View source for 2023-02-06: Someone I Can 'Depend' Upon

{{Log
|cast=Yurika Misumaru, Eight York
|location=Nadesico (at Side 4)
|summary=Yurika and Eight's bestie-ness will endure even the most agonizing of diplomatic gatherings!
}}
{{PhaseAndTurn
|phase=1
|turn=2
}}
 <Pose Tracker> Yurika Misumaru has posed.
<poem>
        The destruction of GENESIS and subsequent ceasefire between ZAFT and the Federation has brought with it a long sigh of relief among many...and its own form of uncertainty and business. Given the pivotal role the Three Ships Allianced played in preventing the conflict from escalating into mutual destruction, it's only natural that they wind up intermediaries in peace negotiations...

        And given the Nadesico's level of comfort and luxury, it's only natural that it winds up as the functional conference hall hosting these negotiations.

        "Aaaaaah, but it's not natural at ALL," Yurika complains into her phone, calling up her fellow captain Eight York, as the titular three ships are docked together outside the orbit of the PLANTs, arranging for what's felt like the eighteenth meeting this week. She's scooting through the Nadesico's halls on a little scooter, arms folded over the handlebars, leaning over a little perilously with her phone in open ear.

        "I mean, the Federation guys are giving us sooooo many stinkeyes this whole time, and there's so ''many'' of them. We kinda ran off and did this whole alliance thingy in the heat of things getting really hairy, but like...are they gonna yell at us to get back in our positions a whole lot louder now that this specific war is winding down...?"

        Parking the little two-wheeled electric scooter off to one side as she nears Conference Hall B, the added crowds sorta make her loud pouting over the phone a bit of a faux pas, but Eight should be in there...
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
<poem>

Eight York has of course had a lot to do in the aftermath of all that, too.  Quite a lot!  And one of those things, of course, is fielding conversations with her sister Captain!

"It's a little weird," Eight agrees with it not being natural, relaxing in the conference room with the phone up so that she can talk to Yurika properly.  "But you do what you have to do, I guess.  They definitely don't like ''me'' much these days.  But I don't think our job is over."

Squeaaak.  Yes, Eight is in there!  The conference room is of course very nice.  And Eight is there!  ...The uniforms are almost ready, too!

That means she's in normal clothes still.  For now.

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Yurika Misumaru has posed.
<poem>
        Yurika's quick to park herself at the same table as Eight, immediately flumping her entire upper body onto the table's surface, hat slumping down and falling off the top, spinning and tumbling in the center. She's kept up appearances at least, sticking to Nergal's uniform since she hasn't exactly withdrawn from Nergal itself - their backing quieter, but their lawyers insisting that an operation like this is within their mandate.

        "Prospector is doing his best to make sure I understand that, but I can't help but worry that the suits are gonna pull a fast one on us. We made the right choice! Like gosh, we stopped a super nuclear doom laser from destroying the Earth! But I get the feeling they're weeeeirdly apathetic to the idea."

        Face turned sideways, cheek squished against the tabletop, Yurika's eyes travel from Eight's hands up to her face, lips mildly pursed. "...oh. Oh right. Uhhhhm. Uhhhhm!!! Is Rena okay!? She kind of did something, like, incredibly super duper dangerous right at the end to save the entire future of the human race! Aaaaah! She's fine, right?! You'd know faster than I do, I hope!"

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
<poem>

Eight's just in her usual kind of clothes; a red dress for the moment, some nice flats, her hair down.  She could be out for a walk!  But she isn't.  She's in, for a talk.  Doh ho ho.

"Prospector's pretty smart," Eight points out.  "...But I can't blame you for worrying, anyway.  They don't exactly have a habit of respecting other points of view, right?"  A super nuclear doom laser...

"We did do that, though.  But for them, we also stopped ''them'' from destroying their enemies.  So we need to play it carefully."

Yurika's ability to turn sideways in all kinds of ways is--well, it's impressive.  "Um?" Eight wonders, and then--"Oh!"

She smiles, because Yurika asked about Rena.  "Yeah, she's OK.  She and Rita did the trick.  And Rita made sure she got out all right, too.  We could've lost a lot of pilots... But we didn't.  Neither of us did."

"I was pretty worried," Eight admits.  "But I'm proud of her, too."

