hold onto him so you don't fall out, aight?" Calvin closes the tailgate once the last kid is in.

    Calvin flips open his COMP, tapping one-handed with practiced speed, his fingers crawling across the wrist-oriented keys like a spider. An upwards surge of green voxels sprouts from the ground like a geyser, and out comes a humanoid figure a head taller than Calvin covered in a thick coat of seaweed and algae. He waves a hand terminating in reed fingers.

    "Awright, wee yins," says Pally by way of greeting in a thick Scottish accent with a sound as if it were spoken from inside a jar. His face is a porcelain mask, set upside down in the thick weedy shag. "Haud on tight, aye?" He climbs into the bed, smelling of a muddy pond shore fresh after a rain. It's easy to get a handful of his odd seaweed coat--it's drier than would be expected. The truck's shocks handle his weight well--it's not hard to imagine it'd run even with Pally and a heap of cinderblocks in the bed.

    The truck whine-rumbles to life, and Calvin takes the kids on a leisurely ride along the outside of the village, with the cab window open to keep conversation up with the kids (and to hear if any are upset or being mischievous to one another). "Y'all got a name for this place? Whatcha do for fun 'round here?"

     "Mr. Calvin's idea of fun is gettin' right blootered," Pally teases.

     "Mr. Pally likes to try and get me in trouble," Calvin replies.
Angela Angela does not hug NIko but does pat them on the head with the Eggpack's hand (the Eggpack is in awkward hugging position as is). Cinder does hug (and lift up) Niko before setting them back down.

"Hey Cutie--is..." She trails off. "Is everything okay?"

Anglea dips her head to Felia, "Thank you." She says.

She wonders what it's like to have a mother that's not a nervous system in a tank. Good mothers, of course. She' not sure if Carmen would be a 'bad mom' if she was actually around, though. She can even imagine a version of Benjamin that was a good father or, at least, a good friend. But it's difficult to imagine moms. The first person that comes to mind is Cecilia. Felia is joining Cecilia in what composes 'A mom' in Angela's head.
Maybe, she thinks, Carmen's voice in her head counts? ... She doesn't want to think about this anymore.

"They are having difficulty adjusting?" Angela asks, making some presumptions as to why Worldy wants to leave. In some ways Worldy felt not so unlike a child themselves. "...Well, we can at least talk to them and see what we can do. We aren't exactly...a unified front of people who are always with one another--that might not have been clear to them--but we should consider their feelings even if it makes us a bit lonely."
Petra Soroka "Do you fix tractors?"

    Petra scoffs, interjecting herself in the conversation. "*That* flimsy little twink?" She pauses, then mutters, "Er, sorry." That's directed at the villagers, not at Ishirou, though at least Niko themselves isn't out.

    After apologizing, she scoffs again just to refill her scornful pride meter. "Anyways, *I* could fix a tractor. I actually studied for a while about, you know, vehicle tech, and built my own thing before it got shot to pieces. I bet I could fix a tractor."

"They... want to leave with you, instead of staying here."

    After some requisite fond greetings and a squeeze, Petra straightens up and glances at Felia first before responding to Niko. "They're... making themselves useful, you said? They're-- you know, it's hard to say, with computers sometimes, but they're... eight years old or so, right? Same as Niko?"

    Then, sitting down on the ground in front of Niko, Petra rests her elbow on her chin to take the question seriously. "Has Worldy said why? I mean, it's a big adjustment for them, going all the way from the computer to here, just as much as it was for you going the other way around. Even if you're nice to Worldy, it might still take them a while to feel like this is 'home' for them, and maybe they never will-- but there's no reason for that to mean they go away forever, so you don't have to worry about that, alright?"

    She nods over her shoulder at Angela, agreeing on the way forwards now. "Mind if we go talk to them, Niko? Or do you want to be there too?"
Sarracenia
     Sarra hugs Niko when she gets a chance, even if the cute not-cat ends up not remember her. "It is good to see you!" she says, and gives Niko a flower as well.

     She watches Futaba's unfolding box with much the same sparkling eyes as any of the children here. "It is so big!" Sarra was quite willing to sit down for a meal. Futaba reminds them they do have other activities, but Sarra finds herself in agreement with Petra's earlier sentiment that the other activities can wait. "I am sure they can spare enough time for us to have dinner. They are supposedly immortal, after all." she says with a bit of a giggle.

