Waking up the next morning, Naoko sort of expected that once those that weren't currently confined met up, the video they were made privy to the night before would come up in some form or fashion. And, well, once the cafeteria was filled up with people, this hypothesis turned out to be more accurate than he expected. This was because, as far as he could tell, it was the very first thing that was spoken aloud at that time and place. Who brought it up wasn't a huge surprise, though.
"Well, we might as well get this out of the way. Any thoughts on yours truly's work?" Kimi asked conversationally.
"Huh?" Ishi responded. "Yeah, well, it was pretty good."
Kimi looked at her with great interest. "Pretty good? Well, that's not really what I was expecting, but…"
"But what?" Mareo asked. "It was a nice piece of animation. Is there something wrong with us complimenting it?"
"She's just mad because we're not complimenting her work highly enough," Eryu surmised.
"Well, that's hardly the full truth," Kimi insisted. "I was just curious, is all. Cool as it is, it's not like it's my best work. It's literally the first thing I ever uploaded onto the internet. Saying it's pretty good is fine. It's just not my best is the thing."
"The first thing you ever uploaded online?" Ishi asked. "That's actually pretty cool then, right?"
"Sure, it's not like I'm denying that," Kimi responded. "It was before I really knew how to edit, or write. That shit came later."
"Yeah, I could tell," Ishi replied innocently.
It didn't seem like she meant to do so, but what Ishi said seemed to really piss off Kimi. As soon as she said that, Kimi began to give her a very judgemental glare. "Oh, really? What was your first upload then, huh? I'm pretty sure I've overheard you bragging about your caving series, or something dumb like that."
"Huh?" Ishi asked. "Well, yeah, I used to record cave expeditions and stuff. Short while before then, though, I just did, like, travel blogs and stuff."
"Travel blogs, huh? That sounds pretty cool," Naoko said.
"Yeah, well, let's not forget who we're talking to," Kimi remarked. "Something tells me one of us used her rack to get clicks."
"What, me?" Ishi asked confusedly, looking down at her own body. "No way. It's not like I needed to or anything. Besides, I started around when I got into my teens, so I wasn't even, like, legal in a lotta places back then."
"Ooh. Yeah, that's a good point," Takeshi commented a bit uncomfortably. "That wouldn't exactly fly in the states, I don't think."
"Yeah, I mean, we are only about...I dunno, eighteen years old?" Mariko said unsuredly. "...Wait, has that been established before?"
"It's fair to assume that'd be the case, considering the fact that we all remember being high school graduates," Yori pointed out. "That, and I believe IMONO referred to us as teenagers at one point, so we're around that age range. So yes."
"Cool," Ishi said happily. "So, if we wanted to fool around a bit, there'd be no issues at all. I think I can get behind that!"
Kimi grunted impatiently. "Can we please change the subject towards something worth talking about? This sex talk is making me nauseous."
"You know you're the one that initiated it, don't you?" Mareo pointed out.
Kimi rolled her eyes. "Very observant, Mister Stark," she replied sarcastically.
"That's...not the first time I've been called that." Mareo said awkwardly. "In any case, perhaps you are right. If we're going to be talking to each other like this, together, we should probably be talking about important matters, shouldn't we?"
"I'm always open to addressing what's important," Yori replied approvingly. "It's better than just ignoring it."
"What if we did talk to each other about ourselves?" Mariko asked. "I think that'd be nice."
"Mmm," Hoshi responded with notable interest. "I believe this idea was raised quite some time ago. It could, among other things, help us better understand each other. I wouldn't mind doing so more often."
"That sounds nice, sure," Mine replied, "but should we really be doing that while there are really important things that we need to focus on? Haru's literally locked up, and Bankei's in what I guess you could say is a hospital bed. Weren't we going to talk about that some time?"
"Yes, I remember we talked about that yesterday," Eryu confirmed. "For one thing, we need to figure out who could help with each of them. Naoko, I'm assuming you and Haru are on good terms?"
Naoko nodded. "Yeah, I should be fine, still."
