1st Hope [Video]

[despairing_hope]

[Nagito can be seen somewhere outside, based on the background it was most likely a cafe.]

Ah! There it goes. That wasn't hard at all.

[For a new arival he was pretty laid back and relaxed about it all.]

I think I have a good idea of what's going on, but I hope no one minds if I still ask a few questions of everyone.

[He shifted his arms to position the phone a bit better.]

From what I understand everyone with one of these, [He uses his free hand to lift the pendent up. His was mostly yellow with flecks of blue and red in it.] is "real" and abducted to this world. That's quite amazing when you think about it! I never expected in my whole life to experience such a fantasy like event.

But, moving on. I was curious about everyone else here. What sorts of places and states did you come from? Also, how do you feel about this place? Is there a motive behind being here? Surely there is a purpose, otherwise why go through the trouble? It must be a lot of trouble to punch a hole through to another world as well, so there must be some sort of goal involved.

Ah, but don't worry if you don't know, I'm mostly just talking to myself.

Oh, I suppose I should introduce myself. My name is Komaeda Nagito, I look forward to meeting and speaking fellow abductees.

[He smiled softly and raised a hand in a friendly wave.]

Comments

[youfool]

Indeed, the experience has been one lovely novelty form the beginning for me too, Mr. Nagito. What do those strange names mean, anyway? Forgive me, kanji still presents a formidable, etymological mystery.

As for the purpose, from what we gathered, it's part functional, part philosophical. The former is a re-population scheme; apparently this place isn't what it used to be, in terms of livelihood, and the spirits behind it all would like to infuse this place with a little more flesh and blood. Or stone, in the case of that Chalice.

For the latter, they wish to see 'life', that short word with big implications, defined and enacted to its fullest. Apparently merely breathing, eating, and sleeping aren't enough to satisfy them. What is is anyone's guess.

[despairing_hope]

My name is written with the characters for calm and ladle and is a reference to the big dipper constellation. My family name is related to shrines and is rather old. I'm surprised you have an interest, no one has ever cared about the meaning of my name before.

[Oh, life to it's fullest. He could respect that.]

My! What admirable goals. So they have brought us, me, here to be stepping stones towards their hope of a bright future.

That's amazing!

[youfool]

It's difficult not to be interested, with as many queer combinations the Japanese--is it Japanese?--characters make. I'm tempted to complain about the plainness of English names.

Heh, suppose it does sound flattering in that light, doesn't it? Then again, so many that come here seem to vanish just as readily as they appear. To say nothing of the out-and-out villains that this world drags from the dregs. I wonder if the spirits know what they're doing.

[despairing_hope]

Are they so plain? I read a book once that talked about origins and meanings of names from all over the world. All names share interesting meanings. The only difference is it's easier to look up the meaning of kanji. Ah... but that isn't to say everyone understands their names. It's easy to ignore any deep meaning.

Oh I am quite sure they do. If they're trying to cultivate hope... they will need things to stir it into action. There needs to be something to rise above.

Though, what you mentioned, to come and go. I wonder if those people just weren't good enough. Well, I don't mind if I'm worthy or not, though it would be nice to stay.

[youfool]

Never, sir, never! I think the names of the west are simpler, yet go deeper. But the kanji makes such curious combinations.

[There's something disturbingly fanatical about his insistence on the wellness of the world. If that's optimism talking, he can see why people might be tempted to murder optimists.]

Aha, like how conflict drives the interest in a story? Suppose ones gets to feeling differently once one's in it. Not like the world isn't choked with its own adversaries already.

Well, so long as you're humbled by the experience, all's well.

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[highprices]

[Crystal answers with a pretty smile.]

Have you heard of New York? I'm sure there are many worlds with a New York but mine is one of them.

[Her smile grows.]

If I tell you about my world, why not tell me about yours too? I like a good story.

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[despairing_hope]

Oh I know of New York, it's a major American city.

Hmmm, I'm not really sure what I can say, I'm from Japan. My story is probably rather boring.

[Far from it, but he wasn't just going to spill every detail about himself right away. Also, he really didn't find it special at all.]

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[highprices]

I wouldn't say so. I've never been to Japan though I do enjoy reading about the culture there.

[Crystal is accustom to people playing coy.]

Have you ever visited New York?

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[despairing_hope]

Sadly I haven't, I've only been out of the country once before. Even then I was only a child and can't remember it that well.

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[highprices]

Well then, I'll tell you about New York and you tell me about Japan.

[She's silent for a moment before continuing.]

I could take you to see New York. There is a sub-archway there from here.

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[shy_mage]

H-Hi... I'm... I'm Bracken...

