A. Bright City Lights (Shopping District, first week) [This place is constant stimulation in a way Ryan never could have dreamed of. Every five seconds something new has caught his eye.
It's not even that he's never been to a city before - he has! He likes them a lot, they're so big with so much cool shit, but this feels different. Everything's metallic and neon, even things that really shouldn't be, and there's some new digital thing happening everywhere he looks. Even his new netbook has new shiny things, and he's caught himself getting totally absorbed in looking at it all.
Unfortunately, Ryan is also money blind. They were given a 1000 credits! That's like, a TON of money if it's dollar to credit, right? So he isn't really thinking about how much anything costs and just trying every single thing he can. Right now, that something is figuring out what counts as interesting clothing here. The stores have had so much neon and metallic, and even items that fully light up, but Ryan has specific taste. He's also a social creature, which means he has somehow roped you, friend or stranger, into coming along with him.
When he comes out of the changing room of this little boutique, he's wearing red pants that might as well be painted onto him, but he's frowning.]
Ugh, I didn't think these would be plastic on the inside too...
[He picks up one leg and bends it at the knee, showing off how much they SQUEAK. Sensory bad!! Sensory TERRIBLE!!!]
Did denim like, go extinct or something?
B. Party Time (Arcadia, early/mid month, cw: alcohol, irresponsible drinking)
[There's so much to try in this weird new world during the day, but at night? Ryan has to check out all of the night life. There are drinks that glitter and glow in the dark! He's pretty sure he saw someone get a drink that was literally smoking! When is he going to have a chance to try them again?! Plus there's so much future music he hasn't heard!
If he's with Min-Gi he's a little more restrained about it - especially since they're both "under-age" by this city's standards. They still have fun! Having fun is easy together. But sometimes Min-Gi is working and Ryan is left to his own devices. And it is unfortunately so, so easy to overdo it with a credit card in his pocket and a total inability to say no to something new and shiny.
Which means sometimes Ryan turns up at Arcadia with arm warmers and red glow bracelets to try and hide the fact that his hand was marked with an X. He hates looking at it anyway - it reminds him too much of something else that used to be branded on his hand. But now he can't see it and he's basically just sneaking into a club again, like old times.
You might catch him on the dance floor, enjoying the buzz he has going and these new beats he's never heard. If you dance with him, he might even give you one of his glow bracelets! Or, you might catch him at the bar, wobbling a little bit but waving big as soon as he spots you.]
Oh my god. Dude. You haaaaaaaave to try these, lemme get you one!
[And with all the confidence of someone who totally doesn't have an X on their hand, Ryan flags whoever is manning the bar and asked for two more shots - one for his "good good good friend here" and another one for himself.]
Look! It jiggles and it's-- it's got lil stars!
[He wiggles it in his hand and laughs! Like it's the funniest thing he's ever seen!
Or maybe it's closer to the end of his night and the whole room is starting to tilt. His feet feel kind of heavy and uneven, and his head is swimming and drifting further and further out to sea, both tell-tale signs that he probably should have stopped a drink or two ago and that it's time for him to head back. Maybe dunk his face in the fountain on the way, see if that helps a little. He pitches to the left a little when he hops off the barstool, but laughs it off and insists he's good.
He's not really. But maybe someone will come with him, and help him not get arrested on his way back to Min's apartment?]
C. Let's all go to the lobby (Lumina Theatre)
[And then it happens. He runs out of credits.
It happened at the actual worst moment it could have (hungover, while attempting to buy coffee). Panic set in immediately, because Min-Gi's been working all month but Ryan somehow blew through all of his own money in like two weeks? Two and a half? The important thing is that Min-Gi has taken this seriously from day one, and Ryan got distracted like he always does.
He's...never had a job-job. He thought maybe he could busk to make up the difference and then some, but he has no idea what the Credits equivalent of tossing bills and change into a guitar case is. He saw something about...Benmo? Somewhere? Maybe an ad somewhere? But trying to figure it out under pressure just made his head itch.
Fortunately, it turns out he doesn't actually have to be that good at anything to get a job somewhere. All he had to do was turn up and ask for a job at one of the movie theaters and boom, job. Better yet, when he asked if there was a job up in the projection booth, the neon workers just gave him the okay to go on up.
There's no job in the projection booth. He didn't know it when he asked, but since everything is digital the entire system is automated. So...his job is babysitting machines, watching movies through the little projection hole without getting in the way, and napping on the floor to the white noise of machines whirring. He feels kind of bad about it - Min-Gi would definitely not consider this actually working - but he gets a lot of free popcorn, and it's actually...kind of nice to not have new stuff in his face every two seconds.
If you find yourself at the movies, you might catch him in the lobby refilling on popcorn or getting himself the least nasty drink they have (which he's decided is good old ginger ale cut with Goblin Energy). When he spots you, another real person, he waves! He certainly looks like he works there, with his vest and uniform.]
