Nyr - "This is it!"
Before them was a building that looked like it was actively being renovated into a space-age outpost.
The signage made it clear that this was the new guild post in the village.
Syr - "Do all the guild buildings have to look like that?"
Nyr - "It's their aesthetic.."
Nyr - "C'mon!"
She darts up to the door which quickly slides open and she rushes inside.
Nyr - "UwooAHHH- OOF!!!"
Upon entering, Nyr trips- no, slips and falls flat on her face.
Nyr - "Owwww.."
Robotic Voice - "Caution: walkable surface has decreased traction when lubricated by cleaning fluid."
Nyr - "What the.. What are you?!"
Syr - "And why is it so verbose?"
Syr walked in behind her, careful to maintain her grip.
She reaches down to help Nyr up off the ground and pulls her to her feet.
Nyr - "Thanks.."
Syr lightly rubs Nyr's face where it had contacted the floor, wiping away this mysterious cleaning fluid, causing her to blush and look away involuntarily.
The robot interrupts the moment.
Robot - "Answer: I am remote janitorial initiative machine, code: JB-01, designation: JBot."
The bot was spherical in design with a section that always remained on top as it rolled around.
It didn't have much in the way of a face, only a blinking light indicating its speech.
The sphere was lined with plenty of various grooves and sections with field components slotted in.
Biggs makes a tiny roar, or as much as he can given his small form-factor, and leaps from Syr's shoulder at JBot.
Syr - "Biggs..?!"
He tackles the cleaning bot and begins attempting to gnaw on parts of the machinery.
JBot - "Conflict: assault by creature."
JBot - "Suggestion: Remove creature."
Nyr bursts into laughter as the two miniature adversaries battle it out.
Nyr - "Ahaha! They're so adorable!"
Syr stifles some laughter watching as well.
Syr - "I know- eheh.. but we can't just let him attack the robot..!"
Biggs kicks the bot away with his hind paws, sending it careening into the wall.
JBot - "Operational error: sudden change in velocity detected."
Syr hurries over to grab Biggs by his scruff before he can cause any more trouble.
Syr - "What has gotten into you?!"
Biggs - "[Chirp chirp..!]"
Syr - "This is no good Mr. Biggles.. I am disappointed in you.."
Biggs - "[Chirp..]"
Nyr looks on with a smug expression like she's trying not to laugh.
Syr - "Whaatt?!"
Nyr - "O-Oh, nothing!"
A voice is heard from behind them.
??? - "And what is going on here, Nyrelye??"
Startled, the duo promptly spin around.
Nyr - "L-Lissly?! What are you doing here?!"
Lissly - "I took it upon myself to transfer out here. Someone was needed to occupy this post, and afterall, I couldn't just let you wander off somewhere where I can't keep my eye on you."
Nyr - "Ohh, heh.. That's.. wonderful..!"
Lissly - "Ahem, again, what is going on? I came to see what the commotion was."
Nyr - "Ohh, uhm-"
Syr - "Sorry, ma'am. My uh.. My pet seems to have taken a disliking to that cleaning robot.."
Nyr - 'Incompetent machine..'
Lissly - "I see.. Perhaps due to its animated machine like qualities, this creature has deemed it a foe, or maybe prey? It is unclear. At any rate, JB-01 is an experimental cleaning AI, first of its kind. It has been assigned here on a low density environment test run. It helps keep this place clean given that we are otherwise understaffed here."
Nyr - "Yeahhh well you should make it put up a wet floor sign or something.."
Lissly - "Maybe you should learn to take more precaution before rushing into things."
Nyr - "..Hmph!"
Lissly - "Anyway, why are you here?"
Nyr - "Oh yes, well, Syr needs to be registered with the guild. And I guess we also need a good introductory quest to do.."
Lissly - "Hmm.. Understood. Follow me when you are ready to proceed."
She turns around and departs to what appears to be her office.
JBot - "..Clarification: JBot is not incompetent.."
