windbreak | empatheias info + inbox

Hope I'm not waking you up, kid.

[It's like noon so unless Yosuke likes midday naps then probably not.]

Buh?

[Among the things that don't really sink in about getting locked up for a while until all your hopes of getting let out in a hurry are rudely crushed: when nobody else is around, it's dull. It's, like, really dull. As handy as the amulets are, they're no substitute for, say, a working phone.

And it's been like a week now, so - awake, sure. Alert? Maybe he'll need a minute.]

Oh, it's just you... Uh, sorry, I mean - hi.

[He's got a minute. Maybe not as many as the kid he's talking to, but he gets to spend them sitting in the sun, so.]

Hey, glad to hear I made an impression. I wanna finish what I was gonna say at the trial now that you can, uh, make faces in private. Which...sorry about that.

[Speaking of making faces, Akira has spared himself from this one, but he can probably tell that it involves a slight cringe anyway.] N-No, it's... [Well, it's kinda obvious that things aren't okay. On the other hand, it's kinda obvious that that's Adachi's fault.

Anyway, he tries to think back for a second.] Um... You weren't just griping about your job at the time?

[It's been a little while, sheesh.]

Maybe a little, you caught me.

All jokes aside, though. Adachi vanished off the face of the earth between bringing you in and when the trial started. It's why he didn't show up to testify.

... Wha -

[There's a chill through the transmission. He didn't think about Adachi out loud, did he? Wait, that's not even the part that bothers him -]

What do you mean, vanished? As in, ran away? [But why would he, if things were going his way?]

Well, that's the million-dollar question. I don't know where he is, but neither do our bosses.

Figured you'd want to know that kind of thing.

But running away wouldn't make any sense... He's got a cushy job with you guys, and nowhere else to go.

[...Whoops, that still seems to be a habit. He should probably just thank the nice catbug for, uh - thinking of him?... - and confer with someone less locked up when he gets the chance.]

Well, I guess that's more your job, heheh. N-Never mind.

I'm Negotiation, man, not Investigation. And if you guys are the only ones who know his story, I say it's important you get to hear about it.

...Anything I can do to make it less shitty in there without getting you in trouble? Do they allow gifts?

Uh, honestly? I'unno. [He shrugs, even though there's no point.] Like, Adachi left a knife here the other day, and nobody came to take it -

[- goddamnit.] It... wasn't a real knife? A butter knife. I haven't touched it.

[what the fuck.]

Uh, first off, that was before your trial, right...? Just checking.

And how about this, I bring you something a little more cheerful than a knife and we do a switcheroo.

Yeah... Yeah, it was. [He's so relieved he wasn't talking to the wrong person when he eventually let that slip, it hardly matters what Akira means.] And yeah, s-sounds good.

Alright. [And a minute or two later...] So they don't have phones, mp3 players, or game systems here. You big on reading, kid?

[By sheer coincidence, it'll sound as if Yosuke is hastily but belatedly hitting pause on an mp3 player. Telepathic memory-projecting crap is good for some things! Sometimes.] Wait, dude, you were serious about bringing something...?

...Yeah? Why wouldn't I be? [There's a little fizzle as he quickly swaps back from confusion to self-assured amusement.] What Akira says, gets done, kid. Have a little faith.

[Whoa, that's - that's legit a cool thing to say. Man, he should step up his game. As improbable as that seems from inside a cell.]

Um, okay! I guess I read sometimes... But for real, it's all good.

[\o/

But also, audible snortlol.]

You're in jail, shut up. And besides, I wanna get that knife out of there before anyone gets a chance to notice it.

... Shutting up right away, sir!

[After all, implicit in "trying too hard" is "trying".]

[A+.

Between work and finding a decent book to bring, Akira doesn't actually show up to visit Yosuke until several hours later, when visiting hours are nearly over. But he does show, and his Enforcer ID gets him in without much hassle.

He hits Yosuke with a telepathic message before anyone can arrive to summon him.]

I'm here, kid. Hide the knife on you, someone's gonna bring you out here in a minute.

[He almost forgets to respond beyond a wordless note of surprise, but he does.] Uh, got it!

[Anyway, he is indeed shepherded out not long after that, looking more dishevelled than he'd like - and, it has to be said, a bit too nervous for someone who's trying to pretend he didn't stick a butterknife up his sleeve a minute ago. It's making the window rattle.]

