2021-08-07: Some Truth to All of Those Old Tales

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  • Log: Some Truth to All of Those Old Tales
  • Cast: Citan Uzuki, Jacqueline Barber
  • Where: North Calm Lands
  • Date: August 07, 2021
  • Summary: In the aftermath of the battle in Zanarkand's ruins, Citan speaks with Jacqueline about her acquisition.

<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.

    It had been imperative to get away from Zanarkand as swiftly as possible. That had left the Fahrenheit as the only meaningful escape route, unless anyone had wanted to test Xenobia's wrath for themselves.

    Unsurprisingly, the vote had been in favor of a timely escape, and once free of that part of Spira, the airship had set forth for calmer terrain.

    Calmer in this case meaning the... Calm Lands. The Al Bhed have done what they could with damaged Gears, and the partial crew from the Yggdrasil had similarly offered their expertise, but some repairs will need to wait until Filgaia.

    "Yes... I had thought the damage to that system had seemed severe." Doctor Uzuki nods, speaking to a silver-haired man from the Yggdrasil crew; he wears an eyepatch. He glances to one side near the tents and other temporary encampments set up out here outside the Fahrenheit -- not everyone wants to necessarily be cooped up inside the ship. "Very well. I will leave it to you and your team, Sig. By the way..." He pauses for a moment. "That was impressive timing on your part. Had you some inkling of what was to come...?"

    The silver-haired man shakes his head. "No. It wasn't anything like that. If anything, that Cid was the one who thought that you might need some backup. You'll have to ask him about it," he finishes, folding his arms over his chest. "Moving the Gears... it wasn't easy."

    Goodnaturedly, Citan grimaces. "Yes, I had thought so... Thank you for your hard work. Shall I assume you and the others will return to Filgaia."

    The man -- Sigurd -- nods. "Yes. We'll help with some of the damaged Gears, but it'll have to be on the other side of the gate. It's a pain, but there's nothing we can do about it."

    "I see..." muses Citan. "Well, I suppose I will see what the next step will be, here. Ah, which reminds me..." He glances again, as if looking for someone in particular amidst the small number of people in the camp.

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline has spent most of her time since the escape recuperating, opting primarily to relax and hang out with Lunata and Shalune. It's been a big help for her health, but enough time has passed that she's back on her feet now.

A small encampment has been set up for the people who've found themselves on the Fahrenheit, and so Jacqueline has offered her expertise in getting everything in order. She has a good head for the management of goods and supplies and ensuring they get to where they need to go, which is essential for even a temporary encampment.

At the moment, though, she's taking a break... as much as Jacqueline ever does take a break. She can be found sitting off on the side of camp, notebook open in her lap and jotting down some notes on recent events and the current situation. She's not difficult to spot, though.

<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.

    It's like having a camping trip, perhaps, after everything that's happened.
    A... lazy camping trip, if you will.

    It doesn't take Citan long to spot her. Sigurd is hardly slow to follow the doctor's gaze.

    "Is that the young lady who...?" the first mate of the Yggdrasil and former Element asks. Citan's response is a nod. "If you will excuse me, Sig... I must speak to Miss Barber." He doesn't need to say to someone like Sigurd 'what about'. They're both thinking along the same lines, perhaps particularly Sigurd when one considers what rests under the sands of Aveh.

    And he departs, approaching Jacqueline where she sits writing in her notebook.

    "Miss Barber? Would this be a bad time?" he asks, standing slightly behind and to the left of where she's seated.

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline looks up from her writing as she hears someone approaching her. She's used to people consulting her, so it isn't too much of a surprise... though it's the 'who' that draws her curiosity.

"Ah, Doctor Uzuki! It's good to see you. How are you doing?" Jacqueline replies, offering a smile and shutting her notebook. She shakes her head, then. "No, not at all - I was just recording my thoughts. Did you need me for something?"

She takes a quick look around. There are a few fairly sturdy crates stacked up nearby nearby.

"If you'd like to sit, those crates are empty." She offers. Jacqueline herself has chosen a small pillar of earth she's conjured with a traveling blanket thrown over it.

<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.

