2024-02-24: Meeting 'Just Like' That Story
- Cast: Hikaru Amano, Maya Jintek, Yurika Misumaru
- Where: United Emirates of Orb
- Date: U.C. 0098 02 24
- Summary: A night out for the Nadesico's captain and pilots! They talk cybernetics, the nature of the soul, and, believe it or not, Gekiganger.
<Pose Tracker> Yurika Misumaru has posed.
While fires smolder here and there across the globe, for much of the past year, change has been in the vast and ephemeral world of bureaucracy and treaties...and in Orb, a nation that's always navigated those waters calmly, the air is still and peaceful.
...For most people, of course. For those who have important positions amidst Nergal and the Three Ships Alliance's steady consolidation of power, however...
"Captain Misumaru, our small arms suppliers for the Rapid Rifles is changing, since the previous ammunition company got absorbed into the Benerit Group. If you could please look over the specifications for these four candidate suppliers-"
"Captain Misumaru, the Zio Matrix division is preparing its expedition to Mars. As the leader of the previous trip there, could you write up a summary of the Nadesico's previous voyage and mark up notable dangers and provisions to amass?"
"Captain Misumaru, a close family member to the Atthas just passed away. They've requested you for the funerary rites - what should I tell them your decision is?"
"Captain Misumaru-"
--- --- --- ---
"Captain Misumaru this, Captain Misumaru that, aaaaugh I'm so not cut out for this!" Yurika complains after a long day of boundless paperwork to her invited friends at one of Orb's nicer bars, the Chalet Monique. The atmosphere is laid back with quiet live piano music off in the distance, the lighting's low and calming, and Yurika's probably the loudest person in the room. Her choice of getup for the night is...a pretty classy suit and tie affair, blazer dark navy, blouse a faint gray, tie an almost phosphorescent white amidst the muted colors. She's already half a glass of wine deep and looking a liiiittle frumpy-haired for it.
"I guess we ought to be grateful it's stable enough that things are a pain in the butt rather than chaotic and life-threatening..." There's a little bit of a muted reaction there - for a girl who dreamed of traipsing around and saving the world, maybe - the thrill of it was what got her going?
<Pose Tracker> Maya Jintek has posed.
Yurika might be the captain and responsible for the majority of the bureaucracy aboard the Nadesico, but she certainly wasn't alone. Now that they were back home, Maya had to catch up on the many different interactions between Nergal and Morganroete in regards to their collaboration on the Nivalis Project. And considering she was both engineer and test pilot, well... "No, you feel free to complain! Just because there aren't any planets blowing up doesn't mean things are good!" Maya had elected to wear a mesh top and black pants, and was currently drinking a purple cocktail. When you go to a bar, you should always go for at least one cocktail, after all!
"Morganroete's been complaining about not getting enough field data from me. What do they want? Another war? They'll get it when there's something to report!" They'd even hinted that they might be reducing funding to focus on other projects. That... was probably not good. When Yurika had invited her to blow off some steam, she'd leapt at the opportunity. The choice of bar was a really good one as well. "How about you, Hikaru? Anything got your goat?" Maya paused, remembering the name of a certain giant of a man aboard the ship who was somehow not Zentraedi, and giggled. "Heheh... Goat..."
<Pose Tracker> Hikaru Amano has posed.
As far as her standing with the Nadesico, Hikaru really is just a pilot. Quite a skilled one surely... but it doesn't mean too much when she's not actually ordered to fight anything. Since the Three Ships Alliance 'completed its mission' and stood down from active conflict, the Nadesico flight wing isn't actually thrown at much except for some of those Vajra remnants that followed them back to Earth.
However, it doesn't mean Hikaru doesn't sympathize with the plight that her good friend Captain Yurika Misumaru has found herself in... so she's more than happy to help her get that weight off for just one night. She's dressed pretty snazzy herself, favouring a red suit that definitely pops out, instead of her usual lazy outfits..
"So many things just get automated by Omoikane-chan these days that I'm actually kinda surprised they make you do some of that stuff... it probably just means you're doing a good job!" Hikaru replies, stirring some of her bubbly little drink. "I guess it's nice to be counted on... but everyone needs a break from time to time. And if they're working you to the bone... that's definitely something to complain about!" She concurs with Maya.
