2023-05-07: Who Is The Doctor In Green?
- Log: Who Is The Doctor In Green?
- Cast: Knight, Gridman
- Where: Junk Shop Aya -- Tsutsujidai
- Date: 2023-05-07
- Summary: Gridman and Knight get together and share their information on BioNet. Knight has some insight into one specific doctor in their midst, though -- and thanks to the Neon Genesis Junior High School Student's connections, they're able to tell him who she really is.
<Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.
Knight -- and his companion, Nidaime -- are wanderers, these days. They go and come and go, and not even their nominal home has much permanent claim, to them.
Where do go? What do they do?
Now they come to the Junk Shop -- Aya, as it's called. Nidaime occupies its keepers in conversation; of the two of them, she is far more animate, far more fit for gossip, and far warmer to suit the hearth. It's a pleasant background track.
Knight, meanwhile, sits at the bar and scarfs down a meal.
Leina has taught him how to use a fork, but just BARELY: his plate is still held in a hand as he transfers eggs from surface to teeth, gnash gnash GNOMPH nomph nomph. It is marginally more dignified than just shoving his face right in the plate.
Marginally.
<Pose Tracker> Gridman has posed.
Sunday morning means breakfast at Aya, a time-honored tradition for the Neon Genesis Junior High Students and their leader. Things were simpler then, even if Gridman was confined to a computer screen.
Today, the five Hyper Agents arrive in a rush of motion, Vit holding the door open as Gridman hops out of Max's arms.
"Yeah, it's an eggs day." Borr announces, strolling in.
Calibur, sideways, makes his way into the Junk Shop, pauses when Knight and Nidaime enter his vision.
"K--knight." Calibur greets, sitting beside the young man.
Max nods to Orie and steps behind the counter, wrapping an apron around his suit. He begins preparing a plate of eggs for Borr, and Gridman's favorite mixture of coffee.
Sky Vitter sits next to Nidaime, actually putting his phone aside. "Gridman told me you grew up, but I still barely recognized you!" He smiles, propping his head on his hand on the counter. "What's your secret?"
Gridman stands back for a moment, watching his comrades settle in, a small smile on his face. Until -- a hand to the small of his back sends him staggering forward.
"Oof! Borr, what?"
They laugh. "Come on. I'm not letting you hang back here."
"Fine!" Gridman throws his hands in the air with a grin. Sliding onto a stool next to Calibur, the Hyper Agent turns to Knight. Yellow eyes are brilliant in the morning light. "Hey, it's been a while. How are you, Knight? And you too, Nidaime!"
Borr nods in approval. Grabbing two bottles of ramune from behind the counter, she leans next to Orie, offering a bottle. "Looks like you're not going to be an empty nester for a long time, huh, mama?"
<Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.
Nidaime and the Junk Shop Gang have a riotous conversation over there. It's great. You should have heard it! (She still doesn't reveal her secret, though.)
Anyway, Knight's demolishing a plate of eggs. He glanced to Calibur and nodded to him, once, before returning to his food. It is a sure sign of friendship.
(So's the sword which means it's a lucky thing Knight's sitting on a stool and not a chair, here. He's keeping it on his person instead of hiding it in himself. That's a statement, too.)
"Gridman," he rumbles, though, when that fellow steps out. It's at least a sound of gruff respect rather than rage simmering over, now. Right? Right. The fact that he's speaking at all, of course, means his eggs have been thoroughly demolished, and he puts his plate down with a clink.
"Thank you for the meal," he offers out, to the aforementioned Gang. He elects to ignore Nidaime tittering about how much more polite he is these days (and the way she takes all the credit). He's a stoic young man, so he can pull that off well.
He looks to Calibur, and then back to Gridman. Four seconds of silence pass, tick... tick... tick... tick.
"I'm well."
SMALL TALK!
<Pose Tracker> Gridman has posed.
Selfies are sure to be taken, promises of VERTEX video collabs given... Knives are sure to be involved. It's great.
Max hands Gridman his coffee and gets to work on the dishes, quite clearly listening in on the conversation between Calibur, Gridman, and Knight. Though his face is covered, there's a warmth in his eyes that betrays a smile.
Much like his student, Calibur has his own swords hanging at his back. Has this man ever experienced a couch, or even a chair?
"Y--yeah, it's me!" Gridman says, nervously. He's never quite sure how to respond when Knight growls his name like that. At least Knight isn't so angry anymore. There doesn't seem to be any danger of being attacked with a buzz saw.
