Complete Private Subhumans at best

[Fiora Di Angelo]

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Figures, Ari had as much of a clue as she had, but the theory he given to put out really started to shine some sense the longer he elaborated upon it. Nico tapped away at her lips as she listened, leaning back against the pillow to get herself comfortable.

"Nono, you got a point." She interjected, just as soon as he left it as 'just a theory'. "I know this game is just a game but I met some players who don't see it that way. At first you think they are just a bunch of weirdos, you know? Just addicted to a game. But then..." Then it gets serious, specially with how death is so prevalent and controversial topic. Her eyes met his shortly after again to continue "People can die, so that tells me it has way more grip on us than we know. On a technical level, emotions are just chemical reactions the brain undergoes, reactions that can be interpreted and separated accordingly: Serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine." She rambled, words that simply slipped out of her mouth with a memorized flow, as if they were about to have an exam and simply decided to practice one with the other. "Imagine, maybe you could find a way to help your memory ingame." A fleeting thought of hers, handwaved into dismissal.

"Actually, hey, have you had any threads that were severed? Like, the looked cut. Frayed, etcetera?" Fortunately for him, the topic had her so absorbed, it was hardly noticed how he just dodged her question out of a sudden.

"I had one I didn't follow. It just disappeared I think? Makes me think they are tied to pre-scripted events like you say, some kind of radar for them. Some games have ways for you to know where to go to get into the fun stuff." She responded, but that theory left her with a bitter gap in it's logic. "But that doesn't explain why it links us to players. They are not events or pre-scripted." A frown deep in thought formed on her features.

The Intellectual banter was left aside once she had to answer a much more personal question. Only for him to retort back in a different way to what she felt would follow. A tease, or maybe just a verbal slap back at her.
"Well, maybe I'll surprise you," He shrugged, and that gesture had her bite her own teeth down and stare daggers at him.
"You better." She quickly added, irked look that lasted little in comparison to how her annoyance uses to, if only because of the revelation that followed.

"Yeah, he...he's not had it easy."

There clearly was more to Theo than it seemed, and the severity on Ari's voice, the request he did to her at this moment, it all stewed inner conflict on her as her own brain begun to recap the many times she's pissed him off for the sake of it, or aimed to at least. It would explain why he didn't react at all to her, if he had it hard enough for Ari to ask this of her. "I didn't mean anything on Japan you know. I don't like bullies, I just... Poke fun at uptight people I guess." Guilt-ridden, she took a defensive shell for this one. How could she not? He's just asking of her as if she was the most likely candidate to go out and make Theo's life miserable- That's not her. "That's not me-" The inner voice in her head just slipped out there for a second, and Nico had to clear her throat to recover from that one. "No promises, but I think he's smart enough to not piss me off that much. His insults always go over my head anyways." She chuckled.

A wide grin formed on her lips when he finally gave in, despite the eye-rolling he just did right infront of her, which prompted her to raise her feet just a bit and slam her ankles down on him. "Don't 'yeah yeah sure' me!" She nagged, folding her arms against her chest and waiting for his explanation to go through. Surprisingly? He seemed to actually think with the head above his shoulders moreso than the one between his legs, which she was certain that is impossible, given the title she bestowed upon him as Sir. Fuckboy of Philly. Truly an enigma to her just how this guy worked. If mixed signals was a person in need of an oc, then Ari would be their favourite.

"So you like her that much and you ain't gonna try it?" Downright baffled at what he just said. "You said it yourself, you got more money than you know what to do so why don't you try to use some of that to chase after? You don't have to go full on muscle guy on her, but maybe pitch an idea to her and see if she likes it?" She started to brainstorm a few thoughts, yet in the end, that just put in display where her heart. A romantic with a bitter, sore heart. "If it doesn't work out THEN you can say it's out of the cards... And for the record, I never had a long distance relationship. Had one at school, but it didn't turn out well. I don't like people enough in real life for that, I sure as hell don't think some person online can do better."

@Yugam

 

[Yugam]

Ari nodded along with what Nico said, the two apparently guessing at the same thing. But even with all their theorizing, pieces were missing. Namely the 'why'. One might suggest it was just a game design decision, something to replace the typical quest journals every other game had, but if that was the case, then why didn't every race have them? No, that wasn't the answer.

