2022-08-05: Oh, Rusalka, all trapped in a bottle!
- Log: Oh, Rusalka, all trapped in a bottle!
- Cast: Yuliana Dispersal, Alma Stirner, Elisa Kafim
- Where: Nondescript office building, Saudi Arabia
- Date: 2022-08-05
- Summary: Yuliana lures Alma to Saudi Arabia in order to deliver a lead on some Zeonic remnants. What she really wanted was Alma -- delivered to her side, and to Elisa's. Both of their strange powers are so much worse, used in concert. (Content warning: brainwashing and torture.)
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
A message has come through the care of Londo Bell -- for one Alma Stirner. It reads:
I've found something I could use your expertise on, Alma, but I shouldn't say too much in a message which could be intercepted. It concerns a matter personal to you. I'd appreciate your time. Please be discreet; I'm concerned a large gathering could foil us.
Game, set, match.
The message directs Alma to an office building in Saudi Arabia, where Yuliana meets her -- a light, airy cream scarf tied about her usual dark suit. "She's a business associate," Yuliana assures the receptionist, as she takes her inside, a hint of some cover story or lie she's already told.
To the records room -- and Yuliana pulls out a file, handing it over to Alma. They're accounting details, which, at first glance, are painfully boring... except for the way the numbers shift from one company to another, in the particularly deniable manner of business, before they zig-zag off to companies associated with the Zeonic remnants.
War funds are flowing through here. Yuliana's found a genuine operation, even if she's found it in one of the least surprising areas of Earth.
"You can see why I didn't want you to bring a squad," she explains, quietly, over the data. Certainly she sounds concerned, consternation written on her face. "If too many strangers came visiting -- someone would notice, I fear. But you're the one qualified to collect data on this, Alma." She's Londo Bell, implicitly. They are both, broadly speaking, Federation assets -- but their purposes are far different.
She steps in beside her, a hand on her shoulder -- arguably, to gesture to a particular entry in the file. "If you're able to find just who they're benefiting... there are a lot of opportunities there." There, on her ring finger, as she gestures -- an engagement band, rich gold with diamonds flanking a single shining emerald. Was it there before?
"It's... so important, to capitalise on opportunities," the emphasis hangs, dangling, from her statement, like a shining ornament. "Battles, skirmishes, wars... all won by capitalising on slips and circumstances, don't you think? Even outside the usual structure..." ... other than Federation assets?
Yuliana left the door to the records room open, even though she entered behind Alma.
<Pose Tracker> Alma Stirner has posed.
Alma isn't actually used to help in this particular matter -- nor does she particularly trust that Yuliana has the right read on the situation. Then again, that's something that makes it even more important to follow up; after all, following up on her own is the difference between her friends getting chewed on and her friends getting found.
She gives Yuliana a modestly-sized berth but does follow along with her, eventually passing her to enter first; she occasionally presses against that close range, but stops herself. She can deal with the vague discomfort -- but maybe not more.
Once they get settled and start talking -- the hand-off of the file is kind of stressful -- Alma takes a few moments to read. Alma's gotten okay at reading this kind of thing, past about age 28; she's not completely head-empty! "... I really appreciate this," she says. Maybe she had the wrong idea about Yuliana -- she's still got an uncomfortable vibe, but --
She glances at a hand on her shoulder. "Oh -- congratulations," she starts, glancing at the engagement band. She hadn't imagined Yuliana as the type of person to get married. "And -- yeah, actually, that does make a lot of sense!" She's a little more capable of having a normal conversation with Yuliana than last time, this close -- she knows what's coming. "Noisy Fairy turned someone trying to feed us to the Federation into a big win... you need to change with the situation, right."
She adjusts her yellow cardigan -- easily her favorite casual outfit -- a bit. "What are you thinking of doing?" she asks, mustering a little genuine curiosity.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Elisa Kafim isn't here! At least, not according to anyone who might ask. The receptionist looks right past her rather than at her. Just like the people outside, and the others in the building. And eventually...
Click, click. Heels sound on the floor, click click click. Elisa wears black today, easy to overlook. But it is harder to overlook her upon actually seeing her; arresting eyes, purple hair... a wide smile.
