April-May 2024 Test Drive Meme

[folkie]

April-May 2024 TDM

Introduction

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This Test Drive meme is open to all.
Welcome to Folkmore's monthly Test Drive Meme! Please feel free to test drive any and all characters regardless of your intent to apply or whether you have an invite or not.

All TDMs are game canon and work like "mini-events". For new players and characters, you can choose to have your TDM thread be your introduction thread upon acceptance or start fresh. Current players are also allowed to have in-game characters post to the TDM so long as they mark their top levels ‘Current Character.’

TDM threads can be used for spoon spending at any time by characters accepted into the game.

Playing and interacting with the TDMs will allow characters to immediately obtain canon items from homes especially weapons or other things they may have had on their person when they were pulled from their worlds! There will always be a prompt that provides some sort of "reward" to characters who complete certain tasks.

Current players are always encouraged to tag new people on the TDM!


🦊 New Star Children meet the Fox still in their worlds, and she brings them into the new realm of Folkmore. As you follow her, your body begins to change and new characteristics emerge. These may stay for a while, or perhaps they will hide away after. And during all of this, the Fox explains to you where you will be going: to Folkmore.

and then... you fall like a shooting star, falling to the land in a burst of starlight.


🦊 Experienced Star Children are already familiar with this time of the month. There are shooting stars all across the sky, and some fall to the land, which means the Fox has brought new arrivals. These newly arrived Star Children will face some tests, but Thirteen wants the more seasoned residents to participate as well.

Perhaps you follow the falling stars on your own, or perhaps the Fox simply teleports you there, but it appears you too will be part of this.

[ Prompt One ★ Prompt Two]

Lost & Found . ★

Content Warnings: Forced Relocation, Forced Sharing, Potential Violence & Harm

New Star Children arrive in Wintermute. Not at the hot springs, the school, or anywhere else near civilization. They arrive in the middle of white, snowy nowhere. The good news is that Wintermute is no longer dark twenty-four seven. There is enough light to avoid crevasses, blocked up wells, and other dangerous features of the landscape. Further, no one is expected to figure out how to get out of there on their own.

Usually Thoth finds the lost travelers in the cold expanse of Wintermute. However, she's busy exploring the multiverse for new and interesting ideas for technology. Not to fret! She hasn't abandoned ye who've entered here. There's a new emergency lost and found network:

The Wandering Dog food carts are now open twenty-four seven! The dogs work in shifts, but the food remains as delicious as ever. When a Star Child gets lost in Wintermute, another Star Child will happen to be buying food from a Wandering Dog somewhere in Folkmore. One such lucky unlucky Star Child gets transported to the School of Thoth. Specifically, to where the mechanical sled dogs hang out. They receive a warm winter coat over whatever they were wearing and another one on hand for whoever they are rescuing. Then it's off across the snow! Don't worry, non-mushing experts, the dogs know what they're doing and lead the sled right to the designated lost Star Child.

The rescuee gets to lay in the sled for the ride back, wrapped up warm and cozy in their new winter coat (it may be spring, but it's always cold in Wintermute). The sled dogs bring Star Children back to the hot springs, so that they can warm up even more. Alternatively, Star Children can explore the Cutting Edge, the School of Thoth, or something else in Wintermute. However, the Star Children cannot part ways or leave Wintermute immediately.

The sled dogs, yes the whole team, will stay with the pair to enforce this. They may surround the pair like a pack, cuddle pile on top of them, or lay around the edges of a hot spring. No matter how long it takes to realize the dogs are doing this and that there's a reason for it, Star Children will eventually find instructions in one of the dogs' collars: Share something that other people have refused to listen to you about. Everyone ought to be listened to.

Only once both Star Children have shared something with each other will the dogs let them part ways and see, perhaps, the rest of Folkmore.

On the walk to Akhlut Station, Star Children will see plain weapons sticking out of the snow: swords, guns, knives. These are simple, non-magical practical weapons. Experienced Star Children may know to suspect such free offerings, but nothing immediately happens upon picking one up. However, once on the train, the train will be attacked by frost spirits. These icy spirits must either be hacked to pieces until they can no longer reform or melted with fire. Innocent passengers who didn't pick up a weapon may be forced to get involved, but the frost spirits will be most focused on those who picked up weapons.

