2022-12-03: Dreaming Together

• Cast: Rita Bernal, Liam 7-020
• Where: ???
• Date: U.C. 0096 12 03
• Summary: A wrong turn in the cognitive plane leads to an unexpected meeting. Two kindred spirits realize a single wound may leave behind many barbs.

---

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.

        A few hours ago, Liam came to the Nadesico to visit Lucine, and brought a gift with him. His girlfriend effectively lives in the ship's greenhouse, so space is at a premium, but she deserves comfortable quarters. After a bit of searching, he found a nice, practical piece of furniture: a soft-bodied pillow of a chair, with a washable, tasteful floral-print exterior and an advanced foam core. Detachable anchor lines can keep it in place in low-gravity, and it can be rolled up for easy storage.

        It was only right that the two of them test it out.

        Liam lies on the pillow-chair, with Lucine in his arms. Both fell asleep in their work clothes, and Lucine's hair is down. Liam holds her tight, her face tucked against his neck.

        In Liam's Dream...

        An empty park in Tsutsujidai has come alive with the sounds of construction. Sheryl Nome's stage crew has spent hours setting up, assisted by local workers and even a few Labor operators. With NERV and Nergal support, the operation is unfolding as planned: they're building a venue for a concert for the ages. A concert to drive off Alexis Kerib for good

        A GAT-01D stands near the edge of the park, on standby. Liam sits in its cockpit, engaging in idle chatter with his fellow pilots--Kaworu and Lucine were talking about a new music video or something (talk in dreams is sometimes weird), while Zan chimes in from his very important role helping the construction teams.

        SUDDENLY!

        A bright light erupts from the edge of the park. A vast, immense /presence/ rises from the skyline: a long-necked, mechanical beast with a slim profile, gleaming mirror coating, a wide mouth, and rows upon rows of eyelet-tentacles.

        DREAM LOGIC KAIJU: MECHA-TREMBULONGLEE

        Kaworu, in a vague dream-way, orders them to battlestations. Liam's Long Dagger takes to the air, lead roaring from its CIWS to harry the kaiju as it gets into position!

        There's no fear here, despite the subject matter. This is a dream of adrenaline, and protectiveness, and fierce dedication. Liam won't remember most of it when he wakes up.

<Pose Tracker> Rita Bernal has posed.

Sunlight, golden and pure, seems to beam even more brightly than ususal. Tsutsujidai is a bright, warm place, after all! But this is different. Sunlight from a different source entirely. And when it eases...

"Hi, Liam!" A gentle, feminine voice just above the man's shoulder. "Wow, a real kaiju! I'm never seen one before. It looks pretty messed up, to be honest."

Should Liam turn to look, he'll see a young woman, just a few years older than he is. Blonde hair cascades to her waist, and her slim form is covered by a white sundress, blowing softly in nonexistent wind. Everything about her looks /soft/, gentle, graceful. Eyes of miraculous green watch the android with interest.

"My name is Rita. You're dreaming right now, and I was in the area... So I decided to stop by! Well..." Rita laughs, bringing a hand up to cover her mouth. "I meant to visit the young lady you're with. But her thoughts were centered entirely on you! I wound up here. I hope you don't mind!"

Rita watches the missiles soar toward the Mecha-Trembulonglee, her smile never fading. "Ooh... You really know what you're doing, don't you? But are you happy like this, Liam? Do you want to fight this thing again, or would you rather be somewhere else? If you want, I'll fight with you. Or I can take us away!"

Putting an arm on the young man's shoulder, she closes her eyes, tilting her head. "It's up to you! Really, I'd just like to get to know you, Liam! I've always been so fond of love stories!"
<poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.
<poem>
        Liam should startle at the sound of an unfamiliar voice in his cockpit. He should disengage, and identify and defend against the intruder, announce their presence to the others in case outside intervention is necessary.

        In this dream, though, Liam merely looks up, eyes going wide behind his normal suit's visor. "...Hello?" he says. In the background, Zan and the Dianthus break to engage the kaiju, which suddenly becomes far less important. "You were... here? No. This is..."

