2023-12-08: Shatter! The Truth Behind 'Possibility!'
- Log: Shatter! The Truth Behind 'Possibility!'
- Cast: Yuliana Kafim, Sayaka Yumi
- Where: Within Goragon - Boss Ramen
- Date: 2023-12-04 (ICly 0097-12-08)
- Summary: In the 飯 cube, Ms. Dian runs a sensational food criticism show, and Sayaka Yumi chances upon her when she does a piece on Boss Ramen. But when she introduces herself as Yuliana Dian, the Possibility splinters, and both parties realise just where they're standing. Sayaka clears up why Yuliana is helping them, and Yuliana expresses a great many, many frustrations. Amongst them are her feelings that perhaps she must die to open the Gate -- though she can quote Elisa saying she'd never want such a thing. She can speak freely about all these things, after all, when the world is ending. But she doesn't need sympathy, does she?
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"Now!" An unscarred South Eastern woman says to the the camera, indicating to her bowl of ramen with her chopsticks, "if you have a look at this pork -- here, get a good look," she holds the slice up, and the camera focuses in on it. "You can see it's very finely cut, and the quality of the meat is obvious. You don't want too-thick slices in ramen, because you're looking for the flavour to infiltrate the cuts. But the presentation here is excellent. Everything's been distributed in such a way that nothing's left behind. All right, let's dig in!"
Worldwide Satiation is a food criticism show, and they're running their competition for the best ramen joint across Japan with their host, Ms. Dian. For some reason, no one thinks it's at all strange she's hiding her eyes behind a pale red masquerade mask; her mouth is visible, after all. That's just the way of stardom!
Of course, the reason why Boss is letting them come to Boss Ramen to shoot their show may well have something to do with Worldwide Satiation's ethos: they do a considerable amount of work in food charity, aside from their primetime television show. This is, apparently, in large part thanks to their host; Ms. Dian ensured her contract stipulated it.
And once the film crew is all packed up and leaving, it's Ms. Dian who stays back to shake Boss's hand. "Thanks for your time," she tells him, smiling. "Really -- you've got a great vibe here. Even if the execs decide on something fancier... I'd happily come back, myself."
Staying behind, of course, means Ms. Dian is vulnerable to being approached by the public -- but she's never minded that.
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.
It's a big day for Fujinomiya City over in the 'mealtime' cube, and this time it doesn't have anything to do with Kikaiju, or great scientific inventions being unveiled to the public. No, today, Boss's pride and joy is finally getting some worldwide recognition thanks to Worldwide Satiation and its host, Ms. Dian.
The film crew comes and goes, but Ms. Dian stays. "Shucks," Boss says, taking the handshake with a firm, yet gentle grip. "It's a team effort, really! Without Nuke, we wouldn't have such precise cuts, and without Mucha, the place wouldn't be so damn tidy all the time!" He laughs. "But food deserves to be served with a smile, don't'cha think? Don't matter to me what the execs pick long as you had a good time." He adds, with a cheerful grin.
But now that the place has opened back up to the public... "Oh! Someone's at the counter, so I better go take care of 'em. Thanks for coming, Ms. Dian!"
But Boss isn't the only hero of Fujinomiya out here today... Sayaka wanted to pay a visit after the showing, and she's a regular anyways. She waves to Boss and his friends, of course... but she finds herself drawn to that esquisite red mask that Ms. Dian wears.
Ah, right! She's the host of the show. "Good afternoon," Sayaka greets Ms. Dian, and it isn't uncommon for customers to interact with each other here at Boss Ramen. "Ms. Dian, right? I've seen your show... and I've heard of the other work you do, too." Sayaka has a lot of respect for that type of charity, just as Boss does. "Welcome to Fujinomiya. Oh, right... I'm Sayaka Yumi. But here, I'm just a regular."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"It's a marvellous team effort," Ms. Dian smiles, to Boss. "And -- of course!" She won't keep him from his customers.
But here, of course, there are many heroes. And when Ms. Dian is greeted again, she turns, and smiles. "Hello!" She greets her, warmly, only for her chin to jerk as she lifts her fingers to her lips, covering a gasp.
"Goodness! It's not often I run into someone like you at the end of one of these shoots!" For once, she's not the most famous person in the room! It's a shock!! "How lovely to meet you personally, Dr. Yumi. Haha... I'm not surprised you come here often! Isn't it a marvellous little place?!"
