2024-05-27: ?and may we still dance for the love of movemenT
- Log: ?and may we still dance for the love of movemenT
- Cast: Yuliana Kafim, Rena Lancaster
- Where: The Photon Power Labs
- Date: 2024-05-27
- Summary: Rena and Yuliana get together to test a hypothesis: can they dance without bringing the Void to this world? In order to do so, they must fight their most pitched battle yet -- a DANCE BATTLE. Rena gets some valuable intel in the process... and a concerning offer of protection.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
OST: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAx6mYeC6pY Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Murder On The Dancefloor
The Kafims go to war.
And with this war, Yuliana has fears; though, as she tells her doctor, she has many more fears now than she once did. She does not say she is more afraid, though; she says she can feel her fear, now. She says it as if it is a boon or a blessing, and like so many things about her life now, there is enough truth to it to convince her. There were things she wasn't able to feel, in the REA; surely, then, she is not more afraid but just honestly afraid.
One of the things she is afraid of --
"I love to dance," Yuliana says.
"But I am the Key and the Gate, and to Open the Way must I turn. If I were to dance... would I weaken the Way?"
And so they have set to a new test: determining whether Yuliana's dancing fundamentally weakens the fabric of reality. But not only her --
-- they've called Rena, too, to explain and ask her help.
(Because if Rena is touched by the Void, as Yuliana says, she might have that same power. And even though Yuliana only mentions it in passing, Dr. Kimura is quite concerned with whether other people are able to do the same thing.)
And so, in a room of the Photon Power Labs, they've set up...
War of Revolution, the premier dancing rhythm game on the market. The cabinet is set up to let two players compete against each other, which they do by hitting panels on the ground with their feet. War of Revolution is noted for being one of the most complex dancing games available now -- which makes it perfect to test how motion might call the Void, particularly for someone who might not be a professional dancer but who is known to be a professional gamer. (Sorry, Rena. They're calling you out.) And in order to measure what's going on, wireless sensor-pads have been stuck to the both of them, with little glowy lights on the outer sides which transmit Photon information back to the scientists at their computers.
(Yuliana insisted they wouldn't be able to wire them up if they wanted proper readings, and Dr. Kimura deferred to her expertise.)
To begin, they had them each play a match alone to get some baseline data. They've been instructed just to dance, of course -- not to try and open anything up. "I hardly see how an arcade game can measure this properly," Yuliana sniffed, haughtily, but she got on the stage anyway -- and once she got up there, she started having fun. The game reads out the instructions as well as flashing them on the screen -- "Left! Forward! Back-left! Back!" -- to facilitate players being able to twirl around and move in all directions without having to follow visual instructions. And while she might not be a professional gamer, she's an excellent dancer, so she manages to rack up a high score despite herself. Once Rena's gotten up there, too, and played a few levels herself --
"We're not getting any readings from the two of you individually," Dr. Kimura confirms, looking up from his screen. "But I'd like to get some readings from both of you working in tandem, just in case it's sub-threshold. Would you mind...?"
"Beating Rena's ass in a rhythm game?" Yuliana laughs, as she steps back up to the plate. In her ashen t-shirt ('JUDGE & JEGAN', a popular rock band from the nineties) and jeans, she's hardly dressed for the ballroom, but maybe it's important for her not to be too threatening about it. "I think I can find it in my black little heart to do that. So," she turns to Rena, "are you ready to lose?" As on the screen, the game ticks down,
THREE, TWO, ONE --
CONFLICT SET!
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
Rena didn't quite expect a call from Yuliana.
And there are conflicts. She is touched by the Void; she still has dreams, sometimes. She still hears voices that linger when she wakes, though never Her voice. She has a state of detente with Yuliana and (to a lesser extent) Elisa: trust they won't try to destroy the world, which means Rena won't brave the Empress.
So she arrives. Rena came into the room, wearing tights over her legs, a dark blue skirt, and a loose-fitting seafoam green shirt that hugs her shoulders. She is dressed like a dancer...
...but she is a gamer.
She eyed the War of the Revolution cabinet; in a moment, she had its make, model, and more noted.
And she did the first run -- though not before saying: "It's only the most popular game in the rhythm category. I've played this since I was a kid!" Rena says, importantly.
But a few levels go by...
She gives Yuliana look. "We'll see," she says, with a 'harrumph.' "I'm not going down easily. But... let's do this."
