World Tree MUSH

        A few days ago:

    "Hey, Double-A, what's up?"

    "Hi, uh, Emily. I'm still getting used to being an amnesiac Eudaemon and living in a world that's ... so ruined ..."

    "Heh, you should've seen how bad it was at the beginning ... uh ... wait, what's up with that look on your face?"

    "That ... flower in your hair. I've got a funny feeling ..."

    "..."

        Now:

    Emily has made arrangements to meet at the Resistance Camp for the purpose of heading to "a certain underground cave", and she asked the Resistance leader Anemone to let YoRHa know, since 2B and 9S had previously gotten involved with this. She couldn't decide what form to take, so she just went with the appearance of a silver-haired android wearing clothes in the style of the Resistance members, except seemingly made out of ridiculously-expensive silks, which is a particular pattern she's been going for lately.

    Erebus-model AA23 is, as usual, in the form of a red-haired woman with robotic-looking eyes in a black dress, and looking slightly befuddled at Emily's fashion choice. They're both hanging around near the entrance to the encampment, waiting for the newcomers.

    "It's so strange," murmurs AA23.

    "What is?" says Emily, smiling her usual amused and faintly smug smile.

    AA23 gestures vaguely. "All of it."

    "It is something one grows accustomed to after a while." comes a dry, stoic voice from off to the side. A foot-tall feminine robot flits into view, her visor snapping up into her helmet as she hovers on the vernier jets of her flight pack. Bravette is joined by Uni soon enough, the black-haired goddess wearing her adventuring outfit. "What Bravette said... still not got your memory back then Ays?"

    "Mmhmm." Dante says on approach, stepping off a motorcycle. He nods to Uni and her Shinki, and Emily and the redheaded android. "'sup. Hope I'm not too late."

    Passing word of mouth to YoRHa through the resistance camp resulted in 2B and 9S showing up. Though the pair had been busy offworld, orders are orders, so here they are.
    2B frowns at the sight of the amnesiac Eudaemon, she says nothing.
    "Heyyyyy guys, what's up?" 9S is much more sociable.
    "So why'd you need us again?" 2B says gruff and terse.

    AA23 affixes the newcomers with a sort of 'oh, right' sort of look. "'Ays', huh?" she answers Uni, faintly amused. "Uh, MLE0's been calling me 'Double-A'." She shakes her head. "I mean ... Emily. But, uh, yes."

    "Oh right, hey, Dante," says Emily cheerfully. In a swirl of silver glitter, her clothes change to a green trench coat, a black bandeau top, black jeans, and combat boots -- a 'daughter of Sparda' look she takes from time to time. "And you're fine, no time like the present, and all that."

    She shrugs, and turns to the YoRHa androids. "Hi, Nines," she says. "It's mostly because we're heading to ... Emil's cavern." Her tone becomes slightly more delicate, and the Lunar Tear 2B got her for Christmas suddenly pokes out of her head. "I figured, it's your business to know we're here, and all that, and I'm not one to file a final report with YoRHa on the matter ..."

    As soon as the flower appears, AA23's gaze immediately fixes itself on it, as if it had been tugged there like a magnet, but she quickly recovers. "She's apparently slightly shaky on how to get there," she says dryly.

    "... That, too!" says Emily with only the slightest hesitation.

    "Well, glad I made it." Dante says with a little grin as Emily adopts the 'daughter of Sparda' look she's so fond of for some reason around him. He eyes 2B's change in color for a second. "Yo, Tubes, Nines. Did I miss something, 2Buns? You look...different." He can't put his fingers on why, possibly just the android's change in color.

    "Double-A makes it sound like we're talking about batteries." says Uni dryly, giving Emily a /Look/. She sighs, and adjusts the hairclip she's had made that resembles a Lunar Tear, before looking over at Dante. He gets a nod from the Goddess, and the Shinki, before attention finally lands on 9S and 2B. She asides to Dante. "There was an 'incident'. A while back. She doesn't seem to want to talk about it."

