2022-02-01: Inconspicuous

• Log: Inconspicuous
• Cast:Elisa Kafim, Kagero, Sumire Kanzaki, Serinas Nikola
• Where: United Emirates of Orb
• Date: 2022-02-01
• Summary: Two women talk to a car. A laser shark is later involved.

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<Pose Tracker> Kagero has posed.

Kagero is a car. A totally nondescript car parked on the side of the road, which happens to look like a cop cruiser with two red batwings. It's very normal, dammit! And it's also very normal for such a vehicle to be parked by the beach as the sun sets on a resort area of the Orb Union archipelago. He's clearly some kind of tourist attraction or something.

<Pose Tracker> Sumire Kanzaki has posed.

EARLIER

"They're off," says YURI SAKAKIBARA, who is absolutely just organizing a shipment of theatrical goods for Neo-Japan and is not, for instance, overseeing the return voyage of steam/spirit-powered small mecha. "Fly, little kobu! Rise high!"

"Yes, yes," SUMIRE KANZAKI says, fanning herself. (She is in a casual sundress, pink with a purple-zig-zag applique.) "Fuwah, Earth is always so STICKY."

"That's the aftermath of Second Impact," Yuri explains to Sumire, "which was started by the meteorite impacts in the Southern Hemisphere, inclusive of"

"Yes, yes, I learned about it in science class too!" Sumire exclaims.

"Oh, do excuse me! Now then, it seems that you are scheduled for the... 2120 passenger liner with Japan Spacelines... here are your ticket slips, and please remember not to be late, we have that matinee tomorrow..."

"Yes, yes... are you on the afternoon one?"

"Oh, no, I will be doing some shopping!"

"Mm, a wise choice when you're around here," Sumire concurs.

SMASH CUT TO

Sumire is walking, more or less alone, along the sea-side road's pedestrian path, gazing out towards the sunset. The sea breeze plucks at her hair, and as she comes up to an oversight railing, she leans against it, gazing wistfully out towards the beach.

"Even after it all... Earth is so lovely," Sumire muses to herself.

A breeze stirs her hair again.

Her eyes slowly turn to the left.

Towards... the parked car.

(Police? Hm... I don't see a disturbance,) Sumire muses. (Perhaps they're up the hill? But...)

"... those flashy doors... hm."

<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.

Twin red batwings...

Elisa steps onto the road from the other direction, right near that car with batwings, which she happens to be looking at with some interest for the moment out of curiousity. She was on the beach; she's still wearing the sandals she was wearing on it, fairly comfortable, open-toed things that lace onto her foot. Her long, purple hair waves some in the sea-breeze, too. She was on her way to find a way up to the pedestrian path shortly, but...

She notices Sumire, also looking at the car. "Well," she says, "It's not mine."

<Pose Tracker> Kagero has posed.

Kagero was resting, enjoying the feeling of the sea breeze against his armor plating. He isn't sure why they gave him a sense of touch and feeling, but at least he can be grateful for that. His sensors tell him how it feels, and he has decided he likes it. That's interesting.

He's so busy just meditating on that feeling that he almost doesn't notice two humans approaching him and noticing him. But how?! He blends in so well!

(He does not. He's a batwinged car.)

"Stay back...!" He flashes his headlights as his digitized voice comes out from the (again, unoccupied) car, sounding alarmed. "I don't belong to anyone!"

<Pose Tracker> Sumire Kanzaki has posed.

Sumire looks towards Elisa, who has, logically, actually been kind of close to her for a while given the direction of approach, even if Sumire was too busy wistfully and photogenically looking out over the little bit of an overlook.

Her eyes go up and down Elisa for a moment. "It certainly isn't mine, either," she says. "Is there some disturbance on the beach? I'm just travelling through, but I'm sure in an exotic entrepot like Orb, there's all manner of... ev"

Sumire then jumps up a full yard and lands on the railing, wobbling and then hop-twisting around to face towards the car, arms spread out. Her expression is now contorted in shock. "A talking car?!" Sumire cries out, in astonishment.

