2011-03-11 - Story Time With Uncle R

The bar was kinda quiet tonight, mostly cause people were busy on mission runs, and there was an arena tournament going on between some of the ranking Ravens. This meant that the place was slow, not really lively, and had a calm feeling about it.

The one person was at his normal table, with that half moon couch, round table, and several chairs in front of it. He had several glasses in front of him. Maybe he was counting them, or maybe the waitress just gave up picking up the glasses.

This man with his arm on the table, along with his face somewhat hidden was indeed R, who for the most part is a lively guy..

Tonight though, tonight he was sorting hiding in his corner, perhaps doing a little silent self evaluation of just what he had done.

The SuiKyosha, the battleship which had been visitting the Raven's Nest quite a bit now, had just arrived back from its trip to pick up a particular chauvunistic Armored Core pilot; one who had pissed off Yu, the XO. And it's that particular XO, the single-scar faced woman, that wanders into the bar. Her face shows her anger, until she spots R. She quickly raises her head a bit, closes her eyes, lets out a sigh, and then lowers her head again - her expression changed to a more neutral state.

She walks straight for R's table, and halts on the opposite side of R. "Mind a drinking partner?" She inquires, and quickly adds, "You'll of course, treat me." The XO of the SuiKyosha wasn't a woman who dilly-dallied around. She knew what she wanted, and that she could get it if she put her mind to it. Still, she is respectful - where her words slightly playing, she is still standing, waiting to be told she can sit with R.

R slightly glances up, his eyes look a bit dimmer then normal, but he does motion for her to sit before he sits up, and then picks up a glass that still had something to drink in it. "Yeah-- you can join my tab." He says calmly before he takes a sip from the glass he had.

"Sinya making your people feel comfortable?"

"Yo're getting a third." anounced a younger man that seemed to just materialize from the crowd, long, brown hair bound at the nape of his neck with a black ribbon, the red bangs framing his features and drifting before his eyes.

The legs of a chair scrapped backwards against the rough floor of the bar, drawn from the table just enough to let Genobee drop his backside into it. "Heard you got yourself a nice earful, Old Man."

"She's putting together a videotape. We're going to be giving her a tour of the SuiKyosha tomorrow." Miss Yu replies, and sittles right next to R without any real fear of his new 'looks'. Admittedly, she had never seen his old looks. She straightens her fancy red silken dress out after getting comfortable, then raises a hand and demands the barkeep deliver her a whole bottle of 'the strongest you've got!'. This woman isn't playing around.

Yu Zhi Wu, as she is fully named, then turns her head towards Genobee as he so 'rudely' settles down in front of the two, and raises a well defined eyebrow at him. "An earful?" She inquires, and turns her gaze towards R.

"You heard on the radio." R states calmly. "At least your commander did I am sure." He then stares at the glass gently. "Roger is sorta right, and walking from a contract that is something I don't do. I can't walk from the contract I am /bound/ too." he then takes a sip from the glass.

The waitress walks over and places down a glass for the woman, along then with the bottle, before she gives Genobee his normal. Apparently she remembered from the last time he was here.

R sits back in the cough before he closes his eyes. "I made the agreement knowing I /have/ too. I figured the Ravens could screw off during it, just so long as they were present, and the Trailers could get some extra funds. That is what I was thinking, however by sneaking on the Trailers /that/ would be breaking contract rights on our agreement and could get me yanked back to the compound." He smirks, "Like that really matters however."

"Ah yes. I remember that. Though I wonder. You keep talking about 'the contract' and 'our agreement' when talking about this... Crest organization. But I don't think anyone actually knows what that contract is." The woman stops talking when the waitress comes over, in case this wasn't something R wanted in the open, and acts normal by reaching forwards and taking the glass - fills it - and starts pouring the contents straight down her throat. It barely looks like she's tasting it - but she is.

When the waitress wanders off again, she finishes what she was saying. "I hope you don't think me out of place for saying as such. But my commander seems to be under the impression from 'the way you come across' --" She makes a little circle in the air with her hand, showing that she didn't know where the guy got said impression from, "-- that you were not feeling comfortable at all about something, or..." She straightens up a bit and tries to lower her voice, whilst looking entirely too serious. She even puts a hand to her chin to look wisely. "Have found much suffering in your life, and live my many regrets. Such a thing will weigh down heavily upon a man, until it finally crushes them."

