4110/Q&A Time With Ren

Q&A Time With Ren
Date of Scene:	15 May 2016
Location:	Waterland Desert
Synopsis:	FEARSOME BATTLE WITH GIANT SCORPION happened before this scene, so now for some other stuff. Boring stuff, history of Ren's world... etc...
Cast of Characters:	165, Kushiko

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Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
    Well, he said he'd help them out and he's doing it!

    Ren Tanaka is in the deserts, helping the Good Ship Lollipop dig out remains of pre-war culture before they all head out and pack up for a while. After all, this restructuring of the environment might be destructive, and we don't wanna lose anything.

Kushiko has posed:
For what it's worth, the times that some of the Warframes and the influence of the Lotus here were not necessarily consistent; the task itself was largely complete prior but it was at the suggestion of the Lotus that, given what was implied and observed of Ren, of these so-called 'Exalted' and Icemind and everything else...

...it might do good to see what information was gleanable here and now. Sadly it wasn't the /actual/ world that Icemind originated from, but the pre-war culture, what put things into such dire straits to begin with was always something that they could document for reference and example later.

Accordingly this is why it was Valkyr accompanied by a what looked like a massive hound and her Helios which simply directed it's scanning tools at varying points and places to map and document through it's powerful sensor suite. The Warframe was silent in her observation of Ren and some of the others, not necessarily /directly/ helping, yet keeping vigil otherwise.

Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
    As was mentioned before, Ren finds it a little difficult to figure out exactly how things work with regards to these interesting robot people who've been here involved in adventures on this world. However, when they showed up again- he recognizes this one, so there's at least that much- he feels as if he really needs to know more, if only for the sake of making sure it's all correct in his head.

    However that was before they found a basement containing about fifteen years' worth of comics, so y'know, priorities.

    It was, however, guaurded by a giant scorpion. We don't know what it is about desert wastelands, but they just cause the scorpions to grow fifteen times bigger. Yes, that's right, a two metre long scorpion!

    Anyway, now it's dead because that's actually not as intimidating as you'd expect.

    "So, I think I've got this right here," Ren calls across to Valkyr, with a copy of Amazing Tales on his lap. "There's a person sat somewhere else in the multiverse who is like mission control for you guys, and you're like a team of a bunch of different guys and different ones show up depending on what your mission is?"

Kushiko has posed:
Giant scorpion dead: check.

Kubrow who's looking rather happy and content with herself about having taken part in mauling said scorpion: also check! She's contently curled up, occasionally gnawing on a bit of exoskeletal limb. If there's a concern for poison, the dog that would make an Irish wolfhound look small doesn't seem to care.

Valkyr, when asked, says nothing. Really, that's probably been the most disconcerting thing in retrospect. Sure, the Tenno behind it all has talked on occasion, but damn near everything from the actual Warframe itself has been silence: from movement, to breathing. Only the activation of certain powers has brought on any sound that breaks the communal silence between the frames in combat.

Thus, it is the Lotus who answers first. From some emitter or the like, that visual cut-in of the aforementioned figure who 'sits somewhere else' appears, the screen floating briefly. "In so many words, yes. It is ultimately the decision of the Tenno of where they will act based on the information I assemble and streamline for them."

Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
    Yeah typically I'm not gonna argue if the giant dog wants to eat that after it's been killed, I mean, nobody else is going to. Not even Ren.

    ("I've eaten bigger insects than this, not worth it. I'm not that hungry, anyway.")

    You know how it is: always eat before you go out exploring a post-apocalyptic landscape. Oh, well, I uh, I guess you wouldn't. Uh, yeah. Sorry. Robots. Narrators apologizing to robots.

    "Huh, that's interesting," says Ren. "If you have a problem, if no-one else can help, and if you can find them..." he wiggles his hand a little and hums the first few bars of the A-Team theme.

    Someone pokes him on the shoulder and points at the comic. "No, I haven't finished reading it yet, come on be patient. They might want to read it too, you know," says Ren.

