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?

[jivitadana]

[...

There was the sound of some scribbling as Minato wrote that down to see it for himself. He could see the numbers, obviously. He knew those. He even added them up in his head. But then trying to subtract them was... not working.]

... Tell me the answer or whatever you think the answer is.

[Now something else to figure out. Could he actually remember what she told him?]

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?

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[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.]

Text

[jivitadana]

I think so.

[But he meant that in a little bit more of a lighthearted way too. It wasn't like a huge deal, but it was still really weird.]

Do you know the answer, if I can ask?

Text

[sorta_cinderella]

[it takes her a few minutes to answer.]

25?

Text

[jivitadana]

I don't know either. Someone else said that it was. Hang on.

[One good way to check was to take the number and add it. He could do that.]

25 + 17 = 42. That's right.

[He could add. But he couldn't subtract. What gives?]

Text

[sorta_cinderella]

Why are you doing math problems in the first place?

Audio;

[eatsyourscience]

You can't solve it?

[That's a surprise.]

Text

[jivitadana]

Studying. I thought I should.

[Since he obviously he needs to now. He was actually doing harder math problems until he actually ran into a... problem.]

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?]

Text

[sorta_cinderella]

I don't think Wonderland would give us a pop quiz.

Then again, Wonderland is always doing random things.

Text

[jivitadana]

It's just for me.

[Why stop learning now? May as well keep going while he was here. It gave him something else to do too.]

I may not have the chance to at home.

Text

[sorta_cinderella]

[Oh dear, are we veering into sad territory?]

I'd apologize, but I don't think you'd take it.

Do you want more math questions?

Text

[jivitadana]

[Perhaps! But Minato was totally cool with it happening, so it wasn't also a big deal. Then again, nothing really is a big deal for a silent protagonist.]

Please. You can ask me something more difficult. But with subtraction.

[That would really drive the fact home that he just... forgot how to subtract. Thanks, Wonderland.]

[video forever]

[akapeanut]

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

Text

[sorta_cinderella]

[hmmmmm.]

100 - 71.

[maybe not difficult per se, but, hey.]

[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.]