2022-03-27: Stoic 'Reflections'
- Cutscene: Stoic 'Reflections'
- Cast: Ruri Hoshino, Goat Hoary
- Where: The Nadesico
- Date: 2022-03-27
- Summary: Goat Hoary interviews Ruri about her experiences during the Zentradi Separatist attack.
The Nadesico cafeteria is a great place to relax on break; for some people, it's the only place to relax on break, because everyone has to eat. Ruri Hoshino, young systems operator, is currently off-duty. Even so, she hasn't left the ship.
She sips a can of orange juice, seated on the bench. A broad oak of a man -- almost triple her size, really -- sits down opposite her: their military consultant, Goat Hoary.
He clears his throat; he wastes no time. "Miss Hoshino. Can I ask you about what happened during Sheryl Nome's concert?"
"Is this an official interview?" Ruri asks, putting her can of juice to the side.
He grunts, and shakes his head, slightly. "A little more informal than that." Goat is a traditionally-minded man; whatever he might think of a twelve-year-old aboard a battleship, he doesn't want to make her unduly uncomfortable.
Ruri frowns, slightly. They are both given to slight expression; here, at least, she's confident he won't underestimate it. "You don't need to spare my feelings."
Goat pauses, for a moment, as he thinks of how to proceed. "I'm not. I've already spoken with Ms. Reinard."
"I see," Ruri cedes, with a long blink. She is removed, as she relates her frightening tale. The both of them are stoic creatures. "Well, it's as I wrote... I was separated in the crowds. Ms. Azul found me, but she offered to search for Miss Lee. Well, until then, the concert was going on normally... but then the ship's Captain told us we were under attack."
Goat nods. "All right. What happened then?" He prompts.
"I escaped from the crowd," Ruri says, "and ran towards the hangar."
This time, it's Goat's turn for one of those slight frowns. "Why?"
"I had to get back to the Nadesico," Ruri insists, explanation plain. She gains a melancholy air, as she moves to the worst part of the night. "Unfortunately, one of the boarders escaped security, or something like that... I tried to run away, but I suppose he found me." She's quiet, for a moment, glancing down to her juice before she returns her unusually gold eyes to Goat. "I tried to contact the Nadesico and Ms. Azul, but my communicator was malfunctioning. It... may have been water damage from a drink spilling over my sleeve."
"May have been?" Goat prompts, and shows little of his concern on his face.
"You see, it started working again shortly after the attack. It's unlikely the components would dry so quickly." Ruri pauses, a shred of uncertainty entering her explanation. "But not impossible, I suppose, given what happened."
"All right," Goat accepts it, keeps going. "Can you tell me what happened?"
Give Ruri credit: she only pauses for a few moments, as she thinks back. She speaks a little slowly, but she shows little fear. "The Zentradi took one look at me, and lifted his rifle up... I don't know what he was doing. But he looked very experienced... I suppose I was in a lot of danger. I... I was scared, Mr. Hoary," Ruri explains, spiting the neutrality of her face. "I didn't want him to kill me."
"Lifting his rifle up -- angling the part he was grasping down?" Goat interrogates the content, rather than the feeling.
"Yes." Ruri, as it happens, is more comfortable in a mode like that anyway.
Goat shakes his head, slightly. "In your case, I doubt he was trying to kill you, Miss Hoshino." More accurately, he thinks, that soldier likely didn't see the point in wasting bullets on a child. He keeps that to himself. "He was... translating strength through the base of his weapon to achieve blunt force trauma," he tries to adapt his explanation to the way Ruri understands the world. "He wanted to knock you out." He elects not to tell her the precise meaning of, in her case -- despite the account he heard from Megumi about how the Separatists were mercilessly shooting to kill. In Goat's opinion, after all, Ruri is very much twelve.
Ruri's response is sarcastically dry. "How comforting."
"Hrm," Goat grunts, seeing how his efforts are received. He doesn't argue: "Right. Can you tell me what happened next?"
"I... called out to Mr. Kerib," Ruri explains, with a note of hesitation, because she can't explain this, not entirely. "He's an alien, so he exists in relationships between people... since we're friends, I guess he heard me." She sounds unsure, but it's a good enough guess, she thinks. "I shut my eyes, so I'm not entirely sure what happened, but... there was a rustling noise, and it was very dark, for a moment."
"You say it was very dark," Goat prompts, "but your eyes were closed?"
Ruri shakes her head. "Even so, I could tell. In any case, then I was on the Nadesico -- the walkway to the bridge. That's when I came back to my post... and you know the rest, Mr. Hoary," she finishes, voice as even as it was when she began.
"All right." Goat pauses, for a moment, as he takes in what he's heard. Finally, he advises her: "Miss Hoshino, in the future, don't enter an active battle zone to return to your post. Stay with others, and stay safe." His concern doesn't really leak out into his voice, either.
"I understand the principle, Mr. Hoary... but this unfortunate event is partially my fault," Ruri admits the guilt she feels, the shadow of a frown across her face and her tone. "Because I thoughtlessly attended a social function, our weapon capacity wasn't at 100%... if I'd been at my post, we may have been able to shoot the Zentradi forces out before they managed to board at all." Her head bows, in a particularly Japanese gesture of apology. "I thought I had to fix a mistake like that, even if it was dangerous..."
"No." Goat's response is solid as he is. "Security consultation is my job, Miss Hoshino. I failed to recognise the danger and stop you." He takes responsibility as easily as she does, and doesn't share just how terrible it is -- how a little girl has so much in common with a military mindset.
Ruri sighs, looking up to the lights of the cafeteria; honesty is the gift of the young, and unlike him, she identifies just how similar their responses are without hesitation. "What fools we are..."
--
Later on, when Goat Hoary sits down at the security console on the bridge, he opens up the incident report for the attack on Sheryl Nome's Nergal concert.
He has a list, neatly compiled in his personal notes. He scrolls to the bottom; he adds the name of a man who knew just where to be when he was needed.
POSSIBLE INSTIGATORS
...
'Jack' (Miclone, weapons supplier)
Captain Tehmzin (Battery Leader, 33rd Marine Fleet)
Charles Rochester (Vanguard Commander, Mars Zeon)
Alexis Kerib (Alien, unknown) _