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

[Lepidoptera]

Chapter 81 - Cracked, But Not Broken

"Like I said, neither of us are dead. So that argument doesn't hold any weight."

A slight glow begins to encompass Kyoko's Soul Gem. Not the Light nor her magic, but simple heat. As the white-hot radiance spreads further, you gently set the gem on the ground. It would take much higher temperatures to start to cause actual damage, but this is almost certainly only the beginning. Mami's breath hitches and she grasps your coat, her composure otherwise unshaken. In contrast to the burning heat, Kyoko herself remains silent.

"You still have a chance. Mami misses you, she-."

"In case you forgot," Kyoko cuts you off suddenly. "I left Mami. And I didn't come back. That was just that thing pretending to be me."

You sigh in spite of yourself. You've dealt with enough distressed people to recognize such an obvious deflection for what it is. Even if you weren't literally hooked up to Kyoko's emotions at the moment, she still gave herself away right at the start of the conversation.

"You can't expect me to believe that any more than you do." you say sternly. "I'd be a lot more willing to believe you don't care about Mami if the first thing you said to me wasn't about her." Waves of heat roll over you as you wait for Kyoko to find a response. You could press further, but that would most certainly do more harm than good. Instead, you rest a hand on Mami's shoulder and remain patient.

The short moments in which Kyoko is silent feel like an eternity. Then, at last, she speaks again. "It doesn't matter what I feel about Mami. I still left, I still didn't come back, and I still died." There's a note of bitterness in her voice, but not directed at you. A fleck of white-hot liquid drips from the Soul Gem still sitting on the floor. At first glance, it looks almost like the gem is melting.

"That's not true." you say once again. "You're alive. You can still come back. Mami wants to see you again."

The rolling heat that had been beating down on you abates, but only for a second. You push yourself in front of Mami as a flash of light signals an eruption of flame that spills forth. Across the room, Angela casually raises a hand before the rising explosion. Something appears in front of her, a shield of some sort, but the fire blocks your view before you can pinpoint exactly what. When the fire fades, Kyoko's Soul Gem has completely vanished beneath the molten glass already cooling on the ground.

Gebura casts a glance towards you, one hand open and extended in a familiar pose. You shake your head slightly, and she steps back and returns to a ready position. You still have this under control.

"She told me, you know? When I was trapped by that… thing." Kyoko mutters. The bite is gone from her voice, leaving only a bitter acceptance. "When it promised that it would stay with her. She was alone for years. I hurt her, I hurt the only person left in the world who gave a damn about me. Everyone else left her, too. Nobody else stood by her side, nobody except the fucking rat." Kyoko spits, anger once more filler her words. "After everything she did for me, I wasn't any better. Do you know why I left? It's 'cause I wasn't good enough. I was dragging her down. I couldn't hunt as well as she could, and with her killing Familiars before they could grow there weren't enough Witches to support both of us. She was going to kill herself for me, and neither of us even knew it. So I left." She lets out a wet, choked laugh that quickly falls into a fit of coughs. The shape of a torso has started to rise from the glassy pool, still a burning white. "Guess I fucked it up again, didn't I? And of course, I wasn't the one to suffer for it. Never am."

"Is that really what you want, then?"

"It's what I deserve. If I were stronger, if I'd made better decisions, then… well, who knows?"

And what about Mami? Does she deserve to lose you again?

She's strong, she'll be alright. Besides, you'll be there for her, won't you? You're strong enough to stand with her.

And yet, in case you forgot, I needed your help to save her.

...

I'm not asking for you to give up on anything you've just told me, not now. But I am asking you to be here for Mami. Can you do that for her?

I…

I can do it.

—————————

Light erupts through the room, and for a second you can feel your skin burning. Just as quickly, the feeling vanishes. The radiance dims, leaving only the scattered motes trailing through the air. You stare in anticipation as the embers fade, revealing Kyoko's new form.

Distortions do not typically look human. You are well aware of this. Homura's appearance was by all accounts a fluke, and even then without the disguise there are many discrepancies that make her nature clear. You had believed your expectations were properly tempered.

It's strange, seeing the ways Kyoko's body is still recognizable as hers even as it breaks away from human. Her "flesh" is a dull red glass, cracks separating different shades across her body. At each joint, the glass has melted to allow for movement while inexplicably retaining its form perfectly. Kyoko's upper body still wears her Magical Girl outfit, or at least some approximation of it. A maroon-red hood has been added, concealing the delicate ruby threads that form Kyoko's hair and hiding the shattered, melted mess of her face in shadow. Several scorched weapons pierce her back, the most notable a long black stake run through the place the girl's heart should be. You can clearly see into Kyoko's body through the tinted glass, revealing a network of pulsing flames within her that resembles something between nerves and veins. Your gaze follows down past her waist, where the humanoid resemblance vanishes. Where a regular person would have legs, an equine body has seamlessly fused from its neck to Kyoko's waist, making her into a creature resembling a centaur. The makeup of her body remains the same in this lower half, the only notable equipment you can see on her being large horseshoes in the shape of candleholders. Kyoko takes an unsteady step forward, the false wood floor scorching under her hooves. She extends her hands out in front of her, testing the limits of her new body.

I guess you weren't kidding when you said you were gonna heal me. Bit of an understatement, though. Despite her casual words, Kyoko's voice is as shaky and unsteady as she is. She paws back and forth, trying to adjust to suddenly having four legs instead of two.

She doesn't get any more time to explore her new form. Content with the process' completion, Angela raises one of the books she brought with her. Rings of crackling golden light flash into being around the newly-formed Distortion before collapsing in on her, vanishing in a burst of sparks that fall away to reveal Kyoko Sakura, completely unchanged.

That's as far as Mami's patience can go. Your daughter rushes forwards, throwing her arms around her sister and nearly sending her to the ground.

"Kyoko! I missed you so much, and I- X said you would be okay, but- you were just- and I was-" Her babbling cuts off all of a sudden, and Mami's embrace tightens for just a moment. "I was afraid I would never see you again."

As if in disbelief as to what's happening, Kyoko slowly puts her arms around Mami in return. Her voice is stammering and unconfident, but that seems unimportant compared to the truth of the matter. "I- I missed you too. Guess I owe it to you to stick around for a while, yeah?"

Last Matters
[] Explanations
[] Long-term plans involving the Library
[] Just leave
[] Write-in

———————————————

Der Freischütz's Sapling - Observation Level 2/3
Porccubus' Sapling - Observation Level 2/3
Well, that could've gone much worse. If there's anything you believe you should tell Mami and Kyoko right now, or anything else you wish to do with Angela, now's the time. Otherwise, we will just continue as we are.

 

[Lepidoptera]

Chapter 82 - Resolution and Return

You allow yourself a small smile as your daughter embraces her long-lost sister. For all that's happened recently, this is a victory. A flawed victory, an incredibly flawed victory, but it is a victory nonetheless. A family has been reunited. No harm has been done that cannot later be undone. Everyone is alive. You've had far worse victories in the past.

Slowly, hesitantly, Mami pulls back to lock eyes with Kyoko. Though her eyes are misty, you can't see a hint of tension or fakeness in the radiant smile that crosses her face. It's an expression Kyoko mirrors, although even a less observant person would be able to see the worry and pain that taints her joy. It's a reminder, and an uncomfortable one at that, that this success is only a small one. There will be more battles to fight, and they will not be won with anything as simple as extensive research or esoteric abilities.

"Let's go home." Mami says to her sister. "The apartment only has two rooms, and Yuma's already using the guest room, but X says she doesn't need to sleep and I have some sleepover equipment I never got to use so you can sleep in my room if…" Her words remain clear and even despite slowly dissolving into rambling to cover half-choked sobs. Kyoko winces at the offer.

"I- I can't take your room. It's yours. I've been sleeping on a floor for years now, I can handle it for a few more-"

"No," Mami interrupts calmly if a bit more sharply than normal, "that only means that you are in more need of proper rest. I am completely able to go without some comforts for your sake."

"Just say yes," you advise the red-haired girl before she can continue to protest. "she's not gonna budge on this point. Hell, it took me ages to convince her that I don't need a room despite the fact that I don't sleep, and I'm pretty sure she still feels guilty about it."

Mami pouts. "I just think that with everything you've done for me, you deserve something in return. It's only polite."

"That may be true," you say with a smile, "but that's talking about favors between acquaintances or whatnot. Family doesn't keep score like that."

You notice Angela and Gebura discussing something quietly off to the side, Roland occasionally interjecting but generally seeming out of the loop with whatever topic they've chosen. It's unlikely to be something they can't tell you, but you could certainly see Gebura objecting to bringing up certain topics with kids around and Angela's been significantly more empathetic than she used to be as of late.

You clap your hands together, cutting off the chatter between the reunited Magical Girls. "I believe the two of you should continue this conversation at home." you announce, laying a bit of extra emphasis on the last word. "I'm sure the two of you have a lot to catch up on, so I'll leave you to it for a bit while I discuss some things with my sister."

