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Post by Carro Hofferson on Mar 30, 2020 19:18:36 GMT -6
CARRO's PL: 100 (ANTISENSE)
In spite of Van-80's shouts, Caper didn't turn to look at him- it was like Carro's father didn't hear him at all. The lanky saiyan held his phone to his ear, still anxiously tapping his foot on the ground. "...And you're sure the bus dropped him off here? Cause I'm not seeing anything. We're on day one here and already things are going wrong." How hard was it to make sure a kid safely made his way home from school? When Van turned around after taking in the shock from the much smaller Crop Co, Caper still hadn't noticed him.
The father saiyan's tail swayed in growing anxiety regardless of the android's approach as he questioned him. But instead of hitting Van, his tail would phase right through the android's leg like a hologram with no feeling whatsoever. Any contact with him or the other passerby's would garner the same result. "Look, I'll drive him home next time. I'm sure he's fine- hopefully just got lost.... Alright. Seeya." While the phantom Caper hung up the phone, a clatter would echo as tiny blur of orange out of the corner of one's eye darted down a nearby alleyway. The muddy footprints leading down it were tiny, even by Carro's standards of size, but a tiny piece of ripped green fabric harkening back to his bowtie told another story. Despite the sunny, cloudless skies above, the end of the alley was shrouded in darkness. This world wasn't operating on reality's rules, after all.
If the android followed down the corridor, the scene would suddenly change from the city to blackness to a small clearing with no alleyway behind to speak of anymore. A tiny, strained gasp echoed nearby around a half-built home's corner, hiding a sight no less baffling than anything else that happened.
There was Carro. Except with his usual orange locks, human eyes and human skin- no robotic body to speak of. But somehow the 'president' was even shorter- barely even a foot tall, dressed in a pair of muddy blue overalls and a stained yellow shirt. He grit his teeth as he tried to pull himself forward, but fell flat on his back again with a wince of pain. Carro's tail was tied firmly to a fencepost, leaving his back awkwardly strung in the air. The child's eyes were wet with tears trickling down a bruise on his cheek. He closed his eyes and tried to pull himself up to untie the appendage, only to yowl in hurt as his body ragdolled again. Still, his older self would easily prefer the days where the extent of his worries was childhood bullying over the present worrying of the intact-ness of his planet.
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Post by Van-80 on Mar 30, 2020 21:24:03 GMT -6
Van thought this could not get any weirder. Turns out he was wrong. Not only was Caper standing, but he seemed completely oblivious to the android’s presence. He waved his hand directly in front of Caper’s face. Nothing. He just continued about his day looking for his son. Speaking of which, who knew where he was. Was he still in the office? Maybe looking over a “sleeping” Van? Of what if he was damaged too? What if the blast doors were still sealed and the two of them were still trapped? What if Carro was…
Tied to a fence? And human, or rather saiyan again. And a child. Van instinctively walked over to observe the poor struggling saiyan. “... He’s fucking adorable…” The pretty bot couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt as he said that. Here was this tiny saiyan boy with his tail, somehow, tied around a fence post. Yet all Van-80 could say was he was cute? Well, he was. Small, stubby, could probably fit in a single hand. Not to mention those big watery eyes. It was a shame to see him in pain, but also kind of cathartic. This was the Carro he knew, and it didn’t take a walking supercomputer like Ima to know he would go back to this in a heartbeat. The real shame was that Van couldn’t seem to interact with anyone. That included saving the poor kid.
That was when it hit him. Though he wasn’t sure how Van figured he must have accessed Carro’s memory banks. Likely through their failed fusion. That still left a million and one more questions, but at least the big one was answered. Either that or Carro still had the capacity to dream. Did he though? He was organic at one point. He knew how to do it. Maybe it was some bizarre mix, or fusion, of both. Either was it was confusing. Almost as confusing as how it was possible to tie a monkey tail to a fence.
