Mingling at the Bazaar

[cityship]

Next to the Mall Hotel, a large bazaar sprawled out through the streets. Food stalls, jewelery stalls, plastic surgery stalls...might want to stay away from that last one. But since the bizaar was close by, it served as a good place for the crew to meet up and start their exploration of XaXing.

[[ooc: This is just a general mingling post guys, so jump in and start threads, tag into other people's, whatever you want!]]

Comments

sob, I'm so sorry

[encourage]

Western countries, which in her understanding would mean countries such as her's and Earth. As hard as it was to grasp how distinct every individual's world was, in the scheme of things, it was intriguing whenever there were similarities to be found. She felt a little less isolated, culturally.

Looking at what he'd written, Sakura slowly nodded. "Fire," she said, if she wasn't entirely sure. "Or it reads like that to me."

It's no problem, haha :D

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"How curious," Zouichi stored the pen and paper away once more.

"But maybe not entirely surprising. Many of the crew come from very similar worlds -- perhaps my country is an analog of yours? Do you mind if I ask what you did before being brought aboard the ship?"

asdf oh good <3 \o/

[encourage]

Considering the explanation about stories traversing universes, and realities seeming to be shades of one another... "Not at all." Honestly, Sakura didn't mind so much as she'd generally abstained from saying. "I am -- and was -- a medical shinobi. What was it you did in your country?"

he'll probably be super surprised naruto wears bright orange

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"A shinobi?" Congratulations, not much surprises Zouichi.

Realizing he was probably being rude, he coughed, adding, "...I apologize. It's just that where I come from, shinobi are the stuff of legends. They are still featured quite prominently in media, despite being far removed from our present.

"I am a Synthetic Human created by Toha Heavy Industries. I was attempting to track down a cure for a virus that threatened to wipe out humanity."

naruto: not known for slyness

[encourage]

A synthetic human? To what extent did he mean synthetic? "If it's not too rude to ask... what do you mean by synthetic?" Back home, she might be tempted to think cloned, but it was abundantly clear to her the possibilities among all the worlds represented on Stacy were far less limited. "Where did a virus like that come from?"

Was it also manufactured? What could cause a virus that virulent naturally?

"Then shinobi are part of your world's history." It was interesting to think about, if abortive in terms of relating back to home. Maybe at one point she would also have been part of an archaic system to her world. The Ohm had taken away that possibility, likely forever.

Re: naruto: not known for slyness

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"I'm an artificial lifeform made to resemble a human. Partially organic, partially mechanical. It's... a little complicated to explain." So here's hoping she'd understand what the heck he was talking about.

"As for the N5S virus..." he hesitated. "I don't think anyone knows exactly where it came from, but certain organizations on my world quickly attempted to modify it to take advantage of its regenerative properties. Instead, they ended up spreading it into the population at large. For humans, it's a highly infectious disease that turns them into mindless drones -- but synthetics aren't susceptible to it."

"Yes; there are none left now, but in feudal times, shinobi were individuals that specialized in surveillance and subterfuge." He frowned. "I don't think I've ever heard of a medical shinobi, though. Are you a kind of combat medic?"

[encourage]

"In a simple sense, yes." She hesitated, though this particular information wasn't something she felt she had to hold back on. "We're trained to fight out on the front lines. Don't get hit, make sure the people you're fighting with survive to make it home again."

Simple enough to say, exceedingly difficult to do. Similar in theory to her conceptualization of a partially organic, partially mechanical artificial lifeform. (One almost solely aided by experiences on Stacy.)

"Which makes you perfect for dealing with the infected and tracking down a source, right?" She half smiled, if she was dead serious. Frightening to think a disease could do what otherwise only mind-washing or ninjutsu were capable of back home.

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

He smiled a little. "In other words, it requires courage, skill, and intelligence." Not that making direct combat your focus didn't require some of the same, but when you made safeguarding the lives of others your goal, you needed excellent judgment and careful coordination. Not something everyone was suited for.

"Yes, in a word. Dealing with infectees is by and large too dangerous for the average human doctor -- they'd require an armed escort just to get around. My company found it more feasible to entrust a few of us with their missions instead."

[encourage]

"Is it a mission you enjoy carrying out?" It was one way of sounding out if "artificial" extended into allowing a full range of emotion. People could be programmed into a lack of response, or a certain level of dedication.

She accepted his assessment of what her line of work required with a small smile, and a similarly small nod. Not to claim all of those merits openly, but to acknowledge all of them were important. The skill in control, keeping out of harms way; being strong enough to know you're in it and to do what you can to stay there for your teammates (and often friends). Being intelligent enough to know how to fix them, or get them somewhere where you could before getting back into the fray. "Something like that."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

He paused. Should he take the question at face value, or was she asking about something else?

"That's a bit of a complicated question. I am glad that I'm able to do what I was created for... and I plan to continue pursuing my mission objectives to the extent that I can. On the other hand, the only reason I exist is because humanity faces extinction. If Alex were here, I'm sure he'd have something to say about making decisions for myself, though."

"What about you? Do you enjoy what you do?"

[encourage]

Did she? "Yes," she decided, if the way she rolled that word over her tongue showed some further hesitation. "I enjoyed being able to protect those who couldn't, but especially..." She trailed off, thinking. "I like being able to help. Not just people, either," she said with a smile, indicating at Zouichi's partly feathered companion. "Helping birds to fly again is something worth smiling over."

There had been something liberating in watching those birds leave for someplace she could never go.

"Alex being one of your friends from home?"