ARCADE SESSION: REBOOTED

[knux400]

I don't know whose it is, we're going to keep an eye on it until we find the owner. If you know who it belongs to, could you take us to them, please?
Well, you're in luck then- that there egg is ours.
Sorry about the test. My player seems to do a lot of checks like that, haha...
Test?
I mean, if you had said the egg was yours, you'd be lying.
And that would mean we can't trust you, not a bit.
...Oh. I guess that makes sense.

Echo passes the egg to Clemont, who eagerly accepts it. He gently sets the egg down next to him for now.
 

You have to be careful out here. Hasn't anyone told you about enemies yet?
...I think I found one already, actually. Enemies are things that try to hurt you, right?
Really? You found a cat ready to throw down already?
What's a cat?
I'm a cat, you're a cat, we're both cats! Tiny cat people, TCPs!
Oh, right! No, I'm pretty sure it was something else.
It was a little growly thing that had a pile of stuff. Your egg was in there.
AH! That!
You scared me for a second there.

The two stare at each other for a few moments before Tamaru pipes up.

...May I see your base now, please?
You go on ahead. Oh- thank you for returning my egg safe and sound!
Oh, no problem! Honestly I'm glad I found you, I don't know what I was going to do with this thing.

Clemont chuckles a bit at that, picks his egg up, and exits to the left. Echo, meanwhile, enters the code to the gate and leads Tamaru through. Tamaru watches, fascinated.
 

As soon as the two of them step inside the base, the golem makes an angry noise before lurching towards Tamaru.

STOP! Don't hurt him. He's a friend.

The golem stops in its tracks. It lets out a heavy metallic sigh before returning to its idle state. Tamaru looks like he's about to jump out of his skin.

Sorry about that. Trinket made it after the knocker attacked our base. It's set to attack anything it doesn't recognize.
...T-trinket made that?
Yup. You can have a look around if you like! Nothing here will hurt you.
Okay.

Tamaru is (understandably) hesitant, but he begins walking around, taking everything in while making sure to maintain a good distance from the golem, which hasn't moved at all since its outburst.

May I go inside?
Sure! I'll introduce you to Opal and Pumice.
 

Echo calls Opal over with a shrill squeak. Opal bounces into the room, nearly knocking Echo over with excitement before noticing Tamaru. She sniffs Tamaru's hand for a few moments before rubbing her head against his hand, purring.

This is Opal! She's something called a generic animal companion.

Tamaru laughs.

What?
You do know what those words actually mean, right?
Which words?
'Generic animal companion'. Generic means it's sort of like a blank slate that could be interpreted as any type of animal. So instead of making you a cat or a dog or something, Trinket made you a generic animal companion.
Well, I still like her! She's friendly.
Oh, I didn't mean to offend! I just thought it was funny. Who's this?

Tamaru points to Pumice, who has just walked in to see what all the excitement was.

That's Pumice, the mole. He's a bit more mellow, but he's still nice.

To illustrate Echo's point, Pumice simply sits in his spot on the couch, eyeing the group. Tamaru frees himself from Opal's embrace and gently pats Pumice on the head. Pumice doesn't respond much, but he seems content.

While the group continues to play and joke around, you can't help but feel a twinge of fear at Clemont's words.

You found a cat ready to throw down already?

There are five players out there, including you and whoever Clemont's player is. Not all of them are going to be friendly, you think. Suddenly the scene before you feels a lot less cozy. Should you let them keep playing for now, or is it time to get serious?