World Tree MUSH

    To Rebecca, it might be like stepping back in time a bit. The city of Tokyo is just as towering as Night City, and still a brightly-lit nighttime city, but it's a lot... less. The neon light isn't omnipresent, the streets are cleaner, it feels much less like a city where chrome has infiltrated everything. Or everyone, for that matter. Visible cybernetics are almost nonexistent. The entire trip to Hyouka's apartment building, tonight's offworld guests might see one artificial limb. And nothing of the more subtle sort - no cybernetic eyes, no ports in the back or side of necks.

    Admittedly, at first, it might look like there are people here who have had their appearance surgically altered. But that hulking, red-skinned man carrying a steel girder over one shoulder at a construction site? That's not a cyborg. That's an actual, honest-to-goodness oni. There might be a food stall along the way being run by a kitsune. On the corner across from Hyouka's condo, there's a small electronics store being run by a dwarf. His Japanese is pretty good.

    Rebecca probably gets mistaken for some kind of youkai a couple of times.

    All in all, it's... peaceable. Maybe not peaceful, not in a big city like Tokyo, but... peaceable. Normal. Not... not dystopian.

    Hyouka's condo in particular must cost an arm and a leg; the building is deep in the city, where real estate prices are absurd, and she's got a pretty high-floor place, at that.

    "Holy crap the streets are actually clean. Ish. Look at this shit, Marcy." Color Rebecca impressed as she makes her way through the Tokyo streets with a certain vampire in tow, metal mitts folded together behind her head. Seeing an oni though. That's... That's new. And she'll probably have to try the fried tofu at that food stall- because if it's actual tofu...
    Nevertheless, the diminutive solo soon enough finds her way to the condo, whistling softly to herself as she rides the elevator up. It sure puts her little Night City apartment to shame. But soon enough she reaches the door and delicately- very very delicately- presses the doorbell button.

    Modern cities are pretty crazy. Night City is almost more familiar in the way it's broken and dirty, strewn with filth, violence and danger. Marceline is familiar with surviving in an environment like that. It's how she grew up!

    Tokyo, though. This is nostalgic in a way she can't really articulate. Distant memories of people being affable if not simply disinterested, clean streets and relative calm despite the constant flow of people. She could enjoy a place like this! She catches herself and rubs a hand over her face, ears drooping just a bit as she pushes away that fanciful thought.

    No, nope, gotta get away from people and hide to decompress. Too many people's still too much.

    She doesn't make any effort to hide what she is, only an effort to shield against the sun. She tips back her wide brimmed hat and squints through her sunglasses. "Yup. No garbage, needles, skeletons or fuel rods. Pretty cray!" A glance at the food stand, then she wonders, "Is fake tofu like fake-fake protein? What's even in that stuff?"

    Upon arrival, she tucks herself into a shadow and rubs at the sleeve of her dress. "Guh, been awhile since I let myself be out in that. Think she'll be up for the visit?" She sounds hopeful; a reprieve from outdoors despite being covered head to toe would be welcome.

    Ding dong goes the door.

    "Just a moment!"

    It takes a few seconds for Hyouka to reach the door - and in the process, there might be a soft little thud somewhere in the condo that sounds like a leg bumping furniture. But quickly enough, the door swings wide, and... well. That's Hyouka, but something looks... off. Her face seems a little more noticeably artificial. Her figure seems a little more gaunt, even in the baggy clothes she's currently wearing. "Hm-? Ah, Rebecca, Marceline! Good to see both of you. Come in, come in!" She steps aside, and even the way she moves seens a little... perhaps wobbly.

    "Are either of you hungry? Thirsty? I'm sure I've got something or other I can fix."

