tabularasa_rp | Should have used that desperate energy at the beginning.

The earthquakes threw a wrench in his plans for awhile, but now that things have calmed down Add is back to his usual business of scavenging the beach. He's less interested in the junk electronics now and more focused on his primary goals—long, sturdy scrap metals and salvageable parts.

He's had more luck with the former than the latter, unfortunately. Aside from that giant robot hand, there really isn't much in the way of Nasod-like parts just laying around, and though he could probably get something useful out of the machine creatures roaming around... yeah, that wouldn't end well with Turing or Legion. It's the only reason he decides to play nice, leaving the little flower pot monstrosities alone when they shuffle across his path. He's not sure why they've stopped trying to bite his ankles off, either, but it's not a change he's about to complain about.

He may have, at one point, unintentionally pulled a stubby out of a trash heap. The next day he stops by the beach, he discovers an hour in that he's acquired a small entourage of piranha stubbies. No matter how many times he shoos them, they keep coming back. By the next day there's more, and now they're trying to give him tiny metal bits as some kind of peace offering to their weird fleshy machine-friend.

Okay, now he's going to complain.

"Would you get lost already?! I don't want your trash! Go!" He's waving a metal rod at them, but the stubbies seem unfazed.

"What are you doing to make them like you?"

Samuel approaches, but not too closely, a wary eye on the stubbies. Unconsciously, he rubs his left arm with his right hand -- the wound is long healed, but he still remembers.

"I'd love to be able to study them without worrying about them taking a bite out of me."

All the positive attention from the stubbies that he doesn't want... this grey-haired man would gladly take it if he could.

He pauses in his rod-waving to scowl at the older man. Not that Sam has done anything to offend him, really, he's just irritated at life in general right now.

"Besides not dismantle them for parts or throw them in the ocean? No fucking—hey, hey!" —and the rod-waving resumes, because now the stubbies have their attention on Sam and he sure as hell doesn't trust the way they're snapping their little claws. They're back to looking up at Add again now, and... yeah, that's about the limit of how he knows how to command them, apparently.

Add sighs, holding out the rod between Sam and the stubbies. This will work... maybe?? Hopefully. Please, just play nice.

"If I did something, it wasn't intentional. They've been following me around like this the past few days."

He takes an uneasy step back when they begin snapping at him, not wanting a repeat of what happened on his first day here. Speaking of which, he relays his story to Add:

"I helped one out of the sand when I first arrived here... it took a piece of my arm as thanks." Perhaps a bit of an exaggeration, but it was a pretty bad bite.

So it can't be helping them that does it, right?

Out of his pockets, he pulls out a small bag of seasoned mushroom pieces he uses as treats for the wildlife. As strange as it is, even robots need to eat here, so he tosses a few pieces to the stubbies from a safe distance.

They start snapping again, but they seem willing to obey the line drawn between them and their "aggressor", so... progress? Either way, they don't seem to have a problem with greedily snatching at the tossed mushrooms even if they're not acting very grateful for it.

Add eases off a bit, lowering the rod now that the stubbies are distracted. He hadn't really been thinking too hard about their behaviour up until this recent development, but... hmm.

"They definitely didn't like me before. They've been a pain in the ass to deal with every time I've had to come down here," he decides to share, frowning down at a pair of stubbies fighting over an almost-whole mushroom. "That was up until... maybe a month ago? Around the same time those quakes started. After that, they would just ignore me even if I walked right up to them."

Earthquakes, huh? He crosses his arms as he tries to think about what happened around the same time.

"I think those flesh tunnels got hurt around the same time." Or 'damaged', but since they're made of flesh, 'hurt' might be the better word here. "And those glowing cracks appeared." Not that he's done anything with them. Not until he has a way to detect radiation.

"Have you noticed any other behavioral changes in the wildlife? Maybe around the same time?" As a scientist, he's been constantly observing their behavior, of course... but two heads are better than one. And if the stubbies aren't attacking him, Add has the chance to observe things that Sam can't.

