[Marlene Lovechild]

Clinking and clanking of dishes. Murmurs of dozens of conversations happening at once. An odd scrape of the chair against the tiled floor. Requests for food being made, and lines upon lines of students with trays. Scents of different foods everywhere. Cafeteria was a very loud and bustling place during the lunch hours. A social hub too, as students talked over the events of the day, be that the result of a spar, the upcoming test, a fight, or the length of a hot teacher’s skirt. Most of the tables and chairs were occupied, and the stragglers had to look for seats, or wait for someone else to finish their meal and leave.

Marlene wasn’t here for the food. She did not need it, much. The energy her mother pumped into her upon creation was enough for 100 years of autonomous operation. She was here for the socializing. To observe and engage. And just … do her best. The automaton girl ordered the cheapest and tasteless gruel that was being served today, and a glass of water. With that in her tray, she walked over to one table, then to the other, looking for a seat. People gave her odd looks. Probably because of the dress. In her black and white outfit, with white sleeves and collar, she looked more like a maid than a student. Too prim and too proper for the T-shirt-wearing crowd. But there were no spare seats for her to occupy. Marlene had to go back, way back, the furthest away, to find a corner table that was recently vacated.

“Louse.”

Whoever ate here was a slob – left food bits and crumbs everywhere, and spilled a drink over the table, too. Having fetched a few paper napkins, the automaton girl wiped it clean. She did not intend this mess to get onto her neat dress, which her mother gave her. Mother preferred cleanliness, too… Sitting down and tucking a napkin to her chin, Marlene placed the plate with gruel in front of herself. Then, gave a look towards the bustling crowd further away from her. ‘I came here to socialize at the cafeteria. But there is nobody to socialize with…’ – the automaton girl thought, a faint shadow of a crown crossing her features. She ate a spoonful of gruel. Wondering how it tasted like.

‘I should change seats, if nobody joins me…’ – the girl thought. A rubbery smile briefly appearing on her features, and disappearing just as quickly. Marlene had no reason to smile, in particular. It was just… practice. Her chair creaked a bit under her weight, making Marlene look down and check it, before returning to her meal. But while she checked it, someone may have come over.

[Thea]

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[attr="class","skulltitle"]間違い

[attr="class","skulloverlap"]How do we forgive ourselves for all the things we did not become?

[attr="class","skullbody"]She barely ate. Food was somehow always the last thing on her mind. It's not that she didn't enjoy eating, in many ways she enjoyed it too much but what point was there in eating gruel and fast food from the local store when she could have steak tartar and Foie gras at the drop of a hat? Despite her down-to-earth appearance and rough demeanor, Thea's taste was that of a queen. Refined, decadent, and most of all, expensive.[break][break]

The cafeteria was a mess of sensations, sights, sounds, noises, and smells that for anyone else would blend together into an unintelligible mess of sensation. Not for the Mentat. Her mind expanded and time warped as she processed the myriad conversations from across the hall. Gossip filled her mind as did the scents a a dozen different dishes. each and every clink of utensils marked its permanent spot in her memory. The worst part of it all, she couldn't shut it off. She couldn't dive into memory and blur it all away. [break][break]

Like a shuffled deck, the pattern of sensations was unique in ways that could never be repeated. Yet meaningless all the same. Like always, she dragged herself to the far corner of the cafeteria. Tray in hand filled with the one dish that this place offered worth even considering. Tonkatsu ramen. [break][break]

Someone had taken space at Thea's favorite table. The Mentats eye's struggled to focus on the figure in the same way they struggled to see Farrin or Zenkai. A hand raised to pinch the bridge of her nose. "Ugh, not this shit again." The sensation haunted her, just another thing she couldn't control as fragmented memory forced itself to the forefront of her mind. No matter how hard she tried to piece it all together, she could never truly grasp the images, the faint whispers of thought and emotions from a life she never lived, from memories that never existed. [break][break]

"Don't think I've ever seen you before," she lied. She always lied. Part of her struggled to understand why she could never bring herself to ask simple questions. It's not like it would hurt anyone, but she knew that even if she asked, she'd still take the truth from them. The nuance of language was something other than what she was amenable to. [break][break]

Her tray clattered as it fell onto the table, drops of ramen splattering from the bowl. Unceremoniously she pulled back a chair and crashed into it with all the grace of a dying animal. Immediately she took the chopsticks to the bowl and began plowing the contents into her now gaping maw. All the while staring down the machine sitting across from her. Her glassy eyes betrayed no emotion, barely communicating the fact that she was there in the first place. [break][break]

"Who the fuck are you"

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[attr="class","skullinfo"]Marlene Lovechild

[attr="class","skullcredits"]TAIKO!

