2025-02-24: An Azure Journey
- Log: An Azure Journey
- Cast: Ranka Lee, Alto Saotome
- Where: Frontier Fleet
- OOC - IC Date: 24 February 0100
- Summary: Alto and Ranka meet at the Observatory, only for a Vajra to interrupt their talk. After which Ranka drops a bomb. Unfortunately not on the Vajra.
<Pose Tracker> Ranka Lee has posed.
Nanase smiled at the Doctor, "Doctor, I need to be tested for V-Type
Syndrome... I was recently in Lagos for relief work and..."
"So you got attacked by the Vajra?"
A no nonsense woman gave the girl in glasses a look like 'I'm not buying it.'
"N-No- I mean, yes! One of those flyers bit me."
"You must heal fast, if you're just following up after."
And Nanase made a nervous little squeal of alarm. "Will you do it?"
The Doctor eyed her, and... "Sure, I'll order the test, if you tell me what's
really going on."
"... Sure... but... first... promise me you'll keep patient
confidentiality."
-=-=-
Ranka Lee has a bandage wrapped around her arm now, where the blood was drawn,
as she wears her St. Maria's Uniform, and a pair of glasses without real
lenses.
Brera looks on, as the ruins of a security camera overhead sputters every so
often. That same Doctor looked through the slide.
"This is..."
A pause...
"... I need to perform some scans."
-=-=-
Later, at an outpatient clinic.
"It doesn't make any sense... there's no fold signals coming from your brain at
all."
"What... does that mean?" Ranka asked nervously, as she lays down on the
table, light shining over her...
"... Instead they're coming from your abdominal cavity. Miss Lee... your
prior scans, from two years ago. How did this even happen? Have any Vajra
drawn blood ever since?"
"N-No... and they didn't back then either. They're never broken the skin."
I don't think they were ever trying to hurt me.
The woman rubbed her eyes, and considered the matter. "Either there's a new
vector of transmission or-" "Or?" "-... the prior scans were false negatives,
and you've had this for years. Miss Lee, you may be the only asymptomatic
case of V-Type Infection we've ever seen."
Ranka lay there silent for some time, mulling this over, before eventually...
"... Well. Maybe that's not entirely true."
"What do you mean?"
"I wonder if-"
The sound of something else shattering in the next room over caused the
dark-skinned Doctor to sigh, "Can you tell your friend that - that's
unnecessary."
"... It's okay, I'll pay for it."
-=-=-
"Ai-kun?" Brera scanned a trash can to find life signs and a heat signature of
nearly the correct size, only for him to carefully lift a lid.
Two eyes flashed out of the dark, before a black kitten MROWED and leapt out,
startling him.
Ranka couldn't help but snort with a hand over her mouth, before she burst into
giggling, "Ehehehehehe-! You should have seen your face."
"It's not especially humorous..." Brera told her, deadpan. "That's what you
think! Ehehehehehe! Ahahahaha!"
-=-=-
"Ai-kun!? Ai-kun!" A shadow, with glowing red eyes rose up behind her, Brera
raised a knife, "Don't move-!" And Ranka turns around, fully disobeying, as
the shadow falls upon her, beginning to lick her face.
"Ahahaha! Ai-kun! AI-KUN come on! Ehehehehe! Wow, you're so big now! Just
look at you!" Ranka finally sits up a little, as the little creature sits on
her, flat and almost twice his size now, green...
"Are you growing up? Is that why you left home? Nanase was beside herself
when she couldn't find you!"
He trilled happily, before crawling off of her and into the bushes...
"Ai-kun? Hey... come out... there's somewhere we need to..."
What she saw inside, caused her to gasp, because his back, was fully splitting
open, and there was a warm green glow from within.
-=-=-
...
...
...
Brera weighed the message in his hand, it was definitively... more weighty
than it had been when it was given to him.
"Her last request before we leave... to see him."
He contemplated it for longer... then drew his arm back, and pitched the
message wrapped around a rock...
