personavelvetroomdr | [Open] A robot arrives in the Dressing Room

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[Open] A robot arrives in the Dressing Room

'Well, that didn't make any sense. Thanks for nothing, weird old man,' is what he thinks.

"Ah, I see," is what he says, smiling at the long-nosed, bug-eyed old man sitting in the middle of the strange blue room he's found himself in, "thank you very much for your warm welcome. I appreciate your introduction."

Despite his near perfect disguise as a human, Goro's ultimately mechanical body bows politely, as if he'd gained any valuable information from this, instead of being spoken at nonsensically. What the hell is this place? The Velvet Room? Forming bonds? Concern about the place from which he came? As far as he's concerned, this is all looking like it's going to be a huge headache.

Still, his scanners indicate that this is... not quite like the Metaverse, but something like it? The strangeness of it all certainly makes more sense when he looks at it that way. It's a place outside of his normal reality, that's for certain, though when he tries to recall the memories of how exactly he ended up here, all he gets back is some glitchy static that makes his limbs twitch. Fun! Lovely! Shido-san is going to want to know about this!

He blinks away the intrusive thought, the only indication of his upset as he looks around. Internally, he sighs, already resigning himself to figuring out how this place can be useful to Shido-san. He has better things to do, technically, but apparently, it's not like he's gone in his own world, so it's not like it'll really make a difference, either. Who knows? Maybe exploring this place will prove useful, in the long run. He's not sure what kind of 'bonds' he's expected to make, if any at all, though maybe finding someone and speaking to them may prove fruitful.

... Sure. That sounds logical enough. He's not exactly eager to hand yet another boon over to Shido, but it's not like he can refuse either. He's already here, after all. Not to mention, he is curious...

Hmm... usually, he's forbidden from leaving Tokyo. These doors lead to places outside of Tokyo, but since this is Metaverse related, perhaps he can try to...?

When he does not receive an internal error (though he's not sure if he's exactly happy about that), he opens one of the doors...

... and ends up in a city, which his internal GPS immediately pings as Iwatodai. From his databases, he knows the Kirijo Group has many connections here, which immediately sets him on edge. His body, however, does not react to his internal distress, nor the vague impulse to return to the Velvet Room already, and sets out to explore.
... and finds himself in the middle of a shopping district... filled with closed shops. He gets pinged with "Yasoinaba" for a location. It's surprisingly quiet, but he finds that he doesn't mind all too much. Eager to find out what's so special about this town in particular for it to show up here, he starts walking around.
... and ultimately decides that he should familiarize himself with the Tokyo of this strange place. At first glance, it seems to be mostly normal, but the 'supernatural' feeling from before lingers. Legs moving near-automatically, he finds himself strolling towards LeBlanc.

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... Is this a Metaverse being?

His fingers twitch, the subroutine for his finger guns readying itself the moment he sees the large... bird- thing walk into LeBlanc. His scanners don't ping them as a Shadow, but you never know, with the cognitive world. Maybe it's a Shadow with built-in stealth organs.

Who the fuck even knows with Shadows.

Though, once the bird gives him a grumbled version of what he can only assume to be a 'good morning,' he allows himself to relax. Not hostile, then. Still, he keeps a link open. Just in case.

... Why does it kind of look like him? No, really, what is this creature? Why does it have his haircut?

Ugh, don't tell him that this is how the public's cognition sees him in some worlds. He doesn't like what that says about that particular version of him. Or about him in general.

"So, what exactly are you supposed to be? Are you a Shadow, or what?" he asks, a certain snark to his voice, and then pauses, surprised at himself. Usually, his programming would force him to a: not ask something so impolite, or b: reword that in a more polite way. This time, the words just kind of tumbled out of his mouth, and even if his face is stuck in its usual, perpetually polite-smile mode...

"Huh."

Edited 2024-03-19 21:18 (UTC)

For reasons unknown to him, there was no cognitive Sojiro Sakura manning the counter, here. Which meant he had to retrieve his own damn coffee. Happily, incompetent at cooking he might have been, but he could just about operate a kettle and throw some beans into a grinder.

"Definitely not a Shadow, technically I think I'm a demon, but it's complicated and a very long story."

"Can't say I've heard that one before," he says, nonchalant tone at odds with his pleasant, polite smile. "Honestly, aren't demons and Shadows the same thing, in the end?"

He watches the other make coffee for himself- not nearly as deftly as Amamiya, though even if it was him behind the counter, Goro wouldn't be interested. He's especially not interested in whatever slop this guy's making, though.

"... I think if Sakura-san saw you doing that he'd have a heart attack."

Edited 2024-03-20 17:27 (UTC)

"Inner demons, maybe." Most unfortunately, his hand was inexpert. This was why he usually went to coffee shops, instead of making it at home. Happily, the morning coffee was not nearly as much about enjoying the experience as it was about brutal efficiency.

He eyed the amount of coffee in the filter, and doubled it for good measure. "I think if Sojiro Sakura were here I'd have plenty of time watching him have a stroke, an aneurysm, a seizure, and all his hair going gray for good measure about all the other shit I'm doing before we got anywhere near the heart attack over making shitty coffee."