"And thank you darling," Elisa says of the congratulations. She is... nearly impossible to read--no, with Yuliana here, impossible. The regular methods of reading someone only pick up bland pleasantness out of her, and a big smile.
Her teeth are very white.
"It is so important to consider the right situation!"
Elisa beams, and lifts her hand. The door closes behind her, as if of its own will.
"Sit."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
"Perhaps we got off on the wrong foot," Yuliana assures Alma, conciliatory, when she offers her appreciation. "But we are on the same side, you know...?"
Her finger, adorned -- Yuliana smiles, to her congratulations. "Thank you!" She looks much more pleased to consider that topic, for the moment. Alma knows what's coming -- "That's right," she assures her, easily.
Click, click.
The light catches her envy-green eyes, a flash of teeth to her smile. "That's exactly right."
Click, click, click.
Yuliana keeps a hand on Alma's shoulder, though she provides no downwards pressure. She'll be staying right beside her the whole time. They're on the same side, after all.
<Pose Tracker> Alma Stirner has posed.
Another voice. Alma does startle; while she's a little cut-down by having to engage the world the same way as anyone else, she can do it. (Indeed, that she startles at a new voice may itself be a sign that she's been so thoroughly cut down.)
"I don't remember her from your squad," Alma says to Yuliana, then looking to Elisa. "Is this -- someone else from the REA?"
The door shuts. Alma's told to sit. She gently puts the file in her lap and gets firmly situated in her chair, that hand still on her shoulder. A hand comes up to her head as she tries to massage a feeling out of it.
... It's a familiar sensation, honestly, in some ways; while Alma doesn't dwell on it, and managed to get shuffled out of the research pipeline before things got... interesting, she has had some -- experiences. Having sanded off the distress from the memories makes it hard to remember why this would be a problem, though.
Her hands move to either armrest. She's comfortably in procedure posture; it's familiar, which means it's... probably not unpleasant?
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Why would anyone need to put pressure on her? It was a simple thing to do, to say. A simple order.
"I am not from the REA," Elisa supplies helpfully, "Though you could certainly say we are on the same side!" A wider smile. More teeth. And she walks over to the chair, standing before it and looking down thoughtfully. "Hmmm. Biddable. Calm. Not particularly struggling. And yet, very functional as well."
She is talking to Yuliana, of course. "This is interesting indeed. So, do you have anything in particular you'd like to hear from her?"
A look to Alma and then, "Hmmm. Put your hair back, I want to see your face properly."
To Yuliana, "She's so adorable! I do approve."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
Yuliana laughs, lightly. "Does it seem that way?" She asks, just as lightly, and her amusement is shortly explained by the mysterious woman. "We are, in fact," on the same side, she follows Elisa's assertion, and Yuliana lets the pronoun do its ambiguous work.
But Alma finds the chair; how quaint! Yuliana was quietly taking bets on whether she'd collapse right to the floor, but this is just fine, too. Yuliana's fingers aren't particularly tight, on her shoulder. Even so...
"She's experienced, I'm sure," Yuliana notes, aside, to Elisa, still wearing that too-amused smile. "Old patterns, and the like... of course, I don't expect it will be a problem for you, darling." Yuliana's methods of breakdown interrogation are far more frustrated by someone already having been broken; but then, her intimidation and confusion and drugs are a far cry from the way Elisa extracts compliance.
She pauses, for a moment, and explains helpfully, not explicitly to Alma but certainly around her: "Why, it's just another opportunity."
Opportunities! That makes sense. Surely.
"Now," her attention is all on Elisa again, "it is certainly true that these matters are the purview of Londo Bell. But I fear that certain persons in that agency have taken an interest in me, of late. I would very much like to hear about their ongoing progress! In particular..." Yuliana pauses, fingers drumming on Alma's shoulder. "One Rena Lancaster, I think. Yes, she could be a problem. Do be sure to inform me."
<Pose Tracker> Alma Stirner has posed.
"What?" There's a little genuine distress in her expression as Elisa starts talking about her... "Ah, I kinda think I should get going...! I'm not great at document review -- this stuff is kinda more Lilith's speed..."
