oo1 ( audio )

[privatematter]

There we go! It's on!

Yeah? [ There's an intake of breath. ] If you say so.

All right, hands up if you're a "Chosen Child" who is actually over 18 years old and not actually a child. Metaphorical hands. Please don't actually raise them, you won't do anyone a lick of good here. So far as I can tell, this place is far too insane to be run by children and would be some kind of prank if Kera wasn't some kind of... talking... squid... thing. Still not sure what the hell, by the way.

Also: need suggestions and directions to good places for dinner. If I'm going to be stuck here, I am not going to live off bits and bytes and takeout, all right? Not happening.

Comments

[yayashton]

Present. [You said over 18. He's 19.] There's others, and "Chosen Children" is more of a catch-all term than anything. It's like "best boy" in film.

Until the worlds merged, they were all children. [It's said matter-of-factly.] You could always use the term "Chosen," if you prefer. And you shouldn't speak about your partner like that! We have feelings too, you know.

[privatematter]

[ It's close enough. 21 is probably an impossibly high bar to raise, anyway. ] Best boy? Sure, why not. Pretty insulting for those of us who aren't actually kids, though. "Chosen," I can deal with way better. As for partners—

You can shut your mouth is what. Squids are cool. What's wrong with being called a talking squid?

[ Slight "mhmm" from Shannon. He isn't even going to comment on that. ]

[yayashton]

He called you a thing. That's not nice.

Do you ever stop talking, fakie? It's always like blah blah blah with you.

I'm not fake! You're fake!

[The argument continues, but it gets more and more muffled. Ryan's just gonna. Walk to a different room.] Not particularly. You have to understand like the term predates the arrival of people who are older than ten or eleven. As I understand it, prior to the worlds merging together, the only Chosen who came were ones who could be considered children. Now, there's a mix of different ages so you'll probably hear "Chosen" more than "Chosen Children," but this whole thing is relatively new for the digimon.

It's only been seven months or so since we started arriving en masse like this. My name is Ryan, by the way. I keep the timeline.

[privatematter]

Very useful. [ That's an appreciative tone here. Shannon really does like working with competent people.

Meanwhile, Kera scoffs derisively. ] Fakie? That's what they get for trying to timeshare a partner.

'Scuse him, I have no idea what's up his ass. Anyway: seven months? I hadn't heard of anything like this happening back home. Has it just not gotten that urgent yet?

[needsteaplz]

There's quite a few of us actually. "Chosen Child" is more of a blanket term for us. [Try 78 but looking like 28.]

Well, it's not run by children, just the locals. They're not in charge of who's brought here though. As for food, the newbie apartment has a cafeteria and it's free. Most of the eateries got damaged last month so the faster we can the repairs done, the sooner we can get them back.

[privatematter]

[ Try being 32 but actually 8. Oh, leap year. ]

Well, you mean the locals like Kera?

Cafeteria food is really not what we're after right now. We said "good" places.

Someone have something against restaurants?

[needsteaplz]

Yes, just like your partner Digimon. They're quite intelligent

Hey now! You haven't tried it when Saori cooks there. She goes there from time to time.

[The new voice is soon muffled with a small Oh c'mon, Saori! I'm just trying to help! following afterward.]

Guren...I wish you wouldn't put me on a pedestal like this. Not towards restaurants just...wide-scale destruction. Several districts are in need of repairs.

[video]

[velveteenmage]

Present and accounted for.

[waver you are 5'2" and you look fourteen.]

I don't think the term's meant literally.

[ audio forever ]

[privatematter]

[ Yes, but how does he sound? ]

It's not nice to lie to your elders, kid.

Huh? How old are you?

[permavideo because he's a loser]

[velveteenmage]

[like a nerd and we're just gonna pretend there's a british accent there because come on, aniplex]

I'm not a kid--! I'm nineteen!

[ Audio ]

[fullofthorns]

Ain't it kinda pointless to tell people to do somethin' per a show of hands when you're usin' only audio? Pfft. [ Just a good-natured snicker on her end. ]

There's plenty of people over eighteen. I only just turned eighteen, but there's Prince--er... Seifer. And Squall. Miwako. All the Cyber...Cybertronians....I think that's what he said. They're like, millions of years old. Dante is almost twice my age, and his brother is a twin, so there's that.