Sip. Gridman looks away as the coffee machine dings.
Max hands Calibur his own drink, something boiling hot with absolutely no sugar or millk.
Sip. Calibur watches Nidaime go on, his eyes slowly tracking back to Knight's stoic endurance.
Gridman makes eye contact with Knight. S--should he say something?
"Oh! I'm glad, um." Gridman laughs nervously, scratching the side of his cheek. "Rikka told me you were at Ranka's concert last week. Did you guys have a nice time..?"
Calibur makes a soft noise, glancing sideways to Gridman, who sighs.
"No, really, we should talk about..." Yellow eyes turn serious. "Kaworu told me a while ago that different groups and people are becoming more interested in Tsutsujidai since... what happened with Hass."
Calibur puts his drink down. "G--Gridman has been running himself ragged trying to keep the city safe from an enemy we know nothing about."
"Yeah, I've been getting in trouble for it." Gridman mutters. "Everyone's got an opinion, but nobody cares enough to actually set up some way to protect the city."
A cup of coffee is put down before Knight. "We are not asking you to stay here." Max rumbles. "But if you happen to hear of a promising lead of any danger to the city, please inform us right away."
<Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.
Chairs obviously just aren't connected to human lives.
Knight listens, still and quiet, though he does offer a -- "Yes. Ranka Lee is a good musician." -- when Gridman asks him a direct question. He seems calmer than he was, anyway, or at least less anguished. Steadier.
He scowls when Gridman talks about the people interested in Tsutsujidai, but that's nothing really noteworthy; his face adopts a frown much easier than a smile.
He lets them talk.
Silence, for another three beats. And then:
"I've been looking."
Where does Knight disappear to so often? Maybe it has something to do with, "I move better on my own." Knight explains it simply, neither boast nor condemnation. "But I haven't found any solid proof."
His lips a thin line, he assures them: "You'll know when I do."
<Pose Tracker> Gridman has posed.
"Yeah, her show was really amazing." Gridman says, almost a little sadly. "I liked it so much, I bought one of those weird phones she has."
Pulling something red out of his pocket, Gridman just kind of... squishes it, then drops it a few inches above the counter. The phone (?) floats gently down.
"I like it a lot, actually, it's funny. I've been trying to name it, but I'm worse at names than Calibur." Gridman playfully nudges the samurai next to him.
A frown. "M--my names are perfect."
Max turns back to the dishes, carefully staying uninvolved.
Knight's been looking. Gridman blinks widely, hope on his face. "You have--? Thank you so much, Knight! I knew we could count on you."
"It doesn't need to be solid." Gridman's face darkens. "Just enough to act on. Yesterday, I met a team of people looking for a BioNet facility here, inside Tsutsujidai. I can't stand thinking about that. No matter what, I'm going to destroy them."
Calibur offers a rare, thin smile. "T--thank you, Knight. D--don't try and take them down alone."
<Pose Tracker> Gridman has posed.
Osanshoo-san remains, by all observable methods, oblivious to Knight's staring. The red creature (?) lays atop the counter, looking for all the world an odd salamander-slug hybrid save for the screen embedded into its stomach (?).
But, at the poke, it deflates slightly, letting Knight's finger squish into its pleasantly-cool mass. Is this thing really a phone?
"Hello," says Knight, and Gridman slowly looks to Osanshoo-san to see if the phone will respond.
Nothing happens.
A half-second later, the screen lights up, accompanied by the first few notes of a familiar tune. Gridman yells and half-jumps in his chair. This causes a chain reaction where Max drops a dish in the sink and Calibur lets out a small, polite cough of surprise.
It's a text message from Kaworu.
"O--oh, I thought -- for a second..."
Flushed red, Gridman takes a very long drink of his coffee, buying time to let his blush calm down. If anyone was going to be able to communicate with Osanshoo-san, it would be Knight, wouldn't it?
With a laugh, Gridman shakes his head. "Thanks anyway, I guess? I'll figure out a name for it eventually. It deserves one."
Calibur observes Knight's movement, his feelings revealed only by a slight tightening of the skin around the samurai's eyes. Knight has been through much, and he's bravely endured it. If his student was a Newtype, perhaps he could feel the pride radiating from Calibur. Or perhaps, in his own way, Knight will recognize it all the same.
