7th Social Link ▫ [Text + Audio]

[jivitadana]

[That nightmare was... different. Not new, as the stuff of nightmares was something Minato was used to. But different. He had been taking a nap at his desk while working on testing something. Something had been bothering him for a long while already, and it would be a way to distract him from thinking about the dream. The nightmare was the sign of something to come. Like those event announcements. He would just be prepared for it whenever it came.

Thus once he was ready again, he began writing, solving this math problem, then the next math problem and others like it.]

...

[Done. Answers checked out. But what about something... simple?]

42 - 17 = ______
...

........ What's forty-two minus seventeen?

.....

[Blank. How could he not know this? Something had to be wrong. (And it isn't cheating to ask the network!)]

Comments

[audio]

[coldhardy]

Twenty-five.

[Elsa sounds puzzled: this is a really simple question.]

Why? Is something going on?

[audio]

[jivitadana]

[Minato smiled a little, glad to hear a friendly voice. Wait, what did she say again? He thought he just heard it. How'd she get that answer anyway, whatever it was?]

I'm not sure. Could you ask me another math question, please?

[Addition, multiplication, something.]

[coldhardy]

Um, all right!

[There's a momentary pause while she comes up with something.]

Seventy-three times twelve?

[jivitadana]

876.

[It took a moment to think about it, but Minato felt confident about it. He double-checked it on a calculator too. Okay, so multiplication was fine.]

... I think it has something to do with subtraction.

[It was weird. He knew the word, he knew what it meant, but he couldn't put it into practice.]

[coldhardy]

[Well, if it... whatever "it" is... has something to do with subtraction...]

876 minus 517?

Text

[sorta_cinderella]

Have the closet give you a calculator.

[Because learning is for wimps.]

Text

[jivitadana]

I have one. But it isn't helping.

[Well, that sounded really strange given what a calculator actually does. But still!]

Text

[sorta_cinderella]

[Huh. Weird.]

Is it broken?

Text

[jivitadana]

I can't tell.

[That's the even weirder part.]

Text

[sorta_cinderella]

Are you broken?

[She means this teasingly, trying to lighten the mood in her own way.]

Audio;

[eatsyourscience]

You can't solve it?

[That's a surprise.]

Audio;

[jivitadana]

[This is sort of embarrassing, but also kind of alarming. And Minato is alarmed in their patented silent protagonist way.]

No. I... [A beat.] Ask me a word problem instead. About subtraction.

[Maybe that'll help?]

Audio;

[eatsyourscience]

[Souji glanced to the side, thinking, then looked back.]

If I have three perfect paper cranes, but Tefra eats one, how many are left?

Audio;

[jivitadana]

[The pause here is way too long. Really way too long.]

... I need to count.

[Insert another pause here. Then he said it out loud.]

One, two, three. One plus one is two... One plus two is three. I think... two?

[This is really not... normal.]

Audio;

[eatsyourscience]

Yes. Two.

[Yeah, that was definitely weird.]

At least we don't have math tests here. [That was a question as much as it was a statement. Silver lining, right?]

[video forever]

[akapeanut]

...You okay? You haven't, uh. Died five times without telling anybody, right?

[jivitadana]

If I did die five times, I would hope someone would know.

[At least, he could hope, as he said.]

But I'm okay. Thank you.

[Minato looked and felt okay for the most part. Maybe a little worried.]

[akapeanut]

Just, uh. Since Phillip lost something like an ability when he did. I wondered...

It's not an event, is it?

[jivitadana]

[Minato shook his head.]

No, I think you're safe. It's just me.

[He thought so, anyway, since he might have figured it out. It could've been worse.]

[akapeanut]

I. I didn't mean it like that.

[She fidgets. It's been a while since she and Minato spoke-- they got distant before he left, and once he came back he was, y'know. Different. And now here he is, having a crisis and she hardly knows him anymore. She feels sort of guilty. Especially if he thinks that she's more concerned about how this might affect her.]

Did you buy something from the vendors?

he does his best to lock this, but it's not very good

[strategisch]

Excuse me... This might seem out of the blue, but, you're Minato, correct?

No problem! Locked. (And they actually met back in April, but no problem XD)

[jivitadana]

[Minato noticed the filter on this message, and put up a better filter instead to help it.]

Mn. Did you need to ask me something?

[Minato was listening.]

a-ah, sorry, it's been a long time ><

[strategisch]

I just wanted to confirm something, if it's not too much trouble.

Were you effected by the event previous, about two weeks ago?

That's okay! It has been! <3 Thanks for tagging. ^-^

[jivitadana]

[Minato didn't have any reason to lie. He nodded. But some non-verbal answer wasn't really going to help.]

I was.

[There we go. Minato was a little worried. Or really worried. He hadn't forgotten exactly what happened.]

no problem!!!

[strategisch]

And during that time... Do you admit to losing control of your powers, and killing Mikasa Ackerman as a result?