Re: Mission 3: The sound of machina
ON: YSS Miharu, restroom
There is the running joke on Star Army starships that when you pee, the MEGAMI computer watches it all. However, Yukari had likely never really counted on a volumetric window appearing before her as she let loose, Kotori's amber eyes looking into her own.
"Yukari, can you spare some time with Saito-Heisho to check something out for me?" The Taisa asked, completely unaware of how horrid her timing was.
Yukari's eyes bulged and she blushed hard as she stammered, "Yes, Taisa, I will be there shortly." She winced and bent over out of view of the window; she had clamped down in surprise from the window, and now she was cramping.
"Ah," Yukari's odd behavior had Kotori blinking in confusion. "Actually, it's the hemosynthetic storage container in the starboard cargo bay that I'd like you both to check, while there's some time left. I figured - Yukari, are you alright?"
"I am fine Taisa!" Yukari said in Yamataian through grit teeth. She had felt very, very good not too long ago, and now she was in nothing but excruciating pain. "Please continue!"
"That's all, really," Kotori said, her voice a bit subdued as she didn't understand why Yukari was acting this way. "Sigurd will be on-hand if you need him. Just send me a report on what you find."
"Of course Taisa!" Yukari finally brought herself up slowly, and Kotori could hear the sound of water harshly shooting into a pool of water. "Thank you very much," she breathed, suddenly appearing relieved.
Understanding, consternation and embarrassment flashed in Kotori's eyes as she was finally enlightened on what the awkwardness had been all about. "Sumanai," was all she had to say before the volumetric window winked out.
Yukari would have laughed if her bladder had not still been trying to empty itself. "Aiyaa ... " It was several minutes later that the Shosa appeared in the starboard cargo bay with Sigurd and Miyoko at her side. Kosuka was not far behind her.
Sigurd led Yukari, Miyoko and Kôsuka through the cargo way to finally face a large cubic container, two-meters long and wide and four meters tall. Rather than a crate, it's protective cover seemed to be smooth yamataium, with seams and handled placed around so that it could be moved or pried open. It was doubtful anything other than a war android, a NH-27 or a power armor would have the strength to manipulate it, though.
"Ehh?" Miyoko prodded the crate with her foot, a bit testily. The timing of this whole thing was making her a bit suspicious--for the two of them to be assigned to such a task now, given how important the situation was, just seemed a bit odd. Besides, she had bigger things on her mind at the moment, like her impending demise. "Well. How do we go about doing this?"
"Sigurd-san and I should be able to open it," Kôsuka said. The war android and the samurai each took a handle and pulled with increasing power, until they were exerting enough force to open the door.
The ponderous sound of metal sliding against metal filled the cargo hold as Kosuka and Sigurd strained to heave the upper cap of the container. Though no frost lined the container, mere contact with the handle felt very chilling to her.
Finally, the cap was raised high enough on its internal sliding rail to clamp in place. The container secured, Sigurd lost no time in coming to the front of the container and seizing hold on another handle which was at the bottom of a shutter-like door which had been exposed and then heaved it up.
Cold mist wafted out of the opening to swallow the custodian, with the ambient temperature dropping noticably enough for the breathing of those present to start misting. Ventilation above kicked in as Miharu's life support system engaged to restore the cargo hold's default environmental setting.
It took a dozen seconds for the mist to clear, revealing that the insides of the container held a hemosynthetic tank with a functioning monitoring console attached to its side, showing the obvious thermal diagram of a nekovalkyrja held in stasis. Condensation had quickly built up once the the insides of the container behame exposed to the ambient air and obscured view on the actual content of the tank.
Nyton felt a slight shiver as the cool temperature impacted against his skin. His dislike towards cold temperatures gave the knee jerk reaction to the sudden sensation from the container. As soon as it was opening though he had begun to scan over it with his visions, going from thermal (seeing mostly dark blues and noting else), targeting system which highlighted the object inside, to substance analysis which began identifying the materials of the container, contents, and surrounding mists. The targeting software made any texts and readouts visible to him as he walked closer.
"Ah, the original body, I assume." Miyoko glanced to Yukari. "Are we certain that no other crew members will be coming by soon?"
"The chamber is secure until our exit," Sigurd answered Miyoko, stepping back to allow the rest of them to come closer.
Miyoko nodded and took a step closer to the container. "Well then, that still raises the question of just what we intend to do with it."
"With her. Just what do we do with her. She is still alive after all." Nyton said flatly.
Miyoko grinned softly at Nyton's comment. "That's an ethical debate for another day."
