Scene #7785: Midday Excursion

Owner	Pose
Blemishine	After everything that has happened recently, a certain knight has been concerned about I4, to say the least. The things she saw at Sapient Heuristics stuck with her - the fragments of memories she barely glimpsed while pushing past, the state he was in when she found him in the depths of the darkness...as the one who saw him like that and pulled him out, even when he didn't want to leave...there's no way she could just leave that be. Even without everything else since then, like his decision to see Persephone again. She just couldn't. Honestly, she wasn't sure how she wanted to even approach the subject. Does she find him wherever he might be and just strike up a chat? Give him space and do it over the radio? Trust in Go and the others? She decided to stop thinking about it too hard and just do what came naturally! Thus, Blemishine has gone and taken the initative to invite I4 out for a chat today. The destination she gave him isn't anywhere on her home world, but on a more or less mundanely modern one, where she's found a pleasant outdoor cafe sitting on a plaza overlook. The sun is shining, the noon atmosphere is calming without too many people about just yet, and a blonde-haired girl with a long ponytail is already occupying one of the tables. Today her usual armor is nowhere to be seen, traded out for a simple white t-shirt and matching shorts and sneakers. There's a cup of something or another off to the side of the table, at the very edge and apparently unattended--because most of the surface space is currently being taken up by some kind of blueprint or schematic she's busily going over, cheek resting in her hand and humming idly to herself. A few distress markers placed together on the other side show that it must be ongoing work. Even so, both horse ears atop her head and not hidden in the very least are attentive for the sound of approaching.
Ishirou	It's true, I4 has been gloomy as fuck. Sometimes it was harder to get out of bed, or move around, or do anything. Depression is a horrible thing, though he's also had people care for him and talk to him. Though right now, this was as far away from a gloomy bedroom or abyssal darkness as one could get. The noon sun was a bit warm on the skin, and a bit bright but not unpleasant. Not many people were around, and right now I4 could do without it being busy. He walks up, offering a wave when he realizes Blemi is not in her armor. The casual look was a different look...but a good one! He sits down and looks at her for a brief moment. "Hey.." He says a bit tiredly. Maybe trying to force it through the mental exhaustion.
Blemishine	Naturally, Blemi perks up the moment she can hear I4 getting close, complete with an ear twitch and a wide smile on her face. "I4! There you are!" The expression changes to a more saddened one after only a moment, when the sheer exhaustion becomes obvious. But it doesn't get her grin to leave, and she sits herself up straight as he takes the opposite seat. She probably did pick the time and location with getting him out and under the sun in mind. "You look worse than I do after one of my auntie's all-day training courses," she says in the slightly solemn air of someone trying to lighten up the mood a bit. "But I don't blame you. You've had so much to work through. So..." She straightens out the blueprint she had be glossing over, though not really to do anything with it. She just wanted it flat so she could lean forward in her seat and rest her elbows on it, cupping both hands under her chin to look him in the eye. It looks like it has a couple different concepts and design notes for flying devices sketched down on it though, including 'just a jetpack'. "I was hoping a trip out here might do you some good. I know a little bit about what it's like, being so lost and confused about...well, everything. You don't even know where to start." She gives a little sigh before perking up. "So if you want to get any of it out, I'm all ears." One of them gives another twitch. "But I think it does get a little easier if you're not worrying about /all/ of it at once. It's a lot less overwhelming when it's one thing at a time." Her smile gets the teensiest bit apologetic. "Not that I invited you out here just for all of that! If you don't even want to talk about it at all, that's okay too. I might not be Mr. Shijima or Miss S6 or any of the others, but I like to think I'm nice enough to spend time with! And everyone needs a break sometime. Is there anything in particular you want to eat or drink? It's my treat today!"
