2022-10-15: You and I are caught between the focus and scope of hatred
- Log: You and I are caught between the focus and scope of hatred
- Cast: Yuliana Dispersal, Rau Le Creuset
- Where: Side 7 - Abandoned Research Station
- Date: 2022-10-15
- Summary: Yuliana Dispersal hates Newtypes, but Rau Le Creuset hates everyone. Though they're both intent on destruction, their differing priorities make it difficult to trust each other.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
Yuliana's visited the Orb Union, Ravnui, Central Africa... but eventually, she was going to have to go further out, into space. It's regrettable, really, but sometimes one must leave planet Earth in order to achieve one's aims.
(Hurting Rena and her friends. That's what this is all about. That's what Yuliana is occupying herself with, during her vacation.)
On Dr. Edelweiss' advice, she's come to Side 7 -- she's borrowed a Jegan to get here, and whether it was entirely above-board is another question entirely, given she's still on State-Mandated Stress Leave. Of course, she's also twisted Parminder Chaudhri's arm to help her out, because she couldn't have made the trip up without his Salamis Kai. Rondo One is currently a deniable distance away, for... several reasons.
Luckily, this research station still has power, and therefore oxygen; Yuliana has to pull a few levers to light everything up, but it's hardly nothing she's ever done before. She retracts her helmet with a grimace, frowning at the drab olive space suit she's wearing. There is, at least, artificial gravity here, even if she still feels far floatier than she'd prefer.
She's managed to get in here without being detected, at least -- well, not that the Federation would have any reason to object to a Federation officer visiting, but she'd prefer not to make it official. It's something about what she's looking for, as she rifles through one of those filing cabinets adapted for space life, with little latches over the files to keep them flying everywhere in the case of gravity failure.
Yuliana forgets to slide the clips back every time, of course, so it's been slow going through this abandoned information.
<Pose Tracker> Rau Le Creuset has posed.
Within a random maintenance shaft within the abandoned station, there's naught but silence. Silence and darkness... Until there is the hum of power. Fans start to spin up. Maintenance lights flicker into existance. And a device hooked-spliced might be a better word-into the station's power grid comes to life. Its small screen lights up, various status details scrolling across it until finally it stops on the line...
Transmitting.
The Federation may not have detected Yuliana's presence on the station, but someone else has.
Some time later, a small shuttle flies into one of the station's hangars, though not the same one where the Jegan entered. It touches down, engines powering off, side access hatch opening. A man steps out, before making his way towards the airlock into the station.
Removing the helmet from his white normal suit, Rau puts it aside and then takes the pistol from his holster. He gives the weapon a quick check before placing it back, just in case.
The fact that the lights are on seems to suggest that the signal he received from the transmitter he'd left behind was accurate. Someone has brought the station back online. This is not Rau's first time on this station. And while he no longer has any particular interest in its contents, he is curious about why someone is poking around it now.
Rau moves quietly through the station, trying to hide his presence as he searches for the one who reactivated it. It doesn't take a lot of searching to find said person though, reasoning that they'd make for where the research records are stored. And sure enough, Rau spots Yuliana mid-search.
At first Rau's not sure he recognises her. But then memories of intelligence files and news stories come to mind and he realizes her identity. Interesting. He pulls his weapon from his holster once more...
Rau's voice echoes from around a corner, the man himself out of immediate sight, "I suspect that you're not exactly supposed to be here."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
Stations like these have a dozen unsettling noises. The thud of a generator or a fan which has gotten half-stuck; the grind of a machine complaining about being made to work after so long. Yuliana likes to describe herself as an alert woman; others might go for a stronger, more pejorative term. She might have noticed someone sneaking up on her, if her ears weren't being tricked by so many awful reminders of their present location.
But she is, and she doesn't.
A voice cuts through the air, and Yuliana calmly drops the file she was looking through, hands lifting into the air. "I'm Federation," she says, without any real anxiety, as if she was entirely used to being caught with her hand in the proverbial cookie jar. "REA-WEI3SOIC-238D. Captain Yuliana Dispersal. You'll find my identification in order."
How troublesome, she thinks, that she was detected. No matter. She'll deal with whomever was stuck with this dead-end assignment, and get back to her business.
