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

Chapter 143 - If You Can Really Go On

For some time, it's quiet. You're not certain exactly how long. The only sounds are the lilac-colored waves beating against the sand and the anxious crackling noise emitted by the flames licking within Kyoko's body. Nobody speaks. Nobody moves. You're not sure if anyone even breathes. In the wake of your failure, the world is still.

"Is everyone alright?" Your voice is firm and clinical, allowing care and concern to bleed into your words in careful measure.

Kyoko is the first to answer. She sounds exhausted, bereft of the brash confidence that characterized her better moments. "All good here. I can't feel the damage, so I'm pretty sure it's superficial. Homura's good too."

"I'm-" Sayaka begins before cutting herself off. "I can't move my arm or my leg. It's not healing, but it doesn't hurt and it's not getting worse either." A note of defeat carries in her words as she describes her injuries. Her voice is distant, more a mechanical reaction to your command than a true response.

"I… I am unharmed." Hitomi manages to stammer, still breathless. That only leaves…

"Mami?" you call.

Your eldest daughter startles, the far-away look in her eyes exchanged first for shock, then embarrassment, and then settling to forlorn. "Oh! Yes, I'm… I am unhurt as well. It's only that…"

Sayaka finally shakes free of her disbelief. "We've gotta go after them! We can't let that Abnormality hurt Madoka!"

Kyoko scoffs, emitting a tiny spout of fire. "Are you crazy? In case you forgot already, that thing just walked in here and grabbed Madoka out of nowhere. Do you really think running after her's gonna do anything except get you killed?"

"Even so…" Mami begins. "I cannot in good conscience allow a friend to remain in a monster's clutches. We must go after her." Her shock pushed aside, Mami stands resolute on the empty beach. Confident, even. Even after all she's learned, even after all that's happened, how can she not be? Your daughter didn't act as a Magical Girl on a whim. To face overwhelming odds and protect the innocent is the mission she chose to devote her life to. When asked to do not just that, but to save a friend, what else could she do?

""Yeah! We just need to find where that thing took Madoka. Then we can save her!" Sayaka agrees, buoyed by the assurance of her senior. Unfortunately, it falls on you to curtail that confidence.

"No. We can't do that."

"What do you mean, we can't? There's gotta be some way to track her, right?" Sayaka asks, taken aback. She doesn't understand quite what you mean.

"Finding her is a simple enough deduction. The Adult Who Tells Lies is a naturally sedentary Abnormality who only leaves her territory when absolutely necessary. She's taken Madoka to the Emerald City, where all her defenses are already set up. Once there, pinpointing her location should be easy. But we can't go after her now."

Sayaka stares at you wide-eyed. "Why not?"

You sigh. It never feels right to make these decisions, but when there are no right choices the only option is to select the least wrong one. Waiting is most logical the course of action, even if it feels awful. "Look at yourself. You can't fight like this, Homura's in literal pieces, and you're all running mostly on adrenaline right now. If we try to follow Madoka now, we won't save anybody. We need to regroup and make a plan. There's too much at stake to head forward without everything we have"

Sayaka and Mami recoil from your verdict, expressions battling between refusal and acceptance. You hear shifting in the sand behind you. Homura, with her one remaining arm, has propped herself into a position to face you.

"Madoka's life is in danger. We cannot afford to wait."

"We can't afford not to." you counter bluntly. "You're not immortal. In the state you're in, you would only get yourself killed."

"If Madoka is safe, I would accept that outcome." Homura answers without hesitation or emotion, just stating a simple fact. She would suffer to save Madoka. She would die to save Madoka. That's all that matters to her.

"I cannot, however. We will save Madoka, not simply trade her life for another." Mami answers, sounding calm and clear in spite of her trembling hands.

"But how?" Kyoko stresses, sending a flicker of heat across the empty shore. "That Abnormality's supposed to be Aleph-class, right? I've seen what one of those-" Her voice catches. "Those things can do. And you wanna walk right into its home base?"

"Kyoko's point is correct." you affirm sternly. "In our current states, it wouldn't be possible to rescue Madoka. We must properly prepare ourselves for the battle ahead if we want to be sure to save her."

You are careful not to raise your voice, but it projects across the small beach nonetheless with a force more typically used in tighter, more insulated halls. This isn't defeat, you remind yourself. It is a setback, one that can be recovered from. With that in mind, you school your language accordingly. It would not do to make an already-grim situation any more depressing.

"What do we need to do?" Mami asks, calm composure struggling against her desire for an answer, for something she can do.

"First," you say, demanding attention as you would from your agents in their departments, "is to ensure the situation doesn't get any worse. Argalia, Leonie? Gather up anyone else who might be targeted and send them to the Library. We can't allow the Wizard any more leverage."

"If I may suggest, wouldn't you be better at such a task? I can imagine certain… factors, if you will, complicating the negotiations." Argalia muses. Even if he's one of the more humanoid Distortions, he's still far more frightening-looking than you. And on top of that, neither Madoka's nor Hitomi's parents have so much as heard about him and his association with you up until now. A fair point, you admit, though not worth readjusting plans for.