Yukari could not help but put a hand on her pistol. She did not expect treachery ... but the sight of the container put her at some ease. At least it was what Kosuka had surmised it to be. "Kôsuka?"
The samurai shook her head. "My opinions are not material to this yet."
Seeing that the container was pretty frost-rimmed for the moment, there wasn't much to see, though Nyton's magnetic resonance picked up on the presence of metal inside the container.
The display of the console at first seemed rather ordinary to Miyoko. It was a nekovalkyrja held in stasis. While in training she had once run an escape pod retrieval simulation that had her free a neko from stasis too, so she was familiar with it.
The first thing that struck her as out of the ordinary was the ongoing diagnotic scan of the occupant, which showed that the tactical portion of the nekovalkyrja's operating system was active, even if she was in stasis. It meant that if she perceived a threat, the soulless part of the android inside was likely quite capable of animating itself in the face of danger.
Which meant the occupant wasn't helpless. What's more Miyoko recent brushing up on NH-22M specifications made her aware that they had access to a berserker-mode which had earned earlier nekovalkyrja like Taisho Irim bits of their present fearsome reputation.
As Miyoko's eyes idly followed the diagnotic scan's readouts, something else came up. At first, it seemed impossible, but she had not seen wrong: the occupant was not a NH-22M Test-Type Nekovalkyrja, but something else. Miyoko had heard rumors of that bodytype - mostly rumors about how it was indestructible, how punches from it could impossibly cave in zesuaium walls and that it was unique to Taisho Yui.
... And yet, the console clearly displayed "NH-23 Ketsurui Empress' Nodal Nekovalkyrja" as the configuration of its occupant.
"... Ah." Miyoko froze in place for a moment as she read over the data--and then again, just in case. She very cautiously took a step backward. "... Suzuka-Shosa, did Sylvester mention anything outstanding about the Taisa's former body?"
"This is odd." Nyton said to himself upon reading the presence of metal from inside the container. Whatever was inside apparently seemed to possess trace amounts of some metal. His scan was not determining just what kind though.
Yukari blinked, looked Kôsuka, then looked back at Miyoko. "No, he did not. An NH-22M, second generation-type Nekovalkyrja. Is ... she dead?"
"Well. Um." Miyoko gestured toward the screen. "It shows as an NH-23. And its tactical systems are online and probably aware of any threats." She was not going to come around to Nyton's pronouns, it seemed. Given what sort of fate was likely in store for this body, it wouldn't do to get too attached to it. "I submit that given a rather broad definition of 'threat,' we should be careful."
Yukari turned to Kôsuka, disbelief and anger in her eyes. "What is this?"
The samurai shook her head. "It is malfunctioning. NH-23 do not exist outside of O-Ketsurui-sama. It's an error." She approached the container, past Miyoko, and examined it. "It's an error. For her to be an NH-23 ... she would be connected to PANTHEON. Yui would know immediately."
"Eeh ... " Miyoko cringed as Kôsuka approached the container, taking a step back. "Perhaps we should close it and investigate before proceeding ... "
Nyton's eyebrow went up as he assumed a thinking position. "An NH-23 PANTHEON connection model. What the hell was Sylvester planning to do with this? Is this even who we thought it was?"
"We will not know until we free her," Yukari said, also approaching the container. "Her PANTHEON connection cannot threaten us, for we are not connected to the system anyway."
"I doubt he would have informed us of its presence if he had any grand plans in mind for it ... though this does raise more questions than it answers." Miyoko shrugged.
"You cannot free her," the Samurai said. "An NH-23 ... it is a very threat to O-Ketsurui-sama herself. No matter what Sylvester-san had in mind, we cannot free her."
Miyoko just stared blankly at the tank, rather overwhelmed at this point. Ethical dilemmeas aside, it was damn inconvenient. "Still," she ventured cautiously, "she may be able to illuminate the situation if we could awaken her in a totally controlled environment."
Sigurd took the initiative and raised one arm to wipe the blur off the transparent casing of the hemosynthetic tank, revealing Kotori floating upright inside, her pale skin tinged red from the crimson fluids she was suspended in.
The youngling Kosuka had given birth to looked in much better shape than when the Samurai had last seen her back when she rescued her from the ruins of the PNUgen complex. The skin was pale and unmarred, her eyes closed, SLICS holes absent from her shoulders and her hair spread behind her - grown to the point where it was longer than her height.
"There is no controlled environment for an NH-23," Kôsuka snapped. "It is the body of the Empress ... she can do whatever she deems fit. Is there any way to tell whether it is Kotori's s- ... soul ... " The samurai's mouth came undone for but a few seconds, before she closed it and snarled. "He lied to me!"
