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?

[socialchameleon]

Going on adventures, mostly, and it sounds like you had a real one! Mystery, slapstick, legendary beasts, it was all in there.

[roundandaround]

Then I guess I did! And even in normal life, doesn't everything feel like an adventure sometimes? I mean, you're always finding new things!

[socialchameleon]

Good attitude! It's true, especially if you go out of your way to do things that feel like adventures. I know I do!

[roundandaround]

Really? What kinds of things do you like doing?

[socialchameleon]

Oh, you know. Crime sprees, seduction, getting chased out of town by an angry mob, that kind of thing.

[roundandaround]

Wait, seriously? Is that the kind of thing you talk about? Are you a phantom thief stealing expensive artworks or something?

[socialchameleon]

I don't leave calling cards before baffling the police with my genius heists, I guess. I just do things for money or for fun, and sometimes those things are illegal for some reason.

[roundandaround]

Aww... Wait, why am I disappointed? [She shakes her head.] That sounds kind of scary! But you seem like a nice person, too...

[socialchameleon]

I'm just telling you this because none of the people I've swindled are in this dimension, but seeming like a nice person is actually a great skill for a criminal to cultivate.

[roundandaround]

Really? More important than stealing stuff?

[socialchameleon]

[ Okay, sure, we're gonna teach this kid how to begin a life of crime. ]

Think of it this way. Suppose you want to rob a house, but the only ways in are the front door and the chimney.

If you seem suspicious, you gotta take the chimney, which means climbing all the way up the house and crawling down a dirty hole into a fireplace, all without anyone hearing you. If you seem nice, you can just talk them into letting you walk in through the front door.

[roundandaround]

But then if you steal their stuff, they're going to know you did and get mad at you afterwards.

[socialchameleon]

Why do I care if they're mad at me afterwards? I've already got their stuff.

[roundandaround]

That seems a little backwards. If I'm going to make friends with somebody, I want to do it so they'll be friends with me, not so they'll get mad at me.

[socialchameleon]

That's because you're a good girl! Never lose that precious innocence, or you might end up like me.

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.