• New Star Children arrive in remote areas of Wintermute.
• Star Children buying food from The Wandering Dog get teleported to the School of Thoth to rescue people with a team of sled dogs.
• Star Children get amazing new winter coats!
• Star Children cannot part ways until they share something others have refused to listen to! The dogs enforce this.
• Simple, non-magical weapons stick out of the snow on the way to the train station.
• Anyone who picks up one of those weapons will see their train get attacked by frost spirits.

No Dumb Ideas . ★

Content Warnings: Potential Forced Participation, Potential Harm

Thoth has been listening to any and all ideas people have had around science in the last few months. Whether they were shower thoughts or a discussion between scientific colleagues or anywhere in between, she's made her list and built every one as an experiment. On a human scale. A human test subject scale. Because every idea has merit. That's right: Thoth believes in you.

Posters saying Thoth Needs You! go up around Folkmore. They offer a reward for participating in an experiment. Simply tear off a piece of paper from the bottom of the poster, and at some point in the future, you're in. Now, there might be a little hiccup here or there. These posters are experimental too! So some Star Children who don't tear off a slip might get pulled into an experiment as well. (Who said Thirteen ought to recruit for her trials? Thoth listened… or she tried.) Oh well, at least it's all in the name of science!

Perhaps Star Children need to sing Baby It's Cold Outside to convince the other to stay (it really will be cold outside). Perhaps they have a choice of spinners, buttons, levers, or other devices to interact with. Perhaps they make their way through a maze. Perhaps they try a new contraption. Perhaps they even recognize their own idea come to life! There's a multitude of new tech to try, and it has not been safety tested.

Nothing will explode. Probably. Maybe. Okay, some experiments are definitely going to have explosions. How about pressing that button anyway and finding out if it's this one?

Once Star Children survive the experiment—and they will, Thoth may be a loose cannon of a scientist, but she's ensured that much—they will emerge from one of the School of Thoth's laboratories. Togo, the grey wolf mascot, waits on the other side with an item for each test subject: an item from home. This may even be a weapon or magical item.

No one is left to the cold to fend for themselves. One of the nearby classrooms has been set up as a first aid center. Dog spirits of all sizes, from the smallest Maltipoo spirit to the largest Great Dane spirit, staff a healing clinic and will treat any injuries Star Children received in the experiments (or already sported). They offer hot lemonade—lemon juice, molasses, and hot water—to everyone to warm their soul. Injured Star Children can find a corner to rest by themselves or company with which to discuss their experiments.

• Thoth has built experiments to bring Star Children’s ideas to life.
• Pick a paper tab off a Thoth Needs You! poster to participate. Or don’t. A mishap may bring Star Children there regardless.
• Do science! Be a human experiment! Maybe experience explosions!
• Togo, the Thoth mascot, will have an item from home for every Star Child who participates.
• Dog spirits man (dog?) a first aid center in a nearby classroom.

Comments

[soulerosion]

[ the blow connects, earning only what could be described as a delighted laugh from the sable as something cracks. the pain is sharp and wonderful. he knows it's only been hours since he last matched with an opponent, but this is different.

this actually hurts.

one wrist is out of his grasp but that's no matter, nero moves as if to catch it withone of his flesh and blood hands, while the metal one forms a fist and goes for face. the other soft, meaty hand in the mix attempts to break an elbow. kicking off into the air and floating just as easily as Vincent had to take the pressure off of his leg, which while not shattered, is surely broken. ]

[coffinturk]

[ Ah, levitation. Right. That's going to be a problem.

Vincent is good, but this is a match which shows what happens when two powers cancel each other out and supplementary arms and tactics are just not available. Speed, reflexes and strength put the two roughly on par with one another. Vincent is fresh and would arguably be likely to win this clash with experience and no recent battle weariness on his side.

