2022-12-26: They're cyborgs of a feather, but I can't allow Lettu to forge this friendship so easily
- Log: They're cyborgs of a feather, but I can't allow Lettu to forge this friendship so easily
- Cast: Anita Rosetta, Wen Yuan Yuliana Kafim
- Where: Shenzhen Military Base, DHZ
- Date: 2022-12-26
- Summary: Wen Yuan makes friends with Anita Rosetta over their shared experiences as cyborgs. Unfortunately, Yuliana. Once she sends Wen off, the conversation grows much more tense -- and though Yuliana isn't able to learn what she hoped to learn, she at least manages to make Anita's day worse through the classic REA activity of bribes.
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
Anita, as a rule, does what she can to make sure she has as few responsibilities as possible. She's comfortable at the bottom of the ladder, where people expect little of her. ...Unfortunately, being at the bottom of the ladder means, sometimes, having to do bottom of the ladder jobs that no one else wants to do. Today, that job is heading over to a military base in China to pick up some paperwork.
Anita... doesn't really want to do it either herself due to the potential for awkward run-ins, but it'll reflect poorly on Eight and Rena as her direct commanding officers if she doesn't, so she doesn't have a whole lot of choice.
So, she's made her way over, got checked in, and met with the person who's supposed arrange the files for her. She's done that... but, it'll take some time for all of them to get looked over and sorted out, so now she doesn't have much to do but wait in the lobby. She stands up, leaning against the wall with her arms folded in front of her and looking about the room.
Nothing much to do but wait...
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Ah, the honourable People's Republic of Da Han Zhong..! The grand central seat of the Republic, whose influence reaches out across the rest of the REA!
Or China, if you like. That's a comment you can make, certainly.
Captain Yuliana Kafim could make a great many comments, sent to one of the REA's more central military facilities to audience with Command on behalf of her squadron. One of those comments could be the strangeness of an ensign and a captain being sent on such similar quests, certainly.
Surely Yuliana is afforded more respect.
Surely.
She's safely ensconced in her meeting, for now, and the cyborg who's come with her has been evicted from the room. Lieutenants just don't have the security clearance to sit in on talks like these. Wen Yuan, dressed in REA uniform greens, wanders back out to the lobby.
She looks pretty organic -- except that her skin is a little unnaturally pale, and her eyes are blatantly inhuman, bright red with rings for pupils which twist and focus constantly. (Her pink, curly hair, bobbed about her ears, compliments it nicely.)
Those eyes zero in on Anita, and Wen brightens, as she wanders over to the wall. "Hi!" She smiles, greeting her in cheerful English, given the uniform Anita's in. (She has a Mandarin accent, but it's not difficult to understand.) "I love your arm! Is that a custom job?"
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
Anita looks up as someone else enters the lobby. It doesn't take long for her to place that they have some things in common. Their eyes are similar, after all - her own eyes don't stand out quite as much, but the signs are there for those who know to look out for them.
...The lieutenant's hair is cute, but that's not strictly relevant.
"Hey there." Anita greets with a wave in return as Wen greets her... and then pauses, as her arm receives a compliment. She's not used to that, outside of her friends, but she does like to talk shop.
"Oh, yeah, thanks. I like to give 'em a personal touch, y'know?" Anita says, raising it and flexing the fingers to show them off a little. "Really helps make it feel more like a part of me. I do all the tuning up myself, too."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"Oh wow, you do it all yourself?" Wen focuses on Anita's arm, as she shows it off -- and she doesn't particularly lean forward, but there's a little whine of her eyeballs which suggests she's got a pretty good look anyway. (Sniper tech. She could probably see the individual leaves of a tree down the street.) "That's so cool! I'm an internal conversion, so I have to get Medical to tune me up... haha, not that I'd really know how to do it, anyway. Mechanic stuff's more the Captain's bag."
She laughs, lightly, lifting a hand to her lips. "Oh, sorry, sorry!" She exclaims, as if it's just occurred to her. "I'm Wen Yuan -- Lieutenant," she adds, with a beat of a pause. "I'm just here to..." Escort? Mind? Handle? "... keep my Captain company while we hear the latest from Command, but they're in a meeting, so I'll just be hanging around for a bit. I'm not interrupting you, am I?"
