Gotta say, I enjoy writing Yuki.

I feel like I should note that she let you see that act of hers. Make of it what you will.

Also, the funniest thing is that if you tried to hug her without her consent, you'd probably get a dagger in your stomach, and her meguca weapon isn't even a dagger. :V
 
Alternatively, depending on how close PMAS adheres to our own world and whether any other guca has seen the opportunity yet: automated pinsetters. Since, in our timeline, many variants haven't been manufactured since the 70s and folks are running out of parts.

I mean, there's advantages here: It's a small market gap where we don't need to be some mass manufacturer with industrial contacts, we just need to make some devices and/or spare parts to specifications, and then to arrange the sale.

E: updated link location for fuller information

For cashy money, I'd prefer to stick to custom fabrication of exotic devices, with Hitomi's Mom handling the business end of things. Every research lab under the sun has some wacky apparatus that they've always wanted to make but that's somewhere between "can't get funding for it" and "actually impossible to machine", and the grad students would be absolutely thrilled to talk your ear off about it and probably even share the models with you. Hitomi's Mom can get us as many introductions as we want in those circles with zero suspicion or doubt; no bureaucratic hoops to jump through, no huge contracts, no businessmen to call us little girls. You hand a professor the apparatus that'll put his name in Nature and he wouldn't even question the part where you're a two-headed lizard wearing a tie-dye wig. Start with tabletop equipment worth $10k, contract at cost of raw materials or less, and snowball on reputation and word of mouth until we're fabbing mirrors for satellite observatories and superconducting rings for particle accelerators at a billion bucks a pop.
These. Don't go magically undercutting huge established businesses; even apart from the morality concerns, these are people who can lobby to get us audited.

Make the things that there's unsatisfied demand for, but on a small scope. Make one-of-a-kind things that are worth enough for the buyer not to ask questions.
 
Or, here me out now, when we just get short on money, we just have Sayaka clones go rob a few banks.

Thanks to the cloning power, she's not in any physical danger, and she can have a perfect alibi all the time, just by having her actual body hanging around in a public place with cameras. Thanks to fast-travel powers, she doesn't have to rob nearby banks; they can be banks in Australia or China or Europe or wherever, making it even harder to bring charges. It's the perfect crime!

We'll get her a mask and a fedora, and she'll be the true Azure Sanfrancisco!
 
Robbing banks is archetypal Bad Guy behavior, though. We'd have to talk her around to radical communism first in order for her to agree to it.
 
We'll just tell her they're evil banks. Run by witches.

Also, she's stimulating the economy. It's all covered by insurance, anyhow. Victimless crime, more jobs for security guards, etc.
 
My take on the vote:

[x] Payment:
-[x] Call O&K. Explain request.
-[x] Separate line, Homura. Ask about usual rates, WPN rates, advice.
-[x] Do NOT let Yuki see you not giving her your full attention.

[x] Yuki:
-[x] Ask to see the location.
-[x] Finalize details:
--[x] Agree to provide antimagic enchantments.
--[x] Keep Homura's advice in mind. Don't be a complete pushover in the haggling, but err on the side of generosity.
-[x] Discuss hiring them again in the future. It's been a pleasure doing business.
--[x] Ask about payments/services they might be interested in. You're assembling a team to tackle Walpurgisnacht.
-[x] Various chat topics:
--[x] Ask if Nishimura, Koizumi, and Akiyama are alright.
--[x] These "supervillains"... just volcano base aesthetic, or something more?

[x] Telepathy Rin.
-[x] You've got the impression something's rotten, and you're to blame.
--[x] Ask if something's happening. Particularly with Akiko and/or power-loss.

147 words. QB and Airi's transport can wait an update.
 
Nadia's pointed out how "dewitching research" can be taken by those in the know, aka "run far away from the disaster radius". Not sure bringing it up is a good call.
Hmmm... I was copy-pasting Veb there, but let me see if I can come up with something.

