2011-06-08 - The Lost Sister Returns Home

Last day

 Staren Wiremu transmits, "Mac! Did we stop them...?"

 Macua Huitl transmits, "The base... is intact more or less.."

 Rachel Miu Athha clears her throat after a moment. She sounds distant. "M-Macua, Staren. I'm gonna link up with the TDD-1."

 Staren Wiremu transmits, "So they're safe?"

 Macua Huitl transmits, "There's not much left of Lin's Orbital frame I don't think ther'es much more left than some ruined compoent no sign of the cockpit block at all..."

 Staren Wiremu transmits, "What?"

 Staren Wiremu transmits, "Dammit... dammit!"

 Rachel Miu Athha keeps a noise held back in her throat. "... my head is ... I'm gonna head back first..."

 Quatre Raberba Winner transmits, "Lin..."

 Quatre Raberba Winner says, "I... don't blame you guys." Yes he does. "The enemy forces must have been overwhelming." Actually... "I'm... heading to bed now." Quatre is sad. :'(

 Macua Huitl transmits, "... mine's about the same Rachel... I'll do another sweep then help with the escort."

 Staren Wiremu transmits, "Dammit... I was hoping I could talk to them... try and make them see that Katharon isn't all people ordering them to fight for us and give us their secrets."

 Staren Wiremu transmits, "Sounds like Lin made some friends, at least..."

 Staren Wiremu transmits, "I hope she and Amit and Mayet aren't too mad at us..."

 Macua Huitl transmits, "There's nothing left of her frame save some mangled parts."

 Staren Wiremu transmits, "I mean the AI. If it was stored somewhere that survived..."

Those were the last bits of the Katharon Secure channel last night, before those on the channel went to sleep, or otherwise tried to keep their minds off of the loss of their comrade. Unaware that Lin was, in fact, still alive, though unconcious and trapped within a realm that defies description. Protected by her Orbital Frame, she remains within the Vector Trap of the Amenthes. The Yatagarasu was set down in the hangar besides the Amenthes, Seril unconcious, causing Ascian to be rather worried about her. But he didn't know how to remove her from that machine -- so all he could do was wait.

NOW

There's a seperate hangar within the Earth Cradle, where the Amenthes currently rests. There are a few people of command standing around, and Seril is being kept out of this area for the moment by security-people at the door. There's something Ascian doesn't want her to see. The Mayet has been removed from the Vector Trap, and has been locked solid in a set of arm-clamps that hold it entirely at bay. And the pilot? The pilot, awake or not, is getting dragged out of the cockpit by a series of rather strong looking types, her legs and arms both cuffed and any weaponry removed from her being, her helmet still on. With legs close together, Ascian is manically inspecting a gun, moving one hand over it and letting it make that little 'CHIK-CHAK' sound as he loads the weapon to fire with.

"Bring the pilot before me!" He calls out, and gets a nod from the men that pull her along the floor, all the way in front of Ascian, then push her down so that she is kneeled before him. It was clear. This was an execution. Soon, the floor behind this pilot would be splattered in blood. He slowly moves the gun towards the helm and taps it. "Come on. I want to see the face of the one who /dared/ to /steal/ my sister's Orbital Frame!" He's grinning, his eyes filled with a wild look, his head tipped up slightly to indicate that he felt himself to be in all ways 'better' than this person.

The Vector Trap is certainly a strange and unique ability of Orbital Frames. Within that condensed space, no radio messages could get in or out. Not only that, but it blocks any sign of Mayet's presence. That alone may be reason enough for the feelings that the NewTypes encountered, although the sudden 'loss' of Lin's mind in the greater web of the world wouldn't be that unfamiliar. There were plenty of times where she seemed to 'blip' out of their senses. This time, though, they're left to form their own conclusions from the remains of twisted metal and the lack of any response on the radio.

But Lin is not dead - although one might wonder if another of those 'nine lives' had been taken as a price for her still breathing. The hiss of the cockpit opening is the sound that wakes her, the pilot's head lifting slightly. She's still groggy, reactions slow as firm hands yank her from the cockpit, forcing her arms roughly behind her back as they walk her down a gangway to the hangar floor. The woman's legs don't seem to work quite right, fumbling on the ground to find purchase. Dizzy, perhaps with a slight concussion, Lin doesn't have much choice but to move as she is carried, although her senses slowly start to re-awaken themselves.

She's just about fully conscious again when they force her to her knees on the floor. Wincing, the girl pulls lightly on the restraints holding her, but to no avail. She can hear the words of her captor, but they are nothing more than the ravings of another madman, another enemy. Her head lifts, almost with a sort of pride. The woman - suited in one of the Argama's flight suits, looks the part of a soldier - a prisoner of war. Without a word, one of the bulky men grabs hold of the woman's head, forcing it back as he unclips the helmet. The motion is rough, without concern for her safety. It clicks open with a hiss of air as the metal and plastic is pulled back.

There is a flurry of motion as he tugs the helmet free, sending it clattering to the floor, and then shoves Lin back forward with one booted foot to her back. For a moment, all that can be seen that unkempt, short-cut white hair as her head hangs forward. A breath - then two, and she lifts her head, for the first time revealing the face of unknown pilot. Her lip is split, and dried, crusted blood is clinging to the side of her head, but even so... the pale girl's features are easily recognisable. Her hair was certainly shorter, but there is that same intense look in her eyes. Perhaps a clone? Or some cybernetic creation meant to fool Mayet?

"What do you want with me?" Lin looks up at the gun, and then at Ascian, her eyes cold. "You want Mayet? Fine. You won't get any more out of her than Acemos did. Any information she has is useless without the key. Kill me, and you'll never find it." She'd faced death before, and there is no fear in her eyes. In fact, there is no recognition of Ascian at all, just a cold defiance.

When the helmet goes flying, clattering and rolling on the ground, and that white hair comes out, Ascian's hand begins to shudder as he brings that gun up to the girl's face. That helmet continues to roll, and roll, arcing around, and when the girl looks up with that defiant look of hers, Ascian's eyes widen to a size greater than any anime character should ever have. His eyes tremble, mouth opening, gun continueing to shake... and finally the gun goes off - the bullet carving itself straight into the ground behind the girl, after which Ascian throws the weapon to the side and raises a hand to his mouth and tears start flowing from his eyes. A sick feeling of disgust, sickness, dispair. It all hits him like some kind of professional boxer just punched him straight in the guts.

He goes stumbling back, his upper body bending forwards, until one of the men gets behind Ascian and places his hands on his shoulders, and gives him a confused look. Ascian catches the man's gaze for a moment, then looks back at Alina. "Wh... how." His breathing shudders and has grown heavily. He's practically on the edge of a heartattack. That hand that had been at his lips to stop those little bits of acid that had come up moves to his heart, then out towards the girl as he stumbles back forwards. To Alina, this has /got/ to look like this man is an absolute crazy.

He kneels before her, eyes continueing to shake, gaze skipping from spot to spot, her belly, her arms, her face. Her eyes. She was looking at him with such cold eyes. This just causes tears to continue coming down his face. "A... Alina." He whimpers and moves a single hand to her cheek, his mouth just barely open now as Ascian proceeds to observe her with utter bewilderment. "Yo.. you're alive!" And immediately he wraps his arms around her, trying to hug her - to the utter confusion of the men who were here to watch the execution. "Lieutenant Luddite! What is the meaning of this!?" One of the ranking men calls out.