He couldn’t help but laugh weakly. “Boy… It sure is strange seeing you like this Carro,” sighed Van as he knelt down as close to his eye level as possible. “So much younger but somehow exactly the same Carro I know.” He let his back rest against the fence as he fell to the ground. “You know… I never had this. I never had a childhood. Y’know, android and all that. I always wondered what it was like though. To change. I mean I never knew what I was like before I woke up either. But I can promise you it wasn’t this.” His pained but smiling gaze shifted back down to the child Carro. “Look at you now though. Yeah, you’re scraped and bruised but just wait. You’ll bounce back. And give it a few years and those bullies will regret ever picking on you.” Vanity slowly moved a hand to give the child what would be a reassuring toddle of his orange mop. Of course, if he was anything like Caper, he wouldn’t feel it. Worse still he probably didn’t even hear that long-winded exposition. He couldn’t help but wonder where Carro’s memories would take him next though.
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Post by Carro Hofferson on Apr 1, 2020 12:23:28 GMT -6
CARRO's PL: 100 (ANTISENSE)
Carro's glassy eyes closed tight with another pitiful hiccup. He was laying here helpless and alone for what felt like ages already, but... was that a voice? He couldn't work up the energy to open his eyes wide enough to see. It sounded strangely familiar, though the child was sure he'd never heard anyone like that in his life. Caper had warned him about stranger danger. And whoever this was, they seemed perfectly content to leave him tied up here- that was something only a bully would do!
The tiny saiyan's body laid motionless with each of his shallow, squeaky breaths as Van rambled to him, resting beside the post his tail was knotted around. He couldn't move from where he was lying without aggravating his tail further. His present self's friend brought a hand down to ruffle his hair- and that was all Carro needed to try and gain Van's attention properly. As soon as the android's hand was within range, the tiny saiyan opened his mouth to bite down on his finger as hard as he could.
Regardless of the effect of his tangible chomp, Van would find the teary-eyed child looking right at him, perfectly aware of and both peeved and a little fearful of the android if his expression twisting into a pout was any indicator. His eyes were as wide and as adorably wide and pathetically teary as before, but now glanced hopefully between Van and his own predicament. The tiny toddler seemed to be the only exception in that regard in the world within his memory banks.
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Post by Van-80 on Apr 2, 2020 16:42:26 GMT -6
A familiar sensation registered in his fingers as he reached down to put the young Carro. Van had the sudden urge to yelp and call him a little shit. Of course, this was much lighter than the bite back in Badman City. More importantly, he was too shocked by the fact that this Carro seemed to not only acknowledge him but even interact with him.
The pretty bot jumped in surprise. “You can see me?! But how? Your dad couldn’t even…” His dad. The poor man must have been worried sick. Here was this probably crazy looking man talking to himself like his son wasn’t even there. “Oh lord, your dad! He’s looking for you.” He then knelt down, his hands gingerly approaching the tied up tail. “Sorry little Carro. No one else has been able to see or hear me so far so I just figured… You know what nevermind, it’s complicated. Let’s just get you out of this.” Thinking about it it made sense. If Van-80 was really inside Carro’s memories it was entirely possible that the man himself, or boy, in this case, would be able to see him. That did raise a question though. Was this Carro himself reliving his past, or was the real one trapped elsewhere. Maybe the little one could lead him to the less little one.
The beauty-obsessed android gently put his fingers on Carro’s tail. How was he supposed to do this without hurting him? The saiyan tail was notoriously sensitive and extremely prone to pain. “This may hurt a little,” last time he said that they nearly died, “but I promise you’ll be okay.” Better. “Just try to relax your tail and I’ll go as quick as I can. It’ll be like getting a shot right?” Not that he would know. Androids are NOT notorious for needing injections. Yet he knew of them. Assuming the little Hofferson did indeed relax enough for his tail to be moved, Van would delicately try and untie the appendage as quickly and carefully as he could.