She gestures out, with a smile. "I'm glad to hear you've heard of the rest, as well," she says. "Many people just watch the show... but I wanted to be sure when I signed up to something like this that I wouldn't be leaving people hungry when I went across the world like this. Particularly when we visit the Colonies up there," she adds, gesturing to the sky. "The food is wonderful, but there are real concerns about who gets to eat... haa, sometimes I regret not going into politics, though." Ms. Dian sighs, splaying her hand out in a hapless gesture. "My mother was a diplomat, so I do know about the pressure you can put on things from that angle... but she encouraged me to pursue the private sector instead, so here I am."
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.
Sayaka is used to people recognizing her when she's out... but can usually take it in stride. "There's no better place for ramen," Sayaka agrees. "I'd have brought Koji, but what do you know... he's lost in one of his theories again!" She laughs - this Koji hasn't had a reason to climb back into the Pilder, and neither has she. "Boss'll probably make me take home a bowl for him." Ms. Dian has a pretty friendly persona on TV, but why does Sayaka feel so comfortable chatting it up with her?
"It's a kind thing to do," Sayaka nods. "When you travel the world, sometimes it's good to watch where you're stepping. Or eating, I suppose!" Especially in regards to the colonies... "Yeah. It hasn't even been that long since we stopped the Titans... but I wish the Earth Federation would do more at the same time." She frowns. "Even over here, look what Britannia's doing! Dad - that is, the Prime Minister, says they might be planning a full-scale invasion of Japan... but it's hard to know whether that's just their propaganda." She shakes her head.
"Ah, you have an interest in politics, too?" She asks. It makes sense, since she seems to have such strong convictions. "I can maybe see why she did... politics sounds like hell, to put it frankly. Can't say I'm not worried about the direction things are going, though... so it's nice to be able to make a difference for people outside the political sphere. Whether it's food or energy."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"Oh, is that so? It's a shame -- I would have liked to meet him." Koji is a hero himself, after all! "But I'm not surprised to hear that... sounds like Boss takes care of everyone, huh?"
She frowns, thinking of the Titans -- and Britannia. "I really can't stand it," she says. "My father used to be in the military, but I never really had a reason to lionise war, myself... perhaps if I'd had more faith in those machines, I would have followed him there, but I'm sure I would have had to compromise a lot in the journey. It's always seemed difficult to do good under orders..." Just look at how many examples in history are going against the orders of the military to help people.
"As I understand it, it's absolutely cutthroat," she adds, shaking her head, on politics. "Even on its outskirts, my mother was blacklisted from everything, when the Peace Mediation Organisation went under. They threw everyone involved under the bus... even though it was clear my country was responsible for it all." Ms. Dian shakes her head, again, with a broad shrug. "At least as a celebrity, I'm only beholden to the court of public opinion. Strangely enough -- social media is much kinder!" Words which have never been said in that order prior to this day.
But in this world, Ms. Dian is an approachable, warm figure -- and of course she would stop, and say, "Oh, but here I am talking your head off, and I've not even introduced myself!" She extends her hand, and smiles, as she says:
"I'm Yuliana Dian -- how pleasant to meet you."
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.
"Between you and me, he can be quite frustrating sometimes." Sayaka admits of Koji, but she's smiling all the same. "But if you can ever make time to stop by Fujinomiya again, you might just get the chance." She adds. "Oh, and you're absolutely right. I don't even know how it happened, but Boss came to be the most reliable of our little crew. It's not even close..."
But her smile fades too, of the Titans and Britannia. "It's a hard balance for sure." She agrees, about the military. "The kikaiju were simple enough, but I think the only reason we were able to resist the Titans like we did was because we were a bunch of scrappy teenagers. We didn't give a damn about the consequences, haha..." She rubs her hand at the back of her neck. "We probably would've been in real trouble if we didn't have Sayla for a Senpai." And speaking of Sayla... "Say... have you been acquainted with Dr. Mass? She runs quite the charity these days, so it wouldn't surprise me if you've worked together before."
"What I think I was trying to say is that you need to be a certain type of person to get far in the military, and politics too." She concludes. "What happened to your mother... is just awful, Ms. Dian." She shakes her head in sympathy. "Public opinion, huh? 'Kinder' doesn't sound like the first word I'd use to describe social media, but it doesn't look like you give people much reason to dislike you anyways."
