Candroid wrangling [Open]

[powertotearer]

Who: Eiji (powertotearer, some little robots, and you!
When: IC 7/26
Where: Around the residential district
What: Little robot octopi don't like CYbuddies. Eiji tries to keep them under control
Rating/Warning: None

---

Eiji discovered something the past couple of weeks--the Tako candroids really didn't like the CYbuddies.

He couldn't figure out why, since after all, they were both small animal robots, but the problem had gotten worse after CERES kindly delivered broken fox CYbuddies to his and Ankh's apartment. Now, they were a threat.

Put simply, the candroids were jealous. And it was war.

So on an otherwise peaceful day, you might see three robot octopi chasing after various CYbuddies in the park or on the sky bridges while Eiji chased after them, with a little robot hawk trying to cut them off before they annoyed another neighbor.

"Takos, stop! Leave them alone!"

Comments

[blueeyesbond]

Mokuba was out and about at the park, his Cybuddy Hiryu plodding along next to him, when he saw the scene described. He recognized Eiji from when he gave him some tips on how to cook food, so once he was close enough, he called out to him curiously.

"Are those yours...?" He wondered if they're Cybuddies too and if they all belonged to Eiji.

[notsogreedy]

There was a look that Ankh gave him whenever that paranoia surfaced; something that seemed just a bit surprised and maybe a little worried. It never lasted long, and now was no exception. He looked away with a slight huff.

"So that's what you're worried about." And, well, he supposed that much was reasonable, considering. He hadn't seen any signs that they were likely to be evicted because he preferred to use the window instead of the door, but staying off of CERES's radar really wasn't a bad idea. "I guess you have a point."

[powertotearer]

Eiji recognized Mokuba too and quickly directed Taka over to the others. The hawk put itself between the Takos and Hiryu and screeched at them to leave it alone.

"I'm so sorry," Eiji apologized as he ran up. "I don't know what got into them lately. They've been terrible."

[powertotearer]

Eiji knew that look, and he scowled slightly. He knew what Ankh was thinking.

"I'm working on it. I'm getting better."

[powertotearer]

Well, if the worst thing that comes out of this was that Eiji was sparkly for a few minutes, then it was something of a victory.

"It's okay. Yours isn't the only one. The Takos keep freaking out on the CYbuddies all of a sudden."

[notsogreedy]

And likewise, Ankh knew that was a reply to the look on his face rather than the words. He hadn't intended it to be obvious.

"What's there to work on? You're probably right." Out of all of Eiji's arguments here, the one being worried about CERES deciding they might be a problem was the only one he agreed with.

[powertotearer]

"I don't know if that makes me feel better or worse." It was one thing to feel like he was being paranoid for no reason. It meant the problem was with him, and on some level, he could handle that, given time. But if he was right, then the problem was something he couldn't control, and that was scarier.

"I just keep thinking of Inugami. Even though I didn't have any of the OOO stuff with me, I felt like I was attracting way too much attention and that's how I kept ending up in everything. I still want to help here, but I..."

He cut himself off for a moment. He was still scared, and he hated admitting it to himself.

[notsogreedy]

Ankh wasn't sure, either, in all honesty. On one hand, it was nice to see Eiji considering his own safety for once. On the other... maybe Ankh liked it more when he was an idiot.

Though in some ways he still was, because Ankh couldn't imagine him being able to stop himself from helping someone, scared or not. "Isn't that what you do? Stick your neck out and get yourself involved in everything?"

[powertotearer]

"I know." And he hated himself for being afraid.

"I just don't want anyone getting hurt. And I don't know how to control any of that."

[notsogreedy]

"And you don't like being part of 'anyone'." He gave Eiji a pointed look to punctuate that.

[powertotearer]

Eiji flinched. So he still, after two years, didn't know how to take care of himself. But now, he actually was scared for himself, after everything he'd been through, and he had no idea how to handle it.

"I don't know what to do."

[notsogreedy]

Of course he didn't know what to do. Eiji wasn't used to having a survival instinct. As much as seeing him like that bothered Ankh in a way he wouldn't be able to quite define, it wasn't really a bad thing.