And Maya seems to have her own woes, about lack of field data for her unique unit. "Geez... it's basically an Astray that moves like an Aestivalis, isn't it? Can't they like... just look back at the field data from both of those and try to predict things from there?" She bops her drink up and down.
"Ehh? Anything bothering me? Well... not really, I guess." She shrugs, but Maya's joke distracts her from it for a moment. "...Oh no. Now we have two Izumis. We're doomed!" A beat. "Anyways. This is going to sound kinda lame, but I kind of miss having so much to fight. It's not like I find fighting or piloting fun or anything... but it is where most of my paycheck comes from, you know? But! If we get real peace, maybe that really will change." She concludes, smiling - seriously trying not to kill the mood.
<Pose Tracker> Yurika Misumaru has posed.
Hikaru out and out says what Yurika's thinking, eliciting a puffy sort of pout, followed by a long exhale, eyes closed in resignation. "...Aaaa, I didn't want to say it, but I feel a lot like Hikaru does. Now we both sound kinda lame...no, more than that! We sound like we belong in that Gekiganger thing!" The captain clutches the side of her head and agonizes, "Oh nooo, we spent so long fighting half the world that we got that meathead thing where we're itching for honorable duels or whatever!"
A second realization has hit the Yurika.
"Oh nooo, there's even three of us! Don't even start assigning us kin for the team like I'm the Joe and Maya's the Akira or anything like that-" ...she's the one who's starting it!
A loosening of her tie later, another sipsip from her glass, before Yurika lazes front-first over the bar, arms folded beneath her. "I'm gonna get Goat-san alright. A lot of this military stuff ought to be under his purview but nooooo because of his exact position he's probably living it up and taking it easy. Or maybe doing something he likes doing like uh...push-ups. Men like doing that, right?"
Siiiigh, siiiiigh, siiigh. Yurika's about to blow something over if she keeps that up. "...mm, I imagine the Nivalis thing isn't as easy as 'just average the two', since taking shared traits from different sources can wildly throw off results...the closest I can figure to what the Nivalis maybe maneuvers like is...uh...an Armored Core? I feel like the name of the game in the near future is modularity. Or is it? I heard murmurings that the next-generation Aestis they're starting to consider have waaaay scaled back on the frame business, since the Zero-G frame was kinda 'good enough' for everything..."
<Pose Tracker> Maya Jintek has posed.
"Is it fair for Omoikane to have to do everything, though?" Maya wondered, thinking about how some AI were recognised as people and some weren't. "Does Omoikane like to do that sort of work? I should ask them about it, or Ruri." But of course it wasn't fair to make Yurika do so much as well. It was easy to underestimate her at a glance, but the Captain was a really diligent person and she didn't know how she coped with everything on her shoulders. It sounded like she had found an unorthodox way to do so, though. "Have you been watching Gekiganger to unwind? Hikaru's had me watching some of it... you really think I'm the Akira? I thought you were more like Ken. I really like the OP of it! It's really catchy! Apparently the vocalist did a whole lot of similar songs for similar anime, which is cool." Yep, apparently it was contagious.
"Oh no, I can't be the second Izumi, that'd be two too many!" Maya laughed again, playing along. It was a shame Izumi hadn't been able to make it - her jokes were terrible, but her dedication to it was impressive in a scary way. "Looking at Goat... yeah, he absolutely does like, a hundred pushups every day or something. Probably a hundred situps and squats, too, followed by a 10 km run. That man is huge!"
In regards to Hikaru's common sense answer about the Nivalis, Yurika had a good rebuttal to it. "Mmhmm, and asides from merging different technologies, there's also size to consider. The Square Cube Law is a thing, and the Astray's frame is almost 3 times larger than the Aestivalis. Combined with a new control system, it means that there's a whole lot of safety regulations to follow. No-one wants a horrible accident where the test pilot gets herself killed, after all." Maya paused, and took a drink, before continuing.
"There's also... the more political aspect of it. The Benerit Group's been getting more powerful, and they're not exactly fans of augments. It might be that their bugbear is GUND-ARM tech, but IFS has some similarities, and it might have spooked Morganroete. So, they want major, positive results so they can justify getting into something that's a little controversial. They haven't actually said this, mind, but it's just an impression I'm getting." If it was indeed something to do with the IFS falling out of favour, given other methods of control out there, that could be really bad.
<Pose Tracker> Hikaru Amano has posed.
