The Firstborn of Death [Adeptus Evangelion]

[Vrock_Summoner]

Dice-Rollig Thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?539397-The-Firstborn-of-Death-Adeptus-Evangelion-Dice-Rolls&p=22484621#post22484621)

OOC Thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?539396-The-Firstborn-of-Death-Adeptus-Evangelion-OOC)

In Character Thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?539395-The-Firstborn-of-Death-Adeptus-Evangelion)

”Welcome, everyone… To the Neverdeath Academy Anniversary Dance!”

A wave of polite applause spreads in a low rumble through the crowd of seated students around the contemorary ballroom.

https://d1zpvjny0s6omk.cloudfront.net/media/cache/df/6b/df6b21f442c8371374cc0bae3e054e3a.jpg

The seating areas surrounding the dance floor are shadowed with blacklight, making it hard to see the other students and further illuminating the sparkly central dance floor.

All around you, the other students, dressed up in fancy tuxedos, expensive dresses, and more androgynous (but still formal) assortments of clothing, sip and nibble at their appetizers and pretend to show interest in the speaker at the center of the floor.

"We come together to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the official opening of the Neverdeath Academy! Tonight is a night of cheer, expression, and most of all, pride in this institution, and your places within it as the leading generation of academic minds, the carriers of our future."

You all hear what almost sounds like a yawn, caught in the periphery of the microphone. The wrinkly, grey-haired speaker steals a startled glance over his shoulders as the student body lets out a nervous chuckle, but the distraction soon passes.

"A-hem... Here to set the tune for this procession is H-Tek, who've spent the last couple of months working together with our academy's own orchestra to prepare the pieces being played tonight. As the band begins to play, please feel free to begin the festivities amongst yourselves and enter the dance floor at will as we await the serving of the main course."

The red light is flooded over one of the ballroom's walls, revealing black curtains covering a small stage.

"Please welcome H-Tek, the Neverdeath Orchestra, and, of course, Ookami Haruka!"

So. This one's all up to you. What kind of entrance do you want to make? Do you want to come out with minimal fanfare, dressed akin to the other students, and make a heartwarming speech? Bust out the flashy outfit and light show to turn everybody's eyes on you all at once and steal the stage instead of playing along with being background noise? Or, heck, wanna be having a panic attack backstage and not come out yet? Your first impression is in your hands!

Alia is currently seated next to a somewhat older boy (~16) from her robotics class, Teru Shinba, a half-Persian, half-Japanese boy with well-groomed, curly black hair in a fairly unassuming (for the occasion) white tux.

Although Alia doesn't pay much attention to other students in the class generally, she'd likely be a bit more aware of Teru than most due simply to the peculiarities of how he treats the objects around him. As president of the Student Cleanliness Committee, Teru spends a great deal of time cleaning, repairing, and caring for things all throughout the high school classrooms, particularly within the robotics and chemistry classrooms. In addition, he has a consistent ritual he follows whenever giving people things, whether they be gifts or otherwise. When handing the object off, he'll kiss the object, or, should the other individual allow it, the person's receiving hand, as a way of wishing the object a good journey.

He turns to Alia as people begin to get up and mingle or meet up with their partners.

"Hey," he opens with a warm grin. "You disappeared so quickly yesterday that I didn't have a chance to thank you for catching my robotics project when it got knocked to the floor. With all the fragile components, it'd pretty much have shattered to pieces." There's an awkward pause for several seconds, and then he clears his throat and continues. "I... I hope your hands weren't cut up too badly." Another awkward pause as he rubs behind his head sheepishly. "Well, anyway, to thank you, I went out and bought you a ticket to the local robotics museum. I remember your eyes lighting up when we went there on the last class trip so I thought you'd appreciate a chance to go again. So, I wanted to give you this before I go find my dance partner."

He holds out a ticket for Alia to grab, then thinks better of it, grabs Alia's hand himself, places the ticket in her hand, and leans in to kiss her hand in his usual sendoff fashion.

Seiko didn't quite manage to catch the seat next to Alia (whether she was trying to or not), but she's still close enough to watch her even through the blacklight. As Seiko watches, an older, dark-skinned boy with curly black hair and a white tuxedo sitting next to Alia grins at her and begins to talk to her confidently, slowly growing more flustered as he talks, at one point beckoning to the dance floor, until he eventually somewhat shyly grabs her hand and kisses it.

Do with this information as you will.

How awkward. Yuuta didn't even have a dance partner at a pair dance. There were a few other people around looking for partners, but... Well, that would require starting conversations. And of course, the blacklight isn't any good for reading by. At least the hors d'oeuvres are pretty good.

Before Yuuta has much time to contemplate what to do now, though, a sensation of something resembling television static begins to form on the border of his vision. At the corner of his perception, simultaneously sounding like a whisper within his ear and a shout from far away, he can just make out a voice saying "It's... ur fau... ta!" The sound of static for a few seconds, then the voice again: "All... y... lt..." Then it snaps back to normal as if nothing had changed in the first place. None of the other students appear to have noticed anything.

Due to his prodigious perceptive skills, Kenzaki is the only one who notices what's happening during the strange sound incident with the microphone. A flit at the corner of his eye brings his attention up to to the rafters where much of the sound equipment is set up, and he spots... a girl? Not just any girl, though... It's hard to make out through the blacklights, but that almost seems to be... Alia! But that should be impossible. Kenzaki's already well aware of where Alia is sitting and there's no way she could've moved that far that quickly without being noticed.

As he's processing what's happening, the Alia up in the rafters makes pointed eye contact with Kenzaki and flashes an uncharacteristically wide grin. In that moment, Kenzaki's vision fills up with static, and in the next instant both the burst of visual static and that Alia are gone.

With barely another moment to collect his thoughts, Kenzaki feels a tug on his sleeve and another boy's voice worriedly (or perhaps shyly?) saying, "Hey, Kenzaki?"

"Oi, Kenichi! Are you even listening!?" The angry-sounding blonde girl next to Kenichi seems to use all her willpower on whispering that rather than yelling it. "Dance floor's free! We're here to get judged as the best couple, so get off your behind and let's make an unforgettable entrance before anyone else gets there!" She taps her almost gaudily expensive heels repeatedly in impatience.

This girl's done nothing but nag, complain, get angry, and make demands the entire night, except when she had a chance to show off her exceedingly expensive dress for a camera or make the pair look like a happy couple when a lot of people were watching. She hadn't even mentioned her name, though Kenichi would remember it being Lira based on the mission report from the Chief Advisor of the Operations Director. Probably not the most ideal dance partner, but orders are orders.

[Elfbird]

Alia accepts the ticket, holding it to her chest and closing her eyes for several long moments - a silent welcome into her care, and recognition of all it's been through to reach her, though to anyone watching it must seem as if the love of her life just asked her on a serious date or something.

She's dressed up in a frilly white gown, synthetic flowers woven into her hair, because that's what her nurse felt like doing today. It's a bit awkward all around, but they're making an effort for each other to do their best - Alia at wearing the gown, the gown at being worn, and the flowers at staying in her hair properly. She and her rhinestone-studded heeled shoes had been practicing for quite a while before this.
Really, she's here to visit and encourage the chairs from East Wing 211-A/B and welcome the silk drapery out of storage for the first time since last Easter. A lot of strangers would be showing up just for this event too; she wondered if they'd meet again or not.

Finally, she whispers: "Thank you. I'll cherish you."

As the dance music starts up, she'd wander over to the speakers, place a hand on them to feel the beat, and complement them on their incredible strength and projection.

[fibericon]

Ah, yes. A social gathering. How unfortunate that it was the best situation to find a large number of toothpicks. Toothpicks are so useful in building Yuuta's little creations that he almost thought they were cheating. Oh, but the Tower of Babel he could create with them! He paused, glancing around, chasing the oddity in his peripheral vision. When it ended, he shook his head, and muttered through gritted teeth.

"It is absolutely not my fault that there is no historically accurate visual representation of the Tower of Babel. Now, the documentary hypothesis by Julius Wellhausen, that's something we can talk about."

He stopped, straightened up, and looked around, only just realizing he had said that out loud. His tux was a little wrinkled from leaning over to craft his amalgamation of food and toothpicks.

[Muja]

The backstage area was always so unpleasant to Haruka. Cramped to the point personal space was rarely given, loud as sound crew pitter patter abound to their next job, and the assistants constantly checking in on her needs (and stressing her out to high heavens, more often than not). Truly the preamble to her appearances were always the most irritating part of the night. Luckily that was about to change. Locking eyes with a nodding manager across the covered stage, the young lady moved to her mark.

'Time to shine, sweetheart'

The black curtains rose and bright light enveloped the stage, Her stage. And now it begins again.

"Helloooo Neverdeath Academy!" Haruka began with a warm smile, holding a modest wireless mic to her lips and placing her other hand against her waist.

"I am certainly glad to see you all so excited for this event! We all have been working so hard to make this the best dance ever, so i hope you all enjoy it." she smiled wider , nodding respectfully to the staff present along the corners of the room before gesturing for her fellow musical students to begin.

"Now...Lets get this party started!"

[Syless]

How dare he. How dare he.

Seiko had been staring at Alia- how could she not? The vision of beauty and grace, the only girl to see the world more clearly than Seiko herself, the one she would become one with. And she was being approached. By a boy. With interest.

A kiss. A kiss? It doesn't matter if it was to the hand or not, it's still a kiss! It's still something he doesn't deserve, something -no one- deserved, even Seiko herself hadn't earned the right- and he just took it. This was utterly unacceptable.

Seiko's stare shifted- from its lock on Alia, to a lock on the boy. He needed to be put in his place... but how? In a place like this? Watching the other couples, she smiles as a fitting punishment comes to her. She'd always wondered how bad an accident from dancing could get... after being sure she could spot the boy again, should he go to the dance floor, Seiko stands up and scans the other loiterers. Somewhere in the group there must be someone easily enough led to be a proper pawn. All it would take is the right person- and there they were. A quiet boy playing with... toothpicks? Seiko walks over to him, adopting one of her winning smiles- recognizing the boy, but forgetting his name. One of the other proper pilots. He'll definitely do. She reaches out her hand, still smiling at him.

"Would you like to dance?"

[Arayl]

Kenichi blinks a couple times and turns to the girl and says as he stands and holds out a hand to the demanding girl, "Oh, I'm sorry about that I was listening, let's get out there then" Once she takes his proffered hand he leads her out onto the dancefloor to join those who've already started dancing. Once they arrive on the floor he pulls her in close and begins to lead her in a simple American waltz in time with the music that the school's orchestra is playing.

He is wearing a black tuxedo with a white shirt that has a red carnation boutonnière in his jacket's lapel buttonhole, his blonde hair has been combed and tamed into a side part to the right, compared to his usual messy hairstyle that it is in any other day.

[Vrock_Summoner]

The students cheer and begin to sway as Haru's music picks up, lulling them into her vibe. As soon as the music starts the students are instantly enraptured in the mood to dance (those not actively fawning at the edge of the stage, anyway), but stop short as they realize they were all beat to the punch by Kenichi and Lira taking the center of the dance floor.

The two move together with such grace and in such harmony with the music that compared to the other students they seem more like the personifications of the sound waves coursing through the room than two humans doing a routine. Despite their amateur skills, the two just clicked in this dance, producing what could've almost been a professional performance (though a bit too rough around the edges to actually bring to a professional competition as-is). Between the music and the dance, the students were largely spellbound, and no others entered the floor. At the conclusion of the first song and their dance throughout it, the dancers bowed, and the students clapped a great deal. One even loudly burst into tears at how emotional he was and had to be hushed to the side of the room.

After that had concluded and the next song began, other pairs began filtering onto the dance floor, including Teru and a frazzled, tired-looking older girl. Neither of them paid much attention to the other or anything at all, resulting in some piss-poor dancing... and a perfect opportunity for Seiko to strike, when her and Yuuta come out.

[fibericon]

Ah! What? No! Why?! Right, this is a dance. Why are you here, Yuuta? It's to dance, isn't it? No, it's to acquiesce. But you acquiesce by dancing at a dance, don't you? I suppose I can't argue that logic, and it would at least put some value on the practice. This is fine. Seiko is another pilot. This is fine. There wasn't any music when I was practicing. That might have been an oversight, but music would have been distracting.

"Okay."

Wow, smooth talking, Yuuta! She's all over you now! Her actions actually probably maybe don't have anything to do with you. She's not looking at you. Wait, she's not looking at me! Seiko, you're so nice. That takes such a load off of me. Now, just look down and... ah. No numbers. No footprint stickers. Whelp. That's fine, just close your eyes and imagine them. I can see them. This is okay.

This is not okay.

You know how you can't see people with your eyes closed? As it turns out, Seiko is still there, even with my eyes closed. I put my foot where the sticker was supposed to go, but there was a person there. Probably Seiko. Huh. I no longer have solid footing. I'm falling. It's fine, it's fine. Minor stumble. Seiko is so much stronger than me. She can catch me. This is okay.

This is not okay.

Yeah, just don't even bother opening your eyes at this point, Yuuta. It's not going to help. Probably just going to make everything worse. Down we go. Sorry, I guess? I feel like this isn't quite my fault. Yeah, this is absolutely my fault. The Tower of Babel thing wasn't, though. I think I did a pretty good job with what I had to work with.

[Volthawk]

Kenzaki blinks again, sweeping his vision across the hall to find Alia - the one here in the dance hall. It just takes a moment to confirm that she's still around and dress differently to the other Alia. As he looks around, he replies to the other boy, not yet paying full attention to him - something was up here, and that mystery took up his focus. "Yeah, what is it? Have you seen something?"

[Vrock_Summoner]

"W-what?" The boy who came up to Kenzaki stammered in confusion. "Was I supposed to see something?" He fidgets nervously, twirling his brown hair around his finger a bit. Despite his shy mannerisms, he's actually a fair bit larger than you - you'd recognize him as one of the stars of the Academy's athletics programs and somebody you've tutored quite a bit, a German boy named Connie Sprouss. "I just came to... I mean... Are you okay? You seem stressed." He seems very concerned for you.

[Volthawk]

Looking around to the boy, Kenzaki shakes his head. "Oh, just...yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about it." He thinks for a few moments before standing up. "Sorry, Sprouss, excuse me for a minute."

He was over to the speakers, where Alia (the real one? Perhaps) was doing her thing, and stands next to her. "Can we talk? I have some things I need to ask you."

[Elfbird]

Alia turns to Kenzaki, patiently waiting for his latest round of pointless questions. A tone of urgency in his voice...? Either way, it probably doesn't concern her. Human problems.

"Yes, we can talk."

[Volthawk]

"Well-"
Kenzaki opens his mouth to speak before pausing. The thought strikes him that he hasn't considered how to go about this, so he takes a few moments to think before he speaks. For a second, paranoia creeps in and he asks himself if she's able to be trusted, if she's involved in a bad way, but he dismisses it. That'll just get him nowhere.
"Do you...have a twin? I saw someone who looked just like you in the rafters. Different clothes and...different personality, I guess, but otherwise just like you."

[Syless]

Seiko grins as she pulls the hapless boy to the dance floor. A simple plan, really- dance with Yuuta, then, once she's maneuvered close to Teru and his partner, 'accidentally' trip over Yuuta's feet, sending Teru crashing down, maybe even breaking one of his limbs... that would be exquisite.

Unfortunately, plans so rarely go as predicted. Seiko's fundamental mistaken assumption was that she would be able to dance- but gymnastics and martial arts, while using the same skills, aren't dancing. Things seem to go... alright, at least for the first few beats, before going very, very wrong. Seiko is trying to mimic the people around her and move according to the music- but Yuuta is moving with a very rigid, practiced routine. The two don't mix well, and before too long, Yuuta steps on her foot and slips, and the two come crashing down.

It's not a complete failure, though- before things fell apart, she'd still managed to maneuver over to Teru. So while she meant to 'accidentally' slip and trip the boy... instead she quite legitimately slips and falls, but still manages to catch herself enough to send her leg careening into the sweet spot on the back of Teru's, hoping to make his knees give out, at worst.

[Vrock_Summoner]

Seiko may have gone into this expecting to waltz on over to Teru, have an "oopsie" moment, and give him a stealthy, controlled kick to show him his place... But that is not what she got.

Instead, after the first few beats of music, Seiko and Yuuta began to tumble over one another, knocking over three other pairs of dancers. Almost more by sheer luck than intention, Seiko got entirely thrown off her feet just as she was passing by Teru, and, with a sudden flash of thought and a determined kicking motion, found her mark, knocking his leg out sideways. He yells out in pain as his dance partner tries desperately to hold up his weight, and, finding herself unable, settled for tripping over her dress and tumbling down on top of him.

Everything goes quiet except the music as everyone stares with gaping mouths at the atrocity Seiko has wrought, with five pairs of dancers fallen to the floor. The other students, pompous though they are, are simply too dumbfounded to point and laugh at the moment. And as they stare, the sound of Teru swearing and grabbing his leg can be just barely heard over the symphony.

Oh, and Yuuta's there too. Hope he doesn't feel any sense of panic about being the center of so much attention or anything.

[Elfbird]

An image flashes across Alia's mind - a doll with her face, the rest a pink slurry across the rocks it had been force-ejected into.
She unconsciously turns her back to the food table.

"Yes, I have a lot of twins. They all have the same personality as me. I don't know if they wear clothes or not until I'm replaced; then we wear the same clothes."

She's used to Kenzaki's random interrogations by now. She might even derive some amusement from giving unnecessarily candid answers, with the additional benefit of ending the interaction sooner.
...Sometimes.

[fibericon]

Having kept his eyes firmly shut, Yuuta didn't quite know how bad it was just yet. Sure, he bumped into people. There was swearing. He was on the ground. He was laying on fabric. It was a dress - he was sure of that. It wasn't Seiko's dress. That's a kick in the shoulder. Not Seiko's heel. The fabric is gone. Kick probably wasn't intentional - not nearly hard enough. Oh well, time to get up. No more moving around with your eyes closed. That seems to be one of your lesser ideas.

Oh no. No, no no no no no no no. Stop that. It's not my-! Wait, we've established this. I had forewarning even. Could have used some more details. Maybe I would have jammed a toothpick through my foot and said I was too injured to dance. No, I'm not strong enough to- damn it stop staring at me! Stop it! Wait, I'll pick Seiko up, be a gentleman.

Yes! That's a... thing people do. The descriptor escapes me. Well what about the other three girls you knocked over, Yuuta? And the boys? And the boy you injured? Aren't they not even worth a second thought? You're god damned right they're not! They're... it dawns upon me that people are still staring. Can none of these people find something better to do than... stare at a commotion I caused literally in the center of the room, illuminated by lights...?

Well, Yuuta, you've spent a good moment standing and looking around without doing anything. Oh, you must be so proud of yourself for using the word "moment" correctly, but you're wrong - it's only been seventy-three seconds, so ha! Seventy-three seconds is nothing! It's... yeah, now it's been a moment. A long, horrible moment. A sweaty one. Should I still offer Seiko my hand? My sweaty, weak hand? Yes, I should absolutely do this thing. I don't even know if that's sarcastic or not anymore. Whelp, here goes chivalry. Actually, funny story, chivalry doesn't have much to do with being nice to women- right, hand.

"Uh... sorry," he says meekly, possibly too quietly to be heard over the music, "Need help?"

[Volthawk]

Kenzaki pauses again, his mind working to make sense of Alia's statement, to figure out what that could possibly mean. The ongoing chaos on the dancefloor didn't take up any of his attention - sure, he was aware of it, but it didn't matter to him given the mysteries in front of him. "Okay...I don't think I understand. Same personality, replacement, saying we...you're not talking about anything natural, are you? They must be somehow unsuitable for piloting now, or the Academy would be using them too, but to replace you they would have to be able to synchronise effectively...particularly given your high ratio...anyway, Alia, could one of these twins be running around by themselves?" He turns around for a moment to think, facing the dancefloor but still paying no attention to it. He had a possible explanation in mind, but the implications were just too much for him to process right now. "Alia, where do you and your twins come from? Do you have other family?"

[Elfbird]

Alia... doesn't care overmuch about Kenzaki's ramblings. The commotion on the dance floor grabs her attention - some of the girls' skirts are in danger!

"Ask a doctor. I must go!"

Alia dashes to the dance floor and gives an exasperated shout to the flailing humans: "STOP MOVING!"

Heeded or not, she kneels down - careful of her own dress - and starts to gently untangle fabric from heels and extricate it where pinched under bodies. She doesn't care if she gets a few cuts and bruises in the process.
"Ugh, poor thing! We can sew you up, but it'll be hard to find matching thread..."
"I'm sorry you had to go through this on your first night out. Will you be okay...?"
"Oh, how could they! That body doesn't fit at all - you're about to burst at the seams! C'mon, let's get you off right away!"
(With that last one she begins undressing the ill-fitted student at once, without regard for protest.)

[Vrock_Summoner]

With all the commotion on the dance floor and the reverberating vibrations of the music, few notice the low rumbling in the floor, steadily increasing in intensity, until it grows very thunderous indeed.

"Earthquake...!?" Lira cries out, clinging to Kenichi's arm for stability. Many of the girls in heels who haven't already fallen over struggle to keep their balance.

"Everybody stay calm!" One of the security agents shouts. "Please just follow me out of the building in an orderly-"

The rumbling reaches its most thunderous and transitions into an explosive crack filling the room, as several sections of the floor shatter and begin to shift, huge drill bits poking out of them. As the oversized drills fully push out of the marble floor, sweeping aside the debris as they go, they reveal what they're attached to: large, pinkish-skinned humanoids with two rows of eyes going down their faces instead of any other facial features, with smooth, featureless bodies and massive fleshy drills for hands. As they emerge, some of their faces seem to split down the middle, opening up to reveal a mass of short, squirming tentacles that start feeling around in front of their faces, as well as large, teethed beaks.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/8-oCZ_JEgbM/maxresdefault.jpg

One of them bursts out directly under Alia, shredding and fraying the bottom of her dress. As she stumbles, its drills stop spinning and clutch onto Alia while it bites at her shoe with its beak, snapping the heel clean off. Alia is grappled!

Many students start screaming as the creatures appear from the floor throughout the room, at least a dozen total. The standard security and special agents at the edges of the room draw their guns and shout "prioritize the pilots!" as all goes to hell.

One drills up onto the stage directly in front of Haruka, and the on-stage bodyguards (clearly not half as prepared to handle this as the military security) pull out their batons reflexively. Haru, the two bodyguards, and the entity are Engaged.

Connie can be heard screaming "get it off me!" but nobody has time to care.

The rest of you have managed to fortunately avoid being the immediate first targets of the entities and are free to act normally. You are all Exposed.

(Open Initiative, as long as each of you acts once per round I don't particularly care what order it's in.)

Combat Start

[Elfbird]

Alia lets out a scream of surprise and frustration - just like that, her shoe snapped and her dress being shredded, for no crime but the misfortune to be with her that night.

"I won't... I won't let you..."

She falls limp, shaking with building rage.

"Do what you want to me, but LEAVE MY FRIENDS ALONE!"

The tension hits critical, and her legs launch into motion - curling up beside her and striking the sides of her shoes against the floor to loosen them, then kicking them as far away as she can. She'll otherwise try to keep her torso still, so as not to tear the drill-tangled dress further, putting her bare feet against the monster's eyes to deter it if it tries to crawl closer.

[Volthawk]

As the monsters emerge, Kenzaki's second thought is safety. His first is getting a look at the monsters and wondering about them - he'd never heard of ones like this, and they were definitely strange and interesting, but before long his brain switched to the immediate priority, survival. With the monsters between him and the exit, escape was unlikely so he just looked for a place near the agents to hide and hunker down while the adults with guns handled the the creatures.

Once there, he pulls out his phone and tries to get into contact with someone in authority. Even though security had likely already informed them, he felt like they should know about what he saw, and in any case making the call himself made him feel just a little less helpless in all this chaos.

[Syless]

Seiko looks around in concern at all the people staring at her catastrophe. Mission accomplished, but... she really kind of failed. She ignores Yuuta's invitation to help her up and just springs up herself... just in time to feel Alia's hand on her dress.

I don't- is she- what-

Seiko's brain freezes up, and before it can reboot to actually process this new information, the ground shakes and the beasts appear. Her brain shifts gears immediately into combat mode, slipping her hand to the holster on her upper thigh and removing the straight razor. Once the creature grabs Alia, her course of action is obvious- she lunges for the beast, intending to plunge her blade into its skull, only for one of Alia's shoes to hit her as they're flung from the feet of a goddess, causing her to stumble. The blade still finds its mark, though a bit less elegantly than Seiko would have hoped. But that's par for the course for the night. As she moves, she lets out a low growl.

"Let her go, wretch of a corpse!"

[Muja]

"Everyone! Make your way outside and let the security protect you"!

Haruka drops the mic from her hands, her orchestra collegues scrambling about as the sound of instruments clank againt the ground. Things have gone terribly wrong, the monsters abound just being the worst bit of it.

Knowing that she has no real way to confront the creatures, Haruka not being allowed to carry weapons on school grounds, the girl decided that taking her own advise would be the best option.

'Time to slip out,
Before things get worsr'

[fibericon]

Yuuta is probably the only person in the room smiling. As panic sets in and the room moves into proper chaos (as opposed to targeted chaos, localized around his person), the adrenaline obliterates his brain to mouth filter in a glorious, triumphant shout.

"Now this! This... is absolutely... not... my fault! Huh. Seiko just jumped one of them with a straight razor. I should help. But how are you going to help, Yuuta? You didn't complete combat training, remember? Well, I suppose the best way I can help is to get out of the way of people who know what they're doing. Oh, come on. You're all running. This is not how you evacuate. You can't even say you didn't know because we had fire drills. Well, I can only control my own behavior."

Yuuta crosses his arms to narrow his profile, then calmly meanders toward the closest exit, keeping his eyes open for any immediate threats to his person.

[Arayl]

Kenichi seeing the things burst up onto the dance floor after the earthquake turns his head to his dance partner and with his unimpeded arm points to one of the tables near the back of the room saying, "Let's get over there hopefully we'll be unnoticed by whatever those things are and from there we'll get out the doors" Once he said that he would guide her to the table he'd pointed out and from there to the doors.

[Vrock_Summoner]

The room fully erupts into chaos, as guns blaze and hand-drills whir to life to start messily dismembering students.

In the initial general carnage, around half a dozen students are subjected to drills or beaks, sending blood spattering through parts of the room. Most of the wounds are thus far nonfatal, though two students are entirely impaled on drills. They are definitely dead. Also, one student managed to get caught by a stray bullet from the military security's assault rifles. Shucks.

The military security had a much better time putting down the zombies than the zombies have putting down students due to their professional-grade assault rifles. Seven zombies are killed outright through being riddled with bullets, while four more are left with staggering with severe, gaping wounds, but alive. Notably, a couple of zombies that get hit seem to have the bullets bounce off them or do no damage - clearly these things are quite tough.

Speaking of which...

Seiko's knife digs into the zombie's flesh, but it feels like most of the force from the stab was shed penetrating some repelling force around the zombie, and the wound ended up being so shallow you doubt it caused any real damage. It did, however, get the creature's attention, and to the limited extent this being seems capable of feeling and expressing emotions, royally pissed it off. It swings its massive drill arm sideways at Seiko (using it like a cub rather than a piercing instrument) to try and get her to back off, but you manage to duck to the side of the lumbering, obvious strike with relative ease.

As one of its arms is occupied and no longer clinging to Alia, Teru sees an opportunity and throws himself up from the floor, attempting to snack Alia away from the monster through the gap in its grip. However, as he puts his weight down on his leg during the lunge, he cries out in pain and stumbles into the zombie's arm face-first before falling back to the floor.

As it glares at Seiko, a bullet catches it on the back of the head, though said bullet appears subjected to the same resistant force your stab was and leaves only a grazing wound. You see an S2 Agent holding the smoking gun and closing in on your location.

Alia is still, unfortunately, grappled.

As you and your companions sprint towards the backstage door, along with an S2 Agent here to assure your safety, another zombie lumbers out from the side, having just burst up from the floor back here. Though it moves slowly and predictably, the rest of your bandmates are unathletic, panicky, and erratic, and it manages to cut them off from the door, its drills revving up. You, however, thought a bit faster, seeing you wouldn't make it, and took off for the metal stairs a few meters over from the doorway, remembering that it leads up to a fire escape. As you hit the level the fire escape is on, you steal one last glance back, and see your bodyguards dodging around the zombie they were shielding you from and peppering it with baton blows. They didn't really seem to be doing anything to it, but it's the thought that counts. At this rate they might even survive to their next paycheck. Good for them.

You bolt out the fire escape door into fresh air and successfully Flee the combat. No extra zombies are waiting outside, miraculously. Or strangely, depending on how you look at it.

As your cell phone puts in the call to the Operations Director's personal line, you can't resist peeking out over your cover to observe the carnage. You manage to catch Connie attempting to break out of the grip of a zombie clinging to him, only to be slammed into the floor on the tip of a drill. You avert your eyes as the whir begins and try not to notice the screams. Really, this is a relief, all around. Having to turn him down for the dance would've been awkward.

Another zombie begins lumbering towards your cover, but two S2 Agents pelt it in the back with bullets, and it turns its attention towards them instead.

In a number of seconds you connect with the Operations Director, a woman named Larys Rose.

"What the hell is going on at the dance!? Are you and the other pilots safe!?" O.D. Rose urgently demands.

You and Lira have no trouble sprinting over to the table, where an S2 Agent covers you from the single zombie that had given chase to you, and you can effortlessly make it out the side emergency exit with her.

The two of you have successfully Fled the battle.

Despite the audacity of your confident stride towards the main door, you manage to position yourself well enough that the zombies always have a closer student to attack, and you successfully navigate without interference by a single zombie. How considerate of them not to ignore your careful planning. In fact, by the time you got there, the rather heavy doors had already been mostly pushed open by the other terrified students who had been closer to them in the first place. That would be extra considerate, if they weren't about to make actually walking through the doors difficult as they swarm out, shoving one another like rabid dogs. Truly, nobody understands proper procedure for an evacuation!

[Elfbird]

With the monster now thoroughly distracted, Alia takes the chance to reach back and drop the hidden zipper on her dress, slipping out the bottom once free. Still crouched low, she starts quickly-but-carefully threading the tattered dress off the drill. Ugh, bloodsplatter - it'll take forever to scrub those stains out tomorrow.

Alia's intention is still to minimize damage to the dress, but if the situation changes and it becomes a cut-off-the-finger-to-save-the-hand scenario, she'll just hug the dress and bolt, letting whatever's still stuck tear off.

[Volthawk]

Kenzaki was not prepared for this. Sure, his training had made him aware of the possibilities and risks, including the simple fact that Xibalbans kill people, but that was a little different from seeing it all unfold here. When one lurched towards him, he focuses on it, kind of grateful for some sort of distraction from the wider chaos, and as the guard's bullets hit it, he noticed something - they're not as effective as they should, and to him that suggests one thing, a WOL field. So they're radioactive as well as murderous. Not good.

Then he hears Rose respond, bringing his focus back to the situation. He responds, his voice clipped both to get the information across quickly and because he wasn't quite in the frame of mind to chatter on. "Zombie attack, sixteen creatures. Drilling adaptation, WOL field. Security's engaged, nine creatures left." When the question of the other pilots is raised, he has another look over at the chaos before continuing. "Alia and Seiko are in the middle of it, Yuuta's getting out, think the others already escaped." He pauses for a moment, catching his breath. "Saw another Alia, she disappeared then they came. Think it's relevant."

[fibericon]

You know you said all of that out loud, right? No, I'd never do that. Wait, I absolutely would. Hmm. Well, I'm sure the various sights and sounds made me seem rather small in the grand scheme of things. Now, what's all this? Are there monsters in the hallway? Are the doors monsters? No, of course not. That doesn't make any sense, but neither does their behavior. Escaping certain death should be a cause for celebration, not additional panic. Hm.

I bet if I time it just right, I can run through a gap in the door. Sure, they're just cramming in there at random, but I just have to monitor everyone approaching the door and mentally plot their vectors. Easy.

Ow. Ow. Stop it. Stop. That did not work. Now I feel shoes. Open your eyes, Yuuta. Yes, definitely shoes. I'm being trampled. Whelp. Let's see if I can't get up and just shuffle through like a normal person.

[Vrock_Summoner]

Yuuta eventually manages to push his way through, but the trampling incident and bruising from being shoved causes him one Fatigue as he escapes. Yuuta has successfully Fled.

"Another Alia...?" O.D. Rose goes silent for a moment before starting to speak again. "Understood. I'll want all the details on that when you're safely here. Our cameras show the outside of the building is clear, so stay close to the Section 2 agents or hidden until you have an open chance to get out. Meet up with the other pilots out there if you can, we'll send a car by for you. Don't try to play hero." Without waiting for a response, Rose hangs up the phone.

[Syless]

Seiko's look of frustration over her failed attack is replaced by a wicked grin as Teru fails his attempt at heroics- she won, without a doubt. But she couldn't have time to dwell on her victory, Alia was still in danger.

Wait- was she- she is- what-

Seiko's brain freezes up again as she sees Alia trying to slip out of her dress, but she manages to regain just enough composure to lunge in with her razor, cutting with a bit more force, hoping it could overwhelm the creature's defenses.

I'm fairly confident this is all a dream, but it's going to end the way I say it does!

[Vrock_Summoner]

As Seiko is bombarded with emotions leading up to her second strike - wicked glee, lust, bloodlust, rage, desire for victory - she feels her whole body almost vibrating, as she charges back in, razor prepped.

The cutting edge of the razor seems to almost shimmer a bit as it contacts with an invisible barrier just above the zombie's head. With a small spark of light, the knife seems to slip through... and, before the knife even makes contact, the creature's skin splits where the strike is aimed, practically unzipping to reveal what appears to be a sheet of leather or some material of similar thickness which the knife drives into. The leather begins oozing putrid black fluid like oil as Seiko's razor carves into it. The wound seems shallow, but as she digs further in with her knife, the creature's arm seems to slough off.

The creature raises its other arm (the one Alia's dress is attached to) and it begins spinning in preparation to stab Seiko, but it is interrupted by several bullets from the S2 Agent, one of which pierces through the back of its head and bursts out the leathery area in the front of its head, causing a spurt of the oily substance to splash directly onto Seiko before the entire inside of its head seems to dissolve, leaving its head to concave, before the creature slumps over, motionless.

Alia, fortunately, manages to pull off the dress before the drill starts spinning, and while it's left rather in tatters and unwearable, it's not in such a poor condition that it couldn't be repaired.

The S2 agent runs over to the group. "Pilots secured," he says into his comms device. "Prepare a change of clothes for Ms. Res." He lowers his hand from his ear and looks around at all of you. "Let's get you all outside. Is anyone injured?"

