"When was the last time I tried to get to know someone?.. ■■■■, I couldn’t really tell you. I… I just couldn’t trust that someone was being truthful with me about who they are. Thought they were all lying upfront to me about who they are, and… I guess that’s a projection on my end. I’m not gonna learn who some strangers are all of a sudden but… Maybe it be nice if I let myself trust that someone is being honest with me for once.
- Sakora ‘Okiku’ Tuluvan
“Do you not find it alarming that your hero’s nickname is basically death?”
November 2nd YC 123
6NJ8-V IV - The Rabbit’s Warren Fortizar, Windchime Shrine, Gym area
“31!~”
< Suha laying down and sitting back up >
“32!~”
< Suha laying down and sitting back up >
“33!~”
< Suha laying down and sitting back up >
“3-… Okiku! I’m surprised to see you here!~”
“Hey.”
“What brings you here?!~ Looking to push your body’s limits too?!”
< Suha laying down and sitting back up >
“35!~”
“Eh no, I was hoping you’d be up to talk about something?”
< Suha laying down and sitting back up >
“Oh?”
< Suha laying down and sitting back up >
“Yeah… Somewhere private preferably.”
< Suha laying down and sitting back up and stopping >
“Well! I’d be more than happy to talk!”
< Suha getting up from the floor >
“I know just the place! Come along!~”
6NJ8-V IV - The Rabbit’s Warren Fortizar, Windchime Shrine, Private lounge
< Suha humming as she opens a jar >
“Care for one Sakora?~”
“Damn, you’re already busting out the blue pill? ■■■■, I only just walked though the door!”
"Oh!~ Not like we’re in the presence of judgemental company!~
< Suha placing a blue pill her in mouth and swallowing it down >
“Mmm!~ Did you want one?~”
“No.”
“Suit yourself!~”
< Suha closing the container and placing it down >
“Now!~ < Clasping her hands together and taking a seat on a sofa > What did you want to talk about Sakora?~”
< Sakora sitting down on a adjacent sofa >
“… Well, I wanted to ask you some questions about yourself.”
“… Oh? This is… Unexpected.”
“In a bad way or…?”
“Oh! No-No-No!~ This isn’t bad in the slightest! Just… Well… Unexpected!~ Like I said!~ Though I am curious what brought this on…”
“Does it have to be that suspicious?”
“You just… Never seemed that interested in knowing me! Not to sound offended, just… Pleasantly surprised by this!~”
“Well… Knowing a more uh… ‘genuine’ side of you now. I figured it was worth the effort to ask questions and learn more about you…”
“Oh well… I’d be happy to answer any question you have! But uh… This ain’t gonna be a thing where I tell you something about myself and you go on a negative tirade about it, right?”
“…I mean I can’t promise anything.”
“…”
“… Okay fine, I promise I won’t make a debate about whatever it is you tell me. Good?”
More like great!~ What would you like to know first!?~"
“…Are you with the Guristas?”
“Well uh… In spirit!~”
“So that’s a no?”
“Officially… No.”
“Then why is someone like you here? Why are you trying to appease these people if you’re not with them… At Least physically that is.”
“I’ve mentioned before that this is my home.”
“Can you clarify that? What do you mean “this is your home” if you ain’t even Guristas? Just another vagrant ran off from your homeworld and landed here and got nothing else to call home? I’ve been there many times…”
“I was born here!”
“…Oh?”
“Yes… My father served with the Guristas. I was born in a Guristas owned colony a few jumps out.”
“Wait, so… Your parents were Guristas?”
“My father was. He… Died serving aboard a Guristas cruiser that was defending a Scout outpost in Caldari space. A Capsuleer was responsible…”
“And now you’re ■■■■■■■ one? …Ever wonder if he did it?”
"Absolutely not! This happened years ago when I was very little… My Avio wasn’t a Capsuleer until much, much later. No way it was him! "
“Alright, alright! I get it… What about your mother?”
“I… don’t know much about her to be honest… Complications with the pregnancy
…”
“Oh…I’m sorry to hear that… W-Wait, who the ■■■■ was raising you this whole time?!”
