2022-05-07: Choosing Danger

• Log: 2022-05-07: Choosing Danger
• Cast: Sayla Mass, Kaname Chidori
• Where: Nouvelle Tokyo, OCU Japan
• OOC - IC Date: 6 May, 0096
• Summary: Kaname Chidori has decided that she won't be a bystander any more.

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<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.

        The chosen hotel is in close proximity to the nearest station and 3G Blue HQ, for those who know it's there. It's also fancy as shit, because Sayla is like that, and of course Sayla has booked a suite because.

        Look, doesn't she deserve nice things sometimes? After everything that's happened?

        Sayla is waiting in the lounge area of the suite- it's been swept- paperwork set aside and looking over a restaurant guide in the nearby area. Though it's Nouvelle, the city with the most Senpuuji Starred restaurants in the Earth Sphere, so there's plenty of options. The fact that the Senpuuji Concern is based in Nouvelle surely has nothing to do with it, Sayla thinks dryly.

        What it does mean is her guest will be escorted up, providing her own protector doesn't interfere, before then door is opened for her. Sayla sits up when she hears the door, but her posture is still relaxed.

        "Good afternoon, Miss Chidori. Grab a seat." Sayla is a far cry right now from the hardened woman driving the van.

<Pose Tracker> Kaname Chidori has posed.

Kaname reached out two days ago via phone--asking to meet, and that the reason wasn't exactly something she could talk about over the phone.

With arrangements made, the young miss Chidori makes her way up the elevator under escort. Honestly--this part still feels weird to her. Less the escort (Sousuke's gotten her used to being under accompaniment), and more the fact that Sayla Mass, war hero, doctor, philanthropist, and acquaintance of the family, is *also* involved in the secret organization Sousuke hails from.

It feels like something out of the movies, and she's not sure if she finds that cool or scary. Maybe a bit of both.

She smiles to Sayla's greeting, taking a slight bow. "Thanks, Dr. Mass. I, uh... thank you for meeting me on such short notice." She takes a seat, looking around the room. Half-wary, half-curious. (Mostly expecting Sousuke to have hidden himself away somewhere in here.)

<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.

        There's already a carafe of chilled water on the table, as Kaname's escort leaves. Sayla sets the restaurant guide to the side. "Of course. If you have that number, you're someone I'll make time for." She pauses, standing up for a moment. "...Sergeant Sagara isn't here, if you're wondering. I thought you might not want people listening in."

        And it might get Sayla some information she desperately needs. She's not that kind or generous a person.

        "...Would it be easier if we were less formal? You can just call me Sayla, you know." She walks to the fancy coffee machine, popping in a pod and letting it do it's work. "A drink? We have tea, coffee, hot chocolate, the minibar has a fair range of non-alcoholic drinks..." Oh god, minibar prices here? Sayla must be that flush.

        "...Have you been fully debriefed? Or even partially? That night was... horrific. Even if it's not the first time you've been through something like this." She pauses, a crack in her demeanour. "...or the tenth. Or more."

<Pose Tracker> Kaname Chidori has posed.

Ah, jeez. "Um. All right, Sayla. Just call me Kaname, then." She smiles, a little nervous. She feels... important. That's still not a feeling she's used to. "Uh, I'll have some coffee, I think. Cream and sugar."

She grips her skirt as Sayla brings up the Behemoth. "Second time," she confirms. "The plane hijacking last month... it's a lot to explain, but... Sousuke saved my life, and I saved his, too." She pauses, and looks down. "They were after me. I still don't know the details of the whole thing--Captain Testarossa, Sousuke, or his buddies might know more." The memory pours out of her--fear, desperation, defiance, and... love.

"Anyway... um, I guess I haven't. I don't know much, really, except that Takuma died." That part is more upsetting than she's letting on.

<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.

        Sayla nods, going into casualness with seemingly no effort. "One, two or three?" She asks on the sugar. She looks at the pods available. "Medium roast?" She asks, taking a guess on Kaname's preferences. She listens, and listens, closing her eyes. "With those thoughts that enter your head?" She could feel something there.

        ...Fear, desperation, defiance and love. She thinks back to Sousuke, a man- no, boy- who was recalcitrant to eat at a restaurant who ate Kaname's curry without hint of objection. Maybe Sagara can change after all. She certainly hopes so.

        "...in Khanka." That incident was quickly and almost ideally resolved, but... "So they haven't told you. That's..." What is *so secret* about Kaname... and presumably Tessa. How does it relate to that Behemoth."

        "...Kaname. You don't have to maintain a brave face here. We can talk about how it turned out. Most people don't normally... get that close to a situation like this." But whether it will remain most soon... She comes back with the coffees, placing one in front of Kaname, before sitting down herself. "I can assure you at least that there's nothing you could have done, small comfort that it is."

