2023-07-19: Ruri's Unique 'Situation'
- Log: Ruri's Unique 'Situation'
- Cast: Ruri Hoshino, Eight York
- Where: The Nadesico
- Date: 2023-07-19
- Summary: Eight and Ruri catch up, after the events of the battle with the General Revil -- and her birthday, afflicted by Chaos Jirak. Ruri expresses her gratitude to Eight, and tells her about the unique way she sees the battlefield, particularly as she made it clear she was an 'Electronic Fairy'.
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
After all that, Ruri... has medical appointments.
Not just for her kaiju horrors, of course. Ruri's health is being monitored after her Electronic Fairy display during Leina's rescue, just in case there are -- issues with her health. She did get rather... bright, back then.
She's fine, of course. Ruri has always been a very healthy girl -- Minato's certainly noticed the way that whenever colds pass through the bridge like wildfire, Ruri's the one person spared amongst them. It's a deeply lucky thing, considering how relatively fragile her physical structure is. She is a girl who should not have lived -- who can do nothing BUT live.
Inez sends her on her way with no large concerns today, though. Ruri bows as she leaves the medbay, with a proper thank-you and farewell, as she does.
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
"Ruri," Eight greets warmly as she comes to a stop outside the medbay. She looks her over, because of course she does--she just came out of the medbay--but seems fine with what she sees. Ruri is indeed very good at living...
"It's good to see you," Eight says. Whatever she was here for, she's not in uniform; the truth is that she's had a lot of stuff to do all the same...
"How are you feeling?"
Naturally, Eight steps out of the way of the hall, in case. It's nice to be on the Nadesico though.
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"Ah -- Eight-san," Ruri is a touch surprised to see her here, with a little blink of her big, gold eyes, but only a touch; her tone settles back to baseline by the end of her borrowed honourific. "Hello."
It's a mild greeting, but she's still pleased to see her.
"I'm okay," she says, as she steps to the side of the hall, too. (Just in time for the Howmei Girls to charge through wheeling a trolley full of bread, hollering, "EXCUSE US! COMING THROUGH! IT'S A BREADMERGENCY!" ... and Ruri doesn't even give whatever nonsense that is a second glance. Antics just kind of happen, here.) "This was just a routine check-up, so nothing's wrong. I'm not sick or anything. I don't really get sick, anyway."
But thinking of how she feels makes her wonder how Eight feels, particularly on her feet walking down the Nadesico's halls, so Ruri asks: "Do you want to go and sit down?"
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Mild isn't so bad. Eight is used to that out of Ruri.
"It's good to..." Pause. Eight does glance to the bread, and considers for a moment. Then, she looks back to Ruri. "Hm, is that so?" she wonders. "That's good. Health is important. And sickness can spread pretty quickly aboard a ship..."
Then looks at the retreating Howmei Girls. "Though I guess check-ups are the 'yeast' of their problems right now..."
She grins. "I'm glad you're feeling well," she continues. "I would appreciate that though. Even if I feel like I'm always trying to sit down lately..."
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"It's not that anyone's sick," Ruri shakes her head.
Beat,
"Though I don't know rye you'd worry about that foolishness."
Completely straight face, shot across the bow.
She pauses, and adds, "... we don't have to sit down. But it would be good to have the option." It's not far to walk until they find a bench beside a vending machine -- those little shrines to capitalism dotted all about the Nadesico.
Ruri, for one, sits down. Maybe she didn't bring her credits card! Maybe she's just trying to make it less awkward for Eight. "How are you feeling, Eight-san?" She asks, now she doesn't have to be distracted by being on her feet.
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Eight's expression is briefly delighted as Ruri makes her statement of rye. She beams, pleased with Ruri.
"No, I should," Eight agrees about it. But those little shrines... The Ra Mari II does not have as many vending machines at all. Maybe they should get some!
Ruri takes a seat and Eight goes to the machine. "Orange juice?" she offers, and gets herself a... melon soda, while she's waiting. Then, she can answer the question! "I'm..."
She considers a moment, and smiles. "I feel pretty good. I'm at a place today where I'm not worrying so much about what I'm not doing. I came over to go over some books with Mr. Prospector," she explains, "But he won't be free from his meetings for a while yet. I came early because... I suppose I just wanted to. Sometimes being on leave makes it more difficult to just hang around in parts of the Ra Mari II."
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"Oh," Ruri brightens, a little, when Eight remembers her favourite. "Yes, thank you." She reaches out to take the can, and pops it open with a little pfssp. She likes canned orange juice...!
