2022-04-14: 'One' In A Million

• Log: 'One' In A Million
• Cast: Mitsuba Greyvalley, Ruri Hoshino
• Where: The Nadesico (Orb Union)
• Date: 2022-04-15 (0096)
• Summary: Mitsuba visits the Nadesico to talk to Ruri about the AOS. Neither of them say everything they're thinking.

---

<Pose Tracker> Mitsuba Greyvalley has posed.

It's the rare instance of the Nadesico and the Dreisstrager returning for a resupply concurrently that allows Mitsuba the chance to reach out to Ruri -- something she's actually meant to do for weeks, honestly, but her schedule has just never lined up. Something about the flow of her workday just prevents it; she always finds some other task to get occupied with, some other little slice of the ship-of-ships that needs to be approached.

It hits her like a bolt of lightning when she's two hours into sorting out a shipment of Huckebein armor, though.

She snaps off a quick message to Ruri. It's direct and to the point.

> I talked to Commodore Fikes about the Dreisstrager and the AOS. I see both the Nadesico and the Dreisstrager are in port. I'd like to meet with you.
> I know the Dreisstrager intimidates you. It's fine. We can meet anywhere you choose; I have the rest of the day to myself.

So it is that Mitsuba finds herself making her way to Ruri's appointed meeting place; she's on time, of course, assuming Ruri hasn't set a completely insane demand on Mitsuba's ability to traverse the tiny island micronation and its docks.

<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.

        The United Emirates of Orb, as it happens, is a very friendly place to the Nadesico. Which is helpful when they need supplies! (That's always. They need supplies all the time, because Nergal always has them running around on one task or another.)

        Anyway, the bridge of the Nadesico, right now, is --

        "It would never happen," Megumi asides, both to Ruri's left, and over Minato's shoulder. She's abusing the communication windows to check out the gossip magazine Minato's reading without leaving her post. Work smarter, not harder.

        "But they seem like such a good couple!" Minato protests, listing back in her chair a little to look past Ruri to Megumi.

        (Ruri, hands to her console, is reading some report or another without paying much regard to the bridge chatter.)

        "Sure, but Ai-chan's too flighty to commit," Megumi waves a hand, the communication window hovering over Minato's shoulder. "Have lunch with her, and you'll see!"

        "Oh?" Minato asks, sly, as she brings a hand with painted nails to her chin. "Perhaps you'd like to arrange something, then..?"

        Anyway, that's about the point a message flashes up on the systems console over Ruri's report. Her eyes narrow, slightly, with the shadow of a frown. Mitsuba's evaluation is... half correct.

        The other half is kept in her reply, entered soon afterward:

        > All right. Can you come to the Nadesico at the following time?

        ... the place she feels safest, because it's not just the AOS which scares Ruri. The reason she keeps disappearing or putting people between herself and Mitsuba, in fact... is because Mitsuba frightens her, too.

        (She doesn't set an unreasonable demand on Mitsuba's walking speed, at least; there should be plenty of time to get here.)

        With that, Ruri presses her hands to the console, and Omoikane helpfully informs her he'll take over automating the systems -- and monitoring her status. "Excuse me," she tells Megumi and Minato, when they look up at her getting up. "I'll come back." She learned that sort of office-speak from Minato, in fact.

        The guest lounge was, of course, specifically designed for meeting visiting dignitaries; it's particularly applicable here, with its dual Nergal and Federation sigils blazoned on the walls, because the Nadesico can never forget its sponsors.

        (Two of 'em, now. They settled their differences. It's a limited agreement, but it's still an agreement.)

        It's still painted a rich green; there's still a very convincing fireplace in the wall, parting those flags, and a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The couches are still, in turn, rich brown. There's little reason to change the details, when it serves the purpose of honouring its guests well enough.

        Ruri sits on one of those couches, in her specially-tailored uniform; that's where Mitsuba will find her, when her escort leads her in. (She probably doesn't NEED an escort, since she's associated with Nergal, too; but the Nadesico is only a small ship when it's beside the Dreisstrager, so having a guide might be useful anyway.) Ruri looks up to her, and mentally checks in with Omoikane to make sure he's present here.

        (He is. Obviously. Omoikane is everywhere, on the Nadesico, and ESPECIALLY where Ruri is.)

        "Hello, Captain Greyvalley," Ruri says, stoic. She doesn't appear nervous. (She wouldn't, even to biometric sensors. She's very self-controlled.) "What did you find?"

