Video // sarajevo

[socialchameleon]

[ Video opens on Sarajevo, who's apparently lying on a rooftop somewhere, judging by how far away the ground behind/below her is. She flashes a pair of peace signs (she's holding the phone with her tail). ]

Hey, fellas! It's ya girl, Sarajevo. Seen a lot of humans around, so I wanted to check something real quick.

Anyone else here from Terra? You know, the one with the Catastrophes and the nomadic cities? And the Savrans? I'm pretty sure I saw some Cautus and Elafria around, maybe a couple Feline. We don't have humans there, so just based on that, I'm guessing we're in the minority here.

If any of that rings a bell, gimme a shout! If it doesn't... I dunno. Tell me a weird story about whatever planet you came from. We'll make it a whole thing.

[ Thumbs up. It can't be just her who's from Terra, right?

Right?? ]

Comments

un:happyaround

[roundandaround]

Hmm... I don't know about any of that stuff. But I can help with the other one! What kinds of stories are weird?

[socialchameleon]

You tell me! I've only ever lived on one planet, so I don't have any point of comparison.

[roundandaround]

Okay! Uh... I know! I can tell you about that time I led my friends on an exploration party through the jungle to try and find this mysterious animal, the diamond chameleon! I thought it'd be great because I've lived in the jungles too, and we did all kinds of cool things!

Like we saw carnivorous plants! Muni-chan started saying that there'd be big ones that would eat us too because she saw it in a video game, but there wasn't anything like that. But there was a monkey! It took Maho-chan's water bottle and ran up a tree, and then Maho-chan went to try and get it! It was so cool! But then the monkey threw the bottle at her and she fell down. But it was okay! She got caught in a bunch of vines, just like off movies! She was going, aaa, aaa! [Rinku waves her arms around excitedly.] And it all turned out fine, because she fell out of the vines and onto Muni-chan. Oh, and then Muni-chan said she saw the chameleon! But it got away. I tried calling my papa, he's a scientist, but then he said the notes we were working off weren't proper scientific research... So we couldn't prove it existed after all.

[socialchameleon]

[ Sarajevo was planning to cut her off if it got too long, but honestly, this story rules. She listens through the whole thing, at no point figuring out who any of these people are in relation to each other. ]

Hey, that was a good one! I've actually never been in a proper jungle. It sounds like the movies basically get them exactly right.

Who are Muni-chan and Maho-chan, though?

[roundandaround]

They're my unitmates! Them and Rei-chan! We're a DJ unit that plays music at parties and performance events, and we compete, too! If you're not from the jungle, what kind of place do you live? Are you on one of those moving cities you talked about?

[socialchameleon]

I travel a lot, but yeah, most of it's between nomadic cities. I guess there used to be more cities that stay in one place, but the Catastrophes got most of 'em.

[ It's a rough deal when your planet's weather patterns are so bad that you have to mobilize your entire civilization to dodge natural disasters. ]

So, are you some kind of performer? What was a band doing in the middle of the jungle?

[roundandaround]

My parents are scientists! And I found these notes in my papa's stuff, so I thought we could have fun trying to find this mystery animal! Except he didn't write them and he got them from a random person, and we don't really know where they came from.

[socialchameleon]

Your life sounds wild. I think you can call yourself an adventurer at this point, and nobody can dispute it.

[roundandaround]

Wait, really? What makes someone an adventurer versus not one yet?

un: yuuto

[spacialeyes]

In my experience, 'Terra' is not an uncommon term for civilizations to use to describe their concept of 'the world.' However, the specifics that you mentioned are unfamiliar to me... Are you okay over there? Catastrophes sound awful... Do you need anything?

[... oh right! Sharing his own info. Hm.]

For me... In the world that I was born in, 'thank you' is a form of currency! That doesn't seem to work here.

[socialchameleon]

Sounds like you could just print your own money that way. In my experience, a kind word and a dollar nets you one dollar.

[Ah, capitalism.]

As for the Catastrophes, sure, it's not great, but that's why they mobilized cities. That way, when it starts raining meteors, you can just leave.

[spacialeyes]

Something like that... With how easy it is to produce magic to make miracles there, 'money' eventually phased out. I don't think that my little sister has even seen it before.

[He nods slowly in understanding. 'Raining meteors' is sort of a concerning example, but he's sincerely impressed by how society evolved.]

Wow, that's amazing... The living are so creative and stubborn when it comes to staying alive, huh? You must be pretty amazing yourself.

[socialchameleon]

We do our humble best to stay alive, because the alternative is worse.

...No offense. Are you a ghost?

[spacialeyes]

I suppose so. But you'd be saddened to hear how many societies don't have that attitude...

Au? Umm... [thinking politely, seriously considering the question-] Wait, no! That's not something to think twice about. The answer is 'no!' I'm not dead yet either!

[socialchameleon]

Oh, okay! The way you said "the living" made me think you were talking about us as an outsider. So, a ghost or something.

[spacialeyes]

I apologize. That's my fault for causing a misunderstanding!

Nope, I'm completely normal! Absolutely normal. I just think people are neat! [He's really selling his normalcy here!]

And I apologize if this is overstepping, but I hope that you're able to relax in this world..?

[socialchameleon]

Hopefully not too much. If nothing's keeping me on my toes at all, I'm gonna get bored.

[ She needs plenty of enrichment in her enclosure. ]

video

[lionsharing]

[ This one... looks almost perfectly human! There's a slightly odd ridge of vertical skin on her forehead barely visible through the white of her hair, but otherwise... ]

"Terra" is just a word for earth, isn't it...? I'm from a country called Scoalia. I don't think it's all that weird? It's got cities and villages...

[socialchameleon]

For real? I haven't found a single person who knows what I'm talking about... It just seems like it wouldn't be cost-effective to break into a whole planet just to steal one guy.

[lionsharing]

Maybe people come in stages...? Well, I can't really pretend to know how this works.

[socialchameleon]

Me neither. I'm just kinda jealous of those guys who showed up with all their friends.

By the way, are you a human?

[lionsharing]

There does seem to be a lot of people with companions here... I'm kinda jealous too...

[ A pause. ]

-- No way! I'm a sphinx!

[socialchameleon]

Hey, that's great! We non-humans oughta hang out.

What's a sphinx, though?

[lionsharing]

People keep asking that... a sphinx is a sphinx. We're related to winged lions, I guess.

Hanging out might be fun though.

[socialchameleon]

Oh, cool! [ She knows some Felines, at least. Adding wings to cats sounds pretty rad in her book. ]

How about soon? I haven't touched anyone recently, so I'm worried about turning into a statue or exploding or whatever.