Does Omoikane like to do all that work? "I dunno, actually... but he always seems like he's having fun, and we found out that he totally has enough processing power to just watch anime all day. Doesn't sound so bad to me~"
"You too, huh?" Hikaru sighs, when Yurika admits she feels the same way about the fighting. "I guess it does make sense... the kinda leadership you need to show when it's life or death is a lot different than, well..." Hikaru gestures, as if to the entire reason they're here. "Y'know, corporate finding excuses to keep you busy."
"Oh my gosh, you're right...!" Hikaru's eyes sparkle the same moment Yurika's soul all but leaves her body. "Honestly, an 'honourable duel' would probably be a pretty nice change of pace at this point..." The Vajra certainly don't fit the bill - they even take innocent girls hostage!
"You're the one who brought that up this time, though, you know that?" Hikaru points out. "But if you want my opinion, I think Yurika-chan is totally the Akira. She's the one who always seems to bring everyone together, after all~" She winks. "As for me... I dunno. I like Joe and Miss Nanako the best, but I'm not sure if I'd want to be either of them." She admits.
She smiles, when Maya genuinely seems to be enjoying Gekiganger. "I know, right? Anime openings from the middle ages really seem to hit different..." She replies, dreamily.
The answer she gets about how the Nivalis works is pretty interesting, though. "Oh, huh... yeah, I guess it would be a lot different when you have some extra weight to throw around and height to leverge. Especially when the IFS lets to control it like it's your body." Hikaru nods. "Guess you gotta be careful then."
And politically... "Yeah, that stuff is... I don't think it ever got off the ground, but it's pretty scary. And when you're working with the IFS... you inherently have a way smaller base because not everyone wants those nanomachines." She continues to swirl her drink. "...Not that I mind it. It's all we really got."
Yurika is probably right about the future of modularity, BUT... "Hmm. I got one bone to pick with the Zero-G frame whenever we sortie in space." Hikaru shakes her head. "The fists aren't even detachable... isn't that disappointing?"
<Pose Tracker> Yurika Misumaru has posed.
"Ugh, don't remind me of the IFS thing..." Yurika tends to wear gloves wherever she goes, and this time's no exception! She pulls the left up a little bit, the faint hint of that silver pattern streaking across the back of her hand. "Right when I was getting a little more used to it, suddenly the biggest fish in the pond is crazy averse to the idea? Mnnn...I mean, there are downsides that've happened, but the IFS is super duper safe and convenient. It's probably safer on the whole, given how dangerous mobile suit piloting is to begin with!"
Maybe it's that Yurika's now her second glass of wine deep, but something's animating her now on an unusually political axis. "God, the way they get on about 'we can't have mobile suits that harm the pilot' like they aren't ALL flying deathtraps we're gambling on a lot...I'm willing to bet that even if you compared GUND-ARM stuff to the ways people die in totally normal mobile weapons, they're saintly by compare, just cause you can protect your own life easier, and like, the more we refine the technology, the safer it gets! Cause they're not DUMB, they're not gonna aspire to this expensive procedure making people disposable..."
A looong exhale. Oh no, a ramble like that in front of friends who were just talking about Gekiganger. Yurika's face goes completely crimson, hands flying up to cover herself. "Aaaah, I'm so sorry about that. ...It's hopeless, huh. I'm gonna be an old maid who rambles about technology these days, and everyone close in my life likes super duper old TV shows so much that even I'm starting to understand them..." Sniffle. Sniffle. "But I guess Akira's not bad to assign to me..."
A sudden flash of impulsive thought, as Yurika pulls her glove back down - then looks to Hikaru and Maya's hands. "...Maya. ...Have you ever, uh, shared IFS control over anything? ...I kinda wanted to...discuss that, since...a while back, Hikaru rescued me from a pickle and I tried sorta. Giving her a hand there. ...It felt really weird, but it...kinda worked? I'm wondering if there's anything there with that tech. I'm sure they've TRIED, but...I've been so busy that I haven't even gotten behind the wheel of an Aesti in months..."
<Pose Tracker> Maya Jintek has posed.
"True... I don't really know how being an AI would affect my perspective of things, admittedly. It would be nice to be able to see things from Omoikane's... eyes?" That was an interesting thought. There was that whole transhumanist idea of being able to upload your brain and live in a digital world. Would that be similar? Or still different? Chalk that one up to more things that were very likely to remain theoretical.
