That melt into spring [Open]

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Zouchi stood by the blue-green waters of Faron Spring, eyes tracing the old, intricate patterns that covered the surfaces of the rocks nearby. The weather in this part of the City was a little cooler than usual, but he felt no discomfort; it was still well within his operational tolerances.

As he waited there, almost entirely still, a light rain began to fall from the sky. Artificial rain, of course, for an artificial city, but it was cool against his face and good for the plants. Zouichi closed his eyes for a moment; when he reopened them, the rain was still there... but it was accompanied by something else. Silvery numeric annotations swam through his vision, attached to each drop of water, too fast and too numerous for an untrained observer to make sense of. Speed calculations, trajectory and force projections. Each droplet of rain was a variable, a world of controlled chaos.

Some disappeared into the soft grass; others dropped onto the surface of the spring, sending up a cascade of secondary equations as it cast ripples across the surface of the water.

When it was time for battle, these same quicksilver calculations would help guide him in action: they'd show him the best way to destroy, the swiftest way to kill. But for now, there was no need to bend them to that purpose. Instead, he watched as they fell like phantoms through the sky.

Comments

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

Howard hasn't been looking for Zouichi, but having finally left Diana's side (and after having settled a good deal of bitching and moaning about his hometown to rest), he does find himself feeling a little lonely. As such, he doesn't return to the quiet of the Warehouse or the areas of the City he knows will be unoccupied.

A lot of people like nature, right? A lot of people who aren't him.

But he can't help but love the rain. After spending such a long time in the FAYZ, where the only climate was under the control of a borderline-catatonic five year-old, actual weather is a welcome reminder of everything he's left behind, and how much of it he doesn't miss.

He goes sprinting through the rain like a little kid running through sprinklers, arms out, excited grin on his face. He doesn't care that he's getting soaked. He spins in a circle and flops onto his back, making a snow angel gesture in the small marsh forming in a small valley of grass.

When he sits back up, he notices Zou out by the spring, looking serene. Howard picks himself up and runs over, feet sloshing inside his shoes. "Isn't this awesome?"

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Zouichi turned around to see (an admittedly slightly squishy-noisetastic) Howard running up behind him. "It is. I didn't know you liked rain. Or nature, for that matter."

Howard seemed like the kind of person who you'd only drag out on a camping trip kicking and screaming. And complaining about the mosquitoes. And spending all day in the tent.

"It should snow sometime. I'd like that."

[carrieswar.livejournal.com]

Jr. didn't like rain. He simply preferred the warmth of the summer, where you could relax on the beach and close your eyes or go jumping into the waters to refresh yourself. Sakura loved the beach. He and Gaignun and Albedo had promised to go to a real one, once, though Jr. and Gaignun had been the only two who made it to that point when they set up their private one on the Foundation. Of course, part of running a planet-emulating space colony meant emulating the weather, too, so they had been working on a rain system. He remembered showing it off to his friend and scaring the crap out of Shion; an unseen and accidental side effect.

Jr. was so glad that Shion was here, on that note. Someone smart and capable and someone from home. He was okay trudging on by himself (the voice in the back of his head always trying to tell him that he should be used to it was still there, but thankfully not so much as it had been once before), but he had to admit there was a comfort there.

He raised an eyebrow when he spotted Zouichi just sort of ... standing there watching the rain. "You like the rain?" he asked.

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Zouichi had been so far away that he hadn't even heard Jr. come up behind him. He smiled in apology; he hadn't meant to ignore Jr.'s presence. "I guess you could say that. What do Realians from your world see when they look at things?"

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"I don't. But we didn't have rain in the FAYZ..." He tilts his head up so the rain can land point-blank on his grinning face. "I forgot how much I missed it."

Otherwise, Zouichi would be completely right.

Howard takes a deep breath. For a few moments now he's not worrying about anything. It's a nice feeling. "I've never seen snow. Did you guys have weather in your world, or did the industrialists get rid of that too?"

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"You can't really get rid of the weather. So yes, we had it there, too. I just never got to see much of it."

Zouichi didn't ask why they didn't have rain in the FAYZ, since it didn't seem to have a great track record when it came to explaining bizarre phenomena like 'no rain ever'.

"Oh, that's right... you lived in California, right? Was it always sunny?"

[carrieswar.livejournal.com]

Jr. stared at him. Why was he asking him something like that, all of a sudden?