There was also the matter of 'how' still, though Ari figured they were closer to the mark on that one than anything else. Technology was technology, and one could always reverse engineer that. Their theory of interpreting the user's brain chemistry at least made sense. So much so that Nico was able to start going in detail, listing off a number of key chemicals. "Yeah, that's what I'm thinking," the man said. "Read in what, how much, and then categorize and label it all. An AI with enough data could've easily constructed a map for that," Ari chipped in before he paused and looked at Nico. He tilted his head to the side for a moment as something suddenly struck him as very strange. "Wait...you know biochem?" the man asked, a hint of surprise. The girl had never struck him as being remotely scholarly or scientific. But the way she'd just parroted off information, she was smarter than she acted. Ari had always sucked at chemistry. In comparison to him, Nico seemed like a genius.

On the other hand, Nico's response to his question about frayed and severed threads left the man wanting. It seemed he was still alone in that regard. "Mm," the man hummed in response, lost in thought, "yeah." Just why did one thread, just one, look like it'd been cut. And why only him. "The player's are what I'm stuck on," the man suddenly went on, trying to cover up his brief lapse in attention. "I haven't seen 'em myself, but I've heard of it happening. I just can't figure out a how or a why for that one. Like what's the purpose? How does the game determine it?"

The girl then shot him a sharp glare, as if he'd suddenly offended her, following the stare up with a harsh response. The man raised an eyebrow again, not understanding the sudden hostility. But he said nothing. There was no point in prodding her. He'd let his actions speak for themselves.

Nico began to apologize for how she'd acted in Japan. Or rather, what passed as an apology for her. The man's gaze softened for a moment. Not quite gentle, but not harsh. Like he was taking her at her word, passing no judgement. "Remember what I said to you the first day we were in Japan?" the man said after a brief moment of silence. "I told you that I didn't really get you. To be honest, I still don't." The man paused to take a sip of water again. "Though, I think I get you a little better now than I did. And I asked you to do something. Be yourself. That hasn't changed, Nico. At the very least, try to with me."

She kicked him slightly when he rolled his eyes, an exaggerated grunt coming out of him before he gently punched her thigh with the side of his fist in response, chuckling. Though the smile faded from his lips quite quickly. "Look, Nico, I have tried long distance before. Senior year of high school, I'd been dating this girl a whole year. I was gone for the summer, but I kept in touch. She was still trying to figure out what college she wanted to go to. Or at least that's what I thought. She'd known for months, but didn't tell me until right before she had to move in to her dorm. After that, we tried to stay together, but that distance, it strained our relationship. I know they don't work. Not for me at least. Okay? It sucked balls, and I don't wanna put myself through that again."

@Fiora Di Angelo

 

[Fiora Di Angelo]

.

Right away she could tell they both were heading somewhere, but there were too many factors to take in account that just didn't seem feasible, even with the technology of today, something certainly was off.

"Mapping it out is simple enough, what I don't understand is just how can it be so accurate. Millions of players, and you have big chances of brain activity and data matching, but somehow get two completely different events? I don't bite it, even if they had a pool to select from." It just seemed impossible for any game to quantify that much data, which was completely reliant on the user. Besides the fact everything flowed with such realism: no forced pop-ups, no teleporting you into an event area... It all was seamless...

"Wait...you know biochem?"
"Ah?" The question caught her with as much delay as Ari had before figuring it out. "Err, well long story short, I wanted to be a psychologist. But I felt that was super lame if I didn't really get how emotions worked." She pointed out, proud yet passive smile growing up on her just then. "I had a knack for biochemistry back then, so I figured 'why not?' If the psychologist gist fails, I can go for a different career. Well, that is if I had ever gone to college." She ended it with a shrug, right hand squeezing her shoulder once tension begun to build up.

Ari was stuck on a wall apparently, figurative obviously, as trying to discern Terrasphere at all was a dead end without any official guidance from it's developers- Just another pipedream for the duo. In that moment, Nico's gut told her this had some semblance of importance, and in a way it did for the both of them given their curiosity. "I have no clue, but you know what? We could work on that and see what we find out. I'm sure others can see these threads too, and that's the best lead we got." Surprisingly optimistic of her, at least that's what she kept telling herself in her head. "We should try and check if we can see eachother's threads, couse I dunno if that's possible or not." That wouldn't be too difficult to check out, but on the other hand... It meant she could meet the person he has a thread with, and make her own secret conclusions out of who they are. If it's really a 'fated' kind of thing, then they surely match together pretty well, right?

