>>36450481
What do you think of the rest of the squad?"
"Oh boy...let's see. Jezori knows her stuff, too bad-"
"She doesn't know Rodney too well." You finish her sentence.
"And she-" You interrupt.
"I cleared up the misunderstanding she had about me. Wasn't pleasant."
"Doubt it was. Hmm...Veronika's only been with us a year I think, don't know her well. Good shot I guess. She and that one fucked up mage Shizi hate each other for some reason, don't care."
"And the rest?"
"Well, your self-proclaimed 'servant' unnerves the shit out of me. She even fucking prays to you. Prays! Teza's alright I guess, I don't really notice her. And Hazuko's annoying as hell, at least her 'boosts' are handy."
"How often do you talk with the others?"
"Barely at all. Almost nothing they have to say interests me."
You nod, one more question appearing in your head.
"So, is there anything you do to pass the time?"
For the most part the hobbies of the rest of Able are pretty obvious; you're not sure what Suko does for leisure.

Suko grins and presses something on her arm. Must be one of those arm terminals, just too dark to see.
Several more lights come on revealing a path into a hallway.
"Follow me." You hear some light cracking and a few metal noises from her wings as she stands up and starts walking in a hunched-over manner, probably due to said cybernetic flight implants.

>>36450490
It took a good forty seconds to finally get to this room in the basement. It's well lit, though the dark aesthetic is still very present due to the black walls. Three desks are on the sides of the room, the sole one on the left side larger than the other two. No ceiling or lamps, but well-lit.
Facing the source of the lights are several couches and a few mattresses, reminding you of Vivel's 'sleeping room' a little.

The room's lighting emits from a setup of twenty screens across a wall, displaying news feeds and video streams.
At least five of them are displaying live war footage, another four are of ongoing riots. A couple more are live broadcasts protests that look ready to escalate, the rest news reports covering events of violence, unrest, and war.
You watch as a energy orb smashes apart a soldier's face, a police officer and a protest being beaten to death simultaneously at different places, a maimed refugee receiving intensive treatment for her injuries, broken bones visible.

"Isn't the galaxy beautiful?"
Not a trace of sarcasm in her voice.

>Say nothing and look at the screens.
>"What the hell is wrong with you?!"
>"I guess."
>Sit down on one of the couches and watch.
>"How long did this take to set up?"
>(insert option)

>>36450506
>Sit down on one of the couches and watch.
>"How long did this take to set up?"
We've been alive long enough that this is all about the flow of history.

Did OP give up or?

>>36451759
No, still writing. Distractions and interruptions kept coming for a bit.

>Sit down on one of the couches and watch.
>"How long did this take to set up?"

Wordlessly you walk forward to one of the couches, feeling it with your hand before sitting down. You turn your eyes to the screens, roaming over them as situations change and develop.
A humanoind fires his energy rifle. Fires his assault rifle. Fires his semi-automatic rifle. Fires his bolt-action rifle. Fires his musket. Fires his crossbow.
A humanoid in riot gear swings down a stunner baton at a rioter. Nightstick down at a blood-covered rioter. Club down at a protestor. Soldier slams his rifle down onto his enemy's head. A wrench down onto the skull of a disloyal spouse. A young gangster slams a crowbar down onto an old man. The mother slams her fist down onto her daughter. Knight's sword to the peasant. Hooded man's axe to the neck.
A humanoid cries over his fallen comrade. Over his dead pet. Over her brother's death. Over his failures in life. Over her dumping. Over his lost family. Over all the friends she lost in that accident. Over all his mistakes and their bloody consequences.

"What do you think of it?" Suko's voice breaks your focus.
You shrug.
"How long did this take to set up?"
"Four days. Didn't want to ask anyone for help about it, took a bit of trial and error to get all the wiring in place and then make a program that auto-checks a bunch of video streams. Well, Shizi helped me with a few parts of the program, or 'script' as she called it."
You nod and check your PDA.
11:26 PM.

Perhaps it's time to go.
>Leave, just one more person to visit and you're done for the night
>Press Suko on why people "scare" her

>>36452064
>Leave, just one more person to visit and you're done for the night
No need to press her.

