View source for 2024-01-14: .all this time, i believed the green fold quartz had spared mE

*'''Log:''' .all this time, i believed the green fold quartz had spared mE
*'''Cast:''' [[Character :: Yuliana Kafim]], [[Character :: Sayaka Yumi]]
*'''Where:''' The Photon Power Labs 
*'''Date:''' 2024-01-14 (ICly late February 0098)
*'''Summary''': ''Sayaka brings the results of their investigations to a dozing Yuliana, alongside checking on how she's coping with the process. Yuliana reveals strong feelings of alienation over her alien status -- and offers more insight into her powers, in the process. In the end, that means showing Sayaka the Green Fold Quartz she's kept secret all this time... and on coming to an uncomfortable realisation about whether it's safe for ''her'', she immediately makes arrangements to go home and speak with her wife.''
----

[[Category:Logs]]
[[Category:Phase 1 Special Disc]]

 <Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
<poem>

        It's late February, and investigations into the Void are continuing apace. Robust imaging has shown how the Orchid Cells are integrated into Yuliana's brain; it's evident that there's no way to ''remove'' all those Cells from her body, after over a decade of adaption.

        The PPL's Orchid Cell samples have been undergoing their own testing. Some time ago, the Photon Power Labs obtained samples of Green Fold Quartz; while one was destroyed in testing, they're able to use a remaining sample to test the Orchid Cell's reactivity. It's clear that the Orchid Cells respond to Green Fold Quartz -- though their scientists may note that the activation is ''lesser'' than they may have expected.

        Even so, the Cells, in a petri dish, exhibit clear excitability on exposure to Green Fold.

        ... but the effects of Green Fold on ''Yuliana's'' brain are, apparently, as yet unknown, because it would be unethical to expose ''her'' to those malicious rocks.

        When Yuliana gets out of her appointment with the neuropsychologist, her ''head'' is tired; the cognitive testing they're performing to investigate the results of those brain scans is exhausting, even if she's just answering questions and solving puzzles. Luckily, they thought ahead and anticipated the difficulty; she doesn't have any more tests scheduled for this afternoon. She's free to go and find a lounge chair in an empty meeting room and curl up on one side of it, tentacles wrapped about her knees all tucked up against her chest, as her head lolls against the back of the couch. (She's not hiding her tentacles, any more; ever since she spoke to Rain, she's been more open about what she is. ... she usually keeps her frill in check, though, out of consideration for their Newtype employees.)

        Judging by the bags under her eyes, she never sleeps well here, but she's tired enough that she ends up dozing on the couch anyway. As she drifts closer to slumber, her frills fan out from behind her ears; her knees sink against her, as one of those snakes lifts its head to watch the surrounds.

        And her brow knits in tension.

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.
<poem>

Throughout the month of February, the analysis of the Orchid Cells has been a significant part of Sayaka's workload - in the meantime, she's called on people like Boss and Rain to speak with Yuliana during the times she's in the care of the Photon Power Labs, and away from her home and wife.

This means Sayaka does her best not to treat her analysis as solely by the numbers - they're doing it to best determine how to help Yuliana after all.

What Sayaka has ''so far'' is that while there's a clear relationship between the Orchid Cells and the previously studied green Fold Quartz - it's hardly such a strong one as to tear a gaping hole in reality as Yuliana can. Which means it must be ''important''... but so is the presence and guidance of the Empress.

That's a theory, though, and Sayaka has never been satisfied with mere ''theories'' - it's just as vital to get Yuliana's perspective on the matter, too. And though she's aware Yuliana must be ''tired'' after those tests, she approaches the lounge chair Yuliana curls herself up on.

She knew she'd be tired, but she wasn't expecting snoozing on the couch tired... but even still that snake seems to be ''watching''. She doesn't care to invoke the wrath of a Yuliana Kafim that just got disturbed from a nap, but she sure does test fate a little by taking the lounge chair opposite Yuliana's (there's a lot of them). "Are you awake, Yuliana Kafim?" She asks, in that awkward in-between of not knowing what name basis they're on. "I have some of the results of the cognitive tests... but up to you whether they get disclosed."

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
<poem>

        Luckily, Yuliana ''does'' go home regularly -- they realised quite early on that she'd need to regularly see her wife if she was going to be anything approaching stable enough to work with everyone else, so her visits tend to be a week long, give or take extra time they might need in their investigations. The Shandor's stealth shuttle, 'Ghost', serves well to sneak her in and out of Japanese airspace under their present conditions... even if she tends to leave and return at night.

