2024-07-30: Person of Interest
- Log: 2024-07-30: Person of Interest
- Cast: Trem Firmal, Emilia Eschonbach
- Where: Asticassia School of Technology, Orbital Ring
- OOC - IC Date: July 30, 0099
- Summary: Taking advantage of the summer break to scout some Universities, Emilia attends one not on her list for... complex reasons. While going along with the university tour, a student- Trem Firmal- takes an interest in her. Despite a guarded start, the two get to talking and making friends. Maybe there are some interesting people at Asticassia.
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
It's the summer school break! Or the July-September School Break in Side 3 because the Colony's don't have seasons as such. Even after living there for nearly a year, Emilia's still getting used to it. But there are several things Emilia has to do this school break.
One of them was look for a university. This was already a problem, in that Emilia had yet to even decide on a major or really... anything, university wise. One thing was clear: Asticassia School of Technology was not on the list. Emilia didn't like the idea, Mineva didn't like the idea- and from Leina's reports she wouldn't have liked the idea.
And yet she was here today, as part of a group of touring students. Someone had insisted.
This had confirmed her desire not to come here.
After a half day of being exposed to the Ring's business elites and the prevailing views of Asticassia and having harsh reminders of most of her time in Britannian Boarding Schools, Emilia had had more than enough. Still... after the duelling exhibition, she'd have free time to do what she needs to do here, and maybe see some people.
So there she was, sat in the 'best seats in the house' watching duel after duel with... something resembling boredom. She's dressed well, to fit in- an expensive pink dress, matching heels, a dressy blazer and a designer handbag. She actually had the money for these things now, and some of these were things that had been gifted toward Mineva from diplomats so it meant she looked roughly like she fitted in. She was fully used to the prosthetic in her left eyes now- even if she felt a bit more comfortable with the eyepatch these days. But it's subtle enough that one might not notice if they're not paying attention- and Asticassia's prospective students only really cared about others in as much they would be useful to their own social status.
But, back to the duel- it was lacking, to Emilia. The stakes were often petty and pointless- so much like Britannia duels- but with no real risk to their pilots. No danger of death, and even Britannian Dueling had that. There were underhanded tactics, certainly, but it ended with simply slicing off a command horn.
The idea that every pilot program student would be on par with that duel broadcast online a few months ago was very quickly dismissed.
Besides, a fight with little more than pride and these stakes on the line seemed...
Weak, somehow.
<Pose Tracker> Trem Firmal has posed.
Trem Firmal returned to Asticassia, after an outing with the Gaia Sabers. She is only an intern; she was not there doing anything beyond that. Or so she tells others and herself.
She came to the dueling arena, partly out of boredom and partly because she has the rest of the day off. She doesn't have classes until tomorrow. She had thought it would be a welcome distraction.
But...
It isn't the same as the day she watched Guel and Suletta duel and realized it might be /interesting/. She stands up at the back of the room, watching for a moment, and scanning the room. The pilots aren't impressive.
Certainly not worth another look.
She does pause, though, when she sees Emilia. She doesn't recognize her immediately; her senses aren't so developed or focused to pick up on her in the way that some Newtypes might. Nor, for that matter, does Trem know who Emilia Eschonbach is.
She hesitates for a moment, before she approaches. She lifts a hand as she nears, then smiles in a polite way. "Hello," she says. "You're..."
She pauses, awkwardly. Like she spaces out, mid-sentence.
"...With the tour of prospective university students?" she asks. "I heard that was today."
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
No one in the tour really knows who Emilia Eschonbach is- a Britannian continent manufacturing company that fell in stocks after the OYW is hardly going to gather attention for the Britannians, and she's not exactly volunteered her surname to anyone. It's not really a name she particularly identifies with these days anyway.
So she is, in fact, surprised when a student comes up to her while she's sitting there, and Emilia turns to look at the other young woman.
The slight pause in the other girl's speech is something she catches- rather acutely aware of such things herself. "Y-Yes," Emilia responds, softly and calmly. She can't really get out of speaking, another thing she'd avoided. Sometimes you get a sense for the sort of person likely to bully others, and while she could probably outfight most of them...
It would likely cause even more problems.
"Can I... h-help you?"
<Pose Tracker> Trem Firmal has posed.
