corps | 001 [ written / action ]

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001 [ written / action ]

[ written ]

[ Neat, concise, practical penmanship. Erwin does quite a lot of writing. ]

I would like to extend my thanks to those so quick to help newcomers. It is very much appreciated. Though I believe I am fairly well informed at this point, I have a few more specific questions:

Have you ever been drafted for service in the war? Volunteered for it? If so, what was asked of you?
How frequently are you and/or those you know taken in for experimentation? If you have first-hand experience with this, do you recall what happened?
Based on your experiences in Luceti, what is your personal opinion of the Malnosso?

If you would like to speak further, or more privately, this is Commander Erwin Smith. I am willing to meet with you in person if you are wary of speaking freely this way.

Lastly: I ask that Jean Kirstein and Marco Bott contact me as soon as possible.

[ action ]

[ Erwin's been in Luceti only a few days, but he'd memorized the layout of the village on the first. Food, clothing, weapons--he knows where to find these things, and he's been noting all of the smaller shops besides. He's far from content, but he is adapting, though still on high alert. He is well aware already that there is little he will be able to do immediately. But he can prepare to do more, and that is precisely what he is planning on.

He can be found at the smithy looking at weapons, at the grocery store (Levi wants non-perishables, wants to stock up), sitting outside looking through his journal--green cape around his shoulders, hiding his wings with more wings--or just about anywhere else by appointment. ]

[ warning: there will likely be spoilers for recent attack on titan manga chapters in castmembers' threads. while we won't drop spoilers on someone unrelated, if you're reading along, beware! ]

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The first time was in an enclosure similar to Luceti known as Vaskoth. It's since been destroyed, we've come to understand. The second time was in a flying city called Terrace, I believe.

It would probably be simpler to just meet and discuss such things, spare our wrists the trouble. Does the Mythoria Cafe sound amenable?

Noted, thank you.

Agreed. That sounds like a perfectly suitable location. I will make my way there now.

Lovely, I will see you shortly then.

[And off she goes, heading to the cafe. Whenever he arrives, she'll be waiting at a table near the door, dressed in a white gown and wearing a little smile. She waves, gesturing to a seat across from her.]

[ Erwin hasn't been inside the cafe before, though he knows its location from his careful scouting of the village. She recognizes him at once, it seems (perhaps by his stiff demeanor more than the small pictures displayed in the journal), and he returns her wave with a nod before making his way to her table and taking the indicated seat. The environment is different from any other eating-place he's been to, but it holds to reason, he supposes; everything here in Luceti is different from what he's used to. ]

Thank you for agreeing to see me. It occurs to me only now that I never asked for your name.

[It's a combination of both, and a general assumption that someone with his bearing and general look would be coming to meet her shortly. Even if she was wrong, she was just waving at a stranger and offering a seat. She did help build and run this cafe, after all.

When he does sit, it's pretty clear she's guessed the right man.]

True enough. [She laughs lightly.] My name is Saori Kimura, the Daughter of Wind and Rain. I am guessing that you are Commander Erwin Smith, correct?

[ Her intuition is good, in that case. ]

Correct. [ A simple nod to confirm. Titles are odd--superfluous, in a way--in a world not their own. 'Commander' only means something now because he has others here to command and care for. ]

I understand your reluctance to speak on certain topics over the journal. While the system is useful, it seems inherently designed to better spy on us.

[To her, they're not. Titles are as much a part of a name as the name itself, for someone as bound to tradition and law as her. When he'd introduced himself as Commander, it'd marked him as someone who intended to take responsibility for his men. Or possibly someone who was so wrapped up in personal power that he'd considered it a necessity.]

It is that, indeed. [She smiles, though it's mirthless.] The Malnosso use that and bugs in our houses to keep track of us, presumably. And the barcodes, of course. I never speak overmuch on the journal about anything that isn't lighthearted. I'd advise you to do the same.

