2022-10-28: Memory and Moving Forward

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<Pose Tracker> Nanai Miguel has posed.

Several days have passed since Mineva and Banagher were more granted access to the secret workings of the Nanai Faction. What they have discovered is that this particular splinter of the Zeonic remnants is both more and less than it seems.

The veterans of the counterattack have melded into the refugees from which the rebellion first sprang. They could not exist here without cooperation from the community -- in a sense, they have simply become the community itself. Their secret rooms and caches are hidden inside and beneath buildings, their smuggling and law avoidance are abetted by neighbors, and community leaders coordinate with them as peers.

It's difficult to say at this early stage of familiarity what exactly the Nanai Faction has done to establish such trust with the locals, other than many of them having been locals themselves, once upon a time. It is clear that they continually buy goodwill by acting to strengthen the dire conditions present in this overcrowded and underdeveloped area.

And that proved a part of Nanai's initial advice to them, after they were shown the Unicorn to assure its safety. If both Mineva and Banagher wished to develop and stabilize their newtype powers, they should confront the suffering present here in the closed-type section.

The two of them were left to their own devices in any case, as Nanai seems to keep a busy schedule. She seems to be treated as a neighborhood doctor -- one of several who unofficially tend to the under-served masses -- and is specifically consulted for the surprising number of newtypes present here. This work takes her far and wide through the station, and so she is not seen for some time. Self-study appears to be standard for her students.

However, Mineva and Banagher have heard of the occasional intensive training session that takes place in 'the lab.' A sinister name given the history of newtype laboratories, and yet any anxiety detected when speaking about it seems to be directed inward rather than toward Nanai.

Eventually, the two of them have their own opportunity to discover what goes on there.

One evening, they are roused from the place they're staying -- a small hotel that's a significant step down from their accommodations in the open-type section, though with a certain pride of its own -- and taken through the cramped, winding side streets toward a warehouse near the edge of the colony. Their guide, a burly and mustached man named Jode, is quiet as they walk the night. He only stops them a few times where they wait, minute by minute, as a Federation elecar patrol slowly cruises in the distance. Once they reach the site, he unlocks a chained door, bids them inside, and sees them off with a tip of his newsboy cap.

This door leads to a stairway that accesses the rest of the warehouse, but they were directed down. There, at what signs advertise to be a condemned freezer storage floor, is a heavy door with a lock that is fused shut.

Or so it seems. As Mineva and Banagher approach, a heavy THUD-CLICK-CLICK-CLICK reverberates from inside the door, which then glides open. Standing there in a pair of cold-weather leggings and a pullover hoodie (featuring an age-peeling Anaheim Electronics logo on the front) is Nanai Miguel.

"Thank you for waiting," she says. "Have you been well?" 

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

"I'm glad you're okay." Banagher murmurs to the Unicorn, when he's shown her, placing a hand on her white armor. "I'll come back again soon."

Word of "the lab" puts Banagher on edge. After several murmured conversations between himself and Audrey, they decide to trust Nanai. They've come this far, if she wanted to hurt them, she would've already. All the same, when Jode comes to get them, Banagher takes a protective sort of stance. He keeps himself between the young girl and the burly man, on edge and ready for any sign of betrayal.

"...seriously?" Banagher asks of Jode, when they're lead to a chained-shut door. But his decision was made, and all there is to do is move forward. Every step down the staircase has him more frightened -- but he's ready. Whatever's waiting them at the bottom... It won't hurt Audrey. No matter what. When they come to a dead end, he can't help but glance back the way they came. What is this?

THUD-CLICK-CLICK-CLICK

"Audrey, stay behind me." Banagher murmurs, sliding his legs into a fighting stance.

When Nanai comes into view, the young man relaxes. His eyes go to the faded logo on her hoodie, and a wistful expression comes to his face. "I went to college there. I have the same hoodie -- had the same hoodie." It certainly burned up in the explosion of Industrial Seven.

Dressed in the same outfit Nanai saw him in once before, Banagher is thankfully prepared for the chill of the basement. Cheap jeans, ankle-high boots, a white shirt, and a minty-green hoodie -- combined with the messy fluff of his brown hair. If Audrey's cold, he'll obviously give his hoodie over to her, but until then, he's thankful for its comforting weight.

"I was a little freaked out." Banagher admits, stepping forward to speak with Nanai. One hand is extended to Audrey, if she wishes to hold it. "I guess I'm not used to secrecy like this. But we've been okay. We met Shelby. She had a lot of praise for your teaching." A shy smile. "I'm looking forward to learning from you."

Indeed, he's prepared this time. Within his hoodie pockets, Banagher has concealed a small notepad and mechanical pencil, along with extra graphite. His black Go stone is in the other half of the pocket, having become a constant companion in the past few days. 

<Pose Tracker> Mineva Lao Zabi has posed.

