neverplaysfair | Game 060 [Voice]

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Game 060 [Voice]

[ The first sound when the journal turns on is a rather disgruntled huff as a flash of rainbow feathers catches the camera. ]

Well, I'm back. I don't think I even want to know how long it's been. There's dust everywhere.

[ The disdainful voice sounds a good deal like Joshua, and the feathers and face both look like Joshua... but there's something off about it. The voice is higher than usual and there's a bit more volume and length to the hair.

Regardless, the speaker continues on like usual. ]

Is asking for a bowl of ramen a pointless endeavor? My captors weren't exactly generous and the store seems to be completely out of any form of instant noodles. Honestly, treating a lady like that...

[ Wait, lady? Why, in fact! Joshua does appear to be a good deal more feminine than even he usually is... ]

All that aside, there seems to be a lovely new addition to my journal. Tell me, do I need an antenna to make it work? Perhaps there's a remote lying around to change the channel? I can't imagine it's supposed to be showing static.

(( Replies will come from

myunfairlady ))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Wearing what?

[Flatly:] My magical uniform that can't and won't be taken off, thank you very much.

Maid uniform.

[ Let the bartering begin. ]

...school uniform.

[This may be cheating, seeing as it's her most common outfit when out and about as Kari. But he doesn't have to know that.]

Ooh. A good try, but far too common for someone living in Shibuya to be of any real interest.

Still asking for a maid uniform.

...what kind of maid we talking here? Because there's no way in hell I'm doing an Izumi Sawatari cosplay for you.

[Kari your otaku is showing.]

... A clothed maid? I can't say I recognize the name.

...seriously? Come on, I even tried to reference one from your era! Your Japan must be so boring...

[And as she talks, she reaches into her pocket and pulls out her cell phone, fiddling with it for a second before holding it up with a picture on the screen of a scantily-clad maid character. Why does she have this picture saved on her phone? Probably better not to ask.]

[...notably, the character kind of looks like her.]

If you're gonna make me dress up, it should at least be something tasteful, like the uniforms in Tangerine Panic! I mean, you hardly need to worry about variety since I'm sure there's still a good surplus built up from when Haruhi was here...

[She might be taking this too seriously.]

[ Ah, now he recognizes it. He never knew the character's name.

... ]

Is this the sort of thing you're into?

[ Because when Kari actually both knows the name and has a picture ready to go, one has got to wonder. ]

Uhm. Yeah? I'm not going to whip out a reference from something I don't even like!

[Not an ounce of shame in this one.]

[ /jiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii ]

Is that so? You're welcome to demand I dress up as well, you know. Or maybe my body is already too developed for your tastes...

[ A giggle, and Joshua places fingertips to his collarbone, as if to (poorly) hide his breasts. ]

[...there's something really gross about Pretty-boy talking about his body like that. Even if he is a girl right now.]

What's that supposed to-- wait, are you serious?

[Think of the blackmail material.]

We're bartering, hee hee. Counter-offers are only limited by your imagination.

[Heh.]

[Heheheheheheh.]

[If she has to be miserable to get some answers, then clearly she has to return the favor! Without another word, she's back at her phone, puzzling over some of the folders. Alas, if only there was reception here! She'll have to make do with what she already had downloaded. Which is still a lot to choose from.]

[When she scrolls over a certain character though, she suddenly has to stifle a small laugh -- oh, this one will be good -- before holding up her phone.]

Okay, then. Dress up like this and I'll wear a your maid outfit.

[ Oh hey, isn't that--

But Joshua suddenly freezes, eyes wide as he goes completely stiff, studying the picture. He recognizes it, recognizes her, but she isn't dead, she can't be a Reaper-- ]

Let me see that.

[ He's too surprised at seeing Coco with reaper wings to even realize that he's seeing this picture on Kari's phone of all places. ]

...uh. Sure?

[She hands over the phone, not sure what to think of the sudden change in tone. The character on the phone is definitely wearing the same clothes, and the wings are uncanny, but the face might look a bit different. Though more so because the character is clearly a drawing and not a real person.]

[ The line is kind of fuzzy when you yourself are secretly a drawing but whatever.

The changes don't even register to him. He didn't really know Coco; she was a candidate for the Reaper's Game but Shibuya had so many of those, and the only reason he ever paid her much attention at all was she had a somewhat higher than average chance of dying young. It hadn't come to fruition, not before he was brought to Luceti. She was just one of the many that he was all but sure he'd completely forgotten in his time spent wasting away here, but staring at the picture he can still vaguely recall what her voice sounded like. ]

Do you know who this is?

...do you? [An obvious question at this point, probably, which is why she'll just follow by answering his.] She's a character in a video game back in my world. It was pretty hyped up at the time, so I've got a lot of promotional art from it on there...

[She's suddenly remembering a conversation they had once about the mural outside of his house.]

But that's probably not where you know her from, right?

[ Joshua stares at it for a couple seconds longer, then presses his free hand to his temple. Video game. Coco is in a video game. Coco, with Reaper wings.

He knows dwelling on it for too long is going to lead in one or more of several unpleasant directions, so he tosses the phone back to Kari (hopefully she's a good catcher, or it's durable). His voice is suddenly lighter, though there's still a distracted edge to it. ]

Veto. The offer remains at you dusting my house in a maid uniform.

[WOW DON'T THROW THAT IT WAS EXPENSIVE she frantically catches the phone and scowls for a moment... but then her expression softens. It's pretty clear something about this character struck a cord with him. And she has a few guesses as to why.]

...really? Are you sure you wouldn't rather I explain why someone you know exists in a video game in my world in exchange?

[Not that Kari wouldn't otherwise just explain the concept if asked, but hey, if she can use it as leverage to get out of dressing up for this guy, all the better. Besides, she can't help but be curious. If that girl is from his world, could it be that game is an overlap between their worlds?]

She comes from the same game that mural outside your house does, by the way. And I've got more promotional art on here if you think I'm full of it.

[ Well phones don't get that expensive and she did say it was a cheaper model. Memory-wise, at least. ]

That depends on how satisfactory your explanation turns out to be. Do you even know what all you have to explain?

[Smart phones not being expensive? Alas, not even Kari's world is that nice.]

Of course I do! It's not like I've spent all this time being a world traveler without learning a thing or two about how different universes work.

[ Joshua has no metric for smartphones here. ]

Then you're welcome to try it. We'll see how far it brings me down.

[Well, if that's the way he wants to do it then fine. Though she wouldn't put it past him to still insist on his same offer even after everything.]

Okay. So basically, you know how everyone here is from completely different worlds, right? Really, it'd be more accurate to say different universes. And all those universes are connected in a really abstract way -- like, if each one was the size of a marble, stuck together in a big bag. And because some universes are closer to each other than others, it sometimes causes something called an overlap, where two completely different worlds will share something in common. Like, you can tell most of the worlds we're from have to be somewhat close to each other, since most of them have humans or human-like sentient beings.

[She wasn't exaggerating when she said she knew this topic well. Most of her time traveling to other worlds was spent reading and studying to find out more about the way her magic worked -- which inevitably led to a lot of knowledge regarding the many different universes themselves.]

[Of course, if he wanted an even more knowledgeable source, the spirit that's been directing Kari to all those worlds would probably know more. But Kari doesn't know that.]

My world is in the center of a really vast web of universes, so it has a lot more overlaps than most. And most of those overlaps take the form of fictional media. Of course, it's not always accurate, since overlaps can be pretty random. But I've definitely met a good amount of people here who I know I've read about in a visual novel or seen in a movie back home.

... Go on.

[ Joshua is not ragequitting again just yet. ]

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