Getting Down To Business

[hotheadwarmheart]

Who: Lea and Aqua in one thread, Lea and anyone in the others
When: After the memory event, but before the next Isle trip
Where: Various places, see thread prompts
What: Now that the days are getting longer and the possibility of not being stuck inside any more looks imminent, Lea is feeling motivated. Time to get things done, some of which he's been putting off for awhile.
Warnings: Feels probably in the thread with Aqua. Otherwise, we'll see.

Fire And Water- Closed to Aqua

Another training session in the gym, virtually indistinguishable from most of the others since they'd been stuck inside. Though, this time, Lea hung back afterwards, looking thoughtful. "Aqua?", he said. "If you've got a few minutes, there's some things I want to talk to you about."

Magitek For Fun And Profit

Lea reading isn't that rare of a sight, but when one does spot him, he's usually curled up in one of the library's comfy chairs or stretched out the common room sofa with a cup of tea and either a stack of comic books or a YA novel or two. But today, Lea's seated at one of the library's tables. The cup of tea is still present nearby but his attitude is different, as is his choice of reading material. The book open in front of him looks more like a textbook or other nonfiction title than anything else, and he has a open notebook and pen right at hand, occasionally pausing in his reading to note things down. What is it that could have given Lea of all people the urge to study?

Let The Sun Shine In

Lea was walking through the greenhouse, but at present, his focus wasn't on any of the plants. Instead, he was looking up, carefully directing his magic to melt any lingering patches of snow on the roof. He knew his way around well enough to avoid stepping on any flowerbeds or bumping into tables, planters, or equipment racks. Most of the time, the only interruption might be if the ent got a little too curious about his hair, but that had mostly been solved by a few well placed colorful bangles hung from the ceiling on strings. But looking up does tend to make it easy to run into people or other non-stationary obstacles that might be on the walkways. Assuming you're not just trying to figure out what he's looking at.

Let There Be Light

Lea was rummaging through one of the supply closets, apparently looking for something. And without much success, by the sound of it. "Come on, they've gotta be here someplace," he said. "You'd think a school like this would have a whole crate or something of spares sitting around, but nooo..."

Comments

could be a bit of vague body horror, just a forewarning

[kings_knight_rocks]

He had to bite back a sharp laugh at that, though he couldn't quite keep the sardonic twist of a smile off his lips. "Good guess. MT, or MT unit, stands for Magitek unit. W- They're made in the Empire back home. The Niflheim Empire."

His eyes slid away from Lea to the floor beside his chair. His voice was taking on that same even tone. Weirdly monotonous, all the inflections ground out of it. "Irrelevant detail." He shrugged.

"The process starts in a lab. There are scientists responsible for growing the units until they're old enough to start training. Once training starts, they learn combat and start injections. Back on Eos, we have these creatures formed by the Scourge; Daemons. The Empire found a way to use Daemon blood to mutate the MTs. It's a kind of magic I guess, one of the few we have back home. Once an MT has enough Daemon blood, they eventually transform into full MT units. Mostly Daemon, fully fused to the mechanical armor that keeps them safe from sunlight."

"They go where the Empire sends them, kill who the Empire tells them to kill. Abominations, just as bad as the Daemon's they're made of." Hopefully Lea wouldn't question the amount of detail Prompto knew of the process. For all the redhead knew, everyone back home knew that much.

[hotheadwarmheart]

He couldn't deny that there were some... disturbing parallels to be drawn between that and what had been done in the castle basement. But that was very much the exception when it came to maigtech and magiscience as he knew it, and not something Prompto needed to know the details of just then. Especially not when Vexen was in Auradon too; didn't want him getting the wrong idea.

But contrary to what Prompto had said, Lea rarely considered any detail irrelevant. He'd been able to work in the background so effectively in the Organization in part because he paid attention to things that others might not notice. It had made him a chillingly effective manipulator. Now, thankfully, those skills could be used for good. He hadn't missed that small verbal slip at the beginning. It could just be a result of nerves, but...

"OK, yeah with very few exceptions, magitech back home is nothing like that," he said. "Radiant Garden hadn't even really had a standing military for centuries before I was born; it was a peaceful world for the most part and there wasn't any need. So definitely nothing about MTs in my book."

"In my world magitech is just applied magiscience. I'll explain a bit more some time when you're in a better state for it, if you want, but in general, think more like... magic-powered household appliances and elevators that work on modified Float spells. Things like that."

