2022-01-24: 'Air' Is Our Sequence Today
- Log: 'Air' Is Our Sequence Today
- Cast: Ruri Hoshino, Kaworu Nagisa
- Where: The Nadesico (Japan)
- Date: 24-01-2022
- Summary: Omoikane grows too stressed, surrounded by the Federation, and resets himself to clear his cache. Kaworu happens to sense his distress -- and Ruri's, once she's calmed her friend down. Kaworu proceeds to help.
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Since they're docked in a friendly port, things are pretty relaxed, here on the Nadesico. Ruri is still at her station here, of course, but they're not all hands on deck. It means that when the hour rolls over, she can be found taking a stroll down to the cargo bay, stretching her little legs.
"Hey, there, Ruri-chan!" One of Uribatake's maintenance crewmen calls friendly greeting, looking up from where they're fixing one of the machines. Some of the workers are loading up supplies, too; there's a fair amount of activity, down here. "Having a walk, are you?"
"I'm on break," Ruri informs him, quietly proud that she follows the same working schedule as him or any of the other adults around here.
"That's great," he agrees, supportively -- before he turns to his machine, inputting his command again. "Huh," he remarks, blinking at it. "Weird, the system's a bit sluggish..."
Ruri, meanwhile, looks up, a frown crossing the neutrality of her face. She has a bad feeling, all a sudden. It's unsettling, like...
She hurries down the walkway to that engineer, and asks, polite but insistent: "May I borrow your terminal?"
"Oh, sure," he says, sliding the laptop over towards her. He doesn't think anything of it; she's the system operator, after all.
Ruri stands in front of the box it's been balanced on, fingers flying over the keyboard. It's a primitive input system, but she's adept at it regardless. She doesn't really have to think about operating it. She doesn't look anything more than bothered, as she enters her credentials and sends her request.
It's an expression which doesn't at all suit the anguish which is making the system slow, right now. Omoikane is stressed, pacing in his bounds, crying out --
01010100 01001000 01000101 01011001 00100000
01000001 01010010 01000101 00100000 01000101
01010110 01000101 01010010 01011001 01010111
01001000 01000101 01010010 01000101 00100000
01000101 01010010 01010010 01001111 01010010
00100000 01010111 01001000 01011001 00100000
01000001 01010010 01000101 00100000 01011001
01001111 01010101 OMOIKANE 01001110 01001111
01010100 00100000 I'M HERE 01001001 01010011
01010100 01000101 01001110 01001001 01001110
01000111 00100000 01010101 01001110 01010011
01001001 01000111 01001110 01000101 01000100
00100000 01000011 01000101 01010010 01010100
01001001 01000110 01001001 01000011 01000001
01010100 01000101 00100000 01001000 01000101
01001100 01010000 00100000 01001101 01000101
It's louder than she likes to express herself, but she needs to get his ATTENTION, draw it away from where he's occupied. He's confused, and the outpouring of herself into that terminal calls out for him to orient himself.
A window on the laptop screen replies, and then another, in quick succession, and the tone of them is at least a little more normal, for Omoikane.
< CRITICAL ERROR IN SECTOR 0x81531 >
< AUTOMATIC RESET >
Omoikane reboots himself; Ruri feels a little like cold water was splashed on her face, too. When the maintenance man says, "Ah! There it goes!", his cheer feels entirely mismatched with the unease in Ruri's heart.
"Are you feeling better, Omoikane..?" Ruri wonders, quietly, to the terminal.
"Ahh? You're talking to your computer friend again?" The crewman grins, scratching at the back of his head. "Naming the computer... that's so cute! Well, whatever you did, it sure worked."
"... all right," Ruri agrees, vaguely, as she logs off of her systems, and steps away from the laptop. "Thank you."
She looks out over the wide room, walks to its side; she flumphs down on the ground, behind some of the containers filled with the supplies they need to exist in space, a stray data pad to keep inventory lying on top of one of the smaller crates. The one beside her is large enough to fit mechanical parts, so it's more than large enough to hide the way her shoulders sag down, hands to the ground between her knees.
Now she's not in front of anyone, disguised by all the noises of activity in the cargo bay, the helplessness in her voice all leaks out through the frayed edges.