She remains seated, despite protests.
She's told to put her hair back -- and she does actually carry hair ties. She doesn't use them much; after the One Year War, she took to wearing her hair down instead. After she reunited with Lilith, the shift in their styles -- Alma's hair down, Lilith's up, instead of the other way around -- became a sign of a bond that coul
Her hands head back behind her neck, fluffing out her hair a bit and setting about the process of putting it up.
There are narrow circumstances where she does wear her hair up, of course -- times when a helmet is inappropriate or ineffective but she needs it out of the way. Still, on a casual day, that nev
Twist, knot. Pin, pin. Tie.
"Oh -- I guess that makes sense... I know you work outside of the normal structures a lot," Alma says, the line between you (the REA) and you (Yuliana) blurring a bit. This is normal for the category Yuliana is in so it's fine.
Alma gets talked about like she's not in the room. Yuliana mentions she'd like to hear about Londo Bell's ongoing progress.
Alma hasn't actually reached the stage of fine with that yet! "I feel like... I'm not a gossipy kind of person, so you're kinda asking for the wrong thing..." she says, bringing a hand up to scratch at her cheek. "And some of that stuff is sensitive! Part of the reason we have autonomous units is so we don't all know what every other unit is doing..."
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
"You should not," Elisa says, cheerfully, when Alma indicates she should get going. She doesn't particularly need to inflect anymore; she's already so receptive at this point. "Quite experienced, it would seem," Elisa comments thoughtfully. It is an opportunity--for them, at least. And as Yuiana speaks on what she wants, ELisa waits to see if Alma will simply oblige.
Alas, it would seem she will not.
"Hmm."
"Indeed it's not a problem," Elisa answers. "It's actually quite helpful! Very convenient, even. This way I will have to push much less."
And pushing does make a body rather less useful, doesn't it?
Of course it does.
"Darling," Elisa says, and reaches to cup Alma's cheek. "You want to tell us though. Because you want to make me happy, don't you? And what will make me happy is for you to answer all of Yuliana's questions."
"It's all right if you don't know," she practically purrs. "But what you do know... Do tell."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
"Yes, you should really stay," Yuliana assures Alma, offhandedly. "This is a marvellous opportunity to introduce you!" It would make her happy! Alma likes making people happy, right?
Alma puts her hair up; Yuliana doesn't get in the way. She watches, eyes veiling with her smile. "That is convenient," she agrees, with Elisa. "They'd ask questions if she were properly gutted, I think. She is connected." Just listen to her mentioning that woman, earlier! Lilith, was it? Clearly important to her, if Alma's reaching out for her help in a situation like this.
Yuliana will remember that!
"I do," she agrees, when Alma supposes she works outside of normal structures. "But even if it feels a little confronting sometimes, we're all on the same side, aren't we?"
Why, just look at how friendly Elisa is. Surely that's true.
"How about this?" Yuliana offers, conciliatory. "You can just tell me... anything you know about anyone who might suspect ill of me. We needn't tie it to any particular autonomous unit at all." That Yuliana has just sharply expanded her demands rather than moderating them is a concept she spends no time dignifying.
"Why, you could even share your own concerns! We're all friends here." She lies, reassuringly, smooth and easy: "In a safe environment like this, you can be honest."
<Pose Tracker> Alma Stirner has posed.
"Oh," is all Alma offers at the idea that she should not get going instead. She remains settled and unsettled at once, letting Yuliana stay close. ... it's not lost on her that it's getting easier to talk with them, but that almost feels -- fine? Maybe she had the wrong idea about Yuliana before. Her hunches have rarely been wrong, but still...
... besides, the hand on her cheek is nice. "Yeah! Okay, I can do that," she replies to Elisa, thinking through her time on the Ra Mari. Yuliana did come up more than once, after all. "That's a lot easier," Alma agrees with Yuliana, despite the fact that that request fully encompasses the other one. They're just talking as -- friends. Yes. She can be honest with them.
"I know Anita Rosetta didn't have a weird experience with you, but she mentioned that her friends did... I'm guessing that's Rena and Arriety Hearn? It might be Callisto, too..." Alma knows the Ra Mari is a Newtype-heavy unit, at least. "Anita trusts them way more than she trusts you so if you try to hurt them she's gonna do something about it."