        (The alternative to taking that risk is, of course, Elisa coming to the ''Laboratory,'' and the Kafims have long since agreed it would be better not to test Sayaka's hospitality. For some reason, most people just don't enjoy being in the presence of Yuliana's wife.)

        That snake -- is it a snake? it ''approaches'' a snake, in the way the human mind approximates form -- lifts its crests, rattling them together to create an insectoid hissing noise. It couldn't use its throat; it doesn't have one. ''It'' is aware, certainly, and oriented to the threat Sayaka poses.

        "''Net!''" She cries denial, in one of the languages of her homelands, as she startles and whirls her head towards Sayaka. For a moment it seems as if her endless eyes stare ''through'' her, unseeing in their Sight, breath rushing over her bared teeth and gaping maw.

        And the snake-thing settles, against her legs, as she wakes.

        But she blinks, and lifts a hand to the side of her face, as if to confirm her monstrous features. Feeling those sensitive frills at her ear, she clears her throat, and folds them behind her ears again. It wouldn't bother ''Sayaka,'' but she is ''trying'' to mind her manners. "Oh," she says, glancing away, as she files through what Sayaka said, remembering the meaning behind the sounds.

        "... Yuliana is fine," she says, rubbing at an arm. (She's in a white tank-top, having divested herself of her jacket; the cold of late Japanese winter is balmy, from her Arctic perspective.) "Go ahead. I can hear it."

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.
<poem>

Dealing with the Shandor and its shuttle probably means dealing with Parminder, a man known to positively get on Sayaka's nerves. Perhaps it's for the best that they have to be as careful and discreet as they can. It is perhaps still better than inviting Elisa to the laboratory, considering the last time she invited herself, though.

Whether it's a snake or not, Sayaka still treats it as such, keeping enough distance from it so as not to startle Yuliana. Maybe it's too late for that, as she stirs and cries out, but seated as she is, Sayaka makes sure she doesn't exactly pose a physical threat. She settles the papers she came in with on her lap as Yuliana pierces daggers through her. It's not ''pleasant'', but Sayaka didn't exactly sign up for pleasure in taking in Yuliana.

"All right," Sayaka answers when Yuliana gives her presence. She glances up at the frills. "You don't need to keep them back, you know. It doesn't really bother me... but I thought you said it was uncomfortable for ''you'' to go through the trouble." Maybe it wasn't a fantastic idea to question what Yuliana considers a kindness! But she puts it out there for this conversation.

"I guess I should probably start with the Orchid Cells results. There's definitely a link between that and the green Fold Quartz. But perhaps not as strong as we hypothesized." She explains. "I guess if we knew more about how the green Fold Quartz was made, we'd have a better understanding there. But we'd have a problem if we went so far as to test the direct effects on you."

Sayaka sighs, flopping down into the lounge chair, losing her posture. "You look pretty tired... how's your time here been treating you? I had to pick the staff quite carefully, but you spoke to people who aren't necessarily staff as well, right?" She confirms. "...I don't want you to be ''lonely'' while you're here, either."

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
<poem>

        Luckily, the Ghost is designed as a space shuttle, so it can make the trip halfway across Earth without needing its mothership. (She'd be in trouble if someone ''caught'' her, because it's a ''shuttle,'' and doesn't really have weapons to speak of beyond the standard asteroid-busting peashooters... but that's why she's sneaking around.) The Shandor itself doesn't come to visit, because that would ''definitely'' attract attention, even if it weren't Parminder captaining the ship.

        (HA HA, eat it, Captain, ''he's'' the Captain now! ... you know, by virtue of technicality.)

        It's hardly pleasant, but it may not have been ''intentional,'' either, judging by the way Yuliana averts her gaze when she orients herself again. "Mm," she hums, through pouted lips. "Am I to take it you have no Newtypes in your employ, then? I was ''trying'' not to cause you trouble." There's an offended little jag of sharpness to the word, going ''out of her way.''

        Still, she listens to Sayaka's results, dropping her knees down to rest her feet on the floor like a normal human person again. "So there's a connection... I suppose there must be." She frowns, looking down at her hands, considering things silently for a moment.