"Well, you're not wrong," he says, eyeing the... coffee, for a lack of better words. "That still looks like absolute shit though. I can't believe you're intending on pouring that down your gullet."

Wow, does it feel good to speak his mind for once! Even if this guy doesn't like him, Falcon's decided he likes this guy by sheer virtue of being able to circumvent his speech programming. Thank fuck for sentient Shadows! Demons! Whatever the fuck!

... Even if his face is still stuck in pleasant-polite-boy-detective mode. Just being able to form the words he wants (mostly) is a gift.

"So, who're you supposed be then, anyway?" he asks, nodding at the bird demon.

"It is absolute shit. Ordinarily I'd be doing this with espresso, but I don't have the goddamn spoons to haul my ass to the nearest coffee shop with an actual barista in it, and I'm not bothering one of the Rens just to self-medicate with medically-inadvisable amounts of caffeine."

Pour it over, let it drip... Ah yes, most important part. Add sugar. Not enough to make it palatable- that was impossible- but enough he could at least swallow without gagging. He smiled faintly, though, even though he was being insulted. "I'm surprised you haven't noticed, but I guess you haven't been keeping up with current events. Perhaps you've heard of me? Goro Akechi."

Edited 2024-03-21 19:38 (UTC)

"Oh, no, I've never heard of the guy. How could I have possibly heard about myself?" He asks sarcastically. "But sure. Why not. You're a version of me. You wear the hair well enough, I suppose."

Wow. That really looked like the worst coffee imaginable. Alongside the heaps of sugar, it would be sure to give anyone living a heart attack from sheer disgust.

"What should I call you, then? I've settled on Falcon, so call me that."

"You know, I thought you might. I go by Phoenix, here. I maintain that I'm allowed to be a little petty about 'Crow' being taken, but I suppose seniority trumps all..."

He held up a finger, and tipped the mug back.

Sometime later, but distressingly little in the grand scheme of things, the finger was lowered, and the mug set back down on the counter sans coffee. "Mmh. That is vile. So! What's your story, what's your standard deviation from the mean, what makes Falcon tick. It's always fun to see myriad ways in which my life could've been objectively better. Or worse, I suppose."

Wow. Just downed it all in one go, huh? What mental fortitude. Yup, that's definitely a Goro Akechi.

"Oh, you know. I'm-hgck-!"

His mouth automatically clacks shut, vocal box fritzing out the moment he tries to reveal how much of a piece of shit he thinks Shido is. OK, so not keeping up the polite tone is allowed, but not actually talking about what he wants? Damn.

... Well, it's not like he's actually jumping for joy to share his sob story, even with himself. He's not some poor, pityable wretch, and he refuses to be, after all.

"... Well, just the usual. Lost my mom, etcetera," is what he settles on, sounding surprisingly nonchalant. "I'm more curious how you ended up as a feathery mutt."

Edited 2024-03-23 08:10 (UTC)

Okay. That? Red flag. Like he was trying to say something and being controlled. Phoenix's eyes narrowed, ever so slightly. Not at all like Sparrow or Dove, either, like... he'd been in the middle of saying something and suddenly cut off.

Like a speaker, or an amp, suddenly being cut. Which was... interesting. "I don't mind sharing it," he replied casually, though he kept studying his counterpart's face. "The short version is: died twice, went to Hell. There's a lot of other, more complicated shit in there, but that's the abridged version of my dark and tragic backstory."

Edited 2024-03-23 08:35 (UTC)

"How does one even die twice? Sounds fake, if you ask me," he hums. He would be grimacing, but instead it's just a neutral smile. "But considering-" he waves his hand in an 'all around' motion, "-everything here, I'm willing to believe it."

He's a fucking robot with a personality who can summon supernatural guardians that shoot magic. Dying twice and going to Hell to turn into a bird furry may as well happen.

"So, is that your punishment, then? Turning into a bird? Classic comedy, really."

"Well, mostly because the universe seems to have decided that 'Goro Akechi' is its favorite fucking chewtoy, and it's never fucking done. Part of why I was curious about your background. Living here for a few months has given me a morbid fascination with the thought experiment that is 'how many ways can the multiverse personally fuck me?'"

He shrugged. "As for how I did it twice, I've historically managed to fuck up pretty much everything I've ever done, at least a couple of times, before I actually got good at it. Why should death be any different? Going to Hell was, funnily enough, unrelated, came after a year and a half of being stuck in a place a bit like this one, and it was by choice. It's just that 'died, went to Hell' is much simpler to explain."

A beat.

"You might be right about the bird form being divine irony, though. I guess there's a reason my whole..." he gestured vaguely at his face. "looks like my mask in the Metaverse. But that's a common trend. I know a guy who died because he was shot by accident by a hunter. Makes it down to Hell, suddenly he's got hooves and antlers. Personally, I don't think it looks half bad on me, but I've also hit my head on way too fucking many doors, so."

"Hah. Amen to that."

