View source for 2022-02-17: Is It Loud For You?

*'''Log: 2022-02-17: Is It Loud For You?'''
*'''Cast:''' [[Character :: Sayla Mass]], [[Character :: Akane Shinjo]]
*'''Where:''' Tsutsujidai - Starbows
*'''OOC - IC Date:''' 0096-02-17
*'''Summary''': ''Akane snags coffee with Sayla. The interaction goes okay, despite several false starts.''

----

<pre> <Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed. </pre> <poem>

        There are ways to investigate while being incognito. Well, mostly incognito. Even if most people out here don't seem to care much about Sayla (something she doesn't mind, to be fair), she can still do her best not to draw a scene. (Even after falling asleep on the train... again...)

        She's dressed for warm weather this time too- a light blue blouse, a pink skirt that falls below her calves with a wide black belt, and some flats. She's also got a white beret and those sunglasses because that's definitely subtle. And she is, as she said, shopping. Mostly at supermarkets, but she stops at a fancy clothes store where she tries on some dresses, and slips into a video game store as well.

        But now, she's taking a break, standing in line for coffee, her bags of shopping slung over one elbow, and her handbag over the other.
%        The more she looks around here, the more she wishes she could just move every beneficiary of the foundation here. If it weren't for the Kaiju attacks. And the fact that everyone here is hollow, and not there. Other than that, it would probably be pleasant, if the kids weren't newtypes.

 </poem> <pre> <Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed. </pre> <poem>
Sayla does some shopping! It's not a bad run, as shopping goes -- it's mostly just, what you'd expect from the stores in question... though there's a few things that are just a hair off, here and there, maybe. Games that are predicated on major historical events after 0079 in an obvious way don't exist, and the same with fashion -- though things that are merely &#42;thematically&#42; contingent are still around. Foods wiped out by the last few decades of warfare still exist.

(Or, in a few cases, the script inverts and they don't, a little bit -- it's actually harder to get some seafood here, and the meat isn't quite as good.)

Akane can feel that faint shift in the environment, but lately she's actually started to pull back from it. Having multiple very loud Newtypes in her space back to back has made her withdraw just a bit more than she might normally; the burden of other people's thoughts is steep lately, and she'd rather not bear it. Instead, she's flipping through her phone, trying to find some correlation between the guests she's met.

Someone makes room for Sayla, with her bags; everyone shifts forward in line a bit. Eventually, Akane gets jostled. It's enough to make her fumble her phone; it hits the ground. The screen is already cracked, admittedly. "I'm sorry -- I wasn't paying attention!" she stammers out, clearly distressed. "I -- um -- I don't actually have my order, in my head, anyway..." she says. "I'll just go to the back."

There's a weird sort of ripple; Sayla feels it, Akane doesn't. It almost feels like it's rippling out from Sayla &#42;herself&#42;, despite being reflected back at her. It takes a few seconds to mean anything, but as Akane picks up her phone and starts to head back to the rear of the line...

"... Oh, uh, my bad. I was making room for the lady at the back. Didn't see you."

Akane is already heading to the back of the line -- but at the very least, she takes this with a slightly disconnected, "It's fine."

Akane looks up, and sees... Sayla Mass? Again??? She takes a breath, and puts on her 'face.' "Hi again," she says, with an appraising little smile. There's a hint of excitement in her voice as she asks, "Did you come to say hi to Rikka again?" ... Rikka deserves a friend like Sayla.

 </poem> <pre> <Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed. </pre> <poem>

        The differences are worth noting- that's part of what she's up to. Is there consistency in the difference, is there a theme. Or is it  just... a safe world? She doesn't know why it's there, and she promised the Gridman Alliance that she'd try to minimize disruption. That means bringing in as few people as possible, as much as she might like a mind like Captain Testarossa's on this. Or Nanai's, she's reluctant to admit.

        But this is also Nidaime's world, and she wants to know more about that too. About why the Kaiju here shouldn't leave it., About whatever a 'Kaiju of the Heart' is. She should be able to understand that much, right?

        And then there's Riku and Yuta. She has, quite frankly, found it extremely difficult to set up a bank account with which to make sure Riku gets his payments from the Shuffle Alliance which has meant... dropping by here to slip an envelope full of cash through his front door. Which gives her an excuse to check on him. And then there's Sho and Rikka, who are dealing with all this. A lot off people in rough positions, by virtue of having been in the right place at then right time.