In discussions with Banagher, it's been clear that Audrey trusts Nanai. If Sayla Mass trusts her, then they should be able to do the same. Even so, she allows him to take his protective stance; she may not feel she needs it, but at least for now, it helps them both feel a bit more secure... and he's got more experience with fighting than she does, besides. She's dressed for the weather, wearing her own hoodie--a zip-up in lavender--with jean shorts, thick black leggings, and sensible boots of her own.

Before the freezer door, she's tense and anxious, despite her confidence in Nanai. This is an unknown... and her relief is palpable as Nanai appears.

"Ms. Mesua," she smiles, nodding as she grasps Banagher's hand. "We've been all right. Shelby actually gave us a bit of advice, and I've been spending time meditating the last couple of days... and we took your advice, too. We spent yesterday helping out at a soup kitchen." 

<Pose Tracker> Nanai Miguel has posed.

"I didn't," says Nanai with a small smile, to the topic of her hoodie and related colleges. "Gift bag at a tech conference."

The tawny-haired woman steps aside to let Banagher and Mineva inside. The door leads to a catwalk structure that's suspended over the warehouse floor itself. There's a staging platform immediately adjacent to the door, with stairs and a cargo lift leading down. Once the two of them are inside, Nanai pulls the heavy door shut and resets the lock using a nearby control panel. Even though the refrigeration system isn't online, it is indeed chilly -- moreso than the rest of Sweetwater, which suffers from mediocre climate control.

"Shelby is a very special person. I'm glad you're all spending time together. I think you all face a similar situation."

Nanai returns her hands to her hoodie pocket and descends the stairs. Most of the floor is unused, though across the way there are a few tables and some large machines visible. Some of the area is partitioned off using folding screens.

"I mentioned it in passing the last time we talk, but I want to be clear now so I don't give you the wrong impression. I can't teach you to be a better newtype. I like to think of my role as that of a guide. I can help you get there, but it's you who have to make the journey."

She reaches the floor and continues to walk on, heading straight for the partitioned area. On the way, they will pass a few tables with various instruments and papers strewn across them, alongside those strange pods that may be recognized as training cockpits with numerous custom additions.

"Helping people here is part of that journey. For most newtypes, coming across people in such dire straights can be difficult. It's a different terror from those found on a battlefield... but I'm sure you can feel it throughout the colony. The tension. The despair. How would you describe it?" 

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

Audrey's hand is given a soft squeeze, and Banagher nods. "It was good to be able to make a real change. One we could see."

"It was a good place." Banagher says, before shaking his head a little. Best not to dwell on it.

Banagher looks at everything, craning his neck to see the warehouse floor as they move along the catwalk. The cargo lift doesn't phase him -- his part time job back in Industrial Seven meant riding a lot of these. "Yes, Shelby was really open with us." Banagher says, above the noise of the lift. "She was at Torrington... I hope the Unicorn isn't bothering her too much, while she's here."

Following after Nanai, Banagher keeps a hold of Audrey's hand. The folding screens are given a curious glance, but he quickly turns his attention back to Nanai as she speaks. "I understand."

"It's different for the different groups we're in." Banagher says, slowly. "The young people are a lot angrier, not all of them, but a lot of them. Especially with this new Federation crackdown. The older people are tired. I think a lot of people don't expect anything to ever change, here. Or maybe they've tried all they can, and now they're out of strength."

"I don't have any room to judge them. They've been suffering things I've never experienced." Banagher shakes his head. "I think this is what oppression would feel like, overall. Hopelessness... But nobody has the luxury to really give up. They have to keep trying to live. Working, making food... Nobody has the luxury of despair." 

<Pose Tracker> Mineva Lao Zabi has posed.

Mineva nods in agreement, "She is, and I hope we see her again soon. It seems like it's... tough, for her. She's so open, so directly... not in a way she can turn off. I'm sure you've helped her a lot."

Her eyes glance this way and that, looking over the area. She hugs her arms around her; even dressed for the weather, the chill gets to her, more than a little. The machines catch her curiosity, but she can't begin to guess what they're for. Questions for later.

"Yeah... I understand. It's up to us to change the way we think. Direct the flow." She stares at the pods for a long moment. Well, there goes her one guess at what those other machines were for.

Her mood sombers as she thinks about the people they've seen. "They're... a lot of them are resigned, I think. The ones old enough to have fought in the rebellion." She nods in agreement with Banagher. "They've lost a lot of their will. Either lost it in the war, or... had it beaten out of them. They're scared because they feel helpless... like everything's going to come crashing down no matter what, and anything they do will just... make it worse." Her eyes have grown a little distant.

"The others... they haven't lost it. They're scared, but... they think they can fight back. If enough of them yell, loudly enough..."

"...but, well, maybe I'm projecting, a bit." 

<Pose Tracker> Nanai Miguel has posed.

"'The luxury of despair,'" Nanai repeats. She pauses momentarily to consider the turn of phrase. Her conclusion: "You see it, then."

Coming alongside one of the partitions, she uses her foot to press down the wheel brakes, one pair at a time. When all the wheels are free to move, she begins to roll the partition away. She speaks while she works, as this requires moving several partitions away.

