Scene #2446: Waterlogged warnings

Owner	Pose
Takashi Agera	It is a quiet afternoon in Mitakihara - or at least as quiet as Mitakihara ever really gets. The hustle and bustle of the downtown environment is far away from the higher floors of Obsidian Tower, and even though the mall at the bottom of the tower is doing brisk business, it's a world away from the offices and labs that make up the upper floors. One of those lab-office hybrids belongs to Testarossa Technologies; on one side of the room are desks which are largely unused by the generally teenage employees, and taking up the other side is a sprawling lab mostly used by Takashi Agera and Norie Okana, that seems to steadily have encroached on the rest of the area - though it still maintains a clear pathway from one door to the giant doubledoors that lead to Precia Testarossa's private office. The dark lab is lit by a glowing purple circle that apepars from nowhere as Takashi teleports in, as Riventon, dripping wet with seawater and removing a scuba-mask from his face; the air line for the mask disappearing into the center of his Device.
Dark Glimmer	It wasn't every day that Takashi ended up soaking wet in his office... So it was probably a bit of a surprise when Glimmer opened the door to his office and walked in... Absolutely soaking wet and smelling oddly of oil. "Takashi-san? We need to ta..." She trailed off and blinked a few times, staring at him. Considered for a moment before... Finally deciding to err on the side of 'Better she didn't know.' "I was hoping I could deal with it without you... but it seems like that's not the way things are going. It's... about Catra. She's done something... stupid. Something really, really, REALLY stupid. And things are going to get worse before long if we don't do something about it."
Takashi Agera	Riventon looked at Glimmer for a moment, then at his own wet hand. He shook his head and slowly drew a scuba tank out of his Device's storage space, sitting it on the floor before he dehenshined, which helped get rid of a lot of the water, though not all of it. "I was taking care of something. Underwater, obviously." he says as though this should be a perfectly normal and full explanation, when Glimmer looks at him with clear consideration. He turns to look at her and crosses his hands. "Well, that's... not entirely a surprise, honestly." He says, and though he's tempted to cut her off with what he already knows... he decides to wait, in case this is a situation where Glimmer is about to tell him something -different- or false. He needs to know how much she'll share with him. "Go on."
Dark Glimmer	Glimmer Brightmoon sighs and walks to one of the seats and sits down... causing it to squish. "Ugh, I swear I've got water everywhere... Catra ended up attacking one of the witches 5. Unfortunately, it seems they were fighting some sparkles at the time and the Witches 5 lady died. I... don't think Catra helped with that on purpose, but I'm sure you can see how this looks bad. I was hoping to deal with it on my own, maybe come up with some excuse, say it wasn't her, or an illusion, or a trick, but..." "... Now they've started to put pressure on me, they asked for my help and made it... very... hinted that if I didn't help them on this job, then it'd be a real shame if Catra was to have an accident or something. I... probably should have come to you first, I know. But you've already put a lot on the line for us and have been trying to help us out, I thought..." She sighed again and closed her eyes. "And I still kind of feel like she's my responsibility and I didn't want to bug you about it. But... I know she's in over her head and if I want her to be okay, I'm going to need your help to do it." She looked.... incredibly uncomfortable. But that was partially because of all the sea water EVERYWHERE.
Takashi Agera	Takashi keeps his arms crossed and listens, though he kind of smirk-winces at the squishy water situation. "Well, I was wondering if either of you would ever tell me about it on your own at all, so at least I'm glad you finally did." Takashi says after a moment. He puts his hands behind his back and takes a few steps over to look at the window - to look down at the streets of Mitakihara below, as the warped space of the Tower requires. "You know when I give people wide lattitude to work I really don't mean for it to be so wide that you end up with a traitor's mark on your heads? Very unproductive for all of us." "And they're probably going to try to continue to hold Catra's situation over both our heads for as long as they can - it's not like they're going to stop putting pressure on us if we do the things they are asking now, right? That's not how this place works." "As long as you're taking responsibility for her, and I'm taking responsibility for both of you, her actions are basically a leash around our necks that they can jerk us around with."
