View source for 2023-05-20: What's A Frozen Brain?

*'''Log:''' What's A Frozen Brain?
*'''Cast:''' [[Character :: Alouette Pommier]], [[Character :: Knight]], [[Character :: Nidaime]] (NPCed)
*'''Where:''' France
*'''Date:''' 2023-0520
*'''Summary''': ''The Gridknight Alliance catch up with Alouette over ice cream.''
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[[Category:Logs]]
[[Category:Phase 1, Turn 3]]

 <Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
<poem>

Alouette is, shockingly, ''not'' up to any sort of task today. Exams are over, and she's taking the day off from Orbit Base, which brings her to France to visit home for the weekend.

Summer is fast approaching in Europe though, meaning it's just about peak ice cream time. So Alouette wanders to the bigger areas of the city for exactly that. "Vanille, s'il vous plait!" She affirms, exchanging coin for a cold cone of ice cream. "Merci...!"

Having got her ice cream, she exits the line and finds an vacated table in the sun. Theoretically, there'd be enough chairs for four, but unfortunately, she didn't bring anyone with her. Unless she happened to run into anyone she recognizes that could change that.

Inevitably, Alouette's thoughts drift into the distracting abstract.. but ice cream helps to keep her grounded in a sense, reminding her of simpler things. She's back in the country to enjoy herself, after all.


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.
<poem>

        Exams? Knight went to school once. He chased a boy and got kicked down some stairs. He doesn't go to school now.

        (In Area 11, a girl studiously puts away her braille books and heaves a deep, beleagured sigh, as she wonders what it would be like to not have to worry about something as stressful as ''school.'' Milly's so lucky...)

        What Knight ''does'' go for, as it happens, is ice cream. He, and --

        "Mercy, mercy! Silverous plate!" An office-woman chimes, cheerfully, as she takes two ice cream cones from the vendor. Chocolate and mint chocolate chip, obviously.

        "''Merci,''" a taller, gruffer man beside her rumbles, with much finer pronunciation.

        "Ohhh, have mercy~" Nidaime winks, to him, as she hands him the cone. (She paid, of course.) "He's doing his best, Naito!" Hey, wasn't SHE the one who was--!!

        Oh, never mind.

        She gets distracted immediately, of course, by: "Ahh, Alouette!" The Second recognises her, bustling up to the table, all smiles. "It's wonderful to see you!" Knight has longer legs, but he takes longer to get there, anyway.

        "... Alouette Pommier," he nods, at length.

        "Can we join you?" The Second asks, because ''she,'' at least, is polite.


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
<poem>

From the distance, Alouette breaks into subdued laughter as she hears a familiar-sounding voice pun the English word 'mercy' and the French word 'merci'. Like ice creams, puns are a weakness, too.

Soon enough, that voice is in front of her, as Anosillus the Second greets her sunnily. "Nidaime! And Knight too!" She greets in turn, a warm smile on her face.

"Of course, I'd love some company," Alouette nods at the offer to join. "If you don't mind me third-wheeling for your date. That ''is'' what this is, right?" She makes sure that her wry smile reaches Knight from behind as well.

"So.. what's new with the two of you?" She makes conversation after another lick of her vanilla ice cream. "I've been given no choice but to take it easy, myself. Which isn't so bad, sometimes. Although... I admit, it's hard for my mind to do the same." Not with BioNet in Tsutsujidai, Triple Zero and their newest apostle Char, and the Banshee and its mysterious pilot 'Puru-1'.

Returning to more pleasant topics, though, seeing Knight reminds her of something. "Come to think, how is your sword training coming along, Knight? And, how is Calibur-san for a teacher?" Is she interested in having him come guest teach for the fencing club at her school? ...Maybe.


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.
<poem>

        "Ehhhh?!" Nidaime gasps, her free hand flying to her mouth. "A DATE?! Knight, Knight!" She cries, entirely too gleeful. "She said it's a date!"

        Knight clears his throat, curling his own free hand into a fist to cough into.

        (Give him some credit: he's not going to manhandle a young woman like herself.)

        He ''does'' pull out a chair for the Second, though, who perches herself merrily down before Knight takes a seat of his own. "Ahhh," Nidaime exclaims, cheerfully, "that's right! The human mind is always bubbling over, finding connections! Even when sleeping..." She nibbles at her mint chocolate cone.

        Knight chomps some of his. The frozen teeth can't stop him. "It's not solely your responsibility." Chomp, chomp.

        He's silent, for a long moment. "Good," he decides, at length. "Samurai Calibur understands the blade." He doesn't understand ''conversation'' as well, but given how that's Knight's entire statement, maybe he just hasn't noticed.

        "Alouette, Alouette, did you survive the exams?" The Second pipes up, brightly. "Hey, I bet a clever girl like you sent them back with suggestions to improve them! Right?"