The waitress gets her 'Thankyou, Sweetheart.' before Geno twists off the cap and lifts it to his lips. Kicking one leg up to rest over the knee of the other and tilting himself back to two legs on the chair settles him in for the long haul. Everything was third person to him so far, for now, he'll just sit tight and listen.

"We all live with regrets, mistakes, and errors. That is the way of humanity. We make them, we live with them, and we move on." R says calmly seeming to stare at the glass with great hatred. As if maybe cursing it silently. "And everyone has their secretes, their dark corners of their souls. Things they don't want to share or weigh upon others shoulders. Because it is your baggage and if you say to much, then you are no better then a man who cries and begs."

He then takes a sip of the drink, "I am not a begger and I will not trouble those who don't need to be troubled by my mistakes. By my pains nor by my sins." The dirty blonde then rests his arms on the table, rolling the glass between his hands, leaning forward. His eyes staring at the glass deeply, contemplating it now. "If those who really cared wanted the answers.. then they would come and seek the truths. As none have come to seek the truth, then why should I give the answers? If people wish to stay blind, then why should I force their eyes to open? Men do as they do and the sooner the darkness is forgotten, the better off everyone is."

Behold the dark shadows that follows over R's mind. Perhaps showing that tattered soul that had become broken by constant pounding of a mistake long ago dealing with a colony, leading to more recent events, and perhaps Crest slowly starting to shatter what ever remained. "So unless you want to listen to a man's tale-- then it is best left a subject to remain hidden, thus, out of mind. That way everyone can have their happy, marry, good times." He then downs the rest of the drink.

The woman stares at R as he starts getting all down on everything. She'd seen this many times, this kind of descent into the pits of utter emotional hell. She kind of felt like slapping him for behaving like that, but she holds her hand at her side. "I don't know about you. But to carry your baggage on your own isn't smart." She wished Xiang was here. That man always had a better way with words than her. All she was left with were more simply ways of expressing things, without the insights into life.

"Look." She reaches her other hand out and puts it on his back. "I don't know you very well, and you don't know me. But if you want to tell your tale - tell your tale. It's that simple. I will listen." She nods her head in acceptance of her own words, then moves her hand away from the man's back again, and turns towards Genobee and nods at him, as if telling him 'you better not walk away'.

The bottle lifts from the table and tips to his lips once more. He entertained the idea of just wandering out. But a glance pinned him in place. His lips screwed into a odd expression.

He sorted through various responses and could only settle on a nod, "Go on. We're all ears."

The dity blond laughs gently before a smile just falls on those lips, "You have no idea...." he says softly before he stares at the empty glass. "Also to count... forty four...." He then places down the glass, which spins slightly, then wobbles before falling over. "They made me into a wonderful killing machine. I don't think there is anything these cybernetic systems can't handle. No wonder Klein gave up on drinking."

R tsks softly before he runs his hand through his hair. "... can't even just drown it out...." he mutters to himself. He felt her hand, just he declined to sense it really. He was good at that; Ignoring sensations, feelings, whatever it took to keep walking.

Just now... he had no where to walk, expect in a circle. The same four walls, the same rules, and the same thing to see over, over, and over again.

He then leaned back in the couch, before resting his head back, almost slouching. His arms resting behind his head as he stares up at the ceiling. He was wearing leather, boot cut pants, a sleeveless shirt, and a pair of western, snake-hide cowboy boots. Those aqua green eyes that glowed gently in the dimness of the bar just stared upward; Searching of something up there it almost seemed.

"..Back when the Ravens were starting, we worked for a few corps. They gave us parts, they gave us a base, they took care of us. Mostly Chrome." He starts out. Poor Genobee, for him this probably felt like going down some of it as memory lane. "As things progressed, shit happens as shit happens. Stuff goes bad, mistakes happen, its just part of the life as a Mercenary, but you move on. Trailers helped us out as well somewhere in there." He says with closing his eyes. "Crest then bought out Chrome. Took everything they had, and included me as an operator... along with being Chrome's Top AC pilot. However I was a raven first and backed down from many of their deals. They were good to us-- at first. A real wolf in sheep's clothing. Tricked a few Ravens into signing on full time-- gave us fancy stuff for our cooperation. Soon others did the same, and we grew very neutral."

