2025-01-23: Reunion, of a sort
- Log: 2025-01-23
- Cast: Aurora Dusk, Lilium Valerie, Flay Allster
- Where: Classified location, Side 7
- OOC - IC Date: January 22nd, Universal Century 0100
- Summary: Having been notified that the product of the Boosted Songstress program has regained consciousness, some of her former (and ideally future) coworkers are permitted a brief meeting.
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
After a month or so of Lilium floating in a tube being reassembled, a few of the people who previously worked with her are called back to Side 7. The Boosted Songstress project is nearing completion, and it seems she's finally out of her tube and awake. A nondescript shuttle ferries the three teammates to the Secret Asteroid Base...
Shortly before they arrive, the Colonel makes a comment. "Be understanding. The process can be... rough on you, especially using first-gen techniques."
The group is led to the room in which Lilium is... doing something. Maybe they're not sure what they expect to find, but it's here.
<Pose Tracker> Lilium Valerie has posed.
Lilium stares at her reflection in the mirror, sighing faintly. Her patient's gown is... comfortable, she supposes, but something about it still feels off. Apparently she's having visitors today..? She's not sure, to be honest. It still hasn't been long since she came out of surgery... and for some reason, she can't really remember much that happened between agreeing to the program and waking up in the bed next to her... but she's been told that's normal. The doctors say so, anyway, and she has no real reason to doubt them.
Just outside the room she's being kept in, a nurse issues a quick whisper to the group: "..Try to avoid alluding too directly to the extent of the work. We're trying to ease her into this..."
Sitting back in her wheelchair, Lilium finds herself mumbling something under her breath without even realising...
"Do you.. re..memb... er? The time... when..?"
The recovery room is, all things considered, fairly close to a normal hospital room. A comfortable bed sits in the middle, and an obviously-false window shows what looks to be imagery of a small town in the AEU's British holdings.
<Pose Tracker> Flay Allster has posed.
Ever since that briefing about the Boosted Songstress, Flay has been turning the implications of Lilium's fate in her head. She couldn't help but laugh, at the absurdity of it all, when she learned about it. But there isn't anything particularly funny about this, is there?
The Earth Sphere's environment may be reeling from the appearance of a moon-sized woman near Lagrange Point 3. It must say something of the sheer efficiency of the Boosted Songstress Project that it hadn't been impeded by that all, because today, they return to that same point in space to meet the new idol.
"I wasn't aware you were so intimately familiar with that kind of thing, Colonel," Flay replies, failing to meet the Colonel.. and certainly not Aurora, in the eyes. "Does that mean she's going to be, you know...?" Crazy, she just barely has the tact not to actually say. She's seen boosted humans before. But she's never seen someone she knew previously end up getting enhanced that way.
She doesn't make any more comments when the nurse advises them to be careful mentioning the nature of the enhancement. Clutching her bag, which still contains a certain comms code, she slowly walks behind the Colonel, ahead of Aurora into the room - to hear Lilium talking to herself. "That's an old song, isn't it..?" She glances back to the Colonel, before focusing on Lilium. "So.. how are you feeling, Ms. Valerie?"
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
What, exactly, was Aurora expecting to find here? It was a surprise to hear that Lilium had been picked for this project... but the project itself makes sense, when she thinks about it. It's an overlooked field. Really, she should be surprised that it took this long for someone to start investigating it. First gens are... unpredictable, and Aurora can't help the feeling of... something in her stomach about what she's going to find.
"Well, I've been around the block." Understatement, but who the fuck says 'yes, I am intimately familiar with training living violations of human rights'? "Flay, have you ever worked with-" Of course she has, Aurora is right there. "Let me rephrase. How familiar are you with Cyber-Newtypes?"
Aurora nods towards the nurse, and then follows behind Flay into the room to see Lilium sitting in a wheelchair. She must not be familiar with her new motor controls. Aurora remembers something about that in the other briefing.
That's right. She's in the wheelchair because she's getting used to walking still. (Ignore that Lilium sitting in the wheelchair singing to herself in a medical room gives Aurora (and Emily) the impression of a bad case. Ignore the ominous feeling.)
Emily meets Flay's glance. "Do You Remember Love. Before my time, strictly speaking, but everybody knows Minmay." She turns back to Lilium. "Welcome back. Feeling alright?"