    "Clearly she's up for it." Rebecca answers Marcy as the door opens and... Hyouka's looking a little off. Rebecca's head tilts to a slight angle at the sight, but steps into the apartment once invited inside.
    "Yo yo yo yo yo." She greets brightly. "You're looking a little... Off, Hyouka. I know you're a full conversion but like, after getting slammed by Smasher the way you and Scavenger did..." She trails off watching the wobbly motions.
    "I mean like how are you feeling, if I were in your shoes that night, I'd probably been turned into chunky Rebecca-salsa." Pause.
    Something Hyouka can fix.
    "Like. Real food?" She's more curious than anything else after living on SCOP and kibble for so long.

    he bump from the other side of the door perks Marcy's ears but the vamp'd half-demon cocks her head as the door opens. "Nice." She doesn't linger, simply floating leisurely in; though not so leisurely Houka will have to wait to let the door shut. Though she doesn't miss the unsteadiness. "You good, dude? I tried to set you down easy but maybe I was going kinda fast."

    Even roundabout talk concerning Smasher gets a snort out of her. Someone's still somewhat regretting not going back for whatever serves as that nasty piece of work's soul. Or something.

    Anyway, to Hyouka's offer, she sniffs at the air. "Got anything red? Don't hafta be food or nothin. And duh, real food. Man, we gotta get you peeps outta that armpit once in awhile. You coulda stopped at that place with the dude messing up those other dudes in blue. Wonder what ever happened to that little red guy." She moves a hand as if to mess with her hair but stops herself; she's actually cleaned up a little. Her hair is shiny and styled, her clothes are new and there aren't even any rips in her tights. Aw, she actually looks presentable!

    At first, Hyouka doesn't actually seem to realize what Rebecca and Marceline are referring to; but then it dawns on her. "Hm...? -oh! Ah, right. I'm using my backup body right now, while my repair station fixes up the main one. I've never actually used it before," she adds, holding up a hand and wiggling fingers. It certainly seems noticeably more gaunt. "It's nowhere near combat spec, the physical parameters are way lower, and it's run off a relatively simple Gensou Engine. After so long in my other body, I kind of feel like I'm wading through deep water."

    She steps aside to show the duo in, then gives Rebecca in particular a grin. "It might have to be something frozen, but I could fix something up for you." She turns to head for the kitchenette area, looking thoughtful as she does. "Hmm... Marceline, do you mind tomato sauce? I was going to make myself some spaghetti when I could eat again, I could whip that up and have you both covered."

    "Haha, yeah, your bod looks mad scrawny now. Like you need the food more'n us or somethin." Though, really, maybe she doesn't totally totally understand the whole fully-body prosthesis thing. "Though, yeah, guess I can take a swing at it. Tomato anything kinda does me all weird in my brain bits when I'm sleeping but I'm sure it'll be aight. Thanks!" She dwells near the other two, though it's super tempting to drift around and snoop. Tempting but she manages to behave herself for the moment!

    "Frozen's fine! It's just."
    Wow frozen food that isn't kibble. It's still throwing her for a little loop when Marcy of all people tells her it'll be real food.
    Though Hyouka being in a spare body makes sense... At least. Rebecca assumes that makes sense for someone who's a full conversion.
    Pause.
    "... Actual tomatoes?"
    Poor girl has only had Night City cuisine to go off of; and that's mostly stuff out of vending machines that people apparently have in their apartments. "Sounds pretty nova to me."
    That settles it.
    "Soooooo... Those people outside." She does have to ask. "They're not exotics like TT are they." It's not quite a question as much as it's an observation while she settles in.
    "Other than the whole body swap thing you're good, right?"

    Hyouka looks at Marceline thoughtfully for a few seconds. "...Let me see what else I've got before I subject you to weird sleeping brain bits," she says, tapping her chin. But she starts bustling about the kitchen quickly after that. A pot of water, a package of spaghetti, a skillet, a jar of spaghetti sauce, the cyborg is pretty swift about it despite not being in her usual body. She does bang a shin or an elbow here and there, but it doesn't actually seem to hurt.

