garbagechild | 001. [Video/Action for Goldenrod Rocket HQ]

[Video]

_{[Victims of motion sickness beware, because there's about to be a good two minutes of jerky, dizzying footage of the floor, the ceiling, an upside-down bed, and what appears to be the foot of a small child. The telltale sounds of hands grappling with a PokeGear are what dominate the audio feed, but murmuring in the background are what sound like deep, rumbling growls and a youthful, high-pitched voice-- probably belonging to the owner of that foot.]

[And then all at once the camera stops and gives everybody a great view of a pair of nostrils and, somewhere above them, a slightly more pleasant-to-behold pair of bright blue eyes.]}

--ink... I think it's a toy.

But not the kind you chase.

The other kind.

Um.

A puzzle.

_{[The screen jitters again-- now it's mostly tangled black hair on the screen, and a bony shoulder poking out a shirt that's way too big for it. Behind it is an expanse of leathery-looking flesh probably belonging to whatever's doing all that growling.]}

Ahuh... yeah, it's definitely a puzzle. I can tell 'cause it's got a lot of buttons.

_{[A chorus of deafening beeps sound as the kid promptly sets about trying to solve the puzzle by PRESSING EVERYTHING until the PokeGear is gently removed from his grasp by a set of bulky, blunt-clawed hands. And then, at a proper angle for the first time in this entire broadcast, a Kangaskhan's face appears in front of the screen, rumbling softly in greeting. She knows what a PokeGear is for! ... But then almost immediately a pair of pale little hands pop over the Pokemon's shoulder and try to grab the camera back.]}

No, no, I wanna solve it! I wanna solve the puzzle! Please? Please! Pl-- whoa!

_{[Standing all the way up, the Kangaskhan holds the camera in front of her and starts to plod across the small, undecorated dormlike room they're in, presumably towards the door, and presumably with her pint-sized trainer dangling from the 'puzzle'. Aaaand after some jostling, the feed cuts.]}

[Action for Rockets]

_{[In a building full of sneaky people, another sneaky person doesn't really stand out unless they're particularly bad at sneaking.]

[It just so happens that Wrath is not exactly the best at this.]

[Give him trees or bushes and sure, he can creep around like a good little let's-not-run-into-this-thing-in-the-dark. But all these winding hallways are slightly more alien territory, and there's only so many ways you can hide behind a corner without getting spotted. Especially when your GIANT KANGASKHAN STARTER KEEPS ON MARCHING STRAIGHT DOWN THE HALL LIKE SHE DOESN'T EVEN CARE IF THEY'RE SPOTTED.]}

Mama!

_{[This flustered hiss comes from behind an open door, where Wrath had ducked upon seeing a couple of much-taller Rocket Grunts go strolling past. Now he's peeking out, expression somewhere between frustrated and oh my god WHAT ARE YOU DOING AAAA]}

Don't do that, they'll see you!

_{[HE DOESN'T KNOW WHO THESE PEOPLE ARE. Only that they're humans, and they're wearing uniforms. Uniforms that are drastically different from the ones he's used to seeing, of course, but he's had precisely one (1) significant experience with dudes in uniforms, and it was a really bad one. MIGHT AS WELL NOT TAKE CHANCES.]

[The Kangaskhan, however, has other plans. She's marching towards the Mess Hall and seems a little exasperated that her trainer isn't following her. :I HUMANS.]}

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Oh!

That's right.

I forgot humans don't just heal.

_{[THAT MUST BE AWFUL.]}

...Ah... [Wow, hold on. That sounds like a thing her big sister would say.]

T-they do, though. It's just that they don't heal very fast most of the time.

Well, yeah, but what's the point of that?

Getting a cut and it just stays there?

For weeks?

That's awful.

_{[... So why exactly did you WANT to be human again, Wrath?]}

[Veronica pauses, as though appalled by that Wrath just said. Then, ever so slowly, she raised one of her hands to the camera. It was painted in scars, and stitches connected it to the wrist. She looked it over momentarily.]

I think of them as battle scars, actually.

_{[In all fairness, a lot of Wrath's opinions are pretty appalling.]

[He cocks his head to one side, blinking.]}

... Why would you want battle scars?

Being reminded of being hurt isn't fun at all.

Uh, well, they remind me of what I've battled, and won against.

...It's more like, I'm being reminded that I'm still alive.

Oh!

So they're like prizes for winning?

_{[... THAT'S REALLY NOT WHAT SHE MEANT, WRATH.]}

.....

[NO.... THAT... HMM....]

Uh, I guess...

Oh! Okay! That makes more sense!

... I'd rather have a different prize for winning, though. Scars don't seem very neat otherwise.

Y-yeah, they're not. You should probably have different prizes.

[Especially since you're so young, kid.]

So, what's your name?

_{[BEING YOUNG DIDN'T STOP HIM FROM STEALING SOMEONE ELSE'S LIMBS AND TRYING TO KILL HIS MOM.]

[But we don't need to talk about that right now.]}

I'm Wrath!

What's yours?

[Doesn't stop Veronica from slaughtering thousands either. Young people, nowadays...]

"Wrath"...? [That... that is not a name, in any sense of the world.] Uh, okay. I'm Veronica.

_{[Hey, his Master thought naming her collection of undead monster people after the 7 Sins was hilarious good fun, okay?]

[DON'T JUDGE.]}

Veronee-cka?

Veronica.

That's a long name.

[At least her master didn't have a sense of humor like that.

...Hopefully. God, she'd be named envy or something, she'd hate that]

I guess... There are longer names, though, especially last names.

_{[Dante's sense of humor is kind of sick. ... More than kind of, actually.]}

Last names?

How many names do humans have?

Well, uh... ususally three.

...Sometimes four.

[She shrugged.] I only have two.

Four?!

_{[He echoes, eyes wide.]}

... How does anybody even remember that many names??

Yes.

[It's a little scary isn't it.]

...Uh, they just remember it? I'm not sure.

Edited 2015-01-02 01:23 (UTC)

GOSH.

I sure am glad I only have one!

....Yeah.

[There's a beat, and Veronica scratches sheepishly at the back of her head.]

Uh, do you have any questions? Like, about this place?

Oh, I have LOTS of questions.

Nobody seems to know the answers to any of the real important ones, though.

Like, how to go back home?

Yeah.

Or how I got here.

_{[A pause, as though something just occurred to him.]}

... Is this place what happens when we die?

[Ah, that question. The question that she had considered sometimes, and that others have asked about.

She frowned in thought, this kid didn't need to think about stuff like that.]

...No, it's not. I guess sometimes it might seem like it is, but there's a lot of us that were fine right before we showed up here. So, don't worry about that, okay?

_{[Unfortunately, Homunculi think about death a lot.]

[Both because they've already died once, and... well, when you can't have something anymore, it tends to suddenly seem a lot more fascinating.]}

Oh. Okay.

I was just wondering, 'cuz, it's really different from the place I thought I'd go.

[Video]

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