2025-06-02: Stranger in a Strange Land
- Log: 2025-06-02
- Cast: Meifeng Hau, Aurora Dusk, Lilium Valerie, Minerva Ashton
- Where: Heaven's Base, Iceland (Area 10)
- OOC - IC Date: June 2nd, Universal Century 0100 (2025)
- Summary: The Gaia Sabers, desperate to try and get VEDA working again, recieve a strangely-dressed visitor... but what manner of being is she? And is VEDA even here, for that matter?
<Pose Tracker> Meifeng Hau has posed.
The Gaia Sabers central base in Iceland sprawls across land it has gobbled up from nearby Reykjavik, a veritable fortress-city of its own with regular checkpoints, constant surveillance, and what seems like a mobile suit hangar or wanzer warehouse on every block. One of those landing strips, near to the Central Site where the Gaia Sabers' vaunted Veda data-processing system is housed, now sees the arrival of an uncommon machine - silver and black, with highlights of yellow in the form of bolted-on equipment almost like a tactical vest and harness, it has what looks for the world like a helmet, with a visor on the front concealing a staring, inhuman face. You'd almost think it was one of those Ultras, but of course Gaia Sabers wouldn't work with such an unaccountable beast.
The pilot transmits the code for an Independent Action License when asked for their flight information, and then the Acerby takes a few short steps to its hastily-assigned bay. Her answer to who the devil she is beyond here to cause problems is simple and direct: "Meifeng Hau. I'm on the systems administration team, I'm here to inspect the Veda building."
Some time passes as various people hastily respond to the arrival of an unaccountable non-beast. The woman who arrives from the cockpit and waits in a hastily-prepared side room isn't terribly tall, with wide hips accented by the fact she appears to have lost the bottom half of her uniform: She's in a textured leotard, a near-black purple with an actual-blacek ribbing, with a curling metallic tactical brace of some kind winding around the lines of her hips. She has a visor over her eyes...the whole effect is very sci-fi, honestly.
She waits quietly. She flicks open her gloved hand, and a holographic screen forms over the angle of her thumb and forefinger, which she regards approximately as idly as one would their phone.
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
Once she's waved into the side room, it doesn't take /too long before the party meant to receive Meifeng arrives. Contrasting the the not-terribly-tall woman in the scifi leotard is an excessively tall woman in a more standard military uniform - a formal grey jacket type. She has dark blue hair, currently left untied to fall down past the shoulders. She looks to be around her late 30s, maybe, and the rank tab on her collar indicates a Colonel.
Standing next to her is a junior officer: a quiet looking girl of average height, with sea-green-teal fluffy hair, also left untied. The rank tabs on her uniform - a pink Bloody Valentine era junior officer uniform - belong to an Ensign.
The older woman inspects the newcomer. It's definitely not the type of uniform she would choose to wear, especially in this weather, but license holders trend eccentric. She extends her black gloved hand. "Meifeng Hau, for the Veda building, correct? I'm Colonel Ashcroft. Welcome to Heaven's Base."
The other girl greets Meifeng with a salute and a nod. "Second Lieutenant Aurora Dusk," she introduces herself as.
<Pose Tracker> Lilium Valerie has posed.
Greeting guests in nondescript side rooms isn't exactly the normal role of an idol, of course. But a License Holder, let alone one who's come from so far away isn't exactly a normal guest either... So entering the room next is a woman with black hair tied in a loose ponytail, a little silver hairpin in the shape of a bird (decorated with a five-pointed star), and a pair of soft pink eyes that aren't quite focused right if one were to look close enough. She's dressed in another rather ornate outfit--A pearlescent, pleated skirt that just barely reaches her thighs, which are clad in slightly-undersized white stockings. A cropped, sleeveless shirt covers her torso, while her arms bear simple fingerless evening gloves in a reflective silver. She's also wearing pretty heavy makeup, with sparkling pink lipstick the most prominent facet. evidently she's just come out of a photoshoot.