Dark Glimmer	Glimmer Brightmoon cringed when he mentioned he knew. "Yeah... I suspected you might. Was hoping I could fix it before you found out, but... yeah. She screwed up big time and there's not a lot I can do about it. If you've got any ideas or suggestions, though, I'd love to hear them. She's... a mess. That girl. An absolute mess. And she's going to keep being a mess, likely never stop being a mess regardless of what we want." "... But, deep down, she's good. I think. I've seen that girl put her life on the line repeatedly to try and help others... but she's also an idiot who will blow up the world in order to prove she's right. So it's definitely a mixed bag when it comes to her," Glimmer muttered, the annoyance clear in her voice. "... But I also want to slap her most days, too. So, they've got a noose around her neck... And if we want to protect her, we do too. So... what's the plan?" "... And for the record, I don't intend to get a traitor's mark on my head... but... after this there's something else I've got to tell you about," Glimmer mumbled, rubbing her new necklace.
Takashi Agera	"Yeah, admittedly, I gave up on trying to control Catra some time ago. If she hadn't been so useful with the energy drain a bit ago, I would have tried to transfer her out or at least cut her loose as a Freelancer, before something like this happened. And I mean, even that we all know she was coerced into." he admits, looking down at his shoes and kicking a rock that isn't there. "She's such a mess she can't even articulate what ''she'' wants. Unlike you I've never been able to put it into something... tangible." he says. "Honestly? We need to accept that we can't protect her." he says, bluntly. "Because she's not going to let us protect her. Anything we'd do to solve this would require at least her to be on board, much less anyone else. And she's just going to be... Catra, through it." he says. "Realistically? We need to put aside the idea we can save her, I think." he says. "You can't save people who don't want to be saved. She's content with being a mess, it seems like." "I don't like it, but... I'm probably going to have to terminate her."
Dark Glimmer	Glimmer Brightmoon rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I know exactly what she wants. She wants all the terrible, horrible things that Shadowweaver said about her to be true. She wants all of it to have not been a cruel, petty assault by a vicious, cruel, wicked woman. For there to have been a reason for it. She wants to be all the nasty, terrible things everyone ever said about her because then she doesn't have to get attached and care about anyone else." "And most of all? She wants Adora and she'll never admit it unless it saves Adora's life because she's not worthy. She's just, flat out, not. She's an idiot and she needs to get off her high horse, woe is me, but look at how evil and bad I am attitude and realize she needs help and people WANT to help her but she won't let them." Glimmer blinked a few times before sighing. "Okay, so I've had a really rough day so far... I'm not wrong, though. Girl is a mess. So yeah, if you fire her will that get others to leave her alone?" Oh, she didn't understand, exactly, what 'terminate' meant in this context. She thought she did... but she very much did not.
Takashi Agera	Takashi pauses - occasionally, he almost interrupts, but decides to let Glimmer get all of it out. "You'll have to talk to me about Shadow Weaver later." he says, simply, in response to all of that. "But, none of it sounds wrong." he says, shrugging. "But I'm not talking about firing her. Like, she works for Obsidian. We're not some conbennie you can just walk away from when the job no longer works for you. She's met Joker, too - probably worse, Joker's found her entertaining." he says, shaking his head. "There's no way Obsidian is going to cut her loose. The only merciful thing to do is make sure whoever takes her out is someone who will do it quickly instead of playing with her and dragging it out." Takashi says. "When Obsidian does termination, it's literal." he says, making a 'throat cut' gesture with his hand. "Hell, last time someone ditched, they sent Catra to finish her off. In a hospital."
Dark Glimmer	Glimmer Brightmoon gave a small nod, listening. "Oh, trust me, she's a loooooong story," Glimmer said. "We'll want take out for it. But yeah. So... they don't..." And as he went into detail, he could see the realization kicking in. Bit. By. Bit. "... You... you can't mean that... you're going to kill her? Catra? You can't be serious. Do you have any idea how much heat that would draw down on you? Adora is going to be going FULL She-ra any day now and then she WILL kill you if you try! That's what happened to Horde Prime the first time!" Glimmer said, looking, admittedly, quite frazzled. "There's got to be something else we can do. Something to like... get her out of trouble. I know she's... nothing but trouble most days. But... killing her isn't... you can't actually.... there has to be another way."
