[2011-04-15 21:40:51] <@Haruka_Emmerich> = =
[21:41:08] <@Haruka_Emmerich> Tuesday mid-morning. JUNKER R&D.
[21:43:29] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "I still can't believe this change of heart you've had, Emmerich..." Aelita gives a dozed-off Wyll a love tap on the shoulder on her way to wrenching open an armory door. "First off, you're requesting THAT - Which, I might add, you KILLED me with - and you're not even planning to refurbish it proper. What's the point of using Decade-class Gear without, you know, the Decade-y bits?"

[21:45:09] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "Because if we distill away the Dark Gear portions of Mugen no Diend, we'll have exactly what I need..." Haruka lets her elbows rest on a counter before plopping her head in her hands, watching the workshop slowly come to life for the day.

[21:45:10] <Axel_Wildfire> Wyll shifts, mostly face-down on the workbench he's at, but doesn't wake up, muttering something in his sleep about superfluous design features.

[21:51:23] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "You know this thing's Dark for a reason, Haruka. A greasy reason with a pretty face and a keen eye for potential double-crosses." A Gear Case is summarily wrenched out, a tad different from the usual suitcases - it's double-sized, for one, and instead of the usual clasps there's a dual-key-lock mechanism akin to your average Hollywood "nuclear launch sequence" rig.

[21:55:34] <AdventFalls> "...Did I pop in at a bad time?" Rebecca Hill was a few feet behind them, clearly dumbfounded.

[21:58:39] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "Depends on how eager to get BLACK back you are." The white-haired Fangire grins. "One of you mind letting me back in there so I can get my key, or should I just throw it to Aelita?"

[21:59:33] <AdventFalls> "I figured between SHOCKER being liable to kill me and the universe seeming intent on giving me that Gear, I figured I might as well get it over with."

[22:01:40] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "Good a reason as any to get equipped." Aelita pulls out a keyring and begins flipping. "Feel free to come on back, the both of you. Latch is open."

[22:02:55] <AdventFalls> Becca shrugged, entering the area.

[22:04:04] <@Haruka_Emmerich> Haruka follows soon after, prodding Wyll with one hand as she digs for her own keys with the other. "...don't think I've ever seen Wyll asleep on the job."

[22:05:33] <Axel_Wildfire> "Nngh..." another shift, this one slightly more wakeful and with a more coherent mumble. "Quit... pokin'... 'lita..."

[22:06:57] <AdventFalls> "..." Rebecca sighed. "You mind if I do something horribly cruel to Wyll?"

[22:08:11] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "Considering he's got loli Undead backup..." Haruka's eyes turn red as she smirks. "...Go nuts."

[22:08:55] <AdventFalls> Becca dug into a nearby desk, digging around for a good ten seconds. "This room had a speaker system, right?"

[22:09:47] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "Yeah, Royce uses the intercom on the wall to your left to order the fabrication team off their asses sometimes." Aelita points.

[22:10:47] <AdventFalls> "I meant more like music- Royce listens to disco everywhere, right?"
[22:10:56] <AdventFalls> She pulled out a nondescript CD.

[22:12:28] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "That too, actually, for the days she can't keep it in her office..."

[22:13:03] <AdventFalls> She managed to find the audio system, cranked up the volume setting to eleven..... and put in the CD.
[22:13:18] <AdventFalls> In about seconds, the first song on the track began.
[22:13:41] <AdventFalls> It was a pop song that every Void Hour veteran in the room could recognize- and the song had aged abysmally in sixty years.

[22:14:38] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "...holy mother of fuck." Haruka's eyes had gone wide, and a bit green. "BECCA SHUT THAT OFF NOW BEFORE WYLL STARTS KILLING THINGS."

[22:15:00] <AdventFalls> Kuzunoha Rose's number one hit was being blasted over the speakers.

[22:16:06] <Axel_Wildfire> "... turn that factory-produced pop idol shit off, or pornography starring Kenoko will be the second-worst thing that happens to you today." Wyll growls quietly, having awoken somewhere around the first line.