The countdown starts -- and there's the rapid click and clink of her feet, catching pads quickly, while her hands rest on her hips as she goes. "Hyah!!"
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Yuliana hasn't had any dreams since she started wearing her Chthonic Lattice; strangely, she hasn't really checked in on whether Rena is okay, after she did.
(This isn't about her.)
And lo, the gamer dressed like a dancer and the dancer dressed like a gamer embark upon -- "When I was a child, I was actually dancing," -- well, a lot of catty comments. But also, science!
"Then we go." And Yuliana spins and twirls, and though she chafes under the instructions, right forward-right back-left left forward left, there's nothing wrong with her ability to move. Even so, Rena's long familiarity with the game gives her a vital edge --
"How are you winning?!" Yuliana exclaims, as she turns back forward to see the scoreboards on the screens. "This machine is clearly miscalibrated!"
Of course, she misses one of her foot-cues while she's getting mad, so that's even more points for Rena.
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"We're moving to music in tune with the rhythm," Rena says. "That's dancing. Science, Yuliana."
Sometimes, Rena Lancaster, Hero of the Bloody Valentine War, Savior of the Orb Union, and commanding officer of Terminal's Mobile Teams, is wrong.
She keeps moving, quickly; she is building up a sweat, and across her screen, the text flows:
PERFECT!
COMBO!!
COMBO!!
COMBO!!
AWESOME!
Rena's feet keep moving, almost a blur, before she shoots Yuliana a grin. "I played this every day! Once you get into the zone, it's not so bad!" she says. "Ah--this part coming up is hard--"
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"This is to dancing as paint-by-numbers is to Picasso!!" Yuliana snaps, as she spins. As if to demonstrate her point, it's really an impressive twirl, but because the ball of her foot stays planted centre it doesn't register as the set of taps the game expects.
Which is, of course, deeply frustrating, because the screen goes TOO BAD!, and Yuliana just snaps, "Oh, you shut up!" as if it can register her complaints.
"You don't have to warn me," she huffs, though, in fact, Rena absolutely had to warn her. But because she does warn her, she actually does do remarkably well with -- LEFT BACK-LEFT BACK FORWARD BACK FORWARD RIGHT-FORWARD RIGHT -- that rapid-fire sequence of foot-presses. Rena might have the cognitive space free to note that Yuliana doesn't seem to be watching the screen for instructions at all; she's just listening for the prompts. The only thing she gets mad at the screen for is telling her when she misses a step.
(Yuliana, tragically, is too invested in her own performance to notice the methods Rena is using -- because while she's physically enhanced, she's not mentally enhanced. Looks like she can just do one thing well.)
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"Don't gatekeep the arts!" Rena huffs back at Yuliana.
It is an impressive spin -- more than Rena can do. And she stops talking for the hard part, because while she is mentally enhanced, there is only so much the human body can do at once. There is a certain rhythm and grace to how she moves, though.
It's more athletic than musical; she moves her feet with well-timed presses, hitting the plates just so. She hops, at times, legs extended to get the right ones -- and leans to and fro. Each movement has precision -- and it conserves the momentum she needs to.
And she is aware of everything. Her eyes follow the screen, darting back and forth quickly; in her mind, she's following the beat and counting to 60 mentally, like a living metronome, while taking in the exact moment the arrows touch the outlines, to time her presses.
And she thinks ahead, visualizing her memories of the song as it comes up -- so her feet are moving before the prompt, by a couple of millseconds, to hitit just-so.
She does notice Yuliana isn't watching the screen. As the hard part ends -- a final AWESOME! lit up -- she exhales. "The arrows on the screen move with the rhythm," she says. "They're about two measures ahead when they show up, but it depends on the song."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"I am LITERALLY the Gate!" Yuliana snaps back.
Behind them, Dr. Kimura reads the outputs. It might be dancing by numbers, but it's still good data -- and good data from the both of them. Yuliana's approach is more fluid and reactive; unused to a button-panel dancefloor, her interpretation of left-back-left isn't always what the game expects, but it really does look good.
Drawing in a deep breath to fuel her lungs, not out of breath but certainly more hungry for oxygen, she says: "I don't need to read the damn screen," which really means she doesn't want to, though that sullenness is carried through her tone instead of her nonexistent emotional tenor. "And being glued to it would only make it harder to move. Even tapdancing doesn't exclusively demand your feet." She can tapdance too?! Come on, that's just not fair!
