deernet | Video, UN: Kassandra

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Video, UN: Kassandra

[Kassandra had spent the better part of a day figuring out just how to use the Omni before doing this. She's not technologically inclined, but once she had certain things pinpointed it wasn't difficult to work out some of the basic functions. Including ill-advised videos introducing herself, though she clearly hasn't mastered the Art of the Selfie.

The video feed opens at an odd angle showing a tanned woman, thankfully right-side up, staring at it with furrowed brows. Deep in concentration for a moment more, she simply stares at the camera in silence until she seems to come to a conclusion. Nodding, the woman exhales, and finally speaks up.]

...Hello. If other people are able to hear me, please say something so I don't keep talking to a rock and wondering if it really is magic or if I am crazy.

[Her voice has a heavy Greek accent, and if her attire is any indication she is not of the modern era.]

If I am talking to a magic rock, then know that my name is Kassandra, and I am looking for my family and my crew. Men named Alexios, Nikolaos, Barnabas and Stentor...and women named Myrinne, Roxana, and Odessa. I have hope that I am not alone in being reborn in this strange land, yet I have seen no sign of them.

[There's a pause as she fiddles with the Omni one more time.]

Aletheia, if you can hear this, show yourself.

[And then the feed drops.]

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[Her smile warms immediately at Kassandra's recognition.]

It's good to see you again, as well. How's your leg, healing up okay?

[She takes hold of her jaw with the hand not holding her Omni, and it smushes her cheeks up, creasing them under her eyes while her eyebrows knit together in deep thought. She tilts her head one way, then the other, and eventually sighs as she goes lax again, shaking her head.] That I don't know-- I can't even figure out if they need to charge or anything.

[Recognition is good. Kassandra's smile widens a little and she turns her Omni down, sticking out her leg to show a fully healed one. Not even a scab or a scrape to mark the monster's passing.]

I heal quickly. Asclepius has given me that blessing. Most injuries do not last long, for me.

[Generally they're either not a problem or they're fatal-seeming. Nowhere in between if she's being honest.

She sighs.]

I suppose that as long as they work, we can make use of them then. I hope the magic does not run out quickly. This seems convenient.

[Sumire's own smile pulls broader, showing her teeth, and she clasps her hands together near her face.] Oh, good! That's a convenient blessing.

[She turns her Omni over in her hand, forgetting she's on video and sending Kassandra a dizzying little spin before she steadies it in her palm again, looking chastised.] Oops-- Yes, I agree. It's hard to explain, but it's pretty important to be able to communicate. Are you familiar with handheld devices at all?

Being a demigod has it's uses.

[It's one of her many blessings, though she's still wrestling with the fact that her strength and stamina come from a precursor race masquerading as gods, and not actual, factual gods. And explaining literally any of that to her new friends is far beyond her.]

And I am not, no. [She tilts it back to look up at herself.]

I spent a full day learning to use it. I was not even sure it would work.

[She makes a curious expression and then raises a hand with her index finger extended, pressing it to her cheekbone.] A demigod, huh? That explains the amazing way you got us out of that Well.

I'm not so good at them, myself, and everybody has smartphones where I'm from. [She sounds a little chastised, but only so much as a fifteen year old struggling with a smartphone like an old man might would.]

Mmm. Well, it works, so I suppose I've figured it out passably.

[And she's proud of that. See how she preens?]

How are you holding up, Sumire?

[She does see, and it makes her smile broaden enough to scrunch her nose and wrinkle the corners of her eyes.] Passably is an understatement, I think. I owe escaping from that situation wholly to you.

Well enough, I think! I've been doing some cautious exploring.

Cautious exploring seems like an oxymoron.

[How does one cautiously explore a weird spook city?]

What have you discovered?

[She laughs, bright and honest.] I guess it sort of does!

But, in that sense, not a lot, given I have been doing it cautiously. A pair of friends of mine-- an upperclassman and someone I know through my father's work are both here in this town as well, so I have to make sure I'm careful to not inconvenience them, too.

How fortunate.

[upperclassmen...what a word!]

I'm sure you aren't an inconvenience to anyone, Sumire. You're a bright young woman, and you're clearly capable.

[She waves her hands avidly in front of the screen.]

Oh-- no, just-- they worry! We went through some hardships together back home, senpai definitely worries, and Akechi-san..., [She wrinkles her nose.] I think he's annoyed by worry, so I like to avoid the possibility of it with him. They're both older than me, so I want to make sure I show them I'm capable. [A beat, and she smiles, ducking forward into a bow at her Omni.] It means a lot that you think I am, thank you.

I don't know how you could think otherwise. Have some confidence in yourself.

[Kassandra smiles generously, leaning forward like she's about to impart some great wisdom and not just stare at...a rock.]

You'll do great. Because you have a seed of greatness in you. I don't know many people who could have climbed out of a well pursued by a monster.

[She almost comes up with a counter-point, not so much an argument as suggestion that she has her reasons for struggling with confidence, but it's hard to struggle in any way but physically when you're being scrutinized by a large Greek woman in the screen of a rock. She laughs softly.]

Well, thank you. I'm much better than I've been in the past. And don't forget yourself! Neither of us would have gotten out without your magic lightshow.

I suppose. Thank Zeus for lending us his thunderbolts, then.

[She certainly does.]

How are you settling in, otherwise?

Thank Zeus, indeed!

[She hums in thought.] Well enough, I think! I'm setting myself up for work.

And what will you be doing?

I plan to become a Night Walker! At home I'm a gymnast, and dancing isn't far off from gymnastics, so working in entertainment is something I know I can do.

I'm sure you'll excel. Entertainment is important.

[Though, well, she's gathered there's some connotation to Night Walker that isn't all that dissimilar from hetaerae here. And if Sumire wants to go that route, she isn't going to say anything negative. It's her life!]

It's a dream I shared with my sister, growing up, to be world-famous gymnasts. So, I guess I may as well start strong, while in another world!

[Listen, she's Concerned, okay. It's fine. It's fine.]

What...is gymnastics? I'm afraid I do not know that word. I know gymnazo? But I do not think you are training for war without your clothes on.

[She's as ancient as the hills. That word wasn't really formalized for three hundred more years.]

[Sumire makes a decidedly funny face that looks a bit like she's placed an entire lemon slice in her mouth.] Um, no! Gymnastics... are a form of athletic sport! It focuses mostly on flexibility, balance, coordination... It's usually done in loose clothing that is easy to move in, or performance costumes, I've definitely never done it naked.

As I thought. Then it must be newer than I am.

[Kassandra smiles, but not unkindly.]

Are you good at it? I don't doubt you would be. But, I don't know what it is?

Edited 2021-11-19 04:54 (UTC)

[There are... probably a lot of things newer than Kassandra...,]

[But that's totally fine!!]

Oh! Um, relatively, yes! My sister and I were pretty well-known, at home.