Eight's hands are on the table, at the moment, folded together, thumbs sort of fiddling.  She has a little extra energy today!

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Yurika Misumaru has posed.
<poem>
        A long sigh of relief makes the tension flow from Yurika's shoulders, arms up and draped over the table. "Rita...that's the pilot of that really crazy golden Gundam, right? ...Honestly, everything I've read about the Phenex makes me double-take to make sure I'm not reading some sort of lavish online story...I'm still not really sure what to believe, but if she was here to save the world, then she's good in my books!"

        Eyes flit from Eight's, more towards some of the other attendees at this little gathering of diplomats. Some of them are laughing a bit - one group is arguing before being restrained a little by their peers. The low-paced din of talking and dining is as the hammering of the forge molding future international relations...

        "Nnnn. Well. If that Zala guy's out of the picture, it...I'd like to ''think'' everyone's kind of in the mood to not be about to kill each other, but...that's hardly the end of it, I suppose."

        A slow silence. A sip of water, then- "...I really want the Three Ships Alliance to rescue Mars, if at all possible. The threat of the Jovian Lizards still looms large, and I want to see the world I grew upon bloom again. I don't know if we have what it takes - the last time I went there, I don't know if the three ships in question would've fared better than just the one. ...what about you? What do you think is the greatest crisis on the horizon we need to answer?"

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
<poem>

"Yes," Eight answers.  "...It's pretty crazy stuff," she admits.  "I'm not sure entirely what I believe, either.  The things she says are... pretty out there.  But I'm sure she means well.  And that counts for something, right?"

Eight glances at the others; she can't talk ''completely'' freely in a room with others like this.  But freely enough for the moment.

"The Federation still has enough people like that--but at least ZAFT wants peace.  Maybe they can get it.  I just hope we don't go back to the same pressure cooker status quo we had before the war, right?"

Eight, too, sips her water.  Then--Eight looks at Yurika thoughtfully.  "...I hope we can," she says.  "I think that's important.  I'm not sure we have the ability on our own, but maybe if we can handle this war, we can assemble a broader coalition.  The Jovian Lizards are... pretty difficult.  But I'd be with you, for trying."

"Me, though?"  Eight considers.  "Well, you heard about that raid on the Institute in the REA, right?  It's things like that, for me.  Experimenting on people... If we don't stamp that out, we're just going to see more and more wars and conflicts with the 'weapons' they've made of people."

"...But I'm kind of hoping to enjoy a break for at least a few days.  After all... this."

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Yurika Misumaru has posed.
<poem>
        Finally, Yurika stops making a bit of a Scene of herself and sits upright, hair a little frazzled from her unorthodox posture, readjusting the hat on her head for prim and properness. "...I guess someth- someone like Rita is a sign that...there's so much more to the world, to the way we live, than we understand. You know, the idea of miraculous, special things has sorta spurred me onward..."

        Yurika may have to be physically restrained from making the world wibble and wobble into her flashbacks. "When I was younger, I was kinda bossy actually! I was really used to getting my way a whole lot, and thought that the world made sense if everyone did what they were told. But then, four years ago, so many unexplainable things happened to save the world. Things that should've been impossible became necessary. I thought it was something 'miraculous', once in a lifetime events, that each one had to be cherished very specially. Two lights that saved the world - then the reappearance of a boy from my childhood who should've been millions of miles away. I can't explain them, but they happened to me - surely they're special!"

        Hands folded under Yurika's chin. "...But maybe they're more 'normal' than I thought. They're not just things happening to me, because of me - they're happening because...the world is changing, in some really deep way. Something's unraveling - or maybe something that was always unraveled is coming together. I'm starting to take a different look at the things I thought I understood - and maybe the mystery of the Jovian Lizards will be something similar."

        Dreamy thoughts re-stabilize to reality - Yurika has to jump out of them to go back to real problems. "Oh gosh though, you're right! That's a perfect thing to put into our hands - tracking down awful programs that torture and take from children to be used as tools of war. Maybe we'll make a statement of zero tolerance for institutions like that!"

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
<poem>

Eight doesn't really begrudge Yurika making a Scene. She thinks that's just part of the Yurika package!  But the sign... Hmmm.

Eight quietly tugs on the border of the screen to ensure that the world doesn't become a flashback entirely, but she ''does'' listen carefully.  She doesn't comment on Yurika being kind of bossy.  But four years ago...

