annexednet | (Video)

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[Li is reluctant to do this. Starting social interactions is not her forte even in the best of times, and this is very assuredly not that. Regardless, she turns on the video, takes a breath, and steels herself to try to communicate clearly and concisely.]

Hello. My name is Ya-Jing Li. Li, if you want to be formal. I'm new here and I... [what's a way to put this that doesn't make her sound dim-witted?] I'm a bit lost on what to do. Usually I operate with more of a plan than this. I think it would be wise to develop some kind of training regime so I can maintain my combat capabilities, but I'm unsure what to do with the rest of my time here. Suggestions would be appreciated.

And if anyone remembers me from the, um, dream, from before? I would like to hear from you, just to know you made it out alright.

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I've been here for at least a couple weeks now and I'm still trying to get things nailed down. Did you just get brought in recently?

[He wishes the debriefing would have waited until his head was a little clearer, but at least people were willing to go over things again. All the same, he couldn't help but be wary about it all. Sure, they'd been saved and told that the Sylphid were basically the bad guys, but it was still all information conveniently fed to them.

While he doesn't think he's completely optimistic about the whole situation, the Witch's Camp is definitely more preferable to the alternative, dazed and in a cell with no concept of passing time or when you possibly just wouldn't ever be, again.]

From what it sounds like, bringing people in from other worlds seems to be a recent development. A woman I spoke with said she'd been here a few months and was part of the first group. I'm not exactly sure how many here aren't native, but from what I've gathered, the reason we're being brought in is because the Sylphid ran out of compatible locals to take over.

[Not exactly the best reason to have been singled out and abducted. His expression shows just how he feels about that.]

Earlier today, yes. It was... a little strange. Like waking up from a dream, but my dreams don't involve alien planets or people like the kind I see here. It feels a little surreal.

[Maybe that's a normal reaction, this ongoing sense of newness mixed with the lingering feeling of being somewhere impossible. Maybe it'll wear off. Donatello seems to have gotten through the 'is this a thing' stage well enough. For her, though, the cell hadn't been anything to be afraid of. She'd woken up in similar rooms awaiting instructions before. In those moments it had felt as if she were back home, waiting for someone to come for her and tell her the next mission required her presence.

Then the door had opened and it had hit her that this wasn't her Earth. This isn't even somewhere with a concept of Earth. It's so new and large in scale she can't quite process it in full just yet. How did this happen? When? She has so many questions, but Li doesn't know who to ask or if they'd have answers.]

And we were compatible to them? But we're not the same species as the locals - I'm not even solely one species. How does this work, scientifically? I'm not sure I'm understanding this. Wouldn't it have been easier to take over someone whose species wasn't from as far away or someone who wasn't mixed? Dr. Ke said I'm not even capable of having offspring with humans, so I don't understand how I could be a better pick than someone who's only one thing.

[And Donnie, well. He's a turtle. She won't patronize him by pointing out the blindingly obvious. Surely the jump from whatever the Sylphid are to amphibian-mammalian hybrid would be a lot. There are millions of people out there on the street. Why not pick one of those?]

Yeah... Awful kind of feeling, waking up from a dream and not sure you're still stuck in one.

[There's still a tiny part of him that's waiting, hoping to wake up still, but it's been disintegrating bit by bit by what's been stubbornly holding on as the harsh reality here.]

I...don't know. [He really hates to answer that way, but he hasn't been able to dig for specific information, not when he's been so overwhelmed. New place, new things, new tech, it's been difficult to get a handle on where to focus, and truthfully the distractions were a welcome one but he knows he can't indulge in them forever.]

There's a lot I haven't gotten to figure out yet. I'm not even sure if they're just randomly pulling people in like some kind of twisted fishing game or if they've got an actual game plan and data to back it up. I don't even know what these Sylphid actually look like!

I would check how I checked last time to make sure I'm awake, but I don't have my knives, and I don't know if it's reliable. We thought we were awake then, too.

