There must be a future that we can choose

[iamtetsuo]

WHO: Tetsuo and YOU
WHERE: Nonah
WHEN: Plot Pull Plot
WHAT: Open Log for said plot
WARNINGS: Spoilers


[Those who know Tetsuo typically know him as a young man with black hair, typically dyed white with blue-frosted tips these days. Large forehead, very intense eyes when focused.

The kid wandering around now, lost and more than a little dazed, is most of these things. He's the exact same (entirely unchanged) height, if a little more muscular. He's also a silvery blue all over.

And he seems a lot more vacant than before, distracted by the weirdest things. Sometimes, he'll catch sight of his hand, and clench it closer to his body. Sometimes, he'll seem to just watch someone, most likely Kaneda, with a more mature kind of sadness than he should know how to feel. Sometimes he'll forget stuff about eating just because it's been a while since he had his body. His mind's just as easily miles away as it is in the moment. When he talks, he sounds humbler than he does even after death.

And when he first gets here.. he probably won't have clothing, so he'll need to borrow stuff.]


a; Wandering in a park.

[Light and life press down on him, overwhelming compared to the vast quiet.  This isn't Neo Tokyo- too green, too friendly, and yet it feels so jarringly dissonant that it's impossible to not immediately tell this is somewhere he's not supposed to be. Tetsuo stands still, a statue despite his small stature, marveling at the sensation of cold wind wrapping around him.

It's been a long time since he felt cold. He doesn't seem to care, reaching one hand up to catch a branch through his fingers - he has FINGERS now - eyeing a new leaf on it.

He can't see it now, but his head knows there's patterns there, intricate shapes woven together deeper and deeper through this leaf. He can't see it now, but the wind blowing it out of his grasp holds infinite possibilities, uncountable variables... but just one path it can ever take. He can't see any of this now, the way he's come to understand a world. And that's normal, he figures, this is how he should feel. No one's supposed to know what this tree is, anymore than the rocks or the sky.

He lets his hand drop, head tilted upwards to watch clouds drift lazily in scattered patches across a stretch of blue.

It's not enough, somehow.]

America... huh?

b; Nonah 05

[He's around less than usual, but Tetsuo's still claimed his spot here. If he's not sightseeing, he could be anything from lying on the couch with his eyes half-closed, mind a million miles away, curiously poking around as if he's never been here before, lying down in the back yard, or checking over his bike all over again for the novelty of it. Or messing around with rocks in the yard, levitating them in weird patterns for Tetsuo reasons.

One thing he's not doing is playing video games, or poking around at his comm. Actually, has he even touched his comm? Is he aware of how it works?]

c; Exploring

[Compared to so many other revelations in his life, this one barely seems weird. He's human. He's got a form. He can act again on a planet, instead of be. And you might find this weirdly spacey blue kid wandering the streets, checking into businesses just to see what they are.

Or you might see him getting waylaid by extremely interested natives with a million questions, or comments, and doing his best to get rid of the flock of people. Pushing through them doesn't seem to work. Telling them he's not interested also doesn't. Telling them off in harsher tones ALSO does nothing. Walking away ... nah. Taking off only gets phones trained on him.

He lands on a roof, or over the building to duck into the first place he sees just to be left alone.]


WILDCARD - feel free to throw up more starters or ask for a specific one.

Comments

[resipiscent]

Mmn.

[He figures this is as good an answer as any and so he nods, then turns back around to stare out across the city. As he does, it occurs to him that maybe he's seen this person before.

Riku pauses, and then he looks slowly back at the blue person behind him. He knows for sure he doesn't know any blue people -- Hades doesn't count. He's not a 'people', specifically. This boy...]

... What're you even supposed to be? [he asks after a moment. Very polite, but no one said he had to be.]

[iamtetsuo]

I'm 'supposed to be' human.

[But he's not.

Not anymore.

Not ever, no matter what the Power reshaped him to; there's a distinction there that can never be unmade. Even if it's knowledge alone... he's one of them now, at the best. It hurts more to say that than he thought it would when he starts the sentence, initially equally unhelpful, although honest. But he trails off quietly near the end.]

[resipiscent]

... Okay.

[This answer doesn't actually bother him as much as he thought he might when he heard it a second ago. He finds that this is an answer he can accept, despite the outward incredulity of it.

Riku considers, and then he looks away again. Those are the only questions he has right off the bat, and this guy doesn't look about to volunteer any more useful information. As he focuses back out on the horizon, something strange happens, and again he realizes that he knows who this person is.]