[He tried to keep his thoughts sorted. He didn't usually introduce himself to new people like this, so he was trying to do it right. Name first, right? And then...

Well, he'd asked some questions. What were they? He'd asked about home and this place, and some other stuff. There was some awkward silence as he tried to continue the conversation.]

I... I don't know about this place. I-I haven't seen my friends, and... and I miss them. Home was... it was a lot different. I like it more. N-Not everything works here like, like it should.

[It was familiar. Safe. He knew what to expect, and he had his friends there. Here was unknown.]

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[despairing_hope]

[Soft spoken, nervous, lacked in any sort of confidence.

Boring regular person.

Oh well.]

Hello Bracken.

[Nagito's tone was as cheerful as his open greeting before.]

I would hope it was different, otherwise I would be the odd one out that I didn't some from a melting pot of various realities. But please, explain the differences.

[With enough varied responses maybe he could put together a theory.]

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[shy_mage]

W-Well...

[Oh, the many, many things. He started listing off so many differences in his head and he wasn't even sure where to start, and blushed when he got to the more 'private' ones. Should he even mention those? He kind of wanted to ask, because he wasn't sure if other people went through the same stuff, but it would be a bit blunt.

He still looked a bit oddly embarrassed when he began mentioning other things.]

M-My fire spell blew up trees, and... and my h-healing spell hurt, and I-I was able to go through the floor with, with quicksand... And... And, I fell asleep.

[He chose one of the 'lesser' private things to mention. It wasn't as embarrassing as the other one that came to mind. Obviously, he shouldn't have to explain what was wrong with all of those things. In his mind, they were plain obviously weird.]

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[despairing_hope]

[That was a little hard... to translate. Nagito was stumped for a moment with a confused expression.]

When you say it like that it becomes hard for me to understand. You can use magic? What's wrong with sleeping?

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[shy_mage]

[He nodded, then made sure a simple wooden staff he was holding was in view of the camera. Despite looking out of a fantasy novel, he actually did have a good grasp of how cameras and such worked.]

I-I'm a mage.

[That was plenty of explanation for the magic part, wasn't it? Well, he thought so. Everyone knew what mages were. The sleeping part, though...]

I... A-At home, I didn't sleep. I don't... I don't remember ever falling asleep. B-But here, I got tired, and I fell asleep.

Do... Do you sleep?

[It was extra hard to ask about these things because he didn't know if other people did them, too.]

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[bloodheels]

Nice to meet you. My name is Lenalee Lee.

[She didn't really have much of a opinion yet when it came to things of this world since she felt like she hadn't been here long enough to really know.]

As for what I think of this place, I haven't been here long enough to really form much of a opinion. I mean it seems like a nice place, but I can't really say.

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[despairing_hope]

A pleasure.

[What was this girl saying? Not much of an opinion? Wasn't it natural to form an opinion on things rather quickly? Or was she only considering meaningful opinions?]

The fact that you have some doubt is a little telling. Surly there's a reason for that.

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[bloodheels]

It's the case of, I don't know a lot about this place.

[Minus what she has been told and what she can see. it just doesn't feel right to say anything when one didn't know all the facts.]

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[despairing_hope]

How long have you been here? It was mentioned people can come and go.

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[bloodheels]

Not long, a few weeks at best. So not long at all.

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[meddlesomehero]

[Jeez... he sounds pretty happy for someone who's been kidnapped, doesn't he? And to find it amazing? This guy's more than a little weird.]

I'm from a place country called Japan, where I was attending a school called Ohtori Academy. As for why we'd all be brought here, heck if I know. The last place I was brought to just dragged us in at random.

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[despairing_hope]

Oh! We share a country. So there are more familiar things here after all.

[Though it still felt very random.]

Even if people are randomly selected, there would still have to be some sort of goal in mind. No one would go through such effort for no reason at all.

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[meddlesomehero]

Heh, guess so.

[...still...]

Are you saying there's some kind of mastermind in the background pulling the strings, here? Don't you think that's just a little dramatic?

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[despairing_hope]

Someone brought us here, and generally one wouldn't go through the trouble unless there was a reason to do so. It's rather elaborate so one individual would be highly unlikely. But a group would make perfect sense. We've also been supplied with these phones and pendants, and then what the welcome message stated.

We aren't in an anime or light novel, people don't just randomly get pulled to other worlds to play around for no good reason.

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[meddlesomehero]

People generally don't get pulled to other worlds to play around period. [And yet it's happened to her twice now. Maybe she's just unlucky.] Anyway, I guess that makes sense, but...

[She's not too sure.]