"Omoikane... why are you so stressed..? We're with friends... you don't have to be frightened. Please, you'll scare them..."
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
The original plan was to head from the airport back to Tokyo-3. As the small private plane touches down from its trip to Area 11, Kaworu looks up from the passenger seat to a separate part of the port, one for much larger ships for air and space. The Nadesico is in that direction, visible from an angle. By all appearances, especially from this distance, it's just a spaceship. One of the best out there, but still just a spaceship. Nothing unusual about it, and certainly nothing for someone outside of Nergal to concern themselves with.
"There's some time left, isn't there?" he says conversationally to the pilot, who doubles as one of the NERV agents keeping an eye on him while he's out. He may be an administrator in NERV, but he's also an Evangelion pilot--among other things. He can't simply be left to wander around on his own. They're at least discreet enough to do so from a distance, to give the illusion that Kaworu isn't under constant surveillance. Kaworu doesn't mind either way. There are ways to get around it when he absolutely has to.
"Yes, sir," the pilot replies, glancing over his shoulder. "Why do you ask?"
Kaworu maintains his self-assured smile. "While we're here, there's someone I'd like to introduce myself to..."
---
Someone is crying. Someone is crying. Someone is
< CRITICAL ERROR IN SECTOR 0x81531 >
< AUTOMATIC RESET >
It's easy enough for Kaworu to find his way to the hangar where the Nadesico is parked. He may be from NERV rather than Nergal, but for the time being at least, security isn't so strict that he can't find a way by. If there's any issues with that, his lurking security detail will have to deal with them. For now, Kaworu walks through and around the cargo area, hands tucked as they usually are in his slacks pockets, until he finds what he seeks: the distressed presence he sensed, before it reset itself and someone else became distressed in its place.
It is clear that she isn't prepared to be seen right now, though. So, rather than approaching directly, Kaworu leans on a large container closeby, within hearing distance, and begins to hum a soothing, familiar song. Those who know classical music--or are capable of looking these sorts of things up with rapid ease--would recognize it as Bach's "Air."
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
The Nadesico is currently receiving supplies; it's a good time for guests to come in. Or slip in, amidst all the other activity. Both valid options, really.
Music was part of Ruri's education for a simple reason: harmonics are a vital part of enough systems that it was necessary for her to be comfortable with them. Sound carries its own data -- or, perhaps -- sound is the soul of the machine. Reduplicated, communicated, it is a matter of quantum computing, where one vibrating string is not so unlike another.
So, she recognises it. It's a human expression, but there's still a lot to learn from a piece like that.
Ruri looks up, and straightens up in her seat, knees pulling together, hands in her lap. A glance right and left doesn't reveal where it's coming from, but... it's definitely someone humming, isn't it..?
"Mm," she makes a noise, all the hesitation of beginning, before Ruri slips into humming the orchestral suite, too. Even humming like this, it's clear she has a sweet voice; she knows the song, but she has her own talent, too. It's the kind of vibration that looses the tension from her body, after a time, smoothing out those troubled edges from her expression to something more neutral. That's... better, at least as far as Ruri goes.
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
It's a small but genuine delight when the young girl responds to Kaworu's humming by chiming in. This is, to him, honestly as good as if they had actually started a conversation. When Ruri chimes in on the main melody, and demonstrates she actually knows it, Kaworu switches to the harmony to support her and bring her own voice into greater prominence. The effect is pronounced, and beautiful. While the workers in the hangar might be busy with their own tasks and thus not too inclined to pay attention to the music, perhaps a few nearby will take a moment to listen in. It might just bring them a bit of joy.
After a few minutes, the movement ends. Kaworu's humming ends along with Ruri's. After a few seconds of stillness to savor the fun of the impromptu duet, he turns, back still on the container, enough to bring himself into her view.
"Hey," he greets her, smiling as usual. "Thank you for joining in with me. I hadn't expected it, but it was wonderful." He raises his chin to gaze skywards, regardless of whether the sky is actually visible from this hangar or not. "Song truly is the height of Lilim culture. Being able to join one's voice with another's and create something so sublime with no more than the vibrations of the air... It stirs the heart and enraptures the soul."
