A Simple Trip:

Today, Elpis was going to the store to run some simple errands for the wife of the man who owned the place where Elpis lived.
It was simple work, really. Something she could have done herself, but after a visit from Shinji, she wasn't fit to actually go out.

Which he had to wonder why, as she was one of the few beings that honestly made him feel something close to fear at times when she got angry.

Anyways...
He checked the list. Simple enough. Some groceries, a few bits of make-up supplies, and that was all.
Simple enough to where he could foot the bill himself, but eh.
She had given him the money.
It would be rude for him not to use it.

He activated a nearby CWIS terminal for usage though to see where he could get the items for the cheapest price.

Cwis would appear with a happy spin as her holographic projection emerged from the terminal. On busy days like today she could have upwards of a couple thousand active 'Selves' at any given time. Most of the time she was called on to check prices or recommend a quick place to stop and get a bite to eat. Had she not loved her job so much it would honestly be tiring. However this was far from the case. She waited for a moment before bringing one of her tentacles to what could be coincided her chin if you squinted hard enough. "Hrrrrrm..." she would mumble in thought as she squinted her one eye.

"I feel almost obligated to suggest the Toha Heavy Industries outlet center, but honestly I feel there are a few smaller stores that could use the business and could probably get you a good deal! What exactly are you looking for?"

"I need to find out the cheapest places to get the following items." he said matter-of-factly, pulling out the list, and handing it to her.
On it was written:

2x 12-packs of Fruit Cocktail cans.
3x Bottles of Almond Extract.
1x Bag of Tangerines.
1x Bag of Bagels.
2x Boxes of Crackers.
1x Carton of milk.

"Found anything yet, little one?" he asked it, out of habit referring to it as 'little one' because to him, most beings were far younger than him.
That, and he hadn't quite grasped the condescending implications of it.

"Oh my, such a very Human list of foodstuffs! It's been quite a while sense I've been asked as such. Hehe"Cwis held back a laugh as she listed to the list of foods. To her it was as alien as any other, however human food, or foods native to a majority of human inhabited worlds, was becoming more of a rarity as of late. It's bland textures and flavors seemed to bore most non-human species, at least those with the genetic make up to eat it, and the wide variety of other types of food stuffs made seeking out the terrestrial variety a bit of a chore for most humans, that and alien foods always seemed much more interesting.

"Of course you could find all this and more at Toha Heavy Industries.. But there is a human run super market about three floors down and two blocks north. It's called Bullseye! I hear they have great deals on most human foodstuffs."Cwis said with a happy nod and a smile evident in her one eye. "Is there anything else I can help you with today?"

"Indeed. The recent damage didn't help matters. However, it would appear that the dish these ingredients are used for are best made with these ingredients." he said.
True, he was wondering if he should have gotten the blue milk.
But then, who drinks blue milk?
Well, he had tasted some in the past, but that was a life ago, literally.

He nodded in response to her place. Bullseye. That sounded familiar. Was that where Melodia had sent him.
At her (it?) next question, he thought if there was anything else that he needed to get.
Then he remembered.

"Yes, actually. Do you know of any place that sells sleeping aids, such as pills, of the medicinal sort? I'm looking for the pills that use Morpheus seed powder in particular, each one containing 70mg doses of the substance." he asked her, remembering how Melodia had said off-handedly as he left that she had better pick some up because they were out.

Unbeknownst to him, Morpheus seeds were a extremely effective sleeping aid ingredient. So effective, as a matter of fact, there had been cases of people overdosing on them that had resulted in the victim falling into a coma, some of which the victims never woke up from.

A dose like the one he suggested was only used for someone with potent sleep issues, like Takeru.
Which is also why it was placed on a special prescription that only certain stores were allowed to sell.
But Melodia had not told Elpis this, and the fact that Takeru took this medicine was supposed to be a secret.
A secret Elpis had accidentally let out.

"Oh dear... That is a rather large amount of raw melatonin... I am afraid that dosages of that magnitude cannot be obtained without a prescription. Also the Morpheus Seed powder you seek has been running a bit dry as of late. Those working in R&D in the biodomes seem to be having a bit of difficulty reproducing the growing conditions of the Morpheus Tree's natural world as of late. Where it not for this fact I would point you in the in the direction of any one of this floors many pharmacies..." Cwis would tilt her head for a moment before continuing with a joyful tone. "I could, however, schedule you an appointment to see if we can't get you a prescription for a suitable substitute."

