Description: Researching chi can be a long and difficult process. Naerose hears many words that Frei is a philospher of Chi and worthy of time to learn more. She seeks him out and finds him in the ruins of a certain building attacked by a group of rather mean people. An interview ensues.
Welcome to the YFCC. Well, or what's left of it. NESTS decided they didn't like the place, or perhaps were simply bored... whatever their agenda, Igniz and company descended on the Young Fighters Community Center with a serious vengeance. It's evident even before you get to the building's interior: the area near the door is scorch-marked and currently covered by one of those pipe-constructed mini-scaffolds and plastic sheeting while the workmen construct... well, a new doorway since the last one basically got exploded. They're good about letting people pass through, at least; the center is still open, devastation or not.
Inside, the lobby is a different story. Much is covered by tarps, and the sound of workmen and even volunteers giving things a go. The room is still a little cluttered; the floor is dusty and much is roped off, including a roughly person-sized hole in the wall near the door through which the water pipes for the place are dimly visible. But things are getting back in order. Perhaps what has made the staff of the center so proud is that the people who frequent it are giving of their time and energy to help rebuild it. It's not the first time, but this is certainly one of the more... extreme cases. It warms the heart.
And then there's Frei, whose injuries preclude him from anything so strenuous as repair work. He LOOKS worse off than he is: bandages are wrapped around his head just under his red bangs, as well as around his hands and arms given the white t-shirt and jeans he's wearing leave them visible. As of right now, he's doing the best he can: carrying around a basket of bottled water and a plate of cookies so the workers who are actually DOING something can stay hydrated and have a little snack. His face is pleasant enough as he chats with people here and there, but the perceptive know that something is on his mind. Of course, given that the hole in the wall being repaired was made when M. Bison punched Frei through it, literally, this is vaguely understandable.
The events here might of made it in every major news outlet of southtown, it might of even made national news, but as much of a sensation it was, this was not the reason for one particular visitor. With the mindset of a journalist, Naeroes lets herself in, not that anyone tries to stop her, after all fighters were often outlandish and though today was a conservative day for the woman, she still wore red. A moment of silence is followed by a broken "Woah". She didn't know that the hole se decided to enter through was where a person was put through a wall, or that NESTS was responsible. She only knew that when she asked the youths around some specific questions, mostly regarding some research she was doing, this was where she was pointed and to whom? Frei himself.
They'd met before, sort of. Fighting and perhaps in passing, Naerose should know him, at least by looks and perhaps it's the bandages - but for whatever reason she hardly recognizes him when she enters. It's a good thing she brought a picture. He looks busy. Oh well.
"Umm, hi, excuse me? You're Frei right?" Naerose asks, and hardly waits for a response before continuing, "My name is Naerose Delphine and I was wondering if you might have a moment to talk."
Incase you're wondering she notices the cookies, but doesn't actually go for them at all. This time she has a more important goal in mind and not even food will sway her resolve.
It's hard not to notice all that red, even in peripheral vision. That, and to say Frei is a little on edge for people he doesn't immediately recognize right now is the understatement of the year. Thus his response to the sound of a voice saying his name is immediate and maybe even a little excessive, head whirling toward Naerose. However, once she's in his sight, the young sage has a chance to take it all in and realizes he knows this lady... well, sort of. The last time they met was an SNF many, many moons ago. Plus in said SNF Makoto smacked him in the face with a restaurant table, so his memory is naturally a little fuzzy.
"That's me, yes," he says, tilting his head to the side a bit. It's a reasonable enough request, and as another Center staffer walks by Frei flags her down, handing over the water and cookies but taking two bottles and a handful of cookies from the plate as he does so. She heads off, and Frei turns back to Naerose, offering her a napkin stacked with cookies and a bottle of water, if she wants them. "Pardon the mess... uh, let's see..." Whether the witch takes the food or not, Frei turns his head until he spies two unoccupied and undamaged chairs over by the cafeteria. "Let's have a seat." And then he walks and has that seat, presuming Naerose will follow!
Cookies are accepted. Being driven to a purpose, not allowing herself to be easily distracted is entirely different from accepting a free hand out. She takes the napkin and even manages to say a "Thank you." But as she follows something seems to nag her mind. Her eyes flitting around the lenses of her shades, she knows she should say something.. Perhaps they're tired of press asking about this incident, which she had little to no actual knowledge of, but all the same she wasn't about to let this distract her either. Say something she would though,
"I ahh, hate to trouble you like.. in the middle of some reconstruction." She pauses nervously, "I dunno what happened here, but it's not really why I'm here, so I'm ah totally sorry if I'm getting in the way."
