2024-03-07: It's Not Like She Published This Stuff Far And Wide Or Something
- Log: It's Not Like She Published This Stuff Far And Wide Or Something
- Cast: Shari Loom, Liam 7-020, Shinji Ikari
- Where: Photon Power League, Fujinomiya City, Japan, OCU, Earth
- OOC - IC Date: March 7, 2024 (October 0098)
- Summary: Shari, Liam, and Shinji get together to discuss why it isn't easy being green.
<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.
The Photon Power League is a pretty good place to work, actually. Shari gets money for doing things she enjoys doing, and nobody is pressuring her to make horrifying weapons or do terrorism!
She is still making weapons, though. Not just weapons, even so! It's just that part of the things she's worried about require martial solutions...
But in any case, right now she's in a breakroom with her feet up, dressed in white and black with her signature gothy makeup. She has a tablet she's tinkering on, and her phone nearby. It's daytime, and it's a lovely day out. Mt. Fuji looks beautiful!
And this particular breakroom is spacious enough; it has multiple couches, only one of which is occupied by one Shari Loom, who is easy to pick out with her pink hair and dark style, and also badge with nametag. It's largely white, with bright accents here and there. It's nice!
"Hm hm hm..."
She has earbuds in, and is presumably listening to... something.
<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.
It's been a week or so since Liam last visited the Lab. He's here to check up on the specimens he brought, and also to find someone Koji told him about the last time he was here. Thankfully, Shari is pretty distinctive.
A tall, broad-shouldered, burly man steps into the doorframe for a moment. He doesn't look like a researcher--he's wearing a leather jacket, black t-shirt, jeans, and boots--but there's a PPL staff ID tag clipped to his collar. His gaze flicks about the room before settling on Shari. He notices the earbuds, and seeks out her gaze as he steps forward. He raises his hand in a little wave.
"Shari Loom?" he asks, once she's returned his acknowledgment. "Hi. I'm Liam. I'm the one who brought in the Fold Crystal specimens the other day. Do you have some time to talk?"
<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
The Photon Power League is a pretty good place. At least, if Shinji's going to return to Japan alone for any reason, especially with the OCU having seceded from the Federation, then he could do a lot worse than coming here. (He came to Fujinomiya City a while back with Kaworu to attend that party Koji put on, but that was with Kaworu. Everything's easier when Kaworu's around... even if it's also simultaneously more complicated.)
It's a standard enough reason he's arrived, anyway. Shinji, dressed in a moon-themed black-and-white hoodie, a cap with the brim low over his eyes, a white T-shirt, jeans, and sneakers, approaches the reception desk with his hands tucked in his hoodie pockets.
"Excuse me. I'm here to pick up a package for Captain Eight York," he murmurs to the receptionist.
"Of course. Could I see your ID, please?"
He hands over something from inside his pocket--his passport. The receptionist opens it up, looks it over, and smiles at him. "Thank you. If you could follow me, please?"
And so Shinji is guided inside to a breakroom. It's a nice break room--spacious, with plenty of couches and sunlight. "If you could wait here, I'll signal someone to bring the package out," the receptionist says. "Please make yourself comfortable in the meanwhile."
Shinji nods understanding. He half-turns to look at the breakroom as the receptionist leaves--
Just as Liam steps into the doorframe. Shinji whirls back around, breath suddenly caught in his throat as his thin frame seizes up.
Liam's a friend, but he was there when--
Shinji keeps his back to Liam and that girl he's approaching, caught up in a silent panic. Maybe if he stays perfectly still, no one will notice him.
It'll take him a moment for it to sink in that Liam had a PPL ID clipped to his collar--and in turn, what that might imply. Once it finally does, he'll manage to creep his head around as unobtrusively as he can, trying to peek and listen in on... whatever it is he and that girl are here for. Fold Crystal specimens, he thought he heard?
<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.
Shari holds up a finger, pauses her music, and then takes out an earbud as Liam gets her attention. Then he says her name, and...
Shari smiles at him. "Yeah, that's me," she says. Then she looks a little more thoughtful. "Fold Crystals, huh... So that ws you."