        Liam is not a natural lucid dreamer. Interacting with Rita feels... odd, like there's a note of dissonance where he's not sure if he's asleep or awake. "I never fought it," he says, realization seeping through the fog. He looks down at his Mobile Suit's controls, and then up at Rita. Tsutsujidai. Something with Sheryl. Something to drive out Alexis? That doesn't make any sense.

        Dreams don't need to make sense, Liam. They're crafted by the brain using fears, hopes, and recent events and friends and foes.

        "I," he says. Again, there's that dissonance, like he's being faced with something that doesn't /fit/. "Somewhere else. This isn't the place."

        Dealing with what may be a mental intrusion while in Tsutsujidai is too much.

<Pose Tracker> Rita Bernal has posed.

"I wasn't here /then/, but I am /now/!" Rita says, as if that explains everything.

Liam's distress is clear, reflected in Rita's eyes. Though her smile never fades, she's clearly concerned. She squeezes his shoulder gently. "This is a strange place. I've seen things I never would've believe in this place! Giants and Devils..." Rita shakes her head softly. "That doesn't matter now. How about..."

Rita doesn't have many "happy" places to pull Liam to. It takes her a moment to decide, with what little she knows about the man, to pick what would suit him best. Here's a thought! She'll have to change it, just a bit, but that's easy enough. Rita moves her hand from Liam's shoulder, to his hand.

"Don't let go, okay? This is a little trickier when you're not a Newtype."

Raising her free hand, Rita guides the sunlight, bringing it into the cockpit. It grows brighter, brighter still, incandescent, blinding -- even for Liam, perhaps.

The sunlight gives Rita a moment to set to work. Liam doesn't need to see this part. Radiance of another kind surrounds the two, Tsutsujidai fading into a wonderous realm of color and light. Pastel, irridescent hues of every shade swirl, forming into new shapes, following Rita's wishes.

And, as Liam can see again, the final touches are placed. They're in a forest clearing together, an /ancient/ forest, clearly. These trees are absolutely massive, and heavy with the growth of centuries. Rita's even added in the noises of woodland creatures to complete the image. Birdsong, undergrowth rustling, even the occasional sight of a speckled deer in the shadows of the trees.

"Isn't it lovely?" Rita asks, releasing Liam's hand. She laughs in delight, spinning in place, arms out wide. "A place of so much life! So ancient, and so beautiful! Oh, it just makes me want to --!"

With another laugh, the blonde woman takes off, running from one end of the clearing to the other, zigzagging, twirling, dancing. Her movements are joy itself, bursting from her cognitive form. Her white dress flares up around her thighs as she runs, never quite managing to get in her way.

Soon, Rita's satisfied, and returns to Liam, breathless with delight. "What do you think, Liam? Have you seen a place like this before?"

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.

        Liam's psyche is still healing from what Akane did to him using Bujack as her instrument. She buried his memories of the outside beneath a layer of fog, concealing them just enough to keep them from actively intruding on his daily life. She didn't--couldn't--erase them, but she /could/ numb the pain. She could try to give him some semblance of a 'normal' life, even if the anxieties she imprinted on him made things so much worse.

        Liam freezes up as Rita grips his shoulder. Fear practically rolls off him; in the corporeal world, his body stirs, and holds Lucine tighter. Rita is asking her to trust him, to hold her hand. He does, but his grip is stiff and delicate at once--untrusting, but so fearful of hurting her. As the light engulfs the cockpit, Liam's visor grows dark to compensate. For a few moments, Rita's hand is the one thing he can perceive.

        He opens his eyes, and looks up, blinking at the unfamiliar scene, the /scale/ of it all. Liam's breath catches in his throat. Is this what Earth was like, before...?

        It's frightening. It's awe-inspiring. It's beautiful. His heart aches at the sight of it. Rita lets go, and Liam simply... sits down on the forest floor, still in his normal suit, breathing deeply.

        "No," he says, and it's the truth. "Who are you? Why are you doing this? What do you want with Lucine?"

<Pose Tracker> Rita Bernal has posed.

