The Border of Change (1x1 with Sumi & Kaide!)

[Sumirenko]

Kokoro jumped when Gumi started to move, then sighed with relief when she only made to close the door to the office. She visibly relaxed, seeming more or less pacified by the promise of someone who actually didn't want to kill her, and to Gumi's relief the spear disappeared in a flash of blue light. It was a lot easier to see Kokoro as a child when she didn't have any deadly weapons on hand. Kokoro blinked up at her for a few seconds, then moved in closer, grabbing another cookie from the jar on the way. "Do you mean it? They can't come inside?" Kokoro considered that for a few moments, taking a bite of her treat. "...Okay. I'll stay here, then. I never make a ruckus, miss."

A blatant lie. Not that Gumi could really tell, on such an expressionless face. Either way, Kokoro stuffed the rest of the cookie in her mouth before clinging onto Gumi's arm tightly, her mask shifting to her first positive emotion of the day: Happiness. It was sort of cute, really. Gumi could swear she saw a smile, but that was probably just what she expected to see other than what was actually there.

"So where are we, Miss? People keep giving me funny looks... well, funnier looks than usual, anyway." Kokoro inquired, glancing around the office and noting all of the strange things she hadn't seen before. A strange, thin tablet with a glass-like screen. The art on the walls, most of them featuring a girl with long blue ponytails... something about her looked familiar. Kokoro resigned herself to ask Gumi about her later. "I was walking around the human village before I ended up here. The humans there were angry at me, so I ran... is this a secret part of the village, maybe? Oh, and um, what's your name?"

So many questions, too little time. Kokoro reached for another cookie, then sighed with dismay when her fingers brushed the empty bottom of the jar. Oh well.​

 

[Kaide`]

Kokoro was pretty insistent on finishing off that jar of cookies, wasn't she? Gumi watched as she moved close to her, grasping at her arm like a child to a mother. Gumi found herself staring yet again, until a sudden flustered expression crept up onto her features. Truth be told, the green haired android didn't get much time around children. The children she did see were fleeting at best, only asking for autographs and photos, coupled with the occasional hug or two.

And though she probably couldn't bring herself to admit it, she could feel Kokoro hitting a soft spot of her's.

Snapping out of her stupor as youkai continued to speak, Gumi made quick work of composing herself. Kokoro's expression was... odd. It didn't seem to change; only the mask besides her face did. She found it somewhat jarring, having to track both her face and the mask that portrayed what it was supposed to. She could only imagine the humans here having a worse time.

"You're really not from here, huh?" She mused quietly, bending down slightly to be more leveled with the shorter one. "You're in, um... Japan. You're in a city called Sapporo, in a place where me and all my friends live." She quickly began to think of all the other Vocaloids currently residing within this one large facility, and she wondered how she was ever going to keep something like this a secret. This was definitely going to be a handful.

"Oh! And my name's Gumi. It's nice to meet you, Kokoro." A brief pause. "... And I like your name, by the way. It reminds me of something." Indeed, the name brought back memories of a certain song sung by a certain pair of twins.​

 

[Sumirenko]

"Gumi?" Kokoro let out a giggle (which was even stranger given the fact she never smiled) and looped her arms around Gumi's shoulders as soon as she knelt down to her eye level. This lady was nice. She liked her. It was a nice change of pace from the people who pointed and yelled at her for reasons she couldn't understand. She poked the android's nose with a small finger and noted, "...Your name sounds like candy. I like candy, so that's okay. ...But I won't eat you. I promise."

Then she remembered what Gumi said about the area, and her gloomy mask poked the happy one beside her head, threatening to push it aside. "I've never heard of Japan, Miss Gumi... Is it close to the Human Village? Or the Myouren Temple? Miss Byakuren was taking care of me today, so she's probably worried. Can you at least send her a letter?" She squirmed a little bit, fear lining up behind the two remaining masks in a hopeless jumble of emotions. Kokoro wasn't so sure how to feel now. She was in an unfamiliar place, with no one but Gumi to protect her from both the monsters outside and the monsters that were yet to come.

Kokoro buried her face in Gumi's shoulder and took a deep breath. It'll be okay. Miss Byakuren and Miko will come for me eventually. Then they can scare all the monsters away. Until then... I'll be fine.

Her voice was a little muffled by her shoulder, but Gumi could still make out the words with relative ease. "...Your friends live here, too. If they're nice like you are, maybe we can have sleepover parties. Like the ones in books.~ Miss Byakuren won't mind, as long as I'm safe."​

 

[Kaide`]

"..."

