2010-05-18 - A Choir In Discord, Part I

THE MINERVA

VENDING MACHINE CAFETERIA

TWENTY MINUTES AGO

Johnny Domino stands before one of the vending machines, left arm folded across his chest, right arm held vertically, chin propped atop the open palm. Up until a short while ago, the Agent was busy going through the paperwork that piled up while he was locked away at Izu Base -- getting probed and tested for any ill-effects Bardiel may have had on him -- when the young man was promptly overcome by a desire for something to occupy his mouth.

Not one to reject his peckish leanings, Domino's legs brought him to the logical place. Thus stands Johnny, trying to decide whether to go for a Grape Flavored Wheat By-Product Industrialized Energy Bar, or the Grape Flavored Water By-Product Industrialized Juice Carton. He only brought along enough credit to get a single item.

Blue eyes flicking between the two items behind the vending window, nothing else about Johnny budges. Silent and motionless as a statue, Domino still looks like he went through hell, but less so than previous days. The various cuts across his body have begun to heal, and the burn marks are gradually being absorbed underneath a layer of healthier skin. The bruises and contusions, on the other hand, are still taking their sweet time, having now devolved to an overripe purple and yellow coloring.

Not that Domino seems to care. Indeed, the Agent seems far too engrossed with his choice between grape falvors to really care about anything. Or at least, it /looks/ like he's too engrossed with his choice. But the truth is, as he stands there, staring at the vending machine, Domino's mind begins to wander. Thinking back to his time under Bardiel's mental imprisonment -- seeing, hearing, experiencing things through the eyes of an Angel. Only recently has Domino started making order of the chaos that the monster has left in his mind.

Johnny knows things, now. Where the Angels came from, and where they are going. What will happen if they reach their destination. And other, less concrete sensations -- things that the human consciousness was never meant to comprehend. Whenever Johnny would try focusing on these foreign elements, he'd feel as if his mind was going blind. The closer he would inch, the less he could 'see'. Until finally he'd pull back, as if suddenly burnt at the fingertips.

The same process happens now. Energy Bar, Juice Carton, Bardiel......

THE MINERVA

VENDING MACHINE CAFETERIA

NOW

Johnny Domino isn't here. He decided to get /both/ the bar and the juice carton, so he returned to his quarters to retrieve enough credit for his gluttonous purchase. He will be back for his loot shortly.

THE MINERVA

VENDING MACHINE CAFETERIA

Cinco Budenda is a simple man with simple needs. One of those needs is food. Another is water. He was in the vicinity of the vending machine cafeteria to tend to these needs when a sudden sickening sensation raked across his psyche. Groaning, he slumped to the wall of the corridor, bare arm thudding against the cold metal, hands going to his head. "Ghn... this pressure..."

It's an unusual pressure. One which induces nausea as well as the familiar 'flash' sensation. The simple lieutenant shakes it off, re-adjusting his aviators and making sure his step is certain before moving on.

When he comes into the vending machine area, he looks as strong and commanding as ever. Behind the mirrored lenses, he scans the room, watching, seeking... until his eyes land on the source of the disturbance. A man standing lost in his own private hell, trying to seem as nonchalant as Cinco Budenda seems.

Yes, Johnny Domino.

"You might not think it, but staring really hard at something isn't the same as eating it," he suggests, coming up behind and to the left of the Agent. "In fact, most scientists would agree that eating is better than staring, 9 times out of 10."

Johnny Domino, completely oblivious to the influence he has on certain people -- not to mention lacking in any unique sensory perception abilities -- does not acknowledge Cinco when the latter enters the cafeteria. Most of Domino's energy seems to be invested into staring at the vending machine. Or rather, staring THROUGH the vending machine..?

Then Cinco speaks and Domino blinks. His gaze sharpens, realizing someone is talking to him. Drawn out of his silent reverie, the Agent turns his head to look at the person he already met once before, under a different name, under a different disguise, under different circumstances.

Something happens when Johnny's blue eyes lock onto Cinco's dark sunglasses. In a world between worlds -- a layer of existence that humanity has only become privy to in the past century -- a presence stirs. The medical teams at Izu base called it a psychic-like "residue", and If asked, Dr. Ritsuko Akagi of NERV would call it an AT Field signature. However, neither one of them would be able to get the full picture the same way Cinco Budenda does in that moment.

A beastial aura lies within Domino, a stark contrast to the calm look in the young man's eyes. It is far stronger than any aura possessed by other humans, even in the dormant state it's in now. This presence is overlaid across Domino like a mask, can be felt felt for a blink of an eye, a remnant from something far more dangerous, far more majestic... and then it's gone.

In the darkness, the dragon sleeps.

Johnny Domino tilts his head at Cinco. Just an ordinary human, looking at a stranger with interest.