The idea of honourable duels sparked an idea for Maya. "Wait a minute - if everything could be resolved by honourable duels... would we even need to duel? If two sides respected each other enough to abide by such a result, they'd be able to resolve their dispute with words, right? But... yeah, having an opponent that respects you is far preferable to one that doesn't, or maybe doesn't even comprehend what that means." There had been examples in history of duels resolving problems, after all, although also examples of them causing more problems, too. At the end of the day, respect and understanding was needed, and that entailed communication.
It shouldn't be surprising that Yurika was quite well informed about Benerit and its... issues. Maya didn't feel the need to wear gloves to hide her IFS implants, but then, she was also from a country that was, for the most part, more relaxed about that kind of thing. At least for now. Either way, nothing the Captain said was false in her mind. Yes, there were dangers, but that was all from pushing things too far. If someone exercised too much and hurt themselves, it didn't mean that exercise was bad. Maya put a hand on Yurika's shoulder. "It's OK, as I said before, let it all out. Everyone needs a chance to vent. And you're right. If anything it looks more like they're just trying to avoid competing. Corporations hate having to compete."
It was then that Yurika brought up something that she'd never even considered before. "Sharing control?" Maya thought about it for a moment. "Hmmm... no, I've never personally done that before. I'm a mecha engineer, not a cyberneticist, so I'm not really familiar with all the details there, sorry." It did sound very interesting, though. "Nergal and Morganroete haven't shown too much interest in that area, but I wonder... would the IFS be a good way to create something more along the lines of Getter using that connection? A Gekivalis?" It'd require a complete overhaul, probably a different team, but she could imagine that there would be at least someone interested in the idea. "It might be worth suggesting to them, though?"
<Pose Tracker> Hikaru Amano has posed.
If everything could be resolved through duels, is the duel even necessary? Hikaru thinks on that one. "Hmm! I mean, that's what they were going for with the Gundam Fight I think... but by now, that's a total wash with all the corruption that was behind it. So yeah, maybe you're right, Maya."
Hikaru is almost a little surprised how passionate Yurika is about the latest political swerves in mobile suit technology... but then again, Yurika was never really the type to shy away from how she feels. "I mean, you're not totally wrong... before Nergal came out with the Aestivalis, I tested more traditional units like VFs. And I gotta admit, I feel most comfortable in my lil' Aesti these days~ well, maybe I just get attached easy..." She laughs, and then considers Yurika's words more seriously.
"The thing those guys seem really stuck in, is that..." She puts on her best Delling Rembran impression. It's very bad. "Ahem. The responsibility of taking a life must always be in our own hands." In the end, though, it's very true that everyone is doing around in giant flying death traps. "I get it, a little bit, but like... there's already a degree of separation there with the whole ROBOT part." Maybe there's a bit of Rembran's philosophy she's missing there, but... "Yeah. Part of me is just fighting to survive when I go out there with my Aesti." She agrees.
"Yeah, it's totally fine! Like... if you have opinions, it's probably better to keep them to yourself. If anything, I'm glad you actually care about all this... a lot of Captains wouldn't dare to even consider going out on the field like that." She nods along with Maya.
But speaking of going out on the field... Yurika just up and brings up that moment of... IFS resonance (?) they had. "Y-Yeah... that was super weird," She says, staring at her bare hand as she continues downing her drink. "I usually fight better when I'm not by myself... so having, uh, that sort of thing going on actually really helped me focus." But it seems like research on what that even was hasn't even progressed - and Nergal and Morganroete aren't really interested.
"To create something more, fighting together as like, something greater than the sum of your parts?" She asks, to Maya's suggestion. "That sounds pretty romantic, doesn't it?" And before she can interrogate that, another thought comes to mind. "Hey... wait. Remember those total weirdos from ZAFT? The ones that somehow followed us to Gallia-IV?" Hikaru considers, especially when Maya says 'Gekivalis'. "They had a combiner and they were super strong. I wonder... did they figure something like that out?"
<Pose Tracker> Yurika Misumaru has posed.
A slightly green look crosses Yurika's face. "Iiiii'm not sure I buy the whole 'brain uploading' concept, mostly because...mmm. Nnnn. I have my doubts it'd really feel like 'transferring yourself' and probably feel like outright dying? It's one of THOSE arguments: if what's really happening is self-perpetuation...or if it's just copying you and getting rid of the original. But then you wonder what that means for you normally...are we all just dying and being reborn all the time?!"
