2023-03-18: HaroCon: Path B!

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<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

With blocky, colorful letters, a banner hangs above the entrance to a premium convention center located in the Orbital Ring. "WELCOME TO HAROCON!" Entry lines are long. Pre-bought tickets get people in much more quickly, but even buying tickets at the door won't be /too/ terrible.

Upon entering, guests are greeted with the Haro Hall of Fame, celebrating some of the most accomplished miniature robots.

A video plays from within a display. Two white Haros with blue crosses painted just above their faces wave to passers-by. "Nouvelle Tokyo Hospital has integrated Haros to their treatment plans! Assisting in patient monitoring, physical therapy, and emotional support, the program has received near-universal approval from those who have participated." On the screen, a patient lays in a hospital bed, smiling at a Haro cuddling them.

Across the Hall, a bronze statue commemorates another heroic Haro. It is sculpted to be wearing protective padding, both of its wing-flaps open. A plaque beneath the statue reads: Cerulean, a custom generation two Haro, performed over 50 combat-assist missions before his untimely destruction during Axis Shock.

Other entries are available to be viewed if desired, but at the end of the Hall is a map of the convention! It's somewhat convoluted -- the convention center has multiple floors. Labeling is sparse and people crowd around it. It will take some effort to figure out where you'd like to go. 

<Pose Tracker> Asciel Colette has posed.

In the vast space of Harocon, where all Harokind can roam freely, it's not uncommon to see the stray little beings drifting and rolling around, seemingly alone and greeting whoever they find. It's fairly acceptable to pick them up and say hi! One such brimming fan with a big Haro hat and Haro balloons and Haro shoes is in /paradise/ here, laughing and tossing Haros skyward with the merriest smile on his face.

        A seemingly ordinary lime green one bumps into his feet as it glides across the floor...but that, already, should be a worrying sign. Don't Haros roll?

        "Ahahaha, hi there!!! What's /your/ name?" he laughs, leaning down to hoist the Haro up.

        And he strains a bit - for this Haro is strangely heavy. The reason why becomes starkly apparent - as the 'Haro' has its underside revealed to the enthusiast.

        A glassy crimson dome makes up the sphere's underside - blank at first, then projecting a pupil - first a simple circle, then a single, n-shaped expression to signify positivity.

        Then it speaks. In ways a Haro should never speak.

        ><Welcome! This is OLEA, the personal assistant terminal of tomorrow. If you have questions, say: 'Olea! Please answer me!'. If there is an emergency, say: "Olea! Please help urgently!" If violence has broken out, say: "Olea! I need an intervention!" If you need to record yo-><

        A terror builds in the Haro-fan's heart - and with a shocked scream, he drops the OLEA and flees into the crowds - whereupon it lands on its heavier 'face', and continues to slide around, looking much like any other Haro...

        How many of these are lurking within Harocon? These things that, unarguably...

        Are NOT Haros...?

_________________________________________________________

        One thing that definitely /is/ a Haro, gratefully...though not /entirely/, is the director of the previous day's Haro orchestra - a deep cyan, orange-eyed little thing that bounces and flits about everywhere, especially prone to winding up in high places, its ever-watchful eye curious and baleful. That's because it's the viewpoint, foooooor:

        [CONVENTION] guess who's at Harocon! (a-points to subs who find me!~)

        "I'm aaaalmost back from my break everyone - nobody climbed up here while I was AFK, I assume!~" Asciel Colette's been streaming her HaroPOV since day 1 of this event, spending quite a lot of it as effectively a tag-along stream watching the Haro chorus, but now, she's taken to a 'game', where any viewers also at HaroCon try to locate her - though she hasn't revealed what her Haro actually /looks/ like to them - just its viewpoint. "Let's get back in the fray. The passionate battlefield that is HaroCon! Countless of these little things have had such a great time connecting with me - so many of them have already become followers! Today, I'm gonna shoot for getting at least 10% of every Haro here registered and subscribed, hehehe. Wish me luck, everyone!~"

        And with that, the Asciel Haro bounces from its perch above the stands, congregating with several other rogue Haros, flapping her arms and uplinking with them - encouraging each one to make their own Verve.live accounts to stream their own experiences...though many of them probably don't realize much of what this entails. She may, slightly, be sneakily building a spy network out of these things... 

<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.

        Yuliana happened to find the flyer she'd had someone fetch, after waking to the eternal dawn of the Silent Castle. 'HaroCon!', it cried in colourful letters: 'A celebration of machinist ingenuity and electronic companionship!' She'd misplaced it, but clearly it hadn't gone far. She'd /forgotten about it,/ more to the point, and Banagher's invitation to come investigate. But Yuliana had a marvellous idea -- all on her own! -- and immediately set upon Elisa to espouse it.

        /They should go to HaroCon./

        Luckily, they've... claimed a seamstress, so the short notice is no problem at all.

        And so, hands curled about her wife's dark arm, here stands the internationally wanted Federation criminal: Yuliana Kafim. Her own dark skin is both lighter and more heavily marked than Elisa's, veteran's scars along her lower arms. (There are some futuristic band-aids on her skin, but since they match her skin colour, they're easy to overlook.) Her /upper/ arms, alongside her neck, are thoroughly covered by a bunched-fabric green cloak which falls down either side of her, splitting off around her mid-back into two rounded wings. The end of each is emblazoned with circles not unlike a Haro -- and matched by the paler green of her dress, with a Haro's embossing about her waist and two red ovals near the rounded hem about her knees. Her teal hair has grown out, since many people last saw her, on those heavily-televised exposes of the Institute; she was bald, then, but her hair has grown /longer/ than it was now, with bangs covering her ears.

        There are no hints of any strange decorations behind them, though, of course, she has her usual golden hoops. (And a purple bracelet and her rich wedding rings about her right hand, of course. Any jewellery she might be wearing on her neck is obscured by the fabric of her cloak.) Likewise, there are no hints of anything strange /behind/ her, either... though astute viewers may realise that her cloak must be a cosplay engineering marvel.

        Because the wings /flap,/ you see.

        This has absolutely nothing to do with any tentacles which may or may not be currently hiding in the fabric. You can trust Yuliana. She has a very trustworthy face, long scar down her left eye and all. It /is/ a touch strange how her eyes seem to lack pupils, now, but... maybe it was just an experiment they did.

        (This much is, inadvertently, even true.)

        And so she stands in front of the bronze statue of Cerulean, and she's /tearing up,/ freeing one hand to dab at her eyes with a fine green handkerchief. "Axis Shock took too much from us," she sniffles, in clear overwhelm't admiration for this Great Haro Hero. "I'll grant you a lot of us died, back then, but look at this little guy! He's just a little guy! He should have retired!"

        Lo, Yuliana salutes the Haro Statue. 

<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.

Elisa Kafim is here with her wife on her arm, Yuliana in her beautiful Haro attire (Harottire) and Elisa herself in a long dress that seemingly has no such decorations... Until--Until one sees the sash! Hanging from it is a single cute-cute Haro miniature.

Cute!

Elisa is placid as ever about this matter, walkinga long with Elisa and allowing her to guide them places because she has an extremely trustworthy face herself. And because she has only a vague idea of where they are overall, but this is not about that.

Elisa smiles, with the ordinary amount of teeth, to see the bronze statue--and then she looks more sympathetic, and inclines her head. "Yes," she says. "A true tragedy, proof of how far this world has to go..."

She nods, solemnly. 

<Pose Tracker> Ranka Lee has posed.

The sensory overload of this place leaves Ranka a little bugeyed, just wall to wall Haros. "Wow. I didn't realize that Haros were so... beloved? I thought this would be a much smaller affair?"

In part because she was hoping it'd be more intimate for a 'date' with Alto that's maybe a date and maybe isn't. It's hard to say after the movie and the prom!

"After seeing Ruri with Archimedes I was hoping I'd pick out one of those cute little mini-Haros so Ai-kun wouldn't be lonely whenever I'm away."

Ranka's wearing something casual, red shortalls that are joined at a ring at her collarbone before the straps cross over her shoulders, a pair of blue floppy boots, and a purse she's carrying.

A person in a Haro mascot costume hands her a pamphlet, Ranka perks up, "Oh thank you!" Unfolding it Ranka Lee reads aloud from a pamphlet...

"Did you know that the original Haro had the ability to measure brainwaves, and was used as a mental health assistant for pilots on the White Base during the One Year War?"

Ranka looks sideways at Alto, as if in consideration. She's considering this knowledge she just learned extra hard as she looks at his face, before she murmurs, "Maybe picking up one for the SMS would be a good idea..."

As they come up on the bronze statue, Ranka looks at it, and spies two figures viewing it. Suddenly Alto might just sense her SHIFT at high speed to be at his side, as if trying to have view of her be blocked by his much taller form.

She taps his hand, as if indicating that they should move on quickly, trying hard not to speak and just hoping they won't be seen. 

<Pose Tracker> Ujico Issa has posed.

        There's just so much Harocon to experience!! Ujico is, however, prepared. There are snacks and first aid supplies and medicine all stashed neatly inside of her backpack, which is shaped like a fat snail.

        However, even the most-prepared of molluscs isn't enough to solve the first and foremost problem of conventions, namely that they are freaking huge and Ujico is only human-sized. She's standing in front of the map, wearing loose overalls and a t-shirt and Sensible Sneakers For Lots Of Walking.

        There are.... a lot of rooms...!

        "Reveal your secrets," she mumbles under her breath, as if that will make the location of the food court reveal itself any faster.

        She was promised crepes! How's she going to get crepes if she doesn't know where she's supposed to meet Banagher and HomeRunHopper?! 

<Pose Tracker> Trevor Teach has posed.

There is someone here who is maybe not having the best time.

Oh sure, living up in space is GREAT and all, and having entire sections of your genetic code rewritten to be baseline 'superior' than most people is a major advantage, especially when there are sections that are DEFINITELY pretty damn Zentran. (One might even describe him as 'better.' A 'Better Man,' some could say.)

But still!

THERE ARE PROBLEMS.

Trevor Teach winces as he steps through the crowds in his entirely impractically piratical attire. He looks UTTERLY OUT OF PLACE but only because his cosplay is entirely original and doesn't actually feature anything Haro-themed except the decal on his eyepatch. But that's mostly because he's not cosplaying, Trevor Teach is just a fabulous kind of guy. BUT.

HE'S ALSO A NIGH PERMANENT SPACER.

"Ughhhhh my feeeeeeet," Trevor groans like the melodramatic drama queen that he absolutely and plainly is. "Why does everything on Earth have to be so heavy...? My soles are being weighed down by all this gravity...!!"

Why... is notorious (??) space pirate Trevor Teach here...?

Well.

Because, you see.

He has... no haros.

That's just not right, he has learned. A proper mobile suit pilot, especially one who wears the trappings of ~a significant character~ like a mantle of pride, has to have a Haro. So he has to be here! To get one!

...Will he steal one today? That'd be properly piratical.

...Maybe not if he's still wrestling with the graviton blues.

Speaking of blues.

That sure is a statue of a haro named 'blue.' Or Cerulean. "Are they usually given color-names...? Huh..." Trevor mutters, before continuing to stumble vaguely in the direction of the convention.

(He pauses to pose for photos, because he's a drama queen, as established) 

<Pose Tracker> Rin Starking has posed.

Meanwhile...

SOMEWHERE BACKSTAGE

"Is all in readiness?"

"Yes, your harocy."

"Is the water warm enough?"

"I'm not saying - ugh - ugh don't - Yes, your harocy."

"Shall we begin?"

"Check one, check two, check one two."

"And the device is prepared?"

"FFS."

"Samantha it is inappropriate to say acronyms aloud. It speaks of ill repute and poor breeding."

"STFU. Anyway, yeah. It's by your left."

"Then all we have to do is wait." 

<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.

        Alto has no real interest in Haros. Thus he has no reason to go to a convention dedicated to them.

        So why is he here?

        Well that would be the fault of the green-haired, upcoming idol that is pulling him along. He he has a resigned look on his face as he walks with Ranka after getting through the laborious effort of buying a ticket (he paid for both of them of course).

        But once the two enter the main hall proper, Alto looks around with some awe. He hadn't realized just how damned popular the little robots were. Their popularity hadn't quite picked up on Frontier. Of course his travels around Earth for various reasons had shown them to be somewhat common. But to this level?

        Ranka echoes his own thoughts with her words, to which he replies, "Yeah..." Of course he wasn't thinking of this as a 'date' so much. Although the thought had tugged at him a few times.

        "I think Ai-kun would definitely appreciate one. It would probably enjoy chasing it around." He recalls the little creature's affinity for chasing and tearing into paper planes that Alto has made and thrown.

        'Maybe picking up one for the SMS would be a good idea...'

        Alto imagines a certain Major facing off against a Haro as it tries to offer him mental health assistance. He snickers for a moment at the thought, before suggesting, "I don't think most in SMS would go for that."

        The two come to the statue. Alto doesn't notice a different couple there as he's more focused on the statue itself. He was aware that the Haros were used as co-pilots, but to memorialize one like this... That's... Weird. It's like memorialising a targeting control system.

        Though Alto briefly wonders if Luca might like one... He certainly fawns over his Ghost drones.

        Alto is drawn from his thoughts by Ranka tapping his hand. He turns to look at her, finding her awfully close. He blinks in confusion, but nonetheless starts to move with her away from the statue, "What's up with you?" 

<Pose Tracker> Naoko Suzuki has posed.

Naoko had to gather a little courage to actually be physically present at HaroCon. She's followed conventions remotely before, but actually visiting them... that would've required going outside her comfort zone, not to mention the travel involved. Way too much hassle, when watching videos and ordering stuff online worked perfectly fine.

