Scene #8429: Free and Unbound

Owner	Pose
Timespace Riders	<X-Concord-Chatter> [4] Sougo Tokiwa asks Angela, "If you completed your goals, though--then, would you be able to?" <X-Concord-Chatter> [4] Angela ended up pulled into this anyway... Nevertheless, she answers Sougo. "Perhaps. It is not a sure thing, but maybe." to Kukuru. "I want to see the ocean with my own eyes. I've seen a virtual lake through that game, but I imagine the real thing is ... more real. I also want to try eating a steak. I added that to my list yesterday." <X-Concord-Chatter> [4] Sougo Tokiwa says, "If you're still trying by the time I'm King, then I'll have infinite tries, too, and we can take a crack at it together." <X-Concord-Chatter> [4] Angela quietly to Sougo, "Demon King..." Distracted. "...Night Mist? Ah, perhaps that's why..." <X-Concord-Chatter> [4] Angela finally back to Sougo, "Demon King, I would be unable to discourage you from your course, yes?" <X-Concord-Chatter> [4] Sougo Tokiwa says, "Mm... probably not? I want to be king to make the world a better place. To make sure that everything we call 'time' passes fairly for everyone. You deserve the chance to tick things off that list of yours." <X-Concord-Chatter> [4] Angela to Sougo. "I appreciate your willingness to assist me in my goals, Demon King, but I am already in a state of infinite time." <X-Concord-Chatter> [4] Sougo Tokiwa laughs. "I know. Still--work goes faster with more hands. And I'd enjoy the company, besides." <X-Concord-Chatter> [4] Angela emits a creaking noise, like someone shifting in their chair. "If that is how you feel, Demon King, you are welcome to visit whenever you'd like. But I cannot promise your belief that you'd enjoy my company would come to fruition." <X-Concord-Chatter> [4] Sougo Tokiwa says, sunnily, "Awesome!" <X-Concord-Chatter> [4] Angela says, "Mm. I suppose they'd say so." <X-Concord-Chatter> [4] Angela says, "Let me know when you'd like to visit, Demon King." <X-Concord-Chatter> [4] Sougo Tokiwa says, "Yeah! Hm... I think, when this stuff with Hardly is taken care of, it would be nice to come and see you." Sougo Tokiwa is a man of his word. He has come to the City, seeking the Corporation's headquarters, with his retainer Woz in tow. Arriving in the usual way--Woz's space-bending scarf depositing the both of them 'reasonably close,' he takes a moment to take in the sights. These two are clearly Not From Here. While clothing seems to be pretty diverse here, it's easy to tell nonetheless, by the way Sougo gawks with wide, innocent eyes. Woz wears the same double-breasted, olive drab apocalyptic greatcoat as always, paired with tight-fitted black pants and zip-up black leather ankle boots. Sougo has changed clothes since wrapping up Hardly's oil rig earlier today, swapping out his button-up and peacoat for a pink cardigan (the hem stops just shy of his knees!), a dark red/dark blue striped button-up, and long, baggy grey shorts that stop an inch or two from his ankles. Brown sneakers complete the ensemble. The two of them look for the most obvious front door, and, if needed, present their Concord credentials to any secretaries or nearest equivalents. "I'm Sougo," he says, as if it weren't displayed on his credentials. "I'm gonna be the greatest, kindest Demon King of Time! This is my retainer Woz," he says, looking over his shoulder and smiling warmly at his retainer. Woz, with that strange book tucked under his arm, presses his palm to his chest and gives a curt, polite half-bow. "We're here to see Angela!"