Sayaka doesn't even seem to mind that she hadn't introduced herself in full yet! "Yuliana Dian," she reaches for a handshake, but it almost feels like the 'walls' that make up this world begin to collapse. "Ah, how rude of me... have we really not met before?" Sayaka asks, not able to stifle a frown. "That name is so familiar, but you only go by 'Ms. Dian' online, don't you?"
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"I'll have to make sure to!" Ms. Dian smiles, thinking of Fujinomiya -- even if the cheer doesn't last. She at least smiles again when Sayaka brings up Sayla. "Oh, yes! Dr. Mass was my inspiration, actually -- I've known about the Yumi Foundation's works for ages. She's been a terribly helpful ally, navigating the charity side of things... even with our more limited scope, it's not always easy!"
She speaks of her warmly, and with no venom at all. She has no reason to hate Sayla. She doesn't seem particularly hateful at all.
She laughs, though, and says: "I do try. I admit, some of it is just for the screen, but... I feel like I have a responsibility to model good behaviour, when so many people wind down by watching me. I know some food critics brand themselves by being critical of everything, but what kind of world am I making if I make that sort of approach popular...?"
(And, indeed, Worldwide Satiation does tend to be much kinder than a lot of criticism media. The only times she's really yelled at chefs are when she discovers things like unsanitary kitchens or exploitative labour practices. ... she's very critical of those.)
"Oh, yes," Ms. Dian says, smiling. "I don't wish to forget my family, so I go by my last name, publically. It's just a matter of familial piety..."
It takes her a little longer.
But she gets there.
"... of course, you wouldn't know that," Yuliana says, more stiffly, now. "Because the Republic took my name, when they took me. Tch -- and look at this -- what good is hiding away when I'll just say it out loud?! I can't believe myself!" She takes her mask, which now clearly resembles a default red Masquerion, and throws it to the ground.
CRUNCH, it crumbles under her stomping foot.
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.
It's good to hear that Ms. Dian and Sayla get along so well, Sayaka is wholly aware of Sayla's penchant for doing far too much on her own, so it sounds like a healthy arrangement for the both of them?
"Criticism can certainly be constructive," Sayaka agrees, when it comes to Ms. Dian's work as a food critic. "Not that there isn't any fun in a show where people specifically sign up because they want to get roasted by the critic," she admits, "but there's room for all kinds of approaches."
Familial piety... "I hadn't realized you were so old-fashioned," Sayaka smiles, clearly not judging Ms. Dian, but it does strike her as a view of the previous generation, just a little. "Well, from the sounds of things, your family is worth respecting." She concludes. That's important to her, apparently.
But the name 'Yuliana' still stands out in her mind. "How much longer do you plan on staying?" Sayaka asks, not understanding the tension in her own voice. "Would... you like to take a seat?"
The world doesn't just crack at its walls - it begins to shift. Until suddenly, Ms. Dian isn't wearing a stylish masquerade mask, but the face of a mobile suit. The very same that assisted them against Doctor Hell, protecting them from that horde of Genociders...
"Yuliana Kafim, nee Dian," Sayaka corrects herself, more than Yuliana. "What we just witnessed wasn't real... it was yet another possibility. One where you never became Yuliana Dispersal... becoming a food critic was just one of the possible paths for you." She frowns, confirming it all in her head.
It has not been a long time since Yuliana attempted to open the Gate to the void, since Elisa revealed herself as the 'Empress of the Void'. Sayaka takes a seat anyways, because this conversation will either end very soon, or go on for quite a while longer...
"I said a lot to you during that battle, Yuliana," Sayaka says quietly, as the chatter in Boss Ramen around them seems to die down. "Most of it I do not regret or take back in the slightest. But you still not only showed up, but protected us during that battle." She pauses... where is she even going with this? "Why?"
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"A little," Ms. Dian laughs, a little self-effacing. "I do try to keep it out of the programming, but in my personal life, well... I'm sure you can appreciate honouring your parents." She's Ms. Dian, so she evidently hasn't married yet.
But -- it all comes crumbling down.
And Yuliana comes down, as well, pulling out a seat and roughly landing in it. "Possibility, and possibility, and possibility!" She rages against it, picking up a bottle of complimentary water and pitching it into the wall. It shatters, too. "I am sick to death of possibility! Does this labyrinth never end?!" She's been through a lot of them, evidently.
