2023-12-07: The Rest Of The Story
- Log: The Rest Of The Story
- Cast: Shari Loom, Prima Virtue (NPCed by Yuliana Kafim)
- Where: Marseille cafe, France
- Date: 2023-12-07
- Summary: Shari Loom, on the run, encounters someone she's only read about in dossiers -- one of Yuliana's fellow experiments from the Institute for Continuing Study. Prima Virtue's life didn't end after she left the Institute, but her recovery is put to the test when Shari brings with her all those old memories. Even so, she resolves to help connect Shari with Leina and help her in her escape... while giving Shari another perspective on what Yuliana might be going through.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
So often, in stories, the damsel is rescued from the dragon. The story ends with the village freed from its tyranny, all the peasants safe from the shadow of terror.
They don't go into what happens the day after that.
Almost a year ago to a day, the Shuffle Alliance, Celestial Being, and G-Hound converged together to destroy the Institute for Continuing Study -- and free the thralls trapped inside. From a certain perspective, that's where the story ends.
But it just kept playing.
Orlov Nam Minh is currently serving the Shuffles under probation, lending his skills in pharmacy to their cause; he's not a free man, but he's freer than he would be, if the REA got their hands on him. Doctor Taisiya Petrov, meanwhile, is a resident of Sweetwater with the rest of her family now -- and after months of intense therapy, she's even able to take care of basic tasks on her own. Choosing her own dinner, wearing clothes which are mostly appropriate to the artificial weather... and in that same intensive program is Amit Zaman, the cyborg which the REA were trying to train to infiltrate the Void. Though he was never touched by Elisa, his damage is almost as great -- not through magical horror, but the simple, devastating damage of long-term sensory isolation.
He can tie his own shoes, now.
The woman formerly known as Lestari Nur went into hiding with her brother, Anwar; they're receiving regular long-range support, but they refuse to see anyone face-to-face, so petrified is she of her country. Gim Dae-Jung changed his name, too, and his face; he had to, because unlike the others, he was a political plant. He's living a quiet life, now. He's a gardener. Ira Gupta got her pony -- and all the related horse therapy -- alongside a careful adoption and support.
And Cascade Wattana and Prima Virtue are long-termers in Le Refuge Gardé, a mental healthcare facility situated somewhere in Marseille, at the south end of France. They've blended in amongst the other people being treated here -- it's not a Shuffles facility insomuch as a facility which has received some targeted Shuffles donations -- and they've been hard at work, in Cascade's words, 'sorting out our shit'.
But Cascade has their set of reasons for getting a grip on themself -- and Prima has a very different set.
It's the same reason why the both of them avoid bringing up Yuliana Dispersal in conversation.
They're doing well, all told. They've even been moved out of the part of the facility with bars over the windows. And as of recent developments, they both have day leave, though it will likely be another year before either of them are ready to leave entirely. It's really very exciting --
Well, Prima's excited, anyway.
She's dressed appropriately enough -- a Sheryl Nome t-shirt over a turtleneck, the pink bringing out the ice-blue of her eyes, and some casual jeans. And she's at a cafe, drinking a latte, like a totally normal teenage girl. Her number one therapy goal is to get to go back to school before she runs out the clock on her teens. She's been doing well with the distance education work they've been giving her, but being able to socialise in public is an important part of it, too.
But even though she's changed her hairstyle -- she's grown her pale hair out, now -- she's still the same Zaftran cyborg who was described in those dossiers.
Not like anyone would have read them, out here, right?
<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.
Shari Loom remembers that story. She read a lot of those reports, too--not all. Some she had to put down. ...Some she should've put down, and didn't. But some she did read. Her access was pretty high-level, after all; there are a lot of secrets she still knows.
She has her own story right now, though. A story that has seen her go down through Stockholm through more of the AEU, taking trains and buses and walks across the continent. Her eventual destination is Spain, but she's taking a circuituous route to get there... the more so when she thinks she's being followed. But she has to rest sometimes.
