[Nexus] HALO 179: Under New MAGnagement!

[Arkhosia]

[Entrance Hall]

"Fairly well, but better now. What about you?" Yuki grins back. "You said that we're going to track down an Aberrant Titan? What's the aberration of it?"

Pretty good. Been on a couple adventures I should tell you about some time. An Aberrant titan behaves quite differently from other titans. Aberrant titans are unpredictable and dangerous, often running, crawling, or jumping to move. They sometimes have a focus on something, such as ignoring soldiers in pursuit of civilians.
She replies.
Do you happen to have a device I could show images or videos of them on?

[Morcleon]

Pretty good. Been on a couple adventures I should tell you about some time. An Aberrant titan behaves quite differently from other titans. Aberrant titans are unpredictable and dangerous, often running, crawling, or jumping to move. They sometimes have a focus on something, such as ignoring soldiers in pursuit of civilians.
She replies.
Do you happen to have a device I could show images or videos of them on?

[Entrance Hall]

"I have a laptop computer? Would that work?" Yuki pulls out a shiny silver computer that looks to have gone through quite a bit of wear and tear.

"Do you know what this particular titan's focus is? And wouldn't a conceptual focus like 'civilians over soldiers' require actual sapience?"

[Arkhosia]

[Entrance Hall]

"I have a laptop computer? Would that work?" Yuki pulls out a shiny silver computer that looks to have gone through quite a bit of wear and tear.

"Do you know what this particular titan's focus is? And wouldn't a conceptual focus like 'civilians over soldiers' require actual sapience?"

Sophia nods, and shows him this:

Spoiler

Show

They're quite amusing when you forget how they 're trying to devour you.
No, just that one is there. It suggests that sort of thing, yes, but we have only two true examples of aberrant titans with goals, which might not be aberrant and instead shifters: the colossal and Armored titans.
She then shows him these pictures:

Spoiler

Show

[5a Violista]

[Outside Magtok's Office]

"If you really don't know, then maybe you do deserve it," Harley responds. She continues standing there with a steeled expression, for at least a few more moments. Then, a chink appears in her expression. Then another.

Soon, the armored expression that she's been holding falls away. She turns away. "I'm sorry. I need to go. I haven't been feeling like myself lately."

[Lord Magtok]

"AMEN exists to help bring its members up, not pull them down, Harley." Magtok sighs, wanting to keep her from running off but having nothing to say to delay her beyond pointless arguments.

"My place wasn't with AMEN, and believe me, I was not happy when I realized that, but I didn't exactly have any other choice. I'm not fond of being murdered by people with pickaxes, forced into promoting the slave trade, or whatever else AMEN is doing these days. I'm sorry this is what happened, Harley, but I never once saw a viable alternative."

[Morcleon]

Sophia nods, and shows him this:

Spoiler

Show

They're quite amusing when you forget how they 're trying to devour you.
No, just that one is there. It suggests that sort of thing, yes, but we have only two true examples of aberrant titans with goals, which might not be aberrant and instead shifters: the colossal and Armored titans.
She then shows him these pictures:

Spoiler

Show

[Entrance Hall]

Yuki stares at the aberrant titan, a look of combined confusion and amusement on his face. "...alright then. And since you remain sapient while shifted, it's very likely that they are shifters as well. But that's a discussion for another time."

"Is there anything else I should know about these special titans beyond the unpredictability?"

[Arkhosia]

[Entrance Hall]

Yuki stares at the aberrant titan, a look of combined confusion and amusement on his face. "...alright then. And since you remain sapient while shifted, it's very likely that they are shifters as well. But that's a discussion for another time."

"Is there anything else I should know about these special titans beyond the unpredictability?"

Sophia shakes her head.
No, just that.
She replies.

[5a Violista]

Magtok Office Door

After Magtok speaks, there's silence for a moment. It's almost like something he said made her think about something. Then, still facing away, she says, "The group you're going to merge with. The last two times I saw them, they threw me in a cell and tried to kill me on sight. I'm sure you understand when I say I hope to never run into you again." Her face is away from him, so Magtok would only be able to see it on the security feed that HALO no doubt has.

However, Sophia is still over there on the other side. I'm not sure how much Sophia likes looking at people's faces, but she might see that Harley's eyes are closed, fighting back a salty liquid.

There's a flash of light, and her clothes are different by the time the light fades. Apparently, that's a new skill she picked up. Instead of wearing a mud-stained dress, she now has a white and red blazer, gloves, a skirt and tights...and so on. That's purely because it's easier to walk in that than a heavy, dirty dress. Also just in case Sophia tries to run her down again.

She walks slowly and forcefully away from the office door without looking back. After she assumes she's out of sight, she picks up the pace to a much more brisk run, towards the entrance again.

[Morcleon]

Sophia shakes her head.
No, just that.
She replies.

[Entrance Hall]

"Hm, alright." Yuki sighs, putting away his laptop and giving Sophia a grin. "Not much we can prepare for then. So, when do we leave?"

[Lord Magtok]

Magtok Office Door

"I'm sorry and I'll be right here if they catch you," Magtok says as she goes. He'll be right here, presumably to bust her out, but of course he doesn't dare say that part out loud. Both because Sophia, a loyal HALO member and do-gooder is standing right there, and because he has no idea whether he'd be lying if he claimed such a thing. His loyalties are such a messy, confusing web of lies,trickery, and convenience.

[Arkhosia]

[Entrance Hall]

"Hm, alright." Yuki sighs, putting away his laptop and giving Sophia a grin. "Not much we can prepare for then. So, when do we leave?"

In about a week, probably. However, if you wish I could bring you there so you can see one in real life, observe it for a bit.
Sophiaoffers.

[Devixer]

[Corridors]

Blinking up at Nai and his odd coverings, Hikari puts on a small smile, holding out the doll, still wrapped in cloth. "Um, thank you... the witch transformed into this after we defeated her, but I'm not quite sure what it is..."

Nai takes the doll, and he tries to sense what magic is inherent in the doll. His senses are based on divine magic, and would probably be able to detect any malignant magic left in the object.

[5a Violista]

]Leaving[

And so, not encountering any resistance, Harley reaches the escape pod undersea ferry and sits in it. It leaves. If there was a corner, she would sit in it. As it is, she curls up by herself. "You silly fool," she tells herself.

"What were you expecting would happen? That he would just drop everything right there and betray this group? That he would somehow fix something that wasn't his fault? Of course not. Then why did I want to go there, knowing this was the result?" Sometimes it lasts, but sometimes it hurts instead. This seems like one of the times where it simply hurt.

She has the entire trip up to the surface to over-analyze and regret her decisions.




EDIT:
New thread for VIGIL is up.

That means go post there, not here.

aka NEW THREAD!