Cyberformed Inbox; $freebird

[birdsandblades]

This is Kagerou. Shadowmaru, you know where to find me.

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text | audio | video | action

Comments

Video

[fungifunguy]

Hello! My name is Vicia and I am looking for a date for the ball Tomorrow! This is a bit sudden, but I completely forgot about it!

Shall we go together? Y/N?

AUDIO, UN: Patokiichi

[patokiichi]

[Deckerd is silent for longer than. was probably reasonable after hearing the message, unease and guilt washing over him. He cleared his vents with a sighs]

Kagerou. I have been speaking with another AI onboard. Sarah. She... She reminded me of you, and... And how nothing that happened to you was right or fair, especially-

[Another silence, shorter this time]

I am deeply sorry for the part I played in what happened to you. I never said that. And...

...And if you would allow it, I would like to speak with you again, after this. I think we could both use it.

[birdsandblades]

[ Kagerou almost didn't pick up. He merely listened, tense and in silence, to the detective talk. Apologies. Kagerou didn't get many of those.

It's a strange thought, to have a conversation like this after he had challenged the other Brave. Maybe the detective's even figured it out.

He takes a breath. Elecman is out. It's now or never. So, slowly, he picks up his communicator and answers. ]

Deckerd. [ Calm, and measured. Keeping dislike tucked well out of sight behind his teeth; the detective had surprised him before. He hoped he would keep surprising him. ]

[patokiichi]

[Deckerd is absolutely surprised that Kagerou even picks up. He'd more than half expected this to not be acknowledged at all. So he gusts out a wavering vent and forces a smile despite not being visible]

Kagerou...

[Well, he'd answered. Here goes nothing]

Your message. I have gone over it many times, in an effort to...

[Click, goes the voxcoder]

In an effort to understand. To make myself go past limits I hadn't realized I had set firmly in place, before. Things are so much different than I had ever thought to acknowledge, but that has bearing on what things were like back on Earth. Kagerou, you were right, to say those things. I still have a lot of staring to do inward at my own super AI chip, but...

You helped me begin that journey.

It would not be fair to you, to ask you to take further part in it. But you have been on my mind often. You are never forgotten.

[birdsandblades]

[ Oh dear. This is going to get very personal, isn't it. And fast. But Deckerd is putting in an effort. More than could be said for before they were both brought here. It was no longer him versus the Brave Police, the leashed cops against the runaway. And Kagerou has to give Deckerd that. ]

I only wish you'd started sooner. [ There's the sound of a soft vent out. Deckerd can't see it, but he rubs at the silver mark on his chest. ] I never wanted to fight you, back home. I know I did foolish things in my desperation, but it's true.

...Thank you, for thinking of me and my words.

[ He quashes unwanted thoughts on how this conversation is happening before the one he had wanted so badly with his own brother.

Maybe there, he was forgotten. ]

Deckerd... I do have one question. If I may.

[patokiichi]

[Deckerd winced for more than one reason, but kept quiet while Kagerou said his peace. He did him the courtesy of thinking it over before he nodded, unseen]

Of course, Kagerou. You have certainly earned more than one question. If I can sheer it, I will.

text UN: electrified

[electricevolution]

(( from here ))

crazy antler man tryin to kidnap/kill me & bro pls pick up

[ And taking inspiration from Blues earlier he sends the ninja a live ping of his location ]

Action, There and Gone

[thelordofmisrule]

[ While you were away someone has been in your favorite part of the air vent system.

How do you know someone was here? There is a tiny plastic human toy babies dangling from strings here and there. ]

ACTION: A small box outside your favorite vent opening contains a handful of...

[thelordofmisrule]

[birdsandblades]

[ Considering the conversation he has had... And how long he has been in here since (he tries not to keep track of the time, but it's hard)...

Kagerou simply texts Elec a 'No', and retreats again, to bury his face back into his arms and sleep. ]

[electricevolution]

[ Elec looks over at his communicator, frowning when he picks it up. That... feels out of the blue. And concerning. ]

No what? You okay, Kage?

[birdsandblades]

[ ...'No what'? Was Elecman not the one who... He thinks of the tiny plastic babies, the ones he'd spent all day clearing out of his vents. Elec wouldn't have done that, wouldn't have... He's miscalculated. Again.

He's so tired, even though all he's done is sleep. ]

No, I'm not coming out.

[text] $sixersgrem

[sixohfour_301]

Hey Kage!

Been a while since I seen you hun. You good? You uh, wanna hang out or something?

Actually there's something I need to talk to you about and idk if network is the best way to do it. Hit me up when you're free.

