2023-07-25: Decrypted Data
- Cast: Alouette Pommier, Shozo
- Where: Tokyo-3
- Date: U.C. 0097 07 25
- Summary: Shozo comes to Tokyo-3 in search of answers about what happened to Gridman. Kaworu requests that Alouette watch him if he explores the city. An endlessly curious child, she finds he has quite a lot of questions about everything. Some are easier to answer than others.
<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
Alouette has a great many talents up her sleeve. Many of which make her indispensable to GGG - and NERV as a whole. So when Kaworu Nagisa contacted her for a favour, she... wasn't expecting it to be what amounts to babysitting. That isn't something she particularly considers part of her skillset.
Still, she agreed to it. She had some minor business in Tokyo-3 anyways - and before then, plenty of time to kill in the fortress city.
Besides that, Shozo fascinates her in a way, and it feels like an opportunity to learn more about his 'deal'. She knows he's connected to Gridman in some way at least, who she still considers a friend, despite his foolishness in Tokyo-3.
So here she is at the bus stop Kaworu sent her, tapping her phone a little aimlessly while she waits. As she's technically here on NERV business, she's in uniform, making her strikingly recognizable, even if her hair wasn't unique as it is. In the summer heat, the layers are a little much... but it doesn't seem to bother her.
Most of all, she's kind of glad she knows Shozo's coming this time - last time he caused a huge false alarm on Orbit Base.
<Pose Tracker> Shozo has posed.
Shozo waves goodbye to Kaworu as he approaches the bus stop, then turns around with a big smile as he turns to look at his babysitter. Kaworu hadn't made it clear who exactly was going to be escorting him, but when he sees the bouncy yellow curls of Alouette, he points in recognition.
"Ah!" he shouts, and ran over to her.
"It's the clever big sister!" he says, beaming at her as he skids to a stop. "Wait, I thought you were with... GGG? Do NERV work with GGG? Do you work for both?"
"Can you work for two robot teams at once...?" Oh, today would be a question day, it seems.
<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
Clever big sister, huh? She can live with that one. "Bonjour, petit garcon," she does her best to respond in kind, notably not taking a page out of Renais's book and calling him a runt.
He probably doesn't know French, she realizes, switching to Japanese from there - they are in a Tokyo.
"GGG is a sub-organization within NERV." Alouette answers Shozo, as she walks towards him from her waiting spot. "We tend to work quite independently all things considered... but it always helps to stay on the same page." She adds, as to why she's here instead of Orbit Base or another GGG base.
"It didn't used to be that way, either." She goes further into detail, sensing Shozo's immense curiosity. "When I worked with the Gutsy Galaxy Guard, some... seven or so years ago, it was its own independent organization. So much changed in that time. It was... quite difficult to get used to, at first." The hardest part always being the familiar faces no longer there. She looks further down at the streets of Tokyo, then adjusts her gaze back to Shozo.
"What brings you here, anyways? Sightseeing?" Now it's her turn to ask a question! "I mean, aside from housing NERV's base of operations, it's not that much different from your average city. I doubt there's anything a kid like you would want that you couldn't find in Tsutsujidai already..."
<Pose Tracker> Shozo has posed.
"I didn't think everyone worked together like that..." Shozo mutters, crossing his arms thoughtfully. "I feel like that's a problem waiting to happen..." He shrugged, and a smile returns to his face, only for that expression to change into one of surprise as Alouette explains her past.
"Whoa, you've been working with Mr. Guy and everyone for that long? You must have been... well, the age I look... That's really impressive!
When Alouette asks what he's actually doing here, he gets a bit of an evasive expression.
"Well... It's a bit complicated. I was looking for answers about what happened to Gridman during the Duma fight... I didn't get all the answers I wanted, but, um... That's probably for the best." He sighs, letting his shoulders slump and release a surprising amount of tension.
"Definitely for the best."
<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
A problem waiting to happen? Alouette raises her eyebrows a bit. "I'd certainly hope not..." She says. "Our goals aren't always the same as NERV proper. But people like Administrator Kaworu? They're good allies to have." They've had to fight enough former allies, but she doesn't say that part out loud.
What Shozo says next does get a laugh out of her. "I got to know Guy when I was very small. Up to..." She motions to where her waist would be now. "Here."
"During that time, I agreed to help him with something important. But if it wasn't for what he and everyone else taught me... I don't think I would be half the person I am now." She says, with a reminiscing smile.