Liam's fear shocks Rita, though she's prepared for it. The sheer strength of his emotions cause her visage to waver for just a moment, like a disrupted hologram. She's going to have to be very, very gentle with him...

"It's okay, Liam. You can't hurt me, don't worry." It's practically whispered, spoken like a promise.

The forest floor is surprisingly comfortable! Probably more than it should be, strictly speaking, but Rita so wants Liam to enjoy himself. It's just a little extra effort, and it could make all the difference, really! The emotions coming off him now seem to be a reward for her attention to detail, and Rita smiles.

"My name is Rita Bernal. I was a lot like you, once, just -- pushed in different directions." Rita sits down across from Liam, leaving just enough space between them to try and keep him comfortable. "But now I'm different. It's a long story, and not a very happy one. We can talk about other things! As for Lucine... Really, I don't want anything with her. I noticed your ship was nearby and came to investigate, to see if there was anyone who could hear my voice."

Rita pauses, trying to think of how to parse this in a way that won't distress Liam. He's already worried for her well-being, and if he finds out the truth, he's sure to be upset. "Lucine's a Newtype. I could feel her, here--" A hand comes up to Rita's chest, just over her heart. "--And I decided to introduce myself. I can communicate best in dreams, like this one. You see, Liam, not many people can hear me anymore, and I get a little lonely!"

Blonde eyebrows draw together, but her smile stays in place. "I'm sorry to drop in on your time together. I promise, as soon as you wake up, I'll be long gone. You don't even have to remember this, if you don't want to. But -- it might be nice to play for a little while, right? You can do anything you want, in a dream!"

"Like this." Rita raises a hand to the air expectantly. With a flutter of wings, a little bluebird flies from the trees, alighting on her fingers. Cooing in delight, the young woman pets the bird gently. "See? It's nice. What's your favorite animal? I'll call one to come and sit with you."

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.

        "Are you sure?" Liam says. He watches Rita as she dances and twirls, still clearly unsure what to make of her. The last time someone visited his dreams, it was Akane, and everything she did served a purpose: convincing him that he was a danger, and in danger, and only mutual protection could keep both of them safe. It would keep him away from the terrible, fragile, cruel outside world.

        "...Like me." Liam's eyes widen behind his visor. He still has his normal suit on. "Did... did BioNet make you, too?" BioNet didn't literally create him--Liam was born to perfectly normal parents, and had a childhood until everything fell apart--but they made him what he is now. His chest tightens. "I'm sorry. I'm not a Newtype. And I'm sorry if I hurt you. I can't control my thoughts." Which is a very roundabout, traumatized way of saying he experiences flashbacks and intense bursts of emotion.

        He falls silent. He can understand what it means to be lonely. The bird, though... "...I don't know," Liam says. "The bird is pretty, but... I don't know." He doesn't have a favorite animal.

<Pose Tracker> Rita Bernal has posed.

"Yes." Rita assures Liam, conviction in her voice. "If you want to change your clothes, you can, just imagine what you want to be wearing. It's very convenient. I'll turn around if you want me to!"

Perhaps Liam isn't a Newtype, but even he may be able to feel how... different Rita's dreamscape feels. Warm as bright as sunshine, filled with hope and excitement, and /fun/. It's a playground, waiting eagerly to be put to use. Rita's eyes are so gentle, and she's trying so hard not to force Liam into anything.

"Not BioNet. But I was taken when I was very small and turned into something else. But I'm okay. I'm free from them, now, just like you! Both of us are here together, now. Free and safe. And loved, so loved, in your case! So much that even a powerful girl like me got lost!" Rita giggles, and the bird on her finger titters, an extension of her self. "It's okay. You don't have to worry about anything here. If you want to talk about what you've been through, I'll listen. Sometimes it's nice to talk to someone who has experienced something similar."

No favorite animal? But he likes the bird, so... "Here, then. Go on, go to Liam!" Rita coos to the bird, who flutters from her finger to land on Liam's knee. It cheeps up at him, tilting its head this way and that. After a moment, if he doesn't touch it, it will peck at his normal suit curiously.