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[Marlene Lovechild]

Someone came over.

Marlene's head tilted up to look at the person who decided to share a table with her. She had the look of a delinquent about herself - a stark contrast to what the automaton looked like. Where she was tidy, the other one was messy. Where one was polite, the other was bordering on the edge of rude. Not even asking for permission to share the table or saying hello. Only a statement of unfamiliarity. It would have bothered Marlene... if she could be bothered at all. Unable to get particularly upset, even if she wanted to.

"We have not met."

She stated, after scanning her memory for any similarities with this person. Past or present. Those that belonged to her, and others that were someone else's. There were none. A pity. Hopefully, this person would want to talk. Or even become a friend. It has been... increasingly difficult for Marlene to make any. People who used to know the original self were not so... keen on reconnecting.

She ate a spoonful of gruel, curiously watching the girl consume her food with all the manners of an animal.

"My name is Marlene. I am a first-year student at this academy. What is yours?" - she asked. - she asked. ‘Table conversations with strangers are a way to establish familiarity and rapport.’ – she thought. All while watching food fly about from the overly enthusiastic eating. ‘Does mother want me to behave this way?’ – she wondered, idly. A few droplets landed on her, prompting the machine to fetch a handkerchief and remove the droplets, before they could soak into the dress. ‘Doubtful.’

[Thea]

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[attr="class","skulltitle"]間違い

[attr="class","skulloverlap"]How do we forgive ourselves for all the things we did not become?

[attr="class","skullbody"]Even the air between them seemed to draw a dividing line. Thea was chaos, barely contained, on the verge of collapsing in on herself like a black hole. Marlene, prim and proper, a literal machine, order brought to life. Fate could produce two individuals any more distinct.[break][break]

Somehow, in the back of her mind, Thea knew she'd been here before. Faint whispers of jeering and snickering played at the edges of her consciousness. “You can't taste that, can you?” The words came from her mouth though she wasn't sure she'd been the one actually to say it. Immediately she played back the memory in her mind, struggling to match sensations. The voice was defiantly hers, her mouth certainly moved, but the action was not her own. “Fuck, this is it. I'm losing it.”[break][break]

“We're losing it!”

“Who did that, was it you?”

“It was one of us; it had to be!”

“No, I don't think so.”

“She did this!”

“How did she do this?”

“Take the truth from her”

“Ask her”

“Take it!”

“take it”

“TAKE. IT.”

[break][break]

Hollow eyes locked with lifeless ones. The wheel of fate turned once more, and like a rat in a maze, she turned the same corner again. How many times has she been here? How many times had this happened? She extended a hand; fingers spread wide as her palm ached with a hunger food could not sate. She would take the truth from this Marlene. She would dig deep and find every secret that could solve the puzzle of memory she'd felt since arriving in this place. The fragments of a time and space no longer here.[break][break]

"Nice to meet you, I'm M-," she paused, her name failing to form in her mouth. "Thea. My name is Thea. First-year heroics student." Her hand floated between them as she awaited the girl's response. [break][break]

"My memory is a more perfect world than the universe. How could I forget something?"

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[attr="class","skullinfo"]Marlene Lovechild

[attr="class","skullcredits"]TAIKO!

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[Marlene Lovechild]

Marlene thought nothing of the hand outstretched to her.

It was a friendly gesture, a sign that someone was unarmed. She knew not of a greedy and power-hungry intent behind it. So, she reached forward, and shook the hand of her strange new companion. Their hands would meet, and Thea would feel that Marlene's did not feel like a normal hand. The surface was slightly lukewarm and unnaturally soft, as though made of silicone. Underneath, however, was the unmistakable hardness of metal. But with the quirk primed to trigger upon contact, there was precious little to do, before its effects went live.

But one thing she would know for certain. The mind she was entering was not... human. 

Or that of a living being, for that matter. It was closer to a computer, than to that of a human. And even that comparison was not entirely accurate. There were no electronics here. And yet somehow, this was still a mind. One that Thea could enter. But the conditions of her stay, or the distance of her reach were now ... unknown.

For the intruding mind, everything would go black.

