savetheearth | ~~TO MEET YOU~~

[ Sierra suspects she knows at least one way to force an echo - Kallie did it to her inadverdently, and she then used that echo to trigger Kallie, although they'd guessed what might happen after - but given Kallie's reactions to that topic, she's not bringing it up. Names and faces are safer ground, and she's more or less happy to contribute. ]

I saw that man off to the side, twice. And a younger boy, maybe family? Only once, for him.

[ She doesn't recall seeing either of those women, as of yet. ]

The only person outside of those two and us would be...a boy, late teens, dark hair and blue eyes. Taller than me.

[ ...So more than 5'5". He possibly resembles someone she knows, but...if so, she'd prefer to keep quiet about it, so.

...Was that offer only to Miles, Kallie...? ]

And I know yours. [ To Jake, just in case he's curious. May as well be inclusive. ]

You mean the guys with the afros? [Miles tilts his head at Sierra.] They're definitely family-- I saw the boy sitting on the man's shoulders. I don't think anyone would do that to a kid unless they're really family.

[Are afros genetic though, in what that world would call genetics. It's a legitimate thought, considering people have pink and orange hair over there.]

I know only one of the other girls you've described, if we're talking about the same people. Pigtails, pink top... and I think I remember some fur on her skirt? The other one... I'm blanking.

[Miles almost resorts to drumming his fingers on the table to give his hands something to do as he keeps searching is fragmented past-life memories. There's got to be something more he's missing, because while he has a lot of memories by this point, they're still sadly lacking in a whole lot of things. He's opened his mouth to ask if they've seen anyone resembling them around, but Kallie's question makes him pause.

Of course she knows his name, he shouldn't be surprised. But he still takes a few seconds to decide whether or not he actually wants to know it.] I know your real name too, if you're really interested in that past.

[Because he remembers a conversation a few months ago. "That's not real," she'd said. If she's going to reject it again, he doesn't want to get pieces of who he used to be from her.]

[ Jake's listening closely to all these descriptions, trying hard to see if any of them spark some kind of memory. So far, he's got nothing. Either he didn't know those same people or the descriptions were too vague or something. Why is it every time he's trying to make himself remember stuff, he's never able to do it?

As far as he can tell, they seem to remember a lot of different people. There weren't too many matches, though, with one significant exception. ]

So all of you remember this afro guy then? Huh.

[ He's got to be linked to them significantly then. If he had a kid-relative on his shoulders around them, they must all be familiar. ...And if he's sporting an afro, Jake's gonna assume that guess about him being in the military is dead wrong, cause there is no army in any universe who would let that fly. I mean come on.

The only other similarity seemed to be one of the hippie girls Kallie was describing, but only she and the kid remembered her. Everyone else mentioned seemed to be a miss.

He looks around the table though at all these offers for names. The kid's offer in particular seemed... interestingly worded. For several reasons. ]

...If we're all gonna have a bunch of memories that might be connected, it'd probably be a good idea for us all to know each other's names. That way if we remember someone saying something about another person, we'll know who they mean.

Edited 2014-02-03 11:57 (UTC)

[ Jake thinks Afro-Guy can't be military because of the hair? Just wait until he finds out that not only was pink-headed past-Kallie a sergeant, but what she wore on duty....

There's confirmation for two of the same, though in return... Kallie definitely doesn't remember tall, dark, and blue-eyed teenager-guy, or even the little boy, for that matter. To be fair though, she figures, the conversations she's recalled starring these various characters so far have been rather... serious in tone. Maybe the kid, apparently young enough for shoulder-riding, had been deliberately excluded...?

Either way, Kallie gives Miles a weird look at his offer, obviously a bit thrown off. ]

I...

[ "...already know it," is what she meant to say, but the way he stresses real soon catches up with her. 'Lightning' doesn't sound like something parents would give their newborn daughter, does it? Especially if they then went on to bestow 'Serah' on their next one. Likewise, 'Hope' and 'Snow' also seem to stretch it a bit, even if Kallie already has suspicions about the general sanity level of the culture the people the four of them seem to be pulling pieces of life from lived in. ]

... You think 'Lightning' is a code name or something?

