Jonen C
F.M.D.G.
- Location
- Lincopense, Ostrogothia, Suecia
Ergo she can donfalse color imaging overlays on real life.
And all this talk if math apples.
I feel like [BGM: Bad Apple]
Puella Magi Adfligo Systema
- Thread starter Firnagzen
- Start date
-
- Tags
- puella magi adfligo systema puella magi madoka magica be gay do crimes (gay) female protagonist bad decisions dating mami tomoe (tomoe mami) diabolical laughter friendship is the best ship handholding identity crises microwaving tea gets you put in the bad place names are important the body is the fursona of the soul this is not the baked goods thread we don't talk about rionna what could possibly go wrong? who in the world is azure sanfrancisco?
And all this talk if math apples.
I feel like [BGM: Bad Apple]
Aranfan
Team Plasma Grunt
Maths! I love maths!
Alright ladies and gentlemen! Step up and learn about the Banach-Tarski paradox!
Let's imagine we have a ball. This is a mathematical ball, not a physical one, so it's made out of grid lines and geometry, not rubber and matter.
Our ball is made of infinitely many points. There are different kinds of infinity, and the one we have here is "uncountable". That's important because it means that while we can hope to put the points in some kind of order on a line, we can't make progress down it. I can count by finite numbers to get to 4. "1, 2, 3, 4." I can at least TRY to count towards the countable infinity of the integers. "1, 2, 3, 4..." but I'll never finish. I can even count by the rational numbers through a pretty nifty and clever diagonalization method that has me go "0, 1/1 and its negative, 1/2 and its negative, 2/1 and -, 1/3 and -, 2/2, 3/1, 1/4, 2/3, 3/2, 4/1..." and so on. And that will make sure I don't miss any, even though I still can't ever finish because I don't have infinite time.
But against the uncountable infinite of the real numbers, I can't even get started. I mean, sure, zero is the obvious place to start. And whenever we say a number the next one should automatically be its negative, so we count both ways at once. But where do you go next? Any choice is just as wrong. If we try our clever diagonalization again, we can prove we're missing some of the points.
Uncountable doesn't mean there's so many of them that you'll never finish if you try. It means you can't try.
So, we have this ball. And it has uncountably infinite points. It has that many points in a finite volume which is what makes it different from an apple.
We're going to cut it in half. But we're not going to cut it in half like a knife through a melon. We're going to pixel blur it, grab apart the even and odd pixels, and then increase the resolution of that pixelation to infinity to get uncountably infinite pixels, to decide which ones are part of which ball.
If I take this ball:
And I divide it like that, you intuitively expect it would be half as dense, since I took every "even" point, and we expect conservation of mass.
Except that's how real apples work, not math apples. Math apples have an infinite density of points. So when we make it half as dense to cut our second ball from, the new density is still infinite. Which means nothing has changed but now we have two balls.
The step where you increase the pixel resolution to infinity to map pixels to points is the part where you need infinite computing power. If you have the axiom of choice, you assume someone's done that for you and you can just declare your sets as you wish by defining your means to pick them, even if it would take forever to do. If you try it with a real apple, you get two piles of apple-smelling ashes of equal size. Or possibly some kind of nuclear binding force reaction that blows you up for E=(apple)C^2 of damage. Which is a lot.
Here is another explanation:
Haven't actually checked it's rigor.
rkyeun
Cabbitus Maximus
- Location
- ◕ ‿‿ ◕
It's correct, and more rigorous than my explanation.
Madou Sutegobana
Autocorrupt has been disabled.
- Location
- Twin Realms Mandala
Actually, if he can do that and is not returning the cleansed grief seeds, then he is artificially creating a scarcity.
I suspect however, that the ultimate fate of a filled grief seed is not that pretty.
DB_Explorer
Purveyor of alternate realities.
- Location
- San Diego, California
- Pronouns
- He/Him
All this math dicussion with apples is going to result in Sabrina ordering apple pie or something and wondering if she can make the pie into TWO pies.
Everyone else: Sabrina....
Yuki: Is she always like this?
Mami: Yes
Everyone else: Sabrina....
Yuki: Is she always like this?
Mami: Yes
But also for staging kaiju battles.
DB_Explorer
Purveyor of alternate realities.
- Location
- San Diego, California
- Pronouns
- He/Him
umm actually I wonder if she can make homuculi or golems to be staff in a building she controls.
Golem: I am a perfectly normal maid - please carry one citizen.
Hitomi: >__>
Golem: This is not the maid you are looking for.
Onmur
Archangel of Nutella.
"Holy shit she did it."
*Nods nods*
*Passes 'second' pie to Sayaka*
*Shares 'original' pie with Mami*
*Noms pie with Sabrina*
*Looks at 'second' pie*
*Also looks at pie*
*Shoves pie into Yuki's hands*
"Here, courtesy."
*Shoves pie back*
"No need, I'm fine."
*Shoves pie back*
"I insist."
*Shoves pie back*
"No need!"
*Pie is shoved back and forth*
"Seriously, you must have this pie!"
"I must not have this pie!"
"Well I'm not gonna eat this thing of mysterious origins!"
"And I should?"
"You're a meguca, you'll be fine!"
"I'm a what?!"
"A magical girl!"
"YOU are a magical girl, too!"
"Just take the pie!"
*Shoves!*
"No!"
*Shoves!*
"Shit-!"
*Pie goes flying...*
*Catches pie with a claw*
*Eats pie whole*
"Hmmm! Fractal pie! No calories!"
*Leaves*
"..."
"..."
"I swear she exists to make my life worse."
"... I kind of want pie now."
DB_Explorer
Purveyor of alternate realities.
- Location
- San Diego, California
- Pronouns
- He/Him
- Location
- USA, Midworld world line
Gotta give props to you! Not expecting you to counter Anri with Bard skillz. Thanks!
Wouldn't we expect computation effort to scale with recursion? Making the attempt probably leads... to being shaken out of our trance by worried friends, after a very long graybar interval.
#########
We can take this all the way?
#EnchantmentGoals ?
#########
And a first step to free everyone.
Can we take 'a rock' and make it attract / hold grief when out-of-radius? Best first step. Our magic in a nutshell. Application of control at the simplest level will lack any 'engineering safety,' and thus should be small, and supervised. Think magnetic field interaction. Big storage probably requires emotion / cognition to regulate the device safely. Observed, sleepy Clear seeds have weaker pull than hungry full seeds?
