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Rita Ma	The Union Busan looks much different from a couple months ago. The artificial Warpgate still leads into a dim room full of pipes and wires, and from there out onto the aircraft carrier deck with the salt-sheltered glass garden dome, but that's about all that's the same.      Over half of the center shop's rusty patchwork metal has been replaced with fresh gleaming steel in Lilian's retrofit, including everything in monster-reach of the waterline. Space has been made on the deck for off-world missile batteries. Most of Candy's electric mines must be belowdecks, but a pallet of them lies off to the garden dome's side, awaiting sorting.      But the sound of raucous cheering and shouted goodbyes is the most pressing new thing.      Harpoonists line the left edge of the central aircraft carrier's deck, waving and yelling over the railings. Civilians wave back at them from the edge of the conjoined tanker, throwing over gifts, calling names, shouting encouragements. The same scene plays out on the ship's right. Nearby, a dark-blue-haired man with heavy gauntlets catches a hurled bottle of antique wine, fumbles it, and curses.      The goodbyes, the gifts, the atmosphere of cheerful mourning- it feels like every movie where an ocean liner sets sail. But there is no port. It takes a minute to see why the goodbyes are being said: welders are cutting through the supports joining the Union Busan's central ship to its siblings, supports that have held for a hundred years.      There's no point taking civilians where they're going.      Kana and Bota aren't waving, and they prefer leaning against the garden dome to crowding the railing. The only family they have besides each other isn't here. Instead of cheering, they both look wistfully anxious. Seeing your group perks them up. Bota approaches first, waving.      "Hey! I'm glad you could make it. I know this isn't exactly urgent, but... it feels like an important moment, and it's the last quiet time we'll get to talk for a while." He glances over at the cheering throng, rubs the back of his neck, and smiles awkwardly. "Quiet-ish."      Kana musters a smile from behind him. Her arms are crossed over her stomach, and her eye keeps wandering over to the welding crews. The fire in her stare hasn't fully recovered its intensity since New York and the corpse of Skutoom- having a lifelong vengeance quest ripped out from under you does that. But she looks mostly better. She's resilient.
Redshift Operators	There's a grim-looking gunman giving the place a look over. The leader of the Redshift Operators knows what a vulnerable high-isolation long-term vessel looks like, and this, increasingly, is not it. Last time on the apocalypse, our heroes were dealing with combinations of internal despair, interpersonal feuds, and political maneuverings, exactly none of which he's capable of dealing with. This? Not easier, but much more comprehensible.     "Important moment. Yeah." He says, nodding to Bota. "No kidding. This is the last time a lot of people are seeing a lot of other people, one way or another." He stares, balling his fists up as if struggling to see it. "Don't like it." He admits. "But my blood won't be working the right way if I don't have this memory to think on. Gotta make sure it's there, for when things get bad. You better too, kid. Look long and hard. And..."     He starts taking some paced breaths. He turns away from Bota, speaking to both him and the others, but Bota especially. It's with an intent to "teach," in a sense. "Do something to encode it. Breathing pattern. Clenching muscles. Whistle a tune. Anything. Look at it, really look and think, and draw the link. When things get dire and you gotta knuckle down, do it again, and call what you're seeing here up in your brain. Build an intent. Good part of why we need to be here, not just the talking."
Kale Hearthward	"Quiet-ish," repeats Kale, nodding as he approaches. He glances over at the cheering. "Not much to be done about that. Not much *should* be done about that, anyway. There's a lot of emotions that people are getting out here, aren't they. A lot of... energy in play. Better people get it out now and like this, than let it sit and stew." "... Or, better that, even, than to decide that they need to keep you from leaving, or decide to tag along themselves. The people we're fighting for, that we need to have to rebuild the world after we save it, we don't need them in danger." Kale glances from the civilians... over to Kana. He's not sure what advice he can offer her, but he can offer something else. "... There's coffee, if you need some. We squeezed as much medical equipment and supplies on board the East Wind as we could, taking out nearly everything else in order to do so, but we managed to find space for the coffee maker." The East Wind itself is perched at whatever spot there's enough flat space for it - or keeping pace along with the ship, if not.
Candy	"Psst."      Candy, who'd been standing vigil over the farewells alongside Brune, is ready with the exact same bottle of wine in the event that his gauntleted fumbling shattered the bottle. He wears an outfit rather common for a seaman of his world's era--canvas breeches, work boots, a red-and-white striped tee, and a comfortable navy peacoat. His hair is tied back with a ribbon the same color as the peacoat, to keep it from his eyes.      "Hope you're gentler with company than you are with presents, ah? Hahaha." 'Company' can only mean one thing, the way his eyebrows rise and dip--and yet, he only laughs harder, if this harpoonist is as clueless about that as Bota tends to be.      A little two-fignered salute is given, before he's gone up to the outside of the garden dome, waving back at Bota. "Hey there, big shots," he says in greeting to both the harpoonist and his seasoned mentor. "This old tub looks brand new, don't it?" He slaps the railing appreciatively. "All gussied up and ready to hunt some goddamn thieves." Running a hand along the railing, he looks out over the sea.      He sighs, wistfully. "Part of me wants to say there's not much to talk about. But that's bullshit. I've had, ah... moments, like this, before." Grand celebrations that might be one's last.      Candy smiles at Kana--in his experience, she's less given to drawn out conversation, between the two harpoonists. But he poses an open question to the both of them, anyway. "What's on your mind?"
Angela	Nonon and Shajo along with other agents of the Disciplinary team (unnamed) have been training at the Union Busan for the past while in order to get accustomed to battling on the sea. Nonon, the most experienced in sea fighting, pretty much just needs to familiarize with the local equipment--she already knows how to wield a harpoon and has been gabbing happily about fighting pirates during her time on the Great Lake with Shajo pointing out that Nonon WAS one of the pirates on the Great Lake, having to remind her of this fact more than once. "Oh yeah, we were about to keelhaul you. Honestly underutilized these days...GA HA HA HA!" Is a typical end to that story and Shajo laughs along with her, very fun story, good times. How did Shajo avoid being killed in a real terrible way to be killed? 'Charm' is his answer. Nonon has finally got a proper Fixer-grade Harpoon from back home that she's accustomed to using, strapped to her shoulder by rope. The Disciplinary Team, following Shajo and Nonon's lead, have been particularly friendly with the Harpoonists and lower class civilians of the ship and have been occassionally treating Bota to meals. Nonon claims Bota reminds her of Shajo when he was younger, but Shajo denies that this is true. "Don't think my build's really suited for this kind of fighting, so you'll have to take charge for this one Nonon. We'll probably lose half the team in a best case scenario." "No reason to not be optimistic, won't kill more people." Nonon counters. "We've got some of the hardiest multiversals lending a hand on this one." They make their way over towards Bota and Kana (the rest of Disciplinary is participating in the ritual with the other Harpoonists) though Shajo places a hand on Nonon's stomach to stop when it seems like the two are having a quie moment. They wait a moment before continuing their approach. "Gebura's fully committed to this one but we're...bringing in some additional support day of. Don't know if it got mentioned by Miss Angela but...we're lending some sea monsters over." Shajo says. "From what we heard, they should be wholly under Miss Rita's control." Shajo draws out his pad and turns it on so Gebura and Angela can connect as they will.
Ishirou	Ishirou leans over the railing, looking out at the ocean.  It looks peaceful, much more peaceful than the ruckus going on on the ship.  Never mind that below those depths, there are things that want to kill them, eat them, and ruin all of their lives.   Grim, he decides, and turns away from the ocean and towards the celebration.  He rather be here, thinking about the moment leaning over and thinking about the grimness of what's to come.  Ishirou gives a wave toward Bota and Kana, smiling at both of them.  He looks a lot better than he has in months, the air about him has cleared... returning to the air that he used to have about him.   "I could think of a few topics we could talk about... but something tells me we want to stay away from serious ones today..." thinking about what else to say.  "Instead, what do you guys want to eat once we're finished?  You know, for the celebration meal?  I'm sure there'll be no expense paid for /that/celebration, yeah?" he says with a smile.   He DOES, however, move over to lean on Candy.  "So speaking of something to talk about... the Landlord wants to shout at you about something.  I think something about something about the furnace acting up and I think he wants you to fix it."
Dysnomia	All of this is new to Mia. She strides in near the back of the group, hands tucked in her jacket pockets. Her lingered on the Union Buson itself. You could learn a lot about a crew by their vessel, and she was a baffling one. A haphazard retrofit job. Reckless, she thought at first, frowning before correcting herself, desperate.     The Union Buson felt like less of a ship and more of a city, in how its pieces grew out. It was lived in. It was a home.     It made what she knew of what was happening that much more grim.     She grunted in assent to the gunman. Did she know him? After a moment of squinting, she drew the connection between him and the voice on the radio. "Pity to see a ship that's seen so much love cut up like this." She mused aloud. "Even if it's necessary."     Her eyes remained on the work for a moment longer before turning to face Bota and Kana. "This is an awful time for a greeting, but there won't be a better one. Dysnomia..." Her mouth opens as if to say something else, then clips shut, with a frown.     "...Well, I'll be fighting, and I do plenty of fixing up ships." They were starships, granted, but she was sure there'd be some overlap. Maybe a lot. "You'll be seeing me around. No charge."
Kukuru	After so much time has passed since her last visit to the Union Busan, Kukuru actually has trouble finding the city ship at first. It's not so much that she doesn't know what it looks like, because she recognizes it when she finally does see it. Instead, the fact that it's a ship at all means figuring out which stretch of ocean is the right one to actually show up at to get there. For one of the few times in her life, however, Kukuru actually planned for this, and she had set out early just to find the place. Thus, it's not too long after everyone starts to show up that she, too, arrives from one of her teleportation clouds, landing within the garden dome abruptly and soaked through with seawater. Landing in a damp heap, she looks as comfortable as ever sitting on the floor for a bit, letting the fatigue fade a little before she finally gets up to greet Bota and Kana with her usual sleepy smiling spread over her face. "Mmmhm... He-llo, Bota. He-llo, Kana. It's good to gather for times like this. You're..." Getting up slowly, she moves over to join them at the dome, fishing a dry towel out of her pockets to wrap her hair up. It doesn't stop the dripping everywhere. "We're gonna be fighting hard soon. Everyone should be able to go with plenty of good food in their bellies, so they can look forward to what they'll be coming back to." Although what she says is optimistic as ever, even Kukuru can't ignore the gravity of what's to come, and she sighs softly while sliding more things out of her pockets: Juicy fruit snacks, t*pperware containers full of fried questionable meats, and little flasks that she offers to the two before offering more to everyone else that's showing up. "I'll keep you two safe. I can't promise that for everyone else, but..." She strokes her chin lightly, then looks out towards the sea. "Someone important to all of us is waiting for you to come back."