... right through Alto Saotome's bedroom window at 2 AM. There was a
satisfying shatter of glass, as he stuffed his hands in his coat pocket and
grumpily walked away.
"Unworthy."
-=-=-
The message - however he finds it, would tell him where to go... Griffith
Observatory. She's settled at the base of the monument in the middle of the
park, with her arms loosely around her legs, looking up...
... currently, wearing a sweetheart dress of pink, with the necklace on, and
that brown floppy boot style she likes so much. The false sky of Island-1 is
covered with night, and the clouds above.
For once, she isn't singing.
<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.
It's not been that long since the attack on Frontier. Things are still
a complete mess, with construction bots working round the clock to clean up at
least the worst of the debris laying about the city. Resource restrictions are
also in place while repairs are made to the city's infrastructure. But
thankfully, the neighbourhood where Alto's apartment is was not one of those
levelled by the Vajra.
Of course, Alto himself almost was. He's only just gotten out of the
SMS medbay and returned home, flopping down face first into his bed...
... When a rock comes blasting in through his window at near inhuman
speed, partially embedding in the wall.
Alto immediately jumps to his feet and rushes to press himself against
the wall. He takes a peek outside, the lighting not the best due to damage.
But there's nothing out there...
After waiting a few moments to be sure, Alto relaxes a little and walks
over to check the projectile. Digging it out of the wall, it's... A rock...
Covered in paper?
Alto opens the message. It's clearly from Ranka. Though he doubts that
she's the one who threw it... Which means, "Damn that robot!"
-=-=-
Alto makes his ways up the stairs to the observatory's park, hands in
the pockets of his jacket. He is partially distracted, his thoughts mixed up
on a number of matters. No one's really told him about what actually happened
at the end of the last fight. At least not the specifics, so he doesn't have
much clue what's going on in that department. Then add the confession from
Sheryl and the events that followed during the battle afterwards. And now
Ranka is calling him out after having disappeared near the end of said battle.
On top of it all, he's feeling a little unwell. Though he DID nearly
die. Hopefully he hasn't caught something... Shit, it's not V-Type, is it?
Alto reaches the top of the staircase and spots Ranka. This focuses his
thoughts as he looks at her... His heart beating a little faster.
Alto finally walks over to Ranka, greeting her with a quiet, "Hey..."
<Pose Tracker> Ranka Lee has posed.
Ranka gets up, and she's all smiles when she sees him, calling out, "Alto-!" As
she takes a few steps around the monument to face him, a hand at her
collarbone.
"... I'm sorry I wasn't able to sing for you." She sounds apologetic, almost
down over that fact, for a few seconds.
But then she puts her hands up, and clasps them together, "It may be selfish of
me to ask... after I couldn't, but could I ask a favor of you?"
For another moment, it looks like she's lost her train of thought, looking at
him. "W-Well..."
Like she's not quite sure what to say or like there's something serious on her
mind she can't get out, but then her red eyes light up.
"Oh yeah!" As she cocks her hand back in a motion of throwing it lightly,
"Those paper airplanes you used to make all the time. Can you teach me how to
make one?"
She rounds the corner to a small bag, and pulls out two pieces of paper that
she brought with her in the bag...
<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.
"It's fine. I know... It's not easy for you." Pause. Then, "But hey, I
guess you don't have to now, right? So things can just go back to how they
were..." Though the uncertainty in Alto's voice suggests that he's not sure
that's even possible now.
Ranka then asks a favor of him. A rather simple one, though unexpected.
His eyebrows raise a little in surprise, but ultimately he shrugs and says,
"Sure. Why not?"
Pulling his hands out of his jacket pockets, he walks up and takes one
of the pieces of paper. Placing it on the flat concrete railing, he starts to
fold. Going slowly so Ranka can keep up. Providing pointers where necessary.
After a short while of this, Alto asks, "So what are you going to do
now? Just focus on your concerts?"
<Pose Tracker> Ranka Lee has posed.
It's not fine.
