2023-05-31: Final Preparations ~RELIEVE~
- Cast: Akane Shinjo, Alouette Pommier
- Where: Garuda, Assessment Room C
- Date: U.C. 0097 05 30
- Summary: To the outside eye, Aumerei has succeeded in finally breaking Alouette. In actuality, no one has given up: an escape plan is in motion which takes full advantage of Aumerei's posturing and Alouette's skillset.
<Pose Tracker> Aumerei has posed.
Assessment Room C. For there to be opportunities to experiment without generating electronic record, there must be places where cameras and microphones do not reach. So it goes that Aumerei has called for Alouette to be brought here, then.
She's wearing a suit that's a little more her color -- the same purple as the hoodie she used to wear, with a pink tie and white shirt. Her expression remains flat and disinterested as she waits oh-so-patiently for Alouette to be brought to her.
---
The guards do bring Alouette. Aumerei's star seems to be rising. To all appearances, she really has been as willing as she says she is to play the sick sorts of power games that lead to thriving in this environment.
The door shuts behind Alouette as she's shoved in with some force. "Hi, bestie~. It's been a little while, huh?" Aumerei asks, leaning back. "So how do you see this conversation going? What do you think you've already done?"
She crosses her legs, then smooths out her skirt a little. "Are you scared?" A dark tentacle starts to creep up her leg. A thin fog seeps into the room from everywhere and nowhere.
<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
For all she was the reason she found herself on the Garuda in the first place, Alouette hasn’t even had barely any opportunity to see Aumerei’s face since Dakar.
Well, she doesn’t look /bad/ is her first thought. The combination of pinks and purples feels like the most colour she’s seen her whole time on the ship.
For her own part, she’s wearing something nicer than previous days, because she was so very cooperative, you see. It’s a frilly blouse and skirt that somewhat resembles her style, if superficially.
And indeed, she is cooperative, following closely behind the guards. She... doesn't have a reason not to hear what Aumurei has to say.
Alouette gives her a sideways look when she calls her 'bestie' again. She's not sure what to feel about that - it feels forced compared to the friendship they actually had.
“How do I expect it to go? Well…” Her gaze meets Aumerei's pale pink hair, and then her dark red eyes. “I'm not sure what I have left to give you, Aumerei.” She shakes her head. "I think.. I've done things that I might not be able to take back.” She concludes.
The tentacles appear from Aumerei’s legs, just like they did when she interfaced with GaoFighGar. And that fog... just like what enveloped Tsutsujidai. A simple question next, and in turn, Alouette provides simple honesty.
“Yes.”
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
Akane watches Alouette as she answers her questions. It would be terribly easy, she realizes, to make the lie the truth. There would even be some advantages to doing it. There's a lot of Alouette that could be hers.
But she's already had that. She can't go back to playing God.
"I see," she starts, adjusting her own tie. Her lips curl up in a smile.
"... Don't worry," Akane says. "I know it feels that way. But the truth is... you haven't done much of anything on this ship." She looks off to one side -- then forces herself to look at Alouette. "We're getting out of here. I think to make this work we're going to have to trust Audrey and Banagher to help Leina, because that cockpit's not gonna fit four, but..."
"Alouette," she says, swapping off of 'bestie.' "I'm sorry for getting you involved, but I didn't have a ton of options, and --" Her voice hitches a little bit. "I do need an editor for this story."
A long moment passes before she adds, "You didn't give up. You didn't lose. They aren't in the process of making countermeasures for Final Fusion or whatever. This is pretty winnable."
<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
When Alouette answers her questions, tells her how she feels... Aumurei, or Akane, smiles. It doesn't look like one of the fake ones people put on in this ship all the time. It's a real smile just like she remembers it.
And then Akane tells her the truth. "I don't remember doing much of anything on this ship except sleeping and staring at the ceiling, honestly..." She'd been relying on the guard's words, but she wants more than anything to trust Akane's side of it.
Akane tells her they're getting out of here. And they're not making any compromises and sacrifices, even if it means placing their trust in Audrey and Banagher.
"Perfect. All of us... we have a lot of work to do when we're out. But a lot to look forward to as well." She hopes that the concerts and music she tried to remind Treasure Chest of aren't so distant after all. "There is no future in a place like this." No matter what fancy clothes they've been dressed up in.
Apologizing for involving her, Alouette isn't quite yet in a position to tell Akane 'it's okay' or something of the sort. It's always complicated. But after a short pause, she nods at her offer. "Deal. The ending could use some work, don't you think?" She adds, with a ghost of smile.