"Ah, that-" the words seem stuck in Mami's throat. "That would be nice. Kyoko?" The other girl says nothing but nods, and the pair vanish in another flash of light.

"So," you begin, pointing your still-clasped hands towards your sister, "what is it you were talking about?"

Roland jumps slightly at your address, but the other two have no such reaction. Even his startle seems… manufactured, a false show of vulnerability that might not even be consciously done.

"We were just talking 'bout this whole parenting thing you've got going on." Gebura answers with a small smile. "Lookin' back on things, I can kinda see how you wound up like this. You did get along with Tiphereth a lot better near the end."

"Indeed, you do seem to be well-suited to caring for children. Perhaps that's why you were able to connect more easily with the Sephirah." Angela says, although despite the clear mockery her tone is more joking than malicious. Gebura hardly reacts, only taking out a cigarette and lighting it.

"On the topic of things I am and am not, going into combat was never really my thing." you interject, turning your focus to the legendary Color Fixer. "Considering the similarities, I was wondering if you'd be able to spare the time to teach me how to actually fight?"

"Sure, I can give you some pointers. Not like we've got a lot to do here waiting for Angela to fix things. Roland might have some advice too, since you both have a pretty large arsenal from what I've heard. Gonna be a bit weird fighting a doppelgänger and all that, but I can manage."

"Right." you wince slightly. You hadn't expected to ever see your coworkers again when you made your body, assuming them either dead with you or otherwise unreachable. It's a rare time when you felt joy in being wrong about something, but it also means you never prepared for this conversation.

Fortunately, you have plenty of ways to delay that particular awkward discussion as long as necessary.

"Well, if that matter is settled, I have one last thing to run by all of you. A while back, I found a Distortion in the other world. I didn't know what it was at the time, just thought it was some sort of weird shark monster somebody dreamed up, but looking back it was almost certainly a Distortion. There was no way for whoever it was to be exposed to the Light as far as I know."

"Hold on," Roland interrupts. "Shark monster? Can we get a full description?"

You rattle off everything you'd observed about the anomaly you had seen nearly two weeks ago. Larger than a person, durable skin, obsession with food and eating, far too many mouthes. With each detail, Angela's eyes narrow further.

"Greta. It appears you have encountered a Distortion we already know of." Angela says grimly.

"That can't be right, though." Roland counters. "She's supposed to be dead. Hod did a real number on her, too."

You file away that particular bit of information for later and make an attempt to clarify the situation. You can already feel the tension bearing down on the room, making it feel small and claustrophobic. "It wasn't an actual Distortion, just a replica somebody made with magic. Still, that would imply that whoever made it saw this 'Greta' before she died despite living in an entirely separate universe."

"Whatever the case is, it's gonna be a problem." Geburah says. "Because Greta was part of the Reverberation Ensemble. And if whoever made that copy you're talking about saw her, there's a very real possibility that they got the rest of them as well."

The Ensemble.

You've only heard occasional mentions of them, usually involving Angela complaining about or insulting them or their leader in some way. From what you know, they were a gang of Distortions led by a Color Fixer who went off the rails trying to pull an Adam and turn all of humanity into monsters. They had all been released along with the rest of Angela's guests, only to charge right back into the Library and get killed in an all-out battle. Outside of one of their members being responsible for the disguises Homura and Kyoko are currently using, you don't know much more about them. At the time, it hadn't seemed pertinent.

"I'll have a report put together for you on the remaining members," Angela says, sounding at once very like her old self and yet so different. There's a familiar rhythm to her words, a polite and profession pattern that she falls into as easily as breathing when needed. And yet, the emotion in her voice is no longer buried. You can clearly hear the exasperation in each breath, much like yourself when a day's end has been long since overdue. "It'll be along with the records of the missing abnormalities."

Another threat to handle. Still within the range of your capabilities, but all this work piling up is somewhat daunting.

———————————————

Attend to the Magical Girls in the Library?
[] Yes, go see them
-[] What to say? (Write-in)
[] No, go home
[] Write-in

———————————————

Der Freischütz's Sapling - Observation Level 2/3
Porccubus' Sapling - Observation Level 2/3
This chapter feels a bit off to me, but the winning vote this time was kind of all over the place and I had trouble linking things together. Anything not included may still happen, so don't worry too much about that. It's been a bit difficult recently, but everything should be returning to normal soon.

 

[Lepidoptera]

Chapter 83 - This Isn't A Daycare, Is It?

"I'll deal with everything when the time comes." you promise. "For now, there's something that still needs my attention, isn't there?"

Roland and Gebura share a confused glance before recalling the Library's current guests. Angela, meanwhile, stares coldly into the distance only for her attentional snap back to you. "Indeed, it appears a small conflict has begun to break out. While I can reconstitute them should anything happen, it would be best if that were avoided altogether."

Before you can react to that particular bit of bad news, motes Light flash around you. You can feel space contort and reshape itself around you as you are forcibly relocated through the Library. Then, abruptly as it begun, the twisting stops. Before the embers of the transportation have even begun to fade, you can feel the connectedness of your Floor settle into you. The lurking corrosion buried deep within you, kept locked away by the seal that is your current body, settles.

The Library is made to contain Abnormalities within their ideal worlds, allowing them to exhibit their natures unrestrained without causing any harm. With you as the head of a Floor where you are also supposedly meant to be interred, some bleed-over has occurred between your two homes in the Library. Here, some deeper part of you feels at ease. The tension that comes with scrambling for control is gone, and you are in your proper place once again.

You theatrically dust yourself off, waving away the glowing shreds that permeate the Library's halls. Your sister's gotten better at interacting with people, yes, but it seems she still needs some work. That was a bit of an abrupt end to the conversation, and you'd have appreciated some warning before she dropped you over here. Then again, if the situation is urgent, there might've just not been time.

You've been sent into one of the many larger halls of your Floor, evocative of the main rooms of each of the Facility's Departments. The ceiling is high to make space for the four enormous glass enclosures along either side, each one filled with the mechanized plantlife that had spread during your time unleashed. Trees of gleaming steel with glittering crystal leaves hang over fields of fiberglass and rivers of chemicals, all contained and partitioned away. Abstract bismuth sculptures are spaced evenly in rows through the middle of the room, half-obscuring the chaos before you.

A horde of Magical Girls stare are your sudden appearance, frozen in surprise in whatever position they were in when you arrived. A ginger girl in a white suit decorated in red diamond patters stares down at you from atop one of the sculptures, flames around her fading to mere cinders. Across from her is a black-haired girl with a large white witch's hat, slowly lowering a cross-shaped staff. On the other end of the room, one of the shorter kids has pinned another to the ground and was halfway through strangling them when you arrived. A few more have engaged in fistfighting, and three or four near the front have their weapons out. Everywhere you look, people were on the edge or already in combat. Now, they stare at you with a distant sense of recognition. Whether it's from sharing senses with Nothing There like Kyoko was able to or just recognizing your presence from your use of Lobotomy, you're not sure. Either way, you can leverage this.

"Well," you say, letting a disappointed gaze drift across the assembled children, "I don't know what I was expecting leaving so many children unattended in one room together, but I had hoped for at least a bit more maturity than immediately resorting to trying to kill each other."

A ripple of shame passes over the group, and one by one they draw back from each other. The smaller child gently releases their grip from around the larger's neck and steps back, allowing their would-be victim to rise to their feet. Glittering particles fill the air from dismissed weapons. As if following some silent order, the kids make their way from around the room to assemble in front of you.

"Now, would anybody mind telling me what happened?"

A moment of weariness passes as the girls exchange glances before the kid in the witch's hat steps forwards. Two others, an orange-haired girl in some sort of school uniform and another with blue hair and a vaguely religious costume, close ranks behind her. While everyone else seems fairly nervous at the admittedly stressful situation they're in, those three seem calmer than the others. They almost definitely know each other, probably as a team. Looking over the crowd, a few more groups are clearly visible by how people have huddled together.

"Hi! I'm Subaru Kazumi," begins the dark-haired girl in a far more chipper tone than you'd expect from somebody in her current situation. "and this is Misaki Umika and Maki Kaoru. I haven't had time to learn everyone else's names yet. We all got attacked by… something." her voice drops a bit at the mention of Nothing There, a note of dread creeping through the cracks in the girl's optimism. "After that, it was… a while, before you showed up. You put us to sleep, and then we all woke up here. That girl-" she gestures in an exaggerated manner towards the Magical Girl in white she had been fighting "said that wherever we were wouldn't have enough Grief Seeds for so many people, and everything sorta escalated from there." Kazumi seems a bit sheepish at that last admission, although it's unnecessary. You do need to address these things, after all. Panicking would be a completely reasonable response, if annoying to deal with.

"It's a serious question!" the accused girl shoots back, before suddenly turning to you with a panicked expression. "Not that I'm not grateful! You saved us all from that monster, even after we were pretty much goners. But unless this place has as many Witches as most of Japan put together, we're going to be having some problems sooner rather than later."