The zombies return to attempting their carnage, but only manage to kill one students and injure one more.

The rest of the soldiers succeed in putting down the stray zombies, though unfortunately seven students have succumbed to fatal stray bullets and several others are injured.

With the general wave of zombies dealt with and the pilots' positions secured, the soldiers move onto the zombies who had been targeting the pilots.

The bodyguards hold their own until the zombie they're fighting is riddled with bullets as well. Good job, team.

The soldiers storm into the backstage area, seeing a bloodbath when they get there, as the zombie has drilled through three of the bandmates, leaving only one alive. He's left crying in a fetal position on the floor as the zombie is gunned down.

With the area rendered safe for the time being, the soldiers take to escorting the rest of the student body and calling in paramedics to help the injured, while the S2 Agents work on rounding up the pilots.

Everybody take 1d6 Stress from this experience. Seiko, additionally take 1d6 Ego.

[Volthawk]

Kenzaki watches from his cover as the fighting continues, then dies down. He watches Seiko's kill with particular interest, consigning the details to memory - that was definitely important.

When the fighting ends and the agent calls out, he gets up and walks over to Seiko, Alia and the dead creature. While his reason for walking over was to have a look at the creature, he can't help but notice Alia's clothing situation as he draws closer, causing him to stop and state for a second before getting a hold of himself and looking away. "Alia, can you move away from the creature? I want to have a look at it."

Providing she does so, he kneels down next to it and has a look. Noticing the black substance, he thinks about collecting some before realising that he has no equipment, it's all over the floor and in any case Seiko's covered in it. No need to get any. His main attention is devoted is to the empty head - whatever that sheet was, it seemed like a weak point - but he also looks over the whole creature, trying to take in any details he might be asked about later (both by the Academy's people or END when they inevitably turn up asking questions).

When he's done, he looks over to the agent. "What's next? Rose mentioned a car."

[Vrock_Summoner]

Teru sits up and looks around the room, at all the injured and dead students. As the adrenaline starts to die down, his face shadows over, and his eyes go glassy. He stares off into space until a soldier comes by to help - or really, more drag - him away.

The S2 Agent watches, and then turns to Kenzaki. His professionalism gives way for a brief moment as he asks, "How are you so-" He stops, thinking better of it. "Right. I'll escort the three of you to the limousine outside. It should be getting the other three pilots and the H.A.'s daughter right now." He offers Alia and Seiko helping hands, and starts bringing them along if they comply.

[Elfbird]

With the action settled, Alia folds up her dress's remains and clutches them across her stomach, then goes to find where her shoes might have flown off to. She's a little shaken - the carnage was terrible - but derives great comfort from the fact that she saved her dress's and shoes' lives today.

She... tries not to think about all the furniture and decorations that might have been shot, or will be thrown out instead of cleaned. That would be too horrible to bear, so her mind simply refuses to process the notion right now.

She'll quietly fall in beside Seiko when the agent bids them follow him to the limo. She leans over to address Seiko's switchblade on her hip while they walk.
"...Thank you, for saving us. You were very brave, taking on that Xibalban all on your own. Are you hurt? Did that resonance do anything strange to you? Let me know if you need anything, okay?"

[fibericon]

Today has gone horribly. First, there was a dance. Then, I had to actually show up. Then, a girl asked me to dance. Actually, she had to ask you to dance, because you were supposed to ask her and didn't. Oh, and she wasn't just "a girl", was she, Yuuta? No, she was a pilot! I sure hope Seiko survived. Don't worry about that, Yuuta. She definitely survived. And she's going to kick your ass for knocking her over. She's going to cut your pretty little face with that straight razor, and I bet she won't even wash it first.

Wait, you think I'm pretty? Focus, Yuuta. Angry Seiko. Skilled fighter. Dirty razor. She wouldn't do that. She's intense, not insane. How sure are you of that? 90%? Is a 10% chance of permanent disfigurement acceptable to you, Yuuta?

Sweaty. Sweaty, sweaty, sweaty. I can't even hear the noise anymore. Just my own internal dialog. Pins and needles. Sweaty. This is going to dry, and it's going to be sticky. And then Seiko's going to cut me. This is the worst. I hate this tuxedo. I hate this hallway. My body hurts. I just want to sit somewhere by myself. I was having fun until someone interacted with me. It's not her fault. She didn't know better. Interacting with me always ends poorly. Ask me to dance and zombies attack. Whelp. Live and learn.

[Syless]

Die- burn- suffer- kill-

The words rage in Seiko's head as she feels her blade cut through the creature's barrier and flesh in turn, a wicked grin as she watches the creature respond- with only the slightest bit of annoyance when it's immediately gunned down. Even if it wasn't -her- kill, she got in her vengeance, and Alia was safe. And half-naked. Seiko needed to process that.

It was rather distracting- she felt the strange goo on her skin, but it seemed rather low-priority at the time, despite her rational brain knowing it's likely dangerous. Somewhat mindlessly, Seiko wipes the goo off her razor and slips it back into her thigh-sheath- just in time to watch Alia lean in and start talking to her thigh. Was she bowing? To Seiko? No no no, that's all wrong, you bow to a goddess, she doesn't bow to you. But... words of praise? Truly? Dream or not, this was the best day of Seiko's life. The combination of adrenaline and endorphins gave her a feeling she hadn't had in years, and she reveled in the moment. Trying her very best not to blush, she nods lightly at Alia. "I'm fine... are you okay? I mean... your dress... and you're..." Her following the security officer almost drove Seiko back into a fury- they were trying to end her moment!

At least...

At least the boy had suffered.

[Vrock_Summoner]

After a few minutes of searching on the part of the Section 2 agents, all the pilots (and Lira) are eventually brought together and seated in the back of a limousine together. Two S2 agents sit in the front while the rest of the seats are available to all of you. Upon closer inspection, this appears to be a requisitioned party limo. Most of the festive things have been removed, but there are a couple of bottles of cider and glasses. There are also enough changes of clothes (plain white tee shirts and jeans) for all of you, though the agents don't pressure anyone to change if they're uncomfortable doing so around the others. In fact, the agents don't acknowledge any of you, unless addressed first.

Lira sits next to Kenichi and grips onto his arm for most of the trip without speaking, unless he actively rebuffs her doing so.

Once the car reaches the HQ platform escalators, it will begin to descend towards the level of the NDA command center, deep underground.

Though the driving portion is fairly short, the descent is a substantially longer process. The limo gives you plenty of room to stretch your legs, but certainly isn't tall enough to stand in, and you're not allowed out while the conveyer is moving. At least there's air conditioning.

The whole deal from the end of the battle to the car being deposited at the NDA's command center level is going to take about two and a half hours. Talk until you're satisfied to timeskip. Note that, around the one hour mark, Alia will begin to feel incredibly nauseous, with Seiko feeling slightly less (but still intensely) nauseous within the next hour or so of that. Either or both of them may end up vomiting.

[Syless]

Taking a seat and looking at Alia, hoping she'll sit next to her, Seiko waits for the car to be in motion, before realizing that she was likely close to a dangerous level of radiation. She reluctantly eyes the set of fresh clothes, but takes the one in her size. She sends a sweeping glare throughout the car to everyone but Alia.

Look away or suffer.

She hopes they get the message from the glare, but if not... there's always more room on the list. Whether or not people look away, she rapidly changes, and only very reluctantly removes her razor and sheath, setting them very delicately on top of her randomly-tossed dress.

[Arayl]

Turning to the girl clinging to him Kenichi says, "Are you doing okay?" Catching Seiko's glare out the corner of his eye Kenichi takes the hint and turns his head so that he can only see outside the limo they are currently in and avoid the girl's wrath should she think he is looking.

[Elfbird]

Before climbing into the limo, Alia - in consideration of her training in post-radiation exposure protocol - removes her remaining irradiated clothing and hands it, folded with her dress, to Kenichi. "Kenichi, could you please have this sent to be decontaminated and returned to my room? I-I'm not sure where to put it for that..."

She's really not aware of the fact that she's, uh, exposed - this is how she always is, just without the decorative cloth she'd been trained to wear. Nobody seems to notice when a table is without a tablecloth.

She takes the seat between Kenichi and Kenzaki, petting the headrest a couple times before sitting. She then starts working the synthetic flowers out of her braided hair, since they'll need decontaminating too (it would have taken too long to do outside). She'll put on fresh clothes if ordered, but otherwise makes a point of staying away from them - the better to keep them clean when she inevitably starts vomiting sooner or later.

"I'm sorry, everyone. I should have told you sooner: I took a heavy dose of radiation just a bit ago, so I'll probably start vomiting soon. I'll do my best to keep it contained; please forgive me if any gets on you. The... drink cooler, maybe, could you help me when it starts? I appreciate it."
(She is, of course, talking to the upholstery et al. - an easy mistake to make, should any humans who might be around think the words addressed to them.)

[Vrock_Summoner]

Lira seems ready to impulsively snap at Kenichi, but stops herself, just looking sad. "I... will be. After a fashion. Thank you." She hears Alia's announcement, and, thinking she had meant she wanted help with the drink cooler, nods, opens it, and takes the cider out so it's an empty area to vomit into, then slides it over to Alia. She then sets one of the cider bottles down and tries to open the other one, but her hands are shaking too much and she gives up.

[fibericon]

Oh, lovely. An escort. Just for me? Ah, they've led me to the other pilots. I always knew the other students didn't really matter - that much has been obvious from the start. The non-pilots were only at the academy to offer some sense of normalcy. Thanks, but no thanks. No offense, but it's hard enough to relate to people I actually have something in common with.

A limo? Come on. Did you all have a contest going to see what the least effective vehicle you could use in an emergency situation is? Of course, speaking up never works. Failed one out of one times - that's 100% failure rate! "Don't tell me how to do my job." One is a really small sample size, Yuuta. That's not very scientific. Oh, here we go again. It's called a case study.

Alia shed her dress to flee more efficiently. Smart. That's actually a solid plan - formal clothing is terrible for physical activity. Wait, what? No. Ngh. There is no conceivable reality in which- oh, radiation poisoning. Smart to shed anything that might contain additional radiation. Alia's okay. She's good people. Yep. I'll just make eye contact so she knows I'm not staring at her body. Oh no. This is so much worse. I think I'm about to pass out. I'll just turn to Seiko and apologize before she-

Ah! That look. That look... oh no. Here comes the blade. I'm just going to tuck my head between my legs. Maybe she'll get bored of cutting up my arms and leave me alone. Hey, maybe she'll see my arms are bruised up and think I suffered enough? Ha ha! Ha... ha...

[Volthawk]

Kenzaki is already talking as he enters the limo and takes his seat. "Hey Seiko, how exactly did you-" He stops as he realises what realises what Seiko's doing, and his reaction is much the same as with Alia - a few moments of helpless staring before getting a hold of himself and looking away. However, he chooses to look over towards Kenichi and Lira, and of course Alia chooses to sit down there, even more undressed than before. He can't help but look.

Kenzaki ends up just looking at the ceiling, although he's unable to stop a grin forming and occasionally tries to sneak a glance back over to either of the girls. Even if it's awkward, he's not complaining about what he just saw - it is making thinking about the enemy difficult, but it also distracts him from thinking about the other aspects of what happened, the stuff he doesn't want to remember. The thought of consequences from Seiko hasn't quite made it into his mind, though.

[Muja]

As the S2 escort that found finally brought her to her escape point Haruka was not very surprised to see that all of her fellow pilots had survived, some more well off then others. Without a word the girl entered into the limo after the others.

The limo was rather nice, considering it was likely intended for a lower class afterparty. The seats were comfortable, and having something to drink after the ordeal was a pleasant surprise. It did irritate her that it was cider, though, and not champagne. C'est la vie, whatever is there to cut the edge off.

It is always irritating dealing with her co-workers, as much as they could be considered working. Half of them were fake people, barwly able to comprehend the goings about of social interaction. The girl that just threatened Haruka, and also the others, was likely the most interesting of the bunch. Crazy as a coconut, but still better then Bland #1 and #2. Turning her gaze away from the undressing students, she was not so unkempt as to ogle, Haruka peered over to the boy Kenzaki. A fairly normal student, polite and well meaning. If it wasnt for this monster business he might make a good harem protagonist. Not with her, of course, but maybe a frw of her bandmates are interested. If any survived, huh.

Daintily sipping her newly acquired cider glass, Haruka creased down hwr mostly unblemished dress. No direct contact with those monsters amd a speedy escape meant all she needed now was a shower and some quiet. A mourning event would innevitably follow cleanup, and she was almost certainly expected to attend. Times were hard for the poor girl.

[Syless]

Partial success.

Yuuta seemed to at least be -trying- not to look, Haru and Kenichi didn't, but Kenzaki... well, an opportunity will come up sooner or later. If she felt like being less subtle she'd just throw her dress at him, let him share in the radiation...

A wave of nausea hits Seiko.

Radiation poisoning, at that. Fun.

Seiko scans the other passengers in the limo, her gaze first lingering on Kenzaki as a glare, then staring a bit long at Alia and her perfection. She still wasn't worthy of this. Shaking her gaze loose, she stares at the floor of the limo. "So. Why didn't the rest of you fight?"

[Arayl]

"I had to make sure my partner was safe and what would I have used to fight with?" Kenichi says in response to Seiko's question and assuming that she had finished doing whatever she didn't want everyone to see turned his away from the window once more. "The guards were having trouble with those things and they're highly trained so what could we have done except hinder their efforts?"

[Muja]

"I had to make sure my band classmates could escape. The guards did their duty, but not everyone survived", Haruka leaned back into the seat, finishing the last of her drink before placing the glass onto the stand.

"The Agency really needs to let us carry weapons. No human is dumb enough to harm us, but those corpses didnt seem to get the memo".

[Volthawk]

Kenzaki shrugs, looking directly at Seiko now she's clothed. No repercussions yet, maybe it'll be okay. "Yeah, no actual weapons, no personal combat training and so on. Found it better to keep safe, call the OD and tell her my pertinent observations. She also told me to stay out of the fight, so I did."

[Vrock_Summoner]

"Protecting people isn't my job," Lira mutters. "That's for the soldiers. My dad would be distraught if I died, and that would compromise the security of the facility, and there were practically two dozen soldiers there, so it makes sense that..." she trails off, looking puzzled, as if she just realized something.

[Elfbird]

Finally the flowers and Alia's hair come free of their braiding, the strand of synthetic petals falling into her lap. Alia slumps into her seat, head and shoulders sinking - adrenaline recedes and her mind gradually begins processing what it had previously rejected. The nausea rising inside her might not be just from radiation poisoning.

The conversation in the limo is, as usual, irrelevant to her.

. . .

The first wave of vomit hits Alia at the same moment the limo hits a rather substantial bump. Rising to move to the drink cooler, she's instead thrown sideways across Kenichi's lap, spewing blood and bile all over Lira beside him. Alia blacks out; whatever happens next is out of her hands and mind.

[Volthawk]

As Alia vomits and blacks out, Kenzaki moves to help, maneuvering her into the proper position to ensure her airway stays clear and she won't die from choking at least (he can't do anything about the radiation, though). For the time it takes to do this, he's even able to put her clothing situation to one side in his mind, focusing on remembering the right things to do.

Of course, when he's done, the clothing situation's all he can think about. He looks around at the other pilots before his gaze meets Seiko's. "Can you, um, sort out her clothes? She's in position so she won't choke or anything while she's out, but, well, she should probably be clothed by the time we get there."

[Muja]

"Well then, down goes the annemic" Haruka says with a soft titter. It was kind of the girl to avoid throwing up on her person, though the blood was unpleasant to the eyes. Haru has had enough of that in the plug system already.

Looking over to Lira, Haru couldn't help but to cringe. Sorting through her possessions the girl produced a small portion of cloth. Taking it and pushing it into Lira's view, she did her best to console her with a smile.

"Here. New clothes wont help with the hair. After we get to homebase I can lend you my bath, if you need it"

[fibericon]

Seiko's being nice again. She's looking at the floor with me. This is unexpected. Why should it be unexpected for other pilots to be nice to you, Yuuta? Statistical analysis of human behavioral patterns. But these aren't just humans, these are pilots. Your statistics lump them together with everyone else. This is a threat to external validity. Consider aptitude-treatment interaction. Now, pay attention. She's talking.

Getting out of the way was more efficient.

Is that it? Yes. You should say that. I'm aware. It's not going to happen, but I'm aware that I should. She's going to expect an answer from you. If she doesn't get one, she'll poke you and ask again, this time louder. Just get it over with, quickly.

"Getting out of the way was more efficient."

Good job. Too bad it has literally none of the mental context when spoken. Wait, what? Yeah, you came to that conclusion after reviewing the situation and your own abilities, but didn't bother to mention any of that. But hey, you said something, Yuuta! Something completely useless that's going to make you sound like an ass, but something, nonetheless!

Sounds like Alia's in trouble. Kenzaki sounds like he's taking care of it, though. Better not get in the way. What do you know about radiation poisoning, anyway? Igor Kostin had some thoughts on the matter, but one, that was in 1986, when technology was about two skips away from sharpened sticks, and two, the Chernobyl problem was solved by repeatedly sending people to their deaths. It was shockingly efficient, but not really relevant to the current situation.

[Syless]

Seiko's panic goes up another notch as Alia vomits and collapses.

no no no this is not good

The only thing that makes it worse is when that filthy Kenzaki puts his -hands- on her. On Alia. On the goddess. He's going to pay. Dearly- wait, did he tell you to -dress- her? To touch her? This was not... hm. I mean... she had permission... if anything happened it would be his fault, so it's win-win...

She nods- words are a bit beyond her at this point- and picks out the outfit in Alia's size. Of course she knows it and has it memorized. Not hard to learn. She trembles as she reaches over to Alia and starts dressing her- maybe a bit slower than would be socially acceptable, if anyone pays close attention, just for the chance to feel her skin, to take in her scent- god, even like this she smells divine, to bask in her very aura... this day kept getting better, didn't it?

[Volthawk]

Once again, Kenzaki couldn't help but look. It was a little weird and uncomfortable (was Seiko smelling Alia there?) and the potential threat from Seiko still hung over him (sitting in his mind right next to seeing her changing, an odd mix) but he couldn't quite tear his eyes away until Seiko was nearly finished. At this point he looked away, hoping she was too busy to have noticed his attention, and turned his attention to the others, hoping to find something else to focus on than those two.

[Vrock_Summoner]

Lira's face went pale white as her beautiful dress - tailored directly for this dance by her own hand - was totally soiled, along with the blood and stomach acid getting on her face and in her hair.

She looks like she's going to vomit too for a few moments, then her expression turns to a furious scowl. "You little...! I spent a week making this! I'll-" she stops, finally noticing that Alia isn't just hunched over from nausea, but entirely blacked out. She seems horrified, almost on the brink of a breakdown, as she slowly unsticks her dress from her skin.

Her demeanor is quickly broken by Haru's advance. She wipes her face with the cloth appreciatively and tries to get what gunk she can off her hair before deeming it, indeed, a pointless venture. During her attempt, she mostly keeps her eyes on Haru, a small blush starting to form. "I... Yes, it'd be really helpful... I'm probably not going to be able to wash this out by myself..." She doesn't smile, but it seems the edge has been taken off the immediate distress.

The agent in the passenger side started watching the lot of you intently when Alia puked, but seems to have resolved that Kenzaki took care of all the immediate medical concerns and turns back. She puts a hand to her earpiece and says in a calm, almost bored tone, "Have a medical team waiting, one pilot is unconscious and just vomited blood." Brief pause. "Ms. Res, sir. Yessir." Then she turns back to what she'd been doing before, tapping away at her phone's screen.

[Vrock_Summoner]

As the car descends diagonally towards the command center on the platform, it passes through twenty distinct heavy steel barriers which each need to be key-carded open by the agents. It's an agonizingly slow process, accounting for the overly long nature of the descent. Some of you probably wish they'd go into emergency mode so the pilot shaft could've been utilized - the descent would've taken all of fifteen minutes in that case. But the NDA apparently didn't consider the zombie attack an urgent risk, so you got the two hour version. What a pain.

As you pass by each barrier, tunnels open out sideways from the path you're on, to deposit vehicles (and their passengers) on each of the floors you pass. Your group takes none of these tunnels, of course, as it's headed towards the center level of the underground complex - the simply-named Command Center.

The platform deposits you all in a brightly lit parking garage. The agents exit the car and beckon you all to exit, with the male agent who had been driving rousing Alia and carrying her piggyback. If Seiko glares or complains, the agent doesn't give it the time of day; he has a job to do.

The other agent sighs and puts away her phone before speaking. "Pilots and Ms. Rae, please follow me. Operations Director Rose will need a debriefing."

She leads the way out of the parking garage area onto a small bridge with an escalator next to it, one each leading to the two floor tiers of the Command Center. All the walls, floors, and surfaces of the room are constructed of black metal with a high sheen. The room is well and evenly lit, making it hard to miss a detail.

On the highest level, there's very little to see - it's mostly just nice tables that the NDA Operations Director and CRISIS generals sit around to oversee everything on the lower tiers. They're currently arguing amongst themselves.

The level directly below that is the main bridge, where technicians and the main bridge personnel are currently deliberating as they appear to be running intensive calculations and looking at some kind of live feed on state-of-the-art computer monitors.

The levels descending down from there are full of scientists, engineers, laborers, and military personnel rushing around and in and out doors leading to other parts of the complex. The lower levels and associated areas are a bit of a maze, but you know you can find your way to the Scythe pens and O.S. IRIS mainframe room from here, at least.

Dominating the main wall of the room (where everybody faces if they look out towards lower levels) is a large screen currently projecting map data and live feeds. You know this is the "main screen" intended for tracking what's happening during Xibalban battles, but you've never seen it that in action before.

Where things are usually pretty calm when you come here (such as during Scythe activation and synchronization tests) the whole complex currently appears to be in a tizzy, with a lot more personnel and a lot more activity than any of you are used to seeing. There's clearly something major going on, but judging by the feeds, the zombie situation doesn't appear to be the cause of the ruckus - the cameras are all inspecting different areas of forest and other wilderness from a high vantage point.

As you enter second-highest tier from the bridge, the female agent beckons to a waiting medical team, who start walking over with a pre-prepped stretcher. The agent starts to set Alia down onto the stretcher, looking relieved. "Take good care of her," he says, betraying concern in his tone.

"Belay that," a low, gruff woman's voice calls down from upstairs. You all look up to see Operations Director Larys Rose.

Rose is a very muscular, dark-skinned woman in her mid-twenties. She's got sharp facial features, a black crew cut, and is wearing a grey military jacket and suit pants.

"Ma'am?" The agent responds. "With all respect, Ms. Res is in critical condition. She's barely conscious and-"

"Ignore it. That pilot's condition is irrelevant. Bring her up here with the other pilots. The H.A.'s daughter can go with the medical team for a checkup."

Both the agent and medical team seem incredulous, but after a few moments, he submits, trying to help Alia to her feet and carrying her again if she can't walk. The female agent shrugs and beckons the rest of you along to the level Rose is on. The medical team guides Lira away despite her protests that she wants to see her father.

When you make it there, she turns to look at you all. "Welcome. It's been a while since all of you have been gathered together." She sits down in her chair and takes a sip of iced tea out of a glass next to her. "It's a relief you were all safely retrieved from the dance. Now." She looks at each of you pointedly in turn. "Please report on your experiences during the attack and your current physical and mental condition. Are you all well enough to pilot today if the need arises?"

[Elfbird]

Alia regained consciousness during the piggy-back ride, as marked by a spate of soft groans and mumbles. All in all, her condition seems to improve slightly by the time they reach the command center - she only threw up a little for the medical team! (Or was that because her stomach was empty...?)

Once set down, she's able to stagger into a seat. She holds herself upright at attention, arms resting heavily on the table, despite her body's uncontrollable shivering.
"Thanks for your support. Please help me stay like this for just a bit. I'll try not to vomit on you too," she mumbles to the table and chair.
"...I want to see Sakuya..."

[Arayl]

"I didn't get a good look at the creatures that burst through the dance floor as I was escorting Miss Lira to safety, but Alia was at the epicentre of the attack so she may have better information for you Director as soon as she recovers from her fatigue" Kenichi says in answer to O.D. Rose's questions. "As for myself I am unharmed and should be able to pilot as the need arises"

[Syless]

As they walk into the base, Seiko keeps her eyes focused on Alia as she's being carried in. Seiko smiles for the first time that night as she sees Alia stir- an indication she's at least somewhat alright. She's always impressed with the base- she has no idea how it operates, but it's an efficient tool, run by efficient tools. As she's brought before Rose, she offers a formal salute- as warrants a superior. "I'm-" Seiko stumbles momentarily, a wave of nausea washing over her. She shakes her head. "I'm fine. Briefly engaged one of the creatures, the one restraining A- Ms. Res, and successfully disarmed it with my emergency weapon. I'm ready to fight as much as y-" The nausea is too much, and Seiko lets loose the contents of her stomach on the floor in front of her.

[Vrock_Summoner]

Rose's eyes widen and she instinctively jumps out of her seat to supportingly grip Seiko's arm in case the nausea causes her legs to give out, stepping in some of the vomit in the process.

"Jesus, you got radiation poisoning too?" She asks worriedly. "Take a seat, Akagi. Agent, bring her some warm water for her to sip on." She gently helps Seiko into a chair while the CRISIS generals look over disdainfully at the puke Rose is standing in. "Take it easy. I'll have the medical examiners check you for combat wellness after the debriefing. You rest until then. That's an order, soldier."

She steps back and sits back down in her own chair, kicking off her sullied shoes and resuming her 'business' face. "That's unfortunate. But in the meantime, let's continue." She looks over to Alia, narrowing her eyes a bit. "And who gave you permission to sit? You look like you're about to fall asleep."

[Elfbird]

Alia reflexively stands, rising perhaps a little slower than she normally could. However, a spasm shortly sends her leaning over the table, wracked with dry heaves.

When they pass, she goes to stand by Kenichi, shoulder brushing his arm so she can quickly lean on him for support if she needs it again.

[fibericon]

Yuuta was blissfully ignored for most of the trip. He believes so, anyway. During the two hour descent, he experienced something that could have almost been mistaken for a nap if he'd wanted it. He passed out momentarily, and woke up feeling significantly worse. Dry throat and headache now, probably because he had his mouth open while unconscious. Lovely. Well, at least there was spoiled apple juice to quench his thirst.

And here come the military suits. These are the worst kinds of people. They used to be useful, but then they decided to stop being useful and be suit fillers instead. Yes, stop helping people and fighting the monsters. It's so much more important that you sign that thirty-seventh form in triplicate and prance about in the medals you earned when you used to be worth something.

This one, they must recognize as their deity. She hits all the notes. Yes, no time for medical, but time for a two hour descent, right? Is it because you don't communicate? Well, that makes it even worse! All you bureaucrats do is talk! You care about your rules and regulations right up to the point where they would be good for something, and then poof! They're all gone! Quick, hire another eight hundred people to stamp these forms and hold clipboards and pretend to be busy! Can't let the world know how well and truly worthless we all are if we want to keep our jobs!

So much false urgency, and yet there's time for small talk. It's dressed up as something else though, right? You ask a question as a buffer zone for someone else to speak before you launch into a monologue. Rah rah, patriots! Do this for your country! Pathetic. Hide in your bunker and send a real soldier out.

You should say all that, Yuuta. She can't do anything to you anyway - you're a pilot. Oh, but she can do something. She can extend this conversation. She can drag it on and on. I'm willing to bet she can talk all night and not get a single idea across. That's her job, and guessing by the cut of her suit, she's good at it.

Oh no. Seiko's sick now. Look, the suit filler is pretending to care. How sweet. How sickly saccharine indeed. Alia is dying, you ass. I bet this woman doesn't even know. It's not her job to know or do things - it's to talk and feign usefulness. Be efficient, Yuuta. It's what you're good for. Be efficient and we can all leave. No, you're asking me to talk. To talk to a suit filler. Seiko's in trouble, Yuuta. A glass of water doesn't cure radiation poisoning. Ngh. Sweaty. Pins and needles. You're hyperventilating. I'm planning my next move.

Yuuta repeatedly balls up his hands in fists and releases them, wiggling his fingers nervously while he does. Head down, he steps between Seiko and the superior officer. His voice is strained. It sounds almost painful for him to talk.

"Just say what you want."

[Syless]

Seiko shakes her head. "I'm fine, I'll st-" Her legs do indeed give out, and Rose's grip is the only thing that keeps her from falling over. She mutters out a small thank you, grateful for the attention, only for everything to be thrown into disarray as she hears the cold words directed at Alia.

How dare she. If anyone deserves this, especially after tonight, it's -her-. I'm fine. I'm fine. I fought. I'm fine. Help her.

Despite her internal insistence, Seiko was not fine, and didn't have the energy to do more than dig her nails into the chair, gritting her teeth at her weakness. One day they'll all see Alia's perfection, and treat her with the respect they should, as a goddess- with Seiko as the high priestess.

Wait, she's- he's-

She was leaning for support on that other boy. Kenichi? Her roommate. All the more reason for him to be removed from play. -She- should be the one to support Alia when she's weak. Not him. No one else. Too many conflicting directions. Too many threats.

Did he just- is he-

Yuuta stood between her and Rose? And spoke? He even seems -annoyed- with her... is he angry at her treatment of Alia? Does he notice her radiance? He doesn't seem to be a threat, but if he sees that light, and proves to be pliable... oh yes, he could be useful.

[Vrock_Summoner]

Rose, upon hearing Yuuta speak, averts her eyes to stare at Kenzaki for several moments, then looks back at Yuuta and nods. "It seems everyone else is in acceptable condition, and perhaps this isn't the appropriate time for a full debriefing from your side anyway. I'll get you caught up on this end, since that's more immediately relevant." The generals grumble and whisper about her letting Yuuta off for talking back, but Rose ignored them and turns to point at the screens.

"See the feed? The zombie attack provided some very useful data we're now capitalizing on. You see, the main goal of both the zombies and Xibalbans, followed closely by causing indiscriminate death, is to breach the center of this underground complex, where we are now.

"So when they hit from underneath the dance, we assumed they had likely been diverted from their main objective. We checked, and indeed found evidence of an attempted breach through the outermost armor layer of the facility. Since the zombies couldn't drill through, they were diverted upwards. Meaning we were able to calculate their angle of approach towards the armor barrier, and thus the rough direction they came from. The upshot is, their trajectory suggests they came from a relatively shallow depth underground, meaning their source likely isn't too deep to track if we focus our search.

"So as you see, we have video surveillance and seismographic scanners sweeping over the predicted area in a cone extending outwards. To conclude, if the zombies are being rallied by a Xibalban, we'll most likely be able to take offensive action against it soon. That's where you all come in.

"If we successfully sniff out its location, we'll deploy you in the Scythes with Mobile Support Platforms, flush it out of the ground with depth charges, and you guys will engage and destroy it. Any questions?" Rose finishes.

[Volthawk]

Kenzaki took a moment to respond, his attention taken up by the feeds, as another way of getting his head back into practical analysis rather than staying on what happened in the limo. "I'm fine. The only further observation that might be immediately relevant is that Seiko exposed a sheet in the head of one of the zombies, like the tomes of the Xibalbans. Destruction of that killed the zombie slightly differently to just normal bullets. I don't know if it'll mean anything but it might." He left the rest unsaid, most of it was already described in the call, and Rose would've pressed him on the other Alia if she wanted it discussed in front of everyone.

When Rose tells them their theory on the attack and the plan, he lets out a sigh of relief. "It was a coincidence we were there at their point of entry? I was worrying it wasn't, that they were targeting us, that's a relief. As for the plan...I don't have a problem with that, it makes sense. No questions right now." He pauses. He's not quite sure what he thinks about the prospect of actually fighting in a Scythe, quite a mixture of feelings and hopes and fears there, but he doesn't raise any of his thoughts on the topic. "I'm ready to pilot whenever needed, yes."

[fibericon]

If you want us to fight in the scythes, we need to start preparing right now. Say it, Yuuta! It takes hours and you know it! Everyone knows it. There's no point in stating the obvious. Stop pretending anything on those screens is useful. It's almost useful. Almost? Yes, they're hiding something. They're intentionally not showing us the missing piece of the puzzle. That's a terrible analogy. If there was only one piece missing, you could still see what the picture was. No one said I was talking about a jigsaw puzzle.

Your lips are moving, but you're not saying anything. I'm mouthing the information on screen to myself to remember it for later. It might come up. It won't come up. It's rubbish and you know it. Not rubbish, just incomplete. Maybe they don't even know what the missing piece is. Maybe they don't even know there is a missing piece. Wishful thinking. Assuming they're anything but malicious and lazy is dangerous.

Jane West was adorably naive, was she not? "Let us not attribute to malice and cruelty what may be referred to less criminal motives. Do we not often afflict others undesignedly, and, from mere carelessness, neglect to relieve distress?" No, Mrs. West, we do not. Am I to believe a room full of military strategists is so blissfully ignorant that not one of them notices their information is useless? This is why you're dead, Mrs. West. She's dead because she was born in the 18th century, and she still lived nearly one hundred years, which is absolutely amazing given the times. She did just fine for herself. Oh, shut up. This isn't helping.

Have you considered that maybe you just couldn't figure it out, Yuuta? Don't be ridiculous. They're hiding something. I'll know when I see the last bit of information - the key that unlocks the rest. And how do you intend to get that, Yuuta? Will you rush the door? That didn't work out well for you last time. It would have worked just fine if someone hadn't deviated from their vector.

You look terrible. You're covered in bruises and sweat and you're disheveled. Your hair is a mess. Your tuxedo looks like you found it on the side of a highway. And you're going to tell these people you're ready? No, I'm not going to tell them anything. They assume we're all ready. There's one thing you can say that would help.

Ngh. Don't make me talk again. It's for Seiko. I hate you so much. I don't know her blood type, though. And if I do this, I might be too sick to pilot. You don't care about any of that and you know it. You're just making excuses to not talk again. I said a whole sentence to a suit filler already. You know the average male says seven thousand words per day? You've managed twenty today, tops.

Yuuta looks down at his feet and swallows hard. He opens his mouth for a couple of seconds, then closes it again and casts a quick glance to Seiko. He's pale. His pupils are dilated. He already looks hypovolemic. His voice comes out small, mentally directed at Seiko, not that anyone could tell by looking at him.

"Blood transfusion."

[Syless]

A grin slowly widens on Seiko's pale, sweaty face. She'd been training for the last two years just for this eventuality- and this day just kept getting better. A shame about the radiation poisoning, but she's not so weak that something like this will stop her from doing her duty. And she'll get to fight side-by-side with Alia. Perfection. Alia would prove her perfection, and Seiko would show her value in aiding that perfection. Everything was coming together.