Ishirou	The POD, the flying box with small tiny arms, floats at the angle to look over the blueprints. Despite everything, curiosity is still a trait that I4 has in massive spades. He sighs, talking about that again...but he can't really blame her, she didn't know a lot of what happened. Still, it was all a bit much. "Well...it's a bit warm, maybe something cool? Uhhhh...there was this ice tea drink that American's seem to like, think they have that here?" "You...saw me in that dark place I was. It's...well, you probably don't know much about androids like me and S6. We were created to fight an enemy called Nullborn, or Nulls. They've mostly destroyed humanity, and we're learning the other cities that we've lost contact with had fallen due to some disaster." "However, we know that the mana engines, that power the city has something to do with things, and..." he says, with a swallow. "Androids were born from the dead. Dead people, who had their souls torn out and prevented from passing on, infused with magical technology and forced into artificial bodies to fight in this war." "We only found this out recently, and when we did...someone tipped off Indus's rulers. I was targeted by assassins, eventually, the order for my death was given to S6..." "She...obviously didn't do it, but had to take back something. She made a recording of the fight and didn't tell me about the plan to make it realistic looking. She cut my arm off to take back, and made sure medical teams from the Paladins got me to safety." "Things just...kinda went downhill. Therapy only helped so much, I was...isolated from my home, and from S6 who was struggling with what happened. The mission...being crushed by Kore like that but not only that the...FEELING of being human was so demoralizing. I didn't know what I wanted until it was there, and...when I realized it'd be taken I...just couldn't cope." "Everything came down on me at once...Kore's attack didn't beat me...I beat me. I beat me so hard that...I didn't want to recover. I just wanted to lay there and fade away."
Blemishine	"Ice tea..." Thankfully, Blemi has just enough Multiversal knowledge to not ask 'what's an American?' out loud and finds some extra sweet tea on the menu that she thinks fits the bill. While she flags someone over to take care of that quickly, I4's POD is free to take in everything. It looks like most of the concepts and write-ups come from different sources and probably different worlds, and she's been taking notes on how all of them function. Notably, none of the designs seem to actually be from Indus. Not that she'd interrupt the little machine in the first place, as she's much more interested in listening closely to I4 as he begins explaining. Her expression shifts between silently attentive, open mouthed shock, and solemn sympathy at different points. She's heard bits and pieces, and made her own assumptions from what she knew, but hearing the whole story all at once like this... "Miss S6...and never being able to return home, even when you did nothing wrong...just like my sister." She says that quietly to herself, glancing away with a wince. Then she takes a breath and faces down I4 again, leaning a little bit more forward with pursed lips. "...You really have been through way too much. You and her. Knowing how you came to be, and..." It's her turn to swallow. "...I can understand why you were in the place you were now, I think." For few seconds, she looks like she's thinking over her words carefully. Everything from Sapient Heuristics is still fresh in her mind. The red-eyed I4 she found, the layered darkness he was buried in...Persephone's words...even if she wasn't there for anything else, she was there for that. "...But you're not anymore. Just laying there and fading away, I mean." She finally says, her smile a bit more subdued but no less genuine. "Even if you're not totally sure, you're still willing to try to make things better for yourself. To get what you want. The weight of all of it beat you then, but you're pulling yourself back up. You haven't really given in. And I think that's amazing." She gives a few nods for emphasis, still politely subdued compared to her usual casual cheer. "When you go meet Miss Persephone again, if you get what you want, becoming truly human...that'll be a big load off your shoulders, won't it? Maybe that's the first thing you'll need to do so you can face everything else with all you've got." And she sounds curious about his response to that. "Like Indus...even after everything, you really want to be able to go back there someday, don't you?"