Is it too much to hope she'll disconnect from this world, too, now she's realised it? Apparently so. Sayaka must have the same Devil's luck as Eight does.
She scowls, folding her arms across her chest. (There's a tattoo at the base of her neck, now. ... it says, 'Elisa'. You write your name on your...) "Didn't you hear what I said out there?" She grouses, scowling. "Were it not for Dr. Hell, I might never have joined the front lines. They put me to work as a mechanic... it's only after I proved I could fight they decided to make use of me, when the civil wars started. This is a personal matter of revenge!"
But... even insisting on that so hotly, Yuliana knows it's not the whole truth. She folds her legs, and her foot taps, agitated, on the ground. Stranger still are the tentacles which come around from her back, to wrap about her knees.
"Well," she adds, a moment later, "all right, it's not just that."
She takes another moment of irritated silence before she gets to the point, though. "The Photon Power League helped us when we needed to hide and straighten out that Helium-3 problem... but it's not like anyone else is bothering to pay their debts here -- they're all otherwise occupied -- so it comes to me to settle it. Don't think I like it any more than you do." Tap, tap, tap. "And... Boss saved my life, in the Mycenae war. I guess I owe him for that, too. So I had to show up, anyway."
She scowls. "This has nothing to do with our sacred mission... it's just something I had to take care of myself. But I knew no one would accept me, if I showed up, so I disguised myself. And then this happens!" She exclaims, gesturing angrily at the ramen shop. "Why do I bother?!"
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.
Sayaka might have said something about how she has a much more peer-like relationship with her father these days, even they differ in positions of power. But by the time the words come to mind...
Everything has already crumbled down. "Haha... I'm pretty sick of it myself, you know." Sayaka admits. "Does it ever end? I don't know. Hell already fired his weapon... we lost. If this is some kind of purgatory before the whole world is rewritten, I have no idea." She sighs.
"As far as I'm concerned, I'll keep trying to claw my way out of here until I do... or don't, I suppose." She frowns. Is it luck that the dream didn't fade as soon as she saw Yuliana's true identity? She's a little surprised herself... but she stays put, in that chair.
The tattoo is... it's a little bleak. While she mostly meant what she said about Elisa out there, she really does love Yuliana in a twisted kind of way, doesn't she? She does not immediately call attention to it, either, though...
"Were it not for Doctor Hell, you might have gotten to live a life a lot closer to the Ms. Dian we saw..." Sayaka considers. "No, there's nothing inherently wrong with fighting for revenge.' She agrees.
"However," she continues, "It's not entirely consistent either... you probably would've had an easier time against the Ashura Press if you just ignored me and got free on your own." Sayaka points out. Still, she gives Yuliana a moment when she says it isn't the only reason.
Sayaka considers Yuliana's point, that she's the only one from the Helium-3 who could settle that debt. Zoltan definitely wouldn't give enough of a damn, bluntly, and she doesn't even think Rita's on this planet anymore... "Sure. I'll accept that."
Boss, too... "I'll have to tell him that debt's paid, then. Honestly... I don't think he was keeping track." Back then, he'd probably say 'helping is just part of being a hero!'
There's some tension to Sayaka's posture as Yuliana scowls. "Did you really think that a disguise wouldn't fall apart eventually?" She asks. "When this is over, I won't bother you anymore. If you really want to live your days out in that Castle of Solitude, how can I stop you?"
But Yuliana's angry gesture gives her a vantage point. "Exactly. Don't you know what this place represents? It's open, for all. As long as you don't try to harm anyone within its walls, you're always welcome here. Offer's always open..."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"Tcheh... hardly," Yuliana spits out her bitterness in the wake of what she might have had, arms folded tightly. "They put me through those experiments as soon as I passed basic training... maybe it's true they were just waiting to get their claws into me. My life might have even been worse, if they never figured out I could fight. But I never had the chance to figure it out."
Her scowl deepens. "These fucking -- mockeries -- they hinge on me never joining up. But it's all a lie, anyway. The Republic knew I had a connection... if I hadn't enlisted of my own free will, I would have just disappeared, one day." And, more bitterly: "Of course no one thought to save me, in the Mycenae War, either. And the only people who get rescued from those places are those damn Newtypes who can broadcast their suffering to all and sundry. But the worst -- the worst -- was that world which made me into someone who would betray my wife." Evidently, despite what Sayaka said about Elisa, she's still deeply loyal.