[That the simulation fooled not one but both of them is deeply unsettling. Fooling one person isn't hard. Fooling two, so well pain and fire and explosions felt real? That's an accomplishment, and one with implications.]

Can I help? With your research, I mean, and you looking into things. I don't want to be useless here. But I also don't know how else to assist anyone. [That's uncomfortable, too, this lack of direction, this inability to find a task to work at. How can she help people if she can't even figure out what to do from moment to moment? Li has never been a liability to others and she doesn't want to start now, but it's all so new...]

They might have multiple forms. The Inchoate, the aliens I have a little ancestry from, do. That might be why people can't tell you what they look like. They could be getting different impressions and not know what the 'correct' one is.

[She's grasping at straws and she knows it. This is the closest to having any idea what she's talking about that she's come, so she's offering up scraps in the hopes it'll be helpful.]

[It takes him a moment to realize what she's referring to, and he quickly shakes his head.]

Yeah, that's...troubling. [He frowns, running a hand across his face.] But I do have to say that compared to being in some city fighting off some spore-possessed people, this place is a lot better. Not necessarily ideal when you take into account the bigger picture but...it's full of people trying to make a living, just doing normal things.

[Li says things so plainly, things that he always has difficulty coming to terms with, much less admitting himself. He scratches the back of his head as he glances away from the camera.]

...I don't want to be useless either. [Not just here, but anywhere, really. With his brothers especially. It was a lot easier to feel the pressure with such a tight-knit group, even if it was all mostly in his own head.]

Don't see why not though. Gathering information shouldn't be hard. We just have to ask the right people. Maybe they can tell us more about what's known about the Sylphid too.

Aside from information, I need to try getting things together to build a new battle shell. All my things got taken too. Well...most of my things.

[He has his cellphone. Utterly useless here, but it still has whatever had been on it before he'd arrived, including copious selfies with his family and friends.]

If you need weapons, the armory at the command center can supply you. They expect you to participate in the missions they come up with though, but they pay and the rooming is free so long as you do. Better than nothing, a little less to worry about too, at least until we have a better feel about things and more secure footing.

I've never been in a place this small before. I used to live in Beijing. Suzhou is bigger than here, too... I don't think I've ever been anywhere with less than six million people before. It's quiet here. The air is clean, and it seems like people know each other. I think maybe we could like it, in time. [The weirdness of it is undeniable, but weird is about your established norms. Maybe this place could come to be somewhere they're comfortable for as long as it takes to get home, despite the many differences between here and home.

She has no filter. But he surely knew that about her already. Perhaps that's the skill she's really bringing with her to this place.]

You aren't useless. You just need more information to come up with a plan. It's making a plan without all the information that can be bad, especially when people's lives are on the line.

I don't need as much sleep as pure humans. I can just go ask everyone one by one and take notes. [It'd be a lot of redundant information, but it would also be an extremely thorough methodology. Can't argue with results.

Her expression falls at the mention of things being missing, and it's hard to fault her when she says the reason why.] I don't have my Guanyin pendant. I... I don't have a way to snap out of it, now, if I get locked into one mode. I could get stuck until a mission is over and I get back to you, if you're not also on a mission. [That'll be an interesting bridge to cross when they come to it. She needs a handler to get her out of it. She does not necessarily trust everyone here with her real name, given how badly that could backfire if someone from higher up the food chain in her world came here and realized she was compromised. On the other hand, not telling anyone could lead to an extremely awkward situation where she's stuck in Creature mode trailing after them awaiting orders, head empty, only speaking to answer mission-related queries.]

I don't mind helping. Everyone needs to pitch in. I just don't know how to explain myself to other people here. What will they think? I don't want to compromise missions or team cohesion because I'm like this. If someone got hurt because of me...

[She's not sure how she'd cope. That is the opposite of the point of her very existence.]

Heh, same here. I mean, New York as a state isn't really that big and the city only takes up so much of it, but it's still a completely different feel than here.

