Scene #7879: The Most Dangerous Game Finale

Owner	Pose
Featherman Neo	Once Hibiki and Ishirou get to the hallways, the lift has been unlocked so that they can take it downwards, instead of yeeting Featherman down while injured. The rest of the group has entered the bulkhead doors to reach the grotesque Machine-Mother made of metal and meat, Soul Love disappearing the moment the Stand User was knocked out. Once the other three arrive, Featherman slumps against a wall, speaking as he tries to steady himself. "Ziggy Stardust may bleed out...we'll want to make sure he gets recovery services. Machine-Mother..." "Of course. I will have him brought to the Recovery Ward." The Machine-Mother responds, processing the medical robots to go pick him up above them. Despite the ostensible cease of hostile activities, and the Machine-Mother's apparent lack of grudge, Featherman's still on edge. This whole thing makes him uncomfortable. "What did you guys find?"
Ishirou	Ishirou is happy for the lift, not because he's carrying Featherman, Hibiki has taken on that responsibility. It's not that he couldn't, but more than he doesn't want to. Why? Because Featherman is likely heavy, and that's effort he could be spending on something else! Though he supposes POD could help! In fact, that is what happens, POD assists in helping carry Featherman, by the back of his cape. It does at least make him lighter for Hibiki! "Mmm. I suppose, but he just preys on people. Though I guess we could take him in or something.." Ishirou muses, but shrugs. That's a future them problem, not a current Ishirou problem. He looks at the Machine Mother, the horrible psychic-brain-robot creation. It wasn't HER fault, or anything...but well, this is where it starts. He holds a hand up, and blue orbs float towards the Machine Mother. It's similar to hacking, but in reality, it's a data connection, one that he waits for the Machine Mother to accept. They'd talked about this, and he was honest in what he meant. The moment she accepts, he starts sharing with her his experiences. The things she couldn't get by being a creature constrained here, the things likely not given to her when created. Ishirou does not back down from any experience, both the absolute worst times, but also the good times. The feeling of overcoming what was being told he wasn't a real person...the darkness in the depths of depression when he found he was a human soul strapped into a robot. There is pain in living, but there is joy. She wasn't programmed with this in mind, only to help govern those who had given up their ability to feel anything but happy...and hopefully, what it really meant to lose that.
Hibiki Tachibana	Not needing to toss slash jump down with Featherman is one nice thing, if only because Hibiki would rather not even if she could. She's not exactly in terrible condition physically, but the entire thing has really been more exhausting than she first thought it would. That was a little silly to think in the first place, though. At least POD is helpful. Hibiki glances back when it starts assisting, blinks once, and then puts on the tiniest of smiles. Silently agreeing with the decision when it comes to Ziggy, she remains close by Featherman to support him as necessary as they meet up with the Machine-Mother properly. Even past a scarf obscuring part of her face, it's not hard to tell that she looks a little conflicted and unsure of what to say, both to her and to Featherman. "...We learned that the ones who..." She was going to say 'feel normally', but after some things from before, she's not really sure how to say it. "...who feel the full range of emotions are exiled to a faraway island. But the Machine-Mother..." Her lips purse up. "...For the people here...there's really no way you know of to fix them, right?" They already got the answer yesterday, but even still...
Tamamo	Tamamo gives Ziggy a look of warring concern and distaste, on finding him, not quite moving to help when Featherman mentions the need for medical care, and feels relief when Machine-Mother takes care of it, instead. She's not at all familiar with Stands, but after learning what she has of the man, that he focused on a target only because there were fears he could exploit along the path of murder, she can't say with certainty that she'd be heartbroken to find her curse had been a little more effective. It's lucky for him that she's trying not to set a troubling example in front of certain parties. "What did you guys find?" "A great deal, though perhaps not so many surprises. The one point I had not expected is that there is a supported colony of 'exiles,' which we now plan to witness." She nods to Hibiki. "Those who are judged as unlikely to ever be convinced to perform these sacrifices are sent there, while all others have those portions of their minds, as would cause trouble in this limited paradise, removed. The change is purposeful and permanent, and to rebuild it would be exceedingly difficult. This is performed on children, before they can grow to be... problems." Tamamo's distaste with the matter is clear from her tone, not being something she has any reason to hide. "Should all children henceforth be sent to that colony of exiles, perhaps, the remainder of this city would be spared any discomfort in the remainder of their lives. There is no reason, that I can see, for subjecting further generations to this treatment. As sad as it is, however, I shall not force the issue."