        Not 'what did you want to talk about'; she's talking as if there is something to find out.

<Pose Tracker> Mitsuba Greyvalley has posed.

The idea that Mitsuba herself is part of the problem simply doesn't occur to her; she can be... a bit of a blind spot, to herself. She's not oblivious, but some elements of how other people interact with her just kind of elude her, and she doesn't have enough time to sort through her own head to start catching it lately.

Mitsuba does accept a guide; even if it's not necessary, it's... a way to show that she treats the Nadesico as a sister ship, not a charge. That she's not here, despite her mixed allegiances, to start swanning around with a folding fan and a set of demands from men in suits.

She gets situated opposite Ruri, still in uniform; she takes some time to straighten herself out. She allows her posture to lower a bit -- Ruri's small, after all, and she wants to make herself comfortably-sized across from her. It's not really in her plans for the day to be a looming dick to children.

"Well," Mitsuba says, getting straight to the point. "I talked to Commodore Fikes, as I mentioned." She puts aside the elements of Ruri's business she found out in passing. She almost wishes she didn't know them, because they make Nergal -- usually the less contentious side of her split allegiances -- look pretty bad!

"The AOS is psychically... not active, precisely. Defended would be a better term. Put simply, the amount of calculation it performs without sharing with a human operator is a security risk when faced with threats such as Super AI or -- well -- yourself. Shielding much of the performance of its duties from intrusion..." Mitsuba frowns.

"... does this even make any sense?" she asks, brow furrowing a bit. "How can something be psychically defended without being psychically active?" Strange to countenance, once she lays it all out. "... in any event -- it's designed specifically to shut a potential... intruder, like yourself, out."

That gnaws at Mitsuba. She doesn't seem like she's a huge fan of the explanation.

<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.

        The folding fan is currently in Admiral Munetake's possession, anyway, but he's probably down in the cargo bay barking orders right now.

        Ruri listens, quietly, watching Mitsuba with intentness which only youth can muster. According to the Commodore, she thinks, the AOS has psychic defenses. Psychic..?

        Once she's done, Ruri speaks up, just as unmoved as she was. "Computers typically need physical access in order to affect each other in that way, Captain Greyvalley. The defences required to keep a Super AI from affecting a system would most likely be technological. You should expect defences like active screening of portable devices hooked into the AOS, reverse magnetisation to repel connectors delivered via mobile suit, and drone scrambling protocols."

        She leans forward, slightly, as she continues analysing the situation. "In the case that they were being less pushy, you might expect remote defences -- guarding its ports, screening its addresses, filtering and sanitising incoming transmissions. While systems generally can't be hijacked over wireless communication in this era, it's still sensible to use practical precautions."

        Ruri pauses, for a moment.

        "None of those precautions are... particularly psychic, Captain Greyvalley," she explains, with a shred of hesitation. "Though I'm not telling you that a Super AI couldn't utilise psychic intrusion. But... considering their history, a lot of people dislike the idea of Super AI who can empathise." Ruri, as it happens, was raised in a computer lab, and not the type which just has a lot of computers in it; she happens to know just how dangerous it is, for Super AI, in a world run by humans. "So, it's unlikely the AOS would face frequent threats from psychic Super AI, compared to typical technological threats."

        Another pause.

        Ruri is stoic as ever, as she concludes: "Though, I... suppose my abilities are psychic." She takes another breath; another beat of silence. "But, I've never met anyone else like me, Captain Greyvalley." She straightens up, against the couch. "I suppose that means you have to ask yourself why the AOS is defended so well against exceptions. Whether it's... me, or a psychic Super AI... there aren't that many people who could intrude on the AOS like that." People, she says, without apology.

        "... as for how it can be defended without being active, I wonder if that's just a matter of how you consider it, Captain Greyvalley. Well, I can't fault you for that. I didn't understand I had any common ground with Newtypes for a long time, since I reached technology and not humans, too." Is that really how Ruri understands a puzzle like that..? As a matter of perspective?

<Pose Tracker> Mitsuba Greyvalley has posed.

Nodding to Ruri, Mitsuba says, "That's... what bothers me about the assessment, yes," with a small nod. "It suggests... Nergal itself participating in a sort of self-counterplay for utterly inscrutable reasons, perhaps. And Nergal strikes me as just too pragmatic to have the sort of 'Well, because we could' streak that typifies organizations like the Saotome Labs -- or, less generously, Augusta." So that's a bust.