Her legs swing, a little, under the bench as she listens to Eight. "People still expect you to be the Captain, right?" Ruri asks, and takes a sip of her drink.
"Mr. Prospector's always busy with something or another... I guess it's hard to be an accountant on a ship like this." Ruri tilts her head up, considering the lights. (She has green hairties, now, rather than red. They're little Haros!) "I guess I've left everyone with a lot of things to take care of, too... but everyone tells me not to worry about that."
Ruri pauses, and looks to Eight, again. "But, Omoikane told me you and Archimedes were the ones who interrupted Jirak's connection to me. I wanted to thank you for that."
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Eight smiles. "You're welcome." She remembers! It's nice to do little things for people she cares about.
Eight comes around to sit down next to Ruri as she asks about being the Captain, smoothing out her skirt and nodding along. "That's right. But I don't want to undermine Mx. Rezza, either. So I make sure not to wear my uniform and hope that people get the message." She pops open the melon soda. Mmm, melon soda.
"The Nadesico does have a lot of expenses," Eight admits. "But I think it's because of his personality, too." Pretty green Haros!! "They're right though. You don't have to worry about that."
Then Eight... nods. "I'm sorry I had to destroy it," she says. "Because I think before it was Jirak's connection it was something of yours. But I'm glad that it worked, to help you."
"So you're very welcome. I'm glad I could help. Up until that came out, I didn't feel like I could do very much."
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"I guess they'd be foolish about it, since they're used to you," Ruri says. "But Acting Captain Rezza's doing a good job." They're meeting Ruri's high standards! They must be doing well.
Her pretty green Haros have pretty harsh secrets, but Ruri hasn't felt the need to pull the little blade out since she started wearing them. They're just nice fashion statements. "I guess he must enjoy it," Ruri supposes, on Mr. Prospector. "Well, that or he's done it so long he can't do anything else. I think adults get that way, sometimes... I think he's pretty beaten down, too." From the mouths of babes...
Speaking of things beaten down, though: the smashed whale. "It was," Ruri confirms, mild as ever. "I don't even remember where I got them... I've just always had them. Well, I don't suppose Jirak would have possessed it before Mr. Kerib came to my room. But since Jirak was there for sixteen months, I guess there was no saving the whale." She shakes her head, and says: "It's okay. My fish survived." The fish mobile which was also hanging up there, Eight may recall. "And Riika-san got me a book on a fossilised flying whale, too. It's really interesting... I'd like to go see it with her sometime, since she offered."
Ruri takes another sip of her drink. "Actually," she supposes, "if you hadn't broken the whale he was possessing, I don't think things would have gone the way they did. I guess I was dreaming, back then, and I wasn't really listening to reason... Jirak probably did that. And I guess Chaos Jirak was using me as power to attack everyone, too, so if he'd still had that connection, probably something bad would have happened." She offers this evaluation stoically; she expects Eight to know what she means.
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
"It's always 'just one thing', but those add up. Not most of them, at least; most of them understand. ...And for most of those that don't, they act it anyway because I have a lot of people looking out for me." It's good, to have friends. "I agree though. I'd hope I'd agree, since otherwise I made the wrong choice... But I do. I wonder if they'll want their own command for real, one day."
That's a lot of things to think about, though...
"Mm. It's true that they do. I sense some fatigue, too. But he bears up really well. I think he's the type to give a lot for his job." Maybe he enjoys it, too. But there are other factors...
"I see." That makes it sadder that Eight had to destroy it, but at least she does still have the fish. "I'm glad," she says of the fish. She does recall those. "And oh? That sounds fun."
Eight sips her own. But things...
"Probably," Eight admits. "A lot of bad things could've happened, there. But they didn't. ...It's just unfortunate sometimes. ...There's a lot of choices like that; where the right answer hurts someone or something, but it's still the best answer."
She thinks about Mr. Kerib. She doesn't think she wants to make Ruri dwell on that, though.
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"Their own ship... I guess that's why the Federation is scared of us," Ruri reflects on the potential expansive power of their rogue fleet, mild as ever.
"That's true," Ruri nods, in turn, on Mr. Prospector and his dedication.
She's quiet, a while longer, as she thinks about the 'best answer'... Ruri sips her orange juice, and looks down at her hands, curled around the can. Her skin is very, very pale, against the bright packaging.
"I don't think it's so bad for the right answer to hurt," she says, finally. "Well, I know that saying that might be worrying, but if something is perfect, that doesn't mean it's good. Mr. Kerib was always very reasonable... he was always nice to me. But then something like that happened." Ruri frowns, lightly, lightly, lightly.
