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001 | Video

[The camera is somewhat wobbly, as if the girl using it isn't entirely used to the concept of handling a camera. Her skin is ashen and pale, but she smiles readily enough, and it seems genuine, matching the cautiously optimistic tone of her quiet voice.]

Ah, hello? Am I working this correctly? Sorry, I've never had anything like this before. I've never even seen anything like this before, really. My name is Fang Ray Shin, but you can call me Ray if you would prefer. [She clears her throat, somewhat nervously, and takes a deep breath before continuing,] I don't really know what I'm meant to be doing here or why I'm here. I was hoping that perhaps someone here had seen my friends Wei Chung Ting or Chang Ming Hui? Or if there's anyone else here who's just from Taiwan in general, that would be good. I've never really liked being alone. [Her free hand goes to a pendant underneath her necklace. While the necklace she got when she woke up here is fancier, the way her fingers move over the white jade deer pendant show it is both far more familiar and more comforting.

Squaring her shoulders, she goes on,] I'm not sure what I can do about getting a job here, since I'm only a high school senior back home, and I don't have any special skills or degrees. Are there other people my age here? What do you do about the cost of living...? I still don't understand quite where this is - it's all a lot to take in - but I don't want to sit around doing nothing and burdening others.

Thank you for any help you can offer. [And she smiles one last time, small and somewhat unsteady, before the camera feed flickers off.]

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Hello, Miss Ray. I'm kind of new here myself... B-But I might be around your age? I don't know where to work either, but I'm sure there has to be something.

I'm not very smart, but is there anything I can try to do to help you adjust?

Oh, you don't have to call me Miss, either, if you don't want to. I'm seventeen; how old are you, if you don't mind me asking?

I'm not sure. I had never left my hometown of Lùlín before, so this is all very strange. I'm not used to being on my own like this. Ha, I must sound pathetic, whining about something like that when there's bigger concerns, here...

I think I might count as sixteen?

[ ^ a super normal answer ^ ]

And if you're sure, Ray. My name is Shi Yamato... eheh. It's not pathetic. I think you're really cool and admirable. All I did when I first got here was actually whine and make a fuss.

You think? [Wait, what? Her face scrunches up slightly in confusion.

The praise makes her cringe slightly, shaking her head to refute the compliments.] To be truthful, I spent a few hours convinced this was a dream and waiting to wake up from it. I'm not admirable at all, really.

[By passing his own social awkwardness,] But you came out eventually. That's courage!

I'm trying to find ways to be useful here too. Maybe we can figure it out together? I mean... As long as we stick to this phone thing, probably.

Thank you, Shi. You're very kind.

[Her smile, somewhat smaller than before, returns, and she nods.] I would like that. Perhaps we could go for a walk together sometime and see what jobs are out there and who's hiring? That's what new graduates from university would do back home at the night markets. It's a start.

I'm happy to help! B-But I don't know if walking together is a good idea. I'm...

[Hm. He could try to explain that he's a Curse and dangerous to be around...

but someone just called him nice and he wants to absorb that compliment for a while longer. Maybe later.]

There's just so much ground to cover? [With a question mark, because ?do you believe this excuse?]

Are you shy, Shi? I know there's a stereotype of Chinese people disliking Japanese people, especially in the countryside, but I promise, I'm not like that, [she assures him quickly, genuinely distraught at the thought. Yes, Shi's surname is as Japanese as they come, but Ray's family had never been involved in any sort of conflict, with mainland China or Japan.]

It would be easier not to get lost with more than one person, especially if one of us could get a map. I just... thought it made more sense...

[Oh dear. Now he feels bad. He didn't mean to make this complicated.]

N-No, it's not about that. I want to be friends and, uh... More that... [It should be fine, right? As long as he's careful. It's not like he's hurt anyone so far. Spending time with someone his age sounds refreshing too.]

... When you put it that way, I agree! That does make more sense. Good thinking.

[She's from 1961. The entire world was complicated, not just Asia, although Asia was especially complicated during her time. Regardless, she watches him fidget and stumble on his words and comes to a new conclusion: he's shy. More shy than most, which means being here must be hard on him...

...so she'll help him out by being his friend. After all, how long had her friend Wei sat alone reading before someone talked to him? Someone had to be the one to reach out first, and she was glad to do it.]

I'm sure we'll figure something out. It seems like there's a lot of people here, so that means there's more to do. Don't worry if you're nervous about meeting new people; I'll be right there with you, okay?

[It's really hard to say no. It isn't as if he wants to either. Ray seems like someone he could be friends with. Maybe her kindness and courage will be contagious too.]

Right... You too. I'll do my best to be there for you too. It won't be as scary here if we're teamed up. [He gives a small nod, more to encourage himself than anything.]

I think everyone gets a basic room to start in. I'll help you find it? It's warmer than the snow.

[Ray doesn't see herself as particularly kind or brave. She's always been an ordinary sort of person, or at least, she thinks of herself that way, when she thinks anything positive about herself at all.]

Exactly. We newcomers need to stick together until we're not afraid of this place anymore. It's a little like the first day of high school, that way.

I know we do, but I haven't been able to find mine yet. The snow is beautiful, though. We never got any in my part of Taiwan. I'd only ever seen it in movies. That said, I don't have a jacket, [she chuckles lightly at herself, holding the camera back to show off the fact she's in short sleeves,] so I should really try to find it before I get sick.

You got to go to high school?

[He asks almost enviously, before noticing her short sleeves.]

Huwah! Ray, I'm sorry! I should have been thinking about your health!

Let's meet up, okay? I can loan you my coat? Uh... and find the place...