Luckily, the dark makeup hides the fatigue she's feeling pretty well. She's avoided her old means of contact, and she's on another burner phone along the trip. She didn't bring a lot of clothes, since she wasn't expecting to be going anywhere and didn't have a chance to stop by her dorm before she did--so she's in some French fashions at the moment, covered over by a thick black coat and a plaid pink scarf. She orders at the counter, and when she has her own drink, she turns, and--
Blink blink. She recognizes Prima, all right. She hesitates. Then she thinks..
"Um, hey," Shari says, walking up to her. "Mind if I sit with you?"
She doesn't actually ask if Prima speaks English. She might, or might not, notice that.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Marseille isn't so far from Spain. Whether that was on-purpose or an accident is an open question, but it is on Shari's way.
Shari hasn't gotten any communications from accounts which were created three months ago and have suspiciously generic comments in their history. Whether that means she's ducked surveillance or not is an open question, too.
Prima looks up, with a rapid blink-blink-blink, as she hears someone greeting her in English. It's not that unusual -- both Britannian and OCU English are very common languages -- but most of the people here are chatting in French. (France has always been very proud, as far as its language is concerned, after all.)
"Who are--" she starts to ask the direct question, before she remembers her socialisation tips, and shakes her head. "Um-- I mean-- sure! Go ahead."
This isn't weird. She's not being weird. Shut up.
<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.
Shari likes France. But she can't really appreciate it much at the moment because she's constantly looking over her shoulder. She used all the tricks she picked up from the Nega Force to cover her tracks, but she's pretty sure if they wanted to follow her they would...
But either they haven't, or they don't want her to know they have. She's not sure if either is particularly comforting in the moment.
But Prima is the focus now, and Shari looks at her. Her accent is obviously Britannian. That much is clear. She does speak some other languages, but...
"Thanks," Shari says, and smiles, because that's Normal. She sets down her drink--which has extra espresso in it--and then, "...I'm Shari. Shari Loom."
Pause. "...I think we have some mutual friends. Including Leina Ashta."
"At least, I'm hoping we do," she admits. "For all I know you struck out on your own after all and I'm just spooking you for no reason."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
lmao its fine dw bout it
But leaving certain troublesome hackers aside, Prima smiles when Shari smiles, because she's good at mirroring. "My name's Prima," she says. "Prima Virtue." It's a very normal name.
Her smile grows, when Shari mentions her friends. "Oh, yeah!" She says, perking up. "Leina! We were in tennis club together! She's great." They were not united in tennis club, or any other club, but she thinks of the explanation without hesitating.
"But, uh..." She pauses, with a nervous little glance around of her own. "What do you mean... struck out on my own? Do I... know you?"
One of her hands drops from her latte, into her pocket.
<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.
Mirroring is important! "That's a nice name," Shari says, because she's good at conversation. She knew it, but that's not the point! And her friends... Leina. "Oh, yeah?" she says. "Tennis is my favorite, too. I was in tennis club myself." It's an explanation that shows she's getting somewhere. And that nervous glance, well...
Shari thinks about hedging, but instead she notices the hand dropping to her pocket. "No," Shari says. "But I know you, kind of."
"I'm looking to get in contact with some people who helped you a while back," Shari says, keeping her voice quiet now. "Because I could use some help myself." She keeps both her hands where Prima can see them, meanwhile--on her drink.
She doesn't really want to make any sudden moves here.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"Oh, yeah? Haha... weird coincidence!" Not shown: the marquee in Prima's head running something like,
SHIT SHIT SHIT WRONG HOBBY SHE KNOWS THIS ONE FUCK
It doesn't get any less alarmed when Shari specifies that she knows her. Even the smile on Prima's face grows strained, at that. But Shari doesn't make any sudden moves while she explains, which is good, because Prima doesn't really want to kill her here.
"O--oh," she says, when Shari says she's looking for help. She pulls her hand out of her pocket, and pulls with her --
-- a phone. She was grabbing her phone in her pocket.
