L'HERMITE.

“It’s not like making a video game is hard or anything. Like I said, I had someone who described how they worked to me and I went from there.”

Was he preening? Only a little. He fluffed up the heavy scarf around his neck in a manner not unlike a pigeon.

“The first one I made was sort of a play on Breath of the Wild. Have you heard of that one?”

Less of a play-on and more of a rip-off, based on the word of an alien troll, but what Saphir knew without a doubt was that his was the superior version.

“And since then I’ve been working on one of those ‘talking simulators,’ but that’s still highly top secret; only my most trusted confidants can play it right now.” He was exactly the sort of person to make air quotes with his hands when he talked, and he did.

“But I could let you take a look at the better Zelda and see if you have any ideas.” How did he move from asking for her opinion to making it sound like he was doing her a favor? Narcissism, mostly. “When are you free? Weekends or Wednesdays? I prefer Wednesdays. Saturday is date night, after all.”

He says that, but does she really believe it? Maybe he is that sort of prodigy or something...it does happen. I mean, she exists. It still earns a scrutinous eye, lips pursing in thought. Still, she won’t know until she actually tries it. Then she could rip into this guy’s so-called knowledge and pick him apart like a vulture.

A video game vulture.

“Uh, hello? Of course? Who do you think I am, some kind of casual?” So it was a big open-world game, huh. But that still didn’t tell her enough about it. “Sooo, totally doing you a favor and ignoring the fact that sounds like a rip-off, I guess it does sound kinda interesting.” Kinda. She doesn’t want to stroke the ego of a JRPG villain-lookalike. 

Also ignoring the fact she could totally hack his computer and see whatever he’s hiding from her if she really wanted to, but for some reason, a dating sim by this guy doesn’t seem like it’s something she’d want to see. Despite all the R-15 doujins she’s consumed, her eyes are still pure, thanks.

“Hold the phone...that’s a bold claim, pal. If you can’t back it up, I might have to fine you.” Yes, how did he move on from him asking to making it seem like she had? And she thought her brain could hop from place to place. Yeesh. “The new Featherman episodes come out Saturday, so Wednesday is A-OK. Just remember: ask, and yee shall receive, whether you like it or not.”

▊狐 “I’ve been reading up on American culture in a handy book I purchased and, might I ask you this? Is this a pigeon?”

This is it. This is what she’s been waiting for.  She’s focused. She’s ready. She’s read that stupid book as a joke and was waiting for the opportunity to arise. And now, here it is. Right in front of her eyes.

This.

Is.

It.

“Thanks.”

He was too entertained with his own joke to notice her mumbling, and likewise was too busy mulling over the prospects of having encountered a real-life gamer.

“You see, I was commissioned some time ago to compose video games for an acquaintance. I’d never done so before, but quickly discovered I have a gift–unsurprising for a genius like myself with exactly one peer.”

He put one gloved hand on the window and brought the other to his forehead. He was either trying to pose or he just did that subconsciously.

“Unfortunately, this acquaintance of mine, who you definitely do not know, has completely vanished since!”

“And it’s not like I’m one of you gamers –- I’ve never played any games -– so I need someone to play these things, and give me feedback. What do you say?”

That escalated quickly.

Now, hold the phone.

Sure, she had been debating on bolting at the nearest opportunity from this odd flamingo-themed villain wannabe, but now he’s said something that actually catches her attention. Noticeably so,  if the way she perks up and actually looks at him instead of trying to look at everything around them instead.

...Which she might regret, since he’s actually posing like a certain someone else she knows. It might even be less cool...not that she’d admit that. Out loud, anyway.

“Hold up...you’ve never played an actual video game before, but you made one? Like, totally coded and everything? Did you just max out your intelligence stat or something...?” A hand settles on her chin, the offer sounding...kind of good, but the skepticism weighs heavier. How can you make a video game if you haven’t even touched the marvel of one yourself?

Still...it’s not every day somebody asks you to test their stuff for free. It would be a fun experience...depending on if he was as good as it as he says. Futaba chews her bottom lip for a moment, shifting in place as she crosses her arms and closes her eyes in thought.

“I’m listening, buuuuut first things first, buster. What are we talking here? A dating sim? Classic RPG? Shoot’em up? And, also...” A dramatic pause as she adjusts her glasses. “If you want me to test these out, you better be ready for some red-hot criticism! When it comes to games, I don’t pull any punches. I’ve 100% completed VNs and clocked in more hours than you’ve been alive!”

