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

[X] See if you can contact Lutecia and talk with her.


… Right, you need a communication terminal of some kind. There isn't one in your room, but there's probably one in a common room up here somewhere. You'll just have to follow Sein's directions as best as you can, and if they don't work … well, you can ask Ginga. But that's definitely a last resort. You fly quickly down the hall, passing your room and heading toward the end - and, yes, there is a common area, and it does have a terminal! You land in front of it and start to press the activation key you saw Erio press, then stop and take out Loki. He did connect something before doing anything else, so maybe there's some sort of authorization required …. There isn't any place you can insert the cable, not that you can see, but there is a small cubby-like area near where the cable comes out of the terminal, so you set Loki in that. Then you press the activation key.

The terminal lights up, although it doesn't seem to use Loki in any way. You find the communications area, in almost the same area as on the ship, and start it up. The first thing you try is a direct line to Lutecia's Device. The screen turns blue and displays the word 'Connecting' … and stays that way for a minute. And then a second minute. When it reaches three, you scowl and cancel the signal. Either Lutecia can't answer right now, or doesn't want to, or she's out of range. Or you messed up something, which is frequently a possibility. Then … you decide to skip her dormitory for now; she could be asleep, but if you can contact her unit's main office they should be able to tell you if there's anything strange going on, or if she's even on the planet at the moment. The terminal displays the connection screen for less than thirty seconds before a familiar sight greets you.

"Hello, this is -"

"Lulu! Yay!" You lunge forward, arms spread wide, and 'hug' the terminal, squealing happily. When you pull back, Lutecia's cheeks are flushed, and she looks almost guilty.

"Er, Flan, hi! Um - did you call for something specific, or …?" You nod.

"Mm! I just wanted to call you. I tried calling your Device, but it wouldn't connect me, so I decided to call your unit to see if anything had happened or if you were somewhere else." You wag your finger at her and she looks down for a moment - then she looks up and away from the terminal. After a few seconds, her face lights up and she claps her hands.

"Thank you, Ma'am!" You cock your head as she looks back at you, and she self-consciously adjusts her brown uniform. "I'm actually on-duty right now, but my supervisor said I can talk for a little. Just a little," she emphasizes sternly, holding up a finger, but then she relaxes and smiles again. "I'm glad Nove was able to give you my numbers. Cinque said you all were adjusting to each others' presence …?" You clamp down on your emotions before you can snarl about Nove and her failure. They are friends, after all, or at least on friendly terms, and you don't want to make Lutecia unhappy if you can help it.

"Mm. I've been busy." Maybe you're a little too blunt, though, because Lutecia's eyes narrow slightly.

"Too busy for Nove to give you a few numbers?" You shrug.

"I had to go on a mission with Fate, so I was gone for a couple days." That makes her frown, but her suspicion seems to have vanished.

"A mission …?" You nod, grinning.

"Yep! I even got to have a bit of fun! But I probably shouldn't talk about it just yet. At least not unless it's in person. So when do you think you'll be able to visit? Or maybe I could visit you?" She looks guilty, blushes, and doesn't meet your eyes.

"Um, I probably won't be able to visit for a couple weeks, at least," she begins nervously. At first you're shocked and hurt - but then, she didn't know you were coming, and she probably made as many plans for her free time as she could. After all, she can see her mother now. You wag a finger at her.

"Lulu. Don't feel bad for spending time with your family." Her blush deepens, but she smiles and nods.

"Thank you, Flan." You smile back, but her attention is drawn away again. She pays attention to the other person - her supervisor? - for a while, then nods. "Thank you. Um, if you make an official visit, they can probably arrange for me to show you around, but you'll need your commander's permission, and it'll take a day or two to process the request." You clap gleefully. Maybe Fate will like having a day off, too ….

"Yay! Oh!" You motion for Lutecia to cover her ears, and then you yell into the terminal. "Thank you, supervisor lady!" Lutecia immediately turns redder than your shirt and stares at you, then turns the same direction as when she listened to her supervisor before.

"Um -" She's cut off, listens for a bit, then nods. "Yes, ma'am. Um, she said it wasn't a problem, and she's glad to help any way she can." Then she leans close and whispers furiously. "Flan, don't do that!" She can't fight your satisfied grin for very long, though, and smiles back. Then you scowl and look down at her uniform. "Eh? What's wrong?" You shake your head.

"I don't know. Brown doesn't suit you very well, though." She shakes her head and sighs.

