[Deleted]

"How often have we chased the dream of progress, only to see that dream perverted? More often than not, haven’t the machines we built to improve life shattered the lives of millions? And now we want to turn that dream on ourselves, to fundamentally improve who we are. Technology offers us strength, strength enables dominance, and dominance paves the way for abuse." -Adam Jensen.

    Mulling and brooding are two poisons that never mix well on the human mind, augmented or not, especially for Adam. In the upper sections of the lobby's dining area, overseeing the city at night, Adam himself sat lonely, glasses retracted into their mounted bases on either outer sides of his eyes. His slightly hunched position and his dark color scheme gave way to some intensely dark vibes. Adam wasn't a brightly optimistic fellow. He was a realist. If, realistically, things were going bad, he felt it like a thousand bricks on his conscious. If things were going good, one might see the corners of his frowning face place themselves into a foreign position; a smile. For now, he gazed onto the little specks of light that dimly reached out like tenuous candlelight in the midst of the ruckus the Life Sphere produced.

    It was like home, where life ebbs and crashes over like waves during a full moon. They sweep so far forward, only to lunge back into the recesses of their home when the time calls for it. Adam hardly had time to sleep he was so busy. Research and factual gathering into the properties of this new place ripped sleep from him like Shakespeare described in the MacBeth play. His work had murdered sleep. Only in this instance, Adam hadn't murdered anyone, it was simply his lack of having any sort of thing to do other than work that caused his senseless assassination of rest. Now he'd revived it, and taking solace in his respite, he felt at ease, mentally fortifying himself against the coming horrors he may face. Of course, he left the table open to visitors, if they so wished to converse with him. It'd be rude to turn someone down for help that he could so easily offer.

[heirtothemonado]

Shulk wandered though the lobby. He didn't really have a real reason for being here, but he liked watching the people go by. It calmed him down after a long day. During one of these semi-regular wanderings, one man caught his eye. There wasn't anything particularly eye catching about him, but for some reason, he just stuck in Shulk's mind. Seeing as he had nothing else to do, Shulk decided to walk over and say hi

"Mind if I sit down?" Shulk asked the man, gesturing to the unoccupied chair.

[Deleted]

    Jensen's cold, emotionless stare met the young man. Red clothes, a strange weapon, odd accent, and on top of all that, seemingly friendly, by his voice and his facial expressions, thanks to CASIE, Adam deduced he seemed friendly enough. The brooding individual moved his foot under the table to push the seat outward, and moved back to sit reserved, watching over the balcony to the city below. "Be my guest." he said, voice lacking any inflection or inherent interest, but truth be told, Shulk had Adam's full attention, even though he seemed to gaze off again.

    Something about Shulk reminded Adam of a colleague of his back home. A friend, even. Adam never considered himself a man to have many, if at all any friends whatsoever. He had a good feeling about this kid. It was obvious at this distance that Adam was augmented, blackened metal arms and the mounted areas near his eyes, as well as the octagonal shape pressed into his forehead. Adam was not human, at least, not fully anyways. So now Adam waited for his new acquaintance to sit down, hoping not to scare him off like he did the poor waitress, who's skin went cold when he said he wasn't ordering yet.

[heirtothemonado]

"Thank you" Shulk replied, slightly put off by the man's seemingly lacking emotion  He was an odd one,that was for sure. "My name is Shulk, by the way." Shulk said as he sat down. He  took only one look at his companion to realize why he seemed to stick out in the usual Busy Bee crowd.

There was something definitely different about this man. The most obvious thing was the octagon shape that was pressed into his forehead, but Shulk could notice other things if he looked closer.

"Errm....I don't mean to be rude, but....what exactly is the purpose of that indent on your forehead? That can't just be a fashion statement." Shulk awkwardly asked. He didn't want to come off as insensitive, but that detail especially was bugging him.

[Deleted]

"I'm augmented... Adam's my name. The symbol is none of your concern." Jensen spoke, rolling his shoulders back to take his coat off. His body was loaded with augments, the plating on his under armor matching perfectly with the robotic arms he had. Segments were clear, but the most of it seemed to emulate muscles. He then pointed his arm aside, allowing the nanoblade he had inside his body to come out in a flash from his forearm, pointing outward, his hand moving down at the wrist, and disconnected to allow the weapon to be exposed, before moving back. As he did, the hand slowly moved back into place. Clenching and releasing, he made sure he had control over his hand before talking again. 

