[X] Yes, you will meet with the Director.
Is there a next loop? It's been a while but I thought this was our last chance.
Renascence: A Homura Quest
- Thread starter Higure
- Start date
- Crossover Fantasy Mystery
God no. Higure isn't that mean, we have 5 chances left. Though I don't know if that's 5 more including or excluding this loop.
- Location
- Wingmaiden's Reach, the Near Roofs, Town
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[X] Yes, you will meet with the Director.
Meeting the Director costs us nothing and nets us, at minimum, a better understanding of what's what .
Unless the Director, like, flips out and tries to kill us or whatever. It seems sort of unlikely.
Meeting the Director costs us nothing and nets us, at minimum, a better understanding of what's what .
Unless the Director, like, flips out and tries to kill us or whatever. It seems sort of unlikely.
Macros
omnisciently vague councilman
- Location
- Dirac Sea
[X] Yes, you will meet with the Director.
Not only there's a next loop, but I believe it was stated it would be impossible to achieve the best ending in this loop.
Not only there's a next loop, but I believe it was stated it would be impossible to achieve the best ending in this loop.
- Location
- Voidbetweenstars
This doesn't mean we wont be able to not achieve an ending this loop though.
Macros
omnisciently vague councilman
- Location
- Dirac Sea
Sure. I mean, dying is kind of an ending, right?
More seriously maybe, but is there a reason to not gun for that fabled Golden Ending?
- Location
- Voidbetweenstars
I mean I would not be surprised if hitting another quote unquote good/not bad ending by accident is totally possible.
[X] Yes, you will meet with the Director.
Need to know who's involved in stuff, and we're already here. It's not interfering with any other plans we had. We should probably ramp up paranoia again, though. Someone who knows she's dealing with magical girls is going to have contingencies for dealing with magical girls.
Need to know who's involved in stuff, and we're already here. It's not interfering with any other plans we had. We should probably ramp up paranoia again, though. Someone who knows she's dealing with magical girls is going to have contingencies for dealing with magical girls.
Hyp3rB14d3
Gotta catch 'em all!
[x] Yes, you will meet with the Director.
Omake: Hacking to the Gate
Macros
omnisciently vague councilman
- Location
- Dirac Sea
Well, here's a second attempt at an omake in this thread, hopefully better than the first, following a sudden inspiration (and an attempt at fighting writer block). No beta, barely reread, and I'm seriously bending the rules of a few elements here, but hey, it all made perfect sense to me at the time!
When he woke up this morning, Okabe Rintaro had no reason to believe this day would be especially strange - well, stranger than usual for the chief member of Future Gadget Laboratory at least. There was a time where he would have complained about this relative normalcy, but the events of last summer had been a bit of an eye-opener in that respect. While his alter ego Hououin Kyoma was destined to a life of constant struggle against the Organisation and its insidious plots, he was more than happy to savour the peaceful days that those last months had brought. Nowadays, he simply had to worry about thinking of new inventions for the lab (nothing time-travel related though; never again), trying to convince obtuse university speakers of the narrow-mindedness of their views (to the constant dismay of his chief accomplice Hashida Itaru) and attempting to forge anew the connection he shared with one Makise Kurisu (having one ocean between each other didn't make things simple in that respect; at the very least they had their old banter down to pat).
All in all, while he would never been caught dead admitting it out loud, Okabe Rintaro was far from dissatisfied with his current routine, and especially happy to avoid any time-related shenanigans. Which is why having the splitting headache of his Reading Steiner suddenly going overdrive was an especially bad surprise to him - as well as the fact that he went from the benches of Future Gadget Lab to the benches of Tokyo Denki University in the space of a second.
A panic attack later, immediately followed by a call to Mayuri to make sure that pleasedontbedeadpleasedontbedeadpleasedontbedead- the self-proclaimed mad scientist did his best to organize his racing thoughts. Had the timeline changed? But that was impossible! Following Operation Skuld, he had made sure to dispose of Future Gadget 008 (also known as the Phone Microwave), making D-Mails and Time Leaps impossible to perform anymore. What was going on?! And more importantly, what changed? That was when he noticed the date displayed by the computer screen he had been apparently working on.
March 16th. Earlier today, it had been the first day of May.
"Son of a b-"
***
The next days were spent in a frantic search for any abnormal event in his entourage, earning himself Itaru's sarcasms and Mayuri's concerns in the process. Yet the only change he could notice around him was Mr Braun taking an impromptu vacation a few days later. Okabe Rintaro wasn't entirely sure of what could have brought this on, but that meant no rent to pay for a while, so he wasn't about to complain. In the end, everything else seemed absolutely ordinary. After two weeks of waiting for the other shoe to drop, he finally allowed himself to relax. No-one seemed to go after him or his friends, and that was good enough for him. If not for the re-used material in his classes, he would have been ready to believe he dreamt the whole thing. And since the last time he meddled with time-travel, he almost lost everything, he wasn't about to investigate further into that strange, singular occurrence. This would be the end of that, and everything would be fine.
