Alright, so maybe staying out in the cold the entirety of last shift wasn't the best idea in the world for a human, as Zero was now thoroughly chilled to the point where the sensation of indoor heating on his body was both relieving and uncomfortable, strangely enough. At least it was better than the thought of sitting uselessly in a music room for an entire shift. That sounded just as wasteful and undesirable as the arts and crafts room shift from a previous day. Thankfully, Nigredo wanted to meet in the Sun Room this shift, so Zero didn't have to waste his time in either room.
That bulletin board message Nigredo had left for him was interesting, though. Under the weather and lacking in coherency...wonder what was wrong? Guess he'd find out when he met him, Zero supposed. Which would be...about right now, actually, as he spotted someone with black hair and green eyes sitting on one of the couches. That must be him.
But...huh. Had Nigredo ever mentioned that he was a child? Zero didn't remember if he had, and he'd been assuming Nigredo was much older. And why did he look so similar to another boy with white hair from yesterday...weird. Oh well.
Zero set his questions aside for now and approached the boy. "Nigredo, right?"
It was a fair-haired individual who knocked Nigredo out of his forced stupor, who approached by calling his name. The child glanced upward, noting the long hair and the blue eyes, and found himself taken aback by how young the figure appeared. A product of being in the company of too many adults for so many years, Nigredo supposed; it was always the teenagers he couldn't quite grasp. Although, if this was the anticipated Zero, age and appearance mattered little.
He offered acknowledgement with a nod. "Zero, I'm assuming?" The U.R.T.V. should be screaming internally in his excitement at meeting a 'Reploid', but the last night had placed a heavy damper on spirits. Instead, the impulse was stifled, and Nigredo gestured to an open seat, grimacing once as the wound on his chest burned. "It's really nice to meet you," he continued.
One might have questioned his reasoning for requesting a meeting for a purely selfish reason, but to Nigredo, it was simple. A 4000-year-old antiquity who knew facets of history left long buried in his time was the proverbial shiny thing in his world of dull. Nigredo would likely have hated himself if he had let the chance go.
At Nigredo's question, Zero nodded, and at his gesture, he obeyed and sat down in the empty seat near him. The boy's brief grimace didn't go unnoticed, however, and neither did the bandages just showing under one of his shirt sleeves, which the once-Reploid saw after sitting down. An injury. Is this is what he meant by being 'a bit under the weather'?
Now Zero was even more curious and somewhat concerned, too, although neither emotion showed through his expression. The concern was, of course, mostly due to Nigredo being a child. Why was someone as young as him injured? Adults, being older, stronger, and more experienced, could usually deal with injuries far better than children. But in a place like this, with how dangerous it tended to be at night, neither age group could possibly benefit from an injury, children especially... It would only put them in more danger. Never mind how dangerous it was already. So what happened to Nigredo?
So much for setting his questions aside. "Are you okay?" he asked, intent on learning about Nigredo's condition before they started discussing anything else. ...Including what they were supposed to be talking about in the first place, the whole reason for their meeting.
They sat as acquaintances, as neighbors preparing to breach pleasant conversation. It should be straightforward--discussions about another's timeline passed easily in this place. Only now, Zero had sought to inquire about welfare, and Nigredo found himself at two extremes. He stayed staring, emotions behind a blank screen, thoughts running in gamut. There existed warmth. There existed blood red and--
He shuddered, the reaction barely noticeable. Like clockwork, his mind swept the shattered pieces into the inky black, to leave Nigredo with his objectivity. "I'm fine," he said, as if nothing had occurred before. Green eyes slid to the wrappings revealed just below his sleeve as he tried to ignore the sensation on his chest. This proved difficult.
"I'll be fine," he continued, "as long as I keep myself inactive for a couple of nights." No worries, then. They could continue as planned.
Zero said nothing, only stared at the boy with a look that said subtly whatever he would have said out loud: A boy your age shouldn't be getting hurt like this. You'd better stay inactive as long as you need to heal...
Again, he would say nothing out loud; asking about the origins of the injury was tempting, but it didn't look like Nigredo wanted to talk about it and Zero wasn't the nosy type. Besides, Nigredo...seemed rather mature for his age, assuming from the bulletin board conversations and the way he seemed to be handling his injury right now. The former alone was what had led the once-Reploid to believe he was an adult in the first place. So surely the boy could handle this better than other children, right?