[22:16:27] <AdventFalls> The song stopped. "And a good morning to you too."

[22:17:55] <Axel_Wildfire> He pushes himself upright from the desk, groping around for a stone-cold cup of coffee that's been sitting there since the night before. "Not at my best in the mornings..." he eyes the clock. "... of course, it's almost noon, which should give you an idea of what mornings are like."

[22:18:44] <AdventFalls> Becca nodded. "Right. Well. So.... we handing out Gears today then?"

[22:20:32] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "Handing out the one, for now." Both female vets have turned the keys on the large case, halves falling aside to reveal the wrecked remains of a jet-black Diendriver with various red and silver trim bits. "And cannibalizing another, which...may take a bit."

[22:20:55] <AdventFalls> "Cannibalizing?"

[22:21:25] <Axel_Wildfire> "Hm? Oh, hey, Haruka, come here for a minute." Wyll stands and gulps down his coffee.

[22:23:20] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "What for? I wanna get this idea of mine prototyped and on the show floor by Saturday..." Nevertheless, Haruka crosses over to Wyll after she and Aelita get the scrap out of the case and sorted.

[22:25:20] <Axel_Wildfire> Wyll smiles, nods... and punches her in the face.

[22:26:59] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "Kgh..." Honeycomb-stained glass flares up at the point of impact as Haruka recoils...before the hand of the Sirknight Fangire jabs at Wyll's gut.

[22:28:46] <Axel_Wildfire> Wham. Wyll, light and frail as he is, staggers back against the desk, pauses for a moment... and then grins and wraps her in a tight hug. "About *fucking* time, Haruka."

[22:30:42] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "Wyll, you mind explaining why you and Haruka are outright trading blows?"

[22:32:45] <Axel_Wildfire> "'Cause normally she'd have taken that and not fired back." he proceeds to tickle her.

[22:34:12] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "H-Hey, I could totally..." The white-haired lady stifles a giggle. "...d-dammit, you're five seconds away from me lighting this room on fire, Ascher..."

[22:34:36] <AdventFalls> "Can I not be set on fire?"

[22:35:17] <Axel_Wildfire> Wyll stops. "Fine. I'm just pleased to see that *someone* has put your head back on straight, at least a little. Some of us missed Haruka, y'know."

[22:37:25] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "And some of us are grateful you managed to stop before Haruka whipped out the part of her we DIDN'T miss..." Aelita grumbles as bits and pieces of the old henshin device are stripped away, suppressing a blush all the while.

[22:42:43] <Axel_Wildfire> He grins and releases Haruka at last, seating himself back on the desk. "So what horrible thing are we unleashing on the world today?"

[22:46:35] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "It's only horrible because you mad. Anyhoo, I believe Kivaara has the specs?" A snap of Haruka's fingers, and the white bat flitters into view, landing on Aelita's head. "You're gonna want to follow me on this, so keep your eyes peeled."

[22:47:04] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "...hey, why's she on MY head?" "You're closest to a blank chunk of wall."

[22:50:36] <Axel_Wildfire> "Flying projectors. You should patent that."

[22:57:00] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "Ohhhhh no, we're not having robot PDAs for every salaryman in Tokyo. The trains are crowded enough as is!" Kivaara scoffs as the lights dim, her eyes projecting, to start off, the covers of a certain series of video games from a bygone age.

[22:58:40] <Axel_Wildfire> Wyll's palm meets it's face. "Oh for fuck's sake Kivaara you really fixed her with a Parasite Eve-induced dream?"

[22:59:58] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "Yes. Yes she did, apparently. Then again, Wyll, you ought to have expected this with that essay you namechecked when we first met."

[23:02:35] <Axel_Wildfire> "That's true." he gets up and heads for the coffee machine in the corner. "I thought that was cute, personally. And then you turned out to be *fuckin' right* so who am I to complain?"

