Visitation Day

[cityship]

Let it never be said that Stacy was not benevolent toward her crew. Truth was, she loved them, to the point of risking her own life. And thus, she'd been busy for quite some time... silently she had worked, trying to get into her own archives and cross-checking references. She was going to help boost morale and give them a gift - show them people

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[hey_sup_kujo]

Kati resisted the urge to twitch or try to adjust the plantsuit she'd been given. At the moment she was wondering whether to treat this as a dream or some kind of complex hallucination... the trouble was, people weren't usually aware when they were dreaming or hallucinating. That was part of what made something a hallucination.

But however... real... or not this situation proved to be, the best thing to do would be to get on with it. (At least now she was clean.)

There were a number of people here besides her. Most seemed bewildered, but that was about the only thing that was shared. Kati strode around, eyes flicking back and forth and wondering who it was she was supposed to be 'important' to.

[tipsystrategist]

Sumeragi couldn't resist heading up when she heard the announcement. A gift... that was an uncertain start, given the start. And when the gift itself was revealed - her breath hitched a little in her chest. Someone important to them. The Meisters were all here, so who could it be? Billy? A little voice whispered another name, into the back of her mind, but she quashed it, fast. Even if Neil and Chris were here, to bring him back....

No. Too much to hope for. But it was still with a sort of tight, nervous anticipation that she scanned the crowd, looking for familiar faces.

so doing tags RIGHT AFTER waking up != the best plan ever

[hey_sup_kujo]

Kati wasn't sure who she'd been looking for. Patrick, maybe. Aggravating though he was, he had anchored himself and his career to her (and all right, it was kind of endearing in an absurd way). Maybe one of her other soldiers; a commander could mean a lot to a subordinate, even if that commander had no idea.

But she halted, her eyes narrowing as she saw a mane of chestnut hair from the back. The outline of the plantsuit wasn't so familiar, but try to put an AEU uniform over it, a hat... ridiculous. It had just been on Kati's mind recently, with the efforts against Celestial Being.

Then the woman's head turned, and a look of shock flashed across Kati's face before she could stop it. So it's her I'm here for? But... It had been years, she had vanished; the only contact they'd had since then was the message that Kati herself had sent.

...If that was what it was, then it was what it was. Kati strode forward, bubbling uncertainty and confusion hidden behind her stern features. "Kujo."

[tipsystrategist]

Sumeragi froze as she caught sight of a familiar stern face headed towards her in the crowd. Kati. But... why? It'd been years, and even though they'd once been friends, in a tentative sort of way - they were enemies now. The last battle before coming here had made that crystal-clear. Whatever personal feelings were there didn't matter in war.

She did, however, manage to dredge up a faint, brittle smile. "Kati."

[hey_sup_kujo]

For someone to whom she was supposed to be so important, Kujo certainly didn't seem pleased to see Kati. This wasn't a surprise. Kati doubted that her old comrade had been happy to know that her identity had been guessed. And that we're enemies. But you have to learn, Kujo. The world will always be at war. A-LAWS will end conflicts quickly and reduce the bloodshed from terrorists and rebels, but Celestial Being is only dragging things out.

And all that aside, what the hell was going on?

"It's been a long time since we've spoken face-to-face." Kati said, expression not changing. She glanced around again. That wasn't space out there... "But I've been told that I am here to talk to you. What's going on?"

[tipsystrategist]

Sumeragi laughed - not a happy one, just a way to release some stress. Better than crying, she supposed. "Apparently we're here to save the universe." But then again, maybe Kati wasn't. She couldn't really tell, with this ship.

She glanced around at the crowd - busy, right now, which wasn't unexpected. Still, it made a poor location for conversation. "There's a tavern in the City - it might be a little quieter."

[hey_sup_kujo]

They were here for what?! Kati's frown deepened. If it wasn't for the awkward, almost self-conscious way that Kujo said it, she would have thought it was melodrama.

She nodded curtly. She wasn't one for bars, but she didn't want to try and have a conversation with a former colleague, comrade, and current enemy in this throng.

Is this some kind of trap? she wondered briefly, but dismissed it. Kujo's strategies were inventively unconventional, but Kati didn't think she was going to try anything face-to-face. "Lead the way."

[tipsystrategist]

Ahh, now that frown was a familiar one. Though she hadn't seen it in a long time, and before, it had mostly been used to scare off over-eager underclassmen.

Sumeragi gestured for Kati to follow her, and headed towards the city level. "It's not much of a place, but... better than nothing." And she needed about three drinks before she was going to manage much in the way of conversation.

[hey_sup_kujo]

"As long as it offers some privacy." Kati didn't think this was a situation to be drinking in herself, but she could certainly use some water. It'd get rid of the mucousy taste from the pod, at least.

She picked another question from the many crowding her mind. "You said City. Is this a spaceship or some kind of mobile colony?"

[tipsystrategist]

"There's a few tables in the corners. And it's usually quieter during this time of the day - though maybe not today." She probably wasn't the first who couldn't quite handle the presence of their 'guest' sober.

"Mm. Probably closer to a mobile colony, I suppose. Though the city looks like someone dumped a bunch of places in one bag and shook it out again."

[hey_sup_kujo]

"That would match the kind of people I'm seeing," Kati said as she spotted what looked like a blue panther that looked every bit like it was having an earnest conversation.

She wondered briefly if a drink would help to understand this situation but quickly concluded that a person would need to give themselves alcohol poisoning before any of this began to look sensible.

[tipsystrategist]

Sumeragi followed Kati's line of sight and spotted the panther. "Ahh... the whole place is a bit like that, yes." It was starting to get to the point where the almost didn't register the talking animals any more. And the ones that looked almost human - they weren't even on her radar at this point.

Getting to the tavern was something she could practically do in her sleep - which was probably good, because she wasn't in the right frame of mind for navigating - and it wasn't long before they came up on the old-fashioned building.

[hey_sup_kujo]

It was a good thing her time here was supposedly finite. Kati didn't want to be subject to this place long enough to get used to the transport tentacles. She raised her eyebrows at the City, impressed by its size and the artificial environment.

The alien technology was a sharp contrast to the building that Kujo led her too. It looked like something that belonged four hundred years in the past, not on a giant alien spaceship. "...Is this some kind of historical re-creation?" she asked, for lack of a better question.

[tipsystrategist]

Sumeragi rubbed her forehead, and gave Kati an awkward smile. "Having seen the person that runs this place, I'm pretty sure it fits his ideal of what a modern drinking establishment should be. And unfortunately, it's pretty much the only place."

She held the door open for her companion. "The ale's pretty good, though.

[hey_sup_kujo]

Oh, another answer that added to the confusion. Good.

"If we're on such an advanced spacecraft--" she said, walking in and looking around at something built to exacting 15th-century specifications, "Never mind. That's beside the point."

There was an unoccupied table some way from the bar proper, and Kati headed for it. She felt very glad that command rank had instilled in her some unbreakable habits, like looking as though she was completely in-control when what the hell was going on and why did having a drink with the tactical forecaster of A-LAWs' primary target seem like the best way to figure it out?

[tipsystrategist]

Sumeragi swung by the bar while Kati took a table, and got two mugs of the ale there. If Kati didn't want to drink... well, she was pretty sure she could finish two by herself.

She took a seat across from the other woman, and put the mugs down.

"So. Where did you want to start?"