But it wouldn't be without taking blows. Between concussion and broken bone, it's safe to say the latter was chosen when the red-cloaked man extends his arm to deflect the metal wings. There is a satisfying-sounding snap at the maneuver landing against the elbow Nero aims for. It earns a grunt of pain; but it does not offer a reprieve from Vincent's assault.

The capacity for serpentine contortions shouldn't be at all surprising among the two who void the affects of gravity on motion when it suits them. If Nero tries to reach for the cloak, he might find it seems as capable of slipping away from where it should be. Its owner is capable of shifting to a new position from near prone while continuing to push the attack. Kicks, locks and yes even the use of a supposedly broken limb as if he's simply ignoring the cost of further stress. Make no mistake it is broken and that is causing some problems with its use on a physical level; Vincent just seems to be able to lock away the sense of pain that might cause the human mind to instinctively protect it from further damage. Nero will discover that it's not just the left hand, the boots or thighs that have armor, but there are is also plating along Vincent's shoulders to deflect oncoming attacks.

There are plenty of fleshy bits as well. Bones to break, muscles to bruise. Joints to lock.

Vincent knows he can win against Nero, knows it was best this is happening here rather than inside the bounds of Wintermute's civilization. But before they cross that boundary, it must be an overwhelming one. Not this near match that leaves question as to which might be the strongest.

There is change in the atmosphere. Whatever combat senses the Sable possesses from countless years of surviving Deepground are likely to be struck by the sudden, utter sense of absolute danger. As if something ripped through every talent Vincent had in suppressing the extent of one's blood lust to minimize how easy their attacks are read.

Or what was just a ripple of deadly skill before has been suddenly replaced by quaking threat of an ocean's pressure about to crumple the sole thin barrier holding it back. And it is not a familiar echo of the dark, chaotic energy.

Metamorphosis rips through Vincent, whose face can't hide the effects of pain and feral and cathartic release that come with it... at least as long as his features are still recognizably human. The horned, massive beast that towers even more than fairly tall Vincent Valentine can be likened to the appearance of a behemoth, though its conformation suggests a bipedal creature. And some of the man's attire seems somehow merged or factored into its existence.

This is not Chaos. It's something else. And the change from man to beast doesn't seem to have done much to stall it from pressing the attack again. If anything, Vincent is more aggressive, seeking to bear down on his foe and beat him into the very ground.

The beast roars its challenge. Vincent sees no reason to hold that back, focused instead on riding the feral mind that he might see the end of this without the loss of life. So long as he leaves an inch... ]

[soulerosion]

[ the nero of the future has no use for the thrill of battle, but this one is living for it. his eyes are wild, gleaming with the mad glint that only a Tsviet could know. one who lives and a dies as a warrior whether they intended to be or not. never has he been so evenly matched, never has he been so thrilled to taste blood on his tongue to felt so satisfying to land a hit.

he knows what a transformation looks like. seen it countless times in the pit, bodies breaking and reforming time and time again. often remaining stuck in whatever state their scientist had twisted them into.

but never has he witnessed this. nero shivers with delight at the sight of it - like azul, but more refined. natural. cohesive. immediately his mind turns with the question of whether this is the prototype they seek to recreate, or the perfected art.

and then the beast is on him.

nero laughs madly, losing himself in the joy of every laceration, every bruise, every internal injury. the fight he puts up is admirable, worthy of a tsviet - but vincent is older, stronger, and now entirely inhuman. and nero can eventually no longer stand it. his back hits the ground and the monster is upon him, ripping and tearing. ]

I taste it! Death!

[ he's still laughing. right up until as galian beast strikes a particularly hard blow, knocking him senseless and leaving a hefty claw mark along his pale face. ]

cw: human experiments, blood, mention of torture

[coffinturk]

[ Unlike the unfortunate, Vincent has the ability to return to a human form. But unlike Azul, even this particular beast often comes with just a thread of control. The materia housed in his body only helps with Chaos. The galian beast comes parceled with the sadistic cruelty inflicted by Hojo's efforts at creating a more durable, superhuman body and Vincent was no willing supplicant on the altar of power.

