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RP: YSS Miharu Mission 4: The Fame and the Fury

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Ichigo seems taken a little aback, but she quickly recovered: "Sir, it's a misunderstanding. I can explain, if you're willing to hear me out."
 
Tom nodded.

"Ok, go."

He looked away from the sprite as he began prying a capacitor off the wall in his Daisy.
 
Ichigo explained.

"We were circling around the ship to get a new torpedo load when we saw something bump against the Taisa's window from the corner of the eye. That struck us as odd and we investigated."

"We ended up peeking in to make sure everything was alright and saw that it was just the Taisa practicing a sport inside her room. The Taisa noticed us and gave us this really fearsome scowl... so we waved in apology and just went on our way."
 
Tom reflected on Ichigo's explanation.

"What? Was she playing tennis or something?"
 
"Is that what it's called?" Ichigo seemed uncertain. "You tell me."

Ichigo sent Tom an video file, showing Kotori dressed in a white T-shirt and burumas. Her black hair was tied back in a ponytail and she was bouncing a yellow ball against her room's walls with a tennis racket.
 
Tom grinned at the video feed.

"Sweeeeeeeet. Virtual tennis practice."

But then the gears in his head turned and the engineer's golden eyebrows furrowed.

"Wait. You're permitted to record the Taisa's activities in her room?"
 
Miyoko gave a low whistle at the list of results. Just the topics were enough to grab her attention--if this was even a hint at the rest of the contents of the drive, she was going to have a lot of reading to do over the next few days. Of course, some of the headings hinted at some rather unpleasant contents, too...

The sensor specialist read the contents of the file Yukari selected with as much professional disinterest as she could feign. Fortunately for her, most of it was at least partly review, or she would have been rather disturbed at the report. It still wasn't pleasant to be reminded of one of Melisson's capabilities, and she felt a bit uneasy by the end of the file.

"It looks like we already have plenty of reading ahead of us... perhaps it would be best to review these files at our own rates and then reconvene afterward? Given what we've already found, I think Miharu could occupy herself with a few choice searches while we read. Finding out anything else they may have found on Melisson, any other files about the NH-29S, and this Akuma Project would be logical next steps. Melisson was going to be one of my next searches either way. If none of those return anything new, we could just begin on a list of prioritized targets."
 
"Oh no, I record everything I do in my day - my memory capacity is good enough for that," Ichigo answered. "That's in case I need to reference something that's happened to me in the day. Like, just now, it became useful - an image is worth a thousand words. I discard most of my video information later at the end of the day if it's not useful."
 
"How interesting," Tom mused gently. "Tell me, Ichigo, how do you treat the videos that you don't delete at the end of the day? What do you call them?"

It seems that the Engineer had dropped all pretense of punishing the sprite now.
 
Ichigo frowned, puzzling over his question. "Ah... it varies. Nimura humoring me and trying to smile, Masako's tips on CFS calibration, Preliminary Mission Briefings, Miyoko and Yukari's birthday party and such. Memories I want to keep detailed for future reference."
 
"Memories. Ah, I see."

Tom closed his eyes in silence a moment.

"You talk about keeping them for future reference," he said. His eyes opened and he turned to face the sprite with a curious expression. "Do you attach emotion to these references? How?"
 
"Ah, that's hard to say," Ichigo concentrated, trying to word a good answer for Tom. "I suppose live footage feels more meaningful than images, and thus if I view them, it might spark something."
 
"That's really interesting, really," Tom said. "I'd like to talk more about this with you some time."

A smirk crept onto his face.

"Yeah, but we have a lot of work to do right now. Keep clear of the Taisa for the rest of the day and tell the other sprites to do the same. She's probably just really stressed out after the mission, and the best we can do to alleviate that stress is fix this ship."
 
"Yes, Sir." Ichigo said smartly. "I'll contact you again once we're done with the reloading. Ichigo out."

...and the communication was concluded. In another window, Tom still could see the video Ichigo had sent him, of Kotori smashing a tennis ball around her room replaying over and over.
 
With that situation resolved, Tom's mood improved greatly. He quickly shot a note down to the new sprite.


For some reason, he couldn't help but keep the window of Kotori smashing tennis balls open for just a little while longer.

Something about it made him bubbly inside.
 
Wazu would roll out from under the table as fast as he could. His left hand had pushed off the ground for extra force, but had not gotten out from under the table in time, Nyton’s weight crushing down on everything just below Wazu’s left elbow.

With the rest of him pinned, Wazu ended up flailing about trying to find something to use against Nyton. One chair did remain near where the table had been upturned, and he quickly slid his legs under it so he could try and toss it in the direction of Nyton.
 
