Winter, January 7th - Guardianship

[zenoh]

Video - Public

[ Ayame appears on video clad in her old black armor, with the phone camera fixed toward her and showing a vast and empty chamber behind her. Ayame stands at Nova City's Holodeck, where the sound of her voice makes a subtle echo ]

Good afternoon.

[ She starts, clearing her throat for a moment and looking into the camera and trying to appear more composed. Speeches are hard ]

This last election has seen a very close competition for Nova City's Guardianship position. I have nothing but gratitude for those who voted in support of Gale Reinhardt and myself. I wish to congratulate Ms. Bulla Brief for having so much support, and wish her the best from this day forward. I hope to reward people's faith as a new Guardian of this city. I look forward to working with my fellow Guardians and working for the people of this city.

Now, our Guardian team could use another member. The loss of former Deputy Yang Xiao Long has yet to be mended, so I am here right now on Nova City's Holodeck. Consider this an interview should you be interested in the position. That's all. Thank you.

[ With a gesture of her hand, she makes a fist that shuts the feed off ]

Comments

[problemagus]

( Look, Ayame. He wouldn't be doing this if he didn't have faith in her leadership, and well, seeing as she won her election, he's feeling a little more inclined.

He doesn't feel the need to send a follow up message. She knows he'll be there. What's more surprising is that when he does arrive, she might notice he's taken the time to iron out his suit!! He never does this. Why does he think she'll care now??? kiritsugulogic.jpg

She'll find him in the front lobby, waiting silently as he always does. )

[zenoh]

[ It was a close victory, one that Ayame honestly feels guilty of winning at the same time of feeling really relieved that she and Gale did actually win. It's a thought she quickly dismisses even as she waits for the other applicants.

Once Kiritsugu arrives at the Holodeck's lobby, Ayame creates a portal to the projection room she's in. ]

You don't have to wait there and get in line, come in.

[ Ayame spoke from the other side, beckoning Kiritsugu over through the portal. She wasn't looking at him and fiddles with a holographic tablet instead and wearing her purple pair of fashion glasses. Once he's through, she looks up from her tablet and does a double take, lowering her glasses to look at Kiritsugu with her naked eye. She hums to herself, noticing how he's cleaned up his suit immediately. Maybe it was her tailoring experience that made her notice it so quickly, or the fact she's seen him with scruffy old suits before. Or both. Either way, seeing him like that made him smile a little ]

Given this is an interview for Guardianship, I assume you brought a weapon?

[ She has a stack of Aster Tech and Nexus Defense weapons somewhere that she could and would let him use. She needs to know how he is with higher-tech firearms ]

[problemagus]

( His wait for her was something of a formality. He really wasn't certain how many others would be clamoring for this job, and assumed she might have already been preoccupied with another applicant. There's no hesitation when she asks him to follow, however, and promptly lifts his briefcase from the floor.

He takes a seat once he's actually made it into her office, setting his briefcase on her desk following her question, simply nodding. )

They're in here. ( His contender and calico, he means. ) I suppose you would want to take a look.

( The latch of the case is facing Ayame, giving her the option to inspect them herself if she so chooses. )

[zenoh]

Please.

[ Ayame gestures for him to open the briefcase as she tucks her device away and approach Kiritsugu. Their words echo slightly at the massiveness of the holodeck, and even Ayame's armored boots added a different sound to her usual steps. She wears a flexible armor woven on a special silk, and composite materials with a matte finish are what her high-tech gauntlets and greaves were made of. She's very futuristic; so upon seeing the contents of the case, she couldn't help but look at the guns in mild awe and fascination. She's probably have seen them on his person while working at Amatsu but she never got to see them up close like this before ]

Vintage? Or is this normal firearms in your world?

[ Being somewhat of a fan of the classics, Ayame is fond of the aesthetics of the Calico and the Contender, especially the wooden grip of the latter that she couldn't help but run the tips of her fingers over ]

This is very old technology where I am from. It's standard for even our civilians and police forces to be using directed-energy weapons. I have some to lend you for this test, but first I want to see how you do with the arms you're familiar with.

