2010-04-17 - Superior Toys

 Revive Revival hcch-hmm. "Captain Stenbuck, Lieutenant Peries, Warrant Officer Halevy. My office on the Shirogane, if you please."

 Revive Revival transmits, "Meeting time."

 Leo Stenbuck transmits, "... yes, sir."

 Soma Peries transmits, "...on my way."

REVIVE REVIVAL'S OFFICE

THE SHIROGANE

SPACE

NOW

Revive Revival's office -- repurposed from what was presumably a minor meeting room, given the fact that it has a round meeting table in the middle of it, not far from his desk -- is an understated but respectable sort of place. As would befit a TRUE and HONEST Cyber-Newtype, there's not much in the way of personal decoration -- just a trophy from the EFAHHA, with a little gold figurine atop it of what appears to be Roy Fokker in the Air Jordan pose.

Revive is not at his desk. Along his walls, various touchscreen maps have been set up, charting no less than six separate regions of space, with various notations flickering here and there -- migrations of enemy troops, possible Katharon hideouts, that sort of thing. He's not looking at those, either. Instead, pacing from one side of the room to the other, Revive Revival has his hands clasped behind his back, his A-LAWS greatcoat removed to reveal an almost obscenely tight branded t-shirt beneath, showcasing the femininity of his body shape and the masculinity of his lean yet visibly defined musculature. He looks pained.

Mostly this is because he is biting the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. Revive thought he already got all of his giggles out, but apparently some still remain. If all else fails, he figures, he'll fake having a cough.

Louise is always the first to Revive's office whenever the occasion to enter it comes up; she likes Revive even if Leo may not, and definitely wants to impress him -- and part of that is showing the proper discipline. When the GNX Team was called together to meet, she promptly put her A-LAWS greatcoat on and booked it out the door.

She hasn't read the paper today, or checked any /other/ news sources, for that matter; as such, she has almost no idea what's going on. She looks a little worried about Revive's pained expression, but says nothing; instead, she just salutes upon entering his office, giving him a firm, "Sir," before sliding into a slightly more at-ease position.

The majority of Soma's off duty time have been spent either using the sensors to locate Ralla or going out in her Smultron to search firsthand. Today she has done the latter... so the news of a mystery limb being discovered has not yet reached her. In fact, Soma was still in the hangar bay of the Shirogane, doing a final shut-down check of the Ahead, when the summons came in. She quickly finished the checking in procedures and made her way to the GNZ commander's office.

Still in her flight suit, without bothering to change into her uniform or even throw on the greatcoat, Soma arrives. Her helmet is held under one arm, and she snaps a quick salute with the other. "Lieutenant Soma Pieres reporting!" Amber eyes shift toward the blonde, and Soma gives her a quick nod of greeting. "Sir..." She pauses mid-question, however, as she sees the look on Revive's face. This may not be good, and he might not want to repeat himself, so she'll patiently wait until Leo arrives.

Leo Stenbuck is worried.

He's pretty sure this is reasonable; he cannot recall the last time Revive Revival ever had good news to give him, probably because Revive Revival has /never/ had good news to give him. But it isn't like not showing up will make the bad news different... and even if it would, it's not like he can just not show up.

But that doesn't mean he can't take his sweet time, just to be a dick. Leo is the last to arrive in Revive's office, and his entrance is not exactly an energetic one. He practically slinks through the door, draws up in between Louise and Soma, and gives Revive a half-hearted salute. "Captain," he greets, curtly.

Salute given, he drops his hand back to his side, and proceeds to kick the whole idea of 'professionalism' right in the dick by putting his arm around Louise's waist. At least he bothered to put his greatcoat on before showing up? Which... may explain what took him so long, actually, especially to anyone who's seen his room lately.

Revive doesn't look at any of the three as they enter. "Sit, all of you," he says, flatly, as if he were about to begin reading portions of tax code to them -- that's how excited he sounds. He stops pacing, at least, but remains faced away from the group for a moment. His hands twitch slightly in their position behind his back. His posture, incidentally, is perfect.

"You know, they never... programmed me for this kind of thing," Revive notes, almost to himself. He knows Soma, if no one else, can read him like an open book if he tries to play his cards unsubtly. So he focuses on pulling himself inward, on withdrawing and acting like he's trying to hold it together. His hands tremble again, and he turns around, face a weary frown that only makes his beautiful features seem even more elegant.

