I don't own digimon.
Characters: Baste & Chacha
Universe: 'Digitalverse'
Series: Without the baggage
Notes: What was supposed to be a short, maybe 1k+ piece turned into the longest thing I've written in nearly five years. I hope you enjoy.
Chapter 63
Her Memories
It is believed that robots are capable of remembering everything in their waking life. Memories, thoughts, knowledge. It didn't matter, they would always remember it. Heck, with recent medical advancements, it had become possible for a person to imprint some of their memories onto a memory card so that others can live through a piece of their life.
For Chacha though, she had never really put much thought into it. Sure, she could pull any of that up and play them back. But that brought little use in her daily life and she had mostly ignored it.
At the moment, she was currently running an errand for Polly and Fate, getting some groceries for dinner. Had she been paying more attention on her walk, maybe she would've noticed the nekomata laying in the middle of the sidewalk.
"Oh, hi there." she announced and got up, forcing Chacha back a couple steps. "I'm Baste. What's your name?"
"Chacha." she answered and took a deep breath. "Is there any reason you could have not slept in the middle of a busy pathway?"
The nekomata allowed herself to be gazed upon. Her fur had a ruby red shade to it, going quite well with the long orange hair hanging from her head. Her body was quite a bit bulkier compared to that of Chacha's, but seemed to lack much in the way of a bust. Four opposable claws hung at the end of sausage-like arms, held in by a much thinner wrists and upper. The lower set was a similar set with the legs thinning out to differentiate themselves from her flat feet. A pair of pointed cat ears sat on the sides of her head, while a pair of large blue cat-like eyes and lips covered in red lipstick called out to her. A braided tail hung right above her butt, swaying slightly in the wind. She was adorned in a cyan dress that just barely passed as modest enough these days. This was somehow combined with a green collar and a golden tag shaped like a card.
"Do you have an owner or something?"
Bastemon held her tag up for Chacha to see.
"I think so?" Baste answered and watched her potential friend look it over. "Though, I can't remember what it says..."
Chacha made one more glance at it and cleared her throat.
"It says that your name is Baste and your owner is someone named Kuro Neko."
For some reason, Baste perked up after hearing that.
"That's right!" the nekomata answered as the sound of footsteps approached. "Oh, that's her right now!"
She gave a wave before walking over to her owner as Chacha watched on.
"What a unique girl." the gyroid thought and picked her groceries back up, making her way to Fatemon and Polly's place.
Along the way, she tried to push the events to the back of her mind, but it always seemed to drift its way back to her. She saw her everywhere after that, usually in the most predictable of places.
"Oh hi there." her friend greeted.
Currently, Chacha had found Baste at the Digitalverse College Robotics Lab, standing by the heater. Why such a department such a large device was beyond her, not that Chacha really complained. It was one of the few thing that broke up all the white walls and black carpet floors. She was there for her annual check-up. It had gone quite smoothly, with her repairman's only suggestion coming in the form of more interactions.
"So what brings you here?"
Baste took a deep breath and tried to concentrate.
"I wanted to ask the robotics people something."
"As in?"
"I wanted to know what it took to be turned into a gyroid."
Chacha wasn't entirely certain how to react to that response. On one hand, it could potentially help with the nekomata's memory issues. It would also be nice to have someone that was sort like her. But, such a procedure could also create a variety of unique issues. If the body in question was not compatible, the brain would reject the process and fight it. Rarely did that work out for the person.
"Chacha, are you alright?"
Chacha took a deep breath as her stream of thought was broken. Baste was still there, having grown quite confused by the gyroid's sudden bout of staring off into space
"Yeah?" she inquired, watching her friend perk up.
"You had me worried there." Baste explained and got a confused glance. "I thought I lost you."
"Oh."
"Want to go on a date?"
This time, it had felt like her world had been smashed into a million pieces with a sledgehammer.
"Uh… sure."
"How about.. tomorrow night?" Baste inquired.
"That works with me."
And with that, the two went their separate ways. For Chacha, that meant going home to Polly and Fatemon, maybe having some dinner with the two. If nothing else, maybe ask for some relationship advice.
"They probably just laugh at me." she thought, letting out a deep breath in the process. "Still, there's a chance th-"
Before Chacha could finish that thought, she felt the tip of something sharp. She turned around, finding a brunette woman on a purple wyvern-like creature. The woman in particular was carrying a bunch of plastic shopping bags.
"Oh hi, Alice and Elena." Chacha greets. "Do you mind if I ask you something."
"Sure." Alice answers and carefully jumped down to the ground. "What do you want to know?"
"I got a date…"
The lucky gambler did a double take. She then took a deep breath as a smile forms.
"Do you think you can drop off the groceries for me, honey?" Alice announced and watched her wife give a nod. She then took the groceries off her hands, heading north while the two girls headed south. There, a mall awaited to fulfill the desires of all those that entered. Within reason, of course.