Our power in ergs is difficult to bound, because my theory is the "potential energy of Grief" is a "potential energy of material that will revert back to another dimension." That is why Kyuubey needs us. Humans can bring Grief from the corruption dimension. Grief 'binds' to 'souls' for a while. It falls back passively. Incubators collect the difference when it happens in their processing.
Yes! Storage is needed! First, let's try for the 'sad rock' enchantment. The refinement is greater capacity, to get where you are talking about.
Right now, I would like for us to hax up a "willpower training game" device. Let her copy that into a sustainable enchantment. She uses it to level up faster?
[X] mCooperative
Homura should always be in the room when we have Madoka plus "casual magic?" I want her to feel she is controlling her risk.
The possibility of further development for Homura's powers seems likely!
Her thinking was so overcome with PTSD, she became unable to shift focus? The air-step is key. Why can she do this? It is a variation on 'defensive barrier."
But perhaps each sub-clause of her Wish can be expanded like that! The emphasis on meeting Madoka could actually imply built-in Madoka-dar (Thanks, @Torgamous).
Homura negelected that development by stalking and prediction, but with Sabrina pushing her, she could awaken her other basic skills. That would extend to a further, generalized remote tracking skill. Mami demonstrably has this at short range, too, so as a specialist, Homura might have silly large area of scan. Homura might also have transport skill she never called upon? It would be situational? We can consider "Redo" "First Meeting" "With Madoka" "Time" "Protect Her." How else?
Going to poke fun at this, too!
!!!!!!! OMAKE __ OMAKE___ OMAKE !!!!!!
"Here, Hitomi. Homura made a couple of these to test out her defensive magic as a charm. They're the same."
Hitomi tweezed the dainty gold clip from Sabrina's palm. "Oh, a magic ear ring?"
Hitomi regarded the simple circular gold plated bauble. It was obvious she was unused to the bargain level physical reality of it, but she pressed over that in the name of assisting. "So, wearing this protects me how, exactly?"
At the same time, Homura was diligently struggling to keep herself from melting down into fidgets. In all the years she had spent with Madoka, never once had the occasion of giving Madoka jewelry ever transpired. Fear swirled through her gut, even as she stored copy, upon moment, after heartbeat, of memory as her eyes drank in the minute details as Madoka listened to her, and let Homura softly press the simple earring to her open palm.
"You, uh, can. Wear or hold this. And. The magic will shield you if. That is ever needed. "
"Thank You so much! Homura, you are really being very good to me!"
Bubbled out of the emotive pink-haired girl almost at once.
She doubled the pressure next.
"Help me try it on! We aren't at the mirror."
Madoka moved it back immediately into Homura's grip. Homura gulped, as Madoka flattened her hair, while offering an ear to her.
For a moment, violet eyes could not restlessly scan the room for danger.
Sabrina rolled a sideways glance at this, wondering if Homura's extensive cool repertoire would win, or if a blush would show up soon.
Hitomi had clipped hers on without by-play already. To all of the room, Sabrina voiced
"We want to see how this will activate for you both. But I think that it requires an attack aimed at the user."
Homura told Madoka "It will work. Go along with her."
While still keeping a cool face. After looking, and turning quickly away, she slowly stalked out of the room.
Sabrina asked them to stand next to the hallway, wall behind them without features. Mami and Sayaka took flank behind her shoulders, as she explained.
"I'll shoot at you. But the pellet will be so small, you might not feel it even if it hit you normally. And you'll be healed right away, too. Further, I want you to hold out your hand to the side, so it can't hit anywhere except some skin I'll aim at. Good?"
"Mmm!" "Sure." they replied, and each girl put out her arm mirroring the pose Sabrina showed.
With just a twitch of will, Sabrina caused a ball of Grief under a tenth of a millimeter to accrete, and then fly at the web of Hitomi's outstretched thumb. The bullet -like speed made a small crack as it instantly leaped out - only to stop dead on a glistening pane of shimmering purple-tinged light the size of her profile. The shield then flicked out of reality just as quickly. About this time came Hitomi's startled "Ah!" of joy and surprise. Sayaka Flashed her a thumbs up! Hitomi returned it.
"Great!" Sabrina chimed. "This should be..." was lost as she fired this tiny shot again. As the pinprick of Grief reached Madoka, Mami was already recoiling. Sayaka had a hand on her charms, and a slack expression. Sabrina had the traditional expression of the doomed mad scientist, eyes wide in wonder. Hitomi, right next to Madoka, had neither the superhuman speed, or good angle to see and react.
All these were caught in the advent of instant illumination.
The apartment was filled - bisected by a vertical dome surface between Sabrina and her target.
Wind coursed around the room for no reason whatsoever.
The dome - domes, as there were six of them nested, each taller than the space they intersected indoors, churned with eldritch phosphoresence.
They spilled weak purple light from the glassy internal reflections, but did not conceal the the blazing spectral image within.
There was a holographic six petaled white flower, Lilium candidum by resemblance, at least eight feet across, and flooding the room with white and purple radiance. Sabrina blinked, as the purifying light of the barrier ramped down, and the projected magic cleared away. She could read something in it.. Digamma Madonna.... for some reason, this wasn't just a forcefield. It had a Mysterious True Name. And was clearly a Shield.
By this moment, everyone else was letting out quality, neighbor waking startles and shrieks, but only once. It was clear that no danger was involved. Mami breathed a bit as her heart rate came back, and gave Sabrina a droll look, mouthing "Oh, Homura?" then walking up to Madoka to tend her speechless shock.
Sayaka was a bit gob-smacked, jabbering " all that, just, just for.. " While Hitomi was saying "Wow! Yours is sooo much cooler!!" Sayaka turned to Sabrina, and resolutely put on her angry face "Magical Girl animation, Is. Not. Cool. for the rest of us actual Magical Girls. And neither is that other magical combat series stuff! You must have put Homura up to this, but it has to stop, OK!?!"
#########
Wouldn't we expect computation effort to scale with recursion? Making the attempt probably leads... to being shaken out of our trance by worried friends, after a very long graybar interval.
#########
We can take this all the way?