[23:05:28] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "To an extent, at least." Kivaara's slideshow advances, to show off a graph labeled "Cohesion of Fangire Nucleus/Neo-Mitochondrion Theory" - there seems to be a fairly solid wave traversing through the 2000s, up until a brief point in the early 2060s when it suddenly spikes, then nosedives before stabilizing at a far lower rate.

[23:06:14] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "And as you can see, I had suddenly become *fuckin' WRONG* after certain unspeakable events."

[23:06:50] <Axel_Wildfire> "You don't even need to remind me." Wyll taps the pot, willing it to perk faster.

[23:11:04] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "So then we've got my general funk in the following years - I'd been content to believe my immunity to the need for Tau was simply a byproduct of Hilarious Essence-Sucking Shenanigans with Yukari, and that we were simply iconoclasts against a Fangire bloc that was more than eager to mandate their superiority over the rest of us." Grabbing a metal rod off one table, Haruka points to a sudden spike at the far end of the graph.
[23:14:15] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "Then...Kivaara made a convincing enough Aya that I realized something: I never put up with the usual Fangire tradition bullshit before, why the hell have I bothered for the last 60 years? Why have I let myself be ruled by the same fear and hate that I'd been trying to evolve past?"

[23:14:38] <Axel_Wildfire> "Because you're an idiot, Haruka. Coffee?"

[23:15:32] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "Gladly." She crosses to the pot as the slides change - this time, napkin-sketch Rider schematics of some sort. "Becca, your take?"

[23:16:17] <AdventFalls> She shrugged. "It's all science talk to me."

[23:19:02] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "Just wondering because, well, I'm in the middle of manufacturing those 'perfect conditions' for evolution you told me about." Siiiiip. "Ladies and all-too-gentleman..." Quick slide change - the Rider specs are more crisp and defined now, a green-and-teal suit with red eyes dominating the screen. "...Project Libera."

[23:20:32] <Axel_Wildfire> "Hey, I look good in a dress, thank you very much." Wyll chimes in flatly, glancing across at Aelita to see if she wants beaned as well. "Anyway, what happened to your Avalanche bullshit?"

[23:23:52] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "Indeed, Mistress." Kivaara shifts as Aelita signals for a cup. "Are you in THAT deep a midlife crisis that you're so willing to cast me aside?"

[23:24:38] <Axel_Wildfire> He crosses to Aelita, offering her a full styrofoam cup with a brief little smile.

[23:24:52] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "Hardly. But Avalanche as it stands was far too modified from my original concept."

[23:25:28] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "And THIS was your original?" Aelita takes a tepid sip - intestines still needed a bit to get straightened out, natch.

[23:27:57] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "Hardly. Avalanche Kivaara was intended as a general modification to let her operate on par with other Rider Gears. I never intended for it to become a dedicated god-killer."

[23:29:25] <Axel_Wildfire> "Not complaining about *that* part, Haruka." Wyll shakes his head, sipping at his own coffee briefly before he continues. "- we might even need that before long."

[23:30:46] <AdventFalls> "...Killing gods?"

[23:31:10] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "Don't get Wyll started, Hill. Please." A nervous grumble from Aelita.

[23:32:25] <Axel_Wildfire> "You may as well explain it to the kid, Haruka."

[23:34:29] <@Haruka_Emmerich> A sigh from the Fangire, and another sip. "...Avalanche Kivaara, as it exists currently, was altered from its original intent for the sole purpose of opposing hostile Fangire elements during Void Hour. In essence, I've been fighting yesterday's fight, with yesterday's gear, for 60 years."

[23:37:22] <AdventFalls> "Gotcha."

[23:40:13] <Axel_Wildfire> Wyll observes this with an uncomfortable shift. "Unfortunately, so have *they*."

[23:41:28] <AdventFalls> "So we've all been fighting fights that are decades old."

