zerotohiro | Some Legends Are Told, Some Turn To Dust Or To Gold [CEREALIA INBOX]

I'm glad to know you have such faith in me. [It's hard to say if he's serious, but he disappears for a moment to grab a glass and get Yu some tea. Sometimes he can be considerate. Sometimes he's just a stupid shit. Regardless he'll take the food from him to set it on the kitchen counter so his friend isn't stuck holding it and returns with the full glass. He holds it out to Yu before he turns to scratch Mochi behind the ears and heads back to his messy desk work station.]

Anyway, I'll show you. [He's rummaging around in a drawer for a moment before pulling out a second pair of glasses, obviously a little less refined than the pair Hiro's wearing.] Put those on for a sec.

Edited 2016-01-30 18:10 (UTC)

[ When Hiro disappears with the food, Yu definitely takes a moment to pet the cat.

What a nice cat.

Then Hiro returns with his tea, and he follows his friend over to the work station. He can't possibly know what a pair of glasses like this might mean to him, but they make his lips twist upwards with nostalgia nonetheless. He slips them on, but they don't change his vision in any appreciable manner. ]

So, what's happening?

[Mochi blinks up at Yu, large green eyes staring before he chirps with a quiet meow. With that out of the way and once the glasses are on, Hiro grabs what looks like a homemade radio out from under his desk and sets it on the tabletop. He flicks on the switches and the little monitor lights up to show a few frequency readings as Hiro looks at it. Not long after that, he holds up a scanner-like device and waves it in front of Yu's eyes.]

Look at the screen. [Yu will see a rather accurate set of readings based on frequency and what's being projected. Shortly after, Hiro takes off his own glasses and scans his eyes.]

Now look again. [The reading's changed. It's a different frequency and it's a stronger reading. He's curious if Yu will understand on his own even as he slips his glasses back on. ]

[ Yu is pretty quick on the uptake, but this is a bit beyond him. Something with frequencies? He blinks at his tech genius friend as Hiro scans their eyes, and the frequency on the monitor changes. ]

The frequency changed when you scanned us...

[He puts his glasses on, grinning broadly as he looks back at Yu again.]

As long as we're wearing these things? They can't see or hear anything.

[ His eyes widen a little bit.

And then he smiles. ]

That's incredible. They can't hear us either? This is going to change everything. You've done a great job, Hiro.

As far as I can tell they can't see or hear us at all. It's blocking the entire signal. [He's so excited about this accomplishment. Thank you for noticing, senpai.] I haven't been able to trace where the signal's coming from but it's enough to know that they've been interrupted. This is the project I was working on that I told you about. The one me and Dipper were going to do.

[ Yu's never great at showing wide ranges of emotion, but really, he's incredibly pleased, subtle though it is. This is the edge they needed in making real progress. To finally have a way to make plans that CERES couldn't hear and can't have access to... this is it. He remembers discussing it with Dipper months ago. His best idea was Braille, which was wildly impractical. This is leaps and bounds better.

Senpai Has Noticed You, Hiro. ]

No wonder you couldn't tell me. This is what you two have been up to this whole time? [ There's the traces of a disbelieving laugh in his tone. ] You know, this makes it even easier for me to tell you what I was coming over to talk to you about.

Yeah. Dipper wanted to create a cipher but he asked me if I knew a way to block the signal. This is the best thing I could come up with. [/insertshibetailwagemotehere] It takes some time to make each pair but I think I'm getting better at it.

[There's a pause then and he cants his head.] Oh yeah? Lay it on me. [His stomach chooses that moment to growl rather loudly though and there's a sheepish grin.] ...I'm going to grab the food you brought first but start talking anyway. What's up?

He told me about that. But why create a cipher when they knew how to crack it in the first place? So we had to do this, first... [ There's a satisfied look on his face. He's very proud of both his kohais right now. ] Let me know if you need any help. I'm happy to pitch in with whatever it is you need.

Anyway... [ He breathes out, then leans back against the work station carefully, so as not to disturb anything, taking a drink of his tea before he starts. ]

I was talking to Rei-san at the carnival, and she helped me realize something. Think back to all the strange experiences we've been through thanks to CERES. Especially what those chips in the library books did to us. Rei-san also told me about an experience she had when Yosuke was here before where they saw twisted illusions of their best friends... [ A beat. Yosuke... he saw me. ] And that it was a source of despair. Can you think what all these things have in common?

