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 Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2015 4:14 pm
So what will you do.
Both corruptions seemed of little value next to the betrayal committed. He was uncertain if the Negaverse held him responsible for his brother's actions - if it did, there was little mention of it. However, by volunteering himself for research on means to persuade those of stubborn mind, he inadvertently took responsibility for his brother's improvement. Such a claim entailed many hours of research as Shale or Umber into already established methods of persuasion, and psychology's questionable history yielded many different methods. Currently he worked with some of the older material by researching Skinner boxes and Pavlov experiments.
He wondered, though, if the carrot motivated more than the stick. With a sigh, he shut the memo book he wrote into and rubbed his eyes. Establishing a new precedent for mental training wasn't his only duty - he had Sandrine to train, a residence move to complete, and the new duties of captaincy to grow accustomed to. Life's menial tasks constantly built up and his job allowed no breaks with summertime demanding more hobby-related classes. How did generals manage all of this? Or general-sovereigns? It felt impossible to leave time for food and sleep within the day's demands.
There has to be a way to accomplish all of it. I need to organize my time. Running myself ragged won't help. Umber finally sat down fully on the table bench from his crouched position. The old, faded wood groaned slightly but offered no further complaint. It was the picnic table itself that whined and groaned beneath the pressure of his forearms against the ledge, and he paid it little heed in the wake of a new energy signature that encroached on his space. It felt formidable, familiar, and strong, yet dissimilar to the chaos he felt in his own kind.
The park itself was sparse of trees, but beyond the six-foot retaining wall there stood a surfeit of buildings to house and conceal any approaching entities. The small park sat in the heart of the city, and while those walks blocked out sound for a welcome refuge from its usual cacophony, there were certain disadvantages to its lack of surveillance.
Dark Mirror, then. Eternal from the feel. Mintaka or Chariklo? Someone else? Suddenly sitting as expected at the table seemed like a shitty idea. He stood abruptly.Pixie Nyxie lmk if things need changing
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Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2015 6:34 pm
Mintaka's thoughts were, as usual, troubled by concerns that shouldn't really concern her. She thought of herself as a neutral in war, in this war. When there was two sides, she took the third route. She felt she had interfered in enough of the actions to be considered order aligned but with the corruption of one of the senshi's, where she did nothing...she questioned it.
Remarque had warned her. There was no real stance for the Dark Mirrors, and their existence, it seemed so far, was to help who they felt they wanted too.
Was either side more beneficial?
If the future was like it was, she didn't think so. If Negaverse did claim earth, then most of the senshi would leave anyways, back to what was left of their planets. Knights would leave.
But her thoughts came back to the here and now, to the corruption of Sandrine. To the night, for the first time, she had done nothing but witnessed the situation.
She took her troubled thoughts away from Magiore, from the sanctity of their home and the one place she thought as the safe grounds. The bubble of space where she could be /normal/ and not /Mintaka/.
She traveled with a small satchel, filled with a thermos of hot water, and some tea packets. Small biscuits fit neatly next to it, as well as larger sized mirror, the size of the bag for her to use to escape if she really needed.
She walked slowly into the view of Umber, seemingly unpertrubed by the aura of negaverse. Even as an eternal, she felt comfortable in the fact that she could take care of herself. Her ruby eyes fell to him, and for the briefest moment, she stiffened. Flashes of the gym, the senshi being cornered. Elsa on the ground from an attack. Umber in the midst of it. She wanted to turn on her heel, run away from the trouble. But she was stronger then that, and her conviction of what she wanted remained true. As long as she was with Aurostibite, there was no peace or siding with the White moon.
"Good evening Umber." She moved closer, to the table where she let a small pale hand fall on the wood, "If you are taking a break, would you like some tea?"
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Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2015 11:39 pm
Seeing Mintaka as the origin of the aura lent a measure of relief, if only in her reticence toward attacking him previously. He had means of contacting her, which entailed enough of an acceptance for free communication. He expected that she would not attack him here.
Umber sat down after sighting her. His arms came to rest, crossed, on the textbook. "Mintaka." The captain wondered what might've brought her here, to a park that saw little use now. There were others, closer to the heart of the city, that bespoke more chances of powered interaction. This one he chose due to its distinct lack of auras from his travels; did she want the same solitude, then? Likely not if she approached despite the aura. "I didn't expect anyone would come here." But now that she's present, there's precedent for breaks. It would be unwise to miss an opportunity for relations with the mirror, even if their alliance with us is defunct. They have use.
"Have a seat. Tea is fine." As one who stuck mostly to water, Umber - or Shale - was still experiencing the vast array of flavored beverages. Most he didn't care for, but tea might hold some promise. Hopefully.
