quietplacelogs | seems the whole damn world has lost its mind

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seems the whole damn world has lost its mind

featuring: (ANOTHER A TEAM??) akira & A2 (

a2brutus ) with akechi (

lowkeycrazy ) showing up!
what's happening? after the round-trip back (during the rainstorm), akira and A2 are sent to check on a loud sound coming from Verdrel Square. it doesn't go as planned...
day: ~020 (~feb. 4)
content warnings: possible spoilers for persona 5 that will be marked in a subject line
notes: closed for now!

lassie might have been a better candidate for this position...
implied P5 spoilers maybe?

At this point, he can't remember exactly why the job fell to the two of them, but that detail isn't important. Getting to the source of the sound it what's most important, and Akira isn't taking the task lightly. No, if anything, he's being incredibly serious.

That is, until they're nearing the square, and he has to pause, hand moving to rest on the side of his head. Augh... why is he dizzy? Hm... being out in the rain might be making him sick?

... Haha, as though he can lie to himself -- no, he... knows why. Stress, right? Not sleeping? Whenever he closes his eyes, he sees the same damn thing: that infuriating smirk or unnerving grin. He still wants to punch it just as much as he wants to find a way to help the one giving it.

In any case, he's going to be standing there, hand pressed to his damn head, staring as though entranced by whatever thing his eyes are pointed out.

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It's a job for her to do. It's a second chance given purpose to her, to not screw up and actually protect someone, she hopes.

Unfortunately, it seems like her (human) partner, is having a bit of trouble. Not that A2 is good at determining the cause. It once again comes down to the fact that androids know precious little about what humans are actually like, or how they work!

A2 stops along side him, though she does give an urgent look towards the square, then back at him. She's having trouble prioritizing.

"You alright?"

The voice snaps him out of his briefly being trapped in his own head; he's quick to give her an apologetic look (for as much as the heavy rain allows her to see), followed by a quick nod.

"Sorry... I'm fine. After we check on things, though, I might need to sit down."

Ugh... It's frustrating, knowing he's holding them up. But, he'll at least be honest about needing to rest after this? Because... he can at least make it there, damn it! After holding up a finger to show he needs just a moment longer, he takes a deep breath. Then he's giving her another nod. He pushes forward, moving at a slow sprint, even if he's trying not to move too quickly. The ground is pretty slippery, though, so it will seem it doesn't matter how careful he's being...

His foot lands in a thick patch of mud, which is just thick enough and deep enough to trap it.

And it's right as he's yanking his foot free, the dizzy feeling hits. It's just enough to throw him off-balance, and he's going down ~~without yelling timber~~....

"Shit...!"

The only thing he manages to grab on to is way too slippery to help him. It does nothing to slow his descent. Honestly, he doesn't even register the loud crack-like sound that's muffled by the sound of the rain. His body goes limp -- if she checks the rock his head collided with, there's blood already trickling out onto it, though it's immediately being washed away by the rain.

The only signs of life are breathing and a heartbeat; he's not moving, otherwise.

Unfortunately, A2 is of little help when he starts slipping. She reaches out, but smooth metal hands mean that she's... just as slippery as anything else on the ground. A2 fumbles, but doesn't manage to catch him in time.

The crack that rings out is deafening to her sensors, and a chemical not unlike adrenaline floods her system to produce a highly concentrated form of an emotion known as "fear" as soon as she sees the red leaking out of the top of his head.

She drops down next to him, first to check if he's still breathing. What does she do? She looks around, for help, but finds none, and her hands hover over him nervously. Is it alright to touch him? Should she carry him? A2 knows how to move injured androids, but not injured humans, and their blood looks exactly like android blood, and A2 isn't sure what to do.

It's a solid minute before she decides to actually scoop up her partner as gently as she can manage. A doctor. She needs a doctor. Or anyone. She'll take anyone at this point, and for someone that can crush steel, she's extremely careful and gentle with Akira's body!

The first person she can find she'll take.

Akechi wasn't planning on staying out in the rain long. Unlike the others, he felt no reason to celebrate. There's something about the ease of verbal communication that he missed, certainly, but to holler and whoop as some of them did? Meaningless.

... where had Kurusu wandered off to, anyway? It's not like he was his keeper, and he's admittedly a bit frustrated with himself when he realizes that he has noticed his absence. Since when had he started subconsciously keeping track of him?

...in any case, now that they have free reign with the rain, it's a good time to explore and see if maybe he can find any particular buildings that might be useful or have useful supplies within them. Hygiene products might be nice... more solar paneling, perhaps... seeds would be nice, but any in the shops would have likely expired by now. But if he comes upon something that looks like it might have something useful inside? He'll go on in.

