2023-07-23: Is This Your 'Card'?
- Log: Is This Your 'Card'?
- Cast: Ruri Hoshino, Gai Kurenai, Goat Hoary (NPCed by Ruri)
- Where: The Nadesico, Orb Union
- Date: 2023-07-23
- Summary: Gai comes to the Nadesico to investigate a signal from his Orb Ring, and quickly finds that a strangely-dressed alien coming to them with a bad cover story strangely doesn't receive a warm welcome from the crew. Ruri's willing to give him a chance despite it, though, even if Goat is suspicious of him -- and he's able to claim Ultraman Cosmos's card.
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
The Nadesico... is getting ready to go to the beach! Everyone's bustling around the berth, loading supplies in, waving lights to direct machines carrying great slabs of materials. And missiles. They're loading up more missiles, too.
Just in case.
Minato Haruka appears by Ruri's side, holding a bottle of Pure Shield. "Here, Ruri-ruri, you're very pale, so you'll need this UV blocker when we get to the reef."
"Thank you," Ruri says, taking the bottle of Sheryl's very own sunscreen. "Now we all get to go to the Bird Human beach together... I'm happy." But her gaze tracks past it, to the screens on her station, and she blinks as she realises that something's a little strange, about Omoikane's loading activities.
"...?" She asks, as she puts the bottle of Pure Shield down beside a tanuki plush, and presses her hands to the console.
"Ruri-ruri?" Minato asks, because she can't read fast enough to evaluate any of the data Ruri's streaming through.
"Excuse me," Ruri says. "I think we'll have a visitor."
An absolute slab of a man turns, from his station above them.
~*~*~
Goat Hoary is almost seven feet tall and just as broad, his skin a little bronzed and his hair cut military-short. He walks into the cargo bay and the overall-clad maintenance workers just kind of part around him, though their clothes are blue, not red.
He asks, as he looks out to the open sky through the widespread cargo doors: "Everything in order?"
If there's anyone behind him, there's no seeing her.
<Pose Tracker> Gai Kurenai has posed.
A strange man is standing on the dock, watching the Nadesico.
What makes him strange? Well, we'll lead with the fact that he's dressed like a cowboy, and not at all like an ordinary citizen of Orb or a Nergal employee, a brown leather duster coat and hat giving him... not actually all that imposing a silhouette at all, actually, especially compared to Goat Hoary's physique.
The second thing that makes him strange is the object in his hand - some kind of device that's unlike anything the Nadesico might have seen before, almost like a punching dagger - except instead of a blade there is a crystalline ring sprouting from the guard, light gently pulsing within the stone. He raises the ring, sighting through it at the Nadesico, and the pulsing becomes more frequent - then softens as he moves his aim away from the vessel.
Satisfied with whatever information he has gleaned from this, he tucks the ring back inside the folds of his coat (which shows no sign of the weight being added to it) and looks up as Mr. Hoary calls out. "Ah."
He walks towards the open cargo bay doors - remaining on the gantry, though, rather than having the temerity to step onto the ship proper - and bows in greeting. "Pardon me. I realise this might be something of an... odd question... but did this ship happen to recently take aboard a large mass of crystal? Perhaps from a kaiju?"
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
One of the maintenance men scratches at his head. "Well, uh, see, Goat, we got a, uh..."
"A real cowboy," another cuts in, jerking his thumb behind him.
"Literally!" The first exclaims.
"Ah." Goat is not a man given to many words -- but he does, indeed, see the problem. When Gai lifts that thing like a punch dagger, he reaches into his coat, watching, evaluating...
And he takes no action.
Call it a man's intuition. He has that, too, you know.
Hands dropping beside him again, he steps up to the doors -- are his footsteps a little echo-y? -- and nods to the strange cowboy, in turn. "It is a strange question," he confirms.
"I'll ask who's asking."
<Pose Tracker> Gai Kurenai has posed.
The stranger doesn't seem phased by Goat's wariness. "Of course. I'm Gai Kurenai - I'm a special consultant to NERV's STORAGE branch." It's a semi-official position - a benefit of the complicated relationship he and the branch captain have, of course - but he can hardly wander around this world without claim to such connections.
Of course, if there just so happened to be a Super AI nearby with access to a vast array of publically-available databases, such a being might see through the obfuscation immediately.
"I mean no harm," Gai continues. "I just need to examine the crystal and confirm some details."
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Goat Hoary evaluates Gai's introduction, stoic, unmoved, and unmoving. He has excellent reasons not to trust a strange man walking in and talking about kaiju, of course: they all remember how Alexis Kerib began his assault.
His assault on...
There's a bit of light, shining from behind Goat, an obscured communication window. And then a glimpse of silvery-blue hair, as -- no, look DOWN, further down than that, yes right down by his legs there -- a twintail peeks out from behind the brick wall of Goat Hoary.
"Lying," Ruri Hoshino reports, too-gold eyes glinting catlike.