The beast sees prey, an enemy. Toying with it would not be an option. That is the way to lose a meal, another day at surviving. This 'pragmatic', wild approach suits Vincent's human intent today and give finer control. He is injured in kind, but former wounds seem to have rapidly healed during the metamorphosis; this is like fighting an entirely new, fresh enemy for the Sable. But now with claws and fangs and an added brute strength. The bipedal hybrid conformation doesn't sacrifice much in the way of agility.

Vincent is upon Nero the moment the Tsviet is on the ground, punching, clawing, biting but blessedly able to restrain the urge to drown it all in fiery retribution.

...It still takes a few precious seconds to discern the enemy no longer laughs and speaks, having been driven insensate by the sheer force of the assault and the brutal swipe of claw and heavy paw across the face. Vincent pulls himself back, thrashing and howling in half protest with having to stop, part a cry worthy of battle, even if it was an internal one.

Only slightly unsteady, Vincent straightens. Turning his head he spits to the side, trying to lessen the blood-taste that lingers in his mouth. A pity transformation does nothing clean away the blood; but it may explain his taste in fashion colors. Black and red will not show the bloodstains so readily.

Nero is watched with an assessing look. The dogs seem calm; they were always safe though as even when he had less control, Vincent was usually capable of the minimum discernment between ally and enemy. He shakes his head of such thoughts before reaching down and grabbing Nero by the collar of his suit to lift and carry back to the sled.

One might want to forgive if the handling is rough, one-handed and willing to drop the Tsviet if he so much as twitches in a suggestion of consciousness. But provided Nero doesn't regain consciousness, Vincent will go about securing the young man in the cargo bed of the sled.

A fortunate thing that the supplies have plenty of rope. Nominal first aid will be given; enough to staunch the blood. Practical or not, the coats are bundled around the Sable.

If nothing more, after the trouble of keeping him alive it would be really annoying if he died from the cold.

After finding the water supply and using some of that to wash more of the blood out of his mouth and off his face, Vincent gets the sled moving again. It won't be long; another ten or fifteen minutes would see them settled somewhere.

Somewhere warm and homey like; a bed that's technically near the local medics, but seems more like someone's borrowed single-room home than a hospital or a lab. Largely because it is. No machines, no monotonous beeping of monitors. No IVs or tubes.... and no drugs. Even the ropes are gone. Plenty of blankets and warmth; a glass of water still beaded with condensation and a pitcher of more.

Vincent has already chased away anyone who doesn't need to be around when Nero wakes up, though it's going to be clear someone's seen to the Sable's injuries enough to stabilize, if not fully heal. One of the mechanical dogs is snoozing by the door. And the red-cloaked man himself seems to be dozing in a chair. He probably isn't. And he no longer smells of blood.

Why he hasn't left is anyone's guess. ]

[soulerosion]

[ nero does not remember the last time he'd awoken from a battle and found himself mended. usually, consciousness comes to him before his body has had a chance to knit itself back together. the agony of healing was a good thing in deepground, it meant that you were still alive.

and like most things the planet deemed to be unworthy of its final embrace, healing materia did not work on him. he would heal quick, he would heal wrong, and he and weiss would need to break and reset whatever it didn't get right the first time.

but weiss isn't there to lightly slap his cheek and bring him around. and this sure as hell isn't deepground. even their childhood dorm hadn't been this... human. clinical beds and white walls had been all the brothers had known, and this was surely not that.

this is... new.

and... valentine was still there. now once again in his human form, seemingly dozing but he knows this man is not stupid enough to do such a thing in his presence. he moves gingerly at first, frowning when there is no ripple of pain from torn muscle or fresh cut as he sits upright. he's... mended.

and now vincent gets a suspicious stare. the far more calculating one that sharpens those doe-eyes into something dangerous. ]

[coffinturk]

[ As much as Vincent would have been pleased to content with a mending Nero over a healed one, he simply did not have that type of authority over what the spirits of Wintermute would do for a Star Child.