Those pauses are part of how Trem talks -- and it's led to, in the months she has been here, a reputation for being a space cadet. It isn't exactly the kindest rumors that are spoken and they still don't seem to faze her much.
If she knows of them.
"I thought so," Trem admits. She looks down at her uniform, then back at Emilia. "It was the clothing."
So why is she talking to her?
It's a flicker of insight; the sort of little impulse at the back of her mind that hasn't failed her yet. She continues to smile... and it's still very polite.
"How do you like the school?" she asks, her eyes looking back at the rather amateurish showing by the duelists. Now that she's speaking more, the slight Swedish accent is easier to hear. "I've only been here for about four months, now."
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
"...I s-suppose anyone who i-isn't wearing a uniform and isn't a CEO w-w-would stand out." Emilia comments, a touch dryly. Emilia watches the other girl, who hasn't explained herself yet with her good eye. It's a little easier to notice when one is moving more than the other.
But when Trem asks her a question, Emilia takes a second. "...I d-d-don't care for it, p-particularly." Emmy says, frankly. There's nothing here she wants to study, really. Business? This sort of piloting? Ringer Politics!? Not a chance.
"I h-hope it's had a b-better impression on you th-than it has on me in that t-time." Emmy's... surprisingly frank here- and there's a touch of anger under her own demeanor, but she hides it well. She's just...
After finally getting out of this environment, she doesn't like having to be back in it. Not even a little.
Still, she may as well have a little curiosity. "...What are you st-studying here?"
<Pose Tracker> Trem Firmal has posed.
"Mm. Yes, this is so," Trem says, and she smiles a little at that. She isn't quite going to make a crack about CEO's directly. But, there are some things that an Asticassia student knows better than doing.
She blinks, though, at the honest assessment. There isn't a frown or a scowl -- or a retort. Clearly, no great amount of pride in this one.
"I'm sorry. I find it... stuffy?" she says, though she makes it a question. Her expression screws up; is that the right word?
"It has been an adjustment for me," Trem adds. I was from a very small town, in northern Scandinavia. This is the most people that I have been around in a long time. Sometimes, it can be... overwhelming. In more than one way."
She is quiet for a moment, before she adds: "I study piloting. I was studying that in Scandinavia, too," she says. "It's been..." She looks at the two Duelists, currently at it. Trem's tone of voice becomes flat.
"...enlightening, sometimes."
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
Emmy can appreciate Trem smiling at the joke. At least some people here have a sense of humour. Thank goodness. And Trem's own straightforward response is at least reassuring that not every student has to like it here, or act as if they do. Which, again, she got from Leina, but...
"...Stuffy s-seems like a word f-for it." Emmy admits, from her own observations. "It seems...v-v-very restrictive. My... G-Grandfather would h-have approved." Perhaps a touch too much information. "F-fortunately for m-me, he has no s-say in anything I d-do anymore. He c-can die mad ab-about it. For. All I care." Maybe that makes her seem more like an ungrateful brat now, but... that's handy to the Asticassia vibe too.
"...only sometimes?" Emilia says, with perhaps too much sarcasm. "...I... e-expected something better to b-be put on display if th-they want students to j-join the Piloting program, g-g-given it's one of the schools... specialties?" She sighs. "B-but what would I know? I've n-never had any f-f-formal training." This is true, at least. No formal training. "B-but I've... s-s-seen some truly incredible pilots o-operate. Th-these pilots would be d-d-dead in moments against th-them."
Against Kallen or Sousuke, they'd be down for the count almost instantly. Against Leonard...
Against Leonard it wouldn't have even been a fight. Just a sudden, instant death.
"...I h-hope you c-command a better quality of o-opponent, Miss...?"
<Pose Tracker> Trem Firmal has posed.
"Mm... yes. Restrictive," Trem agrees, aloud.
Inwardly, she doesn't. Intellectually, she understands how it is restrictive; how class, ranking, and birthplace all combine to limit what one can do. How all of the students here are burdened with the desires and dreams of their parents, with obligations to them. But she thinks of her life before coming here...
No, Trem thinks, it's more free than that.
But she can't dare say that aloud. She looks at Emilia -- then she smiles, a little lopsided, this time. "...Well," she says, "They do pride themselves on their honesty. So I would say, today..." She watches one of the students throw a punch that doesn't even come three meters from the other Mobile Suit's head. "...They've done one thing to be proud of. Unfortunately... I don't think it would compare to a real fight."