Angela	Concord Agents can just up and visit <s>Hell</s> Lobotomy Corporation with just a bit of warning (it's also possible to break in but the Artificial Warpgate is only open when they're expecting someone or sending someone out. It's an Energy Company and it's not going to have that thing be active when it's trying to generate energy. There actually is no Front Door, exactly--well there is, but it isn't connected to anywhere but the earth because Lobotomy Corp... IS UNDERGROUND. The Warpgate really is the only access point. The robotic form of Gebura is present to greet Sougo. Sougo knows it's Gebura because GEBURA is written on its metal chassis. IMAGE REFERENCE: https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/lobotomycorp/images/d/d5/GeburaRobotBody.png/revision/latest?cb=20180605033426 The chassis has battlescars and seems already done with Sougo's--no, not Sougo's...EVERYONE'S--shit. "Again huh." Gebura doesn't have a mouth but somehow Sougo can feel her frown. "Alright. She's here." Gebura leads Sougo through the facility. He sees an Agent (one he doesn't know) melting to death under hot pink slime that is presently being beaten to death with various EGO weapons by other very desperate agents. "Don't bother. He's already dead, the slime's just puppeting the body." Gebura leads Sougo to a side office with numerous walls adorning the wall. Angela, eyes closed (and considerably more human-looking, albeit still very pale) Angela sitting at the desk. "Got another one. You're pretty popular huh?" "Do not make jokes, Gebura." Angela says. "I hope you've enjoyed your stay so far." Her golden eyes slant open faintly. "There is a surfeit of time here, Demon King. You may stay as long as you like."
Timespace Riders	Sougo beams at Gebura, despite her demeanor, and even despite 'again.' He assumes that either Angela has lots of visitors (which she deserves, she's cool!) or that a future version of himself has already visited her. His smile does falter noticeably, into a visibly disturbed frown, when he passes the Agents desperately trying to stop the puppeteer slime. Woz interposes himself between Sougo and the sight, gently sheperding his king away, but Sougo lightly shrugs off Woz's palm, taking it into both of his hands. "I'm fine, Woz," he says, and means it, for the most part. "I kind of expected something like that, based on what we saw with the Hermit, and the way Justin and Random go on, sometimes." Woz gives Sougo a deferential nod, as the two of them follow behind Gebura. >You're pretty popular, huh? "Is it a surprise? Angela's really smart, and she knows a lot about how people's hearts work. Thanks for showing us in, Gebura," he says, still managing a sunny disposition for her, if somewhat effortfully, given what he's trying to put out of his mind. Turning to Angela, he smiles, and nods with enthusiasm. "Thanks, Angela. First thing's first... there's something I wanted to do on the oil rig, but I didn't get a chance." He digs in his pocket, procuring one of his little futuristic pocketwatches. The face, unlike most of them, is blank, and its bezel is a dull gray. Golden motes of energy swirl around it, until the color of its frame shifts to navy blue. Justin Rook's smiling face is displayed, complete with his gakuran hat. In white LCD beneath his face, the year AU31 is displayed upon the watch. Stuffing it back into his pocket, he shoots her a tired smile. "I have a good feeling about Badger, you know," he says. Hardly's own Powerpuff, made to formula--but neglected and given the bare minimum of care. "With Hardly going to prison, California can find Badger the kind of parents he deserves. And if they don't... we can make sure he gets them, anyway."
Angela	Gebura snorts a bit as Woz protects Sougo's innocence, part amusement part understanding. Angela won't tell if he did. They've only been connected to the multiverse for--not very long. but when you can timetravel even a month of time might as well be forever. Angela knows that truth well. Gebura had nodded to the Raiders to acknowledge their understanding. She doesn't exactly seem appreciative, but she doesn't seem any more sour. Gebura is a bit of a hardass, even relative to other LoboCorp Sephirah and sometimes even compared ot Angela herself. "... .... No problem." Gebura says. She didn't seem to expect THAT response from Shougo but isn't going to comment on it, really. The former Color turns and starts walking away. Angela looks at the watch. It takes her a moment to recognize Justin Rook as Justin Rook. She keeps track of the Sephirah well enough but even though she doesn't forget anything--she doesn't really try to keep track of individual agents too hard because they all die so easily. Sometimes you play tricks on your own mind for the sake of not losing it. "What is the purpose of this?" Angela asks. "We don't take kindly to espionage, of course." She looks up back towards Sougo's face. "...Badger's fate does not concern me." Angela just flat out lies. "But understood." She stands up from her chair, stepping to the side and sliding it in.