May 1st turning into March 16th once again shattered that comforting illusion.
***
Once again, Okabe Rintaro went through the same month and a half. This... was discomforting. His previous experiences with time-travel had been desperate and painful, but at least he had felt like he had some control over it. It had been the worst days of his life, but at least he had been the one to decide when to go back in time and what to change, even if the results rarely matched his expectations. But now he was caught in a loop where nothing dramatic happened, none of his friends were murdered, nothing even really seemed to change... And yet time already started over twice. Impulse and desperation made him call the only person who, as far as he knew, could have maybe built a working time machine.
To say that Makise Kurisu resented the implication had been an understatement. After a heated phone conversation involving the logistics of time-travel, the lack of regular phone calls, that yes their summer plans were still on, ten different nicknames and dubious banana allusions, Okabe was relatively certain that whatever the reason for his impromptu time-travel, his trusted Lab Member 004 wasn't responsible. Which was both a relief and a problem, because now he had no idea what to do from now on. Maybe time would not loop once again, and this would be the end of it? He could only pray it would be the case.
In retrospect, he should have known that simply praying never did him any good.
***
47 days repeated themselves again and again and again. This was hell. A different one from what he went through almost a year ago, mind you. This time, it seemed that the plan wasn't to destroy him through despair, but through sheer boredom. 47 days repeated themselves again, and again, and again. Each time, Okabe tried to find the thread that could give an explanation, the beginning of a clue for what caused this endless repetition, only to come up short every time. There was nothing! No difference around him - bar his friends growing more and more worried about him as each loop was slowly taking its toll. 47 days repeated themselves again and again and again. Each time the first day of May grew close, Okabe could feel this sense of dread incoming, knowing that soon he'd find himself reliving the same month, for no apparent reason and with no visible way out. Each time a treacherous part of his brain whispered that maybe this time would be different, that this loop would be the last. Each time that part of him was proven wrong. 47 days repeated themselves again and again and again.
***
In the end, he decided to do what he swore himself never to do again: asking Hashida to hack into SERN. It was, by all accounts, a terrible idea; poking that bear was what started his hellish days of August last time around. But after dozens of time going through the same month and a half and with no end in sight, SERN was maybe his only remaining suspect when it came to time-travel. If they were responsible, then he'll... Well he wasn't quite what he would be able to do against an organization with a private secret army and whose main base was on the other side of the world, but he'd find a way, damn it!
Though maaaybe waiting for the last week before the loop to make the hacking attempt was more prudent. Just in case.
Hashida grumbled all the way, complaining about chuunibyo's delusions and this time, you're really losing it man all the way, but was pretty easy to convince all in all. In the end, Okabe suspected his Hack of a friend only needed a pretext to take on that challenge - and one the mad scientist knew from experience he'd win. As expected, Lab Member 003 delivered, leaving Okabe RIntaro with... confusing informations.
Contrary to what he had believed at first, the hacked files didn't seem to indicate SERN were the origin of the timeline disturbance. But their constant outlook for signs of time-travel in the world seemed to have picked up something - mentions of an anomaly on March 16th. Feeling his heartbeat quicken, Okabe jumped to the presumed point of origin.
Mitakihara city?
He didn't know anything about this place, but using the shinkansen, it would only be a two-hours ride from Tokyo. Convenient. Still, it was probably too late in this timeline to go there and try to find the source of the anomaly. Instead, Okabe went online, trying to find anything about Mitakihara that could mark this city as peculiar. The results after a couple days of search were... disturbing.
Schoolgirls vanishing out of thin air. Others being found dead without any visible wound on them. Mass suicide attempts. Rumours of weaponry being stolen on a military base.
... what the hell was wrong with this city?!
Still, when March 16th came again, he was ready.
***
"What do you mean, taking a month-long vacation, starting now? Damn it Okabe, I told you already, I can't just up and leave for just a... a romantic escapade! I have important work here!"
"My, jumping to conclusions, are we, Christina? I'm afraid though that this is a matter most serious! The Organization is on the move again, requiring the full expertise of Future Gadget Lab members to be deployed against their plots!"
"There's no T-oh why am I ever bothering." Makise Kurisu let out a resigned sigh. Why did she fall for that weirdo again? "Seriously, I can't drop everything I'm doing and cross the Pacific Ocean just because you're asking. What's wrong?"
She had expected a maniacal laugh followed by a tirade against this imaginary Organization of his, but instead her question was answered by a heavy silence. On the other hand of the phone, she could hear Okabe hold a nervous breath. When he eventually answered, there was no trace of his usual bravado.
"I'm... not sure. I know you still have a hard time believing what I told you last summer, but there's something going on with... that. And I need you to figure it out."
