Locket decided to take her day off climbing to a high, quiet branch of the giant tree. It was a clear, bright Sunday morning, naught but the wind passing through the leaves and and song of birds. The scent the large, fragrant flowers was almost overpowering, the pink petals still bearing the dew and remaining droplets from last night's rain. Quiet spots were the best places to think.
Maverick... no, Zero... acted peculiar the other night when he finally stepped out of the coat closet he preferred sleeping in. He'd remembered something alongside his name, and told her they made a good team. She agreed - Edensphere was informed of each and every Wilderness change, and everyone was back home to an ant-free World's Oak. She was going to miss Blitzball when it changed again.
She lifted a hand to her level of vision, turning it this way and that. He'd held her hand when he said it. ...Did...? Was he...? It doesn't pay to jump to conclusions, a corner of her mind said, and Locket took a moment to tug on the hem of her glove. If he was serious and not just caught up in whatever he remembered, there would be further opportunities. When a nearby branch gave a gentle wave in the passing breeze, she spied a peculiar glitter as the hanging dew caught the morning sun. The Navigator sat up. Did someone forget something this far up? Wondering where a lost and found could be located in Edensphere, she retreated to the trunk to ascend to this branch.
I think it was this leaf, Locket whispered in her mind, and straddled the branch. Hooking her knees, she released her grip and swung upside down as the strangest robotic sloth ever. That curtain of purple hair hung straight down as she tilted her head. There it was - something floating in the dew drop. As her arm stretched out, it blocked that ray of sunshine from glinting off the large drop, and she finally saw what floated inside: A crystal!
Locket stared at it in silence, then closed the distance, fingers closing around the ringed object. Her visual cameras seemed to shut down, and her body was numb...
...Her fingers tapped against something in rapid succession, and she knew she was typing away at some sort of keyboard before her visuals reactivated. Before her stood a wide terminal, seated beneath a screen providing a visual of... something. She recognized the red armor and the blue armor - Zero and Light were riding hovercycles, racing across a barren, frozen landscape. Energy cannons mounted on the 'cycles fired upon a strange, fish-shaped craft that dropped land mines in their path. Locket felt her lips moving, hand moving to her right ear as she did so. Even viewing this memory, Locket was formulating strategies, could see the thinner plates in the hull of that craft... she must have been informing the two of the same, as they focused their fire upon the weak spots. Damage readings she brought up with the press of a button quickly rose, and soon the craft was reduced to scrap. Breathing a sigh of relief in time with her "memory" self, she continued to watch.
Locket found herself looking to her right with a smile. Seated around the terminal was another like her, adorned in red, white and pink armor. She had short, blonde hair. Blue eyes turned back to her, and she smiled back before returning to her work. She felt so familiar, and her mind strained to get more detail, but it only gave her a phantom headache...
She returned to the task at hand, the two on her screen racing through the perilous landscape, and she felt herself wince as Zero just managed to make that ramp to jump across a particularly wide chasm... and another when they both had to abandon ship and continue on foot. The hovercycles crashed into an ice wall in a spectacular show of metallic scrap flying to and fro. They didn't seem to think twice about wrecking their rides...
That was when, erupting from the snowy chasm ahead, a strange robot appeared. Despite a rotund body and a snowman-like face, large spiny arms, and squat heavy legs, the robot moved quickly after the exchange of some words, and Locket was back in the game. Her hand reached for her right ear again - that explains the habit she had, she usually wore a headset! - and she brought up some diagnostics to her terminal visuals. She typed away with her free hand, making a few adjustments as she seemed to speak. The pinpoints on her diagnostic narrowed: She figured out how to beat this thing in a timely manner.
The two on screen nodded, and made their move: Zero seemed to blink out of sight, but appeared behind the... what on earth was it? But it didn't like the lightning that arced down his path of travel at all. Light extended his arm, his buster cannon firing arcs of electricity. The creature never stood a chance...
And her sight and touch returned, just in time: The numbness in her limbs loosened her grip on the branch, and before she could catch herself, she fell. What's that whistling sound...?
With the sound of bonks, bike horns, and cymbal crashes, she bounced off of various twigs and smaller branches on the way, before catching and clutching a thicker branch for dear life. Panting in mild panic, Locket's vision was filled with blinking red lights and hazard warnings. Apparently, there was some damage reported in one of her legs and a shoulder. Slowly, she pulled herself over to the tree's trunk, and climbed down to the nearest available elevator platform, pressing the 'Call' button.
She wavered in her step, and a comical wobbling sound ensued. She'd... question that later. For now, she clicked her auto-repair systems on, and waited for the elevator.
[ooc: Sight/Touch crystal. Punishment: Cartoon sound effects for three days. ...And in case you're curious, the least favorite is Gigavolt Man O' War's stage. Rail shooter with hard-to-avoid obstacles, grrrr.]