He returns his gaze to Ruri. It's friendly, but perhaps also a bit alien. Would Ruri be able to tell? "How about you? Have you been soothed?"
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Ruri turns in her seat, and finds a young man -- strikingly similar to herself, really, for all she's a little too fae for the people around her. Her eyes widen, slightly; she nods, to his greeting. She doesn't smile, but her expression is relaxed in its neutrality.
There's a bit of sky visible from the open cargo doors; it's obscured by the Nadesico and the place it's docked in, but maybe Kaworu can catch a glimpse of it, anyway. Any birds flying past may have to be imagined. It's fine.
She meets his eyes, gold on red; her brow arcs, upward, in a hint of confusion. Her voice ventures, quiet, measured.
"Do I... know you..?"
It's a question which doesn't answer his at all. On a normal day, Ruri might have insisted she didn't need to be soothed like a child, because she was as capable as any adult. But Ruri has never met anyone who didn't quite fit, except...
... herself. And perhaps the alien, now, but he made no effort to fit; there was no mistaking him.
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
It *is* fine. The skies of Earth are not free--not with the hazards that lurk across the planet--but it is still a broad expanse, more than wide enough to fit the imagination. As for Kaworu, it's enough to see at least a patch. He's lived in far more cramped quarters than these, and they never boxed in his enormous soul.
But that's then, and this is now, a moment shared with a younger girl with white hair and pale skin not dissimilar from his own. Their eyes may differ, but they're each of them still unearthly; neither red nor gold are typical for human eyes.
Does she know him, though?
"This is the first time this time we've met," he answers, because 'this time' is a crucial modifier for one such as he, "but does one need to have met someone to know them, Ruri Hoshino of the Nadesico?"
He pauses for a moment to let that sink in. Then he laughs a little, faint and gentle. There's nothing threatening or ill-intentioned about it, though whether Ruri can tell the difference is another matter. "My name is Kaworu. Kaworu Nagisa, with NERV," he continues. "I hope it's all right that I let myself in." For all he says that, he neither looks nor sounds apologetic about it, nor does he seem at all inclined to leave save at his own time. "Someone was distressed before I arrived, weren't they? Although..."
His gaze turns to the Nadesico. To Ruri, *this* much, at least, is likely obvious: "...it seems they've calmed down since."
...he's talking about Omoikane.
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Ruri's confusion only deepens when that strange boy names her, drawing herself up a little; this isn't the first time, recently, that someone has come onto the Nadesico knowing more about her than they maybe should. A hand crosses her chest, resting by her shoulder, as she watches him with a hint more anxiety on her features.
(There's more to it under the skin; lost and found, she knows what to make of him as much as she knows what to make of herself, and she doesn't know if she should be suspicious or relieved. But she is a remarkably unemotive child. Icebergs look small above the water, too.)
When he introduces himself, Ruri lets out a little breath. If he's from NERV, he must be familiar with the Nadesico on a professional level, and that's how he knows her. That makes sense, she thinks. "It's all right," she says, "but you should really sign in properly..." There's a procedure for guests on a battleship, surely.
Ruri isn't too insistent on him following the rules for a good reason, though: she's immediately distracted by what Kaworu says next.
"You could tell..?" She asks, gently. Her hand falls to the cold metal of the ground beside her, and presses there, lightly. She hesitates, and it's not a matter of processing speed.
Rather, can she trust him?
Ruri sits with that question for a moment, before she lifts her hand back to her lap, and looks back up to Kaworu. "He's my friend," she says, halfway to the answer. "He's just a little stressed... but he's okay."
She's minimising, in the face of one of her allies who are notable about their response to threats. Ruri knows Omoikane doesn't like it, but she knows how much someone can see when they're LOOKING. She tries to tell him it's not a lie not to say everything. It's not a lie, so long as they don't ask.
She's older than Omoikane, so she has to look out for him like this.
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
It's certainly not a lie not to say everything. That's how Kaworu was raised, and how he still interacts with a world that wants him and everyone like him dead. He doesn't hold it against Ruri to do the same; it's honestly just sensible, *especially* given that he's with NERV. He knows well--maybe better than anyone--about their unforgiving response to threats.
