Chapter Text
The odds of this being a coincidence was far too low for his paranoia to not take effect.
Maybe he needed to make an appointment with the doctor, they were the ones that dealt with issues like these, right? The correct name escaped him for the moment as the pattern continued to take effect.
Something had changed and another was on the set with him as the subject of interest.
It wasn’t the same every time but he could tell they all had a familiar pattern as if they had it all down to a science. After a certain time it would change once more, confusing him with so many quick changes.
Yet they hadn’t put their dance to an end, admittedly he didn’t want to put his foot down. And maybe he wanted to see how many patterns there truly were as he used his memories.
He held the advantage but it wasn’t nice to put these games of theirs to rest, but he could up the challenge and see if they could find him once more. This was surely going to throw them off from the hunt.
The giant frog out front would put off most people from even entering considering the people who were gamer gods and also after the main prize of that giant thing, now he wasn’t after the frog but he would enjoy a good game or two.
Not one of much note if you didn’t follow the rising stars of the F.O.S he was more known for hanging around the arcade whenever he could find the chance to escape that stuffy building.
That corner machine was assumedly still in operation just because of him, good thing their allowance wasn’t one he dipped into often besides food. Although the black card price had changed once again.
“Again? Well they do say you should give up luxury first.” He inserted the cards, he would feel that once he began his high score goal, and prepared for a romp through his realm.
This would buy him time to see how deeply invested they were into this chase of theirs.
When there was nothing better to do some people would usually come to see what the games of interest at this time would be, sometimes you just wanted to see how high someone’s run could go, and if you got really bored you would come watch him nail perfect shots into the center.
Not with a gun, although he did wonder how much of his training would translate to plastic toys, but with just his raw skill and a ramp. What could he say? He would be perfect at rolling a ball down a ramp.
That was when the presence finally followed him into the game corner but came to a stop just outside, probably admiring the ugly beauty of that frog. Who had the resources to do something like that in the golden age?
His final ball found home in the center, another perfect game.
How much time it had taken before he was consistent was best lost to history.
It was a predator on the hunt but instead of trying to subtle it was clearly going for a full frontal assault. He never would’ve thought he was important enough to get a stalker. He felt oddly warm.
But to be fair, this was an entirely public place with no place to hide.
Might as well get a concession and see anybody who would try and approach him because it certainly wouldn’t be for his mad skills with the skee ball. More and more people needed to understand the feeling of nailing the perfect angle.
When was he going to get someone who understood the great atmosphere of being in an arcade and basking in all of the choices before you? He was going to be forever alone. I'm so looooooonley…
He was glad the beverage company had survived, these were his guilty pleasures. Nothing could replace the feeling of the wateresque drink meeting his taste buds. If only he could still find these in a place other than here.
“How come we had to lose so many better companies, I would kill for that electrolyte drink." The attendant just grunted showing they paid attention but didn't care for his commentary.
God, he felt like a nerd and older than he looked at such a young age. Only losers like him would even remember such a drink for sports, although the science was out on if it worked.
"You really are pathetic, hanging out in a place like this." He looked around just in case for some reason someone was actually trying to talk to him of all people.
"I'm talking to you." So they were trying to talk to him, why did it seem like they were right next to him? Slowly he turned his head to his right.
He fell out of the chair, but he did not scream. Just to make that clear. Besides, the fall was loud enough for everyone to look in his direction.
It felt like there was an explosion occurring at the same moment he met the ground. A sign of things to come or proof of his paranoia taking him places once again?
He finally saw his assailant who sat on the chair next to him not even bothering to get another look to make sure he had been unharmed. Any normal person would've at least sent a glance.
But he also wasn't normal so maybe there was some common ground on that front.
She seemed to be younger than him but she held herself as if she was dead tired, definitely older than she looked. But what could a construct want with a prospective cog in the machine that was Babylonia.
Having actual horns as the shape of her device was an interesting aesthetic choice, but what did that say about her? In some people it meant nothing but within others it held a lot of personality.
"Nice hood." She became flabbergasted at his words trying to hide her face even more with her jacket. "I can't believe you actually like these kinds of places." She gestured to everyone and their games.
What a total brat.
"Want to help me win the giant plushie?" He pointed to its display case which seemed even bigger than on the inside, certainly dwarfing the two of them. Now how to get her to agree on this?
What kind of weapon would he have imagined for someone this brash and small, his eyes traced the area looking for the weapon perfect for the tiniest girl he had ever met so far…
“Fine, but I get to pick the game.” She was defying his expectations more and more.