...She hopes she's at least feeling alright.
<Pose Tracker> Lilium Valerie has posed.
Lilium's faint singing continues for a moment after the group enters the room, but as soon as Flay calls out to her she perks up, turning to face the door with a smile on her face. "Oh! Hi! I.. didn't realize it would be you coming!" Her voice is faint, seemingly... but it seems it's healed enough for her to talk, at least.
She fumbles with her wheelchair for a few moments. Clearly walking isn't the only thing she's having difficulty with...
"They... tell me I need to learn how to walk again... some kind of system for accelerating the time I need to learn dances..?" Her smile remains in place. Her happiness feels genuine enough, but something about her smile feels... false. Not like she's forcing it, but like the kind of smile you'd put on for a press photograph. "It's... annoying, but I guess it'll be worth it!"
On closer inspection, Lilium's hands -- or arms, actually -- seem to be heavily bandaged. Her legs look to be the same. The full extent isn't really visible under her gown. "I heard there was some kind of... incident.. a few days ago... apparently I'd be recovering much faster otherwise..."
<Pose Tracker> Flay Allster has posed.
Flay slowly nods, at the Colonel's answer. it's certain you would see a lot if you've been serving for so long. And then she considers the question. "Well... I know a little bit. They're people who were forced to become Newtypes, right?" Her tone suggests some displeasure at the idea, perhaps from the same origin as what she was taught about Naturals and Coordinators. "That's what they did to Ms. Valerie." And not just Lilium, either.
"But it's not like I know a lot. I mean, if I have my history straight, it was mostly Zeon and the Titans fielding them in the 80s." Something clicks in that moment. The Colonel must have fought against one of those groups during that time... or perhaps with them. "It's strange, though. If you know so much about Cyber Newtypes, why do you suppose they used the old first-generation technology instead of something safer?"
"You could say I was worried about you," Flay says, to Lilium's surprise. "After you got transferred away, I thought you might have gotten badly injured in the Vajra attack..." Until she found out about the Boosted Songstress project. "So I'm glad to see you're recovering." Flay's own smile might be a little forced, because she finds she hates lying about this and pretending like it's normal. "It does sound like a pain, being an idol." She fidgets with her hair, as she sees those bandages.
"They said it was a 'dimensional level threat'. And something happened to the Sun, too. But I guess it all turned out okay." Flay explains, about the incident. She doesn't know the whole detail of it, but she did think it had something to do with that goddess Elisa Kafim said she had to fight. "You were there, so you'd probably know more about it, right, Lieutenant Dusk?"
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
Emily answers Flay's... answer. "That's correct, Lieutenant. Whereas Newtypes awaken to their abilities naturally, Cyber-Newtypes are 'forced' to awaken through various medical interventions." Aurora gives Flay a sidelong glance at her tone, but she's used to other kinds of denigration. Yes, perhaps it isn't just Lilium. "Yes," Emily continues, launching into an explanation, "the technology was pioneered in time for Gryps, and the initial military deployments were graduates of Federation or Axis Newtype labs, but afterwards the knowhow and experts leaked into the private field. There was a boom in labs operated by non-state actors - for example, there are various underground operations that enhance clients for a fee, now, as well as criminal organisations like the kind found in BioNet's membership." Her tone doesn't give away any disgust with either the idea or the subjects themselves. "Making them properly illegal hasn't had as much of an effect as Cathedra may have hoped, but there have been more raids in the post Singularity One era." Yes, she definitely knows a lot about this. Now, where did she pick it up?
Now, why indeed? Emily rubs her chin with a gloved hand. "The briefing mentioned this, actually. Remember? Modern techniques are too efficient... let me explain. First gens are more psychically open than later ones. For this project in particular, they wanted Lilium more... active."
Just as the briefing said, Lilium's undergone... changes. She has to relearn how to walk - "You got the hang of it once, you'll get it again," Emily says - and her smile is... Well, it's an Idol Smile. It looks weird for it to be on her face. Maybe if not for what she knew, Aurora could pass it off as false courage or something... The remodelling sure runs deep.
"Yeah, we were worried," Aurora says, following up on what Flay says. "It's nice to see you okay." A trace of relief flickers in her eyes, and Lilium might be able to feel it, too. Concern for her wellbeing.
