2022-01-25: Varied Perspectives Have 'Purpose'
- Log: Varied Perspectives Have 'Purpose'
- Cast: Arriety Hearn, Ruri Hoshino, BC-001 Minae, Ple Two
- Where: Londenion HQ, Side 1
- Date: 2022-01-25
- Summary: Minae shares her experiences as a brave counselor, which are very impressive. Arriety shares her doubts over fighting and hurting people, which are quite troubling. Ruri shares her experiences as a civilian combatant, which are deeply concerning. Callisto shares pancakes and syrup in a can, which was really the best decision anyone could have made.
<Pose Tracker> Arriety Hearn has posed.
Arriety has been given a day of... well, it's officially sick leave, even if she doesn't formally have anything approaching a job contract that grants her benefits of that nature -- though the lack thereof means she's not beholden to a given 9 to 5 task either. Freedom!
Freedom is also pretty scary, though, and being a relatively timid type, she hasn't gone and run off down the colony tram line to go explore shops or anything. Instead, she's waiting for Minae: seated outside the semi-official office the counselor has been using in Londenion HQ, not far from Eight's. It's a nicely appointed enough room, with air conditioning, comfortable single seaters and couches, a water cooler, the works.
She has something to talk with the AI in mind, but knows that things are pretty busy right now...
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
After Captain York came to visit her, Ruri got permission to leave her station for a little while, because -- if Captain York is here, that means the Ra Mari is here, and that means there's a certain person she sensed at a traditional fish and chips banquet, here.
(Ruri doesn't know much about dinner gatherings. She presumes it was a traditional fish and chips banquet, though.)
She's been directed to Londenion HQ, but Ruri doesn't need someone to come with her, because Ruri is very composed and collected and grown-up. Look! She's in a Nergal uniform and everything! If she gets a couple of glances walking through to the room she was told about, she can tell herself it's for being in a Nergal uniform, and not because she's...
Okay, look, she's twelve. She's a twelve-year-old girl. That's why the uniform is weird, not because someone from Nergal is visiting Londenion. Let's just get that out of the way right now. Even with all the fighting, twelve is still pretty young by all but the most desperate standards.
But Ruri can pretend it's because she's from Nergal, and she's going to, because, as we've established, Ruri is very responsible and grown-up, so she doesn't like being judged for her age.
Walking up, though, she finds she's not the only one visiting this waiting room. "... Ms. Hearn?" Ruri ventures, as she steps inside. (She stands, a little awkwardly. Ruri has never visited a waiting room before.) "Hello, again. I met you at the party." Her face is quite neutral, but she doesn't seem to feel any negativity; really, if anything, there's a little relief that she recognises someone here.
Ruri looks around, with a little curiosity she can't entirely hide. "Is this where Ms. Minae is staying..? Captain York told me she would be here."
<Pose Tracker> BC-001 Minae has posed.
Minae's habits are rather predictable whenever the Ra Mari is docked at a colony port. Like clockwork, the Super AI always takes some time to hop off the ship - not just to look around and take in the sights of a new place and its habits and customs, but also to collect a delivery or two as she slowly but patiently transforms a gunmetal room into a place of relaxation and comfort and also treats.
At first, it had been bulky things - some pieces of mismatched second-hand furniture first and foremost - but recently she's been picking up smaller and more personalizing additions. A synthetic plant or three, a collection of scattered books and movies, a dreamcatcher that started out hanging above one of the cots but which she now doggedly moves around based on which way the Ra Mari is facing at any given berth.
With Arriety feeling a bit under the weather, she'd promised she was only going to take care of that second part, and it isn't long before she rounds the corner with a box balanced in her arms as she picks at the delivery manifest. "Oh!" she starts at the sight of Arriety waiting for her, about to say something before she catches sight of the younger girl as well. Her pause is not an organic one - her motion actively halts for a split second, then she breaks into a smile as she bustles up.
"Sorry to keep you waiting! Arriety, you didn't have to wait out here, you know? You can always go inside and curl up if you need," she adds quickly as she bumps her way through into the office proper. Between the coffee table, the cabinets, the curtain hiding the beds, there's a distinct sense of 'school infirmary' to the place-- but maybe even Super AIs have to work with what they know best.
"Ah, take a seat, take a seat!" she encourages the open air, and flops back into a wheeled chair as she balances the box on her lap. She looks very civilian - white sleeveless vest, long blue skirt, absolutely no Londo Bell markings - but the pupils of her eyes and the faint glimmer of seams on her limbs give her away, if the way in which half the devices in the room slowly power on around her doesn't. "I don't think I got your name back at the party, but it's good to see you again!"
<Pose Tracker> Ple Two has posed.
Ask yourself: what kind of sick bastard is going to deny Arriety Hearn a day of sick leave, after having fought monsters and stuff? After having nearly killed a man? Because I want you to picture that person being pushed face-first into their desk by a surly, short redhead in a flight suit. That's how Londo Bell HR works now. It's just fact.