"Well, I am part of the Ground Forces, not the Navy. And I don't look bad in it. My mother likes it, too," she finishes, raising her chin as if daring you to contradict her mother. Not that you're that foolish.

"Ah, well, if Megane thinks it looks good, it must just be me," you say, smirking, and Lutecia giggles. Ah, but is there anything you want to talk about specifically …?


What do you do?

[ ] Keep talking to Lutecia.
- About?

[ ] Let Lutecia get back to work.
- [ ] Go to sleep.
- - [ ] Leave a note for Satsuki.
- [ ] Try to play a game of Satsuki's choosing.
- - [ ] Let Giltless and Headless take charge for a bit.

[ ] Other?

[X] Let Lutecia get back to work.
- [X] Try to play a game of Satsuki's choosing.
- - [X] Let Giltless and Headless take charge for a bit.


You sigh. "Well, I guess if you're at work, I should let you go back to that," you say, not quite pouting. Lutecia's expression falls as well - then she snaps her fingers and her face lights up.

"Wait! You have your Device with you, right?" You frown and nod, and she claps her hands quietly. "We~ell … I could do some remote work to connect our Devices more effectively. Nothing major or invasive. Just making sure they know each other, so if you use your Device when you contact me, I'll get a signal that it's you and not just some terminal or location. It would allow me to call you through your Device, too, but I don't think your Device has that capability. The only thing is … if you have any sensitive information, I'll see that, too." You shrug.

"It's fine. I don't think there's anything particularly important on it." She looks a bit skeptical, but nods.

"Alright, so first you'll have to connect your Device to the terminal you're using …." She walks you through the simple process, but as she starts setting up the connection between your Devices, she frowns. "You … really don't have anything else on your Device, do you?" You shake your head.

"Nope. Juliet had trouble getting a Storage Device to work with me, so after a few failures she just took a high-quality Armed model, and took out everything that wasn't related to the Barrier Jacket." Lutecia nods. "I mean, Loki works, right? So what else would I use a Device for?" She smiles at you.

"Most people who have Devices - at least, the higher-end and Intelligent models - use them to store information or keep track of things. Account numbers, contact information, pictures, and other kinds of data storage and retrieval. And they help mages with spells, of course, but that's a given." She tilts her head and gives you a quizzical look. "You really don't use it for anything?" You shake your head.

"Really, I just wanted one so I didn't have to keep changing clothes after every fight. Everything else … well, it's not like I can use its technological functions anywhere else, I'm not a magician, and I can remember most things perfectly well on my own." Lutecia nods, smiling … sadly?

"Mm. That's right … well, they recognize each other, so if you connect with a terminal before calling me, Asclepius will recognize Loki." The two of you watch each other for a moment, but before Lutecia can say anything else, you throw yourself at the terminal, wrapping your arms around it as best you can.

"Thank you, Lulu!" When you pull back after a few seconds of holding the 'hug,' Lutecia is still blushing brightly and stammering. You hold your arms out wide. "Now you hug me back!" She somehow turns even redder, but after a moment's hesitation she half-stands and leans forward to hug her monitor - or whatever is transmitting the image from her side. The effect is spoiled when she jerks back and pouts angrily at someone else, even raising a fist mock-threateningly, but you giggle all the same. "Um, are there good times to call you?" She shrugs slightly.

"I'm usually free in the evenings during the week; just don't call too late. I'm usually working at something during the day, though. Um … thank you for calling me, Flan." You return her smile and nod energetically.

"Of course! … Then, I'll talk to you later, I guess." She nods, smiling sadly.

"Mm. … Bye." She cuts the communication quickly, and you take your time disconnecting Loki and closing out the terminal. She said she was free during the evenings of the week … so she probably wants to keep the weekends free to spend time with her mother, but didn't say anything so you wouldn't feel bad. Silly girl. Still … hm, just what was she doing? She seemed to be in charge of the communications for her unit, given that she answered your call, but if she's usually free …. Rotational duty, or just a temporary assignment for some reason? You shake your head. It doesn't really matter; what is important is that she didn't press you on how you're getting along with Cinque and her sisters. Although if you do convince Fate to let you visit, she'll probably ask you then. You sigh and shake your head. A quick glance out the window shows that you should have some time until Satsuki wakes up … and then she'll have to read the rules and - hopefully - pick one she likes. You settle down in a corner. Might as well do this now ….

