The Robotic Utopia of the Future - Tunik (Open)

Minnie closed their door quickly "wh...what's wrong Hillary?" she said, uncomfortable

*Hillary glanced around and brought Minnie closer*
Hillary: "W-well I don't mean to be intrusive, a-and you're free to answer this or go but I NEED to know Minnie ...if... is there...well... something.... about yourself.... uhh..."
*Hillary trailed off not being able to think of the right words*

"....I will tell you" she said calmly "everything you want to know, under two conditions" she said "...don't freak out, and don't tell anyone" she said "...I need to keep this a secret for a reason" she said, defeated

*Hillary slowly nodded*

Hillary: (I honestly did not expect to get this far... wh-what could be her secret, could... could she be.... An Alien!?)

"...My parents had... two children named Minnie" she said touching the back of her neck "....My "sister" was named after me" she explained, holding a chord to plug into the wall "I.... am an artificial intelligence" she explained "....w..when my sister past away, I was given this body, and.... started to act like a daughter to both mom and dad" she said "....my name is Minnie Maxwell and I am an AI" she explained "....I need to plug in every once in a while...." she said "....and unlike you, I don't need sleep" she explained "...hence the separate room each night.... so you didn't see it" she said "....i...it's.... sorta.... a big secret" she reminded her

*Hillary could only stare in silence*

Hillary: That....is... awesome!
*Hillary squee'd a slightly loud squee but quickly covered he squeer up*

She sat down, letting a sigh in relaxation, but then a small smile came on face "..alright, now, this isn't entirely fair" she said "...you have to give me a secret of yours in return" she said

Hillary: Oh... Well it's not like I'm keeping it a  secret...

it's just that... I'm not... telling.. anyone.....

*She pulled out the DVD from earlier*
See um, this lady on the cover, Katie Zvezda... she's my mom

"That is so cool!" Minnie said excited with a smile on her face "but.... I can understand why you wouldn't tell anyone...." she also added "i...if you did, everyone might start comparing her to you, and you'd no longer be Hillary, your own person..." she thought outloud "...you'd more be her shadow" she added "....sorta why Dimitri didn't gloat about his parents, instead being brought up by Tao" Minnie thought out loud "guess you didn't have a cousin telling us huh?" she said with a smile, jokingly

"...so you want any dirt on either of our travelling companions?" She asked with a slightly wicked smile on her face "...I don't sleep, I had to do something interesting to pass the time" she said, taking a seat, opening her bag, pulling out a few things "...you were the one who suggested a girls night"

Hillary: Oooh~
*Hillary grabbed her pillow and hugged into it*
Well I am kind of interested in what dirt you have on Tao first, I feel I know him the least at this point

"Well, as I am sure you are aware, he is the son of two different scientists" she said "but.... he seems to have more of a flare for writing than his parents" she said "in fact, if my guesses about his journal's content our correct, he is actually making a rough note chronicles of our journey as we move along" she said "...judging from this whole think, well, he seemed to excel, heck there are talks about it from a girl who transferred from this school to New Haven's Gym Leader Academy" she said "....course, that is only one person, but hey, I don't have people talking about me months after they leave. Additionally I didn't figure it out, but, in his skill crafting of such, he has read a lot of books, probably both non-fiction and fiction, making him possibly a bigger expert on it than me" she said, before getting a little more tight, holding her pillow close too


"...then there is the story of a curse" Minnie said "seems like superstition to me, but...." she started, her voice turning down in volume a bit "...there is a rumor, that, the 4 adults sitting out there, and their descendants, are both gifted and cursed" she said "It is said, that their hearts, are as fragile as mother nature... nah the 4 seasons themselves. I guess in a cruel sense of irony, the curse apparently gives them 4 chances" she said

"If their heart breaks once, they can bring themselves together and recover from it" Minnie started
"Second time, their mind can't take it, and they loss all right to clear sight"
"Third time, their mind itself snaps, and most sense of calm is lost, and they fly into a string of rage at the drop of a hat"
"And lastly, their heart just collapses in on itself" she said

"...But I'll be honest, we are in Dr. William's Hale's house" Minnie said "He is quite found of romanticizing anything he can, and so is Mrs. Winter, if you ever look at any of the papers he's published "Plus, there is no way a whole family is good at music" she said "who knows, maybe some of that romanticizing of theirs rubbed off on their son" she said "...I guess he got that storyteller charm from his parents after all huh?"

