2023-02-16: ?dial up a victiM
- Log: ?dial up a victiM
- Cast: Yuliana Kafim, Leina Ashta, Banagher Links
- Where: A call received at the Silent Castle, Kaffeklubben Island
- Date: 2023-02-16
- Summary: Leina and Banagher call Yuliana after she wakes up from her ordeal at the Institute. They learn about what she intends to do, about her aid to Celestial Being, about her feelings and her care... and they learn some more about Alma's situation, too.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Yuliana is taking tea in the tea room, seated on an ornate couch and sipping tea flavoured with ginger-root. When the tablet is offered to her, she takes it, all warm smiles; she sets down her teacup, and sets up the tablet on the table. It is angled upwards.
The view of her is...
Her knees are covered by a draping fur, and also by the head of a tiger who is too big to fit on her lap entirely. (The tiger is green and black, naturally, with a fine and lovely collar.) She wears a black halter top, with another fur draped about her dark shoulders to warm her arms. There are -- things like snakes, curled around her from behind, beneath it. Black, with five distinct parts to what must be their mouths, though they grasp like hands instead, and green-patterned frills folded back against their bodies. One of them coils about Sokrova's broad shoulders; the other coils about her midsection. Moving up --
There's half a centimetre of teal fuzz on her head; it has begun to obscure the scarring. (But not, at present, entirely.) It does nothing to hide the boneless webbed tentacles behind her ears, a little like wings and a little like fins.
She has grown thinner; though not dangerously so.
At least the colour has returned to her cheeks.
"Leyasha," she greets them, with a more uncertain smile. Behind her and that plush couch, firelight dances on the far stone wall; evidently, she's being lit by a fireplace, though it's not the only source of light in the room. "Nasya. I... wasn't expecting you to call." There's a breath of a pause, and she pushes forward: "Not that it's unwelcome. I -- never was able to acknowledge your assistance, at JOSH-A. For some reason, you did sincerely seem to wish to help... well, I won't discredit that." Even it it doesn't seem like she can comprehend why.
She glances aside, down to the tiger in her lap, for a moment. Scritch, scritch. "What can I do for you?" She settles on, pleasantness papered over the vulnerability, as she looks back to the screen.
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
Leina's in an odd place as she calls Yuliana, stomach turning. She absolutely wants an update, but she doesn't know what the update is going to be.
Last she heard, Yuliana... fled with Alma, and her behavior indicated heavy conditioning. She gave Elisa the deconditioning techniques she requested, along with Doctor Orlov's recommendations but...
... her hand squeezed Banagher's as the phone rang, and Yuliana might notice she's wearing a white turtleneck with a pink jumper.
She must be cold.
When the screen comes on, Leina says with relief, "Yuliana-! Oh thank goodness you were able to get away from them! ... We were worried."
It may not be wise to let her know that she knows at all, and indeed she'd try to move away from any talk that would connect them to the raid but... she couldn't help it.
That she finds out they know a little will at least be no surprise.
She squeezes Banagher's hand more tightly, but it's only then that she sort of double takes, as she actually takes a really good look at the screen.
Leina's eyes follow a coiling frilled snake, looking upon the green furred tiger, and there's this brief inhalation, though she manages to keep her smile.
"Did, something happen? That's a new look for you. Are you... are you alright?"
Leina's grip on Banagher's hand has not decreased in strength at all as she looks sideways at him, then...
"Yes we did. And... we do. Honestly we were just, checking up on you, to make sure you'd come home. We'd heard about what happened at the raid on the Institute."
<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.
Banagher, for his part, is in his very nicest hoodie, the one with the extra fluffy interior. He'd offered it to Leina, at the sight of her warm clothing, but maybe it'll be enough to sit close with her. That's never a hardship, in any case.
Haro isn't here with notes this time. It's far less scary to talk to Yuliana than Elisa.
The young man smiles as the call connects, only for his eyes to go wide. Is that a... tiger? And some kind of snakes? Cats don't get that big, right? Shouldn't it and the snakes be... fighting, or something?
Leina squeezes his hand more tightly, and Banagher glances to her, then to the screen, looking Yuliana in the eyes for the first time. The scars are horrible enough, but...
Tentacles?
"What." Banagher blurts out, before clamping his mouth shut. The word doesn't even make it all the way to becoming a question.
Then, the nickname. Banagher's never been given a nickname before -- well, not a nice nickname. It earns a softening of his absolutely distressed face, though the shocked expression doesn't quite leave.
"It's so good to see you safe." He manages, voice a little strained, but the care is genuine. "Um, and... home with pets! That's really cool! Leina's got cats too. I've never met a snake before, though."
"Or two snakes." Banagher's eyes tear away from Yuliana's thin ear-webbing to look down at the... snakes.
Leina is far better at this than he is. Banagher takes a visibly deep breath, then manages another smile. "We wanted to be sure you were safe. Like Leina says, the last thing we heard about you was -- terrifying."
Glancing at Leina out of the corner of his eyes, Banagher projects a near-palpable feeling of confusion and distress. What the hell?
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
It's reasonable to feel cold. Yuliana's a little chilly, too. Best to cover up.
"Ah..." She's a little surprised, if anything, to hear Leina's relief. "Yes -- yes, I'm fine now," she assures her. "I'm with Elisa, again... I am safe." And since she's talking to outsiders, she dispenses with Elisa's own nickname; it wouldn't be proper. Her Zaftran sensibilities care very much about levels of intimacy, when judging how to speak of someone.