That is, until he hears that noise from the square. It's enough to draw his attention, at least, from what he was doing, and he happens to notice A2 and Kurusu several yards away.

And then Kurusu gets stuck in mud, falls, and even from where he is, he can just barely hear that crack, and his heart stops.

"Akira!"

He runs as fast as his legs will carry him, though he's careful to avoid any slippery patches himself lest he make the same mistake. His body's still here, which means he's alive, right? Even those who don't die by Sound Eaters get reset, if what happened between Jessica and Kilgrave was any indication. But his life isn't much of a consolation when he sees that blood coming out of the side of his head, and he quickly kneels down next to A2.

"Idiot!" he hisses, hand coming up to press against the side of Kurusu's head, trying to stem the flow of blood, his hand trembling slightly. What the fuck... how could he be so careless?! Akira Kurusu was in fact an idiot in many areas, but... even this seems far too reckless, even for him...

God, he is going to kill him if he's seriously injured himself.

He turns to glare at the robot. "Why didn't you—?!" And then he sees it; the water rolling off the shining metal. It's why Kurusu's hand couldn't find purchase on the slippery metal... A noise of frustration escapes him as he shifts more fully in front of A2.

"Give him here. We can't risk you dropping him."

Shit, shit, shit... his ankle's likely twisted too, but he's far more worried about Kurusu taking a blow to the head like that. It's not like they haven't taken worse in the Metaverse, but the Metaverse was a slightly different affair. Kurusu was frighteningly human and vulnerable in the real world. All Akechi can think about is that native that slipped and fell earlier in the rain and cracked his head...

Edited 2018-02-13 19:27 (UTC)

Naturally, A2's first reaction is to panic as a human more or less calls her out for being unable to help. For being unable to save another human. The sting of it opens up wounds that are old, but now feel fresh.

But she doesn't want to give up Akira's body. She's sturdier. She can still carry him. She needs to prove herself that she can still be of help.

"I can carry more than you can. I'm less likely to trip than you are." Her balance systems are state of the art. Her strength can throw colossal machines through concrete. She has this! Let her help.

"Just... Just tell me where to go. Where should I bring him for a doctor?" Who can fix this mistake?

"I said give him here!"

He snaps the words out, breathing a bit raggedly. Fuck, why is he... getting so worked up about this? Why is he getting so worked up about Kurusu? What does he care if this stupid idiot's gone and brain-damaged himself?!

Why does he feel so fucking possessive over him?

... a doctor. Hadn't Akira been the one who opened the clinic? He doesn't have any idea, really, who else might be able to help with this sort of thing. First-aid training doesn't tend to come up in day-to-day conversation.

"I don't know," he admits, swallowing uneasily as he comes down from his moment of rage. "But there must be someone. A native, perhaps."

A2 isn't exactly used to being yelled at. Not by anyone who matters, anyway. But this is a human. There's an injured human, and a concerned one. All A2 wants is to prove herself to them, that she is good enough to help them. Especially after her embarrassment with the Sound Eaters.

But she relents, and awkwardly, she offers up Akira's body to Akechi, casting her eyes away in shame.

"I'm sorry. Tell me what you need me to do."

Something twists in him a little at that response as he takes Kurusu, feeling his warm body in his grasp. Protectively, he draws him closer, and gives a little sigh. Seeing Akira hurt himself like that had really rattled him, and he's still very worried for the boy's health, but. . .

... he probably didn't really need to yell at A2, who was... not human? Her arms had seemed to be made of metal, so... a cyborg? A robot?

He gets to a stand, carefully cradling Kurusu in his arms. He's certainly quite heavy... it's likely he won't be able to carry him back the whole way. But right now, his body in his arms is... somehow comforting. The warmth is comforting. This close, he can feel the gentle rise and fall of his chest. It's a reminder that he's alive.

"...no, I'm sorry."

A second chance. If Akechi really... wants to make this second chance work, then he probably shouldn't be— needlessly cruel to others here. It's clear she was just trying to help.

"Walk on my left and put pressure on the wound."

Something twists in her blackbox as the human apologizes to her. It makes her feel guilty, if not worse than having him yell at her. It's awful, in a way that A2 can't quite actually put words to.

She has no choice but to push past her own discomfort at the situation though. There's something here more important than her.

A2 does as she's told, without fighting against it. On his left, she puts pressure against the wound. Is it too much? Too little? She doesn't know. She doesn't know anything about her creators.

It's awful.

It's as the pressure is placed on his head this time around, there's a bit of stirring. A quiet sound escapes him as his body shifts in the arms, curling into itself a little.