Like a wild animal, trapped and with no hope of survival, Lin simply stares down the butt of the gun, ready to accept her fate like a soldier. She wouldn't beg, or plead, or show any sign of weakness that might give them the satisfaction having broken her before killing her. She catches that slight shake in the blue-haired man's grip, although it doesn't change that same, emotionless expression. Her eyes watch as his finger grips the trigger, and as the gun fires, she isn't quite able to hold still. Her head turns ever so slightly, and her eyes clench shut.

There is no empty blackness, no oblivion, no pain. There is still the earth below her and the painful pull on her shoulders from the restraints. Peeking one eye open, and then the other, Lin turns back to regard her captor with that same disdain as before. "Is the Metatron getting to you? Or are you just a bad shot? Maybe you should have someone else do your dirty work for you." Her words are just as harsh as before, just as uncaring. Her eyes linger on the gun for a moment longer before following the path of the man's arm up towards his face. That is when she notices the play of emotions there. Shock, disgust... they are all too readable on those features. And then there are those eyes - there is something so familiar about them that she gets a momentary pang, blinking as if she were recoiling from some memory. "Who are you?" She asks, her voice softening slightly, although the dire expression doesn't ease. Afterall, she is still a prisoner at the mercy of armed men.

Those blue eyes follow him as he kneels before her, a moment of surprise shifting those features as she sits back a bit on her own knees, confusion evident. When that hand comes closer to her cheek, she draws her head away, at least as far as she can manage, although it is a futile effort as there isn't anywhere to go. What leaves her even more breathless is when he moves forward, wrapping his arms around her quite suddenly. The young woman had barely been touched since being rescued by Katharon. Most seemed to think they would get 'space madness' or somehow catch metatron poisoning. She stiffens, lips pressing together. "Who /are/ you?" She asks again, although there is no way of escaping that hug, it still seems more like hugging a brick wall than his sister.

What lies beneath the hug, that cold body of his sister's, disturbs Ascian beyond the fact that had been the one within Mayet. He pulls himself back and looks at her with questioning and sad eyes. "You... you don't recognize me? What have they /done/ to you Alina?" Ascian's eyes quickly flick up to her head, to see if there any scars to indicate someone had gone digging into her brain, before trying to capture her gaze once more. "It's me. Your brother! Ascian... Ian - Lin!"

"Lieutenant!" The ranking man demands to know again. Ascian turns himself around, hands on the girl's shoulders. "This is my sister, sir!" - "I thought she was supposed to be dead at the hands of the A-LAWS and Katharon!?" - "I..." Ascian slowly shifts his head back towards the white-haired and wounded girl before him. "I did too..." His body shudders, before he gets up and properly steps up. "What are you waiting on, uncuff her and help her up!" Ascian demands, watching as a few of the men run off past the guard to spread the news that Ascian had found his sister.

The guards do as asked, and within moments, Alina finds her hands and legs uncuffed. Ascian kneels down before her, watching her with tear-filled eyes. "Alina... please... tell me you recognize your own brother. It's me..." He brings a hand to his heart, tipping his head over slightly. "Please... remember. Together forever." And he moves his both hands to his right ear and undoes the Ankh earring and offers it to her.

The girl remains stiff beneath his arms until he draws back again, her eyes still wide and more than a little wild. Was this some sort of trick? Could they have known about her memory loss and were just playing with the holes in it to get her to cooperate? But the look on the young man's face is one that tugs on her heartstrings, giving her that same feeling of having her heart pressed on that she'd felt while piloting Mayet against the Amenthes. "I... I don't know you." She admits, slowly, the aggresion gone from her voice. It seems hard for her to admit this fact, although only a few months before - she hadn't known anyone at all.

With her hair cut as short as it is, it wouldn't be too hard to see the faint scars hidden partially underneath. One starts at the edge of her chin and disappears just below her ear. The rest seem towards the back of her skull, showing a strange pattern that could only be the result of more than a few surgeries. As shocked as the men standing around her might be, there is only that much more surprise on her features. Lin - who had been looking for so long for someone who knew her - someone who recognised her - someone who missed her - was now face to face with a Crusader who claimed to be her brother. "Your... sister?" She whispers the words, but her tactical mind gets the better of her. It could be a trick.

She's silent for a time as he demands that she be released. If nothing else, she could play along for a while and see where this rouse takes her. As her arms are released, there is a sound of relief from her lips. She rolls her shoulders, and then takes off her gloves, rubbing at her wrists. On the back of each hand are the tell-tale markings of metatron. The ones that were so unmistakeable - no pilot manifests them in quite the same way. "What do you know of the A-LAWs, or of Katharon?" That voice grows colder again, lifting her head as she slowly gets feeling back into her fingers. "Katharon saved my life. If they hadn't broken me out of that Acemos facility, I'd be dead by now. Carved open like some science experiment." Perhaps she's giving away a bit too much information, but the swimming in her head is making it so hard to focus.

Placing a hand to the side of her head that is still crusted with blood, Lin closes her eyes. When she opens them again, it's to the sight of the young man kneeling before her again. "Alina..." She seems to say the name as if it were foreign to her tongue, "I'm sorry, I don't..." The sight of that earring being brought forward in the palm of his hand draws her eyes, and no words follow. Those fingers reach out to take the earring, lifting it in her hand so carefully that it seems as if she were afraid of breaking it. Her other hand lifts to the top of her flightsuit, almost as if she were in a daze. Unzipping the top few inches, she reaches inside and plucks out a thin chain of red metal, pulling free the pendant that hangs from it. With one motion, she slides it over her head and holds it out next to the earring, looking at them both oddly.

Ascian cannot help but look at the ranking soldier present, who gives him a look back. "Amnesia." He claims firmly, and points at the girl's hairline. "She has probably received severe head trauma." At least it seems that the man in question isn't an absolute jerk. "I'll leave you two be, and call your physician over." And with that, the last few soldiers depart from the scene, leaving Alina and Ascian alone before the two broken Orbital Frames, kneeling before eachother.

The girl is given a testing look as she removes those gloves, and Ascian notices those markings. "It's really you..." He whispers, for a moment the streaks beneath his eyes lighting up as remnants of Metatron energy coarses through the bioluminescent veins. When she repeats that name, he nods agreeingly. "That's right. Alina." He keeps his hands to his sides now that the girl has taken the earring from him, and watches her with much hope in his eyes. Within his mind, he keeps repeating 'please remember' over and over again.

But that comment about Katharon does cause a small pain in his heart. Though they had refused to give up the Mayet, He'd still assaulted them, tried to kill them, whilst they had been the ones to save her - where he had failed. It's much easier for him to try and disbelieve this, but instead he just casts that thought aside. He didn't want to think of those cold words. The mental image of Alina being carved open was about just the limit for what his stomach could take at the moment, and there is a sudden tired look in his face as he swallows some acid away again.

He then slowly reaches out to that pendant, and holds his hand out, waiting for her to give it to him. He isn't threatening her, he isn't doing anything like that. The male framerunner simply holds out his hand and waits for his lost sister to give him what is his. "You gave me the earring when we left the facility we'd been trapped in most of our lives. And I gave you that pendant. A promise that we'd return to eachother's sides." Ascian whispers softly.

In that moment, the entire world seems to disappear for Lin... Alina. She catches the conversation going on around her only on a half-conscious level as her mind already struggles trying to form the connections between feelings, emotions, and memories. The injuries that nearly took her life had robbed her of so much of her past, but somehow she had been healing. It started with the kindness shown to her by Quatre, Macua, and some of the others on the Argama - giving her a chance to figure out who she is. And now, staring at the pendant and earring in her hands, her mind starts to bridge the gap.

