Riventon had, after a bit of delay, called Norie Okana - or, as he'd grown to know her, Lacrima - to visit him in his office, saying he had something for her. It was rather out of the blue, but it didn't seem dangerous or like Riventon was upset.
In fact, when Norie arrives at Riventon's office, he's sat up on top of rather than behind his desk, a leg crossed over the other, looking out the window at the upside-down Mitakihara skyline below.
In his hand is a small, dark purple bangle that looks like it's made of some sort of multifaceted crystal and black metal. It seems to have runic script all over it. He's tossing it up on the air and catching it when Norie comes in, looking over to her with a smile. "Hello, Okana-san. How are you feeling today...?" he asks, uncharacteristically chipper. It's the strange happiness of someone who's found a stopgap solution to a bothersome problem.
Norie Okana has mostly been keeping to herself. She occasionally reports in. Nothing of note appeared to grab. Riventon hasn't ordered her to be searching for a thing or fighting a thing or obtaining a thing. She doesn't take this to mean 'nothing is happening' just: 'There's no use for her talents yet'. She's happy to wait. Happy to pass on information.
Norie 'has her hair down'-- long and purple, purple eyes- pale skin. Still wearing her normal clothes- of course. But she uses less energy this way. And it's not like she's out of place here like this.
She purses her lips and takes a soft bow. "Hello, Riventon-san. I'm well. How are you?" she asks softly. "I'm feeling.... okay. I guess." she says silently and a little solemenly. Obviously either more to that statement, or a non-truth.
"Is everything alright?" she asks. "I'm doing my best..." she assures him.
Riventon smiles a bit. "I'm doing well. I like solving puzzles." he says as he gets up and slides off the desk, walking over to her. "And your current predicament has been one hell of a puzzle." he says, putting a hand on her shoulder from above.
"Everything's fine. You've done everything I requested of you. Sometimes I need one talent, or another. But you were there when I called on you. And I understand you've been concerned about your condition. You're not the only one. I got a visit from another girl who was very concerned and asked me to help."
"But... I was already planning to help. That was part of the deal." he says, turning over his hand, revealing the crystalline bangle. "So... this isn't going to fix anything. I'm not entirely sure I can. But it should help you focus your energy so it's less taxing to be Norie, and so that you have more time to get control when you start to lose it. Basically it's like a circuit breaker for Dark Energy." he says, handing it to her with an upturned palm.
"It's kinda similar to what I use to keep myself sorted. But this is just a prototype... your energy is different than mine. It should work, but not as well as I want it to in the end. There's a lot more work to be done."
Norie Okana nods, alright, so this isn't a disciplinary meeting. That puts her more at ease. It's her nature now to assume the worse. She doesn't know when that started happening. She prefers not to think about it. She purses her lips. Another girl? Concerned about her? She narrows her eyes, she wonders who, she doesn't ask.
She eyes the bangle and doesn't speak for a few moments before she reaches out and touches it. "So this will help me control a little." is what she says softly as she picks it up and eyes it softly. She looks down to her wrists... and chooses her left one to place it on, her off hand.
She places it on with a soft latch click and looks at it curiously. There's probably a soft glow of activation before it settles down-- or whatever effect of 'it being on' is.
She muses. "It looks pretty." she says. "It feels odd." she says.
She turns her head. "...Am I really that hard to figure out?" she asks a little hopelessly. She sighs a bit.
"I'm trying to guess who came to you, and I can only make one guess of 'people you wouldn't have killed by now' coming to you, and that's Utau-chan..." she muses.
Riventon's eyes narrow a bit. "Is that really what you think, Okana-san? That I make a habit of just killing everyone who knocks on my door?" he asks, somewhere between confused and a little annoyed. "If I did that I wouldn't have many allies. I try to hear out everyone who comes in, as long as they're not looking to get something from me for free."
Riventon then shrugs. "I didn't want it to be ugly. If it didn't look like a pretty bracelet, it'd look out of place, then people might start asking questions. And drawing attention is kinda the opposite of what we want to do."
The feeling when puts it in on is odd and prickly at first - a reaction of her nerves - before settling down and beocming ignorable.
"It's just that I don't have experience with your sort of energy. Don't worry, there's nothing I can't figure out with time." The way he says that, it's expressed rather clearly.
"And yes, it was Utau-chan. She was very concerned for you."