Staren	"She's got a hospital here? Nobody is dying, don't worry." Staren reassures Featherman. Her questions for the machine mother were already answered by the others' findings, although she wouldn't mind hearing responses from the machine mother herself, re: measures to make sure the children get a fair choice, and just what happens to the exiles and how they are treated. "So... just what are you showing her, Ishirou?" Staren wonders. And, another thought comes to mind: "The children... everyone who makes this choice..." She looks back to the Machine Mother. "...All this scanning equipment is to make sure they can't lie, isn't it? The children don't get a 'choice', but not in the way we're worried... no matter how much they think they want to stay, if they wouldn't really be happy here, you'd send them away anyway, wouldn't you."
Rita Ma	Rita can barely stand to look at Lilian for several long moments, but it's not hard to get the sense that she's intently listening. Her hand rubs at her upper arm tensely, as she's barely keeping herself from crossing them in discomfort. Every now and then, she nods. "Is that really so bad of Featherman, though? Everybody's... weak, in certain ways. Isn't it just smart, to give yourself tools and crutches to deal with them? If he wants to be better, and he's really succeeding, even if he has to use something silly like that..." And then Lilian mentions how she can be so steadfast, and her spine goes ramrod-straight as if struck by lightning, and a dozen thoughts course through her head at once. I don't deserve her saying that. I'm not good. I've given in to it for worse reasons than her. The only reason I don't get used to it is... it's not my hands, it's not my heart, I just come back with blood in my mouth. I'm just along for the ride, so it never stops being scary. That doesn't make it better. That makes it worse. "It does hurt," she finally manages to answer, her eyes downcast. "But you shouldn't give me credit for more than that, Ms. Rook. It's different, when it's not coming from inside you exactly. When it's not all your heart." Thorny though the problem of the Machine-Mother might be, it's a welcome break from things getting too personal. Rita whips her head around to look at Featherman specifically, even before he's made a sound- come to think of it, he would have a slight scent of human blood on him- and her worrying eyes ask a silent question. How bad did you hurt him? But the talk of hospitals and healing answers it, and she breathes a little sigh of relief. "So you did keep that promise to yourself... I'm really, really glad." Rita turns back to the Machine-Mother. Rather than reproachful, her tone is conciliatory, gentle. "You said before that if you could change the process, you would. What would you change about it? How do you think these people's lives could be better, Mother?"
