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Rita Ma	https://youtu.be/3MeMJSMj81s      Through the Union Busan's artificial warpgate and down from its central deck, Trash Island's jagged shapes look nearly the same as a few days ago. The sunset's redness dead-ahead obscures the scattered bloodstains on its metal and throws angular shadows from its crookedy shipping-container buildings towards you.      Seagulls cry overhead, not yet settled for the night. The waves make a hollow noise when they break against rough plastic and corrugated metal. All that's ordinary. What isn't ordinary is, down below, Busan's colorful workers and harpoonists helping the drab-clothed islanders.      Some are moving building materials, tightening cables, welding metal; anything to make sure the floating island doesn't just rust apart beneath them. Others are distributing Candy's medicine. In the shade of the bullet-riddled community hall, Sonia and Sea Monkey boil water over a camping stove to sterilize needles while islanders line up to receive shots of an unremarkable-looking clear fluid.      "Still don't get why we're doing this."      "Don't talk like that. Aren't we saving humanity? And nobody deserves the Fish Disease."      "You don't have to tell me. But..."      "But what?"      "You're not the one depending on what they would've stole."      "Ughhhh. So shouldn't you sympathize *more*?"      There's a familiar old woman with a new cane and a bandaged leg sitting near the back of the line. She pretends not to hear. The overall mood is too tense and hangdog-guilty for anyone to make a fuss about it.      Notably absent are any bodies, whether the villagers' or the Queen's puppet.      Bota might be the first point of contact, though. When the group approaches, he excuses himself from his work on a gleaming new network of pipes crawling over some of the buildings and intercepts them with an uneasy smile and a hand offered to shake. His usual dress shirt's sleeves are rolled up to his elbows, revealing an uncomfortable number of scars.      "Hey," he says, voice subdued. "Glad you could make it again." It's easy to tell from his posture around the villagers that he isn't comfortable here, either, but he's doing his best to put on a cheery face.      "Candy's already been a real lifesaver. The other ships are scouting ahead, I just... I've felt like we can't move on without doing our best for these people first. You know?"
Ishirou	"Hi Bota," Ishirou says, cheerfully enough.  It's hard to imagine just a little while ago they were at odds with these people, but in reality, they were all victims of the Queen's machinations.  Strange, though, that she'd go to such lengths to stop them... or does she fear the amount of strength they can bring to bear towards her forces near the end?  Something doesn't sit right with him... Out of the warp gate, Ishirou walked over to Bota.  He's wearing a hoodie, but the hood's down for once, revealing his face.  A head-set-looking device sits on his head with spiky-ear-like ears that sort of look like a cat's.  His lips are blue, and his hair is longer and more kept.  Tied today into a ponytail to keep the hair out of his face.   The hoodie is blue, and he's wearing dark blue jeans with work boots on under that.  Again, more because he's expecting to put some work in today and may not need to be in RESCUE for all of it.   "So... what can we do to help?  Securing the island so they can stay afloat until we can come back, that's obvious... but was there anything else?  I can help with that, finding the dangerous areas so we can patch them up."
Redshift Operators	The Redshift Operators haven't left since the last time. The gruff leader of the gang regards Bota as he gets up, nodding a bit. "Used to be a pipemonkey, huh? Guess you've kept up the habit better than I have." He sighs a bit, glancing to where Sonia and Sea Monkey are working. "Say it for what it is. It's for you. Your gut says it's good when you're kind to people who need it. That's a blood truth, so don't let the logistics or whatever the hell get in your way. Call it selfish if you wanna. When you're saving the world, you deserve this kind of selfish a little. Wouldn't be saving the world if you didn't do that sometimes anyway."     He jerks a thumb back towards... away. Somewhere else. He's not, strictly speaking, actually adjusted to how directions work on planetary surfaces. "Besides. We're gonna have to go all the way back. Gotta have somewhere to stop and celebrate, on the way."
Rena	Rena has actually never been here before, which is both good and bad. Good, perhaps, because she doesn't have any personal knowledge of certain things that have happened here, and is only very vaguely aware of ... recent unpleasantnesses. She's picked up on the tension, but she doesn't know *why* it's there - and is perhaps too polite to start quizzing people on her first trip. Bad, because... well. Rena has been on a boat before. She's not a total rube. But that was on a lake, on a ferry that went down the length of it, with occasional detours to islands or side trips. Most of the time, she could see the shore; when she couldn't, she at least knew where it was. She has never seen the ocean, let alone been on it, and she's made a bit uncomfortable by the endless blue. But she thought she could be useful and so here she is. Rena is a scrapper, a salvager, and a champ at making things work out of not enough, or damaged, parts. She figured this would be useful at a place called 'Trash Island' and so she brought a backpack full of tools and equipment, currently slung over one shoulder. She's proven right when she's arrived. She's lived out of shipping containers and ruined warehouses before. She also brought Pochi, who in her estimation is as good as any ten other ambassadors; a shiba inu with a red bandana around his neck and a curious, friendly demeanor. Right now he's behaving and pacing Rena as she approaches; when she stops, he sits. "Hey," Rena says in return, by way of greeting. "Not really 'again' for me, but same. I'm Rena. I heard about the request, and, well. Hope you don't mind - I brought my own tools. And a few other things that might be useful," she says, jostling the backpack. "Because, yeah, I get that. What needs doing?" she asks, only a little after Ishirou.
Hibiki Tachibana	"You're a good guy, Bota."     Hibiki is tired. It could be from a lack of sleep, a not-the-best day before now, the fact they're back here at the trash heap island where their terrible encounter with the Queen happened-- but whatever the case, and however little it matters, she's carrying herself with slumping shoulders and a generally prickly air around her. So it's possibly a bit surprising that she can say that completely genuinely as the group approaches.     After saying such, she's already in the middle of rolling up the sleeves of her jacket. Everything else aside, there's something nice about being on the sea compared to the chilly weather elsewhere. "...I feel the same way. You don't have anything to feel bad about. Going on and leaving... all of that as the last thing behind us, all the people here..."     She doesn't finish, but the look on her face for a scant few seconds is enough to show how unpleasant she thinks that would be. So is the way her expression drifts off towards the hall they all visited last time, and the vague direction of where she had tried to intercept Kukuru. "I wish I could whip things up the way Candy does, but the best I can offer is extra muscle. They're gonna need help making sure the place stays stable, right?"     A whole lot of straight-to-business, to a slightly uncharacteristic degree. But after she's done, Hibiki's gaze shifts again, off to the old woman... and then onto Bota himself, where it lingers. The small, tight frown is the kind you have when you have something you want to say, but aren't sure how to say it.     She ends up doing it anyway, voice a little quieter. "...How are you... holding up?"
Angela	"Yo! Bota! Hold up!" Shajo comes running over. He's on his own right now since Nonon is elsewhere (more on this in a moment) he takes a moment to collect is breath as Bota speaks as to what Candy has been up to and expresses his own interest to help. He bites at his lip for a moment before saying, "Oh, uh, well--sure. We can help." He doesn't particularly mind but... "Actually I...hadn't really had a chance to... Anyway, point is, sorry for uh... Before. You know? Didn't mean to cause you trouble like that." He rubs the back of his neck awkwardly, glancing between Red Dwarf and Ishirou. He might've been a little more upfront about it but he feels awkward because it's a public spot and all that. "Yeah I'll be happy to help." Nonon is right behind Rena, arriving shortly after her and seems to be infatuated with Rena's dog. "Daaaamn what a cutie... Can I pet him? Or is he a dog that can't be pet? I had a friend whose dog who'd bite off a whole hand if you tried to put yours nearby. Surprising what their jaws can do, eh?" Shajo glances back to Nonon. "Oh hey Shajo! Did you apologize already??" Nonon grins and waves to Bota. "Hey there, whose got two thumbs and wants to shove it into the Queen's face by helping these folks out? This gal!" She jerks a thumb at herself. Shajo's face is burning red.
Stanley Padgett	STANLEY MARIGOLD PADGETT has had it rough as of late. Between normal teenager/young adult things and also Aggressive Corporate Negotiations, he's been running with his head all akilter. But that doesn't mean he can't find time to help his friends.     Even friends he hasn't had a chance to really talk to in a while. ESPECIALLY friends he hasn't talked to in a while.     "Heya, Bota." He smiles, a hopeful thing. "Point me in a direction, and I'll get to it. Like Hibiki!" He gives Tachibana a thumbs up as she reaches the front of the crowd as well, and blinks. New people. Well, not Ishirou. Or... Shajou and Nonon. He cheerily waves at them as well.     They just got off on the wrong foot last time, Stanley can fix this, right?     The presence of DOG gets the Fencer to sliiiiiide over towards Rena as well. The dog first. "You, good sir, are a fine looking potato, yes you are." He kneels down to address Pochi. "Are you here to supervise or take part?"
Kukuru	The last time Kukuru showed up at Trash Island, she had been quite the menace to the people here. It wouldn't take a genius to realize that her return here might not necessarily be wanted, but a recent conversation with someone far smarter than she has convinced her that she could still make things right for the people she's actually here for instead of just not showing her face around the island altogether. Plus, even Kukuru can realize when she's been played for the fool, and that's where food comes in. Through context clues such as the ocean, she's brought a tailgate party-large cooler full of land-based meat dishes that might otherwise be difficult to make here. Most of it's fried, of course, and not really healthy in the slightest, but the seasoning is on point and certainly closer to comfort food than anything else. That familiar old lady gets a familiar smile from Kukuru in passing while she's pulling that cooler along, but with her eyes closed rather than that wide-open one. "He-llo there... Hmm. Come by if you need a hand with thooose." She murmurs drowsily as she points at the bandages, not lingering long just in case she might dredge up too many painful reactions. Instead, she keeps moving along, soon stopping by Bota and company to greet him and everyone showing up far more eagerly. "Botaaa~ Are you doing alright, dear? I brought plenty of snacks for everyone today since..." She gestures at the bigass cooler, pausing to tap her chin as she considers what he says and nods after a moment. "Yeah, everyone must be under a loooot off stress now. That's why this should do something to cheer everyone up a bit." She explains, tapping her chin softly once Bota and Hibiki bring up Candy's aid. "Riiiight? All I can do about that disease is..." She trails off, slowly recalling what she had seen of the disease when she had gotten a closer look at it that one time. Too much bleeding to do it here. Too much recovery time, even with her powers. So many obstacles, and certainly not feasible before the big battle. "... It'd take reaaal long just to get it out of one person, and it'd hurt a lot." Kukuru finally concludes with a light sigh. "But after everything's taken care of and we can relax... Maybe then I can make things better."
Meika Kirenai	The last time Meika was at Trash Island, she shot someone! Many would call this a bad move. Worse, she also embarrassed herself fully through the topic of the Fish Disease! So obviously there's a pressing, guilty weight to go back and make up for it, and obviously she can't show up empty-handed when she does.     That's the hard part. What gift do you give to show an island full of people who tried to drug and hold hostage you and your allies that you're very sorry for shooting their representative friendly old woman? More, what would even help? And, beyond that- what's in the realm of possibility for an overworked teenage girl?     I never want to smell egg salad again. Grocer-bought egg salad and sliced bread repackaged into a few dozen diagnonal-cut sandwiches, and a few cardboard jugs of hot cocoa still somewhat warm from her café, complete as much of a peace offering as she can muster. It's awkward for Meika to carry it all down from the warpgate, and while it's far, far too little to serve the whole island from, the price of all the components put a decent chunk into her spending money.     The parallel of gifting food and drink to a place that drugged them all through such is lost on her, until she's standing there, trying to muster a little wave at Bota and the few others she can, with fingers weighed down by a jug's carry handle. Without doing out best, huh? Meika's heart sinks, just a little bit, closer to the pit of her stomach.     "I- I brought some... sandwiches, and cocoa. It's not- aid, or medicine, or... much, but... If there's somewhere I can put it, or something else to do..." Her voice reeks of guilt. She won't even look *Bota's* way, let alone at the blood stains and bullet holes around the island. At least some people are doing good things, here.     'Not looking' doesn't really help Meika, however. She can still shape out the idea of the line, and flinches at each shuffle of the old woman's cane. A flare of emotions cross her face as she twists to look her way, and she prays, desperately, that the woman isn't looking back, and won't see her. 'I brought plenty of snacks for everyone today since...'     Kukuru's presence, and carting-in of food, too, distracts Meika for long enough to pull her gaze away. "Um... Miss Kukuru..? Can I put these," A small gesture, raising the plastic bags and jugs she's carrying to indicate subject, "With what you brought? I- I think it'd be easier for everyone. And maybe it'd be better for them all if they thought you brought all of it instead..."