The next thing to ask is: why might Lieutenant Junior-grade Callisto Diana still be on Londenion if it's Arriety's day off and not hers? It's an easy answer. Just glance out the fancy sliding doors to this swank office, and take note of the pale redhead marching up the sidewalk towards Le Office Minae (that's the official name for it) with a clear plastic bag in one hand and a faraway look on her face.
That's right. One of Arriety's Big Sis's(tm) is bringing her a treat, because she could sense the Bad And Worried from halfway across the colony.
The door slides open.
~Hiiisssss~.
The short redhead in the tan Londo Bell uniform blinks in surprise upon spying one (1x) Hoshino Ruri. There is no recognition in her eyes, but she's never seen someone this young at a Counselor's office. "... hey." she calls neutrally, to Arriety and this friendly new stranger both. She regrets this instantly because her idea of social gatherings is 'test flights' and 'not meeting new people'.
Luckily, Minae is there to bail her out and absorb her anxiety, so it washes off of her back after the friendly Brave Counselor bounces out into the open. "Uh--I brought... several." a pause. "Drinks. I mean."
(Ple Two internally, as a thought bubble action but not a real-world action, puts her face in her hands and steams.)
<Pose Tracker> Arriety Hearn has posed.
Arriety is much less formally dressed than Ruri: she's still half-wearing that enormously oversized Londo Bell jacket over her shoulders, with a white turtleneck that ends at a thick pair of gloves. Not the type to like exposing her arms at all, it seems. A skirt, leggings and sneakers end the ensemble, so she's pretty casual.
"Oh-- Miss Hoshino, right...?" Arriety starts up after spending a few moments recollecting. A pause. "Oh, you can call me Arriety, it's okay." Ruri inquires after Minae, and she's about to answer when--
Out comes the energetic super AI! "Oh, I thought you might have a client," she murmurs uncertainly, before looking to Ruri, since she's connected those two likely dots together. "Miss Hoshino's here to see you..."
Then, big sis Callisto shows up! "Callie-sis," she warms up a little as she waves towards her. The typically worried and stressed sensation Arriety exudes softens a little, around Minae and Callisto both, though it doesn't really take a psychic to tell that these two are people Arriety trusts greatly.
"Oh, thank you... what did you get?" Quietly, Arriety is hoping for that disgustingly sweet parfait soda she, Eight and Callie shared once.
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"Um -- all right, Arriety-san," Ruri says, codeswitching to Japanese honourifics just so she can say Arriety's first name and still be polite and removed about it, and looking a little surprised regardless. (Fun fact: Ruri is bilingual!)
But she's in front of Le Office Minae, so Ruri finds herself facing -- Minae!! Holding something important. She looks a little surprised to hear the language of 'curling up', glancing back to Arriety.
Well, that does factually describe what most of the crew of the Nadesico does under stress. It turns out there's a name for that. Ruri wonders why a counselor is recommending something like that.
(Let us note here, for the record, that the closest thing to a counselor aboard the Nadesico is Inez Fressange. What this says about the calibre of Ruri's emotional guidance is certainly an open question.)
The important thing, right now, is that the crew curls up under stress. Which means --
"Um..." Ruri starts, and she hesitates for just long enough for a redhead to show up. Ruri -- whose white-blue hair is all held up in twintails, more-or-less -- is at least likely shorter than even her, given she hasn't yet grown above four feet. Give her a few months. She's bound to hit a growth spurt eventually.
"Ruri Hoshino," she introduces herself, one hand clasping the other in front of her. "Nadesico system operator." This Callie -- Ruri is going to wait for an actual introduction, that's definitely a nickname -- isn't the only one feeling a little shy over meeting new people.
She does head inside at Minae's encouragement, at least, and -- well, this time Minae told her to take a seat, so Ruri does, settling down on one of the chairs. Her ankles hook together in front of her, toes to the ground, and her hands fold neatly in her lap. She sits up quite straight for a young lady.
Ruri's gaze tracks to the lights which flicker on, at Minae's presence. She looks back to her, and -- well, Ruri isn't a very practiced technopath, for all she's spent so much time integrating with Omoikane. She's a baby empath. But the fact that she is trying to reach out to Minae -- on a level not unlike the technological, but not, entirely, technological -- might still be evident, because Ruri really does want to...
"I wanted to see you," Ruri says, to Minae. "Because... I've never met someone who has a human body before."
She glances back and forth, to Arriety and Callie-sis (proper designation pending). "But... am I interrupting?" Ruri doesn't mind being rude a lot of the time, but there's something about Minae's greeting back there which is making her worried, right now.
<Pose Tracker> Ple Two has posed.
Callisto has a single sweatdrop of notable intensity sliding down her cheek, but only the one. Perspiration for drama's sake, not for the blessed kiss of evapotranspiration. As Arriety's expression thaws her way, she can't help but pay it back a little. A smile doesn't look as awkward on her face as folks might think, even if it's small.