Add nods along—he hasn't seen the damage to the tunnels himself, but he's noticed the cracks and that timeline seems to add up. Though he can't imagine what any of that could've had to do with the piranha stubbies' behaviour.

Other behavioural changes, huh? He pauses, thinking for a moment.

"The mimics—the big furry machines—they've also been acting less aggressive lately." Not that he's been bold enough to walk up close to one of them on his own, but he's had a couple close calls since then that were surprisingly uneventful. Suspicious. "Legion was trying to tame one of those... maybe the change was triggered by that in some way? Hmm, but if you were also trying to get on their good side then it doesn't make sense that they'd still attack you... could be another factor involved..."

He trails off, mumbling into his hand as he mulls it over. Well, there is one thing he shares with Legion that would likely exclude Sam. He glances over at one of his dynamos, currently hovering on standby near the cluster of stubbies.

"If it's not determined by actions, it could be that they're friendlier towards similar lifeforms."

After listening to his explanation, Sam nods in return.

"Yes, that's occurred to me -- species might be a factor." He pulls out two Pokeballs from his labcoat -- a standard red-and-white ball, and a green friend ball. With that, he glances between Add, his pet(?), and the stubbies.

"Do you mind if I run a little experiment?"

It's a pity he doesn't have any Steel-types on hand to more fully confirm Add's idea one way or another, but he does have two non-humans on hand; one native to the Void, one not.

He shrugs, taking a step back to give Sam some more room.

"Go ahead. I'm more interested in their anatomy than their behaviour, but I won't turn down a useful data point, heheheh."

And hopefully this experiment won't involve anyone getting an ankle bitten off, but hey, he can start yelling again if the stubbies misbehave. It'll probably be fine!

Sam is interested in their anatomy as well (though not to the point that he's willing to hurt one to get a look at their innards; when this world finally starts understanding death, he'll have all the corpses he'll ever want to dissect), but when you can't get close enough to examine them, well....

The older man tosses the red-and-white ball, summoning Dragonite to his side. It turns toward him, waiting for orders, and he points toward the stubbies.

"Do you see those Pokemon over there, Dragonite? Can you go over there and try to make friends with them? Don't fight with them, though, just back off if they get aggressive."

Dragonite nods and approaches the stubbies on foot, holding out its claws in greeting and making a friendly crooning sound. Hello, friends!

Installing the new lightning rods is simple enough. It takes four trips across four different days, but Add can be found traversing up and down each building of Kichijoji at least once. The trip up is a little more conspicuous, what with all the long scrap metal pieces he has to negotiate through the stairwells. Sorry if he scratches up your door or something (but not actually sorry).

After each return trip, there's a new (if ugly) metal rod sticking out of the top of each building's roof. The hope is that the void might catch on that electricity can be stored if he keeps trying to catch lightning like this... so far, though, all the batteries he's tried to connect are still empty once the storm wears off. Annoying.

Add prefers to work in private most of the time, but at some point he stumbles on the library. It's familiar, and though his memories of that place are mixed with grief and loneliness... in the end, the comforting familiarity wins out. He picks a booth as far away from both the door and the front counter as he can get, hunched over his latest project.

Said project appears to be some sort of cat-shaped ball slightly less than a foot wide, though it's been separated into many pieces and spread out over the table. A small pile of other small electronics and parts of varying quality have also been left to one side. Add's six dynamos flit around the work area, occasionally fetching parts and tools from slightly out of Add's reach or zipping over to investigate newcomers. They won't harass anyone who decides to "intrude" on the library, though they may leave one of their drones to keep an eye on anyone who seems suspicious.

Add is quiet, at least, if you don't mind a bit of mumbling... or coughing. An increasingly annoying amount of coughing. By the third day he's starting to look miserable, though it's apparently not enough to convince him to go home and rest.

Oh, now that's cute — Arashi's also in the stage of "pretending things aren't going to Shitsville" with regards to her health, so it's no surprise that she plops down in an open space with the same amount of cheer and friendliness that she always has.