Makise couldn't prevent a blush, glad he wasn't able to see it through the phone. Now that just wasn't fair. Still, she had to keep a level head. She remembered her seemingly insane conversation with Okabe that one time, about timelines, world wars and her dying. Yet her own, strangely blurred memories didn't allow her to simply dismiss this tale. There had been... something... going on at that time. More importantly, while she tended to not give any credit to that insane Hououin Kyoma persona of his, Okabe Rintaro she tended to trust, even against her better judgement. And right now, he sounded dead serious.
"... Very well, I'll see what I can do. You better have a really good explanation when I arrive, mister."
"Thank you... Kurisu."
She winced. If he was desperate enough to use her real name, then things were worse than she thought.
***
Standing on the roof of the hotel him and his fellow lab members had booked, Okabe Rintaro looked at Mitakihara for the first time. He had to admit, it was quite a sight, its shimmering towers of glass giving the city an almost ethereal appearance. Yet somewhere in those streets, someone had turned back the clock dozens of times. His first instinct was to be angry about that, about these pointless days repeating themselves over and over. And yet...
He remembered his own desperation when he went back over and over to save his dear Mayuri. He thought about those police reports, about those girls missing or dead. Was someone trying to prevent that, attempting over and over to overturn a converging point in the world lines? If that was true... Then there was only one course of action open to him.
"Tremble, Mitakihara City! For the great Hououin Kyoma has you in his sight!" He thrust an arm forward, letting is lab coat billowing to the winds. "Soon, all of your secrets will be mine, with time itself bending to my will! The time for Operation Frigg... is now!" His declaration was punctuated by a triumphant laugh, worthy of his mad scientist title. Soon, every denizen of this town would learn to fear that sound.
"Okarin, our neighbours are complaining you're too loud again. They say they'll call the reception if you keep this up."
"Ah. Erm, sorry. I'll shut up now."
... Maybe the evil laugh wasn't absolutely needed after all.
All in all, while he would never been caught dead admitting it out loud, Okabe Rintaro was far from dissatisfied with his current routine, and especially happy to avoid any time-related shenanigans. Which is why having the splitting headache of his Reading Steiner suddenly going overdrive was an especially bad surprise to him - as well as the fact that he went from the benches of Future Gadget Lab to the benches of Tokyo Denki University in the space of a second.
A panic attack later, immediately followed by a call to Mayuri to make sure that pleasedontbedeadpleasedontbedeadpleasedontbedead- the self-proclaimed mad scientist did his best to organize his racing thoughts. Had the timeline changed? But that was impossible! Following Operation Skuld, he had made sure to dispose of Future Gadget 008 (also known as the Phone Microwave), making D-Mails and Time Leaps impossible to perform anymore. What was going on?! And more importantly, what changed? That was when he noticed the date displayed by the computer screen he had been apparently working on.
March 16th. Earlier today, it had been the first day of May.
"Son of a b-"
***
The next days were spent in a frantic search for any abnormal event in his entourage, earning himself Itaru's sarcasms and Mayuri's concerns in the process. Yet the only change he could notice around him was Mr Braun taking an impromptu vacation a few days later. Okabe Rintaro wasn't entirely sure of what could have brought this on, but that meant no rent to pay for a while, so he wasn't about to complain. In the end, everything else seemed absolutely ordinary. After two weeks of waiting for the other shoe to drop, he finally allowed himself to relax. No-one seemed to go after him or his friends, and that was good enough for him. If not for the re-used material in his classes, he would have been ready to believe he dreamt the whole thing. And since the last time he meddled with time-travel, he almost lost everything, he wasn't about to investigate further into that strange, singular occurrence. This would be the end of that, and everything would be fine.
May 1st turning into March 16th once again shattered that comforting illusion.
***
Once again, Okabe Rintaro went through the same month and a half. This... was discomforting. His previous experiences with time-travel had been desperate and painful, but at least he had felt like he had some control over it. It had been the worst days of his life, but at least he had been the one to decide when to go back in time and what to change, even if the results rarely matched his expectations. But now he was caught in a loop where nothing dramatic happened, none of his friends were murdered, nothing even really seemed to change... And yet time already started over twice. Impulse and desperation made him call the only person who, as far as he knew, could have maybe built a working time machine.
To say that Makise Kurisu resented the implication had been an understatement. After a heated phone conversation involving the logistics of time-travel, the lack of regular phone calls, that yes their summer plans were still on, ten different nicknames and dubious banana allusions, Okabe was relatively certain that whatever the reason for his impromptu time-travel, his trusted Lab Member 004 wasn't responsible. Which was both a relief and a problem, because now he had no idea what to do from now on. Maybe time would not loop once again, and this would be the end of it? He could only pray it would be the case.
In retrospect, he should have known that simply praying never did him any good.