"I'm turning around," she announces, before she does, and moves slowly, entirely too used to being in this position. Her face is bared, compared to any pictures Rau might have found in her documentation -- her bangs have been clipped away, revealing the scar running down her left eye. There are a few tell-tale signs of recently healed injury, but she looks quite whole, now, and quite put-together.
<Pose Tracker> Rau Le Creuset has posed.
"You might be Federation."
Rau steps out from behind the corner. Just a bit, so he can step back behind it if he needs to. Say for cover. While his face is definitely hidden in comparison to Yuliana's, the mask hiding it is a unique one. And one likely known by Federation intel, given his fame in some parts of the Earth sphere and infamy in others.
"But I'm not."
Rau's weapon remains in his hand, but it's not raised, just down at his side. He muses, "I wasn't aware that the Federation had decided to re-open this facility. Perhaps our intel is bad." He smiles though as his head turns, presumably as he looks at the filing cabinets Yuliana had been rifling through moments before, "Or perhaps this is a personal project?"
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
The security on Yuliana's face sharpens to something more severe -- and, in the undertow, more surprised -- when Rau ventures halfway from that cover. Her eyes narrow, and her lips press to a thin line; she recognises him, yes. Oh, she has more than one reason to hate him.
Her gaze drops from his mask to his hand; behind the abyss of her mind, unknowable and black, she calculates her reaction time against his. She elects to keep her hands where he can see them, for now. Even if she manages to get the best of him, she doesn't have any backup, out here; after all, she isn't supposed to be here.
"Rau Le Creuset," she says, meeting his eyes again -- keeping the rest of him where she can see him. Easy as lying, she says: "Of course, I'm not at liberty to discuss that with you. But why do you have eyes on these old facilities, mm? That's very, very interesting... I'd certainly like to hear what's so interesting about this dusty old place." These research labs -- this one, at least -- are pioneers of human engineering, but they hardly have applicable knowledge for the current day. Science marches ever onward.
She takes a step forward, casually, as if they were the best of friends, and her intent is impenetrable. She is a black hole in the psychic lattice of the world; to the sixth sense, she does not even exist, her signature consumed.
<Pose Tracker> Rau Le Creuset has posed.
Rau is of course aware of Yuliana's so-called ability. He's even felt it himself, once or twice. And while it is a disconcerting feeling, unlike some of the younger Newtypes that might panic or recoil, Rau maintains his composure. As well as the focus of his regular senses. While it's true that his ability has its advantages, he's far too experienced a warrior to rely on it like a crutch.
So while he feels as if a part of him is about to be sucked into this walking anomaly, he manages a smile on his face as he says, "Don't think I didn't see that deflection. But fine, I will indulge you. I have nothing to hide."
That's a blatant lie.
He continues, "It's true, I do have a personal interest in some of the projects of old. Especially those related to human manipulation. They have a lot of... Relevance to me." Not too surprising given he is a Coordinator... As far as Yuliana knows. Though he doesn't clarify any more than that.
Instead he turns the topic back to Yuliana again, asking, "Did you find what you're looking for? Maybe if you told me something about what it is, I could point you in the right direction. I have been through many of these files myself, after all."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
Yuliana was hoping to disorient him, when she got close enough to plunge him into her abyss. She sees no such luck in his expression, his stance, and her teeth clench behind her close-lipped smile.
She is certainly at least closer, now. She could lunge for him, if she got the opportunity. She keeps it in the back of her mind.
"How comforting," Yuliana remarks, on Rau's openness. How one can be open with a mask across his eyes is a question she leaves unasked, though she can't entirely keep her scepticism from her eyes.
Her brows raise, as he speaks about his personal interests -- she checks it with what she remembers of his file, and it all makes sense. And his own redirection...
"Why, I'm just looking for a paper trail," she remarks, permissive, with a smile which looks easier than it is. "I suspect something was buried, up here, but official records are so easy to expunge. And yet... don't you think the sort of people who would shelter a Puru clone ought to have even more skeletons in their closet?" One of them blatantly calls herself Eight, for crying out loud, she exclaims internally; there's got to be something out here for her to find!
