2010-04-26 - Finding a Sponsor

ONOGORO ISLAND

DOCKS

NOW

The Orb Islands are occupied still, but that's kind of a joke, isn't it? The support for Katharon runs so deep within the former heart of the Orb Union that trying to stamp it out of the populace is just folly -- they'll find a way to support their side no matter what. As such, the Islands are still heavy Katharon-traffic areas, and with the emphasis moved out to places like China and Side 6, no one really does much to stop it anymore.

Which is one reason that Sumeragi Lee Noriega, born Leesa Kujo, former EFA tactical forecaster, current terrorist fugitive, is standing on one of the platforms, watching suits and shuttles come and go. Some time in gravity might do her head good, she figured. Plus, the amount of empties clogging up her bedroom was becoming untenable, and no one dared try to send any of the Haros in to clean while she was still on the ship. On top of all that, the tension between her and the rest of the crew began reaching a fever pitch after she essentially told Zero to go fuck himself. So they could probably use a break from her.

Sumeragi muses to herself that they're probably organizing a formal mutiny right now.

Being a classy American, Sumeragi has opted to brown-bag it -- a bottle of cheap, sleazy fortified wine is wrapped in a rumpled brown paper bag, as if that makes it discreet or okay. The tan, curvy woman is dressed in some variation of business casual -- slacks match jacket, blouse unbuttoned just enough to keep 'unprofessional' from crossing over to 'fun.' She keeps watching who comes and goes, taking an occasional swig.

It's almost like Sumeragi's waiting for someone.

A DAY PRIOR

"Risa, could you please make a trip to China to deliver a report to some of our forces? We'll be sending them supplies as soon as possible, and we would like you to aid them in the meantime."

"Sir yes sir!"

NOW

"This isn't China."

Stepping off a boat, the young and wide-eyed Risa Pzallon stares with distant despair at the Orb Island structures spanning the immediate horizon. People walk past and otherwise ignore the girl, who just stands there with an incredibly heavy sense of disappointment hanging around her. Frowning distantly, the auburn-haired pilot just tilts her head to one side, wide-green eyes widening as her brows purse.

"This doesn't look like China /at all/."

Stepping into motion, the young woman wanders along the pier, a small backpack slung over her shoulder as she looks for something--anything--to give her an idea where she'd wound up. Despite being a member of Katharon, Risa is entirely oblivious that this is essentially the heart of Orb.

Pursing her lips tightly, the young woman pulls aside and flags down a passer-by. "Excuse me," she asks meekly, looking thoroughly confused. "Is this, umm," Pausing mid-sentence, she spares one quick glance around before she comes to a conclusion and asks:

"Am I in Boston?"

The man stares with sheer disbelief at Risa. The moment gets incredibly awkward for the girl.

Maybe it's the incredibly heavy sense of disappointment hanging around Risa that acts as a Sumeragi-Signal shining up into the clouds. In any event, Sumeragi's people-watching goes from a general sort of thing to a very specific one as she watches the young woman wander. Sumeragi herself is leaning against one of the buildings. She looks like a particularly well-dressed bum, but that might just be the Space Dog 20-20 she's drinking. Sumeragi wipes her mouth with the back of her hand as she listens in on Risa's question. Before the man can walk away in disgust or spit on her or something, suddenly:

There's Sumeragi. The tactical forecaster, still clutching brown-bag booze in one arm, takes hold of Risa's bicep, chuckling. "A little Katharon humor," Sumeragi says to the man. "Pilot stuff. Those flyboys crack me up!"

With a drunk Spanish-Japanese-American being the tipping point in 'making the discussion officially too ridiculius to even start, let alone continue,' the man leaves, and Sumeragi -- keeps hold of Risa's bicep. Possibly as much to steady herself, as anything. Her eyes are glassy and struggling toward sharpness. Her words are slurred. And her breath smells like she just drank Eric the Viking under the table.

