Scene #9185: Welcome to Hell Riku!!

Owner	Pose
Angela	Angela is a little uneasy about letting Lobotomy Corp be someone's first big engagement with the Multiverse. Mostly because it doesn't feel proper. As Petra said, Riku seemed like a general Hero type and she can't exactly put her faith in heroes. She was frankly lucky that Lilian happened to be a particular kind of Hero. Still, refusing the help of a Hero--she knows--is bound to encourage that 'Hero' to try and help her anyway. She doesn't know of any story where a Hero, upon their help being refused, decides to just give up. Not giving up is a key component of heroism after all. She is wary of introducing a new element this late in the game but at the same time... She's not sure how it will go. There are some things she can't risk, certainly, but there are paths to victory that she'd prefer to avoid. In truth, she doesn't know who would stand with her and who would stand with the Sephirah should a conflict like that come to pass but either way she's going to have to find a way to make it succeed. She hasn't hidden her ultimate goal well enough. Regardless, Riku receives approval to go to Lobotomy Corp. It smells distantly of blood and heavily of cleaning fluid. Angela is at the Warpgate to meet Riku directly and bows to him lightly as he arrives. "I decided to meet with you directly at the Gate because after the recent Tribble infestation we have had to do a great deal of cleaning. Purging the facility of the Tribbles was a great deal of work. ... It sounds silly, I am certain, but please understand it was a matter of deadly seriousness." She straightens up after and studies Riku for a long moment. He seems ... normal to her. Not very Ultra at all. Not quite a child but ... young. "You wished to 'help'. You are presently in the 'Control' department of Lobotomy Corp. My office is, presently, here along with Malkuth's, our Sephirah in charge of managing the Control department. Below this floor are the Information, Safety, and Training Departments but they all qualify as the upper layer of the facility. Along the third floor are the Departments of Welfare, Discipline, and Central which coordinates the departments. And below that are our Records and Extraction Department and on our bottom floor is the Architectural Department which you will not need to visit, ideally." She pauses and adds, "If you have any questions I will endeavour to answer them promptly and succinctly."
Riku Asakura	Riku is a young man, it's true, and denying him would only invite him to tag along once the general calls for help come out. So here he is, right now, wanting to get permission from Angela to assist. He's unsure what's going on here, and endeavors to find out. Right now he's wearing jeans and a jean jacket, with an orange shirt underneath. He wears a bright smile that fades slightly upon the smell he gets from entering the facility. Angela introduces herself, and he bows back equally in respect and listens to her explanation of the current situation and the layout of the facility itself. He nods, trying to take as much in as possible, and listens without talking over her. He appears to be better at listening than talking, but eventually when he's invited to ask questions... "What does this facility do exactly? I heard something about a power plant, but this seems to be a rather odd layout for just being a power-producing plant. You also examined Ultraman Belial, or the alternative version of him, and noted he had corruption. I was wondering what allowed you to find this out and what this has to do with being a power-producing plant." "Also who are the Sephirah?" he asks again before... stopping, like he had something he wanted to ask, but stopped himself.
Angela	''What does this facility do exactly?'' "Officially, we are an energy company." Angela says. "The full story is a bit more complicated but at this point it might be easier to get the extra details of the story from your own direct allies. Needless to say, L Corp hopes to change the world they believe will be in a positive direction. I act in service of these directives and goals." Angela starts moving towards her office, expecting Riku will follow. "To answer your question about Belial--we used an Enkephalin scanner but we had reason to believe there might have been some mental corruption due to his ... fusion? ... with a troublemaker by the name of Reiblood. While he was in control of himself at the time there was some concern it would not last. The threshold of restoration to a prior state had been passed so there was little we could do besides provide warnings." She continues to explain a term. "Enkephalin is a material we use for power but it comes from mental energy. 'Brainpower' as an energy resource, in effect." ''Who are the Sephirah?'' "They are sub-managers of the company, each one in charge of a department. I and the Manager of this facility are also considered 'Sephirah' for purposes of operating the facility but our reach is a little more broad than the others." She pauses. then frowns. "Is there something else you wished to ask?" She noticed, somehow, that Riku was about to ask something.
Riku Asakura	Riku follows along with Angela and listens. He's silent as he gets the details, and a push to talk to his allies about more details later. He notes that down and will do so more than likely. However, the situation seems to be something to change the world, hopefully in a positive way. Angela seems to help with this... but something about how it is worded makes Riku wonder if it's willfully. The explanation about Enkephalin goes over his head, but he does listen enough to nod. The Sephirah are easy enough to understand who they are and what they do. He assumes Malikuth is one of them, who Angela shares an office with. When Angela puts him on the spot about a question he at first makes a motion to say no, but then stops. He sighs and fights with himself for a moment. Then finally, "It's less a question and more... a curiosity about Belial. I don't think you have all the questions I have about him, but the reason I am interested in him is that..." "He's my father. In my world, he created me somehow, and I'm not sure of the specifics yet. So anything I could know about him would be useful, and I suppose I was worried that such a place that once met him... I should help it out!"