Even when she's very driven there are certain mannerisms one can not get rid of, the noncomittal way she speaks, with improper grammar and over use of out dated slang, for instance, would of taken training to remove from her normal speech.
She accepts a seat.
"But I am a reporter, though today I'm researching a book for someone."
If he's bothered, it doesn't show. Naerose has yet to hurl flame at the furniture and thus has gone a long way into getting into Frei's good graces. He sits in his chair a little bonelessly, though, as if he were really tired. Of course, he IS, overall, so this isn't too much of a shock. "It's no problem," he says with a smile, pointing a bandaged hand at his bandaged head. "I'm not much good for manual labor right now, anyway... I'm here as moral support, more than anything else." He might be flippant, but in truth the sage's presence does seem to reassure people, a little bit, especially in Alma's absence. Of course, the same could be said for the rest of the instructors as well.
As Naerose speaks he picks up a cookie -- peanut butter, by the way, complete with fork-marked hashes on top -- and bites into it, chewing slowly as she explains herself. His confusion is evident, but partly due to the fact that as his memories of Naerose come back, all he can recall is her being... well, a bit of a spaz in the sushi restaurant. It's a change, for sure. "A book, huh..." he murmurs, taking a sip of water as well. "I don't know how much help I can be about a book or anything, but I'll do my best."
"Well, I'm sorta going off of hear say, but the book is on chi manipulations and a general primer on what chi is, you see we have so many amazing people around with amazing abilities, yourself included, but you don't see a whole lot of explanations on this. I think the author I'm researching this for wants to write this for some sorta fringe store.. Moon something, I guess this owner guy named Isamu is offering her shelf space. Anyway, word on the street is you have a very good understanding on this subject so I thoguht I'd come by and ask you questions," Naerose states, being very much unspaz. Sometimes you have to set things aside to get certain things done, but this isn't the only time she's been calm and reasonable... It's just far more rare than her not acting this way.
She pulls a notebook out of her hat, which is eccentric, but hardly so compared to her usual actions. It's red, of course and she flips to a page, pulls out a red pen and prepares to write.
"So if you don't mind answering a few questions, I'd like to start with a very basic one.. What is Chi, like the definition of the word, what does it actually mean..?"
He actually stops eating with a cookie still in his mouth, taken aback by that statement. Green eyes go a little wide for a bit, and he actually looks 'frozen' before he starts up again, biting into the cookie and bringing the rest back to his napkin with one hand. While he seems to be working again, though, his eyes are elsewhere... drifting to the side, looking slightly concerned. "That's a... slightly strange topic for a book," he finally says, knitting his brow and still looking in the other direction. She didn't mean to, Frei is certain, but the Red Witch has pinged on something that's been on his mind, lately, or at least something related. Does he want his knowledge down, in a book, for all to read? Does he want to present himself as 'the authority'? It's a position he's never been 100% comfortable accepting, and it shows in his sudden unease.
Still, a few basic questions... answering those can't hurt. There's nothing in the basics of chi that she couldn't find by asking a ton of other people. After all, Frei learned them from someone else, himself, even if that individual is long gone. He takes a deep breath before turning to Naerose with a faint smile. "It's a Chinese word. It technically means 'breath', or something similar... but conceptually it refers to life itself. Er..." He pauses, scratching the side of his head for a moment, before continuing. "I mean, life force. The thing that makes stuff that's alive, alive."
Much of what was said she had some concept of already. In fact she didn't seem so much as asking questions she didn't know the answer to.. Yet anyway. Of course she was at a total loss for how Frei felt about this and thus soldiers on without any consideration for what might be going through Frei's head. How would she know anyway? Those are good cookies though. Her hand works frantically while she chews on a bit more.
"So then if it describes life energy itself, is this something that be found in all things, at least living? People? plants, animals, the planet itself? If so does chi manipulation refer to manipulating life energy itself?" The witch asks. Expounding just a little on the initial question, while trying to reign herself in. At least for the time being, she was getting exactly what she wanted.
"Anything living has chi, at least a little bit," Frei explains, drawing circles with his finger on the top of his water bottle. Memories come back to him of explaining this stuff to Kentou, which in its own way brightens his mood a little. Kentou is Frei's shining success story, after all; the boy could learn, and learn he did. Of course, Kentou might be special, too. There's no guarantee it'd work for everyone. He opens his mouth, about to add a disclaimer, and then suddenly shuts it. If Zach and Alma want to babble about their powers to the world, that's their problem. "But I don't think most fighters pull chi out of their own bodies. It's all around us, too. In the air, in plants and trees, even the ground."
