vestigenet | voice - pre lake party (un: @useless.coward)

[ The voice on the other end is Irish accented and kind. Not that Huaisang will know what Ireland is. ]

Hello. I can hear you. Who is Da-ge?

[He does not know what an Ireland is, but the voice does, as stated, sound kind.]

Oh! Oh hello, um.

[It's so weird having to explain who his brother is to people when back home everyone would know the answer to that question. Please excuse any muffled noises or general awkwardness, baby's first phone.]

That's my brother. If you saw him he'd be carrying a large saber with him and be wearing robes from Nie Sec-- er, gray robes.

[There's no Nie Sect here. Not everyone will know what that is.]

[ No, he definitely doesn't know any Nie Sect. He doesn't know any sects, unless you mean maybe a religious sect. ]

Sorry, em. I haven't seen anyone like that. But I can keep looking, if you like.

[It's complicated.]

I would really appreciate that. He probably wouldn't know how to use this um, thing...

[What was it called again? Klaus had told him, but just trying to remember the buttons and not get confused by it made him forget.]

If you happen to find him he'll probably be really angry. Tell him you spoke to me and he'll calm down. Hopefully.

So, I should tell him I spoke to... [ checks the username ] ..."useless coward?"

Wha-

[Useless WHO? Huaisang isn't sure what he's even talking about, at least for a confusing few seconds, then his eyes see it. On the screen of the phone. Is that...? Is that referring to him?!]

No! No I mean- no. [A sigh.] Huaisang. My name is Nie Huaisang.

[Useless coward. Who even put that there? It's not true! He's not useless.]

[ It is easy enough for Green to tell that the usernames have been tampered with. His is not one he would ever pick for himself, and changing it was the first thing he'd tried to do. ]

Alright. Huaisang, then. You can call me Green, Huaisang. Green Newman.

[Green Newman? What a strange name... but he's sure his name must be weird to this person. They can have weird names together.]

Green. That's easy to remember.

[Green is a good color.]

... so what does "clonie" mean?

Oh, it's... I'm sort of a clone of someone. A copy.

[ He hasn't thought of himself as a copy for a while, has been trying to live his own life and make his own choices, but it seems whoever made this online account for him doesn't want him to forget where he came from. ]

[Sorry, Green.]

Huh? A copy of someone... how is that possible?

[Look they have funky magic nonsense where he's from, but making copies of people sounds pretty out there even for that.]

I'm an android. Do you know what an android is?

[ You never know what sorts of people you'll meet in places like this. ]

[It's a very good question to ask!]

An... droid? Noooo...

[But he definitely sounds curious to find out what it is.]

Well, an android is... [ How to explain this? If he doesn't know the word 'android,' then he probably doesn't know 'robot' either. ]

An android is a machine that looks like a human. A synthetic person, basically.

[Green does a valiant job trying to explain this, but alas he doesn't know that while androids and robots aren't a thing that Huaisang knows. He doesn't know or understand most modern things.]

Oh I uh... I don't know what any of that means.

[But he feels bad and pipes up quickly-]

B-But um I guess you're a person? Just a different kind of one?

[ Hm. Maybe he hadn't done the best job of explaining, but it doesn't really matter, does it? Not for someone he's only just met. ]

Yes. I am. Or, I like to think that I am.

[ He knows not everyone sees it that way. He can't help but remember Hux. That eighty-three hour gap between when he was deactivated and when TK-622 found him lying in a ditch and brought him home. It was a cruel reminder that he can give himself a new name, a new life, new personhood. But he's still just a machine copy of a dead man.

But... That's too dark to burden someone brand new with. Especially someone who doesn't understand what an android even is. ]

Let's just go with, I'm a person.

[Green had done a good job explaining for someone who was from a more modern setting, alas, Huaisang is not that person. He'd have to explain a whole lot and probably still not make much sense. It was easier to just not waste the breath Green didn't actually have.]

You look and act like a person right?