Kushiko has posed:
Valkyr briefly moves over and idly scritches behind the ears of the Kubrow, who chuffs a little bit and halts in her gnawing on the limb to roll a little bit onto one side for further bellyrubs.

Woof!

"Something like that." the Lotus remarks almost a little glibly.

"And what of you and yours? Broken memory, but you and yours, Solars and these 'Exalted', creators of things that when they don't go the way they intend, they discard them?"

The voice behind those words is not the Lotus, though the floating panel of light seems to shift ever so slightly towards the Warframe. "Gold, gleaming and cold emperors of their fate and the fates of others?" Not that Valkyr looks up, the eyeless, featureless face leveled more towards the Kubrow than Ren.

Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
    Why Ren hasn't been doing likewise is a mystery indeed, possibly related to the fact that he is perhaps slightly overly cautious that bringing what may be the only copy of Amazing Stories issue 3 in existence in close proximity to a dog may be a bad idea and result in it being the only copy of Amazing Stories issue 3 in existence that has been damaged by an extradimensional creature.

    But he wants to! Oh, how he despairs at not being able to. It is truly the Solar's pain.

    Speaking of which.E

    "Eeeeeeeeeeh," hand wobble wobble wobble while pulling a bit of a silly face. "Hold on a little there, Lotus. You two are asking a bundle of questions there and I'm gonna need time to-"

    Tug tug shoulder prod. "Alright, alright, take the comic-" "I'll give it back after, we're just making annotations-" "Oh, fine."

    The person, who is wearing power armor, leaves. For the next few minutes you'll be able to hear him describing every illustration in the comic in detail into a microcassette recorder.

    "Issue 3, front cover. The image is of a cigar-shaped alien leaning over a woman lying on the ground..."

    "Anyway," Ren says. "Where was I. Oh, yeah. Gonna need time to refute each of those in detail. OK, which do you want me to talk about first?"

Kushiko has posed:
Lots of documentation; really, neither Kushiko nor the Lotus can truly blame them. Not that Kushiko's heavily interested in things like that, but she's begun to take cursory interests as documentation goes.

It's why the Helios sentinel accompanied her: the U-shaped floating drone using it's scanners to replicate and reproduce imagery for later.

A light little ruffling of the Kubrow is the last little interaction for now as Valkyr stands up and regards Ren just a little bit more directly as the Lotus speaks once more.

"Your role. We did not miss the way you and Icemind interacted. Whether you 'approved', spoke volumes of it, but you clearly did not remember, or simply did not know. Paired with what basic knowledge we've gleaned through the multiversal broadband, while there /are/ holes to be filled in, we have come to a basic aspect to what you and others like you call, 'Exaltation'."

The Lotus, her masked visage seems a bit more focused on Ren now, the floating panel flickering slightly. "We can only assume you were one of these. The collapse of civilization here and implied in other instances and iteration are troubling, to put it plainly."

Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
    Ren kicks his feet back and forth on the broken piece of wall he's sat on. In truth he didn't really feel as if too much was being laid on him at once, but perhaps it might be more beneficial if this was broken down a little for both of their sakes.

    He's silent for a moment, before he begins again.

    "You're correct in saying that I wasn't around for some of the events of IAM, of whom Icemind is a part of, 's time. The reason for that is a complicated one which involves a little bit of reincarnation and a little bit of selective empowerment, but the gist of the situation is that whereas most people have two souls people like me have three, and the third picks up a little bit from the first two and takes it with them when it goes flying out of a dead body and looking for another more suitable living person to inhabit."

    "A lot of people like me died, during the war that was the first age."

Kushiko has posed:
"Two souls?" the Lotus asked with just a hint of incredulity to her voice. Granted, there are some... other interesting factors, elements to the multiverse, but perhaps she wants to have the context to pair with knowledge and understanding.

"So that's why it seemed like your memory was fuzzy. Guess I can empathize there." That voice of the Tenno before now sounds a little less androgynous, and more feminine. Age is still a question. Valkyr shifts to stand, half-circling where Ren's now taken up leaning against. Helios has moved to begin cataloguing other little bits of what's been seen. The comic books, for now, where the Kubrow merely begins dozing.