"It's a probable thing, but I trust that you can work around it. I have other business to attend to," you proceed, noting Mami and Sayaka's rapt attention to your words. Neither has dismissed their transformation, instead standing ready at attention with weapons in hand. "Specifically recovery. Everyone here is also headed into the Library for healing and so we can discuss the sensitive details of the plan without being overheard."

"So you've actually got a way for us to fight that monster?" Kyoko says, tilting her head in lieu of raising an eyebrow that she no longer has. Despite the front of skepticism, the swell of flame beneath her skin gives away her anticipation rather blatantly.

"To put it simply, yes. Some adjustment will be necessary in light of new information and recent events, but yes." This is only a setback, and one you can correct for. It is not an unsalvageable situation. If it was, then you wouldn't be able to do anything regardless. Your ability to correct such things is gone now, leaving only a single path: forward. You can still salvage this.

"How long will it be until we can act?" Homura asks, still leaning on her remaining arm. You step across the sands past Kyoko to where she's lying and lift her off the ground, careful to avoid spilling any more of the fine purple sand that has already pooled around her body. You don't think losing it does any actual harm considering how unconcerned Homura is, but it's better safe than sorry. It's not as though she's a very good judge of what does and doesn't hurt her.

"It won't be long." you assure as you carry the mangled Distortion back towards the rest of the children in one arm and rifle through your coat with the other. "Having said that, we should still hurry and get going. Madoka won't wait for us forever."

Hitomi looks as though she's about to say something, but she's interrupted by Argalia clapping a free hand in her shoulder.

"Indeed, haste is no small matter. With that in mind, I must bid you all good luck until we meet again. Come along now!" he says cheerfully before half-dragging Hitomi through another Route. You all stare at the open door in space for a moment before Sayaka shudders, then speaks.

"That guy still creep me out, even if he's helping us. Can we really count on him for this?"

You wave a hand dismissively. "He'll stay in line as long as we have mutual goals. Saving Madoka is necessary to maintain our alliance, and it's contrary to the Adult's objectives. While I wouldn't trust Argalia fully, we can rely on him to do a good job."

Sayaka grumbles in answer. "…it just doesn't feel right. Are you sure Madoka's gonna be alright while we're preparing?"

Sayaka's question, innocuous as it was, hangs upon the conversation with all the ominousness of a raised guillotine. Mami's resolute smile dims and Kyoko's light flickers. Homura doesn't react at all, as you've come to expect. You raise your voice back to a solid announcement and call against the foreboding words.

"She was captured alive. There's no reason to go through the effort if you don't plan on keeping someone alive." you assure. From a logical perspective, it's simple to conclude that Madoka will be alive when you arrive to rescue her. There are fates worse than death, of course, but bringing that up now would do nothing but drag morale down further. "But as I've said, we shouldn't take any longer than is necessary. It's time to go."

Everything is still under control.

—————————

Upon entering the Library, you are immediately struck by a Yuma-sized missile throwing itself around you with such force and vigor that you nearly drop Homura, who is still held in a sort of half-piggyback carry.

"Yuma was so worried about everyone!"

As you disentangle your youngest from your legs with your one free arm, you see your sister scanning the group out of the corner of your eye. You're a sorry-looking bunch, standing battered and wounded in the soft warm glow of the Library's halls. Homura is hanging off your body by her one remaining limb. Sayaka steps with a limp, dragging her petrified leg with each step. Mami's assuring smile is thin and brittle, and traces of black are crawling across the surface of her Soul Gem. Kyoko hasn't left her Distorted form, remaining a looming mountain of molten glass radiating a somber, lonely heat. Reviewing the facts, you're only more certain of your decision to wait to begin the rescue. In this state, none of you would have left the Emerald City.

You can only try and ready yourselves for now. Hopefully, it will be enough to carry you forward.

…But looking at the facts, it seems more and more unlikely that you will manage to proceed without making sacrifices.

———————————————

In the Library…
[] Homura Akemi…
-[] …finds the weekly book club.
-[] …talks with her aunt's not-boyfriend.
-[] …wanders to the lowest floor.
[] Sayaka Miki…
-[] …ends up in a room filled with clocks.
-[] …stumbles into the tail-end of a math lesson.
-[] …is hoping to get in some last-minute training.
[] Kyoko Sakura…
-[] …learns how confusing her new mother's family tree is.
-[] …wants to know who's been teaching Sayaka how to fight.
-[] …finds somebody interested in Distortions.
[] Mami Tomoe…
-[] …runs into a familiar face in the lounge.
-[] …has a chat with another yellow-clad child.
-[] …nearly trips over a man asleep on the floor.

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

Don't worry, X will pick up Magic Bullet in a future chapter before the raid on the Emerald City. Unless you'd rather she didn't for some reason.

Many of you have already seen this vote, but it's staying open for a short while longer. Take the time you need to make a wise decision. Or at least a fun one, since that's mostly what these votes are for.