"First, I just want you to know that... whatever you need, I'll appr-- nngh. No. I'm doing this backwards." Revive reaches up and touches his temple, before rubbing the bridge of his nose. He looks tired. (This is because he laughed so hard he thought he pulled something, and came away actually physically exhausted from it.) "Today, search teams in Tokyo-02 recovered..." Revive trails off again. He glances from Louise, to Leo, to Soma. His red eyes close for a second, and he draws in a breath.

"They recovered Ralla Traln Triald. As far as we're aware." Pause. Revive has to use every ounce of effort within his terrible Innovade being to avoid a cruel smirk when he adds, "But... not... all of her. If the preliminary genetic testing is correct -- and it seems likely -- then what was recovered from Tokyo Bay this morning was... Ralla's foot."

Revive sits on the edge of his desk, looking at the floor for a second. This seems really hard for him. And it is, but not for the reasons one might suspect. "If any of you need... time off, time away, I'll approve it. Likewise, if any of you need /more/ time, more missions, I'll approve that too. I've taken the liberty of scheduling grief counseling for all of you. Whether or not you attend is your choice, but I strongly recommend it."

Revive rubs his jaw. His gaze mostly directs toward Soma, watching the Super Soldier, seeing how she reacts. If she reacts. Really, though, he's listening for Louise. Seeing if she'll do what her best friend Revive wants her to do. He wonders if he even needs to give her those psychic nudges anymore -- he hopes not. "Listen..." Revive seems like he's about to say more, and then just spreads his hands in defeat. "I'm sorry."

Scooting in toward Leo and likewise putting an arm around him for a moment, Louise is nevertheless the first to sit when Revive tells them to sit; one wonders if she knows how to stay, play fetch, play dead, and chase her tail, too.

When she hears that what was recovered was Ralla's foot, she feels a whole lot of emotions flip through her head in rapid succession -- but chief among them, as petty as it is, is closure. She doesn't have to worry about whether or not Leo was doing something untoward with the Cyber-Newtype because she's gone now.

"... I'm glad we finally know what happened," Louise says, sounding almost... relieved? "I don't think I'll be attending, Captain. In fact -- I'd like more time." It isn't /overtly/ cruel... but it might be a little too uncaring.

While the casual attitude of Leo is noted and not necessarily approved of, Soma says nothing. She does give him a brief nod and a quick salute, though. Even if he isn't currently in charge of the GNX team, he still outranks her. Maybe that's why she doesn't say anything about his unprofessional actions. "Captain."

Sit down. Is it that serious that they need to sit? The Super Soldier hesitates for a moment, waiting for the other two to take their seats before she does so as well. While she is curious what this is all about, she restrains herself from trying to poke into Revive's mind. That would be rude, and he is a superior officer. Not to menton he might notice such an action, but that reasoning doesn't even come up in Soma's mind. The first two are more than reason enough.

When the announcement is made, Soma is silent. Her face retains the same stoic expression. She listens careflly to what details there are, not a single flicker coming to her face or eyes. A good observer may note, however, that her grip on her helmet is growing much tighter as she squeezes it with all the strength she can muster without moving her arm. Even easier to tell is the emotion that she's radiating. It's suppressed as much as possible, but there's a definite feeling of -loss- that drifts out from her. Soma was never the best at shielding her outgoing thoughts, and never really needed to. That only makes this more difficult.

After several moments, Soma takes a deep breath. "I don't require grief council. As the Warrant Officer, I request additional time." She pauses, considering for a moment. "I also have some operations to propose."

Leo - obviously begrudgingly - unhooks his arm from around Louise and takes a seat next to her, when Revive gives his order. The round table, far from being designed for it, hinders any further attempts by Leo to get touchy, so he settles with playing footsie with Louise like some kind of retarded high schooler.

Which... you know.

That stops abruptly, though, as the news starts to come out. Leo is acutely aware of a distinct pressure on his temples, the result of Soma's response to Ralla's fate. He doesn't recognize what it is, of course, and he certainly isn't in any state to notice who it's coming from. He isn't taking this as well as Soma. He /certainly/ isn't taking it as well as Louise.