"Ian..." The name hangs on her lips, even as her fingers start to tremble. It almost seems like the dream. That dream-self had claimed that she was lost in a dark place and finding Mayet was the key. "You're... the boy in my dreams." Macua had said that the first things that come back to you are sometimes the things that are most important - family or friends. As his hand comes into view, she looks towards it with that same dazed expression on her face, those trembling fingers slowly reaching out to place the feathered pendant into his grasp. Her chest moves in short, ragged breaths, as if on the edge of breaking down completely. A thin line of tears trails down one cheek, although her expression is still blank - lost.

Her head tips upwards, looking from his hand back up to his face, lips trembling. "Ascian..." This time, there is recognition in those eyes, although they seem clouded by her own inner turmoil. "Oh god, I'm so sorry." She raises that free hand to her mouth, covering it with one hand. Her eyes clench tightly shut and the young woman's shoulders shake with the weight of the realization. She'd nearly killed her brother - not once, but twice. "Shit, shit shit..." She repeats, cursing herself, shifting backwards away from him as she drops from the kneeling position, landing firmly on her butt. The earring drops from her fingers as she sprawls, that hand coming up to her face as she buries her head in her hands. "I didn't mean to... I didn't know... I'm so sorry Ian."

So far, Seril has been kept out of the special hangar section. After all, Ascian didn't want to have Seril witness an execution by his own hand of whatever wretched soul had taken on the job of pilotting the Mayet. However, not moments ago, a series of men had left the hall, and told the guard about something odd. Although indeed, a gun had definitely been fired, the pilot had not been killed!? There is talk about Ascian hugging the pilot in fact. What's going on. Seril probably hasn't seen what has been going on so far, but now that people are moving out, she can probably slip in!

Within, she would find the broken figures of both Amenthes and Mayet, not yet repaired from last night's struggle, hanging within the arm-restraints one expects to see an Orbital Frame within. And far in front, there is Ascian and Alina, kneeled before eachother. A 'smoking' gun lays a few feet away from them, and there is a pullet imprint in the floor behind the white haired female. As for what the two are doing?

Ascian takes the feathered pendant from Alina's trembling hands and then slowly proceeds to move his hair out of the way and slowly links the necklace around his neck. His eyes are firmly set on the girl as the female framerunner shudders and breathes irregularly, giving him that tearfilled look. As she then finally speaks his name, a light smile appears on his face, along with some tears dripping down the sides of his face, before gravity completely takes over and takes those drops of salty water and lets them fall onto his lap. "Lin..." He whispers. "I am..." He didn't refute being the boy from her dreams. It wouldn't be the first time he'd heard that from her lips - though in a different manner. And the same for him. He'd dreamt of her many a time. Again, his name. "Alina..." He repeats.

Finally, recognition. And then those appologies. His hands reach out and capture the earring as it falls to the ground before it can touch down, and continues to very gently put it on her ear, almost ritualistically so. Then, he finally moves his arms out as she shifts away from him, scuffling forwards on his legs. "It's okay... it's okay, Alina." He whispers, putting his arms around her and trying to pull her against himself. "It's alright. You're here now." He doesn't know what she is sorry for, but he doesn't care. His sister is back. She is alive. And currently, having her neck turned a bit wet as his tears fall down his cheeks, his head laying firmly against her shoulders.

It's time for an investigation. Seril had been unconscious when she was brought back to the Cradle, and while the metallic backpack was perfect for concealing her unusual anatomy from the doctors, her temperature (now reading 98.6 degrees *celcius*) was incredibly obvious to the attending physician. The man's interest sure didn't stop the La Gian girl from escaping, though, and she's spent the last ... hour or two hanging out near where she'd been told Ascian was. The door opens. Soldiers leave. Seril slips in.

"Hold on there, Vaskell." A hand claps on her shoulder. Seril pauses. Rather than look at whoever it is that's stopping her, she just raises up a booted foot, then brings it down on the dude's foot. An 'OWSUNUVA' echoes through the hanger, and in the chaos, Seril ducks in and closes the door behind her.

She doesn't brace the door or anything, she just lets the lock initiate on its own with this proud little look on her face. That doesn't last long. There's a blink when Seril turns around, spying her big brother with another woman. Now. If Seril were his girlfriend, she might go off on a wild tangent of misinterpreting what's going on, in a jealous rage. But she's not. She cares too much about the blue-haired martian to upset him like that. The only noise she makes is the faint bootfalls of her approach.

Once within a respectable distance, Seril squats down, resting her hands on her knees, and just ... watches. Waiting to be acknowledged. Her posture is almost birdlike, in a way. She just doesn't want to butt in too harshly, but even the simple girl from La Gias can see *something* important is going on.

Even in her distraught state, Lin catches that movement of his hand for the fallen earring, following the motion as he reaches towards her. Her eyes close, as if she were expecting something terrible, but then she simply feels the weight of the clasps as they are placed around her ear. One hand lifts from her face, touching the dangling ankh symbol in that strange silver-blue metal. All of her actions seem a bit slow, somehow disconnected as her physical body and tattered mind are both under significant amounts of stress.

This time, as he moves forward, Lin doesn't draw back. There is only a moment of hesitation from the white-haired girl before both of her arms slide around him without shame or worry for who might be watching this little scene. Her head draws into his shoulder, clinging tightly to her brother as if she were afraid that this is just another of those dreams - about to vanish before her eyes and find her once again alone.

There is a quiet moment before she lifts her head, still looking pained with her own regrets. She leans her forehead forward, placing it lightly against his. "They were going to kill me, Ascian. The A-LAWs, Acemos. Then Katharon came and they had me prisoner on the Argama and they wouldn't let me near Mayet. They thought because I flew an Orbital Frame that I was some kind of danger." The words rattle out of her mouth as if they were water, trying to fill him in on everything that had happened - everything that she /does/ remember since the accident. "They trained me to fly mobile suits, and took me on missions, and..." She takes another of those shuddering breaths.

"Shit. Ascian, Mayet tried to warn me that I wasn't ready. That I didn't know what I was doing." She leans back away from him again, although her arms stay at his sides. "I shot at Amenthes... I didn't know, Ian, I swear." She seems to switch back and forth between her own affectionate name for her brother and his full name. Her mouth opens to say something more, but then she seems to realize that they aren't alone. Blinking, the white-haired framerunner looks just to Ascian's side and blinks once towards Seril. "Um... hello?" She offers, giving a confused look to the flame-haired girl before looking back at Ascian.

Those little sounds of Seril walking in - the door clicking closed behind her - it is all too easy for Ascian to recognize the girl through just those factors. After you live with someone for so long, you can tell who they are just by the way they walk. Ascian is however too concentrated on the girl who finally slid her arms around him and is hugging him quite tightly. His hands move about on her back, rubbing to calm her down. "It's alright." He repeats a few times, even as she tells her story. Seril might find this very scene very... similar to something she'd once gone through. Ascian was very forgiving of those he cared about.

He pulls his head back and puts a hand to Alina's cheek. "It's alrighty." He repeats one last time. "As you said. You didn't know. And I'm still here." Just ignore the nasty cut at the side of his face and the bandaged off leg please. His eyes seek across her face for a moment. He knew it was her, simply because she was using his short name so affectionately. There was no doubt in his mind.