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
"For the most part. If I see one I like in the shop I'll pick it up, but even then I like to adjust 'em a little." Anita replies. "I've got a few I like to swap between - some for the features, others just 'cause they look good."
She does smile, though, and nods when Wen explains that she's an internal conversion.
"I've got some of that going on, myself. That part I can't do on my own... for, uh, obvious reasons, I guess." Anita replies, chuckling a little at her joke. In her case the left side of her body had to be rebuilt, but it'd be a damper on the mood to go into the details. "I like your eyes, though, they go great with your hair."
...It feels a little weird to say that, but a compliment deserves a compliment, right?
"Nah, nothin' to apologize for." Anita replies, waving her hand in a polite dismissal. "Anita Rosetta, Ensign, here."
She pauses as Wen explains that she's here to keep her Captain company. A Captain, huh...
"Nah, don't worry. You're not interrupting anything. Just waiting on some paperwork, is all." She explains.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"Oh, wow, you just buy them? I guess that's capitalism for you," Wen marvels, and doesn't sound particularly negative about the idea. It's just different! "Over here, Medical takes care of it all, so we just kinda get given what we need. I guess there's not much room for picking stuff that looks good there, but I mean... I don't care what my lungs look like, right?" She laughs, a hand lifting to the back of her head.
"But -- but you like them, huh?" Wen laughs, again, but it's a little more self-conscious this time, as she scratches at a cheek. "Thanks... I'm a little embarrassed about them sometimes, since they're pretty different, so I'm glad you think so."
She looks a little distant, a little troubled, as she admits: "Usually, I just get people telling me I've got these evil red eyes, haha..."
Being entirely fair to those people, they're horrible things to see in the dark.
"Oh, yeah, you too?" She moves on, to the idea of paperwork. "It's pretty common to have to come into the DHZ to get marching orders... everything kinda comes back to the mainland." It's an authoritarian country, after all. Wen doesn't say that part out loud. "So don't worry about it!" She assures her, instead. "You're in good company!"
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
"Yup, sure do." Anita replies. She doesn't sound negative about it, so Anita's willing to skate on by it as well. She nods, though, as she continues, and chuckles a little in response. "Yeah, I guess you wouldn't, bein' fair."
Wen continues, and Anita can tell there's a bit of self-consciousness there. She smiles, just slightly.
"No problem. I, uh - I've had some bad experiences with folks myself, so I know how it can be. I've only just recently started being more open again about this..." She says, massaging the back of her neck. "I won't say 'don't let it get to you' 'cause I know how much it can hurt, but... Hang in there, alright? Some people like 'em."
But the topic moves back to work, and Anita nods.
"Yup. And, oh yeah? That makes sense." She says. But she grins, and nods. "Glad I'm not alone there, then."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
OST: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6lhEfdSTDc Icon for Hire - Enemies
"Thanks," Wen smiles, when Anita reassures her about her implants. "You know, you're really a nice person, Anita! Your squad must be lucky to have you."
Oh, right. They're part of teams.
"Yeah," she goes on, gesturing lightly with an open palm. "I don't know about you, but I always find it kinda intimidating to have to go hang around a facility I don't know much about, sooo... you know, a lot of us are in the same boat? I guess some folks around here can be a bit, I dunno, cliquey... but I mean, I always thought we're more similar than we're different."
Well, they are both cyborgs.
And they both have --
When Captain Yuliana Kafim comes out of her meeting she's in full uniform, for once -- those drab olives and stark lines which define the REA's presence, complete with the cap about her head. (She doesn't have the bangs to get in the way any more, at least.) It's a touch more stiff than her usual outfits, because Yuliana has a gift for making smart suits look deeply casual, but it's hard to be too casual in a uniform like this.
She walks into the lobby, and spies a familiar cyborg... and another. Yuliana doesn't have the sort of oppressive aura which disturbs oldtypes, but Wen has very good eyesight, so she spies her coming up anyway --
And turns from Anita, to salute, to Yuliana. "Captain!" She greets her, because her team is the Nega Force. "Did the meeting go well?"
"Well enough," Yuliana agrees, with a shrug of a shoulder. "At ease. You've made another friend, have you?" Her green gaze slides over to the other greenette in residence, raising a brow. "Ensign. How pleasant to see you again," and she does, certainly, smile.