Nyr - "Oh what do you know!?"
A clear fluid is seeping out from some orifice on the robot near its voice-light.
Syr - "Are you.. crying?"
JBot - "Clarification: JBot is emitting cleaning fluid for cleaning purposes only.."
Nyr - "How does an orb even clean anything?! Your design makes no sense!"
JBot - "Question: How does a human do anything?"
JBot - "Retort: Your design makes no sense."
Nyr - "Wha- Whyyy you.."
She begins slowly advancing towards the robot in a menacing fashion.
Syr - "Ookayy, let's just go talk to Lissly.."
She grabs Nyr, turning her around and pushing her away towards the office.
⧖
Lissly - "Alright, now I'll need you to sign this agreement that simply states that the guild is not responsible for any on-the-job injuries or fatalities, and is entitled to a five percent commision of your rewards."
She presents Syr with a holographic tablet.
Syr - "Umm.. How do I uh.."
Lissly eyes her curiously.
Lissly - "Place your hand on the pad, please."
As she does so, the device makes some strange electronic noises as if processing something, and then flashes brightly when complete.
Syr - "Eee!"
Lissly - "Alright, you are now officially a guild member."
Syr - "Well that was easy.."
Lissly - "We are not quite finished yet. Say cheese."
Syr - "Wha- Che-?"
Before she could, Lissly takes a picture using a small device that produces a bright flash.
Syr - "Ah!"
Lissly - "Catch."
She tosses the device at Syr who catches it with ease despite being dazzled from the light.
As she observes it, a flat holographic image is projected that displays the previously taken image in which she appears quite off guard, as well as several statistics pertaining to Syr.
Lissly - "Make sure everything is correct. But feel free to customize it to your liking. It's how other hunters will see you on the overall guild rankings, you will also give this card to other hunters to quickly exchange details and contact information."
She grimaces at the unflattering picture and gives her stats a once over.
It lists various things:
Main Hunting Party: None
Hunting Familiar: Firret
Quests Completed: 0
Large Beasts Slain: 0
Height: 175cm
Eye Color: Null
Hair Color: Null
As well as some other more miscellaneous statistics, her name, and a slot for a custom title that is defaulted to 'Fledgeling Hunter'.
Syr - "Uhh, it says my eye and hair color is.. null..?"
Nyr perks up at this with a very curious look.
Nyr - "Whaat?!"
Lissly - "I knew your colors were strange.. But I've never seen this happen before. It must be some kind of glitch. No matter, I will simply manually reassign them."
She fiddles with something on her tablet and resets Syr's eye and hair color as white.
Syr - "U-Um, ma'am..? There's something else.."
Lissly - "Hmm?"
Syr noticed one more statistic she had missed before, displayed separately yet more prominently from the rest.
Syr ~ What is happening..?
Syr - "It says that my rank is.. 'S'..?"
A moment goes by while they try to process this information.
Nyr - "Whaaaaaaat!?!"
Her intense excitement only adds to Syr's apprehension.
Lissly - "T-That doesn't sound right. Are you sure that's what it says?"
Syr nods, apprehensively.
Lissly - "Well.. A hunter's rank is initially set based on their projected combat aptitude as indicated by their other applicable internal skill statistics.."
Nyr is visibly, yet silently freaking out about this.
Lissly - "What are your skills..?"
Syr - "My uhh.."
Syr ~ What am I good at..? I-I can't remember..
The thoughts seem to pain her as she thinks about it.
Lissly - "Nevermind.. Still, a new signup ranking S is unprecedented as far as I know, especially for someone so seemingly.. unfamiliar with this world. Perhaps this is another kind of glitch..? But far be it from me to assess such a technical matter. I will leave it be for now. However, I will be keeping my eye on you.. And my other on you."
Her eyes pierce through Nyr's soul, momentarily freezing her in place.
Syr ~ But.. I didn't ask for this..! Ugh..
