victory_road | THICK AS THIEVULS

"Maybe."

She doesn't seem totally convinced but she'll shrug. She's a lot better at faking no emotions with other people around.

"It's always better when people show up not during these weekends anyway. Then they usually stay around longer. ...I mean people can vanish anyway and go home but the people on the weekends hardly EVER stay."

So, why get your hopes up.

That's even more sad. Little girls shouldn't have to go through that kind of disappointment. Getting her mother back but only for a couple of days.

"I'm sorry," he says again, sounding subdued. "We'll. At least try to find your Casey. C'mon."

"That's okay."

Don't worry, she's kind of used to being put through things no little girl should have to. She'll nod at the last part and start walking.

"Oh, and since everyone got stuff stolen we can look for caves that have a lot of people by them."

Probably fighting but hey, a clue!

"There were a lot of people there when I was there. They might have started to disperse by now. But there was a lot of stuff to sift through so maybe not." It's also possible the Thievul has regrouped by now, and so there will in fact be more fighting.

He follows along at her side, eyes roving around, flesh hand still in Grace's fur as she walks between them. "How long have you been here? On this world."

She'll go over it a moment, counting briefly on her fingers as they walk.

"Almost two and a half years."

That's a long time. The Soldier can't even really conceive of that kind of time frame, right now. They've only got about a month of actual memories, right now. "Do you like it here?"

"Yeah this place is really great. It's easy to get food or earn money. Everyone is really nice and I've learnt all sorts of things even though they don't have school. Like multiplying and dividing and reading longer chapter books."

You know important things.

"Plus when bad things happen here, no one dies."

Well, really. Those are important things. The Soldier does a lot of math. (Or. Did. Don't need it as much when you're not shooting people from half a mile away.) "I haven't worked out the money part yet. But no one dies?" That's unexpected, and not something he's run across yet.

"The money is kind of weird but I never really used money before so it wasn't too hard to learn."

She was a blank slate money wise.

"Yeah, I didn't believe people when they told me. Everyone dies, that's just what they do. But then we got attacked by monsters from a portal and no one died. And I talked to people who have been here for years and they've said no one who got brought here has died here. And some of them have been here longer then I've been alive."

"I just haven't figured out how to make it yet. My skillset is very limited and not needed here." Plus, he has no desire to kill people anymore, even if it is is what he's best at.

Also, apparently not possible here. That's strange. But also kind of a relief. He listens with interest to the explanation of the not-dying issue, thoughtfully. "People can still get hurt, though," he guesses.

"You should try working at a pokecenter or an inn. A lot of new people start at those so they're used to it. The people who worked there taught me how to do everything I'd need to do too. Plus there's one in almost every town so you can do it everywhere. It's not hard and if you work in a pokecenter you can learn how to look after your pokemon better too."

She learnt a lot of life skills at those places.

"Yeah, people can still get hurt, but if you go to a pokecenter they'll help you for free."

She doesn't seem really concerned by the idea of being hurt. Then again she is a kid so that might be normal. ~~it also might be that as long as someone is not dead she views it as okay after having so many people die on her.~~

Well. He could definitely stand to learn some life skills. "I definitely do want to learn how best to take care of them. Medical stuff makes me. Uncomfortable, though." Or else he'd be there all the time for his goddamn arm, probably.

"Maybe you could tell them that. They never made me work around pokemon eggs when I told them they scared me."

He almost asks why eggs, of all things, would scare her... but he's aware some very strange things scare him, so he decides prying probably won't help either of them. He nods. "I suppose I can try. Do they always need help?"

"Usually. Work is weird here. I think it's since so many people travel. If you start working in a place you have to work there for five days before you leave the city."

This may have been drilled into her head by some well meaning co-workers who had been worried about her being able to work when she first got here.

"But they usually take anyone who wants to work. Sometimes they let people stay there if they need a place to stay for little while too."

This is all very good intel. Honestly, it's the best intel he's gotten from anyone but the pokegear yet, and it's coming from a ten year old. "We did stay there in Violet City, yes. Thank you for letting me know." He looks around as they walk, keeping an eye out for trouble or caves or even other people. "I've never worked before. Not for money. So this is all very helpful."

This is what learning everything you can to survive will do to you.

"Really? Were jobs different where you come from? I came from a moon colony really far in space. And far in the future to most people here so I had to learn a lot of stuff when I got here too."

He hesitates a moment, debating how much to say. "I don't know. I don't remember much from where I come from. But I think. I was owned. So I didn't get paid for what I did."

"Oh....we're you an android?"

Between her own world having them and meeting Connor and Hank, she's aware that androids didn't always get to have freedom.

"No. Just the arm and its anchors. The rest of me is human I think. I think they'd rather I been an android, though." They treated him like a robot a lot of the time. A particularly dangerous one, maybe.

"I'd want the people I know to be androids. You can fix androids when they get really hurt. Like my friend Bishop got pulled in half and he was still alive and Ripley said we'd be able to fix him when we got back to Earth. If he was human he'd be dead."

That's absolutely not why HYDRA would have preferred a robot, but it might be up there. The Soldier knows he needed repairs now and then, too, though mostly they just let him bleed, he thinks. "That's really lucky for Bishop. That would be one advantage over being human. I'm glad he could get repaired like that."

[She slumps a bit with that.]

He's not fixed yet. I got taken from cryosleep on the ship before we got back to Earth. But Ripley said he'd be okay.

[Oh geez. That's not a nice word. The Soldier misses a step, arm stuttering, and has to catch himself mid-shudder. He tries to save with:]

He might be fixed. By now. Since you've been here for so long.

No. Time stops at home when were here. So when I get sent back I'll just be at the same spot and time I was before.

THICK AS THIEVULS

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