2010-03-07 - The Men From Jupiter

Leo's primary duties have changed significantly since the formation of A-LAWS and his transfer onto the Shirogane. Where back in the Federation he'd managed to get

himself promoted to a desk job, here on the Shirogane - currently stationed at La Vie en Rose while Anaheim is under investigation - he's the CAG... and, right now,

that involves doing very little except biding his time.

They're prepared for an assault, of course, but there's nothing more Leo can do to ensure they're ready... so he lies on his bed in his room, one of the few normally

seen as shitty, outside of the gravity block and back near the engines. There's no gravity, and the constant thrum of engines; most Earthnoids consider it the room

assignment equivalent of being kicked in the dick. Leo doesn't mind the latter, and prefers the former.

He's not wearing a shirt - presumably at the whim of some terrible fanservice god - and is 'playing' with his recently-acquired Haro. At the moment, that entails

gently pushing it up off of his chest, letting it drift up into the ceiling and then bounce back towards him. Every time it thumps lightly back onto his chest, it

chirps, "AMURO!"

The pressure from the engines must be increasing as the ship prepares to do some testing. That's one explanation for it. The other is that the Man from Jupiter has

just docked, and he's making the rounds, slowly but surely heading in the direction of that very room.

Abruptly the door opens, revealing a tall silhouette there with broad shoulders. Then there's the dramatic peal of thunder! "Oooh, damn, my sound effect machine is

kickin'" a voice from behind the figure declares. "It's gonna be great for D&D night--"

The rest is cutoff as the figure steps into the room, the door closing, and sure enough it's Paptimus Scirocco. His uniform is impeccable as always, too tight on his

figure, and essentially the same as his Titans uniform; the emblems are A-LAWS however. "Leo," he greets the youth on the bed. The lack of gravity is hardly a

problem for one such as he, who wishes to ensure all are freed from the bonds of gravity.

Yeah fuck that gravity shit.

"Master Paptimus," Leo blurts in obvious surprise, sitting suddenly upright; the descending Haro crashes into his head a moment later and deflects away into the rest

of the room, flapping happily. "MASTER, MASTER," it chants, "MASTER, MASTER!"

Leo rubs the bump on his head and scowls briefly before continuing, still shocked. "I didn't realize you were coming, or I'd have..." Put on a shirt? "... been

ready," he finishes, lamely. He plants his feet on the ground next to his bed and stands, lifting slightly off the ground as he does so. "What's up, sir?"

Scirocco lefts a hand out for the Haro, fully expecting it to flap its way over to him and rest on the palm of his hand like some kind of trained eagle. "I thought

I'd stop by and see how you're settling in. Particularly given... recent events," he adds the last after a pause, glancing about the room as he says that. Is the

pressure in the room getting more intense?!

"I've had Sarah down in Greece recently, recovering from the injuries she sustained in the field. I trust you've seen the new unit she's now utilizing," the Man

adds, conversationally enough.

The Haro does eventually end up in Paptimus's hand, although it takes it awhile of bouncing around the room to do so. Thankfully, it deigns to shut up once it makes

it into the Man from Jupiter's hand, and is content to sit there occasionally flapping.

The increased pressure is all but lost on Leo, despite his recently increased sensitivity to thoughtwaves. He's always felt a weird air around Paptimus, and long ago

wrote it off as simply being intimidated by it; he's now so used to it that he doesn't even notice it.

He definitely, however, notices the words; his shoulders and face sag slightly at the mention of 'recent events', and talk about Sarah does little to re-heighten his

spirits. "The Titania, right?" he asks, his voice measured and neutral. "I saw it a few days ago. It looked-"

- like it was built just for her, Leo continues mentally, something that he's almost certain the Pallas Athene wasn't for him. He had always figured her for his

favorite, of course, but he can't help but feel a few twinges of jealousy and bitterness, especially in the wake of-

""- really advanced," Leo continues using his actual big boy words, without so much as breaking stride in his sentence. He manages to keep any hint of scorn out of

his voice, at least. "I'm sure she loves it."

Looking at the Haro, Scirocco spins it on his palm as he listens to Leo's response, reading between all the lines as only someone as talented as the Man from Jupiter

can. The Admiral, the Field Marshall, whatever his title may be, is entirely too aware of his surroundings, even if he lets so few become aware of his true

intentions, his true motives.

