“Human Resources” Shouldn’t Be This Literal: A PMMM/ProjectMoon Quest

Chapter 136 - House Call

Your first instinct is, obviously, to refuse. The way Minou made her proposition, it sounds as though she wants you to go to her benefactor directly. That would mean walking into the territory of an Abnormality specifically known for trickery and deception, leaving yourself highly vulnerable and cut off from the children for the duration of your visit. The obvious answer is to refuse. Whether you work out some other arrangement instead is unclear, but accepting Minou's proposal is obviously a terrible idea.

Or at least that's what you would think were it not for the fact that you can cheat.

Sensing emotions wasn't a particularly stand-put ability to you at first. You're good enough at reading people to make its more basic uses superfluous, and prodding deeper into somebody's feelings is a bit intrusive for your taste. But since your… episode a week ago, your emotion sense has been stronger. It's not just a subtle awareness of a person's feelings, an indescribable sensation that hangs around anyone you interact with and tells you what's inside their head. It's an actual extra sense, complete with all the depths and sensations that implies. You can try to describe what a feeling looks like, with colors or sounds or shapes, but it always falls short of really communicating what it's like.

It also makes for a convenient way to tell somebody's intentions.

You regard Minou carefully, your state piercing through the physical and into her thoughts. Your initial impression remains accurate, but naturally there's a bit more going on than the surface level could reveal. Minou is anxious, and has been continuously for longer than is healthy. Her healing must be working at a slightly accelerated rate to adjust for the excess levels of adrenaline. There's a general derision for everything around her, a sort of disapproval you match most closely to some of Ayin's peers from particularly wealthy families, but it's blunted by a thin veil of confusion and unfamiliarity. Mitakihara is a rather odd place architecturally, and Minou isn't a Japanese name. The whole matching of names and cultures to places is still a bit odd to you, and regretfully you haven't filled in that gap in your knowledge. If you had by now, you might have been able to place Minou's point of origin.

It's an unrelated point, however, to her feelings regarding you. Put simply, Minou is afraid of you. You can see it in the way her eyes drift to follow every movement you make, careful to never seem too suspicious or threatening but never allowing an opening to slip by. It follows what Leonie said that the Adult said about you; she leaned hard on the danger of your true self and left out your restraint of that side of you. You would be lying if you claimed you weren't afraid too; afraid of what you might end up doing when it comes to it. Minou's fear is more complex, though.

For as much as you're a threat in her eyes, you're just as much an opportunity. A rare chance that might never come again, a gamble that's worth taking if it has even the slightest possibility of success. What for is too specific for you to find out, but that alone doesn't endear you to Minou's proposal. What does, however, is the lack of hostile intent.

Minou has literally no desire to hurt you. A significant part of that is definitely the belief that you'd tear her to shreds for so much as thinking of it, but not all of it. Either she's turning traitor, or the Adult's fear-mongering backfired and ended up with her less loyal servants more scared of you than her. Or, in the case of Minou and her Benefactor, seeing you as a stronger potential ally.

There is the possibility of traps Minou just doesn't know about, but by this point you've dismissed enough concerns that your curiosity can win out over caution. You do really want to meet Minou's Benefactor, especially if they're supposedly a peer to you. Sure, their current choice of ally isn't a great sign, but the situation might be complicated. Working with somebody doesn't necessarily mean supporting them. You work with Kyubey, after all, even if you're just waiting for the most convenient opportunity to stab it in the back.

After about a solid second of staring at Minou with your eyebrows raised skeptically watching her polite smile grow more strained and nervous, you relent.

"I don't see why not. Go ahead." you say, indicating towards the young woman with a nod. Meanwhile, you try and direct a mental order at Argalia. You don't know how well it's going to work, but if Carmen's going to help him stalk you she might as well forward him your messages too.

"Patrol the area around Sayaka Miki's house." you instruct as Minou breathes a sigh of relief you don't think she expected you to notice. "I don't expect the Adult to attack, but if she's willing to be proactive I'm not taking any chances. You, Kyoko, and Homura together will have the best chance of driving her off while Mami and Sayaka provide support." Argalia's a good enough tactician to organize the kids in battle himself, so your instructions are relatively open-ended. You nearly let out a sigh of your own when you hear a faint disruption of air in the distance behind you. Argalia has already headed off.

"We should go, then. It wouldn't be good to keep my Benefactor waiting" Minou announces, another portal opening in the air. A slight pause passes, nearly enough for you to think she was done, before she speaks again. "You have my gratitude for this. I promise that your time will not be wasted."

"Hey, no need to be like that about it." you assure as you step towards the now-open portal. "I'm curious about this boss of yours. It's gonna be a good use of my time no matter what."

