thefoundation | Opinions without 3.1415 are just Onions (Week1 post trial)

[Two well-dressed guys step into a kitchen-- actually I don't know where I'd even be going with that so w/e!! It is a bit strange to see Hikage without the cape though, even if it makes sense not to wear it when he's making tea. As he waits, he takes a seat at the table, pulling out an extra chair for Hikage in the meanwhile.]

It's nothing. I was just doing my job. And besides, you weren't too shabby either. [The list of people with first aid or healing, for one, and then there was investigating the scene, too.]

[ Neither do I know where I'm going with tea making because the steep time varies based on the quality, type, altitude and a few other things which are way too nerdy and this is a miasma mansion so who the hell knows. Either way, the water was just below boiling as Date stepped in, so it'll only be another minute or two before they can enjoy tea time. ]

I don't have that excuse, but I prefer to act rather than stand idle. And like I said, I have the "fortune" of not having many memories to jumble up my recollection.

[It's not as if they have anything else to do here besides investigate their surroundings, so he's not feeling particularly impatient after expending all that energy at the trial and while cleaning up. So as long as it doesn't take celestial being levels of wait time, Date's fine just sitting down and letting everything settle in place for a bit.

But well, it does help that Hikage brings it up himself. It'd been something Date had been interested in asking, so this makes it less intrusive if he's offering to talk about it.]

Amnesia? Or is it some other memory disorder?

[ Lucifer help everyone if there are still people left alive by the time celestial tea time has come to a close. ]

Amnesia, yeah. I haven't been able to remember much, if anything, about my life since I woke up in a mansion like this one in my home world. I have to admit I'm pleased that this place seems like a more dilute version of my "home" mansion, as I don't have many memories to lose compared to all of you. [ There's a bittersweet smile at the end, both due in part to poking at this experience so far with the disappearing hot water and bunk beds among other lacking amenities and also because well, it is what it is and there's no point in pretending otherwise. ]

Now that's an optimistic way of looking at it.

[It's not a point of view he would've taken, at the very least. But then again, their experiences were pretty different to begin with, with Hikage having faced more harrowing circumstances back at home. After all, the only monsters Date knew of in his own world were just people.]

Did you have any clues as to why you might have forgotten everything? Say, acquaintances or items you had on your person.

I prefer pragmatic, but sure.

[ Optimistic is too soft a term! Either way, he pauses to check on the water before answering. ]

It was an effect of the mansion or something our kidnapper did to us, as far as I could tell. Everyone in our group of five woke up with no memories and a cellphone in our pockets which was used to communicate with our captor. As for acquaintances.... we didn't seem to have any relation to each other but—oh, I still have the cellphone actually, if you think it's worth looking at.

[There's a slight eyebrow raise at the assertion, but Hikage agreed(?) so that means he wins and all is well in the world. Except for those dead people outside and the dead people inside but meh. This is why you should never take my meta seriously.

Silliness aside, Date does listen intently as Hikage speaks, leaning forward slightly in his seat. The cellphone would probably be more helpful if he had Aiba around, but... well, maybe it was still worth looking at.]

Sure, let's see what's in there. I can't promise I'd be able to do much with it, but it's worth a shot.

Here. [ He'll place his cellphone down on the table and go to finish making the tea. Unfortunately there's picture references for literally everyone else's phone in Psychadelica except Hikage's so text description it is!

It's... well it's not quite a smartphone but it's not an old nokia brick either, somewhere between the two with buttons kind of like a blackberry but the design isn't quite right. Ah and a small black butterfly charm is attached to the top because aesthetic. There's no lock or touch screen and the background is just a generic red wallpaper, and there's a grand total of 5 apps!

1.) Camera
2.) Gallery
3.) Phone
4.) LIME (logo included with spelling changed)
5.) Text

]

I haven't had signal in this place, but that's the case for everyone I imagine.

Thanks.

[He'll pick up the phone and turn it around in his hands a little before turning the screen on. He's used to seeing smartphones, but it's not like these are that hard to figure out, so he'll probably manage? That LIME logo sure reminds him of NILE, though...