Futaba’s wish is just as expected. Both of them share the same desire to be reunited with their friends again. While he’s certainly unable to make it come true, at least they can both hold onto the hope that they’ll all be able to see each other again one day. For now, though, Yusuke is doing his best to make sure that Futaba is taken care of so that Sojiro doesn’t have to worry. What’s most important is whatever she’s going to ask of him. He did say anything, after all.

“I’m certain.” He’d been saving for just this. And it had been really hard to forego buying any art supplies. Sure, he’d gotten plenty over the holidays but with a creative mind like this, it had been hard to make them last. He only nods, affirming his promise that she could ask for whatever she wanted. No matter what the cost was, he was going to make sure that she was able to have it. “Do you think I’d have offered you the chance to request anything if I weren’t prepared for the most challenging of tasks?” She won’t ask for anything too unattainable, he knows, but he’d like to make it very clear that he’s prepared either way.

…Or at least, he thinks he is.

Really, there are some days she finds it hard to distract herself from their situation, but that’s just proof she won’t forget anytime soon. These days become few and far between, and while it’s a bit sad, it makes it somewhat easier. As long as she keeps everyone in her thoughts, it’s not so hard. Really, when you think about it, it’s the same as grinding experience in a higher-leveled area. By the time she goes home, she will OWN the outdoors. 

...Anyway. He’s super confidant, isn’t he. How hard did he work to be able to promise that? Geez, what a guy. Her fork idly stabs into her own slice, smearing icing along the plate as she sinks into her thoughts for a few moments. Would this...be weird to ask for? Would he mind? Futaba swallows thickly, stabbing her cake one more time before taking a deep breath.

“...I-I want to go for sushi!” Ok. She could have blurted that out a bit better. Cheeks tinging pink, she coughs into her fist, gaze shifting away from him as she continues in a hurried tone.

“You know, because sushi is good and all, and we don’t go out often to eat since we’re kinda broke, and, uh...” Another breath. “Mom...and Sojiro took me out for sushi when I got into middle school. Then a while back, Sojiro took me and Akira out, too, to celebrate me finally going out more. I thought that we could, y’know...do that together? O-Or something. Since we’ve been here for so long and all....I thought it would be nice.”

“Futaba Sakura.” It had taken him quite a long time to find her. Now that he’s finally managed to, he doesn’t intend to leave until she answers him. Perhaps it had been a bit crass to let himself in through her bedroom window, but what else was he supposed to do when no one would answer the front door? He’s sure that caving it in would have been even more disrespectful and so here he is, seated on her window sill. “How is it that you are familiar with me? Your prior actions suggest that we shared a relationship of some sort. Explain.”

@necronomiconed 

“W-Woah! Woahwoahwoah, t-time out, time out!” 

She has a lot of things to worry about, you know. Being able to stay awake to catch the last couple episodes of the anime of the season, managing to get a copy of the newest release before it sells out, earning enough money from her coding escapades to restock her supplies...the usual. What she normally doesn’t have to worry about is turning around from the 5th episode of the 2nd season of Featherman to see the third Pharaoh of Egypt climbing in her bedroom window.

Realistically, she’s lucky she hadn’t quite fallen out of her chair. Almost, but not quite. This computer desk has always supported her in dire times.

At first he doesn’t recognize his own voice. For one, his voice would never be caught dead singing and if it ever was he would have had something to say about it.

Cognitive distortion. It was the entire PhoenixRanger Featherman R season 1 theme, pitch perfect and in definition crisper than spring mountain air, but it was coming out of Yesod’s mouth.

A wave of nausea hit him at the same time as the realization that someone must have been in his lower systems. He doubled over with one hand clamped firmly over his mouth in a frail attempt to maintain composure; trying to stop the song from playing was effectively like trying to mentally stop one’s blood from flowing.

But hitting himself in the chest several times worked too.

That left the issue of finding who it was that had cracked his system – not an easy task given the lack of conscious access he had to his lower levels. But at the same time, if he couldn’t do this, he could hardly call himself an AI of any merit.

He sunk to the floor, behind the clothing display,

Who’s there? the text floated above Futaba’s interface for a moment before vanishing.You can’t see this. Get out.

A nostalgic smile crawls across her face the moment the first notes start to flow through her ears, lightly adjusting the volume on her headphones with a swift click of a button. Success, you taste the sweetest, indeed. Nice to see that works just fine...now, for the ( more ) important stuff.

A couple more walls to crack...just how deep did this rabbit hole go? The question begs to be answered, and who is she to deny the curiosity that seeps through her fingers as they press to the keyboard? Worrying about consequences is for chumps and people who don’t know how to dig their way out of a sticky situation.