She glances aside, for a moment, as her hand lifts to smooth over that slithering fan behind her ear. (She hasn't quite figured out how to fold them down, but she can move them, to some extent.) "I'm all right," she assures them, a touch self-conscious. As for 'what': "This is... the protection I was given, when... I was to be destroyed." They meant to kill her mind, and keep her body alive. Evidently, the void had something to say, about that. "Does it frighten you?" She asks, mildly, as if she hadn't screamed to see herself.
The snake draped over Sokrova lifts its head -- or what is close to it -- to stare, eyelessly, at the tablet, the frill about its head lifting. The green-patterned sections, flared out, make it look a little like a flower. "Call them snakes, if you like," Yuliana adds, with a shade of amusement. "They are as me. And this is Sokrovishche," she says, as that black tendril and her hand both settle back on the green tiger. "Little Sokrova --" he is tiger-sized, and he's a normal size for a tiger but that is still VERY large -- "he's our darling treasure. Aren't you, sweetling?"
Sokrova chuffs, as Yuliana scratches him behind a year.
She takes a breath, and looks back to the screen. "Yes... I heard you assisted, back then." Oh no! The wives talk to each other! "Though of course, I'll be courteous enough not to ask how," she adds, a shade wryly, given what they'd 'heard'. She looks a little bothered, glancing past the tablet, to focus on the crackling fireplace for a moment. "Frankly, I... wasn't quite thinking right that day, so I'm sure there's plenty of things I overlooked. I was... not... well," she lingers over the speaking, reluctantly, and not without shame.
"... it isn't something I'd have laid down my life for, under normal circumstances. I'd taken issue with my country since I read what I found in Denver Colony... you know, it's really quite funny," she adds, with a wan smile. "You were all very concerned with the way I fought for Colonel Wilbur Garland, but could either of you have guessed I was assisting him so he wouldn't guess I was informing on his movements from within his own operations?"
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
"I'm glad." She may have her misgivings about their marriage but Elisa at least cares for Yuliana, along with the REA, "I am."
Yuliana though seems, self conscious, that much is clear even without Newtype senses, "Destroyed? ... They..." Leina's anger is clear, "...those bastards." It is cold, a muted thing, but it is there, "No. It doesn't frighten me. Though it sounds like... it wasn't a choice?" Leina notes.
Leina actually manages a smile as Banagher brings up that she has cats moving on from the snakes for now, "Yeah I wasn't going to start there but, I love him???"
'That's a healthy shade of green he has there.' She does not say.
Leina actually taps the phone, and an image of a Blue Maine Coon chasing a fleeing Blue-Violet Haro while a Red Abyssinian looks upon this, bored.
"Foras, my fluffy boi, and Buer - our maternal tsundere."
Yuliana indicates that she knows they assisted, but she won't ask how, "We did." She confirms, though she's glad that Yuliana did not ask how. "And you weren't." She seems to perk up, her grip relaxing on Banagher's hand, "But you seem better now. Even if you're obviously still recovering."
Leina blinks as Yuliana reveals... and she turns this information over in her mind before, "Hold on. You're saying that you were the informant?" 'For Celestial Being' she doesn't say. Her eyes trace over to Banagher, then back to her and...
Leina puts a hand to her forehead, "Oh I'm such an idiot." She allows a small smile to Banagher before looking back Yuliana's way, "That's what you meant when you said you were punishing them."
<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.
Yuliana confirming her safety seems to calm Banagher a little. Even if she's got ear-fans now, as long as they're together, she'll be okay. "I'm really glad. It must've been awful to be kept apart from her."
"Protection..?" Banagher repeats, softly, horror in his voice. Leina confirms his fears -- and his expression darkens. Does it frighten him? He takes his time with the answer, looking across the twin membranes. Golden eyes resettle on Yuliana's face. With her abilities, Yuliana is someone he should fear. But when he thinks of her, the first thing that comes to mind is how small and terrified she seemed, covered in her own blood.
"No." He answers, truthfully. "If they're a part of you, then they're normal. Especially if they appeared to protect you from the people who hurt you. They must be a good thing."
It's simple logic to Banagher. Even if they look like a particularly good spooky cosplay, they're just a part of Yuliana's body. As the 'snake' lifts its frill, Banagher watches with interest. "They're kinda pretty spread out like that. Like a flower."
"Sokrova," Banagher tries, instead of the tiger's full name. "He's gorgeous. And he looks so gentle..." Leina mentions how much she loves the tiger, and he laughs quietly, beaming at her. Tigers aren't usually green, but cats aren't usually blueish and reddish, either. Maybe sometimes it's just like that.
Beneath his messy brown hair, Banagher goes pale when Yuliana mentions she knows they assisted. Clinging to Leina's hand, he looks away from the screen for a moment, collecting himself.
Returning to the conversation, he blinks in surprise. "I had no idea. I feel bad for attacking you so much, now. Sorry about that." Leina seems to have more of an idea of this, and he looks at her curiously, smiling in return.
Turning back to the screen, Banagher seems to hesitate before he speaks. "Yuliana, once you're recovered, what are you going to do? You've been through so much, way more than is fair. If I were you, I think... I'd just want to be safe with my wife."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"It was so awful," Yuliana confirms, brow creasing with remembered sorrow. "My impulsiveness separated us, and it was so, so difficult... but I am here with my Elisa, now. And I am glad," she echoes Leina, smiling.
"I... wasn't of a mind to choose. I was -- dying, Leyasha," Yuliana says, voice tightening. "Burning up to nothing... and I let it happen." She blinks, slowly and heavily. (Her eyes are like Alma's, now, with so much more green to them.) Her expression gentles, a moment later. "They are gifts," she smiles, to Banagher. "And I am glad for them."
