2023-06-10: A Bird is Safe in Its Nest
- Cast: Rita Bernal, Yuliana Kafim, Michele Luio, Zoltan Akannen, Koji Kabuto
- Where: The Science Fortress Laboratory
- Date: U.C. 0097 06 10
- Summary: Sheltered by Koji Kabuto, Rita, Michele, and Zoltan settle in to the destroyed Science Fortress Laboratory. When Yuliana and Koji stop by to check on the unlikely trio, miracles and fateful decisions greet them.
<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
====== BEFORE ======
The Science Fortress Laboratory was Kenzo Kabuto's stronghold during the Mycenaean War. Where the Photon Power Research Institute devoted themselves to being a symbol of peace, fighting a defensive battle against Doctor Hell's Kikaiju army... This facility was used for a different kind of fighting entirely. The kind of battle you go into knowing that the fate of the world is on the line, and the only way out is the absolute destruction of your enemy.
Is it any wonder Tetsuya Tsurugi turned out the way he did, with such a duty hanging over him?
Although the Science Fortress Lab's final stand against the Mycenaeans, off the northern shore of Japan, was nine years ago, much of the devastation from the battle still lingers. The hull of the Sea Fortress Demonica lies sundered at the bottom of the bay. The Lab's control tower lies in ruins on the shore, vines and moss ensnaring the wreckage as nature overcomes the scars of the battle. It's a blessing that the Warrior Beasts were powered by the Mycenaeans' incredible geothermic energy collection as opposed to the atomic-powered Kikaiju, or reclaiming this land might take several more decades.
The Lab itself stands decapitated just off a small peninsula, a bridge extended from it to the mainland, but the interior of the rest of the facility remains functional. Some dust still lingers in the corners, but the Photon Reactor has stirred to life once more, and the computers and security systems are active once more.
Koji Kabuto left a message to his new guests two weeks ago: "Approach these coordinates from underwater; I don't want too many people to know the lab is back up and running. Hangar 3 will be available for your use."
====== NOW ======
A three-wheeler OCU truck has crossed the bridge, and a man in red-and-brown biker leathers and a jacket is unloading something from the back - a cylindrical case about three feet tall. Carrying it is quite the laborious process, even with all the modifications he made for portability... but it is manageable.
Koji Kabuto makes his way down to Hangar 3. Before he opens the door, he raps on it - a three-beat rhythm, repeated.
tatap tap. tatap tap.
The agreed-upon codesign.
He opens the access door into the hangar, setting his cargo on the service lift and starting to ride it down to the floor. He watches the golden Gundam crouched in the launch bay for a moment, before shifting his posture slightly, gaze scanning the hangar for the Lab's other guests.
He doesn't speak, leaning on his package. He's still getting his words in order; so he waits.
<Pose Tracker> Zoltan Akkanen has posed.
There's a particular sense of impatience radiating from one man. Nothing that screams "Extraordinary Escape In The Making", but more...Muted patience that was slowly whittling away while waiting. Waiting for what? ...Anything, really.
The past three weeks were spent in a static sort of manner; Grumbling, glaring over at the Golden Phenex with the sort of hatred that being a target of ire over a period of time would result in. There's a few music discs nearby, a few pieces of classical music that laid in a neat stack, a CD player blasting some concerto or another as his finger traced a lazy arc through the air, mimicking the symphony. Not as good as the classics, but what could he do, especially when everyone had him on lockdown?
The rhythm of the door comes through loud and clear, the failed clone giving a derisive grunt as the elevator lowered. "Yo." There's not even the slightest intent to be polite. "Any good news from outside, or is it still a hellhole and a half?"
Like he thought of the world any other way.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"Where's Rita?"
It is a question which echoes through time, asked again and again, once and once more: "Where's Rita?!"
And there are others, certainly.
Anyway.
Yuliana's come here in a Desmatz N -- it hasn't been retrofitted yet, but this is as good as any an excuse to test whether the wanzer she's procured from her friends has any faults they need to address. Underwater operation is the hardest terrestial environment she can push something like this in, after all.
... the last time she came here, it was in a /Tendus./ They weren't /quite/ as obsolete, nine years ago, but even then they were /old./ It was just the kind of thing a Private could... procure... from the mechanist's yards without raising too many alarm bells.
(She still got an earful when she finally brought it back, but since she'd found victory, she wasn't reprimanded too harshly.)
The Desmatz has more legs and more sophistication, but it parks in much the same way. When Yuliana hops out of the cockpit, though -- she's wearing a cloak, over her normal suit. It drapes, obscuring, about her neck, and falls down her back, black against the green of her suit. She hasn't bothered to bring the helmet with her, getting out. She doesn't anticipate any /trouble./
For some reason, when she jumps down -- tragically, she was made in much the /same/ way as a Cyber-Newtype, so clambering down a wanzer's legs because she can't be bothered waiting for the gangway is entirely within her capacity -- that cloak doesn't flutter /up,/ terribly much, as if it's weighted down. Anyway.
"Oh, it's still a hellhole," she remarks, lightly, as she lands. She glances to Koji, as she adds: "Though... not so much a hellhole as it was the last time this tower was in service."
<Pose Tracker> Rita Bernal has posed.
--- BEFORE ---
Koji Kabuto, honoring Rita's faith in him, replies to her call for help with a place... she's never heard of! She knew islands existed, of course. She even knew Japan existed. But somehow the combination of the both never occurred to her. Despite everything... she's a little excited to see it.
The Phenex was extremely hesitant to get into the water, for Rita's sake. Memories of old isolation tanks bubble to the surface of her spirit whenever she looks at deep water, and the ocean is no exception. It took a long conversation between the Phenex and her Heart to get her to take the underwater route Koji outlined, and even then, she stuck close to Brick's transport ship the entire way.
Upon arriving, the Phenex darts out of the water, spinning in the air to dry herself off. If she was a bird, her feathers would be ruffled in distaste. Thankfully, Rita's curiosity quickly wins her over, and the two begin exploring the island. It takes only moments -- soaring back and forth once -- before she returns to her companions.
I found hangar three. I'll clear the way. It's very, very dusty.
With that, she flies off again, and by the time the others arrive at said hangar, Rita has psychically gathered all the dust in a single pile in the very center of the floor. She seems unsure what to do with it.
--- NOW ---
In the time between their arrival and the Wing Zero's appearance, the Phenex occupied herself by 'fixing' the island. Koji was kind enough for let them stay here, she may as well help out in return! The Phenex has not left the hangar, but nothing says Rita's spirit can't wander.
