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  • 📅 February and March 2024 are YE 46.2 in the RP.

RP: 188604 A chance encounter.

K

Kim

On> Planet 188604

Alex was practicing Aerial maneuvers over Osman city, not having had the chance to fly in atmosphere for almost four months. He had been up for almost three hours, executing midair transformations, describing helixes and loops with the vapor trails from the wings of his craft, and when he finally came down to the ground at Osman city spaceport, he folded out the legs of the variable mecha in order to provide braking thrust. He came to a stop, hopped out and pulled off his helmet, shaking his head to get rid of the ever irritating helmet hair.

Chiharu had finished her meeting with Uso and Jack and had been on her way back to her ship to return to Yamatai. She had watched the strange ship flying over head in wonderment. "The Nerimans have certainly left their mark," she said quietly to herself. When the mecha had landed, she wandered closer to it. Jack had told her about the U-1 in her tour but she hadn't taken a better look.

When Chiharu got closer to the craft, it would become apparent that it differed from Jack's description in several ways. It's rear fuselage was not in the normal fork shape, and its thrusters were clam-shell style rather than rectangular. The craft was painted white with red highlights, as was the flight suit of its pilot.

The dark haried nekovalkryja let out a low whistle as she approached the mecha. "This looks different from the U-1, is it a different model?" She asked curiously of the man in the flight suit that matched the vessel. Her crimson eyes were brimming with curiosity.

Alex turned to the brown haired Neko, nodding to her. "Good eye. This is actually the original prototype. It never really stopped being worked on so eventually it just sort of became its own thing."

Alex extended a hand in friendly greeting. "I don't often see many Yamatians out here. What brings you out to these parts?"

Her eyes drifted from the mecha to the young man before her and Chiharu accepted the hand and smiled. "I was just visiting an old friend and checking to make sure everyone was okay after the crisis. The news had me worried and I had to see for myself."

"Everything was pretty up in the air for a good while, but things have settled down now." Alex gestured towards a nearby food stand. "Do you want something to eat?"

She shook her head, "No thank you, I just had lunch actually. Are you the designer of this mecha? I would think that further developments would be more evident in the later models or is the Skyguard equipment individualized?" She pushed a stray strand of hair back behind her elvish ear as she met his gaze. "Oh, I am Chi, by the way." The red dress she wore gave no real indication of who she was or who she had been on planet to meet, it bore no corporate markings, no rank insignia, it was just a flattering and modest dress that fell to her ankles. From a glance, it was clear she carried no weapons though, she seemed to hold her arms at her sides like she was giving clearance for a side arm.

"Well, the models produced had to be simplified a lot from the prototype, because it was built with some salvaged stuff like thrusters that we couldn't build at the time. Since then I've kept upgrading this, which is why it looks so different from the normal U-1s."

Alex's eyes didn't appear to do much more than flicker for a moment as he took in her stance. "I see you're used to carrying a weapon. I take it you did service for Yamatai?"

Chiharu nodded, "For the majority of my life, yes. It's hard to overcome old habits, I was carrying for so long that it was just an extension of my body. Almost like a phantom limb, I feel its weight even though it's not there. I had to step away from service for a while."

Alex nodded with understanding. "I know the feeling. I'm not all that different from you Nekovalkaryia, not to make any assumptions about your past of course."

"It's easy to assume, many seem to know me better than I know myself some days. It's a bit refreshing when I get the chance to be a mystery that unfolds like a regular person," she chuckled a bit. "There are more commonalities between people than people seem to realize. I'm not a human but there isn't much difference between species."

"I can relate to not feeling in control." Alex related softly, his mind clearly wandering places he didn't like it going. "It's nice to be able to take the time and live life normally." Alex's hands fidgeted, and the flaps on the fighter twitched slightly.

"Oh, you have one of those devices too?" Her ear twitched as she noticed the movement. "It's strange how things have shifted. We fought so hard to be recognized as a species and our bodies have become more human and... Nepleslians have struggled to improve themselves the other way, to become more cybernetic. The paths are diverging, in a few generations nekovalkryja might become entirely organic, as the Jiyuuians hoped." Chiharu's voice was thoughtful.

"It's fascinating how things like priorities, policies and viewpoints shift." Alex mused. "As for this, well I didn't exactly get it by choice like most people get cybernetics. And the improvements it brought, well they weren't always benefits for me."