Bringing a hand up, he rubs the back of his head for a moment, an embarassed sort of gesture. "'Manipulating' is kind of an ugly word. And you have to keep in mind, these are just my theories. I don't know they're the truth, though I believe them to be true, obviously," he adds, taking a sip of water before continuing. "Most people can't manifest chi abilities at all. But those who can... I don't know. It's very... personal, how people do it."
"Right.. Personal. Well I'm not planning on going down that road, but I'd like to backtrack a little. You said manipulation was an ugly word but in the defintion you said it was the chinese word for 'breath'? Surely there is a rason this word was choosen to describe life energy. Perhaps you could give some idea, at least your own personal insight into this and if this leans more heavily on the life aspect of the word breath, or the subtle aspects, as it would stand to reason if chi is in all living things, could it be considered fragile?" Naerose was of course leading somewhere here. The basics of chi was a pretty subject, but ultimately people would want to know more about this big bangs. Certainly it could stand to reason the truest chi masters might not so much as cause a blade of grass to stir in their work, so subtle their hand might be.. but the explosion made news. Still as Naerose smiles inwardly, she seems to think it might be useful to get a clearer picture on the simple side of things, the foundations which most people prefer to skip when trying to learn how to blow something up. Meanwhile her hand works frantically on the page. Red ink marking down what Frei has to say along with some notes and thoughts of her own. The cookies maybe gone, but they are also, for once, forgotten. This was good stuff.
It's a blank stare. That's all Naerose gets out of Frei for a good long while, particularly after that laying out of statements. It's a lot of questions in there, not to mention a few cogent, if strangely-worded, questions. The sage just looks at Nae for a moment, green eyes blinking a few times and head tilted to the side, before he sits up straight and glances off to the side, getting a thoughtful expression on his face. "I think it's because 'breath' is a requirement for life. When we die, the first thing people of old would notice is the lack of breathing. The first thing a baby that's newborn needs to be convinced to do is breathe. So the link between 'breath' and 'life' is easy to make." He pauses a second, then nods. It's as if he just let a stream of consciousness go and only reviewed the results for accuracy AFTER it was said.
Uncapping his water bottle, Frei seems to consider things carefully for a moment before continuing. "I don't know about 'fragile'. I'd use the word 'formless'. Chi is just... chi, until something is done with it. It doesn't take on a 'quality' unless there's a will acting on it." He makes a face, then shakes his head. "Sorry. Shifted into Ira Plato mode for a second there. What I mean is, think of it like... well, like Play-Doh," he says finally, holding his hands out as if he were sculpting something. "Until you make something with it, it's just... there. A blob of clay. But if you do something to it, you can make it look like something else."
That answered her questions, though she went down a different road, the one that they arrived at still worked quite nicely for the witch who goes about scribbling down various notes and such. She decides to take a different direction now that her question there had been answered. She decides to dive into more of the basics then.. Or so she thinks.
"Can you explain in your own words the difference between chi energy and other forces which can be used to affect the world around you? Say physicial, or mental ?" The witch meanwhile pauses s moment to scribble a great deal on the paper, having to turn pages a little and then tosses another question on the end,
"And why do you prefer to avoid the word manipulation?"
"I'm betting," Frei says carefully, leaning forward a little and glancing at Naerose evenly, "that you have your own ideas. I mean, you yourself can use chi, can't you? I've seen you do it before, after all." He pauses, then puts his elbow on the table, cupping his chin in his hand and regarding Naerose with some curiosity. "If I may answer a question with another question, what are *your* words for that difference?" If anything, he seems genuinely interested in what she has to say, rather than simply deflecting the question she posed to him.
"And as for manipulation... let's pretend that Play-Doh we were talking about wouldn't change its shape unless you asked it nicely first." He smiles a little. "It wouldn't be 'manipulation'. It can't be... forced."
The bit about manipulation was far more interesting afterall, it was an answer though being asked a direct question it was only fair she come up with an answer too.. So here goes.
"Well, chi is, I believe semantic really.. It describes energy which is said to be derived from life, but arugably all energy is derived from motion and therefore all energy comes from either life or other actions and reactions. So who is to say if something is chi, magic or just physical force. I think the main difference is the root of what causes the actions and reactions which fuel the changes created." the witch goes on to say, and decides to take some notes of her own.
