IC INBOX | OKADA IZOU

[goei]

@Izou

manslayer

---

ABOUT ME

The strongest, most genius swordsman to ever haunt the streets of Kyoto! That's me! So you better think twice before crossing me, ya hear?

NOTE

As long as you don't get in my way I won't kill you, probably.

Message @manslayer

Comments

[goei]

Nah, she said at the end there, it was all 72 of them shoved insidea that guy Solomon? Dunno how they all fit in there, but they're defeated now anyway.

[Izou just casually inflicting this damage on McGillis with things he wasn't even there for.]

[vogelfrei]

I... see.

[ McGillis would normally be all over learning mythological concepts are reality in other worlds. It'd intrigue and fascinate him. But every part of how Izou's world is set-up hurts his aesthetic sensibilities and he's deciding that sometimes less knowledge is maybe not a bad thing. ]

I don't believe they ever truly existed in my world. The only physically real Bael there has ever been is the mobile suit named after the myth.

[ And also others. But mostly Bael, that's what he cares about. ]

[goei]

[McGillis like "the fate/ universe is far too silly for my taste" and frankly he's justified.]

And that's the one you piloted, with the swords?

[Of course he remembered the swords.]

[vogelfrei]

Yes. The machine of the legendary Agnika Kaieru himself.

[ He is pleased you remember!! ]

[goei]

That's the guy you got that book about.

[And using the team brain cell for a moment to additonally remember;]

When you said demons saved your world you meant whatever that Kaieru guy did when he used Gundam Bael along with the other 71?

[vogelfrei]

Also correct.

[ Izou is gaining points by being willing to remember and ask about these things. It's the simple pleasures sometimes, like being able to talk about your nerd-ass obsession with a historical figure. ]

300 years ago, humanity was on the brink of extinction in my world. Mechanical angels, cruel in their perfect purity, were indiscriminately killing all. It was Agnika Kaieru and his chosen comrades who were willing to throw aside a piece of their humanity in order to stop the threat and rebuild the world.

[goei]

[Unfortulately McGillis's dramatic and poetic history lesson is lost on Izou.]

Where the hell did the mechanical angels come from? And why'd they have ta throw away their humanity ta pilot the big robots?

[vogelfrei]

Knowledge about the angels - or mobile armors - is heavily restricted. There is much we do not know, as the history has been completely erased.

[ And isn't that interesting? ]

As for the other question... how does your world feel about body modifications?

[goei]

What, like tattoos and piercings? Used ta be in my time only yakuza and guys like that'd get em but I guess it's more common now?

[Izou does not know about cyborgs.]

[vogelfrei]

Gjallarhorn abhors them. Piercings are the highest level of meddling with your natural body that is allowed. Even prosthetics are shunned.

[ There is some horrible classism and ableism baked into the very fabric of current Gjallarhorn ideals, and McGillis has the perspective to be fully aware of it. ]

There is nothing that would disgust a good and upstanding Earth citizen more than to taint their body with something artificial - and what an irony it is, for all this purity rhetoric only has one goal: to erase the power that has saved us all.

The Alaya-Vijnana System. An implant in your spine, allowing you to connect your body directly to the mobile suit you're piloting. Your movements become one. Your reflexes become one. The Gundam frame becomes a part of your body, and you become a part of it.

By the standards of current society, Agnika Kaieru has thrown away his humanity in order to save the world.

[goei]

[Izou's doing that squint he does when he's activating the full power of his brain. He's doing his best to understand, but while he has a better understanding of technology than most people from 1865 given his situation, this is still very techy for him.]

So since you also piloted it, you got that implant too?

[vogelfrei]

I do.

[ In his world, this is something of a secret. His legitimacy of being chosen by the soul of Agnika Kaieru hinges on it. But all that is over, and Izou already has too much knowledge about him to begin with. At this point, it's become an experiment in honesty. ]

And I'd appreciate if you kept that a secret.

[goei]

Sure, but I wanna see it!

[DOES IT LOOK COOL! HE BETS IT DOES.]

1/2

[vogelfrei]

[vogelfrei]

[ After a beat of genuine bafflement, he breaks into a cat-like smile: ]

Getting really forward, are we?

[goei]

[Listen! Yeah!]

It's on yer back not dick, ain't it?

[How he can go from being flustered to extremely frank is anyones guess.]