Mitsuba takes a few moments to keep thinking her way through it. "You're right -- the level of high-fidelity wireless interface over such distances under Minovsky warfare..." Her thoughts drift a bit. "This would represent a near-total defense against a niche circumstance. Now, niche circumstances have often become battlefield hallmarks within a few years, of late -- consider the explosion in Newtype research from the late 0070s to the late 0080s. Less than ten years from credible discovery to battlefield assumption. It'd make a certain amount of sense if what we were seeing now was the beginning of the '0080s' of AI warfare -- ah, pegging Dr. Hell and the Gutsy Geoid Guard's work as its '0070s.' ... a little strange to be talking about these recent events as if they're ancient history, but the analogy seems to work." A moment passes, and she appends, "... I haven't really found the spare energy to think this through until just now, so please humor me as I work through it." A smile, a laugh. It's a little self-effacing.

She drums a finger on her knee, brow furrowing increasingly. "... Do you have an alternative idea?" she asks, instead. It's her reflex to think these things through, but it's clearly something that worries Ruri too -- enough to get the seemingly moody, reserved Nadesico officer to take on some very real worries.

<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.

        Ruri inclines her head, a little, as Mitsuba gives that assessment of Nergal. She doesn't interrupt her thinking, though -- the moments pass in silence. Ruri's thinking too, after all.

        Battlefield history is more Mitsuba's field than Ruri's; she listens to her relate the similarities between earlier decades, which may as well be ancient history, to someone her age. "I see," she says, as Mitsuba laughs; Ruri does not. Neither does she smile, though she isn't frowning, either. "So, is it any more clear to you now you have the time to talk to me here, Captain Greyvalley?"

        Apparently, her first idea is about Mitsuba's welfare.

        It's a more careful question than it may appear.

        "In any case, you can only prepare for the enemy you're aware of," the child relates, stoic and unmoved. "I suppose no one really knows why I am, so it's reasonable Nergal-san would use me as a model to comprehend a threat they haven't yet been able to calculate. Or they expect me to go rogue," she adds, sounding utterly bored by the concept. "I've encountered a lot of people who seem to think I want to leave... I don't really see why, since I like it here, but I suppose Nergal might have considered that possibility."

        Being fair, Ruri's tried to keep the main reason why she wants to stay here specifically out of Nergal's crosshairs.

        "Alternately," Ruri suggests, looking to the emblems of Nergal and the Federation on the wall, "it's a matter of disagreement between Nergal and G-Hound. G-Hound might consider it likely that Nergal would move against Dreisstrager... if that's the case, it makes sense they wouldn't want me interfering."

        Here, she sighs, a little puff of air as she looks up to the ceiling. "Either way, they're really getting ahead of themselves... I can't just assault enemy systems like that. Well, I've certainly offered optimisation strategies to receptive units, but... if someone doesn't want me interfering, it's not polite to intrude." What happens when the battlefield hallmark of tomorrow doesn't want to hurt anyone, anyway..?

<Pose Tracker> Mitsuba Greyvalley has posed.

"It's certainly easier," Mitsuba affirms to Ruri. "I have a tendency to overwork myself on the Dreisstrager... it gives me a lot of opportunities to get wrapped up in other things." Whether it's a question of 'time' or 'here' remains open. She does seem grateful, though.

"I wish I had a more comprehensive answer, but I know as much about it as you do. Commodore Fikes suggested it was a simple question of parallel development -- whether an 'open' system with multiple people involved, like the Nadesico's, or a 'closed' system, like the Dreisstrager's, was the more reasonable choice." She glances at the wall, the way Ruri has been.

"The possibility they're afraid of you, or of Nergal... hm. It's possible, but I'd expect them to test such a system on a vessel less bound up with Nergal in that way, if that's the case." There's a sigh, there, as Mitsuba looks down at her own knees, for a moment. "I'm actually in the dark about this... it's upsetting. Perhaps if the intended crew had gotten the ship, then we wouldn't have needed to worry." That's something she hasn't brought up often.

Her eyes shut for several seconds. "You must think I'm crazy to keep my commission -- to still be interested in unifying the world, with so many unanswered questions. Or if not crazy, certainly foolhardy."

<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.

        It's easier, is it? Well, Ruri can certainly believe that. Well, maybe that means she can be a little more at ease around Mitsuba out here, though... she's still a little nervous, if she's honest with herself.

        But she does want to help.

        Parallel development... it's a logical enough choice, Ruri thinks, if they have enough money to throw at the issue. (And it's Nergal, so obviously they do. Did we mention the chandelier? There's a chandelier just hanging up there. On a battleship!) And, well, Ruri thinks it's quite strange for someone to be afraid of her, but...