Candy	Candy works at something inside the community center--but not sterilizing needles. "Still don't get why we're doing this." "Don't talk like that. Aren't we saving humanity? And nobody deserves the Fish Disease." "You don't have to tell me. But..." "But what?" "You're not the one depending on what they would've stole." "Ughhhh. So shouldn't you sympathize *more*?"     "I'm still a little pissed," says Candy, noting how the old woman pretends not to hear. He'd given her a pretty hard look, before--felt a familiar, destructive temptation--but ultimately, still decided on making the medicine. He looks over his shoulder from his little project, at Sea Monkey. "If you had asked me six months ago, I woulda said 'fuck 'em,'" He admits, shrugging his shoulders. Candy pauses, inspecting the mechanical innards of his creation-in-progress. Thread the select bar through the back of the turntable apparatus.     The farmer picks up a long, thin metal rod with a wide opening at both ends, carefully placing it around the top of a fluted metal cylinder. "But, I been there, and I done that, and it ain't done me no favors. Me, or nobody else." He sighs, taking a bulky, archaic power drill to a metal lattice inside the contraption.     "I think maybe it is better to remember what it is that makes people scared enough to act that way, and to go deal with that instead. And that's easier, 'cause it's already what we were gonna do anyway."     Besides. We're gonna have to go all the way back. Gotta have somewhere to stop and celebrate, on the way.     Candy grins. "I like that attitude, spaceman. That's the spirit." Now insert the drum wheels into the memory drum.     A stack of odd little 'wheels' with cams along the outer perimeter is carefully gathered up and slid into the hollow cylinder from before. Candy flips a rugged mechanical latch which holds them in place.     He taps the side of the weatherized metal frame which surrounds the innards--chosen to resist the ocean air. "And when we get back, everybody here will have this thing nice and warmed up for us, ah? Haha."
Petra Soroka	Coming back to the island is uncomfortable to Petra for multiple reasons. Partly, but not mostly somehow, because the islanders were offering the Elites up to be killed out of a lack of trust in the idea that they'd help them voluntarily. The snap sense of betrayal at the time was mostly due to the indignity of being the slowest to understand what was even happening, because of how invested she got in the island and its people right off the bat. That cooled off pretty quickly afterwards, even if she was justified in being upset about it; most of the bitterness that remains *there* is for Lilian's sake, in that *she* tried to help and was so readily sacrificed for it.     Most of the reason why Petra is hesitant to come back is *because* she got so upset. The way the event has encoded itself into her mind, her reaction feels like a temper tantrum now, excessively loud and unhappy not out of any core motivator, but because she was personally swinging from one emotional high to another.     Which, even still, wouldn't feel *that* bad. Petra is nothing if not consistently brutally vindictive about betrayal and overly willing to enact violence in retribution for it; she can't feel bad about it *all* the time or she'd do nothing else. The real reason why she feels vaguely like she's *in trouble* for the outburst is.... "I've felt like we can't move on without doing our best for these people first. You know?"     Rubbing at her shoulder after climbing down from the Union Busan, Petra makes a vague noise of agreement with Bota. "Mmm. Yeah. It's like... it wouldn't feel like a, heroic narrative. Like 'saving the world'." Petra takes a few seconds longer to think about that, settling her gaze on the patchwork construction. "It doesn't feel like fighting for humanity if you set some... arbitrary line of wronging against you that means you can just leave them and focus on more important things. Like, I guess, it's still just an island of sick people. People feel good about helping."     There's a set of tools stored with Qetra, but that's only for messing with her ratbot, not for anything bigger than that. Petra crosses her arms and tucks her hands into her jacket, looking more than a little uncomfortable about her place here. "And it's important to people to feel like heroes. So they act more like them."     Approaching the old woman would be Petra's first priority, vis a vis feeling weirdly guilty about being here, but Meika shows up before she does, looking way more guilty than Petra does. Which is fair, because Petra feels sort of guilty because Meika is guilty. Carefully skirting around Hibiki, Petra approaches the magical girl whose prior embarrassment on the island is-- if you think about it, and Petra does-- Petra's fault twice over.     "Oh, food... that's smart." Petra comments, specifically about Meika, and not about Kukuru. "I was all caught up in thinking about, like, long-term stuff. I didn't even think about that, and, I mean, staying here for a few days extra will sort of eat up a lot of food."     Demonstrating her intentions at helping with longer term stuff, and also partly to give Meika something to focus on that isn't the ambient horror of being in an environment where she has previously done wrong, Petra unclips Pence from her belt, holding the mechanical rat on her palm before it starts to hover. An attempt at an awkward joke, that mostly just ends up awkward: "At least we can be pretty sure it's not poisoned this time."
UFO Gang	A LITTLE WHILE AGO: "It's really pointing there?" asked the captain of the ship. "I'm surprised," said the itinerant nun. "Unzan says it looks like it's just a big constellation of flotsam." "Nope," says NAZRIN, empowered by a SPACE FUN HELMET. "See? We're doing a circle and they're pointing dead on there. I can't tell you why, but that's where my dowsing is indicating." "Did Unzan see inhabitants of the island?" says another. "A bunch, I guess. They didn't seem aggressive." "Perhaps we should try the direct approach." OUTSIDE OF THIS: There is a ship in the air. That may not be too surprising. It didn't come close to the island; it was near enough that lookouts could *see* a big flying aerial vessel but the Treasure Ship does not bristle with armaments. The ship had steered a big half-circle as if intending to avoid the garbage island -- maybe justifiable. But now the ship is coming here, and lowering nearer to the water! Something's coming down from the ship! 'Something' quickly resolves into a humanoid figure, obviously under its own power. Their own power. /Her/ own power. Shou Toramaru descends, aiming towards near the entrance to the community center. "Be not afraid, good people," she says, voice sonorous and soothing. Shou is carrying a spear, but it may be ornamental enough to seem like a staff. "I am but a traveler who saw --" Shou's head turns. "A dog?" The living avatar of a god steps nearer to Rena, standing up on the balls of her feet to get a better viewing angle on the charismatic shiba. "Oh! So handsome." Shou covers her mouth with one hand. "And what fetching garments...!"
Kukuru	'Um... Miss Kukuru..? Can I put these,' 'With what you brought? I- I think it'd be easier for everyone. And maybe it'd be better for them all if they thought you brought all of it instead...' Meika's recommendation gets a light-hearted giggle from Kukuru along with a beaming smile as she looks over at the bags and jugs of stuff. "Oh, of course. There's plenty of room on top of all this, and we could probably even..." She pops open the cooler, only then remembering that it's stuffed to the rim already. Laughing softly, Kukuru hums for a moment before turning back to Meika. "Well, the top of this should be okay, too." She reassures with another giggle at Petra's comment without realizing who she is and isn't directing her own comment at about the smartness of the idea. "Buuuut... I think they'd feel better if they knew it's not all from me." Her voice gets a little softer and notably less chipper at that last part. After all... Kukuru did tear quite a few of them up last time. She's pretty sure the locals couldn't forget that even if they tried.
Meika Kirenai	'Oh, food... that's smart.'     Meika makes a small, surprised noise as Petra comments on what she brought. "It's- it's not a lot. I couldn't think of anything else that'd be..." She shrugs, but she's still talking on the subject at all, at least. A small amount of the obvious stress seems to slip off as she looks the other girl's way. "I guess it's like what you're saying, maybe. Wanted to do something that'd feel like it was..." She trails off, uncertain how good an idea it'd be for her to admit the extent of selfish and guilt-driven reasons she had to be back. It's not like it's hard to guess.     "Is that why you're back, too..?" Whispered, not whispered- Meika's under-breath question is still easy enough to hear.     The RatBot does, actually, get a spark of interest from the magical girl. "Hey, what's- It's flying?" A tiny burst of giggling, kindled by ambient stress. Her eyes carefully track its motions as it starts to hover. "How's it doing that, Petra? That's so silly..." 'Buuuut... I think they'd feel better if they knew it's not all from me.'     "Oh. Right. I forgot, I guess." What bad luck it is that two of the people bringing offerings of food, are both guilty-feeling from harm they inflicted on the community here. She stays quiet, mulling it all over, and still winds up setting the food and refreshments she brought down on and near Kukuru's cooler.     "...At least it's probably not poisoned this time, yeah." Petra's joke, parroted through Meika, lacks all of the intended humor- more than anything, the girl just sounds crestfallen. Free hands shove into her letterman's pockets, one staying there, and another wordlessly pulling out a paper cigarette pack, and sticking it out towards Petra as she shuffles closer, the offer clear.
Rita Ma	"Pipemonkey? Yeah. When I was a kid," Bota says, indicating 'the bad old days' by the dismissive tilt. Fondly: "Boss Huorong's just a good teacher, I guess." 'Selfish' makes his eyes widen, but then a silent little laugh turns his lips upwards. "Yeah. Maybe I *do* deserve it, selfishly. It's nice, isn't it?" His eyes pan to Petra. "To get to feel like a hero."      Kukuru, unfortunately, gets to experience something new. The islanders look at her with dread. Half of them don't want to get within ten feet of her, and they pull aside and murmur to the other half. A few of them feel brave enough to glare. Meika gets a lesser version: the old woman's eyes bore angry holes into her for three or four seconds, until she sees the cocoa and looks away.      "Good to meet you, Rena," the bright-faced young man says. His hands are callused, but his handshake's gentle if she takes it. Bota's eyes drop to Rena's belt. "Looks like you know what you're doing. Huorong could use you up on the..."      His gaze falls a little further, to the weird creature next to her. "Is that a dog?" He looks bizarrely shocked, and can't help himself from crouching down to get a better look.      "Oh! But, uh, yeah." Bota stands again, smiles wearily at Hibiki, and lays a hand on her shoulder before glancing at Stanley and Ishirou. "We've mostly got the island's stability handled. It's the Fish Disease we're worried about: seems like there's a 'stone egg' nearby, so if their water isn't purified right, more and more of them are gonna catch it." He nods up at the assemblage of pipes and tanks on the community center's roof. "If you want to pitch in, it'd be a big help."      "Hey. Green-haired lady. Are you talking about a cure for the Fish Disease?" says the diving-helmeted woman(?) boiling needles. "That's sweet and all, but you know it's impossible, right?" But she at least vaguely knows better than to doubt outsiders. There's hope behind the skepticism.      She gets up from her spot by the stove and leans around the corner to peep into the community center. "Candy, right?" she says. "What do you mean exactly, no favors? I have to feel like we've been living different lives." She doesn't ask about his strange machine, but behind the helmet, her gaze seems to linger on it.      Kukuru and Meika's offerings both visibly warm Bota's heart. He takes a jug off Meika's hands, if allowed, and leads them into the community center. That seems to be where the islanders are going to recuperate after their injections; it doesn't seem like a pleasant process. "It's a lot to me, Meika," he says. "It'll be a lot to them. Haha, and it'd be a lot to Hibiki, if you could get her to try it. She seems like she needs it!"      As Kukuru puts down the last of her stuff, though, he snags her sleeve. His eyes are serious, but not accusing. "Hey. Can we talk, before you go? There's something else you can help with, too."