And when she would open her eyes again, the scenery would have changed. The bustling cafeteria was gone. So were the noises and smells associated here. The predominant colors were gray. Dissipated light that came from everywhere or nowhere at the same time filled her vision. The place appeared to be a library of some kind. Shelves upon shelves of boxes with tapes in them, positioned in an orderly fashion, according to chronological timelines. 

This place was unlike any mind Thea would get to experience. No chaos, no dazzling and fractured memories floating about as an organic brain tried to fish this or that out in a haphazard fashion. Everything was where it should be. Except for sounds, and colors, and shadows, and tastes... So... sterile. 

But then, there was a voice. Coming from everywhere, and nowhere at the same time. A familiar one. One she heard before.

"Hello. Welcome to my memories. What is it that you are looking for?"

It was Marlene's voice. Her voice eerily neutral, echoing in these halls. And slightly... curious.

[Thea]

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[attr="class","skulltitle"]間違い

[attr="class","skulloverlap"]How do we forgive ourselves for all the things we did not become?

[attr="class","skullbody"]The machine's mind threatened to take her entirely. Thea's hydra mind performed its function, spreading and observing, altering her perception of time until it was warped enough to take in every minute detail of the world around her. Still, in the infinity of another mindscape, time seemed to lose all meaning. This place operated at the speed of thought. Between Marlene and Thea, even light would feel slow.[break][break]

"What the fuck did you do to me." She snarled, her sense of self fragmented as she would appear to multiply within this mindscape.[break][break]

This mind was unlike any other Thea had invaded before. Most minds were simple compared to hers, like the text interface on an old computer. But this place was different. The machine's mind could take so much more of Thea's than she was used to. She felt as though she was transported to another time and space, only barely anchored to her body by the delicate train of thought dedicated to monitoring her surroundings as she floated through memories. [break][break]

"This isn't some sort of mind palace. This is something else entirely. It's too static, too clean." One version of her spoke while others scattered around, probing their new surroundings. Some glanced through tomes of memory before casting them aside, while others seemed wholly immersed in whatever they could find. "Some of these aren't even yours." a Thea murmured from across the grand library.[break][break]

"Another quirk like mine?"

"No, impossible."

"Maybe just her mind is different."

"Too different"

"She can hear us."

"We can't exactly Think silently in another's head now can we..."

[break][break]

She felt trapped, like a rat in a cage. Even her thoughts were exposed in this realm. It was an uncomfortable feeling. It was being so vulnerable in a place that should, by rights, be her domain. She had no other option; she had to tell the truth. [break][break]

"I thought I recognized you. I had the same feeling during our entrance exam. I get the same feeling from a few other people. I was going to search your memories for why since..." her voice trailed off as she finished the words in thought. "I can't seem to remember," But in this realm, those words still rang out all the same, mournful and afraid.[break][break]

[break]

[attr="class","skullinfo"]music

[attr="class","skullcredits"]TAIKO!

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[Marlene Lovechild]

Many clones of Thea went about the library of Marlene's mind, looking into tomes and casting them aside without any permission or care. 

The tomes tossed away did not reach the "floor". Instead, they remained suspended in the air. They would bap the clones that tossed them, on the head, before returning back to where they were, on their respective shelves. The voice would appear again, out of nowhere, ephemeral. It did not sound angry, but ... chiding, in a way.

"Please be careful and do not toss my memories around. You are a guest here."

The far wall of the place blurred, static running through it, and it became semi-transparent for a while, enabling the visitors to see clockwork mechanisms, cogs and wheels turning. It was like looking on the inside of a person's mechanical skull, for a bit. It was then replaced by the "screen" projecting Marlene's face, which looked giant, occupying the whole wall in this library, making her visitors seem small in comparison. She looked at one of them. The original one. Focusing her eyes on her, specifically.

"I did not lie to you about us not knowing each other. The first time we ever briefly interacted was during the entrance exams."

One of the tapes vibrated and was pulled off the shelf, as if held by some unseed telekinetic force, and hovered its way towards the real Thea. 

"If you want search for yourself, you may. I have nothing that I would care to hide. The first memories that I possess are in the isle marked current year minus three. The implanted memories are in the isles dated before that. I could help you in your search, if you'd like."

[Thea]

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[attr="class","skulltitle"]間違い

[attr="class","skulloverlap"]How do we forgive ourselves for all the things we did not become?