        And then she feels the ripple, whatever that is, through the crowd as she hears the dejected girl at the front. She's... disoriented slightly, as Akane comes near her, and then, well, if Akane hadn't stopped, Sayla would have called out to her. Especially with that sense of excitement.

        "It's good to see you again, Miss Shinjo." Sayla gives an earnest smile. "And yes, though that's not the only reason, I'm a little sorry to admit." The shopping makes that obvious. And Sayla wants to be as good faith in this as she can, without giving the game away. Akane... seems like she could use some people. "That said, I've got a while before I've got anywhere to be, would you let me treat you to coffee? It was light roast, cherry syrup, double sugar, right?"

 </poem> <pre> <Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed. </pre> <poem>
There are a lot of mysteries for such a sleepy little ward! And so closed, too. The days seem the same. For a ward of &#42;Nouvelle Tokyo&#42;, it doesn't seem to get much traffic in or out. Everything about Tsutsujidai is like a closed little loop. Then again -- Sayla's approaching it as an outsider... maybe there's more 'to it' than that. After all, Yuta's parents are surely &#42;somewhere&#42; if they're absent from the city on business.

... Right?

This... has to be the other world's Sayla, Akane thinks. She doesn't have perfect control, but she didn't want to see anyone from her own world. She could have screwed that up, but it'd be pretty catastrophic; it's best for her to assume that her {{Ruby|world|heart}} remains lonely, and that as much as she's making an effort to connect... this is an outsider.

... On the other hand, there's a bit of -- messiness, in Akane's feelings, when she's offered coffee. "That's right, yeah," she says, though she sounds a little nervous as she says it. Her feelings reflect this... they're -- staticky? Distorted? That normal feeling shifts to something Sayla... probably hasn't experienced before: something &#42;inhuman&#42;.

It's very recognizable as 'a feeling,' to be sure. Sentiments are being had. They are being experienced. They are even broadcasting! But it's like watching a broadcast in Bangla when you're expecting English. There might be some inferences you can make from tone (it's a little bit on downward tilt) but that's about all you get. There aren't a lot of cognates.

"So... friends with Rikka... do you know Hibiki and Utsumi, too? They've been hanging around each other a lot lately, right?" She pivots. Factfinding mode. Ask probing questions, but stance as a classmate, not as an investigator. Stay small. Don't move. Just assess.

 </poem> <pre> <Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed. </pre> <poem>

        The reaction in Akane's feelings is... almost impossible to parse, and is kind of overwhelming. It's something foreign, something twisted. It's a reaction that she has to consciously try and bury her response to. Which she does, but she misses the shift. At least initially.

        "Oh, yes, we've met." She brushes her hair hair back, keeping to what Utsumi had told them. And not revealing anything Akane might not know. "Admittedly, Mr Utsumi was mostly talking about Tarabaman, I think it was? And Mr Hibiki didn't say much. He seemed a bit lonely though."

        Okay, maybe one thing. But Yuta could use the people to check in on and... So could Akane, from what she felt on the bus. Once she can work out... what that feeling that came from Akane was.

        The line moves forward, and Sayla indicates for Akane to move forward with her. She may not have accepted the coffee, but she seems to want to talk.

 </poem> <pre> <Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed. </pre> <poem>
Akane forms up with Sayla, getting back in line. The feeling attenuates, but it doesn't &#42;stop&#42;; indeed, as it does, it's kind of obvious how much it matches the city's ambient mood, after that loud spike. Sure, it's louder, but... maybe she's just a particularly loud citizen. "That definitely sounds like them... Hibiki's parents are gone a lot."

She considers what to say, as she's gestured forward. She realizes that all she gave Sayla was a 'that's right' about her order. "Oh, um... could I get my coffee with ice? It's pretty hot today," she says, with a vague gesture of her own. Having to ask makes that negative feeling bubble back up, a bit.

"Rikka's been missing class a little more lately... I guess I have too, though. There's a lot going on here. Are you worried?" It tips her hand a tiny bit -- who thinks there's a lot going on in a place this sleepy? -- but Akane's... actually not a master investigator, even though poking at a mystery is one of the things that activates her brain &#42;big&#42; time.

 </poem> <pre> <Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed. </pre> <poem>

        That's... interesting. Everyone around seems to reflect it, but... She doesn't have enough information. But it's worth noting. "I see..." She knew about that, and a little more. "That's..." She stops herself saying 'unfortunate' though she knows it might be. "...I hope there's something to be done." Sayla's inherently guarded nature comes in to play- probably setting Akane up further.