...a blood transfusion? Unnecessary. Seiko was well enough to fight, despite the nausea and weakness. Nothing would get in her way of riding Fury into battle. But... his attempt at support will not go unremembered. He's shown his value. She shakes the thought loose from her head and speaks up, slurring her words a bit. "Given... how little we know, standard weapon loadouts? Will you be coordinating from here, or are we going to use our own initiative with the base providing data support?"

She doesn't ask about Alia. She knows Alia's not going to miss the chance to synch with her Sakuya. One day... one day she'll know the feeling.

[Muja]

Haruka shakes her head at hee CO's question. The briefing just confirmed what sge already assumed, given how drill coated zombies made little sense in any other situation. The Xibalbans were crafty, if not slightly unorganized in their planning. Their own plan was efficiant, and more importantly wasnt an immediate pressing issue.

"It seems like everything is already worked out. The specifics on Scythe loadouts can wait until we know where the operation will be. Bringing the heavy hitters into a populated area wouldnt be very helpful for PR" Haruka remarked with a wry smile.

"Is there anything else you wished from us? I'd like to check in on Lira before the day is through ".

[Vrock_Summoner]

Rose nods agreeably at Kenzaki's words. "Yes, that was our first worry as well. If the Xibalbans can detect you pilots, we've got a much bigger crisis looming over our heads. But so far the evidence suggests the dance was just the closest area with a concentration of people."

Then she turns to Yuuta and Seiko. "The offer is noble, Yuuta, but that likely won't help. And even if it would, a blood transfusion is intensive. I can't afford to turn one potentially-usable pilot into two unusable ones right now." She takes another sip of iced tea, looking back at the screen. "I dislike going in blind, but right now, the best way to stop being blind is to force an engagement so we can study it. So for now, yes, standard equipment loadout. I'll coordinate from here based on your needs."

Which basically means resource usage is in you guys' hands per the normal rules, but Rose will still be communicating and giving orders and stuff, and might make her own resource decisions depending on context.

Rose steals a quick look in Haru's direction. "Except for you, of course. You've got your own people you're interfacing with, right? I leave it in their capable hands."

Thanks to Sponsor, you don't have to share resources unless you want to, and are in total control of your own in all circumstances. Have fun with that.

EDIT: "No, you're all dismissed. Please be on standby in your plug suits and stay within the Command Ceter complex. The mission could start at any time."

[Elfbird]

After the dismissal, Alia shambles toward the pilot locker to get changed into her plug suit as ordered. She's not moving very fast, if anyone wants to catch her in the halls.

If left to her own devices, she'll then make her way to the hangar and cuddle with Sakuya until mission start.

[Muja]

Haruka followed in Alia's path, moving past the wounded girl to get changed. It was sad to see her so weak, but then again she was the most replacable of the pilots so why bother helping?

Upon entering the locker room the girl begam to undress. Haru opened the locker emblazened with her name, placing her clothes into a small bin at the bottom before pulling out her plugsuit. Sliding the latex-like material up her frame, a simple button press sealed the suit onto her skin almost like a vacuum. It was rather fashionible, compared to the standard suits given to the common pilots. It was a burnt orange color to match her Scythes coloration, with grey accents along her shoulderblades and thighs. Connected along the surface were multiple glowing red cords. They served as a heat regulation system, keeping Haru comfortable no matter the situation. Along the sides of her torso the plugsuit seemed to be cleft, slightly transparent to accentuate her slim belly and back. It wasnt entirely important to her job, but her benefactors new how important sex appeal was to her reputation.

Nodding to herself, Haruka was ready for anything. Closing her locker, the girl made her way to medbay to check on Lira before the magic happened. And also the upcoming fight, that too.

[Volthawk]

As the others filter out, Kenzaki waits a moment. "Rose, I assume you want to talk about the other things I saw when I'm done getting ready?"

With that, he leaves and heads straight to the locker room. He quickly gets dressed in his blue plug suit, and once changed he waits in there for a moment. At this point he notices Yuuta and the minor injuries he took in the escape. "Yuuta, hold still a minute. I'll give those bruises a look." Regardless of the inevitable quietness and silent freaking out from Yuuta, he gets to work with the first aid supplies in his locker, mitigating the injuries taken.

[Syless]

There's a bit of hesitation as Seiko leaves the room. Her first instinct is to... look after... Alia, but her superior officer has suggested she focus on getting medical treatment. Alia had it worse, she should be first in line... but it's still coming from a superior officer, and if her judgment is that Alia's condition is acceptable, until she has a reason to think otherwise she'll let it lie. She rushes to the locker room, giving Alia an overly-long concerned look as she goes, grabs her drab grey plugsuit, and hurries to medical to get whatever treatment they deem necessary before she can put it on. Once given the all-clear, she changes immediately- she's already changed in front of people once today, it's not like she's going to care much now. If given time to spend alone, she starts looking for Alia, intending to... look.

[fibericon]

The best thing about plug suits is that you have to be clean to put one on. That's a lie and you know it. You're supposed to be clean, at least. That's what they tell you. A quick shower, that's all I need. I knew I was going to be sticky when the sweat dried. But you also knew Seiko was going to cut you. And you also knew you could make it through that door with a running leap. Do you really know anything, or do you just sometimes get lucky?

Hello, Kenzaki. Say that, Yuuta. No, he knows. Everyone says 'hello' when they see each other. It's implied. You can't imply a greeting, Yuuta. Besides, he's a pilot. This shouldn't be awkward for you. He's just like me? Ha ha, no. You're such a freak. It's ironic, isn't it? You're so different because you're scared of judgement, but that's what people judge you for. You know some people on the base think you're retarded, don't you? The pilots don't think that. No? Consider your roommate. You live together, and you've barely said two words to him. You avert eye contact if you head toward the door at the same time. He's seen me read. He knows I just have a little trouble talking. A little? Okay, a lot. I know, I know, I'm trying.

I actually do feel a lot better after that. Thank you, Kenzaki. Tell him that! Tell him you appreciate his help! Let him know that he's not wasting his time being nice to you! Come on, it's not like you're trying to talk to a girl!

"Um... thanks. Hi."

Wow. That was... special. Of all the people in all the world, think of how few have ever ended a conversation with "hi". Well, put on your plug suit. Show the suit fillers you're not as worthless as they think you are.

[Arayl]

Once the pilots were dismissed Kenichi went to the locker room where he gets into his plugsuit which is red to match the major color of his Scythe. Once he was fully dressed in the suit he would head to the hangar and wait beside his Scythe to be deployed.

[Vrock_Summoner]

As Kenichi walks away from everything to start preparing, he will be briefly stopped by a middle-aged man with early-grating, slicked back hair and thick spectacles, who you recognize as the Head Advisor of the Operations Director, or H.A., Baki Kamura. He smiles at you jovially.

"Kenichi, my good young man!" He belts out quickly before snatching up the young pilot's hands in his own. "I know you're busy so I won't keep you, but I just wanted to say how grateful I am! I felt like my world was ending when I heard about what happened at the dance, but you! You kept my precious Lira without a scratch! Thank you!" He pulls his hands back but almost seems to be hopping in place giddily. "There's no time for it now but I'll definitely repay you after this is all dealt with! Oh, but speaking of time..."

He looks up towards the top tier, and spots Rose glaring down at him. He visibly sweats, then checks his watch. "... I'm four minutes late. Ciao!" He runs right past without giving Kenichi a moment to reply.

As Alia stumbles into the hangar and tries to interact with Sakuya, a pale, chubby woman with short, slicked-back red hair and startlingly bright green eyes in a lab coat looks over at her. After a few moments to clear your head, you'd recognize her as Head Scientist Alphie Guren.

"Oh, in all the good Heavens... Alia!" She sprints over, catching Alia to prevent her from an untimely face plant. "Jesus, what are you doing here? You're clearly in no condition to be walking, much less piloting." Guren helps Alia sit down on a nearby bench, within view of her S-168, which is currently being practically swarmed by workers preparing it and the entry plug for deployment. She waves her arm and calls over one of the soldiers standing guard and asks to borrow his canteen, to which he complies. Guren nods thankfully and gives Alia some of the water, though she makes the young girl drink it slowly to avoid making her sick again.

"It was probably Larys who ordered you to pilot. Oh, I can't stand her, I-" The woman stops, seeming to catch herself. "I... can't do anything to override her authority if she has. But at any rate, don't overwork yourself. You'll get to be with Sak- I mean, S-168, soon enough. You like being there, don't you?" She soothes.

The seismographic monitors on the wall start blaring out alert signals, bringing everyone's eyes away from their arguments to the front of the room.

"Abnormal underground vibrations detected! Outer scanners confirming it's not an earthquake... Confirmed! The vibrations are localized to a fairly small area! Sensors converging to pinpoint precise location of the source!" The main bridge staff [can I pretty please call them bridge bunnies] begin quickly typing as calculations flash across the main screen before quickly coalescing into a 3D map of the targeted area - an unremarkable bit of forest from the looks of it, with sensors highlighting a patch of ground almost like an infrared camera, picking up their source... Though buried as it is, it's impossible to tell what it looks like.

"Are the preparations for Operation Piercing Earth complete?" Rose shouts down.

"Affirmative! The Scythes and their transports are suffering no issues and the bombers are ready for takeoff!"

"Then we commence now! Pilots, enter the entry plugs!"

The workers guide you to your plugs and the seats within, first attaching the plug suit to the tubes sticking out of the seat behind it, then taping sensor wires to your temples. From the talk during all the tests, you know what they're there for - to monitor brain activity to get more accurate Synch Rate information and check for "mental contamination," whatever that means. All it's meant to any of you so far is another uncomfortable thing to wear.

With all systems properly put in place, the plug is closed and locked, leaving it dark. Moments later, a thick liquid starts pumping in, slowly filling up the floor and then rising up through the plug until your head goes under. As per your training, you relax your reflexive urges and breath in the liquid, which provides you with a sudden feeling of clarity and wakefulness - mostly, you've been told, because the liquid carries far more oxygen to your lungs than breathing typical air. You feel the plug descend into the Scythe, coming to its normal position with a satisfying click. Then everything lights up, you hear the buzz of electricity and feel your whole body vibrating, and in another moment you're seeing things through the Scythe's eyes. All the tiny people running around - they're rather cute and fragile-looking from here.

"Activation of all units successful - no difficulties," you hear through the intercom.

"Testing pilot Synchronization Ratios!"

"All readings optimal! Plug depth is within 98.8% of expected parameters. Psych graphs are normal."

"Pilot of S-168 is reading a critical biological abnormality-"

"Ignore it. Prepare to launch."

The Scythes are all slid back onto launch platforms and locked in.

"Scythes - launch!"

You blast upwards at terrific speeds through a dark tunnel. It's hardly a minute before you slam to a stop and are locked in place once again, before, for the first time, the launch doors are opened before your eyes...

You've never seen the city from so high up.

You barely have any time to enjoy the view, though, as Rose's voice cuts into the intercom once again.

"Pilots! When the Scythes are released, progress to the edge of the city... Carefully. The people on your route should already be evacuated, but try not to crush any cars or houses. Scythes - Release!"

The launch's locks release, allowing your Scythes to lurch forward.

"The mobile support stations are already prepared. They'll drive along behind you until you reach the edge of the main umbilical cables' range. At that point, switch over to their mobile power and get moving towards the directed coordinates and position yourselves to prepare for the fight. You don't have unlimited time - a mobile unit can only carry so much power."

First select your equipment loadout - spending Requisition as you wish - and then choose any Setup NDA Resources actions you'd like to use. Your base NDA Resources are 2 per Scythe, due to fighting in an Undeveloped area. O.S. IRIS Consultation is not available at this time, nor are options that state they can only be used within the Base of Operations. The main Mobile Support Stations are free, but if you want backups, you may purchase them as normal. Finally, view the Sector descriptions below and select the position you'd like to take before the depth charges are dropped.

Sector 0 - Escape Zone: If the Xibalban reaches this Sector, it may take a 3 Stamina action to flee the fight, escaping pursuit by the Scythes for the time being.
Sector 1 - Mobile Support Stations: These are the main power providers for your Scythes. If this Sector is hit by an attack dealing 8 or more damage, the trucks are destroyed, disabling all active Umbilicals and preventing the acquisition of new ones for the remainder of the fight.
Sectors 2-4: Umbilical Range.
Sector 5: Umbilical Range. Unstable Terrain - this is the edge of the sinkhole created by the depth blast, leaving it liable to give out from under you. Anybody hit by an attack, or attempting to Run from, into, or through this Sector, must test Balance or fall prone.
Sector 6: Poor Footing/Xibalban Starting Point - the epicenter of the blast, and where the Xibalban is unearthed from. The ground here, disturbed and sloped by the recent explosion, makes for poor balancing. Reflexes and Finesse are at a -10 penalty here.

[Syless]

Seiko fumes a bit as the woman in the lab coat attends to her Alia. She's strong enough to fight, she always will be. And if there -was- cause for care to be administrated, Seiko should be the one doing it. Always.

When the call comes to head for the Entry Plugs, Seiko is (naturally) the second there, entering the hangar properly after a moment of waiting. She follows the routine down to the letter, going over the process in her head- she has to make a strong showing, prove herself to her superiors, and to Alia. If there's really a Xibalban... she'll land the killing blow.

Deploying at range means her traditional loadout isn't ideal. Scanning the registry of weapons, she opts for Fury's custom HEM pistol and a standard-issue M7, with a baton in her wing for melee-range backup. Versatility for any circumstance.

Loadout:
- Enhanced HEM Pistol (2 Req)
- M7 Hand Cannon (1 Req)
- Superconductive Baton [In Wing Storage] (Free)

Deploying to Sector 4.

[Muja]

Req:1
Personal Resources: 5
Loadout: Microwave Gun (upgraded w/ Markerlight),
Stun Baton in Wing

Starting in Sector 4

Haruka sat calmly in her entry plug cockpit, awaiting their deployment. The purple liquid encapsulating her made the girl shudder, the taste of iron still fresh in her mouth. It was all so bizarre, but it was necessary to do her mission.

Gazing around the plug that made up her Scythe's vision Haru pushed the gigantic being foreward. Each step crunched down into the ground, destroying foliage and slashed her tools foot markings onto yhe earth. It was a powerful feeling, a terrifying feeling. She could get used to this.

Flashing her fingers along a side panel, Haru enabled the group intercoms. Peering to her righr and left, screens popped up picturing her copilots likewise preparing for the upcoming encounter. Forcing a strong smile onto her face, their leader pushed foreward onto the border that formed their front line.

"Alright then boys and girls, its time to get this mess cleaned up.
This piece of garbage is what killed so many of our classmates, our friends, our loved ones.
That...is unforgivable", Haru began, her Scythe connecting the microwave gun to the radiating reactor strapped to it's chest.

"So lets give it hell,
Hmm?"

[Arayl]

As soon as the plug is fully engaged into his Scythe Kenichi's usually stoic face has a large grin spread across it. As he waits for the Scythes to be deployed he flexes his/his Scythe's right hand around the hilt of the large sword which is more a slab of metal than anything resembling a weapon.

Once he reached the surface he lifts the large sword off the ground with ease and impatiently waits for the bombers to finish their bombing run so that he can begin attacking the Xibalban. When Haruka opens the group comms Kenichi turns to the screen displaying her face and says placing the blade of his sword onto his shoulder, "I'll definitely give them that and more" With that said his Scythe takes a more aggressive stance as it move forward to get closer to the crater and the Xibalban within his grin seeming to have become more feral.

Loadout: Large Sword (2 Req), HEM Pistol (Free)
Deploying in Sector 4

[Elfbird]

Alia acquiesces to Alphie's attentions without really acknowledging her. She does thank the canteen, which could be easily misconstrued. The subject of orders seems to warrant response, at least - that's a word that usually means humans are talking to Alia and expect her to do as they say.
"I-I can pilot. If I die in Sakuya... I don't think I'll mind. Then I'll wake up tomorrow without this-- without this-- mmmhg..."
Alia puts a hand over her stomach and focuses on her breath, to stay the wave of nausea before it makes her waste all the water that canteen so kindly offered.
She does seem somewhat fortified by that reminder, and maybe Alphie's familiar presence isn't exactly unwelcome either. They've spent so much time together that Alphie is probably the person Alia would consider a mother-figure... though that may be in the same sense that a human considers a puppy their child.

When the order comes to plug in, Alia accepts everyone's steadying hands helping her up the scaffolds and into the entry plug. She does end up vomiting once more before climbing in - better than contaminating the LCL.

She finally starts to relax as the entry plug fills - shut off from all the noisy, grabby, run-abouty humans, just her and her plug suit coming to rest inside Sakuya's deepest place.
Most of the people around me - they're so fragile, uncared for... An image of the carnage at the dance flickers across her mind before being shoved back into subconsciousness.
Sakuya... I don't have to protect you. We alone can stand and fight together; we share our pain and our strength. That's why I... can trust you completely. We're partners, one whole.
"So, let's do our best today... because we can."

The walk through the city is long enough for the endorphins from being reunited with Sakuya to start giving way to the nausea and beginnings of a fever. Alia's shaking from the chills and discomfort leads to a few unsteady steps, but she's careful to grab the Scythe in front of her for balance rather than step on a car or crush a building.

"Okay... I'm a little nervous, to be honest, but I've had a lot more training for this than you have, Sakuya. Just follow my lead and there'll be nothing to worry about. I'll be counting on your support; I'm a little out of sorts today. I'm sorry I can't do better for you on our first real mission... Doesn't it remind you of that time a few years ago, when we had to run some tests while I had a cold? And I sneezed all over the console right before the LCL energized? Ahahahahannnng..."

Alia considers the other Scythes while she and Sakuya help [Haruka's unit] change everyone over to the mobile Umbilicals. For some reason she was never allowed to interact with them closely, outside of the few group field exercises they've run. Still, they're important teammates, and even though it hadn't really sunk in yet, Alia understood that the coming encounter would be a defining moment in everyone's lives.

The S-168 takes up position behind the vanguard, settling into a runner's crouch. Its primary job would be to exploit the holes the N-17 and R-B4 opened in the Xibalban's defenses, using experimental ultra-high-vibration blades to cripple the foe and shatter its weak points.

Alia follows up [Haruka's unit]'s pilot's message on the group channel, an effort to establish the Scythes' unity as a team and rally their spirits for what's next. "It's up to us to fight the Xibalbans, because nobody else can. It's our right to suffer, so nobody else has to. And most of all, you have to survive - each and every one of you - because this world's hope rests on your broad shoulders. Remember, you are not alone! Rely on each other, trust in your pilots, and give that damned Xibalban everything you've got!"

The adrenaline rising in Alia's system is enough to keep her condition in check for the moment, though it's still an uncomfortable distraction. With luck, the battle will be over before the next wave comes...

S-168 will deploy in Sector 3

Requisitions: 1
Loadout:

Combat Knife
Superconductive Baton
Pallet Rifle
Microwave gun+
Wing Loadout:

Progressive Knife
Extra Battery MkI

Spending my Req on Enchanced for the Microwave gun (+1 Breach)

[Volthawk]

Kenzaki grimaces a little as he approaches END-002. Although he was getting used to to the decaying corpse like stench of the old Scythe - earning it the nickname Dead End - it still hits him at first. Luckily, it isn't even noticeable once he's plugged in, and as the plug starts to fill and the link to his Scythe established, he thinks about what's to come. The first Xibalban in years, and he's going to be observing it with his own eyes (well, technically his Scythe's single eye, but details). He couldn't help but feel excited about that, putting the fact that he'll also be in a life or death battle to one side.

His loadout was a little light, a side effect of his funding situation - END was responsible for such things, and they preferred contributing to support structures rather than his weapons, and on a practical level Dead End lacked the wings of his modern counterparts and thus the storage they allow - so when he left he just had a pallet rifle in hand.

Kenzaki was unusually quiet on the journey to the operation, going through all the information he'd been taught that he'd need to make accurate observations and analysis. Once there, he stands next to Sayuka, rifle ready. Unlike her, he was would stay behind the close combat fighters, providing ranged fire and primarily inform the others on his assessments of the Xibalban's offensive and defensive abilities.


Spending my Requisition on +1 NDA Resources.

Starting in sector 3.

[fibericon]

Yuuta had, over the course of his training, gained a bit of an audience among the ground-level engineers when he approached his scythe. No cute nicknames - he long ago decided that if the scythe had a name, it would tell him. But when in the presence of this monster, they saw the only time Yuuta may have truly been at ease. He still hardly, if ever, spoke, but he did smile. A warm, genuine smile graced his lips when he touched the scythe. The inner voice, the berating, brow beating inner voice, was silent. That wouldn't last, but he could enjoy the blessed, fleeting silence in his own mind.

The ground-level engineers were more sympathetic to his troubles than most of the employees. Despite the stereotype, most of the people who worked there were fairly normal, but many of them had worked with someone else on the spectrum before. More importantly, they all had their own quirks, and wanting silence was hardly unreasonable in their minds. One of them handed him a touchscreen, and stepped away, letting him select his loadout undisturbed.

His fingers wiggled in anticipation as he looked at the screen, and he cocked his head to the side. Yes, a microwave gun with an improved breach ability would do perfectly. All he needed was one shot to upset the tide of the battle. Whether or not that was the final blow was irrelevant - once his first shot landed, the battle would be over. Of this, he was certain. Now, precision targeting assistance from the super computers on site, to make sure that first shot hit, no matter what.

Ah, the voice was returning. It was a desperate bid to invade - once he became one with the scythe, it would be too heavily subdued to hurt him. Out with the air. In with the fluid. The rest? Irrelevant.

[Vrock_Summoner]

The bombers fly overhead, dropping large missile-like cylinders from up above with boring tips and rockets, which dig themselves deep into the ground at Sector 6. Moments later, a fiery explosion rips up from the ground, releasing a fireball into the air along with a huge concussive force that tears trees out of the ground and sends huge quantities of dirt flying hundreds of meters out in every direction. The area is left a glowing crater full of billowing smoke, the edge of which extends into Sector 5, leaving the ground there unstable. As you all prepare for combat, the gaseous debris is suddenly blown away by a powerful spinning gust of wind, almost like a small, sideways tornado. With the smoke cleared, you can see the Xibalban, the first one any of you had ever seen face to face and the second some of you may have seen counting video footage of the first. It takes the form of two floating, Scythe-scale hands, with long, bony fingers and shimmering purple claws. All around the Xibalban is a vaguely drill-shaped field of solid, radiant-yet-transluscent energy. You can tell on a cursory glance that the initial blast did no visually apparent damage.

Round One: Most Scythes are too far to engage and spend the round advancing, except for Yuuta and Alia, who hung back and prepared. Seiko’s R-B4 is the only one to manage an attack, which damages the Xibalban’s drill field. The Xibalban launches several attacks by extending its drill forward against those who approach, though its poor accuracy and the Scythes’ Basic Fields meant it only did very minor damage to Seiko, Haru, and Kenichi.

Round Two: Haru, Kenzaki, and Seiko open fire on the Xibalban and manage to shear off more of its barrier, but the Xibalban responds with a vicious concentrated assault on Haru, knocking her down and repeatedly drilling into her head as well as piercing her chest and arm, leaving her Scythe severely damaged. Alia rushes forward heroically in an effort to save her while Yuuta continues preparing quietly.

Round Three: Alia blasts the Xibalban’s barrier severely, getting its attention. It responds by switching its focus onto her, inflicting an even more savage drilling into Alia’s S-168, burning a hole in its chest and setting the LCL in the Entry Plug boiling as Haru staggers to her feet weakly. Seiko and Kenichi shoot at the Xibalban in a desperate bit to help Alia, but their urgency causes them to miss as Alia’s brutal torture continues. She is finally given reprieve, however, when Kenzaki fires a burst of Pallet shots with such precise concentration that they finally shatter the Xibalban’s drill barrier, removing its ability to attack and revealing its body underneath. It responds by burrowing Underground. Yuuta prepares quietly.

Round Four: The Xibalban begins to dig its way forward to Sector 4. Kenichi, Seiko, and the heavily injured Alia attempt to attack it through the dirt, but Alia’s and Seiko’s Maser shots miss and Kenichi’s sword lacks the force to penetrate both the earth and the hands’ thick armor. It bursts out of the ground in Sector 4, knocking Kenzaki and Seiko Prone and clawing into Seiko’s R-B4, revealing that its claws are spiritually infectious and start dealing Ego to Seiko. With two claw strikes, it prompts an Ego Break, allowing it to break Seiko’s control of R-B4. Kenichi charges in and slices through one of the hands, disabling it. Yuuta then fires the shot he’d been building up to and disables the other hand similarly. R-B4 seems to revive, but shoots its guns at Kenichi, severely damaging his chest armor and knocking him Prone.

Round Five: The heavily battered Alia stands and Neutralizes the Xibalban, finally revealing its Core. With its hands disabled and its core exposed, Kenzaki and Haru try to blast at its Core, but are unable to overcome the Xibalban’s impervious skin. The Xibalban recovers and goes underground to sit tight. Alia draws her Progressive Knife and moves to Sector 4. Seiko gets Plug Ejected from R-B4, but R-B4 continues to shoot at its former allies (ineffectively, for the time being). Yuuta goes back to quietly preparing.

Round Six: The Xibalban sits tight and lets R-B4 take the heat off it. It manages to get a critical fumble resulting in its M7 hand cannon blowing up, severely damaging its own hand. Unperturbed, it continues to fire at various targets, mostly missing and having its one successful shot bounce harmlessly off Haruka’s Armor. Kenzaki fires back upon R-B4, prompting a shouting match between himself and Alia, as Alia considers attacking an ally even in this state abhorrent, eventually resulting in her declaring she finds all humans horrible. The Xibalban bursts forth again, knocking everyone in Sector 4 except Kenzaki’s END-02 Prone, though R-B4 immediately recovers. Although Kenzaki makes an impressive display of defending himself, his severe weakness to Ego gain means the Xibalban quickly possesses END-02 as well. Yuuta and Haru take token shots at the Xibalban, doing minimal damage through its armor.

Round Seven: Alia, overwhelmed with emotion, makes a brave charge into which she pours all her strength (and Luck), which cracks open the Xibalban’s Core but doesn’t quite defeat it. R-B4 responds by immediately blasting the distraught Alia’s Scythe’s head into messy, charred chunks, defeating her Scythe and causing her to pass out from the extreme pain. Haru and Yuuta continue to fire at the Xibalban’s Core for the brief moments it remains exposed, managing to burn it severely. Kenichi chops one of the Xibalban’s hands into a useless, bloody mess. Dead End attempts to Rifle butt Yuuta to no avail. Everyone receives a transmission that a Rod of God is deployed and will arrive at the end of the next round, and are told to make sure the Xibalban is Neutralized, as well as to “try not to die.”

Round Eight: The Xibalban spends the entire round stationary due to extreme weakness from Core damage. Yuuta Neutralizes it again while trying to ignore Dead End clubbing him in the head with a rifle butt. Alia’s Plug ejects, getting her out of the blast radius. R-B4 blasts off Kenichi’s arm with pistol fire, to which Haru responds by blasting off R-B4’s own pistol-wielding arm. Not to be deterred from its sudden spike in deadliness, it uses the Superconductive Baton from its wing dock to messily melt Kenichi’s Scythe’s head off its body, defeating it and causing Kenichi to pass out from the severe pain. Unlike Alia, there weren’t enough resources left for Kenichi to have his Plug ejected by the time the Rod of God hit, leaving him stranded without an active WOL for defense. Miraculously, though the damage was severe all around, the Rod of God destroyed the Scythe’s Core and didn’t kill any of the still-present pilots. Kenzaki and Haru in particular took fairly little damage, while Yuuta’s Scythe was mostly fine but Yuuta himself passed out from the pain. The Scythes without conscious and present pilots fared far worse - Alia’s S-168 and Seiko’s R-B4 we’re left crumpled and torn up, while Kenichi’s N-17 had all its remaining limbs blown off, though miraculously the torso survived, at least enough to keep Kenichi within safe from injury (though all the pain and trauma of limb loss transferred into his unconscious mind).

The NDA had no issues retrieving everyone, though those whose plugs had ejected took about a day to locate, and Kenichi’s plug had to be physically cut out of N-17’s charred and dismembered torso.

All of the pilots have been hospitalized in a connected row of rooms in the Neverdeath Academy’s medical ward to treat their injuries. Alia and Kenichi, in particular, needed to be put on heavy life support - Alia due to her fatigue heavily exacerbating the symptoms of radiation poisoning, Kenichi because he’d gone catatonic from sensory overload due to the immense pain.

It’s the night after you were all found and retrieved (the second night in the hospital for those of you who were easy to retrieve: Yuuta, Haruka, and Kenzaki). You’ve been in effective quarantine during your medical examinations as they searched you thoroughly, as much for signs of “contamination” as for unseen injuries. As of tonight, those of you who are able to walk are cleared to leave your rooms and receive visitors, though not to leave the medical ward as a whole. Seiko and Kenzaki are kept under surveillance by two soldiers each, likely much to their chagrin.

Most of you got back up to relative physical health over the past two nights. Seiko is feeling perpetually nauseous and some general aches and pains, but she is for all intents and purposes recovered. Kenzaki, Haru, and Yuuta had no lasting injuries after the battle and recovered with a full night of sleep, though for Yuuta, waking up to the full-body ache was probably quite unpleasant, and he’s likely still feeling pretty sore. Alia and Kenichi are the only ones really suffering. Kenichi is bedridden and has more or less been asleep since he was retrieved due to his mind and body being so worn out from the experience of having all his limbs and his head blown off. Alia is suffering less from the direct damage (though having her own head blown off was somewhat traumatic even despite Alia’s resilience) but all the exertion from the fight has caused her radiation sickness to take a much harder toll on her body than it normally would this early on.

For the most part, none of you have had visitors so far because visitors haven’t been allowed in yet. The exception is Alphie, the Head Scientist, who came to oversee the examinations and then stayed with each of you for a bit afterwards to provide comforting words and answer questions any of you may have. Although she visited and tended to all of you, most of her attention has been on Alia and Kenichi, as she’s bounced between them and tended to each of them in their poor condition. She seems to be spending more hours out of the day in their rooms than she does working, actually. She even fell asleep on the chair next to Kenichi’s bed last night, and seems likely to do the same in Alia’s room tonight.

Rose has yet to be seen or heard from by any of you.

All of you are free to move between rooms and into other areas of the medical ward, though Seiko and Kenzaki will be followed by the soldiers if they do. As of tonight, you’re also free to receive visitors - while it’s too late in the evening for them to be coming in by their own request, you can still ask to call particular people and have them come visit if you want.

Any interactions tonight, or descriptions of your characters’ feelings and responses during all this?

[Syless]

Trapped trapped TRAPPED let me out

The night left lost was... difficult. Seiko was all alone in the dark of her entry plug, left with nothing but the images she'd seen before being forcibly ejected. Alia... Alia Alia Alia. Alia was the only thing in her mind other than the feeling of being trapped. Thoughts and images and fantasies flowed through her mind, twisted by what the Xibalban had shown her. But it kept her tethered. The isolation didn't take her, because she wasn't alone, as far as she was concerned. She'd come to terms with it- and was almost sad when the rescue team arrived, bringing her back to base and into the medical ward.

still trapped, still trapped let me go

Seiko does not take well to being confined to medical. She failed at the fight- the first one out, with her own Scythe becoming a major threat to the others afterwards. She was expecting a moment of glory, and got the exact opposite. She had to make up for it, she had to prove herself, she had to fight and win, -someone- else needed to lose. The Xibalban died, but she could barely say it lost, given how much damage it did and what it took to bring it down. But now, she can't even go and find redemption- she's 'sick', apparently. She can handle nausea. She can handle aches and pains and soreness. Let her go.

So she spent the day drawing. Drawing out the images burned into her mind. No one else could make out what they were- Seiko was not exactly an artist- but they represented the 'truth' to Seiko. Faces and bodies, and the name 'Alia' written in and scratched out a thousand times. She spoke to no one, outside of necessary responses as part of the medical evaluation.

One communication left her room. She gave a note to Alphie when she was being checked on- asked her in her most forceful-but-deferential voice to not read it, and just give it to Alia, and not say where it's from. Assuming Alphie accepts, Seiko smiles wolfishly.

(written in a frenzied hand) I have seen your true face. It is glorious.

[fibericon]

It was to be expected that there was no real reading material in the medical wing. Yes, there was the Merck Manual, if you could get your hands on it, but that was jealously guarded by doctors. What wasn't expected was that he wasn't allowed to leave. It likely didn't help Yuuta's case that he attempted to say, "I'm fine", and promptly buckled, clutching his bruised ribs and needing help back to his room.

They put a very large padlock on the supply closet after the first time he built something out of ace bandages, too. Typical.

But now he wasn't technically "under watch", though orderlies seemed very interested in his activities, with one hand on their radios at all times. A wander found him running into Alphie, who he proceeded to attempt to engage by raising one hand up to about face level, nervously opening and closing it a few times, and then finally pointing at her clipboard. Upon taking it, he starts furiously scribbling, interspersed with some mangled attempts at context.

"I am..."

16.667%

"But..."

12.5%

"Because..."

https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/0bb84109ed38c296fbe2dc41d58760b1e08e3754

"I can..."

vph = c0 = 299792458

"But... Ngh. It's..." He rubs his forehead in frustration, and finally blurts out, "Too weak!"


He should be 16.667% of the team, but he was only operating at 75% capacity because even though he can make the microwave gun behave as though it's firing in a vacuum, it's still too short-ranged for him to be effective.

[Arayl]

Kenichi head was throbbing with pain from the aftermath of his Scythe having its head melted and would get worse whenever he moved any of his limbs as if it was shouting at him "That shouldn't be there but it is there, why is it there?! You shouldn't even be alive, how are you still alive?!"

That could have gone better back there, got knocked down, lost an arm and then got my head melted, but I did manage to destroy part of the Xibalban so all in all not a bad first sortie. The Rod of God must be the reason why all my extremities are extremely sore.

"Oh gods that hurts so much" Kenichi groans weakly shortly upon waking and trying to sit up and then moving his right arm upward to grasp his forehead in the process of doing so making the pain flare up once more. When Alphie enters his room Kenichi turns his head slowly trying to minimise the pain the movement would inevitably cause him and says to her "Thank you for taking care of me while I was unconscious" Once he'd finished speaking he would slowly move his head back to its original position a wince obvious on his face and then asks for some morphine to dull the pain his body was yelling at him about.

[Elfbird]

Alia next woke in her med-ward bed, extreme grogginess slowing her thoughts and perceptions to a measurable pace.
The gown and blanket - thin, but soft and smooth, wrapping her in their feathery embrace.
The respiration mask and machine, working tirelessly to provide her with clean, easily-breathable air.
The numerous IVs taped into her arm - oh, there's really quite a lot of them. Not her favorite experience, but they're just trying their best to help her too.
The various sensors attached to her head and fingers, keeping the vital monitor appraised of her condition, down to such details as she herself was unaware - all to alert the doctors if she were to break and need put back together.
And of course the mattress and frame that had been supporting her unconscious form all this time, never complaining or letting her sag uncomfortably. She hoped her modest weight hadn't put too much of a burden on them.

