Lumiere

Men vs. Women Race to 1000: Version 2.0

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Men vs. Women Race to 1000: Version 2.0

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Men vs. Women Race to 1000: Version 2.0

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Men vs. Women Race to 1000: Version 2.0

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Aieth - The World Between

Kaite regarded Nez's brief explanation with a flick of an ear and a chuckle backing an otherwise soft, "Ehn I am not exactly a rabbit." Then going about demolishing the stew in as elegant of a fashion as hardly a napkin was used, lest any go to waste, the chimera found himself in the presence of an interview taking place. Already about as out of place as he could be, and having been offered a seat, he merely stayed put and observed, partially wishing his eye had recording potential. Understandably, such features were left out.

Conversation, one-sided at a time as it was, tilted in the direction of technology. At first, Kaite imagined the three were discussing tech augments similar to his eye, and with that understanding, the two women seemed extensively fitted with everything down to an artificial mind and memory bank. Roughly in this instant, Kaite paused from eating, the word 'android' being thrown around quite a bit and in ways that made sense in upsetting ways.
Paranoia seeped into Kaite's psyche, continuing eating at a considerably more reserved pace as not to seem unnatural...potentially defeating the point of the display; a testament to how the knowledge of androids shook him if it broke the charade.

It was just a word, 'android', robots given a more humanoid appearance. Maybe a sophisticated AI would be added, capable of fooling anyone around them into thinking they were as real as the fake skin the living metal skeleton wore.
The monolithic 'Monitor-Seekers' of the Triganavia labs were at least honest in their design; towering, sharp-angled, armored black boxes from which came only claws, syringes and hollow encouragement. They were even capable of conversation, for what it was worth.

We all knew what they were for...

Colour Kaite skeptical of the trickery at hand when it came to these 'androids'. As far as he knew, machines were made for a purpose, not to seek one. It's when you allow inanimate objects to decide what 'future' should be that the nightmare walks beyond walls.

Kaite was snapped back to his senses of sorts upon biting into the small chocolate bar, having been locked in the motion of eating while lost in though. While the loss of time was certainly worrying, the edged bitterness of the chocolate lulled him back into reality. His new reality ...one where...I dunno...machines understood smiles and handed out small dark bars of sweetness. I was free and this new world was...pretty nice, actually. Well, as long as I amass more of those coins and such.

Kaite seemed dazed, having already managed his way through the chocolate and beginning to fold the wrapper up, absent mindedly.

Aieth - The World Between

@ineffably@Camey@Lyla

The woman who introduced herself as Ayla, though insisted on being called Nez, struck Kaïte as a bit strange. While he was willing to excuse her behavior as humans simply acting strange and being experts at hiding their intentions, the inconsistencies perplexed the homunculus. Her opening statement hinted to how she was always here, though to Kaïte, she claimed to have only been here once or twice. Kaïte knew no reason why Nez would lie to him, though he supposed humans didn't need any to obfuscate truths. They ran the world and their lies were inconsequential to the grand shadow they pulled over the land. Truly despicable, treating him like an imperceptive rube, though Kaïte couldn't fault Nez for their nature. She seemed nice enough, regardless. It just seemed like something insignificant, which only made Kaïte more curious about the establishment.

Nez's strangeness was countered by her associate's bubbly enthusiasm. It was certainly a change from what he knew, and had yet to cease from catching Kaïte off guard. Though he was unsure how he felt about her energy, she was certainly becoming a delight to be in proximity of. The homogenized perspective made Kaïte feel strange, briefly wondering if he was the strange one in all of this...which was very likely.
"Heh, iz certainly an accident. I do not suppose zeis vahz vehr I hoped to end up" Kaïte admitted with a chuckle tactfully planted to smoothly offer the impression of humor to his statement. His mind drifted, wondering where else he would rather be, or even what other places exist that would be more favorable than-

Kaïte's ears stood up straight, almost touching as he covered his mouth and nose with his hands upon the return of the waitress who set the water, chocolate and stew before him. In his shock and amazement by the steaming confection, his disbelief left him unsure what to do with it. It was a farcry from the gray protein and vitamin gruel served in the Triganavia labs, a testament to what food could be, and though it was not exactly like the picture on the menu, Kaïte was in no condition to object, worried that it would simply vanish if he blinked.
Eyes wide, Kaïte looked up to Ardella, managing to offer a "Iz eit?" as if assuming there was some sort of mistake. Back to the meal, he unfolded the napkin to retrieve the spoon and set to curiously stirring the contents of the bowl with mild apprehension.