"Both of you latched on to a pain that reaches back in time. I suppose it's inevitable when considering what's currently happening. Spacenoids have felt abandoned by the Earth Federation for as long as I've lived... but Sweetwater is a special suffering. Environmentalists use the term 'sacrifice zone' to refer to an area where the government has sanctioned despoiling and disregard for the gain of other areas. That's what many space colonies are for Earth... and that's what places like Sweetwater are for the colonies. The poorest refugees, the ones with the least power to resist, shoved out of sight to balance the books everywhere else."

Bit by bit, the area behind the partition is revealed: a small semi-circle of reclining chairs hooked up to sensor arrays leading to server racks, with a computer-bearing desk facing them.

Nanai stops to give the setup a look over, hands on her hips and her attention away from the two younger newtypes. Visually, at least.

"This is where I met him. Char, I mean. I moved here to escape the Federation harassing me and my assistants. I suppose he came here for the same reason, after the AEUG fell. He gave them hope. Hope like they never thought they could have. When he vanished, they all went back to work. What else could they do?"

A brief moment of silence. She glances back to them over her shoulder.

"I need to establish a functional baseline. I'll monitor your brainwaves while asking you questions. One of you needs to go first. The other... normally I would say we need privacy, but you two have a bond, so it will be okay. Or," she says, with that faint smile again, "you can clock some simulator time while you wait, if that seems more interesting." 

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

Banagher nods at Audrey's answers, agreeing with her just as she agrees with him.

Watching the partition move away, Banagher can't help but feel a bit excited. This was it -- finally he was going to learn about the powers he was born with. Returning his attention to Nanai, Banagher frowns at the description of the colony. "It's awful that anyone would be so heartless."

In a way, this goes back to what Captain Zinnerman told Banagher. The way the Federation soldiers treated the colonies of Zeon people like they didn't matter, like their lives were worthless... This is the same cruelty. What can be done against it? So many powerful people coming together to disenfranchise the most vulnerable?

Looking to Audrey as Nanai mentions Char, Banagher stays quiet. This is something between the two women -- and no matter how curious he may be, it's not his place to ask questions. Thankfully, his attention is quickly taken by the server setup behind Nanai.

"If you don't mind, Audrey, I'll go first. You can stay if you like. I have nothing to hide from you." A soft smile, and Banagher walks up to the chair nearest Nanai. "But I know you wanted to try out the simulator, too. Either way is fine. We're safe here."

As he settles into the chair, a memory returns to Banagher, poignant enough to broadcast out from his heart. A young boy sits at a piano. A complicated helmet-like object covers his head, wires leading away from the helmet into servers and computers off to the side. Music floats across the scene, the child playing capably. An older man observes, looking pleased. Everything seems fine, until -- a stab of pain. Hitting a few discordant notes, the little boy cries out in pain.

When he comes back to reality, Banagher covers his right eye, breathing heavily. "Is this going to hurt? I can do it if it does. I just want to know." 

<Pose Tracker> Mineva Lao Zabi has posed.

"Of course," she murmurs. "It's not the only one. I understand Shangri-La is like this, too... there must be others." She sighs. "The Federation wants to beat the hope out of them. Quiet them down. But I don't think it's that easy. I know the Federation's response to colonial protests is outsized, but... is this really typical for something as small as those first few protests?"

She's looking over the setup when Nanai brings up Char, and she glances over. "That's when he saved me from Haman, too. Took me from Axis, and brought me here... didn't want me to be raised by someone like her."

'When he vanished'.

The word triggers an immediate response in her, a burst of annoyance and frustration, and she gives Nanai a brief glare. She offers two words in reply. "He died."

Pretending otherwise gives Full Frontal legitimacy.

And she refuses to entertain the thought that he met the same fate as Amuro.

She nods to Banagher, and she's considering what to do when the memory drifts across her consciousness. Mineva's smiling softly, a few steps away--and crosses over to him immediately as he winces with pain, a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?" 

<Pose Tracker> Nanai Miguel has posed.

While the two decide, Nanai steps into the research area, once closed off and now exposed. Even with the thick cables running to and fro taped down to the floor, she watches her step. Her fingertip brushes across the front of one of the server towers and a chain of electronics begin to whir and breath to life.

She turns to look back at them while, presumably, things boot up. Her gaze settles on Mineva while she speaks. When the younger woman glares at her, Nanai's expression gentles in a sad, quiet way. Yet, she does not acquiesce to the correction.

"It isn't that simple."

But any further discussion is curtailed by Banagher's transitory attack. Nanai watches intently but doesn't move to intercede.

Moments pass. Even after Banagher asks that question, Nanai does not immediately answer. She's watching. Thinking.

"I don't know," she says, eventually. "I'm not going to hurt you. None of these machines will. But, as you can see... we can easily hurt ourselves."

Another brief pause to ascertain Banagher's state, and then Nanai takes a nearby rolling office chair and drags it over to the side of Banagher's seat opposite of where Mineva came in. She sits and begins to arrange a sequence of wires in the dome -- currently raised -- that will eventually settle down over Banagher's head.

