Kai
Retired Staff
Made a mess, I guess I have should have known
That life was lust and liberty
Not a chance mutation or the last temptation
Laid so low for so long, so low
Tears for Fears
ON! - Dawn Station, Origin Industries HQ
Eight days after The Ashes of Men
"Ms. Tatst, you have a guest."
Aerin groaned, rolling her eyes as she looked at the courier whom had come to get her after she had ignored a number of calls and even requests sent by Dawn's AI, Zophia. Whomever it was, they were being more than insistent.
"I am BUSY, if my ignoring everything wasn't a strong enough indication," the CEO complained, looking about ready to shoot the courier.
"Ms. Tatst, I understand your need for isolation, but this is a special case." A picture appeared on a computer screen of the guest in question. Brown scruffy hair, sunglasses, burgundy sweater and identified as John Morris, professional pilot. He was flagged with 'Phoenix' as the pentagon emblem of the mercenary crew appeared behind him.
Aerin hadn't wanted to glance over at the screen, but, curiousity and some trick of cruel fate made her do so, and immediately mader her simultaneously wish she had not, and be glad she had. Recognizing the man from brief encounters with him during her times with Luca and his crew, she sighed in resignation.
"Alright. Yes, let him in. I suppose it's important if it's one of Them."
"Right away ma'am."
John Morris walked towards Aerin Tatst's room after being given the okay and a visitor's tag, looking at the layout and trying to stomach the news. After all, he was bearing it, and from what Luca told him previously about his relationship with Aerin, she was not going to take it well.
He stood in front of her door and gave it a few hard knocks. "Hey, Aerin, you there?"
It opened. Sideways. The Door simply vanished, disappearing into a pocket at the side of the frame with a faint hiss of some sort of motor, either electronic or pneumatic, it really didn't matter. What mattered was beyond it.
John Morris found a room that seemed to be in the chaos of someone packing, or perhaps someone simply destroying their own room. However, there were a few things hinted at packing- all the crazy piles of things seemed to be organized by size, color, and type.
In the midst of it all, stood an incredibly short, petite woman, a bit smaller than John might have expected, as he had only really seen her in a powered armor or on television, and in neither of those cases did she appear to be what was before him; a five foot tall Yamataian woman with blazing green eyes and the stature of a teenager, despite her three decades of age.
"Yes?" she asked, simply, a neutral expression complimenting her crossed arms.
Looking about the room, he tried to find an unoccupied square where he could sit down amidst the chaotic packing, and found purchase on her bed. He looked up at her with his hands clasped, "Aerin, you saw the news a few days back, didn't you? Delsauria?"
He heaved a heavy sigh as he watched her reaction. He could only guess how intimate she and his employer were. John himself wasn't looking so happy about being here, his shoulders were slumped, and he seemed to be gazing out the first available window.
"I did." Aerin responded, in an even tone. She had remained where she was, following John with her head as he walked into her room and sat down. "I heard you guys don't know where he is." The fact that John had never truly met Aerin meant that, her very business-like tone held nothing but mystery. She was, aside from the mess of her room, completely composed, but there was a certain presence, an aura emanating from the woman that suggested otherwise beneath the surface.
"Still, I don't trust the media. I'm hoping you've come to tell me different?"
John heaved another sigh and sniffed. The two people in this room had long-running relationships with this one singular person who'd been a figure in their lives, "I wish. Melissa, Zeta and I... we've been searching everywhere on Delsauria and beyond, even with the help of SAINT and the IPG..." He looked up and took off his sunglasses. His eyes, even in spite of their mutated irises were welling with emotion, "We..." He buried his face in his hands and started crying, "We can't f-find him."
Was it wrong for a Nepleslian to cry? Was it wrong that a Nepleslian showed emotions when something so dear to them had gone away?
She frowned. She was displeased. John was staring at probably the most influental person short of a Ketsurui Princess he would ever get to know, and she wasn't happy with him. "You should know better." Aerin managed to get out, obviously looking like she was wishing for that SEPII that could be seen sitting on her desk a few meters away.
"You can't find him. You of all people should know that Luca is impossible to find. He has to find you." The frown, it remained, but it was less severe now. "The lost will find the lost, and together they will become more than lost. Now, please, get lost. That's what I intend to do, as well."