[Her saying he's not useless means a lot to him. Three simple words wick away the beginnings of that kind of depression before it can fully sink in. The expression that surfaces on his face is only a faint echo of the confidence he'd shown during the simulation, but it's something.]

You're right. We just have to narrow things down and pick a direction to focus on. It's too easy to just look at everything and get lost.

[His own smile falters once Li mentions such a key thing to her being absent. Imagining her caught up in...Creature mode without anyone else understanding is a worrying thing. Brow furrowing, he shakes his head.]

We'll figure something out. But if it comes down to it, I think people here will be at least a lot more open to understanding unique situations. I...do have to wonder though.

[He lapses into thought, pulling at his chin.]

...I'm not sure that your conditioning might be affected by the chips. That's...more of a mindset, right?

It's going to be a lot easier to protect than somewhere the size of where either of us are from, in a worst-case scenario. And we can walk around anywhere we want. It's not all disadvantages here.

[Though this place will take a bit of getting used to, she's sure they can manage it. Particularly since neither of them is doing this solo - they have each other, all the previous arrivals and cooperative civilians. That's a substantial amount of support to take into account. Many hands make light work.]

When you build a house, you have to start with the foundation, then build from there. We'll do the same thing. The others will probably be willing to help with that, as well.

[A Creature without a handler isn't dangerous the way a Monster is, but it's no less intimidating or unusual to those unacquainted with the system as a whole. She's not sure how to explain it without making herself sound like a danger to everyone, which she genuinely is not.]

I hope so. Honestly, I'm still trying to understand why you're alright with my being so... well-trained. That's not how I'd expected it to go if someone outside the organization found out about people like me.

[Li doesn't know if it's his scientific mind or if he's just open-minded. Either way, she's grateful for the grace he's giving her.]

They trained it into us. I don't remember all of how? I don't think we're supposed to remember. [It'd be too easy for people to break conditioning if they knew how it was done. Better to keep the methodology a secret instead.] None of us started out like this. And it takes longer to make someone a Creature or a Monster if they're older when they start putting you through conditioning. They can make someone a Nightmares at any age, though. They don't have an off-switch so you just condition them, put them somewhere and set them off.

That's... I'm sure there's more I could think of, but this is all I can recall right now.

[Very little of that is useful, actionable knowledge. This is the kind of thing that probably could've been figured out by anyone given enough time to ponder over her behavior and what little she says about her home world. It's hardly the kind of insight that most people could use to come up with anything.

But if anyone could come up with something from the scraps she's handed over, it's Donatello. He just has the energy of someone who doesn't think like normal people, and that's an asset, here.]

So long as the Sylphid don't find out where we are. But this place has definitely been established for some time and it's not like the Witches have been lax in keeping up with whatever the Sylphid might be cooking up.

[He blinks then. It's a fair thing for her to wonder, and not something Donatello's really thought too deeply on, but then the why's aren't something he tends to dwell upon when it comes to how he processes things.]

Well...I'm not sure calling it 'all right' is really accurate- I don't really feel great about someone training you to be some kind of weapon or worse. But I know you're still a person.

My brothers and I...actually if things had gone differently, we might've been in a similar position. Someone wanted to create superior warriors for their cause. That's the only reason we became well, mutants. Our father's the one who saved us from that fate. ...of course we still learned to fight but at least we weren't raised by a crazy obsessed yōkai bent on destroying humanity.

[Creatures, Monsters, Nightmares- having classifications for what Li and others have been trained to be just makes that familiar, uneasy feeling in his stomach form again. There's something very wrong about people who looked for the most part human to be designated as such, and he can only wonder at the purpose for it. Surely nothing good.]

...we'll work through this. I need to think more about it. [She's presented him a problem and it's only second nature for him to figure it's something he needs to fix somehow.] But we've already established that you're still Xiaohu, and you haven't let that go. No one else should choose what you should be.

Perimeter security and staying hidden are probably pretty well taken care of already, since they've had time to establish this place. Not everything here is on you to tend to. Just because you're smart doesn't mean you have to worry about everything.