(She always has been.)
But she glares at Sayaka, when she comes back to pointing out her disguise and offering harbour. "I know," she snaps, "I shouldn't have bothered! There's no point to me doing something like this! And after my Elisa asked me to stay safely in the Castle -- I still went and asked her to let me come here! And now reality's ending, and I didn't even do anything this time, and Elisa's, I don't know where, and I can't feel Her here either, so I'm just alone and you all hate me and this sucks!"
That's not at all what Sayaka said, but Yuliana's on a roll. The sort of roll where she stomps her foot. "And don't tell me I can come back here! I know Boss hates me, now! Ever since Alma tried to brainwash that brat! I didn't even tell her to, she just went off and did it, and now that's my fault, and everything's ruined!" This is it: the legendary adult temper tantrum.
They just don't make Cyber-Newtypes like they did back in the '80s.
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.
"I see." Sayaka answers, with a hint of sadness in her tone. "Then that was an even more distant possibility than I had thought." Indeed, Yuliana explains just how distant it was: that the Republic already lied in wait to sink their claws in her. "These possibilities aren't real, it's true." She shakes her head.
And Yuliana only redirects her own suffering onto the Newtypes who were saved. "That's not true and you know it," is what Sayaka offers in response to that line. "But what is true is that what you went through was such a preventable tragedy. And... no one should be able to take away your freedom of choice. But I'm sure you don't care to hear words of sympathy from me."
And then Yuliana absolutely snaps. "If anything, I'm glad you bothered... because don't you dare argue we're out of this until it's over." Sayaka points, to the world that has constructed itself around them. "I sure as hell don't want to be taunted by fake possibilities until it's time to fade away, so you bet I'll figure it out whatever it takes. Just like I tried when it was you causing it!" And as much as Sayaka distrusts Elisa more than nearly anyone... staying here won't solve anything.
"When's the last time you even spoke to Boss, Yuliana?" Sayaka asks, genuinely. "I won't deny that you are complicit in Alma's brainwashing, and I'm sure he's well-aware, too. But when you wrong someone... you take responsibility and apologize for your harm." She sighs. "No, this isn't a lecture. But I must ask... if we restore our reality, what do you plan on doing? If Elisa truly has the best of the world in her mind, what are her intentions?"
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"As if I need something like that," Yuliana grouses, when Sayaka dismisses her words of sympathy. If anything, maybe it makes her even more bitter.
And Yuliana doesn't tend to internalise those feelings, evidently.
"So, what?" She issues, with venom, glaring at her. "All that talk about making sure no one's left behind -- it was just what it took?" And why does she she sound so hurt, saying that? "I should have known..."
She's... very skilled at spinning people's words around, but her pain at least sounds entirely genuine, even if she's executing some wild leaps of logic. It makes sense to her.
She looks away, glowering. "Tch... it's been over a year since I spoke to him, anyway. What's it to you?" She doesn't respond directly to her point about wronging someone, which... at least means she doesn't say she's innocent.
"No, it's an interrogation, isn't it?" She adds, and draws a leg up onto the edge of the chair, coiling her tentacles around it. "Oh, as if it matters... the damn world's ending, anyway. So what does it matter if I tell you I don't fucking know?" She buries her face against her knee, with an anguished noise. "Ughhhh! The Empress is still angry with me, and my Elisa's saying we'll have to live here until it's safe, but how is it safe here now, huh?! You saw what it was like! People are lining up to take my head! Just because of the things I do and how I do them!" Truly, there is no justice in this world.
"But if you're asking what Elisa's intentions are," she grouses, and at least she's calmer, talking about her wife, "they're the same as they've always been. She wants to protect me... she loves me more than anything. I don't expect you to understand, with all that nonsense you were spouting..."
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.
"I can see how you came to that conclusion," Sayaka admits, about only reaching out to Yuliana out of pragmatism. "But you aren't like Doctor Hell. You didn't do it because you thought it was some kind of game or test. You put yourself in unimaginable pain to do it... and I just thought there was a better place for you than that. Enough to fight for it. That's all." She crosses her arms.
"A year... not actually that long, honestly." Sayaka says, mostly thinking out loud. "I was just wondering, anyways. He always seems to have some kind of wisdom up his sleeves." Perhaps not enough to solve all of Yuliana's grievances, but ramen does a lot for the soul.