"I hate that they're in the city." Gridman watches Knight as well, not picking up on the gesture as easily as his comrade does. "Once we've driven them away from Tsutsujidai, the Neon Genesis Junior High Students and I can turn our attention outside more easily. We won't let any of them escape."
"T--thank you." Calibur responds, simply.
<Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.
Gridman yells. Max drops a dish. Calibur coughs.
And Knight...Snickers, an absolutely savage grin across his lips for an eyeblink. "Idiot," he damns Gridman for being fooled by his phone, entirely too amused.
Then it's gone, as if he'd never smiled.
No one will believe them.
When he agrees, straight-faced: "It does," he's stoic again.
And 'if' Knight were a Newtype, he might have a sense of that, yes.
... but he doesn't need his intuition to know that much.
"They might not live there," he says that much. "Now we've left. But Alexis Kerib is not the only predator there." His gaze drops, to the side, for a moment. "... I don't know her name," he says. The words taste like an apology, though the word's not there.
<Pose Tracker> Gridman has posed.
Knight actually laughs, and smiles. Calibur regards this with an even, emotionless look, but Gridman half-flails his way to standing, pointing at the young (older than him, now) man.
"You! You smiled!" He insists, a wide, doofy grin on his face. "I saw it!"
Calibur reaches up and puts a hand on Gridman's shoulder, lightly pressing his comrade back into his seat.
"I saw it." Gridman insists to Calibur, who regards him calmly.
Max, at the sink, clears his throat. Definitely not adding a laugh of his own to the situation.
"H--her name?" Calibur prompts, as Gridman mutters to himself, poking Osanshoo-san. "W--who do you mean?"
"We are well aware there are far more horrors than Alexis Kerib." Max speaks up. "Celebro is a high-priority target, as well. If you have someone else you are hunting, we will, of course, add our strength."
<Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.
"Guess so," Knight replies, stoic. He is far too direct and honest to lie about it, but he's not above using his unsmiling nature for a gag.
If only BioNet were as funny.
Knight scowls, fingers tightening about his elbow again. "I don't know," he says, again. "She's the doctor... the doctor in green. Dark skin, long purple hair... Meltrandi. I think."
They might what Anti said in Death Knight's crushing grasp: 'But the doctor -- the doctor in green -- she told me I had a chance..! I can't leave it half-finished, either..!!'
"She keeps her promises. But she doesn't keep the same values. She has strange powers, and an interest in kaiju. She wanted to fight the Vessels of Light... or to help me. I'm not sure." His frown deepens, looking down at his hand, remembering those flaking scales. "She wasn't bothered by the DG Cells. But she took my blood in exchange for helping me back into Treasure Robotics, since I didn't want to run away. I gave it willingly, but I regret it. I don't know what she wanted it for."
A light pause, "... I don't know what she did with it."
It bothers him.
<Pose Tracker> Gridman has posed.
"Next time, I'm going to get a picture." Gridman promises, his smile turning wicked. "I'll make it my phone background."
"S--stop that." Calibur murmurs, patting a hand against Gridman's forehead, to a quiet "oof" from the young man.
Gridman pulls Calibur's hand away from his face, growing serious as Knight describes the 'doctor in green'. Yellow eyes look from Max to Calibur.
"I can't think of anyone like that..." Gridman murmurs.
Calibur shakes his head. "Y--you mentioned a doctor in green once before."
Gridman tilts his head, then nods, the memory coming to him. "That's right! That was so long ago now. If she has something against Vessels of Light, maybe I could draw her out... We could find out what she's planning, maybe."
Max dries his hands and pulls his phone from his suit jacket. "I will ask our Shuffle Alliance contacts. A doctor with that many contacts must be known to someone else."
"I--interest in kaiju and a willingness to help." Calibur frowns. It's more of a deepening of the lines around his mouth. "T--that's too familiar. K--knight. If we find this woman, how would you like us to proceed? S--she sounds formidable, especially with access to DG cells and your blood."
After all, Knight's blood must be one-of-a-kind. What could be created from it?
<Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.
Will Gridman get the impossible picture..?!
Not right now, he won't.
"Mm," he agrees, when Calibur sees it, though he's quiet as he finishes listening. "She's pleasant, but she isn't pleasant. She's like Alexis Kerib, that way. But... not entirely. She was more honest about what she said out loud. My chances, and how her power would just kill me when I was that weak. Where she got the sandwich, too." What sandwich? The one she fed him, obviously.