"Somewhere in here comes my mistake, the contract I am bound too now." He then opens his eyes, "... but it was done in such a deceptive manner, and I guess that is why I am not afraid to stoop to such damn deep levels to get them back for it. Twice now... twice now they have f**ked up my life."

R then sits up straight at last before clearing the table a bit by stacking the glasses. "First-- they had a nice deal when they first came. Cause as a Mercenary, you are going to die eventually, that is the name of the game. So," He then tries a balancing game with the glasses. Thank goodness they were plastic. "Due to my skills, I agreed that upon my death, my body, thus also my brain, would be donated to the betterment of science. To help further mankind, to help further ourselves in our knowledge."

The woman watches R as he tells his story. Most of it was stuff that, in a way, was not something she believed was important to the topic at hand. But still, she patiently waits for the 'revived' man to finish his story. Things like 'Chrome' and 'Crest' are remembered. She was a good listener. At least she knew what some of these were. Like the Ravens and Crest. At least the basics, that was. And then he gets to what they'd actually done. The former worried look turns to more of a frown, as she starts raelizing what's coming.

"I see. So when you died, your body and brain were donated to Crest, who gave you a new 'life'..." She uses that term very hesitantly, "As what you are now. Or rather, who you are now." To her, he was still 'alive' really. "It does sound like you are stuck, if that means you somehow became property of Crest. Although, if you are still human - they cannot technically own you. Right? I mean. I thought that slavery was forbidden on the Mystic Moon? Can't you just... break the contract?" She doesn't quite seem to have a grasp on how powerful Crest is.

Edward Fawkes tips back his beer and grunts. He wasn't meaning to listen in on R's story, but with Haro acting as boom mic for any interesting at the bar it kinda couldn't be helped. Still, he remained passive, at least for the moment.

One bottle soon drained of it's contents and was quickly replaced by another. It followed the fate of the first, the cap twisted off and stacked on the first before Genobee took a drink. "Lawyers." he comments dryly over the neck of his drink as he lowers it to the table once more. "We all shouldda had some gat damn lawyers." he added a moment later with a sour smile.

"There's more ways to own a man then just putting a collar around his neck." claimed Genobee. "Through vice, need, medication, coercion. Crippling debt..." he ticked them off.

Edward Fawkes chimed in, "National pride and or threatening relatives."

"I saw the documents," He explains further as she asks her questions. "They said I had died, however thanks to medical science and if you got people who know what they are doing, in those precious seconds, they can bring you back from the brink. Have you breath again, when you shouldn't be." R then shakes his head gently, before he quickly catches the cups with unhuman reflexes before they could even hit the table. "..but because I did die-- because of the damn contract...." He grits his teeth gently before he calms down and rests the glasses normally.

Genobee then did the honors of explaining it before R nodded his head gently, before he motioned to Genobee, "Genobee here, my student back in the younger days, also is owned by Crest as 'property'. We are both shackled to them. Many were upset by his actions, I was the only one gave him any slack-- cause I know how they think." He taps the side of his head gently.

"I just never thought I see the day they play gods." The dity blond states with disgust in his voice. "For the future-- yeah.. for the future of war, destruction, and disorder-- making me the damn King of it." He then closes his eyes once more.

"I am their property, they own my soul-- my body-- and the only thing that is still mine is my will. My will to just not feel like a monster for a day, to try and ignore the fate I allowed myself, no, that they abused me into. This wasn't the way it was suppose to go, this wasn't how my story was suppose to end." His hand tightens around one of the plastic glasses. It starts to crack under the pressure, his eyes glowing brighter. The body temperature which was already warmer then normal seemed to be slightly increasing. "I was never supposed to be a weapon for their damn political games!" Then the plastic glass at last shatters in his hands.

Edward Fawkes slammed his glass down, hard. "NO!" Loud bass rumble. "They might own the body you wear, or force your hand, but who you are, your soul. They'll never own."

Yu shifts her head slightly. She didn't exactly know what to do for this R person. This whole 'being revived' thing was new to her, let alone contracts one could not escape. The woman could understand being held due to a family being threatened. But that didn't seem to be the case. She kind of gets a bit more comfortable in her seat - or rather, hides her discomfort - as R crushes the plastic glass and starts heating up. In a ways, he was scaring her. And that wasn't easily done. She looks nervous and gives Genobee a look, before turning her eyes back to R. As if she felt guilty for thinking about looking for help from the one R had called his student.

