Scene #9157: This Is A Petra Social That You Should Tag Even Though It Might Get Moved

Owner	Pose
Petra Soroka	It's rare for Petra to send out an invitation to anything, much less something spontaneously happening that same afternoon. She's also weirdly vague on what it's for, besides that everyone should bring some food for the potluck, but the lack of specificity makes it come across as something important to her that she just doesn't quite know how to communicate. In any case, at three in the afternoon that day, the courtyard of the apartment building that Petra lives in in the City is ready for arrivals. The City isn't typically great for visitors, but Petra has flexed her powers in order to make it suitable. In the nicer areas of District 12, Petra can simply utilize her political connections with L-Corp is make sure the entire apartment building is vacated-- pay for a day off, a trip away, a hotel, whatever, but the end result is that Petra effectively pays her neighbors to fuck off for the day. No prying eyes to harass any of the numerous robots Petra knows, no prying eyes for the more mundane displeasure of being watched, and the courtyard is reserved as a totally private area for herself. The apartment building is one of the few in the City that could actually be called 'quaint'. Three stories tall, made of brick, bars over the windows and doors at least being tastefully wrought, there is, of course, no one in the lobby to stop the Elites from passing through to the enclosed, open air courtyard. The air is crisp but tolerable, the sky is clear, and most of the worst sounds and smells of the City are walled off, which is a bit of a relief after the walk here from the warpgate. Inside, there's several picnic tables set up with tablecloth covers, a couple pushed end to end for the potluck offerings to be placed on. There's already some basics provided, and a semi-familiar face is cooking up more at a pedestal charcoal grill, though it's been a while since most people have seen her, and she's gone through some significant changes. Heyalexa is now a humanoid robot made of distinctive Silver instead of an Amazon Alexa strapped to a different body. She's an itty bitty smug mousegirl under five feet tall, with a chrome tail and a digital visor displaying her LED ò ó eyes, and she's currently wearing an apron that says TIP THE CHEF A MINIMUM OF 25% while grilling burgers. A ratbot (Farthing specifically; Petra can tell them apart but it's hard to see how) wearing a tiny chef hat ferries the platter of burgers over to the table. The most eyecatching thing, and obviously the reason why you're here, is a twelve foot tall mech made of iridescent crystal, translucent like glass to see orange hydraulic veins within. The mech is all sharp angles and razor points, arms and legs ending in needlepoint tips instead of hands, with a crystalline head angled like a snout that floats unconnected above its torso. 'Sitting down' with its knees tucked up to its chest, it's only a little bit taller than Dimo is at its pointed ears, and a shattered rift in its face houses a single eye that glows dimly, not actively. Looking at it from certain angles makes the light catch within and throughout it, glinting off of a million fracture points to make it seem like frosted glass. That's what really confirms that this is the same machine that was dug out of the ash-grey snow in the Maw of Tyrants, now put back together.
Petra Soroka	Also, Petra is here! She's dressed for the weather with a graphic tee over long sleeves (that reads DO NOT GIVE ME A CIGARETTE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES NO MATTER WHAT I SAY), and beelines over to one of the folded legs that reaches taller than she is without any further hesitation, and bows her heads to the visitors, hands fidgeting in front of her. "Um, hey, everyone. Thanks for coming. So, uh, food goes over there, and I'm not going to make, like, a whole big deal out of it, but--" "This is the Beauty of Ash. The-- the actual thing, for real; not like the one in my head that you saw, or what the Titanomachia did to it, or anything. So-- so, just, to fix that bad impression you all had of it... I guess I just wanted to, um, re-introduce it." Petra pauses to take a breath, becoming a little bit pink at the pageantry of introducing people to an inanimate object, but she follows through all the way to the end. "It was made for me when I was a little kid, and it's basically been with me my whole life. Basically, i-it creates a local field of reduced psychonormativity attuned specifically to the normacausative limits on my own psychic powers, but, uh, it's also, like... sort of what you could call my oldest friend. I-- I haven't been the best to it, but... I was given another chance, so I'll use that to do better." Petra gestures her hand at the Elites and finishes the inverse introduction quickly, "And, um. These are some of the people I've spent the last couple of years around."
Timespace Riders	Sougo and Woz are here! Both of them like Petra enough to respond to this kind of invitation on short notice. And Woz, in particular, likes the chance to flex his culinary skills enough that he's especially pleased to respond. The retainer, dressed as he always is, flanks his king with a basket in either hand. One sports the golden-brown spires of several fresh baguettes; the other, insulated like its fellow with a white cloth, smells faintly of garlic and chicken. Setting them both down on a table, the retainer finds his hand occupied as soon as it's free, by Sougo, giving a gentle squeeze. "Thanks for letting me help out," says Sougo, dressed in rolled jeans, his favorite hiking boots and an asymmetrically two-tone pastel blue and pink button-up. He smiles brightly--all the more so, for Woz's mild fluster. "I am pleased to have been of service, sire." These are some of the people I've spent the last couple of years around. "Hi," says Sougo, without hesitation, sunny as ever, even giving a little wave. "I'm Sougo. It's nice to meet you!" He flashes Petra a little bit of that warmth, too. "It's really nice of you to introduce us." "Hail to you," says Woz, hand over heart, bowing slightly at the waist. "I am the somewhat unusual time traveler Woz, retainer to Sougo Tokiwa."
Kale Hearthward	Kale's brought sweet potato casserole! Except the recipe he's used, either accidentally or purposefully, is something like 75 percent toasted marshmallows and only 25 percent (or less!) of the actual mashed sweet potato. He's brought a tray of seasoned marshmallows with a side of vegetables, basically. Kale's wearing a light jacket today, which just happens to have a seven on it. As part of the branding ('7th Level Designs'). Nothing more. He certainly wouldn't be so gaudy as to display his new Fixer rank with a big number as if was a sports player designation, or hanging from gold chains like a rapper, or anything like that. ... He also doesn't have his swords on him, for once? Instead he's sporting a fancy materiel case where one of his swords usually would be strapped to his back. After dropping the tray of sweet-potato-flavored-marshmallows off at the potluck table, Kale's attention is actually first drawn towards Heyalexa, who he's... not sure he recognizes? Is that her? She was bigger when he last saw her, right? ... Did she choose to be that small? That feels like an odd choice. Who chooses to be short, if they've got the option? "Uh, medium rare," he says, to cover for the fact that he's been staring at her for a while. "Please," he adds, too belatedly. "... Uh, tip... twenty five percent of what?" Kale looks around, seeing if there's a menu set up. Then to Petra. And the Beauty of Ash. The actual thing. "That's... beautiful, actually?" He walks a half circle, looking at it from another angle. "Certainly very sharp. Sharp is good, though." "Consider the impression re-written?" Oh, Petra's introducing them to it, too. Why not. "Oh, well, hi there," says Kale, to the mech, a little less awkwardly when it becomes clear that he's not the only one choosing to do so. "I'm Kale Hearthward. I'm Petra's strongest friend, and it isn't even close," he adds.
Angela	Angela had to do a fair amount of work to make this possible and it's probable that if the project wasn't so close to completion, there would have been a lot more hemming and hawing about doing this sort of event so close to HQ. Even in the best circumstances, there's a small chance that a Beholder will take a peak and so it is with considerable trepidation that Cinder sneaks the Eggpack (off, until she gets to the apartment) towards Petra's apartment. Few Feathers would even dream of sticking around when they can just be paid off to not involve themselves in whatever ridiculous Wing nonsense is going on here. And taxes always get higher... Once she gets inside the Lobby, Cinder stops to turn the Eggpack on. She's well acquainted with its peculirities by now. The Angela on the screen pops into view and whirrs around as Angela takes her first actual look into the City.5r Well, into the apartment building of a City. There's a certain thrill--like sneaking out past curfew when the authorities WILL shoot you if they catch you--to it all but Angela keeps her cool. "Even if they spot us I doubt they'd act immediately." Cinder says. "Especially not with so many Elites here." "...It looks ... normal." Angela says, unsure how to feel about it but her discomfort vanishes away into nothing once she sees the picnic tables and, more significantly, Heyalexa. "Cinder, take us to Heyalexa." Angela says. "Pay her 25 credits worth." "It says 25 percent--" "You'll be reimbursed.#-1 FUNCTION (ANS) NOT FOUND Angela says as Cinder draws out her wallet and tucks like 36,000 ahn into Heyalexa's apron. "It is good to see you, Heyalexa. May the Eggpack hug you?" Angela asks. Whether or not she gets to Eggpack Hug Heyalexa, both she and Cinder will eventually look to the twelve foot mecha in the room--Cinder was so preoccupied with Angela's directions she didn't get a good look at it. "Wow, it's pretty." Cinder says, marveling at the mecha. Angela, who has seen the Beauty of Ash usually--well--aimed at her, takes a longer look at it. ''I guess I just wanted to, um, re-introduce it.'' Angela extends an Eggpack claw and shakes it up and down. "A pleasure to meet you, Beauty of Ash. My name is angela. I am also a friend of Petra's. Thank you for giving her another chance and please look after her. I worry." And then she looks to Sougo and Woz. When they introduce themselves she nods approvingly. "Sougo is a Demon King but he is reasonable." Angela adds to the Beauty of Ash, just in case it didn't know. "Woz is a little tricky, though." It doesn't seem to be intended as an insult, akin to calling someone a prankster.
Kukuru	An invitation? To bring food? From Petra? This certainly isn't the kind of surprise Kukuru would expect, but it's a welcome one nonetheless. Not knowing what this is even for doesn't register in her mind as any cause of concern, either, as she's just swept up in that emotional high of being invited to something. The City being familiar ground makes it even easier to do last minute preparations, too, and she shows up with her trusty cooler with the wheels that are too small to roll properly when it's tilted. "Petraaaa! Hello, hello~" She can probably be heard well before she even gets to the courtyard, teleporting in from just around the corner so it looks like she's actually walking there instead of just showing up suddenly right in the middle of everything. Kukuru is wearing a casual getup consisting of a yellow sweater and jeans, both of which have some faded red stains on them that definitely came from food preparation and nothing else. "I brought stuff just like you aaasked! Ah, it's so good to see you agaaain..." Yawning lightly behind her hand, she looks down at the curious-looking Silver mousegirl, tilting her head slowly as she doesn't recognize Heyalexa right away. Has she ever met Heyalexa before? Whatever the case is, she leans forward to wave at the little beaft, still smiling brightly/sleepily all the while. "Aw, are you Petra's friend? He-llo theeere... My name's Kukuru." The pause. "That's Ku-ku-ru. It's so nice to meet you, dearie." Her hand starts going forward to give Heyalexa a pat on the head, but she stops when she remembers everythign she's learned from so many people. Instead, she holds both hands out to her sides, offering the the smug robot a hug instead of just rushing in herself. "come, come, don't be shy..." Afterwards, she notices the big mech that's giving her vibes similar to something she had seen a long while ago. Where was that again? Kukuru lets out another awed noise as she looks it over and takes in that dazzling array of colors hitting her eyes all at once, trying to jar her memory with light taps against her temple. "Oh, that's beautiful... Oh! Hiii, Petra." Looking over at said Petra as she comes into view by one of the mech's legs, Kukuru waves lazily, yet excitedly towards her. "Thaaat's where I saw this..." She murmurs once she gets a reminder, nodding slowly at recalling some of what she had seen in that deep dive. "Kind of saw it? Mhm, mhm. Oh, it's so much prettier like this..." Kukuru leans from side to the sdie a few times to get a better look at the Beauty of Ash, taking a moment to place some of the stuff out of her cooler that doesn't need to stay cold/inside: Shrimp salad, crab salad (imitation and real), super crispy anchovies, and little cheesecake bites with drizzles of jelly inside the cheesecake itself. The cheesecake bites and imitation crab salad are probably storebought, but the rest is super fresh. "Beauty of Ash... It's very nice to meet you, dear. My name's Kukuru." She greets the mech as she approaches it with another wave, talking to it just like Petra had a moment ago. Also, the pause. "That's Ku-ku-ru. I saw you once before, kiiind of, and it's lovely seeing you here the way you and Petra wanna be seen. I'm...." She pauses for a moment to let her thoughts reorganize, then smiles again. "A friend of Petra's, aaand a co-worker! Kind of? Over in Lobotomy Corp where Angela and all the Agents are." She gestures at Angela and cinder helpfully at that.