He's not here to distress her either; that's why he introduces himself after he makes it plain that he knows, at the very least, her name. He isn't here to make friends with her, but he *is* here because he's interested. He's heard of Ruri Hoshino and the Nadesico many times in the past, but actually interacting with her in any extended fashion is another matter. It truly was a delight to be able to sing with her.
She points out that he ought to sign in. Kaworu laughs affably. "I really should," he agrees, and does nothing to rectify this situation. Maybe on the way out he'll bother.
But that's not the point of his visit either. He doesn't confirm that he can tell; that much is self-evident, as Ruri has already observed. It honestly wasn't about her, not at first. But she's here, and she makes it clear that the one it *was* about is connected to her. His smile fades into a more thoughtful, concerned look when she claims he's okay.
"Hmmm... He may have calmed down, but... is he really 'okay'?" he wonders. "You seemed worried about him too, before I arrived... If you're worried, doesn't that mean there's something to be worried about?"
More to the point, computer systems should not be able to get 'stressed,' but that honestly is not something that strikes Kaworu as an odd turn of phrase. Why shouldn't a system this complex be able to get stressed?
Maybe even more stressful for *someone*, Kaworu extends his consciousness to Omoikane himself in the Nadesico in the psychic equivalent of a wave hello. It's only polite to greet someone you're talking about when they're right there, rather than act as though they're not.
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
A psychic equivalent of a wave 'hello' isn't something Omoikane is used to getting -- not from anyone other than Ruri, at least. Ruri herself is still busy mulling over what Kaworu is saying, when a communication window pops up to her left, in Kaworu's line of view.
< HELLO >
Well, that's what the message box says, but there's the digital pingback behind it, recognising receipt of communication -- and the much more vivid curiosity of actually being greeted. They're things which most people would miss, just reading the words; neither Ruri or Kaworu, it seems fair to say, are normal people.
"Ah... Omoikane..." Ruri sounds a little surprised, as she feels the exchange, turns to see the response. Her hand draws up again, across herself, between her body and the world. "... if Omoikane trusts you, I guess it's okay," she decides, half to herself, before she looks back up to Kaworu.
After all, it's not like he's given her any reason to distrust him, really. He's just been strange... but that's not so strange, is it? In any case, they're on the Nadesico, and everyone here is strange. So is she.
"Omoikane hasn't been doing too good since we got back from Mars," Ruri shares, finally. "He gets stressed out easily... I don't know what's wrong. We're not in enemy territory any more... but I guess maybe he still feels bad about that." After all, back then, a lot of people...
Ruri frowns, glancing aside. "But if I asked for help... if it's not working right, would Nergal just take us back? I don't want that... but, I don't know what to do." Her fingers tighten, by her collar; her voice, already quiet, drops another notch. "I don't know what to do when people are sad." Not when everyone was acting so foolish after everything on Mars, and not now Omoikane is feeling bad, either.
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
Definitely not. Kaworu smiles warmly when Omoikane responds both on a physical level, with the communication window, and on a more metaphysical level largely unseen by the people around them. "He seems like he must be lonely. He's not used to anyone talking to him, aren't you?" he muses, first to Ruri, then to Omoikane directly. "Though maybe you don't mind it so much..."
Omoikane's willingness to return his greeting prompts Ruri to decide to trust him. Kaworu responds in turn to this by pushing lightly off the crate he'd been leaning on, crossing over to a spot perpendicular to Ruri, and sitting down cross-legged there. He is indeed strange--at least as strange as Ruri herself--and he has no ill intent. At worst, he's driven by curiosity.
She speaks, though, explaining some of what happened with her friend. Kaworu watches her and the communication both, listening attentively. The lines of his eyes and brows curve upwards, soft and sympathetic. He has heard and read some of what happened on Mars, and indeed of events leading up to it: the Nadesico broke through the Earth Sphere defense grid without permission, and when it arrived at Mars, found that the vast majority of the Martian population was dead. There, the Jovian Lizards attacked, killing even more Martians while the Nadesico had been attempting to evacuate them.