Hillary: .... Wow, I did not Tao's family had such an interesting story..

"Want to hear about our other team member?" she asked, "I mean, you already heard half of it when you heard Tao's story" she added

Hillary: Okay then, tell me about Dimitri, please.

"Dimitri is the child of both Ivan and Summer Battlus and, as I am sure you have figured out, they are both tough nuts to crack" Minnie said

"Dimitri though... is a bit on the easier side to crack" she said "... Looking in his school he actually got in trouble quite a lot, for fighting with the other students" Minnie said "...but, they aren't the type of kids that would normally get picked on" she said "....actually, most if not all the boys he ended up in fights with were bigger than him, all of which, were known aggressive people to one Liam Bidoc, one of two close friends it seems" she said "...the other being one Paige Rocess" Minnie added

"Minor things of note, he is a picky eater because he never eats meat" Minnie said "Judging from his history it's less a matter of being against people who consume it, but feel it is a way he can differentiate himself from his parents. The color purple, like your hair, seems to be some sort of weakness to him" she said "he doesn't wear it or anything, but he seems to have developed an appreciation for the color, specifically on Pokemon, getting caught saying a Ratatta was adorable a month before he went off on his journey for example, but it probably can be extrapolated to other things and he just hides it in that respect" Minnie said "....and lastly" she said, turning to their room door "...he doesn't get much sleep" she said "...my guess? somewhere between 3-4 hours a night" Minnie explained "In his backpack, he carries two things, a DVD of a bunch of old Pokemon matches, for when we are at places like this, with tvs and such where he can study and learn battles, mainly  dad's battling style and the recorded battles on them, though some involve other trainers, including his uncles and aunts and a few friends of the family, and.... some sort of small notebook he uses on occassion" she said "...heck" Minnie said "....he's out there right now watching one of those films, with him and his team" she said "...though I am sure you noticed that one, he walks around wherever we go with bags under his eyes, sorta makes him look a little like a panda..." she thought outloud

Hillary: ...He does kinda look like a panda... *she said as she twiddled her fingers around*
*Hillary yawned* I can never stay up late myself, beds are nice.... but boy you sure do know what's what. *Hillary said lying down*
I shall keep your secret, I may be able to pull some extra strings if you are needing something to upgrade with... uh if you do that, n-not that you aren't great as you are I am just meaning that if you are needing too!

Minnie smiled "Thank you, I take no offense to that" she said "...I still do have to plug in my battery frequently" she pointed out "...and your not secret is safe with me, until the time comes you feel comfortable talking to them about it"

In the morning....
"You are up aren't you?" William asked, heading to the living room
"...Ya..." Dimitri said
"Don't worry, your parents had the same problem when they were young" William said "....I am about to make breakfast, want to help?" he asked
"Do I look like a cook?" Dimitri asked with a sense of attitude
"No, you look like a thug, and we both know you aren't that" William said "plus, I know you can cook something, you are a vegetarian in a house full of carnivores, plus, it's either that or sit there waiting for an hour or two for everyone else to get up" William said
"...Fine" Dimitri said defeated, thinking it was just some trick to talk about something he didn't want to talk about

