it is a funeral.

[ltcommandroid]

[Well. That was certainly something.

Emotions are clearly high, so for once, Data steps out of his helper role and takes on the brunt of organizing the after-trial gathering. He's seen enough of them by now to know what's what. He's also seen more than enough in this particular trial to decide that the bar, while possibly being the most logical location, may be distressing to some! So instead, we're gonna do something different. Data will deliver invitations, that sort of look like a computer printed them, to each of the rooms:]


Please come to the ice cream parlor if you would like company at this time.

- Data

[Everybody likes ice cream!

There are no decorations, but there are some snack selections from the buffet and the cafe, depending on what you want, and a tray or two of mixed drinks courtesy of Jimmy Buffett. Data and Parker are both here. If you're sad, you may pet Parker (probably). If you're too depressed to make your own fancy sundae, Data will do it for you (definitely).]

Comments

[jibunwo]

[Zero went pale at the mention of a girl with green hair, but silently bit his tongue before saying anything.]

...I'm...sorry. Do you have any idea how things could have come to that?

[onlyyoucan]

I don't know.

[She shakes visibly, eyes fixed on the table.]

I cut my hair and enrolled in another school as a Gambee pilot under a false name. I had to get to the front lines somehow. I had to know, but everything just raises more questions. Where Emily came from before I found her, why I can link with her when she wasn't my original Mimic -- I don't know, but it's got something to do with that girl, and why he's been attacking the Libertad.

They found me out at Gall. A civilian spaceport colony where Brother showed up looking for something. I tried to talk to him, but he can't be reasoned with now. The last thing I heard was that they were going to hand me over to the military, assuming I'm either a spy or someone he wants dead. They called me out for a sync test with Emily anyway, but... Now I'm here.

[jibunwo]

[Zero watched her carefully with his open eye; he definitely knew what it was like to have nothing but questions, surrounded by a thousand and one people that wanted you dead or worse because of who you were.]

[He looked over his shoulder to make sure none of the others were at the door, then spoke himself.]

My mother was assassinated and my sister severely injured when I was seven. By who, I don't know--when I demanded answers, the Empire itself brushed off the whole incident as meaningless. I left my homeland and was sent to Japan with my sister as a political hostage. We were eventually sheltered by the Ashford family, and took the name 'Lamperouge' so we could stay safely in hiding rather than be made pawns or meet the same fate as our mother.

Then one day, I was in the wrong place and got swept up in the actions of people who would eventually become the Black Knights. They'd stolen what they thought was a massive capsule of poison gas, and the viceroy in charge of Japan eventually demanded the entire city be wiped out to conceal it. Ultimately, I was cornered by a small batallion of armed Britannian guards holding me at gunpoint.

[onlyyoucan]

[Sara looks at him, eyes wider. Listens, even when everything he says brings up more questions.]

So that's how... What happened?

[jibunwo]

...The poison gas capsule held a woman with long green hair and a mark on her forehead. She was shot and...I thought, killed. But she grabbed my arm and asked me if I wanted to die here, then offered an exchange: she would grant me power, so long as I fulfilled her deepest wish.

[Deliberating with himself for a moment longer, he continued to look at Sara--and for the first time, opened his left eye. It was glowing faintly in a bright magenta, with a sigil in his iris shaped like outstretched wings.]

I made a contract with a witch in exchange for the power to survive. The power to outmaneuver my enemies, and to seek the answers I was denied ten years ago.

[He didn't hold Sara's gaze for long, both eyes turning back to his work with the embroidery thread.]

I shot the Britannian viceroy after determining he had no answers about who killed my mother, and revealed myself as Zero not long after the fact when someone was falsely accused of his death. With this power and my own skill at military tactics, I brought together rebels under the banner of the Black Knights. That was about a month before I got here, and we've been a credible threat to the Empire ever since.

[onlyyoucan]

[The first sentence predictably stuns her, maybe more than the eye. She listens, though, through the whole thing.]

The symbol's not the same.

[Can't even accuse one of knocking off the other when these shows aired in the same season, what is this.]

And that's how you became Zero, and where your power came from. ...The answer has to be out there. I know I can't tell you you'll find it when I don't even have my own answers, but even with that, I'm sure you can. Because you don't give in and you know what you need to do.

[jibunwo]

No, I don't think C.C. would involve herself with someone without giving them the same power.

[for whatever ungodly reason despite how it's spelled it's pronounced 'C-2', and this drives me insane]

I have every intention of doing exactly that. I'll burn Britannia to the ground as well as find out who killed my mother and hurt my sister. Just the same as you'll seek your own answers as well.

[onlyyoucan]

[She gives a solemn nod at that.]

We have to get out of here first. But even if that's its own mystery, it just feels like a long distraction.