Rena	There's a few people here that Rena recognizes. Meika, Petra, Hibiki - she's spoken to all of them before, if only briefly in some cases. They get a polite nod, and even a smile, despite her general unsettlement with all this water around. Stanley she doesn't know, "He's more of a supervisor unless you need something dug up," Rena says, with a smile. "I'm here to help out, though. He's pettable." Pochi enjoys attention and does not mind being pet. He's a friendly dog, though he does tend to stick with Rena rather than wandering too far off in unfamiliar areas. He's more comfortable with the ocean than Rena is. She's also happy to explain to Bota. "Yes, he's a dog. Do you not have them here?" Rena shakes her head. "I guess there's not a lot of places to find dogs on the water, huh. ...We lost a lot of animals ourselves but we kept dogs, at least, though most of them are wild these days. Pochi, I found in an old ruined town - him and a whole bunch of other dogs. He was the one who wanted to come with me, though. And he's smart, too." Pochi, who knows when he's being spoken about, barks. As for knowing what she's doing: "I'd better," Rena says, with a slight grin. "I've been pitching in since I was little. I've been places like this before. I'm not real sure about a Fish Disease or stone eggs, but I know how filters and purifiers work and I figure I can fix just about anything that needs it." She's confident, at least. "So pipes and tanks are right up my alley." Something catches her eye in the distance, approaching. Rena spotted it, and spent a few moments trying to puzzle it out before giving up and asking. "...Hey, is that a flying ship?" For all she knows they're normal here! They are not, or at least this one isn't. Someone comes down. Rena looks at Shou, a little (okay, a lot) surprised, but recovers: "Yeah, he's good. His name's Pochi; I'm Rena." Pochi will accept attention from Shou, too... but something about Shou seems to either confuse or unsettle him, and he ducks behind Rena after a few moments of that.
Rita Ma	Up on the community hall's roof, where a few of the Elites have been waved- there's a rickety ladder up- a burly older man with white flat-top hair is kneeling to work on the worst concatenation of scrap metal you've probably ever seen. (Some people might recognize him as Busan's delegate, back in New York.) He's turning junk into a functional rain-catching and solar-desalinating apparatus that'll store water for most of the island's population: tanks, tubes, reflectors and evaporation-catchers.      "'Bout time they sent help up," Huorong says, warm but gruff. "But don't you think you're overqualified? It's not exactly a hero's work up here."      Despite the blueprints existing entirely in his head, he has a seemingly endless number of bent pipes that need to be straightened, straight pipes that need to be bent, precise holes that need to be gouged or drilled, angles that need to be double-checked, and pallets that need to be heaved up to the top or dropped back down to ground-level.      You'd think it was busy-work if the water tank weren't taking shape before your eyes.
Redshift Operators	"Is that a dog?"     "Can't be." The gunman says, looking at the swarm of attention to the little animal. The next thing he says, he says with pure confidence, utmost conviction, the kind of innate self-evidency of someone saying that the sky is blue. Nothing about it seems even the slightest bit insincere, or even the slightest bit strained by the understanding that an opposing position even exists: "Dogs aren't real, they're a hoax." He doesn't explain even a little bit, and likely won't unless asked.     "Not this shit again." His medic companion is a little uncharacteristically undramatic for a moment. She was busy helping sterilize needles. She can rarely predict this particularly stupid topic when it comes up.
Ishirou	Poochi gets a lot of attention, and he smiles at that.  It's a cute doggo, but right now there seems to be too many people around it so he doesn't want to crowd!  He gives Hibiki and Stanley both a small smile and a wave, but doesn't say anything while he listens to Bota.   "Alright, let me at least help with getting the food to the right place..." he says, offering both Meika and Kukuru his help in carrying the food to the community center.  On the way there he moves next to Hibiki and whispers to her. "Are... you alright?  You look like you haven't gotten much sleep lately.  If you want to talk about it, we can work together and chat there..?" he says, offering an ear to talk to.   Shou gets his attention, especially with the flashy entrance and the distraction due to Doggo, which causes him to giggle a little bit.  He also addresses Bota again, "So help with administering, or help with producing enough..?  Or I guess work on purifying systems..?  Hmm... I guess I can see what Candy needs after we've carried all the food where it needs to go..." A pause, and a warm smile and wave to Candy, but Ishirou is still a bit out with the main group.  "I'll do what I can for these people Bota..." Though 'despite everything' is something unsaid the weight can be heard in his tone.   However, all is revealed when Bota leads them to the roof, he helps unload food and catches up with the lad.  He smiles at Huorong, and nods to him.  "Nothing is beneath anyone... in this world, we all gotta work together right?  That doesn't change things just because we're from off world!" He helps gather and distribute pipes and the lot, also organizing, trying to make sure everything is set in a proper place, and easily able to be found.  Fasteners, different types of pipes, bolts, and anything else they'll need including loose tools.   "Huh?  Of course, dogs are real... what are you talking about?" he asks Red Dwarf.
Rita Ma	Bota, midway through his dealings inside the community center, pokes his head out and waves at Shajo and Nonon. "Hey! It's you two! How's it..."      "Anyway, point is, sorry for uh... Before."      He stops to grimace self-consciously. "No, don't say sorry for that. Please. I was the one who screwed up, wasn't I? If it weren't for Kana being there, I probably would've made an even bigger mess."      Bota smiles weakly. "So, I guess I'll forgive you if you'll forgive me. Deal?"      When he vanishes back inside, Sonia radiates a tense silence. Halfway through slipping the needle into an islander's forearm, she says without raising her eyes: "So."      "When were you all going to tell him the Queen's his mom? Were you gonna save it for the final battle, hope it never comes up?"
Angela	Shajo feels just terrible--and he'd go into more detail about that but he's feeling awkward now. Bota tells him to not apologize for it and it just makes him feel worse but fortunately before he can castigate himself any further, Bota gives Shajo the kind of offer he can appreciate. "...Yeah. Of course I forgive you." Shajo manages a smile that doesn't quite look right on his face but is nonetheless honest. "Not just a job anymore, you know so--thanks man." ''When were you all going to tell him the Queen's his mom?'' "Uh. ... Well I didn't know either." Shajo admits though he isn't sure if he would've had the bones to tell him if he DID know. "I mean--it's not REALLY his mom, right?" Nonon turns her gaze towards the living avatar of a God. as she is distracted by a dog. She nods to Shou with understanding. Such is the power. Of dog. She glances over to Shajo who is ... waving to her? And Shajo? Nonon goes out of her way to live a a relaxed, stress free life but the shift from 'getting punched by Shajo' to 'cheerful waves' is still sudden for her. She takes a moment and then throws him one of her winning grins. She then glances over to Shajo-- --Who is glowering at Stanley and does not wave back. He takes a breath, shakes his head, and turns his focus back to what he's doing. Nonon's smile falters a bit and she gives a hapless shrug and waves back to Stanley, loosely. She has one of those pads that the Sephirah tend to pop up on--and it's on even!--but Gebura isn't presently on screen. Maybe she figured she didn't need to oversee this or--more likely--she had other shit she had to get done but Nonon takes a long look at Shou and then up up up to the ... ship itself. She lets out a low whistle and says, "That's some craft... I've been in the multiverse long enough to know there are ships like this out there--did Hook lend you the pixie dust or something?" Does he even HAVE pixie dust still, she wonders, or did he have to give that up when he became a pirate. Nonon then glances over to Petra. Nonon thinks Petra is great because Petra beat the shit out of her. It was a good fight! Nonon respects a lot of people who punch her-- ''Dogs aren't real, they're a hoax''. "Maybe this one's a hologram? Obviously dogs are real!" "Have YOU ever seen a dog, Nonon?" Shajo pipes in, seeing an opportunity for some revenge. "W..well no, actually, I mean, not until now! But lots of people talk about dogs! Petra, you've been everywhere--Dogs are real right??" Nonon, sweating bullets, extends her hand towards Pochi's mouth like a palm, and just holds it in front of Pochi's mouth to see if--well--if Pochi will do what dogs do to outstretched hands like that. Will it be a bite, Nonon wonders, or a lick? Or something unexpected?!
Redshift Operators	The giant is the one who wordlessly sets about on the manual labor. No sound but the warped breathing distorted by his partially shattered helmet. And... of course, his leader explaining his position, his tone sounding as if Ishirou and Nonon had just said the dumbest thing in the world. "Really? You're gonna tell me that little guy is related to a wolf? That's the same species as a, what are they called, the big ones. The real big ones."     "Mastiff." His cyborg ally arrives properly into the conversation. "And yes, they're all one species."     "Bullshit. Look at that guy."     "Yes, unbelievable as it may be, a great dane, a mastiff, and even the noble chihuahua, are all one species. You always get like this whenever this comes up."     "How *convenient*. Hell of a coincidence if you ask me. Too suspicious, there's something more going on."     "I'll never understand how you can be so canny, and still succumb to this... absurd conspiracy theory."     "It's not a conspiracy theory!"     "Is it a theory about a large, organized effort to deceive the public?"     "Hell no. It's a fact about one, is what it is."     "*God.*"
Stanley Padgett	Yeah, Stanley catches the wave and not a wave from the Lob-Corp folks. He was expecting that, after the last time they were all here, and he doesn't blame them. He can find time, later. Not right now, not where there's work to do, and they seem to be pulled in several different direction.     Stanley straightens up from Pochi and smiles at Rena, finally. "Heya, I'm Stanley Padgett." Stanley's muted lime green hair shifts. Not the best dye job he's done, but he and his partner have been occupied. "And I guess I was close on the name. It's nice to meet you, Rena. And Pochi." He flashes that grin again, before clambering his way up to the roof with Ishirou. He slaps the scout on the shoulder as he gets up there, and undoes his tie as they get to the work site. No sense in getting it caught and ripping his throat out.     "Gosh, the last time I had to work with pipes like this... We were building a set for Oliver." A beat. "That's a musical, about Oliver Twist, the Charles Dickens book?" Normally this MIGHT be the point in time where Stanley would be zipping and swooping around to speed things up, but not today. Not on a work site like this. Normal speed today. Normal speed hauling pipes and around the welders.     Sonia's question... catches Stanley off guard, but this is news to him too, so he remains quiet for now.
Ishirou	Ishirou sucks in a breath when Bota is gone, and Sonia is around.  He... looks very guilty at that, because he did know.  He was one of the few people there when it was revealed during their trip underwater, and he still isn't sure if it was the right play to not say anything.  He isn't sure what to say to her, but after a moment, he sighs.   "I should have, yes... but there never seemed to be a good time.  Not in New York, where that guy that the Americans love so much would have used it, and not revealed it in front of the crowd when I pulled up the data about the meeting.  It just never felt like the right time..." "And then it was too late."
UFO Gang	Shou squats down slightly to proffer her hand. It smells vaguely like peaches. "Oh, who's a clever little dog?" Shou coos towards the canine. "Pochi! What a splendid name." Straightening up, Shou smiles upon Rena. "Forgive me; it's been a long time since I have seen such a handsome animal!" "Thank you for your warm welcome, Rena," Shou says to her. This has the air of the preamble to something else but then a nearby gunman says something that seems to throw her off. "Well, in a sense, that's true," Shou agrees with the Gunman. "However," oh there's a catch, "that's simply a case of the inherent illusory nature of all phenomena... all things arise from a myriad of causes, and there is no eternal and ultimate form within. Hence, form is emptiness, and emptiness is form..." Shou's eyes close for a moment. Then she opens her eyes. "Hm? Oh!" she says to Nonon. "Thank you. Although it is not my ship; it belongs to a dear friend of mine." Shou then raises a hand over her heart (or heart-equivalent area) to say, "I am a representative of Bishamonten, and a follower of Hijiri's path." A beat later, and Shou says, looking at Nonon, Rena and Stanley in succession, "I would hate to make rude conclusions, but it seems this place has fallen upon hard times. Is this so?" (In the background the big ship lands. Well, 'lands on the water', anyway.) "Yes, exactly," Shou says towards the man speaking of the breeds of dog. "What is the nature of 'Dog'? It's a numinous thing; it shouldn't be clung to. A big dog and a small dog may both be recognized as 'dog', yet a house cat and a tiger are not the same."