What made this time different? She'd be hard pressed to answer that question. Though it's certainly a big factor that her entire life changed not too long ago, and now she's not as much of a stranger anymore to going around a large place full of people where she knows absolutely nobody. It wasn't as bad as she thought it'd be. Perhaps this too wouldn't be so bad...? Plus, there is one particular point of interest... but we'll get to that.

Whatever the case may be, she's here now, and was through quickly, having ordered her tickets in advance, as well as having studied the floor plan and event schedule in advance. It wouldn't do to go unprepared, after all. Although she's mostly wearing her usual garb (which means cargo jeans, sneakers, mismatching black and white socks, and her equally mismatching hairclips), the shirt she's wearing is something she ordered in advance, and only made sense to wear today. It's a purple Psyco Haro t-shirt, featuring a giant black Haro with ominous red eyes and spring-like limbs, sporting a drill and a giant wrecking ball on the end of each arm.

During her short time here, she's already managed to score a black baseball cap reading SUPER NOVA in big red letters, which, well, obviously she needed to have that one. Given that she's been going by the name Nova Stellar, what could be more perfect than that? The cap features a standard green Haro with a comet trail behind it in between the words, which is not what a Supernova is nor is it two words to begin with, but y'know, details. She's also carrying a nondescript shopping bag meant for merchandise purposes, but that's carried around her arm unused for the moment. She has something more important to do right now, flat out ignoring videos, statues, and indeed everything and everyone else in favor of staring intently at her phone.

Did you know? Naoko has been subbed to the Virtual Sage for almost five years now - also under the moniker of Nova Stellar, conveniently. She thus currently has Asciel's stream open, determined to win this game of hide and seek. Even though she's just been a lurker 99 percent of the time, not really caring to engage in community discussions, she /is/ very interested in the whole AI aspect of the Virtual Sage. The chance for an actual meeting, even if it would be in the form of a Haro, is something she can't let pass by. As for what to look for... obviously she knows the favored colors of her favorite streamer, that shouldn't be a problem.

"Hmmm, that booth... didn't I pass it earlier? If that's the case, then if I turn right at the Cerulean statue..."

Now all she has to do is avoid running into people while staring at her phone and talking to herself. 

<Pose Tracker> Sonia Sophia-Grace has posed.

Not that many days ago, Sonia was standing in this exact hall, getting very lost, only some dozens of feet away from the large map at the end of the hall. There, she was promptly charmed and smitten with a very helpful Haro, one of the Lost & Found ones rolling around saved her. Today she doesn't need it, but when she spots one, she awkwardly waves.

Awkwardly?

YES! That many days ago, Sonia spent the better part of her salary on... well, what her arms are full of! A standard sized, Model 4 Haro! The color on it is a deep sapphire, shiny and dark, and judging by how she's practically cheekrubbing it, much beloved.

         "Safira...~" She glances at her phone, at the pushed update that ASCIEL is live again, and still at HaroCon. "You any good at hide n seek?" "Haro!" "Me too, buddy, me too." Rub, rub. 

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

There's a lot of things going on in the world these days, but HaroCon is still here to act as a bright spot, a reprieve from those things weighing down one's mind. Who could resist a celebration of everyone's friend? Rikka's always held more of an idle fondness for them - many Haros come through Aya, abandoned by their owner and in need of repair before being passed onto a new one, but until recently she's never actually owned one of her own.

Her first visit to HaroCon was actually... pretty great! She had a good date, met someone new, saw again someone she'd met before... and, it set in place some nice projects.

So, she's visiting again! She might not be alone!

Rikka's interest is drawn immediately to Nouvelle Tokyo Hospital's video display, watching it intently.

"That's actually... pretty cool. I'd never really thought about using them for medical purposes. I guess I can see how having a good companion could really help with recovery..." Rikka considers. It's something she has an interest in, of course. She looks down at the Haro in her arms, bringing it up to eye-level - the product of her previous visit. A sunset-red Haro Mini, with a pair of cat ears on the flaps - slightly different from the standard Momo Haro design, carefully altered by a certain someone very good at crafts. "Do you think you could do that too?"

...She frowns just a little uncertainly after that. She still feels a little weird talking to a Haro like that in public, even if they can talk back...

She'll linger at this booth for a moment longer, before eventually finding her way toward Cerulean's statue and then the map. 

<Pose Tracker> Kikka Kobayashi has posed.

Kikka heard about HaroCon, and she was pretty excited to check it out! They /are/ very nostalgic and bring back a certain childlike joy to her.

Kikka arrives with a very unassuming looking, lime green Haro, that would be considered pretty old-gen by most collectors. But the true superfans might recognize it as /the/ Haro, the original from the White Base, modified by Amuro Ray himself. In spite of being such an elderly Haro, it has much energy to spare, bouncing up and down, greeting fellow Haros left and right. "HELLO! HELLO!" It's so much that Kikka has already accepted she won't keep up with it...

When Ranka reads out the pamphlet, Haro /leaps/ towards her, almost as if he recognizes who she's talking about. "WHITE BASE! AMURO! FRAU!" Kikka finally catches up, bowing an apology to Ranka! "Ahaha... sorry for getting in the way of your date. My Haro's a little out of control.. I don't think he's seen this much action for a long time!"

Her attention is then drawn to the memorial of Cerulean the Haro. A wordless salute to the fallen Haro of her own, as she overhears the very nice ladies talk about how much of a tragedy it was. It really is sad... Haros are friends too! And then she tries to simulataneously look at the map and wrangle Haro before he can wander off again. 

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

HaroCon's Hall of Fame has Akane's attention more than a little bit; even if Haros haven't been her thing always, it's kind of interesting to see how people have really turned them into a force for good in the world. A medical Haro is a neat idea, and... she can definitely understand the urge toward that kind of affection.

Actually getting oriented in the building has been a challenge on multiple occasions, though -- and the crowding around the map has her anxious. ... Ah, the pain of only being like five feet tall...

Akane decides she has a better plan than that, though; she whispers, "Snag a photo and send it to me," to the blue Haro with lilac flaps in her /own/ hand, carefully pieced together by an exceptional refurbish-and-repair expert, before hoisting it to the sky.

... whether that'll work out is a bit of an open question -- but she might be able to report back to Rikka with a shot of the map. 

<Pose Tracker> Christina MacKenzie has posed.

        Christina MacKenzie, Partner of Unique Haros. She would, quite honestly, prefer to be preparing for the upcoming operations, but, all the forces certainly made it an unavoidable priority to return to the Orbital Ring so soon. Four significant factors really threw their weight around here.

One, her contract with SUN *did* stipulate that she and her Haros walk around and "have presence" in the convention hall, generating curiosity leading up to her exposition late in the con.

Two, even with Liu Mei Wang's contacts, she still had booked time as a commissions booth for custom Haro functionalities. She'd be forfeiting her deposit AND the chance to build some new and fascinating Haros that she'd never thought about before!

Three, she did still want to meet her new friends here at HaroCon... She wanted to tell KashiraSeijin about the Zazir Empress, and thelastHaro about the flextech abandonware she wasn't at liberty to put in writing. And...Having some new friends...That might be nice, right?

And, Four.

Reason number four was the only one she was particularly grumpy about, even if she would have done the exact same thing. Leina had basically shoved her out of the house when she tried to insist on working through until the operation. She'd walked her onto the shuttle with Akane and Rikka--that was their names, right? She got that right?--and sent her and her Haros off to space to 'have fun and rest', brooking no refusal.

        So here she was, XAIRO's large frame alternately rolling and hovering behind her, MAIRO hopping along beside. She was supposed to take a walk through the entire con grounds, but--unsurprisingly, perhaps--she immediately is sidetracked by NTHG's Service Haros. All Haros are precious! But Haros With Jobs just squeeze her heart... She's already taking notes for ideas! 

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

Once guests have made their way through the Haro Hall of Fame, taking in the helpful map or not, they will find themselves within the vendor hall and artist alley. It's a truly enormous room, filled with the bustle and chatter of an excited crowd.

One far wall hosts food and drink stands. A few popular chain restaurants have set up shop, along with small pop-up stands. Suitably, many items are shaped like Haros, including a pancake stand that will color your pancake to match your own little companion robot, should you have one.

A nearby corner of the room features a 6-foot tall Haro statue, eyes glowing in ever-changing colors. It seems to mark the location of a macronization chamber, open for all Zendtradi guests. Even the very tallest of those guests have plenty of ceiling clearance in this room -- this main room is designed for the comfort of all.

And in that huge chamber is an equally large man--dressed in a nice, but casual brown suit, Lavnadim Orlodhari ('Lavhi' to his friends) stands beside a gigantic Haro in deep green, not quite as large as the statue. "And this," he says, "Is ideal for children in their larger states, but is also welcome when one is smaller! My lovely assistant will demonstrate..."

A blonde woman in red--Eight York--steps over to the giant Haro and hugs it with both arms, leaning on the large robot, which flaps happily. "Miss York! Miss York!"

"So I hope you will consider bringing one home as I have. My own resides at the Macronization chambers!"

Near the doors, an interesting new item is available for rent. An indoor scooter molded around a Haro of soft-orange hue. It seems Haro does the driving for you, leaving you free to take in the sights. They may be especially helpful for those who are disabled or tire easily. Quite a few scooters are already buzzing about the convention floor -- they're a hit!

Dominating the majority of this open area are the vendor tables. The very center row features Haro sellers themselves. The SUN Corporation has the biggest display by far. As the original creators of the Haro, they're treated with a sort of honor here, though there are dozens of other vendors. Generation 4 is the newest Haro on the market, and its ability to be customized is on full display. Mini Haros are ever-present, arranged in rainbow displays with their winglets eagerly flapping. Every color of the rainbow is available for both sizes, along with alterations made to the shell of the little robot, the interior, or even the mechanics within.

A few vendors even offer to modify your Haro's shell as you wait. The only limit to their services is the imagination of their guests. For those a bit more cautious with their tiny friends, there are an equally-large number of vendors offering to paint, engrave, or apply decals to a customer's Haro.

Another booth is off to the side, decorated in furiously saturated crimson and purple. It's selling all sorts of cheap-looking merchandise that is nonetheless a garden of novelty items. A Devil Gundam Haro costume stands out as the centerpiece. The most well-crafted item of the bunch, it even includes new arms and legs for your Haro that telescope out like its namesake. Other merch includes God and Shining Gundam keychains, in new Haro-fied forms, a selection of Demon Cashew knockoff plushies, and a big wall scroll listing the 100 Commandments of the Undefeated of the East. A sad-looking tip jar languishes at the corner of the table, placed to both look unobtrusive, yet still in full sight. A piece of paper taped to it reads "Please help me get my next lunch."

Slouching his way between the tables, a lanky man with a dark mop of hair examines the artwork on display. His attention is drawn by anything particularly pink. "E-excuse me." He asks an artist, pointing to a painting of a Momo Haro holding a magic wand against a starry background. "Is this a magical girl?"

Moving out further from the central row, the merch continues, possibilities as infinite as the stars in the sky. Haro clothing, jewelry, accessories! Both human-sized and Haro-sized, a particularly dedicated owner could create a full matching wardrobe with their companion. Branded items are plentiful. One booth offers authentic Gundam Fighter signed magnetic patches. Another, Anaheim Electronics hats -- for humans and Haros.

One booth is specially dedicated to Sheryl Nome merch for your Haro. Even though she's not traditionally been associated with Haros, it looks like the con was able to score a deal with her manager to feature her anyway. The booth features stickers and decals of Sheryl in pink silhouette, Sheryl in various costumes including the Black and White Bunnies from her Universal Bunny live performances, and Sheryl in chibi mode, also in various costumes. These decals also include stylized text reading UNIVERSAL BUNNY with a bunny-eared planet in between, PINK MONSOON in rough text, and no-text renditions of Sheryl's emblem, a golden heart with a fairy wing on the right. They're also selling a limited line of custom pink Haros with a blonde wig and a single drop crystal earring on their right winglet. Their eyes flash blue, and they repeat, "Because I'm Sheryl Nome! Because I'm Sheryl Nome!"

Even utilizing a Haro scooter, any guest could spend days in this place and not see everything. Smart shoppers will look at one of the regularly-placed map kiosks and plan out their route. 

<Pose Tracker> Asciel Colette has posed.

        Amidst the din, the owl assesses a hunter.

        Though Sonia has her eye on claiming Asciel's 'prize' - in this case it's more likely to be a rhetorical victory - the entire point of Asciel's 'find me' game...

        Is an experiment to assess the wild behavior of those she can deduce are tasked with pursuit of a target, and reinforcing tracking protocols beyond the fixed and familiar pathways of Isaac City. Or, in layman's terms - she's testing her own surveillance capabilities. The OLEAs, and what Haros she has managed to pipe in a reliable feed to, have a reasonable, though imperfect, assessment of the convention center, and Sonia's familiar form flashes in her vision.

>Well well well, captain. So you're willingly caught in my net. How adorable. Hmhmhm, how best to play with you, how best to assess your limitations and capacities...what a wonderful little diversion. And here I'd worried this would be a waste of my EMERGENCY ALERT - DISASTER CARDINALITY 3, 4 LOCATED. SWITCHING TO CRISIS PREVENTION MODE. AUTOMATED PROTOCOLS FOR POTENTIAL ARMED INTERVENTION ACTIVE. PROCEED WITH CAUTION.

%> of my time - I only have so much space for fun and games to wait what excuse me precisely /what/ is happening here huh what are we under attack huh what wait 3 and 4 that's what wait WHAT ARE THEY DOING HERE NO NO HANG ON NO DEPLOYING ARMED INTERVENTIONS STOP ANY OF THAT GHGHGH

        Asciel fervently flips through her feeds, before a corner-lurking OLEA spots them. Yuliana and Elisa. Just. here! Having Fun At HaroCon. just a cute married couple she happens to register as about on the same level as nuclear warfare.