    "Actually... I would like to speak with you, if I may," Citan says to her. As she glances this way and that for a place for him to sit, his gaze fleetingly tracks the direction her own takes, settling at last on the pile of crates, the only clear space around unless he would care to sit on the ground. Or keep standing, which is always an option.

    Gingerly, he takes a seat on the crates, glancing away from her once as if to see if anyone else is nearby.

    Then, his attention returns to her.

    "How have you been feeling? That had been quite the situation... I am certain many of us were thinking the worst."

    There is a pause, while he appears to consider what he's about to say with care. His gaze is on the campfire for this moment.

    "That Gear... I almost wonder if the stories are true. That 'those Gears' have a way of finding their way to the ones who are able to pilot them..." He glances up at her. "Do you have any questions? I know... only a few things, I am afraid. But even knowing a few things may be of use to you."

    And of course, she might also ask Elly for her input.

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

"Ah, of course!" Jacquelinre replies, as Citan says he'd like to speak to her. He asks how she's feeling, and she takes a moment to consider it.

"...I thought so too. It was... probably the most afraid I've been in a while." Jacqueline admits after a moment, clasping her hands in her lap and looking away briefly. "If Lunata and Shalune weren't here to comfort me after, I'd probably still be feeling shaken even now..."

She goes quiet for a moment, looking back up at Citan once he mentions the Gear - and how they have a way of finding their way to those who can pilot them.

"...I wonder. Did it have to be me? If someone else had climbed into it first... could it have responded to them instead? I still don't know why I was able to pilot it in the first place..." She pauses for a moment, then, and shakes her head. "...Not that I'm complaining - it saved my life. If it hadn't... I don't think I'd be here."

She shakes her head, then, and considers as he asks if she has any questions.

"...A lot of questions, honestly, though I don't know if anyone would be able to answer them." She replies, and 'hm's consideringly as she puts her thoughts in order.

"Like... where did it come from? Why were they made? How does it even... work?" She says. They had spoken of it a bit before, during the battle. "There was a dock for it in that city... I wonder if they knew more about it than we do."

She pauses for a moment and looks up, shaking her head.

"...But I suppose the most pertinent question is... do you know of any mechanics who'd be able to do repairs on it? I can't imagine the average Gear repair shop would know what to do with it..." Jacqueline asks. "I'd ask Shalune to take a look, but... she has a lot on her hands already, with getting Big Shal back together..."

<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.

    "I am certain... It had been frightening enough watching it from our own position, knowing there was nothing we could do to stop what was already in motion. But I can only imagine how it must have felt from your own perspective. It is fortunate that you were able to exit your own Gear and make use of the other. Otherwise..."

    He can only shake his head. It might have been that the Jaeger would have held -- it might have been that she would have survived, by sorcery or her Gear or simple fate. But it was equally likely that...

    "You should take your time. Experiences such as that... they do not easily leave a person," Citan remarks, and perhaps for a moment, one might believe that he knows that sort of experience, in some form or another. Briefly, he glances up towards the sky.

    But when he turns the dialog more directly towards the matter of her new-found Gear...

    Citan appears to hesitate for a moment, when Jacqueline wonders if another in her place might have also been able to have piloted the Gear -- if it were a matter simply of her climbing in first.

    "I cannot say for certain," he answers her, finally. "I feel that it may have been 'fated' for you. But who is to know whether I am right in this? It is said that only those with the 'right' to pilot one of those Gears may make use of one, but who is to say that the old stories are right, either?"

    He shakes his head, falling silent for the moment.

    He's listening, as she asks her impossible question.

    "If we believe the story... then it was God. Though... I wonder," the doctor remarks, frowning as he even speaks that sentiment again aloud. "If they were made by God, then what is their purpose? Now that I think on it... There is an old, nearly heretical story about 'giants' that warred with the 'heavens'... is it possible that these are also the Omnigears...?" He sighs, only to smile faintly. "Teasing fact from fiction is difficult even under the most ideal circumstances, let alone such ancient tales!"

    As for how it works...

    Citan Uzuki, master tinkerer, can only shake his head. "By looking at it, some of the parts may be interchangeable with modern Gears... to an extent. But, as to its inner workings..."