"What do they see?" he asked, giving Zouichi a clear enough look that said why are you asking me this. "What do you mean see?" He had a couple of guesses, but...

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

There was a reason, Jr.!

"I mean do they see like humans do? Or do they experience a form of augmented reality? Information overlays, targeting reticles, that sort of thing."

[futureisclear.livejournal.com]

Ildraniath was frustrated - partially with herself, partially with the ship. Not that she let such emotions show, of course, but it was still there. She was meant to read the future, to guide her people, but here? She could not. No matter how many times she tried, day after day, the runes refused to reveal anything beyond garbled nonsense that could be interpreted as anything from "success" to "horrible, catastrophic failure". To keep her mind off of such things (or maybe simply so she could think), she'd gone for a walk. She prided herself on her strength, but even at home she'd had other seers to speak with, to discuss the portents with.

Here, she was alone. Alendian was an Eldar, but an also an Aspect Warrior - she could be talked to, but Ildraniath hesitated to tell her of her own frustrations. She paused, thoughts cut off as she felt a drop of rain splash onto her head. She glanced up and then hurried on, ignoring the dampness. She wouldn't let artificial weather stop her. Her stride slowed as she spotted a familiar figure up ahead and then she resumed her normal pace, coming to a halt a few meters away.

"Enjoying the weather?"

[carrieswar.livejournal.com]

So it was something like that.

"... you know, I'm not entirely sure. I've never asked the 100-Series such in-depth questions before." He thought. He remembered him and the others speaking to one on the Durandal once, who couldn't seem to comprehend something like the beauty of a view from the giant spaceship. But then there was MOMO, who sometimes gushed over something being oh so pretty or cute.

"I've known a couple who seemed to have a hard time figuring that stuff out. But then I've also seen a lot of them who appreciate things the same as anybody else does. I think it might be a mix of both? I'm not really sure. Shion knows about Realians a lot more in-depth than I do, you can always ask her."

He beamed up at Zouichi. "She's here now, by the way! She just woke up with everyone else."

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"How much did you see? I mean, did you still have tsunamis and hurricanes and everything?" Howard opens his mouth slightly to taste the rain.

"Yeah, Perdido Beach. About an hour north of San Diego. We used to go there on vacation, the Wild Animal Park and all..." A little bit of the worry comes back, a twinge of missing the life he had, and his parents. "And a school field trip in fourth grade."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"Afraid not. Not real weather, anyway, though I saw some in the simulator. Mostly just light rain, fog, that kind of thing."

He looked back at the spring. "Well, the way we're going, we'll visit an ice planet any day now. And then you'll be able to see all the snow you want."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Zouichi blinked in surprise for a moment, then smiled. "So one of your friends is here, huh? Congratulations. Guess I should have asked for descriptions; I might've talked to her and not realized it at all."

The news that one of Jr.'s friends was here didn't bother him; he wasn't particularly eager to see anyone from his world outside of the pods. But he was genuinely happy for Jr.

"So she's some kind of expert on Realians?"

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Ah, he recognized that voice. Zouichi turned, a slight smile on his face. "You could say that," he admitted. "It doesn't exactly rain here every day. I'm glad it happened while I was here to enjoy it." After all, he might very well have been on-planet or fighting the Ohm. There'd be no time to appreciate it then.

He paused briefly, wondering why she was out in the rain alone. Ildraniath didn't strike him as someone who'd avoid the rain... but she didn't seem like someone who'd meander about in it without purpose, either. "Thank you for the lessons, by the way. I'm not sure how well I'm doing, but no one's complained about me thinking especially loudly at them yet."

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

He nods. "I guess I can see your world being the moody fog and rain type. You know. Moody." Kinda hopeless.

On that note, it is cold, what with the sopping wet clothing and all. Howard wraps his arms around himself. "I'll have to start storing up on mittens, but I call dibs on making the first snowman."

[carrieswar.livejournal.com]

"Yup! And it's about time, too. Now the rest of them just need to get their lazy butts up out of those pods. You'll probably meet her soon enough!"

He nodded. "Yeah. KOS-MOS is sort of her pride and joy, but I remember her mentioning that she always liked working with Realians, too. But, why are you asking something like that? Is something up?"

It almost sounded like some kind of IDENTITY DILEMMA. He was used to Realians and such having those.