If she looks a little out-of-breath or pale and sweaty, well — don't mind that. Dynamo(s) get a wave too, hello Dynamo-chan-tachi...♪ Add's almost saved from having to talk to her though, since she settles for watching him work for a little bit. (Catching her breath from the walk that shouldn't have taken the wind out of her at all, making sure her cough isn't going to start acting up again — that she'd gotten that all of the way before she left her apartment today, and before she stepped into the library, and...)

It doesn't last, of course.

"Good afternoon, Add-kun," she finally says, her voice a little scratchy but brute-forced into sociable. "Heehee... What're you working on~? It looks, like, totally cute already. Of course, I'm totally partial to kitty cats anyway... I've got one of my own back at home, okay? She's the kee-yuuutest ever."

...Definitely brute-forced but she's pretty sure Add's not gonna care enough to point it out if he's busy so don't even worry about it.

Dynamo doesn't have any hands to wave with, so she'll have to settle for a friendly twirl and a beep from the one that decides to greet her. Hello, friend!!

Add is much less enthusiastic, barely lifting his head to shoot her a mild glare before turning back to his work. She's not the worst person he could think of to show up uninvited... but she seems kind of pushy, so he's anticipating it when she finally interrupts him. He sighs, putting down the circuit he'd been taking apart.

"I'm not 'making' anything, I'm just testing the compatibility between the machines here and something from back home," he grumbles back. "... it's not my design, so don't get any weird ideas."

Not that he didn't take a great deal of inspiration from that design back when he was a feral teenager living in an isolated library and making cat-eared hoodies out of dusty labwear, but good luck getting him to admit to it. He is too cool for that kind of cutesy shit.

Hey, cats aren't just cute, Add. They're totally cool too. Source: they're Knights' second motif —

Ooh, a mild glare. She brightens up a little more genuinely, propping her chin in her palm as she watches... Compatibility, huh? Compawtibility. Catpatibility. Darn, if only Tsukasa were here — he's much better at this than she is.

"If you say so," in the tone that makes it clear she doesn't one-hundred-percent believe him. But moving on, "What's it supposed to do? ...Is it anything like your Dynamo-chans?"

Anything too technical's gonna fly right over her head, probably, but it's important to show the grumpy people in your life that you're invested in them....... Worm your way into their heart.......... Be Friends.

There's something suspicious about the way she's acting... almost like she's trying to get on his good side for some reason... What's your angle, Arashi?? He's fucking on to you.

On the other hand, it's hard to resist an invitation to talk about Nasods. There's a moment of indecisive grumbling before he caves again, pointedly staring off at a wall.

"It's an ancient administration drone, designed primarily for overseeing management and security of an important database... and it's Dynamo's original body before I rebuilt it. There was some internal damage and the old model lacks features, so it was easier to build something new from scratch and transplant the useful parts. What's left of it is mostly just scraps."

[ Turing had been frequenting the library more and more lately. Spending extended periods of time alone actually wasn't something they liked doing, but after Iwaizumi's sudden disappearance and a few other things, they weren't feeling particularly social. Using the library as a substitute for the mesh at least helped them take their mind off of things.

They were halfway through a reference book about floriculture when they noticed Add's dynamos zipping about. Turing's first thought was to hop out of their chair to go over and say hello, but their memory flicked back to their last conversation with Add, and that made them retreat back into their seat. Their feelings were still a little too fragile to risk a do-over on that.

The coughing on the other hand, was a different story.

Finally they slipped out of their chair with their book in tow and sneaked over to a vantage point where they could see Add. (Of course, the dynamos likely made their attempts at stealth pointless, but details.) Was that cat shaped machine really...? ]

[Scouting is one of Dynamo's many specialties, so of course Add knew Turing was here shortly after his arrival. He almost gets up to go and bug them himself, but... Dynamo's superb scouting capabilities also means that he knows Turing knows he's here, and they haven't come to him yet, and maybe that means they're busy...? Anyway, it'd also be kind of embarrassing to admit he hasn't made any progress on building a flight device yet. After all the boasting he did about how much of a genius he is, too...