... Hm... Nigredo's apparent maturity despite his age, plus remembering what he told Zero on the board about where he'd come from, compared to similar information provided by another...another boy who looked a lot like him... ... No, he should wait to ask until he had more definitive proof that they were related in some fashion. If Nigredo mentioned a living retrovirus, then he would mention it.
For now, though. Zero would let talk of Nigredo's injury end here and switch subjects. It was about time they started their planned conversation, anyway. "...So what do you want to know about me?"
Not many dropped the subject when the injury was so apparent, and thus, Nigredo appreciated the change in direction. The other looked hardly convinced, but he (or she; the long hair and androgynous features made it difficult to differentiate) was willing to stay with propriety. Furthermore, they were now veering into a territory of interest, something the child had to take advantage of.
Green eyes lit up in interest, and Nigredo leaned slightly forward. "Admittedly," he started, the word coming off almost shy in execution, "I'm curious about everything in regards to you." Origin, volition, Lost Jerusalem, etc. The list could stretch for miles.
"I won't waste your time, however, on general questions," he assured. "Instead, I wanted to pick up where I left off." Where being volition and its consequence--the fact had etched deeply into his mind. "I remember you said that all Reploids have volition. From what I've learned about android history, though, humans weren't keen on giving them freedom outside their original programming. I don't believe they even touched on constructing personality layers until well after the Earth disappeared. I've actually never heard of the term 'Reploid' until yesterday."
He paused for consideration as the child lifted his eyes to Zero. There was caution in his expression. "Before you were brought here, was there anything...off about your world?"
Well, there was proof that Nigredo didn't want to talk about what had happened to him, unless he was just too excited about this conversation to let it bother him. His curiosity was understandable, at least; Zero was equally curious to learn about him, his time period, and why he wasn't aware of Reploids when inferior androids had been invented. There were a great deal of questions he wanted to ask the boy, but he would allow Nigredo to start questioning first and they could go from there.
So now, what exactly did the boy mean by something 'off' about his world...? Instead of outright asking for clarification though, Zero paused momentarily, blinking, then responded with the best of his ability on what he assumed Nigredo meant. "...The world's mostly destroyed, if that's what you mean. But it's been that way for a long time, so it's not any new, strange development."
This required explanation, he was aware. He would save Nigredo the trouble of asking and just explain it now. "There was a war a century ago that caused it, the Elf Wars. It only lasted four years, but it was bad enough to wipe out a good percent of the world's population and leave most of the earth inhospitable. Global recovery's been a slow process." Good enough for a basic summary. If the boy wanted more details, then Zero would explain further. Simple as that.
As for what Nigredo said before he'd asked that question, though, about androids... The once-Reploid couldn't let that go without comment. "And as for Reploids, they've been around for at least two centuries by my time and have always had volition and personalities. I don't understand why they wouldn't at least be mentioned in your history."
Childlike tendency should have called for a reaction, but Nigredo kept to impassivity at Zero's account. A feat he had accomplished by focusing entirely on objective details. Otherwise, he might have betrayed his feelings, which happened to be more negative than initially expected. What he understood of Lost Jerusalem and its history proved much different from the version given by Zero. Granted, what he knew was woefully incomplete, had little consistency, and nothing registered as concrete, but he would have thought a major war and androids with free will would have survived until his age, especially when it resulted in such a catastrophic loss.
This indicated several possibilities, both of which held disconcerting elements: (1) no record existed of the Elf Wars and Reploids (or none was shown to the U.R.T.V.), or (2) Nigredo and Zero hailed from two separate timelines. In the boy's view, he was more accepting of the first point than the second, albeit the reasons were more obscure than he was willing to admit. Nigredo understood he would likely need to reveal both to Zero, but how to manage it was a question in and of itself.
He considered the options, lips flattened in contemplation. Finally: "That's what I thought, too. Records became sparse after Earth's disappearance, but even I would have heard about a massive decline in population and the existence of Reploids." There was a brief pause. "The reason I asked for irregularities in your time was to see if it matched what was assumed in mine. As I believe 'they' would have made their appearance then..."