And their magic or skills or talents were not of Gaia, so Vincent was not privy to the knowledge that some things simply did not work... right on the Sable. Make no mistake there might be some signs of their recent battle; perhaps some mild soreness that has not been discovered. But no more than one would expect would be gone within a day or two. Nothing like what should be. ]

It's not nice to stare.

[ Vincent didn't open his eyes when he started speaking. But by halfway through there's a glimmer of red and then they're completely open. There's been a change in them; a vestigial remainder of his transformation that will fade to the normal glowing pinpricks in his ruby gaze over time. His left seems unaffected. ]

What are you thinking about?

[soulerosion]

I do not pretend to be so.

[ nero says nothing for a long, long time. trying to discern the angle. why he is... free, after attacking someone. clearly he was brought to scientists or the surface equivalent to be mended... how still bothers him. either this is something deepground lacked or simply opted to withhold from him. ]

You possess the abilities of several Tsviets, but you are not of us... I am merely wondering if you are successor or precursor.

[ he doubts he will receive an answer. ]

[coffinturk]

[ Vincent had mentioned that whatever his past connection with Grimoire Valentine is or was, it's not any of Nero's business. In a way that's true. Knowing the answer would not change anything.

But the way Nero asks this question after being willing to... well speak so willingly on those thoughts of his? The red-cloaked man allows an answer. ]

Don't know exactly.

[ Whether he could be called a precursor in the traditional sense. That somehow what was done to him was then applied to the Tsviets. Or if it was simply a result of a similar line of research from the same origin. ]

But what happened to me was before what you're talking about.

[ At least, before Deepground became what it did. Anyway Vincent definitely sees no reason to hide what he is. ]

[soulerosion]

[ so then he is the failed recreation. unsurprising, he supposes. he was born after doctor gast left shinra, and all the great successes had been born while the man still held office. by his understanding from the gossip of the scientists hojo is but a poor imitation, a madman's desperate bid at capturing a genius' greatness.

again silence lapses. nero mulls over the question in his mind - they are not in deepground, and he is far from it, but if this is a fellow experiment then... ]

Do you resent what they have done to you?

[ there is the smallest sliver of hope that this one will not be as useless as project g. ]

[coffinturk]

[ They. Yes, Shinra permitted it all by creating the environment. But there was only two 'they' for Vincent. One was the true cause. The other... he hadn't been certain what their aim was for a very long time. Or what his own heart felt. What he deserved. ]

Hm.

[ The noise is... speculative. It's not immediate, not like a seething, burning hatred should prompt. And the truth is Vincent is weighing the value of answering honestly, and it's not entirely because he has an ulterior motive. ]

Shinra? It's hard for me to say I hate them. I knew what the company was capable of. Saw it firsthand.

[ He was a Turk. Even if the human experiments and trials were not at the level they would become, all the hallmarks were there. ]

I save my hate for the one who did this.

[ And even that copied, digital imprint of the man is gone now, to an ignominious ending that would have been wholly satisfying to watch for Vincent had it not been as the advent of a much more calamitous problem.

Briefly, focus from thoughts of distant and not so distant past returns to the present and his gaze flicks briefly to Nero. ]

What about your own resentment?

[ Vincent can guess and it'd probably be accurate. But the aim is to listen to Nero, not speculate on assumptions of what the Sable would say. ]

[soulerosion]

[ ... most certainly older than he looks if he was old enough to know better when they sunk their claws into him. ]

It is the resentment of one who did not have the luxury of forewarning or choice.

[ but that is obvious. a sentiment shard among all of deepground - save perhaps azul, who came willingly at the promise of power and only rebelled when he found the door slammed shut behind him. ]

[coffinturk]

[ That earns a slight huff of dry amusement. It's that type of bitter humor that doesn't reach Vincent's gaze. ]

Even seeing the signs doesn't mean there's forewarning. Or choice. We've that much in common.

[ He shakes his head. ]

I've had a long time to think about it. [ For a second his head shifts. The collar hides the way his lips press for a moment. ] And different circumstances.