***
47 days repeated themselves again and again and again. This was hell. A different one from what he went through almost a year ago, mind you. This time, it seemed that the plan wasn't to destroy him through despair, but through sheer boredom. 47 days repeated themselves again, and again, and again. Each time, Okabe tried to find the thread that could give an explanation, the beginning of a clue for what caused this endless repetition, only to come up short every time. There was nothing! No difference around him - bar his friends growing more and more worried about him as each loop was slowly taking its toll. 47 days repeated themselves again and again and again. Each time the first day of May grew close, Okabe could feel this sense of dread incoming, knowing that soon he'd find himself reliving the same month, for no apparent reason and with no visible way out. Each time a treacherous part of his brain whispered that maybe this time would be different, that this loop would be the last. Each time that part of him was proven wrong. 47 days repeated themselves again and again and again.
***
In the end, he decided to do what he swore himself never to do again: asking Hashida to hack into SERN. It was, by all accounts, a terrible idea; poking that bear was what started his hellish days of August last time around. But after dozens of time going through the same month and a half and with no end in sight, SERN was maybe his only remaining suspect when it came to time-travel. If they were responsible, then he'll... Well he wasn't quite what he would be able to do against an organization with a private secret army and whose main base was on the other side of the world, but he'd find a way, damn it!
Though maaaybe waiting for the last week before the loop to make the hacking attempt was more prudent. Just in case.
Hashida grumbled all the way, complaining about chuunibyo's delusions and this time, you're really losing it man all the way, but was pretty easy to convince all in all. In the end, Okabe suspected his Hack of a friend only needed a pretext to take on that challenge - and one the mad scientist knew from experience he'd win. As expected, Lab Member 003 delivered, leaving Okabe RIntaro with... confusing informations.
Contrary to what he had believed at first, the hacked files didn't seem to indicate SERN were the origin of the timeline disturbance. But their constant outlook for signs of time-travel in the world seemed to have picked up something - mentions of an anomaly on March 16th. Feeling his heartbeat quicken, Okabe jumped to the presumed point of origin.
Mitakihara city?
He didn't know anything about this place, but using the shinkansen, it would only be a two-hours ride from Tokyo. Convenient. Still, it was probably too late in this timeline to go there and try to find the source of the anomaly. Instead, Okabe went online, trying to find anything about Mitakihara that could mark this city as peculiar. The results after a couple days of search were... disturbing.
Schoolgirls vanishing out of thin air. Others being found dead without any visible wound on them. Mass suicide attempts. Rumours of weaponry being stolen on a military base.
... what the hell was wrong with this city?!
Still, when March 16th came again, he was ready.
***
"What do you mean, taking a month-long vacation, starting now? Damn it Okabe, I told you already, I can't just up and leave for just a... a romantic escapade! I have important work here!"
"My, jumping to conclusions, are we, Christina? I'm afraid though that this is a matter most serious! The Organization is on the move again, requiring the full expertise of Future Gadget Lab members to be deployed against their plots!"
"There's no T-oh why am I ever bothering." Makise Kurisu let out a resigned sigh. Why did she fall for that weirdo again? "Seriously, I can't drop everything I'm doing and cross the Pacific Ocean just because you're asking. What's wrong?"
She had expected a maniacal laugh followed by a tirade against this imaginary Organization of his, but instead her question was answered by a heavy silence. On the other hand of the phone, she could hear Okabe hold a nervous breath. When he eventually answered, there was no trace of his usual bravado.
"I'm... not sure. I know you still have a hard time believing what I told you last summer, but there's something going on with... that. And I need you to figure it out."
Makise couldn't prevent a blush, glad he wasn't able to see it through the phone. Now that just wasn't fair. Still, she had to keep a level head. She remembered her seemingly insane conversation with Okabe that one time, about timelines, world wars and her dying. Yet her own, strangely blurred memories didn't allow her to simply dismiss this tale. There had been... something... going on at that time. More importantly, while she tended to not give any credit to that insane Hououin Kyoma persona of his, Okabe Rintaro she tended to trust, even against her better judgement. And right now, he sounded dead serious.
"... Very well, I'll see what I can do. You better have a really good explanation when I arrive, mister."
"Thank you... Kurisu."
She winced. If he was desperate enough to use her real name, then things were worse than she thought.
***
Standing on the roof of the hotel him and his fellow lab members had booked, Okabe Rintaro looked at Mitakihara for the first time. He had to admit, it was quite a sight, its shimmering towers of glass giving the city an almost ethereal appearance. Yet somewhere in those streets, someone had turned back the clock dozens of times. His first instinct was to be angry about that, about these pointless days repeating themselves over and over. And yet...
He remembered his own desperation when he went back over and over to save his dear Mayuri. He thought about those police reports, about those girls missing or dead. Was someone trying to prevent that, attempting over and over to overturn a converging point in the world lines? If that was true... Then there was only one course of action open to him.
"Tremble, Mitakihara City! For the great Hououin Kyoma has you in his sight!" He thrust an arm forward, letting is lab coat billowing to the winds. "Soon, all of your secrets will be mine, with time itself bending to my will! The time for Operation Frigg... is now!" His declaration was punctuated by a triumphant laugh, worthy of his mad scientist title. Soon, every denizen of this town would learn to fear that sound.