"You're home now. So much has happened here too." Ascian whispers. "And don't worry, Acemos will pay. I promise you that." For a moment, there's that crazed tone in his face again, before he finally gets distracted by Alina pointing out Seril's existance again. "Oh, that's Seril." He says, before he even turns about. And indeed, there she sits, Seril Vaskell. "My ehh... adopted little sister." He offers to Alina. "It's alright, Seril. Come on over. Please, come meet your big sister."

Initially, Seril is content to just be quiet. It seems she wound up barging in on a tender moment! She moves her hands, resting them lightly on her cheeks, elbows propped on her knees. It's cute and touching! Her big brother must've helped this poor girl out quite a lot if she's confiding in him like this. It certainly sounds that way, from what she's overheard just from being here.

At least, until 'shot at Amenthes' is mentioned. With a little 'geh' noise, Seril's expression turns to one of mingled surprise, anger, and shock. But, it's Ascian's voice that defuses that before any shouting can take place. She frowns a little, nonetheless, unsure of what to make about this white-haired woman in his arms until he up and says it.

His sister. His real sister. Seril turns her eyes upward thoughtfully, recalling. He'd said she looked like him. But had tattoos. And white hair. The La Gian girl's eyebrows knit in furious concentration. Wait, didn't he say she was dead too? It's almost possible to hear the gears in her brain come to a grinding halt, "...Nyu?"

Shaking her head quickly from side to side, Seril leans forward, going from a squat to a kneel beside the two framerunners. She stares intently at Alina with intense concentration, as if trying to look through the martian woman. In fact, that's *exactly* what she's trying to do, proven by the first actual words she's said today, spoken in a hushed and accusing voice: "...Are you a ghost..?"

If nothing else, to an outsider, the almost intimate relationship between brother and sister may seem quite strange. Throughout their entire lives, they'd only had each other to depend on, which forged the bond of siblings into something far stronger than most would realize - something that had saved them from a terrible fate long ago. The white-haired woman leans her head to his hand, raising one of her own to cover over it, feeling the warmth of his skin. The faint lines of those metatron markings are visible even with the flight-suit covering most of her arms. "This is real, right? It's really happening." She seems to look to him for confirmation, her breathing slowing as his presence finally seems to bring some calm to her.

She lifts that hand from her cheek, twining fingers as she lays their joined hands down over her knee, shaking her head. "It's not alright, Ascian." Guilt plays in her troubled eyes, her free hand moving to wipe the moisture from her cheeks. "I couldn't remember anything. Not you, or even Mayet. Not at first." She glances towards the wrecked machine, wincing at the sight of the Orbital Frame in those restraints. "It comes back in bits and pieces..." Bits and pieces, like how she'd remembered him when the physical token of the amulet and earring had been exchanged.

Her eyes glance back over to Seril, looking at the younger girl with a curious expression. There is still a great deal of pain in the framerunner's eyes, mixed with that joy of finding not only who she is, but finding the only family she has left. Unlike what one might expect, she doesn't question her brother's 'adoption' of this strange, flame-haired girl. She simply inclines her head, offering the a faint smile that only partially reaches her eyes. "It's... nice to meet you Seril. You've been taking care of Ascian, haven't you?" Yes, somewhere in the back of her mind, she puts the pieces together. The voice of from within the god-machine and this girl kneeling next to them. "I guess I owe you an apology, as well." She takes a deep breath, and then lets it out in a sigh.

A sigh that might have just brought her back to her own guilt, but Seril's question catches her so-much off-guard that the young woman tilts her head slightly. "A ghost?" The smile widens slightly as she shakes her head, a soft amusement in her voice, "No, I'm not a ghost. Not unless this is heaven, and I don't think my head would hurt quite so much if that were the case." The fact is, she still looks a bit beaten up after the battle, including a crusted blood lingering at the side of her head. Then, looking back at Ascian, she squeezes his hand gently, "Did you really think I was dead?"

"This is real." Ascian replies to his sister, catching that guilty look. "And it's alright. I promise you. You can't be held responsible for actions you took without knowing who I am. Don't beat yourself up so much." He tells her, with a bit of soothing authority in his voice, as if he were the expert on this entire subject. If he could excuse Seril wiping out her homeland - an entire empire - he could forgive Alina for firing at him a few times. "And I will help you retrieve your still lost memories. I promise you." The youth continues to whisper at her.

Seril finally seating besides them, causing Ascian to move his other hand behind Seril to pull her a tad closer. She'd sat close, but the male framerunner clearly wanted her even closer. "Come here you." He chuckles as the girl asks Alina if she is a Ghost. However, when the girl turns towards him and asks him if he'd truly thought she were dead, there's obvious guilt in his eyes. His gaze tips down to the ground and away to the side. "I... I did." His shoulders slump slightly. "The A-LAWS records claimed you were to be cut up, and barely even alive - around the same time the Katharonians attacked the facility. The buildings were barely left erect. I... made the obvious conclussion."

Those eyes turn back up, staring at her like a guilty puppy. "I just... I'm glad I was wrong. That you're truly alive." His head lowers and he kind of lets himself lean forwards and 'konks' his head against her shoulder. His arm reaches away from Seril again, and finally he places his hands on Alina's shoulders, gripping the flightsuit firmly and pulling at the fabric. "I..." He's obviously crying again. "I missed you... Alina. Please... never leave me again." He shows something that he rarely shows to anyone else. Actual weakness. Even Seril had only seen him behave like this /once/.

When Alina out and says that no, she is not a ghost, Seril lets out a relieved sigh and leans back on her heels, "Good, ghosts are scary." She closes her hands together just in front of her chest, letting out a little smile, "Ah..Yeah! He's been a lot of help to me, I didn't know much about this world before I met him." Her head tilts forward a little, "Since I.. came from La Gias, and a few other things...." Closing her eyes, the girl leans back somewhat proudly, "So... I use Yatagarasu's power to help out however I can!" Her shoulders lose their proud set quickly, "... since... I'm no good at anything else. It's the only way I can pay Big Brother back for his kindness."

Seril lets out a little 'nyu' when she's tugged, wobbling off-balance. She settles down in a way that puts her leaning up against Ascian, violet eyes resting on Alina still. She seems... unsure about what to make of this new addition to the family -- Even if Lin is far from 'new' to Ascian's circle. She eventually decides that this is genuine, closing her eyes and nodding once, and then settling an honest expression on the elder woman.

"I tried to kill you, the day this happened." With just one finger, she indicates her eyes. It doesn't ocurr to her that Alina probably won't understand what she means by it. "Even when you ejected. So..." She closes her eyes, folds her hands neatly in her lap, and bows in that seated posture, "I'm very sorry. I don't really know why I hated you so much."

And then Ascian starts to get emotional. Seril turns sad eyes his way, reaching up to rest a concerned hand on his shoulder. She doesn't say anything, but just confirms to him that she's here. It's all she can do, really.

Earning Ascian's forgiveness and forgiving herself are two far distant things, but for the time being Alina puts her own regrets to the side. No matter what had happened in the time between, all that matters to her in this moment is the fact that he's here, she remembers him, and he's alive. "I still don't remember much. It's just that this seemed to bring some things back." 'This' is shown by that free hand coming to rest over the amulet at his chest. "It was from when we were just starting Akert, wasn't it? Our birthday was the first day of live combat training and we both got each other gifts because dad..." The framerunner's lips press into a thin line, not wanting to complete the thought. The fact is, their father had been the one to force them into the Mindflow Project which nearly killed them, and later into Project Akert. Still, those two bits of jewelry had seemed so strange, since they both had gotten them independantly, even if they seem to go as a matched set.