Lilian Rook	"Throwing something like this around as they please? Honestly, what were they expecting?" says Lilian, standing up from a barely balanced crouch with a bottle of antique wine held by the neck in her hand. "Goodness. Isn't that a bad omen?" Flipping it right-side over, she holds it out for the blue-haired man to take, with just such an air that no pretty smile nor drop-down hair nor lace-sleeved top and godet skirt can conceal the habitually ingrained familiarity to being offered a weapon. "Old friend? Fiancé?" She can really be such a kind stranger. Attentive, too, and some mixture of agile and lucky to catch a fumble like that.     Shame that he's probably sharp enough to notice that he hadn't seen or heard her until an instant ago.     Good thing he at least can't catch the way Lilian gestures for Candy to bring the spare bottle for the two of them to share upstairs in a moment. Perhaps she might be trying a little too hard, but she certainly looks better than . . . last time.     "I'd say we can't have that being the last thing they remember of you, but that's bad luck too." Lilian says, briefly putting her elbows on the railing. "We need everyone to be trying their hardest to get back. Without any escape, that's the one way everyone fights their hardest forward." A little overly familiar, perhaps, she briefly places her hand on his gauntlet. "Don't save it though. Thinking about your goals and your regrets, who and what you'll miss, when the moment comes; that's what'll kill you."     Standing up straight again, Lilian turns back, brushes her hair behind her, and says "Ah, my apologies for rambling on. I'm not your girlfriend, so I'll leave you to it." She's more fastiduous at melding into the crowd before vanishing than Candy is, but that makes it feel more, not less, like she'd seen something she wasn't willing to say.
Stanley Padgett	Stanley is pretty subdued tonight, actually. He's trailing along with the others, at the edges. Attempts at Being Friendly are gone right now, replaced with quiet words for the people he passes, smiles and handshakes with the crew he recognizes from the fight with the Kraken, the time he spent helping to reinforce the Busan.     But there are Elites here too, ones he's meant to try and find and talk to for some time.     There's some he's seen far too soon, actually. He tries to shy past the L-Corp Crew and Petra and some of the others, angling towards the rest of the squad. Kukuru in particular, he'll sneak some of the fruit snacks, and give her a lanky hug, before settling in to try and absorb some of the good vibes here.     Good vibes were needed.
Petra Soroka	Petra had really only been to the Union Busan that one time, for the fight with Kraken. Even besides the fact that this was Rita's world and Petra would fight for it solely for that, the battle with the Kraken *was* one of Petra's better moments. Pride in her own competency shouldn't really be too much of a deciding factor in whether Petra cares to help save tens of thousands of people from the apocalypse, and it certainly isn't in this case compared to Rita, but knowing that this is one of the few places she's actually successfully helped *before* does improve Petra's mood on returning.     That positive memory may have been the last time Petra had *been* to Rita's world. But there's another negative memory, more recent, that Petra only heard about secondhand, that puts her back on edge somewhat.     "Ah... yeah, it definitely feels important." Petra looks away from Bota to the waving civilians, an odd look on her face. Any comments she might have carelessly made are smothered in the surge of faint recognition she feels at seeing kids in the crowd waving goodbye to the Harpoonists. "It's-- it's probably good for it to be a celebration, like this. Giving gifts and stuff will let them feel like they helped too."     Red Dwarf's suggestion makes her a bit queasy, and she shrugs her bomber jacket closer around herself, not visibly giving it any attention. Her arms being crossed hides the fact that she's digging her nails into her palm, purposefully. With Lilian vanished into the crowd, the Disciplinary agents being somewhat less familiar to Petra, and most of the others having some searing negative association hanging over their heads, Petra ends up gravitating between Kale and the agents, leaning against the ship railing and looking out to the ocean.     "... This'll all be harder without my mech, huh." Petra puts a hand on Pillar of Creation thoughtfully, looking over at Nonon brandishing her harpoon. "Maybe I could... learn how to use a harpoon? Otherwise I'll be as helpless as Shajo."
Hibiki Tachibana	Being on the Union Busan comes with...a strange sensation, right now. Maybe it might be things that have happened in the meantime - if you think about it, a lot has happened over the time period of them first visiting here - or maybe it might be the odd mix of feelings that come with both the deafening cheering and heartful farewells, along with the vessels separating away from one another. It represents a gigantic change in everything, of taking the first step to moving on to what one can only hope will be a final confrontation.     There's no absolute guarantee, for them, that they'll be seeing each other again. It's hard to imagine a world where there's no loss at all during this.     ...But making sure that does happen is why they've all been trying so hard. Not just for that, but also so that Rita...     Hibiki, also, has a mind to stay clear of the greater crowds going at it - they're not really somewhere she feels at home being, and really, it's Kana and Bota that she's expecting to see waiting for them, and she's relieved that assumption wasn't mistaken. Seeing them both perk up is enough for her to give her own half-awkward wave back to the both of them.     "...Kana. Bota. Hey. I'm happy you guys have been managing. Don't worry about it - everyone came because they wanted to. And because they didn't want to miss this." She didn't, at least. Still, there's a little bit of stiffness as she glances off towards the vast majority of people assembled along the edge of the ship. She waits until Candy and Kukuru have both spoke up before she does so again herself.     "Someone important, waiting... ...and not just for us, either. There's all sorts of people here who will be holding on as hard as they can for that, whether they're coming to fight or staying behind."
Rita Ma	Bota looks uncertain about Red Dwarf's advice for a moment. Then he seems to see the sense in it, all of a sudden, and nods. "Right. Building a mindset. I should..."      He looks out at the welding crews and breathes deep. His eyes shut, and his hand squeezes a small object in his pocket. They're a little brighter when he opens them again. "Thanks, Red Dwarf. This is what it's for, isn't it? Making sure as many of these goodbyes aren't forever as we can." That's not what it's about for him, but it's a secondary motivation.      Brune, the harpoonist with the mechanical gauntlets- the disciplinary team knows him as Busan's third toughest customer, but it's not a close third- swerves from grumpy disappointment to total consternation. His eyes flick from Lilian, to Candy, and back again, before he finally takes the original bottle.      Candy softens him up and pinks his cheeks. It's funny to see those big piston-driven gauntlets held up in open-palmed defense. "Hey! Who do you think you're talking to?! Sonia'll tell you, I can be as gentle as- I mean, not that I'm not a tough guy, but-!!" and then Lilian goes in for the kill. In his flashing-red state, he recoils from her hand on his arm, and then looks at her with surprisingly vulnerable worry.      "Hey! What's- what do you mean, what'll kill me?" Fear shifts back to grumpiness when she turns her back to go. "You're not looking down on me, are you?? You just got here! Come on!"      Reluctantly, he uncorks it and takes a swig a minute later anyway.
Rita Ma	"There's coffee, if you need some."      "What's on your mind?"      "Kana, are you... smiling? Is something wrong?" Around the time the others zero in on her, Bota turns to Kana with genuine concern too. She looks guiltily startled. The awkward reassuring smile- would she ever have done that before?- falls right off her face.      "I'd like some coffee, yes. Thank you," she says to delay, and shakes her head in Bota's direction. (With the familiarity between them, that's enough.) Her gaze drops to the deck while she collects her words, and she rubs her own arm uncomfortably.      "It's a lot," she says. Her head tilts slightly towards Dysnomia, echoing the sentiment. "A community being put to death. Just when we made it a home. I lived here half my life. What do you think are the odds--"      Metal shrieks as the few remaining connectors snap from a rolling wave, finally disbanding the Union Busan with a lurch. Kana takes the shifting deck with an expert lean; everyone else stumbles. The welding crews retreat. For a moment, the cheering and goodbyes reach a fever pitch. Kana looks out at the sea. "--it'll ever come back together again?"
Rita Ma	Bota takes a moment to shake hands with the later arrivals: Hibiki, Dysnomia, Petra, Stanley. Firm, but not aggressive, and his smile has just as much energy. "Nice to meet you, Dysnomia. A friend of Rita's? I'm Bota Ma; that's Kana, my... well, we're family." His gaze turns. "I wouldn't worry about it, um... Petra, right? Even if you can't hold a gun and can't swim, you'll see action. It's-" he winces- "more than likely they'll get up on the deck."      "In the last few weeks, sea monster attacks have stopped all over the world," Kana adds grimly. "They're all here."      "Someone important, waiting..."      "Someone important to all of us is waiting for you to come back."      "From what we heard, they should be wholly under Miss Rita's control."      Kana and Bota trade a worried glance as he takes Kukuru's fried mystery meats. He speaks first. "So 'that' still works on other worlds' monsters. That's a huge help, but... Rita won't be coming, right? She'll be sending them from a distance?"      "She'll want to help us," Kana adds, her tone regaining its skin-prickling severity. "You can't let her. If she's here, she'll become the Queen's top priority. We won't be able to keep her safe."
Rita Ma	"Instead, what do you guys want to eat once we're finished? You know, for the celebration meal?"      "I'd just like some fried fish skewers," Bota says with a fondly reminiscing look. "You know, like the ones we had just before New York. I've always liked--"      "Maybe Clark Miller." "Kana?!"
