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Post by Jen & Cheeto on Nov 7, 2018 1:59:35 GMT
Bang bang bang bang bang!
Jeanette mashed the trigger on her plastic gun almost mindlessly, the chatter and sound effects around her fading to an audio soup. She'd hoped to get a few games in, since she'd gone so far out of her way to get here, but it was just so packed. Plus, there were only a few games she actually felt like playing, and the same guy had been hogging the Pac-Man machine for what felt like an hour.
So, on her third or fourth lap around the arcade, she'd found this shooter. The zombies were still trudging toward the screen, and the score still sat in the corner, unchanging. Someone had just gotten up and left in the middle of play. And though this type of game wasn't really her thing--anything with a realistic gun that shot non-magical bullets tended to fall outside her interest zone--it was free. And who was she to pass up a free experience?
The zombies fell backward in a heap of polygons, littered with black bullet holes. It made Jen kind of uncomfortable, but for some reason, she didn't put the gun down. Part of her was annoyed, another part disgusted, and yet another part irritated at the giant "K.O." that kept showing up on the screen. But all those inner voices combined were no match for the one that was amazed she hadn't lost yet. That wanted to see how far she could go.
And so, she kept banging away.
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Post by Samantha Yukiji on Nov 7, 2018 13:02:04 GMT
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Post by Jen & Cheeto on Nov 8, 2018 0:25:10 GMT
A quiet, but audible voice broke Jen out of her haze. She turned around, still pulling the trigger, to find a girl who looked a bit younger than her stepping back. Jen’s first impulse was to defend herself--to come up with some excuse. But before she could think of anything, the girl...apologized.
“Oh, uh, it’s fine,” Jen said. “I mean...you can go ahead.”
She scrambled to get the gun back in its holder, and as she leaned forward to do so, she came face to face with a zombie’s jaw sliding off its hinges. That young woman was right. She really didn't like this game all that much. Quickly, she stepped out of the way, signaling the game machine was now unoccupied. “All yours.”
Now all that was left to do was leave the area and see if Pac-Man was finally open. But somehow, that didn’t seem right. Not with the nervousness in this girl's voice, and the way she was looking at the floor. So after a few moments of silence, Jen worked up the resolve to say something. “Are you okay?”
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Post by Samantha Yukiji on Nov 8, 2018 1:15:18 GMT
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Post by Jen & Cheeto on Nov 8, 2018 15:14:35 GMT
“Alright.” She’d assumed this girl wanted a turn because that seemed a likely reason why someone would be standing behind her. Especially in this environment, where there had to be some people impatient to get gaming. But it looked like she’d been wrong. Hey, it wasn’t like she could blame her.
The girl said she was fine, but honestly, Jen had her doubts. She was squeezing what looked like a stuffed bird tight, as if relying on it for comfort; she must have been uncomfortable in some way. Jen wasn’t going to pry; sometimes, people just didn’t want to talk about it. But she could take a guess. “Okay, but...” She looked around at all the shooting, button pressing, blinking of lights, and banging of those taiko drums. “...it is pretty overwhelming in here, isn't it?”
A thought came to her. “If it helps, I found a quiet room in the back.” Wait, what was she saying? “That is, if you want to stay at all.” Her voice began to trail off as she started to lose confidence. “You can, uh...take your own advice.”
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Post by Samantha Yukiji on Nov 9, 2018 17:55:50 GMT
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Post by Jen & Cheeto on Nov 10, 2018 1:40:56 GMT
So the girl had agreed to go to that quiet room. While Jen was a bit surprised she didn’t want to leave the arcade altogether, she didn’t mind; after all, it wasn’t as if she’d forgotten where the room was. She led her down the back halls of the building, gamers and games alike thinning out the further they went. Soon, the only machine in sight was a crane game full of stuffed animals. And once they passed that, they’d arrived.
“No problem!” Jen said in response to the girl. “Glad I could help.” It was then that she realized that her feet had gotten tired from all that standing and walking. "I should sit, too, now that I think of it."
She plopped down on a separate bench nearby. A wave of relief she didn’t know she needed washed over her. And for a few moments, she was silent, eyes locked on that poster on the far wall. The very poster that led her to find this room in the first place.
But she couldn’t stay quiet for long. She wasn’t sure if the two’s interaction was officially over or not, but even if it was, it felt past the point of no return. If she were to leave, she’d have to say something, as it would be considered rude to just disappear.
So she figured it was high time she introduce herself. “I’m Jeanette, by the way,” she said. “But just ‘Jen’ is fine.”