"Welcome to Varia's Love Shop." the titular Varia announced as the sextape mage to her latest customers in. "Oh my, you brought me someone. I guess this little neko wants to be a full on pussycat."
Chacha shook her head and cautiously made her way over to Varia.
"I'm the one with an upcoming date." she announced, ignoring the smile that was forming on Varia's face.
"With who, exactly?" Varia inquired and got a deep breath.
"Baste."
Silence fell over the sextape mage as Chacha and Alice looked on, waiting for a response.
"I got it!"
Varia then grabbed hold of Chacha, dragging her into the back of the store. There, outfit upon outfit had been thrust upon her with little regards to taste or public decency. Eventually though, the sextape mage slowed down and allowed her subject to properly take the individual outfits in.
"This one." Chacha reluctantly remarked and got a confused glance from Varia.
The outfit in question was a white blouse with a blue skirt and heels.
"How much do you want for it?"
Varia gave her a bit of intrigued glance and laughed. She followed it up by stepping towards the gyroid and blew her a joking kiss.
"You can just have in on the house." the sextape mage explained. "I do hope your date with that neko goes well."
"Thank you." Chacha answered and was handed a bag with the outfit. She made her way back towards Alice, who was still waiting her. "I'm heading home."
"Sounds good, I guess."
The rest of her day and most of the next passes without a thought. Sure, there are some questions from the other married couple. But it was just some general stuff that one asked in this situation: Who were they, where were they meeting and how long they would be out.
She took a deep breath, only for the sound of paws against the pavement to break her concentration.
"There you are!" Baste announced and Chacha took her in. "I thought you had forgotten about it!"
Chacha took a deep breath and chuckled.
"I would have expected it to be you who forgot." the gyroid remarked as they headed into the restaurant. What followed, was an awkward meal between the two full of cringe-worthy jokes, attempts at small talks and an effort to keep the conversation going. At times, Baste would start by saying something, only to forget what they were talking about mid-sentence. And let's not get started on the moments of silence between the two when they ran out of things to say. But other than that, the date went alright.
"Want to meet again?" Baste inquires and cracked a smile.
"Sure." Chacha answered and the two parted.
The next and following meetings were slightly better, with actual conversations being held and proper small talk to go around. To some extent, things were starting to look up for both girls. Baste's memory was seeming to improve and Chacha was beginning to see the nekomata as less of a nuisance and more of a friend.
But life seemed to have other plans for them.
It had been little under a week since either had seen the other. In that time though, they had gotten each other's mailing addresses and sent each other a little something.
"I'm not sure how long she'll have to be in the hospital, Chacha." the voice explained and the gyroid lets forth a deep breath. "There's still time to visit her though."
Chacha moved her phone away from her ear, debating just throwing her phone at the wall. She wasn't sure why she wanted to do it all of a sudden, but it just felt right in the torrent of bad news that seemed to surround her.
"Thanks anyway, Kuro." she responded and hung up, her gaze focusing on the four walls that held her room together. The gyroid had prefered to keep the walls clean and hadn't really put much thought into things like shelves or 'decorations'. But on this occasion, she had hung a sloppy watercolor picture that Baste had sent her. It was of the two of them walking along a beach. While it took her some time to see that perspective, it did make her a tiny bit happier. Chacha had sent Baste a puzzle cube, mostly to help with her memory issues.
She made a quick glance towards the top of her phone screen, checking the time. The particular time meant nothing for the gyroid, out of distracting her from grabbing a dusty ID lapel and stuffing it into her pocket.
"A good time as any." Chacha thought and got up, making her way towards the window. She pulls it open and lets out a groan, casually jumping through. She lands with a bit of a 'thump' and begins her journey. All that really stands between her and the hospital was just a couple of intersections not. Kuro had not really given her the clearest of picture of Baste's current status, leaving the gyroid to speculate on the possibilities. And while she could let her mind just wander, that would do little good in this particular moment. That processing power could instead be used for things like emotions or ways to cheer Baste up when she's out of the hospital.
Chacha makes quick work of this particular walk, taking in the hospital under the starless.
The building in question seems out of place amid the towers of glass and steel & smart homes of the future, being that of weathered stone and glass. It stood at quite a remarkable three stories, standing guard for the 'pathetic-looking' one and two stories.
She slows her pace down, casually passing through the automatic doors of this place of 'rejuvenation'. A quick dig through her pockets later, she pulls the lapel back out and sighs. At this particular hour, she could've just bluffed her way past the receptionist. But there was still a chance that they would be awake enough to see through that.
The gyroid stepped through the other set of sliding door and walked over to the receptionist desk. At this particular moment, it was being manned by some dweeby teen who was probably working part-time at the local McDonalds.
"You're good to go, Miss Chacha." he remarks indifferently and hands the pass back to the gyroid.