Candy	Candy smiles at Lilian, rather dumbly, holding the spare bottle by the neck. "Hey," he says to her, just as dumbly. It's one of those 'heys' that says a lot more than just the word itself. 'You look great,' 'I'm glad you're here,' and certainly 'I'm sorry,' too.      "You're not gonna be helpless," says Candy to Petra, after a moment of letting that 'hey' hang in the air. It's spoken with absolute certainty. I think something about something about the furnace acting up and I think he wants you to fix it.      "No, no, no, no, no," says Candy, gesturing animatedly. "First of all, Sean's maintenance, not a landlord. There's no landlords in Cuernavaca. If he's using that word, you hit that old fart over the head with one of these, 'til he gets better," he says, lifting the bottle.      "And then you get him to a brain doctor, because he has lost it. Second, you tell him that's -his- job, not mine. He can't do it, have that yankee peckerwood do it. All he does is drive that goddamn truck around cruising for a woman that's not tired of him yet, anyway, ah? If he complains, you tell him to suck your dick. And tell him I said suck -my- dick, too, ah?" What are the odds it'll come together again?      "Bet on it," says Candy to Kana. He, too stumbles, and spits a swear under his breath, when the Busan departs. "It's not being put to death. More like... put under, like the doctors do, for the surgery," says Candy, miming a scalpel cut with his free hand. "There's something that's been eating at it for a long-ass time, and now you finally got the time and the tools to get rid of it. And it -does- gotta come out--so that community back there can start -living,- instead of just surviving."      Candy looks at the clamoring civilians, cheering everyone on. "That's the thing about the surgery," he says. "There's some kinds that can do you in, if it goes wrong, sure. But that's usually the kind where -not- getting it does you in just the same, ah? At least, that's how they make it sound from the radio dramas and the penny papers." He shrugs his shoulders.      "If it was me, I would take the chance. Especially with 'doctors' like you, and Bota." You can't let her. If she's here, she'll become the Queen's top priority. We won't be able to keep her safe.      Candy frowns. "Look, Kana, I know you're not gonna wanna hear this, but 'let' is a strong word, when you are talking about somebody fighting for home. If I see her--and that's a big if, you know, I'll tell her the thief has it out for her. But I guarantee you, that Rita, she knows it." He pauses, mulling over his words.      "'Protect,' too, that's..." The dynamiter chews his lower lip. "Is it 'protecting' me, or Bota, what you're going to be doing when we meet those bastards? I wish this was the kind of world where Ritas didn't have to 'know what they were doing,' but she knows what she's doing, Kana."
Ishirou	Ishirou nods to Bota, thinking about that.  He'll have to check out the fish skewer place again... just to see if he can't make up something for them, or if they'll be willing to tell him how they make them.  It shouldn't be as hard as making raw meat palatable for others besides Rita... That was a challenge and had him reaching far out of his comfort zone for cooking.   "I'll tell him, both things to what you said buuuut the golem is going out more than just rainy days now.  If you come help, I'll help.  But I /could/ tell him to make the 'Yankee Peckerwood' do it.  But we both know he isn't..." 'Maybe Clark Miller.' Ishirou can't help but laugh at that dark humor, shaking his head.  "If it's all the same, I don't think he's the best man for the job... and his antics getting the position scream more of wanting glory than really taking the threat before us seriously.  I think he'd sell each and every person to the devil if it meant he'd get to come back being called a hero.." Taking a breath, "That's a topic for another day, I think.." Memories of what Rita showed him cause him to shudder and he visibly pales.  He tried to recover somewhat, but the memory was still a deep-seated one.  "As long as there are people willing to come back to it... then I think the community will survive.  That's what I think.  The civilians staying behind will keep 'home' for you, so all you need to do is make it back, right?" Kana makes a comment about not wanting Rita here, and Ishirou agrees.  He still has the footage still, he did record it after all.  The Queen would do far worse to Rita than any one of them.  She'd just kill them... but for Rita... to be consumed... "I understand how you feel but... Rita's got to make her own decisions, even if we disagree with them... and Candy's right.  I think she knows more acutely than any of us what the threat is.  Which is why she's stayed away for so long, but when the time comes I think she'll be there to help us... even if it's at great risk to herself..."  Ishirou looks a little worried, but... it's very hard to cut himself off from trying to stop her from doing something she is going to want to do.
Redshift Operators	"Celebratory meal? Hmm. Red Giant's soup beans make a hell of an after-op meal, at least that's our tradition." The gunman mutters a bit about the topic. As for Kana's answer, he nods sagely. "She's got a point. Chunk of that guy's throat is the kind of dessert to look forward to. I'll stick to the soup beans though. Let you have the whole thing when you earn it."     "I strongly support Kana's right to bite anyone as much as she likes." A cyborg ninja who came along for things comments from the side.     "Don't make this weird. Anyway, you're right, Bota. It's about a mindset. It's about knowing what kind of happiness you're after. Can't just be anger or sadness or whatever. Too unformed. Ambiguous. You need a crafted payload, all the right components. Knowing what's at stake, knowing what you're earning, knowing how to remember it all at once. Build it for weeks, so when it's time, you light the fuse and let it go off."
Kale Hearthward	Kale gets Kana's coffee to her, along with whoever else asks for any. Unlike last time, where it was handed out in disposable paper cups, Kale's brought some nice reusable twist-lock travel mugs. If they don't make it back on the East Wind, then someone will make good use of them here, he's sure. ... Assuming the world doesn't end, anyway. Kale has a side conversation with Petra. Some of it's private, but some of it can be overheard, with the conversation ending with: "Look. There's simple enough things out in the Multiverse, if you go looking for them. Kingdoms to save, princesses to rescue, that kinda thing. Just like, something simple and under our weight class. I'll keep an ear to the Paladins request line." "You can't let her. If she's here, she'll become the Queen's top priority. We won't be able to keep her safe." The Queen focusing on Rita feels like something with all upsides and no downsides, thinks (but definitely not speaks) Kale. Immediately, he finds the thoughts ringing hollow. No, it actually would be kind of... sad, if she got taken out. Especially right on the verge of, hopefully, saving her world. The Busan splits and departs. No turning back. Kale, himself an expat, watches the ex-parts of the ship move apart in silence for a while. > "It's not being put to death. More like... put under, like the doctors do, for the surgery," "Hmm. Yeah. I like that way of putting it..." "> Maybe Clark Miller." "You don't. American food sucks," says Kale, after a moment of running through his dialogue options.
Kukuru	Stanley gets a light side-hug and a surprised look from Kukuru. "Stanley? I didn't know you knew everyone here, too... Oh. Are you sure you should be...?" She starts to ask and trails off, starting to look concerned after a few moments. Even though she's trying to sound light-hearted, it's hard not to worry when it involves actual teenagers in the mix. Hibiki being there only intensifies that worried look from Kukuru of course. "Hibiki, you're...?" 'There's all sorts of people here who will be holding on as hard as they can for that, whether they're coming to fight or staying behind.' That's why they're all here. Even Bota and Kana can't be that much older than those two to her eyeball'd estimates, and they don't even have a choice in the matter considering it's their world. "... Oh. Oh, kids. Mmn. Fine." Taking a deep breath to steady herself so she doesn't end up crying in front of everyone, Kukuru sniffs lightly to get a clog sorted out before clapping her hands together. "I guess I've gotta... Really work harder this time, then. Someone's gotta be responsible here, aaand..." 'We need everyone to be trying their hardest to get back. Without any escape, that's the one way everyone fights their hardest forward.' "I'll just have to make sure everyone comes home safe, even if nobody's safe while we're all out there." She affirms with a slow nod at Kana and Bota when the latter mentions  'that', giggling softly after a moment. "It does! And.. I guess she can't, but she'll.. I know she'll do the best she can, so everyone can be..." Safe? No. There's no safety here. "... Everyone can be fighting at their best. Then when everything's safe for real, you can all be together again."
Stanley Padgett	Bota manages to find Stanley anyways, and he'll return the MANLY HANDSHAKE, meeting him for it despite the lanky teenage dimensions of the fencer. "...They never got you into that miko outfit, did they? Sorry I haven't been around to check, Mr. Bota." A cheeky grin, but his heart's not entirely into the smile. It's obvious.     Kukuru, and then Hibiki, get a more honest look. Kukuru's about to ask the correct question, but doesn't. And Stanley don't mind not having to answer that. "Hey, I... I'll be fine. Promise. Everything's fine." It's not.     Hibiki, though, gets a quiet wave. "Hey you. Been a while. Sorry I haven't been around to say hi or anything." He holds out Kukuru's little fruit tray to Tachibana, offering second-hand snacks. "You should have some, they're good." He nods at Kukuru as the source.
Lilian Rook	Lilian didn't come here just to hang out with Brune for a few minutes. Her commitments to the whole ship are clear, given the literal billion plus credits she's spent on it, and her personal ties to this place are waiting for her on the garden deck above. Most of her bag was packed for a certain purpose.     'Thanks, Red Dwarf. This is what it's for, isn't it?'     "Oh? You've been discussing something interesting without me, it seems." Lilian says as she arrives around the perimeter of the dome. It'd be tempting to say it's just like the first time she was here, all smart heel-clicks and fancy dress and confidently belonging attitude, but it'd be a bit of a lie. A little less frill and a little more bared skin, and with her sword visibly strapped over her back like at the war council, the way she walks the deck isn't quite trying so hard anymore.     "Were you talking about strategy perhaps? The future? Simply weighing your responsibilities? Or . . ." Lilian glances out over the railing for a second, and slows at the sight of so many people at once. Absentmindedly, her fingers touch her scar, and linger as she stares, up until she shakes her head and reconvenes.     "Obviously she's only relieved to see me." Lilian picks up like she hadn't hesitated at all, looking fondly towards Kana. "Seeing as I've never seen her smile even once before, that's the only thing it could be, isn't it?" she laughs quietly. "What kind of castaway doesn't smile at the sight of land~?"     '--it'll ever come back together again?'     The half-smile slides from Lilian's face. She finds a spot to stare at the horizon from, and closes her eyes slowly. "There's absolutely no possibility that it fits back together the same way it was before. I'm sorry, Kana, but even if everyone somehow survives, and the main ship comes back intact, it won't be the same anyways, will it?" She opens them again. "That isn't quite true of death, though, is it? That's not how it works. I'd think of it more as a coming of age. Wouldn't you?"     "It's scary, because you can't possibly predict what it'll become, but you know that, however it turns out, that's how it will be from then on. Waking up from that daily haze and taking a step towards the rest of your life is terrifying, no matter what. So why not ask for the odds that things will be better afterwards? I can give you those favourably, you know."     'She'll want to help us. You can't let her. If she's here, she'll become the Queen's top priority. We won't be able to keep her safe.'     Lilian sighs through her nose. Shifting her weight, she reaches into her bag, and slips free a buckle-locked sketchbook. Flipping through page after page, she hums under her breath, stops midway through by pinning it with a thumbnail, and then promptly pulls a sheet right out, down to the margins. "I thought you might say that." she says. "And I wouldn't know what to say to you in words. So . . ."     What she turns over to Kana and Bota is the last thing she'd drawn in months. Shockingly realistic, sharply detailed and three-dimensional, yet teemingly alive in its slightly smudged lines and blurred joinings, as if the subject were slightly in motion; it's only Lilian's usual style, that her drawing looks closer to how something is one's head than a photograph does. It's otherwise unremarkable. Merely a study done in comfortable surroundings, depicting Rita curled up on a certain sofa by a certain aquarium glass and a certain table on a certain day. Even if it's only pencil, she looks like she practically glows in it.     'Does this look as sad and desperate and suicidal as you imagine?' is implied in Lilian's look, rather than stated by her lips. 'You haven't spoken for a long time. Does this girl still look just as eager to die for her sins?'