Before the smile becomes more defined and real as Akane assures her she never gave up, that they have opportunity to turn the situation around. "And neither did you give up. I know you hate losing, so let's claim our victory, shall we?"
"I don't have a lot to work with, but if I could get the slightest opening on the Garuda's control systems, I think that'd be our chance. Even if it's just some nobody intern's passcode." Her eyes looking a lot more spirited, alive, than just a few minutes ago, she adds, "You've seen what I was capable of doing to Orbit Base."
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
"I don't think you have been doing much besides sleeping and staring at the ceiling? The plan was to get you to think you'd already lost so by the time we had any time to deal with you, you'd just assume it was already over and go with the flow." Akane talks matter-of-factly about this part, at least. "That kind of play is cheap and easy while they're balancing too much stuff going on."
The idea of getting a nobody intern's password holds some appeal. But they can do better, she thinks. "Hrrmmm... I actually think I know exactly how to get you that," Akane muses aloud. The tentacle slides a little bit down her leg... then back up... then down again. "And, uh -- yeah. Yeah, I have. No home field advantage this time, but..."
She trails off a little. It still kind of sucks to think about that one.
"I can probably get you something better, now that I think about it... but we're going to have to do something a little bit, uh..." She grimaces a little as she thinks about how to explain it. "... basically, I think they'll buy that I just kinda broke you for funsies. I've been putting /that/ thought in everyone's heads the whole time, ahaha..."
Her shoulders sag a bit. "Oogh. I wish we had more room to move."
<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
Alouette listens carefully as Akane explains what was really going on. "That makes.. a lot of sense honestly. All I really had to go off was what the guards were saying, and what they were saying sounded really bad, so..."
"Between that and my memory trauma, I'd say it was pretty effective." She grimaces. "I jumped to a lot of conclusions too? I thought Alexis brought in CK-12 or something, and I had to hope I had enough built up resistance to plant a trap in whatever code I presumably gave him."
Shaking her head, she adds, "It's almost really hard to adjust to knowing none of it was even real after all."
But moving back to the matter at hand, Akane confirms that she can help with her suggestion of obtaining a password, even if they don't have homefield advantage this time. "Whatever deal you made with the doctor is probably the closest thing we'll get to that. But it's better than working with nothing." ...She's still unnerved by those tentacles, a little bit.
"I'll do it." She replies, unhesitantly. "Anything that improves our odds of getting out of here." She takes a deep breath - actually acting this out is going to be difficult, but she can do it.
"...Me too. I hope we never have to see these people's faces again."
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
"That's actually not far off from what I was pitching to /Martha/," Akane notes. ... it makes her feel a little more confident that Alouette actually hasn't been tampered with in her absence. Whatever else is true, they do have somewhat similar thought processes.
Akane glances off at the difficulty adjusting. "... haha, yeah, it's difficult, right...? It's hard to know what you can and can't trust. I'm pretty sure I'm making my own choices, but..." There's a little anxiety as she concedes, "I'm missing time too."
They could be walking straight into the biggest trap out there without even knowing it. But even if it's a trap, they have to act like it's fine.
"I think I can get you access to the monitoring station for a test with Rikka -- if you play along with me a little." She knows this is going to look like she keeps stealing Murasame's projects, and he's not going to like that, and will probably want to have another talk with her.
... that part serves her purposes, too.
"I think we should act like I did more or less the thing I... did to you in November, again," she pitches, after a little consideration. "I've been acting like I'm pretty pent up and regretting not going harder during couch time, too... uh -- this might be a little weird, but, do you mind going down at least three buttons and wrinkling up your shirt some?"
<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
"Definitely." She nods, as they both seem to face similar difficulties in understanding what's real and what isn't, and what's trustworthy.
"And it sucks because if we're going to pull this off, there's no margin for error and no room for doubt." Alouette takes a deep breath. "Hopefully, we'll have plenty of opportunity to make that time up."
So they'll start with a "test" with Rikka, she sees where it's going. Getting themselves all in the same place at the same time is perfect.
Alouette squints for a moment, when Akane pitches what happened in November. Not just during Bujack, but November specifically. She remembers, of course: "Gosh, I don't think I ever really.. fully processed that." She laughs, nervously.
"Although I needed to face it eventually. Okay..." Another deep breath, and then she flusters and looks off to the side, hand on the top button of her shirt. "Don't forget that I'm acting, alright?"