"Okarin, our neighbours are complaining you're too loud again. They say they'll call the reception if you keep this up."
"Ah. Erm, sorry. I'll shut up now."
... Maybe the evil laugh wasn't absolutely needed after all.
It's not quite how Reading Steiner usually works, but hey, maybe it reacts differently to magical time-travel! And I'm not about to let a technicality get in the way of an idea, damn it!
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Poor Okabe.
Spectral Waltz
Scatterbrained Writer
- Location
- Walking the Endless Corridors
...Nuts to an Omake, I want to see this as a stand-alone story!
Higure
Witch of Faith
- Location
- The Golden Land
Canon. Unless you'd prefer it not to be, Macros.
Rewards:
1. A Fateful Meeting: Okarin and Kurisu make rapid progress by good fortune, and appear soon in this loop.
2. Connoisseurs of Crazy: Homura and Okarin, both being slightly unhinged time travelers, find it easy to get along; their conversations make little sense to anyone else, though.
3. Trait "Mad Scientist!": +5 to Research, Mechanics Expertise, and Electronics Expertise when working in fringe science, quantum physics, and the like. Does not apply to magic.
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Entropy Judge
Recurring Bouts of Misanthropy
*Looks at Character Sheet*
... I just noticed that Homura can wear rivers.
Macros
omnisciently vague councilman
- Location
- Dirac Sea
Well, I'm fine with this being canon!
Hmmm. Hmmmmm. That Mad Scientist sweet lab coat is really tempting, but I think I'll go with Connoisseurs of Crazy, due to the potential hilarity of Akemi Madness meeting Hououin Kyoma, and getting along like a house on fire.
Higure
Witch of Faith
- Location
- The Golden Land
Would this have only applied this loop, or was that just unfortunate wording?
Higure
Witch of Faith
- Location
- The Golden Land
No, it'd be a one loop bonus. Next loop, it would have taken longer for them to find the Homu.
The Director
Higure
Witch of Faith
- Location
- The Golden Land
"I will speak to her, at least." You say. Ruki looks to you, eyes slightly wide, but nods after a moment of consideration, "If that's what Senpai wants, then I'm in too."
The man nods, looking at Rose, "Last chance." She shakes her head, and he shrugs, "Fine then. Follow me, you two. I'll show you to her office."
He begins walking, and the two of you follow in silence.
Soon enough, he comes to a pair of double doors, and holds one open, waving you inside.
Within, you find a large, well-furnished office. A heavy, ornate wooden desk is the centerpiece, with bookshelves lining the walls and a long, white carpet running the length of the room. There are no windows, real or false.
Behind the desk, which is littered with paperwork, you see a girl in her late teens, wearing a suit, albeit not the style you associate with the average government official. She looks fit, if slightly frail, moving smoothly with a dancer's grace. In spite of her carefully controlled body language, you can see a certain panicked mania in her eyes as she smiles a bit stiffly at the two of you, waving towards a pair of comfortable-looking chairs in front of the desk.
https://www.deviantart.com/koyorin/art/Weiss-584315250
"My apologies for the sudden invitation, but I wasn't aware we had two new Magi in the city until about thirty minutes ago. It seems Rose and her new friends don't feel the need to report major security concerns to the people who pay them."
The already strained smile becomes a bit more brittle, but she shakes it off and continues, "So, yes, I would have loved to arrange a meeting properly and have chance to play host, but this will have to do for now."
Ruki doesn't react visibly, but you hear her voice in your mind, 'Is this actually the director?'
You nod politely to the suited girl and take your seat as you respond in kind, 'I'm not certain, but we will play along for now.'
At that, Ruki joins you in sitting down, and the girl places her hands on the desk, revealing what you already expected--a magical girl's ring.
She sees you looking and nods, "Yes, I am, in fact, also a Magus. That shouldn't come as a surprise, I'd imagine, considering the Mercenaries are willing to work for me at all."
"But wouldn't that be a huge problem? I mean, wouldn't they want a normal person in charge of this kind of thing? Why would they give you…?" Ruki trails off, hesitating to finish her question as the girl's eyes narrow, emphasizing the scar over her eye.
"That is personal, but, to put it simply, they were not given a choice in the matter. The previous Director had to be dealt with, and I was the only candidate to replace him."
Ruki quails at that, but you take the opening, letting just a bit of heat rise in your blood, "I don't recall the United States removing their officials from office by way of execution as a standard practice. I take it that decision wasn't theirs either?"
The girl grimaces, "I have no clue what you're talking about." You take the admission for what it is, and leave it at that.
She straightens, arms folding in front of her defensively, only for her to briefly glance down at them, seemingly surprised by the motion. At that, she sighs heavily, spreading them in front of her as she makes a show of relaxing, "I'm very sorry about that--I'm not usually so defensive, but it's been a stressful month. Let's try this again."