There was a glance to the side. "Do you remember when I said humans shifted focus to creating artificial life and überhumans?" he asked, tone cautious and well-placed.
It seemed like the lack of Elf Wars and Reploid records for Nigredo would go without explanation. As he thought about it some more, however, Zero suddenly remembered something that could help solve this problem: Neo Arcadia, the world's only government of his time, actively silenced its media in order to keep a good reputation for itself. As a result, its population was largely kept in the dark about a lot of things, including most details about the Elf Wars. So that could explain why Nigredo, four thousand years in the future with sparse records of the past, wouldn't know about it at all. Granted, things probably changed after Weil took over Neo Arcadia or after Craft destroyed it, and it also didn't explain why Nigredo didn't know about Reploids. But for now, it was the best explanation the once-Reploid could come up.
Yes, he was aware that there was another explanation, a fact he had just learned from someone on the bulletin board - that people not only came here from other times, but also other planets - but he was more inclined to believe that Nigredo came from the future rather than another solar system. How would he know of Earth and androids otherwise?
Before he could bring up either explanation, however, Nigredo launched another question at him, and his thoughts were briefly put aside to answer it. Did he remember being told about 'überhumans'? "Yeah." A pause. Then, gray-blue eyes lit up in slight realization as he put the question together with the comment Nigredo made before asking it. "Are you saying...that these 'überhumans' are supposed to start existing around my time?"
It made sense, at least. It wasn't like Zero knew what technological advancements would be made after Weil was finally put to rest. What did this mean, then? Would humans have decided that Reploids were too much trouble, that they should develop something 'more useful' to them? The thought was...troubling. So he would stop thinking about it and let Nigredo explain.
That bulletin board message Nigredo had left for him was interesting, though. Under the weather and lacking in coherency...wonder what was wrong? Guess he'd find out when he met him, Zero supposed. Which would be...about right now, actually, as he spotted someone with black hair and green eyes sitting on one of the couches. That must be him.
But...huh. Had Nigredo ever mentioned that he was a child? Zero didn't remember if he had, and he'd been assuming Nigredo was much older. And why did he look so similar to another boy with white hair from yesterday...weird. Oh well.
Zero set his questions aside for now and approached the boy. "Nigredo, right?"
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He offered acknowledgement with a nod. "Zero, I'm assuming?" The U.R.T.V. should be screaming internally in his excitement at meeting a 'Reploid', but the last night had placed a heavy damper on spirits. Instead, the impulse was stifled, and Nigredo gestured to an open seat, grimacing once as the wound on his chest burned. "It's really nice to meet you," he continued.
One might have questioned his reasoning for requesting a meeting for a purely selfish reason, but to Nigredo, it was simple. A 4000-year-old antiquity who knew facets of history left long buried in his time was the proverbial shiny thing in his world of dull. Nigredo would likely have hated himself if he had let the chance go.
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Now Zero was even more curious and somewhat concerned, too, although neither emotion showed through his expression. The concern was, of course, mostly due to Nigredo being a child. Why was someone as young as him injured? Adults, being older, stronger, and more experienced, could usually deal with injuries far better than children. But in a place like this, with how dangerous it tended to be at night, neither age group could possibly benefit from an injury, children especially... It would only put them in more danger. Never mind how dangerous it was already. So what happened to Nigredo?
So much for setting his questions aside. "Are you okay?" he asked, intent on learning about Nigredo's condition before they started discussing anything else. ...Including what they were supposed to be talking about in the first place, the whole reason for their meeting.
It could wait. They had time.
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He shuddered, the reaction barely noticeable. Like clockwork, his mind swept the shattered pieces into the inky black, to leave Nigredo with his objectivity. "I'm fine," he said, as if nothing had occurred before. Green eyes slid to the wrappings revealed just below his sleeve as he tried to ignore the sensation on his chest. This proved difficult.
"I'll be fine," he continued, "as long as I keep myself inactive for a couple of nights." No worries, then. They could continue as planned.