    "Not just actual tomatoes," she replies to Rebecca, peeking over her shoulder. "Real everything. Including some ground beef." Soon enough the apartment is filling with the smell of sizzling ground beef indeed, and then she's rooting around in her pantry. When the cyborg asks about the people out there, though, it's DARGN who answers, coming over a speaker installed in the living room area. "They're supernaturals. Elves, dwarves, fox spirits, ogres. They make up the small minority in Japan by quite a lot, but they've become quite integrated in society over the past two decades or so."

    Abruptly, Hyouka comes out of her pantry with a triumphant, "Ah-HA!" and holds up a bottle of vibrantly red syrup for Marceline. "Grenadine! Does this work?" Then, she blinks at Becca. Blink blink. "I'm fine, yes. Looking forward to actually being able to eat food afain, but that's just leisure activity for me anyway. Still a little weirded out that he realized I'm a full conversion, but, eh."

    So. Rebecca has learned several things here.
    Some cities can actually be nice and not dystopian shitholes.
    People do eat things other than mass produced kibble, some even getting nice stuff like actual produce.
    Ghosts and shit are fuckin' real.
    The solo is staring at the speaker that DARGN's voice emanates from for a good moment before she sniffs quietly and rubs her chin with that big metal mitt of hers.
    "... Huh."
    Getting used to the larger world of the tree is going to be weird. ... But definitely interesting.
    And soon enough she's doing her best to not salivate at the smell of actual beef instead of synbeef.
    "Yeah... Yeah..." Back on the topic of Smasher though. "I donno, maybe he had some top of the line scanner or something. But I'd be super creeped out too if I were you."

    Marceline scoffs, "It's fine, it's just lucid dreams dude! My dreams are just weird on their own. Always have been, really." She lets her gaze wander while Hyouka works and searches, then nods along as ghosts and goblins are explained.

    "Yup, way more my speed. I know my way around an elf. Though in Ooo they're like... Itty bitty or like four meters tall, man." The rest? She won't go on too much of a rant.

    "Yooooo, what's this? Red syrup, huh... Better be careful with this stuff." She accepts the bottle, twists off the top and dips a fang in. A few sips later and she sets it down. Now it just looks like simple syrup. "Phew. I can keep that down, at least."

    "Oooh, right, the buttface. Yeah, maybe he has some kinda see-through vision, yeah? Like, I can peep at someone's heartbeat. See their blood n stuff. Maybe it's like that? We gotta croak that dude either way."

    "I had already prepared Hyouka for the likelihood of someone noticing," DARGN says, once again replying to Rebecca. "Her body is designed to fool the five basic senses, but we wrote off any kind of special sensor or scrying protection early in the design phase." As Hyouka bustles about the kitchenette, she nods. "I didn't really feel a need to hide what I am. I wasn't thinking in terms of the Tree, of course, but it's still not an issue, mostly."

    Discussion of elves does have the cyborg perking up a bit. "Oh? Hmm! They look a lot more normal here. My regular body is modeled on an elf. They're a lot more graceful and ethereal than me, though." She does watch the vampire feed with curiosity, before shrugging. "As far as Smasher, though, I'm more worried about the fact a psychopath seemed interested in me. As long as they don't plaster my name all over every vid screen in Night City as a possible cyberpsycho, anyway."

    That's when a cooking spoon slips right out of her grip, and there's a muttered curse. "DARGN, are you sure you can't compensate my reflexes in this body or something?" The AI mutters a long-suffering, "We have been over this. It doesn't have the hardware. Although, on the subject of reflexes. Rebecca, what was that system that Adam Smasher used to move so quickly?"

