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Sorry for the delay, update is now.

Also, the nightly rounds were a bit longer than I'd remembered, so no one's mind will be going all weird this time. This... I guess you could call this is the random conversations update.



Confused and dismayed by the loss of his virginity whatever innocence Kohran's machine took from him, Ogami ran blindly towards the one place where he could jump and easily end it all.



... okay, so a jump from the second floor probably wouldn't be able to kill him, but Ogami was willing to take what he could get. At the very least, if he could fall headFIRST, then the concrete might be able to scrub the memory of the incident at Kohran's room from his mind. Just as long as no one was there to stop him fro-



And then an angel appeared.

One of those old-testament, flaming-sword-wielding angels of vengeance and ass-kicking, but an angel nonetheless.



As usual, Maria Tachibana was able to read Ogami like a book.

----
[Maria]

Actually, I can see the book's spine from here, so to speak.

[Ogami]

Oh, really? What does the spine of my 'book' read?

[Maria]

Nothing, it doesn't really exist anymore. The entire book is about to fall apart because Kohran pulled out all the staples, ate the glue, and doodled obscene imagery everywhere. ... am I right?

[Ogami]

... I-I can't tell if you're being literal or metaphorical.
----



The first choice is the only intelligent answer here. I mean, come on...

----
[Ogami]

Well... uh.... well, what're YOU doing? Huh? HUH?!

[Maria]

... I LIVE here. Are you an idiot?

[Ogami]

NUH-UH, I'M RUBBER AND YOU'RE GLUE, BITCH!!
----

[Ogami]

I'm just doing the nightly rounds. In a way, it's also part of my job here.

... he said, hiding as much of his traumatized feelings as he possibly could. Ogami prayed that his answer would allay Maria's suspicions, that she would go away, and that he could get on with the business of decorating the sidewalk below with his own blood.


----


[Ogami]

Eh..... how so?



... awww.

[Ogami]

.... it makes me really happy to hear you say that about me.



[Ogami]

.... aah.

With renewed purpose, Ogami turned away from the balcony. So what if the demons and half of the theater are out for his blood, his soul, or his pants? There is one person are people who actually appreciate what kind of hell he's going through for the sake of his job, and that's good enough for Ogami!

[Ogami]

.... now then, let's continue making the rounds.



Juuuust to make sure that no demonic assassin has, say, snuck in and chopped Yoneda in half or ate him or blown his brains out or something.

I mean, hell, if Ogami's taking all this time to trapise around the theater, it'd be a damn shame if someone found the old man's corpse before he could. :/



Also a good time to check if Yoneda's not drunk.

[Yoneda]

Aah... c'mon in. I've also got something I want to ask you.



... looks like he's sobered up enough to remember that Iris ISN'T actually ten years older.

[Ogami]

Um... what did you want to ask me about...?

[Yoneda]

Ogami... what does justice mean to you?

Well, it's a staple of robot anime and it's always good fuel for the protagonists' need for HOT-BLOODED YELLING ABOUT LOVE AND PEACE, but I don't think that'll be in the answer choices.

[Ogami]

Justice... is it?



While this sort of mind-bogglingly simplistic answer would be on par with what we know of Ogami's mental capabilities... no.



This would be our best bet. However, it's also boring and predictable.



...

YES.

[Ogami]

.... it's love. What justice means to me is... to be able to love people.


----


----
[Ogami]

Manager Yoneda, I... I can't believe that you would short-sell love like that!

[Yoneda]

Well, I'm not really-

[Ogami]

Love is a many-splendored thing! Love LIFTS us up where we belong!

[Yoneda]

... wait, what-

[Ogami]

A~ll you need is lo~ve~.

[Yoneda]

But-

[Ogami]

A~ll you need is lo~o~o~ove~ <3

[Yoneda]

.... love is just a game.

[Ogami]

o/~ I WAS MADE FER LOVIN' YA, BABY, YOU WERE MA-

[Logo]

(TRANSMISSION LOST)
----

[Yoneda]

Hey, no need to get angry. I'm in complete admiration.
That you're able to assert that justice is love... not everyone can do that.

[Ogami]

Eh..... really?

----
[Yoneda]

Yeah! I mean, it takes a real sap to say something like that with a straight face, you know?!

[Ogami]

...

[Yoneda]

So are you gonna add a 'Love' strategy to 'Mountain', 'Wind', 'Fire', and 'Wood'? After all, it's THE FIFTH ELEMENT, ain't it? HAW HAW HAW!!