The fact that she can recall that day, though, is enough to bring a small smile to her features. "I know you, but I'm missing so many pieces in between." When he shows that guilt, Alina shakes her head, "It's not far from the truth, though, Ian. There's something in Mayet that they wanted. They kept demanding passcodes and security bypasses, and I didn't even remember my own name." She takes a breath, giving another quick glance to her Orbital Frame. "So they were going to try to take it from me, even if it killed me." The thought sends a shiver up her spine, causing the hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end.

When Ascian leans forward towards her, his voice so pleading, Lin can't help but go into 'big sister' mode. Her hand releases his as both come up to touch the side of his face, pulling it away from her shoulder so she can look at him. "I'm not going anywhere. Together forver, remember?" She uses his own words right back at him, offering a faint smile.

Then, with her brother hopefully taken care of, she casts those blue eyes that seem to match his own over towards Seril. "La Gias? That's the inner world, isn't it? I've never been there... at least, I don't think I have." There is a glance towards Ascian as if looking for him to affirm this fact. When you can't remember most of your life, you depend on others to help you where things are missing. "Anyways, I'm sure there's other things you're good at. You've kept Ascian alive, so I owe you for that much." If nothing else, the way she acts could be a sign of where the blue-haired framerunner had gotten some of his skills in being supportive from. Lin seems to be an expert in that department.

"Yeah, I remember." A smirk plays on her lips, but the white-haired girl raises her shoulder in a half shrug. "All's forgiven. Truce?" She offers, far to willing to let that chapter of her life close behind her. But the mention of Seril's eyes does catch her attention, causing her to lean a little forward to get a better look. "This happened?" She asks, raising one eyebrow questioningly, "I mean, you're eyes are awefully pretty, but... I don't understand." This time, it's both of them that she looks to for clarification, because Alina is just a bit lost when it comes to sun-pelting god-machines.

Where Alina recalls the days of not knowing who she was, and the little signs that gave her even the smallest of hints as to who she was, Ascian recalls for a moment, the days without Alina. And that simply runs over into this very moment. Not just Alina's hands settling against his face, but also Seril leaning against him and laying a hand on his shoulder. That's when he realizes, just what kind of lucky person he is. Where he once thought he'd lost all of his real family, with just Seril as his new 'family', now he's found his sister is back. Alive. And just the same as she'd been before. "Together forever." He repeats after her, looking into her eyes.

Her shoulders are let go of slowly, and his shaking hands move onto Alina's hands for a moment, and rubs his cheek against her left hand for just a moment. Then, he lets his hands drop to his lap and lets out a long drawn sigh. "We've never been to La Gias." He whispers. "You haven't, anyhow." He had, for a few small trips. One during which he discovered the destruction of Helena, and the other time having met up with Alia Winchester. "We've always been stuck on Mars, until we both had to flee during the Balmarian invasion." He doesn't know if Katharon has informed her about the whole workings around that or not.

"But you are right. It was from that day. And father... father is luckily dead." Well, okay, no body had ever been fine. But Ascian is under the impression that a man should not have survived the gigantic explosion at that facility - selfdestructed to protect the secrets of BAHRAM's finest technological weapon. Only now to find that this great weapon seems to be nothing before the might of simple mobile suits. But that is all for another day. Besides, the Mayet and Amenthes were made to work together.

"Thank you, Seril." He whispers, raising his head up and laying it towards his back - looking up at the ceiling and taking this moment to take a good and proper breath - and purge those sad emotions of his. Today he had to be gleeful. This was a happy day, why was he sitting here, sobbing his brains out!? His lowers his head again and breathes out. "Seril is somewhat... special." he begins to explain. "There is a god that lives within her machine. It tends to... play around with her physiology. Maybe, if Seril trusts you enough, she'll show you what I meant at a later time." After all, he isn't going to push the little girl. He was afraid enough that she'd think he'd push her away, or give her less attention just because Alina is now around. "Also... told you they are pretty." Ascian chuckles softly, putting a hand against Seril's cheek, and moving his thumb against the skin close to her eyes. Alina might catch the almost... loving expression.

"You know..." Ascian then finally begins to try and get onto his legs, but wobbles a bit. There is a quick wince. Sure, his leg had been wrapped off, but that didn't take away the pain of that cut. And that's when he realizes just how bad Alina is looking. He reaches his other hand out to her, moving her hair away a little, and looks at the blood-crusted spot. But, it wasn't bleeding anymore. "Your choice. Chocolate milk with whipped cream, or doctor?"

"Yatagarasu is a jerk," Seril asserts with no real provocation after Ascian explains the situation that surrounds her. At least, as far as he's willing to go in such a public location. Which, admittedly, Seril is fine with. She tilts her head, leaning into that light touch on her cheek with those violet eyes still resting on Alina, "My eyes used to be blue. And I didn't have red in my hair. And these." She closes her eyes and bares her teeth, showing off an impressive set of fangs, "...And other things."

She leaves her temperature out of it, and the middle of a repair hanger is no place she's willing to disclose the precise nature of what is inside her spacesuit's 'backpack'. The La Gian girl nods, though, extending a hand towards Alina and a friendly (if somewhat creepy. It's the fangs.) smile, "It's settled, then! Truce!" She'll hold that hand out until the two girls can shake on it.

"You know..." Seril leans forward a bit, though still also leans against Ascian's side, "If Ascian is my big brother, and you're his big sister, that makes you my big sister too." Another slightly freaky smile is presented, and she holds her arms overhead, "So we're like a family! The three of us!" Lowering her arms, she leans back on them, "I know big brother missed you a whole lot, so I'll try not to get jealous, he's gonna want to spend a lot of time catching up, I bet!" Blink. Wait, what?! He's standing up! Quickly, Seril lurches to her feet and throws out her hands to try and help the taller Martian, "Ah..! Here, your leg is hurt, let me help you!" ... "Nyu? Is this really the time for that?!" She hesitates, though, then glances away, "...I don't need a doctor, but you probably still do."

Only an hour before, Lin would have been stood there, stark silent, accepting her fate to be executed at the end of a pistol. If not that, she would have demanded to be returned to Katharon and the Argama. In a matter of a few moments, her entire world had changed. She'd gone from a lost girl with no idea if she had a place in the world at all, to being sure of her place, knowing that no matter what else happened from here on out, she is meant to face this future at her brother's side.

Of course, there is still so much of her past that the white-haired framerunner doesn't remember. She nods once, "They told me about the Balmarians, but I think I avoided all of that. Being in a coma has some positives." There is a light laugh, as if she were just starting to relax and come back more to herself. The fact is, as cold as she might be in battle, Alina is fairly easy-going. When he mentions their father being dead, though, her expression darkens. In some ways, it's like an echo of Ascian when he had been so angry recently, "Good." No, there is no great love in this girl for her father.

The topic of Seril quickly has that washed away, replaced with a quiet sort of interest as Alina takes a closer look at the girl - her new sister. One by one, she takes in each of the things that the girl shares about herself. Cautiously, she lifts one of those hands away from Ascian and lightly touches the tips of her fingers against the red streaks in Seril's hair. "It's not so bad. Even the fangs are kind of cute." It's clear that Lin shares the strange tendency of her brother to find inhuman things interesting. The hand draws back again as she offers an understanding smile. "Whatever secrets you have, I promise they won't pass my lips." In true older-sister fashion, she draws a hand across her mouth and mimes throwing away the key, "But take your time. I'm used to having to earn trust."

Her eyes taken in the affection between her brother and Seril, and it seems to bring some warmth to her own expression. "Mmm." She shakes the other girl's hand, "Family. That sounds right to me, doesn't it, Ian?" For someone who had never really had a family outside of her brother, Alina is all too ready to embrace it.