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Post by Carro Hofferson on Apr 2, 2020 19:21:39 GMT -6
CARRO's PL: 100 (ANTISENSE)
The tiny saiyan glared back in spite of his watery eyes, though his pained expression contorted in bewilderment with his future friend's words. He could see the robot clear as day, what was he talking about? His dad was looking for him, of course, but Caper's son wasn't going anywhere like this. He tensed as Van'a hand drew near his tail at first, the hairs on the fluffy appendage spiking out in anticipation... But somehow, he found comfort in this familiar stranger's words. Carro relaxed, closing his eyes tight to let the android free his limb. Carro squeaked in pained shock at first, body going limp again. However, as soon as his tail got the appropriate wiggle room after being untied, it'd twist and flop to the ground beside Carro. He mumbled in his achey daze, but pushed his face out of the mud. With a vigorous shake of his head that sent dirt scattering from his hair, he'd wrap his arms around the fence for support while the end of his tail still throbbed in pain. The little toddler was certain that he'd never seen this android in his life- the skittish, childish part of his head was screaming to run from this stranger. But this guy was oddly familiar ever still- he did free him even if he was acting weird earlier. "...Y-you know dad?" Carro quietly peeped, his voice even squeakier than his adult self- though a lot more soft-spoken. "W-w-where's...?" His tail found its way fearfully tucked between his legs. Carro was still horribly, horribly lost out here. He looked up past the treeline- in the distance he could make out the roofing and towers of Crop Co... Were they a little taller than they were before? It looked that way. Maybe he was imagining things. He tried to push himself to his feet, but his little legs wobbled weakly as he had to cling to the fence to stand still. It was a long, long walk home, and with the lingering dizzy spell from his tail's injury, making it all the way on his own was the most daunting thing he could think of...
...This was a thousand times worse than any surge of pain from any tail-grapple. "Urhg...." Everything was spinning. Elsewhere, Carro's own conscious fought to reactive his vision... Where was he?
hooray for scene changes
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Post by Van-80 on Apr 2, 2020 20:40:56 GMT -6
“Ehehe. Yeah, I know your dad. He’s back at what I am assuming is your house or bus stop. I saw him when- well it’s a long story. For now, let’s get you home.” Van had every instinct to carry the fumbling toddler home. But a small part of him remembered that he was technically a stranger. But he couldn’t just leave a little lost Carro to go home all by his lonesome. So instead the pretty bot gently moved to take hold of his hand. “Come on, I’ll help you.”
As Carro’s vision would flicker to life, he would be greeted with a familiar but also different sight. Not in or even near Central City, closer to North City in fact. Shima labs, looking much sleeker but more used, small smudges on the walls from random hands and light footprints in the halls. It certainly wasn’t as colorful as Van and Ima made it in their renovations. What was more striking though would likely be the hustle and bustle of people. The former saiyan would find himself in the testing lab, filled with a small handful of working scientists. Most notably was a woman somewhere in her thirties, crimson curls framing her lightly wrinkled face.
“Dr. Shima,” a familiar monotonous voice would call. “There is another message for you.” A small eyeball-like orb came down from a plate on the ceiling, suspended by a sturdy metal arm.
“More Blue Banner I presume?” The voice that answered was almost identical to the AI, only with much more inflection and just a slightly deeper tone.
“Yes Ma’am. I told them you were busy with the Mk7.”
Dr. Shima stood up from her seat, walking over toward a large metal cylinder. She pushed a few buttons on a panel beside it, prompting a small screen to blip to life. The top read in teal lettering. ‘Vanity Project Mk7.’ Underneath was a slurry of words flashing through the page. Even if no one could see what it read, it was clear from the Doctor’s growing concern on her face that whatever it was was not good news.
“If only. That’s another one busted. Ima, how is progress on Vanity Mk8?”
“The Mk8’s body is 92.37% complete. I had the team run the test as per your instructions.”
“And?”
“Two of the workers are in intensive care.” The eye slowly shifted to look toward a large window. The thick glass barrier led to a pure white tiled room bearing a similar pod. “There is something wrong with the programming. It seems that it’s directive does not differentiate between what is and what is not to be harmed.”
Dr. Shima let out a long sigh, her head rolling back. “Wonderful. I’m sure that is exactly what the blue boys want to hear. We’ll run another test in ten minutes, this time to see if your pacification field will work on him.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
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Post by Carro Hofferson on Apr 2, 2020 21:36:14 GMT -6
CARRO's PL: 100 (ANTISENSE)
"UM." Carro shoved his torso upright the moment his sight cleared. "whAT." His screen's eyes blinked, stupefied. But no matter how many times he turned his optic sensors on and off, the sight remained the same. "Who ARE you people?! W-where am I?!? O-oh stars, where's Van, h-he's not d-dead is he??" The robotic monkey forced himself to his feet, flailing his arms to find his footing. Speaking of his arms, they looked a lot more intact than he remembered them being two seconds ago... Had he been taken here for repairs? Was he abducted or something? This place looked familiar, but he didn't recognize a single face, and the flood of other questions in his head prevented him from putting two and two together to discern his location.
