Sight Is Relative [Yuel/Hannah]

Oh, what the hell, it was exactly the person Yuel had in mind!?

"Ulv's gone? That's... actually, so incredibly surprising. She always striked me as the type of person that would never die. She just had that sort of, mmm, feeling and aura to her? Hard to explain. I met her a loooong time ago, this was before the Lux Orior was formed. She actually helped me connect with my zanpakuto spirit! Without her, I would've never really been able to access my whole shinigami side."

Yuel thought about it for a moment, sipping the tea once more. The mention of Algos made her groan for a moment; the Asthavons, dealing with demons from the Shadow Fall era in general was a headache. In the abstract, sure, maybe it was good or something to be admired by principles; but, in typical Yuel fashion, all she could determine from it was that it wasn't the brightest of decisions. Or sensible, in her book. Not that this was something to comment on--it certainly seemed more pressing of a concern, or at least an interesting idea to address, that Ulv was gone--but did that mean she had to remain gone?

"Well, do you know what happened to her when she vanished? Why she vanished? Mmm, was it something she did of her own volition? Cause maybe, she just up and left on account of not wanting to be here anymore. I know a couple of people like that."

Hmmmm.... the conversation got kinda dark. Plus, if Ulv really went off to Chaya with it being inaccessible now, then just as Hannah said, she must've just been done with this world. In all fairness, that wasn't a poor decision. This world really did have some problems, some that Yuel cared to fix, others that she didn't. It was all a one-at-a-step time, but in her book nothing was impossible if she really wanted it. To that extent, simply giving up on the Earth was totally outside of her realm of consideration. In fact, Yuel would've been disappointed in Ulv if that was the case. Hopefully, that wasn't the case--but at the same time, hopefully Ulv was still reachable.

Well, onto a better conversation, one that maybe they can do something about.

"I know I asked you before, probably in some passing during an experiment, but I don't remember if I ever got an answer. How did you go blind?"

Yuel was spiritual aware now, even in human form, but it wasn't that well developed. To be fair, Yuel never really worked on her spiritual side in her non-spiritual form aside from communicating with her inner zanpakuto. Now that she thought about it, wasn't the next step Bankai? How far away was that? Close enough, she figured, but Lov was unresponsive when approached about it. Probably thought there was something missing, but the old fart barely talked much to begin with, so how was she supposed to ever know?

See, this was the thing with spiritual stuff. She accepted the spiritual world, embraced even, and it fascinated her--but it also had a lot of weird, dumb ways of working. The kaido stuff Hannah was talking about just furthered the point!

"Did you just try with kaido? Or actually, do you even want to regain your sight? A friend of mine, oh well you kinda know him already I guess, but not too long ago--I think, future or past or whatever--I saw him riddled with scars that gave him immobility, and he was just fine with sitting with it! What an idiot, right? I think you'd be an idiot to not want to restore your sight too, if I'm being honest, but I've also learned to respect people's wishes. Just let me know."

Yuel held her head a little higher than usual again, with high spirits and pride. That was the beauty of mankind, that even if others found it insignificant or unremarkable, they pressed onward and improved, just as she did!

"Vigor is my specialty, after all."

She finished the cup of tea provided and placed it back down on the table, leaning back in chair to think about what Hannah said. Yes, K-World's technology was pretty good by Yuel's standards. But, was it as good as her? Of course it wasn't.

"That's pretty crazy. Seems like it's an outright physical rejection, which I'm sure you're familiar with how that works. But, actually, I guess it'd be more apt to call it a spiritual rejection? Seems like some affliction more innate to your soul in nature? Mmmm, let's lay it out."

Yuel gave herself a moment to think with her eyes closed. She brought her fingers in the air and moved it around as if shifting windows and tabs of her thoughts, so it was without a doubt that the Mind of Karakura was giving it some serious thought.

First, obviously and most importantly, Yuel had to acknowledge how cool and gross putting eyes on some other part of the body worked. Also that Hannah had cybernetic eyes--she never knew that! Kinda wild, if you asked her, but respectable. She even flapped her metal limbs around, physically and in person, externalising that thought. Not that Hannah would've known what she was thinking--Yuel must've looked like a weirdo doing that.