[ Her brows draw together, but it's out of reluctant confusion rather than any sort of anger over the matter. Off the top of her head, she can't think of anything solid to refute it. ]

...It does sound a little weird next to "Serah", when you think about it.

[ Sierra is apparently following the same train of thought as Kallie regarding their apparent family naming scheme. Actually, if she thinks about it...Serah is the only remotely usual name she's heard, isn't it? Granted, she's just been assuming Lightning was a usual sort of name given the others she'd heard and the fact that pink hair and magic were apparently Normal. ]

I mean, I know they don't have to match, but they don't sound like they came from the same people at all.

[ And Lightning had been in the military. Code names were a military thing, right? That was a thing they did?

Maybe it was like her...call sign? Was that it? ]

...Although "Snow" isn't that usual either, I guess I thought maybe weather names were just a...thing?

[ She sounds dubious now, though. ]

[His entire posture changes, from slouching and unsure to straight and dominant, because he doesn't appreciate his knowledge being doubted like that. Of course, they don't know exactly what he knows, but still.]

I don't think. I know it's a codename.

Besides, we know her name [points his thumb at Sierra.] Don't you think 'Serah and Lightning' is an awkward combination of names for sisters? 'Snow' is a thing, yeah, but 'Serah' doesn't scream something similar to an electrostatic discharge in the atmosphere.

I know where we came from is downright weird, but seriously. It's logic.

[So he tilts his head at them, challenging them to think about it, but more to Kallie because he hasn't heard her answer yet.]

[ They probably didn't mean to do it, but for a few moments there Jake was pretty fucking lost on the context of this discussion. That's what happens when you walk in mid-discussion, he guesses.

On one hand, it was great to get confirmation from something that wasn't some stupid sixth sense that this girl was definitely Serah. On the other, he couldn't figure out why the hell they were comparing "Lightning" to Serah. As far as he could tell "Lightning" was the name Kallie went by. Which... yeah, he didn't think it was going out on a limb to say something like that was a nickname or alias instead of her actual name. But he couldn't understand why they were saying Lightning had to be an alias because it didn't match "Serah".

But apparently... Lightning had been Serah's sister? So Kallie and Sierra were relatives or something in this other life? He's not really sure what to think of that. They seem pretty blasé over that fact, too. Huh. They must have known for a while.

Well regardless, Jake has to keep himself from frowning at the way the kid had decided to speak about it. "It's logic." Duh. Like it was stupid to even consider something different. The hell is with this attitude? They're all freaking lost in this whole thing and don't have anything but fragments to work with. He figures one thing out before someone else and suddenly he's tough shit. Fucking kids, man. ]

Well to be fair, "Lightning" and "Snow" are pretty weird even for aliases. And as far as I've heard, lotta stuff in these pulse things don't always follow logic. A weird naming pattern's nothing. But I guess in this case, we at least know we're dealing with aliases. Since you're so sure and all.

[ So at least two of them had code names then, right? Snow had to be either himself or the kid. ...That was a pretty weak alias compared to something like Lightning. But more than that, why the hell would they have to have code names to begin with? What the hell were they doing? He really hoped the spy movie analogy didn't end up being accurate. Especially considering some other details. ]

[ Kallie is tense, putting off just a little visible agitation here despite herself. In all honesty, the temptation to present some sass in defensiveness is strong- the idea of pointing out how, would anything really be so weird in a world where a teenage boy is going by 'Hope'? Alias or not...

But, she's being careful anyway. Mutual exchange of information aside, she thinks it only courteous to try and avoid prompting Echoes knowingly without warning. She's not actually sure, but handing out a full name seems pretty likely to her to be a trigger of some sort for the phenomenon. There's been seemingly less significant things that have set her off in the past, after all.

Which means that if she agrees to hearing this supposed "real" name of Lightning's, there's a pretty strong chance of a pulse, that she'll be feeling that familiar sensation of something at once alien and disarmingly natural shoved into her head within the next few minutes. Just like she had when Sierra had offered to show her the "tattoo" she'd received thanks to something she'd prompted previously, Kallie frowns as she thinks, weighing the perceived pros against... just how unpleasant she finds the experience in general-- and of course, the possibility that whatever she gets will be much more undesirable than she could have even imagined... ]

... We'll just have to see, then. What is it?