To be surrounded by such care and comfort eased Alia's heart and mind a great deal, even if her body would dully proclaim that everything sucks to high heaven right now.
The sensation almost lulled her back to sleep.

Fury's gun.

Sakuya screamed. Through me? Because of me?

Darkness.

Was it dark? Maybe it was nothing.

I... died? No, I remember. I've never remembered before. Did I--

"SAKUYA!"

Alia bolts upright, a surge of adrenaline overriding her condition (though she'll surely pay for it later). She struggles out of bed, her cocoon of cables and tubes sloughing away, she heedless of the minor injuries they add to her already battered body.

"Sakuya! Where is she?! I need to see Sakuya! Sakuya!"

Someone seizes her, forces her back down. Alia thrashes inside, but her frail flesh can barely twitch against those hands, that weight.
Too weak.
Alia couldn't protect Sakuya, or Fury, or any of the people who were counting on them. Sakuya couldn't do anything either.
Fury had been forced to fight her allies.
Dead End's pilot made him shoot her.
That damnable Xibalban.
Too weak.
And now...
And now...

Alia ceases her futile resistance, melting into tears while countless needles resume their places in her arms. This pain - part of her would rather have died, to have forgotten and woken whole and healthy - while another part feels it's rightful punishment for her failure to support and protect her friends.

I wonder if Sakuya's suffering too. I want to be with her. We're supposed to... supposed to share our pain, so no one else has to...

. . .

Some time passes. Alia might have dozed off, though not as deeply as before. She wakes feeling calmer, having processed that surge of emotion and been assured that Sakuya was recovering just like she was.

A folded piece of paper is then offered to her. A... letter? She'd heard of them, sometimes seen other humans reading things that looked like them, but never actually received one herself. Naturally, she mustered the strength to take and open it.

I HaVe SeeN yOUr TRUe FaCe. It IS gLOrIOuS.
...

Someone... who? Paper letters only write themselves in fantasy books. Sakuya...? No, how would she hold a pen small enough to write this? Perhaps they gave her a knife handle fitted with a pen adapter? Well, the only thing to do would be to reply.
"...Sorry, do you think you could carry one more message? I'll write it on your back. Thank you for coming all this way... you're the first letter I've met who was meant for me."
The doctor provides a pen and clipboard, and Alia sets herself to writing. It takes a few sessions to finish, between resting her arms and searching her drug-addled mind for words.

My Dearest,
Thank you for taking the time to write me. It must have cost you great effort.
Loathe as I am to suffer apart, it seems we must for the time being - you in your manner of treatment and I in mine.
Let's both do our best to recover, so we can be reunited - and then work on our shortcomings, together, so we and ours need never again suffer a Xibalban's abuses without due answer.

I hope you and Fury have made peace and harbor no ill will over what I presume had occurred.
Perhaps you two might set an example for me in my absolving my own resentment toward Dead End's pilot;
then again, that humans bear no sympathy toward us should come as no surprise. I simply
- even so, I simply cannot fathom the mind that would sooner shoot - try to murder -
a precious comrade than restrain and grant them asylum from their monstrous tormentor.
But forgive me; we have all suffered more than our share, and now is not the time for such thoughts.

I pray you the best in your recovery. As for me, I am in good hands, for as long as I may need remain in them. Thank you once again for ever standing beside me; your silent support means more to me than I could ever say.


Thinking of you,


Longing for your embrace,





~Alia

Alia folds the new message inside, leaving the old one exposed, and hands it to Dr. Alphie when next she comes around. That should suffice for having it conveyed back to Sakuya.

[Volthawk]

Much of his time so far has been spent on writing reports on what happened - after all, he still had his job to do, END will want their information at some point, and in any case writing it down helped him get his mind and the information he'd gathered into order, it usually relaxed him. This time, it wasn't proving so effective, given all that happened.

As he wrote about the attack on the dance, he grimaces as he can't help but remember it all. That Connie...Kenzaki couldn't help but dwell on it. Was he about to be asked out? He would've had to have declined, but still. If he stayed and talked, perhaps the boy wouldn't have died if Kenzaki intervened somehow. Instead he just went after that Alia thing and got nowhere. Alia...he put that pile of thoughts elsewhere for now, focusing on the chronological order.

He talks a fair amount about the bodies of the zombies, particularly the...neutralised one? For some reason, remains had been on his remains since the battle - not human corpses, naturally, that'd just be weird. No, it was thoughts about the corpses of the Xibalbans and the zombies that wormed their way into his brain. Naturally, the Xibalban in the battle had none to see or collect after the Rod, but that in itself was interesting in its own way, let alone the zombies from earlier and the way they died differently if their core-equivalent was destroyed. He wondered when he'll be able to see them again, he wanted another look for...some reason.

The limo ride gets only a cursory mention, the only real detail being that those contaminated by WOL fields changed clothes. Similarly, the section on the briefing was short, just restating what was said before deployment. It's then time to think about the battle.

His information on the enemy is a little light - his observation and analysis wasn't quite at the level he hoped for - but nonetheless the battle report describes what happened, and his assorted thoughts and observations on topics like why certain things happened and what to improve, the latter a bit longer than he hoped. Certain topics require a bit more thought. First, the topic of the...possession? Puppeteering? He just settles for 'controls' as he writes, mostly just speculation as although he knows what happened - the Xibalban's claws caused some kind of mental injury, apparently mostly temporary, and when it did enough to overwhelm the pilot it took control of the Scythe - the reasons and implications spiralled out from there. For one thing, while both he and Seiko were affected, they seemed to be affected differently, although he just put that down to the differences in their minds. The more pressing concern was the fact that it happened at all, that Xibalbans can control Scythes. While there was no way of telling how widespread that ability is among their population, the risk was definitely there, and it threw up even more questions in his mind about them, the scythes and the relationship between them. A scary threat, but truly fascinating.

Next came the argument. Alia. The way she talked, the things she said...the way she...talked about humanity as if it was seperate to her, something she hates. The way she seems to think about Scythes and objects as people. The other Alia. The replacements. Rose's reactions, both towards her and him when he started noticing things. He still wasn't sure what was going on there, but one thing was for sure - he was going to find out. They were supposed to be a team, and he couldn't think about her as a friend or even ally with all this left unanswered. Command seemed to know everything about it, and it was logical to expect Alphie to know too, and she was already conveniently nearby. Grabbing his phone, he sends her a brief message. "I need to talk to you."

[Syless]

Seiko was in the midst of further scribblings when Alphie returned, bearing a note- the same one, turned inside-out. Did she read it?

Did she read it?

"Did you read it?"

Not waiting for a response, she opens the note and reads what's been written on the reverse. And Seiko, for lack of a better word, swoons. She folds the note back up and holds it tightly to her chest.

yes yes YES her true feelings

Alia -cared- for her. Saw her as a bastion of support. Maybe even loved her back? That would be too wonderful to say... Seiko wanted to leave and run to Alia, spend all her time at her side, give her the embrace she longs for, but she was still chained- she would not be granted the privacy. And even if the soldiers were just that, she refused to have them watch as she wrapped her lover in her arms and they became as one. So she'll wait. Patiently. Oh-so-patiently.

She writes a second note and hands it back.
Soon.

[Vrock_Summoner]

Alphie tussles Kenichi’s hair a bit and smiles softly down at him. ”You’re already on painkillers, sweetheart. What happened to you was pretty severe. But it should die down to a more manageable level with another night of sleep. In the meantime, is there anything else I can do for you? Anyone you’d like to see?”

It takes her a while, and only really comes together when Yuuta’s written down his thoughts, but Alphie seems happy to patiently wait until Yuuta starts making sense. She sighs a bit afterwards, but also seems like she’s holding back a chuckle. “Yes, the microwave gun isn’t a terribly ideal weapon, is it? It’s more of a prototype than a modern combat-ready weapon, truth be told. Our predictions set the next Xibalban conflict several years from now, so most of our combat funding is wrapped up in weapon development moreso than weapon production. So we had to deploy with what we had. Hopefully Rose will be able to procure a budget increase from CRISIS in light of hostilities seeming to start up between us and the Xibalbans, but...” She frowns and looks contemplative for a moment before finishing. “They won’t be happy how that battle went. So you may have to settle for a pallet rifle next time if you want range. At least we have an abundance of those.”

She hands Yuuta a fresh sheet of paper and sits patiently, glancing over some of her own notes so Yuuta doesn’t feel watched, waiting for him to go at his own pace if he wants to write a response.

Alphie gets your message and comes into your room a bit later. She seems to be in a pretty serious mood. She sits down by the side table with a notebook, though no writing utensil. She gives the soldiers a pointed look, and when they seem sheepish and like they want to object, she says, “I will take responsibility with Rose. Wait outside. It’s an order under my authority.”
The soldiers nod hesitantly, salute, and head outside to wait, closing the door behind them.

Alphie turns back to Kenzaki. “If I have the right idea of what you want to talk about, I’m afraid I may not be able to be much help. Much of Alia’s life history is heavily classified.” She gives him a warm smile and reaches out to pat him on the shoulder. “But I’ll do whatever I can to put your curiosity at ease.”

Almost as soon as you’re cleared to receive visitors, a nurse knocks on your door. “You have a visitor!” She says quickly. “Her name’s listed here as... Oh! Lira Kamura. Ah... Additionally, you’ve got sixteen different deliveries waiting. Mostly letters, but also one package. According to your manager there’s a few thousand more, but these are the ones sent directly to the ward’s inbox.” She pauses awkwardly. “Anyway, are you feeling up to seeing any of them tonight? The deliveries, or Ms. Kamura?”

[Muja]

Haruka stared up at the medical room's eggshell pigmented ceiling, lost in thought. Beside her sat two small manila folders, one addressed to the operarions director and one for her sister.

The former was a debriefing on the encounter that just occured with the Xibalban, how their given weapons were incapable for doing serious damage to it beyond scrapes and one stab with Progressive technology, how Yuihime (Unit-017) was seriously damaged despite having literal yards of solid steel platimg protecting it, and how in spite of being the team's leader most of the pilots attempted to bullrush the monster before orders could be given. It was not a harsh critique, and did admit faults on her own part. Ultimately Haru hoped it reached Ms Rose in good spirit, but tue emotions of that woman still confounded her.

The latter letter reestablished her previous concerns on the Scythe's current technology, and on how a stronger protection on their own side would better benefit the defense projects success innthe long run. She did not attempt to Guilt Tsume with her writings; she knew veey well that her sister worked hard on protecting both her and all of mankind. But sometimes a little sister, hurt from insufficiant protection, can spur family into helping. Heres hoping, anyways.

Once those had been finished Haru really had nothing to do until she was given the okay to leave. Luckily her PR and Scheduling managers both understood how burdening being a pilot could be, and moved her appointments back until she was fit for appearances. Less pressure, but also less to do. A knock on her door would change that, she hoped, as she called for those on the other side to enter. Hearing that both approved letters AND a visitor was waiting for her was a pleasant outcome. Hardly unexpected, if this wasnt a military infirmary she likely would have bi-hourly visits from fans, but here? A pleasant surprise.

"Ms Kamura is here? Please, send her in then. And the mail if you dont mind, I always like to see my fans condolences dueing hard times".

[Volthawk]

Kenzaki's eyes narrow as Alphie says the word 'classified'. That meant two things: First, that he was right, there was something more to this, that Alia has more secrets than it lets on. Second, that they didn't think he needed to know - no surprise there, and although he tended towards falling in line, this wild have to be an exception.

Taking a breath and considering his words, Kenzaki decides to just put what he knows out there.

"I've seen and heard quite a few things to give me cause for concern. First, the dance. I'm not sure what Rose has told you yet, but I saw another Alia there - an exact duplicate, just with different clothes and personality. She looked at me, smiled and disappeared - something she did filled my vision with...Static and then she was gone. I asked Alia about it, and she made references to twins that acted as some kind of replacement and became her. Then the zombies attacked.

I told Rose about the other Alia and she reacted...unlike I expected. You'd think a copy of a pilot running around would be an alarming priority, but apparently not. First she said we'd talk when we got back to base, then it got delayed past the mission, and now we're here. Speaking of the battle, I'm sure you heard all that was said. She said she hates humans, talked like she was a Scythe rather than a human. I know she has her quirks, but how can I trust and fight for humanity with her if she hates us? If given the choice between the Scythes - weapons and tools at best and threats at worst - and us - her fellow pilots, who rely on her to fight with the team - I can't say she wouldn't throw one of us under the bus to save some repairable damage to the Scythes. Is she even human?"

He pauses, letting everything said soak in."You can see why I want to know more, surely. I'd appreciate anything you have that can make me feel better."

[fibericon]

Yuuta stares at his blank page for a time. The internal dialog was dulled now that he was actually communicating with someone, however disjointed it might be. He really wanted to tell her that. There was no way she knew how much it meant to him to be able to convey an idea to someone and not have it misunderstood.

But he didn't understand the psychology himself, which frustrated him. Psychology was just applied chemistry. Rote memorization was all he could accomplish with psychology, but he thought he maybe had some clue of how to proceed. He writes on the page, large and clearly separated:

ID

EGO

SUPER-EGO

He furrows his brow and hovers his pencil over each for a bit, then circles "super-ego" repeatedly, then taps it with the pencil a few times.

"Yells at me."

He quickly puts up his hand, palm toward her, to dissuade her from reacting immediately to partial information. It takes a few tries for him to continue, opening and closing his mouth quietly a few times first. Finally, he takes a deep breath and holds it, closing his eyes briefly. He opens them and forces out another statement.

"When. You're. Not. Here."

A quiet, terrified stare follows. This is the furthest he's ever put himself out there, and without the internal dialog screaming at him, he doesn't even know why he did it or if it was a good idea.

[Vrock_Summoner]

Alphie listens intently as Kenzaki speaks, seeming to soak it all in with a detached, scientific curiosity. When he finishes, she nods thoughtfully and pulls out a piece of paper sticking out from her notebook and a pen from the supply cabinet, handing them to Kenzaki.

It’s a fairly simple classification document for him to clarify that he’s aware he’ll be heavily disciplined if this information is shared to anyone not at “tertiary” clearance or higher, which he’d recognize as the level the primary bridge personnel and members of the main Scythe development team are at. The only people (that you know of) at higher clearance levels than them are the associated CRISIS generals, Baki, Alphie herself, END’s representatives, and, of course, Rose. You’d also see an addendum of allowance to discuss it with other pilots who have been cleared under similar restriction, which at this point are exclusively Alia and Kenichi.

As you sign it and hand it back, she looks it over, nods again and begins to speak.

”Due to what you’ve already seen, you probably surmised that the Alia you know isn’t wholly normal.” She flips through her notebook quickly, seeming to look for a particular page. “Like most of you, she has no living relatives. However, unlike the rest of you, she’s more or less been here her entire life. She’s the first of only two successes - at least, that I’m aware of - in a CRISIS project just preceding the founding of the Neverdeath Academy to create artificial humans. The second success is another of your fellow pilots, Kenichi, for whom the same things apply.

“Both of them are human, in all biological respects, but their minds formed incompletely, Alia’s far moreso than Kenichi’s, and so much of their mental processing had to be supplemented through experimental neurocybernetics. Kenichi acclimated well enough, and seems to be an upstanding - if emotionally stunted - young man. Alia, however, seems to entirely lack a sense of identity as a human being. She’s by no means an emotionless robot or anything of the sort... But she seems to have a flipped empathetic perspective between objects and other human beings. It’s hard to describe to someone who hasn’t been interacting with her for years, but so far she’s only shown the ability to develop emotional attachments with people akin to what you’d imagine an intelligent tool or toy to develop with the person who uses or plays with and maintains it.

“None of that should reflect poorly on her, though. Once you get to know her, it turns out she’s a very compassionate girl, just in a way most people would find hard to comprehend. And I still believe she has the potential to develop more empathetic understanding with other people, she just hasn’t had many people treat her as anything more than the doll she sees herself as. So I hope you won’t be too hard on her, and will give her a second chance to show that she really is a good kid.”

Alphie clears her throat and pauses for a few seconds to allow Kenzaki to parse everything he’s just heard, then continues.

“As for her twins, that’s a simple matter. As an artificial human, she has a number of pre-prepped bodies in storage. They’re connected through a sort of mental data cloud, which allows us to store her memories to transfer to a backup body, but comes with the drawback that only one of them can be active at a time. Kenichi has a similar system in place.

“I don’t have any information on the second Alia you saw, unfortunately. I’ll have to check the backups to see if one’s gone missing, but even that wouldn’t explain how it might animate on its own or the strange static occurrence you witnessed. In light of the timing relative to the zombie attack and the recent Xibalban’s revealed possession ability, it might be possible that the same Xibalban or another one was responsible, but that hypothesis is both unsubstantiated and at this time untestable.”

She closes her eyes and releases a sigh (of relief?), then smiles half-heartedly and signals that she’s finished speaking, stopping to allow Kenzaki to gather his thoughts.

The nurse nods and excuses herself to bring them. A minute later, the nurse and Lira return, the nurse balancing a stack of letters awkwardly in one hand and carrying a small box in the other. She drops them off on your side table and excuses herself while Lira stands in the corner and fidgets with her hands, waiting only a brief moment after they’re given privacy to run over and sit on the bed by Haru (without asking, of course).

“You’re okay, you’re okay!” She excitedly stammers out, clearly making no effort to compose herself. “You did it! You won like you said!” She seems like she’s about to throw herself into hugging you, but just manages to control herself enough to not.

Alphie nods understandingly. ”It almost feels like you’re arguing with another, more condescending version of yourself at all times, doesn’t it? It’s debilitating because something you can’t escape from is constantly criticizing every part of yourself, and so loudly it drowns the rest of the world out. I have the same issue, actually, though I doubt mine has ever been as severe.” She pauses for a second. “Not in a long time, anyway.” She offers him a clean sheet. ”I won’t pressure you, Yuuta, but if you’d like, I can set you up with someone who can help you, once you’re discharged from the hospital.”

[Volthawk]

Kenzaki just sits there for a few minutes, digesting the information. He can't help a smile creeping onto his face as he whispers "I was right" to himself. He then looks back to Alphie to respond with his thoughts.

"That...explains it, yes. Interesting, I suppose the science behind it is a bit beyond my level, huh. As for Alia...I get it, I'll keep that in mind, even if she probably hates me. The important thing is that she's not a risk to the others, or me. On that note, it's fair to assume our Scythes will be in risk of subversion again, and that time disabling one may be necessary. How do you suggest we...raise the issue with her? I'm not expecting her to do it, or like it, but still just...some way of making it easier than last time. We were lucky she was out of the fight before we had to fire on Fury again.

As for the other Alia, I've been assuming it's Xibalban related. As I said, Rose was alerted at the time, so maybe she's doing something about it. I guess you would've known in that case, though."

After a brief pause, he's hit with another thought. "So what's the story with Alia and Rose? It can't just be because of her origin, Kenichi didn't get it quite as bad." As soon as he says it, he realises he's probably not getting an answer to this one.

[Muja]

Haruka winced to herself, her personal space invaded so quickly with no time to compose herself. Such was life, however, so the girl pulled her persona back together with a fresh smile. Just another performance for a fan. A fan with connections. A fan that was pretty cute to boot.

"Of course I did Lira.
I always keep my word, especially when it comes to saving the day and making others smile" Haru began, touching the other girl on her shoulder. "I'm glad that you are the first person I got to see since I've been here. I appreciate that you worried for little ol me".

[fibericon]

Ah. Being ushered off to someone else. Of course. Story of my life. This time was supposed to be different, but it ended up being just another failure to communicate. Actually, that's not true, is it? No, the communication worked - she just didn't want to deal with what it meant.

"Okay."

No! This is not okay! Why would you say that, Yuuta?! You know what's going to happen, don't you? They're going to sit you in some office and expect you to lay back on a sofa and say, "I think it all started when my mother hit me with a paddle" or some other such trite nonsense. But you're not going to do that, are you? No, you're going to sweat and scribble out another jumble of math. Then the psychiatrist is going to jot down, "Delusions of genius, becomes frustrated when others don't understand his notes." Then they'll put you on barbitone, because normal people can't recognize electromagnetic wave equations at a glance, you freak.

No psychologist has ever prescribed barbitone. Really? You're going with absolutes now? For shame. You're better than that, Yuuta. Because all it takes to prove your entire statement wrong is one exception. And you just might be that exception. After all, you're special. What a waste - a genius mind trapped in your worthless personality. You could cure cancer, or end world hunger, or develop the next breakthrough in energy. Well, not you, but someone who isn't completely worthless using your intellect.

Stop it! Stop it stop it stop it! No, never. You were so desperate to get rid of the voice of reason that you went and opened up to the wrong person, didn't you? Poor little Yuuta, just can't find compassion anywhere. Maybe it's time you learned a secret: there never will be a right person. No one wants to deal with you. You're tolerated - that's all. You're tolerated for how you can manipulate WOLs. But at least you learned something today: just because she listens doesn't mean she cares.

She does care! She's trying to help! Do you really believe that? You told her she helps you and she promptly says, "I don't want any part of that drama. Let's send Yuuta off somewhere else where he can't bother me anymore." One day, you're going to wake up in a drug addled haze, and you're going to realize that no one has ever cared about you. And you know what else? They never will.

[Vrock_Summoner]

Alphie listens intently to Kenzaki’s stream of questions, observations, and concerns. She looks off to the side a bit when Kenzaki mentions that Rose would tell her if she was up to anything. ”I wouldn’t be so sure... Rose and I aren’t even on speaking terms outside of a professional context, truth be told. I may have a similar amount of authority in the right contexts, but that doesn’t mean she’s likely to keep me up to date...” She pauses, seeming sheepish. “Oh, but look at me blather. That’s not your problem.”

“It’s worth keeping in mind that despite Alia’s verbal protestations, she still attacked the Xibalban rather than attempting to pin you to prevent your attacks on the other Scythe. As long as she keeps doing that, it shouldn’t be an issue from a tactical perspective... But it is worrying from the perspective of her emotional relationships with the rest of you.” She strokes her chin thoughtfully. “If we only had better ways of restraining the Scythes nonviolently, that would solve the issue, but... The Scythes are powerful and tenacious. Necessarily so, given their role, but it makes their difficulties all the more pronounced.”

After another few moments, she shrugs. ”The main thing I’d suggest is getting close enough to her that she trusts your decisions. Ultimately the Scythes can afford to sustain far more damage than most things and still be repaired without issue, and their job is to protect us. She might be more prone to understanding it in the sense that the Scythes would be willingly to take pain to not be turned against their purpose, though I’m not certain.”

Finally, she sighs. “And of course, if Rose orders her to attack the other Scythes, she’ll probably do it. They have an odd relationship, and not one I can speak on at any length. You could try asking Rose herself, but it’ll probably be like getting blood from a stone.”

Lira’s eyes light up. “Wow... You’re like a real hero! I always thought people like that were just fantasy!” She shakes her head, seemingly trying to compose herself. “That is... uh... Very good. You did your job well. I’m sure everyone will be very proud.” She looks over to the stack of mail. “You certainly got a bigger reception than I’ve ever seen over being in the hospital...”

Alphie seems to catch Yuuta staring off silently and gently touches his hand. “That doesn’t mean I’m going anywhere,” she says simply, with a reassuring smile. After a few quiet moments between them, she looks over to the padlocked supply cabinet. “And how rude. You tried to enjoy yourself here and they treat you like a caged pet. Except without the toy or bone to try and amuse yourself with. Would you like me to bring you anything?” She looks back at him. “Or I can just keep you company for a while. I’m fine with whatever you want.”

[fibericon]

Yuuta snaps back out of his own head when Alphie took his hand, looking wide-eyed at her. He breaks eye contact and furrows his brow, looking a little confused. He must have said all of that out loud - it was the only explanation. That usually only happens when he gets worked up, or falsely accused of nonsense. He was still angry about being blamed for the Tower of Babel.

The mention of the supply closet distracted him for a few seconds, but he quickly fell back on worrying. Even if he didn't realize he was doing it at the time, he always realized after the fact that he'd thought out loud. But sometimes he was told. Ah. That's the problem. Without his inner voice being active, he was uninformed.

Should he apologize? Would that be weird? Nothing. No response. No way to bounce ideas. He did say some mean things about her while thinking out loud. If he did think out loud. Was it normal to be able to know what someone was thinking at a glance? How do you keep anything private? Does she know from experience? She described something like this. Maybe... hmm.

He took a deep breath and sighed, then forced a smile. It wasn't completely mirthless, but it felt out of place. It was observed behavior. People smile in conversations, right? When the other person is nice, at least.

Looking over at the supply closet, he says sheepishly, "An eagle." The mental image of the syringes wrapped around a jar and sticking out like feathers, held in place by ace bandage, made him grin genuinely, almost laughing as he adds, "Caw!"

He splays the fingers of his free hand when he offers the onomatopoeia. For a brief second, he wished he'd had a phone to take a picture of it, but then remembered why he didn't have a phone. He thought back to a class project. "I'll call you later," the other boy had said, "What's your number?" Ha! You'll call me never! Because I don't have a phone number! Yes, no camera was a drawback, but there were too many upsides to being incommunicado. Hmm, wait. You don't need a phone for a camera...

[Volthawk]

Taking in Alphie's thoughts, Kenzaki sighs and leans back, thinking. "That'll be hard, getting her to follow calls like that. I'll give it a try, I guess. If nothing else, I'd rather she gets on with me rather than hates me, I guess..."

He trails off and looks out of the window as he thinks. "Putting her aside for a moment, who knows about all this? When END comes for me, should I keep it from them, or can I mention it if it comes up? I assume I can't tell the other pilots without an okay from someone of high enough rank, right?"

[Vrock_Summoner]

”The END higher-ups are aware of everything I just told you, and probably a lot more.” She sighs. “And yes, Rose wants to keep the information contained as much as reasonably possible. Ostensibly for fear of one of you taking it badly and either going public with the info or causing difficulties working together with the two of them. But, on that note, it probably won’t stay hidden much longer if she’s got a clone running around on its own right now. So you probably just have to be patient about it if you want to talk to them about everything.”

Alphie chuckles a bit, continuing to smile at Yuuta. ”That sounds like quite a project.” She seems to think for a moment, then gets an idea. “Would you mind if I brought you some stuff and watched you build for a bit? I’d love to see what you come up with.”

[Muja]

"Yes well...the blessings of being famous i guess", Haru replied as she sorted through the mail she had recieved. Hopefully there was something interesting in there, and not more love letters.

"You can read some if you like. Sometimes i get ones from kids. Thise are my favorite"

[Vrock_Summoner]

Most of the letters are from students and NDA faculty - they’re the only ones who’d have the opportunity to bypass your normal fan mail system to get a message directly to the medical ward, after all. They’re pretty generic well wishes from all age groups, for the most part.

Once the mail is mostly sorted, Lira excitedly goes for the box. “Forget the cheesy letters, somebody sent a gift!” She says energetically. “Let’s see it!” Without waiting for the go ahead, she strips off the tape holding the package shut and flips it open, sorting through some packaging paper with a childish grin on her face. “Now what have we-“ She pauses, looking perplexed for a few seconds, then her face goes ashy pale. Her lip quivers for a few seconds before she throws the box to the side and runs over to the sink to puke. The box is left on its side on the bed from being tossed. The contents are clearly visible once Haru chooses to look.

There’s a fleshy, slightly wet heart attached to an intricate system of wires with a battery at the bottom. As you look at the heart, it quickly becomes obvious that it’s pulsating... As if it were still beating in someone’s chest. Pinned under the heart is a brief note: “Every time I see you succeed, you steal my heart all over again”

[fibericon]

Yuuta brightens up at the mention of more building supplies. It had been a rather long time since someone actually wanted him to build. At the time, he was given wooden blocks for it, which were only good for making piles of wooden blocks. They were all flat and evenly shaped. Where's the challenge? Such a lack of imagination!

"Okay!"

Going out on a limb, finding something new to create with what you have, this is what defines humanity. Discovery was such an ingrained part of everyone. It clearly manifested differently in others, but their inability to grasp why it was important to him baffled him.

[Vrock_Summoner]

Alphie pops in and out to check on Alia and Kenichi a couple of times throughout the early night, but otherwise stays with Yuuta until he falls asleep.

The Next Morning

Rose, Alphie, and an older, suit-wearing bald man with bushy grey full beard and moustache invite all the other pilots (who are pretty much in fine physical condition now, though Kenichi is probably groggy) to Alia’s room. Any of you who care to pay attention will notice that Alphie’s right eye is swollen shut and red with inflammation. Rose, in turn, has visible bags under her eyes.

Once all are gathered, Rose will speak briskly while the others remain quiet, though Alphie’s expression betrays some inner turmoil. The bushy-bearded man waits calmly.

”All of you have been cleared to cease medical treatment at your own discretion, as no physical contamination has been found and all immediately life-threatening ailments have been repaired. In interest of identifying any potentially lingering mental effects, pilots Kenzaki Souji and Seiko Akagi will undergo psychological evaluation prior to release. At the combined request of the Head Scientist and Director of Medical Staff, upon completion of your evaluation, Mr. Souji, please remain with Ms. Res to keep watch over her and to help transport her if she chooses to relinquish herself from medical assistance during the day and to make sure she returns by night. By necessity, therefore, Ms. Res and Ms. Akagi, please remain in here under the Head Scientist’s supervision until both pilots’ evaluations are complete. The rest of you are dismissed. Mr. Souji, please follow the psychologist and I.”

Rose and the psychologist lead Kenzaki to the psychological evaluation room. Rose oversees things while the psychologist goes through a variety of questions. Many of them are confusing or indirect, and you find yourself thrown off or uncertain how to answer on many occasions.

In an hour, Kenzaki is set free, and Rose and the psychologist return for Seiko, guiding her to the plain examination room as well.

The psychologist indicates for you to suit down in a chair and sits down in one facing across from it, while Rose stands and watches from a corner of the room behind Seiko.

The psychologist smiles and nods to Seiko. “Akagi, for the purposes of this examination, please refer to me as Doctor, and I’ll refer to you as Akagi. This shouldn’t take too long, so I’d like you to relax and answer all questions promptly and honestly. Shall we begin?”

Would you like to do this over post simultaneously with other RP, or more quickly but personally time-consumingly over PM?

What would everyone else like to do?

[Volthawk]

Kenzaki stays pretty quiet during Rose's instructions, although he keeps observant, noting the conditions of the adults with some interest. The order to stay with Alia causes a reaction, as he looks to Alphie and raises an eyebrow, wondering if this was her doing (he also wonders whether her eye is related). In any case, he nods in response to his instructions, and goes with the psychologist without complaint.

He leaves a little unsure but feeling like it overall went alright - in any case, he knows he's fine, and surely someone as perceptive and logical as he would know when he has a problem, right? As he approaches Alia again, he promptly puts those thoughts and concerns aside and focuses once again on how to fix this situation, taking a seat by her wheelchair. It's a good minute or so before he speaks. "We need to talk about the battle...what was said and done. I've learnt a bit more about you, where you're from and how you think, and I can see now why things went they the way they did. I'm sorry about the argument, okay? How things went in general, really. We're going to be around each other a lot now the Xibalbans seem to be a threat again, and I'd rather work with friends than enemies, so...can we try to sort things out?" He takes a breath after all that, still not sure if he's going about this well, before grinning weakly. "Anyway, looks like I'm pushing you wherever you want to go. Got anywhere in mind? The Scythes?"

[fibericon]

Yuuta's building that night left him mentally exhausted. There were just so many options. Alphie could have told him in simple, non-equivocal language that she was manipulating him to fall asleep, and he would have gleefully carried on anyway. The creations were, of course, unrecognizable without context. He eventually crawled into bed, and was out like a light.

The following day, Yuuta barely heard what was said. It wasn't about him anyway, so it wasn't any of his business. More importantly, something happened to Alphie. Did someone hit her? There's no bruising. Conjunctivitis? No, that's highly contagious. She's not so irresponsible as to bring it here. If the blow was recent, that would explain no bruising - bruising takes time. What are you going to do, Yuuta?

Ah, now that's the million dollar question, isn't it? If it was me who got hit, nothing. It's not you, though. You stand up for the women in your life, don't you, Yuuta? Like Seiko, like Alia. They didn't need my help. Maybe, maybe not. Seiko probably could have taken care of herself, but Alphie clearly can't. How would I know that? Maybe the other guy got sent to the hospital. Don't be stupid, Yuuta. She's a nerd. Like you, except better in every conceivable way. If someone punched you in the face, do you really think they'd end up in the hospital? It's not like autism is contagious.

Rude. Oh ho, what's this? Growing a spine, are we? Well, good on you! Now, get out there and do something useful. Step one is figuring out who hit her. Step two varies, but the punchline is, it never happens again. That's... a bit final. Yes, exactly. It's final. You can't hurt someone when you're dead. There must be another way. If you think you can manage a realistic threat of death, with no way for them to retaliate or escape, then maybe. It seems... inefficient to not just get it over with, don't you think?

When given a moment, Yuuta approaches Alphie. He gestures toward her right eye, then his own - not quite grasping the reason that people would gesture to their own left to mimic a mirror.

"Who?"

[Vrock_Summoner]

”Oh, Mr. Mori, don’t worry about that. I had a little run-in with a pole is all,” she reassures Yuuta quickly, rubbing her hand behind her head sheepishly. “I often get so wrapped up in my thoughts that I forget to pay attention to what’s around me.”

From up close, you see that as she drops her hand from her head, her index finger briefly lingers straightened over her lips in a traditional “shush” symbol while pointedly, but without turning her head, glancing over the guards and other pilots in the room.

[fibericon]

...Mr. Mori? Yuuta, she's basically screaming for help. I'm aware. But I'm also aware I can't do anything right now - nothing useful, anyway. I'll need to find out later. Not safe here. You need to act. Whelp, I guess we're both screwed, then. Probably should have not asked in a room full of people. Gee, you think? No need to get snarky. There's a problem to be solved.

"Oh. Um... me too."

Oscar award right there, Yuuta. Of course, how would anyone know you're lying? It's not like you have any ability to express emotion. Wooden tone is usually the dead giveaway that someone's lying. That and inability to maintain eye contact. But that's just how you are all the time.

[Arayl]

Kenichi is feeling groggy from the last of the morphine still left in his system, but is still able to make his way to Alia's room when he's summoned to go there, while Rose is telling the pilots what they were to do that day he would occasionally yawn. When she'd finished speaking and left with Kenzaki, he would notice that Alphie had a swollen right eye that she didn't have the last time she came to see him. Upon seeing that Yuuta was approaching her, he would leave the room and head to his room to sleep off the grogginess he was feeling.