Anyway. First, maybe he'll try checking the Phone option for starters. Is it just like settings and basic information about the phone?]

Guess they wouldn't want us to call for help that easily, and it'd explain why they lost contact with the other groups that came here before us.

[ Evolving from a fruit to a river, that's probably an upgrade! The phone actually contains a list of contacts along with the calling feature of the phone. Which lbr, who uses cellphones to call people nowadays? The list of contacts is small and not particularly interesting and contains your standard SCP numbers and literally nothing else. Not even a phone number for a pizza or chinese place, jeez. ]

Yeah, it does. It was similar in Psychadelica too, except we would receive incoming texts from time to time. I've kept my phone charged on the slim chance that'll be the case here too, even if outgoing communications remain blocked.

[Hikage, you need more friends... Okay fine, let's move onto LIME! What scandalous messages will he find here. He looks up at the mention of the place's name though, because what even.]

Well, it can't hurt. But that place was called Psychadelica? [why even]

[ Wow maybe he just has their phone numbers memorized. As for LIME it looks like there's actually a few messages here, so Hikage isn't a complete loser yay! They're from two users Beniyuri, Kagiha.

The message history from Beniyuri consists entirely of sticker spam of various dessert, though curiously these messages are marked as unable to be sent.

Kagiha's on the other hand is more fruitful despite the lack of sweets, with a few messages exchanged about meeting at a certain location at certain hours, and some more sticker spam that looks like the equivalent of two old men using AIM for the first time. ]

Ah, kind of? [ Some fumbling in the background that cant just be from tea pouring. ] We started calling it that after a book we found in the hideout: Psychadelica of the Black Butterfly.

[Hurray, snooping in people's private messages is fun!! And he's even doing it all by himself. These stickers though... kids these days. (Because lbr, Date would probably do old man AIM too.) However, that explanation makes a lot more sense.]

Better than just calling it a mansion or a house, at least.

[He's about to follow up with another question about the book, but the fumbling does catch his attention despite the enthralling text conversations of food and meetings, and he looks up from the phone to see what's happening with Hikage. What's going on.]

...You okay?

Yeah, that's why we named ourselves after the rooms we found too. Calling each other "you" got annoying after a few hours.

[ Everything seems okay now, but if Date looked up fast enough he would have caught Hikage almost spilling the tea. But it's totally fine because he saved it, nothing to see here! Well mostly nothing, because despite his attempts to hide it, he looks just a bit flustered. The woes of having a cool disposition is that any change at all is pretty noticeable. ]

It's nothing, really. I was just thinking about the last time I talked about that book with Beniyuri. [ And with that he sets both cups of tea down, finally joining Date at the table. ] So, did you find anything?

[He does catch the tail end of that near spill and he raises an eyebrow the whole time as he watches Hikage bring the tea over, but he won't comment on it. Right now.]

So that's why you didn't introduce yourself with a last name. Why 'Hikage' though?

But no, not yet, although I see you're pretty fond of desserts. [If the sticker spam says anything about him, that is?! When did he try to send those dessert messages to Beniyuri, by the way?]

Honestly...I just decided to pick the first name I saw that wasn't feminine. There were nameplates that fit into the slots beside the bedroom door: Hikage, Yamato, Beniyuri, Kurusaba, Kagiha. I wasn't in the mood for a lengthy discussion on who was claiming what name as it had been a long day by that point already.

[ He takes a sip of his tea before answering the second question, not suppressing the loud sigh that follows. ]

I'm not, actually. I was just... trying to figure out how that function worked. [ Let's go for embarrassed take two! As for the texts, the date function is entirely unreadable, as instead of a standard date format it's just a long strip of numbers that don't correspond to any standard calendar system. ]

Didn't feel like a Yamato, huh. [There's probably a boxstar joke in there somewhere but we'll leave it!!] Well, I can't blame you for just taking whatever's easiest.