Don't worry. All you whiny adults can band together, sit in rocking chairs and talk about the good old times and whipper-snappers.

[privatematter]

Thus the metaphorical. Did you miss that part entirely or are we just picking on semantics for lack of anything better to do here?

[ You can practically hear the amused eyeroll here, Roze. ] Meanwhile, you kids all keep playing hooky to go see some new flick and flunk out of school during some crisis. We've all got our problems.

[fullofthorns]

More like chose to ignore for comedic effect, but as we all know, good humor is entirely lost on the elderly. [ She drawled, tone verging on sardonic. ]

Though in all fairness, my grades were always pretty damned good. It was the fights that got me in trouble. And I don't really like movies in the theater, so bum on that, too.

Anyways, yo. Sup, nooblet. [ You can hear the toothy grin. ] You want good food out of the caf' you're gonna have to wait while everyone fixes all the busted ass building. But the caf' serves some pretty good food - not lunchroom stuff, either. They take requests, too.

If you're worried about havin' adults and the more mature lot to troll with, don't bother. There's plenty of people around that don't need highchairs and floaties.

voice;

[amygdalae]

I'm over forty, if that helps any.

[Yep, have a super old dude here who is actually human. Well, almost human. But technicalities.

After Bruce's words there's a slight shuffle, and then another voice pipes in.] Oh, are you finally talking to somebody else? That's great!

voice forever;

[privatematter]

[ It's okay, Shannon is human-ish, too. ]

It helps a lot. I'm thirty-two myself. Not quite there yet, but I'm working on it. Nothing makes you feel quite as old as being called a Child, huh?

You going to give him a treat, next? Yeesh.

voice forever;

[amygdalae]

[There's an amused sound from Bruce in return.]

I try to take it as a compliment, mostly. It helps. [Somewhat. Even if its all still a little weird.]

[beingthecreature]

Though anyone around here over 18 is in the minority, that doesn't necessarily mean anything. A lot of the younger set around here are pretty capable, and then there's the Digimon set to consider, too.

[Noting he's of the "over 18" set himself, somewhere in the early to mid 20's range.]

[privatematter]

For "pretty capable," all I've been hearing about is how no one has managed to stabilize this place. Adults or kids alike, actually. I have no idea where to even start on the... digimon.

[beingthecreature]

To be fair, I don't think that's anyone's fault. Most of us were take from our respective worlds without any preamble, and dropped into what's proving to be very deep waters. A lot of people are coming up fairly lost.

[He sighed a little.] It's a lot to expect, and with a lot of what's going on still being a big unknown, it's more than some even know what to do with.

[audio]

[acceptedburden]

[While not quite as irritable as his old teammates, even Kaldur gets tired sometimes of being judged for his age. But, as with his conversation with Arcee several months ago, he has to remind himself that this person hasn't seen the evidence of the "children's" abilities.]

Things are far from perfect, I agree. But I do not think it fair to attribute all of the insanity of this place because the majority of the chosen are under the age of 18. A lot has happened over the past 8 months, people come and go as you did, and there are very few of us from the same world so we all come with our own ideals and abilities. Being able to organize under those conditions would be difficult even for adults.

[privatematter]

Difficult, but with nothing to show for it in eight months of shit piling up... It's making me boggle. Maybe the police are rubbing off on me.

[acceptedburden]

That is perhaps because every time we do set something up people leave, new people come, and things are destroyed. We have done surprisingly well in the battles that we have been thrown into.

Police do not tend to have to handle giant monsters attacking a city on a constant basis.

[text]

[perrytheperson]

[Perry has several options here. He can tell this guy he's five which would be TECHNICALLY true. But Perry knows he's not that in human years and he wants to continue to be a support system around here. So, perhaps starting off that way would be unwise. Unfortunately, Perry isn't sure HOW old he is in human years. His body is probably of a man in his 30s. But ages have always been tricky for humans.]

I'm over 18. Is this just a poll or are you actually going to do something with this information?

[ audio ]

[privatematter]

"I'm over eighteen. Is this just a poll or are you actually going to do something with this information?"

[ Beat. Oh. ]

Both. Right now, it's just idle curiosity, but it might be good to know who the older elements are later on. Who knows.

[text]

[perrytheperson]

Makes sense. Adult population is pretty low.