The hull of the Sea Fortress, and much of its surrounding debris, has been deposited on the far side of the island where Rita hopes it won't be seen. She's excited to show him -- sure, it's rusted and a little gross looking, but she put it back together as best as she could. Covered with a layer of sand, it won't be /immediately/ seen by any satellites or passing planes. She wishes she could help the tower, too, but that'd be more noticeable. She'll ask Koji about it when he returns.
Her efforts extend to the other hangars. All buildings have been cleared of dust (except for a giant pile in the very center of each one). The plants have been cleared back away from paths. Rita has even been experimenting with sand art -- that is, using her psychic powers to create little patterns on the beaches. The first time the waves washed them away, she became a little upset.
Zoltan and Rita have... existed together without killing each other. At first, she kept pushing his hair into his eyes when he would glare at the Phenex, but once he brought out the CDs, she began spending actual time with him. She's never heard music like this. Usually, Rita simply floats nearby the CD player, eyes closed as she listens to the classical songs. The silence is broken on occasion to ask Zoltan the name of the song, or the composer, or how it was made.
...and then a Newtype flash hit her, strong and vibrant. It was never a question of /if/ she would answer. In the middle of the night, the Phenex left a trail of sand from hangar three to the beach, where she wrote:
I will come back.
In the sand.
Days pass.
On Friday, she returns, again under cover of darkness. The Phenex has clearly been in battle -- she's damaged, though Rita's slow efforts at healing the Gundam have made a difference. Halting her extreme speed just before the island, she floats into the hangar, settling into her designated space.
Hopefully, nobody will be too upset. It's what had to happen, after all.
Morning turns to afternoon, afternoon turns to evening. Koji Kabuto approaches, and Rita lets her companions know. It's not like anyone could sneak up on her, so she thinks having a signal is a bit silly, but Rita realizes its important to him, so she plays along.
The golden Gundam moves toward Koji, carefully and slowly. One hand raises in a wave, then begins to sign. <Hello, K O J I! I am happy to see you. Did you see? I fixed the sunk object. It is on the beach. Do you want me to fix the tower?>
Yuliana appears, shortly after, and the Phenex makes heart-hands immediately. <Y U L I! I like your cape! I didn't think you would come here.>
<Pose Tracker> Michele Luio has posed.
Michele wasn't outwardly impressed by the lab, but truthfully, she could admire a superhero base. She remembered her old comic books, back when she was young and free. But there's no time for reminiscence.
She's spent the two weeks managing provisions and making sure Zoltan doesn't burn the place down.
When Rita left, she micromanaged Zoltan less. Even he could tell she was worried, probably. But when Rita returned, Michele played it cool - even if Rita could EASILY tell Michele was worried. Once she saw the damage, she definitely frowned.
"Kabuto...ah, Kafim. We've kept the place in good condition, don't worry. And Rita, well...appears to still be playing vigilante, but I can't fault her for that." Michele can't fault anyone at this point.
"...thank you, for letting us use this. I know you're doing it for Rita, but..." Michele says, in a moment of vulnerability. She needs to fix her footing with the PPL.
<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
"Still a mess," Koji agrees with Yuliana, "but there's bright spots, if you know where to look."
Both Zoltan and Michele get a... look from Koji. He knows the runaway Luio scion is trying to ingratiate herself to him.
"... You both are going to have a lot to answer for, when this is over," he says, flatly, before looking to the Phenex. "... but Rita's ideal future has both you and Jona in it, Michele, and I made a promise." Then, to the Gundam: "You dredged up the Demonica? ... Not a bad art sculpture, I guess."
"So!" He claps a hand on the device he's carrying with him. "We can get started by making communication a lot easier for all of us. Akkanen, give me a hand with this." He gives the Sleeves pilot a look that brooks no argument and starts carrying the case towards the Phenex.
Opening it up, Rita will recognise it immediately. It's been modified so that it can actually be moved more easily, but it's the same LIDAR-based holo-emission device he built for her at the Photon Power Lab. Holding out a cable to Michele, he says "This plugs into the external port on the psycoframe so Rita has direct control over it."
Once it's hooked up, he runs a few basic checks from its control panel, and then... "Okay. Rita?"
<Pose Tracker> Zoltan Akkanen has posed.
He's been cordial enough to give Rita the information she wanted....After a first few rough brushes off, holdng up the back cover and trusting (read: frustrating) Rita to figure out the rest on her own. It didn't take many more attempts for him to just start saying out the pieces in full; Titles, composers, symphonies, and how they related to others. Even the types of arias was recited by memory, an occasional grunt about this instrument or that. If anything, Zoltan knew his classical compositions.
Michele...Is dealt with more brusquely, but more of the tempermant of someone who knows they've been played. Lip service, a few motions here and there, but he's at least helped tidy up the place. No small feat, but its something to do.
That being said, the sight of Yuliana gives him no small comfort. A nod in greeting, already standing up thanks to Koji's directive. At least he won't be loafing around. It's no small feat to carry the case, but with the power of Two Men, it makes its way in front of the Phenex easily.
"Mmh, you're still going at it? A few punches isn't going to pull you down, so don't die before you've had your comeuppance." Acidic words at the Phenex, keeping an eye on the panel. Readable enough. "Take it no one's seen Jona yet."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Yuliana scowls, and swipes a hand at the air, as if to brush Rita's heart-hands away. < I was near here,> she insists, with rough gestures in the REA's style, <and had something else to do, so it was convenient to visit through this path.>
'Just passing through', then.
Surely everyone believes that.
She looks to Michele, and sighs, beleagured. "Is that so? Well -- so long as she's returned." Yuliana, of course, wouldn't know anything about being a vigilante. She doesn't have time for it, between selling people all these bridges.
"Tch. But the Demonica's a /tacky/ sculpture," she adds, the corner of her lip pulling up contemptuously. Why is she /so mean?!/
She watches with some suspicion, as Koji and Zoltan set up the LIDAR device. She does /not/ come and help, which is probably because she's the meanest lady and has nothing to do with her proxmity doing terrible things to the Phenex. Her hand rests at her hip, head tilting as she watches the whole affair.
/She/ doesn't know what's coming.
"I haven't gotten anything on Jona," Yuliana sighs, reaching up with her other hand to brush her bangs back. (They frame /either/ side of her face, now, so that scar down her left side is more plain to see.) "But Rita /does/ has more eagerness than sense, you know. Common maladaption." A little wave of her hand, as if that explains just why /she/ keeps jumping into beam magnums. "And if she's facing up to her personal demon, here..."