But it's not immediately apparent. Leo just stares at Revive in silent as he finishes his explanation, and Louise and Soma chime in about additional time. His mouth is hanging slightly open, and he's blinking far more than could possibly be necessary.

It isn't until Soma finishes speaking - or, more accurately, about the time Soma is speaking the last syllable of 'propose' - that Leo suddenly blurts, "Bullshit!"

He half-rises out of his seat, slamming his palms down on the table as he does so. "That-- it doesn't mean anything! It's just a foot! She could have-- it could--" Leo sputters helplessly, unsure of what he's even trying to suggest with his explosive denial of the obvious.

Revive Revival presses his palm to his chin, letting his fingers splay over part of his face, ring and pinky brushing his lips. He looks like an album cover. Even in his moment of disconsolate pain, he's very, very pretty.

Of course, Revive isn't in pain at all, other than the pain of maintaining such a charade when he'd really rather be pouring a toast to "that dead cyborg bitch, what's-her-face."

Nodding along with something of a vacant stare, Revive is 2 for 2 in predicting the outcome. Louise stumbles through trying to please both him and Leo, by trying to be both sensitive and professional and having to sacrifice the former for the latter. Revive is pleased with this, privately. It means he may yet have the edge, still. Soma's loss is felt profoundly, and Revive drinks it like it were a bottle of Brawndo, gaining power from her sadness, because it has electrolytes. She, too, asks for more time. So far, so good, and then--

Well, Revive is 3 for 3, although he wishes he wasn't. Leo's outburst seems to startle him, making his head snap up and his crimson eyes fix on the young man -- first a look of vague shock, sharpening quickly into one of skepticism. "Captain Stenbuck... according to the initial tests... it's not just a foot." Pause. "It's /Ralla's/ foot." Revive closes his eyes for a second, like a parent dealing with a child throwing a tantrum in public. "Teams also discovered clothing at a different site. Ralla's... well, pants. Torn consistent with an attack by an aquatic predator." At the word 'predator,' Revive glances at Louise.

"The only question is how she got from the cockpit of her unit to... the water." Revive stands from his desk and begins to pace again, unable to help looking fabulous as he does so. "But I'm sure that piece of the puzzle will come to us soon. In the meantime, Captain Stenbuck... Leo." Revive's pacing takes him toward Leo's seat. He touches a hand to the teenager's shoulder, gently, and withdraws it quickly -- nothing more than a request to re-seat himself.

"I really am sorry, Leo. But I want you to know..." Revive's eyes glow subtly. "We're here for you."

'We're' is clearly not the GNX Team.

Louise returns footsie after about half a second; she goes a little longer than he does, though, after the news starts to come out.

Louise gives a quiet nod to Soma as she starts talking about operations -- and is promptly completely cut off by Leo. "... Leo, it's -- it's her foot. She's gone," she says, quietly. "Something ate most of her and didn't take the parts that were mostly bone." Not that /everything/ wasn't mostly bone, she thinks, but does not say.

"Just let her go, Leo. I doubt she'd want you to be shouting and looking like you're crazy in front of all of us," she says, her tone getting a little firmer as Revive's gets a little more gentle. She can get away with it, perhaps. Or at least -- she thinks she can.

She glances to Revive as his eyes take on that subtle glow; she says nothing, though. Her eyes track a moment later to Soma; mostly, she just tries not to look at Leo.

"You're upset, Captain Stenbuck." Soma's voice is... as normal, mostly. It's calm, it's smooth. Nevermind that feeling of pain and loss. "We all are." She reaches over to touch his arm, then to take hold of it and gently but firmly pull him back down into his seat. It wasn't for support... was it? Despite her serious look, there's something in those yellow eyes of hers, something rarely seen. She can't feel pity or sympathy, not when she's directly involved, but...

When both of Soma's legs were broken, she showed no weakness. She forced herself through the early rehabilitation with much pain, but she never showed a moment of regret. Anger, perhaps, but not regret. Now, though... now the look is a bit softer. She's still angry, but the feeling of a more definite loss after weeks of hope is crushing to even her spirit.

"This was done by..." Yazan Gable's name and face flash into her mind, and the pain and loss shift suddenly to a much stronger rage. While it isn't imposing itself on anyone, it also isn't hard at all for Revive to pick up. Soma shakes her head, stopping herself from completing her thought out loud. No... if she told her plans now, there was a chance she'd be ordered to not go through with them. Better to wait.