So, he decides to just focus on his work instead, though perhaps they might spot one of the dynamos lingering near their corner of the library every so often. It'd be better if he could make at least some progress on this before they ask him about it.

It doesn't take long for him to notice when they do decide to start spying on him, though. His hands stop in that moment, but only briefly before he continues dismantling the drone's parts and swapping them for other pieces in his pile of assorted machinery.

(he also stops to cough sometime in the middle, but it's more subdued than before—not because he's feeling any better, but perhaps because he knows Turing is listening now)

... but seriously, he can't just not say anything forever. He lets Turing watch in relative silence for a couple more minutes before sighing loudly, then turning around to look directly at them.]

If you want to watch, you don't have to do it from all the way over there, you know.

[ Turing jumped at being spotted. Eep. The fact that Add knew exactly where to look also cast some doubt on how good their sneaking skills were, even with knowing that the dynamos gave him a significant advantage. If only the book they were holding was large enough for them to hide behind... And of course, with their current state of mind, it wasn't hard for them to interpret that loud sigh as a sign that they were being a bother.

It wasn't like they could run away now, though. Not with that coughing. They practically tiptoed, but they did eventually make it over to where Add was sitting. That had to count for something. ]

Well... You seemed to be focusing very hard on your work, so I didn't want to interrupt.

[ Unbeknownst to them, those words did very, very little to stop the sprouts that were hiding deep in the seams of their casing. ]

The coughing gets worse. He doesn't start to worry until there's blood, and even then he's more concerned with the why than his health—death isn't a thing here, supposedly, but he can't think of anything he's done recently that could've caused this. He hasn't even been eating batteries or drinking lava.

So Add makes note of it, but does little else about the phenomenon. What's he supposed to do if he can't identify the cause? Tell someone about it?? That would just make people worry pointlessly, and besides, it's not that bad. A little blood isn't a big deal. He'll just keep it to himself for now until he can figure out what's causing it. It's totally fine. How much worse could it get?

It's when he thinks he's alone that he breaks into a particularly nasty fit, stumbling and grasping for the nearest wall to prevent himself from falling over, Dynamo drawing in tightly around his shoulders to support him. His other hand has to keep the blood from spilling out, but there's too much of it to hide in his palm now, and there's something else—

When the coughing finally relents enough for him to stand on his own he's left staring down at his cupped hand, tiny orange petals mixed with the blood. He may have muttered a quiet what the fuck after the initial shock passed.

((I'd prefer to keep this prompt to close CR and players I've already plotted stuff with, so please reach out to me first before tagging if we don't already have CR. Thanks!))

Edited 2021-02-14 12:02 (UTC)

[ meanwhile, izumi has done all he can to alleviate this strange bout of fever that some of the inhabitants of this void had contracted lately. from mixing various berries together to getting more than enough bedrest, izumi is determined not to let this get to him. he's not the type to get sick easily, so surely this'll all pass very soon?

judging from the bloody coughs that made him hack up white flower petals recently, this is pretty serious. and they might not have enough time, so the least izumi should do is find leo and, and...

somehow he finds himself at the library after dashing out of the apartments in his routine search for his old friend. he hasn't visited this place till now, and considering that orange idiot's propensity of going wherever the fuck he pleases, izumi starts praying that hopefully he's here.

that cough he just heard didn't belong from leo, though. how izumi can tell, perhaps? it be like that sometimes. still, he rushes over to the source of that distressing cough to find add with his back turned, struggling on his feet with his only robot buddy supporting him. he can't see the blood on him from here, but it might be for the best. ]

...What are you doing?

[ he's supposed to sound concerned but the bitchiness is a bit of a kneejerk reaction, it's fine ]

[He doesn't hear Izumi sneaking up on him, but his presence becomes obvious soon enough. Add freezes in place, his back stiffening.