[That was the most important part wasn't it? If he didn't look like a person then he'd be something else?]

You talk like a person so I think that's fair to call you one.

I look like a person, and I act as much like a person as I can.

[ He knows that sometimes his behavior is a bit... uncanny valley. Not that Huaisang probably knows what that would mean. ]

Thank you. I think it's fair, too.

[ It always works out better for him if people think of him as a person rather than a thing to be used and discarded. ]

[He doesn't get the whole android thing, but as long as Green wasn't some possessed corpse trying to murder people he was cool in his books.]

Is it hard acting like a person? I mean... do you dislike having to act or do you want to?

[Sometimes putting on an act can have a purpose. Good or bad. Sometimes it can be draining too.]

It's hard acting like my own person, someone independent of the person I was designed to be a copy of. Trying to figure out what I like, what I want...

[ Is it appropriate to call that an act? Green isn't sure. All the new personality schemas he's built up during his months in America which go against his core programming, they're all uncharted territory. Is it 'acting?' or is it just him learning to be a new person.

Funnily enough, when he'd first arrived in America, he'd been assigned a job as a voice actor, for Comedi, a cartoon about a Comedian AI. So he'd had to learn actual acting, too. But somehow, he thinks that whole story would go over Huaisang's head. ]

Even if it is hard, I think it's worth it. Wouldn't you?

[Bless, it would go over Huaisang's head. Green is picking up on that real quickly thankfully.]

It sounds like you're expected to be one way, but you're trying to figure out to be your own way. That's very like human actually.

[Everyone expects certain things from you, but you want to do X Y and Z. Huaisang maybe understands. A little.]

It's worth it, definitely.

Yes, it is.

[ Green's happiness is evident in his voice. ]

If I see your brother, I'll be sure to tell him I spoke with you. And, if you could do the same for me? If you find a woman named Martha Powell, or a girl named Emily Powell, tell them... Tell them Ash Starmer is here.

[ The name Green Newman will mean nothing to Martha or Emily. And as complicated as Green's feelings are about his old life, he does still want to see them again. ]

( o h. that's. oh. he opens his mouth, then shuts it. then opens it again, but it's a second before he says, )

If he were here, we would've found him by now. The place isn't big, and he's not exactly easy to miss.

( he considers leaving it there, but after a few seconds, ) Huaisang! You saw the thing about the lake party, right? From the cock-licker?

[Toodledoot... demonflute? Even if he'd wondered who this was he'd have figured it out by that. What in the world does toodledoot even mean though? Questions that aren't ever important, more news at 11.]

Wei-xiong! [Exclaimed out of excitement and relief in hearing a familiar voice.] You... I guess you're not wrong, but I had to try.

Wha- [My goodness, Wuxian.] Sh-Shh, you're just going to say that so loudly? Everyone can hear!

[Or from what he's understanding about these 'phones'? Yeah that's what he remembers being told. Phones. Weird magic communication things.]

A party seems like a bad idea when we don't really know what's going on doesn't it?

Say what? Cock-licker? ( that's precisely what huaisang is talking about and he knows it, there's a troublemaking sort of grin very audible in his tone.

as for the rest - it's valid, in a way, but. )

Say you and I weren't going to this party. Do you think we'd be figuring anything out? Getting answers?

If the little papers are telling the truth, we're going to have a pretty bad time in this place. Why not enjoy it while we can? Anyway, it sounds like people are already checking out the - wards, or whatever they are. If they can't figure them out, I'll see what I can do.

After the party.

[He shouldn't have expected anything less from his friend and honestly if it weren't a situation where he thinks everyone can hear all of what they're saying he'd probably have laughed. Instead he sighs, exasperated more so because of the fact that Wuxian doesn't seem to be taking this seriously.]

I guess...

[Huaisang doesn't sound very sure about that answer at all.]

But what if something happens during the party?

[Already a party pooper and he's not even there yet.]