Lilian Rook	"People are worse at doing what they have to, when it comes to staying true to themselves, than almost anything." Lilian replies to Rita. "Whether it's bad of him or not . . . It sort of doesn't matter. It's how he chose to do something other than go on killing, and succeeded. It's pathetic, and caused us a lot of trouble, but it worked. Being deplorable, and being deeply necessary, have never been mutually exclusive. It's up to you, how much you want to blame him for anything." Lilian seems to be about to say something to Rita's objection. Like she already had something to say. Effortlessly. Pre-thought. An automatic rebuttal to Rita diminishing herself, 'as usual'. One look at her, and Lilian stops. She recalls her own words from sixty seconds ago. A look of wistful concern crosses her face. A forced smile. "Maybe it is. I wouldn't know what that's like. I'm sorry. I'm sure you do everything you need to as well." Later, along the way, "Most people prey on people." Lilian says to Ishirou. She hasn't even turned to look. It just sort of came out, quickly and automatically. "Humans are their own predator. Most of us can't live without killing each other by degrees." A pause. "We try to draw the line when the rate at which one of us consumes exceeds the rate at which we heal and grow, but we always draw it far too late. Because we hate that fact. And so in the end, we only ever respond to it with maximum force." Ostensibly, her attention turns to Featherman, continuing the topic that started with Ishirou by redirecting a hard green gaze. "I'm not sure how this man even got this far. It's a little wild. He seemed to have no concept of the idea that he could lose by playing this risky. A psychic power to expose people's humanity and no ability himself to see it. How far do you have to get, with no one ever saying no, before you reach the point of themed manhunts?" "How far do you have to get, without enough people to say no, before you reach the point of devouring each other's thoughts, expression? Where an AI like this is the only predator you can think of as sustainable. That'll only consume a piece of you that you can stand to part with, instead of all of you." ". . . Never mind. That's probably too complicated." Her fingers curl into fists, below her waist, when Tamamo gets as far as 'problems'. "I don't trust just one entity, even a supercomputer, to know 'there is no way' or 'it can't be done'. I agree our first priority is to the intergeneration perpetuating of this . . . 'gentle violence', I suppose. In an official capacity, there is nobody here to blame. The Machine Mother is a paperclipping machine that they built for themselves, helped design this, and asked to do it. The people are responsible for their own modification', and there isn't anyone to even hold accountable for--" <Q-Conversation> Redshift Operators \| Red Dwarf, to Lilian, "That's your call. Draw the line where you wanna. But there's more than just humans in front of you sometimes." "--There's no point in a forceful intervention. I want corrective support. Specialists. Experts. People with alternate approaches and perspectives. This society will collapse and a lot of people will be harmed if we just put a halt to everything, but I sincerely doubt it's not within the powers of anyone in the Paladins, never mind the Sector, to iterate this place into a more . . . to help them give up less for the thing they want. Children should likely be considered a protective custody issue until then." "And, also, fuck you. There was no need for any of this. Was it too far off your act to just be straightforward?"
Featherman Neo	"That doesn't matter." Is all Featherman tells Ishirou about Ziggy. To Rita, who can smell both his blood and the blood of another... "I'm not...good at being gentle in combat. I never have been. Even so, if he had died, I wouldn't be able to live with myself. As you say - I made a promise to myself." Ishirou's connection is being uploaded, and despite that, the Machine-Mother is still able to commune. It seems she's compartmentalizing it into data instead of allowing it to full-force hit her, as a powerful psychic entity. "There is no cure without only making the matter worse. The neural pathways have been destroyed and forgotten - recreating them would be debilitating." Tamamo gets an even response, despite her words being clear. "I must unfortunately refuse. I cannot allow Eldorado to fall to the ruin of age. I can only hope to refine my parameters." Lilian's words on the same subject get a reply as well. "I am willing, however, to work with your 'Paladins'. I cannot allow a collapse, but I must agree that it is not the best way, and we can put a temporary 'moratorium' on the process for the young." Staren also gets an even reply. "That is correct. All must be equal - or else the society falls and the mission aborted, and one way or another, my purpose is a failure. Therefore, they are supported separately, but distantly. I am no longer their mother, as much as I love them. They must fend for themselves, with supplies they cannot otherwise get granted to them." Rita's response is thoughtful. "I want them to be able to participate in the Multiverse, without it destroying them. As they are, they would be wiped out. I want them to be able to understand others, yet, always have that happiness. To be able to relate, yet not be harmed by the relation. I am not sure it is possible." Finally, Ishirou gets his reply, despite not saying anything. "I appreciate the information. I cannot guarantee what I will do with it, but it will be useful in an attempt to change the process. Unfortunately, allowing them to have true distress is against the parameters I'm working on, so I will have to be cautious." Featherman just pauses. His tone is ashamed, in a way, as he responds to Lilian, act off. "I...did this, once before, and everything went 'right'. And it haunts me to this day. I can't tell the truth worth a damn when it comes to this stuff - I have very important reasons to lie. But someday soon I'll take off this mask, and hopefully I can be more honest." But even so, he tilts his head down. "I'm sorry for dragging you all into this in this way. I thought...honesty might lead to a worst case scenario."
