Act 010 [video]

[yayashton]

[Ryan is sitting on a couch in what looks like an apartment. It's not, but you're not going to get him to admit that.]

I have a question for those of you in HospiTown. My former roommate, Ed, hasn't been responding to my messages. [Ryan looks unusually concerned.] Has . . . anyone seen him? He's . . . black hair that looks like a mess, terrible fashion sense, sometimes wears a really ugly brown cloak, kind of an idiot.

Nevermind. [Ryan visibly shifts out of the concern.] Regardless of whether or not Ed is still around, I do need your help with something else. I keep a record of events, as some of you might know, but it has become rather difficult to keep track of events now that we're all no longer in the same place. Tell me, what has happened in HospiTown?

Comments

[strengthinkindness]

E-Ed...? I...I-I just looked on the housing list and h-he's...his name isn't there...

D...D-Does that mean he...h-he went home...?

[yayashton]

. . . That would be my guess. [Ryan sighs.] I mean, I'm well aware that it's likely he could have gotten lost, but something tells me that's not it.

[strengthinkindness]

B-But...even if he had gotten lost...his name would still be on the housing list, wouldn't it...?

[yayashton]

I . . . don't know. I never left San Francisco, so I'm not really sure how the housing list works. [Ryan shrugs a little helplessly.] Perhaps they remove people who haven't shown up?

[strengthinkindness]

I-I...I'm not sure. S-Someone had told me that she knew some others had gone home because their names aren't on the housing...

[yayashton]

[Ryan is quite for a long moment.]

In that case, I would say it's best to have a realistic hope that maybe he'll come back.

[strengthinkindness]

Mm...I hope he's okay...

[yayashton]

[Uh. Well, there was that one time Ryan told Ed that he could come to High School Musical-land if they got out because Ed was pretty sure his world had blown up but this girl seems really nice and genuinely worried so. Maybe he'll just. Selectively forget that.]

I'm sure he's fine. Ed's pretty tough.

[strengthinkindness]

[She's silent for a moment, obviously still worried. But then she nods.]

That's true...

[yayashton]

His world was kind of dangerous, but it's not exactly a cakewalk here so . . . At least he's home?

[strengthinkindness]

Y-Yes...I-It's...probably better for him to be there, huh?

[yayashton]

I'd like to think so. [He doesn't think so but.] I don't think us being here is good for anything, really.

[strengthinkindness]

R-Really...? Y...You don't think there's something here that's...important for us to be here?

[yayashton]

I think we've been told that, but as far as I can tell we're the source of the problem - not in that we're causing problems, but more that all of the conflict that's happened so far has had us in the center. [He's not sure if he's explaining this in a way that she'll understand.] So it seems to me that if we hadn't been brought here, this world would have gone on without a problem.

But now all the worlds are merging together and if we don't figure out how to fix it, then none of us will have a home to go back to.

[strengthinkindness]

I-I...thought the worlds were merging before? Isn't that how we got here?

[yayashton]

I don't think those two are exclusive, but I'm beginning to think that the worlds merging wasn't the reason we were brought here. [He doesn't quite know how to explain it so he sighs.] It's too convenient. Like a story you tell to your children at bedtime.

[strengthinkindness]

Mm...I guess so.

So then...what are we doing here...?

[The question was less directed at him, and more of something that she's wondering out loud.]

[yayashton]

I don't know either. It just seems odd that we're supposed to be here to save this world . . . except nobody seems to know how to do that. Nobody even seems to want us to save this world.

[strengthinkindness]

[She nodded.] Y-Yeah...

[She's aware of that line of thought, and sometimes she wonders about it herself.]

[yayashton]

The city being blown up does kind of make you wonder.

[strengthinkindness]

A-A little...although I...I thought one of those Digimon was...defending us...

[yayashton]

She was, but the fight was also the product of personal issues. They didn't seem to like each other very much.

[strengthinkindness]

I see...

Everything is so complicated around here...

[yayashton]

Yeah. I do sort of miss being back home where everything was . . . much simpler.

[strengthinkindness]

[She laughed a little, mostly to herself.] I wish I could say that about my home...