        "Of course." That feeling spikes again... "The weather reminds me of home a bit, it's nice. It makes me want granizado." A distraction question, a side topic. It's not particularly blatant, given the topic, but.. It's an easy derail for a high schooler

        "Has she? That's a worry." And it's then Sayla realizes something.

        She's being manuevered into a trap. Fine. Time to make a play. If she's right, it's a dirty play, quite frankly but Sayla doesn't want to play her hand this early. If she's wrong, well... she might find something else. "You've both... been missing school?" Concern is clear on Sayla's face. She lowers her voice. "Miss Shinjo, if something's happening at school, we can find somewhere safe to talk. Or another way to talk."

        She'll have to bring this up with Rikka, just in case. The best case scenario here is that Akane thinks she's latched on the wrong thing, based on her background. Hopefully it's worth the risk.

 </poem> <pre> <Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed. </pre> <poem>
"Everyone in class has taken good care of him since he lost his memories," Akane says, though she's a little nonchalant about what ought, by rights, to be a somewhat heavy topic. Then again -- she's a kid, what's she gonna do about it?

Then...

Sayla asks a question. The world closes in -- closes up. Akane takes a breath. She's unusually still, despite the fact that she really ought to be moving up. This time, at least, the people behind her in line give her some space when she's like this, rather than pressing up.

Her feelings give her away. They're jagged and misshapen and loud loud loud LOUD now, all spines and tentacles and piercing screams without a bit of humanity to them. She needs to take control of the narrative -- but Sayla's the type of person who won't let go in a situation like this, how is she going to get her away, how is she --

It clicks. It's okay. "Nonono," she says, with obvious nerves, raising her hands in a defusing posture. The spines recede. Akane is a normal denizen of Tsutsujidai, save that she's readable. "I just..." Well, she thinks. 'Another way to talk.'

She brings her phone up. Taps. Makes an irritated expression as the taps don't take quite right (she shouldn't have thrown the phone at him, but she was just so fucking angry -- and she doesn't deserve to have the Venora fix it, anyway, because it was her shitty behavior).

She holds it up. The screen reads: 'There are 13 of them outside. Do you see them? We can talk once we have coffee.'

She knows Sayla sees them. Dirty pool meets with dirty pool.

 </poem> <pre> <Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed. </pre> <poem>

        "That's awful. I'm glad he has you and your class to help him. Especially with his parents absent..."

        And then that feeling becomes overwhelming, and even Sayla's walls struggle to stay solid against the barrage. "Akane?" Sayla's head throbs with the jaggedness and sheer volume, echoing and thrashing against her. She starts to move forward to check on her, only for Akane to pull back to reality and defuse. She pauses. And the phone comes up and-

        Shit.

        She couldn't keep up the secret forever, and she was known, even here. But Rikka's friend knows, too. That's... damnit. Once against she has been maneuvered into a trap. She could change tac but... She has a chance to find out what's going on. Better to take the risk.

        Sayla looks at the message, looks into Akane's red eyes, and nods once. An answer. She stands up and is suddenly all smiles again.

        Akane isn't the only one who wears a mask, Sayla's has just had two decades to settle. The line moves them forward to the front, and Sayla pulls her card from her purse. "Large dark roast cappucino, no sugar, hazelnut syrup and a," she pauses to look back at Akane, "large?" Upon confirmation she nods. "Large light roast, cherry syrup with two sugars on ice."

 </poem> <pre> <Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed. </pre> <poem>
Akane nods to Sayla. "Large."

She'd have picked small, normally.

Now she feels like it's her due.

----

The pair get settled in in a booth. It's a corner booth, at Akane's insistence. "... Other people think it's weird when you talk about this stuff. Rikka got called out for saying kaiju stuff in class, once... I think Utsumi did too, actually." She glances off, saying, "At first, I started thinking I needed to keep it to myself, buuuuut then all these people from out of town started showing up."

Akane's feelings have, by this point, leveled back off again. "And a lot of those people have acted like they see them, too... I didn't wanna freak you out if you didn't, though." She leans in a bit. "One thing I keep noticing is that the out-of-town folks' memories are all messed up. It's kinda spooky. One of them was a ZAFT pilot who said she was out by Junius Seven before she showed up, but I don't even know if ZAFT is a thing anymore! The PLANTs have been independent for the last five years. Weird, right?"

The jaggedness, the monstrousness -- those are at least not screaming-loud anymore. ... maybe she was just anxious about telling someone.

 </poem> <pre> <Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed. </pre> <poem>

        Now that Akane's talking, Sayla's definitely listening, but the tone is different. She seems calm, but...