As usual when she's pissed off even by a slight margin, Ari doesn't understand shit, or acts like a clueless little bastard. But he usually found a way to compensate that, and that seemed to be the case here, where he let his opinions out, his thoughts poured on the table.

"I told you that I didn't really get you. To be honest, I still don't."

"You and I both. I don't get you in the slightest." She quickly jumped guns at it while he took a sip.

"Though, I think I get you a little better now than I did"

A loud 'tsk' escaped her lips. Why did she suddently feel so disarmed? Like he had an ace under his sleeve he just pulled out, and the worst of all was the lack of a response for it. It shut her down, but the face he made didn't felt malicious, like he was trying to one up her somehow- It's just how things are from his perspective, bleeding into her own. Yet she couldn't bear to answer, or so much as part her lips to do so. Instead she just nodded along, acknowledgement to at least let him be aware she heard him... Loud and clear.

And then the fucking bastard just punched her on the thigh, forcing a gasp out of surprise from her. Where he chuckled, she just squinted back at him, rubbing the 'wounded' spot with her hands. "Limp dick..." She muttered, listening with a complete lack of amusement, at least until he concluded story time, where she simply smiled and pointed her accusatory finger at him. "You are just bad at checking for red flags. Girl knew what college to go to for months and just didn't tell you? Red flag right there." She paused, letting him absorb that thought before continuing. "Look I'm not telling you to start a long distance relationship, I'm just saying you got the money and the will so why don't you keep testing the waters a bit as friends, then tell her you are visiting family or some shit and take a vacation. A week or two even to see how shit goes. What if she is the right one and you are not taking your chances?" Questioning look shot his way as she shrugged, albeit exaggeratedly so. "Don't rush it but don't waste it, that's what I say. You had one bitch lead you on for a whole year and you learned your lesson: Bitch wasn't worth your time if she can't talk things out. Her loss- But I mean, your life your choice man, I'm just followin' my guts now and that's what it's tellin' me to tell ya'."

@Yugam

 

[Yugam]

Ari couldn't come up with anything else to add to how the Fate Threads may have worked. Machine learning at least could answer the issue of how the mechanic could work so well for so many different people, and in theory, AI was smart enough to be able to interpret situations, understand context, all the things necessary to create the illusion of importance, but that was part of the problem. Everything was a little too convincing. It went beyond crafting situations where the players felt important, it lead them to things that were important to the players whether they knew it or not. Like they were characters in someone else's game. It understood parts of players that they themselves didn't know, that Ari wasn't sure any AI could glean from simple brain chemistry, memory.

A more comprehendible topic on the other hand, and just as mysterious to Ari, was Nico's schooling. She had wanted to be a psychologist. That fact surprised him a little. For a moment, he thought she didn't seem the type to care to understand others or help them, but the man quickly realized that was untrue. She was exactly that kind of person. She might've wanted to do that for others more than anyone else in the world. She just had a different way of showing it.

"So why didn't you go to college?" Ari asked, genuinely curious. "What stopped you?"

He listened to the girl with a frown on his face. Because he hated that she was right. Well, partially correct. He'd gotten pretty good at looking out for the warning signs that someone was trouble since then. Or at least he thought he had. Evidence to the contrary was currently using his lap as a foot rest. But she was right about something else. Maybe he and Valeria could try things out. Slowly, ease into whatever it was that they wanted to be. Take the time to visit, to see if they could make something last. Ari really didn't like Nico being right. "Man, never thought I'd hear you say losing me would be a loss for someone. Figured you'd call it a net gain," the man tried to joke, though it came out rather flat.

The man stared at empty space as he took a deep breathe. He'd be in uncharted waters, but nothing ventured, nothing gained. "Thanks Nico..."

@Fiora Di Angelo

 

[Fiora Di Angelo]

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"So why didn't you go to college?"
'Stop.' Yet the far cries of her mind certainly went unheard, and the deeper runs his curiosity, the more her features twisted into grimmace, and keeping her eyes on him just proved to be a task on it's own.
"What stopped you?" But he would wait for an answer, wouldn't he..?
"I guess it all just didn't cut it better than gaming did." She shook her hand on the air, twitchy gaze going back and forth at him before finally settling in with his. Anybody else would have an easy time to lie through, practice helped her plenty. "I used to stream a lot, got followers and all, still got a few waiting for me to come back I bet, but i left it all behind when I got into TS. Kinda shot myself on the foot over there." She admitted, a hand reaching out to her nape moments before she shrugged and smiled. Like usual.