Honestly, I'm torn really. On the one hand, yeah, this stuff is fraught. On the other hand, as her employer I think it behooves us to give full disclosure and dewitching is an integral part of why Anri is willing to be guarded at all.

If it needs to be careful, then perhaps something like...

[]Give a hint amidst clear seed warnings: You may want to check on the seed now and then. Clear seeds are peaceful, but grow more active after a bit of use and you need to see how they progress.

Only much shorter. That topic specifically chosen because grief seed mechanics were what convinced Nadia we had a chance.

The supervillains aren't "in town", as in, in Fukushima, by my read. Still might be worth asking about.
Now that depends on how you count :p

The volcano is likely Mt Higashi-Azuma. (or the other close peak, of the same mountain, Azuma-Kofuji) Both are (just) within city limits and visible from Mount Shinobu.

(The other possible local volcano is Mount Adatara in Inawashiro, but it's further off the beaten track and more southwest rather than Azuma's due-west.)

The ease of dealing with her really is laudable. Maybe a touch more professional compliment, though? We haven't had much contact with them, and most of that was on the opposing side. "It's been a pleasure dealing with you," maybe?

Article:
Excellent customer service, able to negotiate alternative means of payment with minimal hassle, prompt service. Despite some ethical qualms, would recommend for sheer convenience alone. 9/10.
Source: Sabrina Vee

As would the other groups in town. Any reason not to do what we did in Ishinomaki?
I see no reason to to offer cleansing and refreshes as a freebie just because we're here, no.
[]As long as we're here we're happy to degrief her group and refresh any seeds. As well as any other groups around town.
 
Ah, but see, the point is that damn, everything else, even the rumours about doing something which was until two weeks ago, something which goes against the whole magical system, something as marvelous as to be able to cleanse soul gems... OK, they can believe that.

But that Mami Tomoe is with someone? Now that's unbelievable.

Like, whaaaaaaaat? Mami not being foreeeveeeer aloooooone? Thaaaat doesn't happeeeeeen...
Yuki's sources are teenage girls, of course she's suspicious of romantic gossip. :p
Relationship stories come a dime a dozen on the meguca grapevine. Especially of the Tomoe Mami, you know? :V

Fun fact: Tanya is voiced by Aoi Yuki. Yes, that Aoi Yuki. Who voiced Madoka.
I think we did say that the reason Anri is a prisoner is that she stole a Clear Seed we'd gifted.
You didn't, actually.
Every research lab under the sun has some wacky apparatus that they've always wanted to make but that's somewhere between "can't get funding for it" and "actually impossible to machine", and the grad students would be absolutely thrilled to talk your ear off about it and probably even share the models with you.
Can confirm.
You hand a professor the apparatus that'll put his name in Nature and he wouldn't even question the part where you're a two-headed lizard wearing a tie-dye wig.
Can also confirm.
 
Gotta say, I enjoy writing Yuki.

I feel like I should note that she let you see that act of hers. Make of it what you will.

Also, the funniest thing is that if you tried to hug her without her consent, you'd probably get a dagger in your stomach, and her meguca weapon isn't even a dagger. :V

Let us see it, or let us see through it?
 
Vote update.

[x] Payment:
-[x] Call O&K. Explain request.
-[x] Separate line, Homura. Fukushima's rates, any advice?
-[x] Do NOT let Yuki see you distracted.

[x] Business:
-[x] Ask to see the location.
-[x] Finalize:
--[x] Agree to provide antimagic enchantments.
--[x] Mind Homura's advice. Haggle, erring on the side of generosity.
-[x] Discuss hiring them again in the future.
--[x] Ask about payments/services they're interested in. You're assembling a team to tackle Walpurgisnacht.