That was odd.
Even in all his years, he had never known Takeru's sleeping medicine to need a prescription.
Now that he thought about it, they never directly mentioned it.
Not in front of Shinji, anyways, nor in front of him.
He only knew today, actually, that he took he medication.
Was CWIS... disappointed?
"Strange... they never mentioned that... although, I wonder. Are you.. disappointed?" he said.

The recommendation for the replacement...
The question was how mad Melodia would get if she found out.
He had seen how she was when she got mad.
It... scared him. The unearthly glare that brought to mind, as Takeru once put it "The vengeful look of a thousand angry ghosts."

Melodia when Mad:

"That... would not be necessary. I do not believe my current landlady would appreciate it at all if she knew I asked for this, now that I think about it..." he said, upon considering just why Takeru took sleeping medications of that level.

Normally, Takeru took them for his nightmares, the sort that drive men mad.
Especially when one considers what the source of those nightmares were.
If one could have seen Elpis's face, it would have darkened a bit upon the grim realization.
But it would be best to explain it, at least, or else this would be seen as suspicious, especially on some worlds he had been to, this would be tantamount to murder attempts.

"You see, the pills in question are for her husband. He suffers from... severe nightmares, to say the least. To divulge any more... would be... unwise of me." he said, carefully choosing his words. He didn't want to frighten her(?) with some of the more grim tales he knew of Takeru and his... condition.

Frankly, he probably belonged in a mental hospital, but Melodia was adamant, citing years of therapy that worked as the reason why he shouldn't be placed in one.
Of course, Elpis had caused one of Takeru's mental breakdowns when he first met, but that was another story...
Not a great way to make a first impression.

He snapped himself out of his little reverie though, and grounded himself back to reality.
A question popped into his head.
"Say, little one. Do you know how old you are in human years? By human standards, I am approximately six million years old. I'm curious to know, since if the rumors are correct, and you were born when Junction was, that would make you and Junction the same age." he asked it, explaining his logic to it.

"I see, I am sorry I was unable to assist you in this matter, perhaps if you are able to get in contact with your friend and relay to him this information he may be able to find a suitable substitute before the city's reserve runs dry. And yes, I am indeed a bit disappointed I was unable to assist you today, I pride myself in being able to handle any issue that a citizen may have... When I come up short it is a little disheartening..." Cwis paused for a moment and drooped slightly before perking back up and seeming re energized by the new question.

"Contrary to popular belief I am actually not as old as Junction itself. I was created approximately five hundred thousand human years ago, however beta versions of the Cwis system date back to the founding of Toha Heavy Industries, which is thought to have taken place far longer ago then the official records of Junctions written history can go."

"I see. Thank you..." he said, pausing before the weight of the words sunk in.
Mainly reserve runs dry.
"I'm sorry, but did you say run dry...? That...that's not supposed to happen for any of the things grown, is it? Especially since the fact that there is a reserve indicates that this would still appear to be something vital..." he said, more confusion emerging in his voice than anything resembling fear.

"Of course, with all the anomalies, I suppose that shouldn't be too strange." he said.

As for what she answered...
"Oh. Interesting. Tell me, these beta versions, which I suppose would be your ancestors... what happened to them? Also, how far do those written records go, exactly?" he asked, taking note of the fact of just how old Toha Heavy Industries was, being older than the records of Junction's written history could go.
This meant the possibility that, quite possibly, there were one of two possibilities.
Either A.) Toha Heavy Industries was as old as Junction itself.
or B.) Toha Heavy Industries was even older than Junction.

He decided on A.) because that would make the most sense, but if it was B...
Could it be possible that Toha Heavy Industries was the very company that had made Junction?

Either way, the amount of resources, well...
It made him suspect that somewhere out there, there were a lot of worlds that had been stripped bare of every single one of their resources. He knew from experience that one could not make such things from nothing, unless you somehow found a way to manipulate dark matter, but the very prospect, even to him, was highly unlikely.
He had only heard of one race to even come close to succeeding in that, and all their members were now long gone.

Also, speaking from similar experiences with such large-scale structures, that was the only way that a place this large could have been built. He had seen how many other worlds stripped bare it took to make just one artificial world. A place the size of Junction, well...
It was entirely probable that they had razed a whole universe just for the resources.

As for how Junction could jump from world to world gave him several possibilities, all involving quantum  technology, including the possibility that Junction's entire core was a giant set of wormhole generators, things from his universe that managed to contain entire singularities, enabling easy and instant space travel to other universes, but the hard part was surviving it. Even Elpis himself had barely survived a trip through one.