        The baleful green ~false Haro~ lifts up into the air in an unnaturally controlled way. There's no whimsical /bounce/ to the OLEAs! No flappiness and charm! Truly an abhorrent impersonation of the cherishable green form we all know and love! The green drone moves in a slow orbit around Yuliana and Elisa, and clinically emits, ><Welcome to HaroCon. It appears you are enjoying your stay. Please inform this terminal if you need directions, resources, or information on events and panels.><

>yeah i'll give you information on panels alright. that is...the floor panel, that I will flip upwards like a ninja and use, as a surprise, counterattack, to - okay I need to do better than that.

        Sonia receives a little buzz from a little number registered as Asciel's.

        >Hi! So before you go on the hunt. Just know the fun might be cut short by how I'm a liiiiiiittttttlllleee bit preoccupied and distracted. So don't be disappointed if you find me a bit spaced out. Don't worry about it too much. except. like it's something you /should/ worry about rightfully, but I'm taking care of it. probably. ~have fun!~ 

<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.

        The psychically sensitive may find, when passing within arm's reach of Yuliana, that things get... disquietingly quiet. There's a zone of silence immediately around her which forbids any empathic connection, cutting off any attempts to reach the hearts of others.

        But she's being nice, and pretending to be human, so it's only /beside/ her it becomes an issue.

        There are certain people who know the problem from prior experience, though. Like a certain Ranka Lee -- whomst Yuliana glances over to, and smiles, wriggling her fingers in a sly little wave -- and one Eight York, in the vending hall which follows, putting on her demonstration about /large/ Haros. Yuliana looks that way for a moment...

        ... and deliberately leads her wife in the /other direction./ "You don't want to associate with /them,/ darling."

        There are so many Haros to consider, and Yuliana spends quite some time at the stands, with a constant patter of engineering engagement which is very technical and not worth drilling down into. It's clear, at least, that Yuliana /really/ misses her mechanics.

        But the most important table she flits to is...

        ... the merch table.

        "Oh, look at this!" She bubbles, cheerfully, as she holds up a Haro Hairclip. "And this! And this! Aren't they just darling?!" Lo does she decorate Elisa's purple, pulled-back hair with said Haro Hairclip... and add a Haro Necklace to her jewelry... and slip a Haro Scrunchie around her hairtie... and stick a little Haro sticker on her cheek.

        Paying for all of that is a non-issue; given who (what) Elisa is, Yuliana is functionally independently wealthy at this stage, even given how the REA froze her accounts. For this reason, when she passes the Devil Haro stand, she puts a ridiculously large tip in the tip jar as she buys a Shining Gundam keychain. It will buy much more than /one/ lunch. "It's shameful they forgot you," a lesser veteran of the Devil Gundam incident comments, in passing.

        Before she can get to the /next/ stand, though -- a wild Haro appears!! "Ah!" Yuliana exclaims, in delight, clapping her hands together. "Look, dearest! Isn't that so charming?! They can move like that, too..! Why did I never spend much time with these little guys before?!" She leans down, and pats the False Haro on its head, smiling brightly with one too many teeth. "Who's a cutie? It's you! It's /you!/ Can you tell us where the Haro face-painting stall is? I've seen people with the makeup, but this place is so /big...!/"

        This... this is the woman who tore reality asunder? Really? 

<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.

Eight frowns for a moment when she feels that strange aura from Yuliana--she recognizes it well. But it's hard to stay upset with a giant Haro saying her name at her. "Miss York?" Lavhi says, looking down to notice her.

"It's fine!" Eight says, "Just stepped wrong. Look at this beautiful Haro!"

Elisa glances to the large Haros, but then looks to Yuliana. "Of course," she tells her wife pleasantly, and walks off with her, far away from those others.

Hmmm... she does miss her mechanics...

The merch table happens! Elisa looks at Yuliana with stars in her eyes as her wife decorates her. A little sticker on her cheek! All these gifts; Elisa looks absolutely /delighted/, for her part; a smile actually spreads on her face, a twinkle in her eye.

"Yes. Darling," she agrees.

Then. There's OLEA. And the greennon-bouncing Haro comes to--

"How nice," she indicates to Yuliana. "Yes. Very charming." She considers. "Yes," she says. "I think that these are quite acceptable..."

"We should acquire some of these 'Haros' for our very own."

Really. 

<Pose Tracker> Ranka Lee has posed.

As the Haro leaps up to her, Ranka's hair leaps on either side of her head, as it shouts, 'WHITE BASE! AMURO! FRAU!' Ranka actually leans over to pat it on the head, as if, uncertain how else to treat a Haro than like a pet as she tells Kikka, "Ahaha - it's okay! He's really cute. Hey you're a smart little guy aren't you? Nice to meet you!"

She might be paying extra attention to how Alto responds to 'date' as she looks wistfully at Kikka's Haro. "Maybe just for his birthday then..." As if Ranka were getting around some SMS loophole by just giving it directly to Ozma.

Ranka just emphatically looks sideways with her red eyes without saying anything, like suddenly she doesn't have words.

Then once she thinks they're safely out of earshot as she murmurs to him nigh inaudibly, "That was... Yuliana Kafim, and her wife." Softly she adds, "I don't know what Dr. Kafim sees in her. She's so nice in comparison!"

Fortunately, the crowd quickly takes them into the Vendor Hall. "Hey Alto - is that Captain York?" She waves 'Hello' her way before she beams and waves at Lavhi, because right now this place... "It feels a lot like Island-3 over there, doesn't it Alto?" Then she spies, "Oh hey! Look Alto! They're selling them over there!" As she heads off to the mini-Haros, eventually purchasing a classic Light-Green, as she checks the price tag and double takes at it again, "Wow, if I hadn't landed the role of Mao that would have been painful."

She smiles at him, "Thanks for coming with me by the way, I really appreciate it. Would you like to swing by and get a bite to eat-"

'Because I'm Sheryl Nome! Because I'm Sheryl Nome!'

Ranka stops, Ranka stares, then after a moment of processing it, "...Sheryl really is everywhere." She comments, before her eyes light up, "Maybe we should stop by that booth too-! To show our support for Sheryl!"

...
...
...
...

Five minutes later Alto has a far too full bag of Sheryl Merch to carry as opposed to Ranka's tiny mini-haro box.

"Actually one more stop!" Ranka swings by Lavhi's area and adds a single thankfully not macronized Variable Fighter mod kit to the top of Alto's bag in short order. 

<Pose Tracker> Trevor Teach has posed.

FINALLY, THE HARO MERCH HALL.

...AFTER BASICALLY NO TIME AT ALL!?

"Son of a sauced space submariner, this saleshall is sizzling," says Trevor Teach, who by now has developed a kink in his lower back that is probably the result of vertebral disk compression. "I can't believe they're this popular. Is this what they call 'star power...?'" Is there perhaps a market for piratical haros? He briefly contemplates the morality of salvaging haros from damaged mobile suits, but decides that taking them from pilots who are still alive is /probably/ like kidnapping a pet and that's a little too far even for a mighty Dread Pirate.

His single unpatched eye traces a strange, piratically vibed haro-like organism as it bounces in it strange, stilted way over to--

BEES

"Agh!" Trevor winces, the memory of BEES buzzzing in his brain like a haze of BEES. "That's... That feeling is..."

Yuliana Kafim, a woman whose face he does not know, but whose presence is utterly impossible to miss if you've been subject to her BEES. And she's right in the way of the merch table. Aaaaa!

Guh.

Trevor grumbles and gives the happy couple (and their strange pirated haro, trevor sees you you not-haro, he's a pirate! Pirates have <<identify forgery>> as a class skill, probably!) a wide berth, instead making his way around toward...

...Big Eight (and boyfriend)

"Heeeeey captaaaaaain," Trevor calls up into the air because Zentrans (and Meltran-sized ladies) have ears that are kind of a ways off the ground. "I want a Harooooo, but I'm not sure which one I should geeeet. You got any recommendatioooons?"

Beat.

A haro-scooter scoots by. Trevor considers briefly if he should commandeer one.

....mmmmmaybe. 

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

Soon enough, Rikka feels a buzz from her phone - she reaches into a pocket, drawing it out... and is met with a shot of the map! It's pretty convenient... if Akane was having trouble seeing it, she sure would too.

Rikka sends her a :heart: back, then moves to make her way back to her. Along the way, though, she spots Christina by her unique Haros, offering her a smile and a wave.

She still doesn't know her very well, but she's someone close to Sayla, and she had come here on the shuttle with them...

...Does that make her their chaperone? It's not like they can get up to much trouble at a place like this... and it does seem like she has her own business here.

For now, though, she puts that out of her head as she returns to Akane.

"So, where do you want to head first? We could grab a bite to eat or something to drink... that giant Haro looks interesting, too. It might not be a bad idea to rent a scooter, either, just in case either of us needs to get off our feet..." Rikka suggests. She doesn't think /she'll/ need it - but she's mindful of Akane's stamina.

For Rikka's part... she does choose to stop by the giant Haro, where she's surprised to see the person running it. Eight York... it's been a year, hasn't it? After Rikka's very first kaiju battle, it was her ship that evacuated the damaged Synchrotank and the Gridman Alliance - and she was the one who told her about the world outside.

...Does she even remember her? She does offer her a wave, at least.

Eventually, she finds her way to the merch table. Con merchandise is a little expensive... but something /does/ catch her eye, and she leaves the table with a new bag for her laptop. It's plush yet sturdy, Haro green in color with 'HARO' written diagonally downward on the bottom left corner in red letters. A zipper at the top features a rubber rendition of a Haro - but the bag's /real/ charm point is the clasp keeping the bag shut. Shaped like a Haro, one presses in on the wing flaps to release it, whereupon they open - and pressing the wings in seals it again.

It's cute...

...Her attention, too, is drawn to the Sheryl merchandise... and of course she buys some. Not for her Haro, though - /these/ are destined for her laptop, and maybe just to own.


<Pose Tracker> Trevor Teach has posed.

(Trevor's voice-- and his presence, outside of the Bees Field-- is distinctive to anyone who may have heard (or felt) him before. He's kind of hard to miss, especially dressed as he is) 

<Pose Tracker> Ujico Issa has posed.

        "...A pirate," Ujico notices, watching Trevor swagger past. Is that part of Haro Lore? A History of Haros didn't mention one but she wouldn't be surprised if there was a short-lived ad campaign or something and the guy in the costume is a Person of Deep Knowledge. Maybe he watches those iceberg videos...

        She didn't rent one last weekend, and spent the week wondering 'what if???' while scrubbing dishes. Thus, as soon as the doors open, Ujico beelines for the Haro-assisted scooters and rents one. It doesn't matter that she has an actual non-Haro scooter for getting around December-02! In fact, that should make her an even better Haro-scooter operator! She can't wait to feel the wind in her hair--

        "Huh? Locked to three miles per hour while indoors??"

        ...Still, she has to admit a few minutes later, it's actually pretty fun. Ujico sits back on her laurels, hands folded together on the scooter seat in front of her, while a Haro scoots them at a Reasonable and Safe Pace around the convention hall. Her twintails flutter weakly against her backpack. Her horns gleam under the LED overhead lights! And best of all, she can ignore the cardinal rule of scootering: Wherever you look, there you will go. She can crane her head and rubberneck all she likes! This is awesome!

        And while in the middle of said ogling, Ujico spies Friends. "Whoop! Hang on a sec, Haro!" She doesn't think about it, planting both feet on the running boards and grabbing both handlebars, Ujico slams on the brakes while swerving gently. On her own scooter, this would have resulted in a really cool-looking sideways slide, perhaps even kicking up some dust...!

        Here and now, Ujico comes to a safe and boring stop right next to Yuliana, Elisa, and the really weird Security Haro. "...Hi!" she pipes up after a moment of staring silently. 

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

Akane doesn't mind being part of arresting someone's overwork momentum, especially at Leina's request; Akane does owe Leina rather a lot. (She also owes Leina and Rikka an explanation of something, but that, too, is work -- and that, too, can wait.)

"Hmmm... I see some new booths I wanna peek at in the vendor area," Akane remarks to Rikka. The idea of getting a scooter does hold some appeal, but... "For now I can keep going. We can take a load off if it gets too bad, though, right?"

The vendor tables are a familiar slice -- Akane's already gone around these before. The Sheryl display, however, is new since the last time; Akane immediately gravitates toward it. When she sees Ranka and hears that comment about Sheryl being everywhere, she agrees, "... Ahaha, you have /no/ idea. She managed to debut a song in a totally closed dimensional space... I think at this point she's pretty inescapable."

When she notices Chris taking notes on practical Haros, Akane smiles. "Oooh -- you should see the thing Rikka and I are going to do with a Mega-size Haro... we're turning it into a kitchen helper with a built-in toaster oven~" She still needs to finish that schematic, but unfortunately, school transfer and 3G study have left her with 300 ambition and 4 time.

<Pose Tracker> Naoko Suzuki has posed.

There are times where Naoko wishes she had her own Haro. Having her own eyes in the sky would've sure helped with tracking down another Haro scanning the convention floor from above. Turns out that just having the footage visible on a phone screen doesn't make it so easy to tell where the camera is, exactly, especially when it so rarely stops moving.

...She does have her 'friends', of course. But that would be a really dumb idea. A Haro wouldn't stand out, but a couple of a metal butterflies flying around definitely would. Attracting attention to herself is not something she's looking to do. Well, except for the Virtual Sage's attention, obviously. That's the whole point.

As she passes through the merchandise area for what must be at least the fourth time today, Naoko briefly casts a forlorn gaze towards the vendor tables she only briefly got to visit before the stream got underway. There's still a bunch of things she needs to get, mostly in the spare parts area... but it'll have to wait. There's not as strict a time limit for shopping as there is for the streaming event.

