Scene #7925: The Pandora Gate-2

Owner	Pose
Evehime Gevurah	'You are the one who has misunderstood, sister. There is no such thing as joining a battle without joining a side. If we do not choose, we are chosen for. Fighting for them will make you one of them before long. I ask you not to stop fighting; I pray that you will fight with us instead. As a fellow disciple, fight for something you can believe in, and not whoever first plies your ear.' Those are the last words through the mystery commlink. They're for Hisako. For whatever reason, the only one who inspires them; or perhaps, the only one who deserves them. The present situation is far too dire to linger on that question of why. "Give up." Evehime's voice carries across miles of rust and murky red water almost as if she were speaking five feet from Ishirou. "Unless you possess some means of controlling their minds at your whim, you won't even begin to sway a heart ignited by a true purpose. Perhaps it appears like sorcery to you, one who has always lived without even a false one, but even a near-human soul is far stronger than being torn by a few weak words of pleading dissatisfaction." A strangely dark laugh follows. It causes the surface of the lake to quiver slightly, like a glass of water left near power tools. "I am what Humanity is. The fact that you have failed to be is atemporal; there is no past or present in this pandaemonium of worlds, did you not know? The nature of humanity is to unfalteringly pursue what one believes in. 'To not believe in that' is not a belief, nor is it a substitute for one. You cannot possibly control even the barely warm embers of humanity I have fanned in them with so low a demon as skepticism." Evehime turns around. There is no sense at all that she is about to leave. Just a view of her back engaging as she thrusts her hand into the city block-sized cliff-boulder just behind her, and lifts the entire mass twelve feet clear of the water with an eerily oceanic crash. "Yes, I am well aware of what you are and why you are here." she replies, not using the word 'who'. "And now that you are here, what will it be? Will you attack me all at once, be wiped out to the last, and allow this all to proceed as it should have? Will you grovel and slink away, fleeing with your lives? Will you indulge in futility and attempt to bar my people from the Gate? Will you awaken to some miraculous epiphany and join them instead? Tell me how much this 'Pathfinder Corporation' is worth to you. Show me how much you value your lives by comparison."
Evehime Gevurah	Evehime holds out a hand to the horizon, as if judging it for placement on a canvas. She turns back around with the same overall motion of a shot put athlete. The sun briefly blinks out, leaving the crater blind and deaf from the shadow and roaring hurricane of the giant rock and metal mass flying overhead, up into the sky. Further and further, ascending until it catches fire, painting a blazing streak and dusty red trail behind it, then hidden from sight by the crater walls. "I have some patience for these people of mine, but not for the likes of you. If they should fail in this battle for their own weakness, that is one thing. However I will not stand for wasted effort should it only be because of this pointless interference. I hope that you had no misconceptions that I would be content to simply stand back and watch you spoil this test of my efforts so far." She points upwards to the dissipating dust trail in the sky. "Because that is now in orbit around this world. It will pass over here thrice, and on the third time, its path will have decayed such that it falls back to earth and annihilates everything here but myself and the Gate. Out of all the people here, I am the only one who can stop it, and you are the only ones who will die for good. This is the limit I have given you. Now, tell me what you will do."
Sleek Shimmer	The little fox, safe enough on her boulder (honestly, she's fairly well camouflaged there, given the prevalence of red on this dust ball) raises her head and sits up... then properly stands, shifting to her human form in what might be a show of respect to Evehime showing up. "I believe your warriors have the right to have whatever they can take. Freedom and glory can and sometimes MUST be seized by force. How does it help their growth if I fight their battle for them?" She focuses her gaze on the distant Evehime. "Though this Gate does interest me! It leads to lands even stranger than these? With greater opportunities? Is that what they seek beyond it?"
