pglogs | They paved paradise (Open)

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They paved paradise (Open)

Who: Chloe and You!
What: Non-Experimental Shenanigans for September
Where: Center City (Chloe will probably not rove until October due to Hermione's arrival.)
When: Any time in September. Back-dating is fine
Warnings: None at presence, though Chloe is a certifiable creep on the best of days. If you're a girl, expect to be creepily flirted with. It's pretty normal for her.

Options!
A) "Ok, Since When Did She Become a Cop?"
Maybe the work was a desk clerk's work and not anything on the actual beat, but it paid. It also meant that she would need to behave, at least publicly, like a good, law-abiding citizen on most occasions. The uniform wasn't terrible either, so all in all, it wasn't such a bad gig. After the first few days in September, Chloe wasn't hard to spot, traveling at a leisurely pace between the apartment that she had gotten with Hermione and her new job as a clerk at the police station. She was working on getting an actual job as a police woman, but for now she could deal with this.

So, either by meeting her at the station itself or walking to and from work, perhaps even at a bar after hours, Chloe was a somewhat visible sight. Unusual, considering, and if anyone actually knew her they might do a double take to see her in a police uniform.

B) "No, really, she's still Chloe"
Despite the new job, Chloe spent a lot of off-hours when she wasn't with Hermione moving about the city, largely sticking to the rooftops. She could be picked out by those with an eye for the sky or who preferred to stay off of the beaten path dressed in a body-suit, doing borderline insane gymnastics to flip between one building and another via fire escapes, poles and other similar structures. When not doing that, she would set up targets and throw knives at them or people watch from a distance. The old habit of snooping around was never going to get old, and for now she wanted to know Center City like the back of her hand.

C) "Testing a theory."
One of the odder moments in the month, Chloe managed to find some of the parts of one of the AIs that had broken down and not been reclaimed yet in the Southern half of the city. It wasn't much of one, but she had it set up in a back alley somewhere, nailed to a wall. If someone walked in on her, she was concentrating on the object very carefully. It looked like water was dripping from it, ice occasionally crusting.

She was testing to see how much water she needed to get inside of it, how easy it was and just how quick she could pop the hood with an explosive expansion of water changing into ice. These things were harder to kill than she was comfortable with, and she had no intention of playing nice.

D) Anything that you want. Toss up a prompt or toss me a PM.

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Orihime hadn't forgotten Chloe's warning about avoiding the south side. But she'd been there once before, and it hadn't seemed all that bad. Besides, she couldn't help feeling a little anxious each time she realized Chloe's reiatsu was alone in that area. She supposed it might have been more worrisome if there were two spiritual signatures instead of just one, but if the robots really did malfunction in that area, who knew what they might do? Orihime couldn't detect any of them.

Just in case Chloe might feel insulted at being checked up on, Orihime picked up one of the potted plants she'd dug up from the crags and rocky creases around the cave. It was a ruddy little flower with a tight white bud. At night, it bloomed, but it closed up shop when the sun was out. There, she was just delivering a plant, and not at all giving off the impression that she didn't think Chloe could take care of herself.

When she rounded the corner to see something nailed to the wall, Orihime's stomach jumped...until she saw the wires and metal innards. Why did the robots have to look so much like real people? It's a little unsettling! Orihime made sure to make her footsteps audible, since she didn't want to test Chloe's knife-throwing reflexes firsthand.

"You found one?"

Chloe glanced over her shoulder at the first sound of Orihime's approach. The look when she did, at least until she caught sight of her and registered the girl's identity, was a cold, ruthless look. It faded almost immediately, her smile warming a little.

"Part of one," she admitted. "I don't have any clue where the rest of it is, and I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth too much. I'm testing to see how much ice pressure it can take. What brings you around here? Please do not tell me it's to give that a new home."

Oh, that look was chilling! It actually makes Orihime relax, since it reassures her that not many people would want to mess with Chloe after being on the receiving end of such a frightening stare. Good job, Chloe, yay!

