synflux | [ OPEN ] here comes the boooooooy

[ Hey, who knows, maybe the rage of a mostly naked, soaking wet, yelling feral man is exactly the scare these people need.

Yzak snaps a hand up to grab the towel, quickly shaking it open and wiping at his own face. It comes up over his head and with newly cleared vision he can peer over to those lockers while he takes that moment to dry his hair as much as he can - perhaps at least enough so it's not dripping anymore. ]

What else is in there?

[ By the time he says that, he's already marching over to them while running the towel down a shoulder and arm with the opposite hand. With just enough care to keep balance (goo, goo everywhere on this floor by now) he nudges the door of one of them open with a foot to reveal at least something more to put on than what they've got. ]

That's making a lot more sense now. [ Especially regarding the raking in profits under the guise of serving some higher power. Even so far out in the distant reaches of the universe, things like that stay the same.

His gaze is downcast, clearly turning all of that over in his mind. But then as if he realizes he's let himself stray slightly, he perks back up to look at Raito again. ]

You said you specialize in education. What kind? Is it your primary focus here on this mission?

I see.

[ Since he is also a workaholic, he moves to the nearest generator that needs to be cleaned up. Yzak kneels down next to it, some loose debris crunching beneath his knee as he carefully moves some of the bigger pieces off of the machine. ]

What was your part in that last operation? Are you more of a combatant? A doctor? Mechanic?

The first group, huh? [ That seems to sincerely interest him. ] I do hope there's been some progress since then.

[ And then he brings his hand up in a sharp salute. A habit, but he still sees himself as on duty as he would if this was happening back home. ]

Lieutenant Colonel Yzak Jule, by the way.

My primary focus is much the same as anyone who has been summoned here by LILITH—to aid them against the kaiju crisis. However, it seems they have opted to ignore my talents and relegate me to the same work as everyone else. A foolish decision on their part.

[ He shakes his head with a sigh of exasperation. Truly, was the point of him being here if they just needed muscles, not brains? ]

I am a university professor, and primarily teach advanced classes in several disciplines: mathematics, physics, biology, medicine, engineering, computer science, philosophy and natural theology.

Combatant. Not my first choice, but I get by.

[ He strolls along after Yzak, but doesn't move to help. Not a the moment, anyway. ]

[ Raidou bows, and Yzak in turn stands straight and brings a hand up in a salute. Which probably looks extra ridiculous in the maid outfit, but he's always ever the soldier. ]

Lieutenant Colonel Yzak Jule. I hope for the same.

[ And then when he eases back from the salute (which, for him, is only so much of an ease. man ain't good at getting eased.) ]

The first group, though... I hope there's been a good deal of advancement since that time.

I can fill my time with plenty of other useful things. [ He sounds very sure of himself about that claim.

Yzak looks over to the window where Ren points, at the cute little guy trying to attract his attention. He can't deny that it is cute... ]

I'm not opposed to cats, either. I just ... never had one. I've never had any pets.

[Taryon hesitates and angles his head side to side while he figures out a diplomatic answer.]

Some? We fought two big monsters and tracked down some smugglers. I think that counts. There's still a lot we don't know.

[The salute is a surprise. Taryon figures that if Yzak is bringing in military manners, that he must meet that with his gentlemanly politeness. He bows deeply, mimicking a fairy tale prince.] Taryon Darrington, hero and adventurer, at your service.

[ When she says "half price" that at least gets Yzak to reconsider. And now that he's here and she's being not only insistent but kind about it...

Well, he is very weak to kindness when it's shown to him so easily. ]

... Fine. [ Said with an overdramatic exasperation, but there's nothing actually heavy and put-upon in it. So he steps over to approach Nyuu and take her up on the offer. ]

[Maybe... Or maybe it'll just get them laughed at. The latter feels a little bit more likely, TBH.]

Ummmm...

[Both hands still busy rustling the towel over his hair, Dearka pauses and considers the locker, though Yzak is soon over and nudging it open as soon as he asks anyway. He leans just a little closer to examine the interior, finding a set of lounge clothes and what looks to be... Some kind of flight suit, maybe? His expression grows even more grave.]

...Those definitely aren't ZAFT colors.

I think that definitely counts.

[ He gives Tary a polite nod before easing up and bringing his hand back down. ]

But if there's still critical information we lack, that should be one of our primary focuses when we head out again. The nature of these "rifts" they come through, for example, still seems shrouded in mystery.

I agree. LILITH makes a lot of the decisions on what we'll work on. So far, it's been tracking down places and investigating stuff, but nothing about the rifts. I think they don't trust us in the labs.

[ Nyuu's eyes light up and she clasps her hands together in an excited clap. ]

That's great! C'mon in!

[ She pushes the door open behind her, where a second door can be seen. A precaution against any cats slipping out due to foot traffic. Already a couple of cats are nosing at the second door as she draws near and the sight gets a laugh out of her. ]

Could you close that door behind you? So none of the little rascals sneak out.

Nothing about this is us.

[ He says that with a grimace and a quick glance down to his wrist again. ZAFT has done some pretty fucked up shit, but pods, installing chips into people, all without any explanation nor a chance to even ... accept it? Yzak doesn't even vaguely remember being approached or asked about anything. There's something wrong here. Something very wrong.

And it's only going to get worse. Because once they've dried enough, slipped on that loungewear - finally looking something resembling normal again - and peered into the meager excuse of medbay that's just through that nearby door, that's when Yzak's own ocular device makes itself known. It's lighter in here than it was where they awakened, and he's fussedly looking at his wrist again when it happens, the ceiling lights glinting off of the small embedded chip.

