Video/Action

[terminally_clever]

[Action; Scorpio District]

[It's the first night of the Firefly Festival, and Fumi's out to observe the light show.  To anyone who's just met her for the first time since her arrival in Hinoto-Ri, it's probably a bit of an odd sight.  She's sitting on a small hill overlooking the festivities below and just watching the fireflies dancing through the air and lighting up the night sky with their brilliance, laptop nowhere to be found for a change.]

Ah... it's so amazing...

[The smile on her face and the sparkle in her eye are like nothing she's displayed since coming here.  She really seems to be genuinely enjoying herself, just sitting idly by while she takes a moment to enjoy the scene.]

[Video; 13th Hour; Leo District; locked to Yamato and Miyako Hotsuin]

[As the feed flickers on, Fumi's face is illuminated by the light from her COMP.  The room she's standing in is dark, so it's rather hard to see what's behind her.]

Chief.  Miyako.  You're both going to want to see this.  Meet me in the Leo District.

Comments

[Action]

[capitalbackup]

I'll leave the negotiations to you.

[Miyako does admit that she's not very, ah, friendly when it comes to negotiations of this nature. Unlike back home, she doesn't have a lot of political power in this city.]

[terminally_clever]

I'll make the appropriate arrangements, then.

[Not that Fumi is all that diplomatic either, honestly.]

You can be my personal security escort if you'd like. It'll just be a pretense to allow you to keep an eye the government operatives personally while they're here, of course.

[And to allow Fumi to act like she's the one in charge for a while and be obnoxious, of course.]

[Action]

[terminally_clever]

I don't foresee any problems.

[jumyouboshi]

Ha...of course. Mankind's curiosity is not so easily sated.

[To live is to inquire, indeed. Ah, but hailing from a world of merit, could that truly be called Fumi Kanno's reason for living?]

[terminally_clever]

That's only natural. Even after having faced Polaris, the world's administrator with access to all information that has ever existed and will ever exist, there's still an endless expanse of knowledge that we haven't even come close to fully understanding. Parallel universes and alternate timelines are widely believed to be the provenance of science fiction and fantasy stories, and yet here we both are in a completely different plane of reality from our own. And even here we're surrounded by people from an almost endless series of different worlds, not to mention members of our own universe hailing from at least three unique chains of causality but somehow existing here simultaneously.

[jumyouboshi]

...Indeed.

[Though they only faced him. They didn't access the knowledge he held. It still rests in his hands...supposedly. Ah, but that wasn't exactly true, with Saiduq around.

...Perhaps he should come a little bit closer for this conversation. Such information and knowledge of the administrator and the Records weren't supposed to be widespread, after all. Glowing blue, Alcor descends from the tree branch, before hovering his way closer to Fumi's vicinity. Not too close, of course, given that he knew they didn't all take too kindly to his presence (especially creatures like fireflies).

He doesn't exactly want to ruin the moment...but this is Alcor; it's inevitable.]

This convergence of possibilities is beyond what you most likely had imagined...yet here you are. Such is the power of possibility.

[Or the power of an administrator, more likely.]

It is true, there is much knowledge that remains out of the grasp of Man's comprehension...but do you think yourself capable of doing so?

[terminally_clever]

Capable of understanding all of it?

[Fumi spares a glance back at him, just for a moment, before turning back around again. There's a small, wry smile on her face.]

No, of course not. Any scientist who believes themselves capable of that is delusional at best. The moment someone thinks they have everything figured out is the moment they stop thinking and questioning the world around them, and that's when reason dies.

[Fumi casts a brief glance at the stars shining in the night sky - a second brilliant light show atop the first.]

The pursuit of knowledge is the essence of science. If there's no knowledge left to pursue, where does that leave us?

[drakenguard]

[Yamato looked amused]

Personal security escort, mm? I feel like there's a change in roles here... but that's fine. I would prefer that.

[terminally_clever]

I thought you might.

[A small smile.]

But seriously, I don't think we have much to be worried about here. With our own close associations with the government, it should be easy to keep an eye on them and make sure they don't overstep the bounds of our agreement.

[greyerrant]

[ A ghostly figure in armor watches the fireflies as well, and notices Fumi. That foolish woman. Ah. Well, his body language subtly shifts, but he neither approaches nor retreats. ]

[terminally_clever]

[She's content to ignore him if all he's going to do is stand there, so this is going to be a game of conversation chicken.]

[greyerrant]

You seem cheerful.

[ He finally manages, gritting it out through his voxcaster. ]

[terminally_clever]

Hm. I suppose so.

[greyerrant]

The festival amuses you? I admit, I don't understand them.

[terminally_clever]

The festival?

[She sounds almost indignant.]

No, I couldn't possibly care less about that.

[greyerrant]

[ Garviel seems slightly intrigued, behind his helm, anyway. ]

Oh? Then what is it that makes you so cheerful?

[terminally_clever]

That thing must obscure more of your vision than I thought.

[greyerrant]

I can see what you are doing, I just can't account for it. So why don't you tell me? I'm unused to the microexpressions of baseline humans.

[terminally_clever]

[Fumi groans, gesturing to the flickering lights in front of her.]

I'm watching the fireflies.

[jumyouboshi]

With a saturated existence.

[The answer came on reflex, automated, somewhat listless.

Something he knew all too well. If there were no purposes in life left to purpose, where did that leave humanity...? Perhaps he could ask the same.]

[greyerrant]

They produce light from their bottoms. I have not seen many creatures with this capacity in the worlds I have visited.

[drakenguard]

True. I doubt they would do anything to jeopardise their access to this information, anyway. We would only have to keep an eye out for those with other motivations on their minds.

[Selfish people looking to make a cheap buck, or further their own ambition - rogue elements]

[terminally_clever]

What a crude way of putting it. At least call it bioluminescence.

[terminally_clever]

A saturated and boring existence.

[terminally_clever]

I fully intend to re-implement all of our security protocols as soon as the government is done snooping around anyway. Any further access requested by them or anyone else will necessarily be mediated by us. I'll know immediately if anyone is trying to access the site without the appropriate permissions.