2023-05-12: Honest Meeting! Two Linked By Hyper Devils
- Log: 2023-05-12- Honest Meeting Two Linked By Hyper Devils
- Cast: Akane Shinjo, Takeshi Todo
- Where: GGG Orbit Base
- OOC - IC Date: 0097-05-12
- Summary: Gridman Sigma finally makes real, honest connection with Akane Shinjo. The two talk for a while about the script Akane's been on, and the original actor.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
Orbit Base has become pretty familiar for Akane, without yet being totally familiar. The weekend has come, which means it's time for her to head up and start work on another operations intensive; she's still not at her best when it comes to feeling prepared for midterms, but this part she is prepared for.
... then again -- does she really have to be super prepared for midterms? It's not like school has ever been that hard for her, in terms of studying. Akane's just grappling with having to learn new things.
Akane's usual routine for these types of things goes fine. A stop in at Medical (this time she needs to get a few vaccine boosters -- travel makes that important!), dinner, the gym, and now... a conference room. She needs a space to draw -- she's gotten behind on art a bit. (She does have a backlog and some doodles to post to keep her To-witter active, but...)
She taps the butt of her pencil against the paper a few times, seeming a little creatively stumped.
<Pose Tracker> Takeshi Todo has posed.
Orbit Base has also become pretty familiar for someone else entirely-- because this isn't the first time he's been aboard a permutation of the facility. He once lived here with many of the others, observing their lives and habits from the electronic haze. His best friends, then, were the intelligence operatives, the Super AIs, and Guy Shishioh-- all because they were the people his host used to surround himself with.
Yes. This someone is only a 'person' in a loose sense of the word. He is not human at all, but an agent of hyperworld wearing the face of a human near and dear to his heart. Hyper Agents aren't often able to experience life as a temporal being, but in this way perhaps he is... lucky?
Though given the circumstances, he seems anything but.
The door to the conference room opens with a hiss of pneumatic actuation and slides aside. Someone wearing Takeshi Todo's face enters the room. It had caused a bit of a stir when he had first (re)joined-- after all, his partner is still very much a slave to Cosmic Will-- but once the situation was explained... Well, GGG has always been open minded as an organization.
"Ah... Miss Shinjo," he says with a smile. There's a laptop under his arm... As well as a whole host of scrolled up documents, sheafs of paper and a canvas bag full of an assortment of electronic parts. "Sorry to interrupt. Were you looking for a quiet space to work as well?"
Of course, this person is not just Gridman Sigma, Hyper Agent. He is also... Mr. Todo, Akane Shinjo's Math Teacher. Formerly, anyway.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
Sitting up a little straighter as she hears the door open, Akane resists the urge to immediately ask if she's interrupting a scheduled use of the conference room; there's nothing posted outside, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's not scheduled. She... can let whoever this is say if they need the room. She looks up, and --
"Todo-san?" Akane starts, though she quickly catches herself. No, that's definitely not -- she's gotten up to speed on 3G's history in the time since she joined. Trying again, she offers instead, "... Gridman Sigma?" It's so strange to see another Vessel of Light in human guise, even still.
"Ahaha, yeah -- though I don't really mind the company," comes Akane's eventual answer, looking a little sheepish. "It's a big conference room. No big deal. I actually kinda wanted to pick your brain at some point anyway, if you're up for it!"
Considering her approach, she eventually says, "... thanks for the extra assignments. I don't know if I ever got great at the 3D modeling thing, but it was at least something to do? And it gave me an excuse to study with Rikka every now and then, too..."
... she trails off there, staring off into space with a content smile. Yeah, she's gonna need a second to get back to focusing. Or some kind of stimulus.
<Pose Tracker> Takeshi Todo has posed.
Akane no keep it together you came here to do art you can't just keep scribbling cute sketches of you and your girlfriend in the margins of your notebooks--
"Ahaha, so you know as well," 'Takeshi Todo' answers with a sheepish chuckle. He's double-tasking, talking as he sets up his makeshift work station. He places some weird, vaguely turtle-looking gadget on the table and hooks it up to his laptop. It opens with a 'pop,' revealing... complicated internals. But probably not from any angle other than 'right on top of it.' "I'd be happy to help in any way I can. It's only the least I can do after... everything that happened in Tsutsujidai."