"Yes, although it is a machine she must grow into, as she becomes what I intend her to become," the Man leaves that bait dangling there, to see if the young man

bites.

But getting one's mouth around those leading man parts may prove difficult, with the sudden shift in conversation that follows after that. "You know why I'm really

here, yes? Why don't you tell me." he adds, a dire undercurrent in his voice as those purple eyes lift from the spinning top to regard the shirtless boy. A dangerous

Scirocco is here. Command?

Leo's forehead creases slightly at 'what I intend her to become'. He can't help but wonder what the Man from Jupiter means, exactly; obviously he has some role

intended for her, as he surely does for him, too. He just hadn't ever stopped and thought about what those roles were. 'Very important cog', wasn't it?

He doesn't get the chance to dwell on it too long; Paptimus moves the topic inexorably forward, and Leo seems to deflate yet again. He's really failing to work that

six-pack today, but that's what an emotional kick in the junk will do to you.

"I don't know," the young man confesses, turning away from Paptimus and pushing his way across the floor over to the desk against one wall. He has nothing to do

there, really; he settles with fiddling briefly with an electronic pictureframe, currently showing a photograph of him and Rei Ayanami, apparently taken in one of

those mall photo booths.

He stares at the frame for a second, and then turns it facedown when his stomach ties itself into a knot. "You probably want to talk about... what happened with

Yazan, or something," Leo guesses, without looking back at his master.

"Somewhat, yes," Paptimus replies, for he is not completely without compassion. His head lifts, and he regards the Haro again. He sends it across the room with a

light tap from the back of his hand, a promise of things to come depending on the answers he receives to the questions that will follow.

"Forgive me for not arriving to see how you've been coping sooner, but once NERV sent through their report concerning her state, I figured you'd be a bit

preoccupied," the Man lightly states it all, watching keenly without appearing to for the response.

How much he knows about the entire NERV and Ayanami deal is a complete mystery, even to the player, but he goes on to add, "I imagine you're feeling somewhat guilty

though, considering the request you made to borrow one of the Jupitoris." The potential affair with Latooni is what he alludes to, although he's unsure as to how far

that ever got to, and if it will even go anywhere at all now.

"So tell me what's on your mind, my young friend, and then I will show you what's on mine."

Tch... 'her condition'. Leo figured that if anyone would realize what had happened, it would be The Man from Jupiter; just as he long ago convinced himself that the

strange pressure was merely himself being frightened of the obviously perfectly normal and non-psychic Paptimus Scirocco, he also long ago convinced himself that his

master knew everything. He seemed to, after all; it stands to reason that he really would.

But... it's not his fault. They must have hidden it well... no one believes him, he's sure of that. They all think he's crazy. But Master Paptimus will believe him;

he'll understand. He'll realize, certainly. Maybe he'll even know how, or why. But...

"Guilty?" Leo asks, sadly. "No, sir. I still need the ride." Paptimus's wording gives him pause. Did he change his mind about letting him piggyback on one of the

Fleet? Does he think it'd be better if he stay here? Or maybe he's just mad at him...

Leo grits his teeth, and pushes past the thought. He doesn't want to dwell on it, and he doubts Paptimus wants to talk about it. One topic at a time, at least, he

tells himself.

The young man sighs heavily and turns, scooching up to take a seat on his desk. The Haro, bouncing merrily around the room from Paptimus's tap, uses its flaps to

angle itself into Leo's chest; he catches it and wraps his arms around it, clutching it like one might a pillow.

"That's not really Rei," Leo says simply after a few moments of silence, staring down at the Haro. "Rei's dead. That... thing... I don't know what she is. /It/ is."

"So you're suggesting that NERV has in some way cloned Ayanami, and the one assigned to serve under me is not in fact suffering from amnesia like Ikari's brief

suggested?" Paptimus questions, still employing that light tone. He lifts a hand, idly adjusting his collar. "Regardless, be she a twin or simply an amnesiac, I

won't have you dwelling and sinking into despair."

That hand shifts, pointing at the boy.

"Part of being the Man from Jupiter, young Leo, and being a man in general, is knowing that you must grieve when appropriate, no longer than appropriate, and that

you must continue your duty regardless. And more importantly, you must not forget what is most important to you."

