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

[questioningmeme]

"I suppose I can understand that to a degree. There is an undeniable allure to finding powers beyond what one is capable of, though I feel it should generally be used more responsibly." Mami said. She knew a few Magical Girls who had Contracted just for the powers associated, not any of the other benefits Kyubey offered alongside them. From a certain point of view, Sayaka could even be counted among them, though Miss Miki's aims had hardly been so selfish.

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In a way, to the people before the Light, wearing E.G.O lets them feel like a character out of 'legends'.

"I want to be just like you" in a sense. When one reads a story and becomes immersed in it, sharing "senses" with the characters.

To the Agents who worked and lived inside the Facility, the abnormalities must have been that to them.

Of course, the attachment is most likely just surface-level. Like how a human likes a fictional character.

Had it gone further and they started truly trying to see it from the E.G.O's perspectives, I think Geburah wouldn't be so bummed about being the only one who knows how to use E.G.O.

(Of course, it could also be the "This is my E.G.O gun, there are many similar to it, but this one is mine." kind of attachment.)

Mami's mind immediately jumped to picturing her mother in a Magical Girl uniform. It fit perfectly, of course. She had taken X as another Magical Girl when they first met, even. Mami couldn't understand exactly why the Librarian found it so funny. Maybe she was missing something? And furthermore…

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I have good words from the Librarians that Black Hair Project Moon MCs are somehow top-tier femboys.

Given that Roland rocked his crossdress, I wouldn't doubt X used to rock their magical girl E.G.O too.

Alyssa Ritmore. Class I Agent of the Control Team.

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Updated the Agent list!

Not exactly the best way to go out as far as newbie agents are concerned.

Also, are you implying X wanted to be a woman at the time already? Or is it just simple cross-dressing? (Which is different)

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Could've been that the Abnormality E.G.O called to them. After all, the Knight answered her immediately upon arrival on Earth. Perhaps it's destiny.

Japan!

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Tbh, they could've also just been dicks. Mami's parents weren't close to them in the first place based on what she said. Dad has 0 Siblings, while mom is estranged from her own family.

[X] Proceed regardless and hope to find them along the way.

No real reasons to delay. If Argalia couldn't find them before, then they are either somewhere difficult to search for, or they are captured.

(Or they stumbled into Judgement Bird's forest and got the good ol' "YOU SHOULD GET A ROPE! NOW!" QuegCliff treatment).

 

[NonsenseLurker]

[x] Proceed regardless and hope to find them along the way.

 

[Frozen Flame]

[x] Proceed regardless and hope to find them along the way.

 

[diplomacy]

[X] Proceed regardless and hope to find them along the way.

 

[DragonOfAtlantis]

[x] Proceed regardless and hope to find them along the way.

 

[Exatto]

[X] Proceed regardless and hope to find them along the way.

I really liked the scene with One Sin. It really contrasts with White Night.

 

[Mirage]

[x] Proceed regardless and hope to find them along the way.

 

[Suleverf]

[x] Proceed regardless and hope to find them along the way.

 

[Kdblya]

[x] Proceed regardless and hope to find them along the way.

 

[questioningmeme]

I really liked the scene with One Sin. It really contrasts with White Night.

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One Sin is always the best Abnormality.

It also came as a bit of a surprise. I honestly didn't expect X to go to One Sin.

But then again, One Sin occupies the "Literally GOD" spot in relation to WhiteNight's "Actually God", so it's obvious in hindsight that X would've visited him after WhiteNight.

 

[Lepidoptera]

Which one? Because all of them would be great here, but I want a closer image in my head.

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This was written with the intent of having the Manager wearing In The Name Of Love And Hate, if only because that's the most "classic magical girl" out of all of them.

Also, are you implying X wanted to be a woman at the time already? Or is it just simple crossdressing? (Which is different)

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X's gender identity was originally going to be a bigger plot point, but there wasn't really a good way to do it. It might come up again some time in the future, but only when I'm sure I can do the subject justice.

The Manager had just picked a costume they thought would take people off-guard for the fun of it, but if you think it's more interesting for that to have been an awakening of sorts for them then it's up to you.

 

[questioningmeme]

This was written with the intent of having the Manager wearing In The Name Of Love And Hate, if only because that's the most "classic magical girl" out of all of them.

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Aw, that's a lot more simple than the Knight of Despair idea I got. Still cute though.

I wonder if X looked good crossdressing like Ritsuka (FGO) does.

 

[Lepidoptera]

Aw, that's a lot more simple than the Knight of Despair idea I got. Still cute though.

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They're using Extracted EGO gear, and the LC Suit from Knight of Despair is pretty simple compared to QoH's. Besides, it felt a bit on-the-nose otherwise to give X the same EGO she would end up receiving first. I'm not really a fan of predestination in stories.