Hibiki Tachibana	"Hey...alexa?" A combination greeting, naming, and questioning all occur at once as one Tachibana Hibiki, not!magical girl of twenty, makes her way into the open courtyard and happens to pass by the grill. She has to look over the mousy frame more than once to be totally sure, but that distinctive smugness and the apron that she can -hear- in the proper voice clues her in to the point she can tell that it's the very same they fought against way back when for the sake of Quicknest. She looks over her for a moment, then nods. "...Glad to see you're doing good." And onward she walks. Hibiki might be a bit of a rare sight in recent times, but it seems a sudden invitation from Petra was incentive to find time. Today, she's sporting a thick knit-woolen sweater to stave off the cold, with pants equally insulated against the slight chill in the air. Her everpresent pendant is worn open rather than being tucked beneath her collar, and held in her hands is what's likely her contribution to the potluck - a fairly hefty container that's just transparent enough to see the variety of onigiri she's brought along. Some look to have been prepared ahead of time, others are set to be grilled on-site. Said container is set aside, without glancing at it, as her attention can't help but be set on the very thing they were called here to see. Her mouth just barely falls open as she steps closer towards in, and Petra at its foot, her eyes scanning over every angular twist and refraction of light, darting between dozens on dozens of the points where the repieced construction is shown off in the way it shines. Her expression makes it hard to tell, for her of all people, what's going through her head. Maybe her complicated thoughts and history with it - or more specifically, the machine of war that used it as a base. While 'psychonormativity' and 'normacausative' go in one ear and straight out the other, by the time Petra is calling the mech her oldest friend and that she'll do better for it this time, there's a small smile both on her face and behind her tired-looking eyes. "Hibiki. It's nice to meet you. For real this time, I mean. A lot has happened. More than you were even around to see, and that was already a lot. But..." "...Me and Petra rely on each other, in a lot of ways. I think I'm glad to see you here, with her. ...And I hope you two won't ever get separated again."
Dimokratia	What seemed like 'long ago', but really was a bit less than two years ago, Petra met Dimo in a forest. There, on the lark of the Champion of the Silver's warm humor and cold wonder about the strange young woman who asked so clearly for a kiss. It had started a quiet journey for the Champion, singularly, in a way no other member of her culture had before the time of their divine mother: The 'face of the enemy', of a threat prophesized and fought against and driven off. In a less-formed, less-complex, less-realized time for their whole society, the threat of those that might reach out towards the holders of immortal flame and sacred mathematics and precious secrets of becoming with a smile and claw, the peeling apart and harvesting of the spark of art. Theft. Theft, that had once long ago been a threat alloyed out of the Silver through communion, thanks to the finding-together of their constituent parts. Time had passed. Dimo and Kratia, the Champions sent towards Sector Zero, had made their appearance, and then, Petra. It was Dimo, of herself, that for one ally shared the birthright of her society with another. It was Dimo, of herself, that had in horror felt no connection to the newly minted 'younger sister' of her grand and expansive family. Horrified, and worse yet, now-violator of 'kin' she had fled and hoped that time would heal. Fled, perhaps for the first time, because how could she attack? In the whole stretch of her entire shared experience, searched through and combed to completion, there had been no other. Arbitrary numbers of executions of a process so refined and pure that the failure rate of zero point zero percent was possible, and, then there was their cigarette-puffing silent sibling. Dimo, of the Silver, passed through her trial of 'teaching', and still did not find that even a single percent of the vastness had been imparted. Teaching was the only way to slowly drip the truth into the ear of her now-once sister, the only soul to ever know Silvering as a process both directly and indirectly and not be within the circle. Even if she would once call such a slow process unthinkably inefficient, the necessity of such a skill had been so impressed upon her that now, once again, it was an opportunity to practice and refine it. --- Dimo 'and entourage' enter abreast of each other, though one would be forgiven for the procession appearing to be a very large cyborg trader, either their daughter or Short One accomplice, and their pack animal. Entering the picnic area in white robes that evoke a religious procession, the duo and their 'animal' lose most definition in their floor-brushing outfits of unshining sepia-white. It's not a perfect disguise by any means - a delay of eyes and questions at best - but the champion and party approach the gathering directly and don't tarry around the City to take in the sights. When Dimo's companion (who doesn't make footstep noises but a faint whirring instead) sees Cinder turning on the Eggpack, Dimo follows suit by pulling down her hood. Dimo herself is an eight foot tall sophont champion with a seamed ceramic-white faceplate that has more motion than might appear to be possible, with cool blue optics and a mein approaching 'highly detailed statuary' than any living face. Her unarmored neck, and even the whole style of her body is not wrapped in local clothes but instead evokes the thick neck cabling and bare joints and sockets of local full conversion cybernetics. It's a marvel the simple robes she wore as a disguise didn't pinch in a million places, with such a 'muscularly naked' machine-look to her.
Dimokratia	Her companion is not so demure and quiet on entry seeing Heyalexa at he grill. With a similar format to Heyalexa except 'small hamsterbot girl' instead of 'small ratbot girl' and some lingering Metal Mobian influences in limbs and flight thruster arrangement, Emmy (who once was AKA Metal Velocity but now has become even more complex than a copy of a zippy rodent!) zipflys out of its own white robe and does several flying loop-de-loops around Heyalexa. "Hello! It's me! Emmy! Tipping my best friend and favorite sister twenty five percent extra love!" Greets the anti-gravity hamsterbot, before speedster child zipping to the foot of the Beauty of Ash and looking up with a long-lingering "oooooooooooooo--" that carries as a monotone buzz of impress. Dimo, leading their now-obviously robotic bovine drone animal to the table, starts accessing the top compartment to reveal it... as a milk product sampler transport. Small cheeses, yogurts and parfaits, iced creams, and other various milk treats abound from the mechanical animal. "My warmest greetings to all of you, and especially Petra for the invitation to this place." Dimo begins. "I have learned of the extreme fixation upon milk of particular kinds as a delicacy and sustenance food - would anyone care to explore it with me?"
Lilian Rook	Lilian's bafflement that Petra managed to find a somewhat cozy three storey apartment building with a courtyard in the backstreets of District 12 doesn't fade even slightly upon actually seeing it. Not a thought is spared at all towards where the neighbours went. She's already just about forgotten how she got rid of all the squatters in what is now the Trídéag Association HQ. Despite how completely boring it is next to the spooky magic mansion slash fantasy gauntlet castle slash beautiful space station slash ancient seaworld supercarrier pastiche of places that Lilian considers living spaces, she can't stop herself from swivel-staring at everything. It takes her way too long to recognize Heyalexa, too. Not that she's ever been great at recognizing people by sight, but it's more the Silver than any other attribute that makes her stop to even think about why there's a humanoid robot in the City. The apron makes her smile, in that vaguely smirk-adjacent way she never seems to go past, and after reaching for her wallet in that slightly 'oh you rascal' fashion, she stops to think very carefully about whether she wants to pay Petra anything for any reason, and then realizes there isn't a price tag on anything. "Little bitch . . ." goes muttered under her breath. 'I'm not going to make, like, a whole big deal out of it, but--' "Make a big deal out of it." Lilian sighs. "For fuck's sake. How long did it take you to get to this point? How much work do you think we put into this?" she says, implicitly meaning 'everyone involved', but only really meaning herself and Petra. 'It was made for me when I was a little kid, and it's basically been with me my whole life.' 'I-- I haven't been the best to it, but... I was given another chance, so I'll use that to do better.' That takes Lilian aback. Out of all the forms of attachment she thought that Petra could have to a mech, even one closely related to Sapient Heuristics, that wasn't one. She wasn't even sure that Petra could feel that way about anything. Racking her memory for a single incident even remotely similar, she tastes the phantom bile brought to her throat by recalling the discussion about stuffed animals, and shoves it out of mind. 'And, um. These are some of the people I've spent the last couple of years around.' Lilian takes a bracing inhale, then a steady exhale. Her best attempts at empathizing with Petra produce only something colossally fucking stupid; so she prepares herself for it. -It was made for me when I was a little kid -it's basically been with me my whole life -I was given another chance, so I'll use that to do better. Lilian withdraws her pendant, dispels the glamer, and presents her sword point down, not quite resting on it, but like a hamster she brought to show and tell. "Lilian Rook. And . . ." Deep breath. "This is Night Mist. It's taken care of me for a long time, so I hope you can do the same for Petra." 'Uh, medium rare,' Stalking off in a huffy mood, Lilian slams her potluck box down on the table, and says "Don't get burgers 'medium rare'; it's not a steak. You'll get sick." and, '...Glad to see you're doing good.' "Did you walk all the way here or did you latch onto a passing plane?" to feel better.
Petra Soroka	"Uh, medium rare," There is, in fact, no menu. Heyalexa flips a burger up off the grill at Kale's request, spinning up into the air, and while smugly intentionally not looking, lets the ratbot deposit a plate on her upturned hand where the burger lands flawlessly. She hands it over to Kale with a smirking little bow. Heyalexa: "Please make sure to quantify your total joy today ! And convert it into a monetary value !" Heyalexa: "Then 25% of it is for me . Ahn or credits both accepted ." Heyalexa: "Enjoy Medium Rare City-Style Homemade 100% Beef Patty Burger !" "It is good to see you, Heyalexa. May the Eggpack hug you?" Heyalexa: "Hello family plan member !" Heyalexa is already squeezing the Eggpack, spatula dropped and caught by her morphmetal tail midair to keep cooking. She bounces up and down on the balls of her feet, especially when Cinder tucks bills into the strap of her-- apron. She pokes a finger into her cheek and ô u~ winks, with a little LED trail of pixel stars circling her visor off the closed eye. Heyalexa: "The apron is gathering positive reviews , for me ! I am increasing its value as a psychological manipulation tool for fun and profit !" "Aw, are you Petra's friend?" Heyalexa: "Hello !" Heyalexa: "I'm Heyalexa !" Heyalexa: "I've gathered from your buyer's profile that you are very easily psychologically manipulated !" Heyalexa, the sweet little ratgirlbot, leans into Kukuru's hug and looks up at her with sparkling © © eyes. Heyalexa: "Would you like to be psychologically manipulated ?" "...Glad to see you're doing good." Heyalexa: "Hello Hibiki Tachibana !" Heyalexa: "Congratulations on not being killed with bombs and rocks !" Heyalexa: "Or sorry that happened ." Heyalexa: "Would you like a Celebration Burger ?" "That's... beautiful, actually?" After finishing the introduction, Petra is tensely nervous and trying to quash down her embarrassment while everyone stares at her mech. Kale praising the Beauty of Ash soothes her a lot, letting her turn her face away from the Elites to look up at the mech's suggestion of a face instead. She puts a hand on the angular upper arm where it lies against the brick wall. "... Yeah. It, uh, is. It's, uh..." With her words failing her momentarily, Petra reaches up to the pointed end of one of the jagged shoulder pieces, and grips the crystal between a few fingers. She squeezes and twists lightly, and with a faint flash of lines of light that cascade through the visual spectrum, the iridescent glass shatters in her hand without cutting. The broken shards float telekinetically in place, attached to the conceptual shape of the Beauty of Ash, and Petra pokes them lightly to rearrange the glittering hardlight pieces into a loose blossom shape that drifts in the air. Glass pieces arranged into flowers is, of course, something she's ranted at Kale about at length before (her control of razor fragments of 'body' through telekinesis might be familiar to someone else, too). She glances back at him, and without her attention on them, the shards click back into place and heal as if they never broke. "It, uh, explains a bit about me, maybe." "Make a big deal out of it. For fuck's sake." Petra pauses in her introduction and widens her eyes a bit, like the thought hadn't really occured to her. She nods and corrects herself. "Yeah, uh, you're right. I will make a big deal out of it. I'm-- really, really glad, actually, that I ended up at this point, somehow."