For now, at least.

"So that's part of why it recognized you. Called you a creator and all that, even though you didn't know since you aren't the you that you were when you were you." the Tenno concludes.

Totally makes sense when said like that.

Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
    "Oh, right," Ren says, looking abashed. "Some people... some people have one. OK, let me rephrase, 'people like me have one more than the norm'. There."

    There is a brief pan off of the scene and to a chibi Ren dressed in traditional oriental yukata, pointing at a whiteboard. "There is the hun soul," picture of a normal looking ghost, "Which has memories and personality, and the po soul!" Picture of a... good god that thing looks jagged and teethy. "Which has desires and functions and gets real angry and hungry if you mess with it!"

    Pan back. Thanks Spiderman.

    "Yeah, not so much 'fuzzy' as 'not really... there'," Ren replies.

    "I don't," he says, "To clarify, feel as if I need to make amends, necessarily, for the questionable things they did during their time, and there may have been such things."

    "But when you're fighting against primordial creatures of chaos that literally surround your entire world," making a circle gesture with his finger. "The last thing you want is problems from within."

Kushiko has posed:
For that explanation, and a few moments beyond that, both Tenno and Lotus remain tacitly quiet for the purposes of the explanation, and contemplation otherwise.

There's a potential for similarities to be drawn, but they can't quite volunteer this information yet: the force of the 'Oro' that exists is something they know of. And then there's the other factors. Which sound distressingly familiar, or would if Kushiko could explicitly point to why. Her lack of stable and coherent memories is bothersome to put it mildly.

"We suppose not," the female voice of the Tenno concludes, if somewhat methodical as she speaks. "Survival at all costs. We know of these things. We are wary because we sensed something similar about you to another."

The Tenno falls silent for a moment as Valkyr continues to stare at Ren.

"Yet you still do need to do something. Maybe not because of what you did or didn't do, but you feel a responsibility regardless, not because of any sin you or others may have committed." she muses. "Otherwise you wouldn't be here would you?"

Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
    For a moment, Ren feels as if he's let a little too much go freely; although, considering he has rarely or almost never just sat down to disclose the details of his past (speaking loosely, as it's not entirely 'his') he can probably be forgiven. He's bad at this, is what I'm saying.

    He shrugs a little. "I'm part of the Union now. If I didn't act a bit responsibly now and again, then why bother being a part of it, eh?"

    "Page 32. A very large alligator or venus fly trap is leaping out of the water in the foreground. The woman, who is riding a canoe, seems shocked..."

    That comic seems kind of lurid, I mean is this really the kind of historical document we want to preserve for the children?

    "Although I have been thinking of something. Even though these robots were responsible for all of the damage, I think Icemind had a point when he said he created some sense of order and stability in the world... That's why I believed we could give him a second chance. What do you think ?"

Kushiko has posed:
"We've noticed that. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse," the Tenno states in regards to the Union "Not that it's necessary to be part of something in order to have to act responsibly." Something about a code is fairly important and all, regardless of who one is aligned with.

"Freedom is necessary for the Tenno such as the one in front of you to act," the Lotus adds. "Perhaps one day we may align with their interests, but for now their interests are not necessarily ours; not all the time at least."

Valkyr cants her head slightly regarding the documentation of the comic book. A slight pulsing of energy from her, dancing along her fingertips as she turns back to her other companion.

The Tenno speaks, "Why they were doing it is something I'm kind of curious about anyways, but Icemind, for what it's worth, tried? I was worried at first." Why worried? Worried that it would find resentment, awareness once it was able to network and find it's place in the greater scope of the universe. Things like that are what sometimes lead to greater trouble because someone creates something to be a tool, that tool gains or simply has sentience already.

"Still am, if we are honest with you. What we inferred, what we felt was that it was created, it gained what others felt it should not have, and thus cast out for it. Realization and cognizance of that will make anyone very angry once they have the capability for it. So the second chance is warranted because it never got a chance to begin with. But... I would be careful all the same."