Aieth - The World Between

@ineffably
@Camey

With a blink, Kaïte closed his hands on the change, embarassed as the obviousness of the interfaces mounted on tables sank in. "Oh!...Yis, vould certainly be convenient. I vill try" he muttered, trailing off as she curtsyed and stepped away to tend to another customer.
Inspecting the device, determined to get its operation right on his first try, his attention was drawn by the woman at the other table introducing herself. The struggle to quickly get the coins out of his various small pockets had left him standing, and the invitation suggested sitting at the same otherwise unoccupied table as the woman who introduced herself as 'Effie'.

"A-ah, yes! Iz a pleasure to meet you, Miss Effie" Kaïte swiftly replied, having briefly forgotten how greetings worked. He sat, inelegantly dumping the coins in a small pile in front of himself, barely catching a few which almost rolled off of the table.
He was slightly relieved by Effie having found someone else she knew, giving him time to focus on the screen. Greeting by a digital menu, Kaïte was immediately entranced by the images of what humans considered food. The thought would have made him jealous if it weren't for the lucre before himself. Finding the recommended 'stew', Kaïte was repulsed by the realization of what 'beef' was, though decided not to make a scene since it was likely commonplace to the point where protest. Having been on the run and then trapped in a box for who knew how long, he was far too hungry to judge and just ordered it, anyway. Water was easy; duh Kaïte knew what water was.
Rifling through conveniently marked denotations of monetary value located on the coins, he breathed a sigh of relief that he was able to afford it all on top of having a coin or two left over.

With good timing, Kaïte verified his order as Effie gestured back to him. Kaïte looked up to her from the now neatly sorted coins. With a blankly surprised expression, an ear curiously tilting to the side, he came to the conclusion that she was speaking to him and briefly looked between the two women, mustering a pleasant smile.
"Paerdon my manners. My name iz...Kaïte, yes...I am a bit new in town" he explained with the fakest of chuckles, only raising his voice enough to be heard over the noise. Though his disposition appeared to visibly warm, the ear that tilted nervously flicked with a jingle of its adornments before standing back up to attention. "Iz...hrm. Vehr iz here, anyvaè? Iz certainly cold" Kaïte couldn't help but ask, endlessly curious about where his exploits had led him. No doubt a question that came without the faintest hint of discretion, so casually pointing out being unprepared for the time of year displayed doubly by his (or her?) attire. A plain white v-neck tee, ink-black jean short shorts and white socks scrunched up at the brim of a pair of black and white converse. Classic and stylish with simplicity...assuming it was summer.
Certainly people get lost and just wander into towns, though not often into cities and definitely not into entire climate shifts.

Aieth - The World Between

@Lyla
@ineffably

The majesty of the setting quickly died off as it seemed everywhere Kaïte looked, there were humans of a sort. It was not so much a problem with the race as it was their association with the only people he'd ever known. Lacking experience with 'normal people', all he had to base his prejudice on was the past. Sure, every one of them was a unique individual...all with the capability of murdering their fellow man, no doubt. There probably wasn't much weight to that qualm without being a hypocrite, though, so Kaïte took a deep breath and tried to ignore his urge to leave. There was no telling how many other places were essentially the same, anyway, and with the cold, wandering around was out of the question.

A considerable amount of talking suddenly came from his neighbor's table, the woman having found another friend by the look of it. She seemed very interested in the serving-lady, though over the music and her accent, Kaïte could only mostly pick out an expression of thanks. There was something...off about the waitress, like their skeleton was in control of their actions as their muscles seemed to barely move when she did, if at all.
The corners of the establishment appeared occupied and without anywhere else to imagine receding into, fitting in was his next best option. All he'd managed to swipe before leaving was a small collection of coins from a jar on Jericho's desk and one of those pocketknife multitools.

"Ehm...miss? Iz zehr someszink I could get for...zeis?" Kaïte awkwardly chirped to Ardella, since she was within earshot, serving one table over. He quickly dug though the pockets of his attire to retrieve roughly [monetary denominator that the world runs on, about six bucks worth]. The thought that going through the options would also keep her there to conclude her business with the woman and her glass.

Aieth - The World Between

Black and blues with the occasional streak of silvers and brown from the crate wall whenever a streetlight passed by the small window of the door leading to the cab of the truck. The cargo hold of the delivery craft was unfortunately left unheated as its contents mainly consisted of meticulously packed bottles of clear liquid and locked cooler-like containers. The icing on the cake was the analogue variant made for short range travel and road on wheels. All together, Kaïte was relieved when it finally came to a stop, the shadows of the back of heads joking about something in an outrageous accent as they got out.
Wasting no time, Kaïte maneuvered himself in the box of fresh towels to place his feet to a corner of the lid. With a bit of effort, the small creaked out of place, but just when he'd thought himself free of his confines, the latch to the rear of the truck disengaged.