She glances up, thinking. Wow, this is a lot more comfortable the more she gets settled in. "That's all I really know, though," she says, looking at Elisa; her expression is a little apologetic, despite it being all right if she doesn't know.
She could share her own concerns, though... "I've been really worried about one of the people in your unit. They looked really distraught after going out with you, and when I got that weird feeling from you I knew it was because you... do something? I don't really wanna tell you that it's a bad thing if that's just kinda how you feel to other people but once I got away from you I know something kinda spooky was going on!"
This part she seems to have a lot of thoughts on. "I don't really want to be friends with you," she starts. "I mean -- I guess I am! But I don't want to be." Somehow she doesn't have much of a problem reconciling that at all.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Oh! Yes, that's fine. It is a marvelous opportunity, isn't it? And certainly Alma has had no particular hunches about Elisa yet. Nevermind that she hasn't especially met her, either. That's fine.
Everything is fine, in fact. "Wonderful!" she says with Alma says that she can do that, and she smiles at Yuliana, too, as her request is handled. See? ELisa's way can be very good, and nice. ANd she listenes... hmmmm.
"I see," Elisa answers, and when there is that apologetic look, she goes "Ts ts--It's all right." A smile again. The apropriate number of teeth. "That is helpful so far," she says. And then... Hmmmmm.
"It's good," she says, "That you don't want to say such things about Yuliana. We are all friends here, and you know it would be painful to say bad things about Yuliana, of course."
And it's true. But she hasn't yet.
She doesn't talk of 'making deals' this time. Not with this. Not with her.
"We all do things we don't want sometimes," she says instead. "Tell us more about these concerns. And Yuliana, dear, did you have more questions?"
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
"Oh? What a shame," Yuliana remarks, lightly, when Alma condemns Anita. "I'm not her enemy, after all."
And it's not entirely a lie, in much the way so many of Yuliana's untrue statements are not entirely lies. Anita didn't have that 'weird experience' -- so she isn't automatically classed as an enemy.
Unlike --
Yuliana's smile widens, and she can't entirely keep that predatory edge from it -- the tension of her lips pressing together, the flare of her nostrils, the way her eyelids hood just so over eyes as green as jealousy. She feels all these things, of course, on her island apart from humanity; the only trick is how long she spent practicing the art of expressing another emotion, instead of what immediately strikes her, without moderation or consideration.
(If she were faking it, who could tell?)
In an eyeblink, her smile is supportive again. Relaxed cheeks, brow raised just so. Attentive without staring. There's a real trick to it.
Yuliana is, after all, quite attentive to what Alma wants! She cares very much about ensuring Alma receives the opposite of what she desires.
She pats Alma's shoulder -- once, twice, entirely reassuring. "Would it really be so bad to be friends with me..?" She asks, as if it bothers her. "I don't want you to feel as if being on my side is something which causes you trouble... I'd hate for you to think you needed help because I was your friend."
She smiles, and reassures her: "Though, I know you're not the gossipy sort of person... so I'm sure you wouldn't say everything so freely. But I simply couldn't stand it if you felt as if being on the same side as me was something you had to confess, to need support for... even though I'm helping you!" She sounds a little upset, certainly, as she raises all those implications. She presses, with concern: "Aren't I helping you, Alma? Do you think I'm lying about what brought you here? I just wanted to help you, too, since we're friends..."
Which was the whole point of waiting to do this until she found a real lead to Zeon; if Yuliana had brought Alma here on a fabrication, all her faux vulnerability would fall apart with a moment's examination.
Lies which aren't entirely lies are the best lies of all.
<Pose Tracker> Alma Stirner has posed.