[To all appearances, on Akira's end, this was a completely spontaneous visit. He's tapping a paperback book against the table in a simple rhythm, glancing around the room in idle interest, and when Yosuke enters the room, there's a moment where Akira looks him over before breaking into his trademark easy grin, like he's assessing an unknown.]

Hey, kid. Take it easy, you're not in more trouble. [He reaches across the table and thumps the surface closer to the other chair. The guard hanging around, he'll deal with in a moment.]

[Sure would be nice if he gets on that. Passing a knife under the table with a guard standing right there, even a completely non-threatening kind of knife, would... probably not make the bottom 10 of Yosuke's worst life decisions, to be fair. It's just that he doesn't feel like trying it right now.

He does force himself to breathe once reminded, at least.] Uh, right... Kinda looks like it either way, though. [He shoots another glance off to their side, at the guard.] So...

[But he looks no less uncertain when he looks back at Akira. Did the guy give him something to say, again? Did he already forget? No, of course not, don't be stupid... in which case, what does he talk about? The weather?]

[The grin stretches wider in apparent amusement, and Akira follows Yosuke's gaze back and forth for a moment.]

You're scarin' him, man. [He cranes his head to look over his shoulder, leaning back over the chair.] Think I can handle this one?

[The guard apparently has met Akira on good terms before, because he seems familiar with the catbug's good-cop routine, and a few more lines of banter are all it takes to get him to back out of the room and close the door behind him. (The phrase "noodly arms" is invoked.)]

Right. [He reaches into his pocket and slaps down a paperback book on the table with one hand, setting his other hand beside it with his palm up. The book and the arm holding it would block a butter knife from view of the door, if it were to be slid along the table.] See? Nothing to worry about, relax.

Edited 2015-12-16 17:05 (UTC)

[Yosuke's own crossed arms are a little noodly themselves, and the view from outside doesn't remotely cross his mind - he slides the butterknife back out of his sleeve and pushes it across as soon as he's had a moment to settle down. There, that's one thing in the universe that nobody can claim is his fault any more. Sure, he wouldn't have wound himself up half as much if he hadn't blurted it out in the first place, but it's something.]

Say, you couldn't call in another favour like that for the other charges too?

[Nahhh, he's joking. At least 85% of him is joking.]

You wish. [He waves a hand like he's swatting away the joke.] Nah, I'm in here pretty often trying to work things out, he trusts me.

[The knife smoothly leaves the table and enters one of Akira's absurd JRPG-pants pockets. Problem solved.]

Got you something that looked like it had plenty of action and fighting and shit. Didn't know if that was your thing, but it seemed like a safe bet, right? There were a couple that looked a little more, uh, realistic, but I didn't want anyone getting all moral on you about it...

[It appears to be the Verens equivalent of really generic fantasy LN fare. Swords, looming threatening villain presence that is poisoning the world with hatred, etcetera. It's set in a land that borders the ocean. How fantastical!]

I dunno, isn't that the point of -

[He's halfway through sliding the book the rest of the way across the table when he does a visible double take and grabs it by the spine for a closer look.] - wait, volume 4? No way, it's out already!? Dammit, that means the next one's gonna be out before they let me... uh, no, hold on...

[He trails off, but more due to a couple of hasty mental calculations than him remembering Akira is still here just yet. Suc... cess?]

[....

He won?]

Sounds like it's a hit. [Akira laughs gently, leaning back.] That's one worry down.

[Oh, right, the catbug in the room. Yosuke all but slams the volume back on the table in his haste to look like slightly less of a loser.] Eheheh, I mean... Thanks, man.

[Because he meant one of Yosuke's worries, right? He must be pretty on top of his own stuff, to go out of his way.

With one distraction temporarily down, he glances towards the door again.] So, I guess now we just sit around? Otherwise it's gonna seem pretty short for a questioning.

[ With the new month comes the appearance of new task board jobs. Amongst the usual one involving doing this and that with animals, there's this little innocent request:

'I want someone to talk to about their home world with who knows what the internet, movies and TVs are. Not the whole world, just where they're from and what they used to do before they came here.
You can write to me if you don't know what those things are but you're feeling homesick. I'll write back.'

Apparently, their name is Brock.

Included details for those that inquire about the task is a small list of subjects to talk about, as well as an envelope with postage paid and with paper already inside ('I'll send another envelope with the paper with each one back,' is written on the sheet with details). The amount is set for 1 slyv per two letters; a meagre amount perhaps, but hey, all the more reason to spend some time on writing and rack it up.