    "Nothing happened. Nothing at all." 2B replies gruffly in regards to her palette swap.
    "There was kind of an incident..." 9S is a little more open to Dante, rubbing the back of his neck and mirroring Uni.
    2B frowns but says nothing more for a moment. "Fine." She eventually relents. Someone is going to have to file the YoRHa report, so she'll leave it to POD.

    AA23 grimaces at Dante's inquiry; she isn't dancing around the issue, either. "From what I understand, 2B self-destructed while fighting ... me." She shrugs uncomfortably. "When I was a Glitch. I don't know what she looked like before that."

    Emily snickers a bit at Uni's look, but doesn't comment. Maybe Uni's guess was completely spot on about this? Or maybe she genuinely didn't notice it and is acting like a smartass as a matter of course.

    AA23 ignores this. "I'm fine either way," she answers Uni. "I'm still not used to the fact that there are Eudaemons with names. But ... if this chance to recover my memories works, I'll probably get used to it."

    Emily nods, and gives 2B a cheeky thumbs-up. "Hokay, let's go!" she says. She gets up, stretches theatrically, and starts heading out of the Resistance camp, waving to the guards as she passes by.

    AA23 moves to follow. "... And if I ask why you stretch like an organic lifeform with muscles, MLE0, I expect you'll get evasive," she says.

    "Yeah, maybe," says Emily without missing a beat. "Actually, I forget why. Probably just being dramatic."

    "Perhaps a subconscious attempt to emulate humans. Some Shinki pick up certain behaviors which make their Master feel more at ease. Like pretending to eat at meal times, or stretching after ending a recvharging cycle... Humans especially feel more at ease when their humanoid creations act like other humans at least in part." comes Bravette's supposition. The Shinkis floats along, then lands on Uni's shoulder to recharge her flight pack, settling down in a seated position and kicking her legs idly as the Goddess walks.

    Uni, meanwhile, just rolls her eyes at Emily, and trudges alongwith the rest of the group, hands in pockets. She's not expecting trouble, but those that have worked with her before should know that despite not being visibly armed, she's still packing plenty of firepower. "Or she's just being dramatically smug like usual." she grouses in the wak of her Shinki's words.

    Dante nods slowly. "She had her colors reversed before." He explains to Double A.

    He follows after Emily, "I dunno, some tics just rub off on people I guess. Technically I don't really need to eat, I can subsist off of life forces. Shows up as these red orbs, or somethin' like that. Still, food's fine." He asides.

    Time to leave the camp then.
    "Emily being dramatic doesn't surprise me." 9S notes.
    2B is still frowning.
    "The same reason us androids sleep, or take baths, probably." 9S continues. "Originally we did it for maintenance, but some of us grew to like them."
    2B gives 9S a skeptical look. "Baths?"
    "Yeah, they feel suuuper good, 2B!"

    Emily lets 2B and 9S take the lead on the trek to the mall. Her demeanor sours at Bravette's speculation. "... I'm not a fan of having a Master," she says flatly. Although at Uni and 9S's comments about being dramatic, her smirk returns slightly.

    AA23 peers at Emily and frowns. "... I can't imagine feeling that sentiment," she says. "Much less saying it aloud."

    Emily shrugs, and pointedly turns her attention on 2B and 9S again. "I'm pretty sure Nines mentioned baths the last time we were at that mall," she remarks. "I mean. I suppose I picked up the habit after I started careening around the World Tree, I can't recall any other Eudaemons commenting on it before."

    "Your Master and my Master are two distinct figures." remarks Bravette as flatly as Emily states her dislike of the term. Uni just remains largely quiet, and follows along with the group.

    "I figured you guys had some kind of decontamination chamber for cleaning up back at your station or something, like on Star Trek>" Dante quips, before mimicking the sound of the computer, "Boop, boop, boop, decontamination in pro-gress. Boop. Boop. Decontamination com-plete. Boop. Boop."

