2022-07-12: Heart of a God

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<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.

Tsutsujidai is a strange and eerie realm despite how normal it seems on the surface, even before you account for its motionless kaiju sentinels standing vigil on the horizon line.

Koji and Guy are walking into town from the train station, Koji occasionally glancing at his phone for the instructions Sayla left him when she arranged this meeting. He was originally going to wear his Research Institute work suit, and upon his first experience with the pocket realm's eternal sticky summer decided it would be better to dress more casually. He's wearing a hat to cover up his ridiculous hair and a white shortsleeve tee and jeans.

"Okay, according to this, we turn this corner and we can see the arranged meeting place up ahead..." He stifles a yawn, still a little thrown by the enforced nap the train ride to the ward seems to require - a bad combination with the heat. 

<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.

Guy is more or less used to the drowsy train ride, by now. Being a member of 3G, and a Shishioh, he does occasionally wonder if you could /do/ something about it, but...for now, the mystery of what's truly happening here is more important than tearing into systems. Besides.

...he could probably use the rest, honestly.

He looks around, scanning the scenery. Guy's wearing his own affiliations out loud, as he usually does - the same kind of green jumpsuit that forms the base of the main 3G uniform, with the green 3-Gs diamond of the Gutsy Galaxy Guard on its turtleneck collar; paired with the gold half-jacket he seems to think constitutes casualwear. "Don't know the place well enough to remember where exactly that is," he admits, rubbernecking a bit like the tourist he is.

He does, though, nudge Koji's attention with his chin toward the skyline, the looming kaiju frozen on the horizon. Not like he hasn't seen them by now, but he comments anyway. "See what I mean? Like they're stone. They don't even move when an active kaiju shows up." 

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

Kamesan Park is an excellent meeting place. It's a nice, open location with plenty of places for people to gather and talk. Talking is what's on the agenda for Rikka today - a meeting between the Gridman Alliance and a friend of Sayla's.

Rikka, at the moment, sits in the park at the designated place. There's a good view of both the lake and the city itself here, which makes is good when the city itself is a potential topic of discussion. Rikka leans back with a bit of a sigh, briefly reaching into her backpack and drawing out a portable, handheld fan she'd taken from the Junk Shop's stores and fixed up. She points it at herself for a moment. Tsutsujidai is always warm, but it's been getting hotter lately... That's just to be expected, she guesses.

"I wonder what this Mister Kabuto wants to talk about..." Rikka considers, then pauses. "...Doctor? Professor?"

She doesn't remember the right title. It's probably fine. She sits up then, and looks around... soon spotting two men who stand out quite a bit. Even with Koji going casual, Guy's 3G jumpsuit offsets it.

"Guess that's them." She observes, and then waves the two over. 

<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.

Sitting near Rikka, Yuta drums his fingers. He's dressed in his ever-present school uniform -- complete with knitted vest, even in this hot weather. It was such a beautiful day... he was lucky to be able to spend it with his friends.

"There's been so much going on lately, it could really be anything!" Yuta responds, shrugging. "I just hope it isn't bad news. What do you think, Utsumi?"

The way the fan blew Rikka's hair was so pretty. Yuta can't help glance at her a few times, trying to be casual about it. How did she get her hair to be so shiny? "Oh--!" Yuta is broken from his reverie by the sight of their approaching guests, and he gives a little wave as well. 

<Pose Tracker> Sho Utsumi has posed.

A few months ago, Sho'd be impatiently tapping at his phone, or looking bored. Not today.

He IS drinking plenty of water, but, he's sitting up straight instead of slouched, thinking through what he'll need to say. He realized he needed to take this seriously. Time to do so. He replies to Yuta with some worry. "Everything's been a form of bad news, honestly. Unless they come to us with 'we solved the kaiju problem', it's not going to be good news..."

Once the two arrive, Sho is first to introduce himself. "Sho Utsumi. I'm your contact. You must be Koji Kabuto, and...?" He knows it's Koji from shared descriptions and pictures of the famed Koji Kabuto, so he just nods to Guy, who he's never met personally. "Nice to meet both of you. Do you have water? I brought a few extra." He pulls two out of his bag if they signal yes. 

<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.

"This is Guy Shishioh..." Koji pauses to pull the correct title out of his memory. "... Acting Chief of 3G Green, and, more relevantly, pilot of GaoFighGar, the black and blue machine that was deployed in the operation where Renais Shishioh was saved." These kids apparently don't really have the context of the wider world under their feet yet, so connecting the face to the fight is probably the smarter route.