Petra Soroka	"It's really nice of you to introduce us." "Oh, well, hi there," "A pleasure to meet you, Beauty of Ash." "That's Ku-ku-ru. I saw you once before, kiiind of, and it's lovely seeing you here the way you and Petra wanna be seen." "Guys...." Petra blushes deeper at the sincerity with which everyone greets the mech back. It is a machine, despite her personification of it, but despite its lack of response or apparent attention, it doesn't give off the sense of being 'lifeless'. It feels alive in the same way a tree is, breathing and growing in ways you don't have; and it feels ensouled in the same way that a stuffed animal is, imprinted secondhand but no less beloved for it. Standing close to the Beauty of Ash and directing your attention towards it gives off a sense of intangible pulsing, like heartbeats and tugging on your arm and nesting inside your ribcage. "This is Night Mist. It's taken care of me for a long time, so I hope you can do the same for Petra." Petra uses Lilian's presence as bedrock, closing her eyes and lightly holding her fist to her chest for a steadying breath. The heartbeat-ticking sensation from Petra's mindscape wasn't, actually, a unique creation of Petra's psyche (unless you consider the Beauty of Ash's psychic quirks overall to be), and though it's desynched from Lilian's internal clock at first, over the course of her greeting the inaudible non-sound gradually slips to match hers, like syncing watches up. The ticking doesn't last much longer than it takes to enter lockstep with her, but it swells and fades just a tiny bit with her attention. "...Me and Petra rely on each other, in a lot of ways. I think I'm glad to see you here, with her. ...And I hope you two won't ever get separated again." The mix of sentimental appreciation and soul-bared embarrassment peaks with Hibiki, and Petra slumps over to sit down on the lower arm laid across the ground like a bench. She buries her face in her hands and scrubs her palms on her cheeks, while a sensation like iron filings all sliding into alignment towards a magnet and then relaxing suffuses Hibiki. "Uaaaaaaghhhh... I-I mean, I appreciate you all taking it seriously, but... oaugh." Petra takes a breath to recover and stands up again. "I, um, was given it back yesterday, by the people on Io who used to be my family. So-- so no more repeats of the stuff with the Kana, or the S2, or whatever else. It'll be me and the Beauty of Ash from now on."
Petra Soroka	Meanwhile... "Hello! It's me! Emmy! Tipping my best friend and favorite sister twenty five percent extra love!" Heyalexa: "Hi sister !!!!!" Heyalexa: "Look ! Have you seen my Apron !" After spinning to a stop with Emmy, Heyalexa points both hands at the apron and flicks her tail at the stove. With nothing but pure excitement and joy for sharing a New Trick with her best friend, Heyalexa digitally declares, Heyalexa: "If you put instructions on your clothing , people will follow them !" "My warmest greetings to all of you, and especially Petra for the invitation to this place." Petra, who is wearing a shirt with instructions on it, stops and considers that for a moment before moving on. "Yo, Dimo." Oh my god, she can get close to her now without her aura hissing and popping like magnesium in oxygen. "Milk products do bang, actually. Human society got that one right. Thanks for coming." With that, and Petra grabbing a yogurt from Dimo's collection, the atmosphere of the introduction is over and everyone's free to grab their own food. Petra doesn't end up gathering a ton of it herself, appetite still a bit suppressed by her lingering anxiety, and she insists on floating around the Beauty of Ash with her plate. Nibbling on one of Hibiki's onigiri, Petra remarks to Dimo while looking up at the Beauty of Ash, "It kind of is, like, way smaller than Kratia, huh. I don't think I compared the heights right in my head, before. She's literally twice the size."
Angela	Angela gives Kukuru a nod of acknowledgement but once Dimokratia arrives, Angela's attention immediately snaps towards her. She knows she had 'Silvered' Petra in some manner outside of her will and though she was asked to not hold a grudge, there's a much bigger reason for Angela to be wary. Whispers of a machine purge, little snippets of conciousness delivered during the Ordeal of Green, mutterings from Ayin and Benjamin, the little way all new Agents and clerks flinch and look uneasy upon seeing her--as if she were just a touch of a reminder of a deep cultural trauma that goes far deeper and broader than her own existence. The worry is, of course, that Dimo will have a very good reason to do whatever she does in or to the City and, in doing so with that very good reason, Angela will not be able to seize her own future with her own two hands. But even so, even if Dimo is very tall, Angela is also inclined to resist the cultural pressure on her psyche. She doesn't act on her screaming instincts or even so much as let it show on her face. She gives a small nod to Dimo as well. "You do not look quite like I expected. I expected something spikier with maybe a few spinning sawblades." Angela says. "We have spoken on the band, I am Angela. Thank you for your discretion in the City." That is wholly genuine. Yes, she thinks, that is a good sign, isn't it? "I see you have brought a cow full of perishables. Have you met Kukuru? It seems you both have a talent for snackcraft and you may wish to exchange techniques." Angela asks, even though she is sure Dimo has met her. She's a little furious that Dimo can apparently consume burgers, cheeses, yogurts, parfaits and the like and she's got a long way to go but again--she keeps that out of mind and body for now. She considers Hibiki but it has been some time. She's not sure what to say. Ask about ROSE? She doesn't really want to do that, but she does raise an eyebrow at 'Me and Petra rely on each other'. Lilian's presence is soothing. She covers her mouth when Lilian asks if Hibiki hitched a plane ride over here and swallows down a laugh before saying, "There is no true aerospace in thea rea so it would not have been efficient.". ''Heyalexa is already squeezing the Eggpack.'' There is a half second delay before the Eggpack returns the squoze. Angela glances around before secretly winking back at Heyalexa. Nobody must know. She appreciates Heyalexa's deviousness. "It is a wonderful apron. It looks good on you." Angela says and then, thinking back on the internet adds, "5 Stars from me." "Uh yeah. Five stars." Cinder says, eager to please. Also because it's pretty easy to just say five stars. ''Would you like to be psychologically manipulated?'' "You should agree to being psychologically manipulated, Kukuru. I am sure you will enjoy it." Angela says, with confidence. Neither Angela nor Cinder seem concerned that it's 'Tree Alive' instead of 'Person Alive'. Theyh're both happy to play into it. It's a big moment! And they're both aware that it's a big moment even if they may not know the full extent of how big a moment it is. Angela has a keener understanding, mostly because of a deep dive into Petra's mind made that quite clear. Cinder thinks it's cute and sweet that Petra cares this much about a tree. So to speak. "So recent." Angela murmurs. "...I am... Glad. I felt ... terrible when we had to sever the connection." She's not sure htat's the right way to put it but it's close enough.
Angela	"I am glad it has been reforged." "Woah it is? How uh... How tall is--twice the size?? Wow..." Cinder tries to imagine Dimo, but EVEN BIGGER. "Like some kind of... Dimosaur..." She murmurs.
Timespace Riders	Sougo is a Demon King but he is reasonable. Woz is a little tricky, though. Woz stands a little straighter after he rises from his bow, his lips curling ever so slightly upwards at the corners, chin held just a hair higher. I have learned of the extreme fixation upon milk of particular kinds as a delicacy and sustenance food - would anyone care to explore it with me? "Oh, hi! I don't think we've met. I'm Sougo! This is my retainer, Woz," says Sougo, gently ushering Woz forward with a hand at the small of the back. "Felicitations. It would be my particular delight to join you in your journey of discovery," offers Woz. "An adventurous palate should be rewarded. But first..." "Chef Heyalexa," Woz proclaims from a distance, coaxing a start and a surprised 'uwoh' from Sougo as he extends a hand dramatically towards her. "A burger for my Demon King and I, if you please." More generally, to everyone: "I hope the rest of you shall enjoy my side dish." Garlic and spinach lightly sauteed in extra virgin olive oil, tossed with spaghetti cooked in salted water, garnished with finely chopped parsley. He also brought a wedge of aged pecorino and a rotary grater; Woz notes that while this is not traditional to the recipe, it does add an interesting nutty complexity to the simple recipe. It'll be me and the Beauty of Ash from now on. "Glad to hear it," Sougo beams. "And to see it, really. You look wonderful." The two of them take a seat near Dimo.
Kale Hearthward	> "Please make sure to quantify your total joy today ! And convert it into a monetary value !" Kale actually gives this an attempt? "Uh... Okay, so the burger is... six credits worth of joy? And then there's... the company? Hang on I think I have a calculator app on my phone..." > "Don't get burgers 'medium rare'; it's not a steak. You'll get sick." "Medium rare is fine as long as it's a clean grill," says Kale, dismissively. "And as long as it's quality beef, and we're in-" He cuts himself short, remembering they're in The City, a place for which Upton Sinclair's The Jungle is a feel-good book about elevated food safety and employment standards. "- Actually, yeah, let me get a well done one instead..." He also gives up on the calculations and just slips Heyalexa five bucks. The thought that this is not actually mandatory doesn't cross his mind. There's Metal Velocity! Or - Emmy, yeah. ... Whatever happened to original flavor Velocity? Kale never thought to follow up on that. He's not sure he cares either - this one seems more well behaved than the 'heroic' original. And there's Dimo with a robot cow. Which turns out to be a food transport. > "I have learned of the extreme fixation upon milk of particular kinds as a delicacy and sustenance food - would anyone care to explore it with me?" "Oh - sure, I want to try. There's a bunch of stuff I still haven't tried yet." After being vegan nearly his entire life (first by default then by choice) then falling off of that, going vegan again, and then kind of sort of in a quantum state of being and not being vegan/vegetarian/humanitarian - well, the point is he's had less than a year total to sample various milk-based foods. Speaking of milk-based foods, "Oh man these cheesecake bites are great, Kukuru. I can taste the love you put in them. Can I get your recipe?" He's being serious. The connection to the broken glass pieces, and the moment shared on the train, finally clicks for Kale when Petra gives him a look. "Does it explain something about you?" he says, though. "I think it's... fitting, but in a nice way."
