text | @bustermove

[busternaut]

alright, I give. hair gel brand recommendations: anyone got some?

apparently my usual stuff doesn't exist in this world. and this cheap-ass "FOP" crap I bought to fit within the budget of the uh, "generous" stipend that LILITH gives newcomers... pretty much smells like a chemical factory took a shit. texture it leaves me with feels like that, too.

so yeah. any tips? or hell, gimme a clue on whose arm i have to twist to get these guys to use their fancy tech to zap some TMR-GEL into this dimension or whatever.

[yes he realizes they're on a mission and also in an entirely different country right now, but. look. the situation is unbearable? he feels like a bedraggled and very unsexy sheep, walking around without his hair slicked back like usual.]

Comments

[wheft]

[ ... ]

I have no idea what you just said.

[ except no, the intelligence division is clear enough? maybe?? but he may as well have told her complete gibberish ]

[busternaut]

Alright, the easy version then:

I'm basically a spy.

[This... Isn't an entirely untrue statement? But also, no he's fucking not.]

[wheft]

Oh.

Just say so, then.

[ what is with these complicated ass titles, damn...... ]

I'm sure any job that would require ample experience in intelligence-gathering would love to have you. Though of course, in this world you're gonna have to think real small compared to your lofty position from your home world.

[busternaut]

[C'mon it's not THAT complicated a title! He even left out the name of the organization he works for, that's one less piece of info to contend with!]

Yeah, I'm not sure I really want to get back into the same biz when my full time job is going to be fighting Kaiju. I'm pretty great at time management at all, but why overextend myself if I don't need to?

Maybe I'll branch out and try something new instead.

[wheft]

Hm? Like what?

[busternaut]

Dunno. I guess I'll start by seeing what positions are open and take it from there.

Shouldn't be hard to find SOMETHING. Anything outside working for a military would count as 'new'.

[That's pretty much the only job he's ever had.]

[wheft]

I'm sure you have a hobby or two you can use for ideas. Right?

[ then again, ishmael didn't have a lot of hobbies before coming here either. ]

[busternaut]

[Yeah, he doesn't generally have a lot of free time for hobbies himself. But there is one thing...]

Eh... My number one hobby is studying Japanese dance. Which is not impossible to monetize, but... You know.

[Not EASY to, either.]

[wheft]

[ huh, he dances? it's something she wouldn't have expected from a military brat, tbh. ]

I mean, what do you have to lose? There are plenty of schools and studios for that sort of thing to start you off.

[busternaut]

[Surprise! He contains multitudes. (Just kidding a lot of her other assumptions are probably correct tbh.)]

Yeah, I'm just not sure I want to make my hobby my job, you know? Maybe it's weird of me, but I'd rather keep work work and fun fun.

I'll probably try picking up a new skill or something. Mechanical engineering maybe.

[wheft]

[ engineering... ]

Planning on going back to school? I know some people who are taking courses at the university as part of their cover.

[busternaut]

Hah! School costs money. The internet is free. Hell, maybe I'll even hit the library here in the base and see what I can pick up from there.

[wheft]

What happened to wanting to mingle? You can meet plenty of peers that way. Although, I guess it'd be complicated to explain that you're only going to be here for a little while.

[busternaut]

I was talking about mingling with other Outsiders. Mingling with the locals isn't really high on my priority list. Hell, it doesn't even have a place on there.

...Though I guess it could. I'm a pretty amicable guy.

How do we even know for sure that it's going to be just a "little while"?

[wheft]

We don't. You could be dismissed by LILITH tomorrow, for all we know. Make of it what you will.

[busternaut]

The fuck??

I mean, I didn't volunteer for this, I wouldn't say no to getting sent home but. Just like that? No warning, no explanation?

[His immediate thought is that either him OR Yzak could get dismissed while the other remains, which is a thought he DOES NOT like.]

[wheft]

A lot of Outsiders here have come and gone without a trace. If you ask any of the staff, they'll say that they've done their service at Neo Tokyo or something. No further elaboration needed.

[busternaut]

[There's a significantly longer pause before Dearka manages a reply this time, as he's busy grappling with the implications, or I guess like... Trying to figure out if there ARE implications? It sure seems like it! But also LILITH doesn't seem to be particularly well managed so maybe it's not even on purpose...?]

Do you think they even realize how ridiculously sketchy that sounds?

[wheft]

Oh, I'm sure they do. Though, maybe I'm just used to working for sketchy companies like this one.

[ sometimes you just live in a hypercapitalistic dystopia... ]

Anyway, just be glad you have this opportunity to kick back and relax after being in the military for... I assume a long while now? And now that you're blessed with this information, it's now up to you on how you spend your time here while you still have it.

[busternaut]

Good guess. I've been in ZAFT for about 4 years now. Which, I admit, doesn't exactly sound very long, but. It feels like it's been at least twice that.

Dunno if I'd call LILITH's stated mission "relaxing", but... I guess it'll be nice to fight monsters for a change, instead of other humans.

[wheft]

[ fighting other humans? ]

Did you come from some kind of war, then?

[busternaut]

Yeah. Sure did.

[Boy did he.]

It's a whole complicated thing, you don't want me to get into it. Trust me.

[Someday maybe he'll feel like explaining it, but. He's just on here to talk about hair gel and ask about LILITH. He doesn't want to get into the sticky politics of the Cosmic Era right now. Not really his cup of tea, anyway.]