Turning her attention back down at her phone, she walks at a brisk pace while focusing carefully on the surrounding area she sees on the screen, once again attempting to pinpoint where she should turn next... and completely failing to see that she's heading straight for another person. She looks up just in time to see what's about to happen, not to actually prevent running directly into Sonia. What a coincidence, to run into somebody the exact same height... perfect for a forehead-to-forehead collision.

"Wah--!"

That's all she manages before stumbling back, and falling on her behind. As well as dropping her phone, which... shows the exact same video feed that Sonia does? Talk about coincidences. "Ow ow ow... my fault, sorry, sorry," Naoko apologizes as she scrambles for her fallen phone first and foremost. 

<Pose Tracker> Sonia Sophia-Grace has posed.

As the group shifts into the main hall, where Safira and her Little Buddies (... what, do you really think Sonia would only buy one Haro?) were purchased, Sonia looks fondly back at the tables in the middle. "Well, Safira, here we are again." A long pause. "I'm not buying you more buddies. I couldn't even bring them all back with us-" The Haro in her arms flaps its wings a bit, before spotting a friend.

"CAL-I-BUR! CAL-I-BUR!"

"Ehhh? You sure about- Wah!"

Naoko and Sonia become briefly entangled, and she too drops all manner of things, her Haro immediately rolling off to go find friend, and her own phone verifying the shared stream, which she does check. "Oh, jeeze, I'm sorry! Hey, you're watching her too! She uh... Did you get anything WEIRD just now?" Sonia asks. Can't let on too too much, but it's possible either one of them missed something, ha ha, such a jape. "Or... Man, what is that noise..." Or lack of it. 

<Pose Tracker> Christina MacKenzie has posed.

        Someone's greeting her and her partners--Oh, that's, Akan--no that's Rikka! Oh gosh. Wait now she's not sure... She's only seen them together and only twice yet, so...

                "Hey!" she offers!

        As Rikka passes by, Chris's eyes follow her path to Akane. Oh thank goodness. They don't seem to be here to chaperone her... She's only just met them, but Leina and Akane seemed to be quite comfortable next to each other, and Rikka by the transitive property.

        She steps into the vendor area, and may as well have stepped into zero-G. Chris's body may as well be suffused with Rita's golden light again for how immune she is to her lingering fatigue. XAIRO has to hover around people to keep up with the bright-eyed mechanic's quick steps, as she wanders throughout the massive hall. She notices the macronized Haro and her brain spins, marveling at the apparent retention of electrical conductivity and circuit isolation through the macronization process--one she still hasn't thoroughly studied.

"I wonder if it's mimicking some kind of ...biological structure, maybe? Related to whatever enables micronization, in Zentran physiology...?"

        She notices Captain York by the base, and waves once, in case, but is far enough to not think anything would come of it. Ah! And that's Lahvi, just, really tall! They took such good care of her while she was on the Ra Mari...She's still working hard to make things a little easier for them. Her eyes pass over the happy couple, too, and she smiles and waves at them as well--though she's never met Yuliana face to face, at this point it feels like she knows her a little?

        But in no time, she's off to swing by the SUN booth, talking shop and introducing herself again, double checking all the costs of Gen-4 chassis and microprocessors and tallying it all up by murmuring it to MAIRO.

        She stops by the Sheryl Nome merch booth, too! She's saving up for her SUN parts...but... She can spare enough pocket change for Haro bunny ears!

"Black ones on XAIRO~ and White ones for MAIRO~ Because Sheryl!" she hums aloud. Not an erg of shame in the 40-year-old woman. If Rikka's there at the same time, it may be devastatingly more obvious than before that she's here for her own purposes. 

<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.

        'Ahaha... sorry for getting in the way of your date.'

        As Kikka apologizes for her Haro's enthusiasm, Alto's head turns away and he scratches his cheek. He doesn't say anything to confirm the status of this outing as a date, but neither does he deny it. He's still a little confused about where things stand...

        Once Alto and Ranka move away from the statue and Ranka tells him the reason, Alto's brow furrows, "What!?" Wasn't she supposed to be imprisoned!? Or so he last heard. He quickly looks over his shoulder to see... Though at this point, there's too many people and he can't make out anyone specific. He frowns in thought... There's not much he can do here though...

        Alto's attention is distracted though as Ranka points out a Captain York. He's familiar with the name. The person not so much. He looks, blinking at the sight of Eight hugging the giant Haro. Huh.

        Alto then nods in agreement, "Yeah, though I hope they've taken the appropriate safety measures. Not just any space can work for combining two such vastly different sizes. I imagine getting squished under foot would not be fun..."

        They eventually come upon a booth selling the mini-Haros. And while Ranka is off buying hers, Alto leans over to stare at some others on display. Admittedly, Alto likes these ones better than the classic model. They're too big... These seem easier to handle. He reaches out, poking at one. It then flaps its wings at him, buzzing, "Buy me! Buy me!" Then the one next to it buzzes, "Buy me! Buy me!" Then two more nearby, "Buy me! Buy me! Buy me! Buy me!" Now a dozen, "BuyMeBuyMeBuyMeBuyMeBuyMeBuyMeBuyMeBuyMeBuyMeBuyMeBuyMeBuyMeBuyMeBuyMeBuyMeBuyMeBuyMeBuyMe!"

        Looking surprised at the apparent chain reaction he kicked off, Alto quickly glances around in embarassed surprise before quickly turning around and walking away to meet up with Ranka.

        Thankfully out of range of the cacophany of Haros, Alto nods in agreement with Ranka, trying to pretend like everything's normal, "I bet the pay is a lot better than occasional waitressing and unpaid interning." Certainly the latter.

        He then waves his hand at the thanks, "No problem. It feels like we've been really busy lately. You especially. Though the rush to re-film the Mao scenes is understandable... Sure. Hopefully they have normal food here and it's not like, all Haro shaped. Any ideas on wher-"

        'Because I'm Sheryl Nome! Because I'm Sheryl Nome!'

        Alto freezes on instinct. Before slowly turning his head to look at the Sheryl Nome booth. His eyebrow twitches a little, before he moves his hand up and puts his face into it, "... Yeah..." Ranka suggests visiting the booth. And Alto asks half jokingly, half serious, "Do we have to?"

        Yes. Yes, Alto. You do.

        Alto walks away with a somewhat sour face and a large bag of Sheryl Merch in his arms. Maybe coming here was a bad idea after all. That is until a Variable Fighter mod kit is stacked on top of his bag. He blinks in surprise, before looking at Ranka, "What's that for? I didn't know you were into those." 

<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.

Eight waves and smiles at Rikka. She's a little surprised to see her with Akane... but Akane gets a smile and a nod back, too. She seems to remember both of them! "Nice to see you," she says to both of them as they pass by, before she looks to another question comnig her way--she's not going to interfere in their... outing? Date!?

Ranka's right! It's her! Lavhi smiles down hugely at Ranka, and then says, "And this one here--!" He continues!! Neither seem to recognize Alto either, but Eight smiles at him anyway before she turns to her 'work'.

Very much not Macronized Eight--the Haro is as big as she is!--is surprised to spot Trevor of all people here, while she's there. "Hmmm," she says. "The model 4 seems really good--but I think it's less important which Haro you get and more important the heart you put into it! Or.. something," she says with a little self-conscious laugh. "That's what the Haro enthusiasts tell me. I'm just here to support Lavhi, and maybe to pick up one for myself..."

Chris gets a wave from Eight, too!! But then she has to go back to helping demonstrate the product. "Come over here, Big Haro!" 

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

After a likely-exhausting journey through the merch hall, an informative panel must seem appealing. If not for the discussion, for the padded chairs waiting in lines in each room. Food and drink is allowed, as long as it doesn't become disruptive.

Dozens of smaller panels are in session, or soon to be, but there are three large rooms that may be the most comfortable to rest in. Or perhaps the most informative, depending on one's perspective. Helpful signs inform which room hosts which presenter.

To the right: Dr. Koji Kabuto, Technical Panel

To the left: thelastHaro of Haroics, Enrichment Panel

Straight ahead: Rin Starking, Modding Panel

It seems the enrichment and technical panels have already begun. Why not see what the modding panel has to offer? Upon entering, the group is greeted by a figure sitting at the front of the panel.

From the shoulders down it's a young woman. Probably young. You can see skin and it seems to be of natural appearance. She's moving a little, here and there. She's wearing a T-shirt for HAROCON and a pair of work trousers underneath it, and perhaps she waves a little at some attendees.

But from the neck up...

One
Enormous
Green
Sphere

You know the one. That's why you're here.

Once the panel gets going, the woman stands up, picking up the microphone.

"HARO HARO. HARO HARO, HARO. GENKI. HARO HARO, GENKI," and this act continues for about thirty seconds before stopping, reaching up, pat-patting her head -- and then pulling it off, breaking the illusion entirely, because you can now see the shoulder padding and a glimpse of the interior of the helmet--!!

"Welcome to HaroCon's modding panel!" declares Rin Mei Starking, as she sets the helmet down on the table in front of her. ("Haro," it declares.)

"Haro is a brilliant friend and a boon companion, as all of us know," she continues - she sounds obscurely Britannian if in a very casual, friendly mode of speech, "but what I don't think a lot of people appreciate is just what Haro can become. Join me as I walk you through the core elements of Haro!"

"Now I want to let you know that what I have up here is the '92 model, which is probably the best all-round platform for modding," Rin continues, gesturing up as the slide show begins. "You can use any of the builds. Haro is usually manufactured under license, and this still had to consider Amuro Ray's potential involvement."

Up on screen - an exploded Haro!? (The image has a copyright for someone named Samantha Crowley.) No, not exploded - it's an Amazing Cross Section!

"Haro's shell here is articulated, and mobility is provided by the kicker module down here," Rin gestures. "On some Haro models, there's also leg modules that can extend for mobility... this uses a dedicated neuronetwork chip, the XXR-BW-2, which hasn't changed since '72, so you can just replace it if you need to add legs. We'll be going over that in a minute," Rin continues. "But you can update the kicker module - either with one from a newer build or with a custom made solenoid!"

"Haro's power connector is here - whether you get filler style rectangular prisms or standard cell arrays is going to depend on your manufacturer, but usually there's going to be padded foam here to brace them. The power storage runs around the loop. Here and here are the eyes, which of course are CCD cameras - and here's the intake mic, here - and here in the middle is where the magic happens!"

"Your Haro's central processor is here, and most of them will come with two slots out of four already used for working memory. (This is more like how well Haro can think, because the central processor includes a NN flash drive.) You can quickly and easily replace those slots out because they'll take commercial memory chips..."

"This is a 0G maneuvering board, I used the '88 model just because it was brightly colored - here you have a sub processor, supplemental memory, and a vector control chip! Usually you'd also link to thrusters if your Haro's supposed to be able to operate in zero-gravity, although the heat radiation flaps can allow for - OH YEAH LET ME SEE THEM!" A chorus of 'haros' as people in the audience raise their buddies aloft!!

"So I know this is scary, and -- hey Louis, turn the camera over here, thanks -- you're probably worried about hurting your pal. While I do advise you to ALWAYS do a full image to your personal or home computer before you do ANYTHING with Haro, you should be doing that anywayyyyy-- And to show you what I'm gonna do here, I'm going to open up THIS guy," wham! a '92 model Haro in the original packaging (this model was made in Britannia, it seems) "and I'm going to make him able to beat Louis back there in GM 4.0! Do we have any GM 4.0 players here...??"

The next ten or fifteen minutes are a narrated walkthrough with what Rin is doing, which seems to be pretty straightforward -- Rin only uses a tool to remove a few bolts to open up the new Haro's "shell." If you're curious, here's the steps after you get the skull open:

1. Remove the two stock memory modules and put in a 4x one! ("Twice the space, half the slots! Make sure to check that your HarOS can address it, though, or you'll get glitches.")
2. Maneuvering module!
3. Game port module! (The game ports go out from 'behind' Haro.)
4. A flashable memory drive! ("I installed GM 4.0 and some other stuff on this - but most of these guys have store your school papers and movies and stuff, am I right?")

After a little rebooting, the Haro is connected to a laptop computer - the screens show a 1 v 1 view of GM 4.0 (which is a classic, fan-beloved first-person-perspective Mobile Suit combat game, if you aren't savvy) and Louis, a sad-looking Britannian boy, is invited up to try his luck.

Haro immediately is a credible opponent, and Louis plays GM 4.0 with intense focus for the rest of the panel. The audio is turned down, and Rin flounces and prances around to take random audience questions for the remainder of the panel time. 

<Pose Tracker> Asciel Colette has posed.

        Oh, this is the one Asciel was waiting for.

        At the apex of Rin's panel, Asciel's Haro has lurked, and waited for the right moment. After all, she didn't just come here wearing /any/ old Haro. It's turquoise! But also it's very fancy! Once Rin's finished with her spiel, Asciel descends from the rafters and lands with aplomb next to the modified Haros, and several panels shift, revealing radiant rainbow LEDs all across every seam, its mouth opening up to reveal a little monitor in the upper half - and a holo-projector in the lower bit, wherein a tiny little holo-fairy Asciel rises up like she's emerging from a lake! It's a very flashy and showy way to make an entrance - but on the other hand, it signals quite clearly to Sonia and Naoko where she's located...!

___________________________________________

        ...oh, this is the one Aura was waiting for.

        Asciel's subordinate Lyceum-3 isn't here for anything related to that - today, she is just Aura Veo, covered in drapes and blankets over her robo-wheelchair to conceal the, uh, rather /immensely/ cybernetic integration she has, to the point where she's rather just a torso and head plugged into this thing. She does have sort of 'normal' hands equipped today, covered in gloves to look more subdued, but she's...refraining from touching people.

        What she /does/ have is a jarring surprise - for from beneath those blankets, mounted on a messy, disorganized cable - an /extremely/ modified Haro emerges, white and blue just like Aura's hair. It laughs and gasps in applause where the girl its attached to is rather emotionless, and zoned out in VR-space.

