[2011-03-20 20:23:02] <AdventFalls> -----------
[20:23:28] <AdventFalls> Hour 6 of Flight 1507.
[20:24:10] <AdventFalls> Becca sighed as she drank another cup of water- she'd always had a problem keeping hydrated on long flights. She'd had to stay in her room for an entire day when she had gone the other way.
[20:24:53] <AdventFalls> The midflight movie was some abysmal comedy involving slapstick humor that would've made Buster Keaton roll in his grave.
[20:25:20] <AdventFalls> Unable to sleep adequately, Becca had resigned herself to reading a book.

[20:30:30] <@Haruka_Emmerich> A brief thump, followed by the intercom chime. "Ladies and gentlemen, we're experiencing some slight turbulence which should not affect our arrival time. We are presently crossing the International Date Line, and will be arriving at Los Angeles International Airport at approximately 8 AM local time. Thanks once again for flying..."
[20:30:58] <@Haruka_Emmerich> ...the masculine voice over the intercom is suddenly replaced by a feminine tone in Becca's ear. "...Air Zecross."

[20:31:08] <AdventFalls> "....Motherfuck."

[20:32:42] <@Haruka_Emmerich> Sure enough, right at Becca's side was a dangerously familiar-looking pink-haired woman in full JAL flight attendant garb. "Anything I can get you, ma'am? Coffee, tea, Brightslap? I quite recommend that last one."

[20:33:27] <AdventFalls> "....I'm good." Becca bit her tongue in order to not attract attention.

[20:37:16] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "Suuuuuuuure you are." With a level of flourish that could only be called 'Michelle-esque', Aelita kicks away the attendant's cart, tosses off her uniform to reveal standard JUNKER wear, and promptly plants herself on one of Becca's armrests. "God, hadn't pulled these kinds of shenanigans since Den-O testing."

[20:38:02] <AdventFalls> "If you're going to arrest me, then do it already. Otherwise, leave me out of it." She kept staring at her book.

[20:38:54] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "We don't arrest the victims of crimes, Hill. Especially not when we're talking crimes of the heart."

[20:39:48] <AdventFalls> "Victim." She looked at Aelita, putting the book away. "....You honestly think I'm the goddamn victim."

[20:40:33] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "Wyll gave you and Kenoko enough facepunch to coerce you onboard, didn't he?"

[20:41:03] <AdventFalls> "...Face....punch?"

[20:45:49] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "Y'know, roughing up Kenoko enough to require medical treatment before sweet-talking you into being Tenpai's wingman. I'll say this much, he's at least respectable 'bout doing this sort of thing." A brief yawn and oh god Becca can see some cool blue flaring up OH SHIT IT'S A TRON LINE TRAMP-STAMP.

[20:46:47] <AdventFalls> "....It wasn't part of his plan." She stared at the seat in front of her. "There is no excuse for what I did."

[20:50:12] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "You're right, there isn't." Seeing that the window seat on Becca's opposite side is strangely empty, Aelita scoots in, yanking the SkyMall catalog out of Becca's back-of-seat pouch as she goes. "Doesn't mean there isn't forgiveness for it, either."

[20:50:40] <AdventFalls> "This is nothing can be forgiven. I'm out, Aelita."

[20:53:10] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "...you got your 'different perspective,' and it didn't work out. And you haven't up and wrecked anything in Wyll's care. Right now, we're calling that no harm, no foul." She idly flips through, stopping to gawk at some kitschy cocktail-making gadget.

[20:54:48] <AdventFalls> "That is irrelevant." She shook her head. "I voluntarily defected from JUNKER. That is enough to require a resignation at *minimum*."

[20:58:02] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "Under normal circumstances, yes...but we're on high enough alert that we're calling you back in as a flight risk. Sort of."

[20:59:26] <AdventFalls> "Bullshit, you are."

[21:01:13] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "Even if I didn't right away, Haruka left me some busy work to do when she got kicked onto administrative leave for finishing what Wyll started. Never DID get the proper credit for cleaning up other people's messes, that one."