[ Freedom at least on a level those imprisoned in Deepground never had. Vincent knows all too well the prison of his own guilt was nothing compared to what Nero and the other Tsviets suffered. What's more, unlike most of them, Vincent had known a normal life, once. ]

I wonder if there's any amount of time that could dull your hatred, Nero.

[ Part a question but so much more of the words approach rhetoric. He is welcome to respond to it like a query, or not. Vincent's tone seems to understand the question itself probably has no answer that could be fathomed. ]

[soulerosion]

No. I think not.

[ he does not care what happens to him, what he endures... it's what weiss endures that eats at him. nero is a monster, an abomination, but his brother has never deserved the life that a monster should live.

how his beloved brother has suffered, still suffers. how everyone, everyone has turned a blind eye to it. refusing to aid them. he still burns at genesis' refusal, how he loathes how sephiroth opted to destroy himself rather than destroy their makers. ]

How is it you know of me?

[coffinturk]

[ Out of the corner of vision, one might notice the mechanical dog that had been 'dozing' by the door get up. It circles a few times before raising briefly to its hind legs and dropping a paw on the door handle; one of those types you push down which will probably be a prevalent theme of door knobs here; how many dog spirits have opposable thumbs?

But even though this tells Vincent that they've satisfied a certain requirement, he does not get up to leave just yet. Nero gets an answer though it's probably not the one he wants. ]

I can't tell you that right now.

[ But there's just a slight hint that Vincent gives Nero more credit for his intelligence than most through the next thing he says. ]

Though I think you'll figure it out on your own soon enough.

[ In this new place, this Folkmore, it shouldn't take too long to realize the manner in which the Fox's Star Children are pulled from various times.

And besides, it seems prudent to give Nero something to focus on. There is a solution that would be readily apparent of course; that Vincent knows more about Deepground than he's letting on. But his manner and tone do seem to suggest that's not... quite the case. That it's the too easy answer. ]

Like I said before, the Shinra Company isn't here. This isn't our world. What you end up making of all this is something you'll have to decide for yourself.

[soulerosion]

[ he has guesses. none of them currently involving time travel. the darkness that he wields and vincent resists seems a thread too tempting not to tug, his mouth opening to say - something, when vincent's words fully sink in.

this isn't our world. the shinra company isn't here.

the sable's eyes go wide. of course it clicks. why the dark is so silent here. he still hears the howl of the energy, but there is no dark phantom memories whirling about his mind. whatever rot the planet failed to re-absorb does not stick to him like ichor.

He is not home. Weiss is not here with him. And he knows all too well what will happen to Weiss if he remains loose and rampaging outside the halls of Deepground. Neither brother cares how much they're harmed, but threaten the other and they simply bow down. He did not care when he thought this some far flung corner of Gaia, because he could always return to Deepground through the shadows.

But now he knows he's cut off. This is not home.

He's tossing the sheets aside and getting to his feet, the movement sudden and aggressive but not toward vincent. The promise of a new future here, away from harm, is just as useless as it was back on Gaia. There is no point if his brother is not with him. his cool breaking for a moment as the panic seizes him, the dark flickering around him weakly as his emotions begin to broil. ]

No... No! How do I return?!

[coffinturk]

[ Smoothly, Vincent rises from his seat. While not trying for sudden movement, he does so as swiftly as he can. While he hadn't intended to trigger such an alarming action, he'd known something like this had been... possible. Maybe more cunning than an outburst, but... ]

Calm down, Nero!

[ Vincent might not often reach the level of shouting but his words hold an intensity that presses the boundary between statement and exclamation. Something where he tries to penetrate the panic that seems to induce a loss of control over the Sable's dark.

A fact that is being keenly felt. He may have chosen a place in relative isolation, but given what he experienced in the fight, Vincent is no longer willing to place faith on the range of Nero's power is limited to what he displayed during the events leading to the advent of Omega. Vincent reaches out to place a hand on the Tsviet's shoulder, hoping to somehow ground him; and if not that at least keep a hold if he tries to teleport away. ]

I need you to listen to me. Can you do that?