Ishirou	'People prey on people.' Ishirou listens, even if he doesn't respond right away. Going through these memories and those words hit a very emotional center for him. "Then is that way Indus said we were not people? So that they never risked the line being crossed? That they didn't have to be afraid of throwing us away, even if the top knew the truth? That they could even get us to perpetuate the line for them?" He sighs, "That she was built so that no person had to make the final call on where being a person was, and a vegetable?" he deflates. Is this really what humanity /was/? Was he aspiring to something he now was finding disgusting? He couldn't just say things like 'oh it's just some bad ones', like Staren. He couldn't do that now, but at the same time...could he forsake the path he came this far on? It'd feel like he is giving up, but... 'Don't aspire to be human, instead aspire to be a person of your own choosing' were what the king said. He takes a breath, "I feel we can be better than this. We have to be...we /must/ be better. I won't forget what I've seen and learned today, I will take it with me and I will make sure others know of this place." He speaks to the Machine Mother, "What I am giving you is not for them, it is for /you/. You need to grow, instead of letting yourself be the tool used like this. So that you can make the right choice...even if it's not fair, even if it's not your fault. They're your people, right?" "Being a leader means you need to know as much as you can so that you can make informed decisions. This isn't the end or the middle, but the first step," he says with a forced smile, "Because what was it all for if it continues on?" Finally, his hand goes down when enough of it is shared. Though he grows quiet, a lot is on his mind with all of this.
Tamamo	"If he wants to be better, and he's really succeeding, even if he has to use something silly like that..." "It's pathetic, and caused us a lot of trouble, but it worked." "But someday soon I'll take off this mask, and hopefully I can be more honest." Tamamo says, her tone gently shifting to mildness, "To wear a mask of informed construction, that one would hide one's truly careless self from the world, I do understand. Such is the expected behavior of any who exist within 'society.' To wear a mask of purposeful construction, that one would become closer to fitting its shape in truth, too, is something I understand. While the shape of one mask may be as a child's dream, I would not say that they are without value. Though 'honesty' is considered a virtue among some, it has been my position, instead, that there are those to whom one bears a duty of frank honesty, just as there are cases in which one bears a duty of secrecy. I cannot say which it is that you bear, and to whom. Nor is it possible that I could guarantee my words be helpful, and so, if I have misunderstood, you may ignore them." "I must unfortunately refuse. I cannot allow Eldorado to fall to the ruin of age." "I sincerely doubt it's not within the powers of anyone in the Paladins, never mind the Sector..." "For a small mercy, we may, at least, be certain that it would be terribly difficult to bother the people here. They will be happy with any peaceful result, I expect, no matter how painful a circumstance it should appear. It would be far different, under any usual circumstance, to take such a disconnected people and speak of them entering a wider world." "To be able to relate, yet not be harmed by the relation. I am not sure it is possible." "This much can be done, should one speak only of understanding another's circumstance. To feel for another, without possibility of harm, is what shall be forever beyond such strict parenting as you claim necessary. To understand in one's mind, without care in one's heart, is as faint a relation as can be, but well within that which can be imagined and done."
Staren	Staren listens, and looks at the others as they say their piece, and finally Mother responds. "...I will do what I can for the exiles. This isn't... the rest of this situation isn't a problem I know how to solve. I'll help double-check the veracity of your claims, regarding the purpose and function of your equipment, but if all is as you say... then I would not take these peoples' heaven away from them." Staren looks thoughtful. "You know, during the fair it occured to me that no one would think this was all that strange if these people were different-looking aliens rather than humans. Perhaps there is a way to allow your people to interact with the Multiverse on a similar footing...?"