Angela	Angela does not share an Office with Malkuth but she does share a ''Floor'' with Malkuth. Angela keeps walking, utterly stoic--until Riku mentions Belial is his ''father''. Angela turns and looks back to Riku. She stares at him for a long time. "I see." Angela says. "...Perhaps it is not an alternative Belial. I believe he had mentioned .... Apologies, I do not forget but I need a moment to recall..." She looks upward at the ceiling. "'A copy of what I have, and then imbue a host with it'..." Angela clasps her hands in front of her. "Ultraman Belial broached the possibility. He wanted a son to not live with the burden of the Ultras or the Reiblood. I warned him how unlikely it would be for a copy to not be intertwined with that of the original, but that was the last I had heard of him. I apologize if this is ... disquieting to hear from one who destroyed your world. Perhaps I should have kept him in a cell, here--but I admit I doubt I could have."
Riku Asakura	Angela explains what happened with the other Belial. A copy of what he was without the burden of the Reiblood or the other Ultras. It seems like that is a far cry from what has happened to him, though he doesn't know what a Reiblood is. So perhaps he succeeded on one part of that. He's not sure. Riku looks burdened for a moment, trying to put together what he learned here, and then breaks into a smile. "Well, I am who I am not what other people want me to be. Right? Maybe I should focus on that and not on what other people had planned for me..." he says not hesitatively but more contemplatively. With that, he continues to smile at Angela. "Well, this is about the facility and not about me. Standing around doing nothing won't get us anywhere. So where do we start about learning about the facility more? I don't want to interrupt anything if I'm trying to help it after all!"
Angela	That's okay. Angela isn't entirely sure what a Reiblood is either outside of it being a problem. Riku seems to be smiling so at least honesty didn't cause any problems this time. She'll take it at this point. Helping others will be a luxury she can have soon rather than as part of her attempts to woo for assistance. She can't see any benefit to harming this guy for kicks, at least, though she supposes that level of foresight can be difficult to prepare for. "Mm." Angela intones before heading into the elevator. "This was Control. We will head to Information now." The Elevator brrrrrs as it brings them to the next floor, opening up into the Information Depaetment. "Please be aware we are still on the Upper Layer. Control develops plans and solutions towards facilitywide problems with data from the Information department. The Safety Departnent determines a path ti most safely conply with these instructions and the ztraining department develops a regimen to prepare our Agents in fulfulling those orders."
Riku Asakura	"Control, right..." he says, getting into the elevator and going down with Angela to Information. He listens to her explain the layout, and how things work with each department up to what was explained. "Right the upper layer..." he internalizes. He listens to further explanations of the various departments and how they connect. "Wow, it sounds complicated. A lot of work has gone into this I can tell!" He says, a little wide-eyed and taken aback by the explanation and just how integrated things are. "So if things go wrong, what part would I need to help with the most? I'm good at beating up monsters, but I don't see any so far.." he says having just arrived in information. "I'll do what I can, of course, I just don't want to be a burden to the efforts going on.."
Angela	Angela seems inclined to give Riku a quick rundown rather than dwelling in any particular department. Riku can see people moving around in their respective uniforms. Shajo in Disciplinary is wearing that strange mummified black wrap around his body as EGO Armor and holding onto a large hammer with pale mask faces in it. He seems worried about something but upon seeing Riku with Angela, walks away and avoids them. Actually, plenty of people seem to be avoiding them even as Angela leads riku back to the elevator to head back down to the lower floors. "Mm. I suppose so. It is all I've ever been so it feels simple to me but I understand that others would not be quite as fortunate." She glances back to Riku. "...You will inevitably be a burden to someone if you choose to help now, Riku." Angela says. "...But I would not fret about it. After all, you must take the path that is right for you." ''So if things go wrong...'' "What is bound to happen soon is our 'Final Meltdown' where our Sephirah of Records will have a mental break about something or another whereupon your job would be to subdue it. After that, I do not know. New territory for both of us, I suppose."