“O-Oh!~ Well we had these nurses in the colony. They would help look after us children with parents that were either off on deployment or… Dead in my case… T-They were extremely nice people!~ They all have a special place in my heart!~”
“What kind of colony even was this?”
“Agricultural, very rural. We grew crops to be shipped off to food processors for rations. I started working on the fields helping with tasks at… Eight I wanna say?”
“They put you to work as a child?”
“I had to earn my keep.”
“You mean the organization that supposedly steals billions on the daily can’t afford to let you even have a childhood longer than eight years?”
“Tell me, how long was your childhood?”
“… ■■■■. You.”
“Don’t forget that you made a promise…”
“Right… So you worked as a farmer? I didn’t think the Guristas would bother with that kind of ■■■■. Thought they were all about plundering and murder.”
“Well they have to find something for their member’s families to do. And growing and harvesting crops for them helps takes time and resources away from needing to raid for foodstuffs and more time to raid for exotic and rare goodies!~”
“So what? Aren’t you stuffed into the Guristas properly once you’re deemed old enough or whatever?”
"Well… no. Now joining was absolutely an aspiration of my peers and… Myself. However it was our choice if we didn’t want to sign on, we could remain doing what we had been for years already… Guristas recruit from all over the cluster, they don’t HAVE to depend on us to join. "
“You only have two options? Stay plowing fields or get shot at stealing ■■■■?”
“There… Never existed any real opportunities in my colony. And others, from what I’ve learned. There’s no other career prospects, no road to turning a talent into a profession, no form of higher education to chase after, nowhere to even travel to… If you wanted to escape, to see more of this universe the Maker made for us, your only hope was to find a place among the Guristas rank.”
“So what about you? Why did you never join?”
"I wanted to join! I-It was my dream! But I was… Rejected. When I was old enough I tried to join my colony’s militia. It was a stepping stone towards proper entry into the Guristas for us. I… Failed to perform during basic training.’
“Out of shape?”
“N-No! I… Started crying after the drill instructor kept yelling at me… Profusely.”
“… Yeah. Yeah, that sounds about right for you actually. No surprise there.”
“Shut up! I-I could have handled it just fine! I was a good shot, I was physically active! I-I just thought the instructor was being… Unfair!”
“So you started crying?”
“Yes! I was crying! And I was pulled from the program prematurely and my ■■■■■■■ dickhead of a colony Marshal put it on record that I wasn’t suited for militia duty and by extension, not a suitable recruit for the Guristas.”
“Well if I’m being honest? If you’re breaking down and crying - And I’ve seen you cry already - about how the instructor is being mean and unfair… Why wouldn’t you be deemed as unsuited? I would think the job requires a certain level of tolerance for ‘meanness’… ■■■■ it, here’s my next question. Would you say that you know who you are?”
“Well… Yes.”
“Then - And be completely honest with me - Can you look at yourself and who you were as a kid and who you are now and tell me if you think the Guristas is the right kind of place for you? Can you see yourself going on raids? Shooting at people? As someone who wouldn’t get… Taken advantage of?”
“… Well… In recent years I’ve had to come to terms that maybe it was never a place for me to be in the first place… Maybe it was even a blessing… Many of the kids I grew up with went off and joined the Guristas… About all of them are dead already. Killed in action or vanished entirely after an engagement…”
“… Yeah… Yeah I imagine it’s a job with a low lifespan expectancy. If anything you should be grateful you’re not risking your life for ■■■■■■■■ like that. You seem to be doing good for yourself as is…”
“I-I am! Just… I wonder if I’m doing enough being an ‘outsider’ to them.”
“What do you mean by enough?”
“I’ve always wanted to make myself useful!… I’m grateful for the life the Guristas provided me. From working the fields towards having aspirations to join up, my aim was always to be of use and give back for all that they did for me. I felt like it was my duty…”
“Sounds familiar…”
“Hmm?”
“Oh, nothing… So what? What you do now is to be… Useful?”
“I want to make this region a better place to live. I want this to be a better home, a more efficient one. I want all the luxuries and convinces places like the Federation and State have an abundance of… If I can’t serve the Guristas militantly, then I’d do it economically.”
