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On a lighter note than that last broadcast... [Not that Claudia doesn't appreciate Armin's announcement for what it is, and anyone missing their friends is free to do so as they see fit. But she's not about to pretend this isn't a more upbeat thing.]

Anyone up for lightcycles this time out? I think I've recharged from the party prep stuff, but I'm gonna have to get on things fast if I'm gonna finish them before we get shipped off again. First three people to say they're in get one.

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They haven't been that blatant since Hellmart, so I kinda doubt it. It'll probably be easier to figure out after the next jaunt.

Well, for starters, this one's yours. [She hands over one of the cycle batons, then flips open her own, which immediately lights up bright green.] That's one way to open 'em, or you can do a running start, but I wouldn't recommend that for the first try.

If they've been blatant before, I wouldn't put it past the Trumps to be blatant again. The Illuminants did prove themselves at least a serious annoyance.

[He takes the baton and looks at it for a moment before trying to mimic the actions.]

Okay, let's start from the top. What should I know to operate one of these?

True. But I don't think this is that kind of message.

[Once Dojima's cycle is open, it lights up white - and it'll stay that way unless he ends up on the Grid and in a faction to call his own.] Overall it's not too different from your average motorcycle. This button turns on the solid light wake - you'll probably want to take it slow with that on until you get used to how it handles, it can weigh down the back slightly.

Solid light wake. [Ryoutarou shakes his head, but he's smiling.] I believe it, but it sounds so out there.

[He taps a finger to the button but with, he thinks, not enough force to push it.]

Okay, weighs down the back; got it. Damn, it's been a while since I've ridden a motorcycle. I wonder if what they say about it is true.

Since what we have to work with right now is either a round track or treadmill city, I wouldn't leave it on for long right now, but I can at least give you a quick demo.

[And she does, hopping on her own cycle and taking off, leaving a green ribbon of light hanging in the air around the far curve of the track. When she pulls back around to Dojima, she stops.] I found it a pretty easy adjustment, but I kept the thing from the jaunt itself, which was basically six weeks of free practice.

[Ryoutarou watches, impressed. He can also imagine mistiming a curve and hitting the wake. That wouldn't be fun, so no wake for now.]

All right. Let's see if I remember as much as I think I do.

[With perhaps exaggerated care he gets on the cycle, trying to feel for weight and balance.]

Not bad; here we go.

[Even saying that it takes him another minute or two to familiarize himself with the other controls before he starts it up and does a slow and easy circuit around.]

[Noooooo it would not. On the Grid it tended to lead to some pretty bad deresolutions; hitting one of those as flesh and blood would be worse.]

The light wake does fade after a while, but it takes at least a few minutes.

[Claudia follows him, for the first lap, just in case he has problems. As much as she's itching to just zoom off, that wouldn't be helpful.]

It doesn't seem so bad!

[He raises his voice, more than a little thrilled in spite of himself and looking forward to trying more.]

Faster this time!

[He's not stupid, so he doesn't ramp it up all the way, but he does speed up, and take the turns around just a little tighter, leaning into it.]

I get the feeling you don't cut loose often enough. [But she could probably say that about a lot of Dojima's age group, here.

She's glad for the speed increase, now that he's getting the hang of it. There's a reason she put the light wake in one of the furthest lanes out - they're less likely to hit it.]

Probably not.

[And because he's having too much fun, he doesn't even stop to think about why. It feels good to do something for his own enjoyment for once. He woops as they take the turn again, pushing the speed up another notch.]

Edited 2016-01-31 23:29 (UTC)

[Helena was right that they needed the party, but it's not to everyone's tastes. Besides, Claudia could really use the distraction from how rough this particular iteration of Liminal Space has been on her.

This is when she starts pressing the speed as much as she dares. Might as well give him a challenge, right?]

[Ryoutarou is aware of her speeding up, and takes it as a challenge. He boosts his speed to draw even, because he won't be left behind.

Even if going faster might not be the best idea. He won't back down though.]

These would be fun to race somewhere more open!

Damn right they are! Makes for a great light show too, if there's enough room.

[Lightcycles being raced as is already look pretty damn cool, and then there's Naoto's copter. But still.]

I hope the next one has--

[Ryoutarou stops and blinks, and then starts throttling down.]

We're due to be sent somewhere soon, aren't we? There were only two different locations last time and this is the third.

[Yeah, it's worth slowing down for a conversation like this, so Claudia follows suit.]

Probably, yeah. There were three between frickin' Doki and the Grid, but I don't think that's standard. This time it might've been because Helena asked for a party space.

I don't want to go.

[He grits that out, suddenly tense and almost vibrating with it. Then he sighs.]

After last time, I can't imagine what the Trumps will do to me this time.

I know the feel, dude. After frickin' Doki stuck me reliving my Cranky Foster Kid days I wasn't exactly in a hurry to see what came next. But they're not all bad.

I haven't had a good one yet. First one was my fault, I get that, but the second one was definitely all on the Trumps.

[He sighs and brings the cycle to a complete stop.]

Cranky foster kid, huh? That doesn't sound like something to relive. And, uh... how do you make it go back into the baton?

[The abrupt change in topic is because he lifted his hand to scrub at his hair and then had to adjust to steady the lightcycle before it fell over on him.]

I would've liked the Grid more if I'd gotten out and done more. And seriously, I don't think Nova Venezia was good for anyone.

[She stops, hops off her own cycle, and flips it closed again with the hand still on a handlebar.]

It... wasn't something to relive. Everything else has at least dodged that part, even though Nova Venezia was especially laugh-into-salad worthy.

[He watches closely and lets out a relieved sigh when copying the motion has a baton in his hand again. He's not sure where to put it, so he ends up sticking it through his belt after a fumble. Damn, he keeps on forgetting about learning that hammerspace trick.]

Laugh into salad?

[Someone isn't up on his memes. He'd share, but he doesn't think she'd like to know about what Rio went through. Losing parents--possibly--is bad enough.]

...I really need to stick to Thorne with the meme talk, she's like the only person here who gets it. Short version, it ended up being a little too on-point.

I... know the feeling, more or less. My .. overlay hit really close to home in all the bad ways.

[Laugh into salad to describe that is kind of weird but, Ryoutarou shrugs and moves on.]

Makes me wonder if they're laughing at us.

That's rough, dude. I'm sorry. [She doesn't press for details, though.]

I don't think they're laughing at us as such. They... they have stuff that needs doing, and it so happens there are people with similar experiences that we glom onto.

Too similar, seems to me, but I've only infiltrated once.

[If it happens over and over again he'll start getting suspicious though.]

Stuff that needs doing isn't a good excuse though. [His mouth twists down.] All of us have stuff that needs doing in our homes too.

[After a moment, he shakes his head.]

But you probably don't need to hear it. We're all in the same position here.

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