The hand clenches into a light fist, and then his arms cross. "So what, pray tell, is most important?" This is a test. The answer will decide the course of action

Scirocco must take here.

Cloned... they couldn't do that, could they? Leo frowns thoughtfully. In truth, he'd never really thought about what this new Rei was; he just knew it was unnatural.

Wrong. There's no way they brought her back. People can't come back, not from what happened to her. Not from death like that. But cloned... maybe.

The thought make his blood heat with anger. If they did clone her... where's the fucking respect for the dead? They can't just, just REPLACE her, with-- Leo takes a

sudden, shallow breath, forcing himself to keep up with Paptimus as the Man from Jupiter sets the pace of the conversation.

Leo turns his head to look at the Man from Jupiter, still frowning. Important to him... what's important to him? No... more than that, what does The Man from Jupiter

want to hear? A few possibilities swim through Leo's mind. Getting Jehuty back. Ending the wars in the Earth Sphere. 'Not being alone' flashes through, but he pushes

it away; it's shameful, pathetic, and would only be moreso if he voiced it.

But... none of these, he suspects, are what Paptimus wants to hear. He doesn't know /what/ he wants to hear; he wishes he had the 'right answer'. He doesn't want to

let his master down. But... Leo's shoulders sag. It's so hard to play a role dictated by others.

After nearly ten seconds of further, silent contemplation, Leo decides to answer honestly... or at least as honestly as he can, being truthfully unsure of what /is

most important to him. "Revenge."

While he waits, Scirocco contemplates just what answer he's likely to hear. This boy is trapped by his emotions as surely as the world is trapped by gravity's pull.

He knows that he's expecting too much out of Leo, to be able to put aside the loss and strive on for tomorrow; it's likely too soon, but that's part of why he's

pushing. There is something more important being formulated now, that goes beyond the Man from Jupiter, let alone the Boy from Jupiter.

Girl's mature faster than boys, after all. Leo proves it when he says what's important to him. "Revenge," the Admiral echoes the word as if weighing it, before his

face twists as if it had a bad taste. It does.

"And what then, when you either kill Gable, or die in the attempt?"

It is delivered harshly. It is meant to be. He must cut through the malaise that clouds the boy's mind, and he must breach the core, as if Leo were the Death Star.

"I will speak with you bluntly, my young friend, because you are growing and I can only treat you as a child for so long. I have walked that path. It is not sweet,

like the movies would have you believe. It is a hollow feeling, because once that goal is complete, you are left with nothing but the taste of ash upon your tongue."

He does not elaborate as to what his personal experience was, because he must always remain clouded with that allure of mystery.

"Don't be a child. Revenge is not what she would want you focusing on."

The words do, indeed, cut through the malaise; perhaps even the distortion, wiiinku. In doing so, they unearth a surge of anger. What does the Man from Jupiter know

about revenge, about loss? He gets everything... has everything. He has all the looks, and all the brains, all the skill, all the power. He has /Sarah/. He's--

-- right, of course. He's always right. An eye for an eye... it's a childish thought. Leo looks away from his master, releasing the Haro from his grasp and reaching

up to fiddle nervously with the ends of the cloth bandage he has tied around his head.

It isn't supposed to be like this. He's supposed to be stronger, better... an adult. So why is everything still so hard? He has to do better still. If he doesn't, an

insidious whisper in the back of his mind assures him, Master Paptimus won't want him anymore.

"I know," the young man eventually says, voice quiet. He doesn't look back at Paptimus. "I'm sorry. ... I'll do better."

"Don't tell me what I want to hear. There was a man on the radio the other day shouting about wanting actions, not words. I cannot agree with him more." Paptimus

shakes his head. "Cry your tears, by all means. But don't become so lost in your grief that you start losing that which is about you.

"You are not alone."

The Man from Jupiter pauses there, to let the words sink in. But he is a man of duty, of supreme, if not divine, purpose. Where some men are content to reach for the

moon, he reaches for the stars. He came here for a reason, and that reason is the grand scheme of things. There are cogs in that scheme that aren't working as they

should.

"You need to remember that, but you need to consider what your actions as of late may have caused. Blind grief is excusable, but you must seek that forgiveness. So

think back to, and tell me why, Sarah feels like she's lost her best friend.

