2022-08-24: The Truth
- Log: The Truth
- Cast: Kamui, Acacia Saitani
- Where: Honeysdew
- OOC - IC Date: 24th August 2022
- Summary: Acacia catches up to Kamui and the reploid reveals some truths to her.
<Pose Tracker> Kamui has posed.
Kamui has been incredibly scarce recently, in the last few months; she's seemingly been going around all of Filgaia as if possessed, and those who see her often report that she's distracted by something. Fortunately, she hasn't dropped off radio contact at all, so ARMS still sort of has an idea of where she's going around.
Today, she's in Kasutho Island, and can be found standing in the midst of a farm staring off into the distance. She's got a cloak over her robes, waving breezily in the wind.
<Pose Tracker> Acacia Saitani has posed.
For Acacia, being back in Meria Boule has been a blessing. She's missed a lot of the action with ARMS and the Pillars, but she's never exactly considered herself a front-line fighter - instead, she's been doing a lot of work to chronicle matters with Odessa when she isn't getting her rather eclectic newspaper back up to something like circulation with tales of the Spiran wars.
Part of her head has been stuck in research. Yue's not been around much, and while Acacia knows she's a survivor... well, it's easy to worry. Maybe there's something she can dig up around Yue's background or Minder's circumstances that could help. And if she can't find anything there's still a lot more to document - like the scattered tales she's received from Kamui about her old civilization, and the need for its story to not be forgotten.
Speaking of which... her apartment's been feeling pretty empty lately, she realizes.
It doesn't take much to twist an ARM(S) and get Kamui's location, and she'd been meaning to head in that direction anyway given the rest of her work. Some quick questions and a winning smile in Honeysday to worm some more information out of people and she's making her way out of the town, huddling her jacket around her. "... hey," she waves from a distance, as the smile turns more genuine.
<Pose Tracker> Kamui has posed.
Yue recently turned up to Acacia half-fried after having to fight ARMS with the horrific, grotesque machine-armour her mother's strapped her to and then got dumped out the other end while she was being a real jerk about it. Isn't she a great parent?
A pause, as Kamui turns around. "... Acacia," she speaks plainly. No more Master. No more Masters, it turns out.
"I haven't been back in a while. ... I'm running out of time."
<Pose Tracker> Acacia Saitani has posed.
If there's one fight Acacia really regrets missing after seeing the aftermath of it, it's that one - if only because the reporter would have done her absolute best to clamber right into Yue's cockpit and yell down the radio. She'd had to settle for grimly but carefully fixing up Yue's wounds as best she could, then basically forcing the Veruni to stay as long as possible to try to get something like rest. How much it helped she doesn't know, but something told her it would have been worse if she pressed for details given the anger rolling off her.
Kamui calls her by her name, and it feels somewhat bittersweet. It's certainly not that she liked being called Master or ever particularly acted like one, but from her human timeframe and experiences the path that the Reploid has taken has been one of a loss of innocence. It's just... kind of a shame.
"That's okay. I mean, if you're busy, you're busy," she shrugs with one shoulder, falling back to old habits as she fishes for what to say and feels like anything would be coming up short. She risks walking forwards instead, coming up alongside the smaller girl - though she gives her worry away when the last part has her sharply scanning Kamui's expression, following the pattern of cracks to see if it's grown.
<Pose Tracker> Kamui has posed.
"... I have been scarce and withholding information from a lot of you," Kamui admits, glancing to one side. Kamui's expression is... very still -- though hey, at least Acacia doesn't have to worry about the physical cracks; Marivel fixed her face after she got suitable materials from Shevat. But the emotional cracks certainly are widening.
"... Acacia. I do not know whether I should entrust you with the truth, or..." A pause. "But I believe you have a right to know."
<Pose Tracker> Acacia Saitani has posed.
Slowly, the redhead draws in a long breath. She's well aware of how hands-off she's been with Kamui - sometimes out of a lack of knowledge, sometimes out of a fear she can't properly respect the Reploid's longer and shadowed perspective, sometimes out of wanting to let Kamui have her freedom. ... she's been a lot more awkward about it than she'd like to admit, and maybe overconsiderate.
"... okay, but let me stop you there real quick first," she lets it all out in a rush, and reaches over to plop her hand on top of Kamui's hair as she takes a moment to gather her words. "I know I haven't been all that reliable a Master, and maybe I've come off as someone you can't really confide in for fear of making me worry. And maybe that's made you think you're on your own in whatever's going on," she puffs out. "But, you're not. We're family and I'll always hear you out, even if I'm rushing around doing something else."
