Charles Patricius

[Apollymi]

With all of those peopled headed out and Kaguya and Miko stopping to talk everyone else had been taken care of. A group of teens needed phones, and perhaps crash courses in how to use the if it wasn't obvious. But that was something easily taken care of. Miko and Kaguya were the last on the trip slipping out of the house, but right before them, Anya slipped outside and then found her father down at her level with his back out. He even called to her... with the chat she'd had with Miko she didn't know he'd pick her up immediately, but somehow this seemed like something she definitely wanted to do. "Hai!" Anya mentioned as she ran up to take her place on her father's shoulders. How could she not? Still she clung to the top of his head rather tightly, as she realized she was about to be moving from this angle.

And now with everyone outside of the house Miko and Kaguya knew where they'd be going. Soma was wandering out ahead and but that wasn't a problem. As she slipped up and into the group Miko would pause and look at Anya on Kazuhiko's shoulder. There was something innately attractive about the 'good' dad thing, which Miko couldn't have explained if she wanted to. It was also rather cute to see Anya clinging for dear life. "Sugoi..." she murmured just a bit. But Miko wasn't the only startled by a sight, no Angelica was busy looking up into the open sky for the first time in her entire life and right now, looked every part the tourist of the group as she stared at nearby buildings, cars passing on the street and even other people moving around as they started their day. "WOW!~" she squealed. She'd not been outside in ever and now... she was actually outside, actually free to do go places and do whatever she wanted... it was surreal as an experience.

"Alright everyone, first stop is the electronics store four blocks up!~" she said aloud. Kaguya took the opportunity to slip up a bit closer to the front of the group, passing information along more directly as the group began moving. Several of the girls would be peeking into store fronts and looking around while Miko mentally calculated the cost of their first stop. A high end phone could be quite expensive, but she wasn't worried too much about it. One couldn't be a teen in modern times without a phone so she'd make sure they were at least prepared not to look like a crazy person by not owning such a basic item.

[Bloodedge]

Just as he'd hoped, Anya hopped onto Kazu's back and took her position atop his shoulders. He stood, keeping the girl steady by grasping her legs at the shins. "Going up!" he said. Kazu's rise was just quick enough to provide a little bounce at the end, just for a bit of fun. After that, he thought it best to make a simpler move ─ one toward Angelica. He'd made a promise, and he had every intention to see the moment it was fulfilled properly. Angelica was outside, truly outside, for the first time in her long life. Damned be every adventure and card game; he wouldn't miss this moment for anything.

So then, what was Angelica's reaction to her first outing? A simple, albeit loud utterance of... wow. Of course there was also the staring, the clear experience of wonder as so much information was taken in and appreciated. Kazuhiko thought it was worthwhile to give her a moment. Beyond being Angelica's first time truly outside of Aincrad, this world was very different from Alaya. Motor vehicles, skyscrapers and the like were common occurrences here. In terms of architecture and technology alone, there was no outright comparison between the two worlds. "Awesome, isn't it? This is the place to go for entertainment... but that's just here in Japan. You've got two whole worlds to see; this is just the start," he assured. All the while, it seemed Soma was actually walking in the right direction to reach the electronics store Miko spoke of. He'd even be continuing precisely to that mentioned location.

[Apollymi]

Anya hopped up onto Kazuhiko's shoulders, and though she'd been clinging to him, an announcement was made about going up. Once this happened a rise would occur and the small girl would find herself able to see the entirety of the group from her new perch. "Wooow!" she uttered after that first little pop. Her hands would finally release Kazuhiko's head as she declared her own victory over the group with her arms in the air and extended. "Hehehehe!" she giggled happily as a child could while looking down upon the rest of the group. Miko could only smile, she had a few of those kinds of happy memories from her own childhood.

