Insights
11 Nov 2024Kasumi Goto
October 31, 3310Aegis head office
Local afternoon
The door to Alba's office opened, prompting her to look up, as she hadn't been expecting anybody. What she found was me coming in through a doorway that still was almost too narrow... which was even more unexpected. But as always happened with my figure, people's gazes lingered on those very enlarged portions of it for some time before they returned to my head - sort of - usually more on the lower than upper section. Alba seemed to be one of the more focused ones about it, however, only providing a brief glance... or, maybe, she was just used to it more than most others.
Either way, I couldn't exactly blame anybody for those looks, given how much it stood out.
"Hello, Kira.", she greeted. "Did you need something?"
"No.", I answered. "I was here, to... tell you something. About the Thargoids."
She observed silently as I looked around, finding what I was looking for - the chair without arm rests that'd been placed there specifically for me... a funny thought of its own. And, sitting down on it, I found that its base could have been widened, thanks to my baseline width exceeding it, and the fact that my lower half had a tendency to sprawl out to the sides even further when weight came on it. Now this was a familiar situation... if, right now, only with me and Alba in it. I placed my hands on my thighs after I was done shuffling around to settle in, and that specific unique part had stopped shifting. Always an, interesting, experience.
"So, what is it you'd like to tell me?", Alba inquired, visibly curious. "I know you might have had some insights in the last week, so please, go ahead."
"Well, I was... thinking. About what they have been doing, the last few months. The Thargoids, I mean. And, I think I might have some idea of what it is they will do, or at least... have been."
"I'm listening."
I began drumming on the softness of my body, suddenly a bit nervous... despite my happiness with this form, it hadn't done much about my social awkwardness and speaking on a subject I was... not entirely comfortable with. "So... I thought ..."
Only now, I realized that, while I had the ideas in my head fairly solidly... that wasn't so much the case when it came to wording them out loud. I began to shuffle around in that uneasy manner and started kneading the thighs, a habit I had developed when nervous, since those changes occurred. Alba patiently watched until I'd sorted things out in my head, at least well enough, and began speaking again.
"So, what I was thinking is. The spires, the Thargoids have been retaking them to an unknown end, right? Seo could just tell that it was why the Thargoids had abandoned a few unimportant systems for it, back when it first happened. And they have kept doing it for... however long it has now been, since that first time, but never to reinforce their systems they already hold. Then they got into our heads, and the noise... changed... again."
I noticed I was still playing around with my thighs, and by this point it was changing from comfort in nervousness to causing tingling in - right now - unwanted places, so I stopped it, as best as I could keep those impulses under control.
"That got me to think about it... and, maybe, the Titans, too. The idea is that, maybe, they no longer want or are trying to stop them from being destroyed. Instead, they use them, and spires, to build as many ships as they can before that happens. I do not think they need those resources... wherever back home is for them, that desperately. And with the changed noise, it makes me feel like, they might be using all of that, to prepare for whatever their next plan, or action, is... if I had to guess, they will be trying to attack systems deeper in - our, space. With what they now know."
"Do you have any particular ideas on where they could be looking to strike?", Alba then asked, when I finished talking.
I shook my head. "No. The noise, it has stayed the same, for the last... week. They are, I think, still planning... but my insight is not always the same, as Seo's. I think, when it comes to that, she might be able to tell more. Or provide better... more accurate, guesses. If they are not going to deliberately feed us false information, now."
"Let's hope not. We have no other effective means of predicting Thargoid attacks, at this time. And perhaps Aden should know about this, too, if he hasn't reached those same conclusions."
"Just... tell him later. When I left." I gestured to the office door to point out that I meant that, and not leaving the facility generally. I also noticed my fingers were still distracted with poking the excessively sized thighs... maybe once I got into the conversation enough that would just stop by itself.
"Okay. But before you go, I'd like to ask you something, Kira. Just last week, you still weren't happy to really do anything to help Aegis with the Thargoids, and now I have you here. What happened?"
I grumbled and made a theatrical throwaway gesture with the right hand. "You can blame Seo for that change of mind. She insisted I stop being upset at something that will only make the war worse because apparently my main interest is still in making sure humans don't come off worse than they could be, and probably implied I should focus on that now than what happened with the Titans. I guess she has a point."
One that I would only have reluctantly admitted to. But maybe Seo was the only person that could have gotten to me on that, through my wall of stubbornness.
"So I was told.", Alba remarked. "She also told me to expect you might come to me about this matter. But I don't believe it's the only thing bothering you."
I sighed. So that's where it was going. "You are right. It isn't. It's us. Not because of people that might think it's a great idea to hunt down the Thargoids in their home territory - which it isn't, and I am sure they, those people, are out there - but because a lot of them seem to think that when this last Titan is destroyed, that will be it for the war, and we will not have to worry about the Thargoids again. I can already see it, and how everyone is getting ready to go back to bickering with each other, in politics and elsewhere. Even though thinking that the Thargoids will go anywhere after this couldn't be any more wrong, and despite all the warnings you've been providing to people."
I shook my head again.
"It's like they are trying to repeat history, and nobody has learned anything from it. Maybe I just want somebody to be ready for what follows."