Norie Okana purses her lips. "I don't /really/ think that, but I can imagine Sky Jack coming in here demanding you help me and then you're blasting him through a wall ten seconds later because he's a big jerk." she insists cooly. "I can imagine that less with Utau." she says softly.
She looks at the braclet and nods before resting her arm back down by her side. She nrgs a bit.
"Things aren't normal but... things are starting to feel 'right'?" she asks. "I dunno how to explain it. For a long time I wanted to be 'fixed'-- you know. 'Become a human again'-- but suddenly that feels like a bad idea...." she trails off.
"I spoke to Utau about this-- and she got worried what might happen if I gave up on that." she says. "-and that made me feel unsure again." she says.
"I think I'll be 'okay' if I can just keep like this... for now. I'm not sure if I get worse than this." she shrugs.
"My dreams don't tell me that." she says.
Riventon smiles. "Well, that makes sense, at least. I think if Sky Jack walked in here we'd be testing his dogfighting abilities after I blasted him out a window." he says, as matter-of-factly as saying the sun was expected to rise.
"I don't know what it's like to be... I guess you'd call it normal. Non-magical. I've never lived a non-magical life. I've had my powers for as long as I can remember. Used to scare the other kids at the orphanage with em." he says with a half smirk. "I don't think I'd trade mine in. Someone made a real sacrifice to make me what I am and I want to make sure that wasn't made in vain." he says, his hand clutching into a fist.
"But the only person who can decide what's important to you... is you. If you want to be normal again, fight for it with all your might. But I do think you'll be fighting a losing battle, based on what I've seen."
"But if you want to find a new way to live and accept these changes, don't be hesitant to fight for that, either. Just whatever you do... give it everything you can and fight as hard as you can. If your dreams don't give you the answer, dream new ones."
Norie Okana head tilts. Orphanage? She frowns a little at this. That makes her feel bad for some reason. She doesn't dwell on it though, almost as if she knows better than to ask about something so personal.
She nods. "I know- but people can still give me things to think about." she says.
Then there's a talk! It's a good talk. "That's what I've been trying to do!" she says. "In-instead of cry about it..." she admits. "Just live with it. I think I've gotten some good equilibrium so far." she says. "Not scared of myself anymore, like I was." she says.
"It's what I mean by feeling Right. Maybe-- maybe that's my new 'normal'..." she says softly.
She lifts the braclet again and runs a finger across it. "I can't accidently shut it off or anything, right?" she asks softly about the bangle.
"Oh...."
"Right, thank you Riventon-san." she says softly, realizing she'd forgot to actually say that.
Riventon nods. "Thumb your nose at anyone who tells you to roll over and die, or give up on your newfound power. That's my suggestion. They're jealous of the things you can do." he says, firmly. It's obvious he literally believes that.
"I'm glad to hear you're not turning your back on yourself, though." he says, nodding. "I think any kind of self-loathing is the gateway to a lot of worse outcomes for people like us, so engaging in it that kind of thought is what I try to avoid most of all." To greater and lesser degrees of success, of course.
"I don't think you can accidentally shut it off. You might be able to overload it if you let too much Dark Energy run through it at once, but... that's the sort of thing it's designed to prevent, the idea of you losing yourself to those emotions." he says with a shrug. "Just be careful with it around anyone else who can throw around energy like we can. And if you end up there, don't shield yourself with that hand."
Riventon shakes his head. "It's no problem at all, Okana-san. I agreed I'd try to help. And... you remind me of a couple of people I was close to who are no longer around."
Norie Okana head tilts. "A couple of people who are no longer around?" she asks. "Did someting happen, Riventon-san?" she asks as she looks around. She seems concerned a moment- before her expression changes back to something more terse.
"Yeah. That's what I've been thinking. I mean. People just want me 'fixed' because it'll make them feel better." she says. "I just need to learn better control, learn better things, stop having things just come to me in the heat of a moment." she says.
"Like that night with your machine I just... got angry and called out something I hadn't before then it rained dark energy bolts." she says softly.
"I wish there was a way to learn these things better." she sighs.
"Maybe I should ask the voice." she muses.
"But--- oh right." she says.
"Should I be careful in the Dusk Zone with this?" she asks softly. "It won't overload it, right?" she asks.
"I--- use that a lot. To travel." she says meekly. "It's so easy to stop worrying about being on a bus!" she insists.