Ranka doesn't say it aloud, her eyes just fall for a moment, like she failed
him, and Sheryl - and everyone.
But there's a smile just at 'back to how they were...' and she doesn't answer
him. Instead...
"Thank you!"
She says with a certain delight, as she takes her own sheet of paper, trying to
fold along with him, one step after another, far more slowly... and taking
his tips.
"Oh. No. Not for a bit. I'm taking a hiatus... I think I could use a break."
It's technically the truth. In every which way that matters... before Ranka
shyly looks up from a fold of the airplane to ask.
"Can I ask you something...? What made you want to fly so much?"
It's unusual, how she's being so evasive about talking about herself, while
instead asking such simple things of him.
But it is a question that pries more deeply into why Alto became the way he is.
The man whose own family believes he's taking the wrong path, that he isn't
who he is supposed to be.
But what Ranka desires is to know how he became the guy she likes this much.
<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.
Taking a break... That sounds nice. Maybe he should do that one of
these days.
Though it's not like the Vajra take breaks...
Alto doesn't quite say that though as he replies, "Yeah, that sounds
like a good idea..."
Alto stops in the process of folding though as Ranka asks him the
question. He stares out at the city as he thinks about it, pondering himself,
"Why do you think that birds fly?" He glances at Ranka, wondering if she has
an answer...
Not that he does. So Alto shrugs, saying, "I don't know... I guess I
have memories. Of my mother... My head in her lap as I stare up at the sky."
Alto finishes folding his own paper airplane, raising it up, "Or maybe
my brother is right and I was just looking for another role to play..." Alto
throws the airplane, watching it glide through the air. Though clearly his
thoughts are not focused on it, his brow furrowed a little at his last
comment. Could that really be true?
Alto glances aside to Ranka, asking in return, "What made you want to
sing so much?" He essentially already knows the answer, Ranka having been
quite vocal about it in the past. But that was a while ago, perhaps she has a
new perspective on it?
<Pose Tracker> Ranka Lee has posed.
They definitely don't. They're as busy as worker bees. Busier even.
All to serve their Queens.
As Ranka asks a question in counter to her own, she mulls it over, stopping the
folding process for a moment, then as she looks up at him, and listens to his
story over his mother.
"... Your mother?"
Ranka echoes, as if surprised for a moment, he actually spoke of her. There's
something inside her... that she can't express at hearing that... but
hearing him speak of his brother...
"That's not true... it can't be that."
He asks her what made her want to sing so much? And that... she thinks upon,
and decides to express how she feels at his question, as if to try and
understand those feelings on her own.
"I think... birds fly because they have feelings inside them. Feelings that
can only be expressed by flying. A memory of the sky they've never flown in -
passed on by... their parents, and their parents before them... and so they
have to fly..."
Some would call it instinct. Ranka calls it feelings... memory. She does
believe such things, that everything has a soul, has feelings, even if it
doesn't have a mind for reason or logic.
At that moment she looks up, past him, at the sky, a single hand brushing back
through her bangs, "... they have to fly to know how they truly feel."
There's a close eyed smile, and she tilts her head with an embarrassed
experssion for speaking so much, "I think it's much the same on why I sing.
There's feelings I can't express - from things - from people I can't remember
before. I just remember that song. And I feel like the more I sing - the
more I'll come to know why I feel the way I do."
Opening her eyes, she pokes one finger against another. "At least - that all
sounded right in my head." And then looking down, she creases the paper once
more and then holds it up for him to see.
"Look! I did it!"
It really is a perfect paper airplane.
<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.
Ranka actually provides a reply to Alto's question. He listens along,
nodding a little as he does. Her thoughts do make sense. He even admitted his
own potential source of his desires as coming from his mother...
Let's not talk about his father.
'... they have to fly to know how they truly feel.'
"Mmm... Maybe you're right." There are times when he is flying that it
feels like the absolute truth of the world, and himself, is at his fingertips.
Although with his Messiah gone, his future has become uncertain... Sure, he
could flying one of the mass production models.
But would it be able to live up to his expectations?
