2022-01-18: The 'Choices' We Weren't Trained For
- Log: The 'Choices' We Weren't Trained For
- Cast: Ruri Hoshino, Eight York
- Where: The Ra Mari (Londenion, Side 1)
- Date: 2022-01-18
- Summary: Ruri is sent on an important diplomatic mission to the Ra Mari. She's grumpy about delivering a message she could have sent over the comms, but she manages to share something important with Captain York, anyway. What IS a twelve-year-old doing in a combat uniform..?
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"It would be better for our corporate relationships if we could approach this situation considerately," a man in a red vest and a pencil moustache, Prospector, points out. "After all, the whole point of this exercise..."
"You want to appear friendly," Ruri surmises, at point on the deck. "Since we spent several months on Mars, by Earth's perspective, we haven't yet established who we're fighting for. Right now, the only reason anyone has to trust the Nadesico is Nergal's word." Ruri has looked up how much Nergal's word matters, which means that now she understands the metaphorical meaning of a 'loose cannon'.
"Ahh, you're such a serious girl... but you know, I wonder, why don't we send Ruriruri?" Minato interjects, leaning on the helm with an elbow and a sly grin. "I heard she made friends with Ra Mari's captain the other day... don't you think it's perfect?"
"Fool," Ruri grumbles, sinking into her chair a little as the adults around her decide her terrible fate.
---
Anyway, that's how a very serious twelve year old ends up carrying a data pad as she approaches the Ra Mari, looking entirely too grumpy about the whole situation. Walking across the docking bay itself is annoying, because as of current count, at least four people have asked her if she's lost and where her parents are.
She told them all how foolish they were being, of course, but it's still embarrassing.
"Ruri Hoshino, Nadesico systems operator," she introduces herself, straight-faced, when she comes to the correct ship. "Requesting permission to enter."
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
The Nadesico is an interesting puzzle to Captain York; gone for months, and in a terribly dangerous location, and then suddenly back out of nowhere. Except not apparently out of nowhere? Not to mention the idea of a civilian battleship in the first place... so she's pretty curious about them.
She had assumed she wouldn't get much chance to learn more, but apparently...
Well. That's all the way over near the bridge, in Eight's office. Here and now, it's a little different. There is the docking bay, full of people who want to know if Ruri is lost and where her parents are. And there is the ship.
"Hoshino?" Says a man with a clipboard at the entrance, looking down at a list. "Let's see, there's..."
A calm yet booming voice from behind indicates, "She is to be allowed inside."
From there, a man of about 6'2", with green skin and greenish-black hair stands in a Londo Bell uniform, and approaches the entryway next to Ruri, having been on his way back.
"Oh uh, yes sir," the man says, and salutes before opening up the door.
Nodding to Ruri, the Zentradi man will wait for her to step inside and then follow after, standing straight and tall and looking formally at her. "Ruri Hoshino," he rumbles. "Nadesico systems operator. Yes, the Captain told me about you." Pause. "I am Lieutenant-Commander Lavnadim Orlodhari, head Engineer of the Ra Mari." He bows lightly. "How may we help you, Miss Hoshino?"
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Ruri, who hasn't yet started growing, is still sitting at 4'0" -- and that means that when she turns, she has to look an AWFULLY LONG WAY UP to face that Zentradi. She looks a little surprised to see him, which might be the first clue that Ruri is a terribly sheltered girl. She knows about Zentradi, of course, and Lavnadim is hardly the first one she's met, but there aren't that many on the crew -- making up a handful of the 214-strong complement -- and Ruri's world was the Nadesico, for all the time she's been in the world.
She's embarrassed to be out here, and she tells herself it's because people keep calling attention to her, but...
She looks from the Zentradi to the door, and nods, stepping inside. She can't quite stand tall like he does, but she can at least be as formal, or at least as formal as her stature allows. (She can at least stand up straight, even if she's dwarfed.) "Hello, Lieutenant-Commander," Ruri replies, politely. "My Captain has some information for the Ra Mari..." here her gaze slips to the side, with a light frown and a hint of grumbling to her tone, "which we couldn't just send via communications... though to be frank, it could have easily just been a message."
That resentment and backtalk of her superior officers to another ship is probably the best evidence thus far -- beyond the fact that Ruri is, again, twelve years old -- that the Nadesico is a civilian ship.
"It's foolish," she frowns, looking back up to Lavnadim, "but I'm here, anyway. I'm guess I'm intruding, but can I see the Captain?"