And then he's getting to his feet. Lin blinks up at him, as if she hadn't realized how tall he was until that moment. She pushes against the ground, wobbling on her own feet, but finding her balance again quickly enough. When his hand comes to touch the wound on her head, she winces softly, but then shakes her head, "It's nothing, just a scratch." Leave it to Lin to downplay things to keep him from worrying. "I'd rather have the chocolate milk than the doctor. Some food, a shower, and a good night's sleep will do me wonders." She hesitates, and then looks at the rank bars on Ascian's flight suit. He'd been busy while she was gone. "That is, if you don't have to turn me in as a prisoner." The idea seems almost amusing to her, a playful smile on her lips, "You'll come too, right Seril? I mean, for food and chocolate milk, not prison. I wouldn't let them put my little sister in prison."

Ascian moves his hand over towards Seril, putting it lightly around her neck and leans against her shoulders only ever so lightly. "I'm fine. Really." He's good at making his pains seem less than they are. "Hrrm?" He turns about when Alina comments. "That's right." He smiles, "Family." That's how he'd come to see Seril, and it's what Alina had always been to him. "And she's much more family than mom or father ever were." He doesn't refer to 'that man' as his 'dad', but just his 'father' - a required title to indicate who he meant. Other titles were 'that bastard' and 'paltry ass' and 'Palter' as that... was... well, his name. "And Seril, it is okay to trust Alina. Trust me. As for the doctor. I'll be fine. They already did some first aid on me."

His pace moves him further along, and the youth catches that stare at the rank bars. "Ah right. I'm a Lieutenant now." He halts at the door, and beams proudly at Alina as he says this. "Apparently some higher ups really like what I've been doing up until so far." She probably knew about his dream to one day become a commander. "But no, no prison for you." He takes out a little datapad and quickly types something on it, and then tucks it back into his pocket. He's a rather quick typist. But then, for someone who had to rush-disarm bombs... typing quickly was nothing. "There, sent them a quick note about who you are. I'll have to report to my commanders later of course."

He'd probably get yelled at for just dragging her through the Earth Cradle without a guard or anything, but he just couldn't care less at the moment. "Follow me." He opens the door and lets Seril go through first, then him, and then Alina. That way, the guard would not get suspicious. "I got the note, sir." The guard quickly salutes, sticking a small datapad into his own pocket. "Good." Ascian mutters and nods at the man.

"Chocolate milk it is then." And on he stumbles through the hangar, down the long hall, to the mess hall where he'd ask Alina and Seril to settle down and would order a series of walk chocos for the three of them. And when they finally sit, Seril on one side, Alina on the other, Ascian continues conversation. "I hope Katharon didn't treat you too badly... I remember being there. The amount of distrust palpable. Bombed one of their battleships too... just never felt like blowing up the Argama." Probably a good thing. "By the way, it'll be a while before Amenthes and Mayet are fully repaired. Quite a bit of the SSA was destroyed after all."

When inspected, Seril remains quite still for Alina, blinking slowly at the older woman. She feels normal. Her skin is a bit warmer than it should be, but for all intents and purposes the girl looks like a slightly odd human girl. She gets another compliment on her teeth, which nets a bright smile, "Big brother said that too! You really are similar." She bows a bit, and then they're all on the move! With Seril in the lead, swinging her arms cheerfully, it's very easy to see just how her highlights move with the bounce of her slightly curly hair. It's like her head is wreathed in smoke and *on fire*, a stunning effect.

"Honestly, big brother, if nothing else you could say I'm a guard." As if anyone would buy that. She's half the size of most of the soldiers in the Cradle. Outside of Yatagarasu, she's about as intimidating as a housecat. In the mess and seated, she kicks her feet lightly while she folds her arms on the tabletop, leaning on them, "Big brother's done a lot, I've only known him for a short time, so I can't tell you much about what he's done." Somewhat bashfully, she closes her eyes, scratching her cheek, "... And... I guess the things *I've* done have been pretty obvious..."

Unlike Ascian, doing things like sneak attacks and using disguises on Amenthes, Seril has all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. And that's why Yatagarasu is an automatic emergency condition every time it appears.

In some ways, Ascian is a bit more forgiving than Alina when it comes to their father. The fact is, she wouldn't even refer to him even with that level of familiarity. Some of that is due to things she had only recently discovered, things that her brother wouldn't know about. However, her injured brain has already started filling in those bits of her memories having to do with that bastard of a man, much to her dismay. Her lips press again into that thin line when he's mentioned, but it doesn't last as long this time. She hesitates before they leave the hangar, looking back over her shoulder at Mayet. "Do you think you could get them to release her?" Rubbing at her arms in an almost uncomfortable fashion, it seems as if the framerunner could quite easily empathize with her unit's condition.

Then, she's stepping out into the hallway, following behind her brother. The guard gets a cursory look before she follows the other two down the hallway as if she were any other soldier of the Crusade. This - earns her a couple of strange looks - a stranger who seems as if she were perfectly comfortable here.

As they settle into the mess hall, Lin glances over across the momentarily empty seat at Seril, "When we were little, Ascian always wanted to be a commander. He always tried /so/ hard. Sometimes he'd come back to his quarters and just crash even without taking off his flight suit." All of a sudden, memories like this seem to come easily to her, even if they had been totally blocked off before. All it takes is that little reminder for them to spring up again. "I'm sure he'll fill me in on his exploits soon enough, as for yours, I've got to experience them first hand. You're quite ferocious." Apparently, to Alina, this is a compliment. She looks up as Ascian returns, shifting slightly towards him. Her fingers settle on the table next to his, leaving a bare inch between them.

"So that was one of your bombs I found..." Lin murmurs with a tone of embarassment. "Bright never asked me about it, but I'm sure that confused him as much as it confused me." The metatron lines on her hands pulse faintly, as the after-effects of piloting hadn't quite left her system. "They... were pretty suspicious, but I did manage to find a couple of people who were actually nice to me." For now, she won't name names. The fact is, the part of her that remembers procedures is expecting a full debriefing soon enough, and that meant she had to be careful revealing just what she knew.

Seril, a guard. Hah. That thought just brings more of a smile to Ascian's face, but he doesn't dare to chuckle about it, just in case Seril is actually serious. Instead he comments on something she'd mentionde earlier; "Of course we are similar. We're twins. She may have a different haircolor, butt... well... she didn't /used/ to. Back when."

"Hrrm? Ah, yeah, it probably was." When Ascian settles down, having ordered the hot chocos, and Alina's hand gets to lay so close to his, Ascian automatically places his hand onto hers. He didn't even have to look, or think about this. It's like he just knew that hand would be there. "Jerk beat me up something good at some point, asking me something about Orb Island or something. No clue what he was talking about." The youth shakes his head lightly. "At least there were some nice folk. Hrrm, let me guess - Staren?" His other hand taps on the table, holding a plastic card of sorts.

Within moments, a lady arrives with three huge mugs of warm chocolate milk - and one of them almost bubblingly hot. Ascian points at Seril. Obviously, the hottest one goes to her. The little cyclinder of whipped cream gets set before the threesome. "Heh. Medicine." Ascian chuckles, muttering out of nowhere. That was not a word /he/ had actually coined. Though Seril might think otherwise, it was an in-joke between him and Alina. Sometimes they'd snuck into the Mars-base's cantina and made themselves chocolate milk with whipped cream when they were feeling especially bad. It was an exceptionally rare occurrence. One that tended to get them into huge trouble from their 'father'.

