Chapter 6: Earnest Feelings Demand Earnest Responses
"
How about some retort pouch of curry~ pouch of chili~ pouch of MRE~"
It's morning once again in Kaika's higher end dorm room. The sounds and smells of cooking food waft from her tiny kitchenette, as she puts the finishing touches on a homemade bento.
"But you're rather picky~ Well~ I'll make you something else~ Don't need to show me how~ Since I'm the mad scientist, proclaimed by myself~"
It isn't a very traditional bento, but she's not a very traditional person so it fits! One of the levels is nothing but thick brown and red stew, thick cubes of beef floating merrily in a sea of diced potato and carrot discs. There's also half a dozen herbs, a couple of onions and an entire head of garlic all minced up and mixed into the morass. Four eggs poured at the end thicken it up into something like gravy and round off the goulash.
"Canto or Sichuan~ Jiangsu or Hunan~ No matter which you pick I'll get it done~"
The other is things to dip in. Fist sized dumplings stuffed with three cloves of baked garlic each which she'd cooked in the stew before setting aside, a neat stack of flatbread full of seeds, crushed nuts and even birch bark shreds (she'd had to forage for that one), an entire hunk of salted pork fat to go with the bread.
"Zhajiangmian and Xiaolongbao~ Wonton and Chashao~ Delivery or takeout won't beat my retort pouch~"
You dig up the weirdest things when you're deep in research. But hey, traditional Hungarian cuisine is great. Very healthy, very calorie rich, perfect for long research stints or dangerous fieldtrips. Especially when she suffuses the whole thing with curses, making it
real soul food.
Soon, all of the food is finished, boxed up, and the boxes wrapped in cloth. Kaika sets her handiwork down on the table next to a second package. She licks a spoon clean as she admires her handiwork.
She huffs, satisfied. She hopes they like her gifts!
Just then, Kaika hears a knock at the door. Simultaneously, a pair of songs begin to play in Kaika's brain; a catchy pop tune, and a slightly harder electronic composition. Fortunately, the two songs blended together well. These were her friends' custom alerts, after all.
A flicker of ideation is all it takes for the door to open itself just in time for her to greet them, her apron still on. It is a cheap piece of trash emblazoned with a chubby eastern dragon roasting a whole pig and she loves it desperately. "Morning, you two!"
"Good morning, Kaika-senpai!" Kinben says with a beaming smile. In her hands is a metal thermos of comparable size to her forearm. Behind her, Hantei is carrying an insulated carafe of similar size.
"May we come in? We brought coffee!"
"Of course! Don't mind the mess, I just finished cooking." At least the whole apartment smells
amazing now. Spicy and savory and with a rich undertone that gave away just how much lard she'd used in the roux, together with the wonderful scent of freshly baked bread with notes of roasted nuts.
An incorporeal Nother investigates the large fluid containers as Kinben and Hantei set them down on the table. The pair take a deep breath through their noses, and sigh in contentment. "Wow, Kaika-senpai! It smells like a nice restaurant in here! What's the occasion?"
"Trying to make a good impression on someone." She says with a coy smile, "You'll find out who by tomorrow."
Sure, she
could just ask them to deliver it for her, but where was the fun in that? She already knew where and when to deliver this thanks to some snooping around with her children and a few choice curses.
Nother hops into the cube of ether clumps by the bed's feet, the blue clay flowing into a simulacra of her body in short order so she can retrieve the mugs and join everyone for morning coffee. As they sit down and the containers are opened, everyone is greeted by the smell of strong, freshly brewed black coffee in the thermos, and cool, sweet cream in the carafe.
"We all like our coffee with cream and sugar here, but in different amounts. This seemed like the best way for everyone to get what they wanted."
"Good thinking." Kaika says with a little clap that leaves her rubbing her hands in anticipation. "Well, if you can even call the energy sludge I chug coffee, anyways."