Angela	Shajo peers at Petra but Nonon places her hand on the top of Shajo's head like she could pick him up that way and his shoulders push back down. He's the captain of Disciplinary but he's quicker to anger. Eventually he steadies himself and says, "Nonon will be happy to teach you the Harpoon. Though you're not gonna want for teachers here--" Nonon grins, "But I'd love to! It sounds like a good time!" She's been looking forward for an opportunity like this--Since she lost a fight against Petra she wants to spar with her more often. Nonon doesn't believe in communicating with her fists but she does enjoy the sport of it "We have group sessions, but I wouldn't mind lending you a hand in a one on one session! Can't have you struggling here, need your help back home!" She says home as if The City IS Petra's home which--well--it's where she's living at least. Nonon naturally laughs boisterously at Kana thinking about eating Clark Miller, eating human meat isn't taboo in some places in the City but Nonon doesn't really want to get into that here. Instead Nonon says, "She sounded like she knew what she was doin', but--" Rita won't be coming, right? Nonon stalls because Rita hasn't said one way or another! "We don't know her range--if she doesn't need to be ''here'' to make it work, that's fine with us. We just don't want to drop extra monsters into the mess that will just as readily turn on your buddies here." Shajo crosses his arms. "If anyone tries to go after her either way, we'll harpoon their heads off." Nonon's smile becomes more subdued. "She's her own woman, don't think we have much in the way of influence on what she decides to do but--she hadn't mentioned one way or another." "Miss Angela's been clear." Gebura's face flickers onto the tab, having caught just the tail end of that. "We'll check in and let you know if she's made a call one way or the other." Her gaze focuses on Kana for a moment before slanting towards Lilian. "Dame Commander." She greets. Her eyes settle down on the Rita-on-a-sofa. "..." ''She looks like any other kid. Fuck me.'' The Red Mist thinks then looks to Lilian, "...Have we erred in asking for her assistance?"
Redshift Operators	"Talking *intents*." The gunman explains to Lilian. "Special tech I learned from an old pal. Linking mindsets and shortcut stuff. It's called an intent." He taps the side of his head. "Things like this? Important memories. You can use them to build or reinforce a good intent, deploy it later even more." He turns back to watch the throngs on the two other ships as they drift away in the distance, and, finally, his ultra-rhythmic breathing stops. His fingers, twitching ever-so-slightly before, go motionless, and he seems to become less "intense" in some way.     "Not any kind of guarantee that things work out. But sure gives you one hell of an edge when you're in a life or death situation. And I get the feeling we're going to have some of that."
Dysnomia	"What do you think are the odds...it'll ever come back together again?"     Mia's hand clenches shut as she is wracked by a jolt of aimless frustration. She forces an exhale. It only takes a moment for her to smooth it from her expression. "...Don't know." She said. "But. It's probably not zero."     "There's absolutely no possibility that it fits back together the same way it was before...it won't be the same anyways, will it?"     She frowns a little at being contradicted, but her gaze loses some of its heat as Lilian keeping going. "Guess so." Dysnomia confessed, scratching idly at her forearm. "It's gonna change. It will never be yesterday again."     Her handshake with Bota is tight and professional, and her eyes stay trained on his until they release each other's grip. "I don't know her well," Dysnomia said, dissmively. "But I know enough to want to not want her world to burn."     She doesn't have the context to really put together what the rest of the talk about Rita means, but it's enough to give her some idea of what she DOESN'T know. The sweet kid had her secrets, and hearing it left her feeling like she'd peered at a thought best locked away in think     "What do you think are the odds...it'll ever come back together again?"     Mia's hand clenches shut as she is wracked by a jolt of aimless frustration. She forces an exhale. It only takes a moment for her to smooth it from her expression. "...Don't know." She said. "But. It's probably not zero."     "There's absolutely no possibility that it fits back together the same way it was before...it won't be the same anyways, will it?"     She frowns a little at being contradicted, but her gaze loses some of its heat as Lilian keeping going. "Guess so." Dysnomia confessed, scratching idly at her forearm. "It's gonna change. It will never be yesterday again."     Her handshake with Bota is tight and professional, and her eyes stay trained on his until their grip releases. "I don't know her well," Dysnomia said, dissmively. "But I know enough to want to not want her world to burn."     She doesn't have the context to really put together what the rest of the talk about Rita means, but it's enough to give her some idea of what she DOESN'T know. The sweet kid had her secrets, and hearing it left her feeling like she'd peered at a thought best locked away in privacy.
Dysnomia	"What do you think are the odds...it'll ever come back together again?"     Mia's hand clenches shut as she is wracked by a jolt of aimless frustration. She forces an exhale. It only takes a moment for her to smooth it from her expression. "...Don't know." She said. "But. It's probably not zero."     "There's absolutely no possibility that it fits back together the same way it was before...it won't be the same anyways, will it?"     She frowns a little at being contradicted, but her gaze loses some of its heat as Lilian keeping going. "Guess so." Dysnomia confessed, scratching idly at her forearm. "It's gonna change. It will never be yesterday again."     Her handshake with Bota is tight and professional, and her eyes stay trained on his until their grip releases. "I don't know her well," Dysnomia said, dissmively. "But I know enough to want to not want her world to burn."     She doesn't have the context to really put together what the rest of the talk about Rita means, but it's enough to give her some idea of what she DOESN'T know. The sweet kid had her secrets, and hearing it left her feeling like she'd peered at a thought best locked away in privacy.
Petra Soroka	"Even if you can't hold a gun and can't swim, you'll see action."     Petra blinks and shakes her head emphatically. "Er-- no, I can do those, I can swim, I just... don't think I can swim better than a sea monster? And-- and I've got guns, I've..." Petra feels compelled to prove at least one of those capabilities, after Bota so easily accepted that she had none. She starts pulling out all the guns on her person to demonstrate how good she is at holding guns, reaching into her pockets to pull out a total of three revolvers, two of which are bladed, a transteam gun, and a pistol on her ankle holster.     She doesn't have anything to say about them, though. She just doesn't want Rita's brother to think she's useless. So she just holds them for a second, then puts them all away again. "You're not gonna be helpless,"     Petra hesitates just for a second, noticeably enough, while glances at Lilian for cues. Lilian's behavior around Candy seems to give Petra the go-ahead, at least enough to tolerate him, so she relaxes her tension again. Talking with Candy is kind of nice, anyways-- overhearing his conversation with Ishirou, recognizing the name, feeling just a little more tied in to the communal tapestry around her.     "Yeah... on the decks, right.... I've never actually seen any of the sea monsters here except for Kraken, but there's got to be millions of them, right? I just... I guess, worried my presence won't be that impactful." Implicitly, compared to last time. "Another body's another body, anyways. I don't want to, to feel like I didn't do enough." "Maybe Clark Miller." "I strongly support Kana's right to bite anyone as much as she likes."     It's unclear which thread of the conversation Petra absently nods in agreement to, looking at them out of the side of her eyes while talking to Kale. It's unclear-- unless you remember that Petra was not around for Skutoom and does not know the name Clark Miller. "Can't have you struggling here, need your help back home!"     If Petra has any objections to the City being called home, she doesn't voice them. Instead she just tilts her head in agreement, thinking about the same thing Nonon is but with a little less glee. She gets halfway through responding, before her the ambient conversation shift catches up to her brain, and she freezes with her eyes wide. "Yeah, I mean, the Harpoonists probably have plenty to do anyways. I can just grab you sometime at--" "If she's here, she'll become the Queen's top priority." "From what we heard, they should be wholly under Miss Rita's control."     Petra flinches away from the cluster around Kana and Bota, automatically bringing her hand halfway up to cover her ears like she heard a painfully loud noise. Without finishing her previous thought, or addressing anyone in particular, Petra mutters, "I'll be around," and wanders away from the group, just enough to get out of earshot, and very pointedly has stopped digging her nails into her palm.
Lilian Rook	'Dame Commander.'     "Gebura." Lilian replies, after her gift is physically accepted.     "She's nearly my age now." she says, tapping down on one extended finger. "And I'm certainly not like any other I look like." Lilian says, before she looks away. "But I suppose it's true that Rita is different than you and I in that regard. Enough of her is right that the parts that are wrong don't have to show all the time."     "Oh." Lilian depresses a second finger. "We haven't really asked, and we wouldn't have been wrong to do so anyways. It's her home, and her family, so she should decide on her own in the first place; never mind just how strong she is. And . . ."     Lilian checks off a third finger. "Say please."     'Linking mindsets and shortcut stuff. It's called an intent.'     "Oh? Is that some sort of special technique of some sort where you come from? Or part of your radical theories in psychology?" says Lilian, folding one arm and resting her cheek on her fingertips. "Well, I suppose it must have some basis. I've known athletes to do something similar, but that sort applies to a sense of calm or emotional arousal."     'Things like this? Important memories. You can use them to build or reinforce a good intent, deploy it later even more.'     "If only it were so easy." Lilian sighs. "We'd all have much less trouble if we could encode our intentions, rather than only our emotions, as physical data." she says, removing a hand from her cheek and waving vaguely. "Perhaps that works if you closely confabulate the two, I suppose. That might even be most people." Lilian's hand drops back to her collarbone, and squeezes at where Night Mist would be as a pendant.     Her expression registers a moment of mental static, and she shakes her head. "No, perhaps if intent comes to you easily, but that emotional state is what keeps you from executing it, I could understand. But that's . . ." Lilian trails off to allow herself to quietly breath in for four seconds, hold it for four, and exhale over four. A moment after, she manages to smile again. "I suppose that's so very terribly normal that it applies to almost nobody, doesn't it?"
