Flandre's Quest (Touhou) World - (Madness Quest)

[X] Go to sleep.


After a few seconds of glaring at the screen, you sigh and shrug. "Thank you for your time and honesty. I guess I'm done for now." You glance at Sein, still gaping at you. "I press this button to end the call, right?" She somehow goes even paler and her eyes widen in horror, and the captain practically squawks in outrage.

"That's it?!" Before you do anything more than raise an eyebrow at her - what did she want you to do? - Crowbel chuckles dryly.

"I'm so glad you're taking this as well as you are. If she needs it, feel free to tell Enforcer Harlaown about this conversation, please. I don't know how much it'll help, but it's something." You nod, then cock your head.

"Who are you, anyway? I heard 'Admiral Crowbel', but that doesn't mean anything to me on its own." She laughs heartily as the captain and Sein make strangled noises in their throats.

"Admiral Midget Crowbel, Bureau Chief of Staff. And don't worry about disconnecting, Captain can handle that." You nod. At least she's someone at the top of the Bureau, not just a public-relations flunky, which drains the irritation a little.

"Alright. Thank you again. Captain, I'll be going to sleep, so don't bother me unless it's something important." She bites down a no-doubt-tactless response and nods. You bow your head to Crowbel once more, glance at Sein, then turn away from the terminal and walk through the ship to the room you share with Satsuki. Her sleeping bag isn't closed - of course, there's no sun she needs to block out - and you brush her cheek lightly. Of course, she doesn't respond, and you slide between the sleeping bag and the wall, then snuggle up against her and go to sleep.

---

You study Fate as she stands in front of the teleporter. She looks almost fine, just a hint of tightly-controlled muscles in her face and a stiffness to her stance. Satsuki seems to notice it as well, because she gives you a quizzical glance. You shake your head slightly; you'll probably tell her at some point, but now is definitely not the right time. The teleporter lights up for a second time - they'd simply taken Tool right from the infirmary to wherever she's going, but you'd gotten no small amount of satisfaction from seeing Carmilla's terrified expression - and Fate steps through without hesitation. Satsuki takes a breath and waits for the technician to give her the sign to go through. When it's your turn, you nod politely to the captain and step into the teleporter.

It's bright inside the building, of course, and it seems you got a rather deserted part of the terminal. You can see people moving around past a glazed-glass partition, but right here it's virtually empty. Admiral Harlaown walks up to meet Fate, concern clear on her face.

"Fate? If you want, you can take a day of absence tomorrow. You can stay with me -" Fate loses control and stumbles forward to hug her mother, crying helplessly. Lindy wraps her arms around her and makes soothing noises, and you drag your gawking servant away from them to the other people in the room. Erio, Caro, Ginga, and Alph all stare at them for a moment, then Erio and Alph turn toward you.

"What happened?! If you did anything to hurt Fate, I'll -!" You glance at the familiar after she cuts off her whispered attempt at a threat. She's certainly loyal … but then again, they really don't know what's going on. Probably leaving it up to Fate to decide who to tell right now - if Crowbel was telling the truth, what happened is going to come out pretty soon, so you don't need to tell them anything. Especially not the kids.

"… You've been with Fate for a long time?" Alph blinks, taken aback by your apparent non-sequitur, then glares suspiciously.

"Longer than anyone else!" Good enough for you. You pull her toward you, then push her gently toward Fate and Lindy.

"Gently. It was rough for her." Her expression doesn't change much, but she hurries toward her master, and you watch as she reaches up to brush her fingers against Fate's arm. Fate looks down and wails before dropping to her knees and giving her familiar a hug that's more reminiscent of a death-grip than anything else. You turn back to the others; Ginga looks worried, but resigned. Caro simply looks like she wants to help but can't figure out what to do, but you can see Erio's mind working behind his eyes. Ginga clears her throat.

"Admiral Harlaown told me that I'm to take you and Satsuki back to Long Arch if you want to head there now. She didn't think anything else would happen for a day or two." You nod and glance at Fate again. The night isn't yet old, and you could probably teach Satsuki something if you wanted - and there is Sein's message for her sisters. But if Fate does want to bury herself in work instead of taking a day off, maybe you should stick around to make sure people treat her properly - she is your superior officer, after all.


What do you do?

[ ] Head back to Long Arch.
- [ ] Teach Satsuki.
- [ ] Tell Erio and Caro what happened before you leave.

[ ] Stay with Fate.

[ ] Other?