➤The ✭ Perfect ✫ World ➧➧➤

[Hiddochi wolf]

Eva shook her hand, then smiled rather shyly, "Why, thank you. You're quite lovely as well – I'm shocked that you don't have to beat the men away with a stick." She chuckled, "The attention isn't always so great, though. Occasionally I just want to get away from everything, to leave behind all the glitz and paparazzi. Sometimes, I try to fly away from it all...but they always find me. And Raowan gets all panicked when I don't return home for a day or two."
She chuckled at the man's flustered look as Camilla handed him the bill, "I think that was a bit of a pleasant surprise to him. This world needs more pleasant surprises, and more people like you."
Eva looked to the clock absently. It was approaching 9. She thought back to the scarred woman as Camilla spoke, "I'm not sure. I doubt she's the type to own exotic animals, but who knows. I just hope it wasn't someone's attempt of murder..."  

[Okami Ameras]

Another odd thing that occurred in cities-- people had a tendency to clear out when I came along. One minute a city street would be bustling with people, the next, empty as I strolled along. It was also hot. I shook my head and reached out, before closing my fist and bringing it back to me.

A breeze blew.

I smiled at the wind greeted me. The wind was my friend. I looked around. Of course, now that I was in civilization again, there was something that I had missed while I was out in the wilds...

A cool drink.

I slipped into a tavern, where the walls were a deep burgandy, the tables consisted of cherrywood, and candles were lit upon the countertops. A pair of people sat at the bar, and I wandered over and sat down a few stools away, looking to the bartender.

A root beer please.

The people sitting at the tables nearby immediately started gravitating away from the bar...  

[Koujo no Omoide]

"But if someone tried to commit murder, wouldn't they have had to have been corrupted then? Maybe I don't know what I'm talking about." She said, shaking her head. "Oh my!" Camilla said, her eyes widening. "I have to be going. A friend is expecting me," she said this just as another girl sat down. "Well hello! Are you having a good day? I really hope you are. You have gorgeous eyes. I'm sorry I have to be leaving so soon. I hope to see the both of you soon, okay?" She smiled and nodded, standing up and looking between the two of them.  

[Okami Ameras]

I glanced up at the blonde who had spoken to me so suddenly. Well, that was... new. I wasn't used to people coming up and talking to me right out of the blue. I was used to people scattering, honestly.

The barkeep got me my drink, an open bottle of chilled root beer. I took the bottle and sipped from it, studying the blonde woman... there was something wrong about her, as she smiled and nodded at both me and the dark purple haired woman in such a friendly and casual way. I sucked in some air silently, carefully tasting the air. The air around her tasted of... old paint. And fresh blood. I ought to be careful around this one, thought my face didn't show this observation.

Um, okay.  

[Hiddochi wolf]

Eva half-rose from her seat as Camilla did, but stopped short of actually standing due to a sudden spinning of the room. She wasn't drunk yet, either, so it must've been the dizziness returning from earlier. She nodded enthusiastically, "Certainly, I'd love to see you again, Camilla. It was nice meeting you." She smiled as the woman left, then fell back onto her seat. The room still hadn't quite steadied around her, so she gripped tightly onto her head, focusing on the counter-top. Her eyes strayed to the new girl, the wild one.
"She sure was different, huh? A bit overly-friendly perhaps, but she seemed nice enough." Eva mused, again trying to stand. This time she found more success, though still stumbled a bit. She handed off her payment to the barkeep, then started off to leave. Slowly, black wings sprouted from her back.  

[Okami Ameras]

Yes... very... different.

I rose, non-alcoholic drink in hand, to help support this purple haired woman as she stumbled.

Are you okay? You seem dizzy.

I tasted the air again. She had been drinking, but this woman wasn't drunk fully yet. I sipped my drink, my tail coiling then un-coiling.

Do you want some help?  

[Koujo no Omoide]

Camilla left the bar, skipping down the road again, returning to the apartments she had left just earlier that day. "Well hello there!" She said loudly to the doorman. They had spoken many times in the past. "I'm here to see Joey, do you happen to remember what apartment number he lives in? I've forgotten again."
"Urm, yes" the man said in a very low voice, "308 I believe, but weren't you just 'ere earlier today?"
"Yes, I was, but I was visiting Rebecca. She lives in 482. She's a wonderful girl. Just fabulous! Though, she's a bit lonely. You should try to talk to her more, when you get the chance, of course. You're a wonderful person and very friendly, but also very busy. So I understand why you don't talk to her often. So busy all the time! Thanks again!" she said as she ran off upstairs.
When she got to the door, she knocked on it. Than knocked again when no one answered. A neighbor walked by at that moment. "No one's gone in or out all day."
"Well, I'm going to go in and see, if that's okay?" She said, opening the door. Then she screamed. "He's dead! He's dead! Oh my God he's dead!" She fell to her knees and sobbed wondering who would call the authorities.
The neighbor called the emergency number, and said that someone would be coming soon...  

[Hiddochi wolf]

In a world that never understands you...

"((Sorry guys -- I'll post tomorrow. Feeling really sick to my stomach, and it's late anyway. Good night. smile )) "

...the machines will always understand your pain.

