Definitely not a "vurp" and definitely not something she wants to taste

[glitchinprincess]

Characters: Vanellope and anyone who's willing to talk to a brat with dirty hair!
Setting: First floor cafeteria.
Format: Either or! I'll be starting with action, but I'll follow your lead if you want something else.
Summary: Vanellope has discovered that she has to eat oatmeal and she is not amused.
Warnings: May be vaguely spoilerish if you haven't seen Wreck-It Ralph yet. Also, Vanellope gives inappropriate nicknames.

<sub>[This day was already turning out to be way weirder than Vanellope wanted to deal with. The last thing she remembered-- those creepy bugs coming out of the ground, and a crash, and Ralph yelling, and then--

...waking up here, and finding that weird note. Luckily the words were all simple enough for her to understand. Unluckily... the words were all simple enough for her to understand. No way could Sugar Rush have been destroyed! Glitches couldn't leave their game, right? And... and...

But those bugs, A small, nagging voice in the back of her mind whispered. Remember those bugs?

She didn't want to deal with it.

Another thing she didn't want to deal with? The jumpsuits. Uh, hello? Totally not her style! Her hoodie was much better racer material, thank you. She'd changed clothes and grabbed a handful of candy from her trunk ASAP.

Exploring the tower was something she definitely needed to do. She found herself at the bottom floor cafeteria more quickly than she would have thought - idly bringing a piece of licorice up to her lips to chew on, she passes through the doors.

A moment later, just after swallowing, she gags. Both hands fly up to her mouth and she makes a dash for the nearest trash can, jumping up to empty her stomach into it.]</sub>

What--?!

_{[When the vomiting subsides, she hops back down onto the floor and eyes the licorice suspiciously.]}

...bad licorice.

_{[With that, she pops a mint into her mouth. A moment later, she has to jump back up to the edge of the trash can. This is not okay. She's sure she could have some fun with it if it didn't make her stomach hurt so bad... but it does hurt. And it's not just one or two candies. She's trying it out with everything she's got, and the result's the same every time. Finally, she collapses on the ground next to the trash can, her face a little green.]}

This really stinks!

Comments

[tohko_amano]

I'm a human. What are you? An artificial intelligence of some kind?

[glitchinprincess]

Artificial whaaa--? No, I'm a human too!

Look at me, I've got arms and legs and a mouth and a nose and everything!

[tohko_amano]

But you keep flickering in and out and looking scrambled sometimes. That doesn't happen to normal people back home. It's something that does happen to computer programs though..

[Tohko isn't meaning to hurt your feelings, really, she isn't. She's just..puzzled.]

[glitchinprincess]

...

Wait-- Are you a player?

[One of the kids from the arcade? No, Vanellope thinks she'd remember seeing her through the screen. Though maybe she just never played Sugar Rush...]

[tohko_amano]

..A player..?

[Tohko sighed. It had to be something from the girls universe. She tried her best to explain this.]

..This might be a little hard to understand, but this Tower brings people from different universes together. So, the things that are normal in your world will be quite different from the things that are normal in mine.

[glitchinprincess]

Whaaat, so you're saying we're in a totally different world? No way, that's not possible...

[She studies her for a few moments... then it hits her!]

I get it, you're from one of those games where the characters don't know they're in a game!

[tohko_amano]

[Tohko gave the girl a puzzled look.]

Game? I'm not a character from a video game or a story. Are you from a video game?

[Tohko then sighed again.]

Please, believe me. We're both in a different universe. I know that it seems weird, but that's the truth.

[glitchinprincess]

..no way.

I can't leave my game-- I mean my world-- So that's not possible!

[tohko_amano]

[Tohko sighed.]

I'm sorry..but that's what's happened to you. There are many people here from different universes and worlds. The Administrators pulled us all here in the same way..so you have left your universe for now.

[glitchinprincess]

I'm telling you, that's not possible! Glitches can't leave their game--

[She cuts herself off there. No, she didn't want to just tell everyone that she was a glitch - if they didn't think she was - oh man! She screwed up! ...she's just going to try and turn and run, now. ;;]

[tohko_amano]

Oh! Please, wait!

[Tohko grabbed the kids arm, trying to stop her from running off. So, she was from a video game world, and hated the fact that she was just a glitch. Tohko could sympathize with that.]

