acatalepsy_rpg

Do you know exactly where they came from?

I'm an android detective, to put it colloquially. But this isn't exactly why I think I'd be the most suited for the role, though tracking is a skill of mine.

Would you like to meet up? It's more easily explained in person.

Kinda sorta?
It's mostly me
They're mine I think
So I saw they're as clean as me
And I'm pretty clean!

[ a beat. ]

Like, aside from that time I dug a hole in the backyard all night and slept in it.

[ a beat. ]

So yeah I guess we can meet somewhere, you said not the kitchen right
How about like
I don't know
Outside
I guess??? Not like a lot of people will be outside at this hour

I'm not certain that qualifies as clean if you make a habit of sleeping in holes in the backyard. But it sounds like something done in passing, so I won't hold it against you. Needless to say, rats still don't belong in the kitchen.

There's a doorway from the kitchen itself that leads to the exterior of the Temple. I'll meet you there, if you like.

My name is Connor, by the way.

Dude yeah it's a cautionary tale
When you go to Donut Wolf and they ask you if you want eternity sauce the answer is always no
Don't know what they put in that stuff but it really just makes me cuhraaaaaaaaaaaazy

That's fine by me
I'm Mae
You won't miss me I'm distinctive

[ this is the part where i say a five foot tall cat is waiting for connor outside? and somehow we just go okay and live with that. ]

[Mae. "Distinctive". Not much of a descriptor to go by, but Connor assumes he'll be able to tell when she arrives.

And... yes, he definitely... can.

A five foot tall cat. The LED at his temple circles vividly for a good handful of seconds, looking at her with a surprise that he doesn't quite bother to hide.]

...Mae?

[AT LEAST HE'S HANDLING THIS CALMLY.]

Mr. Connor.

[ oh yeah. she's in the zone. she chews on a cube of cheese. cheddar, sharp. the white kind. makes her feel kinda sophisticated. her shirt shuffles in the weird, distinct shapes of rat bodies. one skitters out from her collar and onto her shoulder. she spits the chewed up cheese on the group.

cool.

littering? cool. so. cool. (stop her please)

...all right, the noir filter turns off as she realizes he's got LEDs in his head? ]

You're... I don't know, really human looking but not?

[ uh. rude. dial it down a bit. ] Distinctive.

Just Connor. And I told you, I'm an android.

[It's not polite to stare, but he can't help but give her a scrutinizing once-over for a second. He's reconciling this with what he knows of the rest of the Temple and its members. There's a centaur here, so surely a talking cat, a large talking cat, isn't something that he should over-obsess with too much.

Because more notably are the rats... coming out from under her shirt?

What the heck, Mae.]

You're leaking [eking? spilling? OOZING?] rats. I think this is the first issue we need to address.

What? No I'm keeping them warm, dude.

[ the one on her shoulder slips up and over onto her head, staring up at connor with curiosity. ] I know you're an android but that's super far into the future for me. I mean, so are the watches? But like, signal is also new. I don't know why I'm telling you this.

[ awkward beat.

mae opens her mouth again. ]

So are the LEDs like emotional triggered or... like... scanners at the market...

[Awkward beat, indeed.

He listens, of course. Listens and decides what's worth replying to, what's worth discarding. Apparently he only settles on remarking about the LED part of the equation. Sorry Mae.]

First and foremost, it indicates what I am. [An android. No point in repeating himself a third time.] Though the color does change depending on my current status.

[He tries to edge the conversation back into more relevant territory...] Your... rats. The ones with you right now. Why aren't those scurrying off when the rest have been?

[ the android thing is decidedly very cool. mae also decides she is cooler by proxy of now being on a first name basis with connor, and vice versa. extremely cool. ]

Told 'em to stay. I didn't want to lose them. I can put them all back probably if I get them all, but these ones are a pretty good sweater for the time being.

[ her, huh. belly button? tummy? the kitty pooch that cats attack you over if you try to touch them there. it's just barely exposed. the raglan fits otherwise, at least. maybe she should rip out the hem and get those few inches back. ]

I guess I could like... send them off to lead me to the rest actually? Woah. You are good at finding stuff.

[Connor does like his praises, but generally when he’s actually gone to an effort to earn them.]

So you can influence them, as long as we track them down.

[This is confirmation of this fact. Pins this message in his mind.]

We can do that, in tandem with me using my power to help you and your rats track the rest. We’ll make quick work of this task — are you amenable to this solution?

[ was he... programmed to speak this way? man imagine being programmed to speak a specific way. can't even talk how you wanna talk. that sucks.

so mae thinks. ]

Yeah, that works. [ mae starts to turn, getting ready to go back in-- when a thought strikes! a little exclamation point would be over her head if speech bubbles were a thing in the coven. they aren't, so this is all strictly metaphorical. ]

Wait. What's your power?

[Connor can't fault her enthusiasm. He's ready to go, too, though he was just about to halt her to give himself a moment to explain his plan-

But he doesn't have to. That imaginary exclamation point did its proper job.]

I can turn into a canine. Even though I'm technically still an android while in this form, I'm granted the attributes that most dogs are well-known for; in this case, a strong sense of smell and innate tracking will help us locate your rats faster.

[ a low whistle: that's useful, and also, makes her feel a little less weird? ]

Nice to know I'm about part of a population of furry people, even if only temporary. That's pretty useful, too. I mean, you're like. I don't know, a P.I., and you got Mad Tracking Skilzzz. With multiple Zs.

[ just to be clear, don't need connor forgetting that he's talking to an annoying cat womanchild. ] Ok, so I'll probably get them to point in a direction, and-slash-or you can sniffy-sniff the goods out?

[A population of furry people. This android doesn't know quite how to respond to that, and so he deigns not to. Simple.

A lot of what Mae says, he thinks, can be hemmed down to its main point -- and the main point here, he muses to himself, is that she's willing to let him help her, that she has her own suggestion of a plan. Connor sees no immediate issue with it, and so he nods.]

Right. Exactly that. I can follow your lead unless you tell me otherwise. [Sniffy-sniff the goods out, and all that.] So then, are you ready?

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