<Pose Tracker> Kaname Chidori has posed.

"Uh, one sugar, medium roast is fine." She nods in confirmation to the question. "Yeah, I'm. Pretty sure that's why."

She takes a sip from her coffee, contemplatively. "I know things I'm not supposed to. They were testing me for something, I.." She shakes her head.

"... But I keep thinking there's more I could've done that night." She looks into her cup, where a few bubbles swirl on the surface. "He was a victim too, right? That drug is what made him like that."

Her heart sinks a little. "He was an asshole, but he didn't deserve to die."

<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.

        "I see. I'd be inclined to suspect you were some type of Newtype, by that logic, but..." Sayla pauses, taing a sip of her own coffeee. "If you are, you're incredibly good at hiding it. And I doubt you would have been when you were little, if you'd awakened then." It's something Sayla sighs about. She decides to give Kaname something. "I'm afraid I don't know the situation either, or I'd give you answers. I imagine that Captain Testarossa's organisation," she doesn't give the name Mithril, given she has no idea how much Kaname has been told, "considers whatever the reason people were after you to be need to know. All I have is a criterion, but it matches what you've told me."

        Sayla looks contemplative. "...I think the damage had been done long before we met him. That drug was used in Cyber Newtype Labs, its effects are often irreperable. Even had we gotten away with him that night, the best case scenario was that we would have had to lock him up forever, and that's not... feasible." She sighs. "...What happened tonight was the way things were going to unfold. We just didn't know until after the fact." But Sayla suspected. She did only take painkillers.

        "You're not wrong to wish things had been better- but to keep telling yourself you could have done more isn't introspection, it's cruelty." She pauses. "...And as to whether or not he murdered his sister is still uncertain. But given it was in Area 11, there's no real way we know. The Knightpolice don't tend to bother to look too hard at the unexpected deaths of 'Numbers'."

        Sayla's not really sugar coating it, Kaname seems the sort not to appreciate that. She's more straightforward, someone prepared to see the world for what it is. Who can bear the hurt, understand it, and keep moving.

<Pose Tracker> Kaname Chidori has posed.

Kaname shakes her head. "I don't think so. I don't *feel* like I can hear anyone's thoughts, anyway." Beat. "...it'd make dealing with Sousuke easier," she adds, lamenting.

Another brief pause, as something clicks. "--wait. Does that mean you're..." Oh God. She's filled with immediate regret and embarassment as she realizes how much worse that must make consorting with her father for her. "Ugh. God, I'm so sorry." She rubs her face.

She gives a slow nod, and sighs. "That helps, but it... kind of makes it worse, too." She mumbles into her coffee as she takes a sip. "I didn't even think about that until after he was knocked out cold... 'cause of stuff I said." Another sip. Maybe if she'd been more sympathetic.

She pushes that out of her mind. Sayla's right, it's not helping anyone.

"But why I'm here tonight is... I want to be able to do more. I don't want to wonder like that." She looks at Sayla. "And I want to help Sousuke... without him worrying about me getting myself killed."

<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.

        "..Not all newtypes can. Mostly I get feelings. Not clear thoughts." She pauses. "...I doubt it. Sergeant Sagara is someone I can't read at all." Sayla blinks, and then chuckles a little. "They really have changed the One Year War curriculum, huh? It's amazing how quickly attitudes change." But then, even Ruri and Omoikane weren't sure, and they had so much information between...

        "I'm pretty good at protecting myself from others feelings, but I always have been. And I'll take any advantage I can get, even if I'm dealing with people like your father, or Britannian Nobility."

        Sayla shakes her head. "It's not because of what you said. He wasn't untrained. He just wanted someone to get close to try and escape. It's why I warned you. He would have tried something eventually- A21 all had military training. The lesson you should be taking is to be more careful of your anger. There are times to taunt an enemy, that wasn't it." Another coffee sip.

        And then Kaname drops the bombshell, and Sayla pauses... then nods. "I see. You've decided to be part of this." Sayla leans back. "And Sousuke would stubbornly refuse, or take the wrong tack. And judging by Captain Testarossa's reaction..." Sayla closes her eyes. "...I can see why you'd come to me."

        "Let's discount the first option: if you wanted to stay safe and hidden, you wouldn't be here now." She opens her eyes again. "...and if you were a combat pilot, something I am personally against you doing, I doubt either Sagara or the Captain would be happy with me." She smirks.