Ishirou	"Ice tea, that was it.." he says, with a snap. This will not come back to bite Go on the rear. I4 will not confuse eastern and western tea at all to make a terrible tasting tea. Nope. I4 listens, hearing that Blemishine is familiar with this kind of story makes him wince a little. That kind of pain is not one he likes, and can not imagine anyone else having to suffer it is pleasant either. "Your sister..? What happened, if I can ask? I understand if you don't, it being her business," A pause, "Though misery likes company.." he admits. He looks a bit surprised by her observation. It's...true he isn't. He did decide to confront...well not confront Persephone, really he's confronting himself in this instance. "Yeah...I guess so. I talked with S6 about it, and...she doesn't get it. Which, I understand...I think she's more in line with who she wants to be than I was." "Go...was very supportive, he just wanted to make sure I wasn't doing it all for some wrong reason, or actually zombie-brained controlled...and well, that I'm just not going to shatter on impact because I keep throwing myself stupidly at things like I have been." "Like the other day, when you pointed out what I was doing...no how I was phrasing it was dangerous. As for what...maybe? The answer might not be what I think it is, or the transformation's price might be too high. I mean, I don't think it will, given what I've seen in the notes, her actions...what the POD recorded." He takes a breath in, trying to collect his thoughts a bit more. "I think it'll be a step to help me figure out who I really want to be," he admits. "...And yes, I do want to go back. I hate the leaders, I hate what they and people complicit in it have done to...us. I think the Androids need to be freed from what's happening, and humans need to know the truth of things." "I guess I'm hunting for who I am before I can say I'm hunting for the resolve to push forward. Even if in the end I just return to being what I am now, I think the idea is that I never had that choice. That...I guess I feel it deep in me too. My soul is not happy with what happened either."
Blemishine	She will not take responsibility for any tea-related incidents back at home. The horse is innocent. She really is. Poor Go is already suffering enough, too. "Oh, it's okay. Well..." Sitting up a bit at the question on her own end of things, Blemishine gives a little chuckle before brushing some hair back. "She was exiled from our country, back when I was still a little girl. An amazing and strong knight, more wonderful than any other...but she knew how corrupt things really were, under the surface. Officially, Margaret had to leave because of a disease that Miss Warfarin might've mentioned before. Oripathy. But I know enough to not be in the dark about it anymore." "She knew too much and they wouldn't have her keep fighting against them in her own way, so she had to go. If she stayed anyway, I don't doubt they would have brought in their own assassins - the ones that take care of knights who don't follow their script. Sound familiar?" She finishes with a sad little smile, before bringing it to a brighter one. "...But things happened, and me and her are together again. She even got to come back and set some things straight, to make a long story short! So I can speak from experience when I say I think you and Miss S6 will end up just fine, especially with everyone's help." She listens very intently to everything he has to say, with a quiet nod on the subject of S6 and a small grin at Go's support. "Figuring out who you really want to be...you can't do anything if you don't know that first, right? What you're proud to be. What you want to fight for. If you're doing it for that, then I don't think you have anything to worry about. And you said it yourself! From everything you know, and even from what I thought of Miss Persephone, if you end up not finding the answer you want or wanting to return to the way you were before..." She sits up straight to do a little 'whoosh' movement with her hands. "Becoming what you want comes with what your heart will really desire, isn't it? That's why I'm glad you managed to get back up and go for it. You'd never learn anything new about yourself or have the ability to make those choices if you stayed cooped up in your own darkness." They come back down to clasp together on the table surface. "So I have faith you'll figure it all out...and you'll bring your soul and the person it came from some peace, too. It's, um, really not my place to say at all, but...I want to believe they'd find some of that peace in the kind of person you are now." Seemingly rather awkward about saying something that heavy, she clears her throat and shuffles a bit in her seat. "All of it proooobably won't be easy...but I don't need to tell you how many people are willing to help out. I think you've probably gotten plenty of that already, huh?" She gives a knowing chuckle. "And you can count me as one of them! If you look like you're going to throw yourself at anything again, I'll be there to stop you. Or do it with you!" Pause. She gives an awkward chuckle and slumps a little. "Ehehehe...though if it ever came down to another round with Miss Persephone, I think I'd shatter on impact myself, in a different way..." None of the harm was physical, but she can already imagine butting her face into another world-crushing impact.
