Kelvin arrives on the Core Mechanics quietly. Or, relatively quietly. Since everyone’s screaming and panicking and immateria is flooding everywhere and it’s pretty easy just to find a seat and rest eir legs and let everyone’s eyes blur over the new person in the shadows. It’s not like... Ey know what the shadows are like. Out of the way and forgettable and full of people who should never be allowed onto the field and honestly that’s what ey signed up for. That was eir deal with whoever U.P. were meant to be - or not deal. This was what they’d said would protect em, stop em from having to go back and ey would never be expected to play. Just another anonymous shadow, sitting in the background.
By the time the team is about to have their first internet league election, ey’ve realized that that’s now how things work in the Core. Doc Anice is the one who talks to em about it, who asks em what ey do for fun and ey just draw a blank. Ey liked listening to music as a kid but ey can’t remember what any of the bands were and honestly ey doubt ey’d enjoy the same stuff now. Ey don’t say that to Doc, ey just sort of sit there in silence until they sigh and pull out a sort of weird mini suitcase. They explain that it’s not something they’ve done in a while, but it’s soothing and then they leave them with that weird little orange briefcase and ey just sort of sit there and stare at it.
There’s instructions in there, a faded and creased leaflet and ey just sort of. Follow them. Eir first attempt is lumpy and random threads stick out and the colours look all weird but ey slip it onto eir wrist and try again. And again. Ey only realize how much time has passed when ey realize they’ve got a pile of seventeen lumpy misshapen bracelets and while ey stick eir favourite in eir pocket, that’s still sixteen bracelets. Ey don’t have sixteen friends down here but ey do have sixteen maybe future friends and, well, why not?
Doc is wearing one of eir bracelets when they go to the Moist Talkers. Ey don’t see them for eight years.