AT A SEASIDE CAFE OVERLOOKING THIS AREA ABOUT 3KM AWAY

Yuri leans away from her telephoto lens camera which had been pivoted to peek at Sumire in between her efforts to get seabird photos. She blinks several times. "Is she doing a bit?" the member of the Wind Troupe of the Neo-Japanese Theater Revue muses. "It was just a car alarm, wasn't it?"

Yuri the gossip can read lips... BUT A CAR HAS NO LIPS.

We hope

<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.

That's fine, two women can just walk in silence for a while until there's something to say.

Elisa is all prepared to answer Sumire's inquiry before suddenly the headlights flash and a voice come out of nowhere. Unlike Sumire, she does not jump a full yard! She just startles a little, and then turns to tilt her head at Kagero, noting again that the car seems to be unoccupied.

"Yes!" she answers, with some apparent excitement. Then she schools her features to be more polite, "So you don't! My apologies."

She looks at Sumire a moment, and then to Kagero again. "...You are talking, yes?" she confirms. "That would be an awfully strange alarm to have if you weren't..."

<Pose Tracker> Kagero has posed.

"I am not alarmed," says the very alarmed Kagero, until he realizes what Elisa is actually asking.

"I am talking, yes," he adds, perhaps with a hint of awkwardness and even an apologetic (digitized) tone. "I did not want you to...to try to drive me away."

At this the car shifts and transforms into a humanoid robot that kneels next to the young women. "Excuse me, but is it actually unusual to sit like this here? I'm trying to learn how better to blend in," says a literal talking giant robot with wings. He has a dead-serious expression in his eyes. This is very important to him!

<Pose Tracker> Sumire Kanzaki has posed.

"Don't worry! I have my own car! I'm just visiting these islands, please don't feel worried!" says Sumire, still standing up on the railing. She does seem to have good balance.

And then

AT THE CAFE

Yuri gasps so hard the camera and its bipod pitch over.

HERE

Sumire looks upwards. "W, well," she says. "I mean it - it really depends on what you're trying to do! Your, er, your appearance was a little obtrusive but not terribly, but there are... special... places, to stay, for people like you! Cars, I mean to say."

("This sounds horrible," Sumire mutters to herself.)

Straightening upwards and hopping down, Sumire says, "May I start over...? Let me introduce myself, Mr," a pause with a faint interrogative in case this supposition is wrong, "Auto: I am Sumire Kanzaki, a perfectly ordinary tourist and traveller. It is a pleasure to meet you." With this, she bows, and as she bows she turns her head towards Elisa to mouth 'follow my lead'

<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.

"I thought so! But I had to be sure," Elisa answers Kagero pleasantly. "Don't worry, I would never drive a new friend away without asking first."

Kagero transforms!!! Elisa lights up a little visibly, though it might just be that her hair flutters without the breeze now. She starts to say more, but doesn't want to interrupt Sumire--and when she directs her to follow her lead, Elisa thinks that being polite is a good approach, so she does, bowing lightly. "A pleasure. I am Dr. Elisa Kafim." A beat, "Sitting by the road alone often makes someone assume that a vehicle is abandoned for some damage or other purpose. In my case I only noticed you because of those interesting wings you have!"

<Pose Tracker> Kagero has posed.

"A friend? Special...I don't want to go back there," Kagero blurts out, then realizes he may have already said too much to these Strange Humans. Still, a friend...? And she's bowing, which is something he's not used to. A little like Heero Yuy, in fact...

Kagero returns with a rather old-fashioned style bow, hands clapped together, head bowed. "BP-500x Kagero. I belong to nobody," he repeats, though with less intensity this time.

And then frowns slightly. "I do not want to be seen as abandoned," the metal giant admits. "Would I be less conspicuous walking the beach in this form, you think? I like the...sunset. And the wind."

<Pose Tracker> Sumire Kanzaki has posed.

The Kobu-sized car demon is uncomfortable! Oh no! Sumire has, at least, felt the spirit power of the car-man before her and can at least tell that he is not any sort of a demon. "I, too, do not belong to anyone," Sumire says. (Is it really true...? she wonders to herself, as a cloud passes in front of the sun for a moment.) "It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Doctor."

"I'm not certain that that would be the case, as someone of your height would be... well, not... unknown, but somewhat remarkable," Sumire continues. "Perhaps you... hrm... well, I..."

I'm talking to a car!!