"You've been in one of these before, haven't you?" she murmurs. "Older enhancement programs often used pain as a motivator. If it's guidance... those were more like forced marches. This experience may be emotionally charged for you, but I've handled similar cases."

With her hand on the sensor dome, she glances up at Mineva as if to silently caution her about standing too near. Then, with one final look at Banagher to check his state, she lowers it over the top of his head.

"There's an eye mask hanging on the armrest if you think it will help you concentrate." 

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

Staying quiet as Audrey and Nanai discuss Char, Banagher focuses on breathing. The flicker of pain over his right eye feels so real, even all these years later. As the young lady approaches, he lowers his hand, then gives her a somewhat nervous smile.

"Yeah. My father -- before my mother took me away from him. Leina thinks he was experimenting on me. I barely remember it, and I have no idea what he did, but... I wonder if he made me specifically to pilot the Unicorn." One long breath in, then out. "I'm okay. I can do this."

"Thank you," Banagher murmurs to Nanai. "I'm alright. It's nice to know this -- won't be like it was."

Soft gold eyes give the helmet a long, wary look, but he leans forward to let Nanai place it over his head. As it settles, his heart accelerates, and he looks up to meet Audrey's eyes. This is for her. This is for Leina. Another long breath, and he manages a more genuine smile.

"I think I'd prefer not to use the mask." The helmet settles on his head, and he leans back into the chair. He trusts Nanai, but part of him still expects that sparking, electric pain. 

<Pose Tracker> Mineva Lao Zabi has posed.

Ugh.

Audrey does her best to keep her disgust at that theory--at Cardeas--to herself.

It's not hard for her to imagine a sequence of chairs like this with people strapped into them, restrained, afraid of the pain they might be about to receive...

But she trusts Nanai at least this much.

She glances back at Nanai, and nods to her, giving Banagher's hand a squeeze. "You can do this," she echoes him, then steps away. Her hands slip into her pockets, rubbing her thumb over her Go stone's smooth surface. 

<Pose Tracker> Nanai Miguel has posed.

"Most people associate enhancement programs -- cyber-newtype programs -- with making oldtypes into newtypes. But, the enhancement process could just as easily be used on newtypes as well. That's how the programs started."

Nanai connects a few more wires, pauses to assess the array, and then hits a switch. A series of lights prime on the side of the array arm.

"Trying to coax out a newtype's abilities. Isn't the natural next question whether one can coax abilities out of anyone?"

She pushes her chair back a few feet from Banagher so that he can see her again.

"This machine is currently recording your brainwaves. I'm going to ask you some questions. I want you to answer any way that you feel like answering. It can be as much or as little as you like. Just focus on thinking about the questions and then answering them. Alright?"

Nanai stands, leaving the chair behind as she returns to the primary desk. She sits there and takes a moment to type something while staring intently at the monitors. Moments pass. No shock therapy yet.

"Good," she says, eventually. "Nothing unusual. We're ready to begin."

She turns her head to look across to Banagher.

"Tell me what you remember about your father." 

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

Audrey is given a grateful smile as she squeezes his hand. He's still a little frightened, but having Audrey there is a big relief. If anything goes wrong, he knows he can count on her to bail him out.

"What would be the point of enhancing someone who is already a Newtype? Would it even do anything?" Banagher asks, watching the array arm come to life. "I guess... just trying to make them stronger?"

Banagher nods. "Got it. I'll do my best." Quiet golden eyes watch Nanai's movements carefully, but there's no pain. Nothing bad at all. He smiles reassuringly at Audrey. "Everything's fine so far."

There's a moment of genuine surprise from Banagher as Nanai asks her question. "My father..."

What /did/ he remember, now, after everything? This is a Box Banagher has never tried to open, but it's time.

"The first thing is the memory at the piano, with the helmet thing." Banagher murmurs, then clears his throat. The point of this is to be heard. "Then, it was only a few days later that my mother took me away. I was wearing a coat and a backpack, walking away from the manor. My mother was holding my hand, and I looked back and saw him in a window. I wondered why he wasn't coming with us."

That much was easy. But if he pressed more deeply --

Banagher closes his eyes. Why did his father have him? Was it just for the Unicorn? Did Cardeas ever love Banagher? Was it all a mistake?

"Banagher," comes a soft, masculine voice. Arms reach out for him, leading up to a smiling face. Golden eyes look down with endless love. "Come here. I've got a surprise for you."

Toddling forward, Banagher finds himself small. No more than three or four years old, certainly. He's excited to go toward the man. Toward father -- toward daddy. It's difficult to take these steps forward, but he makes it, tipping forward as he reaches Cardeas. The older man laughs, picking him up with one arm. A kiss is pressed to Banagher's cheek, making the child giggle.

"I brought you a new friend home today. Something we're trying at my job." Cardeas' face is soft, but -- there's something in his eyes. "It's a puzzle. If you work hard, you'll find it has many secrets. You'll do that for me, right, Banagher?"

"Yeah!" Gurgles the child, holding out his hands.

