2024-03-05: A Bad First Impression

• Cutscene: A Bad First Impression
• Cast: Chloe, AARC Noa
• Where: Sunroom, Augmented Shibuya
• IC Date: 3 October 0098
• Summary: While struggling alone after her recent loss, Chloe gets a surprising visitor. But they are not who they seem to be and an unfortunate introduction follows.

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The sunroom in Coco's apartment, despite being bright, colourful and filled with plants, felt oldly dark and empty. Yet Chloe can't help but sit there, leaning on the table and resting her head on her arm. After Coco's death, Chloe had volunteered to look after the place. She didn't want it to break down, for the plants that Coco cared for to die. And it was so full of Coco's things... Full of her.

Chloe murmurs, "Why... Why did you have to leave me? To a Meteora, of all things..."

"Good morning, Chloe."

A familiar voice echoes through the sunroom, surprising Chloe. She jumps, not only out of surprise that someone else was here. But also because she recognises the voice. She turns to look and sure enough, sitting in a wheelchair beside her, is Coco.

Chloe's gasps quietly, her eyes going wide as she asks with some fear of it being true, "Am I... Dreaming?"

Coco looks at Chloe with those unusual eyes of hers and smiles, "Oh, you aren't dreaming. It's morning. People wake up in the morning." Coco leans forward a little, some slight concern appearing on her face, "Just look under your eyes. You've barely been sleeping, haven't you?"

In truth, Chloe is feeling very tired. But does that support or reject the claim that she's not dreaming. Can one be tired in a dream? The frustration from the uncertainty causes Chloe to blurt out, "I can't sleep... How could I? All I have are awful nightmares!" Nightmares of that day.

Coco puts a finger to her cheek and hmmms, "That's no good, you need to sleep at night. Lack of sleep breaks people, you know?" She seems to get an idea and asks with a bright smile, "Shall I sing you a lullaby?"

Chloe gives Coco a bit of a look. It's a strange offer, but Chloe declines, "I'll pass... If you're alive, that's all I need." This isn't a dream, it feels too real. But something's not right.

Her offer rejected, Coco turns her attention away for a moment. She looks at some of the plants in the sunroom, before focusing specifically on the deep red flowers currently blooming in pots. Her eyes light up in delight, a surprised smile appearing on her face, "So, those are dahlias. My, they are truly beautiful up close like this! What a lovely, lovely flower. You can't get this just from analyzing info. Mmm, this is the value of the real, living thing."

A frown tugs at Chloe's face. This is strange. This person looks like Coco, sounds like Coco... But dahlias were Coco's favourite flower. She grew many of them in this sunroom. She'd know them even when she couldn't see them.

Anger starts to swell inside Chloe as she asks, "Who... are you? You're not Coco... Coco wouldn't talk like that. She wouldn't smile like that."

Coco(?) looks surprised at the question and a tinge of guilt and uncertainty shows on her face. But she says nothing. Chloe slams a fist on the table, "You fake... Show yourself!"

Coco(?) looks down, fiddling with her hands a little...

She then flickers out of existence, before someone else appears hovering in the air in her place. Her face distinctly looks like Coco's and she has her eyes. But everything else is different. Her hair is much lighter and spirals off in long twintails that aren't even connected to the rest of her. She's wearing a tight fitting black dress that billows out into a large skirt consisting of several layers of black and blue. And there are large ribbons tied around her ankles.

Given this sudden change and the accompanying flickers, Chloe recognizes that this 'person' is not actually here. Just a Texture streaming into her GraiEye. The fake proceeds to bow in the air, introducing herself with a more courteous tone, "My name is Noa... An AARC modeled off of Coco Coconoe."

That explains how she was able to generate a Texture that so closely resembled the real thing. A near perfect imitation...

"I don't care who you are." Chloe clenches her fist at the sheer absurdity of it, as she glares at the AARC, "Why... Why would you pretend to be Coco like that!?"

Seemingly recognizing the anger rising within Chloe, the AARC raises her hands as she starts trying to explain, "Y-You don't understand, I wasn't trying to-"

But Chloe cuts her off, "SHUT UP! You pretender!" She sweeps a hand out towards the AARC and shouts, "Don't come in here again!"

Clearly at a loss for words, the AARC looks at Chloe with confusion and regret, before ultimately slumping. Her image then flickers out, leaving Chloe alone again.