Regardless of the gentle tone, when Revive sets his hand on Leo's shoulder, the younger (theoretically) man recoils as if the Innovade's hand was... well, burning red. His hand snaps up to slap away Revive's arm, and he snarls, "Don't touch me!"

A moment later, Soma sets her hand on his arm; he shoots a glance at her, takes a few hard breaths through his nostrils... and then, slowly, sags back into his chair. It takes a moment for him to turn his gaze on Louise, and it only lingers there for a moment before he slumps backwards in his chair, lifts his eyes to the ceiling, and crosses his arms defiantly over his chest.

"Finding her foot doesn't mean anything," he repeats insistently. "Even if they found her pants or whatever, too! People can lose body parts and still be alive! Look at-" He abrutly stops his sentence, but the fact that he glances back down at Louise makes it pretty clear what he was going to say.

"It doesn't even make any sense!" he continues, though it takes him a moment after his falter. "What was she even doing in the water?! If, if whoever found her wanted to kill her, they'd just... they..." He unfolds his arms to gesture vaguely, as his denial begins to run out of steam.

Leo's slap strikes Revive's arm. The reaction is muted but still very much there. Revive recoils his arm somewhat, but his face goes from one of attempted sympathy to one of very grave, very real annoyance. His fingers curl into a fist for a moment, before he lowers his hand. "Easy," Revive Revival says, voice lower, gruffer, than its usual airy femininity, "/Captain/."

Revive rolls his neck as he begins pacing again, forcing himself to calm down. Right now -- he can feel Soma's rage and god, he just wants to match it with his own, how dare that /boy/ touch him, how dare that /human/ /boy/ /touch/ /HIM/ -- Revive Revival wants to just draw his pistol, put one in Leo's brain, and be done with /that/, too. But Ribbons has a plan, and Revive has to abide by it, whatever it is.

That doesn't mean he's going to make it easy for young Stenbuck, though. "Be reasonable, Leo," Revive says, coming up behind Louise, setting his hands down on her shoulders, as if in support -- despite her being the one who least requires it. It also makes her look an awful lot like a possession. Which is a nice side benefit, in addition to not helping anyone. "I just said we don't /know/ what she was doing in the water. Maybe she was /dead/ and someone /dumped her body/. Maybe she was taken /alive/, and /died/ during /transport/. Maybe she was taken /alive/, and /killed/." Revive stresses all the wrong words, all the worst ones. "Or maybe..."

Revive looks away. He subtly squeezes Louise's shoulder. He doesn't reach out to her with his mind. But he lets that threatening 'or maybe' hang in the air, and hopes his protege knows what to do.

That resolve of Soma's is part of why Louise is almost embarassed at Leo here; he's clearly not living up to the standards that everyone else in the unit manages. She resists the urge to grab at Leo's hand as he tells Revive not to touch him, slaps him away -- but she thinks better of it, when he draws attention to the hand that she tries her best not to think about.

Ms. Halevy is silent, for a long time. She isn't sure what to say -- and that anger from Soma, while it doesn't have any direct impact on Louise, definitely draws the mood of the room down even further. Perhaps it's that grim mood that gives Louise the idea that she voices, when Revive leaves that hanging sentence.

"... Maybe she killed herself," she says, sounding remarkably unsympathetic about the whole situation. "Maybe she knew she was too hurt to put back together." After a second, she voices an even worse possibility: "Maybe she didn't want to come back to us."

It's okay, Soma thinks. Leo is, after all, a human teenage male. Such emotional outbursts are not completely unexpected... and he does seem to be controlling himself a -little- this time. Enough that she doesn't try to stop him yet, anyway. "No. Finding her foot only means that we have found her foot." Soma presses her lips into a thin line, her grip still tight enough on her helmet to whiten her knuckles. "But it is unlikely that she is alive after so long if she is missing a foot."

Soma can probably name several fates that may have befallen Ralla, but she doesn't want to think about them, much less say them out loud. It isn't until Louise speaks up that Soma sharply turns her head. "That is not true, Warrant Officer. Lieutenant Triald would have done everything in her power to return to us." Her squad. Her teammates. Her comrades. Her... friends.