Takashi Agera	"Yeaaaah that's about the reaction I expected." Takashi says, simply. "I don't think She-Ra can kill me." he felt the need to protest. "And if she was so effective at putting Chalkman Prime down, why are you still so terrified of him?" he asks. "I mean I'd ask 'why is he still here' but I think that's a timelines thing." he notes. "Anyways. Knowing Catra, I figured killing her would be easier than trying to squeeze a legitimate apology and work out of her." he continues, very directly. Maybe it's a joke or maybe not. "Or trying to get her to lay low for a while, even." he adds. "I thought about just ''faking'' her death but again, that requires her to be involved, and probably gets about as many people upset. Honestly, it says a lot about how troublesome she is that you and I are even having this conversation, because all of the obvious stuff I'd use to solve the problem is out the window already."
Dark Glimmer	Glimmer Brightmoon gave a small shrug. "Because She-ra killed him THEN. Those two just... aren't as well this time. It was NOT easy to defeat him the first time. It doesn't make She-ra not dangerous, it just means that's how dangerous he is," Glimmer muttered. "... I... can get her to lay low," Glimmer said softly. "I don't... know if faking her death could work, but I'd try it. What is the stuff you'd normally do, if things... if you had to?" she asked. Then she sighed. "... Have you been thinking about stuff like this for me?" Oh, her loyalties were well known by him... Or lack of them, in ways. But she wondered how often he'd thought about how to keep her safe.
Takashi Agera	"Then it's just me you're underestimating?" Takashi asks, slightly bemused. "She couldn't put me down when she had Dark Energy coursing through her and that was a long time ago. I was much weaker then... I'm not worried." he says. He probably SHOULD BE, but he isn't. "I've seen a few people leave Obsidian now. It's a natural thing to think about. You enjoy costumes and such, you could probably take on a new identity as like... Akarui Kirameki or something, and at least the Veil would keep you safe long enough for Obsidian to get bored." Ah, he had thought about it - to the point he had a Japanese name for her, picked out, and... "Making that a real person as far as documents and such isn't hard, you could probably be in a dorm at the school by tomorrow morning." "Harder with Catra, she doesn't like her human disguise and she wouldn't stick with it. You can rise to the occasion when you're pushed. She just... gets mad. Mostly, at herself." Takashi observes. "If you really think you can get her to lay low that'd probably be easiest, though. Being too much trouble to find and bother helps, but the people I know who left were all attacked at least a few times. Trouble is Catra is neither quiet nor does she avoid pushing away people who would help her."
Dark Glimmer	Glimmer Brightmoon gave a soft sigh and shook her head. "No. I think you have a soul, which Horde Prime lacks. You'd hesitate... at least, I hope you would. And then you'd die. As much as I like you, you're not invincible." She then leaned back in the chair. "... I'll find a way to get her to calm down and... accept help. There's one way to do it, that I know of. But she's going to haaaaaaate me when I do it. And Adora is going to be pissed... Cause there's really only one thing that I know that will get Catra to do something. If she thinks it'll get Adora in trouble. If I can get her to think that Adora is going to get killed if they come after her... maybe?" Glimmer said before shaking her head again. "... In case you're wondering? Catra was JUST as annoying back home." She got to her feet. "But... I'll take care of it. And if it goes wrong? I don't know. Maybe we can fake my death or something. Or I'll just strangle her. I... oh. Ummmm... did... you know there's an angel guy here? Michel? Nice guy. Thinks he's a god, but like, half the people in this building do. Has a weird little bird mascot... nice, though. He uhhh... contacted me the other day."