"Sometimes staring is all you /can/ do," says Johnny, reaching to the vending and tapping at the window. Indeed, some things in life exist behind their own glass window, forever out of reach, but never out of sight.

"..well, okay, maybe not in this case exactly," admits the Agent, since he IS holding the required credits in his other hand with which he can get something from the machine. But... well... whatever, nevermind, shut up.

"Anyway, hi," the young man moves on to a proper greeting. Smiling widely, Domino then proceeds to announce in a manner most chipper, "I'm sorry, I have absolutely no clue who you are!"

Cinco Budenda just barely represses a shudder of revulsion at that 'angelic' presence-- and the response it triggers in a certain section of his own soul. Seven eyes pulse with recognition, greeting a prodigal son. He reaches up, disguising the bile rising in his throat as a simple running of his thumb across his stylishly thin moustache.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," he replies. "Most things are meant to be free." The lieutenant does not specify whether he means literally, figuratively, or what. "Even so, it seems you're faced with a dilemma."

After a moment, he introduces himself, smiling a small, quiet half-smile as he does. "I'm Cinco Budenda, a lieutenant. I was just assigned as an advisor to Minerva's Lance." A pause. "Which, if I'm not mistaken, is also your assignment. I'm afraid I don't recall your name, though."

Johnny remains as clueless as ever when Cinco moves to stroke at his moustache. Even if Domino wasn't oblivious to the bile rising in the Lieutenant's throat, it is doubtful he would be feeling the same. Whatever past Angels have left within Johnny is now providing him with an inner strength he did not possess before.

Indeed, this isn't the same Johnny who once captured White Unicorn. The 'monster' Amuro Ray once thought he created now appears to be so... stable, if that is even the proper word.

"Hm?" Domino arches an eyebrow. Cinco does not recall his name? "Does that mean my reputation does not precede me? Tut tut."

Johnny doesn't sound annoyed as he says this. In fact, his tone of voice holds quite a bit of humor alongside the smile. If anything, the Agent simply said what he just said to amuse himself rather than express an actual grievance. "I'm Johnny Domino," he introduces himself. "Agent of the Earth Sphere, designation Lance-4, pilot of the--"

Domino stops. His smile fades. Chimera was destroyed after Bardiel infected it. Johnny was told the Chimera team would salvage whatever they could of the beast and forge a new one, but... until then...

Domino doesn't continue down that path. Instead, he moves to finally get the grape juice carton, starting on a new subject as he does so.

"What are you here to advise on? Battle strategy? Machine maintenance? Combat maneuvers?"

"Yes," Cinco Budenda replies, still nursing that half-smile. He does not elaborate on this answer.

The lieutenant puts his hands into his pockets and nods. "Johnny Domino, of course I've heard of you," continues Cinco. "Just didn't have a face to go with the name. I've been away for a while, out with the Jupiter Energy Fleets." The younger man seems familiar, certainly. Somewhere in the haze of memories of those darker days, perhaps... but it's not important right now. Cinco's identity is safe for the moment; he doesn't sense any recognition.

"I see you've selected the juice," Cinco observes, moving up next to the Agent to use the other machine, selecting a simple bowl of pre-made cheesy rice. "Not hungry?"

"Hm, Jupiter."

And that's all Johnny has to say about that.

Collecting his juice and fiddling with the inbuilt straw-doohickey thing at the top, Domino nods. "Not hungry, no. My taste buds need to be refreshed, is all. Something to wet the mouth with, a bit of fake sugar to jump-start the body. You know how it is."

The Agent finishes setting up the straw and moves to take the first sip-- "I see /you've/ selected the cheesy rice," observes Domino. "You like living in the edge, don't you." He does not offer any further elaboration on this ominous comment, taking his first taste of grape juice. Eh, still tastes like plastic.

"So I suppose all us Lances, 1 through 5, will be working with you from now on, right?"

"Protein," Cinco explains, opening the pop cap of the little plastic bowl. Steam rises, and he digs in with the included folding plastic spoon. Not very eco-friendly. "These guns don't build themselves," he continues, gesturing with his chin at his meager biceps.

The lieutenant chews the tasteless substance for a while, wondering why A-LAWS doesn't spring for a HAMBURGER or a BEER? machine. Just another advantage of the AEUG, he supposes.

The cheesy rice may be tasteless, but the tang of bile still fills his mouth. Cinco forces the food down. He can't go around appearing sick and disgusted all the time, even if he feels that way in the mere presence of such a tainted man.

"Those are the orders," he responds. Then: "So I understand you've had a lot of experience with the so-called Angels. How are you recovering from the Bardiel incident?"

All business, indeed.

Protein? Johnny looks at Cinco's meager biceps.