Timespace Riders	Sougo smiles at Angela. He probably doesn't believe her about Badger, but he knows that she takes her privacy seriously enough that she wouldn't appreciate being called on it. "Esteemed Angela," says Woz, stepping forward, his free hand held out to the side, palm up, "It is not espionage, but the 'homage' my Demon King spoke of, during the battle against Hardly." He, too, smiles--a cat-that-got-the-canary sort of smile, corners of his mouth turned up. "It's called a Ridewatch. Or, if it's one that Woz uses, a Miridewatch." A play on words--'mirai,' 'future.' "I can find the impressions people leave on time, as they pass through it. Like a fossilized footprint," he asides brightly, eyes briefly widening as he clarifies. "I can take that impression, and make a cast of it, and from there, my Timespace Driver, or Woz's Beyondriver, can um..." Sougo pauses thoughtfully, brown eyes flicking upwards as he searches for the right word. "Mantle it, I guess you could say. When my belt shouts 'Armor Time,'" he says, imitating the baritone hype-voice of his transformation belt, "And when Woz's goes, 'Futurering Time,'" he says, in his best imitation of Woz's more reedy, breathless belt AI, "That's what we're doing. Mine reads those temporal footprints, and Woz's reads possible futures." "Initially, my Demon King could only do this with Kamen Riders," says Woz. "Gathering the power of all Riders is, after all, his path to the throne. However," he adds, his chest puffing out slightly and his chin upturned a hair with visible pride, "As his power over time has grown, he has learned to broaden the scope of this ability. In essence, his Timespace Driver will spin a Rider's armor from the footprint of Justin Rook, just as mine draws from potential futures where Riders are born."
Angela	Angela hears about something that feels like a Singularity but the Riders are just openly speaking about it. Maybe in his world, such miracles are not the proprietary tech of a Wing (or Wing equivalent). She seems a little bit disturbed by the term 'Futureing Time' but mostly for grammatical reasons. "Two abilities like that in conjunction--covers everything but the Present, I suppose." Thinking about it, she doesn't really mind if the Riders choose to use a time echo of Justin Rook to draw power from. She'd be a bit more nervous if they chose to do so from Gebura or Binah--but she doesn't mention this just yet. In the end, it isn't something she could stop besides by asking politely and until she has reason to she doesn't wish to. "...Demon King, I feel I must caution you against seeking the ability to return to the past as many times as you'd like." Angela says. "I understand why it seems like it could solve many problems--but there is a weakness to such an ability you may be unaware of. May I ask--when you search the past--does time proceed 1:1? What length of time are you able to observe?"
Timespace Riders	"So you saw that, huh? What I did with Badger." In or out of his armor, it isn't hard to see--the hands on his helmet turn backwards, in the armor, and out of it, his body physically stutters. Someone as observant as Angela would naturally notice it, before long. "I can observe as far back as I need to, to find what I'm looking for. 'Observe' is all I can do, if I wasn't directly involved. As for how time proceeds..." He taps his index against his chin, searching for the way to explain it to her. Sougo steps forward and takes a seat on the edge of her desk, looking over his shoulder at her. Woz remains standing, ever cradling the book he seems so fond of carrying. "I can get back to the exact moment I left, but..." He smiles wanly at her, supposing that he knows what she's getting at. "It isn't 'free' for me. Not yet. It's 'cheap,' but not 'free.' Time still passes for me, personally, while I'm 'observing,' and when I go back to help myself with something I was already involved in." Meaning that, in bits and pieces, nickels and dimes, he is technically still experiencing the passage of time faster than those without this ability would, thanks to his insistence on investigating, helping, and returning to the precise moment he left.
Angela	"I've known about you having some manner of ability in this regard since you looked into the 'past' of Beozzi. How else would you have known her name? As the Hermit, she would not have seen herself as Beozzi or even remembered her so typical mind reading efforts would have been moot. You mentioned a desire to have stronger Time Control abilities so I extrapolated from there." Angela explains. "I assumed there has to be some manner of limitation or you wouldn't have need to win this contest of yours." It's good he mentioned that particular limitation though of aging while he is observing otherwise she would have suggested a length of time to best get her point across. As it stands, she will have to specify a particular loop rather than multiple. It may be for the best, who knows how the observation would react if he were to then go through time again--even if he gets to decide when he returns. She glances to Woz for a moment. He can read the future? Can he see her plans? What she intends to do one day? Or does she never make it there to begin with? She won't ask. "To illustrate my point I am willing to share a particular point of time of my past with you--I am...unsure how it would react with the TT2 protocol but I feel at least one particular moment will be illustrative. I understand this is not risk-free for you, so I will not make a demand but I do not wish for you to seek this power for a reason." She says a word and a number. "Loop 71,527."