"Here--" is what she starts to say, then pauses to look at Minae. "Uh, food and drink are okay in the lobby. Right?"
Arriety will notice that the drink she has been handed is a yellow, cold can which prominently features a stack of pancakes covered in maple syrup and whipped cream on the front. This is ostensibly a drink. Godspeed, child.
"It's... I thought you might need the energy. From the sugar."
For Ruri's benefit, it's important to note that Callisto might be short for a Young Adult, but Nergal's best and brightest is for sure a chunk shorter than her again. She pays sharp attention to Ruri's introduction, turning to face her.
"Lieutenant Junior-grade Callisto Diana. Londo Bell." Callisto says this not unpleasantly, but you do have two awkward people here trying to introduce themselves to one another. Luckily, there is no hesitation when it comes to her next action, which is to hand Ruri a cold can of maple whipped pancake drink. You take what you can get on the colonies, it seems.
"You're not interrupting, uh. If anything, I'm interrupting." Callie has a lame, flat-faced expression as she admits this. "Minae's the doc, I'm just a pilot hanging out with her friends."
And with that, Minae is also handed a can of something lethal and syrupy. "Just take this. Please."
<Pose Tracker> BC-001 Minae has posed.
The robot in question blinks her eyebrows up at the hitch in Callisto's voice. For a moment there's a dash of amusement written across her face at the awkward stumble, but Minae didn't get where she is by teasing too much. "Fortunately, I have a lot of fridge space," she encourages instead, turning in her chair and ho oking one foot against the floor to propel herself over towards what was originally a washbasin but is now trying to pretend it's a kitchenette. "And cups. Maybe some ice?"
She pauses at Arriety's comment. This one is a lot more organic and unhurried, and the robot actually remembers to include a pause for breath and a blink of mild surprise rather than just stopping in place. Behind her, the monitor of her office computer flickers on as something pages quickly through records and contact methods. "Ah, not that I'm aware of? I'm not really in the habit of having appointments compared to just having people drop in-- oh, feel free to grab some snacks too--"
Recognition flashes across the robot's eyes as she finally comes across a note from Eight, probably headed 'Re: re: Re: re: Re: re: Re: re: Re: that thing'. She's quick to break into another warm smile afterwards, bobbing her head as she sets the box to one side on her desk and briefly turns her full attention on the twelve year old. "Miss Hoshino, hello! Yeah, it turns the captain said you wanted a chat - did you want some privacy, or is it alright for Arriety and Callisto to be around?"
The greeting starts off upbeat and bright, but fades to a mixture of warm but solemn, the tone of someone taking a well-meant question very seriously. As the girl fidgets, that softens again. "You're not interrupting anything. It's all okay. Hehe, I'm pretty sure you'd outrank me if we tried to compare anyways. But it's okay. I've got all the time in the world."
She hesitates a little, and slowly taps a finger to her chin, obviously trying to work out what exactly Ruri means. "Uh, hmm. I've heard people compare Arriety to a cat before...?" is as far as she gets before she picks something up. The sensation of the robot's presence isn't anywhere close to a human one, lacking a distinct something - but not quite wholly technological, either. "Oh," she adds with some more understanding. "I see."
She gets handed a can herself, which does short out her thinking for a moment before she beams. The Super AI can't eat or drink - but there's a definite pride on her face at the idea that someone might forget that, flustered or not, and treat her as something closer to human. "Mm! Thanks."
<Pose Tracker> Arriety Hearn has posed.
Arriety-san! It takes a moment for Arriety to adjust from Korean honourifics that she's used to to Japanese ones, but she's not unfamiliar with them given Winter Wonderland's fairly mixed culture. W-well, if Ruri still wants to be polite, that's okay...
Still, it's a bit awkward until Minae shows up, which seems to metaphorically break the ice; it's clear Ruri's very interested in meeting Minae, so she doesn't want to interrupt, especially when she asks.
"No, no, I was just waiting for Minae... I didn't really-- have anywhere to be, today, I'm happy just being around her and Callie-sis," Arriety admits.
She looks at the mysterious and wonderful drink that promises to be Pancake with Maple Syrup and Whipped Cream flavour. This is an invention in the year 0096 Universal Century. What has mankind wrought?
"Callie is a big sis to me," Arriety says with a smile. "So is Minae... we're all from the same colony."
Arriety's not a technopath, just an enormous psychic, but there's something in the way Ruri expresses that slightly unusual statement -- 'someone with a human body' -- that makes her wonder if she might have a similar situation to Minae...
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"Hello, Ms. Diana," Ruri greets Callisto, still very proper. Perhaps even... too polite?! But she's handed something, and so, Ruri examines the drink. "Pancake soda..? Is this Londenion's idea of a drink? It's very foolish." Ruri, notably, keeps holding the drink. The psychic amongst them (and possibly even the robots, given Ruri's particular flavour of signature) may sense that she wants to try the extremely sugary drink even though she just openly dissed it.
She also feels a little more comfortable after having put something down. Weird!