"I admit, I don't understand how one can be owned to that extent. But it sounds like you've given up on truly finding a way out, am I right?" She inquires. "How is it that they have you that far within their clutches? Is it a magical spell?" Because a piece of paper certainly didn't have that much power.

Genobee's eyes shifted, scarcely drifting towards the sound of the banging fist and the loud words. "There's a point there, R. You're being a bit dramatic on that point." observes Genobee following another drink. "To help clear things up, let me play with words a little." he mused, placing his buttle on the table once more, a finger poised at the round mouth, tilting it back and forth even as he rocked on the chair's two rear legs. "As his display there shows, R, and to a lesser extent, myself. We're not exactly normal." confesses Genobee openly. "I mean, we're both much more handsome then your average man, and I am absolutely phenominal in bed. But that's not what I mean. We're augmented. Through various hoodoos and voodoos we're changed. It's not perfect though. Maybe that's on purpose. Don't know. I myself require a few pills to keep this charming, lethario-like personality up and running. Without them, I'd be a bit of a mess. R, he requires something a bit more hands on, I imagine. We obey Crest and they keep us in pills and lube jobs. We strike out on our own and we might just fall apart in the worse way... As well as being eaten alive by breach of contract lawsuits."

Those eyes close as he calms himself down, then opens his hand. Before his eyes shift to it, as his eyes start to dim a bit. Before he pulls out a piece of plastic shard that had jammed into his hand. He grits his teeth slightly as he pulls it out. Listening to Edward as he slams down his glass and states his claim. He then stares at the fake blood, what little was there. He wasn't even sure if it was blood, which was hinted by how he stared at it; The hint of debate written over how his eyes narrow just slightly, before he lays the shard down.

"Perhaps," he says to Edward, "..but.. will.. soul.. I guess the question is, what really makes a man, a man? Then what makes a man a monster? Right the federation sees me as a monster-- not a man. I am not even sure how to change their hearts on that either."

He then looks over to Yu, "The only way out is when Crest is destroyed, then shortly I'll probably fall apart with them. That is the other way they are keeping me in check. They /are/ the only ones who know how to work on me. I went to our Techs here in the Nest while Nell was gone. After you kindly gave her a plane trip. They can't make heads or tails of what they saw. I know now however that a great deal of my body consists of not only metal alloy, but ceramics, and plastics." He explains calmly. "That is why I am as light as I am, but due to some kind of electro-field however, they couldn't do any deep scans. Crest has me locked up tight and because their blue prints are sealed away, there is no way to just steal those; Thus repair the crap." He then rests he elbows on the table before his hands run through his short, messy dirty blond hair. This explaination only adds to Genobee's own. Backing up those words from his former student.

"If it isn't the breach of contract lawsuits," R then decides to add to that last part, "..then it is another corporation swooping you up and using you for their own lab rat to see how they made you tick, so then they can make their own."

R sighs before he glances over to Yu, realizing gently what his actions may have caused. "..I am also sorry I scared you." He says softly before sitting up straight. "You don't have any reason to fear me. I am not someone who easily hurt anyone if I could prevent it."

After a moment Ed realized he'd shattered his glass on the table and several people were watching him. He gave up on 'subtle' and started to the bar muttering, as he walked by Yu, "The magic of legally binding agreements backed by the power that makes even nations back down." He grabbed the nearest chair.

When next he spoke it was in an odd Gaean, Yu might recognize it, might even understand it. "Death of the body means little if you are true to yourself." Blink. Pause. He ordered a beer. "Damnit i hate when that happens."

Yu seems to calm down a bit when R sits straight at soothes her. He'd simply reminded around some people she had wished she hadn't met in the past. She then momentarily turns to Ed as he settles down and speaks. As he talks in Gaean, she translates: "Death of the body means little, if you are true to yourself." It sounded like something Xiang might spout - though she wasn't so sure if it was true. But then, she knew nobody who'd lost their actual bodies.