I know that this all seems really weird, but trust me, that's what happened, even though it defys all normal laws in your universe. And you don't have to worry about being a glitch. I don't mind. Please, sit back down.

[glitchinprincess]

Leggo of me leggo of me--

[Vanellope tries to squirm out of Tohko's grasp, but she can't. Even glitching doesn't help - finally, she sits back down, crossing her arms and looking up at her a little sullenly.]

...don't tell anybody.

[tohko_amano]

[Tohko smiled and patted the kids head as she sat back down again.]

Don't worry, I won't. I'm good at keeping secrets.

[glitchinprincess]

You better be. I really really really don't want anyone to know!

[There's a small pout on her face, but it softens a little as Tohko pats her head.]

[tohko_amano]

[Tohko nodded.]

Don't worry, I am. I understand how you feel, so don't worry about it. I won't tell anyone.

[glitchinprincess]

Good. Or else I'll... I'll... I'll be mad.

[She can't make Tohko glitch, so she's not sure she really has anything else that would work as a threat.]

[tohko_amano]

[Tohko patted the kids head again.]

And I wouldn't want a friend of mine to be mad at me.

[glitchinprincess]

[Her lips twitch up into a small smile.]

We're friends? Really?

[tohko_amano]

[Tohko returned the smile.]

I don't see any reason why we can't be friends. Unless, of course, you don't want to be.

[glitchinprincess]

I never said I don't want to be friends! If you want to be friends, we're friends!

[You can never have too many friends. Vanellope decided that after befriending Ralph. She's spent long enough alone, thanks.]

Soooo, new friend, what's the first thing we're gonna do?

[tohko_amano]

Alright then! I'm glad to hear that.

[Tohko took another bite of the oatmeal before replying.]

Well, first I had better tell you the rest of what I know about this Tower. Then we can go exploring, if you want.

[Tohko sighed and thought as she began her usual infodump.]

This Tower is called Animus. As far as I know, four people run it: Dax, who is a rather kind man, Jason, who..experiments on the residents, Riki, who is a secretive fellow that manages the records, and Ruana, who is thousands of years old and is rather childlike. She also performs games and experiments, like Jason.

They will lie to you, so take everything they say with a grain of salt.

Also..your world isn't destroyed. There are a few people here who wouldn't even be able to exist if their universes were destroyed, so the Administrators are lying about that. So, don't worry about that.

[Tohk then thought for a minute more. She told her about the monsters and the oatmeal..so that was it. She nodded to herself.]

And that's everything else.

[glitchinprincess]

...experiments?

[And lying... she's not liking the sound of this already. If these are the people who are in charge... then...]

...you're sure it's not destroyed? ...because... I remember, right before I woke up here, there was... there were these awful bugs and they-- They were destroying everything...

[She looks down at the bowl of oatmeal. Thus far, Tohko's been the only one eating from it - thinking about her world and how it might or might not be gone hasn't really put her in the mood to shovel that stuff into her mouth.]

...what kind of stuff is there to explore here?

[tohko_amano]

[Tohko sighed. It was one thing to explain this all to a teenager. It was quite another to explain it to a kid, especially considering how nice this one was.]

Yes..experiments. They're not kind ones either, I'm sorry to say. And trust me, your world isn't destroyed. Perhaps those bugs have failed, and you just didn't see it because the Administrators pulled you here.

[Tohko noticed that the girl wasn't eating much. She knew that it tasted nasty, but if she ate it, she'd be able to eat other things in the future.]

There's a forest floor, and a library, and..right now, there are penguins living in the aquarium floor, if you want to see them. However, you have to eat your oatmeal first..and what's your name?

[glitchinprincess]

[Ewwwww, oatmeal... She wrinkled her nose down at the bowl, but if she wasn't going to get to see any of this stuff until she ate her oatmeal, she'd... just have to bite the bullet and do it. She brought her spoon to her lips and nearly gagged on the taste.]

This is gross!

[A few more moments of stalling, and she took another bite, forcing herself to swallow it down.]

...Vanellope. My name's Vanellope. And your name is...?

[tohko_amano]

[Tohko took a bite of the oatmeal with her.]

I know. This is pretty disgusting, but the quicker you eat it, the quicker you can eat something else. Even if we only have nutrition bars this month.

[She then nodded.]

It's nice to meet you, Vanellope. I'm Tohko Amano, the book girl.