As for Angelica she was trying to take in the full oddity of this world compared to her own understanding. Technology like this didn't exist within Aincrad and what was more, the builds and noise were also very different. In terms of the awesomeness of this whole situation, Angelica could only agree. It was quite different and though it was only the beginning it was still so much. "I am going to be honest with you Chuck, I don't even know what counts as entertainment in this case. There is so much to see already I think I'll end up overwhelmed before the end of it all," Angelica mentioned. She remembered her first outing from a floor when she was able to finally leave it within Aincrad, this looked entirely different. "Right, you said there aren't floors here, but then how big is everything? How do you get from place to place? Like how far can you go?" she asked curiously. She was used to a world with definite boundaries, and this world didn't seem to have those. Anya listened from her perch as the group began moving towards the shop, and she seemed interested quite a bit. Angelica didn't know much about this world or even the one she came from, but had a genuine interest in seeing the sights.

[Bloodedge]

Kazu never took his eyes off Angelica as she took in the sights of this new world. That sense of amazement was the reason he adventured, and the reason he advocated for adventuring. She didn't know what counted as entertainment. For that, there was no full explanation. Too many things could be found entertaining, depending on one's outlook and preferences. "Well... anything from games to parties, shows and everything else. You're bound to find something you like. Just take it easy and enjoy whatever seems cool along the way," he advised.

Delving deeper still into Angelica's experience, she had no idea how the world functioned beyond Alaya's Aincrad. It would have been a nice time to be in possession of a globe, Kazu thought. Well, it wasn't too ridiculous to explain how planets worked. How far could one go? Easy solution. "You can go as far as you want... sort of. The planet is a sphere. Technically, if you pick a direction and go in it long enough, you'll end up back where you started eventually. You'd have to deal with oceans, mountains and all that... but that's what boats and planes are for. As for how big everything is... uhh... we're in a pretty small country now; it's just islands here. I'd say Japan is about the size of all Aincrad's floors combined? Maybe?" he rambled. "Tell you what? We'll find a globe somewhere that shows what the planet looks like. I'll show you where we are on that~"

[Apollymi]

Kazuhiko was quite open to answering Angelica's questions, which was how she'd always known him to be. The things he mentioned sounded a bit odd to her but he claimed she should just enjoy anything she came across that struck her interest. Parties, games, shows... and everything else. Several people had mentioned shows, and media and music. Even just yesterday Miko, Ai and Kaguya had gone to a concert and the night she'd showed up Miko and Kaguya had been to a casino. All those words didn't mean very much to Angelica but it still seemed like it'd be a great deal of fun eventually. "Yeah, I'll... try," she said her eyes still being drawn into various sights as they moved around. In truth this world without magic seemed way more complex than the one she'd grown up in.

And that would only be further proved as she spoke to Kazuhiko. He claimed that there was no technical end to this world. That if you took off in one direction and kept going you'd eventually end up back where you started, but you'd have to cross whatever obstacles came with it. He explained that the planet was a sphere and that this country they were in presently was currently about the size of Aincrad's floors combined. "A sphere, so like a marble or a ball? And you can't hit a hard border or... fall off the edge?" Her understanding of this object was... lacking. But Kazuhiko still offered to help her see it though a globe. "Yeah, I think I'll definitely need to see it... I can't visualize this at all," she said with certainty. From Kazuhiko's shoulders Anya stayed almost gently patting his head as she looked around too. She had a better understanding of the world, but not by very much.

Just the same, the group was stopping at a light to wait for cross traffic. A couple of blocks had already been crossed but on the last one they got stuck by traffic. Once again, Angelica was staring trying to figure out how this entire world worked. "So like planes, and cars? You explained stuff was like carriages but not with animals or magic to pull them... is that what these are?" she asked for clarification. How did one attain on of those? Did you get to get ride wherever you wanted? Every time she saw something new she was awed and confused.

[Bloodedge]

"No... you absolutely can't reach the end or fall off the edge. The world is round; I promise," Kazu said as if to silence a belief he found ignorant beyond all reason. No way would he allow Angelica to be one of those flat-Earth believers. "You can reach the end of the land, but there's always more land eventually. Water bodies can just be way bigger than what you've seen before. Like... massive," he explained further. Brief distraction came in the form of Anya's movements, drawing Kazu's gaze upwards for a moment. She didn't seem to want anything though, so he merely added a bit of bounce to his step again.