Ah, the incident. Amazingly small words for what it was. Aurora speaks up. "Yeah, a giant woman came out of the moon and tried to kill everyone. It was on the news. Yuliana helped us get rid of it. The Kafims are gone, by the way. They left through a portal." Aurora twiddles her fingers. Best not to let on that she misses them. "Maybe that had something to do with it." Aurora knows damn well it would have had something to do with it. They sent Lilium out to shoot at the Empress... probably before she was totally ready. "Sorry, Lieutenant. I don't really know much more about it than you do. I'm still not sure how the magic worked."
<Pose Tracker> Lilium Valerie has posed.
Lilium slowly shakes her head, her smile shifting to be more... no, not natural, but... softer, at least. She tilts her head slightly to one side at Flay's forced smile... She knows something. She knows something Lilium hasn't been told yet. How does Lilium know that..? "I don't know if it's... a pain... well, like, most of what they did was to make it easier on me, I think..?" The tone of her voice indicates that she doesn't fully believe it... but does to some extent. At least Aurora seems to be relieved... has she always been this good at reading people..? She's not sure.
She turns to Emily, nodding her head. "Right. Apparently I also shouldn't be moving too much for a little while, but apparently I should be mostly good for basic thinks like walking..."
"Dimensional... level..? Like... some kind of Fold thing..?" Lilium tilts her head to the side slightly more, placing a bandaged finger on her lower lip. It's a somewhat exaggerated gesture, at least by the standards of what she can do in her current state. She isn't really sure what that means, but--
"The sun--?" Lilium's face visibly changes at that. She'd had... something of a nightmare, at some point she wasn't sure of over the last month. Something had happened to the sun. Among other things... "Out of the--oh, is the moon okay..? I hope it's okay... Giant, like.. what, Zentradi... no, they're not that big..." Who were the Kafims, again..? She'd definitely heard the name... she thinks, but... Well, a lot of things had been above her pay grade until now. "I guess that'd probably explain it... anything that big would probably, like... mess with the.. uh... we're in an asteroid, right..? It'd be bad for that. Gravity and... stuff." She tries to push the particular events of that nightmare--and the way her body feels--out of her head. Tries to.
<Pose Tracker> Flay Allster has posed.
Flay gives the Colonel a long lingering stare as she launches into her explanation. She'd always been rather sheltered about such things, but even she knew, on a distant level, that these kinds of operations continued in a clandestine manner. "...I know about the raids. My very first combat mission for the Gaia Sabers was taking part in one of them. I saw some horrible things in there... but at least I felt like I was doing the right thing for once."
She turns her attention to her surroundings. "But this is different, isn't it? This asteroid isn't some... private lab run by a BioNet crimelord. The state poured billions of gilla into this." She finds herself continuing to clutch her bag. Is she saying too much?
She shuts her mouth, until the Colonel corrects her about the first-generation enhancements. "I probably missed that part... it was a lot of information to take in, after all." She looks back to the Colonel, and Aurora by extension. And then she relents, seeing how worried Aurora in particular is feeling for Lilium - and perhaps also in knowing she isn't doing a very good job of hiding her disgust.
"I hope that's the case," Flay agrees, about making things easier, and at least she's honest about that. "I bet it won't be easy socially, either," She points out. She was treated like an idol in her colony, and while that's not really the same thing... it's a close enough approximation. "People are always going to want to get up in your business and find out who you're dating, and things like that." She smiles, wishing it was that simple for Lilium. "And you're going to have to learn to figure out what the people around you really want."
"Something like that, but I don't really know the specifics... only that their magic was dangerous." Flay nods, when the conversation turns back to the Empress. Surely it has something to do with Fold, if they named their organization Dawn of Fold, she thinks. This is her first time getting confirmation that the Kafims left the Earth Sphere, and while any Gaia Saber would be relieved such notorious terrorists are gone, she finds relief that Elisa was able to come to her answer.
"I was near the moon at the time, at one of the shelters. There were some really bad tremors... but the crisis was averted before it was too late." And as Lilium tries to remember, she nods. "I'm pretty sure it all happened really close to Side 7. Maybe you were half awake?"
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
"...you never forget your first combat, do you..." Emily seems to be remembering something. Whatever it is, she banishes it quickly. Flay's mounting discomfort is obvious even if you're not looking with enhanced senses, and both of the people in that shuttle with her are practiced in telling. "...well, she has us."
