ballies | RYUKI

Why would you keep that in there for safe-keeping?!

[ HELLO?! But also... HELLO??! ]

What? If that's you, and you're also you, and you're also in my head --

[ WHICH ONE'S THE REAL TAMA ]

Why wouldn't I keep it there, it's the safest place I know!!

[ PROTECT YOURSELF AT ALL COSTS.

but yeah!! who's flying the plane???]

Yeah. I mean, I feel pretty real. I remember a lot and you can see me, talk to me and touch me so-- I guess this is me? But-- [ she looks at the eyeball in her hand. ] This is me too. I think she's just ... empty.

[ YEET ]

You are a program... and Aiba's real data is on the cloud, so even if her body is broken, she can always come back. I heard that story.

[ So, this isn't an insane concept to wrap his head around but. Wow. A whole body. ]

So my eye right now isn't you, but it's just... an eye.

[ Back-up eye?? Surely they have that kind of system for if an AI-Ball has to go under maintenance for a little while but a psyncer is needed to work. Ignores Date and his eyepatch, I want reason. Anyway this fits in so well with the grey eye lore I started off with so this is great. ]

Yeah, the Wadjet System allowed ABIS to repair her data, but-- it didn't give her a physical body like this. That's the part that really weird.

[ tentatively she... pinches her arm. and then immediately winces like a big baby. ] Owwww.

[ :( ]

Like a temporary replacement? It must be properly hooked up to your optic nerve if you're not experiencing any loss of vision or blurring. But-- when the heck did they have time to perform surgery on you to hook up a non-AI eyeball to your nervous system and for you to not know the difference or experience any post surgery complications afterwards?

And why give me the eye, that's like... handing a ghost their corpse??

[ i love it when mg rp just works out like this sometimes. ]

It's not like the Wadjet System gave either of you the eye body either. That was Pewter. Both times.

[ So... ]

I already have the inner mechanics laid out, it's not like I need fresh surgery again every time I have to put you back in. If the bodies and wiring are the same, and the only difference is the presence of a program inside it, then it should still work. I don't remember when I swapped you out though, I only leave you out to charge.

[ No comment about her having her own old AI-Ball body. ]

You know there's more ways to test sensation than pinching and hurting yourself.

I'm pretty sure Pewter isn't dabbling in building flesh and blood human bodies on the side of his technological inventions and part-time criminal exploits.

[ frowns. ]

I don't like that neither of us remember coming here though. Especially seeing as they swapped your eye out in the process. You'd think I'd at least be able to remember if someone hit you over the head, and the fact I don't makes me even more uncomfortable.

[ she's not thinking about the fact her body is in one of her hands. it's weird. she doesn't want to dwell on it. ]

... Well, yeah? But there's not enough room for something like that in this little capsule room.

Do you know that for sure though...?

[ Pewter's kind of a freak. Ryuki wouldn't be surprised. ]

Look, I don't like it either. That's why I asked you to call Boss. Can you not do that in this new... body?

[ Ignores the last part bc he has no idea what she's getting at. Chalks it up to her talking nonsense because she's not used to her new body. ]

…

[ … ]

ABIS is weird but creating life outside of the regular means might be a little too much for even Boss to girlboss, gaslight, gatekeep her way out of.

And nooooo. I don’t have telecommunications access when I’m all fleshy and bloody. You call her.

[ a girl can’t even get a cuddle around here without being ignored. ]

I don't know, you don't think she'd be into something that looks human but she can control it to not talk back?

[ He really has no faith in his coworkers help. ]

What do you mean bloody? You mean grease?

…

She would be. But even with her pulling the strings, they must be keeping more of an eye on Pewter nowadays right? If he started his human experiments again, I’d be down a maintenance man.

[ they have just decided pewter is like frankenstein now. ]

Do you have grease? I don’t just mean your hair when you’re too lazy to wash it.

I wash my hair! But no, I don't just keep grease around.

[ Pewter should be less of a freak?? ]

Neither do I! I can’t grease myself if I need maintenance, that’s on you. Or Pewter.

[ mostly pewter. ]

I don't mind greasing you, but I mean...

You've got hands now.

[ So... ]

And a lack of mechanical joints.

[ takes the fact ryuki would be willing to grease her and files that away to bring out at the worst possible moment later. ]

Maybe I just need to moisturise instead. There are so many skincare articles on the internet.

[ He was thinking in the sense of maintenance for her eye body. He has not considered the implications. He's lucky he didn't say lubricant, which would actually be the correct word. ]

?

[ He hasn't actually accepted that Tama is actual flesh and bone. You must be an android, it's weird if you're Pinocchio'd. Who has that kind of power? ]

[ ryuki... it's gonna hit him at some point and she's ready with the deep breathing exercises and a diamond chest harness for when he freaks out a little.

also the mods. ]

...

[ she can wait this one out. ]

If you want to get into skincare, you're going to have to get your own.

[ He says even though they both know if she started using his, he'd really have no comment. He can just restock. ]