"But there's more she isn't saying. Actually, I think she threatens Alexis Kerib. She said she told him she wouldn't interfere with Akane Shinjo." A light pause, "I wasn't part of the deal, so she interfered with me, instead."
It's a quiet little comment on his status in the family; disposable, and thought of last or not at all. Knight doesn't verbalise his own pain readily, even now. Nor the cruelty in pointing it out, to him, again and again.
"She said she was sympathetic to broken things. She called the world broken, too. She said it was fascinating I had blood..." Most kaiju, as it happens, don't. Anti didn't, for the longest time. Rip into his heart, and his suit would tatter, all filled with nothing inside.
Knight frowns. "She's dangerous. She appeared when I needed help, and I was too suspicious to go to Alexis Kerib... I don't know who she's manipulating, but she's good." He assumes, of course, she is; people like her always do. "But it's convenient for us if BioNet is divided inside, too. If she doesn't get along with Alexis Kerib, that's something we can use."
Knight, after all, was part of BioNet once too.
Is it any wonder he'd entertain underhanded tactics like that?
<Pose Tracker> Gridman has posed.
"Like Alexis." Gridman growls a repitition of Knight's words, understanding what he means perfectly. "She fed you, but threatened to kill you... What a strange woman."
"N--not that strange. T--trying to build trust and fear." Calibur murmurs. "M--much like Alexis."
Gridman sighs and turns his coffee cup around in his hands, nodding. How can some people be so manipulative so easily? How are there whole systems in place of how to control others?
"If she threatens Alexis Kerib, maybe we could use her to fight him. Maybe she could hold him in place so he can't teleport away when we find him..." Gridman wonders aloud, looking into his nearly-empty drink. "I'm so sorry she treated you that way, Knight. Maybe she isn't the type of person we could make a truce with."
"N--no." Calibur intones, finality in his voice.
"Alright." Gridman respects his comrades enough to accept Calibur's decision. "She sounds like a creep anyway. Calling you broken, threatening you... What the hell. Do you think she's actually a Hyper Devil? Being able to appear like that?"
Calibur makes a contemplative sound.
A grim smile from Gridman. "Yeah, if we can turn BioNet against themselves--!"
"Excuse me." Max rumbles, stepping forward to the counter. He places his phone down (notably, a normal smart phone. It seems only Gridman was charmed by Oshansoo-san.) "I believe we know who she is. Dr. Elisa Kafim -- a known entity to our allies."
On the screen is a slowly scrolling gallery of a woman, who must be Elisa. Pictures range from very normal to concerning -- is she standing next to a woman with a winged headdress?
"That was fast. She doesn't look like a Hyper Devil, I guess." Gridman says, swiping through the pictures. "What's her deal, Max?"
"Elisa Kafim," Max begins, "has otherworldly powers. Teleportation, monster summoning, and jewelry that harms those who are psychically sensitive. She and her wife express anti-Newtype sentiment, and appear to be gathering followers for an unknown purpose in the REA."
Gridman blinks. Once, then twice. "Huh? Anti-Newtype... Then what'd she want with Knight?"
<Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.
"... she didn't threaten to kill me," Knight corrects them. "She gave my death as the reason why she wouldn't offer me her own power. And she didn't hide the fact that Death Knight was dangerous. But that's different to a threat."
He doesn't hold any particular affection for Elisa, but it's important to him to be accurate on the matter of threats versus warnings.
And he'd rather be accurate about this: "She didn't literally appear, either."
Knight leans over, to look at Max's scrolling list of images. He confirms, "... that's her. Elisa Kafim... the doctor in green."
He confirms, as well: "I can hear people when they're calling out. Maybe it's like that." Newtypes, that is.
"But... she summons monsters." Knight frowns. "She was fond of me, because I was a kaiju. But she never wanted me to fight for her... she just helped me fight when I didn't know how to attack space in Death Knight."
It's strange, he doesn't go as far to say.
<Pose Tracker> Gridman has posed.
Gridman's ideas were all wrong -- perhaps he's a little too eager to find a power equal to Alexis', someone to help take down the Hyper Devil. But ultimately...
"That's a good thing, I guess. Less powerful evil people is better." Gridman looks at Knight in surprise, then. "Really? Gai can hear people like that too, maybe you should talk to him. That's such a cool power, I wish I could do that!"
All Gridman has is this dumb Primal Accepter, messing up his sense of fashion and always slightly itchy. He can't even take it off!