Rena	Rena's expression shifts to baffled. "No, I'm pretty sure Pochi is a dog." Rena hesitates. "Unless I'm *really* wrong about what a dog is." Which... well, it's not impossible, and now she's second-guessing herself. Which would be kind of embarrassing, because she's been assuming Pochi is a dog for the entire time she's had him! oh god now Nonon is making her uncertain. And Shou is confusing the matter. Rena does *not* have the brain for philosophy. Fortunately, Pochi is perfectly happy to just be instead of worrying about what he is, and sniffs Nonon's outstretched hand before licking it in a particularly dog-like fashion. He is still curious, if a little skittish, with Shou. Should he be worried or not about her? He can't decide. "You know what, I'm just going to help with the pipes," Rena says, deciding to eject from the conversation before Red Dwarf confuses her further. There's a perfectly good ladder, she can just climb up it, hopping the last little bit to the roof. She tugs the sleeve on her duster straight once she's up. "Doesn't have to be a hero's work to need to get done," Rena says, brightly. "I know you don't know me, or where I'm from, but we've got a lot of old towns like this, too." By which she means 'salvaged, built in ruins'. "Everybody pitches in, or should. A lot of the time I run supplies in, but that doesn't mean I don't know what I'm doing building, either." Pochi, meanwhile, stays down, because ladders are hard. He seems happy to hang around Nonon and Shou, who have charmed him well enough by offering something to sniff. Even if he's not quite sure about Shou yet.
Kukuru	Indeed, even Kukuru can feel guilt sometimes! Or at least, she can internalize some of it after having her mistakes pointed out to her directly by Gebura. It really felt right at the time, but seeing those reactions to her from the islanders... She's seen that kind of look before, but not nearly in this way. Those other times had all been through no fault of her own, or at least not enough to really understand it at the time and in the present. This time? Kukuru knows exactly why they're doing it, and that they're fully justified in looking at her that way, no matter how much she believed she was doing the right thing. By the time she had finished speaking to Gebura, most of it had come together in the context of hurting the people she came here to help. By the time she had arrived today and started to speak to Meika, it's become even clearer that earning these islanders' trust as a monster might not ever happen. Kukuru doesn't stop Meika from setting the stuff on the cooler, though, and Petra's joke goes right over her head as Kukuru goes back into another gentle smile upon seeing and hearing Meika's response to said joke. "Oh, definitely not. I'm sure they know better now, and our stuff should be okay. I can fix anyone that does get sick, anyway." After her reassurances are given, Kukuru's concerned look lingers on Meika for a little longer before she gives Petra a... Worried? No, a trusting look, a small smile, like she's confident about something or another while looking between the two of them. If Petra looks her way, she'll even see Kukuru mouthing 'please' before getting snagged by Diving Helmet. "Hmm? Oh! Yep, thaaat's the one." Feeling some of her confidence coming back again after placing her faith in Petra to do something involving Meika without actually saying anything coherent, Kukuru nods lazily towards the needle boiler before chuckling lightly in that reassuring way she usually does. "I just gotta take it aaall out first-" She pantomimes picking at something with her fingers, as though it would actually be that easy. "-and then fix up everything else after." Another demonstration, this time with a subtle green glow of her nanites. Death, at least, is an easy enough topic for her to sound upbeat about when she has the power to keep it from sticking. "Even if someone dies while I'm doing it, I can make sure they don't stay that way~" The question of Pochi's and other dogs' existence, meanwhile, draws a confused look from Kukuru as she blinks slowly at Red Dwarf. "That's a doggy, dear. There's entire stores with them, too! But..." It takes a minute for the gears to turn, and then she frowns. "Oh, but I heard a lot of those stores are super bad for... Some reason. I think the people selling are super mean about something, but..." She can't remember. It's too much detail to remember, especially from something she heard so long ago. Shou's comments on the nature of dog, however, does jar something else in Kukuru's mind as she perks right back up (and gawks at the ship for a few moments). "Ooh.. Oh! Umm... Those stores are for house dogs, not tigers." Eventually, it's time to help get that food moved, and Kukuru is well prepared to move a lot at once! Her cooler's pretty big in all respects, so even stacking stuff on top is possible, and she perks up even more with Bota and Ishirou joining in to help out. Sure, she could move it all herself, but she's not about to turn either of them down. If anything, that just helps her heart recover a little more after the islanders' reactions earlier. When Bota asks for her afterwards, she doesn't even take a moment to think before smiling brightly and nodding in turn. "Of course, Bota dear. Anything you want, just ask." She replies right away, content to stand by without even considering what he might actually want to ask her about.
Angela	Nonon frowns. Red Dwarf is making a pretty solid case. Pochi licks Nonon's hand. sHe giggles a bit, "Hey that tickles!" And that decides it. "Nahh, RD, this is clearly a dog!" She shows him her slobbery hand. See?" ONCE AGAIN BRIBES BEING USED TO COVER UP THE FACTS. Nonon pats Pochi on the head a bit more before following after Red Giant to do some heavy lifting.
Hibiki Tachibana	Hibiki flashes a lazy thumbs up back towards a certain Padgett. "You look a little rough, Stanley." Pause. "...But pretty satisfied, too? Hope things have been working out... not perfect, but good enough." That's probably the best anyone can hope for. Rena also gets a transition into a casual wave - so does Pochi - before the arm falls limp back at her side at the sight of Kukuru.     "... ..." That's more like the Kukuru she knows, rather than the one she saw. But correcting the dissonance this exact moment isn't exactly something she feels up to right this second, especially not with Meika and Petra in the vicinity. Mostly the latter. She doesn't feel up to the potential for anything messy starting up. Not here.     "Getting the piping set up... yeah. I can help with that. Don't push yourself too much, alright Bota?" Hibiki shifts her attention back to Bota with a nod, just to let him know before he heads on off with the food party. She almost starts getting a move on already, when Ishirou stops her, and she pauses.     There's an exhale, and a shake of her head as her own voice drops. "...I'm fine. It's not anything new. Don't worry about it, really. Let's just get things sorted out here first." That wasn't necessarily a 'no', and they do happen to be going the same way in the end anyway; she's going on up to help deal with get however many tons of metal they're working with where it needs to be. She's not above transforming to make the job several magnitudes easier.     It also provides her ever-convenient scarf to help hide the look on her face, when she picks up on Sonia's question from below. One way or another, she doesn't have any reply. She does have one to Boss Huorong, at least. "I'm not a hero, so this stuff suits me just fine."     She has no idea about the details of what the man is constructing, but she can absolutely straighten and un-straighten pipes with her bare hands.
Stanley Padgett	"Something like that, Hibiki," admits Stanley as he assists her with BARE HANDED PIPE BENDING. He can at least provide a stable platform for the stronger fighter. "...I've just got a few things left to handle back home, and then we're done with Lampport forever. Done with my dad forever." Another pipe, and another brace for Hibiki. "Come on out sometime, I'm sure Charlotte would be happy to see you too."
Candy	What do you mean exactly, no favors? I have to feel like we've been living different lives.     "Maybe we have," he says.     "Sometimes," continues the farmer as he assembles some sort of keyboard, popping plastic keys into a metal frame, "You get so used to... feeling a certain way, that you don't know how to do nothing without that feeling. For me, that feeling was..." His frown of concentration deepens. "'Anger,' but a specific kind. The kind you feel when somebody who's scared lets it get the better of them, and it fucks you over, or people you care about."     "It turns out, a lot of people are scared. And yelling at them, or taking shit away from them, or whatever else, don't make them not scared. It don't unfuck whatever or whoever got fucked up. And sometimes it just makes things worse for everybody." When were you all going to tell him the Queen's his mom?     "We wasn't." Candy says to Sonia, just as tersely. "'Cause she ain't. That wasn't nothing, but the kind of trick you pull when you don't have no better options." He pauses, hand hovering over the spread of archaic tools beside him. Install the battery and affix the crank.     "Like me and the 'dynamite,'" he says, fixing a hand crank into place through a hole in the side of the machine. Finished, but for the casing and the media.     Candy pulls over a small wooden crate. One by one, he unpacks a series of vinyl records, two dozen in number. Each one is slotted onto a storage rack inside, where a bare-bones manipulator arm can place it onto a turntable in the center. Special precautions have been taken to keep the needle arm stable.      The metal latticework inside holds an array of archaic speakers, the great-ancestors of such things as tweeters, woofers, and subwoofers. He peers at the unadorned frame, after bolting the selector keyboard into place. "It's missing something," he says, mostly to himself, wiping lubricant from his hands with the same rag from before. It -works,- but the casing should be painted with something.      A moment later, it is, following the cacophonous sound of several power tools going off compressed into an instant. The weatherized metal is painted to resemble a two-tone wood finish, with the upper middle portion of the wide cabinet painted ruby red. At the bottom portion, painted over the protective mesh for the speakers. is a sunrise over the ocean. Overlaid atop the sun is a black 'M'--perhaps a familiar sight, for those old or related enough to recognize it.
Petra Soroka	"And then there's the hook and the computer bits for the expanded estimations of contiguity stuff, but that's, like, the complicated stuff." Petra plucks the cigarette off the bottom of Pence and puts it back in her mouth, still lit, bubbling a little bit with the excitement of explaining it.     "Doctor Eggman gave me a reading list for a lot of this stuff. And I was able to order these generators-- Doctor Eggman doesn't use anything small like this-- from a supervillain that knew him. I mean, what supervillain doesn't, obviously. But that's apprentice perks, I guess!" "We've mostly got the island's stability handled."     Petra, belatedly, tilts her head back towards the conversation that had until this point totally vanished from her mind. "Wait, did he just say...?" Quietly, Petra returns Ratbot to its place in the mirror, no longer having any use for it. "... pettable."     "Huh?" Thinking she's being addressed, Petra straightens up and looks around for the source, extremely reminiscent of a dog clumsily pinpointing who's calling for it. And then, revitalizing her after her rat based plan was dashed, she sees Pochi.     "Oh my *god*? Pochi?? That's his name??? That's so cute!" Petra hurries over and kneels down, delighted to let him sniff and then lick her hand. Rummaging in her jacket, she retrieves a jerky stick that she took from Balan's Theatre, tearing off the end to offer it to Pochi. "Dogs aren't real, they're a hoax." "Petra, you've been everywhere--Dogs are real right??"     "I, er--" Petra looks between Nonon and Red Dwarf, unsure if she's being pranked, or if there's a joke she's missing. All of the Redshift Operators have this effect on her, but she still falls for it most of the time despite her suspicion. "I haven't been *everywhere*. Just-- I mean, I had a dog when I was a kid. I've-- I've seen lots of dogs. They're real. I know they are." If Petra looks her way, she'll even see Kukuru mouthing 'please' before getting snagged by Diving Helmet.     Petra doesn't have any idea what she means by that. But, it's Kukuru, which means it's either something related to food, or shallow emotional comfort. Petra's thoughts are so fully directed towards deciphering the request, that she doesn't remember that she'd usually reject such a request out of hand anyways. Coming to a conclusion, she looks up at Meika, still squatting near Pochi.     "Want to feed him some?" A few ripped bits of jerky are in her outstretched hand.
Petra Soroka	"Is that why you're back, too..?"     "Well, eh..." If it was someone else asking, Petra might spin up some (true, but less pressing) Lilian-related justification, on the nature of betrayal and responding to the expectations the world makes of you, and Rita's importance in the story. Instead she just takes the offered cigarette with a little sigh, lighting it before continuing.     "It does sort of suck, right? Like, you know, it's totally easy to argue that we were justified in fighting back. If we all just sat there and didn't do anything, then they would've killed us, just like they were planning to before they even saw us. But it's like..." Petra isn't quite as good at keeping her voice down as Meika is, especially the longer she goes on and the more she gets wrapped up in trying to translate her thoughts into words. "Sort of embarrassing, right? That we were *seen* doing it. Because it was all just stuff that we did in the moment, that might've been, you know, appropriate in the circumstances, but they'd still *remember* us that way. And it's almost silly how it went down when you think about it like that."     "So I guess it's not that I feel like I did anything wrong, but I feel like I'm in trouble for it without anyone actually saying so." Petra snorts, then coughs, choking on the smoke for a second. "Which is kind of pathetic." "How's it doing that, Petra? That's so silly..."     "Anti-gravity generators!" Petra instantly perks up at the question, revving up to ramble. She takes her hand off the railing of the constructed bridge she was leaning on, gesturing at the ratbot as it floats up and down. "It's technically not *flying*, but a lot of people just think anti-grav is 'falling upwards', which isn't totally right either."     Now using *both* hands to gesticulate, cigarette dangling between her knuckles, Petra holds her hands out to either side, and the up and down vertical axis of movement that Pence had been on switches to horizontal, but never diagonal. "It's not really *reversing* gravity, right? I mean, just imagine what that would do to, like, air pressure. If you had any empty air near the generator, it'd just fucking explode the moment it goes from having like a thousand tons of air over it, to having almost none."     No one *ever* asks how Petra's cool robot that she's so proud of works. Flipping open her compact mirror to tug Qetra's hand out with a toolbox in tow, out of which Petra retrieves a set of needlenose pliers, Petra proceeds to demonstrate why. "So instead, you just wire its contiguity sensors up to the whole robot, which you can see, like..." Without even thinking about it, Petra taps the lit cigarette on the underside of the rat, between its wheels, where it sticks. She very carefully tugs open a panel on top with the pliers, pointing out one specific component in the absolutely incomprehensible mess of electronics inside. It has the same energy of shoving everything into a closet and calling it cleaning. "And then it just *reinterprets* its *response* to gravity. So then it's like, the presence of gravity means it should go *up*, instead of down, or *perpendicular* instead."
