2024-06-02: Reset The Counter

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<Pose Tracker> Naoko Suzuki has posed.


It's what should have been an unassuming, perfectly normal Sunday morning. A day of sleeping in for many, though this isn't quite so relevant to those who work their own hours, like Naoko does. Sometimes, she wakes up early and skims through various things she follows online before getting up. A slow, relaxing start of the day is the way she prefers it.

The news feed of her go-to gaming news site informs her of a new leak on the Battle Operations forum. Nothing new there. 'Time to reset the counter', is her first thought. But when she reads the details of this supposed leak, presumed to be a hoax, but a strangely elaborate one that's gotten people talking... her eyes quickly grow wider and wider.

Of all the ways that she could discover more answers to the questions she's had all her life... It feels like a bad joke. But too much of it rings true for her to have any doubt that all the details there that she didn't already know are also absolutely true. She spends a few minutes just sitting there, staring blankly ahead, trying to process this.

Then she starts to consider how public this is, and starts to panic. True to form, panic for her own sake is quickly supplanted by panic for another. That's easier to act upon. And, loathe as she would be to admit it... shared distress makes it easier to deal with. It is thus not long before Shari's phone receives a pile of successive notifications... 

[VERTEX] From Naoko Suzuki: SHARI
[VERTEX] From Naoko Suzuki: Sorry didn't mean to yell but it's an emergency, have you seen this???
[VERTEX] From Naoko Suzuki: <link to the gaming news article about the Battle Operations leak, with screenshots of the
original post before it was deleted>
[VERTEX] From Naoko Suzuki: If you don't know why I'm linking this just click the images and read everything there
[VERTEX] From Naoko Suzuki: Please get back to me once you do okay??

<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.


It should've been an ordinary Sunday! Shari was counting on that much, anyway. She was going to stay in bed for a while longer, but she happened to check her phone.

That definitely changed her lans.

Shortly...

Shari puts on a robe and sits up at her desk, propping her phone up after a few messages. 

[VERTEX] To Naoko Suzuki: yelling is cool i wasn't asleep
[VERTEX] To Naoko Suzuki: emergency bad
[VERTEX] To Naoko Suzuki: WHAT THE FUCK
[VERTEX] To Naoko Suzuki: ok im alone and decent i'm calling you now

<Pose Tracker> Naoko Suzuki has posed.

It takes a moment for Naoko to answer. She hadn't really thought about decency nor expecting a call before seeing that message. Not that she isn't well-covered even when she sleeps, it is just that she's very easily embarrassed, and being seen in nightwear is already embarrassing.

And so when Naoko accepts the call, she's still in the process of sitting down at her desk, wearing her classic 'Candy Fiend' hoodie that she clearly just quickly pulled over her head, given how much of a mess her hair is. But that's not important right now.

"Shari! I'm not paranoid here, right? That stuff's about us, right? Whispered, I guess it's what it's called? But how? Who? What?"

To think that the first thing she was planning to say to Shari was 'calm down'. She can't even follow her own advice.

<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.


Shari has to think about these things because she would be embarrassed and Naoko would die. So there's a worried boy hanging out in the kitchen as Shari makes this call.

It's fine.

Shari is be-robed and her hair is likewise messy; the real proof that this is serious is that she isn't wearing her makeup at all.

"That stuff is definitely about us," Shari agrees. "Naoko..."

"I don't know," she says. "Who would know this stuff? I can think of a few people but they wouldn't go on a forum like this and--"

Shari is not calm, either.

"So what the fuck?? I mean, my aunts probablly already read it, and--"

<Pose Tracker> Naoko Suzuki has posed.

Naoko can't even think of anybody who'd know this much. At least, she couldn't, until right up until the second Shari mentions that. Her mind flashes back to what Leina told her, about an 'organization that helps people like you'. But, well, this clearly isn't helping her, and she's pretty sure Leina wouldn't have wanted this information to get out either, so that leaves... nobody she knows.

"Wait, hold on, do you think your aunts can put it together from what they know about you? Shari, you-- we've got to get you out of there. I'm--"

She hesitates a moment, but says what she was going to anyway. "I'm gonna be fine, I think, where I am. And, I'm sure that that the people here can keep you safe, too. So don't worry, okay, we'll... we'll handle this, somehow."

She's in no position to be reassuring when she still looks so agitated. But she's trying anyway. As always, easier to ignore her own worries and focus on worries for another.

<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.