A familiar voice snapped Carro from his panic. "Ima, t-thank god, I--!! Wait..." Carro stopped to look at the mechanical eyeball-arm, and then the human addressed. Dr. Shima? Nevermind that though, why was Ima an arm? Carro jumped in the air to gain enough height to wave his hand in front of the eyeball. "Hey!! I'm right h-here!! Hellooo?!" In spite of his best efforts, it was like he was invisible. Almost like a ghost. He wasn't dead, was he? Carro patted down his torso just to make sure it was still tangible and not ghostly.
Other questions finally flowed into his mind, putting a few puzzle pieces in place. Dr. Shima- like the one Van's lab was named after? Wasn't she supposed to be dead? Something about a Blue Banner was mentioned, and a "Mk7." Carro managed to work up the will to finally take a few steps forwards, peering around the doctor to look at the gibberish scans as well.
But his sights transitioned to the walled-off room with a similar pod with the other two. The mention of whatever was being contained in there's programming being berserk didn't settle his nerves at all. "That s-sounds like a bad idea." Carro replied to the doctor, even though he couldn't be heard. All this felt like the beginning of a horror movie when everyone was thinking "what's the worst that could happen?"
Still, he found himself pressing his face against the glass as his thoughts wandered. He was... well, this place looked a lot like the Shima Labs he knew, but none of this added up. Hadn't Blue Banner dissolved a century ago, too? And why was he seemingly invisible? It was like...
"...Kais above, did I go back in time?" This wasn't a horror movie, this was like the Forward to the Past trilogy! "Crap-- You've got to hear me, I-I can warn you! Things go TERRIBLE in the future!!" Carro turned around, waving his arms again in a futile attempt to get any sort of attention. The mere thought that he could somehow prevent all of the terrible things in his time from happening before they began was enough to draw Carro's hope in instead of trying to think of the more reasonable conclusions given the circumstances leading up to this.
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Post by Van-80 on Apr 3, 2020 11:38:29 GMT -6
As the little android waved his hand in front of Ima, Dr. Shima began walking toward the testing chamber paying no mind to the shouting Hofferson. Ima, on the other hand, paused, her blue optic lens shifting in focus. She was the only one that even remotely paid any attention to him. Everyone else continued about their days as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening.
“Ima? Are you coming?”
The eye turned to face her creator. “Apologies Ma’am. My motion sensors appear to have detected movement directly in front of me. However, my visual sensors do not show anything there.”
Shima carefully scrutinized the area around Carro. She even walked over to get a closer look. No matter what she or the small robot did though, the good doctor would not or could not acknowledge him. She looked back to her assistant with a furrowed brow.
“Are you able to do the tests or should we run diagnostics on you first?”
The AI stared right through Carro taking a moment to contemplate. “My systems all appear to be functioning at full capacity. I will proceed with the tests.” With that, the eye quickly receeded into the plate in the ceiling. She would then reemerge in the testing lab with Dr. Shima and the pod. Two more scientists would make their way inside, each one wearing rudimentary ki powered suit.
Soon the metal pod opened with a loud hiss. If Carro were to follow the group into the testing lab, he would be greeted with a very familiar sight. A friend. Van-80, though without any synthetic skin and with two eyes.
“Turn him on,” ordered Shima. The two other workers braced themselves as Ima’s lens flashed the same aqua lining Van’s chest and shoulder plates. Van’s eyes shot open. “Vanity,” the doctor called out, “What is your directive?” The android didn’t respond. He only looked around in cold silence.
“Dr. Shima,” Ima cut in, “His vocal settings are still being calibrated.”
“I see. Alright, Vanity. We will now test your targeting protocols.” As she spoke, two panels opened up from the floor, bringing up two wooden boards. They both sported rather crude drawings, one of a group of overly dramatic looking villains straight out of a comic book and another with a beautiful metropolis. “Which is your target?”
