MISAKA frowned at his words, not really understanding them, especially the bit about her being a princess. She didn't think she was the heir to any throne, and she was sure she'd know of something that important. Watching as he broke his way inside of the ship, she archived what he was doing away in her mind, just in case she had to do it herself in the future. If nothing else, she learnt well by being showed things.
She climbed aboard at his gesture, heading towards the cockpit. The controls were locked, and even if she could fly the ship, she couldn't get them unlocked. Once again, she turned to Nero for help, one look speaking her mind as to the situation.
In truth, she wasn't sure why this man was even helping her. He didn't even know her and was already breaking what few laws existed on Rochester, for her. Why? She would have to ask him later... For now she would take advantage of his help.
Nero followed after her as she jumped in, his fingers expertly typing a variety of different codes onto the interior keypad, as the cargo door shut closed, a soft whine of air compression filling the room for a moment. He had taken only a couple seconds and she had already darted to the cockpit, and Nero smirked to himself as he went up as well.
He entered the slightly spacious freighter cockpit and gazed around the room, taking in the position of various instruments as he was taught to, and paced around the room for a moment. He caught her gaze for a moment and smiled to her, walking over and giving her a pat on the head as he spoke. "Don't give me that look. I'll take care of everything right now, so just relax." He swiftly strode over to the pilot's chair, and motioned for her to sit in the seat beside her as he went down a mental checklist, starting up various systems and subsystems.
He chuckled aloud, his playful grin set in stone on his face, and pressed a few buttons before engaging the throttle. "You might want to buckle up." The ship lurched backwards at a dangerously swift pace, the forward thrusters singing the bulkhead in front of them as they pushed the ship out of the hangar. Nero swerved the bow of the ship, roughly compensating as he tried to keep it straight, before zooming out at breakneck speeds.
Another successful joy-ride, although he doubted he'd be returning this one anytime soon.
"The pen is mightier than the sword." -Edward Bulwer-Lytton. "Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword never encountered automatic weapons." -General Douglas MacArthur
MISAKA again watched him as he got the ship started, only barely getting the harness in place before he launched the freighter out of the docking bay and into hard space.
She once again found herself in some very dirty space. Pieces of... everything, floating about with no apparent purpose. She noted the big blue ball, Planet Manhattan. She'd desired to go there when she first arrived in New York, for the simple reason that she'd never been in a legitimate atmosphere. But such things could wait, she guessed, until her mission was over.
It occurred to her, now that they were off the station, that her plan was in motion again. What then, was the next step? She hadn't thought this far ahead. She new she had to get to the facility that she'd been raised in, to find the answers that would lead her to what she was looking for... But where to start looking?
"Los Angeles." she said quietly, no exactly knowing why herself. It was a feeling, and she hoped the man picked up on it.
Nero shrugged and simply went with it. Seeing as he'd have to take the jump-holes in the stolen ship, he figured they'd have some time to talk anyways. "Los Angeles it is." He plotted out a course that took them away from major trade lanes, and engaged the auto-pilot. "It'll take us some time, but we'll get there. This thing should hold up at least that far."
He laid back against his seat as it reclined, and looked over at his new co-pilot on this adventure. At least, thats how Nero liked to see it. Honestly speaking, he was only the pilot in the literal sense, while she was the actual expedition leader. He spoke with curious words, his mind using the break to it's advantage as Nero searched for answers to his suspicions. "So, Misaka. Where are you from? I've never met someone who spoke as strangely as you did... Did you not get out much as a kid?" He held his further questions for now, and paced himself, allowing her time to respond, lest he push her into her reclusive mode again.
"The pen is mightier than the sword." -Edward Bulwer-Lytton. "Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword never encountered automatic weapons." -General Douglas MacArthur
MISAKA sat, lost in her own thoughts, battling the omnipresent feeling of her thoughts being shared with someone else. She knew something important was on LA. Something that was the key to unlocking the next part of the puzzle that was her quest. Just exactly what it was, like many other things, she didn't know.
She didn't hear Nero speak, at least not until he directed his words fully at her. She backtracked slightly trying to remember what he said, picked up by her subconscious. "Get... out? MISAKA asks, not understanding the phrase." she says, turning her head to look at him quizzically. "As a kid? MISAKA was raised with the men in the white coats... But... Not born there. MISAKA explains."
Before she could stop herself, she was feeding him more vague information, things that could only raise more questions. "They... Did things to MISAKA. Tests. Experiments. MISAKA says, remembering them with a shiver."
Nero solemnly nodded as she spoke more, revealing her personal secrets that she herself could not answer. It did confirm his suspicions though. Misaka was a product of men trying to play god on a poor little girl, and this only strengthened his resolve to help her. He spoke with a sweet smile as he gazed into her eyes. "I'm sorry you went through that, Misaka. Are they who you're looking for? Or are you trying to find out something before then..?"
Regardless of her upbringing, and how sad it may have been, there was still another matter to be resolved, and Nero began trying to work her into normal speaking. Five minutes later, he let out a soft sigh as he went over it again with her, "No, you can still do what you're saying, just don't say it. Or rather, simply stop saying what you're doing. I know you can do this, so just try, for me." He chuckled at his own words; those of a man trying to teach a dog how to bark.