Hibiki Tachibana	'They're all here.'     "...That also means nowhere else in the world has been attacked in all that time," Hibiki's ostensibly hopeful statement is still underlined by the low tone it's delivered in, her glance towards the clamoring crowds falling into something of a wince. "And if we pull through, it'll stay that way. ...I don't want any of these goodbyes to be forever, either."     'Hibiki, you're...?'     'Hey you. Been a while.'     "Kukuru--" She starts, seeming as if she's not sure what to say...before she that sniff comes out and she lets her finish, at which point Hibiki closes her eyes just to open them again with a small smile. "...Yeah. Everyone's going to fight for what they want to come back to. I know you'll do your best to make sure we don't lose anyone." The look on her face says 'I'm not the one to worry about', at least on the surface.     Stanley rolls up right then, as if on cue, and after a momentary return to muted awkwardness, she takes one of the Kukuru-sourced snacks. "Hey you, yourself. It's not like I've been able to say it either. And...sorry that I haven't really been around, to keep helping out. You're..." It sounds like the beginning of a question, before her voice drops lower. "...hanging in there, aren't you?"     'You can't let her. If she's here, she'll become the Queen's top priority. We won't be able to keep her safe.'     There's a pause at that--where Hibiki imagines what she would do if Rita did show up in the middle of everything and try to help out directly. Would she stop her, for her own safety? Tell her to go back? ...There's not actually a world where she can picture that happening in her mind, no matter how much she attempts to. Her mouth opens to try and form words.     Which is when Lilian interjects with her drawing, and it trails off as Gebura fills the (relative) silence she was otherwise going to fill. The sight brings to mind Lilian herself, Liza...and even a bit of Petra, who she can just barely catch slinking off in the corner of her eye. Enough to make her feel guilty she was ever even a little upset about any of it in the past. Her half-opened mouth slowly closes again. "...Rita doesn't just have things to protect, but things to live for," she says quietly, almost partially to herself. "I think...whatever she decides to do will be right."     And they'll make sure that remains true, whether they end up fighting alongside Rita or just for her sake. If there was ever a time to be more serious about anything...
Lilian Rook	'And-- and I've got guns, I've...'     "Petra . . ." Lilian says, laboriously, as if embarrassed on her behalf. "Wouldn't the natural reaction to seeing someone carrying six knives around be to assume they fantasize about using them more than they actually know how to?"     Lilian gestures to Candy for the spare wine. She'd kind of like it now. He has permission to enter her massively oversized personal bubble for this.     "Well, I won't pretend I'd have vastly preferred for us to still have access to the Ekanamsha. Those weapons would finally be put to something useful for a change. It's a pity they hardly ever saw anything but grudge matches over toxic dependencies." Lilian mutters.
Candy	I don't want to, to feel like I didn't do enough.     "Nobody's counting," says Candy. Then, remembering the tattoos the Harpoonists have, he corrects himself. "I mean--the Harpoonists will count, I guess. And that shit-for-brains Miller, especially. But we're not Harpoonists and we don't have shit to prove to him. More hands is less monsters per person, and that's not nothing."      Lilian gestures to Candy for the wine. He nods, steps forward, and there is suddenly a table fastened by the legs to the railing, along with some wine glasses. "Just say when, ah?" he says, after opening the bottle and beginning a pour for her. Once she's said 'when,' he pours a glass for himself and leaves the bottle on the table.      Candy's pour (which is to say, the fact that he pours -a lot-) betrays that he really doesn't drink wine very often. He also betrays this by the way he boorishly quaffs it.
Stanley Padgett	Hibiki gets a Patented Stanley Padgett Fool's Smile. The mask has slipped on, finally, locked into place with an effort of social maneuvering. "Totally Fine, Yes, Everything's Great." He even gives her a thumbs up. "And we're getting things pieced back together bit by bit. I know that.... Lampport is in a rough shape right now, but Charlotte and I are safe, we're managing, you know? It's just... fine." The look in his eyes, past the Mask, doesn't quite reach the proper amount of smile he's offering.     We're all lying to each other tonight.     But as Stanley tries to peel himself away from UNCOMFORTABLE REALIZATIONS, he stumbles right into the path of Petra Soraka, the two thudding into each other in their efforts to be Somewhere Else. Stanley looks down at Petra. A beat, and then he huffs. "Sorry for being in your way, Soraka."     The mask is no longer there. There's not really a smile in his eyes either. He's not mad, though. Just...     she saw you do it, Padgett     He steps aside, and tries to let Petra by. "Thanks, by the way. For... helping."
Redshift Operators	"Minds got states. States got prompts. If you never change your intent, your intent changes you." Red Dwarf explains. He jabs the thumb against where his temple probably is under that helmet. "It's just about knowing that winning is a state of mind, and it's a state of mind you gotta build with weeks and months. You build it up the same way you build a bomb or a gun, and then you fire that payload when it's time. But it's not gonna be there if you don't build it, maintain it, and improve it first."     He turns around, now, leaning against the dome walls the opposite way now, looking inwards at the garden itself. "Gotta win in your mind first. Gotta build a world where winning is the only option. Gotta construct it, keep it repaired, keep it working. Gotta have a fast, simple way to slip right into it, and stay there, and do all the killing you need done while you're in there before you gotta come back out for air. Understand what I'm saying?"     He pounds a fist into an alternate palm. "Man can't kill on arms alone. Brain needs a decent weapon to wield too."
Ishirou	Ishirou watches from the railing what Stanley does and acts.  There isn't anything he feels he can do... /not/ getting in his way... Was that right?  Should he have tried harder..?  No, he's sure that... he can't stop everyone from being hurt.  Sometimes you make a choice, and sometimes you get hurt.  It doesn't make the choice wrong, it just means you were hurt.  He can't stop all pain and suffering, he's not that strong... he's not that big.   He can't harbor the pain of everyone, he can barely do his own pain.  He takes a breath and instead looks towards Hibiki.  A conversation passes, which gets a small but sad smile out of him before he watches Candy. Absolutely drink wine wrong.  He chuckles, helplessly, because it's so funny to see the elegant and high-class Lilian next to Candy who is anything but, down wine like it's water.  He walks over to Candy, leans on his non-drinking arm shoulder, and gives it a hug.
Petra Soroka	"Wouldn't the natural reaction to seeing someone carrying six knives around be to assume they fantasize about using them more than they actually know how to?"     "... Huh?" The way Petra stares dumbfounded at Lilian suggests that this thought has literally never occured to her before. "Like, really? Why would I have so many if I wouldn't use them?"     While putting them away into her jacket, Petra is left holding just the transteam gun, and looks down at it awkwardly. "Well... I haven't used this one, I guess. But it's not like I'm *fantasizing* about..." Petra trails off, thinking about how often she's fantasized about shooting someone, including literally last night. "Okay, well, it's different, because I do know how to use them, and usually when I'm thinking about it it's better that I don't. And besides, you told me to just use my spear for a while, anyways."     And then, after shuffling away from the forbidden topic of Rita, Petra ends up stuck near Stanley and Hibiki, two of her least-preferred conversation partners on this boat. She bumps into Stanley while fiddling with putting in her earbuds, instinctively twisting her shoulder to shove past him before noticing who it is.     "Eh? Oh. Padgett." Petra shifts away from him, to the railing, so that she doesn't have to look up at him. She slides a cigarette out of her pocket, cups it with her hand while lighting it, and shrugs after exhaling. "Yeah. Whatever. You know I wasn't there for you, even if that loser thought we all were."     Petra glances at Hibiki, then back at the group of Elites around the picture of Rita. With one earbud in, the sound of the celebration, some distance, and a focused attempt to not listen, she's out of earshot, but still watches them while relaxing a bit.
Kukuru	Even Kukuru's not so dense as to not see that Stanley's not being entirely truthful with her there. Still, humans his age usually don't want to let everything out, right?  Instead, she nods lightly at him, smiling softly a moment later. "Okay. Just let me know if you wanna talk, okaaay?" Nonon mentions Rita's range, and Kukuru lets out a thoughtful noise at that. "Oh yeah... If she can send stuff super far away, then maybe... Um. Maybe..." Things make a little more sense, and she nods firmly after a moment. "Then it's better she's super far away for all this. She can take care of herself, but... I'd rather not leave her alone if she was around, either." Giving Bota and Kana another understanding look at that, Kukuru wrings out some more seawater from her skirt before turning to Hibiki with a gentle chuckle. "That's what I always do, mhm. Or at least, no permanent losses. None that.. I can stop, anyway." Bad memories come back, but only for a moment before she breaks into another (slightly forced) smile. The talk of knives actually has her calming down (for real), though, and she taps her chin before shrugging at Lilian. "Is it? I dunno.. Sometimes, things are just neat to look at. Like knives, or humans, or funny posters. If they're made really nicely... Does there have to be a reason for all that?" Indeed, her thoughts are vacant enough that she's already thinking about fun posters and the like. She did see one for a movie the other day that was pretty striking.
Rita Ma	"Miko outfit?? Look- I'll wear it later, it's just a little too airy, alright?" Poor guy. He's always just a little too expressive for the sake of his own dignity.      He looks at Lilian with an absentminded smile when she touches her scar. Later, he finds a moment to say quietly: "You look a lot better this time. I don't know what happened, but... I'm happy to see it."      "I don't trust Clark either," Bota says to Ishirou with conversational distaste, "but I'm not sure he's just a gloryhound. There's something wrong with him. You see it in his eyes."      "Surgery," Kana repeats. The civilian thirds of the Union Busan drift further away, fall further behind. Minute by minute, the people on that other deck become more indistinct as dots of color. Their voices are subsumed by the churning of the waves between.      She takes a little breath and pulls her gaze away. Her arms un-cross, and she straightens up from her leaning-place against the dome. "You're right. I slipped. I ought to be thinking about how we're going to sew it back up. Even if it'll never be the same-" her eye meets Lilian's- "I've always made sure that it lives."      "... Oh. Oh, kids."      Kana struggles to swallow her coffee. "I'm thirty-five. But thanks. I'm... glad you're here." "American food sucks." "No idea how to do crab, either." At least she's feeling well enough about Skutoom to joke.      "Rita's got to make her own decisions, even if we disagree with them..."      "'let' is a strong word..."      "We'll check in and let you know if she's made a call one way or the other."      Bota looks swayed, but Kana's expression progressively sours towards something sharply dry. He glances at her anxiously. If she weren't just a little conflicted about excluding Rita, one senses she'd be bringing down the verbal guillotine on all complaints.      She never gets the momentum to do it. Lilian brings out the drawing, and Kana makes a noise like she's coming up for air. She doesn't grasp it at first, but just runs her fingers along the lifelike lines while Bota stares from behind her shoulder. "Rita..." Kana's expression melts to something tenderly, longingly despondent by the time she finally takes the gift. With quiet surprise: "... She looks happy now."      She catches her hands crumpling the paper's edges, and makes them relax.      "'The weak are destroyed in this world.' Their father taught me that. And then he trusted them to me." She says the words slowly, while her eye still lingers on the page. "But I couldn't stop Bota from needing to be strong. And now..." "Kana- you didn't fail! I begged you to let me help, too."      Whatever Kana's feeling, it abruptly falls below her thermocline of calm. She neatly folds the paper and hands it to Bota, shaking her head. "Well. You're right. She's a different person now than she was back then. Thank you, Dame Commander." It's a kind of surrender that leaves her more confident, not less. That's not explicit permission, but it's probably the best anyone's going to get.      ... Around then, Bota notices Petra retreating from the conversation. Haplessly, he raises a hand in her direction. "Hey, wait! I'm sorry? I thought your guns were pretty cool!"
