2022-06-12: From the moment I shook your hand, I knew I hated you
- Log: From the moment I shook your hand, I knew I hated you
- Cast: Eight York, Yuliana Dispersal
- Where: Shanghai, China
- Date: 2022-06-12
- Summary: Two Captains meet in Federation territory and have a 'friendly' conversation.
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
It's Eight's first time in Shanghai, and it's an impressive city. She's had a bit of business in the city--Londo Bell is mostly based in space, but Eight occasionally helps out other parts of the Federation, and that's what's happened here. She is dressed still in her uniform, complete with Captain's hat, which she puts back on as she steps out of a building, looking around the streets in the mid-afternoon. Crowded! Now, she's not unaccustomed to crowded, living in the colonies, but there's something different about the effect with a real horizon and 'weather'.
It is clear out, and she starts down the street, standing out very easily with her significant height and very blonde hair and Londo Bell uniform.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
Shanghai! Wonderful city. Great food. Important to check in with the boss's boss now and then. For all the Nega Force are stationed in Sri Lanka, the seat of the REA's power is here -- which means Yuliana Dispersal has plenty of business here, too.
As it happens, Federation business can be a bit localised, so Eight isn't the only officer here. Yuliana, for once, is also in uniform, which marks her as a Captain of the REA perfectly well. (She generally goes about in plain clothes, but, well, some business you need to dress up for. You know how it is.)
She is not as tall as Eight, by a significant measure. Even so, she has no trouble with the crowds; there are enough people in them who prefer to part around her that she's able to walk down the street without being disturbed at all.
Yuliana, it seems, is perfectly used to both weather and crowds. She was born on earth -- in this part of earth -- after all.
But as she passes Eight by, suddenly, all the emotional chatter of the city
goes
blank.
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Eight knows how it is about having to dress up; she did, after all. Though the uniform is something of a... well, it's something she wears for a variety of reasons, the fact that it marks her clearly as a woman deals with Space among them. But she isn't thinking too hard about that as she walks, instead considering her...dinner plans, maybe. That'sa good thing to be thinking about. Until--
The city goes silent. Not nerve-busting like Tsutsujidai, but silent all the same, and Eight stops short, blinking once and looking around. "...?"
Her expression definitely reads confused, and surprised.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
Yuliana, as a rule, tries to mind her business when she's in a position like this; it's hard to be deniable when you're wearing the REA's colours. She might have passed Eight by without bothering her at all, except --
-- sensing that failed attempt at connection, she can't help but pass close enough to discombobulate her --
-- and hearing someone vocalise a question mark is really too much.
Rather than keep walking, Yuliana stops, and turns to Eight. Nothing stops, and turns to Eight. There is no emotional signature from her -- not even the blunted, difficult-to-grasp affect of certain soldiers with particularly closed mindsets.
But then, there's no emotional signature from anyone, right now. So who could tell?
The only thing telling is the concern on her face, which doesn't seem feigned, for all the emptiness beneath her face. "Hmm? Are you quite all right, Captain..?"
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Not getting a signature from one person is fine; Eight is dating a Zentradi, and they are notoriously difficult to 'connect' to psychically, even if not quite this bad. But everyone around her? It's not just that there's nothing there, it's that there's a... void, almost, drawing that connection in. It's very uncomfortable. And Eight notices Yuliana turn to look at her. Sure, it could just be that she notieced Eight being confused...
'I mean, she looks like a normal lady, but my senses are really muted or even quiet around her...'
"Oh I'm all right, Captain," Eight answers, recovering thanks to her memory of someone else telling her about such a person. And besides; even if this is the same person, and she is hostile to them, Yuliana is not being hostile yet, so--
"Thank you for asking." She smiles.
"I was just surprised by something."
A beat, "Say--you haven't made the acquaintance of an Arriety Hearn, have you? Stationed on the Ra Mari?"
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
Yuliana isn't being hostile. Why, she's concerned! The fact that standing beside Eight is itself an act of hostility is such a ridiculous concept that we shan't devote any more time to the wild idea. Do get your facts straight. Oh, did I call it a fact? Surely you're misremembering.
It's that sort of situation.
But Eight smiles, and Yuliana smiles, just the same, with all the friendliness of a mirrored expression. "So long as you're all right," she agrees, not unkindly.
"... hmm?" Yuliana asks, in the wake of her question. Her hand reaches up, to brush at the hair falling over her face, in a moment's thought. All a sudden, she snaps her fingers: "Oh! The civilian attache?"
It didn't take her that long to think of them. All Yuliana needed was a night crying out for a distraction for her to remember Rena Lancaster and her little friends, which means that now they're fresh in her mind. After looking them up, you understand.
It's not creepy; it's intelligence.
(Okay, it's kind of creepy.)
"So, you must be Lieutenant Lancaster's superior! But I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage," she does not, but Yuliana extends her hand regardless. "Captain Yuliana Dispersal. A pleasure to meet you."
