nexus_crossings | (no subject)

"This isn't... the way to the video store."

Mai couldn't begin to guess why the way ahead looked so different. What happened? She had been minding her own business, looking for something to do until it would be time to go to school.

What really weirded and creeped her out was the fact that the familiar buildings, sidewalks, and streets weren't present. I can't be dreaming this up. I don't have dreams like this! What in the world was going on? Was she still in Tokyo?!

There was no way all those office buildings and skyscrapers could change so fast! It just wasn't physically possible. It didn't make sense!

Mai was on the move as she was failing to make sense of this. She felt slightly relieved to see someone nearby. Slightly, for if this person turned out to be somebody who would harm her, she would run for it.

Forget the video store. She wanted to go home. "Excuse me! Could you please help? How far is Shinjuku East from here?" Mai couldn't remember feeling so uneasy and on the verge of freaking out.

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"Someone who frequented the Nexus made them," Adia answers. It doesn't make much sense to her either. Her world is far from a utopia where advanced technology is distributed for free. "She was a philanthropist, I guess."

She doesn't offer Mai to hold it, but she holds it out a little so the girl can get a better look at it. "Do you see the little number buttons here? You enter the coordinates of where you live, and then any time you want to return there, you press this other button. You can enter multiple locations. There was another machine that could tell you the coordinates of your world... I really don't know how that worked at all."

"You don't know her name? You never met her?" She sighed. "Who are you? If I'm going to be here a while, then we should introduce ourselves, right?"

She breathed in, and then back out as she moved a finger over her inner wrist, right where her good luck charm would be. It couldn't be seen, for it was supposed to remain covered up. She promised Dad that she would keep it covered. "I'm Mai Kashiwagi."

She saw the numbers on the face of the watch, and thought a moment on what was explained. Mai did okay in geography in middle school. "If this has to do with latitude and longitude, then all I need is a map of Japan. I would be able to find out that way." Mai looked to her. "Is there a map store around here?" She frowned. "Wait. What if the money I have isn't accepted here?"

Edited 2016-08-26 01:22 (UTC)

Adia shakes her head. "I spoke with someone who had met her." She turns the PINpoint over in her hands. "She must have been a genius, to invent something like this..."

"Oh! Yes... sorry, I should have told you my name sooner." Adia mentally chastises herself for flubbing a simple social convention. "I'm Adia Costas. I'm sorry you had to find the Nexus this way, Mai. It really is a nice place, once you take the time to explore it."

She doubts that the coordinate numbers are as simple as latitude and longitude, but she's not about to crush Mai's hopes, especially not that the girl has seemed to calm down. "I don't know about a map store, but you could probably look up a map online. I have seen currency exchange booths, though." Not that she's had the pleasure of using one.

"Is... Is Japan a place on Earth?" she asks timidly.

"Yeah, she must have..." Must be quite an amazing person, huh.

"It's fine." A bit of a nervous smile lingered on her expression. "If there are more nice people like you, then I won't have to feel like a prisoner, or whatever." As her situation wasn't becoming much more worse, in addition to knowing Adia was nice, Mai chose to think that maybe it was just some freak accident. If someone wanted to kidnap her for some reason, then she would have seen her captor by now.

"Yeah, that makes sense." Mai smiled a little more. She felt a bit silly for not considering that sooner. "Where would the exchange booths be?"

Mai's eyebrows rose slightly. "You're not from Earth?" For the first time, the other realities aspect was something she thought to be kind of interesting. "How could you know I was from there? Do you know someone else from my world?" Maybe her world's very different from mine.

Edited 2016-08-26 04:34 (UTC)

Adia relaxes a little, relieved to know that Mai thinks of her as nice. "The Nexus was there for me when things have been at their worst at home. I'd hate for it to feel like a prison to anyone."

She looks around the Plaza until she catches sight of a busier area full of shops and buildings. "Over that way, I think... or one of the shopkeepers can tell you at least." She tries to sound confident... this isn't the Nexus she remembers, and though it has many of the same features, she can't be 100% sure.

"No, I'm not," Adia answers with a faint smile. She hasn't had to give this explanation in a while, and it makes her a bit nostalgic. "Earth is a myth where I'm from. I was originally from a planet named Leonis, one of the twelve colonies." She blinks at Mai. "You said you needed a map of Japan? I've never heard of that place before."