Sumiko
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The Girl Born of Naught
Posts: 42
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Post by Sumiko on Dec 21, 2012 15:24:16 GMT -5
((OOC: If you don't want to read through this fluff stuff on how Sumiko arrived in Gensokyo, just skip to below the double line))
Sumiko's life thus far hadn't been normal, true. She'd been born as an artificial being, through use of alchemical magic, in order to prove to an unbelieving world that magic, or at least alchemy, does exist. Despite her strange appearance, pale, white haired, and with strange eyes; people simply dismissed her as some strange albino woman with stranger eyes. The alchemists had learned a harsh lesson: people tend to follow beliefs that seem to match their own. She'd inherited knowledge of how to blend magic and technology, for what it was worth. Heck, she'd even been popped out completely literate, and able to speak flawless Japanese, albeit in a monotone voice.
Yet this had been the strangest of all. It felt, for a moment, as if reality had voted that she should not exist. It felt as if space itself was folding around her, prepared to crush her into nothingness. Yet something else had happened. It felt like that there had been some fracture in reality. Whatever force had been declared her executioner seemed to bow to it, and ejected her into that fracture. That fracture, of course, was the nature of Gensokyo, though she didn't know. Homunculi had temporarily been made possible in the world outside of Gensokyo by anime.
A few people had actually once again started to believe that artificial life could be created in such a manner. Perhaps not by alchemy, per say, yet alchemy was close enough to legitimate science that she was permitted to be created and continue to exists under those circumstances. When those anime lost popularity, the beliefs that allowed her existence faded. Without Gensokyo, reality itself would have killed her. Because she was now something that was not believed in, however, she was merely banished to Gensokyo, along with the other creatures of 'fantasy'.
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But having space fold around you that many times isn't good for one's conciousness. It had left Sumiko disorientated for a moment, and with dim memories of the incident.
She looked around. In the distance, she saw a lake. This was odd, as she distinctly remembered the alchemist's compound had been underground. She fixed the gigantic ribbon on her head, as the folding of space had knocked it askew, and appraised her situation further. You couldn't say much about Sumiko's personality; she barely had one; however, one of the upsides of a lack of emotional response was a lack of panicking. She checked her supplies, reaching into her robe for a moment. She had her magitek handgun with her. Like herself, it only had existed and worked because of pop culture acting as imagination fuel. Well, at least she could sustain herself. Artificial life or not, she'd need to feed herself something. Maybe venison, maybe small game, whatever. She wasn't hungry though, of course. But she had to consider future possibilities.
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Post by Mima on Dec 22, 2012 23:57:35 GMT -5
Calypso As Sumiko, a new and artificial life, was looking around, she wasn't alone. A far older and completely natural youkai had noticed her, and immediately approached with a smile on its face. Of all the beings to be her first meeting in Gensokyo, this was one of the friendlier ones. "Hello there!" Calypso said, using a small flutter of its starry wings to close the distance, stopping a comfortable distance from the girl. Calypso wasn't quite sure what to make of her- a weak youkai? A strange human? Whatever the case, she was a new face to greet. "I haven't seen you around before. I'm Calypso Antares, and who might you be?"The star youkai offered a handshake, still smiling. You certainly couldn't fault Calypso on friendliness, that was for sure. |
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Sumiko
New Member
The Girl Born of Naught
Posts: 42
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Post by Sumiko on Dec 23, 2012 15:11:52 GMT -5
As Sumiko gazed around the surroundings, trying to get her bearings, some strange being approached her. Then again, Sumi didn't exactly know what was and wasn't 'wierd' by her world's standard. Less than one year isn't much time to get your bearings on the world. All that she knew was that she hadn't exactly seen anything like Calypso.
Of course, she wasn't going to panic. There was a look of odd indifference in her eyes. It was not the sort of cynical indifference sort of look, nor was it one of distrust or prejudice. It was a look of overall 'simply not caring at all'. Still, she'd seen that the alchemists tended to introduce themselves to each other with a simple handshake, so she did.