She walked towards the game with the most skill despite the deceptive crudeness of the objective and the choice of weapon. “Wait, do you even know how to play this game?” She turned to think him dumb.
“This is my specialty.” Ok, he would trust her while she did that he was going to go back to his own game, she seemed confident enough to not need any support. Although if she would’ve bothered to ask was another question.
Back to his craft.
It was hard to tell how much time had passed but eventually he felt the eyes of someone watching him and every move he did. “Have you ever thrown a grenade?” Hmm, “Not really.” Another ball of his found home in the center.
“Well, let me give you a class course, just in case.” Why did he feel like there was much more to that story than she was saying? And so he got the world's most comprehensive course on something as small as small hand explosives.
“And as you see, you should always be able to throw this accurately.” She picked up the ball and threw it straight at the middle ring, a clear violation of the rules but what happened between them would stay there.
By all accounts just throwing straight at a piece where you had to curve it should not work but it did, he would take that as a benefit of being a construct, although there didn’t seem to be that many of them.
She was giddy on the inside but had to keep some form of professionalism, and besides it wasn’t exactly the most difficult throw ever even if she had never done this before. It would blow his mind so she tried it.
And it did, seeing as he said nothing but looked towards her in awe, she would’ve liked this more often, she wanted to capture this moment for everyone else to see. But alas, their goal was the giant ugly frog, she had to make up for not being the nicest. And that was putting it lightly.
“Meet me here in an hour.” And she walked off leaving him dumbfounded while she went to earn her keep for the frog. It was in way enough to make up for it after the fact but she knew it would go a long way.
Now if only they could figure out a way to keep the thing with him.
He had never met someone like her, a construct no less. But he was certain that she was having much more fun than she had expected from finding him in an arcade. He still wondered why she was the one to approach him.
Many others could have approached him based on all the different patterns. None of them had the gall to approach him, but she was different from them all. She was really impulsive which made sense why it came down to her.
He watched as she took her explosive knowledge and lined up the explosives in the best way to maximize the points she would earn and as a side effect the biggest explosion she could generate. She had clearly never played a game that challenged her.
She instantly went another round with the machine continuing to stack the multipliers, she might just get the new highscore because of her knowledge. It would be wonderful to see how many tickets she would get.
He rolled another perfect game as he watched her, maybe he should move onto another one with more potential tickets as a result. Not many played this game on the chance of the tickets being rewarded being a lot.
Hmm?
“A bow game? I can give you some tips.” She certainly held her tongue to stop herself from saying something rude.
It couldn’t hurt.
“How do I use one anyways?” She walked over after finishing her first run of all the stages before her, he wasn’t that great of a shot but definitely an above average amateur. Was there nothing he wasn’t good at?
Well that wasn’t that hard to disprove considering his record of affection, why had everyone fallen for him again? It probably had something to do with how much of a nobody he was in the beginning.
“Like this?” He let go and the digital arrow at least flew in the right direction, she giggled at his attempt before taking it from him and firing something that at least hit the right board. “Finish the game, then it's me against you.”
“You, challenging me? Ok.” He couldn’t wait to see her face when she lost.
“I’ll even offer these opera tickets for winning.” Well she better get ready to see them go in his personal collection. He had never been much for the classics anyways. They both drew back their bows.
If he got her to smile more than made everything else worth it.
He found himself putting the final touches on both himself and the note he would need to attach to this giant thing once he figured out who to send this for mailing. Commandants always got the fame but not the constructs.
It would be tough to reconcile that but he could at least lift the spirits of this construct that his arcade partner knew, in her words she needed all the support she could get. Although she wanted her to leave her name out for some reason.
He balked at the black card cost as it was less expensive than expected but it didn’t make him feel better, paying off the price he walked out leaving the parcel for fate to determine what happened with it. Hopefully she found it nice.
Tonight he had the honor of attending the opera with another girl this time, understandable considering how brash they could be just while talking to him in an arcade. Instead he had another one to go with him.
Honestly he wouldn’t have gone if it was only him but at least she seemed to be into the prospect of sitting through a performance. She had even handed him a letter from some other human named Selena.
How she got it was a surprise but he was convinced she would appreciate him going to see her. It was hard to say no to someone so insistent but, there was some personal stake in having him go. And it wouldn’t do him well to make her cry.
She seemed to have no ulterior motives, so he went if not not for himself than Selena and her apparent friend.
It was weird that she hadn’t mentioned being friends with a construct.
Maybe she would know what he was talking about in person.
He couldn’t wait to meet her.
And he still didn’t know either of their names.