Scene #8453: Mind Over Matter

Owner	Pose
Angela	M.O.M cannot go outside without the express approval of the company and the company isn't going to let M.O.M go on a trip just to talk to Sougo. Fortunately, Sougo can come to Lobotomy Corp and is an old enough hand at this point that there is barely a glance up by local agents as Sougo (and Woz, if he is coming along) arrive. That being said, they do get some compliments and words of gratitude here and there since the Agents know who came to help them out of Malkuth's Meltdown and they're not the sort of people to be ungrateful for that--for the most part anyway. M.O.M can be found in a sleep pile in the Safety Sector, dozing away with Sal, OHNO, and inexplicably one of the Sephirah who has a big NETZACH on their forehead indicating their name with green fluid (Enkpehlain) dripping out from their seams. "Zzzzzzzz." Netzach says, rather than sleeps. The rest seem to be actually dozing away for the moment. This is a designated SLEEP ZONE but Sougo will either have to wait for him or wake M.O.M up. "You want in on this sleep pile, pal?" Netzach says in a soft whisper to the Demon King.
Timespace Riders	Sougo is here, by himself today--if anyone happens to ask, it's because Woz is investigating a lead related to his future coronation. He wears a loose-fitting seafoam button-up, paired with a pair of rolled khaki pants that emphasize both his red socks and his earth-tone hiking boots. A pink web belt dangles at his leg as he walks, the excess length deliberately unlooped for a bit of asymmetry. He's all smiles and waves on his way in--effortfully so. Cheer doesn't always come naturally to him despite how easily he wears it, and his last visit here gave him reason to worry about M.O.M., above and beyond the worry he normally feels for employees of the company. "Eh?" Sougo blinks owlishly, one hand on the wall as he observes the aptly-named sleep pile. "Oh, um, no thank you, uh..." He answers just as quietly. "Netzach!" There's a momentary squint, as he reads the name. "I'm actually here to visit M.O.M., but I can wait." Sougo whispers, not at all the sort to wake someone for a social call, "Would you let him know I'm here to see him, when he wakes up?" He hesitates, nearly turning away, before adding: "Oh--and if there's a place I can wait and stay out of the way, like maybe a cafeteria or break room... could you point me in the right direction?"
Angela	"It's actually pronounced Neetzach." Netzach lies. "aw don't mess with the man, dude." M.O.M bleerily opens an eye, fixing it nn the Riders. M.O.M is still wearing that flowery outfit as his EGO. He sits himself up a bit but doesn't seem inclined to leave the sleep pile even if he isn't actually sleeping. He pets the ground next to him. "Don't worry man, Sal sleeps like a log and OHNO's listening to some trance metal or something and can't even hear us. What can I do ya for, Demon King?" Netzach slumps back down a big and adds, "Just take it easy dude. Relax. We don't go anywhere to be," in a slow drawl.
Timespace Riders	"Oh..." Sougo would have believed it, too, had M.O.M. not called out the lie. He grins, then takes a seat on the indicated spot, legs drawn up to rest each arm upon his knees. >Take it easy. Relax. We don't got anywhere to be. "Okay. In that case..." Sougo peers thoughtfully up at the ceiling, searching momentarily for words, before he lets his gaze return to M.O.M. "I wanted to ask how you were doing... after the Army in Black." His smile doesn't so much falter as it does shift--it's a genuine expression, and still a warm one, but a shade more somber. "And... if there's anything I can do to make life easier for you, around here. It doesn't have to be something big, you know? Even if I can handle that. It could be something as simple as having Woz bring by some home-cooked meals." A little brightness returns to his smile, at the mention.
Angela	"Ah, yeah, that Abnormality can cause Agents to go on a murderous rampage. Guess I'm not quite strong enough to resist it." M.O.M says. "Bet I'm gonna get a bad Performance Review, Ha Ha Ha." Netzach goes quiet for a bit. They don't seem to be in a rush to go anywhere or do their job. Yesod's likely to drop by eventually to give them a hard time eventually but Yesod isn't here YET. "Eh, most of my problems are on the outside, man." M.O.M gets a bit more serious in his tone. "Used to be part of the Axe Gang but made the mistake of seeking greener pastures with the Index with a bunch of buds and--well, the Axe Gang was a dangerous life but under the Index that's a hopeless one. That's a Finger we're talking about." M.O.M studies Sougo carefully. "Why do you care so much about me, man? I've made my bed a long time ago and you--you've got a big dream to go for, I don't have anything like that. Just want to coast my way to a peaceful end if I can manage it."