Lissly - "Oh and that thing is also a communications device that enables you to instantly communicate with anyone in the guild that you've exchanged cards with. Do not lose it, a replacement will cost you a pretty zenni and a hunter without their identification cannot accept quests or rewards.."
Syr - "Got it.."
Her tone was rather nervous at this point.
Lissly - "One final thing, as you may have noticed, it also tracks the quests you've accepted and completed. You can use that to check what needs to be done, what you have done, or, where applicable, if you have failed the requirements of the quest. Depending on the quest, it may also require you to upload certain field data to register as complete."
Lissly - "Any questions?"
Syr - "I.. I think I get it all.."
Lissly - "Very well then, you are dismissed. You two can browse available quests at your own leisure at the terminals."
Syr - "Thank you, ma'am.."
Nyr is still trying to contain her excitement as they move to exit the office.
Lissly - "Oh, I almost forgot. You should already have my card in your list, should you ever need to contact me. Good hunting, rookie."
They exit the office into the greater area of the guild building.
Nyr - "You're an S rank?!?"
Her pent up excitement finally bursts out.
Nyr - "Why didn't you tell me?!"
Syr - "W-Wha-?! I-I didn't know either! How could I have known..! I don't even know what this means!"
Nyr - "It means you're already one of the best hunters!!! And I'm friends with you!"
She places her hands on her face and begins daydreaming about adventuring with an S rank hunter.
The unwelcome excitement is grating on Syr's patience.
Syr - "This doesn't even make any sense..! I haven't even done anything.. Have I..? Aghh.."
Syr looks down with a pained expression, distraught over her foggy, or perhaps nonexistent, memory.
Nyr - "H-Hey.. it's nothing to fret about.. This is exciting..!"
Syr - "You heard what she said didn't you? I-It's probably just another glitch.. It's not that surprising considering what happened with my other stats too.."
Nyr - "Idunno, I've never seen the system bug out like that before.."
Syr - "Bahh.. I'm tired of things not making any sense..!"
She is now visibly agitated, angry as if she continued, she might cry out of frustration.
Syr - "I feel like there's something really important I should be doing but.. I can't remember anything..! And it physically hurts to even try.. Instead I'm just here, wasting my time."
Nyr - "W-Wha.. But.. what happened to looking forward to shenanigans..?"
Syr - "Ughh.. I don't know.."
Nyr - "..I know things don't make a lot of sense right now, I'm pretty confused about you myself.. So many things I wish I could just ask, but I know there's no answers.. Still I-I'm here, I wanna help you figure it out.."
Syr - "Tsch.. My existence is just some glitch.. There's nothing to figure out.."
Nyr - "A glitch can't explain how I feel about you.. I mean, the feeling I get from you.."
Syr - "What does that even mean..? You keep saying that but you don't even know me..!"
The room sits silent.
Empty of anyone except them, and a particular cleaning robot paying them no mind.
Lissly almost certainly heard that last outburst, but if she did, there was no indication.
Biggs hunkers down on his position with a gloomy, concerned outlook.
Nyr - "I.."
She steps forward and moves her hand up to rest on Syr's arm.
Nyr - "I-Idunno.. I can't explain it but.. Since I met you, I've felt something strange.. More than just your looks, I just feel like there's more to this story with everything going on.. If we stick around long enough, some answers are bound to present themselves to us..!"
Her expression turns a bit more chipper.
Nyr - "And I know there's not much I can do specifically.. But I'm sure you can get your memory back if we-!"
Syr hesitates for a split second, wanting to take her word at face value, before reverting right back and cutting Nyr off.
Syr - "What would you know about other people?!"
Her arm shoots up and forcefully knocks away Nyr's hand, sending her into a minor state of shock.
Syr - "You were wandering around alone before I showed up! And I'm starting to think it wasn't by choice considering how everyone we've met so far acts towards you! So how could you possibly know anything about me!!"
Nyr's eyes begin to well up as she stands there, fumbling for a response.