[ Sierra doesn't speak immediately this time, instead glancing over at Miles after Kallie gave the approval. Given their connection in the other life, it's possible that Lightning's "real name" might spark something for her, but she has to admit she's curious. And anyway, Miles and Kallie seem to be a little focused on their conversation at the moment, so...

...Well, for good reason.

Or at least Sierra doesn't really mind either, way, so she uses the time to drink some of her iced tea, looking around the table to gauge where everyone is at emotionally.

Her only remark is absent-minded and low-voiced, to Jake. ]

She was in the military. So...that's the other half of why it sounds plausible.

[ Not that Sierra is sure that would make sense for everyone else, who...didn't strike her as particularly military, if she'd had to guess. ]

[Sensing that all eyes are on him... Well. He opened up that avenue, so he's got to go through with it, even if he doesn't like being the center of attention.

Besides, if he's right, then there might be some new echoes for both Sierra and Kallie, and he's going to get his own name in return. It's a good trade-off, in his mind.]

Claire Farron.

[If there'd be a huge fall-out from this, he's torn between wanting to see it through and wanting to get the hell out of dodge. But he sits back anyway, and waits.]

[ Jake looked at Sierra, a little surprised. ]

...Are you serious?

[ He glances back at Kallie, concerned. From what bit he had gotten, nothing about her appearance had screamed "military" to him. Far from it. But more than that, he wondered what that was supposed to mean since he remembered saying something about fighting the army. That along with what little he remembered of her... well, he was starting to think it might be best if he kept that little bit of info to himself for now.

He was tempted to turn and ask Sierra some more questions regarding that, but by then Miles had gone and given Kallie her name. That name didn't ring any bells for him anymore than "Afro guy" had, unfortunately. And compared to Lightning, it was spectacularly bland. ]

[ No need for Miles to wait long. Kallie blinks, but then immediately flushes red, expression faltering as she finally joins in on the 'getting Echoes in the pizzeria' club. She's not sure what she was expecting, but... ]

She changed it.

[ Because her - and Serah's - parents had died; Kallie keeps that detail to herself, her eyes down. The need to 'protect' Serah... she doesn't know what life might have been like for a couple of orphans in this past-life-culture of theirs, but that... definitely puts a new layer of meaning on things.

Now she's sure she really understands why Serah was crying during the argument with Snow, where Lightning seemed to think declaring she needed to deal with l'Cie was a good idea. But the question still remains- what in the world was going on? What exactly did being a l'Cie even entail??

Uneasily, she glances back to Sierra, ignoring for the moment anyone else who might be looking at her. She hasn't totally forgotten her promise to hand out names herself, but her preoccupation with this newer information obviously comes first. ]

[ A nod, confirming she's serious about the military thing, although by that point Miles has given out Kallie's real past life name and Sierra is a little...distracted.

She's unaware of what happened to cause it, but...that's right. ]

Something happened, and she changed it. That's right.

[ Vague, but it feels right. Sierra can't pinpoint how or when, but...

Not an alias, then. Just a change for some unknown reason. And that has to be her last name, too. Serah Farron, if her sister was Claire Farron. The information doesn't throw anything else into the light for her, but it's interesting, if nothing else. ]

["You mean you changed it is Miles' kneejerk reply, but he manages to keep himself from saying it. Maybe he'd spoken too soon, but he's already said it, and there are no take backs now.]

I don't know what's up with the name change, but there you go.

... Which means your last name's Farron too, obviously, [is his addition to Sierra, just so she wont feel left out, because he does feel guilty about leaving her out, even if it was just for a few minutes. He cant say the same for Jake though.]

[ This is actually his first time witnessing someone getting a pulse himself. At least, that's what he figures had just happened considering her momentary hesitation and sudden statement. And Sierra followed right along with a confirmation. He looked back and forth between the two girls. ...Had Sierra just gotten something, too? Cause well, if they're both saying it, it must mean for sure that Kal-- Ligh-- Claire had gone and changed her name for whatever reason.

...Pfft. Okay. If she was born with the name Lightning, they could all just blame her parents for having weird taste. And as an alias, it was a weird choice but at least it would've made sense. But this? This is just kinda silly. Despite everyone's serious faces, Jake can't help but look mildly amused. ]

So... you purposely named yourself Lightning?