[ It isn't the title itself that concerns him; it's the responsibility it entails, his duty to his men and to humanity as a whole. That title has been a detriment to him more than it's been an asset. People love the Survey Corps (few) or they hate them (most). His reputation isn't a good one. It's well deserved, in his opinion. But he does what is necessary regardless. ]

They watch us even there? [ It shouldn't surprise him, he supposes, that their captors would constantly be keeping watch over them, but it's disconcerting all the same. He'll certainly be keeping her advice regarding the journals in mind. ] There is no way to disengage these...'bugs,' I assume?

[She nods, expression mildly sardonic.]

Not that I'm aware of. If the bugs still function in my home, with my presence having the effect it has on electronics, and all the magic that happens there, then they're unlikely to be disengaged save by an act of the Malnosso. We don't even know how they do it or if they do it for certain, but it's entirely something they would do, based on my experiences with them.

[Suffice to say: anyone with any sense trusts that these bugs exist.]

[ Magic, like more advanced technology, is still a concept that's going to take some getting used to--perhaps even more getting used to. Saori is the first he's had direct contact with that's spoken of it so freely. ]

Best to be assume the worst. I see. [ And he agrees. If you haven't planned for a worst-case scenario, you haven't planned at all. ]

I have heard varying accounts about the nature of the experiments here--namely that most effect the entirety of the village at once, but some involve kidnapping individuals.

[If he's curious about magic, he's but to ask. Saori lives and breathes magic, as does everyone in her household. A goddess, an immortal priestess, a sorcerer, and a magical composer are quite the odd mix, though.]

Yes, that's correct. There are experiments known as Shifts that effect the entire enclosure. Not the village, but the enclosure. And not always everyone, but generally the majority are. These range from simply irritating like going out a door and ending up a mile away to seriously traumatic events like removing memories from everyone in the village.

The more individualized ones are the ones with the kidnapping involved. [She shudders slightly, clearly hating the subject.] The Malnosso send droids to collect you, and then you vanish for a while.

[ Quite the odd mix indeed. He most likely will ask, eventually, just to clarify. He has so many questions. ]

The enclosure. I see. Do the group experiments occur with any predictable frequency?

[ His mouth is hard, thin line, his face drawn tight. ]

And I apologize if it is too intrusive of me to ask, but have you been subjected to these individual experiments personally?

[She nods, her own expression one of careful neutrality.]

They do. They typically occur once a month. Sometimes more often, sometimes less, but it's very rarely more than that.

[His second question though, her eyes flicker, a fractional second of discomfort passing through them.]

And I would not have volunteered to speak with you if it was asking too much. Yes on the second. Twice now, once a little over two months ago, and once last spring.

[ At least there is an observable pattern. He'll have to do more asking around about the nature of past group experiments as well. But for the moment, he's curious as to Saori's personal experiences. ]

I appreciate your openness. [ He's been met with staunch refusal to speak about individual experimentation from others he's asked. ] Can you share with me what occurred during these experiments?

[She pauses, not entirely willing. But honestly, it's not something that isn't fairly common knowledge. And looking at journals would reveal it anyway.]

I was abducted by droids in my sleep, the same as most. And I do not remember much of the process. I remember pain, needles, and being strapped to a table. Some sort of shifting was used to suppress my powers, or I'd have fought back.

[She sighs, her eyes closing for a long moment. The first is shameful, given how she'd threatened and nearly killed many of her friends. The second a novelty, at worst.]

The first time, my inner storm was unbound. And the second I was put into a child's body.

[ Erwin listens, brow furrowing as she speaks. He can't say that he understands her terminology, but from how she speaks of herself and her powers, he can guess what her 'inner storm' might mean. ]

Did these effects wane on their own, or were you kidnapped once again to reverse the process?

The first required me to be calmed naturally, and for me to find my humanity again. Having that taken is something that can occasionally occur. The second concluded on it's own. One morning I woke up and I was in my adult body again.

[She presses her hands against her teacup, and gives Erwin a nod.]

Generally, they end naturally. There are exceptions, of course.

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[Action] sorry again for taking so long!!

[Action] it's fine!

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