        Sayla is not known for letting her suspicions go. For better or worse. Mostly she's inclined to Akane talk, as she slips a strictly okay cappuccino. (The woman has expensive tastes.)

        "I see..." Still, it would be nice if she was wrong, for once. "Do you think it could have something to do with those Kaiju?" Sayla is being careful on what she offers. She did some research, but there's only so much you can do when you're here briefly.

        The world she describes, though... It's one she can't help but want. A world where the One Year War was the end of it.

        It's a pity that's not the case.

        "It sounds like the experience was a confusing one for them." Junius 7, huh. That would be worth investigating. Did she still have contacts in the PLANTS who would give her the time of day. The Foundation had to pull back support after the attacks on the orbital ring, but... She could definitely get in there...

 </poem> <pre> <Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed. </pre> <poem>
"Hmmm... maybe? I've never seen them move or anything," Akane offers. She needs to give Sayla enough true things that they line up with the true things that Rikka is &#42;presumably&#42; giving Sayla, or at least don't raise flags. She's not an especially good liar, though, which means she can't actually give Sayla... as much as she'd like.

"Yeah... when people show up like that, I usually just do my best to keep them from freaking everyone else out," comes Akane's followup answer. "Nnnn... huh. Now that I think about it, when those kaiju attacked, there was a ZAFT mobile weapon then, too..."

A long, slow slurp. "Mmmm. That's really good. Starbows has such good coffee." Without taking her lips off the straw, she asks, "Do you want one of the protein boxes...? The eggs and cheddar one was really good..."

 </poem><pre>
<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.
</pre>        Sayla finally takes a sip of her own coffee and... Well, for it's price it's remarkably good. None of the shortcuts you'd expect to make up for the damage to the coffee crops from so many wars. Sayla tries to hide her surprise. "I see. I suppose that means they're not a danger at least. That's good, at least." She hopes that's good, at least.

        "That sounds like a lot of work for you. Is it stressful? Calming down someone who thinks they're a pilot at war." Interesting. Akane knew it was a ZAFT Mobile Weapon but PLANTS at peace for five years wouldn't develop along the same path, surely. But it would be impossible to find out here, it would all be secret. And she doesn't have the people. If she could get a spender in here...

        Akane asks another question. "Oh, you don't-" She pauses. Whatever that roar was came when she bought her a coffee. Or maybe Akane just needs to repay the coffee. That wasn't particularly subtle, after all. She can't confirm that but.. it's better to keep her onside. "Actually, I suppose I'm a little hungry. Thank you, Miss Shinjo. Eggs and cheddar sounds fine."

        It gives her a few moments to consider how to move forward.<pre>
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
</pre>"Sure thing! Give me just a sec... I kind of want some tomato juice too, anyway. I can't drink *just* junk." She's off for a few moments; conveniently, those are both simple orders that don't require anyone to make anything -- just pull items out of fridges. It doesn't afford Sayla too much time.

When Akane returns, she gently puts the box down in front of Sayla, then the juice box next to her coffee. ... She still drinks the coffee first, though. Sayla did remember her drink order, and that was -- actually kind of nice.

"So about the pilots... I can't say I mind?" she says, shaking her head. "Usually when people like that show up, they're kinda... disoriented." She thinks about what she's been given when *they* show up, taking a sip. "It's not like they *lose* their memories, like Hibiki-kun... it's more like they're from a whole other timeline. 'cuz now that I think about it, they usually have the *same* assumptions that don't match up. And the same, like, unit patches and stuff too! At least, when they have that kinda stuff."

Akane chews on her straw a little bit. "Anyway, I was class rep before I started missing class more. Taking care of that kinda stuff is pretty easy for me."<pre>
<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.
</pre>        Can't 'drink' just junk, huh. But she did say tomato juice was her other go to. Still, when the protein box is put in front of her, Sayla takes the utensils and pops open the lid. The first thing she does is slice the egg in half, and try it first. Sayla is, Akane will see, a very careful and delicate eater. And again it's.... nicer what you'd expect for the pricepoint. If she had a quick way of transiting the goods from here to somewhere like Sweetwater. "Mm. Not bad."

        She nods as Akane talks. "I see. What a strange situation. Still, you're doing a good thing calming them down." She sighs. "You said they have mobile weapons, too? It must have been a shock. Though maybe not with..." She indicates the nearest Venora with a mild nod of her head. "Them."