Ryan Akagi | Infinity Train | OTA
[This place is constant stimulation in a way Ryan never could have dreamed of. Every five seconds something new has caught his eye.
It's not even that he's never been to a city before - he has! He likes them a lot, they're so big with so much cool shit, but this feels different. Everything's metallic and neon, even things that really shouldn't be, and there's some new digital thing happening everywhere he looks. Even his new netbook has new shiny things, and he's caught himself getting totally absorbed in looking at it all.
Unfortunately, Ryan is also money blind. They were given a 1000 credits! That's like, a TON of money if it's dollar to credit, right? So he isn't really thinking about how much anything costs and just trying every single thing he can. Right now, that something is figuring out what counts as interesting clothing here. The stores have had so much neon and metallic, and even items that fully light up, but Ryan has specific taste. He's also a social creature, which means he has somehow roped you, friend or stranger, into coming along with him.
When he comes out of the changing room of this little boutique, he's wearing red pants that might as well be painted onto him, but he's frowning.]
Ugh, I didn't think these would be plastic on the inside too...
[He picks up one leg and bends it at the knee, showing off how much they SQUEAK. Sensory bad!! Sensory TERRIBLE!!!]
Did denim like, go extinct or something?
B. Party Time (Arcadia, early/mid month, cw: alcohol, irresponsible drinking)
[There's so much to try in this weird new world during the day, but at night? Ryan has to check out all of the night life. There are drinks that glitter and glow in the dark! He's pretty sure he saw someone get a drink that was literally smoking! When is he going to have a chance to try them again?! Plus there's so much future music he hasn't heard!
If he's with Min-Gi he's a little more restrained about it - especially since they're both "under-age" by this city's standards. They still have fun! Having fun is easy together. But sometimes Min-Gi is working and Ryan is left to his own devices. And it is unfortunately so, so easy to overdo it with a credit card in his pocket and a total inability to say no to something new and shiny.
Which means sometimes Ryan turns up at Arcadia with arm warmers and red glow bracelets to try and hide the fact that his hand was marked with an X. He hates looking at it anyway - it reminds him too much of something else that used to be branded on his hand. But now he can't see it and he's basically just sneaking into a club again, like old times.
You might catch him on the dance floor, enjoying the buzz he has going and these new beats he's never heard. If you dance with him, he might even give you one of his glow bracelets! Or, you might catch him at the bar, wobbling a little bit but waving big as soon as he spots you.]
Oh my god. Dude. You haaaaaaaave to try these, lemme get you one!
[And with all the confidence of someone who totally doesn't have an X on their hand, Ryan flags whoever is manning the bar and asked for two more shots - one for his "good good good friend here" and another one for himself.]
Look! It jiggles and it's-- it's got lil stars!
[He wiggles it in his hand and laughs! Like it's the funniest thing he's ever seen!
Or maybe it's closer to the end of his night and the whole room is starting to tilt. His feet feel kind of heavy and uneven, and his head is swimming and drifting further and further out to sea, both tell-tale signs that he probably should have stopped a drink or two ago and that it's time for him to head back. Maybe dunk his face in the fountain on the way, see if that helps a little. He pitches to the left a little when he hops off the barstool, but laughs it off and insists he's good.
He's not really. But maybe someone will come with him, and help him not get arrested on his way back to Min's apartment?]
C. Let's all go to the lobby (Lumina Theatre)
[And then it happens. He runs out of credits.
It happened at the actual worst moment it could have (hungover, while attempting to buy coffee). Panic set in immediately, because Min-Gi's been working all month but Ryan somehow blew through all of his own money in like two weeks? Two and a half? The important thing is that Min-Gi has taken this seriously from day one, and Ryan got distracted like he always does.
He's...never had a job-job. He thought maybe he could busk to make up the difference and then some, but he has no idea what the Credits equivalent of tossing bills and change into a guitar case is. He saw something about...Benmo? Somewhere? Maybe an ad somewhere? But trying to figure it out under pressure just made his head itch.
Fortunately, it turns out he doesn't actually have to be that good at anything to get a job somewhere. All he had to do was turn up and ask for a job at one of the movie theaters and boom, job. Better yet, when he asked if there was a job up in the projection booth, the neon workers just gave him the okay to go on up.
There's no job in the projection booth. He didn't know it when he asked, but since everything is digital the entire system is automated. So...his job is babysitting machines, watching movies through the little projection hole without getting in the way, and napping on the floor to the white noise of machines whirring. He feels kind of bad about it - Min-Gi would definitely not consider this actually working - but he gets a lot of free popcorn, and it's actually...kind of nice to not have new stuff in his face every two seconds.
If you find yourself at the movies, you might catch him in the lobby refilling on popcorn or getting himself the least nasty drink they have (which he's decided is good old ginger ale cut with Goblin Energy). When he spots you, another real person, he waves! He certainly looks like he works there, with his vest and uniform.]
Hey! Seeing anything good?