"Tell me why she's left feeling like she's alone in this system of ours.

"And tell me why it's important that you fix it."

'Cry your tears', indeed. Leo would like nothing more than to do that, even right now, even with Paptimus right there. But no matter how he tries, no matter how many

times he lays awake at night staring at the ceiling, feeling like there's an anvil sitting on his heart, he can't make the tears come, can't get relief from that

crushing weight. It's frustrating... frustrating enough to make him want to cry.

Funny how that works.

But... again, The Man from Jupiter is right. He's not alone. Paptimus still cares about him; he must, if he came out here. He has his MS Team. He has friends. And

soon... soon, he'll have Jehuty. He'll have--

The name 'Sarah' cuts through his thoughts like the second emotional kick in the junk of the night. The young man's shoulders tense, causing him to hunch forwards

slightly, and he grimaces down at his now empty lap, the Haro having drifted off to a corner of the room.

So that's what this is about. Paptimus /is/ mad at him. This isn't what was supposed to happen, he mentally insists for the thousandth time; the thought brings the

spike of resentment towards Ribbons back, as fresh as it was that day. He promised, he /promised/, but...

"I wasn't trying to upset her," Leo murmurs, his pain evident in his voice. "I just thought... if I told her how I feeled, if I showed her that we were the same,

that she'd..."

Perhaps not outright mad, but definitely displeased; his cogs aren't working as described in the manual, and there's a no-return policy at the store. "That she'd

what? Abandon her duty, and run away with a boy lost in the grief of losing his girlfriend?"

Paptimus Scirocco is not impressed.

Not even remotely impressed in fact, all things considered.

"As I said, blind grief is excusable, but you must seek forgiveness -- if you actually want it, if you wish to remain her friend, at the least." The Man's arms are

crossed again. He radiates disapproval, but it eventually softens. Just a little.

"I cannot have those who follow me at odds with one another, and even awkwardness may endanger what I have planned, my friend. Have you realized yet what my

machinations for the Earth Sphere are leading towards?"

"Not abandon," Leo interjects weakly. He doesn't muster up the momentum to actually interrupt Paptimus, of course, so he settles for mumbling a correction while his

master talks. The last thing he wants to do is go AWOL, especially now, when he's sure his duties are all that are keeping him sane.

Forgiveness... so Sarah's mad at him, too. Hates him, probably. It figures... Leo remains hunched over, looking for all the world like he's been punched in the

stomach. Relief of a sort comes, at least, in the form of discussion of Paptimus' master plan.

Leo seizes upon it, desperate for any turn that takes the conversation away from his shame. "Peace, you said," Leo responds, a little of the pain and distress

leaving his voice. "And... you said you thought it'd be a woman, to rule next, and then Riksent won the Gundam Fight, so..."

"Yes, peace in our time. I don't plan small-time operations, Leo." No 'young' this time. Paptimus considers whether he'll ever address the boy that way again, once

he's finished with this discussion, this attempt to re-purpose the boy towards the ends he has in mind.

"You should know that by now. The Gundam Fight is of no matter to me. If it comes around again, perhaps we will take control then. If not, there are always other

means. But yes, I intend for a woman to rule, because the Sphere needs the nurturing nature of a mother, the softness of a woman, to ensure that all sides are happy.

"The woman I have in mind is Sarah Zaziarov, if you haven't gathered that. The Titania, her assignment on the Minerva, this is the beginning of her evolution. She

must grow, and she must come away from my shadow. I want you actively supporting her in this pursuit, but more importantly, she needs her friend back."

He pauses there, before a slight smile tugs at his lips.

"My time is finite. I won't be Man from Jupiter forever. She can't do it alone."

Leo listens carefully throughout the entire explanation; near the end, he seems hunched even lower, if that were even possible. It's like a great weight has been

placed on his shoulders... another task heaped upon the many he's already taken on. He wonders, vaguely, how many he can take before his metaphorical back breaks.

Sarah, the Ruler of All Known Space? It isn't that he can't see it... he had just always assumed it had been Shine, who Paptimus meant. She was there now, after all,

wasn't she? They're both women... is there something wrong with the Princess, he wonders, that he doesn't know about?