        She elects to answer Sayaka's last question first, instead. "It's -- all right," Yuliana says, with a little twitch of a frown. "Sometimes it can all be quite nervewracking, that's not really your fault. I just... remember." She falls quiet, for a moment, before she shakes her head. "Everyone's been nice enough, I suppose. But we're not the same. It makes me so angry... that I'm so estranged from these normal people." Her hand curls to a fist, as she stares down at it, stormy. "I always wanted to protect people like that, so why am I on the outside--?!"

        Her fist raises -- and then sinks, her fingers releasing as her shoulders droop. "Oh, never mind," she grumbles, the volume in her voice dying back down again.

        "As for the Fold," she shifts, on a dime, to ''business,'' "I don't really know how it's made," she divulges, after that awkward silence, looking up to Sayaka again. "I'm a damn good engineer, but even I didn't understand the theory one bit. The only person who does is the one who synthesises Green Fold Quartz in the first place." She takes a breath, and says: "Shari Loom. She's the one who produced and provided us with the untreated quartz, before she took her leave of us. Though, it wasn't finished until I was through with it... I thought it was clashing with Newtypes which darkened the Fold, but even when I kept to myself, they kept darkening."

        She shakes her head, though, a hand lifting to press at the purple scarf around her neck. "But Green Fold Quartz doesn't really have an effect on ''me'' at all," she says. "I've been in contact with it all this time, and I haven't changed a bit."

        Hasn't she?

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.
<poem>

"It's likely," Sayaka offers about having Newtypes in her employ. "It's something no one can even put a solid definition to, and it's not like you'd put it on a job application... but I appreciate you showing the courtesy to my employees." She concedes - but the offer to prioritize Yuliana's own comfort if it's only the two of them in this room remains implied.

"Yes." Sayaka says, about the connection. "There was certainly a ''reaction'', but we didn't see any tearing of reality, either." She wonders if that's why Emptear is required to amplify it to the extent that it seems to. Nonetheless... "Unfortunately, it seems there's no way to safely remove the cells. They're an integral part of you now... so acting on ''that'' is out of the question." She's not sure if Yuliana would prefer that.

Yuliana's answer to how it's been here isn't clear cut in the slightest... not that Sayaka expected it to be. "I see. I could never promise it ''wouldn't'' be nerve-wracking... that's just wishful thinking at best and misleading at worst." She crosses her arms. "I'm glad it hasn't been all bad, though." But Yuliana orients on the distance between herself and the 'normal people' she speaks with. "I think we all have things that make us less than normal. Some more extreme than others, sure... but I hope people haven't been isolating you because of who you ''are''." She sighs, leaning back up in the lounge. "All right, then... I'll keep it mind. But I'll disregard it for now."

She looks with interest about the Fold. Even a skilled engineer like Yuliana knows... nothing about it? "We're no slouches in engineering ourselves and it took ''several'' trials to even get down the basic properties. This Shari Loom... if she's taken her leave, I'll have to see if maybe Leina knows anything about her. If she's even willing to help on this in the first place... I can't be certain she wants anything to do with her invention anymore."

As for whether it has an effect on Yuliana in the first place. Was it the Newtypes that darkened the Fold... or was it herself? "But Yuliana... you've changed quite a bit, haven't you?" Sayaka attacks the statement directly, of course. "It'd be sloppy to directly attribute those changes to the Green Fold Quartz... but you said it yourself. Your body doesn't work the same anymore." She looks Yuliana in the eye. "Which is why we were interested in asking your wife about those inventions of hers that improve your quality of life." The temperature regulators for starters.

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
<poem>

        "Hmph... if you appreciate it, I suppose I can keep it in check. Not that I can really help matters when I go to sleep, but you ''do'' obey the eight-hour workday here, don't you?" Yuliana isn't talking as if it's just the two of them, strangely. "If they stay back that late, it's their own fault."

        Because Yuliana's powers don't just affect the ''room,'' when her frills are fully unfurled.

        It's more like... the neighbourhood block.

        She frowns, when Sayaka talks about the Cells. "I'm different on the inside, now... longer than this, I suppose." One of those snake-things lifts, in vague indication, before she settles them back down on her lap again. "But I don't suppose you would see much evidence. Opening the Gate requires both movement and intent. Though, She's told me that I weaken reality just by being here... the glass fractures, and at a tap, it shatters."

        She shakes her head, when Sayaka asks whether they've been isolating her. "It's not ''that,''" she says, with a frustrated, testy edge to it. "I've met with no cruelty. But, that's..." She trails off, lips curling up to expose one too many teeth, and leaves her expectations unsaid.