"You're on Onogoro Island, kid," Sumeragi says, tone more serious when the man leaves. "In the Orb Islands. Boston is about a billion miles..." Sumeragi points with her booze-clutching hand, taking a moment to line up exactly what direction she wants to gesture in, "...thaaat way. China's closer. But did you seriously not know where you were?"

And then there was Sumeragi the Savior.

Just when it seems like the stunned man is getting offended, the tactical forecaster of Celestial Being steps in. The grip on Risa's arm startles the girl, drawing a quiet squeak from the young pilot before wide green eyes swivel up and stare at the woman. She smells funny. Not funny-haha but funny-Lifetime original movie.

Risa just remains thoroughly confused.

"Oh, those pilots!" the man replies, slapping his knee with a HAR HAR HAR before he wanders off. Now even /more/ confused by the fact she's suddenly a comedian, the auburn-haired young woman naturally turns her attention back onto Sumeragi.

"Oh, I am? I guess, that's good," the girl replies, eyes wandering aside, following the elder woman's hand toward...wherever Boston would be. As far as Risa knows, the drunk Celestial Being woman is 100% correct.

"Uhm, well, yeah," Risa then sheepishly admits. "All I know is I got on a shuttle and wound up on a boat to here."

A DAY AGO

"Last call for boarding the shuttle to Shanghai! Last call for boarding the shuttle to Shanghai!"

Risa Pzallon is sleeping across three gate area seats.

NOW

"When I got on the shuttle I landed offshore, then the boat took me here." Shrugging helplessly, the young woman's free hand idly gestures before she frowns and gazes at the horizon again. "Here on Ontario Island. How weird.

"Uhm," Looking to Sumeragi, the young pilot wonders, "Thanks for telling me where I am. I guess I should find a way to get to China. E-excuse me, thank you for your help, ma'am." Bowing politely to the woman, Risa offers a friendly but exhausted sort of smile before she begins walking toward what she thinks would be the best place to do that.

To Risa, that appears to be a Mobile Suit repair hangar.

Drunk though she may be, Sumeragi Lee Noriega still can't help but squint. 'Ontario Island.' Her skilled mind is busy -- busy marinating in wine, that is -- but it still can't help but try to puzzle through some things. Maybe the girl has a language barrier? No, Sumeragi thinks, because that's a PLANT accent. It could be that she's putting on some kind of elaborate front to-- no, too outlandish, thinks the woman who is part of an intergalactic terror network who regularly deals with a split personality, a cloned androgyne, and Irishmen. Or it could be that the girl is just... not all there. Which would preclude her from being part of Katharon, right?

Then Sumeragi remembers Staren Wiremu. No, Sumeragi thinks, she can definitely be part of Katharon.

Sumeragi then turns and starts strolling after Risa, catching up and then keeping pace next to her. "A way to get to China, hmm? Thinking of doing it via mobile suit?" Sumeragi celebrates her own question with a long drink of wine.

Midway in her walk toward the hangar, Risa finds herself with a walking partner.

Blinking wide green eyes as the woman speaks up, the auburn-haired pilot is looking to the woman with a thoroughly puzzled look on her tanned face. "Well, yeah," she notes, nodding her head once before she continues. "I had orders to assist my Katharon friends there and provide support while reinforcements were sent."

But she just got lost somewhere along the way, obviously.

"'By mobile suit..?'"

Thoughtful, the answer is evident: she hadn't considered that. "That's not a bad idea," she admits to Sumeragi before she adds, in awe, "You are /so smart/." There are no shreds of sarcasm; it is entirely sincere and honest. "I am envious!"

Her pace slows up a bit before the young woman stops altogether, her attention focused entirely on Sumeragi. "Uhm, if you don't mind," the girl asks of the wine-chugging woman nearby. "I was wondering: why are you following me anyway?"

Pausing briefly, she mulls. Then--

"Are you going to China too?"

Gears slowly turn, the friction breaking off layers of rust as they pick up speed and thoughts move faster and faster. Sumeragi Lee Noriega is suddenly given a lot to think about -- but then, thinking with Sumeragi isn't so much intense self-reflection as even more intense imagineering of what might happen, what may happen, and everything in between.