We need to house our computation device in a mundane anchor. We use a book. Then, it is time to share enchantment with Homura to program our construct. Between our "arbitrary book generation ability" and Homura's "protect Madoka" imperative and info skills, it's a lock. With amazing effort, the book will become our first active Grimoire. The "Young Ladies Book of Grace." A strong AI that exists to advise and support the owner to perfectly anticipate and avoid any hazard from the supernatural system, while training her emotions and reasoning through education until Kyuubey cannot manipulate her.
#EnchantmentGoals ?
#########
And, thus, exactly it is a good idea!I'll point out that, to the best of our knowledge, our grief may well have infinite energy. The actual limits of our energy supply and power-output are difficult and dangerous to test --- and formulating a safe test would be quite valuable --- but we can certainly apply oodles of force and enough light to vaporize a car without appreciably diminishing the volume of a marble.
I put that as session-two goals.
More seriously, I think the ability to apply our grief-kinesis to an enchantment depends a lot on exactly how it works and so I kinda want a better handle on what exactly our grief-kinesis is doing in order to provide a basis for such an enchantment.
After all, if we're taking control of our own barrier and witch-flesh that implies very different things than if we're turning grief into a solid substance. In the first case the metaphysics may require a thinking being to control it --- necessitating either an A.I. or a item to imbue others with our own power --- while the second might not and can be applied to essentially just a rock.
And a first step to free everyone.
Can we take 'a rock' and make it attract / hold grief when out-of-radius? Best first step. Our magic in a nutshell. Application of control at the simplest level will lack any 'engineering safety,' and thus should be small, and supervised. Think magnetic field interaction. Big storage probably requires emotion / cognition to regulate the device safely. Observed, sleepy Clear seeds have weaker pull than hungry full seeds?
Our power in ergs is difficult to bound, because my theory is the "potential energy of Grief" is a "potential energy of material that will revert back to another dimension." That is why Kyuubey needs us. Humans can bring Grief from the corruption dimension. Grief 'binds' to 'souls' for a while. It falls back passively. Incubators collect the difference when it happens in their processing.
Yes! Storage is needed! First, let's try for the 'sad rock' enchantment. The refinement is greater capacity, to get where you are talking about.
Right now, I would like for us to hax up a "willpower training game" device. Let her copy that into a sustainable enchantment. She uses it to level up faster?
[X] mCooperative
Homura should always be in the room when we have Madoka plus "casual magic?" I want her to feel she is controlling her risk.
The possibility of further development for Homura's powers seems likely!
Her thinking was so overcome with PTSD, she became unable to shift focus? The air-step is key. Why can she do this? It is a variation on 'defensive barrier."
But perhaps each sub-clause of her Wish can be expanded like that! The emphasis on meeting Madoka could actually imply built-in Madoka-dar (Thanks, @Torgamous).
Homura negelected that development by stalking and prediction, but with Sabrina pushing her, she could awaken her other basic skills. That would extend to a further, generalized remote tracking skill. Mami demonstrably has this at short range, too, so as a specialist, Homura might have silly large area of scan. Homura might also have transport skill she never called upon? It would be situational? We can consider "Redo" "First Meeting" "With Madoka" "Time" "Protect Her." How else?
Going to poke fun at this, too!
!!!!!!! OMAKE __ OMAKE___ OMAKE !!!!!!
"Here, Hitomi. Homura made a couple of these to test out her defensive magic as a charm. They're the same."
Hitomi tweezed the dainty gold clip from Sabrina's palm. "Oh, a magic ear ring?"
Hitomi regarded the simple circular gold plated bauble. It was obvious she was unused to the bargain level physical reality of it, but she pressed over that in the name of assisting. "So, wearing this protects me how, exactly?"
At the same time, Homura was diligently struggling to keep herself from melting down into fidgets. In all the years she had spent with Madoka, never once had the occasion of giving Madoka jewelry ever transpired. Fear swirled through her gut, even as she stored copy, upon moment, after heartbeat, of memory as her eyes drank in the minute details as Madoka listened to her, and let Homura softly press the simple earring to her open palm.
"You, uh, can. Wear or hold this. And. The magic will shield you if. That is ever needed. "
"Thank You so much! Homura, you are really being very good to me!"
Bubbled out of the emotive pink-haired girl almost at once.
She doubled the pressure next.
"Help me try it on! We aren't at the mirror."
Madoka moved it back immediately into Homura's grip. Homura gulped, as Madoka flattened her hair, while offering an ear to her.
For a moment, violet eyes could not restlessly scan the room for danger.
Sabrina rolled a sideways glance at this, wondering if Homura's extensive cool repertoire would win, or if a blush would show up soon.
Hitomi had clipped hers on without by-play already. To all of the room, Sabrina voiced
"We want to see how this will activate for you both. But I think that it requires an attack aimed at the user."
Homura told Madoka "It will work. Go along with her."
While still keeping a cool face. After looking, and turning quickly away, she slowly stalked out of the room.
Sabrina asked them to stand next to the hallway, wall behind them without features. Mami and Sayaka took flank behind her shoulders, as she explained.
"I'll shoot at you. But the pellet will be so small, you might not feel it even if it hit you normally. And you'll be healed right away, too. Further, I want you to hold out your hand to the side, so it can't hit anywhere except some skin I'll aim at. Good?"
"Mmm!" "Sure." they replied, and each girl put out her arm mirroring the pose Sabrina showed.
With just a twitch of will, Sabrina caused a ball of Grief under a tenth of a millimeter to accrete, and then fly at the web of Hitomi's outstretched thumb. The bullet -like speed made a small crack as it instantly leaped out - only to stop dead on a glistening pane of shimmering purple-tinged light the size of her profile. The shield then flicked out of reality just as quickly. About this time came Hitomi's startled "Ah!" of joy and surprise. Sayaka Flashed her a thumbs up! Hitomi returned it.
"Great!" Sabrina chimed. "This should be..." was lost as she fired this tiny shot again. As the pinprick of Grief reached Madoka, Mami was already recoiling. Sayaka had a hand on her charms, and a slack expression. Sabrina had the traditional expression of the doomed mad scientist, eyes wide in wonder. Hitomi, right next to Madoka, had neither the superhuman speed, or good angle to see and react.
All these were caught in the advent of instant illumination.
The apartment was filled - bisected by a vertical dome surface between Sabrina and her target.
Wind coursed around the room for no reason whatsoever.