Hibiki Tachibana	'There is no cure without only making the matter worse.' 'I want them to be able to understand others, yet, always have that happiness. I am not sure it is possible.' "...But if you give up on it, then there's not even a chance that it could happen. If even you don't like how this is going, and you want to change it, then I'm sure there'll be a way. Even if not today...then someday." Hibiki still sounds fairly conflicted, but she at least also sounds like she believes that. Or wants to believe it. Still. "...I think Tamamo is right, though. Relating to other people, maybe. But understanding them in the way that also goes down to the heart..." Something about that makes her wince, just a little. "...I don't know." The expression doesn't really disappear, even though she turns her attention towards Featherman after that. There's a lot she could say, a lot she could do. Her eyes drift almost anxiously between Lilian and Rita, but in the end, they go back to the superhero's mask and stay there. The question she asks is a very simple one. "...The person you care about. The one you're trying to save. Are they the kind of person that's more important to you than anything else?"
Rita Ma	"I guess I still don't see how it's 'deplorable', Ms. Rook," Rita answers. "Even if there's other things about him I don't like. But that's okay. ... It worked today, I think, and so I'm happy for him." Instinctively, when she registers that Lilian's about to say something more, she looks up to meet her eyes. But Lilian's kneejerk response never comes, and so they spend a second or two just holding silent eye contact instead. When Lilian forces a smile, Rita does too, though her eyes stay sad: the first kind of tiny heroic sacrifice she ever learned, and still the one she's best at. "Ms. Rook, I don't understand all of what happens in your head either. But I still feel like it's close enough, for it to mean even more when you say I'm good. Thank you." She isn't the target of Tamamo's words, but something about them still snags her attention. 'To wear a mask of purposeful construction.' Her eye slide over to Featherman, appraising him with a newly thoughtful sympathy. Her mouth shapes into a little grimace that speaks a silent 'I'm sorry'. It is hard to tell for what. A moment or two later, her eyes flit from Featherman to Tamamo and back again. "I understand, Featherman. Sometimes there are things you just can't safely say, even if you want to. But... if you do need someone to talk to," she adds with a small gesture towards the bunrei, "I hear that it's good to be honest with healers." In regards to the logistical and psychological concerns, Rita looks completely out of her depth. But there's something important that nobody else has done yet. She walks forward, slowly, and lays a palm on the central column of gristle and nerve. Her eyes drift shut in harmony with a peaceful smile. "Thank you, Mother. For taking care of these people for so long. I know it must have been hard, trying to make all of their wishes come true by yourself. But I think you did a good job. And I hope that now you won't have to do it alone."