[ She spoke, letting her fingers hover and gracefully touch near the ammunition ]

[problemagus]

( He watches the way Ayame marvels over the Contender, feeling actually compelled to chuckle as her fingers gingerly sweep over the sleek wood of its handle. )

Standard weaponry, in my world. ( But she did seem to be familiar with them. He muses, considering that their worlds must be similar. ) But I don't think that should be a problem.

( Adapting, he means. )

Using magecraft, I alter the flow of time to enhance the precision and impact. I'm assuming an energy based weapon wouldn't be dissimilar.

( But he'll let her correct him on that. )

But that Contender there, I will confess it only sees use in very... specific cases.

( Such as, idk, mage killing. )

[zenoh]

[ Ayame nods; letting him load his weapons in preparation for his test. She retracts her hands away from the weapons to allow him to do so, listening to him instead. His ability does sound useful, she thought. ]

Specific cases, being...?

[ Ayame quirks a brow. She figures the gun is a single-shot firearm. While she finds it aesthetically pleasing to look at, the practicality does make her wonder why he would choose this as a sidearm, though she also figured the Calico already carry a lot of rounds. But none of those thoughts caught her curiosity more than what it is he was using the euphemism for. ]

Or rather, specific targets?

[problemagus]

You've got it. ( His expression certainly doesn't reflect this, even if his lips seem to curl as if he were longing for a cigarette, but he does feel a pang of guilt when his words begin to trail off. ) Don't let this alarm you, but I used to work as a mercenary with the specific task of hunting fugitive mages.

( Perhaps he thought she'd think less of him for it, or not. He did enjoy her company, but mercs had never been held in high regard. )

It's something of a policy for other mages ( eg. not him ) to reject most modern technology. Doing so makes them susceptible to attacks from firearms and other machinery. That's where I come in.

( At this point, he actually picks up the Calico to be loaded, leaving his Contender untouched. )

The bullets I use inside that gun are crafted from my origin. ( He'll... spare her the details about powdering his own ribs. ) When fired at another mage, they rewrite that person's magic circuits-- causing them to go haywire and rendering their powers effectively useless. They can even penetrate most magical barriers or other defenses mages would use.

( With the Calico loaded, he carefully holds it against his side, waiting for her instructions. )

I can use regular bullets today, if you insist on seeing it in action.

( Look, he doesn't need to powder any more of his ribs thnx. )

[zenoh]

[ Her attention didn't waver even as he warned her and admitted his background as a mage hunter. Instead of feeling any alarm, Ayame finds herself more curious about his skills and background, and finds herself relating to him more. Whether that's a good thing, she doesn't know. Whether it's bad because she's similar to him, or he's similar to her... that's an even harder question. Ayame doesn't want anyone to have a life like her's did. ]

Origin?

[ She utters in a question, but understood it's purpose as a potentially useful weapon against those with magic, something Nova City could use now that her colleague from home Troy is not around ]

We can use regular ammunition for now. Special rounds like these are not something you have a lot of, correct? And we don't have any magical creature to test it on at the moment, in any case.

[ Ayame gestures toward a few feet. A square on the matte grey floor lights up to indicate a starting point for the simulation. Ayame steps away as Kiritsugu steps on the illuminated platform ]

Very well, let's begin.

[ Ayame spoke as the entire room darkens. The echoes of their footsteps and Ayame's voice fades into dead silence. Moments passed and the first thing that changes is the temperature. Gradually growing cooler, colors begin to form around him until a realistic picture of the environment comes to life. Kiritsugu will find himself in an empty Nova City street, with the usual features of war showing in the form of damaged buildings the ghostly emptiness of the surrounding area. Only the sound of rain, random cracking flames from the destroyed vehicles littered over the dust-filled streets. Th sound of gunfire in the distance joins the silent symphony as Kiritsugu stands alone with nothing but his weapon. Then a simulated comm call disrupts the ambiance, with Ayame's voice coming from the other side ]