"I kind of thought you were here to..." She starts, nervously, and trails off. "A--anyway, I can give you the hospital's number, like, the internal one, uh... I don't really know how to get in contact with the people who got me here, I'm with different people now, but, like, if you say Leina sent you, I think they'd get it?"
... she's still pretty nervous, though.
<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.
Shari can pick up on a lot of things. She can pick up on connections, mostly--the ties between things. The vibrations of emotion. And she does gather that there's some nerves there. A strained smile...
A phone! Shari thought so, but didn't want to chance it.
"No," Shari says, "I'm not here to hurt you or anything, though I... definitely kinda freaked you out, so let me explain, OK?"
Shari nods. "I'd appreciate that, too. But um--"
"OK," Shari says, "So until recently I was with..." She glances around. "Not gonna say their last name because they're kind of public enemy number one a t m but somebody who used to go by 'Dispersal.'" Yes. She says 'ATM', the letters.
"I kinda ran away from... well, home, I guess. Between what happened at my school in Area 11 and then leaving from there, I sort of..."
"I'm on my own. And if I reach out to call Leina directly I can get traced easy."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Parminder would be so proud of Shari, if he were watching, which he totally isn't. Probably.
But Prima is pretty freaked out by all this, so it's relieving to hear Shari say it out loud. "Okay," she nods, as she listens. At least until --
"Ohmigod you were in Area 11?! Holy crap!" They had to turn the news off, in the common area. It was upsetting the people from Japan way too much. "Are you okay?!"
She takes a few deep breaths to calm herself down, and looks down at her phone. "I mean, I -- can I call Leina for you? If it's not you, then it's fine, right?"
A pause.
"And, um..." She presses her pale fingers together, and the way the flesh impacts with flesh is just a little -- off. "... do you know... is Yunyukha okay? No one was really able to tell me much, and... the stuff on the news... really makes it sound like she's still in trouble."
<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.
Parminder was a true mentor.
"Yeah," Shari says. "I'm... fine. They weren't shooting Britannians." She says it darkly, uncomfortably. And it's not a lie in that she's not being intentionally deceptive, at least.
"...Okay," Shari says. "They wouldn't be watching for contacts from you, so..."
But? Shari listens, and even if she weren't inclined to give Prima the benefit of the doubt...
"..."
Shari has to think of how to answer. "She's OK," Shari says after a moment. "Her wife was able to patch her up enough. I talked to her a few days ago. She's recovering. She's definitely in trouble with like, the law, but..."
Shari shakes her head. "Nobody's gonna do anything about it right now. Not with her wife around. I can tell you more, but I'm not sure you'd like all of it."
"...She was nice to me, though."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"Y'know, you... you don't have to be one who got dead to not be fine about it," Prima points out, a shade uncomfortably. Close to home?
Anyway.
"But I'll give her a call," she says. "Can I mention a place you'll be, or..." She trails off, with a vague gesture, as if to say 'give me something to work with here'.
She frowns, though, when Shari thinks of that answer. "That's... that's not really what I meant," she says. "Um..."
Lowering her voice down another notch, Prima leans forward on the table so Shari, at least, can still hear her. "She was... kind of like my mentor, back then," she says, speak of the devil. "Like, they had her teaching me stuff, but -- but even aside from that... she could be a real dick, but... she was nice to me, too." Whether she would have still been nice to her after she realised just what Maive was going through is a question for never.
By the time her broadening consciousness became an issue, it... never came up.
"She was... a really good actor," Prima describes it, after a pause. "Used to say it was all about presentation... and getting in the door. And getting out without people getting suspicious... you know? Lying. And one day I asked, like, how she was out there every day, just talking to people, like a normal person, and she just said... yeah, that's lying, too."
Her hands curl over each other, a shade nervously. "Now, I guess she's got this whole... I don't know, religion building up... but it keeps getting associated with, um, you know, and it's because -- uh, it's on a bigger scale, but she's doing stuff, y'know? And I mean, I just look at that, and I think... she's still lying."