Ishirou	I4 gets his iced tea and sips on it. He thinks about the taste for a moment and then seems to have a judgment. "This is vile," He says, with the same tone of someone who just said 'this is delicious'. "It is absolutely swimming in sugar, and the tea base is...really bitter? So I am guessing the tea leaves are cheap...and the sugar is there to hide that fact. Wow, humans sure do make use of stuff when it comes to food!" "My calculations and thoughts were driven from what I know to tell me that...and maybe a bit of my gut does too. Maybe it's wrong, and Lilian has the right to it. We'll at least know after my trip. I still think it's ballsy to ask for this after we...wrecked her home a little.." he says, with a sort of uncertain expression. He listens to the story of Blemishine's sister and frowns. "That is one thing humans do alot. Trying to keep the status quo, even if a change would ultimately be better. I mean, funny I say that as a Paladin, but there is a time where you have to consider the harm and the benefits of the action, and not just blindly follow the status quo.." also, I4 believes a technocracy is a better use of everyone's time...buuuuuut... Warfarin is mentioned and I4 is a bit soured at the name. It seems there is a bit of history there, but he doesn't go into it. Though he remembers the disease. "That's...the one that changes humans right? I think I remembered 'powers' being mentioned but at a cost.." I4 nods, she took exile over losing her values. "So...you are following in her footsteps?" he asks, with a bit of optimism. Though at the faith in him he looks a bit bashful at that. "I dunno about all that, but I figure if things go badly you guys will help pull me out of the fire.." Just like she says before he can finish. He laughs, "Right? You and Go likely would come charging. S6 too, but she'd have to listen to her POD and her operator complain.." Actually, her operator would likely be too busy crushing on another lady to be that upset, he thinks. "If it's all the same to you, I'd rather avoid another fight with her. I'm absolutely terrified to be anywhere near her in a combat situation...so I'm hoping she's not the person Lilian thinks she is because it...would be very very bad. It's why I think Lilian is doing her training...I can't say it's not a bad idea, but...well its' better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it." His feelings on Lilian were a bit complex.
Blemishine	"Eh!? You think so!?" She leans from side to side in her chair while looking down at I4's glass, as if the different angles will help her get a better idea of it. Mostly, she's really wondering why he took the tone that he did. Is he the kind of person who actually likes over-sweet things even when they're way too excessive!? ...Is the tea here that sweet? She looks back at the menu and contemplates one for herself. "Is that how they make it...?" She'll maybe be waiting on that while their conversation continues, addressing each thing in turn starting with her own end of things. "Striving to make things better also falls within the Paladin wheelhouse, if I'm not mistaken!" If she had glasses to push up right now, maybe she'd be doing that. "But you're right. If things back in my home always went the status quo...I don't want to imagine that. I'm glad there are people like my sister who won't stand for it, and who'll even beat them at their own game." She herself looks a bit bashful at the mention of footstep following, though. "Ahaha...sort of," she admits while running a hand back through her hair. "I tried really hard to fill in her shoes for a while. It taught me a lot, including that I don't need to be her. I have my own things I can do, and my own path to walk, as a knight and a person. But I don't think I'll ever stop idolizing her! Maybe that's the little sister in me talking~!" The reaction to Warfarin doesn't escape her, but she decides against commenting on it. Instead, she goes right to addressing the disease. "Mhm. Not just humans, either. It's...a terminal disease, where Originium rocks will grow from inside you. The 'power at a cost' you heard about is because Originium is what we channel our Originium Arts through. You can think of it a bit like how magic seems to be in other worlds. Most of our technology uses it, and it's also in things like my armor and sword! That's how I can do things like summon up light and tend to wounds." She nods, then frowns slightly. "...People with Oripathy have it growing inside of them, so they don't need an outside catalyst to use Arts. If anything, they're even more powerful. But a lot of people back home are working on a cure, and I'm part of them! One day, we'll find it..." It's a bit of a solemn note she leaves that off on, but the subject of Persephone and Lilian gets her to make a brief exhale before shifting around some. "...Miss Rook and Miss Persephone...I feel like the two of them were in their own world back there. And that the /real/ fight was between them. I don't know how things will go between either of them...and I'm worried about Miss Rook, too." Her tone is one that very clearly says she's not sure what to do there yet. "...But I don't feel like Miss Persephone will hold what happened against you. That's just my hunch. I feel bad for what happened too, but she sounded...sadder than anything, seeing you shut yourself away. I think she'll be willing to help, especially since she can feel how much it means to you. Maybe we're both wrong about her," she gives a little smile. "...But after that, I'd like to believe."