        (Is it frightening?)

        It's upsetting, Mitsuba says -- to be kept in the dark.

        "Plato imagined knowledge as an unequal line," Ruri says, as visibly impassive as she was moments prior. "He suggested that knowledge progressed from the estimation of what is apparent to the comprehension of comprehension. The distance of estimating what's in front of you to seeing what is in front of you is far from the distance to understanding why you know how to see those facts at all. Or," she concludes, spreading her hands in a quiet gesture, "in other words, you're struggling to see the shape of things because it isn't a linear scale of effort. The next realisation isn't as difficult as the last... actually, it's more like it's twice as difficult."

        Mitsuba said it was upsetting, and maybe this is Ruri's idea of comfort.

        (She doesn't, directly, pry into who the intended crew were. It's not difficult to imagine a 'schoolful of cadets' weren't the intended recipients, even given the modern day's loose regard for childhood.)

        "... in any case, you're a fool, Captain Greyvalley, but I'd be hypocritical if I told you to stop what you're doing while I'm sitting here." Inside the Nadesico, presumably. There are a lot of people who could be called crazy, here. "Whatever's going on... you should know I don't hold you responsible. I'll help you if I can." If someone's in trouble, you should help them, huh..?

        It's strange to tell a Captain she doesn't hold her responsible, but Ruri's a strange girl, anyway.

<Pose Tracker> Mitsuba Greyvalley has posed.

"Too much more of that and you'll have me missing school," Mitsuba notes, her tone finally a little unguarded and playful for just a moment, at Ruri's model of knowing. "When it looked like we might have a period of relative peace, I was considering taking on a specialization in war ethics... I felt obligated to move to a forecasting specialization when things changed, but --"

... well, it doesn't really need to be said. Both of them are keenly aware of the state of the world.

The idea of not being responsible nags at Mitsuba -- but it nags at her in a different way, almost, than she's come to expect; more than anything else, the idea is confusing. Even if they're talking about the possibility that Nergal -- or G-Hound -- is up to something, the idea of a break between her own responsibilities and those of the Dreisstrager...

She shakes the cobwebs out of her head a bit, and gets back to basics. "Thank you, Miss Hoshino," she eventually settles for, with a nod. "To tell you the truth, I'm hoping it's something as simple as a different Super AI architecture. But --"

-- her thoughts seem to catch on that. "... Ruri," she asks, a little hesitantly. "Do you know about B-Type Devices...?" It feels like she's about to expose a child to some of the very worst things the world has to offer, in the process of thinking this through. "It's -- an outside possibility, at this stage, but I can't discount it. If the AOS is secretly using one, it's... explanatory and concerning."

<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.

        Ruri nods, as Mitsuba reflects on her education. "It sounds fun," she says, mildly, and must mean the study rather than its circumstances. "I don't remember where I learned that sort of thing... well, I suppose I must have gone to school, too."

        It's a little incongruous, to her, that her memories start midway through her life, and yet she already had a high-level mastery of so many topics. But if she always had the gifts she did... she must have just befriended a computer, before she was adopted. Haros are nostalgic, after all. She named hers 'Archimedes'. She's a very industrious education robot. (Archimedes is, of course, a girl. Ruri asked her!)

        ... well, Ruri doesn't mean to confuse Mitsuba, but her dreams aren't the only thing she has to treat delicately.

        Ruri's turning over possible Super AI scaffolding in her mind, trying to puzzle out what measure of architecture would lead to something like the AOS -- she wasn't expecting to hear her name, ventured like that. Her eyes widen, gold and bright, as her head lifts a little in the motion.

        From that raised position, her eyebrows settle, with a shade of discontent, over her lidding eyes. If a dour look says a thousand words, she hardly needs to explain -- but she does look up to Inez, so she explains, anyway. "B-Type Devices were faux-AI systems which utilised living human brain matter in order to achieve battle calculations in much the same manner as a Super AI. They're supposed to be illegal now... but sometimes companies have their own ideas of what's ethical, or something like that."

        A human made into a computer... Ruri's sad about it, but it's not like it's unthinkable, to her.

        "I guess it would make sense," she goes on, more or less unshaken. "I can't reach humans... so if the AOS is a brain computer, I wouldn't be the right person to reach it, anyway."

        She pauses, looking over, to Nergal's flag.