Gumi didn't know what to say. She felt as if there was something seriously big at play here. Here was this odd looking, pink-haired child with masks and a lack of understanding of what "Japan" was. And to top it off, she had to figure out a gentle way to break it to her that her parents might not be able to reach her. Yikes.

"Is Byakuren your mom?" She questioned after a moment, gently wrapping her arms around the child. "I'll try and send her letter, alright? But Japan is pretty far away from the human village and temple. It might be awhile before she arrives." Well, that was a dark thought.

"I'm not sure how all of them will react to seeing you." She began to wrack her mind for who she could confide in about this safely, trying to compile a list of people. There was Rin, but she was more likely to just keep Kokoro entertained rather then help manage her. There was the others in her company, as well. Besides Rin, they were likely to be the most accepting bunch. They were a family, after all.

"A friend of our's went missing a couple days ago." She continued. "Everyone's kind of on edge because of it, so..." She glanced up, taking note of some of the pictures on the wall that depicted Miku. She pointed, hoping Kokoro would look over. "That's her, up there. You haven't seen her, have you? Her name's Miku and we're all looking extra hard for her." What'd she have to lose, right?​

 

[Sumirenko]

Byakuren? My mom? Kokoro thought that was a little bit of a stretch. Sure, Byakuren took care of her and let her sleep over sometimes, but she was often a bit too... preachy for Kokoro's tastes. Like she wanted her to convert or something. She usually had more fun with the members of the temple than the monk herself- particularly Mamizou and Nue, who would both let her get away with murder. They didn't hawk over her too much, either. It had been Nue who was watching her before she ended up in this strange world, and Kokoro hoped Byakuren wouldn't yell at her too much; it wasn't her fault she ended up in this mess. She didn't know what else to call the monk, however, so she just nodded and closed her eyes. "Kind of. She isn't my real mother, though."

Actually, the thought of Miko dropping in was somewhat discouraging. What would they say if they heard she ran away from Nue? They definitely wouldn't be impressed... It gave her masks disquiet, so she decided to think about something else.

Kokoro sat idly throughout most of Gumi's thought process, simply cuddling up in the older girl's arms and resting. It was only when she was addressed again that Kokoro opened her eyes and lifted her head from her shoulder, blinking at her face and then the posters upon request. "Your friend is missing... and she looks like that?"

If Gumi expected Kokoro to sigh and shake her head, she was sorely mistaken. The child in her arms bounced back, clasping her hands together in a display of excitement.

"I've seen her, Miss Gumi! I've seen her! She was at the human village just this morning!" She sang, ripping a poster from the wall and shaking it in emphasis. Whoever owned this office was going to have a hard time cleaning by the time they were done. "I remember looking at her because her hair was kind of funny, and Miss Nue was thinking about pulling on one of her ponytails. That's about when I ran off. She was talking to Miss Sanae, I think... Something about autographs and portals." Kokoro hugged the paper so it bunched up in her arms. "Don't worry. Nue wasn't actually going to pull on her hair. I think."​

 

[Kaide`]

... Wait. What?

Gumi's eyes widened in shock, Kokoro's words registering with her after a few moments. She had seen her?! In that human village of her's? It was hard to believe, indeed. But then again, she supposed she had some living proof of the matter right in front of her. It was their best lead yet; so she figured she at least owed it up to Miku to investigate. Even if it did make her seem a bit crazy in the process.

"Wait, wait, wait... Hold up. You've seen her? In your village?" Gumi repeated, wanting to be sure she was hearing this right. Autographs? Yup. Definitely sounded like something she'd get wrapped up in, somehow. Autographs meant that there were people there that knew of her existence and who she represented, however. Perhaps that meant there was a way to reach her after all!

"How do we get to the village?" She went from passively accepting the fact the village might be out of reach to needing to know how to get to it ASAP. "She's not in any danger, right? What's the place like?" Too many questions, too little time.​

 

[Sumirenko]

Kokoro looked incredibly pleased with herself. Or rather, her mask did. Kokoro simply dropped the poster onto the floor and stepped on top of it, clearly not planning to put it back where she found it any time soon. "It isn't my village, Miss Gumi. I'm not a human. But yeah, I saw her." The concern and conviction she saw on Gumi's face puzzled her. She told her where Miku was, didn't she? So why was she still worried? "I didn't really stop to talk to her, but I watched her for a bit... she looked kind of bored. Miss Sanae was doing most of the talking."

Her revelation apparently rose more questions than it answered, and she was hit by them one by one. The bewildered menreiki tried to answer them the best she could. "Um... I don't really know how I got here in the first place. I've never seen this village before. Maybe you're underground, and I fell in a hole, or something?" Kokoro scratched her head. "I don't know. Sorry."