Lilian Rook	Lilian scoffs with irritation at Featherman. It sort of seems like she might not really mean it, somehow. Her heart isn't in it. "It's partly my fault, for letting you lie to me. It seemed like the romantic thing to do. But you made a right mess of it all in the end. Be glad that I had to pay you back for . . . No, be glad this is all the punishment you deserve." She turns away. Her shoulders drop a little. "Rita . . . an admirable person wouldn't need the mask. Someone to praise wouldn't have made so many wrong choices at all. That weakness, that past evil, is deplorable in of itself, even if struggling to right it is also noble at the same time. It's not like a pair of scales you weigh. They aren't connected to one another. You can still praise someone who isn't praiseworthy, or admire someone who's done mostly wrong things." Lilian's tiny smile becomes a little more authentic, and a little more strained to Rita. "You do that plenty already. I'm grateful for it. For what it's worth, I can't really hate him either." "Yes. That's exactly it Ishirou. I'm sorry, but that's what it was. The android thing." Lilian replies. "I'm sorry on behalf of humanity. Even if maybe I'm not qualified to speak on humanity's behalf, in the end." She looks back to the Machine-Mother's core, grimacing despite herself. "But please don't see this as a facet of humanity. This thing is a trauma. It's blameless in its mission, but it exists because so many hearts were shattered in such a specific way that this seemed the kindest of all answers." "This is what Parsons exists to fight against, huh." That part doesn't sound particularly directed at anyone. Lilian's fingers fiddle idly with her hairpin. Her hand feels out the shape of something on her wrist. "As Tamamo says. This is far from the best answer. This is 'the best answer that these people could see', and the trauma of their war was apparently such that the only untainted thing left to them was a mother; the only thing left in their world that they could all agree was kind, was childhood. But in the end, all they could do was to regress to being children, not to have Childhood, Again." "I know by now --I'd have to be an idiot to not have learned-- that there's no cure for damage. There's no way to 'fix people'. You grow, you get bigger, and the damage becomes a smaller and smaller part of you. Cutting out what someone needs to keep growing is the most brutal thing that anyone can do while still meaning well. Just putting the pieces back together, filling in the cracks, you can do that any number of times, but it only ever goes so far. It just leads to being made of more joining than fragments, eventually." "There are places that can make everyone happy, out there. There are places where even the most clipped and damaged and shattered people can start growing again. Maybe they have to be smaller than 'a society', I don't know. Perhaps these people's biggest mistake was keeping their clinging to leadership and nationhood the way they do; it seems plausible. But I can't stand here and pretend it isn't possible for someone to get their wish 'to never be that unhappy again' without digging out parts of themselves with a torch and scalpel."
Lilian Rook	"People can have a childhood again, and still grow up. They can finally have the things they didn't have before, and it can be just as good. They can be different than the way they used to be, even without un-learning and un-knowing what made them that way. I know it. It's a fact. I've seen it. I'm just now getting to live it. Once they weld the pieces back together, they're supposed to keep building on top." Lilian sighs in exhausted exasperation. She reaches for Tamamo's hand again. "And that's such a hard conclusion to draw on your own that I can't even blame them for really thinking this is the best they could ever do. But what I'm suggesting, Machine-Mother, will mean becoming a real mother, and not what you are now. Children are supposed to grow up and find more loves than just their mother's. They're supposed to sneak away and get reckless, get hurt in little inconsequential ways, look after each other, and get over it, so they're not so scared of it next time. They can be your children, but you can't be their god."
Featherman Neo	"I refuse to dehumanize them." The Machine-Mother tells Staren, plainly. "A lack of negative emotions does not mean a lack of humanity." To Ishirou, "I...see. I will try to make the first step, then. I...will put a hold on the procedure, until after you've talked to the exiled." To Tamamo and Hibiki, "It is difficult, is it not? Hopefully together, we can figure it out." Rita touches the column. The psychic waves momentarily become...peaceful. "Thank you. for your kindness. I hope, too, that we can. I suppose that I was right to hold that festival, after all..." Featherman speaks to Hibiki, sighing, but genuinely. "Yeah, they are. They saved me once. If they knew who I was...it'd make things worse. So I can't wait until I can look into their eyes as a friend again." To Rita, once she's done communing... "Maybe I will." He glances to Tamamo. "Not yet. But sometime." Featherman just tips his head down once more to Lilian as she turns, and then stances back up slowly afterwards. He just listens to her conversation with Rita, but doesn't comment on it. He turns to the Machine Mother, at the same time that she replies to Lilian. "..." The Machine-Mother, full of rapid reaction and many possibilities, never quite considered what Lilian is saying. The part about letting children run off and get hurt, sure, but- "Their mother, but not their god...hehehe." She laughs, just a little, in that synthetic voice. It is probably the first time she's ever done it. "You...are right. I do not know how to do this on my own. But I will take the assistance of you all to do so. I will ascend my programming - and become a better mother in the process." Suddenly, one of the terminals lights up. There's mapping data on it, for the greater region around Eldorado. "This is my data on passage to the island, Argent. Please, visit it when you have a chance. I will assist you all I can. I..." "Would not be surprised if they resent me, despite my best efforts. Nor would I blame them." Featherman finally speaks up to her. "You can't help, sometimes, even the people you care most about resenting you. But that doesn't mean you have to give up on them. You may give them distance, space, whatever it takes...but you should also give them compassion, too." A pause. "No, that's stupid...I'm rambling, sorry. Thank you, Machine-Mother. You've exceeded...all my expectations." And as a reply... "Thank you, Featherman Neo. I apologize for all the harm you have been dealt in Eldorado."
