* Heinrick is sitting at his desk. His computer is not on. He's staring at the
door silently and perhaps rather disturbingly, waiting for the expected arrival.
* Keiko just pushes the door open. Still in black, still with the ribbon, still
with the duck! She's expressionless.
* Heinrick doesn't say anything or make a gesture this time. She probably should
know what to do anyhow though.
* Keiko closes the door and sits down in the chair, duck on her lap, before
looking at Heinrick. It's a weirdo staring contest.
* Heinrick is not quite engaging at the staring contest because he is more
staring at the door than looking at Keiko. "Miss Hanano. Kindly explain to me
your analysis of the situation."
* Keiko replies, "Which one?"
* Heinrick may have had just the hint of a twitch of his mouth in the form of a
smile. It's hard to tell, and since he's voided out... "Very astute. Let's start
with the one you believe has the most bearing for me talking to you here."
<Brett> ( Unfortunately, it was something stuck in his teeth. )
* Keiko runs her finger along her collar a moment, then replies, "Section 2 is
in a rough position, but it is not my fault no matter how many lies people want
to say."
* Heinrick sighs slightly. "No. It is not. But here is my question. Do you truly
believe the 'moral highground' at this point will assist us?"
<Brett> ( It gives you a +.5 bonus to ethical-based attacks per height unit! )
* Keiko frowns. "Nothing we do will help us. If following orders gets us yelled
at, and not following orders gets us yelled at, then we have no protection from
the... politics."
* Heinrick nods slightly and picks his head up. He's looking at Keiko now,
shaking his head. "I do not care for the organization. I do care about
performance. And she is correct. Our performance could have certainly been
better."
* Keiko replies, "But there is nothing I could have done to affect our
performance. So you couldn't have wanted to talk to me about that."
* Heinrick looks at Keiko. "That said, I do not disagree with your intention. In
fact, from what I heard of the briefing, you were the most able to keep the goal
of the mission in mind."
<Heinrick> (s/briefing/debriefing)
* Keiko licks her lips a moment, then decides to stay silent. Hey, that's his
opinion!
* Heinrick presses his hands tighter together. "What I do disagree with are your
methods. People will not be agreeable to use of your powers on your own. And I
believe that, above all else, is what would earn this section the most scorn."
* Keiko smiles thinly. "Then Nene should have told me to work magic instead of
ordering everyone to keep attacking the Abomination. I followed her orders and
her desires."
* Heinrick leans back slightly in her chair. "So she gave you a direct order to
control the situation in that manner?"
* Keiko 's smile fades away. "She was shrieking in panic. The orders were to
attack it. And for others to attack it. If I'm supposed to wait for myself to
die and join the other angry souls in that room, let me know."
* Heinrick looks at the door. "Did you attempt to control Ten and get her to
fire on it as well or Jamie to persuade her to calm Ten down, or is that not
possible?"
* Keiko smirks again. "I'm not allowed to touch Ten. You think I wanted to kill
her. Or hate her. Or something."
<Keiko> Remember?
<Heinrick> Were you able to talk to your teammates while concentrating on the
effort rather than resort to more forceful measures?
* Heinrick looks at Keiko for a moment. "Kill her?"
* Keiko points towards the meeting room. "You heard it. The active theory is
that I tried to kill Jamie and Ten using that freak hater."
* Keiko then puts her hands on her duck and mutters, "And there were the earlier
arguments between she and I."
* Heinrick raises an eyebrow at Keiko, then smirks slightly. "I believe you
misheard Lydia. You may have heard of it as a theory, but they are right. It
gives those who already hate us possible ammunition to hate us more."
* Keiko mutters, "They are not right. If they trust the priests on one issue,
they should trust them on another. It's not about truth. He could lie and say I
controlled him, and they would believe it just as well."
* Keiko then looks to Heinrick. "They need no truth. Only lies. They work as
well."
* Heinrick waves his hand slightly. "Speculation is speculation. Just because
their conclusion is ill-founded does not make the point meaningless. You are
letting your hatred of their hatred blind you to that."
* Keiko frowns as she says, "There is nothing I could have done. I was going to
attempt to move Ten next anyway, had the Abomination not fallen."
* Keiko looks directly at Heinrick. "Nothing I could do."
* Heinrick stands up suddenly and towers over her. This is possible the first
time he has seen him with such a forceful look. "Miss Hanano. Do you still wish
to debate your position in the face of being disbanded and quabble over details
or do you wish to show them that we *can* work as an integrated team?"
* Keiko blinks, then replies, "Of course we can work as an integrated team."