Umber tried to look attentive, but the long hours of pouring over books drained some of the vitality from his face. Concentration proved difficult; by this time, he needed to reread sentences every half-minute to ensure he actually processed the information he took in. Study time neared a close, whether he wanted it or not. I wonder what she knows of psychological persuasion. Of torture and its efficacy, of gestalt psychology. I wonder if she has access to magics that might persuade the mind. I'm not aware of her sphere or what it does.
"What brings you here?"
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Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2015 12:07 am
"Hello Umber." She continued, pulling out all the nessecities for tea. It started with her thermos, and then a couple insulated paper cups, like the ones that coffee shops gave out. She took a tea bag and steeped it in the hot water for her, and left the options out for Umber to choose from.
"I didn't expect someone to be out here so late. I apologize if I am intruding on your time." She chuckled a little in her tea, "But I am not so sorry that I would leave. Unless you want me too?"
She was curious over the material he was reading, leaning over her part of the table to see. She couldn't make out the words upside down, so she leaned back.
"Thoughts." She titled her head, "I have a lot of thoughts, and I am unsure how to tuck them away so they do not bother me." She shifted her fingers together around her cup. She wanted to ask him about the corruption. Ask him if it was necessary? What had happened, was it successful? Was she wrong to have been only a witness for it?
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Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2015 6:11 pm
Umber watched the process for sorting out teas, himself being uncertain which to pick. A few he recognized as herbs but his understanding for their flavor in water went no farther than that. "I'll have what you're having," he volunteered at last.
That she was perturbed by something did not surprise Umber - he remembered her presence at the attempt to capture Chariklo. Her interference then made sense; why would she allow the Negaverse to tamper with her own court? However, with her lover amongst their ranks, that stand could've ended quite badly. The game they played across faction lines grew more precarious as the court drifted from its association with the Negaverse.
There was, additionally, another Mirror presence during his endeavor to corrupt Sandrine. It felt of eternal rank to him; it could've easily been Mintaka herself or someone she knew. The Court's presence was small by his own personal scope of interactions, so he doubted that word needed far to travel.
Umber shifted back to a more casual posture with both hands pulling one ankle up atop his other knee. Watching his white-haired companion proved significantly more interesting than rereading the dense information from his articles. She moved with a certain practiced fluidity that he liked to imagine he had when shooting. "What are those thoughts?"
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Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2015 3:03 pm
She raised an eyebrow, then picked out a tea for him. "Fair warning, teas are a more bitter drink, so if you don't like it, I understand." She smiled hesitantly at him, "And wouldn't be offended if you didn't want any either." Her politeness knew no bounds, and Umber would be treated no differently then any of the others she knew.
She pursued her lips, drinking her tea and watching him. In hindsight, Umber had a certain wild edge about him. She was sure it was restrained underneath his attire, but there was still a look in the eye.
One that she would equate with that of a wolf. Or a snake.
"I was about, in your little coup of the senshi." She hesitated. "I did not interfere, because I think of myself neutral. In doing so though, I feel as if I treading the thin line between chaos and order." She took a deep breath. "That senshi...was she corrupted? Or killed?" She hadn't been able to stay around. "Elsa never told me...."
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Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2015 12:38 pm
Umber watched the steeping process while she prepared the tea for consumption. He noted that she brought bags - he was familiar wit those due to his brother's tastes - so he assumed they proved easier for travel dispensation like this. The captain waited with both arms crossed atop the table, though something in Mintaka's speech distracted him. His brows furrowed while he responded. "Do people drink what they're disinterested in?" Culture still proved a bizarre hurdle in his life, even months later.
Umber listened and his countenance remained stoic through the lot of it, even while inwardly he suspected ulterior motives for his presence there. The Mirror knew good reason to keep tabs on the Negaverse now, given what transpired with one of their own held hostage. Was Mintaka a part of that? Possibly, and her connection with a Negaverse officer gave her reason to stand watch over Sandrine's corruption. Once she finished, Umber closed his eyes momentarily to count back from ten.
Once he reached zero, he opened eyes again to respond. "The senshi was corrupted. That was the intention. If your neutrality rests on armistice, then your abstinence of the fight doesn't tread on any 'lines'. I don't understand this distinction between chaos and order either. I apologize if I seem short." Umber straightened up and braced both hands against the lip of the table. "I find it odd that you would watch the corruption, and that you would find it disturbing afterward. it seems like fishing for information. Is this reconnaissance for the Mirror?"Pixie Nyxie he has been a grump since he promoted
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Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2015 5:29 pm
"For social standards, yes." She pushed the cup towards him. "Mannerism's, at least in my former household, were of higher importance then personal taste buds." She sighed, "But I do very much enjoy tea, it has a calming effect about it. Whether its because it is famalier taste, or because it actual has a light scent about it that people like."
"So she was not killed." Her hands stopped touching the cup and she blinked. Was he accusing her of...spying? When he made it so obvious?