"The state's been pouring gilla into these projects- no, I should correct that statement. It's a rare nation that doesn't have a known Newtype lab program... and most of them are trying to produce soldiers." Flay's disgust is definitely picked up on, and everyone else can hear the stamping feet of the elephant in the room. The colonel chances a glance at Aurora, as if asking 'how much should I tell her'.
Lilium doesn't believe that they were trying to make it easy on her, and Aurora knows that's bullshit. Labs like this don't usually care that much about how 'easy' the process is for you. She also happens to have been told why she was kept asleep... or at least, she was in the room for it. "Don't push yourself too hard, but don't become totally sedentary either. The point is to recover the ability to walk." She smiles at Lilium, trying to look reassuring. Emily is harder to read than Aurora is, and Aurora is already hard to read, but there is a sense of... caring about Lilium's future, there.
"Right. It's not going to be easy," Aurora says softly, talking from her own experience like Flay - but not about the same thing.
Emily immediately notices Lilium is running her mouth anxiously. "Stop. Breathe in, breathe out, and get your head settled." Aurora looks on, remembering her own what-passed-for-a-childhood. She's less open than her friend, but she can still feel Lilium's discomfort.
Actually, Aurora usually isn't this good at feeling people out. Is this another one of Lilium's abilities?
[OOC] Aurora Dusk says, "yeah. bluray scratch out the part where emily is like "yeah i can tell you want to ask SOMETHING". aurora will probably approach flay about it later" <Pose Tracker> Lilium Valerie has posed.
"Oh, I was there for that..." Lilium manages, her face turning... slightly pale. "It was my first deployment since the Bloody Valentine war ended... I... can't say I did much, admittedly. I saw that... thing, they brought out, and just.. froze." She shakes her head, regaining her composure quickly. Too quickly, perhaps. "Still, that's in the past now!" She quickly tries to change the topic. "I think my first combat was... AEU Front. When I was still a Wanzer operator. ZAFT tried to attack the trenchlines... we shot at them... they stopped. It was... simpler, than the rest of the war."
Lilium looks around, mumbling, "I mean... I hope it isn't... you wouldn't be here if it was, right..?" This is aboveboard. They wouldn't... she wasn't fully sure of the extent of what'd been done to her, but they wouldn't do whatever it was unless it was necessary. She knows that much. She does know it. "..I mean... I only think they made one of... well, just me... that wouldn't cost billions, would it?" Surely they wouldn't spend that much on one soldier. Or.... not a soldier, anymore. She had to remember that. Surely.
Weren't newtype labs illegal, now..? She feels like she should be... more shocked about that than she is. Like it'd be a bad thing. She has more important things to worry about right now, though... like what Flay is saying. "I... guess, socially... But that's the job, isn't it? I know I'll have to go through press training, and..." She trails off.
Who she's dating?
She... didn't really feel like that was something she should worry about, for some reason. Why? She tries to push... yet more uncomfortable thoughts out of her mind, and pushes the subject forwards again. "I mean... I can.. probably learn to do that, with practice... It might be a little hard, but... it's my job now, right? That makes it a duty."
Lilium nods along with Aurora's reassurances. It does feel like they do really care, somehow. Lilium wonders both how she can be so sure, and why she'd think otherwise.
"I know... Apparently they don't want to risk me falling over too often for a while, though, so... I guess, even if it's not going to be easy, I'll be sure to work hard~"
That's not an inflection she normally uses. Is that just the painkillers talking? She is... on painkillers, isn't she? It's a little hard to think, so she assumes so...
Don't think about that. It's not important right now. Don't look like that in front of people you need to be strong for. "It was... huh... I guess if it was right there, and that big, it really could've affected the asteroid's position..? That might've woken me up some... I can't really remember, though." She's definitely sure that that's a lie now... but the Goddess/Empress talk is making her suspect something was up with that dream, somehow.
Emily's words... was she that easy to read? She shouldn't be. She needs to work on that. Definitely. "I.. I'm sure I'm fine..." She says, taking in deep breaths and letting them out regardless.
<Pose Tracker> Flay Allster has posed.