She abruptly flops to the ground; it's a bit damp, not quite dry of dew, but Acacia isn't letting that stop her. "So-- I mean, maybe it's a bit unfair to say 'you should totally entrust me with anything' given I've been so busy, but that's not what I'm really saying. I guess I'm saying 'let's sit down and share what's going on, and maybe it won't feel so big and scary'... or something like that."
She wrinkles her nose as she reads her words back to herself. Maybe she shouldn't claim they're family when she's historically sucked at families.
<Pose Tracker> Kamui has posed.
Kamui gets a plop of hand on her hair. It's the most powerful gesture in the world, the headpat! She squints for a moment, and then there's just the slightest shadow of a smile.
"... Clarine said that too. That I'm not alone," Kamui answers. "And that's true. No matter where I go, however far and distant it is, I won't be alone."
She stares as Acacia flops to the ground, and then she crouches next to her as she watches the farmwork go by in the distance. She takes a breath -- nothing more than a gesture, as a Reploid, but it reminds her a little of something that brings her closer to everyone else.
"... Acacia. I am predestined to die, at some near point in the future."
<Pose Tracker> Acacia Saitani has posed.
"She's the sort of person to say that, yeah. It's a really easy thing to forget," Acacia sighs to herself. "I mean, the world can be real big and scary, and you've been through a whole lot of it. ... and uh, I kind of did the equivalent of hiding under my blanket for the last couple months in the face of that, so I'm not really one to talk. I forget it a lot too," she mumbles.
Turning to study Kamui's expression with a thoughtful frown, the reporter doesn't answer at first. She's used to reading through the lines, and that means that she'd been expecting something along the lines of what the smaller girl tells her. It's not exactly a surprise, given the way the Reploid's been hurrying around as if trying to take care of business.
"... predestined by who? Or what?" is the first thing that leaves her mouth, and there's a protective edge behind the tone of her voice. It's familiar from any of the times Yue has shown up bleeding on her doorstep; her own worries and anger from a human perspective set against age-old situations that seem too massive in comparison.
<Pose Tracker> Kamui has posed.
Kamui pauses for a longer time at that, and says, "By..." A pause. "By... time?" She sounds genuinely at a loss at how to explain it. Then sighs. "You've seen it before, right? The way Mom-- Marivel behaves sometimes, as if she's guided by something she has to do. Something she has to make happen. Something that she can't change."
A pause. "When you've been around her long enough... you start to pick up on some things." She glances aside. "The way she dances around the conversation around 'That Time'..." A longer pause. "But I've been able to piece together enough."
She closes her eyes, both of them. The one she still has, and... the one Marivel made for her.
"I know I must find a tool -- likely inside a Dr. Lumen capsule -- that will let me protect someone near and dear to us."
Kamui's expression tightens.
"As a result of this..." She trails off. "I believe I will eventually die as a result of this. I do not know in what way it will unfold, but..."
<Pose Tracker> Acacia Saitani has posed.
The confusion on the Reploid's face makes Acacia walk herself back in record time; her mouth opens and closes for a moment, then she puffs out. "Well-- look, I just meant so long as you weren't in need of repairs and thinking it'd be too much effort to bother us, or if someone was going around messing with you. ... I mean, if Yue said that to me I'd know it was time to go shoot up her family," she grouses.
She closes her eyes, and does her best to make herself uncoil; the sheer tension she's been feeling has crept up on her, and now isn't the time. Instead, she listens to Kamui with a frown playing across her face. "You can call her Mom, I'm not going to tell her," she interjects suddenly. "Well, no, I totally will when she's having a bad day and needs the boost."
"... she's got someone waiting for her, I know that much," she adds after a moment, more solemnly. "And I think she's only our leader - only still here at all - because that someone asked her to be." Closing her eyes, she feels the breeze for a while. "I'm not complaining about how she's going about it or anything, especially given what I've gained along the way," she adds with a faint smile. "And if it's her choice to-- move on once she's done, that's fine. You've both kinda earned it."
"At the same time... her choice doesn't have to be yours," Acacia stresses, her voice quiet. "If there's someone you want to protect, that's fine. If you want to take that risk in order to do it, that's fine. I'd help you find the thing in a heartbeat. But you're not without people who'll protect you in turn."
<Pose Tracker> Kamui has posed.
"No. If it were something actionable like a threat or conspiracy, I wouldn't be acting upon this line..." Kamui murmurs. A longer pause, as she smiles just a bit more privately to say, "You should do that. It does her well to be reminded of the family she does have."
