The Wandering Tool (Ruo/Rosewater)

Yoro was now claimed. It was all that could be on Ruo’s mind at the moment as she roamed the streets of Iwaigodai, not even looking around her much to see if those were following her. She seemed to be getting used to Iwaigodai and everything and everyone was familiar. She had even come across some people she knew in the area, which only showed to how much she roamed the area. It was the only place she could call home for the time being, for its ability to give quick solitude to those in need of it, but that was not even the biggest problem. The town of Yoro was now swallowed by Limbo and those who didn’t have a Persona were most likely gone, and those who did would have a rough time getting out. For some reason, Ruo would feel something heavy on her body, particularly over her Papillon heart under her left ribs. It was almost physical, but not really painful. What was she feeling? Some kind of sympathy for the people who lost their lives in that event? Ruo felt rather powerless. She had nothing going for her besides her Persona and falling in battle several times. What could she offer that made her stand out from the others?

Maybe her role was not intended for battle at all. Maybe her creators made her so poorly that she was made for accounting for things. A secretary perhaps. Would her creators be that foolish? She knew their intentions she would like to believe. But what if they were the fools, or what if Ruo did not know the full story? Having a Persona seemed like justification enough to be a tool for battle, but she certainly was not being a good one. A few times she did consider leaving Ueitawa entirely, and that may become an option in the near future. None of her “friends” or comrades seemed to do much to prove her wrong. They’d probably do fine right? Sometimes Maya would give some words for thought, mostly words that were meant to be harsh but fair. Her Persona seemed to be like her, yet sometimes acted on her own. Then again, she was made to have a Persona, while humans probably naturally had one. The possibilities were endless. She would be walking down the streets of Iwaigodai, passing the construction site lost in thought. She would be focusing ahead, not leaving anything in front of her out of sight, and still making a few glances back.

It was almost odd that Rosewater had never gotten any closer to Yoro since her first time encounter with Ruo, even though she had previously planned to explore it. She had never been able to leave her home town, drawn back to it like a magnet as her fear of the unknown was a bit too strong even for this curious android. She always told herself that she had much more to learn before she was truly ready to travel, and fortunately so. Rosewater wouldn't have stood a chance if she had stepped into the limbo infested Yoro, even if she had understood what it meant for her life to be in danger. In the time being, she had kept observing the humans around her, slowly starting to learn about a culture she would eventually have to adapt to. The patterns of night and day had become routine, she was able to identify every kind of building she came across after some practice, and had grasped the basic concept of currency. Her learning had been a bit slower than she liked, but it was hard to obtain any new knowledge when most busy citizens had brushed her off when she had tried to talk to a few on their way home from work. She guessed she had been rather fortunate that her first true conversation had been made on her first attempt to talk to someone else.

She had still kept the purple stone she had been given in her hand after that day, never daring to let go of the first gift and possession she had other than the clothes on her back. Throughout her explorations, her discoveries, it would always be in her left hand whenever she went, only changing to her right when she recharged her mechanical body at night.

And she currently was doing just that, sitting against a wall in the middle of a spring afternoon, trying to regain the energy she had lost last night when it had begun to rain, and she had stayed active for even after she had taken shelter under a building in a construction sight. Though the few drops of water hadn't been enough to cause any damage to her circuits, it had certainly scared her enough to escape it, perhaps as part of a natural instinct programmed into her. She had kept away from the construction site afterward, remembering what Alphonse had told her about its dangers, even if she had no way of comprehending it.

Every once in a while, a head would turn, wondering about the young woman who sat motionless against the wall, eyes blankly open, and chest still. If Ruo were to walk in front of her, only then would she show any sign of "life", too lost in thought at the moment to notice anything much else.