Wen blinks, looking from Anita to Yuliana. "You've met?"
"We're familiar," Yuliana replies, as if it's not a stony relationship.
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
"Thanks. I'm lucky to have 'em, too. Really lucky, honestly." Anita replies with a sheepish laugh. Wen continues, and Anita nods. "Yeah, I get that. It's... one of those things, I guess. But yeah, you're right."
Wen turns away from her, and Anita turns to see what she's looking at... and there, emerging from the hallway, is Captain Yuliana Kafim. So the Captain she was keeping company was-
Ah.
A sort of surprised grimace crosses over Anita's face briefly as she takes stock of the situation, but it is quickly paved over in favor of a smile. She's good at acting cool, at least... though a situation like this might stretch her abilities to the limit.
"...Long time no see, Captain." Anita replies. ...Though it hasn't been nearly as long as she thinks it has. "Congrats on the marriage, by the way."
Wen asks if they've met, and Anita nods in agreement.
"...Yeah. A while back." She says. She doesn't offer any details. ...Not that she could if she wanted to, while Yuliana still has blackmail to hold over Rena's head.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"Really? I'm glad," Wen smiles, entirely genuine. "A good squad is important, doing work like this."
Wen's squad, of course...
Wen notices Anita's brief grimace. Yuliana does, too. One of these people is more likely to be benevolent with it than the other, though Yuliana seems nice enough, meeting her again. "Thank you!" Yuliana smiles, a hand fanning to her lips to hide her smile. "Dr. Kafim and I are very happy."
The rings on her right(!) finger are rich, rich gold; one band holds diamonds and emeralds, and the other, onyx and emeralds. They're of a style which incorporates both wedding and engagement bands into one piece of jewellery. They must have cost a mint.
"Lettu," she asides, to Wen -- it's Indonesian slang for first lieutenant, which Yuliana has always found too much of a mouthful to bother with -- "would you be a dear and go ahead to take care of our pre-flight checks? Make sure they're satisfied with us leaving."
Wen pauses, and glances to Anita. "They'd be happier hearing it from you, Captain," she points out, as if she knows just what's about to happen.
"I'm sure they would," Yuliana smiles, "but I'm asking you." It's one of those polite requests where there's only really one answer. They're very common, in the REA.
"Yes, ma'am," Wen salutes, and doesn't argue any further. With an apologetic look to the woman from Londo Bell, she adds: "It was nice meeting you, Anita. I hope you don't have to wait for too long."
She turns and bustles off towards the hangar -- not followed, notably, by Yuliana. The Captain leans against the wall, instead, with a sharp-as-knives grin. "I guess cyborgs really do flock together," She asks, all too casually. "I shouldn't be surprised... you're both very good at making friends, aren't you?"
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
"It really is. I really count on the people I have with me." Anita agrees.
The Captain of Wen's squad is here, and she does, at least, thank her for the comment. Anita nods back.
"Glad to hear it." She replies. She glances toward Wen when Yuliana addresses her. The slang is unfamiliar to her, but she can guess who it's referred to. Yuliana... sends her away. And for what it's worth, Anita appreciates the attempt to get out if it. But she knows, in the end, there really is only one way this is going to go.
"Yeah, it was nice meeting you too, Wen. ...Me too." She replies, meeting that apologetic look with a small, but grateful smile.
And soon enough, she's alone with Yuliana. The Captain leans against the wall, and Anita steps away from it, as if she'd rather not be in the same position.
"...That's a new one on me." Anita comments. She stands, her stance a little loose but with a hint of tension to it. "...But, yeah. She seems nice. You're lucky to have her."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
And does Wen count on the people she has with her?
She doesn't say. The sentence was all caught in the middle.
Yuliana's lips tug up in a lopsided smile, when Anita declines to mirror her stance the way she does. (There, on the right side of her teeth, she has a fang. She must have gotten that tooth she lost replaced.) "She's an absolute ray of sunshine," Yuliana agrees, and doesn't even sound particularly smarmy to say it. "Why, the Republic entire is better with her presence. And certainly, she's saved my life on the field many times!"
Oh, right. The war crimes. That means Wen was in on the war crimes.
... she's a very nice war criminal.