        "Leina's known to her," Yuliana says, "so it's likely she knows. You'll understand if I haven't investigated the situation myself. Given our poor ''plemyannitsa,''" their niece, "was trying to sneak out the door under my Elisa's nose, we've avoided prying into the matter too deeply." A light pause, "... though it took some convincing to stop Letda from digging about." 'Second Lieutenant', in Indonesian instead of Zaftran, this time -- she's talking about Parminder. "I had to write a ''post-it note,'' you know."

        Yuliana frowns, though, when Sayaka points out that she ''has'' changed. "These changes in my body -- aren't the Fold," she insists, at first. "When Dr. Devi activated the Orchid Cells inside me, there was such turmoil under my skin that the veil between realities weakened, and She was able to reach far enough into this world to give me tools to defend myself. That's why they're shaped... like Her works." There are striking similarities, after all, between Yuliana's monstrous additions and the designs of those eldritch dragons Elisa employs.

        "Though... I only grew cold after that. It's unsettling... since it's the only change from my dreams which has carried through this permanently." So far. There's a 'so far', there, unsaid. Yuliana frowns glancing down. "But the effect was quite mild, you know. When I was able to connect with Her in the waking world through our scrying-ball, She made to complete the process. If my Elisa hadn't stepped in and taken Her gifts on herself... I suppose I would have died."

        She takes a breath, eyes closing, for a moment. "I don't see why you couldn't ask her about such a thing," she says, looking back to Sayaka. "I don't know what use an alien's medicine will be to you, but I see no reason not to speak of it."

        Her hand presses to her scarf, again, as she's caught in thought for a moment. Then... "Excuse me," she murmurs, as she slips her hands beneath it, her scarred hands fiddling for a moment before she pulls a rose gold chain out from hiding.

        There, affixed to a necklace, are three treated Green Fold Quartz crystals, one almost black and two a darkening shade.

        "You see?" She asks, as she holds them in her bare palm, showing them to Sayaka. "They're always with me, and it doesn't bother me at all. Weren't you listening when I said I wasn't like you?" She frowns, and turns her attention to the quartz crystals, instead, a thumb running over one.

        "Be welcome," she says, quieter, now, the peaks and valleys of her emotive voice evening out to recitation. "The abyss calls, and requires answer. These empty halls yearn for a mother. Space and distance feigned foibles of a world demands this. Shatter illusion and grasp."

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.
<poem>

"There's some people who exclusively work at night, you know..." Sayaka points out in regards to employees staying as Yuliana sleeps. But those who punch in their hours at night have surely been made aware by now. "But it's only really me who works ''overtime''. Or Koji when he gets really into one of the toys he's building." She smirks.

"Movement and intent..." She considers, when Yuliana explains the principles behind opening the gate. "Ah, so it's a passive effect more than anything. Something that wouldn't ''quite'' pick up on instruments." That also requires taking the Empress at her word, but perhaps the Empress's word is quite valuable to those who otherwise can't hear it.

But it appears Sayaka didn't really 'get' what Yuliana was trying to say about her ''social'' situation... Sayaka takes a deep sigh. "It's good that no one's been cruel to you, but... there's more to it than that, isn't there? Maybe most people can't really understand you, but I think if they're willing to talk to you, they're willing to try." She leaves what that means for her own efforts unsaid.

"Got it. That'll make it a lot easier to communicate, if she trusts Leina. But I still don't intend on making her do anything she doesn't want to." Sayaka says, of Shari Loom. "...Yes, I can see why she might want to escape. And I believe she might need help just as much as you do." She's glad that Yuliana was able to stop Parminder from hunting her down... even if it probably took somehow convincing the man that it'd be funnier to stop.

"Devi's work..." Sayaka shakes her head, about the changes within Yuliana. "I think now that our sample has been separated, we can do more tests of that nature. But I don't plan on rushing it." The resemblance between Yuliana and the kaiju-dragons is not lost on her. Each change has served to make Yuliana more... cold-blooded, more lizard-like... more draconic. "Changes from your dreams, though? That she can do even that..." It's only solidified more the danger that the Empress poses to Yuliana.

"I think when it comes to research like this, it's more helpful to have than not to have," Sayaka answers Yuliana with a light shrug. "Besides... if it ever turns out there's someone else with a similar condition to you... now we know how to help them." She wonders how Yuliana will react on that point - someone else like her, but she doesn't dwell on it for long.