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, I guess you could say that. It didn't really look like this place, anyway." And he sort of wished it had. It was a shame the humans of his world had grown up without being able to visit places like this. Maybe if they had...

But that was idle speculation. He glanced at the way Howard was hugging himself, then motioned in the direction where his bike was parked a brief distance away. "Why don't we head back? Wouldn't do for a medic to catch a cold."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"Well. I'm looking forward to it, then. Who's KOS-MOS?"

Zouichi shook his head at Jr.'s question; he'd gone through most of his IDENTITY DILEMMA when he was younger (P.S. don't pretend you don't have any, Jr.). "I see things like that. Most of the times it's only relevant when I'm fighting... I can see how fast projectile fire is coming, angles, acceleration, that kind of thing. It's useful... but in situations like this, it's also quite beautiful. That's what I was looking at."

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"Hate to break it to you, but most places don't, even on normal Earths. And I mean, the ones that do are usually national parks and charge admission and all." He kicks his feet through a puddle, then kicks his shoes and socks off and sinks his toes into the mud.

He licks his lower lip and nods. "You're probably right. Do you feel temperature? I mean, just curious." He stuffs his socks into his wet sneakers and slings them over his shoulder by the shoelaces. The idea of riding the motorcycle in the rain is kind of exciting, actually.

[carrieswar.livejournal.com]

"KOS-MOS? She's a special anti-Gnosis battle android. Shion's one of her creators. I wonder if we'll ever see her here..." He wondered. Would she count as a weapon and be in the hangar or weapons and possessions? He wouldn't be thinking that if he knew more than he did, but he didn't. So he wondered.

(he totally doesn't okay that's a lie) "That's useful," he admitted. He didn't have any of that, even if he was 'blessed' with powers and a little more physical and mental enhancement. If he had to guess what it felt like, he imagined doing everything in the Asher. Reading target estimates and scanning enemies. "Beautiful?" he asked. "You mean the rain?"

[quick_strike]

Rain...rain was never a detriment for Alendian. She often used it to mask her own movements since humans seemed to have trouble hearing or seeing in a downpour. The only real reaction she had was to pull the hood of her robes up over her head, mentally thanking herself for shunning armor for a while. Just because she was a warrior didn't mean she was an Exarch.

Currently, she was still berating herself over losing her cool to a human, of all things. Emotions hit hard for Eldar and regret hit even harder. She didn't give up her training but she was hardly as active at it. Part of her wondered if she should go back to embracing the life of an outcast but even then, her own anger wasn't yet satisfied.

As for Zouichi, she did notice him but decided not to let it register. He would say something if he noticed her, that was for sure, so there was no point in her starting any conversation.

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"Maybe. I'm sure places like this could only be found in certain locations and climates. But that doesn't mean there weren't any places on Earth that weren't equally beautiful, in their own way."

Zouichi gave Howard a look. "Of course I can feel temperature. I just don't find the extremes as uncomfortable as other people." Jeez, Howard, being able to feel if it was hot or cold was kind of an important survival skill.

As they reached the bike, he swung a leg over the side, tossing Howard the spare helmet. "I hope your cat has the good sense to stay inside."

This is so meta

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"I see. A battle android... does she have an advanced AI? A personality?" KOS-MOS sounded a lot like himself; he hoped that the people who had created her had given the benefit of treating her as a person, rather than a weapon.

Zouichi nodded at Jr.'s assessment. "It is. Here, though, it's not quite as utilitarian. And the rain is pretty, too, but... I wish I could show you. It's like watching two sets of rain; the real thing, and the numbers on top of it."

He paused, looking at Jr. "Actually, maybe I can. If the Sensoriums can deal with my battle data, I'm sure it can reproduce this, too."

[carrieswar.livejournal.com]

Jr. nodded. "She does. She works with us, after all, so she needs a personality to interact with others. She can be a bit rigid and anti-social sometimes, all the same!" He said that fondly, though. And oh Zouichi, you were going to love how Shion treated her if you ever found that out. "But that's what makes her KOS-MOS."

He tried to grasp a better understanding of what Zouichi was attempting to explain. "Numbers...?"

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Zouichi did notice, though he waited for a moment before turning to face Alendian. He'd been meaning to ask her something, anyway. "I've been meaning to ask you a thing or two since that meeting on the Obs Deck. Have a moment?"

Mostly he just wanted to know how much of Erhart's words were true.