"And you're waiting on Command, are you?" Yuliana picks through Wen's parting sympathies to find something to carve with. Her smile, at least, looks perfectly sympathetic. "Such a shame how easily they get caught up in business. Have you been waiting long..? Perhaps I could... help," all laid in with a gossamer pause, gaze veiling.
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
Anita takes note of the fang. She wonders if the choice is significant. Yuliana praises Wen, comments on how helpful she's been on the field... Anita wonders, too, if the reminder is pointful.
"Sounds like you owe her a lot." Anita comments. Her tone is friendly, but the professional sort of required friendliness. "Get her something nice, maybe."
Yuliana, though, comments on why she's here... Well, lying wouldn't help, especially not if she overheard.
"That's right. Just picking up some paperwork." Anita confirms. "...Yeah, it is, huh? But, nah. Not too long."
And, Yuliana offers... help. Anita isn't sure what kind of help she has in mind, but the answer is pretty obvious to her.
"I appreciate the offer, but nah. I don't mind, and I'm sure you've got a lot more important things to do." She replies. "Wouldn't wanna keep you."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"I should, shouldn't I?" Yuliana banters, all too easily. If she notices the stiffness in Anita's own friendliness, surely she's... overlooking it.
For politeness's sake.
Yuliana smiles, when Anita talks about picking up paperwork, even as she denies her kindness. "Ah, how delightful it is to behold the spirit of intra-Federation cooperation," she marvels, warmly. "How wonderful we can work so closely together, Ensign!" And the mockery is all left in the embroidered edges, unsaid, unattested.
There is someone from Londo Bell, working closely with the REA.
But surely Yuliana is talking about... Anita.
Surely.
"Nonsense," she smiles, leaning a little more of her weight on the wall. "Of course I can take a few moments for you! Why, I always have time for you." It's framed as a reassurance, but the picture really looks more like a threat.
Like the way her lips part, to show the teeth of her smile. "If you're always this agreeable, someone will end up walking all over you, you know. Or... perhaps I should have given you that advice a year or so ago...?"
... Yuliana's been building a dossier on Anita, just like everyone else. Why she'd call out Anita's assignment to the Kakapo Squadron as the point of no return... well, it's not a difficult inference.
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
Anita nods, and Yuliana marvels at intra-Federation cooperation.
"It is a wonder, huh?" Anita replies - a phrasing with multiple different interpretations. "It sure is an honor to be able to help out."
Yuliana assures her, then, that she always has time for her. It takes a concerted effort not to frown, at that.
"...That's real sweet of you, Captain." Anita comments. And then... Yuliana continues. A 'year or so ago'... it isn't difficult to connect the dots. It isn't hard to guess that she knows about her transfer...
...What else does she know? And how is she going to use it? Anita's loose stance straightens up, just slightly, as a bit more tension enters into it, and she returns Yuliana's smile with one of her own.
"Well. Thanks for the concern, but you'll find I know how to put my foot down when I really need to." She says, her smile a little strained.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"It's so nice the people of Londo Bell feel that way," Yuliana assures Anita, all indirectness and veils. In truth, it's a little frustrating that she still can't tell whether Anita knows. But Yuliana can perform emotions she's not feeling; that's how she was taught to exist, in her occupation. She can perform, so she performs gratitude and warmth.
Still, that frustration might make her a little unfair -- even though, in Yuliana's eyes, Anita is a victim of the Newtypes surrounding her.
So Yuliana laughs, a bent arm bracing up on the wall, over her head. Her fingers drum, against the surface. "Really?" She asks, her smile still perfectly companionable. "That would be --"
There is a chime, from her pocket.
"Hold that thought," Yuliana straightens up, raising a finger. "I have to see to this."
She pulls her phone from her pocket, and types out a quick reply, assisted by her phone's auto-complete functions:
> I'm okay. I'm still at the Shenzhen base. I've received my orders, so I'll be returning to base and deploying shortly. It shouldn't be very dangerous, but I'll be out of contact for approximately four hours, 1900-2300. I hope that's okay.
Yuliana sends off the message, and spends a moment quietly relieved that she didn't get any questions in the middle of her meeting. It would be... difficult to explain why her phone was off.
Anyway.