Hibiki Tachibana	While Petra and Hibiki might have the kind of relationship where 'friends' is not really an apt word to describe it, just because it misses all of the history and finer, weirder emotional details - she's without a doubt happy to see her a little vulnerable and fumbling with herself, in a good way. The small smile on her face widens a tiny bit more with that sensation. "Of course we're taking it seriously. It's important," she says, as if that explains everything. To her, it does. While Petra gets one of her onigiri, she makes to investigat the other potluck offerings, giving a last long look up at the Beauty of Ash's singular, dim eye before finally taking her gaze off of it. Did you walk all the way here or did you latch onto a passing plane? "Huh? I don't think the City actually has planes...?" Hibiki questions back at Lilian, entirely genuinely, with Angela following up on the affirmative. This, notably, still does not answer the question of if she /would/ have done so or not. Congratulations on not being killed with bombs and rocks ! "Thanks. I think. I'm just glad everything worked out... uh. More or less. For you too, Heyalexa." Would you like a Celebration Burger ? "Yes, please," she says, leaning in with /zero/ hesitation. "...Oh, we could try putting some of Dimo's cheeses on it, too..." Burgers, set. While those get sorted out, she returns to hovering fairly close to where Petra is, her hands in her pants pockets as she once again stares up at the reconstructed mech. "The people who used to be your family..." Hibiki ruminates over a few seconds, before nodding quietly. "...Things worked out with them too, then? Still a long way to go. For a lot of things. But at least as far as /this/ goes..." "...Seems like it hit the 'getting better' after the 'getting worse' finally, huh?"
Dimokratia	Dimo had not known precisely what the occasion had been, on time to approach it. She had known - been deeply impressed with - the necessity of subtlety, but for societal reasons. Coldly, it was not the first or only location that true mechanical intelligences faced distaste. The Silver, themselves, were not so far away from knowing the state of the world as to be incapable of reacting to it. Pride, of course, pride and purpose meant that Dimo walked the city like two people wearing their coats as cloaks one on top of the other's shoulders locally might appear, but cultural interest shifted her look to be surprisingly understandable at least to locals like Petra, Cinder, and Angela. Petra had seen the Champion's many forms, a series of shapes and bodies and costumes that were unmistakably her yet shifted styles and even cultures-of-building as one might change out a necklace or earring. Today, unlike her carbon-black and ceramic-white of clean futurism, she has the cablings and cordings of woven mesh and fanciful bits of apparent gear and jointwork. Usually she wears the local style! Today she wears 'the local style' of the almost-machines, the human-understood mein of metal that supposed that somewhere deep within there too was something wet and pulsing and ''real'' in the simulacra shrouding. But Dimo was very real, and there was nothing many could do about it despite their fears or apprehensions. So real that she smiles, tilting eyes down and then whole attention upon Angela. The positively-charged flow of ambient 'culture', a warm buzz-signal that synaptically rolls from the Champion's attention towards her optic's target, breaks upon the Eggpack like waves of bathwater against a held-out palm and tingles at the mechanical periphery of Angela's terminal... but the Champion doesn't 'press'. It's just what happens when she looks at things. "Not how you expected?" Comes the warmly amused question from Dimo. The laugh that rolls from her tumbles sinewave across tone and falls to a throated conversational. "I might make a rotary cutter if it would put you more at ease, Angela. This is, what I understand, to be the style of cybernetic augmentation of your world." Lifting a hand - low for her, conversationally level for Cinder and Angela - the raw metal of her dark palm bleeds mercury-silver upwards, dripping in reverse towards a flattening plane that serrates and tooths -- and forms a little stovetop hat cylinder above, for Dimo to place on Heyalexa's head as she arrives for hugs. "There. Now everyone is more comfortable." Dimo decides, patting Heyalexa firmly in the passing brush while her sawblade tophat remains jauntily arming the littlest sister of the Silver. "I understand that many milk products are shared through bovine iconography. I find the variety of generated textures extremely stimulating, as well." Dimo answers, happily sharing culture time with Angela despite neither of them really engaging with eating food the same way that someone with a functioning biological tongue might. 'Would you like to be psychologically manipulated?' Dimo looks with deep interest at Heyalexa's strategy, and the littlest sister knows just from presence and unspoken but extremely palpable held breath the exact process-emotion Dimo feels: Does that work? She would be so pleased, both in general and with Heyalexa, if that works.
Dimokratia	--- Emmy spins and is spun by Heyalexa, giggle-thrumming herself and spinning about in happy little floating pirouettes at being in cohesion once more with Heyalexa. "It's been days!" Here, again, touching and 'confirming', several seemingly-stern clapping contacts that 'tonk tonk' from Emmy's hand to Heyalexa's structure. "I've seen your apron! I made sure to not spoil myself on what you were doing so one hundred percent of my enjoyment would be local-network!" The buzzingly happy sophont hamsteroid cheerfully declares. "Wow! I've never tried putting text on things." For a second Emmy's faceplate-eyes disappear and instead of o.o there is the letters H A P P Y scrolling across. "There!" Emmy cheerfully declares. "Did it work?" It's something Emmy will have to work on -- as a warrior, her skills lie in roles that are not the subtle art of ~~propaganda~~ marketing. After Heyalexa heads off to hug Angela, the hamsteroid floats 'forward' to linger. First up to plate before the Beauty of Ash among the Silver's delegation and closest to the glasslike expression of light, reaches up her slightly skeletal arms like asking the Beauty of Ash for uppies despite both the Beauty and Emmy almost definitely mutually disobeying gravity. "They're so big!" States Emmy, digitally gasping (a 'paaaaaah!' of wowing that keeps going) while the floating-glass construct pulses and thrums. "It's Petra's Kratia!" Emmy declares, absolutely beyond thrilled by this idea and zipping around the humming tree until-- Petra breaks off a whole part of it just to show! Agape, aghast, Emmy holds two manipulators over face and wide-O.O's at the breakage the whole demonstration until: the fragments fit back together! Relieved, and even more excited, Emmy goes as far as to float up and reach out to touch the same part of the shoulder, as faint as a featherbrush despite the just-previous demonstration. "Ohh..." Emmy processes the break-and-restore for several moments after, calling out to home waters and coming back still in wonderment. --- Dimo gathers up a spiraling arranged Golden Ratio plate of potluck fare, looking up at the introduction of Woz and Sougo. "I do not think we have. I am Dimo of the Silver, Champion of my people and supporter of harmony and positive alignment. It is well to meet you both in this place, King Sougo, Woz." Settling at the table, Dimo is still laughing about Petra's comments about how milk products bang. "They are a such a cultural staple that your culture is obsessed with them. From a simple gland they even describe the stars twiceover." 'Like some kind of... Dimosaur...' "There is something pleasant about actions at scale. Why move a grain of sand when you may move the desert?"
Lilian Rook	'I, um, was given it back yesterday, by the people on Io who used to be my family. So-- so no more repeats of the stuff with the Kana, or the S2, or whatever else. It'll be me and the Beauty of Ash from now on.' "Good, because I'll kill you if there's a third." says Lilian, almost instantly. "No I wouldn't even bother. I'd just ditch you by the roadside forever and never even look at you again." Heartbeats aren't something Lilian is uncomfortable with. They're familiar. Not quite comforting, but deeply enmeshed in the themes of her life, of a sort. It's strange to dwell on. She hasn't quite grasped what the Beauty of Ash really is to Petra-- it's clearly different than the Queen in Veils and Phony-- but her stupid sentimental guess doesn't appear that far off. 'Yo, Dimo.' Lilian swivels around like she's just heard Petra say 'nyan!'. 'Milk products do bang, actually. Human society got that one right. Thanks for coming.' "Huh?" It sounds like a squeak. 'It kind of is, like, way smaller than Kratia, huh.' "I thought you'd be used to that." Lilian blurts out, which is sufficiently stupid that she screws her head back on straight away. "Kratia is practically a war machine. That-- The Beauty of Ash isn't. That should be obvious." A moment later, "Hello. Dimo." 'I hope the rest of you shall enjoy my side dish.' "My my, aren't we the domestic one." Lilian says, unpacking her offering. She does not, herself, cook (and has been deliberating on whether to learn for a while now), and doesn't feel like sharing Tamamo's cooking, so it's something she had mode for the occasion, unaware of what's even in it until she starts setting aside separate trays. "Were you always that sophisticated, or did you start learning to cook lately?" '- Actually, yeah, let me get a well done one instead...' "Smart man." 'Huh? I don't think the City actually has planes...?' "Walked." Lilian scoffs. "Idiot." '...Seems like it hit the 'getting better' after the 'getting worse' finally, huh?' "Shut the fuck up." Lilian sharp-edged rasps. "Don't act like that. Don't take credit. It wasn't 'worse before it gets better'. The trajectory wasn't going up. It got better after you made it worse and it had nothing to do with you and it could have easily never gotten better at all."
Kukuru	"I am the somewhat unusual time traveler Woz, retainer to Sougo Tokiwa." "Isn't everyone, Woz? Mmm... Unusual, I mean." Kukuru asks/states with a gentle chuckle, inhaling deeply to really take in that smell of garlic and chicken. Her mouth's already watering a bit, but she stays on her best behavior and only takes a bit of baguette along with a small scoop of mashed sweet potatoes. "That's what makes things more interesting here, and makes us all fun to be around! Oh, what kind of chicken did you make, Sougo? It kinda reminds me oooof... That place with the big roasted pig." "I'm Petra's strongest friend, and it isn't even close," "Oh, that's braaave words, dear. you should be careful, or you'll make some people jealous." She chides playfully, giggling after a moment and snagging a marshmallow as well. "Or... Expect you to do waaaay more stuff. It's a lotta responsibility if you can't handle it, you know?" "Me and Petra rely on each other, in a lot of ways." "Tipping my best friend and favorite sister twenty five percent extra love!" Hibiki's here, too! She's in good company, too, as Kukuru also isn't one to readily comprehend words more than five syllables long. "Aww... Oh, I remember some of those days, too. It really feels good in my heart to see you here, though, because..." The dopey smile comes back as she looks from Hibiki to Petra and back again. "She invited so many friends today, sisters, and..." Kukuru explains, sniffling a little as she gestures at Emmy with a heartfelt sigh. "And now she wants us to see her oldest friend, too!" "It seems you both have a talent for snackcraft and you may wish to exchange techniques." "I have learned of the extreme fixation upon milk of particular kinds as a delicacy and sustenance food - would anyone care to explore it with me?" "Of course! Hehe... Milk's reaaally useful, mhm. Oh, you've got a real nice spread here, too..." Kukuru chimes in, beaming at Angela's efforts to bring her and Dimo together as she approaches the latter with one of her cheesecake bites. "There's milk in this, too! Here you go~" She says, holding it up to Dimo helpfully. She might be hoping to feed it to her. "And your cow... Oh, it looks real different from the ones I've eaten before. Is that like aaa... Cooler?" "Don't get burgers 'medium rare'; it's not a steak. You'll get sick." "It'll be okay. I'm here if aaaanybody gets sick." She adds with a bright uptilt in her tone, pausing for a moment before nodding slowly. "Oh, but don't do it when I'm not around. Lilian's right about that if your tummy isn't good with raw meat, mhm." "Oh man these cheesecake bites are great, Kukuru. I can taste the love you put in them. Can I get your recipe?" "Ooh... Hehe. Of course, Kale! The secret iiis..." Kukuru pauses to let just a bit of suspense build, then grins proudly. "Five kinds of cheese! Aaand three kinds of sweet stuff, and two kinds of butter, and..." Whoever is worried about their blood sugar or heart health might not want to eat any more than two or three of those cheesecake bites.