"That's unfortunate. Body autonomy is important. Being connected to technology opens you up to strange situations. I didn't enjoy being plugged into external monitors or someone else trying to access my memories, I hope that you have gotten to have more privacy, at least?"

"Not really." Alex admitted, "I didn't have any sort of freedom for most of my life." Alex turned his neck, and tapped the metal implant on the back of his neck. "This was always meant to control me, and it did ever since I was six years old up till about a year ago."

"Did you break the tether or did those that wished to control you lose their lives?"

"About a year ago, a good friend orchestrated events to free me." Alex looked down in reflective sadness. "She was in the same situation as me, but now she's lost all of who she used to be. She's just a puppet now. Who she was died trying to free me from those bastards working for Psychopomp's super soldier program."

Alex clenched his fists, and the engines of the fighter revved angrily in apparent response.

"That's the second time I have heard that name today in that tone of grief. Where are they located? They can't be so far out of reach that someone can't stop them. No company is immune from oversight," concern danced across her face as her voice softened further. There was something about how the light caught her crimson eyes that indicated she was probably planning something.

"Soul transfer technology is protected for a reason and is both a blessing and a curse. We lose who we had become for who we were. We lose the benefit of learning from our mistakes, our triumphs, and... we don't remember who we might have fallen in love with. It is still possible that she might come back to who she was in time, or is she enslaved still to the program?" her voice was thoughtful, sympathetic. "It might be time to do something about them."

"Her memory was erased completely." Alex said, slamming his hand against the hull of his fighter. "Who she was is dead. But no matter what, I won't let them stop me from saving who she is now."

Alex leaned against the fighter. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't burden you with my troublesome past. Come to think of it, I never told you my name."

Alex smiled sadly at Chiharu. "I'm Alex Tasuki."

"Oh, then you Uso's son then. I guess to be fair, I should tell you my full name then, I am Ketsurui Chiharu." She smiled. "She is still who she was, they can't completely take that away. Fragments always linger. I know that better than anyone else."

Alex did a double take when he heard Chiharu's name. He quickly searched the internet and downloaded the skills necessary to speak in Yamatigo.

Chiharu smiled patiently as she watched the realization settle in. "I would be a poor kami if I wasn't willing to listen and lighten the burden of people that are looking for some minor relief."

Alex nodded, but now spoke in Yamatigo. "You're right, but I feel that everyone has a responsibility to others to help when they can. Someone like you just happens to choose to take a larger responsibility than others." Aside from the double take, he seemed mostly unconcerned by the revelation.

She chuckled softly and smoothed her hair back behind her ear. Since Alex had switched to Yamataigo for her benefit, Chiharu also switched to Yamataigo, "You don't make the choice to become a kami, you die and people chose to mourn you." She looked down for a moment before she looked up at him again. "I came back and found myself at the heart of a religion. I made the choice to at least listen. As long as people say my name, I decided that I can at least hear what they had to say."

Alex nodded in understanding. "I know what it's like to be thrust into a position of responsibility, and how easy it would be to leave people who depend on you to themselves." He looked up into the sky, reaching out to grasp at it. "I'm sort of in the same position myself, although it isn't quite as dramatic as being a Kami."

"I was searching for Psychopomp before the economic collapse, the same thing that drew you here away from your campaign for Premier, caused the Sky Guard and Uso call me back here. I could have ignored them, but I felt that if people needed me that I should help."

"I owed Uso. I died trying to save my old crew during the war. I died without being to save anyone. My friends mourned my death and I disappeared from this world for 4 years and everything had changed." She shook her head. "I woke up in a world that had moved on and I re-entered service and tried to be someone else. I didn't tell Uso or Wazu that I was alive. I don't know if it would have been better to have gotten that memo 10 years ago rather than now."

Chiharu smiled gently, "Sometimes, you can make the biggest impact with the least amount of publicity but, here I am. I am myself again but I am being told that everyone here is fine and don't need my help or Yamatai's."

"People are proud, and don't always like to admit that they need help. I'm lucky enough to be working with Uso. She's usually honest with when she needs help. But even if you're told you won't be able to help, it's important to always keep looking for ways to help others."

