World Tree MUSH

    It's a calm day in the city of Eden. Or at least mostly calm. There seems to be something of a pint-sized commotion in one of the Gardener city's many parks.
    It's the shinki grand prix, a race for tiny cars and tinier drivers, running laps through the park. And the winner gets a year's supply of jelly.
    Unfortunately, there is one little shinki that is ineligible to join in on this event of fun and hijinx.
    "Get out of here, you monster!" A testy Waffebunny shouts.
    "Nyeah, beat it!" A Maochao hisses.
    "You are not welcome to join." A surly Benio declares, and just like that, Alty is heaved and tossed clean out of the nearest park entrance with a tiny squeak as she lands on her butt on the pavement. "Hmph..."

    Well, Jessica is... actually lost right now. She isn't normally someone who gets lost! But even competent people can take a wrong turn sometimes, and the ruckus starting up here gets ears perking, turning, and listening.
    "Are you okay?" The catgirl leans over in concern, maybe not recognizing Alty even though she's very distinctive. But she remembers what Shinki are! "What's going on?"

    Alty spends a good long beat pouting to herself before she realizes that was addressed to her. Then again, the looming shadow of a catgirl overhead should have cued her off, she eventually glances up, one hand rubbing at her scarred eye.
    "I uh. I'm fine." She half-truths, and purses her lips.
    That sure is a familiar catgirl. "... You were at the train station that day." That horrifying day where bullets and crossbow bolts were going everywhere, yep.
    "Oh uh. I'm just not usually welcome at these kinds of things."

    "Oh yes!" Jessica remembers now. "Thank you for your help by the way!" She holds out her hand, offering her sleeve to climb up on. "I remember you! Um..."
    Blinking, Jessica waits a moment. "Why aren't you welcome? That doesn't make sense. Oh... unless um... no, wait, you don't have Infected."

    Help. ... If panicking and flailing her swords around can really be called help, the Altines dips her head in a slight nod, still rubbing at that scar on her eye before she slowly starts to stand herself up.
    Lips purse, and there's a moment of hesitation as hand and arm are offered out. But Jessica doesn't seem all that threatening, so she eventually relents and scootches a safe distance up the catgirl's wrist.
    "It's... Complicated." She ventures before head tilts to a curious angle. "Infected?"

    "Mm... the stuff in the train can make people very sick!" Jessica frowns, making sure Alty is situated nice and secure before she resumes her walk. "Very very sick... the company that hired me, Rhodes Island, is all about treating these people because there's no cure."

    Jessica stops and tries to figure out which way to go. "Um, it's called Oripathy, and people who are Infected can infect others, so a lot of people are pretty scared of them, even though they usually only infect others when they die and explode."

    "Oripathy..." Alty repeats, holding on securely. Then she grimaces. "Die and explode?" That sounds like a harsh way to go. "I've been infected by computer viruses before, but nothing that bad." Murmured as she rubs her scarred eye again. "Okay maybe not true, there was that one time with some nanites... B-but that was cured." She hastily finishes her thought. Pause.
    "I don't think I caught your name back at the train station."

    "I mean, not explode like boom but they do sort of... erupt... in black crystal dust..." Jessica explains. One ear flicks at the mention of nanites. "Y-yes, there's no cure yet for Oripathy, we're trying to find one out in the Tree now, but..."

    A pause and blink! "Oh right! My codename is Jessica!" Which makes it probably her real name too, because that's a TERRIBLE codename.

    Alty blinks.
    Alty stares.
    "... That's a terrible codename." She says point blank, grimacing. But an introduction is an introduction, and she points to herself. "I'm Alty." She says once she has her basic explanation of Oripathy, rubbing at the back of her neck.
    "Anyway... I'm not infected or anything. I just have uh. A bad reputation with other shinki."

    Jessica nods, "Well that's terrible! I thought you were very helpful, with your battle cries and everything!" Yes, battle cries. That's what they were, right?

    She's smiling though. "If you need a place to stay you can use my room when I find it again."

    B-battle cries.
    As it turns out, shinki are incredibly expressive. Because Alty goes as red as a beet.
    "Y-... Yeah."
    They were totally battle cries, sure. She'll go with that, but. "I actually don't like fighting very much.
    "I kind of stay wherever." She admits. "I have a place I go to a lot, but it's a little far, ah... Do you have electricity?" That's the important question. Batteries need charging and all that.

    "Sure!" Jessica nods. "It's a local hotel! So if you can use the plug there I guess that works fine? I don't mind." She nods quickly. "I'm just here for the night though, I'll help you find a place if you want. It's the least I could do for your help."

    She frowns. "And a lot of people don't like fighting. It's my job and I don't like it. But I like helping people."

    Tiny fingers steeple together in a fidget as the Altines worries on her lower lip, head dipping in a nod. Her charging situation for the night is handled, then.
    "... I used to fight a lot. Not because it was my job or to help people though. I still didn't like it." She says before pausing.
    "What hotel? You seem a little uh..." Oh dear, what's the polite way to say 'lost'? "Turned around."
    As she says this a hologram screen pops up over her head, displaying a map, the nearest hotels, and the current position on the GPS.
    Shinki are useful little things.

    "Ah, I see..." Jessica might actually see, maybe, but she doesn't press it. Instead she claps her hands. "Oh! Yes, I'm lost. It's okay, I'm not normally lost, I don't mind you saying it! This is really helpful, thanks..."
    After examining the map, she then points out. "Here it is, I see how I got lost. Come on, let's get you a place to stay the night! It's great to meet you, Alty!"