Then lucky for you, I'll be there to fight off any danger. ( you see? it's foolproof. which is to say they're fools and that's proof of it. )

[Sure is foolproof. Gosh dang knuckle heads.]

Hopefully you won't have to. It would be nice to just relax with everything happening.

So you're coming? ( that's what he's getting from all of this. )

Of course.

I can't let you go alone.

( good, because jiang cheng is mad at him and he's not sure if he wants to inflict a party on wen ning. )

I knew you'd come around.

[Look if you need him to be the one to stand between you two. He can do that.]

Would it be a party if I didn't come along though?

❰ there's an ominous sounding voice that eventually responds, layered with static that someone else more in tune with technology might presume is the fault of a bad connection. ❱

I can hear you. I don't know if these devices follow radio channel rules, but no one else seems to be following them.

You've a-also lost someone you were traveling with?

[That sure is some spooky voiceness going on right there. Spooky as it is the voice doesn't seem to have ill intent.]

Radio channel rules...?

[What's a radio?]

Something like that. I don't really remember exactly where I was or what I was doing before this place, but usually Da-ge would be close by.

You know, walkie-talkies? Or maybe you don't. Don't worry about it. ❰ if people come from so many different places here, which seems to be the case, others might not exist in worlds so reliant on military tools and that kind of frequency-reliant communication method.

that's not at all the actual point he was trying to make, so let's back track: ❱

I've been traveling with two companions for two years and they aren't anywhere to be found. It's hard to think they aren't here, but it seems to be the case.

❰ he pauses, catching himself rambling. ❱ Not to make it all about me -- just to say I understand and I'm sorry. But I hope he is here somewhere.

It's hard to know who exactly is who when our usernames are so...unhelpful.

[Just gonna get a look of a dial tone going off behind Huaisang's eyes and his head shaking slightly. No clue here, sorry.]

Maybe they are some where here... maybe Da-ge is too. Or I guess if they're not then hopefully they're safe.

[Rambling is okay, it's that kind of day to be honest.]

Tell me about it! Why doesn't it just say our names? That would be so much easier.

❰ please don't ask yanli to explain what this thing she's holding is. it gets slightly warm, has a glowing screen where visuals change quickly -- especially when she accidentally taps it. that she's opened the network at all is a small miracle. but hey, at least it's cute. ❱

Nie-gongzi? Is that you? ❰ she's hit his post by complete accident, still only brave enough to touch it vaguely. she herself has accidentally started a video stream, showing off the underside of a tree she's sitting under while she and jiang cheng attempt to find suitable shelter. ❱ I think I heard your voice come from here. ❰ yanli holds the phone horizontally and at eye level, so she's not at all visible. ❱

[Huaisang barely understands either and he's had someone "explain" it to him. Aka told it's a thing that magically lets you talk to people that are far far away. It seems the Tech's had a blast personalizing things for everyone. Usernames and phone cases. They've been busy.]

Who-?

[Though it's a start that someone from home doesn't mistake him for his brother finally, how does someone even DO that. Wait now he sees someone! He would have panicked at her being so small and seemingly stuck inside his phone, but it's just a way to talk to people across great distances. Klaus didn't say it could trap people in it.

Er. Well. That didn't mean it couldn't. Huaisang will choose to believe that Wuxian's sister is not trapped inside his phone talking to him. Less stressful.]

Jin-furen! Y-Yes! Hello!

[He waves at the screen, not even knowing if she can see him in turn.]

Oh gosh, does Wei Wuxian know you're here too?