“You sound oddly devoted about this…”
“If it wasn’t for people like Fatal and The Rabbit, this little blissful slice away from the stagnant empires would never exist! I owe them that, I respect and look up to them because of this.”
“Aren’t they gay as ■■■■ for each other?”
“W-w-well… I DID always think they make a cute couple when I was younger… However as an adult I’d moved on from such fantasies. The depth of their relationship is unknown to me and not my place to speculate on, but an intimate relationship like that I wouldn’t rule out, nor be surprised with…”
“So gay as hell, got it. Now why look up to two people that don’t know who you are and never will?”
“They’re remarkable examples of what individuals are and can accomplish! The Rabbit is a genius! Capable of creating new technology like it was an afternoon hobbie. Without him the Guristas would just be another gang in shotty vessels… And Fatal? Well… I-I always wanted to be like Fatal.”
“… Really?”
“Y-Yes! Out of the two I found him to be the most inspiring… His way with people, the rousing speeches he’d give. His prowess in military tactics and his charm, his taunting of the State… He was my hero! I wanted to be just like him growing up! Part of why I really wanted to enlist in the first place…”
“He’s your hero?”
“Yes!”
“Do you not find it alarming that your hero’s nickname is basically death?”
“Oh, blame the Caldari Navy for that! Not like this is some edgy alias he adopted when he became a pirate… For a warrior of his caliber, I’d argue the name is fitting and may have it’s advantages with negotiating… He was an incredible businessman too!~ New Eden likes to paint the Guristas as dishonorable liars, but Fatal honored any deal made!~… And of course expected the very same out of those he dealt with…”
“Noted… Now you look up to this guy and said you wanted to be like him growing up… is that why you are who you are today? Are you still trying to BE him?”
“… With my military ambitions being thwarted, I don’t think I’d be even half the person he was. His extroverted lifestyle I do admire and took inspiration from. I have the confidence I do now to be a Guru in the first place because of him… Maybe I’m realizing that wanting to be like him was a childish ambition I clung onto… However I can’t help that him serving as an example has had a resounding effect on me and who I am.”
“And the Guru bit… How exactly did you get into Wayism?”
“Well… I learned about Wyaism though a few sources that originally were from the State. Most of them telling me how it was a bunch of fedoshit but… I wanna say I saw something in what they were telling me about it.”
“So a bunch of people tell you about a ■■■■ religion and you think “Hey, they might be onto something”?”
“What they thought was ■■■■ was merely the State’s narrow minded interpretation of Wayism. Not Wayism itself… There is an uplifting message to tell people! A message I couldn’t help but send years trying to liberate from the taint the State had infused with it… I grew up surrounded by nature, Sakora. Nature is living, it is breathing and a beautiful thing! It’s mere existence is something divine and in it inspiration to take into account. I want other people to understand this because I think this is a way I can inspire and uplift others much like Fatal did! I want people to feel liberated on a spiritual level Sakora!”
“I… See. Guess I took you for another preacher trying to talk people into a cult.”
“I do not promote a cult! Cults by design go against what I teach! I do not twist people’s will to see me as any divine figure or some reincarnation of some historical hero. I do not live off some compound in the wild, fearful of the rest of the world with my followers. And most certainly not will not entertain some fear mongering prophecy of galactic wide destruction! I do not recruit for a cult Sakora! I liberate others from such abominations!”
“… Alright. Noted. I guess you’re pretty genuine about this as far as I can tell so… Sorry.”
“It’s… Of no issue Sakora!~ I may had gotten a bit carried away there!~”
“Alright… Well. I think I got enough for now. Thanks for uh… opening up?”
“Done already? Well… I never carried myself as a closed book Sakora!~ I’d answer anything you’d ask me!~”
“Noted…”
< Suha clasping her hands together >
“Now!~ How about we go put there and do some squats!~ Do wonders for your cardio!~”
“My cardio is just fine, trust me.”
“Oh … Well if you ever change your mind-”
“Yeah, yeah I’ll come to you… Catch you around.”
“…O-Oh! Sakora!~”
“Yeah?”
“… I’m happy you’re easier to talk to now. Thank you.”
“… Sure. Welcome I guess…”