She looks over at Shinji, sees how he freezes, and then back to Liam. She grins, suddenly.
"I always have time for cute guys and science."
If Shinji turns around, "C'mon, you over here too, I don't want to have to speak up too loud."
A gesture for Liam to sit, too. "I can talk. What did you want to talk about?"
<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.
If nothing else, Liam looks better than the last time Shinji saw him. When was that--the argument where he ended up escorting Kaworu to the brig? His eyes seem brighter, more alert--and at the same time, he's less stiff, less hypervigilant. There's a short coating of coppery-red stubble on his scalp, and on his jaw.
"Yeah," Liam says. He taps his ID, which says 'PILOT, NERV LIAISON'. "I'm not here in an official capacity, but..." He trails off, following Shari's gaze. His eyes widen for a moment, pain and grief flashing through them before his expression softens into something almost brotherly.
"Shinji," Liam says. "It's been a while. It's good to see you again." Liam steps into the breakroom and seats himself. He can't keep from smiling as Shari calls him 'cute'. "I'm seeing someone," he says, "but thank you."
"I wanted to talk about the Fold Crystals," says Liam. "Koji told me you were the Kafims' in-house engineer before you... left their employ. Said 'someone' and I have had to deal with them in the past."
<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
'Cute guys and science'... Well, in that case, Shari definitely couldn't be interested in ShinjWHY IS SHE TELLING HIM TO COME OVER
While Shinji is inwardly panicking about that, Liam looks over at him. The jig is, of course, up. Shinji cringes to see Liam look at him, averting his gaze to avoid having to see that pain in his eyes. When Liam greets him in a subdued but warm way, he manages to peek up again. This time, he actually takes in Liam's appearance. He does look a lot better. And that PPL ID says he's a liaison with NERV. So he's still with them. Shinji's eyes flick down as his lips pull in a thin line. It's good to see Liam looks healthier and happier, but...
But then Liam mentions the Kafims, and Shinji looks up again in wary suspicion. Right... There's no end of reasons why NERV would be interested in the Kafims. Especially after what happened at the North Pole... Shinji only watched and read about that in the news, like the many other disasters that took place towards the end of last year, but still. ...Kaworu doesn't talk business with him, and Shinji doesn't want to put him in a bad position by pushing, so this might be a good chance to get some information.
...not that it's any of his business, now that he isn't a pilot anymore, but...
All the same, Shinji shuffles closer, within conversational distance, and takes a seat to join the two.
He has yet to realize he forgot to say 'hi' back to Liam. Or greet Shari. Or. Behave in any way like a normal person. He isn't as bad as he was last year, especially with Kaworu coming by frequently to visit, but as a rule, S0hinji is definitely an even more withdrawn person than he was as a NERV pilot.
<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.
Shari knows what she's doing!! She's trying to lighten the mood, and encourage Shinji a bit. He's a little young-looking for her, admittedly, but she would've been super into his type a couple years ago.
But Liam? "OK," she asys of his not being here in an official capacity, but she notices all right the pain and grief there, the difficulty Shinji has. What did she just walk into? Well... Nothing for it now.
"Haha," Shari says. "Me too. But looking never hurt anybody."
He wanted to talk about Fold Crystals though... Shari looks distant for a few moments. "Yeah, I used to work for them," she says. She glances over Shinji again. "You're welcome to get info, too, but I'm gonna insist you give me your name so I know who I'm talking to. Cool?"
Then, back to Liam. "So what do you want to know? Green Fold is a unique kind of fold crystal," she explains. "It has a lot of properties that the regular stuff doesn't. And I'm one of the few people who knows how to make it. If you had to deal with the Kafims... it probably wasn't on nice terms."
<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.
Liam glances at Shinji again, an eyebrow arching. He seems... sullen and withdrawn, but he's not sure what else he was expecting. Maybe he was hoping that Shinji had gotten help, like he had. But wasn't Liam so afraid, and so convinced he could manage on his own, that he didn't get the help he needed until Yapool forced the issue?
"Yeah," Liam says, with a nod. "We're looking into getting an apartment together. Credit reports are a pain in the ass." All they really have is Lucine's modest but very punctual credit card history, and the possibility of making sad eyes at Leina until she co-signs the lease. (Would she do that? Liam feels weird for even entertaining it as a flight of fancy.)
