Act 1, Scene 1: Marigold Foxglove Nuestra Señora de la Santa Muerte aka Marigold Santa Muerte aka __

[opening_act]

[ A notification on your phone goes off, letting you know the purchase of your meeting with Exael has gone through.

There is an attachment. Where are you, when you open it? ]

Comments

[opening_act]

Cooperation is interpersonal! Compatibility is intrinsic.

[artificialinelegance]

So some people just ain't fit for it. Got it.

...So on a scale of 1-10, how dead or asleep or both are we?

[opening_act]

Longer doesn't mean it's impossible, though.

Neither.

[artificialinelegance]

You're shittin' me. Everything's way too, like --

[ tilts hand like eeeeh ]

-- hypnagogic? An' like, conveniently symbolic. A normal simulation don't run that way.

An' like, you said this is Tokyo, but either it ain't or we phase shifted. I ain't remembered ever vistin' Japan but I'm pretty sure Tokyo Verdad ain't a surreal horror movie, man.

Also the sky feels like it's bad an' I'd like to lodge a formal complaint about that thanks.

[opening_act]

It is Tokyo! Just a different Tokyo. You're not dead.

[artificialinelegance]

I mean I was more leanin' towards, like, the whole dream world thing more than dead but I guess I'll take your dubious word for it that it's neither. Which Tokyo is this, then?

[opening_act]

That's a smart question, but not a wise one. Do you still want the answer?

[artificialinelegance]

You ain't gonna deadify me if I say yes, right?

[opening_act]

It might cause trouble later.

[artificialinelegance]

For me or my unit?

[opening_act]

It depends who you tell.

[artificialinelegance]

Cool. Hit me.

[opening_act]

Tokyo Delphi!

[artificialinelegance]

[ snrk ]

What, are you the oracle?

[opening_act]

Oh no, not me.

[artificialinelegance]

Then who?

[opening_act]

I wonder!

[artificialinelegance]

Unhelpful!

Oh, hey. I meant t'ask, are you like okay? It sounded like I caught you at a bad time.

[opening_act]

I'm healing.

[artificialinelegance]

Yeah? Took a thump that bad?

[ dont poorly hit on the host dont poorly hit on the host dont poorly hit on the host dont ]

It hurt when you fell from heaven?

[opening_act]

Yeah, lots. Do you wanna see the marks?

[ hit on the host, the host flirts back ]

[artificialinelegance]

Well, if you're offering...

[opening_act]

Uwaaah.

[ Starts unbuttoning the high collar of her double-breasted coat, turning around ]

[artificialinelegance]

[ wow she didn't expect anything to actually come of this

she's just bracing for regret when this turns out to be something horrifying actually ]

[opening_act]

[ she drops the coat to the ground. Her skin is a sort of see-through luminescent in places, perhaps bruised. There are gashes— no, gaps— in her back. her flesh is shot through with light, but within the gaps are eyes, golden and undulating. ]