Calypso then introduced itself, and she replied "Sumiko." Sumi at least knew her own name. That was all she said, except for the phrase.
"City name: Matsumoto. Where is it relative to here?" Sumiko asked him. It seemed to her to be the quickest way to ask, so she did. Once she got back to the city, she figured that she could find her way back to the alchemist compound. She didn't particularly care about the alchemists, but they did feed her. Granted though, she wasn't hungry right now, but the homunculous figured that it would be best to get back before she did.
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Post by Mima on Dec 23, 2012 19:53:39 GMT -5
Calypso Well, the girl was... definitely a little odd. Calypso didn't let that bother it, though. She didn't look like she cared particularly much about the star youkai... or anything, really. She did return the handshake, though, which earned her a few points in Calypso's eyes. "City... Matsumoto? Oh, uh... oh dear." Calypso frowned, thinking. It hadn't been out of the bamboo forest and surrounding hills in... years, really. And other than Gensokyo itself, Calypso really only knew its way around Greece particularly well. "I can't say I've heard of it, miss Sumiko. Or if I have, it's outside of Gensokyo and I've forgotten about it. I could point you to, uh... hmm. Human Village? Youkai Mountain? Eientei...? Uh, what... what are you, exactly?" Calypso really wasn't sure where would be a good place to send her, really. It didn't want to send her to the human village if she was a youkai, or to a place full of youkai if she was a human or something similar. |
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Sumiko
New Member
The Girl Born of Naught
Posts: 42
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Post by Sumiko on Dec 23, 2012 20:49:29 GMT -5
Well this was... strange. She figured that even if she was in the same region as Matsumoto, that it would have at least heard of the city at a minimum, yet he seemed to have no idea whatsoever.
Calypso did mention something named 'Gensokyo', which didn't register to her. Perhaps it was the name of the region they were in. She wasn't familiar with it. To make matters more confusing, it proceeded to name several other locations she was unfamiliar with.
It then asked her for what she was "The alchemists used the term 'homunculus' in reference to me. Is this a suitable explanation?" she asked him "In relation to your own inquiry towards myself, what are you?"
She figured it was worth asking. She'd seen humans before, both of the alchemists and normal humans. But she'd never seen any sentient being that possessed wings.
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Post by Mima on Dec 23, 2012 23:04:26 GMT -5
Calypso This girl was hard to read, Calypso quickly decided. It was still wondering what was up with her, until she answered its question about what she was. "A homunculus... homunculus... I've heard that before..." Calypso muttered, thinking. It had been so long... oh, wait. "Oh, like with alchemy! Wow, I didn't know anyone still made those. It's been well over five hundred years since I've seen one," the star youkai said, grinning proudly. It hadn't expected to remember, but it had finally recognized the term. An artificial being similar to a human- yes, since its star had been well-recognized in areas with alchemists, it had encountered this type of being before. This was a little bit problematic, as it wasn't sure if the kind of youkai that ate people would see her as food, or if the humans in the human village would see her as kin. Maybe it would just be best to wait for whoever created her to come looking for her. Oh... and she'd asked about Calypso, too. It had almost forgotten! "As for me, I'm a youkai born from the spirit of the vermilion star Antares," Calypso said, proudly fluttering its starry red wings. "The bright one in the constellation Scorpius, do you know which one I'm talking about?" |
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Sumiko
New Member
The Girl Born of Naught
Posts: 42
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Post by Sumiko on Dec 24, 2012 10:07:43 GMT -5
It seemed that Calypso had heard of homunculi. She was aware, of course, that they were rather rare these days; after all, she was treated as special by the alchemists, and had been all but explicitly told such.
"Yes, alchemy would be correct." she told him "I know a few ideas about alchemy, but I don't recall how to actually use it though. I am more acquainted in the construction and design of magical technology."
She supposed it was because magical technology was used to create her, and thus the person who created the device had the highest level of direct influence on her creation process. While not the goal in and of itself, it meant that she 'inherited' a proclivity towards magical technology herself. There were likely other variations of the process that might have led her to inheriting an alchemical proclivity instead, but she was better with tech.