"No, I'm Sumeragi," the tactical forecaster replies glibly to the comment about how she's /so smart/. She doesn't telegraph the joke with a wink or a smile; instead, it's just a drunken deadpan. When Risa stops, so too does Sumeragi, who drinks again.

It's pretty clear to Sumeragi that this kid is a liabilty to Katharon. She can't make it to China -- the Celestial Being operative wonders if Risa could find her ass in the dark if she had both hands glued to it. And yet, she's clearly kept around for some reason. Why would they give her a message to carry if she wasn't even competent enough to courier it? Sumeragi hates mysteries nearly as much as she loves solving them.

"China, huh? Well, if you're offering..."

"And I am Risa Pzallon, it's very nice to meet you!"

The joke, if there was one, goes completely over the young woman's head, evident by the chipper look upon her face and the bright smile that blossoms on her lips. It falters only slightly, as Risa debates whether or not she should offer her hand to the woman, who clearly seems occupied with her wine bottle-in-a-bag.

Why Katharon keeps a girl like Risa around is /anyone's/ guess.

Blinking at the woman's response to China, Risa looks mildly perplexed and distantly uncertain. Her gaze wanders, a hand reaching up to cup at her chin thoughtfully for a long moment. "Hm, well, if you want to go to China I suppose I can manage finding a two-seater mobile suit..."

Then another question baffles her:

"Did you get lost on the way to China too?"

"Sumeragi Lee Noriega," the woman with that name replies when Risa formally introduces herself. "It's a pleasure." That sentiment is then undercut by Sumeragi taking another long drink of wine. She pauses after, then tips the bottle -- only a drop or two comes out. "Hm."

But then Risa's talking again, and it's what Sumeragi wants to hear. A two-seater mobile suit -- one where Sumeragi can assess the girl's piloting skill. She's already proven that she's dumb as a post, which frankly is sort of appealing -- Sumeragi could go after anyone in the Orb Un-- er, Katharon and think about making them the offer she might make Risa, but they'd just ask so many /questions/. That's what Sumeragi remembers about Orb -- all the /whining/ about Celestial Being's mission. But this one doesn't seem like a whiner.

"I got lost on the way to somewhere, that's for sure," Sumeragi says with a grim smile. "Hey, Risa."

A meaningful glance over at the girl, then a glance toward the hangar. "You ever feel like you could be doing more than just ferrying messages?"

When given a name, Risa suddenly seems painfully intent, focused and alert. Green eyes widen, brows knitted as she just /stares/ at the other woman, whether or not she pays attention to the young pilot. After a moment, the girl speaks:

"Sumeragi...Sumeragi...Sumeragi..."

It's like some weird mantra, made only stranger by the staring. However, after a minute passes the girl exhales and offers a weak smile. "Sorry about that. I was trying to memorize your name. My superiors say I'm /really bad/ at keeping things straight."

Maybe that's a nice way of saying she's space-retarded?

"You're lost too, Sumeragi? Well that isn't good. But it's better to be lost with someone, right?" Sounding agonizingly optimistic and hopeful, Risa just smiles. "With your brains and my piloting, I think we'll be quite all right!" She nods her head, too.

However, when addressed, the young woman's face falters, her features puzzled. "Doing more..? Well, I get to pilot my Itzpapalotl II sometimes," she notes. "But with so many people lately I've been busy helping out as best I can. That's more important than getting out there and blowing up stuff, I think," she notes with a grin. A perceptive eye can see that she's just a little offended.

"Uhm, though...why do you ask?"

Sumeragi Lee Noriega smiles good-naturedly. Inwardly, she is scheming. 'I can /exploit/ this space retard,' Sumeragi thinks.

But she means 'space retard' in the best possible way, of course.