Soon enough, they stopped for oncoming traffic. Angelica had more questions, not from ignorance, but instead from newfound understanding. She remembered what he said previously about vehicles. For them, that conversation was so very long ago. He figured she must have been very excited to get out and see the things he'd mentioned back then. "You remembered that? Yeah. Most of those things right there are cars. That one there," he said, nodding toward a truck. "Truck. Two behind that, there's a bus. You'll see things like trains, but they have their own tracks to travel on; they don't veer off certain paths. If you want to see a plane, you'll only catch them moving in the sky. They're loud as all hell, and really fast with, like... wings and stuff. The wings don't flap; they're just for aerodynamics or whatever."

[Apollymi]

More understanding of the world came Angelica's way. According to Kazuhiko, the end couldn't be reached. There were no ends in the way that she thought of the boundaries of Aincrad. Instead, one could reach the end of a landmass and see a vast ocean but if that was crossed eventually more land would be found. "I understand what you're saying, but that's really hard to grasp by description alone," she said seemingly pouty. Like whenever she tried to make a comparison, her mind didn't go far enough. If the biggest thing she'd seen was lakes, oceans were far bigger and connected landmasses. Things like this sounded fine as comparisons, but what did it actually look like? Well, she supposed she'd be seeing eventually.

Beyond that point, there were things she recognized from descriptions given by Kazuhiko when they'd been discussing things before. He even went so far as to identify certain things by name. "Of course I remember!" she said quickly. "It sounded strange, but seeing it is relieving but also somehow more strange I guess. Still, it's good to be able to confirm things with my own eyes and all..." she said. Ah, but she was learning about other things, like trains that followed specific tracks. She saw the huge buses and trucks, all of these different kinds of vehicles and there were still more, planes. "So, this world has mechanical winged creatures but their wings don't flap?" she mused. That was somehow really hard to imagine. At the same time, those little bounces set Anya to giggling and as she did Chika would be turned around and walking backwards waving to the small girl who appeared to be having fun. Anya waved back as they started walking again. And finally crossed into the area which had the phone store they were looking for. All the while a conversation about phones was taking place, "I mean we could just put them in Ai's name... mine will attract attention. You aren't currently old enough for one either..." Kaguya mentioned. Ai for her part in this was shrugging casually. "What an interesting way to think about that... I thought maybe you two were going native but still worldly sensible~" Ai mentioned but she didn't agree either, but maybe she knew it wouldn't come down to that? Time would tell... "I was going to say we shouldn't just volunteer Ai-sen. If worse comes to worse I could always have my parents do it. They know enough that they wouldn't question the additional phones. And they are in town so it wouldn't be too long if we needed direct assistance," Miko stated. There was a certain faith that was maintained in the goodness of her own parents, after all, they'd taken the whole magical world information pretty well.

[Bloodedge]

If they discovered a globe at some point during this journey, Kazu would definitely be giving Angelica a better view of the world in its entirety. He could have pulled a visual from the internet using a phone, but that wouldn't do it justice at all. In this case, nothing could beat a real, physical, three-dimensional object. "Just relax and don't worry too much about that part right now. I'll show you what I mean soon," he assured. With that, he was content to carry on about planes and the like. "It's not a creature; it's more like a flying carriage. Those weren't in Aincrad, but you get the concept, yeah? Wings keep it stable in the air. It moves with... uh... oh! See that?" he asked. As they were entering the electronics store, Kazu pointed toward a spinning fan. "Imagine that, but really big and really strong. The wings of a plane have those; they spin fast enough to make it move. Can you picture that?" he wondered.

Meanwhile, some of the girls were discussing the phone issue at hand ─ specifically how these newborn entities would be acquiring them. Once again, an issue was not an issue. One might soon witness Marisbury Animusphere exiting the back of the store alongside the manager. He'd somehow gotten here ahead of the others. Now that he was in sight, he had nothing to say. He did, however, have something to make obvious. There was a nod toward the group as Marisbury made himself obvious. It would be Soma who picked up on his meaning and addressed it. "The guy with all the answers has all the answers. Go figure. Just use his name; problem solved," the black-haired male stated plainly.