The dome - domes, as there were six of them nested, each taller than the space they intersected indoors, churned with eldritch phosphoresence.
They spilled weak purple light from the glassy internal reflections, but did not conceal the the blazing spectral image within.
There was a holographic six petaled white flower, Lilium candidum by resemblance, at least eight feet across, and flooding the room with white and purple radiance. Sabrina blinked, as the purifying light of the barrier ramped down, and the projected magic cleared away. She could read something in it.. Digamma Madonna.... for some reason, this wasn't just a forcefield. It had a Mysterious True Name. And was clearly a Shield.
By this moment, everyone else was letting out quality, neighbor waking startles and shrieks, but only once. It was clear that no danger was involved. Mami breathed a bit as her heart rate came back, and gave Sabrina a droll look, mouthing "Oh, Homura?" then walking up to Madoka to tend her speechless shock.
Sayaka was a bit gob-smacked, jabbering " all that, just, just for.. " While Hitomi was saying "Wow! Yours is sooo much cooler!!" Sayaka turned to Sabrina, and resolutely put on her angry face "Magical Girl animation, Is. Not. Cool. for the rest of us actual Magical Girls. And neither is that other magical combat series stuff! You must have put Homura up to this, but it has to stop, OK!?!"
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Jonen C
F.M.D.G.
- Location
- Lincopense, Ostrogothia, Suecia
We are not going to steal the statue of liberty for the ultimate showdown against Walpufft marshmallow.
Or any other monunent.
The claims that Azure Sanfrancisco has anything to do with Sabrina Vee are nothing but cruel slander!
I realise you should never explain the joke, but I'm genuinely confused...is that a reference to Carmen Sandiego?
Yes, it's been joked about in story before.
Last edited:
Aranfan
Team Plasma Grunt
Nah. Some other guy. Name of Shit Sherlock, first name No. [/dbza]
Torgamous
Aspiring Gynoid
- Pronouns
- She/Her
It's come up in the story.
For the record, I'm English. I don't know if that show ever aired over here. Literally everything I know about it came from vague internet rumours and in-jokes.
Huh. Checking, it did come up. All of twice, in throw-away lines. I think I can be forgiven for not remembering it.
To the White Forest pt. 12
"Me," you say, mind awhirl with responses. You settle for a smile -courteous, bland, maybe a touch apologetic- and a sigh. "Miss Airi, this is Tsuruya Yuki, from Fukushima. I've made arrangements for you to stay with them."
"Ah, so you're just throwing me aside like a piece of trash," Anri says. "Nice! I guess I was just that insignificant."
She grins at you, too sharp, too bright. Fever-bright. Her eyes track you as you give Mami's hand a squeeze and release it to step forward into the room, and you're not so naïve you don't watch your breathing, even with the antimagic on her. You remember what she did, back in Asunaro. Grief fog blankets the room, a light touch but subtle threat held poised and ready.
And as much as anything else, you're terrified of what she might blurt out, with Mami here. One of the biggest reasons you need to get Anri away is to keep the nature of Witches away from Mami and Sayaka and Madoka.
"Nah. You're not insignificant," you say. If anything, she's too significant, for what she knows. "The simple fact is that I don't have the facilities to keep you held here, so I'm hiring people who do. I have no intention of just leaving you there, either - I will be visiting."
You smile, and continue by telepathy. "I haven't forgotten the deal, either - I intend to honour it."
Anri doesn't say anything, just grins at you.
"Well," you say, and exhale slowly. "Miss Tsuruya?"
She nods at you, eyeing Airi carefully as she steps into the room. The chains clink, resting as they are over her shoulder. "That manacle is antimagic?" she asks.
"Yeah," you say, backing away. "Steel. Should be pretty hard to pry off. By the way, can we schedule a time for the, uh, sharing of your contact list?"
"Certainly," Yuki says. "How does the weekend sound?"
"Should be good," you agree, and turn to Rin and Sakura. You give both of them a broad smile. "Rin, Miss Tachibana... sincerely, thank you for helping today."
"It was our pleasure, Sabrina," Rin says. You can't help but notice the way she grips Sakura's elbow in warning, granted. "Farewell!"
"See you sometime soon," you say, and step aside to let them into the room. "You too, Miss Tsuruya!"
"Indeed!" Yuki agrees, smirking at you. "Have Miss Akemi contact me when she has the location ready for claiming!"
"Can do," you agree. You watch as Yuki grips Sakura's arm, other hand on Anri's shoulder.
And with a quiet vwwp, they're gone.
You blow out a breath, and let yourself relax. She's gone, along with her inconvenient facts of life. Mami cuddles up against your side, a worried frown creasing her brow and silent question on her face. You smile at her, reassuring and warm. You're fine.
You straighten.
"Hey, Oriko, Kirika?" you say, and beam at them. "Thank you both so much for today. You both did a great job. Not just this whole mess with Airi, but just... for everything."
"Thank you, Sabrina," Oriko says, inclining her head. "It was a good experience."
"So, uh... before we head off, I've got a few things," you say.
"By all means?" Oriko says, and gestures back towards the living room.
You follow her down the corridor, taking a few seconds to marshal your thoughts. "So uh... first thing. Would you like me to clean up the graffiti on the outside?"
Oriko blinks slowly at you. "Yes, that would be nice, if unnecessary," she says.
"Alright, cool," you say, Grief fog already moving to your will. Really, you just need to scrape it away. Shouldn't be too hard. "I'll get that done before I leave, then."
"Thank you," Oriko says, inclining her head.
"So... second," you say. You've reached the living room, and you'd take a seat, but you're just about to leave. Not much point sitting down again. "Kirika, could I ask a favour? And I'm sorry to put it on you after everything I've already asked of you today."
"Mm?" Kirika says, blinking bright orange eyes at you.
"Could you help me check some IRCs?" you ask. "I've got the addresses of a couple of magical girl IRCs from Nadia."
Oriko purses her lips. "Are you sure you should be giving those to us?" she asks. "After all, we are under house arrest, nominally to keep me from plotting against you. I would rather... not hand Miss Akemi more metaphorical ammunition. She certainly has enough literal ammunition as it is."
"I... guess that's fair," you say, biting your lip in thought. Yeah, you can see Homura being unhappy about that. It's not like Oriko couldn't have found them out beforehand, were she truly plotting against you, but it's about trust. And Homura's extended you so much already as it is. "Yeah. I... thanks."