She let out a deep breath and heads to the elevator, realizing just now that she should've asked Kuro what room Baste was in. The gyroid mentally curses herself and gives the 'floor up' a gentle tap. A short ride later, she files out and begins her search for Baste. Or would have, if she hadn't bumped into one of the nurses right outside of the elevator.
"How can we help you, Miss Chacha?" one of the nurses announces and makes her approach. "Are you looking for someone?"
Chacha took the nurse in. While they were dressed in the usual black white top and black bottom that the hospital expected from its employees, they always seemed to give off an aura of cold
"Uh… yes." the gyroid casually answers. "I'm looking for someone named Baste. Do you know what room she's being held in?"
The nurse gave a nod and led her over to a screen mounted on the wall.
"Feel free to connect in and search for her with your processor or whatever." the nurse jokes and walks away. Chacha just watches on and sighes.
Once she's certain that the nurse is no longer in viewing distance, her gaze falls on a stray usb cord and picks it up. A slot in the side of her neck opens up and her hands reluctantly plug it in.
"You can do this, Chacha." she whispers to herself. Her eyes slide shut and the images on the screen appeared in her head, ready to be searched for this one person. "Here goes nothing."
She thinks the name 'Baste' and watches the screen buzz about, the various names and room dancing in such a way that one could interpret it as some sort of show act. That was probably far from the case, but one could dream. "Here we go."
After a bit of waiting in painful silence, a single name and room came up on the screen.
Baste - Third Floor, Room 13
Chacha's eyes slowly opened up and she removed the cord. Once it had been put back where she found it, the gyroid ran back to the elevator and pushed the 'floor up'' button again. The elevator casually made its way up towards its destination, seemingly oblivious to all that was going on. When it finally did stop and the doors opened up, the gyroid breaking into a full-on run when she exited.
"I'm coming Baste." she whispered as the end of the hallway came into view. Her pace gradually slowed down, becoming a graceful walk as Chacha reached her destination. She took a deep breath and pushed the door open, ready for whatever awaited her on the other side. In some way, the white walls and matching tile floor seemed to highlight what happened even more. A pink catgirl sat in a chair, being comforted at the moment by a purple slime sitting in the other chair.
"You must be Chacha." the slime remarked and shifted its body around, taking on a slightly more humanoid shape. "I hope that we're not inconveniencing you."
Chacha shook her head.
"Not at all." she responds and cautiously makes her way over to Baste, taking it all in. The nekomata had seen far better days, her body an open wound. Bones could be easily made out in certain areas, while others could had the appearance of being stretched in such a way that no organism should ever face. Her face had taken a bit of the blow, the general structure rearranged quite painfully. And cradled in her twisted and gnarled hands, was the somehow still intact puzzle cube.
"You…" Chacha started, her own tears stopping her from continuing. Try as she might, the words seem to elude her.
"It's alright." Baste answers and slowly opens her eyes, struggling to keep them open for the moment. "I'm the one to blame, Miss C."
"No, you're not!" Chacha screamed and stares down at Baste's face. "If I hadn't given you that puzzle box…"
With what little strength still inside her, Baste pulled herself up and planted a kiss in Chacha hand.
And once more, the gyroid's world shattered, this time by way of the force of a hammer.
"I want you to remember me, C. Don't let our time together break you."
The two broke free from their embrace, the puzzle cube somehow making her way into Chacha's hands as Baste's eyes close for the last time.
She takes a deep breath outside of the hospital, dawn breaking on through dark skies. She's not quite willing to make the walk back, choosing instead to focus on the puzzle cube. It was one of the more simpler ones on the market, with room to hold an object of sorts inside.
"There we go." she thought as the cube opens up and revealed a memory card. "Ha ha, very funny Baste."
She can still hear the nekomata in her head, encouraging her to go further, to honor her dying wish. And to some extent, the gyroid wasn't quite sure what to do in that regard. A memory drive would hold something on it, but what exactly?
Chacha sighed and tried to remember where the port for the memory drive was. If her memory served her correctly, it was located somewhere in the heart region of her body. She takes a deep breath and makes her way back to her home, debating whether or not to insert this unknown device into herself. At best, it would let her get a better understanding of who Baste was. But at worst, it could result in her either inheriting a second (possibly) conflicting personality or her own memories getting swirled about as a result of corrupted data or improper storage.
She gave the card one more look, choosing instead to focus on its origins. While this could've been the result of the hospital attempting what they could of her, it was just as likely the choice of Baste herself to go through such a procedure. But, the gyroid takes a deep breath and silently approaches the outskirts of her home. She opens the door to the best of her abilities and quietly makes her way up. Once inside her room, the gyroid ran the commands to open her heart area and carefully inserted the memory card in. She closed her eyes, letting her eyelids act as internal screens.
Would you like to view the contents of ?