"I think it's a bit rude, especially since I was not the only dark mirror there." Mintaka rose a brow, her tone taking on a bit of a chill. "A dark mirror basic, that I took care of after your little coup." She sniffed.
"If I wanted to spy, I would do it a bit more stealthily, Umber. You negaverse are as open books as the order side. You think you are not...but I seemed to need to remind you that not only had you been found out by dark mirrors, but by the order alignment as well." She breathed in, upset that she had snapped. Because it was unlike her.
"I am bothered because I managed to hold of a Order senshi for you, and because it bothers me that I am bothered by it."
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Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2015 5:54 pm
"He was present by request." He hadn't yet touched the tea; conversation demanded more focus than a warm drink.
"Obviously we're not as open as you think we are you'd have known she was corrupted." Hadn't she felt it? Why else would one of their general-queens arrive to the area? And most importantly, the reversal of the White Moon aura could be felt by those paying attention to their auric senses. "I didn't have to tell you anything about it, since evidently you weren't paying attention to the outcome."
He remained barely silent over the White Moon discovery; involving Mintaka in his personal feuds with his brother sounded altogether a worse idea than before. She would likely condescend him for it, as she had done now multiple times. If Ochre hadn't interfered as he did, then Jack would not have time to escape, transform, and draw attention to herself. But what would it matter to Mintaka, or anyone? Even to himself, these hindsight inferences sounded like excuses.
"Are you certain you weren't holding off a White Moon senshi for Elsa? I don't believe you're a neutral party, Mintaka. For as long as you interact with other members of Order or Chaos, you're getting involved in the war. By talking to me, or Elsa, or anyone else you do have an agenda. Whether that's to try for peace or changing someone's views or any number of things, I don't know - but simple involvement means you are no longer neutral. If you wanted to be, you'd stop powering up entirely." His hands across the table drew to tighter fists to loose some of the tension. It didn't help much; Umber still felt a keen irritation that he only barely tolerated.
"My point is this. As you exist now, there is no neutral. If it bothers you that you held off a White Moon senshi, then you need to accept it because if you have any hand in this war then you've already lost neutrality."
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Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2015 2:43 am
"He didn't tell me that." Mintaka frowned, "He was really shaken up." She narrowed her eyes. "I figured you would've killed her for defying you." Mintaka shrugged a little. "No I wasn't. I was worried about the amount of things going on. Again, there was a lot of fighting going on and I was staying out of it. It was a hodge podge of aura's, including one giant dampening General King one...And I've met a general king before, I know exactly what they feel like. Was it Zinkenite that came?"
She sighed, understanding that perhaps her questioning sounded like...accusing him. And perhaps Umber was tired of the role he was given. She stared at her cup a little as he spoke though. Sadly remembering, after all, she was only 19 years old. Sometimes things were bigger in the world then just herself.
"I thought I was." She whispered, closing her eyes. "But the longer I grow accustomed to the dark mirrors, the more I feel that my former white moon court is wrong. And how they go about their ways is wrong." She rubbed her forehead.
"What do you suggest then Umber?" She sat back, staring at him now. "Slowly by slowly, everything I stood for is crumbling at my feet. Can you understand what that feels like?"
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Posted: Sat Jul 25, 2015 4:28 am
"She had too many useful qualities to kill her for defiance. Resistance seems a trifle." Umber set to straightening up the papers that were no longer in use - all printouts of news articles and old abstracts soon collected in the pages of the book he kept, and the cover closed atop them safely. ""If they fight, you subdue them. It doesn't impede a General-Queen." He looked pointedly toward Mintaka afterward.
"I haven't seen or heard anything about Zinkenite since I joined the Negaverse. Someone else picked up the contact." Divulging the Sovereign's name to appease Mintaka sounded like a dangerous game - even if she said she wasn't fishing for information, he willingly handed that knowledge to someone who wasn't an ally of the Negaverse - only a noncombatant. And that information may find its way back to the White Moon, if not by her hands then someone else in her Court, and lead them to a potential trap set for the mint-haired woman. Was that considering things too far? Umber was uncertain - and thinking of it only led to a more difficult exhaustion headache.
Umber rubbed at the socket of his eye while she went over the despair that plagued her. "Yes, I understand what that's like. Corruption split my family in half. Adding my brother to the ranks against my counsel has led to the possibility that he'll die at the hands of the Negaverse. Promotion acquired more responsibilities than I can hope to meet right now. And I'm on a timer to reconcile my brother with the Negaverse. If I fail, they might still put up with him for a time - but I can't deny the possibility that they may reduce him to a youma. Beyond that, there are personal imports I hold that seem at odds with the Negaverse and may need to change. These are all very real threats to the life that I have known for years.
"But they won't stop if I despair." Umber took hold of the cup she poured for him and sipped at it, finding the tea taste almost waxy on his tongue. He couldn't place the flavor, but it felt smooth and easy to swallow against a parched throat. "I imagine your situation has some similarities. Whether your neutrality is accepted by your court, whether your actions suit your beliefs, and other discrepancies.