Syr - "The only reason you want to help is because that big head of yours is curious, you just want to solve some puzzle like it's a fucking mystery! And you haven't even been actively helping me anyway, you've just been dragging me around on errands and weird outings..! Have you even once asked me what I really wanted, or are you just deciding what's best for me?!"
Nyr - "I.. I-I'm.. No.. T-T-That's not true.. They.. I j-just.. You.. I-I-I'm.."
Tears stream down her face as she breaks down into something like a malfunctioning machine.
Witnessing this, Syr's emotion drops from anger to guilt.
Syr - "No.. I.."
Her hands clench into tight fists, except this time the frustration is directed at herself.
Syr - "Damn it.."
She throws herself at Nyr and takes her into a tight embrace.
Syr - "I'm so sorry.."
Nyr stands there with the tears still flowing, albeit no longer stammering or sobbing.
Syr - "I didn't mean any of that.. I-I don't even know where that came from.. I guess the stress of not knowing anything about myself or the world was hitting me harder than I wanted to admit, and I.. I was just looking for something to shift my frustration onto.."
Syr - "But I.. None of it was meant for you.. The most difficult part, is that I can't even remember who it is for.."
Syr - "You.. You didn't deserve that.."
She calmly strokes Nyr's hair as she speaks.
Syr - "It wasn't even true anyway.. Of course you're helping me out by staying with me and showing me around when I didn't know anything else to do.. And ultimately it was my decision to do all of this with you.. It sounded fun.. It has been fun.. I meant all of that.."
Syr - "You may have unique relationships with the people here, but that's just because you're a unique person.. I can tell Lissly cares for you more than she would confess, and Flux obviously had a soft spot for you that he's too tough to show. Though I think that village guy is probably just a bit of a creep, eheh.."
Her laugh was awkward.
Syr - "..And I know you had your reasons for wanting to be alone, justified though flawed as they may be.. But you don't have to tell me about that until you're ready.."
Syr - "Point is, the people in your life do care about you, and you should know that."
Syr - "I think.. I've already started to as well.. And that kind of scares me.."
Nyr had stopped crying, and with that she firmly places her hands on Syr's back, listening, and apparently becoming the one providing Syr with comfort.
Syr - "I know I'm not a particularly open person.. I-I just- I've already lost so much.. I don't want to get my hopes up for something so exciting just for it to be taken away again.."
A small drop rolls off her face and onto Nyr's apparel, only to bead off the lightly armored surface.
Nyr - "[Sniffle..] I.. I thought you said that you couldn't remember anything about yourself.."
Syr - "..Huh..?"
She disengages to look at her as she questions what Nyr meant.
Nyr just stares at the floor.
Nyr - "Y-You said you couldn't remember.. But then.. how would you know what kind of person you are.. Or.. what you've lost..?"
Syr - "I-I.."
The distant feeling clings to her mind.
She raises her hand up to her head as if to focus on the memory trying desperately to resurface, and stumbles a bit backwards.
Despite her cloudy memory, in this moment focusing on her feeling of loss, a sense of deja vu is instilled within her as her recollection churns deep beneath the surface.
Syr - "-Agh..!"
Nyr - "Syr..?!"
Syr - "M-My..? I'm.."
Syr - "AAGGHHH!!!"
Nyr - "Syr!!"
The image glitches into Syr's mind and she clutches at her head to a feeling of something trying to dig it's way out from the inside.
Until, her eyes explode open with a blank stare etched onto her face.
Nyr frantically tries to reach out for her as she buckles to her knees and spills onto the floor.
Her body lay lifeless, Nyr's cries utterly unheard.
~~~
In her head, there's hazy, broken up images of a school courtyard.
A small Syr is looking up at a woman kneeling down, wearing some kind of official uniform.
Woman - "I'm sorry.. But---[Glitch]"
Syr - "Mama? Papa..? ..Gone..?"
⧖
Someone is kneeling by Syr with a hand on her shoulder, forcing themself not to cry.
