RP: YSS Miharu Prologue, Day 3

"I am alive because of these recuperative abilities. I will be quite glad to be rid of them." Mizuho sounded almost too giddy at the thought. "Yes, Kotori, I will make the body switch. If I lose significant motor functions again, however, I would like to reserve the right to a few personal days for recovery. That wasn't an option last time."

A quirk of the brow followed. "What body will I be transferred to? NH-27... NH29..?" She bit down lightly on a fingernail, struggling to hide that she was actually very, very nervous about this. "What difference is there between them?"

She paused, then added, "Will I be forced to give up this delightful appearance? I've grown rather fond of that aspect of my body, at least."

James nodded to Nyton and surveyed the bay, eyeing the stacks of boxes and equipment with a grin.

"Right, then. Let's get this stuff sorted out."

Moving over to a set of crates, started shifting them around until they began to show some semblance of order.

"I'm rather itching to see what wild and crazy adventure lies in store for us band of merrymakers."

"Yes, I'm sure you could with the NH-29. I certainly could keep mine aside from some minor cosmetic details." Kotori paused. "Might I precise that a NH-29 does have internal hemosynthesis healing capabilities? We can still regenerate, though if we lose a limb, we don't cope with more severe damage such as limb loss within the hour: it's likely going to take more than a day."

The Taii shrugged. "Honestly, I just want you to have the SPINE interface instead of SLICS to make sure you can operate the equipment here as well as the other nekos."

Yukari nodded and smiled at Miyoko. "I think we will be done shortly, Saito-Hei. If you wish, could you retrieve the box of communicators in the starboard bay and bring them here? We will be done here shortly. I believe there is one for you in the box too."

After greeting Kotori and Mizuho with a proper bow, Masako walked into the T4 to gather their new crewmate's possessions. Grabbing a couple of bags, the young neko brought them out of the shuttle and moved a couple of meters away before depositing them on the deck.

At Leutre's outburst, Masako's almost pupil-less black eyes turned to him and blinked more out of curiousity than anything else. "Veressis-Hei, Ketsurui-Taii is your commanding officer...you don't have to be afraid of her." she replied. "All you have to do is follow a simple regulation of bowing to those of higher rank and you will be fine," the young neko explained calmly and with a small smile. "But bowing is also a polite thing to do when greeting someone as well," she went on. "So this brings me to a simple question. Why won't you be polite?" There was no anger or strictness in Masako's voice at the moment, merely simple curiousity that had to be answered before she had to get back to work.

Mizuho nodded lightly, her attention turning back to the blade.

"...I'll make the body switch then." It was a slightly distant statement, and with a flick of one finger, she tapped the blade. A metallic 'ping' ensued, which Mizuho seemed to focus great attention to. She repeated the process several times, eventually seeming satisfied. "When will this be done?"

Leutre bit his lip as he pondered her question. He had never been asked that before. Most people simply became offended upon meeting him, not curious. Giving Masako a curious expression, he hesitantly said, "Bowing is a sign of respect. She is a stranger to me, so how I can I have respect for her?" He tilted his head curiously. "Are you Nekovalkyrja engineered in such a way that you instantaneously develop respect for anyone with a certain color of badge?"

He sighed and shook his head. "Look, I'm not trying to offend anyone. But the problem isn't a matter of politeness, it's one of honesty. I speak exactly what I think, or as some would say, I speak without thinking. I don't know about you genetically enhanced types, but where I come from all people are imperfect. We all have wandering thoughts... Fits of jealousy, anger, fear, passion, and so on. I just happen to be very open about it."

"There's also a difference between honesty and tactfulness," the voice of Tom Freeman rang from behind the group. "You can have one with the other, you know. Sort of like the difference between saying 'you're ugly' and 'there are some things that you can change about your appearance.'"

The rather annoyed-looking Yamataian was rubbing his forehead with a wince on his face.

"Just because the culture you come from chooses to have the honesty without the tact doesn't give you a free ticket to ignore Yamataian protocol... and I REALLY wish I didn't have this headache!"

"Not now, certainly." Kotori replied to Mizuho. "There's no rush, but the sooner the better, really. You'll want to get in touch with my science officer after the briefing and see if you can have your soul transfer and backup either tonight or tomorrow."

Returning from the starboard bay with the box of communicators, Tomi couldn't help but open it up to take a look. After all, she wouldn't have pointed out that there was one for me in here if it weren't okay for me to check, right? Wedging the box under her left arm, she pulled out the one designated for herself and inspected it. Hm... broad purpose communicators. Maybe this means that it's expected that we'll be doing a lot of forays on the ground outside of power armor? It's about the only place anybody needs handheld communicators anymore. Of course, for all I know, these are standard-issue now.

She rubbed her finger over the engraving of her name, then tucked the communicator back in the box. Permission to open the box or not, it wouldn't do to look like she was greedy to get hers before anybody else. Besides, with any luck all of her questions about their mission would be answered shortly. Arriving back near everybody else, she sat the box down and watched the nearby discussion over formality.

"Oh, and one request regarding the process..." Mizuho glanced up, her voice sharpening quite suddenly. The matter on her mind was one of extreme sensitivity. "I would like all backups of me erased once the transfer is complete."

