tampered | Ongoing; Closed

Ongoing; Closed

When; May 9th (tail-end of rain + Mother's Day curse)
Rating; No higher than PG-13, if that
Characters; Konata (

mypace_musume) & Rita (

blastiafreak)
Summary; Rita meets up with Konata to learn about video games.
Log;

Emerging from the subway station, Rita pulled her goggles over her eyes to shield them from the pouring rain. She didn't care too much about the weather, though it was still surprising to see so many people out and about, even in such a huge city as this one. Good thing they've got these transportation routes. They're so handy. Her destination wasn't far anymore, so she hurried her way through the downpour, giving any people she encountered a wide berth--half of the citizens she'd run into were acting downright weird that day and Rita wanted absolutely nothing to do with it.

Getting closer now, she pressed a few buttons on her communication device to connect to the network. "Hey, Konata?" she nearly shouted into the speaker to make sure she could be heard over the hammering of water and bustle of people. "I'm coming over now! Let me in, will you?"

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"Come on up," Konata responded into her device. "We're on the second floor. I'll have a towel ready." Or a mop.

She then continued what she was doing before receiving Rita's message - namely, pacing back and forth in front of her Wall Of Games. What would be appropriate? Should they start with a real classic, like Super Mario 3? But part of the appeal of SMB3 is nostalgia. Would it really be popular with a neophyte? And not just frustrating?

What about starting with something really simple and explaining how it works? But she didn't actually have Pong, and even Tetris was so complicated under it all that it barely makes a difference whether it's Tetris or Puzzle Bobble or anything else.

How about the latest and greatest? But even then the field was wide. American game-of-the-year Fallout 3? Too many cultural references. Final Fantasy XIII? Barely a game-- might as well show her a DVD. Maybe Tales of--

... Okay, maybe not.

It took Rita barely any time to dash the rest of the way to the building, where she trailed a small stream of water through the hallways and stairwell. A towel probably wouldn't be enough, that was for sure. All the while, she wondered just what a video game might be. The name itself gave her some idea, perhaps a game on a screen like her communicator. Beyond that, she wasn't sure what to expect...besides a little Ba'ul flying around avoiding projectiles.

"I'm here--and don't slip on the water, it's everywhere," she called out, trying to ring what water she could from her short hair.

Konata was ready for her, with a big fluffy towel for Rita and a big ragged one for the floor. "This is really bad. I wonder if it's a curse, or just weather?" Just in case, she had some spare clothes that might fit Rita, too.

While giving her guest a chance to dry off, she greeted her belatedly. "Welcome, I'm glad you could make it. Are you getting used to the City at all?"

Rita accepted the towel and dried off what she could, although she wouldn't have much choice but to get out of her own soaked clothing. "Could be...I've heard it doesn't rain much here but maybe it's just been overdue. As long as they don't drown us or anything," she said with a frown. The deities might do just that, as far as she knew.

She squeezed some of the water out of her clothing so she wouldn't drip too much coming in, either. "I don't know about getting used to it, but I guess I'm managing. I could do without the curses." She sighed and made a face. "But it looks like we got out of whatever else is going on today. People outside are being...weird."

Edited 2010-05-14 16:15 (UTC)

"Weird?" Great, another curse on top of the rain. Well, neither of them were affected... probably.

"Um, that still looks pretty wet. Do you want a change of clothes? I think I have something in your size, or maybe a little on the big side." Not Konata's clothes, of course -- those would be too small for basically anyone over the age of ten. But lots of people had come and gone from the City, and Kona made a point of hoarding some of their stuff for emergencies or in case they came back.

"Yeah. Wandering around in a daze, shouting, talking to themselves. I even saw more than a few people crying." It had been a pretty freaky trip, really, but Rita didn't add that, nor did she say that she was relieved to finally get here and find Konata was in her right mind.

She stopped fidgeting with her waterlogged clothes and shrugged. "I guess I should, if you have something. It's a bit of a mess, huh? But at least it's just water."