He swings a cooler bag round to in front of him, pulling a couple of bottles of water out and handing one to Guy. "We came prepared, but I appreciate the thought." He squats down to sit cross-legged on the grass, pulling a tablet out of the cooler bag as well, wiping condensation off the screen and booting it up. "You're Utsumi, right? Nice to meet you - Doctor Mass recommended you as the contact point for this meeting, which she organised in the wake of unusual kaiju attacks in Japan." He turns the tablet to face the three kids, an image of Gonglee but in purple and silver, its tentacles crackling with electricty on it. "This one attacked a pilot training facility in Fujinomiya City, and this one - " he flips over to an image of Go'yavec, the tremendous mountain-kaiju, but bristling with cannons from the Fumo Fumo Land creature designated as Gillvalis - "Attacked Tokyo-3 only a few days later. Doctor Mass suggested you might have some insights on the nature of these creatures." 

<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.

Mostly kids, huh...well, that's not entirely unexpected, from what Kaworu and Nidaime told him. Guy gives a grin, a real proper Hero That Saves The Day handsomeness to him. "That's me," he says, amiably. Still just a little weird to have to actually introduce himself, but it's better than some of the dirty looks he still gets outside from time to time.

He takes the water bottle from Koji, chuckling. "Good idea. It's important to stay hydrated on days like this!"

God he even talks like a PSA.

"For my part," he adds, "the Gutsy Galaxy Guard and Gutsy Global Guard have been investigating what's all going on here. We were working mostly with Miss Shinjo, originally, but..."

...he waves his hand as if to dismiss the end of the sentence, flicking fingers away. "Anyway, I've also been talking to a young man named Kaworu and a young lady named The Second," he says, and glances very specifically at Yuta at this point, "so I have a few things of my own to bring up. But it's best if Koji do the lead-in, I think." 

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

Bad news... It would be nice if they had good news for them, but Rikka doesn't think that's too likely either.

"Yeah..." She says with a nod to Utsumi. "Guess we should brace ourselves now."

The two men approach and Sho greets them first.

"Rikka Takarada. Nice to meet you." She pauses, lingering on Guy. She's more familiar with him than with Koji. "...And, nice to finally meet you face to face, Mister Shishioh."

With that, it's time to get down to business. Rikka looks down at the tablet Koji shows off, looking over the kaiju he shows off. They're all kaiju she's fought before... and she frowns, too, at Go'yavec's additions. She recognizes /those/, too.

"Their powers are combining now...?" She murmurs with a frown. That's... possibly worrying!

Koji says they might have some insight into the nature of the kaiju. Rikka shakes her head.

"Sorry... I don't really know any more than you do. They show up, cause some destruction, and then things reset..." She explains. She thinks back to the chart of connected events that Akane showed her. If Alouette was given one too, then they probably already know all about that. 

<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.

"I'm Yuta Hibiki." He smiles. "It's nice to meet you both!" Yuta reaches forward to grab one of Utsumi's water bottles, taking a long drink.

Each of the kaiju Koji's screen shows is familiar. Yuta's smile fades, and he lowers the water bottle into his lap, fussing with the lid a bit. "I'm not sure how much I could tell you that you don't already know, but I've fought kaiju that were almost identical to these. That one," He points to Gonglee, "was red, though. And this one," He points to Go'yavec, "didn't have those cannons. I had no idea they could upgrade themselves, or whatever this is."

"Wait -- have you seen Kaworu?" Yuta's eyebrows come together in concern. "How is he doing? I heard he was in the hospital again, but not much else. I'm worried." 

<Pose Tracker> Sho Utsumi has posed.

Sho looks over the pictures carefully, after nodding to Guy in greeting. He doesn't comment on Akane, though he's glad she's been helpful. He has no idea who The Second is.

"They're the kaiju from our world - which I've heard are distinct from kaiju in the other world..."

Sho scratches his chin, and then his glasses gleam. "If they're appearing in that world, with upgrades, the only possibility is a controller. Kaiju can't take trains, after all. Have you ever seen a series of Tarabaman? The kaiju either are random - as we initially thought..."

His expression goes grim.

"Or someone's creating them, more common in the later series. Not that the world's a show, but...that's my current hypothesis." 

<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.

Ah, Utsumi's an otaku, huh? No problem, if his genre specialty is happening to him at least it gives Koji a lead-in for his next sentence.

"A controller is my hypothesis too - or at least, someone directing the tentacled one, given its behaviour during the fight. We - " he motions inclusively to Guy, at this point - "are pretty used, on our side, to fighting artificial kaiju grown or constructed by megalomaniacal supervillains, but what little we've been able to observe of these kaiju before they just vanish is very different from any prior combat."