And it's done. "Is that everything?" She asks to confirm. "Then let's not keep Rikka waiting."
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
"Ahahaha... yeah, but like -- what else can we do, right? If one of us is already messed with we're walking into a trap," Akane concedes, "but not walking forward kinda means accepting that we're stuck in the trap."
There's a bit of an awkward pause, as Akane admits, "... uh -- for the record, you're cute but I don't actually feel that way about you. I just couldn't really --" She pauses, loosening her tie and standing up. After a moment, she ditches the blazer, too, throwing it over her shoulder instead. Tick, tick -- two buttons for her. She needs to look like she has a little more presence of mind than Alouette.
"Hey, hold your horses. I'm not that fast," Akane teases. "Anyway... maybe we can talk about it more when we all get out of here, okay?" She doesn't want to rush it while they're in here, but just the same...
"Okay. Five minute breather, then we head back out there," she says, firmly. "Thanks, Alouette."
<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
"If we do nothing but wait, we lose anyways," Alouette agrees. "And I'd much much rather lose trying than lose waiting."
And then Akane admits something, and after she cuts herself off, there's just silence for a few moments.
Until Alouette breaks it by laughing. "Good! Rikka deserves that attention from you much more than I do, more than anything right now." Her tone becomes more serious towards the end of that sentence.
"And we're so similar that it'd just be a little awkward... I'll take the compliment though." Alouette tugs one of her curls. "And I told you this before, but I'm glad we're friends anyways." She smiles, genuinely, as Akane gets herself ready.
"Sorry, sorry. I guess I'm just anxious to leave because I hate the atmosphere in here," Alouette admits. Although the privacy of the assessment room really did come in handy in this case.
"Hey, actually... if we still have a little time, is it a lot to ask for a request? Even if it'll probably require another excuse?" Her blue eyes look back up.
"I'd like to collect my pager. It's almost definitely non-functional right now, so I'd have to fix it later. But it's not /just/ a pager. It's a memento."
With that, she stands up, trying her best to stay strong while looking weak.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
"You're dating now anyway, right? I feel like a polycule that spans most of NERV just isn't the play, hahaha..." Gesturing a little, she admits, "God. I want to be with her so bad. I want to be with her so bad. ... and yeah -- I'm glad we're friends too."
The pager... that gives her a little pause. "I'll try. I know where our personal effects are stored. Mine should be in there, too -- and I know mine isn't working." She thinks about it, and then muses, "... Yeah, I'll come up with something."
When Alouette mentions hating the atmosphere, Akane agrees, "Yeah, it sucks in here." There's a little laugh, as she takes the time to add a few more wrinkles to her shirt. "This is just a little too menswear for my tastes, too... like, I'm filling out and could probably pull it off even if I dropped the act, but it does make me kinda self-conscious..."
The tentacle continues to recede down her leg, as she thinks. The fog thins. "If you only get time to do one thing to the systems... open the doors? Free movement helps a lot."
Standing up and stretching, rolling her shoulders a little, Akane says, "Okay, bestie~," slipping back into character in fits and spurts. "As far as anyone else needs to know, I just got you comfy and rocked your world, okay?"
('rocked your world?' akane are you 90???)
Putting an arm around Alouette enthusiastically, she heads for the door. Once Alouette understands the plan, she steps out and says, "Aaah, nothing like letting someone else do all the hard work and skipping straight to the fun part," with an arm around Alouette's shoulder.
<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
"Certainly." She nods, about dating. "And like... part of my trying to stabilize myself and make sure it's still me was remembering all the things I was going to do to fluster her. So don't feel bad for me." She says, with a totally straight face.
"Yeah, I think.. whatever the Evangelion kids have going on is enough." Alouette laughs at the mention of a NERV polecule, which the Eva kids are not but somehow it's a mess anyways because they're pilots fresh into high school.
Akane promises to try for the pager though, and that gets Alouette's eyes to brighten. "Thanks... it means a lot."
"It's not a bad suit or anything," Alouette considers. "But if we were shopping and I saw it, I don't think it'd be my first choice for you either. Maybe on Rikka if it was in a different colour." Talking about fashion feels grounding somehow.
But it's nearly time to begin the operation. "Understood," she nods about the doors. "Whatever I can do for Banagher and Audrey, too, if there's a chance."
One last deep breath, as she gets into character as well. She doesn't say a word to Akane's musings, letting a cloudy expression speak for itself... even if her mind is actually working overclock to work out this escape.