"Sure, no problem. We can throw the stuff you're wearing through the washer and dryer while you're here."

Konata led Rita to one of the storage closets and rifled through, looking for appropriate clothes. Thanks to all of the girls that had come to the City, lived in their apartment and left, they had nearly every size.

"I guess that explains why some of my roommates left the apartment early this morning and didn't say where they were going. ... huh."

Rita followed, figuring the other girl didn't seem to care too much about her dripping all over the floor. "Washer? But they're not even dirty." Her personal hygiene being slightly...lacking compared to other people, she was perfectly comfortable going a few more days before she even considered washing her clothes.

As for the closets, they were filled with all sorts of different clothing in bizarre styles. Rita surveyed them for a few moments, hands on hips, thinking that just anything comfy would do. "You don't sound too concerned about it. Does it happen that often?"

Kona looked skeptically at Rita's wet clothes. "... washer first. Trust me." She hunted around for something that might suit her guest.

"Umm, pretty often... I wouldn't say I'm not concerned, but if I freaked out and tried to lock my friends indoors every time they were cursed, there'd be no end to it."

Edited 2010-05-22 23:39 (UTC)

"All right," Rita said with a shrug. If Konata was going to insist, she didn't see any reason to refuse.

She couldn't argue with that logic, either. "When we're getting cursed every few days, you'd probably end up going crazy trying to do that anyway." The mage returned her gaze to all the different outfits and wondered, "Just how many roommates have you had?"

"Ummm... Not counting the ones still here, at least a dozen. People come and go a lot in the City." And Konata was prone to inviting cute girls and boys to live with her on the spur of the moment.

"Here, how about this for now? It's nothing special, just comfy and about your size." She produced a simple long-sleeved T-shirt and pants that were, indeed, about the right size.

"That's a lot...And we all get dumped here and randomly sent back with no warning at all." All those people come and gone, yet Konata herself was still stuck here. The City had already proved itself to be anything but fair, though. With a sigh, Rita accepted the clothes. "That'll do, thanks. It's not like we're going to a fancy party."

Konata didn't really think of it like that -- she didn't mind being here, and a lot of the people who went home did. So maybe that was for the best, in either respect.

"Right. Here, you can change in the room across the hall. I'll be in the living room, getting the games ready."

Rita agreed and slipped into the room, peeling off her own wet outfit and drying her skin with the towel. Her interest was piqued somewhat about the video games, although mostly she wanted to know how they worked.

Once she was done, she returned from the room and held up her dripping clothes. "These are pretty comfortable...And where should I put this?"

"Just toss it in the-- ah." Konata guessed after a moment that she couldn't expect Rita to know how to operate a washer. She opened the front-loading washer, built into the hallway, and pointed inside. "Just toss your stuff in there."

She did so, and looked over the machine with only mild interest. "This doesn't look so difficult to figure out...what do all of these run off of, anyway? You said your technology at home was like this, but I'm assuming you don't have aer or mana as a fuel."

Konata put in detergent and started the washer. "Everything here runs on electricity. You know, lightning power? Sustained, low-level lightning. It runs through metal cables in the walls to every house and shop."

Now that was interesting--power from lightning, electricity. The gears in Rita's brain started turning as she tried to work out how it was done. Simply standing there in silence, she was in her own little world for several moments before she jerked out of it and remembered Konata was there. "Electricity, huh...Obviously it doesn't come from actual lightning--uh, it can't, right? So there has to be another source around somewhere."

"Yeah, it comes from, uh... magnets, I guess. I dunno, it's kind of hard to explain -- maybe someone else would know better." Now that she thought of it, Konata wasn't really sure how it worked either.

"Anyway, video games also run on electricity. That's what you're here for, right? Let's get started."

"It does?" That sounded a little strange. Whatever, Rita wasn't about to press her for details. She'd almost forgotten about the entire reason she'd come in the first place.

"All right. So, uh...what do I do?"

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Ongoing; Closed

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sorry for lateness T_T