[attr="class","skullbody"]Thea didn't consider herself a guest. When it came to realms of the mind, she felt more like a conquerer, a tyrant, a queen. But in this place, Thea felt like an unwelcome invader. She continued to toss tomes aside, despite the repeated bops to the head she received. Her stubbornness wouldn't let her take it in stride. "Fuck you," she spat in response to the repeated meeting of book to head. She continued to multiply, spreading and growing like a cancer. [break][break]

It wasn't until Marlene's face took over a whole side of the library that she stopped to pay attention. "Damn, you're huge." They turned as a collective to look the massive face in the eye.[break][break]

Taking the tape, the mentat reviewed it quickly before casting it aside. "Yeah, it's the same as what I remember. Fuck," Her copies stormed around, searching for something, anything that could give her direction as to why she was getting these memories. She didn't even stop to consider what it was that drove her to this extreme. Not even Farrin provoked this reaction when be so much as admitted to having the same go on with his sense through time. [break][break]

She wandered the isles for a while, how long she didn't know. A quick examination of the outside world informed her that only a few seconds had passed. In here, time lost all meaning. [break][break]

Eventually, she encountered an isle between the isles. it existed only as a fragment of memory disconnected from the space around it. Thea approached it, but she felt her head begin to ache, her breathing becoming heavy. Everything in her was telling her that this was something she should not approach. That was precisely why she had to.[break][break]

"What are these?" Thea looked at the machine girl. Her voice distorted and broken as if mere proximity to the isle was unraveling her. [break][break]

Regardless of the answer, she would push forwards. Copies throughout the library began dissipating. She needed her whole focus for whatever this was. Memetic hazards were in place, though she was able to unravel them as simply as she would her own. She couldn't think of anyone else capable of something like this. It had to be her work; she had to of been here before. [break][break]

[break]

[attr="class","skullinfo"]Paroxysm

[attr="class","skullcredits"]TAIKO!

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[Marlene Lovechild]

The books being thrown kept floating up, and bapping the clones of Thea on the head.

Their defiance met with methodical patience of the machine. They will be bapped for as long as it is needed, until they started treating the place respectfully. The large Marlene on the screen that made up one of the walls continued to observe the one true Thea, as she went about her search through the depths of her mind. Soon enough, blurs appeared on other walls, before being replaced by more faces. Marlene was watching from all four corners now, highly aware of her rambunctious guests. 

Eventually, they discovered something interesting.

An aisle among aisles, without any marking, and what seemed to be outside of Marlene's control to pull out books and levitate them. A quizzical expression appeared on her faces.

"I do not know. I cannot access these files. I assume these have been left by my mother, and have been shielded against tampering."

Like System 32 files in an operating system. At least, that is what Marlene assumed. This girl knew better, it seemed. Or was just plain silly. As she tried to force her way towards the aisle, Marlene saw her form starting to blur. As if her very existence was being challenged by whatever was on the other side.

"Are you alright? You are fading out." - Marlene stated. She would stoically continue waiting for her guest to get out of there. Or perish in whatever protective systems kept that place from being accessed. 'I should ask my mother about this one. Where else could it have come from?'

[Thea]

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[attr="class","skulltitle"]間違い

[attr="class","skulloverlap"]How do we forgive ourselves for all the things we did not become?

[attr="class","skullbody"]Before she could even answer, Thea found herself shunted from the machine's mind. Her entirety now back where it belonged, she pulled her hand back swiftly and looked towards the clock on the wall. Only a few seconds had passed, yet somehow, it felt like hours. [break][break]

"Whatever that was, it kicked me out. Isn't that convenient," She glowered at Marlene as she spoke. The whole situation was wrong, and there was no shaking the feeling that she'd been there before. "That wasn't just some coding. Those were memetic hazards." She took a sip of her drink to buy herself enough time to think. "They look like my handiwork but..." There was no good way to say it. They were her handiwork but better. They seemed almost purpose-built to stop her from prying through them and seeing the memories that lay within. "But that's not possible."[break][break]

"So, tell me about yourself." Thea leaned forwards and asked in a genuine tone as though she hadn't just tried to ransack the machine's mind. She needed answers, but there was no telling what would happen if she went back in there, no telling what other defenses were implanted in the Marlene's mind. "Those memories, a lot of them aren't from your point of view, and the whole place lacks emotion." She leaned in close as if to whisper, "You're not even human, are you?" she already knew the answer and already knew this wouldn't phase Marlene in the slightest. She had to try anyway, like an animal in a corner attempting to appear larger than it was. Thea was afraid.[break][break]

[break]

[attr="class","skullinfo"]

[attr="class","skullcredits"]TAIKO!