She's genuinely enthused to hear Leina express affection for her cat, though, and she leans forward herself to examine the CAT PHOTOS which arise. "They're darlings!" She says, and for once she's being entirely genuine. "Animals are wonderful, aren't they?" Yuliana might hate a broad section of humans, but animals, apparently, she likes much better.
... no one tell her about the Newtype dolphin.
"Sokrova is a tame and loving boy," she assures Banagher. "He is very well-behaved." This doesn't necessarily mean he never eats people... but only when the mistresses tell him to.
She nods, when Leina talks about how she seems better. She is still recovering -- there's more work Elisa needs to do, before she's well enough to leave-- but she's improving.
She laughs, lifting her other hand, fingers veiling over her lips. "I'll take your apology," she tells Banagher, smiling. Who can blame her for taking a little satisfaction from that? "And I was one of them," she says, oblique, to Leina. "Indeed, I was involved to try and safeguard other informants... you can imagine an operation like that requires leaks at several junctions to ensure it drains effectively. Unfortunately, I was... busy recovering, when the Colonel made his next move." Because of her assault on JOSH-A, that is. "I regret I was not able to sabotage him further."
Yuliana's saboteurship isn't a secret any more, after all. It's all over the news! (Thanks to Leina.)
But... what is she going to do?
"I will be safe," she assures him, "else my Elisa would be troubled. But... what will I do?" Yuliana sighs, leaning back against the couch. "There is part of me, certainly, which declines to participate further. I'm very comfortable here... and my dearest would not have to worry, if I stopped excursioning of my own volition." Which is a very healthy line of thought.
"But... there are things I cannot forgive," she adds, expression darkening.
"I did not wish for the Republic to be harmed... even knowing what I did... no, surely I could not wish for their destruction. But even as I bid Elisa spare them, they made to destroy me... to use me, to create soldiers they better liked." Her lips curl, to reveal one too many teeth, that fang crammed in on the right side of her jaw. "This, I will not forgive."
She shakes her head, and takes a breath, gaze focusing on Banagher and Leina again. "... all that aside, my desire for equality in this world is one which will surely lead me to more conflict. It is better to fight for a thing you believe in, Nasya. The man without belief is fodder for the man with firm grasp of his."
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
"I-I'm sorry you went through that. I wish things had worked out differently but what they did to you made it difficult to pursue."
Banagher might feel a spike of guilt, like it's her fault, she was the organizer of the raid after all.
Leina places her other hand on Banagher's arm as Yuliana talks about how she was dying..
"Those bastards." Leina echoes again, truly upset at the idea of what they did to her, it sounds torturous, "We saw the..." 'The clones.' she hesitates at saying, "... the evidence that they were trying to make more of you. Horrible."
It makes sense, it makes too much sense what it sounds like they tried to do. She hates the REA for that.
Banagher says they're a good thing. Are they? She's not so certain.
She does agree though, "They are, it gives you even more of a... femme fatale kind of vibe? It actually kind of suits you." Leina says, certainly not the type to get jealous of Banagher calling her akin to a pretty flower.
"They are!" And momentarily she enthuses about the cats, as she scrolls through more pictures of them, one of them even has Foras in a Elizabethan Era ruff.
Some are captioned in silly ways, like Buer sitting atop a high cabinet while Foras looks up jealously, 'It's over Foras, I have the high ground.'
"He's gorgeous, I don't think I've ever seen a tiger like him!" That much, at least is quite true!
As Yuliana explains the details of the leaking, Leina actually is smiling, "Ha! I see. Now everything makes sense in retrospect. I."
Leina's smile fades after a moment, "I'm sorry about what happened in Pendragon. You were in a situation where we felt helpless to do anything." Leina then adds, "Rita was very upset. I had to talk her down."
Yuliana explains she'll be safe, and Leina seems... relieved, it had been far too soon for her to be out and about back then. "I'm glad." She then says there are things she cannot forgive. "Honestly, I'm glad for that. They shouldn't be forgiven. In fact..."
Leina may be taking a gamble, but there's something she admits here at least, without talking about the greater organization she's in, "...the leaks you may have seen on the news? They're partially my doing. It felt like the best to hurt the people who did this to you, and the others at the Institute without civilians becoming collateral."
Banagher asks what she'll do, Leina looks sideways at him, its an important question, before...
"Equality." Leina repeats quietly, "It's a wonderful ideal." Leina says, though on some level she understands what Yuliana's version of equality is.
Leina does sigh, then smiles, "I can't fault you your resolve, but some part of me did actually hope that you'd settle down with your wife... in a more domestic space for a time."
She adds, tone sincere, "If anyone's earned a more peaceful life after everything they did, it's you."
<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.
Banagher squeezes Leina's hand softly as Yuliana says she was dying. This can't be easy for her to hear -- it isn't easy for him, and he's not as close to Yuliana as Leina is. "I can't believe cruelty like this exists. Even seeing it with my own eyes -- I don't know how anyone could let themselves become the kind of person to do these things."
"You did all you could." Banagher quietly says to Leina, kissing her cheek quickly. It's not enough to smooth over the guilty feelings, but... maybe his consistency will help, someday. Gently, Banagher lets go of Leina's hand, wrapping his arm around her shoulders instead so he can hold her close.
Again, there's this little moment of hesitation, before Banagher quietly asks: "Yuliana, did you know anyone named Wira, in the Institute?"
A rare Yuliana smile! Banagher smiles, too, in this shared moment of understanding. Sometimes he feels as though the Unicorn is an extension of his self, after all. Maybe this is the same thing, on a smaller scale.
Banagher has, of course, seen these photos. Feeling far more comfortable than he expected, he opens his own phone, pulling up a picture as well. Holding it to the camera once Leina is finished, the screen displays Leina asleep, sitting on the couch. Foras is curled up on her lap, and Buer is perched right next to her on the armrest.