Yes - No
She moved one of her hands over the left option and gave it a slight tap. The message disappeared off of her screen and her 'vision' begins to shift. Gone was the thin and scrawny that she resided in, getting replaced with the tall and slightly bulky body of her nekomata friend. Overall, it was an odd and jarring experience, not at all helped by the fuzzy feeling in her head. Any attempt at concentrating on something seem to either fail or just last a few brief moments before moving to something else.
But, Chacha turned her attention away from that and to her current surroundings. Currently, she was laying in the middle of the sidewalk, letting the heat of the concrete warm her up. It had a calming feeling to it, which seemed to be further complimented by the sudden arrival of a mint green haired girl. She had been dressed casually for this occasion, choosing a white top and a pair of jeans for this particular trip. A plastic bag of groceries swung at her side, while her faded emerald eyes seemed more focused on what's ahead rather than her surroundings.
"That's me." Chacha thought as the other 'Chacha' walked over, only for Baste to get up.
"Oh, hi there. I'm Baste. What's your name?"
It felt odd to hear her friend's voice out of her mouth, especially when that friend was no longer here with them.
"Chacha."
She watches 'herself' take a deep breath, taking in the process. There something about it that made her see it as beautiful, but she can't quite put her finger on what it was exactly.
"Is there any reason you could have not slept in the middle of a busy pathway?"
Her body moves on her own, letting 'Chacha' take her in. While she wasn't quite comfortable being in such a flimsy cloth that just barely hid her assets, it did have the added advantage of allowing one to be both graceful and elegant. She lets her thoughts turn to her own profession, getting rewarded with scenes of Baste dancing all about. While average by her own standards, a certain sense of grace and beauty seemed to be held within these moving images. Of course, there still was the collar and tag hanging around her neck. While she liked to believe Kuro had a good reason for such a thing around the nekomata's neck, it seemed to be missing on second viewing. Maybe it was a way to keep track of her, or perhaps an identification method.
"Do you have an owner or something?"
"I think so?" she says and carefully holds the collar up for her friend to look over. "Though, I can't remember what it says…"
The 'gyroid' takes one glance at it and clears her throat.
"It says here that your name is Chacha and your owner is Kuro Neko."
She perks up from hearing that. It's an odd sensation, sort of like feeling warmth without being warm. Yet, she likes that feeling.
"That's right!" Chacha answered as the sound of footsteps approached. "Oh, that's her right now!"
She gives a wave and makes her way over to the pink catgirl. 'Chacha' watches on and heads her own way. Chacha's attention turns back to the catgirl who has already began the journey home. She follows right behind, making sure to keep up with the woman.
"Baste, you can't keep doing that!" the catgirl shouted and turned towards her. "What would happen if I lose you?"
She takes a deep breath and doesn't answer.
"This time I made a friend." she announced and her owner stops.
"Do tell."
"Her name is Chacha and she's a robot!" she continued and got laughter.
"Really now?"
"Yes!"
Her voice began to feel slightly scratchy as pain seeped into her head. Her thoughts seemed to scatter with that, everything growing blurry. Yet, it was not enough to stop her from continuing to follow her owner. Eventually the two find reach a dance studio and make their way upstairs. The room in question reminds her of her own room, with the only difference being the mirror lining a wall with a bar in front of it and the hardwood floor to move about on.
"Are you ready to practice at least?"
She gives a nod and begins to move about the room. She starts with a twirl, only to follow it up with pirouette and move about the area with a sense of grace the gyroid had never experienced before. It was the sort of thing she made sure to record for later, possibly for further review.
"What did you think?" she inquired and watched her master perk up.
The world shifts around her, displaying memories at a rapid-fire pace. Usually these would be short meetings, brought about by chance. Yet, the pain began to subside with each meeting. In its place, came clarity and mending. But eventually, that gave way to something far greater: Love.
Chacha couldn't quite explain it, but there was just something there that she hadn't seen the first time. Their meetings seemed to grow in length, going from just passing each other to full-on conversations.
Then came the meeting in the Robotics Lab.
Back then, she had gave little thought to that particular meeting. But now, as she gazed over the advanced equipment such as the 3D printer, part assembler and all sorts of other machines for the creation of parts and assist in the creation of humanoid robots.
"Hmm…" Chacha thought, taking the time to imagine to imagine what she would like as a nekomata. The image in her head was basically a carbon copy of Baste, just with green fur instead of red along with a purple dress instead of a cyan one. "I could see that."
If nothing else, she could at least use herself as a guinea pig to create a possible body for Baste.
Of course, the static returned to her head as she approached the heater. It felt nice, especially after dance practice with her master.
"Oh hi there." she greets.
"What brings you here?"
Her gaze focuses on 'Chacha', who is trying to figure out why she was even here. At one point, she had possibly thought the nekomata seemed out of place here. But know what she did now, she could understand why.
