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Curiosity to see what thoughts or questions would come up, and how General Faustite would handle them had been reason enough to remain at the side of the room and work on finishing her pipe. General Snek’s two cents were just about what was expected. She smiled around stem, then lifted the pipe other young general’s direction. “Flair enough you’re still awake, General. But don’t be gauche—throwing fireworks into other officer’s stomachs isn’t until second party, and a bag of hash is at least fourth.”

"Unless you need the harder items so that you can chase dragon Apatite's tail for a spiritual Q&A."

Sylvite had mixed feelings about youma. Like, they had their uses, maybe, in theory, and some of them looked pretty cool. The half-youma she liked for sure, at least in theory, although it turned out they could be just as good or bad underneath their pretty eyes as anyone else could be. The for-sure, real youma, the ones that were always sneaking around the city at the edge of her aura she didn't like as much. They made people not like the Negaverse. Also, her recruitment had involved almost getting eaten by one, which had not been a fun time.

She still showed up early, sitting cross-legged in a front row seat with her tablet in hand. This was something important. This was something she could learn about. This was something that could either go really, really bad, or really, really good.

She watched Faustite as he stepped up and turned out to actually be a pretty decent host. She nodded along as a few generals came up and talked about the advantages of youma, bonds, uses, all sorts of stuff. She waved at Vitriol when he stepped up and tried to cheer him on as much as she could with a smile while he talked. She scribbled some notes down when they got to the youma are a senshi curse part of things. That made a lot of sense, actually.

But out of all of them, the the talk from the super pretty pink flower youma Euphoria was the one that had her slack-jawed and staring bright eyed the entire time. It was mostly because of the youma herself, who was pink and covered in petals and didn't look at all like something you'd find behind a dumpster. Then when she started playing with plants, Sylvite let out an audible gasp. Magic.

She was quick to raise a hand during the question portion. "Euphoria, hi," she said first, with a wave, then quickly asked, "Are there a lot of youma like you in the Rift? Like, with magic?" She'd said there were some but Sylvite wanted to know just how hard it was gonna be to find one.

There were some people talking loudly about stuff like fireworks and greater youma, which would have caught her attention if she didn't have something quite so cool to focus on.

Eternal Kamacite

“I would have told everyone that they should be submitting to your rule over them,” Kamacite said quietly, still looking over the tops of the chairs to try and see what Aue, and anyone else for that matter, was doing.

There was a pause before Kamacite glanced up at his General, “A joke, sir.” He couldn’t exactly claim to have the best jokes, or good jokes at all, but with the tension and curious looks he was receiving, he figured he should say something.

Kamacite shook his head and let out a breath he’d been holding. There were too many people. He wished he could sneak out without anyone noticing, but now that he could see Aue and know he might be getting himself into a debate with a General, well… he couldn’t exactly leave yet.

“I would not dream to assume I know anything about youma, or the hardships you face,” he offered instead. It was true though. He wouldn’t have known what to speak about. For one, they wouldn’t have been able to get him up in front of everyone. And two, he maybe would have suggested that everyone look beyond what they might consider monsters, because youma, half or otherwise, were still human. And full youma once were human.

Captain Nissonite

As one of the re-educated in question Nissonite could have vouched for the losses and lapses in memory that came with being drawn into the opposite side of the war. He'd lost plenty, primarily anything that had to do with his former life as page, and with that any knowledge he might have had of youma or half youma beyond the tiny experience he'd had with them as a civilian.

It'd seemed like a good idea to attend. There were numerous speakers giving their opinions on numerous topics. Nissonite had taken a seat near the middle to listen, his form half slouched and his arms folded, but his attention was rapt on the podium and speakers that'd taken center stage behind or near it.

One, in particular, holding his attention a little more firmly than the others.

It wasn't until the conclusion, when the floor had been opened up to questions, that the captain realized there were others present he was familiar with. Jet sat with another captain and a corrupt that had moved from the wall to join them. He considered moving closer as well to offer a greeting to the general but held back for the moment.

Instead he glanced to where General Wolfeite had moved along the wall to join another corrupt, this one eternal. Pushing up from his seat he made his way over, pale eyes flicking between the two before lingering on the general's masked face. "That was well done," he offered, though paused to consider some of the other speakers, his nose wrinkling. "Mostly well done."

Then, to Kama, he offered an easy smile. "Hi, I'm Captain Nissonite."

His marked 'target' cried 'KITTY!' like he was the coolest thing since sliced bread and Tiberius was just fine with that. The dame had one eye and one arm and that was a amn shame, but he could totally help her with these things if she - unlike that stuffybritches Zircon - would just let him!

"Oooh, that's real nice." How strange, her hands didn't end in fingers, or even painted fingernails shaped into talons like some of the senshi had...they were actual claws. Like a half youma. And up close? She still smelled really interesting! Tiberius couldn't help sniffing deeply and wiggling his nose and whiskers at her, tail curling up into a happy crook that slowly danced one way and then the other. He even kicked up a real good jet-engine purr, 'cause she had the goods on scritches - A+ stuff that had him arching up into her hands and dancing.