"Well, as long as you keep singing," As long as he keeps flying, "I
guess you'll find out?"
Ranka finishes her paper airplane and Alto takes it. He examines it for
a moment before nodding, saying, "Not bad... For a beginner." He hands it back
to her and says, "Now go on..." There's only one thing to do with a finished
paper airplane!
<Pose Tracker> Ranka Lee has posed.
Ranka's never met Alto's father, but she figures there's a reason why he
doesn't talk about him. Why it was his brother that approached him.
She doesn't think she'd like the man very much, for telling Alto his dreams and
aspirations are wrong.
"... Maybe." She says, noncommittal, "I hope I am." She tells him, and there's
a shy smile, and a light flush after a moment.
"Eventually." She does answer on whether she'll find out, "What I do know is...
I like to sing, and I want to sing."
Except, she didn't, just recently, as he says 'Not bad' her reaction rather
than 'Mean' or anything of the light is low key delight, as her hair raises on
both sides, and... she stands up, doing a little spin in place before...
...she cocks her arm back and waits, as a sudden breeze picks up, shifting her
bangs and hair, she releases it with a soft noise from her lips.
As the breezes lifts, it carries it away, arcing up, before it circles around
and a crossbreeze loops it sideways.
For a while she just watches and... then smiles and...
... spends some time looking at him. "Everyone wants to live free, don't
they?" And perhaps in that, is her understanding of the person he is.
Then... her smile dims some...
"... Alto." There's a long moment where her eyes are searching his face, as if
for any sign... and...
"Did you know that Sheryl is dying?"
<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.
"If it's what you want to do, then do it. Don't let anyone else stop
you or try to tell you otherwise." Alto looks at Ranka and gives her a light
smile to reassure her. It's clear that something is going on with her and he's
not sure what. But he wants to support her as much as he can.
She throws the paper airplane and Alto watches as it flies. It's a
simple thing, watching it soar. It's been a while since there's been a moment
like this, with everything going on... So Alto simply hums in agreement,
"Mmmm, I suppose that's the 'human spirit'?"
Then Ranka drops the mother of all bombs and Alto starts to frown, his
hands tightening as he leans against the railing, "No..." Pause. "... Yes...
Maybe... I guess I suspected it. I've noticed how she's been... And it's not
the first time someone close to me has slipped away like that..." Speaking of
his mother...
Alto leans forward further as he stares down at the ground now, "I
don't know the details though... She's not said anything to me. Won't tell me
anything. You know what she's like." Stubborn. Wilful. A pain in the ass. To
name a few.
<Pose Tracker> Ranka Lee has posed.
Ranka's head turns to one side, as she smiles ruefully, "Just do it, huh?"
It's an echo of his words as an interrogative, like she's not sure that's
possible in her case. Not anymore. After all...
... if lives are on the line, choosing not to act - that's tantamount to
letting people die, isn't it?
That's how she's been made to feel, but now - choosing to act means it's
letting the Vajra die too. She feels... they're not malevolent.
Somehow she knows... they just want her.
"... I think so."
She agrees, free to fly in the sky you desire to, free to sing what you want,
when you want, free to love who you love.
Ranka sees that look in Alto's eyes, and she puts a hand on his forearm as he
says it's not the first time someone close to him has slipped away yet.
"... That's just like her. She told me she'd come to say goodbye to you.
That it can't work out between the two of you."
There's a pause, where she looks up in her eyes, "But I heard Grace tell her
she has the V-Type Infection. And that means she has the same power that I
do, to control the Vajra. ... That she's dying because of it."
And she knows that's why she said such things, she knows it without a doubt
now. There's no other reason Sheryl wouldn't reach for something she wanted.
She has to believe that.
"You can't let her... you can't let her leave, to go off to die like that, all
alone." The thought causes her to mist up, thinking of Sheryl, as a child,
alone on the Galaxy. "You just can't, Alto."
<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.
'She told me she'd come to say goodbye to you.'
