SWITCHBOARD

[transmittable]

If you'd like to ask the Transmitter something over the phone, go right ahead! The Transmitter will answer the phone as soon as she's available. Leaving messages is impossible, given how old these phones are, but you should be able to reach her at almost all hours.

Comments are screened for privacy; all Patients are offered confidentiality, didn't you know?

Comments

[transmittable]

Uhh, yeah! Do you have another answer? Another idea?

[cadmiums]

Let's go to the Taj Mahal!

[transmittable]

[ A moment and then, she laughs from surprise. ]

The- the Taj Mahal...? What's the sudden appeal

[cadmiums]

It's a good date spot for lovers! [ That is not even what Rin said but this is what he's taking it as.]

[transmittable]

[ Snorts. She's amused. ]

I... don't think I've heard it called that before? Who got that in your head?

[cadmiums]

Rin-chan was telling me about it, she even drew me a picture. Though she said that you can't go swimming in the pools outside, which is a little disappointing.

[transmittable]

Well, of course you can't!

[ She laughs. ]

It's a World Heritage Site, it's like...important!

[cadmiums]

Is it? I still want to take you on a date there.

[transmittable]

And you hypothetically can, it's just got like... Oh, it's like a big piece of art, you know? Did you know- the guy who built it, oh, I think his name was...Shah Ja-...something, he had it built in memory of his favorite wife. It's like...the tomb, and the guest house, and the...everything, it's a huge- accomplishment, I don't know.

Things like that are cool, big...historical things.

[cadmiums]

That makes it sound like an even better date spot if it was built as a testament to everlasting love. I don't really know many historical places outside Japan, but I wouldn't mind going anywhere.

Is there some other historical place you'd want to see?

[transmittable]

Oof, walked right into that one didn't I? Um... Honestly all of the Seven Wonders? Machu Picchu, the Great Wall, the Colosseum- places like that.

And...some just, smaller, other places. Ones that are important to little towns. Go wandering and get lost somewhere.

[cadmiums]

Does it really count as lost if we're together? [ He sounds fond of the idea.]

I'd like to see where you're from too.

[transmittable]

You know what I mean, you goof... Ha, um... That place, it's nothing special. Just a...little town.

[ ... ]

Liked living there well enough, though.

[cadmiums]

[ He laughs a little, unable to help that he's a hopeless romantic.]

Yeah? What's it like? 

[transmittable]

Oh... Fine. Quiet? A kind of...everyone knows everyone sort of thing.

[cadmiums]

You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, I just like learning more about you. But it sounds like a pleasant place to live.

[...]

And it's nice to hear about hometowns, especially because I can't remember my own.

[transmittable]

You're still having a lot of memory trouble, huh? You can't recall anything about it? Anything at all?

[cadmiums]

Yeah. If I think really hard about it I...remember a bridge and the moon. But that doesn't really tell me much.

[transmittable]

[ ... ]

There's this bridge in my hometown. It's like...no one really uses it anymore, 'cause it's OLD and rickety, but ever since I was a kid, it'd be this dumb rite of passage tradition to run 'cross it after a rainstorm. All the adults were like, "nooo, that's dangerous! Aaah!" ...but we all still did it.

Dumb kid stuff, you know? But...it was fun.

[cadmiums]

I think that's what makes it fun, when you're close to danger like that. It's in those moments, when you can feel truly alive.

We should run across an old rickety bridge too, but it doesn't have to be in the rain.

[transmittable]

I've always been kinda reckless. I get that. Not after the rain would be pretty nice, though. I've never liked water all that much, not even when I was young.

So we could...find somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Go exploring. See what we get. Do you like the outdoors, anything like that?

[cadmiums]

Really? Why?

Yeah, I like the outdoors because it's seemingly limitless--especially the sky. In Tatsumi, I liked to climb buildings at night to get a better view of the milkyway and all the stars. But I don't really like being alone, and it was hard to find someone who was willing to climb with me.

[transmittable]

I'd go climbing with you. I've never really climbed buildings before, just...climbed rocks or jumped 'em, but... I've gone on a few vacations to the Big City, you know, and it always seemed like it'd be fun.

[ And... ]

As for- you know, water, just... I dunno, I just didn't like it. Getting caught out in the rain, or anything. It's all so vast and...unknown.

[cadmiums]

It is, but it gets a little cold at the top. I think I could keep you warm, though. I could try and shelter you from the rain too.

[transmittable]

[ ... ]

Warm sounds nice. Gotten caught in more storms than I care to.