Accidental Video [Open]

[wyldghost]

[There's a loud clatter and the screen turns on. The feed is pointed straight up at the sky in some alley, before a ten-year-old boy's dirt-smudged face with white hair and blue eye's appears off center, looking worried. He sits down cross-legged on the ground, picks up the communicator, and now it's visible that he's wearing a very oversized (like several xl large adult sized) gray t-shirt like a tunic or dress with shorts and sneakers.]

Oh no! Kaiba-rhya's gonna kill me! Did I break it?

[He moves the screen really close to his face so he can look at the communicator but nothing looks wrong..? But..? He doesn't know? The screen really looks weird!]

Hello? Box? Are you okay?

[ooc: If anyone responds in text, they'll be able to hear the text being read aloud by the communicator to the boy.]

Comments

Re: [voice]

[wyldghost]

What?! No!

[His eyes grow as wide as saucers and for a moment, he just stares at his communicator. He broke the box's soul??]

B- but I don't want to be cursed! How..

[He looks around the alley fretting over who he could go ask for help.]

[voice]

[daikonrose]

[ Wow, he's really gonna make it easy for her to ham it up, huh. ]

You were reckless with something expeeensive~ Now you must be puniiiiished for eteeeernity~

[wyldghost]

[He put down the communicator and quickly bowed down next to it.]

I'm sorry, Box-rhya! I'm sorry! I'll get it fixed! I'll uh- I'll ask Kaiba-rhya to help me fix it. He'll know what to do! Please don't curse me!

[voice]

[daikonrose]

Are you reeealllly, truuuuly sorry? Are you repeeeenting with all your heeeaaart~?

Re: [voice]

[wyldghost]

Yes, box-rh- er.. is repenting being sorry?

[He looks up again with a confused expression. People around here used strange words.]

[voice]

[daikonrose]

Repenting is apologizing from the very deepest part of your heart! This is a skill every child should have! Can you dooo it~?

[Voice - Threadjacking if this is cool /o/]

[blue_eyed_obsession]

[What is he listening to here? Eyebrows knitting in irritation he can't help butting in to put a stop to this]

Why should he, when you should be the one apologizing for this childish deception? [His tone was cold, devoid of amusement.]

Tiriaq, this isn't the voice of the tablet talking to you- it's just some loser with too much time on her hands. Time that could be better spent on re-establishing her career. [Weren't you the one complaining about not having secured a regular acting gig here, Kyoko?]

[Voice ] totally fine with me! 8D

[daikonrose]

[ Jeez dude, lighten up. Kyoko slips back into her normal voice, though unlike Kaiba, she sounds pretty breezy and unbothered. ]

I was gonna let up in a minute. Kids should get a little teasing now and then.

[Voice ] totally fine with me! 8D

[blue_eyed_obsession]

[Lighten up and Seto Kaiba just can't exist in the same sentence. The guy tended to remain alert and on the offensive.]

Not this one. Find someone else to torment.

[Voice]

[daikonrose]

"Torment?" [ There's a little snort. Genuinely, she thinks that's a pretty overblown assessment. She has absolutely said worse things to children before, and he seems fine to her?? ] It's not like I made him cry.

[Voice]

[blue_eyed_obsession]

[The fact that she is taking this so lightly isn't doing much to curb his ire. Sure maybe he was blowing this out of proportion, and maybe he had become overly possessive of the child he in reality had no claim to. The timing had been such that Tiriaq had essentially been used to fill a year long void- but not even Kaiba had fully realized or accepted this. One day, he would find a way to reunite with his actual brother- but for now he was growing attached to this one.]

No, you just filled his head with lies that could have had disastrous consequences you haven't even considered. Much better. [Sarcasm practically dripped off of the final two words]

[Voice]

[daikonrose]

[ Did he already forget the part where she said she was gonna let up? She just said so like a minute ago! And "disastrous consequences"--what? What reality is this guy living in? ]

Nobody ever played with you as a child, huh. That's pretty rough.

[Voice]

[blue_eyed_obsession]

[No, but he was beating a dead horse as the phrase goes. It should have been enough that Kyoko had decided to give up the ruse but he wanted to impress upon her why it would be in error to make a similar attempt down the line.

The consequences he was referring to was that by feeding into the kid's superstitions it might dissuade Tiriaq from using the network when he really needed it.

Also, her question might have struck a little too close to home. Outside of time spent with his brother, Seto had been isolated from positive influences as a child.]

Don't assume to know anything about me, and we both know that life isn't all fun and games. [Somewhat hypocritical from someone steeped in the gaming industry...]

[Voice]

[daikonrose]

[ If they were actually talking about any of this, Kyoko might have scoffed--just let the kid learn the truth! Give him some credit! If a little teasing is gonna derail his perception of reality that much, he shouldn't be using the network at all!

But alas, communication can only happen inside action brackets.

Contrary to the impression she may be making today, though, Kyoko isn't totally insensitive; she knows she probably crossed a line with that last remark. Especially if he's gonna counter with that--he might as well just say she was right, jeez. She doesn't feel bad enough to actually apologize to this guy, but she will back down. She might be a little ticked now, but she never set out to be mean today. ]

Sure, sure--but more importantly, why don't you hurry up and finish scolding me so you can pay attention to the one who needs it? Just go ahead and say it all quickly.