[Ogami]

.. please, just leave me alone, sir.
----

[Yoneda]

'Cause I wasn't able to say it. At a most imporant time.... I couldn't say those words.[/i]



[Yoneda]

Now then... I've just gotta make one quick phone call, so would you mind stepping out?

[Ogami]

Ah... yes. In that case, please excuse me.

[Yoneda]

Right! Keep at those nightly rounds.

... as to what Yoneda's side of the conversation was all about, we can only speculate. Same with the phone call he'll be making.



Oh, right, the basement's open for exploration, now that Ogami's FINALLY been inducted into the government's little secret club.



And down another set of stairs, to the hangars. Because there's nothing better to do than perpetrating random acts of vandalism involving gratuitous amounts of graffiti, condoms, and super glue on other peoples' mecha-



- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

[Ogami]

I'm in the middle of doing the nightly rounds in the theater. Kohran, what might YOU be doing down here so late?

[Kohran]

Ain't it obvious? I came down t' see my adorable Koubu!

[Ogami]

Cute....?

Kohran's mechaphilia notwithstanding, they ARE more or less super-deformed garbage cans with a bit of Zaku mixed in.



[Kohran]

Even so, these facilities're even better'n I thought they'd be, Ogami-han. It still ain't no match fer the Flower Mansion, but...

[Ogami]

Does the Flower Mansion really have facilities that amazing?



Given what we've seen of the Rolling Thunder and its physically-improbable acrobatics show, I think I can believe that.

[Kohran]

Even so, this sure brings back memories, huh~. It takes me back t' when we were buildin' the Koubu.

[Ogami]

.... eh!? Kohran, you were the one who built the Koubu?

[Kohran]

Naw, not at all! All we did was assemble 'em. The blueprints'd been finished a long time ago.

This, perhaps, might be why we haven't had any unfortunate accidents with the Koubu. And the reason why they each aren't loaded down with enough heavy ordnance to level the capital.

[Ogami]

I wonder, who was the one who drew them up?



... that just makes me suspicious that the government might have killed the person who drew up the plans. What better way to keep a secret brigade's super-secret mecha a secret?!

[Ogami]

Heh....



[Ogami]

(Hoo boy.... looks like this'll be a long story, huh.)



Interrupting her while she's talking about her one true passion doesn't seem like a good idea. I mean... 1) it's better than listening to certain other characters drop disturbing hints about how much they adore your very existence, and 2) who DOESN'T want to hear about mecha?

Besides, maybe next time she'll be waiting in OGAMI'S room with a blunt object and a mind-breaking machine.

[Ogami]

........



[Kohran]

Haha~n, it doesn't look like ya made any upgrades t' your unit.

[Ogami]

Aah, I didn't really want to make adjustments to it on my own...



[Ogami]

Come to think of it... what about your Koubu, Kohran?



[Ogami]

... Rolling Thunder? Aah, you're talking about that bullet train we rode when it was time to launch, huh...

... what. He FORGOT?

----
[Ogami]

(Okay, so I'm sitting in this robot for the first time, which, in turn, is sitting in some bullet train.)
(This isn't so bad, we're just doing a few loop-de-loops. Guess I'll take out the manual and leaf through it a bi-)




[Ogami]

GnNgNgGhAaGh WhAt ThE fUcK'S gOiNg On OH GOD WHY ARE WE AIRBORNE AGH MY MANUAL FELL OUT



[Ogami]

JESUS CHRIST THEY DIDN'T TELL US WE'D BE LAUNCHING FROM A TRILLION FEET UP OH GOD I'M NOT GONNA MAKE IT-- FUCK YOU ROLLING THUNDER, FUCK YOOOOOOOU--
----

How could he possibly have forgotten an experience like THAT?!

[Ogami]

Even so, this IS you we're talking about. You've probably made some incredible upgrades to your Koubu, right?

[Kohran]

MY Koubu, huh? Well, you'll jes' hafta wait an' see!

Given what we know of Kohran, I got the vaguely uncomfortable feeling that it'll look a little something like...



... this.

[Kohran]

Ogami-han. I'm gonna stay here a bit longer an' keep lookin' over the Koubu.

[Ogami]

Oh, okay. In that case, I'll be going back to making the nightly rounds.

[Kohran]

Thanks fer th' hard work. Good luck with the rounds.


----


After taking a look at the basement's grand scheme...



The instinctual drive to put as much distance as possible between himself and Kohran kicks in once again, sending Ogami scrambling all the way up to the second floor.



Hell, at this point, even She Whose Name Must Not Be Spoken started looking like decent company.