As for the actual subjects, it's a simple list with the handwriting similar to this (thank goodness for Empatheias's auto-translating capabilities), and some of them include:

- The name of where you come from and what it looked like
- Shows you watched and movies too
- Places you hung out
- What you miss
- Towns and cities you know?
- Anything you want

You can use fake names if you want. If there's anything you don't want to talk about that's fine too
You can stop writing whenever you want.

Easy and simple. ]

[The idea strikes Yosuke as a little weird when he first reads it. Then again, plenty of things about life in Verens still do, and it's reassuring to know that someone around here might think the same way. Besides, taking the local tech level into account, being penpals with someone in the same city isn't as weird as it could be.

So sure, penpals it is. Sounds like an easy sylv here and there, as long as they don't grade it for composition. There's worse things.

His letter arrives already looking a bit dog-eared, and his messy but angular (Japanese) handwriting doesn't come close to filling the page. Still, an attempt has been made. Several attempts, judging from the scribbles.]

~~Dear~~ To ~~Salu~~ Hi Brock,

How's it going? I saw your note on the task board. I'm from another world too, so, I feel you on hearing about others.

It might not mean much even if you think you're from Earth too ~~lol~~ but, I'm from Yasoinaba in the Inaba region. It's the sleepiest, most rural place you can imagine. People call it Inaba City sometimes because it's the biggest town around, but most of it is farmland and mountains. Not that there's anything wrong with peaceful! It just means there aren't many channels on TV, usually the only interesting shows by the time I get off work are game shows. And the only karaoke place is this super tiny place way out on the edge of town.

But as long as you have friends around, there's ways to pass the time, right? What do you think?

Feather Red

[Fake names are hard.]

[ When Red gets the letter, it's a surprice. It was a spur of the moment (a lot of moments, over and over) that possessed him to put up the job. Even if there were people who knew about the internet, TV shows, going to the movies and eating food and getting ready as the lights dim, there was no telling it would satisfy that itch that...honestly, wasn't that big, but it had been on his mind.

He really missed remembering that phones and the internet existed, and how nice those luxuries were to have nearby.

It was exciting though in his hands, to see the interesting language the person wrote with. The message might've been simple, and his mind blank on what to write or where to begin, but as soon as he does... ]

Feather Red

I think having friends is better than having none wherever you live, even if it's just someone to talk with when you're in school or to play games with. That's how most of my friends were back in the town I lived in. We hung out at each others houses to play the newest video games or got invited to birthday parties, but there wasn't a lot to do unless you liked to go exploring in the woods, and that's only fun when you're 7. We didn't even have a karaoke place!

I didn't actually see one in person until I left home. It was back in a city called Celadon, and by then there wasn't anyone I knew to check it out with by then. Oh yeah, the region I come from is called Kanto and my town is Pallet Town. We have 7 cities and 2 towns there! We don't have any villages so the ones here were really cool for a while, but sometimes I wish there were more cities than Verens. Or just somewhere that's more like home. I didn't go to Sharnath because I didn't do Thras' challenge and I'd love to see it one day, but I know it won't be the same.

I know our technology and worlds aren't going to be exactly the same either, but it makes me feel better knowing there's other people here who remember and miss some of the same things too. I mean, I knew they had to exist, but I'd rather get a cramp in my hand than talk about it in my head.

I miss emotes too. ᕙ( * •̀ ᗜ •́ * )ᕗ I didn't have a reason to have a cellphone but I used them online. Wouldn't it be awesome if people had the internet here and we didn't have to talk in our heads all the time? It's convinient when you need to contact someone quick but it's annoying when you're busy and you can't listen to it later.

What was your job back home? Do you miss game shows now that you can't watch them? I couldn't watch TV or browse the internet on the road but at least I got to hear music in the shops and see TVs in the malls.

If a TV showed up in Verens for just one day I would watch anything it played.

thx for talkin ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ

RBrock

Is 1 sylv for 2 letters ok? I'll send it with the next one.

[ ...it's a little all over the place, in a hand similar to this. And as promised, there's a letter with a stamp and paper folded and included. ]

empatheias info + inbox

amulet voice sometime early november?

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Sometime in March

sob I'm sorry this is so late

it's march it's right on time