2023-12-27: Return of the Nerd
- Log: Return of the Nerd
- Cast: Takeshi Todo, Akane Shinjo, Rikka Takarada, Kaworu Nagisa, Guy Shishioh, TenRyuuJin Team, Alouette Pommier, Yuka Ohta
- Where: The Division Train
- OOC - IC Date: UC 0097 12 27
- Summary: After a long tenure as a Ruin Apostle and a well-deserved nap, Takeshi Todo awaken and realizes, to his horror, that he has been exceptionally cringe for the past couple of years. His screams of (emotional) pain summon friends old and new to his side. It's time for Takeshi to wake up and face reality; the dream of dawn is officially over.
<Pose Tracker> Takeshi Todo has posed.
Days ago, Takeshi Todo mounted a final, desperate defense of the King of Kings Genesic Gaogaigar near the hypercompressed Jupiter. Now, Jupiter is no longer squashed, the King of Kings has been felled, and Takeshi Todo is sleeping in a hospital bed. An IV has been hooked up to his arm, a bag gently dripping saline solution into a bloodstream that has only recently been strained clean of horrible orange energy. Unlike Mikoto, Takeshi Todo is not a semi-evoluder capable of rapid regeneration. Unlike Taiga and Hyuuma, he is not an actual superhero made out of a mountain of meat. Instead, Takeshi is both a: an ordinary human (aside from the Hyper Agent cohabitating in/adjacent to his soul) and b: a giant, noodly nerd. As a result of these two factors, he has taken his sweet time recovering from the utter exhaustion of throwing everything he's got and more into ceaseless support of Triple Zero's cause. With one of the only withdrawal syndromes of being cut off from the nourishing power of all of creation being catastrophic fatigue, he is medically quite unconscious.
But at least, judging by the wiggling lines on the vitals monitors and the twitching movements of his fingertips and eyeballs, it looks as though that might be about to change.
...Slowly, surely, consciousness returns to Takeshi Todo. He stares at the ceiling with bleary eyes as he tries to put a name to the place he finds himself in. His brain is foggy, his thoughts are like molasses. All he remembers is--
I regret to inform you that the only place your cosmic train is taking you... Is on a one-way ticket to oblivion.
"Aa--" Takeshi Todo's voice creaks, and then bursts into a scream as he buries his face into his pillow, "aaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHH--I WAS SO LAAAAAAAAME--"
His EKG promptly flatlines, because he's turned over and stretched his IV to its limits. It's the only way he can properly scream into his pillow.
...But it may also alert certain other members of GGG that Something Is Wrong (also the screams. The horrible, vaguely modem-dialup-like screams.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
Akane's not expecting many calls at this point. Most of the work is done, and a lot of the report-filing for this run of things is a little bit above her pay grade; as a result, she's actually had a lot of free time...
... which she's spent bumming around Medical anyway?
Needless to say, when she hears screaming, she... also starts freaking out. Her head tilts up from the book she's reading, and she immediately books it for Takeshi's room, and finds...
... him screaming into a pillow about how lame he was. She takes a breath -- stands up fully -- and just stares at him. ... a smirk slowly starts to spread across her face.
"... Yeah, this is about who I expected would have designed the maintenance kaiju," she says, looking a little smug.
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
Akane is in Medical! Mysteriously, Rikka is also in Medical, tapping away at her phone as she catches up what news she can now that she can actually get some manner of connection.
...And then she hears a SCREAM, nearly fumbling her phone onto the floor as she startles and quickly tries to regain her compsure. She stands up quickly, sliding her phone into a pocket as she follows Akane into the room.
Takeshi is awake... and currently screaming into a pillow. She tries to be polite... but then Akane's smug comment forces herself to cover her mouth with a hand as she stifles a laugh.
"...You're up. Welcome back." She greets.
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
Though the battle against Cosmic Law has come to an end, there are still many concerning things around the Division Train. Shozo has gone missing; Liam is not quite all there; and, of course, Takeshi has yet to awaken from his purification. The lattermost resolves itself--but that comes at *quite* a shrill scream and a flatline.
