dualisnet | text | UN: blitzace

i guess

[ It's not easy -- or comfortable -- to talk about, as much as he can't stop thinking about it. Takes him time to give his replies. ]

i mean there's so much weird stuff out there in different worlds that maybe it's possible. or maybe that's not what's going on here

[ Which has really been on his mind, and worrying him. But. Better not get too specific. ]

thought it couldn't hurt to ask

Probably not. But if you're that bored, I could use some help today. There's a lot to do to keep your mind off it.

[ that's a hint that if he wants to talk about things more candidly, her bar is a lot safer than the network. ]

[ In truth, his questions being called being bored still stings, even if Tidus knows Tifa is likely just trying to help, though not guessing the extent.

Nevertheless: ]

i'll come over if you need the help. can you give me an hour?

[ she'll apologize later for coming off that way. stupid head and having to be nonchalant and speak in code. curse herself for wanting to pick the right moments to tell cloud important things. ]

Sure. I'll be here.

[ when he makes his way in, he'll find her to the side of the main counter, closer towards the basement stairs, still obviously working, but also clearly waiting. ]

[ By the time he arrives, Tidus doesn't show any particular signs for the conversation he's been having over the dualisnet; neither chipper nor down, giving Tifa a nod as he comes over to her, a friendly enough ] Hey [ before he reaches the counter.

There, he starts to tug at one of the sleeves of his jacket, but pauses. ] Where do you want me? The kitchen?

[ ....he absolutely thinks he's here to work......... ]

[ at least tifa is pretty quick to disabuse him of that idea, though her expression is pretty apologetic. ]

Sorry for blowing you off back there. It's hard to say anything when you don't know who's listening in.

[ aka the head. she motions for him to follow her and makes her way down to the basement where they can talk a little more freely. ]

There's something I didn't want to say where the Head could hear, but it's also something Cloud doesn't know... and I haven't figured out how to tell him yet.

[ she sighs tiredly. there's a lot she still has to figure out how to tell cloud. ]

A friend of ours was here a while ago. She... died, back home. I'm pretty sure she came here after that. Or at least she knew about it. So, to answer your question, I guess it depends on who or what brings us places and what they're really capable of. I think there are a lot more options for something like that than anyone's normal homeworld seems to be capable of.

[ now she's getting the idea that aerith might have been a robot too and she does not like that thought. ]

[ Oh.

Oh.

Tidus is taken back, both by the apology and when Tifa leads him down, feeling strangely out of place from where he's going and where thought he would be, but it certainly is better than being discreet over a public network. ...and for more reasons than just the Head, but what Tifa brings up about them is a large part of it still.

He walks idly, his voice soft when he speaks. ]

I've been wondering what... the Head can do in general. I knew people could come back from the dead, but. It's weird when you think about it, right? Doing that to a body. I guess I thought...you know, bringing someone back -- you've got the body. You can drag people here from other worlds. Why not revive people too?

[ As insane as it should be, if you have the methods... Sometimes, Tidus questioned just how smart the Head really was. But its apparent resources? The proof existed all around. In the dead people Tidus has met. In the fact any of them are there in the first place. ]

But I've been wondering if... the way the Head's keeping me here is the chip. That thing can kill any of us any time, [ so none of them are really safe, no matter if they were alive before arriving here, ] but if anything happened to the chip put in me--

[ He paces towards the end of that thought, stops, looks over to Tifa and then decides against it, a frown pulling across his mouth. His brow sinking. ]

A person won't just die again if they don't have one in them, right? They're still -- healed, fixed up. But my problem has nothing to do with my body. I'll just -- fade.

[ He spreads his hands some for effect. ]

[ this whole conversation is uncomfortable in so many ways for tifa, but it's her fault for bringing it up. she isn't going to back out now, after offering the explanation in the first place. ]

Everything about this place is weird, [ she points out dryly. ] It feels wrong. How do we know those people are real? But also... if the Head has the power to really bring someone back from the dead, then their little show of executional power means they're even worse than we thought. They have this power, but they won't use it except for very specific cases. It's... awful.

[ she does listen to the rest of tidus' explanation, her brow furrowed in thought. ]

Maybe it's not the chip, [ she offers. ] Maybe they had some other way to bring you back. I don't know how, but if they could bring Aerith back from the Lifestream, why can't they do the same with you?