"Whoever is directing these kaiju also appears to have connections beyond just the Earth - a similar but wholly new kaiju was deployed by a ZAFT pilot in an attempt to sabotage a weapons storage facility on Luna several weeks prior to the Fuji incident, and its powers were used by the tentacle kaiju in that attack. The thing is, apart from the fact that all the kaiju used in these incidents are sharing powers and apparently come from this side of reality, there seems to be no common link between the attacks." 

<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.

Guy cannot *quite* hide a possibly slightly patronizing 'oh this is precious' kind of grin at Koji, but he's got it under control a moment later.

"You're right," he says, agreeing with Koji. "3G Blue and Green, the organizations I work with, regularly work against a group called BioNet, and one of their favorite kinds of villainy is construction or control of Kaiju. We see this kind of thing a lot. But BioNet shouldn't be able to fuse, reuse, and recombine kaiju abilities this way. There's something new going on, and it seems like it's passing through here, somehow."

'Somehow.' It feels like an entirely separate investigation into the woes of Tsutsujidai itself. IS Akane part of that? She wants to cut the two worlds apart, doesn't she? He scratches the side of his head and turns his attention to Yuta. "I haven't seen him in a few weeks, but I'm told he's woken up. He was..." He hesitates. Glances to Koji, then to the sky, as if seeking wisdom. But he's the chief now. "He was shot," he says, simply. "We're not sure who attacked him." He turns back to Yuta with a somewhat stiff smile. "But he's going to be OK, I promise. He's on the mend already. But after he was attacked, he wanted to make sure I knew I should come find you and Gridman."

"I need to talk to him about his brother. About stopping the devil stalking this place."

"And about saving Akane Shinjo." 

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

Yuta brings up Kaworu. Rikka had almost forgotten about that, too... She's glad he covered that. She looks on in interest for news.

Sho puts forth a possibility, then - there has to be a controller somewhere. Rikka thinks it over. By this point, as much as she hates to admit it when he uses Tarabaman logic he's usually on the right track...

"...Yeah. I think there has to be." She agrees. Koji seems to agree, too - going into the differences between these kaiju attacks and the one he and the rest of the other world are used to.

"Different in what way?" Rikka asks. Guy brings up BioNet and their habit of using kaiju... and, how the current situation greatly differs from their capabilities. She frowns, at that. "That sounds serious."

Thankfully, it sounds like Kaworu will be okay - he's on the mend.

"...That's good." Rikka says, a little relieved. And it was Kaworu who suggested Guy come here, to talk about, among many things... saving Akane Shinjo. Rikka's hands clasp together, at that and she looks away, briefly.

...She's no closer to figuring out what she can do to help her. 

<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.

"Shot!" Yuta raises his eyebrows in shock. "I'm so glad he's awake, that he's going to be okay! That's horrible... Why would anyone do that?" He takes a breath. "I can't believe he's thinking about me while he's hurting so much. I'll visit him as soon as I can, thank you for telling me, Guy."

A controller... Yuta fusses with the lid of his water bottle again. Suddenly, the heat feels all the more oppressive. He'd been hiding Akane's secret, but if the kaiju were getting this bad, he couldn't hesitate anymore. Guy even named her, even said he wanted to save her. Blue eyes squeeze closed for a moment. "I... well, uh..." He looks down at the grass. "I know who's creating the kaiju. Who's controlling them. It's Akane Shinjo, along with Alexis Kerib. She told me herself."

He doesn't look pleased to have said this. "I'm sorry." He murmurs, looking at Rikka. 

<Pose Tracker> Sho Utsumi has posed.

Sho is listening to everyone, leading up to his big piecing together of clues. And then-

"Yuta, stop joking, man. It couldn't be Shinjo. She couldn't. She's been helping us. She's cool, she's smart, heck, she even likes Tarabaman!" He exclaims. "Her knowledge of kaiju is even greater than-"

A pause. Sho murmurs the rest. "-than my own..."

Everything clicks, a little. He takes several moments to calm, and then speaks evenly, if forced.

"Here's the facts. The train isn't the only way into Tsutsujidai."

"Junius Seven's a rift, too."

"Kaworu Nagisa's been assisting us - Tokyo-3 was likely targeted to hurt or kill him. When it failed, they went after him personally, perhaps - unlikely to be Akane, but if this Alexis Kerib guy has helpers..."

Sho takes a drink of water.

"Then they could come from anywhere. Including a PLANT. We don't know his motives, so I can't explain the moon attack, but it connects this ZAFT pilot to everything - her Luna attack probably served his needs."

"Fujinomiya...it's in the OCU, and everything except Luna has been in Japan. That's all I've got."