Despite the flatline, though, Kaworu doesn't hurry. He can tell that this is a life growing stronger, not weaker, and even if it were, there are plenty of medical staff who'd be there to handle the matter. All the same, he turns his head towards the medical room where Takeshi is, several steel walls away.
A moment after Akane and Rikka hurry in, he enters too, hands tucked in the windbreaker he's been using for this trip; he wears his plug suit underneath, and Shinji's SDAT is clipped to one pocket while the earbuds hang around Kaworu's neck.
He chuckles a bit at Akane's comment, less restrained than Rikka but still quiet, as is his wont. "The devil knows its own," he comments to her, then slips to one side near Rikka to smile at Takeshi. Takeshi may not see, given that he has his face buried in a pillow, but he may recognize that voice. "You seem lively, Takeshi Todo. It's good to see."
<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
Jupiter has returned to its full scale. Genesic Galeon has been purified. And as for some other final business...
Well, Guy still has to decide how he's going to describe all that.
Still, wherever he was on the ship, within seconds of Takeshi's monitors going WEIRD, the door flies open and Guy Shishioh charges in with full Evolual speed. He stops at the doorway, seeing Akane and Rikka there already.
...he listens carefully to Takeshi's lamentations.
He looks at Akane. "I don't get it, that all seemed pretty normal to me."
(In the background, Namiko arrives some seconds later and immediately starts miming kung fu movie stances as if she were going to fight the medical disorder.)
<Pose Tracker> TenRyuuJin Team has posed.
Something small and pink rolls through the door as the racket intensifies. "Hup!" it says, in a familiar voice, and it flips up off the floor, sprouts stubby arms and legs, and lands in a dramatic pose with arms akimbo.
It's a Lacus Clyne Special Edition Glamour Haro, and the other members of GGG have likely seen it before--it's KouRyuu's remote terminal. "Look who's finally awake!" she says, looking up, up, up at the man in the cot. This campaign was not without loss and suffering, but the fact that Takeshi is here, alive, and bemoaning his actions is... better than the alternative, by far.
"Yeah... you really went through the wringer, didn't you?" KouRyuu pauses, looks up at Rikka. "Could you set me on the nightstand or something? AnRyuu's going to be here in a minute, she was in one of the maintainence cars."
<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
Alouette's also gotten to take it pretty easy on the return trip back from Jupiter - her seventeenth birthday has come and gone, and there's been quite a few faces to catch up with. She's pretty eager to get back to the Earth Sphere... and there's still plenty of things to worry about, but she's making the best of her time on the Train, too.
Still, Takeshi's been unconscious this whole time... what he did must have been pretty taxing on himself. Maybe it's no wonder he wakes up with a scream, but Alouette still decides to see what's up.
Only to find that several people have already gathered around him, and Akane has commenced the teasing. Alouette's gaze meets down towards man in the hospital bed, bemoaning how lame he was.
"...It just goes to show that Triple Zero really doesn't change your personality at all. Welcome back, Todo-san." She comments, not quite matching Akane's smug smile... but the aura is definitely there.
<Pose Tracker> Yuka Ohta has posed.
Yuka is NOT, as a matter of fact, in medical, when this all goes down. She's not far away, just in a spare room doing maintenance and other important work on her drone line. There was a good amount of incidental damage to some of the units, and what better time to make more upgrades?
Of course, she's got a monitor on Medical all the same, so she does HEAR the shrieking. And that gets her on her feet and darting out the door, face and jumpsuit covered in machine grease. Her glasses are slightly askew on her face as well, so she really is just quite the sight, sliding into the room like she was trying to beat the late bell of her old, old high school.
That said, she nearly faceplants from what she's seeing here. "U-oh. Huh, I didn't expect that. Well, welcome back to the waking world. It's nice to meet you properly." She's lacking any of the smug aura, whatsoever. Also she has a passenger that's at least familiar to everyone else. A little Creature practically glued to her back, poking its head up over her shoulder to see what all the fuss is about, while it slurps away at some delicious flashlight batteries.
