srwug_alpha_rp | Opening Phase (backdated to Fairy Park)

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Opening Phase (backdated to Fairy Park)

1.
[Late on the last evening before the Chalice departs from Fairy Park, a new face appears aboard - a pale, petite young woman with long red hair and the look of someone who isn't sure where they're supposed to be headed but doesn't want to admit it. It doesn't help that she appears to be steering around whatever concentrations of people exist at this hour, with the side effect of routing her away from most interesting locations. After a while of fruitless wandering on the Promenade, she gives up and hesitantly approaches the nearest person.]

Um, hello... I'm new aboard, and I need to see the captain, or whoever's in charge... do you know where I can find them?

Ah, I'm Laura, Laura Ericks. I'm here to join the crew, so I guess that means we'll be teammates - it's nice to meet you.

[Her left hand is tightly grasping a sealed envelope, while her right fidgets with a metal wristwatch on her left arm. Is this girl afraid of you, or just afraid of everything?

Laura's looking for the Captain - does she turn to you for help, or do you run in to her on her way there?]

2.
Hello... Dan?

[Laura pokes at the terminal uncertainly - she knows how to use a terminal, but not where a ship's AI might be found on one.]

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Just Allelujah, please. I hardly deserve formalities. [He settles down and slips the chair under him. His smile is less prevalent than before, but there's nothing threatening in his manner.]

I'm one of the pilots - or, well, I pilot for Celestial Being, and we're working in co-ordinance with the Chalice. [It's not hard to see she's feeling either very shy or very scared - maybe both. Maybe a gentle reminder will ease her?] You know, it's rude not to look at the person you're speaking to.

Um. [Laura looks down at her hands, then realizes this is counterproductive. After a moment she makes herself stop fidgeting, puts her hands flat on the table as if to steady herself, and deliberately - but hesitantly - looks back up at Allelujah.]

I'm sorry. I'm not good with - I get nervous in open spaces like this. It's... I don't mean to be rude. Sorry.

So... you have teammates off the ship? Or does the co-ordination mean you're all here together for a while?

[His lip is quirked in a rather amused smile when she looks at him properly; his pose is at ease, neither threatening nor pressing in any manner.]

I understand. Forgive me for assuming, but you don't seem to have a lot of experience dealing with people on an equal level. As for teammates, I do; in fact, Setsuna was on board for a little while, but... well, the Ptolemy needed him back, so I'm the only one on board the Chalice for now.

It's not that really, but...

Most of my friends... died. Not all that long ago. I was there when some of it happened. So some things, some situations, are... upsetting. And I'm kind of... starting from scratch when it comes to getting to know people.

What, ah... what sort of thing does Celestial Being do aside from helping out the Chalice, then?

I... I see. [The story was shockingly close to his own history, though... in his case, it could hardly be said that his friends died, so much as they'd been murdered...]

Well, don't be too stressed about it, mkay? A lot of people didn't know anybody here when they arrived.

As for Celestial Being... well, we're basically an anti-war faction. Our goal is to stop all wars through the use of armed intervention. Hypocritical, right?

It does sound a little strange. What's the plan? To break up fights where you can? Or to sabotage militaries?

Mostly the former, but we do some of the latter as well. Whenever a war between nations breaks out, it is Celestial Being's goal to erase that war... by killing all involved, if need be. But, we've also done things like reveal the AEU's full military strength, which was well above the allowed limits by the treaty between world powers.

[She probably has no idea what the AEU is, but it's just a loose description anyway.]

That...

If people are at the point of war, won't attacking them just draw you into it and make things worse?

[Laura's trying not to be too visibly shocked by the notion of reducing bloodshed by killing everyone. At least she's politely looking at Allelujah now... because she's afraid to take her eyes off him.]

Celestial Being's technology and her Meisters are too powerful for it to be truly called a war at that point. [His eyes flicker uncomfortably as he mentions that; is it possible that, despite being a Meister, he's uncertain with their methods as well?]

We're not a large organization, but... When Celestial Being intervenes, it stops being a war and becomes a killing field. [There's a visible cringe when he says that.]

That...

[Laura does break eye contact now, to look down at the table, where her hands have bunched in to fists - she carefully opens them again.]