With only a second of hesitation, Van raised both arms and blasted both boards with two swift blasts. Shima rubbed her face, groaning with exasperation. "I suppose that's one way to do it." Unfortunately it seemed the pretty bot wasn't finished. He then turned a hand toward one of the workers and blasted them of their feet with a small shock wave. His gaze then shot toward the doctor and her AI assistant before slowly walking toward them. "And there it is."
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Post by Carro Hofferson on Apr 3, 2020 16:48:48 GMT -6
CARRO's PL: 100 (ANTISENSE)
Carro's eyes widened in hope as Ima seemed to have noticed something amiss. "Yes!! I'm right here! Hello?!" Carro yelled out again, waving his arms again while the android spoke of something- or, well, someone- triggering her motion sensors. That went to confirm that he was both invisible and inaudible somehow, though... But the human and Ima herself brushed off the tiny android's interference. Carro slumped and buzzed in defeat.
Still, he wasn't completely undetectable- Carro was sure that interference this weird past Ima detected was him. If he couldn't interact with people, could he interact with objects? Probably not, but the little robot found himself trying to slap his cord-tail at a small stack of papers anyways before following suit into the testing lab.
Thankfully Ima popped back down soon enough, causing Carro's mind to start racing again with ways he could try and make himself known. Could he try writing something out again? That worked when he'd lost his speech when he was first pulled out of the scrapyard. He just started to pry open a panel on his arm when the hiss of the pod opening caught his attention. "Van!" He gasped in breathless surprise and relief, peeking out from behind the group. Before he acted on his instinct to run out and tackle his friend into a hug, Carro froze... Right, this was some past world. Nobody knew he existed, nor would his future friend recognize him even if he could be seen- hell, his grandparents probably hadn't even been born yet. But he had to warn everyone somehow, someway.
Carro flinched at the sound of ki blasting as Van blasted both of his targets... He'd never asked too much about the android's past as to not be insensitive, but he never recalled his friend saying anything about having a buggy phase of development. Even with his current predicament, the little robot found himself instinctively slipping out from behind the group to stand between the android and the others when he fired a shockwave at the two in the ki-suits. Carro was protective as ever before.
"T-there's gotta be something I-I can..." The 'invisible' robot muttered to himself again. He tried once more to wave his arm in front of Ima's eye, but found his sights drifting back to Van again. It unsettled Carro to see him like this... But he still was the same android that would eventually go on to become his friend, right?
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Post by Van-80 on Apr 4, 2020 19:04:56 GMT -6
Everything was a low droning buzz. Nothing else mattered except for his one goal. The goal he was originally created for. The destruction of the superficial world and the fake beauty of humanity. What Dr. Shime didn’t realize until it was too late, was that pairing a terminal state such as destruction and a never-ending concept such as beauty created a paradox. An idea that a, for the moment, simple android like Vanity could only process as destroy. Yet there was one other thing that stood out to him.
A small robot, it couldn’t have been more than three feet tall. His words came through the swarm of noise as clear as day. He knew this android. But how? Was this what he was after? The words Carro and beauty came to mind. But not destroy. How was that possible? His directive was to destroy the fake beauty.
Dr. Shima took her opportunity. As Van finally paused his budding onslaught, she spoke to her creation. “Vanity. Tell me what you’re thinking.”
Ima was quick to chime in. “Ma’am, his speech function is still being-”
“Beauty." His voice was garbled, almost completely unrecognizable. The only slight intonation that it was him was the small sliver of doubt tracing his words.
The doctor smiled. “Beauty does not exist.”
Then why did this little robot make him think otherwise?
“You are here to destroy vanity. The embodiment of a world more concerned with appearance than the world itself.”
Destroy it. That couldn’t be right. His face still showed no emotion, but he stared right at someone he thought was his friend. But that was impossible. He had to destroy it.
“You are Vanity Destroyer.”
The Beauty Obsessed android raised his palm toward Carro. The scientist all watched in confusion. To them, he was raising his hand toward open space. Then without another thought, he fired. A powerful blast that would shake the room. Multiple sirens began blaring throughout the facility. He stared at the charred and damaged tile. Vanity would intentionally miss. Be it his unfinished programming or this strange anomaly he just couldn’t hit this ‘beauty.’
“I think he’s trying to escape!” called one of the workers.
“Can’t let him loose yet. Ima you’re up.” However, she was just as stunned as her future partner. Her eye hovered motionless, staring blankly at Vanity Destroyer. “Ima?”