You wake up in the entry hall to your mental-construct castle and slowly make your way up to an upper-floor den. Your friend isn't there, though, nor anywhere else on the 'public' levels - which means they're in their own suite. You find a spiraling staircase and slowly walk down it, then poke your head inside the first open door you come across. Headless and Giltless are sitting on the floor in front of a smoldering fire. Well, Headless is sitting, with Giltless lying across her lap.

"Hey, how are you two doing?" Headless looks up at your sudden intrusion.

"We're … fine, I guess. You?" You shake your head.

"Actually, about that. Do you two want to take over for a bit? I'd really rather not interact with Nove for a while." Headless snaps her fingers in mock-unhappiness, and Giltless rolls over, bowling Headless over.

"Both of us? Can we do that?" You shrug.

"Well, what I was planning on doing is seeing if Satsuki wants to play one of the games downstairs. It's not quite tag or hide and seek, but they might still be fun." Giltless stares at you, mouth open.

"Really?" Headless reaches up to bop Giltless on top of her head.

"She just said that, didn't she? And I'll be there in case you start getting nervous." Headless grins at you. "And I'll try to keep from flaying Nove alive and making a cape from her skin." You scowl at her and make a whapping gesture. She cackles at the lightness of your response.

"Anyway, let me go make sure Satsuki's ready, and when it's ready to get set up I'll let you know." You return to full wakefulness and clamber to your feet. Your deliberately slow pace reaching Headless should have taken enough time ….

You find your servant still in her room, poring over the rules. In fact, she's so engrossed by them that you're able to wait at the door for several minutes before she notices your presence. "Ah! Flandre-sama!" You wave her down.

"So, are they helpful?" Satsuki nods happily.

"Yes! There are even a couple …." She trails off, suddenly nervous, and you smile.

"That you might want to play right now?" She nods.

"If … if it's not a problem …." Your smile widens to a grin.

"Well, let's go down to the game room and see which ones you want to try. And then we'll see about whether or not to include the others." Satsuki hesitates briefly, then smiles bravely at you and nods.

"Y-yeah." She gathers some of the rules and holds them against her chest as she follows you down the hall.

"You want to play with just the two of us?" Not that that should be a problem, of course.

"… I just don't want to be a bother …." You keep yourself from snorting derisively, but you still shake your head.

"If they have a reason to refuse, them explaining why they can't come play won't be you being a bother, and if they don't have a reason to refuse, them being selfish children won't be you being a bother, and if they decide to come play, that won't be you being a bother, either. So you won't be a bother, Satsuki." You glance back at her; she's looking down, not paying attention to you, but after a moment she nods almost imperceptibly.

"Mm." She doesn't seem to agree … but once you're down there and getting the game ready, maybe she'll be more receptive. When you get down to the game room, however, you find Cinque and Ginga already there, playing the 'collapse-the-tower' block game again.

"Flandre, Satsuki. Looking for something to play?" Satsuki nods nervously and you smile.

"Yep! Don't lose your concentration, or you'll lose like last time." Ginga scowls at you and you giggle.

"Do you want to play with everyone? Or would we be in the way right now?" Ginga turns her expression of displeasure on Cinque as Satsuki hunches her shoulders defensively, but after a moment your servant nods.

"Um, I - I think the game I want to play works better with more people, so if it's not too much trouble …." Cinque smiles and bows her head.

"I'll go get them, then. We'll be right back." She quickly takes a piece out of the tower before slipping out of her chair and walking out of the room. Well, that's the big thing out of the way.

"Giltless, are you ready to take over?" She squeals delightedly in response. "Right. Remember to not overdo it, and listen to Headless if she's being serious. I am going to go to sleep." You wait until she gives your body an experimental shudder, then withdraw, falling asleep.

---

"Hey, Flandre. They want you to pick a movie." You scowl, glad that Giltless is still controlling your body as Headless fills you in on what's been happening. They've probably been overdoing things a bit - although whether or not anyone besides Satsuki will know or care …. Regardless, if Headless is bothering you about it, they're probably a bit tired now. Two movies, both about brothers, one involving a lot of violence - favored by Nove and Wendi - and one involving music - favored by Ginga and Cinque. Of course, they'll end up watching both, but they're inviting you and Satsuki to choose the first one, because they're from Earth. Supposedly they're great movies, too.


What do you do?

[ ] The violent movie first.
- [ ] Watch both movies.
- [ ] Don't watch either movie.
- - What do you do instead?

[ ] The musical movie first.
- [ ] Watch both movies.
- [ ] Don't watch either movie.
- - What do you do instead?

[ ] Other?