ic contact;

[psycholawgy]

You've reached Athena Cykes. I'm currently unavailable, but leave a message and I'll get back to you pronto. Danke! (voice/call → text → video → action)

Comments

[emotive]

Well, Hiro was the one who asked me first... He apologized and then asked.

Um, I don't know if it'll mean anything though. [She chuckles nervously and looks down into her cup of tea.]

We just need to straighten things out more.

[psycholawgy]

Well, whatever happens, I hope it'll be a good date.

[ by which she means she'll be impatiently waiting on the couch for ai to come home so she can share ALL THE DEETS

unless hiro doesn't take her home and beds her?! that's fine too i guess... ]

[emotive]

I hope so... I'll do my best at any rate!

[thank u friend]

... Oh, and Athena?

[psycholawgy]

I'm not a pro, but I can help with whatever you need!

What is it?

[emotive]

I might have said something like this before... But after what happened at my birthday...

Thank you. Thank you for being my friend and letting me find out what being myself is like.

[psycholawgy]

[ ah /// such fluffy feelings now. ]

Hey, I didn't do anything. That was all you.

[emotive]

Hm.

[Ai pulls the blanket over her shoulders a little more snugly.]

You know, we've been here in Cerealia for a really long while now haven't we? It's almost unreal.

[psycholawgy]

[ she looks up at the ceiling, slumping a little bit to get more comfortable. ]

Yeah... I miss Simon. It's been so long since I last saw him.

[emotive]

Oh... [Ai is mildly surprised.]

But at least it's not like you're lonely anymore.

[psycholawgy]

I'm not, but he's still one of my best friends, you know? Even after all that. . .

[ she waves a hand dismissively. ]

I miss Ryuko too, and more and more people keep disappearing into the Nexus. Jack Frost, Katsura, Kaoru, Ene... it's like I'm slowly losing my friends.

[emotive]

[Ai nods. Ryuko's absence kept resonating within her even though she and Athena kept trucking on.]

But we're alright aren't we?

We have to be.

[psycholawgy]

That's right.

[ she smiles softly, huffing out a laugh. ]

We have to be.

[emotive]

... You know what?

I didn't explain what those images were in the mirror room didn't I?

[psycholawgy]

Not in detail... [ she shakes her head slowly. ] Do.

Do you want to?

[emotive]

[Ai nods.]

Yes. It's really about time to. And I feel comfortable around you after all.

[psycholawgy]

I won't interrupt, then.

[ athena talks a lot, but she's also a very good listener! ]

[emotive]

[Ai takes a deep breath. She's taken too long already.]

Well... First off, you already know I lived in a commune with other psychics and I was there since my birth. I rarely went out except when I was told to finish jobs after I finished a lot of training.

[psycholawgy]

[ there's a pause there from ai. should she say something? ah... ]

What kind of jobs?

[emotive]

Reconnaissance. Retrieval. Evidence wiping. A lot of the time, it was also searching for rogue espers.

Sometimes our services were lent to warlocks or witches or some other group who had offers that we would accept within reason. Just as long as it supported our communes and others.

[Ai sips her tea again.]

... Execution is a mission that I've been commanded to do, but... I never did. I didn't want to.

[psycholawgy]

[ she frowns when ai mentions evidence wiping. this is a Sensitive Subject. and her expression grows even darker when executions are mentioned. ]

That sounds so rough... it makes you sound like a spy, too.

[emotive]

I guess that's basically what I was... What I amounted to anyways.

So the thing is, as psychics, the community is huge, but everyone's power isn't at a satisfactory level. Before... There was another person who was the strongest esper in the world. She probably wasn't even human, or actually an esper, but our abilities originated from her.

[A beat. She should keep this succinct.]

That person died, but they kept her remains. I'm one of her clones. The other girls you saw in the room, they're the same as me.

[psycholawgy]

[ ah, this part is a little bit difficult to swallow. you'd think cloning was impossible, but it definitely isn't in ai's world?? ]

I remember you mentioning that before.

[emotive]

The people who made me... They wanted another her. So they made as many as possible and so far... I suppose I'm the best they got.

[Ai looks at her lap biting her lower lip.]

But they've never been happy with me.

[psycholawgy]

Well, they should be! You're amazing, Ai. I wouldn't know what to do without you, you know?

[emotive]

No. You're the amazing one, Athena. Really, you are.

When I'm with everyone here and when I'm with you, I feel like I know who I really am or... Or at the very least, I know that I want to become fully shaped. If that makes sense...?