Takashi Agera	"Not invincible ''yet''." Takashi corrects her with that usual 'is he joking or not' smirk - where he knows he's said something a little out there, but maybe he is still serious. "Work in progress, though. I'm stronger than you've seen. I'm still holding a lot back." he notes. "You know, if you just want to strangle her yourself now and save me the trouble you could shortcut a lot of this." Takashi offers and it's again hard to see if he's serious or not. "You know, other departments are supposed to go through me before harassing my employees. First Joker and now the new guy?" Takashi says, visibly agitated. "I don't care how nice things seem - if anybody is doing an end-run around me to talk to you, you should be wary. Of all the people in this building I'm the only one who actually knows what's up and is working to help you." he notes. "Everybody else has their own goals that are gonna be so far out in front of yours, you wouldn't even be able to see one from the other. I understand we can be mutually beneficial to each other, but most folks in this building are only out for themselves; and a lot of that 'end game' out for themselves stuff is turning the world into a desert or flooding it or something."
Dark Glimmer	Glimmer Brightmoon gave a light snort at him becoming invincible. Yeah... it was cause of stuff like that she was wary of him at times. Because no matter how much she liked him... it didn't mean he couldn't be an idiot. In fact, it might cement it, knowing most of her friends. ... Wait, that was a dangerous thought in and of itself, she might learn something. "... Yeah, I won't deny it is a little bit tempting. But only a little." "And I know. The thing is... they... could feel my mother," Glimmer mumbled. "His mascot thing said it was an angel, which... admittedly, wow. Cause... if so? I don't wanna know what happened to her to put her in THAT state. But... they could feel my mother. And he offered me help. He didn't ask for anything in return. He just... gave me some of his power..." Glimmer mumbled before holding up the amulet. "This." "... The weirdest thing? I've been careful and... I think... it's actually working. It's amplifying my power, especially when I sing. But it's kind of like... weird. And I'm struggling to use it. But... I think... he actually means it. He wants to help mom."
Takashi Agera	Takashi paused as Glimmer explained. On the one hand it did all seem to connect to her getting closer to what she wanted, but on the other hand... it was the kind of thing someone (like him) might do to manipulate her. "Nobody gives up power for free. Not around here. If he was that type of angel he wouldn't be working in this building. Even I don't do that - even I have a deal where I work on your project and you work on mine." he points out. "What's he getting out of the deal?" And he looked at the amulet, moving from his window-watching position to move closer. "Mm. Yeah, there's power, but anything else... it'd take me some time to make sure nothing else riding along in that amulet. You willing to leave it with me for a bit?" Takashi asks. He expects not. "I can sense your mother, too, you know." he points out. "Doesn't take a magical genius to parse out the energy from that crystal and figure out it's more than just a shiny power rock. Be careful, especially of people who have the things you want most. That's when stuff gets the ''most'' dangerous." he warns. "When your desire blinds you to clear danger." he says without even a single moment of self-reflection.
Dark Glimmer	Glimmer Brightmoon was silent for a long time after that, looking at the amulet... Before shaking her head. "Honestly? Maybe later. But right now? I think you've got enough on your plate. I've got some experience with like... cursed artifacts and the like. I'll look into it. For now? I think you just need to focus on what to do about Catra and how long she needs to hide for. If she'll ever have to stop fighting." "... You know, I joke a bit... but you ever wonder if you try taking on a bit too much? You remind me of Entrapta at times... but other times you're .... mmmmm..." She trailed off before shaking her head. "Okay, I'm going to go change before I get a rash. Thanks for talking with me. I'll try and get Catra later and find a way to make her... just... get her to stop... being her. I guess." Glimmer gave such an exhausted sigh before turning to leave.
Takashi Agera	"Probably am dealing with too much." Takashi admits. He's aware he's stretched thin, and that's only with the stuff Glimmer knows about. "But you know. Planet to save. Maybe more than one?" he says. "Can't slow down." There's no joking there, he's absolutely serious about that. "I don't know, depends on how mad people get. They act angry when they think it can get them something, but if she actually goes to ground and we stop taking on lame jobs to 'protect' her - they might stop caring sooner rather than later." he suggests. He nods as Glimmer leaves. "Good luck. I mean that."