Abruptly, Soma is on her feet. "...permission to leave, Captain." It's unsure which captain she's addressing, as Soma is staring straight at the wall ahead. Her emotions are a mess. she isn't supposed to -have- these emotions! Why is she feeling hatred and anger and sadness and hurt and loneliness and betrayal all at the same time?

Killed hersel- /didn't want to come ba-/

Latooni had - sort of - pitched the latter at him, before she left for All Of Space, but she lost her nerve before she could do anything but hint at it, and as such Leo was totally unprepared for the concept that Ralla might not have wanted to come back. The concept that she might have /killed herself/ he's so unprepared for that Louise might as well have suggested that perhaps she fell into La Gias and became a unicorn.

Leo's gaze, having been fixed on Revive while he went down the list of possibilities - and totally filled with venom while it was - suddenly drops to Louise, and the young man's mouth flaps wordlessly, as he struggles to come up with another reason why this is all obviously a terrible mistake, and Ralla is clearly just fine, wherever she is, even if she is missing a foot and also not wearing any pants.

He fails... and despite his ongoing internal dialogue, the more he thinks about it, the more Louise's suggestion makes sense. Maybe she /did/ think she was too injured to make it back alive, and just... just ended her suffering.

Or maybe she didn't want to come back because... what, because she was scared of being punished for failing or something? No one would have made her think that. Certainly not him, at least. Maybe someone from the Newtype Labs.

Or maybe she just... hated being what she was so much that she wanted to die rather than come back and keep doing it. But... no, that can't be it, can it? He tried to make sure she was happy, and she told him that she was. But she didn't seem terribly convinced... maybe if he had--

"Oh, God," Leo blurts suddenly, slumping forward over the table and burying his face in his hands. Sorrow radiates out from him like he was some sort of sorrow lantern, sorrow that is obvious in the slump of his shoulders and the tone of his voice. Despite this, at Soma's request, he manages to wave a hand clumsily and choke out, "Go, just... just go."

Revive Revival's face becomes not unlike a beautiful mask, concealing something empty -- some kind of void that can only exist behind the veneer of ageless grace. His eyes continue to glow red, but the quantum output of his brain is muted -- it's more a reaction than an action, as he savors the emotional hell of the room, while keeping his hands anchored to the only one who /gets it/ like he does, the only one /close/ to being /worthy/ of his attention -- the one who doesn't feel as much as the others. Revive lets his boyish (also, girlish) face go slack, and droop into a grave frown. Even with this dead look on his face, he's still very pretty.

"Dismissed, Lieutenant," Revive says after Leo finishes sputtering, making it official. "Please reconsider the grief counseling. If you don't wish to -- if you want to relate to someone... post-human to post-human... my door is always open. I'll be in touch soon, anyway. To discuss your proposals." The 'post-human' comment is just another twist of the knife to Leo. As if to remind him that he'll never understand people like Soma. People like Ralla. People like Revive.

"Oh," Revive adds, squeezing Louise's shoulders gently. "Before I forget, Lieutenant -- I realize this is... not the best time, but before we speak next, I'd like you to have a think on a name for me. That Celestial Being data we spoke about, your... classmates, shall we say... mmn. Just have a think on this name, so I know if it means anything to you." Revive talks more than he needs to, knowing Soma won't interrupt him, will wait it out. This is as much to keep her in the room as anything else. She's affecting Louise with her emotions; Revive is proving what a caring weekend dad he is -- he's made /plans/ about something with Soma and everything, and flaunts that special access he has in front of Leo. No one's allowed to feel good right now. No one but Revive.

"The name is -- Allelujah Haptism." Revive pronounces it as if he were trying to carefully slog through something in a foreign language. "Anyway. Dismissed."

Looking down at Louise, and then over at Leo, Revive lets his charge go and walks to stand roughly between the two. After Soma leaves, Revive says quietly: "I'm going to want to have a psychological evaluation done on Lieutenant Peries," with the tone that indicates he's telling the pair as a formality more than anything else. "To make sure she's not at risk."

Revive puts his hands behind his back, crossing his wrists. "There's... I know you're somewhat idealistic in your handling of Cyber-Newtypes, Leo, but... well, I /am/ one. I'm one of the lucky few, really. The very, very lucky few." Revive runs his tongue over his teeth. This is too much. It's like constantly being on the crest of an orgasm and having to hide it in church. "There's... an abnormally high rate of psychosis amongst us. By 'us' I mean... /my/ people. When the programming breaks down -- there's nothing that can be done. If Ralla was... /affected/ by her accident..." Revive stares off into space for a moment, pausing. "To be honest, I wish it wasn't such a strong possibility. I really do. I feel like I lost a cousin, somehow. Maybe even a sister I never knew." Revive -- is -- coming -- so -- hard.