As has happened so many times, Leo's train of thought is derailed by Paptimus's words. His time is finite...? He'd never thought about that. Paptimus had always

seemed... older, yes, but ageless. Invincible, immortal. But...

Leo's thoughts drift back to Gentle Chapman. Everyone dies, he recalls bitterly. Some of us die in violence, and some of us die in bed, but... eventually, everyone

must face the truth. Everyone must remember that they will die.

Paptimus /won't/ be The Man from Jupiter forever. And the Earth Sphere... the Earth Sphere needs a Man from Jupiter. It needs to be properly guided. Who better to

fill his master's shoes than him? Surely, then, Sarah will...

Leo exhales slowly, and then straightens up, turning his eyes back to Paptimus. "I understand," he says softly. The pain in his voice has dissolved almost entirely.

"I'll talk to Sarah."

"Good," Paptimus Scirocco replies, his brows lifting just slightly. It's a good outcome, he decides, but there's a point he yet needs to drive home. "Know this," and

now he's going to read Leo's mind, because he knows precisely what the boy, still lost on a sea of uncertainty no doubt, will opt to cling to; a hope he must make

fruitless.

"If you ever hope to fill my shoes, you must stop thinking with your crotch. My machinations are for the world. Yours have been to supplement your relationship with

Ayanami with the comfort of Subota. Use your brain, Leo. The skirt-chasing must end. There is no time for romance for those who would shape the future.

"You cannot have your cake and eat it too. That path leads only to failure."

And the Man from Jupiter cannot abide failure. Turning towards the door, he knows full well that he hit her pretty hard there, Rick. But he must be harsh to bring

this boy off the track he's heading in.

"But my time is not done yet. You will not entertain any further notions of Sarah turning to you for that sort of comfort. If she is to lead, she must do so

unclouded by the perils of over-familiarity.

"So get what you must out of your system. When you are ready to walk this path, come and see me."

The door opens, but the Master waits on any parting comments.

No time for romance...? Leo's heart sinks, at that; not out of self-pity, but rather out of sympathy for Sarah. He wonders, briefly, if she knows the way The Man

from Jupiter feels about romance. If not, he hopes she never does; it'd crush her, he's sure.

But... no romance... he's not ready for another real relationship yet anyways, that much he's sure of, but the thought is distasteful none the less. Why does

Paptimus want him to be alone?

But I won't be alone, he realizes suddenly. Soon, soon I'll have Jehuty back - I'll have /her/ back - and then everything will be okay. He latches onto that thought,

clings to it. When he has Jehuty back, everything will be okay. He won't need anyone... just her.

He won't be alone anymore. Not ever.

Leo nods his silent agreement with Paptimus's conditions; only when the door opens, and Paptimus seems set to depart, does he speak, and even then it's only to say,

"Thank you, Master."

"Don't thank me yet," Paptimus replies, looking ahead rather than glancing back. "Continue with your regular reports to me, in any event. I may suggest that you

speak with a one of the counselors as well, however annoying it is.

"This isn't something you should go through alone."

But he is not the one to sit and hold Leo's hand through therapy sessions however. Lifting a hand, he waves it once, and disappears into the hall.

The suggestion of counseling makes Leo crinkle his nose; he's had enough, he thinks, of pills that are supposed to make him happy, and that's all he suspects he'd

get from a therapist. He forces himself to nod, anyways, and offers a weak smile as his master departs.

Once Paptimus is gone, Leo stands up from his desk and walks over to his bed, collapsing into it. He sprawls out on his back and stares up at the ceiling for several

minutes, imagination buzzing with the possibilities the future now seem to present.

Eventually, he sits suddenly upwards again, and rises out of bed, drifting back over to his desk. He pulls out the chair there, lowers himself into it, and turns on

the monitor of his computer.

Within thirty seconds, Leo has pulled up a suite of modern MS design tools, 'borrowed' from one of the Federation design labs (quite possibly with help from The

Neo-Pirate Bay). He taps at a few keys, indicating to the program to start a new project.

When the computer prompts him for a name for the new project file, Leo stares at his monitor for several long seconds. Titania... he's familiar with the name, if not

intimately. He knows it, at least. And he knows what it needs... what will complete it. A small smile spreads across his face, and he reaches out and types in:

LMX-000 Oberon