"I think if it were a beach that was frequented by people... humans, I should say... then you would draw some eyes. But there are many beaches that are beautiful but are *not* suited for humans, even here on Orb. Why, I was studying a guide, and do you see that cliff over there? It's some sort of... geology thingy, but the beach is going to be horrible jagged black stones for hundreds of years! Except," Sumire says, "it's so for *us*, but your feet are... far larger, and made of metal! Ha ha!"

"The wings are very remarkable," Sumire adds. "I thought they were some sort of after-market customization, it's why I had thought you to stand out, honestly. Otherwise I had merely thought, aha, the police are here!"

<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.

Go back where? Elisa has no idea! But it's not really her business where 'there' is, is it? So, curious, she moves on. She has not felt the Spirit of the car-man, but she's not particularly worried about a car man. "Me, either," she offers. And then, "Likewise."

"I like the sunset and the wind, too."

A beat, "Ah, I so rarely get to go visit the beaches Macronized," she admits. "That does sound nice, even if my feet wouldn't be made of metal." Then, "I think that you would be somewhat conspicuous regardless," Elisa admits, "You are very... distinctive. But in your current form you would be less likely for someone to try to steal you. You might get some odd looks, but frankly, people should be good about minding their business here in Orb. We've prospered that way for a long time."

<Pose Tracker> Kagero has posed.

Kagero looks to the horizon where Sumire indicates, looking over at what he saves as GeologyThingie.jpeg. Adds a note: can walk there, No Humans Probably.

"Ah. Thank you," he says, more quietly. It is actually quite possible for a robot to speak quietly, it turns out. Good volume control, this one. He shuffles to sit down by the side of the road now, resting his hands on his knees and looking at the two with the same intent, dead serious gaze he's had the whole time. "So in Orb it is possible for mechs to live in harmony with others? I could stay here? Maybe on that Geology Thingie?" He pauses, and adds with a twitch of the wings, "they're not optional parts."

<Pose Tracker> Sumire Kanzaki has posed.

Sumire considers macronization.

IN SUMIRE'S MIND'S EYE

'Iyaaaah! Run!' 'The Beast of Famine has come!' 'Humanity will starve in the face of the actress we foolishly held as our heroine!' 'Curse you, Kanna Kirishima! CURSE YOU!'

HERE IN THE ORB ISLANDS

"Do you know, I really couldn't tell you. Are you an... immigrant?" Sumire asks, producing a fan from the cunningly hidden pocket in her sun dress and flipping it open to fan herself, perhaps nervously.

"Are you hydrogen or electric? I'm sorry if that's a rude question," Sumire continues. "I've never spoken to someone like you before, BP-500X Kagero."

"And Doctor, I want to apologize if I seem to be neglecting you in the conversation," Sumire continues, pivoting towards Elisa with a swish of her hemline. "You understand the situation, of course, but I have immense respect for everyone who strives to heal the sick."

<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.

"May I call you Kagero?" she asks. "If that's too informal I understand." Very good volume control it would seem! He... still has that serious expression, and Elisa still has her bright, interested one.

"I don't mind a bit," Elisa answers with a smile. She is in a long dress of her own. "By all means, I'm not going anywhere, and I think Mr. Kagero here is more interesting than I am at first glance."

Back to Kagero, "I don't believe they've ever tried in any significant number," she admits of mechs living in harmony with others, "But as I said, good Orb citizens know how to mind their own business. As long as you mind yours too, I don't see a big problem. Though... I'm not sure who owns that particular beach. You might have to take it up with them." [Characters] Soji Murakumo> i need considerations on a build You are now gagging Characters.

<Pose Tracker> Kagero has posed.

"Kagero is fine," he nods to the others. Really, better in a way. There's no 'BP' in that. "I am electric, I think." He realizes he should probably know more about that. Perhaps he needs to make a mechanic 'friend' someday who can explain more about how he works.

He observes the fan, zooming in on it briefly. Some kind of weapon, perhaps? Cunning. He starts echoing the fan motion with his hand, experimentally. Hmm. Dress swish. Hmm.

"Thank you both for the advice," he says with another bow. "Is there a way I can repay you for your honesty?"

<Pose Tracker> Sumire Kanzaki has posed.