"This man isn't a special consultant. There's no record of him in any of our accessible databases." And the girl hiding behind Goat -- she can't be any older than fourteen -- is just as stoic as he is, though her expression is still less severe. Goat's had years more practice.
It means that when he frowns, it's an EVENT.
"I'll ask again," he repeats himself, with less patience. "Who are you?"
<Pose Tracker> Gai Kurenai has posed.
To have the cover story seen through so quickly catches Gai off-guard, but he rallies quickly.
"Alright; the truth. I am nobody; a man who does not exist on this Earth, a traveller among the stars who has been called here." He wagers whether or not to reveal his partner's secret, and elects not to - Juggler's reasons for being Captain Hebikura are his own, and he has no reason to endanger them yet.
Jugglus Juggler is Jugglus Juggler, after all, but figuring out what he's up to... can wait.
"A cover story makes it... easier to move among humans, in such a complicated world."
His gaze now tracks to the formerly-glowing girl just behind Goat, and his head tilts, thoughtfully. Is that her? He wonders quietly to himself.
"I know there was a battle here, but not any of the details." He fishes the Orb Ring out of his coat again - it's still pulsing, a gentle warmth radiating from the strange device. "My Orb Ring has only behaved like this a handful of times before, to guide me to the remains of a kaiju. It's... important that I have a look at it."
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Goat Hoary's frown deepens. He is one of the more suspicious people on the Nadesico; no wonder, perhaps, he is the one here to defend Ruri now. "No."
His hand moves, just so, to protect the side Ruri's peeking out from.
"We're done here." He is firm. "Good day."
Ruri frowns, too, as she looks up at Gai -- she has to look up at him, as well, she still hasn't really broken past four feet tall -- and the Orb Ring he's holding. When Goat moves to turn, she tugs at his jacket. "Goat-san," she says, a shade troubled across the stone wall of her own face. "I know how it looks, but..."
Goat looks to her, and listens, quietly.
"Um..." Ruri pauses, troubled for two reasons, as she halts over it. "Mr. Kerib's not the only kind of alien here," she settles on, after a moment. "Actually, Ms. Cektru... she's with NERV, too, actually. But she isn't a bad person, and she wasn't working with Mr. Kerib, so..."
Goat frowns, hearing this, as well. He does not believe just from hearing it that this Cektru is a good person -- he's quite aware that Ruri is only a child, and easily-fooled -- but it's clear enough to him that dismissing this man bothers her, at least.
He considers putting his foot down, anyway. Ruri is, after all, still a child, and it's his duty to keep her safe.
... but he wonders why both these people are supposedly with NERV.
It's enough for him to ask: "Do you want to hear him out, Ms. Hoshino?"
"... it's kind of frightening, but I guess this is important to him," Ruri admits, glancing away. "I'd feel bad if we just sent him away."
Goat sighs. "Come with me," he issues, to this man who may or may not be Gai Kurenai, as he gestures him into the cargo bay. (And keeps himself between Ruri and the stranger.)
Luckily for them, that strange crystal is right here in storage -- lowercase -- so they don't have to go deep into the ship, just further into the cargo bay. Ruri pulls up a holographic communication window as they walk to go through the manifest, and says: "That one," indicating what crate it's been stored in.
Goat opens up the metal box, and inside...
<Pose Tracker> Gai Kurenai has posed.
If one might glance at Gai's face when Ruri says 'Mr. Kerib', his expression would be very interesting: A mixture of anger, sadness and resolve. He recognises the name, that much is certain, and does not have positive associations with it.
He says nothing as the child advocates for him, waiting for Goat to decide.
"Thank you," he says as Goat resolves to trust Ruri's advice, and leads him to the storage containers, opening up the one Ruri indicates.
Within: a chunk of crystal, hummming, as it has been since acquired, with an azure light. Gai actually steps back, alarmed. "It is a Maga-Crystal," he murmurs. "... How?"
The ring in his hand is now glowing brightly, as if reminding him why they came here. He lifts it up, the hole in the ring facing the crystal, which begins to glow brighter and brighter - before dissolving into motes of light that flow into the negative space of the device. Gai lifts up his other hand towards the ring... and draws a card out of the light, with a flash of metallic blue and gold.
His brow furrows even further, looking at the blue-suited figure displayed on the card.
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Maybe Gai's expression helps his case -- though if one were to ask the ex-military-man, Goat Hoary, he may well say that expressions aren't always honest.
He's an old soldier. His concept of threat is... different, to the civilians, here.
And to Ruri, who blinks, looking up at Gai as he murmurs. "A Maga-Crystal?" She asks, unfamiliar. And she watches, as that crystal glows, and dissolves into a card...
"Oh. He looks reliable," Ruri says, of the man on the card, though she couldn't say just why she thinks that. "But... what did you do?"
She's asking the same question Goat is thinking, evidently.
<Pose Tracker> Gai Kurenai has posed.
"Remnants of a Lord Monster," Gai replies to Ruri's first question, "empowered by a creature that... shouldn't... exist." But it might, if these residues are appearing on this Earth...