Shari, meanwhile, gets a bit more direct. Liam's face tightens a little, but he leaves the introduction to Shinji himself.
"I want to know what it can do, and how it works. It's some kind of... ritual implement, right? I don't know what else they do with it, but we found some at a ritual site the first time they summoned a kaiju." Liam shivers a little. "I saw the pictures. It was some horror movie nonsense, but real." 'Not on nice terms', huh? Liam's lips twist.
"Elisa Kafim decided to consult with my girlfriend about gardening aboard a ship. Then she sent the both of us some creepy letters, and sent her cultists to steal my girlfriend's suit. Somebody was killed in the crossfire."
<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
"Huh?" Shinji utters, startled into sitting up straight, when, once again, Shari addresses him. "I-it's Shinji," he stammers on automatic. (Liam will no doubt note how he doesn't use his full name.) A couple seconds pass. Then he slouches and grumbles petulantly, "You're the one who told me to come over, though..."
Some of that softens when Liam mentions getting an apartment with his girlfriend. "With Lucine?" he wonders. "That's nice..." It really is nice. Getting to live with your girlfriend... Having a future together... He looks away again. Asuka might be alive after all--Kaworu said so, so Shinji is certain it's true--but he doubts he'll ever see her again. Even if he does, he's sure she hates him now.
He didn't save her, after all.
(Eight and the crew of the Ra Mari II have done their best to be kind, welcoming, and accepting of Shinji, and to a certain extent it's helped. Reuniting with Kaworu helped even more. But no one has prompted him to talk to a therapist, and Shinji has certainly not come to the conclusion that he should do that, either. For what it's worth, he's worse than usual right now--seeing Liam unexpectedly has yanked all sorts of unhappy memories to the fore. It's not Liam's fault, but Shinji can't help it.)
Green Fold Crystal... Shinji doesn't know a lot about it, but he certainly knows about dealing with the Kafims. He grimaces, expression tightening again. Liam's news blows that tightness away with an explosion of shock, and Shinji jerks his head back to stare at him.
"Seriously?! I-is Lucine okay?" he asks, not knowing this happened ages ago. He tries not to think of whoever it was that was killed, but his stomach turns anyway.
<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.
Shinji, Shinji says. "Nice to meet you Shinji, I'm Shari." A beat, when he complains, and she says cheerfully, "It's a cute girl's right to be bossy."
"Uuugh," Shari says of credit reports. "So true. But that's great! I just gt an apartment with my boyfriend, too. We have a roommate, though. She's pretty cool though!"
Then... Hmm.
"So," Shari says of the Green Fold, "There's 'what it can do' and 'What Elisa Kafim can do with it.'"
"It fundamentally is a crystal that absorbs and stores energy. Specifically, it's attuned to the energy of the Void, a dimension full of--well, energy. One of the applications she had me use it for was weapons that bypass all conventional beam shielding. But she can do... other things with it."
"So, dimensional energy can be used to transmit matter and energy across timespace. In the case of the Kafims, they use it to summon forth some of the Things that live in the Void--or to create creatures with that energy, I was never entirely clear on which she was doing."
"But if you know how, you can also use it to exert control over other minds by attuning them with the Void and your own will, or, if you're Elisa, call on the energy directly and... well, zap people."
"...But she has to treat it a special way for it to do those last things; I don't know how she does it. Ordinarily, normal Green Fold can just store, absorb, and draw out energy."
As it happens--Liam might notice now. Shari is wearing green fold in her earrings.
A pause, and a grimace. "That's... rough," she says finally about what happened. "Elisa... doesn't let go of things easily. I'm not sure why she hasn't come after me."
"...The cultists at least mostly aren't bad people. They're just--desperate. Looking for a place to belong. I don't feel good about them being used for stuff like that..."
She glances at Shinnji, "Any questions?"
<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.
"Yeah," Liam says, with a nod. "If we can scrape together the credit for it. I... hope you've found somewhere to go, too." But Shinji reacts to Liam's story like it's fresh and new, and the young man's eyes widen a little in surprise. Of course--he hadn't told Shinji when it happened, and he's been away from NERV for a while...