"Huh? What's it like?" Kokoro sucked in a breath and wondered if she should tell the truth or not. Her own experiences in Gensokyo hadn't been so great before Miko found and claimed her, but she'd rather not cause undue worry. Kokoro eventually decided to tell some of the truth, and simply leave out the... nastier bits.

"Well, there are less humans, I think. And not a lot of buildings. The human village is right by a forest that has a lot of youkai, like me," she gestured to herself, "and some fairies. We don't usually go into the village, so she'll be fine. ...of course, she might be in trouble if she went into the forest. Youkai aren't usually very nice..."

Kokoro pulled out her spear and gazed down at her reflection in the blade, letting out a quiet sigh. "They're kind of violent. And if you aren't violent too, they beat you up. That's kind of how it works around there. But don't worry; Miss Sanae will protect her."​

 

[Kaide`]

Violent? Beating people up? This sounded like bad news to Gumi. Her mind began to race once more, her systematic processes coming up with various situations that Miku could have ended up in. Beaten up at the hands of nasty, demonic youkai! Or worse, maybe even killed! Shredded to bits--!

Okay, time to get a hold of herself. Quickly composing herself, Gumi threw on her serious face. It's what this situation needed.

"Miku can be a little too timid for her own good, sometimes..." She muttered, trying to think of what needed to be done next. "But if you say this 'Sanae' person will protect her, then I trust you." Such solace was the best she could do for herself, unfortunately.

She suddenly remembered what she had been doing prior to entering this room. There was a meeting to be had, which would bring together a few of the companies and their Vocaloids. They were to be discussing the state of the situation and what everyone's next move would be.

... Aaaand, by her calculations, the meeting was due to begin any minute now.

"Wait, oh shi--! I totally forgot! Um, hold on. Be right back, Kokoro! Don't move." Scrambling to stand up straight, Gumi hurried out of the room, shutting the door behind her. Her footsteps could be heard down the hall before they silenced completely. Though Kokoro didn't know it, Gumi had made a break for her room- which thankfully wasn't too far. Barging her way into her quarters (which was thankfully devoid of any other Vocaloids besides herself), Gumi made quick work of scooping up her touchscreen tablet. Exiting the room once again, she powered it on, opening up an instance of Skype as she headed back towards the room Kokoro was in.

"Alright, Kokoro. I have something for you. I might have forgotten that a few of my friends are waiting for me but, um..." She entered, promptly shutting the door once more. "I bet you haven't heard of a 'tablet' before, huh? It's not safe for you to come with me quite yet, but using this, you'll be able to see and hear what I do!" Ah, yes. The wonders of technology.​

 

[Sumirenko]

"Don't worry... she didn't really smell that good. Not bad, or anything... just not edible. You don't, either." Kokoro commented, examining one of her masks. Did this little girl eat people? What a gruesome thought. If she looked closely enough, Gumi could see Kokoro's pronounced canines and subtle points to her fingernails, courtesy of her youkai heritage. She didn't act particularly bloodthirsty, but...

Whatever the case, she continued her line of thought without a hitch, clearly thinking that it was normal to discuss people's scents. "Actually, neither of you smell like anything. That's why I didn't notice you before. Though I guess my nose was in the cookie jar, so it's hard to say whether I would have sensed you coming anyway."

Before she could say more, Gumi ran out of the room, throwing a hasty "be right back!" over her shoulder. Kokoro was confused, but she wasn't inclined to disobey when this girl was being so nice to her. She decided to take a seat at the desk while Gumi was gone and fool around with the rolling chair, spinning around in circles and rolling back and forth. Ah, simple pleasures. Kokoro decided to ask Gumi if she could take one home later, when- or if- she could ever return home.

She wasn't left to her own devices for long. Gumi reentered the room with something wide and flat in her hands, claiming it was a "tablet." A tablet? Like a stone tablet? Kokoro didn't see how that would help her see what Gumi was up to, but she played along and took it from Gumi without hesitation. It was... smoother than she expected. Kokoro tapped the shiny surface of the tablet a couple of times and gasped with wonder when it lit up.

"It's cool.~ I like it." Kokoro announced, then all of a sudden, worry flitted over her masks. Didn't Gumi say she was leaving? "But... you'll come back, right, Miss Gumi? Promise?"​

 

[Kaide`]

Kokoro's tangent about smell (and possibly eating said things that smell) went pretty much right over Gumi's head- what, with her imagination running wild and everything.

Thankfully, the young youkai seemed pretty receptive to the new piece of technology. While she began to play with it and get used to how it worked via touchscreen, Gumi pulled out her smartphone, opening up another instance of Skype. She made fluid work of calling and establishing a connection between it and the tablet in Kokoro's possession, beginning a snappy live audio and video feed between the two devices.