Prima glances over her shoulder, before she returns her ice-blue gaze to the other girl.
"... isn't someone still using her, Shari?"
<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.
Prima points that out, and Shari looks uncomfortable. "...It feels like I shouldn't..."
Well. Shari shakes her head. Since Prima is willing to move on, "I'm here, for now. I can stick around. Or I can finish making my way to Barcelona. That works, too. Whatever's easier for her."
But that's... not what she meant? Someone who actually knows more of Yuliana's deal...
"Oh..." They. Yes, of course, they.
"That sounds like her," Shari says. "Her, and her buddies." Lying. She's good at that. But then...
Prima looks nervous. It's obvious. But Shari can feel it, too. Prima's feelings just... come to her.
"..."
"Here I thought you had some romantic idea of who she was... I guess that was stupid of me. You wouldn't, would you? Not with what you've been through. ...I read your file and stuff. I wasn't... just nobody, with 'her' stuff."
"...But yeah. Someone's using her. Though... I don't know if I'd call Her 'someone'." Can Prima hear the capitalization? Shari puts a special emphasis on it.
"She's lying. To me, to herself, to everybody. Because it's 'god' who's using her, now. Who is... also her wife? Except the part of her that's her wife is mad about the danger the part of her that's god is putting her through? But I just--"
"...She--her wife--was always nice to me," Shari says quietly. "But she was Her, all along."
"It's just all so messed up."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"If you don't wanna talk about it... it's okay," Prima offers, a little unsure of herself. She does, indeed, let them move on.
"Okay," she says. "I didn't know if... you were gonna get up and keep moving after this. Sometimes it's like that, yeah?" But if she calls Leina now, that's hardly a problem, so she'll get on that real soon.
First, though:
"Oh," Prima says, when Shari says she's read her file, audibly crestfallen. "I-- I hope I didn't scare you." If she's read her file, then she knows...
... just why Yuliana would be assigned to teach her anything.
She does hear it. She hears it because her eardrums are artificial, and artificially tuned; she could probably hear every conversation in the cafe, if she focused in on them. Very little of her is -- shall we say -- factory default.
Dr. Hell's legions killed a lot of people, maimed a lot more, and opened up a distressing amount of opportunities vis-a-vis wounded orphans.
And she frowns, as Shari starts talking about God. "There's... no way that's true," she says, at length. "There's no such thing as God. We figured that out a long time ago, Shari. All the holy books... they're just stories people told themselves." But she looks down at her hands, and she frowns. "Um... I do believe someone's telling her that story, though. Her wife, I guess...? That's..."
She reaches up, to scrub at her eyes. She can cry. They specifically engineered that feature back in, when they replaced her eyes, so she wouldn't arouse suspicion. It's the same reason why she doesn't have Wendy's sniper eyes; evading notice was more important than high-performance output, in her case. It's why her senses are enhanced, but not outrageous.
"I... I was really happy for Yunyukha, when I heard she actually got a girlfriend. Like -- she used to say, like -- she didn't need a relationship. But whenever I asked about it, she'd talk about how she only ever had one or two dates before it stopped working out, so she couldn't really give me girl advice... I dunno, I thought she'd found someone. It did seem weird to me that they let her get married, but..."
Snif. "Sorry, it's -- it's just sad. She must've gone with her when they saved her, 'cause she thought she'd take care of her, and... and now she's just... cleaning up for this woman instead? Did she get married to her because she was used to doing it, so she wouldn't freak out and run away...?"
Oh no, she is crying.
"Is that... going to happen to me, too...?"
<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.
"Sometimes it is," Shari agrees. "And... thanks. Maybe later." About the other subject. But first--
"No," Shari says. "You didn't. And that stuff isn't your fault anyway."
She doesn't answer immediately about god, or her wife, because--well. She's keeping on going.
"No, it's..."
"It's-"
Shari bites her lip. She didn't mean to make her cry. She definitely didn't mean--all this, "No, no," Shari says, "It's..."