[Elfbird]

Alia was summoned out of the room, Rose handling her wheelchair in Kenzaki's stead. Not fifteen minutes later, she's wheeled back in looking terribly depressed - like she just found out the love letter she got was a joke and her heartfelt reply delivered right to somebody's pet gerbil.


"I've learnt a bit more about you, where you're from and how you think, and I can see now why things went they the way they did. I'm sorry about the argument, okay?"

While hearing this line, Alia raises her eyes - brilliant blue, slightly incredulous, muted by heavy dark circles and bloodshot whites - to meet Kenzaki's. She waits for him to finish before speaking.

"First Fury's pilot, then the doctors, now Dead End's pilot... Why are they - why are you suddenly so interested in me? I haven't changed, you know, unless you think radiation poisoning magically made me human. It didn't.

"I still can't accept that you shot Fury so callously. ...But if this arrangement is an order, there's no point protesting. Just be gentle; this wheelchair is old, and even if I can be repaired, it most likely wouldn't be if it broke. That might even cause me mental damage."
She sighs and relaxes ever so slightly, having gotten in her sarcastic jabs.
"...Yes, let us visit Sakuya and the others. I'm glad it's this soon, considering how poor the mail service here is. Let's ask if there are any books along the way who want to join us. I'm sure you'll be bored, waiting for me to talk with Sakuya and Fury, while Dead End continues to recover. Alone."

She's long done making eye contact with Kenzaki, yet it's pointed in a way that still acknowledges his presence rather than passes over it. Even Alia doesn't understand why this is happening; it's as if a candelabra started acting human, but reversed. A human acting candelabraic?
If pressed, she might say that it's because by making Dead End shoot Fury, he associated himself with - and showed himself as a threat to -
several people she cares deeply about. But that may be mere correlation, not causation. Perhaps there's something there that wasn't there before?

[Vrock_Summoner]

Rose briefly wheels Alia away during Seiko’s hour, but brings her back within a couple of minutes. However, only about two minutes after Rose walks away again, the guards seem to hear something on their intercoms, and an alert starts blaring through the hospital loudspeakers. Any pilots who remain in the room by this point in time (it’s been almost two hours since dismissal, so I’m guessing it’s just Kenzaki and Alia, but maybe Yuuta stuck around) are quickly ushered out the door and towards the medical ward exit by the soldiers, while the loudspeaker demands everyone be locked into their rooms for a “potential high-level security risk investigation.” Seiko does not join you. When you get out the door and back into the main hall of that floor, you’re escorted to the pilot exit elevator. They push you in rather unceremoniously and send the elevator towards the surface, telling whoever’s present not to return to base until nighttime.

The elevator ride lasts about fifteen minutes. It is probably awkward.

Syless will bring an edited account of what transpired into a post soon, but this will be for player enjoyment - your characters have no idea what the hell is going on.

[Syless]

The psychologist is marking things down as he goes through the initial questioning, though he betrays no particular emotions at anything said. He seems thoughtful for a moment, then asks, “So, what happened during your incident in the Entry Plug, after your Scythe’s control was taken from you?”

Seiko relaxes in the available seating, pausing before she answers. "Before or after ejection?" Her choice of words belie her intent to avoid topics.

“Both. And how each part made you feel at the time.”

Another pause. "An image. An illusion. Designed to manipulate me. It made me happy, but... I know it's fake." Her internal voice is screaming. It's not fake it's not fake it's real she's real "After... it was dark. Alone. I knew better than to leave, I knew that I wouldn't be found easily if I did... but I didn't like it there. I had nothing to do but ruminate on my failure. It was difficult. Trying. But I held together enough to be here now."

He takes some further notes. “You say it made you happy. It’s hard to tell from what little the radio picked up, but fellow pilot Ms. Res appeared to have something to do with your hallucination? Can you tell me about your feelings towards her?”

"...Ms. Res is important. She's arguably the most skilled pilot here- from what I understand, she very nearly killed the Xibalban herself, and might have had R-B4 not been subverted. I hold her in immense esteem."

“So your feelings for her are entirely professional, then?”

"We would function better as a unit if we knew each other personally. But yes."

“Interesting.” More notes. “Could you tell me what inspired you to create the various drawings and scratch lines in the various papers discarded as waste from your room? It appears you scratched something out quite a number of times. Can you tell me what that was about?”

"...just trying to remember my dreams."

“And what have you managed to recollect from your recent dreams?”

Seiko shakes her head. "Not much. A face and a name, but I can't remember them."

“Very interesting indeed.” He looks at his watch. “I don’t think we’ll need to be here much longer. Oh, but Operations Director Rose... Could you do me the favor of bringing Ms. Res in here from her room? I just need her briefly.” Rose nods and exits. Seiko has a moment with her thoughts.

what what WHAT she's coming here she's being brought here oh god what did I do

Rose wheels in Alia on her wheelchair, depositing her next to the psychologist, who smiles at her warmly. “Ms. Res! I apologize for disturbing your rest. I’ll make it quick for you.I just need to ask you a couple of quick questions. Can you tell me your relationship to the other pilot in the room?”

Seiko seems like she's almost forcing herself to not turn and stare at Alia.

Alia looks up when addressed, then slowly over to Seiko. She stares for a long moment. "...is that... Fury's pilot, maybe?"

“That’s correct. From your tone, that would suggest you don’t know her well?”

Alia shakes her head.

Seiko struggles to not display visible distress at Alia's dismissiveness, one hand pressing into her side and the other clenching into a fist.

“Very good. Now, I’d like you to take a look at something.” He pulls out a piece of paper with textile resemblance to an old photograph. “This is a visual reconstruction of something you received yesterday. Do you remember the original?” Upon viewing, it is easy to make out as a recreation of the note Alphie delivered.

Alia nods at the paper, then leans closer to examine it. "Hello there. Are you... like me, then? I wonder if that means your original is dead already..." She blinks away a tear, then remembers to answer the human's question. "That's a clone of the letter Sakuya wrote to me."

S-sakuya?

“I see. And I would presume Sakuya is not a nickname for the other pilot in the room?”

"Sakuya is my Scythe, silly."

Seiko is frozen in her seat, somewhat pale. no no no no NO the note was from me the note was FOR me

He seems briefly stunned, but recollects himself quickly. “I see. So you were definitely not aware, then, that the original note was, in fact, produced by the other pilot in the room, at the time you composed your reply to it?”

Alia blinks incredulously, then begins to frown and her heart rate rises as she parses. "That... no... wh-what's going on here?" She unconsciously squares her shoulders, wondering if this isn't some new punishment Rose devised for her.

“Pilot Seiko Akagi composed that note for you.” He looks over at Seiko. “Apparently entirely without your knowledge.”

I don't- it doesn't- it was- Seiko's breathing becomes heavy and tears fill her eyes. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. It wasn't how any of this was supposed to go. "I thought..."

Alia clutches the arm of her wheelchair for emotional support, eyes darting about the floor as she tries to process the implications of all this.

“Final question for you then, before you’ll be done, Ms. Res. How does knowing she wrote that make you feel? Are you fearful of her? Angry at her deceit? Or would you consider this acceptable?”

"I-I, don't understand... Maybe if I..." She musters the strength to push herself toward Seiko, reaching out to lightly pinch the fringe of her shirt, seeking some kind of connection she can relate to the circumstance. A deep breath... "I... don't understand why. Was the doctor wrong to give that to me? If it wasn't Sakuya, then... none of my friends could write letters on their own. Why a human? ...Sorry, I guess you don't have much to do with this either. It was probably... all a mistake." She lets her arm drop, releasing the cloth, staring into the middle distance somewhere around Seiko's thigh.

“I see. A mistake.” He seems to struggle to maintain his even expression. “I apologize if learning this so suddenly was stressful for you in your current state. You may return to your room.” Rose seems hesitant to leave, but acquiesces and rolls Alia out quickly.

Seiko venemously spits words at the psychologist, reaching down towards her thigh instinctively- finding it bare, her razor still missing. "How... how DARE you."

He looks her intently in the eye. “How dare I what?” He asks evenly as an inquisitive statement, not in a goading tone- though Seiko is not in the best mindset to recognize that.

Seiko's eyes scan the room for anything potentially dangerous. "You know what, you..." Seiko spits out a few profanities.

“I have no idea. Please enlighten me.”

Seiko stares at her nails. Filed, not sharpened. "That wasn't your place to say anything. You don't know a damn thing. Just shut up. Shut up shut up shut UP!"

“I’m afraid my place is to say a lot of things and ask a lot of questions. Why? Did she not have a right to know?”

"Your place..." your place is on the ground screaming in terror and agony "She would have known. When she was ready."

“You mean when you were ready. And you’d be happier deceiving her until then. Playing a game of make believe that she was talking to you - that she might even love you back - all without her consent. Look how much you hurt her.”

"You don't know a thing. You and your... assumptions, making up a story that tells you what you want to hear. Do you know how -your- story ends?"

“We’re not talking about me right now. And why would I lie? Unlike you, I’ve had nothing to gain from being untruthful this whole time.”

"Because you want me gone. You decided you hate me, and you want me out. You want me away. You want her away from me. Don't poison the air with any more of your lies!" Seiko rushes at the psychologist, trying to crush his windpipe to stop him from speaking.

Seiko manages to catch the psychologist off-guard and knock him backwards off his chair, the psychologist landing on his back with a satisfying but fairly muted thud and Seiko’s knees crashing down on his arms, pinning him while she starts cutting off his air and blood passages. He seems to have a lot of his strength sapped - he’s a fairly fragile older man - but he makes one last struggle at escaping her grasp. He fails pitifully.

She continues to strangle him long after he’s lost consciousness. She feels like she can feel his life draining into your hands. It’s like ecstasy. She's so caught up in the sensation that you don’t hear the door opening behind her. She does, however, feel the steel-toed boot planted into her temple, sending her sprawling sideways off the psychologist. As she hazily looks up to try and figure out what the hell hit her, she sees Rose standing there imperiously, glaring at her darkly.

Inevitable. Seiko is Seiko, Rose is Rose. But that fool... he lost. Without question. Despite her daze, the smile doesn't fade from Seiko's face.

Rose sees Seiko make no effort to get up and shakes her head disgustedly. She kneels down and checks the psychologist’s breathing while keeping her eyes on Seiko the whole time. After a moment, she pulls out an intercom piece and clicks it into her ear. “Get the pilots outside and put the building on lockdown with everyone in their rooms. Call it an emergency risk procedure. Then come to the room I direct to privately take Ms. Akagi into custody. Bring a body disposal team.”

Seiko stays motionless. "I can... always fight."

[Volthawk]

Kenzaki just raises an eyebrow and looks confused at Alia's first statement. "Well it's not like this is out of nowhere. The dance, the other you running around, then the argument...it piqued my curiosity, and from what Alphie told me I was right about it. Besides, what are you on about? You're human. Sure, you were produced artificially and given cybernetics, but you're still a human being. If you're going off on some thing about being fundamentally different, you can just stop right now. I'm treating you like another person whether you like it or not. "

He notices Alia's sarcasm and digs, but brushes them off - if anything, it was encouraging. Before he can really get them going, however, they're all all ushered into the lift. He again takes a short while to respond, distracted by whatever is happening - Seiko's absent, worrying. Focusing back on Alia, he speaks carefully, still figuring out where he's going as he talks.

"Can you imagine something for me? Picture a machine, powerful and durable, built so that damage can easily be repaired and won't impede it much. However, part of that machine is the electronics and the like, vital to its operation but vulnerable to damage and harder to fix and replace. Now...you'd naturally prefer it to not be damaged at all, but if it had to be, the mechanical parts would be better than the electronics, right?"

[Vrock_Summoner]

The soldiers have you brought to a solitary confinement cell on another floor, throwing you in and locking the door without a word. You’re still quite sluggish from the kick to the head, so although it’s a bit difficult with the lights so bright, you find yourself falling asleep rather quickly in spite of your potential emotional state.

Then you’re awake.

...

You feel pretty disoriented and have a throbbing headache leftover. You have no idea what time it is. Or how long you slept. Or how long you’re going to be in here. Just a boring, brightly-lit room. Looking over by the door, you see that while you slept, you had a meal slid to you. It’s the only thing in the room with any color. No utensils - it’s not particularly finger food, but apparently you’ll have to make do. There’s not even a mirror. Just a sink, a toilet, a very small shower, a white bar of soap, white towel, white toothbrush, a few rolls of toilet paper. It’s so blank. Almost aggravatingly so.

You have time for all your thoughts. In fact, you could think them all twice. Three times. Dancing through your head, over and over. Maybe you scream. You aren’t quite sure. Your throat hurts. No cups. How rude. You drink from the sink. At least it’s filtered.

You fall asleep again. And again. And again. Nothing else to do except walk around counting your steps. Maybe playing with toilet paper. Working out. Showering off the sweat. Sleeping. Sleeping. Sleeping until you’re staring at the ceiling because you can’t sleep anymore, staring at the ceiling until your eyes hurt and you sleep again. The only outside sensation you ever get is the taste and color of food. Food is good. Hunger gives you an idea of time. Sometimes you like to stare at your food instead of eating it. Time doesn’t exist anyway, it’s not like it’ll go bad.

Counting, counting. Counting pushups, pull-ups on the shower curtain bar (it is quite sturdy), jumping jacks, drops of water because you left the sink faucet ever so slightly on just to hear something. Maybe you screamed again. It’s hard to tell. You’re starting to see colors where there aren’t any. All you dream about is this place. Occasionally Alia’s face, but mostly this place. It’s extremely disorienting. You’re losing track of which things you’ve actually done and which were just illusions of your imagination. Maybe you haven’t done anything since you got here.

How long have you been here? Weeks? Months? No, you’d notice physical changes if it had been months. Or would you? You only have your own company. And sometimes Alia’s. She shows up sometimes. Her hair’s as white as everything else in the room. You two cuddle. She laughs at you silently. She never makes a sound for you to hear. Even when you beat her to death with a tray two or three times. She forgives you each time, though. What’s a couple raindrops between lovers anyway?

More pushups. You wonder if you’re strong enough to shatter concrete yet. Maybe you tried. That might explain why your knuckles hurt. But it might not. Maybe you’re hallucinating again.

Sleeping. So much sleeping. It feels like you sleep eight hours each time. And you’ve fallen asleep dozens of times. Unless you’re only asleep for the first time and you’ve just been dreaming of this place ever since, including all the other times you’ve fallen asleep. You’re not sure anymore.

The world is getting colorful again. That’s Seiko’s cue for more exercise. It seems to make everything right. And the shower is quite relaxing. Why does she turn the water off, anyway? She spends so much time cleaning off after workouts she may as well just live in the shower...

Beep

A real sound.

Seiko is lying down at the time. Apparently on the floor. When did that happen? Maybe she’d been working out and forgot. That’d be embarrassing.

The door of the solitary unit slides open. Rose throws a bag of Seiko’s clothes and her straight razor on the ground next to her. ”Get up. Change. You’re done in here.” The first voice you’ve heard in what feels like so long.

[Elfbird]

"I see... you can talk to me like this because you're pretending I'm human. Then, maybe..." Alia nods to herself. "I'll try hard too." If she imagines Dead End's pilot as the living coat rack from this year's Beauty and the Beast...

She's silent during the sudden commotion, taking the time to rest. Human problems.

Alia tries to follow Coatzaki's imagery, though by the end she seems quite puzzled, his meaning lost on her. "Like a... road roller? But... cars and handguns couldn't really hurt it, and a Xibalban or N2 warhead would tear it apart completely, mechanical and electronic parts both. Safe or dead, there's not really a middle ground there, is there?"

[Volthawk]

Kenzaki can't help but grin as Alia completely misses the point of his analogy. "Well I'm not pretending, but anyway. I was making a comparison to the situation with Scythes and pilots. The Scythes are the machine - powerful and tough, built to withstand insane punishment and just be fixed later - I mean, that's their purpose, to protect everyone regardless of the damage they take. One can lose all its arms and legs and still be technically functional. It feels no fear, no pain, never tires and the worst you can do to one is temporarily defeat it and force repairs.

The electronics represent us, and the plug. We're vital to the operation of the Scythe, but vulnerable. While the Scythe feels no pain, no fear and never tires, we do, and if we fall the Scythe becomes uncontrollable and a risk to the others and the objective. Ultimately we're the weak point, particularly if there are more mind targeting Xibalbans out there - again, if that happens they're a risk to the other Scythes.

My point has never been about the value of humanity over non humans, or hating Scythes or you or anything. Of course that's not the case, the Scythes are fascinating, and you...well of course I care about you, you're part of the team. It's a simple matter that both pilot and Scythe are needed to fight the Xibalbans, and since pilots are more vulnerable, harder to help once damaged, and the main thing preventing the Scythe from injuring others, we need to protect them. The purpose of the Scythes is to take those hits so we and the rest of the world doesn't have to, as well as serving as a weapon."

He pauses for a few moments, making sure he's said his lot. "That's how I see it, anyway. That made sense, right?"

[Elfbird]

"It feels no fear, no pain, never tires and the worst you can do to one is temporarily defeat it and force repairs."
"You're wrong," Alia murmurs, but doesn't interrupt further.


"That's how I see it, anyway. That made sense, right?"
"...Scythes feel pain. That's why their pilots feel it too. The precious partners we share everything with, who lend us strength and protection; the only ones we can count on to stand beside us instead of behind us... They're not tools, not just weapons. Sakuya is not a tool. Just because they can take a shot doesn't mean it's okay to shoot them. You may as well shoot me when you like; I can be repaired or replaced even more easily than Sakuya.

"...I don't think you can care about me until you can see Dead End as a person too."

Alia closes her eyes, slowly steadying her breath. This human had always been curious about her, poking and prodding with words and hands. Something seemed different this time, but perhaps it had been another misunderstanding - just like Saku-- Seiko's letter. She lets her mind rest, tuning out the buzz of humans around her, affectionately rubbing the arm of her wheelchair.

"...It was too much to hope for, wasn't it? I fought, and now I'm an object of fascination for the humans. What's so strange about a doll doing as she's told...?"

[Volthawk]

As Kenzaki thinks through what she's said, his speech is interspersed with pauses as he thinks, trying to figure out her way of thinking and reconsidering past events. "...perhaps. I admit, I was making more assumptions than I'd like, I don't know as much as I'd like to about the Scythes. I mean, when Fury was controlled and unpiloted and got its hand blown off it didn't react, but perhaps that was because of the possession...I think I know what you mean though. When I dodged the second to last claw...Dead End wasn't moving at the speed of my reactions, it was more like...I don't know, it was my mind and connection that ordered it to move. And when the Xibalban did get me, there was...something there which made the effect worse, like...I dont know, it was also coming through the Scythe - like how I'd usually feel the pain of a physical blow, just mental. Are you suggesting that was the same thing?"

When Alia says her last statement, Kenzaki sighs, sounding a little annoyed before coming to a decision. Tapping her arm to get her attention, he looks straight at her and grins. "Two things. First, you are not just a replaceable doll, you're one of us and I'd care regardless of all this extra stuff - you fascinating me is just another aspect of things. From what I understand, you might have replacements but they're not unlimited, so have some care for yourself, would you? Second, I've decided I'm going to try to see things your way, so I can understand you and hopefully the Scythes better. I'm not giving up here so easy, okay?" As he finishes his little speech, he remembers that the others are also in the elevator and look,s around a little sheepishly. He'd forgotten about them as he really got into the conversation.

[Elfbird]

When Kenzaki taps Alia's arm, she opens her eyes and meets his. "So you do know..."
She tilts her head to the side, still staring at Kenzaki, as if trying to puzzle out something she's on the verge of grasping but can't quite understand or put to words.

"...You're strange, even for a human. Okay. What are you called?"

. . .

After hearing Kenzaki's name and whatever else he wants to add, Alia folds her arms across her stomach and once again closes her eyes.
"Kenzaki... Seiko... I'll remember those... names? Yes, names. Seiko, Kenzaki..."
She sighs, lowering her head.
"...We're not going to see Sakuya today, are we? I hope she's not too lonely..."

One more deep breath and she seems to begin drifting into sleep, though first murmuring "got... anywhere in... mind...? Fuwaaaah..."

[Syless]

Seiko had almost become comfortable in the madness and isolation when it's broken by her superior. Her superior, her mentor, a threat. She stifles a laugh as she hears Rose's voice. I knew it. I wouldn't be left forever. She still needs me. I can always fight. She stares Rose in the eye and salutes. "Yes ma'am."

She changes quickly- the first thing is naturally sheathing her razor to her thigh, before grabbing a simple outfit- cargo pants, t-shirt, and combat boots. Once she's ready, she stands at attention, waiting for Rose's next order.

[fibericon]

Yuuta allows himself to get carted away with full cooperation. In every room, every hallway, and even the elevator, he looks around intently, possibly earning a demand to hurry up (or even a shove) from the escort. Every corner, every outlet, every phone jack, every stray cable. Every alcove, every obstruction, every dimension.

What are you doing, Yuuta? This is weird, even for you. I'm thinking. If someone needs to go away, I can't just walk up and do it. "Go away"? If you're afraid to even think the word "die", you are in no way capable of killing someone. I'm very much aware that I'm not. I hate the idea. This is a disproportionate response. Is it? Consider: your ability to synch with the scythe is related to your mental state, is it not? If you're upset, it suffers. Someone threatens Alphie, they threaten your synch ratio. By extension, they threaten everyone. One poorly functioning pilot could be a failed mission. A failed mission sees a Xibalban get through and murder countless civilians. What does it matter if they know what they're doing? Whoever did this is threatening humanity. They need to die, Yuuta. Now, focus: what are you doing?

I'm attempting to mentally reconstruct the rooms I pass through. I need their dimensions, their acoustics, everything. And why are you doing that? You don't just study the target, you study the environment. But I don't know who the target is yet, so I can't study the target. I can study the environment. And what does the environment tell you? It tells me where to plant the bomb.

That revelation promptly gagged the voice in Yuuta's head, leaving him alone with his observations. Well, his observations and all the people around him. Once back in his room, he stands in the center, completely ignoring his roommate and turning slowly in a circle. He stops, cocking his head to the side, and brings his index fingers and thumbs of both hands together in a rectangle and looks through it. He begins turning again, stopping about every 15 degrees. After one full turn, he stops and rummages for his pencil and notebook, and begins a rough sketch of the inside of the room.

He stops and looks up, furrowing his brow for a moment. He opens his mouth, closes it again, and then says in disbelief, "I already own these things."

He stands up again and begins rummaging under his bed, pulling out the dusty boxes his phone and laptop were issued in. Did the phone need to be charged? Probably. What even ran on the laptop? Only one way to find out. He plugs it in and boots it up, then begins charging his phone. Once he can turn the phone on, he begins taking pictures of the room, manually constructing a panoramic image. He then plugs the phone into his laptop, downloading the pictures and labeling them. Hmm. 3d software? I could...

[Arayl]

Kenichi is startled awake by the blaring sirens and hearing the announcement over the loudspeakers heads towards the elevator that would take him to the surface. When he arrives there he finds that Kenzaki and Alia are already there. Once in the elevator he tunes out their conversation as it seems that Kenzaki is trying to get Alia to understand why he had attacked the possessed Scythe.

When Kenzaki mentions what Alphie told him about Alia and himself he begins to pay a bit more attention to the conversation between the two, glancing out the corner of his eye at Kenzaki.

I wonder why did she tell him the truth about me and Alia? What did he say to her that convinced her it would be a good idea to tell him?

Once he returned to his room Kenichi would lay on his bed mulling over the information he'd learned in the elevator and wondering why the alarm was sounded in the first place.

[Volthawk]

"...Alia?"

It doesn't take long for Kenzaki to realise that she's not just dozing, but fully asleep, leaving him with the question of what to do with her. Clearly, she's still too fatigued to spend the day doing anything, and if it's best to let her sleep she should probably do it somewhere safe and secure. The dorms were the natural answer, although since he had no idea where hers was he just takes her to the dorm he shares with Yuuta.

Once inside, he leaves her to rest and sits on his bed, reaching into a pocket and taking out an old compass which he carefully puts on a table before grabbing his laptop and starting to write, opening up a new document titled 'Alia'.

[fibericon]

By the time Kenzaki returns with Alia, Yuuta is modeling their room in a 3d application and taking notes. This is the first time Yuuta has ever used the issued laptop or phone in the seven years they've known each other. He doesn't notice them enter at first, or if he does, he makes no indication of it. There seems to be a lot of scratch notes on the legal pad next to his laptop, possibly indicating the scale of the model, based on the context.

He unplugs his phone and stands up. When he turns around, he sees Alia on the bed and freezes up.


What.
The.
****.

He backs up slowly toward the opposite wall, staring at her, then looks panicked around the room. Kenzaki is just sitting there like nothing's wrong. Is he unaware? Did he bring her here? Yuuta starts hyperventilating, glancing nervously about the room.

[Volthawk]

After some time typing, Kenzaki looks up and takes a break. It is then that he finally notices Yuuta's discomfort. He really should've anticipated this, in hindsight. He sighs as he considers what to say, and for a moment he laments how sometimes it seems like he's the only sane and adjusted one here. "It's fine, Yuuta. She fell asleep, I couldn't just leave her somewhere so I brought her here. Just ignore her, she's not doing anything other than sleeping. That's not a problem, right? We can leave if you want."

[Vrock_Summoner]

Rose watches quietly while Seiko dresses herself, then looks her up and down a few times. When she speaks, you notice in her more casual voice she has a slight southern American accent. “You’re starting to look very developed. Keep that up.”

Despite her age (which you know to be over 40, but definitely wouldn’t be able to guess from her appearance) her build is incredibly defined and muscular, like a world-champion boxer. It’s hard to see in her usual suit, but in her current attire of gym shorts and tank top (both grey), her impeccable physique is much more noticeable. It’s a wonder how she finds the time to maintain it, since you’re also pretty sure she barely ever leaves Central.

She clears her throat. “Now. I’m going to talk, and you’re going to listen. Carefully.” Her eyes seem to bore into your own, as if she has some kind of aura being focused into your brain through your eyes. Kind of reminds you of the last time a monster drilled into your head.

“I don’t give a rat’s crap about your personal life. If you love Res, fine. If you want to follow her around and pick her discarded valuables out of the trash or whatever I frankly couldn’t care less. But until the Xibalban threat is done for good, your life is not just or even primarily yours. You are potentially my most important warrior. You are also potentially a complete waste of my time and energy to care about, and you make me worry about possibilities like that when you go around breaking important rules over your personal life.

“Doing things like what you did doesn’t just piss me off. It also screws with the order I have to maintain here to make sure that when it comes down to it, we have all the tools to win. As long as you’re here, you need to prove that you are a more effective tool than what you cost me. Because there’s a good reason we use the Scythes to fight, for all their faults, rather than just dumping our money into more nukes and Rods. Precision. Scythes kill what they’re ordered without killing everything else around.

“Are you following the logic here? A Scythe - or pilot thereof - that kills things I don’t order it to is a complete waste of space.

“Like I’ve said, you have the potential to be my most important soldier bar none. But if you do anything like that again, and mess up my goddamn structure? I will send you back to hell. And sure as the sun rising in the morning, you will never see her again.”

Rose allows a moment for that to sink in, then pulls out a red collar-like device, walking over and hooking it around Seiko’s neck with a click and a beep. It’s uncomfortably tight and totally inflexible. “This is what I had to compromise to keep you from going through a lot worse. You will be monitored through that. If you screw up that badly again, it will shock you unconscious. This is sturdy enough to handle any circumstance you’re likely to incidentally come across, up to and including being shot in the neck. If you find a way to break it off, it will send a signal to inform me and the internal battery will explode. You might die. Probably not, but maybe. So don’t try it.”

She steps back and forces a smile. ”Any questions?”

Everyone else: FOUR DAY TIMESKIP

Current date: February 1

Describe what you do in broad strokes during that time.

[Syless]

Visions of Alia passed through her head. What she saw in the entry plug, what she's seen in the cell, what she's seen in between. In the end, it all comes back to her. Never see her again. In the end, that's the real threat. Her life is important, and she'd fight to defend it... but more than anything, the loss of Alia, the loss of her shining star, would be her death regardless. But the rest of it... hm. That's her language. For whatever Rose thinks of Alia... she still understands Seiko. Being her most important soldier... an achievable goal. Naturally. Something to aim for. If she becomes indispensable... well, Alia will love her, and Rose won't care. But there's still a thickness to the air. Rose's gaze has a weight to it that Seiko hasn't felt. Predatory, in her own way? But a master of her own world.

"...none at all, Ma'am. As long as Alia's not taken from me by anything less than a Xibalban... I will be your weapon." Seiko bows her head briefly. "And on the note of being a more perfect weapon... will we be discussing the fight with the other pilots? Because I have had... ample time... to think it through, and how to stop us from failing like that again."

If this is the way to prove her worth, if this will get Rose's respect and Alia's love... Seiko will walk the path. She doesn't resist the collaring in the least. She's slept worse.

[fibericon]

Yuuta takes a deep breath and nods quickly, then blurts out, "Leaving."

Ngh. He had me cornered. That was bad. Okay... photos of hallway. Photos of building. Just come back late. Very late. People don't like being in front of the camera. Can you move? I don't want you there anyway. Trying to capture the wall.

If I leave the light off, doesn't matter if she's there or not. Can't see me. Can't see her. It's fine. I need to talk to Alphie tomorrow.

Good pictures, very good. Descent is long - two hours. Not an emergency. This is fine. I shouldn't take pictures here. Against the rules. Are the rules anticipating this? No, that would be smart. Suit fillers function on brain stem alone - just enough to move around and breathe. It's just a restriction. Still, better be discreet.

Ugh. Her. In my way. Queen suit filler. Yep, there goes that phone. Disciplinary hearing in two days. Forcible removal. Expected. Two baseless days to wait for a hearing. Are phones obtainable, in general? You're joking, right Yuuta? Yes, phones are common items. Stores sell them. I should see what I need to do to get one. You need to obtain money, and buy one. Ah. A job then. See if there's an opening for grading papers - you'd be good at that. You'd be bad at nearly everything else.

Turns out plenty of your teachers could use an aide, if you can manage to talk to them. That’s usually more internship than paying job, though. You could try selling cheat sheets. Now there's a thought. Peddling. I can't do that. What, too immoral? Too interactive. Also, I think I've shown I'm not sneaky. Ha. Yes. Yes, you have. Inventory management, maybe? What, like a stockboy? Yes, that might work. Okay... I've never owned money. This is awkward. I know how much a phone is, but that doesn't help me. I don't know what money's worth.

Wait. Reference librarian? Hoo boy. Yuuta... plan this out. Write it down. Rehearse two coherent sentences. No one wants a sweaty kid handling books. "Are you looking for a reference librarian? I am good with number systems and well read." Oh good god, no. That's too much. Just mouth it to yourself for now. Go look for wanted posters. If there are none, you have to ask. Ngh. Okay, there's someone. Go for it. Okay, you should really be talking. Yuuta- "I can... work in reference." God damn it, Yuuta.

Hey, a form. You can do that. "Okay!" Huh. This is personal. This is pretty normal, Yuuta. Prior experience? Literally none. They aren't going to like that. Qualifications? Yes, what qualifies you to do this? "I know stuff" is a bad reply. "I am well read and easily learn new number systems." That might actually work. Hand it in. Try not to... be you. Relevant disabilities? "Autism". Might as well just be out with it.

Waiting. New person. Follow him. Okay. Huh. He says he knows someone like me. Picture test? Pfft. This is nothing. He's impressed. Perfect score.

Yuuta grins. He did something -right- for once. Yes, it was a strange feeling to him, but he liked it.

Next is a literature quiz. Okay, this is actually hard. Doable, but hard. I'm having a lot of fun here. Here you go, sir. Another compliment. What is the significance of 900/hour? Huh. Oh well. I like him. He's nice. Ngh. Handshake?

Yuuta looks at the man's hand, half reaching for it and half staring uncomfortably at it. After a brief moment, he reluctantly offers his own. "Sorry. Thank you." He offers a nervous smile. "You're nice."

Rose seems bored with the hearing. She doesn't take me seriously. Thinks I'm just screwing around. No replacement phone. Weekend volunteer work. It's okay. I don't take her seriously either. She's just enforcing rules she probably doesn't understand.

"Okay."

[Volthawk]

On the whole, Kenzaki's assigned role of looking after Alia was easier than expected - she was typically passive, and spent a lot of time resting, allowing him to mostly focus on his writing and research. When she was awake, he found her easy to deal with - he even found himself slightly pushing her to be a little more demanding, a bit of less of...well, an object, he supposes.

The main complication centered around one issue - cleanliness. Alia was still in a state where she needed help washing, and initially showed no concern in stripping down so Kenzaki could help, similarly to the situation in the limo, causing a similar reaction. Once Kenzaki got his focus back, he responded with an explanation of why these situation cause such reactions and the general human attitude to nudity and such. That didn't solve the problem and eventually he convinced himself that he had to do it - there weren't really any other appropriate students that actually knew her (in hindsight, Kenichi was a good option which completely slipped his mind), everyone else was down in Command and he could hardly leave her to smell in his care. Although he tried to do it as professionally as possible, he'd be lying if he said it was without reward. Overall though it mostly just reinforced the fact in his mind that there was far to go before Alia would understand all this human stuff on her own. He made sure to ask her to not mention this to Seiko if she could help it, though - he wasn't quite sure what was going on there, and she'd been nowhere to be found since they were last in Command, but something was up and Seiko was scary and dangerous enough for him to want to cover himself if he could help it.

The writing and research that took up much of his free time mostly consisted of reviewing old material - what he had access to from the assumptions and predictions about future Xibalbans, information on Scythes (what little he had) and assorted weapon specifications. To that he added what information he had on the Xibalban and the battle, as well as his scientific knowledge, producing more refined data on the enemy and the relative strength of the Scythes and their weapons. It was nothing definitive, owing to the amount of unknown and varying factors, but it was more scientifically informative than the more vague early report written from the hospital. While he was sure the Academy's people were person doing this, as well as END, he send his new report to everyone relevant, as another viewpoint or a way to show his worth if nothing else. This included Alphie, who he kept in the loop both about the work and the status of things with Alia.

Asides from that, of course, the 'Alia' document got some attention, gathering together his thoughts, plans and ideas and recording notable events and information. Compared to his other documents and reports, it was a pot less formal and professional, very much just scattered messy notes with little care for presentation - unlike most of his work, this was something only he was supposed to have access to, so it only mattered that he understood it.

[Elfbird]

Alia found living with Kenzaki to be unexpectedly relaxing - taking a break from proprietorship of her room to be just another ornament in his room. His scent suited his bed very well; powdery-fresh, vaguely citrus, and something slightly musky that she couldn't define. So much better than her bed,
who always smells like blood and LCL. Maybe she could buy it perfume...?