[Apollymi]

Angelica was told to relax and not worry too much about trying to visualize this world without perspective. That seemed almost counter productive, but she could trust Kazuhiko to keep his word to her always. As such, if he claimed he'd show her, she knew she'd get to see it. "Alright, I won't worry about it then," she claimed without hesitation. That for a second caught Anya's attention as she ducked her head down. Angelica's belief in Kazuhiko was strong within her mind, it seemed firmer than most thoughts she'd read so far. What else was being discussed? Planes weren't birds or creatures, but instead machines with specific kinds of builds. As they entered the phone shop, a mechanical fan showed up and Kazuhiko pointed that one out as part of his explanation. Angelica looked at thing and was more confused as to how it helped something fly. "Nope, definitely confused, I mean it's blowing air around so I could see it being connected but not how," she said frowning slightly. This world was odd, of this she was certain.

As they entered the shop, they were greeted by a front end worker. "Welcome!" they chimed without hesitation. The group walked in, uttering thanks, but it would seem that something had caught the eye of a few. Marisbury Animusphere had apparently beaten them here and seemed to be nodding towards the group for whatever reason. Their earlier discussion heard by Soma and this combined to let that lad give his own take on the conundrum they discussed. "Hm, using his name would solve all those problems. Soma that brain of yours is definitely something~" Kaguya teased as she always would. "A lot of him is something," Miko muttered only to immediately follow up with something else. "Woops, that one slipped..." she uttered immediately. "Inside voice is on the outside again~" Kaguya teased. "Hai hai, one more of those and you'll be the subject of the next emergency meeting~" Ai teased, not even bothering to confirm. Miko looked at that one, and wondered if she had the same kind of clairvoyance that Solomon had... if it was the case, she'd simply not been saying anything... "Box it," Miko muttered. "I need four lines, added to Marisbury Animusphere-san's contract..." Miko mentioned pointing to the man currently talking to the manager in case that was necessary. Of course, she'd be turning to the kids who needed them, "Sena, Emirie, Seiichi, you guys need to pick phones or would you rather we do it for you?" she asked of them. "At the very least you can choose any accessories you want..." Miko mentioned knowing that devices would have to be activated and all that. "Doesn't explain how he beat us here though," Chika said popping up from behind to add herself to the conversation. That point might have been a valid one.

[Bloodedge]

Things still weren't making total sense to Angelica. Kazu wasn't surprised; such things took engineering degrees and such for most humans in this world to understand the finer details. The best he could do for the princess was a basic explanation of functionality. "By being strong. So strong, they move what they're attached to. It'd be like... using a burst of magic to launch yourself, and keeping it up to move forward in the air," he explained.

While the struggle of making planes understandable took place, Soma caught one of his targets having a slip-up. Following a compliment from his mother, Soma heard another of a different sort from the brunette. He responded with a glance through the corner of his eye, and of course... a bit of cheek. "Keep slipping. Start a list if it helps," he said as if wondering how many things were 'something' according to the lass. He could consider himself a step closer to finding out very necessary information about this one, and perhaps determining where his own list was going. There was confirmation of something regarding Chika, though. Anya's mother was not the brightest ─ not by a longshot. Her question was unbelievably lacking in common sense. "Obviously, he drove. It's the most sensible conclusion."

[Apollymi]

Strength was what Kazuhiko claimed those things had in the context of planes. Enough to lift a vehicle of some sort and propel it forward. His comparison did her a bit of good, as she could imagine using magic the way he described with a great deal of ease. "That one makes more sense to me..." Angelica said giving a healthy nod. Anya continued to enjoy her time in the place called up, while her mother joined her friends.