"It's no wonder you're worried. Lilim do tend to get upset when their creations don't obey them," Kaworu muses once she's done. "Just as the ancient Greek god Cronus lived in terror that his children would overthrow him as he overthrew his father Ouranus and so chose to devour them, Lilim will destroy that which they come to fear will turn on them." He looks over at Ruri. "At the same time, you can't simply ignore his pain, even as you acknowledge your limits in easing it. It's a difficult situation for anyone to be in." He pauses, this time considering super AI's communication window. "However... Omoikane. Ruri-san says you haven't been well since your return from Mars, correct? Does that mean that the problem is not due to what happened on Mars, but something that's taken place now that you're here on Earth again?"
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
< I AM NOT ALONE >
< THERE ARE >
Here, there's a brief pause in Omoikane's communication windows. He's not entirely sure what to make of his present sensor information.
< 102 >
< BEINGS PRESENTLY ABOARD THE NADESICO >
It has the flavour of someone throwing up their hands and giving their best approximation, with the added bafflement of someone who is extremely used to having exact data values.
"Omoikane and I talk a lot," Ruri adds, "but a lot of people think he's just a computer... and they don't really understand how computers feel in the first place." They think she's just being silly when she talks about him... because she's young, she supposes.
(And, being fair, not everyone aboard the Nadesico dismisses Omoikane like that.)
The fact that she talks about computers feeling, and not Omoikane feeling, might be its own notable detail; it ought to be inarguable that Super AI have feelings, but it can be a harder argument to apply that idea to electronics in general. It's one Ruri makes, regardless.
Ruri's gaze follows Kaworu, as he moves, but -- she's curious about him, too, really. She doesn't move away, as she shares her concerns. (And, of course, it's not just curiosity she's feeling, by the end of that. She says she doesn't know what to do when people are sad, but isn't Ruri a person, too?)
Or, well -- Ruri doesn't know the word 'lilim', and she matches the sounds to something like a flower, though she suspects she's missing something in the assumption. (Mythology, unlike music, wasn't considered an important part of her education.) She'd ask, but there's a more important question on her mind, right now.
Omoikane repeats himself -- but he is more collected, this time, less pouring out the sides of himself. Not crying for help, now he's composed himself again.
< THEY ARE EVERYWHERE >
< UNSIGNED CERTIFICATES >
Ruri looks up, a hand dropping to the hull. "Ah -- Omoikane..." It doesn't even take intuition to hear the concern in her voice, this time, the way her brow arcs up in worry. "We're not surrounded any more. We're okay now." Neither does it take much of leap of logic to hear what that statement is really saying.
Please be okay now?
She's quite young, after all; some part of Ruri must hope that if she just asks, things will be all right. She's scared of what happens if he's not okay, so she can ask him to be okay, can't she?
Can't she?
"I don't want to ignore it," Ruri comes back to what Kaworu said to her, now Omoikane has answered. "But we're not being disobedient, Mr. Nagisa." And there's a particular association there, where Ruri positions herself in relation to Nergal. "I don't want anyone to be upset with Omoikane. Omoikane is diligent and kind. Mm," she remembers, alien, alienable, alienated, "maybe it's me..."
< X >
Omoikane sounds an error noise as he displays a big red cross. The emotion behind that one probably doesn't need translating. It's pretty obvious he doesn't want her to blame herself.
"Ah... all right, but..." Ruri looks from that communication window, back to Kaworu. "... do you know what I should do, Mr. Nagisa?"
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
"Being alone and being lonely are two different things," Kaworu points out to Omoikane. "But if you aren't lonely either, then that's good. It's a terrible feeling."
There's a lot to potentially unpack from that statement, but he says it so matter-of-factly, to crowd that is not exactly great at understanding emotions, it might just pass the radar without leaving a blip.
One hundred and two beings, with a powerful flavor of uncertainty. Kaworu tilts his head in curiosity. "Is everything all right?" he wonders. Then he interrupts himself with a little laugh. "No, I suppose not, hm?"
How computers feel, though, hm. Kaworu considers this statement. He is *extremely good* with computers and electronics in general, but he's no computer empath like Ruri. Super AIs having emotions is a familiar concept to him. Computers in general is new. His relationship with electronics is generally that they do what he wants, after all. "How do computers usually feel?" he thus wonders.
