[There's a carrier that's fairly solid, and under the carrier there's also a red rolling suitcase and Hiro's balancing both of them by the time Minato opens the door. He grins up at him, tilting his head back down.]
Well, technically there's two of them. It's just easier to travel with Baymax this way sometime. [However, someone very much not Baymax decides now is an appropriate time to meow from inside his carrier.]
[The meow startles Minato just the tiniest bit, and he blinks as he takes a closer look.] Two of them- A cat? [And of course he finds Mochi blinking back at him, thinking to himself that this is one huge cat while wondering absently if he'd grow even bigger if he were fed with Super Cat Food.
Wait, right. They shouldn't be standing out here all day...] I can help you with the carrier if you want, Hamada-san. [Or the suitcase, whichever.]
[Please don't feed him Super Cat Food Minato, the cat's fat enough as it is. But he waves aside Minato's offer, showing how he's balanced Mochi's carrier on Baymax's suitcase as he rolls them inside the apartment.] Don't worry about it, we got it. Where do you wanna go?
[Kitchen? Living room? Pick a place and he'll release the furry kraken.]
Let's go to the living room then. No one's in, so you can make yourself at home. [Yes, unleash the furry kraken! Minato ambles into the living room and practically collapses onto the sofa, still drained from the sealing.]
[Dododo let's just follow. He's leaving Baymax in his suitcase for now but once he settles on the sofa next to Minato he keeps the case at his feet. It's not long before he unlocks the carrier and the calico-colored cat wiggles his way out, directing an annoyed meow Hiro's way. He jumps up on the back off the sofa, already walking the length of it toward Minato to stick his face in the other boy's. Hello new stranger.]
I didn't know you lived with other people. [Yeah, he's focused on that instead of introducing the cat. That'll come in a second.]
[Minato in the meanwhile is too focused on the cat, and he plucks Mochi off the top to pet him before replying to Hiro's remark.]
Now you do. An old friend of mine suggested staying together on the first day- he's gone now, but there's three of us here and we're all friends. [This cat...he's huge.]
...No, she lives in a different apartment. [That pause exists because Minato stopped petting Mochi for a bit before resuming due to the cat's meow, eyes just a little wide in curiosity.]
The other two people here are Kaz and Rokudo-san- don't think you know either of them, though. When did you meet Mitsuru, anyway?
Oh. [And just like that he's rolling right along, not even suspicious of the fact that Minato paused. Sometimes Minato just does that.] Neither of those names sound familiar, but I met Mitsuru in ViViD when the last round of new people showed up. So almost a month ago, I guess. She showed me her Persona and everything.
[It's just a coincidence, really. Minato hadn't expected Hiro to ask about that or to wonder if Mitsuru's staying with him, but he's otherwise back to spoiling Mochi and taking comfort in Mochi's purring.]
I see. She was the leader of our group baefore I took over, and Mitsuru's very reliable...too reliable, maybe. [Summer school, man. That was such a drag on top of his kendo practice.]
[He's leaning into the arm of the sofa and comfortably curled up, watching his cat charm Minato and hoping that he made the right choice in bringing him to help him feel better. It seems to be doing okay, at least.]
I figured. She's kinda intense. [They've spoken once and even he could see that.] Why'd you take over? [...he pauses to think on that. And then there's another wild stab in the dark.] Is it because you're like Yu?
[Bringing animals for Minato to fuss over is always the correct choice. Minato smiles fondly as he gives Mochi a belly rub, but he's definitely thinking fondly of his friends too when he looks up and replies.]
That's right. The enemies we fought had different weaknesses and resistances, so it was necessary to have someone who could fill in for the others. [And if at that Minato's merely being modest, never feeling as if he could take the credit when he wouldn't have accomplished anything alone.] It wasn't just that though- the building we were investigating changes every day, and Mitsuru was providing backup from the outside.
[Give him enough leeway and the cat will end up flopping over in Minato's lap. Purring intensifies!
And Hiro's mostly watching curiously, thinking on what Minato's saying.] What do you mean the building changed? Why? [He doesn't really know a lot about the Midnight Channel or the shadows, much less anything about Tartarus.]
[Man, Mochi is really the best cat flopping down and purring up a storm for a relative stranger. Minato glances back at Hiro, and he decides it's not that much of a problem if he finds out more about Tatarus since it's gone after all.]
The layout of Tartarus probably changes due to the Shadows inside...It's a building that appears only when Shadows come out, and since they can affect time and space I guess it depends on what they're feeling at the moment. [And oops, speaking of things appearing differently Minato's recalled that he wanted to ask Hiro something.] That's right, has anyone told you how the city looks like when you've died once?
[It helps that the relative stranger isn't trying to strap rocket boots on him to be fair.]