You're Tetsuo. [It's not a question, exactly -- this is one thing he can be certain about. But... is he supposed to be blue? Riku can't remember ever interacting with him before this, so how is he to know either way?]

[iamtetsuo]

Yeah... That's me.

[He's not surprised people recognize him anymore. Relieved, in a way. Each new person who knows him just serves to remind him that even if they're not in his own memories, somewhere, he's not forgotten.

People know who he is, and more than just five or eight. That's more than he could have hoped for.]

[resipiscent]

... Yeah. I thought so. I don't... remember you. I just know that's your name.

[He doesn't really know how he knows. But everyone he's met here so far -- they're all the same in that he knows them, somehow. It's disconcerting.]

[iamtetsuo]

[That's what finally gets Tetsuo to look at him, really look. He'd been more interested in a little bit of distance - after so long, it was hard to not be overwhelmed - than investigating this guy... but it's been like that for some people to him, as well. Never with names, nothing so concrete.

There's a pause.

Then he shrugs, but the thoughtful look hasn't left.]

I don't remember yours.

[But ... but maybe, he should know it.]

It's like that with everyone.

[resipiscent]

... You don't need to. It doesn't really matter.

[He'll be leaving here soon anyway.]

You mean, everyone knows who you are? Or you can't remember anybody?

[This reminds him of the boy he'd met the other day -- his own age, or thereabouts, who couldn't fathom having been here before but felt the same as Riku did in that way: that he knew something about this place, even if everything was unfamiliar.]

[iamtetsuo]

Both. Either one. It's weird.

I'd thought everyone would forget me, not ...

[resipiscent]

... No. [He looks away again, but this time instead of just looking out over the city he lowers himself to the ground, staring at the wall.]

People don't forget each other, not for real. Your memories are there. They're just buried. I... if there was a way to totally forget, I'd like to know it.

[If he couldn't remember Sora, then he could stop feeling like this.]

[iamtetsuo]

Why?

[He can't help himself from asking. That desire sounds a little familiar...]

[resipiscent]

Because then I could move on and do the things I need to do.

[It's kind of a vague answer. But it's the truth, too.]

... I can't complete my goal if ... he's in the way. [How can he save Kairi when Sora's blocking his attempts at every turn? If he could forget about him, then removing him would be simple.]

[iamtetsuo]

Heh. I felt the same way, once...

[Oooohboy.]

I'll guess. He's there to annoy you at every place you get somewhere?

[resipiscent]

... yeah. He -- I know where he's coming from, sort of, because he doesn't agree with the methods I'm using to get there. But he doesn't get that it's the only way that I can do it. I don't have a fancy weapon and a new bunch of friends the way he does.

[Riku just has himself and a sword given to him by Maleficent.]

[iamtetsuo]

[Tetsuo snorts.]

Where do you wanna go?

[resipiscent]

Not -- a place. Our friend... Kairi won't wake up unless we do something about it. I'm looking for a way. Sora's more interested in waving that Keyblade around.

He's not gonna help me, so... he's in the way.

[iamtetsuo]

What's a key blade?

[resipiscent]

Big sword, looks like a key.

[Duh. Self-explanatory, isn't it?]

[iamtetsuo]

... why?

[He..he has to ask.]

[resipiscent]

I didn't design it.

[He only has a minor inkling.]

It's a weapon but it functions as a key, too. You can unlock stuff with it. Or lock stuff, I guess.

[iamtetsuo]

You could do that with a hammer too. It doesn't have to be key-shaped.

[resipiscent]

Whatever.

All it means is that he's got a destiny that doesn't belong to him.

[iamtetsuo]

You believe in destiny?

[resipiscent]

Not exactly. What I mean is, I knew what I was supposed to do. And now I don't, because he's stolen the whole thing.

[More accurate: Riku failed to claim it. But he doesn't want to tell this guy that.]

[iamtetsuo]

[Uh... huh.]

What were you supposed to do?

[resipiscent]

...

[The thing about his meeting with the stranger on the beach is that... it kind of got lost in translation over the years. And so even though his goal at the time had been 'to protect the things that matter' -- he doesn't necessarily remember what those things were.]

It doesn't really matter at this point.

[No matter what he wanted to do -- he can't anymore. He's aware that the longer the spends time with Maleficent, the farther away from the Keyblade he was promised he'll become. But without her gifts to boost his power, he's useless.]