Cardeas hands over a little metal ball. It shines a bright gold, with parts outlined in a soft minty green. It looks like a puzzle box, and when Banagher takes it in his hands, things can be heard rattling around inside. Cardeas walks to a nearby couch and sits down, placing the young boy in his lap.

Banagher's eyes are bright and intelligent. He turns the ball around in his hands, looking at it from all sides. "What's inside?" He asks, looking up at Cardeas. The color of his eyes is identical to Cardeas'.

"It's a surprise." Cardeas says, with a smile. "Go ahead. You can take as long as you need to."

"Okay." Banagher replies. "Thanks, daddy."

Moments pass as the child studies the orb. Banagher tilts his head one way, then the other, then lifts the ball up to the light. One piece seems to gleam just a bit more brightly than the others. With a child's clumsiness, he pushes it in. Another piece calls to him, after that, and then another. Banagher continues on like this, until--

/Click./

The orb opens like a blooming flower. Banagher claps in delight, and Cardeas' eyes widen. This prototype had taken grown men hours to study and discover, and his child had figured it out in a matter of moments. Cardeas' arm tightens around Banagher's little body just a bit more tightly. Remarkable.

"Oh! It's a flower!" Banagher says with delight, holding it up. In the very center of the flower is a new object, which quickly grabs the boy's attention. Placing the flower-orb down in his little lap, Banagher picks up what seems to be a key card on a child-sized lanyard. "What's this?"

"It's a key. Now you can come visit me at work whenever you like." Cardeas answers, a little distracted. He had intended to give this present to Banagher in a few years, but surely a child wouldn't be a security risk. "You can meet my employees, and maybe you can help us with some other problems. Would you like that?"

"Yeah!" Banagher says, putting the lanyard around his neck immediately. "I'll come every day!"

With a gasp, the memory ends, and Banagher blinks his eyes open. "I just -- remembered something." With halting words, he describes what he just saw. At the end, he looks down. He's no closer to knowing what Cardeas' true intentions are. Was all this a trick to further testing on his own son?

"Beyond that... I see him sometimes, when the NT-D activates. And he came to me after Torrington when I was asleep for a day. He looks back at me, and then vanishes. When I was asleep, he called my name and reached out to me, and I woke up from really awful dreams." 

<Pose Tracker> Mineva Lao Zabi has posed.

Mineva nods. "They're enhancement programs for a reason, I guess," she murmurs thoughtfully, quieting as Banagher starts to think back, further.

It comes through to her as clear as day. She smiles a little, despite herself, as she sees what appears to be a kind father giving his son a gift. But as he solves the puzzle, bit by bit, the smile fades, as she realizes just what it is. Not a toy... a test.

And a keycard to see his father at work.

'I'll come every day.'

The smile's a bitter frown by the time Banagher opens his eyes, and she looks over to Nanai as he tells her what he saw. To exploit a child like that... he may have changed his heart, but her disgust with his actions is palpable.

But the frown turns thoughtful as he talks about seeing Cardeas. "... an imprint on the psychoframe?" she wonders aloud, mostly to herself, thinking back to what Frontal had said about being 'born from the psychoframe'. 

<Pose Tracker> Nanai Miguel has posed.

"I wouldn't use the word 'stronger,' but one could see it that way," Nanai murmurs in reply to Banagher's musing, her attention predominantly focused on the screen in front of her.

When he begins to speak on the topic at hand, she focuses with him -- and on him. With her hands folded on her lap, sat alongside the desk rather than behind it so as to not put a barrier between them, Nanai listens. Listens, and waits.

Banagher's spontaneous memory recovery doesn't draw visible surprise from the tawny-haired woman. She leans back into her chair and steeples her fingers in thought.

After a time:

"An imprint... could be a way of looking at it," she says. "But thinking like that could limit your perception. An 'association.' The Unicorn reminds you of your father, doesn't it?"

She pauses; briefly this time, enough to signal a pivot in subject.

"What do you think your father wants for you?"

No past tense. 

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

"Just like Full Frontal?" Banagher says, as Audrey puts forth her theory. "If father's trapped in there... I hope there'd be a way to save him." He looks to Nanai for guidance, worry creasing his brow.

Banagher goes to nod, but changes his mind and replies verbally. He doesn't want to dislodge the probably-expensive helmet. "Yes. When I found the Unicorn, everything was on fire. Our colony was under attack, and -- I think someone had shot my father. He looked surprised to see me, but he guided me into the cockpit and locked the Unicorn to my biometrics."

"Then he started to float backwards. I saw fire overtake him right before the cockpit closed." Banagher's voice is very soft. Despite what Cardeas may have done to him as a child... He didn't want his father to die. "I know he was dying, but he could've tried to get in the Unicorn himself. He could've left me out there to die. But he put me inside, instead of himself. I think he was trying to save me in the only way he could. As he -- vanished, I heard him say, 'I wanted so much more for you'."

Silence greets Nanai's next question. Banagher looks between the two women, then brings a hand up to cover his heart. A breath out. A breath in.