Why? Well, Mizuho had her reasons. Part of it was the fatalistic and/or suicidal nature of the damaged war-toy. Part of it was a distrust of things Elysian, and she would always consider ST an Elysian technology, no matter how entrenched it became in Yamataian culture. Part of it was just plain neurotic thought processes.

"I trust this won't be a problem."

Yukari had been taking another box when she saw Tom. Her blush was instantaneous, but she suppressed it quickly and kept moving boxes. It appeared everyone wanted to involve themselves in understanding Leutre, which was good -- for the moment. Tom's comments were beginning to border on aggressive, which Yukari did not want.

See how things end, she said to herself. This might yet be constructive.

"Saito-Hei, can you bring the communicators over to me? We need to examine to ensure one is there for each of us."

"It could be." Kotori said. "I'd like you to explain to me why it would be a bad idea to preserve the mind and memories of a nekovalkyrja with sixteen years of experience regarding warfare along with a strong penchant on fleet tactics and desperate engagements when Yamatai might be hitting desperate straits itself."

The Taii's golden eyes narrowed, studying Mizuho carefully. "If by a freak of chance you could be at the right place, at the right time to put your talent to use to possibly save millions of lives..." She shook her head. "It just feels very wasteful to allow the experience you have to go to waste if it could be preserved."

"I was forced into a life I could have just as well done without, Kotori-san. I have little intent of killing myself..." And that was true; it was a feeling that came and went with a rather sporadic nature. Fatalism was constant, one way or another. "But I have no desire to be forced into further life if I am killed. Yamataians seem to fear death almost as much as they fear having slightly flawed complexion."

A starkly sarcastic tone. "I can't stop you from keeping a copy of me. I know Star Army has full authority to take what they want when they want it. I would rather you didn't save a backup."

Folding of hands into her lap. "If you must, I alter my request slightly. Don't use it to bloody ressurrect me."

Masako blinked at Leutre before cocking her head to the side in confusion. "Yes, bowing can also be seen as a sign of respect and I do respect Ketsurui-Taii." she replied to the Nepleslian. "But I wasn't engineered to instantly respect anyone," she calmly remarked. "I treat everyone how I would like to be treated." she explained. "Being polite and sincere is just the first stepping stone to not only earning respect, but respecting someone in turn."

"But, one must also respect their superior officer as well. That was trained into me, not engineered. That is something everyone in the Star Army is trained to do and Ketsurui-Taii is our superior officer. We have to count on her judgement just as she counts on our dependability and perserverance." she spoke before looking straight into Leutre's eyes with a seriously calm expression. "Two things that you must show to Ketsurui-Taii in order for both of you to get along. I know you want to keep to your own values and culture, but isn't compromise apart of living?"

Kotori blinked her eyes slowly as she listened to Mizuho and finally nodded when the other was done. "I'll give you a counter-proposal: allow me to keep a backup of your mind so I can revive you should you die in my employ. In return... I give my word that upon the conclusion of this war against the Mishhuvurthyar or of my tenure as commander of the Miharu that I will personally put an end to your life - that is, unless you give me a vehement protest not to."

The black-haired neko brushed one long lock of black hair ehind her shoulder. "Also, I will make sure that if you do have a backup on the ship that the Soul Savior Pod be devoid of a copy. This would insure that should the Miharu be destroyed, you will defenitely have no way of surviving if you are caught up in the explosion."

The Taii sighed as she smoothed one hand over an eyebrow. "Basically, while in my employ, I want to make the most of use of you." Kotori didn't like talking this way: it sounded cold. However, Mizuho did not seem receptive or even wanting of sympathy, so, she felt it was just better to be blunt and to put her cards on the table. "Once the purpose for which I need you is done and over with, I do not mind how you want to end up, one way or another. You are still free to refuse; I just meant to outline my preference and my desire to accomodate you if you were willing to do the same."

"That sounds... workable." A resigned tone. "Compromise is a part of reality. I will concede these terms. Add a clause in Article II acknowledging my right to hate everyone eternally if I do wind up revived."

Mizuho slid the blade over onto the bunk beside her. "...if I had paper Id write up a contract granting me seven percent interest on your soul, as well."

A slight grin, now. "...are we done with the background formalities?"

"For the most part, yes." Kotori nodded. "I was going to add that your salary was going to be 200 KS taken out of my own wages everytime I recieved income; that's half of what I earn as a Taii-ranked officer. I cannot give you access to the prestige system, however, so, anything you get through the PANTHEON or the nodal system will have to be paid for except whatever our cook serves up to you: your employ here does include nourishment and a place to sleep."

She lifted a finger. "However, this excludes extravagances like candies - aside from your chocolate hoard - and alcoholic breverages.

"No alcohol..?"

A biting at her lip. "When, then, is the next shore leave... so I can get hold of something worth drinking?"

Mizuho could not imagine life without alcohol. It was slightly less worth living than she currently saw life as! And considering how low ranking 'life' was on her 'grand list of things I enjoy', life without alcohol might as well have been a sentence to hell.

Doshii Jun said:

"Saito-Hei, can you bring the communicators over to me? We need to examine to ensure one is there for each of us."

Click to expand...

"Of course." Pulling herself away from the discussion, she brought the box over and presented it to Yukari for inspection.