Something Wicked (Villainous Magical Boy Quest)

You drop Sasori off back at the moon base and take some time to get him settled back in. By which you mean, he immediately flops down on the pile of charms and burrows in, and you have to go scatter the books around the room and craft some soft stuff to lure him away from them. It takes a while, but you eventually get the room decorated and furnished well enough to convince him to curl up somewhere else.

How did you end up decorating the room?

Pick 1:

[ ] COMFORT, COMFORT, COMFORT

If it can be a cushion, it's a cushion. If it can't be a cushion, at least let it be cushy. Lacks some verticality and potential hiding spaces, though.

[ ] STYLE OVER SUBSTANCE

To understand the humans, you must understand their fashion. As such, you have decorated this room in a fancier style inspired by show houses and social media room tours. It might be lacking in some functionality, but it sure does look good.

[ ] A LITTLE SLICE OF HOME

After surveying what humanity has to offer, you decided to go back to basics and decorated your home in the minimalist, high-magic style of the Fleet. All these floating and transparent furniture items are nostalgic. Plus, this makes the room highly modular, if not necessarily comfortable.

[ ] BACK TO NATURE

You're taking full advantage of the proximity to planet Earth. Plants everywhere, some nice wood accents and moss cushioning, and water features. The result might look more like a zoo exhibit than a bedroom, but neither you nor Sasori have the right anatomy for human furniture anyway.


With that taken care of, you give Sasori some final words of caution before heading out. "Stay safe, stay in these rooms. Don't let anyone in, unless it's Shayin. You won't be able to keep him out so it's easier to give in."

Sasori's hair bristles and his claws scrape over the floor.

"Don't worry!" you assure him. "Shayin's got a headache, he probably won't come by anyway. And if he really wants to talk to you, he'll just contact you by telepathy." Actually, he might not, since Sasori is a mana eater. You're pretty sure connecting to him telepathically would be dangerous. "And if something explodes, don't worry about it. It's probably just Mitl."

"Mitl?" Sasori echoes, looking even more stressed.

"Our necromancer and botanist. He's doing… something. I'm really not paid enough to deal with Mitl. And neither are you."

With that done, you gather up your charms, shroud yourself in first Kai Tendo's form and then another perception filter, and teleport down to Earth again.

---

The hospital still smells like chemicals and sickness. You're not surprised, exactly—it's hard to clear out such a pervasive smell without using magic—but you are still disappointed. It's also still a massive battery of suffering waiting to happen. You weren't worried about that last time, but you've seen a lot of humans awaken to magic since then. Maybe you should consider setting up some kind of perimeter to make sure nobody stumbles across the place and tries to power their spells with it.

You head inside and glide through the halls again. The building appears to be busier than usual. You actually have to try and avoid the humans wandering through the corridors. The rooms you pass by are largely empty and their residents are out and about, even if they have to take IV stands with them.

Most of these wanderers appear to be sick or weakened, but a significant number are just sort of walking about, seemingly healthy.

Zaiyu magic perception roll: D100 + 2D10 => (14 + (9 +2) ) = 25

Huh. Weird. Maybe humans just like hanging out in designated recovery areas for fun? Alternatively, they could be deliberately trying to come down with something, perhaps to get an excuse to avoid their duties. If so, you can relate, though you didn't try that more than once. With Lady Starspite, the cure was always worse than the ailment.

You put the crowding out of your mind and keep your distance from the steady flow of bodies. You have more important things to focus on, anyway. Namely, whether or not anything other than Sasori has been lured to this place.

Zaiyu magic perception roll: D100 + 2D10 => (23 + (2 +8) ) = 33

Well, the good news is that you can't readily detect anything as significant as Sasori. The bad news is that there could very well be something subtler infiltrating the hospital and you wouldn't notice, because people keep bumping into you. The first time it happens, you're just barely clipped by a nurse running down the hospital. Fortunately, she doesn't even notice you, so your perception filter must still be intact.

The second time, you get stuck in an entire cluster of patients heading from one lounge to another. They're all really, obnoxiously tall. You have to wait several minutes to catch them at an angle you can safely soar over them without risking kicking someone in the head.

The third time, you are trapped behind an entire row of wheelchair users with IV stands that fill the entire hallway, floor to ceiling. One of them manages to catch you on a sharp turn and completely disrupts your perception filter. And then they all start talking at you about pedestrian safety regulations within hospital grounds. At this point, you give up on trying to conduct a more in-depth search of the building. Clearly, fate has it out for you today.

Anyway, you at least concluded that nothing here has the magical weight of Sasori, and Sasori is not a tremendously strong monster. Yet. So the hospital should be safe enough.

You finally escape from the wheelchair users and tuck yourself into a small nook off the main hall. It's been converted into some kind of tiny dining area that wouldn't be out of place in the Fleet, except for using hard-backed chairs instead of cushions. You slide into one of the chairs sideways and sigh.

Zaiyu sense magic roll: D100 + 2D10 => (9 + (6 +5) ) = 20

You're still tired and upset from being so thoroughly and systematically blocked from completing your scan of the area. That's the only reason you don't realize you aren't alone until a familiar face peeks out from behind one of the other chairs.

"Kai?" Kyoko whispers with cautious hope in her big eyes. She looks about the same as she did before: white garments, cast on her arm, tiny. Her hair is in pigtails today and her body is tense as coiled wire. "Is that you?"

The noise that comes out of your mouth is not human. You jolt, levitate a few inches off the chair, catch yourself, and thank Mithos that Kai's illusion compensates. "Kyoko, my heart! Think of my heart!"

She blinks at you, then shakes her head. In a moment, she's scuttled forward and dragged you out of your chair. You go along with it mostly out of curiosity. You didn't think she was that strong. Fortunately, she grabbed the shoulder of your non-petrified arm. She shouldn't notice anything wrong with that side.

"What is it?" you ask once you're both settled behind her chair. "Are you hiding from someone?"

"I'm hiding from everyone."

"Playing a game?"

"No!" she hisses, sounding like Rins when they're really, truly upset.

You sit up and pay attention. That tone does not bode well. "What's going on?"

Kyoko magic perception roll: D100 + 2D10 => 97

Kyoko looks out through the slats in the back of the chair. "Kai, do you remember what we talked about last time we met? About how we were being watched?"

After a minute, you nod. "I remember. Being watched and being cold."

"Whatever was watching us has made its move," she says grimly. "Those people in the halls—did you see them?"

"Yeah," you say, unsure where she's going with this. "There sure are a lot of them."

She takes a deep breath and turns to you. "This might sound crazy, but they aren't moving on their own," she says in a rush. "Something else is controlling them. I don't know what's going on, but it's not good."

Well, you definitely weren't expecting her to say that.

A soft sniffle. "Kai, what should we do?"



Choose 1 Way for Zaiyu to Respond:

[ ] I INSTANTLY BELIEVE YOU

You know Kyoko has magic and she came pretty close to sensing both you and Sasori last time you visited her. If she thinks the people in the hospital are being mind controlled, then you're inclined to believe her.

[ ] CLARIFICATION NEEDED

Well, that's an interesting hypothesis. You'd be happy to subject it to some testing. Accepting Kyoko's theory on a provisional basis is no trouble.

[ ] I'M SURE IT'S NOTHING

Whether she's right or wrong, you get to sneak around the hospital poking your nose into things. But you're pretty sure she's wrong. If something that big was happening here, you'd notice it. Right?


Choose 1 Tactic to Suggest to Kyoko:

[ ] ESCAPE

[ ] INVESTIGATE

[ ] FAKE NORMALCY

[ ] HIDE

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Making up for having no vote last update by adding three this time.