"He wants me to find the Box. I'm certain of it. That's why he only appears when the NT-D is active. I think --" Now, a long look at Audrey as Banagher speaks. "He wants me to change the damage our family has done. To make up for what he's done."

"I don't have any proof of it. It's not like he said anything like that to me." Banagher tries to keep his voice steady, but it trembles, just a bit. "But that's what I feel when I see him. Like he's urging me forward. I don't think -- he intended for things to be this way, but -- They are, now. There's no changing it. So he wants me to finish things." 

<Pose Tracker> Mineva Lao Zabi has posed.

\Mineva nods to Banagher, "Yes. But I don't think it's a matter of being trapped. What Frontal said made me th..." She pauses. "I'll explain later." She allows him to continue.

Her expression is solemn as she listens to Banagher. "It sounded, and felt, to me like he put it in your hands. That whatever he was doing before, whatever he intended for it..."

She closes her eyes. "He was leaving it up to you. He didn't tell you where to take it, or who to give it to. Whatever is in the Box..."

She smiles a little. "He trusts you with it. He's not pushing you anywhere but forward." 

<Pose Tracker> Nanai Miguel has posed.

Nanai watches the other two converse. While they do, her attention slides now and then to the screen. Whatever is on it can't be seen by the younger two newtypes. Her expression tells no tales, either. In the silence that follows, she has her own thoughts, dire as they may be.

"Old men sending young men to war," says Nanai. "Each time they hope it will be different."

The older woman turns her gaze aside, her expression growing distant.

"I suppose it is, every time. Just a little. Never as much as they want... and never for the price they want."

Her gaze flicks again to the screen. Back to Banagher. She leans in, resting her forearms on her knees to brace herself.

"How does it make you feel to hold the key to something like the Box?"

Nanai glances momentarily to Mineva and her gentle expression. Nanai's face is not as encouraging.

"The Vist Foundation and its scions have been some of the most powerful people in the Earth Sphere for generations. If you believe the conspiracies about them, they run the entire system. Even if you don't, their influence on the Federation government is clear to see. Suppose you're right, and suppose Audrey is right. Your father wants you to find the Box. He trusts you with it."

Her green eyes are piercing, half hidden behind the glare of her glasses.

"Why should anyone else?" 

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

"Alright." Audrey gets another comforting smile. "I think you're right about my father. We only had a few moments together, but he could've said 'Take the Unicorn to the Sleeves'. He didn't. I think he wants me to decide for myself."

Banagher lowers his gaze when Nanai speaks. "War is a cycle that has to end. All this suffering -- it just leads to more anger, and more people wanting to hurt others. Someone has to be the first one to decide to stop this. Even if it isn't fair, they have to put their weapons down and say 'no more'." Banagher sighs. "I don't know who that person is, but -- I wish it could happen."

"To hold the Key?" Bangaher asks, softly. To /be/ the Key, if those chasing him are to be believed. Nanai goes on, and his face grows serious. He's not intimidated, not this time. It's a question Banagher has been asked many times, and one he's pondered over privately even more.

"I won't keep the Box. I'm not the right person." Banagher says, without a hint of hesitation. "I've been sheltered from the realities of the Earthsphere for too much of my life, and there's too much I don't know. I can't make a fair judgement. I mean, we don't even know what's /inside/."

"Serving as the Key is enough. I'm learning all I can, as fast as I can. I need to spend time with different groups of people and learn about them. How they see the world, what they've been through... Only someone who has witnessed all that is someone who can truly use the Box to help everyone. At first, I wanted to use it to end war and suffering." Banagher admits, a hint of a sad smile on his face. "But I don't know how that would work. I think... If I tried, I'd wind up hurting people. I just don't know enough to make the right decisions."

A breath. A steady gaze back at Nanai. "I'll give the Box to the best person I can find. Someone kind, who wants to change things for the better, but who knows what they're getting into. So I don't need anyone's trust. I'm not the one who'll hold this power. What I need is to learn about their lives, so I can find the person who will use the Box to bring everyone hope."

"My girlfriend, um -- our girlfriend, not Audrey -- told me that Miracles won't change anything. It'll take consistent work. And the people themselves will have to do a lot of it. So what I'm hoping for... Whatever's in there, I want it to be something we can use as a symbol. For change, and for hope. Something people can hold onto when they need strength."

An image of an abandoned church echoes from Banagher. The words of Marida Cruz return to his mind. People needed something to hold onto, when they arrived in the darkness of space. Something they could believe in.

"Finding the Box won't be the end of my journey. This work will take the rest of my life, and I'm prepared. Unicorn and I -- we'll serve as that symbol, if we can." Banagher blushes a little. "I -- not that I think I'm that great or anything, but -- I feel like it's the best thing I can do to help this world." 

<Pose Tracker> Mineva Lao Zabi has posed.

Mineva's quiet for a long moment after Banagher finishes speaking, mulling over his and Nanai's words. She lets out a small sigh. "You're right, Ms. Mesua. It's possible we're playing into someone's hands by involving ourselves with the Box," she admits. "But... the reason I'm here at all, the reason I even met Banagher, is because the Sleeves--Full Frontal--believe that whatever is inside will allow them to wage a war. A *proper* war."