Although when he asks if it was for 'that long', Alouette shakes her head. "No... I lost my memories protecting someone that was important to both Guy and myself." She clutches one of her curls. "Once my memories came back, I was eager to meet everyone in 3G again. But since most of them disappeared into the stars... there are still people who I can't give up on." She looks resolute. She doesn't know if Shozo knows about Triple Zero. It's not fully public information, even if it's been distributed to most high-level organizations.
She tilts her head at Shozo's evasiveness, then. "The Duma fight..." That makes sense. He knows Gridman, he'd want to know what happened. "Maybe it was for the best. That fight was a total disaster." She frowns. "I think what he did was foolish, but I hope Gridman isn't beating himself up over it. I know he declined my invitation to lunch after, and... that moping expression just doesn't suit him." She was actually planning to go visit him soon, and force the issue... but maybe it's good she hears how he's doing from Shozo first.
<Pose Tracker> Shozo has posed.
Shozo blinks at Alouette's comment.
"...Half-person... Are you half-alien or something?" He still didn't get a lot of human expressions still, but that was a particularly strange one to someone like him.
He looks aghast when Alouette describes losing her memories, but calms visibly when she mentions regaining them.
"Disappeared into... the stars? Did they get lost in space or something...?" He hasn't heard about Triple Zero, Gridman having not told him anything. And yet... He has a sort of inkling, in the back of his mind, that whatever her loved ones may have found in space is probably very not good. After all, his fathers tended to hang out there!
Shozo leans in despite himself when Alouette describes the battle.
"You... were there?" That coldness in his chest -- in his voice began to creep back in, but he bites his lip. Kaworu asked him to not pursue... whatever this feeling was. And Alouette almost certainly wasn't the one that hurt him, was she? He needs to calm down...
<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
There's a moment of incredibly awkward silence as Alouette blinks at Shozo's question. "Not... exactly." She answers him, with a bit of a pained smile. He is still a child, and learning.
"But you're not totally off the mark, either." She adds, when she considers how she used to feel about herself before meeting GGG for a moment - she wasn't raised with the love of a human. She instinctively herds Shozo to a more private place than the semi-busy sidewalk they were walking across.
"We call people who were genetically modified before birth Coordinators. That's the type of person I am." She trusted Gridman and his companions with this information, so she feels comfortable telling Shozo. "Has Gridman ever warned you of an organization about BioNet?" She asks, as a follow-up. "Unfortunately, they've made their mark in Tsutsujidai to prey on its people... I know he's pretty worried about it."
"Something like that." Alouette nods, about them being lost in space. "GGG's most important mission is rescuing them and bringing them back where they belong. That's the reason why I fight so hard." And well, that wording... might further Shozo's inkling. Even if it's not quite his fathers that they discovered in the deep reaches of space.
Shozo leaning in, the coldness in his voice... Alouette knows how to defend herself even if she'd rather not hurt a child. "Yes," she says, instead, calmly. "Despite what the Angel did to pacify the city, and its utter refusal to listen to us, Gridman tried to defend it in battle. Most of NERV wouldn't have that, so..." Noticing that tenseness continue to creep up... "I didn't shoot Gridman, by the way. I'm pretty confident in my aiming... and he wasn't my target."
[OOC] Alouette Pommier says, "bluray: an organization called* bionet" <Pose Tracker> Shozo has posed.
"Oh, you were designed! That's cool, me too!" Shozo grins at Alouette as he is shepherded into the alleyway. "You're definitely made to be more of a person than I was, though."
The smile drops from his face when Alouette tells him about BioNet, and he shakes his head.
"No, I haven't seen them. If I do, though..." He tries to avoid letting a worrying grin creep onto his face, but can't quite manage it. "I'll stop them if I see them, certainly..."
As Alouette continues to talk about their imprisonment in space, the boy's expression becomes more serious.
"...What has them, out there? You don't have to tell me if you're not comfortable, but... There's a lot more bad than good out there -- even I know that. Maybe I can help -- I offered Kaworu help too, but he seemed nervous about it. This might be something I'm better for?" "Better for" might be an exaggeration, but... It's not like his fathers would actually be in this universe -- if they were, things would be very, very bad, and he'd know.
When Alouette speaks about the battle, Shozo nods, rubbing his eyes a bit.
"...Right. Gridman cares too much. He put himself in danger. I just... I don't think you did anything, don't worry, but..." He lets out a grumble sound.