[She's not even sure she processes things at all. Some things in her life are as unprocessed and ill-understood now as they were the day she snapped out of Creature Mode and realized the implications of what she was two years ago. Learning how to think about things is, apparently, a skill she needs to work on. Maybe it's something everyone learns. Li doesn't know. She needs a book on this, some kind of guide in learning how to be a normal human.]

That's more than you know. A lot of people back home don't see hybrids as people. I mean, most humans don't know we exist, but the ones that do aren't very kind towards us, and the Inchoate just put up with us. [And clearly, that's because they're useful, not because hybrids are considered part of their society or people.]

I can't imagine you being trained like me. You're so smart, you're so good at thinking things through, you're... I don't know. You're not someone I can picture like that. Your father must be proud of you. You turned out to be a very good person. [Li says it like it's a fact because, to her, it is. He's not flawless, but he's the kindest person she's ever met in her life and her standards are, well, a bit skewed.] I guess that's why they separate all of us, the Creatures and Monsters and especially the Curses, from our parents. It's easier to train and condition us that way.

[Nightmares are different. Installing a kill switch in someone can be done at most ages with enough work. Li is not a Nightmare, though, nor is she a Monster. She cannot be given a signal and lose herself to the overwhelming desire to kill each and every thing present. She's something closer to sane, something not as drenched in conditioning, and so she is, she hopes, at least somewhat salvageable. It will unfortunately take some outside help in deactivating existing programming, but at least the absolutely worst case scenario isn't present, here.]

Okay. I didn't expect you to have instant answers. It's a complicated situation. [This will take a while to work out. Fortunately, she's not headed out on any missions right away, so they have time.] I don't know how much choice I have left if I can't get all the programming out of me. But as much as I can, I promise, I'll try to stay me. I want to be something good. Someone good. [It's a correction she makes after a pause. Li isn't used to referring to herself in that kind of language just yet.]

[He may not have to worry about everything, but he can't help but think about them to a degree and almost looks like he'd object to her words. And then he realizes that'd be stupid. No, Li's right. This isn't a burden he's expected to shoulder, he hasn't even been here that long.]

Right, you're right. I just... I'm not used to community.

[For someone who always crave such positive reinforcement, it's strange to hear it without feeling he's really done anything. It comes without him expecting it, and it tugs at that tiny little box of emotions and teases it open. Donatello swallows, his smile a tight one if only because he doesn't trust what his face is doing otherwise. Skewed or not, Li's being honest, and her compliments while they make him feel oddly awkward also warm him. Or maybe it's just his face, he has no idea.

He takes a deep breath once he feels he can do so without falling apart. Internally he feels like he's trying to tape that box back up with a near-empty roll.]

You already are.

[Someone good. It might have been a dream, but he'd seen enough to decide it. There'd been no reason for her to bait fungus-zombies or throw herself on the line, and it had been her choice to help people, help him.]

I think we said something about having tea, right? There's a cafe kinda thing here in the Magitech sector, the Cyborg. Want to meet up?

[Li isn't used to being comforting in any capacity. There's a lot of reasons for that, from being around people who don't require comfort to being around people who would reject it if she offered it. With Donnie, however, she seems to be able to say the right thing sometimes, and it feels surprisingly nice to be someone capable of helping others in this way for once.]

I'm not used to it, either. I had the other Lis, but we didn't really talk much. We did watch TV with each other, though, and sometimes we patched each other up after fights.

[It's not a lot of past experience she's drawing upon as she does this, this attempt at trying to be there for someone else. Would she be better at this if she had grown up normally? Undoubtedly, but she thinks she's doing okay at this regardless. For someone with as little experience as she has, this is all she can manage. It's enough. And even if it's not enough, Li knows Donatello won't be annoyed with how ineloquent and blunt she is. He just doesn't seem like the kind of person to get irritated by such things.

Is this what having a friend is like?]