"...So maybe the world is just more miraculous than we think it is?" Eight wonders, translating Yurika-speak for herself.  "Hmm... It's an encouraging thought, think we're on the verge of something special, that the world is ready to change.  I'm not sure how true it is, or rather... I'm not sure that that isn't true for every generation.  But I like the idea.  To feel like we're doing something the world itself needs, not just that would make things better for people..."

"Well.  I can see why you're such an inspiring Captain," Eight says with a smile.

Then--reality.  "Yes!  I--Well.  It's personal to me, obviously.  But even if it weren't, those things... not only do they steal years from children and the adults they could become, but they escalate warfare.  The more 'weapons' we make of people, the more wars we need to test and use them.  I think it's a cycle."

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Yurika Misumaru has posed.
<poem>
        Personal to Eight...right right, a...history that Yurika's never been great at prying at. How does she even broach the subject of it? She doesn't think anyone in her own crew's been through that...it's awkward enough to make the captain fidget in her seat.

        "Exactly, exactly...there should be a light at the end of everyone's tunnel, people shouldn't be controlled and raised just to fight for someone else's sake. It's awful that it got so out of hand..." Her lips do purse slightly. "...that said, it's a field I kind of...know really little about, so I might be a little bit following your lead on how to handle the subject, what places do the worst. It's always a topic that made me really squirmy to hear about, so I avoided listening too heavily...but it's clear the time's gonna come to change that!"

        Abruptly, Yurika stands up, eyeing the table of desserts. "I...am going to get myself one of the parfaits! Do you want anything, Eight?"
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
<poem>

Eight is pretty perceptive herself.  SHe can sense the awkwardness.  But thankfully, Yurika brings something up that gives Eight a chance to address it.  When she mentions what she doesn't know...

"Oh!"  And then parfaits.  "Sure," Eight says.  "Can you get me one, too?" she asks. "I'm..."  Pause.  "Actually I'm really hungry."

She reaches out towards Yurika, though--she'll touch her arm if allowed.  "But, hey."

"...If you ever want to talk about that, I'm willing.  I know a lot about it.  So when you want to change that... Let me know.  I can tell you, okay?"

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Yurika Misumaru has posed.
<poem>
        A slight blinky blinky at Eight - her own hand gently resting on her fellow captain's touch, encouraging and warm. (It's so unfair that her gloves are ''this'' cushy!) "...Ah!! That's good to hear, that I can rely on you for that! Let me, really quickly...!" Sudden high speed striding to the dessert table, retrieval of two of the cups of sweet decadence, and she's sitting right back down, scooting her chair a little closer to Eight's just to make sure this entrusted subject isn't prone to ears ''too'' prying.

        "I mean-! I guess I don't even know anything about the ''kind'' of situation you dealt with. The ''rumors'' about what they do to people growing up in these facilities gets really ''really'' grisly, but I'm pretty sure you don't have any cyborg li-"

        Yurika claps her own cheeks, then takes a spoonful of parfait. Tactfulness, Yurika-chan! Navigate it carefully! "...I know a loooot of them...were focused on psychic experiments? It always seemed a little odd, but there's more to Newtypes than just whether or not they can operate psycommu equipment, I gather. That's the obvious face, but...it's gotta run a bit deeper for it to be worth their while..."
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
<poem>

Blinky blinky!  Eight smiles.  "Good," she answers, and then Yurika scurries off.  But very quickly she's back!! Back, and sitting closer, which--yes, that's probably wise actually.  Eight accepts her parfait and takes a spoon to it, looking it over before she touches it because--actually that's pretty great.

"...I don't have any cyborg limbs," Eight confirms quietly, with a little gentle look.  "The rumors are kinda true.  But that's not exactly how it was for me."

She takes a spoonful before she answers; Yurika may notice that while Eight isn't breezy about it, she's not nearly as awkward.

"So, mine... They were focused on my psychic potential, in part.  But that's more than just operating psycommu, you're right.  They wanted to enhance my intuition; my ability to sense things coming and sense 'hostile intent'.  They also upped my response time, my nervous response, my adrenaline..."

She gestures.  "I'm really strong," Eight explains.  "Even if I can't use psycommu anymore, I have advantages some people just don't.  ...But because they forced it, I've got downsides, too."