The two of them started baking some cinnamon rolls
"....So, you and Hillary are here to obtain your 4th badge correct?" William asked helping with the prep of the rolls
"Ya, we are going to challenge them today" Dimitri said, preparing the food for baking
"...That is not going to happen today unfortunately, you see, yesterday was the gym leader's last official day, and the new gym leader is taking over today" William said "...though we are having a little retirement party for the old guy for an official passing of the torch ceremony of sorts" William explained "the whole town is throwing a party for the professor, the one who gave you your Timburr" he said "...he was also the gym leader" he pointed out
"So then what are we suppose to do all day?" Dimitri questioned
"It's a party, you could have fun" William said sarcastically, getting a glare from his nephew "I am kidding, as part of the festival, we will be holding a doubles tournament, trainers both local and from around the region are coming to participate" he said "It would be a great way to both scope out the competition and to train your skills" he said
"...Thanks, that is actually useful" Dimitri said relaxing a bit
"No problem" he said "you and the Panda Hero would make a great pair in that" he said, suggesting a partner for him
"I do know how she battles well enough, plus we are roughly the same skill level" Dimitri admitted
"...and in life" he added
Dimitri turned a bright red, tensing up, stopping what he was doing, and turning away
"You know I do this for a living, I can tell you have a thing for her Dimitri" William said "...and I know you aren't afraid, I mean, have you seen how many fights you have gotten into, then why haven't you asked her out yet?" the uncle grilled his nephew
"What if she says no?" Dimitri retorted
"No, no, that's not it, you aren't afraid of rejection or pain, you are willing to put yourself in danger for the benefit of complete strangers" he said "...heard the story about the rig" he added "you will use yourself as a shield if it means someone else doesn't get hurt" William said "that's what happened at your school too" he added
"....what if you say no" William countered with "..you aren't afraid of her rejecting you, you are afraid of her accepting you and either you not being good enough or you breaking her heart" William said
"I don't want to talk about this Uncle" Dimitri said "what I do or don't do with her is my decision and none of your business"
"....It's not, but, you can't wait around forever" William said "everything in life worth something, is worth fighting for, and if you don't at least try to fight for it, it may slip through your fingers without you noticing" William said "...also... I hope your failure to refute speaks louder than you realize"
"Please stop talking about this" Dimitri asked defeated, finishing up, putting the rolls into the oven
"Sure" William said leaving him alone, but leaving Dimitri pondering until everyone else was up

In about an hour, Dimitri was up in the Living Room, Minnie having dragged Hillary out to join him, eating away from the adults, everyone still in there PJs
"So... the gym is closed down today" Dimitri said "...but the town is having a tournament ... and a festival to pass the time" Dimitri said "..but the tournament is a double battles tournament" Dimitri said
"ya, I am not really partner's material for you" Minnie said
"No offense, but I don't know enough about your battling style to work well enough for this sort of tournament with you..." he said "...but.... my uncle brought up someone who I think I could work with to win this tournament this morning" Dimitri said "...Hilary, you up for a tournament?" Dimitri asked her

Tao joins them. "Gosh i feel like i slept forever. It nice sleeping in your own bed once again." he said, looking at them. 'What is this about a turniment?"

Dimitri tossed him a cinnamon roll "the gym is closed as they have a passing of the torch party.... and in it there is a doubles tournament" he explained, taking a bite out of his "so, what do you say Hill?" Dimitri asked

Hillary: *Yawns* A Tournament? You'd like to double battle with me?
.... I would like that.... If you can keep up of course?

Dimitri gives Hillary and Minnie a cinnamon roll to eat, Minnie discretely hiding hers as she had no need to eat it, but still needed to give the illusion she does

"We can keep up with you and your Pokemon all day and night" Dimitri said confidently

Tao yawns. "Sounds liek you two would have fun."

Spring walked in, taking some of the breakfast food. "Hay William. THat tag team tournament, is Winter entering?"

"As far as I know, no, she is going to be busy with the Professor today" he said

"W..why would you say that?" Dimitri asked

"Oh you know the answer to that." Spring said. "William, how about you and me enter?"

"We could" he said "...would that even be fair? I mean, we have so much more experience than them" William said