[23:43:18] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "Not everything that sought to exploit the Void was born of it. And there's always the chance that the Neo-Fangire fundamentalist movements could very well have the kind of shit that got pulled during Void Hour, and Libera will incorporate some counter to those. In the end, though, that's secondary to its true purpose: creating a 'purified' Kamenritter-level henshin suite without the distorted focus that led to that tier of power being codified to begin with."

[23:44:19] <Axel_Wildfire> "So basically you're what, weakening yourself via specialization?"

[23:47:20] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "This DOES seem absurd, Emmerich. Avalanche worked. SANA worked. Why drop everything for this video game pipe dream of yours?"

[23:48:22] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "..." This gets Haruka to scratch her chin in silence for a bit.

[23:48:42] <Axel_Wildfire> Wyll raises his eyebrows at her, waiting for a *good* response.

[23:50:59] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "...all this time..." It comes out as a whisper. "...I wanted to be a hero..."

[23:51:40] <Axel_Wildfire> He sighs. "Where did you get this stupid notion that you aren't? Haruka - I'm proof of it.".

[23:53:01] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "Oh please don't tell me you've gone and broken her again," Kivaara huffs. "Royce'll do...THINGS...to me if I have to fix her again..."

[23:57:45] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "...can't be myself...if I be myself...someone will complain..." "Oh fuck, we broke her." Aelita offers a jostle to her shoulder. "Haruka! Snap out of it!"

[23:57:58] <Axel_Wildfire> Wyll throws his coffee at her.

[23:58:10] <AdventFalls> Becca just watched.

[23:58:57] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "Aaaaagh! Argh! Wyll! What the FUCK, man?" Well, Haruka's done zoning out, at least.

[2011-04-16 00:00:38] <Axel_Wildfire> "You were emo-ing out again." He's already collecting napkins from by the coffee machine to clean her up. "Haruka, nobody is going to complain if you're yourself. At least nobody worth talking to. I *like* geeky, kinda-shy, too-kinky-to-torture Haruka. And I especially like *too heroic to be chained down by dumbfucks* Haruka." Wyll glances up at her. "What happened to the girl who said 'fuck you' to THI and the TSPD to come and bail out somebody that she barely knew and certainly had no reason to like, all because it was the *right thing to do*?"

[00:04:31] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "...she died, Wyll. She died the night the right thing to do became the thing that got punished." One of the napkins detours from a coffee stain to wipe away a stillborn tear.

[00:07:16] <Axel_Wildfire> "Then bring her back, you stupid bint. We're all fucked without her. Haruka, *you* are the reason we are all here in one piece and not paradoxed out of existence or mindfucked-slash-reprogrammed into being SHOCKER's bitch." the latter has a shudder that accompanies it. "We want *you*. Not 'the Grievous Whore', not 'Sirknight Screws Sendai'. We want Haruka Emmerich, Hero First Class."

[00:12:48] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "THEN QUIT SECOND-GUESSING ME AND LET ME BRING HER BACK, DAMMIT!"

[00:14:39] <Axel_Wildfire> Wyll barely reacts to the explosion. "There's a difference between being a hero and charging in like an idiot, Haruka. One is like you; the other is like Aoki or Kenoko."

[00:19:17] <AdventFalls> "...Should I go?"

[00:20:46] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "I'm not entirely sure, Becca..." Haruka turns to her. "...there's also a difference between doing the right thing because it's right, and because you think it's what you HAVE to do. I think...we've both been on the wrong side of that for too long."

[00:21:31] <AdventFalls> "You're talking about doing this as a job."

[00:23:30] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "For you, yes." Aelita knocks back the rest of her joe. "...for the boss lady, though, it's a bit more complicated."

[00:26:11] <Axel_Wildfire> "There's also a fine line between being a hero and being a *legend*." Wyll retreats to fetch himself a fresh cup. "Haruka, I'm not trying to second guess you, I'm trying to make sure you don't end up shattered all over the pavement."

