queenofheartsrp | [action]

[It's strange, this place—or, at least, the little blonde girl wandering through the Gardens thinks so. But, then again, she hasn't ever been allowed out of the laboratory where she was born—or grown, to put it more accurately, but it's not as though she knows the difference—and no one ever thought it necessary to teach her much of anything about what "outside" might be like. Of course she thinks it's strange, this much color and space and freedom.]

[It's a little scary to suddenly be somewhere new with no idea where she is, of course, but at the same time it's a lot more frightening to be where she was before. After being trapped in the lab for so long with no hope of escaping, finding herself where she is— It's confusing, but at the same time she feels relieved. She pays no attention to the direction she's moving in as she wanders through the trees, taking in her new surroundings with wide eyes.]

[She almost doesn't notice when the footsteps first draw close enough for her to hear. When she does, though, she freezes in place, holding her breath as she listens. They're definitely coming toward her— What if it's someone that's come to take her back?! She makes a panicked dive behind the nearest hiding spot she can find, which, in this case, happens to be the trunk of a particularly large tree. As the sound of the approaching person draws closer, she peeks out ever so slightly from behind the tree to find...]

[It's someone she has never seen before. Which, at least in her mind, probably means it's not someone coming to drag her away again. It's also the first person she has seen in this place so far, so curiosity wins out over fear and she shuffles out from her hiding place. She's a rather pitiful sight, to be honest, rail thin and barefoot and clothed in something that's closer to a smock than a dress.]

H— Hello...?

[ ooc: So, Lambda has been wildcarded into bitty!cyborg mode. Feel free to run into her just about anywhere! As a warning, her past deals heavily with human experimentation and abuse related to such, so those topics are likely to come up somewhere in this post. Replies will be coming from

minimurakumo. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Lambda just stares at the windbreaker for a long moment, but then she moves to sit as well.] A...secret? [She thinks about that for a few seconds. Then, she nods.] Uh-huh.

Okay. [ Subaru puts her hand to her chest for a moment and then holds it out. A small holographic screen flickers to life and on it is a portrait far better looking than this (http://i.imgur.com/Zmcy2.jpg). It shows a mismatched set of young girls, with Subaru in the center, and then an older man at the top.

She points at each one of them as she goes clockwise starting at the top. ] This is my family. Papa is in the back, his name's Genya. Then there's my older sister Ginga, Wendi, older sister Cinque, Nove, and Dieci.

[ Obviously, someone is missing from the picture and, furthermore, the family resemblance is strongest between Ginga and Subaru, seconded only by the faces of Subaru and Nove, but everyone else? It's so drastically different that one has to wonder... ]

[Unfortunately, it's expecting a little much of someone with Lambda's particular upbringing to understand such mind-blowingly complex concepts as, "people biologically related to one another frequently possess physical similarities." If she's meant to pick up on that, it goes right over her head. Instead, she's much more interested in the fact that whoa there's a holographic screen on Subaru's hand. She seems to forget her shyness, at least for the moment, and leans closer.]

How did you do that?!

[ Oops, she didn't mean for that to be distracting, and seems a little embarrassed. ] Aheh, well, it's something I can do with a little help from my friend. [ Sorry, Mach Caliber, but she knows how people tend to react to her introduction, so that gets to wait a minute.

It's okay, though. Her partner understands. ]

The thing about my family is that... we were not always a family. [ Her life and times, at present, are happy memories, but her past is anything but that. She takes a deep breath and points. ] Ginga and I were rescued from a lab when we were very young. We don't even remember much about it — which is probably for the best — but it might have been very similar to your situation.

We were taken in by Papa Genya and Mama Quint. The others — [ Pointing around the circle. ] —they were all the same bind as us, except they were brought up to be weapons. [ A little laugh. ] Fortunately, they didn't stay on that line of thinking!

[That's super cool!! ...But she catches onto the fact that that's not what Subaru had wanted to talk about quickly enough, so she settles down and listens to her explanation. Her eyes go wide when she explains that she had lived in a lab, too; Lambda has never met anyone she can consider to be like herself, and especially not in that regard.]

Like me...?

[She looks away again when Subaru mentions being raised as a weapon. Her body is still too young for major "renovations," so that part she can't relate to just yet. Really, she doesn't even know if that's her eventual purpose; sometimes she hears the scientists mention things like Boundary Interface Prime Field Devices and Murakumo Units, but she hasn't had the privilege of finding out what those things actually mean.]

Are they...okay now?

[ Best not to give the actual breakdown of how many Numbers were detained and how many decided to reform. Subaru nods. ] Mm! They were uneasy about things at first, and it took a lot of work to get it to where they could move around freely, but our dad was with them every step of the way.

It just goes to show that there is a lot of strength to be found in family and friends. In the knowledge that... you're not alone.

[She stays quiet for a little bit, mulling that over.]

Um... So... Is that— Am I rescued?

[She sounds so hopeful it's almost heart-breaking.]

If you don't see the lab anywhere, and there are no scientists... I'd say so! [ She dispels the image and offers her hand, just like before. ] And you can bet I won't let anyone come and take you back to a place like that. I promise you that, Lambda. [ It might be lofty, and Subaru doesn't fully understand the situation, but that doesn't stop her from being genuine. ]

[And this time, the hand is taken, Lambda grabbing it with both of hers.]

Really? You really promise?

[ Subaru smiles big and puts her other hand atop the child's. ] I promise, on my reputation as the Silver Ace!

[She's still skittish about being touched, at least when it's not something she has initiated, so she starts to cringe away when the hand sets itself atop her head. She stops herself, though, her little hands squeezing Subaru's harder. She doesn't know what that means, but it sounds important, so she'll take it.]

Thank you, thank you!

[ She laughs a bit. ] No need to thank me. [ That said, she pulls the top hand away and moves to stand. ] Are you hungry? I know somewhere we can get you some fruit, or we can go to the kitchens, too. Do you have any favorite foods?

[Lambda follows, gathering up the windbreaker with her and clutching it to her chest. She nods when asked if she is hungry, but hesitates at the follow up question.]

"Favorite"...? Um...

[That isn't exactly something she has been encouraged to think about before, and it's not like she's had much in the way of variety or tastiness, anyway.]

[ Such a kind gesture, picking up the coat like that. Subaru smiles and puts her hands on her hips. ] Well, if you don't know, that's okay! I can just find you lots of things and we can find out that way what you like and don't like. [ Since if there's anything Subaru loves doing for others in her downtime, it's cooking (and, subsequently, eating).

She holds her hand out, either for the girl to take or for her to just know to follow her. ] Come on, Lambda.

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...she forgot to mention Touma. PRETEND THERE WAS A BROTHER /fail

aye aye cap'n

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