[x] Chat topics (intersperse as appropriate):
-[x] Ask if Nishimura, Koizumi, and Akiyama are alright.
-[x] "Supervillains"... just volcano base aesthetic, or something more? What other groups are in town?
-[x] The active soul in Grief Seeds "hibernates" when you Clear them. Whenever you visit, you'd like to check if that's changed.

[x] Telepathy Rin.
-[x] You've got the impression something's wrong. Anything you can help, or...?

[x] Kyuubey.
-[x] Dump Grief. Keep two seeds' worth.

149 words.
 
Even if we don't make diamonds (or other gemstones) for resale, I kinda want to make one that's (a) stupidly valuable and (b) really cheesy.
Say, a double-fist-sized diamond that inside has an intricate and appropriately coloured figure of Mami and Sabrina holding hands :)oops:). A little trickier than just pure diamond, but Griefhax should be up to introducing the appropriate impurities for coloured diamond/other.
We can put it on Table-kun and see how long it takes anyone to realise.

Okay, on re-reading I'm certain that something bad is up in Sendai.

Rin is haggard, weighed down by something.
Sakura is furious with us, more so than she was before.
And when combined with all that, this reads like Rin is avoiding a topic.
My initial reading was that the problem is that there is no problem. Sort of like how some people who win the lottery or something can just implode or become directionless because they have no idea what to do with that much money.
Meguca do generally have to be giving serious consideration to their Seed supply at all times, whether that be Witch hunting or hiring their services out to others or robbery. It gives them focus.
Rin and co have just been told they no longer have to do anything. They could just go sit on the couch and watch TV for the next century. No more dangerous Witch fights, no territory disputes, no more travelling around healing people or trading favours, just.... free time. So, now what?
A sudden lack of purpose can quite a problem.
"We're not really sure what to do. We give the University group a wide berth, and we just... hang out, now that we're not forced to fight."
Free time is good. Nothing but free time is bad.
In short, they need a job/hobby. Extreme flower arranging or something.
Pro bono healing in other cities runs into them being targets for their obviously/suspiciously abundant Seeds, and doing it in mundane hospitals runs into the secrecy of magic thing, but it's possibly an option for Rin+Sakura at least.

Or I could be completely wrong and there's major issue festering there they don't want to talk about. I blame Akiko.
 
I feel like I should note that she let you see that act of hers. Make of it what you will.
...I thought that that was obvious. You don't lead a long-lived team of wide-ranging witchbombed mercenaries without being a stone-cold badass. And she threw the wide-eyed innocent look right in between several paragraphs of impressive professionalism.
Even if we don't make diamonds (or other gemstones) for resale, I kinda want to make one that's (a) stupidly valuable and (b) really cheesy.
Nah, skip gemstones. m = E/(c2​) and we have infinite E. Prima Luce means we can fire photons. Firing photons means we can almost certainly fire electrons. If we can fire electrons, we can probably also fire protons and neutrons, and with all of those we can fire atomic nuclei. If we can't fire electrons, we have to take the long way around, by which I mean firing enough photons to cause pair production and then pushing the resulting matter+antimatter through a few symmetry-breaking evolutions to get just matter. Or making pairs and then eating the unwanted antimatter with grief. Either way we can fabricate raw materials. And then it's just a matter of shaping, which Grief is absolutely bullshit at - it shouldn't be at all hard to break Grief down to subatomic levels and use it to push probability clouds around so we can cheat at femtotechnology. Like I was saying, exotic fabrications. What do you think NASA would pay for a set of diffraction-limited metamaterial gamma-ray optics?
 
*Lurker unburrows*
I feel like we should also ask/ warn about the Soujuu's coming, considering that we are discussing the possibility of further employment and we are going to bring up the topic of "supervillians" and other groups.
 
Vote update.

[x] Payment:
-[x] Call O&K. Explain request.
-[x] Separate line, Homura. Fukushima's rates, any advice?
-[x] Do NOT let Yuki see you distracted.