[kings_knight_rocks]

So he'd gotten worked up over nothing. Lea would have been none the wiser, except now Prompto himself had gone and spilled the beans. How very typical of him. His fingers dug into his wrist around the edges of the cuff. It was almost laughable. Lea had been reading up on magical microwaves, and Prompto had had a meltdown about it. The cold was spreading, reaching icy claws around his throat.

"Eos hasn't been peaceful in a long time... but the Nifs. That conquest is newer. It used to only be the Daemons people had to worry about. When the Empire destroyed Insomnia... Anyone who wasn't killed in the attack lost the crystal's protection. I'm sure a lot more people died to the Daemons after that because of what the Empire did." He shook his head. His voice was still terribly flat, his gaze a bit distant.

The cold reaching through his chest reminded him of another chill. One accompanied by concrete walls and metal. He shuddered. What did that make him? If he was made from that place? By those same monsters who had destroyed everything he'd come to care about?

[hotheadwarmheart]

Lea nodded solemnly. "Yeah," he said. "Even Radiant Garden couldn't stay peaceful forever, and things back home are... kinda messed up now too. But that's nothing you need to worry about."

"We can't really affect the bigger things going on in our own worlds right now; not while we're in Auradon. But one thing we can do is look out for each other. Now that we've cleared up the misunderstanding, let's try and get you back on an even keel before we do anything else. Because I know that kind of flat voice, and I'm not about to leave a friend of mine in that state." Just because Prompto wasn't spazzing out all over the place didn't mean he wasn't still panicking; they needed to pull him out of that.

But how to do that? Most of the grounding techniques he knew assumed a more... traditional sort of panic. Maybe something a bit more unconventional? "Ever since I first got my powers, my thing's been fire. Warmth is my element, literally. So... list off some things to me that make you feel warm. Big, small, literal, metaphorical, doesn't matter, and we'll go from there."

[kings_knight_rocks]

He didn't love Lea calling him out so blatantly, but he liked reliving the training facility even less, so he could try and play along with Lea's question. Anything would beat the echoing in his ears of metallic steps on cold stone. Of cold metal at his back and hands pressing him down. And the screaming- He bit down on the inside of his cheek hard enough to taste iron. Warm things. Think of warm things.

"The sun." There had been no sunlight in the facility. Some days he still woke up and marveled at the ball of fire in the sky.

"Curry." One of the few dishes Cor knew how to cook. They'd eaten a lot of it in the beginning. At the time it had unsettled Prompto's stomach, but now the familiar spice always left him pleasantly warm.

"Um... chocobos?" On a cold Niflheim night their body heat was a blessing from the Astrals. But more than that, they were cute, and he'd always loved them, from the first one he'd seen.

The phantoms of memory had released their grip enough for him to breathe easier. The icy knot in his chest beginning to slowly unwind just a bit.

[hotheadwarmheart]

"Man, it's been a while since I had curry," Lea said. "Maybe when supper rolls around we can see if Malia knows enough about it to magic us up some. Normal-person spice level though; don't think anyone here would have a good time if we went with my level of spice tolerance."

"And chocobos... well in my world they're not real animals, which is why that book I gave you as a holiday gift was just fairy tales. But they've always been seen as symbols of good luck, especially fat chocobos. A lot of businesses would have fat chocobo statuettes by the register, in hopes of drawing in munny and luck."

"Can you tell me a little more about those things? Like what kind of curry you like best, or some of your favorite things about chocobos? Or even just some of your favorite things to do on a sunny day? Doesn't have to be all of them, just whatever comes to mind easiest." Taking the discussion of warmth a bit further, drawing thoughts to bright, comforting topics. Filling in the emptiness.

[kings_knight_rocks]

It wouldn't be Cor's singular talent in the kitchen, or Iggy's familiar recipe, but... if Mallia could do it, he thought it would be nice.

"I'm pretty partial to spice myself, Noct never lets me cook because of it." He finally pulled his gaze back up to Lea. "Don't know if I could match up to a human flamethrower though."

He picked at the edge of the leather band absentmindedly. "I like that storybook. I can say as a chocobo aficionado most of them are pretty far fetched though. We use them mostly for transportation, or sometimes as pets. I think there's also some tracks out in the country where they run races. I don't really know why I like them so much, I just do. They are soft though."

