I don't know what I'm doing

[noname_mosquito]

Hmm...and if you don't know then why am I here? Kōtetsujō needs me, you know. Especially Ikoma, that idiot. How am I supposed to become human again if I'm not defeating the Kabane? Ahh-ah but I want to eat rice again... You'd better not be weak, mundane!

Comments

[walking_nuke]

[Well, that bit about "becoming human again" got this guy's attention.]

Whaddya mean? You look human enough as it is.

[noname_mosquito]

[ she tips her head curiously ]

I'm not human. I'm kabaneri.

[walking_nuke]

[Looking the girl up and down, but ... nothing jumps out at him as inhuman. He briefly wonders if she might be some kind of really advanced android or something, but if that's the case, how did she go from being human to robot in the first place?]

I don't get it. What's'a difference?

[noname_mosquito]

[ She's just as curious about him, bouncing closer and almost sniffing at his armor curiously ]

I'm not human, or kabane, I'm an existance in between. Kabaneri. [ DUH, is implied ]

That's very cool armor.

[walking_nuke]

Uh—

[Watching her bounce toward him and then practically attach her face to his armor leaves him a little speechless. He was still trying to sort out what, exactly, is a kabane and why the distinction's so important.]

—glad y'think so?

[Being this close, though? She ought to notice a faint smell of ozone. As well as other stranger scents from all the explosives compounds he works with on a daily basis.]

[noname_mosquito]

[ Sniff sniff ]

You smell a bit like Ikoma, when he's been working on jet bullets. Are you a steamsmith too?

[walking_nuke]

[That she introduced herself off the bat as formerly-human should have already made it blindingly obvious he's not dealing with a regular preteen—at least she looks like a preteen—and yet this still manages to weird him out.]

I'm a Demolitionist. Also a Receptive.

[Hey, if she's gonna throw terms around without bothering to explain them, he can too!]

[noname_mosquito]

You blow things up? [ She nods - clearly, she is used to people who do exactly that ]

But why are you receptive?

[walking_nuke]

Yep. That's my job. How I do it is where it gets interesting.

[And then with a bit of a smirk:]

But before I explain that, ya gotta tell me what'a deal is with this kabane an' kabaneri stuff.

[noname_mosquito]

How? [ She says, with a possibly alarming glee ]

Kabane are kabane. [ She frowns at him ] How do you not know what kabane are? They're everywhere.

[walking_nuke]

[Avoiding answering the "how" for the moment—]

Well, they ain't where I'm from, or I woulda known about 'em—unless that's your name for'a Bane. But you don't look anything like a Hybrid, so I'm pretty sure you ain't half-Crusty.

[noname_mosquito]

[ She frowns ]

Ikoma says we're hybrids. Sort of. Kabaneri have an Iron Cage and Kabane bodies, but we still have human minds. [ She slips her jacket down so he can see the glowing heart ]

We still need blood though, just like Kabane do.

[walking_nuke]

[—okay, yeah, definitely not a hybrid of any race he knows. An "iron cage," though? He's guessing the glowing heart answers the "kabane body" thing, but then when she mentions blood—]

Wait, you're like some kind of half vampire thing then?

[Except vampires don't have glowing hearts ...]

[noname_mosquito]

What's a vampire?

[walking_nuke]

[He doesn't say it, but there's a look of "Oh, shit" on his face when he registers what this means. Well, if the whole "why-don't-you-know-about-kabane" exchange didn't spell it out, that definitely underlines how different their two worlds must be ...]

Uh—okay, picture somebody who's dead but still movin' around—like a walking talking corpse. Undead basically. But they don't rot or anything. They suck the blood of the livin' and—dependin' on'a story—it's also how they make more of'emselves.

[And then as an afterthought,]

—'an'ey usually can do a lot of things humans can't. Like fly or turn into bats.

[noname_mosquito]

They sound like Kabane.

But Kabane are just Kabane. They don't turn into anything. If you get bitten, the only way is to kill you before the Iron Cage forms - once the virus reaches the brain it's too late. The human is gone, there's just the Kabane left.

[walking_nuke]

I—huh.

[So maybe something more like a ... glowing, viral vampire? Does that mean this girl's kind of like a—what was the word for them? Dhampir? He remembers a movie about a guy like that ...]

Is'a "Iron Cage" that glowing thing on your chest?

[noname_mosquito]

Yep! It's what makes them so hard to kill. The only way to kill them is to pierce the cage. Ikoma says it's not just iron though, or you wouldn't need special weapons to pierce it. Normal bullets only bounce off.

[walking_nuke]

[Same for her too, he guesses—as he nods in understanding.]

Ahright, I'm on'a same page with you now—so I guess it's my turn.

[He takes a step back. Light gathers around his right hand and wrist, appearing almost like a series of blue-glowing wristlets.]

Lemme show you why I'm a Receptive.

[With a flourish of his hand that might be best described as akin to pulling down blinds or wiping a window, he manifests a large tablet-like projection floating before the palm of his splayed hand. It flickers like static—dozens of ideograms float within, seemingly forming entire words and paragraphs in an alien language.]

[noname_mosquito]

[ her eyes widen in excitement ]

Oh wow! What is that? How does it work? Is it a weapon?

[walking_nuke]

Yes an' no.

[Having answered the last question first, he keeps the projection manifested as he continues:]

It's part of'is system an alien race developed. We call it "Logos." It lets a sentient mind to control energy an' matter. So it's a tool—an' any tool can be used as a weapon.

[Knowing she's probably got more questions, he gives her a chance to ask rather than ramble on.]

[noname_mosquito]

Alien? What's alien?

[walking_nuke]

[Wow, that actually catches him off guard more than her not knowing what vampires are—but then, compared to vampires, he's had to treat with aliens in one way or another for the past seven years.]

Uh—okay, best way to put it. When you look up at'a night sky next time, imagine'at every one of those stars has one of its own worlds. A few kinda like ours, but most very different.

Aliens are life you'd find on those worlds. But in'is case when I say "aliens" I mean sentient aliens. Walkin', talkin' and thinkin' like us.

[noname_mosquito]

[ her eyes are wide with wonder ]

Worlds in the stars? I bet they don't have Kabane there. I wish I could see them... Are the aliens nice?

[walking_nuke]

[She's not gonna like his answer much, he can tell.]

Yes. And no.

[But he goes on to explain:]

The aliens who came up with Logos? They're nice. And we've met other nice aliens out there.

But'ere's a group of aliens'at ain't—we call 'em'a Bane. They nearly wiped us out. Us an' a lot of'a nice aliens we've met.