RP: YSS Miharu Mission 5, Aftermath (3rd day)

Hinoto nodded back smartly in return, the tension starting to leave her shoulders. Her ears flicked back to a more 'idle' angle and she answered Nyton with: "Hoshi will establish a feed through Mokuren that you will be able to access within the minute."

Hinoto did send the instructions to have Hoshi's CIES do the requested action, but she also sent a notice to Yukari about Nyton's data access (not a permission request, but rather a "Nyton Claymere has been granted access to this and that remotely from his convalescing quarters").

Nyton was certainly entitled to his request, but Hinoto recalled his initial belligerence to Yukari's decision of capturing Melisson; and that made Nyton a potential security risk to Yukari's aims. Of course, Nyton didn't need to know that.

Nyton gave an approving nod. He was glad he did not have to make it a direct order. He expected there to be precaution with any request he made regarding Melisson. No doubt there would be red flags raised especially after he had argued with Yukari. He also took note of Hinoto's ears shift and thought he could see the rest of her body relax somewhat.

"Thank you, Hinoto-san. I shall take my leave and return to my own quarters then. Feel free to stop by if you like." Nyton said and smiled at her one more time before he turned to leave. Going at a decent pace he began to walk back to his room.

Looking into Melisson's eyes, Tom saw the predator within them. The interpreter's menacing orbs were drawing him in, beating at him with depths of experience he couldn't fathom.

But there was some familiarity there, in the primal qualities of Melisson's features. Flashes of canines he recognized from years in the wilderness. Her cold stare... he felt the challenge, the sizing up of his presence, the prongs of which would trigger a fight-or-flight response in him had he not just then taken a step back in his mind.

This was no time for bravado, of which his efforts would undoubtedly make him sound like a bleating sheep. Nor was it time to turn tail and run, a tactic which would establish the interpreter as the definite Alpha.

The Raltean hardened his eyes and nodded slowly, acknowledging on some baser level Melisson's powerful presence, but also drawing a line in the sand a point which he would not allow said power to pass.

"The purposes of the nightmares," he asked. "What were they?"

Melisson reared back to settle down on her haunches. Parted lips closed and lips curled up smugly.

"I told you before," Melisson told Tom with the sweetness of honeyed venom, before she half-closed her eyes and quoted herself: "You are nothing. I can break minds with my power. I can unmake you."

Red orbs fixated back toward Tom. "I was destroying your mind, and you were helping me do it. It used your torments you held and allowed them to literally gnaw and eat at your psyche. You had no self-delusions, no concocted half-truth, no ideals or rational excuses to hold back such."

Tom crossed his arms.

"Why?" Tom asked. "This is what I have a had time understanding."

To clarify himself, he continued.

"It seems inefficient," he added. "This Vakker Talkup you speak of... I can see some similarities in it and in the laws of my home. Where I am from, we hunt and we kill for our food, and, on these trips occasionally, I have been able to witness wild animals kill and be killed. Each and every time it is an efficient process, with as little energy used as possible in achieving the goal of survival. And with the winter always near, nature itself is utterly ruthless, freezing whatever doesn't adapt."

He opened a palm and motioned it towards her.

"But you decided to put us through something that, when I thought about it, was not efficient at all. You knew Kotori had powers, and I'm sure you knew that she had the ability to interfere with your psionic efforts. You intentionally put yourself at a disadvantage. Why?"

Melisson shook her head in disgust. "I have already answered that before our previous confrontation."

"You speak knowingly of how ruthless nature as you know it is," the Interpreter added, "but leave unmentioned that nature still begets life, and offers ways to nurture it. Spawns are born and grown, weaned and tested with play which prepares them for the rigors of independent maturity."

Kokuten said:

The Malifarian snerked at that, relenting a bit as he drew himself back to a relaxed position over his food, of which he was nearly finished. Masako was making a little counter-offensive with her authority. There was little he could do for that, and another word would be going too far. So, he scratched his head, answering that itch that had been bugging him in that certain spot. Without further words Asher just chuckled, and went back to his food. "Two years, or two weeks. It don' matta'. You ain't changed one bit." He said, moving to eat his meal.

Click to expand...

Rin seemed to relax considerably, what with Asher having stopped his pushing and Masako making her own points as well. But, something did confuse the sprite: the "Two years or two weeks," comment. Asher did seem to appear out of no where, or at least Rin just hadn't noticed a shuttle or whatever bringing him in. Still, that seemed like an odd comment to make, unless they just happened to run across each other on assignment again. But, if two years had passed since then, Asher was bound to be more than just a Santo Hei... right? It also wasn't as if they could have met outside the military since Masako was a neko.