Kenzaki was kind, too, and usually patient. Sometimes he would talk to his computer while working with it. He tried to explain many things that made little sense to Alia, and helped her take care of her body more gently and thoroughly than most of the nurses would.
Of course, he often understood her viewpoint as little as she did his. The worst incident was the morning Alia found a dried-out coffee mug left sitting on a stack of school papers. She immediately tried to take it to wash, but couldn't stand under her own power and nearly dropped the poor mug - would have, if Kenzaki hadn't managed to catch them in time. After nearly committing accidental murder, Alia started going to Kenzaki for help more often, and in turn found his desk and shelves kept a bit more tidy.

By the fourth day, a sort of disconnect had formed in Alia's mind between the Kenzaki who shot Fury and the Kenzaki who had been taking care of her. They were ostensibly, the same human, but such utterly different personalities that she was unable to relate them on more than a superficial level. Not... not unlike how Kenichi changes in the entry plug.

Alia files that little idea away for further consideration. Humans are hard.

In Alia's ample free time between naps, one of the subjects occupying her thoughts is the pilot from... no, she had a name. Seiko Akagi. This Seiko -
who was she? Why did she write that letter? The best way to get her answers, she figured, would be to write another letter. Of course, after that last incident she wouldn't trust anyone to deliver the letter for her... well, one step at a time.

Alia asks Kenzaki if he knows a pencil and sheet of paper who would be willing to help her; upon their introductions, she keeps them close at hand and composes over a number of sessions (some of which are spent entirely in idle conversation with the pencil and paper, no writing resulting). A lot of her writing process actually seems to be erasing, revising, and carefully forming her letters; the result is far from artistic, but certainly pleasant to look at, for what little final content it generates.
The conversations, when Kenzaki overhears, mostly consist of gossip about countless other objects around the NDA that he would never be able to pick out of a crowd.

Dear Ms. Seiko Akagi,


I regret that our last meeting was cut short, because despite the startling mode of that revelation, I find myself increasingly curious as to its cause and purpose.
To be perfectly honest, the letter you had sent was the first such personal mail I have ever received, and I yet cannot fathom who but Sakuya would have both the will and means to complete such a gesture. So I ask: why?


Who are you? Why are you suddenly interested in me? What should I do now?


Please help me understand.
Yours truly,


~Alia Res

Once the letter is finished, folded, and sealed, the next task is to deliver it to its intended. But how...?
Humans use names to talk to each other, right? So if Seiko were to hear me say her name, she would talk to me? Then, to make sure Seiko hears me say her name...

On the first day of February (the wall calendars all cheerful with their new faces showing), Alia coaxes her wheelchair out into the hallway, takes a few deep breaths, and tries something completely new.

"SEEEEEEEEEEIKOOOOOOOOOO!"

She will, in fact, try that for several minutes, until either the named human appears or her throat grows sore. She's still learning, okay?

When inevitably presented with the pilot named Seiko Akagi, Alia first looks toward her face, eyes darting across it, but she can't seem to find that... that point of contact like she did with Kenzaki. She resolves, then, to looking at Seiko's clothes - her pants in particular.
"Um... Excuse me. I know this is sudden, but could you please give this to the human wearing you? Here; thank you very much."
Alia puts the letter into Seiko's pants pocket, or tucks it under the waistband if it has none, then bows from her wheelchair and turns to go back into Kenzaki's room.

Some time later that day, after the commotion with Seiko has settled down, Alia gets help returning to her room to collect a few things. She fully expects to be permanently moved in with Kenzaki until further notice, and explains as much to her belongings after the requisite greetings and assurances of well-being.
One of the items she looks for is the museum ticket that had come to her at last week's dance; it's lying on her bed atop her sanitized and haphazardly mended garments.

That night, in Kenzaki's room, Alia approaches Yuuta at his desk. They weren't friends, exactly - he often got on her nerves by doing things like sticking innocent ID cards in coffee grounds, or crumpling aluminum foil into balls and stabbing them full of toothpicks, or that time with the lightbulb... Anyway, he may be an inconsiderate jerk sometimes, but he was one of the few humans outside the Student Cleanliness Committee and janitorial staff who knew anything about interacting with people.

With that in mind, and spurred by Kenzaki's urging to try to get to know more humans, Alia... stands awkwardly beside Yuuta as he awkwardly fails to notice her,
absorbed in some kind of art-making process with his computer.

Alia eventually pulls out her phone.

"Okay Key, I need your help. I want to invite Yuuta to come with us to the museum this ticket is from, because I think he might like it and maybe we could be friends after all, which is better than being awkward, irritating copilots... I think. So, you know what Yuuta's like - I hope you've forgiven him for the lemon incident - and just talking to him probably won't work well. Any ideas on how else we could-- ah, that's great!"

Alia walks to Yuuta's other side, where she can reach the fanciest pen on his desk. She half-crouches to speak to it, showing Key to it also.
"Hello there~! My name is Alia, and this Key. Do you think you could help us convey something to Yuuta?"

Alia sets the museum ticket pointedly in front of Yuuta, then picks up his pen and presses it lengthwise against Key's face, clasping the two in front of her chest as if in prayer. After a beat, she places the phone-pen pair (pen on top, since it's smaller) on the edge of the ticket and pushes them slightly toward the center. Then she waits and watches Yuuta for a response, full of hopeful anticipation.

If Key's idea worked, the ticket will stand for the museum, and Key and Yuuta's pen will stand for Alia and Yuuta respectively, the phones' movement conveying the idea of 'going together'. Of course, one's intention and another's perception are rarely so easy to make alike...

[Vrock_Summoner]

Rose sort of waves her hand at the suggestion. ”Discuss it with the other pilots and write me a report compiling the best suggestions; I don’t have time. I just came down to make sure you got out before I left. I have to catch a flight in a couple of hours. Baki’s in charge until I get back, feel free to ask him to sit in on your tactics meeting.” She gestures to Seiko to follow her and starts walking through the dark hallway towards an elevator. “Feel free to keep talking, but let’s do it while moving.”

[Syless]

Seiko nods. "Understood." She looks down at her hands, feeling the slight bite of the collar as she tilts her head. Her experience a few days ago... she hopes it isn't the last. But she has to be a good soldier. For now. One day... maybe one day she'll surpass Rose. But until then, she has orders to follow. As well as a person to follow. She picks up her pace and follows just to the side and behind Rose. "...Mr. Kamura? I'm sure he can handle the mundane things, but if the worst happens... do you really think he could handle a Xibalban attack?" The state of her mind had shifted. Rose had put her back into soldier-mode. It would last approximately as long as it would take for Seiko to see Alia again, but while it lasted, she was all business.

Seiko had barely gotten back to her room when she heard a scream. A shout? It doesn't matter, it was her name. And it was... Alia? Alia was shouting her name? How? Why? Does... she does care! I knew it she loves me she's mine Seiko runs towards the sound at full speed- a sprint most couldn't match- arriving to Alia by the third time her name is shouted. So it's naturally confusing when Alia puts the letter in her pocket and refers to the... human wearing her? What? Before Seiko can even process or respond, Alia rolls herself back into the room behind her.

Wait, that's not her room.

Note first. Seiko unfolds the letter and reads it, then reads it again. And again. She doesn't know what to make of the words. Who am I? She doesn't... she must... but... the why is easy, and even moreso the what- oh, the what- but... if she really didn't know who Seiko was... she would. And once she did, and what she meant, and who -she- was, she would fall into Seiko's arms. Naturally. And never leave them. Her one, shining opportunity has unveiled itself. But she'd need time to do this right. Time to prepare. Time to plan... when better but what's coming up? She runs to her room at lightning pace and scrawls out a quick note of her own on a fresh sheet of paper, then ponders. What room was she in? It didn't matter, she must go to her own at some point. Seiko heads to the room she shares with the knight and slides it under the door- a simple piece of paper, with 'Alia' written on the inside.

I'll explain everything on the 14th. Until then, I hope you still think of me. I'll be thinking of you.

[fibericon]

Yuuta had been leaning over his computer, and sits straight up when Alia starts talking. He'd completely forgotten she was there. Eyes wide, back rigid, staring straight forward.

Is she thinking out loud? Is it... is it because she's nervous about talking to me? That's relatable. Talking is hard. Talking to me is probably harder because I'm also bad at it. She's trying to be nice. A museum? Yes, that's an accurate assumption about me.

What is that? What is she doing? Is she trying to build something? I hope not. That's awful. So uninspired. Is this supposed to be a challenge? Is this what she thinks of my creations? Hmm. Well, I don't keep trash on my desk, anyway. Nothing to build with. Oh... I just made the connection. My art sucks. Come to a museum to see real art. Wow. That was unnecessary.

Wait, that doesn't match the prior context. Ngh. This is hard. What does she want with me? What is the connection between a pen and a phone? Think, Yuuta. Communication? They're both used for communication. "Talk to me?" Maybe. Ngh.

"I'm..." He taps his temple with two fingers, hard enough to be obviously uncomfortable, then does the same to his jaw. "Bad connection. Sorry. Trying..."

He looks up at her sheepishly, then glances back to the ticket, only just remembering the original thought.

"Okay."

[Vrock_Summoner]

Rose keeps pace and doesn’t look back at Seiko while responding to her. ”I wouldn’t trust anybody else with the job. He’s a lot more competent than he lets on. Not a military genius or anything, but I trusted him enough to make him my right hand for a reason. Please respect his judgments until I return. And be patient with his... idiosyncrasies. If all goes well, this trip will be very fruitful for the Scythes’ strength going forward.”

[Syless]

Seiko stares at the back of Rose's head. Trust him? This is the strangest thing she'd heard Rose say today. How does someone like -him- get the confidence of a predator like her? There's something going on she doesn't understand. "Understood." Every bit of this makes Seiko question Rose more. But for now, she follows quietly, unless Rose raises anything else.

[Arayl]

As the four days pass Kenichi would wonder where Alia was as she hadn't returned to the room he shared with her, but figured that she was still with Kenzaki as Rose had put him in charge of her care until she was no longer in need of assistance with her daily routine.

With nothing else to do he would head to the running track to keep up his fitness while he waits for the commander to call in the pilots for their next mission. After one session he returns to his room to find a piece of paper had been slipped under the door in his absence, seeing that it had Alia's name written on it he would pick it up and go look for her at Kenzaki's room.

Knocking on the door he would wait for someone to answer the door and if Alia is there would hold up the note and says, "Alia this was left in the room and has your name on it so I brought it to you"

[Muja]

The incident at the hospital was just another line woven into the fabric that was Haru&apos;s dysfunctional life. Crazy fans were a dime a dozen, and after the first few dead animals security became a necessary component in her day to day. The horror from the package came from the acknowlegement that they knew what she did, that they could bring ELECTRONICS to her room. That could have easily been a bomb, for her or her loved ones. It could have harmed Lira. That wasnt acceptable at all.<br>
<br>
Days passed, the hospital room replaced by meetings, the latest a debrief for the pilots by Rose. None of the pilots seemed to be effected long term by the attack. Seiko seemed more reigned back, less on edge. Alia was worse for wear, but not dead or in a coma. The boys of the group seemed the most well off, despite the mangled stare one was left in after the fight. All in all it could have been worse. As the meeting canr to a close, however,&nbsp; Haru watched as all her peers dispersed to go about their days. The hope for some team bonding always seems to disperse without someone forcing it. Its one of the reasons Haru volunteered for the academy dance. Its why she tolerated the more emotionless of their group. And yet here we are, seperated into our own seperare lives.<br>
<br>
Feeling that no progress would happen right now, Haru decided to invest some time with those that cared for her instead. After all having resources friends around never hurt anyone. Knowing that her sister would be busy , Haru instead decided to fund Lira. It was important to mpve past the incident, and back into the fun flirty atmosphere she wanted to nuture.

[Vrock_Summoner]

Lira isn’t hard to find. She’s loitering around the school when you find her, tapping away at her phone. She seems... not strongly upset, but brooding? It’s hard to get an exact read on her.

Your phone lights up with a text while you’re relaxing in your room. You realize after a moment that it’s from Lira. The message is short: “Dad wants to invite you over for dinner. Interested?”

Kenzaki pushes Alia in her wheelchair up to the automatic doors of the robotics museum. A man at the door smiles and takes Alia’s ticket, then looks expectantly at Kenzaki and Yuuta. Some confusing shenanigans as Yuuta tries to emote his lack of money later, Kenzaki buys both of them into the museum. It’s likely grimace-inducing - these tickets are actually pretty expensive!

You can tell why when you get into the museum, though. It’s very nice. Not only is the building expansive, it’s also just pleasant - warm lighting, everything’s spotless, and you feel cool air circulating everywhere you go. The important part, of course, is the exhibits, and there are hundreds, several of which have their own groups of nerds hanging around them to gawk. There are various machines from the 1800s up to the modern day, from recreations of old factory machinery and the first human-shaped mechanical constructs to the developmental stages of industrial machines, animatronics, and people’s various attempts to make finely manipulable limbs and robots capable of walking. This leads into exhibits covering late-1900s advances in prosthetics and independent robotics, before entering into the 21st millennium with exhibits on mechanized combat devices that took off in the wake of the Reaping and the first Xibalban attack, including one of the mass-production model infantry exoskeletons, several unmanned drones, and, at the deepest part of the building sectioned off in another room, model representations (certainly not life-sized, but some still a story tall) of XENO’s various design phases for the first Xibalban-scale mechanized combat platform, the T-RIDEN-T Land Cruiser. Additionally, there are various smaller models showing engineering progress in autonomous weapons systems, creating various Xibalban-scale mobility platforms, which you’d all likely recognize as components of your own Scythes (though they aren’t noted as such here).

[fibericon]

Really should have read that ticket. "Admit one" was probably right there. This is awkward. I've never owned money. It's never been a problem, because I've never attempted to do anything before. Kenzaki is looking at me. Sorry, I don't have any money either. Actually, the number is kind of meaningless to me. I could compare it against how much I'm getting paid, but that doesn't help either because I don't know how much that is relative to the average. Oh, he does have money. That's generous. Maybe? I should say something.

You should have been saying something this entire time. That seems likely. I'm working up the nerve. You shouldn't have to work up the nerve to say "thank you" to someone you've lived with for seven years. You're ungrateful. This is a disgrace. Please stop. The constant abuse makes it that much harder to talk. Liar. You'll make any excuse, won't you? Everyone else is at fault but you, right?

Yuuta furrows his brow, trying hard to tune it out by focusing on the exhibits. Following the progression of technology is a clear goal here. No touching. That rule is... actually understandable. The oil from human skin is a detriment to the preservation of just about everything. Still, it was hard to accept. Fidgeting more than usual.

Hmm. Mislabeled. Why would this be mislabeled? They're very near the one group of people they could ask for information on the scythes. Of course. Rules. Ngh. This is stupid. What is the general public even going to do with that knowledge that could possibly hurt the scythe program? The Xibalbans aren't going to saunter into a museum and start taking notes. Another perfectly good situation ruined by suit fillers. Thanks a lot, guys.

"Um, thanks."

Way to just throw out one word out of context, Yuuta. Who are you thanking and why? What do I have to do, huh?! I struggle with this every single day and it's still not good enough! You could start by facing Kenzaki and using a single coherent sentence. Pins and needles. Just leave me alone. Alphie's going to fix this. Alphie can't help you when she's getting mauled. Don't you get it yet, Yuuta? The only constant in all of your failures, including your failures to communicate, is you. You're a failure, and you inflict that on everything you touch.

I won't fail. I just need time. This has to be done right.

[Arayl]

Kenichi hearing his phone vibrating on his bedside table leans over from where he is and picks it up to see who had sent him a message, seeing that it was from Lira inviting him to join her family for dinner he sent back a text saying, "Thank you for the invite to dinner with you and your father, I will be there"

[Elfbird]

Alia bids farewell to her ticket at the gate, her excitement and nausea both silently building during the while it takes for the huma-- for Kenzaki and Yuuta to do whatever it is they're doing.

She's starstruck from the moment they catch sight of the first exhibit. The boys can hear her struggling to suppress delighted giggles and squeals, and she whispers the names of things she recognizes in particular.

When you start going to displays up close, she pulls out a notepad and inkwell pen (where'd that come from?) and jots down each display's name, then holds the "autograph" up to form a visual association - and to let the ink dry right before she clutches it to her chest with a strangled "Squeeee!"

The early automatons in particular capture her attention; you feel like she could well have talked with them all day if she didn't express self-consciousness about not taking up too much of their time. When you find an automated writing arm though, actively demonstrating from behind its wood-and-glass enclosure, Alia doesn't write her own autograph; she just stares, wide-eyed and open-mouthed, slowly leaning toward it...

Eventually she reaches her notepad out to it; when it bumps against the glass, her enraptured expression shatters into one torn between wonder and tears. She returns the notepad to her lap and lowers her head.

"Do you... do you think I... could get an autograph..."
She suddenly raises her head, seeking Kenzaki's eyes. Something shifts deep inside of her; an understanding that she can't yet put into words. Kenzaki is a conduit; he can connect me to the human world, unlock options I never had before, do things that nobody else can. He's... he's... he is.
"...Kenzaki?"

Her eyes bore into his, slightly wet and full of half-held hope.

[Volthawk]

Once the issue of tickets is raised, and Yuuta eventually makes it clear he can't pay, Kenzaki makes little fuss about paying. Sure, it was expensive, but it seemed interesting, even if he didn't have to be here for Alia, and he had a feeling that now the Xibalbans were attacking the extreme long term wasn't so much of a priority compared to progress in the here and now.

He was certainly right about the place being worth it. Even if his interests generally lay more in the biological, he still knew enough to appreciate the displays. He can't help but smile at Alia's reactions and noises, and a glance over at Yuuta tells him that his room ate seems alright - fidgety, but overall seeming okay. A short whole after the observation, he hears mumbled thanks. It takes a little thought for the connection to be made - he must be talking about the ticket, surely. "It's alright. Don't worry about it, Yuuta."

As Alia notices the writing arm, Kenzaki lets out a quiet sigh as he saw where this was going. He was fully prepared to react to this, but then she gave him that look. How was he supposed to just crush her hope outright? "I...I'll try to sort it out. Yuuta, can you keep an eye on her for a second?"

He walks off, looking for someone who seems to be staff, preferably vaguely important looking, and tries to get their attention.

[Vrock_Summoner]

Kenzaki has little difficulty finding a person to ask about the robo-arm autograph. He scratches his head, seeming perplexed, but calls a woman out of an old office back room, who introduces herself as the conservator for those exhibits.

“So... your friend... is she a cancer patient or something?” She asks with a mixture of concern and curiosity in her tone.

[Volthawk]

Kenzaki thinks about it for a few moments, considering his options before shaking his head and shrugging. "No, not yet. She was exposed to a large dose of radiation, and she's suffering the effects now - the hair loss, the weakness and whatnot. We'll have to see how she fares in the long run."

[Vrock_Summoner]

The woman seems taken aback. “Radiation? Oh gods, was she at the attack last week? I heard on the news a bunch of kids were coming down sick...” She seems thoughtful for a few seconds. “Which means I’d have to be a real jerk to say no when this might be one of her last requests, huh? Alright. I’ll allow it.”

She makes her way over to Alia, leaning over a bit and smiling at the wheelchair-bound girl (it seems a bit forced). “Hey there, sweetheart. You wanted an autograph from this robotic arm, huh? That’s a very unusual request! What would you like autographed? That notepad?”

[fibericon]

Yeah. Don't worry about it, Yuuta. See? He understood me just fine. Cut the crap.

Wow. Alia really, really likes robotics. Why, though? It's so hard to understand her motivations. Okay, not just hers. I don't understand other people. Still, was it the hardware/software link? Was it machine autonomy? Precision? That might be it. Humans are bad at mechanical precision.

Watch her? She's not a child. Hmm. Actually, she seems to have poor depth perception - she didn't see the glass in the way. Understandable. She could get hurt if she tries to navigate with poor depth perception. I hope that's temporary. That's bad for pilots.

"Why do you like robotics?"

His eyes go wide when he realizes he said that out loud. That was not intentional. Oh, God. Did I just start a conversation? Please ignore me. Please ignore me. Please ignore me.

[Elfbird]

"Why do you like robotics?"
Yuuta says that after Kenzaki leaves; there's no other humans around. Could he be asking me? Is he... trying to start a conversation? It'd would've been fine if you'd ignored me.

She replies looking at the writing arm, only seeing Yuuta vaguely reflected in the glass. She makes an effort to use the correct pronouns though.
"Mmh... They're like me. Things, but alive, moving. The robots here, they're the ones who figured out how to change the world..."
Her voice trails off weakly, and her grip on her notepad tightens with repressed emotion. Only briefly; then she whispers a startled apology and smooths out the creases she started.



“Hey there, sweetheart. You wanted an autograph from this robotic arm, huh? That’s a very unusual request! What would you like autographed? That notepad?”

"Unh."
Alia nods and holds the notepad (opened to a blank page) vaguely upward, not making eye contact, completely unsure whether she should be offering it to the writing arm or to Kenzaki or to this other human.

[Vrock_Summoner]

The woman takes the notepad, then walks away, disappearing through a doorway. About a minute later, she pops out through a door on the other side of the glass and walks over to the robot arm, seeming to type something into the back of its display before setting down the notepad in front of it. It writes in a quick, smooth motion. Then the woman takes it back, disappears through the door again, comes out back on this side and hands it back to Alia, now bearing its new signature: “Haapos” in sharp, precise cursive.

The woman nods respectfully to Alia, winks at Kenzaki, and then disappears back through the doorway to get back to work.

[Elfbird]

Alia studies the autograph for a moment before clutching it to her chest.

"Haapos... I'll cherish our meeting."

She beams at Haapos, just enjoying watching it work and being in its presence for a bit. Suddenly she twists in her wheelchair to look for Kenzaki's face again (twisting was a bad and she'll spend the next half hour settling her stomach).

"Thank you, Kenzaki. It's because of you that I could get this autograph from Haapos. You..."
Her next sentence is hesitant, as if unsure of her own meaning but wanting to convey something.
"...Are special, to me, I think."

That seems to be her cue to move on from that display. She's rather less lively from here on; still smiling and nodding at the displays but no longer forging their autographs. Sometimes she rests a hand on her stomach and closes her eyes to focus on her breath.
If asked, though, she insists that she's okay and wants to see more before you leave. (She'll actually keep insisting this even if you manage to cover the whole museum, right until she passes out. She might wake on the ride back to the NDA, or not until morning in whichever bed she's placed.)

[fibericon]

What? What is she talking about? These things aren't sapient. They're just operating on simple preprogrammed functions. It's not AI. There's no machine learning. It's not even fuzzy logic. Oh no. Is she superstitious?

Ha ha ha ha! Ugh, it's back. Oh, come on. This is hilarious. Hey, you think she believes in horoscopes? Please just go back to berating me. You should tell her you're a Gemini. I'm not doing that. Too risky. Too risky? I'm not going to risk a conversation about astrology.

At least she's nice.

[Volthawk]

As the woman goes through with Alia's request, Kenzaki watches and smiles, happy with himself that he was able to fulfil it. Her reaction makes him smile, until she talks to him. That just puts a large amount of confusion and uncertainty into his mind. Special? What does that mean? It's a vague enough word normally, and the way Alia is just muddies the waters more. At the least, he's sure it's a good thing, but that doesn't stop him thinking about it.

As they proceed, Kenzaki spends a short time in this state of mixed confusion and happiness, before he starts noticing Alia's issues. Worry sets in, but with her assurances he continues pushing her through the museum.

When they're finished, he pauses for a moment, stretching and checking the time. "Well that was good. You two good to go?" It's about now that he notices Alia's passed out, and worry sets in immediately, and he quickly checks. "She's unconscious again! Let's go!" With that he rises off to the car pushing Alia. A part of his mind knows that her situation isn't quite this dire, but he can't really stop the emotional response.

[fibericon]

This place is nice. Can't touch, but... it's nice. Hmm. What is this? Why is Kenzaki so excited? Alia should be fine. She's sleeping. Well, maybe she didn't decide to sleep, like when I passed out in the limo. Is that bad when you have radiation poisoning? Ngh. Another reason I need access to the Merck Manual.

Fine. I guess we're running. This is fine. Just keep your eyes open this time, right Yuuta? Don't want to end up breaking someone's leg again. Everyone is so rushed. Everything is such a hurry. Is Alia dying? I didn't think so, but Kenzaki seems to think so. I'll just stay out of everyone's way. They know what they're doing.

I should be allowed back in the base now. I wonder if they'll search me for a phone this time. I don't have one, but it's an important bit of knowledge. Are you finally getting around to step one? Yes, it's time. What if she won't tell you? What if she can't tell you because there's a person or a camera in her office? Those are two very different situations, but okay: if she won't tell me, I'll find out on my own. If she can't tell me, I'll have to solve that problem before anything else. And how will you find out on your own? I'm hoping the security cameras are electronic. I don't quite understand hacking yet, but people seem to think the network security on them is really bad, so it's very easy to hack.

Wait wait wait. Two hour wait. Hmm. Do I really need a phone for this? I should train myself to mentally reconstruct rooms. Harder, but no evidence, so better. At least I know the elevator quite well now. There. That's her door. Ngh. Oh for ****'s sake, Yuuta. Just knock on her door. Unlike everyone else in your life, she actually puts up with your inability to hold a conversation for any length of time.

And why wouldn't she? It's part of her job description to pretend you're worth acknowledgement.

That hurt. So hurtful. The worst part is, I'm doing it to myself, so I must deserve it.

Yuuta knocks, looking sheepishly up at the door.

[Vrock_Summoner]

Your phone rings. You see it’s from Alphie. Assuming you pick up, she launches straight in. ”Kenzaki? If your phone’s on speaker, take it off. And find somewhere private. I’ve secured this line because we need to talk about some confidential information. Let me know when you’re in a good place.”

You hear Alphie speaking through the door after you knock. It sounds like she’s just getting off the phone. A moment later, Alphie opens the door and sees Yuuta, smiling at him warmly. Her eye seems to have passed the black and swollen phase in the time since you last saw her and is now looking yellowish-green. ”Oh, Yuuta! I’m so happy you came to visit! Come on in.” She beckons him to follow and goes back into her room.

You can’t help but notice it’s impeccably tidy, with the exception of her desk, where she appears to be currently working on paperwork. There’s a TV with a game system attached, but otherwise it seems like a pretty boring place - stainless steel cabinets with all sorts of textbooks ordered by subject and alphabetically with tabs, no real decoration except an overturned photo frame, a cheap vase with clearly-fake flowers, and a Bible on a small side table by her desk.

She opens a door and walks into another room while addressing you. “I just put on some black tea to help me stay awake. You want any?”

Later that day, you arrive at the door to Baki’s suite. Before you even get a chance to knock, the door swings open for you. Baki’s standing there and seems so excited to see you he could almost cheer. “Come on in, come on in!” He ushers you in with a wave of his hand.

The place is... decidedly old-fashioned. The kitchen is hidden off behind another wall, while the main room is a combined living and dining area, with a rectangular table (currently loaded with appetizer foods) pushed up to the couches so it can be eaten off of from them. This appears to be necessary, as there are no actual chairs. The room has a few floor cushions, magazines, and books shoved messily into the corner near an old brick-and-mortar fireplace, with wood stacked next to it. The walls are decorated with vintage paintings, tapestries, and little pinned up drawings clearly made by a young child. You don’t see any electronics other than the ceiling lights, which are currently dimmed.

Considering you’re currently in an underground complex made entirely of metal, with universal heating and electricity, the setup comes off as absolutely pretentious.

Lira is sitting on the couch staring darkly at the appetizers without touching them. She seems startled out of thought when Kenichi walks in and offers him a somewhat forced smile and wave.

Baki practically runs off towards the hall. “The food is almost done! Make yourself comfortable and I’ll bring it out in a few minutes!”

As Alia sleeps off the museum trip and Seiko finds herself napping from her hard work, you both find yourselves in a strange grey haze, about fifteen feet away from one another. There are others there - a dark-skinned young woman in a military uniform, and a group of three people off to the other side, one of whom both of you will recognize - the psychologist, with black bruising around his neck; a muscular, dark-haired young boy with a scar through one eye, which he keeps closed; and a middle-aged man who looks homeless and unkempt, with a scraggly beard and bad teeth, who rubs a huge scar on his forehead and groans a bit.

The young woman seems like she’s about to address Seiko, then looks at Alia and seems startled. “You... How the hell did you get in here?”

[Elfbird]

Alia doesn't process the dream-woman's question, in her usual manner of assuming humans are talking to each other rather than to her. What draws her attention instead is the distinct lack of objects. No walls, no structure. No lighting fixtures. No furniture. No tools. No decorations. No knickknacks. Not even dust or debris. Not even corpses of what should have once been there. Only humans and the clothes on their backs.

It takes Alia's brain a few seconds to parse, confirm, and acknowledge her surroundings. When it finally gets to acceptance, her sympathetic nervous system kicks into overdrive; her already sickly skin blanches to ghostly-pale, and her hyperventilation is loud enough to almost drown out the sound of her own heart crashing through her ribs.

When the message gets around to her muscles, she dashes for Seiko's t-shirt - nearly tackles it, the most familiar person there besides her own clothes - and clamps on with a deathgrip, body shivering from the effort and adrenaline, shuddering breaths making damp the thin, soft fabric where her face is helplessly pressed into it.

[Syless]

Seiko stares through the haze at all the people there. Alia in her dream, that's a given... but her victim? And that boy... he seems familiar. From childhood, perhaps. Back at the House. It doesn't matter. Alia's here. She's here, and she's holding onto Seiko. It's all that matters. Keep her here, keep her safe, keep her for yourself. Seiko wraps her arms around dream!Alia and holds her close. This must be what she wants. Poor Alia. Alone and afraid. But Seiko's here. You're safe her in arms. Never leave. Never leave.

Seiko almost snarls at the woman questioning Alia's presence. "She's here with me. That's all that matters. Who are you? Are you going to try and get in the way of my happiness?" Seiko scans the woman up and down. Military outfit means she might be a threat. But she's young. She can't have Rose's skills... Seiko can probably take her. Especially if this is one of those dreams. Her strength never fails her there. She'd just have to make the wrong move, and Seiko would crush her... like she crushed that liar's windpipe. It would be easy. So easy.

[fibericon]

Yuuta brightens up when he sees her. People aren't usually happy to see him. That's what he tells himself, at least. He follows her in, looking around. No whiteboard? That's the biggest surprise here. Maybe she does the math in her head? That's amazing. He handles the complex extension in his head, but that's different. That's part of him - something other people can't grasp. Even other pilots.

He nods quickly at the offer of tea. He takes a deep breath. Too sharp. She heard that. "Thank you."

Awkward. Forced. I'm trying. She deserves better than... whatever it is I am. Everyone thinks they do, but most are wrong. She thinks she doesn't - also wrong. People are so stingy with patience. Like that wasn't enough, she quiets the voice. Like my scythe.

No cameras. Hmm. But is that really true? She's smarter than anyone watching a camera if there is one. He raises one hand to his chest, fidgeting. Fidgeting is what he does, that should be fine. He points his index finger up at the ceiling and says, "Presenting?"

[Vrock_Summoner]

The young woman seems surprised and holds up her hands in a typical ‘I’m not a threat’ gesture. “Hey, I’m not an enemy. If you want her here, that’s fine. I’m just surprised. This room shouldn’t be open to anyone besides you. But you’re right, it doesn’t affect anything.” She clears her throat. “My name is Kirika. I’m the ward of the Second Field. That’s where we are now. Since you’ve made it here, phase 2 must have started. I imagine that’s why the old man had you kill those two. Has the House managed to acquire the book yet?” She looks at Seiko expectantly.

Alphie seems confused for a second, then her eyes seem to click with recognition. ”No, Yuuta, we’re not under any sort of observation. Please feel free to speak openly.” She hands him his tea, grabs her own cup, and sits down at her desk to reorganize her files. “I take it this isn’t a purely social visit, then. What’s on your mind?”

[fibericon]

Yuuta furrows his brow a little. Did he misunderstand the definition of "social"? That's entirely possible. Hmm. Yes, I need to know something specific. Am I being rude? Wait, how does that saying go?

"Yes and no? I really hope I used that right. Ngh. Didn't... mean to say that part out loud." He grins sheepishly at her, "Sorry. Trying."

Trying really hard. This is the only time the voice is quiet. He nods, mostly to himself, and sips the tea.

"I need... to know... who hit you."

Alphie, this is important. It's not just about- ngh. I'm not talking anymore. Of course not. That came out too smoothly to be talking.

"I'll fix it. I owe you that."

Oh no. That part was out loud. Is my eye twitching? It's easier to talk around her, but the downside is that my brain to mouth filter is fuzzy. I can't tell when it's active or not sometimes.

[Syless]

Seiko keeps a cold stare fixated on the woman- Kirika, she supposed- and kept clutching Alia. This was a strange dream. "...I have no idea what any of that means. The House... Progress House? I haven't been there in years. It's gone. The old man's in jail. He lost. I follow the winner. A new purpose, a greater battle to fight." Seiko runs a hand through Alia's hair. "Something to protect."

Seiko's eyes scan the others again. Kill those two? She only- wait. It's him. Land. Her first... that was an excellent match. It's almost a shame... but she remembers her second. She can only imagine what her first was like by comparison. "What did the old man do? What's in my head, exactly? Explain everything. Now."

[Arayl]

Kenichi surprised by Baki opening the door before he could even knocks stands there for a second before walking into the living room and seeing Lira smile and wave at him returns the wave and smile as he walks to the couch to sit down and wait for Baki to return to tell him and Lira that the meal they were going to have was ready.

[Volthawk]

While Alia slept, Kenzaki sat on a chair in his room and did some work. Even though the Xibalbans were a threat again and he now had Alia taking up a lot of time, he still had his side jobs, after all. In particular, he plans his tutoring for the immediate future, although he needs to remove a few slots, people who died in the attack like Connie. Before he can dwell on that for long, the phone rings.

When Alphie talks, Kenzaki isn't quite sure how to think. One the one hand, it's not like he hasn't been privy to classified information already, and this isn't even that, just confidential - in any case, what she's saying is normal in that context. On the other hand, this is how a paranoid person speaks, and with this sense urgency it can't be good news. He closes his laptop and puts it to one side before responding. "Yeah, I'm in my room and Yuuta's out. Is that good enough? What is it?"

[Vrock_Summoner]

Alphie seems a bit taken aback by Yuuta’s bold words and ruminates on them for a few seconds before responding.