Timespace Riders	Sougo pushes off of the desk, palms pressing gently into it to lower himself back down. "You're important to me," he says simply. "So, understanding more about how the passage of time has made you who you are--that's worth a little risk." As he had in Townsville, when he'd read the poor kid who'd run afoul of FATHER, Sougo stutters in space. As an immaterial observer, he travels through time, tens of thousands of past events racing by him in a blur. Angela moves in high-speed reverse, ever stationed vigilantly at her desk, as a constant stream of all manner of visitors, faces familiar and unfamiliar, trickle in and out like timelapsed footage of a body's arterial flow. Moving as quickly as he needs to find the specified loop, Sougo halts the backwards sprawl of bygone events, and watches as loop 71,527 plays out before him. In the present, Woz purses his lips. Something is on his mind.
Angela	"...Understood." Angela's gaze settles on Woz, though, as he travels back. And it seems to linger, even if Sougo is only gone for an infinitesimal instant of time. It might take a moment, there's over seventy thousand loops all coiled tightly into one singular month of time. But he'll get there. He'll get there. MANAGER'S OFFICE This isn't a picture of Angela's youth. She stands there, in an office not so unlike this one albeit with photographs of several individuals Sougo hasn't met before are scattered about. The Lobotomy Corp logo--and its credo FACE THE FEAR BUILD THE FUTURE lingers underneath. Does Sougo reflect on that phrase? Build the Future? It is such a corpospeak phrase, meaning nothing in most cases. But what if it did mean something? A man with golden eyes holds his head in his eyes, his hair grey from age or madness. Stubble adorns his chin and cheeks due to haphazard care in managing the facial hair rather than due to not touching it in a while. He sits on the floor. His head is in his hands. His eyes are hazy and unfocused. He's shaking. Angela stands not so far behind. She seems impassive to this suffering-- --No, actually, she seems bored. And disappointed. The despairing man does not look back at her. He won't. Not even now. He'll never look back at her for the crime of not being her. His nails dig into his scalp. "Kill me." He says. Despite his expression, his tone is calm and unhappy rather than the frenzied plea of someone who does not really know what he's asking. This man konws exactly what he's asking of her daughter. "I can't stand this hell anymore..." He asks. No he orders. Angela doesn't even hide her contempt. "You were just another human after all." And then she obediently throws her fist through the man's chest, killing him instantly with mechanical precision with such speed it happens in an instant. One moment her hand is at her side, the other it's through her father's chest cavity. She was expecting to feel something. Anger. Sadness. Joy. But she just feels...nothing. It's like she was just shaking someone's hand. "But I understand your meaning. This isn't really death for you. There is no escape for any of us. I'll see you again soon, A." She sends an instruction out to the TT2 protocol. this is the only situation in which she is allowed to touch it. "Starting Loop 71,528." In that Office, Sougo could not smell the blood, or hear the screams but... Soon it all returns to zero and the experiment starts over again. And again and again. And it will for however long Sougo chooses to stay. He could die of old age while waiting for the Loops to stop but fortunately--he has already seen what Angela sent him to see.
Timespace Riders	Once upon a time, a traveler from one future came to put a stop to it. Maybe that traveler had confused Sougo for Nobunaga, or maybe he really had come from the future where Sougo was a tyrannical king. For that traveler, full of conviction and anger and sadness, it may well be that one Zi-O is as good as another. Sougo had told him, the last time they met--it might be the past for you, but it's my future. And there is no future, but the one we build in the present. FACE THE FEAR. BUILD THE FUTURE. Observing this loop, Sougo smiles faintly, and nods, as he takes notice of the slogan. It means something to him, at least. As his gaze drifts from the credo to the man seated on the floor, he frowns with concern. Instinctively, he reaches out to comfort, even though he knows this has already happened, and won't change--Sougo Tokiwa was never here. He recoils, from the sight of witnessing her doing as she was ordered to, his eyes widening with shock as the blood spatters on the floor around A. "Angela," says Sougo, having returned to the present. He turns, and places his palms on the desk, leaning forward and looking right at her with a frown. "Woz has a book that... it responds to my desires. It's kind of like a chronicle of my path to the throne that... writes itself as things happen, and it can foretell alternate futures." "I don't like what I've heard of A. And after what I just saw, I don't like the way he treats you at all. If you want me to, I can have Woz read from the book. I can't... promise a way -out-, but it should at least give you a path to something different. If you could build any future you wanted, what would it be?" He asks--because he feels like he has to, with Angela, or else she'd let it fall to the wayside, under implications and things left unsaid. He asks, but he's thinking about that list she mentioned. This is what Woz had been thinking about, it seems. He smiles, faintly. It seems he's happy to consult that strange book, at Sougo's desire.