"That's very true," Sumire says. "A tradition of privacy and respect for boundaries can produce an enormous amount of space for you to live in, even if there isn't always a physical aspect to that space...!"

"It's certainly a pleasure to meet you, you are a doctor here?" says Sumire to Elisa, who may be starting to remember commercials where Sumire appeared. Or possibly art films. (That one's not Sumire, it's her mom! But there is a resemblance...)

Back to Kagero.

"Oh, my! I should be thanking YOU, Kagero! This is going to be quite the memory - whew! And I suppose that's the benefit of having leapt and screamed as if I'd seen a mouse," Sumire continues, murmuring to herself in thought. "If the story isn't entirely to my own credit, that makes it all the more plausible... hm..."

Her hands clap together. (The fan claps shut. It seems to be made out of thin wood and thick paper.) "I would like to give you an autograph, if that's alright." how

<Pose Tracker> Serinas Nikola has posed.

EARTH.

Somehow, Serinas has gotten a chance to visit one of the parts of Earth that her new home isn't *technically* at war with. She has stared about in wide-eyed wonder the whole ride.

> ORB UNION ISLANDS, EARLIER "Mom, Dad? This is your granddaughter, Serinas." As the grandparents fawn over her, eventually a man who looks to be in his 30's comes to the door. "Robbie?!" ".........Lani? Is that you?" "Yeah. God, I haven't seen you since *high school*. What are you doing here?" "Ahaha, well, I happened to be in the neighborhood and I thought I'd see if you still lived here... Your folks invited me in to talk... hey, you wanna catch up over coffee? ...Oh my gosh is that your KID? Lani's a mom. Wow." "I have two, actually, it's..."

Serinas's mom looks at the assembled group, and points a finger at her parents. "I will be back for dinner. *No* laser shark business, you got that? If Serinas gets injured it had better be from heroically fighting bigots, not from mad science." "MOM, I'll be fine!"

After the two walk off, Serinas turns to her grandparents and asks, "What's a laser shark?"

> ORB UNION ISLANDS, NOW Serinas and the grandparents -- a belabcoated man and a woman in their 60's, he with glasses and she with a kerchief tied over her head -- come around the Geology Thingie, pursued by a shark fin. A shark fin with a mounted laser that keeps *barely* missing the boat. "I THOUGHT MOM SAID NO LASER SHARK BUSINESS!!"

"It's not a laser shark!" Her grandfather shouts, from the wheel. Her grandmother turns and smiles sweetly, despite the situation. "He added rockets, see." "It's a ROCKET laser shark!" The man agrees, nodding.

"Oh, I'm sure that'll make me feel tons better about when it EATS--" Serinas pauses mid-sentence and blinks. "You added WHAT?"

There is a very loud sound, and the fin speeds up, and then rises, the entire shark soon almost skimming across the water with a plume of smoke and fire behind it.

As this little chase scene comes closer and closer to the coastline, the shark catches up, ramming and taking a huge bite out of the boat. "Don't worry, that's what the ejection seats are for!" And so the trio is rocketed up into the sky as the shark-boat mass crashes into the rocks below. Serinas's seat sputters and starts to arc towards the car and pals as her grandparents soar higher into the sky. "Uhh..." "WE'LL COME GET YOU AFTER WE LAND!" "CALL ME WHEN YOU LAND!"

Serinas's seat deploys a ballute as it comes crashing down nearby, and then deflates, the young half-meltrandi quickly unbuckling her harness and then struggling to disentangle herself from the ballute material. So, this is why Mom moved away from Earth.

<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.

Luckily, Elisa is no expert on BP. But she does notice 'I think.' On the other hand, how many humans know how their bodies work? Certainly not all!

Similarly Elisa /does/ start to recognize Sumire. But where from? Was it that movie...? Hmm. "I'm a doctor, and I'm here, but I'm not a doctor here," she admits. "I'm a research physician primarily, though I do take on other patients from time to time."

Quite the memory! That's an interesting way to put it. "She's right," Elisa says of the living space, and then tilts her head a little. "Oh, I don't need a reward. The chance to meet you is interesting enough." The doctor then adds, "An autograph--I thought I recognized you! I--"

Then she pauses. because... there's... an explosion. And shouting. And a young woman.