Hiromi	Evehime appears, and the fighting stops. It stops just slightly later for Hisako, who finishes the full follow-through of a punch on a man who's already beginning to kneel. She doesn't move, then, only now straining to hear what it is that everyone is waiting for. She'd heard the arrival, and couldn't possibly have failed to, but her inertia has built up, by this point. Her pulse pounds, and she takes in deep lungfuls of thin air. 'Why do you interrupt my disciples' training?' Hisako turns to face Evehime, looking up. Glancing over the kneeling giants, the idea of 'not fighting' reappears in her mind, like a delayed realization of what's already happening. The idea that she is 'not fighting' slowly works through her body tension, until she can move from her ready stance to a martial salute. Silently, she criticizes her own slowness. If she was better disciplined, she'd be able to leap from point to point, and even leap into and out of battle, adjusting her posture in an instant. That sort of control is also a part of being strong. 'Can you even explain it?' She reviews her own actions, the strain of thought clear upon her face. Finally, she answers, "The people here asked for help. Your disciples declared a Rite of Strength. Defeating any who could be called to aid them is also part of war, isn't it? They're training in war, not for... dueling. Not for a challenge that has to be accepted. That's why, I didn't interrupt their training. This is only my first chance to fight them." With bright eyes and humble conviction, Hisako declares, "I haven't done anything wrong." After a moment, she asks, her tone innocent curiosity, "Did I miss something?" 'As a fellow disciple, fight for something you can believe in, and not whoever first plies your ear.' Hisako shakes her head. "You won't get strong by doing something easy. Making things easier... I already said why that's not allowed. You have to ask that before you promise to defeat someone, or your words won't have any power. You have to be upfront about these things, or even true words will sound like lies." 'There is no such thing as joining a battle without joining a side.' "No," Hisako says, "That's wrong. She can do it. Maybe I'm not strong enough to do the same, but I won't learn if I don't try to do things that are hard."
Ishirou	The words hit Ishirou like a brick wall. He quakes in his armor, as that simple command tries to override whatever sense of justice he had brought to bear now. It reveals how hollow the words were, who he was fighting for, /what/ he was fighting for. The words she said before reverberate. Fearing being less real than reality. He swallows, trying to think. Trying to respond, but words turned to ash in his mouth. She slams into him repeatedly, bringing everything against his fleeting mortality. Everything he was doing seemed worthless. He seemed worthless. Forced inside his own head again, Ishirou is trying to even think of a good reason to continue. He'd die, for who? This company? These people? 'You are not human,' He remembers, someone telling him. 'Do not limit yourself to just being that. Pursue what /you/ are.' Gilgamesh said that to him. He wasn't human, and he wanted to become human...why? Because when he was an android he saw humans as someone who could make choices, who could decide how to live. His mind put that before everything, he wanted a form where people would realize he was a person. That... That was it wasn't it. He's holding himself to something he doesn't have to be. He's always had the ability to choose for himself. He always had agency. This form didn't grant that to him, he had it the whole time. His eyes harden for a moment. He's here because he wants to be here. Because he feels that their right to choose is being violated. They're not humans, she's using them as pawns. How could they become humans this way? Hisako's words bring him out of his own head. That's right, they're not doing anything wrong, and the armor turns towards Evehime. "She's right, we're not doing anything wrong, and these people choose to reach out to us for help. Your people did not. Just because we're against them. More than that, do you think that they can win if they can't overcome our support? Do you think it'll get /easier/? They made a challenge, and we're responding." "As for me...The King of Heroes said something to me once, that I really only understood now. I shouldn't strive to be human, I should strive to be what I am. I am not human, but I am not without agency. You, claiming to be human, claim that they are using their agency to fight. It'd be weird for you to be here to stop others and their own agency to fight them. Or are you saying humanity can only survive with your guiding hand?" "Then they'd never be human, and you telling us you're training them for them to become human would be a lie."