"Oh, you're family," Ruri says, looking from Arriety to Callisto to Minae. She doesn't question a Super AI being someone's sister. That's entirely within the scope of family as a metaphorical message. "It must be nice for you to all travel together." There's something a little melancholy to the statement, though it's not in her tone -- still entirely proper -- or her expression, still stuck in neutral.
Once she's settled in her seat, Ruri... tries the sugary death drink. "... I guess it's not bad," she admits. The fact that she's drinking the sugary death drink... probably means she isn't a robot herself? Probably.
"It's okay," she says, on the topic of Callisto and Arriety, looking back to Minae. "They're your family, after all." She's still looking pretty neutral, saying that, but -- her expression softens, a smidge.
And since they're all family, that must mean it's okay to talk about... this sort of thing around them. Isn't it? There's a bit of a pause, as Ruri looks around, but eventually she settles on it being fine.
"My friend, Omoikane, is a Super AI too," Ruri says. "He is spread over five back-up systems and one main control centre of the Nadesico. So it was a surprise, when I met you, and you were so small. I wanted to say something at the, um, the party," Ruri doesn't exactly know what to call it, so she just uses Minae's word, "but I wasn't sure it was safe... so, Captain York told me where to find you here. It is very nice to meet another computer who is as curious as you feel. Omoikane's job is running Nadesico... and you're a counselor, right? You must have learned a lot about people."
Ruri's legs kick, a little, under her chair, and she takes another sip of the ultra-syrupy pancake crime. She's twelve years old, so more sugar = more power.
<Pose Tracker> Ple Two has posed.
Callisto's eyebrow twinges once at being called 'Ms. Diana', but that's only because it pretty much never happens. One of the boons of the military: just get called your rank because your superiors can't read your name-tag from afar, just the rank patch. Never fails. Anyway, her voice remains perfectly polite and cool despite that.
"They're supposed to be breakfast in a can. I guess. I just need the energy on duty."
The small(ish) redhead then rests a hand on Arriety's shoulder as she explains the connection that binds the three girls from Winter Wonderland together. Ruri posits that it must be nice to travel together, and the expression on Callie's face doesn't suggest she disagrees.
It is the mention that this small mystery is the friend of a Super AI that spans multiple computers and runs a ship that surprises her the most.
"Really...? I'd never seen a Super AI until I went to the, uh, the colony. And met Minae." Callisto observes, a hand running through her own hair idly. "But you've got one as a friend as well... and it runs an entire ship?"
Looks like she's at least aware that The Nadesico is a ship. If there's anything alarming or untowards about it otherwise, she doesn't--wait. Hold that thought.
"--your friend, the AI, runs the ship..." she pauses. "So you're on the crew as well?"
A despairing look goes Minae's way. It's obvious that: Callisto is hoping this is just a child with a computer friend and not what it actually is (kids goin' to war).
<Pose Tracker> BC-001 Minae has posed.
"I like my office to be kind of drop-in most of the time," Minae adds in support of Arriety's comments, nodding along with them. "And, well, sometimes everyone just needs to go somewhere comfy and quiet and take a load off. If I can provide that in the middle of a Londo Bell ship, I think that's a pretty good thing. Ah, but I can't give doctor's notes or anything," she frowns. "I bet Rena would just give me one of those looks if I tried."
There's a lot of trust shown from Minae's end as well; it's clear the robot more or less gives Arriety and Callisto the run of her office should they need it, and despite the seriousness with which she ensures that Ruri doesn't want a private session, she seems to thrive in the midst of their presence. She even goes so far as to fish out a cup for herself and make a show of pouring herself a drink, before kicking her chair back across to her desk as she makes the decision to scoot up to the coffee table instead, setting herself down next to Arriety.
(Maybe Minae actually will drink some later, because she is ultimately a progeny of the GGG and really who knows what she's capable of. Maybe she's not sure herself.)
She's silent with another of those warm smiles as she lets Ruri get through her introduction; she's a born listener, nodding in encouragement whenever the younger girl pauses and leaning back a little when she's done. It takes her a while to seemingly marshal her thoughts, but this isn't exactly a situation she's come across that often.
"... I see... well, first things first. You don't have to worry about 'safe'," she replies. "I'm not a military secret, nor a Federation asset. Quite the opposite," she adds with a distinct sliver of pride and a snicker. "I'm just a citizen of Winter Wonderland who had to go argue with a whole lot of people to get on board with the rest of her family. It's okay to relax."
Her expression betrays nothing as she glances at Callisto - but the fact she even makes that glance speaks volumes. When she speaks it's placid, to all three of them. "It's probably a matter of purpose and design. I was created nine years ago to-- well, to be a counsellor. That means you need expressions and body language to make people comfortable, and everything goes from there. If my job was to look after the Ra Mari I bet I'd be a lot bigger."
<Pose Tracker> Arriety Hearn has posed.
