gen voice testing

[redelivered]

      ➥ 1. CLICHE INTRODUCTION
[ A beautiful sunny day meant not only were the birds circling overhead with song, but that the good people of this world were out and about just the same. The markets were busy with merchants and shoppers alike! The streets are full of energetic children playing with a ball between their ankles. And the sky! From up above there's a girl flailing wildly while closing in on someone pretty quick? That seems just as normal as the rest, huh? ]

Watch out! [ C R A S H ] Uwohhhhhh I didn't mean-!! Oh no. [ Her head jerks back and forth as she tries to make sense of the situation. ] Oh no!

      ➥ 2. DELIVERY TIME
[ So maybe you're one of the lucky folks who didn't have to deal with a girl flying right into your face on random. Instead, there's a crowded street and this girl is actually gliding smoothly through the air until she lands right by the door. ]

Special delivery coming through! [ The red glider wings are retracted and folded neatly to tuck under her arm while the other holds out a satchel. ] You did order this, didn't you?

[ Her face scrunches up a bit. ] Pee-hew, it stinks! You sure this is what you wanted?

      ➥ 3. CAKE IN THE RAIN
[ Congratulations, there's now an eager new hire trying to entertain herself while she waits. Pacing back and forth, slipping her arms through her shawl, and humming out loud. Sometimes the strange mammal on her shoulder will even join in with a series of loud chirps. ]

Comments

[redelivered]

Um, owe me?

[ She's not used to people paying her. ] Didn't you sort that out with the dealer?

[empress_without_a_throne]

Well, yes, but...

Don't you ever get tips?

[redelivered]

Tips?

[ Thinking, thinking. After a pause that's too long to actually be normal, she finally speaks up. ]

No, I don't think so. Sometimes I get food, but I share that with my brother.

[empress_without_a_throne]

Ah. Well it sorta is impossible to give you some food when, prior to the delivery, I didn't have any. Still though...

[Mizuki looks around a little clumsily before finding a few bills for Amy.]

Here. I suppose this is enough for you to pick up a meal tonight, right?

[redelivered]

Oh, you're really going to give me money?

[ Sheepishly kicking at the ground with a food idly. ] I'm not sure if that's necessary. I mean--!! I appreciate the gesture, I really do, but I couldn't!

[empress_without_a_throne]

Might not be necessary, but it's appropriate. If I ordered this at a restaurant, I'd give a waitress a tip for doing the same thing you did, just over a much shorter distance.

But if you've got a good reason for it... well, you can be the judge.

[redelivered]

It's because where I'm from, everyone takes care of everyone. I have no need for money because my needs will be met whereas others who are more responsible will have a fairer idea on how to spend it.

[ Laughing nervously. ] It's a strange culture, isn't it? A bit primitive I've been told.

[empress_without_a_throne]

... But it works and people are happy, right? Doesn't matter how old a system is so long as it can do that.

[redelivered]

That's right.

--Well no, sometimes people aren't happy at all. There will always be lazy degenerates in any society who want to do minimal work and own everything. We call them pirates though.

[empress_without_a_throne]

Any society with free will, you mean. Any without isn't worth striving towards though.

[redelivered]

[ Bwuh? ] There are societies without free will?

[empress_without_a_throne]

... In a way...

[You're looking at the intended ruler of one of them, Amy. The Great Black Void was sorta a dick in that regard.]

... Just throwing this out there but you're not going to be late anywhere because of me, are you?

[redelivered]

Nope, I'm very fast.

[ Also she has no other duties lined up so she can spare a moment to talk. She's unaware that she might be giving that impression though by how much she bounces in place or how she keeps moving her arms around as if she's impatient. ]

In a way? I'd like to hear more.

[empress_without_a_throne]

Then come in and take a seat. This might take a while.

[Mizuki's following her own advice too, and she plops down in a chair. Oh boy, now where to start... Probably at the most basic fact. She points to the side of her head, turning it so Amy can see.]

Guessing you've noticed my ears? I'm not actually human.

[redelivered]

[ Standing still will be hard, but she does skip in with her lanky arms swinging back and forth. Pulling her elbows out in the holes of shawl to keep herself busy, she looked up at her ears and finally noticed them.

She's a bit of a simple girl who doesn't notice looks right away. ]

Incredible! They're pointy!

[empress_without_a_throne]

... Yes. Yes they are.

The short version, I suppose, is that I was made by something to wage just another phase of a long war for it. If I failed, by year's end I and everyone I commanded would've been replaced. If I succeeded, I probably wouldn't have gained anything from it.

But that thing, the Great Blck Void, it got destroyed while it was making me. My life got to be my own.

[redelivered]

Why was it destroyed when creating you?

[ It reminds her of mothers dying in childbirth. It isn't uncommon for that to happen where she's from, but humanity was stretched thin as is. ]

Or is it rude for me to ask?

[empress_without_a_throne]

Because the war was still going on while I was being created, and humanity's weapon against the Void just happened to be a touch stronger than everyone thought.

It destroyed the Void. And good riddance.