trans_9 | Free ice cream! [open]

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Free ice cream! [open]

Alex sat beneath the shade of a large tree in a decent sized park. Those familiar with New York might recognize the sky scrapers in the distance, even if they didn't recognize the park itself. Parked on a small service road was an ice cream truck with a merry vendor, who claimed that it was customer appreciation day, and was thus giving ice cream away for free.

Alex was already enjoying a chocolate and strawberry cone covered in sprinkles and caramel syrup, wondering if anyone would bother showing up to spend time with him, or even be interested in sensorium ice cream in the first place.

Either way, Alice seemed thrilled, as she pulled what appeared to be pink chocolate chips from a jar labelled "Yogis". Reaching out to pet Alice, Alex laughed a bit, "Don't get used to eating s-so many." sensorium food might not mess with her health, but once they got home, it would be the real thing once again. He figured that she deserved the treat as much as he deserved the ice cream anyway.

[OOC: Post to Alex or to other people if you'd like.]

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Alex read it and laughed, "You t-tell me. I think the AI m-might be a b-bit too intuitive. It l-learns your m-methods a b-bit too well. T-try doing something t-totally unlike y-your normal methods."

He looked around at the park, "I-it's a f-few blocks from my h-home. It's n-not quite as nice as Central P-Park, but... Is there a r-reason you're ty-typing on your o-omnicomm?"

Totally unlike my normal methods? He thought for a minute, then typed, I always attempt to finish the levels in the most efficient manner possible. Are you saying that I must try to be less efficient?

What park is this? Bryant? It is still quite nice.

I seem to be under some sort of magical effect that randomly activates when I speak aloud. I am trying not to cause any more incidents until I can get this issue resolved.

"Marcus G-Garvey park, actually. M-maybe being less efficient would confuse the AI. Try being efficiently inefficient?" At least Alex didn't seem bothered by the communication method. It was a way that he wasn't totally unfamiliar with, since it hadn't been entirely uncommon for him to get nervous enough that he couldn't talk.

"I w-wish I lived near B-Bryant Park. There's s-some nice penthouses over th-there."

Efficiently unefficient? Zouichi looked mildly confused.

Isn't New York real estate supposed to be prohibitively expensive? he asked. At least, that's how it was in my time.

"It is, b-but, like every o-other city, it's g-got it's slums, an' since a f-few years before I was b-born it's jus' b-been getting worse. I hear th-that the place I'm in n-now was h-halfway d-decent place 30 years ago, c-comparatively, at l-least." He shrugged. It had been in the last ten years in which things had really gotten drastically worse, but it had been a steady decline since before he had been born.

And now you live on a spaceship, said Zouichi. To him, the ship was considerably safer than Earth, but not necessarily better.

By the way, I have never had ice cream before. Do you have any recommendations?

The ship was safer, and it was a lot more welcoming too. "My p-personal favourite is the b-birthday c-cake one, but chocolate's a g-good standby that m-most people enjoy! Have you really n-never had ice c-cream before?"

No, he typed. Am I missing something?

Zouichi walked over to the truck, then after a moment, came back with a birthday cake-flavored ice cream cone, covered in chocolate syrup, sprinkles, and a rather ostentatious preserved cherry.

He took a bite out of one side, and almost doubled silently over, eyes wide, his free hand over his mouth. After a moment, he seemed to get it down, and began tapping out another message.

SWEET

SO SWEET

Alex jumped to his feet and went to Zouichi, his hand hovering over his back, wondering if he was having some sort of reaction to the food. When he saw the message, he couldn't help himself. He laughed. Hard.

"Ahaha! I sh-should've w-warned you! Y-yeah, I l-like s-sweet things. V-very sweet things."

Zouichi coughed a little, trying to recover his composure. Ice cream was not like combat fare. At all.

IT TASTES LIKE A SNOWMAN, was the next message.

