First Order of Business

[blazebrother]

[There's little more than the slight sound of fabric rustling and careful walking. A door opens and shuts experimentally. A pause. The new voice is deliberately quiet, calm, and non-threatening.]

This must be it.

['Sup telephone!]

Someone has business with me here?

Comments

[heartofheaven]

Have you just arrived?

[blazebrother]

Arguably. For practical purposes, yes.

[heartofheaven]

Well, you either have or you haven't. Do you know where you are? This town is called Mayfield.

[blazebrother]

Mayfield, huh?

What I meant is that someone seems to have gone out of their way to make it seem like I've been here. It's pretty fascinating in an excessive, creepy, possibly fanatical way.

[heartofheaven]

Oh... right. Yeah, that happens to all of us. They give us these fake lives and the drones act as though we've been here since we were born.

[blazebrother]

How elaborate.

Should I even bother asking if anyone knows why?

[heartofheaven]

No. Even after all this time... We still don't know.

Sorry, I should introduce myself. I'm Tifa.

[blazebrother]

Of course not. A reasonable explanation would make this all too manageable on our end.

Well Tifa, you can call me Hayasaka - and on that note, I'd appreciate it if you'd let me know if you've come across another one. It sounds like we've got our work cut out for us here.

[heartofheaven]

It's nice to meet you. Do you mean come across another Hayasaka?

[blazebrother]

Likewise.

You'd probably know if you ran into him, but yeah, that's exactly what I meant. Keeping us separated... Well, like I said, you'd know.

[heartofheaven]

Is he your brother? Mayfield isn't exactly generous when it comes to bringing people together, but I'll look out for him.

[blazebrother]

Correct.

Considering the apparent goal of this operation, that makes sense, unfortunately.

[heartofheaven]

Well, I'll let you know if I see him. Good luck.