"But ultimately it may have been the one choice she ever truly made for herself. That's God's joke on Cyber-Newtypes, you know?"

Louise feels just the tiniest bit of guilt as Soma requests to leave, after what she said. She's eager to be done with this whole Ralla business and get back to doing things that actually -- to her, at least -- matter, but the fact that it seems to be hurting everyone... that, at least, bothers her.

She opens her mouth to respond to Leo, but much like him, cannot find any words; there's nothing that she can really say to his grief. Instead, she turns her attention to Revive -- always Revive lately -- and listens to him, letting him squeeze her shoulders. For an instant, she looks like she's just going to melt back into that grip -- but it's broken before she has the chance.

With Revive's grasp broken, she finds herself unable to even say anything; she can't voice what she's /really/ feeling or she'll hurt the others, who are clearly still suffering... and she can't really do much of anything else, either.

So, naturally, she does what she does best, and withdraws. She does murmur a quiet, "... Please tell me the results of Lieutenant Peries's evaluation, if you can," after a few seconds. Whether she cared about Ralla or not... she /is/ worried about Soma.

It turns out to not matter which of the two captains she was asking! Both dismiss her... though Soma pauses as Revive speaks to her. "I will... consider it." She'll consider it, yes. Nothing more, but she will consider it. "Of course. Thank you, Captain."

Soma takes a few steps toward the door, but pauses as she's addressed again. She spins on her heels and turns to look at Revive once more, not saying a word. as he takes a while to get to his point. Celestial Being, and a classmate, and a name? What's all this about? But then he mentions the name, and Soma drops her helmet in surprise. She's heard that name before. She -knows- that name. Where does she know that name from?

After a few very long seconds, Soma clears her throat and bends down to retrieve her helmet. "My apologies. Captain Stenbuck. Captain Revival. Warrant Officer Halevy." Soma stands straight again and gives a quick salute before vacating the room.

As Leo sits there, his head in his hands, the sorrow washing off of him slowly drains away and is replaced by anger. It's not the direct result of any one thing, so much as it is a confluence of... well, /everything./ There's Ralla's fate, yes, but there's so much /else/, too.

Like how Revive is getting all... /touchy/ with Louise. It's probably completely harmless, of course, and Leo certainly isn't in any position to look down on someone for being touchy in a friendly manner... but that doesn't mean he's not going to do it anyways. Every time Leo glimpses the 'Cyber-Newtype' handling Louise, through the gaps in his fingers, he feels a renewed surge of irrational, jealous rage.

There's also how Revive, once again, won't /shut the fuck up./ And the things he's saying... the 'Dismissed' is an agitating reminder that his team has been basically stolen from him. All the 'post-human' shit... and then what he says about Allelujah Haptism, and the way Soma reacts... somewhere in the back of his mind, Leo makes a note to talk to Soma about that.

Before he can dwell on it too long, though, Soma is gone, and Revive is... still talking. And he's... ... implying that... what, that Soma is crazy? And then he goes on to talk like he's some kind of shining, golden God of Cyber-Newtypes, and Soma is, is...

Leo's fingernails dig into his skin as his grip on his face tightens in rage. Sister? Like he lost a fucking /sister?/ Leo's sorrow finally completely vanishes, swallowed entirely by fury. He lowers his hands from his face, balls them into fists, and rises to his feet so suddenly that his chair tips over and clatters to the ground.

SOME TIME AGO

Chibodee Crockett carefully explains to Leo where to hit someone to put them out of commission. He shows him how to plant a hook underneath someone's ear, where the jaw meets the rest of the skull; the jaw isn't designed for lateral movement at all, and the nerve pain is, as the kids say, 'a showstopper.'

It is a good lesson.

NOW

Leo ignores it.

On the outside, he's suddenly perfectly calm; the only warning Revive gets is the rage rolling off of him. He turns very fluidly to face the other Captain, and then - with a surprising amount of speed - draws his fist back, and, basically...