Walking along the pathway did not seem to do much against her as she was not running into everything. It would only be chance that she would take her mind off of things to look to her side taking her eyes of the front to see that Rosewater of all people was leaning by a wall near where she was walking. It probably should not have been as surprising as it was considering the last time they met, she mentioned she lived in Iwaigodai or at least stayed there. It was mostly the fact that she had not seen her in quite sometime. Ruo had her Persona, she wondered if Rosewater had the same, given that she was a fellow android. Did she find help at all? Ruo recalled this woman to be a bit innocent to the world around her. Maybe she had learned more in the time they had been apart. Walking up to her, Ruo would give a light greeting smile. Rosewater seemed to look distracted, like something was on her mind. “Hello Rosewater,” she said. It wouldn’t be often that Ruo greeted the person first. This time Ruo was a lot more able to speak with others, especially someone like Rosewater, who could use it. “How do you fair?” she would ask.

For once, she was glad that she was able to sense everything around her even when she should have been 'asleep', as she would have greatly regretted it had she missed the fellow android. The sight of her after the few weeks that had gone by was enough to motivate her out of her semi-slumber, blinking several times as her eyes regained sharp focus once more and her arms moved to her sides. She waited a second or two before her all her wires had reconnected properly to the rest of her body, allowing her to move freely once more.

"Ruo!"

She would have literally jumped to her feet had her body not still been a bit unstable after having stayed still for quite a number of hours, stumbling over slightly as she looked to the girl she had met before with a rather large smile in return, as excited as if they were old friends who hadn't seen each in years.

"I was hoping I'd see you again! It's wonderful to run into!"

She might as well have looked like a lost puppy who had been reunited with its owner, by now covered in a fair amount of soot thanks to the smog and fumes that constantly lingered about,  clothes slightly torn in many places as she had never had another set of clothes, and so happy that she seemed to have forgotten the question asked to her altogether.  

She had needed to see a friendly face.

Even when Rosewater sounded surprised when she saw her, Rosewater looked distracted still. Was something bothering her? Ruo could not help but feel a bit interested, as this was the only other android she knew. However, Rosewater seemed to stumble over, probably cause she was still nonetheless excited about meeting with her. Was Ruo that important to her? Even to Hibiki who apparently thought of her as a friend, she didn’t think she’d be important to anyone. Odd idea, but maybe it would help in the future. Ruo at least had an opinion of Rosewater, in that she was seemingly in need of help or guidance. She wondered what Rosewater was doing while she wasn’t there. She must have been doing something the way she looked all dirty as though she flew through a chimney. “You look positively dirty. Did something happen to you?” she asked. She actually looked a bit like she was working on something mechanical, and that may have gotten her dirty. But her clothing for the most part was the same. Ruo actually should take a moment to go buy new clothing. Ever since she found work translating, she could send it in and have money the next day. It was a good private job that took no time at all and would certainly have a nice change of pace for her.

Rosewater on the other hand was much more off. She didn’t seem to notice that her clothes were a bit ripped as well. If there was anything she needed aside from a cleaning and new clothing, she needed a home. “It is nice to see you again as well. It’s been some time,” she said with a friendly smile, much more natural than the first time they met. In fact, Ruo was pretty sure apart from her breakdown, she never smiled once when they first met. “You seem to be in a bit of trouble. Are you alright?” she said, with a slight tone of concern in her voice. What could she be doing all this time to where she has not worried about her own safety? Then again, she seemed to act that way the first time they met, since she seemed happy to just admit that she was mechanical. She would fiddle with her fingers while maintaining her look upon Rosewater. Hopefully she wasn’t in a bad situation. Ruo may have been able to help her if she still lived near her. Ueitawa was growing less safe after all with Yoro being taken, and soon other places would follow…perhaps even her own home…

It was only natural for her to be excited, as this was the first time she had re-encountered someone she had already talked to, and that made Ruo the closest thing she had to a friend at the moment. It was an odd thought since the two of them had spoken just once, but not unreasonable given Rosewater's current situation. It's not to say that she was miserable by any stretch of the imagination, as she still had plenty to learn and keep her busy, but this event was more joyful to her than most.