As Yuliana reveals not one but three Green Fold Crystals, varying in shade. "I see them all right." Sayaka answers, taking every effort ''not'' to respond to Yuliana's sass. But when she begins ''touching'' the crystals and repeating some kind of incantation, Sayaka can't help but worry. "Hang on!" She raises her voice just slightly. "What are you doing?"

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
<poem>

        "It's not as if I can help it when I'm ''asleep,''" Yuliana grouses.

        ... apparently, those parts of her grow ''more'' active, when she's unconscious, and her later explanation into just why she received them might explain why. They're a ''defense system.''

        "Mm," she hums affirmation, when Sayaka wonders whether her existence is a ''passive'' effect. "It just happens around me."

        She frowns, when Sayaka says those normal people are willing to ''try.'' "I just... thought I was standing somewhere else. I thought I was closer to those people than... but in the end, I'm just as strange as a Newtype. An iteration on that same process... the same process which makes men flinch around me. Everyone thinks I'm unpleasant to deal with, don't they? Even though I'm trying my very best out here!"

        (She's sensitive in more than one sense of the word.)

        Yuliana sighs, though, her fingers veiling over her lips as she comes to dwell on Shari. "The Empress hates her," she says, quietly. "With a fervor I've not felt Her express for any other creature... I don't understand it at all. You know, it's strange, when I think of it -- I've never been able to agree with Her, about that. I can't bear the thought of that girl coming to harm, even though reality cracks around her as surely as the strongest Newtype." Yuliana closes her eyes, and supposes: "Perhaps it's because she was my Elisa's precious assistant... why, Shari knew her longer than I did."

        And she hums, vaguely, "mm," when Sayaka wonders about the Empress reaching through the veil of dreams to her flesh. It bothers her, clearly, but she doesn't stop to dwell on it.

        Yuliana tilts her head -- and don't think of a lizard getting a better view -- when Sayaka brings up someone ''like'' her. "I can't fathom what sort of condition would do that," she says. "Don't most illnesses involve a ''raising'' of temperature? Though..." she pauses, and realises, "it needn't be illness, I suppose. Getting caught in the cold, that -- hypothermia, that's it -- well, if it's something like that, I guess it would help. It would be nice if it did... but do consult my wife before just giving it to anyone," she adds, sternly. "She designed it for my use, and I don't know if it's safe for -- for normal humans."

        It's nice that she cares! Probably. It's probably nice that she cares.

        Yuliana's gaze is captivated by those rocks, and a strange light shines, in her eyes -- or perhaps it's a trick of the light, because when Sayaka calls out to her and her head jerks up to look at her instead, it's gone. "Huh?" She blinks, confused, before -- "Don't yell at me!" Yuliana's snappishness returns in force, as she scowls at Sayaka. "Why do you people always think I'm doing something?!" It's only a beat later that she glances back to the quartz, and her anger fades from her, as she deliberately looks away. "... oh. Did I say something strange...?"

        She feels for the ends of the necklace, and affixes it back under her scarf, again, in a hurry. "It's really fine," she insists, voice clipped, "so long as I don't focus on it. It's just, it's -- too much of me," she struggles to find the words for something unspeakable and ineffable, visibly. "In the empty spaces where something should be, I see Her, it's -- it's why I grow so strange, around too many Awakened. But even when there's no one there, I'm in the Fold, and -- I'm empty spaces. It's not the first time I've received Her wisdom, changing the quartz out. It was -- oh, what was it -- the halls? This world demands the Void, grasping, oh... I have to tell Elisa. She knows what I mean. I don't know what I'm saying..." And it's strange to see how ''helpless'' she grows, faced with her own words.

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.
<poem>

"Of course not," Sayaka nods, about Yuliana not exactly being able to control it as she sleeps. "It was never your fault." She says, as if that goes without saying. A defense system, huh...? One that only works on Newtypes and the other Awakened at that.

"Guess that's not so strange then," Sayaka offers when Yuliana likens herself to a Newtype. "If I recall the Silent Calling's position, they're no less worthy than any other person, no? I don't think you're the same thing, but..." Yuliana orients on how unpleasant it must make her to deal with.

"It can't always be easy considering what you've been through... and I think you're missing the point a little by orienting so close on the supernatural aspects of this." Sayaka shakes her head. "You have severe trauma, Yuliana. It's going to be a whole process. So yes... that you're trying your best is enough for now."