With every blink, a few... sparkles seem to float out from Rita's eyes. If Liam looks too closely at the edges of the trees, they may seem just a bit fuzzy, as though they're not fully present. And in the deepest shadows of the surrounding woods, color dances, shimmering in the darkness, twisting and turning as it shifts from red-orange-yellow to green-blue-purple.

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.

        Liam touches a hand to the side of his helmet. A normal suit /is/ comfortable to him, in its own way; it's one of the things they let him wear when he wasn't wearing his Subject jumpsuit. Only for training exercises. But...

        The cyborg's eyes go unfocused. His body blurs. When he coheres again, he's wearing a zip-up hoodie made of moisture-wicking athletic cloth, jeans, and boots. The same thing he's wearing in the corporeal world, right now. He shrugs his shoulders forwards, adjusting the fit of the hoodie. "I'm sorry," Liam says, turning back to Rita. "Is that... why you can't talk to anyone?" Again, this feels like it /should/ be a trick--

        And for a moment, the silhouette of /something/ massive appears, in the distance, between the trees. Bujack looks like an old sauropod, or a plesiosaur, wrought from steel. Its dark back contrasts with its bright, glowing neon and glistening fairy wings. Liam freezes when he sees it--he can't tell it's not real--and when the bird alights on his fingers, he cradles it.

        "Rita," he breathes, "it's--how is it--"

        It's not real. It's another scar on Liam's heart, taking shape.

        "...Did I... that's what... hurt me."

<Pose Tracker> Rita Bernal has posed.

"Oh, that looks nice on you." Rita says, nodding in approval at the change of clothes. "As for me, it's complica--"

Rita feels the disturbance in her creation, almost instantly on her feet to face it. A kaiju... In her territory? With a wave of her hand, she could obliterate it, but that's not what the true problem is. If Liam is so haunted by this creature, then he must be the one to deal with it.

"I'm so sorry. That's a downside of existing in a place like this. Our hearts don't always listen to what we'd prefer." Rita turns away from Bujack, taking quick little steps to stand at Liam's side. "We can get rid of it. /You/ can get rid of it. However you like."

He's protecting the little bird. Rita's heart aches with fondness, igniting into determination. This thing is one spectre that will harm this gentle man no longer. Dainty hands wrap around Liam's fre hand, holding him tightly, cradling him as he cradles her creation.

Rita breathes out. Power flows into Liam. Light kindles within him, spreading from his hand to encompass every nerve in his body, shimmering from the inside-out. In this moment, he can feel Rita's emotions and thoughts, just enough for them to be able to act as one.

The bird in Liam's hand shudders, its feathers shifting from blue to shimmering, metallic gold.

"Did you ever see those movies, about superheroes? Or magical girls?" Rita asks, as the kaiju approaches. It seems to move through the trees, half-incorporeal, with those fairy wings extended. "People who have been given power and strength to protect themselves. To protect others. Magic, like flying, or shooting beams of light from your fingertips."

"I'll give you that power. You're the strong one now, Liam. He's in /your/ dream. You're the hero, and you get to protect this little bird. You get to protect /yourself/." Rita smiles, looking back to Liam. "I'm with you. Let's get it out of our forest."

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.

        "...Where are we?" Liam breathes, as he turns to Rita. Bujack's heavy footfalls shake the ground; its bulk pushes against a great tree, felling with a crack-crack-crack of splitting woods. The cries of startled birds fill the air as Liam ducks back, horror in his eyes. "I'm sorry. I brought it here, and now it's wrecking everything." His eyes widen further as Rita explains his options.

        Liam has always protected others. He volunteered for tests when the younger Subjects were too scared, or if it was too risky for them. He allowed himself to be hurt to keep them safe. He risked his life to free High Tension's pilot, even though they tried to kill him and Lucine and Shinji--and even though his efforts ended in their death. He jumped into a civilian construction machine to save Lucine from Bujack.

        But protecting /himself/? That's always been a distant second.