"...Oh, that's something," she says. "Are you all right?" She has that kind of 'yikes' air to her at the moment because that is not great to see.

<Pose Tracker> Kagero has posed.

Kagero mimics the fan-closing with his fingers. Hmm.

"I am...interesting? Thank you. I would love to have an Autograph." He has no idea what an autograph is, but a favor in exchange for a favor is only fair! Is it some kind of attachment? A plugin? Some manner of fuel?

He has very little time to ponder this further before SHARK HAPPENS. He lumbers over to where Serinas has fallen and looms over her curiously. That poor boat, though.

<Pose Tracker> Sumire Kanzaki has posed.

"Well, then," Sumire tells Kagero, reaching into her dress's cunningly hidden pocket (it's in the decorative applique!) to draw out -- a sharpie marker pen? "Where would you like it? If you have any, er, paper or -"

BANG

Sumire turns her head as something happens out on the water.

She turns her head to track the progress of the approaching Serinas.

She gazes at the woman as she lands with a ballute-based poomp and then looks towards Elisa, asking her, "Do you know her?" She then calls something in Chinese towards Serinas.

If Serinas knows Chinese: It's awkwardly inflected and not very grammatical, but abstracted, the intention is: <"Hey! You aren't from the Li, are you? Did you have an explosion?">

Back towards Elisa, to whom she murmurs, "A hunch, nothing more." She scoots closer to Kagero, perhaps finding the giant robot-car man a more comforting presence than an author of technological innovation.

Sumire then tries the language that has been generally spoken in this scene, calling ahead, "Are you alright? Are you... trapped? We heard your... boat! I think! If you're hurt, I'll call for an ambulance!"

<Pose Tracker> Serinas Nikola has posed.

> That poor boat, though. It probably wasn't secretly an AI. Probably.

> If Serinas knows Chinese Serinas doesn't appear to understand the words; She assumes it's an Earth language she doesn't know, but before she can ask if they speak her language, Elisa addresses her.

Serinas stops for a moment and looks over at Elisa as the woman calls out to her. Her brain kind of needs a moment to switch gears. "Oh, uh, I'm fine..." She's trained for more dangerous situations... wait, should she say she's from the belt, or that she's with ZAFT? Even if Orb is neutral... "I, uh." She looks between the three of them. There is also a NINJA ROBOT and a woman in exotic dress! Wait, maybe it's traditional Orb clothing or something? "I'm okay." She reiterates, and finally gets free of the ballute material.

"No, I'm good now, see? But thanks for the concern!" She doesn't want to get gramma and grampa in trouble... yet. She spreads her now-untangled arms to demonstrate her successful extrication, and steps away from the seat and deflated ballute. "I like your dress!" Serinas smiles, looking Sumire over. "It's so... cultureful!" And then, Kagero is looming over her! She seems more comfortable with having A Large Person standing near her than most humans. She looks up at him curiously. "Oh, um... is that a civilian machine? What is it for? It doesn't look like a cargo loader, or a construction machine..." The way she's looking right at his face while saying this may indicate that she thinks she's talking to a pilot seeing through his eyes.

<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.

"You are!" Elisa says to Kagero. And then she is about to watch the matter of an autograph happening... but that is not what happened. "I don't," Elisa says of knowing Serinas. Then she catches Sumire's murmured hunch, and wonders about it.

Still..." 'Cultureful', huh? "We have a lot of culture here," she says, amused, and doesn't switch languages in front of everyone but does continue forward, "This is Kagero," she explains to Serinas. "He doesn't belong to anyone besides himself."

That is what she got out of it earlier, after all. Kagero says, "Cultureful..." Kagero echoes the word, studying it. Culture. Hmm. "Are beaches...culture?"%R%RHe is about to object loudly to being called It and That until Elisa corrects Serinas in a much nicer manner, and his optics brighten a little as he blinks in surprise. A human will just accept it when he says he doesn't belong to anyone? And defend him for it? He stares at Elisa in brief wonder. And then looking back at Serinas, adds, "I am a civilian." That is what he's been told to say by Celestial Being if asked. "I am for myself." "

<Pose Tracker> Kagero has posed.

"Cultureful..." Kagero echoes the word, studying it. Culture. Hmm. "Are beaches...culture?"