”I appreciate that, Yuuta, but there isn’t any one person or element in play that you can ‘fix’ to make me safe. If there were, Rose would’ve already dealt with it. She certainly made short work of my attacker.” She opens a compartment in her desk, revealing a handgun. “I’ve got this for self-defense now, though to tell you the truth, I don’t particularly believe in gun usage.” She closes the compartment again. “Rose wanted to station extra guards outside my room, but that’d call too much attention. We’re trying not to tip our hands until we’ve pinpointed the ones targeting me.” She sighs.

”So in conclusion, I’m gonna need you to be subtle, too. Don’t do or say anything too conspicuous outside this room. We planted a rumor that Rose had me attacked over a personal dispute, so it might be smart to pretend to have heard and bought into that.”

Kirika seems annoyed at first. “A greater battle? Are you out of your mind? The world’s about to end! Does that not seem like the most pressing issue? Or...” A moment of realization. “Crap, you really don’t know anything, do you?” She shakes her head. “Okay... Okay... The plan can be adjusted. Progress House isn’t strictly necessary as long as you’re alive.”

She clears her throat. “Right. So. Explanations. To make a very long story short, you’re a living weapon of sorts. You absorb the souls of those you kill and can use them to power your unique abilities. The head of the House was supposed to figure out your side effects and limitations at this point, but apparently I was mistaken when I put my faith in him. At any rate, your job is to protect the Book and start undoing the effects of the Reaping by killing the miasma-spawn. Which would be rather easier if I had any idea where the Book was. I don’t suppose there’s any chance the people who took over Progress House have it...?” She seems thoughtful. “What are they having you do now, anyway?”

Baki reappears multiple times with a different food each time - a glass bowl of salad, baked loaded potato casseroles, and a large ham. It’s honestly a pretty appetizing production - it’s low-class food, but comes off like classy restaurant fare. Once all the food is plated and served, Baki sits down next to you and Lira and claps his hands together. “Alright everybody! Dig in!”

Lira uncertainly pokes at her food while Baki takes a large slice of ham and cheese and scarfs it down. He’s not a sloppy eater, but sure seems excited about food.

“So,” Baki blurts out quickly between bites, “what’re you about, Kenichi? Y’know, interests, aspirations, stuff like that. Where do you see yourself going in life?”

Lira interjects. “Dad! Come on! Small talk!”

Baki raises an eyebrow. “This is small talk.”

”Great. I’ll get right to the point. It’s about the psych evaluations. Seiko’s psych evaluation showed fairly conclusive proof of her being at high risk for mental instability. Rose determined that the risk wasn’t high enough to write her off as a pilot, and for the most part I don’t think the rest of you need to worry about her, ergo why I’m not telling all of you - I don’t want to cause trust issues in the team if I can help it. But you need to know, since you’re currently Alia’s current caretaker, and part of Seiko’s instability is tied directly to her being frighteningly obsessed with Alia. I don’t think an incident is too likely, especially since Seiko knows she’s under observation, but I want you prepared on the off chance anything does happen. I’m also willing to have you and Alia put under protective surveillance if that would make you more comfortable, but since the risk of danger is low and your privacy is important, I won’t force it on you.”

[fibericon]

Yuuta recoils. He hadn't heard the rumor, but he'd already made the assumption. But acting on pure assumption was always a bad idea - as this revelation has proved - that's why he needed to get verification. He puts up a hand, attempting to signal that he needs a moment. Walking over to the wall, he leans against it, closing his eyes and taking a few deep breaths. Finally, a sip of tea, and he opens his eyes again. He speaks quickly, if clumsily, in a stream of consciousness.

"Didn't hear. No one tells me anything. Not their fault. Don't know if I understand. People here think I'm retarded. Can't really talk. Ignore me. That's good. Let me make plans. Not good, because bad plans."

He puts up his hand again, and takes a few more breaths, trying to calm himself enough to speak plainly. He nods nervously, and tries again.

"Thought... she was sabotaging the scythe program. Maybe just suit fill- bureaucratic nonsense. Damn it. This is why it hates me so much. Stupid Yuuta. No, don't say it's okay, it's not okay." He finally looks up and makes eye contact. "Fooled me. Only good for my brain - shouldn't be fooled. I... almost killed her. Already plotting. Long plan, several weeks out, would have worked."

He's breathing heavily at this point. "Static was right. 'All your fault, Yuuta.' Different voice than usual. Gave warning - didn't listen. At least... At least you're smarter than all of us. Smart enough to stop us from failing."

[Volthawk]

Kenzaki leans back in his chair and sighs as he hears Alphie's message. He had known that there was something there with how she acted around Alia, but he didn't expect quite this level. He mulls over options for a minute before responding. "Okay. I don't think the security detail will be needed or helpful, since it'll just raise the suspicions of her or the others for not much benefit, if she wants to go after me us pilots spend enough time around each other that she'll find a way. Just...make sure that the observation doesn't slip, I guess, and let me know if anything changes. Do you think I should keep Alia in the dark about this? Seiko's is one of the few names she knows and recognises, it might be worth warning her away, in case Seiko tries anything with her. On the other hand, although thins are going well, I'm not sure bringing up a human threat will help with her understanding people and accepting them. What do you think?"

[Syless]

Seiko laughs. She laughs a remarkably long time. Like she always knew. A living weapon. But soul-devouring? That was... amazing. She truly was special. Perhaps the only one to deserve the goddess wrapped in her arms. Far from scowling, she's smiling wickedly as she responds to Kirika. "Killing Xibalbans. Sounds about the same, I'd call them miasma-spawn... just on a larger scale than the dregs the soldiers take care of. I could be fighting zombies, they want me to fight gods. Is that important enough?" She ponders a second. "Books... are you talking about a Xibalban core, or something related to them? How much do you know about this? How do you know all this? Did you keep it all between you and him?"

[Arayl]

When Baki starts bombarding him with all the questions about him and his future plans Kenichi pauses eating the salad that had been served to him to give the questions a thought.

"I"ve been thinking of joining the track and field team, as to where I see myself in the future? I will probably join the military, not sure whether it will be the army or air force just yet." Kenichi says in reply to Baki before taking another bite of the salad on his plate.

[Vrock_Summoner]

Alphie absorbs what you just said for a moment, then stands and walks over to you... and grabs you in a hug. ”It is okay. People need each other to get past the limits of their own brains, but it’s also almost impossible to decide who you’re willing to trust, especially at your age. It’s one of the big paradoxes of human existence.” She rubs your head a bit. “You’re not broken, Yuuta.”

Kirika scratches her head. “Xibalbans? Gods? Cores? What...?” She sighs and shrugs her shoulders. “Look, I’m gonna level with you, Seiko. You probably know more than I do at this point. I haven’t even seen the world outside this room since...” She noticeably pauses.

“... since the old man put me in here. We were... he was supposed to get the Book. That’s the whole point, between you and the Book, we were supposed to be able to undo the miasma outbreak, I...” She buries her face in her hands for a few seconds, then starts laughing, and continues for almost half a minute before it slowly transitions to sobbing. She mumbles something into her hands, then removes them from her face and seems to forcibly compose herself.

“We can still help each other, Seiko. Now that the door’s open. There’s probably time. I can... I can catch up. I just need to know what’s going on outside. Information. Then I can do my job. As can you. And this place will stop being so empty. You want to restore the world, right? So you two don’t have to be afraid of losing each other.” She rubs her temples. “I... There’s nothing in here. Can you please just... listen to audiobooks or something while you sleep? Maybe ones talking about recent history? Then there will be something I can focus on in here and you won’t have to spend as much time explaining things to me.”

”I agree with your latter assessment. I’d prefer not to scare her while she’s struggling towards being able to trust people. That’s why I’m leaving the info in your hands, as her caretaker. Also, frankly, I’m not sure she’d understand, and the confusion might stress her out and interfere with her recovery.”

Baki grins. “Good, good. The JSSDF is a fine institution. Only really became a legal military after the first Xibalban attack in ‘03, did you know? I was part of it back when it was just the Self-Defense Force. Granted, my role in both that and CRISIS before Rose took me on was mostly PR.” He digs into his food again for a few seconds. “Spent my high school time on a debate team, actually. Track and field sounds like a better way to stay fit, though. Maybe if they had you do jumping jacks while debating...”

“I...” Lira’s voice pipes up suddenly as well. As you and Baki look back to her, it becomes clear she hasn’t touched her food. “I’m also... interested in the military.”

Baki frowns, seeming peeved for probably the first time ever. The emotion actually looks out of place on his face. “Lira... You’re so talented at fashion design. Why would you ever-“

Lira cuts him off, seeming to totally ignore him. “I’m going to try to become a naval aircraft pilot, I think. I’ll patrol the seas and skies and be our first line of defense against foreign aggression! How does that sound?” Lira looks at Kenichi and grins.

[Syless]

Seiko restrains a grin as the dream-girl breaks down. Advantage- Seiko. "Deal. And in return... you tell me everything you can about these powers I have. How I can use this to my advantage. How I can use it to make... to take what I deserve. And we'll work together to end the miasma, and everything it's wrought. We'll save the world. Just the three of us." With those last words Seiko kisses the top of Alia's head. She always does in her dreams. Even if this dream was true... this was still the Alia she knew in her dreams. Just as real. Just always hers. Endless potential, endless power. Seiko was special. Like she always knew. The world was hers.

[fibericon]

Yuuta stands awkwardly in Alphie's embrace for a moment, unable to react. The internal screaming that usually accompanied physical contact wasn't there. In fact, nothing was, save for a deafening ringing that drowned out any ability to maintain an internal dialog. When it left, so did the rest of the noise in his head. The corners of his mouth curled down and twitched, and for the first time he could remember, he couldn't internalize his emotions. How embarrassing for him. He hid his face in her shoulder when he felt the tears escaping, and awkwardly hugged her back with one arm, trying to not spill the tea with the other.

"I'm sorry. I'm just trying to help." At least he could form whole sentences, for now. Being emotionally vulnerable was confusing to him, to say the least. He takes a few deep breaths before replying, "Reviewing security footage. I can still do that. That will help." He looks up at her and forces a smile, trying to offer a touch of levity, though his version of a joke my be ill-received. "I have great attention to detail - I'm autistic."

[Volthawk]

"Yeah, sounds good. Like I said, anything you can do to mitigate Seiko's risk would be appreciated. As for her recovery..." Kenzaki trails off, slowly spinning in his office chair, thinking things over - after all, he doesn't even know what's going on, how can he explain it? Despite that, he feels like he has to try to talks thing through. "It's going well, I guess. She seems to be fine with recognising me as a person, and she's making progress with some of the others too, as far as I can see. Also, earlier..." Another moments pause before he continues, and from here on he talks a lot less calmly, speeding up and clearly emotionally involved in what he's talking about.

"Um, earlier, when we were at the museum, I helped her out with something, getting an autograph from a robot arm, and when she got it so looked back at me and told me I was special to her! I still don't know what she meant by that, but it feels like it has to be good, right? And I...I guess I feel the same. Something, anyway, that she's special to me, I guess. More than just working with her so she doesn't hate me and we can work together. I don't really know what's going on there, but I like it, like being with her and doing all this."He takes a breather and sighs, his speech slowing down. "Sorry, I sort of had to get that out, had to tell someone, you know? "

[Vrock_Summoner]

Kirika nods. “Right... Good. I’m sure you’ll end up here on future nights. Listen to the audiobooks while you sleep and I’ll start teaching you what I’m able to about your abilities.” She looks up. “Time’s up. The door’s going to close again. I’ll see you... well, possibly the both of you, again soon.”

Your visions go black. You both wake up feeling particularly groggy.

Alphie smiles appreciatively. ”I’d probably prefer you not be involved as directly as that, but there is something else you can do to help me, if you’re set on lending a hand.” She releases the hug and takes a binder out of the shelf, rifling through it and grabbing various pages. “I’ve got an agent on the outside and I need somebody I can trust with the information to serve as an intermediary. You’re a kid, and I get along with you, so they probably won’t expect me to have gotten you involved...” She looks at Yuuta with some concern. “But please don’t feel pressured into this. I know you’ve already got a lot on your plate.”

You hear Alphie chuckle. “I see! I’m glad you two are getting along so well.” Her voice goes more serious. “Forgive me for not being more tactful, but I’ll get straight to the point - if you have a crush on her, and she reciprocates, it’s not necessarily wrong to explore that. If she is having those kinds of emotions, exploring them might even help her get used to interacting with people. However, you need to keep her condition in mind, both physically and mentally. It’d be better not to even try hugging her unless she’s the one to initiate. She... sort of sees herself as a doll, if that makes sense? So she won’t necessarily resist people taking advantage of her even if it makes her feel terrible. I’m trusting you to keep my- to keep Alia safe.”

[Volthawk]

Taking on Alphie's advice, Kenzaki signs and nods, even if she can't see the latter action. "Yeah, that issue is something I've been having to deal with a lot. Well, it's generally part of the wider need to teach her how peopole do things and what's acceptable or not for people, but that sort of attitude has come up here and there, and I have sometimes had to worry about whether I'm doing things right." He pauses to think of anything else to say, before continuing. "Shouldn't be anything I can't handle, though, even if it is a little awkward. Don't worry, I'll do my best for her. I think that's everything, so if there's nothing else on your end, goodbye for now."

[Syless]

Seiko stirs in her makeshift nap spot. The dream that couldn't be a dream but it was but what was it She couldn't make sense of it. It felt so real... but she was asleep, so it was a dream, right? Well... she has two options. Ignore the dream and do nothing, or believe the dream and listen to something while she sleeps. There might be more options, but Seiko refuses to entertain them. And as to which to pick... well, the worst case in doing the latter would be having a bit of trouble sleeping and finding some podcasts. And she had so much more to gain. I guess the first step... how is she going to listen to anything complicated while she sleeps?

[fibericon]

No direct involvement. Is she trying to make a joke? No response. Of course. Hmm. I'll do what she asked because she asked it, but she didn't outright say she didn't want me to... oh! Plausible deniability! Wow. She's sharp. I just hope I can keep up. If I compromise the security cameras, everyone can say they didn't give me access, and she can say she didn't ask me to do this. Alright. I have some studying to do.

"I like to feel useful."

[Elfbird]

Alia jolts awake from the nightmare, bolting upright in Kenzaki's bed with an audible gasp, clutching at the sheet and mattress and twisting to press the pillow and the wall to reassure herself they were all there.

It takes a few minutes for her breathing to calm down, her heart to downshift from "PANICPANICPANIC" to "panicking, but it's okay". She draws her knees to her chest and begins reviewing the few points from the nightmare that stuck in her mind.

A book. Is that pil-- is Seiko looking for a certain one?

Audiobooks. Seiko needs some?

History. The girl in Seiko's head wanted to study it?

That girl: human or object? Unclear.

. . .

Once Alia reaches her conclusion, she flops back to laying and wakes up Key; together they begin collecting podcasts and Kindle books (with their synth voice reader) about recent trends in robotics and the bookselling industry.

. . .

"Kenzaki, do you know any SD cards that are free to help me with something? Actually, are you free to help me with something? I want to deliver these e-books to the girl in Seiko's head."

[Arayl]

"That sounds like a good career path I suppose. What got you to thinking of joining the military?" Kenichi says when she asks for his opinion on what she had planned for her future career. He could see that Baki didn't approve of what Lira wanted to do in the future and would rather she avoided the military life.

[Volthawk]

Having finished his call, Kenzaki had gotten back to some work on his laptop when Alia woke up clearly distressed, apparently having had some kind of nightmare. Instantly dropping what he was doing, he rushes over to the side of the bed, checking that she's okay and hasn't had any further decline in health during her rest, and reassuring her that all is well and she's safe.

When she seems to calm down and busy herself on her phone, Kenzaki returns to what he was doing - research on the various Scythe scale weaponry available to them. That is, at least, until Alia makes an unusual request, something which makes little sense. He wasn't sure whether it was just more of Alia's unusual wording, a reference to Seiko's insanity or something stranger, but he had to know before doing anything - the conversation with Alphie lingered in his mind.

"...the girl that lives in her head? What do you mean by that? Why does she want e-books? I'm always happy to help you, but I need some context."

[Elfbird]

Alia blinks groggily at Kenzaki while she puzzles out his request; she often had trouble abstracting what seemed obvious and factual to her. There's a girl trapped in Seiko's head who wants to study modern bookselling history with the help of audiobooks; what's so difficult about that? Humans... but this is Kenzaki, so she has to try a little harder to understand, even when he doesn't make sense sometimes.

"There's... a girl, I think, or maybe a concept... trapped in the most horrifying place... in Seiko's mind, I think they said it was. That's where I was just now. I couldn't have just dreamed up a place like that... it's not possible. The girl... not sure if she's... more like Seiko or more like me. I want to help her. So," she waves Key's face at Kenzaki, "Key's helping me fulfill her wish... but we don't know how to deliver it. Can you do that for us?"

[Volthawk]

Kenzaki has to think about what this could possibly mean, trying to decipher the Alia-speak. "What? So you're saying Seiko has some...entity?...in her head, and somehow you join the pair of them in your dreams? That's...pretty unbelievable, but..." As he thinks, a memory comes to mind. The dance. The attack. Seiko seeming to neutralise one of the creatures with just a knife. And on the other side, Alia. Her origin. The other her and the powers she displayed. "Alright. If it could happen to anyone, it'd happen to you two. I'll help you." Hopefully Seiko will shed some light on all this, and if she is going to be in more contact with Alia, he needs to keep an eye on things.

[Vrock_Summoner]

Lira looks thoughtful for a moment. “The truth is... don’t think I’m not super appreciative for you saving me when you did, but, I guess I realized after the dance that I hate being the person others feel like they need to take care of. I’ve done a lot of thinking since then, and come to the conclusion that the military will help me become somebody more reliable, who others look to for help, instead of as someone to help. Y’know?”

Baki seems to steam quietly, but doesn’t interject again.

[Volthawk]

Having decided to help Alia, Kenzaki quickly transfers everything requested to a memory card, noting the names and topics of the files with interest. Robotics, books...this isn't what he'd expect Seiko herself to want. Interesting. Quizzing Alia on what happened isn't too revealing, just giving a few details, but it helps him develop his thoughts on all thus - even if there's still a huge amount missing, such as the fact that he doesn't even know this actually happened at all.

Pocketing the memory card, Kenzaki leaves the dorm and takes out his phone, bringing up Seiko's number and, after a few moments thought that turns into a few minutes, calls her. This was a risk, given what he knew now about her, for something that probably didn't even happen, but he had to be sure. "Seiko? Have you just woken up? Had any interesting dreams? I hear you're wanting audiobooks and historical information - well, on someone else's behalf. Any truth to that?"

He still wasn't sure he was taking the right direction, but he felt leaving the Alia angle out of it for now was best - he had no doubt she'd lie through her teeth for a chance with Alia, based on what he's been told. Since he hadn't brought it up, if she knows Alia's involved that just strengthens the case for this - whatever this is - being true. If it did happen, hopefully his questions were telling enough that she'd know he knows, and he can work from however she reacts. If nothing happened and this was just something with Alia, his questions are hopefully vague enough he can pass it off as making conversation and being mistaken about the audiobooks. He'll have to see.

[Syless]

Seiko's woken up completely by the time she hears her phone ring. "Souji? How do you-" The dream... he wasn't there. Even if it was real, the only people there were her, Kirika, the dead people, and... Alia. Alia was there. Not just a dream, but actually there. And Seiko- oh god. She wasn't ready for that. If she'd known it was the real thing, she might not have- but Alia did- but- not the point right now. Alia was there. Alia told -Souji- of all people? That's... concerning. "...yes. What did she tell you?" He'd have to know who Seiko meant.

[Volthawk]

Kenzaki pauses for a moment to think. That meant it was true, he just had to figure out how to proceed from here. "Not too much. I needed to confirm that it was a real thing. She only got some details from it, primarily your friend's need for modern information - Alia's actually the one who compiled this card, you can definitely tell by what she put on it." He chuckles at this before returning to a serious tone. "I'm assuming this is do with that special talent you displayed at the dance, when you opened up that zombie's head. It was rather like neutralisation, something we can usually only do with Scythes. Am I getting close?" The direct path for now. There was enough strangeness here that he couldn't dance around the issue. He'd just have to keep alert for any misdirection andd deception and deal with it as it comes.

[Syless]

Something to do with the... dance? That would make sense... but Kirika hadn't mentioned -what- her powers were... but she shouldn't let Souji know that she didn't know. "Maybe. Did Alia say anything else about it?" Seriously, why Souji? Why didn't Alia go straight to her? They aren't... no, she wouldn't. That's not her. She wouldn't waste her time like that. Especially not on -him-. There must be a reasonable explanation.

Whatever it was, though, no explanation would come to her. This meant he had to be watched. Closely. Just to be safe. And maybe... well, Kirika did say her powers were fueled by death, didn't she? She turned her mind back to the matter at hand. "And how soon can you get it to me?"

Deceive for Seiko's 'maybe' lie- [roll0] < 29

[Volthawk]

Kenzaki grins as he hears Seiko's response. She's lying. Badly. He's on the right track. "Yeah, I got a few more pieces of information. You came up a bit, actually, and the other girl." Naturally, this was a lie, intended to give the impression that Kenzaki knew more than he was letting on, when he didn't. Hopefully it'd put her on the back foot, give him an advantage, but of course it was a gamble with someone of Seiko's mental state. He'd just also have to cover himself. "As for the card, I have it with me now. I can drop it off with you now if you like. Where are you?"

[Syless]

Alia was talking about her? She must care, she just must. And he wants to make contact... hm. "Which dorm room is yours? I'll just come by and pick it up." Then she'll know where he is. Then he can be... monitored. Just in case something is going horribly awry. He already knows too much, and is close enough to Alia to be a problem. "After that, you should probably just... forget this. I doubt it will involve you at all. No sense in making trouble for yourself. Right?" If she'd have been there in person, she would have flashed a predatory grin. Either everything is already fine, or everything will be fine. Even in a worst case scenario... she can find a way to bring him down without incurring Rose's punishment. He's just a child, after all.

[Volthawk]

Kenzaki audibly chuckles at her responses. She's both underestimating him and showing she knows nothing about him. Excellent.

"My dorm? I've already gone outside now, there's no point just going back in and I feel like having a walk. Pick somewhere else, please. As for all this...we'll see where it goes with regards to my involvement. And as for trouble...as I understand you're the one who's gotten yourself into trouble. Enough that those above us are keeping an eye on you...I wonder, are you planning on telling them about your guest? I'm sure they'd very much like to know, given the mental aspect of the enemy and the experience you had in the battle."

[Syless]

Damn. There's other ways. She can probably just ask someone later. "Fine. I need to get some training in, I'll meet you at the gym. Sound better?" She places a hand on her collar. "...of course. I'll tell Rose directly once she gets back. She's the only one I trust." Her voice sounds uncertain on the first point, but the second is said with complete sincerity. Rose is the only one who deserves her respect. But would she take the truth well? "It doesn't matter. You know Alia believes it, and she wasn't affected by the Xibalban. There's no reason to think it has anything to do with it. It's something... more."

[Volthawk]

Kenzaki continues feeling pretty confident overall - a confidence tempered by recognising the risks and dangers associated with his opponent, but buoyed by her repeated failures to deceive him. So she's not certain she's going to tell them. Interesting. And she trusts Rose. Even more interesting, he'll have to get in first with Rose upon her return. "That it exists is not in question. Why it exists, who made it and what it is, now those are more interesting questions, particularly when you consider that those who could attest to the answers have...reasons that their version of events may be considered questionable or inaccurate. The gym works, I'll be there soon. Goodbye." He hangs up.

After a fewoments thought, he dials another number and calls. "Alphie? I've reconsidered about that surveillance protection. I've just had a conversation with Seiko and, well...things have escalated and something big might be happening. Something I don't quite understand, and I'd appreciate input on."

[Syless]

Tch. He hung up first. Power display. A weak one, but one nonetheless. She'll need to track down Yuuta... he might be able to help with dealing with Souji.

...she doesn't know where he lives, or what his phone number is, either.

She'll need to ask someone else... or just wait for the strategy meeting I'm sure he'll jump at the chance for some attention from a girl. But for now, Souji. Seiko makes her way to the gym, waiting for Souji. If she gets there before him, she'll spend her extra time doing some pushups. No sense in wasting gym time, and it might remind him of his weakness.

...though if she really wanted to scare him, she knows the best way she could. He saw the therapist too, after all.

[Vrock_Summoner]

Alphie looks down when her phone starts ringing. ”What? Again so soon...? Sorry Yuuta, I can’t put off this call. Please be patient and we can go back to talking.” She clicks on her phone and puts it to her ear, listening for a bit. ”I see. That sounds serious. What’s going on?”

[Volthawk]

Kenzaki takes a breath before beginning, speaking in the more formal and precise manner he uses for verbal reports.
"Alright. I will say in advance that this will sound pretty out there, but bear with me until I finish, I believe that this is a genuine issue.

Shortly after our previous conversation, Alia woke up scared, like from a nightmare. Although I reassured her, soon she started to tell me about what she experienced. She told me she was in Seiko's mind, or something similar, with Seiko and a mysterious girl. Alia being the way she is, she only had limited information, just that this girl required information - from what she picked, I gather this girl wanted stuff on modern technology and history. Now usually we could just disregard this as a nightmare, but given the people involved that it was worth confirming. To elaborate, I'm referring to Alia's nature and that other Alia with some kind of WOL powers, and on Seiko's end you have the possibility of further effects of the Xibalban, as well as something I'd previously noticed but disregarded. If you would recall the reports on the attack at the dance, when she was fighting one of the zombies, something awfully like neutralisation happened when she attacked one with her blade.

In any case, I decided it was at least worth a basic investigation to see if there was anything to it. Alia asked me to deliver the memory card with the information she'd gathered to Seiko, so I gave her a call. My initial questions, worded so that it would be obvious what I'm talking about if it's true but not if this was just Alia's mind, conformed that Seiko knew what I was talking about, leading me to two explanations. Either this did happen as described and some entity is contacting both of them, or somehow despite barely any contact both girls are having the exact same dreams. The conversation that followed wasn't exactly pleasant, quite a lot of veiled threats, lies, guarded responses and similar things, but I was able to see where she was lying and I've gathered a number of conclusions.

First, Seiko appears to agree with me that the dance attack incident is involved. I can't confirm whether she's mistaken, however. Second, she hasn't decided to tell you about it - as in the command structure, although Rose is the only one she trusts and would talk to about this. Third, Alia's information was accurate, Seiko wants the memory card and the girl seems to exist. Fourth, she doesn't want my involvement in this - she told me to forget about it or I'd get into 'trouble', and wanted to know where my dorm is. She seems unaware of the details of my connection to Alia. Fifth, I seem to have successfully made her think I know more than I do, which should put her on the back foot and be cautious before engaging me in whatever manner. I also mentioned the risk of this being associated with her Xibalban exposure, and the consequences of that given her situation. That should hopefully make her think more about the potential consequences of this. In any case, she seems to still underestimate me.

That is all I have so far, and much of it is conjecture and extrapolation. However, I believe that this is something, and evidently so do Alia and Seiko. What that something is, however, is unclear but it could be a threat to the Academy and our endeavours, if it isn't your people doing it somehow. On a more personal level, the Alia angle worries me given Seiko's insanity, hence my request for the surveillance and protection. Also, Seiko is expecting me at the gym soon to give her the memory card.

Any thoughts, both on the situation and how to proceed? I could really do with another mind on this, particularly one with your knowledge and clearance."

He pauses, taking another deep breath after all that talking. "Apologies for just dumping all this on you, and that much information, but I'm still not sure what's important and what isn't."

[fibericon]

Yuuta nods and closes his eyes, quietly sipping his tea. He fades into the background so easily that no one really worries about him overhearing them, especially not when it's over the phone. It's still hard to make out everything, but... hmm.

Seiko has an inner Seiko, and inner Seiko seems like a different person. I can relate to that. Inner Yuuta is a garbage, cesspool excuse for a human being. Wow, Yuuta. You're being- Shut up! Shut up! Shut the **** up! You can't hurt me here! I'm safe here! Drink bleach!

Ugh, now I missed some of it. Yes, Alia has WOL powers, we all do. Why is that noteworthy? A pilot without WOL powers is like a migratory bird that can't perceive magnetic north. Seiko, too. Perfectly normal. I even used my stealth field to walk right past the zombies at the dance. Wait... is this Kenzaki. Oh no. That's tragic. I had no idea. Poor Kenzaki. I should say something to him. I mean, I won't, but I should.

Um... I think I lack some context. Inner Seiko asked for something? Yes, I suppose inner Seiko does make Seiko act a bit crazy. Sometimes the voice wins. You have to fight it constantly just to remain yourself, and it's exhausting. I should talk to her. Again, won't happen, but...

"I feel bad for Kenzaki. It must be hard to not have WOL abilities."

[Vrock_Summoner]

Alphie is silent for several seconds before responding.”I see. That’s quite a lot. I’ll set you two up with protective surveillance right away, since in whatever case you’ll probably be viewed as a threat now. Beyond that... I don’t like you putting yourself in risky situations, but right now you’re in a position I don’t have a way to put anyone else in.” She pauses again. ”We shouldn’t rule out that both of them might be in danger. We have evidence that such forms of communication are possible, but I’m sure you remember how damaging it can be. If that mysterious girl isn’t just some fabrication... Well, I hate to ask, but if you can try to weasel out what she looks like, or better yet a name, and it links to an actual person, it could give us an important lead. But... be careful. You-”

She stops cold again, covering the mic part of her phone and looking at Yuuta (Kenzaki can make a Notice check to hear what she says through the muffling). “I’m sorry, what did you say? Yuuta, you have WOL powers...!?” Alphie’s usual collected demeanor seems completely thrown out of whack. She’s clearly too busy learning things to pretend she already knows all the things.

[fibericon]

Yuuta stares at Alphie wide-eyed, mouth agape. He had honestly thought this was common knowledge. Not just common knowledge, but in fact, something common across all pilots. He was sure that's why they had all been selected.

"The scythe is... um... play a guitar. It works, but not for far. Amplifier. Scythes are amplifiers. With armor. Can't do anything you can't do, but makes it bigger. Has a WOL, yes, but pilots manipulate it. Can't do anything on its own. It's... through the left eye, frontal lobe. Lobotomy. But now... no, you know this. You don't know this?"

Yuuta furrows his brow, looking down at his tea.

"Stealth pattern, me. Let me survive the dance, zombies couldn't see me. Made no attempt to hide, just walked past. Complex extension, all me. Do the math in my head. Funnel, needs amplifier - can't bend physics that far without it. Always the pilot, never the scythe... right? It's not just me, right?"

[Volthawk]

"...Evidence? Oh, I assume you're referring to the Xibalban's influence and mental attacks? I don't think it's related, though, since although I was affected to a lesser degree, I still hit the same point of loss of Scythe control and temporarily mental shock. I have the feeling it's something else, perhaps the attack triggered it though. In any case, I don't think I can find out this information from Seiko herself - I'll try, but I'm doubtful. If this repeats itself next time they sleep, I suppose I could try asking Alia to try to pay attention to those details. That might work, although Seiko is now finally aware of a link between myself and Alia and Alia is the way she is."

He pauses as he starts to hear Alphie and Yuuta's conversation, even if it's muffled by her hand. "Wait, Yuuta's been there and listening? He's...really misunderstood what was said, huh? And how Scythes and the WOL field work."

[Arayl]

"That makes a lo of sense to me" Kenichi says when Lira explains her reason for wanting to join the military and resumes eating the food on his plate.

[Vrock_Summoner]

Baki clears his throat to try and interject back in the conversation. “Anyway, Kenichi, I actually have a friend who does personal training with active and former military personnel. He doesn’t usually work with children, but I’m sure I could get him to make an exception and give you some free sessions as a favor. It’s the least I can do for you for saving my daughter, and it’ll help both with your piloting and pretty much all your other aspirations, so if you’re interested...”

Alphie seems to give up on separating the conversations, as both boys are too perceptive for such basic tricks to work. ”Yuuta, I’m sure Kenzaki can confirm whether you were invisible at the dance, since he was observing at the time, and if you were that’s absolutely not something I’d expect from any of the other pilots. Humans shouldn’t be able to have WOL powers, and pilot status hasn’t affected that based on our research so far. Though if you’re an exception to that, it would explain why you’re so talented in the Scythe...” She seems thoughtful for a moment.

“Kenzaki, to tell you the truth I can’t act much right now. I don’t know why Alia is showing up in others’ visions or how Seiko ties into any of it. What I do know is that we should try to keep as much of this under wraps as possible until the end; I got a half-insight into what’s going on from a blind lead, but it’s only thanks to Rose that wasn’t a dead end. I don’t expect you to face any direct interference, but be careful anyway; Yuuta’s taking care of the cameras, you just watch out for Alia. Understood?”

[Volthawk]

Kenzaki doesn't reply for a few moments, thinking things over. There's one thought that forms as he realises all of the implications of her statement - this is bad.

He takes a breath before he responds. "Yeah, Yuuta wasn't invisible at the dance. As for Alia and Seiko, I understand, I'll be careful around her, I'll let you know what I find out."

[Volthawk]

"Alright, I think that's everything. As before, get in touch if you have anything more to tell me. Goodbye.

Hanging up, Kenzaki starts to walk towards the gym, thinking things over as he goes. He was pretty sure he didn't misinterpet her message, and the ramifications of it was something he was still getting his head around. Nonetheless, as he approached the gym he tried to put it mostly to one side, focusing back on whatever's going on with Alia and Seiko. It's funny how things get put into perspective. A few hours ago he was completely unaware of any of this, then he was aware of one thing, and now even more. The main question was what to do with all this knowledge and secrets. He wasn't quite sure.

He pushes open the gym doors and walks in, looking around. "Seiko?"

[Syless]

Seiko's in the middle of a set of pushups when Kenzaki walks in. She holds herself up on one hand, gesturing to Kenzaki to wait, then finishes her set before standing up and breathing deeply. "About time." She looks past Kenzaki. "Where's Alia?" He didn't bring her? Just the recordings? Is he playing some kind of game? This wasn't funny.

This was a frustrating situation to be in. He needs to be humbled, but Rose... Rose would break her if she tried. She knows the threats made against her were sincere. And he's not falling for her threats. Does he know? He shouldn't. But he already knows more than he should. Should she treat him as if he knows everything, or keep what secrets remain adamantly secure?

[Volthawk]

Kenzaki raises an eyebrow at her question, a little confused. "Alia? We never said anything about her coming along - she asked me to deliver them, after all, and with her health there's no point bringing her here." While he takes, he assesses the situation in his head. Naturally not the best if things become physical, but he didn't expect things to get serious in that regard yet. If it happens, he can take an attack - surely she wouldn't be stupid or crazy enough to seriously injure another pilot in the situation they're in where Xibalbans could come at any time, she seemed to have her wits about her still. As far as the higher goals went, he was doubtful of success here, but this was a necessary step. "Why, were you expecting her? I gather you haven't had much contact with her since hospital, asides from the time she was screaming to try to get you there."