     Felia's response to the question about Worldy has Sarra looking a bit concerned. Upon hearing that Worldy seems down, Sarra looks full on concerned. Upon hearing that Worldy wants to go with Petra...Sarra looks aghast. But, once again she cannot argue the point that despite what she thinks of her, Petra does seem to be good to and with children. Although...is Worldy a child? She too squats down to be closer to Niko's height. "Why would they want to leave this...? It seems so peaceful and idyllic, and they have a proper family here."

     Of course, Sarra was just assuming that Niko meant Petra specifically, but Futaba reminds them that it could be the group and not just Petra. Sarra looks a bit relieved. Although when Petra suggests they go talk to Worldy Sarra looks a bit nervous again. The princess thinks herself good with children, but it would be terrible to be embarrassed by Petra in this area after all that teasing. Still, if permission is given she too will head up to see Worldy.
Xion Sat at a table with Madeleine and Kale, Xion is pitched several difficult statements in a row and quietly retreats into a sequence of mug-lifts and sips. The exchange is difficult for her to a mild degree, the particular topic tessellating into greater spirals and blooms.

Something she's thought about a lot.

"Kale, I know I give you a lot of advice, but... Try to avoid saying stuff like that. That you've heard the worst already. It's... callous, and people who've had it bad will always meter off of you whether you intend to or not." Xion asides gently, holding mug two-handed. "You might never get perfect at listening to people, if you comment on it or not, because most people don't understand themselves too. But being free with what doesn't escape other people's hearts means you're using less care and judgement than they are. And that's..."

The noirette reaches over the table to take hold of one of Kale's hands in her own. Serious, directed, somber, Xion speaks with tone escaping the wave of coffeebar banter on gravity alone.

"Something you need to be gentle with, every time. Going over top of someone's own internal decision isn't just yours to hear. Please, remember. It's not something so callous as a score on a card. It's people's whole lives,"

Xion retreats, back to her own seat. "Yours, too. Ours, too. Everyone's."

That shared, the matter of Kale's strange connection to his 'past self' is one Xion immediately defers to Madeleine's expertise on with a bobbing nod and a return to smiles. "Madeleine is right - that's suspect as heck. Double right, because she landed on the right way to say it: It's 'convenient for him' - doing them a favor. If the other-you needs to get there, or the way to be open, *you* know us. *You* know me, by name, and can get me to use my key on a door. What happens after, though? Did you just get a notice?"

Lifting left hand to spin her keycharm some more, Xion frowns. "I've sent myself and others mystery letters, but I never represented 'myself, from the future'. There's other, better ways to do it... Much less blunt, so, why are *you* asking *yourself* for help? Shouldn't you already be on the path to get to 'you'?"
Kale Hearthward XION KALE MADELEINE

> "It just makes you no more immune to temptation than anyone else."

"There's nothing in there, in your head or anywhere else, to tempt me with. There's nothing in there that I'd consider purposefully breaching your privacy to pull out and learn," Kale lies.

Nothing salacious or secretive. There's the internet and reality TV if you want vicarious fantasies, and honestly at higher quality and production value than you can pull out of someone's head.

... But... Kale's often been tempted to try to make some way to extract *just* the subset of feelings and thoughts people have about *himself*, either in whole or in some sort of... game-like relationship meter. Just to take the guesswork and anxiety out of social standings. Xion liked that answer, +2! Madeleine will remember that, -3. Like that.

> "Wait, did you say the *Dame Commander* can read minds?"

Continuing the game metaphor, Kale's dialogue tree opens up with half a dozen responses that he doesn't think would be productive or helpful. He finishes his coffee in order to stall for time and come up with a better one.

"I'm very certain she doesn't go on casual mind delves either, for the same reasons I don't," he settles on. "I wouldn't worry about it."

"That, or go ask Flamel what brand of tin-foil works best," he suggests, non-ironically.

Then Xion gives him some advice. Kale recognizes hand-grasping mode for what it is, and shifts his focus up a notch.

... Especially when she mentions scores on cards. It's maybe not a exact match between her words and his thoughts, but it's close enough to what Kale was thinking about relationship meters.

"Something... I need to be gentle with," he repeats for emphasis.

"... I see. Yeah. I'm not..." He doesn't say 'not a gentle person' or 'someone who finds gentleness easy', though he's thinking it. "... Nevermind. I'll try to be gentle. I'll try to keep in mind that - that other people have their own choices about what they let free from their hearts or not, and I'm going over that, and I need to be very careful and considerate about that."