        "But... wouldn't that mean the AOS would be vulnerable to normal Newtypes, instead?" Ruri asks, sounding a shade puzzled. "There's a lot more people who can reach other humans than people like me. Wouldn't it make the AOS more vulnerable to attack instead of less?" She's not entirely sure that's how it works, but thinking about how Newtypes worked is something of a new addition to Ruri's life, compared to her familitarity with electronics.

<Pose Tracker> Mitsuba Greyvalley has posed.

Mitsuba takes note of the way Ruri describes her life-narrative, but doesn't pry. Something to look into later. It'd be cruel to press every single thing she hears.

Even in this situation... Ruri's momentary startle, those wide eyes -- agghhh, they're cute! Mitsuba can't squeal about it right now -- the topic is too heavy by far -- but she's definitely going to think back on it later and start giggling.

"Hrm -- that's true," Mitsuba reflects. "Though... hm. Research does suggest that quantum brainwaves operate on different frequencies, different wavelengths -- like, well, any wave." This isn't Mitsuba's strong suit -- she actually has to talk up to Ruri here, so she's taking her time.

"Suppose the most common type of quantum brainwave -- the type broadcast and received by Newtypes -- has frequency N and wavelength X, with amplitude forming the variations in documented potential..." Mitsuba begins 'drawing' on her hand a bit with her index finger, brow furrowing. "If you found a brain with similar capabilities, but the wrong wavelength or frequency..." A few more gestures. "You'd end up with a computer that wasn't a computer, but also wasn't readable to Newtypes. You might find the occasional candidate who can commune with it, of course -- someone on its frequency -- but it'd be a one-in-a-billion chance to even encounter them, much less that they're specifically hostile to the ship within their lifetime. If you're going to this level of trouble, you might even try to make sure that other person was on your side."

She chews on that a bit. "Of course, we could just take the stated explanation on faith, but this one makes some sense, too. It'd make a certain amount of sense that it isn't being duplicated with any regularity -- you'd need what sounds like a rare mutation to get consistent results."

Mitsuba looks over to the Federation flag, with a frown. Could it be that she's party to repetition of another senseless mistake...?

<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.

        You might even make her --

        Ruri is quite serious, as she regards what Mitsuba tells her. Well -- outside of the obvious, it's a little unnerving for her to hear, too. (She doesn't seem to operate on the typical Newtype level, either; she thinks she knows why.) If that's the situation... well, Ruri feels a little guilty, about how much she dislikes the AOS. She can imagine being in that situation. It's unpleasant. Her empathy does little to calm her nerves, even so.

        But... Ruri told Mitsuba she doesn't hold her responsible. In that way, she's not exactly lying, when she doesn't share all her thoughts. To be frank, Mitsuba still scares her a little, even out here -- enough to not push her. Because if Mitsuba isn't responsible...

        The commands flow to the Captain. She still remembers that.

        "It's an unfortunate situation," Ruri settles on, after long beats of silence. She sorts her hands in her lap, one folding over the other; she thinks her fidgeting is subtle. "We should tell someone, but... if it's not covered by NDA, it would be a military secret, I suppose. Your career would be over... I don't really have one, but I guess they'd find another use for me." Ruri relates this grim prospect with the same tone she uses for everything else. "The right thing to do is to stop Nergal-san and G-Hound from experimenting with things like that, but the adult world is complicated, isn't it?"

        Ruri frowns, looking down, to her hands. "... I don't like it, but under those circumstances, I won't say anything without you." In any case, it's important to her that Mitsuba believes that. Omoikane's ready to send in security, but it's not like they're waiting right outside. If Mitsuba had reason to suspect her...

        (Ruri has reason to suspect Mitsuba, she thinks.)

<Pose Tracker> Mitsuba Greyvalley has posed.

"Well..." Mitsuba thinks about this for some time; she doesn't fidget as much, but she does adjust her position in her seat just a little too much. (She can tell she's making Ruri anxious, and making Ruri anxious is making her anxious, in turn.) "Thank you, in any event. You've given me a lot to consider -- and I hope that..."

... this definitely hasn't assuaged Ruri's worries, she realizes. But... "... that I've been a good steward of your concerns. I know it took longer than I think either of us would like, for me to get back to you." She smiles a little sadly, as she admits, "... The 'adult world' is complicated, yes. I wish it didn't have to be your concern."