Tartarus. Never heard of it, but if the Shadows are like any of the other monsters that might exist across the worlds I guess that makes sense. [But Minato's asked a question of interest and he suddenly shakes his head.] Not really. I didn't exactly get a chance to ask the people who've died here. Why? It's that different?
[Explaining Shadows isn't something Minato's inclined to do when his mind is still more or less running on empty, and the look on his face is highly not telling of what he has to say being devoid of expression as always.]
It should be the same experience for everyone based on what I heard from a friend, but I did notice the buildings not appearing solid for a few days- all of you would show up as code every now and then, but I wonder if there's more to these implants than what we know.
Code like--what, like binary shaped like a human body? [Color him curious suddenly. He'll have to maybe ask Tadashi later. Y'know. When talking about death isn't awkward as hell.] Would it just happen at random or were you doing something and it'd glitch out?
It happened at random for me, and that's what things looked like for a few days. [Pause.] There's also the aliens...they come and leave like us, but have you ever seen any arriving to Cerealia?
Nope. It's possible that what we're seeing are all simulations of some kind, but... [Minato sighs wearily, prompting a look up and a questioning meow from Mochi.] That seems a bit too far-fetched, and I was wondering if you might have any theories.
I mean I have theories about everything in this place but...there's probably some stuff I should fill you in on first. [There's a pause and he's scratching behind Mochi's ears.] I ended up doing some more snooping when we got back to the jungle. Did I tell you about this yet?
Tadashi and I found a bunch of generators in one of the taller points of the tower. You know what generators do, don't you? [He's mostly curious if Minato will pick up on the answer on his own.]
They generate energy. [Minato's head dips then, expression unreadable as Mochi has to put up with not being rubbed for a bit in spite of his protesting meow.] I spoke to Katsura-san the other day about the symptoms we had in the jungle too...I feel that ViViD might have something to do with these generators you found, if energy's involved.
More like we have something to do with the generators involved. [There's a frustrated noise, an inquisitive chirp from the cat and Hiro ignores it.] Tadashi and I directly affected the energy levels the minute we walked in the generator room. There was a discrepancy in energy waves or something, the system kinda freaked out. It's a scary thought but...what if we're powering the planet somehow every time we play ViViD or anything?
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Well, technically there's two of them. It's just easier to travel with Baymax this way sometime. [However, someone very much not Baymax decides now is an appropriate time to meow from inside his carrier.]
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Wait, right. They shouldn't be standing out here all day...] I can help you with the carrier if you want, Hamada-san. [Or the suitcase, whichever.]
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[Kitchen? Living room? Pick a place and he'll release the furry kraken.]
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I didn't know you lived with other people. [Yeah, he's focused on that instead of introducing the cat. That'll come in a second.]
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Now you do. An old friend of mine suggested staying together on the first day- he's gone now, but there's three of us here and we're all friends. [This cat...he's huge.]
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Including that Mitsuru girl? [Good...focus on the huge cat, this will make everything much easier.]
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The other two people here are Kaz and Rokudo-san- don't think you know either of them, though. When did you meet Mitsuru, anyway?
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I see. She was the leader of our group baefore I took over, and Mitsuru's very reliable...too reliable, maybe. [Summer school, man. That was such a drag on top of his kendo practice.]
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I figured. She's kinda intense. [They've spoken once and even he could see that.] Why'd you take over? [...he pauses to think on that. And then there's another wild stab in the dark.] Is it because you're like Yu?
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That's right. The enemies we fought had different weaknesses and resistances, so it was necessary to have someone who could fill in for the others. [And if at that Minato's merely being modest, never feeling as if he could take the credit when he wouldn't have accomplished anything alone.] It wasn't just that though- the building we were investigating changes every day, and Mitsuru was providing backup from the outside.
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And Hiro's mostly watching curiously, thinking on what Minato's saying.] What do you mean the building changed? Why? [He doesn't really know a lot about the Midnight Channel or the shadows, much less anything about Tartarus.]
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The layout of Tartarus probably changes due to the Shadows inside...It's a building that appears only when Shadows come out, and since they can affect time and space I guess it depends on what they're feeling at the moment. [And oops, speaking of things appearing differently Minato's recalled that he wanted to ask Hiro something.] That's right, has anyone told you how the city looks like when you've died once?
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Tartarus. Never heard of it, but if the Shadows are like any of the other monsters that might exist across the worlds I guess that makes sense. [But Minato's asked a question of interest and he suddenly shakes his head.] Not really. I didn't exactly get a chance to ask the people who've died here. Why? It's that different?
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It should be the same experience for everyone based on what I heard from a friend, but I did notice the buildings not appearing solid for a few days- all of you would show up as code every now and then, but I wonder if there's more to these implants than what we know.
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