He is about to object loudly to being called It and That until Elisa corrects Serinas in a much nicer manner, and his optics brighten a little as he blinks in surprise. A human will just accept it when he says he doesn't belong to anyone? And defend him for it? He stares at Elisa in brief wonder. And then looking back at Serinas, adds, "I am a civilian." That is what he's been told to say by Celestial Being if asked. "I am for myself."

<Pose Tracker> Sumire Kanzaki has posed.

"Oh thank you," Sumire says on reflex, spreading out the skirt so that the swirling violet-streak on pink-background pattern stands out more. "It's from Wako in Ginza, you'd love it, I'm sure." It is an ancient department store that probably requires a credit check to get in.

"I work in culture, myself, in a manner of speaking," Sumire says.

At Kagero's question, she says, "It's an interesting question... but I would say the beach by itself is beautiful, in itself. But it becomes beauty, when it is beheld."

"Indeed, as Dr. Kafim said," Sumire says, clasping her hands together and NARROWLY avoiding getting sharpie marker on her fingers. "I'm just a tourist passing through."

<Pose Tracker> Serinas Nikola has posed.

> We have a lot of culture here Serinas nods, grinning earnestly! "It's all so amazing!"

> This is Kagero She looks back up at him as realization dawns, staring up with wide eyes sparkling with fascination and childlike wonder. "You're a robot?! That's so cool, what's it like?!" And then realization hits again and she hits her head with the heel of her hand. "I'm sorry, I guess that's kind of a hard question, I've gotten 'you're half-zentradi, what's that like?!' so many times... Not like I know what being a full human would be like to compare, right?"

Beaches? "There are beaches here?" She looks in the direction of the water, and one can see the gears turning as she connects the dots, obviously having known, academically, that beaches are part of coastlines but not having the experience of living on a planet with either of those things. "Oh my gosh I gotta go to the beach later!"

She looks back to Kagero. "I guess beaches *influence* culture? People wear different clothing and do beach-specific activities, right?" Her eyes widen and she clasps her hands in front of her chest and hops up and down a little, a restrained squee escaping her. "I have so much to try!"

> I work in culture "You do?! What do you do?!"

<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.

/Are/ beaches culture? Well. Not exactly. "Beaches aren't themselves 'culture', but there's a lot of 'culture' that has to do with beaches. I think the way you said it is particularly lovely," she says to Sumire. But her working in culture is interesting! As of course is... Yes. A civilian. When Kagero looks at her in wonder, the doctor smiles at him, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"I understand," Elisa says to Serinas meanwhile. "My mother is Meltrandi."

"Beaches influence culture, that's a good way of putting it. You should visit the beach! ...You're sure you don't hurt anywhere? That was a rough landing."

<Pose Tracker> Kagero has posed.

Kagero has to think before answering Sumire.

"It is dangerous to be a robot," he decides solemnly. "But I would rather be what I am than anything else. I do not know what else to compare it to," he admits. "Being a human, or human-like, seems...things are dangerous for you too, yes? That's why you build us."

Things become beauty when they are beheld. Is beauty culture? He looks back out on the horizon again, unspoiled even by recent shark boat incidents, at least in his mind. Perhaps the water being more disturbed adds to the Beauty. Cultureful-ness. He makes notes in his internal memory.

He seems baffled by Elisa's smile, and then cautious, like a cat unsure about accepting a pet.

<Pose Tracker> Sumire Kanzaki has posed.

"It's true... we age, we perish... we get injured. In hot weather, we sweat, in cold, we shiver," Sumire answers Kagero. "But even so, there is no one I would rather be... than myself."

She turns to address Serinas, resting a hand on her collarbone as she says, "I am the star actress of the," a pause as if to remember a proper name of a thing often referred to concisely, "Imperial Revue, the finest and greatest theater in all of Japan and Neo-Japan. Please, if you are ever in Neo-Japan, come to the theater and we'll take care of you."

<Pose Tracker> Serinas Nikola has posed.

> My mother is a Meltrandi. Serinas looks at Elisa a brief moment, and nods, smiling slightly. "Dad's the Zentradi. Mom is from here. And yeah, I'm fine! I was, uh, just... the emergency landing drills for shuttles and stuff were still fresh in my mind... And I guess the ballutes did their job!"