"Ano, Westwood-hei. What do you mean 'two years or two weeks?' Did you know Kurohoshi-Juni from before?" Rin asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"Ho, yeah. It ain't all that much a secret no mo' iss'it?" mentioned Asher, looking around at the people present at the table, before resting his eyes on Kyou. He offered a short smile before getting back to his food, sticking some eggs in his mouth. "Y'shee, a fehw yeahrs 'goh, I wahss' stahtioned ohn 'tha GSS Shikahku, prehtty cohmfy pahtrol vessel ouht in thah' Taiie System." He swallowed his food, "Then here comes Melisson wit' some Star Explodah' thing, and turns tha' whole place on iss' ass. That wass' tha' Battle a'Taiie. Everyone on my ship died that day save f'two people. N'bein' stuck out in tha' middle a'no where in space ain't to fancy f'ya future."

Asher leaned back, taking a short look at some of the of the other Nekos in the room. He couldn't help but notice how their mannerisms and behavior seemed to differ from the Neko he was stationed with, but he didn't let that distract him too much from his short story.

"Das' when Koto-boss n'tha Miharu show up. They pull me off'a tha' fire, n'made me part a'tha crew." The Malifarian looked over at Rin, "That wass' in 28. I served wit'm 'til 30. Past that? I don' remembah." He scooped up the last of his eggs, "I woke up tree' days ago, right b'fore we deployed f'tha battle." He stuck the garnered eggs in his mouth, chewing them up and then swallowing. "I'm tha' result of a back-up that wass' recorded back in 30. So yeah, I'm not tha' real Asha' Orkin Westwood. I'm his clone, but I got every memory of tha' guy. I ain't got no rights t'possession, n'what family I had ain't technically my family no more. I'm sorta' like a sprite, 'cept, like I said, I have the memories of tha' guy I'm based off of. So..." He ended that last no gingerly, throwing a side-long glance at both Rin and Masako, a grin creeping up his cheeks.

"Thass' how I now Kuro-Juni's still a cold fish afta' all these years. Seriously babe, get laid or somethin'."

"I am not a cold fish!" Masako protested rather hotly. It was more of a reaction without thinking, but the Warrant Officer couldn't help but feel slighted. "I just believe that a Warrant Officer and senior military personnel need to act a bit more professional," she explained (more like grumbled) as she finished what was on her plate.

"Though...I am willing to admit that such a philosophy does leave a lot to be desired." the Raven-haired Neko mumbled and washed down the last bit of food with water.

'Like a sprite?' Rin thought to herself. She didn't pay attention to the rest of what was being said. It bothered her, really, if those views were right. Asher had been (re)created to help protect the others, and he wasn't a regular crew member, especially if he was just a copy of someone who was still alive. Right as she thought the placement of everyone into various categories of competency and whatnot had settled down, Asher just had to mess with it again.

"Oh," was all Rin could say in response, though she wasn't know what she was saying it to, if anything.

"I know that," Tom replied. "Our seasonal cycles help to show that very clearly."

"Giving us a 'fighter's chance' as we would call it, when you were so much more powerful than us, that is the thing I have trouble wrapping my head around. I don't want to call it arrogance or megalomania on your part. You said you had reasons for everything, why would you allow yourself to lose?"

Melisson sighed. It looked like disappointment. She finally answered Tom with: "Vaaker Takeup is something you are taking literally as the canvas of my motivations, but since it is the only guide for my apparent behavior you cling too tightly to it and ignore the other things I have said."

"When you are powerful in the regards of Vaaker Takeup, the value of the self begins paling in face of an outgrowth of it: a cause," she then explained. "You were only prepared for victory and defeat was unacceptable for you, but I exposed myself to greater risks, knowing that in victory or defeat, my cause would be the greater."

"I traded my Vaaker Takeup for a chance to see if yours would grow in its stead. You could say I made it a game that would test you, and if you were up to the challenge, make you the greater for it. Our existences have touched, we exchanged, we have come into conflict... and now we are forever changed."

"You are the greater for it, but things will never be the same for you either. You can hardly forget what you have done and what you have learned anymore," the Interpreter asserted. "Take your Yukari, for example: how much does her self matter anymore, in comparison to the cause she has imposed for herself in order of being capable to forge on? How much to you think the borrowed dream of human life with the symbolism of your love bands balances against her self-appointed sense of purpose?"

Tom contemplated Melisson's words, turning his sight away from her and looking at the wall. He seemed to be struggling with what he was about to say.

"Yukari has a higher calling," he said.

Had he not said that to Nyton moments ago? Somehow, saying it to Melisson felt different, though.