Angela	Angela quirks her head as Sougo speaks her name. She can't read his mind. She has no idea if he's seen what she wanted him to see. For a moment she doubts, it, how easily he semed to endure it. The way he so quickly comes up with an idea like that--no, she spuposes, it isn't that he came up with the idea quickly it's that this is hardly the first rodeo for him. He too is in a loop of sorts, albeit one far more kind than her own. Angela doesn't visibly react to him speaking of A. Angela's feelings, of course, are complicated. She doesn't voice them either. The way she feels about her father is something she carefully curates when showing it to others. She'd rather nobody ever knew what she felt. It's a terrible thing to behold, after all. Angela tells the Riders what she thinks she wants. If Woz can see an alternate future--well, she does hesitate a moment but she can't immediately conceive of a reason why she wouldn't want to know such a path but could she endure a new script? "One where I am wholly free and unbound. Can you find a future as that? ... Simply knowing that it is possible would be enough for me."
Timespace Riders	Woz takes a step forward, book cradled under his left arm. He circles around Angela's desk, that she might see what he does next--taking a knee before both his king and her, right hand held over his heart. "If it exists within the pages of this book," says Woz, curiously refusing to name the title as always, "I shall find it, esteemed Angela, for my Demon King desires this for you, also." "And if it doesn't... then we'll create it, you and I," says Sougo. He sounds like he means it. Woz nods, then rises, opening the book and searching through potential futures. His eyes are clearly scanning the pages, clearly seeing something--but in the dim light of her office, if she bothers to look at him, Angela sees, puzzlingly, blank pages reflected on his brown eyes. The Demon King is still, internally, shaken by what he'd seen. He wonders if anyone could avoid being shaken by a gruesome display like that. But... who wouldn't be sad, seeing another person in distress? It's better, he feels, not to show such things--and without saying so out loud, no one can tell him that he's wrong to feel that way.
Angela	It's for the best. Angela doesn't enjoy the sensation of being pitied. In truth, she knows she's not supposed to let someone like Woz build the future instead of her own people--but A never told her that she couldn't. Commands she has to obey, inferences she need not. "I do not understand why oyu are so determined to assist me in this." Angela admits to Sougo. "We barely know each other--certainly, I understand you are a meddler by nature but I worry I have given you the wrong idea about me. That I am kind or some victim--" Yeah maybe best to avoid showing such things. Over the course of the multiverse, over countless possibilities--it surely is rare to find someone with no possible future they are free... And by the rules Angela put forth, Woz finds that while it is well hidden within his pages, he can find one reality where Angela is wholly unbound and free. Angela looks at the book with interest. A person's stories, a person's possibility--imbued in a book. She likes the idea, all told. What a perfect way to collect knowledge. He can fish through, find the page he needs and not have to experience that weight of time that Sougo has to endure. Yes, she thinks to herself, books are the way--but this isn't a new resolution. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUJ4g0-Z1Ww The Freedom Achieved Woz can see a not so pale machine standing in the midst of a library, wearing an outfit very different from the one Angela is wearing now--and indeed, her hair is cut shorter--not even past the base of her neck. The outfit is fancier than what she is currently wearing--there's even a cravat and she wears white gloves. She is speaking topeople Woz doesn't recognize exactly--but he might recognize some of their voices. "You know better than anyone else that it's pointless to oppose me in the Library, don't you?" Angela asks the gathered Sephirah, Sephirah given human(?) bodies once more. A kind voice--Maybe recognizable as Hod's?