"How's your head?" Ika's holding a small bag of ice over her head. She's stumbling a bit, perhaps from the cocktail of emotions that she's been trying to rummage through, like baggage. "Forgive me, what was the question?" Mako rolled her eyes a bit, but stayed polite. "I asked, how's your head?" It still hurts. "It's fine. Doing better. I'll be okay. Let's just... get this registration thing over with." The two of them were walking through town. Ika had only seen the town center - which was pretty fine, and she'd expected the fountain water to be clean by now, but she probably wouldn't drink from it again unless absolutely necessary. The streets weren't necessarily *bustling* per se - there was the occasional person walking by, but far less than Ika would expect from mid-day traffic. And that was another thing - the *sun*. It was strange - Ika expected it to be shattered in some way. But, it's the sun. She searched her mind to try and withdraw anything she knew about it. It *should* be some celestial body, hundreds upon thousands of... miles? Kilometers? Do they even measure distance in this world? She could ask, but she doesn't want to be weird... Ika turns to her compatriot, her probable source of knowledge for the time being. "Mako?" She turns in kind. "Ika?" Hearing that name makes her a little giddy. Like... it's hers, more so than "Era". She shakes it off, asking her question anyways. "Forgive me if I'm a little... dumb, let's say, but how do you measure distance?" "Distance?", Mako asks, tilting her head a bit. "Oh, you mean- Ohh. We do everything with our arms and hands." She pauses for a bit. "Us Humans, I mean. Depends on the kind of person you are." "There are more than just Humans?", you ask, mimicking her expression from when she asked about your head. "Yeah! I really only know about Humans, Dwarves, and the Synths, though." The Synths come to Ika's mind well enough. By her understanding, they're part flesh and other part metal, or something to that effect. "What are the dwarves?" Mako puts a finger to chin, resting her elbow on her other arm. "Hm. They all have beards, and they all work pretty hard. Maybe even too hard... But they get crystals and stuff for us!" By then, they've made it to some official looking building. It's somewhat white, though a little grey, with columns along the outside, and a sloped roof. Along the top is some embezzled text - *タウンホール* - nothing that Ika could read. She points up at it, asking, "What does that say?" Mako jumps a bit. "Oh, it's written in Codeal, I think. It's what the Synths use. Let's see..." she's peering at it like a schoolteacher trying to read a book to the class. "It just says it's the town hall. It's a little strange like that. No need to read into it." Ika nods, and the duo enter the town hall, as prescribed by the sign. Inside is largely what *you* would expect from a town hall - pristine tile floors, desks with government workers at them, and the ever looming sense of mundanity. To Ika, though, it was foreign - she wouldn't know the purpose of anything in the office. In the air, she heard the whirr of desk fans and chitter chatter in a manner that felt slightly patronizing. In leu of a long line, a few areas were open for people to visit. Mako led the way, while Ika trailed behind. She didn't even know if she could speak to another person - sure, she did last night, but Ika felt like she was under some kind of spell. No spell existed here, just raw, unfiltered, humanity. She wasn't really paying attention to anything - Mako was fine with this, but Ika had a feeling she might want to do so in the future. Meekly, the ID was handed over. She overheard something about benefits and checks, but her mind was too fragmented to really grasp anything right now. Ika looked down at the ground. Just barely she could see herself. *Look at how ugly you are. You deserve this. You won't be real. You aren't real. You're just the pain, and won't be anything else.* Ika shook her head a bit. Thoughts like that were becoming more and more pervasive. Like everything else in her mind, she didn't know if they were right or wrong. For a moment, she clutched a pocket [[Knife]], which she kept hidden even from Mako. Mako handed back a new ID, but also an envelope. "Ika, did you get all that?" Ika shook her head, not really saying anything. "Well, look, we're all good on money for now. Your name's changed, so, you're just 'Ika' now. They also had a letter addressed to you, lying around or something." Ika turned her attention to the envelope. It was slightly blue in color, with just her other name, "Era", printed on it in a monospaced font. Removing the ice pack from her head, and with all the caution of a convict, Ika used a fingernail to open it cleanly just under the flap, before pulling out some ornate paper - white in color, but with some kind of printed gold trimming along the sides. She looked it carefully, reading every world slightly aloud so Mako could hear. ``` From the desk of Saddle, If you're reading this, then you've just changed your name, and most likely identity, away from Era. That's probably a good start. Enclosed is a couple of documents that you may find useful. You are a changed person. You've been given a second chance. Use it wisely. ``` Searching further, Ika pulled out a small piece of paper - a prescription for medicine, most likely her meds she awoke with. They're apparently called "Amnessol". Ika looked over to Mako. "Any thoughts?" "Not really, no.", she replied. "I'll be honest, all of this is a little much for me. I just want a roommate, you know?" Ika nodded. "That's fair enough. Since we're good for now, I'm gonna try and take it easy. I'm not in a hurry, really." The two exited the building, and while Ika decided to stay home, Mako decided to out on her own for a quick shopping [[Spree]].