2023-11-18: The Embracing Light
- Log: The Embracing Light
- Cast: Enba Rezza, Licia Chovan, Yuliana Kafim
- Where: Within Goragon -- Magallanica Cafe
- Date: During Goragon
- Summary: Within the 'family' cube, Yuliana and Enba witness a strange possibility: a world where she asked Enba's father for help, when he saved her during the Mycenae war. Rescued before she was set against her common man as a saboteur, 'Darminichna' copes with life much better, working as an engineer in the Photon Power League... and Enba's almost ready to be promoted to Captain of their own ship. Their big sister couldn't be more pleased -- and she encourages them to take Licia along as their XO. (She also encourages them to marry her.)
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
A woman moves through the cubes. She is dark skinned, but her face is obscured by a pale red Masquerade mask; it falls down her cheeks and shrouds her eyes, almost reminiscent of a Masquerion's default colours. She is doing her best not to touch anything.
But her black cloak swirls, as she turns to hear someone calling out. "Go away--" she snaps, her voice distorted and electric --
-- but just as they've touched the cube marked with '身内', so does Yuliana, with her angry gesture.
But it's not an angry gesture. It's a grand gesture, hands all flung out to her sides. "Happy birthday!" She cries, with everyone else, as the streamers fall down. "Oh, and congrats on the leave. It's got to be hard to get out now you're handling a whole ship, huh?" She laughs, leaning forward in her chair to pour Enba some champagne. "But you got here," she adds, "and don't you worry, Darminichna's handled everything!" And it's not at all strange that the woman called Darminichna is in a red mask -- or that her voice has the edge of crackling electronic anonymity to it. These things have always been so. It's just a fact of this world.
Like the way the woman whose life Osvaldo Rezza saved during the Mycenae War opened up to let him save her again.
Darminichna -- given her history, she goes by her patronymic, these days -- has a sad history, of course; a unique experiment from the REA, there's no telling what they would have done with her, if they'd realised just how capable she was. But she snuck off from her scrapyards to help out in the war, in a beat-up Tendus which put her life in danger many times; luckily, she was fighting with the sort of people who'd look out for her. Enba's father was one of those people, and it would have been just as easy for her to clam up and keep herself a state secret when he treated her...
... but she didn't. And thanks to the help of Boss and his friends at the Photon Power League, once Osvaldo realised the trouble she was in, she was able to escape before they did too much damage.
(Oh, the damage was still extensive -- she still attends therapy -- but given the track record of the REA, it's lucky she got out when she did.)
"The League's way more understanding," Yuliana laughs, as she pours herself some lemonade instead. (Her medications don't agree with alcohol. "You know, the Director already scheduled my time off, before I even brought it up? She's great." She is, of course, excellent friends with Director Yumi. She helped save her, too.
"Come on, come on, how's it been? Tell us everything!"
<Pose Tracker> Enba Rezza has posed.
On the bridge, but not on the bridge, Enba Rezza looks around. They frown, at all of these cubes--but there is only one way to try to understand what is going on. They talk a calculated risk, and call out to the figure in the mask--
"You--"
That grand gesture...
Enba smiles, not wearing a mask obviously. "It is," they say of leave. "But the weapons officer's in charge for now while we're all away."
Licia pokes Enba, amused. "And I got to have leave at the same time, naturally. Funny how that works out."
It's not so strange, that Darminichna's handled it all. That's normal.
"I imagine so. The Alliance didn't exactly arrange it for me," Enba admits. "But with Eight on leave..." It was up to them to sort out their own.
"I'll have to thank the Director for that." A beat. How's it been?
"Good practice," Enba says, and Licia rolls her eyes. "You always put it like that. How it's an experience for later."
"Well, not that much later," Licia chimes in. "Right?"
Green-haired and brown-haired, they both talk like they know each other well--because they do.
"True. I can tell Darminichna that much. When Orolodhari returns from leave, the Alliance is thinking of adding a ship to the roster, under my command." They sip the champagne.
Licia beams. "Gonna be rough deciding which ship to stay on," she admits.
Enba says, "Hmmmm."
Then, "...But what about you? Are you keeping busy? With everything going on I certainly am. I have a feeling it won't stay as quiet as it's looking to get, but I'm told I'm 'paranoid.'"