<Pose Tracker> Takeshi Todo has posed.
"VENORA WAS A PERFECTLY FINE DESIGN," Takeshi shouts abruptly as his head jerks up (taking the rest of his torso with it) from the comforting confines of his pillow. Apparently there's something that can break him from Dying Of Cringe and it is people throwing shade on his work. "You--" he squints at the Akane-colored blob and the Rikka-colored one next to it. "--H-hold on. Glasses... Glasses..." There are none in your pockets Takeshi, your gown doesn't even have those. There, on the little stand that's barely balancing the extendo-IV line. He fishes around over for them and finally places them back where they belong.
Triple Zero corrected his eyesight... for a while. Sigma didn't need glasses really. But Takeshi is a mere mortal and spends all his time staring at computer screens. The guy needs his corrective eyewear.
"--You!!" He gesticulates a jabbing finger at Akane (and Rikka), only to detect the smugness in her expression and wince like a dagger was shoved into his kidneys (a very small one). "You... two were the girls in the mechanical kaiju. The ones from the Hyper Devil's playground--"
And then that other voice. He recognizes that one too. Kaworu has been a thorn in his side for long enough that his voice is impossible to mistake. "...The one Triple Zero feared," he mutters, finger slowly drooping, "And-- Captain Guy. Little Alouette."
So many faces. Too many faces. WHEN DID ALOUETTE LEARN TO GET SO SMUG!? Takeshi groans, withering into a nerd-shaped ball. "Ughhhh. Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean to make a scene--"
One of the French Sisters rolls in. Takeshi squints even harder, "...Kouryuu, they got you a pretty cute remote unit. And..." He looks up at Yuka and cants his head, "...Kaiju."
No, not her. The little thing clinging to her. He seems to slowly realize something: "Ah. Crap. Where are my Kaiju?"
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
Mission accomplished.
"I never said it was bad, it's just that it's so... old-school? And I mean, I like that too, but still." She's grinning ear to ear. "Anyway -- yep, that was us!" ... Man, Takeshi really missed a lot of this stuff, huh. Then again -- that's not so bad; it means a chance to get to know each other separate from...
... everything.
When Takeshi calls her 'little Alouette,' Akane says, "Jeez -- Alexis was casting me as him?" with the most incredulous tone of voice she can muster. "Zero tact whatsoever." ... then again, it seems like it's kind of a running bit.
Akane would say something else, but then she sees Yuka's Creature(tm) and immediately moves to take a look. "Oh it's so cute," she enthuses, as it gums at some batteries. "That kind of thing would be a big responsibility, but..." ... soooo cute.
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
She and Akane aren't the only ones who heard Takeshi's screaming. Others arrive... including KouRyuu, in Haro form.
"Oh! Yes, here you go..." Rikka replies, leaning down to pick up KouRyuu's remote terminal and setting her carefully on Takeshi's nightstand before looking back toward Takeshi. Akane seems to be in a good mood about this...
"Guilty as charged." Rikka confirms along with her, then considers for a second. Hyper Devil's playground... "...It's come a long way since you last saw it. You'd be surprised."
She shakes her head.
"How are you feeling? Do you need anything? Food, water?" She asks. She steps aside to let the others in, then, and offers Yuka a smile.
"The little one seems to be doing well." She comments. She remembers when they found it beneath Tsutsujidai... that feels like a while ago.
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
Kaworu glances over at Yuka and the little kaiju clutched to her back. He does indeed recognize the creature; it's been a dear companion of Yuka's for well over a year now. He offers her a warm smile, then saunters over to a corner of the room, where he seats himself and folds his legs.
"You flatter me," he tells Takeshi with mild, good humor. He glances over at Akane and Rikka as Takeshi remarks on them. The Hyper Devil's playground, hm... Yes, he imagines that's how it would look.
"They aren't here," he tells Takeshi, of his kaiju. "I'm surprised you don't know. Even Shinobilar hadn't been present."