She was then asked if she'd heard of Antares before. "Scorpius. Element is water. Modality is fixed." she recited. She'd heard of a bit of alchemy, but again, she didn't actually know how to use it. "I am not as familiar with the composite stars."
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Post by Mima on Dec 24, 2012 18:21:44 GMT -5
Calypso Okay, so she had been created through alchemy... and apparently she had a thing for magical technology. Hey, actually, there were some other beings who were very familiar with magical technology, and though sometimes they could be iffy around humans, they were generally nice and all. Calypso made a mental note to introduce her to a kappa at some point. She did know about the constellation Calypso was talking about, which got the star youkai's hopes up a bit. But then she had to go and not know the stars. Aww. "Well... next time you see it, look for the brightest star, the reddish one. That's me. So, um... is there any chance of whoever made you coming to look for you?" Calypso said, determined not to let the fact that Sumiko didn't know its star get it down. |
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Sumiko
New Member
The Girl Born of Naught
Posts: 42
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Post by Sumiko on Dec 25, 2012 15:50:53 GMT -5
"I will." Sumiko told it. Really, it likely wouldn't take long; it didn't require much effort; and it would likely please the only person that she currently knew.
It then asked her what chance of her creators coming to rescue her was "Probability unknown. Circumstances of arrival would likely be unusual. Involvement of creators in my arrival here is unknown." she explained "Mechanics behind change of location unknown. Trigger unknown. Stimuli to cause change of location unknown. Approximate explanation of transfer process is explainable to a minor. Explanation is that it felt roughly like space was attempting to annihilate me. Process of annihilation seemed to fail with no currently known physical or mental penalties, save temporary and minor exhaustion, which has been recovered from. It seemed that the process had what could best be described as a 'crack' in it. The process seemed to malfunction, and forced me into that 'crack' rather than continuing with annihilation. After that, I found myself approximately in this area. No other sentient beings have been encountered since my arrival, save you."
She believed that if she gave Calypso a comprehensive explanation, it might have an answer. Then again, she didn't quite know either way. Still, the cost-to-benefit and risk-benefit balance very heavily leaned towards telling it.
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Post by Mima on Dec 25, 2012 20:18:06 GMT -5
Calypso Calypso listened intently to Sumiko's explanation. What she had described sounded very similar to what had happened long ago when Calypso had started fleeing between the last refuges of belief, though it had been much more drawn-out for the star youkai. It had spent years flying between countries, thriving on the sparse belief of scattered groups of people, and had finally settled in the valley that was later isolated from the world into the Gensokyo it now lived in. Now it made sense- this homunculus must have been created in the outside world somehow. That was why Calypso hadn't recognized the city name she'd given. "Oh, well, that makes sense. So you're from outside of Gensokyo. It's safe to say that you won't be going back... See, where we are now is a sort of safe haven for things that can't exist in the outside world. And I guess homunculus...es... can't exist out there anymore, so here you are. There are plenty of other people, though, this just isn't a very populated area," Calypso explained. It was kind of fun, getting to be the welcoming committee for a newcomer to Gensokyo! Calypso made another mental note to maybe see about welcoming newcomers more often. After introducing Sumiko to some kappa. |
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Sumiko
New Member
The Girl Born of Naught
Posts: 42
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Post by Sumiko on Dec 26, 2012 18:48:32 GMT -5
"I would assume that you did not mean 'cannot exist' in a physical sense." Sumiko replied. When somebody is dumped into an alternate dimension by what seemed like a complex spacial anomility, poor physical health could surely not be an explanation. Not that there was anything wrong with Sumi's health in the first place, but still. Even if so, this clearly wasn't a medical facility.
"How unfortunate at any rate." Sumiko mentioned, in the same dull monotone as usual that made Ben Stein's voice look positively colorful as ecstatic. She didn't look particularly fearful though. She could probably craft things to sell to make money; she understood the bare bones of commerce. Still, it was unpleasant to be separated from the alchemists; after all, they were the ones who fed her.
