(OPEN) Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

[symmetrophile]

Who: Villa residents and all visitors.
When: December 25th
Where: The Villa
Style: Whatever you like!
Status: Open!


[Hey, guess what?

IT'S CHRISTMAS! Which means Villa residents will be trading gift-wrapped presents and enjoying a delicious holiday feast prepared by a very hard-working Rin Okumura, so be sure to thank him!

The threads below are meant for mingling, the exchanging of gifts and other holiday activities!]

Comments

[symmetrophile]

[Is that a challenge? Because Kid can totally play that game, too, but it's the demonstration of... magic? That wins her a hard, speculative stare.

And, perhaps, even the unsettling feeling of being stared at a little too hard, should Kid decide 'to hell with permission' and just inspect her soul for a moment.

Just in case.]

Yes and no. I have no recollection of my previous residency here, but I assume we haven't been acquainted. My name is Death the Kid.

What was that, just now, Miss...?

[force_a_change]

Ryoko Asakura.

[She just gives her name, smiling brightly at Kid. And if he does peek at her soul he might find that it's not exactly... there.]

And what was what, hm?

[symmetrophile]

[It's not... common, here in the bubble, to run into someone so effervescently cheerful, and for a moment Kid is nearly disarmed by the brilliance of her smile, gold eyes rounding in wonder.

No, that's actually his surprise at discovering her utterly devoid of a soul.]

...Nothing. It's nice to meet you, Ryoko. Are you here to visit someone?

[force_a_change]

Alright, and no... I'm not.

[She's finished with her hair, and folds the towel now that she's done with it.

And she's still cheerful as she answers his question now. With a real answer even!]

I do believe I just arrived back here, Mister. From my world, that is.

[symmetrophile]

Is that so?

[That explains why she was so wet.]

What brought you, then, to the villa?

[force_a_change]

I used to live here, actually.

[More actual answers! Maybe not one Kid wants to hear though.]

[symmetrophile]

[OH. Well, that changes everything!]

That certainly explains much. Very well, welcome back. I suppose we were never acquainted, but that can be done after you've settled back in.

[Wait. Wait. He's just going to take her word for it?

HE SURE IS!!]

[force_a_change]

[Thank god Asakura isn't a liar then. She just hides the truth.]

Thank you. [She's going to bow politely to Kid now.]

Although it looks like there are a lot more people living here now, I doubt there is room for me.

[symmetrophile]

[...And so well-mannered, too! Kid can let the whole matter of stalking around the villa with a knife in hand slide, now. But the fact that she seems to lack a soul entirely, that part is more difficult to let go. Is she a demon? Something else?]

Do you think so? We do have a lot of visitors today, but if anyone might know about vacancies, it would be Maka. She's been here the longest, or close to it.

[He can't stop thinking about--]

Excuse me, would you mind if I asked you what exactly you are?

[force_a_change]

Oh, well. I wouldn't want to be a bother to he--

[Oh that question. She just smiles more at that, although now it may just look a bit... Odd, her smile.]

I don't mind at all, Mister Kid! I am a Humanoid Interface for The Integrated Data Sentient Entity.

[She is well aware that what she just said probably sounds like she's spouting gibberish at Kid, but she won't explain more until he asks.]

[symmetrophile]

[Without a soul to read, Kid is a little lost as far as that smile is concerned, and even if she'd had one, it would be of little help when it comes down to what the heck that term means.

The blank stare and the way Kid's mouth works silently before he finally speaks all suggest he's been struck momentarily speechless.

With a name like that, there's only one conclusion. He just never thought he'd see one with his own eyes. Don't the other boys at the Academy read comic books about stuff like this? Not that he cares for those, they always struck him as an incredible waste of time, but--]

Oh dear.

I always thought a robot would be more... oh, how shall I put it?

[If his wild assumption proves to be correct, that will be something hilarious.]

[force_a_change]

[... a robot?!

Kid is a bit off with that.

Also Asakura just laughs a little.]

No, not a robot... The Entity is in space and us Interfaces can do everything humans can do. Eat, sleep, breathe and bleed.

[Tee hee, oh Kid. She's a portion of an alien hivemind.]

[symmetrophile]

[The Entity? Interfaces?]

There's a lot more to being human than that. For instance, you lack a soul. What is this entity you mentioned, and for what purpose would this entity make you?

[He also didn't miss the fact she mentioned them as if there were more than just herself.]

[force_a_change]

To communicate and observe humans, of course.

[Her voice has gone flat now, all that chipperness is gone.]

And why would I need a "soul"? And to put it simply, the Entity is an alien and so am I.

[And of course there is more than just her. Can't watch humans with only one set of eyes after all.]

[symmetrophile]

Yes, but for what purp--

[An alien?

Oh god, this is really sounding like something from late-night bad television, or a dream you've had after snacking while watching said late-night television.]

...

[He doesn't know how to deal with soul-less aliens.]

Ah.

[force_a_change]

[A souless alien that looks like a teenaged girl. Also symmetrical]

Anything else, Mister Kid?

[She may have just leaned in closer when she asked that.]

[symmetrophile]

[That awful moment when the most symmetrical person in the house happens to lack a soul and until recently was stalking around, soaking wet, with a knife in one hand.

Kid stoically leans in the opposite direction, his expression, previously construed as 'dismissively flat', edging into the territory of put off and unnerved.]

I was going to ask 'for what purpose', but the answer wouldn't happen to be something like curiosity, would it?

[force_a_change]

... No, not curiosity.

[She pulls away, giving Kid some space now.]

To find the key to auto-evolution, actually. Since the Entity has reached it's peak of evolution.

[symmetrophile]

And this entity wishes to discover a way to evolve further, by observing humans?

[That's intriguing, but he's not entirely sure how that would work. Didn't modern science say that humans themselves evolved gradually, over many thousands of years?]

[force_a_change]

Yes, since humans haven't finished evolving and well... We have all the time in the world to watch them.

[She's not going to mention that, really, they're more focused on one human in particular. There's no point to it, and Kid may catch that she sounded just a little annoyed at saying the Entity has all the time in the world to watch humans.]

[symmetrophile]

We?

[Again, with the plural.]

I assume you mean your whole purpose is centered around this task, which you must carry out potentially into eternity.

Doesn't that get a little boring?

[force_a_change]

Yes... The Entity is a well... A collective group of formless data-beings, thus we.

[That and it's easier to say "We" instead of "The Entity" all the time.]

Well I've only been observing a certain [pause] area for three years.

And it's only bring when absolutely nothing interesting happens!