"I want to ask the robotics people something."
"As in?"
"I wanted to know what it took to be turned into a gyroid."
She watches 'Chacha' get caught off guard by that. Had she known the event that would come, would she have done things different? Maybe, maybe not. At the moment, it was something to push to the back of her head once this was all over.
"Chacha, are you alright?" she inquires, watching her friend break out of deep thought and take a deep breath.
"Yeah?"
Chacha perks up a little after that.
"You had me worried there." she explains and gets a confused glance. "I thought I lost you."
"Oh."
"Want to go on a date?"
Chacha realizes the meaning of these words this time. While it still felt odd to hear them again, she saw their meaning now. It made her want Baste even more, long after the nekomata was gone.
"Uh… sure."
"How about.. tomorrow night?" she inquired.
"That works with me."
And with that, they left the building and went their separate ways. She made her way down the quite clear streets, fighting off the slowly returning fog in her head. When her legs finally did come to a stop, it was a large building on the edge of campus grounds. Most of the houses could just be faintly seen, but that was not what she was focusing on at the moment.
Unlike the quite plain two-story home that she had called home, a sandstone villa seemed to be what Baste resided in. Like her home, this too had an extra layer built on top to hold its occupants.
She steps over to the door and casually pulls it open, making sure to check if there was any slime residue or stray fur on the floor.
"I'm home!" she shouts, but get silence as her answer. She makes her way up the staircase and takes a right, finding herself at a white door. After carefully opening that up, the gyroid takes a deep breath and jumps onto her bed. Once there though, she takes the time to take her kingdom in.
For such a large home, Baste's room was no bigger than her own. There was very little in the way of actual furniture, with one of those 'mirror walls' taking up a good-sized chunk of the place. A clothes rack hung on the opposite side, containing her usual outfits along with some makeshift drawers for the necessary undergarments. A vanity sits at the front of the room, ready to help its user with all their makeup and accessory needs. Finishing up this room was a white toy chest and matching drapes over the sole window in the room. She had least expected a clock of sorts, perhaps even a proper closet. But who was she to judge?
After some period of time of just laying on the bed and staring out the window, she got up and made her way over to the toy chest. She opened it up, pulling out a set of paints and a large piece of paper. Her next destination was the vanity, where the gyroid sat herself down and set up her supplies. What followed, was an absolute mess. To call it 'painting' would potentially be an insult to those who even picked up a brush and made at least a line on the paper. Yet, Chacha was fine with the final result. Sure, it took a bit of time to see the artist's intent for this particular work, but could never unsee it once they knew.
In that time, the mental fog seemed to push through a bit as static entered her thoughts. So she turned her focus to the mirror wall and decided to go through her routine again. It didn't hurt to practice, after all.
Which each repetition of the steps and the various moves Baste did, the want to be by her side doing the same seemed to grow. It shouts at her, begging her to just stop this program and go through with this plan. And while she would agree, the gyroid wasn't quite ready for that.
Eventually, dinner was called for and passed without much interest or conflict and sleep took her in
Once more, the world shifts about. This time, dropping her outside on the sidewalk. The weather was slightly warmer today, but not quite enough to be laying on the sidewalk and just bathe in the sun.
In retrospect, maybe she should have thought of where they would go exactly. Maybe she would've clarified what restaurant they would've gone too.
"There you are!"
She turned around and watched 'Chacha' run up to her. She was dressed in the outfit Varia had helped her picked out. She was dressed in a clean dress and had added a bracelet or two around her wrists. What follows, was a trip to a local cafe. There, a woman dressed up like a witch serves them their meal as they awkwardly make small talk and attempted to hold a conversation. Yet, she wouldn't trade it for anything.
"Want to meet again?"
"Sure."
They parted once more, only to meet at Chef Mono's the next day. For once, she felt on top of the world. Not only did her mind seemed clearer than it had ever been, things had started to look up.
It was here that they gave each other their respective gifts. She gave 'Chacha' the painting and got the puzzle cube in return. They also got each other's phone, just in case something came up.
But like a roller coaster, things sooner or later have to go tumbling down. In the case of her, that came in the form of the static.
Post her second date, it had seemed to be ramping up the offensive. Her usual coping methods were failing, so she and Kuro were going to have her get checked out by a doctor. If nothing else, it could bring them some sort of answer.
At the moment, she and Kuro were walking across a crosswalk. The hospital was in view, everything clear for now. But fate had other plans for her.
Chacha's vision begins to spin around as the world around her moves, eventually giving way to dark.
.
Her eyes shot open.
Chacha was still in her bed, regret yet understanding having come over her.
"I know what I need to do." she whispers and takes her room back in. Dawn had turned to night, casting its dark glow on everything. For the moment, it would be best to get some sleep for the day ahead.
She closed her eyes, letting a dreams flow into her head.