"It will be difficult for me," he added. "But I saw in my nightmares a world where Yukari had given up on her purpose to satisfy my dreams. That is something I will not allow to happen."

His leaned back, placing his palm down on the floor behind him and looked back at the interpreter. His eyes had a glassy look to them.

"I refuse to destroy her for my own selfish needs. When she is ready, I will accept her by my side and we will start a family. Our wishes don't have to be a zero-sum game. We will find a common ground."

His gray eyes blinked. When they opened, they found the interpreter's.

"Although you have given us wounds that may not heal and taken away friends who will never return, you have made us stronger. I will not thank you for that. I will not hate you, either, for doing so is the same as howling at the snow."

"But I will acknowledge it and I will not forget."

"Y'damn right it does!" said Asher, pointing a finger at Masako in a very accusatory fashion. He tapped his other finger on the table, stressing his point. "You're a Neko. Most don' make it outta' basic! But hey, I unda'stand waitin' f'that right one, or makin' it speacial or somethin', but..." He shook his head, and started to count on his fingers. "You're what, six? Seven? Come on. You can't limit y'self 'cause of y'responsibility."

The Malifarian took a sip of his tea, before slapping the emptied cup down on the table.

"Don't you think iss' about time y'widened y'view a lil' from that narrow peak of a rank you sit on? Loosen up! Live a little! Fall in love! Get laid! Do somethin' risky that don't include tha' words life-threatenin! Do somethin' other than act cute and bark orda's." Asher swirled his hand on his wrist as he splayed out these points. "Hell, start wit' Rin. Make a friend. She seems nice enough."

@Tom:

"Adapting, compromising, dabbling in reverse-psychology... these are strengths you did not have before as abundantly," Melisson told the Raltean man, her voice echoing slightly from the HS tank. "The foundations of your convictions were eroded as payment for that, but that is not altogether a bad thing."

"Your pride as a Raltean man rests on convictions you've borrowed from the Vaaker Takeup of others," she continued. "Your odyssey on Miharu has tested them and you have, and still will, need to rely less on these borrowed values and more on those you will have made for yourself."

"View them as a stepping stone," she suggested. "But don't cling to them too tightly. That would prevent you from learning and evolving. You may value Ralt and wish to return to peace because you do not have it, but when you will return to it, you may find it... small and not as fulfilling as you expected."

Tom sat in silence for a few moments, taking the time to look at all the features of the tank. He looked at the barcode on her tiny prison while wondering what was going to happen to the interpreter.

"I remember you saying that you were angry with how the citizens of Yamatai had forgotten their Vaaker Takeup," he said. "But not all of us are like that."

He didn't need to explain any further. There was another point to this thread of conversation.

"Knowing what you know about all of the sins of the empire, keeping faith in individuals may be all we have to keep ourselves from going nuts. Meeting you, I can't just classify all Mishu as mindless monsters, but the fact I'm even thinking this probably borders on treason."

He laughed to himself, but the happiness derived from it was a bitter kind.

"There's just so much hatred between our cultures that it's impossible to see it any other way. I can already see how it's going to be. If I stay here, I'm going to be ordered to kill more Mishu or whatever else for the advancement of the Vaaker Takeup of the empire. Knowing that, I have to balance my feelings about that against my personal Vaaker Takeup for Yukari and my friends."

He looked up into the window of the tank.

"When you look at things through that window, right and wrong become very blurred."

Melisson covered another giggle with the back of her hand.

"Your 'Raltean pride' was amongst your greatest flaws - heavy shields borne proudly have a tendency to make people stoop, you see?"

"It caused you to indulge in what your culture calls 'hubris', and looked down on others with condemnation in order to elevate yourself on the basis of your own values," she told him. "If you retain lessons learned, you will be cured of that. You will understand others better. You will understand yourself better; who you are, what you are, where you are and your power in changing that."

"It seems to me, Tom Freeman, that you are in the process of puzzling out your own higher purpose," she told him. "The solution, and the means you will use to reach it, will however not be things you will find in this chamber with me."

"That is true," Tom said as he picked himself off the ground with a press of his hand.

He nodded to the tank.

"You didn't need to talk to me, but you did," he said. "Thank you."

He lingered for a moment before adding.

"I'd have liked for our meeting to have been under different circumstances than as enemies."

"...said the wolf to the rabbit before eating it," Melisson quipped in an almost sing-song-like fashion right after the end of Tom's sentence, before smiling widely.

The interpreter seemed very amused.

"Goodbye, Melisson."

Tom left the room, walking at a swift pace. He did not know where he would go or who he would run into, but the need to move, to run almost, nipped at his very full mind.

He settled on jogging alone with his thoughts.