"S-snowmen aren't q-quite as c-creamy or sweet, b-but I guess y-you c-could say that. M-maybe you sh-should've gotten ch-chocolate. It's n-not nearly as sweet."

He still was laughing just a little bit at the reaction.

No, he typed, recovering a little, Sorry. It tastes like a confectionery snowman decoration I ate off a cake once, before I knew better. It tasted like someone made it out of pure sugar.

He looked skeptically at Alex. No wonder children lose their teeth as they grow up. It's preemptive damage control.

Alex burst out laughing again. "I know that c-can't be right, but oh g-god! It makes s-stupid sense! I've b-been lucky, n-no tooth decay, with all th-the sugar I eat."

Really. Sweet things were the only things he really ever willingly ate, except for a few actual dinner entrées, when Mikel insisted they look normal when at a diner.

"R-really, m-maybe try th-the ch-choc-colate. It's n-not nearly as s-sweet."

He looked vaguely horrified. You eat this sort of thing regularly?

Zouichi nodded at the suggestion, and went back to the ice cream truck, coming back in a moment or two.

That man let me exchange my ice cream, he said, looking a little bewildered. He took a smaller, warier bite this time, chewing the ice cream thoughtfully.

It's not bad.

Horrified was probably the right expression to have in response to that, and Alex had accepted that a long time ago.

"Ch-choc-c-

"...

"That f-flavour isn't n-nearly as sweet. M-most people like it. B-birthday c-cake isn't as popular."

I have been eating much more than usual since coming aboard this ship, mused Zouichi, Desserts especially seem to be popular here.

However, this is not actual ice cream, correct?

"N-nah, i-it's an illusion, b-but thinking a-about that ruins th-the illusion! It's b-better ta just enjoy it, r-right?"

Ruins the illusion?

Of all the people he'd met so far, Alex seemed to be the most integrated into their current environment. Many of the others professed a strong desire to get back to their lives, or at least seemed vaguely uncomfortable with the idea of spending an indeterminate amount of time sailing on a meatship across the stars.

Alex, on the other hand, seemed to embrace the illusions and environment both, wholeheartedly.

Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?

If anything, Alex felt stranger with the illusions than he did with the ship itself, but when he went out of his way to create them, he was going to enjoy them.

He looked a little surprised by the sudden question, but nodded, "S-sure."

Do you prefer being aboard the ship, or being on Earth?

"The ship," he answered without a moments hesitation.

He left all of the hate and the judgement and fear people felt towards him at home. Here there was understanding, even welcoming.

He paused for a long moment.

You do know that there are people aboard the ship who wish to restore all the worlds that have been destroyed thus far, correct? If that were to happen, would you still remain aboard?

That question gave Alex more of a pause. He had long wondered that. He didn't know about remaining on board, but he didn't want to go home.

"I m-might. I think, i-if I c-can, I'll go with Luna, t-to her world. Even if I w-won't be able to see my other friends. Luna..." He smiled a bit, looking a little sad.

His face fell again, looking almost angry. "I won't g-go home though. I'm n-never going back there. I c-can only hope that Loretta an' Mikel'll g-go with me."

I see.

So your home is so terrible that you would not consider returning? Is Luna's that much better?

He seemed to grow a bit more angry, "Y-yeah. It was. I w-was trying to ch-change it, b-but I think at th-this point, we've d-done enough, i-it c-can straighten itself out w-without us."

His hands shook ever so slightly as he spoke. The general population made things hard for him, but it was specific people, specific places, that made it so terrible. Not to mention the reputation he had been given in his area.

He could move to a whole new city, but the internet was international, and there was always going to be that chance that someone he didn't remember, and didn't want to remember, would know him.

His hands stilled as he talked about Luna's world instead. "H-her Earth... I-it sounds like it w-will be. D-different culture. F-filled with w-witches an' wizards, a-and c-creatures that are just dreams in m-my world.

"A-and Luna w-will be there."

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