        "I don't--" Liam says, and then Rita's touching him, and he freezes, and then--

        The gas-flame blue of his eyes grows brighter. He looks into Rita's eyes, and she can feel his instinctive fear, and he can feel her hope, her gentleness, her care. She had no idea who he was before he found her, and she cares so much. Does he deserve this?

        Liam nods. He watched Captain Britannia--and doesn't admit it out loud, but she can /feel/ it. His parents hated it. He watched it because all the popular kids did, and now, looking back, he can see the rotten core at the heart of the franchise. But there were others...

        Liam strokes the little bird's head, and gently sets it down atop a rock. In the distance, Bujack ambles on, with an out-of-phase nature Liam never saw when he engaged it. He sinks into a crouch, and holds out his hand. Quite suddenly, a river wells up from nowhere, flowing past the little bird's rock, and seamlessly fitting into the dream. Liam wades out into the edge of the stream, and takes in a breath--all the while moving slowly and deliberately, should Rita come with him.

        Wood creaks. Liam is holding the shaft of a great spear with a barbed head. It looks impossibly ancient, and yet solid, well-cared-for, polished. He pulls his arm back.

        Gae Bolg is the subject of considerable debate among the tiny handful of scholars literate in Irish legend. But one thing is sure: it kills whatever it hits. The spear flies true. It buries itself in Bujack's belly, and the head forks, splitting until it's a fractal-shape, snaking through the kaiju's clay flesh. Bujack cries out--Liam /feels/, remembers what Akane said--and collapses. Its corpse immediately vanishes in a flash of light.

        "I..." Liam says. His emotions tangle in his chest. Relief, guilt, and the faintest spark of confidence.

<Pose Tracker> Rita Bernal has posed.

"An ancient forest." Rita replies, quietly. "I was taken here to be trained, once. I was--" Trees crack and fall, and Rita's created animals run from the woods, crying in distress. Green eyes go wide, and her smile fades into a look of shock.

A voice echoes in the dream, seeming to come from nowhere. Heavily accented, it's the voice of a commander, a woman used to control. "Bleeding heart is weakness they will desire torn out of you."

For an instant, Bujack is flanked by a mobile suit. Far smaller than the kaiju, it nonetheless tears through the trees, destroying them effortlessly. Rita's eyes harden, and her mouth thins into a line. Liam can feel her burst of fear, initially, entwined with grief and deep, deep, weariness. They're reflected emotions, brought from another time, and Rita is quick to shove them away. One of her fingers twitches, and the charging mobile suit vanishes, consumed in radiant color.

"It's okay. We can fix it. But for now..."

Liam's memories wash over Rita. She breathes out, softly, keeping her head above the water. At the thought of the younger test subjects, a memory of her own answers, an echo-response. Being led away -- away for good. Flanked by too many soldiers. A young boy screaming behind her, screaming and crying. Rita looks back once, smiling, and continues walking.

Again, the memory is pushed away. This is for Liam, now. She smiles once again as Liam settles into the power she grants him, nodding softly, to reassure him. Liam can surely feel her belief, her certainty that he can do this.

With a chirp, the little golden bird settles onto the rock. It fluffs up its wings at the chaos of the oncoming danger, but remains still -- believing in Liam, just as his creator does. Rita's eyes shimmer with delight as Liam summons a river, and she stays with him, clinging to his hands. The water is cool on her bare feet, and she can't help but grin from the thrill of it. Oh, to walk in a river..!

Gae Bolg. Rita doesn't know its story, but she feels its power. Liam hefts it as though it belongs to him, claiming the heritage that was so violently denied him, and Rita's heart leaps with pride. To turn to another's legend, instead of aggrandizing himself! There really is something wonderful about this man. No wonder Lucine's dream was woven with such love. Rita smiles, squishing her eyes closed. Liam deserves every bit of that love.

Bujack screams, in its electronic voice, and vanishes in a burst of light. Rita cheers, taking her hands from Liam's and wrapping her arms around him in an elated hug. "That was amazing, Liam!" The guilt in his chest confuses her, but she accepts it, as their connection slowly ebbs away. "You did it. /You/. If you don't mind, I think I can manage this next part..."