[00:31:37] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "And I'm trying to make sure this city and my family don't, either. Because I WANT to see the smiles on their faces. I WANT to see the world without danger that I've been fighting for. And I want to do it...on MY terms. Not JUNKER's, not D&P's, certainly not the Checkmate Four's."

[00:33:03] <AdventFalls> Rebecca began trying to sneak into teh armory unseen to retrieve BLACK.

[00:35:03] <Axel_Wildfire> "You can't do that if you're *dead*, and I'd like you to explain how making yourself weaker will help with that." Wyll says calmly.

[00:37:17] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "It's not making me weaker if Kivaara is still optional equipment. But there's things that the Hyperion CAN'T do. Freaky, fun things. Not angry, 'these have to exist or otherwise my existence will be invalidated' things."

[00:38:05] <Axel_Wildfire> Wyll considers and nods slowly. "... alright. I'll accept that."

[00:39:52] <AdventFalls> Rebecca's attempt to be stealthy ended when she tripped over a discarded Gear case and ended up covered in five different Gears.
[00:39:54] <AdventFalls> "...Ow."

[00:40:08] <Axel_Wildfire> "Do you know what a *sneaking* mission is, Becca?"

[00:40:30] <AdventFalls> "It's when you can't immediately punch something in the face until the alarm goes off."

[00:42:26] <Axel_Wildfire> "... not quite." Wyll sighs and turns back to Haruka. "Alright, Haruka, you got me."

[00:44:15] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "Then let's see if we can get this thing together as a dark-horse for D&P before All-Riders wraps for the year." Plucking Kivaara from Aelita's hair, Haruka advances the slide manually...to reveal a pair of wrist bracers, as opposed to a belt. "Make that, these TWO things."

[00:44:38] <Axel_Wildfire> "... more Parasite Eve?"

[00:45:14] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "No, it's a binary Gear. Works off two units synchronized together."

[00:45:54] <Axel_Wildfire> "Interesting... and dangerous. That reminds me." Wyll crosses to the desk he'd passed out on, retrieving the weird and obviously kitbashed mini-OOOs driver. "Since Royce rarely goes out, I figure we're sitting on an untapped resource here."

[00:47:56] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "What in the world?" This gets a cocked eyebrow as the slideshow ends and the lights brighten. "...you trying to pirate an OsuTrooper or something?"

[00:49:56] <Axel_Wildfire> "Not quite." He scoops his three White medals off the table and throws them to her. "I got interested in Core Medals one day and that's the result - Unicorn, Dragon, Wisp. But anyway, I was actually *testing* them last night, and I got to thinking... the result of each Core individually is pretty powerful, so who says we need to field Royce and OOOs when we can field people who just use a single Medal? The result should be better than an OsuTrooper, if slightly more focused."

[00:52:57] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "Hmm...there ARE a plethora of Medals to go 'round, and only the one legit OOO Driver." Haruka turns her eye toward the three newborn Cores. "...how you managed to make these without, y'know, making a whole new Greeed to go with is gonna be a mystery for the ages, though."

[00:54:27] <AdventFalls> "Someone wanna get these Gears off me and pass BLACK?"

[00:55:35] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "Hang on one, Becca." Aelita goes to survey the damage. "...wow, Camo and Garren certainly do NOT go together on you..."

[00:56:28] <AdventFalls> "Well, I guess this is the most action TheBee has gotten in centuries."

[00:57:23] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "Don't even joke about that, the back of my head is already trying to envision TheBee!Haruka." In short order, the Frenchwoman's plucked all the errant cases off Becca and stowed them.

[00:58:16] <AdventFalls> "Eh." Becca shrugged. "So. ...BLACK. Where be it?"

[00:59:16] <Axel_Wildfire> "I happen to *like* ZaBee..." Wyll complains quietly before he answers Haruka. "Anyway, same way I made Lexi: lots of research and hard work. They work, though; Unicorn is healing and support with passive regeneration, Dragon is a fire-based masher, and Wisp lets you go incorporeal. Their Combo is what inspired me to Tenpai, though - Gear nullification."