    Watching Marcy 'eat' never gets old. One minute something is red. The next it's not.
    It's strange but pretty cool.
    But then Rebecca shakes her head slowly.
    "Arasaka's been pretty quiet after that stunt we pulled. I don't like it. But nah, your face isn't up in lights and screens. Not yet anyway." She says, crossing her arms under her chest.
    "I don't like it either, but I think Smasher might not have fully told his bosses what really happened. He clearly saw all our faces, and they could have had hit squads out in seconds but... I donno, I don't like that he might be keeping that under his sleeve for later. Eugh." She scowls at the thought. But then DARGN asks about Smasher's hardware and Rebecca frowns.
    "It's a Sandevistan. Arasaka military black tech. The thing's got more lines blacked out and redacted than... Well you get the picture." She explains. "I knew a kid who ran with my old gang... He had one chipped in. He got it because his ma was a first responder ambulance driver, and she klepped one off a dead military cyberpsycho. She was gonna sell it to my old boss Maine, but she ate it, the kid klepped it for himself and the rest was history. ... David had a real problem with overusing the thing too. Didn't know his own damn limits." She huffs irritably. "Anyway it boosts your reflexes and reaction speed to insane levels and. Well. You saw what happened that night."

    Marcy recaps the syrup and reclines on the air, legs tucked beneath her as she looks between Becca, Hyouka. "Yeah, guess they're more like giants? They call themselves elves sometimes s'all I really know. One of em was like, the baddest dude around for a couple hundred years. RIP, dude."

    Though when the conversation dwells on Smasher she frowns. "Yuh, that's no bueno. Last psycho that was interested in me tricked some of my friends into my head to remove some of my memories. Mucho whack; hope he isn't into the same kinda biz."

    Then, prompted by DARGN, "Yeah, I could barely see the dude. He just that buff he can move like that?" She shuts her yap for a few to listen up and she rolls over and draws closer to Rebecca. "So you can overuse it, huh? Good to know. Sorry about your bud's mom, though. Let 'em send a squad my way. They prob wouldn't make it halfway to my place before something horrible happens to 'em. BT dubs, if you're ever in Ooo don't eat random apples. Like, ever."

    The entire story of David, brief and lacking in detail as it is, puts a deep frown on Hyouka's face. "No offense, but Night City is pretty awful..." She shakes her head.

    Meanwhile, it might be strange to think of an AI making thoughtful noises, but that's exactly what DARGN does. "Mm... I don't think Hyouka can match that speed. I can perhaps compensate for it a little, but in normal operating mode, compensating would only go so far."

    Hyouka seems to be just about done prepping the food, but she takes that chance to look over her shoulder at Marceline. "That transformation of yours was quite something. I think if we ever had to face him again, you'd probably be the centerpiece. He's stronger than I am, and there's not a lot of situations where I can say that."

    "No offense taken." Rebecca says with a huff. "I wonder how that kid's doing lately. Been a while since I've seen him. Last time was before... Well. Maine ate it himself." Ah yeah, Night City. Live fast, die in a blaze of glory, or so they say.
    "Thing is. Smasher. I don't think HE can overuse it. He's so fully aug'd out, I don't think his body needs to rest or recover from that. David, last time I saw him was like ninety nine percent as un-aug'd as a baby, except for his Sandy. Every time he overused it his nose would pop and he'd gush blood everywhere."
    Moving on though, she makes a face. "Personally- and this is just me speaking- I don't ever wanna run into that borg'd out bogeyman ever again if you catch my drift. I don't think anything I have coulda put as much as a dent in his plating."

    Yeah, that's a pretty grim tale. A teenager getting parts from a dead dude installed? She can sorta weirdly relate. Though Marcy keeps her yap shut about her past for the time being.

    "I mean, it's totally doable anytime. Just... Well. I stole the power from one of the last vampires I killed so I don't really, even after all this time, have it on lock as much as he did. Takes a lot out of me and if I go and burn through all my red. It's bad. I might snap and do everybody in. My dad would love that, heh. The jerkass."

    She lightly armpunches Rebecca. Clank. "Yeah nah, wouldn't drag you into that skriz. I like you better as not-salsa. Ow."

    "I think I can agree on that," Hyouka replies. "I bet if I brought Fire or Earth, I could hurt him, but that's assuming I can even land a good hit. Which I'm not sure I can." Even as she's saying this, she's plating up spaghetti; and she takes this over to the table, giving Rebecca a broad smile. "Here~. Dig in." The cyborg takes a chance to sit down herself, giving Marceline a curious look. "You can pull powers from other vampires? Interesting. If a bit... mm. Haunting, I guess. Most of the vampires around this Japan are law-abiding citizens. There's programs in place to make sure they can eat safely, but they go for actual blood, not just... 'red'."