It's a cathartic act for Rita -- one she desperately needs, after seeing the ghost of that mobile suit rushing toward her. With a breath in, she rises just a few inches from the ground, raising both her hands. Beautiful, prismatic light gathers around her form, outlining the young woman in a glorious halo of power. Rita reaches out for the trees, and they right themselves, un-snapping, un-falling -- as though time itself is un-done. It takes hardly a moment, and she lowers herself again, the power fading.

"See? Nothing's wrong at all. As long as you're alive, you can change things for the better."

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.

        Liam hears that voice. He feels Rita's fear as keenly as he feels his own. "Her," he says, and his throat tightens. "She's like him."

        Rita can see 'him' in Liam's memory: a man so deep into the Titans aesthetic and philosophy that he wore his squadron jacket years after they'd been formally disbanded. A much younger Liam, sobbing as he stared into his own reflection in mirrored sunglasses. A friendly, casual voice that could turn cruel at the drop of a hat.

        'It's okay. If you don't want to do it, we'll just find someone else who can.'

        Waking up one day, and finding out that the one who could hear and understand him was suddenly /gone/.

        There are tears in Liam's eyes, even as Rita embraces him. But he doesn't turn away, nor does he stiffen up like he did before. "I did it," he breathes, and he tries to focus on that as the connection fades, and he's alone in his own head. "I'm so sorry."

<Pose Tracker> Rita Bernal has posed.

At the sight of the Titans jacket, Rita breathes in sharply. The ground beneath her feet cracks, splintering open, allowing bits of Newtype Resonance to rise up all around her. Rita quickly collects herself and immediately fixes it, vanishing the prismatic resonance as quickly as it had appeared.

"We really are alike." She murmurs, sadly. "I'm sorry, Liam. I understand." Rita holds that hug for quite a while, tears in her own eyes as well. They shimmer with unearthly light -- mirrored by the world around them. It's beginning to fade away at the very edges. The blue of the sky slowly shifts into greens and purples, folding in on itself like an aurora. The trees sway, blurring into each other like overwet paint.

She doesn't want to go, not yet. It feels like there's so much more they have to tell each other... "You're waking up, Liam." Rita says, returning to stand in front of the man. "I have to go. Please do your best to remember, okay?" A soft hand reaches up, patting Liam on the cheek gently. "I hope I can see you again someday. And Lucine, too! If you remember, please tell her I say 'hello'!"

With a flutter of wings, the little bird returns, hovering just behind Rita's shoulder. As Liam watches, the bird grows, shimmering in metallic gold tones. It swirls in the air, vanishing in a haze of feathers and radiance, until --

A Gundam. Golden armor shines in the sunlight, and twin kitetails hang down from wing-like shields at its back. It has a singular crest of feathers on its forehead -- perhaps like another Beast Liam has seen before. Very, very gently, it reaches down a hand to Rita. With a little jump, she climbs aboard, turning to face Liam again. Her smile is in place, though her eyebrows are drawn together.

"Goodbye, Liam." Rita calls.

As the Phenex raises her higher, Rita's body... blurs, fading into light. Once she's entirely gone, the Phenex takes a long, long look down at the man before her. In a moment, the stillness is broken, radiant blue /power/ igniting around the Gundam. It lifts into the air -- there is no sound of engines, no rush of thrusters, it simply floats -- and turns. Without warning, the Gundam accelerates, soaring up and out of the dream, as Liam awakes.

<Pose Tracker> Liam 7-020 has posed.

        He's waking up. Earlier, he wasn't sure if he wanted Rita to stay, but now he doesn't want her to go. Even if she wasn't the Subject who vanished, she /feels/ enough like them to fill one of the little holes in his heart. He holds her tight, crying into her shoulder.

        "I will," he says. "I promise." He lets go relucatantly, and watches as that tiny bird transforms. A Gundam. Its crest--it's like the Unicorn's, but not a perfect replica. Liam looks up at Rita, tears blurring his eyes as she ascends. "Good bye," he says, and he waves. "Please be safe."