"Actually, that won't be an issue." you respond, seeing confusion and hope in equal measure spread through the crowd. "Grief Seeds and cleansing will bother be provided, so as long as you don't burn through your Magic too quickly you should be fine."

"That reminds me, Miss… uh…" the witch-girl begins, pausing when she realizes she doesn't know your name.

"X, My name is X." you offer.

"X! Okay! So, Miss X, I don't mean to be rude, but where exactly are we? I don't feel any witches… well, anywhere! Where're you gonna get so many Grief Seeds?"

You consider your options. You could certainly try and hide information on the Library, its workings, and their bodies from the kids. But what would be the point? They'd likely find out anyways at some point. Keeping things hidden from people can be damaging to trust, especially if those secrets are directly related to the person you're hiding them from. Best get all that hassle out of the way right now.

"This is the Library. It's an extra dimensional space created and administrated by my sister. You were brought here specifically so that your bodies-" you wave a hand in the direction of the formed crowd. "could exist while we worked out a more permanent method of recovery. I'm working on-"

"Hold on, what do you mean 'could exist'! I'm- I'm right here!" one of the girls shouts.

"Are you stupid? We all died! Did you manage to forget that already?" another yells from across the room.

"We- we can't be dead! I'm not dead! I'm alive! I-" the first girl has already started to break down.

This is where things will become problematic. You weren't just trying to keep control of the situation to satisfy your inner Abnormality's sensibilities. You can't perform Lobotomy at high speeds anymore, especially not on this scale. That means keeping Soul Gems clear will depend entirely on your reserves of Grief Seeds. Fortunately, those reserves are incredibly deep by now. Between the migration caused by Walpurgisnacht and the apparent attraction to Saplings that Witches have, you were able to spare nearly fifty Grief Seeds for this meeting alone. A single Grief Seed can keep a Magical Girl fighting for days, depending on the size and their rate of Grief accumulation. Under any sort of normal circumstance, that massive a reserve would be practically inexhaustible. But supplying more than half as many Magical Girls, all in states of emotional turmoil? That stock won't last. You're even hesitant about revealing the Seed, with things as they are. The Magical Girls seem to have some awareness of your fight with Nothing There, that doesn't necessarily mean they won't try and fight you if they think they need to. Desperation makes people do crazy things.

You need to stabilize the situation while you're here, in some way that won't fall apart without constant attention. You've already fallen short once today. You won't do the same twice.

———————————————

Stabilizing factors…
[] Inform them of the supply of Grief Seeds
[] Explain their rescue from Nothing There
-[] Include explanation on Soul Gems? How much do you explain?
[] Mechanics of the Library and Light reconstruction
[] Offer alternative to Grief Seeds via Lobotomy

Order will matter here.

———————————————

Der Freischütz's Sapling - Observation Level 2/3
Porccubus' Sapling - Observation Level 2/3

Another chapter I'm not quite satisfied with. It was originally supposed to be longer and resolve the entire situation here, but I couldn't get the resolution to be satisfying so I'm outsourcing it to y'all. Apologies for the delay, I'll try to get things back on schedule. AVLS should be updated sometime soon, although no rigid timeframes there.

 

[Lepidoptera]

Chapter 84 - Executive Decisions Can't Be Contradicted

Barely a second, and it's pandemonium. All it took for panic to start to spread through the crowd was a few sentences. You can feel it already, the ripples of Grief forcing its way into existence. It hasn't had time to build yet, but as unease and fear take root the rate of growth will only rise. From there, it's only a matter of time before enough has accumulated to begin a spiral.

Grief Spirals. A particularly devious phenomenon that you're nearly completely certain was intentionally designed intentionally to accelerate the process of squeezing every last bit of value out of a Magical Girl no matter what it does to them. Grief both causes and is caused by negative emotions. Once a Magical Girl reaches a certain threshold of mental contamination, their mental state will drop to the point where Grief will keep building. This is coincided with periods of heightening of self-destructive emotions, such as episodes of aggression, impulsiveness, and self-loathing. To make things even worse, you you've found that Grief Seeds don't completely purge these effects. Even when you first discovered Lobotomy, there were layers to the cancer that was Grief's presence in the self. Lingering personality shifts that would build over time, feeding into a person's worst aspects and slowly destroying any chance of functioning normally. This could be prevented by never letting your Soul Gem reach the point of corruption where your thoughts were influenced, as Homura had likely begun to do at some point, but that's far easier said than done.

To summarize, the situation before you is will become an absolute disaster if allowed to progress any further.

Which leaves only one clear path forwards.

"Stop."

You make certain not to raise your voice even as it echoes through the museum-like halls. No anger, not even the disappointment that laced your initial admonishment. In a single word, your authority crashes down and smothers the flames of panic. The chaotic throng of children fall to a hush, their attention once again locked on you.

"I am going to explain everything that has happened, and what's going to happen now. If you are still concerned afterwards, you may ask questions."

You pause, allowing the crowd to assemble itself into some semblance of order. Their attention is held by you once again, but now there's a nervous, shifting discomfort running through things. A powderkeg, waiting for the wrong word to set it off.

It's not the first time you've had a person's mental state dependent on your next words. Hell, it's not even the first time that it's been a child depending on you. Tiphereth may have been closer to an older sister from an objective point of view, but given her level of maturity you ended up closer to the elder sibling in that relationship. This is, however, the most people you've had to talk down at once.

It's a good thing that managing large groups at once is something of a specialty of yours.

"The being that attacked you was not a Witch. It was an entity only referred to as 'Nothing There', created by a power only tangentially related to anything involving Kyubey or Magical Girls." you explain, conjuring a chair for yourself and your audience with a theatrical wave of the hand and an extended thought towards the Light that permeates the Library. Manifesting objects through the Light is a near-effortless process for any Patron Librarian, though too slow for use in combat. Sometime in the future, you'll need to compare Angela's method of construction to your own. For now, it serves only to keep the image of yourself as in control.

"Nothing There was a creature who wished to become human by killing people and imitating them, but when they found out about Magical Girls they decided to use you as a path to humanity. As a result, while you were all injured in ways that would be mortal otherwise, you were kept alive by Nothing There's abilities until I encountered them. From there, I was able to defeat Nothing There and rescue you, bringing you here until a better solution can be found."

"What exactly do you mean, 'better solution?'" the girl in the witch outfit asks. "I feel totally fine." She's been in surprisingly good spirits this whole time, with barely any Grief's buildup. Even if she already knew about how Soul Gems function, you expected the whole "died and came back" experience to be more distressing.

"I have collected a great number of Grief Seeds, which you may all use and then return to me. I can kill the Witches after they rehatch. Additionally, I am in possession of an ability that can purge a Soul Gem's Grief given some time and effort on my part. Should any of your Soul Gems begin to darken, simply notify a staff member." you inform the crowd, laying to rest one fear before you proceed. It wouldn't do to allow stress to compound upon itself. "However, that's not really related to what you asked."

"While you did all survive being attacked, Nothing There did injure you all fatally. Keeping you alive afterwards required the Library's power." you explain. "As I just demonstrated, people attuned to the Library can use its power to create things. Your current health is a consequence of your bodies being produced by this method after they were damaged."

"Damaged?" one of the girls, a blonde young adult in a flight suit, says in a strained tone of voice. "I- I saw myself die! Bodies aren't just something that gets 'damaged' and then fixed or replaced!"

"Under normal circumstances, no." you affirm, silencing the girl's panic. Not with indifference, that would only make things worse, but calm. An unassailable assurance that because you are not panicking, nobody else should be. In times of uncertainty, it's only natural to look for some sort of guidance or reassurance. For somebody whose sole purpose was providing that guidance, filling that role is easy. Delivering this next piece of news will be less so, but still manageable. "But you are all Magical Girls. Kyubey has taken certain measures to keep you alive, and distasteful as they may be this is one situation where they've worked to your benefit."

You allow some bitterness towards the Incubator to creep into your voice. Mami seems to be an exception in regards to her attitude towards the so-called assistant of Magical Girls, and even she has soured on the mascot creature as of late. Sharing that distaste with them will make what you're about to say more believable.

"When you first Contracted, you received a Soul Gem as proof of that Contract. However, Kyubey doesn't tell you exactly what a Soul Gem is. While I've found no proof that it's actually related to Souls as the name implies," you assure, cutting off that train of thought before it can begin, "it does appear to be some sort of extension of your Self, your identity. So long as your Soul Gem exists and is clean, you will stay anchored to life."

Your explanation garners two distinct reactions. From those who didn't know already the truth of Soul Gems, feelings are mixed. Even with you sculpting the interpretation of the situation to a more positive one, the idea that Kyubey did something like this in secret is still a violation. And yet, had it not been for that violation, they would be dead. For those who already know, it's different. Some are doubtful of your claims, of your way of describing what Kyubey has done. But nobody panics. Everything remains subdued, controlled, manageable.