<Pose Tracker> TenRyuuJin Team has posed.
"Thanks," KouRyuu chirps, as Rikka sets her down. She shuffles to the side, allowing Takeshi ample space to grope around for his glasses, and as Guy pokes his head in, she snaps off a quick salute and a respectful "Guy." Now that she's got a better vantage point, she takes in the rest of the group, optics lingering a moment on Yuka and the precious baby kaiju on her back. The Haro emits a single heart emoji and a soft squeal of delight.
"I... hope they're okay," says KouRyuu, and she means it. "And that if they're not, that we can help them."
The soft whir of quadrotors accompanies the arrival of a second remote unit. AnRyuu's deep violet drone floats in at roughly average head-height, bobs in the center of the group to acknowledge the others' presence, and says: "She discovered Lacus Clyne and concluded she had to have it. Mr. Todo, it's... good to be on the same side, again. Are you experiencing any symptoms, aside from..." Words fail her for a moment. Akane has far better insight into the deeper, more Internet meaning of 'cringe'. AnRyuu turns to look at her, and the drone tilts, like the canting of a head.
"Yeah," KouRyuu chimes in. "A big responsibility." Because it's a kaiju. Get it.
<Pose Tracker> Yuka Ohta has posed.
It's hard not to snicker at the sudden Rise of Angry Takeshi, jumping to defend his work. Not out of malice or anything, but with the awareness that honestly? She's the same way about her designs. If anyone went in and modified Sevengar to be less himself, she'd probably start biting them. Or worse. Well... she probably wouldn't make their computers overclock remotely and start running hard enough to melt down or explode. But the fact she thought it is bad enough.
Akane slips over, and while she may or may not really recall everything from the books Yuka gave her, it's probably not hard to tell it's a juvenile Eleking. "Honestly, less work now than she used to be. She eats electricity, so teaching her not to start pulling from an open socket and chowing down on Tokyo-3's power grid was the hardest part. Feel free to play with her if you want, any time really. " Though, grain of salt on the difficulty part. Yuka being who she is, she might think it's easier than it is.
"I wish I could tell you where exactly they are. But I'd be happy to help you find them again." The other side of who Yuka is, she's well-versed in understanding the kind of connection Takeshi has to his creations. "But maaaaybe that should wait until you're cleared by the doctors?"
<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
Alouette blinks twice when she hears what Takeshi calls her. And then she readjusts her standing position to accentuate her height, pointing a finger towards the glasses Takeshi just put on.
"Is that right? Maybe you should take a look at your prescription, Todo-san... who can say how old those glasses are?" She playfully rebukes. Between this, and Guy and Mikoto, it seems there's simply no winning with her.
Akane's own increduality also gets a glance from Alouette. "...No kidding. The surface level comparisons are one thing, but he's definitely way different once you actually meet him." Not that's she's saw him a whole lot, but enough to know the type of person he is.
She spares a look at Yuka's 'little one', too. She doesn't know a lot about kaiju outside of... fighting them, but this one is just a little guy! She approves. "A diet of electricity? Kaiju really are unique creatures... she's kind of cute, though." She admits.
But the idea that Takeshi's kaiju are still at large gets a more concerned look from her. "They're still out there? That sounds... kind of bad, actually. Both for the kaiju and for us. We didn't get a chance to purify them, did we?" She considers.
<Pose Tracker> Takeshi Todo has posed.
"Well, that's because I made it... Decades ago." Takeshi says, withering in the way that every single person does when they are forced to remember exactly how old they are. Though in his case, things are a little wibbly and a lot wobbly; he did kind of get booted from regular timespace for a while, AND has spent most of the past few years under the influence of Triple Zero. What effects that might have on his biology on the long-term is a question for modern medical science. "So, of course it looks old-school." Beat. "'Sceuse me, but I'm not sure you've got a leg to stand on talking about tact when you're the one that brought up Venora out of nowhere like that."
Also, something about Akane just vibes Gremlin.