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Again, he would say nothing out loud; asking about the origins of the injury was tempting, but it didn't look like Nigredo wanted to talk about it and Zero wasn't the nosy type. Besides, Nigredo...seemed rather mature for his age, assuming from the bulletin board conversations and the way he seemed to be handling his injury right now. The former alone was what had led the once-Reploid to believe he was an adult in the first place. So surely the boy could handle this better than other children, right?
... Hm... Nigredo's apparent maturity despite his age, plus remembering what he told Zero on the board about where he'd come from, compared to similar information provided by another...another boy who looked a lot like him... ... No, he should wait to ask until he had more definitive proof that they were related in some fashion. If Nigredo mentioned a living retrovirus, then he would mention it.
For now, though. Zero would let talk of Nigredo's injury end here and switch subjects. It was about time they started their planned conversation, anyway. "...So what do you want to know about me?"
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Green eyes lit up in interest, and Nigredo leaned slightly forward. "Admittedly," he started, the word coming off almost shy in execution, "I'm curious about everything in regards to you." Origin, volition, Lost Jerusalem, etc. The list could stretch for miles.
"I won't waste your time, however, on general questions," he assured. "Instead, I wanted to pick up where I left off." Where being volition and its consequence--the fact had etched deeply into his mind. "I remember you said that all Reploids have volition. From what I've learned about android history, though, humans weren't keen on giving them freedom outside their original programming. I don't believe they even touched on constructing personality layers until well after the Earth disappeared. I've actually never heard of the term 'Reploid' until yesterday."
He paused for consideration as the child lifted his eyes to Zero. There was caution in his expression. "Before you were brought here, was there anything...off about your world?"
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So now, what exactly did the boy mean by something 'off' about his world...? Instead of outright asking for clarification though, Zero paused momentarily, blinking, then responded with the best of his ability on what he assumed Nigredo meant. "...The world's mostly destroyed, if that's what you mean. But it's been that way for a long time, so it's not any new, strange development."
This required explanation, he was aware. He would save Nigredo the trouble of asking and just explain it now. "There was a war a century ago that caused it, the Elf Wars. It only lasted four years, but it was bad enough to wipe out a good percent of the world's population and leave most of the earth inhospitable. Global recovery's been a slow process." Good enough for a basic summary. If the boy wanted more details, then Zero would explain further. Simple as that.
As for what Nigredo said before he'd asked that question, though, about androids... The once-Reploid couldn't let that go without comment. "And as for Reploids, they've been around for at least two centuries by my time and have always had volition and personalities. I don't understand why they wouldn't at least be mentioned in your history."
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This indicated several possibilities, both of which held disconcerting elements: (1) no record existed of the Elf Wars and Reploids (or none was shown to the U.R.T.V.), or (2) Nigredo and Zero hailed from two separate timelines. In the boy's view, he was more accepting of the first point than the second, albeit the reasons were more obscure than he was willing to admit. Nigredo understood he would likely need to reveal both to Zero, but how to manage it was a question in and of itself.
He considered the options, lips flattened in contemplation. Finally: "That's what I thought, too. Records became sparse after Earth's disappearance, but even I would have heard about a massive decline in population and the existence of Reploids." There was a brief pause. "The reason I asked for irregularities in your time was to see if it matched what was assumed in mine. As I believe 'they' would have made their appearance then..."
There was a glance to the side. "Do you remember when I said humans shifted focus to creating artificial life and überhumans?" he asked, tone cautious and well-placed.
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Yes, he was aware that there was another explanation, a fact he had just learned from someone on the bulletin board - that people not only came here from other times, but also other planets - but he was more inclined to believe that Nigredo came from the future rather than another solar system. How would he know of Earth and androids otherwise?
Before he could bring up either explanation, however, Nigredo launched another question at him, and his thoughts were briefly put aside to answer it. Did he remember being told about 'überhumans'? "Yeah." A pause. Then, gray-blue eyes lit up in slight realization as he put the question together with the comment Nigredo made before asking it. "Are you saying...that these 'überhumans' are supposed to start existing around my time?"
It made sense, at least. It wasn't like Zero knew what technological advancements would be made after Weil was finally put to rest. What did this mean, then? Would humans have decided that Reploids were too much trouble, that they should develop something 'more useful' to them? The thought was...troubling. So he would stop thinking about it and let Nigredo explain.
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