"Hypothetically speaking, couldn't anyone help take care of Haru?" Mareo asked. "He's literally behind bars at the moment, so there shouldn't be much danger in sending in just about anyone."
"Well, it's not like we want anyone here to be put in an unfavorable situation, Haru included," Yori reasoned.
"That's fair," Mareo admitted. "Still, I think it's crucial that we make sure Bankei is taken care of well. She's in a poor state at the moment, so she'll need plenty of attention."
Hoshi raised his hand. "I can help take care of her."
"You can?" Mine asked.
"Well...of course. Is there a problem?" Hoshi asked concernedly.
"I guess not. I just thought maybe you wouldn't...Y'know what? That's cool." Mine seemed like she was quickly backpedaling from whatever she was trying to say before. She began to smile, though it seemed like she was a bit nervous when doing so. "We need plenty of hands on deck, right? Is that the term to use?"
"Well, with him, that makes two of us. Hoshi, plus myself," Mareo said.
"What about me?" Mine asked. "I can help too. Plus, I've visited her already, so I may as well do so just, y'know, to help her out when she needs it."
"That can work. However, there's still a bit of an issue," Mareo began. "We still need to come up with a way for her to alert us when she needs help."
"Won't Haru need to alert whoever will be helping him with his needs?" Takeshi asked.
"That's true," Eryu affirmed. "Both of them will likely be using the same method of alerting us."
"So, how could they do that?" Ishi asked. "Could they send us, like, text messages?"
"But our phones can't send text messages," Naoko pointed out.
"I know, right? It's kinda lame, really," Ishi complained. "We can't even use our phones as phones. I was just thinking maybe IMONO could give us texting on these things."
"Huh. That'd be pretty nice, actually," Mine replied. "Do you guys think we should ask about that?"
"I don't feel like talking to that monotone ass today," Kimi objected.
"We might as well. What have we got to lose?" Hoshi asked rhetorically.
"Well, even without speaking to IMONO, I do have some observations," Yori spoke up.
"Are they like secret observations, or…?" Ishi asked.
"I believe they're fine to discuss openly," Yori replied. "On the back of each of our phones, there are cameras, like any commercially available smartphone. This is despite the fact that there is no recording function or picture-taking function."
"So, these must be actual smartphones that have been modified," Naoko continued.
"Exactly," Yori replied. "It appears to be using a custom-made operating system. Theoretically, it could likely send text messages, but it would need to be updated first."
"Removing basic features and adding them back later as updates?" Kimi asked with great interest. "Again, I feel like there's a joke there somewhere."
"PERHAPS YOU SHOULD SAVE YOUR JOKES FOR-"
"What the fuck?!" Kimi shouted, jumping in her seat and thoroughly interrupting IMONO. The rest of them turned to see that that screen had indeed lit up yet again, and IMONO's eye symbol was on it.
"IMONO, why the hell did you have to do that again?" Eryu asked annoyedly.
"YOU WISHED TO SPEAK TO ME, DID YOU NOT? AS MUCH AS I DO NOT LIKE TO SPEAK UNLESS IT IS TO ALL OF YOU AT ONCE, CIRCUMSTANCES HAVE FORCED MY HAND, SO TO SPEAK."
"Couldn't you warn us before you speak, though?" Mine asked. "Maybe with that dinging sound you play?"
"WOULD THAT NOT ALSO BE STARTLING?"
"I guess It's got a point," Takeshi shrugged.
"So, what about it, IMONO?" Naoko asked. "Could you enable texting on our phones?"
"POTENTIALLY YES. HOWEVER, DOING SO WOULD TAKE TIME. I WOULD HAVE TO RE-ENABLE THE FUNCTION ON YOUR DEVICES VIA UPDATING THE SOFTWARE. MAKING SUCH CHANGES CANNOT SIMPLY BE DONE ON THE SPOT. ESPECIALLY WHEN THAT MEANS DIVIDING MY ATTENTION BETWEEN SUCH A TASK AND WATCHING ALL OF YOU. DOING SO FOR ANY SIGNIFICANT LENGTH OF TIME WOULD BE RECKLESS."