... he absolutely does not want to be seen like this, but he can't hide the evidence when there's this much blood. Unless he maybe wipes it on his clothing... but that's way too gross, eugh.

Instead Add just continues to stand there awkwardly, unsure of what the hell he could be doing to allay suspicion, before finally deciding he's too sick to give a shit about any of this right now. He hisses out an irritable sigh, leaning against the shelf next to him.]

Am I not allowed to be here? Mind your own damn business.

Who says you're not allowed? As if I'd ever hang out in this dump.

[ he's NOT a nerd, add. look into a damn mirror sometime, just because y'all look almost alike -

but no, he's got no time to get mad. he takes a couple more steps towards add, losing some of the bite in his voice when he asks him again. ]

...I was just wondering if you saw Leo-kun around.

Edited 2021-02-18 11:26 (UTC)

Don't call it a dump. [There's a sharpness to his voice that wasn't fully intended, but he's having a rough day. The last thing he wants to hear right now is Izumi trash talking the place he used to call home.

Add hunches his shoulders, focusing on his breathing instead of all the weird shit that just came out of his lungs a minute ago. He's just gonna keep staying put for now, so... Izumi will probably lose interest soon anyway. Sounds like he's busy. Good.]

Idiot-wrangling is your job, not mine. I haven't seen shit.

[ jeez, what crawled up this guy's asshole and died. izumi didn't really mean to put it that way, but it seems that he's not the only one being more irate than usual right now. ]

You're-- [ he winces, as the flowers in his lungs are starting to poke at his insides ] You're damn right that's my job. That's why I'm here, aren't I? So what the hell have you been hiding from me?

[ because add is an idiot too, get it ]

I told you, I haven't seen shit! What fucking reason would I have to lie about it?!

[bad news: he is an idiot, and he doesn't get it. Izumi?? Caring about Add??? Impossible. Izumi believing that Add is a liar and at fault for whatever dumb shit Leo's gotten himself into is a far more plausible explanation.]

Go find your stupid boyfriend yourself! I--

[of course, getting worked up like this isn't helping with his condition. He's interrupted by another violent, wet cough, barely managing to cover his mouth in time before another clump of gross petals comes surging up. A tiny splattering of blood makes it onto the floor. He's leaning even more heavily into the wall now, though still stubbornly refusing to move from his spot. He'll probably just fall over if this keeps up much longer.]

Add--!

[ izumi wastes no time in running up to the other male, propping him up by his back in case he staggers and falls. he blinks at the splatter of blood on the floor and on add's front, the flowers that add was trying so hard to hide.

not that either of them can hide it at this point. practically everyone in this world is suffering from it. ]

Just... Just sit down, will you? [ he says as he carefully guides add down on the floor, so that he can slump beside him, wheezing a little. ] He's not-- He'll never be my boyfriend. So don't even fucking joke about that.

[ that earns him a stab on the throat, whoops ]

[Add does try to protest, but he can't offer up much resistance like this—to the floor it is. Dynamo also chips in, a pair of drones manoeuvring over to Izumi's side to help him down. They linger there, afterwards, emanating warmth and a mechanical thrum not unlike some kind of hovering robot cat.

Add still has the hand clamped to his face, like there's even a point in trying to hide anything now... but eventually he sighs, letting his arm drop limply into his lap.]

Whatever. Like it even matters... [because the point is that they care about each other more than anyone else. That much Add can tell. It's hard for him not be a little jealous.]

You caught it, too, didn't you? [between the funky breathing and the fact that he wasn't surprised by Add's condition... yeah, it's a little obvious.] Tch. What an irritating disease. Can't get any work done like this... gonna take forever to clean out the stains...

[ izumi can't help but chuckle wryly at that. ] We're both fucking dying and all you can think of is work? [ ... ] Can't say I wouldn't do the same.

[ rather he'd die from flowers than utter boredom. but not like this... never like this. ]

You don't... wanna die in this world, though. I've been there. [ his grip tightens on add's sleeve. ] I don't want to go back.