"Other than my ego desperately trying to collapse into a black hole, I'm mostly thirsty and hungry. Feels like I pulled an all-weeker on cup ramen and coffee." There's a sense that he is actually speaking from experience. No wonder this weirdo ended up in GGG. "...Sigma told me a bit about you all, and about Tsutsujidai. But we didn't have very long to talk, either."
He fixes Kaworu with a look, then slowly shakes his head, "...I gave Shinobilar the order to stand by and look for an opportunity to interfere, but... Apparently they never did. Which means they've probably run off. Might be a problem. I'll work on it after I'm... less dead." As for the others, Takeshi has to think about it. But then: "...The others were likely destroyed. Unless Triple Zero sustained them long enough to be caught up in the Fixer Beam and survived like that in some form. Nn."
Though... It's a slim hope. Maybe they are out there in cyberspace, still. He'll... have to go looking.
"Anryuu," Takeshi says to the quadrotor. "I see. Well, that jives. Can't say I'm too surprised. But yeah, I do too. Hope they're okay, I mean."
Kaiju... They're still his friends, and he asked them to be his armor. Forced them, really. But that's what happens when you make something out of your heart and your heart is full of orange julius.
"...Probably," he says to Yuka with a sigh. "I hope Shinobilar doesn't get up to no good, but... If they do, I'm guessing you're all in better shape to fight it than we are."
'We?'
"...We didn't," get around to purifying them, that is. "If they were caught in the Fixer Beam, then they might've been purified, but if not then that's still a problem. Looks like I've got more to make up for than I thought, ugh." Takeshi rubs at his eyes from under his glasses. "And for the record, my glasses are fine! I just, it's been a while! I hope my modifications to the Program Ring system were up to your standards. We had to do some fine tuning as we learned more about Guy's evoluder abilities and got more real combat logged on GFG."
"Anyway... Sorry, don't think we've met," Takeshi says to Yuka, but then glances toward Alouette, Kaworu, Rikka and Akane too. The new guard, is it? Come to fill GGG with young blood. Well. Some of them are, anyway. "You already know who I am. Takeshi Todo. GGG Cyberwarfare Expert, Hyperdevil Survivor, and Monster Maker. It's... good to meet you all."
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
KouRyuu's pun immediately makes Akane start losing it; she's normally not this bad about it, but KouRyuu isn't who she expects wordplay from, so she's caught with her defenses utterly down. ... Unfortunately, she has reached her absolute limit of looking cool or together.
Akane isn't totally captured by kaiju and puns, despite everything; she can, at least, converse, once Tsutsujidai comes up. "Yeah. Tsutsujidai's not anyone's city anymore -- and that's exactly how it's supposed to be, I think."
"I'm just saying! When you see a girl you knew in elementary school and she's all ready to graduate from high school now, like -- it's 'you've grown into a beautiful young woman,' not 'little'! Come on."
Nodding to Kaworu, Akane affirms to both Kaworu and Takeshi, "... We'll figure it out. Anyway, it's..." She smiles. "It's nice to finally meet you. I think everyone's been waiting for a long time."
... Having said that, she immediately returns her attention to the kaiju. "... How do you keep it from sucking the power out of toys?" she asks, curious. "Or is that just more teaching..."
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
Rikka nods back to KouRyuu at her thanks, then listens as Kaworu tells them what they know about where Takeshi's kaiju are. ...Namely, that they don't know. Rikka frowns.
"...I hope they're alright." She murmurs. Kaiju don't deserve that - if they were fighting them. ...She does chuckle briefly at KouRyuu's wordplay, before looking back toward Takeshi. She nods, as he explains how he's doing.
"Yyyeah, that makes sense..." Rikka replies. When was the last time he ate anything? ...Do people under the influence of Triple Zero even need to eat? Regardless, she pulls out her phone, tapping out a quick message and sending it off. "I'll let someone know to get some real food sent up right away."
...Of course, despite that... she's not going to turn down a good opportunity, either.
"Seems like you've got a lot to learn now that you're back..." Rikka chimes in, agreeing with Akane.
Still... she does hope the best for the kaiju, and if it comes down to it... then they may have to fight them. They'll see what happens when it happens.
She nods, as Takeshi introduces himself properly.
"Rikka Takarada." Rikka replies with a nod. "It's good to meet you, too - properly."
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
"Mmm... They seemed quite loyal to you the times I spoke with them, and very eager to do battle in general. It seems strange that they would have simply run off. If you think that's what became of them, though..."
Privately, Kaworu's concerned that Yapool may have had something to do with it--but best not to jump to any conclusions. If the other kaiju were destroyed, that would be sad... but Akane looks his and Takeshi's way and says they'll figure it out. Likewise, Yuka offers to help search for them. "Yes. There's still hope."
At last, Kaworu looks at KouRyuu with a smile to admire her round form as AnRyuu drones in and explains why her sister has a Lacus Clyne-themed remote terminal Haro. "It's quite cute. It suits her," he remarks.
To Takeshi, when he greets them all properly, Kaworu replies, "Likewise. Gridman Sigma was quite worried about you, Takeshi Todo. But you already know that."
He chuckles at Takeshi and Akane's back-and-forth. They truly are similar, aren't they? It's no wonder Rikka's the quickest one to do something to handle Takeshi's physical needs.
<Pose Tracker> TenRyuuJin Team has posed.
The Haro's right eye sparkles at Akane's laughter. Even if she's worn out--if they're all worn out after this ordeal--they can still laugh. Even if it's over low-hanging fruit.
"Mm. I think you're right, Mr. Todo. Even if it weren't an issue of their welfare, I don't like to leave loose ends hanging." A pause. "My condolences, regardless." KouRyuu nods, somberly as a Haro can, from her station on the dresser. Purification clears the mind, but the body is another story.
So is the guilt.
"Thank you," KouRyuu chirps, as Kaworu compliments her. "Ah--anyway, I bet Alouette has a lot to show you, once you're ready for duty again! She's picked right back up on the Program Rings, and done an amazing job."
Now there's something alarming. What changes has the code undergone in Takeshi's absence? Is it a labyrinth of cryptic comment strings?
<Pose Tracker> Yuka Ohta has posed.
The visible... and honestly audible, withering under reminders of age is a little painful to watch. She can only hope she doesn't wind up doing that in a few decades. She's only in her twenties after all. The bit about pulling consecutive all-nighters strikes a chord. "I've done that before. No coffee though, I make my own drink." She doesn't have a thermos on hand to offer him right now though. She left those in one of the dining cars.
A few good questions are presented, and... well, she's the one who would know, after all. "She's pretty quick to learn things, but it was a mix of teaching control and the natural waning of need as she got older. Having some toys to play with that don't emit electricity also helped, though they were less necessary as she learned her fine control. Strictly... I believe she could remain at this size for years, so long as she doesn't intake a truly excessive amount of electricity at once. As I've come to understand, Elekings largely aren't... naturally predisposed to aggression and violence, so if she sees no need to reach a size capable of fighting, she simply won't?"
Quickly her attention is back on Takeshi and his introduction. "Doctor Ohta Yuka. Research and Development Lead with NERV's STORAGE branch. Officially I'm not exaaaaaactly part of GGG, but this is where I can put my fields of robot development, computer sciences, and kaiju research to the best use. Without all the stuffy personalities interfering." She's still pretty mad about the changes they demanded on Windom during its development. Among other things. She gets unusually nervous though, for a moment. "Also, uhm... I'm really sorry about that code string that messed with your memories during the fighting."
<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
"That's exactly right! There's a certain way that's supposed to go, isn't there?" She agrees, when Akane brings up how to truly compliment a young woman. "Ahaha, geez... I guess I shouldn't be expecting that kind of etiquette from a guy who lives surrounded by monitors." She does not relent, nor does she note the slight hypocricy.
But her smile twists back into a frown when Takeshi talks about his missing kaiju. "Cleaning up all your messes is one thing," she nods. "But we'll make sure you don't have to do it by yourself. I believe in our kaiju experts..." She assures him, briefly looking to Yuka and Akane.
A more subdued, yet interested expression when Takeshi brings up his work on the Program Ring system. "Yes, it was quite impressive, in fact." She concedes - she made sure to implement his updates to the prototype Phantom Gao after all.
"I knew all too well it was still an imperfect program. But I've learned that to code is a collaborative process... so thank you for your help, Todo-san." Her demeanour has totally shifted, what??
But KouRyuu is quick to brag on Alouette's behalf, and she smiles, warmly patting the small Lacus-themed Haro on the head. "There's a lot to work with when it comes to the energy and information transmission of the Program Rings.. so I'd love to hear your own thoughts when you're ready. We can learn from each other."
"GaoFighGar has changed, too, now that Renais is the primary pilot," she adds. "But it's not any less of the machine it was with Guy. She's really incredible, you know?"
Takeshi more formally introduces himself, and Alouette nods. "As a member of the Gutsy Global Guard, I look forward to working with you and the rest of the Gutsy Galaxy Guard again."
<Pose Tracker> Takeshi Todo has posed.
"Nnnn, not quite what I meant," Takeshi shakes his head at Kaworu. "Where most of my Kaiju were mostly operating on instinct and the parameters I set during their creation, Shinobilar possesses Auto Intelligence. That is to say, they're fully capable of making their own decisions if they decide that it's the best course of action. I don't doubt their loyalty and love for the fight, but they might've interpreted my order as permission to pick how and when to 'intercede' as they like. And if that's the case, then the most obvious place for them to be hiding is somewhere in this vessel's cyberspace. Or maybe they hopped onto another system and made a break for it to give us all a headache down the line sometime. It's hard to say. They're very much a thinking being, one influenced by Triple Zero as much as I was."
"...But hopefully, by the time they do make their presence known," Takeshi lifts his wrist, the Acceptor glints there meaningfully. "We'll be back in fighting shape, too. It's my responsibility, as Shinobilar's father."
Takeshi gives Akane a look, then smiles just a little wryly. Perhaps even, nostalgically. "Ahh, but when I first met her, she was only about yay high," he holds out a couple of hands to indicate the size of Tiny Alouette. "When I saw what her code was able to do, I knew I just had to know who designed it. I was very surprised when I found out who she really was! But she was adorable back then... I wonder if GGG kept the photo archives...?"
RED ALERT. TAKESHI KNOWS WHERE GGG STASHES THE BABY PHOTOS. RED ALERT.
"Ah, anyway, it wasn't easy, figuring out a prodigy's programs." Perhaps because Alouette's comment strings could be... Well, maybe they're not as bad as her desk drawer now. But back then, when she might have believed herself to be the sole developer of the technology...? "Hngh, I've never been good at talking to people. Much better with computers." he huffs at Rikka's insistence that he has Things To Learn. "It's different when there's code involved-- unannotated code is a special kind of hell-- but this is how it's always been for me. I'm used to it by now! It's a special signature of mine!" But anyone who knows him from Back Then would say that he's made huge strides. This isn't the lonely young man that Khan Digifer was so easily able to victimize back in the day. "...Thanks, though. I appreciate the help, Miss Takarada."
Soon he'll be back up on his feet and right as rain. And when he's better... "I can at least do some reading," Takeshi says to Kouryuu. "Just need a terminal to access. Sigma mentioned he had a portable one he liked to use. I'll just borrow that."
Eleking, so that's what it's called. Yuka apologizes, and Takeshi shakes his head. "It's alright, I understand. Triple Zero isn't something you can afford to pull punches against. Still, computer science and kaiju research, huh? Ever try to build yourself a cyber-kaiju? I had some... help back in the day, if you really want to call it that. But there are some naturally occuring kaiju that exist in cyberspace as well, to say nothing about some of the stuff I've figured out from the Digifer Brothers' old tech."
Beat.
"Ugh. I'm gonna have to rebuild all of that stuff, huh...?" Takeshi scratches his chin, "At least, the schematics should still be in the archived files..."
"You'd be interested in them as well, Alouette," Takeshi notes thoughtfully. "I used some tricks from them to refine the cyber-physical flip-flop process. I'm sure if we combined our insights, there'd be even more we could do to optimize them. I've also a few ideas about how to patch some of the security vulnerabilities, if you or Inubouzaki haven't already caught them all after I disabled GaoFighGar months ago."
"The sentiment is mutual," he adds, then. "Here's to our productive cooperation. I'm sure Entouji feels the same way. It'll be almost just like old times-- except even better, I hope."
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
"Oh, uh, right. Akane Shinjo," Akane says, awkwardly, as she realizes she's never really... managed to introduce herself. "I was..." She gestures vaguely with one hand, and then says, "You know what? This moment isn't really about me. A lot of this stuff is documented on 3G's servers, you can read it on your own time."
She considers for a few moments, then decides that GaoFighGar is something she can lens in on. "GaoFighGar's been through a lot... I guess that's why it's 'Fighting,' hahaha." ... Could she still use it? She doubts it -- and that's probably for the best.
Once it gets technical, Akane ends up going quiet, scooting over toward Rikka a little. She does think to add, though, "... I really kinda want to rib you about your commitment to gracelessness over the baby pictures thing, but I think that might go bad for me..."
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
Shinobilar...
"...Here's hoping." Rikka replies, of being in fighting shape by the time they show themselves. She hopes they'll be able to help them, even if they have to fight - Shinobilar deserves that chance, too.
Still... she laughs good-naturedly when Takeshi professes that he's much better with computers than people.
"You're welcome." She replies with a smile. She listens intently as the conversation continues - she can't really comment on the technical stuff. That's not really her thing... but she's glad they can bond on that front. When Akane scoots closer, Rikka glances her way before scooting closer too.
<Pose Tracker> TenRyuuJin Team has posed.
"Mm." AnRyuu's quadrotor tilts downward, and the shutters on its optics iris closed. "I hope we can reach them. They deserve a second chance, too." She's not a kaiju, but she is a created being, and she feels sympathy for others like her.
"Yeah," KouRyuu says, echoing her sister's words. They're both still thinking about ChuuRyuu. "Anyway, while I can confirm that Miss Pommier was both adorable and extremely talented, I think that's best left to her discretion, hm?" As Alouette reaches out to pat her, she leans into her hand like an affectionate cat. "But I'm sure you guys will hit it off going forward! And Renais, too! I hope."
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
Takeshi clarifies his meaning on Shinobilar's actions. Kaworu nods. Those are all better possibilities than the one that has him concerned.
"Hopefully so," he agrees. "I'll do my best to support you at that time, too."
After that, though, he'll fall silent, content to sit and listen.
<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
"Mou..." Alouette complains, succinctly, when he goes into DETAIL on how small she was. "And what do you mean there's photo archives?" She asks, to follow up.
She smiles a little apologetically though, when Takeshi mentions how it was kind of hard to work with her program. "Hehe... I didn't really need it to make sense for anyone but me and Guy, at the time," she explains. "And annotating it all is kind of a pain, right?" She admits, with a laugh. "Don't worry... I won't put anyone through that again. It's meant to be shared, after all."
She does look interested in Yuka and Takeshi's talk about the Digifer Brothers' technology. "That does sound like fun..." She nods - particularly the cyber-physical integration. "As for the security vulnerabilities..." She sighs. "Don't worry. The best part is that your attack showed us exactly what needed to be patched, right?" She smiles, satisfied. "...And I don't think Inubouzaki will ever let Entouji forget about the massive L he took, either."
Akane's own little joke definitely gets a laugh out of Alouette, too. "It's never too GaoFar from trouble..." She kind of wonders herself, but it's something that only Akane can figure out for herself.
Having said just about everything she wanted to the awakened Takeshi Todo, she leans down a little bit, lightly squeezing KouRyuu's head. "Right! Let's all do our best together."