She could not, however, figure out for the life of her why Ruo was looking at her which such concern, as if something was awfully wrong with her. She didn't feel like her clothes looked that much worse than most of the workers she sometimes observed in construction sites, and even if this were the case, she couldn't find out why this should have been something to worry about.

"No. Nothing unusual happened, I can't say I understand why you would think so.  " she looked down at her slightly blackened hand as she replied "The soot's just been collecting over time since I don't have any way of getting rid of it."

To say she was oblivious to her situation would have been an understatement. The ever growing smile on her face spoke loud and clear that she hadn't learned more about the reality of danger and death since their previous meeting, let alone the news of the fall of Yoro or the cults that had been forming as of late.


"There's no need to worry about me. I'm in the same situation as I was the last time we met, nothing has changed."

Was Rosewater truly that oblivious to the world, or was she just overtly optimistic by nature? Perhaps Rose did not understand what she was going through, nor did she understand the condition of the area around her. Yoro was recently taken and she didn’t even know it. For someone of her potential, she should understand what would be going on. “Have you not tried taking a shower?” she suggested. Ruo herself did not like water, for fear of it messing with her machinery, even though in the back of her mind, she probably knew water would do nothing to her. Maybe if Rosewater was similar, she would need something dryer than water. Maybe some sort of towel rub? “Nonetheless, you seem to not really know what is going on. Maybe you need a rag or something…” she said. For whatever reason, Ruo was feeling rather empathetic for the woman android. It could have been because she was similar, or simply that she looked like she was in a poor place to be, especially someone of her mentality. She did not seem to be stupid by any means, she was just innocent is all. She did not change much since they last spoke.

Even Rosewater said as much when she explained that not much else had been going on. Meaning she has been all alone with nothing to do. What could Ruo do? This woman needed a home, or at least someone to help her survive or learn better tactics in this world. But Ruo’s paranoia was getting to her. Rosewater was not a threat, but you could never be too careful. Then again, if she really had to, Ruo could end her. But Ruo did not want to, and for this one moment, it seemed to outweigh any fears of her she may have had. “Rosewater, I am afraid I cannot see you in this type of condition. If you do not have a place to stay, I would like to request that you come with me, and stay in my home. I am the only resident of where I am staying at, so there will be plenty of room. I would rather help you then see you in this type of situation,” Ruo said, her face still holding her sympathy. The feeling was welling up within her as well. Her Papillon Heart was feeling sympathy, like she had to help this poor android, or she could not bear to live with herself. Is this how humans felt in situations like these? If Rosewater obtained a Persona in the near future, she could even help defend herself as well. Maybe Ruo could help her awaken to one. She needed a place to go, or at least Ruo believed she did.

"A shower?" Rosewater echoed the word, clearly never having heard of such a thing before. She hadn't gone inside of someone's home yet, so she was still unaware of many of the basic objects in a household, and could only learn so much by staying on the streets "Can't say I have."

But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't seem to figure out why Ruo was so concerned about her. If her condition had truly been that bad, wouldn't she have commented on it the first time they had met? The soot that had tainted her artificial skin and clothes was truly the only thing about her that had changed, and that wasn't uncomfortable to her....

But it shouldn't be her place to argue that. Ruo had almost undoubtedly been on this earth longer than she had, and she probably knew best.

"I apologize. I'd be glad to find out what I need to know if you would tell me, I'm sorry I'm so short on information" By now, she could understand that her lack of worldly knowledge made her very different from those around her. She still looked to the future with a smile, but her hopeful eyes clearly showed that she dearly wished Ruo could help her with this problem. She had a lot of catching up to do, and she certainly couldn't do it alone.

Her companion's offer, however, was one much more generous than she could have ever hoped. A chance to stay with Ruo was something beyond an incredible , and had she not been holding the purple stone from their first encounter in her left hand, she would have certainly clapped her hands together in joy.