Oriko inclines her head slowly, sea-green eyes steady and unflinching. Mami tucks herself under your arm to hug you.
"Right." You blow out a slow, careful breath, and smile at Oriko. "Last thing. Are you, uh... OK with the 'Kures' thing?"
Oriko stumbles. Oriko stumbles, and flushes a bright, instant red, a shade only rivalled by Kirika, who makes a high-pitched squeal and clings even tighter to Oriko's arm.
Mami giggles. It's infectious, and you find yourself smothering your own giggles as you turn to face them properly. As amusing and utterly adorable as it is... you don't really want to belabour the joke if you're making them uncomfortable.
"Y-yes," Oriko manages. "Yes, I- we're fine with it."
Kirika squeals and pulls Oriko into a clinging hug.
You grin at Mami, a little red yourself. "Shall we give them a moment? Or... the rest of the day?" you ask.
"Oh, Sabrina," Mami says, taking your hand and towing you towards the glass doors.
"Well, see you two later!" you call over your shoulder. You don't get any answer, sliding the doors shut and giving the exterior walls a quick once-over. A good job, you think, white paint untouched but graffiti removed. The only traces remaining are where the vandals scored deep enough to carve into the wooden finish itself.
Mami smiles at you. "Fly us home?"
"I'll fly us halfway," you say, winking at her and opening your arms. "And, mm... invite everyone over for the practice session?"
"Definitely," Mami agrees, giving you a brilliant smile and transforming before stepping into the offered hug.
You close your arms around her, one arm around her waist and one around her shoulders to pull her close as wings bloom from your shoulders, rippling out across the garden. A single powerful stroke lofts you airborne, Mami holding tight in your embrace.
"Hey, everyone," you call out across the ether of telepathy. Mami, of course, and Homura and Sayaka and Madoka and Hitomi. Your friends. "Enchantment practice at Mami's apartment, if everyone has the time, and Madoka, Hitomi - you're invited if you want to come along!"
"Ah... maybe not?" Madoka says hesitantly. "I haven't been at club for ages! And I already told mama and papa I'd be home for dinner tonight... I'm sorry!"
"Ah, that's fine," you say. "Um... Hitomi?"
"Similarly, I feel beholden to stay for club activities," Hitomi says. "And I am expected home for dinner, too."
"Yeah, uh... ditto for dinner?" Sayaka says hesitantly. "Sorry. I'll head over soon, though!"
"Oh, don't be ridiculous," you say. "Don't apologise. It just means more of Mami's cooking for me! Homura, what about you?"
"I will be there," Homura murmurs.
"Alright, excellent," you say. "Don't worry about it, Madoka, Hitomi. Also, uh, quick update - the meeting with Miss Tsuruya went well, and I think we're all quite hopeful about the alliance. Things look good!"
"Oh, thank goodness!" Madoka says. "It's great that everyone's getting along!"
"It is," Hitomi agrees.
You chat with them for a few more minutes, giving them a few quick details before signing off. You beam at Mami, her face so close to yours. Her hair streams out in whipping strands of perfect, flaxen gold as she meets your eyes and smiles back. You don't bother shouting over the boom of your wings or the roar of the wind, and instead you breathe words into her mind.
"Looks like we'll get a quiet night at home tonight after everything," you say.
"It would be nice to have some peace," Mami says. "After last night's excitement."
"Yeah, it would," you say, your smile softening as your wings carry you higher over the city, away from the bustle and noise of the millions of people.
You savour the peace.
"Penny for your thoughts, Sabrina?" Mami asks, watching your eyes.
"Many things," you say. "Thinking about our friends, about math, about the future, and about magic."
"Oh?" Mami asks, tightening her arms a little around you.
"I am lucky to have the friends I do," you say softly. "And I'm lucky to have you."
"I'm lucky to have you," Mami says, smiling.
You'd duck your head, but you're kind of carrying Mami right now. Instead, you give her a sheepish grin, that's maybe just a touch abashed. "And... I haven't talked to Nagisa in a while," you say. "Should spend a bit of time to catch up with her sometime."
"I'm sure she's busy settling into her new home," Mami says. "You're a good person, Sabrina."
"I try to be," you say.
"You are," Mami insists.
"Thank you, Mami," you say, returning her smile. What can you say, in the face of the unwavering faith in the way she looks at you?
The conversation lapses for a minute or two, before Mami speaks again. "What about the math?"
"Oh, um, well..." you say, glancing aside. "So, uh... are you familiar with the Banach-Tarski paradox?"
"Ah... broadly? I've heard about it, but we'll only be taught set theory next year," Mami says. "It's a neat trick, but I don't really understand it yet."
You blink at her. Set theory. Anywhere else, you'd call it university level math, but this is Mitakihara.
... To be fair, you're not sure what education standards are like elsewhere. Hm.
"Sabrina?" Mami prompts.
You shake off the disbelief, and grin at her. "Well, the long and the short of it is that if I have a mathematically ideal object consisting of an uncountable infinity of points, I can split it into two objects that are exactly the same as the initial one, right? Because infinities are weird."
"Mmmhm?" Mami says.
"Well... the thing is, I've noticed that Grief is... strange," you say. Understatement right there, right up next to 'Homura's a bit fussy about Madoka's wellbeing'. "And in some ways it does behave like mathematically ideal... stuff."
"So you want to try and see if you can realise the Banach-Tarski paradox?" Mami hazards. "And... multiply your Grief?"
"Yep," you say. "I have no idea what'll happen."
Mami giggles, and cuddles into your arms. "Don't blow up the universe."
"I won't," you say. "It's where Mami is, after all."
Mami blushes a rosy pink, ducking her head against the crook of your neck. Her face is warm against your skin.
The next few minutes pass in a comfortable silence as you soar onwards and upwards, towards the halfway mark over Mitakihara City, as promised.
"Are you ready?" you ask Mami, smiling.
"I am," Mami says, returning the smile. You can feel her magic tightening.
You let her go, trusting her.
And she falls for just seconds, before her own wings ripple into existence, bright gold slashing across the afternoon light. They practically glow under the sun, a brilliant mirror to your own wings, and you laugh as she catches the wind and soars.