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Lavnadim, to perhaps his credit, does not comment directly on Ruri's backtalk. Instead he watches as she says it. ...Indeed, he treats her like he would any officer of another ship, despite her clearly young age. Maybe the military has an easier time with this sort of thing; maybe he's just sort of unflappable.
"...It is the nature of bureaucracy to deal in sometimes foolish matters," he answers without a smile but with a slightly lighter tone. "But obviously there is some reason to keep the information private. A good reason to see the Captain. You are not intruding overmuch; I will take you to her myself."
He nods once more, and then starts off, keeping his pace slow so that the much, much shorter legs of a Ruri can keep up with him without struggle. The walk through the ship is uneventful; there are various crew members walking through the corridors, on some business or another, but eventually he takes Ruri up to the bridge. She has a chance to see how different it is from the Nadesico's design. There are a few people at their duty stations, a couple of them look twice at Ruri and Lavhi when they pass, because they don't often see people of Ruri's age... and definitely not of Ruri's age being so serious.
Knock knock at the door. "Captain," Lavhi says, "I have a visitor for you from the Nadesico. Ruri Hoshino."
"Enter," Captain York says, and once inside Ruri can see that the Captain's office is fairly sparsely decorated at the moment; there are books on the shelves, including a number of technical manuals, and a chessboard over by the desk, with pieces magnetically affixed to the board. It is a nice chess set, at least.
On the desk meanwhile are visible a stack of paperwork 'in' and a stack for paperwork 'out', inside folders to secure them when gravity is turned off, and a couple of photographs; one is of the large Zentradi and the Captain together, the Captain smiling apparently happily while he looks a bit more serious.
"Ruri," Eight greets her. "Here on business?" She looks to the other person present, an androgynous figure in the same uniform and says, "Mx. Rezza, just go ahead and bring me those reports when they're ready. I want to be prepared before we ship out."
She nods, and Rezza turns to go. Lavhi meanwhile waits a moment before the Captain says, "Thanks, Mr. Orlodhari. I won't keep you from your business any longer... but meet me when your shift is up?"
"Of course. Be well, Captain."
In moments, it is just Ruri and Eight. There are chairs at Eight's desk, and she gestures for Ruri to take a seat. "What's on your mind?"
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"Thank you for your assistance," Ruri says, having identified Lavhi as someone else who has to deal with idiocy just from his insight into the nature of things. Surely this means he is an ally against the horrors of foolishness.
(He reminds her of Mr. Hoary, so he must not be a bad person.)
She's quite serious, but she also can't hide the fact that she's curious, either; Ruri had never actually been on any ships other than the Nadesico before they came back to Earth. It's lucky that Lavnadim walks slowly, because that way she can glance this way and that at the various stations and corridors.
She at least doesn't get pulled up too hard when the time comes to stop by the door. She'd like to think she has more situational awareness than the Captain does. Give her some credit. She lets Lavnadim introduce her, though she nods as she enters.
That's such a familiar greeting...
"Affirmative," Ruri says, trying not to let her embarrassment show. She sees the picture on the desk -- looks from Lahvi to Eight as the latter dismisses the former -- and draws a few conclusions, in that moment.
But first: chairs! Ruri looks to the chair Eight gestures to, and after a moment, she takes a seat. She has to hop into it a little, but she's used to that. "The Nadesico has certain data which we believe will benefit Ra Mari's operations," Ruri explains, sliding the data pad she's holding onto Eight's desk.
"They decided to send me instead of just sending a message because we are trying to establish our willingness to cooperate with friendly forces," Ruri goes on to explain, scowling. "... and since I met you the other day, they thought I should come. They're a bunch of fools." Grumpy as she is, she's sure to add: "But the information is fine."
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
"You are welcome."
And then he's gone! The bridge, for its part, has all sorts of displays; Ruri being Ruri, she has an easy time reading what she can see from her distant position, noting a helm console, a fire control console, and so on. There's no sign of an intelligence like Omoikane... But where is there?
Eight notices a little embarrassment--and smiles through it. She doesn't call Ruri out on it, but notes that it's probably not a surprise she might expect more formality. That's Eight, though. And when she sees Ruri look between them...
Well, she doesn't say anything about it; it's work hours, after all.
"I see," Eight answers after a moment, drawing a few conclusions of her own. Ruri scowls--and Eight grins a little. "So, ask you, since you've met me before and I already like you, so that it seems all the friendlier. Whoever cooked the idea up isn't a slouch, for sure. A personal touch can go a long way when you're dealing with unfamiliar people."