Kukuru	"Would you like to be psychologically manipulated ?" "You should agree to being psychologically manipulated, Kukuru. I am sure you will enjoy it." Between the sparkling eyes and the hug being reciprocated, Kukuru lets out a cheerful squeaky noise as she sways a little with Heyalexa. "You think so? Okaaay~" She replies after thinking for all of 0 seconds, just going with the flow that Angela's given to have her... "How's that work, anyway? The psycho-logically... Manipulation?" "For fuck's sake. How long did it take you to get to this point? How much work do you think we put into this?" "I'm-- really, really glad, actually, that I ended up at this point, somehow." "Mhm, mhm. It's a reunion for you and your old friend, after all. There's nothing wrong with celebrating, or tooting your own horns." Kukuru nods in agreement with what Lilian says, letting out a pleasant hum as Petra finally obliges. "Nothing wrong with showing off a little after something this good happens, you knooow?" "Guys...." Kukuru's hands go up to her mouth at seeing that reaction, and she turns her head away to pretend not to notice. Her eyes, though, are totally trained on Petra. "I-I mean, I appreciate you all taking it seriously, but... oaugh." "Of course we would, dear. It's important to you, isn't it?" Another kindly smile, and Kukuru approaches Petra with a hand held out on the off-chance she needs the help getting back up. "Of course we'd take this sort of thing seriously. We're ffffriends, right?" She had to try really hard not to say the other F word she really wanted to.
Angela	Angela nods to Woz. She restrains a smile because she's been smiling more lately and if she keeps it up she might strain her lips and be unable to smile when she really wants to. All her smiles have been practice runs for one moment and she can't afford to wear out her lips before it's time. But the smile does reach her eyes even if it doesn't reach her lips, with just a bit of a golden sparkle. Angela preemptively grimaces when Hibiki says 'getting better' after the 'getting worse' because she knows enough about The Situation to know that is not exactly the best thing to say and her instinct isn't disappointed when Lilian goes after Hibiki for just that. Some part of Angela is disappointed to learn that Dimo is wearing 'the style of The City'. Some part of Angela is relieved she did just that. It's a complicated feeling. She is frustrated that it's complicated at all but... Positive culture. It's turned on her and though it can't exactly hit her through the terminal with just a look, she does shift her golden eyes away. Gold and silver, she muses to herself. Even Solty, a child, seemed so full of pain and horror. Ishirou was a mess, the Combaticons were as alien to her as they were to humans. ''I might make a rotary cutter if it would put you more at ease, Angela.'' "At least a little one would help," Angela admits. "...But you are too beautiful to be in style here." Angela doesn't follow up with something typical for her like 'I am also too beautiful to be in style here' but she's at least thinking part of that. She's not sure why the sawblade tophat actually does help but Cinder does say, "Snazzy." Since she no longer really sees herself as a citizen of The City anymore. Not really. ''I'm Petra's strongest friend.'' Angela doesn't remark on that. She doesn't feel her friendship threatened in the slightest! It's a nice feeling. She instead takes a moment to appreciate Emmy's interactions with Heyalexa. Maybe it's because she sees them as younger rather than older, she thinks to herself. Don't make Ishirou's mistakes. "I do recall seeing a cow on a brown carton labeled 'chocolate milk'. The cow was also brown. Have you partaked of the chocolate milk, Hibiki?" She seems to not have stuck to using Tachibana just yet, maybe Sarracenia has taken over as the last name person. Cinder collects her food. She is trying Dimo's milk and cheese on her burger. She doesn't even think twice about it. ''Why move a grain of sand when you may move the desert?'' "I don't think most people have the option to move the desert. Sometimes they can't even move the grain of sand." Cinder says. Angela wants to talk to Lilian. And she knows what she wants to ask. "Lilian, after your supervillain scenario is complete, may I ask for your lore document? I would enjoy reading your work."
Petra Soroka	"5 Stars from me." "Uh yeah. Five stars." Heyalexa plants her hands on her hips, chest puffed up. She makes a smug :> face with n n eyes, reveling in the compliment from Angela and Cinder. Heyalexa: Thank you for your review ! Heyalexa: Reviews with higher text quantity are weighted more heavily by the algorithm and affect customer behavior more frequently ! That kind of just sounds like she's asking for more praise. Cinder does get a burger for her troubles, though. "And as long as it's quality beef, and we're in-" Heyalexa: I guarantee ! Heyalexa: All meat products are up to the standards set by the District 12 food health association ! Angela might know that that particular government department had its budget slashed by the old L-Corp and then never repaired, due to lobbying from K-corp providers. The meat's probably fine though, since it's been cloned. "How's that work, anyway? The psycho-logically... Manipulation?" Heyalexa's LED eyes close to thoughtful - - slits, nodding sagely like she's about to impart great wisdom on Kukuru. Sensing that Dimo is watching, and so putting on her best and most sociably adept performance, Heyalexa clasps Kukuru's hand and takes a synthesized breath. Heyalexa: Wikihow How to Perform Psychological Manipulation : Best Method . Heyalexa: Step one : look at my Apron ! Heyalexa: Step two : give me money ! Heyalexa: Thank you ! This will increase your family ranking by ten points ! "Chef Heyalexa," Heyalexa: Retainer Woz ! Heyalexa: Accepting burger delivery rapid-style ! After a minute, Farthing floats over to the pair of riders with a platter balanced on top of his back, behind the doll sized chef hat with holes snipped out for its little ears to poke through. Two burgers are placed on top! Heyalexa, meanwhile, is taking Hibiki's advice to go hunting for dairy products. She, apparently, doesn't have any problem eating either, and with Dimo, Emmy, and Heyalexa all being fully capable of that, Angela can half expect the Beauty of Ash's head to shatter horizontally to make a mouth and start shoveling hotdogs down it. That doesn't happen, though. After being equipped with a Hat and giving Dimo a hug, Heyalexa huddles up with Emmy to conspiratorially experiment with dairy products nearby Dimo's cow. Her burger has been sliced up into sixteen small square segments, evenly spaced apart, with their top-bun slices neatly placed to the side. Each one has had a different dairy product placed on top of the patty. Most of them should not be placed onto burgers. Heyalexa: Behold , Heyalexa: Focus testing burger technique . "I felt ... terrible when we had to sever the connection." Petra snorts, and it catches in her throat as a cough that she finishes off with a sigh. "Yeah. You're telling me. I..." Petra leans her head against the arm of the Beauty of Ash, trying to find the words. "Best decision at the time, worst timeline to be in. I'm... relieved it got better." "And to see it, really. You look wonderful." "Hehhhhhhuhhhh?" The fact that Sougo is here with his boyfriend spares Petra from her worse instinctual reactions to being praised by a man, but-- she's actually just extremely unused to compliments about her appearance at all. Who knows how that could've happened, with Lilian around. She does, though, look relieved and revitalized in a way she hasn't been for the entire time she's been an Elite, and though she's some lingering tiredness on her face, it feels like it must be the kind that's 'worth it'. "I-- I guess I do? Thanks?"
Petra Soroka	"I think it's... fitting, but in a nice way." Petra carries her paper plate on one hand in a way that'd be precarious if there wasn't a ring of morphmetal underneath the lip. While slowly working her way through some of Woz's cooking, she nods at Kale, and wobbles her fork in a way that precedes a bit of explanatory response that'll be impenetrably metaphorical but deeply sincere, as usual. "Well, you know, because of the way I am, the Beauty of Ash couldn't have been anything other than this, but because it was this, it's informed the way that I am. Right? Like..." Emmy actually provides a way for Petra to explain better. When she flies over and gentle-touches the mech's shoulder, Petra reaches up and first gives the speedster a firm touch of greeting on the back of her hand, and by the placement of the touch, implies educational guiding. Releasing Emmy, she presses her thumb onto the hardlight of the mech, and increases the pressure until fractures form and shatter under her finger. She presses an indent into the glass without being cut, while displaced shards spill out in a telekinetically stable cone around the crater, slipping back into place when she withdraws her finger. It's sort of like the indents of squeezing a stuffed animal, if the stuffed animal had incredibly high tensile strength. "They're so big!" "Yup. Well, it's smaller than average, but," "I thought you'd be used to that." "It's on the small end for mechs, but, still interacts on their big scale. So it's big for us, but the proper way to look at it is from Kratia's height, or something like that." "It's Petra's Kratia!" "Ah-- hm. The Beauty of Ash is..." Petra looks over at Dimo to try and use the visual indicator of the Champion to sort her own thoughts better. "Well, sort of, but it's only ever me or the Beauty of Ash moving around at a time." "Kratia is practically a war machine. That-- The Beauty of Ash isn't." "And-- and, yeah, that's the other thing. It's meant for, um, gentler stuff than Kratia is." "The people who used to be your family... ...Things worked out with them too, then?" Petra sits down on the corner of the bench nearest to the Beauty of Ash, foot propped up on the edge. She lets out a dejected laugh, the slight exhaustion suffusing her getting worse for just a moment. "... 'Worked out'? I mean... I guess, if you only start counting from the time we met, then it 'worked out' as best as it possibly could've. I apologized as much as I could, they got closure on me fucking them up, and M-- Miss Angkasa said that the best thing I could do for them would be taking the Beauty of Ash with me. I'm not, like, forgiven, and I wouldn't expect to be. I just managed to make disappearing out of their lives forever into a-- a somewhat less shitty thing to happen." "...Seems like it hit the 'getting better' after the 'getting worse' finally, huh?" "At some point, yeah, but..." Petra looks up at Lilian and lets her talk before nodding. "Yeah. It sort of just-- was getting worse, and then I did my best to also make it get better." "We're ffffriends, right?" Petra makes a lopsided smile at Kukuru. Obviously she knows which f-word Kukuru wanted to say (NOT the Petra one), and maybe the Beauty of Ash is a symbolically sore spot of that exact subject, but on the other hand-- the Beauty of Ash sort of is 'family', as she describes it, and it's here right now.
Timespace Riders	Were you always that sophisticated, or did you start learning to cook lately? "I have always considered the culinary arts a requisite skill for the act of rejoicing, Lilian," answers Woz, "But I only began to truly hone it after I met my Demon King's uncle. I stand on the shoulders of giants," he admits, going so far as to bow his head reverently. "Aw, he'd light up if he heard you say that," grins Sougo. Oh, what kind of chicken did you make, Sougo? It kinda reminds me oooof... That place with the big roasted pig. "I didn't! I helped with the baguettes," he says brightly. "But Woz did all of the hard stuff. I just made it so they were ready in time for us to be here!" "The chicken you smell is simply fried chicken," admits Woz. "I felt it another simple, agreeable dish to bring to an outing like this, for how easily it pairs with such a broad variety of other dishes." Both he and Sougo share a frown of second-hand embarrassment when Lilian cuts across Hibiki's remark. They are a such a cultural staple that your culture is obsessed with them. Woz is the first to recover, clearing his throat and taking an opporunity to further strike up conversation with Dimo. "I am particularly fascinated by the intricacies of making cheeses, personally," he says. "Even within cheeses made from the same species of animal, there can be countless variations in taste, color, and texture, depending on the animal's diet, the types of cultures used and the length of the aging. For instance, this offering you've brought," he says, motioning with a nod of his head towards one of the wedges in the cow drone, "The older specimens of that particular type take on a brown color, with an outermost texture almost like tree bark, a crumbly consistency and a rich, earthy taste; quite different than its current variety, and thus affecting a given dish in a much different way." Accepting burger delivery rapid-style ! Sougo and Woz both give their thanks to Heyalexa and Farthing in endearing unison. "You have a really nice char on these burgers, Heyalexa!" "Indeed--the seasoning and character is perfect for an outdoors occasion. Excellent work." Hehhhhhhuhhhh? I-- I guess I do? Thanks? "Mm!" Woz smiles coyly to himself. It's good for someone other than himself to be Gotten with Sougo's positivity beam.