Rita Ma	The Union Busan's former partner ships are beyond shouting range, now, and beginning to lag behind the rest of the battle-group: New York's pair of proper destroyers, Benin's mid-sized troop carriers, the fleet of small crowded ships (boats, really) from assorted settlements. The harpoonists at the railing are gradually starting to disperse. The atmosphere becomes wistful, severe.      Those retreating from the conversation are likely to end up near a slightly inebriated Brune, and the odd lighter-blue-haired woman now clinging to his side. Whatever flirty conversation they were having tapers off, and the knuckleheaded harpoonist looks over with wine-loosened concern.      "Hey. Are you kids, like... okay? All seem pretty torn up about something." "Oh, come on, Brune! Let's just go somewhere else." "No, no, look, that one's smoking. Something's messed up."
Angela	Gebura says, "Ah." at Lilian's answer, seeming pleased at Lobotomy Corp not shitting the bed (with Lilian, at least). She feels like a new Fixer sometimes. She glances towards Red Dwarf for a moment but she's only on a pad so it's hard to actually look at him and eventually especially if you (not so) secretly only have one eye. Nonon doesn't actually know Rita's range, if she could control something through a portal--well it's not like the Eggpack doesn't work like that, or the pads--but Nonon says, "ah, I didn't actually..know the range, Kukuru." Shajo says, "I want to ''skin'' Clark." softly. He might be a bottom, but he's also a merciless killer who haaaaates arrogance, especially if it can be backed up. He looks to Bota for a moment and adds, "...I want to skin him ''professionally''.". He can sense that Kana is pretty sour on the matter and he rubs at his neck and says, "We'll take whatever hits we need to to keep the 'Queen' off 'er." 'Including dying for her' is left unsaid, but he gives Lilian a long look before nodding to her. He's grateful for the assist. Nonon moves closer to Red Dwarf. "Hey..." She says softly. "I talked about it with your buddy before, but is he still good for that spar?"
Petra Soroka	"No, no, look, that one's smoking. Something's messed up."     Petra doesn't even consider herself part of the 'kids' until Brune says that, and she slides her eyes over to him, a little narrowed. She plucks the cigarette out of her mouth between her index and middle fingers, and makes a crude 'hahh?' of annoyance at him.     "No, dude, I'm fine." Petra considers brushing Brune off with just that, and her mind wanders just long enough that words slip out of her mouth without consulting her brain. "I've been smoking for, like, a year. I got myself addicted to nicotine on purpose again after I stopped being a robot."     It's so fucking weird that that's her first justification for why she smokes. There really *is* something messed up. Petra shakes her head, and then gestures at Stanley. "Padgett just killed someone for the first time last night. He's a bit torn up about it."     "I don't think he needs to be, but no one's ever thought my feelings about murdering people were particularly good ones, huh?" Petra takes another drag on her cigarette, idly watching the dispersing civilians. Something's so messed up here.
Kale Hearthward	Kale, constant possessor of two swords he hardly ever uses anymore, looks mildly put out w/r/t the talk of six knives, but knows better than to say anything (in front of Lilian Rook (who has the conversational equivalent of a fighting game punish ready at all times (and dead pixels covering her super meter level))). He'll make sure Petra sees the light on the necessity of keeping all three of her guns on her, later. If/when they have that adventure. > "'The weak are destroyed in this world.'" "..." "Shouldn't be so, right?" "I was taught, that it was the duty of the strong to bear the brunt of it, for the weak." Kale's gaze drifts back towards the partner ships. "Sometimes that means tough decisions. Sometimes that means sailing off towards near certain doom. But it never means that you have to be strong to persist." "If you think you failed him... then let's make it so that the world he learned that in, that he taught you that in, no longer exists as it was back then. 'The weak are destroyed in this world' no longer needs to be true. Saving the world's just going to be the start on that, right?"
Hibiki Tachibana	'Totally Fine, Yes, Everything's Great.' 'It's just... fine.' 'I'm fine, totally fine.'     The magic words that can help you get through anything.     Hibiki doesn't change in expression much as Stanley gets himself back together, and that might be because her eyes are set on his, more than the smile he's putting on. But it's not hard for him to tell, looking back at hers, that he isn't pulling it over on her quite that easily. She Gets It too much for that to work, even if she doesn't say anything out loud to out him.     There's a momentary shift of her head Ishirou's way, before she looks back to Stanley as he tries to get himself out of the conversation, right as he's going into a certain someone's path. "Stanley, wai--" Not fast enough to stop him and Petra from more or less literally bumping into one another, which also ends up placing her in said close proximity to the both of them. Her partially lifted arm falls back down, and she exhales through her nose at the brief exchange between the two.     Those weapons would finally be put to something useful for a change. In the moment where both her and Petra are glancing at one another, her brow furrows. Whether it's from the mention itself, or unbidden recollection of when both her and Petra worked together during that attack, who knows. "...I'll put in as much work as I can to help make up for not having it here," Hibiki finally says, both neutrally and entirely seriously. "I have to at least do that much."     Bota calling after Petra is one thing, but when the pair of harpoonists saddles on up their way as she ships begin separating from one another, she finds herself straightening up some and shifting her attention their way. The sudden and genuine concern thrown all of their ways - especially because of Petra, no less - catches her at a brief loss for proper words.     "I'm--fine." Ironic.     Which she catches after a second, repeating out loud what she only implied earlier. "I mean, I'm okay enough that you don't need to worry about me." Her eyes go to Stanley, as if to check for his response, and...     ...There was a brief glance Petra's way as well, right before she started speaking up--just to settle into an expression that's not quite judgmental, but as if she didn't expect much else by the time she's done talking.
Redshift Operators	"Wild guess? Probably. Guy's got a memory like swiss cheese though, with his sleep problems. Bet you he barely remembers." The gunman shifts his position to speak properly to Nonon. "WD and I run the schedule usually. Where you wanting to run the sparring? I'll make sure the schedule's open, got no doubts he'll love to give it a shot."
Stanley Padgett	"Didn't say you came to help me, but what you did was a help, Soraka." Padgett sighs as Petra slides over to Pointedly Ignore him and Hibiki. "So I'm gonna say thank you, either way. We don't have to like ea" -and then Petra just comes out and says it. she saw you do it, Padgett     Stanley's face drains of color, and he looks to Hibiki in a panic. "...You're a good guy, Stanley." Hibiki's words about killing people float unbidden into Stanley's hindbrain. "So we'll solve this without that needing to happen. Promise."     promise         promise             promise     Those amber eyes of his go through... multiple emotions. Terror. Confusion. Hatred. Anguish. But they settle on... tired. Tired. He's so tired right now. Too tired to just... fight what Petra is saying.     Stanley lightly lifts his hand in greetings to the harpooners. "...Hi, I'm Stanley Padgett. Nice to meet you."     He shoves some of Kukuru's fruit in his face to stop himself from saying anything else. It tastes like ash, now.
Petra Soroka	. . . but as if she didn't expect much else by the time she's done talking.     Right after the words leave her mouth, Petra winces like she was physically hit. As much as she doesn't care for Stanley, she hadn't been intentionally trying to hurt him by talking about it. She wasn't curating her words to comfort him, certainly, but....     Petra's comment, the one that got Hibiki looking at her like she was roadkill and Stanley freaking out into a miniature panic attack, two people who she'd sincerely tried to be friends with before-- was actually her honest feelings. And *that's* what makes them hate her so much. §Just like §girls like us§ live to feel.§     Petra hisses out air, not looking at the Harpoonists or teen Elites, then drops the cigarettes onto the deck, grinding back with the toe of her boot to flick it into the ocean.
Candy	Candy gives Kana a sunny smile-and-thumbs-up after another ungainly quaff of wine. He's glad that he was able to skew her perspective towards change and 'tomorrow' more positively, for his part.      He does frown, a little, when Kana reflects on Teon's words. "There are two kinds of people who admit that, as simple as you just did:" says Candy. Index finger raised--"People who want to change it," middle finger raised for 'number two,' "And people who wanna take advantage of it."      "Everything Rita ever said about him tells me that Teon was number 1, all the way. And people like that don't do what they do expecting that it's gonna change overnight, or even while they're alive. They do it so that their kids can have it better than they did."      That Kana was 'entrusted' with Rita and Bota is news, to Candy. But it doesn't hurt his sincerity or change his opinion at all. "So I gotta agree with Bota. If him and Rita turned out like they did, then you did right by Teon and then some. Is it great that they gotta be 'strong?'" He shrugs. "Probably not," admits the farmer.      "But that says less about you than it does about the world." He motions with his half-full glass to the horizon. "About the sons of bitches we're up against," he says, "About the sons of bitches that wear those," he says, then motioning to the tattoos on Kana's arm, "Without any right to. And it says a fuckload about the fat piggies holding their leashes." Piggies who have since been shown the door, at least on this ship. "You guys changed a -lot- on the Busan, and now you're about to change the whole world."      "That don't happen very often. Some people would call it a miracle, even," muses Candy. "So Teon, I think he's smiling, right now."
Ishirou	Ishirou thinks about what Bota says, nodding slowly.  "Yeah, yeah... you're right," he says.  "Too bad it's not so easy to expose someone who is like this.  Still.." What could Ishirou do?  It'd have to come out in a way that exposes his true nature in front of everyone, exposing him as unfit.  It... simply might be that he'd have to wait for the right moment.   He sighs and lets Bota go after the other 'teens' and stays on Candy's shoulder.  He nods about what Candy says about Bota and Rita.  "Yeah.  They want to be here, and no matter what you can't protect them from everything." "Eventually... you hurt them worse than what the world could.  You cross a line, or you make them hate you," but Kana relents and he nods.  "If it's any relief... If it wasn't for Rita, I wouldn't be who I am today.  She's... brave and inspiring.  Bota seems much the same."