Timespace Riders	>Bet I'm gonna get a bad Performance Review, Ha Ha Ha. "Mm... I wouldn't be so sure," says Sougo, fixing an impish little smile on Netzach. "Maybe there's a Sephirah around that'd give you a good review." The implied exchange of favors is all but spelled out in the twinkle of his brown eyes. ?Why do you care so much about me, man? Sougo frowns thoughtfully. It takes him a moment to put it to words, before he decides that the simple start is the best one. "Because I meant what I said." That people are supposed to help each other. His gaze drifts across the room and the rest of the sleep pile. "Most people, even in other worlds, I think they want what you want, M.O.M. For... things to be okay, and to live a peaceful life. My big dream..." Sougo sighs. "I want to be king, yeah--but I want that so that I can make the world a better place. I don't think that what you want is a big ask. But the City, the company, the Index--they all seem to." He shrugs his shoulders. "They're wrong. Anything that's made of people needs people to live."
Angela	"Pointless... Most people seek power hoping to make the world better or they stumble into it, but in the end the need to mantain that power is what crushes those hopes. Hannh.... In the end what's the point if you lose everyone you care about in the process...?" Something about Sougo has nettled Netzach about as much as the Sephirah can get nettled. The eye isn't exactly focused but it is now staring, more or less, in Sougo's direction. M.O.M rubs at his neck awkwardly. "Yeah, I guess it's not too different with me. I sought out a safer place and maybe that's, you know, not unreasonable. But I should've been happy with where I was at and not lose everything." M.O.M says this but... He leans back down in the sleep pile. "The Index isn't..." M.O.M starts to say before shaking his head. "I don't know if I'd go so far as to say they have an opinion about someone like me. I'm way too low on the totem pole for them to care about me. They might care about someone like Rook, he was a Grade 1... Nah, they step on guys like me without even thinking about it." He frowns. "...But I could've accepted that, you know? But the Index's commands, they just don't make a whole lot of sense. But they're usually real specific." He swings a knee up, resting his arm on it as he looks over Sougo. "You live a hard life to lead you to a dream like that?"
Timespace Riders	>In the end, what's the point if you lose everyone you care about in the process? Sougo's expression darkens--not in anger, but in a kind of gloomy dread. "I have to admit," he answers, shifting on the floor to sit with his legs crossed, hands folded in his lap. "I'd ask myself the same thing, if I became king at that kind of cost." His eyes fall to the floor, and he entertains the thought in a brief, but impactful silence. "I guess," he says, looking up to meet the Sephirah's eye, "If that's the cost, then there is no point. At least, not for me. That's my worst-case, you know? If I become king, but lose Woz. Lose Persephone, and Kukuru..." Sougo frowns. "I know that most people don't get to see their future as literally as I have. They don't have the chance to see it, and then choose to make a different one. Fear of how you might get hurt, or hurt someone else, or fail, that's much less abstract for me than it is for other people." "Even you guys, with infinite tries, don't get to see your goal. Or you're not allowed to." He shrugs--it's something that bothers him about the way the company is run. "But..." Sougo's hope is all but tangible, in his voice, in the way his shoulders tense ever so slightly. "You still show up every day. And all the people out there, who don't get to see their futures, and don't get infinite tries, they do, too. A little, or a lot, they put what they can towards the future that they want, and so do you. So, what's my ezcuse?" He smiles, despite himself, shrugging his shoulders. >I'm way too low on the totem pole for them to care about me. "But that is an opinion," says Sougo firmly. "'Stepping on guys like you' without thinking is a way of thinking. And it's wrong." >You live a hard life to lead you to a dream like that? Sougo shakes his head. "...I don't know. Some people might say that, some might not. I never minded being 'the weird kid,' or having friends I could count on one hand. I was sad when my parents died, and scared for a while... but my uncle loves me and he supports me, even if he doesn't understand the king stuff. That's better than a lot of people on my world ever get. It's more that... I've always known I was a king, even before the dreams."
Angela	Netzach's irritation fades somewhat when Sougo admits he also faces these feelings. They must have assumed he was a particular kind of guy. But that doesn't mean it goes away entirely. This is the man with no ambition and Sougo, for all his struggles, has plenty, but he does agree, "Well we can agree on that then. I got some Enkephalin if you want to take a break and have a load off. It's nice to get wasted now and then and forget all your troubles isn't it?" Somehow a singular eye can get gloomy. Netzach squats down a bit and presses back, sighing as they look up to the ceiling themselves. They were hoping for a peaceful Sleep Pile but... "What if you don't realize the sacrifice you're making until you make it? You know Persephone's been down here once right? Went straight to Central." They listen further. "What's the point of infinite tries if they all end the same way?" M.O.M seems confused when Sougo mentions 'infinite tries' like he doesn't know what he's talking about. "Heh, that's unfair man--saying that we inspire you to not have an excuse. You would keep on anyway even if we weren't around. Don't be like that." M.O.M does seem to look sympathetic when Sougo mentions his dead parents. "Yeah... we get our families somewhere even if we don't get 'em from the places we hoped for, Haha... But you always knew huh...? That's some confidence my man..." "But even if you are destined to be king, that can mean anything..." Netzach says. "There's more ways to be King than there are to be Sephirah..." The eye shutters halfway.
