#tale 3

There's something genuinely magical about the first time a conversation stops feeling like text on a screen and starts feeling like presence. That's the moment I fell for SweetDream. Over at sweetdream.ai, live cam sessions are now available with select characters, and honestly, it changes everything about what an AI companion can feel like. You're not just reading words anymore — you're sharing a moment, in real time, with someone who looks at you and reacts to you.

What makes it land so well is that SweetDream gets the whole experience right first. The chat is warm, emotionally intelligent, and it actually remembers what you told it last week. So by the time you hop into a live cam session, your AI girlfriend already knows your inside jokes and your bad days. It's continuity, and continuity is what makes a connection feel real.

The Therapy Centre seems almost unfamiliar to him now. Outside of the one time he first experienced and grabbed a sword, he hasn’t... really returned. Not on his own, anyway. The Ryoka matter was... something of an anomaly. The soft comfort this whole building emanated wasn’t for him... it was if, no matter what, he hadn’t earned it and being here made him feel out of place. A thought would always cross his mind ‘what did you do to be here?’. It was an exhausting back and forth, wanting something and debating one’s right to it. One he’d rather not have, if he could help it. That sort of thinking did no one any good.

So why go through all the trouble in that case?

There was certainly no Ryoka to find nor any stuffed animal he wished to get comfort from, it was more of a... curiosity. His room had a variety of books, mostly fairytales, folklore, that sort of thing. Given the nature of the island, was there a possibility something was hidden in one of those volumes? Some sort of code, some sort of hidden page or cut-out... some sense of himself or who he was. It was honestly a long shot. He’d read through them when he first arrived but maybe he missed something. Maybe it was just worth trying harder. At the very least, he figured he wouldn’t lose anything.

Yet, on his way there... he couldn’t help but notice someone else was already here. Lotus. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to get in her way. Things were still... a little weird between them. Understandably, considering what he’d done.

There had been ups and downs with his relationships. He’d never really considered himself close to anyone, not until Yukari had asked to be friends. But there was a time he was bound in some fashion to Ryoka. It had been a strange connection they held - he couldn’t see her so much as a person at that time. He had felt too guilty. And that guilt had made him do something awful. Something he was still coming to terms with. His relationship with Lotus had soured. Still, he had no one to blame but himself. Blaming LISE was an easy out - he wouldn’t allow himself such an escape. He wondered... had Ryoka seen him in a similar light? As a figure, more than a person?

She extended her graceful hand of friendship to all that would accept it. Even to the violent. The selfish. Did she need that attention, crave that friendship or was it a front? Did she even know it herself? All he knew is that he felt very plastic to him. Perhaps because he’d never had a friend. He didn’t hold it against her; likely, it was his own fault and people really did make friends like that. It just struck him as off, somehow.

Yet, what was more off was... well. What he saw. What they all saw. She had appeared, with that same face, those same pigtails and she had spoken in such a sweet way... she’d spoken such toxic words. He’d been shocked. Perhaps at first some thought of vindication crossed his mind: ‘I thought it was funny. I thought that friendship seemed cheap’. But after everything that had happened and everyone that had been lost, Shizumaru wanted to take some time to truly consider this. There was a chance that was her true nature. But, there was a chance she didn’t remember any of that, as well. What would he do in that position? Forced to watch a stranger with his face perform such acts of evil? This seed of distrust... is surely what LISE wanted them to consume. He had no idea what to make of it. Even on a good day, he didn’t trust people. But fighting them didn’t seem ideal, either. After all that thinking and all that stewing, one main thing was clear to him: he would never know if he didn’t go to the source. And that meant talking to her.

It had been a while since they’d really talked. And what talks they’d had, as he recalled, had been clipped. Awkward. This conversation, if he could have it, would likely be just as awkward. But... it was important. If they didn’t talk about it, they’d never get anywhere and he’d never feel this was resolved.

So, he walked and he searched. It seemed as though he did a lot of it these days; and why not? There were many people he had to talk to and many feelings he had to sort through. He had an idea of where she’d be though, somehow. The Therapy Centre. Ironically, it’s almost where they met. Or first talked for real, anyway. He clearly has something hidden in his hand as he approaches her. And... she’s definitely seen better days.

“Umehara-san. There’s a lot to say. I have... some questions, if you don’t mind. But, before that...“

He bows his head and then shows her his poorly hidden present. As it turns out, he’d picked out a stuffed animal from the ski lift cabin.

So much had happened. On the island, and even just in the last few days. He had made his first friend and then, in the space of only a few hours, likely ruined that bond for good. He had saved Satoko from a fall only for it to blow up in everyone’s faces. Their concerned faces... Yukari, Lewis... those stuck with him. The adrenaline of the moment had long since passed but sometimes he could still feel his hands shake with an indescribable dread. The smoke of a future that could’ve been. A vision of a bad ending. Even so, it wasn’t quite the fairytale ending one may have hoped for. But at the very least, she was alive. They were both alive. Yukari could’ve had an accident, as well. It could’ve gone wrong so many ways. If this tension was the price of it, so be it.