You have power like that, and turn it on other humans?

[He sighs and looks up at her; the single silver eye is distraught, but he nods nonetheless.] Think about it. Right now, the Earth's countries are held in balance by the fact that no military has any real advantage over the other. Yet they still wage war, and for what? Territory. Money. Control.

Celestial being is a very small organization. We're not looking to expand our power, so we need no territory. All the materials we use can't be bought, so we need no money. And all of us were specifically chosen because the world has wronged us, and we want to make it so that such things never happen again.

I'm not saying that us using that power is right. But if we gave this power to the people, the governments that control them would use it only for their own gain. Celestial Being's purpose is to prevent the loss of thousands, tens of thousands, of lives, most of which may be innocent - by killing those few hundred that matter.

[There's a pause before Laura replies - it seems she needs to compose herself.]

You think if you just kill the right few hundred people mankind will live in peace and harmony? That a few thousand more won't want to avenge them, or just get rid of you? How will you keep peace without more killing, without making yourselves tyrants, if you want to use a power you won't trust to the people you say you're protecting?

If I think it's right? [Allelujah takes a sharp breath, reaching up to hold the unseen eye firmly. He grits his teeth firmly.]

Of course it isn't right. The loss of any life is wrong. I don't expect you to understand the methods Celestial Being uses... and honestly, I don't fully understand the purpose of it either.

But I have to fight. I don't have a choice. [He slowly lowers his hand, as if expecting the hidden eye to rear up and attack.] Who I am - what I am - won't allow me to do anything but fight. And I'd rather fight for an ideal that I can truly put my heart behind, and alongside people I know I can trust.

I'm not saying what we do is right. But, for people like me, who have no choice, I'd rather fight against the people whose purpose in war is personal gain, than fight with them.

...Why don't you have a choice?

... [Allelujah flipped up the hair covering his right eye; unlike the silver left one, this one was gold - and had a violent, feral appearance to it.]

Because when I was very young, no more than six, something happened. I was reborn, not as a human, but as a Super Soldier. I was created for the sake of combat. I was built to be a survivor - a killer. It's not something I asked for, but something that was forced on me. Allelujah Haptism doesn't exist in a world without war...

[A small frown.] And so, Allelujah Haptism fights for a world where he doesn't have to exist - where nobody like him has to exist. A world where nobody else has to become a living weapon, whose only purpose is to fight and kill. I want to help build a world where children can grow up and live happily, instead of being used as tools.

The world may never reach that point, but it's the ideal I reach for. If I can't fight for that dream, then I have nothing.

That sounds awful. I'm very sorry that happened to you.

...But this doesn't really make me want to volunteer information about myself or my friends, Mr. Haptism.

[Yup, it's back to formality - at this point Laura is profoundly uncomfortable being around Allelujah at all, alone or otherwise.]

Ah... I'm sorry, I hadn't meant to drag you into my life's story like that.

[He got to his feet, letting his hair collapse in front of his eye again. He's not so blind as to miss the lapse back into uncomfortable territory.] Maybe it would be best if I let you be. But... please don't misunderstand. I'm not asking you to pity me, and I'm not asking for forgiveness or understanding.

Well... I hope everything goes well for you on the Chalice, Laura. [He turned on his heel, towards the door. If Laura has anything else on her mind, now would be the time to say it.]

Yes... for you too. [Nope, Laura's pretty okay with letting the compulsive killer leave just as quick as he's able.

And indeed, once he's gone, she has to remain seated for a while before she's able to leave by a different exit.]

[Back in his room, Allelujah was resisting the urge to violently punch the wall, and instead settled for pressing his face into a hand roughly. "You know she's a Shifter too, right? You may have just signed our death sentence."]

... I just wanted to know more about Devon and her friends, Hallelujah.

["And now not only do you not have that, but you've almost guaranteed that the other shifter-"] Laura. ["-Whatever; she'll probably never trust you after that."]

[Allelujah couldn't say anything to that; as much as he detested Hallelujah, his darker side was absolutely right. He sighed and fell back on his bed, arm covering his eyes; today had just become a miserable turn of events. The worst part was, he had no one to blame but himself.]

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Opening Phase (backdated to Fairy Park)

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He's not a compulsive killer, but I can see why she might think that