"I'm sorry, what exactly are you trying to say?" Yori inquired. Naoko had a bit of difficulty reading her expression, but to him it sort of looked like she had difficulty believing what they'd just been told. "Are you saying that reworking the software would be time-consuming? If so, why is that?"
"I'M SORRY, BUT ALL THAT IS IMPORTANT IS THAT I CAN ONLY DO SO MUCH AT ONCE."
"What about when you're controlling all those robots?" Naoko asked.
"THAT IS A COMPLEX CASE. EVEN THEN, I CAN ONLY CONTROL SO MANY AT A TIME, AND FOR THE MOST PART, I GIVE THEM GENERAL ORDERS. NOTHING TOO SPECIFIC, UNLESS I CONTROL THEM MORE MANUALLY. THAT IS ALL I AM INCLINED TO SHARE AT THIS TIME."
"What about those dumb little roomba-looking robots?" Kimi pointed out.
"Oh yeah, those things," Mariko said in recognition. "I haven't seen them in a while, actually. I guess they're kinda just in the background, and we're not supposed to really think about them."
"I MAINLY OPERATE THOSE DURING LULLS OF ACTIVITY. ESPECIALLY WHEN IT GETS PARTICULARLY LATE, AND EVERYONE IS ASLEEP."
"It seems to me there's a silver lining to this conversation," Yori pointed out. "We're not getting texting yet, but you have given us some very interesting information, IMONO."
"THAT IS TRUE. I HOPE YOU ALL ARE ABLE TO CHERISH THESE MOMENTS OF HONESTY BETWEEN US. NOW, I DOUBT TEXTING WILL COME TO YOU PARTICULARLY SOON, SO I WOULD RECOMMEND STICKING TO A MORE IMMEDIATE SOLUTION TO YOUR PROBLEM. FOR EXAMPLE, THE STORAGE ROOMS HAVE MANY, MANY ITEMS TO UTILIZE. I BELIEVE THERE MAY BE SOME PORTABLE RADIOS OR 'WALKIE TALKIES' IN EITHER OF THEM."
"Walkie talkies?" Ishi asked. "You mean those handheld things people used before we had smartphones?"
"Technically, people still use two-way radios," Mareo corrected her. "If they exist somewhere in here, then they should fit the bill nicely. We could use them in a manner similar to how people use pagers."
"You mean to sell drugs?" Kimi snarked.
"...No," Mareo replied flatly. Kimi, for her part, chuckled at him. Naoko watched her do so and, considering what had happened just yesterday, couldn't help but worry about whether she'd actually be taking his advice. Thus far, she clearly hadn't been acting kind or courteous.
"I can't help but notice just how many different things are in those two storage rooms," Eryu pointed out. "And those aren't even the only ones here?"
"INDEED. THERE HAPPENS TO BE EVEN MORE STORAGE SPACE FURTHER DOWN. THIS FACILITY WAS MEANT TO HOLD A VARIETY OF GOODS, FOR A VARIETY OF PURPOSES. IT IS ONLY LOGICAL TO HAVE MANY DIFFERENT GOODS AT OUR DISPOSAL, CORRECT?"
"Makes sense to me," Naoko agreed. "So, now what? Should we go and see if we can find those radios?"
"Sounds like a plan," Yori replied. "Afterwards, we may have some time to relax on our hands, or we may have to address something else. We'll simply have to see."
"So, wait a moment," Hoshi spoke up, "we don't know where exactly to look?"
"That depends," Eryu replied. "Does anyone know where they are already?"
Nobody replied in the affirmative. However, if Naoko had to be honest, he didn't really expect anyone to. He was pretty sure they still didn't fully know about everything that was available to them in those rooms. There was a lot in them, that was for sure, though obviously not everything they needed for any possible purpose. IMONO had made that clear when it informed them of a lack of party decorations, which was certainly a time when they could have really benefited from those rooms' sheer variety. At least this time they were in better luck.
"So, that's it, huh?" Naoko asked. "We have to start looking ourselves?"
"Well, it sounds easy enough to me," Mine weighed in. "We should go and see for ourselves! I mean, really, what's the harm in that?"