Nyton tracked Heram's intent with the chair and quickly sprung off from the table. He would land squarely on Heram's upper legs, simultaneously pinning them between his own legs and preventing them from flipping up the chair. He would also grab Heram by the shoulders with each of his hands, digging the thumbs deep into the flesh and locking his cybernetic hand to ensure a secure grip and induce pain.

If given the chance Nyton would execute a smooth motion and tuck his head down while pulling Heram by the shoulders. The move was intended to connect the solid skull part of Nyton's forehead with the bridge of Heram's nose to try and crack it with a series of headbutts.
 
"Uh, hai," Rin replied. As she looked over her set task she started to wonder exactly which tool would be best. She wasn't in a Mindy, so there were no forearm blades, though that would be rather dangerous and likely not precise enough. What about a saw? No, she was cutting large amounts of metal and leaving a jagged edge would be bad since someone could get a nasty cut. What else could she use? Her inexperience was showing.

Feeling rather awkward not knowing how to go about removing it, she faked looking busy by making it seem as if she was checking it over. While she did this, she scanned her nearby items and kept an eye on what Tom was going to do. Unfortunately, it seemed as if Tom wasn't exactly doing his part of the work and, instead, was talking to Ichigo. This made Rin even more nervous since it would be easier to see that she had no clue what she was doing, her actions getting noticeably more frantic.
 
Miyoko's question took another minute to answer. Yukari was still digesting.

Actually, it was regurgitation. The one time Yukari saw Melisson was on the Sakura, when she and Hanako were having delightful conversation. What was said she didn't recall from her memory. She focused on the sight of her. The "dentition", Amaya called it. Shark-like. She remembered hearing the description before. Yukari remembered the red eyes the most, how otherworldly they were.

The memory was quickly tainted by all of Amaya's detail. Detail she had to have discovered through observation; no one could derive so many statements of "fact" without seeing it or obtaining vetted accounts from witnesses. The incident with the slave, the description of a "bestial and monstrous" state, the salient points about Melisson's personality — all were very illuminating.

However, it was the insights into Melisson's psionic abilities that mattered most to Yukari. She purposely could not remember what it was like to be NH-17T, but the psionic shorthand and theory was still familiar. The red eyes she remembered seeing from other NH-17T; perhaps that is why she so clearly remembered Melisson's.

Amaya put Melisson's powers in Yamataian context. To be an SS-rated psion was to have incredible power. Yukari had never heard of one. A-rated psions were rare enough during the days the NH-17 was still used. Most 17T models were between C and B+. The context about range, how eventually psionic brainwashing or blunt mental compulsions would be ineffective without constantly subjecting the target — it rung true. Subjecting a single mind one time to subtle force was ineffective, but doing it for a year would ensure several years of obedience.

It scared her, reading about the "seed" theory. Amaya's eloquent language carried a simple meaning: Subtle, but potent brainwashing on levels unknown on Yamatai could convert thousands, even millions of minds. Melisson's power as a Dark One was chilling. That she could in fact be part of a starship made it even worse. A living, breathing starship, in a way; Melisson could implant seeds into her subjects with far less effort. And commit more time to implanting seeds from her own psyche into notable followers.

There were questions. Plenty of questions. What was the warfleet that was manipulated in YE 27? Where was it now? Yukari scrounged for quick answers in her own memory, but nothing came. How could one tell a person was seeded by Melisson? Amaya offered no evidence. Could an interpreter be "hacked" and its connection used to damage the broodmother? Yukari deemed that possible only because she remembered 17T training to control each others by breaking their psychic defenses.

There was too much there, and Yukari felt too close to her blocked memories from being an 17T. She paused, then nodded to Miyoko. "We might have to. We have not even examined the points about Amaya's Gate and I feel overwhelmed."

She closed the panel, returning to the list of files Miharu had dug up. "One thing we can say for sure," Yukari said as she leaned forward again, "Ashigari-san is very th — "

Yukari's eyes fell on the name listed next to the Personnel File entry. She steadied herself by putting her hands on the console. "Thorough ... Miharu, open the Personnel File." She felt weak. History suddenly was backfilling context into the Infection Queen study — not about Melisson, but about Amaya.

It cannot be possible. An Ashigari acting in concert with the killer of its most famous member? Even if the Ashigari and Ketsurui hated each other ...
 
Miharu opened up the next file for Yukari, Miyoko and Takuma to view.

What immediately jumped to their attention was the image of a nepleslian woman in her late twenties with a striking nordic look that made her a statuesque beauty. Her hair, a voluminous blonde mane, was worn in a loose braid that dropped down her back. The image adorned her with a snug long sleeved blouse, a skirt and ankle-length boots.

The Raltean quality in the woman was striking from Yukari's point of view. Perhaps it was just the ice blue eyes that were so much like Tom's... but she might have readily believed it if Tom had introduced that woman as being a cousin of his.

The rest of the entry followed:
 
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