First Crash [Voice]

[broji]

Hello everyone. For those I haven't gotten the chance to meet yet, I'm Ginji. I wanted to apologize for the trouble I've caused this past week, and to thank you all for looking after my sister and me. We're grateful for your help.

[A thoughtful pause, and what sounds like pages being flipped through.] So I've been wondering, are there any other craftsmen or engineers in Luceti? Pilots? I figure if our worlds are different, then our technologies must be too. There's a lot we could learn from each other.

Comments

[broji]

[It's never boring, Luke! It's just that sometimes people present the information in a very dull way.]

That's good to hear. [Not entirely convinced this applies to everyone, but he'll give Luke the benefit of a doubt here.]

By the way, those predictions in the journals... do you think they were a shift?

[fabrecation]

Yeah, they definitely were. There's something about this one, though... [It's the predictions... the fact that people were following them so easily. It's like...]

[broji]

I thought that might be it since everyone was acting strangely. [That's an understatement.] But I wasn't expecting the month to be so short.

[Pause.] You know, they weren't so different from Score readings...

[fabrecation]

[He'll get to that "month being so short" thing in a bit, since that's another thing that bothers him month after month. But right now...]

... That's probably why this one rubbed me the wrong way. We couldn't even fight them, either.

[broji]

You're right. Even though most of the predictions didn't do any lasting damage, it's wrong to force them on people. [He's never been especially dependent on the Score - it's humankind that does all the work to make things and to make things happen, after all.]

[Thoughtfully.] Noelle had hiccups all week long, Mr. Asch kept trying to cut his hair... I even met someone with ducks chasing after him. [He means Naoto.] And I'm sure there were worse cases than those.

[fabrecation]

... My hair kept acting weird. One of my friends lived in my fireplace for a while... we don't even have a fireplace.

[And...]

Asch tried to be me.

[broji]

How did that work out? [The fireplace.]

[Oh. Maybe that's why.]

I see... He must not be too happy about it.

[fabrecation]

Well... the fireplace went away. I kind of liked it there...

[And man. He really doesn't want to talk about Asch trying to be him... It was like their roles really had switched.]

He really wasn't. I'm just glad he didn't cut his hair.

[broji]

I guess anyone would. I heard from Rise that winter's only just started and it'll get even colder than this. [How he's going to weather the weather... Ginji's not entirely sure yet. Probably with lots of thick jackets and snow boots!]

[Hm.] Well, at least it's over now. And there shouldn't be another one for a few weeks, right?

[fabrecation]

Right... [On both accounts. But let's focus on the cold, because talking about Asch trying to replace him just makes him feel all kinds of uncomfortable.]

It gets cold way too fast around here.

[broji]

[Nods to himself.]

I can see that. [He was pretty much dumped in snow after all.] And I've heard it'll last for at least another couple of months.

Do you usually spend more time indoors during winter or brave the weather, Luke?

[fabrecation]

I try to get around in it, but it's too cold. I get worn out really fast, and I can't stop shivering... I hate it.

What about you? It's got to be pretty different from Sheridan.

[broji]

[He's trying really hard not to sound too amused. Luke's definitely no fan of the cold.]

...You're right! In Sheridan the temperature can drop drastically after the sun sets, but that's nothing compared to having snow on the ground for weeks at a time. I learned a couple of things when we visited Keterburg, but the rest has been up to trial-and-error.

Dressing in layers seems to help, though. [But Ginji's always done that anyway.]