⇐ OOC: Memory-005
Without warning, he is taken out of his environment. The first thing Lyle wonders is whether or not he has been teleported by the Sphere. It registers that he is sitting inside of a car, but not just any car. This is the car from his dream, from his past. It's then that he notes the smell--cigarette smoke. It isn't innate to the inside of the car, either, but clinging to his clothes in a way that it hasn't in almost a year. When Lyle shifts in his seat it isn't of his own volition and he is hit with the unsettling realization that when he tries to move, he can't. So this is a memory? Lyle can't remember having come into contact with any crystals...
He isn't given the time to dwell on it because there is a click to his right and the dim interior of the car lights up. His memory self glances out of the corner of his eye at the newly arrived company settling into the passenger's seat; a tall man with sandy brown hair and scruffy sideburns who looks strikingly familiar.
"I've kept you waiting, Gene-1." When the man speaks, it becomes crystal clear why he looks so familiar. That voice belongs to the person he phoned in his dream as well as the dog that trailed after him more than a year ago.
"How's Central HQ?" As Lyle feels himself say the words, he settles in to listen. Headquarters and familiar voices? This was bound to be significant.
"It doesn't look good," the man with the German accent notes grimly. "It's not just the Federation's army... Every nation was suppressed."
Leaning forward, Lyle folds his arms atop the steering wheel and stares out the at the deserted country road beyond the windscreen. "Just when we were exhausted, the ESF came. Is that how it goes..." The only thing keeping his voice from coming across as completely flat is a note of wry weariness.
"Back to the main topic. Is it true that Celestial Being came to scout you?"
Lyle settles back into his seat and pulls a slender, rectangular object from his coat pocket. "There's no reason to doubt that." He wags the object in front of himself as if for emphasis. "Moreover, it seems they really don't care for the A-Laws."
"The data stick..."
The German man holds his hand out expectantly, but Lyle can feel himself giving a small, sardonic smile before curling his hand around the data stick and tucking it out of reach.
"If I hand it over to you now they'll suspect us."
The other man's eyes narrow, but not out of anger or reproach. More than anything, he seems resolute. "Then, as an Anti-ESF Katharon agent, I would like you, Gene-1, to infiltrate Celestial Being and convince them to join forces with us."
Lyle's tone turns dry as he reaches forward to grip the steering wheel. "You talk like it would be an easy task. Still..." And now he feels his expression broaden into a smirk, "the Gundams' performance really was amazing."
"So you'll do it?" Before Lyle has a chance to respond to the German man's question, he steps out of the car.
"I know I really want to hand out a beating to those that formed the A-Laws." His answer has the sound of flippancy, but the moment it is delivered the car door is shut and Lyle is peeling out at a rate that he is positive doesn't correspond with the speed limit for this tiny back road. The way his jaw is set almost painfully as he white-knuckles the steering wheel tips him off to the fact that his past self is taking this quite seriously, cavalier tone or no.
-----
The interlude stops as abruptly as it started and Lyle finds himself blinking at a pile of junk that he is elbow deep in. He gingerly disengages from the mess before patting down his pockets in search of a notebook. That little interlude he just had confirms some things while bringing up new aspects of his past (for instance, he has never before seen evidence of having to infiltrate the organization he was currently in, though the idea didn't seem foreign now that it was introduced). Whatever the case, his best bet is to write down what he saw before any of the memory fades. He can parse out the details later.
Absently, though with no small amount of relief, he realizes that this particular glimpse of his past bears no repercussions, at least none that he can see right now.
He isn't given the time to dwell on it because there is a click to his right and the dim interior of the car lights up. His memory self glances out of the corner of his eye at the newly arrived company settling into the passenger's seat; a tall man with sandy brown hair and scruffy sideburns who looks strikingly familiar.
"I've kept you waiting, Gene-1." When the man speaks, it becomes crystal clear why he looks so familiar. That voice belongs to the person he phoned in his dream as well as the dog that trailed after him more than a year ago.
"How's Central HQ?" As Lyle feels himself say the words, he settles in to listen. Headquarters and familiar voices? This was bound to be significant.
"It doesn't look good," the man with the German accent notes grimly. "It's not just the Federation's army... Every nation was suppressed."
Leaning forward, Lyle folds his arms atop the steering wheel and stares out the at the deserted country road beyond the windscreen. "Just when we were exhausted, the ESF came. Is that how it goes..." The only thing keeping his voice from coming across as completely flat is a note of wry weariness.
"Back to the main topic. Is it true that Celestial Being came to scout you?"
Lyle settles back into his seat and pulls a slender, rectangular object from his coat pocket. "There's no reason to doubt that." He wags the object in front of himself as if for emphasis. "Moreover, it seems they really don't care for the A-Laws."
"The data stick..."
The German man holds his hand out expectantly, but Lyle can feel himself giving a small, sardonic smile before curling his hand around the data stick and tucking it out of reach.
"If I hand it over to you now they'll suspect us."
The other man's eyes narrow, but not out of anger or reproach. More than anything, he seems resolute. "Then, as an Anti-ESF Katharon agent, I would like you, Gene-1, to infiltrate Celestial Being and convince them to join forces with us."
Lyle's tone turns dry as he reaches forward to grip the steering wheel. "You talk like it would be an easy task. Still..." And now he feels his expression broaden into a smirk, "the Gundams' performance really was amazing."
"So you'll do it?" Before Lyle has a chance to respond to the German man's question, he steps out of the car.
"I know I really want to hand out a beating to those that formed the A-Laws." His answer has the sound of flippancy, but the moment it is delivered the car door is shut and Lyle is peeling out at a rate that he is positive doesn't correspond with the speed limit for this tiny back road. The way his jaw is set almost painfully as he white-knuckles the steering wheel tips him off to the fact that his past self is taking this quite seriously, cavalier tone or no.
-----
The interlude stops as abruptly as it started and Lyle finds himself blinking at a pile of junk that he is elbow deep in. He gingerly disengages from the mess before patting down his pockets in search of a notebook. That little interlude he just had confirms some things while bringing up new aspects of his past (for instance, he has never before seen evidence of having to infiltrate the organization he was currently in, though the idea didn't seem foreign now that it was introduced). Whatever the case, his best bet is to write down what he saw before any of the memory fades. He can parse out the details later.
Absently, though with no small amount of relief, he realizes that this particular glimpse of his past bears no repercussions, at least none that he can see right now.