Lilian Rook	'Ah.'     "Good answer." Lilian smiles very faintly. "Aside from that, Rita is one of the very few people who can fight in full synergy with me. When she does, she doesn't take nearly as many risks, too."     'Nobody's counting,'     She looks at Candy's pouring as if trying not to take offense at it. Bravely, she utters a shaky thank-sound after a very late 'when', and recovers from the terrible sight of not seeing an experienced maid or restaurant server do that. "We're counting dead." she says. "As long as you aren't one, it doesn't matter much."     'Understand what I'm saying?'     "I suppose." Lilian says to Red Dwarf. "Not about killing, obviously. Perhaps the inverse. But about 'a world where you've won and there are no other possibilities'." She glances over her shoulder, gently swirling her wine. "Keeping it repaired is the hard part, then, isn't it?" She tips back her glass.     '... Huh?'     Lilian stares silently over the rim of her wine glass.     'Like, really? Why would I have so many if I wouldn't use them?'     Lilian swallows, delicately wipes her lip with her thumb, and watches.     'Well... I haven't used this one, I guess.'     An eyebrow goes up a little.     'But it's not like I'm *fantasizing* about...'     It goes up a lot.     'Okay, well, it's different, because'     "If I walked around with five other swords, openly strapped on, and showed them all off when asked what I know about swordsmanship, do you think you'd take me more or much less seriously than now?" Lilian says.     'You look a lot better this time. I don't know what happened, but... I'm happy to see it.'     Lilian smiles at Bota. "I bounced back." she says, followed by, "With a little bit of clumsy help to get me started." She pauses, then finally adds "Some of it was Rita's. So I'm happy to be here, too."     'There's something wrong with him. You see it in his eyes.'     "There is." Lilian says, with some disgust, staring unhappily down into her glass again. "But it's not in his eyes." The little quaff that comes next feels somehow angry. "It's in the fact that he chooses to let you see it."     'I'm thirty-five. But thanks.'     "Twenty-four-point-five." Lilian says, automatically. She forgets to blink for about a full second. "As in, depending on how you count it, I'm either twenty-four or twenty-five in a month. I'm not a child."     '... She looks happy now.'     That's where Lilian has had enough of a lull to finish her glass, and say "She is; most of the time. She got to grow in ways that let her be; ones that weren't available to her at home. But she misses you. Often and intensely. And you aren't available to her anywhere else. So let's . . . Let's not make her trade."     'We'll take whatever hits we need to to keep the 'Queen' off 'er.'     "I'm glad you understand." Lilian sighs, putting her empty glass back down. "It's good of you to think far enough ahead to bring your own monsters to do the job for you as much as possible, but most of the outsiders here may ultimately have that final duty."     '...I'll put in as much work as I can to help make up for not having it here. I have to at least do that much.'     "You do." says Lilian. "I'm certain you're aware, too. Between you and Rita, which one deserves a happy future more." Lilian moves to excuse herself, then just goes wordlessly instead. "So don't let down my expectations again."
Angela	"That so..." Gebura says. "...Doubt I'll get a proper look at what you're doing during a fight like that, but I'm sure my team will tell me all about it, gushing like nobody's business. Still, if you're fighting out there with her, she's in as good hands as anything--Not that she can't fight well or nothin', but against a horde big enough--it doesn't matter how strong you are." Gebura frowns, as if speaking from experience. "...She did look happy." Nonon says, "...How 'bout here? Can make a show of it for morale." She may have completely forgotten that Red Giant was worried about collateral, or she's underestimating how much collateral Red Giant can do--but it's too late now! she's making that suggestion. Shajo glances towards Stanley and Petra for a moment, eyes narrowing. It's a moment late but he has noticed a shift in Petra's demeanor and noticed the shift is continuing downward the whole time. He probably shouldn't say anything in the first plac,e he figures, but ultimately swallows and makes his way over towards Petra and Hibiki. He draws his axe and holds it in front of his body. He stares at Hibiki for a moment and then his eyes slant over to Stanley. "You buggin' one of our Agents?" She asks. "Didn't catch what you were saying, but if you mess with her you're messing with all of us. Least us folk in Disciplinary. And if you're novices, you shouldn't be fighting this battle."
Rita Ma	You can just tell by the way that woman trails her fingernail along Brune's collarbone without even thinking about it (and the way he tilts his head away from it) that she's some kind of freak. Even so, the glance she trades with Brune after 'addicted to nicotine on purpose' and 'robot' is genuinely worried.      They're a good team. Without speaking, they cut the problem up between them.      "It's nice to meet you, Stanley. I'm Sonia. I used to be from New York, but I live here now- you're American too, aren't you?" It's pleasant air-filler, giving Sonia time to peel herself off of Brune and crouch down in a dissonantly practiced Speaking To Children posture. "Do you want to talk about it at all? I remember the first time I had to hurt someone really badly, too. It wasn't easy for me, either."      Sonia looks up at Hibiki confidingly, too- her expression says thanks for taking care of him 'til now. Her hand rummages in a tactical pouch at her waist and pulls out some hard candies. "Want some? I always keep a few for people who are okay-enough-I-don't-need-to-worry-about." She winks.      Brune, meanwhile, pulls himself off the railing just to walk two steps and lean against a different wall slightly closer to Petra. His arms cross- difficult with those big gauntlets, but he's practiced- and he looks down at her kicking the cigarette, wary and baffled, with an arched eyebrow.      She might or might not recognize that look. It's a look that comes about twenty seconds before being called a slur. But that never happens.      "That sucks," Brune says in his most Cool Older Cousin Voice. "Why?"
Redshift Operators	"Guns *are* pretty cool." The gunman mutters. The more important part is Clark though. "Miller's a different beast. Only seen a couple people with a little fragment of what he's got wrong with him. Not... seen something like him before, though." He shifts, uneasily. Awkwardly. "Thing is, what he's got wrong with him, he could have gotten out of his system with some serial murders or a lot of slapping his wife. Instead, he's... fighting monsters. So, what he's got wrong with him, it's something he's holding back from the world, or he's venting it into just monsters, or something. He's still letting plenty through. But he's conscious about something."     He winds up looking straight up, at the sky now. It's a pensive, thoughtful silence. "So... I want him to fuck right off. Hell, I'll be there if you put the bastard down. But I'm not sure it's as simple as either one. Glory-hound, or evil-in-the-soul... There's something going on in his head. Just gotta make sure, one way or another, it never gets out. That's the number one thing."
Hibiki Tachibana	Petra winces like she was physically hit -- hisses out air, not looking at the Harpoonists or teen Elites--     --and Hibiki is glancing back away from her, with only a twinge of maybe seeming as if she regrets doing so in the first place. Stanley's face drains of color, and he looks to Hibiki in a panic--     "Hey." She steps ahead, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder even as he calms down just to tiredly shoves food into his face. There's an idle shake. Does she recall those same words? Or is it just a simple gesture of support? Either way, her grip is just a little bit firm. "...Don't push it too hard. Okay? I know we haven't gotten to talk a lot," she echoes her earlier apology. "...but if you wanna talk sometime, I'll listen."     Sonia steps in about that point, and given present circumstances, Hibiki thinks that she might be better for easing Stanley's current state than she would be - although before she's able to do any pulling away herself, she gets addressed...and looks briefly surprised at the candies being offered up. "Ah..."     After a delay, she holds her palm forward to take a few, giving a relenting exhale and a despite-herself sort of tiny smile. "...Thanks. And thanks for worrying. I guess it's easy to end up doing that a lot around here. I hope there won't have to be as much of that here, soon." 'You buggin' one of our Agents?'     'I'm certain you're aware, too.         Between you and Rita, which one deserves a happy future more.'     Her outstretched palm twitches, and one of the candies slips from it and clatters down onto the floor. A second later, her hand closes around the rest of them, and she brings it back in. "He wasn't doing anything but thanking her," Hibiki says back towards Shajo.     "For helping him out with something. Sorry, it's probably me. I was about to step away, anyway. And you won't need to cover for me in the fight. Don't worry about that." She gives a wave and one last brief smile to Sonia, leaving Stanley in her care, then steps to the side and moves ahead to go further down the Busan's deck.     Once she's made it far enough away, the empty hand she just had up comes back down to clasp around the pendant hanging out of sight, beneath her jacket collar. Right. This is so that Rita can finally come home again, see her home and her family. It's not just about everyone here-- more than anything, she wants that happiness for her.     If it's for that sake, then she'll be able to sing that song without hesitation, at the end of the world.
Stanley Padgett	Padgett's a tall boy, so the kneeling isn't quite needed. But he does rake a hand through his faded pink hair as Sonia comes over and sighs. "I'm from all over the US, but yeah, hi." He's trying to shove the I'm A Cool Fool mask back on but is fumbling it. He will take the candies though. Carbs don't ask questions and they aren't awkward. He unwraps on, and shoves it in his face.     It also tastes like ash right now. "I want to say it happened for the right reasons. I really do." Stanley looks from Sonia to Hibiki, and then to the decking of the Busan. No eye contact. "It had to be done and it had to be me. It was my problem to fix. Not theirs, not... everyone else's. Not after everything that's been going on."     He rubs a hand at his exposed arm, looking over at Petra and Brune. Stanley's still not making eye contact with people. "And she's probably not wrong either, just..." Just what the fuck am I supposed to say about killing someone who's been trying to kill me for an entire goddamn year? "Just what the fuck am I supposed to say about killing someone who's been trying to kill me for an entire goddamn year?" He whips around on Shajo. "And I DIDN'T do anything to PETRA. She's just being PETRA. FUCKING HELL." Oh it all slipped out, woops.     Woops. Stanley Marigold Padgett shuts the fuck up and sucks on the hard candy, looking at precisely NO ONE involved here. Just totally off towards where the rest of the fleet was, drifting out of sight now.     "It's fine." Stanley continues to lie. "I'll talk to people, don't worry." Stanley continues to lie.