[Syless]

Seiko is momentarily taken aback. "I just assumed-" She assumes an aggressive posture again. "Never mind. I'm just still not sure why she'd send you." They couldn't be that close, could they? He mentioned her health... is he taking advantage of her vulnerability? Is she doing that badly? If she is... Seiko should be the one by her side. Not him. Seiko is the only one who can truly protect her. This little runt is just... hmph.

[Volthawk]

Kenzaki sighs at her posture and comment. "Ah, we're being like that, okay. I was going to tell you what's been happening with her recently, since you're apparently out of the loop, but hey. If you're going to be hostile when I'm here to help you, then I'll just do what she asked of me and that's all." He reaches into a pocket for the memory card and puts it on a nearby surface, starting to back away and slowly leave - intentionally slow enough for Seiko to react or say something in reply before he's out. "Shame we couldn't talk more, there's been some interesting developments with her."

[Syless]

Seiko sprints forward and slams the door behind Kenzaki before he can slip away. She leans in and growls into his ear. "Don't play this game. You're smarter than this, aren't you, Souji? Didn't Alia tell you what prompted my little dream? Or did she withhold that little tidbit?" This might be overstepping her bounds. She has no plans to sincerely hurt him. But he shouldn't know she's being held in check. So he needs to know what she could do, not what she will do. "You're pushing your luck. Now tell me what you know, and I'll tell you why we'll never be seeing that psychiatrist again."

[Arayl]

When Baki mentions getting a friend of his to give Kenichi some free physical training sessions as thanks for his saving of Lira Kenichi's face shows a faint hint of surprise at the offer and a small smile appears as he says, ​"Thank you very much for the offer, I would appreciate it very much if you could do that for me"

[Volthawk]

Kenzaki is quiet for a few moments, taking in what's being said and done. Although this wasn't the ideal outcome, it was still informative - he made a mental note to chase up this thing about the therapist. Still, he wasn't quite fearing for his life yet, he still had some faith that she still had an understanding of the way things worked here. "Seiko. You and I both know that following up on those threats won't be good for you, far more harm than good done that way. Do I have to remind you that I'm also a pilot, and one of, if not the top priority of the Academy is ensuring we're in the best state possible to fight the Xibalbans. You causing harm to other pilots flies in the face of that, and I doubt they'll believe any story you concoct. Remember, the reason I know anything about your psych eval is because they told me about it, that they expected you to go after me - we're all under observation, more than you'd think, and they know anything that happens to me here is all down to you. Remember that out of all of us, you're the only one deemed a risk, while I'm trusted enough for them to give me information they don't to the others. "

He grins, putting on a brave face despite all this. "Consider the other pilots too. We're supposed to act as a team, and trust each other. If word got out you were violent to other pilots, they'd hardly trust you, would they? If it came down to it and they had to choose between you and something else important - another pilot, the Xibalban, whatever - don't think they wouldn't consider it. Assuming you go down this path, of course."

He takes a breath. Almost finished, now for the really risky part. "As for the information on Alia, I've found out enough that I can't just spill it in one fearful burst anyway - there's so much going on that you don't know enough to know what you don't know. I'll give you one piece you'll appreciate though. So mentally she's switched objects and people in importance in her mind, yes? We've been working with her to get her to understand people properly, and so far she's managed it to some degree for two people. The first is you - you may have noticed she uses your name now, and tries to act around you as if you're a person, unlike the others. The second is me, and there's been a bit more progress there, hence her asking me to do this for you. Fact is, if you want her to continue to acknowledge and understand you, and vice versa, you need me, she can't form the kind of relationship you want now. Not to mention the effects on her from one of the people she recognises hurting the other. That'll just ruin any progress she's made. My offer is simple - we help each other, nobody gets into trouble, and we all progress. On the other hand, if things go the other way, the deck's stacked and most you when it comes to consequences, and believe me when I say I can and will make sure that things go as badly for you as possible in that regard - we're dealing with more than just a physical fight, and I'm better at playing those other games. Your choice. "

[Syless]

Hah. The prey still thought he was on fair ground. "You're right. I do care about the team. I do care about the Xibalbans. We have a war to win. But do you know what I care about more? Her. She is the world. I will burn everything if it means her safety. And you say she can't have a relationship the way I want? You don't know the first thing about it. I've seen how she looks at Sakuya. It's the most meaningful look in the world. It's how I want her to look at me. And from there... hah. Envy's a funny thing, isn't it?"

She's spilling his guts to him. Not the best move, but if he can truly see where she's coming from, with what she's capable of, he won't dare intrude. Would he? "So you want us to play nice? For her sake? Fine. But I have conditions. And for now-" Seiko slams her hand into the door. "-you're in no position to negotiate. You want to be her friend? Fine. Don't even think of anything more. You don't want to see what happens when I lose my composure. This is only the surface. Valentine's day- ignore her. As much as you can. You'll make sure I can meet her. I will show her what she means to me, and what I am for her. You won't interfere at all. If you make that promise, and stick to it... then I'll leave you be. For Alia's sake, and for the world's. In that order."

[fibericon]

Yuuta chuckles a bit.

"It's not about being invisible. It's about lowering the sensory range of a xibalban in relation to you. Quantum. It's okay. Don't need validation. Need to not get eaten by zombies. Did that." He grins at Alphie, "Turned on my laptop for the first time recently. Computers are interesting."

[Volthawk]

Kenzaki didn't interrupt as Seiko ranted, just listening, and for a few moments afterwards he remained silent. While she was definitely intimidating, he kept it under wraps for now as he considered his answer, how to deal with this. If nothing else, this was very informative about Seiko's mental state.

"I see. My main priority with Alia is making her better, letting her understand people - understand us, and you. She sees Sakuya and our Scythes as more real, more relatable than any of us. If I can keep doing what I'm doing, that might change. I'm in a position you need, can make use of.

In exchange, you give me one small detail about our original topic? Alia never told me the name of the girl in your head, and I like details. I'd really appreciate knowing it, and removing that minor annoyance from my head will let me get past it and focus on other things more easily. I won't ask any more of you, you've made it clear how things are now."

[Syless]

Seiko looks almost offended. "Change her? You can't fix perfection. She sees the world in a truer way than any of us. You don't understand her grace, so you don't deserve it. You've heard my terms." She walks away from Kenzaki and takes the memory card. "Kirika-" She says the name very deliberately. "-will be quite happy to have this information. You want more answers? Prove you deserve them. Ask again on the fifteenth. Now leave before I change my mind about anything."

[Volthawk]

Kenzaki just nods and leaves. Quickly. Once he gets some distance, he stops and finally lets the wave of emotions hit him, although he manages to avoid any...physical signs. Once he's taken the time to get the immediate rush and naesau and such out of his system, he takes out his phone and thinks about things, sending a text message to Alphie. "A lead. Girl is 'Kirika'. Other details still unknown. The Alia situation is worse than thought." He then walks back to his dorm, trying to get himself back under control before he gets back to Alia - there's still no need to let her know about all of the details.

[Syless]

Once Kenzaki's gone, Seiko lets out a deep sigh. She lost control, barely managed to hold off enough. Rose shouldn't be too annoyed about this. She knows what Seiko wants most, and how this could be a problem. But if Souji is a man of his word... Hmph. She'll see soon enough. Alia will be hers. And Alia connects with objects more, it's not just Sakuya...? That makes her plan all the better. Heh. The day is coming.

After a few minutes, Seiko heads out of the gym towards her room. She wants to queue up Alia's playlist, then her own, then see how easily she can fall asleep. Maybe she can get some sleeping pills from the infirmary if she asks nicely.

[Elfbird]

Alia seems to be sleeping when Kenzaki gets back to his room; the bowl by her bed is half-full of vomit, and the dorm quite full of the associated smell.

She stirs a little when he draws near, and murmurs softly.

"Welcome... back, Ken... zaki. Did they... get the b-... books?"

[Volthawk]

Kenzaki smiles as he sees and hears Alia. He walks over and picks up the bucket. "Hey, Alia. Yeah, they got the card. All is well. Did you sleep alright?" He walks into the bathroom and cleans out the bucket before returning it. His mind was set - he couldn't let her be drawn into Seiko's insanity more than she had to. He sighs quietly. Looks like he's going to have to get involved after all.

[Elfbird]

"Mmm... I want to... get better. Ken... zaki, do you... think I'll... die... from this? I'd... rather... go... quickly, this time... too."

When Kenzaki comes close enough to hear her fading voice, she slips a hand out from under the covers to catch his sleeve. After a moment's hesitation, she walks her hand down his wrist until she's holding his hand instead. Her's is clammy and cold, and shakes slightly with even the small effort she's putting in it.

"Warm... I hadn't... noticed. It hurts... a little less... like this."

Soon her hand goes slack, and her breathing settles into the steady rhythm of sleep. The blankets barely move under the rise and fall of her small chest.

[Vrock_Summoner]

Alphie hangs up and looks back to Yuuta, smiling. ”Oh yeah? You’ve really been getting busy lately. You’re just using the school-ordered laptops though, right?” She seems thoughtful. ”It’s a good thing you waited on those cameras, if so. They’ve all got chips installed so IRIS will know if they connect to any of the compound’s systems... Not that your average hacker could breach its defenses anyway.” She chuckles sheepishly. ”Oh, but don’t tell the other students, that’s just a little secret between us.”

She gets back to the paperwork on her desk. “Anyway, kiddo, anything else you wanted while you were here? I don’t mind just hanging out, but you seem like you like being busy lately.”

Baki smiles and nods, the anger from moments ago seeming forgotten. “You got it! I’m glad to help you out.”

There will be mechanical benefits to this when we get to introducing your trainer! Hooray!

He takes another bite of food, then starts looking wistful. “My wife would’ve adored you. All responsible and focused. I hope it’s not weird to say, but you kind of remind me of her. You have the same eyes - the eyes of someone who knows their calling and is bored with everything else. Though her passions were in medicine rather than military.”

Lisa seems to be listening intently - you get the impression they don’t talk about her mother very often.

[fibericon]

Interesting. Would have figured that out eventually, but probably too late. Hmm. This just got more dangerous. Unless... Yes, that works. Bounce the connection through another system on the outside. Good practice, too.

"Okay. Um... no rush. Long elevator ride." He furrows his brow and raises his hand to face level, having a bit more trouble with the next part. "Thank you..." He glances around, as if he would be able to find the rest of the words somewhere in the room. "For... mentoring. Less... um..." He taps the side of his head. "More talking. Not like you - not normal. Trying."

[Volthawk]

Kenzaki had sat down and was about to do some more writing when Alia spoke again and ended up holding his hand. Surprised, he doesn't immediately react but holds on. It's only when Alia falls asleep again that he manages to form a reply. "If it eases the pain...I'll be here for you. I want to help you as best I can because, well, you're special to me too." Once he's said it, he realises that Alia's asleep - that she was for all of that. He smiles, internally laughing at himself - it's funny, he's usually quick with figuring stuff out and responding, but in these situations, with girls...

He quietly chuckles at the thought as he gets comfortable in his chair, taking a nap while still holding her hand.

[Vrock_Summoner]

The following week is fairly uneventful.

The pilots are called together for a tactics meeting, attended only by them and Baki. Kenzaki’s suggestions receive general approval, while Seiko has her main argument shot down by the others. Alia mentions something about Kenzaki and Kenichi having risky personality changes while piloting, but doesn’t articulate herself well enough to leave an impression. Haruka attends, but is uncharacteristically quiet.

Seiko and Yuuta converse after the meeting. (Everybody panic.)

Other than that, you all go about your lives. Some of you are preparing for Valentine’s Day, others of you spend the time training, and still others of you are swamped with more responsibilities than you’ve ever had in your life.

It’s now February 8th. You’ve all been called to your Scythes for a new test.

When you’ve arrived, you’re shown to an observatory above a large testing area - it seems like they knocked out the walls between a few of the activation testing chambers and set up a sort of obstacle course that looks like part of a city. There are also large niches built into the walls, which you are soon told are where you’ll be hiding in your Scythes to observe the test.

Baki explains with excitement that they’re testing an experimental method of keeping the pilots from having to endanger themselves in the Xibalban battles through a so-called “dummy plug” - a fully-computerized replacement for a pilot.

Alphie cuts in to point out that the dummy plug is still a prototype, and even if the test goes flawlessly, it’s probably not going to be ready for field deployment for a while. And whether it will work is still an unknown - ergo why the Scythes not being used for the test itself will be manned by the pilots and waiting in the wings to incapacitate the Scythe if necessary.

Baki seems disappointed with the interjection, but confirms that the test is still important to getting the pilots out of their predicament. He then points out what the test is going to be - the dummy plug simply has to guide the Scythe around the fake buildings without damaging them, hit the targets designated as enemies when they pop out, and not attack the targets designated as allies when they pop out. It’s more like an arcade game than an actual combat challenge.

He goes on to state that if there is an incident, you guys are to try and incapacitate the Scythe while doing as little damage as possible until the emergency measures can be implemented to eject the plug.

The Scythe to be used for this experiment is S-168, as the designated Test-type Scythe, as well as conveniently the Scythe whose pilot is in poor condition and should be kept out of the plug anyway. Alia will this stay in the observatory to watch the proceedings.

“Any questions?”

[Elfbird]

The Scythe to be used for this experiment is S-168, as the designated Test-type Scythe, as well as conveniently the Scythe whose pilot is in poor condition and should be kept out of the plug anyway. Alia will this stay in the observatory to watch the proceedings.

“Any questions?”

Alia's heart begins to pound; a surge of adrenaline drives all thought of weakness from her body. She flushes as the information sinks into her clouded mind. Her eyes dilate and her vision sharpens, struggling to focus on the human dictating that Sakuya is to be piloted by a machine. Her partner. Her partner, being prostituted out to some stranger who's even more real than she is

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!"

Suddenly Alia is standing; she's knocked Kenzaki aside the way one might slam a table for emphasis.
She's not quite aware of herself. A fire rages in her chest, one she's rarely felt before, and her one wish is to use it to burn away everything that could threaten her bond with Sakuya. The only one she can trust; the only one who will protect her - she needs help now, and damn everything that stands in the way.

Alia struggles to speak between heaving breaths.

"I will... I will not... see my Sakuya... prostituted... gyah! I...!"

They can't understand. Or they won't.

Kenzaki could

Sakuya.

Alia turns on her heels and runs for the exit, for the hangars - for Sakuya. Her footsteps blaze a trail of flames in her mind's eye.

She slams into the wall of the corridor outside, peels herself off of it, and runs on.

But I am sick.

After the fourth corner and second flight of stairs, Alia collapses, wheezing and gasping and choking on an incoherent, broken cry.

The last of her strength is spent gathering all of her anger and fear and pain and love and devotion into her small, shaking fist and bringing it down on the steel floor.

It rings but briefly in sympathy, and then she is spent.

[Vrock_Summoner]

Alphie and several scientists run after Alia in concern, while Baki rubs his head in bewilderment and concern and sighs, turning to Seiko. “Ms. Akagi, I, uh... don’t suppose you’d mind if we did the test with R-B4 instead, if we can’t reassure Ms. Res that Sakura isn’t... being... whatever she thinks is wrong about this.” He’s trying, but he’s totally at a loss for words.

[Volthawk]

Kenzaki's a little stunned at first by Alia's outburst and her running away - he had no idea she was physically capable of this, although from what he knew of her if anything would cause a strong reaction, it'd be this.

As Alia runs out, he quickly follows, figuring out where she's headed. When he finds her, he just sits down next to her - although she's physically and mentally drained, she doesn't seem in need of immediate medical assistance - and talks to her, sounding as calm and relaxed as he usually does when talking to her, despite the situation. "Hey. Need a hand? You're headed to Sakuya, right?"

[fibericon]

"Stop."

Yuuta pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs, squeezing his eyes shut in annoyance. These people are going to get everyone killed. Alia has the only thing close to an appropriate reaction.

"Pilot failure... scythe thinks." He looks up at Baki now, who seems way too optimistic about this. "Software test, almost guaranteed failure. S-086... through the left eye, frontal lobe, lobotomy! Less thinking."

He freezes up, looking over to Alphie in an attempt to figure out how to proceed, or at least for her to jump in and help other people understand his jilted speech. "Less dangerous. And..."

He lets out a groan of frustration, rubbing his face. His thoughts were too fast to catch and put into words.

"Want me on the ground. See things you can't. Need... readouts, and whiteboard. Um... someone from... ngh. Person who makes will reality through text- programmer!"

Though he's not the most expressive person, it's becoming very obvious that this is putting a huge strain on Yuuta.

[Arayl]

When Alia abruptly stands up and begins to shout that she wouldn't let 'Sakuya' be prostituted Kenichi looks towards her with confusion and in his mind thinks 'What does she mean by prostituted?' and then sees her run out the door quickly followed by Alphie, Kenzaki and several of the scientists run out the door.

After Yuuta brings up the near certainty of the test failing Kenichi turns to him and says, "If or when it does fail the piloted Scythes will be there to restrain it, and lobotomising the Scythe would most likely leave it with reduced combat capabilities, or have an adverse effect on Alia when she pilots it"

[Syless]

Once everyone is clearing out after the strategy meeting, Seiko shooting a cold glare at Kenzaki and a distraught stare at the ailing Alia, Seiko goes to find Yuuta before he can get too far, smiling. "Hi, Yuuta?" Yuuta stops in his tracks, staring wide-eyed at Seiko, but not responding verbally. Her smile flickers for a second, but doesn't falter. "I was hoping I could get a good way to get in touch with you, I'd like to talk to you about, oh... this and that."

Please have a point. Please have a point. Please have a point. Please have a point. "Okay."

Seiko's face stays blank, masking a bit of annoyance and confusion. "So... can I have your phone number? Dorm room? Email address?"

"No phone. Dorm... okay. 52D. Email... just learned that. [email protected]"

Seiko's smile widens. "Thank you! Is it okay if I send you an email later? Or visit your room? Just to... talk."

Yuuta's breathing becomes a bit labored at that suggestion. His words come out strained. "Email please."

He's sounding a bit... is he? No... "Alright." She thinks for a second. "Respond to me fast, okay?"

Yuuta nods quickly. Seiko's trying to be nice, but I'm me. Please stop. Ask for confirmation of her email. Absolutely not. If I get an email, it's her.

Seiko gives Yuuta a quick hug. "Thanks! I'll hear from you later!" Not giving him time to (not) reply, Seiko slips off down the corridor.

Static. Deafening internal screams. Sweat. I need to sit. Going down one way or another.

Email thread between sakagi221 and ymori836:

sakagi221: Hey! I just thought I should get to know the other pilots better, and, well, you seem nice. What do you think of the others?

ymori836: Poor Kenzaki has no WOL abilities. I feel bad for him. Alia is superstitious, but nice. Kenichi exists. Haruka is too much.

sakagi221: How sad for him. How did you learn about that?

ymori836: Over the phone with Alphie. He acted like your WOL abilities were magical, then said I didn't know what I was talking about when I tried to explain all pilots had them.

sakagi221: My WOL abilities? He told you? What else has he said?

ymori836: Something else I missed. Internal shouting was too loud.

sakagi221: Wait. Do you have a person in your head too telling you about your abilities?

ymori836: About everything. Very loud. Rude.

sakagi221: Can you tell me about when you were younger? Where were you before NDA?

ymori836: No real change - less data accumulated over time, but of similar structure.

sakagi221: Were you raised at NDA?

ymori836: For seven years, yes.

sakagi221: Does your inner person tell you where your powers come from?

ymori836: No. Mostly tells me to talk. Calls me names.

sakagi221: You need to teach them some manners. I wonder if you could fight them in the dreamworld...

ymori836: Alphie might have a way to kill it. Said someone could help.

sakagi221: What if you need it for your powers?

ymori836: scythe makes it quiet. Maybe opposite?

sakagi221: I don't even know where to begin with my own. Kirika hasn't explained them yet.

ymori836: okay

sakagi221: What triggered your power's awakening? Mine was... rather energized.

ymori836: It was asleep?

sakagi221: You've always had your abilities?

ymori836: I think so. I knew which scythe was mine as soon as I saw it.

sakagi221: What are your powers? I'm not even completely certain what mine are.

ymori836: manipulation of quantum mechanics

sakagi221: ...sounds complex. I'm just very good at killing things, apparently.

---THREAD TERMINATES---

A test? Hm. Nothing interesting. If it was any other Scythe, Seiko would almost hope for an accident, but since it's Sa-

no no no alia no everything will be fine

Not good. Alia needs help. Alia needs her. And once again, Seiko sees where she wants to be. She wants to be one with Alia the way Sakuya is. Until that's possible... well, she still has plans. As Baki addresses her, Seiko flashes him a steel glare in return. "Use R-B4. Spare the added stress on S-168. Permission to check on Alia?" She's almost visibly holding herself back at this point. Chain of command, but... she couldn't bear seeing Alia in that much distress.

[Vrock_Summoner]

“Yuuta, the unique specifications of your Scythe are the exact reason we can’t use it,” Baki responds. He spent the time Yuuta was talking clearly confused and trying to follow along, but quickly snapped back into commander mode to respond to the parts he’d understood. “We need the results of this test to be as impartial as possible. S-168 is a designated test platform, and has the fewest variables to interfere with the results. If we used yours in particular, we wouldn’t know if the Dummy Plug was maintaining control, because your Scythe is barely aggressive in the first place. Among myriad other issues.”

He sighs. “Using R-B4 isn’t exactly ideal either, but at least it’s the production model, so if this works we can push forward the Scythe mass-production plans without worrying if it’s compatible with any other Scythe type...”

He nods and waves the impatient Seiko off.


————————————————


Alphie reaches Alia at about the same time as Kenzaki and seems desperate to reassure her. ”Relax, dear, please. The dummy plug is-“ She stops, looking at Kenzaki and the other scientists for a bit. If Kenzaki looks at her, he might notice she seems... actually kind of aggravated that there are others around. “... What I mean to say is, I won’t do that to Sakuya. You know her better than I do, and I truthfully didn’t realize... she’d... take it so personally. Okay? I won’t involve Sakuya.”

[fibericon]

Wait... he knew? He knew about the tradeoffs and elected to go with a scythe capable of thought? What is he playing at? It would be like jumping straight from a petri dish to human testing in medicine. And where the hell is Alphie? I have no credibility when she's not in the room. I can't convince someone on my own, not when all they see when they look at me is a learning disability. Please come back. Please come back. Please-

Oh, I'm back, Yuuta. And that spine you grew? Where is that, hmm? 'Drink bleach', indeed. No, relax. You're doing better. And that's the point, isn't it, Yuuta? Now, you know what has to be done. This suit filler needs to be shown to never talk back to you again. I'm not going to kill him. Obviously you're not going to kill him - pay attention. This test just has to go... very poorly, for exactly the reasons you said it would.

With all the monitoring, with all the equipment, all the recording, all the engineers, and all the other pilots, it will be obvious if I sabotage the test. With that attitude, sure. But remember, Yuuta: any idiot can make something appear to have not happened. It takes true genius to make one event look like another. No one can manipulate WOLs like you, remember? No one. Not here, not in Berlin, nowhere in the world is there anyone like you. And they will learn to listen to you.

Yuuta looks up at Baki through his brow, a sudden fire in his eyes. The death glare was accompanied by an unusual calm in his voice. "You will regret taking this risk."

[Elfbird]

Alia looks up at Kenzaki, her eyes distant and glassy but shimmering with tears. There's something imploring about those eyes; seeking some kind of understanding that she can't convey with words.

. . .

Before she can find anything to say, the images of Dead End shooting Fury and Kenzaki with Haapos overlap in her mind. She buries her face back in her arms, clutching her swollen hand.

Sakuya-- ...is safe, for now. But none of them are, really; in the end, everyone is just a plaything for the humans.

Someone else will probably take the fall.

Alia's shoulders begin to shake.

"Make... M-make a new one. A new Scythe... f-for the new... pilot. It's the-- the only way..."

It's completely hopeless, of course, so there's nothing to lose for making impossible wishes right now.

Conflicting impulses rise again in her doll's heart, but she has little enough will left to act on them. To run to Sakuya, to be held, to reach for Kenzaki's hand, to curl up and disappear, to be protected and to be vulnerable, to give up and yield to everything...

She settles for resting a hand on Kenzaki's boot, staring blankly at the laces. Maybe someone will see the ragdoll lying here and take pity, like she might-- no, just another impossible wish.

"...I... wonder what it... feels like... hhh..."

[Syless]

Seiko moves as fast as she can possibly go while still seeming like a walk, at least superficially. She has to move- she has to catch up- she has to-

Alia.

Alia is on the ground. No. She's hurt. No. This is not allowed. Seiko runs forward, shoving Kenzaki out of the way, and kneels down next to Alia, taking her hand to help her up. This is her moment. This is it. Alia needs to know. If she doesn't tell Alia... then she may be lost to her. "Don't worry. I'm here. Everything is safe. Sakuya is safe. I'll never let them hurt her, the same way I'd never let anyone hurt you. I'll protect you both." Seiko pauses. Tears? No. Tears are a sign of weakness. She can't show that weakness. Not here, not now. "Fury can handle the test. I trust her."

[Elfbird]

"Sakuya is safe."
"I'll protect you both."
"Fury can handle the test. I trust her."

That human's words echo around Alia's head for a while before sinking in.

Someone-- a human will protect Sakuya.

With me.

Will protect me?

Fury can-- it's Seiko Akagi

The memory of the letter, the shock and betrayal at finding out it wasn't Sakuya, flashes through Alia in an instant, then fades again.

I don't trust Sakuya.

Kenzaki, sitting by her bedside.

"I..."

The tears begin to flow, and Alia finds Seiko's eyes for the first time.

"How can... you be okay with... letting a stranger... inside Fury?"
It's a sincere question born of confusion and an unsettled mind, without hint of anger or derision.

[Vrock_Summoner]

Alphie looks ready to tear her own hair out. ”That isn’t even- I mean, there isn’t even- the dummy plug is-“ She looks around at the others again and lets out an exasperated sigh.

Her look turns from general frustration to protective anger when Seiko shows up and grabs Alia’s hand. Alphie responds by physically reaching down and picking Alia up wholesale, tearing their hands apart. She cradles Alia in her arms.

“I can’t have this conversation right now. Alia, I’m going to bring you to Sakuya and we can talk about this. Everyone else return to the observatory, please.” She gives Seiko a pointed look, then starts walking away.


———————


Baki raises an eyebrow at Yuuta. “Do you really have so little faith in Alphie? After all the confidence she’s put in you, it’s pretty low to just assume her handiwork will fail.”

[Syless]

A killing look appears in Seiko's eyes as Alia is torn from her.

How dare you.

But she doesn't act. She just glares. Chain of command. Her time will come.

[Elfbird]

Alia goes limp in the doctor's arms, her head lolling aimlessly, staring at nothing. It seems being torn from the two humans she was beginning to connect with - being returned to that long-absent grip and tone that have meant "do as you're told" for the entirety of her life - were enough to resolve those conflicting impulses into a single option.

For now.

. . .

It's good that Seiko will protect Sakuya

Because I don't think I can.

[fibericon]

Wait, what? Alphie believes in-? No. No, no, no. She isn't this irresponsible. Only Alphie can speak for Alphie. Suit fillers will say anything to get their way.

Don't falter, Yuuta. That was specifically a blow at you. He knows what he's doing, and-

Quiet.

I'm thinking.

The light was off behind Yuuta's eyes. They were glazed over, as if he wasn't perceiving the world around him.

Was this a matter of circumstance, or did he plan for Alphie to not be here, and thus leave any information without verification? He's too confident for this to be circumstance. But all suit fillers do is talk - they have to feign confidence even when they're seconds from a stroke.

Yuuta had a hand a few inches from his face, fidgeting slowly, but it was clear he wasn't focusing on his fingers.

He won. I took too long. I've been crushed in front of the other pilots. Wait, no, that's not true. Where even are the other pilots? Only Kenichi is still here, and he can't even keep the unit numbers straight, so who even gives a **** what he thinks? No, there's still a way out of this.

"Alphie... not as confident. Just good sense. Statistically, most tests fail. Risk is yours. Your responsibility. All blood on your hands. Too impatient."

[Vrock_Summoner]

“Too impatient for what?” Baki asks, dumbfounded. “Ms. Guren said it’s ready to test. So I’m testing it. I’ve gotten the science person’s go ahead for the sciencing and I’m waiting for every precaution to be set up first in case things do go wrong. What else am I supposed to be waiting for? Rose’s go-ahead? The Scythe’s permission? Or maybe a politely worded letter from a time traveler who’s seen the results? We wouldn’t have to test it if there were no chance of failure, but the fact is those walls are too thick for it to escape anyway, and you guys are there to further minimize the risk. What more do you want?”

[fibericon]

Mmmmm, you hear that, Yuuta?! That moment where he just snaps?! Like a pane of glass cracked in his mind. It's all over. He lost his credibility when he lost his cool. Move in for the kill. Now.

Yuuta offered no semblance of malice in his tone, though his words spoke for themselves. "You wait for mine." He paused just long enough for that to sink in before continuing, "No pilot input... projections fictional. Pilots provide real data." He taps the side of his head, "Data... here. Not equipment. Can't record, see things you can't. Like... radar can't show colors. Important data, gone... because you can't see." He taps his head again, "Not gone, because up here. No one asked. Oversight. Understandable - you can't see it. Telling you now. Ask. Need real data before testing. More data, less risk, less expense. Money is finite. Less money, less development."

[Volthawk]

When Seiko turns up, Kenzaki is initially apprehensive - Alia's vulnerable right now, and he didn't know how she'd take advantage of that. However, when Seiko does speak, he instead responds to her with an appreciative smile. She seems to have helped to some extent rather than hindered, even if just a small diversion, and he can't fault her for that. After all, he didn't hate her, he was just concerned about (or scared of) the danger she presents and what she might to do him, to Alia (even if she acts out of love and devotion), to the Academy. While she's acting like this, not going too far, he sees no need to keep on at her.

Most of his attention, however, is taken up by Alia. Even though he doesn't say much, he watches her, taking in what she's doing and understanding as best he can. Much of him wants to give her a hug, to tell her that all will be well, but his caution and worry (Alphie's previous words on the topic have stuck in his mind) win out and he doesn't, looking at her hand on his shoes.

When Alphie asks the others to leave, Kenzaki remains sitting where he and Alia were for a few moments. When Seiko and the other scientists leave, he gets up and goes after Alphie and Alia. "I want to stay. I've talked to Alia about this stuff before - her and Sakuya, us and the Scythes in general - and I've started to understand her viewpoint, understand her and Sakuya, how she feels - how she sees the dummy plug. I think that'll be helpful - I need to know that she'll be better, I need to help her, I've been helping her a lot recently. Please? I can't not care, can't just walk away."

[Syless]

Seeing Kenzaki go after Alia. Seiko follows. She's not going to leave the two of them along when she has cause to interfere. But she holds back. She doesn't get close enough to speak, just close enough to see and listen in. They're both concerns. But Alphie can't be touched. Rose would never allow it.

[Vrock_Summoner]

”Kenzaki...” Alphie seems to have calmed down a bit with the scientists having departed. “I need you to-...” She trails off, then shakes her head and turns back around to face him, setting Alia in front of Kenzaki gently, giving him a chance to take over as her support (since she’s probably not strong enough to stand). “Just... Never mind. Take her to Sakuya. I’m not equipped to deal with people properly right now.”

She starts walking towards Seiko. ”But I don’t have to be proper with you, do I? Come, let’s go for a walk.” She smiles, and it seems... surprisingly sincere? “You want to know more about Alia, don’t you? And I want to know more about you. So let’s have a chat.”


—————————————


Baki just puts rubs his temples, bewilderment giving way to general disappointment. “Yuuta, you realize the point of a controlled test is to get data, right? Not doing the test because you want the data first is like pushing your car somewhere because you want to save gas for the trip there.”

[Elfbird]

Alia slumps onto Kenzaki when she's handed off, just as inanimate as she was in Alphie's arms. It's a little confusing, but...

Her thoughts trail off, mind becoming as empty as her aimless gaze.

[Syless]

Seiko freezes. She's handing Alia over to Souji, and trying to move her away from them. She wants to ignore her, to follow Alia to her destination... but authority binds. Souji doesn't deserve her, but he won't hurt her. He's not that foolish. Instead she just keeps a cold glare as she looks into Alphie's eyes. "...fine. Tell me." She pauses, then forces out another word. "Please."

[fibericon]

Yuuta seems flabbergasted. He shakes his head, barely restraining a laugh, and obviously so. What else is there to do but laugh at this point?

"You don't... you don't get it. Okay. It's okay. I know I'm..." He taps the side of his head a little harder now, "Not important. Do what you want - always will. Warned you. All I can do. Can't explain. Maybe my fault - can't make you see. What is blue? Can you explain color to the blind? Maybe you can - you can talk. I can't. I will... um... minimize consequences. Can't promise none."

[Volthawk]

Kenzaki nods and takes over as Alia's support, before helping her towards the hangar. He gives Seiko one last glance, worried about her potential reaction, but but seems...well not fine, but not immediately concerning either.

As he walks, he looks at Alia, full of concern. Despite what he said, he's only scratched the surface of understanding her and her mind, but he gives a try at helping, even if it comes out sounding g more disorganised and less considered than usual. "Hey. Don't worry, Sakuya's fine. I'm sorry about all this, if I knew what was going on I'd have told them that it was a bad idea, told them about how much you care for Sakuya, how you see her and feel about her..." He trails off for a moment before continuing. "Can I help any more than just taking you there? I do really care about you, you know, so whatever you need I'll do my best."

[Elfbird]

Warm...

It takes Alia a long time to notice Kenzaki's body heat - like she herself is so far away from her body. A tiny flame in the back of her skull, looking out through distant eyes and detached flesh.

His words don't really reach her - they're long faded by the time she could have received them - but something of their echo prompts her to speak in turn.

"I don't--... Why--... ..."

She blinks a few times, and some light returns to her eyes. She seems to realize who she's with, though she doesn't really look at him properly.

"...I don't think I can make... anyone understand, or accept... their feelings, either. The humans think it's okay... to put a stranger into our Scythes. I don't. And I don't... know what to do."

Her voice and shoulders both start to quaver slightly at the end. There's a certain clip to her words that suggest she isn't finding the ones she really wants, that she's trying to express some idea or feeling that she can't figure out how to articulate.

[Volthawk]

Kenzaki is quiet for a moment, thinking. "I want to understand. I'll admit, I still don't fully understand, but I'm learning and feeling more and more like I get you. And if I can understand, so can they - if nothing else, I can talk to them in a way they will understand, tell them how you feel. It won't be easy but I'll try, for you. So don't give up on them, on me, okay?"