Something about the way Ruri says they're all family softens Arriety's expression, in turn; it's very evident that she devotes a lot of attention, time and energy to the people she considers her family. They're very important to her.
But something Ruri says... about being able to all travel together. "Some things meant we drifted apart for a bit, but..." A pause. "Then they all saved me, when something really... horrible happened."
But Ruri explains something amazing -- Omoikane is a Super AI that's spread all over the Nadesico, and thus... ah, that makes sense. To see a Super AI that actually has a human body was really surprising to her...
"Wow... I understand a little bit better now," Arriety remarks. Then, she senses the seeming comfort of having that sugary drink and cracks hers open as well... aah, here we go, sugar crimes.
"Minae... really helped me, all through my younger years. Helped me have the strength to go to school, how to understand and learn at school and how to get through them... and also being my close friend. I don't know where I'd be without her. I'm really lucky," she expresses frankly.
She senses some of the despair from Callisto as well, however... she hesitates for a moment. That's right, Ruri introduced herself as a systems officer...
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Ruri... is not a soldier! And so, Callisto is doomed.
"Oh," she says, when Callisto explains the purpose of the can. "I suppose it makes sense if it's breakfast."
Ruri blinks, when Arriety describes being apart. "I see," she says. "I understand family does generally look out for each other like that." Not hers, but the rest of the ship surely talk about their families sometimes, so she has plenty of other examples.
She adds, to Minae: "I don't need to comfortable. I'm a young lady, so I can work just like everyone else." She probably means for it to be reassuring..?
She looks quite impressed, when Arriety describes Minae's counselling record. Ruri doesn't understand people nearly as well as that.
"... yes," Ruri goes on to answer Callisto, with all the confidence she really shouldn't have. "I'm the Nadesico's systems operator. I work with Omoikane to keep the Nadesico running. Nergal secured me for this task some time ago, so I'm competent in my job." She pauses, and looks to Callisto and Arriety, as she adds: "Omoikane thinks too quickly for most of the people on the ship, so it's easier if I'm there to talk to him. It would be harder to coordinate our attacks and defences otherwise."
Oh, right.
The Nadesico is a mobile battleship.
So that's a 'yes' on the war, then.
"But..." She looks back to Minae, with that same soft neutrality. "I'm glad you're okay here. I don't know very much about making people comfortable, because it doesn't really bother me. But I guess if I was designed to work with you, I'd know more about it." Is she... mirroring the language Minae used..?
Ruri looks over to Arriety, now. "It sounds like a lot of unfortunate things happened to you," Ruri says, "so it's a good thing you have a counselor, I guess."
<Pose Tracker> Ple Two has posed.
(Callisto has always been doomed, so that much has never changed. Thankfully.)
Despite the warmth that comes with hanging out with Arriety, this revelation about Ruri touches a lot of sore spots for the young clone here. Let's say the young lady's countenance betrays nothing of how she feels, but how she feels is:
(It's happening again...)
(More like it never stopped happening.)
(All while you've been lounging around enjoying life, right?)
The uniformed redhead's fingers drop from her hair, dangling by her side for a moment. "That's really impressive." it isn't a lie, so it comes out smoother. "When you put it like that. Sounds like a big ask for one person."
(A big ask for a child.)
Callie's fingers briefly drum on her thighs. She forces her mind to be still -- there'll be time to rage out in private over her complexes regarding child soldiers another time.
"I hope everyone's taking good care of you, Ruri? They've gotta be."
Another not-a-lie, and thus, an earnest statement. CallipleTwo is a walking sentence fragment sometimes, but not an unpleasant one. She takes a step back, mindful of her body language when she wasn't just a moment ago. "Come to think of it--Minae, when's the last time I needed a session? Surely you're telling everyone I'm fighting fit, right~...?"
<Pose Tracker> BC-001 Minae has posed.
"I was just doing my job," puffs Minae to Arriety's praise, eyes closed-- then she pauses, and opens one eye in a pristinely calculated wink. "... is what I actually tried saying, once upon a time. But honestly, it helped me just as much. Until I went to live on Winter Wonderland, I didn't really have a sense for what people's lives could be like. My point of view was very narrow." Of course, she immediately ruins the mature act by bonking into Arriety's side out of sheer 'hooray praise' fervor.
It had definitely taken her a lot of time - and a great deal of interpreting things much too literally - before she'd finally gotten the hang of things around Winter Wonderland. Even now, she can be terribly prone to that from time to time, though most of the time it manifests as the rather oblique way she sometimes looks at and interacts with the world.
The robot blinks, and puts on a bit of a frown in Ruri's direction. "No, no. It's not a matter of 'need'. It's my fault as as a counsellor if you don't feel comfortable around me-- but I guess if you're comfortable as you are, despite not being comfortable, that's... alright?" There's a short pause as the robot goes stock still, considering this circular logic until she runs up against some internal timeout and just folds back into a smile.