"Well, you're right that it's pointless to dwell on what might have happened, though. There are infinite possibilities in the world, and I guess it's too concerning for me to really take too much on at once. Since people focus on one thing at a time, normally."
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
"We're already growing. I suppose we'll see how much we do." They're certainly more than three ships by now, though it was never meant to be a restrictive statement as to how many ships they had. Obviously.
But when Ruri is thoughtful, Eight takes the opportunity to enjoy the quiet, leaning back against the wall and looking up into the ceiling. When Ruri eventually answers...
"True. It's not so bad that we can't accept a world like that, at least. 'Perfect'... There'd always be the question of who it was perfect for, if you ask me. People are too different for that." Speaking of different people, "...He was reasonably pleasant to me, too, when we spoke. But I could tell he didn't like my answers very much, to his questions. That's probably why he hasn't been back to see me since."
She looks to Ruri, next. Ruri really is pale against this brightness. "Worse than pointless; the more we mull over what might've been, the less we can attend to what we want things to be in the future. Or how they are now." She pauses. "...People do. How do you feel about that?"
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
That it began with three is not a statement on how many would spiral from them.
"I think it's important to ask who benefits from a solution," Ruri agrees. "And who is expected to sacrifice for it. It's important to be satisfied with a question like that, I think." She sighs, and adds: "... I guess Mr. Kerib wasn't satisfied with my answers to his questions, the last time we spoke, either. Well, not that being satisfactory would have been any good, really."
It might not have even changed what happened, Ruri thinks, since Alexis had clearly planned for it.
Oh, well.
She's thoughtful, though, when Eight asks how she feels about the focus people have on one thing at a time. "It's never really been a problem for me," she says. "Especially now I have the IFS implants, I'm able to process high levels of information simultaneously. The IFS creates a nanomachine backup-brain to make sure that it doesn't overheat or overload your human brain with the information it's processing. But since I've always been able to keep up with Omoikane just the way that I am, I access that system to give myself increased cognitive processing capabilities day-to-day instead. Well, most of the time no one's really bothered by that..."
Ruri sighs, finger tapping on the side of the can. Tip, tap. "Unfortunately, I guess I caused some issues when the Federation attacked us while we were rescuing Ms. Ashta. I had to do a lot of things at once, then... well, I guess I was everywhere. That's why Nergal-san wanted to talk to me. I guess it's also why Dr. Fressange is keeping an eye on me... well, she's probably worried about what Chaos Jirak did to me, too." A light pause, "... no, I don't think worried's the word. But the Captain is, I bet." Inez is more interested, really.
Interested in explaining!
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
"I think so, too. I think it's especially important for a leader to understand that question, and its answers." Ruri has that quality, Eight thinks... But she's still young. It's up to her whether she wants to pursue it. Or it should be. She is here, after all...
"Maybe not. I don't think he operates like a normal person does. ...Which sounds obvious, I guess. Even so."
"That's really interesting," Eight says. "I thought that you were the sort of person who could focus on more than most... But I hadn't realized how true it was." An entire backup-brain... That explains a few things about Ruri, anyway. But she doesn't harp on it; she remembers Ruri was sensitive to being 'different'. Instead...
"I see... Yes, Nergal would be very interested in that." And Dr. Fressange would be interested, too. "It's... probably not the word," Eight admits. "I'm sure your Captain is, though. I'm concerned about that, myself."
"I hope you're able to be careful. It's a great talent to have, but I do worry about you."
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Ruri nods, when Eight talks about what she has to understand, and doesn't particularly think of herself as a leader. But then, she's fourteen! She's still far too young for her very own command.
(Give her a few years.)
But neither Alexis nor Ruri operate like normal people, in their own ways -- which was surely why Alexis found so much success preying on her. She nods, again, when Eight says it's interesting. It interests her, too.
"I had to push myself," Ruri frowns, as she thinks on Eight's worry. "Since the General Revil and the others came to get rid of us, but they would have killed Ms. Ashta, too. Negotiating with the Banshee wasn't easy... it didn't trust anyone. But Rena-san and the others were being attacked by the Banshee, even when I was doing that. And the Nadesico and the Ra Mari II were being attacked by the Federation ships... those were a lot of calculations. Inputting firing solutions for the Nadesico involves a lot of variables, even without doing anything else... you have to pay attention to power cycling and Distortion Field integrity and friendly fire and targeting and power fluctuations and intensity... at least there wasn't really drop-off, since we weren't in atmosphere. Calculating for gravity is another layer of complexity."