        "But between your capabilities in ensuring people listen, and that knowledge you have, even if it doesn't come reliably, I can think of a place you could help him and the rest of us while reducing the risk to you." She pauses. "You'd still be on the battlefield, though. You'd have to be, Minovsky interference makes it impossible otherwise. And you already know half of whose involved, and you've seen Chibodee and Jamil so you might have an idea of who we are. And I think it's fairer for you to know."

        Sayla's thinking is all out loud, in part to see if Kaname makes the connections quicker. "I'd much rather you weren't involved at all. But you are, and now it's your decision. So, Kaname Chidori, if you are willing, I would endorse you undertaking training with the Communication Branch of the Shuffle Alliance."

<Pose Tracker> Kaname Chidori has posed.

Kaname looks embarassed. "Well, I, uh, sort of always thought of the Sayla Mass in the history books as... someone a bit different from the lady I met when I was a kid. It just didn't really occur to me when I saw you that night."

She rubs the back of her head. "Funny you should mention that. I... actually talked it over with him." Some of the tension and fear seems to melt away from her as she broaches the subject. It takes a moment for her to decide to continue. No sense hiding it when the only other person in the room can feel what you're feeling. "I don't know if it's love, but he's important to me."

"And I've saved his dumb ass twice now." She grins a little. "Whatever's going on in my head... I want to use it to help him. Help you, too, but... well, I spun it to him saying I'd be getting training, too. So I can protect myself."

She doesn't say it, but there's a defiant spirit there. An undercurrent, usually, but it's rising to the top. Kaname is the sort of woman who runs toward her fears with a baseball bat.

And she's partly here to learn how to swing it.

The pieces come together in her mind, and she smilese a bit. "I had a feeling you might be with them. It's, uh..."

"Well, it's all pretty surreal." An ordinary high school girl working with the saviors of the Earth Sphere during the Devil Gundam Incident. What the hell is her life?

She takes a drink of coffee, and nods. "I don't think I wanna get stuck in an AS or anything, no. But... I'm guessing the comms craft are a bit safer than the flatbed I was in last time?"

Kaname had made the decision before she walked in. She stands, offering Sayla her hand, not waiting for an answer. "I accept."

<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.

        That elicits a smirk from Sayla. "I suppose it would be hard to imagine someone like me working with your father. Especially at that age." Based on how distant the relationship was now... Still, when Kaname gives her reasons, Sayla pauses for a moment, seemingly pausing.

        "...Being important is a good enough reason, while you work it out. Just... don't try to rush it." It's close to home, despite being different. "Sorry. I'm pushing in with unwanted advice." The way she talks about him, though, well... Maybe they have a shot.

        Even if the number of times you save each others life doesn't count for much in the end.

        Well. Kaname would be involved, no matter what she says or does. If she's going to go in with a bat, Sayla can give her some technique and a box of nails. "I suppose so. Hopefully you never become as inured to it as I am." Another sip. "...Usually you'd be on a support vessel. A ship, maybe. But you might be in a two seater unit." She has to pause, thinking about the Saint Lance's capabilities. Maybe..."

        Sayla shakes the offered hand, firm but not attempting to assert anything. Sayla's just hardened. She pauses. "Under the circumstances, I'll be providing most of your training. If it turns out you're not suited to it, we can look at other options. There's more than one way to help someone, after all. If the fast work doesn't work for you, we have plenty of other options. She reaches into a pocket, pulling out a deck of cards, and pulling out a 'King of Hearts 4711' card, and handing it to Kaname. "Only use that on a secure terminal. It's how you keep in touch." She smiles.

        "Kaname Chidori, welcome to the Shuffle Alliance."

<Pose Tracker> Kaname Chidori has posed.

"No, you're really not. I could use the advice sometimes, honestly..." Kaname smiles. She may be getting by on her own, but not having a parental figure around makes things like this a bit... challenging for her, sometimes.

A nod to Sayla. "It's a pleasure to come aboard." After a moment's thought, tucking the card away, she adds, "I think comms work will probably suit me all right..." Hopefully, anyway.

That card's got a small part of her *excited* about this, despite the danger. For the moment, she'll indulge the action-movie fantasy.

"Ah, I almost forgot... Sousuke will probably want to help with self-defense training."

It's a bit hard for her to imagine how he could be kept *out* of it, really. This should prove interesting.

<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.

        "Well. In that case, that's a conversation we can have another time, if you're sure." Sayla will need to prepare herself for that, if she goes into detail. She hasn't talked about her relationships- or recent lack thereof- for a while. She gives a quiet nod. "Just don't feel you have to fit into it if you don't."

        "...That doesn't surprise me." She pauses. There's a lot of range of skills and knowledge here, disconnected and scattered. Maybe she can do something about that. "Welcome aboard."