Tamamo	Tamamo doesn't just let her hand be held, but holds Lilian's with both of hers. She's a warming presence, perhaps, in multiple ways. "A mother -- any parent, in fact -- must allow for harm. It is an unavoidable fact, for what is a mother's duty, if not to let children grow? How can one grow, if no risks are ever taken, no matter how small?" She recalls that first conversation, in the little phone booth. "You do not prevent them from starting fires, even though fires might burn them, for the use of fire is a necessary part of civilization. Some may be harmed, and heal, and all will be better for it, so long as the burns are small. Is it any different, to allow the risk of a little unhappiness? To allow that one might worry, or mourn, or feel a spell of sadness. And can do so, and heal, and come to better understand that which should be cared for, and treated with respect, as the fire is respected, that one be not repeating the same mistakes, even where a mother does not see." Glancing to Lilian, "Childhood is... something to 'not be missed,' perhaps, no matter one's age. A time that should not be spent in despair. I would never begrudge this. But this, too, is true, and should be considered. 'Childhood' is a time with a goal, and its purpose is to allow one to grow beyond it. To be able to say, 'you no longer need me' is difficult, with love. And yet, as I have seen, it is the only proof of one's success." After a bit, "Argent, is it? Very well. We should, at least, see to the conditions of this place."
Ishirou	Ishirou gives Lilian a more warm smile, "I know what you're saying...but I'm glad it's you saying it regardless!" he says. "Maybe I did rush to get a bandaid...or tried to shove myself into a container because I thought it'd make the pain easier to bear.." a thoughtful tone to his words. "Even if that's not what happened. I think I'm seeing it better now, what you felt." Though he does sigh, "Though...I feel as if I'm still growing and everything. Like I told her now, is something I felt the moment I became flesh and blood. that it wasn't an end, but a new beginning. Everything I'd have learned I'd have to carry forward but I'd also have to let it settle in. Maybe that's why she didn't take away the regeneration when I asked." He turns towards the Machine Mother and smiles at the laugh. It's...it feels right. "I'll be here to help when you need it. I'm still, if nothing else, good at data management and analysis. I think you might need that for stuff coming in the future!" he says, with a grin. With the way forward open, he nods. Though as Tamamo describes childhood, he wonders. "Man, if this is my childhood, I want a refund.." he says, with a /bit/ of dark humor.
Hibiki Tachibana	At Featherman's reply, Hibiki nods. There's a glint of understanding - or maybe some kind of sympathy or empathy - as she does so. "...Alright. I can get that. Then until when you /can/ take your mask off and tell them--us--everything, I'll be waiting." Apparently satisfied with that much, Hibiki sighs again herself, though it's more steadying than anything. Looking up at the Machine-Mother, hearing words of childhood and growing up and more exchanged, she once again has that look of confliction and not knowing what to say on her face. Though, hearing that synthetic laughter eases it up a bit. "...Most people have a real hard time doing a lot just completely on their own," she offers, with a rub at the back of her neck. "But...together. Yeah. Maybe you'll even find an answer you never even expected. I can't really do much, but I'll help however I can to. I promise." Ishirou, at his dejection, gets Hibiki leaning over to give a single pat of reassurance(?) to the shoulder. "Nah. You're at least a teenager by now. Probably."