"That is supported by the data here." Max responds to Knight, scrolling to an image of what seems to be enormous serpents in midair. "Otherworldly beasts, it seems."
"I--it makes sense she'd have an interest in you, if she deals in such creatures." Calibur mutters, darkly. "E--even if she was fond of you and helped you. I--I'm sure she would've tried to use you herself soon enough."
Gridman scoots Max's phone closer to himself, leaning on the counter to read Elisa's file's text. "It says they're having regular meetings for their Anti-Newtype stuff. We could just go by and attend one." Gridman looks up to Max. "It's not like any of us are Newtypes, we'd be fine."
"Hmm." Max rumbles. "Knight, did you speak of Gridman in your meetings with Dr. Kafim? Is there a chance she would recognize him, or any of us? I do not believe it would be wise for you to attend one of these meetings yourself."
"Yeah." Gridman agrees, sliding Max's phone back. "I don't trust her. I don't think you should risk it, Knight."
<Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.
Knight actually looks surprised when he asks Gridman: "You can't hear their hearts cry out?"
He didn't copy that from Gridman..?
"She knew I wanted to crush Gridman," Knight points out, dry. "Everyone did. It wasn't a secret." Coming from someone else, that might have been a joke, but Knight's just stating the facts. "But I don't know whether she'd recognise you as you are now."
Gridman does get awfully compact when he's not fighting.
"But... you're right. I shouldn't go." He frowns, down, at his hands. "I know how dangerous someone like that is. And I can hear what I'm saying, too." Even if it's accurate to say Elisa kept her promises with honesty, Knight's been through this before, and he's not about to fall for the same trap that hurt his sister.
"Samurai Calibur, Battle Tracto Max. Gridman. I'll leave it to you."
Gridman's not the only one who can trust important things to his rival, huh..?
<Pose Tracker> Gridman has posed.
Gridman shakes his head. "No, I can't do anything like that. I've just got the Accepter." He raises his left arm, displaying the arm band. Calibur mirrors him, pulling down his suit sleeve -- revealing a Primal Accepter, identical to Gridman's. "It hasn't done much since Akane stopped making kaiju, but it rang once when Celebro attacked NERV..."
A frown. He hasn't really thought about that, actually. Why did the Accepter respond to Celebro? It's not like the thing's a kaiju, and certainly not made by Akane...
Max chuckles softly, closing out of the Shuffle Alliance database and slipping his phone into his suit jacket once again. "Yes, you were very clear about your intentions. But as long as Dr. Kafim does not know how Gridman looks in this form, I believe we will be safe."
"Y--you are too distracting." Calibur says to Max, pointing to the mask. "I--I'll be the one to accompany Gridman."
Arms folding before his chest, Max glowers at Calibur. A squabble breaks out between the two men, and Gridman looks around his comrades to Knight, smiling.
"Sorry about that..." Gridman shrugs. "It's happening more and more lately. I think it's a good sign, we're all becoming real people. Oh, uh, I'm not sure you heard, but... The Neon Genesis Junior High Students are all fragments of my soul. Alexis broke them off when he stabbed me."
It's kind of a heavy thing to drop over coffee.
"I think the arguing means we're all becoming more distinct." There's a proud little smile, even as Calibur lets out an annoyed groan over whatever Max is saying.
Knight expresses his trust in Gridman and the NGJHS, and in harmony, they blink. Once, then twice. The Max-Calibur argument ends on the spot. Glances are exchanged, and then Gridman smiles widely.
"Thank you, Knight. We won't let you down!" Gridman raises a fist, determination shining in his eyes. "I'll message you as soon as we know anything more. And please keep us updated on your fight with BioNet."
Calibur reaches out, patting Knight's shoulder heavily. Once, then twice.
"G--good job, Knight."
<Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.
"I see," Knight nods, as if Gridman were just dropping morning gossip over coffee. He's unshaken by the implications, apparently. Or he just... accepts them.
"I copied you all, and I'm no longer a kaiju now. Fragments can become their own people." What was he, after all, if not a fragment of Akane she carved off of her soul and shaped with clay?
A piece she didn't need for herself any more...
He looks to Calibur and Max, in their squabble, and nods just the once.
"I will," he affirms. "Good."
But there's Calibur, clapping his hand on his shoulder, and Knight's own heart is overwhelmed with that pride -- that acknowledgment.
"... good," he says, again, but softly.
He's not dissatisfied with how it all turned out.