Her fingers veil her lips, as her endless green gaze slides over, more or less, to Koji. (It's a little hard to tell.) "You really ought to offer her your support on a /combat/ level, rather than -- whatever /this/ is." And her hand fans out, index finger extending, to gesture to the LIDAR apparatus.
<Pose Tracker> Michele Luio has posed.
"I know." Michele says, with a sigh, in response to Koji. But he made a promise... and people like him don't break promises.
When handed the cable, she nods. No reason to distrust him. She hooks it up, and then steps aside.
"Damn, you made a machine to talk to ghosts? If I was my sister, I'd be asking for a quote."
Michele sighs again, before turning to the demonstration machine with curiosity.
"Jona will likely make himself known at the worst possible time. We should be combat-ready at all times."
She doesn't like the idea of it. "We'll save him. Don't worry, Rita."
<Pose Tracker> Rita Bernal has posed.
<We're okay, M I C H E L E.> Rita tried to reassure her, moving one of the Phenex's enormous hands to delicately brush Michele's shoulder. < It won't take long to heal. The pilot was like J O N A. I had to show him another path.>
Unless she is asked, that's all Rita will offer for an explanation of her time away. Though -- Zoltan may notice her spirit occasionally brings a hand to her lips with a pleased, playful expression.
Every time Zoltan holds up the back cover of an album, Rita attemtps to pull it away from him psychically, bringing it close to her spiritual eyes to examine. She's never been very good at reading. They're always given back, even if she holds them /slightly/ out of his reach, so he has to stretch to reach the albums.
I never thought you'd care about stuff like this.
Rita admits, kicking her legs in the air as another aria floats around them. She rarely looks directly /at/ Zoltan, even if her words are clearly meant for him.
How did you learn about this music?
< I don't know what D E M O N I C A is. I thought it was something you would want returned. Is it bad?> If Yuli doesn't like it... A pause, and then, <You brought it! Will it really work here?> The Phenex signs, excitedly, at the sight of Koji's projector. <And Y U L I 's here!> Just passing through, huh? Even the Phenex's metal face seems to smirk at that excuse. <How lucky. I'll sit down.>
With that, the Phenex returns to a more out-of-the-way space by the wall, kneeling to give Koji access to the ports he'll need. For a moment, nothing seems to happen. Data gathers above the projector, formless, blinking in and out of existence. The Phenex glows a slightly brighter blue, power transferring from the Gundam to the holo-emission device...
...and the image of a woman appears above it. Hovering in midair, her image filled in pixel by pixel, Rita Bernal's avatar again comes into existence. She wears a brilliant green dress, sleeves hanging just off her shoulders, the bodice tight around her chest, and the skirts flowing silkily around her legs. As ever, she wears no shoes, and as ever, her golden hair falls to her mid-back in long, cloudlike waves.
Green eyes open. Everything she sees is in tones of red and violet. The world spins, at first, as she re-adjusts to semi-physical sensation. Hands raise, fingers folding and stretching out again. One step down from the projector, then another. The ground meets her.
"Thank you, Koji." Rita says. Her voice isn't an exact match. There's something electronic about it, but it's very, very close. Breathy, sweet, soft. "How far will this one allow me to go?"
Everything is calibrated. Rita stretches her arms up over her head, then laughs. "I never thought I'd experience this again! Michele, Yuli--!"
Rita opens her arms and runs, grabbing Michele's hand, then Yuliana's, pulling them both close enough to her that she can embrace them simultaneously. The hug is long. Rita only pulls back when she absolutely has to, her eyes filled with simulated tears.
"I never thought... It's like I'm a child again." She laughs, sniffling, though the tears vanish when they fall from her cheeks. "I can't feel you, not really, but you can feel me. That's what matters."
Yuliana's scar... It wasn't there the last time they were this close together. Rita reaches out, as if to touch it, but doesn't quite make contact. Yuliana wouldn't like that. "Aren't you the one who bragged about her adventures on the battlefield to me, even as an engineer?" Her head tilts in such a familiar way. "Maybe I learned 'eagerness' from you, Yuli. I missed you."
Rita turns to Koji, then, rushing to him and hugging him tightly. "You've already done so much for me. Are you sure this is alright? With everything I've done..."
"You're already sheltering us. Giving me form, too..." Rita looks at her hands, as she steps back from the hug. Her attention is drawn to Zoltan as the clone speaks up. "Oh."
Slowly, she walks up to him. He's taller than she is, that's a little annoying. Looking /up/ at him is a new experience. "I'm already dead, Zoltan."
"I didn't see him. I spent a day searching, but space is too vast." Rita says, of Jona. One of her hands reaches out to Zoltan as she speaks, curious... And pokes him squarely in the shoulder. "You're real."
"Since everyone can see me this time," Rita says, softly. A hand reaches out to Zoltan's, but doesn't quite make contact. An offered handshake, once more. "I'm sorry I tried to kill you. I'm sorry I blamed you for everything my visions showed me. I promise I won't do it again."
If Zoltan accepts her gesture or denies it, Rita will turn toward the others. Her hands fold in front of her, prettily centered against her skirt.
"Yuliana and Michele are right. What we have now isn't enough to defeat Jona. Even if I called the heroes of the living, it would probably result in many casualties. Including Jona himself."
A sideways glance to Zoltan. No explanation.
"The Phenex is the only machine that can save him, but she isn't strong enough like this. She doesn't have any weapons that could pull the Narrative from the Neo-Zeong. I'd have to rely on my psychic strength to do it, and that won't be enough if Jona fights back. I can't reach out to him and pilot at the same time anymore. Metis was proof of that."
Green eyes settle on each person in turn. "I was never taught how mobile suits work. Only to pilot them. The Phenex and I have discussed it, and she's willing to let herself be upgraded, as long as it's temporary. So, please tell me. What upgrades will let us save Jona?"
<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
"I'm a warrior and a scientist," Koji reminds Yuliana as he steps away from the control panel of the device. "And Rita needed this, too."
He glances over to Michele, and can't suppress a little grin - after all, this is work he's very proud of. "More like... the other way around," he says, as Rita's hard-light avatar flickers into being, pixel-by-pixel.
"I built it for you," he answers Rita firmly. "I'm not - I'm not going to withhold something that means so much just because - " There's a surge of emotion - a mixture of disgust and wrath - as he realises that this is just what she expects from those who claim to be scientists.
He holds a long breath, then exhales slowly, returning Rita's hug as tight as he can. "It's a gift. I'm not going to use it as a means to punish you."