Staren	Evehime. (To properly appreciate the sentiment bound up in this word, picture an Undertale battle screen where the text that would normally describe some quirky, character-establishing detail has become so lost for words it just says: Evehime.) Evehime's presense pulls on Staren's psyche, demanding she submit, do whatever she thinks Evehime wants, and then skitter away like a cockroach hoping to escape the notice of the big thing that moved the furniture she was hiding under. She hates it. She hates being made to feel this way. Or is it that she hates being exposed as such a weakling? Persephone isn't here for Staren to clutch her skirt and hide behind, either; Not that THAT sounds all that great either, but at least Phony puts out that aura of things-will-be-alright-ness that makes it feel more tolerable in the moment. Hisako declares she was here for a test; Staren claimed the same purpose, but, it is clear she isn't really devoted to it. Why is she here? She wanted to see this project herself. And to learn not to immediately crumple when faced with Evehime. The latter really strongly feels like something that should be kicked down the road and made Future Staren's Problem, but if she keeps doing that, it will never get any better. The situation demands some strong, ideological reply, a Dramatic Statement, but Staren's mind is struggling to hold onto motivation, she absolutely can't improvize a goddamn speech. Hang on... was there an option there, to fight on Evehime's side without joining her people? Staren certainly agrees what Evehime is doing is far better than what these people had; it's not ideal but she can't see how to make things even better. She just has to assemble the words she's going to state that intent with... > I haven't done anything wrong. Staren looks over at Hisako, standing up and saying that earnestly to overwhelming might; Just like Staren always told herself she would if the whole world turned against her, and failed again and again. Being reminded of that makes tears well up in her eyes. Damn it. Say something! Staren struggles to open her mouth. SAY SOMETHING! Words won't come, but she also can't bear to just turn and run. > There is no such thing as joining a battle without joining a side. > No, that's wrong. She can do it. Maybe I'm not strong enough to do the same, but I won't learn if I don't try to do things that are hard. That's true. Staren has joined conflicts on the 'side' of truth and her own ideals, to the aggravation of everyone else involved, plenty of times! It never works out or helps anything, but she's done it! ...Setting aside the pointlessness of such attempts, she doesn't HAVE a strong, ideological rejection against what Evehime is doing here, anyway. (Thus the impending meteor is also a nonissue, since 'Evehime wins' isn't an outcome Staren's actually against.) "Why..." she croaks out, almost too softly to hear without the enhanced senses Evehime surely has, "...does it always... have to be this way..." She takes a breath and clenches her fists, standing up in her walker's cab. "I believe in Hesed, and the world she's trying to create. The vision of the one who made her that way." She tries to meet Eve's gaze and immediately regrets it, looking away. "A-and I'm... I promised to work with the Concord. I have to... I want to work to make their dreams come true, and to help Hesed." She looks closer to Eve, though not right at her face. "So I... So I... can't... join your people... I mean, become one of them. But if fighting alongside... to aid them, to bring about their dreams, is permissible, I would rather do that. See the Planetary Consortium burn, for what it has turned Humanity into. Or the existing problems it made worse, anyway."
Hibiki Tachibana	Evehime Gevurah... Just hearing her speak with that much raw conviction feels stifling to the point your own can't help but feel weak in comparison. It's not an alien feeling for her, but it's more than enough to get Hibiki to stop still on the silenced battlefield. Because of how much inhuman - or rather, human strength is backing it up? Or because of the questions put towards them? 'Show me how much you value your lives by comparison.' That, more than all of them... She manages to move at last, but it's not only because of the absurd mass of stone being hefted up. Lips purse and her stance shifts as if to get prepared, only to go loose again when the entire thing is /flung/ heavensward, and she lifts her head up to follow it with wide eyes all the way past the point it vanishes. "Wh--why did you...!?" The answer comes quickly, and all it does is fix her stare back down on Evehime instead. Why is she here, really? You only need one look at Evehime's army to know this isn't something she can't even try to talk her way out of. It really is selfish, partly. Something in her, the part of her that can't remain still and content even when her life was the best it's ever been had to. The part that, for very different reasons many months ago now, was desperately trying to find some way to get stronger. But just as much as that... "...I'm not going to give up my life just for some company. Not ever. But for all the people you'd cut down on your way to what you want, asking for help...I'll fight as hard as I can for that." It took some time, but she's finally narrowed her eyes and stopped her arm from shaking. "That's all there is to it. That's one thing I'll always believe in, no matter what. If I didn't do that..." She trails off, before bringing up a fist. "You and your people /want/ a fight, don't you? If you want to test them so badly, then adding more fuel to the fire is the last thing that's 'pointless' in my book!" "Even if I can't stop what you've done--I'll still do it anyway, and go back alive!"