"Most of the Super AI I grew up with were a lot bigger than me," she adds brightly. "But then, I wasn't really made to go out into space myself, or turn as big as a house if I need to. I'm actually kind of low power, really," she adds in a mock whisper to the three of them, before straightening back up. "But I like to think I'm doing pretty good at what I was designed for."
She laughs quietly to herself at Ruri's last comment to her, but accepts it with a nod of her head. "I can see you care very much about Omoikane. I hope he's looking after you too-- actually, I'll bet he is, or you wouldn't be this open about it," she adds, more for Callisto's sake than anyone. It's a guess, but a guess based on what she's observed of this girl's behaviour.
"I was gonna book you in for one, but you brought presents, so I guess I got bribed," she rather flippantly replies to Callisto, grinning the next moment. "I've got one of those sunrise lamps to try out, though."
<Pose Tracker> Arriety Hearn has posed.
Arriety does quietly nod at Ruri when she says it's a good thing she has a counselor; it's one thing she doesn't take for granted. Just how many kids are suffering similar or worse fates without any kind of support...? Too many, from what she's already gleaned.
But something Ruri says catches her mind... the way she speaks of coordinating with Omoikane for attacks and defenses. And the way she says Omoikane thinks too fast for most people in the ship... does that mean that Ruri can think as fast as he does? That must really be amazing.
Still...
Arriety gets distracted-- she looks to her big sis, as her thoughts start to permeate hers. It's happening again.
... she knows, she's always known, that Callie has a dark and storied past... as does Eight and Rena. ... it's made her feel guilty, in many ways, that she's avoided such a fate, sometimes. Then it makes her think of how absurd that is, that she feels guilty that she avoided being a child soldier only because everyone else she knows has been one...
Minae, however, helps her out of it -- for a moment. When the AI talks about how Winter Wonderland helped her understand how people's lives could be like... it makes her a little happy, perhaps.
But something's distracting her, greatly.
"Um... Miss Hoshino, I have a... question," Arriety speaks up after a moment. "Do you have to... have you fought before?" She pauses, looking at Minae. Wait, this is not really the right time to ask that, is it...? It's like a turn-around of counselor-patient relations... but... it's also more laid-back than one.
Still, the question's out of the bag, so she tries to at least explain herself. "I... I'm sorry about the strange question. I had to fight a few days ago and..." A hesitant pause. "It nearly went very badly. I still don't understand... being in a mobile weapon, knowing you can hurt or kill somebody..."
She looks more contrite afterwards, feeling like she's fumbling all her words. "Sorry. If it's too much, you don't have to answer..."
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"It was narrow...?" Ruri wonders, and her head tilts, with a sceptical expression, as Minae goes bonk. "Fool," she says, but there's no real teeth to it. She's mostly surprised that computers can be fools. "Anyway, I guess I understand. I didn't know much about people until everyone came onto the Nadesico. They're all very foolish, but I guess it isn't boring, anyway."
Ruri comes to look at Callisto, quietly intent. She has a strange feeling, looking at her, but she doesn't really know what to say about it.
"I spent seven years learning how," Ruri says, "and another one helping to set up the Nadesico once it was physically constructed. So it's only reasonable I can handle it." If anything, she feels uncomfortable with the idea of being impressive -- or perhaps 'exhausted' is the right word.
"I guess it's like that," she goes on, to sigh, glancing over to Minae. "Everyone tries to make me comfortable on the Nadesico, too... but I don't need special treatment, or anything like that. I'm not a child." Which is, really, precisely what a twelve-year-old would say. "It's embarrassing."
Which might explain why she argued against being comfy, back there!
"I'm not uncomfortable," she at least thinks to add, to Minae.
She brightens up, hearing that there were lots of Super AI where Minae grew up. "It's efficient to run at low power with a small power source," she says, kicking her little feets under the chair. "I'm happy you got to grow up with other Super AI. When I asked Omoikane questions, eventually, he answered... I wasn't alone after that, but it was still just us." Does that mean... Ruri was there for Omoikane's birth? And what does it mean to say, 'eventually'..?
Ruri turns to Arriety, though, when she asks. She nods, with an affirmative, wordless noise, and listens as the tale spills out. Arriety had to fight... and she described herself as a high-school student, back then...
"I don't mind," Ruri says, first, before the silence stretches out too long. Her legs still under her chair, and she looks down, at the cup of pancake buzz she's holding by her lap.
Ruri's brain can keep up with a computer, but what it can't keep up with... is a human heart...
(Nah, that's way too cheesy. How embarrassing!)
"The Nadesico is made up of civilians, not soldiers," Ruri explains, after that moment, looking back up to Arriety. That neutrality on her face hasn't shifted, but somehow it's a little more focused, now. "When we broke through the Big Barrier against the wishes of the Federation," the defence grid protecting Earth, "a lot of people died. Even the people who were in the armed forces were shaken by that. Our Captain had to hold a lot of funerals... well, it was troublesome, I suppose."
Ruri has a light way of speaking about that which she really shouldn't have. It's the sort of oh-well resignation of a salaryman at work.