I'm trying, [she says softly, looking as caught off-guard as she feels by that comment. The idea that she might be good, even if only for little chunks of time, makes her feel warm all over, like coming into a heated building after a cold night in Harbin.] I - I know I'm probably going to make mistakes. All of this is very new. But I'm doing my best.

[Granted, her best had involved dropping a lot of people. That, though, was just training. It wasn't malice. Li hopes he understands the difference between the two and can see it in her.]

That sounds good. I don't think I've ever gotten to go to a cafe with someone like that before, just because I wanted to. It sounds nice.

I have my brothers- they'll talk your ears off if you let them. But we do all that stuff too. Watch things together, game and train, tend to each other whenever we get hurt. There's still a big difference between that and being able to be out in the open around a bunch of people.

[It's nice but it's definitely taking some getting used to. Funny how the things you might have only dreamed of just feel so weird as reality.]

Hey, even I make mistakes. ...maybe not as much as other people [-okay he's recovered] -but no one is perfect. Doing your best is a perfectly sound strategy.

[He might not exactly be equating that whole episode as her best- how she'd dealt with their opponents then isn't something he's thinking about now, but he at least knows that that hadn't been completely within her control.

It's not like Donnie'd expected Li to say no, but he still smiles when she agrees then.]

Hey, fair- I mean, not like there are many places my brothers and I can just walk into as is. Our main haunts are pizza places and the mall after hours, and our usual pizza place is run by yōkai.

Anyway, much as I do not mind conversing via technological means, it will be nice to see you in person and outside of a shared hallucination.

Talking with the other Lis is kind of risky. No one wants to say anything that'll get you subjected to more reconditioning so we just stay quiet most of the time. And we don't have video games. One of the Xue that I work with - they're the Monsters - plays some game on his phone with a bunch of anime girls. I'm not sure how it works, though.

[Hybrid or not, assassin or not, teenage boys were going to be teenage boys as much as mutants were. But that's really as far as her experience of hanging out with people goes, and now, suddenly, the world has opened up to her. She could go anywhere here that she wanted. She can say anything she wishes to. The idea is almost too much to comprehend. How is she supposed to act? What is she supposed to do? It's a big step forward for her, and for Donatello, too.]

Thank you for being so patient with me. I'm sure this must all be pretty weird to you, but you're being very nice about it.

[That he's willing to deal with her murderous tendencies says a lot about him to her. She doesn't notice the slight arrogance of his statement because compared to some of her superiors, he's downright humble - Li has seen men discuss the eventual subjugation of cities under their authority with what can only be called outright glee - and instead what lands for her is that he's alright with her screwing up.

She smiles back, oddly happy to have someone say that to her.]

I get to buy something from night markets on the way back from missions sometimes, and I sneak off to the temple to Guanyin when I can. That's about it. I wonder if we'll be able to find any market food here? Some of the snacks in Northeastern China are so good. I'm going to miss them if I can't get any while we're here.

It'll be good to see you, too. That hallucination felt really real when it was happening, but it's a little fuzzier now that it's over. I want to see you in the real world.

[She wants memories that aren't cloudy, and are likely to remain permanent. Li doesn't think that's much to ask for.]

There happens to be an amazing arcade here! We'll have to go some time.

[Gaming is more fun with other people anyway. There's plenty of new things to experience around this place so Li certainly won't be alone in that. It's a strange sort of ...well, he supposes it's as much friendship as anything else- that they'd been able to pre-establish and makes all the difference in having someone around that he at least has gotten to already know a little more.]

It says something when your brand of weird is trumped by a greater weirdness. I think after a certain point I just kind of try rolling with the punches, and just try to keep up.

[Donnie taps a finger against his chin.]

There is some kind of night market here that I haven't gotten around to checking out yet. Maybe we'll find something interesting there. We can figure things out over tea. I'll send you the directions and see you there?

[At least it's not difficult to locate Cyborg, and anyone asked is willing to give directions.

A cafe and coffee shop during daylight hours and a pub at night, it's quickly become a spot Donnie's come to like. There's a tasty menu and computers after all.