Meika Kirenai	The magical girl sits there, in the old woman's glare, for as long as she extends it. Yeah. I'd be mad at me, too. And I'd be mad I'm not as sorry as I should be. 'Ashamed' and 'remorseful' may be neighbors, but they aren't parallels. Once it's done, though, and Petra's taken one from the box, Meika pulls a cigarette out for herself.     "...It is, really, kind of silly all that happened. It shouldn't have been like that, but..." A small shrugging glance Petra's way, and a pause to blow smoke. "It's really not like we weren't justified. At- at least, mostly. Or at least... partly. And it's probably better they didn't kill all of us."     She looks back the old woman's way again. "I think they do remember it like that. Like you're scared of." 'Which is kind of pathetic.'     "Ah? Is it..? That's- A lot of things are bad, that you get in trouble for, without being told. You don't have to be told for it to matter, right?" She's much less steady on the answer than she ought to be. "Pathetic..?"     She pulls her attention away from Petra for just a moment, to hear Bota's response, engagements, and instructions. Still, she hovers nearby, Petra serving as a nucleation point that is notably seperate from the other option of the cooler with the food- which, unfortunately, as it gets brought back up, she begrudgingly steps closer to.     "Mister Bota..? Do you think I could also lend a hand with the..." She gestures at the in-progress roofing construction. Regardless of answer, she plans to go on up to try and help when she gets a moment to step away. '...and it'd be a lot to Hibiki, if you could get her to try it.'     "Oh. Sure." Shifting her gaze, off-target of where Hibiki is, Meika raises her voice. "Hey! Miss Tachibana! Get some of this." She taps one of the cocoa jugs. It's really more of a command than a request, but she's hoping to appease Bota more than help Hibiki.     Regardless of the symphogear user's response, Meika doesn't try and sell the idea more. Instead, she gets quickly pulled aside and enraptured by robotic rodents! "It's... more like fish floating in water, right? Anti-grav?" She holds a hand level, and mimes noises of it whooshing up and down with ease, like a neutrally bouyant object. "That's cool... I- I fly really differently, than that. That sounds really peaceful." Is she jealous of a ratbot? No, probably not. When Petra glosses over terms more complicated than Meika quite grasps, the magical girl just sits there, fidgeting with her own cigarette, as close to focused as she can really be. "You can just order stuff like that if you know supervillains..?" 'Dogs aren't real, they're a hoax.'     "That's right. No such thing." Caught up in the rush of Dog Being Present, it takes Meika a moment to react to all the words buzzing nearby, and longer still to come up with a more devious reaction, for fun and profit. It's a harmless thing to say in support of what she's assuming is a joke to begin with. "It's ridiculous, right? Aha.." 'They're real. I know they are.'     Quietly, Meika nudges Petra with an elbow. {"Roll with them being fake. It'll be funny. C'mon."} Her whisper isn't audible to anyone else, but it's obvious she's giggling. Still, in defiance of her own words, Meika does take the jerky Petra offers, and kneels down to feed Pochi, ruffling behind his ears once her hand's free again. "...Gosh, he's soft.."
Rena	Rena spares a glance for Petra's ratbot, which she seems *very* interested in, but she has more urgent things. For now. She does try to listen in when she doesn't have tools drowning it out, though; she misses about half of it but catches enough to know that she's interested. Pochi is now apparently definitely a dog, for the moment. He lets Nonon go without following because now he's distracted by Petra and Meika. Fortunately, he seems to appreciate the attention... and the jerky, because it's significantly better than some of the things he's eaten and also he's being fawned over. His tail wags. "Yeah, he's Pochi!" Rena is currently semi-occupied; she's hanging at an awkward angle, busily bolting some metal in place on a frame. But she can hear, and she can speak. "I couldn't think of what to call him at first - I wasn't expecting to find a colony of dogs when I rolled into the ruins, and I didn't expect one of them to follow me around after that. So I went with that at first, and it kinda stuck." ('Pochi', to the people here who speak Japanese, is about as default a name for a dog as 'Spot'... or Pooch. Rena speaks English, though.)
UFO Gang	Shou is willing to allow Pochi his space, and to simply have the pleasure of inter-being in the immediate area of a handsome dog. Pochi probably gets this a lot; do not many shibes? She tilts her head a little as Rena moves up but she's doing something technical. Well enough. "Indeed," Shou tells Petra as she hustles in, in case she needs confirmation of the Name of Dog. Shou turns her attention then towards Kukuru. "Hm... well, many merchants strive to live an ethical life, I think, but an underhanded dealer might be successful for a time... and in that time, their wealth might grow considerably, but so will the stock of poor karma that in time -- oh," Shou says suddenly, putting a hand to the tiger-striped part of her robe. "Oh, I understand. Don't worry, this isn't from another tiger!" Kukuru is given a thoughtful examination after this, even as Shou keeps her hand where Pochi can sniff it. Or lick it. Or nuzzle it. Or ignore it. Even a bite won't get a pained reaction. "Oh," Shou says. "Then you have many brothers and sisters... I hope that you are able to stay in touch with them, Pochi. Being separated from loved ones can be a great trial."
Angela	Nonno glances back over to Petra, "Well, I mean, like, you've been everywhere we've been and more is all." But she seems relieved to get some support on dog. She is further distracted by Shou admits the ship isn't hers and Nonon laughs, "Well I mean--even if it's not ''your'' ship if you serve on it..." ''it seems this place has fallen upon hard times. Is this so?'' "Lady, this place started on hard times."
Petra Soroka	> Hibiki and Ishirou     Petra watches the pair's backs as they converge while walking away. She can't hear what they're saying, but Hibiki looks the same as always, so it's easy to guess. It's always the same thing, over and over and over; those two are the best examples of it. "Are you okay? You look like shit." Something like that. And nothing changes, no matter how many times it's asked. Politeness is the enemy of actually expressing care to someone. "Hey! Miss Tachibana! Get some of this."     Petra twitches in surprise and refocuses herself, only realizing that she'd been staring at Hibiki's back long enough to risk her turning around and noticing. She turns back to Pochi, scratching his head to busy herself with doing something other than what she had been. Staring into space wasn't the only thing that jolted Petra with surprise at that, though.     "Are you... getting along better with Tachibana now?" There's no way for that question *not* to sound accusatory, or at the very least desperate, but she tries. "It's, uh... good you're not fighting." "I wasn't expecting to find a colony of dogs when I rolled into the ruins, and I didn't expect one of them to follow me around after that."     Petra snickers at something no one else hears, then shifts tones. Really, part of it is that she's relieved to get confirmation that this is a joke, and that she can be part of it rather than the butt of it, reassured by someone else who she *knows* would have a Normal experience with dogs.     "Well, that's sort of different, right? I mean, finding him in a random ruin and then he just tags along with you? That *does* sound more like a robot or something than a dog." Petra's gaslighting efforts are somewhat undercut by her murmuring 'who's a good boy?' while scratching Pochi's head.
Redshift Operators	"No, I'm pretty sure Pochi is a dog."     "That's a doggy, dear. There's entire stores with them, too!"     "Nahh, RD, this is clearly a dog!"     "I've-- I've seen lots of dogs. They're real. I know they are."     "Nah, that's what they want you to think."     "Do you hear yourself?"     "I'm just saying. Who do you think is gonna be gaining a lot from you thinking all these different animals are one species?"     "Nobody, Red Dwarf."     "Pretty much *any* animal-related industry. It's all industrial interests. The whole thing."     "That's right. No such thing."     "that's simply a case of the inherent illusory nature of all phenomena... What is the nature of 'Dog'?"     "See, some of you are catching on. They say it's a species, right? 'Dog' is, you know, it's defined by all being one species, all being cross-compatible, all being one type of thing you can treat the same way, *train* the same way..." The gruff leader who is actually sort of a crackpot nods as if dispensing some kind of wisdom.     "Think about it. That kind of one-size-fits-all approach just benefits the guys who wanna make the one size. Same as with humans, people wanna invent this one-size approach and where do they really beat the idea into you?" He waggles his hand forward and back, index finger pointed dramatically, as if delivering the final arguments on an airtight, self-evident case. "That whole bunch of animals that get called 'dog' that people in core worlds get to live with as much as they want."     "Please," His medic rubs her one cybernetic arm over her face. "Try to understand. We don't have many dogs in the frontier sector, so he... he's normally not like this."
Rita Ma	"'Not just a job anymore', huh," Bota says, just before he ducks back inside the community hall. The look on his face is fond. "How come everybody from a place called 'Lobotomy Corporation' is so nice."      Sea Monkey chews on Candy's words for a while. Her face is hidden, so the thoughtfulness is in how her fingers drum on the community hall's doorframe. "That how it is on land?" she finally says. "Sounds like it was someone you wanted to believe in that hurt you. Someone in community with you. It's not like that when you can just sail away. No reason not to just scare them into shutting up long enough, then."      But when he's done, and the M is revealed, she steps forward in slow reverence and awe. "What the hell?" she murmurs. Her fingers trace the 'M' over the sunrise. Then they pull away uneasily, like she might've polluted it.      "Yeah," she says, near-hoarse with nostalgia. "Figures. You talk like he did, too."      Bota leans against the edge of a table and takes a little bite of egg salad sandwich. He looks just about to address Kukuru, but the sandwich's mysteries briefly derail him: "Mmm. What is this stuff, Meika? It's a little bit like caviar, I guess? Pretty good."      When she asks about helping on the roof, he looks at her like he's just about to ask her qualifications, and then shuts his mouth when he recognizes her expression. "Yeah," he says with a tender smile. "If Huorong gives you any guff, tell him I saw potential in you, okay?"      But eventually, he can't put off what he's going to ask Kukuru any longer. "Listen," he says to her. "I know you can heal people even after they're dead. Those bodies... I talked people into refrigerating them, on the Union Busan. There was a huge fuss about it. I know you did what you did for a reason, so I almost don't feel right asking. But can you try to fix those people, for me? Please?"
Rita Ma	Outside, Sonia uses up her last needle and throws it back in the boiling pot. The line starts to disperse as she goes 'on break'; she stands with a little stretch and a surprisingly girlish squeak. With how her face drops back to serious-neutral after, it can't have been on purpose.      "No," she says to Shajo and Candy. "I talked it over with Bota, after. When his mom died, they buried her at sea. And his dad was on the run from Union Busan, so they were in the furthest spot from civilization. You know where that is?"      She points towards the sunset. "Here. The Nest. When her body sank..."      Then she crosses her arms, looks off to the side, and sighs. Her current level of irritation can't be held.      "Look," she says. "I'm not mad. Not really. And it can't completely be Lisa. From all I've heard, Lisa wouldn't do the things the Queen's done."      Her eye contact is sharp when she sweeps it over the crowd. "But Rita wouldn't do some of the things Rita's done, either. So don't blame him if he still gets torn up about it. Alright? Just... look out for his feelings."      She's a little weirdly overprotective of a guy who's seemed mostly steady.