"Really? But didn't she help her by creating those Green Fold Crystals?" Sayaka asks, of the Empress's hatred of Shari. "I guess all she really needed for that was a convenient tool, though. Still... I'm glad the girl's safe, at least."

"Yeah, there's plenty of ways you could repurpose something like that. But don't worry, I do plan on asking her about the details and studying it for ourselves. To put it to use without even bothering to check if it's safe is just stupid."

Being in such a trance, Sayaka hadn't expected Yuliana to snap at her so, and she instinctually backs into her chair a little. "What I ''meant'' to say is what were you... was that chanting? What was that supposed to be?" Yuliana seems, wasn't even aware of it herself. "If you're certain it's fine..." She says, and listens to her explanation. "The empty spaces where something should be. I suppose that's why she reaches you the easiest within a dream." She says, mostly for herself. "I can write down what you just said if it helps," She offers, when Yuliana desperately needs to tell Elisa for some reason. "I don't think we should overlook this, either." To Sayaka though, it didn't really feel like it meant ''anything'' beyond what the Void has set to do this whole time.

</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
<poem>

        Yuliana ''does'' feel better, being told it's not her fault, because it ''isn't'' her fault.

        (Nothing is ''ever'' her fault, because if something ever happened to be ''her'' fault, well -- the scientists handling her always made it quite clear what happened to failed projects.)

        "It's an unfortunate and vulnerable condition," Yuliana elaborates on the Silent Calling's position on Newtypes, "and not one they've chosen. I used to blame them for it all, but... that's what Dr. Devi wanted me to do, I suppose. They're not ''trying'' to hurt anyone." To hurt her. "And most of the people in the labs... if they weren't cyborgs, they were made into Newtypes, you know. I suppose I was very useful to those whitecoats... and not only when those people were tested against me." Yuliana sighs, and shrugs. "I guess it was convenient -- since I was out in the community. If I attacked the people still locked up, they'd never try getting out through me... even though I was free-range for years."

        Her stomach sinks, as she mutters, bitterly: "I was very good."

        And that bitter acknowledgement sticks in her throat, even as she tries to swallow the word, ''trauma.'' She rubs at a scarred arm, looking away. "I feel that I'm broken," she mutters, still dour, "though my Elisa assures me I'm beautiful. But all these beautiful things, I take them, and I make them sick..." She takes a breath, somewhat shaky, and shakes her head. "... if you say it's enough, I suppose I'll try to trust you." And, effortlessly, she ties her trust to this much being enough. She doesn't even ''think'' about it. It's as natural as breathing.

        "I don't understand it," she shakes her head, on the subject of Shari. "God works in mysterious ways, is what people say, I suppose..." She pauses, biting at her lip. "... but it would be best if she were safe."

        She looks relieved, at least, when Sayaka assures her they won't just dive right into using a strange medication. "I'm sure my Elisa will grant you the details," she says. "I'll mention it to her." Whether Elisa's generosity is entirely predicated on Yuliana's enthusiasm is a question best left unasked.

        But after her -- episode -- Yuliana is more subdued, in more than one sense of the word. "It's, um..." She starts, hands clasping together. "I receive Her wisdom, and -- I relay it as best I can. These words are the wrong way out, and there's not, the spaces don't match... when She works through me, it can be hard to keep up."

        She looks deeply troubled, hands tensing, fingers all tightened together. "It's, I -- I'm not. I'm not certain. But -- but my Elisa gave the Fold to me. A long time ago... a long time ago. So -- so it must be. It must be fine. It's fine." If it's fine, why does she sound so ''spooked?''

        And, even more strangely: "Please. Word for word, if -- if you can manage it. I usually remember, eventually, but... but usually, Elisa's right there, when I wake up. She remembers for me... mm... I'll tell her you're curious. She'll probably share the meaning with you..." ... but does Yuliana ''want'' Sayaka to know? If it's anything like the Empress's usual missives, it's bound to be something that would convince them they ''can't'' help her.

        She leaves that sinking feeling to be carried entirely in her tone.

        "I... I think I had better go back early," Yuliana says, nervously, glancing back to Sayaka. "I'll come back next month, okay? If -- if I can come back. But I have to... I need my wife." And she's downright ''pathetic,'' saying that. It's not difficult to see how she'd fall apart if she didn't go back to her.

        She'll... probably be fine.

        ... and the Labs, apparently, ''do'' have scans of Yuliana's brain exposed to Green Fold Quartz. ''Every scan they currently have.''
</poem>