* Heinrick looks like he's about to reply to that but grips the desk harder and
clutches his forehead, bent over the desk. His face is contorted in pain.
<Keiko> (Is his mind shield still up?)
<Heinrick> (Not now.)
* Keiko starts to run her finger along her collar, and then suddenly spasms and
lets out a clipped cry as his shield falls, and the emotions hit her. "Aah--!
Heinrick, your head...!"
* Heinrick points shakily to his coat, hanging on his coatrack. "The
case....left pocket. Get it, quickly."
* Keiko grits her teeth and raises her hand towards the coat for a moment...
then her eyes widen as the the coatrack gets thrown across the room, smashing
into the far wall. "Damn..." she grits through her teeth, before slowly standing
and walking through it. "Not... helping... my concentration..."
<Keiko> (er, walking towards, even.)
<Keiko> (and says through her teeth.)
* Heinrick doesn't even have time for a snarky comment. Something must be wrong.
* Keiko limps across the room, not able to hide it anymore by just walking
slowly, and then drops to her knees to dig into Heinrick's pocket to retrieve
the case. "Do you--tss--you want me to fill it?" she says in a strained voice.
* Heinrick holds out his hand. "Just toss it over here. Quickly."
* Keiko takes out the case and lobs it at his hand, before putting both of her
hands at her temples and breathing in and out heavily.
* Heinrick catches it and tries to inject himself. His hand is shaking.
* Heinrick grits his teeth as he manages to jab nothing but flesh but shows
otherwise little pain. He tries again.
* Keiko looks up at him shaking to see if he's managing. She stands slowly and
starts to limp over to him. "Come on, dammit," she seethes, with a bit of anger
in her voice.
* Heinrick manages to get this one in a vein. His breath starts to get easier
and shallower. After about 20 seconds, Keiko feels the mind shield go back up.
* Keiko takes those 20 seconds to limp back over to the chair and reclaim her
duck before falling into it and breathing heavily. When the shield goes up and
the anger and pain all go away she starts breathing more lightly before
whispering, "Now... that's a big headache..."
* Heinrick takes a few moments to take some more deep breathes. When he finally
opens his mouth with words, he is staring half at the edge of the desk and half
at the floor. "You will speak to no one of this. Is that understood?"
* Keiko is silent a moment then says quietly, "Yes."
* Heinrick looks at her more intently. "That includes thinking or imagery as
well. If there is any other way you will attempt in order to try to circumvent
the spirit of this order, I will not be pleased."
* Keiko frowns at him a moment before crossing her arms over her duck and saying
quietly, "I heard you the first time. Who would I tell?"
* Heinrick sits back in his chair again and closes his eyes. He looks rather
tired. "However..."
* Keiko 's frown slips away as she waits for him to continue. She also glances
over to the coatrack that she broke, and then back to him.
* Heinrick gives her a look that may be indicative of "I know someone you might
tell first" but he doesn't say it, and she may be looking at it wrong. Instead
he says, "If you do see me in that state again and I am not able to contain it,
I authorize you to use any means necessary to stop it. Incapacitate would be a
first resort, of course."
* Keiko blinks, then cautiously says, "If... yes. Okay."
* Heinrick nods slightly and composes himself again. "Now then, I would like to
further your training schedule. We will meet again after you had had a chance to
do some free training in the gym and eaten lunch. Until then, you are dismissed
unless I have need to call on you."
* Keiko nods slightly and opens her mouth a moment... then closes it and stands,
duck in hand. "I'll... leave you be." Beat, then she adds, strained, "Perhaps...
you should consider giving... me... some of..." she winces and shakes her head.
"Can't." She heads towards the out.
* Heinrick sits at his desk, watching the door, much like he was when Keiko
first came in.
* Keiko opens the door and heads out, but once she's most of the way out she
suddenly stiffens and then falls against the doorway with another quiet
strangled cry. Her legs give way and she falls over.
* Heinrick shakes his head slightly. "Change of orders." He presses a button on
his intercom. "Could I kindly have someone escort Miss Hanano to her room? She
seems to be feeling ill." He steps over to her and kneels down next to her.
"Make certain you rest and recover as needed. But we shouldn't delay your next
training for too long. It is important to this."
* Keiko says quickly, frantically, looking to Heinrick with wide eyes, "No,
it--she is gone--oh god what will I do without Ten, I--" she shudders violently
and whispers, "Damn. Damn, damn..."
* Keiko puts a hand to the doorframe to support herself against it, still
shaking.
* Heinrick narrows his eyes at Keiko for a second but doesn't say anything,
still kneeling next to her until someone comes.
<Brett> [Which happens eventually, but for now I'm ending.]