She stands, leaning over the desk to offer a handshake (with her ringless left hand, of course), "Snow. No surname."
You take it, subtly removing your ring and moving it to your right hand first, "Akemi Homura. Heir to the line." You regret the last words even as they come out, reflecting that your family's charisma certainly has downsides.
She winces subtly, "Yes, I recall. I…" She hesitates, "I know your reputation well. Your family's name reaches most places, at least to some degree. I hear your father has been doing exciting work in virtual reality, as of late."
Your eyebrow twitches involuntarily at that, "He should be making clocks, not games."
Snow's smile stiffens a bit again, "Oh, right, of course. Family tradition and all."
You begin to nod, but sudden intuition stops you as you recall her words, 'No surname. A falling out with her family, then, or no family at all.' You shiver slightly at the thought, and answer differently, "I suppose, but I honestly just wish we had that to bring us together. As it is, we are worlds apart." It is not entirely a lie, at least, even if his abandonment of the family's craft bothers you more.
Her smile warms at your words, "That must get lonely." You consider that, but find that you do not recall if you were lonely before, and answer honestly, "Perhaps. I find that friends ease that."
You realize too late the offer you had just implied, and are forced to roll with it as her eyes light up, "They do, I--" She trails off, glancing down as she realizes how long the handshake has been going on, then releases your hand as if burned, blushing slightly a she tries to pull herself together, "I am very pleased to meet you, Miss Akemi."
You nod, "Likewise, Snow. We hope this meeting will form a strong foundation for our future relationship." As those words leave your mouth, inciting another blush, you smother your family's madness completely, no longer willing to risk any further complication from its influence.
Ruki gives you a wide-eyed look at those words, and you carefully do not react, continuing on with forced calm, "In terms of territory disputes and cooperation against the ongoing threat to Mitakihara, of course."
Snow nods quickly, "Of course. Where was I?" Her eyes lock on to Ruki, and she quickly reaches over to shake the other girl's hand. Ruki returns the handshake, not even bothering to remove her ring first (which draws a slight widening of the eyes from Snow), "Ruki Shironome."
Snow smiles, this one more genuine, "Nice to meet you, Ruki. I hope we can work together in the future."
Ruki awkwardly forces a smile, "Yeah, maybe." You stifle the urge to scold her at her poor etiquette, but move on.
Seemingly unphased, Snow takes her seat again and explains, "Alright, so, I requested the two of you because I want your help, and would like to help you too. Now, as you know, the local Witch populace is becoming hard to manage. Rose's group is trying to help, but they're not going to be able to keep up if the growth curve persists as we expect it to. Within a few months, Mitakihara will be drowning in Witches, unless we can do something major to stifle their reproduction."
You consider that, recalling previous loops, and nod in agreement--the flood of Witches was a precursor to Walpurgisnacht, but it would be a true disaster if the population continued to grow afterwards.
Snow, taking your nod as support, continues before you can even consider mentioning Walpurgisnacht, "So, I want to arrange a purge. You two, me, my team, Rose's team, Mami Tomoe, Kyouko Sakura, and anyone else we can find would spend a week straight hunting down every Witch and Familiar we can find, with the DoD's resources to help us track them down. It will probably be in early May, since I've got some potential allies I can fly in around that time."
She smiles confidently, "Now, I know you're worried about the Seeds and territory disputes, but I've got a plan for that. First of all, only one in eight Seeds will go to anyone besides local Magi," She gives you a firm nod, as if to reassure you, "And we'll pay you handsomely in cash for letting us help you hunt. You would also be gaining the ongoing support of the D.o.D. and U.S.F.J., if you need to do a little work outside the normal boundaries of the law, or just want a bunch of fancy equipment. In fact--"
Ruki cuts her spiel off, "Please, Snow, stop for a second. I'm not even sure what you're talking about, Senpai's already got plenty of money, and this sounds really dangerou--"
Snow returns the favor smoothly, "We'll fund the Museum."
Ruki goes silent at that, eyes wide, and looks to you pleadingly.
You find yourself in a complex position, now. After all, you're fairly certain the rest of the Witches are devoured by Walpurgisnacht when she arrives, meaning that nothing is likely to actually come of this. On the other hand, though, possibly having more Magi in town when Walpurgisnacht hits could be very helpful, if they weren't the kinds of girls to make things worse.
You could simply tell Snow about Walpurgisnacht, and hope she is willing to put resources towards dealing with it, but it seems very likely that her superiors will insist on simply evacuating instead, leaving you with no additional help.
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The man nods, looking at Rose, "Last chance." She shakes her head, and he shrugs, "Fine then. Follow me, you two. I'll show you to her office."
He begins walking, and the two of you follow in silence.
Soon enough, he comes to a pair of double doors, and holds one open, waving you inside.