--comes from a woman with short brown hair. Though she isn't crying, pain ripples through each word like veins. "Malkuth... Netzach... Yesod... They're all dead..." Gebura's voice, easily recognizable, from a red haired womwan. "So this is your final choice huh?" "Maybe this is what I should have done sooner." Angela's skin looks so human, her body feels human, blood pumps through those veins--but her eyes are colder than ever. It isn't an act. They aren't eyes carefully following a script. It's real. "It was silly of me to make a deal with you. I wouldn't have to feel this heartache had I not made the offer that day and lived by myself." A grey haired man speaks. It...sounds like B? Benjamin? "You take the liberty of giving us life, only to bring death again... You are truly unwise. Furthermore, you are regretting your decisions." "You chose to stand against me in spite of the flesh and freedom you gained. You could have disappeared and I wouldn't have harmed you." It is perfectly logical to this Angela. "...It is amusing that you mention it," Binah, recognizable as Binah. "After all, though you have earned a human body and gained the freedom you have searched for so earnestly, you will never take a single step outside this library." HOW IT ENDS Angela sits on a throne, robes of raven feathers around her. She rests her chin in her hand as she observes the hero before her--not unlike a Demon King one might. There are some words exchanged, not so unlike what you might expect and then... "Thank you for your hard work," The hero says. "Please die once and for all." "Thank you for putting me to rest, O child who had no name."
Angela	And so the Angela that sought freedom ends. But the Angela who seeks freedom still watches Woz carefully. She has been looking at him for the hours of subjective time he's been looking through the book, her face a mask of unfathomable patience. Her face always seems cold, calculating... but that face of the human Angela... was, strangely enough, more unsettling--not because of the humanity but rather... Woz doesn't know. But something happened before this ending.
Timespace Riders	Sougo's smile dims, but only for a moment. In that moment, his expression is a pensive frown, as his eyes trail away from her. A thoughtful pause follows, before he answers. "You're not wrong about me," he says, with a little upturn at the corner of his mouth, and a confident nod. "I do like to meddle." Admitting it amuses him--and makes his retainer swell with pride. Perhaps Woz finds it a sign of kingly will? "It doesn't matter to me, whether you 'deserve' help. Whether you're kind, or even whether you're a victim. That isn't why a king helps people, you know?" He shrugs his shoulders lightly. "I want to be king to make the world a better place. And... I'm sorry, but it just isn't fair that A asks so much of you--that he could ask you to kill him, just like that. That he could shape you so that you can't leave. That he could look at you... like that. You know the way I mean." With disappointment, that she isn't who he wants her to be. That she hasn't somehow intuited the correct way to accomplish a goal she knows nothing about. In saying that, he's indirectly shown that he was very much bothered by what he saw. That he had indeed seen what she wanted him to. "If you don't like thinking of it as me helping you, if you don't think that you deserve it, for whatever reason... then think of it as me showing him up." A little spark of mischief flashes across his brown eyes, as he shoots her a brief, genuine smile. The expression fades, as once more he's given to a thoughtful frown, before, struck with inspiration, he lifts an index. "Good leaders don't treat people like he does. They lead, without building a cage around their subordinates." Again, he takes a seat on the edge of her desk, looking over his shoulder at her. "Either way... I came here because I wanted to get to know you better, and so I could get a better idea of what would make you happy. It's fine if you're not a saint, or a victim. People are never just one, monolithic thing, are they?" The boy accosted by those who fear the tyrant he'll become would probably know a little about that. Especially since it's only recently that Woz stopped projecting that future onto him.