>>36452064
>Leave, just one more person to visit and you're done for the night
Yeah, makes sense to me

>Leave, just one more person to visit and you're done for the night

Getting late.
You stretch a little before getting up.
"Tired?"
"Tiny bit."
"Leaving?"
"Yeah."
"Know the way out, or?"
"I got a good memory until I get amnesia." Suko laughs.
"Bye Nomad."
"Goodbye Suko."

...
[Suko is the most frequent user of the Outernet amongst Able Squad.] The AI messages you after you leave the maze of alleyways.
[Thought that'd be Shizi.]
[Your thought was incorrect, but the mage is the single largest user of Little Downtown's power grid.]
[I see.]
Bring up Unable To Locate, set a destination for Hazuko's apartment, so on...
...

Room 403, 4th floor of the apartment complex.
You knock.
"Who is it?"
"Me." She should recognize your voice.
You hear a click from the door.
"Unlocked now, come on in!" You do just that, closing the door behind you.

Aside from Jezori's greenhouse, Hazuko's apartment is easily the brightest, in every sense of the word, of your subordinates' living spaces.
Well-lit, posters of peaceful landscapes and orchestras, peaceful as can be. There's quite a few instruments about, never on the floor or anything , but that tuba looks like it'll fall over and crush those clarinets any second now. Some cartoon, with more partial nudity than you would expect, is playing on her widescreen TV.
"Hey, you're here!" Hazuko walks in from another room, rubbing her wet-looking light-red hair.
"Just got done dressing after my bath, food should be done cooking in a minute!" The 10 year old-looking loli (that's the term, you think) walks off into the kitchen, checking the stove while humming.
"Yay, spaghetti's almost done! Want some?"
"Sure." You answer while shrugging, you're a little hungry.
"Good! Be here in forty seconds!" Nodding, you look through Hazuko's living room a bit more.

>>36453128
Her bookcase in here is mixed with children's story collections, nanotechnology essays, a few magical texts, and a lot of music books.
On a table next to the bookcase is a folder next to a bunch of pencils.
Nosy as ever, you open up the folder and find...
Divorce papers, all filled out. Partially in crayon.

>"What the fuck?"
>"So uh Hazuko....what are these papers about?"
>"Making anything else for dinner?"
>Say nothing about the papers and put them away for now.
>(insert option)

>>36453153
>"Making anything else for dinner?"
>other
"Divorce all sorted out? I wouldn't want something to be a distraction at work."

>>36453153
>"Making anything else for dinner?"
This

>>36453279
lets no. she knows we have amnesia. and this is a social call so "don't want distraction at work" is unsuitable

>>36453279
>>36453325
Could I get a tiebreaker?

>>36453542
i already voted so... roll for it?

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>36453584
Rolling, 1 for yes 2 for no.

>"Making anything else for dinner?"
>"Divorce all sorted out? I wouldn't want something to be a distraction at work."


"Making anything else for dinner?" You call out.
"Nah, got a couple HegemoBars though!" Nanomachine-flavored snackbars? Count you in!
"Can I have one?"
"Sure, and the food's ready!"
You close the folder and put it where it was before heading to the kitchen.
With two plates and accompanying silverware in place, you take a seat and watch as a smiling Hazuko approaches you with a pot full of pasta.
Unceremoniously she dumps over half of the contents on your plate and then proceeds to empty the rest onto her own plate. Putting the pot down she pours a probably unhealthy amount of salt on her serving before mercifully giving you less.
Grabbing a spoon, she begins consuming dinner. Rather awkwardly with her choice of eating implement.
"Uh...any sauce? Meatballs
"I hate sauce and what are meatballs?"
"Balls of meat...?"
"Oh! Sorry, don't have a butcher knife." She states with an apologetic smile.
Holding back a sigh, you ask about something concerning you.
"Divorce all sorted out? I wouldn't want something to be a distraction at work."