    Which may be directly intertwined with Jay's most pressing question of all--

    "Perhaps you might wish to rendezvous with the Yggdrasil's crew on that matter. They have worked on Miss Croze's Rephaim and may have some insights. I am afraid my own talents may not be... entirely appropriate here. Though if you would wish, I can certainly see what I can discover. Nevertheless!" he interjects, as if to interrupt this very line of thinking, "It appeared that none of the essential systems were badly damaged. This is a good thing. If it is only a matter of its armor plating and other easily replaceable parts, then perhaps it will not be terribly difficult at all."

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

"I... had to blast the cockpit open, it'd been fused shut." Jacqueline admits. "I felt bad about doing that to the Jaeger, but..."

She trails off, and nods quietly as Citan suggests she take her time.

"Yeah, I... I'm probably not going to go on any wild adventures for a little while..." She says with a sheepish chuckle, massaging the back of her neck. She spots that look, noting it quietly, but doesn't comment.

"'Fated'... that seems to be the way of things, doesn't it? It was much the same for Lunata and the Rephaim..." Jacqueline considers, then shakes her head. "...Well, I suppose the only thing I can do about it now is make sure I make good use of it."

Citan speaks, then, of some of the stories that might relate to it. Jacqueline 'hm's, considering it.

"Giants made by God, warring against the heavens..." Jacqueline considers, rolling the idea over in her head. "These days, I'm inclined to believe there's some truth to all of those old tales with how many of them come back around to bite us... but as you say, figuring out which part that is is the hard part."

And there's only so much value to be earned by constantly picking them apart without any proper clues to go on. She shakes her head, then.

But thankfully, Citan has some possibilities.

"The Yggdrasil... that's a good thought." Jacqueline considers, and then nods. "I certainly wouldn't object if you wanted to take a look - I'm afraid I don't have a whole lot of hard mechanical expertise outside of maintenance on the Carakin, so I'd appreciate any insights I can get."

None of the essential systems were badly damaged...

"I see... That's good, that should make it a little easier." She considers. "I'd prefer to keep costs down, if possible... even with a mysterious, ancient Gear."

It feels... remarkably mundane, but that's the reality of the situation.

<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.

    Jay explains that she'd had to blast the cockpit open. Faintly, the doctor grimaces, as if in sympathy. A very narrow situation -- if she had failed at that point, not even the Jaeger would have protected her from what came next.

    "A wise decision," he remarks, regarding her. He's probably familiar with similar situations in others, as well, given the circles in which he's traveled. "While everything is far from settled, we have before us perhaps the chance of some peace, now. Yevon is unlikely to take any direct actions after what has happened, and Odessa and Solaris have fled the immediate area. And Althena's Guard has largely since begun to return to their homeland."

    But after what had happened at the mountain, he doesn't think that all of them will return without... questions for their Goddess.

    "Yes," he says, as she considers the stories. "Taken into account with one another, they do not appear to make much sense, do they? But this is often the way with old tales. They contradict one another, making the truth ever more difficult to divine." Citan shakes his head. "For now, it may be best to simply consider them but not search in these tales too deeply for the truth. They are likely to be accurate only from a certain point of view, at best."

    She appears to be in alignment with his offer -- to take a look at it and see what he could assess.

    "Yes... I will see what I can discern about it and no more than that. I do not have the necessary tools or space -- indeed, even if I did I would be concerned about disturbing something I should not... which reminds me, perhaps Shevat may also have some insight. After all, they have cared for Elly's own Omnigear these past five hundred years. It did not seem in poor condition."

    Though he pauses a moment and adds, "...Though, I cannot say if that is, ah, typical for a Gear of its calibur. Perhaps they may be immune to the ravages of time, to a degree!"

    Given what makes up a part of an Omnigear, it would hardly be a stretch to say that.

    Citan nods as he goes on. "Yes -- we had largely done damage to its exterior when battling it," he explains, revealing the logic by which he'd come to that conclusion. "And while you appeared to have some difficulty with piloting it, it is possible it is only due to, ah... my apologies, but inexperience rather than lasting damage. If it had sustained serious damage to its internal systems, even with your will you would not have been able to move it. ...An Omnigear is a fiersome thing," he elaborates, gesturing outwards, "but it is hardly invincible. I would keep this in mind as well, Miss Barber."