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
It's kinda creepy.
Eight is still bright-eyed and cheerful when Yuliana thinks about it; when she answers--"Yes!" Eight answers in turn, pleasantly. And Yuliana demonstrates that she knows Rena, too, which was the other question she'd have had. So that's very interesting indeed...
"That's right, too!" the blonde answers, and reaches out to shake Yuliana's hand. Her grip will be firm but not overwhelming; a standard, forthright kind of handshake. "Captain Eight York. Likewise, a pleasure."
"She told me you gave her rather a lot to think about, so I'm happy to meet the person I've heard of."
"I've known Arriety and the Lieutenant for a long time; we grew up together, and we're lucky enough to serve on the same ship, too."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
Yuliana's is firm just the same; she has no particular need to try and break Eight's wrist just yet. (Maybe someday.) It's a particular type of friendliness between equals which Yuliana will... respect, out here on the street.
If she felt otherwise, who could tell?
"She did, did she?" Yuliana laughs, lightly, as her hand comes to rest on her hip; it's a rather casual stance, for someone of her station. "Only good things, I'm sure!"
Well, they're good for Yuliana, because it means she's living in their heads rent-free. Delightful, really. It's no effort to smile about something like that.
Yuliana's head cants, finger coming to rest along her cheek. "So the Ra Mari is one big, happy family, mm..? What a wonderful assignment you all have. That answers the question of why there's a civilian coming along, I suppose!" And, well -- it's a statement which sounds perfectly friendly. Light conversation.
But the way she lingers on the bonds of the Ra Mari...
... it's a little like drawing a target.
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
(Maybe someday. Eight might want to do the same....)
"Of course!" Eight replies at the matter of good things, because she was a popular girl and despite her forthright manner she's actually not bad at all at lying. Because it is a lie. A super lie. But Eight smiles as she tells it. She doesn't get a 'read' from Yuliana; if she didn't know her from before, she might take all her pleasantries at face value, and even then it's tempting to do so.
It's not a coincidence that Eight goes with publically-accessible information.
"And when we meet someone new, we try to make them feel welcome, too," Eight says of the Ra Mari. "I can't run a ship all with hugs and cookies, but I do want my crew to feel like part of something bigger than themselves. So that I can do."
"But my work is easy to talk about; Londo Bell gets a lot of press. I'm curious what you do! If you can tell me, of course."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
A super lie! Yuliana expects it; she'd be more surprised if Rena had said good things, given the effect she had on her. That Eight is both willing and capable of lying so smoothly is far more interesting than the fact that she's surely not telling the whole truth.
"No wonder you have such a positive reputation," Yuliana remarks -- which serves the dual purpose of continuing the kindnesses and pointing out that they do have a reputation which Yuliana has heard about. Perhaps it's no wonder; as Eight says, Londo Bell gets plenty of press.
Yuliana laughs, again -- light, and pleasant, more communal than mocking -- as she comes to the question of what she does. "Oh, it's hardly a secret," she assures her, which isn't entirely a lie, like all the best lies in the business. "I head up the Nega Force -- we're a special operations team. I'm sure you've heard all sorts of frightful rumours," Yuliana waves a hand, as if to brush them away, "but largely, our duties fall into rapid response, specialist intervention, and oversight and training. The only nefarious thing about us is a focus on quality over quantity! You can imagine such a thing stands out, here in the Republic." This, she adds with a wry smile, as if Yuliana is perfectly capable of poking fun at herself.
This, too, is not entirely a lie. It's also the sort of thing one would find in her public dossier; all the best qualities of a special operations team, and none of the rumours. Surely they don't contribute to world destabilisation -- why, they even help to train developing combat forces and defend civilian areas across the globe!
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
So they do have a reputation. That suggests that Yuliana did some looking into them, beyond just knowing names; they're not that famous, after all. That's not necessarily a problem, of course...
"Oh, so?" The Nega Force! What a name. "That makes sense," she says. "And in some places I guess that is pretty nefarious!" she says with a laugh, "Though of course, everything I've seen here in the REA suggests pretty fine service in general. I haven't had much occasion to visit before; I grew up in the colonies, you see."
This may be a cheap way of confirming her previous question about spacenoids. But it's also true!
She'll have to look into this Nega Force though, and Captain Dispersal...
But that silence drifts on in Eight's head. It really is uncomfortable. Eight can't entirely conceal the gesture of rolling her shoulders, as if from an ache she can't quite place.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
It's a fun little game of I-know-you-know-I-know. Of course, Yuliana doesn't have to play it; but knowing as she does that she's a topic of conversation amongst the empaths of Ra Mari, how can she resist giving her something else to sweat about?
Don't be fooled by her genial conversation. She's known her for all of a few minutes -- and Yuliana has been looking for ways to hurt Eight this whole time.
