Naoto's Heart

[dramatispersonae]

You find yourself falling through a black abyss, the air cold around you, although not bitingly so. Just as your eyes begin to adjust to the darkness on every side, you're dropped through a chute and tossed out into a brightly-lit area...


((#hardwired))

Comments

Re: Management

[dramatispersonae]

She turns to face you, and it’s clear that this is Naoto… of an odd sort. The lab coat is ill-fitting, but what’s really striking is how the entire left half of her body is unmistakably robotic; mechanical eye whirring in its socket, shiny metal covering her face and neck disappearing down past her shirt collar, lipless mouth showing only teeth made of some kind of synthetic material. When she moves, she makes loud, grinding noises of metal against metal. An occasional spark pops out from behind her ear.

Both her human eye and her robotic eye are entirely yellow, and she is grinning wide, far wider than Naoto ever does.

"Obviously it's the prototype. I've been assembling it for weeks!"

Re: Management

[browbeater]

Prototype for what? And where the hell am I?

Re: Management

[dramatispersonae]

She grins.

"Shouldn't you have figured that one out before coming in here?"

Re: Management

[browbeater]

[... I can't read. So you get a flat look]

In general, then.

Re: Management

[dramatispersonae]

"It isn't clear to you at all, is it? Well. That's what one expects from imbeciles, I suppose."

Re: Management

[browbeater]

Then spell it out, since you're clearly so smart.

Re: Management

[dramatispersonae]

"This is my laboratory. It's where all my best work is done, really."

Re: Management

[browbeater]

[nooooot the answer I was hoping for. OKAY, THEN.]

What are you trying to build? Specifically?

Re: Management

[dramatispersonae]

"A new body."

Re: Management

[browbeater]

Why?

Re: Management

[dramatispersonae]

She rolls her eyes, which causes the robotic one to spark.

"Because this one is insufficient, or are you blind as well as dumb?"

Re: Management

[browbeater]

Sorry, I don't have an eye for seeing the difference between a good robotic body and a bad one.

Re: Management

[dramatispersonae]

She jabs the screwdriver at him.

"Insensitive dolt!"

Re: Management

[browbeater]

What? It's true...! I don't know anything about robotics.

Re: Management

[dramatispersonae]

"Then leave. I've no use for a relic like you."

Re: Management

[browbeater]

Fine, but tell me how to get back to Wonderland.

Re: Management

[dramatispersonae]

"Oh believe me, if I knew how to do that you'd be seeing a lot more of this."

She gestures to the torso on the table.

Re: Management

[browbeater]

Then that brings me back to the first question... Where is this? How are you related to Naoto?

Re: Management

[dramatispersonae]

She smiles, wide.

"I am Naoto. I'm her true self."

Re: Management

[browbeater]

[he looks dubious at best]

... And you're trying to create a new body for yourself?

Re: Management

[dramatispersonae]

"Well, you've seen the state of things outside, haven't you?"

Re: Management

[browbeater]

Yeah. It doesn't look great, but I don't get what that has to do with this.

Re: Management

[dramatispersonae]

"I've been telling her to scrap the project for ages now, and she's refused to listen. So I'm implementing a new design whether she likes it or not."

Re: Management

[browbeater]

... Her?

Re: Management

[dramatispersonae]

"Her, me, it's all the same difference."