She looks back at Emilia. She keeps her expression pleasant, even as she realizes: she has seen a real fight. Interesting.
Then, her eyes widen with real awareness. "Oh--oh, sorry. Yes. Trem Firmal. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance!"
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
It's hard for Emilia to read Trem- so she has to take it as read that she agres with her, for now at least. Still, on the topic of crowds... "...I g-grew up in N-New Yark," Emilia admits. Convenient she comes from somewhere it's hard to tell these days if she did or didn't. After all, it's not like there's many people you can ask. "B-but... I never g-got used to crowds. Th-they can be exhausting." Certain crowds more than others, honestly.
The lopsided smile gets a raised eyebrow from Emilia. "D-do tell? I'm i-interested to h-h-hear what it is." To Emilia, there's been nothing to write home about. "P-Probably not. But h-h-how many here can?"
"Emilia," Emmy responds, extending a hand. "A... p-pleasure to meet you, Trem Firmal." She doesn't volunteer her last name, in this case. It can probably be discovered, of course, but... Well.
If she's identified, she may as well stand out for reasons that Asticassians would stand out for. Not throwing her name out like a weapon, but also not the defensiveness of it an Earthian might have.
<Pose Tracker> Trem Firmal has posed.
"Ah..." There is a flicker of awkwardness at the mention of New Yark. In a way that, ultimately, is probably familiar. "I'm sorry."
Then, she nods -- there's a blink, actually -- before she affirms: "Yes. Crowds can be exhausting. I'm still getting used to it. Though... it is not all bad, either." For a moment, she is quiet.
"Well, they put on an honest display of their average student's ability," Trem says. She smiles; it's just a little proud, in fact. Her skill in a Mobile Suit is something she is proud of. "So I commend them for that."
She takes the offered hand, giving it a fairly light shake. But there's another moment where she is distant -- looking off into space. Then she refocuses. "Thank you," she says. "So... do you have many universities that you are considering? I am still too young to choose one... though a couple of the counselors here tell me I should already be thinking about it."
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
"...I-it was a long t-time ago." Emilia says, but it's hard to believe that she means it. "The d-dinosaurs died f-f-for what they did. That's... what m-m-matters."
No. It isn't. Not even close.
"W-well, that's good that y-you can f-f-find the best in it. It's a... u-u-useful way to make it th-through."
Trem's comment actually gets a small laugh out of Emilia. "T-True. That's useful to know- even if I'm sure they'd be disappointed to kn-know they're average. But I s-s-suppose that's on them for n-not pushing th-themselves to be better, isn't it?" Britannian Bootstraps thinking was always a favourite of the worst people Emilia knew, after all. It helps her... fit in? Preserve her cover? Go under noticed?
Or just be a meanspirited bitch, perhaps, but...
Trem's handshake is another sign- to Emilia at least- that she's not talking to a spoiled rich kid. She doesn't take the opportunity to assert dominance through it.
"A f-f-few," Emilia half-lies. "The Neo-America University of the Arts, University of Nouvelle Tokyo, Ribo Women's University..." All schools that require either a strong portfolio, high grades or money, often a mix of the two.
Realistically, Ribo is the only one she had actually looked at, and even then....
"Hmmm. I s-s-suppose it depends on wh-what you want to study, though? I imagine you'd be l-looking at a military academy, if y-you really want to pursue piloting." And yet, there's a hint of disdain there. "Th-though I imagine th-there would be other, p-private options with e-elite instructors."
<Pose Tracker> Trem Firmal has posed.
"Mm..." Trem murmurs, trailing off audibly without speaking. "...They did."
She doesn't linger on that particular thought for long. She isn't quite sure what to say to it, and there's that lingering awkwardness. She smiles, slightly, though at the laugh. "I think they would. Of course... they will find out, I think."
Duelists had a tendency to get a big head, after all. She hesitates a moment, before she nods. "It... does take practice. I have to work hard at it."
She tilts her head, then she nods. She spaces out, again, for a moment, in fact. "Those do seem like... they would be good choices," she says. She hesitates, though, at what Emilia poitns out.
"Yes," she agrees. "A military academy is most likely. My uncle... does not have the means to hire such an instructor."