[vogelfrei]

[ ... unfortunately, the bluntless is a lot less endearing than the blushing and stuttering. And it's getting a lot blunter of a response as well. ]

Yes, and I still don't enjoy the thought of undresssing to be looked at like an exhibit.

[goei]

[Well when he puts it like that, at least Izou has the sense to look slightly scolded.]

Okay I guess that makes sense. Sorry. I just ain't ever heard of anything like that before.

[It's certainly in line with how excited he was to see Yuri turn into a bear. Izou learns about a new cool thing and he just wants to See It Right Now.]

I think those Gollerhorn people are wrong, for the record. It's yer body ta do with what you want. Stickin' some metal in yer back so you can fly a cool robot fer the sake of fighting fer what you believe in sounds cool ta me.

[vogelfrei]

[ There's a pause that spans a little longer than is comfortable for regular conversation, but then McGillis exhales and some tension drops from his shoulders. He knows Izou did not mean to treat him like a commodity to be stared at, the extremely demanding and forward tone just hit him the wrong way for a moment. ]

I certainly don't regret getting the surgery.

[ It could have cost him his life or rendered him incapable of movement for the rest of his life, but after eliminating most of the risk the remainder had been acceptable to McGillis. ]

... maybe you'll see it eventually.

[goei]

[Izou's mind wanders indecently for a moment at the intimation that now carries after McGillis's earlier accusation, but he manages to course correct.

The perhaps very intuitive waiter picks this moment to return with the wine, which is a welcome distraction. Izou takes perhaps a slightly too big sip of his to steady himself.]

I mean, you've already seen the most embarassin' mark on me.

[His shirt collar does cover most of it, but there's a small bit of the scar that circles his neck still visible, as it was when Shadow Izou was defeated and turned back into Izou proper.]

... The wine's good. Least, it tastes good ta me.

[vogelfrei]

[ It's good that they have the wine now - McGillis isn't actually a heavy drinker at all, but he appreciates having the glass to fiddle with when this whole conversation is still largely unchartered territory.

It's evident in the way they go from easy to ridiculous to suddenly tense that this isn't something they were meant for, as people. They're not really compatible to begin with, it's just...

He takes a sip itself. ]

It is. I'm glad you like it.

[ That part is true. It would be embarrassing to fail Izou's taste in that regard.

Another pause, then a more quiet admission: ]

You know more about me than anybody ever has - and without Braphine's meddling, I would not have told you any of it. But I did and you still said you still want to know more. It's pretty demanding.

[ But he's still here. ]

[goei]

[McGillis finding random things about Izou charming while he's winning over Izou with his own ideals: We are not compatible.]

I mean, I get not wantin' people to know all the dirty truths about ya, and the weak spots.
[Obviously, he'd not have revealed all his palace told people willingly.]

I'm not gonna say that I don't think what you did was wrong, but learnin' more about you at least made it seem less like yer some big horrible villain and more like...

[Human, imperfect, fallible. Not someone who was unilaterally deserving of dying to his blade. A killer is a killer but Izou is too, so like... the simple act of killing isn't a deal breaker for him. What if Fujimaru had written him off as unworthy of her attention because of how he was on the surface?]

I dunno. Less that.

[vogelfrei]

[ Dirty truths and weak spots is about right. Giving people knowledge of his past is the same as handing them the keys to manipulate him on a silver platter. It's a good thing that Izou wears his heart and thoughts on his sleeve, at least. It makes him a little less threatening in that regard. ]

Villain is a matter of perspective, anyway. It's how I'll be remembered in my world, if I'm remembered at all.

[ Gjallarhorn is very good at erasing information, and all. ]

[goei]

[Plus, Izou very much felt the same because he is unfortunately easy to manipulate due to not being that smart and also eager for praise and affection. But then he also got Palace Therapy and is considering maybe the risk is worth it.]

Well, you ain't goin' back there anyway so who cares how yer gonna be remembered by them?
[Taking another sip of his wine.]

But y'know, even if ya died before things were resolved, if the guys you backed win in the end, people ain't gonna remember you as a villain. S'what happened to me.

[vogelfrei]

[ There's a longer pause here and he doesn't even use 'taking a break to drink' as an excuse. He's just staring gloomily into his wine. ]

They were backing me, not vice versa.

[ You're looking at the sole instigator here. ]

And I assume most of them are dead at this point. Rustal Elion would want to make an example of the few remaining.