"It's hard to keep calm about people who are Important, even if you know you can't keep them away from things that they want. Gridman and Borr can't keep me away from things..."
<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
"Pretty much." Alouette nods, when Shozo likens it to being 'designed'. Him too? Hmm... "Is being considered a person something you want, though?" She asks. "Even robots can be people nowadays..." She loves her Super AI friends, deeply, so she's pretty open-minded about the boundaries of what is and isn't a person.
"BioNet is an organization that puts the pursuit of science over their own morality." Alouette explains. "I appreciate that of course, but... be careful, okay? They're dangerous people." She warns, sternly. Almost as if she was a babysitter or something.
"With BioNet, I was supposed to bring GGG's downfall. I didn't find that very interesting though... so I decided to work with them instead." She smiles, with a hint of pride. "In my pursuit of knowledge, I learned a couple things I was missing - what it takes to be kind, and what it means to love."
Talking about her past wasn't very hard, but when it comes to breaching the next topic... she seems a little avoidant. The pain of it is a lot more fresh in her heart. But Shozo's desire to help is appreciated. "They returned... not themselves. Only Guy was able to escape." She says. "They're currently fighting in service of something called Cosmic Law - the end of all miracles and intelligent life. And they're powered up by a universal energy." She sounds grim in tone. "You might actually want to ask Gridman about this. His brother, Sigma's, former host is going through the same thing." She's not going to sign him up for a multidimensional war, she's putting that through his guardian first. "No matter how hard it is though, we're getting them all back." She concludes, fire in her eyes.
As for Gridman and Duma... Shozo begins to calm down. "Gridman's caring heart is his greatest strength and most glaring weakness." Alouette agrees. "Sometimes having that worldview like that is valuable, but sometimes..." She shakes her head. "I know you care about him a lot. But even if he made a mistake, I promise you he won't be alone."
<Pose Tracker> Shozo has posed.
Shozo chuckles with a ruefulness that doesn't really fit a child..
"Anything would be better than what I am," he says quietly. He hugs Alouette before she can respond, tightening it when she expresses worry for him before BioNet.
"Don't worry, I'm dangerous too."
At the mention of love and kindness, he looks up, excited.
"That's what I want to learn, too! I don't really get them, but I know they're things my fathers hate, which means they have to be good! I know that, um... I matter to people, and there are people I think are Important, but... I don't really know if that's love, or anything like that?"
Shozo furrows his brow as Alouette attempts to explain the situation of the GGG to him.
"Mmm... Like a Choju using its materials' memories to find victims... That's not good at all... And Cosmic Law? That sounds almost like the Ultras, doesn't it...? But the Ultras are good, and that sounds like something my fathers would do... Nnn, good and evil are so complicated..." he moans, rubbing his head.
Thankfully, Alouette's discussion of Duma lets him focus his thoughts.
"I know it's something that is important, but... Gridman isn't strong enough to be able to make decisions for people he cares about. Kindness... is the privilege of the strong, I think. To be strong enough to not have to worry about yourself. If you're going to sacrifice yourself for your ideals, then that's not kind, is it? It's stupid, isn't it?"
<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
Anything would be better than him? Sometimes she gets a strange feeling about the kid, but he hasn't done anything horrible to warrant- "Ah-" she vocalizes, as she's not used to sudden hugs. She doesn't push Shozo off of her, but it means she doesn't get to finish her train of thought.
So that familiar existential angst that no kid should have is left hanging. BioNet is addressed, though. "Well. If you're going to go science criminal hunting, you should at least properly let Borr know. If nothing else, she'd love to get in on the action."
"Kindness and love, I think they're something that anyone is capable of." Alouette replies to Shozo. "Not everyone will be kind to you... but if I could figure it out, so can you." She smiles, slightly. "It might take time to understand though, and that's okay. You're still young, so..."
But the conversation moves back to Triple Zero. "A... Cho-what-now? And the Ultras? Like Ultraman Z and Geed from STORAGE?" She's... not fully sure what Shozo's talking about, in context, but she's curious. His complications with his fathers, she can understand though, but she doesn't press on them.
"I don't really care whether Cosmic Law is good or evil." She says, terse. "It's making my friends and family do things they'd never agree with - and that's all the motivation I need to stop it." Toning down her intensity a few notches, she adds, "I never said I wasn't a selfish person, either."