"Sorry," he says to Madeleine, belatedly.

Then, to the topic of Future Kale...

"... Part of the problem is that this is something I was considering doing *anyway*. Everhood came up before, as something linked to some of the other places we've been to over the last year. The Inifinity Train, Wonderworld, and the program inside the World Machine. They're all linked, maybe all with the same origin point."

"So this is maybe bait, but it's... still bait that I'm having a hard time turning my beak up at."

Kale finishes his coffee. "So I'll just have to be very careful while I'm taking it. Shouldn't be a problem," he says, with the confidence of someone who's fallen for bait a dozen times and failed to learn from the experience a dozen times.

"Let's go ahead and head to the connection site, if you two are ready."
Kale Hearthward CALVIN

Calvin and Pally make a lot of new friends.

"It's called Wheatfield Village!" says one of the kids, a factoid that would have helped Kale find the place a lot faster if Niko had ever just said where they were from.

When the truck returns, Calvin's the center of attention from practically everyone, especially with the rest of the group going off to talk to Niko and World Machine.

"Where do you get one of those?" asks one of the adults, pointing towards Calvin's truck. "Would be nice for making trips into town a lot faster."

EVERYONE ELSE (PRESUMABLY)

Ishirou being incapable of fixing a tractor earns a disappointed look. Aren't heroes supposed to be able to do anything and everything?

> "Oooh... Did World Machine say why?"

"I don't - I don't know," says Niko. "It - I mean, they say that it's because they're a computer, but they don't say what they mean by that..."

> "They ever get any new hobbies since living here with everyone?"

"... Are 'spreadsheets' a hobby?"

"If you want to go talk to them, please... but, uh... I think... maybe I should stay out here."

"We, uh..."

"... We got a bit... loud at each other, earlier."

Upstairs, past Niko's other mom (Daelia, who greets the group and then waves them onward when they say they want to talk to Worldy) brings the group face to face with the palette-swapped gray Niko they saw before. They're sitting on one of the two beds in the room, looking out at nothing as they enter, and then turning to face the group once they make themselves known.

"... Hello," says World Machine.

"You've talked to Niko, I presume... I came here at Balan's insistence and with the village's welcome. That I have a proper childhood and grow up here."

"But... I am not a child. I am not a person. I am a computer. I am... not useful here. I can organize things. I can help with the village's accounting. I can find a dozen small things to do but none of them are... useful enough."

"I wish to leave, and to find a new purpose."
Ishirou Ishirou gives Petra the side eye when she jumps in to respond about his ability to fix a tractor, specifically her choice of wording.  He doesn't take her apology, because it wasn't aimed at him, and he sighs.  "You know my size would be useful to get into places that usually are too small for others, and I have enough personal strength to move things thanks to what I can do, I just don't have the practical knowledge."

Pushing forward, he frowns when Niko reveals they got loud with each other and decides to stay back for a minute with Niko.  "You know it's nothing personal right, Niko?  Sometimes people want to leave, go see the world, especially if they have been unable to do so..."  he pauses and sighs, patting them on the head.  

"Come on, let's go talk to them.  Regardless you can both apologize to each other." he gets up there just in time to hear:

'I wish to leave, and to find a new purpose.'

"Is that all you want, a place to find out what you want to do and be?  I think I can understand that, it was like that for me after I left my home.  You should still want a place to call home, I feel..." he says nudging Niko if they came along.  "Though moving you around is going to be the trick... we'll need something portable... that can handle your data... and will let you communicate."
Madeleine Cadrasteia     "There's nothing in there, in your head or anywhere else, to tempt me with."

    Madeleine scoffs and raises a hand to her chest. She doesn't want you in her head, but she doesn't want you to not *want* to get into her head - is there any pleasing this woman?

    "I wouldn't worry about it."

    Madeleine will worry about it. Minus two status. Game autosaving...

    "Sorry."

    "Thank you." Her glare is ice.

    "So this is maybe bait, but it's... still bait that I'm having a hard time turning my beak up at."

    "No, no, I get it. Sometimes there's an incentive you can't reasonably turn down. I've totally been there. You all done with that coffee, Xion? I'm ready to get a move on."
Aidan Proudpick As they go up, Aidan smiles at Daelia. "Can I borrow some chairs?" If allowed, Aidan grabs two, one in each arm.