"Life is change, Mintaka. It is not static. It wasn't created with a definition of right and wrong - only survival and failure. The White Moon is trying to survive, as is the Negaverse and the Dark Mirror. They all fight for ideals that give life meaning and worth beyond that survival. But when you reach points like this, where everything that qualifies life as worthwhile is in jeopardy, you just survive. Any way you can. That contentment in the life that used to carry you easily will fade, but so will the disappointment in seeing it go and the subsequent misery. So you survive it - all of it.
"And you survive because nothing is static. What you stand for a year from now might be just as rewarding but greatly different."
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Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2015 5:03 pm
She stared back instead. So corruption wasn't always chosen, but, perhaps her past ideals of it being wrong, it was much better then death? She didn't know how corrupt senshi were, and they were directly tied to the negaverse in a way that Dark Mirrors never were.
"Oh." She pursued her lips. "He was the only one I knew of at the time. I haven't felt many presences of General Queens or Kings within your ranks." Which...could be a good thing? Or a bad thing? She wondered. How did the negaverse work, who was the top of the food chain? Who was the equivalent of a princess or prince to them?
"I'm sorry." She wanted to reach over and place her hand over his, but she wasn't sure he'd appreciate it and, she didn't want to impede on his troubles with no way to offer support more then empty words or thoughts. But his words changed to her, and her problems.
How was it that even with his prickly tones, that she felt at ease and even comforted by it? Was it because she had expected him to tell her outright that she was wrong? And instead he was attempting to understand?
"I do." She looked at him. "Want to survive. I want to make sure I am the top of the food chain. I want to make sure that at the end of the world, when it comes, if it comes, I can proudly say that I was the one who came out on top. That will forever scare me. In the memories I had, of the future that won't happen, I cared too much for others. Now, I care too much for myself." She leaned back, "Balance is shifting. In the war, in powers, in our own personal lifes." She sighed, "I appreciate the time and though you took into talking to me. Even if it meant distracting you from the work you are currently engaged in."
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Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2015 9:59 pm
Umber issued no comment on their General-Sovereigns, as the Court maintained no further official alliances with the Negaverse. He wondered who their contact was - if this Zinkenite, who he never met personally, saw to the relations between the factions. He wondered if this mystery man became the figurehead for Metallia's lukewarm arrangements, and with the dissolution of the alliance, he disappeared for poor decisions or failed mediation. It explained Umber's lack of ability to learn anything about this man's current stature without painting him as lazy or deserting.
"It only scares you because you have preconceived notions that selfishness is inherently bad or that you're a bad person for choosing it. Selfishness is a survival tool. It's a cultural fault. But you only live with yourself for every waking second of the day. Everyone passes through your life except you. Don't you owe it to yourself to live as long as you can?" The followup question took into account the point of it all, but to ask such a heavy question demanded both time and the mental capacity to process that information to a useful extent. Umber disliked that forming critical thought exhausted him the way it did. He felt the weariness grow beneath his eyes while he spoke of the static versus the ephemeral.
He needed sleep, he knew, to serve his own survival purposes. But, he realized, the Negaverse was beginning to supersede number one.
"Maybe it's time I give you my number too." Umber picked up the pen he often used for underlining and tore out a scrap piece of notebook paper. Across the top he wrote his first and last name in drafting script, all as bold, jagged lines indenting the page. Below it came a string of ten numbers with no dashes to separate. He still didn't understand phone numbers quite well enough to delineate between area codes and individual assignments. Afterward he seized the paper between index and middle fingers and handed it out to her.
"Distractions are supposed to improve work performance. Distract me whenever you want."
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Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2015 10:31 pm
"I do, and it is unnerving to also be called on it. No less truthful, just unnerving." She sighed, thinking of the old ways. Could she ever give up helping others?
The part of her that surfacing, the darker part of her? Perhaps egged by chaos, or perhaps a enlightenment for her predicament said yes. She could.
The she blinked cause she was staring in wonder. Umber, a man who seemed too grumpy, and perhaps even a bit closed off was writing down his number for her. Writing his number, for her. She had given hers easily enough, but to gain him back was a sort of trust.
She took the paper, and resisted holding it up to the heaves and waiting for angels to sing on it. Instead she gave a polite happy smile.
"Distractions are good." She nodded and laughed, "I will try not to do it always, But I will call you after some time." She refilled his tea with hot water. "I should take my leave for now, otherwise he will worry." She slid out of the bench, his number clutched to her chest. "You know how to reach me Umber. I hope you have a....better night. Thank you for the advice. And listening." She hummed. Turning to walk away, before turning back. "If you like, I will carry around some sweeter teas. You might like them." And then she was on her way again.
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