God he loved people!

"Hmmm?" He butted his large head against her hand when she faltered in giving her name. Ta? She looked...worried, and the scent of fear broke out over that super interesting not-normal scent that tickled at Tiberius' nose. After a few moments, she seemed to make up her mind to trust him with something precious, leaning close to give him something oh-so-special and just for him.

Tanzanite. This dame was She. What was once the Greatest General Sovereign of the Negaverse, the One and Only. The database had reams of data about her, about Aree Cadence, about everything...and here she was, in the flesh. Tiberius puffed up with importance, knowing that if she didn't want to tell everyone, he ought to not. "Ooh, ain't you just the thing!" Carefully he stood on his hind legs and put his fore paws on her knees and busked her cheeks with his own, marking her as one of his. "So gorgeous, I'm gonna call you Peridot, if that's good." Unless she had something else she wanted him to call her, Tibs knew that Tanzanite had once been thought to be the less impressive olivine, so peridot was kind of a cute way of faking her as herself.

Benitoite gave an answer that was very obviously meant to deflect scrutiny from his ineptitude in having ignored a well known and heavily documented piece of Negaverse training for some selfish aim that had yet to be put to light. Aue was fairly certain it was some romantic inclination - that was usually the culprit when abject stupidity was on the table.

How were you not stripped of your ranks or turned into a youma yourself? I would have busted your a** back to lieutenant permanently at the least for such blatant disregard of protocol and the chain of command. Dull and lacking, ineffectual. Aue was weighing the general before him and finding him as lacking as he'd found others, the man's very word choices grating with how pompous they were.

Aue had remained standing precisely in a military parade rest for the duration of Benitoite's rambling response, attentive despite his growing irritation at the given response. "With all due respect, Sir," The corrupt senshi's jaw clenched slightly, but he appeared otherwise outwardly unaffected, "I believe that were I to obtain a training manual from six years ago, it would provide the same information as the current manual does." Granted, he could not know this to be entirely true, however - very little seemed to have changed in the training manual, or in any of the other databases he'd studied during his time in the Negaverse. It was an educated hypothesis: the manuals would be the same in this area.

"Certainly I will procure one to confirm this, at which time I would be most interested in hearing your explanation as to why you, a decorated general of the Negaverse, would lie to an entire room of your peers during a presentation." There was nothing more to say to the charlatan parading around as a general, so Aue sat back down, dismissing both his tablet and the kintsugi cup to subspace for the time being.

Lieutenant Bloodstone

It wasn’t often that Bloodstone was able to get away from work long enough to participate in things such as this. Lucky for him, keeping people alive was only one part of his job. If there was no chance in saving someone, they certainly didn’t need a starseed. Nor did those who caused more work for him and others. If the scum of the earth was wiped out, what better place to do it without suspicion as a hospital’s trauma ward?

“If you don’t mind, I would like to hear your findings and the General’s explanation as well,” Bloodstone spoke up from the row behind the vocal corrupt. “As a Lieutenant, I have much that I still need to learn. I wouldn’t want to end up in the same situation as that Captain whom… is now a Knight?”

He sat in an overstuffed armchair, avoiding the spring that had punched through the back’s upholstery by leaning against an arm. It made him look just about as casual and relaxed about the meeting as he felt, even if he would usually make every attempt to present himself as formally as possible.

“Curious situation indeed,” he mused, watching both the General and Eternal. The senshi had asked the questions he’d been curious about. Certainly obtaining a youma to fight beside him was appealing, but not necessary for him at that point in time. Still, it would have been a huge missed opportunity to not go to the seminar.

“Lieutenant Bloodstone,” he introduced after a moment’s pause. “If you’re ever in need of medical assistance, feel free to ask for Dr. de Rais at the General Hospital."

Eternal Kamacite

It wasn’t often that Wolfeite was amused, so hearing the lighter edge of his normally rough voice was nice. He didn’t like how much of a youma Wolfeite was becoming. He looked too ragged, aside from his medals. Maybe he could do something to try and change that.

Kamacite tensed when he too noticed someone approaching, wishing he could have managed to escape without drawing attention from anyone else. He didn’t do well in social situations, and he would rather not embarrass himself in front of Wolfeite. Which was easier said than done, since he was quite good at finding ways to embarrass himself.

Wide eyes stared at the Captain, heat rising in his face as he was greeted with a smile. Kamacite started with a small squeak as Wolfeite rested his hand on his shoulder. Thankfully, Wolfeite introduced him to Nissonite for him, which meant Kamacite didn’t have to talk, and merely lowered his head in acknowledgement.

As he slowly… slid further down into the seat, slouching uncomfortably in a haphazard attempt to slink into the shadows while his General and the Captain talked.