> It is dangerous to be a robot. But I would rather be what I am than anything else. She looks up at his optics, solemnly, wordlessly. Thinking of the Blue Cosmos speeches and supporters she's seen on the internet. She looks away again, lost in thought. "...I never thought about being anything else, but I did wish I'd grown up in the Earth Sphere..." She looks back up at him. "I hope that one day, it will be less dangerous for all of us. Robot, human, zentradi, coordinator... and whatever else might be out there..." Her solemn expression changes to a sad smile, and then a happier one, "everyone living together in peace, that's the best future, where everyone's diversity can add to the Earth Sphere's wonderful culture!"

> I am the star actress of... Serinas looks over at the touch to her collarbone, and her eyes widen again. "You're an actress?? That's so cool! The... Imperial Revue, you said?" Although, at the mention of Japan/Neo-Japan, she gets nervous and looks away. "Ah. Well. Uh." She wraps a lock of her hair around her finger idly, briefly revealing a pointed ear. "I'm not sure it's a great time for anyone not part of the 'pure blue world' to go visit Feddie territory... especially the Ring, right? M-maybe someday..."

<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.

"I see!" she answers, and nods. "Good. I recommend you have yourself checked out when you have a chance just in case--a crash is no joke!"

"I respect that." Elisa says this of Kagero's decision on being a robot. But as Sumire says, "Danger is part of living, I think. No matter what kind of 'life' you are."

She isn't very good at reading robot expressions so she's not sure if he's 'cautious' or something else. So she smiles a little more! And then she looks to Serinas again--except no!! Sumire mentions she's an actress! "Oh, that's wonderful," she says. "I thought I recognized you. I would absolutely love to come to the theater sometime."

"...Peace is a good dream," she agrees. That is all she says of it for now.

"Mm." She shakes her head. "I don't think it's necessarily dangerous just for being one of us," she says, "...But if you and your family feel cautious, you should follow your heart."

"Me, I'll have to go sometime."

<Pose Tracker> Kagero has posed.

Kagero has a lot to think about! "I would like a world where we can live as we please as well," he declares, standing back up straight as he does. He doesn't seem to give much mind to how relatively big he is compared to the others. He gives Elisa one more curious glance, almost wanting to return that smile, but...he holds off, and takes a step back instead.

"I will help ensure this peace you wish for," he says, "however I can. In the meantime, I want to look at the Geology Thingie. Farewell for now, and thank you."

He transforms-again-this time into a birdlike, dragonlike flying form (hence the wings! He told you they were not optional parts!) and flies off towards the black cliffs over the water.

Based on his thrusters, he's got some kind of Minovsky-powered Thingie going on. Probably.

<Pose Tracker> Serinas Nikola has posed.

> Blue Cosmos isn't after zentradi (yet) Serinas looks vaguely nervous, but nods at the comment about caution.

> I will help ensure this peace you wish for Serinas smiles, earnestly and widely. "Thank you! That's so kind of you. ...Geology thingie?" She tilts her head... and then stares as he transforms and flies off.

He's probably out of earshot by the time she calls out, "Look out for laser sharks!"

Beat.

"Look out for *rocket* laser sharks!"

There probably aren't more of them out there, but you can never be too careful, right?

<Pose Tracker> Sumire Kanzaki has posed.

Sumire's gracious expression becomes flat, as does her voice. "I said Japan, not Britannia. We're the one with four seasons and a real emperor. You aren't going to be asked to show anything other than some kind of ID card to visit the capital on Neo-Japan."

Sumire's estimation is of course not necessarily fully encompassing the situation, but Serinas seems to have bumped a sore spot! Sumire gets the fan back out, raising it up and flipping it open to fan herself with sufficient vigor to slightly stir her hair.

"Dr. Kafim, it was lovely to meet you, and Kagero--"

... turns into some kind of bird and flies off.

Sumire's fan is whipped out of her hand and flies onto the beach. She simply stares at the place where Kagero once stood, and then reaches into her pocket and brings out her phone, which is opened to some kind of taxi-hailing application without looking. She seems to have withdrawn from the conversation while still being physically present.

Well, beyond: "Enough with the laser sharks!"