Within, you find a large, well-furnished office. A heavy, ornate wooden desk is the centerpiece, with bookshelves lining the walls and a long, white carpet running the length of the room. There are no windows, real or false.
Behind the desk, which is littered with paperwork, you see a girl in her late teens, wearing a suit, albeit not the style you associate with the average government official. She looks fit, if slightly frail, moving smoothly with a dancer's grace. In spite of her carefully controlled body language, you can see a certain panicked mania in her eyes as she smiles a bit stiffly at the two of you, waving towards a pair of comfortable-looking chairs in front of the desk.
https://www.deviantart.com/koyorin/art/Weiss-584315250
"My apologies for the sudden invitation, but I wasn't aware we had two new Magi in the city until about thirty minutes ago. It seems Rose and her new friends don't feel the need to report major security concerns to the people who pay them."
The already strained smile becomes a bit more brittle, but she shakes it off and continues, "So, yes, I would have loved to arrange a meeting properly and have chance to play host, but this will have to do for now."
Ruki doesn't react visibly, but you hear her voice in your mind, 'Is this actually the director?'
You nod politely to the suited girl and take your seat as you respond in kind, 'I'm not certain, but we will play along for now.'
At that, Ruki joins you in sitting down, and the girl places her hands on the desk, revealing what you already expected--a magical girl's ring.
She sees you looking and nods, "Yes, I am, in fact, also a Magus. That shouldn't come as a surprise, I'd imagine, considering the Mercenaries are willing to work for me at all."
"But wouldn't that be a huge problem? I mean, wouldn't they want a normal person in charge of this kind of thing? Why would they give you…?" Ruki trails off, hesitating to finish her question as the girl's eyes narrow, emphasizing the scar over her eye.
"That is personal, but, to put it simply, they were not given a choice in the matter. The previous Director had to be dealt with, and I was the only candidate to replace him."
Ruki quails at that, but you take the opening, letting just a bit of heat rise in your blood, "I don't recall the United States removing their officials from office by way of execution as a standard practice. I take it that decision wasn't theirs either?"
The girl grimaces, "I have no clue what you're talking about." You take the admission for what it is, and leave it at that.
She straightens, arms folding in front of her defensively, only for her to briefly glance down at them, seemingly surprised by the motion. At that, she sighs heavily, spreading them in front of her as she makes a show of relaxing, "I'm very sorry about that--I'm not usually so defensive, but it's been a stressful month. Let's try this again."
She stands, leaning over the desk to offer a handshake (with her ringless left hand, of course), "Snow. No surname."
You take it, subtly removing your ring and moving it to your right hand first, "Akemi Homura. Heir to the line." You regret the last words even as they come out, reflecting that your family's charisma certainly has downsides.
She winces subtly, "Yes, I recall. I…" She hesitates, "I know your reputation well. Your family's name reaches most places, at least to some degree. I hear your father has been doing exciting work in virtual reality, as of late."
Your eyebrow twitches involuntarily at that, "He should be making clocks, not games."
Snow's smile stiffens a bit again, "Oh, right, of course. Family tradition and all."
You begin to nod, but sudden intuition stops you as you recall her words, 'No surname. A falling out with her family, then, or no family at all.' You shiver slightly at the thought, and answer differently, "I suppose, but I honestly just wish we had that to bring us together. As it is, we are worlds apart." It is not entirely a lie, at least, even if his abandonment of the family's craft bothers you more.
Her smile warms at your words, "That must get lonely." You consider that, but find that you do not recall if you were lonely before, and answer honestly, "Perhaps. I find that friends ease that."
You realize too late the offer you had just implied, and are forced to roll with it as her eyes light up, "They do, I--" She trails off, glancing down as she realizes how long the handshake has been going on, then releases your hand as if burned, blushing slightly a she tries to pull herself together, "I am very pleased to meet you, Miss Akemi."
You nod, "Likewise, Snow. We hope this meeting will form a strong foundation for our future relationship." As those words leave your mouth, inciting another blush, you smother your family's madness completely, no longer willing to risk any further complication from its influence.
Ruki gives you a wide-eyed look at those words, and you carefully do not react, continuing on with forced calm, "In terms of territory disputes and cooperation against the ongoing threat to Mitakihara, of course."
Snow nods quickly, "Of course. Where was I?" Her eyes lock on to Ruki, and she quickly reaches over to shake the other girl's hand. Ruki returns the handshake, not even bothering to remove her ring first (which draws a slight widening of the eyes from Snow), "Ruki Shironome."
Snow smiles, this one more genuine, "Nice to meet you, Ruki. I hope we can work together in the future."
Ruki awkwardly forces a smile, "Yeah, maybe." You stifle the urge to scold her at her poor etiquette, but move on.
Seemingly unphased, Snow takes her seat again and explains, "Alright, so, I requested the two of you because I want your help, and would like to help you too. Now, as you know, the local Witch populace is becoming hard to manage. Rose's group is trying to help, but they're not going to be able to keep up if the growth curve persists as we expect it to. Within a few months, Mitakihara will be drowning in Witches, unless we can do something major to stifle their reproduction."