Miyoko would have argued the point against Kosuka, but pissing off a samurai wasn't on her big ol' list of things to accomplish with her life. As it was, she stayed quiet.
The Samurai wasn't paying attention anyway. "He lied to me! ME! His daughter, he lied to ME!" Kôsuka put her hands on the transparent material of the container, teeth bared. "He has sentenced my daughter to death, or my soul to a treasonous hell!"
The tank's surface was still cold to the touch. The nekovalkyrja inside did not stir.
And now Miyoko was essentially trapped between two fairly dangerous and potentially unstable weapons. She quickly got out from between the samurai and the tank.
"Samurai-sama — Kôsuka — you must remain calm. We are not aware of all that is occurring here!" Yukari attempted to approach the Neko, but the glare she received chilled her blood. The samurai was furious.
"Perhaps more could be investigated from the capsule?" Sigurd suggested. "As the Shosa said, we have yet to determine the purpose of this nekovalkyrja being held in stasis on-board."
"A possibility, but none of us are engineers." Miyoko was glad for the distraction. She gave the capsule a quick glance-over just in case anything leapt out at her. "It would require us getting more people involved."
"Is that something to be avoided?" The Custodian questioned. "This vessel is already involved in a secret mission. Would this seeing more of this detail be compromising enough to not involve our chief medical officer or our chief engineer?"
Kôsuka swirled and faced everyone, panicked. "Don't you all see?! Sylvester-san has played me for a simpleton ... he forces me to choose between duty and family! It is a crazy test!"
Sigurd turned his head to Yukari, as if expecting instructions.
Yukari did not return his gaze. "Kôsuka. Please — control yourself. We will not kill her — "
Miyoko could do naught but take a few steps backward and hope that Kôsuka didn't decide to bite off her head. "Could... could we simply directly ask him to explain the situation?"
"Our situation may not permit this," Sigurd replied. "Are we not about to start an operation and effectively required to remain silent due to our presence close to the enemy?"
Kôsuka leaned forward from the capsule, into a fighting stance. "You don't see." She put a hand on her sword. "This body's very existence is treason to the O-Ketsurui-sama. I have no choice but to kill her. It is my sole duty to protect the Ketsurui with my soul, even if my enemy is my very own flesh!"
Um. Sometimes, things like this would almost make her prefer dealing with Sanjuro's stolid predictability. Almost. "We could at least ask the Taisa, perhaps?"
The monitoring console keeping tabs on the condition of its occupant started displaying information at a faster pace. No one was really close enough to read, but it was obvious the agitation outside had not gone unnoticed from the NH-23's secondary tactical operating system.
"Just a thought," Nyton began, still in his thinking pose without showing any inkling of concern in his voice, "but perhaps as a safety mechanism it may require a password. By standing here without offering one we may have set off it's self defenses. That or she has finally taken notice of our presence."
To Nyton's sight, the NH-23 had visibly warmed up, as if her musculature was priming itself for use. She still seemed at rest and made no offensive move beyond just floating there with her eyes closed, but thanks to her skin vision, she was probably quite ready to defend herself.
Nyton continued to appear calm and unconcerned, although his own temperature had risen slightly. "My scans indicate that she is trying to activate her body for possible actions. We should either disarm ourselves to further appear as less a threat or seal her back up. I suggest you do not take any hostile actions, Kosuka-san. She is quite aware of our presence."
"Please, Kôsuka ... let us take care of her." Yukari stepped forward, within the Samurai's sword range. She had her hands open at her sides. "We will not harm her. I swear this upon my one and only soul." She put her hand over her chest.
The samurai shook her head. "She cannot live. Nor can I. I should not allow any of you to live ... the mere knowledge of this ... blasphemous ... NO! " She drew her swords and spun toward the capsule in a slashing motion.
And ... Miyoko was off. She may not have been much of a combatant, but her nerves were on a hair trigger and then some. She activated her gravity manipulation, quickly launching herself up and away from the samurai. It wouldn't stop her if she decided to follow through with that whole 'killing everybody' thing, but the more distance between Miyoko and a crazy person with a sword, the better, as far as she was concerned.
Nyton's 360 vision allowed him to see the samurai's charge and his historical records of Kosuka's combat data allowed his tracking system to make predictions of her movements even in regard to any possible actions he took. Unfortunately, he was more concerned about protecting Kosuka from the 23 than vice versa.
A zesuaium blade such as Kôsuka wielded could, with favorable enough conditions, practically cut through everything; even the capsule. However, fizzling discharge manifested just shy of the blow connecting, stopping the swing as if the Samurai had connected with a Daisy's shield.