My work is important. [unlike whatever the fuck Izumi's is, probably.] As if I've got time to waste on being dead...

[... really, it's something he's tried not to think about. because death isn't possible here, right? that's what everyone keeps saying. he's inclined to believe it, since this world doesn't seem to follow any normal rules—he doesn't need to breathe and getting hit by lightning didn't leave a scratch, so why would this be different?

it feels different, and... he might be a little scared. but that's something he'd rather die than admit to. which could happen, theoretically.]

You're not going anywhere. That was just a stupid dream. And I already told you I'm not watching that idiot for you, so you'll have to take care of him yourself this time.

Do dreams leave you with scars as big as your entire back when you wake up?

[ just... putting it out there, since add is probably the only one who knew of the Incident last year. izumi hasn't shown it to anyone, and - well, it'd probably be too traumatizing to do it now anyway. ]

And even... Even if you say that, Leo-kun will just force himself into you life anyway, whether you like it or not. He-- [ he coughs, a couple of white lily petals falling from his lips. ] He loves everyone.

[well. that admission makes him pause, shooting Izumi a concerned frown. a scar from something that happened in a dream... does this world even know what a dream is supposed to be?

his gaze lingers, but he looks away again once the topic turns back to their mutual idiot. of course Leo is like that. he's the kind of person who's too nice for his own good.]

... People like that piss me off. [and almost like some kind of sign, Add also has to stop to cough, though he manages to make it sound more like a half-cough-half-laugh.] He's your problem. If you dump that shit on me again I'll kick your ass, so stop wasting your time and go find him already.

[why is Izumi wasting his time here, anyway? it can't be that he's just given up... that doesn't make any sense.]

[ usually he can understand add's belligerence just fine. izumi's like that too, after all. but the way the other male is pushing him away even when they're both covered in blood and marred words is starting to tick izumi off, because of course. ]

You... You don't get it, do you?! Who else is going to look after you, dumbass? You think that I'm just going t--

[ another cough cuts him off, this time a rough one as a flower attempts to make its way up his throat. he lets go of add to turn away and hack this stupid, shitty flower out of his system, wheezing for breath as he does. he's never looked so pathetic like this before; usually it's leo who gets to see him like this, but

well, it's too late now. ]

Izumi!

[thank fuck Izumi starts coughing tho, otherwise Add might have to think about what he just said for more than 2 seconds. it's much easier to focus on the other's distress, reaching over to grab him by the shoulder when he pulls away. Dynamo also rearranges their formation again, flitting over to up Izumi's Emotion Support Robot count from 2 to 4—they cling a little closer this time, ready to hold him up if he decides to collapse.

he's barely hiding his concern anymore, but... what can he really do about this? he doesn't even know what's causing it yet. Add scowls, frustrated, gripping Izumi's shoulder just a little too tightly as he waits for him to catch his breath.]

Who are you calling a fucking dumbass, dumbass? Do you want to die now? Or are you just so pathetic you can't even pull yourself together anymore? If you're that sick, then stay the fuck home!

[as if Add is in ANY position to talk but yknow]

[ thanks, dynamo. if only your owner's just as helpful... but izumi muses that add's reassuring him too in his own way. he'd nag relentlessly too, after all.

but he won't take that tone of voice lying down, so once he's regained what's left of his voice he lifts up a hand to shove off add's from his shoulder... only to hold his wrist instead. he doesn't have the energy anymore. ]

I... can't. I need-- to find Leo-kun. But also to check up on you. [ cough. ] Who else is gonna do it when everyone else are fucking dying...?

[ he's stubborn to the very end. the brutal honesty seems to work though, as he's finding it a bit easier to breathe now, but there's still some leaves and vines in the way. ]

[... he'd be more shocked by all of this if he hadn't been intentionally trying to ignore what Izumi's been saying. he can't keep this up forever, though. sooner or later he'll have to think about it and what it really means.