Shari is good at thinking of things. But Leina probbly wouldn't be it, so...

"Probably! They know my birthday!" Shari shakes her head, "I mean, if anybody can keep me safe it's the PPL, but..." But, "But I might need to start carrying some sutff..."

Naoko will be fine. "That's good," she says. "Tht's really good. We'll figure it out, for sure. I mean, if I were alone I'd be a lot more worried but--"

She considers. "...Even then my aunts are like--they want to fight the evil goddess now? So maybe it won't be a problem."

"But you... I guess if those people in Magallnica can keep you safe that's cool. But maybe we need to do something about it ourselves, too. Maybe..."

"I don't know," Shari sighs. 

<Pose Tracker> Naoko Suzuki has posed.

A specific birthday combined with being really smart and good with machines is... probably plenty to be a dead giveaway to those who know of both, huh? In which case Naoko too is pretty sure some people are going to be able to put it together... but, nobody she needs to be worried about, right? Probably not... hopefully not.

Naoko rubs her forehead. "Ugh, yeah... is there like... Void Pepper Spray? Is that a thing? Could you make that a thing?" This is a serious suggestion.

She takes a deep breath. "Right. Right. I've got to remember that you're not just, out in the open with no one else around. That would be bad." But will it be enough? It's hard to not still be worried.

A curveball blindsides her. "Wait, what'd you say? They turned against the Empress, for real??" Did therapy work a miracle, somehow? That's all she can figure for how that could possible happen. In any other circumstance, that would be a relief, but right now, it's just one data point of far too many that just became known in a short amount of time.

She leans back, considering. "What... can we really do, though? All I can think about is things that I should very much not do again..." She can't help it, she needs to tell someone about a more specific worry. She does so while directing her gaze downward, away from the screen.

"I think I kind of... did that thing the document said not to do. Induce the Whispers on purpose? It said that could lead to insanity, and suicide... I-I feel fine right now, and it was a while ago, but..."

<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.


Not everybody knows birthdays, but their talents are hard to deny. Or miss. ...There are definitely people in Naoko's orbit who will put it together. But will that be a problem?

"I could make that a thing," Shari says. "If one of them wanted me it wouldn't be enough, but... They already knew what I could do. I don't think they're going to do it that way."

Pause. "Unless I..." She thinks about it. Maybe void pepper spray is just the start.

But, Naoko is worried, "Yeah. I'm more worried about the people around me than me. I'm... good at being slippery, you know? I learned from the special ops types in the Castle."

But, a curveball! "Yeah. Apparently she stood by when Yuliana almost died and they decided that was bad. So, like... they're not my enemy right now at least. Maybe that'll be good enough."

What can they do..? Things she can't do again?

"...Well, that's not great," Shari says. "It was when you were working on that thing, huh...?"

A shake of her head. "Well, try not to do it again again, I guess. For me it was always... The Whispers and the Screams, so I didn't wnt to listen to either one, but..." 

<Pose Tracker> Naoko Suzuki has posed.

It sure is true that while Yuliana is bad enough, from everything Naoko's heard about Elisa, she'd be especially hard-pressed to think of any sort of guaranteed countermeasures. Shari would probably be better at that herself, anyway. It's vexing when she can't think of anything she can actually do about something that concerns her. But, she can at least draw hope from Shari's aunts shift in focus. Maybe it'll be good enough, indeed... but it can't hurt to be prepared.

Shari mentioning 'the people around her' reminds her of what happened to her childhood friend, when she got him involved in something dangerous. She told Shari about that, so the remorseful look on her face might be enough to give away what she's thinking about. "Yeah... I'm sorry, I'm afraid I don't have any good advice about keeping the people around you safe..." Aside from 'don't get them involved in the first place', but it may be a little late for that. She can only hope that Shari will manage to do a better job in that regard than she did.

She nods in confirmation to Shari's assertion in regards to 'that thing'. "Yeah... and that's another reason why I know this is all legit. All this stuff about the Lambda Driver... it's all accurate, I already know about it. I asked to know about it. That's how I was able to do what I did."

She is quick to respond, "Oh don't worry, I'm not doing that again, now that I know how dangerous it is." Dr. Hell didn't mention the risks, when he said it was possible. She should have known better than not to question what the catch was.

She takes a deep breath. "Well... this is a lot to take in, and it's gonna take time to process, but... I'm leaving the offer open, if you need a place, for whatever reason. And to talk, of course, and just, however I can help, just let me know."