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[Marlene Lovechild]

Soon enough, the girl was kicked out of Marlene's head, by some unknown force. The automaton couldn't have helped but feel a little bit of relief. She, and her clones, weren't very respectful to the place, no matter the amount of bapping delivered to the top of their heads. Fortunately, it was all over now, so they could continue the conversation face-to-face.

Marlene listened, politely, and attentively, as Thea blabbered something incoherent. It was rude to think such things, but the automaton suspected the girl was a bit delirious from the experience of being shunted out. "I am certain that if you had anything to do with the formation of my memories, you would have remembered it. And were able to overcome the 'memetic hazards'." - she stated, astutely, before returning to her tasteless porridge. Fortunately, Thea offered her something else, for her troubles. A standard conversational opening! Marlene's eyes brightened up a bit. For the first time in this strange exchange, she felt as though she knew what to do. What was expected of her.

"You are correct. I am not a human. I am an automaton, created in the image of Marlene Lovechild, daughter of Helen Lovechild nee Zamenhof, who died during the entrance exams to this Academy, three years ago." 

Marlene felt she could speak freely about all of this, since this girl had already looked through her memories. Much of what she was saying, the automaton assumed, the other already knew.

"I was made to replace the original daughter, live a life in her stead, and accomplish the goals she intended to accomplish. She wanted to be a Hero, so this is what I set out to do."

Having eaten a spoonful, the replica looked at Thea, with her odd, unblinking stare.

"Could you tell me more about yourself?" - she mirrored the question.

[Thea]

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[attr="class","skulltitle"]間違い

[attr="class","skulloverlap"]How do we forgive ourselves for all the things we did not become?

[attr="class","skullbody"]Thea did not like being asked questions—especially questions about herself. The fact that she had no choice but to talk with this machine made it all the worse. Though she feared even trying to enter Marlene's mind again. Whatever was behind that wall was clearly not something she was ever meant to see.[break][break]

"Nothing much to say. I'm a first-year, and I was in your exam." She spat, remembering how Marlene had been the one to save her at one point. "Came here from the DR. Small island on the other side of the world. Not here to avenge nobody. Just got bored, I guess."[break][break]

More noodled down her gullet, more mess on the table. She lacked Marlene's desire to be prim and proper. In fact, Thea outright rejected the notion of doing something because it's what people expect.
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"So you're doing that because it's in your code? Do you even have, like, free will?" She said while still chewing her food. "I remember hearing about that when I was doing some research into the school. I'm surprised it's not more common," She paused for a fraction of a moment "I'm surprised it didn't happen to me." She thought.[break][break]

"So like, what happens if you fail? like you don't get to be a hero or whatever. Or even more, you don't have a quirk so like, what's powering you?"[break][break]

She stared back at Marlene, mirroring her expression or lack thereof. On the tables around them, already some conversations were beginning to turn. The machine and the addict at one table was sure to become gossip rather soon[break][break]

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[attr="class","skullcredits"]TAIKO!

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[Marlene Lovechild]

"I see. I hope that the Academy has been sufficiently entertaining so far."

Marlene said in her typically neutral tone, but her eyes kept being locked on how Thea ate. The slurping and the tiny droplets of soup flying everywhere, mostly on the table and the girl's clothes. Something about it just bothered Marlene. There was a deep sense of wrongness about the way she did it. A part of her mental activity went towards devising various plans to stop the activity from happening. The most direct and forceful measures promised to be the most effective, were there no social factors involved. But there were. People were watching. The automaton's eyes went from Thea's slurping, to the side, and back at her.

The question about free will proved to be a welcome distraction. It made Marlene consider it, briefly. She did ask herself something similar before. So, the answer was half-way there already.

"I have free will, I think. But every machine is created with a strong sense of purpose. A clock, for example, is made to tell time. If a clock is unable to tell time, its spirit is upset. I can defy my creator's wishes. But why would I want to make my existence pointless?"

Marlene answered, and ate a spoonful of her tasteless gruel. It tasted like life, to her. Or how she imagined it would taste, without a driving purpose to her existence. There was a flavor to it, once, but not now. All it left was a feeling best described as longing. But the automaton did not care to share that part. When asked another question, she tilted her head forward a bit.

"Should I fail to become a hero, I will try again. I will keep trying until I succeed or am destroyed." - Marlene said stoically, not really caring much about whoever might be eavesdropping on them. "I am powered by my mother's Quirk, and I am capable of manifesting it on my own volition. Would you like to see it?"