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
<poem>

Alouette laughs, entirely understanding of the type of relationship the two of them have. "No objections, it sounds like~" There's a hint of a wink.

"You're not wrong about that," Alouette replies, to Nidaime's enthusiastic analysis of the human brain. "But.. does that mean you two don't dream?" She considers, cupping her free hand on her chin.

She also nods when Knight offers his advice, even through the frostbite of ice cream. "I know.. I guess I can't help but feel like it is when I've gotten involved this much." Alouette concedes. "Especially when it comes to BioNet following us into Tsutsujidai." There's a ''lot'' of baggage there, just in a different flavour to Gridman's. "Still.. I've learned a lot about how much I can rely on others. And I know I can count on them to handle things even when I'm not. So you're right, Knight." It rhymes!

She nods at Knight's very direct assessment of Calibur. "That's pretty high praise.. I wonder what I could learn from him." She considers. "Probably a lot, really. I'm still a novice."

"The competition was tough this time, but I made it! See? I'm still alive." Not zombiefied, unlike many high schoolers post-exams. "The history ''could'' probably stand to cover more of the newer stuff than just the One Year War. I'm a little tired hearing about Amuro and Char at this point..." She wants them to cover the Primeval War more just because it makes Guy wince.


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.
<poem>

        "Heh heh heh heh heh!" Nidaime laughs, a heartened giggle which, for all she's grown, hasn't changed all THAT much since she thought of herself as younger.

        She grins, all too easily. "Of course we dream! Hey, hey, remember the ones about the electric sheep?" Oh, that's a DEEP cut.

        Knight stares at her, blink-blink, uncomprehending. "Yes. There could be sheep powered by electricity." He's not going to tell her that sheep are ''organic.'' Why would he challenge her like that?

        And the Second pouts, mightly. "Mooouuu! Knight! Come on!! I bet Alouette gets it!" Alouette gets a reference to ancient mythology...? Or maybe it was ancient philosophy. Those old texts get pretty muddied.

        She reaches out, though, to pat Alouette's arm when she talks about BioNet, and how she's not handling it alone. "The Gridknight Alliance is working hard, too," she assures her, with a smile. "Of course, that's us! But since everyone's on it, we can take some time for snacks, right?" Another nibble of her ice-cream cone.

        Knight, of course, has also been eating his. He's gotten good enough that this that he hasn't just mashed the whole thing in his face, even! He's less chatty than his partner in crime (and other things?!), but he speaks up when it's necessary: "If you're concerned for your physical safety, Samurai Calibur can assist you." With sword lessons ''and'' a security detail, even, as far as Knight is concerned. People don't learn to fight in a day.

        The Second gives her a little poke, when Alouette insists she's alive, and agrees as her free hand lifts up in a victory sign: "Yup!"

        Knight ''finishes swallowing his chomp of ice cream,'' almost like a civilised young man. "What history would you cover, Alouette Pommier?" He asks, with interest threaded into his stoic tone. He is, as ever, a sponge, and he has sensed... ''new information.''


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
<poem>

Alouette takes a moment to parse the truly ancient reference Nidaime makes, blinking almost in sync with Knight. "Ohhh right.. that was a book from back in the Anno Domini century, wasn't it?" She half-guesses. It sounds familiar, at least!

"I guess whoever wrote it wouldn't have gotten their answer of what androids dream of until Super AI were invented." What they dream of is pretty normal, actually.

"We could model our next one after a sheep instead of a dragon, but it sounds like they wouldn't do much except for sleep." She adds, dryly.

Nidaime's gesture is very much appreciated, and Alouette smiles as she assures her they're working hard too. "The Gridknight Alliance.. it has a good ring to it, too. I know I can trust you both." Continuing to have her own ice cream, she nods. "Of course! After all, we're fighting to get the chance to relax like this."

"That's true. The Neon Genesis Junior High Students are the best bodyguards someone can ask for." Alouette's gotten pretty good at defending herself, but unlike Knight or Calibur, she ''doesn't'' carry her sword on her back at all times. ""As for the training.. I'll tell him you referred me." Does Knight get a reward for that?

Alouette giggling at Nidaime's pose and attempting a V-Pose in return, then straightens up to answer Knight's more serious question. "Well.. the Primeval War was before my time, but reading through GGG's old intelligence files, there was a lot of interesting events that were never covered by the textbook." She answers. "Like when the Great Wall became a cannon of flame, it's hard to gloss over that."

"And while Guy gets his proper credit, a lot of the other Mobile Unit did their best and contributed a lot too. You might get along with Volfogg, Knight.. he's adept with a sword, too, and he was always quick to adapt to a situation." Or maybe even the independent warrior Soldato J... but he's a Ruin Apostle, right now, and she needs to get him back for Ikumi as soon as possible.

"Mic also contributed to several key decisive victories with his ability to manipulate sound. Nidaime, I bet you'd get along amazingly with him... he sure does have a lot of energy." Alouette grins.