It starts with her waking up and stretching, getting a glance of the green cat fur and the bulkiness of her body. She carefully skips her way over to a clothing rack and pulls a purple spaghetti-strap dress off, placing her pajamas in its place.
With that out of the way, the 'gyroid' heads over to her vanity and stares into its mirror, seeing the face of a nekomata in place of her old one. A hairbrush finds its way to her hands, letting Chacha brush any sign of bedhead from her long lime green hair. She puts the brush down, letting her paws grab hold of a stick of lipstick. She focuses in on a picture of Baste's face hanging and matches her lips to her girlfriend's.
"One of these days…" Chacha thought and gave the photo a kiss, leaving behind an imprint upon the pictures. She then got up, grabbing her phone and purse on the way out. A quick trip down the stairs later, the nekomata makes herself a piece of toast and pours a glass of milk to drink. While she didn't need it, such nourishment would help accomplishment her plans today. But a quick glance up at the clock seems ready to derail those plans.
"Crud." she thought and gobbled down her toast and milk, dashing out the , her walk to Kuro's Dance Studio passed with little incident. She arrived with a couple of minutes to spare, which went to spending time with Baste.
"How are you, honey?" she greeted and watches her girlfriend do a pirouette.
"Wonderful, Chacha." Baste remarked as Chacha began her routine, making sure to keep in step with her partner. "Hey. Want to go out tonight."
Her heart skips a beat, but that was nothing new for her.
"Where were you thinking?" she inquires, a smile forming on her face.
"Neko's Diner." Baste answered and seems to notice her friend's change in demeanor. "Or anywhere else. I'm up for anything."
"That works." Chacha responded, only for Kuro to walk in.
"Girls, are you ready for today's lesson?"
But before she could see what the lesson was what exactly, the light of dawn pierced through and the gyroid was forced awake.
"Such a nice dream…" Chacha thought and took a deep breath. After a quick breakfast, she grabs a backpack and makes her way to the robotics lab.
The lab is quiet, but someone had the courtesy to turn the lights on. She makes her way over to the 3D Printer and takes a deep breath.
After finding the usb cord and plugging herself in, she closes her eyes and visualizes what she had in mind.
"Ugh…" she thought. "Just a little bit longer."
She had meant to take Baste's memory drive out, but had chosen to hold off on that for the moment. After all, it could be very easily be stolen if she had left it out in the open.
"What do we have here?"
Chacha's eyes shoot open.
Her creations were complete, taking the form of a pair of nekomata 'costumes'. The one on the left was ruby red, the opposite one emerald green. All that was left to do was to find a suitable body and figure out a way to put the rest of Baste's memories in it.
A doll dressed in a black cloak stands over her, a bikini of some sort just barely visible under it.
Currently, she has a gun pointed towards the gyroid's 'heart'.
"Uh… hi?" Chacha remarks and attempts to get up, only to be pushed back down by the doll's left heel. "Do you think you could let me up?"
The doll shakes its head, but ignores her comment.
"So you're the one who that idiot fell for." the doll announced. "And you want to bring her back?"
"Yeah…" the gyroid starts and gets a kick to the head. "Do you have a problem with that?"
The doll lets out a laugh and follows it up with another kick.
"I would expect someone who was right at the forefront of this mess would know far better."
Static fills Chacha's head as she tries to comprehend the words just said. Her eyelids slid shut, but the images do not appear. But what does 'appear' is a voice.
"No matter what happens, you can do it. I believe in you."
It feel out of place, like a memory in the wrong of her head. But there was something familiar about it, as if it was calling to her to go somewhere.
When her eyes open back up, she finds her hands right over her heart. An impact wound on the palm of her hand had appeared in that time, but her creations had been left alone. She had expected the doll to tear them up, possibly to scare her. Though, she was still plugged into the machine, which her 'opponent' probably thought would not be worth her time.
She pulls her hand away and breathes a sigh of relief. Her heart region was unscathed and the memory cards within her left alone.
"Hmm... " she thinks and debates her options. At the moment, it was probably a good idea to head home and just lay low. But, she still needed to get a body of sorts to act as replacement for Baste. So she decided to trust her instincts and grabbed the green costume, finding that she had included the dress in the design.
"I guess I could try it on." Chacha thought and slips into the costume, taking the time to adjust it until it looks right on her.
After, she puts Baste's costume into the costume and lets her feet do the work. The first couple steps were the hardest, especially with the weight seemed to bring on her body. But as she continued onward, the 'gyroid' got the hang of it. Once that feeling came, she start to vary her walk up, adding a bit of a skip and the occasional twirl. It was sort of like what Baste did in her own time.
If anything, she could use her movements as a base for Baste.
After 'walking' quite a bit out of town, she came upon her destination: A ruined building that may've been once a school, judging by the desks strewn about and the blackboards implanted into the ground. In the middle of all of it, stands a green-haired girl frozen in time. Glass shards hung in the dirt around her, with a sole 'Chacha' unit sitting at her feet.
