RATATOSKR.

[soulping]

[ When you enter the TV, the room surrounding you is notably blank - appearing something like this. Which may seem odd, until words appear out of thin air in front of you: ]

Today, we're going to go through an interactive story of sorts!

You're a college student who's just transferred to a new university, and you have a week to make new friends and potentially find that ~special someone~ people always worry about having.

Luckily for you, your college has a club fair for transfer students just like you! You're headed off there to meet some of your fellow students and get a better lay of the land.

But before we begin, there's just one important thing I need to get down...who are you?

Comments

TURN-IN.

[inbeta]

Re: TURN-IN.

[thevoidsdarkhorse]

> The dance studio

MINAMI - EVENT #3.

[inbeta]

You swing by the dance studio today to catch Mizushima after practice. You run into her on her way out, although she still smiles when she sees you.



MINAMI: Hi there, Tachibana-kun. Practice is actually done for today, so I was heading home.



YASUHIRO: Yeah, I was hoping to catch you afterward. I feel like I've only gotten to know you as Mizushima the dancer, and I wanted to talk to you outside of that.



MINAMI: Well...actually, I have somewhere to be today. But hey, how about tomorrow? We can go somewhere after practice ends!

> Yeah, let’s go to a soccer game!
> Yeah, let’s go to the aquarium!
> Nah, I’m busy tomorrow.

DISCUSSION.

[inbeta]

Re: DISCUSSION.

[thevoidsdarkhorse]

She's likes dolphins. An aquarium sounds like it'd have to do with fish, right?

Re: DISCUSSION.

[secretofthefox]

Yeah. They might even have a dolphin there.

Re: DISCUSSION.

[thevoidsdarkhorse]

A dolphin would be so win!

Re: DISCUSSION.

[secretofthefox]

Wouldn't it? She'd be thrilled!

Re: DISCUSSION.

[thevoidsdarkhorse]

Totes!

Re: DISCUSSION.

[glorifiedtrash]

Aquariums are buildings or parks where they keep aquatic life for the public to view. Usually they're tied up in conservation measures to get royal funding and things like that. So they teach a lot about awareness and have research going on behind the scenes.

Re: DISCUSSION.

[thevoidsdarkhorse]

Conservation measures?

The rest of the stuff sounds pretty cool though. And there could be dolphins! Wanna try?

Re: DISCUSSION.

[glorifiedtrash]

Protection. Like if someone's dumping their trash in a river it'll pollute the water and make it unlivable for some animals. Stuff like that.

Let's go for it. You might like it too.

Re: DISCUSSION.

[thevoidsdarkhorse]

...people do that?

It would be a diff way to see the ocean.

Re: DISCUSSION.

[glorifiedtrash]

In Tethe'alla we have laws against it, but yeah. They do. Some people don't care and others can't afford the fee for regulated disposal. Tethe'alla is pretty rich so it's harder for the poor...

[Yeah he's totally clocked out, but this is a conversation.]

Have you seen the ocean before?

Re: DISCUSSION.

[thevoidsdarkhorse]

...so people have to pay to get rid of garbage.

[Nods.] My neighborhood was an artificial island, I think. Lots of ocean, didn't see a lot of land mass under the metal bits when I dove in to help with the fishing.

Re: DISCUSSION.

[glorifiedtrash]

There's an argument about making it a responsibility of the crown, but... [He shrugs.] It'd require a lot of regulation, raised taxes and no glory.

Does this mean there was no natural above sea level land in your world?

Re: DISCUSSION.

[thevoidsdarkhorse]

...the more I hear about society, the more it sounds like they complicate things p unnecessarily.

Pooooossibly?

Actually, that might make sense, since the Batterwitch is some sort of sea thingy? If she controls the planet, it'd make sense it was a bunch of ocean.

Re: DISCUSSION.

[glorifiedtrash]

Maybe. People aren't as simple as they'd like to believe.

...Are you trying to tell me she's a giant squid or something?

Re: DISCUSSION.

[thevoidsdarkhorse]

Well, no, just some stuff seems like it'd be basic?

Nah, she's a sea troll. Which is...I guess a thing that happens? Part of Fefeta was a sea troll too.

Re: DISCUSSION.

[glorifiedtrash]

[This holds him up a bit and he blinks. What the...?]

Wait, what are we talking about? You mean...cities? You can't live like we do when you have hundreds of people using a small space. The resources won't allow it. It's not scaleable.

I...monster?

Re: DISCUSSION.

[thevoidsdarkhorse]

Well, I know the resources are limited, THAT'S complicated, but what about getting rid of stuff. It can't be that hard, can it?

Alien. Trolls are aliens. Fefeta is...something else. Something weirder, I think that involves game fuckery, because she was originally two trolls then Shenanigans Happened.

Re: DISCUSSION.

[glorifiedtrash]

[THIS IS VERY DISTRACTING that's a good thing. Brb brain still trying to catch up to this conversation he was not paying attention to.]

I...um. The trash? It depends on the type? There's a compactor beneath Meltokio, but you can't put chemicals down there. They'll bleed into the water table. And there's the stuff from the Elemental Research Centre. That's got magic, if you just did whatever with it── [what the hell is he babbling about] ...I feel there's a disconnect here. No we don't have something to just make it disappear from existence or wherever you stick it. We're stuck with it.

Aren't you the one on her planet? So doesn't that make you the alien? Or is this a game term? I...I think I'm confusing myself.

TURN-IN.

[inbeta]

Re: TURN-IN.

[thevoidsdarkhorse]

> Yeah, let’s go to the aquarium!

> aquarium

[inbeta]

YASUHIRO: Yeah, let's go to the aquarium!



MINAMI: Oh, that would be really nice...I'd like that a lot. I finish around 5, so let's meet at the aquarium then, okay?

The two of you plan the details before heading your separate ways, and you head home. After today, you feel a little closer to Mizushima.