"Truly?! I would love that!" she had no desire to hide her excitement at the thought of being able to see the other android on a regular basis, as well as having somewhere to call home instead of having to stay on the side of different streets every day ever since she had given up on her creator ever changing his mind about her "Thank you, Ruo!"

She looked even happier than a child getting the perfect Christmas present, as if the smile on her face was going to stay there forever.

Looking at her, in almost confusion that she has never showered. Not even her creator cleaned her or taught her? Even Ruo Had that luxury when she was still being tested. “It seems you need to learn quite a bit if you want to survive. I will happily help you in that regard. Lately I have been feeling this odd sensation for others,” she said, partially to herself. What was this feeling like? Care? She seemed to care for this woman in a way, like she was someone important. But why? Was this just how she was meant to be when she was made? She could have been made to be able to process emotion, but the glitch in her system kept emotions away from her, until her Persona came along. What was the cause of this swirl of random feelings within her? Regardless, she gave a light smile, that showed a hint of motherly care; which seemed to interest her. Was she acting like a mother would to their child? Rosewater seemed rather excited to see that she would take her in. Ruo shook her head lightly. “I don’t think I would do anything else. If you want to go, please follow me. My home is rather hidden away and I do not want anyone to follow,” she would say before turning in the opposite direction, checking to see if Rosewater was following, and if so, continue on.

On the walk, she would remain silent for a moment before turning to speak to Rosewater. “I am soon planning to leave Iwaigodai in due time. I worry that if that red area gets over here, we would need to cross Yoro to it, which will be even more hazardous,” she said. She wondered if Rosewater knew of Personas and Limbo, maybe she was built with that in mind. “Does the name Limbo mean anything to you?” she would ask on the walk down the path, turning suddenly down an alleyway and looking to both sides behind her before continuing along. Much care had to be taken care of in order to keep this home secret, though if she soon had to leave Iwaigodai, it won’t matter much.

If Rosewater's smile could have grown any brighter, it probably would have when Ruo confirmed her hopes of being able to teach her what she needed to know later on. Finally, everything seem to be going her way for once, and it was greatly appreciated after what little events she had been a part of always seemed to leave her with a sense of hopelessness before she was able to pick up the pieces and look excitedly to the future again.

"I couldn't ask for anything more. Thank you again!" She felt as though she couldn't say that enough. She certainly would be eternally grateful for this.

She walked alongside her friend, stroking the purple stone in her left hand, happily thinking about how fortunate she was to have had that first encounter with her to begin with.

Yet, once again, she could only offer a rather confused look as a reply to her talk of 'red zones' and 'limbo', as it was clearly foreign to her. For better or for worse, Rosewater's potential could be considered a fluke to her design, as she was never built to fight, quite the opposite in fact.

In contrast to Ruo, not only was she unaware of Limbo or the Shadows that lived there, but she was built to avoid them would she every run into that sort of danger. She was a robot who just happened to have a Papillon heart to give her a soul, and nothing else. A a poorly made warrior of unfortunate circumstances.

"I can't say it does. I've never heard of anything like it before."

Odd. Usually she could at least get some sense of what a word meant by hearing it. Not this time. She must not have been programmed with that information in mind.

“Don’t worry, I am sure I will teach you some things before we leave Iwaigodai. I am going to take a day or two to prepare, and then we will leave,” she said. She would continue the walk down the alleyway which would grow a bit more narrow, but still enough space to keep the two comfortable, before turning down another one. It truly was a windy pathway to her home, but it was the safest. “Rose, you are an android yes? This means you may obtain what is called a ‘Persona’ in the future,” she began to explain while walking. “It is rather hard to describe, and feel free to stop me if you are confused, but a Persona is like another part of you, that helps you in things, and gives you supernatural abilities,” she explained. It truly was difficult to talk of her Persona, as it to a normal person may sound like babble, but she knew Rosewater may come to find one eventually, and she should be prepared for it. “There are creatures I have come across called Shadows. They can only be fought using Personas. These creatures will gladly do you harm, so do not feel bad if you have to fight them,” she said looking at Rosewater. She was hoping she would take this well. If not, and she would ask questions, Ruo would gladly answer them nonetheless.

