041. Noise
[locked to self // 65% unhackable58 20 57 78 84 39 76 55 25 26 41 38 54 98 27 51 80 33 88 19 52 92 11 17 94 40 28 2 36 66 61 3 79 42 85 22 82 67 50 47 31 30 13 83 59 100 44 60 72 10 90 93 91 23 68 18 9 12 49 6 96 24 8 37 56 32 71 14 97 69 63 75 46 77 1 64 21 15 89 43 73 34 86 99 16 74 7 48 5 95 81 35 70 53 65 4 87 29 62 45 95 35 44 13 7 46 78 60
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[Batou's already waiting for her at the Kuma-Ko.
It's not a lunch date. Shut up.
They're just eating together, like they do most days. Eating and talking and not enjoying the other's company at all.]
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[She's on her way up. It's a matter of seconds--when the Major has somewhere to be, she doesn't waste time.
It's just a matter of efficiency. Not eagerness to see Batou. Not in the slightest.]
For example, a superior might hold a grudge.
[That's said in person, from the entrance to the restaurant.]
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[The sushi bears have prepared a kneeling table for the two cyborgs, mostly because their enormous weight would crush the normal chairs into kindling.
Batou sits there, casually mixing together some soy sauce and wasabi into the correct proportions for the Major. Of course, it's not that he knows how spicy she likes it because of any affection he could possibly have, it's just more efficient if she doesn't have to waste time mixing it herself.
They are a very efficient pair.]
Then I suppose there's nothing the underling could do but offer sincere apologies.
[He tastes his own soy sauce. Mm. Since he, of course, isn't sincere he doesn't apologize.]
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[She kneels at the table in a smooth motion that belies the sheer mass of her shell, and pours his tea.
That's nothing with an affectionate ulterior motive that needs to be denied; it's just Japanese table manners.]
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[And he returns the gesture, pouring her tea once she's set the teapot back down.
Sure, to an outsider they may look like they're behaving like a somewhat affectionate couple but that's just appearances. They actually are quite indifferent to the other.
Batou puts some tako on her plate, because he doesn't like it and she does.
Quite indifferent indeed.]
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[She says it with a smirk. She doesn't employ anyone but inveterate bastards. ...And Togusa.
Kusanagi inspects the spread and selects a few pieces. There's not enough caloric content there to make a difference to her energy needs, but it's a familiar bit of home, rather than the mostly Western food of the buffet.
Not that she's homesick. That's as ridiculous a contention as suggesting she has feelings for Batou beyond the responsibilities of the job.]
What was Jak getting at?
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That's just Ishikawa's way of showing affection.
[Batou can only 'taste' certain foods, the ones he had before he was cyberized, and the rest of the food he 'tastes' as a chemical readout in his head. Some are more pleasant than others, of course, because they contain more trace elements than others, and Batou usually pairs eating those foods with a minor release of pleasurable neurotransmitters in his brain.
It's the closest way to 'enjoy' eating tuna sashimi with its mercury.]
As for your numbers, I didn't find anything of note in them. I even considered that the message was written in Aramaic before I decided it must be random, Major.
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// Answer my question. //
[She chewing on octopus, which takes a while, and talking with one's mouth full is rude.]
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[He sips the tea. Green tea is something that Batou can taste quite well, so he enjoys it.]
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[While quite normal for them. Kusanagi can taste tea, which means she drank it as a child, yet she can't remember ever doing so. Her episodic memories pre-cyberization are all but entirely absent.
She picks up her own teacup and looks at the yellow liquid within. The heat transmitted through the ceramic to her hand would be unpleasant to a natural human. Kusanagi just knows it's 80 degrees Celcius (or 176 degrees Fahrenheit, or 353 Kelvins, or 636 degrees Rankine...)
Not that she's unfamiliar with scorching heat, but that association is better left to the impassive realm of her digital consciousness. That particular set of episodic memories is one she's perfectly happy to be missing.]
You're right; it was radio noise.
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[Batou makes a low rumble of agreement.
Unlike the Major, Batou has no memories whatsoever of his pre-cyberized life. He read somewhere once that he'd apparently voluntarily had them all purged, which was strange to think of at times. What was it that he'd wanted to forget so badly that he'd erased everything?
Batou holds the teacup in his heavy hand, round, blank-metal eyes staring down at the food before them.]
// People like us can stand to be rougher with our selves. //
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[There's irritation in her voice. She usually intercepts his attempted kisses with a hand between his lips and her face, but this time the angle was against her.
She sets down her tea too sharply.]
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[If he had permission, it would have been a delight to slash the teacup straight into Ace's face, faster than a biological could process the movement.
Batou didn't hate Ace, mostly because Batou didn't hate anyone--but he is annoyed by the fact that Ace sees fit to kiss the Major on the head as if she were a child.
He sips his tea.]
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