You glide alongside her, wingtip to wingtip, and your delighted laughter joins hers as you fly back home together. You tumble down the stairs together, hand-in-hand and still a touch breathless with the simple delight as you pile back into the apartment, flopping down on the sofa.
Homura and Sayaka aren't here yet - still watching Madoka and lingering with Kaoiske, if you had to guess. That gives you time to relax, though, and perhaps brainstorm a little.
"Say, Mami?" you ask.
"Yes, Sabrina?" She doesn't lift her head, draped comfortably over you.
"So... I want to give Oriko and Kirika a bit more freedom, yeah?" you say.
"I remember," Mami says.
"Right, so... I've been thinking a bit over it. As it is, the house arrest works by two things: one, Oriko's goodwill, and two, the fact that it's a known location that we can check. If they're not there, then we know they've broken the arrest, right?" you say, waving a hand in the air.
Mami's silent for a moment, thinking it over. "I... think I see where you're going," she agrees.
"Yeah. So... if we put some kind of tracker on them, it establishes essentially the same effect?" you say slowly. "It creates a known way for us to check on them at will, but gives them freedom."
Mami nods slowly, her hair rustling over your shirt. "But Homura's fear isn't only that of not knowing where they are," she says. "It's of... what manipulations they might set up, correct?"
"Mmm," you agree, frowning.
"So the tracker would let us check on them," Mami agrees hesitantly. "But the freedom means that Miss Mikuni could leave her house, talk to people, and set plans in motion, correct? She has a considerable fortune still, even if she has lost her powers of foresight. If she decided to, she could still do considerable damage."
"That's a fair point," you say, and grimace unhappily. "Do you think it can be done, though?"
"Certainly," Mami agrees. "It should be doable with enchantment... I could work on it later!"
"Do you know if there's a way to do it by mundane means as well?" you ask. "It might be more... reassuring to have some kind of doubly-guaranteed method."
"A personal tracker?" Mami asks, considering. "You could... probably purchase one online?"
"Huh," you say. "Point."
"And..." Mami hesitates for a second. "Sayaka might not be happy regardless. Her concern is in punishing Miss Mikuni and Miss Kure for burning down her house, isn't it?"
"Yeah," you agree with a sigh. "I figure... I need to try and convince her that justice has already been served, which is a tall order, or help her sympathise with Oriko's position, which is... possible, maybe, but it'd take a miracle."
"Perhaps if we convince her that Oriko can be punished by... community service?" Mami suggests. Her tone suggests she doesn't think it too likely. "That her excursions with us are part of her sentence?"
"Maybe," you agree, and fall silent to ruminate on it.
[] Mami
- [X] Hugs
- [] Any other discussion?
[] Science session
- [] Per vote in abeyance
- [] Banach-Tarski
- [] Write-in other avenue of experimentation
[] Homura and Sayaka
- [] Discussing Oriko and Kirika
-- [] Write-in avenue of attack
[] Write-in (word count limit: 150 words)
Homura and Sayaka will arrive by the next post. The science session will happen, followed by at least the initial parts of the discussion about Oriko and Kirika (unless voted otherwise, of course).
Also, you can, in fact, purchase personal GPS trackers online.
"Ah, so you're just throwing me aside like a piece of trash," Anri says. "Nice! I guess I was just that insignificant."
She grins at you, too sharp, too bright. Fever-bright. Her eyes track you as you give Mami's hand a squeeze and release it to step forward into the room, and you're not so naïve you don't watch your breathing, even with the antimagic on her. You remember what she did, back in Asunaro. Grief fog blankets the room, a light touch but subtle threat held poised and ready.
And as much as anything else, you're terrified of what she might blurt out, with Mami here. One of the biggest reasons you need to get Anri away is to keep the nature of Witches away from Mami and Sayaka and Madoka.
"Nah. You're not insignificant," you say. If anything, she's too significant, for what she knows. "The simple fact is that I don't have the facilities to keep you held here, so I'm hiring people who do. I have no intention of just leaving you there, either - I will be visiting."
You smile, and continue by telepathy. "I haven't forgotten the deal, either - I intend to honour it."
Anri doesn't say anything, just grins at you.
"Well," you say, and exhale slowly. "Miss Tsuruya?"
She nods at you, eyeing Airi carefully as she steps into the room. The chains clink, resting as they are over her shoulder. "That manacle is antimagic?" she asks.
"Yeah," you say, backing away. "Steel. Should be pretty hard to pry off. By the way, can we schedule a time for the, uh, sharing of your contact list?"
"Certainly," Yuki says. "How does the weekend sound?"
"Should be good," you agree, and turn to Rin and Sakura. You give both of them a broad smile. "Rin, Miss Tachibana... sincerely, thank you for helping today."
"It was our pleasure, Sabrina," Rin says. You can't help but notice the way she grips Sakura's elbow in warning, granted. "Farewell!"
"See you sometime soon," you say, and step aside to let them into the room. "You too, Miss Tsuruya!"
"Indeed!" Yuki agrees, smirking at you. "Have Miss Akemi contact me when she has the location ready for claiming!"
"Can do," you agree. You watch as Yuki grips Sakura's arm, other hand on Anri's shoulder.
And with a quiet vwwp, they're gone.
You blow out a breath, and let yourself relax. She's gone, along with her inconvenient facts of life. Mami cuddles up against your side, a worried frown creasing her brow and silent question on her face. You smile at her, reassuring and warm. You're fine.
You straighten.
"Hey, Oriko, Kirika?" you say, and beam at them. "Thank you both so much for today. You both did a great job. Not just this whole mess with Airi, but just... for everything."
"Thank you, Sabrina," Oriko says, inclining her head. "It was a good experience."
"So, uh... before we head off, I've got a few things," you say.
"By all means?" Oriko says, and gestures back towards the living room.
You follow her down the corridor, taking a few seconds to marshal your thoughts. "So uh... first thing. Would you like me to clean up the graffiti on the outside?"
Oriko blinks slowly at you. "Yes, that would be nice, if unnecessary," she says.
"Alright, cool," you say, Grief fog already moving to your will. Really, you just need to scrape it away. Shouldn't be too hard. "I'll get that done before I leave, then."
"Thank you," Oriko says, inclining her head.
"So... second," you say. You've reached the living room, and you'd take a seat, but you're just about to leave. Not much point sitting down again. "Kirika, could I ask a favour? And I'm sorry to put it on you after everything I've already asked of you today."