"His brother died in his arms! Naoko died! He sacrificed himself so we could live!" He let out, standing up, "What if he doesn't want to be found? What the fuck is your problem?"
Aerin, all five feet of her, stormed over to John, and stared up into his eyes, glaring. There was a menace in them that made John feel as if he was looking up at a much larger creature. When she spoke, her voice was quiet, constrained. It had an aura of poison, of deadly calm, of an ending.
"Were you not listening to what I said? I know that he can't be found. I'm going to make him find me."
John was staring into her eyes, even with the malformed irises and the ambient light in the room being close to blinding for him, he was still able to make an even stare in spite of the tears, "Are you just going to up and put yourself on a platter? He. Does not. Want to be. Found. I know you loved him, and I've been with him since I was a kid. We both know that when he wants something, he gets it, regardless of who's in the way."
The CEO smirked. She grinned. She chuckled. Morris was amusing. How he thought, how he fought, and yet, he seemed to be missing the mark. "I'm going to do the opposite. Whatever Luca may have been, he is no longer. He has become something more, and he has become nothing, if he's really gone now. I'm not going to put myself on a platter, oh no. I'm going to make myself the one at the bottom of the garbage can. I've had enough of platters, of being on time. It's time to take a page from Luca's book."
Aerin laughed, looking about at the mess she had made of her room, and then walking out of the door, leaving everything in there behind. "I'm going to start from the bottom."
And then she was gone.
"I... I just don't know what I'm doing without him." He mouthed before following her lead, and letting himself out of the building in an opposite direction. He'd retrieved his glasses and put his hands in his pockets as he walked away. He shook his head. He was too emotional about it, he reflected. He might've said something he didn't mean. Once out of the building, he leaned against a wall and lit a cigarette. He didn't care if it was 'distasteful' or 'illegal' by some old all-powerful cat-eared bint's standards, it was the first smoke he'd allowed himself since Delsauria. His hands were trembling as he stowed the lighter.
He looked up into the artificial sky and contemplated where people went when they died, if they truly did die in this world.
"Ms. Tatst? Ms. Tatst? W-Where are you?" Zophia was looking for its ward nervously. "Aerin! Please! Where are you?!"
That life was lust and liberty
Not a chance mutation or the last temptation
Laid so low for so long, so low
Tears for Fears
ON! - Dawn Station, Origin Industries HQ
Eight days after The Ashes of Men
"Ms. Tatst, you have a guest."
Aerin groaned, rolling her eyes as she looked at the courier whom had come to get her after she had ignored a number of calls and even requests sent by Dawn's AI, Zophia. Whomever it was, they were being more than insistent.
"I am BUSY, if my ignoring everything wasn't a strong enough indication," the CEO complained, looking about ready to shoot the courier.
"Ms. Tatst, I understand your need for isolation, but this is a special case." A picture appeared on a computer screen of the guest in question. Brown scruffy hair, sunglasses, burgundy sweater and identified as John Morris, professional pilot. He was flagged with 'Phoenix' as the pentagon emblem of the mercenary crew appeared behind him.
Aerin hadn't wanted to glance over at the screen, but, curiousity and some trick of cruel fate made her do so, and immediately mader her simultaneously wish she had not, and be glad she had. Recognizing the man from brief encounters with him during her times with Luca and his crew, she sighed in resignation.
"Alright. Yes, let him in. I suppose it's important if it's one of Them."
"Right away ma'am."
John Morris walked towards Aerin Tatst's room after being given the okay and a visitor's tag, looking at the layout and trying to stomach the news. After all, he was bearing it, and from what Luca told him previously about his relationship with Aerin, she was not going to take it well.
He stood in front of her door and gave it a few hard knocks. "Hey, Aerin, you there?"
It opened. Sideways. The Door simply vanished, disappearing into a pocket at the side of the frame with a faint hiss of some sort of motor, either electronic or pneumatic, it really didn't matter. What mattered was beyond it.
John Morris found a room that seemed to be in the chaos of someone packing, or perhaps someone simply destroying their own room. However, there were a few things hinted at packing- all the crazy piles of things seemed to be organized by size, color, and type.
In the midst of it all, stood an incredibly short, petite woman, a bit smaller than John might have expected, as he had only really seen her in a powered armor or on television, and in neither of those cases did she appear to be what was before him; a five foot tall Yamataian woman with blazing green eyes and the stature of a teenager, despite her three decades of age.