Timespace Riders	>It's nice to get wasted now and then and forget all your troubles, isn't it? Sougo laughs softly. Quietly! Maybe not 'wasted,' but he does understand the sentiment. "I'm happy to blow off some steam with you anytime, Netzach." >What if you don't realize the sacrifice you're making until you make it? That seems to bother Sougo. On a certain level, he knows it's possible. Woz's book can tell a lot, but it can't give answers to questions neither of them has bothered to ask. It's not as if he can spend all day asking hypotheticals, either. The would-be king heaves a sigh. "I don't know," he answers honestly. "I didn't know that Persephone came by, either. What I do know... is that they don't all end the same way, those tries." Sougo smiles wanly at Netzach. The memory of Woz's unsolicited reading for Angela sticks with him--enough that he can simply say so, and let it rest at that."So... I hope that helps, to know. And I hope it helps to know that when I'm king, I'll help as much as I can, if you're still trying by then." >You would keep on anyway, even if we weren't around. "I wouldn't," smiles Sougo, regarding M.O.M. with renewed warmth. He says it like it's the easiest, most simple thing in the world for him to say. "I wouldn't want to be king, if there was no one to help by doing it." >That's some confidence, my man. Sougo chuckles. "Yeah... the downside is that it makes me a magnet for Greeeds and Yummies," he says. "Monsters attracted to strong desire. But the upside is Woz," he adds, a dreamy quality briefly present in his eyes, as they look somewhere else. Out, through the walls of the sleeping quarters--up, above the confines of the company. Past the Warpgate, through interlinked connections and priority routes to a world not his own, where the retainer diligently searches out details and investigates leads. >There's more ways to be King than there are to be Sephirah... "Mm," agrees Sougo, snapped back to reality. "I think the future me, and the other me, they're proof of that. One is a despot, and the other is... well, basically a cult leader, if I understood Woz." He makes a face, at that. "I haven't told anybody about him, yet. I think Phony is the only person who knows, besides you, and she found out from Woz." "Still," Sougo smiles, despite the concerning number of diabolical alternate selves mentioned. "It just means that 'meaning anything' gives me freedom in what kind of king I want to be. It means that when I say I want to be the greatest and kindest, I really can be. As for the way... it's simple. 'Gather the power of every rider.'" He holds out one of those futuristic watches he uses--this one has the face of another Rider on it--the red, car-themed Drive. The LCD chronometer on the front displays the current year, in After-Unification format.
Angela	M.O.M frowns, "We can't be the only people who'd be willing to help you. You think you're gonna get everything you want without paying any kinda price?" He whistles. "Don't dislike the attitude but it's pretty greedy." Netzach is quiet for a bit. They speak on the radio rather than directly paying too much to the conversation. This gives M.O.M more time to converse without any interruptions. M.O.M wrinkles his nose as he hears the word 'Greeed' and somehow recognizes there's three e's there. Not two. Pretty wild stuff. Monsters attracted to strong desire--well they probably won't come here, right? Who has strong desire in this facility? M.O.M, and even Netzach, grin as they notice that look in Sougo's eyes but they don't vocally comment on it because it seems a bit gauche. "Way to go dawg." Netzach says, making the previous comment a lie. M.O.M seems to shrug off despot but frowns at 'cult leader'. "Well it's an honor but... you sure you want to be a king at all if those're the options?" But Sougo has an answer for that. M.O.M rubs at his neck awkwardly before adding, "I hope you make it, man. But it does seem a bit beyond my pay grade. Not really in a position to decide whether or not to help you either. ... IS there something I can do for you, besides not give up and die?" Netzach is booted out of the conversation and as he does so, a second Sephirah arrives--this one purple with the words YESOD above its forehead. "You've really done it now, Netzach." His voice is stern with a considerable presence of not expecting anything else. "How do you think the Agents are gonna feel when they know you're suggesting it's best to kill them all." "Just an opinion, man." Netzach isn't the slightest bit regretful.
