etraya | Voice | UN: Arrietty Clock

... It works!

[A surprised voice of a young girl comes through the feed suddenly — excitably so!

It's a good way to try and stay physically hidden from everyone else, at least... A voice doesn't really give away that you're a very, very, very small person. (Little does she know, some of the people who saw her in the casino-bean-place are here too.)]

I hear you all...! I've never used a phone before. If this counts as a phone, anyway... Um... Can we call people from our worlds? I'd like to tell my mother and papa that I'm safe... They must be really worried about me. Especially my mother. She's very nervous in nature.

[There's a pause.]

And... I think there has to be some kind of mistake, anyway. I've heard people are here because they have to prove their world is worth saving. But I'm not... I can't possibly be the person they meant to bring here. There has to be some kind of mistake. Or — if it's not a mistake, it feels unfair to the world I came from.

... Does anyone else feel like that?

[Because this feels so outside of everything and anything she's ever known.

Even right now, as she sits in a small shoebox she's converted into a hotel room of sorts in an alleyway not far from the hospital, she can't help but feel like she's lost at some proverbial sea... She doesn't have the experience her father has in a complicated world. She's pretty sure he would be lost too, but... he would at least be brave and march on without hesitation.

After another moment, an additional question comes through the feed:]

What are the big metal robots talking about, when they mention a... 'water park'?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

But, mister... Isn't part of being heroic facing the danger?

[It's a much bigger danger than she's used to, but nonetheless.]

Being a hero is only useful if you win. Otherwise you're just another victim.

... I don't think you can control whether or not you win at everything.

That's what makes heroism special. That you know the potential outcome, but you try anyway.

You can give it a good shot, turn the odds in your favor and so forth.

Not to me.

You must take playing tablegames very seriously.

I don't often play games.

Then you really should. I enjoy little boardgames we make with little stones and colorful pieces of flower and things like that. And playing cards! People love playing cards.

[They made them once out of thin paper once, but you do have to get a little creative and finger paint the symbols and numbers. A few slivers of hair for a paintbrush works wonders too...!]

Maybe you can teach me a few. [Would Gu Xiang like to learn? What about Chengling? His lips twitch and he almost chuckles.] Gather what you need and tell me the rules.

[... Ah.]

It may take me some time to get those things.

[She's not sure how to even address it. She'd spent so much of her life being reinforced not to reveal herself, but — but it seems impossible now, doesn't it? If she's going to try and live here and participate in 'missions'... she'll need help. More than ever.]

And — it would be hard to play games with me, mister.

I can wait. [...what's going on here?] Why is that? Do you have some big secret?

[Er...little secret.]

Voice | UN: Arrietty Clock

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