Konoha may not be an Android, but she does know how to 404 Error. If she'd been born a few decades later she might have the barest of awareness that Japan wasn't the only country in the world. That there was tons of countries across the sea and they all looked different and spoke different than her people... worshipped different gods and wore different clothes...
But she wasn't. Japan, more specifically her village's domain... that was the world, and she isn't even well educated enough to know about China... about... anything.]
... but I don't know "English". I'm speaking... whatever I know... and you're speaking it, too, just... with a weird dialect.
[She just didn't say anything about it to be polite???]
No, I promise you that I'm speaking English. It's my default tongue, since English is the official language of the United States -- the country I was created to function in.
[Konoha's experiences must be very limited, and he looks at her with consideration.]
I know that comprehending this might be an issue, given our differing time periods. But considering what I am, it's probably not too difficult to imagine something as mundane in comparison -- like me speaking a different language, being translated by what I can only assume is magic?
[He thinks that maybe her stress levels are spiking a little too high, as seems to be her habit when met with something she doesn’t understand; but the idea of experimentation born from curiosity is hard to ignore. Connor can assure her that there’s nothing to be concerned about after the fact.
Say something. Anything? He defaults to his usual introduction, enunciating clearly.]
My name is Connor. RK800 model, serial number three-one-three-two-four-eight-three-one-seven-dash-five-one.
[Connor nearly startles with the resounding of her hooves on the floor, but of course in his case that just means he stands straighter, fingers tensing.
Now’s the time to calm her down, if there was any.]
It’s all right, Konoha. I’m not speaking Japanese, so I can easily confirm that’s the case. In fact, I’m sure I’m not the only one — you spoke with Hank, correct? He was speaking English the entire time as well.
That being said, it’s nothing to be startled over. It really isn’t the strangest that’s happened to either of us, right?
[Her hands go to her cheeks, frozen for a moment as she tries to process yet another completely insane thing to add to her already prestigiously long list of crazy things about this entire experience.
She only knows... the only language she's ever known, but he doesn't know it, and yet he's talking it right now? And she's... talking "English"?
Holy shi-]
N- No, it's not but... how is there magic happening all the time and it's just- Just happening?
[Okay, that's not expressed well, but. Wasn't magic... flashy, and kind of visible, and instant-based sort of things? Or- was this a curse? Or... the opposite of a curse?]
[She's still tense, still caught up in another revelation that seems to put her so on edge. He supposes he shouldn't be surprised, and that not everyone can simply accept the oddities happening around them -- delegating them as simply a part of this whole Circle experience -- with the uncannily detached acceptance of an android.
Connor reaches up, putting a hand gently on her forearm. A gesture of comfort, squeezing lightly.]
It's going to be okay. It's just... harmless magic, really. It's been happening all this time and everything's been all right so far.
[When given the chance to hang onto something outside of herself, to take grounding from another... Konoha takes it. Her hands go for Connor's arm blindly while her eyes are still glued to how his mouth moves, then pat around for his hand so that she can clasp it in both of hers. It's something unnerving to her to be so aware of, like if someone asked how often you blinked or how to breathe...
But he's right. It's not like she can do anything about it, and it's not like it hurt anyone, just..,]
I'm sorry, Connor... it's just... really weird...
[Maybe... just to her.]
I know I should be used to it by now, I'm just... not somehow...
[Connor allows her to cling to him, registers the gentle pressure of her hands clasped around his. He doesn't move, just stands there looking up at her with his brow pinched in a facsimile of concern.]
I know. Many things here are... impossible for me to understand, too. I have to cope by simply choosing not to process it, or to overthink it. I wasn't made to function in these particular circumstances, but now I just... don't have much of a choice.
[A little squeeze from his hand, a gesture of reassurance.]
It's all right, though. Individuals adjust on their own terms, in their own time. Now that you're aware, it'll become less strange as the days continue onwards. I can almost guarantee you that.
Konoha squeezes his hand back, momentarily bows her head over them and tries to just... forget. Not think about it. They've been pulled to whole other worlds, she doesn't know if she'll ever see her parents or Gonta again, there was a whole city of metal...
So yeah, he's right. This was just... one more new thing. So she just has to smile like she always did.]
... Can you still teach me how to make the pictures?
[He knows, at a base level, that his advice is barely satisfactory. Does very little for the strange sense of displaced dysphoria one experiences when away from what’s familiar — but it’s the only and best advice he can give. Push onwards, accept that this is a new reality, process it the best one can knowing that there are others around you doing the same.
The smile is a thin thing, he believes. But it’s better than her fretting.]
Yes, here-
[Gently, his hand slips away so he can move to adjust himself at an angle. For her to better see the watch, and he smiles amicably as he provides an example.]