"...Of course, it is a little silly to send someone who'll call the idea foolish..." Eight laughs a little. "But thank you for coming, in that case. I'll be sure to read over the file." She glances down at it now, in fact, for a quick overview, but isn't going to actively read it while Ruri's sitting there. That's rude, and not very productive, because... she's curious.
She has some questions for this twelve year old girl serving as systems operator herself.
"Well, since you're here, we might as well make it a dialogue. Any questions, or additional comments or context you'd like to give me?"
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
It's kind of uncanny being on a ship without a Super AI. It's like a body without a brain, and Ruri can't fathom how it functions. Certainly there is still some communication there, electrical systems, but...
... maybe the computer is just shy, and hiding. That would make more sense.
Ruri is surprised to hear Eight zero in on Minato's talents so quickly, and with the widening of her eyes, it may well be that Ruri hadn't realised those were her talents. But it makes sense, doesn't it? Ever since she sent over the data with a casual, 'Ruriruri'...
She blushes a little, when Eight laughs, hands folding together in her lap. Somehow, she manages to restrain herself from pouting, because that would hardly be professional.
Meanwhile: the data on the datapad is operational data! It's a special trick that will help us later. For now, it just looks like data ought to look.
"Nergal Heavy Industries is an unaffiliated faction," Ruri explains, still quite serious. "Since the Nadesico is its flagship, we have to represent a lot of interests. In the past that has involved defying the Federation," here referring to their defiance of the wider no-fly order, "but that doesn't necessarily mean the Federation is our enemy, either." She hums, looking aside, with another frown. "That's what Mr. Prospector would say, but..."
Her legs kick a little, under the chair; she can't entirely hide her nerves. "It all seems deceitful to me. For a long time, we didn't even know why we were fighting... I guess everyone's figured it out by now, but I don't get why all this is so important. When people sign treaties, they end up in wars they didn't mean to fight... that happens in lots of wars. Omoikane told me about it." That's what Ruri does, when they're not in missions. She learns fun facts!
"If we're trying to, 'smooth things over'... we'll end up fighting humans again. Like when we left the no-fly zone." Ruri sounds like she's thought about it quite a bit, which is really not an age-appropriate obsession. "Is everyone really okay with that..?"
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
There's reasons Eight is still Captain of the Ra Mari, even after the emergency--she can see things like that, can read people, sometimes even without meeting them. It's a special talent of her own... and one that she is willing to use in situations like this. After all, Nergal is a 'loose cannon' who employs children on its ships...
Eight doesn't call Ruri out on her interactions, for positive or negative. She instead sets down the datapad, nodding along because she definitely understands what's there and how it will be helpful in the future. She sets it aside; she will make sure it finds its way into the right hands among her crew. For now though...
What Prospector would say. Eight inclines her head in acknowledgement; it is itself a statement. But she doesn't interrupt, because Ruri is still talking. She can't hide her nerves, and Eight is likely to see through hiding them anyway. So Eight listens, in mind and in ear, and then...
No, it isn't age-appropriate. It shouldn't be at all. So Eight is very serious when she regards Ruri after that set of questions. She folds her hands, and nods.
"...It is a bit, isn't it?" Eight admits. "Bureaucracy, public relations... it's all about saying the right things to the right people, whether they're exactly the truth or not. The Federation took issue with the Nadesico before, and it may again in the future. We can't predict what Nergal will do, and that means we have to watch them carefully. Based on our new alliances and treaties, we're very likely, if Nergal works with us, to ask you to fight humans."
"...Whether everyone is OK with it is something they have to decide for themselves. I suspect the answer is: not everyone. It's not what you signed up for, being civilians; in the military I expect it, have trained for it..."
She considers Ruri for a moment, "But I'll let you in on a secret. When I was young--younger than you--I fought humans, too, and I didn't get any say in it. So it's very important to me that all of you get to make that choice for yourselves, more than how well the Federation can make use of you. I can't say what will happen... But that's what I believe in. That people should be able to choose."
"...So can I ask?" Eight says. "How did you come to be a systems operator at your age? It's very impressive, but I won't put you on or patronize you--you're definitely younger than I expect an officer to be."
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Ruri doesn't entirely realise that the same reason she can feel the lack of an AI in the ship is the reason Eight can tell she's nervous anyway. Ruri, after all, isn't terribly attentive to the inner world of other humans.