Shozo's discussion about kindness is interesting to Alouette... because she totally disagrees. "Do you really think so?" She asks, both about Gridman not being strong, and kindness being a privilege of the strong. "The courage to be kind belongs to us all." Is Alouette's thoughts on the matter. "Gridman might not be strong enough on his own, but he doesn't have to be. The Gridman Alliance is here to support him for a reason, after all." And she does consider herself an extended member of that alliance. "Which is why Gridman is always at his weakest when he puts himself in situations where he has to fight alone. Like when he put himself between Duma." Ultimately, she agrees with Shozo there - what he did wasn't courageous, it was stupid. "But you don't need to sacrifice yourself to be kind." She points out. "Sometimes kindness is being there, no matter what. Sometimes it means calling out each other's mistakes, learning from the best of each other." A pause, before continuing the dialogue. "What do you think, Shozo?"
<Pose Tracker> Shozo has posed.
"Yeah, I'll tell Borr. They always want to do more stuff with me, especially these days. Maybe we can make a day of it!" Shozo grins at the thought.
He adopts a more pensive expression as Alouette talks about love and kindness.
"It would be nice to learn how to feel those things, I think. Borr and Gridman and the others say they love me a lot, and I think it's something different than being Important. It's good to know you understand it, though!"
As Alouette asks about Choju, Shozo gets ready to speak, but-
"Geed? Z? I thought the only Ultra on this planet was Gai... Wait, Mister, isn't your son's name Z-" He pulls out his Battle Nizer and looks at it for a moment. "Sorry, Ace's son... We'll find out more later, OK?" He puts it away and looks back up at Alouette.
"Sorry about that. Um... Choju. You wouldn't know about them -- I don't think there's ever been one sent to this universe. That's a good thing. My father... takes a living thing, drowns it in Minus Energy, melds it with machinery and his power, and... well, they're very bad things. All they do is cause pain and kill." He rubs his chin, thoughtful.
"This Cosmic Law thingy just sounds... selfish. It's strong enough to make your friends into things they wouldn't want to be. I... don't like that at all. It sounds like my other father..." He makes a face at the thought, clearly eager to talk about something else.
"Mmm... I don't really understand courage, either. It's not something that... makes sense to me? I hope that makes sense, but human emotions in general just feel so strange to me when I try to understand them. I've been told that courage is something different than stupidity, but why do you do things that are foolish? I've heard the word "faith" too, and that's just... too much for me." He pouts a bit up at Alouette.
"Sorry I'm not understanding."
<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
Making a day out of hunting down science criminals... what a family. Alouette can't help but laugh at that thought.
She almost notices how Shozo keeps putting emphasis on the word, 'Important' almost as if it was a very specific terminology. "Keep their love close to your heart... I think you'll understand someday, Shozo." She says, hopefully.
When Shozo pulls out the Battle Nizer, and starts talking to a 'Mister' asking him about the Ultras, Alouette just... stares blankly. "Is that supposed to be like an Acceptor or something?" She asks. "...There's someone inside?"
But then the Choju... Alouette's eyes widen in familiarity of what Shozo is speaking of. "That's just like... a Zonder." She puts a hand over her mouth. "GGG has certainly faced monsters that sound a lot like these Choju on Earth. And worse, BioNet has the capacity to mass-produce the metal, if they can induce a sufficient amount of stress in their target." She was almost a candidate for that, but the stress just made her regain her memories instead.
"Maybe." She agrees, about Cosmic Law being selfish. "Those under its influence speak of moving on to the next universe in the natural cycle. But it is pretty selfish to end this one for that purpose..." She nods. In the end, fighting Cosmic Law, is fighting for survival. His other father... she lets the conversation fade past that according to his wishes.
"Courage is many things," Alouette says simply at Shozo's confusion. "It's never giving up on what you believe in, it's never abandoning your companions... it's doing all these things no matter how much the world tries to stop you." She doesn't know how much Shozo understands that, but... "It's not foolish when the alternative is giving up everything you stand for and love... I never want to live like that again."
She does wave it off when Shozo apologizes. "Don't worry about it," she says. "You're asking about it and making an effort to understand... and that's the most I could ask for."
<Pose Tracker> Shozo has posed.
"Ah!" Shozo pulls out the Battle Nizer and shows it to Alouette.
"Yeah, Mister lives in here. My father made him to hurt, but I took him with me when I left, and, well, he's my partner now. He's too big to come out unless he's needed, though."