That's a bridge of intensity that even Yurika recognizes might be her getting in too deep - eyes getting a little unfocused, the captain rests a bit more weight against Maya's arm, taking a deeep breath to bring herself from the existential brink. "...Okay, okay. Little too far there. Mm. ...I like the idea of the Gundam Fight. It's really romantic! It's really cool! ...It didn't...really work though huh. It feels like one of those ideas that wound its way without a guy saying no and before they realized the obvious problems, it was already 30 years into it and getting targeted by terrorists..."
"...And I think it shouldn't be said too much but I think this 'Gekivalis' idea shouldn't be in the same boat!" Yurika huffs, thinking about the way Gekiganger 3 did things like growing arms like magic and sprouting turbines where there weren't any. "In case you forgot, the last time we built a robot that did all that weird stuff, it destroyed New Yark! And GaoGaiGar needs special equipment to not, like, blow up everything around it! ...ugh, the Dividing Driver sounds really convenient, and I wish they shared that technology..."
Idly, Yurika bumps the back of her IFS-equipped palm up against Hikaru's. "...Really? You feel like you need someone else there to help pilot a little better? I wouldn't have guessed that - I mean you usually work as a team, but...mm. It seems like a tactical decision to maybe, uhm, keep a comm window open at your side then, whenever you go out there? How to resolve that..."
<Pose Tracker> Maya Jintek has posed.
Maya had ordered another drink by now - this time a rum and coke - and nodded along with Hikaru. "The first thing I piloted was a Glaug of all things. I didn't Macronise for it, mind; I'd rigged it up so it had a more ordinary cockpit." It had been a big and fun project back at school. Perhaps she could go back to it at some point and see about doing the same thing, except with an IFS control system. Glaugs were really old at this point, but she had a soft spot for them. And the IFS was definitely better than regular control schemes. Everything was more intuitive. And it's not like the anger issues caused by the process were all that significant. It felt like a lot of fearmongering, given her personal experiences post procedure.
She laughed at Hikaru's impression. "Hahaha, that's so bad! What's he suggesting by that, anyway? That every fight must be a fistfight? An abolishment of hierarchy so that taking a life is always in the hands of a single person?" Some of these pompous leader figures really put a lot of thought into saying things that made no sense when you thought about it even a little.
Yurika's thoughts on brain uploading reminded Maya of an old philosophical idea. "The Ship of Theseus!" She said a little too loudly before settling down, her face going a little red. "If the Nadesico gets damaged, and you repair it with new parts, is it still the Nadesico? What if over a long time, it gets to the point there's nothing original left on it? Is it still the Nadesico? And what about us? Our cells are constantly dying and getting replaced. Our personalities change as we experience new things? Is the Yurika in front of me the same person she was yesterday? How about ten years ago?" While an engineer and pilot by trade, she'd taken the chance at university to sit in on some Humanities classes as well, and they'd been absolutely fascinating. "Maybe it's a bit different with becoming something like Omoikane - a digital being - but I don't think that it's not you at least."
Before she could get excited about the idea of the Gekivalis, Yurika shot that idea down. But still, Hikaru wasn't necessarily wrong. "I mean, it doesn't have do be something like GaoGaiGar or Getter. It could just be something that benefits from having several people linked up to manage more than one person could on their own. Like... someone's focused on movement, another on weapons, another on controlling drones, you could have someone managing stuff like electronic warfare... I don't know, it's starting to sound like a complex Mobile Armour now. But still! There's definitely some romance in everyone working together for a common goal! Plus if everyone can respond faster versus standard communications, there's definite improvements. And you could still make it look like a robot!" She hadn't actually fought those Combiner ZAFT weirdos, being assigned to a different mission, but from what she'd heard and seen, they had definitely been a force to be reckoned with.
<Pose Tracker> Hikaru Amano has posed.