"Animals are pretty great. I never interacted with them before I came to the Earth, but I've liked it a lot." A playful grin. "I think Haros are still my favorite. But nothing beats a cat for softness."
Not only a smile for Banagher, but a laugh, too! He's brightening significantly. "You did all you could. I'm sure your work saved a lot of people. Leina is always telling me how important it is to take time to rest and recover, so it's only right that was your priority."
At least, this small part of her saboteurship.
Golden eyes turn serious as Yuliana answers Banagher's question. It's good to see her relax -- has he ever seen that before? "I don't blame you," Banagher murmurs, to Yuliana having things she cannot forgive.
As Leina says, they saw the would-be clones in the Institute. Banagher closes his eyes against the memory. "People who do those things... They need to be brought to justice. Real justice. Leina did her part to help that happen. I wish we could do more."
"Yes!" Is his immediate response to Yuliana's advice. "That's what I'm trying to do. A world of equality, where everyone has enough hope to try and change their lives for the better. I've learned so much, but no matter where I've gone, there's always someone hurting. I want to change that, more than anything."
A symbol of hope, Banagher thinks, visualizing the image of a Unicorn.
"So I respect it -- if you need to keep fighting. I understand, at least in my own way. But I think Leina's right. A peaceful life would be great for you. For all of us."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"It would have been better if you had stopped me, yes... but, it isn't as if I made it easy," Yuliana allows them, with a light frown. "I even blew Annihilation up, just to distract everyone from our escape... well, I suppose it's only fitting. But I don't think anyone could have stopped me, back then. When one's just gotten out of therapy is when it is... most difficult to argue the premise, you see."
'Therapy' is one way to describe what she went through, sure. Dr. Tian was, technically, a psychiatrist, so perhaps it makes sense she'd phrase it that way.
(She does not comment on the similarities between Leina's regret and her reassurance; nevertheless, she hears them.)
"Yes," she affirms, sotto voce, at Leina's upset hesitation. "I knew of it." She killed herself, the notes said, facing her own obsolescence. Perhaps that explains why her expression is so drawn. She doesn't bring it up.
"And I knew of him," she affirms, in turn, to Banagher. "Wira Ulunjandi. His father was Karo -- by North Sumatran way -- but his mother was a Malay woman, as I understand. A marriage from the east and west coasts... but he identified with his mother more, I suppose. She was the one who stayed at home to care for them, so perhaps it's no wonder. He was the one they meant to replace the Canary, once they grew too useless to employ." She pauses, her gaze wandering back to the fireplace, clearly bothered. "I knew the name of every loathsome creature they created. It scarcely means I knew them." How she would have constructed his family history -- accurately, they may well know, from their own research -- without sitting down and having personal conversations with him isn't a question she answers.
She does have to laugh at Leina calling her a femme fatale, though. "Haha... to someone like me, that's a wonderful compliment, of course." She doesn't comment on the inconvenience of being recognised as a femme fatale; there are some things it's better for Leina not to think about.
It's all well and good for her to think about cats, though, and Yuliana is delighted to see all those youthful cat captions. (It wasn't that long ago, on the internet, she was posting political cat demotivators... but that's another story!) "I've never been much of a Haro person, myself," she admits, "but perhaps I'll change my mind if they make one which is nicer to pet. Perhaps you ought to make it your mission to make a soft Haro, mm?" She gives Banagher a quest, without thinking overmuch about it.
She does not suggest Banagher come to the Silent Castle to pet Sokrova. She's being nice.
"My Elisa took him in when she took a walk in a jungle, some time ago," she goes on, of Sokrova, smiling. 'A walk' is an interesting way to phrase 'draining all life from a clearing and leaving a scar upon the land'. "And so, there's no tiger quite like him, in this world."
Whether there are more green tigers in the void is a question which goes distressingly unanswered. (Probably not. But can you imagine?)
She frowns, though, when Leina brings up Pendragon. "She should have -- no, she could not have saved me," Yuliana sighs, walking back her anger, deliberately. "Since she cannot stand beside me for long. No, it was... my own foolishness which doomed me, back then. I went against my dearest Elisa's wishes, just because I felt I had to fight, in that situation... you see, it was very upsetting." For both of them! "I don't tend to think things through... but it's all right. My Elisa is caring for me."
Of course, if Yuliana were to retire, it would be very good for people like Banagher. But...
"I'm not surprised," she says, to Leina, on the leaks. "And I won't reprimand you, in this situation, though I hate for the world to see me as some common... labrat. They should suffer what they have done." She pauses, for a breath, and adds: "And you've done very well, to collect that information and disseminate it in a way which hurts them most. You're rather talented, aren't you?" Is it REALLY a good thing when Yuliana's praising her??? Well, it happened.
"I've friends who will assist in this justice," she assures Banagher, with that same obliqueness. Perhaps it's reassuring. "That cynical view of warfare's progression is particularly loathesome... and not just because I knew they'd kill me as soon I was replicable." A light pause, and she sighs: "... if only I realised they would kill me to replicate me."
It's sad.
Her hands come up, to clasp by her heart. "I... do wish for a peaceful life," she admits. "A life where I can be happy with my wife, where we are not troubled or assaulted by all these awful creatures... but this is not something we yet have. This world... this world itself... will not let us rest for long. We outsiders..." She actually does look regretful, about that.
"Even if I never got into a cockpit again, the Republic will not soon forget what I have done. G-Hound, too, is set to take me. ZAFT won't soon forget my part in Bloody Valentine, I suppose, considering how that woman in the CGUE feels. And Britannia remain an affront. Even Cascade, I suppose, will still want to kill me." She's right about that much, though Cascade's been too occupied with recovery to dwell much on it. "We've more enemies than friends... by far. The only way to my peace is to fight," she says, the same logic as Celestial Being, "just the same."