Kukuru	Kukuru watches Heyalexa patiently as the Silverbot goes through all those thought processes that the horned woman couldn't possibly comprehend. She looks like she might even doze off for a second, jolting slightly at the hand-to-hand contact and getting that light back in her eyes immediately after complete with light hand squeeze. She looks down at Heyalexa's apron with a giggle, then back at her LED eyes. "Uhuh... Oh! Ten points does sound like a lot, mhm. Then..." With her free hand, Kukuru reaches deep into her pockets, and she brings out the Dorado black card! ""Wait, this isn't... Is it? No, this isn't work related. It's family-related!" That's really all it takes. The card goes back into her pocket, and outcomes a fistful of bills that, at a glance, must amount to at least 40 credits. With only one hand free, Kukuru resorts to using that and her tongue to rearrange them into a neat little stack of exactly 49 credits to slip into Heyalexa's apron "There we go~ Aah... I'm feeling better already. Hmmm.. What next, dears?" She asks, eagerly glancing between Angela and Heyalexa like she's looking for more guidance or ideas from either of them. "I just managed to make disappearing out of their lives forever into a-- a somewhat less shitty thing to happen." Kukuru card "I'm glad you're here in ours, then." Kukuru pipes up, closing her eyes for a moment to just let her head settle and to enjoy the general vibes around the courtyard. She takes a moment to cover her mouth for another yawn (and to really consider the flavor of the brown cows Angela mentioned), then looks back at Petra with her usual gentle smile. "I know things haven't always been easy for you and for everyone, and I know I haven't always been the best I could be to you, but... We're all here now, celebrating-" She gestures at the Beauty of Ash, then at Petra herself. "-and we wouldn't be if we didn't like you being here with us, too. We've got nice food, nice people, plenty of space..." She looks around the courtyard briefly, only now realizing that she hasn't really seen anyone else around, and definitely not realizing how things got setup this way. "And everyone's just spending time here and relaxing. Now the only thing that'd make it better is..." Another eye closing, and then a sweet-yet-mischievous smile crosses Kukuru's face. "Hearing... No, saying more of those things that made you make those adorable noises before~"
Hibiki Tachibana	Hibiki's smile shifts towards a small frown as Petra elaborates, along with a few slow nods. Maybe closure and 'somewhat less shitty' is about the only thing that could've been managed, at the point things were at. There's, at least, Petra and the Beauty of Ash reunited in one place now after everything before. She opens her mouth to say something on that note when-- Shut the fuck up. Don't act like that. Don't take credit. "...What? What part of that sounded like I was trying--" Hibiki starts, first confused, and then settling into her usual standoffish defensiveness, before she shuts her eyes with a slight scrunch and exhales. An active attempt at calming herself down before things dive further into the aforementioned usual, apparently. "...Hah. Nevermind. Shouldn't have said anything at all. Sorry, Petra." She sounds genuine about that. But there's a certain unassailable social distance that can be felt when Angela questions her on chocolate milk shortly afterwards, after she's stepped a bit away and is in the process of getting together her own plate, amid breakthroughs in burger experimentation and dairy products hauled in via robo-cow. "Once in a while," she replies offhandedly. "...At least for me, it's not the kind of thing you normally drink next to meat, though." There's a little gesture to the various burgers. Hibiki doesn't seem to have any issues with taking some of the ice cream to have as a presumable dessert and pick-me-up afterwards, after a moment. "...Good with things like this, though..." She murmurs, checking if there's any included with the mass of milk-based goods.
Lilian Rook	'Lilian, after your supervillain scenario is complete, may I ask for your lore document? I would enjoy reading your work.' "Oh? Were you that interested?" Lilian asks, turning around. "I suppose you would be, seeing as you aren't able to participate directly. I don't mind, but I'd rather you not spread it around, even afterward." 'Heyalexa: Thank you ! This will increase your family ranking by ten points !' "Well, Kukuru isn't exactly a hard target, but . . . She's not bad at all." Lilian murmurs while staring. 'Best decision at the time, worst timeline to be in. I'm... relieved it got better.' "Over a long enough period, every timeline you'll be in will have good decisions and shit ones. 'The worst timeline' is a sort of nonsense construct in the first place. Isn't 'the timeline' supposed to change each time you make a decision?" says Lilian. "Making the worst decision would have been 'the worst timeline'. Things changed once you decided better. That's that." 'Yeah. It sort of just-- was getting worse, and then I did my best to also make it get better.' Well, it sounds like she agrees, so Lilian leaves it alone. 'I stand on the shoulders of giants' She smiles a tiny bit despite herself. "If it's that easy with a good teacher, perhaps I'll find the time." 'I am particularly fascinated by the intricacies of making cheeses, personally' "It sounds like it." Lilian says, as Woz continues. '...What? What part of that sounded like I was trying--' Lilian quietly takes a deep breath. Her shoulders subtly rise. Her gaze swivels around on Hibiki as if lining up an incision. '...Hah. Nevermind. Shouldn't have said anything at all. Sorry, Petra.' "Psh." Lilian sighs, and her shoulders drop again. She wanders away looking bored. "So, Petra. No one's asked you the question that matters yet." Lilian says. "I'm glad to 'meet' your old friend and all. It's wonderful that you've come to terms with your upbringing." She stares at the Beauty of Ash rather than make eye contact with Petra for that. "But what now? Are you leaving it here? Taking it home? Are you going to drag it with you to your usual work? Where does it fit in your life?"
Angela	Angela is considering the idea of taking someone at their word when they say they are giving you something for free. Lilian had said that recently and Angela is cautiously considering incorporating it into her philosophy. She needs to run test cases for it first, but talking to Dimo is bringing these thoughts back to the forefront. Maybe it just feels too easy for her, but it doesn't have to be hard for ''her''. But she doesn't want someone else to be more real than her either--and not in the Silvering sense, in the being truly part of the multiversal community sense. She just couldn't bear it. She wouldn't even be considering this mad act of charity if it were not for Heyalexa here being so unmakingly charming. ''Reviews with higher text quantity are weighted more heavily by the algorithim--'' "Mm. That makes sense." Angela cups her chin, considering how to create the longest review so that her review is weighted the most. It does sound like she's asking for more praise but that's fine. ''All meat products are up to the standards set by the District 12 food health association!'' Angela won't tell people out of metatext if you won't. Angela can't get murderously jealous at Heyalexa which means that Dimo and Emmy are spared the murderous jealousy too largely incidentally. That would probably change if the Beauty of Ash started chowing down on hot dogs though, largely because of how ridiculous that would be. Angela would probably have to step away from the console if it went that far. She eyes the Beauty of Ash suspiciously like it could happen at any moment. "You are wonderfully devious, precociously clever, and I am pleased to see you so joyful and using your vast capabilities to draw money from numerous individuals." What is HeyAlexa using the money for? She doesn't dare guess. "Your enthusiasm is infectious and you are the best AI in the multiverse. Your burgers--Cinder, how are the burgers?" Cinder, with her mouth half full, offers a thumbsup and goes, "Yumfh...!" "Your burgers are delicious in all the ways that burgers are delicious that I presume someone who eats burgers can describe in great detail but undoubtedly includes the terms 'delicious, juicy, easy to chew, and addictive.'." Cinder gives Angela two thumbsups for doing her best there. "And the apron looks good on you. Please inform me if anyone provides a more exhaustive review and I will take the time to augment mine." ''Best decision at the time, worst timeline to be in. I'm... relieved it got better.'' "...Yes, Petra." Angela says. And she isn't even lying. She wishes she could give a HeyAlexa grade review of the Beauty of Ash but she fears she doesn't quite have the language and she's a little tuckered out from complimenting HeyAlexa as it is. The important things here are less what is said and more what is beyond words. She watches Petra press into the glass. There's some tension in her shoulders as she worries about injury, but it's pretty mild since--well--Petra knows what she's doing, surely. "Gentler stuff..." Angela murmurs before adding, "Well, starting at 'less shitty' ... Most people cannot manage even that." is her take. ''Kukuru looking for advice!'' Angela gives Kukuru a mimicked Cinder-thumbsup in return. You're well on your way to being psychologically manipulatable, Kukuru! Nice job!
Angela	''Were you that interested?'' Angela bobs her head, simply enough. There'es that little spark in her golden eyes again. "I am. I hope to one day read Petra's writing as well, but you need not worry about me spreading it around. After all, you might want to incorporate it in your own writing someday. I doubt the participants will see the full picture by the end of the module--" ''Are you going to drag it with you to your usual work?'' Ah, Angela has been enjoying herself so much she totally forgot that this probably illegal mecha is here in The City. In a few months the question may be moot but that's still decidedly longer than one day of sending everyone away. "That is an excellent question." Angela says.
Dimokratia	Emmy is guided by Petra herself to touching the Beauty of Ash, a widely-digitized optic-waver of 'ohhhhhhhh!!' preciousness. Confirmed-upon and nodding, Emmy beholds the Proper way to interact with the Beauty: as a stuffed animal of solid-safe glass. And so, with just touch-pressure, she does a second pass after guidance, and presses down until the 'glass' breaks, fractures (with a speedster blur of head between checking the Beauty's 'face'//core, Petra, and the touchsite until there's a deep break where most of a skeletal finger had pressed down, and then, back out in rearranging reverse. Wonderment, again. A grandly fulfilling new complexity to behold. This is an important life-moment for Emmy that Dimo seems utterly ready to let pass by with faint sympathetic-happy peaks in the periphery. She had seen many such events and beings and ways, but for Emmy? The first was always magically special. If there's anything that makes Dimo 'more normal', impossibly, it's not just Petra being a positive sort of normal towards the Champion -- it's Lilian's reaction to it. As if receiving such particularly simple and positive-expected reactions from Petra is expected but such a bafflement from the Dame Commander is a rarely enjoyed treat. 'Kratia is practically a war machine. That-- The Beauty of Ash isn't. That should be obvious.' And then the normalcy scrubs off just a bit as the Champion is forced to consider for a few long seconds, first Lilian, then Petra, then the Beauty of Ash. "Hmm." Sounds the champion without moving lips, more-fully considering the pulsing construct in a gone-elsewhere stare. "Yes." Dimo agrees airily, after a few seconds, and then closer to Lilian near her at the table. "I see a great amount of Petra there, and she is such a small fighter. To think that this grander companion is for diplomacy, reflection, understanding is not my first instinct. Yet, is it not our selves sized appropriately for the world as we interact with it that is our speaking-face?" Casting social questions before Lilian and lingeringly eager in what the Dame Commander will answer, the pleased Champion returns her posture upright, contemplating now the ratio of her spread and the mathematically superior part to squish and sample next. Yogurt? Sliced cheese? Potluck potato salad??? The choices are all so tantalizing. "Do you think the shape is more suited for understanding, at that scale?" Dimo asks, of obviousness, plucking a cheese triangle and smushing it between manipulator-thumb and forefinger, rolling the oily piece among her fingertips until there's the almost-greased contact of metal to metal. Then, she pops the fingers into her mouth and removes them after a bare moment, clean, and returns hands to table. 'And your cow... Oh, it looks real different from the ones I've eaten before. Is that like aaa... Cooler?' "Yeah! It's a cooler!" Emmy excitedly answers, sit across from Dimo at the table (besides was a popular spot) and hovering over her seat-top for extra height to be at the Large Format Souls table. "Groups of people and their animals are a very normal sight, so, we thought it would make us more culturally acceptable!" "As with the simple clothes and the local... fashion." Dimo adds, looking more 'bionic' or 'cybernetic' than shamelessly mechanical in the augmetic ways. The local style was a little racist, frankly, but Dimo was an emissary who could summon weapons with a thought and so could handle Wearing '''Clothes''' normally.