"Oh right!" Hikaru vocalizes, when Maya brings up her first unit. "I hadn't considered Zentraedi custom mobile suits and weapons... Come to think, being Zentraedi'd probably make the relationship between size and piloting a lot different." She's aware that some Zentraedi really do wear suits like they're a Tarabaman or something. "I can't say the IFS ever made me feel different, either... maybe it was minor, but I've always been a pretty cheerful person~"
Hikaru blinks, when the topic turns to brain uploading and transferring one's consciousness. Yurika's argument of it being totally terrifying is resonant, but Maya has a point when she brings up the good ol' Ship of Theseus, too. "Oh, geez... philosophy. Here we go...!" Hikaru signals for a refill. "Not to sound like some total Newtype hippie," she says, in the Spacenoid slang way, "but there's always the idea that it's the soul that keeps us the same no matter how much we change. Not sure how much I believe that... but it sounds nice, alright!" She shrugs. "If you count Omoikane, I guess even the Nadesico has a soul..."
Hikaru nods, slowly, then on Yurika's thoughts on the Gundam Fight. "It's definitely something that's way more in place in a TV show than real life, sad as it is to say. The Mobile Fighters are pretty interesting pieces of technology, though..." It's definitely a Choice to make the user feel all the pain of their mobile suit.
As for the Gekivalis... "Yeah, Getter Rays are a total no-go. But I guess the concept is fine long as they just use plasma instead!" Hikaru points out to Yurika, for all her exasperation. "And hey! Maybe Nergal's just banking on being able to sell their own copy of the Dividing Driver. Not that I know how that thing works at all..."
"Either way, combiners that resemble Gekiganger are super expensive to make, which is probably why they haven't really caught on... I know Zeon's mobile armours did try that at first. But maybe it wasn't practical? You'd probably know more about that than me, Maya." She scratches her head.
Hikaru's grip from her drink slips just a little when Yurika bumps her palm. "Well, it's not like I'm totally useless on my own..." She answers. "And I swear, it's not really a problem, either. I'm just... not as independent as most of our other pilots, I guess? That's how I was trained." She adds."
"But, wow... that's really going the extra mile just for me, Yurika-chan." She smiles, a little awkwardly. "I don't want to mess up your focus, but sometimes I'm like 'well, if the Captain's watching, I can't mess this shot up'. She laughs.
<Pose Tracker> Yurika Misumaru has posed.
"Well...if the mobile weapon gets complicated enough that it needs a lot of people to operate it, I feel like the thing people turn to first is some kinda AI assistance. Like Omoikane!" Yurika raises her finger then, and presses a subtle button on her cufflink. "Heeey, can you hear us? Maya's wondering if we're the same people we were yesterday, or if we change day by day. Omoikane, what do you think? Is the Omoikane from yesterday still the same you?"
On cue, a little rectangular holo-window bounces from Yurika's cuff, and displays a thumbs-up, followed by a flash of: <<STATUS A-OKAY - 93 DAYS ONLINE>>
"...well, maybe Omoikane got it, maybe he didn't. Ruri would be able to tell me immediately if he had that kind of idea in him, or how to tell it to him. But - thank you, Omoikane!~"
For half a second, the holo-window changes to display: <<ENJOY THE DATE>> before zipping away. Yurika just assumes she's imagining things there!
"...I never quite get what's running through Zeon and ZAFT's heads making mobile weapons. I mean. You've seen them, right? They were absolutely throwing literally everything at the wall to figure out what worked and moooost of it didn't." Third glass of wine arrives for Yurika, alongside a generously portioned shrimp pate flatbread.
"I mean, I work with everyone on the bridge, so maybe I know how that is. I'd feel kinda cold and difficult if I were out alone in a mobile weapon, and it'd probably be easier with company, like...well, anything is..." Yurika's nibbling on the first slice, swaying just a little tipsily. "Maybe if we got a big enough suit, you could set up your artistry desk in the backseat, ahahaha~"
<Pose Tracker> Maya Jintek has posed.
Maya nodded along with Hikaru as she spoke about her own philosophical leanings. "I don't know if I subscribe to this Newtype nonsense, I admit, but I like the idea of the Nadesico having a soul. It might be safe to say 'I think, therefore I am.' The Nadesico and Omoikane think, therefore they are~!" Yurika posed the question to Omoikane themself, and the reassuring image popped up in response... though she wasn't sure if she 'got' the response entirely. "As for brain uploading, I'd probably say that if it's you abandoning your body, the upload would be you, but if it's more you copying your mind and thoughts, that'd be more... asexual reproduction? And you'd probably wanna talk with a doctor about how hormones and the like affect thoughts. After all, you're both a mind AND a body, right? And a soul if you believe in that, too!" Drinking in a bar was naturally the best time to talk about high concepts like politics and philosophy.
