Evening - Monday, January 17th, 2011
"You were heading for the border just south of here, right?" you ask.
Chizuka nods.
"So I'm guessing the girls waiting there are your friends," you say, extending a hand to her. "C'mon, let's get you home."
Chizuka stares at you warily for a few seconds, before taking your hand with a resigned expression. You pull her to her feet, releasing your grip on her magic as you do.
"You can do your, uh, metal thing again now," you say, waving your free hand in a manner that you are absolutely certain will communicate the concept of 'small bits of metal flying around at high speed' with no ambiguity whatsoever. "Please stop trying to kill me, though."
Chizuka releases your hand and gives you a look that you choose to interpret as her being impressed by your ability to communicate concepts via energetic limb-waving. "Um," she says. "I'll stop, yes."
"Great!" you say, beaming at her. "It would honestly kinda hurt my feelings, at this point."
"...right."
Maiko sighs at you telepathically. ...what? It totally
would hurt your feelings!
Yui's Corruption: 3,110 / 10,000
(+90 corruption from magic spent to continue suppressing Chizuka's control)
The scattered bits of metal lift back into the air and swirl in toward Chizuka. The largest pieces wrap around her body while the smaller pieces are dropped as a pile in an alleyway--she doesn't need the extra anymore, you suppose? In any case, you and Chizuka begin roof-hopping toward Tokyo at a moderate pace.
You two follow along at sneaky-stealthy-spying-y range, okay? you tell Maiko and Minami.
Well, Maiko's sneaky-stealthy-spying-y range, I suppose. Unless you want to wait where you are, Minami?
I... I'd rather not, she says, sounding slightly shaky.
We'll stick together.
You okay? you ask.
I guess, she says.
That was just... kind of intense, earlier. I don't think I'm really cut out for front-line fighting.
So... sniper, huh?
Yeah! she says.
It's super cool, I can aim anywhere I can see with my spy satellite. Well, probably? Not sure what the maximum range on the gun is, but it works fine even if there are walls and stuff in the way, so... uh, anyway. Yeah! Sniper. Heheh.
You smile a bit at Minami's enthusiasm.
How well can you multitask with the spy satellite? you ask.
Enough to search for the weird calligraphy girl while following us without, like, tripping over something and falling off a roof?
Kind of? she says.
I can't really look
at stuff with it while running, but I can search for someone I've seen before while paying attention to other stuff. It's not completely automatic, more... like humming a tune while you walk, or something.
Maiko interrupts at that point.
Does the telepathy relay require similar attention?
No, that's almost entirely automatic unless I think about it, Minami says.
Like breathing. Maybe even easier than that? At least for now, maybe it'll be harder to handle with more people...
Maiko continues asking Minami questions about her magic, but you drop the connection. You need to keep at least a bit of an eye on Chizuka and also pay enough attention to not, uh, trip over something and fall off a roof.
A short while later you arrive at the Tokyo border, having successfully managed to not fall off of any roofs or otherwise embarrass yourself in front of your guest. The two girls waiting there watch warily as you approach.
"Hi there!" you call out, waving cheerfully.
...no response.
You pout. "Tough audience, huh?" you sigh. "So, I found your teammate wandering around my town. Wrecking buildings and throwing giant metal spikes at me were odd choices for tourist activities, but I think we came to an understanding despite some initial disagreement." You cross your arms. "Next time someone from your team wants to visit, though, I think we'll all be happier if you let me know first. I mean, I can totally point out all the best tourist destinations! And also will be extremely put out if any of my allies gets attacked, that too."
Chizuka arrives in the middle of your little speech and gives you a dubious look. Her teammates remain tense and wary, relaxing only slightly when you allow Chizuka to rejoin them. One girl pulls Chizuka aside, while the other steps forward slightly to address you. "Please accept our apologies for her actions," the girl says smoothly. "We assure you it won't happen again. Regardless of what she might have told you, she was acting against orders."
Your eyes flick over to Chizuka--judging by her body language, she's currently being telepathically lectured by her teammate. For all that you
are maybe just a little bit annoyed by the whole "unprovoked attack with potentially lethal force" thing, you also can't help be somewhat sympathetic toward a girl who apparently felt desperate enough to do that out of concern for her team.... especially given what Maiko's grimoire said about them. Still, you decide to give everyone the benefit of the doubt... for now, at least.