That's right, she did. He hadn't understood at first. Or maybe he did
and just didn't realise it, or want to admit it. "It can't work out... Then
why did she even tell me that...?" She loved him. It seems like such a cruel
thing to do. Still...
The V-Type Infection. Alto clenches his fist, "The damn Vajra... As if
attacking our home isn't enough, they have to spread that damn bug too." It
makes sense though that it's connected to her new ability to create
fold-waves. To do what she did.
Though does that also explain Ranka? Alto turns his head to look at her
closely... No, he hasn't seen any similar signs in her. Some stomach pains
perhaps, but nothing to signify V-Type Infection. Plus, she'd tell him if that
was the case, right? Especially given the discussion now.
Putting that thought aside, Alto simply chuckles dryly in response,
"Yeah, because I've never failed to stop her from doing something she has
decided upon."
"Still." Alto straightens, "I guess this time I'll just have to
succeed. Like you say, I can't let her go through that. We can't, right?"
<Pose Tracker> Ranka Lee has posed.
Why?
Why?
People's hearts are fickle, and contradictory at times. And sometimes, they do
things that are selfish and cruel because they have a hard time letting go.
"... I know why." Ranka says, softly, though she doesn't explain... that too,
is selfish of her.
There's a subtle flinch on her face as he speaks against the Vajra, not that
she can blame him for feeling that way. There was a time when she thought of
them as the most terrifying monsters - then another when she felt she couldn't
forgive them for Sheryl.
And now...
... now she only knows she has to act...
"Well... you can't fail now." She murmurs, then lets go of his arm to hold
both her hands up and clench her fists, "You have to show some- show some
guts!"
It's such an un-Ranka word to say that you know she must have gotten it from
someone else. The way her face looks puffed up in the moment, but...
'We can't, right?'
... all it would take is one little lie... he'd believe it, too...
... she's certain he would, even if she's a bad liar...
Her hands slowly drop to each side, and...
"It's not fair..." She whispers in the night air of the Colony, as she takes a
step back, "... the other night, I wanted to tell you more than anything...
and now I'm telling you to stay with her..."
The world isn't fair.
Neither is this fact.
"She needs you- more than she needs someone who's-"
It's at that exact moment - that Alto sees something out of the corner of his
eye, something buzzing - a stage 2 Vajra Flyer...
... coming up in his field of vision, all gangly and misshapen, with it's eyes
upon Ranka. Just slowly listing up...
... and so Ranka never gets to say the words...
... betraying her, to the Vajra.
<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.
Alto glances at Ranka questioningly as she doesn't go on to explain
anything. He doesn't press though, instead watching her as she tries to psyche
him up. He smiles a little, saying, "'Guts', huh? Sounds like something Milly
would say." Wow, it's been a while since he last saw any of the Ashford
gang... Feels like a lifetime ago.
But just as quickly as Ranka's cheering for spirit, her own falls away.
Alto's eyes go a little wide as she starts to lament how things turned out.
And that she wanted to tell him...
Alto starts to take a step forward, saying, "That's not true! You're
also-"
But he doesn't get to finish as one of the early stage Vajra appears
nearby. Alto's head quickly whips around as he swears, "Shit, they must have
missed one! Get behind me!"
Alto moves between Ranka and the Vajra, swiftly reaching into his
jacket to pull out the handgun holstered there. He raises the weapon and
focuses on his aim. The small gun won't do much good against a Vajra like
this, not unless he can get a well aimed shot off into a weakpoint.
<Pose Tracker> Ranka Lee has posed.
"W-Well... yes! Milly sometimes said things that makes sense!" She flusters
at being called out for what Milly would say momentarily... but then steps
away, and as she tries to speak to her feelings.
And as he tries to tell her that... she doesn't have time to respond, as he
says 'get behind me'!
Ranka does what is likely the last thing on his mind for her to do, and -
pivots around him, arms spread out - in the way of his line of fire. "You
can't!" She takes a step back, and up a marble step, further blocking his view.