Luckily, Futaba is neither.

What she is is wary the moment the text pops up on her screen. A quick check proves it’s not from an outside source, so it must be from whoever’s system she’s slithered into. The order earns a small snort, and Futaba takes a moment to adjust her glasses. She’s impressed they noticed her in the first place, but she’s not so easily beaten.

“What did you wish for?” Yusuke knows that he probably shouldn’t ask but he does anyway. If it’s something that he’d be able to provide her with, he’d gladly pay however much just to see her happy for once. Even if it’s just for a short while, this is her special day, after all. She’s put on such a brave face and grown in more ways than could have ever been expected.

Though it’d hurt his wallet a little bit, it’s worth it and he’s prepared himself to buy whatever it is that she asks for. “I should have enough money to buy whatever gift you’d like. Don’t worry about the expenses.” He moves around her, slowly beginning to take the candles from the cake before handing her a butterknife to start slicing it up into individual pieces. Then he flips the lights on his room so that they’re no longer sitting in the dark.

“Well then? Let’s hear it.”

“Eh, what? T-That’s kind of embarrassing to ask....” Leaning back into the chair, she shifts her gaze for a moment, bare feet pressing into the leather. It is kind of childish, but it felt right to wish for-- even if it didn’t come true soon, if it did at some point..... “I...um, wished that all of us could be together again. All of us. The Phantom Thieves, and Sojiro, too.”

Sure, a new Model would be nice, but...Nah, channeling a cliche shounen protagonist came first. Anyway, moving on before this embarrasses her further.

The offer does catch her off guard. Did he really make that much off painting on the corner? Sure, she had amassed her own pocket money from coding amongst other things on the web, but that sounded pretty confidant. Futaba only snaps back into reality after he hands her the butterknife, gripping it in unsure fingers as she stares at the confection in front of her while trying to think about his request.

“Happy Birthday, Futaba.” It’s not as grand as it could be, certainly not reminiscent of home in the slightest. Without Sojiro here, he’s sure that she’s felt lonely at times even though she doesn’t say it. Still, he’d done his best to make sure she at least had something. A small cake with a few candles in a dimly lit room. Yusuke is nothing if not traditional in his approach as he sets the dessert in front of Futaba, onto her desk. “Make a wish.” He settles to stand in the back of her.

@necronomiconed 

It’s weird. This is the first birthday she’s had to spend away from Sojiro-- no homemade cake, no somewhat unsure but caring fatherly presence to hover over her. It feels...kind of hollow, to be honest. Not to mention there are some key friend figures missing here, which only add to it. 

But she isn’t alone, either. And that counts for something. It does help lift the feeling in her chest, even if she won’t admit it. Pushing the negative to the back of her mind, she stares at the candles intensely for a moment, fingers pressing into her chin as she closes her eyes like she’s really thinking about it.

“Big 17, huh...Ugh, I didn’t even prepare myself for this. I’m totally underlevelled.” Still...there is one thing. More than a new harddrive, or early access to a new release. Bracing her hands on the desk, Futaba takes in a deep breath and holds it...holds it...and blows as hard as she can.

Futaba’s words have the usual bite, but her face is a lot pinker than usual. She shuffles in place, huffing softly as she twists her hands behind her back for a moment. Ugh, she actually had to come and hunt him down. Could this guy get any more troublesome?

“What are you even doing out here? You do know what day it is....right?”

The first thing to load was data, starting with numbers – employee ID numbers, connected to proper names, and then, if Futaba continued to dig, their status as alive or deceased.

‘Deceased’ files led to the circumstances of their deaths – Abnormality, friendly fire, kill order issued…

Meanwhile in the physical world, Yesod remained ignorant as to the intruder in his lower processes. There was a purple scarf the same shade as his tie, so that if he bought it, it wouldn’t even look out of place. If he bought it – which was the dilemma he faced. This was a dangerously self-indulgent prospect that he was considering. A scarf? Just to have a scarf? He couldn’t… could he?

He felt a strange, sick feeling, like something was crawling around inside him, up the ribs that he didn’t strictly have, and the beginnings of a dial tone sound ringing in his head.

It could only have been a sign that he should not buy the scarf.

Government files?

For this place? No, this seemed too easy for that. This place would have harder security to crack than this, for sure. ID numbers, names...employees? No names she recognized. Pulling the screen closer to her face, she adjusts her glasses, green light reflecting in slightly smudged lenses. The only sounds she can hear are the ever-present clicking of her fingers on lit-up keys, time slowing to a crawl as her teeth absentmindedly dig into her bottom lip.