"It happened almost two years ago." Liam raises a hand. "Back... when Akane was using that kaiju to mess with people's heads. Remember?" Lucine was in a vulnerable place; she'd nearly lost Liam when he overheated the Proto Helios, and then Bujack got its claws in him while he was recovering.
The cyborg listens attentively to Shari, keeping a weather eye on Shinji, as well. When she mentions 'control over other minds', and 'zapping people', he frowns. "Does she still have the resources to do that?" he says. It feels like a pit is crackng open in his gut. Has he seen her do that before? Were those catspaws of hers really cultists, or--
Liam presses a hand to the side of his head. The pad of his pointer finger rests behind his ear, atop the spot where Crucible installed the receiver for his override hardware.
"I'm not sure why she stopped," Liam says. "I'm glad you're safe. But... in some ways it feels worse, like she could come after us at any time." He lets out a breath. "It's that Silent Calling thing, right?"
<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
"Hmph," Shinji grouches, and notably does not argue with Shari's assertion that cute girls are supposed to be bossy.
He doesn't join in further on the apartment talk. It feels weird. He has... an apartment? Can he call it an apartment? It's more of an apartment than the room he had last year, anyway--on the Ra Mari II, but he doesn't have anyone he's living with. Although Kaworu's stayed overnight a few times... Shinji's thought many times about asking him to stay, but never brought himself to actually do it. Kaworu deserves better--they all deserve better--but Mari, Rei, even Asuka... They all need him more.
Shinji hasn't had the nerve to ask Kaworu what his living situation is now.
But when Liam tells him that Elisa's attack on Lucine is old, old news, that gets an almost comical, "Eh?!" out of him. Two years ago--during the Bujack incident? That long ago? Shinji gawks at him. "I--I hadn't realized," he stammers. Thinking back, there was a time period where Lucine wasn't piloting the Dianthus, wasn't there? Shinji just... never thought to question why. At least, anywhere outside his own head. How self-absorbed is he...?
Fortunately, Shari starts in on her explanation. Shinji... only kind of gets it, but Shari explains it simply enough that most of it gets across. Especially the 'mind control' parts... and the cultists. That gets a shiver out of him. He glances at Liam and sees him press a hand on his head. "I've heard of the Silent Calling," he offers. "I don't know much about them, though..."
He glances back at Shari when she asks if he has any questions. He has to think about that--but not very hard. "So... why is she doing all this? I don't understand why anyone would do such horrible things..."
<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.
Two years ago... That means it was while Shari was working for them. She glances to the side, without saying anything, until she starts her explanation.
"Oh yeah," Shari says. "She doesn't need the crystals for that, it just lets her stretch her influence farther. She's absurdly strong, can throw dark lightning from her fingers, can drain people's life energy, can just speak and people obey her... It's like she is a Crystal, I guess--she's storing so much Void energy, all the time. But she has to be near you to do it, I think, and speak aloud."
"...Yeah. But she's not..." Shari looks down. "She's not all-powerful. She can come after you, but if she could just do whatever she wanted without opposition, you wouldn't have lived from her going after you."
She looks back at Shinji as he chimes in on the Silent Calling too. "Right. The Silent Calling. Technically I guess I was part of it..."
She trails off, and then Shinji--
"Because..." Shari looks down. "Long story," she says. "But the short version is: Elisa is a fragment of an evil god. That god loves Yuliana, and wants to open the way to the Void to take her into it. Only, Elisa wants to open the Void and 'evolve' humanity while she's at it."
"...When I learned Elisa was 'Her'--the Empress--that's when I left."
"...But from her perspective, she's doing it for the person she loves, and to 'help' humanity at the same time. Nobody... nobody thinks of what they're doing as 'evil', I think."
"...There's always some excuse."
<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.
"It was--we weren't very public about it," Liam admits. "I mean. That was--that was well before we went public. Before the first dragon appeared." He trails off. Is he trying to explain things? Is he trying to make Shinji feel better about not knowing? Or is he trying to justify his actions? He told NERV everything he knew.