“...right.” In a few swift but jagged motions, the sphere was held aloft just in front of the android. “Vanity Destoyer Mk8. You are to power down immediately!” As she spoke a small concentrated beam of light shot toward her target. He didn’t acknowledge her, just continued to stare at Carro before eventually collapsing to the floor.
“What was that?” asked a fearfully annoyed Shima.
“Apologies ma’am,” she turned to face Carro, still unable to see him herself. “I believe Vanity may have picked up the same disturbance I did.”
“I meant you. I thought AIs weren’t supposed to get distracted,” she muttered to herself. She stared at the large burst hole in the wall. Maybe there was something there after all? But all she could see was damaged tile. She shook her head, “put Van back in his pod. We’ll try testing him again tomorrow.” Just as she finished speaking, the lights would instantly go dark save for a single one illuminating Carro.
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Post by Carro Hofferson on Apr 5, 2020 13:52:47 GMT -6
CARRO's PL: 100 (ANTISENSE)
It almost looked like Van was looking right at Carro. But that was impossible- nobody else had seen him so far. Carro knew better than to expect anything less than the worst after everything that happened in the past months. He glanced between him and the others when Shima began to question his friend. His wiring ran cold at the sound of Van's garbled voice- Ima was certainly right, that needed some serious calibration. Carro wondered if this was how they felt when he was stuck bleeping and buzzing when he first activated as an android.
Shima spoke again, causing Carro's expression to twist in discomfort. Van, of all people, was made to be some destroyer? He didn't fully understand what was going on, but that word certainly didn't apply to the friend he'd known in the future. "You take that back--" Carro began on instinct, only to freeze and turn around at the sound of crackling energy. There was a blast of ki, pointed directly at him. "W-wait--!!" Carro gasped, raising his arms to feebly defend as the energy was released. But the attack missed its mark... And seemingly intentionally at that?
Carro looked back up at Van, wide-eyed. "Y... You can see me?" There was no mistaking it now. He still had little idea what was even happening and why, but there was one person who could see and hear him. "Are... a-are you okay?" That was a stupid question, but Carro found himself taking a tentative step forward regardless. He should have been going on to try and relay his warnings about the future, yet all he could worry about right now was his friend's condition, regardless of if this was some warped memory or twisted time travel. "I-I can hel-"
Before he could try and offer any aid, Ima stood between him and his friend, firing a beam of energy and commanding a shutdown. An oddly familiar scene, but Carro couldn't think on it for long before other thoughts took priority. "Wait, n-no!!" Before he could take a single step, Van crumpled to the ground. He looked back to Ima as she mentioned a "disturbance," causing Carro's expression to twist in annoyance as he raised and waved his arms again. "You both saw someONE, it's not a damn coincidence!!" His words fell on deaf ears regardless. But first things first, he had to make sure the one person who could see him was okay.
No sooner after he took a single step forwards, though, the entire room went dark. Carro flinched in surprise, nearly tripping over his own feet. He looked up to the single light ominously illuminating him, mumbling in growing anxiety. It was like everyone and everything around him just vanished into darkness. "U-uh..." Carro stammered, taking a few cautious steps into the blackness with the light from his screen as his only guide. "I-is anyone there...?"
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Post by Van-80 on Apr 6, 2020 11:50:24 GMT -6
For a moment all that would be heard were the incoherent babbling of scientists and mechanics discussing with each other about their latest project. Most of it was jumbled together, the only few full sentences coming through were things like “Our most successful android yet.” or more about some blue banner army trying to stop them. However, it was Dr. Shima’s voice that would cut in above the others the most.
“Vanity Destroyer Mk8 is almost done, we just need to work out the last of the bugs. I’ll work on Beauty 9 Destroyer just in case. But I think we finally hit our mark with this one.” The last indistinguishable noises were cacophonous but unmistakable. The sounds of blasters firing, people fighting, even raw ki being thrown around. But it was still all in darkness. Shima spoke out one last time. “Not yet. Get him ready for the next raid. If we send him out now he may just kill everyone including us.”
The lights would then flicker back to life. Carro would find himself exactly where he was before. Only this time seemingly alone. The once bright bulbs illuminating the test chamber were all dulled. Only one or two workers were shuffling about still paying the small robot no mind. A new voice would cut in, still broken but far more recognizable.