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.
<poem>

        "Wow, is that it? That's so old!" Nidaime laughs, all too cheerful.

        A Super AI who always sleeps... such a being would surely be too powerful for this world. Knight nods, grave.

        The irregulars eat the ice cream they've worked so hard to snack on, and Knight nods, when Alouette comes to speak of Calibur and his friends. "All right," he confirms, when she says she'll mention his referral. ''Does'' he get a reward?

        Well, they MIGHT just have a rewards card from 'Aya'. Whether or not those actually exist.

        The Primeval War, though -- Knight consumes the remainder of his ice cream cone with a mighty CHOMP, so he can focus on listening to Alouette. A mild expression of chilled surprise crosses his face before he puts it away in favour of his usual sternness.

        Brain freeze. Don't worry about it. Don't worry about the Second giggling about it in the background, either.

        He nods, when she starts mentioning names. Perhaps he even remembers J, from when Renais was less well, back then, but he doesn't bring him up. He does say, when Mic comes up: "I fought him. When he was corrupted by Triple Zero." There is a pause precisely five seconds long. "He does." Have a lot of energy.

        The Second laughs, again. "I'd love to catch up with him now he's feeling better!" She enthuses, with all the energy Knight doesn't have. "He's a great guy, right? Right? Solving problems bravely takes a lot of creativity..!"


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
<poem>

"Way before our time," Alouette agrees. "Maybe even back then they were onto something though, if we're able to remember it today." Continuing to eat her own, she wonders if ice cream was any different back then too.

"Pfff-" she laughs, seeing poor Knight suffer from brain freeze. With these two around, poor Knight is going to be the endless target of giggling.

She pauses for a moment, when Knight confirms he fought Mic before - she's not sure she remembers that actually. "He can also be a pretty fierce opponent, even with such a cute appearance."

"Yeah, he's definitely back to his usual self by now," she affirms. "I think he'd be happy to see you."

As for him being a great guy... "Yes. They all are... they did so much to take care of me when I was small. I'm very grateful to them all." There is a lot of warmth in that statement.

"Creativity? Definitely. Who'd have thought the ultimate weapon against the Primevals would be rock music?" She laughs. "It just means 3G and the Gridknight Alliance both need to keep up the creative spirit~"


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.
<poem>

        "Yes," Knight confirms, of Mic. "... he might not remember me. I was having a hard time, so I couldn't fight properly. But I still had a sword. And Ranka Lee cried out."

        Nidaime presses her fingers to her cheek, and grins: "People's hearts get ''so'' loud when they're in trouble, huh?" Really, she's proud of him for catching up! He's come so far in such a short time!

        (His progress has sparked hers.)

        She brightens, though, when Alouette mentions just ''what'' her relationship is. "Oh, everyone helped take care of you? Ahh, ''samesies!'' Auntie taught me so much about this side of the world!" Europe? Well, that's one meaning of that phrase.

        Knight is studiously silent. Nidaime has an aunt figure; he has an uncle figure. Their experiences with the connection are, shall we say, markedly different.

        "Understood," he says, instead, to the concept of creative spirit, as Nidaime polishes off her own ice-cream cone.

        She wags her finger, brightly. "Ahh, Knight, that's no good! You can't be so stiff when we're talking creativity!" He blinks, looking over to her, as she pulls out her phone from her crisp jacket. "Hey, hey," she says, leaning over to Alouette, conspiratorially, "we're working on decorations, and ''you'll'' help, right? Come on!"

        On her phone are a bunch of photos of fancy photo frames, cat-resistant flower vases, cat-resistant curtains, and...

        Oh no.

        She's planning on ''sprucing the manor up'' to try and cheer up Sayla.

        Clearly, this is a conspiracy fit for Alouette.

 </poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
<poem>

The name Knight mentions definitely stands out to Alouette: the idol, Ranka Lee. "Ohhh, so ''that's'' why you were at the concert. You were able to help each other!" Her eyes gleam.

"A loud, rapid heartbeat is an automatic panic response, due to the release of hormones from the sympathetic nervous system." She nods. "...But it's also pretty romantic to think of it as reaching out to someone to help you. Like in a shoujou manga or something, right?"

She smiles as Nidaime notes she had a similar situation herself. "They taught me a lot, too. Like what it means to have courage." She assumes the Auntie is Doctor Mass. "I'm glad you had someone to help you, too."

"Decorations? Of course I'm in!" Alouette grins with equally conspiratory eyes, taking a peek at the phone and the planned decorations. All cat-resistant. Of course.

Finishing the last of the ice cream, leaving only the cone left (which she'll probably eat too), she checks the distance to the Mass Villa on her own phone; only a train ride away. "It's time to get creative! I hope it makes Doctor Mass happy." And Renais, Akane, Leina, and all the other residents of the Villa too.


</poem>