"No, it's a long story. Shouldn't have brought it up." Riventon says, turning to look outside. To look away from the office and perhaps center himself. It isn't a time for fighting, and so it isn't time for the emotions he is feeling to come up. They wouldn't be productive.
He nods at the rest of Norie's talk. "Right. It's a strength, but you have to control it. Any power isn't valuable unless you can understand it, control it, command it." he says. "But with the raw strength you've shown, if you can combine that with control, you'll be able to achieve a lot. And that'll be very impressive."
"Well, don't be afraid to ask it questions - but don't be afraid to question its answers. Dangerous to take anything on face value, from anyone."
"No, I don't think the dusk zone will overload it, unless you try to draw power from the Zone into yourself. It doesn't overload mine, anyways." he says, lefthand rapping against the gauntlet that covers his right hand. "And yours is... well, quite different, but similar enough."
"I use it whenever I'm going somewhere alone. A lot of people react poorly to it."
Norie Okana relaxes with a whew. "I go alone to a lot of places. I just don't like crowded buses nowadays. Or places with a lot of people all crowded together. Like trains. The Dusk Zone lets me circumvent that now--- and if I can use it, I should!" she insists.
She nods. "The voice. I dunno what it is still. It always speaks in 'we' and 'us'. Never 'I' or 'me'." she says. "It used to talk to me in my head a lot- but slowed down when I stopped fighting the changes and stopped trying to pretend to be normal. Now it's just my dreams. Usually when I do something stupid or feel like I have an important question." she says.
"I don't think it's malicious-- it wanted to help me. It did. Then it apparently stopped goading me. It'd have countless chances to do things to me by now if it was going to- if it's so closely tied to me or something." she purses her lips a bit in thought. "Does that make sense?" she asks.
"I spend a lot of time alone, too." he says, though he doesn't go into wether or not that's by choice. "Just don't go wandering around in the Dusk Zone or you'll see things and experiences you shouldn't have. It'll change you in bad ways. Get where you need to be and get out."
"There's no telling what it is. Maybe you should figure that out before you determine how to react to it. Important to know what it's agenda is." Not that Riventon knows anything about having conversations internally against diametrically opposed agendas. NOPE.
"It might not be malicious, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have its own motives. Be careful. Just because its desires align with you right now doesn't mean it'll always be true." This advice is in no way applicable to the person talking to her right now, of course.
Norie Okana head tilts. "I guess you're right." she muses. "I wish I could explain it better. I don't think this voice is a person or a being. Just. Nrg." she just shakes her head. "No need to get confused about it now.." she more mutters at herself.
She shakes her head a bit.
Even if Norie knew about Riventon's current oppoising viewpoints- would she offer advice? Probably not. Maybe even parrot advice back Riventon's given her already.
"Oh. Right. I've been. Meaning to ask." she says softly. "Who else works around here, Riventon-san? I'm looking to get into contact with some other people about things. Meet others here- so it's not so surprising if we end up on something together." she says softly.
"Or- is it just me and Shiniko?" she asks, tapping her bottom chin curiously.
"Well. Sometimes Shiniko." she says. "I understand she just likes contract work at the moment."
Riventon nods. "It's okay, I think I get it. At least a little bit. I don't understand it completly - but that holds true for your situation in general, which I'm working on."
"Well, a lot of the people who work around here are just... research types." he says, musing. "That's the biggest thing we do, really. We research artifacts and we analyze signals and energy fluctuations in the area. We provide a lot of the actionable intelligence to Eclipse." he says, shrugging.
"And there's Euphemia-chan. She used to go out into the field with me - she's a little bit genki - but it turns out she's an amazing facilities manager. So now I have her working here so I can spend more time in the field." Or time with Ami. You know. Both.
"And Shiniko isn't really employed by me, she's contract work. Besides that, we use a lot of Youma and other... temporary workers?" he says. Then he looks out the window again and sighs. "To be honest I've had some... problems... with recent field employees and it's not easy for me to trust people. People get opinions and ideas and decide to go off-script and throw off my plans. And then they end up working for the wrong side, or something. It's a rare opprotunity I'm granting you... I've really considered going it alone. But I think we can find enough value in each other that I don't need to instal armor plates in my back. I hope."