Yurika and Hikaru's talk about the practical side of matters did put a bit of a damper on Maya's mood. "Pretty much. Asides from stuff like moving parts and combining being really technically demanding from both a theoretical and practical side, you're running into the problem of economies of scale. You might be better of talking to Prospector about this, but there's a lot of work that goes into designing and building anything. If you build lots, however, you bring the aggregate price down, due to things like streamlined factories, worker experience, that kind of thing." She polished off her rum and coke and brought the glass down a little harder than normal. "That's why all those prototypes Zeon and ZAFT made were all stupid! You either aim for mass production from the start, or you blow your entire budget on something super awesome! If you half-arse it, you've just wasted a whole lot of money. Just using the One Year War as an example, the GM and Zaku II were excellent examples of the former, and... hmmm... I was gonna say that the Gundam was the latter, but they kinda used that as a basis for the GM, didn't they? Which actually helps prove my point about economies of scale!" Maybe she was starting to lose her train of thought from drinking too fast, but Maya felt like she had a point at least.
She turned to Hikaru who had started to talk about some of her own shortcomings. "Nothing wrong with working better as a team. And besides, you've shown your independence in other ways. Like, all your creative endeavours. That's something, right? You don't need anyone to tell you to draw or build or anything. Just gotta put that in practice in other places you feel you need that confidence." Hikaru seemed pretty well put together to Maya at least. With any luck, she'd be able to feel that way to herself as well. "And if you're having problems, just ask me for help! ...Wait, that's going back to relying on others, isn't it?" She giggled. "Still nothing wrong with it, though!"
<Pose Tracker> Hikaru Amano has posed.
Yurika calls upon the wisdom of Omoikane to answer the philosophical conundrum on their minds; it doesn't look like he had much to answer with - but it's always good to know he is doing 'a-okay'. A beat, when Hikaru tries to lean in to see what the holo-window says. "Okay, Omoikane! Thank you~"
5r"Huh! Yeah, maybe it really is as simple as just 'thinking'. After all, we're even thinking when we're all zzzzz, even when we don't know it..." Hikaru nods. She's starting to get a little too tipsy to really understand, but... that's the fun of nights out like this. "Asexual reproduction though? Ahaha, that's kind of just wild..."
"To be honest, they make real good drawing material." Hikaru shrugs, about the ZAFT and Zeon mobile suits, offering her own artistic perspective to Maya's engineering outlook. "Drawing that stuff isn't like... something I'd post for the world to see or anything, but it's good mechanical study." Another sip from her third drink of the night. "Some of 'em are kinda cute, too. Right?" But she does pay attention to what Maya's saying, too. 'Nergal sure knows a lot about economies of scale. Tiny little knives, and wire-guided fists... sure do save some cash."
Hikaru is a little relieved to know she doesn't just sound pathetic for hating fighting alone on the battlefield. She definitely wouldn't call herself codependent, but... "Uh-huh. It's not like anyone would want to die alone, and that's always a risk out there. Still, not bad advice, Maya. I'll be sure to keep it in mind~" Something evergreen about Hikaru is that she always seems to bounce back from these things so fast. Case in point, she takes it upon herself to steal a slice of Yurika's bread, devious scoundrel she is.
"Hehehe, having a desk back there would definitely make those routine spot-checks a lot less boring." She grins, at Yurika's suggestion. "Honestly I could definitely go for a roomier cockpit in general, but... if I end up getting a better setup in there than in my room, then I'll never want to leave! Oh, the horror..."
<Pose Tracker> Yurika Misumaru has posed.
"E-eh? I mean. I've met a few Newtypes," Yurika folds her hands under her chin, looking a little more directly in Maya's eyes. "...I've felt it. They definitely give off a distinct...something. They feel things, and it's like they color the room. I can smell it, but not with my nose." Yurika ponders Maya's idea of the soul a little more, but throws up her hands and concedes, "That's deeeefinitely a Ruri question. I'm genuinely curious - I don't even know if Ruri's the kind of person to believe we have a 'soul' ourselves. ...Though...to be totally honest? We've seen enough...absurd situations that I think that's the only explanation. How else do you describe what the Phenex and its like were always doing...how else do you describe the way the Nadesico held up Palau way more than it should have?"