Now it was Jensen's turn to ask the questions. He pointed his right index finger, that one he'd just moved with the hand down just seconds before to show his weapon, only to point to Shulk's. "That blade's putting off a lot of ionic compounding energy, in layman's terms, it's got a lot of energy pouring off of it. You make that yourself?" The Monado was an odd thing to get a reading on, as it read of being made from unknown metals, as well as being highly dangerous, rating extremely high on threat meters. 

[heirtothemonado]

"Augmented? What exactly does that--" Shulk began. He trailed off, however once Adam showed off his shoulder. This was...unexpected to say the least, but, in terms of shock, Shulk was more amazed that there was someone like this here, of all places.

"Well that's different" Shulk said, amazed at the craftsmanship of Adam's augments. He looked up at Adam and smirked. "You actually remind me of someone. Her body was of a similar make up." Shulk looked again as Adam deployed his Nanoblades "Although that....that is new"

"What this?" Shulk asked, pulling out the Monado. He never let it out of his sight, since it was already stolen from him once, and he didn't want it to happen again. "I could never dream to make something like this. This sword was a legend where I'm from, and you wouldn't even guess at the power it holds." Shulk activated the Monado to show it off, the bright blue light flooding the entire place, drawing in a few stares. He quickly put it away again, not wishing to draw more attention to himself or Adam as he already had.

[Deleted]

    "Fond memories and impressive weaponry. You and I will get along, Shulk. I don't say that to many people." Adam admitted with a gaze down and a light hearted, and admittedly foreign chuckle. He never once thought himself to actually smile genuinely, or even laugh in a long while, but here this raggedy haired blond kid had him smiling, and reminiscing better times. These moments almost made Mr. Jensen forget he was augmented, and honestly, he didn't mind the feeling. Catching himself in his silly antics, and gaining control of his own emotions before they took a spiral to sorrow, he quickly deadpanned once more, into comfortable melancholy.

    "Read anything interesting lately, or are you not much for books?" Here we go, a good way to start a conversation, Adam thought, was with hobbies. Adam himself didn't have any time to tinker with devices, but he was positive that Shulk at least read books, everyone did, right? Hopefully. Admittedly, this made Adam a bit anxious, for if Shulk wasn't much of a reader, it'd be difficult to find subjects to converse with, and it was clear that some stress overtook the metal man. Nerves, to a point, always played a factor in Adam's movements and demeanor, but never like this.

[heirtothemonado]

Shulk grinned as Adam started laughing a bit. That came to quite the relief to Shulk, who was beginning to think that this guy had less emotion the a typical Mechon, but that fortunately wasn't the case. It didn't seem like he was comfortable with showing too much emotion though, because he pretty soon reverted back to his normal, slightly brooding self.

"Hmm" Shulk thought aloud "I can't say I've done much reading since I got here, mainly due to a lack of reading material, but back home, I was always either reading something or tinkering with something. My friends always said I needed to get out of the house more often" Shulk smiled again as he reminisced on memories of home. "If you have any recommendations, I'd be glad to pick them up" he offered. Maybe they could make some common ground when it came to interests, break the ice a little.

[Deleted]

    "I have a few suggestions, but..." Adam scooted forward, and just a bit, to try and speak quieter to his friend it seemed. It wasn't actually the case, as Adam seemed to be extremely intent on keeping his current conversational level going. This was exciting, another fellow individual in whom he could dismantle and rebuild parts to any little trinket or gadget with. "You said tinkering, right? I happen to do the same thing when I'm not on a mission or... otherwise occupied in my time." 

    Adam didn't want to outright say he was an augmented mercenary operative who worked for national governments and companies who wanted to help build the world up. This guy might be a purist if he thought about the augments. Or perhaps he might be pro-aug, but Adam played it safe for now. Despite his usual stone-gaze, he seemed extremely interested in understanding more of what Shulk did. Adam's hands were folded in front of him, clasped carefully to one another. For once, Adam was actually enjoying himself.    

[heirtothemonado]

"Yeah, I used to fiddle with gadgets all the time back home" Shulk said. He was glad that they had found common ground. He felt that this was the first person in a long time that he could truly bond with. "In fact, I was a researcher in Weapon Development for my local Defence Force. Mainly making new weapons for soldiers, but every once and a while someone would ask me to fix something or another." He gestured toward the Monado. "This sword was a bit of a personal project. I wanted to learn it's secrets."

