we've been cursed

A rare occurrence. It hadn’t happened very much by this point, only once or twice with a particular human who they seemed inextricably tied with. Though the experience is… not exactly linear.

And yet, another soul was hearing them once again.

Who was he? Why was he able to hear them? Could he see them too?

Slowly, Chara speaks again.

𖤓-. The demi god's eyes narrow as he moves through the wooded area--following the sound of the voice. Each time he thought he got CLOSE enough though that he would SEE something---he didn't. This continued for several minutes, to the point where he would stomp all the way down to the water line and back again.

" Greetings?" he practically growled. " Where the hell ARE you?"

Oh this was irritating him. What was this? Some fuckin' ghost? He had ENOUGH issues with dead people, he didn't NEED more.

See them, though? Only one person had so far. Their connection was so strong… And yet, they’d been separated… Or were going to be separated… or something. Loose connection to time, loose connection to memories. Quite confusing.

𖤓-. Dorrin had been walking for HOURS it felt like. In the woods in the HEAT. The sun was gonna go down in a few hours at this point--and he had taken it upon himself to nap in a shady spot under a tree. No real PARTICULAR reason other than he was tired of walking and pissed off that it was hot outside with no variable moisture or air currents to mess with.

A rare occurrence. It hadn’t happened very much by this point, only once or twice with a particular human who they seemed inextricably tied with. Though the experience is… not exactly linear.

And yet, another soul was hearing them once again.

Who was he? Why was he able to hear them? Could he see them too?

Slowly, Chara speaks again.

“Lonely, huh?” She lets out as wistful sigh. Despite his own embarrassment after saying the phrase, it actually speaks to her on some level. “It is, kind of, isn’t it?”

She’s got her own experience with dark, dry (and notably, sterile) places, after all… though, perhaps equally, she recalls the wet and brightly lit ones.

“Yeah, but I wish they weren’t poisonous.” Asriel says with a frown. “I didn’t realize how many flowers could be dangerous. I guess it makes sense, they don’t want to be eaten or ripped from the ground. But they’re so pretty, and a lot of them smell nice.”

She shrugs, hands coming up in the air. “Even so, for some, they’re only really dangerous if that’s what you’re doing. There are ways to bring most plants with you without tearing them out and causing those toxins to get in or on your body. Gloves, a proper shovel… Some plants are hard to reroot because they dig themselves in so thoroughly, rooting deeply in the ground… so still, some we must admire from a distance.”

Her hands fall to her side.

Except, they know she can, and more importantly, they know she will. Kris crawls out from under the bed. There’s an undeniable pout on their face as they reach their arms out, gesturing as if to say they want some. Because they do.

Hyacinthe, perhaps by her nature, doesn’t typically do a lot of socializing, least of all with strangers. It’s nice, she thinks, to have someone listen to her.

“Lonely, huh?” She lets out as wistful sigh. Despite his own embarrassment after saying the phrase, it actually speaks to her on some level. “It is, kind of, isn’t it?”

She’s got her own experience with dark, dry (and notably, sterile) places, after all… though, perhaps equally, she recalls the wet and brightly lit ones.

What's wrong? What's wrong? Oh, there were so many, many things wrong with this whole situation! Would you like her to list them off? Too bad! Sam's doing it anyways:

One: She was human. In the equivalent of a home internet adapter.

That was not supposed to happen, because humans aren't supposed to be in a internet adapter. There was no wind, no sun, no nothing in this whole entire cybernetic landscape. Just stale air and the circuitry of zeros and ones running beneath her feet. To have a whole entire being of flesh and bone in this whole entire system was wrong.

Two: She's back. She's in this universe again.

In all her universe hopping and all the worlds she's visited and left, there were some that she never, ever visits again. Not out of spite. Not out of the desire to never come back to one of the utterly terrible worlds that she came across. She just... didn't. Couldn't. The devices were her ship, and where they sent her she could only follow. It was anyone's guess that would be. And sometimes—-most times—- that meant she would visit a universe again. See old friends. Maybe not get back to where she left off, but it was something.

But other times? Time passes, and no matter how many times she hopped, she would never pop into a universe again. Why? She never knew. So it was only natural that she assumed that the world was closed off to her forever. And she had come to peace that this one—-the one with Rock and Netto and Maha and Rose and Dingo—-eventually became one of them. But not after grieving for so, so long.

Which lead to three: This was an alternate version of the universe she visited.

It was painted all over Rock's and Netto's faces; They didn't know her. This was not the same people she's met and befriended before, and while she knew of alternates ( befriended a good bunch of them, even, even giving them nicknames to tell them apart ), this... This was different. These were the exact faces of friends she had before, staring at her like they would a stranger.

So hopefully, that would help explain why she was very, very upset. The girl throws her hands down, storming away from the Navi and his Operator on the windowed screen as she breaks down further.

" no no no no NO—-! "

Her head whips to the ceiling then, jabbing a finger at the air above.

" this is cruel and this is mean and this is every single horrible thing that comes to mind! i've long since come to terms with what is happening, and you do this—- " Her arms outstretch to the two in the back, eyes brimming with tears, " —-to me? after everything? i am not doing this again, do you hear me?! i am NOT—-"

Breathe. Hands comes up to her eyes, covering her sight from the circuited sky. Inhale, exhale. She removes them, then. Lets them fall from her face as they wiped the tears away.

She still had company. It wasn't their fault she was here.

“Here, this way. It should be private enough once we step over here.” He smiles gently, warmly at her. Whatever’s going on, the thing he completely does not understand, her stress is obvious enough. And it doesn’t seem, in any case, like she wants to do any harm to them, or their computer, or their systems or anything like that.

Netto, on the other hand, frowns at the screen. While he doesn’t state any objection, it’s clear on his face that he doesn’t exactly trust her. He thinks she could be manipulating the situation in order to stab them in the back. … Here’s the thing, though. He trusts Megaman. He trusts his brother’s judgment on the situation. If Megaman is thinking it will be fine, he’s alright trusting that things will be okay… Even if there are pieces they have to pick up in the end, he knows that the two of them will get through it together.

“This place should be safe.” Megaman’s led her to a private server. “Nobody will come bother you here. But when you’re ready to talk to us, come find me, okay?”