Capsule 002 💊 (Video)

[rassera]

[Good morning Nonah/Heropa/De Chima/etc. residents. Hope you've been enjoying it, because you'll need something to buffer here. Kaneda's already outside, lounging on his bike with his feet kicked up, hands behind his head and looking at the sky. Kaneda, you couldn't look more bored if you tried.]

So I guess I'm supposed to give you guys traffic updates or something. And you know me--I've got a burning desire to be an upstanding citizen.

[He turns his communicator about 30 degrees to the left, showing a patch of empty road that his bike was parked next to. Insert the cliche tumbleweed for some added aesthetic.]

Whooooooo-oooo! Brutal out there, guys! Stay safe!

[Okay, even he can't hide his smirk anymore.]

Comments

[amadaman]

[Koromaru's quick to recover from the momentary sad to bark again. A wuff and a batting of his paw at the camera later, Ken ruffles the fur at the top of his head and shrugs a shoulder at Kaneda with a lopsided smile on his face.]

Considering our circumstances, it's a lot safer for him, and he was the one who said he wanted to join, so I think he's pretty happy. We're all kind of like that.

[rassera]

[There's a small smile as he watches Koromaru paw at the camera. For someone who had a lot of reasons to dislike dogs, he's warming up to Koromaru pretty fast.

That personality was strong, and he liked that.]

Wait.

He -told- you?

Ken...dogs don't talk.

[amadaman]

Koromaru doesn't. But we have an android.

[Wait for the explanation on that!!



... It doesn't come. They have an android.]

[rassera]

Oh, well that makes sense.


..




[Give it a minute.]








Wait. What?

[amadaman]

We have an android living with us back home. She says she can analyze Koromaru's body language to figure out what he's trying to communicate, so she'd translate for us when she had to.

[rassera]

...

[You lead an interesting life, Ken.]

So let me get this straight. You have a dog with a knife...and an android.

[amadaman]

Yes. And powers, too, but that's not uncommon around here.

[rassera]

You ever stop and think about how crazy that sounds? You know...all at once?

[amadaman]

Oh, all the time. You're not the first person here to tell me it sounds crazy. I was almost convinced I actually was crazy, only a few months ago.

[rassera]

Well you make a pretty selling case, you know.

[Okay, a little joke, but he goes back to being serious.]

But--I've heard weirder.

[amadaman]

Heard? Or experienced?

[rassera]

...


Both.

[It comes out softly, his resolve breaking for just a moment.]

[amadaman]

Mm. I see.

Well, if anything, you won't be caught by surprise too much here. You might even be prepared.

[rassera]

Yeah, I've been preparing.

[Does 'hoarding all kinds of weapons in your room every chance you find them' count]

[amadaman]

[Considering one of the first things Ken did was look into arming his dog, probably yes.]

You remember how that swear-in went a few weeks ago. That's hardly anything. I told you, we've had attacks before.

It's been quiet these few months. Too quiet considering the tension. And when something happened, it was usually from another imPort. It's best to be prepared.

If you ever get injured, call me. I can heal you.

[rassera]

[Smart move, Ken. He knew there's a reason he liked you--you're not blinded by the day-to-day life of this place.]

That's what I'm worried about. Been through enough of that crap to not be prepared for it.

[He unclenches his hand, looking at his palm.]

Well, guess we'll have to wait to see what this month brings, yeah?

[amadaman]

That's what we always do.

I'm sure if anything happens, we'll all manage to survive it. That's the sort of thing we're good at, right?

[rassera]

...

[There's a little smile. Almost invisible.]

Yeah. You can say that again.