As Alouette describes Zonders, Shozo's childish face becomes a mask of rage.
"What do you mean... humans made their own Choju? Out of people? Why would anyone make a Choju, other than my father...?" His eyes shift to those concentric rings, and he grabs onto a wall for support... before his fingers curl into a fist, tearing through the bricks and reducing them to dust. A glowing light emits from Shozo's pocket -- the Battle Nizer, once again -- and Shozo grabs it, looking down at it.
"They made their own Choju! That's-" He stops talking, presumably as he listens to the giant within.
"They don't have to be exactly the same, they're still destroying people to make monsters." He looks up at Alouette, still shaking with anger.
"I'm sorry. I'm losing my composure, but... Why would humans make monsters like that? Make something evil like that?"
<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
She nods, when Shozo explains Mister. She guesses it's not too weird, considering part of Gridman used to live in a computer. "If you can, then tell him I said hello!" She says, upbeat. It's good that they're in this together, she thinks?
And then when Shozo hears about the Zonder, he gets extremely upset and into a mini-argument with Mister. "The Primeval War was a little before my time... but the Zonder weren't originally created by humans. And I don't think it was for a necessarily evil purpose, either." Her tone is calm in contrast to Shozo. "The people of the Purple Planet put together a control system to minimize Minus Energy... but unfortunately, a loophole in the way it was programmed meant it prioritized replication over anything else, and ultimately Zonderization of all life forms." Which is also bleak! But it's not evil for the sake of evil, even if the Z-Master and Primevals ultimately had to be destroyed by necessity.
"BioNet has no excuse though, for replicating Zonder Metal." She says more quietly. "They only wish to see the limit of what they can do with alien technology. And... I helped them do it. " She reveals. "I've changed a lot, but if you'd like to be upset with me, I understand."
<Pose Tracker> Shozo has posed.
Shozo listens to Alouette speak, his angry expression fading into neutrality. After a minute, he speaks.
"Oh. They were just stupid." His posture relaxes immensely. "Y'can't fix Minus Energy with a machine, you gotta do, like... societal stuff. They just didn't wanna change to minimize their bad behavior. Man, my father woulda loved them... but that's not really a Choju. A Choju is like... Imagine what happened to your friends, but just so they can hurt the people they used to care about, and kill as many people as possible, and worse. Choju are... the worst." He lets himself have a little shudder-shake as he works out his stress.
"Humans recreating that is still bad, but it sounds like you guys were just dumb and curious. Most humans are!" He gently reaches up to pat Alouette's shoulder, an attempt at consolation.
<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
Shozo's explanation of the Purple Planet's shortcomings are fascinating. "Stupid... I guess so. The cost was massive, and an entire Solar System was lost." She nods. "And it's only thanks to the courage of GGG, and the remaining Green and Red Planet warriors that the 'Blue Planet' didn't meet the same fate.
She doesn't like the sound of these Choju, though, but if they come to Earth... she'll fight them and save the hosts just as she always has.
"It's what I had to do," she says, dry about BioNet's activities. "The commanders of BioNet probably thought recreating GGG's former adversary was the easiest way to overcome them. And at the time, they likely figured I was the only person with the ability to even understand alien tech like the GS-Ride and the Z-Metal. So one of the 'activities'... 'games' they had me play," she says with a scoff, "was to research and analyze it. It's not like they could consult the GGG, who they were trying to destroy." She shrugs.
"I thought it was a pretty stupid plan, too. GGG beat the Zonders. But people tend to be stupid when they're desperate... I watched a man willingly fuse himself into a cyborg with the Z-Metal just so he could fight Guy." She frowns. "I don't think he deserved to die for it, though."
She notably brushes off Shozo's consolation. She doesn't think she's the type of person who needs it.
<Pose Tracker> Shozo has posed.
Shozo nods thoughtfully as Alouette explains the Purple Planet's folly, and BioNet's use of her.
"Yeah, that makes sense. I just go by things that my fathers hate as being good -- I think I'd probably do the same thing if you didn't tell me it was bad." He shrugs, and sits down -- they're back at the bus stop, having walked and talked around the whole city.
"Enemies die or they kill you. That's kind of how it is, isn't it? If he didn't die, he was gonna kill Mr. Guy. Or at least keep trying until something bad happened." He gives Alouette a smile and holds out a hand.
"Thanks for watching me all this time. You're nice. I had a good time."