Her assurance out loud is much less frustrated: "Particularly when they're all so, so... sensitive." Yuliana smiles, more like a knife than an aunt. "It is so tragically common for your type to begin in a laboratory, isn't it?"
<Pose Tracker> Rau Le Creuset has posed.
Rau takes a half step back. A calculated move, perhaps. To maintain his combat options in the face of an approaching enemy. Given Rau's reputation, it'd be foolish to underestimate him by assuming he isn't trained in personal combat.
Or perhaps the presence of this void in front of him is chipping away at his concentration and it's only a matter of time before his will breaks.
Either way though, he keeps his attention on the conversation. There's a noticeable furrowing of the brow at the mention of Puru clones. Followed by a before definite derisive hmph, "Puru clones... A mistake if there ever was one." Definitely seems like there's some distaste there. He seems to agree with Yuliana as he says, "I'm sure anyone involved with them has questionable goals at best."
Rau goes a bit still at Yuliana's words about 'his type' beginning in a laboratory. It's hard to tell what he's thinking with that mask. But then he speaks again, "Just another in a long line of tragedies created in laboratories. You'd think humanity would learn. But no. Trust me, those clones are not the only things out there that makes one question the accomplishments of so-called human 'advancement'." Perhaps that is a clue into Rau's own interests with this facility?
Though Rau does turn his head away, apparently casting his thoughts elsewhere for a moment as he says, "Not that I don't have my own share of Newtype troubles to deal with..."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
He clears space; Yuliana doesn't press him. He's the one with his hand on his gun, right now. (Right now.)
With that mask, his thoughts are obscured from her just the same; Yuliana cannot reach the people around her, sees only the empty space where connections ought to go. She hears his distaste, though, and sees him grow still. She is attentive to these little details precisely because of her isolation.
"Of course I trust you," Yuliana says, though she's still not making any sudden movements. She doesn't, of course, but she makes it sound convincing. "In fact, I agree. Copying a human just to further command their abilities... is rather a loathsome act." Her eyes narrow, a little, saying it; there's a little extra edge, to the backbeat of her words.
She really does have feelings on the subject.
"Hmm," she tilts her head, fingers curling as they slowly and experimentally lower, "how strange, though, to hear you speak of troubles with fellow sensitive souls..! Are you not supposed to be in concourse with each other, moving towards a new era of domination understanding?" She tries to frame her tone as curious -- but her sentence grows too cluttered, at the end of itself, as she says one word and then emphasises another, as if she failed to edit her own sentence in her mind.
<Pose Tracker> Rau Le Creuset has posed.
'Of course I trust you.'
Ah yes, it's somewhat amusing to Rau hearing those words come from Yuliana. He highly doubts there exists any trust between the two of them. And there likely never will be. But still, that doesn't mean they can't agree on things! She even says so herself. Though her words strike close to home for Rau and he lets out a dark chuckle at the irony.
He doesn't go into any details about that though, instead leading the chuckle into his next reply, "It's because of what I am that I am uniquely qualified to judge them." He tilts his head a little at Yuliana, "I suppose the same is true of you, from a different perspective. Though you at least have the benefit of not existing as the very thing that you find wrong in the world."
Rau does raise an eyebrow though, wondering if that's actually the reasoning behind Yuliana's obvious hatred for Newtypes. He asks, "But is that it though? Is it their potential to supplant regular humans that drives you?"
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
Rau claims the capacity to pass judgement, and Yuliana smiles through her disgust. A Newtype is a Newtype, each as terrible as the other. They are -- all of them -- other, and what farce!, she thinks, with venom, the idea of one judging another for the crimes they all commit!
(Even though the experiments which made Yuliana were...)
"You're very perceptive," she says, instead, with a smile. "Yes... I am judge, jury, and executioner."
Yuliana gestures, grasping at some invisible thread and pulling it across her midline, curled fingers coming over her heart. "Our society is enlightened," she speaks, in punctuation, energy building across her voice and the light of her eyes. "We understand the concepts of equality, but how can we have an egalitarian society when a privileged few of humanity uses a special power to gain power over the rest?! Don't you think it's arrogant to claim yourselves as the next step of humanity, as if the rest of humanity didn't exist?! And what, then, the implication! The masses left behind!"