Huh, well, can't argue with THAT. Or can you?

Domino keeps sipping his juice, lips quirked in a lopsided smile. There's some private joke that seems to entertain the Agent, and he makes no effort to hide it.

When Cinco affirms that he is, indeed, going to work with all the Lances, Domino's smile falls into neutral. "Hnn," he emits, pulling the straw out of his mouth. The tip of his tongue darts out to capture the trail of juice left across his lips, as Domino mulls something over.

His thoughts don't get a lot of mileage before the advisor catches Johnny's attention with a question of his own, though. Blue eyes inspect Cinco with something close to dubious scrutiny, as the young man comments, "News travels fast."

Then the scrutiny is gone. Domino relaxes and proceeds to dodge the question. "It is as you say - I am recovering. Funny you should mention the Angels, though. I was just thinking..."

Domino trails off for a beat. His eyes lose focus for the span of a blink, and when he next speaks, a serene smile begins creeping across his features. "There's something I would like to advise /you/, Mr. Advisor." The smile grows. "Actually, no, that was rude. I only wanted to say it because it sounded dramatic in my head. It's more of a request, what I have to say. It's about Lance-3, the First Child, Rei Ayanami."

The Agent maintains a steady gaze on Cinco's face as he talks, but he doesn't really see him. "You're going to hear people talk about her. Call her names, make fun of her, spread vicious rumors about her. A lot of it happens behind her back, but some of it also happens to her face." The smile is still in place, but there's no kindness in it. To seek out Johnny's true emotions, one has to look at his narrowing eyes.

"Don't listen to them. Please, don't listen to them. Give her a chance. Give her the opportunity to be herself. Don't write her off as a freak just because she doesn't talk much, or doesn't smile -- she /does/ smile."

The memory of Rei's smile, of her laughter, seems to bring Domino out of his little monologue. With a blink, his eyes return to normal, no longer narrowed, no longer looking past Cinco. The smile, too, is gone. Johnny Domino feels no shame when he concludes: "Rei Ayanami is a very important person."

"I make it my business to know the news," Cinco responds, standing the flimsy fork up in the viscous goop of the fake food. He would kill a man for a Pizza Hut Personal Pan Pizza right now. How do these people /survive/?

"It's funny, you know," he says, watching Johnny's eyes. He can, of course, read the man's emotions like most humans feel the temperature or the rain on their skin. "How things are circular. I already spoke to Rei yesterday." Cinco digs at the food a bit, turning and leaning against the machine. "She, in fact, is the one who convinced me to transfer to A-LAWS."

The simple lieutenant doesn't mention the circumstances surrounding this event, or that Rei didn't convince him /actively/ so much as /by her existence/. That would be dangerous to him, and to her. "And I know... /exactly/ how important she is."

The lights from the ceiling reflect on those mirrored glasses. Somehow, four lights are reflected in the left, and three in the right. Seven eyes, burning in the dark. It keeps coming back to those seven eyes. Is it a trick of the light, or something more? Is it even worth noticing?

"What I'm wondering right now, though... is just how deeply the angels affected /you/. You have had direct contact with them, after all."

Well, Johnny Domino happens to survive by sneaking his own food on board and scattering it across multiple hot spot, all of them well-hidden from view. Certain Agently skills can be very useful, and that ain't no lie.

But that is neither here nor there.

Domino is caught off guard when Cinco talks about Rei. His look turns into a stare, eyebrows locked between a lowering in a tight frown and rising in surprise. Cinco already spoke to Rei? -- Rei /convinced/ him to transfer to A-LAWS?

For the first time since the Advisor walked into the cafeteria, Johnny finds himself consciously wondering: who is this man? Cinco Budenda, a simple lieutenant, had been assigned to the Jupiter Energy Fleets up until recently. Does he have ties to NERV? Does he have ties to Leo Stenbuck? What was his relationship with Rei Ayanami?

And then Cinco says that he knows /exactly/ how important Rei is. Johnny Domino is rendered speechless. Cinco may be able to draw parallels between the emotions Domino is exuding at the moment, and between the emotions a certain Freelance Journalist exudes whenever he reverts into a paranoid cocoon of suspicion and speculations.

After a time, Domino manages to rediscover his voice, but it is only after Cinco reverts the topic back to the Agent and his contact with the Angels. "You want to know how deeply the angels affected me," he repeats, his steady voice betraying non of the emotions brewing on the inside.

Offering no immediate response, Johnny takes a step forward, then another one, and another. Moving to invade Cinco's personal space, Domino tries getting right in the Advisor's face, giving the sunglasses an intent stare all the while. Those large sunglasses that play tricks with the light.

