RP [YSS Azalea II] Episode 1: Fresh Water

7月 YE 44
Aquarius Star Fortress
Tentacle Three
Hangar Bay Two

Well, thought the latest entrant to the cavernous hangar bay, at least it wasn’t via a shuttle this time around. From a distance, his athletic yet lithe build, cream-colored skin, and dark brown hair all combined to give him the appearance of a youthful generic anime protagonist, just as his scarlet-paneled uniform, regal blue cap, stoic expression, and purposeful stride seemingly made him the model image of a modern major officer; as he drew closer, however, both his appearance and image were revealed to be little more then mirages or subconscious facades - for his silver-tinged hair, tired features (including a telltale pair of dark periorbital circles), and somewhat wrinkled uniform made obvious that the newcomer was neither young nor a model officer.

Only the alertness that lurked behind the individual’s azure visage - evident as his pants-clad legs closed the distance between himself and the clump of crewmates to a few meters, and likely only present thanks to the brightly-colored can of sugary caffeine-filled goodness that he carried in his left hand - indicated that he’d rested at all since the dare party, but then…

Then, he took an elongated sip from the aforementioned can - and proceeded to nearly spit its contents onto the deckplate in front of him as his ears picked up a pair of all-too-familiar voices. Of course. Of frelling course I’d arrive at the same as them!

Fortunately for the newcomer, his years of professionalism and practice were enough to keep his gaze locked forward and his body firm (rigid, even) as he strode past the pair of voices, stopped in front of his new commander, and saluted; unfortunately for the newcomer, however, those years of professionalism and practice were not enough to keep his voice steady or his face free of a wicked blush as he said, “Shoi Matokai Masato, r-reporting for duty, Captain.”

Brilliant. Grade A frakking b-r-i-l-l-a-n-t, you complete and utter baka. Now you’ve made yourself look like a freshly-minted Hei on their maiden voyage in front of the CAPTAIN of all people, and don’t you dare look back at them, because if you do…

Kari wasn't sure what Pierre meant about armored vehicles. She was tempted to explain how she felt whenever she wasn't in her Mindy, but the Second_Thought subroutine in her digital mind kicked in and flagged it for having a high potential for alienating herself. Instead, she decided it would be best if she stood silent and motionless. Her heart beat at the baseline 40 bpm and she breathed so slowly that she appeared not to do so at all, making her seem like a statue until Pierre spoke again.

"Yes, I engage in physical training, sketching people, and painting landscapes," she stated tersely, before realizing that she should add some unimportant details and ask the same question in return to keep the conversation going. "I particularly enjoy pushing my body to its absolute limits when I know I will not be called upon for active duty. While I was in the reserves, I worked as a nurse at the Kyoto Academy for the Arts and I would regularly go several days without food or sleep and spent my free time sprinting for as long as I could hold myself upright. It was exhilarating. Also, I would like to sketch you. In what hobbies do you engage?"

Pierre popped a piece of nigiri into their mouth and chewed for a moment. Odd as it was, they were enjoying this conversation. Maybe they were the weird one.

A piece of rice caught in their throat and their eyes bugged out slightly. No sleep for days? The surprises kept coming. Reaching up to tentatively pat her arm, Pierre said, “Hey, Sunde, I don’t even think SASO types go that long without food or sleep. Please eat regularly.” The unbidden thought of tackling the medic and force feeding her sushi, briefly crossed the officer’s mind. Their calm broke, and they began laughing. Between musical peals of laughter, Pierre said, “Seriously, don’t fall over dead, they’ll probably stick me in the lab. My first aid's rusty and I sure as hell can’t find a vein.”

Regaining their composure, they remembered that they’d been asked a question in turn, “I’m honestly a bit of a workaholic, but when I’m not I like hanging out in the wilderness or going to lively bars. I’ll let you sketch me, if you let me take you out for a beer some day.” Pierre’s inner spreadsheet warrior grumbled. Why had they phrased it like that? If they did her a favor, they’d get the pleasure of spending money? Seemed like she was getting the better end of this deal.

Asami smiled at Masato. "Haven't seen you much the past two weeks." She said patting his back. "How have you been?" She asked him earnestly.

"My NH-33 Tennyo body is built to endure in times of hardship. I can eat 2000 calories every 3 days and go as long without sleep before I am impaired. However, I only enjoy this pastime when I am not on active duty," Kari explained. "While I am on active duty, I will consume 667 calories a day and get 6 hours of sleep a night, so I am well fed and rested, ready to deploy on a moment's notice."

