Scene Listing || Scene Schedule || Scene Schedule RSS
Owner Pose
Nagato     In a specially made cell out in the brig of the Hikari Seaport... it's partially underwater... with bars to hold aquatic based beings... such as the one that's in there right now. The 'submarine', as she's classified, is without her rebreather, head poking up out of the water in the corner of the cell, her silver hair floating in the water... "Mmmph..."

    It's here that the interrogation team makes their way into the depths, arriving in front of the cell, led by not Nagato, but Musashi. "Have fun questioning her. I'll be here if she gets out of hand."
All-Seeing Eye All-Seeing Eye is uniquely suited for interrogations. Granted, with so many... civilians here, he likely won't be able to indulge himself, but he might still make use of his talents in more restrained ways. The first such way he begins is to listen. For the moment, he'll appear a little distracted, responding to queries from others only in clipped, detached, often monosyllabic ways.

     The Exalt, in this distant state, tunes out the lapping of the water against the bars of the submarine's cell, the gentle thrum of distant motors in the water beyond the brig, and various and sundry autonomous biological and mechanical processes of his fellows. His focus is on the submarine, and whatever noises serve as the 'baseline' for her, if she has any at all. A heartbeat, machinery, something in between, or nothing at all. The goal is to see if there are any 'spikes' in her autonomous processes, via his superhuman hearing, if and when she lies. Once he feels like he's gotten a hold of that 'baseline' activity, he'll ask a question.

     "Hi there!" Eye, wearing a white kimono with gold trim and smoke motifs, gives a friendly wave. "My name's All-Seeing Eye. What's yours?" She'll either decline to answer, tell the truth, or lie--any of those three could provide valuable information, even if her name might already be on record.
Gaonoir "Likewise," Gaonoir echos Musashi's sentiment. They're here to talk, not 'interrogate' in the way he would be suitable to. Unless it comes down to needing more aggressive means. Otherwise he'll just be standing over here in a corner with his arms crossed, somehow managing to look cute and edgelordy at the same time. Stupid basic form.

Erika on the other hand has a notepad app open on her digital tablet, ready to take notes. And barely containing her excitement at getting to be part of a REAL LIVE INTERROGATION.
Leyanne Leyanne Mace arrives with the rest of the interrogation team, clearly intending to play a good cop role. This is obvious because she's carrying Leeroy's barbecue in her hands, and slung over one shoulder she's got the strap of a large cooler. Slung over the other, a sack of charcoal. She sets down the barbecue next to the cage and makes something of a show of preparing it, opening the cover, adding the charcoal, and lighting it with a flourish while Eye does his thing. A small fan in the side helps get it going faster.

"I'm Tiny." The giant mouse introduces herself at the appropriate moment. It certainly can't be a description! "It'll take about half hour to get going, but when this is finished, y'want a burger? I got all the sides... the happier he and the Admiral are with the answers, the bigger and better the burger you get."
Kotone Yamakawa Kotone Yamakawa nods to Musashi and says "Will do and thank you."

There shouldn't be too much trouble here however it's good to know they have heavy hitting backup. She would follow the rest of the group in. Given the knock off origns generally are forced converts she does share something in common there.

"I'm Kotone and I wanted to talk to you as well."
Yuna Kagurazaka "I'm not sure 'fun' is part of the plan," Yuna admits quietly to Musashi, "but we'll see what we can get ..."

The blonde idol/warrior has two additional companions with her: the little robo-faerie Elner, and the sleekly armored, reddish-orange-and-white form of Marina of the Seas. Normally it'd just be Elner who accompanies Yuna for non-combat purposes, but if something happens to require Yuna to dive into the water with the submarine girl, she'd rather have the option of Marine Form - particularly if she has to help subdue their captive.

Of course, Yuna's hoping it won't come to that either, but she's slower to approach the 'bootleg' submarine, considering her own words as her friends and allies make their own approaches to the prisoner. There comes a point where Yuna can't keep her distance any longer, though, and the blonde crouches, offering a hand to the prisoner. "I'm Yuna Kagurazaka," she introduces herself with a gentle smile. "I'm sorry we have to hold you like this, but ... we need to know more about the other girls who've been altered the way you were." Her smile ebbs as she thinks back over what she already knows about the 'bootleg' operation - and she knows there's more than what she's seen for herself. Far more. Far worse.

