mikangirl | APPOINTMENTS

[CONTINUED FROM THIS THREAD]

Goodness...I think I know exactly who you're talking about. I think I've seen her around, Nami. I'll be sure to let you know if I see anything.

[Coming from here]

I would like that. Please.

[He finishes his glass, the last few dregs going down with one long sip. Still doesn't know if he likes it... but the scotch is good enough that he certainly won't object to more.]

[Nami heads back to the bar, then, organising a bottle for Law and another Going Merry for herself. She might help him share the scotch if he's not inclined to drink it all. It only takes a minute or two, and then she's back, sliding into her chair quietly and putting all such alcoholic beverages on the table.]

So. Combat mission. Was it all people like us?

[Us being not the Malnosso, really.]

Ahh, she's hard to miss, isn't she?

Thanks, Azusa. I'd appreciate it.

Yeah. Prisoners all. [It is a somber man who refills his glass with fresh scotch.] And I think from worlds the same as the people from here. Just little things that stand out, but familiar. We never had much time for conversation though. Our mission commander disliked small talk and we were always on the move. Never camped for more than a few hours at a time. [Rest was very fragmented.]

The mission commander... was a little different. I know which world he's from. There were a few things that were dead give aways, though he never spoke except to bark an order or inform us on our next move. Very taciturn. [He raises his glass to his lips yet does not drink just yet.] Strong. Though not in the league of people like Mister Strawhat, Sanji, or myself.

My two squad mates - well... [He finally sips, pausing as he tries to find a diplomatic way to put this.] they weren't the caliber of fighter that you tend to find in Luceti. Not that they couldn't fight, because, yes, they certainly could, but they weren't exemplary. Which... seems to be why they're from other enclosures. Too mundane, for lack of a kinder term. What I gathered over that month is that if you're in Luceti, there's something intriguing enough about you that the Malnosso choose you for extra study - everyone I talked to was in agreement about this. No other enclosure receives even half as much experimentation as we do. We're the pet project.

And so we're watched even closer for it.

Edited 2012-01-03 01:43 (UTC)

No, think nothing of it, please. I'm glad to assist here in any way I can, Nami.

Are you going to be alright in the meantime...? She must be a close friend of yours.

[...that's interesting. Extra study because they're intriguing, yet the other enclosures have people from the same sort of world. She can understand Devil Fruit users turning up in Luceti, then, but why are people like average school kids intriguing? Or Bellemere intriguing? Or is that just random selection, or the Malnosso's version of being nice?

...or given the fact that a lot of people that turn up in Luceti are followed by people they know and care for-- or seriously dislike-- she wonders if the dynamic is something they're also particularly interested in.]

You know which world the mission commander's from? [Also a curious statement.] Is he from the Grand Line?

...yeah, I'll be fine. You sort of get used to this sort of thing happening in Luceti. I shouldn't-- this is just like any other time, right?

[A year ago, today in fact, Itachi and he met for the first time over the feeding of birds. And in the resulting conversation (and first mistaken impressions) this very subject came up:

Catalysts. People who have significant impact on their world. It may not obvious, it may be small - have you ever heard, Miss Nami, about how the beating of a butterfly's wings can cause a hurricane on the other side of the world? - but they change the course of history for good or ill.

Significant people. Significant lives and significant deaths.

That's what they spoke of.]

No. [Sip.] Ever met Mister Shikamaru? [Which he knows you have.] His world. The Commander used to be a shinobi, this I am certain. He was using jutsu. I couldn't fail to recognize it.

[He can narrow it down even more to where the man was from, but the information is unnecessary, so far. Only two people really need to know what else he noted about his Commander. Shikamaru and Itachi.

Only them.]

[Nami tends to think of everyone as significant in their own way. It'll be a while before she comes to that conclusion herself.]

Interesting. And he was in charge?

Yes.

Not a shinobi anymore. Just Malnosso.

...I wonder how that came about.

[There could be any number of things. Someone sold his fellow villagers out, or someone was just here long enough that they somehow graduated to an abductor instead of an abductee...

...and she wonders, given what she saw at that Malnosso hospital so long ago, just how many of the Malnosso are made up of people just like them.]

What about the other?

Edited 2012-01-03 07:52 (UTC)

I think that...it's okay not to be entirely used to it, Nami. When people return, they're injured, right? It's only natural. I'd be worried if you weren't a little nervous about it.

[How indeed.