        <Only 4 memory modules? If you're not a /coward/ afraid to crack the shell like an egg to get what you want, you can fit a dozen! A hundred! This Haro has never had lagtime in its /life/! Get wrecked, ahahahaha~> the Haro gasps maniacally, before falling limp for a little while.

________________________________________

        -The moment Aura Veo makes a scene of herself at Rin's Haro-modding panel, Asciel takes the swiftest opportunity to close up her Haro-shop and roll away from there as fast as possible. Nope nope nope. Too much going on to deal with that.

______________________________________________

        The OLEA hovering around Elisa and Yuliana pauses in place at the suggestion that it might be ~HARONAPPED~ - er, wait, Oleanapped? That's not a word yet, whereas Haronapped is, so we'll stick with that for now. A cheeky little V appearing in its glossy red mono-eye to signal frustration, the green drone emits, ><Please refrain from absconding with official HaroCon property. Offenders will be prosecuted to the full extent of the la- gently escorted off the premises. Please contact [ADMIN_EMAIL] if there are further questions. Good luck, and thank you for surviving this year's festivities.>< And almost as fast as the strange not-Haro arrives to monitor the couple, it flutters away...

        ...about fifteen meters away, until even those who fail perception checks on the regular could obviously tell they were being stalked and watched by this abhorrent little thing. Security cameras are a bit harder to tail people with when they are BRIGHT GREEN AND RED. 

<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.

        Elisa's eyes sparkle, and Yuliana, too, is delighted. She is just having a wonderful time with her wife! And so -- "Oh!", she exclaims, with that same delight, as Elisa decides they ought to get some of their own. "Yes, what a marvellous idea! Do you suppose I could even customise them for our use...?" And she might be asking whether that's /possible,/ and not whether it's permissible. That option's on the table.

        Of course, Yuliana hears someone go 'agh!', because Yuliana is /fine-tuned/ to recognise sounds of agony. She smiles, to Trevor, seeking to meet his eyes for a moment. She does not pursue him.

        She can torment Newtypes /any day of the year,/ but HaroCon only comes once a year! A woman has to have priorities.

        /Some/ Newtypes, of course, are even provisionally her allies. Take Ujico, for instance, who scoots up beside them. "Why, hello!" She smiles, to her. "What a wonderful ride you have. Aren't these Haros just darling? My dearest was just saying we should get our very own..!"

        The strange Haro, of course, protests being acquired. "Aww," Yuliana pouts, still quite good-natured. "Fine, fine..." They can't have /this specific Haro./ It's fine. She'll just program one with the same weird methods.

        She waves to Christina, as well, of course. Far be it from her to /ignore a greeting./ She's in a good mood!

        It is vital to note, of course, that Yuliana definitely took Elisa (and Ujico?!) to visit the HARO FACE-PAINTING stall before they moved on. She was /determined to find it./ Her cheeks now have green haro circles, and there are little red dots atop her eyebrows.

        ... and is it any wonder that Yuliana drags them into the modding panel, after the interest she just espoused? She sits next to Elisa, of course, weaving her hand into hers; she's plenty engaged in what this girl in her marvellous costume has to say, but she always has enough attention spare to pet Elisa's arm as she's listening.

        (She smiles, aside, to the Haro stalking them in the panel.)

        When question time comes, the first question /she/ has for Rin is: "So, about the health monitoring -- just what options /do/ you have for medical alerts on these things?" She asides, to Elisa, after her question's answered: "Because, you know, perhaps they could be fine assistants for /you/ as well, darling."

        And later, her next question is: "How extensive /are/ the limb modification options on these things? Could you set them up to be mechanic's assistants? I don't know that a Haro could handle the torque force of a lot of those motions..." /Can a Haro handle a wrench?!/ These are important questions for Yuliana Kafim. They're also much more /relevant/ to Yuliana, so perhaps it's notable she asks that question /later,/ after thinking of Elisa. "Wouldn't it be better if I had help?" She ventures, to her wife, after /that/ question.

        Hope springs eternal. 

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

"Then let's check them out." Rikka replies with a nod, and then, she smiles. "Of course. It looks like they've made sure there's plenty of places for people to rest."

She follows along with Akane, and when she brings up Sheryl's song debut, Rikka nods grimly.

"Sheryl is... pretty powerful." Rikka says... downplaying her own role in that particular situation.

Rikka is surprised that Eight seems to recognize her - and, interestingly, she seems to recognize Akane too. Have they met...? Well, she's friendly with her, so that's good.

"Yeah... It's incredible. It's going to be great once it's finished." Rikka enthuses to Chris along with Akane, as the latter discusses their project. ...It's really nice, actually, to have a creative project to tackle along with her.

And at the Sheryl booth... Rikka is indeed there at the same time. She eyes Chris's purchases... and then, nods in approval.

"...Oh, nice choice. You're a Sheryl fan, too?" Rikka asks with interest. There's no judgment, there - she can hardly blame anyone for being a fan of hers.

Eventually...

"Oh, it looks like there's a modding panel starting soon..." Rikka says to Akane. "It might be useful - let's check it out. We can get off our feet for a moment, too."

She heads that way, moving to take a seat. She's acquired some drink - non-carbonated, of course, and listens intently. She brings out her phone, and takes notes with interest. 

<Pose Tracker> Ranka Lee has posed.

Ranka doesn't really keep appraised of the news so she has no idea that Yuliana was arrested, really. She just nods quickly and tries to keep Alto moving.

The cacophony of buy mes does actually draw Ranka's eye, and when Alto does catch up, he finds Ranka giggling. "Disappointing all of them? I didn't realize you were such a Haro-tbreaker Alto."

She does not pay attention at all to the 'Do we have to?'

There's something about Akane that seems familiar, but Ranka doesn't quite recognize her, she just looks really different from the Akane she saw before dancing at the Sheryl concert.

"Really? Wow! She's always impressing me with how accomplished she is..."

It's not until Akane is out of earshot that she looks thoughtful and...

"... Huh. Hey Alto, Side-3 Colonies are all Closed Types right?"

Ranka may be a little confused.

With one last wave towards Lavhi she tells Alto, "W-Well it's sorta, Macross culture. And it feels like my way of supporting the SMS? Also it reminds me of that toystore jingle gig."

Once out of the vending hall, there's just... no place to sit down, and eventually she spies a hall with chairs, "... Maybe we should take a breather? My legs are getting a little tired."

She's carrying exactly, one thing.

Once she does and the panel starts, she laughs at the woman with the Haro head, "She's got such a cute act!" As the helmet comes off, her hair leaps, "That's Rin!?"

The modding panel starts, and Ranka quickly loses the thread. She's not technically minded at all, and she thought it would be way easier than this.

Scrambling, eventually she pulls out her Osanshoo-san phone and... throughout the panel the panelists might see this salamander like plushy being held up with as hypnotically glowing red eyes are just continually watching them...
Watching them...
Watching them...

Is it staring into their souls!?! No of course not it's just recording. When the panel is over, she squishes her phone to stop recording as she sheepishly tells Alto, while scratching the back of her neck. "I didn't... get some of that? I think I'm probably going to have to rewatch later."

Repeatedly, a lot. Oh who's she kidding? It's inevitable she asks for Rin to help. And by help she means 'all of it.' 

<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.

"Yes," Elisa answers. "That's definitely something that we could do." She smiles beatifically.

Elisa, meanwhile, spots their friend Ujico! She only takes a couple of moments to remember who she is, because she rather likes this one. "Hello there," she says to her. "It is nice to see you." She doesn't use her name because they have /code names/. Right? That's definitely why.

But the strange Haro.... Hmmmm. "I think it may not like us," Elisa says, and she sounds disappointed. "Lagently escorted..." Tsk, tsk.

Is she noticing what's up with this thing???

But they get dragged in, after all. And Yuliana keeps selling her on it. Medical allerts. She considers a little further. Now that she has Haro face painting. Her one cheek has the sticker; the other has a beautiful green Haro on it. It is lovely.

"They could," Elisa considers.

But an assisstant for Yuliana, too....

Elisa regards the incredible words of Rin ahead, and what she says of modding them. She considers a little further.

"We shall get at least one," Elisa decides. "...At least one. And it shall be constructed to help both of us, in what we require."

So a maybe?

"...I have ideas, for some of these... 'customizations', to try as well."

Yes. Yes, this will be useful... 

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

It's been a /long/ time since Akane's seen Eight. She does seem to remember her, though. "Oh, uh -- hey!" she starts, giving a wave. "It's good to see you too."

It's the /panels/ that really catch Akane's attention, though -- "Ooh -- hey, I know her, actually," Akane says, as they breeze along through the merch toward the panels. "I'm definitely game to take a peek. Let me snag something from the vending machines while you find us a spot?" she requests, before going to do just that.

Plunk... plunk... plunk. Gilla into the machine. Four gilla later, Akane has two bottles of Calpis -- one for herself, and one just in case Rikka's already drained her own beverage by the time she gets there. It's important to stay hydrated at these kinds of things.

"Huh," Akane murmurs, at the installation of a new memory drive. "That could be really useful, actually... every hard drive I ever own ends up full instantly no matter how much space it has." Full of what is an open question. 

<Pose Tracker> Naoko Suzuki has posed.

Rubbing her forehead, Naoko is surprised to hear her apology echoed back to her by Sonia. Even now, it still feels unusual to not be blamed for things. Snagging her phone, she does a double-take at the words 'watching her too'. "Wha? No way! You're looking for her too?"

Yes Naoko, this is being streamed, obviously there are other people doing the same game. Should've thought of that. As she puts her fallen cap back on, she wonders if the whole 'SUPER NOVA' thing on there might give it away already to a fellow Subscriber, though it's not like she's a big name online or anything. She proceeds to cheerfully introduce herself, as her alias of course. "I'm Nova Stellar, Miracle Worker!" She displays a v-sign from her still-seated position. "Also Virtual Sage fan, but well, that's something we have in common, huh? What's your handle over there?"

Finally getting back to her feet, she briefly dusts herself off before smiling back to Sonia. "Hey, we should team up! Two heads are better than one, right?" She rubs her forehead again. "...When they're not running into each other, anyway." Canting her head, she wonders aloud, "Weird? Define weird, lots of weird things have been happening lately." She frowns, looking a little distressed as she taps the side of her head for no apparent reason. That could be a reason why she didn't notice anything weird, she may in fact be one of the weird things that's happening.

Thankfully, there's something going on to keep her distracted from a peculiar feeling she's been having. Glancing over at the time on her phone, she realizes, "Oh shoot, am I missing the modding panel? Gonna have to watch that one online... wait." The stream's image, it's static. Asciel has stopped somewhere. Could that be...? Her head jerks towards Sonia for confirmation of her suspicions. "That's the modding panel, right? It's gotta be! Come on!" Already starting to rush off, she calls over her shoulder, "If you see a light blue Haro, don't let it get away!" 

<Pose Tracker> Ujico Issa has posed.

        It's always good to see friends!! Ujico, who is mysteriously unaffected* by Yuliana's Negafield, is all too happy to greet her and her lovely wife. "They're really cute, aren't they? I only got interested kind of recently but there's a whole [culture]...!" And it turns out that a Haro-scooter can actually go along at a walking pace without falling over, and she /did/ already pay the rental fee, so Ujico just rides it along to the face-painting booth (where she politely declines because she doesn't want to be acutely aware of her own skin for the next four hours). It /is/ fun to watch, though.

        She kind of wonders if it would be polite to ask why they were being stalked by a not-Haro, but if Elisa and Yuliana wanted to talk about it they would, right...? What if it's super rude to ask?! Quick, think of something else!!

        "Are you both going to any of the panels? I went to the enrichment one last weekend and it was really good, so I thought this weekend I could try to see the modification one..." At some point Apple is brought out of Ujico's snailpack, because it's a shame to have a Haro and not give it the opportunity to participate! Also Ujico is fairly proud of the cat ear kit she installed on a normal Mini Haro before she knew that Momoharos existed. If you can't do it the hard way, is it even worth doing??

        They find seats for the panel, Ujico holding Apple on her lap. It's interrupted by a "[Fairy Haro]!" Ujico yelps excitedly when Asciel's tiny avatar makes a brief appearance, followed by clapping a hand over her mouth and sinking a bit lower in her chair until she's certain that the excitement of Aura Veo's cackling declaration was definitely more attention-getting than her. (Whew.)

        She hopes Apple remembers half of these instructions, because Ujico absolutely won't. 

<Pose Tracker> Rin Starking has posed.

Sam Crowley, a vaguely goth girl, glances around a couple of times at funky Haros and at the woman, Yuliana Kafim. Her eyes narrow, but she doesn't say anything. Bad vibes.

"Excellent question!" Rin says, pointing a finger towards Yuliana. "So if you want just an ALERT that connects to something else, that's pretty easy. Basically you'd just need to do a wireless chain since your device probably already has a wired setting. If you want a general holistic health readout it's a little harder - not everyone is a full time Haro Hugger, *but I bet we'd all like to be*..."

After this, there's a follow up. Rin seems slightly vexed but the questions are at least both good ones, so she rolls with it. "Limb modifications? Alright -- there's a ton of stuff so it's mostly gonna be a matter of making sure your OS flash matches your gear. Most Haros aren't that big and the body factor means leverage isn't great, so they're not GREAT at exerting strength, but they ARE good at sorting small things -- or little tasks that don't need a lot of force behind 'em! So you could use one as an assistant for a lot of little stuff, and even leave Haro to work for you on the little stuff while you take a break!" 

<Pose Tracker> Sonia Sophia-Grace has posed.

"I mean, I like hide and seek! It's fun!" Sonia admits, like she were a twelve year old.