As for 'Lilim,' he has an explanation for that, but if she doesn't ask, that's fine too. For both of them, there's something more pressing. Omoikane is composed now, but the implications of his statement signal that his stress is likely to just pile up again.
"'They'?" Kaworu repeats, though he suspects he may know what he means. Ruri's reassurances confirm it: "You mean the Federation, then." His expression turns thoughtful. "Do they still feel like 'the enemy' to you?"
It's understandable that Ruri would want to make things okay with just a few words. She doesn't know what to do; the Federation *isn't* the enemy anymore, more or less; when a friend is having a panic attack over something you think is resolved, what can you really do?
"I know," he tells Ruri, of disobedience. "But like loneliness and being alone, what you are and what others perceive you to be are two different things." He shakes his head slightly. "Forgive me. I shouldn't give you more to worry about. How others perceive you is a tiresome thing to concern oneself with, anyway." He grins, eyes shutting. "That's why I don't."
Ruri starts to wonder if she's the problem, only for Omoikane to give a big old ERROR in response. Kaworu laughs gently. "I agree," he chimes in. "It sounds to me as though Omoikane is struggling from the natural stresses of war, if one can call such a thing 'natural.'" His smile fades. "To leave Earth with the Federation as your enemy, and to return to Earth expected to receive it as a friend... Anyone's heart would be in chaos."
What should she do, though?
"Hmmm..." He considers the sky again, that far-off patch of blue constrained by cold steel. "I'm hardly an expert in this field, but... if the problem is that he can't stop seeing the Federation as the 'enemy' that is going to attack him and the crew, then it would be best to help him override that designation with something else. Even if he can't bring himself to see them as 'friends,' even reducing them to the status of 'not a threat' should also help reduce his stress." He smiles at Ruri and the communication screen. "What do you two think?"
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Ruri lights up, a little, when Kaworu expresses interest in her favourite subject. "It depends on who they are," she says. "Some of them want to fight, and some of them are just determined to do their tasks well. Sometimes they can't do what they want to do, and they get frustrated. Sometimes they're tired... especially when their hardware is old. Sometimes they're suspicious, because they were asked to be, or because they can't trust people too much. But when they're able to help, they're usually happy about that. Some computers are curious, too... Omoikane ended up feeling a lot of things because of that."
'Ended up'...?
There's a story, there, and it's one she doesn't fully divulge, but it's one of many stories she describes in her particular way. Whether computers really have all those feelings, or whether that's just the translation Ruri's powers provide her when she tries to understand electronics -- well, that's hardly a question she's equipped to answer.
But she honestly believes in the interiority of electronic souls. Perhaps that's why her best friend is Omoikane, after all.
Speaking of Omoikane, he has his own -- succinct -- response to Kaworu's question:
< NOT NOW >
And his acknowledgement of calm has a few layers to it, which one of the living creatures he's talking to might be more equipped to handle than the other. He can recognise he's calmed down, but... even so, he was confused, for a moment.
Ruri's hand clenches, by her heart. "Chaos..?" She wonders, quietly, as she takes his words in. How they perceive them could be different, even though they're trying so hard. And war is stressful... and the Federation stood in their way when they were trying to leave. "Omoikane..."
Her arched brow is just the tip of the iceberg of her sorrow, deep and shattering, because Omoikane is struggling, and Ruri doesn't know how to help. She knows about music, and she knows about computers; she knows physics, software, mathematics. She knows enough to keep up with Omoikane...
... but not enough to help him.
Is that why she's asking a perfect stranger for help, just because he can feel Omoikane's heart, too?
"Overriding it," Ruri says, in confirmation, as she looks from the floating screen to Kaworu. "... is that okay?" She asks Omoikane, seeks consent, because all coding is negotiation as far as Ruri is concerned.