(^_^)/~

[birdsandblades]

[ He almost considers not responding at all, but... ]

Maybe later, Six.

[sixohfour_301]

[ There's something almost to the tone of the text that makes Six deflate. He wasn't exactly having the easiest go of things as it were anyway so he might have been reading too far into it but... He swallows down the hollow ache just enough to send a message back. ]

right yeah just let me know

[ He flicks his communicator closed once more and leaves Kagerou be. ]

ACTION

[patokiichi]

Deckerd rapped his knuckles on the door to the room that he had only recently --after far too long spent searching elsewhere in the vents for him, as he'd been led to believe Kagerou preferred-- discovered Kagerou shared with two of the other AI. He paused only briefly, then knocked again.

"Kagerou?" He waited, not exactly patiently but long enough that his fingers twitched inwards towards his palms. "Tell me that you are in there. I have eliminated most of the other possible places you might be hiding yourself, and I am-"

He paused, averting his optics from a gaze that wasn't even there. "I have a list of daily maintenance routines that you have been neglecting. It would... ease my mind if you at least took in some oil. Please."

[ Audio ] $guntothemax | Hey You

[bikerdetective]

Ey, Ninja. Heard you been keeping to yourself lately. Heard a lot of people are worried about you. You should maybe come down out the vents before that Starscream guy sends one of the littles after you. Would suck to have one of the newbuilds find you wasting away up there.

Come on down, birdie, and at least say hi.

audio -> text (post thread with 2warp)

[birdsandblades]

[ It's a long, long time until there's a response- And not a response as such. Gunmax left a voice message, but Kagerou leaves a text. ]

Gunmax.

I

Don't come looking for me.

Re: audio -> text (post thread with 2warp)

[bikerdetective]

[Oh, he'd be a piss poor detective if that didn't set off alarm bells.]

Kagerou, where are you? If you didn't want me to look for you, you wouldn't have texted me in the first place.

[birdsandblades]

I'll come to you.




Later.

Tell Starscream not to worry.

Text, UN: P3RF3C710N

[binary_runaway]

hey, you're kagerou, right? one of the brave police? name's nova storm, don't think we've met before

making a nuisance of myself checking in on the ai i haven't talked to yet before i go on that upcoming walkabout mission adventure thing. you lot need more friendly faces ready to throw down for you, and i need a reason not to be bored cause i've already beaten my favorite game three times already

speaking of! got free time today? if you fly, we can go racing. tell me you fly

within fifteen minutes of that first message

[binary_runaway]

[An off key rendition of "In the Arms of the Angels," a song that doesn't even exist in this reality since Earth has been destroyed, starts to play as soon as Kage clicks the message]

hi, i'm nova storm. every five seconds, an ai isn't showering innocent seekers with attention. for just free dollars every month you, too, can help me from not being bored to hell

Duckstribution

[thelordofmisrule]

[ Kagerou doesn't leave his room much these days... so at one point when he's asleep someone pops in and leaves a rubber duck on his head. It's weird and sparkly and sometimes if you look at it too long it feels like you're looking at a color that doesn't exist. ]

(( Once per battle the No Place Duck may be used to call upon Skywarp's powers (in duck form!) to teleport anywhere on the field. It feels very unsettling though. ))

✨Action✨ slightly backdated

[heat_wavering]

Heatman was absolutely covered with pastel chalk dust, as was the really big berth he was standing on in the room Rock shared with his brother and somebody else. The somebody else had looked really frowny and been quiet the last time Heat had caught a glimpse of him, so he'd decided to draw him a picture to cheer him up!

He'd drawn a whole sequence of enthusiastic but childishly rendered things on the wall next to the berth, and was just putting on the finishing touches when a shadow fell over him. He turned and looked up with a smile and a finger wiggling wave.

"Hi!" He said brightly. "You looked all sad and super sad when I last saw you, mister, so!" He pointed at the wall. "I drew you things make you happy, see? That's the lights in the ceiling having an adventure with a tree thing (they have fingers, right, that hold leaves), and Rock and Elec (you can tell it's him because I wrote him saying, "Ponies are neat")! And the big purple person next to them with a candy stick thingy is you! Only I drew you smiling! See? So because your picture is happy, that means you'll be happy too, it's the rule."

[birdsandblades]

Kagerou tilted his head for a moment, looking over the entire scene... And laughs, ever so softly. In one smooth moment he crouches to get a better look, careful to not knock over the little robot master with his wings.

"It's the rule, is it?"

A finger reaches out, nearly touching the chalk. Nearly... But not quite, before that hand slowly pulls away. "Did you run out of teal?"