Then, she blinks a bit, and looks at R. "Are you telling me, one of the founders of the Raven's Nest, cannot get his hands on some measily blue print - and shanghai some techs to work under /him/ instead?" She asks R, giving him a look as if she didn't believe what she was hearing. It was her way of trying to cheer him up - to push him to act a bit more lively... other than anger and depression.

Genobee tips his bottle to his lips once more. R was on his own this time.

Thanks Genobee. We love you too.

R raises a brow at Edward as he says his bit, then when Yu translates he smirks, "Wise words." He then glances off to the side, "I may be a bit better about myself as well if it wasn't for this damn mild amnesia. Not fun having holes in your memory."

The dity blond then looks over to Yu once more as she says her part and that actually causes to huff out a bit of a laugh. "My boys be able to work for me, even the medics, but those blue prints are the key." He explains calmly.

"Crest keeps that kind of stuff sealed tight and I know this cause I've tried to hack into their systems. They don't leave many trails to follow, mostly cause they are talking to servers elsewhere which I am pretty sure they rotate around. Only the techs who work in that field know /where/ that information is at /what/ time."

Edward Fawkes nods slow as he considers R's problems. "Could also be in a completely internal network you need physical access to. I mean if they're wanting to keep the kind of technology that makes your current body work under wraps instead of marketing it out to the mediccal community like a sensable and sane money making venture..." He huffed at that. All that research and cost and not even letting the free market recoup costs... "I'm no Raven, but if a way gets found to get Crest's claws out of you," He tipped the neck of his beer to R, "I'm in."

"Well." Yu says firmly. "Then get one of those techs, cut off a finger or two until they talk, and have a taskforce ready." She states this with a gentle smile on her face. It's kinda creepy. "I don't see the issue here." She keeps her hands to her upper legs, whilst she continues to just smile at R. That smile disappears however at the end of her glass of alcohol, as she pours it full with the bottle again to drink from it. "Know that the SuiKyosha can travel through water within a near instant." She leans back against her seat and relaxes a bit. A slight blush starts to come to her cheeks as she empties the glass, the strong liquor taking root within her system.

"We'd be more than able to help." She turns her head slowly at R and raises a hand to his chin. Yep, she got a bit drunk. "Don't worry big boy." One leg goes over the other. "We'll fix you up somehow." She may be not know much about the Mystic Moon, and perhaps that's where her confidence lay. "Just like mister Ed there. Count us in. Gotta look out for one-another, right?" Was there a reason she suddenly wanted to help him that badly? Was there something about Crest that had struck a bad note?

Geno watched, a brow lofting upwards in curiosity or intrest. He downed another mouthful from the bottle before setting it aside as empty. "And here you were saying that you'd leave them all to me."

Edward Fawkes quirked an eyebrow at Yu, "No offence ma'am but you might want to ease off on the bottle. Especially if you have anything going on tomorrow." He's been a bouncer before, it's been awhile but he recognizes when someone's getting just a bit too much.

He quirked an eyebrow but said nothing to Geno. After all he didn't really know the guy. Then again he didn't really know R, or miss Yu for that matter.

R hrms softly, "Thanks for the back up. Sadly I am not sure how to get you guys into Crest-- since they compound is pretty protected and they are currently being paranoid bastards." He then chuckles, "Though after the month is up, I say have fun, because then the Raven's nest itself is off the leash."

Those feminine hands find his chin and he stares at her with those aqua green eyes. R knew flirting when he saw it, he knew it when he heard it too. She was drunk--

And she was flirting..

Oh, if he had half the mind right now, he take full advantage of this, but..

R smirks faintly, before he then takes her hand from his chin, then giving a gentle kiss on the fingers. "Yes-- the Trailers.. the Ravens.. we are all family in the end."

He then looks over to Genobee before he gives a soft shrug of 'eh'. "Don't tell me your jealous over there, Kid."

A bit of a 'hater', and never one to guard his language, Geno cracks a crooked smile, "Damn right I am."

Yu blinks and turns her head towards Geno. She grabs the bottle and cants it his way. "Don't be greedy." She states firmly, with the warmth of a glasses-wearing librarian. She then grabs that glass and pours some more for herself, and continues drinking. Much like her commander, she had no ability to hold her liquor. Yet she loved the stuff. She even stares at Edward for a moment, just shaking her head a bit. "I can take a few glasses!" She states firmly. Her words are not at all slurred, it's just her behavior that seem to alter a bit so far. "Don't mess with me /boy/. You may be big, but I can still take you out." There was a reason she had a nasty scar running across her face.