You consider that, recalling previous loops, and nod in agreement--the flood of Witches was a precursor to Walpurgisnacht, but it would be a true disaster if the population continued to grow afterwards.
Snow, taking your nod as support, continues before you can even consider mentioning Walpurgisnacht, "So, I want to arrange a purge. You two, me, my team, Rose's team, Mami Tomoe, Kyouko Sakura, and anyone else we can find would spend a week straight hunting down every Witch and Familiar we can find, with the DoD's resources to help us track them down. It will probably be in early May, since I've got some potential allies I can fly in around that time."
She smiles confidently, "Now, I know you're worried about the Seeds and territory disputes, but I've got a plan for that. First of all, only one in eight Seeds will go to anyone besides local Magi," She gives you a firm nod, as if to reassure you, "And we'll pay you handsomely in cash for letting us help you hunt. You would also be gaining the ongoing support of the D.o.D. and U.S.F.J., if you need to do a little work outside the normal boundaries of the law, or just want a bunch of fancy equipment. In fact--"
Ruki cuts her spiel off, "Please, Snow, stop for a second. I'm not even sure what you're talking about, Senpai's already got plenty of money, and this sounds really dangerou--"
Snow returns the favor smoothly, "We'll fund the Museum."
Ruki goes silent at that, eyes wide, and looks to you pleadingly.
You find yourself in a complex position, now. After all, you're fairly certain the rest of the Witches are devoured by Walpurgisnacht when she arrives, meaning that nothing is likely to actually come of this. On the other hand, though, possibly having more Magi in town when Walpurgisnacht hits could be very helpful, if they weren't the kinds of girls to make things worse.
You could simply tell Snow about Walpurgisnacht, and hope she is willing to put resources towards dealing with it, but it seems very likely that her superiors will insist on simply evacuating instead, leaving you with no additional help.
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- Location
- The Beach
You cannot stop it Homura, let it flooww through you!
As for plan of action, I don't see a pressing need to tell her about Walpurgisnacht? Though I could be convinced to go along with it. Considering, I don't think we've told anyone else yet about it coming yet either.
AnonymousRabbit
Rabbit Faced
Maybe we can tell her about Wally later after we ensure we got some solid backing in order to convince her that we're not just gonna send everyone to die to a megawitch?
Macros
omnisciently vague councilman
- Location
- Dirac Sea
Oh dear, we stumbled upon another Mami.
Anyway... Yeah, I don't think we should talk about Walpurgisnacht for now? Perhaps later, once we do get a better idea of who we're working with?
We didn't? I honestly can't remember. Well, by canon, Mami at least should be aware of it... somehow.
Homura: "Goddammit Swag! I shut you off, stay off."
I think the only problem would be stamina for the hunting expedition? Magical, mental, and physical I mean, cause Witches are no joke.
Oh. Right. And then there's Nanoha. Hmm... *Shrug*
It would be a good source of Grief Seeds if we could pull it off, but it seems like it might be a bit of a higher end risk/reward scenario. Also getting Kyouko to play nice with strangers.
We'll need to see about investigating the last director that was here later as well. And make sure to keep an eye on the fallout from Snow taking over. I would guess something in there is important to our Golden Ending scenario and knowing the backgrounds and fallout of things naturally playing out could- okay, almost certainly will be needed.
In this example Wally would already be broken. I couldn't say how much the Karmic weight generated would help her, but it's implied it did something to make her more powerful over the loops.
As far as I know at least.
If it's true then killing all the Witches might be like plugging up a few rivers feeding the ocean at this point. *Shrug*
I think the only problem would be stamina for the hunting expedition? Magical, mental, and physical I mean, cause Witches are no joke.
Oh. Right. And then there's Nanoha. Hmm... *Shrug*
It would be a good source of Grief Seeds if we could pull it off, but it seems like it might be a bit of a higher end risk/reward scenario. Also getting Kyouko to play nice with strangers.
We'll need to see about investigating the last director that was here later as well. And make sure to keep an eye on the fallout from Snow taking over. I would guess something in there is important to our Golden Ending scenario and knowing the backgrounds and fallout of things naturally playing out could- okay, almost certainly will be needed.
If it was normal, yeah actually, that would be a decent idea to try and help keep it weaker. Unfortunately I think it's canon that Homura's time shenanigans were giving Karmic weight to three beings: Madoka, Herself, and Wally. And Homura herself is the only one who doesn't benefit from that because she's already... sealed her Karmic weight into her Wish, the only way to access it would be to break. As she did in canon really.
In this example Wally would already be broken. I couldn't say how much the Karmic weight generated would help her, but it's implied it did something to make her more powerful over the loops.
As far as I know at least.
If it's true then killing all the Witches might be like plugging up a few rivers feeding the ocean at this point. *Shrug*