"All those girls ... we want to help them. They can be free again, like you can, but we can't take the operation apart without your help. And we need to know what was done to you all so that somebody can set it right - or if nothing else, find a way for you all to live without the pain that those implants inflict on you. Will you help us, please?"
Nagato     Musashi nods and fades towards the background, just keeping an eye over this. She didn't have the negotiation skills that didn't require judicious use of 46cm cannons...

    As people start to address Kashi, she looks between them all, a frown upon her face. "Yuna." a pause " All... Seeing... Eye..." another "Kotone. Tiny..." a look to Gaonoir, "Dog and human?" she shakes her head, causing a small wave in the water, before she turns to the All-Seeing Eye. "My name?" she looks down into the water, "Kashi." she states, truthful statement towards that Exalted Lie Detector. "My name is Kashi." her voice sounds mostly human, a twinge of metal and possibly radio static... but its mostly human.

    She turns towards Tiny, shaking her head. "I... can't eat burgers. I used to love them." she frowns, "Now... they just don't fill me up and are tasteless to me." she opens her mouth... and her tongue is completely devoid of tastebuds... It's particuarlly not a good sight.

    She turns to Kotone... "What... do you want to talk about?" and then to Yuna, Elner and Marina... "It's... not just girls. There were guys as test subjects too..." she comments, though she looks to the side, "Mmm, there's a way to... make me normal? Instead of this... freakish thing? I... why didn't you kill me when you had the chance? I'm just... like all those others you fight, those Abyssals..."
Yuna Kagurazaka No taste buds ... Yuna shivers a little at the sight of Kashi's completely smooth tongue. "What *do* you eat?" she wonders quietly - just as she's wondering whether there's a way to undo *that* damage. It may be less visceral than what she's already picked up on about the bootleg program, but to deprive somebody of the ability to taste food - and probably even to smell it - seems like an even worse violation of a human being than the 'augmentations' they've been subjected to. The addition that there are men (or boys) being used as test subjects ... well, it's hard for Yuna's opinion of the bootleg operation to sink any lower at this point.

(No pun intended.)

"Sinking Abyssals doesn't 'kill' them the way you might think," Yuna explains gently, getting more comfortable by the water's edge (or by the bars, whatever). "Sometimes they resurface again after they've healed; once in a while, instead of returning as an Abyssal, someone we sank will revive as a Fleet Daughter, freed from the grudges and hate which gave birth to the Abyssals. But since you aren't a regular Abyssal, we really wanted to save you, just like we want to save the others."
Kotone Yamakawa Kotone Yamakawa says "I wanted to ask how they got you, do you have any one you want to contact and as for what happned to you. I'll not lie I don't know the extent of the work done on you but cyberntics is quite advanced on my home world. I was a victem of an accient that required almost full replacements Kashi." She notes for it she looks to her for a moment there is a clear look of symapthy on her face and then she sees her mouth. "I don't want to give you false hope Kashi but it is a possiblity. Can you recall anythingabout the people who did this to you? Any information you have could be useful to stopping them doing this to other people."

She also makes note of male test subjects as well and she wonders /just/ what are they doing? Is this just to build a military force or is it some crazed trans or post human group?
All-Seeing Eye With the submarine's admission of her name, Eye has a baseline to work with. Now he'll know if something she says pings as false. He smiles. "It's my pleasure to meet you, Kashi." Sometimes one does need to play Bad Regulator, but this may not be the case. He expected a degree of combativeness from her, but she seems compliant. Remorseful, even.

     When she mentions being just like Abyssals, he sees his opportunity. He nods, in agreement with Yuna and Kotone. "You surrendered, after all. Not many Abyssals would do that. There's something left of who you are. Bringing that back to the surface is worth all the effort we can give."