"On that front, I was going to suggest that you could send out a statement about your thoughts on the Thargoids' potential actions, like Seo did.", she responded to my frustrations, at seeing how humans were all too eager to forget about an external war - which they had caused themselves - to go back to bickering for nothing among themselves.
"Now that you mention it, I was actually writing those thoughts down to do just that... it just won't be a recording like hers. Whoever would listen to it, because most people out there probably either don't know about me, or see me as some abomination taken over by the Thargoids, not what I actually am."
"I believe you still should. Even if only a few people see it, or choose to pay attention to its message, it is still better than not having tried. And I believe you might know somebody from an active anti-xeno organization as well."
I couldn't help but roll my eyes slightly, for a variety of reasons. "Oh. Yeah. I guess I could send her a message as well, to take that warning from Seo seriously. Whatever that might help, because I think they already are anyway. Those aren't the types I'd be concerned about dropping their guard in the face of the Thargoids, now that we pissed them off. And let me guess... Seo told you that she was worried about how this was affecting me and my relationships."
"I am glad you are still able to view them in that way. And yes, she did."
"She could just tell me herself. It's not as if I'd get offended that badly or can barely form sentences better than a child.", I muttered in response, though still loud enough to be heard by Alba.
"I'll remind her of it... I am certain she'd be happy to discuss these matters with you personally. Should you choose to make a public statement about your thoughts regarding the Thargoids, do send it to me beforehand to ensure its contents are appropriate to the intent behind it. As for the historical aspect, I am still looking to ensure that some of the most critical mistakes which led to, and resulted from the dismantling of the previous Aegis, are avoided. I insisted on retaining some independence from its investors for a reason."
I couldn't exactly argue with her wanting to take a look at my writings, given my tendency to poke at humans, which probably wouldn't come on too well in such a message. But those last two sentences, I scoffed at.
"You're still funded by the superpowers. What are you going to do when they pull their money so they can focus on squabbling with each other over a meaningless frozen rock in the middle of nowhere? Sirius? Those bastards are not an alternative, they only care about how much profit they can squeeze out of something. And look how that worked out for the Alliance."
"I must admit that the potential implications of this situation don't please me, but please leave those considerations to me, Kira. I will do what I can to keep Aegis operational and prepared for any future Thargoid incursions following the defeat of the Titans, and you can do what you do best in the meantime."
"Okay. Fine. But the writing is on the wall, so don't be surprised if in a month you get told that you have a lot less money available."
"I get it. But that subject is really not one I want you to concern yourself with too much, as you can't do much about it. And I would like to discuss that... incident, which you had with Azimuth, a few months ago."
"Oh, right... that." I rolled my eyes theatrically. "I know I said I was going to tell you more about that when this war was over, but since the world has its way of putting a red line through plans and I'm here now ..."
I leaned back into the chair, as much as I could given the noticeable gap between waist and below.
"It's really what I said. And as you should have found in the data. They kidnapped my friend, one that I made shortly before the end of last year... not the one that rescued me from the Titan, or organized that whole thing. I did ask for her help in it, and so we went to rescue her... that other friend, I mean. I guess, there were some Thargoids involved as well, but I think they had things of their own there they wanted retrieved, and we parted ways without a shot fired at each other. Of course, as you probably saw as well, those idiots denied they had anything to do with it. But I know it, and you know it. The only people that might believe it are those that have deluded themselves into buying Torben's lies. As if he wouldn't know about a failsafe to ensure Salvation's continued existence after the death of his body."
I shook my head before continuing.
"You should know that I would only have acted in this way for a good reason. And to me, seeing my friend kidnapped just to be used as bait to lure me into a trap or, whatever, to then dispose of her or turn her into a test subject, is one."
"I know that, Kira. It is why I was so surprised to hear your name behind it.", Alba said to my response. "Though I don't exactly approve of putting yourself at that kind of risk." She noticed me shuffling around uneasily. "Are you uncomfortable?"
"Oh? Uh... no. It's just the chair. the seating area could be... wider. And I know it was risky, but I wouldn't have done it any differently. If they want to make it personal like that, it gets personal."
"But not personal enough that you could have told me?", a voice from behind called out.
Looking to the back, of course, it was Seo. I'd heard the door open, but did not think it was her.
"The opposite, actually.", I retorted. "I just thought, maybe it was not the best thing to mention on our first time meeting in... what, eight months? And, you know, we haven't yet spoken since. Besides, I figured you would have known about it from Azimuth complaining."
"I did, but I couldn't be sure what friend it was they tried to kidnap.", she replied. "I guess it's the one you said might visit you."
"It is. But... didn't have the time, I think. Haven't asked, but she'd probably want to come over to check I'm still in one piece. Even if it's just as an excuse to see my body. And yes, I'm pretty confident it's not because those Azimuth idiots tried to do the same again."
"As much as I appreciate that you two have a lot to catch up on, perhaps you should do so somewhere more private.", Alba interjected. "Besides, I'd like to know if Aden agrees with what Kira has proposed to me."
"Oh? And what's that?" Seo sounded curious.
"You will find out... soon.", I answered, partly teasing. "And I am going to send someone I know a message about this."
"See, I knew you still had it in you to help."
"No thanks to your teasing."
"Alright, you two, enough. Please leave the office.", Alba commanded, as if telling off two naughty children.
Sometimes, it certainly felt a little like that.