[01 ~ accidental video]

[blahblahblah]

[There's a girl peering into the camera of whatever's recording her. She doesn't look too old; maybe early-to-mid teens. She also looks very annoyed. It's dark behind her, but she's well lit; if you strain, you can hear the crackling of a fire.]

Okay, what is this thing? I've never seen a blastia like this before in my whole life... [She pokes whatever is recording; the image shakes. Must be something small.] Hey Yuri, have you ever seen anything like this? I'm not sure what it's doing.

[After a moment looking away at something or someone, she makes a gesture at the device, and an eyebrow twitches as she seems to look at something.] Ducks...? Why are there...? This thing isn't making any sense! Why would there be a blastia that exists to show ducks and do nothing useful!? Ooh, that's it, I'm gonna roast this thing, maybe it'll do something then...!

[And suddenly there's a fireball over her head! It comes toward the camera... and the feed ends.]

Comments

video

[second_star]

[ You know, when she called out to him earlier, he didn't think THIS was what she was talking about. ]

...Rita?

[blahblahblah]

Yuri, what the hell are you doing over... there...

[Funny, she doesn't seem to think so either.]

What is this thing!? It's like it's showing me people that aren't actually here, but... I've never heard of a blastia that can do that...

[Her voice almost sounds reverent. Along with being confused, of course.]

[second_star]

Uh...long story. And you're probably not gonna believe it either.

[blahblahblah]

Try me. I've got all night, and I've seen some pretty weird things in my days researching blastia.

Can't be any weirder than someone riding around on a dragon and smashing blastia for fun, anyway.

[second_star]

Alright. [ In a mock announcer voice. ]

You are now connected to other worlds.

[blahblahblah]

Not a good start. But please, continue. Maybe you'll tell me this reaches out to other people, too. And everyone can talk about aer and blastia and the Empire.

[second_star]

Jeez. It does, believe it or not, how do you think I saw it?

Besides, no one else has blastia or aer. Apparently that's a thing only we have. Trust me, this'll take you a while to get used to.

[blahblahblah]

No blastia? No aer? That's impossible! Everyone knows we need those things to live. Are you sure these other people you've talked to aren't just mistaken? Or more likely, don't know what blastia are? [Rita's bodhi blastia glints in the firelight, seemingly just to prove her point.]

...I'll admit that you prove that connection thing pretty strongly, though.

[mightletyouknowme]

You're from Yuri's world?

[blahblahblah]

I am. I thought I'd ask him if he's ever heard of anything like this before, and-

...wait. How do you know Yuri? You're a face inside my blastia. [Apparently she needed proof before she accepted Yuri's explanation.]

[mightletyouknowme]

You have a blastia too? He said those were hard to get it!

[She seems a little pouty now.]

I met him here, just like I can see you.

[blahblahblah]

He probably meant his bodhi blastia. Those are rare. I only have one because I'm an Imperial blastia researcher. [Rita gestures at the choker she's wearing; Sena can probably see the red gem set near her throat.]

No, I found a weird blastia the other day. That's what you're showing up on. Which is weird, but... if there's enough evidence of something, I can't really object too strongly. I'm a scientist, we run on proof.

So... another world, huh?

[mightletyouknowme]

[She looks closer.] Heh, heh, it's so cute!

[Yep, she likes her better than Yuri's. Good job with the accessories!]

Huh? [She shakes her hands in front of her, as if clearing the air.] A lot of them but we don't have those.

[blahblahblah]

I've kinda gotten used to it. When you've had something like this for so long, you don't notice it so much anymore.

What concerns me is that your world, and I guess the others, don't have blastia. How do people keep monsters out of the cities without barrier blastia? How do you cast magic, or light your cities at night, or... anything? [Her hands gesture wildly as she talks, as if some of this should be obvious.]

[mightletyouknowme]

We don't have monsters or magic. We use technology to do everything we need.

[ video ]

[second_star]

You're just gonna have to trust me on all this, alright? I didn't really believe it either, when I first found this place.

You're in the inn, aren't you?

[ video ]

[blahblahblah]

I... oh, fine. I'll take your word for it for now. Yes, I'm at the inn. What, are we doing something, finally?

[blahblahblah]

No magic? No monsters? What kind of backwards- is this what Yuri meant? That nobody but us has blastia, and aer, and all that? And... I'm assuming your technology replaces our blastia? To light dark places, to travel over water, to make river water safe to drink, that kind of thing?