"Aaaand there you go!" Gumi announced proudly, as if she had just discovered a technological breakthrough. She reached over, gently tapping the "mute" button on Kokoro's screen. "It works through touch, see? Tap the buttons and it'll act like you pushed them. It's cool. I'm sure you'll get used to it pronto."

Pocketing her phone in her shirt pocket in such a way where the camera would be poking out for Kokoro to see, Gumi found herself pausing as the youkai asked for a promise that she'll be back. Her eyes darted to her masks, making her soften up slightly.

"Yeah..." She said after a moment, smiling gently. She reached up to gently pat her on the head, being mindful of the masks themselves. "I'll be back, I promise. It's not too far from here, anyways. Just promise you won't make a lot of noise, okay?" She didn't want a stray employee to accidentally stumble upon this room. That'd... be a mess.

Giving her a little wave and another assurance that she'd be back soon, Gumi exited the room once again, shutting it behind her and making quick work of running towards the central of the complex. It's here where most of the Yamaha employees worked and did their business. Yamaha was essentially the mediator between companies; making sure that all of them stayed within legal bounds and (more or less) got along with each other. It was only natural, given how the company was the origin of Vocaloid technology. They took the responsibility seriously, especially in the business world. There were always more technological improvements to be made, and more business partners to work with. It was an ever-changing field, indeed.

Kokoro would be able to see Gumi arrive at a large, conference-like room. Pushing her way through the double doors, she was greeted with the sight of a well lit room. The windows were shuttered, providing focus on the various facility employees that littered the room, typing away on their portable laptops, writing something down, or talking with one another. It was a lively yet serious sight, indeed. Various Vocaloids were in the room as well; many of them hailing from different companies. Most notably, however, was the fact the entirety of the Crypton Vocaloids were present.

[spoili]

[/spoili]

Sitting relatively closely to the doors were a particular pair of twins. The one with the bow, Rin, immediately looked up from her phone, eyes fixating on the green haired android. She shot up from her seat besides her brother, trotting over to the girl.

"Yo, Gooms!" Though her voice was full of energy, the look on Rin's face was surprisingly serious. "About time you showed up."

"Yeah," Her brother, Len, half-turned in his seat to look at Gumi. "It would have been weird if you didn't show up for this."

"Yeah, sorry." Gumi sheepishly said, rubbing the back of her neck. Hopefully they didn't notice the camera sticking out of her shirt pocket. "Just got a little wrapped up in something. I'm so ready for this meeting, though."

Before Rin or Len had a chance to reply, the sound of someone tapping a mic could be heard. They looked up, eyes fixated on the end of the room where a man in a suit stood by a projector on the wall. Though not immediately recognizable at first, he was a representative of Yamaha. They had business to get down to.

"It looks like everyone expected to be here is present," The rep said, his voice emanating through the room via the microphone. "We do not have a lot of time on our hands, so I'll be brief. Approximately three days ago, CV01 Hatsune Miku vanished from the premises. There was no surveillance video of her leaving, and the last time anyone saw her, she was turning into her quarters for the night. We have contacted the authorities and they are keeping vigilant lookout for her, however so far everything has turned up blank."

He paused, listening as faint murmurs filled the room. Gumi herself sat down next to Rin and Len, listening intently.

"We've been playing with various possibilities of what could have happened to her. She either left of her own accord, or... someone has taken her away."

"I knew it!" Rin suddenly cried, acting all dramatic. "She has been kidnapped by cultists!"

All eyes in the room seemed to go on Rin, prompting Len to hastily tug his twin back into her seat. "Rin! Shhh! Not now!"

"I totally called it..."

"Ahem..." The rep awkwardly cleared his throat, continuing. "As much as we would like to wait for CV01's safe return, she has some very important business matters coming up. One of which will be a public appearance for high profile figures here in Japan."

"And as such, we figure you all have the right to know what we are proceeding to do next-- we will be reactivating an old model of Hatsune Miku to cover in her place. She will be our public face until we sort this whole mess--"

[spoili]

[/spoili]

"Wait!" A brown haired woman dressed in red immediately stood up, pointing an accusative finger at the representative. "You can't just mean to replace her like that! The public has a right to know."

__________________________________

Meanwhile, while the conference carried on, Kokoro might have found herself quickly bored by all the talk that seemed to surround Gumi. She probably started tapping around the various other screens and apps the tablet had to offer; one of which was a browser. Unfortunately for Gumi, she hadn't anticipated handing over the device to such a young child.

... And as such, she made the sore mistake of leaving very questionable material open on the first tab.

THIS IS REALLY NSFW BE CAREFUL

... Yikes.​