She brushes her hair down for a moment, then says, "... I know I want to. I wouldn't really be able to live with myself if I didn't. And..." A pause. "This is only something I can do, as it were."
Kamui lowers her head. "But yes, I'd appreciate the help. I don't even know if those capsules appear to anyone else, but just in case..."
She huffs in turn. "... I've died multiple times now, and yet this is the one that has me the most stressed out. Why doesn't it get easier the more times you die?"
<Pose Tracker> Acacia Saitani has posed.
Acacia's look towards Kamui is absolutely flat for a moment. The initial tension has slacked, enough for her to jab lightly: "You absolutely would. If we take our eyes off you for a second you're already on top of something staring into the middle distance in the breeze. It's a really quick route from that to going 'I have to do this... alone' then jumping off out of line of sight. You're practically made for it," she folds her arms, sounding a little aggreived.
She softens afterwards, glancing across. "That second part doesn't matter to me," she's quick to chip in. "What matters is that it's something you want to do. I don't think anyone should feel forced to do something just because they're the only one who 'could' do it. That's not fair to you and what you've already been through." Marivel bobs up to the surface of her thoughts again; a flicker crosses her face as she's reminded she should probably voice that out loud to her as well.
"... I mean, I'm in the bloodline, right?" Acacia finally adds, and wonders if that's the first time she's voiced her suspicions. She had the idea of tracing her family tree back once, but it would have involved seeing her parents and a whole lot of complicated questions. "Maybe that'll help with some kinda biometrics? But I'd try to help you either way."
Her expression turns flat again, and she's forced to wonder just how much she should or shouldn't be worrying, before deciding that as a human she can worry as much as she damn well likes. "That is absolutely not something I'm equipped to answer," she sags a little, fidgeting with a lock of hair. "Honestly, it makes me wish I was a bit better at robotics. It'd be nice if you had another person to help patch you up from anything serious."
<Pose Tracker> Kamui has posed.
Kamui looks absolutely, preciously perplexed by that. "What does my hobby of standing on tall things have to do with a stubbornness to do things on my own?" she says with absolutely zero self-awareness.
Acacia reminds her it doesn't matter if she's the only one who can do it. "Maybe not, but if the only alternative is watching someone we know and love suffer and die..."
She huffs and then answers, "The bloodline doesn't matter. Dr. Lumen wouldn't do something so stupid as key the capsule to only those of her blood. If she learnt anything with her time with Marivel, Ana and the rest of us, it's that it's not what it's in the blood that matters when it comes to family."
That's her own way of being protective, maybe.
"I'm trying to be positive. I'm not working on complete information here..."
<Pose Tracker> Acacia Saitani has posed.
Acacia gives the Reploid another flat look - but it's overtaken by the way she blinks into an apologetic smile as she gets rightfully rebuffed about the nature of family. "That's-- true. Sorry. Maybe I'm just really hoping I actually can be of help, and worried I won't be. Not that I'll let that stop me from trying though," she adds as she rotates an arm and fist as if to pump herself up. "I mean, we've done more stupid stuff in the past, I'm pretty sure."
The reporter obviously isn't exactly operating on 'do as I say, not as I do' rules here; another flicker of a frown crosses her face and gives away the fact that, if it really came down to it and there was something only she could do, she'd probably barrel right ahead with it too. But maybe it's just important to say it.
"Well, we're reporters. So let's find as much information as we can," she puffs instead. "Maybe we'll find something that'll reassure you - but even if we don't, it'll probably be a lot better than doing it on your own. Even you're allowed to be scared," Acacia adds, bumping one of Kamui's shoulders with hers.
<Pose Tracker> Kamui has posed.
"... hmm. You're absolutely right," Kamui remarks as Acacia says that they're reporters -- and should find out as much information as they can. "... I was thinking about confiding with Clarine, as well, but... no more than that." A pause. "I don't really want to tell this to the rest of ARMS right now."
Kamui bumps shoulders with her, then she rises. "... I'll treat you to dinner before I go, at least. Their honey-apple pies are apparently really good."
<Pose Tracker> Acacia Saitani has posed.
"If you think that's best, that sounds good." It's obvious to see Acacia slowly shifting into work mode as she thinks about the capsules they've found so far. "Maybe it's worth going back to where you and Gami were sleeping, if you didn't already? Any chance we can find a manifest or something? We need a big map to plot where the others are, too."
She doesn't get too carried away in her own thoughts, at least, and is already pulling herself up after Kamui when she blinks. "Wait-- no way. I've still got my pride as your boss," she plants a hand on her hip. "Not to mention you're the one who's been spinning herself into circles about this stuff. Let me treat you."