[It's a salve, not a cure. But even Konoha knows she ought to throw herself into, that she's been doing such things ever since she got here. Doing laundry, cooking, foraging for food, sewing... keeping busy to not focus on how insane everything was.
So now it's just... "emoji".]
Can you do any picture you want?
[Obediently, she pulls her watch back out from her tool pouch and brings up the text function, poking at it to see if she's just missed something simple.]
They represent different emotions, though I'm sure you don't need me to explain to you what each expression means. You can even scroll over to icons of... well. Many things.
[He shows her, and the selection is not insubstantial. Animals! Food! Nature! Technology!]
[Even Connor decides, almost impulsively, to not correct the application of a pronoun. The little emoji faces are now male for Konoha, except when they obviously aren’t.]
There are fruits and vegetables, too.
[He pokes at her watch, again just to illustrate. A strawberry pops up on the screen.]
[His watch pings, and there it is -- a chicken leg and a strawberry to greet him on his screen.]
Look. [He turns his wrist so that she can see her own handiwork, and offers an explanation afterwards.]
You can use them any way you like, though they're often implemented to denote a certain 'tone' to the conversation at hand. They're called emojis, but they're really little more than miniature icons.
[There’s isn’t much that elicits a laugh from Connor; usually he reserves smiles and light chuckles for his acquaintances with ease — anything more than that is rare. But seeing the emojis appear on his screen, then lifting his eyes to view what appears to be a mischievous look from Konoha actually does win one from him. It’s a huff of a thing, easily missed, but clear on his features and enough to make his shoulders shake.]
Connor laughed! Like- more than usual? Or... maybe not more but. Kind of... better? Than usual? Not that she can really pinpoint what about it makes her think that's the case, but.
Her smile tugs up higher at the corners, lightly biting on her bottom lip to avoid snorting herself as she gestures helplessly at her watch.]
They don’t. But you’re doing a good job of combining what does exist to create new ones.
[It’s kind of fun, really, doing this with her. Though this was mainly meant to be an informational season, what with the point of inviting her over, Connor finds that he enjoys his conversations with Konoha — as always.]
Did you know you could use this one to describe me?
[He sends her: 🤖]
Even if it is hyperbolic and inaccurate in a number of ways.
[She can't help but chuckle a little when praised, scratching behind her ear with a flick of tail in slightly self-conscious happiness, paying attention to what he sends her even if she doesn't know what "hyperbolic" is. Oh! It looks like some of the metal people on Struxta... and they were like cousins so she kind of sees it but...
Konoha shakes her head instead, smiling a bit cheekily again when she sends a message back.
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Konoha may not be an Android, but she does know how to 404 Error. If she'd been born a few decades later she might have the barest of awareness that Japan wasn't the only country in the world. That there was tons of countries across the sea and they all looked different and spoke different than her people... worshipped different gods and wore different clothes...
But she wasn't. Japan, more specifically her village's domain... that was the world, and she isn't even well educated enough to know about China... about... anything.]
... but I don't know "English". I'm speaking... whatever I know... and you're speaking it, too, just... with a weird dialect.
[She just didn't say anything about it to be polite???]
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[Konoha's experiences must be very limited, and he looks at her with consideration.]
I know that comprehending this might be an issue, given our differing time periods. But considering what I am, it's probably not too difficult to imagine something as mundane in comparison -- like me speaking a different language, being translated by what I can only assume is magic?
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Is it...
[No, wait-
Wait...]
But... your mouth is... wait, say something right now! I'll watch your lips!
[Magic is like... for big things and it's all flashy, and it's... okay, she doesn't know anything about magic either, but!
She might be freaking out.]
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Say something. Anything? He defaults to his usual introduction, enunciating clearly.]
My name is Connor. RK800 model, serial number three-one-three-two-four-eight-three-one-seven-dash-five-one.
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Brows furrow, lips purse, and she isn't really listening to what he says so much as the syllables...
Until she almost jumps, hooves clattering on the temple floor.]
Oh my gods I think it doesn't match?!
[She might be imagining things, but. Holy crap he's not speaking Japanese, that's the takeaway here.]
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Now’s the time to calm her down, if there was any.]
It’s all right, Konoha. I’m not speaking Japanese, so I can easily confirm that’s the case. In fact, I’m sure I’m not the only one — you spoke with Hank, correct? He was speaking English the entire time as well.
That being said, it’s nothing to be startled over. It really isn’t the strangest that’s happened to either of us, right?
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[Her hands go to her cheeks, frozen for a moment as she tries to process yet another completely insane thing to add to her already prestigiously long list of crazy things about this entire experience.
She only knows... the only language she's ever known, but he doesn't know it, and yet he's talking it right now? And she's... talking "English"?