She looks distant, for a moment. It's better if they don't press too much on this topic, she thinks. Better if they don't get the opportunity to decide they won't agree.
Her solution isn't well-thought-out: "Rusalka -- Alma is well," she says, apropos of nothing. "As I understand it, she spent much of her time in the Institute sleeping... it was 'okay,'" she quotes, lip curling for a moment. She conquers her bitter jealously to explain: "She's keen to punish them as well, of course, but I've advised her to wait until we form a plan. Though she's free to visit her former associates, so if she gets into trouble on her own time, I'll not be blamed for that."
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
There's no lie in what Yuliana says, she did not make it easy and the strength of conditioning after such a recent session is... astounding. In the end all she can do is nod.
"I can." Leina says quietly to Banagher, sounding a touch haunted. Glemy taught her that such casual cruelty can exist first hand, in the same way that Major Pham could go home to his family each night.
Glemy could treat her kindly, then turn around and listen to a child her own age screaming in a chamber as if she were simply a weapon.
"I can."
The kiss to her cheek brings a smile, as she lets Banagher slip out of her grip, and after a moment leans against his shoulder, even as he has wraps his arm around her.
Banagher asks about Wira, and Leina gives him, a worried look, but doesn't warn him off the topic. Yuliana instead, explains, and her eyes grow sad as she mentions 'too useless to deploy'. For all she's thrown off from the REA, some things remain.
Manipulation by the people in power. There's a lot she could say there, but it's Banagher's choice whether to tell her what happened in her eyes.
That she killed that Doctor? It's hardly a comparison to what he's suffering. She can still sleep with that blood on her hands.
Then Banagher shows the picture, and she laughs, "Banagher!" She gives him a light nudge, "Ah I can't even be mad, I've taken so many pictures of Sayla in a similar state."
The story of how Elisa got Sokrova earns a response, "As you do." Leina remarks, as a small tease, to the idea of Elisa taking a walk in the jungle and just happening to come upon the tiger.
There is darker context of course, there always is but... a touch of dark humor is sometimes how she keeps herself sane in these scenarios.
"He's beautiful. What a good boy."
The good boy is probably very much enforced. Dark. Humor.
"I get it. You thought your cover in Celestial Being would be enough. I'm... surprised actually, that Captain Castellan was able to pick you out so accurately."
There's a lot about Captain Castellan that surprises her. How does she have those kinds of insights?
Yuliana praises her for her intelligence work, and Leina actually manages a thin smile, "I took to my lessons very well, I tend to be very dedicated when following certain threads." It's not really a good thing, Glemy's lessons took hold very well even before Sayla got her chance... "I am sorry though that it required... releasing private information about you, but it also felt like the best way to prevent them from trying to simply throw you under the bus."
Leina raises an eyebrow, "I'm actually shocked they had the gall to make a play at your first and second Lieutenant. What were they going to do, force Parminder to fake a confession that he forged the e-mails on Major Pham's orders?"
Leina rolls her eyes at the thought. Once out, sometimes you can't put things back in the box.
She does nod at Banagher talking about taking time to rest and recover, Leina is a workaholic but... Sayla did teach her that lesson of what going on too long without rest can do to a person.
Do more?
Leina's eyes dip low for a moment, and she says nothing. Nor does she say anything to what Banagher says of that world of equality.
A symbol of hope...
There is a smile at least on Banagher's last comment, "Yeah, definitely." She says, with a smile at the thought of a quieter life for... all of them.
Yuliana however mentions that, the world itself won't let her rest for long, 'We outsiders...' and Leina... "You told me, how painful it is for you." She says, "I don't know why that is. I don't, but..."
A pause and...
"... for however cruel things can be, I'm glad you're here." There's a beat and, "Does that... suffering, really reach you even where you are now?" She asks, sounding quietly upset about that thought.
The talk turns to Alma, and Leina catches her breath, "Sleeping?" Leina shifts uncomfortably, "I'm glad she's well... I admit I'm still hoping that Elisa will decide she can release her to us."
That talk does not sound like Yuliana is so keen on releasing her any longer, but she doesn't directly ask that, taking the indirect approach of Elisa.
"She does have that tendency." Leina says, wry, "Though I think under most circumstances, it's a bakery that need fear her most."
Dark. Humor.
<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.
Wincing at 'therapy', Banagher is quiet until Wira is brought up. It's still difficult for him to think of the other man. Why did Yuliana know all this about him? Maybe it'd be better not to ask, knowing what Leina uncovered.
"Thank you." He murmurs, of the information. It's not all kind, but it was never going to be. Banagher looks to Leina for permission. It's granted, and he takes a breath. "During the raid, we came upon Wira getting ready to deploy. I managed to convince him to come with us, but -- this horrible woman activated his conditioning. She pointed a gun at Leina, and--"
Banagher's hands shake. "I tried to shoot her. Wira jumped in the way. He -- died. I just wanted to know more about him. He was--" Talking about the Miracle is too much. Yuliana wouldn't want to hear it, anyway. "...he deserved more. So the least I could do is learn who he was."
That's all of the story Banagher will offer, unless pressed. He goes quiet for a few moments, rubbing his thumb against Leina's shoulder -- an effort to soothe her, and himself. Echoes of her thoughts make their way through their bond to him, and even without it, there's only one place where her thoughts would go.
