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glitchycat June 22 2011, 03:13:34 UTC
Rinzler studied the odd thing before him. It seemed unlikely that this man was a User, but the gesture made toward the machine half-changed Rinzler's mind. His thumb slid over the front of the communicator he had been given, stroking the thing as though searching for a lifeline. This place was confusing, bright, and dirty. The imperfections that abounded offended him, made his purr deepen to something dark and angry sounding.

He wondered what a "soul" was. It seemed like an odd-concept, one that nobody had yet to define. Perhaps Users all knew automatically what the word meant, but it was something he would have to ask about later. Rinzler watched the others, wanting assurance that the process wouldn't hurt before he tried it.

When it didn't seem to be harmful, the program raised his hand slightly, the purring sound shifting to something more content - more relaxed. It was deceptive, but it would not do to frighten the Users away before he could gain what information he needed.

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pickinurpockets June 22 2011, 03:16:25 UTC
This guy was a little creepy. But then again, so were a lot of people already here. Maybe he was just shy or something.

Rikku waved the man in black over, smiling a little. "Stand here please," she said, gesturing. "This won't hurt a bit!"

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glitchycat June 22 2011, 03:19:35 UTC
Cautiously, Rinzler approached the female. She was wearing the least amount of protection he had ever seen. It was curious how she had no circuits on her skin. He stopped in front of her, his posture defensive and his rumbling low for the time being. Now what?

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pickinurpockets June 22 2011, 03:28:05 UTC
Yikes, this guy was really not in a friendly mood, was he? Rikku was pretty sure Auron was less prickly than guy seemed to be. Oh, well. She brought the screen down in front of man. She pressed a few buttons and stood back to wait for the reading.

"I'm Rikku, by the way. Nice to meet you!"

She'd finally broken the habit of saying it in Al Bhed to the people here for the most part, thankfully. No more crazy looks.

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glitchycat June 22 2011, 03:31:43 UTC
Rikku. He studied the female. While she didn't appear to be a threat, he knew well that the most dangerous people often seemed the most harmless. Users, he knew, were capable of great feats of treachery. He held still, head cocked slightly at the sight of the device. What did it do? How did it work?

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pickinurpockets June 22 2011, 03:36:58 UTC
...Grumpy, or mute.

"This thing...okay, I'm not entirely sure how it works, since they won't lemme take it apart and stuff, but basically it does what some of the people around here are doing." She gestured to the people getting checked out by someone with Soul Perception. "What they're doing is reading your soul, seeing if you're a Meister or a Weapon. Weapons transform into...well, a weapon, Meisters wield 'em." Yeah, so Stein explained that part already. This guy was kind of making her nervous; Rikku rambled when she was nervous.

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glitchycat June 22 2011, 03:40:46 UTC
That still didn't sound logical. Rinzler's rumble grew a little frustrated, like that of a large cat that, while content, couldn't reach a favorite toy. He didn't understand what these Users meant by "soul", but he wasn't sure how to ask. It didn't really matter what he was at this point. If he was a Weapon, no one but Master could be permitted to wield him. If he was a Meister, he would take no partner until he was ordered to do so.

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pickinurpockets June 22 2011, 03:46:43 UTC
"Confused about the soul thing?" It was a logical assumption. Rikku sure as heck had been. "Here, souls are...they're kinda like power sources. Any nifty powers you have here come from the soul. It's not the...weird sort of spiritual thing that people here on Earth seem to think of it as, at least I don't think it is." She shrugged. People here were weird.

The machine beeped, and Rikku checked the reading. "You're a Weapon. If you wanna figure out what your form is, there's training every morning, with a lot of people to help you. Otherwise, you can go do something really stupid that's going to hurt you, and hope you transform that way."

It was starting to get hard not to stare at the really cool lights on this guy's suit, now that the business was done. Rikku wanted a cool light up suit like that.

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glitchycat June 22 2011, 03:56:16 UTC
This User had understood him. Rinzler nodded once to confirm her suspicion and listened to the answer. So it was his power core. His source code. It was where his own natural abilities stemmed from. Interesting. The Users had assigned another word to it.

A Weapon. Rinzler's other fist clenched and he seemed to stand up a little straighter in pride. It suited him to be a Weapon, to be the tool that struck the crippling blow. That was already one of his secondary purposes in life, and he would be able to follow that command of CLU's even here. He would attend training.

He turned to leave, which offered the human a good look at the back of his suit.

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pickinurpockets June 22 2011, 03:59:08 UTC
...Nice rear, too. Not as nice as Dante's, but hey.

Rikku frowned, tapping the guy on the shoulder. "Dunno if you know this, but the thing on your back, whatever it was, is gone. BREW took it."

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glitchycat June 22 2011, 04:21:56 UTC
It had touched him. Rinzler growled and spun, his hand gripping her wrist in a firm grasp though the rest of his body was not position offensively. His grip might have been firm enough to bruise, but something welled up in his programming that kept him from going any further.

No. Not that again.

Rinzler growled, the sound clearly a warning and a threat that was directed both to her and the programming that intruded on his ability to go farther. Only CLU was permitted to touch him, save for in combat. He would not tolerate any further contact. Through the opacity of his helmet, Rinzler glared at her, looking straight into her eyes. He wanted to be sure she understood.

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pickinurpockets June 22 2011, 04:25:02 UTC
Oh, Rikku understood well enough. She tugged a little on her wrist, wincing at the pain.

"Okay, okay, I won't touch you. E's cunno. I was just trying to let you know about the thing on your back not being on your back. Can I have my wrist back, please, before you break it?" Mean and mute. Great.

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glitchycat June 22 2011, 04:28:16 UTC
Rinzler held her like that for one more moment before he nodded and stepped back. His posture was almost apologetic, his purring soft again. The disks were missing. He'd known that when he arrived, but why had such an important item vanished? That disk held his code and recorded his every moment.

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pickinurpockets June 22 2011, 04:30:32 UTC
Well, he seemed sorry. Maybe getting physical was the only way he really knew how to communicate, unless you counted that purring. Still, that had hurt. Rikku nursed her wrist. "If you're asking why it was taken or where it's gone, no idea," she said. "BREW takes everything when you arrive, and all your abilities from back home.

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glitchycat June 22 2011, 04:34:55 UTC
Everything... Inside the helmet, Rinzler frowned. The purring grew softer for just one moment as he tried to derezz the part of the suit that covered his right hand, but nothing happened. The lines on his body flared with frustration even as his purring became slightly louder.

It seemed she was right. He couldn't remove it.

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pickinurpockets June 22 2011, 04:39:48 UTC
Rikku had no idea what had just happened, except that the guy made his suit light up. Definitely wanted a suit, now.

"It happens to everybody, which is stupid, since if you're gonna pull people into a war that they're not involved in, you should let 'em keep their weapons." She shrugged. "But it gives us the cool soul-powers, so I guess it's a trade." Not a fair one, but.

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