trans_9 | The more things change...

Zouichi had taken a few wounds during the mission, but nothing that he would deem serious enough to require medical treatment. He'd already begun to heal, and he estimated that by the time tomorrow rolled around, he'd once again be at full strength. This was not, of course, true of everyone who had fought on that moon -- those who had lost their lives, for instance.

But for him, intense combat was the norm. There was no sense dwelling on loss of life or regretting the past, and there were no nightmares about the dead or dying. There was only the future, and the battles to be found there.

So it was back to business as usual: maintenance on the HDC, clearing stray leaves off the front steps and caring for the flowers... and teaching his pet parrot some commands. Today, however, Alan seemed more intent on rolling onto his back and demanding to be picked up. So Zouichi settled back in the shade of a nearby tree instead, playing with the bird and occasionally wondering where he'd picked up all these new phrases that sounded suspiciously like Lash.

Maybe if Howard showed up, they could look for odds and ends in the City.

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"I had a hard time taking the 'monster' thing seriously," said Zouichi. "I am what I was created to be: a product of years of scientific research. There's nothing particularly monstrous about that. It might have been different had I been raised in a less isolated environment, but I mostly only had contact with others like me... and the R&D division. I'm fairly sure anyone who was that superstitious would never been allowed to work on the project in the first place."

He raised an eyebrow. "What kind of something else are we talking about?"

Edited 2011-09-02 18:17 (UTC)

"Still... I mean things like. You know," a dismissive wave of the hand because seriously, screw that experience, "Galilee."

"I mean things like lies. 'Here's your mission, do your mission' turning into 'oh that wasn't your actual mission and now you're expected to do this other thing that's totally different from what you were told you'd be doing'. You were made to help humanity fix their mistakes, right? What if you found out the people who made you were really aiming to destroy them, or something?"

Zouichi outright scowled at the mention of Galilee. "Ah, yes. Using clones to fuel their own lives of luxury. They were the real monsters. How many countless lives were lost or cut short because those in power didn't want to bother considering an arbitrary group of people 'human beings'?"

BURN IT. BURN IT DOWN.

"...if they were really out to destroy humanity, rather than save it? I suppose I'd have to stop them." Zouichi's tone suggested that 'stop them' didn't exactly mean 'peacefully attempt to persuade them to change their minds'. It probably meant something like 'storm all the facilities, kill everyone involved'. It would be a betrayal of the highest order, a betrayal of the person who had been the single greatest influence on his character.

"As far as I'm concerned, I wouldn't owe them a thing."

That kind of response was answer enough for Jr.'s question. ... aside from things like the bird that the held and the girl he had told Jr. about that were sort of telling enough themselves. He still had to meet her, he thought idly.

"Heh," he smiled, "sounds like something I'd definitely agree to."

Zouichi nodded. "Anyway, what were those Sensorium ideas you were thinking about?"

Because that was totally relevant right now.

"Oh, well..." It was a somewhat awkward transition back into the casual conversation, but Jr. was good at rolling with things. He had quickly forgotten what it was he even thought about. "I just meant like the kind of things you see in the movies..."

Well, obviously they'd resolved the previous topic, it was time to move on!

"What kind of movies? Westerns?" Jr. seemed like the kind of person who'd like Westerns.

Especially considering the pieces of clothing that he had gotten on XaXing vaguely resembled something a cowboy would wear. Only in Jr.'s case, a more futuristic robot-piloting space cowboy.

"Well I like all different kinds..." He flashed Zouichi a grin. "But I guess if I had to pick a favorite type, you'd be right."

"That could be interesting..." said Zouichi. If pressed, he had to admit that he did sort of enjoy the idea of flashy gunfighting where the good guys always one and no one ever died.

Also, hats.

"And I'm not at all surprised."

"So you've seen those kinds of movies before? You like'em?"

Now they were at the super important questions.

"One or two," he said. "I can't really say I like all of them based on that. But... they were pretty interesting."

Yep. Super important.

"I should show you some of the really good ones, sometime... I've got to do a thorough go-through of what's in that media library."

"Which ones are the good ones?" Zouichi mostly just picks movies at random, anyway. No one's really given him any recommendations.

"I kind of really liked the Dirty Harry series ... that's pretty old-school Lost Jerusalem stuff."

"Dirty... Harry?" Zouichi just looked puzzled. "What's so dirty about him?"

That question accompanied with that look was too much; Jr. laughed. And quite honestly after their conversation it felt good to.

"It's not exactly a literal name," he explained. "But-- well, you know the term dirty job, right?"

"So... it's the nickname? Dirty Harry is a villain?"

~~IT'S NOT FUNNY JR.~~

~~IT SO IS THOUGH.~~

"Nope, an officer. Though the name also falls into the fact that he doesn't always take care of things like the rest of'em do."

"Ah, so he's a bit of a renegade. Someone who bends the rules to get the job done."

"Pretty much, yeah!"

Congratulations, Zouichi, you now have a slightly better idea of how Jr. takes care of things back home.

"Sounds interesting. I would like to see this 'Dirty Harry'."

Zouichi wasn't big on rules, anyway.

The more things change...

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