"It's not like that," she says. "It's complicated. They do love each other. That's real. They're kind of--all wrapped up in each other? And her wife like, thinks of her safety above everything else. It's just that they also have these plans to sort of... Eat the world?"
"...That part isn't as important," she says. "The point is, it's definitely not the kind of thing that's likely to..."
"You'll meet a nice girl who isn't a crazy font of magic powers or a horrible manipulator. I'm sure of it, Prima."
How badly did she just set her back? "Um, I mean--"
"...So let me put it another way." Pause. "'They'--those people--put her in contact with this... extradimensional being. That's the source of her weird powers. She thinks of Her as a 'god'. That's who I think is using her. This 'being'."
...Better not to go into details. Shari has realized there are things she can't really share.
"She's actually really happy with her wife. They're crazy about each other. It's the religious thing that's messed up, mostly."
Well, that's... like something true.
"Anyway whether you believe me or not it totally--like, I am sure it won't happen to you. You'll find a nice girl, one who isn't religious at all!"
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Prima just about gets a hold of her crying, until Shari mentions that they're out to eat the world, at which point she just tears up again.
"S--sorry--" She stammers out, scrubbing at her eyes. "Just-- eating the world, um -- that's basically the, the phrase they used to, um..."
She cranks her voice a lower, from where it had grown a bit too high and thready. "... I don't really know how to say, um... y'know, it was the command to make us get really into -- cleaning up. Not that one, exactly, it was fancier, but... it was gross. It was so gross... even when they never used it, we'd be that way, just 'cause it kept coming up."
The word she's getting at is 'consumption', and the idea she's getting at is 'killing people with wild abandon'.
So maybe setting her back a little, then.
"Mm..." Prima nods, at least, when Shari tries to explain Yuliana's powers and their source. "I guess that's better than her wife... but... didn't you say that alien or whatever's also her wife?" But she shakes her head, and says: "N--no, it's okay. There must be something about it you can't tell me, so it's confusing... you don't have to. Sorry... sorry, I... I don't even know you, and... ugh, I thought I was doing pretty good about not falling apart like this."
She puts a smile on -- you know, lying -- and reaches over to Shari's hand, cautiously. "Um... but, look, if you're involved in that too... I want to help you, okay? Don't... don't let me scare you off, getting all..." She's fine! She's fine, see? She's not even crying any more. Fine!
<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.
"Oh, um. ...Fuck."
"I should've..." Shari feels bad. She definitely feels bad. Super bad. And it was gross! But, "Sorry. I guess that must be why it came to mind to say it that way, because she used to talk like that."
"Yeah," Shari says, "I can't give you the whole picture so it's confusing. "..."
Hm.
Shari reaches out, too, offering her hand if Prima wants to hold onto it. "Nah," she says, "I just kind of stepped all over your feelings. You're probably doing great when I don't show up out of nowhere and talk about exactly the stuff that's bothering you."
"It's confusing for me too, and I'm..." She shakes her head. "Anyway, sorry. And thanks. I do..."
Consumption.
"You're not scaring me."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"We didn't... mean to," Prima says, her voice small. Well, she never meant to; Yuliana was murdering much longer than she was. Prima might have learned to take joy in her work, eventually, too. "But-- s-sorry that happened to you. It must've been... terrifying."
If Shari's talking about the way Yuliana used to talk in this context, it only means one of a few things, after all.
She does hold Shari's hand, at least, even if she doesn't drag the details out.
"It-- it was a shock," Prima admits. "Most people... don't know what happened. I don't... want people to know. Yunyukha used to say I could have a normal life like her, when I got done with my training... I guess I still want that, these days."
That is to say: a normal life compared to a life in a lab.
She swallows, and her smile is a little less fixed in place, at least. A little more nervous, at the same time, but who's counting? "I don't think you're a scary person, either," she says, which isn't quite the same as Shari not scaring her, but she can at least try to be more honest in this situation.