"A lot of people were reluctant... well, it doesn't impact me like that," she adds, with a bit of a shrug. "If it's the Captain's orders, I'll do it. But when the Jovians swarmed over us on Mars, everyone was shouting. They said she couldn't do it, and wanted me to raise the shields before she gave the order. I waited, anyway. The Captain is foolish, but she held all those funerals, so she must have had a lot of feelings about crushing the refugee shelter we landed on, back then."
She brings her can of pancake power up in front of her, looking over to the monitor. Computer screens! Comfy. "I wasn't mopey like everyone else. I'm more responsible than that. But I guess thinking we could actually win must have jinxed us..." She huffs out a sigh, through her nose. "If we could have saved the survivors in exchange for our lives, I think that would have been fine. But even though we raised the Distortion Barrier, the blasts from the Jovians would have collapsed anything underground, too. Because we were there... well, there's nothing we can do now."
Ruri huffs out another breath, looking back to Arriety. "Arriety-san, any civilian wouldn't understand fighting like that. Because we never had to fight, it's fine for it to be difficult. I don't think killing people is good, so it's a good thing if you don't like it, right?"
She takes another sip. This neatly disguises her loading times.
"But I think it's good if people like us are fighting, too. Because we don't want to kill people, maybe we can think of other solutions, too. Back then, it wasn't possible... but there must be some reason for the Nadesico. The Admiral said it was our ship, after all." Right before he died. She doesn't mention that part. It's just one more little weight on her heart.
"I think it's fine to be a chef too, though," Ruri adds, "and not a pilot. Mr. Tenkawa keeps fighting even though he wants to cook, so I guess he figured out a reason why he was fighting, but I'd be happy if he stayed with Ms. Howmei, too. And I bet Captain York would be happy if you stayed with Ms. Minae, too. There are ways to help which aren't fighting."
Ruri pauses, and glances aside. "I don't know if that answers the question... I don't really answer questions like these." Even so, she did her best to share. Is it because Arriety is a civilian, too..?
<Pose Tracker> Ple Two has posed.
Lieutenant Junior-Grade Callisto Diana listens very keenly to every word of Ruri's story, her placid expression unshifting as she does so. Imperceptably at first, like the surface of a pond beginning to freeze, her features slowly sharpen. Just ever-so-slightly. A single grinding of the rear molars. A mild tightening of the throat. The narrowing of the pupils as the pulse quickens. This is a dangerous impromptu history lesson to attend, for her, nevermind how keeping up means drinking from the firehose on the topic. And more to the point...
Ple Two listens intently, eyes shining in the darkness of the void. In the depths of Callisto's shadow.
"That's a lot." Callisto says quietly. There's no edge to that voice, despite the narrative buildup up yonder. It's sad. Not the tear-jerking sadness of a dramatic buildup and release, but the wistful mourning of one familiar with parts of the playbook. "I don't think--" a pause. She was about to say 'kids'. "--people your age should have to deal with that much."
Another mental twinge.
A flash of pain.
Kids like us...
The wistful, sad look returns once it's too hard to keep the poker-face on. Callisto pockets her hands and leans just a little against Arriety. "As long as nobody's... forcing you." she muses aloud. It's as much for her as it is for Ruri.
To Arriety, she soon adds: "Don't feel bad about it." which is the truth: she doesn't want her to feel bad about it.
"Nobody wants to have to hurt, or kill people, in these things."
But that part's a lie.
(unfortunately everyone present has an S+++ rank in ferreting out lies so this Cool Move is actually just a total rake-step)
<Pose Tracker> BC-001 Minae has posed.
If Minae catches any glimmer of what passes between Callisto and Arriety, she doesn't show it on her face. She already knows to some degree about the empathic powers that her charge displays, and she's long since come to peace with the fact it might be a little too... human for her just yet. All she can do is show patience and understanding, and help cope with the aftermath.
She catches Arriety's glance, and gently tilts her head in a nod to let her know it's alright to ask. "You don't have to answer if you're uncomfortable with the question," she's quick to agree with Arriety as she looks back to Ruri, "But I think this is the sort of question where it's good to gather a lot of different viewpoints."
It isn't hard to do the math when Ruri lays it out, and Minae finds herself letting her frown show on her face a little at the realization that this girl probably was quite literally born alongside the Nadesico, likely with the intent of being its human half. That thought brings some level of discomfort. She might have taken nine years to build an emotional core, but she was still cognizant from day one, capable of making her own decisions about her future - wasn't she?
Her brow furrows for a moment, and then she carefully sets the thought aside to chew over later. The idea that Omoikane might have taken some time to blossom into its-- his-- current form is not one that she's uncomfortable or unfamiliar with. Sooner or later, there's a tipping point for every Super AI, it seems.