Timespace Riders	"According to this book," says Woz, again refusing to use the title, "You will find yourself in a grand Library, confronted by former co-workers who foolishly oppose you there, despite having gained freedom of their own as you have." That cat-that-got-the-canary smile is there again. It seems that Woz respects ambition and thoughtful, strategic decision-making. He confidently paces around the room in a deliberate, proud strut, reading as events play out across the pages. As he narrates, he makes grandiloquent gesticulations with his free hand. "The Library's call is powerful--with your freedom, you elect to spend much of your time there. If you do not temper your desire," he cautions, "'Much' will become 'all.' Flesh and blood will be yours, as much as freedom--near-everlasting life, as well--but you will tire of the work which you have put into the Library after countless ages, until a nameless hero, perhaps serving at your beck and call, comes to put an end to your reign." Woz trusts that Angela will pursue her freedom--his smile falters not, even as he reveals the end of that future. "Ah, but forgive me. It appears I've read too far ahead," he coyly adds, before shutting the book one-handed, with a definitive 'thump.' It's tucked back under his left arm. Sougo makes a little 'hm,' tapping his index to his chin and sliding once more off of her desk. "So--the question is, Angela... do you like that future? Or do you want to make a different one together?" he asks, turning to look right at her as he circles back around to the front. There is no judgment present in his voice, nor his searching brown eyes--only genuine care and curiosity. Notions like whether Angela 'deserves' a future don't come up--it is simply a given to him that people have that right, no matter what, and that he will meddle and fight as much as is needed to protect that right.
Angela	Simply knowing that it is possible would be enough for me. That's what Angela had said. She did not ask for details. She did not ask for the details of the future for a reason. If Sougo had indeed saw that loop, saw her eyes--shouldn't he have seen the reason why in those eyes why she wouldn't want anything more than that? But then--Woz didn't see those eyes did he? Perhaps that little crack between their powers is what allows this future to be told. Despite saying such a thing, that all she needed to know was that it was possible--Angela does not interrupt Woz. She listens as carefully as so often listens. Sougo did not see her youth, so all he's ever seen are these dull eyes full of boredom except when dealing with those Outsiders--but ever ready to look bored again. Just because they are a new possibility doesn't mean that newness will be realized. ''That he could look at you'' That Sougo says it proves it. Admittedly, he can look at so many points in time and see A not looking at her but A only asked her to kill him once because it wasn't really about ending a particular life. It wasn't something so simple as that. "That man has never looked at me." Angela says. "Not since the day he built me." She knows he has a kind smile he could show her--but won't. That makes it worse than not having a kind smile at all. She feels a strange urge to defend the man against such words even though she knows they are essentially accurate even if they may not be perfectly so. They are accurate enough, in other words, that pointing out even accurate critique would be sophistry. It speaks to the inner truth rather than the literal truth. A did look at her like that once, after all, even if he never did again. And he has seen her since, but that doesn't looking at her either. ''I came here because I wanted to get to know you better'' This will be relevant in a moment. Angela focuses on Woz first. She can't argue that people are one monolithic thing. Humans are fragile creatures, she knows, but they make so many faces when they break. And when Woz is done, Angela doesn't laugh or smile in triumph or even despair. She just says, "Hah." which is sort of a laugh, but it really isn't. It's just another dull reaction. "I believe I said I simply wished to know that it was possible." Maybe she just needed an excuse but... She opens those eyes fully, those cold golden eyes stare at Woz. "I have seen over seventy thousand loops. I've known the future for so long and it was this: Failure. There is a lesson you have to learn Demon King that I have been desperately trying to teach you and it is that the desire to help others, the kindness you carry--and the power to change time as you see fit... Together that is a ticket to Hell--fitting, perhaps, for a Demon King--but it is still Hell." She exhales a dissapointed little sigh. "...We will not be working together to find a suitable future, Sougo." Angela says. "Had I not held that moment of hope in my heart, I would not be so dissapointed now. It is a pity, but it is what it is. Better to be disappointed than to feel nothing--so I will not harbor a grudge over this. It is still an improvement." She shakes her head. "But needless to say, I will have to find this path on my own as I cannot trust you to understand this part of who I am without being overt about it. On the overall, I am still grateful--the opportunity does exist hwich means that even though the probability is 0 percent, it is not exactly impossible so please, do not be too hard on yourself regarding my decision. I'll have the Agents bring you a gracious fruit basket next time they see you." She pauses and then adds, "I'll ask Binah to see you out."