"I know it's difficult, but you will all have to remain in the Library until you can recover properly. Until then, myself and my coworkers will do our best to make things comfortable."

With some flourish, you draw out your stock of Grief Seeds directly into a marble briefcase inscribed with images of moths, which you toss forwards. The case slides perfectly across the floor, snapping open before the attending crowd to reveal what is likely more Grief Seeds than have ever been in one place at a time.

Ignoring the sparks of wonder and desire already flaring, you stand up and turn towards the door.

"I'll be finding somebody to keep an eye on you more indefinitely; just hold on until then, 'kay?"

Leaving them alone with so many Grief Seeds is a risk, but it's unlikely that any of the Magical Girls will be willing to come to blows. Not in an unknown environment, watched over by an unknown person with unknown abilities who defeated a monster that had effortlessly outmatched them. Even the more ill-intentioned will at least play things safe for now.

———————————————

While you're away, shirk responsibility delegate to…
[] Yesod, former head of the Information Department, whose cold and critical demeanor masks a genuine care and concern for those around him.
[] Chesed, former head of the Welfare Department, who had fought longer and harder than any of the other Sephirah to protect his employees.
[] Hokma, former head of the Records Department, and the closest thing to a proper parental figure Angela had.

———————————————

Next Immediate Goal…
[] Investigate the unknown Abnormality encountered by Kyubey
[] Explore Homura and Kyoko's transformations
[] Establish contact with any nearby Magical Girl groups remaining
[] Write-in

———————————————

Der Freischütz's Sapling - Observation Level 2/3
Porccubus' Sapling - Observation Level 2/3

Sorry this chapter was late, not only was there dialogue but my constant neglect of my own sleep finally caught up with me and I passed out while I was writing. I'm good now, though. As compensation, I'll throw in a Sidestory before this vote is concluded.

 

[Lepidoptera]

Well, you know the drill by now. Sidestory, relevant to the plot, be sure not to miss it.

"Human Resources" Shouldn't Be This Literal: A PMMM/ProjectMoon Quest

 

[Lepidoptera]

Chapter 85 - Catching Up With Old Friends

You had always known that the Library was a large space. Leaving aside the fact that it was literally its own self-contained universe complete with its own laws and rules, it was also a replica of your facility. Not as explicitly as the Floor of Geography was, but the same structures were all there. The same people in charge, the same departments, the same staff, the same end goal. Or supposed end goal, in the Facility's case. Now knowing Carmen's plan, it seemed a lot more likely to devastate humanity than to lift it out of the drudgery of the City. As unlikely as it was for Angela to respond in any positive manner to that observation, that didn't make it any less true.

One key difference was orientation. While the floors of the Library in the same layer were more interconnected with one another, it was still a huge tower. Most of the volume was taken up vertically, rather than horizontally. Your Floor, the Floor of Geography, was second to the top, right below the Floor of General Works. Your destination, the Floor of Social Sciences, was in nearly the exact middle of the Library.

In summary, you have been walking down stairs for nearly four continuous minutes now.

To be fair, that is you just walking. If you were to start running at any point, you would reach your location almost immediately. But something about running from place to place just feels wrong. There's no practical reason for it. You don't get tired. The Library is reinforced to make collateral damage difficult, and even if it wasn't Fixer mods have some sort of mechanism that reduces the force they apply to their surroundings by moving. You're not exactly sure what that is. Pulling up Ayin's memories doesn't give you anything either. Combat mods were never a main focus of his.

You put the thoughts out of mind as you exit the stairwell and step into Chesed's floor. The entry hallway isn't large, just a straight corridor with windows lining the left wall, but the former Welfare Sephirah's touch is already obvious. It's a well-polished office space, bathed in deep blues from the vast ocean visible just outside the windows. Every last bit of decoration, from the couches to the cabinets, looks hand-crafted. But more than that, the space is lived-in. Even this simple hallway has signs of casual use. Empty plates laid out on the tables. Books left sitting open on whatever flat surface there is that isn't the floor. Empty mugs still smelling of coffee, though despite Chesed's games you never got to the point where you could determine the blend just by scent alone.

This floor isn't just a workplace. It's a home.

You're smiling by the time you reach Chesed's office. The rest of the floor is more of the same, though it seems his agents are still sleeping at the moment. Angela's still returning the Library to its original capacity, but until then the majority of the staff are left sleeping on a rotation. Only the most essential members, such as the Patron Librarians, are kept present at all times. It's an improvement from when you first arrived, at the very least.

At last, you reach the door to your old colleague's room. Despite yourself, you freeze when your hand touches the doorknob. It's a tiny thing; you turn the knob and push open the door in the same moment. But that doesn't erase the proof of your hesitation.

You never really had a relationship with Angela beyond what was necessitated, and even then what you did have was mostly poorly-concealed antagonism on both sides. Reuniting with her in the Library, it didn't feel like anything had changed because there wasn't anything there in the first place. It could hardly even be called a new start. You just… had somebody to talk to all of a sudden. Somebody who, at least in some level, could empathize with what you'd gone through. It was a wonderful new connection, but also just that. A new connection.

Gebura had been focused on business, as expected. There wasn't much of an opportunity to speak with her either before or after Kyoko's transformation. The other attendee, Roland, was presumably much the same, although you don't actually know much about him aside from the fact that your sister's feelings towards him are very confused. There might even be some romance going in there, depending on how you read things, or Angela could just be latching onto the only thing she has that isn't related to your mother or father. Either way, it isn't your job to police a mostly-mature sort-of-adult's relationships. The point being, you haven't really had a chance to reconnect with your coworkers.

If the state of the Floor is anything to go by, Chesed is the exact same kind of person as a Patron Librarian that he was as the Welfare Department Head. Laid-back and jovial, but surprisingly competent and determined when the situation called for it. Definitely the most sociable out of all your staff, and behind only Ayin and Benjamin when it came to technical knowledge. Most definitively, Chesed was a proactive person. A lot like Gebura in that way, even if their manners couldn't be any more different. When he saw something he was dissatisfied with, like the average death rates in the Facility, he got to work doing whatever he could to change it.

In short, you don't expect to get this over with while avoiding a proper conversation this time.

And on some level, that frightens you.

This will be the first time in weeks you talk to somebody who actually knew you. The first time since the Facility fell. You feel the same as you did back then, but your feelings aren't necessarily an unbiased judgement on this matter. Can you call yourself the same person when you're not even human? Will-

No, it's not relevant right now. Your true nature hasn't caused problems with interacting with people so far, there's no reason to believe it will get worse. If any more problems arise, you'll deal with them as they come. Until then, you don't have the time to be thinking about this. You have enough on your plate already.

The door to the office opens gently and quietly, revealing a room bathed in faint blue light. The left wall is completely glass, allowing clear view of the brightly-illuminated ocean somehow contained on this floor. A shelf of various coffee beans occupies the back wall. By the smell, you can presume that the nearby coffee machine has been recently used. At his desk, Chesed slowly sets aside his cup with a relaxed smile on his face.

"Oh! Hey Boss, I didn't expect to see you around. If I'd known you were coming, I would have prepared you a cup as well."

Chesed is a tall, lithe man with short blue hair. His old uniform has been exchanged for a dark blue victorian suit that only accentuates his aristocratic look. The normally ever-present bags under his eyes are missing, so at least he's been sleeping properly as of late. He waves a hand, conjuring another hand-crafted chair for you sitting on the opposite side of his desk.

"You sure that's the right thing to call me, Chesed?" you say with a weak smile as you sit down. "I'm retired. You're all under new management now from what I hear."

Chesed laughs. "Fair, fair. That's why I just called you 'boss' instead of 'Manager', though."

"I feel like that's got the same issue, though. Speaking of, how has Angela been treating you all? She's been pretty different with me, but I do want to make sure. I know she wasn't… exactly on good terms with anybody."

"It's been alright." Chesed leans back in his chair, pausing to take a quick sip of coffee before he continues. "Things were definitely rough at first, if I'm being completely honest. But she's mellowed out by now, so I can't really hold it against her. Or anything from the Corporation, for that matter."

You silently raise an eyebrow. While Angela wasn't particularly kind to any of the Sephirah, she and Chesed had a special rivalry. Her job in the Facility was to keep everything according to the script and shut down any possible deviations, all while keeping the Sephirah in the same distressed state they died in. Out of all the Sephirah, Chesed was the most actively rebellious. He implemented policies to minimize the loss of life in the Facility and try to make things more bearable, but Angela would always undo his work. In the end, she wore down his determination over the years until all that was left was apathy. You had been tasked with rekindling that spark during your time as Manager.

"Holding grudges now wouldn't do anybody any good." he says, leaning back into his chair. "Everything turned out alright in the end. Angela isn't really a leader like you were, but she leaves us to our own devices most of the time. There isn't much for me to complain about."