"It's okay if it's confusing, Shari. It's... I mean, for a long time, nothing made sense to me after I got out. And I got off pretty light... Amit was really messed up." The boy they locked in sensory deprivation tanks for days on end, that is. Apparently, she knew him. "And Maive... Maive..." Maive's story, infused into a Gundam to lend it power, is even more frightening still; she just about manages to choke her name out, before she shakes her head.
"... I only knew her for a little while," she admits, instead. "But... I really cared about her. A--anyway... what I mean is... don't be hard on yourself, okay?"
She tilts her head, looking to her with those piercing eyes. "I mean, look at you... did you get out all by yourself? That's... something I never did. It's really impressive... no wonder you're tired." Shari's makeup is good, but somehow, holding her hand and talking to her, Prima can tell she's weary. "We'll get you help, alrighty?"
<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.
"It was. But it's kind of a long story. ...She was good, too."
But a shock... "Yeah. I was surprised--I didn't think I'd... Well, I guess it was pretty selfish, to drop in on your day like this." She pauses. "But I think she was right about that. You can. Maybe even more than how normal she thought."
But... Well, nervous, but--not a scary 'person'. Shari definitely gets the implication. It's better than the lie.
"Prima..."
Shari finds that even Prima is trying to make her feel better. After she came in and turned her day upside-down. Shari feels bad about that, too. "..I'm sorry about your friends. But..."
"Yeah," Shari says. "That obvious, huh...?"
"Well. Mostly by myself."
"...Yuliana didn't stop me, anyway. And that's more than.."
Was it more than she had to do?
Shari shivers, suddenly. "...A-anyway, she didn't. And that counts."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"Oh," Prima says, and at least looks a little heartened to hear Yuliana wasn't all bad.
She shakes her head, when Shari goes on to talk about dropping in on her. "I'd rather you be selfish if it's something like this," she insists. "You probably... don't really have anywhere to go, right...?"
Yeah. Mostly by herself. She thought so.
She tilts her head, again, when Shari talks about how Yuliana didn't stop her -- and she feels the shiver in her grasp. She reaches over, with her other, to place it over the back of Shari's hand.
"If you're in a situation like that... sometimes not doing anything is the best you can do to help," she offers, gaze flicking to the side. "You can't go against them, so..." She's drawing some obvious parallels, here -- but she's only ever known one side of Yuliana's life. "Yunyukha always looked out for herself first," she says, after a moment. "If she didn't sell you out, she must have cared about letting you go. Well... that's what I think, anyway."
Why hasn't Parminder contacted Shari, anyway?
It would be easy for him to drop her a line, and it's not like he's ever given much of a shit about alarming her.
FURTHER UP TOWARDS THE NORTH
IN THE SILENT CASTLE
IN THE ONE ROOM IN THE HOUSE FILLED WITH COMPUTERS
A series of post-it notes have been plastered on the bottom edge of each of Parminder's monitors.
They read, in Yuliana's messy scrawl:
leave the girl be
AND BACK TO FRANCE
"... do you want to come back to the hospital with me?" Prima asks, looking around. "It's, uh... I might have to explain some junk, but... I bet you could at least sit in the waiting room or something. Less, like... all in the open..."
<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.
No, it would be much simpler if Yuliana were all one thing or another. But Shari isn't the one to say she is; she isn't really prepared to argue with Prima about being selfish, either. "I mean..."
She's in France with a burner phone and reaching out to someone she read about. That's not exactly high on the 'places to go' range.
"Hm..." There are parallels--and maybe, just maybe, Elisa and Her are more 'them' than anybody's ever been. "No, that makes sense."
Better not to say that Yuliana had that glassy look in her eyes when she thought about it, or that Shari knows what changed.
"Um..." Shari nods, after a moment. "Yeah, I'll go with you. I kinda like... not being out in the open, if I can help it."
"Waiting rooms aren't so bad."
"Um..." Shari gives a lopsided look that can't quite be a smile. "Thanks."