She starts to collect herself, a bit; she's not standing just yet, but there's that subtle straightening of the back and repositioning of the legs that suggests she's planning to stand up momentarily. "Don't hesitate to reach out to me or the Chief if you have any other insights you'd like to share." Mitsuba does want to be read in about looking into her ship, certainly -- but she understands that Ruri is anxious about it, and maybe even a little anxious about her. If she trusts Mayvy more, then...

... well, Mitsuba, at the very least, trusts Mayvy.

<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.

        Ruri knows she was a little cowardly, not reaching out to Mitsuba, but...

        ... maybe she's being hard on herself, she thinks. Even Akito gets too scared to face his problems head-on sometimes, and he's an adult.

        "It's all right," Ruri assures Mitsuba. "I'm very mature, so I can handle it." She doesn't realise that a line like that exemplifies just how much she shouldn't be handling things like this. (It's hardly the only troubling sign; Ruri's tone and expression barely budged over this entire conversation, upsetting as it is.)

        She sees Mitsuba straightening, and without thinking, she straightens up herself -- which isn't to say she was slouching, but she at least managed to get a little more comfortable over the course of the conversation. "All right," she nods, with that same stoicism. "I'll help you figure it out... and Mayvy-san, too." Ruri is slowly figuring out how to get on a first-name basis with people, thanks to the efforts of people like Mayvy. She fails to use her title, here -- but perhaps this way is more honest.

        Her wording on this second assurance is a shade exact, but -- Ruri thinks it's important that Mitsuba figures these things out, rather than Ruri just telling her what she suspects.

        Ruri knows what to do with people who are one in a million.

        (She knows what she would have rather they did, too.)

<Pose Tracker> Mitsuba Greyvalley has posed.

There's part of Mitsuba that wants to just steal Ruri away here -- but she understands that she can't rescue everyone from every bad situation. "Thank you. I understand a lot is being asked of you," from numerous sources, "but I have faith in you."

Ruri is, after all, Nergal's 20 million gilla investment. That's something Mitsuba can't actually change. ... Perhaps once she unifies the world's will.

Standing up, Mitsuba gives Ruri a small, crisp salute that she doesn't really expect to be returned. "If there's nothing else, I think I should return to check on our resupply progress. But..."

Here, she gets down a little lower again, back toward level with Ruri. "... Thank you for being so concerned. It's appreciated -- and it's given me a lot to think about."

<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.

        Ruri is getting shockingly used to people wanting to steal her away, in the scheme of things. Maybe that says something about her life and circumstances.

        ... but if Mitsuba asked, her answer would be the same as before. Ruri doesn't want to leave the Nadesico. She doesn't particularly care how many million gilla it took to bring her here, either. This is her ship, too, and she'd much rather be here than anywhere else she can imagine.

        "Thank you, Captain Greyvalley," Ruri nods -- a personal statement is easier to swallow than a statement of fact. She can believe Mitsuba, herself, has faith in Ruri.

        She doesn't salute in turn, because she isn't military. She does nod to Mitsuba again, though. "All right," she says, and scooches forward so she can stand up, too. (Her legs are a little too short to be able to do it without a bit of effort. She'll get bigger, soon, hopefully.)

        Even standing, though, she's just about four feet tall -- so Mitsuba will still need to lean down to get on Ruri's level. (How annoying. Maybe one day she'll be as tall as Minato, and then she won't have this problem. Maybe if she borrows Minato's heels...) And then Mitsuba thanks her again -- and Ruri blinks, head canting to the side, slightly. Her twintails tumble with the gesture.

        "I have... friends on the Dreisstrager, too," Ruri explains, a breath of a pause as she debates with herself over whether she can justify using a term like that herself. (Ruri has a lot of processing power, so this lengthy debate only takes about a second of real-world time.) "It matters to me if something's wrong."

        Ruri wonders whether it's surprising that she would be concerned. Does she come off as that uncaring..?

        (She'll ask Omoikane about it, later, and he'll bring up a detailed look into how humans use inflection to communicate emotional meaning. She will dismiss the entire thing as foolishness. Omoikane won't press her to consider why she discounts it so quickly.)

        "Good luck with your resupply, Captain Greyvalley," Ruri says, for now. "I'll take you back out, if you want, since the bridge isn't really focused on work at the moment."

        BACK ON THE BRIDGE OF THE NADESICO:

        Minato and Megumi have pulled Jun Aoi, the executive officer, into their celebrity debate. The camera catches the back of his head and pans away before he can look to the fourth wall. They're very busy doing nothing.

        THEY'RE PROBABLY FINE. BACK TO RURI:

        "Fools," Ruri comments, glancing aside.