The cat pictures manage to bring a smile back to Banagher's face. He giggles playfully at Leina's protests. "Sorry, love, it was too cute!" And a soft Haro... Banagher's eyes shimmer. "I know there are some people who mod their Haros with velvet, and there was a limited release of generation three that had faux-fur lining, but I've never seen one entirely soft. Would it provide enough protection for the interior workings? I wonder if you could..."
Banagher, realizing he's rambling, blushes and closes his mouth. Perhaps Yuliana will recognize a fellow engineer's enthusiasm for an interesting project.
"O--oh, she just... went into a jungle? Just like that?" To a poor spacenoid, things like 'jungles', 'oceans', 'deserts', all feel near-mythical. "Elisa really is powerful. I'm glad she found Sokrova. He looks much happier here than he would be in the wild."
Banagher always listens for news of his fellow Unicorn pilots, and Rita is no exception. She sounds important to Yuliana. If Rita's a Newtype Yuliana doesn't actively want to harm, she must be someone very important to her.
"We saw your first and second Lieutenants disappear into, uh. A portal." How do you describe the hole in the fabric of reality that opened up? "That was Elisa, right? Are they safe with you, too?"
"Leina's amazing." He interjects, always looking for a chance to praise his girlfriend. "She's capable of more than I could ever dream of accomplishing."
"I hope you find what you're looking for." Banagher says, truthfully. "Maybe we can both find what we're looking for." Maybe we won't have to fight again, he thinks.
The world itself is against Yuliana? Banagher glances to Leina, wondering if this is Yuliana's hyperbolic way of speaking, or some kind of truth. Maybe it has to do with her void state. "I'm sorry." He decides on, after a slight pause.
Yuliana changes the topic. Alma is brought up, and Banagher sits up a little straighter, again looking to Leina. "I'm so glad she's okay! We've been so worried for the both of you. I wonder if it was harder on her than she's letting on, but she doesn't want to make you worry. I know someone who does something similar." A kiss to Leina's cheek again.
"Thank you for letting Alma visit people." He's trying hard to be diplomatic, though Banagher blinks widely as Leina jokes around about a bakery.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"The least you could do... huh."
Yuliana doesn't go so far as to connect that line of thinking with the way she remembers all of their names, though there's a distant sort of recognition in her echo.
"He'd not have gotten far," she dismisses the thought. "Idiot man... his operations went wrong. He had fits whenever he tried to employ his violations in any situation of sustained conflict. They used me to test him under strain, you see," she explains, dispassionate. "Since my own gifts interrupted him."
She doesn't detail what those tests involved, but they're all in the files. Like everything else the Institute did, it wasn't pleasant -- and no more pleasant for Yuliana than Wira.
"There are a great many horrible women in Medical," she says, eyelids lowering over her gaze, "but I suppose you mean Dr. Tian, since I didn't see her at the new facility Dr. Devi summoned us to. Worry not," she adds, in aside, "my Elisa destroyed them quite thoroughly." Taking a breath, she finishes her thought: "... it's unsurprising Dr. Tian could convince him to do such a thing. She wasn't... particularly rough or unkind... but she had a gift for uncovering one's negative feelings. There was no hiding resentment or doubt from her." Yuliana closes her strange, too-green eyes, so she can steel herself to say: "I hope she died." It's a callous statement. Perhaps no one can blame her.
"I wonder if you could," she adds, to Banagher, with significant emphasis. "It doesn't strike me as impossible. You wouldn't even need to sacrifice the protective casing so long as you made a thick enough layer on top of it -- no, your issue would be in cooling. You might consider additional heat sinks, or using the wings as cooling agents. Certainly, it's a solvable problem." Yuliana pauses, and laughs, a shade nervously. "Ah -- you'll forgive me. My Elisa has advised I... discontinue my mechanical work, for now, given the trouble working on those suits brought me to... tinkering's a danger to me, you see. Well, but I... I'm just a little incorrigible when it comes to solving these problems, you see," she laughs it off, with an apologetic shade. "Just a little stir-crazy... but she's right, of course. I must recover." So she has to give up something she does to relax. But it got her into so much trouble!
Most wild tigers would be trying to eat Yuliana, not lay their heads in her lap. On the other hand, Sokrova doesn't seem like he's unhappy or suffering, just... tame. "He's a very good boy," Yuliana agrees, giving him another scratch. "And she did," she confirms, to Banagher, on the topic of Elisa just going into a jungle.
"Captain Castellan," Yuliana warns Leina, "is more than she seems. Do take care, about her." Whether Yuliana warning about someone means they're more threatening or someone worth befriending is, of course, its own question, but Yuliana seems to give the alert in earnest.
She dips her head, though, and acknowledges to Leina: "Unfortunate." She doesn't directly address the subject of Glemy's lessons. "Even so," she asides, "you saw an opportunity, and capitalised. They're my countrymen no longer, but I grew in the Republic... so it's natural for me to acknowledge something like that."
Yuliana shakes her head. "I'm not surprised," she says, of Wen and Parminder. "With the Major dead, and me and -- I suppose the Kadet, at that -- unable to be found, Lettu and Letda were their only options to punish for these misdeeds. They would have, in fact," she confirms Leina's eye-rolling thought on false confessions. "It's standard operating procedure. The individual is sacrificed to protect the stability of the whole. Mama... that is, my mother," she corrects herself from slipping into Zaftran, with a shade of embarrassment, "tried to prepare me for this... since she was sacrificed just the same, for her diplomacy in the Peace Mediation Organisation. I thought I was above the opiate of the masses, with that kind of insight... but it just made me easier to indoctrinate, in the end."
She looks to Banagher, as she confirms: "They're safe. Lettu's having... some trouble, like me, but... Letda's seeing to her. I'd call them here, but it would take a while to fetch them -- this is quite the expansive estate." It's an ENTIRE CASTLE. Elisa gives so much to her!