"That's good to hear." you say, relieved. "I didn't expect anything different, but I was still worried, y'know? I just couldn't help it." It wasn't all you were worried about, but it seems like those fears too were unfounded. If Chesed thought there was something wrong with you, he would've just come out and said it by now. Despite being such a laid-back person, it would be out of character for Chesed not to make it known if he found something unfavorable. Or even if he's just bored and feels like needling somebody.

How he survived existing in the same general vicinity as Gebura for so long, you'll never guess.

Chesed sits up from his chain and steps over to the shelf of coffee beans. There's no searching through labels or fumbling with ingredients; he heads directly to one of the boxes and takes some of the beans from them. "Do you still take your coffee the same? Or do you have a different preference now?"

"I'm still the same as I always was."

"Now, I can tell that's not true." Chesed says with a chuckle, not seeing you flinch. "But that's neither here nor there. As far as I can tell, it was mostly the outside that ended up different. Well, outside of becoming a single mother."

You choke. "Angela told you?"

This time, it's a full laugh that escapes Chesed's throat. "She told everyone. I've got to say, while it wasn't exactly what I expected you to do when we were all finished, it definitely suits you. Though ten thousand is a bit old to have kids."

You glare, but there's no anger in it. "I wasn't born until the Corporation started. Technically, you're older than me by what, thirty years?"

"If we're counting like that, aren't you only ten?"

"Ugh, screw it. Forget I said anything."

Chesed's laughter trails off. The blue-haired Librarian reaches for his coffee and drains the cup in a single motion. He's still smiling, but some of the relaxed manner has faded. It seems pleasantries are over. "All that being said, I've got a feeling you aren't just here for coffee and a chat."

"The coffee is a part of it," you say jokingly as Chesed reaches for the freshly-made pot and a second cup. "but you're right. It's about the other kids."

Chesed hands you the fresh cup of coffee, still steaming hot. "Right, I heard you were doing that today. Everything went alright?"

You blink. "You did? It was something of an impromptu decision."

"News gets around fast here. There's not much else going on for the assistant librarians to talk about." Chesed says.

"Well, everything went as well as it could've. The problem is supervision. I've got almost fourty emotionally-charged teenagers cooped up on my floor now, and it's only a matter of time before one of them does something stupid."

"I see." Chesed nods. "Don't worry, I can help keep them in line. I wonder if Tiphereth'd be interested, too?"

You blink. That was… very easy. You aren't used to things being easy. "I didn't even say what I was going to ask."

"Did I guess wrong?"

You stare in silence at Chesed, then sigh and take a sip of coffee. It's unbelievably bitter, with enough caffeine to kill a normal man. You never really had time for proper meals, but when you needed help staying awake you'd ask Chesed for this order and then use the K Corp nanites to cure the sleep deprivation afterwards. You hadn't even liked coffee at first, but after thousands of years it's pretty much impossible not to pick up a fondness for the flavor.

"No, you're just enjoying this way too much. You're sure you wanna do this? It's not gonna be easy."

Chesed just shrugs. "It's not like there's much else to do here. Besides, these kids are all supposed to have Magic, right? I've always had a thing for fairy tales, believe it or not."

You can. You can absolutely believe it.

Another sip finishes the last of your coffee. Reluctantly, you get up from your seat. "Well, I think that takes care of it. I really would love to stay for a while longer, but… well, I've got even more kids to look after." You raise your voice slightly, shifting your attention to the Light permeating the Library. "Angela? I'm ready to head back home."

As the drifting particles swirl around you, the last thing you hear of the Library is Chesed's voice.

"So, Magical Girls, huh? Now how do I convince Tiphereth that she wants to help…"

Some things never change.

———————————————

Testing…

[] Mosaic of Prometheus
-[] Test Associated Concepts & Fixations
-[] Test Combat Abilities
-[] Test Saintless Pyre functions
-[] Test? (Write-in)
[] Wind-Up Soldier
-[] Test Associated Concepts & Fixations
-[] Test Combat Abilities
-[] Test Wind-Up Storage and Capacity
-[] Test? (Write-in)
[] Test something different (Write-in)
[] Do something else (Write-in)

———————————————

Der Freischütz's Sapling - Observation Level 2/3
Porccubus' Sapling - Observation Level 2/3

Now for something completely different. Votes will decide what you do first thing when you get back. You can test with more than one person and for more than one thing, but that uses up time and may be taxing for the person you test with.

 

[Lepidoptera]

Chapter 86 - Mother Knows Best

The moment of blinding light quickly passes, and you find yourself once again in your apartment. The midday's light trickles through the clouds and into the guest room where Yuma sleeps. The girl in question sits on the bed, scribbling drawings in the margins of her homework. It's yet another sign that Mitakihara is an equivalent to a Nest for this world. Only a Nest school would assign pre-calculus to an eleven year-old for homework.

You cough lightly, alerting your youngest daughter to your return. Yuma drops her pen and turns towards you, grinning cheerfully. In a few quick jumps, she's descended from the bed and rushed up to to. You catch your daughter mid-jump, offering a short hug which she returns before setting her back down on the ground.

You haven't been able to spend as much time with Yuma as you'd like to. Between keeping the Witch population at bay, searching for Abnormalities, and managing Homura, you don't see her much outside of preparing breakfast and dinner and ferrying her to and from school. You're uncomfortable enough just bringing Madoka along, even with the completely overwhelming firepower present, but you don't actually have the authority to just decide whether she can come or not without some conflict arising. Yuma, though, you've tried your best to keep separate from the whole Magical Girl business. That means leaving her out of the more involved group events. It's not a perfect solution, you'll admit, but nothing ever is.

"Mom! Mami and her friend are making in the kitchen! They're gonna bake a cake!"

"Are they now?" you say with a smirk. You aren't actually going to stop them baking, but neither can you be too permissive. Eating only pastries all the time sounds fun until you consider the consequences that most people have to face. Well, "most people". Mami's a Magical Girl and seems to have any potential maladies cancelled out by her passive healing, Kyoko is a Distortion whose true body is made of fire and so likely won't care what she eats, and you're not sure what happens to food when you eat it. Nothing normal, that's for sure. Only Yuma would actually suffer the effects of such a sugary diet. Still, it wouldn't be fair for her to have to regulate her intake while everyone else just eats whatever they want. You'll need to set up a meal plan of some sort later.

Just not right now. Kyoko and Mami could probably use it.

"Well, I suppose it's alright. But just because we're celebrating Kyoko coming back." you concede to the cheerful child. "So don't get used to having so many sweets. If you eat too many, you'll make yourself sick."

"Don't worry! Yuma won't!" your daughter assured you.

With that confirmation, you open the door out of Yuma's room and head towards the kitchen, the girl trailing close behind you.

—————————

Mami rushes from place to place in the kitchen, moving in perfect choreographed motions as she goes. From the ingredients she's set out, it looks like she's actually preparing a whole cake. There's probably going to be some left over even between the five of you. More importantly, though, is the unnatural nervousness present. More than once, Mami opens a drawer or cabinet and closes it without retrieving anything. She's checked that the oven is heating at least twice in the few seconds since you started watching. And above all, she keeps looking back at Kyoko.

Kyoko stands awkwardly in the center, holding a bowl of dough and staring at it like it's a kid whose dog she just ran over. It's an uncanny contrast from how Nothing There had acted when imitating the girl, even more so knowing that was how she would normally have acted. Whenever Mami glances back at her, though, Kyoko switches to a casual, indifferent smile. As much as you appreciate her effort in keeping Mami happy, you're not going to let her avoid whatever issue she has forever. You'll allow some grace period, of course, but sooner or later she's going to have to confront it with or without your intervention.

"I see you're in the middle of something." you say, announcing your presence. Kyoko whips around to look at you, still holding the half-made dough. Mami jumps uncharacteristically in surprise, though it's understandable given she seems a bit on-edge.

This whole situation has been a mess for her. It's honestly quite impressive how well your daughter has held up so far.

"Hello Mom," Mami replies after composing herself. "It's nice to have you here again. I was thinking of ways to celebrate Kyoko coming back, so we're baking a cake together!"

"Good to hear. I have to meet with Homura about her capacity testing, so I'll be out for a bit until that's finished. Do you think you can hold down the fort until then?"

Mami hesitates for a moment, uncertainty barely kept off her face as she answers. "Everything will be alright. I can manage things myself for a little while."

You linger in the kitchen, giving Mami a look of mild concern. You don't have much practice with this expression. Facial expressions in general are something of a weak point for you, given your history of limited face-to-face social interaction. It is, at the very least, good enough for Mami to pick up on. She walks over to you, standing on the other side of the kitchen entrance.

"Really, you don't need to worry. I just…" her voice lowers. "I'm worried about Kyoko. I can tell she's trying to act like she's not upset, but I don't know if I should press it. I don't want to ruin things between us again."

"Then let it wait for just a little while longer." you say softly. "I'll be back soon, and we can sort everything out from there."

Mami nods solemnly, and with that you step back into the hall and disappear.