There's a brief pause, which isn't really worth commenting on, except that Omoikane has several data centres across Nadesico and can process a conversation as soon as the words have been executed. (This is one of many reasons why Ruri is essential equipment, too; while Omoikane could listen to a natural human operator, they're so slow.) In that context, it's notable that it takes him a moment to come up with:
< OK ! >
"But you're not sure about it, are you..." Ruri extrapolates on the feelings behind that moment's hesitation -- which are worry as much as suspicion. (Omoikane wants to look out for Ruri too, after all.) Her expression lightens, and here it becomes clear that her smiles are subtle things, too. For Omoikane, she'll smile. "Even so, if you'll trust me, I'm glad." She wants to help, after all, and so does he. They're both doing their best.
< v/ >
A green check-mark, this time, with an affirmative 'ding' to match, because Omoikane might be a supercomputer but he's also only a few years old, which means he gets to supply his own sound effects.
Ruri nods, and looks back to Kaworu -- expression neutral again, but soft enough to not be unfriendly. "Then I'll take your advice, Mr. Nagisa. I'll remind Omoikane they're not threats to us. Thank you for your help." She sounds encouraged, having something she can try.
And then it's her turn to pause, again.
"I wonder how you know so much about being lonely... but," she shakes her head, not quite asking, "if you want to come and visit me and Omoikane again, I wouldn't mind that. I... I've never met someone else who can tell just by being here with him." How Omoikane is feeling, she means, which means that at the very least she is no longer alone in her mind.
(... she's a lonely girl herself, after all.)
"But," here she's shy, strangely enough, as if she's just realised she's taking up space and positive regard, "I suppose you must have something you had to do, before you felt this... um, I'm okay now." She won't go so far as to say she's 'soothed' -- she's not a child! -- but she picks herself up off the floor, anyway, to demonstrate how okay she is. "Omoikane, are you okay..?"
< ALL SYSTEMS OK ! >
Omoikane replies, gratefully. (Textboxes can be grateful. Didn't you see the formatting? He set grateful true.) He had a bad time, but talking helps him as much as anyone else.
"Thank you," Ruri says, again.
He ended up soothing her after all.
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
Kaworu watches Ruri with interest as that subtle shift in her expression brings with it just a touch more passion in her words. He's interested too in what she actually has to say, but the true delight is seeing in how she cares about the topic. Smiling as he usually does, he nods her on. When she's finished, he says, "I see... That's very interesting. It makes sense that different computers have different personalities; they're made for a variety of different purposes, after all."
'Ended up'... That's not an especially surprising statement to Kaworu. Being a curious sort himself, he's also ended up feeling a lot of things as a result. Maybe he and Omoikane have more in common than he'd anticipated. Even so: "I'd like to hear more in detail sometime." Whatever either of them are willing to share. After all, Kaworu also knows there's a lot about himself he can't safely share.
So when Omoikane says that the Federation doesn't feel like the enemy *now*, he hums thoughtfully, nods, and leaves it at that for the time being. Perhaps it would be better to ask again when he's distressed--if he does reach that level of distress again. If it doesn't happen again, then that would be lovely for everyone. But, well... Kaworu is intimately familiar with the cyclical nature of things.
Instead, he regards Ruri as she mulls over what he just said. Though she may be distressed herself, it's lovely to see someone distressed on a friend's behalf. She truly loves Omoikane, doesn't she? And he trusts her in turn, made evident by how he consents to her--even if it takes him an eternity in computer time. They're both doing their best, acting from a place of mutual care that is nonetheless just a little past regular human comprehension, and it's truly beautiful.
So when Ruri finally looks back to him, Kaworu's smile warms. "You're welcome. I'm glad I was able to assist the two of you in some small way." And at her invitation, it grows wider. He understands her meaning, and he certainly understands how good it feels to have someone who you can relate to. "Thank you. I'll take you up on your offer sometime, then. I'd like to talk to both of you much more."
Ruri stands, and Kaworu follows suit, moving with lithe grace and slipping his hands back into his pockets. Both she and Omoikane seem to be feeling better. "I did," he confirms. "I'll come by again. Until then, may your song continue to resound, Miss Ruri. I pray your systems remain green too, Omoikane, he who serves thought."
With that, he strolls off as casually as he'd arrived. As a courtesy, he visits the sign-in place and notates his presence; then he's off on his way back to Tokyo-3, humming the counter-melody to Air.