Kari watched Pierre laugh and she knew that the appropriate response was to join in or at least smile, but she always found such things difficult, so she remained statuesque. "Rusty? Understood, sir. Report to one of the Azalea's med bays while I am not busy and I will give you a refresher on your basic first aid training and show you how to find a vein."

Several cycles passed, spent considering the exchange of value between a beer and an opportunity to sketch someone with an unusual body. "Very well, I agree to your terms. I will take you out for a beer in exchange for letting me sketch you."

Pierre settled into a comfortable silence, satisfied that their impending dismemberment seemed to have been delayed. They secured themself a bunch of grapes on the vine, content with the idea of eating these Fleet Kitties out of house and home if they didn’t hurry up.

They idly rolled a grape between their fingers like a coin before popping it into their mouth. “So, uh, 667 calories a day, pretty precise number.” Rolling another grape, they asked, “Do you, like, explode if you hit 668?” Catching the grape between their first two fingers they extended it towards the medic. If she was going to be rigid order, maybe Pierre could try a little chaos.

"Negative," Kari shook her head before her eyes darted to the grape and then back to Pierre. She reached out and took it from their fingers. Once acquired, she tossed the grape into her mouth and swallowed it to prove her point. "The explosive capabilities of the Nekovalkyrja body have been greatly exaggerated. I am quite capable of exceeding my daily caloric requirements, but it is wasteful. And it makes me feel bloated and heavy, which I find to be quite unpleasant and counterproductive in my endeavours to be mission-ready at any hour."

Resuming her impression of a statue for a moment, Kari cycled through the things Pierre had told her, searching for something to follow up on to continue the conversation. "You enjoy spending time in the wilderness. No doubt to practice your survival skills. I have heard rumours from my batch-sisters of a great teacher who deposits her students miles from civilization with nothing but a knife. I have always wanted to recreate the experience for myself."

“The survival skills are just a bonus, I just like being outside. Sunlight and air that somebody else didn’t just breathe are good for the soul, ya know?” Realizing they might need to clarify they added, “Not literally, I don’t think we have souls in the religious sense. It’s just something that makes me happy. You feel happy when you’re training, I feel happy running around in the wilderness. The best thing is there's only one rule: leave everything as close to the way you found it as you can.” Pierre’s smile changed as they talked, the mild amusement growing into something almost beatific. “Used to be an infantry officer, it was pretty great. Got to wander around in the wilderness and occasionally blow stuff up.”

"Leaving everything as one found it is the most important rule of covert operations," Kari stated with an approving nod. "Otherwise the enemy will have a trail to follow and the mission will be blown."

"Yes, happiness is also an emotion that I feel when I am..." Like a statue, Kari stood still and silent for longer than was comfortable. "...engaging in my hobbies."

Shaking her head, she immediately continued. "That's a lie. I was trying to be more sociable by lying about something irrelevant to make me seem more relatable, but it felt wrong. I apologize. I am happy when the Empress gifts me the opportunity to tear a comrade's barely breathing body from the flaming wreckage of their mech and shield them from incoming fire as I carry them to safety, only to patch them up, hand them my sidearm, and get them back into combat."

“Girl, you are way intense,” Pierre said with a small laugh. “I guess it’s not that weird though, if you let me get going about project management or contract audits or well anything in the test and eval loop you’d think I’m a bit nuts too. Your honesty’s appreciated, though.” They were starting to catch on to Sunde’s meanings. She didn’t seem to do metaphors all that well. Which meant… holy fuck.

“Hey, Sunde, what did you mean by ‘wanting to see how many rounds you can put through me?’ I figured you just wanted to see what kind of person I am… but.” They’d almost said ‘see what I’m made of,’ but worried the woman would take that as another opening to offer dissection. Perrier liked their guts exactly where they were, and full of good food. They grabbed a few more pieces of nigiri.

"That was my attempt at a metaphor. In that metaphor, you were a gun. I was trying to express my interest in your physiology, particularly what you are capable of with your unique traits, as this information would be valuable in the off chance that I am ever to rescue you." Kari made an attempt at a disarming smile, but looked as if she was bearing her teeth like an aggressive animal. Thankfully, after a few heartbeats she stopped. "I studied standard Minkan bodies in training, and we learned about personal customization, but I have not had a chance to meet someone like you before today. I apologize again if my metaphor was misleading. You may be surprised to learn that I did very poorly in the socialization portion of my upbringing."

Kari frowned, feeling like the conversation, which she had been skilfully weaving like an elaborate tapestry up until now, had begun to unravel. "Please, tell me more...details about yourself. When did your interest in project management and contract audits begin?"