He smiles a little when she says the figure on the card looks reliable. "Ultraman Cosmos. An old friend."
He considers his answer to her second question. "I fought battles against Lord Monsters, awoken from broken seals, a long time ago. Each one left behind a crystal much like that one, and through the Orb Ring I was able to claim cards much like this one - aspects of the heroes who originally sealed the Lord Monsters away. I could not say how exactly the process works, I only know that it does."
He looks over to Goat, and bows. "Thank you for allowing me to do this."
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"Oh," Ruri says, when Gai talks about the Lord Monster. "Should Mr. Kerib not exist, then?"
Did she misinterpret him? Or...
"Don't make me regret it," is Goat's response to Gai, still quite suspicious.
But Ruri shakes her head. "I don't think... Mr. Kurenai...? Is here to hurt me. Actually, if that power was still in that crystal, it might have caused us a lot of problems if Mr. Kerib came back."
She pauses, and explains, quite proper: "I know we're not being very friendly right now. It's just that Mr. Kerib got Jirak to possess my whale a year ago, and unfortunately, I kept trusting him. Well, he wanted me to trust him, too. But that meant that no one realised what he'd done until Chaos Jirak came out with me. So you see, a strange man who isn't from here with strange powers showing up is suspicious... but you don't seem like the sort of person who'd do something bad with it."
<Pose Tracker> Gai Kurenai has posed.
"... He's not who I meant, but... that's not a wrong way to look at it. As he is now..." Gai shakes his head. "... Jirak?" He frowns. "I thought those were supposed to be placid creatures..."
Ah. Chaos Jirak. That clearly means something different. "... So... you were the one taken by it." He sighs - an expression of profound disappointment. "I wish I could say I'm surprised that Alexis Kerib would stoop to that cruelty, but after the time I've spent in Tsutsujidai..." He shakes his head. "Carving prisons out of what should be gentle things seems to be a skill he's become quite adept with. If this ship has had run ins with him... Then your wariness is certainly understandable."
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"But this wasn't the first time," Ruri says, looking up at Gai with those strange, gold eyes.
"Jirak already learned how to hate everyone... he wasn't gentle at all, now."
Alexis's role in empowering Jirak isn't something she thinks to clarify. Instead: "Jirak was possessing my dreams all that time, I guess... but since I can't remember my dreams, I never figured it out. Not until I was getting ready for my birthday, and the room started swimming." So Alexis did this on her birthday...
She frowns, but lightly, lightly. "I must have fallen asleep again, then, but I don't really remember what happened. Not until Eight-san smashed the whale hanging which Jirak was possessing, and Lucine-san cut me out of Chaos Jirak."
<Pose Tracker> Gai Kurenai has posed.
"... Learned how to hate everyone..." He looks down at the card in his hand. "Little wonder Alexis was able to call to him, then." It doesn't explain the Maga-Crystal, but there is some symmetry between the Hyper Devil and Chaos Jirak. "He has far too much to answer for, now."
It almost seems like the image of Cosmos on the card is meeting Gai's gaze, as if it has something to teach him.
"I wish I knew how that first battle ended. Cosmos-san must have held Chaos Jirak off, but..." There wasn't exactly time to ask about his battles, back then.
He reaches down to his hip, clicking the switch on a case there and opening it up. Additional metallic gleams mark the presence of other cards, as he slides the Cosmos card into the holster alongside its brethren.
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"I'm not the first one who recognised Jirak," Ruri says. "Maybe Akane Shinjo-san would know more about it... I'm not sure why I'm thinking of her, but I guess it's just because she'd know best about Mr. Kerib's kaiju."
She shakes her head, and says: "Anyway, I suppose it must have been the same the first time. Since Chaos Jirak was very upset when Lucine-san cut me out of him. Though, I don't think he expected it to happen that way... well, it's not like we had any Ultramen with us, back then. But Riika-san was hurt by Mr. Kerib, too, so she realised he must have left something in my room to cause this."
Goat Hoary, of course, notices that the Cosmos card isn't the first one Gai's collected. He is, as ever, silent about it.
<Pose Tracker> Gai Kurenai has posed.
Cosmos himself, of course, could answer the little mystery of why Ruri is thinking of Alexis Kerib's other victim. He is not here - just a representation; a snapshot of his own unique light.
Gai, thusly, is clueless - save for spotting Goat looking at his card collection. (If one were able to count the different ways they gleam - there are thirteen other cards in that holster.) He does not panic - he simply closes the case, again bowing to the much larger man.
"I should not keep you any longer - you are a very busy ship, clearly. Again - thank you for humouring me."
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"I see... good luck, Mr. Kurenai," Ruri settles on, even if it's not really who he is. She needs something to say as she bows to him, still quite proper.
"I'll see you out," is Goat's response, and, indeed, he'll help him to the exit...
... and write up a full report of what's happened here, once they're back on the bridge.
He already failed to address Alexis Kerib properly, and has no intention of failing a second time.