savetheearth | {001} Video

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{001} Video

Wow, a secret network! This whole story keeps getting more and more mysterious!

[She had never imagined finding something like this so soon after arriving in the States. Though nearly breathless with excitement, Misa attempts to keep herself in check and remain at least a little bit professional. Beaming at the discovery is impossible to cover up, but she manages to avoid blurting out the first question that comes to mind in favor of a thought-out response.]

Hello, my name is Misa Amane! I’m new here and I’d love to have a conversation with anyone who has been here a while, or has information about what’s been going on. The news has been pretty crazy, but if you want to share your stories then I’m here to listen!

[There, that sounded pretty good, right? She hopes that no one too weird answers, but at least with this number she doesn’t have to meet them face to face right away. Besides, an insider scoop is definitely worth the risks. This is going to get her name on the map for sure.]

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L? I go by L sometimes, so... my Other did too, I think. Is that right? Did the person who looked like me go by "L?"

[He's eager, to the point of being somewhat naive about the whole thing. Even though he knows some unsavory things about "his detective" by this point, he's still hungry for facts about him, some more insight to tell him what kind of potential a shabby, washed-up chess prodigy can still tap into.]

It probably means that, yes. Do you know what she looks like? If you allays your fears at all, I've never really seen a face change as a result of echoes. It's mostly the color of your hair or your eyes, though a few people have undergone more drastic changes.

Wait, you're L too??

[This is all far too much new information to process at once. Misa shakes her head; since when are Rue Ryuzaki and L related?]

No, I never saw L's face. He was a creepy, computer-y voice that came on the TV one time. The voice talked about justice and there was this picture of an L on a white background. I didn't think he had anything to do with Ryuzaki.

If those two memories are related, does that mean maybe the mystery man is too?? Maybe not, since that one happened so long ago...

[Misa falls silent for a minute, overwhelmed. With the sudden connections, it would make sense for her kiss-person to factor in somehow. Maybe another echo will make it make sense.]

I've never seen... my "other." How would that happen, if I'm seeing things through her eyes? And wait, my body can change?!

Yeah, I'm L, too. It's like a nickname. I hated "Lazarus" a long time ago and tried to shorten it as much as I possibly could, and it stuck around, that's...

[Probably way more information than he meant to give away or he cares to know. Hated Lazarus, indeed. It's mortifying.]

...anyway. That's actually very consistent with what I know. I think that we remember the same background, and that broadcast about justice, where he... challenged someone. We must have worked very closely together.

[He's actually thrilled. This could be his chance to find out more, get the answers he's been missing, fill the gaps that have frustrated him up until now.]

Well, it can change, but usually not much. The most that's happened to me is a skeletal deformity. But... your other must have had a mirror, or a chance to see herself in one. If she looked like you, she was pretty, so she probably looked in them a lot, and you'll probably get an echo back to that effect eventually.

Ah, you saw it too! But it seemed like most people don't know who L is, right? So we must—my other and your other, they must have been close.

[Misa takes a moment to pause and then smile as it occurs to her that he called her pretty. He might have also implied that she (or her other) is vain, but still.]

Maybe... a skeletal deformity sounds like a pretty big deal though! I hope she didn't have anything like that. I wouldn't want to change too much.

I think I did see it. And I'm not sure... I think he was the most famous anonymous person in the world, if that makes any sense at all.

And I can see why you wouldn't want to change much. Have you done any modeling?

[It occurs to him that maybe that sounds creepy. Does that sound creepy?]

[Misa giggles, raising a hand to her cheek as if embarrassed. It's flattery, as far as she's concerned. Not creepy yet.]

No, nothing like that! Not professionally. I've always been into fashion and I used to pose for some friends— one of my exes was a photographer— but I'm definitely not pretty enough to make a career out of it!

What? No, if you wanted to, you definitely could. You're good at other things, obviously, but...

[He'll talk himself into a hole if he lets himself, so he lets that thought trail off.]

So I was right, you have done modeling.

[Misa waves her hand, brushing away the compliments, but she's obviously quite pleased.]

Nothing serious, it doesn't count! I'd rather focus on making my own things than modeling for other people.

[What were they talking about again? Ah, right, echoes.]

I'm sure no one would like changing, no matter what they look like. Unless they're really ugly, or maybe disabled... do you think that could happen? Has someone in a wheelchair or something like that echoed back working limbs before?

It totally counts, though... that being said I understand the desire to create and build something more substantial.

[There's really no good way to say "you're pretty so I didn't expect you to be a hard worker," so he doesn't attempt it.]