"--So then I says to Maybel, I says- Awh! What happened 'ere?" One of the delivery people started before stopping abruptly as if having noticed something. Kaïte held his breath and froze, certain his work on the crate had been noticed. What sounded like the figure that spoke up climbed into the truck and over to the crate. He proceeded to stomp down on the corner, knocking the lid back into place with a "Nah, crappy crates" before picking up a different crate and handing it down to the first who stacked it on a dolley. They soon disappeared back inside the building, their conversation resuming, "-- Anyways, so as I says I was saying to Maybel-" being cut off by the door closing and automatically locking behind them.
In tense silence, Kaïte felt like an idiot, honestly unsure what he was expecting. With a heave-ho, he was free, success! However, it was quickly apparent how the outside climate had changed. Contrast to the nest he fashioned out of the linins, the sting of winter wind on exposed skin made him wish he could just stay in the box or fashion a way to take it with him, though by the distant sounds of the delivery people offloading it was clear there was no such option available. The lid clearly removed, there was no point returning to it as a hiding spot, so Kaïte settled on testing the reflexes of the two if need be.

Anywhere was better than the cold, dark back of the truck, even if it was somewhere down the equally cold, dark alleyway which said back of the truck overlooked. Deep in the recesses of the stone and steelwork that built the labyrinthine backstreets of the city, Kaïte's ears perked to the sound of a soft groan. Faintly, from the shadows came a faint white shape which shuddered its way into view. Oddly, the thing was not registering on thermals, though what the keener eye caught was the glint of an eye which stared back, aware as the five others. It lifted what could be considered a hand from underneath itself in the Aylv's direction and trembled before emitting a pleading grunt, the hand glinting scarlet with blood.
A ringing shot through Kaïte's ears from the sound, every fiber of his being pleading for him to run. It gently scooted forward, still some distance off but now definitely moving towards the truck. With no other direction to escape in, the rabbit could only watch in growing panic as it edged into the shadow of a dumpster. In the darkness, it could almost be mistaken as someone hunched over, even down to how it wretched and belted out another asserting groan, vying for Kaïte's attention, causing him to flinch and cringe with dread.

Just then, light poured into the scene from the door to the building reopening and the shadows of the delivery dudes re-emerged. From how the first one reacted, it seemed as though he also heard the sound, holding up a hand to pause his associate in the middle of what could potentially be described as a joke. Regardless, they had a job to do and continued walking, though the first one reached into his vest to draw a wand.
Seeing this as his only opportunity, Kaïte leapt up, darting for the light and whispering a gentle "Lo'qhaise" as he was about to round the corner of the truck.
Snowflakes slowed nearly to a standstill until being brushed aside by Kaïte's mad dash, sliding between the legs of the man at the door and twirling around the corner before they could even notice what looked like a smudge on their passing shadows. The unarmed man was apparently more invested in whatever his coworker was looking towards and cast 'light' just as the door shut behind Kaïte.

Knowing the two could be back at any moment, Kaïte didn't waste time in locating another door out of the storeroom. Opening the door a crack, he peered out into a vast room with all manners of intriguing lighting as well as stiflingly loud music, making his ears fold back. A resounding thump of magic echoing from the doorway from whence he came spelled out the state of affairs in that direction; only one, though.
Unsure what that meant for him, Kaïte insisted on fleeing the scene.

Awkwardly sidling into The Queen of Hearts via a door clearly marked 'employees only', he would certainly look out of place to anyone paying attention or caring. Regardless, he casually distanced himself from the door and had a seat at an empty table near the human woman who appeared to be enjoying the company of glassware.
Kaïte on the other hand was more focused on warming up and stretching after being confined for nearly half a day. Plans can wait, decompressing from what he'd just been through seemed like a proper course of action for the time being.
Looking around, he couldn't help but notice humans and other races mingling on a backdrop of colorful lights that briefly stunned him with the brilliance of what just 'green' could be. Truly, this new world was a peculiar yet fascinating one~

Aieth - The World Between

@Leotamer

It'd be believable for tectonic activity in the mountain range to churn up spring water, desalinated from pooling and diffusion in the Isparian 'highlands'. No wonder the trees could grown giant if they were growing atop a massive ancient aquifer.