Just a bit more here, and...hm. The new terms bring her pause, well-oiled cogs in her mind turning at the new revelation. Dead or Alive...an odd thing to keep on record, especially when it’s in this abundance. Like the records of that military base she hacked into that one, her curiosity only morbidly peaks further as she works her way deeper into the system.

There’s so much room in here, like the worlds biggest supercomputer. Just the sheer amount of data she can see almost has her drooling, and she hasn’t even finished yet. Forget gigabytes, this thing is a sea of terabytes. It’s like...a late Christmas Present, in February. If she wasn’t so focused, she might giggle a little.

More importantly...before she delves any further, how easy would it be to install something here? This is pretty extensive, and the security did take a while to crack, but it seems getting in is harder than it is to stay. Just to be sure, though...a couple taps set up a few extra layers of security, just to ruin the day of anybody trying to find her.

With the power of an ungodly internet speed, Futaba watches the upload click near instantly, the entire HD MP3 file of Phoenix Ranger Featherman R’s first season opening theme song finding a place among the layers of data. 

Hogging the entire bench to herself as she hunches over the sticker-plastered piece of hardware in her lap, Futaba’s fingers switch between lightly tapping the keys and moving so fast they practically blur, searching for something around here that would keep her interest. Lately, she’s had little time or reason to work on her true calling, and all that time away can give a girl a hankering for a challenge.

Aaaand...bingo. A specific name stands out among simple lines of odd numbers and cheesily named hotspots, and with a crossing of the legs and adjusting of the glasses, she begins her dive.

“Alright, come to Mama — woah!” The strings of code unintelligible to most are so long, it actually gives her pause for a moment. Only a moment, until a grin cracks across her face, devious glint snaking into mauve eyes as she does her best mockery of knuckle-cracking. 

She can’t say she knows what the YESOD.exe is, but she’s going to find out, even if her legs go numb. Decoding already in progress, the outside world is completely tuned out, the noise of the afternoon crowd turning into a soft buzz at the back of her skull.

Now, just what’s hiding here....

Oh, she just wanted to return his wallet.

He’d been hoping she’d been someone in need of his (many) talents, or maybe a fan of his work. But he had to admit even to himself that he needed his wallet, and she’d taken the time to track him down and return it instead of just taking it.

So really, maybe this was even better.

“You know, I hadn’t even noticed it was missing. I might have had to just rob the store, ahahahaha!” That was a joke. Probably.

And the way she was stammering was sort of cute. Naturally she must have been in awe of him. Furthermore, she’d done him a favor, so clearly she still needed a reward…

Saphir looked back at the window, then back to the girl. Something about the way she was talking seemed to say…

“… Are you a gamer?”

Of course, what kind of good citizen would she be if she just left it to the hands of randos on the street? At least she knows she’ll do her best to return it...you never know what kind of people are out there. She knows that firsthand.

Whether or not that information keeps her out of trouble is, however, a different story.

Still standing there, hands outstretched, you could practically feel the crickets chirp after the supposed wisecrack. Futaba’s gaze blanks for a second, slowly registering the words themselves, before her expression slowly takes a turn away from the nervous and more into the ....unimpressed.

“...Talk about mega awkward...” It’s a soft mumble, but it’s a mumble nonetheless. That was almost as bad as some of Yusuke’s puns. Yikes. Maybe if she just leaves it here and goes on her way  —  wait, he’s talking again.

“ — H-Huh?” The question earns a blink, and then she turns her head to mimic the way he looked at the store. Right, there were here, and he had been staring pretty intently at that display, now that she thinks about it. “Oh, uh, yeah! I play tons, you know, like MMOs and RPGs...but I prefer sandbox games. Why?”

> CONNECTING TO SERVER… > HE1R3SS has entered the chatroom.

HE1R3SS: Futaba-chan? Futaba-chan are you here? I sent you that package with my latest creation! HE1R3SS: It arrived safely, right? I paid premium to make sure it did! HE1R3SS: I think it’ll look good on you! I know you had your reservations but just trust me! HE1R3SS: Have I ever steered you wrong?  ( `ε´ )

@necronomiconed

>PHARA0H is typing...

PHARA0H: You betcha, fetch-quest complete!

PHARA0H: And woah...this box is pretty fancy. Are you super sure about this?

PHARA0H: I mean, it’s not the first time and all, but I’m probably not the best model for this type of stuff...don’t you want someone with a little more boom! And oomph!