Can a cherry blossom bloom even in autumn? (Cherry and Autumn SL)

"............." Cherry was in the zone. The mythical state of mind all people long to attain. The state of mind that can only be reached when you truely drown everything else out and focus on what was truely important to you. And for Cherry, this focus was on a book. The book was floating down the river, slowly, ever so slowly, it almost drove the girl mad! But Cherry knew very well she couldn't let the nerves over take her. If she missed her shoot she may lose thos book forever! She had to stay calm and collected. She stayed perfectly still, crouching over the river like a cat about to pounce on it's prey. Her eyes trained on the red book slowly making it's way towards her. And as the book got close enough............ She struck!

Using her right hand she swiftly yanked the book out of the water and on to dry land. After this she opened it up and checked to see if it was damage, and while the last couple of pages where messed up by the water. Most of it was still intact. Upon seeing this, Cherry pumped her fist up in the air, striking a victory pose as she let out a cry of happiness. "Yeah baby! That's what I am talking about!" She yelled out, a little bit too loudly. As she began to view the pages, mostly just looking at the pictures.

Dusk cast a colourful pallor over the gloom of the bellows, the last vestiges of golden sunlight slipping through and piercing the fog like sand slipping through spectral fingers. Autumn trudged through the shadows, following the river that ran across the area north in the hopes of making it the the cradle in the center of Paris. She was still damaged from her previous altercation with the persona user from before, body sparking occasionally and body whirring unnaturally loudly with every step. She'd be at a disadvantage if any shadow decided to attack her, but it couldn't be helped at the moment.

Suddenly, a loud, whooping, human voice scythed through the gloom, jubilant with the ecstasy of success and piquing the android's interest. She changed direction along the riverbank, the fog parting to reveal a lone figure cheering as they crouched near the riverbank. She stood there, cautiously, unsure of what course of action to take, especially since her last interaction with a surface dweller had gone exceedingly poorly. Eventually, she called out a cautious but casual greeting to the lone person.

"What's so exciting about that water over there?"

Cherry turned around to face the person who had spoken to her. The person didn't seem to want a fight, in fact she couldn't even see any weapons on them. Although to be fair that was probably because of the fog. Lucky for Cherry the fog covered up her features pretty well. The only thing the mysterious could make out is the vague shape of her body. Judging by the silhouette the mystery person could tell that she was a womann on trhe younger side of things, who had a left arm much larger than the right one.

"It's not the water that is excting, it's what I found in the water." After saying this she would hold the book over her chest, showing it off the best she could with the fog in the way, before she began to softly tap her wooden fingers against the cover of the book. "I found this book floating down the river, and it is a great find. It's mostly intact, and it has really nice pictures." She said before cracking the book back open, and glacing down at the pages once again, a smile crossing her face. "My name is Cherry, and what would your's be?" She asked, before suddenly going. "Oh! And do you know what those strange noises where a few seconds ago? It sounded almost like a fan, do you know what I am talking about?"

Upon closer observation, it became increasingly clear that the figure kneeling before her was anything but normal - far from it, in fact. A disproportionately large arm was attached to a slight, rather frail frame, exaggerated in a manner similar to that of a caricature, the comically large appendage nearly as large as the person it was attached to. However, they seemed friendly enough, an inviting quality that encouraged Autumn, even if she hadn't let her guard down, to step closer.

"A book? I see," Autumn replied, humoring the somewhat eccentric sounding, rambling young woman. Her next comment though, regarding the whirring noises produced by her own body, was enough to make the android slightly self-conscious. Having people point out that she was a machine was something that she had grown somewhat acclimated to - after all, she couldn't blame anyone for reacting the way they did, seeing how it was only natural, however disheartening it may be. If you looked close enough, she was close enough to the human form to pass as one yet also different in several subtle ways that anyone would be hard pressed not to find unnerving. Her eyes spun and focused like the lens of a camera, her skin lacked the texture of a human's natural membranes, and even Autumn's joints had an obviously mechanical quality to them.