Lilium's gaze passes over the leotard-wearing woman without even blinking--she's worn worse herself on stage, of course, but she doesn't react at all. She curtseys, an oddly artificial smile on her face. "Hihiiiii! You're... Ms. Hau, right? I'm Lilium! I've been sent to... uuhm... welcome you?"
She rises back to her full height, photo-safe smile persisting. Towards the back of the room, a silver-haired woman in a more modern Gaia Sabers dress uniform (bearing the rank tabs of a major, incidentally) leans against the wall, arms crossed. She nods her head slightly.
Lilium nods back, before turning to the license holder once again. "I don't really know much about the base itself, but... I can help show you around!"
<Pose Tracker> Meifeng Hau has posed.
The woman in the leotard stands up as the door opens, the screen over her hand vanishing as fast as it appeared. "Colonel Ashcroft," she says, and then her head tilts to direct her gaze to Aurora, then at Lilium as the idol arrives. Why is such a person here, thinks the ludicrously-dressed visitor. "Hello," she says. Her visor shifts past Lilium to the woman behind her, then back to Lilium. "Escort...right, of course," she says, mostly to herself. "A physical access control measure of last resort. I understand."
She turns her attention back to the highest-ranked person present. "Correct. Yes, I'm Meifeng Hau from the DEVA systems administration and engineering team. I received instruction to come familiarize myself with the systems in the Veda system core building. It shouldn't take too long. Any other sights you think are relevant would be good to visit as well."
She flicks her screen open again, seemingly thinking nothing of the clothing-mounted screen projector when she glances over a set of data on the display. "I hear it's been misbehaving lately," she adds, then lowers her hand again, the screen disappearing once she curls her fingers.
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
Ashcroft nods her head in acknowledgement. Aurora's soft eyes meet Meifeng's gaze until it passes over her.
Aside from meeting Meifeng's gaze, Aurora's eyes periodically flicker over to Lilium, and her... ostentatious outfit. It's definitely not the kind of thing you'd expect to see a military escort wearing... the dress, and the shirt, and the hair and the eyes keep drawing her gaze back. It's unusual. That's what it is. Aurora's eyes shift downwards and find a comfortable spot on the ground before returning back up to trace Lilium's dress again. It's... sparkly, she observes, as her eyes feed on every detail present before looking away, repeating the odd cycle she's found herself in.
"In that case," Ashcroft begins, "we should make our way to the head doctor's laboratory - head doctor of science, that is." Which science? All of them, Emily is given to understand. "As opposed to medicine... though I'm told her qualifications are broad." The colonel leads the party onwards to meet Ashton.
<Pose Tracker> Lilium Valerie has posed.
Lilium's escort gives a polite nod, pushing off from the wall to follow Colonel Ashcroft out of the room. "Correct, Madam. Ms. Valerie represents quite a significant investment in terms of hardware, software, and biological engineering. At least one of us needs to be keeping watch over her at all times..."
"Oh, The DEV--" Lilium cuts herself off, and mentally reverses something in her head. And then again. And then a third time. "--the Veda building? Sure! I'm pretty sure I know where that is... uhm... after the Colonel takes us to see the Doctor..." She skips along after the group, occasionally twirling about between steps to let the light catch her outfit. Her escort mumbles something about 'short notice', and 'incomplete system flushes'.
The Angel herself, meanwhile, is taking the opportunity to both take in the sights of the base (she sort of remembers some of them from before, but she hasn't had a proper excuse to take a look around the complex in a while...); and to attempt to stretch out her consciousness. She's getting better at isolating the hearts of specific people, she thinks... Her escort is somber as usual...
Colonel Ashcroft is inscrutable once again... Aurora is... is...
I'm not sure what that is..?
I'll explain later. This woman seems important, focus on her.
A brief shake of her head to dispel the feelings she strangely can't find a frame of reference for, and Lilium is free to stare at Meifeng. What's going on behind that visor..?
Why was she looking at her like that..?
What is a DEVA, anyway..?
She hopes she can pick up something from her by the time she arrives at Dr. Ashton's laboratory, at least in terms of feelings... but more likely, she's just obviously staring.
<Pose Tracker> Minerva Ashton has posed.