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Post by Mima on Dec 26, 2012 21:51:18 GMT -5
Calypso Calypso shifted slightly, wings giving a tiny twitch. It wasn't sure if she really didn't particularly care about being separated from her creators or if she just didn't show anything. Either way, though, that unnerved it slightly. It didn't say anything on that topic, though. "No, I don't mean physically. I mean... metaphysically? Look, youkai and magic-based beings and all can't exist if normal humans don't believe they can exist. Belief is a powerful thing. I exist because humans named my star and believed that it had special properties and a heart, so it did. So if most humans believe that a homunculus is impossible, then it is impossible. But in Gensokyo, things that are impossible outside of it can still exist," Calypso explained. It wouldn't be of much help if she wanted to know Gensokyo's history, though... at best, it could give a vague personal account of the sealing of the area, since it had been there. |
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Sumiko
New Member
The Girl Born of Naught
Posts: 42
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Post by Sumiko on Dec 26, 2012 23:03:03 GMT -5
"I suppose that hypothesis makes enough sense." Sumiko told Calypso. Had someone like Sumiko been created purely through high-tech science rather than magical technology, and put through the corresponding 'experiences', they'd have stock in it. They might, however, bring up the placebo effect for a sort of comparison. They might say that the belief of one can make or break a 'treatment'. Sumiko, however, didn't know about the placebo effect.
But I digress. Given that she was familiar with both the idea of magic, and technology, the idea of belief being powerful was new, but not terribly odd to her. That and the fact that she was just dumped through a spacial anomaly for seemingly no reason gave her extra incentive to believe.
She didn't care to know about the history of Gensokyo; it wouldn't be useful. She did, however, believe that it would be a good time to move on to the subject of what she could do now. She knew she could probably skip a few meals if needed, though they'd weaken her abilities. What she needed at this point was the opportunity to make some sort of living, or at least work for her meals, preferably with some means to improve her work. It's not that she took particular pride in her work, it's just that self improvement was a logical end. In other words, an employer, a willing patron, or a place to set-up shop.
"Now I suppose I need to know what I should do next." Sumiko mentioned.
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Post by Mima on Dec 27, 2012 0:17:59 GMT -5
Calypso Okay, good, it seemed that Sumiko got the basic idea of the kind of place she was in now. And she was wondering where to go from here. Calypso understood that well enough- it had been a bit lost when it had first settled here, but had quickly made itself a home in a nice place, and it occasionally went to the human village or Eientei to make lights in exchange for the little money it needed to replace worn clothing. "Well, I suppose you should find somewhere safe to stay. I'm harmless, because stars don't eat people, but there are other youkai that might not hesitate to eat you. You'll need a way to defend yourself, too," Calypso said. It glanced around. Luckily, it didn't see any more dangerous youkai. Maybe it ought to offer to fly her somewhere inhabited... or, could she fly by herself? It sure hoped so, that always made things easier in Gensokyo. |
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Sumiko
New Member
The Girl Born of Naught
Posts: 42
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Post by Sumiko on Dec 27, 2012 9:32:15 GMT -5
It appeared that some yokai in this area ate people. To some extent, it made sense to her. Humans ate the meat of various animals, so some other species might not hesitate to eat humans.
Sumiko briefly slipped her hand under her robe, and pulled out something that looked like a pistol; however, while it appeared to be made of metal, it also had a number of runes carved into it, and apparently with a chunk of quartz crystal embedded near the end of the short barrel. At any rate, she wasn't aiming it at Calypso.
"This weapon works similarly to a civilian weapon from outside this place. Unfortunately, it works little better than one, but a well-placed shot from this is considered to be enough to dispatch a person, and could likely pierce steel." Sumiko placed her pistol back into her robe. Sumiko, of course, didn't really know how powerful yokai could be. She figured that they wouldn't be much more powerful than your standard human.
If she ended up killing one, she'd likely turn the tables and try to eat the yokai... what? If it's permissible for yokai to eat humans (or in her case homunculi), then it should likely be legit if she ate a yokai that tried to eat her. Calypso seemed friendly though; she wasn't about to eat somebody who hadn't tried to hurt her.
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