    Alright that's enough of this dark and grim BS.
    Food is served.
    "Oh man that smells nova." Rebecca says plopping down at the table.
    Pause.
    Rebecca opens her mouth. She then closes it before she says something stupid.
    And just starts stuffing her face with sghetti.

    "Mmm." Marcy may not be quite as rational as everyone else when it comes with wanting to deal with said bogeyman. She peers over at the spaghetti and can't help but let a smirk creep onto her face. "Dang girl, lemme get you to teach me how to make that. Someone I know really likes this stuff." The topic moves onto vampires and she nibbles her lip as she considers. "Nnnooot just vampires. I'm half-demon. My mom was human and my dad, uh... Anyway, I ate their souls. Each and every one of them. I wiped them all out since they wouldn't leave the last humans alone. When I dusted their king, I took his title for myself. Marceline the Vampire Queen. I ain't just vain, fam." She smiles wider, showing off waaaaay more pointy teeth than a 'typical' vampire should have.

    The request for lessons actually gets a soft laugh out of Hyouka. "If the sauce comes out of a jar, it's not that difficult. Just boiling some pasta and cooking some ground beef in a skillet for flavor. I've made real sauce once or twice, but I got so used to the no-time office worker life that I end up just going the quick and easy route." It's wonderful to watch Rebecca dig in. "You realize, Hyouka, that you may have ruined her for the cuisine of her own home world," DARGN observes. "Now that she has tasted heaven, will she be able to descend back to earth?"

    Hyouka just kind of staaaaares at the speaker DARGN's voice is coming from.

    But Marceline has some heavy info to drop, and Hyouka just kind of blinks a little. "...ate their souls," she repeats. She's not really sure how to take that. But it sounds like it was for a good reason, at least. "That's quite an origin," she finally replies. "Every day, I realize more and more how lucky I am that my world's largely peaceful."

    Marceline laughs at DARGN. "Jeez dude, chill. You keep rubbing it in and Becca might move in." She rolls upright and hangs in the air, arms loose by her sides as she turns her gaze back to Hyouka. "Yep. Feeds me just like, well, y'know. Food. Ah, nah, Ooo's pretty chill now." Didn't she imply that it was horribly dangerous just a few minutes ago? "No more humans, really. Well, no, there's one. The wizards sometimes bust stuff up, Simon steals princesses annnnnd, Iuno. Dusts's mostly settled now, is all. Though yeah, totally, they were a bad buncha creeps. They make for a pretty wild story. Maybe I'll tell sometime."

    DARGN makes an amused sound. "I am patterned after the mind of a dragon. If we aren't rubbing it in, we aren't breathing." Hyouka arches an eyebrow. "You're not breathing, though." Without skipping a beat, DARGN replies, "And that hasn't stopped me."

    Hyouka shakes her head, chuckling. "Honestly..." Sitting back a little, she adds, "There's only one human left on your world? And wizards are busting things up, princesses are being stolen... really, that sounds kind of exciting. Weird, but exciting. I'll have to hear this story of yours some time. Maybe come visit, too. Preferably when my body is repaired, I think."

    Marcy rubs a finger on her cheek as she thinks, "You know, dunno if I ever met a dragon. Big lizard things and demons n stuff, sure. Dragons... Iuno. Though- hey!" She tries to look annoyed but just laughs, "I breathe when I'm givin some dingus like you guff! Or when I sing. That's my real jam."

    "Yeah, far as I know. There's other kinda human-ish people, though they don't smell anything like humans. Some are candy, some are just weird. Lotsa goblins, elves, giant elves... Penguins? Then lots and lots of dead peeps. Ghosts. Real gnarly monstrous stuff. So, yeah, sure. I'll spill sometime annnnd yeah, come prepped for Ooo-normal. It's uh. Eh, you'll see."