ROLE: Playtime Kitten 🙀

[saturations]

PLAYTIME KITTEN

Today, regardless of wherever Nogiku is, they will soon receive a text message from Riff.

hey. can u come through the arch? i have something for u

They don't really have time to question what arch Riff means as the ground begins to rumble and a steel, blue archway erects before them.

As Nogiku enters through the archway they'll find themselves in what appears to be a small park. Small, grassy slopes seem to stretch endlessly and a few unidentifiable buildings can be scene in the distance. Sitting on a bench under a tree is Riff with their phone in their hand. Without looking up, they send another message.

playtime kitten...ok then

RULES
1. make a choice from the list i give u
2. decide who is receiving what u pick
3. it cant be the same person each week sry
4. cant tell anyone either

After reading the rules, they will find that an image becomes the home screen of their phone and feel something...sticky...appear on their tongue as a temporary tattoo of the same image appears.

Once the brand settles in, Riff looks up from their phone, patiently waiting before there's an awkward shrug and another message.

ill try to help i guess

Comments

[pura]

It's not just their faces. She stole another woman's name, her career, her family... her very existence. She took everything from her until that woman decided she could no longer measure up to her impostor. And then, she took her own life.

But she wasn't her first victim, and she won't be her last.

[saturations]

...Nogiku, I think that's called identity theft. [but uh....hm.] How can a person just do that? A power? Something else? ...is killing really the only answer?

[pura]

...

It doesn't matter if you don't understand it. But it's what I have to do.

[So, yes. Murder is clearly the only answer? She is a scarlet, sir.]

It's all because of a lipstick she inherited from her mother.

[saturations]

Can't you just get rid of the lipstick? Or is it like a power that's translated now and it's too late?

[THEY JUST WANT TO UNDERSTAND.]

[pura]

You think I never tried?

[saturations]

No, I'm sure you did, but I guess I was just wondering what happened that it didn't work that way.

[pura]

...

[She looks away, with a small huff.]

That damn accomplice of hers caught onto me. Before I knew it... The tables had been turned, and I became her prisoner. "Material" to be used and discarded, just like my mother.

[saturations]

...[don't like that. very much don't like that!]

Is that still a current thing? Being prisoner to her.

[i promise i will give you a mem shortly this is just very perplexing and horrifying to them.]

[pura]

... Despite wanting nothing to do with them, I was rescued. By Amagasaki-san and Iku Igarashi.

[Skills: Getting kidnapped.]

[saturations]

...even if it's not the way you wanted things to go, I can't say that's exactly terrible.

[but speaking of terrible, they move, shifting on this bench and elbow bumping right into the remains of the bubble for nogiku to get a glimpse of something else.

[you're alone.

the city around you has been engulfed in flames, smoke and destruction. the last of your friends has faded right from your finger tips, her hand reaching out for yours. you can't hold onto her. you can't save her.

you weren't able to save any of them. all of them...gone.

you thought you could do it this time. you thought you could stop the erasure of the place you loved, the people you loved, if only you turned back the clock one more time.

but it didn't work.

behind you, you hear footsteps approaching. a man approaches you, laughing to himself.

"Well, well. And then there was one."

you turn quickly to face him, but there isn't enough time to get away. he looks at you, holding up his fingers with a quick snap, and you feel the source of your power shatter in your pocket.

"Shit..." you say quietly, hand shaking as you hold the pieces of your hope in your palm.

"Oh, you won't be needin' that anymore," the man cackles again, leering down at you. it's just the two of you now, the city ravaged, your friends destroyed.

"The Game's over, kid. And now, so's S̷̡̞̹̬̥͉̪̳͍̜̰̲̜͗̆̕͜͝h̷̨̙̲͊ỉ̸̢̡͖̮͕̣͕͌͑́̚b̶̨͔̺͕̱͎͇͔͈̎̓̏̕ų̶̨̻͚͓̜̫̰͖̲͇̊̃͑̆̅̍͗̏̆̕͠y̵̧͓̩̱̰͕̍̔ą̶̬̘̞̗̫͆͛!"


he holds his arms high to the sky, a tyrant praising his own evildoings. thousands of creatures swirl around you, and you know this is your fault. this was your own doing, something you had a hand in creating.

it's the end. there's nothing you can do.

a beam of white light suddenly appears in the sky, rocketing down to strike the man. the blast sends you flying, tumbling backwards into the rubble as you watch the light tear him apart and purify him. as your vision clears...

...you find yourself perfectly unharmed.