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
The awkwardness hangs in the air for a while. It's hardly a surprise that it would, after a comment like that. Fortunately....
"I s-s-suppose here is a better place to l-learn your l-limits than on the b-b-battlefield." There's an odd tone to Emilia's voice there, as she looks away for a moment. Something a bit too... real? Earnest?
"I c-can imagine." Emilia says, after a moment, taking what seems to be a very serious assessment of Trem for a moment. It's not like the pilots that were duelling were incompetent- they just weren't up to the level Emilia expected from the brief preview, from the reputation of Asticassia. "If you want to b-b-be good, rather than. Good enough... It r-requires work."
"Mm. I s-suppose." Still, there's a touch of uncertainty in Emilia's voice, too. "I'm... still un--decided."
Is that hesitation from Trem unease, frustration, or 'spacing out' again? It's hard to tell. "...Few o-outside the e-elite here can," She admits. "P-Perhaps if you excel here, you c-could draw a scholarship to o-o-one of the company programs, but..." Emilia frowns. "Th-these things are r-r-rarely pure meritocracy."
And yet, Emilia has found herself curious of Trem and her curiosity in her. "...Is p-piloting what you w-want to study, Miss F-Firmal?"
<Pose Tracker> Trem Firmal has posed.
Trem considers that for a moment. She knows the battlefield -- but that's not something she wants to let slip to Emmy. It would be dangerous to do so; as far as most of the world is concerned, she is just a student from Asticassia. Best to not have a university student hear more and say something about it.
"I think so... it isn't as dangerous," Trem says, before she looks back at Emilia. Her head tilts for a moment, while she studies her.
She smiles at her conclusion. "That... that makes sense," she says. "I'll just have to work hard, then."
She blinks once, though. Rarely a meritocracy... she nods, as she considers it. "Mm..." The question, though, gives her pause. What she wants to study?
It's hard to imagine wanting anything else.
"...It is," Trem says, after a moment. "It's hard to imagine studying anything else. I know that..." She frowns; it's a normal pause, this time, not staring off into the distance. "...That must sound strange."
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
Emilia gives a nod at that. "It c-c-can be h-harder to learn. In a t-training situation." For once, Emmy is grateful for her speech to tend to stutter and catch. "Th-that's what the pilots I kn-knew told m-me. My f-family are... n-none to keen for me to e-enter the cockpit." Emilia gives a shrug. "B-but I h-have. Other options."
That is... technically true.
"B-b-be careful who y-you offend, too. Spite is a p-powerful motivator f-for... s-some of these types." After all, what is Asticassia but the Britannian private school system writ large?
Emilia shrugs again. "W-Well, if it's wh-what you want, it's what y-you want." It could be very easily dismissive, and yet. "I've met people wh-who can't see themselves a-a-anywhere but a battlefield, or in th-the cockpit. It's h-h-hardly strange, i-is it?"
Emilia's phrasing is perhaps a touch deliberate- perhaps a touch too understanding. "...St-still, it d-does make you wonder wh-why I'm the one you w-wanted to talk to, instead of o-o-one of the many p-pilot aspirants." Emilia tilts her head towards the group at the front of the stalls, enthralled by what she had described as boring. Though, p-perhaps the reasoning Trem doesn't want to talk to them is obvious.
<Pose Tracker> Trem Firmal has posed.
"Ah... that makes sense," Trem says. She considers for a second -- thinks about the people she could call her family -- and then nods. "For my family... it's something of a tradition."
She looks up -- and she blinks. Be careful who she offends? It's a difficult notion. She didn't, exactly, experience that sort of politics until she came to Asticassia. So she nods at the advice. "I... will try. But I seem to sometimes set them off no matter what I do. Or only realize it days later."
There is a blink, though. 'Hardly strange,' indeed; she thought it was, but she didn't understand.
"...I can see that," Trem says. "Why someone would see things that way. I've thought it before." The student trails off, for a moment -- and then she looks at the students that Emilia points out. Her eyes move towards them for a moment.
"Mm, well..." She hesitates, before she smiles again. "...Is it strange to say I didn't have a good reason? I talk to them often. You are... different, Emilia," she says. "And I had a hunch that it would be more interesting to talk to you. I don't think this hunch was wrong."