He has his suspicions.

The man had looked relatively young but he felt so old.]

I spent three weeks at that field hospital. It was located on the outskirts of that jungle, separated from the main garrison and further back from the front... so I couldn't get a feel for how they conduct themselves in a military fashion. There were Security Forces present in that hospital, but it was mainly injured soldiers, though there was a good chunk of active guards. Prefab place, very basic, and badly, badly understaffed.

The doctors and nurses loathed our presence. They wouldn't speak about matters concerning the Malnosso, but they were very free with their complaints about the war, having outside help, and how the soldiers weren't complying with bed rest. Constantly in a foul mood.

[Pause. Sip. Don't expect them to be grateful for the help.]

Though even though they'd rather throw us to the Shift Hunters, they had no qualm about working us to the bone. It was difficult getting more than a few hours; there would be another call and another shipment of soldiers with injuries and disease. The last five days were especially bad.

But there were some highlights. Very, very rarely they would bring in a Third Party prisoner for a quick patch job before they took them away to wherever they were taking them. Interrogation and detention no doubt. We weren't allowed near them.

I saw the woman they had hauled in. Fighting the guards all the way. She managed to bite out her own tongue before they could sedate her. Died soon after.

[Probably for the best.]

The others had mixed feelings about this. Luceti is the largest enclosure we figure, and the most technologically advanced. The others... mn... much smaller, and in most cases, pretty primitive, even though their founding dates range from a few months to over a decade ago. They don't have electricity in most. But anyway, we're not the only ones that have been drafted... the other enclosures have been sent against the Third Party and fared poorly. I even heard a few stories of how the Third Party managed to raid some of the enclosures and drag away a good portion of the population.

It wasn't a pleasant day after that, anyway.

[She can take from that that the Third Party is a very real threat, then, unless the lengths they went to in order to fool just one person were extreme. Unlikely.]

The Third Party raided Luceti, once. A long time ago, before you or I were here. The villagers won that one. [Another point for Luceti being the "most interesting" place.

All in all, though... these missions sound like they're exactly what it said on the wrapper. So to speak.]

What about this 'reward' system the Malnosso talked about?

[...]

You're right. I'm just-- [Overprotective.] I don't want her to go through any more than she... has to, I guess.

You're so kind, Nami. Even by having us all keep an eye out for her, you're helping her a lot. I don't want her to have any hardships, too.

Well, hopefully this way when she comes back she'll be well taken care of.

Yes, Miss Raine was telling me about it.

[He had asked her, as a favor, to see all the entries on the line locked from the Malnosso. And to tell him about the early years of Luceti.

So much history buried in the journals... so much that might be useful now... a reexamination might yield new perspective.

Can't forward without looking back.

... but... those with living memory of the beginning are almost gone. He can't help but feel that pieces of the puzzle are being stolen.]

It's as it says. You can either receive some sort of token for your service or you can bank points with the Malnosso to buy more exclusive rewards. [He's banking.] The more dangerous or skill requiring the mission, the more points you gather or nicer the item you receive.

Can't pool points, can't give them away, or receive them from someone else. [Now that would have been like money, wouldn't it? Though there's nothing to say you can't exhort another person who has enough points to spend them on something more personally beneficial.] Only choice you have is whether you use them or not and when. They ask you what you want at the end of your mission.

They show up as a balance at the back of your journal.

Exactly. I really don't think I'm cut out for patrolling, but if you ever want to get some coffee, I'm almost always available. [There's a pause. Then, as if she's speaking with experience...] Waiting alone can be difficult, can't it?

[Continued from here.]

That's good. [Sidelong glance.] I saw your entry on the network.

[Let's just. Get this out of the way.]

Edited 2012-01-05 17:05 (UTC)

Ah. You know, I spoke to Alexis today? [Get what out of the way? Nami's aiming for lighter topics right now.] We thought it might be kinda fun for all three of us to go out for coffee or something one day.

[She doesn't give a damn whether they're usable as money or not. For Nami, some things are more important. Her brow furrows as she considers that.] The tokens you can get... do you know what they are? I've seen a list of possible 'rewards', but I'm not sure at what point you earn them.

Mmm. It can be. [Her smile softens. She does get that impression.] I learned a long time ago that just about everything is better with company.

I'd be up for coffee.

[Mrrr. All right.]

Really? I didn't know you were friends with her. She's nice; I think that would be fun sometime.

APPOINTMENTS

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