"Oh, right- Paradises' Grace! I don't talk a lot. The Sage is someone I enjoy listening to while doing other activities. I think, somehow, that she knows I'm paying attention at all times, though." HEAR THAT ASCIEL? SONIA IS ONTO YOU.

"Ehhhh? Yeah, let's go! I'm not sure if I'm going to model my... currently missing Safira-" Who is currently stalking Calibur through magical girl land- "But I should at least pay somewhat attention-- hey, wait for me!" Sonia yelps, well aware she's getting left behind. She at least is a speedy little thing, and follows after Naoko into the room.

"Nah, just like something's sitting on my eyes or ears, I've felt it before, but I don't know..." She still has not caught Yuliana. 

<Pose Tracker> Trevor Teach has posed.

Eight, who was definitely not Macronized, answers Trevor's question helpfully. "The heart you put into it, huh...?" Trevor strokes his chin thoughtfully. "You know, I've been kind of wondering. Does a sufficiently intelligent Haro qualify as a Super AI...? Would that be... Cruel?" To give intelligence to something so innocent, so adorable, so... delightfully pure...

Seems kind of sacreligeous, to be quite honest.

Trevor mulls the possibilities. Does he want to buy one now? Would it even really... help much? It's not like he's ever really alone in the cockpit as is. But maybe He would appreciate having a friend too, while Trevor's not around...?

...Well. He can probably pick one up for the time being and then decide what to do about it later. The cash he'd put together from that Phoenix Mission is burning a hole in his pocket anyway. Worst case he can give it as a gift to one of the little ladies aboard, right? That could be pretty... Cool?

...

Trevor stares at the veritable wall of Haro available to him.

So many colors. So many possibilities. So many... eyes. Peering at him, so innocently. And yet, is there really a 'soul' behind those soulful gazes...? Do Haros dream of Harolectric Sheep...?

"Uh," Trevor mutters, "...Hm."

What a bother. So many choices...

"...Eh?" Trevor's gaze narrows slightly, he kneels down in front of one Haro in particular, "...Who are you...?"

...

...

A FEW MINUTES LATER.

Trevor rolls into the ~seminar hall~ on an orange haro-driven scooter. This, he considers, is much better than exposing his FRAGILE SPACIAN PHYSIQUE to yet more punishment from walking around in piratical (read: actually kind of high-heeled) boots. Under his arm is a blue-violet orb, heatsink flap flapping merrily. Finally, he thinks, a place where he can take a break and take a rest and MORE IMPORTANTLY, one that might have particularly useful information considering--

"Yeah hey question," Trevor calls to the host, holding his ~new orb~ overhead, "How crazy /can/ mods get for these little guys? I'm thinking about getting my new friend here some replacements parts--"

The Haro...

Has only one functional eye. And one flap is damaged. Apparently due either to someone tripping over it, OR WORSE--

...Manufacturing error...!

Or just gross negligence. Whatever the case! Trevor has a need to repair a Haro!

Or just, to replace its damaged bits with a hook flap and a laser beam eye. That'd be pretty neat too. 

<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.

        "Must have been a bug." That's Alto's story in regards to the rejected Haros and he's sticking to it.

        Asked about the Side-3 colonies, Alto nods, "Yeah, I think so..." Though thinking about the comment from Akane-who Alto definitely doesn't know-he ponders, "Though I'm not sure that's what she meant... I actually don't know what she meant." Alto doesn't recall Sheryl ever actually travelling to a closed off dimensional space... How does that even work?

        Probably just some weird fan.

        As they move into a hall to find somewhere to sit while still talking about the model, Alto asks, "Are you going to give it to your brother?" Alto doesn't pretend to know Ozma Lee that well personally... Though he suspects such a gift would probably go over well...

        ... Assuming. Alto chuckles at the thought, which he voices, "I'm not sure I can imagine you getting through constructing it without it ending up like some machine monstrosity." A comment which might not go over well...

        ... Oh look! A distraction in the form of a panel! Alto pretends to pay attention.

        As the modding tutorial goes on, Alto watches. He understands a fair bit of it. A certain level of understanding of electronics and engineering is necessary for a VF pilot. Even if they're not always going to be working on the machines themselves. You never know when some basic knowledge is necessary for emergency field repairs.

        However, just because Alto understands it doesn't mean he's going to commit to memory. Though he does remark to Ranka, "I have to admit. I didn't expect the modding to be so in-depth. Their shells. Maybe some arm attachments, sure. But people really appear to get into modding them, huh?" 

<Pose Tracker> Ujico Issa has posed.

        Someone else has a question. /She knows that voice./

        Ujico's pink head pops out from behind Elisa's tallness and general imposing figureness to stare at...

        That pirate. DUN DUN DUN...!! C_C 

<Pose Tracker> Kikka Kobayashi has posed.

"HELLO! HELLO!" Haro belatedly greets Ranka. "Oh, and hi! I'm Kikka Kobayashi - writer and Von Braun student. I'm on Spring Break, and a I'm a Haro fan so we decided to check it out!" Kikka introduces herself to Ranka and Alto, realizing it would probably be rude not too. Haro, instead of trying to understand what kind of couples session those two might need, rolls on over to the modification panel.

Kikka never tried to modify Haro, being extensively modified already. Besides that, she already loves Haro as he is. Still, she finds the topic quite interesting. Clearly, the technology has advanced a lot ever since Amuro first modified Haro and gave him to Mom... she wonders if he's more proud of this culture he cultivated than his legacy as a hero. 

<Pose Tracker> Christina MacKenzie has posed.

         She's now sure that that one is Rikka, and that one is Akane. Learning!

"Yes, I play her music in the hangar when I'm trying to focus!" she answers to Rikka. MAIRO starts piezo-humming Northern Cross on the spot, rocking side to side.

As everyone kind of migrates towards the panel rooms, XAIRO (red medic's cross on brilliant white) and MAIRO (brushed gunmetal) flank Chris as she takes a seat right near the front, their bunny harobands pointing up. Rin has Chris's full attention, it's always good to think back to basics--especially since, unlike her own Haros, she might be customizing some for people that aren't as mechanically inclined or abled!

        She doesn't hold either of her Haros up when RIN calls to the Spherical members of the audience--XAIRO's repulsor hums eagerly, and MAIRO throws itself into the air, landing heavily with a dull CLANK each time. They both flap their flappers so eagerly! Rin mentions Haro Size-factors, and XAIRO finally speaks up (neither of them are especially talkative among Haros):

                 "XAIRO STRONG, XAIRO STRONG" It hovers up and spins around, extending its pneumatic pincers in and out! All this from a large Haro, so it's making quite a scene!

                Chris looks around and makes tiny 'come here' motions to XAIRO, trying to beckon it back down, attempting to apologize to Rin. "XAIRO, let her present, come on, you, put those away. Miss Starking, I'm sorry about this." She's barely murmured this much when MAIRO is finally tired of being the well behaved one, and just straight up breaks ranks and bounces over to Yuliana.

                "MAIRO, control wrench! MAIRO, control winch!" 

<Pose Tracker> Rin Starking has posed.

Trevor has another question! Rin looks past him. She blinks several times, but then answers:

"No limit."

A beat, followed by, "I mean the question is mostly how far do you want to go, you know? Some of the less expensive models don't have much other than some custom slots but with knowledge, know-how, and a willingness to get your hands dirty AND YES a certain amount of MONEY Samantha I see you down there--"

"There's no limit at all," Rin says with a shrug of shoulder. "I mean you aren't going to run an entire installation from stem to stern off of it, but for instance, you know those open shade panels on colonies? Those huge things? They're actually a simple controller -- you could run those off of a Haro, no problem!"

AND THEN: XAIRO STRONG

"Okayyy~~! If anyone wants to get something installed or work through stuff, come on up, but I think that's about where we're at. Just remember, Haro is your friend - but Haro is also a platform. Haro can be whatever you want Haro to be--!!" 

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

This time slot's offered panels draw to a close, and guests come filtering out of the second-floor rooms. It seems the majority of events will take place on the first floor now, including...

A stage show acted out by a cast made 100% of Haros! The charm of the simple story and hand-made costumes cant be denied. With reserved seating for children at the front, theres plenty of room to be found in the back few rows.

The stage is set, brightly decorated with various happy Haros posing and holding hands, Haros flying across the sky with the trails of comets, this stage show is almost certainly for younger audiences, however, people of all ages are still in attendance.

The lighting grows dim, and while putting on a persona of a narrator voice, some who know her may still realize it's Leina Ashta telling the tale.

"Our story begins on just any other day, with two soon to be very good friends on their way to school at Academy of Haroic Possibility, where they learn how they can support the people in their lives."

The curtain rises to a scenery of a small Spacenoid colony setting, an ordinary community minded street, with an academy showing in the distance with the emblem of a Haro.

A muffled, "'m lay! 'm lay!" sounds enter Haroine, a pink haro with a bow on its head, rolling rapidly across the stage, with a piece of toast taped to her mechanical mouth.

An educational PSA comes on a screen beside the stage with the words and a Haro with a pointer finger up: Please do not attempt to feed your Haro or force open its mouth! It could cause damage!

A separate Haro, this one in classic green comes onto the stage, a book bag over his arm as he moves along at a fast but less frantic pace. The two collide! Toast flies! Two Haros lay in a pile with swirly eyes.

The green Haro recovers first, and starts shaking the other Haro, "Haroine Haroine! Haroine Haroine!" The Pink Haroine abruptly rights herself, causing an accidental headbutt into the Green Haro's face. "Sorry Haro! Sorry Haro! I'm late I'm late!" She starts to run off, but then course corrects to pick up the toast, and pops the tape onto the green Haro's mouth before running off. "For your troubles!!!"

An educational PSA comes on the same screen: Don't eat food that hit the ground kids! You don't want the germs that will hop aboard! Also don't try to feed someone who has passed out!!! They could choke, leave it to professionals!"

-=-=-

The pitch black Haro, Psyco Haro, with extremely angular eyes and a wicked drill arm and an ornament that looks vaguely Char helm like attached to its forehead laughs. "I've won! I've won! There's noone left who can challenge my Harowing attacks! Now Haro rules all!"

"Unforgivable! Unforgivable!"

"Absolutely unforgivable!"

Two Haros enter in synch, with kicks aimed right towards his forehead. "Double Haroic Kick!" Psyco Haro falls onto his bottom with swirly eyes.

Both land, Haro is now dressed in roughly the equivalent of a superhero outfit with a domino mask and a cape, while Haroine now has on magical girl ribbons, complete with a tiara.

"United! United"

"The end! The end for you!"

The Psyco Haro pops up suddenly and lets out a guffaw that very much sounds like the iconic names, "Haro Haro! Haro Haro! Challenge? You challenge me? Weak! See if you can challenge a dozen of me!"

Its mouth opens wide, and suddenly a dozen smaller Psyco-Haros pour out, rolling across the stage, before popping up, brandishing drill arms.

An education PSA pops up again: Reminder! Do not open up your Haro's mouth and place other things inside, you might do permanent damage to your Haro.

The pair respond by stretching out their hands to each other, "Haroine!" "Haro!" Haro grips her arm, then spinning her around, launches her like a bowling ball. Haroine immediately curls up into a ball and careens at the dozen smaller Psyco-Haros, knocking them over like tenpins.

They all screech, before being knocked off the stage, and they all flee up the aisles out of the stage show.

An educational PSA pops up again: Be kind! Don't throw your Haro as an attack unless there is no other choice!

The Psyco Haros eyes flash, and suddenly the lighting grows dim as red beams of light erupt towards the pair as smoke pours out from the point of impact. The Haroic Pair leap out of the smoke, legs pumping as more eye beams erupt. Close watchers in the room may notice the wirework even with the Low-G for the aerial stunt dodges.

Eventually the two join up in mid-air, hold hands, and fall upon the Psyco-Haro with extended fists, "Double Haroic Punch!" Right as the punch connects, all three Haros freeze, as the room grows dark, backlighting them in a silhouette shot of all involved.

-=-=-

All the Haros are lined up on the stage at the ending, the twelve chibi Psyco Haros, Haro, Haroine, and the much bigger Psyco Haro. They all join hands, and take a bow, before leaping into the air, all limbs retract, and the Haros flap their little flaps excitedly.

"Curtain call! Curtain Call!"

"Thanks! Thanks!"

"For coming! Coming!"

"Remember kids! Remember!"

"Important lesson! Lesson!"

"Kindness! Be kind!"

"Be there! There!"

"For each other!"

"Warmth! Bring warmth!"

"Amuro! Amuro!"

The Curtain comes down before the Haros hit the ground. What kind of show did you just watch? What were its inspirations? Well the kids seem to enjoy it given the response at the end.

After the show all the Haros make themselves available for handshakes. Even the Psyco Haros. Their drills are foam tipped so it doesn't hurt anyone to touch them. 

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

"That's a great pick." Rikka enthuses to Chris, as she recounts how she listens to Sheryl's music in the hangar. "I listen to her all the time... She's been a big inspiration to me."

Her face is just /slightly/ pink as she says that, but she quickly shakes it off as she speaks to Akane.

"Oh, you do? Then we should /definitely/ check it out." Rikka says. "Thanks, I'd appreciate that."

She grabs a seat - and, indeed, Rikka's definitely in need of another drink by the time she returns, so she accepts it gratefully.

And then, her attention turns to the panel. There's a /lot/ of interesting things they could take advantage of. She looks with interest toward Akane as she considers the memory drive.

"We'll have to keep that in mind, then..." She politely doesn't inquire further.

Soon enough it draws to a close, and Rikka pulls out her phone to check the schedule again.

"It looks like there's going to be a... Haro stage show starting soon? I'm kind of curious about that..." Rikka says. People in Haro costumes, maybe? It feels like it'd kind of end up being just an advertising bit, but she has to know what it is.

...It turns out, that it's a stage show performed by /actual Haros/.