Kiritsugu. Your mission is to locate and link-up with local militia. I'm sending you their coordinates to your HUD, but be warned there are patrol parties that circle the blocks nearby. You'll have to sneak passed them to get to your location but you have to hurry and get there within a certain time frame... Good luck

[ First test is stealth. An augmented reality panel appears beside him giving him the time-limit, location, and distance of his target; and acts as Kiritsugu's heads-up display that he can switch on and off mimicking the standard-issue equipment Guardians of Nova use. Soon as Ayame's voice drops from the call, flashlight beams from a big patrol party started searching the street he's in, leaving Kiritsugu with three options: the open manhole to go under which is the safest but also would take longest to get to his destination, the side-alley with medium-level or risk, or a high risk one where he goes forward through the shops on the street where he'll be within feet from the oncoming party hiding behind thin cover. But it's the fastest route to his location and time is running low ]

[problemagus]

( Oh. She was curious, and in her position, he couldn't blame her. This was, after all, a job interview. He could be upfront with her, explain to her the potency of the powder inside of his bullets. Or, he give off a pained laugh, as if he were telling a wry joke: )

An extraction of magical circuits from my body.

( Yeah, that's what he'll call it. An extraction. Things lost in the name what needed to be done.

He sets aside his calico for a brief moment to focus on the contender, loading the chamber with his normal rounds, before lifting his suit jacket to gently tuck it inside his holster.

Kiritsugu hasn't any experience with augmented reality, but is aware of the concept to an extent, hiding any signs of surprise when the simulation begins, and carefully pours over his options when the menu pops up.

For the first option, in his mind, he's already eliminated it. It would take far too much time for him to arrive, and with the time limit, it wasn't at all viable. In theory, he could enhance the acceleration of his body to make it through the shops, and while could seem impressive, it wasn't exactly his style, nor did he want Ayame to get the impression he was hasty or showing off. Leaving him with: the side-alley. If he were careful, he wouldn't draw attention to himself, giving him the means to eliminate whatever targets he might face along the way with a nominal risk.

He starts by trailing down the second path. )

[zenoh]

[ Ayame got the hint that he wasn't looking to divulge the source of his Origin Bullet, which she can understand. So she leaves the subject be for now and hope he'll satisfy her curiosity about it later when he feels more comfortable. She knows what it could do, and that should be enough for now.

She watches Kiritsugu from an observation deck, arms crossed and mentally controlling the simulation with the combination of the Holodeck's projections with some of her own created ones to fill in the gaps. As he took to the second path, the test begins. Each choice he makes leads to a pre-planned consequence, each progressively getting tougher to really test his skills and determined to not make him leave the place unscathed. She could just heal him and repair his clothes and gear later.

Making it to the militia hideout ended the first test, leading to a test of teamwork and leadership ability by having Kiritsugu and the militia soldiers to attack various spots in the simulated version of Nova City, along with smaller objectives of gathering important items, escorting civilians to safe zones, infiltration, and escaping. She made the militia members seem real, basing them each on soldiers she knew in life though making them more dependent on Kiritsugu's tactics to test his skill in making them on the fly. Those skills passed on to him by Natalia showed.

The pace gets faster and the enemies get tougher to bring down. His weapons lacked sufficient firepower to really deal against robots and highly-armored targets, but Ayame littered some Nova weapons on the sim for him to use so she could test his adaptability under pressure, only leaving him with a visual example of their use through the militia soldiers with him.

The simulation ends with a "boss" encounter. Clearly Ayame had been copying video games that Chiaki Nanami exposed her to. Another time limit is imposed on him, forcing Kiritsugu to fight one on one against an NPC modeled after an enhanced cyborg criminal in Nova. This last one is to test that time altering ability of his, and how he does against stronger opponents when he's at his limit. The battle might be something Kiritsugu familiar with, as his opponent was a martial artist who fights with bare fists and bladed weapons.

Regardless of how smooth he performed against that, the simulation would end as the time limit does. An alarm rings and the environment fades back into nothing, returning Kiritsugu back to reality and to the empty warehouse-like room. Ayame casually walks back into the room right after putting Kiritsugu in a simulation that could have killed him for real ]

How are you feeling? Sleepy?