If she had no questions, Ruo would continue on. “There is also another world, called Limbo, which I learned from my creators. I’ll explain later how to get to it, but that is where the Shadows come from, and lately, the world itself is coming into our world. That is why the town Yoro that we met the first time, is now red. No doubt Shadows are infested there,” she said. She figured she’d save the Velvet Room and other things for the future, as this was most likely a lot to take in for the poor girl. She didn’t want to intimidate her with too much information, as she was so….empty as it were already, which was not meant as an insult. For some reason, this girl caused Ruo to have some care for her. No one had been able to do that before except perhaps Destiny, who she found herself to be similar to. Ruo did not know how or why her heart was making her change, and she did not know how to feel about it, only that it was unsettling.

Rosewater almost gave a slight giggle at Ruo's first statement, finding it amusing that her companion did not seem to realize how much she learned every time they spoke at all. Even putting aside all the spoken phrases that she could more easily recognize and use now, certain words always seemed to come to her mind when she would start to feel a certain way. Happy. Friendly. Those were the two words she would think of the most often when she was around her. They were positive things, she could figure out that much.

It surprised her, however, that Ruo brought up the subject of leaving this town. She herself had, of course, no real reason to leave, as she had always been too cautious to venture too far. She wouldn't question it, however, if that was what Ruo wanted. Being with her was clearly for the best, and she had no true reason to stay here.

She nodded in response to her friend's question, even though she had learned from Alphonse that her mechanical origins where not something everyone should know, Ruo was already well aware of it, and she trusted her.

Despite her intelligence, the talk of personas went quite over her head, but she had a feeling Ruo was probably aware of that, seeing how she herself had said it was hard to describe. Something told her she should have known what it was, perhaps through programmed coding that had been unsuccessfully deleted, as she had learned not too long ago that many androids were built with much more knowledge already given than she had. Perhaps she would learned eventually.

Harm. There was that word again, the one which Alphonse had used when telling her it wasn't a good idea to stand in the middle of a construction yard. It still rang in a negative tone here, but she was still no closer to understanding what it meant.

She stayed silent for the rest of Ruo's attempted explanation, finding it harder and harder to understand the concept of the danger she was surrounded by in this world, unable to picture the countless citizens that had perished at the hands of a mysterious enemy, still unaware of the existence of death.

But there was one question she would ask, something bothering her that her naive mind could not logically find an answer to.

"Harm is a negative thing, is it not?Why would these 'shadows' willingly cause it? I understand that they're different than the shade that forms behind me when I walk, but I'm afraid I don't understand"

It was good that Rosewater was asking questions, it meant she was willing to voice what she did not understand. If only the questions she was asking Ruo would have an easy time answering. “Well….” She paused, even taking a moment to stop walking, already deep in the practical maze of alleyways, nearing her home. Rosewater did not understand the concept it seemed. But she should know beyond Shadows there are other "negatives" in this world. “Harm is indeed negative. Not all people in this world are….good. Some are not so good and will wish to hurt others. For Shadows, they all seem to wish to hurt humans and us. As for why…I do not know. Perhaps they want to live in our world, and want to take our place. I’m sorry…it’s a bit hard to explain. I do not know too much about Shadows. I have fought them myself. I only know that they wish to hurt us,” she said. Come to think of it, not even her creators knew much of Shadows beyond that there are theories they can take the shape of other humans. Did one of her creators have a Persona and learn about all of this? Ruo did not know much about all of this after all it seemed.

Walking forward once more, they would find a tiny alleyway that was a bit too small for both of them to walk side by side. “We’ll need to go one at a time,” she said, before turning sideface and moving gently through the pathway. Ruo would talk to her if she needed to, but if not, and the walk did not take long, they would finally reach a clearing where a moderately-sized warehouse would stand, with a door with one broken handle, suggesting it had been broken into; which it had been. Ruo sometimes wondered why it was chained up when she found it, as she found nothing noteworthy in that place when she made it her home. Maybe it had something hidden and Ruo did not look hard enough. She did not know for sure.