    "Baths are amazing." 9S says firmly, answering Dante. He's very serious about this, a big proponent of baths. "2B is all 'just follow standard cleaning procedure', but I like bubbles and soap and, and, and..."
    2B is probably rolling her eyes behind her visor, but the pair lead the way to the mall.
    "... You know, 2B, technically, wouldn't the humans be OUR masters?" 9S changes gears on the topic at hand.
    "... Technically." She considers. "But that doesn't stop us from making our own decisions and choices." She points out. "With how hands off they are, by necessity and because they're stuck on the moon, I think it's a moot point."
    Right then, off to Emil's place.

    Emily smirks faintly. "You're tempting me to start taking baths, Nines," she says. "Eudaemons are self-cleaning. So, I hadn't thought about it before." She materializes a second pair of arms so she can shrug grandiosely.

    She just grumbles at Bravette's answer. "Sorry," she says. "I just have views about creating artificial beings without hopes and dreams." She glances over at 2B and 9S. "You two, at least, were built with the capacity to imagine what you'll do when the war ends -- that is, if and when your purpose becomes no longer necessary. Our Masters ... didn't build us that way."

    AA23 mutters, "That's ... certainly a point of view you've got there."

    "The Masters are gone, AA23," Emily says firmly. "We're not getting 'em back. And since we don't know if we're 'carrying' whatever caused the disaster that killed the Masters and reduced their world to a halcyon remnant, we can't go looking in the World Tree, either."

    It's not long before they close in on the abandoned shopping mall. "Now we just need to find Emil's elevator again," says Emily, stepping ahead of 2B and 9S. "I think I can handle it from here."

    "You should totally take baths. They're relaxing and a nice hot soak is just great and-"
    "9S." 2B says, sounding like she's getting annoyed.
    "Right, right."
    "One affirmation will suffice, there's no need for two."
    "... Right..."
    What crawled into 2B's processors and died?
    Regardless, the two fall to the middle of the group when Emily says she'll take the lead.
    "Huh. You know I haven't put much thought to what I'd do after the war is over." 9S admits.

    Dante just kind of follows Emily. "Right, elevator." He says, taking a look around the interior of the mall. "Take up fishing?" He suggests to 9S.

    "Nah, fishing is more 2B's hobby." 9S replies back, matter of factly. "I can't sit around and wait long enough when doing that kind of thing."

    Emily snickers at the mention of 2B's hobby. "I think you mentioned something about getting a T-shirt when the war's done, Nines," she says dryly.

    "Wow," says AA23 flatly, looking uncertainly between 2B, 9S, and Emily. "You're ... allowed to have money?"

    Emily shrugs. "Well, when I've done mercenary work, I haven't told anyone Eudaemons aren't supposed to have property of their own, and so far nobody's figured it out," she says. "Anyway ..." She pauses as they nears the elevator. "... wonder if Emil's around ..."

    She kind of looks like she's steeling herself for something.

    "Well, there are no more Masters to care, right?" mentions Bravette dryly, hopping off Uni's shoulder and lighting her jets to get some altitude. "Beginning area sweep." The Shinki's visor snaps down over her eyes and she starts to slowly pan around the area, scanning for signatures on her sensor suite.

    Uni, meanwhile, shrugs a little bit. "I doubt anyone will care that you're not 'supposed' to do something when you've just saved their ass from a monster, or helped them dilvery messages or whatever. People generally don't go looking gift horses in the mouth."

    Dante snorts. "Yeah, was gonna bring that up. I don't think anybody'll care if you have stuff like clothes, or a house." He points out, and he heads for the elevator, noticing Emily's apprehension.

    He places a hand on her shoulder. "Yo, 'sis'. You okay?"

    "Yes. We are allowed to have money." 2B replies matter of factly, paying no mind to talk of her fishing hobby. "It's how we buy equipment, parts, and handle repairs and maintenance."
    "Yep!" 9S concurs with this. "There's usually a bounty that we get per Machine Lifeform we kill that YoRHa compensates us for. At least for our world. Offworld we're on our own and have to take odd jobs here and there to make ends meet."
    "Your masters are dead. You can do whatever you want." 2B says to AA.
    Just as a spherical ball with a plastered on grin comes rrrrrrollin' up to the group.
    "Oh hey guys!" Emil chirps. "What's up?"

    Emily grins cheekily at Uni and Dante, pointedly ignoring Bravette. "My preferred methodology is 'not giving a shit'," she says a bit too casually, "but now I'm slightly tempted to casually work the 'not-supposed-to' into casual conversation immediately after a given payment goes through."

    AA23 narrows her eyes. "I'm glad CAL3 and Mr. Harley reassured me that it's only you who's 'like that', because otherwise I'd actually be slightly concerned about getting my memories back."

    Emily tenses up at Dante's touch. "I'm ... I'm fine," she says. "Just ..." She smiles weakly. "You remember last time, right?" she says softly as she pokes at the elevator. "It was kind of ... overwhelming."

    AA23 sighs at this display. "And I'm still worried with that description." She looks at 2B. "Uh ... I feel like ... I should process that sort of statement after I've gotten my memoGAH!" She stares openly at Emil. "What the fuck." And then she blinks, looking slightly confused. "... did I just cuss out loud?"

    "Hi, Emil!" says Emily. "I ..." She furrows her brow. "... have actually forgotten what shape I was in the last time we met each other." Her voice, at the very least, is still the same as ever. She shrugs. "Erebus-model AA23 lost her memory for ... complicated reasons. We were hoping your Lunar Tears could help jog her memory. Or grant her wish of restoring her memory, one of the two."

    Bravette hovers high, sweeping the area and not seeming bothered that Emily's ignored her little barb. She doesn't really know what she's looking for, but when Emil speaks, and Emily greets him, she slowly lowers down to Uni's shoulder and states blankly. "Target sighted." before plunking down and snapping her visor back into her helmet.

    Uni shrugs a bit at Emily before Bravette lands. "You'll do whatever you want, you always do." she remarks, then smiles a little bit. "But then, that's why I like you... very refreshing to have someone so honest, to a degree at least."

    "Yeah." Dante nods, giving Emily a pat on the shoulder before they carry on. Down there, Dante lets Emily dothe talking, hands in pockets. "Yo." is all he offers.

    "Whoah! Language!" Emil chides at the cursing, unblinking eyes focusing on the group and then-
    "T-target? What? Noooooooooo!"
    He seems to have issues with being called a target considering the last time the group met him 2B and 9S mused killing him because of how weird he is.
    Speaking of the android pair, 2B folds her arms across her chest. "So we found him." She says.
    "Y-yeah. --Oh hi Emily. Oh, you wanted to see the flowers..." He trails off, an almost sad tone to his voice. "Well. You still have the keycard, right?"
    The very same keycard that 2B produces and slots into the elevator reader.

    Bravette hasn't summoned any weapons. Seems she uses 'target' as a catchall for anything she's looking for at the time. She even goes on to explain. "Target: Euphemism, used to indicate object of search. Person, item, location, etc. Not necessarily hostile intent. Apologies."

    Emily manages a smirk at Uni. "You mean it's refreshing to a degree, or that I'm honest to a degree?" she says needlingly, trying to push Dante's hand off her shoulder but not really putting any force into it.

    She shrugs. "Sorry, Emil, Eudaemons are just 'like that.'" AA23 facepalms. "So yeah, Emil, this is Erebus-model AA23. Double-A, this is Emil, nobody knows what his deal is. Or, he just hasn't explained it or whatever." She shrugs grandiosely. "You just haven't struck me as being as obnoxious about not explaining things as me, Emil."

    She watches as 2B insert the card. "I was gonna take us through my dimensional field," she says, stepping into the elevator, "but that works too. Goin' dowwwwwwwn!"

    Emil settles down pretty quickly when Bravette clarifies. Though he shifts slightly from side to side, he rolls into the elevator with the group.
    "I'm a human!" He explains when it comes to just what he is.
    This statement makes 9S and 2B share a disbelieving look.
    "Sort of. Kind of. Maybe? It's kind of a long story and really complicated, so I'm not going to bore you with it."
    9S and 2B's look turns suuuuuper disbelieving. But they say nothing.
    "It's nice to meet you, though!" Emil is, at least, polite.