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
Emilia nods at the concept of it being... tradition. "...Th-that makes sense. My f-father was military." Emmy pauses. "It's p-probably why the family I h-have left are so insistent." The trick to a good lie is to sprinkle just enough truth in there, after all. Though she is maybe being a touch too truthful.
"...that s-sounds about right for s-s-somewhere like here," Emilia says, perhaps sympathetically. "I... g-grew up in schools like this, m-mostly Britannian. There c-could be any number of political, or c-classist, or ego..." And Emilia knows all too well the simple inability to understand what she did wrong when what she did wrong was... be Emilia. "...It's... difficult to n-navigate if you aren't used to s-such environments. Y-you s-said you were raised on Earth, r-right?" She doesn't have much history on Scandinavia, just that they were... non-Federation. "And... as a p-pilot, if you're showing yourself better than them it's e-easy to bruise an ego." Some of the Black Knights certainly had issues with Emilia on that front too...
"It's... an under--standable impulse. F-For b-better or worse, I c-can understand why s-someone would... f-feel comfortable there."
...She didn't have a reason, hm? Simply that she was different... or interesting. "I s-see. Well, I'm g-glad to have provided a n-novel experience." There's no sarcasm there, no bite in her words. Years ago, maybe there would have been. But... the Emilia of those days has grown up. Sometimes....being interesting is enough. "For what it's w-worth, I rather e-expected not to m-meet anyone who defied m-my expectations of the sc-school. So, it h-has been interesting for me too."
Emilia nods. Despite herself, Emilia finds herself reaching for her phone- well, one of them. She got back into the habit for... reasons. "...D-do you use Vertex?" Emilia asks, quietly. "I-if you'd like, we c-could exchange details. Perhaps I c-can provide some advice for... d-dealing with the politics." Maybe some, at least. "Or m-maybe we just h-have the occasional interesting conversation, if y-you want."
<Pose Tracker> Trem Firmal has posed.
"Mm. Yes," Trem murmurs. "There are... people who are like siblings to me." She hesitates; she's not sure she likes that phrasing, now that she said it, but it's too late to pull it back. "It was similar with them."
She tilts her head, then -- and raises an eyebrow. This is what Britannian-style schools are like, then. She hesitates for a moment, but then she nods quickly at her question. "I was. Well-to-do enough. But..."
But enough that, at times, she has drawn the ire of some people. She smiles, after a moment. "I try to ignore them, as best I can," she admits.
She does look at Emilia for a moment longer. Someone who feels comfortable in a cockpit. Yes, Trem thinks; she is someone of interest.
She smiles upon hearing it's the same. "I'm glad," Trem says, her voice a little quiet. She looks surprised, though, at the phone -- and Vertex. Her eyes widen, before she reaches to her pocket, pulling her own phone out. "I do. Oh, yes, if you would, I would like that. I could use the advice."
She laughs again, then she holds her phone out for the contact exchange.
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
Emilia can... understand that too.
She... really hopes Kallen's okay, still.
"It's... w-well meaning, I'm sure." Emilia says, after a moment. "But... it's h-h-hard to keep someone from where they feel th-they belong." Be it a need to be fulfilled, or an ache that won't stop hurting, or just... a desire one can't let go of. Or maybe a combination of the three. Emilia... really gets it.
Emilia nods again, though, as Trem explains. "S-some people will th-think you're beneath them simply b-because of th-the..." A mirthless grin crosses Emilia's lips. "...fortune of th-their birth." She says, but there is a menace behind those words. "A-and if you h-happen to be more sk-skilled, or smarter, or st-stronger... they r-really can't stand it." Try to ignore them as best she can, hm...? "...For as l-long as it works, that can b-be a good tactic. But b-bullies often just t-take that as invitation. Sometimes... you have to b-bloody their noses." She smirks. "...th-that's how we d-dueled in Britannian schools. But w-with swords, rather th-than mobile suits. It's... a d-different experience."
But it's the reaction from Trem when Emmy offers to exchange accounts that makes Emmy sure she just made the right call. She's been in her shoes, had that reaction... and the one thing she always wanted to do with the kindness others showed her is... pay it forward. The Vertex connection is made, quickly and easily. (She'll have to run a scan on the phone after, as a precaution, but... that's just common sense these days.)
"I'm h-happy to offer. And... I l-look forward to hearing f-from you again, Trem."
...Asticassia is still well and truly off her list, but... well. There are some interesting people here.