It would be -- painful? Alma's brow furrows a bit -- and then Elisa prompts her to tell her more about these concerns. "Honestly, I got the sense from your subordinates that you were kind of a horrible person." Alma's right eye screws shut on reflex, and Yuliana -- ever-attentive Yuliana -- notices her calf muscles contract a bit involuntarily. "My first guess was actually that you just kinda beat up on your -- subordinates -- verbally --"
Alma notices her leg forcing a cramp. She gasps, remaining seated but doubling over a bit. ... the pain is very corrective. "But we're past that now and we're all on the same side," she affirms. ... that leg is going to probably hurt for hours, and she looks like she's about to cry despite being fine with them being friends! But she's given more or less the full details of her own inferences. She can stop hurting and answer Yuliana's questions and make Elisa happy, here in this tiny island where she is -- for the first time in her life -- singularly alone.
That's much to the purpose, too, as Yuliana pats at her shoulder, tells her how much she'd hate for Yuliana to feel like Alma needed help just because they were friends. And she did say she wasn't a gossipy kind of person, so...
"I -- don't," she stammers. "We're friends and you're helping me and --" the line of thought actually stops there because there's nothing supporting it, really. It's just kind of stuck there.
"M-my leg hurts... I want to walk it off," she whimpers, veering just a little past 'childish anime girl pathetic' and into 'actually one more human being in pretty severe pain.'
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
"Yes, indeed. You aren't," Elisa says of Yuliana not being Anita's enemy. She is very specifc on that point, in fact. And she doesn't have to elaborate any further to explain to Alma how this is going to work. She continues, of course. Of course she continues; she has no other option.
"Ts, ts," Elisa says, as Yuliana explains what's so bad, what's here, why she brought her here. Just to help... Yes.
Of course too the pain is corrective. Alma affirms it. It's just how it is. But she's finished that--and she is about to cry. How very sad...
THe line of thought stops. "Quite."
Alma vers into human in pain, and Elisa notices it. She considers how it might sound if Alma were in more pain, and decides that that would be unuseful.
Pleasant, but unuseful.
On the other hand...
"You are friends. And when we finish here, you will remember how helpful Yuliana was."
"But for now... Yes, I certainly see that you want that."
"But instead, you will sit up straight."
"Because that will make me happy."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
Yuliana's smile flashes teeth when Alma's eye shuts -- her lip curls upward, her eyes narrow, her cheeks dimple from the way it widens.
Yes, she sees the twitch. Her grip shifts, as Alma leans forward, fingers still resting there against her.
Is it cruel, that the two of them trapped her into speaking ill of Yuliana? Of course it is; and Yuliana is delighted. Her subordinates have been working with her for much longer than Alma has. Perhaps they'd know...
"Sometimes a little correction is necessary in the military," she assures her, puts on an appearance of reassurance, again. "I'm sure you can agree that a few harsh words are the least of what the system can do to you, mm? I assure you, the valued members of my team are very important to me... they're under my protection." Another little half-truth; she declines to mention the person Alma must be most thinking of is terribly unvalued, in Yuliana's eyes.
Somehow, she manages not to laugh as Elisa lists her demands. She can't quite keep the delight out of her eyes, though, as she looks across to her fellow tormentor. What a wonderful gift!
"And when she's happy, I'm happy, you know," Yuliana adds, helpfully, looking down on Alma again. "Don't you like making your friends happy, Alma?"
Her friends, who are made so happy by her pain...
<Pose Tracker> Alma Stirner has posed.
"O-okay," Alma says, and she sounds genuinely weak; she really needs to be doing something about this. She sits bolt upright and assumes procedure posture again and feels like she's fulfilling a desire.
Her expression starts to level off -- that makes Elisa happy (which in turn makes Yuliana happy, by Yuliana's own admission; the lines are starting to blur a bit between the two of them for Alma, now -- they're just kind of... a unit, now, a bit) so Alma's fine with it.
"That's true too... Zeon tried to get us killed. Still, I think it's pretty poor commanding ttthhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhGHGHH --"
She doesn't flinch forward this time. Part of her has managed to process that Yuliana and Elisa enjoy her pain reactions, just from the expressions, though, so -- wait, she wants -- what?
Her train of thought grinds to a halt; the distress evaporates from her face -- because she just can't keep the distress track going either. She looks fairly flattened-out. "I think you're a horrible commander but we're on the same side and you're not doing anything that bad," she says, eyes watering but not actually reacting. The sensation of nausea with no accompanying distress rattles around her skull.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Of course it's cruel! Elisa doesn't like her much. But the team... under her protection... Yes. Elisa watches Yuliana work at Alma's mind, and smiles. It is all very pleasant, all very nice. 'Correction'. But Yuliana is delighted, and that's nice. When she's happy, she's happy...