     He's made an effort to tug the emotional strings. Now, it's time to try and turn her around, get her to divulge some information. He'll start simple. "It must've hurt, when they experimented on you." Now, the question--he can't phrase it directly, lest it seem too much like an interrogation. Play the sympathetic angle. He frowns. "Why would someone do that? It seems so... cruel."
Gaonoir "She's not freaking out and swearing she's going to kill us all when she gets out that's a good start right?" Erika murmurs as she starts taking notes, until Gaonoir jabs her lightly in the side with an elbow after the 'dog and human' remark. No surprise he has to remind her to be a little less socially forgetful. "What? What was that for.. oh." The girl ahems into one hand softly. "Sorry, my name is Erika. And this is my partner, Gaonoir. He looks like a dog but he's actually a Digimon."

Gaonoir just pffs softly, and leans back in his corner. Partially because he's trying to not show any reaction to the 'experimented on' part, despite knowing... all too well what that feels like.
Leyanne Leyanne Mace blinks quietly. "Fuck." She says, quietly, looking at the shipgirls nearby. "Can you... do something for her?" She seems crestfallen, sitting down on the docks. "Like, is there anything I can do to make it so you can taste it?"

She looks at Kashi, sighing. She nods at Yuna's words. "Yeah, we wanna help. But... we gotta know how, who... basically as much dirt as you can give us. I don't know if they can help you here, but... we can at least make sure this doesn't happen to anyone else. And... well, Ko and I, we know a little bit of what it's like. I didn't choose to have this installed." She gestures to her 'ware. "I got blown up, rebuilt. If they can't help you heal, we can help you deal."
Nagato     Kashi looks towards Yuna curiously... "Fuel." she comments in honesty.. "We... from what I... went through. We're deprived of all of our basic human qualities... at least most of us. The ones I led..." she sighs, "They lost everything. Mental capacity, taste, touch... all they knew was what orders were given to them from their lead... and I... I was given the order to kill you all back there." there's a pregnant pause as she turns back up to Yuna again... "I don't think there's any saving of forsaken ... things like us. Are ... we even people anymore?"

    Eye gets an eye... "I... want to be human again. I don't want to be this monstrosity that /he/ made me into." she pounds the water with a fist, creating a splash of water around... almost like a depth charge hitting it. But the question about why... "I... he wanted power. Wanted to rule something no one else had access to. The water. When /he/ saw your fleet... and the Abyssals... he knew he had an in... and once he recovered the gear..."

    She falls silent, eyes closed as if she is trying to think... "I.. can't remember much after that.", but when Kotone and Tiny make an offer... "To go from a thing to... almost human..." she looks between everyone there... "Will... you truely help me be human again?"
Leyanne Leyanne Mace looks at the water a moment, and then looks at Kashi. She's silent for a long time. "I'm not gonna sugar coat this." She says. "I don't know if we can make you human again, honestly. But I promise to do everything I can to help the experts. And if it proves impossible... I'll show you that, well, not -everything- sucks about involuntary upgrades. Every cloud's got a silver lining, y'know?"
Gaonoir Gaonoir breaks his act of indifference just enough to open one eye, and snorts softly at Kashi. "These people are surprisingly apt at finding ways past 'impossible'... Beside, I was a 'monster' once too, I know where you're coming from. If there's a way, these are the people that will make it possible."
Kotone Yamakawa Kotone Yamakawa Says "I will do everything I can i also know another person who may be able to help. I will do what i can to get you closer to it it won't be perfect but itwill be better than how you are and you won't be alone i had to go through adapting to it." She may have to go see where Rory and the Argonauts are at this point or even /staren/ but that will have to wait for a but it's clear though she's being honest she also gets some more details from Kashi.

"He? Do you recall anything about him? So he salvaged Abyssal rigging?!"
All-Seeing Eye Tiny's 'burgers' do have an intriguing smell to them... but does he really want to eat charred meat like some tunnel dweller? Hm.

     "Is the old man who walks with a cane less human than the young, hale factory worker? Is the foreman with the prosthetic leg less human than the able-bodied courier? Is Kotone less human than her peers, or Tiny less mouse than hers? Beneath the skin, all of them are the same--as are you." Eye pinches the skin on the back of his hand, showing it to her. "You are... more than this." Eye releases it.

     "His ambition damaged your body, and parts of your mind--but he couldn't touch your spirit." That much, he really and truly believes.