Norie Okana scoffs. "Riventon-san, where would I even go?" she asks. "These people keep telling me my 'powers can be used for good', but I attract more youma when I try to fight existing youma and I'm a liability if someone wants to use one of those stupid positive energy attacks. I tried when people were goading me. I'm not... conducive to that and I /know/ it." she says.
"I mean I can go back to doing this alone. That's about it. That's not very fun or intresting or useful." she says. "And even if they did 'fix me' against my will- that'd mean I'd just be normal anyways and ultimately useless to you anyways." she frowns. "I don't want that. That's stupid."
She looks down and back up. "Riventon-san, I consider you a friend. You understood me the moment you met me.. or didn't give me some speech about what I was doing was wrong.. or try to get me to stop trying just to live-- during a time when I didn't even know what I wanted!"
There's a pause. "I know it's hard for me to feel certain things...." she says. "but I know you don't stab friends in the back. That's stupid and serves no good purpose besides making you angry. What good does that do me? Give me another person to look out for when I go out at night that'll attack me?" she asks.
"Research?" she asks as she places a finger to her bottom lip and taps it as she comes down off her tirade. "I'm not really good at that research stuff, I'm afraid. But somebody has to go out and get these things. And hold a meter out in some odd place, or test some sort of new device or tool or weapon- I imagine. I can always learn things too. I like learning things." she says.
Riventon shrugs. "Look, I'm not judging you, Okana-san. I know a lot of the reasons why I can trust you. But I mean... one of the girls in question was a peice of my own soul, so ever since then trust has become a little bit more of a rare commodity. All I'm saying is, I am investing that commodity in you."
"I think that we'll be able to do a lot of things together we couldn't do apart, and I think we'll both rise up over those people with their noses in the air telling us how to live life or what to do."
"I'm glad to hear you say that you won't be at odds with me, though. And I'll admit... I see a lot of me in you which makes it easier to care. Maybe that's selfish of me... but it's the case. I don't want to see you come to harm, and I know how terrible the 'good guys' can be when you don't fit nicely into their worldview of the way things should be."
"Don't worry. Researchers... those are easy to get. I'm working on systems to replace a lot of the people out there anyways... they work for Eclipse, not for me, which means their loyalties are at odds natively. But I don't have a system to replace someone like you - someone I can rely on in the field, someone I can call on when things get hot, someone I can trust to cover my back. And there's probably a lot of things I can teach you." he says with a smile.
"That's one of the real reasons I wanted to help you, though. You've already been an asset even in this sort time, so I want to make sure I'm helpful to you, as well."
Norie Okana tries realllllly hard to smile at this--- but nrg, she can't, and she looks dour about it for a moment as she gives a bemused expression-- it's the closest she gets- slightly upturned lips. "That makes me happy." she can at least say. Then dour-- again. "I'm sorry. I can't really... smile. Not.. like. That." she grumbles.
A pause and nods. If she could blush, she might, but she can't. Instead she just feels that awkward embrassed feeling when someone says something nice about you. "I try not to jump into harm." she says.
"I'd like to learn things. I'd be more useful then. But your magic seems weird...?" she asks. "Or something tells me it is. I mean. You talk about finding me odd and stuff... so maybe it's incompatible?" Refering to the midchildian origin of course. "I dunno if I can learn that but maybe it's worth a shot?" she asks.
She looks down at her braclet again. "...if this works, I can keep my disguise up longer... that'll help me a lot at home I've kind of... resorted... to hiding in my closet to keep my disguise down when I need to." she grumbles.
"Brother thinks I'm so weird now. Not like he didn't think that before. But closet living is a whole different story." she almost giggles.
She head tilts. "If Eclipse is like that a lot, then how does it even get things done?" she asks curiously.
Riventon shrugs. "I get you're trying to be happy, that's good enough." Riventon really doesn't smile much in this henshin either, unless it's a twisted and malicious one. "Well, I don't intend to put you in the way of undue harm - but I'm sure you'll end up coming to blows with some of the bright-energy types by working for me. Not that you didn't already experience that."
"I think both of us are likely using different styles of magic, in a way. But I didn't always have this..." he says, tapping on the gauntlet again. "..and your energy seems a lot like what I knew before I figured all this out. So maybe with some time I can work with it. But I'll teach you anything I can. It can only help me, right?"
"I hope it works so it improves your quality of life. I'm... glad... I don't have to be Riventon all the time." It would certainly make his dating life more interesting. And him a lot more frozen solid.