—————————

Teleportation is something you were working on for quite a while. It's a fairly common ability for Abnormalities, though the exact methods used differ from individual to individual. Blue Star's teleportation is a combination of its gravity-warping presence and space manipulation. Silent Orchestra's music passively reorders the area around it in accordance with its idea of a perfect performance, letting it move freely within that zone despite being otherwise immobile. Alriune allows its whole body to disperse and reform. The most powerful Abnormalities, such as WhiteNight, Apocalypse Bird, or yourself, can simply decide to be somewhere due to their unique relationship with existence. You will be using something a bit more normalized for this universe.

Magic.

The EGO gear of the Magical Girl Abnormalities normally confers only the simplest forms of their power. Your variant of EGO, formed through mutual understanding and acceptance between you and an Abnormality, expands upon that base to open up more utility. On its own, that would not be enough to learn teleportation. That necessitated better synch with the Knight of Despair to happen.

As it turns out, spending so much time sheltering and protecting Magical Girls does wonders for your ability to empathize with a being who spent most of their life doing the same thing for their companions. Thus, with a little bit of practice, teleportation spells became available to you.

It's still not perfect. Teleporting like this is slow, and requires you to focus on the spell in exclusion of all else. It would be useless in combat at this level. But combined with Homura's unique emotional signal, it does free you from having to scour the city for the wayward Distortion.

You arrive in a burst of starlight, constellations spiraling and collapsing into fragments all around you. The branch you appear on also fragments, only your quick reaction speed and a short hop saving you from an embarrassing trip to the ground. You stabilize yourself atop one of the tree's larger branches, hidden by the thick cover of leaves.

Homura turns slowly to greet you. Her movements are precise, efficient, without any wasted motion. Mechanical. Her face remains impassive and unmoving as she stares at you, a porcelain mask meant only to conceal the clockwork beneath. The exception to this stillness is the ribbon still tied in an oversized bow around Homura's waist, one end of which is wrapped around the tree's trunk for stability. You raise an eyebrow, but do not ask why Homura was sitting in a tree. You really don't have to.

"You've arrived."

"Yep." you say impassively. "You ready to do this?" Instead of a verbal answer, Homura sits down on the branch she was standing on, back facing you. The free ribbon brings Homura's key to you, pausing to wrap around your outstretched hand before releasing the key into it.

Homura remains perfectly still as you place the key into the hole in the back of her neck and turn. You feel the grip of her powers on your lifespan tighten with each turn, but pay it no mind. There is no amount of time that she could take that would hurt you. The key finally stops, having reached to furthest it can turn, and with it the cold grasp vanishes without a trace.

"How much time do you have now?" you ask. Homura's face remains unmoving, but you can feel her attention leave you to tally her reserves.

"Twenty-four years. My upper limit is up by two days since the last test."

That confirms it. You already had your suspicions when first discovering the maximum time Homura could store at once, but this increase tells everything. Homura's limit to her reserves is equal to the amount of time she's been alive, ignoring any interference from her powers.

"And usage rates?" you inquire, though it's mostly just a formality. You don't expect how costly Homura's abilities are to use to change at any point even as her capacity to use them. Not without training or outside influence, at least.

"Base consumption is still the same. One second per second. It rises to one day during full time stop. I have been keeping to dilation instead while hunting to conserve power." Homura reports. Her manner is somewhat more clipped than it was even back then. Militaristic, even, like a soldier relaying the results of a scouting mission to a superior instead of a person discussing themself.

"You know, you don't need to play so conservatively with your reserves. Not that you should just burn through everything right away, but you can always call me for a recharge. It doesn't cost me anything, after all." you insist. You want to help Homura, but that's only possible if she lets you.

"I will be sure to remember that." Homura says in a tone that speaks less of actually agreeing with you and more of wanting to end this line of conversation as soon as possible. The two of you stare awkwardly at one another before your fellow time-traveller breaks the silence.

"I've been making progress with Parallels." she says, the sound of clockwork echoing out before you can respond. Purple sands rush like streaming blood visible through the cracks in Homura's body, shrouding her in an amethyst glow that peels away from her and condenses. A roman numeral "I" flashes for a mere second, before shifting to a "II", a "III", and finally pausing on "IV" before disappearing amidst the faded purple gleam. In its place is a second Homura.

Well, that's what you could say. But while the Wind-Up Soldier may be hard to tell apart from a human at a distance, there is no mistaking the Parallel for what it is.

The false porcelain skin that is cracked and damaged on Homura's body is in far worse condition on the Parallel's. Massive gashes are torn through its chest, arms, and neck, and its face has completely shattered to reveal the intricate mechanism beneath. Two glowing purple orbs gaze out from a nonsensical mess of gears and connectors that seem like they shouldn't even fit together, let alone be part of something so complex. Masses of purple sand spill out in frozen arcs around its body from each wound, the shapes having an uncanny resemblance to sprays of blood. The pink ribbon is notably absent from its waist.

"A minimum of two years is needed to create a Parallel. All injuries are passed on to it, without inhibiting its function. This one only has four years."

Four years. Four years of time, given up just like that. That leaves Homura with twenty, and if she's using them up this quickly that won't last. You'll need to re-wind her after this testing session is over. Instead of pushing on that point right now, you stay on task.

"Is your attention split between the Parallel and you? Do they act on their own?"

Though neither body moves, you can hear the Parallel speak this time. Its voice is slightly garbled, filled with static and clicking interrupting its words.

"I can control either one or both at once. I don't feel any distraction or loss of attention on doing so."

Well, that's convenient. Some sort of network between them? The Parallel contributes enough processing to offset any concentration lost by managing it. It's not an independent creature, you can tell that much. Perhaps the name is indicative, and it really is an alternate version of Homura. But that wouldn't make sense, considering the shared consciousness. Unless that's an effect of her Distortion, synchronizing Homura's mind between different timelines. No, it doesn't fit with the main pattern of Homura's abilities. She affects the flow, the passage of time, not possibilities. Vertical movement, not horizontal, to put it one way. So perhaps-

"She still talks to me sometimes."

Homura's words cut through your train of analysis. You inhale, then exhale slowly, gently removing your hand from the new hole you made in the tree trunk you had been resting it on.

"She doesn't say much. But she agreed to warn me if Madoka was in danger."

"Did she say anything about telling people about her?" you ask carefully.

"She said it would make things more complicated, but that it was my choice." Homura states cleanly. "There is somebody she would like us to meet someday."

———————————————

Tell Homura…
[] She shouldn't listen to Carmen.
[] You won't stop her from listening to Carmen
[] Write-in.

———————————————

Der Freischütz's Sapling - Observation Level 2/3
Porccubus' Sapling - Observation Level 2/3

Update schedule will be slowing to a 2-Day Voting period followed by a day before the update, in order to give people more time to respond to new chapters. I don't have much else to say here. Oh! I'll be posting a Chesed CharSheet soon, just to give a sense of how BS the Library can get.

 

[Lepidoptera]

Chapter 87 - When The Sun Rises

"I never actually met Carmen." you begin. It feels strange, discussing your family. There was never any time for it at the Facility, nor was there anyone who would be able to truly understand if you did. They knew Ayin and Carmen, had relationships with them. Very, very complicated relationships. Talking with them about your creators would have only made things more complicated. You did speak with Hokma about your father on more than one occasion, but for as insightful as the old man was his judgement was rather impaired when it came to Ayin. The only person who really could have related was Tiphereth. The two of you did talk about Ayin and Carmen between work, but when the later days came that time grew shorter and shorter.

You haven't seen Tiphereth since the fall of L Corp. Not that you're worried about your surrogate sibling. She's more competent than most people expect.

Homura reminds you of Tiphereth, in some ways. Both are skilled beyond their years, at the cost of anything that could resemble a proper childhood. Both tend to try to work alone, carrying a weight that should be held by a team. Both were driven solely by the happiness of a single person, who they were forced to watch die again and again.

"Everyone else knew her, worked with her, but that was before I was even born. By the time my life had begun, Carmen had been gone for a long time."

Maybe that's why it's easier to talk about your life with Homura. It's not just that you can see the places where her life echoes yours. Your relationship is the easiest to contextualize. Caring for children is a new experience. An enjoyable one, and close enough to what you are used to for some skills to have carried over, but it's still new. Homura feels more like a coworker than a child.

"Everyone always said that Carmen was a fantastic person. That she inspired them, or lifted them up, or made them believe they were making a difference in the world. She wasn't a leader because she had a plan or because she was smarter than most people, although those were both true. It was because she was good at making people believe her."

Homura hasn't moved since you began talking. It would be hard to tell if that were because she was concentrating on what you're saying or due to her natural stillness were it not for the chorus of clicks and whirls pouring out from the cracks in her flesh. Looking at Homura, you wonder if maybe you could have prevented this. If you had spent more time with her, talked to her more. If you could have unwound the tangle of traumatic experience that she was nested in before Carmen had a chance to raise her voice. You'll never know now.