Liam takes a breath, and presses his palms against the fabric of his jeans. He grounds himself with the texture, and the feel of the fabric of the sofa beneath him. He takes a few square breaths, and for a moment, it might seem like he's not listening to the others. "Yeah," Liam says, to Shari. "That makes sense. She's terrifying."
Shari then gives the short version of a very complex concept. "I don't blame you," Liam says, to Shari. "You did good getting out of there. Yuliana told me about Elisa and the Empress, and what I can't get over is that... Yuliana has to die to be with the Empress, right? But Elisa will still be here, in this world. They both want Yuliana to be with them, right? But they can't both get it. I mean, maybe if they do manage to open the Void, then--then they can do it, but..."
Liam shudders. "I saw the 'evolution' the Empress is offering. I hate it. Nobody ever does that to me again."
<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
"An evil god?!"
Shinji doesn't know why he's shocked. He saw what Elisa did at Orb. In some ways, it really is the only logical explanation. But he sputters and gawks again all the same. Maybe it's because the overall picture that factoid's just a piece of is so mind-boggling.
Liam explains that he and Lucine had kept it quiet at first. "O-oh," Shinji utters, still uncertain. Was he just not a reliable enough friend for Liam to confide in? Had Kaworu known? Is it unfair of him to even be thinking this...? "I-it's okay. A lot was going on back then. For you two especially," he decides on. After all... Liam had been targeted by Bujack, too. And Shinji had had his thoughts full of Asuka at the time...
...not that that's much different these days. (Though, really, Shinji's thoughts are even fuller of Kaworu. But Asuka's supposed to have been his girlfriend, and he let her down. To say nothing of Rei...)
He shakes his head quickly to try to loosen those thoughts. That's not what they're talking about right now. He focuses back on Shari and what she says about Elisa... the Empress. His lips thin again when Shari explains her motivations. 'There's always some excuse,' she says.
"Sounds familiar," he mutters, expression blackening as his eyes go hard. Liam will understand that look, too. He glances at Liam when he tells Shari it was good she got out of there, then nods in agreement. "When it comes to people like that, that's what you have to do," he says flatly. "Staying around them will just make you go crazy."
That hatred in his eyes breaks with concern as Liam shudders, though. He saw it? Shinji can't even imagine. He's glad he can't imagine. "Liam..."
Awkwardly, Shinji reaches out a hand and tries to pat him on the shoulder. Pat, pat.
<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.
"It's hard to believe," Shari says to Shinji's outburst, "But it's true. I can't think of anything else that could do the thing's She's done. Get into my head like that..."
But terrifying? "She is," Shari agrees with Liam. "...She was always pretty good to me. As Elisa, anyway. But she was scary, too. The Empress, though..." She shakes her head, and reaches up to touch one of her green fold quartz earrings.
"Thanks," Shari says of getting out, doing good. "Yuliana encouraged me, you know. To live my own life. ...To go back to school."
What he can't get over though... "Yeah. That's why they have to open the Void. And--that's bad," she says, nodding to Liam's shudder. "The Void isn't good or evil, bad or good--but it's different. Humans aren't supposed to interface with it directly. It's like... coming into contact with a star. It'll definitely kill you."
But familiar, huh? Shari looks at Shinji. "...I had plenty of excuses when I was helping them." A pause. People like that... "Yeah. Sounds like you've been through it, too."
"...But," she says, "Green Fold can also protect against the Void's influence. That's why I wear these," she explains of her earrings, gesturing to them. "I can make you some Fold jewelry if you think you'll run into Elisa again. It won't protect you against her physical strength, or against the lightning, but... It'll protect against her mind control."
"But only if you really need it. It's kind of risky for me to do that..."
"But She'll never control me like that again, either."
<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.
Liam's gaze turns to Shinji. "...Yeah," he says. "I know. It's like a horror movie, but it's real." He takes another deep breath, smiling gently. "For you, too," he says. He hasn't forgotten how both Rei and Asuka were taken in as well, or how Shinji tried his best to help.