This is the part where he'd down a shot of heavy liquor if he had one, but considering that he's a: a robot, b: hates cleaning out his food storage compartment, and, most importantly, c: doesn't HAVE a shot of heavy liquor, he doesn't. Instead, he just nods sagely. He gets it.

... Wait, mask?

"You have a mask in- zrrt!"

Oops. Cut off again for trying to talk about shit he's not supposed to talk about, unless instructed otherwise. Metaverse talk with funny demon-bird versions of him is against the rules, apparently. Bummer.

"... Yeah, whatever. It doesn't look half bad," if he could smirk, he would, but alas. "If you ignore all the hell fleas..."

"... Heh. Just kidding."

That was the second time. His expression softened, slightly.

Prevented from talking about the Metaverse. He'd mentioned 'the usual' background, after being cut off by something. That wasn't a glitch. That was deliberate.

Not Maruki's brand of meddling, either. That sounded too painful.

Something inside him burned, and not for the first time, he found himself wishing that Masayoshi Shido was in front of him right now. That he could run the man through, carve open his fucking ribcage and let him watch his own heart stop beating-

Shot in the dark.

"But yes, as part of my work for the United Future Party. Shido really is an incredible man, isn't he." The words were praising. But the tone, suddenly, spoke of raw, unfiltered hate.

"Huh. Can't imagine. I don't wear any masks myself. I've no need for them, after all," he pauses, briefly. "Why would you?"

Oh, he's picking up what Phoenix is putting down, alright. His programming twitches.

What was with that tone- no, shut up. He's praising Shido, see?

"Oh, truly, Shido-san's benevolence is unbelievable. Hard to imagine anyone quite like him, hm?" his voice is completely flat, betraying the dreamy smile on his face. "I cannot possibly understand why anyone would dislike the man."

That son of a bitch.

"There's no particular reason for it. I think it just sort of came with the powers that made me useful to him. It's regrettable that I was personally unable to see his plans come to fruition. I had an unfortunate accident on a ship."

Do you know what his Palace looks like?

He tapped his finger on the table. Considered his words carefully. "That bit, with your voice, a moment ago. That sounded painful, but also... electronic. Cybernetic enhancement, I take it? I don't have much experience with such things, but my adoptive father has a close friend who has some quite extensive modifications like that, due to injuries from a fire."

"A ship, you say?"

So, Phoenix entered his Palace- a feat that Falcon hasn't been able to accomplish himself. Not for a lack of trying, or anything but rather- he physically can't. His programming stops him before he can activate the app.

Though, if that's one of the places where Phoenix died... hm.

"Incredibly regrettable," Falcon agrees. "I've not been invited onto Shido-san's ship myself, but I'm certain he'll steer us towards the best possible future. Did you lose your balance and fall overboard, or something?"

Then, Phoenix mentions his voice, and he tenses internally, though his body language remains lax, for the most part. His programming is blaring warning bells at him, and his smile stays wide and charming, before he speaks again.

"I'm not sure what you're talking about," he says, "I have prosthetic legs, if that's what you're asking."

Please don't dig any deeper into this.

Edited 2024-03-23 20:20 (UTC)

Okay.

He knows it's Shido's ship. Hasn't been to the Palace. That's another clue. I'm talking about a very uncomfortable subject matter, and there's no outward response at all. Not just masking.

Prosthetic legs. He deflected on the question, which suggests something other than cybernetics, maybe, because I know what I heard.

It had better fucking not be a Fizzarolli situation.

"My apologies if that's an uncomfortable subject for you. Consider it dropped. Still... if you require assistance, don't hesitate to let me know, while you're here. It's a lot to wrap your head around, I know. Maybe we could even collaborate, in the future, if you'd be amenable."

Thanks for taking the hint, birdbrain.

"Eh, not so much uncomfortable as simply... unfortunate. You understand, yes?"

He considers Phoenix' offer. Since he seems to be one of the few people (the only one?) that he doesn't have to default to his polite tone to, it may be worth dropping something. Even if he can't quite say everything he wants. Hm.

"I would be," he says, drumming his fingers on the counter. If he could control his face, his smile would sharpen. "Shido-san can always use more supporters, don't you agree?"

Despite his words, his tone is grave.

Help me out and I'll let you take a shot at him.

He returned the smile, though it was perhaps several degrees warmer. "If there's one lesson I've learned the hard way, it's that the limitations one faces when they're alone are more easily overcome together."

There had to be a way. Whatever this was, there had to be a way around it, right?

Maybe he needed to talk to Futaba.

"If you say so," Falcon hums.

It's not like he doesn't believe as much- mom wanted him to- to work togther with humanity. That was always her wish. But under Shido... it has become a bit less cut and dry. Sometimes, he prays someone can make all of it just stop, sometimes he can't stand the thought of anyone even looking at him with positive intent, not after everything he's become.

But this guy is him. He probably understands... somewhat.

Well, he's honestly tired of this conversation. That's enough vulnerability for a whole year.

That's far more than I ever intended to share with... anyone, really.

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[Open] A robot arrives in the Dressing Room

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