[21:02:43] <AdventFalls> "I'm not going back." She glanced at Aelita. "Do I have to draft a fucking resignation letter for you people to get the hint?"

[21:04:02] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "You want to be so adamant about it, fine. But I have to remind you of two things before you make this decision."

[21:04:18] <AdventFalls> "Shoot."

[21:06:35] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "First, I'm en route to JUNKER LA to spread the Brightslap around. Haruka's had an eye for re-evaluating the international operating procedures even before having this little midlife crisis of hers - if anything, we're not letting foreign Rio fuck up more recruits like they did you ever again."

[21:06:52] <AdventFalls> "And the second?"

[21:08:12] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "Second...you being so goddamn confident about not being a Rider fits our plans PERFECTLY."

[21:08:49] <AdventFalls> "Aw son of a bitch, Aelita. What word in the phrase 'I quit' do I have to fucking emphasize?"

[21:12:38] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "I'm rather fond of the 'I' part, myself. You...not so much, it seems." More flipping through the catalog, this time stopping on a couple pages of movie collectables. "What is it about you and individuality that just don't click, Rebecca?"

[21:13:26] <AdventFalls> "Dunno. What is it about you and what I'm trying to do that just doesn't click, Aelita?"

[21:16:04] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "I dunno, maybe it's the fact that when a Rider usually has this sort of conviction, it isn't about running from the business with their tail between their legs. ...well, barring a couple of Heiseis that come to mind, but still." She slams the catalog shut. "There, I answered you. Now you answer me."

[21:18:18] <AdventFalls> "Because the kind of struggle you're trying to win requires a team. I spent a good chunk of my life learning how to be part of a team. To sacrifice for the team. To put aside your own wants and needs if the team needed you. The kind of struggle you're fighting requires a team. And since I now have a history of being a traitor, I can only be a team of one. So I'm stepping out of the field."

[21:23:28] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "There's being a team member, and there's being just another body with guns and armor hung on. We promoted you to BLACK on the notion that all that training you received in LA Rio was to make you a viable team member. In the wake of this incident, however, it seems this wasn't the case...and we can't exactly fault you for it, either."

[21:24:02] <AdventFalls> "In short, I'm not fit to return."

[21:27:59] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "Not as you are." A faint grumble - Becca's attitude must be starting to erode Aelita's patience. "And if this keeps up, then we'll wind up with entire swaths of the organization that are unfit for Rider promotion. Quit if you must...just remember we're still gonna use you as an example. A 'what not to do' for this business the likes of which hasn't been seen since Void Hour."

[21:28:40] <AdventFalls> "So you'll make an example of me."

[21:30:15] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "Of the mismanagement that LED to you."

[21:30:44] <AdventFalls> "....." Becca took a deep breath. "So be it. Give those fuckers hell."

[21:33:12] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "I intend to. And in the meantime...here's hoping you find your own spirit someday. Maybe it won't be the spirit of a Rider, but at least it'll be something that's yours. Would break the boss's heart if you didn't come away with at least that."

[21:34:41] <AdventFalls> "I understand."

[21:39:47] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "...and for the love of God, smile some. You ain't Rio anymore. Isn't this still the age of the happily unemployed anyway?"

[21:40:36] <AdventFalls> "I'll smile when I've got a reason to do so," she shrugged.

[21:44:56] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "Whatever. Just remember it's on you to find that reason yourself." Aelita rises from the seat, turning back once more to Becca on her way towards the rear of the plane. "Oh, and feel free to turn in any of our equipment you may still have at the usual office."

[21:45:19] <AdventFalls> "...You're talking about BLACK."

[21:49:01] <@Haruka_Emmerich> "Sure as hell ain't talking about Incisor, am I?" With that, she bounds into the coach seating section - and still further back into the plane's innards, before another thump and a faint modem screech signal her departure.

[21:49:36] <AdventFalls> Becca rubbed her temples. "No rest for the damned, I suppose."
[21:51:02] <@Haruka_Emmerich> = =