She then blushes a bit... or was it the booze... as he kisses on her fingers. "Such the gentleman." She claims, and then places that same hand onto his chest - where his heart was. "See. Plenty of soul and will in there. Now just to get your body back." She pats his chest, then retreats her hand to her lap and ponders pouring another glass. That bottle was being emptied way too fast.

It's been a very long time since Ed's tried anything on the romantic front... and then it didn't go very far because to him all women were child-sized. Still, he was male and could appreciate a good looking woman, even if she wasn't flirting with him directly. He smiled warmly at her when she addressed him. "Oh I'm sure of it miss. If you were Sober there'd probably be no way in hell I could keep you from turning me into a pretzel, dislocate every bone in both arms, and walk over me." He tipped his beer up and sat the empty bottle to one side. "You might even manage it now. However as someone who's spent years keeping people in bars from breaking eachother's heads open I would suggest, politely, you slow down.... Hangovers are murder."

R muses at genobee before he just puts on that big, smile of his, like 'yeah, I know I am damn good'. "Just keep taking notes, Kid." He says with a laugh as He watches Yu a bit. She then runs her hand on his chest and he closes his eyes slightly before he smirks. Then as she removes her hand away, He turns himself slightly where he sits. One arm resting on the back of the couch, one leg crossed over the other, resting the ankle on his knee.

"Your actually pretty beautiful when you blush, you know that?" He says gently. He then motions to the waitress to get her another bottle which does indeed come. Yep-- R apparently was still a Play Boy when he let himself just /damn/ relax.

Maybe he was also doing this to just ruffle Genobee.

When miss Yu's hand had touched R's chest, she'd frowned. She opened her mouth slightly, then closed it again and shook her head. Was she imagining things? "Do you have a fever?" She asks, and looks at the bottles around him. She knew what a cyborg was, to some extent, but his body temperature was not something she'd expected. She suddenly stands up and looks at Edward. Partially because R was suddenly putting the moves on her, and partially for other reasons; there was not a moment of stutter in her movement. "

"If I get a hangover, I get a hangover. That just means I had some good booze!" She states, then turns towards R and puts her hands at her sides. "Okay, young man. You are coming with me now." Wait! What!? Was she... "You obviously need a break, and need to get out of this bar. Let's get you some fresh air. And your flattery isn't going to get me to stop me from dragging you out there." No... she wasn't. She then grabs R's left arm with one hand, and the big bottle with her previously free one. She pulls on him. "Come on, lazy ass, get up."

That's right. This completely newcomer chinese woman, dressed in her beautiful silk red dress, is trying to drag R out of the bar. There was something about people hitting on her she didn't like. She did it to R just now, but the moment he'd committed to replying in kind, that somehow... had changed her entire demeanor. There was probably a story behind that too. She turns towards Edward. "Help me get this man out of here, will 'ya?"

"I'd criticize your delivery there-" opinioned Genobee idly, "But if it's got her that eager to take you for a walk, then I guess even your rusty, old lines have a use every now and then." he claims, seemingly content to simply watch R be woman-handled out of the bar.

Edward Fawkes blinked at the sudden shift in the woman's demeanor but moved to R's other arm ."Alright you heard the lady up and att'em." If this was gonna go where he thought it was for the Nest's owner he envied the man... greatly. If not, Eh. Might help to be nice to the newcomers, especially if they had some idea just what the hell was going on in his head. "Where to?" Business tone. Ed could possibly pick R up and carry him no problem... so long as R didn't weigh more than a few hundred pound. He wasn't trying that hard though, figuring Yu to be the drunk one here. He just wanted to see just where this was going.

There was that raise of a brow when he gets called 'young'. Being nearly forty wasn't young really. Not to his normal human mind. However when Yu takes R's arm, and he doesn't have much of a chance to reply to the 'fever' question; He found her yanking on his arm.

The fun of being a Cyborg was, if he /really/ wanted too, he could probably pull her right back down. However instead he actually gets up, "Easy easy." He states calmly.

Edward didn't need to help really. Yu was getting him out easily. Though the dirty blond then points at Genobee, "Shush it, Kid."

And out goes the raven Founder.