[hotheadwarmheart]

Looking up at him again, not holding his wrist in a vice grip... Definitely good signs. Though what was up with the gripping his wrist to begin with?

"Well I'm always down for a spicy food challenge if you ever feel like seeing how you stack up," he said. "We could maybe even see if anyone else would want to join in." Mal might be interested, and maybe a few others. They'd have to see if it came up.

"I'm glad you like the book though. And yeah, not a lot of animals that can talk or grant wishes with a dash of moral instruction. Though that reminds me... one time my fried Isa and I were sneaking around the palace- we did that a lot as kids- we found a whole room full of chocobo stuff. Books, toys, mugs, posters, figurines... if it had a chocobo on it, it was probably in there. You'd have probly loved it. Never found out who it belonged to, but then again, Dilan did hustle us out of there faster than usual. I mean he really doesn't seem they type, but you never know..."

"Dilan was head of palace security, back in the day. Isa and I drove him nuts with our ability to sneak in the way we did, and even to this day, if he's got an expression other than a scowl, I've never seen it."

[kings_knight_rocks]

He shrugged, he had no interest in hurting himself over spicy food, but he might be up for it depending on the circumstances.

"You know. Noct was always sneaking out of the citadel. It drove Ignis and the staff up the walls. Mostly because they didn't want to get in trouble for being the one to lose the crown prince, I think. Noct is generally just always driving Iggy up the walls. But I think Iggy secretly likes the challenge. Gladio only ever cares when it gets in the way of Noct's lessons. But anyway, a totally chocobo themed room does sound pretty cool."

With all the fiddling Prompto was doing, if Lea happened to be looking closely, he might notice a sliver of black on pale skin hidden under the cuff. A tattoo maybe? It would be hard to say. He smiled thinly, eyes darting away again, though it wasn't the same fight or flight this time, just regular old shame. "Thank you, I'm sorry you had to deal with that."

[hotheadwarmheart]

"Heh, according to Vexen, Ienzo- our king's adopted son- used to sneak out of the palace too," he said. "So I guess the desire of kids to sneak off to places they're not supposed to be is pretty universal. Honestly I wonder if he used the same way to get out that Isa and I used to get in? It was too small for an adult, which I figure is why they never found it; I'll have to ask sometime."

He did notice the bit of black peeking out from under the cuff. A birthmark, maybe? No it was too dark for a birthmark? A tattoo then? More likely, but if so, why hide it? Given the way he'd been clutching his wrist earlier, it probably wasn't just because it was the embarrassing result of a Spring Break dare or something. If he had to guess, given the context, it had something to do with why Prompto had gotten so upset. But why get a tattoo that would upset him?

...Unless he hadn't gotten it willingly. There were several possibilities for that given what he'd said about his world, and none of them were good. And given the fact that it was magitech specifically that had freaked him out, and the verbal slip he'd made earlier... A picture began to form in Lea's mind. But he knew better than to mention it directly, just then, especially because whether he was right or wrong, it might put them right back where they started. Best try a different angle.

Lea smiled a bit and gently waved off the apology. "Nothing to be sorry about, man," he said. "I've been there; it's rough, and there's no shame in needing a little help when you get too deep into your own head like that."

"Now that you're back with the world, though, there is some more serious stuff that all this brought to mind that I'd like to talk about. Not about magitech, but about certain things in my world and my own experience. If that's alright?"

[kings_knight_rocks]

His eyes snapped back up to Lea, all at once suspicious again. Why the sudden switch in conversation topics? He was a bit wary, but he wouldn't stop Lea from speaking if he wanted to. He let his weight settle back on the couch a bit. Rolled his shoulders once, though he didn't loosen his wings much, just enough to ease some of the cramping in his back.

"Sure. What did you want to talk about..?"

[hotheadwarmheart]

Lea offered a bit of a sheepish smile at the suspicious reaction, because yeah, definitely valid. "Sorry," he said. "I know it's a bit of a non-sequitur. Would have been less of one earlier, but given the state you were in... yeah."

"Anyway," he said, expression becoming more thoughtful, "this'll take a bit of explaining, but here goes. There are a couple things in my world that have similar characteristics to some of the things you described, and most of them have to do with how a complete being is defined in my world. To be considered complete, a being needs to have three things. The first is a body, which I figure is pretty self-explanatory. The second is a soul, which the force that animates you and keeps you alive. And the third is a heart. I don't mean the physical kind of heart that pumps blood; the heart, in this case, is the part of a person that lets them feel things and connect with people, and is connected to your memory and sense of self. Basically it's everything that makes you you instead of just a living body."