A pause after his disjointed info dump, and a look from Yuta to Guy. "It has to be her, doesn't it? All along?" 

<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.

Well. This just got a whole lot more complicated. Koji looks straight at Yuta, grey eyes meeting blue. "Did she tell you why she's making them? Any clues as to her motive would be really important."

Sho starts to put everything together and Koji nods, listening carefully. "Junius Seven, huh? Interesting that this place links up there too." He glances at Guy. "That outside-context-idea hypothesis is starting to look more and more viable, I think."

"What's Shinjo... like, as a person?" 

<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.

Guy scratches at his cheek, awkwardly. Sho's having it out loud, but he had to follow a similar emotional roller coaster a while ago.

"'fraid so," he says, sadly. He looks to Yuta. "I don't have it from her own mouth, but Anosilus the Second confirmed it for me. Nidaime, you might know her as." Which is just The Second in Japanese, but. "Little girl, dark skin? Wears a hoodie," he says, to be helpful. He does not comment on her hygiene because as a superhero he is too polite. That will be Koji's job.

"But, let's not get too mixed up."

He finally squats down, sitting cross-legged. "You're on the right track, but let's not mix up our villains. The crew from NERV also suspect Akane's behind the attack on Kaworu, but I doubt it." He glances briefly to all three teens, Rikka to Yuta to Sho, each apologetically, then says, "It does seem like Akane...specifically sends Kaiju to kill people. Here, in Tsutsujidai. But that means if she wanted to kill someone, she would send a kaiju. Kaworu was attacked /before/ the attack on Tokyo-3. It doesn't fit right. There might be something else at play there. And the Fujinomiya city attack...Koji, you said it seemed like the Kaiju was targeting Shiro, specifically, right? Even like it seemed like it wanted you to see it happen."

...he folds his hands, letting all that sit before he adds more.

Though he does meet Koji's eyes and say, not quite too quiet to be heard but more in the tone of a thought, "Bloody Valentine'd make just about anyone wish the world would go away, I think...could it be that simple?" 

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

Akane's a Tarabaman fan? Rikka... actually didn't know that. At any other time, this would prompt a very specific series of questions (and still might, in the future), but given the context...

Rikka freezes, going very quiet with her breath drawn tight. Her hands clasp in her lap, bunching up the fabric of her skirt. Yuta says that Akane is responsible, that she told him herself, and apologizes. Utsumi makes a series of connections, all pointing to one answer.

"N-no, that doesn't sound right... That can't be it. She wouldn't do that." Rikka replies, shaking her head in disbelief. It can't be her. Because if it was, then that would mean everyone who died...

She doesn't finish that thought. She's not ready to finish that thought yet.

There's a lot of important things being said, but her thoughts are swimming. It's hard to focus on any one word for too long. 

<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.

"I'm not messing around!" Yuta cries, but calms down as Utsumi walks himself through the clues. "I don't want this to be true, either. Rikka, if you asked her yourself, I think she'd tell you the same thing." Going pale at the mention of Kaworu's attack lining up with the kaiju fights, Yuta shakes his head. "I don't think Akane would hurt someone without her kaiju. She doesn't seem like the kind of person to get her hands dirty." Fussing with his water bottle once more, he accidentally squeezes it a bit too hard. Water shoots out, soaking the bottom of his vest and shirt. "Ah -- dang!"

Trying to squeeze the water from his clothing, he looks at Koji. "Well, I met the girl Guy's talking about, Nidaime? She's a kaiju, too, by the way, and she told me... how did she put it..." Yuta tilts his head. "Akane's kaiju destroy and fix the city, because the city is Akane's heart. And... Akane's heart has become like a kaiju."

"As for the one who hurt Kaworu, maybe it could be that Alexis guy? He's Akane's partner, or something." Yuta looks at Rikka, worry clear on his face. "Rikka..." 

<Pose Tracker> Sho Utsumi has posed.

Everyone clears up the threads. Sho's not fit to worry for Rikka right now - he's piecing together Yuta's new words.

""Her heart is like a kaiju...that means we'll have to..."

He slumps down on the table, pounding his fist briefly. It's childish, but...probably understandable.

"Why does everything have to be so complicated? Why can't it just be good versus evil?!" 

<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.

"Yeah. Like whoever was guiding it wanted to make a point or see me hurt." He frowns. "Hard to think of a reason for a high-schooler to want that to happen, but lots of good reasons for someone to want to use her work to make that attack. For one thing, it drew outsiders into this space. Into Akane's heart."

"Destroying and fixing the city, again and again... Is she trying to make it a perfect space to hide away from the world?" He frowns. "Doing that kind of violence to yourself, though... That isn't something people come to naturally. Not unless they're really unwell."