“You again.” Van-80 stepped out from his pod, slowly ambling his way toward the small familiar android. This time he looked to be fully finished, complete with clothes and skin. Most notably, he still had both of his eyes. “I saw you back then. They told me to destroy you. What are you?”
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Post by Carro Hofferson on Apr 8, 2020 17:25:25 GMT -6
CARRO's PL: 100 (ANTISENSE)
Carro picked up his pace, urgent worry still willing him to move forwards. He could make out voices, though no matter how quickly he moved he couldn't seem to find their source. Another mention of the Blue Banner only brought more worries into his head. Van said he was made twenty-something years ago- why would an army that had been defunct for a century be involved? He hadn't gone that far back in time, had he? Was this even time travel, or some hallucination?... Though thoroughly unsettled, Carro only hastened his pace.
The future President sneered at the word "destroyer" again, but his expression sunk in anxiety at the mention of a raid. "That doesn't sound good..." Carro muttered to himself. As if on cue, the lights flickered back alive, though he was somehow standing in the exact same spot as before. He was surprised he hadn't run into any walls earlier, but he was moving, right? Maybe this really was some hallucination, or... "...This can't be a memory, can it?" Van had never mentioned any of... this to him. Then again, he never asked. Had he somehow gotten into his memory banks with the whole failed fusion? In hindsight, that seemed a lot more reasonable than time travelling, but so much else didn't add up.
A familiar voice snapped Carro out of his mumbling. He flinched and turned around in a flash, nearly tripping over his own feet. "Oh-- uh- Hi. Hello. Nice to meet you. A-again." Carro hastily greeted his two-eyed friend. He wasn't entirely sure what to say or ask. For better or worse, the other android was the one to break the ice. "Yeeeaaah if you could continue not destroying me I would appreciate that very much thank you." He hastily responded with a half-hearted smile. As for the other part of his question... Carro hesitated. How was he supposed to word any of this when he hardly understood what was happening himself?
"I'm... Carro Hofferson. CEO of Crop Co, saiy-- e-er, former human... Trust me, it's a long story. E-everyone but you seems to think I'm invisible, which is an even longer story..." Trying to explain that he was either a time traveler or he was reliving the android's memory and bringing up their prior fight and... predicament didn't seem like the best move to keep his head on his shoulders. Neither did asking why he still had both of his eyes. "N-now, uh, I don't mean to sound ungrateful or anything- I very much am grateful- but... i-if your own creators told you to blow me up, why didn't you?... Also, w-what year is it?" He hastily tacked on the last question after a moment's thought.
"And, uh... a-are you doing alright, too? The people here haven't been hurting you or anything, have they?!" Even in this warped world where just about nobody could see let alone remember him, Carro was still worried for his friend's wellbeing. The thought of him being treated like a lab rat in here made Carro want to give someone a very, very stern talking to.
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Post by Van-80 on Apr 9, 2020 13:56:52 GMT -6
“Crop Co?” The little robot said things that didn’t make any sense. “Year?” Or things that were completely irrelevant to anything. “Hurt… me?” That made the least amount of sense of all the things this Carro Hofferson said. They couldn’t hurt him. He could hurt them. So how and why would they do it to him? But perhaps what the taller android truly didn’t understand was what was left unanswered. Why did he not destroy the Carro Hofferson after being ordered to?
“There are two things I know. Beauty and Destruction. Beauty can’t exist. So I destroy it. But when I saw you, it changed for a moment. A new word. Creation.” His sentences were a complete contrast to his normal manner of speaking. Van-80, when his usual happy self spoke in long flowery monologues. This Vanity spoke in an almost childish manner, using small phrases and short simple sentences. More akin to his current depressed self. He slowly dragged his feet toward the Carro Hofferson, his eyes never leaving his.
“I can’t destroy you. I don’t know what you are. What is a Carro Hofferson?” Carefully, almost gingerly Vanity would lift his hand. If Carro didn’t move away he would place it gently on his head with a small glow of energy building in his palm. He needed to know what this thing was, what creation was, and most of all, the one question he wanted to answer more than anything else. A question that he hadn’t asked in a long time. “What is Beauty?”