"Probably the closest thing my world has to what you described are Nobodies; that's with a capital 'N'. When someone's soul leaves their body, they die, plain and simple. But when their heart leaves- or rather, is taken-, and that heart was especially strong, sometimes the empty shell that's left behind gets up and starts to move and act on its own. That's a Nobody."

"With me so far? I know it's kind of a lot of information, which is part of why I don't get into it that often, but right now I think it's important."

[kings_knight_rocks]

He frowned. "I think so. It's definitely a little bit strange, but... I think I get it. Sounds kinda like zombies." He shook his head.

"You said take... How do you take someone's- Heart? How does that happen?" Maybe more importantly why would you take someone's heart, but he wasn't sure he even wanted to know that.

He was a little bit apprehensive where Lea was going with this. Explaining something from his own world that likened to MTs... But he would here the guy out.

[hotheadwarmheart]

"There's a certain type of weapon that can do it," Lea said, "but those are pretty rare, and people that know how to use them to do that are even rarer. More often it's because of Heartless; again, with a capital 'H'. They're likely sort of similar to you world's deamons, but they don't really have blood or anything; they're mostly incorporeal. They're sort of like... darkness made solid and those that don't form naturally in the Realm of Darkness are formed when a person's heart is completely consumed by darkness."

"Unlike Nobodies, they can't really think or plan, and with very few exceptions just act on instinct, like wild animals. Unfortunately, that instinct is to make more Heartless. They're drawn to people's hearts, or more accurately, the darkness in people hearts. Pretty much everyone has at least a little, and a little is all a Heartless needs. They attack people and tear out their Hearts. The Hearts are consumed by darkness, and become new Heartless, which go on to attack more people, and it just goes on from there if they're not stopped. It's part of why it's darn near impossible to completely eliminate them once they've got a foothold on a world; wherever there's people, they can potentially replicate."

"Heartless aren't really supposed to be able to get out of the Realm of Darkness, and them being a major problem in our world is a relatively recent development, like in the last decade or so. But when they become a problem they become a big problem, and Nobodies along with them. Nobodies something that wasn't ever supposed to exist. And technically, according to my world's physical laws, they don't properly exist, because without a heart, they can't contain either light or darkness. But they're also very sold mostly physical entities and... yeah, safe to say, they're weird. Most of them look the part too, looking kind of like whiteish or grayish empty suits of clothes that can more on their own. But the strongest ones maintain roughly the same form they had when they were human, along with their memories, so they can sort of act like their old selves if they want to."

"But it is just an act, at least at first; Nobodies are born without hearts, and so they can't feel anything. And we used to think that they were pretty much stuck like that too. But relatively recently, we learned that wasn't the case. Nature abhors a vacuum, as the saying goes, and it turns out that Nobodies can sort of... grow a new heart over time. It happens faster if they interact with people and make an effort to form connections, but at least for the strongest ones it's likely to happen eventually regardless. Plus, if both the Heartless and Nobody are destroyed in a specific way, the whole person can be recompleted, though best not to try that unless you know what you're doing."

"So in a way, Nobodies could be considered a type of zombie, I guess, but they're not gonna be shuffling around looking for brains or anything. In fact, there're actually two Nobodies here in Auradon now: Roxas and Vexen. Both of them are pretty far along in developing new hearts, so it's hard to tell, but neither of them is technically human. Which I figured was better to tell you now, with an explanation, rather than have it come out later and maybe have it cause an unnecessary panic. Neither of them is gonna hurt anybody; as it stands, they're just... people in a really weird life situation, I guess is the best way to put it."

And if Prompto had witnessed Lea or others interacting with either of them, or even interacted with them himself, he'd know that was true. Especially for Roxas, who Lea spent a good deal of time with and clearly considered a friend.

[kings_knight_rocks]

"Heartless definitely sound similar to Daemons. They can only form at night, and they burn in sunlight or bright enough light, so in a way you could say they're made of darkness too. A couple of the more powerful kinds of Daemons are sorta sentient. Some of them are even known to lure people away from safety by mimicking human voices." Prompto shuddered. "Most of them are like animals though. They just want to kill."

