003. [video/action]

[cetra]

[ Aerith pops on screen looking a little winded, and maybe just a tiny bit frantic.

See, she has this Materia - a tiny little ball of glowy magic, courtesy of her mother - and she's managed to lose it.

There's no telling where the thing is. Usually, she tucks it up tightly in her ribbon, but recently she's been pretty distracted with the arrival of some of her favorite people, and maybe she's let her routine slide just the tiniest bit.

Whatever the reason, it's now gone and after she's turned her room upside down in her search, she figures she'll put out a message on the network in case anyone's found it. ]

I was wondering if anyone could help me out. I've lost something of mine. It's green and about this size. [ And she props her little device on a side table, so she can stand back and make a shape with her hands. ] It's not big enough to really stand out, but it's not small enough to fall through any cracks or vents.

[ She picks up her device again, sighing. In all the time she's had her mother's Materia on her, she hasn't lost it. Not like this. Especially not in a mansion that likes to throw monsters and tricks their way. ]

I'm going to look more through the mansion, but if anyone comes across it, give me a heads up?

[OOC: Just a heads up - she won't be finding it anytime soon, but everyone is welcome to help her. Also, feel free to run into her anywhere - she'll be searching high and low and through the grounds. ]

Comments

[masukukunai]

I'm lucky to have friends too. Even if some of them come and go, there always seems to be someone here from my world.

You'll get it back. Either way. I've never heard of the mansion straight up stealing things from people.

[cetra]

I hope so. [ Small sigh on her end. ] It is nice to have friends here - I've had a couple recently arrive. One I haven't seen in a long time, so that's been nice.

[masukukunai]

Yeah? It'd be interesting to meet people from your world.

[cetra]

I'm sure you'll run into them sometime! Vincent's a little...standoffish, but he's hard to miss. [ The red cloak and line face tend to stand out. ]

Zack's really friendly, so I wouldn't be surprised if you met him soon, actually.

[masukukunai]

Vincent? You mean Vincent Valentine? Guy with the, uh... [He clears his throat.]
Voice like this?

[It's not even close to Vincent's pitch black timbre. Yousuke's voice can't even register that low.]

[cetra]

[ She laughs, because his impression, while not totally spot-on, is probably what she would sound like when she tries to imitate Vincent. ]

That's him. He's a good friend, but he can be a little hard to read sometimes.

[ Or really hard to read, but she's gotten used to it. She even makes her own little game of it sometimes, trying to figure out just what he's thinking. ]

[masukukunai]

Yeah, at first he seemed a little... shady, but after talking to him awhile he turned out to be an okay guy. Kinda dark, but not bad or anything.

That whole not-aging thing is pretty freaky though. Do you know whatever it is in your world that can cause that?

[cetra]

I don't know the exact details, but it involves experiments.

[ And her mouth curves down into a small frown. She knows a bit about it, but it's not a fun topic to go in depth with. ]

I'm no scientist or doctor, but they like to try new things, I guess you could say. Change people, see what happens. The results are usually not good.

[masukukunai]

Sounds pretty shifty. And they're just okay with doing that kind of stuff to humans? Experimentation like that would never fly in my world.

[cetra]

I think it would be different if they didn't work for the ones in charge of our government.

[ Her frown is bigger, her forehead creasing just the slightest. She's not been experimented on the way some of her friends have, but she hasn't had pleasant experiences with scientists or doctors. ]

For the most part, people don't know about it. They usually keep whoever they're doing these things to around. Maybe so the word doesn't get out, I'm not sure.

[masukukunai]

...If people don't know about it, then how do you?

[He doesn't say it in a suspicious way at all. His tone is concerned.]

[cetra]

[ Aerith looks a little unsure, but she knows she doesn't have to go into a lot of detail. For the most part, she's tried to forget her experience. ]

My family's had some encounters with their scientists. I was very young, so I don't remember too much. [ Though the whole situation ended with her mother dying, and her adopted. ] A few of my friends have had things done to them, too.

[ One of the many reasons she wished for a normal life - she wouldn't have these awful memories. She doesn't mind Yousuke asking about it, though, since it's a valid question. ]

[masukukunai]

...But you're okay, right?

[He feels like there's a LOT under there, and a whole bunch more questions that could be asked, but he doesn't want to overstep his boundaries.]

[cetra]

I'm fine. It was a long time ago, so I've dealt with it.

[ For the most part. She still gets angry and a little scared about scientists and just plain uncomfortable around most doctors. ]