Rita begins to lay out what they need. Koji folds his arms, thinking. "... I was working on a tool for using on the Banshee - a split, physical blade to hook into armour, with a shapeable i-field between the blades to project a cutting torch. With the right focal intensity, most armour would just collapse - and a Photon Reactor would definitely maintain the throughput for that."
<Pose Tracker> Zoltan Akkanen has posed.
The man notices, but chooses to stay quiet. The Phenex looks like some kind of lovebird with those soft giggles; What, did she have a flight of fancy somewhere? Some sort of deific thing she did and then got rightfully thrashed for it. Lovebird, heh. Bit too romantic of a connotation.
Every snatched album is taken back with a harsh tug, setting it back down on the ground. There's an awareness of having to stretch, but, well. They were literally trying to kill each other multiple times. No harm lost (though being upstaged is doing /wonders/ for his tempermant, yup). "They're cheap, easy to smuggle, and there was little you can do in terms of entertainment back in Palau. With all those bastards up top loving Zeon, they just stuck to the music of the past." God knows how many times he's heard Zeon's anthem recited with Gihren's speeches. Blegh.
Worst possible time, huh? "Sounds like we got something in common." Unlucky for him.
Thoughts fade away as the image appeared, realization of what the device was flicking into place with a muted groan. He had to look up at Rita to "talk" with her, and now he had to look down and be humiliated by talking with a smaller form? For a second, he missed being ordered around by the Sleeves.
Just for a second, before rationality prevailed.
Watching the sob show (as seen by the singular person who wasn't a fan) with a gaze of apathy, flicking over to size bup the connections. It's not a bad device from his amateur standpoint. Maybe it could be better.
"You're already dead? Dead people usually don't do what you're doing." Then again. "...Then again, so's Amuro and Char, and look where they are now." A shrug. They're back from the dead. They should stay dead. Zoltan's Expert Opinion.
He does have the courtesy to snag at the hand, to give a firm handshake. (It's slightly firmer than usual, even if he knows that it won't matter.) "You have at least a decade to make up for it, you know." Still, there's common sense. For one, there's no reason to punch this hologram.
...Many casualties. A twisting mouth as his inner demons raged inside, wondering what he could give. "What, like those Dimension Pliers or whatnot that that combined animal suit 3G has? The biggest thing the Zeong has is the psycho-shard machine. Not that I care, but secret technology, don't talk about it, consider that formal authroization for need-to-know." So dismissive of military procedure, but enough to /bother/ following it however blithely. "It's not enough to just push in, you have to stop him from lashing out." A knowing smirk. "Otherwise, you'll just get hit with the mental waves."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
< It is not a threat any more,> Yuliana explains, of the Demonica. <Unless YOU trangressed it.>
Koji says he's a scientist, and Yuliana raises a brow. "You're an /engineer,/" she points out, dryly, and doesn't bother with any explanation of the tensile strength of the word.
Michele says he's made a machine to talk to ghosts, though, and Yuliana just makes a dismissive noise in the back of her throat. She folds her arms. And there: her fingers tighten, against her mobile suit, as Rita gets filled in pixel by painful pixel.
"You--"
Yuliana takes a step BACK from Rita, as she charges in towards her, and it's not just a matter of disgust. When Rita grabs her hand -- and manages to /grab/ it, without fading into nothing -- the shock stabs her face so much like a piece of wanzer. She is still, stock-still, as one of Rita's arms wrap around her, until her hand balls in the side of that idea of her dress.
And when Rita pulls back enough to threaten to cup her cheek, she'll find that Yuliana is /crying./ More on one side than the other, on account of that great ugly scar. Her lips part, fang resting on her bottom lip as it heaves from the jagged breath in her chest. She is so frozen, here, in this moment.
Perhaps the way she shoves her cheek into Rita's hand is just a product of how she shakes her head.
"Don't -- d-don't pick that up, idiot," she berates her, and finally steps back, her hands lacing over her chest again. Surely they're folded, and she's not hugging /herself./
She'll watch Zoltan accept that handshake, instead.
That's much safer.
<Pose Tracker> Rita Bernal has posed.
< I just put it back together! I wanted to help!> The Phenex insists, with rapid signs. <Everything is broken here!>
In exchange for Zoltan sharing his music, Rita plays with the Phenex's radio until it catches a local station playing Sheryl Nome. Broadcasting /loud/ through the Hangar, Rita looks back to Zoltan with a smile. She waves her fingers to the beat.
This is Sheryl Nome. She's my favorite. What do you think?
While she was alive, Rita too had more than her fair share of speeches to listen to. Very quickly, she mastered the art of looking attentive while her thoughts drifted to center around birds.
Rita looks curiously at Koji, feeling disgust and wrath surge from him. She doesn't understand, but it's alright. With a smile, she hugs him again. "Thank you. I'm so happy to be able to exist like this again, especially with Michele and Yuli here."
"Please be very careful harming the Banshee." Rita murmurs. "Leina considers it to be her sister, Elpeo Ple. She won't react well to seeing it hurt. If that's the only way, then do it, Leina must be saved. But it will be." Rita looks up at the Phenex, remembering her pain when her own partner was nearly destroyed. "Very, very difficult for her to endure."
As she speaks, the Phenex is still, kneeling behind Rita, as if watching over her.
"After this long, Jona's spirit will be deeply entwined with the Narrative and the monster. But he's never viewed them as an ally, so it won't cause him emotional pain to be rescued from them. A cutting torch is a good idea. The Neo Zeong II has a lot of armor to cut through."
Yuliana's shock does /not/ echo to Rita's soul, so when the Heart of the Phenex sees the look on her friend's face, feels Yuliana press her cheek into Rita's hand... She doesn't know what to do. Yuliana calls her an idiot, and Rita starts giggling.
Those giggles quickly fade into sobs, and she clings to Yuliana all the more tightly. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry -- it was never your fault. Not ever. I've never been upset with you. I love you, Yuli, that's never changed."
Rita cries loudly, like a child, burying her head in Yuliana's shoulder. When she finally calms down (hiccuping, once or twice), she sniffles into another little giggle. "They tried so hard to make us hate each other." A hand grasps Yuliana's, tight. "And now they're gone, and we still have each other. We win."
It takes a while for Rita to collect herself. It's difficult to express emotion this way -- from a soul embedded in a Psychoframe, to a spirit possessing a projector, to a hard-light avatar. Once the tears start, it's hard to get them to stop. Eventually, she manages it, and takes a deep breath.