It was one of the first times she truly had stopped to ponder on the fact that not all people on this earth were kind or helpful. Ruo was right, as she had come to terms with the fact that she had been created by the hands of someone who had certainly not been 'good' to her, but it certainly didn't make it any easier for her to comprehend why anyone would ever cause intentional harm to someone else. Surely people realized that the other humans around them where things who felt the emotions that they did, with their own pasts and experiences? She couldn't see the logic in ever wanting to hurt someone else.
The only thing she seemed to be able to think of was that perhaps the shadows wanted to cause 'harm' to people because they lacked this knowledge.

She wasn't about to ask her friend any more questions on the matter, as she knew she wouldn't be able to answer them. She couldn't help but think, however, of what would happen if she were to try and reason with these creatures, should she ever run into them.

Or perhaps it was best not to try. Ruo had said not to feel bad about fighting them after all, but Rosewater couldn't help but wonder if these unknown creates had feelings the same way she did.

"That seems....counterproductive.Strange" was all she had to say in response to the attempted explanation, obviously still very confused on the matter "But it seems as though certain behaviors don't always make sense. I still don't understand why I wasn't reprogrammed instead of left to my own, mostly because I have grown grateful for it."

She couldn't quite say as to why yet, but she did have immediate positive that she could point to, not realizing that she had gone on a bit of a tangent by now.

"At the very least, I can certainly say I feel much less anxiety around you than him. "

She said it all with a smile on her face, still not completely able to realize the weight of her words. She wasn't angry or bitter, simply happy with the current moment and what she had.

Following the other android's directions, she stayed behind her friend continuing to walk with her until they reached their final destination. She wanted to question the broken handle, but simply assumed that it was in that state when Ruo had starting living there.

“Unfortunate, but it indeed is how it is. So do not fear if we end up having to fight them. You may very well soon awaken to your Persona before we have to. I can teach you how to defend yourself if that happens,” she said looking at Rosewater. She needed to learn, as soon as possible. Ruo did not want to see someone akin to her, and perhaps just as low as she was fail because of what she did not know. “If you need me to help teach you to try and help you awaken to your Persona, feel free to ask. It is only my theory, but maybe Personas can be coaxed out of an individual with the right amount of help.” Walking on ahead, she would approach the door and grab the broken handle, pulling it ever so lightly, which would open up to the entrance of her home. It was not too big a place, but it was home to her. She would look behind her if Rosewater had not followed and waved her hand lightly. “Don’t worry, this place is rather safe. I make sure of that on a day to day basis,” she said. She would wait to see if Rosewater would come in before she followed.

Looking at her, she would nod in agreement. “It is rather annoying the feeling of not getting help for your defections. But sometimes you must learn to live with them. But over time I am sure you will be just fine. You have plenty of room to grow,” she said. She did not know what to say in response to Rosewater’s compliment however. Ruo felt anxiety around Rosewater still, as this was the first person she has led to her home, but she could not tell her that. The warehouse itself would be cluttered with some stacks of empty boxes and much of the floor would be littered with various trinkets and small items Ruo had picked up along the way. Ruo usually tended to pick anything she found from the ground to take home and see how it worked. She doesn’t really bother to clean up much, since up until now, only she stayed at this home and she knew how to maneuver around without damaging the parts. Kneeling down, she would move some gently to the side making a clear enough path through the items. “Forgive me if the place is a bit messy. It is a habit of mine,” she said before stiffening around to walk through until coming across a moderately-sized lamp which illuminated a space next to a tattered mattress on the ground, which Ruo sometimes used. Other times, she would choose to go offline leaning against the wall while looking at her trinkets if her body was heating up.

Weakness: