2024-01-18: Nothing and Never

• Log: Nothing and Never
• Cast: Yuliana Kafim, Shari Loom, Sayaka Yumi
• Where: The Photon Power Labs
• Date: 2024-01-18 (ICly mid-March 0098)
• Summary: Shari comes to the PPL to advise Sayaka on the Green Fold Quartz she created -- and Yuliana, when she arrives, feels great now that she's able to sleep more nights than not. She expresses surprisingly boundless affection for Sayaka's aid, and helps, in her fashion, with her tormented love life. But when Yuliana realises that Shari has invented a way to protect herself from the Void, she's desperate to try it for herself -- even though, just as Shari predicted, the experiment immediately goes wrong. The Empress still holds Yuliana in Her grasp, and there is only so much rebellion She will tolerate. But with Sayaka's support, Shari realises her own defiance, even as the stakes raise.

---

<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.

        It's mid-March, and it's been a few weeks since Yuliana last visited... and made her early exit. There's been plenty of time to follow up on the names she offered up -- and make arrangements. But Yuliana's arranged to return, tonight, and she's asked for Sayaka to be there.

        When the stealth shuttle 'Ghost' pulls into the PPL's hangar, Yuliana emerges with a positive spring in her step, hopping out of the shuttle in jeans, an open denim vest, and a black shirt advertising the works of CLOPTROP.

        The first thing she does is zero in on Sayaka Yumi, march right up to her, and scoop her up in a crushing bear hug which lifts her concerningly far from the ground. "Yaka!" She chirps, all honey and cheer, up to and including rubbing her cheek on the other woman before she finally puts her down and claps her hands on her shoulders. (She probably hasn't broken anything, even if it felt like she easily could.) "You were right! Those rocks were affecting me! But Elya took them right away when we realised what was going on, and I feel sooo much better! My dreams are getting better, too -- it's only every few nights, now!"

        Also, and this isn't worrying at all, but she's definitely manic. She's even using diminutives which betray her affection for others with unrelated people.

        "And I'm sure you've been well -- when is the wedding? Where shall you be wed? Under what style? I suppose you'll be inclined towards a non-denominational service, given your lineage, but you should at least decide which churches you'd rather employ. You know, it took so long to decide on a church or a mosque -- but I suppose you'd not have that trouble. Are your vendors giving you trouble with so little notice? I shall speak with them. Of course you'll let me help you, after all you've done!" Somehow, she crams an entire paragraph's worth of eager interrogation into a sentence, with barely a pause from the upwards tonal hook of one question to the next.

        What, is someone else here? She's busy talking to Sayaka, and she hasn't even noticed.

<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.

Shari Loom is here to consult on Green Fold Quartz! That's not a thing many people have asked her to do--that any people have asked her to do besides the PPL--so she's not entirely sure about it. But Leina seems to think they're trustworthy, and they're heroes and all, so...

Shari is in fact here when Yuliana arrives. She wasn't expecting Yuliana here--Shari's in ordinary clothes, mostly black with a white off-the-shoulder top that shows some straps over her shoulders, and dark eye and lip makeup. And she is... stepping back. Immediately, out of instinct, when she feels Yuliana approach.

Or rather, doesn't feel her approach. Whatever.

"Uhhhhh..."

Pause. "Hi, Aunt Yuliana." She waves. It's awkward.

<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.

Time sure does fly, it feels like. It's mid-March, which means Yuliana's scheduled to return tonight. Sayaka didn't question Yuliana wanting to see her specifically - it only makes sense considering she's the Director of the place.

What she was surprised to see was Yuliana's... peppy attitude. "Oh, Yuliana! Welcome back," She starts to greet the woman before she finds herself decidedly not on solid ground anymore. "H-Hey! Where did all this come from?" Sayaka's face goes bright red of course, and it's not hard for Yuliana to just keep her in place until she's done. She knew Yuliana was a physical affection person. And an affectionate nickname person. But not really to her. Sayaka brushes down her labcoat when she finds solid ground again, and turns to orient on her next guest.

Yuliana actually explains where 'all this comes from', though... apparently her idea about the Green Fold Quartz having some kind of impact on her behaviour was correct. "Really? That's good... I'm glad you're feeling better." She replies, actually smiling for a moment. "You uh... definitely seem like you're in a really good mood."

Sayaka's cheeks go bright red once again when it's rapid fire questions about 'the wedding'. "The wedding? I mean... it's..." She looks away. "I was thinking something Shinto-style would be really nice? That must sound incredibly stereotypical but they've actually fallen a bit out of favour in recent years. So-" A glance back at the excited Yuliana. "Wait, what am I saying? Look at my fingers, Yuliana." Ringless. Like they always are. "...Yeah, at this point your help would be a blessing and a mercy. Seriously!"

Yuliana isn't the only guest the Photon Power Labs have in today though, and Sayaka just knew the timing was going to be really awkward. "My apologies, Miss Loom. I think your aunt is simply... spreading the good word of marriage." Is all Sayaka can sum it up as. "But thank you for coming, anyways. I understand the situation between you and the Castle is... fraught. But we were hoping to receive some of your expertise on the Green Fold Quartz, so as to better provide treatment for Yuliana. But I think she has just shown us... the first-hand difference of her without them."

<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.

        "Mmhm, mmhm!" Yuliana hums, brightly, when Sayaka notices her good mood. And, of course, she's in such a good mood --

        Until she sees Sayaka's fingers. And she actually grabs her wrist to pull her hand closer, examining her fingers as if it might be an invisible ring. "Haah?! That lout!" Yuliana exclaims, throwing up her hands. "I specifically told him to stop slacking -- well, don't you worry! I know just what to do!" And here she turns back to her shuttle --

        -- which is when she notices Shari, helped along by Sayaka addressing her.

        And: "Nope!" Yuliana turns on a heel, stomping down a boot as she folds her arms and turns her nose skyward. "I'm not looking at you! I'm having a great time not dealing with the world shattering and I won't have you coming and ruining it!"

        It's terribly rude, but she ignores Shari for long beats of seconds, "ha-RUMPH!", pouting and piqued. But then her toe taps on the steelwalk, and she spreads her hands in a broad shrug, turning back to Shari. "Oh, never mind that, we like you," she forgives her, magnanimous and overpresent, gesturing Shari in with a curl of her tentacles. "Come, come! You must tell me how you've been, Sharochka! Of course you don't mind doing that if you've come here with me, do you?"

        Bright again, she says: "Right, right, as Yaka says! Now I can sleep, I have so much more energy, my head's so much less in two places, I don't have to bend! She's been so helpful." And that's when Yuliana remembers what she was saying before she got distracted by Shari, and breezes on past to hop back into her shuttle, digging around --

        -- before she hops back out, and hands a deceptively heavy leather-covered sap to Sayaka. It fits neatly in her hand, with a flat surface extending out from it, easily-concealed with its small size.

        "So standard procedure is a strike downwards on the temple, but you can also go for a horizontal blow -- most people go down for five minutes, but they'll be useless until they get their bearings even when they wake up. On level five the office past the busted lab on the north side doesn't have anyone going by it habitually -- the coffee machine's broken, so no one goes to the break room, that entire end of the building is a dead zone. Drag him up there, and you do have a key to all the rooms here, don't you? So you'll be able to have a long, productive conversation without the damn man running off from under you. It's quite simple, really!"

        Apparently Yuliana has figured out all the steps to kidnapping someone to an undisclosed location in the PPL.

        Apparently she thinks this is a great solution to all Sayaka's problems.

<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.

Shari watches Yuliana and Sayaka for a moment. It's... educational. It's something, anyway.

"It's nice to see you too," Shari answers Yuliana's initial standoffishness, unable to resist the siren call of sass. "But..."

"I'm fine," Shari says. "Good, even. You know. Fine. But maybe I should go... iron my cat."

She starts to step backward--until Sayaka explains why she's here, and apologizes. "Marriage... Sounds like something for old people," she admits. "But uh. Well, you're... welcome. I guess if we're talking the crystals..."

Without them?

"Oh, so you got them away from her?" Shari wonders. "That's a trick. You never put those things apart," she says to Yuliana then. "And you... uh..."

Pause. "Dr. Yumi I will consult on anything you want except for Aunt Yuliana's BDSM fantasies."

<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.

"Koji is... I think he's working on some kind of new project right now, as if fighting Infinity instantly sparked a million theories in him. Ah, it's just too bad that new project isn't engineering the perfect wedding ring from scratch," Sayaka is perfectly willing to joke around about how slow to the punch Koji is, in spite of Yuliana's incredulity. "Wait, you have an idea? Really?" How did the Kafims propose anyways?

Sayaka's about to give Yuliana a very stern look for being so terribly rude to their guest who flew all the way over to Fujinomiya just to help, but the flow of their conversation quickly changes, Shari firing back with that teenaged sass. "Huh... is it always like this between you two?" Sayaka asks Shari with a slight shrug of her own.

But about that proposal advice! Sayaka listens intently to what experienced marriage expert Yuliana Kafim has to say, until her face slowly twists into one of horrified dismay. "Yuliana, that's... oh my god, how do you think of these things?? And do you really think I would need that thing to knock out Koji?" Is that the first thing she jumps to? Unfortunately, her tone doesn't sound like her life-long problem has been solved. "...Not to mention, that's coercion! Besides... I kind of want to see him try to find the words himself. I think I'd be happiest if it was a spur of the moment thing, you know? But you might be right that I might need to take matters in my own hands sooner or later." Because as Shari says, 'sounds like something for old people'. "Haha... I guess it kind of is. When I was around your age, the idea was totally unthinkable. But I don't want to chase feelings around like we're still teenagers anymore."

Shari asks about the crystals, then. "Apparently Dr. Kafim said it was okay," Sayaka says, of removing the crystals. "What do you mean, 'it's a trick'?" She asks, looking between Shari and Yuliana... and then hears Shari's conditions. "That's great. Fantastic. I... don't think I need information about the Kafims' bedroom to help Yuliana." She says, with a totally straight face.

"But what we were trying to understand before this was the relationship between your Green Fold Quartz and the Orchid Cells in Yuliana's body." Sayaka explains. "If it would help, our working theory about the Fold Crystal when we tested it with Photon Power was that it seems to 'absorb' energy and convert it into the Void energy Dr. Kafim uses." She looks to Shari as if to confirm that's the case. "I was thinking that it might follow that they were absorbing something of Yuliana herself... after all, not only is she more energetic, but she also gets more sleep. Right, Yuliana?"

<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.

        "You will not be ironing any cats, young lady! How could you be so cruel to a cat?! Don't you know I love cats?!" She harrumphs, again, and adds: "Sokrova misses you, you know." Apparently, this is how they are.

        She blinks, though, looking honestly bemused when Sayaka meets her advice with dismay instead of adulation. "Oh, do excuse me," she says, waving a hand. "I meant no offence -- if you can knock him out with your own hands, then by all means." Is that what she thinks is offensive?! "It's hardly coercion," she assures her, "because if he'd stop being distracted by projects which don't matter nearly as much as you, you'd find he's quite eager about it all. But I can't believe he's still putting it off! It's insulting!" At least she's... on... Sayaka's side...?

        And, in an aside comment, "I'm still only thirty, you know," when Shari decides marriage is for old people. She's not an old person! She's adult aged! Just ignore the fact that pilots, on average, die decades earlier than their counterparts! "Besides, you'll wish you listened to our BDSM advice one day," Yuliana sniffs, to Shari. "How will you stay safe if you don't know?"

        Prayer circle for Shari receiving The Talk from the Kafims.

        "But fine, fine," she waves a hand, and folds her arms, loosely. "I assure you that my Elisa isn't tricking you. She wants to see me protected from Her as much as anyone. More, even!" And that much, at least, is true.

        She grins, loose and energised, and adds when Sayaka asks: "Oh, yes. The sleep I'm getting is so much better! You'd be amazed how restful normal nightmares can be after sitting in audience. Not that I never go back there at night any more, but it's not a given!" She pauses, and taps a finger to her chin, thoughtfully. "Actually, you know... that nightly audience came in gradually, too. All through '96... at first it was very peculiar when it happened, and then it happened more and more, until it was a normal part of my life."

<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.

"Oh, I could make you a ring easy," Shari says with a wave of her hand, "If that's what you're waiting on." Then, of course, there is Yuliana and Shari's interactions, but, "...Not always," Shari says. "She's usually nicer." She stops. "Uhhhh, right. No ironing cats." She was just looking for an excuse to leave, but now she isn't. She does look suitably guilty about Sokrova, though.

"You..." Shari looks at Sayaka at her first priority, and thinks for a moment that maybe Sayaka and Yuliana aren't completely different after all.

"Right," Shari says to Yuliana when she says she's thirty, "Old. ...But it's fine. If you want to get married, that's cool. But I don't."

Then, she makes a -_- face about the BDSM advice. "Ugh..."

A trick? "Oh, no, I meant like--I'm surprised you were able to do it. 'It's a hard thing to do', that kind of trick. I don't think Elisa is tricking you. I think if she wanted to hurt you she'd just," Shari mimes throwing lightning, "'Boom!'"

Reestful... normal nightmares. "Hmmm. It makes sense, though. The Green Fold absorbs energy, but that energy doesn't go anywhere. Especially once Elisa's treated it--Oh, i'm getting ahead of you."

She looks to Sayaka, and shakes her head. "Only Elisa's treated Green Fold converts it to anything--regular Green Fold Quartz just absorbs energy like a battery. Both would absorb her energy, but Elisa's would in theory amplify it if it were already Void energy..."

"Well, she can do things with the Crystals I can't, but I never explained all the details to her, either."

<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.

"Of course," Sayaka says with a smile, about how her bare hands tend to be more than enough. "But we uh... don't usually get into fights anymore. I guess 'coercion' or not isn't the point... I know there's something special so why haven't we gotten anywhere is the thing." She considers, but Yuliana puts forth that he is in fact quite eager. "Did he seriously tell you that," She replies, flat. "It's sweet and all. But he seems to tell everyone that but me!" She supposes it is... good that Yuliana's on her side here.

Yuliana is quick to correct Shari on her age, which is only two years older than Sayaka's. "It's not for everyone," She assures Shari, about not wanting to get married. "I feel like it's at least smart to figure out school and everything before that, anyways. No regrets there, at least." As for the BDSM talk... no comment from her. Does she look experienced?

Both Yuliana and Shari seem pretty sure it's not a trick from Elisa. "Yeah, I didn't think so. Because..." Shari has it. "Exactly that. She has evil witch magic." Sayaka makes no concessions about her wording here. She brushes her hair, looking over to Yuliana. "I don't think she'd intentionally make things any worse for you, either."

Certainly not for Yuliana's sleep quality. Normal nightmares is perhaps unsurprising, seeing as Yuliana has plenty of non-Void related trauma to dream about, too. "Not every night, huh... I'm glad for you." She does wonder why it was 0096 that it began - could it have been her union with Elisa, or something else? She keeps it marked for later though.

A nod of understanding as Shari further explains the properties of the Green Fold Crystals. "I see. I think that means our trial run took one of the treated crystals, then. As it mostly certainly was emitting enough Void energy to make a Newtype sick." But even the regular Green Fold Crystals... "But absorbing energy is an impressive feat in its own right, isn't it? And definitely dangerous in the wrong hands." Sayaka frowns. "I think it puts a lot of our research so far into context, though."

<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.

        "That's precisely my point! It's completely inconsiderate towards you!" Yuliana huffs, stomping a foot for emphasis. "He knows you like him, so he should just say it!" She does not, however, offer to make him talk for her. This is a matter between beaus, and Sayaka can evidently handle her own enhanced interrogation techniques.

        But -- "Eeeh?! Nicer! Do you hear this girl? She thinks I was nicer when I was mad!" As if Yuliana still isn't markedly unstable.

        And of course Shari calls her old, and Yuliana sniffs, because she's still hip. Kids love her. It's not like she's in her fifties! She's with it!

        With it enough to torment Shari, anyway, though she just kind of grins at the girl when her face goes flat.

        "It wasn't that hard," Yuliana insists, when Shari expresses her surprise, as if Sayaka hadn't seen her put her necklace right back on and run away at the first sign of any trouble. "I just took my role seriously. But if it's hurting me, of course we'll stop! My Elisa's keeping an eye on it, too, you know." She pouts when Sayaka describes Elisa's magic as evil, but, tellingly, doesn't protest.

        She taps her fingers to her elbow, as she listens to Shari's explanation. "Like what?" She asks, casually, of the details, before moving on as quickly as she always does. "So that's why it was a mirror, was it? The cracks around me thrown to sharp relief, pressing carving fracture." And if she looks a little off to the side of Shari, as she says it, surely her attention is just wandering. "Making me sick... making me sick! But if it's me, how does that work? Eating away at myself with myself and myself and myself and --"

        Abruptly, she turns away from Shari, focusing on Sayaka instead. "I'm fine," she says. "The lacuna's just loud, around her."

<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.

Hmmm... Shari glances between Yuliana and Sayaka. She thinks about it. She considers her own advice. She almost opens her mouth to share what it is that she's thinking.

It's for the best that Yuliana distracts her. "You didn't pretend I wasn't here anyway!! That's rude!"

But not for everyone, is it? "I mean, maybe one day. Maybe." She's dubious. But she doesn't elaborate because she tries not to talk about her boyfriend in front of the Nega Force and that's still true now. Instead, "Yeah I should figure out school... My school kind of closed down."

She stares into space for a moment. That's probably not an issue.

Then, "Hmmm." Then she frowns. Her 'role' seriously? Shari's hand twitches slightly at her side. "...Right. Of course she'd stop if it hurt you."

"Almost definitely. Elisa uses mostly the treated stuff." Then Yuliana goes... a little...

"..."

"...OK," Shari says when Yuliana says she's fine. "Yeah." 'In the wrong hands.' "Yeah. So be careful with them, OK?"

She pauses again, then, after a moment, points up at her ear. "These earrings," she says. "Green fold. Treated a different way. You can't have them, but I can let you look at them later."

<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.

"Right? It's completely ridiculous!" Sayaka replies, crossing her arms, matching Yuliana for tone. "I guess I'll just have to figure something out..." Sayaka Yumi is not in the business of waiting forever.

"It's up and it's down," Sayaka answers, about whether Yuliana is nicer or not. "Mostly up, I think. Wanting nothing to do with reality crimes is a huge improvement. Even if it was very rude to ignore Shari when she was right there." She can sympathize with Shari there.

Yuliana being hip seems the farthest from the truth though, even if she really is just 2 years older than Sayaka. And Sayaka is the type of person who still blasts Fire Bomber in 0098. School, though... "Oh yeah, you go to school in southwestern Japan, don't you?" Sayaka tends to make it a point not to use 'Area 11'. "Even I have no idea how that's going to work out... we can't even get Photon Power across that border as long as Britannia has martial law in effect." She answers Shari sympathetically. "Maybe Leina can help you get hooked up with something?"

Along with Shari, she falls silent when Yuliana falls into rambling. But it makes sense, that a crystal that could sap away energy and replace it with the Void would be like a mirror to Yuliana, who orients upon the world that way. "If you say you're fine..." Sayaka nods, slowly.

As for the Green Fold Crystals. "Yeah. It's important to be careful with power you don't fully understand. Sometimes that's even more dangerous than malicious hands." And then Shari points to her earrings. Untreated Green Fold... they haven't had the opportunity to work with it yet. "Of course. I'm not going to ask a young lady to give up her own precious jewellery. That'd be even more rude than pretending you don't exist." She spares a glance towards the earrings. "We might be able to replicate them for study so they don't get damaged. But either way... it's kind of you to offer, Miss Loom. Should help a lot."

<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.

        "Absolutely ridiculous," Yuliana agrees. "You should not stand for it." She may be advocating for Sayaka to beat her boyfriend. She is still Zaftran.

        "You're right," Yuliana sniffs, "it is rude to afflict me this way, but I forgive you." As if it were Shari who was rude, at the start of all this. "Really, I can't believe you're both so misdirected! Haaah..." She sighs, brushing her bangs behind her ears. (Her frills are, politely, folded away behind them.) "I just don't want my Wife tearing me to bits every night to try and find the arrangement of my flesh which is fine with dying to be with Her. She could trust me a little, you know," Yuliana pouts, wounded.

        But she's at least more concerned when Shari brings up Ashford. "It's too dangerous to go back there, anyway... have you found a safe place to stay, plemyannitsa?" She calls her her niece, and she actually sounds worried about Shari's present prospects. "You've not returned to your parents, I hope."

        And Yuliana smiles, when Shari acknowledges that her wife would never hurt her. "Of course." Elisa cares for Yuliana above all else, and Yuliana's faith in her is unshakable.

        "Quite so," Yuliana agrees, when Sayaka moves onto the Green Fold Quartz. "You never know just how that power might react to you. Your baby giraffe stumbling did register in the Void, you know."

        And without looking back at Shari's earrings, Yuliana wonders: "If it's treated a different way, how would that Quartz take me? What is the difference between my self, poured into that cup and this...?"

<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.

Totally ridiculous. Shari looks between the two women for a moment and then decides not to weigh in more, though. It's clearly important to both of them...

But rude, "Riiiiiight." Pause. "Yeah, I mean, reality crimes aren't... ideal, I guess." But her Wife, of course, "That would be nice, huh? Trust."

But Ashford, "I did," she confirms to Sayaka, since Yuliana already knows. "But not anymore. I haven't been back since that night. And no, I don't even know if my parents called the dorms or whatever, I haven't reached out to them."

Maybe Leina can help her get hooked up... Shari laughs for some reason. "Yeah," she says. "Leina's real good at that."

Still, Elisa wouldn't hurt Yuliana. But the Crystal...

"Definitely be careful. The Void isn't inherently hostile, but the Empress doesn't like people poking around. You shouldn't draw Her attention if you can help it. And using Elisa's treated crystals will definitely draw Her attention."

"You're not?" Shari is surprised at this basic decency a little. But, "...Not sure if you'd be able to replicate them, or if I want you to, but it's worth thinking about. Let's go over our readings together and then see, OK?"

Yuliana wonders. Shari looks at her. "...In theory," she says, "It'd absorb the Void energy roiling off of you and prevent it from worsening. In... theory."

"But the energy the Empress throws at me is much less than the Empress throws at you, so..."

Funny thing. Shari hasn't been talking erratically at all, this whole conversation.

<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.

"Don't worry, I won't." Sayaka concludes, on the matter of Koji Kabuto. Whether that means beating him up or not... it probably won't come to that.

"Yeah, that's pretty much the bare minimum," Sayaka says of trust in marriage. "That comes written in your marriage vows anyways, doesn't it?" Sayaka was there. And while Elisa might've upheld that part of the agreement, now Yuliana is also married to an eldritch Empress at the other side of the world.

It takes Sayaka a minute to realize there's other meanings to 'hook someone up'. "She is," Is all Sayaka answers that laugh with. After all, Leina is trying hard for her in that area just as much as Yuliana is right now.

Sayaka looks away when Yuliana reveals that their attempt to study the Crystals was just straight up seen by the Void itself. "Oh." She replies, flat. They really DID think they got that under Yuliana and Elisa's noses. It's not like they ever mentioned it! "Y-yeah... we probably shouldn't piss off the Empress, then. Haha..."

Basic decency aside... "Once we're done studying it, it's not like I'd have anything to do with it. I don't wear jewellery." Sayaka answers, matter-of-fact.

She takes the precautions Shari gives in regards to the crystal much more seriously. "Probably a smart idea," Sayaka nods. "It worked for the cells... but I guess the crystal might be different. We'll take it slowly and carefully."

Sayaka doesn't have a good answer for Yuliana's question but Shari does. "I think in the end, it's still you, Yuliana." Sayaka offers, about Yuliana's different selves. Even if it was a very different interaction than usual, what Yuliana showed was still pretty... her, all things considered.

<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.

        "My Elisa took me with the promise of love, honour, and respect, to be faithful and to never forsake me, as a protector and a helpful wife." Yuliana's fingers come to rest on her rose-gold wedding bands, a gentle smile spreading over her face. "The Empress made no such vows... it's just another reason why I'm putting Elisa first. I chose to offer myself to her... the Empress just took me." Yuliana's loyalty, apparently, can even challenge God.

        "But you're safe?" Yuliana pushes, insistent, because she heard what Shari didn't say in her answers about Ashford. "You can be good without being safe. You're not sleeping in your suit and washing in a gym, are you?!"

        She scowls, and adds, piqued: "Leina should spend less time getting you laid and more time getting you a place to lay down." Oh. Oh no. She immediately knows what Shari means when she laughs about that. Oh no.

        It's Yuliana's turn to laugh, though, when Shari brings up the Empress's desires. "Oh, I'm afraid it's far too late for that," she says, when Sayaka tries to laugh it off, "because messing with me is the surest way to catch Her eye, and She's quite aware of these attempts. That's why it's so much more restful now I'm not going to Her side every night. It was hard on me, and I did consider giving up... but this is a relief."

        She tilts her head, hand resting on her hip, as she looks back over her shoulder towards Shari. "Is that what you've done..." She says, voice low, as a smile spreads over her jaws. "You've taken those clever little crystals of yours, and they act as shield against Her fingertips. A shield, and not a sword... you're talking about something which would avert Her eyes from me!"

        And at once she wheels on her heel, and grasps Shari by the shoulders, plunging her into her deathly-silent aura in the process. "Then let's do it!" She demands, her eyes wide with hunger and a fear which cuts to the bone. "Let's not delay a minute! She can't be angry if She doesn't know!"

<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.

Shari is still surprised to hear Yuliana speaking against Her, even in comparison to Elisa, and that shows for a moment on her face--she doesn't say it, though. Instead, Yuliana pushes her about being safe, and she has to answer that. "I'm fine," she says. "I mean, I'm safe. I'm not doing anything like that." She grimaces. Of course Yuliana knows about that. But maybe she doesn't know who. Shari doesn't have to give her more info than she has. "I mean, like..."

"She did. I have places to go. It's fine."

But of course the Void saw, and of course, "Yeah. Yuliana's probably right about that." It was... hard on Yuliana?

Shari looks to Sayaka, "I mean, they're not just accessories," she starts, but--Sayaka seems to appreciate her caution, and that's something of a relief. Yuliana, though?

Yuliana has an... approach. Shari is grasped and makes to pull back, alarmed. "h-hey--"

But she sees that fear, too.

"Hold on! It takes a minute," she says, not literally a minute, but, "Sure--I'll try it. But I can't guarantee it. Like I said, you've got a much bigger..."

She says, "Look, I'll do what I can, OK?"

<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.

"I can get that perspective," Sayaka nods, when Yuliana explains the difference between Elisa and the Empress to her. "There's definitely a difference between the things and people we choose, and those we don't."

And it's certainly good to hear that Leina did indeed get Shari a place to stay... even if Sayaka has to groan when Yuliana puns about 'getting laid' and 'laying down'.

And ultimately, it is too late to escape the Empress's attention. "If she really is giving you such a hard time... I guess I couldn't blame you if you felt you had to withdraw for your own safety," Sayaka says, of Yuliana giving up. "But this is probably for the best." Sayaka's thoughts wander, what would it be like if there was an entity within Photon Power watching their progress. Then that's the pressure Shari is working under...

But thankfully that jewellery is a lot more than for show. "A ward against the Void, huh... that would make these things a lot safer to work with." A fact that Yuliana seems very excited about. A grimace as she takes the young engineer by the shoulder, and Sayaka sighs. "Look... why don't we find a nice, closed experimental room before we get started right this instant." Sayaka brushes her coat, and starts to lead the way for Shari and Yuliana.

"There's no guarantee, but I'm sure it will still be safer than previous trials, where we had no such protections." Sayaka considers. The room they are led to allows for separation between the crystals themselves, and the researchers studying it, to observe their effects without getting too close. "Since you're our expert, I think I will let you take the lead, Miss Loom."

<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.

        Oh, Yuliana sees Shari's surprise. And really -- she's sympathetic. She's still surprised to hear herself speaking against Her. She wouldn't have thought it possible. Without Elisa's support, it would surely be impossible.

        "Good," she says, though, when Shari says she's safe -- and her relief about that, apparently, is enough for her to drop the matter of Leina's romantic meddling. (Her puns are brilliant, mind you. That's the gift of the polyglot.) "So long as you're sure it's fine, dear." Her concern there doesn't sound particularly mocking -- it's entirely possible Yuliana really does just feel responsible for Shari's safety still.

        "She'd probably forgive me if I stopped now," Yuliana sighs. "No... I'm sure She'd forgive me even if I went further, so long as I returned to Her. But She isn't pleased, I'll tell you that. Particularly not with this world stealing my attention away..." Which means She's not pleased with Sayaka. That's... probably fine? It's probably fine.

        (It's not GREAT.)

        But Yuliana rattles Shari, and it's going to be hard for her to pull back, under the pressure of Yuliana's grip. She's... really quite strong. "What's so different about us?!" She demands, and the similarities, in that moment, might be striking.

        Luckily, Sayaka interrupts her before she can forcibly shake the secrets from her ex-ward. "Eh? A room?" She asks, straightening up. "Well, I guess that's fine..."

        Thankfully for the both of them, Yuliana steps out of Shari's personal space so she can follow along behind Sayaka, instead. (With her frills tucked away, that oppressive aura of hers is restricted to afflicting anyone beside her; as always, though, it doesn't touch Oldtypes.) "So this is where you were last tormenting them," she reflects, looking between the rooms. "All right. I'm going."

        And so, Yuliana steps into the crystal room.

<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.

Shari doesn't look that embarrassed, at least. The pun was a good one, Shari just couldn't appreciate it properly because it was AT HER EXPENSE. "I am," Shari says. She's vaguely uncomfortable, in a very teenager-looking way. But for the Empress's attention, "Right," Shari says. "She's less likely to be forgiving of us, though. But unless She gets someone to act for Her, or you travel to Her domain, She can't actually do anything to you," she says to Sayaka. "So don't worry about that. ...Well, worry a little. But not too much."

What's so different? Shari doesn't explain immediately. She is being shaken and stirred. But Sayaka helps... "Yes," Shari answers. "That's cool. Closed room."

Shari walks along, and then when she looks to Yuliana... She goes to the crystal room. "Wait," Shari says. She reaches up, and undoes the back of one of her earrings, handing it to Yuliana. "Take this. We'll see what effect it has."

Then Shari goes into the room with Sayaka, and sighs in relief. "...I have redundant protection," she explains, "So I should be OK. By the same token, it might not be enough to have much effect on her," she explains, and if Yuliana is listening, she looks to her to add, "But I'll see if it does. I'm not going unshielded around the beacon of the Empress's energy, anyway."

She pauses--and then, "...You should notice that the world around you is less overwhelming," Shari says to Yuliana. "It should be quieter. I'm going to monitor the crystal and how much energy it's absorbing..."

A pause. "You asked what's so different," she says, as she looks at the equipment and starts using it like she's been here all her life. Sayaka may notice--Shari is extremely good with technology.

"You have a direct tie to the Empress, not just to the Void. I don't. She just lines up with my mind now and then to scream at me."

"I'm not sure why I'm connected to the Void," she admits, "But for me, it's the Void, not the Empress. When she's paying attention to me, that's bad. But if I use one of these treated Crystals, it absorbs the Void energy--that is, it suppresses the connection."

"It may do the same for you. We'll see. But it can only absorb so much... and She might be able to send more through you and get it from both ends."

<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.

As great as the pun may have been... Sayaka simply isn't one to appreciate a strong pun. Ask Lisa: her suggestion for calling Mazinger Infinity 'Imazinger' was totally shot down.

But Yuliana points out that though the Empress may forgive her even if she keeps going, she sure isn't happy in general. Shari is quick to clarify that she can't actually DO anything to her, under most circumstances. "Well, of course I'm going to worry at least a little." Sayaka says, with just a hint of exasperation. But if she needs someone to act to her... "But as long as we're on the same page, it should be fine." She glances to Yuliana as she says this.

"Yes, a room." Sayaka answers. "I'm definitely not setting these crystals off in open air." Although the Void doesn't have much of an effect on Sayaka, she does note the concern for Shari's well being. Shari, though, explains she has more than enough protection. "Good. I'm not putting you in danger just for this, either."

And once Shari hands the earring to Yuliana, the experiment begins. "I should probably explain how our equipment actually works to start-" Sayaka realizes, but... Shari's got it all under control? And not just under control - she's handling it better than some of the engineering PhDs she knows. "...Huh. Pretty impressive." While Shari works the monitoring then, Sayaka is ready to take notes and organize it all.

The difference between Yuliana and Shari, though, makes sense. She lacks the direct connection to the Empress, but She can still speak with her from time to time through the Void. "Hmm. If the crystals will absorb and suppress the connection, should we expect to see a noticeable difference from when Yuliana holds no crystals at all?" That is, how Yuliana has been for this entire visit.

<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.

        "Of course you'd worry, but I'm the one receiving Her will in this world," Yuliana points out, "so as long as this works, you're safe if you stay here!" A beat of a pause, and she adds: "No pressure."

        Saying that Yuliana is the one acting for the Empress is more grim than her casual aside would indicate; that Yuliana is a vehicle for the Empress's desires is something they've left to implication, most of the time. Just who is in control?

        Well, right now, it's hard to say it's anyone but Yuliana. She's quite bombastic, now she's gotten a good night's sleep.

        "Hmm?" Yuliana asks, turning back to take Shari's earring. "All right." And surely there are microphones and speakers to project Shari's voice, as Yuliana gets suited up with various sensors. Once it's done, she sniffs, and asks, to her empty room all separated from the other by that thick glass: "Selfish, aren't you?" Imagine holding out on her, just because Shari doesn't want to be unshielded.

        "So you say," Yuliana muses, as Shari describes what's different. "But I'll tell you one thing -- when they boiled my body with those injections, it's the Void which settled into my veins first of all. The first thing I felt was nothing at all. Then -- I saw the eyes."

        A breath of a pause, "... tell me, Sharochka."

        As Yuliana gazes into that Quartz, she asks: "When did the Void come to you?"

        There is a difference in the way Yuliana regards these crystals -- though Sayaka has to apply a little guesswork to figure out how her biometric readings from when they didn't realise she was being exposed to the Treated Fold applies here, she can clearly see the way her heart rate is slower, calmer, and more steady, with less little incidental movement from her, as if she were contents under pressure. (Behind her, her tentacles fall slack, brushing the ground with their jaw-claws.) And though Yuliana gazes into the Quartz, she doesn't start raving, the way she did before.

        "I feel... strange," she says, and her voice isn't so loud and commanding, any more. The amount of energy that crystal is absorbing is immense; Yuliana couldn't know, where she's standing. Her eyes widen, and she looks over to the glass partition, asking: "Are you still there!?"

        (She's shocked to realise she doesn't feel that horrific transgression rolling off of Shari's back, all made of jagged information carved from reality.)

        "Oh my God," she breathes, looking from Shari to the reflection of herself in the glass. "We're really, both..."

        Before her face twists, and she booms, her voice a thundercrack: "NO!" It's the same Voice she hears, behind her ears, and the lucky thing for Shari and Sayaka is that the Empress has no capacity to compel them with Yuliana's voice.

        No -- what She can do --

        Yuliana's fingers twitch, and clutch, and the quartz shatters under a grip strong enough to hoist three hundred kilos above her head.

        And Yuliana collapses to her knees, breathing heavily, because her heart rate isn't calm and regular any more.

<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.

Shari doesn't know Sayaka too well yet, but she does like her so far--especially when she shows care about her in this issue. "Thanks," Shari says. "I appreciate that. It's a little danger, but..."

But she did leave Yuliana behind. So maybe she owes her this much. "Yeah," Shari answers Yuliana's claim of selfishness. "I am."

"Oh, sorry," Shari says when she realizes Sayaka was going to explain it. "It's fine. I'm good with stuff like this. And it's a totally intuitive setup."

Yuliana is receiving Her will...

And, "...Right. That makes perfect sense; She couldn't have forged a connection with you if the door weren't 'open', so to speak."

That question...

"...Over two years now," Shari says, staring into the middle distance. "I was in my room. And then I started hearing the screaming." Blink and you'll miss it, Shari is as brittle as anything, completely frozen in memory.

Only a moment though.

Yuliana feels strange... "I'm here," Shari says. "I'm not sure what to expect," she admits to Sayaka then, and suddenly--Yuliana screams, and that voice--

Shari screams in terror and dismay, leaping from the console to hide behind Sayaka. "AAAAAAAH!"

"H-help," Shari asks Sayaka, shaking visibly. "Don't let Her get me!"

Shari's grip is not massively empowered like Yuliana's. It is not that strong, compared to someone like Sayaka. But it has bone-deep fear in it, and that may be enough.

The readings on the screen are clear; the energy absorbed was considerable. And then, it wasn't absorbed at all any more, because Yuliana destroyed it.

And Shari clings onto Sayaka like she would a liferaft, sobbing.

<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.

"You're receiving her will... but in this state, it doesn't mean you have to act on it. Correct?" Sayaka asks for confirmation, for it really does seem like Yuliana is the one in control.

"You're welcome," Sayaka answers Shari's thanks in kind. "And... maybe I should have assumed you'd know how to work this if you could work the Green Fold Crystal. I'll stay right behind you then..." And she carefully watches the readings that come on Shari's screen. But she makes a point of paying attention to Yuliana's bodily cues, too, "I don't like this..." Sayaka mutters, when Yuliana seems to slow in every possible way. It's like night and day from her fiery personality... but she's not defensive and withdrawn like before, either.

But before Sayaka and Shari can discuss what this means, that voice, deep and commanding, cuts in. Sayaka doesn't need any special intuition to understand it probably isn't coming from Yuliana herself, but rather...

"Don't worry. I won't let you come to harm. I'm putting a stop to this experiment immediately." Sayaka tries to assure Shari, as the terrified girl clings to her. And there's the loud noise of a shatter. She pulls out an emergency cell from her coat pocket. "I think it's safe to say this was a terrible idea, even if that was the extent of what the Empress can do here. I'm getting in contact with the medical team ASAP. Truthfully, I had them on standby in case anything unexpected happened..." Sayaka explains, both to Yuliana, collapsed, and Shari sobbing.

"I'm sorry," Sayaka apologizes, more softly to Shari. "If there's anything at all I can do for you... please tell me. But I won't let anyone hurt you."

The data might be helpful enough, in showing just how drastic Yuliana's output of Void energy was for the crystal to absorb. But there's certain questions to be answered on whether obtaining the data was worth provoking the Empress's wrath like this.

<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.

        "I'm in control," Yuliana asserts to Sayaka, thumping her fist to her chest. "My mind's never been clearer!" Her mind could be clearer than it is, but it certainly feels clearer, now.

        Clear enough to think about what Shari tells her about her own experiences with the Void, apparently. "Two years ago... so it was after I was opened. Long after..." Yuliana blinks, and shakes her head. "... back then, I mainly glimpsed Her when I looked too long at Newtypes, or when they put me in the tank too long." The sensory deprivation tank, that is. It's all in her files. "But... there was a change in Her atmosphere, around that time. I felt Her anger through the empty spaces, but... at one point, I felt it in the black, too. Not only when Her eyes fell on the Awakened, but..."

        She doesn't notice how brittle Shari is, because she's absorbed in her own recollections.

        "... even alone with Her... I felt more frustration."

        She's slower; she's quieter. Until that moment when, all a sudden, she isn't, as the Empress asserts just how much control She still has. Yuliana hears Shari screaming, and her hands lift, to clasp over her ears.

        "Nnnh," she grunts, as she shakes her head more violently, tears springing to her eyes. "Y'ni sh'ou-ll:j, fh'ou-llkyfia ni:a, Empress--!" And as she begs for Her forgiveness, those words which aren't words rip through her throat like fire, too twisted for a human tongue. She can hear Shari, and --

        And she --

        When the medical team retrieves her, she's sobbing.

        ... and strangely, there are no fragments of quartz stuck in Yuliana's palm, on examination.

        As if it was turned to dust... just as she grasped it.

        (She is under Her protection, as much as she's enthralled.)

<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.

Long after Yuliana meet her. So why? What changed, at that time? Shari wonders of a sudden. Yulliana felt a change. A difference. So why...?

"It's fine," Shari says of assuming. "I just... know a lot of stuff." She hasn't explained; she's been told after all that that's dangerous talk, and she doesn't know Sayaka that well yet. But...

But Sayaka won't let her come to harm. Shari takes a ragged breath, and hears Yuliana. What she can do...

"N-no," Shari says. "No. I'm--"

She tries to push up to her feet again, "I'm--I'm fine. I made this to protect myself. She can't get me. She can't--"

There was a lot of energy. But when the medical team comes, and when Yuliana shakes, and rips out those words--

Shari pushes up to her feet again, and glares through the glass. "No," she says.

"No, you'll never get me again," Shari promises through tears that have already ruined her mascara, with all the iron in the world.

"DO YOU HEAR ME!?" Shari screams through the window.

<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.

"Are you sure?" Sayaka asks Shari, when she repeats that she's fine. As Yuliana makes her heartfelt apology to the Empress in that otherworldly tongue... "Even if she can't get you, this is just..." Sayaka can't really put it into words. But she doesn't want to tempt fate any more today. "We're finished for today."

For as long as the sobbing Yuliana is willing, the medical team will bring her for some emergency treatment to stabilize her vitals. They will likely want to get in touch with Elisa herself, for input on what just happened.

Watching Shari scream defiantly through the glass window, Sayaka will make plans to ensure Shari doesn't need to come into contact with Yuliana at all as long as she's here.

The Empress had just shown them what she is capable of making Yuliana do, Sayaka thinks, as she guides Shari out of the room to go back home for now. "I think we're going to need a very different approach from now on..." She says, out loud.