[ Yeah, sorry. Jake knows it was the other her and not really Kallie herself. But come on. It was a little funny. There's probably going to be a lot of stupid things they remember, okay? If they can't make light of the sillier things, what can they make light of? ]

[ Kallie gives Jake a mild look, to go with an equally mildly-toned: ]

Do you think you named yourself 'Snow?'

[ But she huffs a sigh, shaking her head a bit. If nothing else, at least the... commentary is enough to help snap her out of her weird state that having Lightning's real (original?) name dangled in front of her caused. She finally focuses back in a little more on everyone there.

She was a little reluctant before, but there's probably no use in not throwing out full names to confirm the bits and pieces already being referenced now. She glances at each as she speaks. ]

Right... Serah Farron, Snow Villiers, and... Hope Estheim.

[ That fills in blanks for Sierra, at least. Hope's name she hadn't known - and Snow's last name she hadn't had, either. Miles had already given her Farron, so "Serah Farron" wasn't surprising in the least, though it was...nice. To know what her name had been. She supposed. Sierra was never sure if she wanted to know more or less about the past.

Overall, it just seemed practical to find out more as long as she was going to continue to be involved in whatever-this-was, but...some of the echoes worried her. Or rather, Kallie's reactions to a few had worried her more than her own echoes had, at some points. And there were the things she'd spoken to Suzaku about...

Sierra shakes her head. At least they're all on the same page now. ...Or they're starting to get there. ]

Sounds about right.

[He's about to make a cutting remark to shoot Jake down, but he's pretty sure all he makes is a strangled noise because of course his own name would trigger something.

Miles rubs at his face, trying to make sense of this new thing he's gotten. Once again, it says little, but when he reads between the lines... it's substantial. Another term "luh-see"-- he doesn't know what it means, but from context, it sounds like something pretty horrible. A disease? A genetic condition? A title? It applied to him, he guesses, and maybe to Lightning too. And apparently there was no hope for someone like that.

He wants to tell the others about it, but he decides against it-- there's probably too much in their minds right now that are related to their past lives, he knows he has a whole lot of stuff in his own head to process, and adding more might make trouble. Miles doesn't want an echo-induced scene in public.

So all he says is this:]

If someone makes a hope pun, I am siccing my dog on them.

[ It takes him a few moments, but Jake does eventually realize Kallie's not just screwing around with him. Snow Villiers. His name had actually been "Snow". Man, how lame is that? Granted, he still feels like it must be some kind of alias name or something but even then, it felt pretty silly. ...Though "Hope" has it considerably worse.

It's interesting, though, finally getting some solid names for these supposed past selves. It somehow made things feel a little more real. ...Though none of the names other than Serah actually rang as meaningful yet.

Still, he decides to be a semi-good sport about his own name and at least laugh a little. ]

Noooo way. We go down the terrible pun route, we'll never get back out.

[ He shakes his head a little. ] Well... They're silly but it's better than not knowing at all.

[ Worry not, Miles and Jake. Kallie at least hasn't yet Echoed that trait back. She's not really into puns.

It doesn't help though that in the memory she just got, her past-self was already going on about how lightning can't protect and blah blah blah flashing for only an instant and whatnot- whatever that's supposed to mean, in context of it applying to her. She'll probably overanalyze it later.

For now she drums her fingertips on the table, gaze moving over the others in a mixture of uneasy and thoughtful. She's still sort of recuperating from this "Lightning was definitely an alias" thing anyway, and trying to ignore the thoughts trying to pull to the front of her mind regarding her own choice in using the name lately...

In any case, they might know the names, but- ]

But then it's just a matter of... what was going on with them.

[ She doesn't ponder aloud the question of how they knew each other, because she already knows most of that- sans for Miles/Hope. Were they related too, despite the differing last names? It's hard to know without more to go on. ]

Speak for yourselves. "Serah" is pretty pun-free and normal.

[ Not that anyone should take that as a challenge. Please don't take that as a challenge. Although since it's said with a smile, she's clearly not that worried about it. Anyway, the names are the important things...not really.

Kallie's right. It's a matter of what was going on with them.

What can she guess from what she knows? Lightning was in the military, and was meant to take care of the l'Cie...who were probably related to the tattoo. And she'd been somewhere, and Lightning had come for her...