[ Let the attention and aggression be focused on Vincent. He expects to deal with the fallout far better than any of the spirits or nearby Star Children. ]

[soulerosion]

[ truthfully, he's already at his limit.

the darkness takes a toll after prolonged use. though he is its host and it is much a part of him as he is of it, human flesh is still not meant to hold the corrupted lifeblood of the planet. nero grits his teeth and tries to reign it in, one hand wrapping around his midsection while the other grabs for his hair.

the psychic part is not nearly as bad. the dark is still so unsettling quiet here. but the physical pain is no different.

and he has certainly overdone it today. vincent's hand touches his shoulder and it's quick to lash out, unable to pierce through him but lashing at the older man's face like a fierce wind. but the man does not relent, and after a few failed attempts to throw him off, away, or into the pit - nero manages a nod. ]

[coffinturk]

[ Vincent would... like to have more compassion for Nero's well-being, for the young man's sake. But he can't... can't afford to. The gunman might flinch a few times at the assault; it's simply caution and instinct even if he knows he's immune to it.

After all, there are some things Nero can lob which still hurt and which aren't bullets. But these lashes seem to be no more than efforts to erode and thus... nothing. Vincent keeps his hold.

Restores it when it's heaved off.

Returns from pits.

And finally nods in return before releasing the Sable and taking a step back. ]

I don't know how to get back. Other than it's up to that creature that brought us here.

[ A 'fox'. Are there foxes on Gaia? There are wolves, but... ]

People call her Thirteen. Or just the Fox. If she brought you here, and you can't get back then she's the only lead right now.

[soulerosion]

[ that... fox.

what had compelled him to deviate from the mission and follow it? he... he had been following the plan. securing someone immune to the Patricia systems and... and then the fox.

Then the cold.

Idiot. Idiot. Getting caught up in a fight when Weiss' safety was on the line. ]

Where is its lair?

[coffinturk]

I don't know that either.

[ Seems like there's a lot of things Vincent doesn't know after all. And it doesn't sound like he's trying to mislead Nero. ]

I've only been here a few hours longer than you. Hadn't had the time to investigate.

[ Though it does prompt him to ask a question. ]

Don't suppose you can teleport back?

[ Not that this would help anyone other than himself or Nero, really. ]

[soulerosion]

[ that earns another sharp, calculating look. it isn't as though deepground doesn't know about his shadow-stepping, but even weiss is unaware of the distance he can travel on a whim. ]

... No. The dark is not... connected to this world as it is to ours.

[coffinturk]

[ Stay wondering, Nero. Vincent may not know the true breadth of the Sable's power. But being unable to feel that connection suggests this really is some cut off place from their world's normal. ]

Hmph.

[ It's probably disappointment. Though what Vincent thought he was going to be able to do if Nero just took off home was anyone's guess. Certainly not leave his friends behind.

...Well, Nero would effectively become someone else's problem for a while. Unfortunately that doesn't seem to be an option, so where does that leave Vincent? Thinking; this may create an infuriating moment of silence. ]

[soulerosion]

[ silence is not golden. nero stares up at the other man, emotion boiling just underneath that forcefully calm exterior.

the problem with the first generation of experiments is that they are all selfish. in his limited experience, not a one of them gave a care as to what or who came after them. and when they finally had enough and bit back, it was never the right hand. ]

... do you intend to selfishly take this world as a fresh start, then?

[coffinturk]

[ That question earns Nero a quick glare. Though it's followed by a look of realization. Vincent shakes his head. ]

No. This isn't my home.

[ Seriously. He's saved Gaia three times already. It's almost personal that someone decided to kidnap him after number three. Vincent would have to be something else to give up on getting back a few hours after arriving. ]

Doesn't seem you feel like sticking around either.

[ So why judge Vincent that way, huh Nero? ]

[soulerosion]

If you know so much about me then surely you must know why.

[ how could he when he is not deserving of this new chance. when someone more deserving is held hostage by shinra itself. ]