     Behind him, Tiny provides the material truth. "She's right," he says. "The augmentations may not be removed, and the wounds to your mind will take time to heal. Your actions will also demand some form of recompense, under duress though they may have been. We want to assist however we can. Moreover..."

     "We want to prevent him from ever doing the same again. Do you have anything we might use to stop him, before more people are hurt? A name, a location?" The fact that he's out there affixing Abyssal technology to humans is a parallel that resonates deeply with his own world. In fact... that /is/ something he might do to provide assistance, if she's indeed sincere about wanting to reform. One can never be certain.
Yuna Kagurazaka Yuna can't help but smile a bit at Leyanne's wording for that last bit ... but that smile is shattered again as Kashi continues speaking. If it weren't for the bars, the look on Yuna's face says plainly that she'd plunge right into the water to hug Kashi as tight as she could - and a piece of her is tempted to try and simply break into the cell to do that anyway. The distress, even grief, is strong on her face - and even if she can't break through those bars, Yuna gets closer, reaching between them as well as she can, never mind how wet her clothes are going to get in the process.

"Kashi ... I can't do as much as I want to in order to help you all heal. I'm a singer, not a surgeon or psychiatrist ... I'm not what you need the most ... but that just means, I want to do whatever I *can* do to help! Just because you've been split away from 'human' doesn't mean you aren't a person any more, you're still *you*, and you still have a heart that I want to support! I want your spirit to shine as brightly as anyone's, I want you to be able to smile with us!"

Elner speaks more quietly while Yuna is preoccupied, explaining to Kotone, "We're not absolutely certain where the rigging came from that was used to begin this project ... but it may not have been Abyssal equipment to begin with."
Nagato     Kashi is quiet. She looks at everyone with a face of a broken woman before turning around. There's ripples upon the water from something in that direction, what it is, it's not a weapon or anything since the ripples are small. "I understand, All Seeing Eye... I caused a crime... I should... and will be punished." a pause, before she sinks down into the water. She's down there for a good minute before she brings up her rebreather. "Promise me... one thing."

    She swims slowly towards the bars... shoving her rebreather out and setting it in front of Erika and Gaonoir. "Promise me that... you'll try to make me human again." a pause, "Or.. at least... enough of one like Kotone..." she looks up towards everyone, it's obvious there's a few tears from her eyes with how red they were, "I care not about sentencing.... I just want to feel human again. And I'll tell you everything I know. Can you ... can you all do that for me?"

    She has this pleading look upon her face, "I... I don't want more to suffer from this... from my inaction."
Leyanne Leyanne Mace nods to Gaonoir. "I'm a genuine, bonafide extra-terrestrial, Kashi. Fourth rock from the Sun; Mars born and bred. There's a place out there where you won't feel unwelcome... hell, you might even be there already. The Hikari Alliance are a decent group."

She gets back to work on the barbecue for a moment, turning over the burgers.

At Kashi's words, Leyanne's left hand tenses so hard she snaps her spatula. After a deep breath and a moment to calm herself, she sets it down, steps over to the cage, and offers her right (organic) hand. "I promise."
Gaonoir Erika is furiously putting down more and more notes as the discussion going on. Someone taking Abyssal parts and experimenting with them on people?! That's got conspiracy written all over it, even moreso because they know this is something that's actually happening! "Sounds like he's trying to play god with powers he doesn't fully understand," she mutters with a note of disgust.

"Sounds like it." It's just like Yggdrassil screwing with the very fundimentals of Digimon to create the X Program, the DEX-mon... and what he was made into. That gets the faintest of huffs from Gaonoir as he crouchs down to rest one gloved paw on the rebreather. "At the least we'll stop him from doing this to others." He's not a scientist or doctor, he can't comment on how 'undone' things can be outside of his own experiences. And that wasn't even 'scientific'.

"Promise." A little hint of a smile shows. "From one 'experiment' to another."
Kotone Yamakawa Kotone Yamakawa does agree with Eye's comment on what is human and she nods. "e weill do what we can for you Kashi I giveyou my word." She means it she will be hititng upo things back home she can spin this as a PR issue to Megatech and meditech if it comes down to it. Which it damn well would be.
All-Seeing Eye So, she really wants to feel human again. "My people know a sickness very similar to your condition," he says. "The best chance for treatment is removal of the offending hardware in the early stages. I'll notify my government immediately upon my return." It's not a promise that she can be brought back to her original state. The mysteries of the Multiverse elude even the Exalted at times--but this looks quite similar to Gremlin Syndrome.