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"Finally!!" Darminichna exclaims, raising her glass. "Took them long enough! Eight put in a good word for you, did she?" Of course Darminichna speaks of Enba's Captain warmly; she owes her a great debt for saving Enba's life, back then.
She's helped care for them since they were twelve. They're practically family, particularly given how Darminichna can't have her own.
She points her lemonade at Licia -- of course she's made sure she has something to drink, too, she is an excellent host -- and insists: "You had better follow Enba. I need you to look out for them out there! It's not like I'm a soldier, these days," she laughs, and takes a sip.
"Ahh, not that you guys are either, now, I guess... technically? Kind of a weird spot to be in, classificationally speaking..."
She reaches over to grab a cupcake -- of course there are also snacks -- and nibbles on it, with a thoughtful noise. "The current political situation is a bit hairy," she admits, "but on the engineering side of things, not much has changed at all. People still need power, no matter what the Federation's up to." Nibble, nibble, CHOMP. The cupcake disappears. Somehow, no crumbs get stuck in her mask. "Honestly, I'm glad I switched over to this stuff. Working on wanzers wasn't bad, but... you know, Photon Power's not just a tool for killing people. You got it in hospitals, in homes..." She gestures, vaguely, as if to say 'and everything else'.
"... and it's better if I'm working with light. Chases the shadows away, you know...?"
<Pose Tracker> Enba Rezza has posed.
Finally! Enba has the grace to look a little embarrassed, a feeling they'd never show outside such company. But Licia chimes in for them, "Yep. Eight had been thinking of pushing for another ship, but seeing how Enba was doing with the big one, well..."
"Yes," Enba answers, "We don't get a lot of opportunity for such things in the Alliance. I'm taking it quite seriously."
Licia's the new one, here. But she likes Darminichna. And Enba, obviously, has picked up a lot of her love of machinery...
"Ahahah, you're right," Licia answers, while Enba focuses more on the soldiering bit. They take a sip, too. "It's a little strange, but I wouldn't change it right now."
Snacks!!
Licia is also eating a cupcake, as it happens. "They do," Enba agrees. "Especially with the Federation splintering, it's all the more important to make sure ordinary people can continue their lives."
Not just a tool for killing people...
"Is that how it is?" Licia asks of chasing the shadows away. "That's... nice. I like that."
Enba nods. "I understand," they say. "I'm glad."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"You take everything seriously," Darminichna grins. "But you'll need another ship anyway, won't you? Now you've got this place..." she pats the back of the seatrest, here in this Magallanica cafe. "... the Nadesico's always running off to protect people from those Jovians, and the Ra Mari II's got its hands full already doing civilian support. Diversify a little!"
Darminichna's been here forever -- or at least, since '88 -- but she's never had any interest in getting back into soldiering. At first it was fear of being kidnapped back to the REA on the field, until she realised how much she enjoyed civilian engineering. She's come onto the Ra Mari and the Ra Mari II a few times to help fix their wiring, of course, but she'd never stay there after the ship took off.
"I'm glad you're where you want to be," she says, to Licia -- and she likes Licia, too. She did have some troubles with Newtypes, when she was first rescued, but she's since learned that Dr. Devi was just trying to turn them against each other.
There is, of course, still that horrible aura about her -- but that's why she's sitting carefully two metres away from Licia.
"Yeah," Darminichna nods, when Enba talks about the Federation splintering. "No one asked for this. The least I can do is make sure their kids can still go to school and listen to their lectures without their computers shutting down."
She takes a breath, and another sip of lemonade. "I talked to the doctors a few weeks ago," she shares -- she hasn't always shared these things with Enba in too much detail, because they've been too young, but particularly now they're dating Licia there's no getting around the facts. And it's their twenty-first birthday! "The last attempt to repair things didn't go so well, but they're going to try again soon. We're still not sure what the REA did, but they say it's because of, like... alien cells in my brain?" A hapless little shrug.
"But there's an oncologist helping me, now, too. They're thinking that if we approach this like cancer treatment -- you know, since cancer cells keep growing and replicating inside yourself too -- we might be able to neutralise them without, you know." She taps the side of her head, where the horror and her entire seat of personality both live.