She frown, when Eight explains things from the Federation's perspective. What she signed up for..? But Eight says she'll let her in on a secret, and Ruri looks up to consider her as she does.
... she doesn't look shocked to hear about a child fighting humans. Or, perhaps, that she didn't have a choice. It's a little hard to tell, the way her face stays so serious regardless, but behind those sharp gold eyes there's an immediate acceptance of the concept.
Ruri frowns, again, when Eight comes to her question, and for a moment she is silent. Her feet still, underneath the chair; one ankle cris-crosses over the other.
She remembers the laboratory where she grew up -- that is, the laboratory she remembers. She was raised there because she was adopted by those scientists, Omoikane said. She remembers the electrodes, running from her skull. She remembers keeping up.
"I... was always meant to be part of the Nadesico," she settles on, finally. It's a particular way to phrase the answer. "It's a complicated vessel... so it would be difficult for most people to operate it. But I grew up with the Nadesico's systems, so it's easy for me."
She pauses, contemplative. "In the end, Nergal paid for my education, so I became their systems operator. That's what I trained to do. I didn't think it was that strange... but, the Nadesico is full of strange people," Ruri shrugs, puffing out a breath.
"They're all fools," she puts them down, reflexively. "It's annoying to deal with their childishness all the time. They keep involving me in their nonsense... I'm not a child. Treating me like anyone else is strange." Ruri is complaining, but it doesn't take a psychic to tell that she has a strong attachment to being considered part of the crew.
(Though it certainly helps.)
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Eight is used to people not realizing what she can do; she doesn't exactly talk about it, though she's sure the higher-ups know...
Ruri accepts the idea immediately, and that's a concern to Eight. But she's committed this far at least, so she keeps talking, and listening. For all that she can read feelings, intentions, she can't truly read Ruri's mind, so she does not know all of what she remembers. But she knows that it is a very particular phrasing she uses.
And Eight wonders about it.
She might have to talk to someone on the Nadesico...
But for now, "I see." That Ruri was meant to be a part of the Nadesico. That it's a complicated vessel; that she was trained, and that the ship is full of strange people.
...And that Ruri cares about them anyway. That may be why she doesn't try to take a particular action right now. "Well, I'm sure you're very helpful. And that they're lucky to have you looking out for them. It must be very interesting, being on a civilian battleship! Things are very different here on the Ra Mari... though we have a little childishness sometimes too," She admits, and then considers her next words. "...I was 'meant' to pilot mobile suits," she decides to say. "It's what I was trained for originally, what they thought I was suited for and set me up to do. But when I went away from the place I was trained, I didn't have to do that anymore. Now, I've made my own decisions about what it is that I want to do, and that led me here, to this ship. I was trained for this instead by the new people I was working with."
"...Fighting people is rough," she admits. "But I hope that you can come to your own decision about it, in time. Did you have any other questions for now?"
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
They are lucky to have Ruri, aren't they? She straightens up a little, hearing that. And there, the pause -- she tilts her head, a little, as Eight comes to say what she was meant to do. It's a baffling sort of statement, to someone like her.
"You're still piloting," Ruri points out, finally. She holds up the back of her hand, marked with the IFS Connector. "The Image Feedback System controls both the Nadesico and the Aestivalis units. Both of them fight against the Jovians. It's foolish to say I'd be different if I piloted an Aestivalis instead. Why do you say you don't have to do it any more, when you're still doing it?" The questions are incisive, and not entirely kind, but it's also true that they're searching.
(They say there is no single truth.)
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
"Hmmm." Eventually Ruri points out an obvious truth, and she looks at Ruri's hand for a moment. Both of them fight... and it's an incisive set of questions indeed. Eight isn't troubled by them--she could be, but she's had to think about this an awful lot herself. If anything she's kind of impressed.
"I stopped for a while," she says. "...But that's not why."
"I say I don't have to because I didn't have to come back to it. I mean, I could've chosen another life instead, but I chose to come back to the military, when I had the chance. A different military, but still the military. ...You're right that it's not fundamentally that different, being on the ship and being in mobile suits. But that is different. That this time, I got to pick what I wanted to do, instead of being told."
"...Hmm," she says, not quite satisfied with her own explanation, and shakes her head. "I admit," she says. "Part of why I went back into it is that I didn't think I'd be good at anything else. But now... Now even if I had the chance to quit, I don't think I would. And to me, that makes a difference."