An uneven exhale releases, as one more sound can be heard; it almost sounds like an attempt at forming a word.

But... after all of that, he fades right back out, silent and still, almost as though he's sleeping.

It's not difficult to notice the awkward way she moves. There's no hesitation and yet at the same time, she seems to struggle to know just what to do. If she is indeed an android, then she may be far stronger than any human, and might not know what kind of pressure to use...

"Not too hard. Just enough to stem the flow of blood."

And that's when Kurusu awakens... a little. More like barely surfaces to consciousness. Well, he's responding to outside stimuli, so that's good, and Akechi carefully adjusts his hold as the boy shifts before stilling again. A soft, exasperated sigh escapes him.

"Just rest, idiot."

He hugs him a little closer, and after a few moments, finally voices his thoughts:

"Are you a robot?"

A2 responds quickly enough to the instruction, pressing down a little harder on the wound, but just enough to where she feels that it's enough to stop the blood flow without hurting him further. It's a delicate balance, for someone designed to kill and crush enemies made of steel and iron.

"Android." She corrects, but it's halfhearted at best. If anything, she'd rather just keep her mouth shut and not cause anymore problems.

"Android," he echoes quietly. She seems so... sullen and submissive, and some part of him deep down... hurts, and he can't fully explain why. But he's certain his past plays a part in it.

It's a part that spurs him to continue in conversation, where he would normal forego needless small talk.

"What's your name?"

"YoRHa type A, Number 2." She replies to his question, hesitating for a moment. "You can call me A2 if you prefer." It's not like he could call her Number 2, since 2B is here as well.

"Number two... that is disappointing, but unsurprising, that humans would be so callous as to refer to sentient beings by number and type."

He looks over at her, genuinely curious.

"...can you tell me more about yourself?"

It would be a nice distraction from the worry over Akira while they steadily make their way back.

She has half a mind to tell him, but in the end, she resists the temptation, letting the subject change to herself easily. Though her answers are anything but.

"There's not much to say. I was built for combat, so combat is what I'm good at."

... Akechi isn't normally the comforting type. In fact, he'd argue he'd barely know where to begin with it. But something about what the android says stirs something deep and painful within him. Something that makes his face twitch a bit.

For a few moments, there is nothing but the pouring of rain.

Finally, quietly, in a way that may or may not be lost to the rain:

"You aren't just a weapon."

"You seem to be part of the few who thinks so." A2 knows that, but it's what she's most comfortable in. Quite frankly, she's fine being a weapon, all things considered. She's proud to be human made, and she's proud to fight for humans. The fact that the loyalty is coded into her doesn't bother her.

"You are a sentient being who can think for herself. You could do whatever you wish."

... also, something's seriously wigging him out here. It's probably just the rain making things sound weird, but... he swears she sounds like...

...

Heh... is he hearing ghosts, now?

"...has he stopped bleeding yet?"

Humans are weird. That's A2's final verdict on the matter. She still can't quite understand why they all seem so set on telling them that they're their own people, when they were created in contrast to that.

"I could. But I'm already doing what I want to now." Even if it falls in line with her coding. When he asks if Akira has stopped bleeding, she tentatively pulls her hand back to check.

"I think so." But... What does she know? It doesn't look like more blood is pooling out...

Well... he can't dispute that. He supposes it would make sense for an AI to want to do what it was programmed to do.

A soft sigh of relief at her answer. That's one less thing to worry about.

"Good. ... I don't know that a doctor would be able to do much for him, but I don't know of any other healers... Perhaps for now we should get him back to the clinic."

"Whatever you want." A2 doesn't know anything. She's powerless to help in any truly meaningful way. She's here because.... Well, she's not sure. She can't carry Akira, and the bleeding seems to have stopped. Is there any purpose for her? She might be needed elsewhere.

"Do you need me here?" Is what she settles on asking, because... Well, he seems fairly competent on his own. He's strong enough to carry Akira. There isn't much for her here.

Heh... he supposes he should have expected that submissive response, at this point. It kind of.. makes him a little angry, somehow, that such submission seems to be hard-coded into her AI. She doesn't deserve to feel inferior to humans. ... least of all this one in particular.

"...my arms are getting a bit tired," he admits quietly, gaze drawing over to the AI. Now that he's not in quite such a panic, he doesn't feel... quite the level of possessiveness that he originally did. Something that he's— stubbornly going to avoid thinking about...

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seems the whole damn world has lost its mind

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cw: some blood?

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this is like... the only time i'll probably ever use this icon lmao

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one eternity later

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