She shakes her head, and smiles to Licia. "But hey, maybe if this works I can give you a hug without turning your stomach, eh?"
<Pose Tracker> Enba Rezza has posed.
"Yes," Enba agrees about the ship, and for the reasons Darminichna mentions, too. "And with Magallanica, we're gathering more people who want to be part of it, too... So I'll have crew."
Licia can appreciate civilian engineering. An she smiles back. Despite the whole horrible aura thing, it's fine... or fine enough. Everybody has problems.
"Right," Enba agrees. "It's an important job."
Licia and Enba both take more of their drinks; it's good champagne, actually. And, well...
"I see," Enba says with a frown, on alien cells. Licia looks sympathetic. But when Darminichna speaks of help, Enba relents, and actually smiles back.
"That sounds like a good course. I hope it works."
Licia smiles back. "That'd be great! You know me, I'm a big hugger."
Enba almost went into medicine, too. Or at least, their father wanted them to...
"But whether it works or not, you're still important to all of us. ...We wouldn't trade you."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"You're gonna have to make some new friends, huh?" Darminichna smiles, pointing a cookie at Enba before she goes CRUNCH. "You'll be fine," she assures them, warmly. "There's something you can offer which people like Yurika can't always give out, and that's solid reasoning. Since you're not nearly as hot-blooded, I'm sure you'll find people will be able to rely on your logic, out there. It's a pretty special gift, in this crowd!" Does she mean the crowd Enba's hanging out with, or Darminichna's crowd?
Yes.
And she all but sparkles, when Enba decides that her job is important. "Sure is!" She boasts, cheerfully and unapologetically.
She leans back, sipping some more lemonade, and smiles to Enba. "Me, too..."
But she hask to laugh, when Licia chips in about her touchiness. "I know! You keep hugging me anyway! I guess it's not so bad if it's just for a minute... and those, like, diversion tricks are working pretty good for me. I haven't snapped for a while." She does get a bit strange, when she's around a lot of Newtypes -- sometimes she even starts hallucinating. But she's learning coping skills to try and ward it off, and it's not anyone's fault, really. It's just what the REA did, back then.
She rubs at the silk coverings at the back of her head, mask covering her hair. "Ahhh, come on, you'll make me blush...!" Joke's on her, she already is. She's always been reactive, emotionally speaking. "I'm lucky your dad pried me off the tarmac back then, huh? I was a real hot shot in the pilot's seat, but I seriously didn't have the early warning system to support that... if I wasn't fighting with people like Osvaldo and Boss and Lilith, that death trap really would have just killed me." She laughs, gesturing out, with a hand. "Not that I ever wanted to get rid of it! I kept saying I had to take that Tendus back to the military, or they'd get mad! I even repaired that damn thing in the middle of fights..!"
Maybe it's lucky Darminichna has no interest in soldiering any more. She might give Enba a heart attack if she was still fighting, these days.
<Pose Tracker> Enba Rezza has posed.
"Heh." New friends... But Darminichna has a point. Licia nudges Enba again when she says that about what they can offer. Then Enba says, "Hmm. That is my hope. I'm not sure how I feel still about being in the spotlight... but if I can be of assistance, I prefer that." So they'll do it.
They all laugh at Darminichna's boasting smile. But ti's a good-natured laugh.
"That's good," Licia says. "I'd do it more often but I know it messes with you... I can live with a little weirdness, but it's not as bad for me." She just loses some of her sense of the world; she doesn't add things to it.
But Enba nods along. "I'm glad it didn't," they say of the death trap killing her. "I remember, even I heard you that one time you were talking about it."
It's pretty lucky.
"But I prefer you here, out of danger. It's a better place for you."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"Why don't you just make Licia your XO?" Darminichna says, gesturing between them. "She can steal the show, and you can get down to business. Think about it!" It's not just a joking suggestion; Darminichna knows that Licia has talents both as a pilot and a helmswoman, and she also knows that the executive officer has to have an understanding of what goes into every part of an operation.
She might not be able to see into people's hearts, but -- much like Enba -- she's learned to logic her way through it, instead.