Timespace Riders	>You think you're gonna get everything you want without paying any kinda price? Don't dislike the attitude but it's pretty greedy. "Not... without any price," Sougo admits. "Just one that I can live with. One that doesn't make king being pointless, you know?" >IS there something I can do for you, besides not give up and die? "That's doing a lot, trust me," Sougo says, reaching out and putting a hand on M.O.M.'s shoulder. "If you can do that for me, then I'll work extra hard to become king. Then... I can make sure that time passes more fairly for you, and for everyone else here." >Just an opinion, man. "It's a bad one," says Sougo gently. He sighs, and stands up. "I think... I need to make a habit of speaking with the Managers here more often." It's of course code--for looking into their pasts and seeing what's led to the current culture being so hostile to individual emotional health that one Sephirah would unrepentantly suggest burning everything down, while another would levy, at worst, stern chiding for this opinion. "But you know, Yesod," says Sougo, hands stuffed into his pockets, "It doesn't come from nowhere. Did you hear what Woz told the Manager during the meltdown?"
Angela	M.O.M smiles lazily at Sougo and says, "Well, I can't promise I won't die, but I won't try to. And I'll do my best for as long as I can. In the end, I guess, it's not muc of a promise but--well, if it's not much of a promise, it's not too tough to keep." Netzach snorts a bit but doesn't interrupt. Somehow with one robotic eye, Netzach rolls theirs. Sougo's chiding might be gentle but thisSephirah has already checked out entirely. They start to proffer some Enkephalin but stop when Yesod reveals himself. "Obviously not. The other Sephirah are shut down during a meltdown as the berserk Sephirah takes control of the rest of the systems." Yesod crosses their arms. It's a bit strange to look on such an archaic looking artificial body. "Nothing more foolish in acting before one has all the pieces. I will be most upset if your interference leads to extra deaths--even if you may have saved a couple earlier." Sougo looks into Netzach's past... Netzach's hair isn't as long as it used to be but they are wearing a pale blue dress shirt and slacks that are particularly plain. Even back when they were human, they still seem melancholic, cynical, and depressed. "If Carmen was here, she'd laugh so hard at seeing the two of us talking like this." Sougo can see who he is talking to, a young man with dark hair and in a labcoat. He is completely unassuming looking aside from is very familiar golden eyes. But he isn't speaking right now. "I mean we've never really talked to each other." Netzach continues. "After all I was here because I trusted Carmen, not you. I hope this will bring Carmen back to life." he man with the golden eyes doesn't say anything. He reaches forward and presses a hand on Netzach's shoulders--not unlike how the Demon King had done so for M.O.M... Then the head spins around 180 degrees and takes a look back to Sougo, one of those golden eyes are a pale green... The step into the past falls apart--and pulls apart as Sougo is suddenly pulled back from the past and flung back into the present hitting back at the moment he left. Everything is how he left it, except this time there is a third Sephirah. This one has the name HOKMA on his forehead. And ... is wearing a monocle and a single dull green eye. "How fortunate I was monitoring. To honor his decision to work with the Concord, I will allow you a moment to explain yourself. If I do not care for it, I will kill you here." There's not a weapon on Hokma. Neither Yesod nor Netzach argue beyond the latter going "C'mon man..." M.O.M mostly looks confused. "I am not Angela. I am not so forgiving as she has been to feed her desire. I am still loyal."
Timespace Riders	In the past, Sougo is like a ghost--invisible, completely separate from the events before him. Though his hand might rest on a wall, though he might peer and scruntinize, and even allow the odd noise of discomfort to escape, nothing in that time will be changed by his presence. Sometimes it's really hard. "So, this is Netzach, before . . ." Before they were an AI, like Malkuth. Is Angela the same way? "They must have cared a lot, about this Carmen person--" Sougo recoils when the man with the golden eyes looks directly at him, nearly falling over but for the presence of a wall behind him. In the present, after being forced back, Sougo doesn't have the luxury of adjusting his position. There is no slight stutter--rather, in one instant he is suddenly against the wall, in the sort of pose one takes when cornered and least expecting it. "Loyal to what, exactly?" asks Sougo, stepping off of the wall, and pointedly putting himself in front of . "This company? If that's true... then you don't have anything to worry about. I don't want to 'burn it down.'" "I want to make it kinder, because however you or A might feel about them, your Agents aren't expendable to me, and they never will be. I looked, because I needed to understand how Netzach came to feel the way they do. I'm sorry," he says, stadning up straighter and having completely shrugged off his initial shock, "But there has to be some other price you can pay, besides what you're asking of the Sephirah and the Agents." His fist clenches at his side. "There has to be," he says, as convinced as he is pleading. "As for Netzach... I meant what I said. They didn't start thinking that way for no reason. I'll defend myself, if I have to. But if if it's them you're after, I'll stop you." His hand squeezes the Ridewatch tightly enough for the bezel to groan and the intricate parts to clink.