"Whoever Carmen was, she's not that person anymore. Maybe she never really was." you say. It's not as much of a blow as it should be, knowing that the heart of your mission might have been fake. Maybe it would be for your coworkers. But it was never about Carmen's dream for you.

"She's been helpful so far." Homura says, lacking any of the defensiveness that you would expect from that sort of statement. It's not a retort; only a simple statement of fact.

"Maybe," you admit, "but just because she can be helpful doesn't mean you should give her words too much weight. None of the other Distortions who followed Carmen's guidance had happy endings. I don't want the same thing to happen to you."

The sounds of machinery halt abruptly before resuming, slightly quieter than before.

"It doesn't matter what happens to me. Not if I can save Madoka's life. I accepted that sacrifice when I became a Magical Girl." Homura says. She tilts her head slightly, before righting it with a mechanical click. "Anything else is of no consequence."

"Why did you tell me about Carmen?" you ask calmly. "If she told you it would make things more difficult. You don't get anything out of it."

"We agreed to work together. It's easier to protect Madoka if I am not alone."

"Well, there you have it. That's why I need you to take care of yourself. you say lightly. The sound of clockwork within Homura winds down, leaving only the faint echoing ticks of a mechanical heart. "Madoka won't be happy if you get yourself killed. Especially not when she figures out that it was because you were trying to save her. So look out for yourself. If not for your own sake, then for hers."

You pause, waiting for Homura to respond. When she instead remains still, staring forward with a piercing amethyst gaze, you press forwards.

"Look, I'm not telling you to shut out everything Carmen says. Just… run it by me before you do anything crazy, alright?"

Without a trace of hesitation, Homura nods. Like everything else she does, the motion is smooth and efficient. "I will be sure to tell you whenever she speaks. Is that all for today?"

Internally, you sigh with relief. That could've gone a lot worse. "Yeah, that's about it. I'll contact you again if I need to test anything else. Now, give me your key. I don't want you walking around at half-charge or whatever when I'm free, you understand?"

—————————

With that ordeal resolved, you reappear outside your apartment in a burst of soft shadows. Teleportation is really very convenient. You could've been even more efficient and just teleported into the house, but something about that feels wrong. Maybe if you want to surprise somebody, then you'll try it later. But for now, you slowly open the door and make your presence known to your children.

"I'm back! Is the cake done yet?"

"X!" Mami exclaims from the living room in front of you. Yuma, Kyoko, and her were previously seated around the table and preparing to cut into a freshly-baked cake before Mami sat up. Your eldest daughter catches you in a leaping hug, to which you return a light squeeze before gently setting her down. Yuma isn't far behind, giving her own less forceful but just as enthusiastic embrace. Kyoko remains seated, staring at the display awkwardly.

"Now, now, settle down. I was barely gone for a few minutes." you say playfully as the three of you return to the table.

"So you were." Mami admits without a hint of shame. Yuma's attention has already been captured by the cake sitting in the middle of the table, waiting to be cut.

"Yuma's hungry, and so is Kyoko! Can we all eat?" your youngest interrupts, gesturing towards the red-haired Magical Girl seated beside her. Kyoko, for her part, is completely taken off-guard. The melancholy that had previously overwhelmed her is absent, diminished by Yuma's attention, before returning slowly.

"I don't know, have you finished your homework?" you ask, though you're already sitting down. Yuma nods enthusiastically, and you reach out and begin dividing the cake into slices. You deposit one onto each plate, leaving most of the freshly-made confection untouched. It'll be nice to have for later. Once everyone has burned off some of the initial enthusiasm that comes with having a well-crafted dessert placed in front of you, you try and start up a conversation.

"So, Kyoko, do you have any plans you're working on?" you inquire, gesturing towards the girl with the handle of your fork. Kyoko glances down at the crumbs left on her plate, then looks exceedingly guilty when Mami reaches over to give her a second slice.

"I'll just do whatever you're all doing. You're already giving me food and somewhere to stay, so it's not fair for me to ask anything more than that. I can pay you back however." she says, all traces of guilt buried under faux irritation.

"There's really no need for that." Mami responds. By the slight strain in her voice, Kyoko's attempts to conceal her pain have been less than successful. "Those are just basic necessities. You don't deserve anything less."

The temperature in the room flares, and Kyoko's disguise flickers. For a moment, you can see the towering equine glasswork, kneeling at the table. Her body is webbed by cracks, liquid flame bleeding out in thick gouts and then vanishing before it can touch the ground. The air smolders and burns. Kyoko's faceless gaze stares blindly forward, the thin red veil doing little to conceal the white-hot mess of melting glass beneath. Then, her focus returns to Mami sitting in front of her, and the image disappears.

You're not sure if the lapse was even long enough for anybody to see. While the burst of heat was definitely noticed by the others, Mami only gives Kyoko a look of mild concern. Kyoko doesn't make eye contact, instead glaring down at her fresh slice of cake and picking out a bite. The frosting has become slightly melted.

———————————————

Topics
[] Witch Patrol Schedules
[] Kyoko's Future (Press)
[] Kyoko's Feelings About Distortion
[] Carmen
[] Mami and Kyoko's Past
[] Write-in

———————————————

Der Freischütz's Sapling - Observation Level 2/3
Porccubus' Sapling - Observation Level 2/3

As the meal will soon reach critical awkwardness capacity, only one topic may be chosen. Any write-ins that are too long may risk characters becoming exhausted by the conversation. X will not push past this emotional exhaustion in her kids.

I was preparing a few scenes for the future with the AWTL while listening to Shiny, and I've gotta say it's surprisingly fitting. She probably won't appear for a while, not unless you seek her out.

AVLS will update before this vote closes. Probably. Depends on how inspired I'm feeling, since that story is less regimented in its scheduling.

 

[Lepidoptera]

Chapter 88 - Getting Back To Business As Usual

"So," you begin as casually as possible, hoping to distract from the immense tension that's been growing this whole conversation. "We'll be running patrols later this evening. It'll be either one or two teams, since covering the whole city every day is difficult otherwise. With how many Witches have been showing up recently, we can't afford anything less. If you feel like you need to do something, you can always join us."

"Sure, sounds great." Kyoko says a little too quickly. Her casual tone would probably have covered up the sheer desperation to have something else to do otherwise. Beside her, Mami smiles in relief.

"It will be nice to fight side by side with you again." she says, still smiling softly. While her voice is enthusiastic, it's tainted by a note of melancholy. If you remember correctly, she expressed almost the exact same sentiment to a disguised Nothing There.

You've seen Mami's mind. You know exactly how much Kyoko meant to her. The two were practically sisters, both children who had lost everyone else in their lives. She has experienced their reunion twice now, both times tainted. Right now, it seems hard to believe things will ever actually go back to normal.

"Glad to have you with us, then." you say as cheerfully as you can. The familiarity should do them both some good. Maybe things won't ever truly go back to the way they were, but that doesn't mean the way they are now has to be without happiness. Of course, that's not the only reason.

"It'll be good for Sayaka to have another role model as well, especially considering you're almost definitely Mami's best student." you continue, drawing a raised eyebrow from the others around the table. Well, from Mami and Kyoko. Yuma is otherwise occupied with her slice of cake and seems to just accept that if you say something is a good idea, it probably is.

"I dunno if you've met me," Kyoko drawls, "but I'm not really what you'd call 'role model' material. Fuck, I'm not even really a Magical Girl anymore." The temperature in the room flares with those last few words, though Kyoko doesn't emote any further beyond it. The heat isn't the same blazing inferno from before, though. Instead, it almost feels… guilty? There's a gentle, warm happiness for just a moment, and then it is smothered by a heavy, stifling wave of heat. Your life only ever gets more complicated, doesn't it?

Still, repairing the ruined mental health of emotionally-unstable powerhouses was literally your day job. You can do this.

"If I was thinking in those terms, then Mami's already got that covered. You'd be hard-pressed to find a better example of the quintessential Magical Girl anywhere." you answer. Kyoko nods, again slightly too enthusiastic for her casual act to be believable.

"You've got that right." the red-haired Distortion affirms, though Mami only shakes her head and looks down.

"You're too kind, both of you, but I am not as impressive as you make me out to be." The humility is more out of politeness than anything else. You are intimately familiar with Mami's mental issues, and while there are some places she feels she lacks confidence, she has too much faith in you and Kyoko's judgement to really argue.

"You are, but we're getting off-topic." you counter. "The point is, it'll be good for Sayaka to meet more Magical Girls. Information and experience are everything, after all."

"Perhaps you could have her meet the Magical Girls in the Library? It would certainly provide a variety of experiences." Mami suggests. You consider for a quick moment, but then shake your head.

"I don't think that would work. I don't know most of 'em, so I can't make any judgements that way. But the real issue would be having so many people. It's a lot to take in all at once." It's not even been an hour and you're already worried about them. Or, to be more specific, worried about Chesed. He's capable and charismatic, yes, but children are a lot to take care of. Especially superpowered, highly unstable children.

Eh, he'll probably be fine.