Her eyes darken a bit. "Things have escalated quite a bit even without it, but they're still after it. So is the Federation... honestly, as much as I'm hoping for the same sort of thing Banagher is, I'm more worried about making sure it doesn't fall into the hands of someone who could abuse it. I'd rather it be destroyed, if it came to that."

There's a lot going through her mind, right now. A sort of pessimism--she's very much prepared for the possibility that it's something so dangerous. She hasn't really considered who could be trusted with such a thing--but it doesn't seem like she's entertaining the idea of herself as a candidate.

"I just want the bloodshed to stop." 

<Pose Tracker> Nanai Miguel has posed.

Nanai remains in the same posture while Banagher speaks. Here, in this cold place of fluorescent lights and cement walls, she is presented in an entirely different context. No matter her casual clothing, no matter how incongruously young she is to be such a leader of soldiers and civilians alike -- there is a hardness inside of her that is only draped in softness for politeness' sake.

Her green-eyed glare shifts to Mineva afterward, and then back to Banagher when she finishes. A silence passes, and it is eventually punctuated by another look to the screen.

"You know how to make a speech, I'll give you that," she says.

She straightens her back so that she can reach out with her right hand. It dances over the keyboard for a few moody seconds.

"Brainwaves within normal parameters. A few spikes earlier, when you had your memory. You're a remarkably well-adjusted individual for what you've gone through. A minor self-confidence issue, but you seem to rebound quickly. Especially with Audrey there."

A few more taps. A pause and her gaze drops to the bottom of the screen.

"That presents a problem, if you can call it that. I wouldn't recommend a psychopharmacopoeian approach for your case even if you were open to it. It would do your progress more harm than good. Conventional psychodynamics... no, I'd recommend self-guided there as well. The indecisive-resistant personality cluster needs time to make progress and too much external pressure can cause arrest development."

Nanai reaches up to remove the glasses from her face, setting them aside on the desk so that she can rub at her nose.

"In plain terms, you already see the path ahead of you, and you already deeply believe in following it."

She drops her hand, looking at the pair with tired eyes.

"You've already drawn conclusions from seeing Sweetwater, haven't you? And, more importantly, seeing what has happened. I suppose we can thank the Sleeves and the Federation for their timing."

Nanai stands to approach the side of the machine. It will take her a moment to shut it down, if her turning it on was any indication.

"A proper war, is it," she says, her voice lower -- almost as if she were talking to herself. "Keep your mind open about that. All we know about the Box is that it has so far served as a weapon of obedience, not bloodshed. You two should think about what can be done with such a thing. You're the scions of the Zabi and Vist families, after all. Those names have privileges of their own." 

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

Banagher smiles at Audrey, pride in his eyes. "I feel the same way. And we have the power to do something."

"Oh, uh--" Banagher ducks his head, blushing. "Thanks. It's something I've thought about a lot. I've been practicing." Nanai's harsh exterior does make the young man a bit nervous -- but he waits patiently for the results.

Normal parameters. Banagher relaxes subtly, leaning back in the chair. Whatever Cardeas had done to him as a child hadn't been damaging, at least. Nanai continues, and Banagher listens quietly. At the mention of Audrey, Banagher meets the young woman's eyes, smiling once more.

"A self-guided program. What does that look like? What can I do to improve?" Banagher doesn't even try to hide his relief that he won't have to endure the things other Newtypes have been through. "Yes. I've learned a lot from being here in Sweetwater. The people here have endured things I couldn't imagine before I arrived. And a symbol of hope won't be enough for everyone here. I -- don't know exactly what would be, but... I know it has to be something more."

Nanai is watched with soft golden eyes as she works on the machine. True to her word, Banagher hadn't endured any pain in this setup. Being called the Vist Scion makes him straighten up, as though trying to fit the mantle that's fallen upon him.

"Ms. Mesua. Do you think I should change my name and attempt to claim my heritage as the Vist heir? I have a half-brother and an aunt still alive, but -- could I do more good, if I tried to wrestle them for control of the company? I can't imagine I'd be successful, really... But the way you say that makes me think I could do more good if I tried." 

<Pose Tracker> Mineva Lao Zabi has posed.

Mineva winces as Banagher suggests making an attempt for the Vist name. She shakes her head. "Even if the conspiracy theorists are wrong, Vist is powerful. You've already got a target on your back--" guilt, as it was at least partially her fault. "--and this would just make it bigger. If it's a good idea at all, we might want to wait for things to cool down."

She looks to Nanai. "And my name is..." There's a sense of a weight on her shoulders. A burden. A great, bloody ball-and-chain. A legacy she wishes she could cast off. "I don't want the privileges of the Zabi name."

She's never felt like a princess. Looking back on those dim memories of her early years, the royal treatment feels... wrong. Like a suit tailored for someone else.

Her silence lingers.

"It's not who I am." 

<Pose Tracker> Nanai Miguel has posed.

