soraspace | This is not the best friend you are looking for.

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This is not the best friend you are looking for.

[As Pao-Lin wanders through the streets of Luceti, there are quite a number of questions on her mind. Things like, how did she get here? What is this place? Why does she have wings?

And where's Hubert?

This last one comes primarily from the fact that she's pretty sure she remembers falling asleep on the couch at his house the night before. Did he get dragged to where this place is, too? She's not sure whether she wants that to be true or not. It'd be nice not to be alone, but...he deserves to be safe at home. She's the Hero, not him: she'll deal with danger and protect him.

Not that Luceti seems all that dangerous, being the kind of homey village that it is. But it's unfamiliar, and so Pao-Lin keeps her gaze sharp and observant, keeping an eye out for threats...or her best friend.]

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[She's temporarily setting aside the issue of how Hubert knows so much about this place because she's too busy boggling at how he seems to have forgotten about her.]

Of course you know I'm a Hero! I saved you back when you were, like, thirteen, remember?

[His eyes widen a fraction before returning to normal, followed by the furrowing of his brows.]

That's impossible. We met here in early October of last year -- that I was present -- and certainly not when I was thirteen.

But that's --

[Impossible. For her.]

How do you not remember something like that? [She can think of at least one way, but she's trying not to.] You...you're my biggest fan! You were so happy when you found out that I -- that Dragon Kid was the same girl you met at the library a few months before I had to save you from that hostage situation...

[Her fists clench.]

Hubert, this [isn't like you] isn't the time for this. We should be trying to find our way back to Sternbild, not roleplaying.

[Hubert falls silent throughout her explanation. At the end, he bows his head and fixes his spectacles, carefully picking the words in his mind.

Role playing, hm . . .

Is the Organization behind this? They must have played with her memories.]

I will refrain from commenting on the history itself, but I am not pretending. Sternbild is not my world.

[His tone suggests that that's final.]

[That...kinda sorta really hurts. Pao-Lin has never heard Hubert speak so harshly or so coldly before, not even when he was angry. She suddenly feels a little sick.]

If...if you're not from Sternbild...then where are you from?

[He can tell this is affecting her negatively, but there'll be no babying. It's best to be upfront and truthful. Isn't it?]

A world known as Efinea. I hail from the Republic of Strahta, to be exact.

[Ephinea. Strahta. The names aren't quite the same, but similar enough that Pao-Lin's prompted to ask (perhaps with a very slight touch of bitter sarcasm):]

A desert country, right?

. . . that's correct. How did you know?

[This is heading in an ugly direction. He can already tell.]

[~~technically Asbel told Pao-Lin about it back in February, but~~

Her gaze slides to the side as she tries to figure out how to phrase this.]

The names and the clothes...they're like something from Graceful Tales. [She's still addressing him as the one she knows, not yet fully accepting of the idea that this is a completely different Hubert. She lifts her eyes again, hoping that maybe talking about one of his passions will make him remember.] It's one of your favorite games, and your favorite character is Herbert Osmond from Strahtania. You were talking about cosplaying him one day...and you just joined that roleplaying game or whatever with him as your character... [And he'd been freaking out about it, too, scared that he'd do a terrible job of it or that no one would want to play with him.]

[~~Brother, you are a fool.~~

Everything she's saying comes off as rubbish to him, but he respects her enough that he doesn't say so. Pao-Lin is not a deceiver. It's simply not in her nature. And yet, all this talk about some Graceful Tales . . . ]

. . . I do not roleplay. [He feels the need to emphasizes "play," because in a way, he is projecting a somewhat different character -- someone stricter and calmer, someone befitting a lowly lieutenant. But that's not playing.] I am Hubert Oswell, Lieutenant of the Strahtan Army. There is no place for tomfoolery in the military.

...I see.

[But she doesn't. Not really.

This isn't fair. None of this makes any sense. She'd just seen him the day before, hadn't she? How could he have changed so much within such a short span of time? Was there another NEXT running around with something like Maverick's powers, and just...kidnapping people and changing their memories for some reason? So many questions...]

