2022-02-08: Clarification

• Log: 2022-02-08: Clarification
• Cast: Kaworu Nagisa, Alexis Kerib
• Where: Tsutsujidai Rooftops
• OOC - IC Date: 0096-02-07
• Summary: Kaworu asks some concerning questions about the true shape of Tsutsujidai, and the point of this entire exercise.

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<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

After parting ways with Renais after a long talk, Kaworu resumes his trip through Tsutsujidai to head to the Shinjo residence. It's a relatively leisurely trip--Kaworu is rarely in a hurry on anything--but as he progresses through the town, it becomes increasingly clear to him that he is not going to actually make it there without incident. A certain someone has been watching him for a while now, and the intensity of that interest only grows the closer he gets to Akane's place.

So instead of walking all the way there, Kaworu stops off a few blocks away. There's a rather tall building with a good view of one of the still kaiju there, and he situates himself onto the roof to admire it.

"Hey," he says to the seemingly empty air. "I don't mind talking to you, either; I had a few questions for you too anyway. Care to join me?"

<Pose Tracker> Alexis Kerib has posed.

Alexis does his level best to broadcast nothing -- but this is, of course, the problem. Alexis has fashioned himself a black hole -- and even if you cannot observe a black hole directly, you can detect its presence by the effects it has on the environment. He might blend in more, paradoxically, if he tried less.

When he's addressed, he comes, of course. He always does his best to be obliging, in his bizarre way. His shoulders shift just slightly. "Of course," Alexis says, moving from wherever he'd been to next to Kaworu.

"By all means, ask," he says, remaining utterly at ease for the moment. He's fairly certain he knows what he's going to be asked, but just the same -- it's best if he lets Kaworu control the conversation for the moment.

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

Though there is a lot about Alexis Kerib that is suspicious, and has only become more suspicious over time, Kaworu does still want to give him the benefit of the doubt. He was a good person back in the day; it would be nice if there were a reasonable explanation for the things that seem wrong or off about... all of this. At the same time, while he can be fairly easily deceived, Kaworu isn't stupid. Something about "Alexis" has made him uneasy from the start, like a piano that's just a bit out of tune.

He was never quite this obliging before. It feels like someone else. Kaworu can't quite put his finger on who, though. That said, it could just be the passage of time; after all, Alexis was there for the end of the universe last time around, wasn't he?

"Shinjo-san's autointelligence kaiju rampaged a bit around Nouvelle Tokyo the other day in a Death Knight he said BioNet gave him," Kaworu explains, even and calm. "What do you know about this?"

There isn't any accusation there (yet). It's a simple, direct question from one who would appreciate a simple, direct answer.

<Pose Tracker> Alexis Kerib has posed.

There's a pause. It's not a very long pause, but it is significant. "Ah yes -- the boy runs hot, doesn't he...?" Alexis starts, when Anti's actions in Nouvelle Tokyo come up. "It was an interesting thought process, wasn't it? Incomplete, of course, but simple. Direct. He's a truly magnificent kaiju, isn't he? Territorial, angry... his hatred is magnificent in its simplicity."

He moves from Kaworu's left side to his right. "He needed power to enact a plan, so I opened a door for him. Beings like myself have no grand difficulty with such things." The teal panels across his face do not -- quite -- light up in a full smile over this.

His gaze turns to Kaworu, rather than out toward the city. He watches his former acquaintance carefully, at this stage. He considers a follow-up, but he decides to leave this unexplored for the moment; best to leave the nature of 'opening a door' open for the moment. A Devil of the Hyper World could certainly simply have done literally that, rather than poetically that.

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

Territorial, angry, hateful... Maybe it's specifically because he's a kaiju, but even so: "Is that what you consider magnificent these days?" Kaworu wonders.

Alexis moves. Kaworu does not. He does at least follow him with his eyes, though, as well as with his ears. On its surface, it seems simple enough. Anti needed power, perhaps because he was going to be working in the outside world; Alexis enabled him to acquire it. However, it still rings as--if not exactly false, then still suspicious.

Because: Alexis sent Anti alone to BioNet? Really? Could a three-week old kaiju who couldn't even think through the consequences of his "plan" really negotiate a Death Knight from them? It's possible that someone from the organization did it to see what would happen, but wouldn't it be just as likely that they'd capture Anti for themselves and turn him into their own experiment? If Alexis's goal actually is to keep Tsutsujidai safe, then isn't sending Anti through a door with no guidance whatsoever unbelievably reckless? And while Over Justice was a reckless person--isn't that at odds with the persona he projects now? Especially since he was the one who approached Akane first about making Tsutsujidai from the start?

So Kaworu's gaze remains as fixed on Alexis as Alexis's is on him. "Alexis. What are you *actually* trying to do with Shinjo-san and her world?" he wonders--and if there isn't outright accusation there in his tone still, then there is the weight of seriousness.

<Pose Tracker> Alexis Kerib has posed.