"He's not the same as the other Vajra! He just came out of his cocoon! So he
couldn't possibly have done anything wrong!"
The Vajra buzzes up behind Ranka to hover just behind her, and that's when Alto
will see it, in one of it's spindly arms with tiny hands, it's holding an
object...
... the Paper Airplane she threw.
<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.
Alto certainly isn't about to shoot Ranka so keeps his finger off the
trigger when she steps in the way, "What are you doing!?" Alto is initially
confused as she protects the Vajra, saying it only just hatched. How does she
know that?
It doesn't matter though, "Ranka! That's a Vajra! If it isn't killed
it'll hurt someone, or worse grow up into one of the larger ones and hurt many
people! It doesn't matter if it's only just hatched. They're a hivemind,
they're all responsible for the devastation they've caused!"
Alto tries to aim his gun higher, over Ranka. But that's when he spots
the 'arm' holding onto the paper airplane and he is reminded of-
It dawns on Alto and he lowers his gun out of surprise, "W-What?" He'd
heard the theory about the stage one Vajra, but he'd never seen one... Alto
looks at Ranka in confusion. Did she know? What does this mean? He asks,
confused, "Ranka?"
<Pose Tracker> Ranka Lee has posed.
"I know that they're a Vajra! But - he won't!" Ranka blurts out in reply, trying
her best to explain in the heat of the moment, afraid of Ai-kun, or Alto both
getting hurt.
"Alto-! He's..."
Even though he lowered his gun, there's a rapid blur of motion, and Alto finds the
gun knocked out of his hand, and a knife at his throat.
"I've watched you point that in her direction long enough."
He at least doesn't do any further harm, instead sliding across his flank, with
the extended arm knife pointed at him, then sliding backwards.
"Ranka..." Brera says, tone more resolute, "... Tell me what you desire, and I
will make it come true. This man can't do the same."
Ai-kun chitters, and sidles back a step, before lowering down the paper airplane
to hold it out to her.
"Ai-kun..." And now Alto will realize why she's defending him, even as she looks
away from Alto, instead at the sky, crossing her hands. "I've been piecing some
small fragments of things my past... it's scary, but - it's like I said. I
sing, because I want to understand those feelings I can't express. And so, I
have to find out - no matter what, where those feelings come from."
There's a blink, and a small breath, as she steps back...
"... That's why I have to go. I have to take Ai-kun back to where his friends
come from. I think, if I go, the Vajra will leave everyone alone."
Despite how this all sounds, all Brera does is look her way, smile and say...
"I understand."
... which is when Alto hears the hum of Variable Fighter Engines, as Brera's red
Lucifer comes out from behind the hill in Gerwalks VTOL mode, hovering alongside
them.
Fully intending, to fulfill that desire of hers, no matter what.
<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.
Alto is surprised by the sudden blur, failing to react in time as his gun goes
flying and he feels a knife pressed to him. He freezes, but then frowns as he
recognizes the voice, "Brera... What the hell was with that rock!?"
Now's not really the time to discuss that though as the Vajra moves up closer
to Ranka and she calls it by name. Alto had pretty much suspected as much, though
confirmation-and the fact he has a knife poking at him-leads him to deflate
somewhat.
There's not much he can do now at this point. So he just listens to Ranka, until
finally she says that she's leaving. And that the Vajra should leave everyone alone.
Alto has doubts about that... But after telling her she should do what she wants to
do, he can't exactly argue with her at this point. Not that he really has any
arguments left. None that he thinks will work... It's clear Ranka has made up her
mind. And he can understand her desire to explore the past she has forgotten, and
her connection to the Vajra, given what he knows.
Still, as Brera's Lucifer appears and he prepares to take her away, Alto asks
solemnly, "What am I supposed to tell the others? Tell Sheryl?"
<Pose Tracker> Ranka Lee has posed.
Brera doesn't say anything at first, instead just glaring at Alto as he flanks him to
the front, then tells him with harsh words sharper than his knife, "Because a man
like you doesn't deserve a single thought from her."