Angela	There is no explanation for how Hokma was able to do this. Hokma doesn't explain it. He isn't going to either. Hokma has no capacity to read minds. In truth he had no idea what Sougo was doing, exactly. He just noticed the temporal disturbance because he noticed the temporal disturbance and he noticed the temporal disturbance because of <SINGULARITY DETAILS CLASSIFIED>. "To this company? Please. To A." Hokma says. He listens carefully to what Sougo has to say. And he IS listening to Sougo. He's listening very carefully. He takes his time, even after Sougo is done, to consider what Sougo has said, to think about it, to consider it properly, and then make a decision. "It is as you say, perhaps there is another way." "But what of it? In the end, this is the path he chose. And it is my duty to ensure the script proceeds with minimal divergance." "Irrespective of what he has done, Hokma." Yesod speaks up. "We are not in a position to displease the whole of the multiverse for a first infraction." "And I would've totally told him what he wanted to know anyway so maybe...chill out?" is Netzach's contribution. And perhaps that would have been enough but Sougo says something else. ''But if it's them you're after, I'll stop you.'' Hokma slowly turns back to face Sougo. "You need not worry for Netzach's safety. But if this is ow you are going to be, perhaps I should nip this in the--" "You're all being noisy." And now a THIRD intruder on this conversation appears. This one is Angela. She disregards Hokma and the other Sephirah, though she does glower at Netzach for a moment--but it seems to be an annoyed glare rather than a murderous fury glare even if it can be pretty tough to tell with her. M.O.M, increasingly in the background, tries laughing to put his mind over this particular matter. "Haha..hahaahaha...." Shit, he thinks, this isn't working at all. "Demon King. I suppose I did not say you could not try to help the other Sephirah." She pauses a moment as if thinking whether she should say that now. But ultimately... She shakes her head and says, "There is no other way, Sougo." Her voice, for the moment, softens. Her familiar golden eyes look right into Sougo's. "You know how long I've tried." The Sephirah, minus Hokma, blink cluelessly. M.O.M is trying to sneak off. "There is wiggle room, but the throughline must remain. Please understand."
Timespace Riders	Sougo takes a step back, reaching behind him for his transformation driver. He gets as far as holding it in his hand before Angela intervenes, having subconsciously put himself between Hokma, and Netzach and M.O.M. The sight of Angela has him relax, visibly, if only slightly--and his look of stalwart determination softens into something more glum, after he fails to maintain eye contact with her. "Yeah. I do," he softly says, the belt and the watch hanging by his side, clutched loosely in either hand. "It isn't right," he says with almost defeated softness, as his eyes fall to the floor. He doesn't think it's right--that A would write a 'script' like this, that asks so much and gives so little... and have the nerve to wear that expression. It still sticks with Sougo--that look on his face. As if, after everything, she had let him down, and he couldn't even bother looking at her. "I'm sorry for distracting you," he says to Angela, forcing himself to look at her once more. "I know you have a lot to do. There's... someone I think I have to talk to. Even if I don't really want to. I'll see you later, Angela." He uncomfortably excuses himself, then, making his way back aboveground to pursue an inadvisable course of action.
Angela	Angela nods once to Sougo before saying, "Yesod is correct so there is no need to debate the correctness of Sougo's acts. It would be ridiculous to ruin our relationship with the Concord over this. Remember your place, Hokma. You are no longer Benjamin, you're just another Sephirah." She shakes her head to Sougo for the second matter. "Hokma and Binah are difficult to control or this would not have been an issue. My apologies, Demon King. Hopefully A will return soon and prevent future problems like this." She will escort Sougo out herself, leaving the Sephirah behind. "And please get back to work, Netzah. The bare minimum, please?" But it is only when they are near the warpgate, Angela places a hand on Sougo's shoulder herself. "...A moment before you leave. I want to assure you that A would not have opened up the Warpgate if he did not wish for the interference from outer worlds. Otherwise he need not bother. But it will involve spinning plates, it will involve difficult choices. Even if you cannot save everyone. There are still plenty you can. Be satisfied with M.O.M for today. The company may see the Agents as expendible, but that does not mean they are without worth." She pulls her hand back. "Good luck with your unfortunate venture, Demon King." She won't stop him after that.