"I wanted to apologize as well," he admits, resting a hand atop the open device as if to put it out of his mind. "I should have tried to do more, as a Hyper Agent, about what Alexis had been doing to you. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive my... cowardice."
Beat.
"...Oh, it was no problem at all! Truthfully, I was only handing down what I had learned from an old friend. 3D modeling was a forte of his. I thought it would be a good way to... try and help how I could." Though clearly it probably wasn't needed. Akane managed to wake up, after all. "I meant what I said before, though. You do have quite a brilliant mind. Hyper Devils... they seem drawn to brilliant people. I wonder why...?"
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
"I guess it doesn't seem like that if you're noticing how much class I skip, but I do a lot of reading. I used to doomscroll but getting up to speed with 3G internal documents is kinda the better option," Akane answers, with a small shrug. (She's half-lying. She still does a lot of doomscrolling.)
Sigma apologizes, and Akane... looks down and off to one side. "You did what you could. You were in a pretty crappy position, and Alexis is pretty scary. Still..." She's not sure what to say -- so she tries, "Thanks."
It sits a little awkwardly -- but she's still figuring out how to navigate the waking world. It has to be okay to stumble through a conversation every now and again. She flips over a new page in her sketchbook, trying to clear her head a bit...
When he volunteers the idea that Hyper Devils are drawn to brilliant minds, though, Akane blinks. "I don't think I'm quite on that level. ... What's the story there, though? Like... I think I kinda half picked up the idea this isn't you and Gridman's first rodeo somewhere, but I don't really get what happened, and it's mostly too old for there to be 3G reports to flip through."
The more she thinks about it, though, the more she wonders... "Or is this one of those 'that's not my story to tell' kinda deals..."
<Pose Tracker> Takeshi Todo has posed.
Everyone doomscrolls. It's the right of all sentient beings. Including Hyper Agents! Maybe... especially Hyper Agents. What else does a Gridman have to do as a pass-time while stuck inside a computer? There's doomscrolling, people-watching, video games, and of course trawling the depths of the network. But nobody wants to spend all day doing that. There are... things in the dark corners of the web that nobody should have to witness, least of all a Being of Light.
"I'm sure there's quite a bit to catch up on," Sigma agrees with a nod. "GGG has existed as an organization for quite some time. And if you're going to war with Oath Over Omega, then you'll need all the knowledge you can get."
And so, as it turns out, Gridman Sigma still has an opportunity to act as a teacher... of sorts. History is somewhat different from math, though.
"...Yes," Sigma sighs, setting down a little screwdriver, "He is. Especially when you're suddenly made aware of your own mortality. Especially when you know you are essentially only alive at his mercy." He shakes his head. "I should be thanking you. Bringing Tsutsujidai to life has given me another chance to make things right."
But then-- history.
"Ah, yes," Sigma shrugs, "...I'll tell you. Though I admit that Takeshi would probably resent me for bringing to light his dark history, I think he'd forgive me given the circumstances." Not just that it may be important for returning him from the grasp of Triple Zero, but also...
Well. He certainly reacted strongly on Akane's behalf the last time. Strong enough for his will to even briefly overcome Oath Over Omega.
"Years ago, there was another Hyper Devil," Sigma begins-- and winces as he wishes suddenly that he'd prepared a presentation of some kind, but alas he has not. "He was called Khan Digifer. Much like Alexis Kerib did to you, this Hyper Devil attached himself to another brilliant-- but isolated-- young soul, a boy named Takeshi Todo. Even back then, Takeshi was incredible. He mastered the fundamentals of computer programming from an early age, and went on to become an expert in his own right. But he could never properly relate to his peers; isolation and arrogance had nurtured the darkness in his heart, darkness which Khan Digifer took advantage of."
"Much as you did with your models, Takeshi created programs which Khan Digifer would transform into kaiju. These kaiju would rampage through the Computer World, wreaking havoc anywhere it and the physical world interfaced." So basically anywhere computers were used. "Pursuing Khan Digifer was a Hyper Agent by the name of Gridman. After a long conflict, and together with a trio of human allies, Gridman eventually confronted Khan Digifer, but it was only by reaching Takeshi's heart that he finally defeated the Hyper Devil."