... punches Revive Revival in the nose hard enough to make it blow up like it was motherfucking Alderaan.

Revive Revival sees the fist coming for his face something like one picosecond before what is known as, scientifically, 'motherfucking nose armageddon.' The punch not only breaks Revive's nose, giving his elfin features a touch of 'heavyweight boxer,' but it causes blood to erupt /everywhere/ -- onto Leo's hand and sleeve, onto Revive's mouth, his t-shirt, the tabletop, the floor -- a few flecks even strike Louise right on the cheek. The force knocks Revive backward, and his gorgeous lavender-coiffed head smacks into one of his wall-mounted displays, breaking it with a crater shaped like the back of a human skull.

There's a moment of eerie silence. Revive is in shock.

Just not the good kind.

Like you'd want.

"You--" Revive says, his face stained a horrible red, and beginning to twitch like he's about to have a stroke. His eyes glow so fiercely -- his rage can be felt as if it were a tangible force wrapping around anyone present enough to get caught up in it. (Hello, Louise.) Whatever Leo awakened within the 'Cyber-Newtype,' it's a horrible thing that refuses to go back to sleep.

"DON'T YOU /EVER/ TOUCH ME AGAIN, YOU /HUMAN/ PIECE OF /SHIT/!" Revive roars, his normally serene, waifish voice deepening and broadening into a blood-curdling howl as he lunges at Leo to return fire.

The thing about Revive Revival, though, is that he doesn't believe in such a thing as 'overkill.' It's not enough to just punch Leo back. He has to tackle Leo into the tabletop -- jam a forearm down against his throat -- and punch -- and punch -- and keep punching, maybe half a dozen times, maybe more, until his knuckles are raw and red and slick. And then he has to choke Leo a bit. "DO YOU REALIZE HOW /HARD/ I /TRY/ FOR /YOU/?! TO MAKE /YOU/ WORTHY OF /HIM/?!"

Another punch and then it's a shove to the ground, where the kicks begin, making sure that Leo's ribs and stomach are well-cared for by Revive Revival's psychotic wrath. "BUT YOU KEEP THROWING IT ALL AWAY, YOU STUPID -- HUMAN -- LOWEST OF THE -- AAAAGGGGHH YOU SON OF A HUMAN CUNT /WHORE/!" One last big kick, the kind that is usually brought out when the objective is 'score a field goal.'

Revive staggers backward after his thoroughly non-consensual beatdown, stumbling against his wall, looking dazed but furious. "You fucking prick," he sneers at Leo. "You keep pissing it all away. For what. So you can feel bad about yourself some more? So you can /cry/ for /Ralla/? So you can slap /Louise/ around and then act like /you're/ some kind of victim? Oh, how about this one -- guess who I am, Leo. 'OHHH, BOO HOO HOO, SHE'S WALKING AROUND ON THE MINERVA, BUT SERIOUSLY, GUYS, MY GIRLFRIEND'S /DEAD/!'" With that, Revive lunges forward again, delivering another kick right on the last syllable. Then, again, he collects himself, stepping away.

"Leo... Leo, Leo, Leo, what are we gonna /do/ with you...?" Revive wipes blood away from his face, casually flicking his wrist so that it splatters on the floor. "A week from today, Leo. I'm hitting Baldur Bay. You're gonna be my wingman. And you're either gonna be worthy of what our master has done for you -- or you're not gonna survive at all."

Revive Revival then collapses into the chair behind his desk, staring into the middle distance.

That rage that wells in Revive wells in Louise as well -- she was trying to simply retreat, simply pull back in. The sudden introduction of specks of blood to her face certainly encourages it -- for an instant, she's back in another time, another place But... that rage demands an answer.

At first, her instinct is to turn it against Revive -- but when Revive's tone shifts, reminding her of their shared loyalty to 'him,' she can't lift a single finger. That loyalty is a sort of kinship that nothing should -- nothing /can/ -- break.