Luckily, the lull between songs means that she's able to pout about that, for a moment, before the next one starts up. "This is dancing," she says. "You have to be limber. I saw you up here before -- you're too logical. It's not just a process. You're too afraid to let go --"
And as the next sequence starts up, she demonstrates, her arms arcing around her as she spins in a circle, demi-pointe (her shoes are all wrong to do it properly), before she goes back-left-back-left-back-left back.
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"That doesn't excuse gatekeeping!" Rena grumbles. "People should enjoy art however it speaks to them, in whatever form it takes!"
She grimaces, though, when her advice isn't heeded. She even crosses her arms for a moment -- then she shakes her head. "It works for me!" she insists. "B-Besides, I can't move like that, I need to know where my arms and legs are to keep my balance--"
Or, simply, her expanded awareness as a Newtype. Which is always a little off, when Yuliana is around.
She keeps her arms mostly at her sides -- moving them just when she needs to keep her balance her feet flying back, left, back, and again. "It's how I make sure I don't fall flat on my bloody ass!"
Her accent got thicker, there.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"There's a right way and a wrong way to do things!" Yuliana huffs, because she, too, can be wrong.
Just don't tell her that.
And as the dance goes on, she demands: "Don't you have any damn sense of balance?!" Yuliana's own register gets rougher, as she responds to Rena more like a soldier than a soloist, snap-stepping to one side and then the other. Unwittingly, she hits the nail on the head: proprioception is one of Rena's senses, and Yuliana's playing merry hell with another one. Those things do all tend to connect with each other, in the human body.
"If you can't trust your own body," she sniffs, tap-tap-tap as she drums her foot before hopping to the side, "falling on your arse is the least of your problems."
Rena's still winning, though.
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"Oh my god," Rena groans at Yuliana.
Then, she frowns -- almost missing a step, though she corrects for it when she realizes the distraction made her stop anticipating as much. "Of course I do! It's just not the same as yours! And I totally trust my own body--"
She frowns, hopping, and then spreads her legs out to hit two side buttons, before jumping again to resume the rapid tapping. "I trust it to do what I'm good at and know what I have trouble with!"
She doesn't bring up that broader spatial awareness and how she has trouble with it. She is, in her own way, trying with Yuliana.
Which includes banter.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"Well, it's clear we can never put you in a suit of armour," Yuliana sniffs, still quite haughty, as she spins and hits the forward-right arrow with her foot. (MISSED IT the screen bemoans, and she snaps, as she catches that from the corner of her eye: "Shut up!!") She goes on to follow a series of rapid-fire instructions, forward left right left left back forward, before she gets the breath free to follow up her thought. "... since they use haptic controls. If you have trouble with this, you wouldn't get very far."
OH NO!, says the screen, when Yuliana hits the button a hair too late for the game to count it, and she adds snappishly: "That doesn't count." She's not sensitive! You're sensitive! Shut up!
She starts building up her combo again a moment later, so clearly it was just a fluke. One of several one-off flukes.
"But when I'm in Emptear, it's all this," she shares with the class, as she twirls. "My adornments translate the motion to the machine, and magic ensures I've the right feedback, inside. You can't program a dance number. It must come from the heart."
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"We'll have to see!" Rena replies, with a frown. Granted, she hasn't considered wearing armor before, beyond modern infantry armor for exercises during training and a couple of visits into hot zones. But, that's different.
She frowns, though, and shakes her head. She would have to reason that out.
She keeps moving, fairly effortlessly keeping her combo up -- though it does require the same mental fortitude, processing all of the different inputs.
"The Gaia Gear's different," she says. "It's knowing how the AMBAC movements will respond, calculating that when you do a movement and making sure it's just right -- and the mental side, too, with the Psychoframe. The... connection to it."
She shakes her head. "That's from the heart, too, in its own way," she says. "It's got a logic. But it's a complex one."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"Pshaw, AMBAC!" Yuliana exclaims, as she steps back and to the side and forward again. Her arms lift up over her head, fingers snapping, as she moves. "Child's play! I had to install a suite into a Desmatz N, once, and all the world grieved. If you're not controlling it yourself, you can't achieve the greatest heights!"