Speaking of that game, Yuliana doesn't think she's giving Eight anything she couldn't have found on searching her name -- Minovsky's Woman is reasonably well-known as an REA ace, and of course, the REA is part of the Federation, which means her affiliation is known to them. At the same time, she's able to give the appearance of having volunteered a lot, in a gesture which is surely meant to exchange trust given the stated popularity of the Ra Mari.
... even so, just giving her that information for free is terribly cocky.
"Oh, is that so?" Yuliana asks, lightly, on Eight growing up in the colonies. Marvellous! Another reason to loathe her. "Well, I'm glad you have that impression -- life in the Republic is quite good, all in all. Of course, there are areas we simply must improve, but isn't that true of every nation on Earth? Why, in the entire Earth Sphere, even." It's surely innocuous, the way she appends the broad term a moment too late.
Surely.
Just as innocuous as the way her gaze lids, with just a hint of satisfaction, as Yuliana presses: "Say, are you sure you're feeling all right..?"
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
So far, no obvious hostility--but then, Arriety had said it wasn't that obvious, either. Eight is looking for it, and so she sees a bit. But as for the game... Eight hadn't had her name before, though she probably could've found it. But it's still useful information she doesn't have to look up, though she'll be confirming it later.
"Mm-hm. I think the good relations between Earth and the colonies are so important. We're all humans; some of us just live a lot higher up." Smile. It's surely innocuous. Just like it's innocuous how Eight presses the issue a little.
"It's important to keep in mind what we can improve, even while we enjoy what's good. That's true."
Is that... Hmmm. Eight watches Yuliana for a momment, curious. And then she says, "Oh, I'm fine. Just have a lot of nervous energy. I had to skip my last workout for this assignment, and I'm eager to get back to the gym. You know how it is, right?"
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
Yuliana doesn't say a word about how they're looking down on them from above. Neither does she say anything about how easy it is to reach terminal velocity, from all the way up there.
Even so -- "Of course," Yuliana agrees, easily. "We must ensure an equitable distribution of our resources." It's an entirely reasonable response, for a Republic woman, but... "I'm so glad we can agree on such an optimistic outlook."
She says the right supportive words, she uses the right supportive tone, but there's that little pulling-back of her shoulders which makes her just a hair larger.
Like she's talking about a threat.
Yuliana laughs -- easily, too easily, she laughs so easily -- as Eight confesses she's full of nervous energy. "Oh, is that so?" She asks, fanning her fingers through her bangs. "You know, there's a fitness centre just across the road and down the next street." Entirely friendly! Yuliana knows the area better than Eight, and she's just offering her some advice to help with her problem, from one captain to another!
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Yes, Eight sees it--though Yuliana's main problem with them may not be that they're spacenoids, it clearly doesn't help. That's easier to interface with than other reasons, but Eight can tell it's not... the whole story. Yuliana is a puzzle, to be sure, but she's getting enough of a feel for her.
Enough to dislike her. And to assume that it's mutual.
'Equitable'. Eight knows what that means, after all. "Of course," she answers, still smiling. "I think optimism is one of our greatest weapons going into the future. Those who can't hope can't look ahead very well, don't you think?"
Too easily. But Eight, for her part, despite mentioning her nervous energy doesn't show a ton of it; she's tense, but not fidgety, save for the occasional roll of her shoulders.
"I appreciate that! I'm sure I've held you up long enough, so I may go check that out!" She will not go check that out.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
Oh, Yuliana loathes Eight, just for virtue of what she is. But she's very good at smiling.
Of course, some of the pieces of the puzzle are really quite similar; Yuliana, for one, isn't like to pull out the pills in her pocket while she's in public.
As for the difference between 'equity' and 'equality'...
Her gaze lids; her smile widens, and her tone drops, just a hair. "Why, you're quite right," Yuliana praises Eight, gently, holding her gaze despite her attempts to disentangle herself. "Without a 'purpose' -- some guiding principle -- all men are lost, and there is no route to tomorrow. If ever there is nothing to guide you... come to me."
She lifts her hand, in loose wave, as she turns to leave.
"Until next time, Captain..!"
Why does that feel like a threat, more than a promise?
<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.
Eight's good at smiling, too--but then, there's a competitive streak in her, an old quality that was used when she was working for Zeon, and grew with her. ...An enemy can be exciting much like a friend can be. It's true!
But Yuliana priases her gently, and Eight does not disnengage from her held gaze at first. But some principle... Some purpose.
It ever there is nothing...?
Eight lifts an eyebrow at Yuliana, her facade breaking a little into a 'what the fuck' hint. Something about that is deeply sinister.
But it passes after a moment, and she smiles again. "Don't worry. I have plenty of purpose. But I'll remember that you said that!"
...And figure out what the hell it means, too.
"Until next time, Captain."
She turns to leave, too. ...The return of the noise of the city will be a relief.