Upon entering, Aidan soon realizes this is computer stuff. Not just kid stuff. He slides one chair to Ishirou, and the other to Cinder, nodding towards Petra when she isn't looking. He squats down on the balls of his feet instead, elbows on his knees. He doesn't mull it over in his head, he just starts talking, "Niko doesn't have a big purpose, right? Niko is just Niko. They like having fun, and they like when their moms make pancakes. They like the wheat fields. Eventually, Niko will find a purpose. After a while, Niko will probably be old enough to work on a farm, maybe that'll be a purpose. You just... gotta be a friend to Niko." He nods towards Angela and Ishirou, shutting up for the rest.
Angela "Hello, 'Worldy'." Angela says. "Niko seemed upset. It sounds like you had a fight. I suspect they are worried about you leaving them behind... I suppose they've grown close to you? I can only surmise due to not being here to see how life here has been."

Angela frowns thoughtfully. "...We had this discussion before--we discussed your nature as ''a person''--you seemed to agree with us then--or at least were willing to give 'being a person' a shot." She dips her head down. "...What makes you so certain you are not a person now? Wanting to be useful is a trait ''people'' can have, being unfulfilled is something ''a person'' can be."

She folds the Eggpack's arms across one another.

Cinder hangs back a bit, she wasn't really involved directly in this particular mission and seems to be content to catch up right now.

"I am not here to argue, I simply want to have a better understanding of your reasons. As I told Niko, we are not a unified front of people--we often travel seperately from one another. We don't move from adventure to adventure--sometimes we are by ourselves, alone--or with others, others you haven't seen. But as for finding a new purpose ... Do you have any thoughts on that?"
Futaba Nuki "It is so big!"

Futaba takes a deep breath to maintain her expression, to stop herself from snickering in front of  Niko and having to explain why. Instead, she just looks over at Sarracenia with a slow nod and pulling her scarf up to obscure her face a bit. "That's right, princess, but just wait 'til you see this in action. Maybe..."

Wait, no. She probably shouldn't encourage Niko or any of the other kids to try and actually wear this thing. Not for another couple of years, at least.

"... Are 'spreadsheets' a hobby?"

"They are for some of my cousins." Futaba responds to Niko with an understanding nod. "Not my cup of tea, but if that's what makes 'em happy, you know? Although from the sounds of it..." She continues, furrowing her brow slightly in thought as Niko continues hinting at what happened. She lets out a light noise, then gives them a gentle pat on the head before setting the unfolded kite aside. "We'll talk to Worldy, don't you worry."

True to her word, Futaba heads upstairs to go see Worldy! After greeting Daelia with a similar bow and informal salute that she gave to Felia, she spots the gray Niko and greets them with a more casual wave in greeting.

"Hey, World! Yeah, we just spoke to them and the parents a bit. How's...?"

They answer her question before she can even ask, and Futaba takes a seat nearby on the bed while listening. The desire to be useful strikes a chord with her, too, and she crosses her arms while fighting the urge to just lie down on that bed.

"It might not be safe where we're going. Could be real dangerous, even, and... Hmm. This ain't about anyone else telling you that you have to be useful, is it?" She asks, nodding lightly at Angela as she addresses World Computer's personhood. "Because if it's about being more person-y, there's plenty of folks that don't even get this far. But if you really want to find something new to do for you instead of someone else pushing you into it, then I got no objections."

Futaba leans back slowly, then swings herself back up and hops off the bed. "You got any ideas in mind?"
Xion Kale really puts in an effort to sit up and put on the motions of attention, and Xion appreciates that with a softly honest little smirk-of-a-grin, though it flickers like TV static to a frown as Kale contemplates poorly and lies. The things his heart says paints a picture, and holding hand to hand Xion can feel Kale's pulse, just as he might feel hers--

and know that Xion had also been a 'mind' reader the whole time, the woman who listened to hearts and had all sorts of advice about it, and she had heard him lie about it.

It's a smile, but by the end when he looks, it's mostly a frown in replaced frames of eerie echoes.

"It's fine if it's bait, Kale, you got Futaba and yourself and Madeleine and me and that Princess can be pretty useful actually and once Petra's done killing Aidan we might get one or two more people before I open up that door of yours and... Evil beak-goatee Kale riding an evil tornado can spring their evil time trap or whatever. We've got this."