As the group heads into the research wing of the complex, they arrive at a door recently labeled "Dr. Minerva Ashton". No specifics are listed. It's a comprehensive job. Before any of them can knock, the door slides open with a hiss and a man with long reddish-brown hair bursts out, clearly in a panic.
"Sorry ma'ams leaving now sorry bye!" He dashes off without another word.
"Colasour! Get your surprisingly tight-!" A call from inside the room is cut off as the woman shouting steps into view. She's got bleached white hair with black flecks of soot in it and is wearing a loose-fitting labcoat, with rounded glasses that catch the light.
"O-oh! Visitors! Hello!" Minerva gives the group an awkward wave.
"Come in, you three," the scientist says, waving the group in. The space is half office, half mad scientist's lab, with an operating table, various test tubes and beakers mounted on the wall, and a large machine that looks something like an unholy cross between an MRI machine and a high-end computer, with glowing lights and various wires connected to power strips. There are a few chairs in the office space, although the desk and table are all covered in papers. "Oh, and I don't believe we've met." Minerva turns to Meifeng with a smile, and then her eyes widen in realization as she looks her up and down.
"Oh. My. Stars," she gasps. "Are- are you from-?" She almost starts shaking, before composing herself and clearing her throat.
"Ahem. Are you from DEVA?"
<Pose Tracker> Meifeng Hau has posed.
The visor might be an intentional tool to hide her eyes. Meifeng nods to Ashcroft's proposal - she's not oblivious to the loop Aurora seems to have got herself trapped in, but it's also not something she seems particularly worried about. Low memory allocation...happens, sometimes. Wait, is that how it works out here? "Very well," she affirms to Ashcroft rather than comment. "I agree, that sounds valuable."
Lilium...Meifeng's visor passes by her periodically, but the woman in the leotard doesn't seem much impressed by the fancy gown and glittering dress. She does hold a look on the escort for some time, though. Engineering, huh. "A bioroid, then?" she asks, entirely casual. "Some manner of entertainment piece? Not something I expected Heaven's Base to house on-prem."
Meifeng isn't shut off in an unnatural way, but she's not much of a forthcoming person, either. She assumes the poor creature is staring because Meifeng called her a bioroid. Is that rude? It's not a proper digitized Personality so Meifeng has no real frame of reference for how much of a person it thinks it is.
And soon enough...Doctor Ashton. Meifeng's outfits faint green parts glow, and the suit is radiant with a faint internal heating apparatus. This has done nothing to ameliorate the obvious gooseflesh on her thighs, though. Coldness...what a ludicrous indignity. She'll have to find out what you're supposed to do about that.
Meifeng's gaze rakes across Doctor Ashton's lab, and then to the woman herself. Her black hair settles around her ears, the visor's brassy exterior betraying nothing of her eyes.
But she can't quite hide a faint smirk at Minerva's shocked reaction. "I am," she says. "My name is Meifeng Hau, Senior Systems Engineer Third Grade. The Veda maintenance team tasked me with untangling whatever's got it offline for the last while."
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
Aurora follows dutifully behind Ashcroft, but she also finds herself walking alongside Lilium. Every fresh burst of movement pings her sense of relative position in a way she can't ignore. Twirl, twirl, twirl... she very much IS impressed. The talk of system flushes is a worrying reminder of just how far Lilium has been modified, but... Aurora herself has also been warped. It's something they have in common.
She nods to Minerva and enters with the rest of the party, findng herself drifting closer to standing next to Lilium. Something feels off today... maybe she should ask Minerva about that at some point.
Aurora also begins scanning over Meifeng, eyes flicking over to appraise her. "...Cold?" she asks, once she notices the goosebumps. Offering your jacket never came up in her training. She doesn't think it's a part of military etiquette.
"Ah, good," Emily says. "VEDA has been giving us problems for a while now. I'll leave the specifics to Dr. Ashton, as this is her field." With that, the Colonel is content to lean against a wall. She looks over to Lilium's own escort. Is that... one of the Cherubs?
<Pose Tracker> Lilium Valerie has posed.