It's then that Liam notices the gleam at Shari's ear. He'd thought it was polymer at first, or maybe synthetic emerald, but there's no mistaking it now. He doesn't comment on Yuliana's actions--honestly, it tracks. "It's alien, yeah. And it hurts and changes people, and nobody deserves to have that forced on them." It might be too late for Yuliana, thanks to what the REA did to her, but it's not too late for the world.
Shari makes an offer. "I'll have to think about that," Liam says, "but it could be... an ace, if they come after us again. If she really can control people's minds..." His eyes go distant for a moment. He places his hands on the couch so he's feeling that texture, and not the pulse of blood in Lucine's neck as he strangles her.
<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
Terrifying... That's a description Shinji can wholeheartedly agree with, and he didn't even meet Elisa personally. He was just--collateral damage. A screaming civilian running away from the giant monster.
He rubs his arm and looks away.
The motion of Shari's hand catches his eye, though. He doesn't realize that the jewel in her earrings is Green Fold, but it does strike him as odd that she'd wear green jewels after having such a bad experience with them. He thinks about asking... but it strikes him as rude, so he holds back.
Liam offers understanding, though--seeing the way his face darkens and giving him a smile. Shinji blinks, at first blank-faced--but then, slowly, softly, he smiles back. ...It looks more like the friend Liam knows. It doesn't last, but here at last is a spark of the return of their genuine friendship. "...Yeah," he murmurs back.
This moment of peace doesn't last long. Shari mentions that Yuliana had encouraged her to live her own life, and Shinji scrunches up his face in confusion. "She did?" He'd heard secondhand that she'd given Eizen a lot of trouble that one time. Then again, she'd seemed... understanding?... when he'd met her at Koji's party. And... she was at Koji's party in the first place. Kaworu had reassured him at the time, but... And everything Shari just said about Elisa...
"Is Miss Yuliana actually in trouble?" he wonders aloud, slowly.
That quickly becomes of secondary importance, though, when Shari finally explains not only that she's wearing Green Fold but that it can protect against mental influence. "Oh--really?" he utters, sitting up straight. His expression pinches when she says it's risky for her, though. He glances at Liam; then he looks back.
"Um... what's the risks?" he prompts. Maybe it's not too bad... He doesn't want Liam to go through that again, either.
<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.
Shari doesn't mind a little rudeness in this situation--but Shinji doesn't know that. Instead, she knows that Shinji is skeptical, so she says, "Yep. She really did. Yuliana is pretty insistent about my well-being..." But Shari knows there might just be a reason for that. "I think that's the other reason Elisa hasn't come after me."
But is she? "...Yeah. Miss Yuliana's in trouble."
"Right," Shari answers Liam. "It's like... radiation, basically. People just aren't built for it. My technology uses it, but from a safe distance, channeled properly."
But... hmm. Shinji sits up straight; Liam thinks about it.
"...Well," Shari explains, "If Elisa finds out I'm arming her enemies with protection agaisnt her power, she might not like it very much." She shrugs. "That might happen sooner or later anyway, though."
"But she can. Not only can she control minds, but she can teach other people how, too."
<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.
Liam's smile brightens a little. It's a brief moment, but it's encouraging all the same.
Is Yuliana actually in trouble? Yeah. She's in so much trouble. Liam nods, silently, to Shinji.
"I'll ask my girlfriend," he decides. "And then... from there, it's up to you. It's your neck on the line, after all. I won't ask you to..." Pause, blink. "Wait, she can teach people?"
<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
She's both 'in' trouble and 'is' trouble. But the latter isn't what they're all talking about right now.
Indeed, when Shari confirms the former, Shinji's eyes soften with concern. "Oh," he says quietly. "Then I..."
Then I was actually really cold to her, he thinks. He feels guilty about that now--judging Yuliana by appearance and reputation rather than action, and projecting his fear of her wife onto her. (Never mind that Yuliana's actions have been plenty horrible too.) If he ever meets her again, he'll have to apologize. ...though he isn't in any hurry to meet her again, either...
"I don't need any for me. I don't think Elisa even knows I exist," Shinji says, innocently. "Liam, though..." But Liam makes his own call--that he'll talk about it with Lucine first and go from there. Shinji nods a little, falling silent.