What does he even mean by that? What about Alto does he not even like?
As the hum of engines becomes a roar as the Lucifer comes closer, Brera with a single
leap ends up in the cockpit. The hand of the Variable Fighter's Gerwalk Mode slips
down, and with a step, she's on top of it, as he lifts her up, Ai-kun chittering as
he floats up behind her.
Ranka looks torn to pieces by the question, eyes quavering, "Goodbye... you tell them
Goodbye for me." She says to him, and perhaps it's selfish to put that on him, but
then the tears in her eyes come.
He was it was cruel of Sheryl to do so earlier, but this is her last
opportunity... to ever say it.
"Alto..." She puts a hand over her chest, and with her eyes watering, "... you can
call me cruel if you want. What I really wanted to ask, this whole time is if you'd
come with me." And as she leans forward, the emotion pours out, as she pinches her
eyes shut.
As she thinks of those moments where she met him, where they all came to know each
other over the years.
And then her eyes open, and teardrops speckle the metallic hand, "I wanted to always
be with you Alto!" She shouts it, she shouts what's in her heart, "I never wanted
to leave you..."
Not so long ago, when she saw the two of them together, she was going to tell him
that. She was going to ask him to come with her... to find...
"... or Sh-Sheryl."
... to find Sheryl. Her voice breaks on those two words, as she squeezes her hand
in, like the pain of doing this was nearly as bad as before. "But I can't do that
to her... to either of you."
To take Alto away from Sheryl while she was dying. To ask Sheryl to go with her
to the Vajra, to the aliens responsible for what's killing her. To leave Sheryl
alone while she dies.
All of those are options are horrible!
The only option that makes sense is for her to be the only traitor. To humanity,
to - the other two. However, even though she asked him to tell them Goodbye earlier.
"... Goodbye."
She never said it to him.
Brera takes that as her cue, and the Variable Fighter begins to rise, slowly at
first, and as she flies away, with hands clasped together, one last cruelty.
One last thing he can call her cruel for.
"I loved you."
It's selfish, to try to leave with no regrets. But in order to do that, she had
to say it... she couldn't leave it unsaid. Loved, it implies past tense, as if
by thinking it will no longer work out, by leaving - that she will no longer
love him.
If only it were that easy.
Alto will see one last moment, where Brera moves the arm beside the cockpit, and
Ranka hops in, before the Variable Fighter's nose points away, and it shifts into
a fighter, it's contrails becoming like a pink comet that lights up the false
sky of the Colony.
She's gone.
<Pose Tracker> Alto Saotome has posed.
Alto squeezes his fist at Brera's words, "It's not your place to decide that!"
Man he really hates that guy. And it should be plainly obvious as to why.
But Alto's heart freezes at the next words from Ranka...
Another goodbye.
First Sheryl...
Now Ranka...
Why is this happening? What did he do wrong? Why can't he stop it?
He always wanted to be with her too...
To watch her dancing on stage.
To see her fangy smile.
To tease her, make her pout and call him 'mean'.
To see her hair jump in surprise.
To take her flying.
To be someone she could rely on.
To hear her sing.
To make her happy.
To kiss her...
The thought of never being able to do any of those things again...
'I loved you.'
Alto's hand raises to grip at his chest. His pulse races as he drops down to
one knee, feeling like something is clutching at his heart...
... In a dark hanger nearby, a fighter-shaped silhouette sits idle. Or it's
supposed to be idle, but a soft green glow starts to cast unnerving shadows over
the walls...
Back at the Observatory though, Alto realizes that Ranka is leaving. Going
away. Likely somewhere dangerous. Somewhere he might not be able to reach her.
He stands again, fighting through the pain to run towards the hovering VF. But
he is forced to stop as its engines start to flare.
Watching Ranka getting into that cockpit, Alto calls out the only thing he
can think of to say, remembering back to better times and hoping that she will
be safe, "Make sure you remember what it is you are singing for. Otherwise you
might get lost in it all and forget who you are!"
Then she's gone.