"I hope we can," she allows, to Banagher, on the topic of finding what they're looking for. "And perhaps, one day, you will see what I see. This is... possibility, I suppose."
A stab of something like pain enters her eyes, as Leina says she's glad she's here. "I still don't understand you," she mutters, a hand crossing her chest to grasp at her scarred arm. "Not at all..." ... even if Leina's helping her, she should be her enemy, after all.
But it's pleasant to pretend this whole world doesn't want to end her, for a little while.
"... at times," she admits, a breath later. "But it is... easier, now. I am more able to enforce myself on this world... my dreams do not hurt me quite so much, now. I better endure my unmaking. I've been made stronger, I suppose... this world can't tear at me so easily." That's one interpretation, certainly.
Yuliana frowns, though, when Leina talks about Elisa releasing Alma, and Banagher wonders if it was harder on her than she let on. "I..." want her to leave, she wants to say, but it's a terribly raw statement. She knows just why the dolls who attend them disturb her so much, now. She can't express it without insulting Elisa's art, though, let alone her care -- so she doesn't. Her gaze is haunted, for a moment, looking to the side of the camera.
"Elisa will know what to do," she says, instead.
... though, it isn't Elisa who gave Alma permission to go on those day-trips.
"... it's simply that they remain on her mind," she insists, to Banagher. "And it would be a pain to remove the thought. So..."
She's rather quiet, as her sentence trails into: "... it doesn't really matter, anyway. I can't..." Yuliana shakes her head, as those fins flap, about her ears. "It doesn't matter," she insists, again. "When she goes, I will have another enemy... though I'm sure my Elisa will make sure she'll not be a threat to me. There's no changing that... there can be no changing that. I've no illusions any allowances I make could ameliorate a thing."
And perhaps it is clear from those heavy words just how much it weighs on her -- the leash in her hands.
But she asked for this. She wanted it to hurt.
Why is she upset, now, just because she willingly laid down to die?
There's a shine to her eyes which isn't at all supernatural, and Yuliana's hand reaches up to cover her face, with a long breath whose trembling she resents. "I grow weary," she insists, with cool bitterness. "Thank you for calling, thank you for your concern... but I must rest, now. I fear my health is still too delicate." It's very convenient for her to feel bad about her own situation. "Have a lovely day... perhaps I will speak with again, sometime."
Once they've said their goodbyes, she clicks the tablet off, and slumps against the arm of the couch. Her chest heaves and falls in a long, discordant sigh.
... but it's fine, of course. Elisa will assure her she's done no wrong...
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
Leina’s hand touches lightly against the side of Banagher’s head, guiding it in to lean against her, as it lightly strokes his cheek, she listens to his feelings – she listens to Yuliana’s. They’re not kind words, but Yuliana did not come from a kind place. She says nothing to most of it, expending all of her attention on comforting him.
“Yes. And she did.” Is what Leina finally says of Doctor Tian, “I shot her, as I was taught to. Double tap to the chest, once in the head.” There’s a distant, dispassionate quality in her voice. She makes no excuses, that it was to save their lives, that it was to save the lives of others, that she was angry and upset at her.
She took a life, she makes no excuses for that. Even as she provides Banagher every allowance for the awful accident. It was of no interest to Full Frontal, to anyone, that she killed that horrible woman. He was only interested in twisting the knife like he might the key to a lock.
She’s all too glad to let that side of the conversation end, to let it move on smoothly to talk of modding Haros. Even if she has technical instinct, she has no actual skill in it, the arts were always more of her interest. So while she might spot the precise spot one needs to aim to stop a Macross cannon firing, she couldn’t mod Giovanni if her life depended upon it.
Instead she keeps her eyes on Sokrova, as if trying to see if she can attract the big cat’s attention by just staring at him, she always does enjoy those videos of cat antics with things they can see but not actually get to.
The warning of Captain Castellan… “You’re absolutely correct in that.” She does not speak of the favor she did her, or the strange intelligence that Captain Castellan always seems to have. “She is dangerous, to anyone she marks as her enemy.”
A smile is sent Banagher’s way as she praises her, even if she doesn’t really feel equal to his love and trust in this moment. It’s a relief that Wen and Parminder are safe, she can’t exactly say their work makes her comfortable, in the same way that Yuliana’s doesn’t allow her to be comfortable, but she does not want anyone thrown under the bus for carrying out orders where the alternative is to be brutally killed. “I’m glad they are, the situation became… messy. I doubt Princess Cornelia could truly protect them half as well as she thinks she can by shouting it openly to the world.”
A beat, “My condolences when it comes to your mother being thrown under the bus. It may be standard operating procedure, but it’s also ineffective in this case. Sacrificing them would not lower the temperature, it would not even offer them plausible deniability. It is the desperate flailing of cornered men who don’t know how to deal with accountability.”
‘I still don’t understand you.’
Leina’s eyes half-lid, her smile sad as she tries to explain, “When you volunteered for their experiments, did you know that reality would become painful for you? That everyone and everything would become hollow spaces?” She disagrees with the word volunteered, but in the end she knows it’s a nuance that might still be lost in the moment. After a quiet moment, “That isn’t what you signed on for, certainly not. How could I not be upset on your behalf? How could I not wish it were otherwise? … How could I not be glad that you’re still here with us?”
Maybe I’m just abnormal, the thought occurs to her.
“I’m glad.” Leina does say, after her explanation of how things have improved, “I don’t want you to hurt, to suffer.”