"Mm?" Kirika says, blinking bright orange eyes at you.
"Could you help me check some IRCs?" you ask. "I've got the addresses of a couple of magical girl IRCs from Nadia."
Oriko purses her lips. "Are you sure you should be giving those to us?" she asks. "After all, we are under house arrest, nominally to keep me from plotting against you. I would rather... not hand Miss Akemi more metaphorical ammunition. She certainly has enough literal ammunition as it is."
"I... guess that's fair," you say, biting your lip in thought. Yeah, you can see Homura being unhappy about that. It's not like Oriko couldn't have found them out beforehand, were she truly plotting against you, but it's about trust. And Homura's extended you so much already as it is. "Yeah. I... thanks."
Oriko inclines her head slowly, sea-green eyes steady and unflinching. Mami tucks herself under your arm to hug you.
"Right." You blow out a slow, careful breath, and smile at Oriko. "Last thing. Are you, uh... OK with the 'Kures' thing?"
Oriko stumbles. Oriko stumbles, and flushes a bright, instant red, a shade only rivalled by Kirika, who makes a high-pitched squeal and clings even tighter to Oriko's arm.
Mami giggles. It's infectious, and you find yourself smothering your own giggles as you turn to face them properly. As amusing and utterly adorable as it is... you don't really want to belabour the joke if you're making them uncomfortable.
"Y-yes," Oriko manages. "Yes, I- we're fine with it."
Kirika squeals and pulls Oriko into a clinging hug.
You grin at Mami, a little red yourself. "Shall we give them a moment? Or... the rest of the day?" you ask.
"Oh, Sabrina," Mami says, taking your hand and towing you towards the glass doors.
"Well, see you two later!" you call over your shoulder. You don't get any answer, sliding the doors shut and giving the exterior walls a quick once-over. A good job, you think, white paint untouched but graffiti removed. The only traces remaining are where the vandals scored deep enough to carve into the wooden finish itself.
Mami smiles at you. "Fly us home?"
"I'll fly us halfway," you say, winking at her and opening your arms. "And, mm... invite everyone over for the practice session?"
"Definitely," Mami agrees, giving you a brilliant smile and transforming before stepping into the offered hug.
You close your arms around her, one arm around her waist and one around her shoulders to pull her close as wings bloom from your shoulders, rippling out across the garden. A single powerful stroke lofts you airborne, Mami holding tight in your embrace.
"Hey, everyone," you call out across the ether of telepathy. Mami, of course, and Homura and Sayaka and Madoka and Hitomi. Your friends. "Enchantment practice at Mami's apartment, if everyone has the time, and Madoka, Hitomi - you're invited if you want to come along!"
"Ah... maybe not?" Madoka says hesitantly. "I haven't been at club for ages! And I already told mama and papa I'd be home for dinner tonight... I'm sorry!"
"Ah, that's fine," you say. "Um... Hitomi?"
"Similarly, I feel beholden to stay for club activities," Hitomi says. "And I am expected home for dinner, too."
"Yeah, uh... ditto for dinner?" Sayaka says hesitantly. "Sorry. I'll head over soon, though!"
"Oh, don't be ridiculous," you say. "Don't apologise. It just means more of Mami's cooking for me! Homura, what about you?"
"I will be there," Homura murmurs.
"Alright, excellent," you say. "Don't worry about it, Madoka, Hitomi. Also, uh, quick update - the meeting with Miss Tsuruya went well, and I think we're all quite hopeful about the alliance. Things look good!"
"Oh, thank goodness!" Madoka says. "It's great that everyone's getting along!"
"It is," Hitomi agrees.
You chat with them for a few more minutes, giving them a few quick details before signing off. You beam at Mami, her face so close to yours. Her hair streams out in whipping strands of perfect, flaxen gold as she meets your eyes and smiles back. You don't bother shouting over the boom of your wings or the roar of the wind, and instead you breathe words into her mind.
"Looks like we'll get a quiet night at home tonight after everything," you say.
"It would be nice to have some peace," Mami says. "After last night's excitement."
"Yeah, it would," you say, your smile softening as your wings carry you higher over the city, away from the bustle and noise of the millions of people.
You savour the peace.
"Penny for your thoughts, Sabrina?" Mami asks, watching your eyes.
"Many things," you say. "Thinking about our friends, about math, about the future, and about magic."
"Oh?" Mami asks, tightening her arms a little around you.
"I am lucky to have the friends I do," you say softly. "And I'm lucky to have you."
"I'm lucky to have you," Mami says, smiling.
You'd duck your head, but you're kind of carrying Mami right now. Instead, you give her a sheepish grin, that's maybe just a touch abashed. "And... I haven't talked to Nagisa in a while," you say. "Should spend a bit of time to catch up with her sometime."
"I'm sure she's busy settling into her new home," Mami says. "You're a good person, Sabrina."
"I try to be," you say.
"You are," Mami insists.
"Thank you, Mami," you say, returning her smile. What can you say, in the face of the unwavering faith in the way she looks at you?
The conversation lapses for a minute or two, before Mami speaks again. "What about the math?"
"Oh, um, well..." you say, glancing aside. "So, uh... are you familiar with the Banach-Tarski paradox?"
"Ah... broadly? I've heard about it, but we'll only be taught set theory next year," Mami says. "It's a neat trick, but I don't really understand it yet."
You blink at her. Set theory. Anywhere else, you'd call it university level math, but this is Mitakihara.
... To be fair, you're not sure what education standards are like elsewhere. Hm.
"Sabrina?" Mami prompts.
You shake off the disbelief, and grin at her. "Well, the long and the short of it is that if I have a mathematically ideal object consisting of an uncountable infinity of points, I can split it into two objects that are exactly the same as the initial one, right? Because infinities are weird."
"Mmmhm?" Mami says.
"Well... the thing is, I've noticed that Grief is... strange," you say. Understatement right there, right up next to 'Homura's a bit fussy about Madoka's wellbeing'. "And in some ways it does behave like mathematically ideal... stuff."
"So you want to try and see if you can realise the Banach-Tarski paradox?" Mami hazards. "And... multiply your Grief?"
"Yep," you say. "I have no idea what'll happen."
Mami giggles, and cuddles into your arms. "Don't blow up the universe."
"I won't," you say. "It's where Mami is, after all."