If only there was something, anything she could actually do about any of this. That would help her deal with it better, too.

<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.


Preparation is important.

Shari catches that look, and feels bad for reminding Naoko of that. "It's okay," she says. "I'll figure it out. It's kinda... the hazard of having people in your life, I guess. At least my roommate isn't involved, but..." Her boyfriend knows enough. "...Gerardo saw me dealing with the Screams, when we were together in Barcelona. And he knows about my inventions and stuff."

"I see... yeah, it looks legit to me too. This 'Omnisphere'... the Void interferes with it. So I know it's real."

Now that she knows? "I'm not.. thrilled that you risked it," she admits. "But I understand. You did what you needed to do."

A lot to take in, and...

"So," Shari says. "...If I do... is it OK if I bring him? I..."

"I don't want to leave him. And if they know they can reach him to get to me..."

"I think we'll be OK at the PPL. But I mean... it's good to have options, right?"

<Pose Tracker> Naoko Suzuki has posed.

Naoko's mouth presses into a thin line, hearing that Shari's boyfriend already knows that much. She suspected, but, with it confirmed... how can she not be worried about people going after him to get to her? That's how it went for Naoko, and that was before this stuff became public knowledge. She'd best not comment, she figures, not having anything to contribute on that subject that would be in any way helpful.

Much easier to talk about matters such as the Omnisphere. "I didn't know what it was called at the time, but... I feel that Goragon must have had a connection to it too, the Omnisphere. I guess that would explain how, no matter how strange it all was when I was in there... on some level, it also felt familiar." And how Dr. Hell knew about the source of the Whispers. Probably wise to continue leaving his name out of things, though...

In spite of herself, she lets out a chuckle. "Now I'm wondering whether what I did was even necessary. If your aunts take care of the Void issue themselves, I might not even need to do anything." Not that she didn't have other reasons, but preparing to deal with future Void incursions was a pretty big one.

As for the matter of bringing Gerardo... "I think it would be irresponsible not to bring him. But I think that's something you need to discuss with him. Make sure that he's fully aware what he's in for." Do what she failed to do, in other words. But, as far as she's concerned, "The option will always be open. ...Not that it's exactly my call, but, I'll handle it, if it becomes necessary."

<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.


It's something Shari is already worried about. Worrying more isn't going to help that much. ...Though maybe she should worry more about Dr. Hell...

"Oh," Shari says. "That makes sense. I guess it would, from what I heard, huh?" She nods.

Then, "Heh. Well..." Her expression slides a little, "Elisa's still a super scary turbo horror witch, so uh. Keep it handy," she says. "I believe they're willing to fight the Empress, but what else is she going to do? There's a reason I'm not going back."

But, "...Mm, you're right. It's his choice. I'll have to... level with him, some more. It's just hard. I don't want him to leave..."

"But I guess I better put my big girl pants on, huh?"

A shake of her head. "Thanks. I appreciate it, Naoko. ...I guess I should go talk to him, but..."

"Are you OK? We gotta check up on each other about stuff like this. That's what best friends are for, right?"

<Pose Tracker> Naoko Suzuki has posed.

Ah yes, that's an important detail that Naoko didn't consider. "...Right. Elisa's part of the Empress too, shouldn't forget that. And uh, that we should probably be even more worried about her if she manages to beat the Empress." Oddly, the thought is on some level exciting, enough so to bring some of that familiar gusto back to Naoko's voice. "Well, don't worry. As long as it's something I can fight, I'm ready for anything."

Somehow, that stuff is what she feels the least worried about. She can only kind of rub her neck at the interpersonal stuff. "Well... I'm not gonna tell you what pants to wear, literally or figuratively. It's kind of an 'easy for me to say' situation, I have no idea about... any of that stuff." And with that, she's going to stop thinking about it before her mind wanders somewhere that shuts her down.

"Just, whatever you do, I'm on your side, okay? You can always count on me to help in any way I can."

She's always like that, as Shari well knows. And thus it's more than fair to call her out on not thinking about herself enough. "--Oh, I, uh. Well, I guess I'm alright enough? Just kind of... reeling, from all this. This was not at all how I imagined finally getting some answers about what I am, how I got to be the way I am. A part of me is still wondering 'is this a joke?' The way it happened kind of makes it feel like a joke." She shrugs, and shakes her head. "I don't know. Ask me how I feel in a few days?"

She manages a smile, at last, and nods. "Yeah. That's... what best friends do."

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