But for Chacha, there is only static and a flash to a different time.
"I'm sorry."
She watches her friend shake her head, only to plant a kiss on her cheek.
"No don't be. This was the choice I made when I hit her."
She feels her body get hugged, but the gyroid is the only one there. Her feet make her way towards the girl, oblivious to the world around her.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" the words come spilling out of her mouth with a somber tone she couldn't place while drops of something fell down from her face. Her gaze fell to the girl's feet, where a 'Chacha' laid. "Is this a gift, long after I abandoned you?"
Another flash, this one of a lab. It was possibly related to these ruins, but how exactly she couldn't quite see.
The interior is glitchy and corrupted textures are all about, but the image is clear enough. She and her clones had been sent there to bring this mess to an end.
Her memory seems to cut ahead a bit, her hands now holding the remains of a grappling hook. It was quite the makeshift device, consisting of just a green vine with a meat hook attached.
"I want you to remember me. Don't let our time together break you."
Things began to blur as the hook slowly makes its way towards her throat. Her gaze turns to the girl in front of her, the person's name seeming to escape her.
"Usagi…"
Usagi. That was her name. Well, at least the name she chose for herself. It was a nice one, the sort that seemed to roll right off the tongue. She was a high energy sort of person, the kind that seemed to never quite stick in one place at one time and were hard to time. Or in other words, nothing like Baste in the slightest.
Chacha had never been certain what the ranger had seen in her in that short time, but she took it in stride
The hook now sits right in front of her neck, tears now falling down her friend's face.
But it was never meant to be, especially when they found out of her true nature. That day, it was said that it rained blood on this one spot.
The hook touches her skin and everything goes black. Pain surges through her neck, but no words seem to come out.
Her eyes shoot open.
"Why I couldn't I remember that before?" she thought and took a deep breath, picking the body up. Chacha gives the girl one more look and wraps her arms around her body. "I'll come back and restore you, no matter what happens."
After saying that, she makes her way home. Compared to the walk to this place, it passes in silence. While the gyroid could've pondered what she had seen there, the silence would let her focus on other things at that particular moment. Things like how she would do Baste's movements, what repairs needed to be done to this copy's body and some other stuff that had little to do with her current situation.
By the time her feet had finally stepped onto the porch of her home, night had once again had taken hold of the sky above. Chacha made her way upstairs, choosing to disengage her suit the moment she stepped into her room. After hanging it up on the door for the moment, she carefully removed Baste's memory card and set the nekomata's 'new' body on her bed.
She took a deep breath and began the examination.
It was sort of like a check-up one gets at the doctor, except the person in question was check whether or not the various systems in the machine were still in working order. In the case of this 'Chacha' things seemed to be working a bit too well. It was as if someone had planted this gyroid there for her to find and take back. But why, exactly?
A million different possibilities seemed to race through her head, but none seemed to add up. So she took a deep breath and carried the body over to the bathroom.
The interior was similar to that of her own room, just with a tile floor and light blue walls. This was also where Polly and Fate had left her a note about going out on a vacation for a couple of days. Why they thought the gyroid of all people would look here of all places she wasn't quite, not that she took the time to ponder that thought.
"Oh well." Chacha thought and placed her 'clone' in the tub, closing the drain and turning a tap on. The gyroid watched the tub slowly fill up and got to work. While cleanliness had never been on the top of her priorities, it would help with the attachment of the nekomata shell. That, and it could potentially reveal a detail that she may have missed in her initial examination.
What follows, is a mix of scrubbing and washing. And it wasn't even worth it.
All she had managed to learn was that this 'Chacha' had been kept in quite a good condition, leaving its origin just as much of a mystery as they had been before she cleaned her.
"My turn." she thought and drained the tub, only to turn on the shower in its place. Compared to the initial cleaning process, this went far better. Though, that could be the result of at least practicing the bare minimum of cleanliness routines.
Afterward, the gyroid a felt a tiny bit better and got her shell back on. Back in her bedroom, she carefully removed the body's hair and replaced it with a bald cap. Next came the insertion of the memory card, which actually went smoothly. She had half expected something bad to happen and set her back quite a bit, but that was thankfully not the case.
Very carefully, Chacha inserted a USB into the back of her subject with the other end into her.
"Here goes nothing." she thought as her eyes close. Unlike the previous experience with this memory drive, she went for the other contents of the drive. If she was lucky, may there was something she could build off of.
"Bingo."
Somewhere, amid the millions of now deleted cat photos, she found what she was looking for. It was the 'movement' files, the sort that control how exactly a machine moves.
She takes a deep breath and brought up Baste's memories once again. This time, she was more focused on the movements itself rather than the memories contained within. All that was left to do was to turn those movements into a file that the body could run.