"Maybe. I'm not like Amuro or Char, though. They never actually died." Rita looks at Zoltan, head tilted. "It's time to tell you what happened. But I don't know if you'd care. The end of the story is that I burned myself to death inside the Phenex to bind my spirit to her Psychoframe. There's a lot that happened before that."
"If you don't care, that's okay." Rita blinks in surprise, then squeezes Zoltan's hand in exchange. She's not very good at handshakes, but she gives it a solid effort. "A decade? You want me to stay that long?"
Zoltan's technical knowledge gets a nod from Rita. "I'm counting on Yuli's magic to stop Jona's ability to lash out too much. If I can help her, we might be able to neutralize the psycho-shard enough to prevent."
Rita pauses. It's difficult, even now, to be honest about the future.
"We might be able to prevent him from causing a colony drop-like disaster. I don't know if that's still what he'll try to do, but it's what the other Zoltans tried." Rita says, calmly. "Making many, many hydrogen tanks go critical. It will take everything the psycho-shard has to cause such a terrible Miracle. Even with just Yuli and I pushing back, that might be enough.
Rita looks up at the Phenex. Long moments pass -- no emotion on her face. A conversation, perhaps, between the two partners. At last, she whispers, "Are you sure?", pauses, and then nods.
"Zoltan." Rita takes a breath. "You are like me. You were created and shaped to pilot a mobile suit with Psychoframe."
Rita's green eyes shimmer. Her hands raise, clasping over her heart.
"In many ways, we're the same. I never realized, until the Phenex told me. As we fight Jona, I need to use my full strength to try and free his spirit. Yuliana must pilot her own craft, designed to broadcast her magic. Michele is not a pilot. Koji is not a Newtype."
"There are very few Newtypes like us." Rita's voice echoes slightly more. "And I cannot ask my sisters. You are the only one."
RIta holds very still. This is difficult for her. The future she chased for eighteen years is lost to the ashes. How has the world twisted so drastically that she's asking--
"Zoltan. Please. Will you pilot the Phenex in the fight to save Jona?"
<Pose Tracker> Michele Luio has posed.
Michele responds to the holographic Rita with wide eyes, tears almost forming as she sees Rita once again. "Koji Kabuto, you mad genius...!"
Michele takes several steps forward, and suddenly, spontaneously hugs the hologram. It's not planned, like much of Michele usually is. It's impulse, as the tears start pouring down. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry this is how we have to reunite, me being a bastard and you a ghost... it's good to *see* you again, Rita."
The Banshee is brought up. Leina Ashta... "I... don't have anything to give about the Banshee. Leina's command has likely already been changed from the last I used. They didn't give me any intel, just usage rights. Save her, please..."
And then, Rita asks Zoltan to pilot the Phenex. Michele purses her lips, but the justification is sound. Even so...
"I'm coming too - if you'll let me. RX-0 has two seats, he needs my tactical data, and if I ride in a ship, Jona will shoot me down and kill an entire crew. We can't possibly dodge that. While it'd be fine if I died..."
Michele exhales. "It can't happen yet."
<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
Koji watches everyone's reaction to Rita gaining a semblance of physicality with a warm smile - particularly Yuliana's reaction. No matter where they might stand in the future... being able to give these old friends this kind of precious moment matters.
"It's 'just' an adaptation of Photon Barrier technology, really," he says. "A miniaturised projector with more fine-detail in the field-shaping. Basically it creates a hard-light avatar Rita can 'pilot'. I'm going to get it and the base's security network to talk to each other to broaden its range of effect inside the lab - originally it only reliably covered the hangar we had the Phenex stored in."
Michele gets another look when she talks about the Banshee. Koji could waste energy on recriminations here - he settles for "Well, at least we're all on the same page now. I won't have any talk about being alright with dying, though - you can't make things better that way, you just leave people behind."
He nods to Rita. "That's messed up, but... you're right. If that's how she sees it, it'll do more harm than good to get her out of the Banshee that way." It would be like killing Elpeo all over again, to her.
"If we're no-holds-barred against the Neo Zeong, though..." He nods. "And if we rely on Yuliana's abilities to shut down the psycoshard system, then Rita definitely can't be the primary pilot of the Phenex - they'll be too close for that to be safe. We need options - and tools and weapons - that work on the physical level, and they'll need to be powered. Not to mention - I probably will be flying Z as backup, so I'm off the table anyway."
<Pose Tracker> Zoltan Akkanen has posed.
He has the common courtesy to listen to the songs. The bubbly songs that search for something, the uplifting beats that try to tug at the blackened, decayed heartstrings of his soul. The cynic in him can't deny that this is an optimistic idol, one designed to push people's spirits upwards. "...She's not /bad/. Think she'll last?" In the end, he settles for the optimistic side of his pessimistic conclusion.
It'll just be another few years until the world chews her message up and vomits her out to the landfill, so he thinks.
That being said, he gives the duo room to allow their emotions free. It's an obvious sight, one he's never experienced in his days from childhood. The face he gives is...complicated. Still, not a word is uttered.
"You have a decade of hatred stored inside you, no? Should it be longer? Consider it penance or something, I'll bill you as soon as I find a loan shark that loves dealing with intangibles." Sardonic wit to offset the processes in his mind. "Though, if you're still around in spirit, that means you're not dead." Could you consider Char to be dead, if people keep making his ideals live?
Could you consider Amuro to have ever died?
"Hydrogen tanks..." A chin cupped in thought. "That, plus the charge from the psychoshards would cause it to cascade." Psycommu manifestations were in the realm of spirituality, says the man who had Char's memories implanted. "If he starts it, the best way to neutralize it would be to make another miracle." ...Like Palau's.
His mouth opens into a pause, creaking an eyebrow at the sudden statement. Made for a singular frame. He listens. Mouth closing. The same, huh? The same? ...He reaches the conclusion long before Rita finishes her question. Oh. /Oh./
"...No takebacks, agreed?" A mutter. "You agree to this, and I'll hold you to it until all this is done." Damn it. DAMN IT. Something he can do. Something only he can do. Oh, /sure/, there was the rationality of a comet inside him: He wasn't the only one who could pilot a psycommu. Hell, they could snag Leina and make her into one. Elpeo Ple? Her too. Multiple people could mount one and /pilot/ it. But /MADE/?
...There's no place like home, is there.
"So long as you don't hijack it midflight because you disagree with how I do things." Civilian deaths excluded, but. Best to let that thought slide.
Oh, the smile he's sporting, with those scarred eyes flashing with glee. Even if he's technically being asked out of goodwill, it still felt nice to be in a position of fleeting power for /once/.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Everything is broken, yes. Leina too.