[Voice] ....A WILD ANN APPEARS at least by means of voice

[menaretrash]

[ Ann's been busy cleaning while Kaiba's been snarking, and she'd heard him talking so she'd left their room to see what he was up to. Honestly, she's been standing behind him for A Hot Minute™, and she looks entirely displeased. ]

Jeez, Seto! Chill, sounds like she was just messing around! Not everything is fun and games, but not everything is so serious, either. Are you going to freak out on me when I start screwing around with the kid too?

[ It's at this point that Ann casually leans over poor Seto's shoulder so she can at least be within speaking range -- not so much to him now, but to the other girl. ]

I'm just gonna go ahead and apologize for him. I didn't hear the entire conversation, but I can only assume it wasn't a fun one, so, I'm sorry, miss.

[Voice]

[daikonrose]

[ Oh wow. Goodness. This is a Development.

There's just stunned silence from Kyoko's end of the feed for a moment or two, as all this happens--but she can't stay quiet after that apology. ]

Ah--no--I mean, I'm also sorry! I wasn't trying to stir up any trouble, but looking back on it, it must have seemed a little weird. I guess he's not used to that kind of thing, so...

[voice]-->[video]

[daikonrose]

[ Whether the kid had noticed the little tiff happening on his tablet or not, after a couple minutes that ghostly voice comes back to chime in again. ]

If you can truly repeeent, the curse will be liiiifted-- [ That last sing-songy word trails off into a very different sounding giggle, though, and then it's just a normal, chipper, girlish voice. ]

--Gotchaaa!

[ Switching to video, Kyoko gives him a big wink. ]

Sorrrry! Did you really believe I was a spirit, though? Did I get you?

Re: [voice]-->[video]

[wyldghost]

[He had, but he recognized the tone adults used that meant he shouldn't interrupt.

He's surprised when it sounds like the Box is talking to him directly again, though. He startles when the feed suddenly changes to a video.

Oh look! It's a girl and she's laughing at him. Oh, he gets it now. He gives her a sheepish grin and nods.]

Yeah, you did! I didn't know I could talk to a whole bunch of people like that. I thought all the machines have spirits here. Isn't that why they want us here?

[video]

[daikonrose]

[ What a well-mannered child! See Kaiba, you're underestimating him!

And he brings up a good point, one Kyoko hadn't considered before. Blinking, she pulls the tablet back at arm's length, and tilts it this way and that for a moment, as if she could make out a spirit possessing her phone just by looking at it from a different angle. ]

... Huh. I wonder if they could do that. But would anybody want their soul stuck in one of these?

Re: [video]

[wyldghost]

[It's okay. Everyone does.

He scrunches his nose and shakes his head at her question.]

I don't know why anyone would want to be a machine of any kind. You'd lose all connection to the Wyld in the world. The people here weren't listening very well to their ancestors or they might have remembered not to let go to the Wyld and need us to come help them.

[daikonrose]

Connection to the... wild...

[ Like, some kind of Tarzan deal?? Princess Mononoke? Kyoko tips her head to the side, trying to decide what she should even be picturing. ]

So that's the problem here, you think?

[ She's not really doubting or following him, at this point, just very curious about what any of that meant. Kids sure say funny things, huh. ]

[wyldghost]

[They sure do! Especially ones who don't really understand what's going on here and has had to piece together enough logic from his own world so his brain doesn't completely turn to oatmeal.

It wasn't all that often he had someone listen to his ideas like this. It was strange but felt good too. He nods.]

My daddy said that the Wyld is what connects us to the Earth Mother, Gaia, and losing that was bad. We have to respect it. It's like if you go hunting and after Gaia has granted you a seal, to show your respect to the spirit of the seals and show your gratitude, you give the seal something to drink to help it through it's journey back to it's ancestors.

If you don't do that then the spirit of the seal won't let you hunt the seals anymore and your tribe could die.

[ooc: A 10 year old's perspective on the Wyld and the circle of life. Enjoy.]

[daikonrose]

Ohh...!

[ Eyes round, Kyoko leans in towards the screen, listening intently. Did she expect to get an exposition dump about mystical earth magic from a child today? No, but as soon as he gets to that bit about Earth Mother Gaia, she's hooked. ]

I see!! What a precarious balance to keep, being in danger of curses from seal spirits!

[ She's not even making fun of him, she's legitimately enthralled right now. ]

[wyldghost]

It is! You have to be very careful.

[Sage nod. He likes her even if she did spook him at first. She gets seal spirits and curses now. They can be friends.

His smile falters a little.]

I don't know how to help them now though. What if we help them and then the spirits don't like us anymore either and turn us into machines? All the gods and spirits here are weird.

[daikonrose]

[ Kyoko nods and hums thoughtfully, serious. Though she's not sure his particular worries are likely to come to fruition, she can appreciate the uncertainty of the situation. ]

We can't really be sure about anything, right? But, you know, this is a whole different world, so everything we knew from home might be invalid here.