She spins around, gesturing with that hand, two fingers curled and two outstretched. She has a new set of bracelets, black chain-links with emeralds glittering. "And even Da Xukong 0 has a level of remove," she adds, back to her haughty measure of speech again, "a level of translation, between intent and action. Emptear removes that barrier! How you move is how you move!"
Tap, tap, her toe hits the arrow. "Though," she adds, with more a huff of a breath than a sigh on account of how demanding these combos are getting, "there is that -- that connection. The Voidframe. That much, at least --" She cuts herself off, because she isn't effortlessly keeping her combos up.
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"That is factually incorrect," Rena says with a huff. "When you pilot an AMBAC suit, there's more to pay attention to. Moving the Gaia Gear Alpha's arm 30 degrees -- and knowing its weight -- has enormous impacts, if you use the standard OS. I can tune the OS to meet my needs."
Which, for the record, took her a few hours.
She does glance at the bracelets; the chain-links and the emeralds suit her, Rena thinks. Of course, the green color also makes her think of the Empress.
She keeps stepping, keeping up. And while Rena's mental fortitude is significant, it does take her a second. Her response is delayed.
"Yeah," she says. "I feel that, too. The Psychoframe and the Voidframe. They're both there, and the connection's similar... but not the same. Like cousins, in a few senses."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"I would have liked to see you handle the old VFs out there," Yuliana wrinkles her nose. "With them, it was all manual. Why do you think none of us wanted to go out into space?"
Because the calculations were a pain, apparently, and for no other reason. It might make Anita's efforts more impressive, though.
"Unfortunately, even I can't escape using OS shortcuts all the time," she huffs, beleagured. "I can handle eight legs -- but forty-eight is too many. That's all set up to be automatic..." She almost gets through conceding that maybe there's a little bit of work involved, before she adds, sullenly: "... with manual oversight." SHE WAS SO CLOSE.
She's not as close to challenging Rena's ferocious combo string, though. No matter how closely she follows the directional prompts, she's always one step behind. If she'd just follow Rena's advice, she'd do better, but --
Well, reading the screen while she's trying to compete just makes her anxious.
"Tcha... I guess so," Yuliana pouts, turning and turning again. "Elisa adapted it from Psychoframe. But Psychoframe spoke to the wrong realm -- which is why I couldn't use it, when Dr. Devi tried to put me in a suit. Then she tried that thing with the Ypotryll Gundam, but I don't know how she expected me to use it! Bah. Anyway, Voidframe connects to the Void... but I suppose the underlying mechanism connects them the same way."
... strictly speaking, that's not information Yuliana is supposed to volunteer, but she's rather distracted with her dancing.
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
Rena frowns. "W-Well... the time I piloted a VF, I just updated the OS..."
Which was how, back before she acquired the Gaia Gear Alpha, she piloted a YF-25 Prophecy that had been modified to use AMBAC movement. Such is her drive.
She does squint though -- and she shakes her head. "Forty-eight is a lot," she allows.
She keeps moving for a moment -- and she stays quiet, too, though not out of necessity. She hesitates, a moment longer, when Yuliana explains about Voidframe: something adapted from Psychoframe. Something that spoke to another realm.
"I think they are," she says. "They seem to connect to the pilot in the same way. I feel... the same sort of thing. Honestly, sometimes, it's hard to tell them apart, until I focus."
The crystal in her chest, swirled with sea blue and pale green, gleams softly.
"But it's always possible, after a moment."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"Ooooof course you did," Yuliana sighs. "No respect for stick-shift." Because having too much respect for it is so much better?
Technically, Yuliana didn't tell Rena she made the Muse Malus. Technically, she might be talking about a different Mobile Weapon with twenty-four pairs of legs. Technically --
"... it's funny," Yuliana twirls, as she reflects on the connection. "I never understood what the big deal was. Zoltan told me, you know -- how the children had a grand old time. But they put me in that machine, and it wouldn't even start. They thought I'd broken it until they got someone else in!" And if her spinning grows more aggressive, well -- dancing can also express emotions.
"But when I'm in Emptear, I'm... everywhere and everything," she tries to find the words, as her hips pivot to hit front-left-back. "Everything comes into such clear resolution... I'm close to God." A sharp breath, as she stomps out back-right-front. "Too close," she adds, tense. "My Elisa had to design a lattice, to keep me bound to this world, so She couldn't reach through and grasp me."
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"It's not a matter of disrespect!" Rena sighs, loudly.