"It's elegant in its simplicity, isn't it...?" Alexis asks of Kaworu, meeting question with question. "A being is at its best when it is irrepressibly itself... and Anti can be nothing but. His hatred cuts through the streets like the sun at sunset. It's impossible to imagine him changing, so long as Gridman lives. ... It's the thing I appreciate most about him."

Kaworu is dangerous. Alexis has known this from the start. Such a creature fits into the narratives he's trying to wield, to weaponize -- but only as a threat. It's a threat he can overcome with sufficient viciousness, but in truth, he'd prefer not to; Kaworu is... stimulating in a familiar way.

"..." A few panels of Alexis's mask blink on and off, as he thinks. It gives the distinct impression of worrying at a lip while thinking. "... Akane is someone who wants to reshape her heart. I've provided her the tools to do just this." This isn't really an answer, and he knows it; he's been asked what *he's* trying to accomplish, not what *Akane* wants out of the deal.

So he tries again. "... I wish to see what she does, given the ability to create out of nothingness. To accomplish something without holding onto something."

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

A being is at its best when it is irrepressibly itself... That, Kaworu has to concede. As fond as he is of the Lilim, their adamant refusal to be consistent or sincere has always troubled him, whether by stymying his ability to understand or thrusting hedgehog-like spines out at him to ward him away. Hostility he can tolerate, even understand; erraticism, though, vexes him. Be hostile, but be *sincere* about it. Anti is sincere in his hostility. Kaworu can appreciate that. He can appreciate that Alexis appreciates that too. He nods once.

Beyond that, though, he poses his question. Alexis takes a nervous-seeming moment to consider his response; Kaworu waits. He is capable of waiting for a very, very long time. He waits, still, as Alexis initially fails to actually answer his question. (To reshape her heart. Kaworu thinks of how human she seemed to him at first; how much he understood how far she's grown from that when she revealed she doesn't eat.) Fortunately for them both, Alexis follows up with his *own* desires a heartbeat or two later. That, too, is troubling even so, because of the greater context of his actions.

"When Anti-kun attempted to destroy the trains in Nouvelle Tokyo with a Death Knight, he established himself as a considerable threat to the defenders of the outside world. When he declared himself the protector of Tsutsujidai, he established that this is not a world that can be left in peace. You should know well what's going to happen next. You've spoken before about how protective you are of this place. Yet it seems to me as though you aren't especially concerned with its security."

Maybe at first he did, but at some point, he's started given little pushes to eventually have it all come tumbling down. Kaworu doesn't know the intent behind it, but: "In other words, you have no intent of actually protecting her as you watch," he concludes.

There it is.

<Pose Tracker> Alexis Kerib has posed.

Alexis fully faces Kaworu. No, more than that -- he actually overcorrects slightly. It leaves him leading just a little bit with his left side, as they speak. It's a curious gesture from one who is so careful of how he positions himself.

"Does she not have the tools to protect herself? Her kaiju need only the slightest push to grow from seed to monster -- the whirling maelstrom of her emotions is more protection than anything I could furnish her with. She needs me less every day." But again -- Alexis knows that Kaworu has already drawn his conclusions, has already seen through the cloak to notice the movements beneath.

"... The first visitor to this place was -- *is* -- a Vessel of Light," Alexis offers -- misdirection for Kaworu's assertion? An effort to shift blame for the world's openness? "He made the mistake of not wondering why such a closed world was at the same time so open to a potential guest." Framing Kaworu's suspicion as correct -- and the faint implication in it, that Kaworu has somehow approached Alexis in a way Alexis now finds more threatening than his first guest -- is all the warning Kaworu gets.

A speartip exits Alexis's cloak.

No -- too passive, too incomplete.

Alexis allows himself to exist in full, real and present and complete and embodied. The red of his glasses gives way not just to yellow, but the yellow diamond of an eye, complete with the visible delineation of an iris. The panels across his face deform slightly from their perfect squares into something rounded and expressive. He does not simply illuminate in the suggestion of a smile; he smiles.

An arm -- no, Alexis's left arm -- swings out from his cloak, spinning a spear from a vertical posture to a forward one. The right comes out to grip, to stabilize, with the faint sound of a -- gloved? -- thumb sliding into perfect position.

Alexis drives the spear for Kaworu's chest without a lick of hesitation.

"Have you forgotten? This would hardly be the first time I've administrated a space that attracts immigrants."

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

"She doesn't want to need to protect herself, though. She made for herself a quiet, peaceful world where she can be alone," Kaworu points out. His tone is still calm, even--but like the surface of a frozen midwinter lake, rather than the languid surface of an untouched summer reservoir. It's not exactly forbidding, but it is *unyielding*, particularly now that his smile has fully gone. "It's true she is talented, and strong. But she's also inexperienced. At this rate, she's making powerful enemies, and even more dangerous allies--more so than she'll be able to handle by herself. She's going to become overwhelmed. It's cruel of you to say that because she can make her own weapons, she doesn't need anyone to keep the peace."