Rita Ma	"What?" Huorong says at Stanley, looking up from his working crouch with a contortedly bewildered expression. "A musical? Only pipe you need for that's your windpipe. Kids these days."      Huorong listens to Ishirou and Rena while tightening a bolt, shoulders tensing. It seems like he's not entirely sure on whether to believe them or not, at first. "Yeah," he finally says, shaking his head while reaching for a new tool. "That's true. Everybody ought to make sure the community stays afloat. Only, most folks like you don't see it that way. Only lately that any of the Harpoonists did. How come you've got your heads screwed on tighter?"      He turns around to appraise Hibiki with a shrewd look and a legendarily-bushy raised eyebrow. There really is no scrutiny like Old Man Scrutiny. "Uh-huh," he says, before pulling down a welding mask. "You're a kid dressed like that, you got some kind of gas weapon on your arms, and I heard you chantin' something on your way up."      "This one of those times when you say, 'I'm not a hero anymore', 'cause you're down on your luck? Or should I just not ask?"      The Boss manages to ignore Red Giant for a few moments, but eventually he sighs grimly, pivots on his heel, and saunters forward until they're almost chest-to-chest on the roof. He's older, and whole a foot shorter, but his shoulders are nearly as broad.      "Hey," he says. Behind the welding mask, his face is equally unreadable. "I don't know if you know this, kid, but you've got a problem." His finger pokes the towering merc's solar plexus. "It's getting on my nerves. For your own good, how 'bout you don't come around here 'til it's sorted?"      He reaches into his back pocket and pulls out an ancient inhaler, rattling it and pressing it into Red Giant's palm. How considerate! That'll help with that labored breathing! Then he's back to work.
Redshift Operators	The dangerous, ominous giant looms near the Boss. One good eye gleams, and the breathing gets heavier, more staticky for a moment as he's jabbed in the midsection... A little gravel enters his throat as he replies: "You want to *resolve some problems?*" The eye shines, death and finality. "Really want to *bet something important* on this?"     And then he grips the inhaler. And puts it up against the front of his mask(???) before taking a long drag of the thing. "Hmmh. Thank you." A half minute or so later, his breathing is perfectly calmed. He's actually humming softly. Is that how it works? Is that what's going on? Is he just really, really asthmatic??? Well, the noise is less. At least, it's less when he's not grabbing large pipes and physically wrenching them into shape with his hands. Because he's just so grateful that the boss wanted to resolve some problems, and that he was willing to donate some of these scarce medical supplies to try fixing things!
UFO Gang	Shou looks at Nonon with sympathy. "We all serve," she says, which probably has cult vibes, but she moves on to, "I don't believe that we had a great deal, but there aren't exactly a great number of us either... let's see... we have..." Shou looks at the sky. Back down to Nonon. "Rice? And tea. I will speak with them." ON THE DECK OF THE TREASURE SHIP Nazrin observes the assemblage through a spyglass. The spyglass is held up to the visor of her Space Fun Helmet. "I can't make them out." Ichirin reaches over to fiddle with the Helmet. She was not asked. *beep* "!!!" BACK ON 'LAND' Shou considers the words of the Redshifters. "Hm... Of course, for those of us who aren't endowed with the higher realms of consciousness, treating one another each as truly unique and singular individuals is quite difficult... we do share many similarities. But..." Shou looks upon the medic with a benign smile. "If dogs are rare... then it will be far easier for you to treat each and every one as an individual. Isn't it fortunate to be able to spend time with such an excellent dog?" Shou also glances towards Bota as he speaks to Kukuru but holds her peace. Then again, 'interrupting a conversation about dead bodies' rarely goes well.
Ishirou	Ishirou turns to the boss while he organizes things up.  The talk below about Lisa seems handled, and... honestly, he doesn't have much more to say.  He speaks to Sonia from his position, "Alright.  You're right.  I'll do better about that going forward.  I can't imagine how he feels about what's happening." To the Boss, he speaks evenly, "What caused my head to be screwed on straighter?" he pauses, thinking for barely any time at all, "Lilian Rook." he says almost immediately.  "She's a good role model, and someone who's helped tighten my head on straighter so to speak.  We're part of society, even if we're powered and all that..." "Even if our societies are flawed and messed up.  We just can't stop being a part of them, and I guess I want to be the change I want to see in them.  I..." he says pausing, "...messed up a while ago with that, lost sight of what was important.  It takes a lot to get back on that track and remember those lessons because you think you have to be the one to do everything..." "Anyway, I'm all done here, I can start running things out to people who need it!" he announces to the boss, the piles of materials perfectly arranged.  He goes to carry some things off to Hibiki, and ends up landing near her. "It's not nothing, so stop trying to pretend.  What's going on?" he asks her more firmly this time.  "The problem is written on your face, or rather... that there is one," he says smiling at Stanley.  He places some bolts and pipes down and turns his attention right back at Hibiki.
Rena	"I mean, he wasn't the only dog there. I found out later that there'd been dogs in that area probably since the Great Destruction," is Rena's reply to Petra; on *that* topic she's not going to be gaslit, she knows Pochi isn't a robot. "Before that I hadn't seen one either. There's still rumours of the Last Chihuahua, hunting out there... But yeah, the tagging along was new. I wonder if someone tried to tame him once, before?" Pochi seems pretty tame, honestly. He has mostly decided to stay with Petra and Meika over Shou, who is still confusing him. Maybe it's the tiger pelt. Maybe it's the actual tiger! 'How come you've got your heads screwed on tighter?' Rena has to think about that one for a moment. She doesn't answer for a few moments, ostensibly because she's busy, but she does eventually answer. Eventually. "Where I'm from," Rena says, slowly at first but picking up, "there's not a whole lot left. About, oh, seventy years ago, there was what we call the Great Destruction. Not many people survived. The people who did mostly hid in the ruins, at first, and only later came out to rebuild." "Some of the places, there was a leader who took charge. Whether good or bad at first, they're mostly bad now. We've got bandits and warlords and criminals. But other places, it was just the people. A council, maybe." As Rena goes, she seems to relax - she chooses her words less precisely, seems more likely to go on a little more rather than being terse. Is that a front? "My adoptive mother was a Hunter and I learned to be. We go places and do things. A lot of the time we hunt things, or people; we bring back supplies or salvage from dangerous places, we deal with biomonsters and robots, we find people. And, yeah, we get paid for it, since it's stuff nobody else can do. Sometimes a lot. Some of us are more bounty hunters, some are vigilantes. It's kind of a glamorous job. Kids want to grow up and be Hunters, though mostly they're not." "But there's a lot of towns like this out there, places built on ruins and scraps. I'm from one - Azusa, it's built under and on top of an old busted train track. And I'm based in another - Mado, which got burned down by slavers, I'm helping get it back on its feet. I owe some people there a whole lot. So..." Rena shrugs. "It just feels right. If everybody ignores everyone else, nothing'll ever get done." "Not that that's all I do, though. But, you know." Rena seems slightly embarrassed for having said so much, and trails off.
Stanley Padgett	"Oy oy." Stanley points a finger at THE BOSS. "No no no, the people on stage need something to act in and around. Our set guy was a madman, wanted a bunch of middle schoolers to build and weld like... 4 big pieces of set they could wheel around and put into place for scenes. Not surprisingly, the school had just gotten a bunch of new metal fab kits for the tech wing."     Stanley poses a moment, hand over his heart, gazing out across the roof, while Hibiki and R-G bend pipe. "The children yearn for the acetylene, Mr. Huorong!" The act drops, and Stanley is right back to hauling metal. "Really wish I coulda seen how that show ended up, I moved again before open."     Ishi and Huorong are picking up on stuff as well, and Stanley finally does stop to properly look at Hibiki. He catches the look from Ishi, too. "It'd be good to talk about it, but I understand if the time for that isn't here, in front of everyone." He rubs his hands on his pants, getting more grease on the slacks, in order to hold a cleaner hand out to Hibiki. "I'm no hero either. We can be not-heroes together."
Angela	''How come everybody from a place called Lobotomy Corporation' is so nice.'' "I wouldn't say everybody. Chewie used to eat--" A small pause as Shajo realizes that at this point in his life he can't even say that's really disqualifying. "--Really nasty stuff and would go on and on about it." He finishes lamely instead of admitting his anti-cannibal biases. Fortunately Bota is outta there before he can see Shajo's arms slump and let out a small breath of relief. Feeling metaphysically small he says, softly, "...We're nice?" Gebura would've remarked on the family resemblance in this moment. He didn't follow in, mostly because of that moment, allowing SOnia to grill him. Shajo rubs at his neck. He'd normally tell Sonia that they're here to do a job and that Bota's feelings kind of have to come secondary to defeating the Queen because of all the MURDER she's planning on. But... Instead he says this, "...I'd rather be hated by him than see him dead, but I'll try for neither." He thinks about his own mother. Or he would, if he actually remembered anything about her. "I'm not blaming him for anything. I'm pissed. I'm pissed that the Queen's trying to take advantage of his feelings to put his sister in danger, to put all of you in danger. And maybe, yeah, ''us'' in danger. That's... It's just ''fucked up''. She could end this fight whenever she wants just by ''stopping''. That was always an option, stopping." He steadies himself. "We'll die to protect them, Sonia. We were sent here to help save the world on paper but I don't think that's the real reason Angela sent us. She's not the type to care about worlds." MEANWHILE Nonon grins and wraps an arm around Shou's shoulders whether she wants it or not. "Aha! That's the spirit! Rice and tea's probably way better than the shit these folks normally eat, and since you weren't part of the expedition we won't have to worry about the warriors going hungry if you can lend a hand! Just make sure you don't overdo it, you gotta eat too, probably!" She GUA HA HA HA HAs like a Chrono Trigger character, hands on hips and cackling for a minute. "But yeah, we're not really being too judgy because like--you get it, even if you don't ''get'' it get it, you get it."
Meika Kirenai	'Are you... getting along better with Tachibana now?'     "Huh? We're- Who said anything about better? Bota just-" Accusatory tones are like an electric shock to Meika's demeanor. "That's it. It's just cocoa. She's still- Tachibana's-" A faint flinch, as Meika puts together a bit of what sparked that question.     "It's not like it's even good. It's meant more for everyone else. But if she'd be useless without something, then it's just... her loss for bothering, right?" She shrugs, watching the ember of the cigarette between her fingers. The difference in investment might be clearer to Petra, at least. "Don't worry about it, or something." 'Mmm. What is this stuff, Meika?'     "Huh? Mister Bota? It's just-" Oh. They definitely don't have chickens, do they? "Egg salad. It's just cooked chicken eggs, and... a sauce, made of... I guess that's also chicken eggs? If I keep saying egg it's going to stop sounding real..." She quickly hushes up.     The flinch that comes right before Bota chooses not to press more ought to confirm, to him, his choice in action. The smile he gives, though, makes it obviously intentional- and that makes it just a bit harder to swallow. "Yeah. Will do, Mister Bota." Are you asking me to lie?     The claim that it's 'not exactly a hero's work up here' is actually comforting, once Meika's clambered up the ladder to where she can bother lending a hand- heroic things here haven't worked out well. Busy work is nice. Things with physical tasks and teamwork and listening to called-out instructions are easy, familiar. Something to fill time and fill purpose. It's like fixing up that scooter. But bigger. A lot bigger. That it's work in proximity to a few of the people she most doesn't want to overhear conversation from at the moment, though, sours it a little. 'I'm not a hero, so this stuff suits me just fine.'     Even if she didn't want to, Meika's hearing is too keen to miss this- and she's unfortunately primed to get her thoughts stuck on it as she's closing in. "Do you just get madder when it's others pointing out you aren't, Tachibana..?" Softer, it's harder to tell how jabbing Meika's tone is meant to be. Especially when she's not even looking the symphogear user's way. It'd be generous to assume that's because she's working on twisting pipes. To the Boss, "Maybe you should ask others about her, you know. You might get a better idea than anything from her mouth."     Already, perhaps it's a mistake for her to be up there. Sorry, Bota.