He might have chosen to mention the likeness between Heartless and Daemons to buy himself some time to process the other part of what Lea said. Maybe. Sue him.

He'd seen Vexen around, though he hadn't talked to him much. He was a bit strange, but he'd never struck Prompto as dangerous. As for Roxas... every conversation he'd had with the kid had just made Prompto think he had a very sheltered childhood or something. It kinda reminded him of Noct honestly. But again, aside from his weird holes in what he knew, he'd never come across as anything other than just that; a kid. (And any uncomfortable likenesses to how Prompto himself remembered acting back when he'd first gotten to Insomnia... well, that was rather intentionally ignored.)

"I get it. Again, can't say it's not a bit of a strange concept, but it's not like it's their fault. They're fine in my book." Whether the point was actually lost on him, or if he was being intentionally obtuse was unclear. But what was clear was that if Lea wanted his point to be heard he'd probably have to be more direct about it.

[hotheadwarmheart]

"Yeah, not gonna deny it's weird," he said. "The whole business is a big, complicated existential mess even once you get used to the idea. And like with what we discovered about Nobodies, just when you think you understand everything, you find out something new that completely throws you for a loop. But we'd be here all day if I tried to go into every random tangent and exception, and unlike Vexen, I don't particularly enjoy lectures for their own sake, whichever side of them I'm on."

It seemed that subtle wasn't really the way to go here, as the point he was getting at seemed to go right over Prompto's head. Whether that was deliberate or whether he was just a bit dense in that sense, Lea didn't know, but time to be a bit more direct about it. Though maybe not so blunt as to come right out and say he'd figured it out just yet.

"Anyway, good to know there wont be a problem. I always kinda figured the same thing. No one in the history of ever has had any choice as to where and how they were born, so holding that against them would be kinda silly, right?" The last bit was accompanied by a bit of a pointed look. He'd spell it out if he had to, but he hoped that Prompto would realize and speak up on his own.

[kings_knight_rocks]

Prompto felt like he'd swallowed a mouth full of rocks. "Right. Totally. Especially if someone stole your heart and forced you to face crazy existential questions." He laughed, though it came out choppy and wrong.

"Definitely worth the benefit of the doubt." Why was Lea looking at him like that? Had the guy figured something out? Prompto's shoulders were tight with tension, his fingers twitched, going to cover the band on his wrist. He would not bring the matter up of his own volition actually, though it was becoming clearer he did catch what Lea was trying to be subtle about.

[hotheadwarmheart]

And there it was. Clearly, Prompto had picked up on the hints this time, though he didn't seem inclined to speak up about it on his own. Alright, straight to the point it was.

"Exactly," he said gently. "And that goes for you too, buddy, in case you missed the point I was trying to make earlier. I'm not about to tell anyone what I put together, so no need to worry about that, but still... no one here's gonna hold your origins against you, ya know. Least of all me. There's nothing wrong with you. You're just... a person in a really weird life situation."

[kings_knight_rocks]

Prompto was shaking his head before Lea finished. "No, it's not- whatever you're thinking, it's not like that." Maybe it was, but he didn't want Lea to know that. Besides, Lea wouldn't understand why it wasn't the same, and Prompto didn't want to have to explain it.

[hotheadwarmheart]

"What I'm thinking," Lea said, "is that when you were born, it was in a lab somewhere in the Niflheim Empire. Those who created you intended you to become one of those MTs, so you started training and being forced to get treated with Daemon blood. You might've thought about running away once or twice, but officially, you were nobody, with nothing; where could you even go? So you stayed, got more training and 'treatments'. Maybe were even forced to do a few icky jobs for your old bosses."

"But obviously something happened, and instead of becoming an MT, you ended up in Insomnia, eventually becoming friends with Noct, Ignis, and the others. And ever since then you've lived in fear that someone would find out where you cam from, and not only would you have an angry mob coming after you with torches and pitchforks, but your friends world abandon you. Because how dare you suffer horribly at the hands of their enemy due to circumstances you had no control over? That about sum it up?"

"So now that we've got that covered, why don't you tell me why you don't think you deserve the same kind of compassion and understanding that you were willing to offer others just a minute ago? Because here I am, a friend who's figured it out, and shockingly, isn't about to abandon you, and I really want to know."

