magical girl mini event 1

[soulping]

You find yourself on top of a building. There's no goodies, no sign of even the echo themselves, but the rooftop is a tiny greenspace complete with flowering bushes, a tiny pond and a few cooing pigeons. It's an empty, miniature garden overlooking a busy city.

Below you, the streets are packed with cars jammed in stop-and-go traffic. People throng the sidewalks as they walk to and fro, talking on their cell phones, looking at their watches, hurrying to catch a bus or train. Adjacent to you are yet more buildings, some towering far into the sky and decked with giant tv screens mounted to their sides. Blaring lights and music and moving pictures pierce the quiet of the cool twilight sky.

Take a moment to appreciate the peaceful modern life around you.


[ Welcome to your mingle! It will last an hour.]

Comments

Re: DISCUSSION

[tormado]

[Snort.]

Commons don't have freedom.

[He turns his bike away and drives towards the edge of the building, slowly, stopping on the edge.]

You come from a place different from the City, right? With nothing like Tops or Commons.

Re: DISCUSSION

[kungfusion]

[ ... ]

The city I live in is named Maiami. And since I'm not sure what exactly a 'Tops' or 'Commons' are, I'm going to say that no. No, we don't have things like that.

Re: DISCUSSION

[tormado]

In the City's competitive society, you're either a Tops or a Commons. Tops control 99% of the City's wealth, despite being 1% of the population. The remaining 99% of the population has to fight over the remaining 1% of the City's resources.

Those are the Commons.

Re: DISCUSSION

[kungfusion]

...

[ Ren just. Stares. For a moment. Because she'd guessed from the things he'd said before that there might be some kind of classist thing goin' on, but that... ]

That's...

[ Hold on, the implications are still turning over. ]

That's insane.

Re: DISCUSSION

[tormado]

[He lets out a snort and looks away.]

....You sound just like her.

Re: DISCUSSION

[kungfusion]

[ Ren feels her hackles raise. ]

Well it is, isn't it?

Re: DISCUSSION

[tormado]

"The current society is wrong. The Tops and Commons should live equally. It's not fair that this society is supposed to be competitive, but the Tops turn everything against us in a stacked, unfair game. I'll win the Friendship Cup, become Queen and change this society!"

[Said so goddamn bitterly.]

That's the stuff my sister always used to say.

Re: DISCUSSION

[kungfusion]

[ Oh, no. Oh no. ]

... Can... the King or Queen really do that?

Re: DISCUSSION

[tormado]

I don't know. The City is still run by the Tops and the Public Security Maintenance Bureau. But the King is the strongest duelist in the City. They have tons of sway.

Whether or not you can, she didn't intend to find out that she couldn't. I know that much.

Re: DISCUSSION

[kungfusion]

So... What happened?

[ She probably doesn't want to know, but she also does. Very much. ]

Re: DISCUSSION

[tormado]

...she won the Friendship Cup. And earned the right to face the King, Jack Atlas.

[He shakes his head.]

He destroyed her. It was like he was just toying with her. His tactics... [Sigh.] ...it was on a whole different tier from the rest of us.

....and the City is a competitive society. The winners rise to the top. So it's only natural that the defeated should fall to the bottom.

Re: DISCUSSION

[kungfusion]

[ Well, she definitely knows the feeling of seeing your best chance go out there and lose to someone who makes your best effort look like a joke. Sigh. ] Senpai...

So that just means she had to go back home, right? I mean, since... [ She can't bring herself to say 'Since Commons are the bottom.' ]

Re: DISCUSSION

[tormado]

[Snort.]

....she lost over two years ago. I haven't seen her since.

Rumors say there's an underground recycling plant. If you try to escape from the Detention Center, or if you lose in the Friendship Cup, you're sent there to do forced labor.

Re: DISCUSSION

[kungfusion]

[ That's surprising enough that she can't help but just blurt out ] It can get worse?!

Re: DISCUSSION

[tormado]

[Flatly:] Well, it did. So I guess it can.

Re: DISCUSSION

[kungfusion]

That's terrible.

[ ... ] And I guess it really does make my wish look stupid and tiny.

Re: DISCUSSION

[tormado]

Wanting to see your family isn't stupid.

I've been preparing to duel in the Friendship Cup for two years so I can win and get my sister back. It's not stupid.

Re: DISCUSSION

[kungfusion]

I... chose that, though. You... didn't. Or at least, if it were my sister, trying to find her... It wouldn't be a choice.

Re: DISCUSSION

[tormado]

That's horseshit.

Re: DISCUSSION

[kungfusion]

Wh-What?! How?

Re: DISCUSSION

[tormado]

No five year old chooses to be separated from their family. You may have accepted it, but you sure as hell didn't choose it.

Re: DISCUSSION

[kungfusion]

I asked to be trained to be the best. It's the same thing.

Re: DISCUSSION

[tormado]

Fine. Whatever. [He doesn't seem to want to argue, for once. He just turns his head back out towards the city and keeps watching it.]

Re: DISCUSSION

[kungfusion]

[ She decides to stare for a while, too. ]

I'm sorry. About your sister.

Re: DISCUSSION

[tormado]

Yeah.

So am I.