Beat.
"Well. That's the brief summary. I enter the story a little bit further down the line," Sigma shrugs, "Suffice it to say, Takeshi went on to have a successful career and eventually joined GGG himself. That you're following in his footsteps is heartening to see. This... is a good place. A place where hearts like yours and Takeshi's can heal. He'd found friendship after Khan Digifer, but... it was only when he came here that Takeshi discovered people who could understand how his mind really worked."
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
"Less than you'd think, but more than I expected," Akane admits, rubbing at the back of her head as she thinks about it. "And I mean -- some of this is stuff I lived, but even then, it's kinda like, 'Wait, this looked like that from the inside?' Crazy stuff."
The mention of going to war with the Oath Over Omega gets her thinking. "I already know a lot -- some of it from the inside, even, since there was that period where they were protecting m... well, protecting my kaiju, anyway." THey weren't really protecting Tsutsujidai, and she knows that at this point. It's a little frustrating to think about if Akane dwells on it -- so instead, she moves right along with Sigma.
"Ehehe... I guess that's true," she agrees, rubbing at the back of her head. "I'm still getting my head around it. Some days I feel guilty... some days I feel like it was a really good thing -- but then I start feeling grateful to Alexis and then, just, eughhh."
%In the end, though -- they end up talking about the past. Akane looks from side to side, nervous -- is this really stuff she should be hearing...? Things about the real Takeshi Todo -- things he didn't necessarily...
... it reminds her a little of Alexis telling her all about Alouette -- but at the same time, it's very different. Even Sigma seems conscious of the issues involved here. Maybe a little jostling here and there just happens, when you're human.
She listens, and only when Sigma's all done does Akane offer a, "Huh. ... it's kinda wild that there's a pretty direct pipeline here. Though..." How much of that is within Alexis's design, she wonders to herself. He does seem to have some fondness for narratives -- maybe even her finding her way to 3G, just like Takeshi, is part of...
... that's definitely over-paranoid. "It sounds so familiar, haha... Gridman and his three human friends, reaching out to some sad nerd." There's a wistfulness, almost, in the way she says it. "I dunno if I'm quite that big a deal, though. Like -- I'm not some breakout genius programmer or anything. I'm actually having a kinda hard time with school lately!" ... though she does have to give herself the credit of, "... mostly because it's all in my third language, but still."
Awkwardly, she wraps up at, "... Thanks. I guess it's nice to hear that someone who went through the kinda stuff I did could make it to -- what, 40?"
A few gears turn in the back of her mind, but she's not quite to a revelation yet.
<Pose Tracker> Takeshi Todo has posed.
"...Mmn. I believe they thought that they could make use of Tsutsujidai somehow. Use it as a wedge to break reality somehow. Of course," Sigma shrugs, "That's just the logic of Triple Zero. The people serving it-- at least, the members of GGG-- would never take advantage of someone like that if they were in their right mind." That's the insidious thing about Triple Zero. You're still 'you,' but your morals are all twisted around.
But it's not a topic on which anyone should dwell. Especially not these two.
"I'm sure, given his character, he'd like nothing more than to know you were thinking of him like this," Sigma drawls with a hint of-- sarcasm? Can Hyper Agents do sarcasm?? Well, Borr and Vit exist, so... probably?
Takeshi and Alouette, though... Do have quite a few similarities. Maybe if Alouette had never crossed paths with GGG, it would have been her that the Hyper Devil would latch onto?
"History rarely repeats," Sigma says, as if reciting something profound he'd seen in a book some time ago, "But it often rhymes. Ultimately though, what matters most is the unfortunate person at the heart of the conspiracy, not its perpetrator. Still... it's odd. Very odd," Sigma strokes his chin. What's odd? What's very odd...?