Then, on top of that... the motive. Yukari had seen nothing. Neither had he, but he felt her ties to family were much stronger than his. Then... Lewis and Satoko... both namedropped. Both had places to go back to, people to be with. He worried; about all of them, really. But how to put that into useful action? How to put those feelings across?

It was hard.

WIth all the new areas, it felt oddly nostalgia to be back in the Garden Shelter. But not unpleasant. The weather seemed more picture-esque when you saw it from the glass’s reflection. And no matter what the humans here did, the plants grew on. There was something courageous and meaningful about the tomato plants crawling up their vines. The proof that life can go on, perhaps.

Still, he wasn’t here for that. He was looking for someone in particular. Well, more than one, perhaps, but for this time, just one would do. He’d searched the guesthouse and some other areas first. He’d actually more gone to the shelter for shelter but as luck would have it, this is where she was.

“Ihara-san... can we talk? Whenever you have time, I think... I think we should.”

He had never considered himself an optimist. If anything, Shizumaru considered himself more the opposite. But even in all this, shockingly, he found a silver lining in all this. This confirmed something for him.

There was no one waiting for him.

Given the memories he had, he supposed that made sense. A father left hanging and a mother no doubt... well. He hadn’t had that picture finished but it didn’t matter. A tree fell... the fire that filled up his nose. It painted enough of an image to piece together the rest. There was a part of him that felt empty. The thought that, even if he did escape, there’d be nowhere left for him in the world. He doubted he had family or anyone looking for him. Even on this island, he had doubts many people cared about him. It felt like the more he showed his concern, the more he distanced himself from people. How? Why? He couldn’t understand. Nobody had written a book on how to express such a thing. Nobody had told him what to do or what to say. These social conflicts and meetings were minefields and somehow he ended up triggering every bomb on the ground. How could he fix that?

He didn’t know.

But, the bright side was the distinct feeling he could tough it out during this motive. Just because no one was looking for him didn’t mean no one was looking for the others; indeed, some people were already called out directly. Others, perhaps, would become more desperate as they prayed for their own loved one’s survival. Just because he had certain knowledge didn’t mean they did. As depressing as it was, knowing they were likely dead gave him some sort of clarity on the matter. It meant he could better reach out. Though... he had never been particularly good at that, it seemed.

Now, what was a concern was the other half of it.

Ayaka Tamura, Ryoka Umehara, Madoka Tanaka and Tatsuya Ryuuko...

All of them guilty of heavy crimes.

Was it a crime if they couldn’t remember the act? He wasn’t sure. Some people had certainly already shown signs of such things, he belived. Tatsuya, for one, had always reacted with aggression and violence. But the likes of Madoka and Ryoka who put on an angelic face... they were more tricky to understand. Madoka he didn’t know very well but... Ryoka was... Ryoka he knew but always had mixed feelings about. Someone who claimed she could be friends with everyone. Someone he felt was just... insincere in her kindness. Perhaps it was his prudishness - that is what he initially believed but... perhaps it had been some sort of sixth sense.

Whatever it was, it certainly bore thinking about.

Ji-hyun Hwan and Tsuneko Shiga’s deaths wouldn’t be in vain. That’s what he had told himself and he had believed that wholeheartedly. And yet... he was in this position again. Now he had to tell himself Kaizou Anzai and Giselle Bellerose’s deaths wouldn’t be in vain either. The easiest thing to do was give up. But he couldn’t; he’d never allow himself to take the easy way out. Fighting was at least a little easier now that he held this thing.

Shizumaru’s eyes went back down to the cord in his hands. This... or something similar... had taken his father’s life. This mixed well with what that thing in the Mines had said, too. Even though he had a variety of these details and a small understanding of events, it still wasn’t clear. There was a good chance he’d be happier if he never found out the whole story. He couldn’t help but feel it’d be a good thing if he’d never remembered the parts he had in the first place. But it was for the best, ultimately. The bitter pill had to be swallowed and it was important he come to terms with not only this aspect of himself and his life but this situation.

Yes, what should he do about all this?

His goal had always been to take on a sort of leadership role. If he could inspire the others, if they trusted him to help them, things would be alright. That was a naive thought. He knew that. But driving on with a known naivete could still work; he was aware of where it could fail, after all, that should’ve given him more insight. The pure optimistic vision with the foresight to know where it coudl go wrong. And yet... and yet...

Four people were dead and there was nothing he could do, nothing he could say to change that. His rash decision to chase whoever that was had gotten certain people to mistrust him. He had poisoned Lotus before. Said controversial words to certain people. It had all just somehow gone off-track. The dream of co-existence and mutual trust, buried in the snow.

According to the map, he was near to the Misty Chasm. He could definitely understand the name. This whole area was on the foggy side but it seemed to get particularly thick around this area and he found himself squinting often to see into the distance. And yet, it wasn’t unfamiliar feeling, once again, this sort of weather and these conditions came naturally to him. He even had goggles in case he needed to protect his eyes. He’d opted to take a break on one of the lone white rocks near the chasm. Shizumaru had to make sure the area was relatively safe first though so he slipped the goggles over his eyes and looked around and... ah, that was someone coming his way. His body relaxed once he realized it was a familiar face and he tucked the goggles back into place.