"Oh, you must not remember. Those docking clamps are used to make repairs easier for Orbital Frames. Otherwise, because they tend to float, they'll flow away from the contruction units." Ascian explains, chuckling. "Though she /is/ a bit too secured. I'll see what I can do." That datapad gets set down on the table, and he begins drinking some of the chocolate milk without adding the whipped cream and quickly starts rolling through touch-screen memos, using quick motions to move files left and right, before finally opening a mail program and sending off a few messages at the techs that owe him favors.

The cup comes back down. "So Seril?" He turns his head. "How is the framerunner suit working for you? Not too tight I hope? Everything... comfortable?" He obviously hints at something, but Alina isn't as likely to catch onto this fact. His eyes wander for a moment, lower and lower, and then he blushes and quickly looks back up, and turns to Alina. "So yes... ehh... lotsa stuff happened." #._.#

Seril listens intently to Alina's story, humming thoughtfully as she compares it to what she knows about Ascian herself. Coming to a realization, she leans forward to get a more straight-on look at the male martian, her eyebrows set in a melodramatic straight line, "So nothing's changed, huh?" With one finger, she pokes Ascian's side, "He still works way too hard. Just the other day I had to pin him down to make sure he slept instead of working on Amenthes." The fearsome sister flop attack. Perhaps Alina is familiar with it.

"..Ferocious?" After a moment's thought, it seems Seril takes that as a compliment as well, awarding the elder girl with another fanged smile, "I guess it goes with the teeth, huh? --Oh!" Drinks! Seril automatically knows that the boiling one is hers, holding her hands out to accept the drink. With Ascian handling the whipped cream, she simply dips a finger in it. What should clearly cause a scalding burn..doesn't even phase her. She just pulls her finger out and pops it in her mouth, "Mm~. Nice and warm."

The way she says it suggests she considers the lukewarm milks delivered to her companions quite cold. "Nyu? Oh!" Another beaming smile, "It works great!" Seril doesn't even notice wandering eyes, "That little addition of yours was a great idea, too. I'm very comfortable right now. And it didn't even start to dissolve inside Yatagarasu!" Her poor coat has enough thin spots as it is, from that destructive machine's control bubble. "It's not tight at all, I'm really surprised."

The La Gian girl doesn't say anything about nice people in Katharon. To be honest, Ascian and Alina are the only nice people she's *ever met* outside of La Gias. She just...doesn't socialize much, otherwise, but doesn't seem to mind that fact.

"Nope, he hasn't changed much." Alina agrees with Seril's assessment, offering her brother a playful smile. "I'm glad he had someone to keep him in line." The familiar touch of her brother's hand softens Lin's expression. She had so many mixed feelings - the memory of being isolated and alone on the Argama, and the warmth and welcome of finding her brother again. She hasn't even worried over the fact that finding out her identity has now made her one of the 'bad guys'. Her entire perception of the world got an abrupt turn sideways with even the smallest of her memories coming back to her.

As if she were confiding something in Seril, Lin leans a little across her brother to speak to the younger girl. "When the metatron exposure changed my hair like this, I was so freaked out by it. Ascian and I always were the same before that. I got this silly idea in my head that it meant I was becoming someone else, because of Mayet." Her eyes shift towards her brother, showing him another of those soft smiles that seems to come with each returning memory. "Ascian is the one who re-assured me that it was fine. Nothing Mayet ever did would make him love me any less." She's sharing that personal experience, one that is so close to Seril's own. "And he'd better have done the same for you, otherwise I may have to kick his butt." It's a playful threat, maybe.

When the hot chocolate arrives, Lin greatfully accepts her own, releasing her brother's hand to warm her fingers. It had been nearly twenty-four hours since she'd eaten, even the smell was making her ravenous. "I think Staren wanted to be friends with Mayet more than with me." Lin admits, blowing across the surface of the drink. The moment Ascian sets down the whipped cream, Lin scoops up a spoonful and neatly deposits a dollop of it right onto her brother's nose. The gesture is so much that of a playful sister that it might be a bit surprising, especially for someone who only just started remembering him.

Laughing to herself, Lin just looks innocent, humming to herself as she takes a drink. "I'll probably need a new flight suit, myself. I don't know what happened to mine, but these Katharon ones are too bulky." She flexes the arm of the suit, which makes a squeeking sound as the material rubs together. No where near as form-fitting as a framerunner suit. She watches the exchange between the other two, although some of it is passed off as more of the flame-haired girl's secrets. However, she does notice the lingering look Ascian gives the girl, and raises one eyebrow, refraining from comment for the time being.

"H-hey." Ascian mutters as Seril pokes his side, and shows her a little pout. Then Alina pipes in. "Heeey! (...) I've improved... really..." Bullshit. If anything, he's gotten worse. He lets his head hang a little though and shakes it. "I guess I work hard. But being a Lieutenant brings a lot of work and responsibility to one. I can't believe I remember the last time I've seen the insides of my personal room at NUT on Mars." He sighs and looks up at Seril. "Sorry that the trip to the colonies has had to wait so long. I really meant to take you up soon. Things have just kept getting in the way." And obviously, those things being rather important, as Alina can attest to - sitting next to her long lost brother she wasn't even sure she had until an hour or so ago.

The chocolate milk which Seril just kind of stirs her finger in gets an amused look from the youth however. He'd gotten used to this display of utter resistance to heat by now. "I hope that it doesn't kill too much of the flavor, that way." He comments, and then grabs for the whipped cream and finally sprays a HUGE dollup onto his drink, after which Alina manages to steal it and...

Before he realizes, he has a bit of whipped cream ON his nose. He looks at it a bit funny, trying to shift his both eyes to look at it, and then turns his attention towards Alina. He pouts, then sticks his nose out to her and tries to 'ram' her cheek with his nose. Take that! Whipped Cream Nose Assault Mark II! Success or not, he pulls back and gives Seril a goofy look. That is to say, there likely being some whipped cream left on his nose, he looks silly. "Sisters..." And then turns to his hot cocoa and leaves that remnant there, whilst answering Lin between sips; "It shouldn't be too hard to get you a new flight suit. But did you check the Vector Trap for any bins? I am fairly sure we both dragged off some boxes with stuff of our own in them."

Seril can't help but smile, "No, it's okay!" She lifts her bubbly drink to her lips with both hands, drinking a noticable amount, then sets it down with an 'ahh' and a chocolate moustache. That doesn't last long, though, scoured away by her tongue, "The milky flavor is a bit weaker, but the chocolate part gets stronger. And it isn't cold." That last part is said in the way of 'this is the important detail'.

Resting an elbow on the countertop, she traces a finger around the edge of her cup, "I don't mind that our trip was delayed. You had a something that needed to be done." She smiles, "I'm not very smart.. but I know when someone just has to see something through. A vacation is just play time, we can do that anytime." She covers her mouth with a hand, concealing a giggle at the twins' antics, "Hee~.. And now we all can go together, so it'll be even better!"

What Alina says about her hair, and what Ascian had told her, rings very close to Seril's own heart. She suddenly becomes quite quiet, looking down thoughtfully as she recalls. When she revealed her condition to Ascian, he'd told her the same thing. That, no matter what the Yatagarasu did to her, he would care for her. That she wasn't becoming a monster, even though by all accounts she *is*. Slowly, she lifts her drink to her lips again.

Elsewhere in the Earth Cradle, the Yatagarasu's golden eyes slide open, illiciting a curious look from a neaby technician. He stares at the godmachine for a few moments, wondering if that laugh he'd heard was real or not. Eventually, he shrugs and returns to his business.