     What he does promise is very specific. "They would be... very much against the spread of this condition to other worlds, or the spread of anything similar. I'm a policeman, not a doctor--and so I can't promise a swift, or even a complete recovery. I can only promise that the man responsible for this will face justice if I have to drag him screaming into the light myself."
Yuna Kagurazaka Yuna nods fervently to Kashi, moving to offer her hand again when Kashi actually swims over to the bars. "Whatever we can do, to stop the guy who did this and rescue his victims, we will. I'll do everything *I* can, to stop him and save everyone he's hurt. I swear it as the Savior of Light: we *will* stop him, and he'll never violate anybody else the way he's already done to too many."
Nagato     Kashi's hand being held causes the 'submarine' to gasp out... "Alright." she gives a smile, a genuine looking smile towards them all. "THank you." she whispers, floating back towards the edge of the cell. "The ... person's name..." she closes her eyes, thinking hard... "F... frank... Coppell." she comments... "He.. he's going through.. the same thing we went through. But his... his equipment... it's bigger. Bigger than... nnngh!" she clutches her head tightly, a look of pain comes across her face...

    "STOP.... I ... I want to remember!" she screams out, "DON'T DO THIS..." comes more screams, Musashi's face scowls though, that name was familiar.... Kashi's eyes look bloodshot, looking towards her possible saviors. "S... stop him." she cries out, "Ba...ttleship." she whispers... slumping down into the water... breath slow. "His... operation... It's.." a cough...

    "It's... in Aus...aus..." she clutches her head again in pain, and a loud scream is soon to be heard... "AUSTRAILIA!" and as soon as she says that, she slumps into the water...
Leyanne Leyanne Mace dives prone to grab Kashi before she sinks under the water with her left hand, grabbing hold of one of the protruding pieces of rigging to lift her and hold her head above the water. "Not gonna let you drown..." she mutters. Then, louder "Uh, guys? I'm starting to slip... grab my feet maybe?"
Yuna Kagurazaka Yuna's not letting go of Kashi's hand; when something starts making the 'submarine' cry out in pain, Yuna grimaces, but clasps her hand all the more firmly. Her head dips a little - but she does NOT look away; she catches herself and forces herself to keep looking right at Kashi, as if to try and take that suffering, that agony, into herself.

If only she could.

Even when the modified submarine girl goes limp, Yuna doesn't let go; she *does* close her eyes now, though, her lips moving silently for a few moments. Then Leyanne asks for help, and Yuna nods, taking a deep breath before she tries to support Leyanne - maybe more around her waist than from her feet, but ... well, she can't get Tiny's feet without letting go of Kashi's hand.
Gaonoir "I'll do better than that." Gaonoir conentrates for a moment, and as Tiny holds onto the sub-girl dark tendrils reach out of her shadow to also grab on as he uses his shadow manipulation to also reach through the bars and help hold her up.

Erika steps back out of the way of stronger people. "Australia? As if the killer kangaroos and dropbears weren't bad enough."
All-Seeing Eye "Thank you for your cooperation," Eye says, with an oddly clinical tone given the pain Kashi's admission has clearly caused her. His fists are clenched so tightly that his knuckles pop audibly.

     Without turning to face Musashi, the Exalt addresses her, hands shaking slightly at the wrist. "I may be staying longer than I'd anticipated. If you'd be a dear and have someone prepare some accomodations, just in case, I'd be /eternally/ grateful." The request is entirely without his usual cheer.

     This kind of reaction is one of two things: intense psychological trauma from loyalty conditioning, or a loyalty implant pre-programmed with certain stimuli. There's one way he can find out which.

     Leaning forward, he peers through the submarine's skull for anything abnormal--his knowledge of anatomy isn't anywhere close to a medical professional, but he knows at least that human brains tend to be without hunks of metal, circuitry or electrodes.