??? - "We're gonna be ok.. I'll take care of you now.."
Syr - "Big brother..?!"
When she tries to look at them, she only sees an unrecognizable distorted face.
All she can hear in response to her call is an indecipherable amalgam of deafening sounds.
She covers her ears in pain, before everything returns to, silent darkness.
~~~
Nyr - "Syr.. Please..! Come back to me!"
She was knelt over Syr as she tried to gently coerce her to wake up.
Biggs had taken his place on her chest, nudging his face against hers.
Her eyes slowly flick open.
Nyr - "Syr!!"
Syr's vision is met with a worried girl, now relieved, staring down at her.
Syr - "..Wha..?"
As she realizes the situation and the past events flood back, her eyes start to water.
Nyr - "W-What's wrong? Are you ok..?"
Syr wipes her eyes and sits up before replying.
Syr - "I-I.. Yeah.. I'm fine.. How long was I out..?"
Nyr - "[Sniffles] Just a few moments.. What happened..??"
Syr - "My head--"
Lissly busts out of her office with a startling announcement.
Lissly - "Can you two keep out of trouble for 5 min-"
She stops in her tracks upon actually taking in the situation.
Lissly - "Um, ahem, my apologies. Are you okay, miss Syr?"
Syr - "U-Uhh.. Yes ma'am.. I just.. fainted.. is all.."
Lissly - "Hmm.. Well, make sure to remain hydrated, here and IRL."
Syr was confused, but she was too dazed to question, or even process it.
Lissly - "Nyrelye, you care about her, don't you?"
She merely responds with a small embarrassed reaction.
Lissly - "Hmph, make sure you take good care of this girl then, yes?"
She then turns around and resigns back to her office.
Nyr - 'That was weird..'
Nyr - "So.."
She pulls Syr up from the ground.
Nyr - "That was.. not at all where I was expecting this trip to go.."
Syr - "Yeah.. Me neither. And, sorry.. Again.."
Nyr shakes her head lightly.
Nyr - "Hmm, what'd you tell me about over-apologizing..?!"
Syr - "B-But-"
Nyr - "Ah I-It's ok, I get this is different.. But, I know you didn't mean it.. And, y'know, I don't know what you've been through.."
Nyr - "Besides, you said some other stuff that was pretty nice, I think it maybe makes up for it, heh.."
She gives a clumsy embarrassed laugh, but Syr just continues staring at the ground.
Nyr - "D-Do you think you're still up for a hunt today..?"
Syr returns her gaze.
Syr - "Uhm.. Y-Yeah, I think so.. It should be fun..!"
She tries her best to put on a smile.
Nyr - "Alright! Then let's find ourselves a quest to do..!"
But before they could go anywhere, something rolls into their legs.
Nyr - "Wah-!"
JBot - "Detection: foreign salinated liquid substance. Threat: biohazard. Solution: cleaning required."
The absurdity of this causes both of them to give a genuine, if not brief, chuckle.
Nyr - "Alright alright, clean away, my droid-dude..!"
They move over to the quest terminals, Nyr browses the selection for something appropriate.
Syr - "You know.. Come to think of it, Lissly said that JBot was the first of its kind, right? Given the amount of amazing technology and machines here, why is its AI so.. basic..?"
Nyr - "Well, the field tech is amazing, but again, it can't do everything. So the kind of AI we are capable of making is fairly limited by the constraints of field components. Buuut, there are people who use their time and skills into researching the field, creating new components and miniaturizing them. But I really don't know much about the inner workings of field technology. Hah.. It's funny, actually. If you knew the real me, you'd probably think it was really strange that I'm not more into it.."
Syr - "Huh..?"
Nyr - "Oh-! Nothing..! Nevermind my ramblings.. Aha! This one looks perfect for us!"
Nyr - "C'mon c'mon!"
She hurries the duo out of the building and out of the village, off onto their first joint hunt.
End of chapter six