Yuliana frowns, and says nothing.
She's shocked when Rita just /redoubles/ the hug, though, arms lifting from herself just in time to avoid them being pinned by hard light. "What are you --" Her demand can't quite /finish,/ though.
Rita says she's not upset with her, but -- "... you should've been," Yuliana sighs, even as she reaches up to awkwardly pat the back of Rita's projected head. "You never made... a /lick/ of sense... I really don't get you, you know? Come -- come on -- even /I/ can see it was a lot to land on you, I... you know, the things they had me do, they hurt you." Beat, "... and I wasn't sorry."
Quietly, she settles on: "I'm not happy with the way it turned out."
She swallows, and blinks at her own tears, choking it all down. (Rita might catch, with that tight grasp, some strange writhing growths at her lower back. Yuliana's trying to keep it out of the way.) "They're gone," she assures her, and Rita's said she can't feel anything, but her hand is gentle on the back of her head anyway. "They're all gone, Ritechka, and all their tools. The tanks are dust, and the chairs, and the smooth rooms. And those -- awful little meal supplements -- the bars, the drinks. W--wretched things." Yuliana's always been /quite/ the foodie; perhaps it makes a little more sense, hearing her reassurances, here.
"Come, come," she pulls back, and leans down, a little, to scrub at Rita's projected cheeks. "You mustn't cry. /Ya staryy soldat i ne znayu slov lyubvi, Ritechka,/" she is an old soldier, and she does not know words of love, "be calm, now, yes?"
She straightens, but doesn't go terribly far from the projection. For some reason, her cloak wraps around herself. She glances to Michele, and issues, cooler: "So, you didn't know." About Leina -- and it's not a question. She doesn't approve. One should always know where one's meat comes from, in Yuliana's opinion.
But she really ought to take her own advice -- hearing how Rita died. Give her credit: she's outwardly calm enough, even if she scowls. Does Zoltan have a point about how she's not really dead..? That would be nice, anyway.
"Neutralisation I can do," she adds, and those traces of warmth and care have fled her voice, now it's time to plan again. "I can probably stop those -- /shards/ from doing too much damage, if I stick around them. Psychoactive effects... struggle with my presence. The trick will be /sticking/ to him." Yuliana scowls. "Da Xukong's good at staying close, but it's leagues smaller than the Neo Zeong II. If Jona gets a good hit in -- I'm not going to have much leverage to stay close."
/Emptear,/ of course, is far larger, but...
... Emptear isn't really suitable for a mission like this.
She has a purpose, and she will not be occupied with /dalliances./
"It's sound logic," Yuliana agrees, with a nod to Koji, as he works through why the Phenex needs a pilot. And she watches Zoltan, and finally -- she nods, again, seeing him accept it.
"Can you two really get along..?" She wonders, looking from Rita to Zoltan. "Well, I guess the whole world's depending on it. Anyway, don't give him a hard time," and she's saying that part to /Rita,/ now. "For a Spacenoid, he's a pretty good pilot. You'd better give him room to manoeuvre, in there."
(She doesn't have to warn Michele about this, because only one of them has a blood feud.)
<Pose Tracker> Rita Bernal has posed.
Rita is pleased as Zoltan listens to the Sheryl Nome songs, recognizing his faint praise for the approval it really is. She tilts her head at his question, not quite understanding it. Sheryl, last? It's not like she's going to die.
Of course I do. She's amazing! Nobody has ever sang like this before! There was another girl singing, but she's not like Sheryl. I'm sure Sheryl will keep performing for...
Rita laughs, her spirit spinning in place, so she's 'laying' upside down.
A hundred years. Maybe longer.
"This is more than I ever thought we'd get." Rita says, through a sob-laugh. "You're -- you're not a b-- you're not that thing! You're Michele. That's all you need to be."
"All I've ever wanted you to be." Rita promises, softly. One holographic hand reaches up, wiping Michele's tears away. It's an odd sensation -- not quite warm as a flesh hand should be.
Rita squeezes Michele's hand as she begs for Leina to be saved. "Don't worry. The Unicorn and her pilot won't let her go this easily. Nothing has stopped him yet. Nothing will. And Leina is far stronger than anyone gives her credit for. Very few people could survive what she's been made to endure."
She can't See it, anymore, but knowledge has been replaced with something that makes Rita feel far stronger. Faith. Faith in the young pilots of the other two Beasts of Possibility.
It's as though Rita can't quite separate the action of laughing and sobbing. Both were so rare for her to experience in life, perhaps her spirit crossed them as 'strong emotional reactions'.
Michele's request gets a pause from Rita. Fear crosses her face. "I want you safe. But we can't save Jona without you. It has to be all three of us. Just like always. And the safest place will be inside the Phenex." Rita takes a breath. "Yes. Please fight with us, Michele. And please don't talk about dying. I've fought so, so hard to keep you alive."
Koji tries to downplay his own magic, and Rita playfully pats him on the arm. "Don't be ridiculous. This projector is a Miracle. The first Miracle a Natural ever made." Rita smiles brightly. "You're amazing, Koji! Please don't discount that!"
"Thank you for listening." Rita's voice is heavy with relief. "I know people must be angry at the Banshee, but she matters very much to Leina. What's happened isn't the Banshee's fault. She didn't choose to be this way. I wish--" Another little glance up to the Phenex. "We wish people wanted to save her, too. She's as alive as the Unicorn or the Phenex. Martha forced malevolent programming and memories into her body, just the same as she did to Leina."
It's an... unusual viewpoint. But could the Heart of the Phenex really abandon her sister Gundam so easily?
"The Neo Zeong II is different from us." Rita says, firmly. "It doesn't have a soul. The Narrative doesn't, either. It's only a copy. A computer with no internal systems. The Neo Zeong is only designed as an enhancer for whatever is within. All it can do is reflect Jona's despair and anger."
Rita clasps her hands tightly. "He suffered on his own for too long. We have to convince him it's okay to rely on others again. And you managed to teach me that lesson, Koji. I think you could teach Jona, too."
"You don't have to fight with us. I won't ask you to. But I'd be so thankful if you did." Rita says, quietly. "You've done so much. I believe in you, and I know you're helping us, no matter what you decide on."
Yuliana has always been so unsure of affection. It's something that makes Rita love her all the more. This person who has known so much pain and suffering, and still reached out to a stranger with kindness... What could Rita do but offer her heart?