Slipping it back into her pocket, she looks up to Anita, with a grin. "Anyway," she picks off where she left off, "I do hope to see you speaking up more, Ensign. It does terribly seem like you leave your fellows to make all your decisions for you!" No self-reflection whatsoever on that taunt, obviously.
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
Anita smiles, at that, as Yuliana gives her assurances. The response can also be interpreted a number of ways... but she's fine with leaving it there. But Yuliana continues - and is interrupted, by an incoming message.
"No problem, no problem." Anita replies with a nod. ...She's actually, quietly, grateful for that. She exhales, and the time it takes for her to send out a message gives her time to try and recenter itself. She's looking a bit more relaxed by the time Yuliana looks back up at her, continuing with what she was saying before.
A taunt, huh... Anita massages the back of her neck. ...She can't say she's entirely wrong. But at a same time, there's a good reason she's okay with it.
"...Yeah, I guess it might look that way to you, huh?" She replies with a smile. "It's just, I know I can trust them to make the right call, is all. They haven't betrayed that trust yet."
She chuckles, just slightly.
"...And, you know. I'm just an Ensign, after all. I'm not a Captain like you." She adds.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
It's a shame to interrupt her grilling of Anita in the middle, but this is more important. Elisa would worry if Yuliana didn't respond promptly, after what happened in Denver! The poor dear!
"Hmm...?" Yuliana wonders, when Anita talks about trust. "So you hold that level of trust... how sad wonderful." It's as if her sentence had two endings, all warring for her tongue; the cluttering clusters the words together, the second with emphasis, as if she were trying to say what she meant to say instead of saying what she means.
It really is sad that someone like Anita was taken in by those Newtypes, according to Yuliana.
It must be sad.
She's the sort of person who would be sad about it.
"But you're quite right," she agrees, all too casually, as she straightens up the rest of the way. She begins sauntering past Anita -- and claps a hand on her shoulder, companionably, as she goes past. Glancing sidelong to her, she smirks: "Keep working hard, and perhaps you'll reach my level, one of these days."
She's awfully confident, getting within arm's reach of a robotic arm.
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
"It is, huh?" Anita replies. She catches that slip of the tongue. She lets it slip by, a private thing for her to consider. "I hope you find someone like that too, y'know - but then again, since you're married, maybe you already have."
Yuliana agrees with her casually, and gives her a 'friendly' clap on the shoulder. It... takes a lot of restraint not to immediately shrug it off. It takes a lot of restraint to not do a lot of things here, actually, but Anita is patient. There's something else she has in common with Wen - they're both snipers, sharpshooters. She knows a thing or two about waiting for the right moment to take the shot. ...That being said, she's not about to pass up the opportunity when it's been set in front of her.
"Oh, I wouldn't dream of reachin' your level, Captain." Anita replies with a smile and a wave. "Travel safely, okay?"
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Unfortunately, it does happen, sometimes, when what Yuliana really feels and what she's performing are so at odds.
Unfortunately, it's a very revealing tell, and one she hasn't only fallen into as Yuliana.
But Anita didn't notice, hopefully.
Hopefully.
"I certainly have," she agrees, with a warm smile, when Anita hopes she'll find someone to trust. "Though she's not part of the military structure... it wouldn't be proper, you understand." And she doesn't mention Captain York, and the engineer she's dating.
Not by name, anyway.
Anita rejects the lofty ambitions in front of her, though -- and just for a moment, Yuliana's fingers tighten, before they drop down. "Thank you, Ensign," she smiles, pleasantly. "I do hope you're not waiting long."
Once she's around the corner, she takes a brief detour to the records room and has a little chat with the secretary. The kind of chat with brief human contact which just happens to pass over some folded gilla bills.
Tragically, delays in processing will mean poor Anita will have to spend most of the day waiting for her files.
Entirely coincidentally, you understand.
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
"Of course, of course." Anita replies, as Yuliana points out her wife isn't part of the military structure. ...A part of her wonders if she knows, somehow, even though no one outside the ship would know - but, no, she comes to the more likely conclusion shortly after that. ...It certainly doesn't win Yuliana any points either way, though.
"You're welcome." Anita replies, politely - and then, she resumes waiting.
...And waiting.
It wasn't supposed to take this long. She can kind of guess what happened. On the one hand, it feels like a victory, if a small one, but on the other hand...
Uuuuughhh....