Cinco certainly recognises this state of mind, and it makes him uncomfortable-- but he doesn't panic, not yet. The key now is to remain level-headed, keep up his cover. The lieutenant can't tell what Johnny is thinking, obviously, but the cues are clear.

"Yes, Johnny," he replies, voice calm, even as the Agent gets all up in his personal space. Cinco doesn't move or flinch; he's dealt with worse. He's dealt with Kai Shiden himself, and this young man still has a ways to go before he can rival that man's intimidation skills.

"You seem agitated, Johnny," he continues. "Why is that? Does talking about your encounters with the Angels upset you?" Slowly, deliberately, he picks up the laden fork, guides it to his mouth, chews the tasteless food. "We don't have to talk about it now, Johnny. Not if it upsets you so much." Chew. Chew. "We can always discuss this later. It's important for me to understand all the pilots of the Lance."

"Their strengths. Their abilities." Chew. Chew. "Their weaknesses."

Johnny Domino isn't cracked enough to rival Kai Shiden's intimidations skills, not at all. Even if there is something to be said about the outwardly calm manner in which Domino gets into Cinco's face -- certainly a rather creepy display -- it's doubtful the Agent could ever be quite like the Journalist.

"Agitated," repeats Domino, tasting the word. There's industrialized grape on his breath. "Is that what I am? I suppose it is." Even now, his voice sounds normal, laced with a confidence that the Agent would have lacked before Bardiel.

"But also curious. Very, very curious."

Domino pauses there, eyes darting from the sunglasses to Cinco's chewing mouth and back again. "You've implied a close connection to Rei. A friend of her, perhaps? Or perhaps a 'friend'. Someone who knows... /exactly/ how important she is." The Agent mimics the Advisor's earlier inflections. "And you're showing quite an interest in the Angels. I'm getting the feeling this goes beyond what your duties as an Advisor call for. Or maybe..."

Johnny's mind keeps working, trying to piece together this puzzle -- to put to rest the alarms in his head.

"Or maybe this is exactly why you are here." Johnny Domino is not an Agent of the Earth Sphere by title alone. When called upon, he has the skills to back up his claim to glory.

Finally, he offers Cinco the closest thing to an answer: "If you want to know how the Angels affected me, I suggest you head over to Tokyo-03 when another one attacks. And you go there, and you face it, and you fight it, and you stop it."

"Maybe, Johnny," Cinco replies. "Maybe it is. Why don't you ask Rei, if you're curious?" His half-smile creeps upwards into a more full smile. "You seem to feel that going out and doing somthing is the best way to find an answer, after all."

Cinco shoves himself off the machine, landing lightly in the low gravity, and taking another bite of the mush. "Tell me, Johnny. Do you assume everyone who wants to help is, what, some kind of conspiracist?" He chuckles, aviators twinkling. "Are you so wound up that you see devils in every shadow?" Cinco waves the flimsy fork dramatically. "It's my /job/ to ensure that Minerva's Lance is working well together, as a stable team. I'm sure you've heard of the problems with GNX squad. We don't want to see a repeat of /that/ on this ship."

The simple lieutenant shakes his head. "You're clearly suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and more than a little paranoia," he comments, turning away from the Agent and dropping the empty cup of cheesy rice into the garbage receptacle. "I suggest you get some rest, and talk to Rei or myself when you're feeling more... stable."

Johnny Domino listens to Cinco. He follows the Advisor's motions with his eyes, then follows him around with his head when the lieutenant begins moving away.

There aren't a great many people the Agent trusts. And he really does have a tendency to push away those who try to help, or even get close just for the sake of being close. Cinco Budenda seems to read Domino about as well as the Agent managed to read the situation.

Although at the very end there, Cinco makes a funny choice of words. Telling Johnny to speak to Rei or himself when the Agent feels more 'stable'. Yet Johnny Domino has never felt more stable in his life than he does now. Does he make the connection in his head that the experience with Bardiel has done something to him? Or does he accept his newly acquired inner strength as something natural?

Whichever the case, Domino outwardly remains a tomb of mystery. The fact that Cinco can so easily make such broad claims about Johnny's state of being is certainly intriguing, and quite a bit troubling, but the notion that the Advisor might be a Newtype doesn't pass the Agent's mind.

"I think we both know who I am going to talk to next," says Johnny. The subtext is clear: Not you, Cinco. "I hope you find your stay on the Minerva pleasant."

Cinco turns briefly to toss Johnny a swift salute, with an infuriatingly calm and understanding expression on his face. Sure, he may not be /feeling/ as calm as he looks, but that just comes with experience. Something the Agent is clearly familiar with.

"Say hello to Rei for me, then," he calls, ambling out the door. "I hope the rest of the Minerva is as interesting as the food." He begins to whistle a contented tune as he wanders through the corridors to his quarters.