Evehime Gevurah	Despite the absurdity of the situation, every one of Evehime's soldiers recognizes that if she has decided to speak to anyone directly, the situation is currently above them (or at least, outside their purview) and remain unmoving and ready as trained. Their local allies aren't stupid enough to cause (loud) chaos while their side's numbers are currently so heavily reduced. And the Pathfinder side is-- well, probably maneuvering and planning even now, but the current stall is purely advantageous to them either way. The thundering silence of ten thousand spectators continues, all eyes on the handful of Elites standing. For a little while --just long enough to be uncomfortable-- that silence is filled with slowly rising laughter on the part of Evehime. At first, just a silent shake of her shoulders, soon becoming a kind of rumbling, sub-audible snicker, and then finally booming contralto cachinnations. She begins walking, and nobody stops her, through the rows of bowed heads, ostensibly in Hisako's direction. "Amusing! I see why the Archwolf favours you so! You are a most entertaining one!" says Evehime, and there is no mistaking that she is now simply 'a different kind of danger'. "Is that so? If you wish to spend this time speaking, then of course, I will honour it as long as proves entertaining! These are, after all, your minutes to spend, are they not? 'I have done nothing wrong'. I see, I see. Then . . ." "If I were to say that the purpose of their training is not 'war', not to 'become an army', then what say you? No doubt, this is valuable experience for them; a glimpse of the long road ahead of them. But I have no need of military force. If my aim were simply to conquer this planet, do you not think I would have done so on my own?" "Let us entertain the idea that you are innocently mistaken! I will tell you that what I wish to see from these people is not 'martial victory', but 'an increase in humanity'. The less-pitiful bodies their kin have designed, the passable armaments their kin have forged, the nascent bonds of trust their kin have instilled, the fear of needless pain and a pointless death their kin have laboured to free them from. How well have they been built? Is there still much potential within them, or is this already their limit? Have my methods been effective? Which more so than the other? What do they lack? What course are they set upon? What of their future may I see from them here and now? Are they more like 'Humanity' than before, or less? Can they continue to grow, or are they spent?" "Of course, I desire the Gate myself as well. I have no love of idle waiting; those who stand against them will not, after all. But if I were to march forward and take it at this very instant, surely you cannot believe I would be stopped. What I desire is to appraise them. How will a swordsmith know the hardness of their latest steel by throwing their blade to the ocean? Certainly, the rust of sea salt is a realistic test, which concerns their work, but it teaches them nothing of its readiness for steel-on-steel." "Then what say you? Then, tell, me, what you would do."
Evehime Gevurah	Though most of that concerned the others as well, Evehime spares a little more speech for the remainder, stopping a bowshot's distance (not hers at least) from the centerpoint of the scattered group. Indeed, she looks perfectly casually fine with talking until one minute to midnight. "Humanity does not need my hand to survive. Humanity must be built again, and my hand is--" Evehime visibly slows down, rotating a thought in her head for a moment. "--one of the few with the knowledge and the skill and the strength to forge it anew. The same smith cannot simply let the steel wander from the furnace at the very first step. To even have base material that could take a different shape, it first must be handled with a tight grasp and exacting precision, until it is not one degree below the heat it needs. Your idea of 'agency' is what is called 'time to waste' by others. A luxury to indulge in only after the necessities are met." "If your goal is only to help the would-be Hesed, then you need only surrender and change sides. As it is, she has already joined me. Whilst these disciples fight, she is at their new home, teaching their kin, their children, of her Truth. If all you care for is her, then destroy 'Pathfinder' and send these disciples home victorious. Will you not? The 'people'--" Evehime pronounces it with audible disgust. "--who would be cut down have already sold their souls to their machine religion. Their deaths are even less meaningful than your own. A temporary interruption to their monotonous work and pay. Tell me if you would fight with your lives on the line to defend those whose lives are not." A tiny, red sun rises over the crater behind her. A few dazzling seconds later, it streaks overhead and vanishes over the other wall, trailing embers of flaming debris, breaking up in the thin atmosphere. "Once around. Speak. Fight. Run. This is your time."