But Alma blanks out. It's interesting to watch. What does she want? Elisa can't actually read her mind, merely write it. But she notices as the distress evaporates, the way she flattens out, and..
"Ah," Elisa says. "That will do." A laugh, then. "Don't worry, Yuliana. She is simply somewhat overwhelmed."
"You may relax now," she says to Alma. "You will not remember this. But because we're friends..."
She considers.
"For now the pain is gone. It will return should you continue such vile aspersions."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
The lines do tend to blur, don't they? Yuliana, Elisa... Elisa, Yuliana... where does one end, and the other begin?
Not entirely a Federation asset; not entirely independent.
(Even so, she's attached to her Federation assets, isn't she? Under her protection... clearly there's some fondness there.)
Zeon tried to get them killed, which is terribly funny, to Yuliana, who frankly would celebrate if Alma died tomorrow. Oh, don't mistake her -- those methods are far too boorish for her to apply on a wide scale, and hardly account for new Awakened children being born -- but on an individual level, well, one less Newtype is one more ray of sunshine in the world.
More funny is what follows. Yuliana does laugh, this time, fingers from her opposite hand coming to veil over her lips. "Ahahaha... oh, you really don't learn, do you, dear? Escaping this is easy..."
She doesn't, in so many words, tell her just how to escape. Certainly not by criticising her commanding style, judging by the way Alma's expression drains down the sink.
"Hahaha," Yuliana laughs, smiling, bright and warm, to Elisa. "Don't worry, don't worry, I see it all the time! It wouldn't be so hard to shatter her, at this stage... but I suppose we ought stop toying with her, so there's something left." It would be inconvenient to kill Alma, when her presence here can be traced back to Yuliana; it would be equally inconvenient if she returned a hollow shell of herself. If only Yuliana didn't have to worry about appearances so much..!
She smiles, to Alma, when Elisa gives her her instructions. "You see? Escaping the pain is so easy, dear. Now, take that file with you -- standard black ops precautions, if you please, no one here expects you to walk out with it -- and hurry on back. Do keep an eye on what everyone is saying about me. You have so many friends, so I'm sure it won't bother you to listen. You're such a good listener, after all..."
<Pose Tracker> Alma Stirner has posed.
Alma... won't remember this? That seems -- odd, but she doesn't protest. And not protesting leads to, a moment later, the pain vanishing; she breathes a sigh of relief, still sitting perfectly still for now. Her thoughts don't really seem to have returned just yet, though.
"I understand," she agrees, moving to pack her things up -- insofar as she can from her chair. Preparing the file for removal is no trouble at all, though.
Past that: Alma sits there and waits patiently for marching orders. She's starting to reorient, to gain back some emotional texture -- but she's still quite dazed, and what's more, quite lost.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
"Now, now," Elisa says. "She is new. If she learned too much, then that would be a concern, wouldn't it?"
But Yuliana sees it all the time and Elisa nods with another smile. "Indeed. It's much more useful to do it this way. Less satisfying, perhaps... but a little for a long time is sometimes better than a big meal all at once, yes?"
Her smile continues to have teeth.
"Ah, yes," Elisa says. She pauses. "Two things."
"When I am finished instructing you, you will leave, as Yuliana has indicated. You should know and remember--listening to my Yuliana makes me happy, too." Then she pauses, and seems to consider something.
"You will wear more makeup," she instructs. "A nice pink eyeshadow would show off your eyes nicely. Tastefully applied. Don't go overboard."
Satisfied, Elisa nods. "Yes, good. Now you will leave, and when you forget this, it will not be uncomfortable. But all I have instructed will remain."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
"I suppose it is more sustainable," Yuliana agrees, as if the two of them were weighing up methods of farming rather than a woman's suffering. "And after all, one day, we'll instead..." Her trailing sentence is entirely satisfied, entirely unended. "... yes, for now, this will do."
Alma won't remember this, so why veil her hunger?