"Ah, sorry about that. That...would be me, actually." Autumn answered somewhat hesitantly, shifting on her feet and wiggling her fingers as if to confirm her statement.

"Yep, and it's a picture book at that! I normally like more colorful pages, and this one is black and white, but it's still pretty nice to look at." The plot seemed to be nice too, sadly she couldn't understand any of it. She really should try and find Helanna again one day, not only to spend more time with the kind lady, but so she could continue her lessons. "Oh really? It is?" Cherry asked, before her eyes where drawn to the image of her fingers wiggling in the fog.

"Wow. Are you okay? I think you should probably get that checked out, bodies shouldn't make those noises." Her voice was filled with worry as she suggested that the person should see somebody and get herself fixed up. It really was a strange sound, not natural in any sense of the word. In fact that wasn't the only thing strange about the woman, Cherry could swear she heard a subtle little metallic tinge to her voice. These two things only where enough to put a little theory in the teen's mind. This lady may not have been a human after all.......... She could be a robot! Of course while a part of her wanting to just straight up ask, the more logical side of her held her back. If this woman wasn't a robot and Cherry asked, than she would make a huge ass of herself. No. She'd poke and pry a little bit, try and find out the truth through more 'subtle' means.

"Anyways don't be sorry. You cannot control it. What is the soruce of this? Is in it your bones? Are you in pain?" This little question was so that Cherry could learn two things. The first thing was to learn if she was actually in pain. And the second was to she if Cherry could slip her up and make her say something that would out her as a robot. Like saying that she had no bones or something along those lines. "If your hurt or in pain I maybe able to help. I mean no promises, but, I do have a little trick that seems to work on most people." She hasn't tested the upper limits of her healing ability. So far she has only been using it to heal minor wounds and burns, and she didn't even know if this woman was injured or not, and if she was, who was to say how harmed she was? But it was better to try than to just give up.

"Oh, also. I uh, still didn't really catch a name."

"Pictures are always nice, aren't they?" Autumn mused aloud, though she suspected that their perceptions of such images were entirely different. After all, she could recall most images with perfect clarity, and while that certainly had it's uses, it had the side effects of making things like art feel somewhat superficial.

"It's fine. I'm...what you'd probably call a robot. Artificial intelligence, that sort of thing." Autumn replied, still sounding amiable and pleasant despite a slight awkwardness and hesitancy. Cherry would've found out anyway - it was best if she admitted it herself.

She offered a soft smile at Cherry's concern and compassion, shaking her head ever so slightly as if to put the young girl's concerns to rest. "Don't waste it on me. I can fix myself...mostly." Autumn added, though maybe there was an underlying frustration in her voice.

"Seems that was a bit premature. You can call me Autumn, and who might you be?""

Nodding she would unzip her backpack and put the object inside of the bag. Before closing it right back up, and replying to the woman. "Oh yes! They say so much more than words ever could." To Cherry they did anyways, it's not like she could actually test out that statement yet, hopefully in the future she'll be able to read and enjoy the books she finds.

A small, yet sly grin crossed the teen's face as Autumn told the truth. Not that she would be able to see Cherry's smile due to the fog. That was shockingly easy to get out of her, Cherry really thought that she would have to do more work to know for sure. But nope! She just gave it up, to be honest it was a little disappointing, she was hoping for some back and forth. Some mind games! But in the end it didn't really matter all that much. "I knew it!" She pumped her fist up in the air. "I met another robot just the other day, her name is Abzu, have you met her? Anyways I guess meeting her made my 'robot sense' stronger because the moment you opened your lips I knew you where a robot! Oh gods you guys are so cool!" She giddly said, almost hopping in place.