Edited (omg html) 2020-07-11 08:03 (UTC)

❰ yanli turns the phone at a few angles before seeing the screen again, somewhat startled that nie huaisang is somehow inside such a small device. actually, based on the image she's seeing, it appears he's somewhere else but she's receiving some kind of vision of him.

how...bizarre.

what's also strange is how he calls her. she looks at the phone, wondering if he can see her as well and offers a wave -- just in the case of some mistaken identity. huaisang was just at the party where her previous engagement was brought up, but from what she knows...he's always been the flightiest of wuxian's friends. ❱

I think you're mistaken, Nie-gongzi. I'm not engaged to Jin-gongzi anymore, let alone part of Jin sect. ❰ her response is smiling and good-natured, but it is something of a sore subject. she'll think more about what that all means now that she's here and he's so far...somewhere else at a later date. ❱

A-Xian knows -- are you feeling alright? You aren't trapped somewhere are you? ❰ yanli just wants to make sure, her knowledge of this phone is very limited. ❱

[Wait what does she mean not- clear visible confusion has quite the impressive face journey going on for Huaisang at that information. You don't just leave a sect, or most don't. Most definitely not the wife of the heir to the Jin sect! How did he not hear about this?!]

Not engaged anymore?

[That's makes even less sense as they'd been married. Regardless, it's not his place to gossip or press her about it, that would be rude, so he'll shake his head a little as if to disregard it. He'll have to ask Wuxian what's going on, surely he'd know.]

I don't know about feeling alright, it's so hot and so much makes so little sense! [Let's not whine at poor Yanli now.] But I guess I'm okay... is Wei-xiong with you Jiang-guniang? You're safe?

❰ the question hits yanli, but she absorbs it and masks a deep breath. her relationship with jin zixuan is often a sore spot, and the less she gets to talk about it, the happier she is. hie huaisang isn't being malicious, she knows, but the ignorance stings just as much. ❱

It'll definitely take getting used to if we're here for a stretch of time. But... ❰ she certainly hopes it isn't the case, but she definitely doesn't know him well enough to go down that emotional road. another thought that's skipped over again. ❱ He's not with me at the moment, but I've seen him and A-Cheng. I'm glad we're not alone here, even under the circumstances.

Ah, but... ❰ yanli feels the weight of her perceived insensitivity immediately. there's definitely a difference between having friends with you versus your family. ❱ If you can't find Nie-zongzhu, I'm sure we can help you look for him.

Oh I hope not.

[The last thing he wants is to stay in this strange place. He wants to go back home! He wants to see his brother. Huaisang just wants to hide away in his room with his birds and paint. He wants to be safe and his friends to be safe too. If those papers are anything to go by, safe isn't in the cards for them.]

So you saw them on this thing too? Are they coming to find you? [He then tries to smile a little, as if to reassure them both.] It's okay, he might not even be here. Maybe they didn't take Da-ge... they'd be stupid to try and kidnap the Red-Blade Master! Maybe that's uh, why I'm here.

Not on here...this is the first time I've used this thing, whatever it is.

❰ now her face can be seen clearly -- she's figured out the logistics of this much. a little wave is offered to huaisang as the sleep mode screen tilts to clarity and she can see his face again.

it's a good argument for him to make...but. not to say that wei wuxian is on the same playing field as nie mingjue, but she can see how someone like herself would be easily kidnapped. nie huaisang...she won't be so rude as to comment. but wei wuxian and jiang cheng are certainly forces to be reckoned with. none of it makes any sense. ❱

In that case, I hope that he isn't here and safe back home. Hopefully we can all find a way to follow him back, somehow...

Maybe we can take these vision devices back home, though. I'd like to be able to talk to other people from far away like this.

[Don't worry Yanli he wouldn't take it as an insult. At least not from her. Huaisang knows his skills are very lacking compared to most cultivators. He can use a sword, but relying on it in a fight would probably not be a wise decision.]

I hope so... if we stay here too long we'll melt!

[Ah yes, that's the thing to be concerned about. Heatstroke. Not impending doom and death.]

Right? We wouldn't have to travel so much to speak with everyone. How convenient would that be?

voice - pre lake party (un: @useless.coward)

voice; un: @clonie

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voice, @toodledoot.demonflute

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( voice | un: @lipless )

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( video | un: @rulan )

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