Just shrug and smile. Even if awkward, it just lets them move on. She rather focus on what keeps him from making a step forth, which budged back against her words given the frown he put up. She crossed her legs, careful not to pierce his poor lap on the process with her ankles. The shitty joke Ari dropped a second later made her wish she did though, because maybe his anger could have made him retaliate with a far better comeback than that.

Ironically it worked much more like one compared to a joke, given what her mind weighed the most about him.

"In Japan? You bet your ass I would say that. You forgot to give me a few details, but guess what bitch I'm also starting to get you... A little" She smirked, watching that million yard stare into nothingness he gave to that corner of no space she couldn't do the same for. A chill ran down her spine just then, as if byproduct of his deep breathing, and body language all made her eyes jump wide open.

Gods no, don't fucking say it...

"Thanks Nico..."

Oh how awkward it turned out to be. The blankets played against her now that her body felt so warm out of embarassment, and a familiarity that opened the lid to the boiling waters in her chest. Nothing good came out of it- Yet somehow, this time, she let herself fall for it. Ari looked completely honest, just like the last. Resourceful and generous, just like the last. And who appears to help her when shit hits the fan.

Just like the last.

"If you wanna thank me, tell me if I earned my stay." She sheepishly retorted, a hand nerveously swatting a few pink locks away from her face. "And I want to know more about how it goes with this Valeria, okay? If she's a bitch just pay me a trip and I'll kick her ass and send you a snapchat about it."

@Yugam

 

[Yugam]

Her answer was almost convincing. Almost. What gave away the lie wasn't the wording, or the situation, or how she said it, but rather her eyes. Not once did they meet Ari's as she'd explained how she'd briefly forayed into streaming. The man's gaze held hers for a moment, as if to dare her to continue with her farce. "Shouldn't keep the fans waiting," the man said with a small, knowing smile. "How're you getting by then, if you're not streaming?" he prodded further, hoping to coax the truth out of her. Normally Ari would've been content with a simple white lie, because normally the truth was simple as well. They didn't like college, wanted to do something else. They dropped out, maybe due to bad grades. Maybe they couldn't afford it. Typically, things that made people feel embarrassed, and not want to share. But the skittish way Nico had answered hinted at something more. Maybe Ari was off the mark, and she really was embarrassed, but he doubted it. And he hated when people lied to him.

The man couldn't help but chuckle though when Nico suggested she was starting to get to know him a little better. "I'm an open book, really," he replied. "One of my ex's used to say that I wear my heart on my sleeve. I'd hope you're starting to understand me better if that's really the case."

As to the last few things Nico said..."Your stay?" the man questioned, completely ignoring the fact that Nico wanted to pry more into Valeria, and potentially would kick her ass for him if given the word. That they could always come back to.

@Fiora Di Angelo

 

[Fiora Di Angelo]

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"I didn't have that many fans to begin with, and I'm not about to play any other game that ain't TS." The fact he kept poking further either proved to herself she's a bad liar, or he's incredibly cautious. A part of her wanted it to be the latter at this point... Fortunately, the way he prodded diluted a fair amount. "Oh you know, I work at a library just down this block actually. Streaming just got me a few bucks at best." She shrugged, closing her eyes as she leaned back against the pillow, hands pressed against her belly. "I hate it really, but I don't have any better options. Unlesss you can hook me into some other place that pays better?" Left eye opened, a smug little smile spread over her lips over that question, shutting it yet again. They say one can figure out a lot through one's eyes, windows of the soul and all that.

In her case, it just kept others away. She knows she's a bad liar, and people like Ari are kryptonite to whatever walls she sets between them...