Staren	Evehime laughs. Staren cringes and tries to shrink away backwards, which just results in her bumping into and falling into her seat. She just nods along as Evehime discusses her goal of testing her subjects humanity. That all tracks! Her brow does furrow as 'agency' is compared to idleness. That isn't correct, even if she can't speechify it. And then Evehime makes another claim. A bit of nuance is lost -- Persephone is not 'all' she cares for -- but for the moment's purposes and taking action, it's close enough. Staren looks up at the 'star' shooting by overhead. "Heh. My life wasn't on the line..." She doesn't even have to experience death; She can peace out of this body and flee when the situation gets too grim. But now the situation has changed. A quick radio confirmation confirms Evehime's claim (or at least, confirms it for immediately practical purposes, nuance aside.) "...And that's exactly why it wasn't." She smiles, relieved to be, for the moment, no longer an enemy or obstacle to the terrifying force that is Evehime, and considers the problem of how to fight Pathfinder's soldiers. As long as you catch that rock, I'll... The words form in her head, but before she even opens her mouth, she realizes it is pointless. It's as Evehime said, or at least implied: If Evehime is rendered unable to catch the rock, than her cause here is already facing worse problems.
Sleek Shimmer	A few consternated noises choke out of Shimmer's throat as she digests all of those words. On the one hand, Ishirou's declaration of trying to be the best 'what you are' is a perspective she hasn't considered before. But... is it an option? Maybe. Maybe it is. But what would 'being a fox' mean to one who has awakened a higher consciousness? Pure atavism and abandonment of that enlightenment? The mere idea is unthinkable. "Is there even a different path...?" But while Ishirou's perspective is worth further thought, for today... the foxgirl smiles as she has finally found something in this conflict to hold onto and learn from. "I will fight alongside your warriors." Even finding some purpose and things to learn is worth coming here for. Gaining insight and wisdom and flowing with the world is also progress, after all. That sudden burst of inspiration stirs the power within the fox shifter. "Ah, my inner sea's mending faster now!" She exclaims to nobody in particular. She first inhales, then, upon exhaling, a green and rusty-red-brown (the colors of Mars's Earth element, it would seem - or would that be a Mars Element here?) flares up around her, the colors swirling together. "Much to be learned from your vision of humanity!" With a sheooooof-whoosh, she's off the rock and blur-reappearing into the middle of the front lines. The moment she's got both feet on the ground she draws strength from it and springs forth in a stomach-level kick to one of the defenders, intent to send 'em flying into their fellows! And she follows up by diving into the fray with an array of flashy always-moving-forward punches delivered at hyper-speed to numerous opponents at once which knock her victims off the ground and open them up to things like spinning kicks she uses to send them flying.
Ishirou	Ishirou takes a breath...calm Ishirou, getting worked up is going to make this harder not easier...and every moment purchased is one that the defenders need to recover. She speaks, and he needs to attack her points carefully and calmly. "I will not disagree that things here need to change, that they are foul and rotten. Just because something is wrong, does not mean the only way to fix it is to destroy it. You could instead build a society that shines brighter than theirs. They can not fight it, and the more you shine the less legitimacy they will have." "That is of course if your city was not built with lies. Instead of wanting to raise humanity, you wanted your own personal army to justify your own desire to express your /strength/ in this world. You were the best fighter, were you not? You are only expressing it through strength. You call agency /idleness/ but it is the most important. Once the needs are met, the desire to express it comes next." "Culture, art, science, and more come from that agency. Tearing it from them, preventing them from seeing their families...keeping them working like ants isn't raising them up...you are making them your slaves and your tools to use. You are disgusted by what they were, you consider them less than human, but you contradict yourself by saying you want to help them." "You want, you want. Their wants should be first on your mind as their leader as well. What you want for them, not what you want for yourself, or what you can get through their force. You COULD get what you want yourself, but why bother when you could get others to do it and hide behind these words? Never mind, doing it yourself would get far more resistance than if they did it." "I will fight, and if I must then die for my beliefs and values. You will not...you can not change that. However, your interfering now invalidates it. You are saying that your goals were never what was stated...instead, you are saying that your desires are worth more than 'restoring humanity'." Sleek and Staren essentially made their side known. Target locks go out, and Ishirou does not even pretend to conceal them. Staren has forgotten...he was in her systems helping repel attacks on her androids. The same countermeasures are used, as well as locks and HUD updates. Ishirou then turns over all available data on Sleek and Staren to the defenders. "Unable to choose, you have to be told to take a side. You can't even hold your own beliefs," he says to the pair. "Your life was never on the line, but you know what? I'll risk everything for them. I believe in them and know they can be reformed. I will not allow their lives to be snuffed out, their minds twisted, because some person their vision is better than the will of an entire people."