[kings_knight_rocks]

Prompto stared at him for a long moment, eyes wide, mouth parted in stunned silence. "You-"

He shook his head, eyes flicking to the door, before he sighed and pulled his feet up onto the couch cushions. He wrapped his arms around his knees. "I never tried to run away. I'd have never even thought of leaving. In fact, I spent a lot of time trying to get back there after Cor took me away. What does that say about me?"

He took an even breath through his teeth. "It's different because I'm not human, I was never human. I don't know what I am, and I don't know if one day I'm going to wake up and find out the Daemon blood they put in me is still in there. Waiting. I could transform. I could hurt someone. I wouldn't be able to stop myself. I'm a danger to everyone, even if I-" He cut that train of thought off viciously. It didn't matter what he wanted. It never had. It never would. Lea had to understand that.

[hotheadwarmheart]

"It says that you were a kid," Lea said gently. "And that you were scared. And something you know is always less scary than something you don't, even if what you know is horrible." Which was honestly probably a good chunk o Xion's problem too, but that wasn't what this was about.

"And you know someone else here who isn't and never was human? My friend Xion. She's what's called a Replica; they're sort of a life size doll or puppet, brought to life via magiscience. She was created in a lab and intended to be nothing more than a weapon for an evil Organization. There was never supposed to be a person there, but obviously that's not how it turned out. And it's no exaggeration to say that if not for her and Roxas I wouldn't be who I am today."

"Both Vexen and I were part of that evil Organization at the time. We were both pretty horrible people back then, and did a lot of harm; I'm the reason Vexen is terrified of fire, among other things. That's also why you might hear Xion or Roxas call me 'Axel'; that was my name when I was a Nobody in the Organization, and it's how they first knew me. And Vexen was actually the one who created Xion. He feels a lot different about her now than he did then, obviously, but it still doesn't change what happened or how he treated her or the other Replica that he made."

"We both got lucky. We were recompleted and have a chance to be better people and try to make up for what we did. Vexen even went through having his heart taken again, on purpose, so he could act as a spy for those working to stop the Organization, and man, I never would have believed he had that in him. Dude's a lot braver than he gives himself credit for."

"So take it from someone who was a monster, in the truest sense of the word; you're not one. You're a good guy who went through some horrible stuff that left you with a potentially serious medical issue. And yeah, that issue definitely complicates matters, and may have to be dealt with down the line. But it doesn't mean that you don't deserve compassion. Or friendship."

[kings_knight_rocks]

Prompto dropped his head onto his arms as Lea spoke. His eyes felt wet, and every breath felt shaky in his lungs. "Fried chocobo feathers..." The words were damp where they pressed into his knees, muttered on a long exhale. "This whole world hopping magical kidnapping thing is too much sometimes."

He shook his head against his arms. As a response to what, he wasn't sure. It was in his bones to deny Lea's words. He wished he could stop crying. "I bet Cor would really like you. I'm not as great as you seem to think I am... but I appreciate it."

[hotheadwarmheart]

"It is that," Lea said gently, smiling a little. The tears he took to be a good thing; the fact that they kept coming probably meant that Prompto had needed this cry for quite awhile, so releasing some of that emotion could only be helpful in the long run.

His expression became more serious as he continued, but the gentleness remained. "And you're not as terrible as you think you are either. You didn't- and don't- deserve any of what happened to you. None of it was you fault, got it memorized? You were born into and forced to endure a horrible, messed up situation because some people in the Niflheim government were amoral, power-hungry jerks. You were an innocent kid who was abused in a bunch of different ways, not some kind of monster or abomination."

"No one should have to endure that kind of situation. Ever. You don't treat people as less-than-people. It's stupid, it's harmful, and it's wrong, always. People deserve to be treated with basic decency, respect, and care, not used as tools or weapons. And that goes double for kids."

[kings_knight_rocks]

"You know, I used to find that word so confusing. Cor never wanted to use my- oh." He sighed, he was going to have to explain that now. If there was one thing this conversation with Lea had shown him about the man, it was that he was persistent. He wouldn't let that slip go by without explanation.

"MT units don't have names. When Cor took me from the facility, I wasn't Prompto yet. I had a designation like any other MT." It was strange talking so openly about this. "Anyway, point is, Cor never liked using it much, or he couldn't remember all the numbers, I don't really know. He always used to just call me kid. And I remember thinking it was a mistake, or a- a test of some kind. But it didn't matter how many times I corrected him, he always just called me kid."