"Are you sure? I mean this may not work on robots, but it may! I would love to do anything to help you out." Cherry couldn't just let her new friend stay broke now could she? She did not put up with that for Abzu, and she would not put up with it with this bot. "I already told you, I am Cherry." This girl seemed a bit airheaded, maybe her ears where messed up? If that was the case then Cherry would have to speak louder then. "Autum is a really nice name though! Did you name yourself, or did your creator give it to you?"

Autumn tapped a finger to her chin as if in thought, an expression halfway between bewilderment and bemusement at Cherry’s outburst and amusement at her enthusiasm at having ‘discovered’ the former’s nature. She certainly was spirited, the android thought, before pondering a response, still wincing a little in response to her energetic demeanor regarding her kind. “Abzu? I don’t think I’ve met her, but that’s good to know.” Autumn pondered further - the existence of another android, especially in such unforgiving and barren conditions, was something that definitely deserved further investigation on her part. Especially since her contact with others like her had been depressingly scarce. Her lips quirked up ever so slightly as Cherry asked about her creator. “Oh, um...I don’t actually know. It’s just my given designation, actually.”

The android shook her head again at Cherry’s kind (if a tad overbearing) offer. “I can take care of it. Wouldn’t want to trouble you with that, after all.” She gestured with a small sort of allen wrench as if to prove her point before speaking again. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Cherry.”

It seemed as if Autumn didn't know anything about Abzu after all sadly, but maybe she would have some more info about the collective or Clovis? She was a robot after all, if anybody would have some idea of where the building is it'd probably be her. "That sucks, Abzu is a really nice lady, I think you'd like her. Anyways, I actually did have a bit of problem that I think you could help with, if you don't mind me asking of course?" Even though Cherry offered up a question, she would not wait around for any answer. Simply going right into her request "You see, my friend, Abzu. She is feeling a little.......... I want to say sick, but I don't think that is the right word to use. But whatever! The wording doesn't matter! What does matter is that she is having some sort of problem inside of her, you know?" She brought her right arm to her stomach, and rubbed it to futher get her point across. "She needs new parts. I don't really know the name of them, she didn't tell me, but she did tell me where they could be. But, the main problem with all this is that she never gave me a map or anything. Just the rough location of where I could find them, and the area those spots are in is pretty dangerous. I don't really want to spend much time in there if I don't have too. So, I was wondering if you knew where the base of the collective is or where Clovis's super secret vault is?"

Cherry cocked her head to the side as she heard a new term. "Designation? Is that like, some fancy robot version of a name?" She never heard of that word before, so she can only guess. Either way, the blonde would shrug her shoulders and let out a simple. "If you say so. Anyways it's a pleasure to meet you too Autumn!"

"Fixed, hmmm?" Autumn mused, idly screwing in a few loose components in her arms as she did so. She mulled over Cherry's rapidly spoken words - she'd heard of the Halcyon collective and Clovis in passing, both from engineers inside vault Olympia and in fleeting synapses in her programming, though it would take some serious examination if she wanted to glean any more from those quick glances. Autumn nodded thoughtfully, then shook her head slightly. "I'm afraid not, though I could help you find a little more information if you needed it," She was, admittedly, curious about those things as well, though it seemed such sentiments would have to wait in the face of her conversation with Cherry as she tried her best to answer the teen's question.

"Well, yeah. It's more or less something someone inputs into my system. Usually it's a serial number, but in this case someone else overwrote that." After she finished her explanation, Autumn asked Cherry a question in turn, almost as an afterthought. "Where are you from, Cherry?"

Cherry smiled at the robpt when she offered to look into the collective. More help with the search is always welcomed. "Yes, I would love that actually! Any help at all would be great. Thank you." Cherry said, with the same cheery smile on her face, blocked from view due to the same fog that always filled the bellows. "Really? Well im glad somebody changed that! A number isn't a name!" The blonde experiment exclaimed. Finding the whole idea to be utterly ridiculous.