[01:00:49] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "Never DID bother getting it back in the case, with things going apeshit as they did." Aelita fishes in her coat before producing the Kingstone Belt and handing it to Becca.

[01:01:07] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "Incorporeal, you say? I think I've got something like that rigged up for Libera."

[01:02:18] <AdventFalls> "Alright." She put the Kingstone in her coat. "I'll see you all around. I'm off to the apartment for a bit. And then... I dunno. Maybe All-Riders or something."

[01:06:48] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "All right, Becca." Haruka waves. "If you want, I'll let you know when this thing's ready to debut there!"

[01:07:03] <AdventFalls> "Sure."

[01:09:10] <Axel_Wildfire> Wyll reseats himself on the desk, tucking his knee up to his chest. "Bear in mind that this doesn't *work* yet. It can read the Core and it knows what it's meant to do, but it can't actually form a Rider's armor. At present, just making it read the Cores is more important than it actually being usable in combat; that was the hard part."

[01:11:41] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "And never you mind being locked out of Medal Combos..." Aelita gets a glance in. "Something tells me Royce will be reserving GataKiriBa for the genuine article - that's a definite case of the whole being more than the sum of its parts."

[01:14:30] <Axel_Wildfire> "Too bad Royce never gets out in the field." this is slightly pointed.

[01:16:56] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "She's on-site at All-Riders as we speak. Granted, hanging onto Orga as a holdout, but..."

[01:17:32] <Axel_Wildfire> "That's not 'out in the field' and you know it." Wyll seems mildly more irked about this than you might expect.

[01:21:10] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "Well, with you holding down the fort, who knows what kind of opportunity we'll get to rotate in some field commanders?" More poking at the old Diend's bits as the Frenchwoman exhales. "I hear Yukari's already taking to the beat again herself..."

[01:23:09] <Axel_Wildfire> "Good. You already know how I feel about your... hands-off approach."

[01:26:28] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "Spend too long planning, and you inevitably wind up with a plan that will come in contact with the enemy."

[01:28:34] <Axel_Wildfire> "But likely not one that's *relevant* to the enemy anymore, as you mentioned earlier." Wyll shakes his head. "Haruka... get out there. Patrol. Talk to people. See what it's really like instead of hearing reports."

[01:29:41] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "I intend to. Might conflict with my plan to get Libera up and running within five and a half days, but..."

[01:30:18] <Axel_Wildfire> "Good. Maybe you can request me for your copilot and I can get out of this lab." he grins.

[01:33:19] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "And here I thought it was Royce you wanted out and about..." Blue circuit lines race up Aelita's skin as she smirks. "You two go on, then. I'll take a day in, snag what raw materials I can for Haruka's Kamen Rider 3rd Birth or whatever this is gonna wind up being."

[01:37:09] <Axel_Wildfire> "Tag, you're it." Wyll hops off the the desk almost gleefully, leaving the Mini-Osu prototype beside Luca's Sider and the main OOOs Driver and hurridly scooping up his own LostDriver and T2 Memory. "Oh, and it's not Royce I want out-and-about; she's more valuable here. It's *OOOs* I want out and about."

[01:49:22] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "Hmm...we'll see how willing Royce is to part with her baby, then. Just don't press the issue." Haruka turns back before stepping out the door. "Kivaara, will you be staying here, or do you wanna ride with us?"

[01:50:58] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "A sword has no use unless it's at its master's side. Sending Aelita the necessary notes and specs for Libera will be a triviality anyway."

[01:55:45] <Axel_Wildfire> "See, the slutbat knows what she's doing." Wyll seems amused.

[01:57:34] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "So she does..." A chuckle from Aelita as the duo (well, trio) head off, the pink-haired woman clearly enjoying the ambiguity of that statement.
[02:00:04] <@Haruka_Emmerich> = =