"That's a relief! Everything else in this place seems really new, I wasn't sure we'd have much success." At Chloe's question, Orihime blinked, then looked down at the plant. "Oh, this is one of the plants I found near the caves. It blooms at night. Do you want it?"

"Things are broken down in this part of town. I figured I might find something, however small, if I came into this section and looked carefully. It's still a matter of luck." And, as she clenched her fingers, the metal started to buckle in front of her, bending, bowing and then popping. She smiled in grim satisfaction.

They weren't invincible at the very least. "Oh, is that what you found? You were looking for me, just to give me the ... wait, how did you know I'd be here?" And her head cocked. After all, she liked to think she was sneaky, so the fact that Orihime was here surprised her a little.

"Well, you live here!" Orihime laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. "There aren't many people brave enough to do that. I guess it doesn't hurt that I can detect people's reiatsu. Anou...their soul signatures? I already know what Elric-san's feels like, and yours didn't match it, so I figured it was probably you. Ha ha, I'm glad I guessed correctly!"

She turned her head to look at the robot. It seemed Chloe had found a way to affect them. That was good. "Oh, you did it! Nice work!"

She blinked and then nodded. Well, that would explain it, wouldn't it? It would be a good idea, though, to keep in mind that she couldn't really sneak up on her. "Actually I got a new place in the main part of town. I'm living with my friend Hermione. We could head that way if you wanted."

A glance at the hand and she nodded. "I do think it's possible, though it's not going to be easy to do it this way in a pinch."

"Oh, I talked to her for a little bit! She's nice!" And definitely harboring some secrets that Orihime didn't dare ask about. She had a feeling she kind of knew what those secrets might be, and if she was right, then it definitely wasn't the sort of situation where she should pry. "Do you live close to the apartment building I'm in?" She hoped so. It would be nice to have neighbors close by.

Orihime followed Chloe's gaze to the robot and nodded. "I'm glad they seem harmless so far. But if that changes, it seems best that no one fights a robot on their own."

"Good, she needs friends," Chloe said, her own eyes taking on a briefly hounded look. Some of those secrets that Hermione was hiding, they were shared secrets, things only the two of them knew about, only the two of them really shared. She didn't want to horrify people, but she'd been calloused before her friend a long time before. It helped sometimes... sometimes.

"We're near to your building, yes. I wasn't quite sure and got one that was nearby instead of the same one. Just down the road." Starting to walk away from the hand, nailed and broken there. "I wouldn't say they're harmless. Some of the ones here will try to hurt you. I know you can defend yourself, but it's best not to be alone here, unless you can get to the roofs."

"That's a good idea. It's best to spread out, but not too far, I think." Orihime wasn't the most tactically-minded person, but she could be more clever than people gave her credit for being. "Feel free to come over sometime together, when she's feeling up to it."

As Chloe turned to walk away, Orihime hastened to follow close at Chloe's side. "Hurt us? Why?" It made little sense. Why would they be programmed to do such a thing, after the scientists had gone through so much effort to capture them in the first place? Orihime glanced up at the rooftops. "...Sadly, I'm not that acrobatic, ah ha ha!"

"Close enough to help in a pinch, but far enough that if something happens not everyone is targeted all the time," Chloe said, nodding in agreement. "And I think we might one of these days. I certainly will, even if she takes a little longer."

"I don't know for sure why the robots in this part of town seem to be doing this. I've been wondering if this is just programmed to be the 'bad part of town' because so many towns have one. It's almost like they're trying to make it all look like a normal city, when it's clearly not."

"They might be broken on purpose? It almost makes me feel sorry for them," Orihime confessed, glancing back. She still had a soft spot for robots. It wasn't really their fault if they were programmed to behave in a terrible way.

"Anou...when people say that robots attack them...it's the regular kind of attack, right? Like shooting lasers out of their eyes, or throwing super punches?" Not that it was normal, but if the robots were programmed to sexually assault people, then Orihime would definitely take Chloe's warning more seriously.

Chloe paused and leaned up against a nearby tree while looking over at Orihime. There was a frown on her face. "They claim this is an experiment, a grand one in fact. The whole island is one big experiment, and yet there's maybe thirty of us, and who knows if there's that many actual people in the head offices. They're using the robots to stand in, make this place feel as normal as possible, and most towns have a 'bad side."