He's felt pain like the sharp stab he feels behind his eyes as if a knife is being lodged between them before. Even though those scars, physical and emotional alike, are long gone, the actual feeling of when he'd gotten that face injury from battling the Strike Gundam is something he'll never forget. That's a bit what this feels like, and he squeezes his eyes shut, bringing that hand he was looking at up, balling a fist and pressing a knuckle against one of his eyelids. ]

Haah, fuck, now what...!? [ He hisses the words out through clenched teeth. Surprisingly, that question gets an answer, as their little orientation finally loads up to brief-dump their current situation. ]

Advancement? I'm not sure about that. More people to answer your questions or share experiences, mostly.

[LILITH hasn't changed much in that time. Just the Outsiders.]

But if your questions are how to change these outfits or the proper way to fill out the paperwork, I'm afraid you're talking to the wrong person.

What's your first choice?

[The look Ren gives him is rife with the kind of unimpressed skepticism only a teenager can truly pull off.]

Right. Like what?

[Though at the comment about never having any pets, he motions to the door.]

Well, let's go inside and you can see what the fuss is about as a customer.

[Become the catlady (gender neutral) you were meant to be, Yzak.]

[ Yzak nods along as he lists those off. He's impressed, if only because these sort of accomplishments are easy for a Coordinator to rack up, and this guy doesn't seem like one...

But he narrows his eyes slightly, commenting on the first thing, before anything else. ]

The same work ... you mean expecting you to fight even when combat isn't where your talents are?

[Dearka is actually a few steps behind Yzak while the latter is checking out the medbay, because as they're walking away he's gotten a bit... Distracted... By the discovery of something odd.

It's behind his one ear, so he can't exactly get a visual on it. But while he was toweling himself off he felt it: some kind of unknown protuberance that he's POSITIVE was never there before. It doesn't feel organic? He's kind of scratching around it at first, wondering if maybe it's another one of those chips like the ones they just found in their wrists... But it definitely doesn't FEEL the same. It feels... Almost more like a...

...

He looks up sharply when Yzak swears, distracted from following that thought to its worrying conclusion.]

Yzak? What's wrong--ghhk!?

[His hackles were starting to go up just out of a general concern for his friend. But then his implant kicks in a second later, and the low-grade headache he's had since he woke up intensifies.]

Fuck!

[One hand on one eye, the info dump shows up in front of his vision too, and he freezes up, a sickening feeling of foreboding building in his gut. He can speed-read it fast enough, but coming to terms with its contents, and acknowledging just how the fuck he's even seeing the information in the first place is... Is...

He shudders, feeling more violated now than ever. And he growls, now sounding deadly serious:]

What the FUCK is all this...? Am I reading this right? Did they fuck with our brains!?

[ It's as though that image becomes clearer through the pain - the faces looming over him on that table and deeming him good enough before they cut into him. Yzak steps back - clumsy but not exactly a stumble, his other hand out behind him until he feels the edge of one of the medbay beds and uses that to brace against. And he takes in that information as quickly as its fed to him, the hand over his eye sliding up to press his palm over his forehead, fingers tangled through his own bangs. His eyes are open, strained because it hurts and the screens in front of him aren't coming from some techy headset but from within himself...

His fingers curl so tightly in his hair that it hurts, but it's all Yzak can do short of doing that to his own eyes because just like that embedded chip in his wrist he feels that visceral need to claw whatever is in there out. But there's the part of him that knows, that feels it all so deeply embedded inside of him that he can't do that without ripping himself into pieces. ]

That's exactly what they did. [ His voice is tight, hissed, deep, beyond that line of anger he usually hits that loops back around and almost seems calm, but his expression gives away the absolutely disgusted, nearly murderous rush he feels in himself because his sense of autonomy is the worst place one can hit Yzak. Lacking control, lacking information is something so awful and sensitive in him because of how much he realized he actually lacked it during the first war. (still lacks it now in ways, in his own life)

And yet, something stops him from losing it completely. But he yells out against that voice, cursing it and demanding more information. What's been put inside of them? No, not a short summary, every single piece of it, where it's connected and what it does, anything to know, anything so he can focus on it, maybe take it into his own control somehow. The explanations provided alert him to what Dearka just felt behind his own ear, and Yzak brushes his curtain of hair out of the way to feel the button installed behind his own. It takes all of his will not to claw his fingernails into it like he did to his wrist. Why weren't they asked first? Why should they be expected to do anything after all of this violation to their bodies and their wills?

The more questions he rattles off, though, the tone he takes on shifts ever so slightly, into one Yzak's taken on tons of times before. The sort that implies that despite his grousing and his yelling, he's ... not going to reject it. Huh! ]

I’m more of a people person than a giant monster person. Negotiations, information gathering, and the like.

They should.

...

Or rather, if they're bringing in so many people, they should focus on those who could actually help in the labs.

[ Brushing his hand over the top of the generator to clear off debris dust, Yzak takes a brief peek inside of the machine. While he doesn't look entirely practiced in this, he does look like he's gleaning something the longer he looks at it and sees what goes where. ]

Don't tell me you were just shoved into a combatant position.

I could work in a lab! I know how to work with chemicals, I can build robots. And I can fight, sure, but I want to help in other ways.

[ OPEN ] here comes the boooooooy

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