The turtle himself waits outside for Li. Even with green skin he's not an immediately easy person to spot, but that's because he's actually wearing a full outfit. He looks perfectly at home in the dark purple hoodie he's acquired, the hood pulled up over his head, his hands shoved into its generous pockets as he keeps an eye out.]

I'd like that a lot.

[They've always looked fun, when she's gotten to see them. She's never been in one properly, but she's heard the laughter coming from them as she passes by, the bright lights and cheerful sounds. Li doesn't know how they work. She's sure she can learn, though. If kids can do it, it can't be too complicated, and for once, she won't be alone as she tries to figure something out.

The mention of a night market has her lighting up, eyes flashing cyan for just a brief second as she straightens up, visibly happier just at the market's presence.]

I hope we can find some dragon's beard candy. If we do, you have to try it. [Li nods at him and gives him a quick smile.] I'll see you there.

[The crowds here are so small that it's easy to get from place to place, and the people here barely pause a second at the sight of Li's eyes. It feels oddly familiar, like the way things might've been back when she was a child. The thought is strange and impossible to prove the validity of, but oddly comforting. Li arrives without any trouble.

She's acquired new clothes that aren't the old school uniform from the last place she was undercover at. It's nothing fancy, just a black jumperskirt over a pale lavender long-sleeved shirt and black leggings, but it does a lot to visually distance her from the image of her drenched in blood, black-clad and murderous the way she was when he first saw her.

He's a little hard to spot, but once they lock eyes, she instantly perks up. He's real. She's real. They're actually here, together, in a real place.]

Hǎojǐu bújiàn, Donatello. [She almost wants to reach out and touch him to confirm he's real, but that didn't confirm anything's realness firmly last time, so Li refrains from trying it this time.] It's good to see you properly.

[A flash of color. Was that a hint of Pan Xiaohu? Donnie's not sure what to think but he catalogs the swell of emotion, something he's felt before. Something recent. Hope, perhaps. Maybe its offshoot. He's not sure but his own smile grows.

---

There's always that odd sort of disconnect when you see someone in a setting outside of what you expect to see them in. Given that in this case it had been a dream, it's a surreal thing either way to see Li there. It's also nice to see her not spattered in blood.

Donatello springs from where he'd been leaning, yanking his hands from his pockets as he throws his arms outwards at either side of him. He's not really sure where he's meaning to go with the gesture but he hopes it's welcoming before he feels too awkward about it.]

Hey..!

[He lets his hands fall at his sides, his grin softening.]

It's good to see you again, Xiaohu.

[She's not even aware of it. That this is even an option is off her radar. All she knows is that she's happy, and that's something that she hasn't had in her life with any real certainty in a long time.

Donatello looks different up close like this. Real, sharp and crisp where the dream had been blurred around the edges and hard to identify details in. He looks happier, she thinks, or maybe just more relaxed. Both are definitely valid things to feel given they're no longer being hunted down by a sea of infected people.

He's so expressive. Li wonders if it's a mutant thing, an American thing or a Donatello thing. Regardless of the answer, it's a nice counterbalance to the way she doesn't know what else to do besides stand there feeling overwhelmingly glad to see him. For a second she debates hugging him, then recalls his tensed body when she'd had to latch onto him in the dream. Hugs, she decides, are probably not the way to go with him.]

I'm glad I could be here. [Both because it's not her world, which is relentless in a lot of ways for her, and because here, they can do normal things like normal people, together.] Thank you for waiting for me.

[She does, instinctively, look around as if worried someone from her world will be here and have overheard what he called her. Fortunately, no one is, and after a moment she forces herself to relax, turning her focus back to him again.]

I've never hung out with anyone like this before. It's kind of amazing to think that this is really happening... what do we do first? [Walk her through this, Donnie. Inexplicably, you've ended up being the normal one here.]

[He's feeling a little giddy, but then Li's the closest thing to an old friend as he has here. That in itself is a strange way to look at it, he supposes, but it also makes the most sense to him. Being thrown into a battle together seems to help forge quicker bonds.