Pieces of a puzzle. ]

We probably all have pieces of that. It's just a matter of whether or not we want to...talk about it.

[ Echo them back. ]

[Miles makes a small 'hmmm' in his throat, tapping his fingers against the table as he thinks.]

We were... doing something. We were in trouble, at least. I knew that from the start-- my first showed me being in big trouble. [He doesn't want to actually say out loud that he's gotten shot in an echo, so he instead makes the appropriate hand gesture instead, drawing back three fingers, sticking out his index finger and thumb, and jerking it like the motion of a gun that's just had its trigger pulled and given its owner a kick.]

I don't know if it's something we did, or something we had, or something we were. I don't have a lot of context for it.

[ Jake makes a bit of a face at Sierra's comment, sticking his tongue out a little at her. She was right. She's the only one so far with any kind of normal name. ...They should change that and figure out some crappy nickname to give her. You know, just so everything is even. Obviously, it's good that he isn't the one in charge of this meeting, otherwise this would have been the next big topic of discussion and nothing would have gotten accomplished. But as things are, Sierra is saved from a horrible nickname assigning session by Kallie's shift to a more serious subject. Not that he's complaining ~~much~~.

He frowns listening to what bit the kid had managed to get from his Pulses so far. It's not that it's strange. It's that it syncs up pretty damn well with what little he actually knows. But like Sierra said... How much do they really want to share right now? ]

...Yeah, I got the same kind of impression. I remember saying something about laying low and about having to fight some people. We were... definitely involved with something.

[ Well specifically, he'd said something about fighting "the army". Normally, this would seem important to share, but... knowing now that "Claire" had been in the military makes him hesitate on just blurting that out. Judging by what he'd seen on the Network already, there are people who kind of take things to heart or freak out. There's no telling how any of them might react to the possibility of Kallie being with the people they had been "fighting". Or hell, what "fighting the army" implied about what the rest of them might have been involved with. It sounded terrorist-y or something. What the hell had he been doing? ]

Well. At least you and me were.

[ He looks at Miles while saying this then glances at the girls. He only has guesses for Kallie and nothing for Sierra. He might as well clarify right now that he basically knows nothing about what was going on with them. ]

Edited 2014-03-08 23:50 (UTC)

[ Kallie gives Miles a piercing look... but finds herself not wanting to think too much about the implications of the teen's vague description for his first Echo. Again, she keeps on looking between Jake and Sierra in rapid succession.

This time, though, it's probably even more obvious that she knows something she's not saying here. She's usually not even the least bit fidgety, but it's hard to keep her hands and fingers still when she's busy fighting down a weird restlessness she'd have a hard time explaining. By accident, her eyes linger in the direction of Sierra's arm- the place where the slightly younger woman had showed her the weird tattoo that had appeared there before, when Kallie had dared to mention just one little phrase out of one of her own Echoes....

She decides not to mention "l'Cie" (or any other weird phrases she doesn't recognize out of her current life) out of the blue this time. But. There is one thing that stands out to her, at least. ]

I know some of it, but I think... [ -- No, wait. ] ...I do know: they were confused, too. About what was happening.

[ She frowns deeper, because hot damn is this uncomfortable for her. ]

A lot like us.

[ Sierra sticks her tongue out right back at Jake. That...probably doesn't help Kallie's glances between them, but it's almost automatic, ingrained from a lifetime of having a younger brother. And, well, for all she likes to seem serious and studious, sometimes Sierra just...isn't. That's the most she'll do, though, turning her full attention to the Actually Serious conversation going on now.

She does so in time to catch Kallie's glance at her arm, and almost unconsciously reaches up with one hand, gripping at the place where the strange tattoo still exists. It's easy to guess what Kallie's thinking, based on that. The word l'Cie, and then suddenly the brand - so much as saying something odd had caused that, so...

Kallie's making the decision not to talk about it. Sierra stays quiet on the topic as well, for the moment, although she'll speak up about the current topic. ]

I...don't know what was happening, either. I think the man we remember wanted to kill...

[ ...me. Although she also remembers him in that other memory, and he clearly hadn't. But an argument while Kallie - Lightning - held her, about killing her. ]

...Someone, though.

TO MEET YOU

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject