CRAWLIN' ON TILE CAN'T STAND UP

[faceplate]

Who: faceplate & zerotohiro
When: 27/5 IC. 20/2 OOC.
Where: ViVID level.
What: zero corrupts the youth.
Rating/Warning: in-game gun violence.

---

[ even if it isn't real, landing the perfect headshot always gives zero at least some measure of satisfaction. the AIs of the targets in this game, which is set in a cleared desert area, populated mostly by scarce underbrush and the occasional shambling, decaying NPC, are advanced enough for them to learn that zero is situated up on a cliff, scanning the ground below with a scope. a slowly-forming horde is amassing at the foot of the cliff.

(are they aggroing to set up for their own mob rush? maybe.)

even if hiro tries to be quiet, the whole area is nearly silent except for the last echoes of a most silenced shot. zero turns their head slightly upon hearing him, but says nothing before lining up another shot. ]

Comments

[zerotohiro]

[Truth be told he probably should have waited another day or two to actually leave his apartment. His wounds were still pretty fresh but he was patched up and starting to realize he could have avoided this whole thing if he knew how to handle himself in a fight better.

He won't stay long, he tells himself, as he enters the ViViD level with his gunblade in his hand. This was a stupid idea. He already knows that the moment he fires a couple of shots at lingering, shuffling corpses who were making their way to the cliff. That was Hiro's cue to climb high up and, if necessary, log out.

By the time he's up on the cliff though he realizes he isn't alone in this level and he pauses, staring at the thin, tall figure in front of him. He watches them shoot, keeping his weapon in his hand even as he approaches. He's not exactly quiet seeing how his foot's still sort of dragging behind him but he doesn't speak until Zero turns their head to look at him.]

Never really pegged you to be the zombie-slayer type.

[faceplate]

[ zero takes another shot—another crack—and watches the body of the zombie fall before looking at hiro again.

in response, they tilt their head slightly and wait. what does he mean? what type are they supposed to be? ]

[zerotohiro]

[There's a small smirk.] Kinda hard to collect a bounty on a body that's already dead, isn't it?

[faceplate]

Depends if they want their target dead or alive. [ but for these targets, anyway, he's just practicing. ] I just come collect.

[zerotohiro]

[There's a hum under his breath as he watches them still. He knows that Zero's a bounty hunter, and he understands it's something of a sport for them, but at the same time:]

You ever miss?

[faceplate]

[ zero responds with an unhappy face (>:() and a nod. despite their best efforts, they're not 100% accurate.

they're pretty close, though. ]

[zerotohiro]

Yeah. Me too. [There's a huff before he just drops to sit on the ground, gunblade in his lap to examine it and peering over the ledge.] Guess I know what kind of level to make for you now.

[He looks at his weapon again, frowning slightly.] If I ask how you got better, would the answer just be "killed more people"?

[faceplate]

Yes.

[ zero replies without much hesitation. they cock their head slightly, questioning why hiro would even ask, but their attention is taken a moment later by a zombie closing in. they turn away to take a shot.

right through the head. zero pauses, watching the body slump down, then picks off the next-closest zombie before looking back at hiro. ]

[zerotohiro]

[He's not even remotely phased. Probably from playing more than enough video games of his own (or from living through the things he's lived through now. Or because he's up on a cliff. It's probably the latter, let's be honest.) Still, he's impressed by their shot and he lifts his shoulders in the tiniest of shrugs at their look.]

What about if I wanted to get better without actually doing that? I'm having a really hard time you actually just were born murdering people immediately. [...wait, were they even born, necessarily? What a question.]

[faceplate]

[ TRULY, WHAT A QUESTION, and literally no one knows. zero pauses for a moment to consider. ]

Target practice.

[zerotohiro]

[I sure did miss a word in that sentence. Anyhow. Hiro regards them carefully before raising an eyebrow, glancing down at the slowly-growing hoard at the base of the cliff.]

Show me. [He looks down at the gunblade again.] Believe it or not I've only used this thing, like, twice.