[ video ]

[second_star]

Yeah, I thought about what Flynn said. We're heading into Ragou's place.

[ video ]

[blahblahblah]

Oh, so we're finally going? All right, I'll start getting everything ready to leave. I think Estellise and the kid are still here. We'll be waiting. Anything else, oh fearless leader?

[mightletyouknowme]

I saw your world. It could do it better.

Permavid;

[omnomsgods]

There's only one duck here, actually.

[blahblahblah]

I find that hard to believe, honestly. Magic is great, and blastia are powerful, especially since aer is a renewable resource, but a society without them should invent new things. And while they're inventing, they should be able to optimize all the components...

...I'm arguing science with some girl in another world through a blastia I don't understand. [Rita puts her head in her hands.] What the hell am I even doing?

[blahblahblah]

What are you talking about...? Only one duck? I don't understand...!

[omnomsgods]

Uh-huh. A really old duck, too. He's very cranky.

[blahblahblah]

Make sense, already! I don't get what you're trying to say!

[ video ]

[second_star]

Don't call me that, it puts too much pressure on me.

Yeah, that's about it. I'll be back at the inn soon. In the mean time, I guess you can get used to this place.

[omnomsgods]

Well... There's a duck. On this community...

[mightletyouknowme]

[Eh...she's sounding like Rika...]

We have computers, cell phones, and video games. [SO they win.]

[blahblahblah]

[There's a long moment of silence and a flat look from Rita, before she throws up her hands.]

I give up.

[blahblahblah]

I don't know what any of those are... [Rita pauses in the middle of what looks like a tirade starting.]

I don't know your name, either. Am I supposed to ask, or how does that work? I meant to ask Yuri, but I didn't think of it then.

[ video ]

[blahblahblah]

Fine, fine. Come on, Yuri, I want to shoot something already! And don't make me talk to- why is this flashing? Is someone else...?

...I'll see you when you get here, Yuri. I'm going to keep looking at this blastia and see if I can figure it out. [Despite her complaints, Rita seems to be examining the blastia all the same.]

[omnomsgods]

...Do I win anything?

[blahblahblah]

Yes. You win me being angry at you.

Did you have something useful to say, or are you just going to go on about ducks? Because just so you know, I don't care about ducks. At all.

[omnomsgods]

Oi, this place is called DramaDramaduck. And it doesn't care if you don't care about it- it'll show up whenever it wants.

[blahblahblah]

That's something else. This place has a duck as its logo, but it's not a duck itself, or... [The girl runs her hands through her hair in frustration.] I don't know. I'll figure it out later. I still need to do some research on this thing.

...If it is a duck, I'll apologize. But somehow, I don't think that'll be an issue.

[omnomsgods]

It's probably a community named after a duck.

[ video ]

[second_star]

[ Looked like this place was keeping her busy. ]

Alright, I'll be there in a little bit. Try not to set anyone on fire through the community, Rita.

[blahblahblah]

I sure hope not. That'd be one unfortunate duck. What do ducks have to do with drama, anyway?

[ video ]

[blahblahblah]

I'll try. No promises, though. The world's a big place, let alone lots of worlds at once. I'm sure I'll find someone that annoys me.

[Tap, tap, tap. Yuri can hear the sounds of console input to a blastia. Is that why she doesn't seem to be paying attention...?]

[omnomsgods]

...I don't know.

[mightletyouknowme]

Sena Kashiwazaki.

You've introduced yourself to people before, just do it like that.

[ video ]

[second_star]

Just be on your best behavior till I get back. [ With a smirk, he shut the video feed off. ]

[blahblahblah]

Okay. I wasn't sure if there was some weird custom or something formal.

I'm Rita Mordio, Imperial blastia researcher. Nice to meet you, Sena. [Huh. So Rita is capable of being polite.]

[mightletyouknowme]

Oh, you're the girl he met before he went to the ruins.

[blahblahblah]

...He told you about me? Actually, that means he told the whole... ugh, that means everyone heard about me already from back in Aspio...! Now everyone's going to think I'm just some brat with trust issues that may or may not have stolen a blastia core from the Lower Quarter!

[mightletyouknowme]

He didn't tell us. It showed a video of when you met him.

We know it's not you. You guys are the only ones who fell into the trap. [That video game trap!]