 

[Koujo no Omoide]

[It's fine. Good night!]  

[Okami Ameras]

((Goodnight))

 

[Hiddochi wolf]

Eva glanced back to the cat-eared woman, pulling her wings back in so as to not hit anyone around her, "Huh? Oh, yes, I'm...alright. I think I'm just overly tired. No big deal." She smiled lightly, and the fatigue was visible in her fogged eyes.
She managed to get outside without any problems, but got no further than a block away before she had to pause. The city was but a torrent of swirling light-streams and sounds around her, defying all sense of direction. Eva could feel the panic rising up inside, as she suddenly felt weightless on her own feet. Sometime in the chaos, she had slid down the wall she'd used for support, fell flat onto the concrete. Darkness overcame the world, as she slipped further from reality.

•   •   •

It was cold, almost unbearably so. The ground was bare and colorless beneath her feet, not concrete, but deadened soil devoid of all growth. She had the sensation of existing in another's body, outside of her own life. This body was somehow heavier; not larger in size, just more affected by gravity. It lacked her luxurious black hair, instead replaced by a shorter, shaggier mane of sandy brown. She was dressed in a very plain, grey full-body suit.

She looked up for the first time to the area around her. There were people, thousands of people. All standing in infinite rows. Someone stood on each side of her, each dressed in the same exact bodysuits, staring forward with blank expressions.
"Excuse me, sir? Where is this?" Eva tried asking the man to her right. He did not turn to face her, did not reply, did not even blink. He was frozen. She tried the same with the woman to the left, but got only the same exact lack of reaction. Only then did Eva realize anything odd about their faces; both of them were clearly middle-aged, with greying hair and wrinkles. She felt her own face out of paranoia, though felt no traces of old age.
She heard a distinguished choking sound ahead of her, followed by sounds of struggle. Then, two rows ahead, five people to the left, someone fell to the ground with a final thud. Eva was horrified; she had just witnessed a death.  

[Okami Ameras]

I watched the woman leave, before sitting back down and sipping my drink. I finished the tasty non-alcoholic drink before heading out and down the street, in search of a grocery or drugstore store for supplies.

As I walked I had my mouth open slightly, and the wind touched my tounge. That woman's scent from before... I turned in the direction it was coming from, and saw her collapsed on the sidewalk. I hurried over and sat next to her crosslegged, as I waited for her to wake up.  

[Hiddochi wolf]

Once the body's thrashing had stopped, silence again dominated all. It was heavy upon her ears, like a viscous substance. Not even the breathing of all those people was audible, and for a moment, Eva wondered if they were all dead. She stepped out of her row to more closely inspect those around her.
On each bodysuit was a small nameplate sewn, just below the neck. The man to her right had a plate reading "Devon [#56]," and the woman was "Gloria [#14]." She walked further down the row and kept reading off names; Ethan, Lexie, Amanda, Xena, Thomas. It didn't take long for her to grow curious about her own, and so she pulled at her garment so as to make the plate visible to herself. Eva [#2].
The silence was broken by a distant, rhythmical whirring of machinery. Eva had no idea about where the sound came from, but she wasn't willing to take the risk. She found her place back in line, assumed the very same pose and blank expression of everyone around her, and waited. Slowly, it grew closer, until she could almost feel its buzzing beneath her skin. Then came the mechanical man.
It possessed the same shape and size of an average human male, but had no other human traits. It was forged of a smooth, silvery metal, leaving only brief gaps for joints. The machine lacked a defined face, but instead a dimly glowing visor occupied the area which eyes should have. It marched uniformly down the row, taking a short moment to examine each person before moving onto the next. Eva felt herself tense up as it approached, breathing and pulse accelerated. She tried to focus on looking straight forward, not blinking, and not moving a single centimeter.
The machine again paused before her, observing her stance and expression. It seemed to take longer than with the other people, but eventually moved onto scanning Gloria, and later Ethan. Eva waited until the robot was 15 people down the line before she dared to even relax her position. She let out a heavy sigh, once it was completely gone from sight. "What kind of place IS this?" She asked herself.
Suddenly, Eva became aware of an intense pain rolling up her spine, followed by an eerie numbness. She started to fall backward limply, but a pair of strong, cold, metallic hands again righted her into standing. She felt her mind slipping away from her, and several times did she attempt to resist, until the haze was just far too thick.

• • •

Eva awoke with a sharp inhale, a snapping of the eyes, and gripped tightly at the ground. Still fresh in her mind was the grey world, so tangible that she, for a moment so brief, swore that Scarlet was the patrolling robot. Slowly the color returned to her eyes, proving that she wasn't in that bleak world anymore, but lying on the sidewalk of a familiar city. A small group of bystanders had since gathered, and she heard sirens growing closer from a hovering emergency vehicle. Eva weakly pushed herself into sitting up, glanced over to Scarlet with dull eyes, "How long...has it been...?"  

[Okami Ameras]

When Eva finally came to, I was holding her carefully in my arms. My tail swished back and forth on the pavement. The crowd was keeping it's distance for some reason I myself could no decearn, and that annoying buzzing had gotten louder. My ears were flat against against my scalp because of the wailing sirens.

About an hour or so. I saw you as I was searching for a grocery store. What happened?