I... believe it probably has at some point. If not, then it could. I know there's a girl who was chronically ill and she was cured because of her echoes, so that's very positive, and I was disabled, but a surgery fixed me, not a pulse, so...

It depends on the situation. Some people have taken the changes in their appearances in stride, others have been less fortunate and therefore less satisfied.

Wow! That's pretty incredible!

[A scribbling noise can be heard as Misa jots down this information in a notebook that's off-screen.]

I guess that good things can come from changes too. Do you know how the echoes happen? What makes the changes, or memories appear?

Heh. Yeah, I guess it is.

[He looks and sounds a little self-conscious; the whole situation is, of course, but he's poor at accepting praise, and it comes just close enough that he feels similarly.]

Echoes happen... usually when something big does. Those animals, the lights that have been appearing in the sky, some of the other really strange occurrences or encounters cause them. But if something happens that's very similar to something that happened in your Other's life, it can also trigger them.

Something similar?

[Misa tilts her head, considering the ramifications of that. She can't remember anything big happening before her echoes, so it must be the other one. She files away "those animals" to ask about later.]

So if being kissed gave me an echo, it's because the person who looks like me was kissed... and the memory is related to that?

Very possibly. Was it your first kiss? Or was something about it completely novel? Maybe the person you shared it with?

It was my first kiss. I mean, my first real kiss, with an actual boyfriend... or that's what I thought then.

[She laughs, embarrassed to be talking about this with a stranger but also amused at the memory.]

We were just kids. But I never experienced something like that with other kisses, or other people.

Well, that explains it. A first kiss would have that "novelty" factor.

For it to be your first echo, it must have been at least somewhat significant in your Other's life. I wonder how much she loved that person.

It must have been a lot, huh?

[Misa isn't sure how to feel about that. The face had always seemed like hers; it's hard to accept that the face is only a memory belonging to someone else, and that she was intruding on someone else's love this entire time.]

I want to find out more. About everything, not just that.

I confess it sounds like a love to be jealous of, for anyone who hasn't felt one like it. I'd want to find out more about it, too... along with everything else, of course.

Maybe it would be good for us to speak in person about it further.

I've been-

[Misa stops short of insisting that she has been in love before. She has, but it's hardly relevant. And the fact that all of those relationships are in the past might be proof enough they weren't on the same level as her 'Other' and the mystery man.]

I'd like that. What's a good meeting place around here? I'm staying at the Holiday Inn.

I own a small coffee shop. You might have been here long enough to hear about it... it's called Espresso Yourself? It's something of a hub of Numbered activity, although it's had some bad luck recently due to people who aren't our biggest fans.

Oh, I've heard of that place! I've been meaning to check it out! Are you there now? I can probably be there in 15 to 20 minutes.

I am, as a matter of fact. Come on by; we'll talk and I'll make you any latte you'd like on the house.

I'm holding you to that! Vanilla sounds good right now.

[She gives him a wink and a little wave.]

See you soon!

[With that she puts her phone away, and after a few minutes of primping sets off in what she hopes is the right direction. Luckily there are plenty of people able to point her onwards and the walk doesn't take much more than 15 minutes. Misa takes a deep breath as she arrives at the store front; it's one thing to talk to people over the network, but this will be the first Numbered she's meeting in person. It seems like she made a good first impression, right? There's no reason to think things won't go smoothly.]

[Misa opens the door and pokes her head in, with a tentative:] Hello?

[Espresso Yourself has seen better, busier times. Some days it's more expensive than it's worth, and L operates at a loss to keep it open, but he remains optimistic. Business will improve when the city's attitude toward Numbered does, and that's going to happen. It must.

He glances up from behind the counter when she enters. He looks brittle and frail over the network, but the effect in person is something else entirely. Most people who look like L are not alive. Still, he offers a smile and holds a hand up in greeting.]

Vanilla latte, right? Or have you changed your mind? Please make yourself comfortable anywhere you'd like.

[That means one of the couches, unless Misa feels like taking one of the many unused chairs off the tabletops and setting it up for herself.]

Vanilla latte sounds great, thanks.

[She meanders around the room for a few minutes, taking it all in, before settling down at the end of one of the couches. With such a name presence, she had expected the place to be much busier. But it's nicer this way, even if she would have been warier about coming in had she known they were not meeting in a very public place.]

Is it usually like this?

OK. You got it.

[He starts making her latte, going through motions that are very well-practiced by now. Though he owns the coffee shop, he steps behind the counter fairly frequently when it's understaffed. These days, that's pretty frequently.]

It's been quiet lately. Some bad things have happened here, and business has fallen off a little as a result, but... that's life, right? Things will turn around eventually.

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