"...Those fog kaiju-- Venora. Did you know that they were originally Takeshi's design? 'Poison Smoke Kaiju - Venora.'" Sigma frowns, his brow creasing thoughtfully, "...And that... box cutter. The yellow one. That was his, too. In fact, I believe it was his, perhaps not merely just a copy. When I saw it, I thought it could be just a coincidence, but in retrospect... It almost feels like Alexis was trying to follow Khan Digifer's path to the letter. But... doesn't he realize that Digifer lost in the end...?"
...Alexis Kerib, what's your angle here...?
"Don't be so modest," Sigma says with a smile that breaks through the Hyper Agent's malaise. "You created a city, Miss Shinjo. And so many Kaiju besides. That kind of creativity isn't a common trait. Few humans have the heart or mind capable of achieving such things. Once you decide how you want to channel that creativity, I'm certain you'll be able to do many great things."
Beat.
"Ahhh, is he getting close to 40...? I suppose so, haha. I think he's just a little younger, though. Spending years lost in space-time, plus the 'benefits' of Triple Zero... Well. I'd recommend not reminding him of his age, once he returns."
Getting old is... a sensitive topic.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
"Yeah. I try not to think too hard about it," Akane admits, thinking back to the way she'd shouted at Mikoto -- then mumbled that she was 'barely even a real person' at the time. That's... going to be a lot to unpack, once they get her back. ... and they will bring the rest of 3G home.
Akane owes it to 3G, and she's learning the value -- bit by bit -- of paying her debts.
"Yeah. I get that that's the point, but still." She hangs her head, then lets out a sigh, looking down at the blank page in front of her.
"I knew they were someone's original design, but I updated the gas. I'm pretty sure I needed them for a way different purpose than Todo-san did." The knife, though -- that surprises her. "... huh. Alexis gave that to me the first time I needed to make a kaiju." Where did she leave it...? Is it still at Aya?
"Hm." She walks her way through it -- if Alexis is following someone else's losing script... why? She can't make sense of that one in the least. "I gotta think on that one." Maybe she shouldn't think on that one, but now it's gonna bug her.
That wistful, awkward smile comes back as she's told she'll be able to do great things if she wants to. "... I," she starts -- and then cuts herself off. In the end, she doesn't know Sigma that well -- and expressing the thought she's having is a little too scary.
The last topic, though... "... Sure, but no promises I'm not gonna rib him for having extremely old-school kaiju design tastes. Let me guess, his favorite Tarabaman is like, S."
Akane, 'late 30s' is a very different age from 'pushing 60'...
BBSYS: Post 884, 'OOC: New Student Officers' has been published to Gathering to Unite Transnational Schools by Milly Ashford.
<Pose Tracker> Takeshi Todo has posed.
"That's probably for the best," not thinking too hard about it, that is, "The longer you stare into the void, and all that." Though what happens if two voids stare into one another? Surely Alexis would never be so foolish as to shove Triple Zero into the space in his heart that Akane had once occupied, would he...?
But that-- is true. They will be getting the rest of 3G home.
Somehow.
"He'd intended to use Venora to... make a factory produce more air pollution," Sigma says, sheepish on his friend's behalf. "I'm not sure why he thought that was a good plan, but it was probably the Hyper Devil." Or maybe Takeshi is just REALLY BAD at big plans because even today he's a spiteful and cripplingly hyperfocused nerd. "I don't think it would have helped Tsutsujidai much if your Venoras were producing toxic fog, no. Probably entirely counter-productive, in fact."
"So, Alexis is the one who gave you the knife..." Sigma turns contemplative again. Should he tell her? The context of how that knife was used... matters. As does the outcome. That's where they are separate, Takeshi and Akane. Only one of them successfully used that box cutter, after all.
...
If he doesn't bring it up now... Will Alexis use it at a critical moment to drive a wedge into Akane's heart...?
The risk is-- too great, he decides. Even if it hurts her, she needs to hear it.
"There is something you should know about that box cutter," Sigma begins gently, "It may be difficult to hear. But like I said, history often rhymes. Once, circumstances caused a... an 'alternate version' of Takeshi to materialize. This one was everything my Takeshi was not. He was bright, outgoing, beloved. Takeshi could not tolerate it, seeing someone with his face living the life he desired. So he came at the other Takeshi with that box cutter-- but stopped short from killing him. I believe he remembered something critical about himself in that instant, which eventually helped him break free of Digifer's control."