Alex fidgeted with his hands. "When I got back here they told me that they didn't need any help resolving the economic crisis, but I found a new way to help. I protected everyone here from an invading NMX fleet. Since that crisis is resolved for now, I'll have to find a new way to help, but the important thing is that I, that you always keep trying to help others."

"The hardest lesson that I learned is that the ones I was not able to save haunt me the most. I live but most of my fleet died in that battle over Ralfaris. Survivor's guilt is what it is... but I think that there is more than one way to protect people." Chiharu smiled a little bit more brightly, "I was made to be a war machine but I am more than that, I am alive. I am not a weapon, and perhaps, I can protect people by stopping conflicts before they happen with diplomacy beside Yuumi. If I lose, then I will see what I can do outside of the fleet. You seem to understand this sort of situation and life but you are still at the beginning of your journey. So my question to you, Alex, is once the fighting is done and Psychopomp is gone, what will you do?"

Alex pondered this question for a few minutes silently. "I... I don't know. Fighting and piloting are all I've ever known. I can't really imagine anything other than protecting people, fighting to protect them.."

"There is life off the battlefield. And more ways to protect people that don't require being a soldier, the trick is finding that reason to live for more than death. Do you have someone that you want to live for?" She asked shyly.

"Yes..." Alex responded, "I do have someone, but I don't always know if it's a good idea to be with them. Danger seems to follow me wherever I go, and it's gotten people killed, people close to me."

"That's the danger of loving someone. They might get hurt and sometimes, it is our fault but, it's not for us to make that choice for them. We have to stop fighting alone, it hurts them to love us only for us to push them away," Chiharu looked to the Unicorn for a moment before she looked back to him. "The people I left behind remade the world in my memory when I would have rather remade it alongside them. What is the point of being alive and having emotions if you are just going to force yourself away from the people you love?"

"Those are answers that no one has." Alex sighed. "All I know is that I have to protect as many people for as long as I can. I owe it to everyone here, for taking me in, to those I love for risking themselves to be close to me. Someday, when all the fighting is done, I'll have the luxury of being able to live out whatever interests I develop, but..."

Alex's eyes were deep and sad, the eyes of someone who knew that the fighting might never end for them.

"But until then..."

Chiharu placed her hand on Alex's chest and smiled again. "During the Elysian Wars we had a saying, life is for the living. We may die tomorrow so we have to live in the moments until we meet our end. Each second, each breath, each metaphorical heartbeat has to count. It's why so many nekovalkyjra take so many lovers. If you don't know if you'll see dawn, you have to find love while you still have the night... if you have someone you love, then that's worth exploring now despite the risk."

"That's a nice sentiment," Alex murmured sadly, "But I have a responsibility to the people I help to protect. I can't always have the time to spend with the ones I love. My life isn't for me anymore. I have people who depend on me. I have to live for them now. For everyone I need to protect."

"That's the thing, you can do both. You can protect them and love at the same time. There are different ways to express love, time with them is just one. I express my love by protecting them and I always have. But I never got the chance to live with them and then I left a hole. I am lucky that I have the chance to make up for being lost but it's not the same as having been beside her all those years ago. She wouldn't have had to been alone. I don't think you should be alone either." Chiharu kept her hand on Alex's chest and felt his heartbeat. "Your heart beats, it means that you are alive. This person you love, they are still alive from the sound of it. Do they live here?"

"Yes." Alex answered simply. "She does."

"I'm going to venture to guess that you haven't seen her yet? Does she know how you feel?" Chiharu asked gently, letting her hand settle at her side again. "Time is fleeting. What matters is what you do in the present. You should go see her. You spared a few minutes for me as a stranger."

"She does know, and I've seen her since I've gotten back to the planet. But you're right. I should spend time with her. I can't allow myself to push her away."

"It is better to live and love in the fleeting blossom of a sakura than to have to return and wonder if you can ever measure up to the shadow of your memory," the kami's voice was wistful before her expression brightened. "Before I free you of this social obligation so you can go to her, what's her name?"

"Araxie." Alex answered.

"Good luck to you and Araxie, may the moments you share be full of light," Chiharu replied warmly. "I should go home myself, I won't get to see her until she's ready to wandering the battlefields."

"Good luck to you as well," Alex said, "And best wishes."
 
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