Add's grip loosens a little, clicking his tongue and glancing away—but he doesn't pull back his hand just yet. this position is fine, for now.]

I didn't ask for anyone to check up on me. [a complex emotion swirls in his chest, among other things. it just... doesn't feel right. it can't be that easy. and even if it is, it can never last.] ... Don't tell me you're letting that idiot rub off on you. You can't just stick your neck out for everyone, you know. Get your priorities straight.

Unfortunately Add, you're not alone at all!

Legion has been having some issues with mobility, due to flowers growing in their leg, and thus has been frequently making use of what transport is available, including the trains.

They don't immediately notice the other presence on the network, but they do hear the coughing the moment they disembark, and go to check it out.

"Add. Dynamo. You are afflicted?"

After a moment, they also reach out to poke him over the network.

Ah, fuck. He's still coughing when Legion decides to appear, but he leans further into Dynamo instead of the wall so he can frantically wave the other off with a hand that is not currently clamped to his face. Everything's fine! Really!

The machine network truly is handy when you have flowers clogging up your throat, though. He responds to the mental ping, filtering his thoughts through Dynamo as usual to keep all those pesky emotions out. His response is curt.

Just a cough. Don't worry about it.

... yeah, like that's believable. At least he tried.

Dynamo, meanwhile, refrains from any kind of direct comment, though the way they're clinging to Add might already be saying enough.

They look down at their leg, currently sprouting red anemone flowers. They chatter, headflaps lifting slightly.

"Coughing is a common symptom of Overgrowth."

He can probably sense their concern over the network. And because they know Dynamo is more likely to give an honest answer, they'll send a status request directly to them.

"It can only be cured by the admission of repressed emotions and secrets."

Dynamo isn't known for their hesitation, but there's a pause before they send a response this time—a brief report summed up as Dynamo units 1 through 6 functioning as expected; Add declined diagnostics. They're loyal to a fault, but that doesn't mean they're going to lie at risk of their partner's safety. They can bend the rules enough for this much admission.

Add is, quite obviously, not doing so well. He swallows some of the blood in his throat, determined to speak aloud this time. Hopefully it's not too difficult to hear behind his hand.

(He also spies the flowers running up Legion's leg. Well, at least he knows they're not free of this affliction, either.)

"I have it under control. You don't need to get involved in this."

"If this were true, it is unlikely you would need to hide your condition." They chatter.

"We understand if you do not wish to speak to us, however, we recommend disclosing to someone, as untreated Overgrowth is capable of removing capacity for conscious thought, resulting in mindless attacks against both friend and foe." Do you want to be a zombie, Add? Because you're going to become a zombie.

"Suggestion: we are willing to exchange our secrets for yours."

Add winces, glancing off to the side. He did overhear Legion's claims about this mysterious illness earlier that day... but that doesn't mean he's eager to go with their "solution". There has to be another way, right?

"We don't know that for sure," he scoffs, lowering his hand from his face—no point in hiding it now. He flicks a couple orange petals off his palm. "This world is known twist things... anyway, isn't that just a little too convenient? What kind of illness goes away when you tell secrets? It's completely nonsensical."

So... what is Add's plan, exactly? Hope that death still isn't real and plant-zombification doesn't count, either? Maybe wait for someone else to go down first so he can see what happens? Assuming anyone else is going to be as stupid as him about this, anyway.

"The original illness was a curse from a God." So if it seems weirdly convenient, that's because it was made to be like that.

"You are afraid?" It seems like a lot of people are frightened of discussing emotions and secrets. Legion has, at this point, lost much of that fear: there are things they prefer not to discuss, but that is more often due to the desire not to relive them.

"We are a murderer." Maybe actually saying something themselves will convince him.

Should have used that desperate energy at the beginning.

Early February | Takoba Beach

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since it's early February let's say he doesn't have Pidgey back yet :P

o7

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Early February | Kichijoji Aerial District

February 10th ~ 13th | Takka's Library

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Mid February | Around the trains/stations, Merlaut, the library, etc. (semi-closed)

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