[ He wonders if Hiro will pick up on it; he's being a little vague, and he doesn't mind explaining further. Still, Hiro's been here longer than he has, and they've both read Athena's timeline; there's enough here to tease out the thread. ]

I appreciate it. We might need back-up soon. [Hiro returns with his food and he settles into his chair again, carefully picking at what Yu's brought him as he listens.]

Twisted illusions, huh? [He hadn't heard about that one, but he can think of how he'd feel seeing a twisted version of Baymax. He's lived that. It would crush him now. He listens, piecing it all together and he stops with a fork dangling out of his mouth as he stares at Yu.]

They heightened everything we were feeling. We all seriously believed we were those characters from the books, just like the people here were all seriously upset about the messed up versions of their friends. You said it yourself. Cerealia's the place that pushes limits. What exactly are you suggesting, Yu?

[He thinks he understands but...confirm it.]

[ For this, Yu takes the chair that Hiro got for him, wanting to sit down as he keeps doing. He sets his tea down on the work station, too, so he can thread his fingers together between his knees. He meets Hiro's gaze solidly, his expression calm, but his eyes intensely focused. ]

Why else go to such lengths to always cause intense emotions in us? Joy, love, sorrow, grief, anger... they even get robots to drag us places to ensure that everyone experiences these things. They need us to experience these emotions. They must be using them.

[ They're code. Whatever it is they're feeling, all their pain, their happiness, their rage... CERES must have a way to process it all. Otherwise...

Why bother? With any of it? ]

Edited 2016-02-03 00:27 (UTC)

I didn't even think they were using our emotions, but I've had a theory that they're definitely using us. Doesn't that make you wonder then if what we're feeling are real emotions or if they're just coded by CERES?

[ Yu considers that, but then shakes his head. ]

They've gone to a lot of trouble to get extreme emotional reactions from us. If they could just code the emotions they wanted, they wouldn't need to bother. I don't think that adds up. There's got to be more to it.

We should start making a list of things that've happened and emotions associated with it then. I think you're really onto something with that. What else happened in that first ViViD game you and Yosuke arrived in?

... there was that game of Hangman.

[ He doesn't like to think about that much. His mouth thins into a line. ]

It made you see someone you care about in the noose. Plus the game of Pac-man that turned your good memories into horrible ones, by making you see your loved ones get killed. There was Tetris... that one just tried to kill you. [ A beat. ] That was it, pretty sure.

[ His intro level was god awful. ]

[That's pretty messed up. That was the game after his, he remembers that.] So fear, despair, and...panic, I guess.

...I never did really tell you about my intro game, did I? Outside of the maze for the truth and the murder mystery.

No.

[ His voice is mild, prompting. ]

[A deep breath.]

It was a hospital. I think I told you that part. We all got these bogus examination charts and diagnoses and we had to basically move before we could actually be examined by the aliens. They took our clothes and shoved us in hospital gowns and everything. [Yu might remember that Hiro's vaguely uncomfortable with hospitals based on how he behaved during his visit to Yu and Dipper.]

Anyway, one of the levels dropped us down into the basement. But it didn't look like a basement. It was all white and sterile and this huge long hallway...I was by myself for a really, really long time just walking around trying to figure out how to get out. But the level glitched and like..I saw me? Except not me. I was like eight or something and covered in blood and holding this giant knife which is stupid because why...but it kept following me. And calling me a murderer.

[Based on what he's told Yu about Callaghan? He can see why this freaked him out immediately.] Trying to get rid of it just meant getting blood all over my hands. [And a rueful smile.] It wasn't real. I knew it wasn't real...but Tadashi found me in that same level and I was so sure he wasn't real either.

["You're not real!" The horrible thing he shouted in his brother's face. They were pretty doomed from the start.] Tadashi couldn't see the apparition either even as it followed us out of the level and then we got separated. The rest of the hospital was crawling with those blind nurses giving us shots or aliens that wanted to "operate" on us until we got to the maze and could escape.

So...that was my first game.

Some Legends Are Told, Some Turn To Dust Or To Gold [CEREALIA INBOX]

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omfg i've had this open in a tab in a separate window for like a week SORRY ABT ME

Im cracking up tbqh