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You step into the halls of the Emerald City and immediately recoil at the overwhelming feeling of wrongness in the air. This place is undoubtedly within a Barrier, and one belonging to a very powerful Witch at that. But more than that is the sheer presence of the Adult Who Tells Lies. This place belongs to her, and you can feel it in every breath you take. The air is faintly but sickeningly sweet, and the chill of the slight breeze feels just a bit too sharp. The walls, doors, and arched ceiling are all the same green-tinted black crystal, though without most of the luster of the throne room. The floor is a mirrored surface, giving the odd impression that you're standing in the air.

More relevant is the fact that you've entered into a hallway. A very large hallway, tall enough to accommodate the immense size of the Abnormality who owns it, but still a hallway. Why make a portal into a hallway instead of straight to your destination? You can see the end of the hall leading into an open room with a few tables, chairs, and couches scattered around. It's either a lounge area or a waiting room of some sort.

You follow behind Minou in silence, listening to the sound of your footsteps echoing through the empty air. Up ahead, voices carry faintly from the next room into the hallway. When Minou hears, she cringes nervously and turns to address you.

"My sisters are ahead. Please don't allow anything they say to affect your decisions." she urges. You raise any eyebrow at her.

"And what decisions am I making here? You haven't exactly filled me in on many of the details here."

"And yet you still chose to accept my proposition." Minou snarks before remembering something and hastily adding "Not that I'm not thankful, of course. My Benefactor will be most pleased to speak with you."

"Soooo…" your voice trails off. "Are you gonna explain now, or are we waiting 'till we get there?"

Minou pauses before answering, internally debating whether to answer or not. After her moment of consideration, the woman nods.

"My Benefactor and her servants were done a great service by the Wizard. As repayment, we have agreed to enter a mutually beneficial partnership. One of the terms of that partnerships was," Minou hesitates for a moment, but continues. "to face you in battle if it ever became necessary. Seeing as the Wizard has begun negotiating with you, though, this meeting is perfectly acceptable."

"That's not the phrase I would use."

A new, haughty voice refutes Minou's words. The two of you have reached the next room, where two other women have been waiting. Both are clearly Magical Girls, with their black and white outfits and masks evidently matching Minou's. The taller of the two wears a rabbit-shaped mask, complete with ears, and a fairly traditional Magical Girl dress and skirt. Messy pink hair hangs down in twintails below her waist. The one who just spoke is wearing a crow mask and a black coat with white fur trim over a plain white shirt and black leggings. Unlike Minou, this Magical Girl's hair is a grey-white and is cut rather short, save for two longer locks hanging down to just below her neck. She sneers at her sister as she speaks, before turning her gaze to you.

"So, you've really brought that thing here? Are you trying to get us all killed again?"

"Corbeau… that's not…" the pink-haired Magical Girl begins, placing a hand on the white-haired Magical Girl's shoulder, but Minou cuts her off.

"It's alright, Lapin. We're just here to see Mother." Her voice retains the same calm professionalism as you've become used to, but it's infinitely more brittle now. Corbeau looks ready to say something else, and Lapin behind her tenses in preparation. You're not sure what history there is between these sisters, but it doesn't appear pleasant. Sadly, there's nothing much you can do to help now. You don't know well enough what the situation is, so anything you did do would just be a shot in the dark.

You can defuse the tension, however.

"Hi! My name's X, and you've all been introduced one way or another by now. It's a pleasure to meet all of you." you say, your voice assertive and strong but still cheerful.

"My name's Lapin! And it's nice to meet you too!" the pink-haired Magical Girl replies, clearly relieved to have delayed the argument that was brewing. "Don't worry about Corbeau, she and Minou are just going through some things right now. We were expecting you."

Your attention falls to Corbeau, who glares back at you for a brief moment before cooling into something less overtly confrontational. The two of you stare at one another for what feels like ages before she breaks away and begins walking back to a seat.

"I'll be reading. Ask if you need anything."

Lapin shoots Minou a concerned glance, then turns and follows Corbeau. Beside you, Minou lets out a sigh.

"We should go. It wouldn't be good to keep my Benefactor waiting any longer.

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When this is done, you should…
[] Ask all three siblings what's going on between her and her sisters
[] Ask Minou what's going on between her and her sisters
[] Leave things as they are
[] Write-in

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Der Freischütz's Sapling - Observation Level 2/3
Porccubus' Sapling - Observation Level 2/3
Schadenfreude's Sapling - Observation Level 2/3
CENSORED's Sapling - Observation Level EXPUNGED/REDACTED

What am I doing, giving you an option to make me write more dialogue? Truly, writing this has driven me crazy.

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