If you're supposed to be from another world, then how did you get to Earth?

[Earth? Is she still thinking in terms of her obviously displaced memories? Well, they're certainly different to his.]

If by Earth you mean your world, I've never set foot on it. Luceti is where all of our previous interactions took place.

So where is Luceti supposed to be, then?

[Pao-Lin's focusing on the more mundane details now, both as reconnaissance and to distract herself from the feeling of melancholy eating away at her. She hates this new distance between herself and Hubert, and is at a loss to figure out how to deal with it. Even before they started dating, she'd always felt close to him, connected somehow. To have all of those years of friendship just inexplicably gone...]

[Ah. Of course she'd get that mixed up. She doesn't remember anything about Luceti.]

Luceti is part of an entirely separate world. It is a settlement maintained by the Organization, also known as the Malnosso. Here, they experiment on otherworlders, allegedly in search of a way to eject and bring them to their respective worlds. The wings and barcodes are but two proofs of our status as subjects.

We have been brought to this world for unknown reasons, and there is currently no known method of voluntary return.

[At the mention of the wings, Pao-Lin's own pair flutter a bit, as if to wave a mocking hello.]

Barcodes...?

[He gestures toward her neck.]

It's difficult to notice them at first. They're located on the nape of your neck.

[She reaches around with a hand, her fingers searching. When she finds it, her heart skips a bit at the reality of it all.]

How do you know all this, anyway?

[He crosses his arms.]

I was here until approximately three months ago for almost a year. Unlike you, who were detained here as well, I retained my memories of this place.

[That's ridiculous. Surely Pao-Lin would remember something as huge as being dragged to some other world and meeting a completely different version of Hubert, shouldn't she?

On the other hand, given her prior experiences...she should really know better than to rely on something like her memories.]

Why would you remember things, then, and not me?

There's no suitable explanation for such a phenomenon. Some remember; others don't. I doubt even the Organization could tell us.

So you remember being here in Luceti, but you don't remember...us.

[Yes, she really did go and put that emphasis on the last word. It's so terribly cliched and cheesy, especially for a girl who prefers referring to someone like Hubert as her "partner", rather than her "boyfriend".

But she's still trying to adjust to the outlandish circumstances. She could be forgiven for being a little dramatic.]

[ . . . Internally, he sighs. Outwardly, his expression softens the tiniest bit. He still carries a firm look.]

No.

[Because he's certain she's been fed a lie or lived a different life. Given the Malnosso's track record, the former seems likely. He's willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, however. He trusts Pao-Lin more than a lot of people in Luceti, and that shouldn't change because she has . . . different memories.]

Our memories are completely different. I cannot say why, but in any case, I can safely confirm that I'm not the Hubert that you know.

[It feels incredibly strange to say that.]

[It's even stranger to hear it. Pao-Lin breathes as slowly and as evenly as she can, turning over the information she's been given. After a few tense moments, she speaks again.]

You said we've met here before. [That, at least, is a small relief. That means she's not quite working from a blank slate in trying to fix this mess.] What do you know about me, or remember about me?

[This should be an easy question. And it is, except if it were anyone but her, he might have gone on an accidental tangent.

But, well, it's accidental.]

. . . that you are a Hero hired by HeroTV, who moved from Hong Kong to Sternbild, a city in America, in order to pursue that career. Your unique ability is to generate and manipulate lightning, a power that manifested within you over seven years ago. You work with and compete against other Heroes: Sky High, Blue Rose, Origami Cyclone, Rock Bison, Fire Emblem, Wild Tiger, and Barnaby Brooks Jr.

When we first met, we talked and battled.

[She blinks.]

We...fought? Like a spar, you mean? [Her mind is trying to imagine Hubert "squishier than silly putty" Lhant getting into a fight, never mind sparring.] Or...did we actually try to hurt each other? [Even more mind-breaking.]

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