But once he chuckled her attention homing missile'd back at him, as if his laughter misdirected the conversation to a better place, where Ari revealed more than she ever expected him to. "Open book, eh?" She mused, cheeky tone as if she had detected a pun already. "Well I dunno if think of you as sentimental, but there's somethin' about ya' that I can't figure out... It's like you care but you don't." Didn't he said something like that in Japan about her..? "OH- You are a big baby, that's what your ex tried to say." She laughed outloud, her mouth shut when apparently he could catch every single detail about her life but not the most obvious request done the last five minutes ago.
"Your stay?"
"Damn right I am. I'm low budget so you don't have to worry about me- You do have earmufflers right?" God forbid he hears her snore outloud and kicks her out for that... "What you think the blanket was for. Cold? Motherfucker it's not that chilly yet."

@Yugam

 

[Yugam]

Ari simply took the girl at her word. But a library? That had been about the last place Ari had expected Nico to work. She was loud, boisterous, combative, pretty much everything that ran counter to working in a place that constantly shushed you for talking over a whisper. Her distaste for that job at least made sense in that regard. "I'd offer you a job at the coffee shop," Ari said with a wry smile, "but I doubt your personality suits customer service all that well." The man could only imagine what he'd have to deal with if Nico started insulting or shouting at a customer. It'd be a nightmare, that was certain.

The man hit Nico with an unamused stare when she'd called him a big baby. There wasn't any evidence to support that claim, but likewise there was little to refute it. Might as well not even start that argument. But the deadpan look he gave her had quickly shifted to confusion the more she explained what 'her stay' was going to be. "Wait, what?" the man said in confusion. "You're staying here?...On my couch?...What, get kicked out of your own house? Why the hell do you wanna crash at my place, Nico?"

@Fiora Di Angelo

 

[Fiora Di Angelo]

.

His lack of faith on her was disturbing, but so accurate she couldn't hide the smile that perked the corner of her lips up. "Is it that obvious?" Hunching her shoulders. "Hey at least you would be there to stop me from running my mouth. You know me better than all the pricks I call co-workers right now." Nico retorted as a matter of fact. The idea of working on a coffee shop at least would keep her hands busy so long as she can follow Ari's steps, and hopefully he would get the indirect this time around, as opposed to every single other one she gave him.

"You're staying here?...On my couch?...What, get kicked out of your own house? Why the hell do you wanna crash at my place, Nico?"

"You think I woul-" She caught her tongue just in time, but it proved meaningless with the silent that it left. Ari is stupid like a rock, but he's not THAT stupid, that much she knew- He would inquire, and it would be like pulling the trigger on her, over and over again...

A sigh broke the awkwardness left in the air, sincerity bolstered her gaze to meet his now, dull by now to that deadpan or any other form of inconsequence he could display. "It's a can of worms I'm not dragging you into, so just give me one night, that's all I ask." Distaste rolled out of her lips, but she couldn't hold back the disappointment. Or even justify it. It's his home, and she has no say here, which is the only thing keeping her from a tantrum.

That, and how playing ignorant and clueless didn't seem to work on keeping her head away from home. Her real home, at least.

"I'll even make breakfast."

Would he see through her and notice just how hard it is for her to smile at him as she says that? Puns always helped, but this time around even light-hearted banter didn't help align back to her usual self, where her voice didn't drip with amusement but melancholy for these four words alone.

@Yugam

 

[Yugam]

Unsurprisingly, her first instinct had been to throw some kind of insult, or sarcastic phrase in his face. But it was impossible for the man to miss the way she bit back her words before they could cause any kind of damage, as thick as the man's skin had become to Nico's antics. For her to do that at all, it could only indicate one thing, that she was going through one hell of a rough patch right now.

It was all the stranger that the woman was asking for his help at all. She didn't come off as the kind of person who'd ask for help to begin with, but the way she practically begged some charity from him...Ari could only nod slowly as he thought it all over. Not the letting her stay part, that decision had already been made, but rather just what it was that was going on in her home that she was desperate enough to ask to stay with him for the night.

"I'll even make breakfast."

Ari looked up at her, unsure if she was trying to make a joke, or was seriously trying to bribe him with breakfast. The grave look on her face would suggest the latter.

He wanted to pry, find out what was wrong, and if there was anything he could do to help, any kind of advice to give. But that was probably the last thing that Nico wanted right now, so instead, Ari simply sighed. "I don't eat breakfast," he said as he moved Nico's legs from off his lap and stood. "You can brew the coffee though."

The man left the small living space, and headed into his room, shutting the door behind him, and leaving his new roommate for the day alone with her thoughts. He still needed to shower, and take a nap.

@Fiora Di Angelo