Ishirou	I4 gives a nod and moves the glass around before giving it another drink. "Absolutely vile!" he says again, with a laugh. "It's these things I find interesting in human and human-like cultures. You see dishes that would have never made the cut in modern society because it was cost-effective at another. Food, like culture, is part of a society's makeup, so it's interesting to see and experience." I4 listens to Blemi, his exhaustion has faded. He seems interested in hearing about her sister, and her relationship with her. "I think I get that. Be your own best person, but hold her in high regard. It's good to see a sibling relationship that's healthy like that!" More explanation of the disease cause I4 to frown. "So magic on your world requires a specific focus and those with this disease can forgo that with this disease, but the cost is..." he frowns. "How odd. I'd see if I could help with my analysis, but I'm not a doctor, so my ability to interpret the data would be limited at best." "I got a different feeling in reviewing what I did. I think she wanted to make it about everyone, but I definitely feel like the focus had to be on Lilian because of how hard she went. I could be wrong, given what happened to me." "Thank you for that, though. I'll hold on to hope and see where it gets me. Being dour is too easy for me sometimes, and it's a side I have to learn and control. Being grumpy never served anyone well..."
Blemishine	"Ahaha. I think you're onto something there, I4!" Blemi replies as her own iced tea comes over, and she takes it in both hands to sip at. She blinks a few times as she does so, and then sips some more. This isn't vile at all! Actually, she kind of likes the heavy doses of definitely-not-artificial (yes it is) sugar. Different strokes for different folks, maybe. Or horsegirls and androids just have different senses of taste. "That's one of the great things about all these worlds, I think. There's already more differences than I could count on my own world, but now there's more than I can even imagine! The things they build, too. I guess that's why I've been having so much fun looking into stuff like that." She glances down at the blueprints on the table and gives a shrug and a grin. When it comes to her sister, she really seems to just glow up like the sun has shone down on her. "Mhm! Right now, I'm happy supporting her however I can. Maybe one day, she'll even let me get a better look at her armor..." She lets out a happy sigh, with the air of a schoolgirl talking about a boy she really likes, before she laughs it off. "My family situation is...a bit complicated in general, but better than it used to be. But that's family for you, I guess." She's also very quick to wave I4 off in a 'don't worry about it' manner when he frowns. "It's nice of you to offer! And we'd always appreciate more help, even if it's not much. But first things need to come first! One day, things on both of our worlds will be much better. I'm sure of it." Though, the distaste for Warfarin...she'll need to see what that's all about sometime. "Hmm. No, I think that's about right. I guess I'd describe it like...what was going on between her and Miss Rook was so much more serious. For the rest of us, it was less of a real 'fight' and more...well, trying to understand, like she said. But for Miss Rook..." She frowns. It's not a pleasant thought, remembering the end of things. Rather than letting it sit on that, she decides being dour when I4 is trying not to be just won't do, so she sits up high and takes another long drink from her tea. "But that's the spirit. There's a motto in my family! 'Fear neither hardship nor darkness.' So basically--keep your chin up, even when it gets rough, and make sure you never let go of that hope! And if you ever need a little light on the way forward, I'll be happy to provide it." She laughs shamelessly at her own terrible joke.