Two best friends say hello and shots are fired

[empress_without_a_throne]

[video]

[It's time for someone else to make a formal introduction.  Or rather, two special someones!]

Couldn't keep putting this off now could we?  At any rate, it's been nice to meet all of you so far.  My friend here is Sara Harper, director of the Solaris orgnization-

And my friend here is none other than Mizuki Onodera, the Abyss Empress herself!  Sworn enemy of all beings who live on this-



S-SARA!

[We apologize for the technical difficulties that ensue, but when the video comes back, Sara's off in the corner laughing uncontrollably while Mizuki does her best to do damage control.]



Sorry about that.  Sara and I go way back, and you know how things get with longtime friends.  But as I was going to say, if you're not familiar with Solaris, that's just because the organization hasn't been very relevant for the past ten years or so.  We came here to help Solaris get back on its feet again, even if its glory days are long past and it'll just be supporting the Unity Group.  So long as people'll be able to afford college tuition for their kids and have pensions come retirement we'll be happy.

As for me personally?  Well I'm "The Abyss Empress".  An empress without an empire.  A potential enemy-turned-ward for Solaris who's all grown up now and just wants to do what she can to repay the people who decided to take her in rather than kill her when they had the chance.  Anyone wanting the full story's welcome to it if they ask.

Comments

[anewmachine]

[Well, Liz asked, even if she had no idea how awkward the questions would actually be. Now she's at a loss to find anything safe to pry further into. "Are you actually completely delusional?" "So humans destroyed your entire species and homeworld, does that bother you?" "Who knows how to make the SolCrusader and what's the risk of someone coercing them into making more superweapons?" All probably best approached indirectly.]

That's a lot of stuff I never heard of. Was this all classified, or - or is it still, like the Gebians?

I send backups home every night, I really hope I can't be prosecuted for espionage for that.

[empress_without_a_throne]

Don't worry, it's not heavy-duty classified information or anything. It wasn't exactly made common knowledge but it was more just a "need to know" basis. And we're talking about a conflict that wrapped up ten years ago. Believe me, I wouldn't be here saying all of this if I wasn't sure this was knowledge that's safe to say.

I know what I was saying sounded stupidly high-stakes and at the center of everything... but honestly it wasn't. For starters the Void was nowhere near the size of the Sun, and barring myself and my parents the Void's creations were mostly mindless killers. Those that weren't were psychos.

[anewmachine]

And you had to find a way to live here, after all that. What was that like? I mean, I don't know, were you able to go to school? Meet people outside Solaris?

[Liz remembers her own upbringing - plenty of outside contact, but plenty of frustration at being bound to her servers too, limited by lag any time she wanted the experience of reaching out. The exhilarating strangeness of actually being physically moved for her term Earthside, the liberation of booting up in the Rose for the first time...]

[empress_without_a_throne]

Well, there certainly was a big adjustment period for me and my parents, let me tell you that. My parents had to learn how to actually be parents... they had to read so many books and watch so many instructional videos.



Not to mention Mizuki getting into the habit of using her adopted name. Schooling was a bit of a snag though, but we managed to find a few cheap tutors who taught well enough.

And between me and everyone who stayed with Solaris, she still made plenty of friends too. We were all in it together, just trying to help keep the group afloat, and Mizuki and her parents gave us plenty of insight into Void energy.

[anewmachine]

Your parents... were they like you? Sort of - of brand new? It must have been a real shock for them, too...

So where did your name come from?

What's your legal status like?

Is this your first time away from home?

[Liz doesn't give much time between the questions. Her interest is obviously piqued.]

[empress_without_a_throne]

[Well, it's a chance to make new friends so Mizuki doesn't mind much.]

Well, my parents actually had names and they didn't feel right to change them. My own though...? We just sorta picked one at random out of a book. Then it turned out it was kinda fitting so no reason not to stick with it.

Legally though, I think I'm considered a naturalized citizen from "parts unknown". I wouldn't know precisely though, I haven't really been out and about that much... though I expect my time with the Unity Group's going to change that.

[anewmachine]

[Liz looks distracted as she googles in the background.]

Aspirational naming, huh? "Beautiful moon", though, that's pretty. Mine's just a family name, no one's actually sure what it means.

Citizen of where? Probably somewhere with a more useful passport than Erewhon... I'm really looking forward to getting to see new places, too, but some of the legal hurdles are a real pain. Well, I can hope that UG membership will take care of a lot of them...