Then Shari adds another horrifying bombshell. Shinji once again looks aghast.
<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.
"...Don't feel too bad," Shari says, and while she can't know what Shinji's thinking, she can guess a little. "I upset her really badly last time we talked. It's... hard not to."
Still, Liam says--He'll ask. "OK," Shari says. "If you guys think you really need it, then let me know. I need it; that's why I wear these."
But Shinji? "That's fair," she says, and then--well.
"Yep. She can teach other people to use the same powers she wields--some with the crystals, some even without. But she doesn't do it that often. It's not like she published this stuff far and wide or something. Can you imagine?"
<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.
Liam, too, can see where Shinji's thoughts are headed. His own thoughts have headed that way as well, plenty of times. "Shari's right," he says. "I once made her furious by suggesting she go see a doctor when she was visibly ill. She's like a minefield. You never know if it's safe to take that next step." Liam meets Shinji's eyes, intense. "But that's on her, and she's getting help for it. Just like it's on her if she does something that hurts someone else."
Liam doesn't feel comfortable talking to Shinji about boundaries. That's still a new concept for him. But he can't, in good conscience, let him step into that minefield.
"Please don't jinx it," Liam says, pressing a hand to his temple. His expression grows a little pained.
<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
Shari warns him off. Shinji blinks. "Huh?" He doesn't understand what she means exactly at first--but then Liam chimes in and clarifies. Shinji grimaces anew, this time in concern, especially as Liam meets his eyes. "Oh... Maybe I'd better leave it alone, then..." She took it in stride at the time, and he sure doesn't want to make it worse. Knowing now that Yuliana's easy to upset, it might be a minor miracle that he got off as light as he did.
Ideally he won't meet her again, anyway. Shinji might feel bad for her now, but that doesn't mean he wants to get involved with her, either--for exactly the next reason Liam says. Shinji winces, then nods once.
They're both bad at boundaries, but at least here Liam's successfully conveyed to Shinji that he doesn't need to risk himself because he feels bad for being thoughtless.
Can he imagine, though? Shinji shuts his eyes. "...That's a scary thought."
<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.
That's on her... "Yeah," Shari says. "They tell me that, too. But it's easy to feel bad." She pauses. "Yeah, probably. The professionals know what they're doing with her. The rest of us... can just make it worse."
Boundaries are important.
But--don't jinx it. "Yeah... I mean, she can't make more of the crystals, at least--but she can probably use the ice from the North Pole about as well..."
A scary thought. "It is, yeah. ...Well, sorry to scare you. How about I get you a snack from the vending machine to make up for it? We don't have to keep talking about this if you two don't have more questions. I know it's super depressing."
"But there's hope, you know? I'm... doing my best. For countermeasures. And if everything goes well with Yuliana's therapy, maybe... It won't be like it has been."
<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.
"People train for years to handle this sort of thing," Liam says to Shinji. "And Yuliana's a... real extreme case. She's good at that, though, right?" A nod in Shari's direction. "She's been though a lot. But it's not our responsibility to fix it."
The ice. That's a horrid thought. But Shari's trying. "I told Koji I'd help how I can," he says, "and that goes for you as well. Even if it didn't officially happen." A snack offer...!
"Well, if you're offering," Liam says, with a little, lopsided smile. "Ramune, and a cake roll if you're feeling extra generous."
<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
"I sure hope whatever she did to the North Pole is reversible. That can't be good for the environment," Shinji says. He's being quite sincere, even if on its face the sentiment might seem absurd.
But... if there are professionals working on helping Yuliana, that's good. Those are people who won't screw things up way worse by carelessly saying the wrong thing, or being too cowardly to follow through. He nods once to Liam and Shari in turn. "That's good. I'm glad someone's fixing it. And that it's not us," he adds with a touch of wry humor.
He shakes his head a bit at Shari's apology. "It's fine. Most things scare me," he admits with a wan smile. It soon fades. "I can't stick around long--I'm just here to pick up a package for someone. But... if it's okay, I wouldn't mind a bottled tea or something."
No harm in hydrating while he's waiting around... especially if he's in friendly company.