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Post by Samantha Yukiji on Nov 11, 2018 16:23:55 GMT
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Post by Jen & Cheeto on Nov 12, 2018 0:24:45 GMT
Sam, was it? Jen made a mental note to remember that. At least for the duration of their conversation, if there was going to be one. When Sam got up to leave, the tension rushed out of Jen like the air out of a balloon. She was ready to let her go on her way.
But then...something outrageous happened.
She stood up, too, to get a better view of Sam’s…“stuffed bird”. The “stuffed bird” that had just...flown out of her arms and yelled at her.
Jen’s mind raced, touching on every possible explanation. She clearly wasn’t dreaming, because if this were a dream, she wouldn’t even be questioning it. Sam couldn’t be a ventriloquist, because the bird would have to be attached to her somehow. And the bird couldn’t be remote controlled, because Jen looked from left to right to up to down and didn’t see anyone or anything that could be controlling them. The truth was clear: either this was a really advanced AI, or she was looking at a real live talking bird creature.
But...no, that couldn’t be it, could it? She had to be missing something.
With a gasp, she snapped back to reality. Whatever was going on here, she had to say something about it! Both Sam’s and the bird’s eyes were on her; she couldn’t leave them hanging!
So she grabbed the first words that came to her and threw them out there. “Sorry about that. I just...this is...new.” She took a deep breath and composed herself. “Anyway...I have many questions,” she said. “But I get the feeling I’ve seen too much already. So, uh, I can pretend I didn’t see that. If you want.”
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Post by Samantha Yukiji on Nov 12, 2018 20:26:50 GMT
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Post by Jen & Cheeto on Nov 13, 2018 0:47:57 GMT
So much was happening at once. Jen hadn’t even fully accepted the talking bird, and already, he was transforming into a human at the push of a button! “Whoa! How did--?” But she stopped herself. The sooner she did accept it, the sooner she could understand it.
When the newly turned human explained what was going on, she just nodded, giving Sam a small smile back when she waved. A “Digimon” and a “Tamer”? Interesting. What did that mean? What did they do? But before she could ask…
“Hey, wait a second!” she said. She realized both her hands were up and slowly lowered them. “Sorry if I seemed rude there, but, uh...I mean, I get where you’re coming from. If I also had one of these Digimon, that would be the best way to ensure I keep the secret.” She paused to collect her thoughts. “But there’s still so much I don’t know! What exactly do Digimon and Tamers do? How much of a commitment is it? I know you’re eager to get started, but if I’m going to get a Digimon, I'd like to know what I’m getting into.”
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Post by Samantha Yukiji on Nov 14, 2018 18:41:11 GMT
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Post by Jen & Cheeto on Nov 15, 2018 14:38:01 GMT
Jen listened intently, considering everything Hawk and Sam were saying. Her eyes widened when he mentioned the part about a fight, but she waited until he and his Tamer were finished to reply.
“Great friends?” she said, mostly to herself. “That does sound nice.” It had only been a few months since she’d moved halfway across the world, and she’d never exactly been a social butterfly. So she could definitely use a good friend. And now that she thought about it, getting to explore something supernatural would be a fun bonus.
“But I have one more thing before we go.” She glanced at the wall, figuring out a good way to word this, before looking back at the duo. “Well, two things. First, you mentioned fights. I may be decent at video games sometimes, but in real life, I’m...not very athletic.” And that was putting it lightly. “Is there some bad guy we’ll have to go up against or something? And second...” She struggled to look Hawk and Sam in the eye, regretting having to ask this. “...is there a catch? Will I have to, uh...make any sacrifices?”
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Post by Samantha Yukiji on Nov 17, 2018 21:46:51 GMT
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Post by Jen & Cheeto on Nov 19, 2018 20:45:42 GMT
The way Hawk and Sam gave her such a firm “No” caught Jen off guard. Whether there really was danger involved or not, she would have expected some sort of elaboration. Or something more hesitant or vague, or....well, she didn’t know what she'd expected, but it certainly wasn’t that. A look of worry appeared on her face as she wondered...was that really all there was to it? Was there really no danger, that’s it, end of discussion? Was agreeing to something a stranger was asking her to do, something potentially life-changing, really such a good idea?
But she couldn’t dwell on it for long, because soon Hawk was speaking again. And asking her a question. “Oh, uh,” she said, snapping out of her thoughts, “sure.”
Looked like she’d agreed. She wasn’t sure if that was really the right decision, but...well, she was only agreeing to look for the Digimon, right? And based on the way Sam had reacted to Hawk’s suggestion, it wasn’t even that likely she’d find one.
So she took a deep breath and started looking around the quiet room. “So,” she said, “what do Digimon look like?” After a second, she glanced back at Hawk. “I mean, besides you.”
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