"...I didn't know they could act." Rikka remarks with interest. She stays quiet through the rest of the production and eventually decides...

"...That was cute. I'm kind of impressed with all the effort they put into that..." Rikka considers, watching with interest as all of the Haro actors bow. For her part... she won't be shaking their hands. But she'll definitely accompany Akane if /she/ wants to. 

<Pose Tracker> Asciel Colette has posed.

        The pursuit becomes fiercer. Asciel's intentionally evading pursuit, partly out of the sheer enjoyment of it. She does, of course, roll past Rikka really quickly, and briefly flashes out after the big show - "Of course Haros can act! They have a more foundational understanding of theater than a human, who must live their life as themselves! It's oh so easy for a Haro to adopt whatever role needed, and to /live/ that role!" before scooting off through the crowd again.

        But eventually, Asciel is stopped in her tracks by something she can't possibly ignore.

        Surely Kikka understands it. The very Haro she holds in her hands is at the metaphorical locus of all of this. There would not be a HaroCon without that Haro right there. And yet she is holding it, like any other Haro. Not encased in glass or treated like a grand celebrity.

        The turquoise Haro rolls and flitters amongst the crowd until finally arriving before Kikka's Original Haro, eyes alight. But unlike most Haros, it does not chirp in that adorable little warble. No, of - of course she doesn't.

        "Aaaah, have I ever stumbled into a wonderful prize! Not any Haro - not the grandest of Haros - but the origin of its repute. The Haro whose deeds were etched into the stars, just as much a symbol as the Gundam itself. Yes, that's right everyone-!" She's more addressing her stream here-"The age of it, the specific light in its eyes- that's /Amuro Ray's/ Haro, somehow in the hands ooooof - well! That's something to find out the tale of!~"

        Asciel begins flapping her little Gamer Haro's wings, mouth opening up 180 degrees to make a full 2-part stage for the holo-Asciel to bow elegantly atop, locking eyes with Kikka. A big bright smile on her avatar's face. "I've got quite the audience here...tell us the story of how you came to hold this most reputable of Haros in your hands!~" 

<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.

        Something /we/ could do, Elisa says, and Yuliana smiles to her, nodding cheerfully.

        But the Haro doesn't like them... "Who wouldn't like /us?/" Yuliana pouts, to her wife. She is blissfully unaware of the teenagers surprised at her lack of imprisonment for her horrific crimes. On the other hand, Yuliana is entirely aware of Ujico and what she must do to her, but if Ujico wants to /enjoy/ being beside her -- well, clearly it's to her credit. "Isn't it all so fascinating?" She asks, of Haro Culture.

        "Let's look into modding, shall we?" She asks, when Ujico prompts them. Of course she's taking Ujico along! Giving her a place to belong is a kindness. (She even let Ujico behold their faces being painted. She's /so/ nice to her comrades.)

        Rin answers her questions, and Yuliana says: "Thank you! You've been so insightful throughout all this." In particular, when it comes to the thought of /mechanic assistant Haros,/ she remarks to her: "Ah! Like a mechanical surgical assistant!" Which is a thought which may well not /just/ cover engineering assistance. But XAIRO is here to talk about how strong he is! And Yuliana... laughs, fingers covering her lips. "Oh, I bet you are!" She assures it. If only she knew /just/ how strong he'd been during the raid...

        And so, Elisa decides they need at least /one/ Haro, and Yuliana smiles. "Of course," she agrees, easily and affectionately. "You always know just what to do..."

        If she's sitting nearby Sonia, she hasn't called attention to it -- unlike Ujico, who /absolutely calls attention to herself./ "Hmm?" She looks around Elisa, to query their strange alien(?) friend. "Do you know him..?" Do all Newtypes know each other? It wouldn't /surprise/ Yuliana.

        Thankfully: she's distracted from Trevor by the presence of a bounding Haro. MAIRO bounces up to her, and Yuliana turns to it, with a bright smile. "Oh! That's great! I'm sure you're a wonderful helper, aren't you?" She reaches out... and /pets the Haro./ "They're darlings," she assures Christina, clearly charmed by the FRIENDLY ORBS.

        And so, they come to the first floor... and a stage! "Hmm?" Yuliana wonders, as she filters into the back row. "What's this...?"

        It's... Leina! Yuliana makes a specific note to say hello, later. This may involve also briefly speaking with Elisa, given how inseparable the two of them are. Surely this is fine! They're /friends,/ after all, and being friends with Yuliana also involves being friends with Elisa.

        Or friendly with Elisa, at any rate.

        It's /also/ a play featuring Haros, which Yuliana is positively charmed by. "Isn't that wonderful?" She murmurs, aside, leaning over to her wife. "They're all so sweet. Look at how enraptured they are," and she means the children intently watching the play.

        "... I want one," she says, and she isn't talking about a Haro this time. 

<Pose Tracker> Naoko Suzuki has posed.

"Grace, then!" Naoko decides on what she'll call Sonia. Obviously calling her Nova is fine. "And same! I mean obviously she understands these things, any sufficiently advanced AI is all about effective multi-tasking." Just to make it obvious what aspect she most cares about.

Thankfully, it's not at all difficult to keep pace with Naoko, even when she had a head start. That's part of the reason why she just hasn't been able to catch up with Asciel's Haro - she can't run very fast without quickly getting winded. This isn't the sort of thing she's normally doing! Nor is bursting into a room filled with many people when something important is in process, but that's also a thing she finds herself doing.

Lucky for her, various other factors have already contributed to things being rather chaotic at the tail end of the panel, so rather than drawing too much attention to herself, Naoko just finds herself staring at the various Haro antics going on in there. "...Now I really want to see the replay of this," is all she can say, before scanning the room for the Asciel-Haro, pointing as flees the scene out another exit. "There! Grace, let's go!"

However soon after... her phone beeps an alert. "Oh no! The show! I have to see the show!" She turns and bows to Sonia. "Sorry, I have to go! If you catch up, tell her I said hi!" And, just like that... she's off. This girl sure has some priorities. But well, it's like Sonia said. She's sure that Asciel noticed the effort she put in. And that's what really counts, isn't it?

With that, she zeroes in on the nearest available Haro Scooter and points in the general direction of where the event is to take place. "To the event stage! Lightspeed!"

The Haro in control obediently repeats, "Light speed! Light speed!" Aaaand proceeds to drive at what it considers to be a very light pace. Naoko groans, realizing her mistake.

"...That's not what I-- ugh, never mind, just speed up! We gotta go fast!"

"Gotta go fast! Gotta go fast!"

That might be a lawsuit in the works, especially considering the scooter and its Haro happen to be blue, but at least it's picking up speed in so far as it's able, handily evading other con-goers as it's programmed to.

In the end, she gets there a little late, but in time for the appearance of Psyco Haro, which is really all that matters. With enough enthusiasm to match the younger children in the audience, she cheers at all the wrong moments, clearly favoring the villain of the play. Not that anyone should be surprised, given it's right there on her shirt.

She sticks around long enough to give the giant Psyco Haro a drill-shake, saying, "You totally had 'em, don't go so easy on 'em next time." Does she... does know what a stage show is? 

<Pose Tracker> Ranka Lee has posed.

"It's nice to meet you Kikka-! I'm Ranka Lee, and this is Alto Saotome." She'd told her while they're on the way to the vending hall.

When Alto says it was a malfunction, "Sure~Sure~" Ranka tells him, all smiles. Though when Alto says it's not what she meant, Ranka gives him a startled look, before looking Akane's way again.

"I might? I'm still thinking about it. Maybe I'll get him a separate one on the way out." Ranka then thinks about it before adding, "With Fire Bomber decals."

Is Alto going to have a second bag to carry? Tune in at the end of the convention to find out!

Ranka furrows her brow as Alto says he can't imagine her doing it, but at the end of him saying so, she harumphs, while pronouncing, "Mean! I can do a lot when I put my mind to something."

No Alto is absolutely correct, don't let her near anything mechanical, ever.

In the end however, once the panel is over, "They really do! I didn't realize that Haro fans had such a vibrant community."

Eventually they're made to filter out of the room, and the flow of the crowd brings them down to the first floor, and in the crowded rush they end up in a room...

"Um, are they throwing a concert?" Ranka murmurs over to Alto, confused about the stage, "There are a lot of kids here."

The show starts in short order, and as it begins, she watches, laughing at the opening scene.

-=-=-

Ranka is now cheering along with the children, now apparently caught up in the show. "You can do it!" She says a little too loudly before, whispering softer, embarrased, "You two have got this, go, go!"

-=-=-

Ranka is, tearing up a little, with tiny sniffs every so often as she dabs her eyes with a tissue from her purse.

"Sorry I'm a little emotional... it was actually really moving."

As she makes an excuse to Alto.

She discreetly tries to shake Haroine's hand after the show, "You were really great out there!" 

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

On the one hand, the stage show itself is interesting to Akane -- she's been to exactly one Tarabaman live event and has /no/ idea to what extent the things that happen there are normal for any other kind of stage show, or even if the one she went to was typical for anything else. Naturally, she /has/ to see this.

(It's really a lot easier now that she's had a couple runs at the convention.)

"It's kinda impressive -- I'm not sure if these are fully preprogrammed routines or really playing off each other," Akane reflects. "This is really neat, though." A pause, as she listens to that voice, and then --

"... wait, that's Leina, huh!" she realizes. "It sounds like she's doing okay..." ... hopefully she's getting through this, Akane thinks to herself. Maybe she should snap off a quick VERTEX DM to her later, at the very least.

A handshake event... that's a little much for Akane, yet, even if it /is/ with Haros. She can admire them from afar, though.

(Akane feels Ranka's gazeline resting on her briefly -- but she doesn't think much of it, pushing her brown-black hair aside and getting a bit of it out from behind her glasses.) 

<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.

"Who indeed?" Elsia replies, and considers this... Not-a-Haro. She may have to investigate...

But not now.

Now, instead she spends time at HaroCon, with Yuliana, with Ujico, and with the thought of these Haros. "Yes," Elisa says. And eventually... She will decide whether it is one, or two, or more. But she is quiet through much of it. She is quiet through the show. "Kindness, and warmth," she murmurs, eventually.

She might even feel those things, in the moment. She regards Yuliana, in wake of this. "Yes," she agrees. "Wonderful."

She reaches to take Yuliana's hand, and smiles.

"...I think that this day will be an important memory," Elisa decides.

"...Yes. Indeed." 

<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.

        Alto and Ranka sort of just get carried by a moving crowd out of one event and into another. Upon arriving, Alto looks around in confusion. He hadn't memorized the event schedules or anything. So when Ranka asks him if this is a concert, he shrugs, "I don't know..."

        ... Then she points out there's a lot of kids. She's right...

        ... Oh no...

        The show starts.

        ... OH NO...

        It's hell! Haro hell!

        Where's the fire alarm!?

        There's a laugh to Alto's side. He looks to see Ranka enjoying the show's opening... Oh no...

        He's doomed.

        Some time later the show ends, Ranka tearing up.

        Alto just has an incredibly defeated look on his face. Is... Is he still breathing?

        Still, as Alto watches Ranka trying to sneak her way up to shake Haroine's hand, a small smile can't help but creep onto his face.

        Of course it's gone by the time she returns, after which Alto says, "Well... That was... Interesting..." Surprising he didn't burst a blood vessel trying to force that one out. Though he does wonder out loud, "Who comes up with these things?" 

<Pose Tracker> Trevor Teach has posed.

The sky is the limit...!

"Oho... So as long as it's a relatively simple function, Haro should be able to handle it...?" Trevor's eye glints meaningfully. "So like... as long as it can interface with the thing, Haro can probably make it work...? Hmmm...!"

Trevor looks to his little round friend and nods. "I think for the time being though, I'm going to get this little guy fixed up right. After that, I can get... creative...!"

He lingers at the stage for a while thereafter, tinkering at the poor, mistreated Haro all the while. The little guy flutters its flaps happily, eyes flashing-- but it makes no sound. Oh no, the voice emitter is damaged too...?

...

A few minutes later, Trevor-- still blissfully unaware that he has BEEN SPOTTED-- makes his way into a hall full of...

Something... he doesn't quite understand?

"Eh...?" Trevor scratches his cheek as the stage show draws to a close. "What was all this...? Some kind of... performance?" "Yaro! Yaro! Superyaro Live Show!"

...Yaro.

Trevor nods slowly, "Ohhh, that makes sense. I have no idea what that means."

Beat.

"Seems pretty cool for the kiddos though...? Huh..." 

<Pose Tracker> Ujico Issa has posed.

        Certainly if Ujico were a Newtype, she would feel a horrifying lack of connectedness just by being near Yuliana. It's not like someone could've just forced shut those connections on her /own/, right?

        It's really so nice of Yuliana and Elisa to include her. They were probably on a date. Married people who go on dates have a higher rate of happiness and security in their relationships! It said so in that issue of Psychology NOW. "Hmm? Oh, I think we fought," Ujico whispers back. "But he wasn't really aggro about it or anything. It was payday stuff for him." Ujico may not approve of mercenaries on principle, but this one has a face and a voice and a pirate theme.

        ...Huh, the two larger Haros look really familiar, Ujico thinks as they leave the hall. But from where?

        The stage show is maybe not entirely the kind of thing Ujico usually goes for, but it's kind of interesting...! The little paper toast!! The costumes! She could totally make some Haroccessories like that, couldn't she? You don't have to be a professional or anything, as long as you're having fun.

        And Apple would look absolutely /adorable/ with, with a little Haro-sized purse or something. She spends the duration of the show /staring intensely/ at the Theater Haros, thumbs rubbing meditatively over the points on Apple's 'ears'. Jiiiii... 

<Pose Tracker> Kikka Kobayashi has posed.

The next leg of this Haroventure takes them to the Haro stage show! Though she's mostly here to watch Leina's performance, always the theatre kid to Kikka's literature kid, she does enjoy the show nonetheless.