"Actually," you say brightly, "that's exactly what she told me." You tap your chin thoughtfully. "And, uh, did you really order her specifically to
not attack my territory?"
The other girl frowns slightly. "She has a history of running off half-cocked thinking she's being helpful," she says. "As I said, it won't happen again."
...urgh, benefit of the doubt or not, something about the girl's demeanor is really rubbing you the wrong way. "I wonder, though," you say conversationally, "whether the idea would have even occurred to her if you hadn't forbidden it." You cock your head cutely, pitching your voice down slightly in your best Kyubey impression. "Regardless of how consistent and predictable Chizuka Kumoto's past behavior might be, her chosen course of action was her own decision, of course."
Ooh, Minami snickers telepathically.
The claws come out.
Huh. Does Kyubey even have claws? you ask.
The girl makes a sour face for a moment, then exhales sharply. "The internal decisions of our group are our own business," she says stiffly, a conflicted but otherwise unreadable expression on her face.
You stare at her for a moment, but she avoids meeting your gaze. You're... not sure what to make of her at this point. Something is clearly bothering her about all this, but Chizuka's frustratingly non-communicative tendencies seem to be the norm in her group.
Sigh. "Look, maybe we got off on the wrong foot here," you say, then clear your throat. "Hi! I'm Yui Aikawa, from Nagamioka. What's your name?"
She keeps her expression neutral. "Look, uh, Aikawa.... what do you want?"
"Same thing everyone wants," you say, waving a hand airily. "Friends, more free time, unlimited ice cream, legions of adoring fans, neighbors who are polite enough to actually introduce themselves..."
A meaningful, expectant pause ensues, but the other girl just gives you an unimpressed look.
You sigh loudly. "Okay, fine. But seriously," you say, "I'd like to be on friendly terms with my neighbors as much as possible, y'know? I'm already worried about some other groups east of here, and I'd rather not have to fight battles on multiple fronts." You do a quick count in your head. "...even if I might actually have enough people on my team for that. Heh."
"We're not going to attack you," she says, crossing her arms.
"Uh, maybe it's just me," you say, "but 'not trying to kill you' seems like a pretty low bar for being considered 'friendly'..."
"Noted."
You sigh. This is... not going very well so far.
Sorry to interrupt, Minami says telepathically,
but I found the calligraphy girl for a moment and then lost her again. I think she detransformed and that threw off my scan... Minami sounds apologetic.
If we hurry maybe we could still find her?
[x] Continue attempts to negotiate with the Nerima girls in hopes of establishing some sort of agreement.
- [x] Chizuka said they were worried about being attacked, offer to help with that?
-- [x] Suggest a mutual defense pact of some sort
-- [x] Just offer to help defend their territory, no strings attached
- [x] Be a little more aggressive with the "too powerful for them to ignore" angle
- [x] Send Maiko and/or Minami off to search for calligraphy girl while you negotiate
- [x] (write-in Yuiplomacy?)
[x] Thank the Nerima girls for their time and move on
- [x] Go look for the calligraphy girl
-- [x] Keep searching until you find her or need to head home
-- [x] Do a quick search in the likely area and do something else if you don't find her
- [x] Go check on one of the other leads Maiko and Minami had
-- [x] Investigate the might-be-a-Witch incidents in the Saitama historical district.
-- [x] Look for the girl in Yoshikawa Ward.
-- [x] Look for the girl in Kawaguchi Ward.
- [x] Just hunt some witches
[x] (write-in?)
Sorry, Minami. Just because you got your superpowers after two years of being a social pariah at school doesn't mean you also get unlimited multitasking to go with them.
FYI, those 90 points of corruption were the cost to suppress her magic for a minute or two. The same trick may be more or less expensive depending on how hard the target is fighting it and the nature of the magic being suppressed. Actively hijacking the magic for your own ends would have been more expensive.
This update was going to be longer, but I really just wasn't happy with how the dialogue was working and decided to trim down the conversation with the Nerima girl. If you want to keep trying to get through to her that's fine, but at this point I just wanted to get
something posted.