She frowns for a moment -- and then she nods, even if she picks up on the angrier dancing. And she's familiar with anger in one's movements when playing games; Rena has spent time in arcades, before.
"I was never in one until I was in Londo Bell," Rena admits -- another few fast steps, tapping making noise over her talking. "But... it's not something someone should be forced into. I can't quite call it a curse, entirely--but I think it' fair to say it's a blessing and a curse."
Which is true of the Psychoframe she uses willingly. Rena nods, then she looks sideways -- at Yuliana, and her eyebrows raise.
"That's... not quite how I feel, but it's close, in the Gaia Gear," she says. Her voice is quiet. "Like I'm close to everyone... and like I'm everywhere, all at once. But you're--"
Her eyebrows knit, after she considers that. "I'm glad Elisa did that. I'm glad you both found a way to protect you from Her reach."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Yuliana, strangely, has only stepped foot in an arcade three times in her life.
1: There was a young Malaysian reporter who was starting to put things together in far too subversive a way for the Party to tolerate, so Yuliana followed her to her favourite haunt and sprayed contact poison on the light gun she used to play her favourite game. No one figured out why she had a heart attack.
2: The son of a Chinese business tycoon was liable to sell the company to Britannian hands if he succeeded his father in order to escape the regulation of the State, so Yuliana quietly made sure that the prize he won at the end of the night had a nice, corrosive battery and toxic internals to gas him overnight. Everyone put that one down to faulty equipment, and the toys were recalled.
3: Parminder wanted to hit the arcade and it was his turn to choose the team bonding exercise. Oddly, he took full responsibility for owning their asses.
So, you know, she's kind of at a disadvantage with this one.
"My Elisa didn't force me into Emptear," Yuliana insists. "Well, not -- I mean, there was one -- a miscommunication," she decides, sharply. "For Emptear was a gift. Armour to protect me from the damage my dancing could do. You know, Leyasha saw it, once... I just about unravelled in front of her eyes. My body can't take it..."
She spins, and there's a little too much weight behind the way her foot comes down. Luckily, Dr. Kimura knew he was inflicting a Cyber-Newtype on this machine, so he got one of the reinforced cabinets. Which Rena would have noticed, when she looked at the make and number!
"She could still reach me in my dreams -- but Elisa thought of a solution to that, too, you know. She miniaturised the Liminal Lattice -- here," she flourishes out her wrists, to show Rena her new decorations. "This is the Chthonic Lattice. Ever since she made it for me, I've not been summoned to Her side. What a relief!"
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"Mm." Rena doubts that Elisa didn't compel her to. She debates arguing -- but at a point, she would lose focus. And they are conducting a test. And she wouldn't learn this...
...and considering the crystal in her chest, it seems important.
"So Emptear protects you from the worst of it," Rena says. She frowns. "I do remember, from the dream, a couple of years ago. How you'd been hurt."
She does notice the way the machines hold up; she keeps moving even if she's feeling the burn in her legs. That isn't a bad thing, though. She glances away from the screen -- eyeing the Chthonic Lattice -- and then she nods. "That... seems really useful," Rena admits. "I'm glad. I was getting worried about what could happen, if She called you back."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"She is my armour," Yuliana agrees, on Emptear. "I know what NUNE says about her -- that she'll tear down the sky -- that she'll rock the world from its axis -- and destroy you all. But all they say of her is mine. She grants me no abilities I did not have -- only the safety to use them without ripping myself to pieces."
And if she's getting a little winded, from how she delivers that monologue with so many hitches to her breath, she's certainly not trying to call attention to it. She doesn't get tired. You're tired.
"The treatments did help," she says, as she moves. "I used to Visit just about every night, you know. But when they did that pulsing thing, with my brain -- She'd reach me much more infrequently. Sometimes -- a whole month would go by." And step, and turn, -- "But it only took one night. One night after I fell into the sea, and She just watched. I was angry... I told my Elisa to go to war. But She was angry, too, and that's when I couldn't see Her -- even infrequently. She threatened my wife."
Can anything threaten Elisa? Well, if anything could, surely it's... also Elisa, but more.
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"I know what they say. And... just be careful, because--well, you remember what we had to do, at the North Pole," Rena says. It took both of them to stop it; two people, touched by the Void, and Rena and the Gaia Gear Alpha could only barely manage it.
She shakes her head, lightly, as she keeps moving, her feet picking up pace; it's the end of the song, which means a rather intense section.