"An interrogation, huh? Perhaps my words were harsh. But no harsher than most people might hear, really. And at a time like this, in a place like this... I'm not sure what else I'm supposed to say."
She watches those tentacles creep up the leg of the chair. She quietly listens to Yuliana go into every single once of her grievances with this world, from the Empress's anger to those like Soma and Sophia who would have her head. "...Just let it out. I think that's what this place is for." And she does not specify whether she means Boss Ramen or Goragon itself. As for Elisa... "Perhaps I misjudged the extent she was willing to go, and that was my mistake." She frowns. "All I have left to say is... don't break for anyone. Not even the ones you love most."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"There is a better place for me," Yuliana insists. "I'm just... not strong enough to bring it about."
Oh. She's saying the Void is a better place for her.
She grumbles, and grumbles more, listening to Sayaka's words. (Who cares what kind of wisdom Boss has? She doesn't have to listen to someone telling her they're sick of her. And...) "Why are we even talking, then?" She grouses, sour. "We're evidently not friends. Why do you care?"
Her tentacles tighten, around herself, as if she could hold herself together against some immeasurable storm. "My Elisa told me much the same," she scowls. "That I was more precious than any progress we could make in such a way... but I can't help it." She talks into her knee, all buried inside herself. "I'm too powerful for my body. Even when I was just dancing with my own two feet, I almost tore myself apart. Sometimes, I think..."
Yuliana pauses, as her tone grows more despondent.
"Sometimes," she says, into the blackness of her shut eyes, "I think the Gate will only open with my death. A sacrifice must have meaning to have power... and every time I've tried to fulfill my destiny, it's almost killed me. So long as Elisa wants to save me, she'll never be whole again..."
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.
"No one should have to be strong for that..." Sayaka says quietly, as Yuliana insists upon the Void.
Why are they talking? Good question. "There's not much else to do to pass the time..." Is Sayaka's immediate thought and answer. "If we're still in here instead of moving on to another possibility, then there must be some sort of reason..." She theorizes. It's hard to remember that all this started from a simple, happy 'mealtime' cube.
But even still, she faces Yuliana as if she's the greatest challenge she's ever encountered. She is too powerful for her body... and almost tore herself apart.
But it's what she says next that Sayaka considers the most. "If the Gate requires your death... then it is not worth opening. That is what Elisa thinks, yes? If she had to decide between opening the Gate and reuniting with Herself, or saving you... you think she would pick you?" Sayaka asks, clasping her fingers together. "I would like to hope so too... not just for our sake, but for yours as well."
There's a deep pause, as she watches the tentacles before looking Yuliana in the eye. "You know... I am glad we had this chance. I am not grateful for Goragon... but I am unsure we would have ever spoken again. It might be on bad terms... but I'll still take it over that being my last memory of you."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"Apparently I've not suffered enough," Yuliana grumbles, sour, but at least not yelling about why they're still here. "This damn place just keeps finding ways to taunt me..."
... why Goragon would be taunting her with a frank conversation with Sayaka isn't something she elaborates on.
"I don't have to think about it," she snaps, bristling, as she looks up to glare at Sayaka. "And you don't have to hope. She told me herself... that she does not care if she becomes whole again if she must do it without me. 'I will go with you or not at all,' that's what she said." And it does sound like something Elisa would say.
"But you people always tell me I'm selfish and spiteful," she adds, bitterly. "And what's moreso than forcing my wife to be half of Herself, just because I can't handle the Power? Even if my Elisa tells me to value myself more... how am I supposed to look at myself in the mirror? She bisected Herself so someone would finally come to save me... She split Herself apart for me." And Yuliana is dismal, as she looks down at her wedding ring. "No one ever did anything like that for me before..."
... why is she even entertaining the thought?
"It's so hard to do the right thing," she answers herself.
She brings up her other leg, curling her arms around the both of them, on her chair. "It's embarrassing," she complains. "Being seen like that, and being seen like this, too... people get the wrong idea." What she thinks the wrong idea is may be just as much of a swan leap from reality as half her other logical acrobatics. "But... I guess talking to you one last time wasn't the worst thing in the world. Maybe it could have worked out..."
All curled into a ball, she says: "... but it didn't."
And that's what shatters the Possibility, in the end.