"There we go."
Next up were the 'personality' files, which Chacha wasn't quite how to configure exactly. So she took a shot in the dark and watched though Baste's memories for the third and fourth time. At least here, she could watch it at a much higher speed than she had the first time. Once she was confident in her perceived answer, she input the stuff necessary and moved to the final part of this operation: The memory itself.
That was the easiest yet at the same time, hardest part about this. On one hand, she could leave Baste's memories alone and just explain it to her. Or she could do her best at giving her the rest of her memories, but they would probably be either biased or false. That, and she had gotten the distinct impression from that doll that the rest of Baste's family wasn't going to be helpful. So she took a deep breath and sets the original exe file as the default starting point. After, she breathes a sigh of relief and terminates the connection. That left one final thing for her to do: Attaching Baste's body shell. That too went smoothly.
"I did it." she thinks but sighes." I just need to wait for her to wake up…"
Ironically, she collapsed onto the bed in exhaustion.
.
Initiating boot-up sequence…
Boot-up complete.
Loading personality routine program…
'Baste' loaded.
Disabling HUD…
HUD disabled.
Awakening…
Awakening process complete.
Baste opened her eyes.
The static was long gone from her head, having replaced with peaceful silence. It was an odd feeling, one that would take some time for the nekomata to get used to. But what did take her by surprise though, was the green nekomata slumbering beside her.
"Oh my." she thought and grabbed hold of her familiar friend. "That's you, Chacha, isn't it?"
"Yeah." Chacha remarked and shifted her body to face her girlfriend. "It worked…"
"What worked?"
The gyroid took a deep breath, only to lock her lips with Baste. She had half expected that would catch her by surprise, but she took it in stride. Euphoria and bliss seemed to surge through both of their bodies, leaving them in a state they had never thought to be possible.
"Are you ready to take this to the next level?"
"Absolutely."
They stayed like that for the next couple minutes, taking the moment in. Once that was done, they got up and Chacha debated taking her shell off.
"Keep it on, honey." Baste remarked. "I like you better in that."
Chacha's cheeks glowed a bright shade of pink.
"Thanks…" the gyroid remarked and took a deep breath. "What do you want to do first."
"Dance."
They went to a nearby dance hall. Neither girl was quite sure who exactly ran or what the rules were. But it those short moments, they didn't care. No, they were more focused on making up for the time between their last date and Baste waking up again. For Chacha, this felt foreign yet close to her, just like Baste to some extent.
For Baste though, it was just another day in a life she wouldn't trade away for the world. So they danced like they were the only two in the world, which got them kicked them out. So they went to that cafe where they had their first date and ate a celebratory meal of sorts. It wasn't anything too impressive, just some fish and milk. They did their best at small talk and conversations, making a good attempt but came up mostly empty in the process. But they were fine with that to some extent. It just made for the small handful of times that they did succeed worth the effort put in.
"Where to next, Cha-Cha?" Baste inquired and Chacha did a double take.
"Cha-Cha?" the gyroid answered.
"It was the best that I could come up with."
Chacha let out a laugh. As silly as the name did sound, it had a sort of nice ring to it.
"Cha-Cha it is." she remarks as an idea comes to her. "I do have one more place to go."
So they went to a pet store, which was currently being manned by that one kid from the hospital. If one had to make a logical guess, this was probably his day job. So they grabbed a pair of collars and got new tags made up. In a way, it was kind of like a wedding ring. Except for cats and stuff.
"Here you go." Cha-Cha explained and slipped the collar and tag around her partner, Baste doing the same.
Whatever life was going to throw at them, they were ready for it. When the time came, she would retell Baste the events that led to her rebirth. Maybe, they could get to the bottom of this whole 'Usagi' mess.
But for now, it was a time to savor the moment while it was still fresh in their memories.
.
Outside, the doll from earlier cracks a smile.
"She's happy now, Usagi." she whispers and sighs. "Soon, you'll be able to walk among the living once more."
The doll walks away, making one glance to an old photograph as she teleported away.
Notes:
One of the biggest problems with the Digitalverse as a whole is the amount of characters vs the amount of screen time they get. In DA03 and DA04, it wasn't that bad. Mostly because the story jumped all over the place. But with Project Digital and Digital Adventures Online, the story shifted to a more linear structure. And while that helped a lot with keeping the story at least going in the right direction, it didn't do much to help tell the stories of all the characters along a variety of other things (such as the fact that everyone is aging in real time for example).
Adding to that mess of a problem, is the story of the digitalverse. Which is the result of many ideas, sudden changes, what could have been and a whole lot of stuff that resulting a universe of interesting characters that require you to go out of their way to learn their backstories and motives.
But as a result, this is an experiment of me just tearing the fat away and building up from there. If this one is well received, I might do more of these. Hopefully, not at long as this one though.
As such, review!