Mami blushes a rosy pink, ducking her head against the crook of your neck. Her face is warm against your skin.
The next few minutes pass in a comfortable silence as you soar onwards and upwards, towards the halfway mark over Mitakihara City, as promised.
"Are you ready?" you ask Mami, smiling.
"I am," Mami says, returning the smile. You can feel her magic tightening.
You let her go, trusting her.
And she falls for just seconds, before her own wings ripple into existence, bright gold slashing across the afternoon light. They practically glow under the sun, a brilliant mirror to your own wings, and you laugh as she catches the wind and soars.
You glide alongside her, wingtip to wingtip, and your delighted laughter joins hers as you fly back home together. You tumble down the stairs together, hand-in-hand and still a touch breathless with the simple delight as you pile back into the apartment, flopping down on the sofa.
Homura and Sayaka aren't here yet - still watching Madoka and lingering with Kaoiske, if you had to guess. That gives you time to relax, though, and perhaps brainstorm a little.
"Say, Mami?" you ask.
"Yes, Sabrina?" She doesn't lift her head, draped comfortably over you.
"So... I want to give Oriko and Kirika a bit more freedom, yeah?" you say.
"I remember," Mami says.
"Right, so... I've been thinking a bit over it. As it is, the house arrest works by two things: one, Oriko's goodwill, and two, the fact that it's a known location that we can check. If they're not there, then we know they've broken the arrest, right?" you say, waving a hand in the air.
Mami's silent for a moment, thinking it over. "I... think I see where you're going," she agrees.
"Yeah. So... if we put some kind of tracker on them, it establishes essentially the same effect?" you say slowly. "It creates a known way for us to check on them at will, but gives them freedom."
Mami nods slowly, her hair rustling over your shirt. "But Homura's fear isn't only that of not knowing where they are," she says. "It's of... what manipulations they might set up, correct?"
"Mmm," you agree, frowning.
"So the tracker would let us check on them," Mami agrees hesitantly. "But the freedom means that Miss Mikuni could leave her house, talk to people, and set plans in motion, correct? She has a considerable fortune still, even if she has lost her powers of foresight. If she decided to, she could still do considerable damage."
"That's a fair point," you say, and grimace unhappily. "Do you think it can be done, though?"
"Certainly," Mami agrees. "It should be doable with enchantment... I could work on it later!"
"Do you know if there's a way to do it by mundane means as well?" you ask. "It might be more... reassuring to have some kind of doubly-guaranteed method."
"A personal tracker?" Mami asks, considering. "You could... probably purchase one online?"
"Huh," you say. "Point."
"And..." Mami hesitates for a second. "Sayaka might not be happy regardless. Her concern is in punishing Miss Mikuni and Miss Kure for burning down her house, isn't it?"
"Yeah," you agree with a sigh. "I figure... I need to try and convince her that justice has already been served, which is a tall order, or help her sympathise with Oriko's position, which is... possible, maybe, but it'd take a miracle."
"Perhaps if we convince her that Oriko can be punished by... community service?" Mami suggests. Her tone suggests she doesn't think it too likely. "That her excursions with us are part of her sentence?"
"Maybe," you agree, and fall silent to ruminate on it.
[] Mami
- [X] Hugs
- [] Any other discussion?
[] Science session
- [] Per vote in abeyance
- [] Banach-Tarski
- [] Write-in other avenue of experimentation
[] Homura and Sayaka
- [] Discussing Oriko and Kirika
-- [] Write-in avenue of attack
[] Write-in (word count limit: 150 words)
[X] Telepathy Masami, Hiroko: re: Ono, progress finding Kuroki.
[X] Practice session.
-[x] Homura: Suggest protective magic development.
--[x] "Her shield might indicate an affinity for it."
-[X] Assist Sayaka with power testing
-[x] Confer with Mami on enchantment curriculum
--[x] Practice analyzing/copying enchantments?
--[x] Non-witchy clone, and components thereof, (sight, coloration, etc.)
--[x] Default: Try replicating basic elements of your power.
[X] Practice session.
-[x] Homura: Suggest protective magic development.
--[x] "Her shield might indicate an affinity for it."
-[X] Assist Sayaka with power testing
-[x] Confer with Mami on enchantment curriculum
--[x] Practice analyzing/copying enchantments?
--[x] Non-witchy clone, and components thereof, (sight, coloration, etc.)
--[x] Default: Try replicating basic elements of your power.
=====
Homura and Sayaka will arrive by the next post. The science session will happen, followed by at least the initial parts of the discussion about Oriko and Kirika (unless voted otherwise, of course).
Also, you can, in fact, purchase personal GPS trackers online.
Last edited:
The Phoenixian
The Glacier Witch
- Location
- My own little world
Something tells me Oriko did not see that question coming.
And, as far as the limits of the tracker goes, this looks like the perfect reason to argue that option 2, chaperones, could be helpful.
And, as far as the limits of the tracker goes, this looks like the perfect reason to argue that option 2, chaperones, could be helpful.
Onmur
Archangel of Nutella.
Hmmm... Thought.
One of the reasons we'd be OK leaving O&K free is because we, you know, trust them.
But let's say we go to Homura and Sayaka and tell them 'hey we trust o&k so they should be free it's gonna be ok'.
If we did something like that, Homu would probably double down on her distrust, thinking Oriko's got us fooled or that we're too trusting, so we very much should not use "We're pretty sure Oriko can trusted at this point" as an argument.
Whatever we do, we need to let Homura think we're being distrustful enough of Oriko that she'll feel she can trust us to not get Oriko'd.
One of the reasons we'd be OK leaving O&K free is because we, you know, trust them.
But let's say we go to Homura and Sayaka and tell them 'hey we trust o&k so they should be free it's gonna be ok'.
If we did something like that, Homu would probably double down on her distrust, thinking Oriko's got us fooled or that we're too trusting, so we very much should not use "We're pretty sure Oriko can trusted at this point" as an argument.
Whatever we do, we need to let Homura think we're being distrustful enough of Oriko that she'll feel she can trust us to not get Oriko'd.
Does the anti-magic also block telepathy? Or not because telepathy is provided by Kyubey?
If Anri ever realized what Sabrina fears, it would be quite the threat wouldn't it? She could reach out telepathically to witch-bomb Mami at any time from any location whenever she wants.