Rebel Girl

[animusnpcs]

Characters: Aria (R-037), open
Setting: infirmary all week
Format: action preferred
Summary: Aria is open to speak to the residents of the Tower, if they would like to.
Warnings: potential horror event warnings; for now nothing though
Note: Please specify the date you are visiting Aria in your subject header.

[The infirmary swarms with retrieval units and worker units, all of whom have chipped collars. Most of them seem busy with one task or another, but a few are free enough to direct anyone who asks to speak to Aria to the woman in question. She's converted one of the examination rooms into something of an office, albeit a sparse one. She looks nervous and a little tired, but excited all the same. Her office is guarded by four retrieval units--attacking her here would be a bad idea, even setting aside the fact that Aria is a retrieval unit herself.

She seems happy to see anyone who walks in, though.]

Comments

[attheclocktower]

I guess that's something else we'll have to figure out.

[She sounds... resigned, at the prospect.]

Do you think he'll come up here himself?

[Everyone's been treating it as a foregone conclusion, including herself in some cases but... She guesses Aria would know better than she. And maybe there's a small part of her that's hoping he won't.]

[animusnpcs]

Maybe. [She chews on her lower lip.] It depends on how angry he is.

...He's probably really angry.

[attheclocktower]

Yeah... It seems like it.

[She fidgets a little herself]

I guess it can't be much worse than the last time I saw him, at least.

[It's half an attempt at levity, half an attempt to try to make herself feel better]

[animusnpcs]

You should be careful. [Aria looks genuinely concerned.] You'll be careful, right?

[attheclocktower]

[It says something that Xion stops to think about it for a moment.]

I will be careful. But... I'm tired of him hurting people. My friends, my family. [Me.]

When Sephiroth talked about boycotting the checkup over the network, I argued not to. And I was wrong then. If other people had listened to me, we wouldn't be where we are now. Jason said it was "learned helplessness." I want to be careful, but not so careful I don't do things that need to be done.

[For the good of everyone.]

[animusnpcs]

[Aria watches Xion.] Jason looks at everything like it's an experiment or a medical procedure. I don't know if he can look at things in any other way. Of course, I can't say much, since what I do is dangerous, too, but I don't think it's bad to take potential consequences into account before acting.

Of course, knowing when to be cautious and when to act is really difficult to figure out.

[attheclocktower]

[That makes Xion giggle a bit helplessly]

It really is. Especially now, and here.

[She pauses]

It's really strange, being able to talk to you all. Not in a bad way. Just... different.

[She's talked to her retrieval unit sometimes absentmindedly, especially when she noticed it was the same one. But it's not quite the same as having them be able to talk back.]

[animusnpcs]

I like being able to talk to everyone. Pretending that I'm unmodified makes me feel unmodified.

[The feeling is apparently an unpleasant one, judging by Aria's expression.]

[attheclocktower]

[Xion grimaces. She tries to imagine how it'd feel like if she had to act like the mindless puppet Saix always treated her like. The prospect isn't inviting]

I can imagine... it sounds awful. [She hesitates] I... could never want to go back to the way I was, when I was first made.

[animusnpcs]

You were made, too? [Aria looks interested.] Oh, but you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to.

[attheclocktower]

No, it's... it's okay.

[She thinks. It... maybe doesn't bother her as much as it used to. Or maybe it was the pure effect of being around a kindred spirit, in a way.]

I was made as a copy, a replica, from someone's memories. I was made because the people who made me wanted to control the powers of the boy I came from.

I don't think I turned out the way they wanted though.

[animusnpcs]

...I don't think I turned out the way Jason wanted, if that helps. [She smiles a little.]

[attheclocktower]

[Xion smiles back]

I'm not mad about it or anything, really. I mean... they wanted to use me as a tool really. At least the ones in charge did. But... we're people now, because we didn't turn out how they wanted.

It just makes things harder when they get mad about it.

[animusnpcs]

[She nods.] I like being like this better. I'd rather die than not be able to decide for myself what the right thing to do is.

[attheclocktower]

Yeah.

[Xion grins and nods back.]

Oh, my name's Xion. It's nice to meet you.

[animusnpcs]

It's nice to meet you, Xion. Well, not during a collar check.

[attheclocktower]

[That makes her giggle]

Oh... the others. [She casts a glance towards the door, outside of which the other chipped units are working] The ones that've been following us. Will we see them again?

[Now that she knows they're definitely friendly, she wouldn't mind seeing them again]