That loyalty mixes with the rage and the urge to withdraw, percolating as she watches Revive beat and beat and beat, dress Leo down for his failings... and finally, a dam bursts. "You -- /both/ of you --" she starts, her voice quaking in anger. The hesitation enters as she realizes that she doesn't want to turn that anger on Revive, not /really/ -- but... he's being childish too, isn't he? She does help Leo up -- she cares for him, even through that murky rage -- but nevertheless, she bursts into a full-on shout midway through. "Are we this pathetic?! She's /gone/ and nothing's going to change that! Did all of you forget why the GNX team exists?! It's not so you can take out your anger on everyone else in the squadron --" here, she looks to Leo, "-- and it's not so you can take command and then brutalize Leo just because he threw one stupid punch!" It stings to throw words like that at Revive -- but the situation has broken down... and he tasked her with leading mankind into the future through A-LAWS.

"Did you all forget when she died what the /fuck/ we were working for!?" A bit of Revive's recent diction seeps into Louise's usually more controlled speech, and continues as she shouts, "Are you both losing your God damn minds?! We're here for him, and there's no room for any of this -- this --"

Faltering for a moment, Louise just heads for the door, saying, "Call another meeting when you're /both/ going to try for his sake, and not just -- beat each other, or throw things in each other's faces under some flimsy God damn pretense!!"

Louise would slam the door, being from old-world housing where doors are slammable; she settles for, on her way out, swinging her cybernetic arm into the wall once.

As it turns out, punching Revive Revival in the face once makes Leo Stenbuck feel a lot better.

Maybe that - the sudden vanishing of his rage, and its replacement with emotional exhaustion - has something to do with why he isn't at /all/ ready to receive Revive's counterattack. One second he's cooling down from his outburst of fury, and the next he's being tackled onto the meeting table and Revive's forearm is pressed against his throat.

After the first two punches, Loe comes to his senses enough - perhaps thanks to the blood pouring from the new gashes on his forehead - to lift his arms up to cover his face. It isn't a perfect defense, but it at least keeps Revive from beating his fragile spacenoid skull into mush.

It doesn't do a lot to stop the choking, though, and Leo's defense falters after a few moments of the 'Cyber-Newtype' attempting to strangle him, as he reaches down to claw at Revive's hands. This, of course, means his face is undefended when Revive stops, punches him in the craw again, and then wrenches him off the table.

Leo hits the ground on his side, and - miraculously - is on all fours in an attempt to stand before the first of Revive's kicks crashes into his ribs. The force actually lifts him an inch or so off the ground, and he lands sprawled on his stomach.

The next kick hits him hard in the side of the ribs, and he rolls over onto his side and curls into something vaguely resembling the fetal position, letting the rest of the kicks hit him in the stomach. The final football punt hits him so hard he rolls over onto his back... and then keeps going, doing almost a full rotation, to end up on his stomach again.

And... then he starts getting up again. He only makes it onto all fours, for the second time, before he throws up, unleashing a mixture of Velveeta, rice, bile, and blood onto the floor of Revive's office. He coughs a few times, spits once, and then... continues rising.

"Fucking... faggot," he snarls, underneath Revive's ranting, as he lifts onto his knees and rotates to face Revive... and then the final kick catches him in the gut, and he topples backwards... and stays there, sprawled out on the ground, breathing raspily through his mouth because his nose is gushing blood.

It feels like he's there for a long, long time, probably because of the shooting pain in his... well, in his everywhere, but especially in his ribs. He's almost certain at least three of them are broken. He can hardly see, thanks to the blood in his eyes and how what he's pretty sure is a concussion has his vision swimming, so when a shadow appears over him, he curls up in preparation for another blow...

... but it's Louise, helping him to his feet. He manages to make it, somehow, with minimal help... but cringes away from her when she starts shouting, slumping heavily against the table, where he stays as she goes through her own little outburst.

Leo cringes again when she punches the wall on the way out of the room, but remains sagging against the table for another few seconds, staring into the middle distance. Before too long, though, he rises uncertainly to his feet, turns to face Revive, and...

... salutes. "You should head to the infirmary, Captain," Leo says, as steadily as he can manage. "You look like shit."

And then Leo turns and walks calmly out of Revive's office.

He makes it down the hall and around the corner before he can't hold onto the facade anymore and straight up collapses.

Revive doesn't have a response for Leo.

Well, not a verbal one.

Before Leo turns, though, Revive lifts one hand. Two fingers are extended, pressed together -- index and middle, and his thumb stuck straight up besides. Those two fingers point right at Leo.

The thumb comes down, presses to the rest of his hand, but the fingers keep pointing. And Revive Revival winks, and mouths something.

'Bang.'