She drops her spoon into her pile of pasta, nullifying any irritating multi-second sound. Hazuko's face twitches before returning to a noticably dimmer smile.
"It is, yeah. Don't worry, won't get in the way of us killing people!" She replies in a slightly accusatory tone.
You start eating, Hazuko
doing the same.
What else to say...

>"How'd you end up in Able?"
>"How long have you been practicing music?"
>"Can you tell me what a bard is?"
>"Can you tell me about myself?"
>"You're pretty cheery unlike most of the others..."
>(insert option)

>>36454223
>"You're pretty cheery unlike most of the others..."

>"You're pretty cheery unlike most of the others..."

"You're pretty cheery unlike most of the others..."
"Huh?"
"Able isn't exactly full of happy people..."
"Well, they've been through things I guess. A few of them act gloomy a lot, even when they aren't. It's like they want to be sad..."
"Want to be sad huh?" You take a large bite from your pile of pasta.
"Sometimes you kinda act that, just depends on what kind of guy you are next."
"Kind of guy I am next?"
"After you lose your memory. Sometimes you've been pretty scary..."
"How?" You ask, curious.
"We were in some jungle once...go to a place full of bad guys. We shot a bunch, then after they put their hands in the air you started asking them things. You got mad at them, screamed, hit them, started forcing them to fight each other. Later Vivel and Jezori shot them to stop you from hurting them, you were really really angry...You aren't that person this time, right?"
After a moment's hesitation, you answer.
"I don't know."
"You'll try not to be like that again though, right?"
You want to say that you won't, but you can't bring yourself to make a promise you don't know if you can keep.
"I don't know. I'm sorry."
"Okay..."
Let's change the subject...

>"How'd you end up in Able?"
>"How long have you been practicing music?"
>"Can you tell me what a bard is?"
>"How do you feel about killing?"
>"Can I ask about your spouse?"
>(insert option)

>>36455237
>"You'll try not to be like that again though, right?"
i wish we said that yes, we would try.

>"How'd you end up in Able?"
>"How long have you been practicing music?"
>"Can you tell me what a bard is?"

>>36455237
>"How'd you end up in Able?"
>"How long have you been practicing music?"
>(insert option)
"How long have you been in Able, and how many iterations of me have you seen?"

>>36455522
good write in.

>"How'd you end up in Able?"
>"How long have you been practicing music?"
>"Can you tell me what a bard is?"
>"How long have you been in Able, and how many iterations of me have you seen?"

"How'd you end up in Able?"
"Worked with the RDBFO for a little while. Got a weird invitation, accept and I was with you guys the next day. I tried to make you all a little more happy with my music, everyone was even gloomier when I first joined up. The squad wasn't exactly welcoming when I first joined..." Hazuko frowns before adopting a smile. "But now, we're like family!"
Speaking of music...
"How long have you been practicing music?"
"Uh, six years I think? Didn't start when I was younger. Really only started practicing after I discovered my powers by accident. Someone dared me to sing I think, and my singing made them act weird and hyper. Tried it, did the same to other people. That's when I started reading up music, instruments, and magic before practicing to be a bard."
"Can you tell me what a bard is?" You ask while taking another large bite. Hazuko answers after doing the same.
"Uh, we sing well enough and properly and magic happens...I don't know that much, power just came to me that one day. Shizi said I got it from my family and we...use the magic in music, or something. I can make people happier or sadder, weaker or stronger, even heal!"
You make a mental note to ask Shizi about bards.

>>36456391
"How long have you been in Able, and how many iterations of me have you seen?"
"Uh...two and a half years I think. And what are iterations?"
"Different versions of something basically. Every time I lose my memory I'm a new iteration."
"Oh, I get what you mean! Hmm...thirteen maybe."
"Do you know how often they happen? What causes them to happen?"
Hazuko frowns and shakes her head.
"How do I act after I lose my memory?"
"Sometimes pretty confused, sometimes you pretend to know what's happening when you don't."
By now both of you have finished eating.
"Hey...can we talking in the living room? Don't worry about what's left on the table, I'll clean it up later."
"Alright."

And that's for all tonight, starting to doze off once again. Next time we're finishing up our vacation.

>>36456446
Alright, see you next time.