One in the barrel [Syre]

Syre: Thank you. The ones at the practice arena seem to break all the time with how hard the wolf uses them.

The light joke aside, this was honestly just a normal field trip for the BlackGatomon - and one that was often trivialized by her having an infini-store. She knew Chalice personally, or at least the closest of any of the guild members, so it often came to her to pick up any odds and ends that they ordered from the odd scientist. It worked out to be cheaper than normal means, and with how closely Chalice was being watched by Terminus, everything was usually nice and above-board. And hey, today they'd even have an extra hand with moving stuff around!

It didn't take long for Syre to take a portal to the office. She gave a quick knock on the front door, and pressed her way inside, nodding to the eccentric scientist at the desk. There was a nice, big smile on her face as she made her way inside. "Thanks for taking the time to push up this project. Iko's been getting rather 'rough' with his other practice partners since he has to be so 'gentle' with the fox. Same deal as usual?"

At Chalice's opening comment, Syre found herself rolling her eyes. "Really, you need to look outside the lab a bit more, Chalice. Silence had twins, and one of 'em is already practicing with the Knights." Keeping that smile on her face, the feline gave a shrug.

"Eh, busy work is busy work, and keeps the funding rolling in. I mean, I'm not going to pretend these barriers are the most 'inventive' work, either - hm?" Oh, right, the help! Syre was used to Chalice calling her employees by code names, so the odd name 'Sixer' didn't raise any alarms or familiarity from the feline. It wasn't until the figure came in, that Syre found herself blink.

... Syre recognized her. It took a moment, but Chalice wouldn't miss that 'flash of realization' in Syre's eyes, seeing the MeiCrackmon. Still clad in the parts grafted into her - and perhaps even barely realizing that it was 'Syre' who was there. And it probably came as no surprise that Syre shot a small glare in Chalice's direction.

Right. Right. Calm, stay centered. She gave a friendly smile towards the MeiCrackmon.

"... You remember me?"

Honestly, Syre didn't know what she wanted to think about the situation right now. Her initial reaction was, more-or-less, just a twist in her heart or her gut about the situation. But to Sixer, she kept a smile, and stayed gentle with the MeiCrackmon in front of her.

She could only speak in scrolling text, but that alone was enough for Syre to give a smile. She was remembered, even if the cat never gave the MeiCrackmon her name. Her ear flicked at Chalice's response, but unlike Sixer, Chalice ignored it:

"Well, then let's get off on the right foot, then? My name is 'Syre'." And for the purposes of that screen, she'd also spell it out in Digital Script as well. Chalice had a bit more adjusting to do on the barrier devices, so Sixer had all of her attention.

... And with those last two words? Syre would gently put her hand in the black MeiCrackmon's, and gave a nod.

"You're welcome. I'm glad to see that you're doing this well - honestly, I was worried for all of the Digimon trapped in that lab. But, it's nice to see you on your own two feet."

"Well, nice to meet you, Sixer."

Syre kept that smile on her face. After the initial shock, it seemed that the cat had more-or-less mellowed out, blinking curiously at Sixer's comment. "The rest of them too... well. Hopefully they have luck adjusting back to that." Syre meant that - there were some that were even further gone than Sixer, some of which were clones, but potentially some that were not. And the grafts were definitely a serious affair, not something that Syre wanted to laugh at.

"Oh, right - effectively, they're just going 'down the hall." Syre tapped at a portal device at her waist. "Just up to the Knights' base, in the storage area. I'll show you where we're dropping them off - got a whole corner set up to drop 'em off."

With that, Syre would briefly turn back to a more casual tone. But... really, what could she say here?

"... Let's push back all the 'stuff' that happened. Before all that, Sixer - who were you?"

"Oh, sorry - went about that a bit more casually than I should have." Syre gave a small chuckle, scratching the back of her head as she read that monitor. "I'm a 'Knight of the Rose'. Not a Royal Knight - rather, we're acting as assistants and mercenaries for the purposes of protecting the Digital World. Which, yes, includes dismantling those sorts of laboratories."

That was about the best that Syre could explain it off-hand. As Chalice wrapped up getting those barrier machines fine-tuned, the feline continued to listen to the Mei's story. Her name, before it was 'Sixer', was Vivian - and she was a singer.

A singer. A singer. Who now lacked vocal cords and was turned into what looked like an incomplete war machine. As Sixer nostalgically looked to the past, Syre found herself looking at the consequences of the present. Where Sixer found herself in a new form, even ashamed of her previous name.

She liked who she was - or even who she thought she was. And Syre? Well, she simply said it how she thought it was:

"If... if it could be more than just a memory or a dream, would you want to go back to it?"

Perhaps Syre shouldn't have put Sixer on the spot so quickly.

It was natural for her not to know, of course. With what Syre knew about the lab, it was impossible to know if Sixer even was this 'Vivian', or if she was a clone of her - or, perhaps 'Vivian' was simply a construct of a dream that she had while suspended in one of the laboratory's storage tubes. But it was clear that there was some longing for something more, something 'bigger', and that she felt chained to her current position.

"... No-one's saying you have to abandon them to pursue it." Syre moved to grab a box of her own, after opening a portal up in the hall. It was really as simple as stepping halfway through the portal, setting down the device, and stepping back to get another one. "And I'm not saying you even have to do what you did before. I'm sure you already know this, but maybe it'll help to hear it from someone on the outside."

"... You're 'you'. Whether its Vivian, or Sixer, or whatever you want to call yourself. All I want you to do is believe that you can be whatever you want - regardless of your current condition."

Syre wasn't going to pretend that this was going to be easy.

Far from it. Reaching for your dreams and your goals was a long and arduous task, and looking for the answers to questions such as 'who am I' was often a frightening thing. Syre wasn't perfect at it herself, and she was hardly a deep font of wisdom that could be drawn upon for all of the answers. But what Syre did know was that it could be done - and there was no reason for Sixer to abandon her dreams and happiness because of the current circumstances. Perhaps the world would be unfair and block the MeiCrackmon at every turn...

... But wasn't it better to try?

"Figuring out who you are, or want to be, is not an easy thing. But its something that you have to keep in mind." It was natural to be unsure at this point, and Sixer's next question was a curious one. What if she wanted to be a singer and a fighter?

"That's... hm." Setting down the box, Syre would cross her arms, thinking it over. Putting the hypothetical aside, what was the practical way to go about it? "... Its a bit of a tone shift, but I guess the first step would be to seek professional opinion about how you can get your voice back. Once you know the details on that, it would be a measure of weighing the 'cost and risk' versus how important it really is to you."

Syre blinked, gave a sigh, and shook her head.

"I really, really wish this could be any easier for you."