"With me... they wanted to make the ultimate soldier--able to predict her enemy, outfight, and take every order without question.  And so it was pretty hard to learn to pursue my own 'life' when I got out."

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Yurika Misumaru has posed.
<poem>
        The back of Yurika's hands push up at her cheeks as she listens intently, a liiiittle bit of color draining from her face. A few little nods - but she doesn't interrupt. She waits patiently, trying to drink in the kind of...well...

        "...I mean honestly, I still don't ''totally'' understand it, but I may need to do research on the...day to day stuff. Like I'm not even sure how exactly you even ''try'' to 'enhance someone's intuition'. I'm picturing a lot of weird machines that have ominous helmets, but that's- like, it's probably way different from whatever I imagine."

        She does, however, quickly reach out and cup one of Eight's hands between her own, her stare as wide and baleful as it ever gets. "It's such a relief that we got to meet each other, that you got to pull through that trouble. I'll do everything I can to understand it. But you're a trusted friend because you're you, above all else. So even if I can't ever ''really'' relate, I want to make sure you've got someone unconditionally at your side. And- if you didn't get around to it already over the years..."

        A big merry wink, followed by a showy flex of her arm! "I'll help you show the people that messed with you what-for! They're gonna regret ever being born on my watch!!"

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
<poem>

"It's all... quantum brainwaves, and... other complicated stuff," Eight explains.  "...Some 'weird helmets'," she allows, but it doesn't add as much lightness as she'd like it to.  "That's OK.  Research is..."

Eight finds her hand taken, and her expression softens.  "Yurika..."

It's a relief, she says.  She'll do everything she can.  Eight's lips part, and then she closes her mouth again, before she glances down.  Her fingers curl a little in Yurika's hands.  "I..."

"Thank you," she says.  "That's really sweet.  ...The people who hurt me are mostly gone.  But there are others out there.  And we'll do something about it.  And we'll help Mars, too.  So that little girl's home can be a home again."

She finds herself a little weepy about it, but Eight manages to avoid showing it.  Instead she just says, "You're a really good friend, Yurika."
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Yurika Misumaru has posed.
<poem>
        Something's hit home - Yurika can feel it in the tone of Eight's voice, in the way her hand clenches up just a little bit. And so-

        Eight's pulled in closer, right into Yurika's cozy embrace, her eyes softly lidding, her gloved hands clasped behind her friend's upper back. "I like to think everyone who's had it rough can rely on me! They're the ones who need me the most, after all! We'll change the world to be a brighter place together. Lacus will raise everyone's hopes, I'll hold everyone's hand, and you'll guide everyone's dreams. I think that's how we can make the future a kinder place!"

        "Hehehe. It does butter me up to hear you say that to me though!" The smile on Yurika's lips does get a liiiiittle more smug. "We'll count on each other! Just like we've done for quite a while! Don't you ever dare hesitate to ring me up when you need me. That's what besties are for!"

        Her hold isn't clingy or anything though, and pretty soon she's relinquished Eight, giving her fellow captain a proud V-sign as is her signature. "...Plus, talking with you makes these terribly dry conferences a lot more tolerable! Aaah I can't wait for all this to be over, the poor Nadesico's been ''terribly'' crowded the past week..."

        She is the loudest person in the room by far and half of the current guests are leering at her for saying exactly that! Oopsie.
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
<poem>

Yurika's right!  It did hit home.  Eight is still a little surprised when she feels that intention, and is swept up easily against Yurika.  "Oh!"  It's a little noise of surprise, but she relaxes, and hugs Yurika back.  "Dreams, huh...?"

That actually compounds the feeling quite a bit.  Eight has been thinking a lot about her own dreams, lately.  "...Okay," Eight answers, a little overwhelmed by the sheer force of Yurika's friendship, but appreciative nevertheless.  "Right.  I'll rely on you, too."  She will!  She'll remember that she can.

When released, Eight sniffs once, to keep her composure.  It's a little difficult in the moment, but she's good at it.  Instead of doing what she's thinking about, she smiles back at Yurika and nods firmly at her V-sign.  "...Ahahah," Eight laughs a little, "Does it?  Well, that's good..."  She glances at some of the guests with an apologetic look, but beams at Yurika anyway.  "Soon," she says.  "Definitely soon."

</poem>