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"Oh... you chose to come back. I see."
It would be easy to say Ruri sounds disappointed, but that's not entirely true; it would be easy to say Ruri sounds melancholy, but that's not entirely true, either. The precise emotion she's feeling is the emotion of trying to say a word in a foreign language for the first time, only to be frustrated by how wrong it sounds in comparison. There's no large value judgement assigned to it. It's just unusual, unpracticed.
Ruri puts her hand back down, a little belatedly. "You're a complicated person, aren't you, Captain York? But... I don't think that's bad," she clarifies, a little gentler. "I don't want to leave Omoikane alone... and I can help on the Nadesico. I don't like the idea of fighting people, but... the adult world is complicated, I suppose." It is both easy and true to say Ruri sounds melancholic about that, but perhaps that's a good sign. It would be worse if a child wanted to go to war, wouldn't it..?
"Um," she starts, a moment later.
"Please tell your computer I was not trying to be rude. I understand having to hide, but... I didn't mean to scare them."
wait, what
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Sometimes feelings are complicated. Eight doesn't get a magical ability to cut through that particular knot. It just is how it is.
A complicated person, though? Eight smiles faintly. "Aah, can't pass myself off as direct and straightforward with you, can I?" she asks a little ruefully. She can't really argue the point, not after all the things she just said; she may like to pretend to be fairly simple, but she knows the truth is different.
"...Thank you," she settles on, and then nods. "Yes, I understand. The adult world is... very complicated, that's true too."
More than Eight realized a year ago, for sure. But she's in that world now, isn't she? An 'adult'...
It's a strange feeling.
But the next part--it is only because Eight is supremely chill that she doesn't outright blurt her confusion, instead tilting her head slightly and saying, "The computer...?" After a moment she decides what she usually decides: to just go with it. "All right." She is not sure how she is going to do that. But she is not going to break her word to a twelve year old. Maybe ask Minae to tell it...?
What does it even mean, that the computer is 'hiding'? Is it because Omoikane...?
...On the other hand she's been straight with Ruri so far, so she might as well say, "Our computer doesn't generally have much to say," she admits. "I don't think it's like your friend is." Does Omoikane have feelings, then? An AI with feelings is... Well. Not that strange to Eight, actually. "But I have an AI friend I'll ask to make sure."
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"I prefer seeing how people really are," Ruri replies, without much sense of how that insight reflects on her own abilities. She just thinks she dislikes lying... well, not that Eight seems like she's lying to Ruri, even if she isn't straightforward.
After all, the adult world is complicated! (And Eight is, indeed, an adult, at least from where Ruri is sitting.)
"Oh," Ruri says, on the topic of their computer, brow knitting in thought. "Not all computers talk like you do. A lot of them talk in a different way... they make agreements with each other without people ever seeing. And they're just concerned with their operations... lots of computers don't have curiosity, but lots of people don't, either." It's a strange way to discuss it, but... Ruri isn't a particularly normal child, in the first place. She sounds perfectly earnest about what she's saying, at least.
Ruri pauses, fingers pressing together, on her lap. She looks down at them, rather than up at Eight, because all a sudden she's feeling shy. "I... I'd like to talk to Ms. Minae sometime," she ventures, cautiously. "Is that okay?" It is Eight's ship, after all; Ruri can't very well just come and say she'd like to visit someone.
(The fact that Eight never mentioned her name doesn't seem to factor in at all.)
"Oh --" she realises, looking up, a little startled. "But right now, I had better get back. Omoikane needs me." How does she know something like that..?
Maybe she's just particularly attuned to Nadesico's systems. She did say she was raised for them, after all.
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Fair enough! Ruri does seem to like to see things as they are. Eight could speculate what that means for her personality, and she will! ...But later, when she's not actually talking with her. When she has time to just process and think.
"Hmm." Eight listens. It is a little weird, but Eight doesn't see anything bad in it, no reason to contradict her. She just hadn't thought of it that way before. She seems to believe it well.
Shy... Aww. Eight waits as she ventures a request, and then--
Hmm. Had she mentioned Minae's name...? Eight doesn't think so. Curious.
"I see! Well, then. First, I'll say--if Minae's up to talk to you, then you have my permission to go and see her. But for now since you have to be getting back..."
She pushes an intercom button, "Ensign. Please escort my guest back to the hangar bay."
"Take care. I'll be sure to look over this data. Please tell your Captain that I found this to be a very interesting conversation."