Er, well, yes. You didn't?

[That was not the reaction she'd been hoping for. If anything she was joking about her lack of common sense, but it seems like Shi is a bit too high strung to get the joke, though he's certainly much kinder than most boys back home.]

Don't panic! It's nothing to worry about, really. I'm always cold anyway.

Let's see... I'm going to use the camera to show you where I am, okay? That way maybe we can figure it out. [Since there weren't street posts with clear markers on wooden signs like back home, that would have to do for now. Carefully, she panned the camera in a circle around her, hoping some of her surroundings would be familiar to Shi.]

[ALWAYS cold? Poor Ray has done nothing to deserve this boy's insane levels of worry. He doesn't spend much time with humans anymore, but it's hard to keep them alive. He should know. He's dead.]

Oh-- Yes. I know where that is. I'm headed over, okay?

I'll try to be quick!

[If only she knew how he'd take the news, she'd assure him that there's no need to worry about her health, for the exact same reason that she will always be cold now - she's dead, too, but of a coward's death, hence the chill.

But Ray's pretty sure Shi would only worry more if he knew, not less, and besides, inevitably she would be asked about the circumstances of her life's end. Better to chuckle lightly and wave it off.]

Don't worry so much, you'll trip or run into someone running around like that. I'll be fine.

[Indeed, when he finds her, she doesn't look any worse for the time spent in the cold.]

There's apparently a school if you want to attend. Jobs are also hiring people all the time, so that might be a thing you're interested in. As for after activities, there's always activities of all sorts. It seems like a normal town after all.

[Weird skeletally-thin man but hey. He seems friendly enough.]

A school? That would be wonderful, since I didn't get to finish my senior year before coming here. I wonder if the curriculum is similar? Ah, but I suppose there's no way to know until I ask. Still, thank you, sir.

Activities? You mean like the festivals back home? [Normal is relative, good sir, so while she can sort of take the appearance in stride, even if it reminds her of less than pleasant things from back home, she can't equate this place she's suddenly woken up in with normal. She hasn't seen a single market stall, altar or street vendor since she got here. That's not normal at all.]

Don't worry about it, I'm just trying to get by, being here and new myself.

My name's Toshinori Yagi, I'm a teacher at Yuuhi High School, a high school for heroes. I don't suppose you've heard of it, coming from Taiwan?

I haven't seen, but the weather's a little brisk for outdoor festivals. I'm sure people have indoor gyms and the like, books and maybe even video games if we look hard enough.

[His withered "natural" form was a bit disconcerting, considering how sick he looked all the time. But at least he was a naturally charismatic man no matter what form he was in.]

I see. Thank you for helping a fellow newcomer out, then.

No, sir, I haven't. Though since most of the news we get pertains to mainland China, not Japan, I suppose that's sort of unavoidable.

Books? I'm not much for games, and I don't really have much athletic skill, but I enjoy reading. That's really my only passion in life.

[He looks like one of the ghosts that used to wander the halls of her school. She wonders if he's always hungry the same way that ghosts were, but it would be impolite to ask, especially if it turned out he wasn't a ghost at all. Besides, what really mattered was that he was kind. Anything else was just a bonus in life.]

Don't worry! No matter how much I fall, I get right back up!

[This could be an endearing character trait, if he did not mean physically falling on a clumsy, regular basis.

When he catches up to her, Shi is likewise looking mostly unbothered by the cold. He has his pink wintercoat hung over his arm so that he can quickly try to bring it around Ray. His corpse can freeze, but he can't feel it.]

Sorry for making you wait! You should put this on for a bit. You look--

[-- absolutely fine?]

No problem, if you need help, give me a call. I know a guy who can do some heavy lifting.

[He nodded, biting his lip thoughtfully before adding,] We're probably not from the same world then, as strange as that sounds. Even in Taiwan, people have heard of Yuuhi High School, as it's the #1 school for Heroic Education.

I believe, don't quote me on this, but I think there's probably a library. I can probably look for it.

[He was kind, and his natural smile was working through his gaunt cheekbones and yet, he seemed tired.]

[Ray giggles softly. Shi is more earnest and open than anyone she's met in a very long time. Despite how much he worries, she can't bring herself to be even a little bit annoyed. His heart is in the right place, after all.

She self-consciously combs her fingers through her hair to try to look presentable, mouth pursing into a tiny frown.]

Is it that bad? I'm sorry, Shi, I didn't mean to scare you. You really brought that all the way here for me? That's so kind. You're quite the gentleman.

I don't think I have need of that, but thank you for the offer regardless. Unfortunately I don't have any skills to offer in return.

Heroic Education? I don't know what the term means, sir. Is that some kind of military police related program? [Which should be his first clue that their eras don't align, either, as Taiwan's military police had fallen out of power in 1987.

Her expression brightens at the idea of a library.] Really? Ah, but don't people need government ID to look through such things? We all needed one back home. [There's something entirely too casual about the way she says that.

He seemed awfully human to be a ghost, tiredness included. But then again, she was much the same despite her life having already ended.]

It's okay, really. I'm not going to let a teenager just without any help.

Not really. The concept of Superheroes are a relatively new concept. Um... have you ever heard of the Star Spangled Hero, America's Captain? It was a comic book that ran during the second World War. Though I don't know if you got any publications of the series there.

[She mentioned military police. He knew his history, and even if his own world's history diverged, the first superpowers appeared in China, and then Taiwan, and Japan and then the world. Military Police fell out of fashion... oh.]

I don't think so, you can just go in and take a look. There's enough books for everyone.

[Yeah, definitely a military state. It all added up, and he almost felt like Heroically Smashing that whole system.]

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