A small overcorrection. But small actions lead to larger and larger consequences. Alexis has been moving back and forth and around, but Kaworu has remained where he stands, back tall and hands in his pocket, since he invited Alexis out for conversation. He watches, he listens, to his companion's assertions.

This time, he hears the threat.

A clear, crystalline note chimes throughout local space like a musical note. From the end of Alexis's spear, sparks fly as it meets a radiant glow emanating outwards in concentric hexagons. At a glance, it would seem like it should be immaterial; it is not. It is a firm rejection of the vicious, solid motion into which Alexis has flown, in the same way that Kaworu's frown rejects Alexis's now-actual smile. In the outside world, Kaworu must be careful not to exert his true nature overtly. Here, there is no need for such concern. He can defend himself freely, and indeed must. The way Alexis no doubt knew from the start.

"I haven't forgotten," Kaworu murmurs, meeting that irised yellow-diamond eye without batting his own. "I simply don't understand. You must realize what this will do to her. So why?"

<Pose Tracker> Alexis Kerib has posed.

The spear Alexis wields carves things away and punishes. Scours and scourges. Kaworu has something uniquely effective in defending against it: himself.

Alexis only attacks from surprise, unless he is really, truly desperate. Did he know Kaworu would be able to react in time, and allow the theatre of attack and defense? Or did he really, truly mean to meet an Angel as a Devil ought?

He certainly isn't interested in giving Kaworu a clear answer one way or the other. "... Why?" Alexis asks back, after taking in all Kaworu has said. "Why not? Must every action have a reason? The world hurtles toward an inevitable end; are we not permitted to amuse ourselves in the interim? If their pain is constant and their hearts are sensitive, we really must do our best to find some joy in it. It would hardly have a point otherwise." Alexis looks at himself and finds no reason.

Then again -- true evil is often inscrutable.

There's threat there. Alexis's weapon of choice, try as it might, cannot -- quite -- be Longinus nor Cassius; alike as they are, their purposes differ. For a moment, it looks like Alexis might achieve their feats anyway... but Alexis shies away from resistance. He needs little reason to withdraw the spear.

All at once, he is back at his former posture -- spear safely away, cloak fully replaced. "I ask that you *not* inform her about BioNet's involvement. It would upset her, you know -- and you're so worried about overwhelming her." He wastes no time in escalating to a threat: "This world's Tokyo-3 could use a test of its readiness. One of her kaiju would be quite suited to the task."

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

At the very least, Kaworu believes he knew. And if one is going to put on an act, being able to convince others of it is what makes the difference between good theatre and bad. To him, this is a warning. After all, each of them have their own special person they look after. That Kaworu seeks Shinji's happiness, and Alexis seeks Akane's misery, merely makes them two sides of the same coin. He hears it as clearly as he hears his use of 'we.'

'Does living bring you joy?' he'd once been asked. At the time, he'd been unable to answer.

'If their pain is constant and their hearts are sensitive, we really must do our best to find some joy in it,' his foe asserts. He finds he cannot answer this either.

It's just too appalling. There is an unspeakable horror in seeing the veil lifted from one like himself, and finding only a half-rotted corpse of a man beneath. How like a skeleton. Now, though, there burn no flames to scorch it clean.

Alexis withdraws. Kaworu does not--but then, he'd never moved in the first place. When Alexis returns to his former posture as if he'd never moved in the first place either, the light of Kaworu's heart fades back into invisibility. He has faith in his ability to defend himself; he was not worried about it getting pierced. What he worries about instead...

'This world's Tokyo-3 could use a test of its readiness. One of her kaiju would be quite suited to the task.'

"....."

...is who Alexis might point his weapon (Akane) at next.

Kaworu has nothing he can bring himself to say. He only glares at Alexis with flat eyes that now see him for the Devil he is.

<Pose Tracker> Alexis Kerib has posed.

Being met with the silence (void) of understanding is so nice. It's everything Alexis hopes for on the rare occasions he chooses to act.

That much, at least, deserves positive reinforcement. "Wonderful!" Alexis says, fully back to his default posture. "It seems we've achieved an understanding." He glances off to one side, into the distance again. Toward the sunset.

"I suppose I can't stop you from seeing her. But you know what will happen if you speculate to her about the shape of this world -- or tell her where it is Anti got such a tremendously powerful weapon to wield on her behalf." He swoops away from Kaworu, content to have made his point.

He slips past an air conditioning unit. He is -- as he always is -- utterly absent in the next moment.

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

For a time, Kaworu does nothing; says nothing; moves not at all. It would frustrate him to know that this only pleases Alexis further. But he is good at accepting things. And for now, he must accept that he has been put in check. He'll need time to consider his next move carefully. 'Forward' is no longer a safe option.

He turns his gaze towards the sunset. His lips lip as he shuts his eyes, the flutter of his lashes apologetic.

Then he turns away and leaves. Soon, he, too, is gone.