The Idol watches the panicked man go with her head tilted slightly to one side curiously. She feels like she should know him... but she can't quite place him at the moment. A problem for later. More pressing issues for the moment... for example, what's a Bioroid?
Her escort seems to have a better handle on the concept. "I don't... believe so. Bioroids are artificial bodies, correct?" She furrows her brow slightly. Possibly her eyes as well, but it's hard to see past her sunglasses. "...Ms. Valerie was converted from a Natural soldier. As far as her utility goes... I can assure you she does have military value. That's all I can divulge." A slight frown seems to have formed on her face--she didn't like the comparison, seemingly, or perhaps the 'entertainment piece' comment...
The Idol, meanwhile, has managed to glean... fragments of feelings. Mostly ones she doesn't understand anyway, but those she does...
What does she mean 'not digitised'! I'm totally digitised! They digitised me, right?
She pouts at Meifeng in a similarly exaggerated, performed-for-cameras manner to her smile.
No, they didn't. Parts of you are digital, and I was digital to begin with, but you yourself are not digitised.
Ooooh... I guess she's right, then...
Lilium's pout turns into a sort of sulking expression. With no external context given.
Similarly, Lilium has no more internal context for the feelings she's picking up from Aurora than Aurora herself does. Still, she doesn't have too long to dwell on it before the party arrives at Dr. Ashton's door.
Lilium hasn't been in this particular Minerva lab yet (she doesn't think she has, but she's aware that maybe she was maintained here while unconscious..?), but the sights she sees as she glances about the room do fit with her idea of what a 'Minerva Room' would be like, even if she doesn't... particularly understand the things she sees.
Still, she smiles her usual uncannily photogenic smile, waving happily to Minerva while she says "Oooh! Hiiii, Doctor! This nice Lady from Ve--uhm, DEVA is here!"
The Veda conversation goes over her head--she's overheard the name a few times in conversations between Boosted Songstress staff about how its issues have been holding them back from fully promoting her, but she doesn't understand it at all. She stands there with her head tilted to one side, a single finger on her lower lip, while her escort--Cherub-2, for the record--folds her hands behind her back, spacing her feet apart evenly. A bit theatrical, perhaps, but it makes her feel at ease.
<Pose Tracker> Minerva Ashton has posed.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Hau! Oh goodness, a real DEVA inhabitant! Right in my own lab! I can't believe my luck. I would loooove to chat about that some time. Is it odd, inhabiting a physical body? I can't imagine what it would feel like for a digital being like yourself." Minerva gets right in Meifeng's face, excited like a child on Christmas. She eventually manages to stop herself.
"Ah, yes, VEDA's been rather. . . uncooperative. Troublemaker, that one. You may have better luck than I, being a digital being!" Minerva gives Lilium a small, nonchalant smile back.
"Hello, Lilium! Are you doing well today?" Minerva's tone switches gears as she addresses the Boosted Songstress, becoming more warm and gentle.
<Pose Tracker> Meifeng Hau has posed.
So the sparkling human has Military value, huh. Meifeng hums at that, but leaves it be; this is, obviously, only an escort, and doesn't necessarily know much.
Ah, yes, the...creature, is definitely displeased. Behind the visor perhaps Lilium can sense her eyes, watching with a sort of clinical interest. But there's no time to investigate further - for one, WHATEVER this is isn't her field, and two, now we're dealing with Minerva.
"It's likely I'll be around. Perhaps we can, sometime," Meifeng says, shifting her stance slightly as she takes in the surrounding. She crosses her arms, that brassy visor tilting faintly in Minerva's direction. Getting up in her face prompts Meifeng to back off a little because personal space. pls. why does everything smell. "I've inhabited Material Bodies before for maintenance procedures, but an extended sortie is new. It's...cramped." Huff. She switches her hips again, suddenly self-conscious of her entire presence. "And can't decide if it's hot or cold. And it's not entirely as I would prefer it. But modification of the genomic base would be resource intensive to the point of absurdity, so here we are."