[ she doesn't honestly know what his "fading" deal is, so she can't say for certainly aside from this, but... she can hope. for his sake. being stuck here would be awful. ]

[ The reminder of the executions makes Tidus cringe, but it makes him think too, reminds him of something spoken about. The way the Head just chooses: chooses who to turn into clones, who to keep human. Another thing about the Head that doesn't make any sense, but one that slips from his immediate thoughts with the one that Tifa presents next.

Being brought back... not just the body, but. He never thought about that, did he? ]

The Lifestream... that's your place where people go when they move on?

[ He says it about as respectfully -- or carefully -- as he can. She's speaking about a friend in mentioning it, and he doesn't want to be rude about that. ]

[ she nods at his question. she's thought about it a fair bit since seeing aerith here, even more since the clones happened. it's a chilling scenario. how does the head do it? and what's the real reason? ]

They return to the Planet and become part of the Lifestream. I don't know if there's anything else to it. I... didn't ask when Aerith was here.

[ and probably never will, even if she has the chance to in the future. some things are just too hard to face. ]

So that adds an extra complication. Her body is under the water at the City of the Ancients and somehow they pulled her back from the Lifestream. It's... unnerving.

[ Where was Yuna?

That's where this line of thinking takes Tidus. Where is Yuna? --Gone, but gone where, and the question sinks into the pit of his stomach like a cold sickness. Could he get to her? Take her back? Back with him, and he has to, doesn't he? He can't go back if some part of her is stuck here. He could never forgive himself.

Tidus turns away from Tifa, running both hands through his hair, head dipped. Sighs audibly, long and drawn out. ]

We need to find out, [ he says eventually. ] I don't... I don't want to leave Yuna here, if there's a way out. They deserve to go home.

[ she gets it. she really does. a part of her feels the same about aerith, even though with aerith it's a question of life and death. with yuna... well, considering the head and the clones, maybe it's life and death for her, too.

tifa sighs, moving to one of the walls and leaning her back against it, head bowed slightly. ]

Right. I feel the same about Aerith. They don't deserve to be left here and Vincent... Vincent told me that Aerith saves the world, so we kinda need her.

[ even through all of the pain and worry, tifa manages a small smile. no matter what the head tries to do to them, she knows the group of people dedicated to resisting won't stop until the head is defeated. whatever it takes. ]

We'll find a way to save them. I'll keep an ear out. Half of the reason I work so much is to listen for anything we can use. So if I hear something that might help us locate Yuna, I'll let you know.

[ He taps his hands together, wishing right then there was more answers, more that they could do (and wasn't that the constant state everyone was in while being stuck here?). Is this literally going to involve finding a way to...take back spirits? But that task doesn't so much bother him as finding out the way. Just, whatever that would be. Who that would involve and what.

He faces Tifa again, nodding his head at her, ready himself to ask questions -- when he lifts his head, wide-eyed. ]

Wait, the Head -- the way it brings people here who shouldn't. If it can bring people back, why can't we? We wanna get access to the thing that brings us here in the first place. [ He moves a hand out. ] Squall told me that the people who die here sometimes, they still come back as human. Not clones. He decides when he wants them to be clones later.

[ As bizarre as it is. ]

Isn't that a way?

[ tifa frowns. it throws a whole new wrench into their lives, but at the same time, she can't say it's new information and it sure fits with everything else they know. ]

You're right. So, I guess we just have to find out the means it uses to do that... without it catching on. Or we just take it apart first and then figure out that way.

[ there's a whole lot that could go wrong either way, honestly. so many variables they don't have answers for. it's enough to make her head spin. ]

I don't like the idea of having to wait to figure it all out, but if we rush in without enough information about what we're trying to do, we'll just get killed. That won't help anyone. But this... this is a start.

[ it gives them something to work with and thoughts about where to go next. that's better than they'd had before. ]

Right. Whatever we do, we have to take the Head out of the picture first. It's just a computer, right? Someone out of us should be able to figure everything out.

[ Anyway-- ] I'd rather we spend years figuring out how to work whatever tech it's got than keeping it around and doing the work for us.

text | UN: blitzace

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