"I hope it makes things easier for you. It'd really be bad to have you go like, crazy or youma or something." he says, seriously. "If you think you're getting close let me know and maybe I can hold it back in stasis or something, I don't know."
"Eclipse gets things done by being too stubborn to stop, in a lot of cases... they assign a lot of folks to a project and whoever escapes the bloodbath wins. It's not my style, though. And a lot of them are leigitmately brilliant - though not as much as me."
Norie Okana head tilts and shakes her head. "I only 'go crazy' when I starve myself. I've been told I go wide eyed and start spitting out crazy talk. Definitly not myself." she mutters. "I sort of black out when that happens. I don't remember any of it. I know I've attacked a few people before. I wake up mid drain and have to full stop because I don't think crazy me /stops/." she says.
"I know when I'm starving. There's a time buffer of about 24 hours from when I first start feeling the emergency of it-- if I'm not wasting my reserves at that point. It's never been out of the blue, yet."
She sort of wraps her arms around her. "I think I'm already some type of monster. I mean. That's not a bad thing." she says looking down. "I still have my faculaties. and some feelings. I don't think those are going away." she says.
"But I hope that me thinking that doesn't make you feel awkward." she admits. "I've thought that for a bit. Or maybe I always knew and just didn't want to admit it, which is why I tried so hard to fix myself at first." she says.
"I mean. I'm still a /person/." she insists.
She smiles. "I'm sure this'll help me though." she says.
She looks at Riventon and purses her lips. "By the way, is there anything happening soon I can help with?" she asks softly.
"Well, I suggest you not go crazy and avoid starving yourself." he says, somlenly. "Nobody is getting anywhere if you try to pretend it's not a concern. I'll help you if I need to. Since you have plenty of warning, don't hesistate to ask."
Riventon looks down at her. "Hey, if you're a monster so am I." he says, calmly. "But whatever you need to do to keep yourself going. That's what's most important." he says. "It's not awkward. I work with a lot of people who consider themselves monsters of one kind or another." he admits.
"You're still a person, yeah. Still an ally. Maybe even a friend, if you want to be called that." Riventon says. "There's a project coming up... but I think I'd like to save you as a trump card. Personally, we're working with someone who... has given me concerns. I think I'll need someone to watch my back in case this all goes as badly as I think it will. Still, maybe I can solve some of my own problems during this little project..."
Norie Okana nods. "Just let me know when, Riventon-san." she says softly. "I'll be there, if you make me aware." she says, that bemused expression again. She says. "In the meantime..." she softly reaches into her shirt pocket and pulls up her phone peeks at it, puts it away. "I should probably get back home- before my dad freaks out, and calls the police or something because he forgets cellphones are a thing and I've been acting odd forever at this rate." she rolls her eyes.
"Thank you again, Riventon, for the help." she says, stroking over the bangle again. "I'll call if there's any issues with it, okay?" she says softly. She bows again softly.
"If that's all, I'll be on my way." she offers softly.
Riventon nods. "Just be careful. It's not going to be a end-all solution, and that's just the prototype. I'm gonna want to talk to you in... I dunno, maybe a month. Maybe less. See how it's helping you. Maybe it'll be enough, maybe you'll need more. Maybe I did it all wrong and it won't help at all." Though Riventon doesn't seem to be of the opinion that'll be the case.
"Don't hesitate to call. Even if it does something or feels strange you can text if it's not an emergency. This isn't a finished product." he says, but then he smiles.
"Try to relax and enjoy life. That's important, too. Just because we are what we are doesn't mean... well, we have to give everything up. That's one of the things I fight against. People who tell us we don't understand, or can't enjoy it, or whatever." he says, nodding.
"Be safe, Okana-san. I think I'll be calling on you soon."
Norie Okana nods. "Yeah. That's right!" she says again-- lips slightly upcurled. She nods. "I will I promise." she says softly. She softly bows again and with a soft steps shes out the door. She takes a deep breath when she's away from Riventon as she closes her eyes once then reopens them as she steps off into the Dusk Zone. She's taking the easy way home tonight.
She doesn't wanna spend too long walking with things in her thoughts right now.
And boy is there a lot to think about now. Hopefully her brother doesn't ask her too hard about the braclet.
Considering what happened the last time she brought home a piece of jewelery..