Physical contact's still a thing he's working at, but he's been a bit better with it, and he'll flip-flop between eagerly initiating hugs or enduring them when on the receiving end. But if he's learned anything from fighting off an alien invasion, it's to appreciate the people he calls family and friends a lot more.

In all fairness he isn't quite sure if Li is a huggy person or not. Maybe it's something she's trying to work on too.

He notices as she glances around, instantly feeling a little guilty for making her worry even just a little, but he'd made it a point not to be loud with her name. Only if it's just them, right. An apology's on is lips but he lets it drop once Li seems to relax again, smiling instead.]

Well, the nice thing about it is there's probably way too much to try doing all in one go so we can just do things in bits.

[It would be super weird to be considered the normal one, but the thought doesn't really cross his mind.]

Let's go have a look inside and see if there's anything you want to try.

[Li's never had a friend to spend time with like this before. Yes, she and Li Yunru were able to have a few moments to themselves before they had to return from missions, but that was different. They could never fully relax around one another, never trust the other wasn't going to report back to their handlers that the conditioning was slipping. The most they ever managed was a little chitchat.

She's already connected more with a stranger in the course of a dream and a day than she connected to the person she was closest to in Beijing over the course of five years. The thought makes her a little sad, but also deeply grateful that she's here to have this opportunity, to be able to have a friend who isn't a hidden risk to her in some way.

Li doesn't know if she's a huggy person, or the kind of friend who talks for hours, or any number of things. Now, though, she'll have a chance to find those things out. Maybe that's what it means to be free - to be able to discover the things about herself she would have known, had she not been taken and made into a Creature.

Nothing he could've said could have made her happier than the implication there will be multiple days like this. Multiple times out, running around free and unfettered inbetween missions, no need to hide, no punishment if she slips up and acts a little too normal or laughs or - it's dizzying, the implications there. She beams at him. Her eyes flicker cyan again, red, cyan, before fading back to red and staying there. But it's a duller red, dark and something that could be mistaken for a color naturally occurring in humans.]

That sounds nice. If we need a break from serious planning, we can just come here.

[They don't have to be 'on' all the time. The thought has her a little more at ease here already. Breaks. What a concept!]

You said they had tea, right? Let's start with that.

[Please, please let there be white tea. White tea or old-fashioned fried dough or both, just something to make this perfect day even better, like something out of a dream.]

[Maybe solving this conditioning problem is simpler than he might have thought. Distance from influencing factors gave Li freedom, open opportunity gave her a chance to express and make decisions for herself. These are things Donatello can't help but think of as he once again witnesses that flicker. He keeps his observations to himself, but seeing that shift actually stick makes him feel lighter somehow. He nods.]

I'm pretty sure that's what places like these are for. Take a break, relax.

[He turns towards the door to lead them inside. They're instantly greeted with that permeating whiff of coffee, but it somehow adds to the warmth of the general ambiance. There's no live music being performed currently but there's a faintly jazzy tune playing in the background, not particularly Donnie's go-to for music but he'll deal.

He points towards the counter and the menu boards.]

They have a pretty good assortment of drinks and light things to eat. I'll admit, I am not an expert in tea, that's mostly my dad's thing, so I guess I'll follow your lead in that.

[Flickers can be extinguished, in flames or in people. They're no more an indicator of a true break than an alcoholic having a day they don't think of alcohol means they're cured. But it's not nothing. What it means or doesn't mean long-term, no one can say right now. The future is undecided. Things could get better. They could get worse.

Li doesn't really have much reason to think of the future in positive terms back home. Here, she's actually looking forward to things instead of dreading them. That's a big step forward. She tucks a messy strand of hair behind her ear and nods, following him in without hesitation. It's not wildly different from cafes back home, in terms of smell or appearance, but the music is a nice touch. Jazz has never been the go-to music for cafes in China - that's classical and neo-classical, for reasons she's never understood - and she tries to soak in the atmosphere, commit to memory the smell, warmth and sound of this place so she can hold onto this memory later, call it up when she needs it.