Another little laugh. "It was painful. And scary. I was never able to see what was coming, when it was with you. But that was... the only time I couldn't /See/. The only time I was free to do what I wanted. Every other moment was already decided. But with you, I could..."
"Breathe." Rita sounds surprised as she says it. Perhaps she's realizing this for the first time, as she says it to Yuliana. "I could be a person. I wish it could've been different too, but, that's why we have now."
Smiling so widely her eyes squish shut, Rita doesn't even notice the odd movement at Yuliana's back. She has very little feeling in the avatar body, after all. "I hated those drinks so much..." A little laugh. "They never gave me the flavored kind, not once. They're gone, they're gone... We made it, you and me."
Rita could tell Yuliana how she was the one who broke the walls of the Institute down, or how the Phenex's wings broke the body of one of the men who tormented Yuliana so much. But she doesn't need to. Those people are gone, and Yuliana and Rita are still here.
"I'm calm." Rita says, with another laugh. She holds still for Yuliana to wipe away her tears -- the action inspiring another few to escape those green eyes. "We have to figure out how to save everyone. We've already saved ourselves..."
Have they? Looking at Rita's avatar body and those odd squirming motions beneath Yuliana's cape... Have they saved themselves?
"Since I was seven." Rita answers Zoltan, honestly. "Now, I'm..." She hesitates, looking down at her hands, counting on her fingers. "I was 23 when I died, but it's been more than a year. Does that count? Am I still 23, or am I 24 now?"
Green eyes look baffled. She glances to Koji, as if he would be able to arbitrate this matter.
"Fine, though. I owe you that much for trying to burn you up." Rita grumbles. "A whole decade... What do you want me to do, just float around? And Zoltan, my body is ashes. I keep them in the Phenex."
Zoltan puzzles through his other selves' plan, and Rita nods as he speaks. "Yes. The other Zoltans used their spiritual strength to send the hydrogen critical, and then rain the debris on the Earth. My job is to create a Miracle to vanish it, like you said."
"I'm -- worried about it." Rita admits. "I used up half my soul to save Palau. I don't know if I have enough strength left to do make such a big Miracle, even with the heroes of the living helping. The hydrogen tank field is /massive/..."
Somehow, Zoltan seems to agree with Rita's request. Her eyes light up, and without thinking, she launches herself forward, wrapping her arms around Zoltan in a tight hug. Moments later, she realizes what she's done, and scoots back.
"Sorry." Rita looks away. "I thought you were going to say no. I won't interfere with your piloting as long as you don't do anything horrible!" That glee in his eyes... so annoying! Rita pokes Zoltan in the chest, frowning. "Don't do anything bad!"
"Learning to pilot an RX-0 is a very difficult task. It took my sisters months to become just capable. And you need to be able to defeat a great monster, very soon. I don't know how long we have." Rita sighs. "The Phenex will help you, but I can offer my memories of piloting. It'll help you understand the Phenex as though she were your own body, the way I do."
Rita frowns again. "But you can't make it weird."
A nod to Yuliana, as she speaks up about the battle to come. "I'll protect you as much as I can, but the Neo Zeong II has a difficult ability. If it connects one of its cables with a mobile suit, it can take them over. Since it's a part of the psycho-shard, I'm not sure if it'd work on you, Yuli, but we must be careful."
"I can get along." Rita huffs. "I'm very good at this! I had a whole army ready before things went wrong. As long as /he/," A sharp glance to Zoltan. "Doesn't make things weird. I'll keep us all safe."
That's what Rita died for. Saving the ones she loves most, /and/ saving the world. It's always been about both, and it's always been impossible. But she's going to fight anyway.
<Pose Tracker> Zoltan Akkanen has posed.
"It's either this or I get kicked back to the Sleeves." A quick retort back at Yuliana. "...Better here than there, I figure." By an absurd long shot. He's not going to complain about such an opportunity, dead girl inside or not.
He does note the compliment, however oblique it was.
"A hundred years? In this climate?" Fat chance. FAT CHANCE. "Five years. I'll bet on it." With what!? Nothing, just his dignity and confidence. (He had some?)
But he can't help but crack a small smirk at the reunion taking place. It's something about emotion. Two people together against the world. ...The faint flickers of Char and Lalah. A history that was so far gone, yet so everpresent.
A curt not at Rita's explanation. It enhances, grows, becomes whatever the person inside desires it to be. (There's another thought of the Mazinger Z. God or Devil, he's heard it whispered a few times.)
"Then, you have around 16 years of debt to pay off." A shrug. "If you're dead or alive, time is time, and no one pays attenion to you being alive when vultures come down for the inheritance, do they?" Another cracked smirk. The mention of ashes does knock him slightly off-kilter, glancing over at the Phenex. "You're going to make sure I'm not going to stew in your corpsedust." Less a suggestion, more a complete mandate.
A Miracle for a Miracle does draw his breath in, nodding along. "So just don't have a hydrogen field." Duh. If there's no place to enact it, then the impact will be lessened. "Or make somewhere else more enticing. Bait him. He's working off of his emotions, right? Just guide him elsewhere like someone-" Oh, there's a sharp glare at Michele. "-did."
Semantics and planning were all nice and well, but he still jumps at being practically /glomped/ by a hologram of the person that swore his death so many times over. The high-pitched YELP of surprise, a tinge of fear, and the memories of being spiritually burned were mixing into a noise that wouldn't be nice in polite company.
"Yeah, yeah, YEAH! So long as I don't have to hear about you being a savior to everyone because you hated someone that much." Che. He doesn't swat away the poke.
But, piloting an RX-0...It's a strange thought. It technically is the next iteration of the RX-78-2 line...However many generations it went, at this point. A clone of Char piloting the latest in Amuro Ray's lineage?
...He can't surpress his childish smile at that connection.
"Don't make things /weird/?" A wave of the hand. "Think about what you said about being dead."
<Pose Tracker> Michele Luio has posed.
Michele breathes in as Rita accepts her. Even though she was, and probably is, angry at her for what she does... she's still the Rita Bernal she always knew. Michele nods, and steps back. "Okay, I won't. We'll fight together."
The plan has Michele thinking, even if she side-eyes Yuliana and Zoltan several times. "So Kafim shuts down the psycho-shard. Akkanen pushes the Phenex to full power with you. -don't glare at me like that. And then, I'll do the tactical planning. If you and Koji can gather heroes..."
"We have a chance. I won't say the odds are ours, but...the odds are *fair*."
Michele considers, and approaches Koji, head tilted down. "This is gonna come off like I'm trying to buy you off. -uh, that's not... my intention." The fact that she's having trouble pushing this normally is proof she's being genuine.