"I was really nervous, even before those 'Company' people decided to interrupt. The children they had in there... they were really young." Flay frowns, of her first real sortie. "But I don't blame you. Did you hear the things Mr. 30 Minutes in the Simulator had to say about women?" She adds with a disapproving shake of her head to Lilium, who overheard that part of her conversation with the Colonel. Truthfully, she's had nightmares about the E-Phas herself... but more because of what Nicol tried to do with it.
She also listens to Lilium talk about her own first combat. Simpler than the rest of the war... Flay nods, though the change in topic probably didn't do her any good, with a swirl of negative emotions surrounding the Bloody Valentine conflict. "If only every battle were like that." She sighs. "But you're right... it's all in the past now."
Despite the other topics, Flay's still worried about them basically being in a Newtype Lab... and frankly wishes she were anywhere else. She falls completely silent as Emily continues to explain how Newtype Labs are funded, simply shooting Aurora a vague look before they move on. It also becomes obvious Lilium is starting to pick up that something's wrong, even if she insists to herself that it's her job (her role? her destiny?).
Unlike the straightforward kindness Aurora shows, Flay feels a twisted sense of pity towards Lilium, especially once she insists it'll all be fine as long as she works hard. She knows she shouldn't really be looking down on Lilium, in a figurative sense. After all, she reflects, their positions could have easily been swapped. Still, she forces a smile again. "Then do your best," she offers, "but don't forget who you were before, okay?" A beat. "I'd rather not see you sell out."
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
Really young, huh... Aurora remembers being really young and in a lab. The cages were cramped. It was before her current... caretakermentorsurrogate mother figure found her. She gets stucl in her head a little reminiscing. It was so long ago... even though she was used to that kind of treatment, it still felt uncomfortable. But that's just the way she lives. Discomfort is something to be endured. Aurora nods sagely, as if relaying wisdom. "Yeah.
Even if you're used to it, the cages are cramped...""
"Fuck, I can imagine." Emily speaks, maybe from experience and Aurora nods as if she'd have the life experience to understand. Her understanding on the topic comes from her minder's drunken rants on it. "You three make sure you stay away from that type. Sounds like the kind of man who'll chew you up and spit you out like so much used gum.
"Yeah, if only. Most of the operations I've been in were complicated... or they found a way to get complicated," Aurora half observes, half complains.
"No," Emily says, "ordinarily they wouldn't. But this is novel research, the project includes a bespoke mobile weapon, and there were black boxes involved that even I didn't get to see behind. A lot of hopes are riding on this, I think."
It really is easy to forget who you are in the labs, isn't it? Maybe Aurora is lucky that she didn't have a previous life to forget. Caput gerat lupinum. There's not much else for her. Job, role, destiny, call it whatever you like.
On that note, as the conversation goes on, it becomes more and more obvious that a lot of things with Lilium... aren't as they should be. The conditioning goes deep, but even so. Her mannerisms, her reactions, her... well, just the way she feels, in general.
Is this what it means for a human to become a weapon? Aurora wouldn't know.
She didn't start living the life of a human in the first place.
<Pose Tracker> Lilium Valerie has posed.
Lilium's face shifts slightly. "Oh, I... never saw what was actually happening inside..." She turns to look out her 'window' again. She tries to remember something from the mission other than... well, desperately trying to survive... but it's difficult. "I... I must have, but I can't really remember..." She blinks at Aurora's mention of cages... but she can tell she's telling the truth, somehow. She elects... not to bring it up.
She also notices, somehow, that the changed topic isn't really helping Flay. It feels... remarkably uncomfortable, in fact. She needs to change it again, and fast.
"Right, it's... all in the past!" Her smile is back, although it does look forced this time. In addition to its now-usual artificiality. She elects to cycle back to the Colonel: "...Right. I'll try my best to... avoid them..." She hopes she can. The Idol industry isn't that bad on that front, is it..?
Flay's continuing worry is also strangely obvious to her... but she continues the conversation about the project. "Oh... I guess this is fairly new ground--Oh, like, the Seraph?" She cants her head to the side slightly at this. This is something she's been trying to find out more about... "I haven't been able to see it yet. What's it like?"
She tries not to think about the supposed black boxes. She'll be told what they are when she needs to know. She's sure.
'Don't forget who you were before'... She isn't doing that, is she?
She turns to Flay with yet another genre of smile, shaking her head. "Oh, don't worry." She won't forget who she was. She can't.
"I know exactly who I am."