She peers at the the menu boards, finding a mix of things there that do and don't sound familiar. Odd, that somewhere on another world should have the same options as Earth, but somehow, it's a good odd, like finding a lucky penny on the street.]

They have white tea. That's my favorite. But you don't have to have it if you don't want to; I know that floral taste is kind of love-it-or-hate-it for people.

[There's no dragon's beard candy like she'd been hoping for. There are donuts, though, which she can appreciate in any form as a decent snack, and dragon's beard candy is more likely to pop up at markets than in cafes outside of the coldest parts of Northeastern China, so she's not incredibly surprised by this. Honestly, tea is more than enough for her.]

They've got cinnamon black tea. That might be good for you if you don't like the taste of flowers. Plus, that has less caffeine in it. Hybrids don't really get effected by caffeine so that kind of thing doesn't matter for me, but I don't know what your sensitivity is. Either mutants don't exist in my world, or I've never met them.

[Either way, she's got no idea what to expect when it comes to how his body handles or doesn't handle certain things.]

[Flickers of embers can be fanned into flames too. It's still too early to go off of anything and Donatello's a person that needs more proof and information. But it's something. He's hesitant to call it progress just yet, but it's a step in the right direction.

He's noticed some similarities in available food trends between here and what he's more familiar with, and quite frankly can't complain. Not that he is against trying strange alien cuisine, especially after the ...unique selections that Run of the Mill Pizza offered for toppings.

Going to these kinds of places isn't exactly something he's very used to. His brothers aren't very much of a cafe-going sort, except for the youngest, but Michelangelo's their resident food connoisseur. Usually their ventures with human food locations resulted in take-out for obvious reasons. It's nice to be able to take things in.]

Hm. Yeah, not particularly a flower guy- at least not in my food. I'm otherwise good with or without caffeine. Sometimes you just need a boost! Cinnamon black tea though... Sure, I'll give it a try.

[His stomach is a hardy one, that's for sure.]

[The food here is more American or European style than Chinese, but that could just be this one establishment. Maybe she'll find something a bit more traditional somewhere else. For now, though, this is far from too different to deal with. Most importantly, nothing here reminds her of Inchoate cuisine in any way. Any sign of the aliens that have controlled her life being here would cause her to bolt. A total lack of signs of them has her breathing easier.

It's nice to get to just do what normal people do, just stand here and mull over options and talk like normal humans would be able to anywhere on Earth. Usually when Li is in a place like this she's acting as someone's bodyguard and doesn't get to actually buy things for herself.]

It's an acquired taste. I like it, but I like most things - I don't really have much I can't stand the taste of, except cornbread and corn buns. That's a texture thing, I think. [Things shouldn't be both gritty and soft. One or the other, but not both.

She orders a pot of cinnamon black tea to split between them, and a doughnut for herself. Not the powdered sugar kind - those are messes waiting to happen - but one of the 'old fashioned' ones, fried and lightly glazed but not too sugary.] I can pay you back for this. Probably. Eventually.

[Once she's gotten the hang of how things work here, anyway.]

Good to know. It'll make trying things out at the night market easy if you're not picky.

[That she has even that slight preference against cornmeal amuses him. Clearly she has opinions on things. That's yet another point in favor of her individuality so far as he's concerned.

He leans on the counter as Li orders, opting for one of the plain donuts himself as he digs into the pocket of his pants for payment.]

Don't worry, I got it.

[At least he's not stingy. He's long accepted responsibility for family finances solely on the basis of knowing that if it were left to anyone else then they'd starve. That no one ever questioned him regarding where he got said money just underlined that point, really.

Here he's still working things out but at least the rebels have been good enough to set them up with basic expenses, and the mission pay hadn't been terrible. But if he wants to do anything excessive then he'll need to look into a better source of income.

He slaps down the right amount on the counter while the cafe staff gets the pot of tea set up.]

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