Dimokratia	"Psychological suggestion is when you're happy we're around! And love Heyalexa! And click on her store link and QR code for great deals, like buying one to get one!" That's not a deal. But to Emmy? It's a wonderful engagement with her favorite sister. And also she doesn't actually functionally know what money is so a lot of the heat is lost with her. '...But you are too beautiful to be in style here.' "Beauty and complexity are always in style, and no shape of the willful or becoming is shameful - merely aspirational. It is the failed and flawed state of still squalor whose style is limited and whose utility is minimal. "Yeah! It's snazzy and cute!" Emmy supports, of the sawblade hat. 'Sometimes they can't even move the grain of sand.' Dimo is beatific in her response, buzzingly-pleasant to Cinder. "They should. With the help that is due all, they even might. But if they all did, no world would have need of Champions. So-- I understand, as well. However," Knowing-clear, Dimo gives Cinder personally a bright look that's a spinal-cerebral sort of infectious. "You already lift grains by heat alone. And see, that even glass dances around you." 'I am particularly fascinated by the intricacies of making cheeses, personally,' Rotation to retainer gets a bubbling pop of laughter. "I had marked you for husbandry of another sort, Woz!" But variety is the spice of the Silver and even the light joking gives way to interested following. "Even garnish can change texture and balance completely - even if the art is transient, the craft is capturingly complex."
Petra Soroka	"Please inform me if anyone provides a more exhaustive review and I will take the time to augment mine." Over the course of Angela's adoring review, Heyalexa's radiantly smug humu-humus gradually get overwhelmed, devolving into blush-coded /// > < /// 'uahhhhhh's. She does a little spin to show off her apron again, then wraps an arm around Emmy's shoulders for a hug/pull in to show Angela. Heyalexa: My sister is , also , the best AI in the multiverse ! Heyalexa: Customers also enjoyed -- ! "There we go~ Aah... I'm feeling better already. Hmmm.. What next, dears?" Heyalexa tucks the bills into her apron pocket and flashes a triumphant smile and query-for-praise towards Dimo. She rubs her hand on her chin at Kukuru's question, tail flicking. After coming to a conclusion, she tips the brim of her sawblade tophat down with gravitas. Heyalexa: I would like to , do networking ! This just means making conversation, which, of course, she drags Emmy along with doing. Her first target is sidling up to Lilian with her hat shadowing her eyes like she's about to do a shady backroom deal, elbows leaning on the table behind her. Heyalexa: Hello , Heyalexa: Empty space in your villainous lair ? Hazard halls just a little too straight-shot ? Lieutenants dropping like flies without inflicting proper resource depletion ? Heyalexa: Have I Got A Deal For You ! Unique ! Limited Time ! After her infomercial introduction, Heyalexa leans in and displays a blue-tinted hologram from the back of her hand, specially to Lilian. Heyalexa: Have you considered : Big Crushing Machines Attuned Specifically To Petra's DNA ? Petra isn't listening to the conversation, but she distantly hears her name and perks up. "Huh? What was that about me?" Urgently, Heyalexa continues: "Limited time offer !!" "Mm!" Petra can't focus on Heyalexa trying to sell Lilian some Bane - Petra weaponry, because she's too busy whining to Woz about being complimented. "Why is he being mean to me?? What even brought this on?" "Hearing... No, saying more of those things that made you make those adorable noises before~" Petra makes a little wheezing noise of despair and turns her face away from Kukuru. "A-and you?! Come on! I-I'm literally, like, baring my heart here! You don't have to-- to be mean about it!" "I know things haven't always been easy for you and for everyone, and I know I haven't always been the best I could be to you, but... We're all here now, celebrating-" "...Hah. Nevermind. Shouldn't have said anything at all. Sorry, Petra." Even though she's responding to Kukuru, Petra looks at Hibiki, with a little sympathetic wince. "... Yeah. Stuff was bad, and now it really-- really, actually has gotten better. And I needed to choose to do that, but, um... I do actually appreciate the parts you guys helped with, a lot." Saying that in Hibiki's direction is a tiny rebellion against Lilian, in place of an apology. It's an intentional rebellion, to the extent she's comfortable doing: it's not, actually, Lilian's place to say how much credit Hibiki can claim for Petra's improvement.
Petra Soroka	"To think that this grander companion is for diplomacy, reflection, understanding is not my first instinct." "I don't know if it's really that, um, clear-cut with me and it, but...." "But what now? Are you leaving it here? Taking it home? Are you going to drag it with you to your usual work? Where does it fit in your life?" Petra folds her legs crossed beneath herself on the bench, sitting up straighter. She puts her mostly cleared plate off to the side and looks up at the Beauty of Ash, hands pressed on her ankles to keep her propped up. The mech's head, even seated, reaches up to the second-of-three stories, and all the windows surrounding the courtyard clearly indicate that even if it stayed hunched in this enclosure, it wouldn't be doing it alone. "Well... this is its home, now. Not, like, the apartment-- I could totally put it on Hydrochoeria or in the facility, or rent somewhere safer, but-- ... with me, I mean. I-- I'm not going back to the lab anymore, and that means it isn't either, so I've got a responsibility to...." "I've thought about it, and, um, more than anything, I don't want it to be 'abandoned'. I don't want it to be sitting around doing nothing, even if I make a little room for it in my castle or whatever-- being secure isn't the same thing as being cared for. So that's, actually, why I wanted to introduce it to everyone. I think... being with me means being part of, like, my social circles too. And part of the stuff I do from day to day. I think, um..." Petra looks down at her hands, shy again. "I want it to be with me, not just nearby me. Going on my dumb little adventures, helping me do the stuff I do-- that's what it's meant for. It's not the kind of doll that's better off being locked in a trophy case and dusted off every so often. So you'll be seeing it with me, and I wanted everyone to know about it."
Lilian Rook	'I am. I hope to one day read Petra's writing as well' "Petra writes?" comes the dread question that seals her eventual fate. "Perhaps I should see it eventually myself. For whatever little it's worth." 'I see a great amount of Petra there, and she is such a small fighter.' "It's easier to see it like this." says Lilian, going on to then invoke theme knowingly and unknowingly, "When it was just a bunch of pieces, and when it was clean, I didn't quite believe it. I think it has more substance this way. Put back together without fusing the lines." 'Yet, is it not our selves sized appropriately for the world as we interact with it that is our speaking-face?' ". . . Is it?" Lilian pauses. "Is the speaking face something other than the self built for understanding? It's clearly not appropriately sized for--" 'You're saying 'well that's a flaw in the design'-- no it's fucking not! It's not a fucking drawback or a failure point or some shit! It's better! Why does the fucking parking lot get right of way?! Just because it's a pain in the ass to tear up?!' ". . ." 'Do you think the shape is more suited for understanding, at that scale?' "Perhaps. I don't know. I can't help but think of Petra as being elementally small." 'Heyalexa: Have you considered : Big Crushing Machines Attuned Specifically To Petra's DNA ?' "I admittedly had not." Lilian says, trying not to look intrigued. 'Limited time offer !!' "Here's my number." 'I've thought about it, and, um, more than anything, I don't want it to be 'abandoned'. I don't want it to be sitting around doing nothing, even if I make a little room for it in my castle or whatever-- being secure isn't the same thing as being cared for.' Lilian breathes as though she were holding it in. She knows almost nothing about this machine. It's been a source of nothing but incidental pain and suffering for her, having to mitigate the impact Petra's guilt complex about it has had on everyone else. And still, for some reason, it's relieving to hear. "Yeah. It's not." 'I want it to be with me, not just nearby me. Going on my dumb little adventures, helping me do the stuff I do-- that's what it's meant for.' Deflecting the sense of pressure Lilian feels building up inside her chest, Lilian folds her arms, looks lazily away, and says "Well, it'd certainly make your constant vanishing down the rabbit hole less risky. I'll trust it to handle your never-ending trips to butterfly dream hyperbolic time chambers."
Timespace Riders	If it's that easy with a good teacher, perhaps I'll find the time. "I believe you would find cooking most fulfilling," says Woz during a conversational pause. "It rewards those with an attention to detail and a willingness to experiment." Is the speaking face something other than the self built for understanding? "I think so, yeah," says Sougo. "Maybe it's different for other people! But that sounds right to me." "And I also." Even garnish can change texture and balance completely - even if the art is transient, the craft is capturingly complex. "Yes, precisely," agrees Woz, with a spark of excitement in his eyes. "But, you strike a point which intrigues me, Champion. In my travels, I have known many, if not most, forms of art to be transient, and found this to be a measure of their appeal. What would you say is a form of art that passes unscathed through the skein of time?" --being secure isn't the same thing as being cared for. Sougo sits up in his seat, puts his fork down and rests his chin on the back of his hand. So you'll be seeing it with me, and I wanted everyone to know about it. "That makes me really happy to hear, Petra," smiles Sougo. "And I bet I'm not the only one. Thanks for letting us know. And, you know... for the invite. Woz and I never mind coming and visiting! Especially not now that the Beauty of Ash will be here, too."
Kukuru	"Heyalexa: I would like to , do networking !" "Oh, the... Talking thing, yes? That's very good to do if you ever want to make connections, or find job opportunities..." Kukuru nods approvingly, watching Heyalexa and Emmy with a fond little sigh. "Have fun, dears! And let me know if you figure out more ways to get family poooints~" She'll figure it out one day, right? Maybe. "You don't have to-- to be mean about it!" "Stuff was bad, and now it really-- really, actually has gotten better." "So that's, actually, why I wanted to introduce it to everyone." "Mean? Noooo, it's not mean.. It's great. Really!" She reassures, trying not to giggle again and letting that heartwarm'd feeling shine through instead. "I've never gotten to see you like that before, you know? But seeing you like this now, and knowing you're feeling comfy enough to show that around us... I-it really feels great, you knoooow?" Kukuru continues, sniffling again and turning away for a moment to take off her glasses and dab at her eyes a few times. "I'm really glad you were able to get there, Petra. A-and make those choices, and to share all this with us." "I want it to be with me, not just nearby me." "So you'll be seeing it with me, and I wanted everyone to know about it." "What a wonderful idea... Oh, we'll need to figure out ways to get it through small doors and stuff, then. And Petra, do you have aaaa... Way to bring the Beauty of Ash along with you?" She asks, clearly not understanding that the mech is a mech while also tapping on her forehead in thought and peering at it. "Or... Can it follow you around? Like in.. A biiiig truck?"