        Sayla pauses. Right now, Akane's not telling her much else. She pauses. "Are they the only ones? Or have there been others?" She's keeping the conversation in Akane's zone, for now. "Things all seem rather intact given what you've described. They sound more careful than pilots from the war..."<pre>
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
</pre>"Hmmm, let's see... in terms of people who seemed like they weren't from our world..." Akane glances up at the ceiling, thinking. "There was a girl who looked kinda like me, but taller. There was an actress from Neo Japan. A couple of weird people... There's been two ZAFT pilots... it could be more, I guess, but one of them had ZAFT markings on their mobile suit and the other one was wearing a pin."

She thinks a little longer. "There was this woman who used to be with Chasseur... she actually kinda looked like me too, now that I think about it. She was saying some really weird stuff, but she seemed nice. Did pink hair and," she gestures at herself, "this whole look just kind of take off over there, or something?" More thinking. Akane chews on her straw. "Oh, there was a really cool guy in a leather jacket! He had kinda freaky eyes -- they were red, but not like mine are red? Red where normal eyes are white, and kinda this milky lilac where normal eyes have an iris!" Akane loses nothing by telling Sayla about the outsiders.

"The protein boxes are really good, right?" she adds, as an aside, before flipping back through her thoughts. Kaworu might be a bit too much to give her. "Anyway, other than that... my friends mentioned some weird middle schoolers, too. I think that's all of 'em."<pre> <Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed. </pre> <poem>

        Sayla pauses, taking mental notes of all of them. The Neo Japan actress is almost certainly Sumire or  Sakura, she can talk to them easily enough. The other pink haired girl... that's not much to go on... The others, however. She's sure she'd have heard of someone like the middle too. The ZAFT pilots are harder."

        Sayla is halfway through spearing a slice of apple and a piece of cheese on the fork, and crunching down. Fresh. Juicy. The cheddar isn't as sharp as she likes, but you can't expect everything. "Quite." She says, when her mouth isn't full. It's time for a mild distractor. "Do you like apples much, Miss Shinjo?" Between this meal kit, and the gummies, it's two points to go on, so maybe it's just a distractor, as Sayla... cuts the bread in half before applying the peanut butter. In fact, if one is paying attention, Sayla is slowly arcing towards naturally having a clean half of the protein box. And odd choice.

        The break in conversation lets her zone back in. "Do the Kaiju attacks only happen when these people turn up?" She decides to actually ask the question. "Or did they ever happen before?"

 </poem> <pre> <Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed. </pre> <poem>
Questions about eating. Oh boy. "... I used to, but I kinda lost the taste for them a few years ago." She worries at her lower lip, a bit, then takes another drink. "And now my guardian is kinda fussy about how much I eat, and my sleep schedule, so..."

Not talking about food is &#42;much&#42; easier than talking about food. "Hmmm... that one's kinda weird," Akane answers, with a bit of a nervous laugh. "Is 'I don't know' an okay answer? Or -- wait, no, hold on..." Akane pauses. "No, I don't think so. The first time someone else in my class talked about them was before I started seeing all these mobile suits and giants and stuff. It's hard to figure this stuff out, right? Since there seems to be a point at which people start remembering."

Slurp. Sayla's starting to get... specific, with these questions. She can play along, though... or maybe she ought to distract her a bit. For now, she keeps her options open.

 </poem> <pre> <Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed. </pre> <poem>

        All apples then, not just the gummy. Hm. And then her comments about her guardian, that's a little. Hm. "...I see." Reducing sugar and fructose. Based on looks, Akane isn't undernourished, no obvious signs of malnutrition. She doesn't seem overtired, either. On the other hand, the amount of sugar in that drink would be a huge problem. Tomato Juice is most of a serve of carbohydrates in a cup, too. Still in those quantities... No. She'd need a proper appointment to diagnose. There's not enough to go on. But the immediate is there's nothing to worry about diet wise from the Guardian. "I hope they're not too restrictive. Diet's important, but at your age you need more than some adults."

        She takes that information in stride too. "I wonder why people don't remember. How strange. She takes a moment to bite into her half a slice of bread. She's thoughtful. "And you said... Rikka and Mr Utsumi both mentioned them?"

        She leaves that to hang, seemingly musing. She's emptying the air, and trying to go to passive detection. Maybe she's too suspicious. Maybe she's thinking Akane's hiding something. She takes another bite of the peanut buttered bread. Something slow to chew, especially if her mouth is a little dry. Eventually she swallows, only the follow with mouth full of coffee.

