Poppin' Arms ~ Holding Cells

[Dragonfree]

"You actually think he's just setting up? My bets are on something went very wrong." Dave looked away, finishing the mozzarella stick. "You think he'd show up at Spirit's Edge if we asked Buffet? Place where you can talk to spirits from anywhere, even other worlds?"

 

[Namohysip]

"...Maybe," said Soda with a hum. "Would have to be someone he'd actually bother listening to, though. You're probably the best candidate for that." He shrugged. "He could also be totally insane and not really bother anymore. But it's worth a shot."

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave nodded slowly. That was probably a good idea. See if they could find out what was actually going on with Soda Prime. Even no answer would be information.

"What if you came along? Might be even easier for him to listen to himself. If Substitutes can do that, anyway."

 

[Namohysip]

"...Yeah... not gonna risk that," Soda replied flatly. "He could try to reclaim me. I figure you wouldn't want anything like that."

 

[Dragonfree]

"Huh. He can do that through Spirit's Edge without being there, but only if you come with?" He supposed that could make sense if some form of... spiritual proximity was involved? What the fuck were Cibus physics.

Dave exhaled through his nose. If he was going to do this, he'd probably want to approach similarly to what'd worked with the Substitute, right? Press him on the gaps in his memory, get him to realize something was wrong. He wouldn't have Breaker to confirm, though.

He turned back to Soda, peering at him. "What's something I could tell him to prove I talked to you and you're on board? Like, something you wouldn't usually tell me, that'd give him pause."

 

[Namohysip]

"Hmm." Soda thought about that, then looked skyward, mulling something over. "Alright," he said. "I guess there's one thing you can do. But don't tell anyone, and be careful with this name. It'll... it might set something off, but it'll be solid proof, alright?" He shifted uncomfortably, as if he wasn't allowed to so much as say what would come next. But he sighed, steeled himself, and said in a breath, "...Her name is Adne."

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave nodded slowly. "Right. I'll take care with it. Thanks."

He had another bite of his food, watching Soda. "Can you tell me more about her, and your world's Arceus? What you do remember?"

 

[Namohysip]

Soda didn't look like it was his favorite set of memories, particularly because he wasn't sure if any of it was real after all.

"...Sorta like this world, but different names, different geography, but the same gimmick. All Pokemon, no humans. No idea what happened with the humans, but there's a reputation we had about being strong. And... I guess that was appealing to some and scary to others. Who'da thought?" He looked off. "Arceus was... cold and indifferent. He let the mortals do as they wished and didn't really care if anything happened as long as it didn't endanger the gods. Even if the world blew up, he could just make a new one. Dunno how much of that is true, though, if I was bent to try re-invading it or something...

"And Adne... was my partner. She was... kind, soft-spoken, but she knew how to stand firm. She had a resolve that you just couldn't shake if she knew something wasn't right... And she always followed through. Was never all talk..."

 

[Dragonfree]

The description tugged at the corner of Dave's mouth. "Sounds like my last relationship." (Wasn't quite a goddamn relationship, was it, but whatever; no fucking way was he explaining to Soda that she'd been married to someone else.) "Just cared so fucking much about everything. Impossibly kind and compassionate, but absolute steel in her opinions. Teeth came out at the sight of injustice. Fighting tooth and nail for every worthy cause and then some."

He took a sip of his beer, thinking. "Is what you remember with Adne only the good times? Or can you recall, you know, some petty fights about something unrelated?"

 

[Namohysip]

Soda looked off, thinking. "...I guess there were dumb things. She'd get really pissed if you threw something out that she wasn't done with yet. Like, she'd have to see for herself that it went bad, because of course it was just fine yesterday... That kinda crap." Soda was smiling. "And sometimes, she'd make this annoying chirping noise, and she'd say that the way I shuffled around was weird, dumb speciesist shit like that. Feathers and fur, I guess." His brow furrowed. "A-and sometimes, I guess she wasn't the best with money, so thank fuck I made a lot with what I did all the time. All the rescues we went on together... really made for a wealthy life, even if it was all hard work, and..." Soda's voice had quivered near the end, and he'd only caught himself then.

He couldn't finish, and he didn't look at Dave, either.

 

[Dragonfree]

Shit. He hadn't meant for that to get weird and emotional. He looked away. "What about Arceus? What was he like day to day, when you were working under him?"

At least it'd told them something. Soda's relationship with her checked out, probably. No way was that stuff fake or doctored memories. The way he described her general personality matched up with her standing firm on not wanting to be immortal, and being willing to act to stop him if she thought it was right. Always followed through, indeed. Maybe he didn't even realize that himself. The memory fuckery might be limited to just the circumstances towards the end of it all. Better not prod that too hard, but it was definitely a clue.

 

[Namohysip]

Soda just shook his head. "I dunno, an asshole, I guess," he replied, though it seemed more like he was still thrown off a little by the last question he'd answered. Still, he didn't look interested in revisiting the way Arceus had been. Perhaps that was all he remembered in any sort of detail.

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave's ears perked. Interesting. If Soda's brain had been wiped of most anything about Arceus... That could mean Arceus being an asshole was something implanted in him altogether to cover up some more complex reality, like what Maple had said, or that Arceus was indeed an asshole, but someone had wiped all the details. Either way it seemed revealing.

Soda still looked kind of miserable, the poor fucker. Dave took another sip of his beer and exhaled. “Never mind. I guess you’re pretty close with Flesh, huh? Brisa told me something about a translator. You make that for him?”

 

[Namohysip]

"Nah, bought it at some other universe, configured it to use my voice and likeness since he was a fan of that, I guess." Soda scratched his ear, trying to take his mind off things with a casual tone as usual. But talking about Flesh seemed to ease his nerves. "Guy was wandering alone like a lot of Ultra Beasts, but something was wrong with him. Most Guzzlord are solitary and don't really mind socializing, but he was born a little different. Maybe someone messed with him and he doesn't know, but he's, I dunno. Social. And because of that, he was lonely. I dunno. One thing led to another, y'know?"

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave tilted his head, grabbing another mozzarella stick. "You said before that you liberated him from a Hell dimension, that he was being held captive as some kind of terrorizing demon. Was that just, captive as in stuck in that dimension?"

 

[Namohysip]

Soda nodded. "Those were the two things that he did. Either wandering alone, or summoned to do some terrorizing. Imagine being someone who did nothing but see fearful faces, and the other half of the time just being alone and cold and desperate for company? ...The sick fuck behind all that is long dead and sealed away, the same way you'd dispatch a Dark Matter. Maybe in a half-eternity he'll get to be a better person, but I'm not holding my breath..."

 

[Dragonfree]

Jesus. "Was that another Arceus?"

 

[Namohysip]

"Nah. Dunno what it was, actually. Might've been something stronger, or weaker, or just a bunch of circumstances that added up to some normal guy getting way too much power."

 

[Dragonfree]

"Hmmm." Dave narrowed his eyes at him. "You just said the sick fuck behind all that was dispatched the same way as a Dark Matter, and might end up as a better person. That's awfully specific for somebody whose identity you're not clear on. Is this another memory gap?"

 

[Namohysip]

Soda sighed, looking mildly annoyed. "It's just how things work. You can't kill people once they're dead, and Overworld spirits drift around and find other realities to live in, sometimes ones that let them live new lives. It's not like a living world where if a society don't like someone you can kill them off." Soda listed a few things off. "Dark Matters are particularly bad. They're sealed and quarantined until they can be processed, and who knows, maybe Diyem is their experiment on improving that process. But in general, you'd have to be a pretty suck fuck to make a world like that."