"...what was that?" you ask yourself, and with a start you notice so many people around you. you're standing in the center of several white crosswalks, people going about their business and hardly paying attention to you as you frantically look around. you can't figure out what happened. you stand there, trying to remember, but you're jostled from your thoughts as a man bumps into you. it's a feeling you haven't felt in so long that it startles you. you quickly reach into your pocket for your phone, checking for your messages.

your mother's worried about you. she wants to know what time you're coming home.

"No way..." you whisper to yourself. it becomes clear to you then. you've finally made it home. you're back where you belong, but... "W-wait...hold on a sec..." you look around again, and soon the uneasy, anxious feeling grips your chest. oh no. oh no, oh no, oh no.

"...where's F̴͍̭̦͕͒̾̌́r̸̟̟̽̈́̊͝ȅ̴̠̣̉̚͜͝t̷̮͗́̏? He's gone."

time passes. it's another day, and you're still trying to understand everything that's happened to you. your thoughts are so much louder than the city around you. it's nearly impossible to escape.

'...I'm the only one who made it home. My chat app's back to the way it was before the Game started. Except for the fact that F̴͍̭̦͕͒̾̌́r̸̟̟̽̈́̊͝ȅ̴̠̣̉̚͜͝t̷̮͗́̏ isn't in it. Nobody from school remembers him, and he's missing from my contacts. Same with N̵̺̻̿̔͝ͅa̸̞̜̘̳͋͒͒ģ̴̪̃̋̾ȉ̵̧̺̼͔̑͑ and B̸͉͆͊̑e̸̹͎̟̘̅͐̾̂͑a̷̬͕̖̅̏̌̎̿t̴͔̜͈͉̦̔̂, and N̶̥̓e̴͈͔͌̉́̋̚k̵̛̭͙̿̇̔ư̴͍̣̫̬̦̎̍--everyone. S̷̹̲̣̀̽̓h̵̼͈̦͐͊͊̒͘ǒ̵̼̩̲̟̓k̴̼̥̀ȃ̵̺̳̔̎͝͠, too. Even her alt's gone--like it never existed.'

you feel it more strongly than ever. that guilt. that grief. those nasty little feelings you never wanted to feel, that you thought you could escape if you could fix everything.

'There's thousands of people around me, and yet I'm all alone. I thought that, if i went back in time, I could save the city. And technically I did. Just not the way I wanted to...'

you feel your throat begin to close the longer your thoughts haunt you. your vision begins to blur, and you know you shouldn't cry in public but...who cares anymore? does it even matter? no one else will notice.

you sink to the ground, sitting in the middle with your back against a stone pedestal for a statue of a figure that waits. thousands of people go about their daily lives, unaware of the danger they had once been in, and paying no attention to you at all. the first of your tears drip onto your hands without permission.

'Was everything I did all for nothing?'

life goes on. life in this bustling, colorful city proceeds without a care in the world. but you're the only one left to notice it.

all that's left is a memory, even if the names can't be recalled.]

[pura]

[Ah.

She's silent for a moment. Stunned. When she finally speaks, her voice is quieter than usual. The previous topic left a bitter taste in her mouth, but now— well. Her concern for them trumps over her pettiness.]

... Riff-san?

[Hello...???? What the fuck.]

[saturations]

[the bubble pops, and riff stares out across the park.]

...it's complicated, even if I don't remember a lot of it.

[which is to say they are not thrilled.]

[pura]

...

So, that's the kind of stuff you started remembering.

[Yikes.]

[saturations]

...yeah. Not much else, but...stuff like that. Even if it doesn't make a lot of sense.

[pura]

... I see. I'm sorry. You start remembering things, and it turns out the apocalypse almost happened.

And more importantly...

[She trails off, like. Hm. Riff, your friends???]

[saturations]

...I'm pretty sure it happened twice. I just couldn't change anything after the second try.

[so yeah! great! cool!]

[pura]

...

When we figure things out for ourselves, maybe there will be something we can do for you, too.

[Please save Riff!! The fuck.]

[saturations]

[they sort of shake their head.]

Things are...better here. I want to stay here.

[more importantly, they want to stay here with their friends and other people they've come to like.]

[pura]

... You don't have to go back if you don't want to. But is that really fine? Your world, and even your old friends. Are you okay leaving them like that?

[saturations]

You mean the world where my old friends are already gone? What would I be leaving behind, Nogiku? There's nothing left.

[pura]

Leaving them like that, Riff-san. Erased. Non-existent. Even if you decide to never go back again, and abandon that world... Is there really nothing to be done for your friends?

[saturations]

No. There's nothing that can be changed, because I don't have a way of going back again. It's gone. It's over.

[pura]

[... She has a feeling this conversation will go in circles at this rate, so. After a moment, she just sighs.]

Then, we'll see what the future has in store for us.