The explanation of Alma keeps her on tenterhooks in a way, she will be released, she won’t, it’s hard to judge where Yuliana and Elisa are at on the subject, yet in the end…
… “I think maybe you underestimate her a little. She'll certainly feel hurt and betrayed.” Leina affirms, “But become your enemy? I’m not so sure.”
Yuliana expresses her weariness and… “Please, by all means, you need your rest right now.” Leina perhaps takes Elisa’s side in this matter, “And I’d like that, if we could speak again.”
Once the call is disconnected, she does not let go of Banagher for a long time.
<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.
Banagher takes a soft breath as Yuliana calls Wira an idiot. It's just her way, this rough almost-cruelty. Perhaps her real thoughts are closer to something akin to sympathy... Or perhaps not. Leina's touch grounds him, cooling the hot embers of anger that threaten to reignite.
"I'm sorry." He murmurs. "They should never have done that -- to either of you. I'm sorry they tried to turn you against each other. It's horrible..."
Banagher won't look in the files. He can't imagine what was done, and that's for the best. Leina's asked him to avoid footage of the raid, and the files surely fall into that same category.
"Good." He replies, before he can stop himself. Is he really glad that all those doctors died? At least, they'll never hurt anyone again. As for Dr. Tian? Banagher is still cagey about it, though Leina reveals the doctor's fate. "...she did die." The response comes every bit as callous as Yuliana's. There certainly won't be any blame found here.
Golden eyes light up with renewed interest as Yuliana latches onto the Haro ideas. Banagher misses the emphasis placed on 'you', too busy glorying in the chance to discuss a shared interest. "Yes, using the wings-- Oh?" Banagher furrows his brow. "Oh, I see."
The idea that Elisa banned Yuliana from a hobby clearly makes him uncomfortable. Banagher shifts slightly. Their relationship has always been... odd, but is it abusive? How would you even define 'abusive' when one partner is a walking void and the other is some kind of... unkillable witch? Yuliana did get into a terrible situation, and if the engineering led to it, maybe... it's reasonable?
"Well, uh! There's lots that can be done with Haros even without mechanical work. Training, modding, painting, software work..." Banagher works up a little uncomfortable smile. "There's a convention coming up soon, actually. Maybe it'd be fun for you, to see what other people have tinkered with? Elisa is welcome too, of course. Not that I'm running it or anything. I'll send you a flier."
He still can't quite come to terms with this. "When I was bored as a kid, I would draw engineering diagrams. It's pretty relaxing once you get the hang of it. Maybe that'd be a--" A pause. Searching for the right words. "--restful hobby?"
As a child, Banagher always pictured witches in graveyards and crumbling castles. The thought of one strolling through a jungle takes a moment to adjust to. "That's really cool." He decides, ultimately.
"Yuliana, are your parents going to be safe after -- all of this?" Banagher asks, softly. "I don't want to imply you and Elisa can't protect them, but I know the REA goes after the families of... people. Sometimes."
Knowing Yuliana's mother was a diplomat makes something click into place in Banagher's brain. Every other Cyber-Newtype he's met was kidnapped or forced into a laboratory, but Yuliana... wasn't. At least, not in the same way as Marida and her sisters. What would lead someone to volunteering for procedures like that? Did Yuliana's parents pressure her? Closing his eyes, the young pilot thinks of a memory of his father, presenting a toddler-aged Banagher with a Vist Foundation badge. He was all too happy to make his father proud, back then, even though the experiments hurt.
Was it the same for her?
Blinking rapidly, Banagher comes back to the conversation. "Oh, that's okay. Just knowing they're alright is enough. Your estate looks really cool, by the way. I've never seen a building like that before."
Possibility. A smile. "Yeah."
Though his smile fades as Yuliana looks pained, this is a moment Banagher will remember. A little spark of connection between them, something more than a blood-soaked moment of terror. If they can both believe in possibility, maybe there can be a happy ending, after all. Looking sideways at Leina, Banagher smiles. Maybe this is what she's seen all this time.
"Leina's kindness and strength are really hard to come to terms with, even for me." Banagher says, softly. "I don't think you have to understand someone all the way to love them. For me, at least, I've learned so much about her after we fell in love. Maybe that's the key."
"I hope your dreams will ease up. It's got to be easier with Elisa next to you, at least." A hopeful glance back to Yuliana. "And I hope the world will be kinder, too. I don't understand it, but if I can help, please let me know. I'd really like things to be easier for you."
Elisa will know what to do. He nods, though his brows draw together again. "Thank you for talking it over with Elisa. I think I told you once before, but after I... lost my home, and my father, Miss Alma took care of me. She made me sweet things, and she never -- blamed me. For anything that happened back then. I don't think I could've made it through that pain without her. So I... want to see her safe. And happy."
And herself.
Banagher shakes his head. "That's not how Miss Alma is at all. I can't speak for her, but I don't think she'd try to hurt you if you let her go. She isn't the kind of person to turn her pain outward. If anything," He smiles sadly, "I think she'll be worried about you. Even without, uh. The brain stuff."
The camera is sharp enough to catch the sheen over Yuliana's eyes, and Banagher reflexively leans forward just a bit, anxiously wishing to do something to help. "O--oh. Of course. Please get some rest, and... Thanks for talking to us! I'll message you the HaroCon stuff, no pressure with it or anything."
"See you, Yuliana." Banagher raises his arm in a little wave. He manages a smile, but there's distress in his eyes.
The call disconnects. Immediately, both of Banagher's arms wrap around Leina, pulling her into his lap and hugging her tightly for as long as she'll let him.
"I think we did a good job. I think... we helped. Or at least we didn't cause any more hurt." Pressing his forehead against the back of Leina's hair, he breathes in the pleasant scent of her shampoo. "I have this feeling -- I think it's going to matter that we did this. That you did this."