The ship continued its way towards Los Angeles, while the pair continued to grow more familiar. Things were looking all the more complicated the closer they got however, as Nero still had no idea where on Los Angeles they were going. I pray to god that her memory isn't all fried...
"The pen is mightier than the sword." -Edward Bulwer-Lytton. "Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword never encountered automatic weapons." -General Douglas MacArthur
MISAKA replied with her generic response to the question. "MISAKA must find what is missing. MISAKA declares." she said, falling into an uneasy silence before Nero broke the ice with speech therapy.
As she struggled with the concept of normal speech, she thought about how she had managed to pick up such an apparently warped way of speaking. She'd never had reason to question so much as when this man made a big deal about it. The answer was surprisingly simple, at least to her.
It stemmed from the only 'friend' she had at the facility... At least in her younger years. A Virtual Intelligence by the name of Eve, tasked with making sure MISAKA was in good health. Eve had adopted a motherly persona, with her limited intelligence, but given she had no physical embodiment, or voice with which to speak, her words were displayed on a monitor via text. In order to identify with MISAKA more, she had begun to emulate human emotions and actions into the text, so her charge would better understand her.
With only the white-coated men as an alternative, an alternative MISAKA was afraid to even look at, she had eventually picked up Eve's way of 'speech' as her own. The whitecoats didn't seem to care, and so it became the norm for her. Eventually, Eve was removed from the system and MISAKA was alone to her own thoughts, which in the end was probably what drove her quirks so deep.
MISAKA began to get frustrated with the excersises, not making a lot of progress. She easily repeated what was said to her, but had to forcibly stop herself from continuing with her descriptive sentences. "The Rogues are a smelly bunch," she repeated, "MISAKA sa--" she gave a squeak and a wince, having bit her own tongue in an attempt to stop herself from continuing. The metallic taste of blood, a taste she was all too familiar with, filled her mouth.
"MITHAKA would like to thtop now. MITHAKA thayth in pain." she blinks rapidly, trying to dispose of the tears before they leave her eyes.
Nero let out a soft sigh, a chuckle escaping his lips, as he looked up to her from shaking his head. "Yes, I suppose that's good enou-" But once her comment about pain sunk in, he swiftly glanced up at her to see her on the verge of tears. Nero quickly unbuckled himself, using his chair as a pushing-off point to get closer to Misaka. He didn't know why, or even what she did, until he saw her lips begin to redden, stained with blood as she tried to dispose of the evidence. It became perfectly clear to him her motives and her actions, and he smiled to her as he moved in and held her in his arms.
"You had me worried there Misaka... Please, don't ever hurt yourself again. I'm not like the man in white. If you can't do something, that's perfectly fine. I just wanted you to try, that's all. Please, Please don't do that again." He gave her the embrace of a loved one, when it dawned on him that she never truly had a home, or a family, or probably anyone who cared about her. She was alone in the world, and Nero knew that feeling all too well. That's why he was going to make sure she never felt that way again.
Nero pulled back from her, his body perched on the console in front of her, and spoke with his playful smirk. His voice was cheerful and rejuvenated, as he realized his own personal epiphany. "Forget changing the way you speak. Now that I think about it, normal is boring anyways. Your voice makes you special, and I'd be no better than those wretched scientists if I tried to mold you." He extended his hand out, and smiled to her, this time around being more prepared with his directions as he talked. "We're companions now, so I don't want you doing anything to harm yourself, Alright? This is the part where you shake my hand, like a promise."
"The pen is mightier than the sword." -Edward Bulwer-Lytton. "Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword never encountered automatic weapons." -General Douglas MacArthur
MISAKA remained still and unmoving as Nero held her, unsure of what to do. It was a completely foreign situation for her. She knew what a hug was, a kiss, she even knew the very basics of reproduction, but to have any amount of affection directed towards her was both unexpected and illegible to her.
Yet, it moved something inside of her, emotions kept locked away for as long as she could remember. She shouldn't understand why this man was doing any of this for her. She wasn't ungrateful, just confused. In the end, it was the declaration of companionship that broke her walls.
Her tears floated freely, her mouth clamped shut to stop the blood from escaping. She stared at Nero through the wall of tears forming in front of her face. After what seemed like an eternity, the blood stopped flowing from her tongue, and she swallowed the remaining amount before opening her mouth to utter one word.
Nero smiled at her as she began to cry, his own heart reaching out for her. She had never had anyone to stand beside her, despite all the terrible things she underwent, so who was he to simply walk away by this point? He reached forward to brush away her tears as he gave her an answer, which he felt was simply the best way to describe it. "Because I want to help you. I want to help fill the hole that those madmen dug into you... and I guess it's simply because I want to be with you. I know how it feels to be lonely too, without a family, and I don't want either of us to go through that pain anymore."
He gave her a reassuring glance as he moved up to her, taking her hand into his as he spoke softly. "I promise you that I'll be by your side until you find whatever it is you're looking for, Deal?" He smirked up at her, as he took his other hand and slid a finger across her lips, smearing the blood on some unseen part of the ship. "And don't bite yourself again. I'd hate to see such beautiful lips stained again." Nero was glad he had went after this strange woman, and in the end found a cure to his loneliness, and more importantly, a means to fulfill that damned hero complex that had been riding him since childhood.
"The pen is mightier than the sword." -Edward Bulwer-Lytton. "Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword never encountered automatic weapons." -General Douglas MacArthur