"Well, I can't tell you." Even if he might like to have an answer to that, he didn't. The only person who could sort out Eiji's weird psychology was Eiji. "You don't like my answers, anyway."

[freeinghorror]

"I know why my little pest doesn't like them; it doesn't care for a lot of electrical creatures after all."

He opened his hand, raising it slightly to let the little butterfly spread open its wings and chime a couple times. It seemed to be a little leery to move though, instead just contenting itself with sitting on the palm of his hand and flapping its wings.

"But what about your pests? Do they find the CYbuddies a mockery of themselves?"

[powertotearer]

And that was true. The only thing Ankh could really suggest for him would be to take care of himself and forget everyone else, and Eiji couldn't do that either.

"Right now, if I can just keep these guys under control, maybe it's something. CERES has to know what we can do already, so if I can give them as few reasons as possible to make them mad, then that might be better."

[powertotearer]

That made some sense, and he guessed that if he saw a bunch of robots programmed to act like extremely tame humans, he would feel just as unnerved.

But it definitely couldn't be the same for the candroids, and only one idea came to mind.

"I think they feel threatened, maybe? And maybe a little stuck-up. They never liked the CYbuddies much, and they kind of made a show of trying to look better than them. But then those broken ones were delivered to us, and now they're just hostile to them."

[notsogreedy]

Ankh's only response was to turn his gaze to the candroids. See whether they were listening, and whether any of this had changed their minds about going after annoying dogs.

[powertotearer]

There were a couple of hung heads. And maybe the last one still looked a little self-important in the face of those stupid CYbuddies, but that was the Tako Eiji had dealt with the most.

"I mean it. No getting us in trouble, okay?"

Now, some swishing tentacles, as if to say "We promise."

[givesalittlewhistle]

"Ah..."

She nodded, accepting the explanation for what it was. So like CyBuddies, only with a different name and from a different place. It made perfect sense to her.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, little candroids." She smiled warmly, first motioning to herself and then to her companion. "I'm Hikari. And this is Tailmon."

[powertotearer]

The Takos circle around for a bit while Taka perches on Eiji's shoulder, apparently just as relieved for a break from them as he is.

"It's nice to meet you too. I'm Eiji."

[givesalittlewhistle]

She gave him a nod in greeting as well.

"Have you been in the city long, Eiji-san?"

[blueeyesbond]

Hiryu opened his mouth, about to release a blast of flame when the Takos got close but Mokuba quickly clamped a hand over the dragon's muzzle. "Hiryu, no! Don't attack them, they're not hurting you."

Hiryu shook his mouth free then let out a little roar in an attempt to appear threatening, but he didn't let loose any fire per Mokuba's orders. He was built to defend, so as long as they didn't try to attack Mokuba, he would listen. In the mean time, the dragon kept on shifting his head back and forth to keep an eye on them all.

Once Mokuba was sure Hiryu wasn't going to lunge at any of them, he turned to Eiji. "Don't worry about it, it's okay. Are you trying to round them up...?"

[freeinghorror]

"Those broken ones..."

His butterfly didn't like it either, so much so that Jinga ended up putting the thing away where the butterfly couldn't poke at it. If he was to be honest with himself, he didn't want to examine why they were given those things too closely, especially since before they had been plagued by the ghostly memory-sharing animals similar to the CYbuddies. He looked at the candroids and then glanced down at his butterfly.

"Did it resemble the ghostly animals you had?"

[powertotearer]

"Not really. I came out of the most recent game, I guess."

And he wasn't looking forward to any further ones, after what he'd gone through.

"What about you? Do you have your parents or anyone here?"

[powertotearer]

He nodded.

"At least mine did. We never opened Ankh's--after I opened mine, we just threw them out."

Or maybe Ankh had thrown it against the wall first, and then Eiji quietly took them to the trash after. Same thing, really.

"I'm kind of worried about where those went, since they disappeared just before the CYbuddies showed up."

[givesalittlewhistle]

Another nod, this time more eager. And accompanied with a bright smile. She didn't have her mother and father with her, no, but she did have someone. The best someone to have, in her opinion.

"Oniichan's here with me."