She shook her head. "And it's mostly actual guns, knives and punches that are only a bit more than normal. They're not that strong. No more dangerous than a person, but they behave like a person... in every way. I haven't let one of them catch me yet to find out what they do if they manage it." Something about the way she was looking at her. Chloe suspected that yes, sexual assault was a very real possibility in this part of town.

Orihime was quiet, and solemn. After a moment she nodded, to show she understood the subject that neither of them was saying out loud. She still hadn't decided yet if she should hold out for as long as she could until there was absolutely no choice but to have sex with someone, or to make a pact with someone she trusted that she could rely on for intimate situations. She did want her first time to be on her own terms. But she also wanted to believe that her friends would find a way to save her before it ever came to that.

"Well...I'm glad you haven't been caught. I hope it stays that way," Orihime said, offering her best attempt at a smile. "Are you finished in this part of town? We can go scout out a location for a bakery, if you want."

It wasn't exactly an easy decision to make. Chloe gave her a smile and started walking in the direction of a better part of the town. "I don't plan on changing that anytime soon," she said, winking. "In the meantime I think looking for a bakery sounds like a capital idea. Have you seen anything yet?"

"A couple!" Orihime beamed, glad for the change of subject. "Originally I wanted to help as an apprentice, but I don't know if a robot would be willing to teach me. It would be like reading from a cookbook, ne?"

She hugged the plant lightly against her stomach and grinned. "So I'm going to ask if I can run a bakery by myself. Then I can hire other people who arrive too, or even give them sometime to eat if I can afford it."

Her smile softened. "There's something comforting about the smells of a bakery. It makes people feel safe. It's a powerful effect."

"You wouldn't be the first to think of running a business in a place like this. It has some advantages if you can do it," she said, considering that a little and nodding. "Personally, I don't see any reason why you couldn't do something like that. I know I'd buy my bread there if you did."

Because, really? The robots creeped her the hell out. This whole island did. It was like it pretended at everything, and a human touch never hurt. "You're right, though. Those kinds of smells. Wet earth at a vineyard, fresh bread. It can help people feel at ease."

"I've never been to a vineyard before. I'd like to smell that." She already liked the smell of rain, especially when it first hit a hot sidewalk, or a small wooded glade. There was really nothing like it.

She grinned, laying her fingertips together. "With fall coming, I'll have to make a lot of comfort foods. Elric-san asked if I could bake apple pies, so I'll be sure to put those on the menu too."

Pumpkins would soon be in season, though, so she planned on making a lot of dishes based on that. And chocolate was always popular, so she'd always have a couple of items centered on the favorite sweet.

"It's a lovely, earthy smell. I'd show you, but it would demand so much effort here. Perhaps one of the people outside of town has one," she said, musing to herself while she walked. "You're right, though, about comfort foods. In this place? I can almost guarantee that those will please people."

After all, people needed comfort in a place like this.

If Chloe weren't already taking on a job as a police officer, Orihime would suggest signing up to run a vineyard. Then Chloe could get paid to smell her favorite scent all of the time!

Maybe she could get two jobs...

"I hope so. I'm not sure if I'll be paid just for running the bakery, or if I'm supposed to sustain myself with my own profits. If I get a weekly paycheck, then I won't have to charge very much." She lays her fingertips together with a pleased smile. "I'm going to offer lots of free samples, too!"

It would have been a thought, but only if she were willing to live outside of the city center. For now, that wasn't on the list of things to do, so she'd just have go for her second and third favorite smells. She definitely wasn't doing multiple jobs. She'd been down the 'inheriting businesses' road, and wasn't in the mood to start that all over again.

"I really don't know how they handle that here, so we will see," she said, frowning a bit to herself. "I'm kind of hoping that they handle it more like a paycheck. Robots don't need food after all." But yet the groceries kept going, so they were buying, which ...

This place was just weird.

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They paved paradise (Open)

C!

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