"I understand that things went... somewhat differently for you," Sigma adds, his tone cautious. "But even still, you emerged from that place of deepest dark. You survived, and that is crucial. I'm sure I don't need to say, but Hyper Devils prey on the weakness of the human heart. And in surviving that ordeal, yours is far stronger than Alexis Kerib realizes."
Beat.
"I'm sure the two of you would have... passionate conversations about kaiju aesthetics," Sigma says, wryly trying to not imply his best friend is a GIGANTIC NERD with antediluvian tastes. "Oh, that's another thing. Another of your designs was similar to one of Takeshi's. The... violet, intelligent one-- Anti, I believe?"
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
"... Wow, that's kinda old school. I never quite went for that kinda stuff, even when I was really hamming it up -- but like, I get the appeal? Sometimes something's just bugging you and you want to break something over it." Akane can empathize with that much, at least. "And yeah -- I, uh. Actually, maybe I don't wanna talk about that one after all."
She scoots that right along -- and Sigma ultimately gives her something else to think about, anyway.
... and she has to think about it rather a lot. History often rhymes but doesn't necessarily repeat -- and... mmm. She swallows, as she hears that Takeshi never quite crested the threshold of actually planting a blade in flesh. ... it kind of speaks poorly of her, she realizes, though at the same time...
... it nags at her a little more. What is Alexis up to? Does he just want to prove he can run the same plays as Digifer and win more...? Or is there something more complicated happening? "... I don't think I'm that strong. People keep telling me that, but like -- I dunno. I'll try to keep it in mind, but..."
... there's more than one parallel she sees in this story, now, and the pressure those parallels apply to her feels heavy. The last point, though --
"His name is Knight," she corrects, without much heat in it. "But that one's kinda interesting, because that was his pick, not mine. I sculpted him as a human! But still..." She thinks back. "That's the one that showed up in Tsutsujidai at the same time I did, right?" She made the decision to examine those reports very carefully. She needed to know exactly what debts she was repaying. "What's the deal there? The handheld weapons show a really interesting sense of design, but they kinda seem like a weird pick for a kaiju..."
<Pose Tracker> Takeshi Todo has posed.
"Takeshi used to create Kaiju like that all the time," Sigma says, because as it turns out he's an incorrigable gossip who has been waiting to find someone he could tell DARK HISTORY stories to for a very long while. "At one point, someone tried to scam him into buying a faulty home security system. So he created a kaiju to ruin that specific person's business. Another time he made some kind of... rebellion-inducing hairdrier kaiju? That one I didn't quite understand." Takeshi Todo was a very petty young man. He also probably had no idea what repercussions that SECOND kaiju would have on at least one person's love life.
...But the conversation moves on-- and probably for the better.
"...Even if you're not," Sigma adds, gently. "You're also not alone. That's the other lesson that you mustn't forget. If you're not strong enough on your own, there are people who you can rely on, bonds you can lean on. And if Alexis did go out of his way to create a link between you and Takeshi, then that too is a bond that you can draw strength from. At least, once he's himself again." Being bonded to someone mainlining orange crush and cheeto dust is probably not the healthiest thing in the world.
"Knight, then. Apologies." A kaiju that has gained self determination? It's not the strangest thing in the world, considering the existence of the Anosillus family. Sigma smiles wryly at Akane's observation. "It is odd, isn't it? Shinobilar is actually one of Takeshi's favorites. He designed it to be adaptable and intelligent. The weapons it uses are a lot like Gridman's Assist Weapons in intent, made to allow it to deal with different situations. Of course, having discrete weapons makes it somewhat less impressive than your 'Knight,' but Takeshi would create new adaptations for Shinobilar after each fight, too. Unfortunately, I don't think he ever got around to giving it a 'heart' as developed as the one you granted Knight."
Beat.
"Also, they're ninja weapons because Shinobilar is... meant to be a Shinobi."
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
Despite herself... Akane still enjoys kaiju talk, at least a little. "Haha, wow... I get it, but it's a whole different way of looking at kaiju from mine. That's kinda wild -- I wonder if there's something... hm. I guess kaiju are just another way people can express themselves." A pause, before she adds, "When, uh, they're not just a big lizard or a bird or something." It's so strange that everything from 'a big animal' to 'a dragon born out of a girl's heart' falls under the same umbrella...
When Sigma reminds her she's not alone, Akane... has to chew on it a little. Her fingers draw down the sketchbook, and then start tapping a little anxiously. "I get that -- but that's kinda the problem, too. If you're not alone, other people are on the hook for the stuff going on with you, too... kinda cuts both ways." She hasn't fully wrapped her head around the freedom in bonds just yet, even if there is some part of her that's starting to awaken to it. "I guess, though..."
She has something easier to dig into, anyway. "That's kinda what happened with me, too. Once I saw Gridman could pull junk out of nowhere I decided I needed a kaiju that could change. Different approach, but not that different." Glancing off, she admits, "Though I think part of me was kinda like, 'can't this be someone else's problem?'"
And then the obvious part comes out. "Oh my god. Though, like... I was naming kaiju after four-character idioms from an anime I watched in middle school, so I can't totally bag on him." A beat. "I kinda like the STORAGE designations best, though. 'Ghoulghilas' has a really nice ring to it!"
Turning that over in her head, she notes, "I'm kinda surprised how easy you are to talk to. Then again, Gridman's kinda the same... I guess Vessels of Light are kinda just normal, once they get to spend a little time with humans. Just like anyone else, right?"
<Pose Tracker> Takeshi Todo has posed.
Kaiju are fascinating things. Forged from human hearts, it only makes sense that they'd resemble animals that they're familiar with. It begs the question though: What kind of kaiju would a blind person make? A deaf one? "That's a good way of putting it," Sigma agrees. "With any creative act, a creator puts part of themselves in the work. With kaiju though, that's a little more literal. That's why creating so many in such a short span of time is... unhealthy. It'd be bad enough if it were just 'seeing something you worked hard on be destroyed', but there's a bond between creator and kaiju, too. On some level, a kaiju reflects its creator."
Even if what it's reflecting is one's Inner Giant Bird.
"Hmmn." Relationships are... hard to understand. Especially when someone hasn't really let themselves be part of one before. "That's true, but... What is heavy for you may be light for other people, and vise-versa. So by forging bonds, one lightens their burden-- and that of everyone around them."
But it IS a hard concept to internalize, so Sigma doesn't push further.
"It does make me wonder what it means that Shinobilar has been remade again," Sigma says, thoughtfully. "Not just because of what abilities Takeshi might have given it this time, but... he's very different now than he was before. His heart has more in it than it did. Nevermind the influence of Triple Zero... I admit I might be overthinking it, but still." He shakes his head, going back to shoving something that really shouldn't fit into his little device. "Anyway, that's a pretty common urge. I think a lot of people would rather not have to deal with hardship. But maybe that's why he's 'Knight' now. 'Knights' often handle problems that their 'Princesses' can't deal with on their own, don't they?"
Of course, Anti is kind of... doing other things right now.
"I don't even know if Takeshi had a theme for naming his kaiju. Some of them made sense. Magnegauss was a magnetic kaiju. Volcadon used fireballs... Maybe the theme really was just 'what does this Kaiju do...?'" Which is a lot less original than Akane's theming, that's for sure.
"I'm flattered that you think so," Sigma smiles. "We are beings of communication and bonds, though. I suppose it's only natural that we're easy to speak to." It falters a bit, then, "I worry for Gridman, though. Their situation is... different than mine."
Something goes 'beep beep beep! beep beep beep!' Sigma pauses and pulls a GGG beeper of all things out of his pocket. "Mm, seems Intelligence needs me to examine something Volfogg brought in. I'm afraid we'll have to pick up our conversation another time," he rises, collecting all the sundry bits and pieces that had been piled up next to him. Somehow, the pile of 'spare parts' seems to have diminished significantly. But-- where'd it all go, even...?
"We'll have to speak again soon," Sigma inclines his head genially, "I enjoyed this conversation."