destinystrings | Giant Robot Display

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Giant Robot Display

Who: Asem Asuno and Cloche Leythal Pastalia
Where: Capricorn District
Summary: Cloche is highly curious about the Gundam, so Asem offers to show it to her.
Warnings: Tsundere and giant robot in the same place.

The tram stopped in the Capricorn District station. Asem reached the spot he had asked Cloche to meet him at first, so he dropped down on the bench and pulled out the AGE Device. He idly flipped through the data contained within as he waited.

He couldn't help but wonder how this would go, though. Apparently humanoid mecha were not new to Cloche, but ones that stood at roughly nineteen meters were. He also hoped he wouldn't end up having to explain the AGE System -- in fact, he wasn't completely sure of all the details himself. That was his grandmother and father's brainchild, not his.

After a few minutes, Asem put the AGE Device back in his pocket and leaned back. He stretched his legs out and let his eyes slide shut.

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"I'm used to discipline for being late. Compared to that, a bit of rudeness doesn't bother me." Asem smiled nervously as he said that.

"Anyway, let's go. There's a few minutes of walking to do. Have you been to the Nadesico yet?"

It's nice to see that, even across worlds, some things never change--that being the timeliness of the military.

Cloche nods, prepared to follow Asem. "I have not, no."

With that, Asem leads the way out of the station and into the park. Above a line of trees is something visible -- perhaps the ship's bridge.

"Then you'll get an extra treat today. It's not only huge, it's got facilities I'd never expect to see on a military warship. It's got a hangar for mecha, so I keep the Gundam there."

Cloche doesn't miss the glimpse of the ship. If that's just the bridge... that's one enormous ship.

"I have toured military airships, but none of this size." By her tone of voice, she's quite impressed.

"You too, huh?" Asem was smiling now; he couldn't help it. "My world doesn't have ships that big, either. Well, there used to be one, but it's been destroyed. But none of them are at all like this ship."

As they walked, more and more of the ship became visible, until they passed the line of trees. Then, the ship could be seen in its full, mile-long glory.

Asem pulls out his COMP and sends a text. A moment later, the hatch to the mecha hangar opens up, with a ramp leading in.

"It's truly amazing..." Cloche allows a note of awe to slip into her voice. The Nadesico, from her point of you, is a pinnacle of scientific achievement. "I can't begin to imagine the resources it must have taken to construct it."

She can, however, imagine where the resources came from: some kind of military. After all, technology and scientific achievement often goes hand-in-hand with warfare.

"If their world is anything like ours, then they probably took their mining to the asteroid belt. Probably even brought some asteroids back into the Earth Sphere."

Asem leads the way up the ramp and into the hangar, then to the second berth on the left. There stood, at 18.3 meters high, a white humanoid machine. A huge rifle and a small shield are stored against the rear wall.

"This is it -- my machine. The Gundam AGE-2."

"Pardon me, but... what is mining?" When you literally live on a gigantic floating metal rim around a bell-shaped tower in the sky, mining isn't exactly possible.

Her question, however, is quickly forgotten at the sight of Asem's mobile suit. Cloche was expecting it to be large--for it to be gigantic--but those expectations are completely dwarfed by the reality of the machine. The closest thing she can compare it to is the Divine Beam fortress that she once fought while ascending the Tower... but only in size.

"I must admit... it's an impressive machine." There are simply no ifs, ands, or buts about it.

Asem has a big grin on his face at this point. He couldn't help it; this was giving him a good deal of pride. Not just because it was his or a technological marvel, but also because the AGE System was the Asuno family's magnum opus. This distracts him from Cloche's first question as much as the Gundam itself distracted Cloche.

"Want me to show you what it's like in action? The park's pretty empty, so I think I could run through everything. With its current equipment, anyway." Asem looks up at the wing binders. Some way he was going to try to find a way to get the AGE Builder constructed...

Asem's excitement is a little contagious; at the suggestion, a smile spreads across her face.

"I believe a demonstration is the next logical step to this outing. I would love to see you operate it."