Minae keeps up her vigil of listening as Ruri almost casually talks about funerals, the crushing of a refugee shelter, and other things that she's fairly sure are only appropriate for a woman much older than this girl sat on her couch - but it's a reminder, just like Arriety, that 'appropriate' really doesn't count for much. What's 'appropriate' doesn't matter, not compared to what actually happened - and when the robot truly frowns, it's when Ruri calls herself too responsible to mope.
"... it must have been very hard," she decides after a long moment, her voice quiet as she runs the rest of Ruri's speech back across her thoughts. "That's a great deal to go through." She risks another of those expressionless looks towards Callisto, and slips a hand onto Arriety's shoulder in silent support. (She's go for the headpat on Ruri, but suspects it would not be appreciated.)
<Pose Tracker> Arriety Hearn has posed.
Seven years learning how... that must mean that Ruri's spent just about her entire life on this, Arriety thinks to herself. That same guilt comes back... the guilt of being allotted a childhood where others have not. No, she can't think like that. But perhaps...
To have been there for Omoikane's birth... means she's had near a lifelong friend too. It's company, and perhaps with Minae and other AIs, she can have more friends too.
Ruri assuades her, saying she doesn't mind; she looks a little bit more relieved as she listens and...
Honestly, the tale Ruri tells her -- of pushing through the Big Barrier, of going to Mars, and the way a lot of people died...
...
She's been in a situation where a lot of people died only once -- Winter Wonderland. On that day when the kaiju attacked... she could feel it -- every single soul out there, their signatures all screaming out to her as they passed through a boundary she's ever been so close to, but couldn't step through...
The resonance she feels from Callisto is strong. She senses it, the exact way it cuts through to what Callisto finds painful. Children, having to fight like that...
"I didn't know... that the Nadesico went through so, so much in Mars," Arriety chimes in with both Callie and Minae, and sounds a bit dizzy just trying to grasp the enormity of it -- and the enormity of how Ruri can speak of this in such terms. But what the systems officer says next resonates in her--
Any civilian wouldn't understand fighting like that... because they never had to fight. It's fine for it to be difficult... and killing people isn't good--
So isn't it a good thing if she doesn't like it? Callisto adds her piece too, and she nods, since the truth is... no one wants to have to do this.
"Yeah... I--I've thought about seeing if I can help cook with Mister Santiago," Arriety brings up. "He seems nice, and... back in Winter Wonderland, I'd sometimes cook for my friends too. That was something I put a lot of time learning how to do, since it makes them happy."
She breathes in deeper, to focus herself. "Thank you, Miss Hoshino... it really helped me to hear that from you. And..."
A pause, as she doubles back to something Callisto said... but also adds something else, because she's suddenly in that swelling of emotion that she usually feels:
"I think... because of what you are able to do, working with Omoikane... being responsible like that -- means you could save the lives on the Nadesico, so they could be here with you. That's... that's something, too, isn't it? Doing what you can... with what you can. I haven't even met many of them yet, but... thank you, for looking after them, Miss Hoshino. ... that's what my heart's telling me to say to you."
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"I don't think I would have been very happy if I waited until I was an adult to work with the Nadesico," Ruri replies. "Laboratories are boring." She doesn't seem like she's missing the point on purpose; rather, she's answering the concerns she can fathom. "It's true that a lot of unfortunate things happened since we went to Mars, but we brought life back with us, anyway. We learned a lot to help fight the Jovians, too. I wouldn't have any of those memories if I waited until I grew up. Some of them are sad, but I don't want them to be taken away."
It's true that Ruri spent all the life she can remember in that laboratory, all hooked up to electrodes and wires, fed into Omoikane's systems. But she must have had a life before that, even if she can't remember. Because whenever they were pleased with her progress...
... it was so tiring.
She pauses, and shakes her head. "I don't want to go back," Ruri adds, on the topic of being forced. "And I don't think I want to cook, either. Besides... Omoikane needs me. And..."
Ruri falls silent, a little blush of embarrassment on her cheeks, as she curls her arm over her chest. Luckily, her drink(?) can doesn't spill. "On the Nadesico, I don't fit in, just like everyone else." Well, those are the words she says, but the feeling behind them is the comfort of finally being recognised as a person, allowed to have flaws, accepted as a comrade.
She looks a little bothered, when Minae spells it out, though it might not be Minae bothering her. Rather, how it was for her... "Objectively, it was a difficult situation," she says, and it might be notable, the way she talks about other people's feelings and the fact of the matter.
She looks to Arriety, though, with a little widening of her eyes. "... ah," she says, a little shaken. Because she was able to react so quickly, she stopped the Nadesico from being killed, too...?
"Mm," she hums, with a little nod. "I'm taking care of them."
She looks from Callisto, to Minae, to Arriety, and finally down to her can of pancake juice.
"Um," Ruri says.
"If you have things here, Ms. Minae, I wouldn't mind a snack, too..."
Part of it is an attempt to try and smooth over all these strange feelings (much of which are even hers), but thinking of Akito has put Ruri in the mind of the healing power of lunch, anyway.
She's a little embarrassed to ask, but...
Maybe a bit of comfort is okay!