The recollection is enough to sober Yurika up from being so deep in the cups. "...I mean...it wasn't quite an Axis Drop of vanishing it entirely, but something miraculous happened that day, and I was at the center of it. For a few minutes, it kind of felt like a lot of people were counting on me in a sense that was filtered through me."
A long exhale to pull away from a topic THAT heavy as 'the near brush with planetary disaster', and Yurika takes vengeance on Hikaru's Bread Theft...by picking up a slice and putting it up to Maya's mouth too. Aggressive sharing! "I-I can't say any of their mobile armors were cute...they all looked like...weird bugs?"
"...There's something to say about our society if we make mobile armor cockpits so comfy that people don't wanna leave, if weapons of war start feeling like ho-" Okay now she's gotta clap her own cheeks. She keeps saying such heavy stuff when she's had a few too many drinks, she's realizing! "Maybe something more like a mobile truck that travels the land where you can draw lots of scenic vistas in inspiration, maybe more like THAT. I'd drive, I like that kinda thing! ...Maya, what would you do if we got a little landship and just meandered across the world...?"
<Pose Tracker> Maya Jintek has posed.
That... was a good point. "Perhaps I misspoke." Maya said, thinking about the Phenex. There was no way she'd deny the ghost - she couldn't see her normally, but she was undoubtedly there. "Mind, body, and soul. All linked." She raised her hands and formed a triangle. "...aaaaaaaand we're back to Gekiganger again. Hahaha." The human mind liked to create links, even if they didn't make sense, but it was definitely amusing.
"It's not that they aren't good machines, it's just that you need to stick with one for long enough for it to be economical." Zeon and ZAFT had some good engineers, certainly, but from the economics side, you couldn't just switch production at the drop of a hat because something shiny came along. She might have said something more, but suddenly there was bread in her mouth. Yurika had made her attack, and it was a delicious one! She chewed happily, eyes closing at the simple pleasure of eating. "Shrimp is bugs, you know..." She murmured in between mouthfuls at Yurika's protest that the mobile armours didn't look cute.
Maya was disturbed from her prawnbread reverie at the direct question. "Hmm? A landship?" It took her a moment to replay the conversation in her mind. "I think that'd be pretty fun! You'd want it to be able to float or fly as well, so you can travel across the oceans, too... or maybe just stick it on a ferry? ...but we'd need to deal with all our responsibilities first, wouldn't we?" It was peaceful right now, but who knew how the NUNE would behave? Terminal certainly had doubts, and Maya shared those. And someone had to be responsible... "Responsibilities..." They were here because of all of those, weren't they? Maybe they did need a longer holiday...
<Pose Tracker> Hikaru Amano has posed.
"In some parts of space, 'Newtype' is like slang for someone with really good intuition." Hikaru explains, as to why she brought it up in the first place. "In that sense, we could say dear Yurika-chan is a Newtype in her own right, but..." She looks to Yurika, and then Maya. "You're right. There's definitely something there, even if I can't really explain it... like, the Phenex was always saying weird stuff, but the fact that she could say those things at all..." Palau was a bad experience overall for Hikaru, though - even if she was able to come to terms with it with the Phenex. "Of course it does. It always comes back to Gekiganger! Just like it always comes back to Tarabaman nowadays."
The near brush from planetary disaster is indeed a topic not to be lingered upon under this many drinks, so Hikaru just giggles when Yurika invites Maya in on bread crimes. "Seriously? You don't think any of them are cute, Yurika-chan?" She makes the saddest doll-eyes ever directly to Yurika. "Not even the Zakrello?" Hikaru's definition of cute is not to be questioned. Maybe even the shrimp they're eating is cuter.
"I mean... I live on the Nadesico, full time." Hikaru points out, as regards to living on a literal weapon of war. "Nowhere else to go if I ever hypothetically get fired. But hey, there's worse weapons of war to live on~" She says, with a complete smile. "Hmm... that does sound fun, though. You don't really get to see much except the clouds on the Nadesico, and not always having to be ready for active combat... yeah, that sounds pretty nice. I haven't really seen much of the Earth, even now... but it'd be fun to do it with you two!" But Maya brings them back to harsh reality. "Responsibilities... that's no fun." She sighs. "Well, I had a pretty good time tonight, anyways~ surely we can worry about those later."