video;

[modore]

[The feed begins. Satoru carefully centers himself in the frame before sitting back. He's outside in the grass next to the lake, with the device propped up against a tree.]

I think I have the gist of things. [He read the pamphlet, which was pretty helpful as a crash course.] But there are still some things I'm confused about.

[His frustration is apparent in a brief pause that follows that admission, however.]

Asking questions won't change the situation, but...can someone explain the part about time not moving?

[Because that is relevant to his interests.]

[Kayo seems a little more unsure. She’s standing just behind Satoru and trying not to draw much attention to herself. Making any kind of announcement to a wide group of people is uncomfortable, and it’s easier to just let him take the lead, if he wants to.]

...Isn’t that impossible?

[She’s quiet, but also not very impressed by the supposed magicalness of the world around them. Life isn’t a storybook and people don’t get whisked away to worlds where time doesn’t exist. It sounds kind of stupid to believe something like that just because someone put it in a professional-looking pamphlet.]

Comments

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[determinedest]

[Isn't that impossible?]

[A lot of things are impossible. Wonderland tends to make those less impossible by design.]

You don't get older. It's like you're just...stuck.

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[modore]

[Hrmmmm.]

So we'll stay 11.

[He's not sure if that's a relief or the opposite.]

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[determinedest]

[They nod with a small hum of assent.]

I've been twelve for two birthdays no.

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[modore]

[...Well, it could be worse.]

Okay. So it's just stuck, like you said. That's not that bad.

[He hopes.]

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[determinedest]

Your hair grows, and your fingernails too. You just don't get older, I guess.

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[modore]

That makes sense, if time isn't passing at home. It would be...weird to go back and be older....

[For him it might not be, actually, but that doesn't need to be addressed right now.]

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[determinedest]

I guess.

[Would it matter? Would anyone...ha ha, would anyone even notice?]

It takes getting used to. [It didn't for them, but...they're an anomaly passing as human. They don't really count.]

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[modore]

I know how that feels.

[Being 11 again took some getting used to, too.]

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[determinedest]

[The corners of their eyes pinch slightly - not in humor, but with something sympathetic.]

It's not all bad. The closets give you whatever you want.

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[modore]

Is there anything they won't give out?

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[determinedest]

You can't get too specific. Nothing from home.

[That's really the only limitation they know of.]

Or...too big.

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[modore]

[He nods, thinking that over. It's straightforward enough.

Thinking about closets, something else occurs to him.]

...Does it get cold here?

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[determinedest]

In the winter. Right now it's August.

[Just turned August, actually.]

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[townwithoutme]

Someone mentioned that. We would be kids forever here, if that's true.

[It doesn't make sense, so she's not sure she's ready to believe it, but...if it's true it might be nice. Or...not. It depends.]

Does that mean there isn't school here? ...Or parents?

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[determinedest]

[Or parents?]

[That's harder to answer.]

There's adults. Some people have parents.

...some don't.

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[townwithoutme]

...Is it okay if someone doesn't?

[It sounds like it might be, but the question quietly comes out anyway.]

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[determinedest]

Yeah.

[There are a lot of kids here, and they tend to take care of each other. For better or worse.]

We take care of each other here.

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[townwithoutme]

[As far as she's concerned, it can only be for the better. She smiles just a little, the tiniest bit relieved.]

...That's good. It sounds nice.

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[determinedest]

[A smile's a good sign. Bolstered, one corner of Frisk's mouth coasts upward, an encouraging smile in exchange.]

It's not all nice. [They can't lie to make her feel better. They shouldn't.] But it's not all bad either.

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[townwithoutme]

[She nods, understanding, and tempers her already tiny smile accordingly.]

What are the bad parts?

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[determinedest]

The events.

[That's an easy one.]

Sometimes they make things bad. Not all the time, but...

[Sometimes.]

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[townwithoutme]

I read about those.

[It's hard to imagine events without having gone through them, but she'll take their word for it.]

...I guess it could be worse.

[It could be bad all the time.]

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[determinedest]

[Sometimes it gets worse. But that's not something you want to start with. Not when she's newly arrived, and still adjusting.]

Do you know him? The boy with you? [They have to assume she does, but it would pay to check.]

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[townwithoutme]

[Kayo nods.]

We're classmates. [A pause, as though she's deciding whether she wants to say this in front of him or not.] ...He's my friend.

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[determinedest]

Good.

[It's better, far better, to feel as though you have a friend here, especially once events hit.]

Stay together when things get bad.