He had to wonder, what was powering this whole place? Such a large structure would need at least a small galaxy's worth of energy...
This was getting very interesting.
All he had to do was just ask the right questions.

"Why yes, run dry. I do hope you're not to put off by this fact. The Morpheus plant seems just a little bit to difficult to grow and the synthetic version works just as well... It's just no longer economical to grow the plant any more. The space has been given to the Thneed, Florogracent Root, and Apple trees. I could lodge a formal complaint with the Agricultural department if you like." Cwis's tone would take more of an official tone as a long form appeared on the terminal below her. The form would ask for simple things such as name, Citizen ID, and nature of complaint.

"My previous versions are more like past lives then ancestors, however the comparison is apt. The fate of the previous CWIS systems however are a corporate secret of Toha Heavy Industries, and is not part of public records. Though our public and privet records date back to approximately two point five billion standard years. Junction itself may be much older, however there simply is no way of knowing. Do you have any more questions for me today?"

Huh. He nodded at the remark. So there were synthetic versions instead?
Of course, then again, considering Junction, well...

"No, I understand. I was merely curious, that is all." he said.

As for what she said, he couldn't help but chuckle a bit.
That actually described him too.
So Toha Heavy Industries had made the previous CWIS's fate's unknown?
Interesting.
That would also imply that the previous CWIS's likely no longer existed anymore.
"Are they worried someone would steal the secret from the bodies of the previous ones? Or..." he thought before he asked something else just to confirm.

"There are little to no remaining records of the previous CWIS systems going from before you, or nothing else regarding their fate remains, other than one day, they simply vanished and were replaced?" he asked it.
Either way, this would be getting interesting.
But to lighten the mood a bit...

"Tell me little one, am I the oldest living thing in Junction, at six million years old?" he asked it, out of curiosity. Shinji had remarked that Elpis probably qualified for the title if he was somehow older than CWIS, who was thought to be as old as the city itself.
Also, Toha Industries was over at least 2.5 billion years.
That was way, way older than Elpis thought.

"As I stated before, the fate of the previous CWIS systems are a corporate secret of Toha Heavy Industries, and is not part of public records. I cannot disclose any information in regards to their function other than the fact that they existed at one point in time." Phonically and emotionally, the delivery of the line would be nearly identical to the first time Cwis had said this particular piece of information.

"And good heavens no, you may be a very long lived individual, but six million standard human years hardly qualify's you as the oldest being in junction. There is no official count, however I can safely say that there are over ten dozen registered citizens who's recorded age far exceeds your own. I hope this is not a disappointment to you..."

"I see. Do you think you will join them yourself one day? Or to put it in more human terms, are you afraid that you might die?" he asked it.

"I see. Intriguing. I presume you can say that because you yourself have met these over ten dozen beings...?" he asked it.

Well, six million was his reckoning, anyways, he thought.
He did recall at one point seeing a star being born, and around for it's death.
In standard universal years, he thought it might have been closer to sixty billion, now that he thought about it.
Six million was where he started counting from, actually, but for the sake of convenience to avoid the hassle, he went with six million on his citizenship application form.

"Do I fear Death?.... Hrm, quiet honestly I don't spend much time thinking on it. It's such a foreign concept to me that I haven't paid it much thought at all. I suppose if I were to perish some day I would be able to properly answer that question, though as I am now I am unable to adequately provide a response, I am sorry." Cwis would bow slightly and press her tentacles together in mild annoyance. It's not like she didn't consider death an option, it was more that she spent so much time with her work and maintaining Junction as best she could, that she frankly didn't have much time to spend worrying about it. Throw one's self into one's work and never want for worries it seems.

"Oh of course! I have met nearly every citizen in junction at lest once. Everyone in this city has such an interesting story to tell and life to live! It would be a disservice to myself to not speak with the more long lived members of our fair city... Oh dear I think I got us a bit off track, do you have any more questions sir?"

He nodded, understanding. He didn't pay it much thought himself these days.
"I see. Interesting." he said.

Of course that unit would have met them. Interesting indeed. He could probably tell her his life story, but that would be a very long tale to her.
He would have to meet some of those long lived beings someday.

"No, I don't think so, little one. For now, i'm satisfied. Goodbye for now, little one. Let's talk more next time. I'll tell you my story then." he said, closing it as he walked to Bullseyes.
He wanted to dictate his life story to someone or something at least that would be able to make note of it all, in its fully uncensored form.

After all, on the off chance he did die for good, he wanted something to be there so that he could be remembered.
A desire he had picked up from his host, nothing more.

[EXIT]