----


Yes, I'm SURE the proper way to find out whether or not she's awake would be to knock loudly on her door.

[Ogami]

It's Ogami... Iris, are you awake?

[Iris]

Ah, it's Oniichan! Ya~y, come in, come in!

[Ogami]

In that case... pardon the intrusion.



----
As he looked upon the stuffed animals neatly lined up all over Iris's room, Ogami felt a vague sense of unease- moreso than he did whenever he saw Jean-Paul. Try as he might, he just couldn't put his finger on it. After a few moments, the Flower Division's captain shrugged and simply attributed it to his nervousness at the possibility of being caught in a nine-year-old girl's room at such a late hour.
----

[Ogami]

Wow... you've got a lot of stuffed animals, huh.



Perhaps another way of putting it would be "they WERE Iris's friends"?

----
The stuffed animals shuddered, their shattered minds sensing an unsullied soul enter the room. Just beyond the edge of hearing... there were voices.

"Save... us..."

"... ware... beware..."

"It's not right..."

"Flee... flee..."

"Iris... Iris Iris Iris Iris..."

"Leave... now..."

----



----
No matter how hard he tried to look directly into the stuffed animals' eyes, Ogami's gaze kept skittering away from them- an instinctual last-ditch defense erected by his primitive hindbrain to prevent his mind from being utterly consumed by madness.
----

[Iris]

Hey, hey, Oniichan! How do these pajamas look?



NOT THAT HE WASN'T TOTALLY INSANE IN THE FIRST PLACE ANYWAYS

why the fuck does this answer choice exist in the first place

[Ogami]

I... think that a negligee would look better on you than pajamas.

[Ogami]

.... ah, but, these pajamas look nice on you too!

[Iris]

Yaa~aay! Thank you, Oniichan!

But I-

That-

NINE YEARS OLD-

Ogami just hit on-

Why is she happy that-

........





[Ogami]

That's right... Iris, you've been living apart from your parents, haven't you.
Come to think of it.. where does your family live again, Iris?



[Ogami]

.... aren't you lonely?

----
[Iris]

It's not all bad, Oniichan! I mean, it gets me far, far away from the French authorities attempting to find the little girl who tore the souls of men out of their bodies and imprisoned them in stuffed animals.
----



[Iris]

You know, when Iris was small, she didn't know how to use her "power," so she was a difficult child....

[Ogami]

... power?

[Iris]

Yes. It's a power called "spirit energy."

[Ogami]

.... "spirit energy"? Aah... the driving force that makes the spirit-powered Koubu work.

[Iris]

At that time, someone said "come to Japan", and Iris was invited here.
Because Iris didn't want to be a bother to Papa and Mama... Iris came here.

[Ogami]

Iris...


----


Because she now has FRESH MEAT.

[Iris]

Okay... Iris is going to sleep now, 'kay?

[Ogami]

... good night, Iris. Sweet dreams.



... I think I have an inkling as to who what she'll be dreaming about.

RUN, RUN, RUN

[Ogami]

Right, guess I'll continue making the rounds.

That said, there's... not a whole lot left to do upstairs, so it's back down to the first floor.



... and the backstage area.



Trust me, I know what I'm doing.

I'm from the Internet.

[Ogami]

Ah, Sakura-kun. What're you doing? In a place like the stage scenery room...


----

----


So you finally noticed When did this turn into Evangelion? Do I need to get you a metal folding chair and leave it under a random spotlight while you talk about how much you suck?

[Ogami]

Sakura-kun....


----


----
[Ogami]

Sakura-kun, I haven't actually said any-

[Sakura]

That's some really sound advice, Ogami-san! I'll be sure to keep that in mind!

[Ogami]

But--

[Sakura]

Wow, that's a really interesting story, Ogami-san!

[Ogami]

.... Sakura-kun, you're talking to the cardboard tree.
----


----


----
[Ogami]

... but she walked away before I could say anything to her and I think she might be crazy.
----



[Ogami]

Maria... you were listening?



----
[Ogami]

'Also'?

[Maria]

What? Weren't you also worried about Sakura, Ensign?

[Ogami]

... dude, I didn't come here to talk to Sakura-kun, I just sorta wandered down here and got assaulted by a nutcase in pink.
----



See? By going to Sakura, everyone is satisfied.



----
[Ogami]

....

[Ogami]

COOL, I make people happy just by standing here and doing nothing!!
----

[Ogami]

[b]Now then... I guess I should get going too.


Thankfully, the nightly rounds will be completed in the next update!


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