I wonder if X looked good crossdressing like Ritsuka (FGO) does.

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By the power vested in me as author, I officially declare that they looked fabulous.

 

[Junkoposter]

[X] Proceed regardless and hope to find them along the way.

Skullbro my fahking HERO

 

[Lepidoptera]

Adhoc vote count started by Lepidoptera on Dec 18, 2023 at 12:32 AM, finished with 16 posts and 12 votes.

• ---

  12 people have voted

  [x] Proceed regardless and hope to find them along the way.

  • Nyarky
  • ThreeRightLefts
  • questioningmeme
  • NonsenseLurker
  • Frozen Flame
  • diplomacy
  • DragonOfAtlantis
  • Exatto
  • Mirage
  • Suleverf
  • Kdblya
  • Junkoposter

Eager to get to the action, eh? I can respect that.

The basic outline of the upcoming vote will be revealed tomorrow in order to give time to discuss and form a plan before the vote is actually made with the chapter being published the day after. This will be the last major vote of the Act, and as such your decisions will have significant consequences. But don't worry, things should go fine so long as you don't screw up horribly at this point.

 

[Nyarky]

things should go fine so long as you don't screw up horribly at this point.

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*Prepare my speech about how the best way to not be killed by the Adult is to kill ourself before she has time to kill us, and about how killing Madoka is a mercy kill, to be delivered in front of Homura*

 

[questioningmeme]

Probably not going to get that bad.

Or it would, but not Madoka or Homura, instead we have to mercy kill our own daughters, or force them to mercy kill us!

Get that generational trauma of being unable to save the one you love going, ya know? A got it, C got it, Angela escaped it so maybe X'll be taking the brunt of the misfortune.

 

[Lepidoptera]

Well, the time has come to give you something to plan around. Here it is:

There are four objective points which must be reached and destroyed at roughly the same time throughout the Emerald City to have any hope of success. After, the plan is to regroup and make a united push to rescue Madoka. You have yourself, Argalia, Leonie, Homura, Kyoko, Mami, and Sayaka at your disposal, so you're free to double up on some locations. Leonie can't go alone, but whoever she's with will be able to get where they're going and then get out very quickly. In basic terms, the locations being assaulted are as follows:

- The Mill. Not a whole lot of information to go off of, but it's a highly defended location featuring a lot of artificial beings. High probability of an Ensemble copy being present, with a chance of enemy Magical Girl presence. According to Leonie's reports, this is where most of the Adult's forces are created.

- The Tower. It's pretty far from the border and doesn't appear to have much in the way of forces stationed there. Several identical emotional signatures are present at the top of the tower, along with a single deviant signature. Given its location, reenforcing the area in response to an attack will be quick and easy unless the Adult's forces are all tied up elsewhere.

- The Court. The dead center of the Emerald City. Typically occupied by the Adult Who Tells Lies, though during the execution of the attack it can be expected to be vacant. Will feature the Adult's direct handiwork more prominently than anywhere else, as well as strong presence from enemy Magical Girls.

- Unoccupied Zone. An area patrolled by Judgement Bird, with no apparent interference from the Adult Who Tells Lies or her allies. While theoretically sneaking through here to reach the objective without meeting the Abnormality is a possibility, betting on doing so reliably would be a poor idea.

Feel free to ask any clarifying questions regarding these locations, and they may be relayed by a character in the upcoming chapter.

 

[questioningmeme]

- The Tower. It's pretty far from the border and doesn't appear to have much in the way of forces stationed there. Several identical emotional signatures are present at the top of the tower, along with a single deviant signature. Given its location, reenforcing the area in response to an attack will be quick and easy unless the Adult's forces are all tied up elsewhere.

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What are the positions of these areas?

Like this one.

North East South West? It's difficult to plan around these when we aren't certain from which direction we are attacking.

Or does it not matter at all and we'll be dropped into them due to dimensional abno shenanigans?

 

[Lepidoptera]

What are the positions of these areas?

Like this one.

North East South West? It's difficult to plan around these when we aren't certain from which direction we are attacking.

Or does it not matter at all and we'll be dropped into them due to dimensional abno shenanigans?

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People will be entering at the nearest possible entry point to their objective and have to make their way from there. All you're deciding is who will be attacking what.

For reasons that will become clear upon entry, directions are going to be very complicated. There is a border where entry is possible, and the Tower is far from it but not quite as far as the Court. The Court and Tower are relatively near each other but further from the Mill, which is closer to the border but off on its own from the rest of the objectives. Most isolated is the Unoccupied Zone, which is right up against the border and on the opposite side from the Court to everything else.

 

[Nyarky]

Unoccupied Zone. An area patrolled by Judgement Bird,

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So that's where he is!

Ok, X to try and get his branch or someone else?

Otherwise, Mill and Court would be the places where we want our best fighters, but court may have us get help from Isabeau's daughters.