"No one, not even the Empress or Yui-Taisho, can threaten the lives of my crew in such a fashion," Miharu's AI said, surprisingly stepping in with its internal forcefields. "Kôsuka-Juni, Suzuka-Shosa gave you an order. Comply, now."
"Ha — ?" Kôsuka appeared stunned as she watched her swords crackle upon the force field.
"Sigurd, stun her, now!" As Yukari said the words, the Samurai scowled and jumped up and threw one of her swords at Sigurd's chest.
"H-hey! Whoa, whoa, whoa..." Miyoko tried to intervene from her valiant position crouched behind a nearby storage crate. "Everybody just calm down..."
The NSP was still in his holster and Nyton knew if he made a move Kosuka would see it. He stepped aside to try and hide his hand moving towards the pistol. As though trying to merely avoid the samurai, Nyton tracked where Kosuka would be and in one motion of both avoidance and quickdraw, attempted to fire at Kosuka with a stun blast.
Miharu became quite liberal about her forcefield use, deflecting the thrown sword so it could clatter nearly harmlessly on the floor. Sigurd stepped forward to obey Yukari, but his own attack as well as Nyton's were stopped in the same fashion.
"I am a quantum computer," Miharu sent to Kôsuka. "You cannot think faster than me and I'm not shy about flaunting it, even to protect that NovaCorp piece of crap. Stop." Aloud, Miharu repeated: "Stop!"
"... what she said." Miyoko gestured toward the air for lack of a better place to indicate the Miharu. The AI might have made her point better, but Miyoko was damn well not going to let her take all the credit for keeping the peace. For her own part, she stayed well behind the crate while weapons were being deflected to the ground.
The samurai floated above the floor still gripping her other sword. Her eyes darted back and forth, between Sigurd, Miyoko and Nyton. Yukari was nearly under her. "Miharu,," Yukari said calmly. "Can you calm the NH-23 and inform her clearly that we will not harm her, and that her mother is distraught?"
"I already have a passive link with the NH-23," Miharu helpfully supplied to Yukari. "I can keep her sense of self-preservation under wraps as long as her capsule isn't damaged."
"That's comforting to know." Nyton said as he resumed observation of the capsule, even while his system remained combat alert on Kosuka. "If you could link to the NH-23, Miharu-san, why didn't you tell us sooner?" he then asked.
Now that things seem relatively calmed down, Miyoko came out from behind her cover, though not without raising her hands for a few moments to make sure Kosuka couldn't interpret it as an attack.
"You never asked?" Miharu replied innocently to Nyton.
"I motion that we seal this thing back up until we can consult with the Taisa, at the very least." Miyoko turned to consider the tank. "Is there any chance of communicating with it telepathically without allowing it access to the nodal system?"
"Well, actually, she already has administrative priviledges on my operating system," Miharu replied, sounding appologetic. "So I can't really cut her out now. If you can get her higher brain functions to work, she should be able to communicate at least through telepathy."
"Let's not do that," Miyoko put forth hurriedly. "Who knows what will happen if it becomes totally conscious, in that case."
Yukari pushed aside the realization that their ship was in the hands of a sleeping Empress. There was enough sentiment about betrayal in the hold as it was. "Let us leave her here, for now, with the Juni accompanying me to see the Taisa. We must act quickly, but deliberately."
Sigurd looked up at Kôsuka. "You are to stand down. Will you comply?"
"But close the containment unit first," Miyoko appended to Yukari's order. "I'd prefer it not get broken during the fight or have somebody else stumble across it."
"Er. That is, I suggest that we close the containment unit first, Shosa." The science officer quickly corrected herself. Between the tense atmosphere and her already casual relationship with the XO, formality wasn't the first thing on her mind.
"Sigurd will do so momentarily," Yukari said, looking up at the Samurai. Kôsuka paused a moment more, then brought her sword to her arm and cut her self shallowly, drawing enough blood to satisfy the tradition and allowing her to sheath her weapon. She came to the floor and collected her other weapon.
Sigurd walked to the side of the container and looked to the other side. "Without Kôsuka-Juni's assistance, I will not be able to close this container. I will guard this area from intrusion and wait on a power armored sprite to assist me. Will that be suitable, Shosa?"
"Mara knows," Miharu added. "I can send her in a Daisy."
" ... " Yukari's instincts were to say no. But the Samurai appeared dishonored enough. "That is acceptable, Sigurd-san. Thank you."
"You are welcome," The Custodian nodded and took position in front of the container, lowering the shutter again to hide the NH-23 Kotori from view. The upper cap he would only be able to lower once Mara got there.
PAUSE