Without missing a beat, Asem pulled out the AGE Device again and pressed on the screen in a couple of places. In response, the cockpit within the Gundam's chest opened up.

"Would you rather watch from the ship's bridge or my cockpit?"

Cloche considers her options and comes to a quick decision.

"If there's enough room and I wouldn't be a distraction to you... I believe I would prefer to watch from the cockpit."

"Yeah, it'll be fine. So then let's get going!"

Asem tapped the AGE Device again, and a cable with a foothold on the end descended from the cockpit. Asem slid one foot into the foothold, grabbed the cable with one hand, and pressed a button on the AGE Device's screen again, causing the cable to rise. He immediately hopped into the cockpit and strapped himself into the pilot's seat, then lowered the cable again.

However, one thing Cloche might notice when she came up would be that the cockpit has only one seat. There might be enough room to sit on an arm rest. The only other option was to sit on the pilot's lap.

Cloche carefully watches as Asem enters the cockpit. When the cable comes down again, she awkwardly places one foot in the foothold and holds onto the cable with both hands; she's not as confident of her balance as Asem, especially with the large heels of her shoes. Standing on solid ground again is a relief...

... until she sees that there is only one seat in the cockpit. The thought of sitting in it with Asem doesn't even cross her mind--that is clearly a Dangerous Situation for her dignity as a Maiden.

"If I may--where would it be best for me to sit? I wouldn't want to impair your field of vision..."

Or sit in his lap. Cloche's thoughts on that subject are: Never! Ever!

"The best place would be on my lap. Crosswise." The implications of such a position seem to fail to stick in Asem's mind; he's about to launch, so he's less awkward and more professional at the moment. "I guess there's enough room on the arm rests, but that's gonna be less stable. You'd need something to hold onto."

The back of the pilot's seat might work for that...

"Sitting in your lap would be entirely improper." Nope, nope, nope. Cloche will take a perhaps-precarious seat on the arm of the pilot's chair. "I will hold onto the chair."

"Improper?" Who would care about propriety in a cockpit?

Then it dawns on him. "...Oh." Asem turns his head to the side in an attempt to hide the red creeping into his cheeks. Okay, now things suddenly make sense. Best to get moving to not think about it too much.

With the flick of a switch, the cockpit closes. Asem then pulls the AGE Device out, pulls his arm back, and then slides it into place to the right side of the hatch. The panels on the inside of the cockpit all light up, running through diagnostics quickly, then displaying the full system running at full capacity before fading into a view of the interior of the Nadesico's hangar.

The panels aren't clear, but rather displaying images sent to them by cameras distributed throughout the mobile suit. The front, the sides, the rear... A full 360 degrees in every direction is visible.

In Cloche's opinion, a woman should never have to explain such matters to a young man! Thankfully, she doesn't have a chance to voice it and continue the argument. When Asem activates the AGE Device, her attention immediately focuses on the Gundam's start-up.

"You can see everything from here, can't you?" From her tone of voice, she's impressed. Before Asem activated the AGE Device, Cloche wasn't sure how it was possible to operate the massive machine without a clear view of its surroundings.

"Yep. Cameras in every direction. There's not a single blind spot." Asem grabs one of the handles on the sides of the chair. "Okay, I'm going to get on the catapult. We're going to accelerate suddenly, so make sure you're holding onto something. You can grab my shoulder or my arm if you have to, I won't mind."

With that (and with some BGM ~~because his mun loves Gundam OSTs~~), Asem slides the handle forward, and the AGE-2 takes its first step. Then another, and another, until it steps onto the catapult. The hatch opens, and the AGE-2 crouches.

"Captain Asem Asuno, Gundam AGE-2...launching!"

The catapult fires, shooting the Gundam out the hangar and into the air. While in the air, Asem pulls another lever, and the sounds of advanced hydraulics can be heard from all around. The HUD indicates that the Gundam is...transforming?

Once it's complete, the thrusters fire, and the machine flies up into the sky.

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Giant Robot Display

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