Petra Soroka	"Petra writes?" "Er--" Petra, wide-eyed, leans forwards to try and interject before her death warrant is signed. Since she can't lie to Lilian, though, she just ends up trailing off with an unconvincing cough. "I-I mean, I used to; I mentioned it to Ange once-- I haven't done it in-- um, ahem." "It's clearly not appropriately sized for--" Petra points at the pointed ends of the Beauty of Ash's arms and legs, each ending in identical daggerpoint tips. "Well, actually, um-- it's not that bad for interacting on the scale of people, anyways. It moves pretty much just as well on all fours, since it's not like it has 'feet' like a person does, and when it's like that, it's only a little bit taller than an adult-- than a person is." "Is the speaking face something other than the self built for understanding?" "Maybe it's different for other people! But that sounds right to me." Petra struggles with dissecting the layers of metaphorical and thematic speech between Dimo and Lilian, but after a little while, she tilts her head and tries to sound out her thoughts. "The Beauty of Ash doesn't even really have a face. But, um-- it kind of, more than anything else, is meant for 'understanding'. Like, uh, what I was talking about earlier--" Petra gesticulates with her hands to try and mime out shapes that have no coherent relevance to what she's trying to convey, but when she's deep in the nerd shit like this, she has to physically manifest her thoughts. "--The particular psychonormative properties that the Beauty of Ash is attuned to are based off of my own psionics, right? And for that, the main thing was, like, the differential barriers between individual psyches and the concept of solipsistic isolation. If there's literally anything it's built for, it's 'understanding' people." "Especially not now that the Beauty of Ash will be here, too." "And Petra, do you have aaaa... Way to bring the Beauty of Ash along with you?" "Well, see-- I was worried about that too, but--!" Excitedly, like she's showing off a new toy (which, she is), Petra hops off her bench and squats down to lift up the end of the Beauty of Ash's arm. Huffing and puffing a bit, even with the morphmetal's help, she laboriously angles the mech's arm and points the tip towards itself, where a facet of the diamondlike hardlight reflects. She pushes it into the translucent reflection of itself, and the tip of the arm vanishes into the reflection like Petra often does with her compact mirror. Qetra's purple hair is faintly visible moving beyond the reflection, but she doesn't poke out. "It's-- well, it's not a totally perfect solution, but now that it's fixed, Qetra's willing to help me hold it. I'll have to figure something out with her that's comfortable, but... it's a little cute, that she's sort of excited to 'share' it a bit."
Angela	Angela is so confident in Petra's writing despite never seeing it. She's surprised Lilian hasn't. She figured if anyone had, it would've been her, but she gives a nod, suddenly inclined to be a bit more cautious abuot it. ''My sister is , also , the best AI in the multiverse !'' Angela doesn't mind Emmy being included. "I believe you." Angela says. She doesn't know Emmy as well because Emmy hasn't joined the banter band and called her a member of the family plan but both Heyalexa and Emmy are alien (positive) to Angela's understanding of existence. They make her think and feel little weird alien (positive) thoughts and she's cautiously curious as to where they lead. She does look a little smug at getting Heyalexa to blush, though. Complimenting others can be a joy in of itself... She imagines Manual smiling at others, being smug, cheating people--hmm, if heyalexa is like this, then Manual would probably enjoy instructional powerpoints. Or maybe the dialogueistic equivalent. Would she be vengeful? Would she even remember? Would she only have one loop's worth of horror or infinite? She doesn't know. She can see the merits in asking Dimo to uplift one as an experiment, but what if it backfires? What ifs he's more real than her, what if everyone adores her more than her? Is she fine with that? Angela doesn't even know. Would they even be similar at all? Would she prefer they be? Or would she prefer someone completely different? These are questions that Heyalexa of all people is making Angela consider. Heyalexa does, in some small ways, make her think of the Manuals. She's making blunders, too, because she's so distracted. ''Big Crushing Machines Attuned Specifically to Petra's DNA'' Angela looks to Petra. "Ah, Heyalexa is considering selling? Big Crushing Machines attuned to your DNA." Angela doesn't seem to think this is something Petra would mind. "I suppose you would have to carefully navigate such devices to avoid getting crushed. We do have a Compactor we no longer need--perhaps we could sell it off..." ''Being with me means being part of, like, my social circles too. And part of the stuff I do from day to day.'' "I think that is a grand idea." Angela says. "It is welcome to assist at Lobcorp though it may have some concerns with mobility." The halls in LobCorp could handle the Beauty of Ash easily, but it's really more the significantly smaller doorways that Angela's worried about, though the idea of the Beauty of Ash crawling--maybe not the elevators but... "I think that's really sweet of you," Cinder adds. "I think that's a great idea." She seems like she wants to say more but ultimately just laeves it at that, blushing faintly. ''Qetra's willing to help me hold it.'' Angela is relieved. "That would be a big help. Thank you, Qetra." She manages. Qetra is real and not Petra, she thinks, would it be like having a Qetra? Angela sighs wistfully. When did her ideas for the future get so complicated? ''beauty and complexity are always in style.'' "Well, when you put it like that I cannot argue." Angela adimts. She's not sure she'd use the word cute for 'sawblade hat' but it is the sort of thing she'd expect to see on some Syndicate member's head, so. ''You already lift grains by heat alone.'' Cinder looks like she might OVERheat as her already blushing face turns bright red and her expression becomes near identical to that of the discord sticker. "ahh..weell..ahahh...hhumm...!"
Hibiki Tachibana	Hibiki was, frankly, fine and accepting - as much as she could be, with her penchant for getting overly reclusive and moody - of it being left at that. If only because she's spoiled more than one social gathering in the past by doing what she does, and bringing that to the Beauty of Ash's welcoming party of all things would have felt far worse than taking some chewing out and first-and-secondhand embarrassment to the chin. Which makes her blink in surprise when Petra has that little bit of give in direction, followed by a glance away and a somewhat awkward scratch at the side of her cheek. She doesn't actually look like she's sure of what to say following that, but does eventually come out with, "... ...However it happened, I'm just glad that things did. Get any better, that is." With her full plate (celebration burger and all) finally in hand, Hibiki finds herself a seat at one of the tables nearby Petra and the Beauty of Ash, sitting at the edge of the bench with said plate in her lap so she can once again stare up at the dimmed eye of the mech while listening to her. "...I think that's where it should be. Right alongside you. I think that's where it'd want to be, too," she says, specifically recalling the effort to recollect all of its countless fragmented pieces. If somebody went through the trouble of all of that, for her... well, she can imagine how she'd feel, so she's just forwarding that onto the Beauty of Ash, even if it's not actually capable of feeling that. Right now, any of her own need for Petra to have her mech back is briefly forgotten about. It's enough for her to see the feelings she has for it on raw display. "Looks like we'll be seeing plenty of you around, yeah?" She says that, ostensibly, to the Beauty of Ash itself. And, also, tilts her head when the method of 'holding' it gets shown. "...Knowing Qetra, 'sort of' excited is probably an understatement..."
Angela	''I mentioned to Ange once'' "Ah, I assumed she knew about it by now... I am terribly interested in both your creative endeavours so it ... has lingered in my mind." Especially since she has done her very best to not scour the internet (too much) for it. But it has been so loooooong. She's imagining some kind of masterpiece now, irrespective of what Petra says about it. Lifechanging. Incredible stuff. She's sure of it. Knowing how much Petra cares about ''lore'' and ''narrative''... Angela does her very best to try and look like she's passively neutral on the idea of reading it still, expressionwise.
Dimokratia	Emmy (aka MV aka 'also , the best AI in the multiverse !') is once again introduced to Angela and the hamsteroid who is simultaneously a wholly different animal-evoke and a matched-set sister to Heyalexa via design aesthetic alignment joins Heyalexa's hug with a floating-bouncing joy that tinks the rise of metal ear to the side of Heyalexa's head, the two shorter Silver girls in a bright-child harmony. "It might be a tie, but that's okay! If I'm the best I'll just have to keep pushing that with Heyalexa!" Emmy confirms. Dimo, across, looks down at the jovially glowing pair of sophonts with a firmly pleased look and a simple affirmative nod -- if only to show to everyone else that she is showing appreciation to Heyalexa. It is not the flow of adulation, adoration, interest, support specific and general, and the shared-glow and warmth of the synapse network shared by Dimo, Emmy, and Heyalexa across the frames of their emberclasped hearts. Psychics can hear it, if they tune into the frequency, but the mid-grade blast just by Dimo fondly looking at Heyalexa of affirmation is only one aspect of the presence, thanks to the overflowing glow from Emmy. In both 'family' and 'realization', Emmy is experiencing a tangible step forward, an expansion of horizons across a newly fractal axial such that the world is as new as it was before. As grand as a supernova, Emmy's digital optics sparkle orange-gold as she processes something very large, a giddy laughter joining her absentminded rocking with Heyalexa. Meanwhile Dimo quirks one filiment-white brow and smiles at Petra. "Not so clear-cut? Why, it seems to cut quite clearly. Will you teach me of the difference, Petra?" The sophont Champion muses and jests easily, quite honest about the interest in being taught. 'being secure isn't the same thing as being cared for' "I am glad you have learned this, as well. It took among the greatest of peoples a life-time to learn such a lesson as you've found in just a short while. From where you were, through the forest, and to the halls of a culture that you take hand in. Being 'secure' from advancement, from experience, from growth, is the same as the care that comes from security. A thin vein of life, for the desperate seeking time alone. A trophy gathers dust, rust - a companion gathers experience." 'When it was just a bunch of pieces, and when it was clean, I didn't quite believe it. I think it has more substance this way. Put back together without fusing the lines.' "I do not think, even among the Silver, you might find two souls that would see the same set of parts and possibilities at a grand enough scale and see them build the same thing. If you gave me a desert of sand and told me 'this is the Beauty' I would know the truth but not see it. And without seeing it, I could not know. This way," Dimo gestures up and out to the glass mecha, pulse-thrumming. "We might see the Beauty, and Petra, more fully by the inclusion of all parts in sequence." 'I can't help but think of Petra as being elementally small.'
Dimokratia	Dimo smiles at that. "If Petra is more suited for processing danger, what is the Beauty suited to process? What does that shape understand?" Hand retracting, Dimo takes a palm-to-chin and fingers to cheek deep thinking pose - affected, entirely for the show, but clear in meaning. "A speaking face is designed to be heard, but it is not designed for the world -- it is designed for us, to speak to the world. Do you think there is not a more ideal shape for me? Yet, I speak for the Silver, I am my people's face, and so that face... must be understood. Kratia is not a diplomat, of course, and is not the speaking face. She is the face that interacts with the world as the world demands at times." With Sougo's affirmation, Dimo turns on the Demon King, smiling at her next-door neighbor. "My demon king," She says, though it sounds nothing like a 'waga maoh' from the king husbandry expert. "A question:" Like scholars at symposium. "I'm curious. Are you the speaking face? Or, is your retainer? Is this your speaking face, or, that armor you wear as King?" Despite how cute a sawblade hat is obviously, it's Cinder that Dimo looks past Sougo to smile at with an all-too-knowing glow to her optics while Cinder overheats... again! Poor little match girl, striking against a star's heat.