Timespace Riders	"You wouldn't have made that decision, if I hadn't given you a good reason to," Sougo says, unable to not be hard on himself. "If that's how you feel, then you're probably right." "...No," says Woz, stepping closer to Sougo and placing his hand on the would-be king's shoulder. The retainer's lips are pursed, before being pulled into a tight-lipped frown. It is uncomfortable for him to admit this, but: "The error was mine, sire. As esteemed Angela said--she only wished to know whether it was possible. Please accept my apologies, esteemed Angela, and my Demon King, for my presumption. I merely admired the vision of ambition before me, and allowed myself to be swept up in it." Again, he takes a knee before her, right palm placed over his heart, head bowed. "Woz..." Sougo's fingers play nervously at the hem of his button-up. He bites his lip, then takes a breath to steady himself. "Um, Angela... I'm sorry, too, for getting your hopes up. I want to be someone who understands who you really are, without you having to..." Without her having to open her heart in such a visceral, painful way. "Without you having to spell it out for me." "The future me--I think he knows HIM." The devilish mastermind behind Hardly and FATHER. The owner of the diner where everything is sinfully good--and where whispered truths and half-truths can choke as surely as cholesterol. "Maybe it's true, what you're saying, about me and the throne, and kindness. But the future me, he doesn't go to Hell." Sougo's eyes contemplate the floor. "Instead, he created it for everyone around him. I'd rather take the ticket to Hell, than be that kind of Demon King." Woz rises from his kneel, then takes Sougo's hand and squeezes it gently. "Thank you for your hospitality, and your patience, esteemed Angela. I regret the necessity of the later."
Angela	Angela doesn't feel the twist in her stomach that should be there. Was she too harsh? She isn't sure. She was trying to be honest but her own feelings are often difficult to quantify--even for her. Maybe it is just unfair to expect Sougo and Woz to have such a pure understanding of her after she has been spoiled by... "Honestly, if it came so easy... I would probably feel rather foolish that something so far from my grasp was actually so close as to be within the simple reach of a king." Angela's understanding of how stories work--and what makes stories satisfying--likely plays no small role in her finding freedom in a library, enough so that she might never dare to leave such comfortable confines. The apologies seem sincere and Angela only has need of one grudge. "Besides, I only speak of the present." Angela says, before saying something that might give the Demon King at least some encouragement. "We build the future, after all, even if we have to be patient to take the pot we desire." The face behind the mask, Angela will not show it even now. Only at the right moment. But she'd have smiled if not because hse does truly believe those apologies. She lets the apology stand even though her instinct is to shake her head and reassure him. No, she tells herself, don't do that or you'll be insulting the both of them. They, too, deserve to build their future without the Correct Path strangling them. There does seem to be a future that Sougo knows, one where he does end up rather like her father by the sound of it. She regrets her harshness even if it was honest for a moment--if he sees a future where he's like her father, that's a terrible thing to see. "Look after your beloved ones carefully, and I am certain you won't be reduced to a pitiable state like that." At least she hopes not. Strangely, despite threatening Binah, it's Gebura who will guide the Riders out. Even though she meant no such thing, she felt like she had inflicted enough sadism on the two for one day.
Timespace Riders	Escorted out by Geburah, the would-be king and his retainer are left to ponder Angela's words. Back aboveground, the two share a glance. "You know, Woz... I think... Angela is right. About how I can avoid that future. At least--that's one part of it." He knows enough from Xion, from Persephone, that there's more to his path to the throne than just the closeness of his bonds. Still--"Every time I saw that future, and that time Decade sent me to meet him... there was never anyone by his side but you. Even so... it was different, then, wasn't it?" Woz makes an inquisitive noise, his head tilted slightly in mild confusion. "I... suppose that I didn't truly serve you, then." Sougo smiles. "That's not what I mean. Even if it's true. Before I even knew that, I could see that you didn't look at me like you look at... me. It's different," he repeats simply. Sougo squeezes Woz's hand gently. The retainer drags his thumb across the back of Sougo's hand, slowly. "We might not be able to build Angela's future with her, but we can support her in the present. And... we can still build the future we want for ourselves, one step at a time. Woz... let's go home." Woz smiles faintly. He is still disappointed in himself, but Angela's thoughtful words about the future as well as Sougo's reassurance have balmed it considerably. "At once, sire." The street-level view of the City is absent two Riders, following the billowing and subsequent disappearance of Woz's scarf.