"Unfortunately for your ideals..." says Nanai, presumably in response to Mineva's assertion -- though her gaze makes it unclear if she's including Banagher.

She unplugs a final wire and lifts the helmet off the young man's head.

"...other people have their own say in reality. You will have to convince them."

The tawny-haired woman steps back, crosses her arms, and looks over Banagher as if she were reviewing a cargo manifest.

"As for Vist: if you think you're not the right person to do more than hand the Box over to whomever you think is the right person, do you think you're the right person to make a bid for the Foundation's power? Do you think a group like that deserves to have the power it once wielded, and may wield again? If you gained that power, what would you do with it, Banagher?"

Nanai walks backward a few slow steps, spreading her arms wide to gesture to the newtype machinery behind and around her.

"What would you do with a controlling interest in a company that builds weapons like the Unicorn? You want that machine to be a symbol of peace, but it's a weapon of war. The only peace it can achieve is through the threat and execution of violence. You've decided to walk that line, to try to be a righteous soldier. Do you want to learn to become a righteous prince, as well? That Foundation would be your crown."

Nanai's expression sours. She drops her arms and shakes her head, tossing aside her rhetoric as easily as she wielded it.

"Self-guided study means that I think your internal moral compass is your best guide to awakening. I can put failsafes into the Unicorn, but you need to see more of this reality before you're ready to become yourself. If that means taking over your family's business, then use your strength wisely. I hated rulers all my life, and then I chose to become one..."

A smile returns to her face, but there's nothing joyful about it.

"...for peace. Maybe you will do better than I did."

In quiet afterthought, Nanai reaches up and tucks a loose strand of hair back behind her ear.

"That's all for tonight. We can discuss the modifications to the Unicorn another time." 

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

Audrey's words are met with a nod. He knew her opinion, of course, but it still matters to him. "Yeah. I can't make things any worse for the people who shelter me. Now isn't the right time, but--"

Nanai speaks up. Banagher's eyes go wide, and he seems to be stunned for the first time. These are concepts he /hasn't/ thought about, and certainly doesn't have any words practiced or prepared. Taking a moment to shake out his hair after the helmet is removed, he listens to Nanai.

"I--" He has several false starts, only to bite his tongue as Nanai continues. What are the right answers here? He knows nothing about the Vist Foundation. Could mismanaging it do as much harm as mismanaging Laplace's Box? Should /any/ group have as much power as Vist has? Is it ever ethical to manufacture weapons?

Banagher looks down at his hands. "I don't know. I don't know the answers to any of those things. I just want to help people." It's not enough. He knows that. "...I certainly have no idea how to be a prince... I... don't know how to run the Federation."

He swallows. A moment passes, and he's able to look up at Nanai, just in time to see her souring expression. Banagher looks nervous, until Nanai shakes her head. "Y--yeah. That's my goal. I need to learn everything I can... See everything I can with my own eyes." A pause as the young man gathers his courage. "Whatever happens, Ms. Mesua, I'll do everything I can. For peace."

Nanai says they're finished. Banagher stands, hurrying to Audrey and embracing her. He needs the reassurance -- and maybe she could use some, too.

Once the hug has ended, Banagher turns back to Nanai. "Thank you. You've given me a lot to think about. If I could ask one more thing -- about modifying the Unicorn. I'd like a second passenger seat to be added, complete with the injection system. I realize this is probably a huge thing to ask, but -- I feel like it's really important." 

<Pose Tracker> Mineva Lao Zabi has posed.

As much as she hates to entertain the thought, could Mineva be a ruler? A leader, if push comes to shove? The name does carry weight. People will listen; that's why the Sleeves want her so badly, after all, but she refuses to let her legacy define her. Circumstances may pull her into that role, but that's not something she's interested in contemplating until it's necessary.

She clings to Banagher for a long moment, hooking her chin around his shoulder.

"We'll keep exploring, and helping people," she agrees, nodding to Nanai. "Find what we need to be."

The request for a second passenger seat triggers a mild leap in Mineva's anxiety, thinking about those injectors. She blushes, looking at the others bashfully. "I, ah... I'm fine. it's just that needles aren't exactly..." 

<Pose Tracker> Nanai Miguel has posed.

"A permanent ride-along seat with its own system interface," says Nanai, musing through repetition.

She inclines her head.

"Yes, that's possible. We'll get to the particulars later, after you two have had a chance to talk."

The older woman gestures toward the stairs to the platform at the edge of the room. "I need to clean up here. The door lock will open from the inside. Be sure to close it behind you and I'll get the rest. Get some sleep."

She crosses to the desk, where she reaches down to retrieve her glasses. Her fingertips brush against the metal frame and remain there in passing reverie while Banagher and Mineva make their exit.

"Don't let Full Frontal intimidate you," she calls after them. Her voice echoes against the concrete expanse.

"He isn't Char."

Nanai looks over her shoulder at them, however far they've walked. She's still not wearing her glasses.

"But Char isn't dead, either."

And then she pulls the wall partition back into place.

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