Holy shi-]
N- No, it's not but... how is there magic happening all the time and it's just- Just happening?
[Okay, that's not expressed well, but. Wasn't magic... flashy, and kind of visible, and instant-based sort of things? Or- was this a curse? Or... the opposite of a curse?]
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[She's still tense, still caught up in another revelation that seems to put her so on edge. He supposes he shouldn't be surprised, and that not everyone can simply accept the oddities happening around them -- delegating them as simply a part of this whole Circle experience -- with the uncannily detached acceptance of an android.
Connor reaches up, putting a hand gently on her forearm. A gesture of comfort, squeezing lightly.]
It's going to be okay. It's just... harmless magic, really. It's been happening all this time and everything's been all right so far.
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But he's right. It's not like she can do anything about it, and it's not like it hurt anyone, just..,]
I'm sorry, Connor... it's just... really weird...
[Maybe... just to her.]
I know I should be used to it by now, I'm just... not somehow...
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I know. Many things here are... impossible for me to understand, too. I have to cope by simply choosing not to process it, or to overthink it. I wasn't made to function in these particular circumstances, but now I just... don't have much of a choice.
[A little squeeze from his hand, a gesture of reassurance.]
It's all right, though. Individuals adjust on their own terms, in their own time. Now that you're aware, it'll become less strange as the days continue onwards. I can almost guarantee you that.
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[She really was.
Konoha squeezes his hand back, momentarily bows her head over them and tries to just... forget. Not think about it. They've been pulled to whole other worlds, she doesn't know if she'll ever see her parents or Gonta again, there was a whole city of metal...
So yeah, he's right. This was just... one more new thing. So she just has to smile like she always did.]
... Can you still teach me how to make the pictures?
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The smile is a thin thing, he believes. But it’s better than her fretting.]
Yes, here-
[Gently, his hand slips away so he can move to adjust himself at an angle. For her to better see the watch, and he smiles amicably as he provides an example.]
Bring up your texting function first.
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So now it's just... "emoji".]
Can you do any picture you want?
[Obediently, she pulls her watch back out from her tool pouch and brings up the text function, poking at it to see if she's just missed something simple.]
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[His own keyboard brought up, he taps at what appears to be a tiny icon of a smiley face in the corner, indicative of the emoji keyboard.]
Tap it.
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[... Did he mean that the little man smiling at her this whole time was actually a whole other "Screen"???
Surprised, Konoha tentatively taps the little man, blinking in surprise when the "screen" changes, and lots of little, colorful images pop up.]
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Yes. He is. See?
[Look at all the faces!]
They represent different emotions, though I'm sure you don't need me to explain to you what each expression means. You can even scroll over to icons of... well. Many things.
[He shows her, and the selection is not insubstantial. Animals! Food! Nature! Technology!]
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[Is it a him? It looks kind of like a him to her for some reason- and Connor hasn't corrected her, so he must be?]
You can send pictures of chicken?!
[The drumstick sticks out, and Konoha excitedly pushes on it... and gasps accordingly when it shows up in the text box.
Gods, she wants to send it so bad... But it's so random... Who could get a chicken...]
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There are fruits and vegetables, too.
[He pokes at her watch, again just to illustrate. A strawberry pops up on the screen.]
If you like, you can send it to me.
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[It looks so delicious and colorful??? Konoha pulls her watch closer to her face in order to examine it... and can't help herself...
Connor's watch will ping with a new message.]
🍗🍓
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Look. [He turns his wrist so that she can see her own handiwork, and offers an explanation afterwards.]
You can use them any way you like, though they're often implemented to denote a certain 'tone' to the conversation at hand. They're called emojis, but they're really little more than miniature icons.
Not to mention they're just amusing to see.
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[If it's one thing Japanese feudal society had, it was classes and lots of fun formal levels!
But as she scrolls through the emoji Konoha's eyes sparkle at something, and she taps two times, lips curling into a sneaky smile... before,]
👩🐎
[Shows up in Connor's inbox.
It's her!!]
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Is that you?
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Connor laughed! Like- more than usual? Or... maybe not more but. Kind of... better? Than usual? Not that she can really pinpoint what about it makes her think that's the case, but.
Her smile tugs up higher at the corners, lightly biting on her bottom lip to avoid snorting herself as she gestures helplessly at her watch.]
They don't have a jinba one!
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[It’s kind of fun, really, doing this with her. Though this was mainly meant to be an informational season, what with the point of inviting her over, Connor finds that he enjoys his conversations with Konoha — as always.]
Did you know you could use this one to describe me?
[He sends her: 🤖]
Even if it is hyperbolic and inaccurate in a number of ways.
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Konoha shakes her head instead, smiling a bit cheekily again when she sends a message back.
👦🤖!]
I think this one is better for Connor!
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i give up you win
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