"Huh? Well right here! Well, not right here, right here, but I've been here since I was a baby. Traveling around Paris with my mom. Exploring and collecting stuff I've came across. It isn't a easy life, but I wouldn't have any other way! It was so fun to explore with my mother, every now and again she'd gather some paper and a few pens and she'd let me draw!" Cherry let out a happy sigh as she reflected on those memories. She'd find her mother again. One of these days. "What about you? Where did you come from miss Autumn?"

Autumn smiled gently again, noting how enthusiastic and pleased Cherry seemed, though the teenager's remark about traveling with her mother was an interesting one. Perhaps she had been separated from her child? There didn't seem to be signs of another person in their area, outside of the one who had given Autumn her wounds - though Cherry's happy-go-lucky attitude was contagious. "A mother? Do you know where she is...? I've never really had a parent before..." Autumn questioned, curious about what it was like to have a parental figure.

Suddenly, the android was belatedly reminded of how survivors were now free to enter the vaults. Perhaps Cherry could find some solace from the demons there. "I came from a vault, you see. There's one not far from here, actually."

When Autumn brought up the subject of her mother Cherry's mood took a little dip. Nothing too major, although it would probably send off the message of 'you just hit a nerve' to most people with basic social skills. "Umm. No I don't really know where she is, I lost her when I was young. But I know she is still out there though! I just have to keep looking!" She said in a self-reassuring tone of voice. She didn't like being away from the woman who raised her, but she couldn't get too down in the dump's about it. Her mother must be lonely without her daughter at her side. Cherry had to stay strong, for the both of them.

After her comment on her mother, Cherry was quick to change gears. Focusing on what the robot had to say on the matters of parents. "But, you never had a parent before? Not even your maker? That's awful........." Nobody should have to go through life without a guardian at their side. Even if robots probably came out fresh with knowledge and the skills needed to live a long life, their creator should still stick around for at least a little while. It was the right thing to do! Nevertheless, no matter her options on that matter Cherry would let out a curious hum at Autumn's next statement. "Oh you mean vault olympia? I've already been there. It's a nice place, but the people there seem to be really pushy. Well all except this one nice lady at the library. She tired to help me learn how to rea-" Cherry was barely able to catch herself before she let that embarssing secret out. Her cheeks now aglow with a faint pink flush as she mentally cursed at herself for almost outting herself. "How tooooooooooo ride a, uhhhhhhh. Horse! She taught me how to ride horses!" It was a horrible lie, but it was the best she could come up with on the spot and the one she would stick with.

Cherry's visible dip in mood did not go unnoticed by Autumn, who filed away such a minute detail for later. "That's sweet of you. I hope you can find her," Autumn answered, inwardly thinking that it was likely that the young woman's mother had been killed long ago if that were the case, though breaking it to Cherry would be callous of the android. "He died before I was activated," She explained, looking unbothered. It was difficult to feel grief for someone she had barely known, and her sadness surrounding him had been long since put to rest at the funeral.

Autumn listened as Cherry (badly) denied the fact that she couldn't read, pleasantly surprising her when she revealed that she had already visited the vault. The android smiled kindly as Cherry grew flustered. "I could help you learn how to read, if you'd like."

The blonde recoiled a bit when she heard the robot's dry response. She was hoping since she used to live in a vault and all that her parents, or creator, would be safe. But maybe he died when the demons came by and attacked their vault? Either way, she couldn't help but feel bad for the robot. Even if she didn't seem to torned up about the whole issue. "Im so sorry to hear that." She never was really sure what she should say during times like this. She could recall a few times when she was younger where she would meet other childern. Most of them had lost their parents, she never really could comfort them. The best she could ever do was offer for them to join her and her mom in their travels and that was never something Cherry's mother took kindly too.

Cherry shyly brushed a lock of her dirty blonde hair to the side. It seems that Autumn somwhow saw through Cherry's lie. "R-really?" She meekly asked, still quite embarssed by all of this. "I uh, I would really enjoy that, t-thank you."