She chuckles, as she watches Elisa lay her final trap -- sees, immediately, the shape of it; with a final instruction like that, they'll be able to see how effective Elisa's methods are on Alma, at a glance.
Finally, finally, Yuliana stops claiming Alma's space; she steps away, back towards Elisa, smiling to their prey. "Take care, Rusalka," she -- bids? warns? issues -- and names Alma a particular type of water fairy, in the process.
It's really quite funny, you see, because the rusalka weren't regarded as unclean spirits in the distant past. Their reputation shifted, sometime before the Universal Century.
They're quite unseelie in the current day, of course.
"Do close the door behind you."
It's only once Alma has left that Yuliana turns to Elisa, throws her arms about her neck -- she has to rise up on her toes to kiss her, with the heels Elisa's in, but that's fine. Perhaps one day Yuliana will start wearing heels to make up the difference. Probably not. She has to do an awful lot of running in her occupation.
"I think we can call this experiment a vibrant success!" She bubbles, with unveiled cheer, when she pulls back -- just enough to be conversational. "That woman is one of the worst offenders I've met in some years -- I'm quite sure she invades people's minds as easily as a knife through butter, with how much isn't there about her. Despite those advantages, why, she was soft clay in your hands! Oh," Yuliana purrs, with open affection, "it is such a joy to watch you work."
Her head cants, just so, as she comes to Elisa working; her brow knits, just a little, a slight twist to her lips. "It is very convenient I'm able to grant you access to such connected people," Yuliana starts, starts on a thought.
"If my presence can help you gain such easy access... why, I'm entirely pleased," she insists. And laughs -- laughs it off, before she even says, "hahaha... of course, it wouldn't be so easy with me, I'm sure...!"
She's laughing, but her eyes are uneasy.
<Pose Tracker> Alma Stirner has posed.
Elisa issues more commands. Alma doesn't seem to mind -- though she does seem to re-find something like faint surprise at the makeup. "Okay," she says, simply. "I appreciate what you've both given me," she says, picking up her messenger bag and standing up. It takes her a moment to collect herself fully; she goes to fluff out her hair -- oh right, it's up. That particular false start, too, seems to leave her a little confused. Rusalka -- a fairy? Alma's got a little fairy lore under her belt. She decides to take the name as flattering -- and then start walking, promptly. She heads out the door. She shuts the door.
She has a lot of spare time, she realizes! That was a remarkably simple handoff. Maybe she should go shopping -- Saudi Arabia isn't the greatest shopping place for what she's looking for, but she could take the linear train, surely.
"Maybe I'll pick out a new look," she reflects to herself, barely audible through the shut door.
Then she actually starts walking.
Nothing happened, after all.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Nothing at all.
"It's terribly useful," Elisa says, and then laughs musically at the way she's so pleased. "Ah, yes," she says. "But she would mean nothing to me if not for you. I do this for us. For our future."
A smile. "Oh, it's not the same at all," Elisa says pleasingly, and she doesn't even have to lie to say it.
"There is no one like my Yuliana."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
It's not the same, and Yuliana laughs, a shade embarrassed. "Oh, Elya... yes, I'm not like them. Why would you treat me like them..? Haha... you'll have to forgive me, I'm in the business of recognising theoretical possibilities... but of course, why would it even come up?" Surely she's never even tried, so there's no way to tell whether it would work on Yuliana or not. Surely --
(All the paranoia in the world isn't enough to defeat Elisa's love.)
Yuliana shakes her head, and smiles, gazing up to Elisa. "For us... you're so good to me, darling. Really, you've brought me a grand gift... they're beginning to suspect me, so best I know before they move against us." Where does Yuliana end, and Elisa begin? Maybe it's an academic question. "That one is best situated to alert us early, I think," and the naked contempt in her voice for Alma is much more honest than the kindness she showed her earlier.
"But even outside of the practicalities, you set her up to fail just for me, in such a delightful way..." She pulls a hand back, but just so she can boop Elisa on the nose, with a foolish grin. "You're so sweet!"
The gesture is wonderful. One could almost forget the horror of the situation Yuliana's referring to, with such cheer... so divorced from Alma's pain.