"But yes. I expect to have the beast behaving soon enough." She puffs up with pride at that. "I don't intend to be defeated by any computer, however advanced. A machine's processing power is nothing compared to human ingenuity."
<Pose Tracker> Lilium Valerie has posed.
The Displeased Creature somehow finds a way to sulk harder at the gaze she can feel upon her. She crosses her arms back, making direct eye contact with Meifeng for a moment--just a moment; before Minerva distracts her.
A head is tilted to one side at the doctor's excited exclamations. She brings a finger up to her lower lip... something about this, seems... interesting..?
Ehhh... She's not usually physical?
...
Lilium blinks. For a moment, her gaze lingers on... something floating just behind Meifeng, before she blinks and it's gone again...
...so that's what she is. How... interesting.
Something strange comes over Lilium's face for the briefest instant. A strange look in her eyes--but she swiftly switches back to her normal mannerisms, smiling back at Minerva once again. "Oh! I've been, like, pretty great!"--A slight shift back to an exaggerated pout--"My schedule has been super full of photoshoots and TV appearances and interviews and I'm super tired but it's been fun, I think!" She thinks so, at least.
Her escort, meanwhile, gives a faint smirk at Minerva's encroachment into the Woman from DEVA's personal space. Colonel Ashcroft might have had to leave, but this is fine too.
"We'd all appreciate it if you could get it functioning properly... The lack of information control has made it hard for certain elements of our apparatus to carry out their work properly. I'm sure you understand what I mean."
<Pose Tracker> Minerva Ashton has posed.
"Fascinating, fascinating!" Minerva deigns to respect Meifeng's boundaries as she steps back. "I'd love to help if you need any help, er. . . acclimatizing!"
"That's the spirit! A machine is a tool of man! Nothing more, nothing less. Show that computer who's boss!"
"Oh that's nice, Lilium!" Minerva doesn't pay her much mind.
<Pose Tracker> Meifeng Hau has posed.
Meifeng humfs at Minerva's offer. "I'm sure I'll be fine," she says, incorrectly.
She misses what passes through Lilium's head, only turning back at Lilium's excited declaration of her busy schedule. Mmm. She considers a reply, but turns her attention to the escort, instead, at their words. "I'll have to see it, first. From what I've heard, it's a quite remarkable device...actually, finding out it was on Earth at all was surprising. I'd expect anything capable of operating at that level to be sensitive to gravitational waves."
She shakes her head. "Irkalla's servers aren't robust enough yet for us to substitute in the meanwhile, but I'll make a few operators available in the meanwhile. That should help."
<Pose Tracker> Lilium Valerie has posed.
Lilium nods along happily at Minerva's acknowledgement of her. "Mhm! I hope I get to sleep some after this..."
But, the doctor has moved her attention onwards. The Boosted Songstress seemingly doesn't mind, though. Her escort on the other hand, is engaged in conversation. "Yes, well... That's not my field." As far as she's aware, the device is operating on earth. Anything weird about that is above her pay grade. Far above it.
She waves a gloved hand idly in the air. "I am sure the team working on it will find them of use, yes."
<Pose Tracker> Minerva Ashton has posed.
"Well, my door is open!" Minerva says to Meifeng.
"I wish you the best of luck with VEDA! It's been a pleasure seeing you all, but I really must get back to finding that ever-so-slippery patient of mine." Minerva pulls out a buzzsaw.
"He's missing his checkup!"
<Pose Tracker> Meifeng Hau has posed.
The conversation tapers off, as it will; Minerva has to head off and do some sort of medical procedure, so Meifeng steps aside to let her pass. "Seems urgent," she says earnestly.
Time passes. Meifeng gradually finds her way to the Veda complex, the Veda command center. She pulls at the swirling accessory around her hip and pulls away a small universal antenna, setting it on the main stand, then stepping away to fiddle with the screen in her fingers. She flicks her wrist one, two, three times, the screen expanding from a credit card-sized personal screen to a full-scale monitor array with reams of data roaring through it at speed.
She stares at it for minutes, before breaking the connection by turning away and shutting her fist.
"I knew it," she says to nobody, and stalks for the door.
"It's not here."