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[ The feed flickers on. ]
[ CALI is the only one present, sitting in the chair. She’s not looking great. Constantly flicking her eyes over to the empty chair beside her, her hand holding onto her arm. ]
[ BRONTË notices the behavior and the lack of her teammate immediately. ]
[BRONTË]: …Oh god. What happened?
[ CALI looks up, a little confused. ]
[CALI]: Did you… not…? Hear about it all? Us stuck in a cabin, getting… cloned, that clone… picking up Deile and nearly killing him…?
[BRONTË]: No, all of that was Abacaxi’s own doing. I’m- WHAT happened??
[ She is astounded at that, angrily writing down things into her pad. ]
[BRONTË]: That sounds awful. Are you… able to explain more?
[ CALI explains to the best of her ability what happened. With a bunch of very serious faces from BRONTË in response- including a bunch of genuine anger as she describes how dangerous it got near the end. How traumatic it was to see. ]
[ But, as she rounds down, BRONTË asks her how she’s been feeling recently. ]
[CALI]: Without Deile I’ve just… been alone, and… it’s not fun, letting your thoughts run wild when you can think so many things at once.
[CALI]: …Dorothy has been trying to help. I appreciate it. But… I just don’t feel like I should keep pushing this all onto a kid. It makes me feel worse, knowing someone with such a hard life already feels the need to go and help me.
[ BRONTË keeps writing down a lot, causing a lot of discomfort from CALI until- ]
[CALI]: Can you stop treating me like some sort of lab animal??
[CALI]: I don’t… It doesn’t feel great, alright? Being told you might be the sole reason everything keeps getting messed up, and then seeing another person trying to keep as much distance away from me as possible, just taking notes the whole time.
[ BRONTË stops what she’s doing immediately. Thinking for a moment, before she sets down her paper and steps out of the room… ]
[ ...only to rejoin CALI on the other side- the visiting side. ]
[ CALI immediately seems to perk up a bit upon seeing the electric woman here, especially as she sits next to her. ]
[BRONTË]: I’m… sorry, if everything I’ve done up to this point has been rude or… whatever you think. I haven’t been intentionally ignoring you, or anyone. It’s just… I am working on something. Something I can’t talk about, something incredibly important. Not just for me, but for you all too.
[BRONTË]: And this- competition, checking up on you all- falls to the side sometimes. It shouldn’t, I know, but…
[CALI]: Hey, it’s alright.
[BRONTË]: But… go on, continue. You can talk to me.
[ The computer woman sighs. ]
[CALI]: …Ever since I died, and went down to the purgatory. I’ve been… aimless. No one else came with me, I was stuck in an unknown place with nothing recognizable. But then they found me. The Seventh Gate gave me a purpose, following Clair’s ethos, trying to get people to join- it made me feel good.
[CALI]: But, since we got here- we can’t do that. It’s… not helpful anymore. And now I’m just… sitting here, some nights. Wondering… what I am, outside of that?
[CALI]: I can hardly remember my past life. I assume it was a place full of technology, but… that's just an assumption at this point... not that I know what role I had then anyway. And then devoting all of my afterlife to one thing and nothing else…
[BRONTË]: Hey. I know, it’s hard, sometimes. When you pour everything into your work only to still feel like it’s going nowhere. And while I don’t… have time to take a break, you do.
[BRONTË]: Not only from your work but- your partner.
[BRONTË]: I don’t think what he said is true, nor do I think he deserved to be the one to speak up all about that. But, genuinely, I do believe it to be for the best.
[BRONTË]: You two weren’t ever really friends, from what I saw before. Just pushed together because you both were a part of the same… group. That’s it.
[CALI]: …didn’t you literally pick us? If you- if you knew we didn’t work well together, why did you get us both?
[ BRONTË is silent for a moment. None of the answers that are coming to her mind feel like something she could say to her. ]
[BRONTË]: …I can’t explain that either. But… I hope, eventually, I’ll get to.
[CALI]: …Alright.
[BRONTË]: And, look- I can’t say it definitively, but. If you ever do get really lonely and want someone outside of a sword-wielding teen to talk to- you can contact me through Cync in your dorm. I don’t wanna overpromise anything, but... I don't want you to feel alone.
[CALI]: …thanks. Thanks a lot, Doctor.
[BRONTË]: Hey, you don’t need to be that formal. You can call me Volanta.
[ CALI gives the doctor a weak but genuine smile, before getting up and heading back to her room. ]
[ BRONTË now has two people she needs to confront on her list- and, she seems like she’ll be having some choice words for them. ]
[ She returns to the interviewer side of the room, and scribbles down some final things, before shutting the door behind her. ]