        The way her face scrunches up implies it's not a taste combination that's exactly ideal. Still, she speaks. "I hope they're not in any trouble."
        
 </poem> <pre> <Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed. </pre> <poem>
"Oh, I'm fine! You don't really look like I do if you're not eating enough," Akane says, a little nervously; she rubs at the back of her head, offering a pleasant little smile. It's... weird to have someone fuss over her diet like this. She shifts back in her chair a bit. Fortunately, she gets something easier to talk about, at least.

"I think so -- or at least, like, one of them did and the other wasn't acting like it was weird. A couple of the other girls eventually said it was weird, but still..." She scoots along, slow and sure. "I think it has something to do with the city resetting, though! 'Cuz it's not like they don't notice &#42;that day&#42;, you know? They just forget overnight."

Thinking back to what she's already said... "... I think Rikka's just a good person," she eventually answers. "She's been missing more class since she first mentioned the kaiju attacks... I actually don't see her much, lately. I don't know Utsumi that well, but Rikka..."

Akane glances off, then turns back to Sayla and gets a little more animated. There's no uptick in her emotional broadcast despite it, though. "... actually, I guess they're all kind of like that! Hibiki, Utsumi, and Rikka... and I guess I've started doing it too, once things really kicked up. I guess none of us are used to dealing with this kinda thing happening around here!"

 </poem> <pre> <Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed. </pre> <poem>

        "That's good. It's something you worry about in my line of work." Lines, maybe. Hopefully her guardian is just 'strict' rather than harmful. She pauses again. "So it just... goes back to like this, after everything?" There's actually a moment of awe there, and also a bit... envy? "Incredible..."

        "I think on this, Miss Shinjo, you're an excellent judge of character." She takes a moment. "The fact that you two both worry about each other, even without seeing each other often... That's a good thing, I think." It's obvious to Sayla that they both do, at least.

        But when she was a teenager she was also an idiot that couldn't communicate well.

        There it is. The mask that tried to hide the loneliness. Trying to make sure no one knows how she really is. No roar, though. Still...

        "Frankly, I'm glad you're not used to it. No one should be used to this sort of thing, let alone someone your age." That melancholy seeps through. "Even here and now, the world wants people to grow up and grow hard too quickly. I hope that you never have to experience that." Sayla gives a smile, earnest but pained. "I'm afraid I should get going. There's a few more things I need to find before the stores close." She seals up the protein box. Preventing food waste has become a thing for Sayla, despite her lavish dinners. "Thank you, Miss Shinjo. I'll be sure to finish this off later."

        She reaches into her purse, and pulls out a card, sliding it onto the table in front of Akane, without forcing it on her. "My schedule is hectic, but if you want to talk, I'll try and make time." She has no idea it will work, from Tsutsujidai to the outside, but... She has to try, right? The only to combat loneliness like the loneliness coming off Akane is to reach out, and encourage others to do so. Maybe she has to talk to some people.

        "Thanks again, Miss Shinjo. For the snack and the discussion."

 </poem> <pre> <Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed. </pre> <poem>
"Yep! Maybe the kaiju do something about it, or the giant does -- or maybe our world's just like that!" Akane doesn't want to give away the game yet, so she gives Sayla a few options... but she knows the real answer. Still, better to look like she's not sure. She does catch what Sayla's feeling, though.

... Sayla's a &#42;really&#42; good person, comes Akane's ultimate conclusion. It hurts that she's wasting all this energy on someone who's just not interested in goodness. "... If you're hanging out with her, you're probably hanging out with Utsumi and Hibiki, too," Akane says, hesitantly. Utsumi wouldn't have gotten a '-san' otherwise. "Okay. Yeah. Tell them I want to talk to them." It comes off a little cooler than anticipated -- and there's a bit of that undercurrent of a hiss, of unhappiness, at the thought.

It gets louder when she's told Sayla doesn't want her to grow up too quickly -- it's still... not -- a reasonable emotion, not something shaped. Hard to identify whether it's loneliness, anger, regret... or even contempt. Akane wears the mask, though, despite that. She's all smiles. "I'm glad! I was kinda hoping to get to see you eat it, but that's fine, too," she adds, about the protein box. "I'm just glad you're not gonna waste it!" There's a little laugh about that -- and there's something about it that pierces through the noise, for just a second.

Sayla gives her card, and Akane takes it. "Sure! If I ever need that, I'll let you know."

If, then. A function that will never get called, here in the Computer World.
[[Category:Phase 1, Turn 1]]
[[Category:Logs]]