"Can Yuma see the Library?" your youngest interjects. You pause for a moment, considering the proposition. You'd normally be hesitant to let any of your children into the City. As strong as they are, your homeworld is a brutal, terrifying place. The kind of place that was so horrible, the founding and running of Lobotomy Corporation could be justified just for a chance to make it better. But the Library, at least, is a controlled environment. Death isn't even possible without Angela's permission.

Before you can give your affirmation, the conversation is interrupted by an unwelcome guest. Kyubey slinks out from nowhere and perches themself on one of the nearby shelves, face as motionlessly cheerful as ever.

"Good afternoon, Mami, X, Chitose Yuma, Sakura Kyoko. I hope I'm not interrupting anything, but I'm here to report the absence of any new Abnormalities in Mitakihara."

Somehow, the atmosphere manages to become even more fragile and uneasy than it already was. Heat flares erratically, washing through the room in irregular waves, though this time Kyoko's disguise holds. Mami glances at her in concern, noting the crimson-haired girl's fists clenching under the table. Undeterred, Kyubey leaps down from the shelf to settle in Yuma's lap. Your daughter yelps in surprise, but settles quickly enough. Interestingly, Yuma doesn't seem too uncomfortable with the alien creature's presence sitting on her lap. The way she shifts her posture to make room for it is practiced, like she's done it before.

You…
[] Ask Kyubey to leave
[] Allow Kyubey to stay

———————————————

Conversation…
[] Witch Patrol Schedules
[] Kyoko's Future (Press)
[] Kyoko's Feelings About Distortion
[] Carmen
[] Kyubey
[] Mami and Kyoko's Past
[] Absence of Abnormalities
This option is available only if Kyubey remains present
[] Kyubey's Interactions with Yuma
This option will include Kyubey if they remain present
[] Write-in

———————————————

Der Freischütz's Sapling - Observation Level 2/3
Porccubus' Sapling - Observation Level 2/3

Sorry I was late on this one, writing conversation without it feeling too awkward is difficult. That, and I was looking through Mili's songs for completely innocuous reasons and got caught up in that. Apparently, they've done a cover of Komm, Süsser Tod? As well as quite a few other under appreciated works.

 

[Lepidoptera]

Chapter 89 - Regular Report Received

As much as you dislike Kyubey, they're still usually useful. So, despite the general inclination to either ask the Incubator to leave or forcefully eject them from the apartment, you lean back into your chair.

"Well, that's good to know. I haven't found any either, so Mitakihara is probably clear." you announce, prompting some mild celebration from around the table. Some previously unseen tension leaves Kyoko's body, and she relaxes in her seat. Yuma nods along, happy to see everyone else relieved but clearly not fully understanding why. She only ever met three Abnormalities, and you and Punishing Bird have both treated her well. Mami smiles as well, though as she does her thoughts are elsewhere. You wonder if she's remembering her first proper encounter with an Abnormality.

Your own thoughts stray back to Blue Star. You were exceedingly fortunate that you are so resistant to mental effects, and even then it very nearly wasn't enough to banish the False God's presence before it could take root. Blue Star was never the most combat-capable Abnormality, but that never really mattered. Sure, the Agents who could fight it were at very little risk, but everyone else usually died the moment it breached. If it had escaped like Nothing There did? The collateral damage would have been far worse than a few ruined buildings.

"However," you remind the table, gazing pointedly at Kyubey all the while, "that's not everything. We know for a fact that Abnormalities aren't restricted to appearing in this City. Do you have any knowledge, or even any suspicions, of any other Abnormalities?"

The Incubator blinks silently. "Aside from you, I haven't found any definitive evidence of Abnormality presence. There has, however, been a disturbance nearby that was assumed to be a result of interference from an Abnormality."

With that news, the previous feeling of safety is snatched away. The temperature goes from the previous warm glow to an oppressive, cloying haze. You lean forwards in your chain, hearing the faint creak of the wood in the now-silent room. "Well, out with it, then. What've you found?"

"It's more accurate to say that information is missing. There has been a complete failure to receive any information regarding Kamihama City, starting about two weeks ago. Due to the nature of the issue, pinpointing an exact time is not possible."

Information blackout. That narrows things down significantly. An automatic defense in response to [CENSORED]? Unlikely. Some previously unseen ability of Dimensional Refraction Variant's invisibility? Equally improbable. You could've even pegged it as an extension of Big Bird's ability to subsume nearby light to force people to follow its lantern, but that option's crossed out. You already fought the Black Forest's most proactive Guardian, and while you did fail to prevent all the loss of life the fight was finished with only you and Homura standing. Lamp sits patiently in the back of your mind, awaiting your call.

Instead of the all-revealing lantern, you call upon a different power. While your ability to use Lobotomy has slowed to a crawl compared to your previous heights, it's easy enough when you're sitting down and not doing anything else. A single glowing spine, a tendril of Light, reaches from behind you and pierces Kyubey. Of course, nobody reacts. The "wing" isn't even real, let alone visible. Just like your tools and materials from before. Ways to help visualize, to speed up the process.

Of course, they could be real if you wanted them to be. All it would take is a little crack. You could-

You dismiss that train of thought before it can proceed any further. Your urges always get a little stronger around uses of Lobotomy. Nothing you can't deal with. You'll close up the operation when Kyubey finishes their report and see what you found.

Speaking of, Kyubey hasn't stopped talking.

"The City was under watch previously due to a group of Magical Girls who gained undue knowledge of the mechanics of Magic. With it, they made specific Wishes to try and claim control of the Contract system for themselves. They had planned to harvest energy from Soul Gems for power, disrupting the present system in the process."

Around the room, the mood only darkens. Mami is without her ordinary presented smile, face set in a grim line. Kyoko stares down at her chest, where her Soul Gem once was.

"And they knew what Soul Gems are when they did this? That Soul Gems are parts of Magical Girls, that they can't survive without them?"

"They were aware of the truths about Magical Girls. It was only because of their information that their plan could occur at all."

"And what, you just let it happen? Didn't have any way to stop them? This seems like the kinda thing you should be stopping before it gets out of hand." Kyoko spits with more aggression than is necessary. Not more than is justified, though. Setting aside the red-haired girl's hatred of Kyubey, it's a good question. You likely would've asked it if she hadn't.

"While there are teams of Magical Girls who normally deal with these sorts of things, they were occupied at the time. By the time their other issues cleared up, the situation had changed."

You file away the existence of Kyubey's Magical Girl secret police for later and keep listening.

"Recently, the entire team was found to have disappeared. While the investigations were cut off, it seems likely there were killed by something with Soul-manipulating Magic."

Well, that pretty much closes it. You know who's responsible. And if you're actually right, and you are, then you will need to maneuver very carefully in the future.

"I see." you announce, standing up and closing your connection with Lobotomy. You hadn't expected much, but the lack of any response confirms what you already theorized. Even with the Light's presence, the Incubators just don't have anything for it to amplify. "I believe that's everything I need to know. You should head back and observe the surroundings; find out what you can actually learn."

With your order given, Kyubey leaps up from Yuma's lap and vanishes out of sight under the table. The last embers of tension fade, leaving the room at a less uncomfortable level of heat. With the audience gone, Mami shoots Kyoko a worried look. You wonder when Mami stopped considering Kyubey somebody she could be open with her emotions about.

Kyoko waves at Mami dismissively, but doesn't meet her eyes. "What?"

"While I felt it intrusive to bring up earlier, I will not allow this to go unaddressed. You cannot hide when you are feeling uncomfortable or upset now." Mami states cleanly.

"Yeah? So what? It's not anything important, you shouldn't be worrying about me."

"No, I will not accept that." Mami shakes her head. "You were clearly uncomfortable with Kyubey being here. If you'd said anything, we could have had him leave for now and return later."

"I told you, it's nothing to be worried about."

"Mom's really strong, right?" Yuma suddenly interjects. You're not really sure where she's going with this, but Kyoko nods slowly. "Stronger than everybody else. But she still asks for help sometimes. So you should, too."

You wince internally at that point. Sure, you asked the girls for help against Nothing There, but you would really prefer they not have to fight. Carrying burdens like this is your purpose; you were quite literally made for it. It just feels… wrong, letting children share some of your weight.

Heh. You said the same thing to Tiphereth once and got quite the critique in response. Scarily competent children aren't exactly new territory.

You nearly miss Kyoko's mumbled response to Yuma's advise beneath your own thoughts. "It's not about needing it, it's about deserving it."

———————————————

Carmen…
-Include Personal Relationship…
[] (Personal) Yes
[] (Personal) No
-Portray Carmen As…
[] (Portrayal) Manipulative
[] (Portrayal) Misguided
[] (Portrayal) Caring
-Advice…
[] (Advice) Caution
[] (Advice) Ignore
[] (Advice) Listen

———————————————

Der Freischütz's Sapling - Observation Level 2/3
Porccubus' Sapling - Observation Level 2/3

These kids need some hugs. And a therapist. At least X can provide sort of both.

No plans this time, only independent votes.