"But, if you're building the equipment, you'll have to dip into your budget, and that may make signs we don't want to see. I can get any parts you may need."
A pause.
"*Any*."
<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
Koji frowns as he starts to get a bigger picture of just what this disaster Rita's been worried about is. "Maybe a Photon Barrier could mitigate the cascade effect, but projecting it in the right place at the right time is the hard part and it doesn't stop him from just... activating the next tank. It would buy some time, that's all."
Maybe stealing the energy of the blast and using it for something else...? That feels like too much of an ask, though - a guess at something, not even a hypothesis.
He smiles a little at Rita. "I'm just iterating on the work that was done before me. Being able to make a solid barrier out of light, that was my father's handiwork. Thankyou, though."
"Michele and I are the least weird people here, and I deal with an energy form that violates thermodynamics," Koji points out with a grin.
Zoltan's words about 'stewing in corpsedust' strike Koji and he fishes in a pack he was carrying with him. "That reminds me... I had another gift for you, Rita."
He holds up an empty cylinder - transparent, with steel caps. "This is a vacuum... urn, I guess. We have a bunch of these for storing volatile particles - I've just modified it a little so it can be operated a little easier." He hands it to Rita's avatar, reverently. "It should mag-lock to the cockpit and then you can depress this switch to activate the pump that forces air out of it and seals it."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"We did," Yuliana points out, on what Leina's endured. Koji excluded, but, well -- this isn't about him. "And that's why it's people like, us, that should drag her out of there." A bit of hitching hesitation, before she puts herself on the same side as Zoltan and Michele and Rita, all their fellow labrats. It's still not /easy/ for her.
Sixteen years... "You're twenty-four," Yuliana answers Rita, brusque and immediate. But her gut twists, as Rita talks about her ashes being in the Phenex. "... hey, Ritechka. Letting people in..." She pauses, and trails off, glancing aside with a frown. She can't quite finish her sentence.
She directs her anger over the suicide she's perceived elsewhere, instead, frowning to Michele. "Are you all used up, already? If you're not, don't talk about dying so easily. Value your life more, or no one will value you at all." Well -- if she didn't have good words of love for /Rita,/ surely she doesn't have them for /Michele./ It might well be sound advice, anyway.
"You've got options," Yuliana assures Zoltan, when he talks about the Sleeves in the wings. She's... trying to be nice. Kind of. Grade it on a curve.
She frowns, considering the Neo Zeong II. "It's a puppetmaster, too? Shit. Yeah, I'll keep an eye on it," she folds her arms, thinking, to herself.
Her hand lifts, to gesture to Zoltan. "He's got a point," she says. "If we don't engage him in a hydrogen field -- there's nothing to send critical. Even if that wouldn't work, we have advance knowledge of this, even if your Sight's dissipated. Why not go and replace the hydrogen tanks with dummies beforehand?" Beat, "... there are ways to do something like that even if the authorities won't believe you, you know. Even if we can't get rid of all of them, a smaller chain reaction will mean you won't have to expend so much... /whatever/ it is you do with those /miracles./" Yuliana /is/ considering how Rita burned herself out, at Palau. Just don't bring it up.
She scowls, and adds, to Koji: "I am /not/ the weird one here." Her cloak is still curled around her despite her hands not grasping it. Don't worry about it.
She /does/ look relieved when Koji offers her a vacuum chamber, though. ... she can immediately intuit the point, and it saves her from having to have a VERY uncomfortable conversation.
<Pose Tracker> Rita Bernal has posed.
"You're right. We're the only ones who can understand. Leina's going to need people like us while she recovers." Rita says, softly.
Koji suggests Photon Power, and Rita tilts her head, thinking. "It's a good idea. If we can't stop Jona, reducing the damage is the best we can hope for. Every tank we stop from exploding could be millions of lives saved."
"16, now?!" Rita huffs out a false-breath. "What am I going to do all that time, follow you around? And don't worry. Nobody wants you touching my ashes less than I do. I've been holding them tightly with my powers all this time. If they scatter, I don't think I could exist this way anymore."
"Twenty-four." Rita smiles. "Alright. I like that number." Yuliana speaks up, and Rita turns to listen, but she trails off. "Yuli, what were you saying? It's okay, I promise I'll listen."
Perfectly timed, Koji offers yet another gift. Rita turns away from Zoltan, accepting the transparent cylinder. At first, she doesn't understand, tapping her fingers on the steel caps as if to test the shape. But Koji explains, and green eyes open wide.
"I can use this..?" Rita looks at the cylinder with awe, then back up to Koji. "Thank you. Thank you, thank you, now I don't have to worry about disappearing!"
All this time, she's kept the cockpit of the Phenex tightly sealed out of fear for losing the existence she has. It's such a simple solution, and yet one Rita never thought of. Turning the cylinder over in her hands once more, she holds a palm over the top of one of the caps. The scent of burning metal floats through the air -- Rita has scorched the outline of a little bird in flight, with two long tail feathers.
"Now it's perfect." She murmurs. "Thank you, Koji."
She'll put this to use once the discussion has finished. For now, Rita holds the cylinder close to her chest, as though it were a precious treasure.
Rita frowns at Zoltan's idea. "If we could /find/ Jona, we could lure him somewhere harmless. Part of the reason I went to fight in space was to see if the Phenex would be enough to pull the Neo Zeong out of wherever it's hiding. But it didn't."
"I'm not sure what would lure him out now. After all he did to catch the Phenex, if she wasn't enough, what would be? If we can't find a way to find him, or sense him, Jona could just appear at the hydrogen tanks before we can do anything." Rita doesn't protest the glare at Michele. What happened at Metis was wrong, even if it was what had to happen.
Rita smiles at Michele. "A chance is all we need. Jona's heart is good. All he needs is a way forward that won't hurt him. He needs to be able to believe in the future."
"I never claimed to be a savior--!" Rita insists, pulling her hand back. "This isn't what I /wanted/! I was just following the path. I /mean/ don't get any of your soul stuck in the Phenex's Psychoframe. I don't know what would happen, since my soul is already in there."
Some kind of weird Rita-Zoltan hybrid entity? She shudders at the thought. It'd be too weird..!
"Replacing the tanks..." Rita brings a hand to her face. "Would Jona fall for it? I don't know how we'd do it, there's so /many/, but if you know a way, Yuli..!" A smile. "As long as Jona didn't find out, it would make a huge difference. You're so smart, Yuli, I'm so glad you're here."