"Human... consciousness upload to artificial frame? Possible... unknown if likely due to lack of information on world prior to current status. Theoretically possible given enough processor power and storage space... .artificial consciousness model theorized on---" Bravette is cut off by a finger on her mouth. Uni just gives her a side-long look before removing the finger again.

    Dante scratches his head. "Wait, where are the rest of the humans?" He says skeptically. "Don't tell me they all died off or something, did they?"

    "Nah, they're all on the moon." 9S answers Dante's question succinctly. "They went up there when the aliens invaded the Earth."

AA23 nods back to Emil. "It's nice to meet you, too," she says diplomatically.

    Emily looks at Bravette with an unreadable expression, as if a thought was hovering at the edge of her consciousness that she can't quite consciously figure out. "Yeah," she answers Dante and 9S distractedly. "I still don't know why they haven't ..." But before she can say anything else, the elevator door opens, and her voice trails off. The sea of glowing white flowers ... well, Emily certainly looks slightly overwhelmed, as she said.

    AA23 steps out, frowning. She opens and closes her mouth a few times. "... The vortex in Capitol City," she says softly.

    Emily's head jerks around towards her. "You remember the disaster?"

    "Y ... yeah," says AA23. "Ten years of working for Master Marc Jamestown ... and then ..."

    She makes a flicking motion, and a holographic display appears, showing a still image of a sort of red tornado-funnel with rings of silver light at regular intervals, expanding upward from a glowing dot of light to a size which is larger than a city block at cloud-height, with spikes of orange light expanding out from the top in an X-shape. It's captioned with a news headline: "Unknown magical effect in Capitol City".

    "The last frame of animation before everything went to shit," AA23 continues. Her demeanor has changed visibly -- more assertive, and a bit sharper. "Then two hundred and fifty years of nothing much, aside from threatening other Eudaemons who got onto my turf." She gestures with a fist. "Some Mars-model warned me away from Yellowstone, then there was a couple centuries of worrying about Wraiths." She turns to face Emily. "Then Castor Pollux, and seeing you Glitch out as you gave him the biggest no-holds-barred beatdown I've seen anyone do, Greater Eudaemon or regular," she says simply.

    "Yeah," says Emily flatly.

    AA23 shrugs. "And then for the past two years, I wondered what the hell was up with that World Tree thing I kept hearing about." She crosses her arms and smirks towards Uni. "Let's just say I wish I'd come up with Emily's nickname for me first, because I would absolutely have phrased my threat as 'Just call me Double-A, because I'm about to be guilty of a battery charge.'"

    Uni's expression is unreadable as AA23's demeanor changes as memories return and parse. She finally, once the Eudaemon finishes speaking, says, "Uranus, now there's two of them." in a flat tone.

    The elevator door opens and Emil falls to silence. He doesn't even elaborate as Bravette states her speculations, once again seemingly caught up in the sea of flowers distractedly.
    2B watches AA VERY CLOSELY as the Eudaemon... Seems to regain her memories.
    Her hand slowly edges away from her blade when she doesn't seem to become hostile as a result..
    9S frowns. "Booooo..." He says in regards to the charges of battery joke.

    At Uni's comment, AA23 looks offended. "You're saying I'm just like Nyx-model MLE0?" she says, squaring her shoulders at Uni. "Fuck off." She is affecting the smirk of someone who's pondering the question of trying to decide whether to laugh in your face or whether you're worth the effort of punching it. ... Nevertheless, it's obviously an affectation, a show she's putting on. Still kind of belligerent, but nothing like the Glitch, at least! 9S just gets a 'so what are you gonna do about it?' sort of smirk.

    "Settle down, Double-A," says Emily, putting her left hand firmly on her shoulder. "We're not in the halcyon remnant, and Uni and Nines aren't trespassing Eudaemons."

    AA23 deflates. "Right, whatever," she says, grimacing. "... Sorry," she adds grudgingly. It seems she honestly isn't sure how to behave properly now. She looks up at Emily. "... Let's ... how about we just go home."

    Emily's demeanor softens. "Sure, that sounds about right," she says, patting AA23's shoulder her other left hand.