Lay out the welcome mat

[andtherevolution]

WHO: Makoto and Utena
WHERE: Heropa #009
WHEN: Early August
WHAT: Utena meets her new roomie! Exciting
WARNINGS: None



[Utena sits by the window, staring idly at the thunderstorm outside. It's not as nasty as it could be, and storms like this usually end pretty quickly...

...but there's more than rain and lightning outside. There's a girl walking up to the door, and Utena's on her feet immediately. She makes a quick dash to the kitchen to grab a dish towel, and it's not until she's on her way to the front door that she realizes that she could have made a better choice, towel wise. Well, it's too late now. Maybe she won't need it...?]</cut>

Comments

[ridewithdestiny]

[ Nope, she's gonna need it.

Makoto had tried to stay as dry as she could, but it hadn't been possible. So she's soaked to the bone, cold, and a bit overwhelmed. More than a bit overwhelmed to be honest. She'd been driving her boyfriend back to his hometown one moment, the next she's in a new world, in a new country, with a version of her boyfriend who isn't actually her boyfriend. It had been a long day.

She fumbles with the keys she had been given by... whoever had greeted her, and pushes open the door. Checking for roommates had been the last thing on her mind, so she's not paying attention at all when she walks into the house.]

[andtherevolution]

[Oh yeah, she's going to need it. Utena winces a little before holding up her dinky little dish towel and forcing a smile.]

..uh, hi there. Welcome to Heropa?

[ridewithdestiny]

[ Makoto jumps a little at the unexpected voice, but recovers quickly. She accepts the towel with a gracious smile and uses it to dry her face and hands. ]

Hi, and thank you. I'm Makoto Niijima, it's nice to meet you.

[andtherevolution]

[Utena relaxes when Makoto takes the towel, and her smile grows genuine]

It's nice to meet you, too. I'm Utena Tenjou, and I got here a few months ago. I'm sorry about the storm, though - those guys could have at least given you an umbrella or something.

[ridewithdestiny]

Somehow I have the feeling being helpful or considerate is outside their skill set. It was all I could do to get them to give me basic directions here, let alone an umbrella. [ Adults. So rude. ]

Are those soldiers ever helpful?

[andtherevolution]

Eh... They explained what was going on when I got here, but I didn't get much else from them besides a ride downtown. The civilians can be pretty helpful, though - well, some of them, at least.

[Opinions on imPorts have always been hit or miss, especially when it came to Heropa.
Whether or not you'll get a dirty look or a helping hand depends on when the last disaster was.]

[ridewithdestiny]

I haven't had the chance to interact with any of the locals yet. Do they not like us... imPorts? I think that's how I heard people like us referred to as.

[ As she speaks, Makoto opens the file she'd been given and starts leafing through it. Curious about it. ]

[andtherevolution]

[Oof, that's a tough question. Utena pauses, trying to think of the best way to put it.]

Most of them do. Heck, some of them like us a little too much. We're sort of like celebrities, I guess... I know that sounds like I'm bragging, but really, I'm not. We really do have a lot of fans, but...

[She sighs, and looks back out at the window. The rain's stopped and the clouds are finally starting to part. If only the mood was as sunny as the weather.]

...well, not everyone's a fan. Some of them think we're dangerous, or spoiled. Or worse.

[ridewithdestiny]

Ahh. I'm familiar with that love or hate mindset. [ Her group at home had at least had the safety of being anonymous. Here, imPorts were easy enough to spot. Not a good situation, to be honest. ] And I'm sure there are those out there all too willing to exacerbate those thoughts.

And I'm sure whatever happened to cause all the damage outside didn't help either.

[andtherevolution]

That wasn't our fault. But that's another thing - there's people who want to use us, too. There's this company, it was supposed to just be some perfume company, and they wanted to make perfumes based on us. But what they were really doing was making copies of us - it was those guys that caused this mess.

[She sighs and shakes her head]

I'm sorry - I know it sounds crazy. But that's the kind of stuff that happens here.

[ridewithdestiny]

I can believe it. Back home, my friends and I had some pretty outrageous things happen to us. Most were not something anyone would have believed, and it was all because of someone claiming they wanted one thing while doing another.

[ Makoto gives a quick quirk of her lips. Understatement of the century on that one. ]

So people were hurt, imPorts made a convenient scapegoat, and those in power who really did it get to slink back into the shadows with no repercussions. Just like home.

[andtherevolution]

[Outrageous things... what sort of things? Utena's curious, but she'll save her questions until she's done explaining it]

I think most people here know that it wasn't our fault. But the guys behind this aren't going to get away with it, either. A bunch of us - imPorts, I mean - have been digging into what happened. Soon everyone's going to know what they're really like.

[ridewithdestiny]

[ Makoto can't help the small smile that crosses her face Utena's words. It's so familiar. ]

How are you planning to expose them? Something flashy I hope. You need to grab the public's attention if you want it to succeed.

[andtherevolution]

[Huh. Flashy? This girl's becoming more and more interesting]

You'll have to ask the guys running the investigation. Here, I'll give you a link -

[She pulls out her device, when she realizes something]

-uh, you know how to use these things, right? Sometimes it can take a while to get the hang of them.

[ridewithdestiny]

[ Makoto pulls out her communicator and eyes it. ]

It's just like a cell phone, correct? It doesn't seem that different from what I'm used to.

[andtherevolution]

I wouldn't know about that - the cell phones we had back home couldn't do nearly half the stuff that these can. Anyway, here's what I've got.

[Anyway, Makoto will get two links]

[ridewithdestiny]

I haven't spent much time using it yet, but the capabilities seem very similar to what I'm used to at home. Admittedly though, I haven't done much more then simple communications with it.

[ Makoto speaks even as she clicks the links Utena sent her and reads through the information provided. ]

This is vile. And disturbing. [ And Makoto can't stop reading it. ]

[andtherevolution]

It's awful. It's...

[She shudders, and looks away]

I knew crazy stuff happened here all the time, but I never expected anything like this.