Hiromi	Hisako watches Evehime approach. She can keep that salute for some time, but she relaxes from it, a little while after she's addressed, into a standing posture that feels at least a little like another ritualized 'at attention' pose. It's a bit too tall for a readied posture, though she remains, herself, quite short. 'If you wish to spend this time speaking, then of course, I will honour it as long as proves entertaining!' "Oh, no, I would like to fight, but... I do not think I am well able to fight you, as I am. Please allow me the time to grow as big as my eldest sisters, and I will ask you, then." This is said with as much apprehension and fear as if she were apologizing for not yet being able to prepare tea as well as a proper host should. It's a natural, even obvious, thing. 'I will tell you that what I wish to see from these people is not 'martial victory', but 'an increase in humanity'.' "Oh, I'm sorry." And Hisako does sound sorry. "I don't know what that means. I've never thought I'd like to be more human. But I'll try to understand." And she does, her head tilting, ears flattening, then raising again, alternately frowning in thought. "I think you mean you want them to be more like you are... is that right? But the path to get there is very long, so you want to see them better than they are, now. And that means... you want to see if they have limits they can surpass. And you want to compare them against people like they used to be." Hisako looks around the battlefield. "But then they allied with other peoples here, who aren't your disciples. Were they not supposed to do that, if you didn't want other parties involved...? And they said to the people defending the gate... um... 'admit weakness and surrender now, or be tested by rite... this site should rightfully belong...'" Unable to come up with the exact words, she continues, "If you wanted to take the gate, you could, but they were the ones who tried to take it. If you did it, now, they'd have failed, wouldn't they? Or did they already fail?" Now she just looks apologetically confused. Then, tell, me, what you would do. The confused look passes immediately. She knows the answer to 'what should be done.' "Challenge their leader, defeat them, claim control of their pack, and step on the necks of anyone who didn't accept me." She pauses, just a moment. "If I was strong enough to do that. If I wasn't, then someone else would. Or, someone should. War isn't a good thing, I think." She stays in that 'awaiting instructions, hopeful' pose for however Evehime takes this.
Hibiki Tachibana	"Staren..." There's a shift of her head and a look of concern as Evehime takes the literal center stage (having already long since had the metaphorical one), but Hibiki doesn't say anything beyond that in the catgirl's direction. After all, she has her own problems to worry about. In more ways than one. "That's your aim with testing them..." Realistically, it doesn't change anything she's here for at the very least. Everything she said a moment ago still holds true. But it's really a strange feeling. Hearing it said like that, even though there's a mountain and a half of differences in method and more, a part of her mind can't help but compare that desire to see growth, to see the ones under her watch surpass the challenges put in front of them...to the Archwolf. It's a comparison she's not quite sure how to feel about. And there's not any time to sort out those feelings. Once over, red streaks overhead. She said big words, but those don't mean anything if she doesn't act on them. The enforced time limit to act puts things into perspective past any confliction, even as the situation begins devolving. Staren is one thing, but Sleek Shimmer also throwing her lot in with Evehime--that makes an already terrible situation a whole lot worse. "These two..." And she can't help but feel partially responsible for it, at least on Shimmer's side. There's a click of her tongue underneath her scarf, before-- "...I said it before, and I'll say it again. If I wasn't ready to fight for them, I wouldn't be standing here right now. I'm the last person who can talk about what humanity needs or deserves...and I'm not any fan of these guys. But if it comes down to putting my life above anyone else's...I won't do that. I can't. Even if..." Hibiki trails off, half-turning away. Her attention goes up, followed by a narrowing of her eyes before she looks off Ishirou's way. "...Oi, Ishirou. I don't know if she's seriously going to let that thing drop down here or not. If she is...I'll do everything I can to do something about it. One way or another. But right now..." She tenatively readies herself to move. She can't find out how she wants to address those two, no matter how hard she tries, so she just ends up giving a dry, "...This turned into a real mess for everyone involved, didn't it?" She's actually envious of how forthright and calm Hisako can be during all of this. Maybe she does have way too many little worries, like Hiromi said once. War isn't a good thing, huh...