     Mental trauma he can heal, but physical alterations will require a surgeon. Either way, it's got to go, both for her own health and for the justice system of this world to more efficiently process her. And either way, 'Frank' is going to suffer for it.
Kotone Yamakawa Kotone Yamakawa does not forget the name, she does not look happy as Kashi ends up a whole lot of pain as she fights to sell out the one who did it. She gives a name and bring up he has battleship rigging? She shakes her head she's not sure what else to say here otehr than she will try to go to do what she can for the suffering cyborg and Eye would be right metal implants would have to be handled..."Thank you, that will do Kashi, take it easy..."
Nagato     With the reactions to getting Kashi up from drowning, the 'submarine' is hauled up with her head above water and close to the bars by dark tendrils and hands. One would notice that she isn't dead, just... passed out from the ordeal from earlier. Musashi, however, looks towards All-Seeing Eye and hmms, "We have a spare room available in the barracks. Battleship side. Rooms have already been prepared for everyone to stay." the battleship sighs, "Atago is the secretary, though, do ask her for requests next time."

    Meanwhile, with Eye's ... eyeing of the brain. There isn't any machinery or electronics or the like inside, fortunately, just... mental trauma and a lot of it. The only machinery on this woman's body is from the torso down.
Leyanne Leyanne Mace looks over her shoulder at Musashi and the experts. "Is... would she drown or float?" Tiny asks. "'Cause I don't think it's all that practical for us to lounge like this 'till she wakes." Burgers, unnoticed, begin to transition from food to carbon suppliment on the barbecue.
All-Seeing Eye "Of course, dear," says Eye to Musashi with clipped cordiality. "And thank you for indulging me, just this once."

     Elites can be... dodgy about reprogramming. All these comparisons to a book titled after a year, accusations of dystopia, and so on. The longer he spends explaining himself, or the purpose of the Spike, the more dodgy they're going to get. So when the black stiletto slides out from a port in the Exalt's palm, he's quick to explain, as succinctly as he can.

     "Coppell's work also included psychological conditioning--or at least, inflicted trauma. I'm going to deprogram her. After my work is done, she'll be able to provide information without these flareups, but the process is lengthy." Though he can see her without facing her, he feels it necessary to wheel around and look Musashi in the eyes. A slight tilt of his head is what serves as him asking for permission. She is, after all, the fleet's representative here, and Kashi is her prisoner, in a technical sense. "I can hold her, Tiny--if Musashi permits. The procedure may take several hours, but the benefit is worth the expenditure in my expert opinion."

     If permission is given, he'll step forward, slip the spike between the bars, and gently pierce the skin of the submarine's hand. Thousands of microscopic automata will then trickle from the spike into her bloodstream, all the way to her nervous system, where the Exalt will attempt to erase what traumatic memories he can.
Yuna Kagurazaka Yuna nods to Musashi, "I'll keep it in mind. Thank you, Musashi ..."

She gives Kashi's hand another squeeze before carefully letting go, making sure that she's going to float - she *is* a submarine (well, in this state anyway), they're meant to float or to control their own sinking. If it looks like the girl might sink too deeply, though, she'll get back in there and try to keep her supported.

In the meantime, Marina takes note of the carbonizing burgers and starts transferring some of the more excessively 'done' patties onto buns - trying to get them while they're still edible, if well-done. The android won't be eating any of them herself, but there's no point in letting good food go to waste if anyone here *is* hungry.
Gaonoir Gaonoir nose wrinkles a little as he catchs a whiff from the grill, and gives the martian mouse a nudge with his elbow. "I can hold her, you better go stop yer grill from starting a kitchen fire in here." He's trying really hard to not cringe at the thought of what All-Seeing Eye is implying, but he knows how that sort of 'conditioning' feels, so he's keeping his reserve and supporting the girl with his shadow hold while it's being dealt with.
Kotone Yamakawa Kotone Yamakawa sees the young woman has been kept from drowning.

"Mental condioning he's sonding more and more like the old board of Mordin Solis, I hate hin more already. I'd be thankfuk for that Eye. Hopefully she can share more information without pain I have calls to make as well." She notes there's a lotto do but they now have a name to the master mind and a warning. Kashi has helped a lot and she intends to help her back.