He smiles grimly at Sho as he despairs at the complexity of the situation. "Sometimes the most wicked forces find victims to act through and take the heat for them." He nods to Guy. "Like the Zonderians, right? They were good people who got co-opted by something bigger than them." 

<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.

Guy scratches the side of his head. "Still not sure what to make of this 'it's her heart' thing, but after going to the dawn of the universe I'll believe anything." He chuckles, like it were a joke and this sentence were not insane.

He sees Sho's doubt, his strain, and gives the boy a warm smile, a confident, bright look. "It's tough, huh?" he says, gently. "That sometimes it feels like there's nothing you can do to protect what you care about and the man you want to be at the same time. But it is possible. Find that spark of courage, and it won't fail you."

He looks to Koji, nodding. "Which I think is exactly what's happening. The Zonderians gave people Zonder Metal. The Great Jama Empire used some kind of ritual that Build Base's intel says required energy distributed by the Jama Empress. I think Alexis is the key here. Akane...might be more complicit than we'd like. But I think the power is coming to her from him."

He settles back - a little distance away. To leave the kids room to have their pain. "I'm sorry," he says, gently. "I..." ...He reaches a hand up, quietly, over his chest, for something that isn't there. "...I know a thing or two, about fighting the people you care about. It isn't easy. But that's why I know how important it is to believe in her even still." 

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

Rikka wants to deny it. But she can't. Not when Yuta sounds so serious about it - and bringing up Nidaime lends credence to what he says, too.

Akane's heart has become like a kaiju. How did this happen? Why? Was it just a result of Bloody Valentine...? And to think, she didn't realize how hurt Akane was, all this time...

...It's all too much. She's still reeling.

After a moment Rikka stands, her legs shaking.

"Sorry. I need to- I need a moment. This is... too much right now." She admits, shaking her head. "...Thanks for coming out."

She starts to leave... though she pauses, for a moment, hearing Guy speak.

It's important to still believe in her... she doesn't say it out loud, but it's not hard to miss how much hearing that from him, knowing what all he's been through, is /still/ going through, means to her. 

<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.

"I don't think we'll be that lucky, Utsumi." Yuta says, quietly. He stands, walking over to his friend to put one hand on his shoulder. "But we'll get through this together. The Gridman Alliance, right?"

"Er -- the dawn of the universe..?" Was that a joke? "I think you're right. Alexis is some kind of weird, messed-up alien. If this city really is Akane's heart, surely she wouldn't want it destroyed, not without someone manipulating her."

Rikka takes Yuta's attention. His heart twists, and he feels the urge to apologize again -- but for what? He had only told them the truth. "We'll save Akane Shinjo. I won't give up."

Maybe it's time we all headed home. I should probably get a change of clothes.." Yuta smiles sheepishly. "Thank you both for coming out to see us. I hope we could be helpful in some way." 

<Pose Tracker> Sho Utsumi has posed.

Sho rises at Guy's words, weakly nodding. It's Yuta's words that give him his strength back.

"Right. I'll give you two my number - call me if needed." Sho writes it down, and then grabs his bag and moves to leave. "I'll text you once I can, Yuta. We'll need to start thinking on what to do..."

It won't be that night. His facade of strength will drop once he's home. Damn it... 

<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.

"Look after yourselves, each of you. Trying to get her out from under Alexis is going to be really difficult, but not impossible. Not as long as you hold true to the course."

A perfect little prison, disguised as a paradise. A realm fit for a god to be tortured by a devil. Well. Koji knows a thing or two about both sides of this equation, and about smashing perfect little constructs and the best-made plans of madmen and Dark Emperors. He takes the number Sho writes down and nods, tucking the paper into his pocket. "The same to you - if any of you need anything from our side, get in touch."

"You're right, we're probably getting pretty close to outstaying our welcome here." He stands up, sipping from his own water bottle. "Thanks for meeting up with us and hearing us out. I think we all have a clearer understanding of the shape of the problem, now." 

<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.

Guy's hand makes a weird keening noise and a phone number is now already in Sho's phone. He grins a little. "I'll remember it," he says.

Look, sometimes being a Superhuman Evoluder means you show off a little.

"Koji's right. If you need anything from me, or us, call. Both the 3Gs are used to weird monsters and strange enemies. We'll have your back with anything." Again, that hero's smile, calm and confident that even something this painful will end happily.

He glances to Koji at his last quip, finally popping his own water bottle. "Frankly, I'm a little surprised he didn't appear behind me and drag me into the sky, or something," Guy says, because this is a thing he has to deal with sometimes, J. "Take care of yourselves, OK?"

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