"Yes?" she asked, simply, a neutral expression complimenting her crossed arms.
Looking about the room, he tried to find an unoccupied square where he could sit down amidst the chaotic packing, and found purchase on her bed. He looked up at her with his hands clasped, "Aerin, you saw the news a few days back, didn't you? Delsauria?"
He heaved a heavy sigh as he watched her reaction. He could only guess how intimate she and his employer were. John himself wasn't looking so happy about being here, his shoulders were slumped, and he seemed to be gazing out the first available window.
"I did." Aerin responded, in an even tone. She had remained where she was, following John with her head as he walked into her room and sat down. "I heard you guys don't know where he is." The fact that John had never truly met Aerin meant that, her very business-like tone held nothing but mystery. She was, aside from the mess of her room, completely composed, but there was a certain presence, an aura emanating from the woman that suggested otherwise beneath the surface.
"Still, I don't trust the media. I'm hoping you've come to tell me different?"
John heaved another sigh and sniffed. The two people in this room had long-running relationships with this one singular person who'd been a figure in their lives, "I wish. Melissa, Zeta and I... we've been searching everywhere on Delsauria and beyond, even with the help of SAINT and the IPG..." He looked up and took off his sunglasses. His eyes, even in spite of their mutated irises were welling with emotion, "We..." He buried his face in his hands and started crying, "We can't f-find him."
Was it wrong for a Nepleslian to cry? Was it wrong that a Nepleslian showed emotions when something so dear to them had gone away?
She frowned. She was displeased. John was staring at probably the most influental person short of a Ketsurui Princess he would ever get to know, and she wasn't happy with him. "You should know better." Aerin managed to get out, obviously looking like she was wishing for that SEPII that could be seen sitting on her desk a few meters away.
"You can't find him. You of all people should know that Luca is impossible to find. He has to find you." The frown, it remained, but it was less severe now. "The lost will find the lost, and together they will become more than lost. Now, please, get lost. That's what I intend to do, as well."
"His brother died in his arms! Naoko died! He sacrificed himself so we could live!" He let out, standing up, "What if he doesn't want to be found? What the fuck is your problem?"
Aerin, all five feet of her, stormed over to John, and stared up into his eyes, glaring. There was a menace in them that made John feel as if he was looking up at a much larger creature. When she spoke, her voice was quiet, constrained. It had an aura of poison, of deadly calm, of an ending.
"Were you not listening to what I said? I know that he can't be found. I'm going to make him find me."
John was staring into her eyes, even with the malformed irises and the ambient light in the room being close to blinding for him, he was still able to make an even stare in spite of the tears, "Are you just going to up and put yourself on a platter? He. Does not. Want to be. Found. I know you loved him, and I've been with him since I was a kid. We both know that when he wants something, he gets it, regardless of who's in the way."
The CEO smirked. She grinned. She chuckled. Morris was amusing. How he thought, how he fought, and yet, he seemed to be missing the mark. "I'm going to do the opposite. Whatever Luca may have been, he is no longer. He has become something more, and he has become nothing, if he's really gone now. I'm not going to put myself on a platter, oh no. I'm going to make myself the one at the bottom of the garbage can. I've had enough of platters, of being on time. It's time to take a page from Luca's book."
Aerin laughed, looking about at the mess she had made of her room, and then walking out of the door, leaving everything in there behind. "I'm going to start from the bottom."
And then she was gone.
"I... I just don't know what I'm doing without him." He mouthed before following her lead, and letting himself out of the building in an opposite direction. He'd retrieved his glasses and put his hands in his pockets as he walked away. He shook his head. He was too emotional about it, he reflected. He might've said something he didn't mean. Once out of the building, he leaned against a wall and lit a cigarette. He didn't care if it was 'distasteful' or 'illegal' by some old all-powerful cat-eared bint's standards, it was the first smoke he'd allowed himself since Delsauria. His hands were trembling as he stowed the lighter.
He looked up into the artificial sky and contemplated where people went when they died, if they truly did die in this world.
"Ms. Tatst? Ms. Tatst? W-Where are you?" Zophia was looking for its ward nervously. "Aerin! Please! Where are you?!"
