Act 1: Roger the Negotiator

[paradigmstop]

Paradigm city had shrunk in the distance behind him as he trudged forward in Big O. The city that had lost its memories, that had tried so hard to keep them lost, was now just a speck on the horizon. He and Big O had seen perhaps too much in recent past, but there were too many questions unanswered. He'd resolved to himself, and it seemed that Big

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[momentoftherose]

Another mobile suit detected over the horizon, shaking the ground and trampling the flowers with its big hooves. Oenone Zero's adrenaline spiked, being the closest to it since she was helping out at one of the city's poorer clinics, seeing a lot of veterans with ancient prosthetics.

She returned to her airship and retrieved what she needed.

Roger would soon find a crow hovering around his megadeus, poking its way inquisitively around the great humanoid head. Closer inspection would show this was no ordinary bird but a flying corpse, an animated patchwork of body and metal that nevertheless managed to present a credible illusion to casual observation.

[paradigmstop]

What unholy--? It was obviously both organic and mechanical, but this was something he'd never seen before. Big O swept his great hand up to try to shoo the bird away.

"Ugh, that's... disgusting," Roger muttered to himself. Still, it was too small to present a threat to him, and if it did, then it was surely just part of another, bigger suit. Until he saw something overtly threatening, he was going to be as calm as possible.

[momentoftherose]

The bird flitted out of swatting range and opened its beak, from which protruded a little old-timey speaker. From that came the hesitant voice of a young woman, used to running far away from monsters of that size.

"Unid-dentified unit, this city is under the p-protection of the landship White Chalice and The Green Storm. P-Please state your intentions."

[paradigmstop]

PFFT-
"You don't sound so confident, miss. I am Roger Smith, of Paradigm City, Negotiator and pilot of the Megadeus Big O. I'm investigating the Union. You're not Union, are you?" he returned with his loudspeaker.

What a cute voice. She sounds like she's scared stiff.

[momentoftherose]

Great, even someone who can't see me can tell. Doctor Oenone Zero sighed in her little airship. 'Paradigm City' struck a chord somewhere, but she couldn't dig up from memory quite where.

"No, but we may be able to help you in your investigation. T-To do so though, you'll have to d-depart your mech at city limits. For the p-protection of civilians."

[paradigmstop]

He hesitated. "I do not know if I am comfortable leaving Big O somewhere and entering a compound that may not be telling me all the things I had ought to know about it. You'll excuse my apprehensiveness, I hope." He'd just met these people. That would be crazy. "Is there any way you could perhaps put me in contact with someone in a commander or leader position? I'd like to make sure of a few things before getting out of Big O in an unfamiliar territory."

[momentoftherose]

She thought about it and understood his trepidation. She didn't want to leave Shortening Of The Way either.

So she proposed the next best alternative. "P-Perhaps I could meet with you and help you in p-person." She cursed her nervous stutter.

[paradigmstop]

He opened the cockpit, the collar portion of Big O sliding up over the faceplate. Dusting himself off a bit, he motioned for the horrible crowbot to dock on Big O's now-outstretched palm. "By all means, miss. I have a rule, though, that only handsome girls can come into Big O no questions asked."

Never stop being a charmer, Roger Smith.

[momentoftherose]

Luckily he needn't have conversed with her bird. A small airship (finally! technology he knows!) with a green lightning bolt on the side came cruising up to Big O and alighted in its hand. And though her expression was tight lipped due to his disgust at her crow and his flirting, the good doctor didn't seem unfriendly at least as she dropped into the robot's hand too. Merely somewhat shy. And small.

"G-Greetings. I'm Doctor Oenone Zero, of the Green Storm Ressurection Corps."

[paradigmstop]

Green Storm Resurr...?
"A Doctor, are you? Godness, I hardly expected to meet 'one of the doctors,' as Camille mentioned, so quickly. Roger Smith, Paradigm City Negotiator and Dominus of Big O. Camille tells me you are one of the people in charge of newcomers? He offered me a contract here."

He jumped from the cockpit to Big O's hand, with a jump that might have been higher and quicker than normal.

"Mister Bidan is quite level-headed. He tells me your organisation White Chalice can assist me in finding information about the Union and the Incident that happened in Paradigm fourty years ago."

[momentoftherose]

Paradigm City...The mysterious island! Noone gets near there, not even us... She thought, curious, watching him gracefully descend.

"We t-travel so often and have contact with so many different organizations that your chance of meeting whoever knows about the incident you're researching rises exponentially. I've heard of Paradigm City..."

She wondered what exactly 'one of the doctors' could mean. Had Kamille Bidan talked her up as having an authority she didn't really have?

[paradigmstop]

He checked himself. "You know about Paradigm? And you're not part of the Union? What's the story here, are you a Paradigm expatriot or something?" He'd spoken to several people already, and none of them had any inkling about Paradigm, but this girl, this Doctor, says she knows. Was she just lying?

[momentoftherose]

She gave a wan little smile, seeming to grow a little in confidence, from almost none to a small amount. "We...that is, The Green Storm...did some reconnaisance flybys of it, thinking it was a floating Predator City. But it didn't seem to move and the rumors were that anything that go too close never came back so we never investigated closely."

[paradigmstop]

He grinned sheepishly, scratched his head. "Yeah, uh... Big O and I tended to protect the city pretty righteously." He thought about all the giant robots and other things he had fought and destroyed in Big O.

"Did you say, 'floating city?' Please explain that term to me at another time. Right now, if what you tell me is true, I'd like to hammer out the details of this contract. I could use a hot shower, at any rate." He didn't smell, but he wasn't exactly squeaky clean.

[momentoftherose]

"I'm sorry...You've come a long way and I just interrogated you. Follow me and you can park your mech in our hangar, wash up, have something to eat and speak with the command staff."

She climbs back into her little airship and the engines thrum as she leads him in a careful course around the city and towards the waiting bulk of White Chalice.

[paradigmstop]

With a nod, he watches her tiny dirigible float in the air. Big O followed after her, his great footfalls not falling on anything valuable, thankfully, until he arrived at the so-called White Chalice, this floating portion of the city.

"You have my thanks, Doctor. Let's meet again for coffee some time," he said as the cockpit slid open again. Time to talk to a man about a giant robot.