That she says this as an Earthnoid to a Spacenoid is an irony she leaves unspoken.
She gestures, sharply, with energy and aggression, and perhaps she has forgotten he still has a gun. "It's unfair!" Yuliana declares, all but yelling in the emptiness of the research station. "I won't stand aside and let you taunt me with--!" All a sudden her manic rant catches up to her, and Yuliana realises she's said too much; she's the one who steps back, this time, gesturing with open palms.
"Ah, never mind that..."
<Pose Tracker> Rau Le Creuset has posed.
Rau watches as Yuliana begins to work herself into a tirade. He stands there quietly, neither attempting to interupt her nor flinching as her anger grows and her voice raises.
Once Yuliana finally catches herself and ends her rant, silence falls once more. It's a somewhat prolonged one, Rau giving the impression that he's considering her words. Finally he says with an appropriately matching tone, "That's disappointing."
It's now that Rau chooses to finally raise his weapon to point at Yuliana. He doesn't fire... Yet. Instead he says, "You sound just like those small minded Blue Cosmos fanatics leading this war." Rau doesn't know how Yuliana feels about the less-than-secret organization pulling numerous Federation strings around the world. But it's clear he meant it as an insult.
Rau continues, "They are a perfect example that there's more that's wrong in this world than just Newtypes. If it's not Newtypes, it's the genetic purists. If it's not them, it'll be the Coordinators. Or the imperial dictators. Religious fanatics. Revolutionaries. Mad scientists! Corporations! The wealthy elite!" It's Rau's turn to work himself up, the last entry in the list drawing particular venom from him.
"Have you even stopped to consider what will happen-" Cough. "-What will ha-" Cough cough.
Unlike Yuliana, who stopped herself from getting too far out of control, the end to Rau's own rant comes not from his own will but rather a coughing fit that seems to have overcome him. And from the sound of it, a rather unhealthy one.
But in this state, Rau's guard drops for a moment, along with his aiming of his weapon. Stumbling back and half turning away from Yuliana, he tries to recover from whatever is happening to him.
Could this be an opening?
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Dispersal has posed.
"Tch," Yuliana's tongue clicks against her teeth, as Rau lifts his weapon. Damn! She let herself get worked up, and let her guard down--!
She looks particularly irate, when he draws a line between her and Blue Cosmos, who -- to ask Yuliana -- hate the wrong people. But Rau lists so many sins, so many crimes -- and she's sympathetic, really, to some of that venom. But all of it, all encompassing...
He's overtaken with a coughing fit, and in an instant she is on him. Yuliana is a special operative of the REA; she knows, with expert motions, how to disarm someone, and it is that training she applies to try and wrest his gun from him.
It would have been a good moment to press her advantage, with his sidearm or her own, except --
In the abyss of herself, shut off from the world, she whispers words instead of bullets.
"Your hatred lacks focus."
Criticism, or condemnation, or credit.
In the next breath she flees down the hall, back to the loading bay, to her Jegan, to leave.
Even Yuliana, it seems, knows how to cut and run sometimes.
<Pose Tracker> Rau Le Creuset has posed.
Even in his somewhat weakened state, Rau manages to put up a decent struggle against Yuliana's attempts. More than you might expect from a ZAFT soldier, given the majority of them started as civilians or police officers before they joined. Rau's movements are definitely those of one whose life has revolved around the battlefield.
But it is his weakened state that gives Yuliana the advantage. And she manages to knock his weapon from his hand, sending it sliding across the ground. She doesn't press the issue though, choosing to make a retreat. Which is probably for the better, as even without his pistol, Rau was not unarmed.
Rau's coughing fit passes, though as he removes his hand from his mouth, the splattering of red on the white of his suit's glove is telling.
Still, Rau takes a moment to reply to Yuliana's parting whisper, saying to the now empty corridor, "Or your solution lacks scope."
After a few minutes of rest, Rau begins to make his way back to the hangar with his shuttle. While somewhat dangerous, he admits that this was far from a fruitless encounter. It provided some insight, answering a few of his own questions about Captain Yuliana Dispersal.