“You’re good, Sunde,” Pierre said, patting her arm again. “I think I can answer both of your questions together. I went to business school. I got really good at a lot of those skills, but the idea of just going and working for some company seemed painfully boring. Always felt like I was doing the things I was doing, being the person I was because I had to be. It’s not something I talk about much, not because I’m ashamed or anything, I just… Joining the army gave me a chance to reinvent myself. A new body about 30cm shorter and with a pair of these cool hoof things.” Pierre gave a small clop for emphasis. “Test and Eval seems to be the best of both worlds though. I’ve gotta be a good soldier and a good analyst.”

After "Settling" into his room, Yujin sighs and brings up the map of the YSS Azalea II and paths his way to the wardroom. Stepping out he moves along the hallways toward the wardroom, he was not in a hurry no was he going slow. He was also taking his time to memorize the subtitle parts of the ship so he'll know how to get to where he wanted without having to pull up the floorplan in his digital mind each time he wants to go somewhere.

The doors to the wardroom open as the elven Minkin walks into the room. Seeing the other two there he would smile " hey there!" he moves along over toward the laid-out food as he was a little hungry taking a few sliders and some nigiri. Looking around for some meat finds some sausage on a stick like there was at the party and snags two and places them on a plate. then moves to get something to drink and heads over toward a random table to enjoy his food.

"Reinvent yourself," Kari repeated, clearly giving Pierre's words tremendous thought. "For me it would be the opposite. Working for a company without being in the army would be reinventing myself. Am I what you were?"

Kari let the question linger before she turned to see another of the crew join them in the wardroom. She searched the list of faces and names in her mind, but it only took a cycle to pick out someone with such distinct facial hair. Setting that aside, she brought up a list of polite greetings. She had saluted the Captain and bowed to Pierre, what else could she try out? Aha, a wave might be appropriate.

Lifting her hand, Kari went through the motions of waving at Yujin as though the movement were an entirely foreign concept to her, shaking her hand from side to side in a precise rhythm. What's more, she kept her perfectly neutral expression and rigid statue pose as she did so, making her seem almost threatening. She counted the cycles and ended the wave precisely one second after she had begun.

"Pierre, I suggest we join our comrade to avoid making him feel excluded. Do you agree?"

Ah yes, a fellow small fry, Pierre thought with a smile. “Sounds good,” they said before heading over to talk to the newcomer.

“Hi, this is our ship’s medic Kari Sunde, and I’m Pierre Ruike, I’m just here to look at bombs,” the Chui said throwing up their first two fingers in a V for victory next to their eye and giving the man a wink. “If she offers to dissect you, don’t mind her, it stops being terrifying and becomes endearing after a while."

Kari followed Pierre and watched as they performed a greeting she hadn't seen before. She added it to her list to try later, then nodded to Yujin.

"I'm just here to," Kari began, trying to mimic Pierre's introduction, but at the same time put her own spin on it. "...pull you from the icy grip of death and escort you back into the fray for the glory of the Empress. But if you are interested in being dissected, I will offer you the same guarantee as I did Pierre, that I will put all of your pieces back where they were, within a reasonable margin of error."

"Her heart's in the right place," Pierre said, worried the new guy would be scarred off. They weren't worried enough not to add, "Let's just hope she puts yours back in the right place."

Seeing the other two greet him he would nod and smile, and then as they came over to him he blinks at the dissection talk and chokes a little " oh come on I'm trying to eat here? you don't want the medic to have to try and save me from choking on my food ey?"

After a pause to signal a topic change Yujin spoke up with his soft voice. " Toyoda, Yujin, fighter pilot" He smiles looking over to the medic and then to Pierre, "Ah you might be the one of those that I'll work closely with for missions if I need external weapons added to my craft." Yujin blinks some and then says " Oh yea I still need to let the tech know I wish to fly one of the few Hayabusa starfighters aboard the ship.

"You'd have to talk to him about what bombs get put on specifically. I'm an observer mostly," Pierre said, trying to give a more informative response, "There're a couple armaments we're testing in limited numbers, on the Mamushis mostly. I'm here to judge the results in a field condition."

"Also," Pierre added, mustering up the most serious face they were capable of, "If you choke in front of our medic, she will intubate you."

"This is correct. I am trained in several techniques to treat choking," Kari gave Pierre and then Yujin each a quick nod. "I can also compress your diaphram to try and use the air in your lungs to expel the blockage. Or if it is severe enough, I can perform an improvised tracheotomy to let you breathe despite the blockage. Let me assure you that choking is no great concern while I am in your immediate vicinity."