video.

[magatsugiru]

Whoa! Okay, I think I've got it.

[ The young man on screen looks rather disheveled, and very flustered. He tries for a smile, but it collapses into a sheepish grimace halfway, and he looks away from the camera. ]

W-well, I can say this wasn't where I expected to end up when I opened the door to my apartment... Man, maybe I've been overdoing it with all that overtime.

Umm, hi there, if anyone's listening. This place isn't dangerous, is it? Should I be worried?

[ He reaches up to rub at the back of his neck. ]

I hope this thing's on. Can anyone hear me?

Comments

[magatsugiru]

[ He has no reason not to play nice. He's in an entirely new world. There are things about the future Souji doesn't want to tell him, for whatever reason. Adachi is at a disadvantage-- the best he can do for now is build a rapport and gather information. The game has certainly changed. ]

Well, you're a good kid. Of course you're gonna make friends. But that doesn't mean you can't get homesick. Is there anyone else from Inaba here? Or anyone you knew from the city?

[eatsyourscience]

A lot of my friends have shown up and left since I got here. You've been here before, too.

[magatsugiru]

Really? That's strange. I was here?

[ He really doesn't like this imbalance of information between him and the kid, he's realising. ]

Can you tell me more about it?

[eatsyourscience]

[Souji looks at him for a moment. Telling Adachi about that would be tipping his hand, he knows it. After all, previous Adachis knew that he knew.]

It was a few years ago. I don't remember a lot of it.

[magatsugiru]

Ahaha, I'm that forgettable...? Oh, well. That's okay. Just tell me what you do remember.

[eatsyourscience]

I drank beer with you.

[That's one of the more mild things, though Adachi wasn't the same each time he appeared.]

You told me my uncle wouldn't approve.

[magatsugiru]

Are you kidding? [ He throws a glance toward the door as if expecting Dojima to burst through it right then. ] He'd kill me! There wouldn't even be a body to bury! Ah, h-how about you work on forgetting about that one? Please?

[eatsyourscience]

[He actually smiles a little at that.]

I'll talk to Wonderland about taking that one from me.

[magatsugiru]

Seriously, that's the scariest thing you've told me so far. [ Adachi mutters, slumping down in his seat. He runs a hand through his hair, which does nothing to help its disheveled state. ]

... So, Wonderland really takes your memories. [ It's less a question and more a reiterative statement. ]

[eatsyourscience]

[Souji nods and drinks his coffee again.]

I've lost seven over the last six years. That means there have also been seven events from our world.

[magatsugiru]

Just a little more than one memory per year. That's not as bad as I was expecting, from the way everyone was talking about it... Jeez, you all had me so nervous, too.

[ He sits up a little straighter, looking as if he just realised something. ]

Oh! N-not to be insensitive! Losing seven memories is still losing seven memories...

[eatsyourscience]

[Souji nods. He's thought along the same line--it's a pretty good ratio, all things considered.

He smiles a little, just for a second, but it's rueful. Why couldn't Adachi actually be like this naturally?]

It'll be both of us from here on, for as long as you're here.

[magatsugiru]

[ The only one to blame is Adachi himself. He could have been this kind of person, if he'd wanted to be. ]

Ahaha, yeah. I think I can handle it. I don't have many memories I'm especially attached to...

[eatsyourscience]

[Souji can believe that.]

Sometimes it's something simple. Like...

[He has to think of an example that wouldn't easily give anything away.]

The...garment you wear at hotsprings inns. Or the steamy place where you go to take baths.

[It is seriously awkward to talk like that.]

[magatsugiru]

A kimono and a bathhouse? [ He laughs, a little. ] That's simple enough. Guess I have nothing to worry about.

[ He sighs. ]

There's not many places that will feed and house you for nothing, so if I think of it like paying rent, it's not that difficult to understand.

[eatsyourscience]

No, I've got kimono still. It was something else...

[But he can't say it, so it's really a moot point.]

That's one way to look at it. Rent that's only due once a year or so. And the events aren't always bad. The last of mine was a ski trip.

[Well...not quite the last one. But he can't tell Adachi about the last one without giving some things away.]

I wonder what kind of event your memories would make.

[magatsugiru]

Probably not a very interesting one... maybe you'd end up doing legwork, or paperwork.

[ Adachi wonders, too. ]

Or you might end up studying, if this place takes my older ones.

[eatsyourscience]

You never know. We ended up on my school camping trip once a few years ago.

[magatsugiru]

Hm, well, at least that can't have been very dangerous. Was there anything else you wanted to tell me?

[eatsyourscience]

[Souji looks over at him. There are several things he wants to tell him--and to ask him. But now isn't the time for any of that. After a moment he says:]

Just to be careful.

[Don't do anything regrettable.]

Other than that, unless you have more questions, I should let you get back to figuring this place out.