[faceplate]

[ zero watches hiro for a moment longer, then turns toward the horde. it's easier even than a bandit rush because they're less directed. zero starts firing down into the crowd, again and again, picking them off with mostly headshots.

the crowd thins out within a few minutes. zero doesn't stop, just reloads another clip and keeps going. ]

[zerotohiro]

[The thing that fascinates him about Zero and the way they're shooting is the absolute precision with each shot. He's sitting up on his knees to get a better look, watching each corpse fall one by one as bullets split their heads. He considers his weapon again, scooting his way to the edge of the cliff and lifting it with the blade fully extended before attempting to fire a shot as well.

It misses, ricocheting off of one zombie and into the shoulder of another. Whoops. Let's just try that again, carefully eyeing Zero's form and how they're aiming before repeating the action.

And completely missing again. Goddamnit. Please stop him.]

[faceplate]

[ to his credit (???) zero doesn't see fit to stop him until the horde is down to about ten. they lower their own rifle and give hiro's form a long look before flashing a wordless ...

yes hiro, you just got sassed by a faceless maybe-not-human thing. ]

[zerotohiro]

[...UGH!!!!]

Dude, I told you I've only fought with this thing like twice, what do you want from me? [This is the worst. And vaguely humiliating? How does one get sassed at by an alien bounty hunter.]

You were out there with the rest of us, weren't you? Did you see what kind of stuff we're up against?

[faceplate]

[ they just want skill! somehow. zero nods in response to hiro's question. ]

Did you?

[zerotohiro]

Kinda hard to miss when they were giant unbeatable machines. I work with machines and...they were still like nothing I've seen before. If we're going up against stuff like that, I want to be able to fight 'em with as much as possible.

And there was other stuff out there, too. [Like Alien-kun, but he's not sure saying that in public is a great idea.]

[faceplate]

Heavy-duty guns and explosives are advised. [ by zero, that is. ] Useful, for big things.

[ they take a moment to check the zombie horde, but it's down to only a few clamoring at the base of the cliff and trying to find a way up. more zombies are coming to join them from the distance. ]

What 'other stuff'?

[zerotohiro]

I've still got a couple of bombs at my apartment. [It's an off-handed comment but that's not a bad idea. And Ruby could probably help him build up his weapon if he really wanted to. He's watching the zombies, utterly unimpressed with their efforts.]

Other monsters...other people. You know. Stuff like that. You didn't see anything else worth noting out there did you?

[faceplate]

[ slowly, the horde is reforming, building up their numbers with single-minded determination. zero's tempted to fire off another shot and see if they'll scatter, but they also doubt that they're smart enough to run from danger. ]

In an aquatic setting, I faced opponents. [ a slight shrug. they hadn't been that interesting, but zero also got to see rapunzel's glowy hair. now that was weird. ] They were no challenge.

[zerotohiro]

You saw those too, huh? [He huffs in mild irritation.] One of them bit me in the water. I managed to get a good shot in because it was close distance but you can kinda see where my problem is with that.

[He tilts his head.] You seem to be the person the least bothered by everything that happened out there. ["Why?"]

[faceplate]

[ zero stares back at hiro, as if considering what he means by the question. they don't worry—at least not in that way. when faced with a seemingly insurmountable challenge, it's hard, of course, but it's exciting too. ]

Are others worried?

[zerotohiro]

There are a couple of people who saw stuff they shouldn't have...or stuff they didn't want to, I guess. People are a little worried about what all of it means, especially now that those dumb masks aren't following us everywhere. Isn't it natural for people to be a little disconcerted?

[A gesture to the zombies below.] Just more reason I'm trying to arm myself now.

[faceplate]

Having fears will help little. Having skills—better.

[ zero looks at hiro's gunblade again, then cocks their head at the zombies. go on, try. ]

[zerotohiro]

Not all of us can go without fear. [He's trying, of course, but it's not always easy. Hiro's own circumstances are a little...interesting, really, but he can't help but agree with them. Skills will make up for everything else. It's for that reason he pushes himself up to a crouch, holding the gunblade up and activating it again to aim down at the group below.]

Besides. What about times when having some fear is actually a good thing? [He leaves that question to hang in the air before pulling the trigger, bullet flying and directly nailing an animated corpse right in the forehead. When he takes his time and he's not panicked? He can aim pretty well, it seems.]