Miko had one of her baser thoughts slip from between her lips. She was teased for it mercilessly by her friends, but the lad in question seemed to take it in stride. No, that wasn't quite a strong enough understanding, he seemed to be encouraging it. "Careful... I might take that as permission~" Miko said, that one, wasn't a slip it was oddly direct. She'd already added the young man to her list, he could only make himself more of a target while acting like this in front of her. "Also it might already be a box," she mentioned which only made Kaguya chuckle. Ah well, she knew what her friend was like now more so than ever before... that kind of interest was normal for her. In the meantime, Chika was having one of those smooth-brain moments that had been mentioned earlier. Even the other girls hadn't actually questioned how Marisbury managed to get here before them. "Oh, right. He's a realer grown-up than us..." Chika said while rubbing the side of her head in a playful way with two knuckles and her eyes closed. In that moment she looked so much like her twin that Miko had to close her eyes shake her thoughts around. A few moments later, and Sena and Emirie were approaching with the boxes of the phone models they wanted and appropriate cases. Sena's featured a purple and red background with a golden starburst on it. While Emirie's was a case which featured flowery filigree in mint green and a darker green background. Both girls had newer model Kaiba Corp phones Sena's the active edition and Emirie's a deluxe edition. Miko planned to let Soma choose his own device, but if he didn't she simply had it in mind to pick him one similar to her own.

[Bloodedge]

Permission? Soma rather liked the sound of that. One who was given permission, was one placed in the lesser position. Soma's goal was the top. The top of what? Well, any and everything he could seek. His thirst was not for victory, but for supremacy. "You need permission? Fine. I'll allow it," he said plainly. Whatever she thought to do, he was willing to witness. Even if he was somehow crossed in the end, Soma welcomed the opportunity. As for the 'box' she may have already established... Soma found boxes quite useless in the situation. "Boxes are for storage. Lists are more immediate, and I don't think I was born with the patience to not see progress," he said. Soma may have been interested in establishing long-term goals and schemes, but he had no interest in progressing things at anything but his own determined pace. "Basically... open the box."

Chika's lack of mental fortitude continued even in a moment of understanding. She called Marisbury Animusphere a 'realer grown-up' than the rest of them, and Soma could only think there was a bit more to tell than that. If he wanted to make use of Anya, he'd have to take on the job of ensuring she didn't become too much like her mother. "More so than you, at least. That has to be a disability of some sort," he groaned. Meanwhile, Seiichi was selecting his phone and case alongside Emirie. His was also green, but featured white flower petals over green-tinted, rippling water. As for the phone itself, he chose the 'active' variant just as Sena did. Soma, however, hadn't selected a thing; he'd just be waiting.

[Apollymi]

It was obvious to Miko that Soma was the type of person who walked to the beat of his own drum. It was also clear that he didn't take orders or follow direction in a traditional sense. Back in this world, she'd compare him to the dark hero type... or even the delinquent love interest. Someone who did what they wanted and acted according to the actions given to him... she could work with that as she could work with most types of personalities. It just required a bit of observation to know the proper approach. "Oya, you'll give her permission without knowing fully what she wants~" Kaguya teased the lad knowing that Miko took permission very differently from most people. Even as she accused Kaguya of being far too lax, Miko would never assume permission was temporary. No, if someone told her she could do something, she'd do it without hesitation from that point forward if she believed them. "Doesn't matter, I'll take it~" Miko claimed and she meant that in several ways.