Candy	Figures. You talk like he did, too.     Candy rolls his arm a few times, working out a kink or ache. His peacoat lies on a nearby chair, but he stands and surveys Sea Monkey's reaction to his work.     "Yeah? Teon's Spanish was probably better," jokes the farmer. He takes a deep breath, sighing through his nose, before packing his power tools into the box which held the vinyls.     "I wish I'd known him," Candy says. "But I know his work when I see it, ah? I like to think he knew that even on the water, you can't sail away. Not really." He nods towards the line.     "Whatever ships these people came from, before they ended up here--no matter how far away they go, they leave their marks all the same." Here. The Nest. When her body sank...     Candy's nostrils flare in irritation. No. No fucking way. And it can't completely be Lisa. From all I've heard, Lisa wouldn't do the things the Queen's done. You're goddamn right it can't. I don't care who was buried. What got up -isn't- her. Just... look out for his feelings.     "Look..." Candy sighs, tossing the rag aside, his own irritation withering alongside Sonia's. "I wouldn't wanna be in his shoes," he admits to Sonia, as he peers out the door. "So I'm not gonna jump into the middle of his shit for how he deals. Don't worry about that."     Eager to think of something else, he turns to the old lady who'd been pretending not to listen, standing in line. "Hey, granny, come over here. Nobody's gonna cut you in line, don't worry." He waves her over, then motions at the jukebox.     "This'll play music. You use the keys to pick the song you want, and the red button plays. It'll play 'em in the order you picked 'em, up to 12 at a time. Give it a try, ah?" The songs are listed out on a little rotating placard. Most of them are in Spanish--they're probably all things Candy heard on the radio back home.
Kukuru	"I hope they do. Even if they might have to do bad things sometimes, if their hearts are in the right place..." Kukuru starts replying to Shou, steadily sounding less and less sure of herself by the time she trails off on that thought completely. At any other time prior to today, she probably would have been totally fine with just finishing that declaration about intent versus actions without a hint of irony. Today, though... She's not so sure anymore. Shou mentioning karma has Kukuru's mind digging itself deeper into a hole, but she's able to pull herself back out once Shou gestures at the tiger-stripes. Apparently, Kukuru's also easy to snap out of funks with just some strong visuals! "It isn't? Oh, that's a neat design, then... Did you want one from a real tiger, though?" She asks with a curious tone in her voice and a glint in her eyes that suggests that Kukuru might actually/eventually act based on Shou's answer. Red Dwarf starts going into his theories on dogs, and Kukuru listens closely and considers it all. Unfortunately, White Dwarf's explanation somehow manages not to land nearly as much as what Red Dwarf's going for, and Kukuru lets out an awed noise as she starts connecting some of the dots herself. "So all those small ones and big ones  and the super fuzzy ones and even those long funny ones are... Not just dogs after all? And the really big ones in the wild..." Luckily, Bota knows just how to pull Kukuru's mind towards less conspiratorial matters. When Huorong is mentioned, Kukuru chuckles softly and nods with a confident flex of her arm that doesn't look particularly muscled at all. "Mhm! Bending those pipes should be pretty easy as long as I don't snap them. They're not thaaat weak, right?" It's not pipe fixing he's looking for her to do, though, but reviving the dead. Before she can even think of explaining the necessity of keeping the bodies preserved, however, Bota proves that he's already thought way ahead of that, and that look on Kukuru's face somehow manages to soften even more. "Oh, you've thought of everything already... Ah, except one thing." Bota's question gets Kukuru laughing and closing her eyes, taking a moment to mull over Bota being far nicer to her about what happened than she would have... Expected? Deserved.. Eventually, she throws her arms around Bota in a tight, yet gentle hug, letting out a pleased noise and wiping away a tear with how much joy that question brings her. "Of course, dear. You shouldn't have to feel that way, because you're Rita's family, and Rita's..." Come to think of it, what is Rita's relationship with Kukuru? She's not a member of the Concord, so there's no direct connection like there would be with Angela and the Agents. Instead... "... One of my favorite nieces." She affirms with a light nod, releasing Bota a moment later and sighing softly in relief. "That means you and Kana are family, too. Of course I'll do it. They might be a little scared if they see me when they wake up, though, so... Do you think I should wear a mask?"
Petra Soroka	"You don't have to be told for it to matter, right?"     "Nah, I mean..." Petra finally parts from Pochi, to talk with Meika without the cluster of other dog-petters around. "We're not *really* in trouble. Even if the islanders dislike us, it's not like we'd ever have to see them again, and we'd still be *saving their lives* if we didn't come back until the last fight."     "So there's no one who *can* get us in trouble here." Because Lilian isn't here, that's true for both of them for different reasons. "Like, we're not actually stuck with any of this. They've got nothing they could do to us. That's sort of what the..." Petra holds up her hand and mimes a trigger pull. "What the gun represents."     "So it's silly to feel like we're in trouble, and pathetic because the reason I do is just..." She laughs a little, dropping her hand to her side, then says bluntly, "She's old." "You can just order stuff like that if you know supervillains..?"     "Well, I *am* a supervillain." As haughtily-insistent as Petra says it, she also winces, forgetting whether this has come up around Meika before. Is this one of those things Lilian would tell her to hide from Meika? Is being a supervillain like being gay? "But yeah, especially since basically every tech-based supervillain knows Doctor Eggman? *He* never needs to outsource anything like that, he just makes it himself, but his name's got a ton of weight for, like, what I'm able to get access to from other people."     "It's a lot of networking, surprisingly. But, like, the cool kind of networking, where if you get a reputation you can buy a big laser that destroys a moon, rather than getting a five percent discount on your monthly paper order." Petra's cigarette butt is flicked backwards over the side of trash island. This being trash island, it probably just ends up back drifting into a clump of sludge or shipping containers anyways. "I really need to get my own name out there, too. I talked about that a bit with Princess, another supervillain. There's a meetup that happens sometimes, but I keep being... busy. So I haven't really met many myself." 'Busy' in this case being in jail one time, and having her phone confiscated by Lilian another. "Before that I hadn't seen one either."     "No, okay then, actually--" Given a reason to gaslight by Meika, Petra invests herself fully in arguing that dogs aren't real, just for the fun of it. She makes a critical error, though: Petra Soroka is not immune to gaslighting. "*Actually* how can you be sure if he's a dog? There was an apocalypse? Maybe it's been long enough that Pochi doesn't even count as a dog by a normal defintion, like, because of those changes over time. You wouldn't have one to compare him to."     Nodding thoughtfully along with Red Dwarf, in a display that can only possibly be interpreted as masterful acting or pathetic instability in her entire worldview, Petra draws out her words like she's coming to a gradual conclusion. "That's actually kind of true, right? People make all this fuss about the different needs that different breeds of dogs have, but then when it comes down to it, they're all treated the exact same way with different, like, coats of paint. It's always leashes, and training, and treats, and whatever. But that totally could just be because it's a lot easier for people to wrap their heads around 'dog training' than 'greyhound training', and maybe dogs would be better off if there wasn't that kind of umbrella expectation."
Petra Soroka	Brows furrowed in intensely useless thought, rapidly losing the thread of the conversation. "So Pochi probably *isn't* a dog, because he doesn't get *treated* like any other dog does. Which is... good? I-- um. I don't know what I mean."     The rooftops, with Ishirou, Stanley, and Hibiki, are a hostile zone that Petra can't bring herself to get involved in. She'd be relatively well-equipped, and she'd come here with the idea of doing construction work, but it's probably for the best that she doesn't add her own thoughts to the handful of people slapping each other on the back and agreeing that they're not heroes. Not out of an informed decision to avoid conflict at a time that it's unnecessary-- she just feels exhausted, preemptively, at the idea.     Instead, Petra goes to Sonia. "Hey, uh. Want any help getting the vaccines out? I don't have extra needles, but I've got alcohol wipes and some training, so..."
Hibiki Tachibana	Hey! Miss Tachibana! Get some of this.     "You can just set it down there," Hibiki flatly calls back from above. "I'll make sure to grab it after I've gotten these out of the way." Rather than an outright denial or prickly brushing off, it sounds more like an actual, normal reply - half because she's distracted with having something to busy her hands with, and half because appending 'miss' to her name makes it slow to process that it was even Meika who offered it in the first place.     As if those four letters were some cheat code that got rid of the stigma of using her last name only. It's not really, but Petra might take the lack of ire in her voice the wrong way. How long that'll last is up in the air, given said magical girl is on her way up too, after.     This one of those times when you say, 'I'm not a hero anymore', 'cause you're down on your luck? Or should I just not ask?     Hearing Huorong say that, Hibiki pauses mid-pipe management-- and then, despite herself and her generally dour demeanor today, actually snorts. Under her scarf, one corner of her lips turns up just a little. Weird. Even she thinks so. She's so quick to seriously deny it any time the word is thrown her way, but hearing the Boss put it like that in his Old Man way makes it impossible to take it quite the same way.     Do you just get madder when it's others pointing out you aren't, Tachibana..?     Meika sobers her back up, though. The way she pauses, it's up in the air on if she'll bring herself to say anything or not - or how it'll come out. But when she does, it's surprisingly(?) level. A little wistful, maybe.     "...Nah. It's not like that. Just having some... outfit or powers or anything like that doesn't make you one, does it? It shouldn't." She trails off briefly, just so the screech of metal being brute forced into shape won't drown her out. A couple more small bends, and she's satisfied enough to move onto the next.     "...I'm just trying to make sure someone important to me can come home. And that they'll have a world to come back to at all. I'm not a hero more than any normal harpoonist on the Busan. That kind of title doesn't feel right."     It's not nothing, so stop trying to pretend.     ...I understand if the time for that isn't here, in front of everyone.     A little bit of her Downer Aura returns at being prodded, although a sigh has Hibiki brushing it off for the most part, glancing from Ishirou to Stanley. "...Thanks. For worrying, that is. It really isn't anything outta the ordinary, though. Just-- feelings to work through. And things I still gotta figure out."     Predicting Ishirou won't be happy with that response even if Stanley is content, she adds on after a moment, a little easier, "...It's not all stuff that other people can help with. There's some things I can only sort out on my own. You know? ...But we'll talk. And... yeah. You and Charlotte can tell me all the stories that I've missed, yeah, Stanley?"
UFO Gang	"Hm... well," Shou answers Kukuru, looking downwards, "It's not so much that it's tiger skin as that it's part of me. I'm not exactly a tiger, but I suppose that you could say I share some of the 'Karma' of tigers... Which has its own burdens." An arm goes around Shou's shoulders. Shou actively tolerates this. Her face is undisturbed. Nonon may have a feeling like she's leaning on the altar in church, but Shou says, "Warriors...? How unfortunate. Strength may be needed at times, but I hope that whatever ails these people, that they will be able to draw strength from the assistance of all of you." "Especially you," she remarks to Pochi. Because: dog. "My fellow students are likely worrying about me," Shou says, as she wiggles a little loose of Nonon's grasp with a casual shrug. "I will drop off what it is that we can spare and I hope that all of you will share it fairly for the benefit of all suffering beings." Shou bows her head, taps her ceremonial spear thingy on the ground, and... ... backfloats away rapidly. It may occur to some individuals later that Shou never actually gave her name, other than 'a representative of Bishamonten' and 'a follower of Hijiri.' But the good news is: nine fifty-pound sacks of rice and one big ol' brick of fermented black tea are donated from the docks. "So long!" calls a sailor girl on deck as the ship starts to sail away, independent of prevailing winds.
Ishirou	When Hibiki goes to explain further, Ishirou holds up his hands to her.  "Alright, I believe you," he says, knowing very well that he doesn't believe her, but he's come to a point where he understands you can't force things out.  He wanted to, of course, because his desire to want to make things alright kicked in, but right now..? He has to accept there are things he can't control.  This is one of them.  "We can talk if you want to.  But... I guess work through what you want to first, yeah?  Just... I'm worried for ya.  Alright?" he says, with a smile to Hibiki.  "Sorry if I was getting to in your face about it."
Meika Kirenai	'That kind of title doesn't feel right.'     "How come you sound okay with that?" There's the usual bitterness Meika hosts. "At least you're right that powers and blessings don't make you a hero. But you don't have to gloat about how the issue with you is you. Everyone can always tell." The pipes Meika is working on, with borrowed tools and mundane elbow grease, squeak in a shrill, ugly way as she tries to twist their sockets tighter.     More magical girl ire radiates from her, as she can't help but overhear Hibiki and Ishirou's chatter. "Oh. You're just doing it for pity. I get it." It's not whispered. Hibiki might wish it was.
Stanley Padgett	"Oh. You're just doing it for pity. I get it."     "Does the idea that people might want to offer comfort and help to each other threaten you that much, Chevalier Vermillion?" Stanley turns to look at the Mean Girl-ing going on. He leans on the section of scaffolding he'd been carrying. "Is it pity when you and Petra offer help to each other? Or is the issue just when Hibiki does it?"