She finishes her last few words moving to stand, wiggling her empty coffee mug and nodding. "I'll return this and get those sandwiches Futaba wanted, and meet you at the airship dock? Or are we going somewhere else?"
Petra Soroka "... We got a bit... loud at each other, earlier."

    *That* explains the air of awkwardness in a way that World Machine wanting to leave alone didn't quite manage to. Petra pouts at Niko, then pulls them into another hug, squeezing the back of their head comfortingly.

    "Yeah, I get it. It'll be alright, Niko. No matter what happens, you're not losing a friend. So don't worry, because you can count on us, just like we counted on you."

"You've talked to Niko, I presume..."

    Well, they definitely don't *talk* like an eight year old. Petra chooses not to sit on the other bed-- that's Niko's bed! It would be rude!-- and instead settles down in a languid sprawl on the rug between them, one knee hugged to her chest and the other leg loosely stretched out, looking up at World Machine's face.

    "... Okay, you want to be useful. I get that. Is it because you're 'a computer', though, or is it because, like... the last thing you did before coming here, was useful on a scale that just isn't possible around here? You know, your first 'choice', really, once you were out in your little cat body and everything instead of being an old computer, was something that saved *lives*. Here, you just can't do that. Did that set your expectations for what you could do, and, like, what you wanted to do, or is it just some hangup about being a computer?"

    Angela has more coherent and personal thoughts on the dichotomy between person and computer than Petra does. Honestly, the more Worldy talks like a stuffy-ass robot and less like a child, the less sympathy Petra has for the quandry as a whole, when identity is factored in-- just get over it and think about what *really* matters, instead of getting stuck on stupid definitions. The need to be useful is a lot more familiar to her.

    "Hey, though. Niko said you 'got loud at each other'. That means you did too, right? So you do feel a lot about being here, whether you need to leave or not-- I mean, that's just important to keep in mind. I think you do care about being here." Petra's eyes wander off of World Machine's, trailing around their side of the bedroom: whatever decorations, personal touches, even the marks of wear and familiarity worn into the environment by their months of existing here. That, in particular, isn't something Worldy should dismiss easily. *If* they're going to run away, then it's better that it feels like tearing out a piece of themselves.

    "Also, accounting isn't a 'purpose'. Accounting is like being in prison, but you're in a cubicle instead of a cell. If you want a *purpose*, tell us what you actually *want*. What kind of life are you *imagining* feeling better in, if you leave?"
Calvin Nash Where do you get one of those?

    "Well, I reckon any Earth'd do," he says, happy to be speaking on something with actual rather than affected authority. "You want one *just* like it, you'd have to find an Earth in or past, oh, 1994, or thereabouts? Here."

    He flips open his COMP, taps a few buttons, and definitively mashes 'Enter.' A little streamer of paper spits out, with some kind of reedy beeping analagous to a dot matrix printer sounding off in jerky little intervals. He tears it off along a perforated line and hands it to the adult in question.

    "That there's some contact info for an associate of mine, a Captain Ivy Carrow. She's got herself a company of explorers--was actually her and some of Niko's friends here that found *my* world and introduced me to all this." He twirls his left index. "She could probably find you an Earth that's safe to shop around on. Mine's been through the wringer and there ain't much cars left anyhow, else I'd have just told you how to get there."

    Pally, especially, is happy to be the center of attention--if his porcelain face could glow, it surely would be now. There's an animated spirit to the gesticulations of his reed-fingered hands, and an eager weight to his listening.

    Calvin takes his sunglasses off, hanging them on his collar. He learns names and carries conversations well, even with lots of voices to keep track of. There's a sense that he's very used to tight-knit communities like this one. He and Pally both are quick with anecdotes (filtered through their respective accents, of course) from home, quick to hear those of the village, and hesitant to leave and rejoin the others. Calvin even shares a family recipe for buttermilk cornbread and provides a promise to bring some by next time.

    Eventually, goodbyes are given (alongside assurances of a later return)-- and the two of them, Calvin and his pellaidh pal--make a leisurely path to Niko's house, there to wait outside for the others to finish up.
Sarracenia      Sarracenia is a bit confused when Futaba takes that deep breath, apparently not realizing the implications of the phrase she used. The offer of seeing how it flies Sarra starts to look excited, but that is put on hold as they head inside.

