ORIENTATION

[allforevil]

[When you start to stir from your slumber, you awaken to the smell of dust and rotted wood. Your bed is far from comfortable -- lumps in the mattress, a tattered blanket that barely keeps you warm and a pillow almost as hard as a rock-- and you'll immediately see there are others in your room with you.

All of you are confused, surely. "Where am I?" "What place is this?" Questions like that stir through your mind while you take in your surroundings. Something might catch your eye before anything else, though. A coloured chest tied with a bow, a large gift tag is attached to it with your name on it. There's one for everyone in each dorm, and if you open it you'll find:

An old, worn school uniform.
A colourful costume.
And a pamphlet with information about you, about your stay in this Academy, and a map of the layout of the school and the training grounds outside. The descriptions are vague, leaving out important details about your new super powers called "Quirks", a bland description about how you were selected to join the Academy called "VA" (no explanation what it means), and even the map has lame descriptions of locations that don't really give you a good idea of where you're staying.

Before you can start exploring, or chatting away with your neighbors, a voice rings over old intercoms. It sounds low and comforting, like a long lost friend. But there's something about that that feels.. unsettling. A feeling in your gut that this voice was anything but friendly.

"Welcome, students. You must be very confused, but I assure you I'll be able to answer all the questions you have in just a few minutes.

For now, relax, explore, and meet your new classmates who will be staying with you during this semester.

Oh, but..... whatever you do, don't enter the dining room."

The intercom cuts off, leaving you with a cryptic message to think about on top of.. everything else you're dealing with right now.]

Comments

[ninehilist]

Probably. People like that tend to enjoy being creepy and spying on other people. Freaks.

[hebibara]

Hm... While I certainly understand and respect the sentiment, I believe there's something to be said for effective information gathering! If we were the ones keeping an eye on our mysterious host instead, it wouldn't be such an objectionable practice, would it?

[ninehilist]

There's information gathering and there's spying. One's totally fine, the other's creepy.

[He has Issues with spyware, okay?]

[hebibara]

Isn't the line between the two rather arbitrary and dependent on perspective?

I do not mean to argue, of course!

[ninehilist]

Not really. Spying uses things like cameras, information gathering requires you go out and actually do the work.

[hebibara]

Ahaha, you make it sound as if spying didn't exist prior to the inventions of modern technology.

[ninehilist]

It did, but I'm still pretty sure there's a difference nowadays.

[hebibara]

"One who knows the enemy and knows himself will not be endangered in a hundred engagements..."

...Well, anyway, I think the line between connotation and denotation may be getting blurred a little here, but I respect your opinions, so I won't press it further!

That aside, please do tell me if you happen to come across any such technology here! I'm curious to see exactly what our mysterious benefactor has at his disposal.

[ninehilist]

Me, too, honestly. Oh, yeah. What's your name?

[hebibara]

Ah, my apologies for failing to offer it sooner! I'm afraid I've shamefully let the jarring situation affect my manners.

Ibara Saegusa, of Shuuetsu Academy. May I request yours as well?

[ninehilist]

[...he's just gonna assume that his name is Ibara here? That sounds right.]

9S. YoRHa number 9, type S.

[hebibara]

[ ...? ]

Is it more of a title, then?

[ninehilist]

No, it's my designation. I'm a scanner model with the base personality number 9.

[hebibara]

[ tell me about your DPI resolution ]

Hm, I'm not sure I'm familiar with that terminology in this context.

[ninehilist]

I'm a scanner model YoRHa android, and when they built me they gave me personality 9 from the database as a starting point.

[How many other ways can he explain this?]

[hebibara]

[ how does this day just keep getting more ridiculous... first a supposed king, now this ]

Ahhh, I see... That does make sense, then! Please forgive my confusion and any unintentional insensitivity! I believe this is my first time speaking with an android.

[ninehilist]

[He's just not gonna try and point out that everyone here has to be an android.]

I'm getting that a lot today. It's weird.

[hebibara]

Is it?

[ninehilist]

Yeah.

[No, he's not explaining that. He's tired of that today.]

[hebibara]

[ ................ ]

[ninehilist]

[....]

Look, I'm really tired of trying to explain it and having people tell me I'm wrong.

[hebibara]

If I know you feel that way, I can hold my tongue.

[ can he though ]

[ninehilist]

Maybe after we figure out what's going on here.

[hebibara]

Fair enough.