[But wow, I can't believe time actually is a lie?! What is this. Well, there's no way he'll be able to make sense of this so he'l just... leave it I guess. Okay, onto Text then! Are there more desserts here. He'll also just keep talking because why not.]

Not really a cell phone person?

No, and I don't think I look like one either. [ He huffs with an oddly placed smile.

No desserts! And there's only three texts, all from an UNKNOWN sender.

Complete the kaleidoscope.
There is only one way to leave the manor.
The weapon is in your hands. ]

I never really had the reason to use that app, that's all. It always seemed redundant to me when you could just text, but I apparently underestimated the power of animated stickers.

[The huff warrants a bit of a glance over at Hikage before he returns back to phone searching.

Huh. And were all these sent as separate texts at separate times or are we going to be dealing with more of that incomprehensible gibberish? Is there any way to get more information about this unknown texter, like what number they were calling from?]

Some people find them fun, apparently. [Hmm...] 'The weapon is in your hands'... don't tell me you were expected to bash someone over the head with this.

[ Yup, we're dealing with more incomprehensible date gibberish. Time is fake, especially in quarantines and psychadelic mansions apparently. The number of the UNKNOWN sender is less nonsense but not all that helpful as it's just a series of 0's.

Apparently is a mood with the stickers, though that's brushed aside at the mental image of hitting someone over the head with his cellphone. If only it was a Nokia brick there might be actual merit in it, but it does elicit a smile that's on the border between a full grin and laughter. ]

No, no...but we never actually tried it. If that was the key all along, then the master of the mansion really had a terrible sense of humor. [ He almost looks like he's going to laugh again. ]

The actual meaning of that text was to inform us of our ability to create firearms with the power of thought, actually. I'm not capable of it anymore, but if we pictured a gun in our hands: the texture, the weight and so on, it would materialize into reality. That's where my personal firearm came from, but I'm unable to summon and desummon it like I was in Psychadelica.

[...Okay that actually seems like a cool ability. He wouldn't ever need to worry about being disarmed or having it stolen or anything, it would be great??]

Sounds convenient. Did it also come reloaded every time it appeared?

[But wow this sender got the easiest number to remember?? Too bad they don't have reception, otherwise he would've tried calling it. Maybe it's a detail that will come in handy later. Anyways, time to check the camera and photos!! Please have blackmail-worthy material...]

[ Right, it sure would be handy around here too and totally not for any murder opportunities because limes would never do that. ]

It was once you got the hang of it, it took some of the others a while to master summoning theirs and even longer to summon it fast enough to defend themselves. But yeah, it came loaded.

[ The camera is your standard cellphone camera, though the quality isn't great but at least isn't total pixelville here. The photos though are maybe interesting, but definitely cute. Okay maybe the third one isn't even if the girl in it is. ]

[Limes are totally innocent and the meta sees nothing wrong with that statement.

But yeah, let's put the camera aside and stare at these kid pics (and that one weird pic of some other guy feeding a girl? okay dude you have interesting tastes). He recognizes Hikage at least, which is all well and good, but in a way that brings up its own set of questions. So, putting the matter of magical, infinite ammo guns aside with nothing more than a 'huh' in response, he'll flip the phone so the screen and the group picture are on full display to Hikage.]

Did you ever recall anything about this picture?

No. [ Biting his lip, he pauses but then figures he might as well give Date the full story despite what he said earlier. ] At least until recently. Earlier this week I talked with Sakaguchi about his ability, as I was curious if it could help with my amnesia. We decided to try it, despite the risk of him contacting me and...he was able to see a glimpse of my past.

Since then, I've been seeing bits and pieces in my sleep. That I have a twin—how could I forget that? Even if we don't really look alike, even if I can't remember my name, to forget someone that's my other half...

I didn't mention it sooner because I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to think, sorry.

No, it's alright. It would be a lot to take in.

[...]

And you didn't have any of these flashbacks before he used his ability on you, correct? No triggers from seeing or hearing anything else?

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