     As Niko tells them about what happened, Sarracenia lets out a sympathetic 'aww' and gives them a pat on the head before reaching into her bag to pull out one of those prepackaged ice cream cones. She makes sure to ask Felia's permission before giving it to Niko. Adding on to Ishirou's words she says, "And sometimes even friends and family get loud at each other. I am sure you two will be having fun together again soon."

     Sarracenia introduces herself to Daelia before heading up the stairs. She gives Aidan a curious look as he collects chairs and offers them to Ishirou and Cinder.

     Others are already talking to Worldy about what it is to be a person. She considers a moment before adding, "I think finding your purpose is a large part of growing up? But, part of being a computer person like you is that you can decide on your purpose. So...do you have any purposes in mind? And...are you unhappy with your family here at all? Even if you want to find a new purpose that does not mean you have to leave here forever. I learned that when I left my home to try and find a new purpose."

     Sarra looks around for that plushie of Niko. Would it be here? She supposes it would be a bit odd to have a plushie of your adopted sibling. "And...I am not sure if it helps or not, but I am sure that Felia and Daelia and Niko do not care much how useful you are. They probably just want you to be happy."
Kale Hearthward XION KALE MADELEINE

Kale fumbled that.

He's not sure how much he fumbled it by (he suspects by a lot, it's something essential to Xion) but - well, he'll have to deal with it, and try to be better later.

For now - Everhood awaits. "Right, head this way, out into the fields..."

EVERYONE ELSE

To Angela: "I made an attempt at it... being a person." World Machine looks away again. "I am not convinced that I am a person and not... merely a very person-like computer."

To Futaba: "No one is saying I have to be useful. I have chores, but they are small amounts of manual labor. I do not mind the chores but they are not using my full capacity."

Then to Angela again: "I don't... know what my new purpose would be. I suppose I was hoping I would find it here. As implied earlier: I have not found it here."

And to Petra: "I... used to save lives, yes. I ran a program that was the last hope of an otherwise forgotten world, and held Niko's life in the balance. And now I am... sweeping floors and doing dishes."

Petra can find enough personal touches. Enough things that look like...

... Well, there's photos of them and Niko (taken and developed from a disposable camera) doing activities or posing together. There's a first prize ribbon from a tri-village competition of some sort. There's enough tiny marks of integration here, even if Worldy is claiming dissatisfaction. They actually do live here, by Petra's metrics.

To Petra: "I care about the people here. I care about Niko, and Felia, and Daelia, and Calic, and Gatto, and all the others. But I am going from saving lives to mundane domestic tasks."

"... I need to leave. I need to find a new purpose. I will find and join you later, I know it would cause trouble for you if I left along with you. My- ... Felia and Daelia and Niko will understand. I'll leave them a note."

And unless there's strong objection from that group, that seems to be that.
Kale Hearthward EVERYONE

The two groups join back up at the site Kale had in mind, to complete the connection to the Everhood...

... A process that involves going into a low-oeuvre area first. An area with nothing description-worthy. There's wheat. Just... endless fields of wheat. None of it's picturesque, none of it's thought-provoking. Everyone (except probably Angela, who's observing this remotely) can actually feel something draining from them. A sort of... essential creative need, a desire to make a mark on the world, that's not just being unfulfilled but is being steadily *negatively* fulfilled.

Madeleine by then would be doing her photography project, or something similar, with specific direction from Kale in following the creativity ritual - bringing a burst of fresh oeuvre into the area, and causing a faint shimmering door to appear, which Xion can stabilize and open...

... leading into an area that's... practically entirely *absent* of oeuvre.

The walls, floors, and sky (or is that a ceiling?) are black, in an uninteresting way. There's simply an absence of anything, except not in any notable sense. There just ain't anything worthwhile here, besides the door behind the group and a path leading forward.

And, shortly down the path, a frog, sitting on a log, strumming a banjo.

"Ah," says the frog, looking up. "Visitors. Could I ask you for a favor?"

He gestures to a person-sized red wooden doll next to him. "My friend here has lost their arm." Indeed, the doll is missing an arm. "It was stolen by a blue thief who ran that way. Unfortunately, they're unable to fight back if someone were to attack them, which makes getting their arm back a bit of a problem..."

"... Do you think you could help my friend out?"

But the group's answer to that, as well as any questions they may have... will have to wait. Until we return to Everhood.