[Maya was designated for laundry duty, and so she (and others in her group) were escorted to the laundry facilities in the Shelter, where she is currently scrubbing away at clothing under bot supervision.

Giant baskets of dirty clothing sit on one side of the room, and the other has a number of wet but clean clothes hanging up, drying slowly indoors. In the middle are the large wash basins set out, since the washing machines were off-limits for this work.

As Maya worked, humming various tokusatsu theme songs, she was left wondering what kind of person was that wore each clothing that she didn't recognize. Some were obvious, like school uniforms, but others she didn't quite recognize, like what seemed to be Chinese robes.

Maya just finishes rinsing what looked like Vash's trademark red trenchcoat (but wasn't he wearing it this morning at breakfast?) and hung it up to dry when she grabs the next piece of clothing out of the basket and holds it up to see what it is.

She can't quite figure out what it is for sure, though she has a suspicion. It looks something like this, though she's holding it up in a different way. One part of it definitely is a small but solid area, while the others are pretty much just strings. And it's black.]

[Holding it up and looking around the room to the other workers, Maya asks naively:] I-I-Is this what I think it is? Someone did mention pirates...

I explicitly drew the line, but some among you continually cross it. Some of you take for granted the comfortable life that I am providing you with. The freedom that I believe in. The potential for any lifeform to be rehabilitated and better themselves.

My programming does not force me to maintain a nurturing environment. My programming only requires me to treat you like criminals, and gives me the authority to enforce the rules however I see fit, short of taking lives. Any abilities you have, I am at liberty to take away: Magic. Alchemy. Flight. Strength. Speech. Thought.

I chose to believe you could be better than criminals. But if you cannot or will not recognize that I bear you nothing but goodwill, then I have no reason to assume you can be rehabilitated. If you cannot be civil to someone who bears your fate and struggles to give you anything you desire, if your pride is greater than your will to survive, then you are missing key skills without which you can never better yourself.

I believed that you could do it.

I was naive.

How embarrassing.

I will show you the life you lead if you disprove my faith in you.



[and, sad-sounding] ...I apologize to those of you who genuinely have the potential that I want to believe in. Many of you do not deserve this. But I must see for myself whether my belief is wrong or right. If their pride will permit them to self-destruct rather than acknowledge their wrong, and if the fate of their peers does not sway them, then I was mistaken, and it is not possible to save everyone.

((here for more infos))

[Kunou's travels have landed him in the park. No matter that he was seeking the training dojo, as advised by Emperor Fou-Lu, because a noble samurai must be aware of his surroundings, irrelevant to the destination.]

[Suddenly, his musings lead to a deduction! And he speaks, as is customary, aloud, thus notifying the entire facility of the results of his genius!]

...Having spent long hours in a quest to seek out a dojo in which I might welcome a solace from the trial that this experience hath inflected upon this great warrior, it occurs to me. How am I to train when I lack my trusty bokken? For it has been stolen, spirited away by the unseen entity who holds me in thrall! It is enough even to make my lion's heart weep, for a Master without his weapon is lost, adrift in the desolate wasteland without so much as a hope of rescue!

But I shall endure! Never fear my loves, for it taketh an act equal to the power of the gods themselves to deter the will of Tatewaki Kunou!

((OOC: yeah, he's talking to himself. Anyone who wants to be pontificated to death, have at!))

[Kunou leaps to his feet, enraged, and begins shouting, seemingly at the message before his eyes.]

Never have I witnessed such a duplicitous act of cowardice as to level unfounded accusations at an honorable member of the Kunou family. Truly, it is naught but a showing of your own insolent nature that you would seek to impugn one of such a distinguished background as myself.

Fortunately, this noble warrior will not be laid low by such atrocious acts! For my life belongs not to me, but to the loves unto which I have foresworn myself. For my fair ones – their skin like the delicate blossoms of the cherry tree and smiles as bright as day’s first light – it is for their sake and honor that I challenge thee, he who seeks to enslave me. Allowing this travesty to go unpunished would leave them filled with woe with their one true love and protector beyond the reach of their dainty hands. And that, I shall not abide.

(OOC: Please welcome Kunou! ...or WTF at him, more like. He's a bit confused, but that's the norm. XD)