"Yeah... but I'm glad you'll do it sometimes, anyway," she adds, smiling to Licia and her hugginess. "It'd get lonely if I was at arms' length from everyone all the time." It would be terribly lonely to be isolated from everyone, wouldn't it...?
It's lucky that Darminichna isn't.
"Oh! You heard me?" She scratches at her jaw, tilting her head. "Haha, I do get kind of loud..." But she smiles and nods, to Enba. "Thanks," she says, and it's entirely genuine. With no desire to add a big sister figure to their list of dead relatives, she assures them: "Don't you worry, I don't have any plans to run into the front lines any time soon... but I'm glad you two are out there protecting us all. Really helps me sleep better at night knowing I can rely on everyone, you know?"
<Pose Tracker> Enba Rezza has posed.
Licia blinks. "Whoa, now," she says, "I dunno about giving me authority--"
"I'm thinking hard about it," Enba interrupts, as Licia stares at them a moment instead. Licia opens her mouth and closes it, and then, "Man, Darminichna, way to say the quiet part out loud..." But she doesn't say 'no', either. "...It's not as if the Alliance particularly concerns itself with fraternization between officers," Enba points out too.
Eight and Lavhi might, elsewhere, feel an urge to sneeze.
Licia smiles at Darminichna anyway. "Good," she says. "I don't want you getting lonely. We care too much about you for that."
Then, Enba, "I did. ...But you're welcome. As long as that's the case, I'm glad."
A pause. "We will. We'll make sure this is a world that you can live in, too. That's important."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"Heheheh..." Darminichna snickers, her grin all too sly. "That's not a 'no'...!" OH NO, SHE'S STILL SAYING THE QUIET PART OUT LOUD. SHE IS A MENACE.
Of course, she's also teased Eight and Lahvi. Frequently!
But she smiles, and it's lucky she's wearing a mask, because she's blushing again when Licia says they care. "Awww!" She exclaims, hand grasping to her chest. "You guys! You're way too sweet!"
And she turns her smile to Enba, too, warm and joyous. "I know you will," she says, entirely trusting. "You always have, even when you weren't trying on purpose. Remember when you were younger? I was trying to figure out how to read people, and you were already so good at it, always saying it's about observation and everything... I remember thinking, you know, if that's your method, it's not so bad I can't read people the other way. I mean, what was I gonna do? Tell you it wasn't gonna work? No way. And it does work!"
She lifts her glass to them, again. "And now look at you!" She says, smile glowing. "You're all grown up, due to get your own ship... we're all really proud of you, Enika."
<Pose Tracker> Enba Rezza has posed.
"Welll...." Licia doesn't deny that. But Darminichna is assuredly a menace.
Licia beams at her anyway, when she calls them sweet. "And you're stuck with us!"
Enba, though, "...I remember," they say. "It is observation. But you've grown good at it yourself. ...I was always watching people, back then. I suppose I still do. The world is... steadier, when you can make sense of it."
"Also you like being right," Licia points out.
"Also I like being right," Enba agrees.
And then they both smile, Licia lifting her drink too. "We are," Licia says.
"...Thank you," from Enba. "I'm glad you could be here, Darminichna. It wouldn't be the same without you."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"And you're stuck with me!" Darminichna chirps, cheerfully, to Licia. She's glad to hear Enba's evaluation of the world, and she nods along to it.
She laughs, hearing the two of them bantering, and her smile remains warm. "I'm glad to be here," she says, eyes shining. "But while I'm here, of course I have to ask... when are you two getting married, huh?!" Ever since they really started going steady, she's been pestering Enba to put a ring on Licia--!!
It is, of course, its own comedy piece; they're all practically family, at this point.
And at some point in such warm banter, Yuliana realises -- this is another possible world.
(An impossible world.)
Everything fades to white, as they're disconnected again.
But... if Enba calls their father, after all these events, he will recognise the name.
"Yuliana Darminichna Di--", she started to introduce herself, when she woke in his gurney. It's only when her consciousness fully returned to her that she corrected herself: "Yuliana Dispersal."
... back in 0088, Yuliana was still getting used to her new name. Under Osvaldo Rezza's care, she was disoriented. She slipped up.
Somewhere along the line, she stopped slipping up.