[x] Business:
-[x] Ask to see the location.
-[x] Finalize:
--[x] Agree to provide antimagic enchantments.
--[x] Mind Homura's advice. Haggle, erring on the side of generosity.
-[x] Discuss hiring them again in the future.
--[x] Ask about payments/services they're interested in. You're assembling a team to tackle Walpurgisnacht.

[x] Chat topics (intersperse as appropriate):
-[x] Ask if Nishimura, Koizumi, and Akiyama are alright.
-[x] "Supervillains"... just volcano base aesthetic, or something more? What other groups are in town?
-[x] The active soul in Grief Seeds "hibernates" when you Clear them. Whenever you visit, you'd like to check if that's changed.

[x] Telepathy Rin.
-[x] You've got the impression something's wrong. Anything you can help, or...?

[x] Kyuubey.
-[x] Dump Grief. Keep two seeds' worth.

149 words.
I really like most of this... but my one sore point is that I think the Rin talk needs to be handled differently. As it stands, it seems like the inquiry could get caught by to deflection, not being our problem, or leaving it too vague and not knowing that we actually have a partial solution.

If necessary, I feel it would be better to cut out giving Kyuubey grief and use the resultant space to plan that out.

The other alternative I can see is to include Sakura and let her raw anger overwhelm any chance of deleterious tact.

I also don't see the point in hiding telepathy from Tsuruya when we have a perfect excuse to be using it. Especially considering Sabrina's skullduggery potential is the absolute worst. I don't trust us not to give a meaningful look that reveals everything we're up to.

Even if we don't make diamonds (or other gemstones) for resale, I kinda want to make one that's (a) stupidly valuable and (b) really cheesy.
Say, a double-fist-sized diamond that inside has an intricate and appropriately coloured figure of Mami and Sabrina holding hands :)oops:). A little trickier than just pure diamond, but Griefhax should be up to introducing the appropriate impurities for coloured diamond/other.
We can put it on Table-kun and see how long it takes anyone to realise.


My initial reading was that the problem is that there is no problem. Sort of like how some people who win the lottery or something can just implode or become directionless because they have no idea what to do with that much money.
Meguca do generally have to be giving serious consideration to their Seed supply at all times, whether that be Witch hunting or hiring their services out to others or robbery. It gives them focus.
Rin and co have just been told they no longer have to do anything. They could just go sit on the couch and watch TV for the next century. No more dangerous Witch fights, no territory disputes, no more travelling around healing people or trading favours, just.... free time. So, now what?
A sudden lack of purpose can quite a problem.

Free time is good. Nothing but free time is bad.
In short, they need a job/hobby. Extreme flower arranging or something.
Pro bono healing in other cities runs into them being targets for their obviously/suspiciously abundant Seeds, and doing it in mundane hospitals runs into the secrecy of magic thing, but it's possibly an option for Rin+Sakura at least.

Or I could be completely wrong and there's major issue festering there they don't want to talk about. I blame Akiko.
That might explain Rin having trouble, but it doesn't explain Sakura blaming us, and apparently more so and more vehemently than she did before.
 
*Lurker unburrows*
I feel like we should also ask/ warn about the Soujuu's coming, considering that we are discussing the possibility of further employment and we are going to bring up the topic of "supervillians" and other groups.
The Soujuus are going to be practically the other side of the country from Fukushima, and they're not leaving Mitakihara unmolested befriended.
When were they scheduled, again, though? Depending, it might be prudent to warn the outlying groups (Oriko, Masami, Kyouko)-- they prefer to hunt loners and gank stragglers, since any 1v1 they're in is inherently actually a 2v1.
 
The Soujuus are going to be practically the other side of the country from Fukushima, and they're not leaving Mitakihara unmolested befriended.
I think they mean because we might want them to imprison the Soujuus for us after we capture them.

So it's really less "we're probably going to encounter other criminally insane magical girls in the future" as it is "we have solid intel that says that we'll be rumbling with another psycho meguca soon."
 
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