The agonizing optimism is not actually that much of an ordeal for Sumeragi. For one, she's wasted. She's feeling pretty good, herself. In fact, the optimism is pretty infectious because of that. For another, it's a nice change from the doom and gloom of the Ptolemaios. It reminds her of happier times. "Lost with someone is the best kind of lost," Sumeragi says. "Because it may not be the easiest, but it tends to be the most rewarding to find your way out of."

Sumeragi rolls her tongue around inside her mouth as she considers Risa's reply to her question. She doesn't give the girl the same kind of stare that she just received, but there seems to be a bit of assessment going on, as if the ancient (nearly thirty) woman was sizing her younger company up. "Good answer," Sumeragi finally responds with a laugh.

"I asked because to some people, there /isn't/ any more than getting out there and blowing up stuff." Sumeragi's mind travels, briefly, to Fon Spark, at the disastrous meeting on the Ptolemaios. "Some people are in it for the glory, too. Or for money. Or just because they don't know what to do. But helping out as best you can -- heh. I don't like flying with people I can't respect. So I think I'm gonna be okay flying with you."

There's a bit of relief in Risa when the (drunk) Sumeragi returns her sentiments. All but beaming and glowing with happiness, the painfully-optimistic Katharon pilot nods her head eagerly in response. "I agree! That's why I am not worried anymore. I feel better already, thanks to you, Miss Sumeragi."

Meanwhile, the woman plots to exploit her. Fortunately it's not illegal in /space/.

When told she had a 'good answer,' Risa seems genuinely surprised, evident by the way her wide green eyes widen just a bit more. "Really..? Uhm, thank you very much," she confusedly responds, bowing her head discreetly in a thankful nod. "i think..?" she weakly and bemusedly amends to herself.

When the woman explains herself, Risa feels a little relieved. At least this highly intelligent woman agrees with her! "Oh, no," the girl notes, shaking her head. "I'm not in it for any of that. I am just out there to help my allies and friends and avenge the friends and family I have lost." Though she smiles, she still sounds a little sad; however, Risa quickly recovers and offers the woman a salute.

"I will be the best pilot for you! I assure you that you will be in excellent hands, Miss Sumeragi!"

Glancing toward the hangar, she blinks a few times before she awkwardly notes, "I guess we should see about getting us something to /get/ there in..."

Nothing is illegal in space.

Nothing.

But this is Earth, and so Risa is legally a designated driver. When Risa speaks of avenging friends and family that she's lost, her sad tone finds a mirror in the frown that crosses Sumeragi's face -- a sympathetic expression, made moreso by drink. Sumeragi's still wry and coy while she's a walking distillery, but it's definitely harder to keep the mask up, so to speak. She nods, but then reacts to the salute as if someone had shined a flashlight in her eyes and asked her to say the alphabet backwards.

This momentary shock is overidden by the warm feeling of someone, well, being /nice/ to her. Sumeragi smiles, a little tightly, but genuinely nonetheless. She, too turns her attention to the hangar. "I'm sure something will surface. I mean, the future really has nowhere to go but up, right?"

The sympathy is, fortunately, met with a smile in response; rather than dwell, Risa simply chooses to look forward and ahead. She'll make things better with her actions, she's since decided. That's all she really can do. Thankfully, Sumeragi seems to sympathize.

But the moment passes; quickly does the young woman's demeanor change, a stiff salute offered to the older woman with a genuine smile. "That's right, only up!" chimes the pilot, her steps beginning once more. She strides with newfound confidence toward the MS hangar. "We'll get ourselves a mobile suit and fly out of Onomatopoeia Island in no time!"

With a light bounce in her step, Risa seems awfully cheery now. "I'm glad you're willing to fly with me. Trips like this are so boring by one's self, miss Sumeragi."

Sumeragi walks a pace or two behind Risa, an empty bottle in one hand and the other hand jammed into her pants pocket casually. She doesn't seem super hurried, but she's not quite lethargic, either (and amazingly, the weave and wobble of her step is minimal). She looks up at the sky for a long moment, then back down at Risa, whom she offers the kind of understated smile that always accompanies a line like:

"You said it, Risa. You said it."