She nods, as she does. "She... went after Elisa?" Rena says. "And... and one night, and she tried to kill you?" She tenses again, as she considers this.
But only for a moment.
"That's awful," Rena says. "I'm glad... I'm glad Elisa made that for you."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"I remember," Yuliana says. "She was -- quite demanding."
And it's convenient that Yuliana can lay the blame at the Empress's feet, but it's so convenient because it isn't entirely wrong, either.
"It's not that -- She tried," Yuliana says. "It's -- I was -- we were having a day outside, you see, and my nephew wandered onto thin ice. I ran to grab him and toss him away -- but of course I fell through. And, you know, the Arctic..." She trails off, for a moment, as she focuses on a rising crescendo of beats.
"My Elisa saved me," she takes a breath to go on, a moment later. "But She was -- calling to me. She looked down at me and called to me. She, She could have done something to save me... but She wanted only for me to cross the threshold and be with Her. I realised -- She'd be happy -- if I died. With my spirit."
She spins, and steps, flicking her wrist as she moves. "But I told Her I didn't love Her," she scowls. "I didn't wish to be Hers. She didn't accept it... She insisted I belonged to her. She told me I'd die for Her. And She said -- that Elya -- that Elisa was too prideful," she huffs, forgetting they're watched for a moment and using the familiar form of her wife's name. "She'd consume her. The Empress made me choke her when I woke, you know -- just to -- force her to use her Power. Just to -- underline -- how I was the Gate through which She affected this world. Just to make her cold..."
The final song of the set fades, finally, and on the right side, Rena's display crows: 1st Place! WINNER!
"Hmph," Yuliana sulks, folding her arms. "You're just better at video games." Technically, that means Rena is better at something than her!
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
"Yeah," Rena says. "But... just be careful with the Emptear."
Rena frowns for a moment -- and then her eyes widen. She grew up in Winter Wonderland; she knows about thin ice. Oh, it wasn't common, but weather control systems could fail, and falling into some of the lakes and reservoirs could be dangerous.
"That's--that's terrifying," Rena says, with a shake of her head. "I'm glad your nephew is okay, and--and that Elisa saved you. But She..."
Not Elisa -- not that Elisa.
"...She doesn't have right to you," Rena says. "I hope you know that."
She finshes -- with a couple of steps. Then, Rena grins a little -- and raises both hands up into the air.
"Victory!" she cheers.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"I suppose you at least have a reputation for a reason," Yuliana pouts, which is almost like a compliment if you squint.
"Congratulations!" Dr. Kimura, at least, is more of a good sport about it. "We were monitoring you the whole time, and we didn't detect any unusual Void signatures. It's still something of a guess -- ethically, we can't confirm it -- but the somatic components to invoking the Void must require intention. In other words... just dancing won't put you in danger," he adds, looking to Yuliana. "It has to be something you're doing on purpose. And I suspect that goes for you, too," he adds, looking to Rena. "Whatever powers you've received from this connection -- I think you'd have to invoke them."
"In the waking world, anyway," Yuliana adds, dryly. "None of us can account for the whims of slumber."
"Well -- yes," Dr. Kimura adds, scratching at his chin. "I do mean... decisions you consciously make. But thank you both for providing us with such good data." Yuliana starts stripping those sensor-pads off her arms, at which point, Dr. Kimura says, a little haplessly: "... yes, you can take those off now."
Yuliana pauses, though, reaching over to grab one placed behind her shoulder, as her eyes fall on her bracelet. "Do get in touch if you'd like some help with that, of course," she adds, a font of generosity. "My Elisa made these with her own Power -- if I asked, I'm sure she could adapt a set to protect you."
With Elisa's own Power...
How many people died to make those bracelets?
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lancaster has posed.
Rena pulls her sensor off, with a glance at Dr. Kimura. She flashes a smile at him. "Well, that's good news," she said. "It'd be bad to lose the chance to do that. And... it's good to know we can't do it accidentally."
And, that if it happens, it was done intentionally. That isn't lost on on Rena.
"Happy to help," she tells him. Then, she glances at Yuliana -- stepping off her pad -- and tilts her head. "Ah--yeah. I think I would be interested," she says. "I'm not in a rush to see Her again."
She swallows, even as she wonders. How did Elisa make those?
"And... y'know," Rena says. "Good dancing with you."