[Deleted]

    That caused Adam to reminisce upon his old work. He missed the force to some extent, but he was glad to have been able to move on. "I worked for a security force and detail at one point before I was dragged here. Special Weapons And Tactics, we called them SWAT." he explained, pulling one of the napkins from the table, and beginning to write with a spare pen he had on him. He drew a layout of a small building, and a few circles inside. "Say this was a hostage situation." he began, then drawing several boxes outside of the 'building'. "SWAT teams come in vans, and usually there are at least four or five operatives per van. So our captor is located here," he pointed to the unfilled circle, filling the others in. "The others are hostages. My job," he said, drawing a line from the 'van' to outside on of the areas, drawing an x through it. "Would be to tear down the wall here and come in after," he then drew more lines from another van to one of the adjacent sides of the 'building', a few dotted lines from one of the solid ones. "A non-lethal concussion based explosive was hurled in and detonated to stun the captor. I would then subdue him and let the other officers make the arrest. This was before I was augmented, afterwards..." he crumpled up and threw the napkin aside, "...It's a long story."

    Sheesh, that was the most that Adam spoke in weeks. The augmented man looked surprised at himself, really. He spoke several sentences in just a short time like that. He put the cap on the pen and looked to Shulk. "Did your defense force at home do anything like that?"

[heirtothemonado]

Shulk nodded as Adam explained exactly what SWAT was. "Ah okay. That sounds like it would take a lot of training." Shulk studied the map that Adam had drawn before Adam suddenly yanked the map away and tossed it out. It seemed like life before his enhancements was a bit of a touchy subject for him. "I understand if that is a sore spot for you. We don't need to talk about it if you don't want."

"No, my defence force was more focused on defending the colony." Shulk replied "You see, my home was constantly attacked by robots called Mechon. The defence force trained soldier to help defend the colony when it was attacked. Not that the soldiers weapons were of much use." Shulk glanced at the Monado again "The Monado was the only thing that could destroy the Mechon efficiently. Any other weapons would barely slow them down. Defeating them wasn't important, though, They just needed to stall them long enough for everyone  to get to safety."

[Deleted]

    Adam winced at the words spoken by Shulk just now. Jeez, he had it just as rough, huh? It sounds like he was at least able to save some. The aug nodded slowly, and looked back up with almost mournful eyes. "I'm sorry to hear. You must've lost some good people then. I know that same stab to the heart of being unable to do something." Adam seemed actually moved by what this young man was saying, and his own responses were further deepening his emotions. "Sometimes you can do all you can but be utterly useless, or try to do anything and you just... freeze." Adam let off a heavy sigh.

    This was not easy for him, but he had to discuss this. He had to speak this, or else he'd never let the past go. Adam was a broken man, and to fix his defects, he needed to lose this grief he held. Still well composed and kept somewhat reserved, he looked outward to the city again. "Funny when you think about it. Each individual out there comes from a vastly different background. We all think we're heroes of our own stories. Survivors, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters; all of us. There's but few of us that take a stand to fight, and even fewer who fight for the right cause."

[heirtothemonado]

Shulk's face fell as he heard what Adam was talking about. "Yeah, we did lose people. And that helpless feeling....I know that all too well." Adam's words stirred up some rather unpleasant memories for him. Memories of fallen friends and hurtful betrayals.

But that wouldn't stop him. "I agree. I, myself was one of those people. I stood up and fought the Mechon. I took up this sword and fought to avenge those who had fallen to them. But.....as I got farther away from my home, and the more of the world I saw, the more I began to question whether my cause was the correct one." Shulk put on a determined face as he looked at Adam once again. "Even now, when I'm stranded on this world, I'm still questioning it, but I think I'm finding a way forward" Shulk stopped, noting the look on Adam's face.

"Does that sound familiar to you?" Shulk asked

[Deleted]

    "I have that feeling every day." Adam admitted. A slight pang in his voice, the first ever. In all his work and all his travels, he'd never once shown emotion until now. This kid... Shulk. He was a good kid. "You're a good kid." he spoke softly, as if trying to keep his voice down. Adam was descending into a feels-filled pit, it felt like. "I question that, though... If I'm really on the right side of anything. I question other things, too, some things you, sadly, wouldn't understand. Don't get me wrong, though, I don't ever want you to be an aug. It's something that is to be taken in place of being crippled, not an upgrade."

    Adam couldn't believe this, a minute ago, he was brooding, and now he was smiling, and feeling human again. It took everything in him not to bring Shulk into a hug. This kid was important, no doubt. In one sitting, he felt closer than years of cooperation with others. Of course, composing himself, he looked around to note that the waitress was still absent. Perhaps something was wrong with his order? He hoped not. "My coffee isn't here." he grew monotone again, trying to seemingly jump from the subject. "Even with magic, it's amazing how people can find ways to delay like this."