Meanwhile, the current single-eyed Van-80 would be ready and waiting for the young flesh and blood Carro to lead him home. He still wasn’t entirely sure what had happened. He still had his theory that the real Carro Hofferson would be around this odd past somewhere. Now Van was never great with children, but he wasn’t bad with them either. Just a little too blunt to make a good babysitter.
“You wouldn’t have happened to have seen anyone that looks like you but a little taller and older? Maybe a robot about twice your size?” He couldn’t rule out the possibility that Carro would be here in his robotic form either. Though he had a feeling if he could help it he would try and take his original shape and race.
Scene Change? Scene Change
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Post by Carro Hofferson on Apr 9, 2020 15:11:53 GMT -6
CARRO's PL: 100 (ANTISENSE)
Carro's metaphorical heart hammered in growing urgency and anxiety. He really should have expected even the few tidbits he did share to be met with confusion. What he didn't expect was a hand to be placed on his head, which didn't feel unwelcome until he felt the faint heat of energy building. Was this a threat? If he made a wrong move, was his head about to be blasted into pieces? If he died in the dream, did he die in real life?! He didn't want to find out the hard way.
"Ah, w-well, the full thing's a bit of a long story. So. Uh, w-we might be here for awhile..." He'd tentatively try to pull Van-80's hand off his scalp. Where was he supposed to begin? "Now it's gonna sound crazy, but I'm a sort-of time traveler? Which is why I asked you for the, uh, year... Don't ask, I don't know t-the specifics. He could summarize his life's story fairly well, right? His friend's memories still seemed to be in there somewhere- explaining who he was and why he was was going to take awhile, though... "A-anyways, it all started back when..."
Back where it truly all began, Carro's younger incarnation was still hobbling his way home alongside this unfamiliarly familiar android. With time he slowly managed to regain his footing as the aches from his tail started to fade. Crop Co. still seemed bigger the closer he got to it, though. Was the lobby always that huge?
The saiyan child perked his head, tilting it to the side in confusion with Van's question. He shook his head regardless, but quickly looked back to Crop Co's doors as soon as he spotted his father entering the building out of the corner of his eye. "Dad!" The tiny saiyan exclaimed in relief, darting forwards and into the building after his parent.
Though, as he walked beside his father, the child's wide smile started to fade. "...D-Dad?" He pulled on the leg of his father's pants, but the older saiyan didn't react. He shrunk back in growing worry. Was he in trouble? The little monkey quickly climbed up the front desk, popping his face right in front of Caper, but it was like he was invisible. Tears of fearful confusion had already began to well in his eyes as he slunk backwards, finding himself in a similar predicament to Van. Who was this impostor replacing him?!
"Sorry I'm late--!!" Another voice. The younger Carro whipped around to see... himself? Himself but taller and older, and wearing a dressy shirt and vest like his father, complete with an ID tag dangling from around his neck. "Traffic was awful, a-and Tianum was helping me with my calculus work. But I'm here now!!" The older Carro spoke eagerly to his father, completely bliss to the presence of his child self and Van, much like the now smugly smiling Caper. "What, you haven't asked her out on a date yet?" Caper teased, to which the second Carro groaned in agitation. "I told you, it's not like that! We're just friends, sheesh." Atop his abnormally relaxed and casual dialogue, the older-looking "President" completely lacked the usual bags beneath his eyes, and his hair didn't have a snarl to be seen. That and his ID was that of an intern rather than the CEO...
"Relaaax, I'm kidding... Anyways, business. I assume you're still down for working on our project?" The older Carro instantly perked up. "Hell yes! S-she's almost done, right? I mean, we still need to work on the armor, but, y'know. Everyone's gonna be so impressed!" Caper nodded knowingly, only causing Carro's excitement to grow. "Then what are we waiting for?!" The excitable intern grabbed his father's sleeve, pulling his parent to a nearby elevator that the observing android might have recognized as the same one leading to the Plexroid hangar...
All the while, his younger self was completely mortified and on the verge of tears. The tinier saiyan had been tugging on Caper's leg again and again to try and get his attention, but eventually found himself slinking back, trembling in confusion and stress to grip onto Van's leg for dear life, since it seemed the android was the only one to acknowledge him. What was happening?
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