Second, this tea was pretty good. Was it too soon, or too rude, to ask Hannah to make some more? It felt like, almost airy. Well, of course it felt airy, it was hyper-oxygenated. Actually, was that the case? The tea leaves being oxidized would've maybe given a darker colour, a deeper and more bitter taste to it, but not an airiness to it. In fact, the very opposite! The taste would be strong, and the 'weight' of it heavier. So why was this tea so airy? Was it the specific process of its hyper-oxidation, or more likely, the way Hannah brewed it? Mmmm, truly a talented woman deserving of being in the RnD Sector. Yuel felt prideful, having once been the leader of a division that held Hannah in their ranks.

Third, What was the problems, on a spiritual nature, that prevented Hannah from seeing with anything? Well, not anything, she said that at one point the eyes gave her some vision, albeit poor enough to be functionally useless. Well, that was an important distinction--something did work, unsatisfactorily. So what about that one worked compared to the others? Something Yuel needed to mull over, or better yet ask herself.

Fourth, what kind of spiritual afflictions could cause this? The easiest answer was that it was an actual affliction, a spiritual illness. Then, they'd just have to run some tests to determine the health of Hannah's soul. But, surely that had already been done. K-World was developed enough for that sort of medical process to be underwent. So, surely that wasn't the case? It could be, maybe she could ask, but it seemed unlikely enough to be a waste of time.

Okay, so then, was it a curse of some sorts? Yuel came across that sort of stuff before, especially something done by folks from Shadow Fall. They made some truly sinister stuff, whether it be an individual's power, or a manufactured weapon. Then, they'd need to discern what sort of stuff could affect Hannah in such a manner--what was present in the past conflict that made her blind thereafter? Also something to ask and think about.

Alternatively, and the most difficult problem, was that it was a spiritual issue of a more personal, innate nature. Like something going wrong in her inner-world, a stressor in her life that had taken reigns over her whole spirit, mindset, her world. Maybe her inner zanpakuto itself was involved in the inflicted injury? Or is it some kind of blockage in Hannah's mind, or spirit potentially, that prevents her from seeing? This could've been the case, where gaps in that blockage enabled the few times she managed to see just barely with certain cybernetics.

The one thing Yuel didn't really think about, or at least give much thought on, was if Hannah was actually willing to go through the grief and process of trying to fix her eyes again. For the young woman, it just seemed obvious that if you had the opportunity to see again, you'd just take it.

It was a good, long ten seconds of consideration. Finally, Yuel wrapped up her thoughts.

"Okay, few things Hannah. Cool that you had cyber eyes implanted. Can you make another batch of tea, and would you be willing to come with me to Toga Lake in Indonesia to make some tea for me there? How did you make the tea so airy? Do you know why some of the cybernetics gave you extremely limited vision verses other options that just failed altogether? Have you gone through physical and spiritual tests to determine if your blindness could be something of a more spiritual nature? What kind of stuff happened in the battle before you went blind, and what kinds of beings were there, what equipment, any mysterious or especially malicious people who had the capacity and will to use nefarious biospiritual weaponry? Have you had any issues with your zanpakuto, any conflicts with them, any reason to believe your blindness could be a mental issue or a stress-inflicting spiritual blockage?"

For however long it might've taken to answer, Yuel was already preparing actions to take that treated every one of the possibilities.

"What the hell?! That's messed up! It's good that you dispatched them and all, that's what they get. Cowardly way to do it, too. Well, maybe a cunning way to do it, but still not really respectable. I don't mean to praise your attackers, sorry."

Despite Hannah asking her to speak slower, she still got pretty much all of what she said. And that's one of the reasons to like Hannah, as a person who could keep up. Still, for next time, Yuel committed to the idea of reducing her pacing a bit.

"How did you lose your zanpakuto? Like, just your physical zanpakuto, or your whole zanpakuto spirit? Because if that's the case, then I think--"

Just as she went on, speaking at her usual speed, Yuel became cognisant of it and actively started to slow down some. Excruciatingly slow for her, but probably just as fast as a normal person for others.

"I think there's a previous obvious connection there, for the latter. It's a big deal to lose your zanpakuto spirit, as functionally it is literally losing a part of yourself. Maybe that part of yourself you lost happened to carry your eyesight. So if that's the case, now that you've begun developing a connection with a new spirit, as you said, then how is that going for you?"