Tower needs us to tie the forces elsewhere, which comes back to Mill and Court's planning.

Leonie may be the easiest way to get past birb… but boy is she going to feel it if he finds her, she feels like a failure, that's probably good enough for his scale.

 

[Genih Wat]

Sending Argalia at The Mill feels like the most obvious thing to do. He knows the Ensemble, how they fight, and how best to fight or work around them. The question is who to send with him, I think. That and where to send X. I feel like the Mill is most covered by Argalia being himself and therefore a Hard Counter, so I'd not worry too much about it. Unless of course Adult has cooked up some Anti-Argalia countermeasures, which given it's The Adult...

Most isolated is the Unoccupied Zone, which is right up against the border and on the opposite side from the Court to everything else.

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This, however, makes going for Judgement Bird a very difficult prospect unless we're willing to lump X and Leonie together into a Super Hero Unit. Personally, I'm less interested in grabbing its branch, and more in seeing if we can convince the birb to help raise hell in the Faux Emerald City. I think if we're going for Twilight our best bet is, in fact, trusting in everyone else lasting long enough for X to get in, get JBird (either in a sapling or on her side), and get out to start making a nuisance of herself and helping everyone else.

Except The Adult is a selfish cunt who thinks in cruelty, and would rely on X treating her kids as expendable, and while X absolutely wouldn't be doing that... Leaving her 'allies' to rot while she takes their best escape option is very much an Adult move, I think. But then, who the fuck ELSE are we gonna send into JBird's stomping grounds? That would be treating people as even MORE expendable given it does enough pale damage to murderize a normal person.

This is the problem, I think. All the optimal plays are exactly what The Adult would expect. So instead... What if we do something utterly braindead that my sleep-deprived brain just cooked up...

And just jujump everything as a full squad? It would be relying on Leonie being able to outpace the adult's response times, but if we could manage it... But that's a big if. So how about we split the difference? I think our group's too small to hit all 4 at once without risking casualties, and I wouldn't wanna bet on Leonie being able to outpace everything by hitting one at a time. HOWEVER! Maybe if we strike only two at once, our forces will be concentrated enough to both survive and complete the objectives.

The question then is... what do we hit first?

 

[questioningmeme]

Maybe Argalia go to Judgement Bird with Leonie?

Or Homura.

Those two are the ones I am most confident in being capable of handling the Bird if we inform them on what to do.

X, Mami, Sayaka, and Kyoko is a fairly strong 4 man team already.

Having Kyoko with Sayaka attack the tower (Sayaka buffs and healing abilities is most compatible with Kyoko's burning aura).

Whe X and Mami deal with the Mill they work good together.

Either that or Argalia and X deal with the Mill, Mami and Homura deal with JBird, while Sayaka, Leonia, and Kyoko deal with the Tower.

Kyoko/Sayaka/Leonia will be able to get in and out quickly so the Adult can't target them.

Argalia and X will decimate the majority of their forces. The Adult won't attack those two.

Homura and Mami would be the two girls competent and skilled enough to handle JBird (One is Distortion the other is one of the strongest MG). The Adult won't approach Judgement Bird's forest, though there are still risks of her targetting them near the end of their battle.

We shouldnt put all the distortions in one group since the enemy MGs don't know how to counter them.

The Court should be targetted last as per sieging rules.

 

[Nyarky]

Homura and Mami would be the two girls competent and skilled enough to handle JBird (One is Distortion the other is one of the strongest MG).

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Homura has blood on her hands, and Mami is not innocent due to the fact that she did have to protect her territory, if you want people the bird has less risks to attack outright, there is Sayaka.

At least it's not Silent girl, that would basically forces us to use Sayaka, and I would still be stressed to death.

 

[questioningmeme]

Homura has blood on her hands, and Mami is not innocent due to the fact that she did have to protect her territory, if you want people the bird has less risks to attack outright, there is Sayaka.

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I wouldn't depend on any of the innocent girls to fight JBird, whose judgment is infamous for being biased and unreliable.

Silent Girl is even worse since the slightest hint of guilt (whether it's from something minor) means instant death via staking.

Nonetheless, here's how I see it.

If we are to split up to divide the Adult's attention, there must be a Distorted Child in each group, and Homura herself must not be in a position where the Adult can singlemindedly target her.

The reason I want to send her with Mami and Leonia to deal with the JBird is that outside of Argalia and X, those three as a team will be able to murder the Bird as quickly as possible with relatively 0 worries.

Especially since Mami and Homura don't really need to care about being frugal with their ability usage.

Every encounter here has immense risk, but the positioning I have is meant for the group who fight Judgement Bird to accomplish their task quickly and group up before we siege the Court.

It should be relatively low risk, given that X would be informing the girls how to handle the Bird's attacks (aka nuke it the moment the battle begins).