His words about her boxing and why it didn't fit the way he worked made sense to Miko from an outside perspective. "Goal oriented, progress monitoring, self-motivating... impatient. Working on it," Miko had a light murmur going, but still took time to answer him about opening that box. Why, because the box that was now dedicated to Soma was being filled as she came to understand him a bit better. Without realizing it, she'd started comparing him to one of the main conquests of an Otome Game. In this case, could see him as one of those noble bastards, keen to move up in the world on his own power and crush underfoot any doubts about his ability. Even when there was no innate animosity, those types were always aggressive, and threw themselves into things without hesitation, it was admirable. Miko decided as she browsed. In this time, she found herself picking up a phone case with a large fanged snake in white with purple outline as its main motif, and for the phone model she decided upon one which was touted as being most easily modified by users and physically up to similar kinds of damage. It was one which came with a fully expandable memory and the most processing power for apps and programs. Yeah... that seemed about right. As her other children and Sena had their devices picked out, she was doing mental gymnastics to remember the specs on models of phones that this one might enjoy, and settled on it, a Capsule Corp model with similar camera functionality but way more modification options a phone that would completely bend to whatever the user wanted from it. As for Chika and her potential disability there was a very simple answer to that... "Iia, completely normal. I made a choice~" she claimed. There wasn't much to worry about Anya, she'd likely grow her own way, but Chika and her twin, made the choice to be the way they were... it wasn't anything sinister. And with that, if everyone had what they ere looking for Miko would be ushering them up to the register for phone activation while a very confused clerk took care of everything without any more questions than necessary. As the devices were brand new, they took very little to start up. Phones were activated, screen protectors and cases were placed and device accessorties would be handed back to the individuals who placed them. One by one.

[Bloodedge]

Soma's mother had the strangest things to say. Of course he was giving permission without full knowledge of intent. What better way was there to find said intent? "Don't think for one second that it matters, Kaa-san. Whatever the outcome, I'm ready to face it. Anything done to me, I will pay back a thousand times. That goes for friend and foe alike," he vowed. That belief would accompany Soma for his entire life and beyond, and had been with him since he was a mere thought within Kaguya's soul.

Eventually, Soma would have that chance to return any 'favors' sent his way. Right now, there was no such chance immediately ahead of him. One day, he thought. Miko may have even been setting herself up to be the first receiver, given her ability to create interest simply by analyzing him. The few observations she made were accurate enough to earn Soma's approval of the girl. He was thinking of adding more brain to his collection. "I like how your brain works. Keep working," he said. Ah, but Chika wasn't quite done being... herself. She claimed her problem was no disability, but a choice. Still awaiting the delivery of a phone, Soma pinched the bridge of his nose firmly. "I don't believe you. Blissful ignorance to that extent is a dream. Anyone who wants it, can't just choose it," he argued. Something had to be wrong with the genetics or souls of that girl. If that wasn't the truth of it, Soma had a thousand other issues with... well, everything.

[Apollymi]

In the moments surrounding Kaguya's teasing, Soma's motivations in life became clear. Or maybe it was better described as his creed. Soma decided at some point during his inception that he'd repay friend and foe alike a 1000 times over. That was interesting as a thought, Kaguya heard his words and grinned from ear to ear. "Hoh? I didn't expect something so solid so early, but I suppose you did basically make yourself~" she mused. She felt a strange sense of satisfaction for having a hand in the creation of a child who was well past experiencing the kind of difficulties she was even still capable of feeling now. "A thousand times over sounds kind of fun..." Miko muttered. Of course, Miko had different sorts of values but none of that mattered in context.

No, instead she was being complimented rather directly. It seemed those rambling words of hers had been heard and Soma was content to comment about how he liked the way her brain worked. "Hai, arigatou..." Miko said. She'd just recently become the type to have those sorts of observations slip out, given what her own mentor was like. It was good to know she wasn't doing anything bad by letting them be heard, even if she'd not meant it to be so easily observable. Sena's phone was finished, by the time Miko joined the other kids at the register. And Emirie's was being finished as Miko stepped up. Seiichi could go next or she could place Soma's regardless, eventually all four kids would have their own numbers, phones in easily identifiable cases. "If anyone else wants a phone case, I'll buy it..." Miko mentioned. Customization was important after all, and she wanted everyone to feel like their item truly belonged to them. At the same time Chika heard what Soma had to say and only smiled, "You can choose anything so long as you push forward with it~" she stated as if she wasn't talking about her own ignorance. "You'll give yourself a headache trying to figure it out," Kaguya mentioned. "Or age yourself several decades as I am sure this day will do to me," Miko followed up. Just the same, when that phone with snake on the case was ready, she walked over with the bag and the device to hand it to the lad in question. "Here... this one is yours," she stated, having given him a fully kitted and modifiable phone with an extra memory expansion.