Ruri sighs, legs swinging back and forth under the bench. "Of course, on top of that, there are the mobile suits we've sent out to fight. Even if I know what they can do, I still have to evaluate their current operating capacity and situation in order to advise the best optimisation. And a lot of the time I'm getting all that information just by asking at the time, too. Of course, I'm grateful that those machines will trust me to help, but it's hard for me to really describe how much I'm doing in a fight. I'm juggling a lot, even when it's a normal battle. But..." She frowns, looking down at her can again.
"It was different, with the Banshee. Because the Banshee didn't trust me at all. So I had to really focus on communicating with it. I won't really say it was an argument, but... it got pretty scary." Her shoulders sink, a little, as she recalls those shifting, formless faces. "But the Vist Foundation put neurotoxin injectors in the Banshee, Eight-san. And the General Revil was trying to use them to kill Ms. Ashta. If I wasn't able to disable them, she probably would have died the minute they broke through the Minovsky interference Ms. Louka kept trying to throw out there. Well, maybe they would have found a solution while she was buying them time... but I think it would have been difficult." She won't say it was impossible. There was a Miracle Worker with them, after all, and the Banshee itself didn't want Leina to die.
(Is Ruri a Miracle Worker? Questions for later.)
"I never knew... I could handle all that at once," she settles on, after a moment. "I guess it's a little frightening... though I don't know if it's because of what I did, or how Nergal-san was suspicious of me, after."
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
They were all pushing themselves, but Ruri in a different way. Eight listens as she describes it, considering. She remembers the battle vividly, of course. "I see," she says of the various complexities involved. "That's a lot more math than my part of the battle is, I admit."
"...But it is pretty hard to keep track of everything in a battle," she says. She knows that much; there's no point in saying it's easy, or on the other hand in overloading Ruri about how she did it. She did it, that's what's important. "I think you're explaining well enough for me to get it, at least. It's 'a lot.'"
But the Banshee... Eight frowns. "I remember that woman said something about the kill switch..." She frowns. "Thank you, Ruri. You were even more instrumental in saving her than I knew. Whether or not they could've pulled off a miracle, we don't have to find out; you did it."
But Ruri... "It's the best way to find out how we can surpass our limits, I think, to experience it. Though I wouldn't say I like being in that kind of battle, obviously." She pauses. "Frightening..."
"Only you can decide that, of course. But I admit, Nergal being suspicious of you worries me."
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"I'd be happier if battles like that weren't necessary," Ruri agrees, at length. She's glad that Eight grasps the broad-stroke fundamentals of what she's saying, even if there's so much maths in her approach to a fight. If she hasn't been too forthcoming about what she did for Leina...
Well, she didn't do it to be celebrated.
She hums, through her lips, as one of her heels hooks over the other underneath her. "Maybe I'm more powerful than they first thought," she says, and if she's bothered, it's just a shadow across the wall of her cave. "I think they were worried I might turn against them... I don't see why, though. I don't have any reason to betray anyone. And I wouldn't leave Omoikane, either." And Ruri is a genius, but she does not see the track being laid, in front of her.
She's still young, even for a teenager.
"As for me, I guess this is just part of myself. I wish I knew what that really was, but... since I was able to do that, I could save Ms. Ashta, and help protect a lot of people, and help the Nadesico fight. I don't think that's a bad thing. Well, I wish I'd been able to go even further... maybe we wouldn't have had to hold funerals, then." A frown flits over Ruri's face, before she shakes her head. "But it's like you said, Eight-san. Talking about what could have happened just means you're not talking about what you can make happen."
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Eight thinks it's best Ruri hasn't been too forthcoming about that; she imagines the teenager before her is right about her suspicions on Nergal. But there's so much she can't see, yet... And Eight can't see it all, either.
Eight doesn't voice the idea that Nergal may know some reason Ruri should betray them that Ruri doesn't know herself. Instead, "That's all possible. But I know you wouldn't. ...Omoikane led the way for me to help you, with Jirak. You probably know that already, but it's worth saying again anyway."
Eight wishes she could do more, there. But it's a delicate situation, and having the Nadesico join them in rebellion is the best she's managed so far.
But Ruri... "If it helps," Eight says, "It's normal not to know your 'self' fully at your age. Even at my age. Maybe your particular questions differ... but it's normal to have questions. I don't think your abilities are a bad thing either, though."
To hold funerals...
"No," Eight says, "Some of those... we'd have had to hold regardless," she says quietly, thinking of one in particular. "But you've got it right. Is it self-serving to say that?" she laughs, "Since you're agreeing with me." She pauses.
"...Hmmm. Will you walk with me some more? I think I want to visit a little more of the ship after all."