Rita Ma	Huorong grunts in Rena and Ishirou's direction. "Yeah," he says, and flips up his welding mask to look back at them again. "If you don't want it to go to your head, you gotta stay close to the people who do your plumbing. Sounds like you're keeping track of that."      "When the 'heroes' are their own little club," he sighs while taking a bent pipe from Hibiki, "and they don't know who makes their toilets flush, then you got problems. Then they start saying stuff like, 'be grateful'. Or, 'we're the sheepdogs and you're the sheep'. Or, worse," punctuated by a ratchet's click-click-clack, "'we know best'. Pfuh. From people who don't even know why you can't join iron and copper."      He shakes his head without taking an eye off the water tank. "You're not that type. If you ever meet that type, do me a favor and kick 'em in the head."      He turns midway through manipulating another piece of metal to look at Stanley tightly. "Child labor, huh?" He's a little bit too buttoned-down for this.      A minute later, his welding stops. Meika and Hibiki find Huorong's shadow falling over both of them. "Hey," he says, in a way that radiates Adult Concern. Then he unslings a pipe segment the size of a log from his shoulder and drops it between them.      "That needs to be about twice as long," he says. "So you take one end, and she takes the other, and you both pull real hard until it's done. Got it?"      He dusts off his hands as he turns back around, like he's completely sure this will solve all their tension.
Hibiki Tachibana	"You're fine, Ishirou." Hibiki doesn't seem terribly bothered after the fact. "I know I'm a mess to manage. And that you care. That's why I don't want you worrying more than you have to. ...So trust me when I say I'll be fine for now, yeah?" A little bit of her smile comes back, given the both of them know the deal with one another at this point.     How come you sound okay with that?     "...Why's it have to be an issue? Should I have to want to be a 'hero'?" Oh, there's the usual bitterness Hibiki hosts. At least it's offhand, and not in the vein of especially trying to start an argument. She already didn't want to bother even risking it with Petra. And she's not especially keen for that now, either.     Oh. You're just doing it for pity. I get it.     "Hey--" /That/ gets her voice to drop, and she's already standing up and whirling even as Stanley steps in-- but it's Huorong's shadow that disperses the building atmosphere of girl drama. The power of Adult Concern is, at least, something that Hibiki understands. And that's what gets her to pause, purse her lips, look up to him with a furrowed brow...     ...and then spend a solid three seconds staring down at the log-sized pipe bequeathed unto them. ". . ."     Her eyes shut, and there's a long exhale. "...You got it, sir. And... ...if it's a favor, I'll give 'em a boot. Just for you." Her tone straddles the line between sarcasm and being entirely genuine. When she opens her eyes to look back to Meika, though, there's a wary tension. Before she reaches down to do as asked, getting a tight grip on one end of the heavy metal.     "...Well. No choice but to do it, right?"
Rita Ma	"Yeah, I know you're not blaming him," Sonia says to Shajo, arms awkwardly crossed as she leans her butt against the inoculation desk. "You do seem like a good guy, like he said. Even if you're, uh, kind of weirdly devoted to that company?"      She blows a lock of blue hair out of her face as a restless fidget. Why she keeps her 'bangs' that messy is a mystery, except that it makes her look sporty. "To tell you the truth, I'm not all that fond of Bota's sister. But I'd give anything to see the Queen dead too. Whether Lisa's still in there, doesn't matter if she's going to end the world. Right?"      "Just, I guess..." Her eyes wander over to Candy. She pushes a malaised little smile up onto her cheeks. "If she tries to manipulate him again. Be there for him if I can't. Okay?"      Her eyes wander down to the deck, and her lips part, but she can't find words for whatever else is on her mind. Then Petra comes over, and they shut again in a little gratified smile. She leans back with arms spread wide. "Oh, you're sweet. I'd love the help. Sea Monkey bailed on me to ogle the jukebox guy. You'd never guess, but I think she's actually kind of a freak?"      Sea Monkey, the furthest thing from a freak, pretends not to hear.      Sonia, circling her desk again to sit down with Petra, finally finds her words for Shajo. "Just... most of us aren't making it through this. You know that, right? So... I wanted to have a backup. On keeping him steady. God knows Kana's not the type."
Meika Kirenai	- - Slightly Earlier (not on rooftops) - - 'What the gun represents.'     Meika is quiet, after hearing that, for a concerningly long pause. "I guess it is." Then, a faint little laugh. "Yeah. She's- she's old. It feels bad..? But she was... If it'd feel less bad if she wasn't, then maybe it just... Ahah.."     "I know I should be in trouble for that." Another pause. "But if we aren't, anyways..." Meika leaves off at that, scratching absentmindedly at her left arm. 'Well, I *am* a supervillain.'     Meika should be more critical of the surprised/impressed eye-widening that this comment causes in her. "Like... a real one? Like the other ones on the radio? One tried to help me with- Um, anyways. Are you really both a supervillain, and a Lobotomy Corporation employee..?" Suddenly, she quiets up, and claps her hands over her mouth. "W-wait, that's not your cover, is it?"     The nervous worry about this abates, pretty quickly. She wouldn't bring it up if it was too big of a secret, right? The cigarette bobs up and down in her mouth, a bit, as she chews its end. "The good kind of networking? It- well, I guess even the boring kind is close to cooler things. And if you're trying to get your name out... Oh! Are you trying to get scouted for something? Are there... villain competitions?" Whatever Meika is thinking about is likely far-removed from what Petra's intent to convey was, and again- Meika ought to be more concerned with her own eagerness.     "Are you planning on blowing up someone's moon? Can you really get someone's help to do that..?" Ratbots: a slippery slope. - - Slightly Now-er (on the rooftops) - - 'Should I have to want to be a 'hero'?'     "Don't- don't give me that. Why are you even here if you don't? Lying's a sin, Tachibana." Distant, like waves and thunder cracking long off-shore, there's a faint little rumble as Meika's hand grabs tightly around one of the bolted pipes. She stretches out an arm, and pops the remnant of her cigarette out of her mouth, crumpling it up in-hand, the ash smearing a bit on her jacket cuff, and the ember burning a decent bit. "Whatever."     Stanley's butt-in gets Meika to actually whip around. "Threaten? What the hell is that supposed to mean? Petra doesn't- I don't want pity! What do I have to do with that? What does she? What the f-" 'Hey,'     Immediately, Meika goes completely silent. Not 'stop talking' silent, but 'heart-beats imperceptible' silent. Immediate fear spikes through her throat, and it's only just alleviated when the pipe winds up out-of-hand and cast down onto the floor between the two bickering magical girls.     "R-right. Sorry, sir." Her reply is muttered, inordinately for the effort it takes to say anything at all. To Hibiki, "No choice but try, yeah."     From the way Meika's grip seems to be struggling and faltering, it's clear both how much of the actual success hinges on Hibiki- and how much Meika should, and won't, say anything about not actually posessing the strength to do what was asked.     Boss Huourong is right, at least, that it'd shut Meika up- with how the girl is viewing it as a punishment akin to 'sprint till you drop', and with all the effort she's giving into it still, catching breath is a far greater concern than bickering. The sour glare, though, remains.
Angela	''weirdly devoted to that company?'' "I can't actually live topside anymore." Shajo admits. "I mean I guess I probably could flee into the multiverse but I get to work with a legend so ... Nonon followed me, she's strong enough to do whatever she wants but she followed me there." He looks over to her for a moment, thinking that Sonia is making this request of the wrong Agent--he can't speak for Candy, of course-- ''To tell you the truth, I'm not all that fond of Bota's sister.'' "She's a woman of dualities from what I've seen, so it makes sense that she has folks that love her to bits and folks that can't stand her." He doesn't mention he's borrowing Abnormality language there but he nods long to what Sonia is willing to spend. "Makes sense. A lot of the time, you don't get a chance to make a better future, folks act like it's easy but most of it is just plodding along keeping things going. Having the opportunity is a gift and demanding." He feels like he has an understanding with Sonia, he pulls back a bit when Petra speaks to her but it's... It's those last words from Sonia that really give him pause. Maybe it's his upbringing amongst the Middle but he never quite abandoned the idea of a tight-knit 'Family' of peers. "Yeah. ... That's why only Disciplinary's on this one not countin' Petra." He doesn't get into why only Disciplinary is so expendable but he does add, "He'll bawl his eyes out over ya so don't do anything reckless but...yeah, if it goes bad, you can trust in us bracing him." And even the others, he thinks. He'll make Gebura promise too if he has to however hopeless making Gebura do anything is.
Rita Ma	Sea Monkey, still as a statue, ruminates on Candy's words for a moment. Her gloves creak when she finally fidgets. "Ripples around the world, huh. That's what you're saying. Even if two people never meet..."      She reaches into one of the ammo pouches on her suit's legs, and pulls out something that isn't ammo. Her pinched fingers hold it out to Candy for examination. It's an empty thumb-sized gas cartridge, exactly like the ones on the sword Bota carries now, but older and corroded. Maybe twenty years older, if you had to guess.      "Their kindnesses can touch?"      Sea Monkey steps back when the old woman approaches, beckoned in by Candy. "I have a name, you know," she scolds gently. "It's Gertrude to you. Now, what's this?"      Recognition takes a minute to dawn. When it does, her face crinkles in nostalgic agony. Gertie's finger trembles when she presses the red button. "Young man," she says, raspily overcome as the first few notes come on. "It's been so long since we've had any music."      Sea Monkey leans back against the wall and relaxes, absorbing the moment.      "Huh? Wait, what'd I forget? Don't tell me--" Bota should be grateful for the tunes. They keep everyone in the whole hall from hearing his undignified "nmmp!!" when he's squozen by Kukuru.      "Oh, thank goodness," he breathes with temporarily diminished lung capacity. "Then that's... we can actually leave this place better than we found it. Even if a mask might be a little too much? You're the best, Kukuru." His arms shakily return the hug, and his chin rests against her shoulder, and she can feel the tension slowly leave his body.      "... Hey, hang on a minute."      "Niece?! What's going on out there?!"
Stanley Padgett	"Threaten? What the hell is that supposed to mean? Petra doesn't- I don't want pity!"     Stanley opens his mouth to continue the point, when the Shadow Of Authority looms over the set of them. And while the Fencer escapes the true wrath of "Get Along-er Pipe", he knows he missed it by that much. He watches the En-Stretchening for a long moment or two, before sliding around to the other side of the now constructed tower... letting out a breath.     A long breath. His heart is thundering in his chest.     "Goddammit Stanley. That's not how things are supposed to go. What the fuck is wrong with you?" He stares off the roof at people milling about, and centers, as he gets back to work. Working is good. He can't insult and distance himself from spring steel and welds.
Candy	Even if two people never meet... Their kindnesses can touch?     Candy beholds the cartridge as if looking at an ancestral family heirloom. Silently, he asks permission with his eyes to take it briefly into his hands. If given, he turns it slowly around, wearing a curious little smile. "Yeah," he says, briefly radiating warmth, as he nods, and returns it to her. It's Gertrude to you.     "Sorry, Gertrude," he says, his smile a shade guiltier. Young man, it's been so long since we've had any music.     "I hoped you'd like it," he quietly beams. The acoustic guitar and the fiddle make for a rustic, bare bones sound that, paired with the singers--a sonorous tenor quartet--reaches straight for the heart. Its mood might be described as sweetly nostalgic. "This is... music from my world."     "Good choice, by the way," says Candy, with a warm little smile.     The song is a historical account of a battle in 'the revolution,' praising the heroism of the working people who fought for a better future, praising the principles of a rebel general named Ybarra, and noting the ignominious end of her then-feared adversary, during a pitched battle in San Luis.     Candy allows himself to take a seat, sighing contently at his handiwork. He shares--or at least, thinks he shares (the helmet makes it pretty difficult) a knowing glance with Sea Monkey, as the song tells its story. A drink is offered, to the harpoonist, seemingly from nowhere--Candy's favorite beer, a top-fermented strong pale ale, 'EL BASTARDO.' Even without it, the music is a pleasant way to spend what remains of the evening.