Even with all of the time between them, it seems as if Alina can still read her brother like a book. She raises one eyebrow, giving one of those skeptical expressions when he tries, ineffectually, to convince them both that he hasn't been overworking himself. "I guess it falls to both of us now to keep you from becoming a work-a-holic. Think you're up to the task, Seril?" Already, the new 'sisters' are plotting against him. Poor Ascian. "She's right, though. We should go up together." After only just finding her brother again, the female framerunner doesn't seem all that keen on losing him just yet. "I mean, when was the last time the two of us actually got to go /anywhere/ without either sneaking out around armed guards or getting an escort." It had probably been a very long time ago, perhaps even before their mother disappeared.

She blows across her own drink once more, seeming thoughtful. "Seems like I caused so much trouble." Trouble that she doesn't exactly seem embarassed about. The fact is, the trouble had brought her brother back into her life, and she couldn't be that upset over it. Not really. "Oh, that reminds me!" A bit of that light comes back into her voice, "I still remember how to cook. Once things get sorted out, I should make you guys a real meal. Not this cafeteria stuff." Although she has her doubts that anything can be as bad as the Argama's food.

"Hey!" The sudden outburst comes in response to being nosed with whipped cream, something that causes her to laugh as she wipes her cheek off, sticking her tongue out in response to her brother. When he gives that complaint about 'sisters', Lin just smirks and nudges his shoulder, "You love us, so don't complain." Whatever else she might have said to tease her brother gets side-tracked by the mention of the Vector Trap. "Vector... Trap?" That same, blank expression forms on her face as she looks at Ascian, obviously expecting him to explain. "Sorry... holes in my memory. What exactly is a Vector Trap?"

"I see." Well, that solve that mystery in the world of culinary arts. So keep that in mind, boys and girls. If you ever have to cook for the magical avatar of a solar god, the flavor result of high-heat chocolate milk is more chocolate and less milk. The youth laughs along with Lin as she sticks her tongue out, and just sticks his right back out at her. That'll teach her. "The cooking here really isn't bad actually. It's almost like a three to four star restaurant, depending on what commander is on duty." Ascian continues to note. "However, I won't stop you from doing that if we ever visit NUT. Heck, I won't stop you ever - if you want to make food for me." He pause sand turns back to Seril.

What had it been she'd said? "That's right. Now we can all go together." He chimes in. That's not really plotting. Ascian likes to travel together with people. As much as he always flew alone, he'd been lonely each and every time. It was just one of the many reasons that Ascian would request Seril along with him on missions, even if massive amounts of destruction weren't required in the least. He just... wanted the company. And the both could tell, by the smile on his face, that he was actually looking forward to this.

But then Alina says something. "Yes... I love... both of you two." It's where he realizes that, the current feelings for his long lost sister - as great as they are - are not /quite/ the same as those for Seril. It has him fall silent for a moment, staring at the cup on the table - which he is holding with both hands. As if the chocolate milk holds all the answers. And a blush starts coming to his face again. What /is/ going through his head anyway?

Whatever it is, the side-tracked subject of Alina's breaks him out of his little trance-like state. "Ah, eh, yes, why, ehh..." Stammer stammer. It takes a moment, but he reasserts himself properly. "Vector Trap. A pocket of space generated by the Orbital Frame. It can hold as much mass as the Orbital Frame itself is made out of. That's what I dragged you here inside of." Ascian explains.

Thankfully for Ascain's sanity, Seril is still lost in thought about just how similar she is to Alina to notice how flustered he's becoming over such a simple expression of affection. She snaps out of the reverie when she hears her name, glancing up and around quickly before she realizes it was Alina speaking to her, "Nyu? Yeah. Yeah, I am. I've been doing it myself for a while now, the help would be great." The subject changes to cooking, and she hums with sudden delight, kicking her feet as she finishes off her drink. Ascian likely still remembers how much of a carnivore she is, "I like meats. Beef, turkey, ham, it's all so much better than veggies."

The explenation of vector traps goes a bit over her head. She admits, she was curious how Ascian had dragged the Mayet to the Cradle, being unconscious at the time it happened. But this 'pocket of space' business isn't something she gets at all. As the La Gian girl sets her empty cup down, there's a tic in her cheek. Her expression goes through a comical scrunch to one side, and she tilts and twists in an utterly unusual fashion.

Quickly, she pushes her chair back and hops to her feet, "Ah, I've got an itch on my back! Big brother, big sis, I gotta change out of this thing!" Realization dawns on her in the same fashion as whacking one's thumb with a hammer, "--I've been in this suit since yesterday!" With a quick bow, she hurries off, fretting, "No wonder I'm getting itchy, I need a shower..!"

There is a dubious look cast towards the kitchen of the Mess Hall, the young framerunner somehow doubting that the food could be as good as something she could cook. The girl has some pride in the one real human skill that she happened to have. "Guess we'll see." The prospect of food does seem to cause a small growl from her stomach. "I'm sure I can manage to make something you'd love, Seril." It has been a long time since she's had a chance to eat, but for now the thought of ordering something ends up side-tracked by the way that her brother stumbles over those words. Hesitating, Lin holds the cup to her mouth.

As the other girl complains over her itchy back, Lin can't help but smirk slightly, "Go wash up. We'll talk more later." Lin offers another of those soft smiles towards her newly found sister. However, her eyes end up coming back to Ascian instead. Quiet, it would be all too clear to him that she has something she wants to say and is just waiting for the right moment. Once she's sure that Seril is out of ear-shot, Lin leans in and looks at Ascian with those peircing blue eyes. "So... want to tell me what that's about." With a nudge to the shoulder, the framerunner seems intent on getting answers.

What she doesn't notice is that a few higher ranked members of the Crusaders have walked in, and they are obviously looking for Ascian and this 'sister' of his that has mysteriously appeared. As much as they might want to play catch up, it seems that the the commanders have other ideas in mind.

Ascian gives Seril a confused look when she hops to her feet and starts complaining about an itch. He just watches her as that entire expression changes comically so. He chuckles when the girl complains to her big brother and sister about the itch on her back. "Well, off you go then." Ascian makes a little motion with his hand. "I'll see you later, okay?" He calls after the girl, and shakes his head as she hurries off. "Oh Seril..." He whispers, and turns back to Alina and immediately is met with that quiet look. That nudge to his shoulder, all of that, he knows that she wants to ask a question. "Eh..." The young man leans away a bit, and tries to look away from her.

That sound of her stomach's however provides a good other subject. "She's my new sister?" He starts and quickly jumps on, "Hungry huh? I can order you something to eat. I hear they have great tater-tots." That piercing look of hers just continues to make him nervous, and he just can't bring himself to look at the girl. And thus, he catches the commanders who are wandering their ways, and a frown appears on his face. He immediately tries to get up, but his trembling legs make it quite a bit harder. He salutes when he finally has gotten himself up properly. "Sirs."

Lin is quiet as she regards her brother. She doesn't press him further, but she lets that silence linger. There would be more time to ask him about things later. Unfortunately, now doesn't seem to be the time. As he gets up and salutes, Lin does an almost identical motion, moving in time as if the two of them actually were one person. Even in the Katharon uniform, her training shows. "Both of you, come with us for debriefing." The order is given, and the most vocal of the commanders turns on his heel, expecting them to follow. Lin gives only a brief sideways glance towards her brother, and then falls into step behind them, leaving room for him to flank her as a would-be guard.