Several days passed, and, while Kyo was getting better, Yumi still wasn't convinced that he was good enough to go on by himself.

"I just think you don't want to get rid of me," Kyo teased one day.

"Whatever gets you through the day," Yumi joked back.

One day, Yumi walked out of the tent, sighing.

"I thought you'd be OK by now, so you could get going, and I could as well. But you're not, and some of those Fire Nation soldiers are still around.." she began. "It's no good, we'll have to find a new place- together.."

"Why is that such a bad thing?" Kyo asked, bringing up the topic he had been bringing up for a while now. "I still think we'd make a good team."

"And I still think it's best if we travel on our own," Yumi countered.

Kyo couldn't help but feel frustrated. He knew that Yumi still didn't trust him. But what was he supposed to do to gain it? She didn't make it clear at all.                                                                        

"I'm going to go get some water," she sighed, after a moment of silence. "I'll go look for a new place after..."                                

She was gone for about an hour, and put the buckets of water near the stacks of logs when she returned. Kyo noticed something odd.                          

"Where did you put that ring you always wear?"                                                                          

"What d'you mean? It's on my - " then she looked down at her hand. She gasped. "Where's my ring?!"                                              

Yumi looked all around the campsite, and inside the tent. Yumi sunk down onto the ground, blinking quickly.                                                      

"What if I lost it in the lake..." she muttered to herself.

"Do you want me to go look for it?" Kyo offered, seeing how upset she was.                                    

"No, it's fine. I'm going to go find a new place. Don't go anywhere!" she added firmly.                                                                        

She set off away from the campsite, and wasn't back for several hours, coming back just when the sun started to set.                                    

"Well, I found a place," Yumi announced dully. "We can go tomorrow morning. I'm going to bed, I'm not hungry. And it's your turn to take watch now, anyways, isn't it?"                                      

She went inside the tent. After a few seconds, Kyo heard stifled sobbing. That ring must've really meant so much to her.. He decided that when Yumi was asleep, he'd go out and look for it.                                                              

After about thirty minutes, he went inside the tent silently, to see if she was asleep. She was, and tear tracks were glistening on her cheeks. Time to go find that ring, then...

Kyo trekked down the path toward the lake. As he walked down it, he thought how odd it was that he was doing this for a girl he hardly knew.. But she seemed so heartbroken. Why, though? Why was she so upset?                                                                

As he walked, he also paid attention to see if she dropped it on route. She didn't. It's somewhere at the lake.. And some waves must have pushed it further in, as well, speaking realistically..                                    

Kyo reached the lake. He walked around the perimeter, looking for the ring. He didn't see the familiar gold ring. He sighed. Only one thing to do now...

He took off his shirt, and jumped into the lake. He swam to the bottom, and started feeling around the bottom.                                                    

He was starting to run out of breath.. He'd need to find the ring soon.                                        

And sure enough, he found it! But his breath was almost gone completely. He started swimming out to the surface, but his vision was clouding up. And before he was even half way up, he blacked out.

When Kyo woke up, he was back at the campsite, lying in a sleeping bag by the fire. He looked around, and found Yumi pacing across the fire from him, muttering to herself, looking nervous.

"Yumi? What happened?" he asked.

"Oh my God! You're OK!" she said, relieved. She hurried forward and hugged him quickly before explaining. "Luckily, I woke up and saw that you were gone. I figured you had gone down to the lake to look for my ring."

"But how did you know I was in trouble?" Kyo asked.

"I didn't," Yumi admitted. "But I wanted to drag you back. I didn't want you to worry yourself over it.. And I saw that you were drowning, so I swam over and made sure you were OK."

It was only then did Kyo notice that Yumi's hair was a little damp.

"Thank you," Kyo said quietly.

"It's you I should be thanking," Yumi countered. "I can't believe you did that.."

"Well, you were so upset over it.." Kyo said, shrugging. "Speaking of which, are you going to tell me why you were so upset?"

When Yumi looked into the fire she must've lit while he was still asleep, Kyo immediately thought he must've crossed some line. Asked about something she didn't want to talk about. It happened a lot with Yumi, so he wasn't surprised.

"If you don't want to talk about it, it's fine," Kyo said quickly.                                                                        

"No, it's fine.." Yumi inisted. "It has my family crest on it. See?"

She pointed at the crest on the centre of the ring, the crest was of a standing platypus bear.                                                                            

"Everyone in my family has one. And, it's just the only bit of them I have left now that I've run away. They're probably furious at me. They probably hate me..."                                  

"Don't say that," Kyo said immediately. "They're probably worried sick. I'm sure they still love you."                                                          

"Maybe," Yumi muttered disbelievingly.              

There was a moment of silence. Then Yumi spoke again.                                                          

"You know, Kyo, I've been thinking about what you said," Yumi said, still staring into the fire. "And, I think you're right. We would make a good team."                                      

She looked over at him for a second, and smiled at how he looked rather pleased.              

"Knew you'd see it eventually.." Kyo muttered.                                                            

"Go to bed," Yumi said, smiling. "Rest up. I'm not tired. I'll take watch now.."