Petra Soroka	Petra can't help smirking a little when Shajo steps up to defend her, even when it's defending her from a child that she'd already made almost start crying. Having backup will never get old, whether they're holding iPhones in manicures fingers or bloody axes extracted from psychic horror monsters.     Still, she wipes the smirk away before calling Shajo off, not bothering to stop leaning on the railing. "Nah, Shajo, I had to step away for other reasons. I'm alright. Appreciate it, but if Padgett was starting shit I'd shoot him myself."     After the brief spike of dopamine, Petra is reminded why the mood sucks. Her lips twist into a hostile pout, watching Hibiki comfort Stanley before distancing herself from Petra. "... Besides. He's the one feeling like shit. He's having a bad day. I'm totally fine." "Why?"     "Which part sucks? Me being a fundamentally broken freak, or the fact that no one ever listens to me?" She forgot about saying the 'I started smoking again to get addicted to nicotine on purpose' thing. Somehow, that psychotic statement was so minor to her that she didn't deem that it needed any further consideration after she said it. Though, based on her shift in language, the 'somehow' is actually pretty clear-- she's just more preoccupied with Hibiki's presence and attitude.     Petra scoffs at Brune, predictably talking a lot the moment she's given the justification to. "But it's like, really, who even cares? He wasn't even really a person. It was just some guy who turned into a fucked up monster with a glass ball for a head and a bunch of hands. Sure, I got a little weird after killing Ishirou, but at least he looked like a person back then." "She's just being PETRA. FUCKING HELL."     Of course Petra hears Stanley's outburst, but she just rolls her eyes, settling into an expression that's not quite judgemental. "Whatever. It's not like it really even matters. He can feel bad about killing someone if he wants." Barely five minutes after her last cigarette, and Petra's already fidgeting in her pocket again, partly out of the growing subconscious discomfort she feels towards talking so much at a stranger who's clearly trying to Do Comfort at her. "I just hate that they treat me like a monster even with the more *reasonable* things I say."     Petra rolls her head onto her shoulder to look at Brune, slightly smiling in a detatched, spiteful way. If he's the cool older cousin, Petra flawlessly slots into the position of being the problematic younger, discomforting enough in her bad behavior that most people can't tolerate approaching her.     "Anyways. That's enough of me complaining about how a couple of normal teenagers are freaked out by how easily I think about murdering people. I'm Petra. Nice to meet you." What an introduction.
Rita Ma	Hearing the name Teon- Kana had only said 'their father'- startles her. He's a sore point, or a something point, judging by how she stays ramrod-straight for a minute after. Her eye searches Candy's face for a while. She has a pat response loaded, but visibly chooses not to fire it.      "You're right," she says eventually. Her eye flicks to Kale, too, and her lips press indecisively. "Union Busan without parasites. Maybe an ocean without them, too. That's what he wanted his whle life. So... of course he'd be happy?" That part's a tentative guess. Her gaze slides off to the side, and she shifts her weight to the other leg. Every posture of hers reads as a fighting stance, but this one slightly less.      "Maybe," she admits, "I stopped thinking of making him happy as something I could do."      "Some of it was Rita's."      "She's good at that," Bota says as he comes around to orbit the wine table, wistfully and almost shyly. "At fixing people's smiles. I've needed it more times than I can count. I'm glad she's still giving like that."      Of course, he's a little bit of an idiot too, so when she says "twenty-four-point-five" he immediately fumbles it. "You're my age? I thought for sure you were--" There's no good way to end that sentence, and he sees his death three moves ahead. He blanches and panic-swerves somewhere even worse. "--but anyway, not that there's anything bad about having something wrong behind your eyes! I mean, Kana does!"      Kana stays silent just long enough to make it seem like she might be about to decapitate him, and then just as he turns to her, says in the blandest voice she's ever managed: "Yeah."      Her attention's more on the chat between Lilian and Gebura. Her eye drifts between the two of them. "Glad she's found a good partner out there," Kana says, in a way that indicates both deep familiarity with the concept of battle buddies, and the reluctance of wishing Rita didn't have to find one at all. "I'll be counting on you-" Lilian- "And your team." Gebura. "If she does come... like you say. I can't be the only one protecting her. It might not matter how strong I am."      "He's a problem," Kana agrees with Red Dwarf. "Shouldn't be our problem. Not if we keep Rita away from him. I haven't forgotten what he said about her."
Angela	''Nah, Shajo, I had to step away for other reasons.'' Shajo starts to ease up, willing to back off at Petra's request. Hibiki's words suggest that he may have misread the situation, but Stanley's words suggest he very much didn't. ''She's just being PETRA. FUCKIN HELL.'' And that's that. Shajo has been in Disciplinary for a while. Normally at this point, he'd swing the axe. He even has the axe OUT, ready for swinging. He doesn't care that Stanley's a kid. He's been stabbed in the gut by kids younger than him. But he HAS been in Disciplinary for a while so despite the red hot flare of anger that fills him that he never quite got a full handle on despite being the captain of Disciplinary (because he obscures his madness better than Nonon)--he doesn't swing the bloody axe for Stanley's face. Instead he throws his fist into Stanley's face, aiming to bowl him over, get on top, and keep wailing-- --but he only gets so far as that first punch. As he's wearing up for a second, Nonon is there, lifting him up and away from Stanley. "SHAJO." She hisses. "She's WATCHING." Shajo stiffens and pulls his hand back, glaring at Stanley, murder in his eyes--a trait he's had ever since he was on the street. Maybe Stanley has seen that look in the mirror, considering he's lived on the streets as well. Anger that comes from more than just the trigger that sends them swinging--anger that comes from a life of being downtrodden and a deep intrinsic ned to HIT BACK. But before he can collect himself to apologize for acting out of turn or get into a full on yelling match at Stanley-- "Shajo." The Red Mist says. "I see you haven't learned enough discipline. Take your laps." She doesn't say how many because it's only over when Gebura decides it is. "He fuckin' was askin' for it...!" Shajo protests. "I don't give a flying fuck. You're embarrassing us. Take the laps." Shajo wordlessly hands the pad to Nonon and he says, "Sorry." to Petra before he starts running. He's going to be at that for a while. Gebura looks to Kana, "Sorry, normally better than that if not by much, they'll obey their fucking orders when they're in the thick of it." She says as if Nonon is partly to blame. Nonon takes this in stride, "Yeah." She asides to Petra. "Yeah, once you've got a rep for something--fair or not--it can be real hard to shake huh?"
Stanley Padgett	Stanley's danger senses were already flaring, his combat indications flashing as Shajo throws the punch and he takes it admirably in the face. The boy's head rocks but he does not topple. He's made of sterner stuff now than he was a year ago.     He also does not hit Shajo back. The amber eyes are still tired. One of them might be black in the morning. He just... clenches his fists and watches the L-Corp agent get sent on laps.     But he turns to get close to Petra. Real close. in her face close. Harsh whispers from the tired kid.
Redshift Operators	"...How 'bout here? Can make a show of it for morale."     The gunman waits out the teenage stuff. He just can't deal with teenage stuff! It's all greek to him. He's like a villain adult in a cartoon episode. But once it all calms a bit, he says, "Sparring aboard here? Gotta work it out with some people, but sure. Gonna need a clear space that isn't important, though. Might wanna do it on ring-out rules too, big guy doesn't like doing the full-force punching."     "That's what he wanted his whle life. So... of course he'd be happy?"     "Lady, he'd be goddamn ecstatic. Never met the guy, but I know what it's like to be an ass-kicking revolutionary who isn't gonna get to see the world he's trying to make. And being that kind of guy means that what happened here is perfect, no notes. Can you *really* imagine him showing up and saying 'could have done better'? I sure fucking can't."
Stanley Padgett	"I don't give a fuck that you want to be rude to me, but I do care that you spilled something personal. Do better. I know you know how to. You can manage it with Ms. Rook sometimes. Try applying that to other people."
Petra Soroka	It's a tiny bit shocking when Shajo actually does punch Stanley. Petra isn't opposed to it at all, not on principle and not in this instance, but someone throwing hands in her favor without her even asking makes a satisfied 'heh' slip out of her, jolted into a small smile despite her bad mood. She does glance worriedly at Lilian, making sure that she's not being bothered by the disruption, but the indulgent celebration of being fought for is still on her face.     It slips away when Stanley approaches her, morphing into instinctual alarm. Despite the reality of the situation, being pinned up against the railing while a boy roughly invades her personal space sparks visible discomfort, backing against the bar and straightening up from her slouch. There's a fraction of a beat before she automatically reaches into her pocket for her gun, and then Stanley starts whispering.     Her surprise turns into a sneer, tensing up aggressively rather than defensively. "I can 'manage it', 'sometimes'? You slimy shithead. Why would I ever want to do better when it comes to *you*? Have you ever thought that maybe, I'm actually working hard and doing great for the people I *actually* think are worth valuing, and you're just not one of them? Of course not. I'm 'just being Petra'. I'm just some senseless, disgusting monster, who by random coincidence is *barely* managing to be tolerable to Lilian, *sometimes*, and you can just lean over me and *spit* on me until I do what you say."     "Maybe don't fucking demand my respect in the same breath as mocking me, maggot. I know who I am, and who I care about. I'm not going to grovel for your fucking acknowledgement." Petra whips Pillar of Creation off her back, swinging the butt of the spear up into Stanley's chin, then jabs him in the solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him and forcing him to stagger backwards. She plants the spear on the deck, standing up straight off the railing and inhales the ocean air, shivering with adrenaline.     "Tch. Work on being someone worth respecting." If he's on the ground after being hit twice, Petra drives the heel of her boot into the side of his head while walking away.
Stanley Padgett	Stanley absolutely takes the first hit in the jaw. "Ow. Fuck. Are you even listening to yourself? You keep saying you're a monster when you-" Another swipe. And this time she swishes through a shadowy Stanley that was there a fraction of a second before. "-you're clearly not."     The next swipe and another Shadow Stanley. He is apparently done being punched tonight. "You think I want you to grovel? No. I wish shit had happened differently." The last swipe, and Stanley is simply out of range of Petra now. "I'm sorry I snapped at you, that was wrong." He rubs at his jaw, and grumbles. There's a look in his eyes, as he is trying to figure out the words here, but he doesn't have the vocabulary for it. So he just shuts up.
Angela	Nonon says, "Yeah, makes sense, good thinking! Don't want to wreck anything we can't fix..!" She may be a fight maniac, but she's a reasonable fight maniac. She's a little subdued because SHajo got himself in trouble again, though. And her expression only gets more subdued when PETRA throws hands next. "Oh she's gonna be so mad..." She murmurs. Gebura isn't the Sephirah of the Control Team and Petra is a part timer/Outsider who isn't here on behalf of Lobotomy Corp so she doesn't tell her to do laps, though the long exhale of frustration suggests that if these two things weren't true she'd be giving her the same task as Shajo. But she's using the EGO to do it so she can't just keep quiet either. "Petra--" She says in warning. Stanley apologizes and grumbles which is basically how teenagers apologize in Kali's experience. "Hah... We'll talk later." Gebura seems content to leave it at that.