"Though so far I've focused on a gentle hand so to speak, I think I've seen examples of people who have been relatively successful with forcing it too."
The young sage makes a 'hmn' noise in the back of his throat at that description. His thoughts naturally stray to Zach and Alma, people with that 'other' power that is very similar but also so very different. 'A strong power responds to a strong will', that was what Frei had told him when he asked for help in defending against chi attacks. In other words, though your power isn't chi, it could still help. Deep down, aren't they doing the same thing? And yet... and yet. "A practical outlook," he says, choosing his words with some care. "But it makes sense. It doesn't really matter what it was that knocked you out, in the end... the important thing is that it knocked you out."
He closes his eyes for a moment, sipping from his bottle of water before he keeps speaking, eyes still closed; apparently he's gazing at some inner vision only he can see, perhaps. "Rules are defined by their exceptions. And it was a simplistic sort of analogy. But... even people who can 'pick chi up by the scruff of the neck' and say 'do this!' are still constrained by... well, reality." He looks up and opens his eyes, smiling. "No force on earth is going to let someone conjure a real, living, breathing, permanent cow out of chi, for example, no matter how forcefully they try. We can cajole or we can coax, but rules are rules."
"So like there are laws of physics there are laws of life that everything, including energies have to follow. However as you bring up a rather ahh, you know, extreme sorta example, I have to wonder if the reason is totally because we dunno what those laws are exactly. Like maybe you could tell me a few things which are impossible, but could you draw the line? Can anyone? So how does that affect guiding energies like chi? Is the whole skill of use of chi energies about dancing around the boundires of those blurry lines?" Naerose asks, while her fingers write on the page, her fingers getting red (as if they weren't already with red painted nails). Now red ink.
The red painted lips turn upward just a little. She's getting good stuff, really!
He gives a nervous little laugh, perhaps because Naerose has let loose with a barrage of questions the Center's chi expert can't quite keep up with. And it may indeed be that Naerose's interview has hit the extent of Frei's knowledge, or perhaps more accurately the border of what he feels he can reliably speak to with anything approaching authority. With a shrug, he answers, "To be perfectly honest with you, I don't know. I don't know any of what I've told you is *fact*," he adds, wearing a carefully neutral expression. "It's my observations and theories. Like I said before... I think I'm right. But..." And here he smiles, holding out one hand to the side, palm up. "What we think we know changes every day. New discoveries, new theories... in the end, 'knowing' the answer might not even be possible."
Closing his eyes, Frei leans back in his chair, folding his arms behind his head before looking up at the ceiling, speaking in a languid tone. "Is it 'magic'? Science? I don't think anybody knows." A pause, then he laughs, still looking upward. "'Dancing along those blurry lines'. I like that."
"Thanks. Well acatually this was great, really I have some wonderful material and just so you know, this isn't supposed to be putting you on the spot. It will be noted that this is theory and oppinion. Or at least so I'm told." The witch grins a little nervously and then starts to pack up, though leaving her notebook out for the moment.
"Any last words or thoughts you might want to add?" She asks this, though her fidgeting communicates that she is running out of steam herself just now.
Somehow, Frei is more relaxed now than when the conversation started. Perhaps, in working through his thoughts, he's simply not had time to focus on his anxieties. That, or Naerose's own nervous energy compels him to be slightly more sedate as a counterbalance. Either way, he nods at her statement, picking up his nearly-empty water bottle and holding it up to the light a moment, judging how much is left before he simply chugs the rest, setting the thing back on the table with a faint plastic *plunk* noise. He rolls the cap around on his fingertips distractedly.
"Just..." he starts, before turning back to Naerose with a smile. "Just that I think if you want to succeed at understanding chi, understanding yourself as a person first is pretty important."
"Thank you very much," Naerose says with a big smile and even a little bit of a wink. She continues to say,
"I guess it's a philosophical look, woudl have to be. But I'm just doing research. Anyway, it was fun talking to you and I hope you .. I mean wish yo uluck with your cleaning and thanks for the cookies, they were great. If you have any questions well.. er.. I'll er.." She realizes that there was no contact information at this time that she could give him.
"Well. I'm sure it's not like you'll need to be asking me anything I mean.. you know.." She shifts nervously, imagining grand lawsuits, but then when did that bother her before. Naerose just rises.
"See ya!" She says, brightly.
Log created on 10:53:46 09/05/2008 by Naerose, and last modified on 15:18:10 09/05/2008.