Riku Asakura	'You must take the path that is right for you.' Riku nods at this, agreeing with Angela about the path that is right for him. He might become a burden, but he should still follow this path because there is a chance he might not either. He takes a breath, and nods, accepting her wisdom. After all, the only thing he knows for sure is that standing around doing nothing won't get him anywhere. She explains the final meltdown. That sounds bad, but he wonders... "Can't someone be done about him going out of control before it happens? Still what comes after is unknown... that sounds a little scary to have to admit to. You're brave, Ms. Angela."
Angela	Angela is surprised Riku takes to what she says so readily. It makes her worried. If he is that open to ideas such as that, he might be a 'good boy' and she'd rather not break any more than neccessary. She still thinks about crushing Enoch again and again and again and again even though he was always dead and-- ''Can't something be done about him going out of control before it happens?'' "Ah, the Meltdowns are an eccessary component of the facility's overarching goal. It is a bit silly, I know, but it is because we require a certain kind of psionic movement and mental stasis is antithetical to our method of energy generation. Think of it as like using a waterwheel to gather energy--if the water is not moving, no energy is created by the waterwheel--it is a bit like that. And of course, nothing makes the river move more than a chaotic downturn followed by the resultant resolution--two strong shifts of mental movement. At the very least," Angela turns to look back to Riku. "That is what was said to me--" ''You're brave, Ms. Angela.'' "....You have not known me long enough to say something like that. Be wary of saying such sweet words around me, Riku, I will remember and if your attitude shifts, I will remember that too. I am just ... desperate. I have experienced a great deal of 'the same', after all. My little time loop." She shakes her head. "It is improper for me to try to bring you up to speed all at once but I need to provide some knowledge or I would just be irresponsible."
Riku Asakura	"Oh, I see..." Riku says about not being able to solve the issue before the mental breakdown. It seems more than silly, but a little invasive to have to have someone open up about themselves on a stage like this. He doesn't understand the reason behind it even as it's explained to him, but he nods along. It's necessary to the plan set forth, but the finer details escape him about the mental energy and the like. 'Be wary of saying such sweet words around me, Riku, I will remember and if your attitude shifts, I will remember that too.' Riku nods again, swallowing as if he is worried about having said something wrong, but he listens about her desperation rather than bravery in getting her to this point. He sighs, and nods once, "Desperation can come from bravery too. But I understand... I don't want to make rash judgments about people I haven't known long enough, thank you for that wisdom, Ms. Angela." "You mentioned a time loop... does... this all reset if it isn't done right the first time?"
Angela	"This all resets if it isn't done right seven million times," Angela says. "Fortunately I am not at seven million, but I am at seven hundred thousand. ... Approximately." Angela thinks it would be offputting to provide the exacta mount but she isn't really inclined to do that right now. The truth is, of course, that most of those simulations were 50 days or less and they had to change their whole paradigm to account for year long attempts at the loops. But at least Riku seems to be cottoning on quickly even if it is a bit suspicious that he is. It's been happening a lot, honestly, and she has no idea why. She is just being professional she's not doing anything for anyone, really. "...In any event, we also draw energy from Abnormalities--essentially monsters, as shorthand--and we utilize that energy to power the City and our ... other project. Once the work is complete, we'll be freed from our labor. that is what we are fighting towards and I believe that concludes that which you must understand before coming to assist here--at least on a basic level."
Riku Asakura	"Seven hundred thousand..." Riku says, astonished by the number of times the reset has happened and forced Angela into having to do this again and again. It's no wonder she's so desperate, and it makes him cement that she's brave. Still... no rash judgments of character so quickly after you met someone Riku. You don't want her to think you're insincere about helping or in general. In truth, Riku is only catching the important bits, but there is a lot he isn't getting. Then again, there isn't a lot he needs to fully understand to help. '...we also draw energy from Abnormalities--essentially monsters...' "I see... monsters can be very dangerous if handled poorly... but I guess you know that more than anyone. I'm guessing monsters get out during these meltdowns, right?" he listens as she concludes the basics of what he'll need to know and he nods once to her. "Alright, I think I get the basics." He pauses and then smiles again.
Angela	Angela feels so terrible at having to speedrun the storyline to Riku, it feels like an awful thing to do, but at least she pushed through the bulk of it. Like ripping off a bandaid. Of course she can't tell him EVERYTHING but that's fine. So long as he doesn't accidentally release an Abnormality and get 5 Agents killed, it should be fine. Wings, she needs this to be OVER sooner rather than later. Everything is starting to feel like a threat to the end. "...If you understand the basis, then perhaps we should return you to your destination. You can see the cells, you can see the Agents and the sorts of monsters we house here but ... ... It is not a pleasant place, Riku. I do not want you to linger here any longer than neccessary for someone who 'wants to help.'" Yes, she thinks, this is reasonable. Practical. And least cruel. Good.