The Haroics are /deeply/ nostalgic, and it's the sort of thing that Kikka would think is /the absolute shit/ when she was a kid. She'd like to argue she has more mature sensibilities now, but she can't deny that she enjoys a little feel-good tokusatsu fight.

"Amuro! Amuro!" Haro enjoys the show, too, and of course, seemingly has a preprogrammed reaction to hearing his previous owner's name.

Her cheer is interrupted by the approach of a curious turquoise Haro, who speaks as a human would. "Ehh? No, no, not a prize! Not for sale!" Kikka panics a little at that assertion, and then kind of calms when she realizes she's on some kind of talk show.

"Let's start from the beginning then. Back when Haros enjoyed little popularity, one found itself in the hands of the humble Amuro Ray, just a regular boy who likes to tinker with mechanics. As you might know, White Base carried many civilians - I was one of them. Eventually, this Haro became a gift to the woman who would become my adopted mother - Frau Bow." She explains in full detail to the turquoise Haro.

"That's how Haro came to become a member of the family - it really was just a gesture of young love that never quite came to be. I think that simplicity is part of the beauty of it." She /coooonsiders/ plugging her biography in the works to what's apparently a huge audience. She's not that shameless, though. 

<Pose Tracker> Sonia Sophia-Grace has posed.

"Wh- hey! I wanted to- There-" Sonia pinches the bridge of her nose, sighing as she gets handed responsibility. Somehow, she's not entirely surprised by this, but there's a more important bit, even as she drifts after her, glancing back towards the vendor hall with a questioning- "Safiraaaaa...?"

A distant "Cal-i-bur!" Can be heard in response...

Groan. Sonia looks out the door at the disappearing Naoko, sets her shoulders, puts her hands on her hips, and bites her bottom lip before following Naoko and Asciel-Haro down to the theatre. Yes, she's the last one in, and she isn't wanting to make a hughe scene... Luckily, her brain reasonably works at a fast speed, and she whips off her leather bolero jacket, leaving her arms out and proud for the crowd to (not) swoon over. Well, as they say - no show like show business.

"'Scuse me, ma'am." She says to Kikka, politely, before promptly throwing her jacket over Asciel-Haro. "Gotcha." ^_^ 

<Pose Tracker> Christina MacKenzie has posed.

        Oh, it's Yuliana...Chris smiles at the affectionate attention she gives Chris's partners.

        As the show starts, she finds a place to sit with room for both her Haros. The narration... Chris would recognize that voice anywhere. "Did she prerecord it?" No, that was...that was Gala Leina over those speakers. "No signal delay, she's not streaming... Did she take a separate shuttle...?" Chris hoped deeply that Leina was taking the same advice she had given Chris. She'll message her later. As the show continues, Chris watches, a slight weight forming in her stomach, but not an unwelcome burden. A bit cathartic maybe. Her focus is solely on the stageplay until a lovely little energetic blue Haro zips through, and stops in front of--oh, that girl and her Haro...were at the Villa too. Kiki? No...um... Chris listens in, both Kikka's and Leina's stories making her smile.

        She turns back in time for the big climax of the show! Oh, they're all so coordinated~ She sends XAIRO and MAIRO to go show their appreciation--both bob up to the front and flash and warble together with the Haracters! 

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

"Thank you, everyone, for attending today's events at HaroCon! As we start to wind down, please come to the main event floor for a special presentation!"

What could that be? The majority of guests make their way to the main room. Thankfully, even with the crowd, there's still plenty of space. HaroCon went all out with renting a space this huge!

"This has been our biggest and best HaroCon yet!" A cheerful announcer speaks over the PA system. "All of our staff are so grateful to you, our guests. We hope you've enjoyed yourselves, and we hope to see you again next year! Without further ado -- we have one last surprise for you tonight. An interview with the man who popularized Haros himself -- Amuro Ray!"

Lights dim, and a projected image rises above the crowd.

---

INTERVIEWER: So, Mr. Ray, what do you think the Haro represents? ... Mr. Ray?

Shaky footage of the camera looking around to find AMURO RAY, floating in zero-g, cross-legged and tinkering with a circuit board. He looks completely lost in his own world.

INTERVIEWER: Mister Ray? ... Amuro!!

AMURO RAY: Huh? ... Oh. Is it time for the question? I'm almost done here -- give me just a second... or five minutes... and then I... huh...

CAMERA FEED CUTS OUT

CUT BACK TO AMURO, FLOATING UPSIDE-DOWN, STILL WORKING ON THAT CIRCUIT

INTERVIEWER: Amuro...

AMURO RAY: Right. Okay. I'm done. See, that barely even took ten minutes. ... What time is it?

INTERVIEWER: ... It's been three hours--

CAMERA CUTS OUT

CUT BACK TO AMURO, EATING A SANDWICH

AMURO RAY: Okay. Shoot.

INTERVIEWER: Alright. Thank you. As you know, we're putting together a Haro Convention, and we wanted to know straight from the source: the Haro started as something of an obscure toy line until your heavily publicized feats during the One Year War, where your heavily modified Haro took the world by storm. So -- what do you think the Haro represents?

AMURO RAY: What it represents...? Oh, that's easy. The Haro represents a huge potential in rudimentary artificial intelligence that I think can one day serve as a secondary memory system for humans; see, as we continue to develop in the future, I think the amount of information we have access to will escalate exponentially relative to our capacity to retain it, and--

INTERVIEWER: ... Amuro... no--

CAMERA CUTS OUT

CUT BACK TO AMURO, SITTING NORMALLY

INTERVIEWER: ... Okay. We're recording again. Why don't we try it like this... Amuro, your Haro was with you through the worst of the One Year War. What did it mean to you?

AMURO RAY: Ah. *scratches his cheek* I mean... it was irreplaceable, right? The Haro -- it started as just a hobby, you know? This random little toy I got for cheap that I found out had a base you could modify really easily when you cracked it open. When I was a kid, I kept to myself a lot, and it was usually tinkering with things like the Haro that kept me company. Kept me busy. So it started out as like a little diversion, and then I got more invested in it... and by the time the fighting really started, it was... well. It was always with us. It was always helping. Through all my best and all my worst times, taking care of the kids, helping Frau... it saved our lives, a couple times. It was like family. It's kind of heartening, to see the whole Haro line get a second lease on life thanks to ours. I guess... I don't know. ...

AMURO RAY: I guess to me, the Haro was something that was always there for me. It meant that I never had to be alone. If it can do that for other people, that's all I really need. 

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

Suddenly... a strange Haro rolls past Rikka, and actually reacts to her comment?

"...Uh...?" Rikka replies - a bit too dumbfounded to form an /actual/ response. She watches it go. "The Haros here are pretty, uh... advanced."

For now, though! She finishes enjoying the show with Akane.

"Yeah... good question. I have to wonder what would happen if one were to be interrupted - if they'd try to continue as normal, or adapt to the situation..." Rikka considers. It really has her thinking - but then, Akane makes an observation. "...Oh yeah, you're right, it /is/ her! I didn't notice."

She's impressed - and, kind of glad to see her out doing things, considering the situation. It's a good thing, she hopes.

...Finally, today's HaroCon events are winding to a close - but, there's one last surprise waiting for them in the main room. This surprise turns out to be none other than... an interview of Amuro Ray.

"...I wonder how recent this is." Rikka wonders. Before the Axis Shock - or after being freed from Triple Zero...?

...Either way...

"...It's really interesting to see his take on things..." Rikka notes. "I can really feel his passion for Haros..."

...It's kind of inspiring, really... 

<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.

        Yuliana's cheeks warm, when Elisa takes her hand. She smiles, doe-eyed and loving. "Yes," she agrees, and that's why she wasn't seen shaking the Haro's hands. She was /rather/ too enraptured with her wife.

        Ujico is right, after all! At least with regards to the inference of how happy and secure their relationship is. Yuliana is an absolute fool in love.

        But after all these events, there's a special presentation...!!

        "Hmm...?" Yuliana wonders, as she leans against her wife, looking up at the projection. "Ah, yes... /him./" And her veiled gaze offers no comfort with the recognition. "No wonder he's so... confused."

        Elisa can feel her shoulders lift in a shrug, even if the gesture is arrested by the way she's leaning. "It seems they cured him of that affliction... hmph." Yuliana's not terribly sympathetic about the redemption of /this/ great hero, unlike the sympathies she's shown so many other veterans, today.

        "Still... something that's always there for you..."

        Yuliana's gaze shifts to the side, staring at a section of nothing at all.

        "... yes... if we consecrate these Haro of ours... perhaps they will come closer to the truth. To the 'presence' of truth, watching eternal..."

        She's still smiling.

        It might be pleasant for Elisa, at least. 

<Pose Tracker> Ujico Issa has posed.

        Another day, another successful Harocon. She'd bid Elisa and Yuliana goodbye just a short while ago - after the play, Ujico got the feeling that they were ready to be just the two of them again. And Ujico can only pretend to be human for so long before it gets exhausting.

        Wandering towards the exits, Ujico sips a bottle of tea from her snailpack as the end-of-day video comes up again. It would have been really nice to be able to talk to Amuro Ray, she thinks. He seems like he was a kind person. Even if Ujico wouldn't have very much to say to him other than 'thanks for making Haros a big deal again'. 

<Pose Tracker> Naoko Suzuki has posed.

Naoko by now has just totally forgotten about what she's been doing for most of the con day, not seeking to return to the Virtual Sage Hunt. She may feel stupid about it later, abandoning things when she got so close. On the other hand, she may feel better about it when she considers the fact that she probably would've appeared on-stream if she made it to the end. That's a lot of awkwardness that she got to sidestep by getting distracted.

The distraction is complete with the announcement of that interview. An interview with Amuro Ray? That can't be recent, can it? When and where did they dig that out from?

She listens with rapt attention, even through the initial parts. How annoying that the interviewer interrupted Amuro's initial response. It was just getting interesting!

However, that final sentiment... that hits her more still. Because... it's the same. She was lonely too, until she got support from AI, helping her to not feel alone. Granted, it all happened a little more sponataneously, in her case, but it jumpstarted her interest in working on the same sort of thing. She never would've guessed that they had that in common.

Though, now that she thinks about it... though they agreed to be quiet, her Friends have periodically felt strangely distant throughout the day. What was that all about? She would wonder about that more, but then she is distracted yet again, by another realization.

"...Aw crap, I forgot to get the parts I wanted!"

She may have to come back for that bit of business another day... 

<Pose Tracker> Kikka Kobayashi has posed.

Kikka waves to Chris and her Haros- she remembers seeing her at the Villa, an old friend of Sayla, wasn't she? Akane and Rikka also get a wave. So many new people...

The last part of HaroCon is a total surprise to Kikka, and it kind of catches her off-guard a little. "AMURO! AMURO!" Haro emotes, and maybe catches some of the intense emotions stirring within Kikka. "KIKKA! KIKKA!"

"...Yep, that's definitely the Amuro I remember." She smiles, wiping a tear off her cheek. Imperfect, yet earnest... Mom always said he was never so different from the boy she met on Side 7. "And you'll always be here for me too, right, Haro?" 

<Pose Tracker> Asciel Colette has posed.

        The Holo-Asciel clutches her cheeks, adopting a laid-on-her-front posture as Kikka recounts the saga of this Haro - to think a legendary artifact like this is in the hands of such an ordinary girl! Kicking her legs dreamily, flashing Kikka her most dazzling smile.

        Perhaps - if Haros have captivated the world so much - then Asciel can captivate the world with the original Haro of destiny at her side. But how...

        "Dear oh dear, a truly precious, irreplacable thing for you. And yet you hold it in your hands so loosely - even in this chaotic place where so many Haros roam freely, to the point where even I can slip away into a crowd. I'd at least personally put this one on a leash, though in your position I can scarce imagine letting it out and freely at all! Perhaps I am protective, but I protect treasured things out of love."

        If Asciel is to get her hands on the ~Idol of Fortune~, the mascot that would crown her great staff - then the first step is to slowly nest her way into Kikka's heart - to make herself a being that belongs in the company of this Haro of antiquity. After all, the way humans are willing to part with something precious is if they see a more precious destination - and they respect the way these Haros have wills, have personality all of their own. The breathless smile on the idol's face broadens. She's prepared to ensnare this being, she's prepared to-

        "hey wait WAIT WAIT I CAN'T SEE ANYTHING WHAT'S EVEN HAPPENING-" Asciel flails loudly as she's entrapped in Sonia's coat, the Haro within flapping and rolling around wildly - but it's too late! Her schemes all flagrantly undone, trapped in Sonia's grasp. It really is like trying to entrap a flighty owl...!!! 

<Pose Tracker> Kikka Kobayashi has posed.

"I don't think Haro would be very happy about that..." Kikka replies to Asciel's suggestion to put Haro on a leash. "And we've been through so much on the White Base, a convention is hardly anything in comparison, right? So I don't think anything could ever part us." She asserts, clearly sensing the nefarious intent of this Harosnatcher even without needing to use her Newtype powers!

...Well, it's not like she needs to do anything, as a coat is all it takes to defuse the situation! "Ahh... nice throw!" She manages a thumbs-up to Sonia, the coat-thrower. 

<Pose Tracker> Sonia Sophia-Grace has posed.

"No stealin' grandpa Haro. You'd make my baby sad." Sonia scolds the flailing bundle.

She then grins at Kikka, kneeling down. "Sorry, I know who is borrowing this Haro. She's a mischievous type." Ever so gently, because as much as she enjoys dishing back out on Asciel, she has no want to ever accidentally break a Haro, does she gently free the turquoise one from her jacket, chastely pressing a smooch to the shell with a mischievous grin of her own in the process.

"Now I go to capture my own again!" Off she goes to save Calibur...

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