She likes the coffee flavor, but isn't a fan of bitterness, so she drowned it in so much sweetened condensed milk that it may as well be a dessert.
Nother tilts her head, curiously. "Really? I've never had coffee before. Is there more than one way to drink it? May I have some?"
"Go ahead. I baked into your matrix a bit of cursework to turn whatever you eat and drink into magic energy, so you won't make a mess once you let go of those ether clumps." Good thing she'd researched Ghost Liners while laying the groundwork for her sister, that little trick was unique to them.
"I suggest trying it straight first then adding cream to taste. I also have some chocolate around here if you want to try it mocha." She pauses, considering, before adding, "Just one cup, though, the JTF brew it
strong."
"That we do," Hantei says, nodding sagaciously as she pours herself a mug. It's mostly coffee, with just enough cream to barely change the color. "Justice sleeps in shifts, after all. Tea is the more popular drink here at Trinity by far, so coffee days are typically needs over wants."
"Oh, right, speaking of the JTF." Kaika snaps her fingers, pointing at Hantei, "Do you know if Hasumi would like a daemonengine? I still got the designs lodged in my brain, and I figure you guys would appreciate a self-driving and self-maintaining APC or tank that can drive on walls."
Hantei sputters a little mid sip, and Kinben spills a little bit of coffee on her wrist as she pours it. The pair share a glance with one another, as Nother starts to stare at them.
"Umm…probably? Hasumi-senpai did want to talk to you about commission work. But since we're friends, we do have to warn you. Politics are happening." Kinben says.
"It was too much to hope that being an eccentric weirdo throwing around gifts indiscriminately would've kept me out of that, huh? Then, yeah, I'm just going to back the JTF and hope that lets me avoid the worst of it." Politics aren't as nice as allowing you to be neutral unless you're a power in and of yourself. So just pick the group you disagree with the least and hide behind them. "I'm not giving
anyone anti-mimesis gear, because
fuck having anyone able to truly hurt my kids or baby sister, but I can do some stuff to help along your mission control and gear."
The pair let out a sigh, clean their spills, and take a long sip of coffee. "Thank you, Kaika-senpai. But at the very least, we'd like to give you broad strokes of the situation before you commit to anything. You told us a little bit about what the Clock Tower was like, and we'd rather your trust in us be rewarded with respect. Does that seem reasonable?"
Nother relaxes significantly at that, and starts to pour herself a large mug of coffee.
"Aye. At least politics here are just about club budgeting and red tape, right? No making people have 'accidents'." Kaika asks to make sure. This is a brighter world, but once scalded twice shy.
"Not that we're aware of, or we'd be putting a stop to it with all the fury of an angry god," Hantei answers, her face twisting in anger directed at nobody in particular. "But Trinity and Gehenna are getting ready to sign a second Eden Treaty, and there's a lot of tension around that. Our schools have been at each other's throats for a long time."
"The Tea Party is desperate to see the Treaty signed, and is putting pressure on everyone. Us in particular, as we've had to fight Gehenna students many times, and several of our members have unsettled grudges." Kinben adds.
"Another thing for you in particular is the Sisterhood. They have a non intervention policy, so they haven't taken direct action. But as the group who takes care of the oldest, most secret texts, they know the most about mimesises next to you. And they're afraid of you." Hantei punctuates the warning with a long swing of coffee.
"And it isn't going to be as easy as holding a lecture on the differences between wild and artificial mimesises, because nothing can be simple when politics and prejudice are involved." Kaika grumbles lowly, chugging her own coffee to wash down the irritation. "Ah, whatever, I'll just kit out the JTF and they'll see for themselves artificial mimesises are fine."
Not harmless, mind you, but certainly not volatile. She has to remind herself that these people have no experience with curseworkers, they don't– okay, yes, they actually ought to know they're basically regarding her as an incompetent with the idea that her artificial mimesises would fly off the handle.
Worst part is that she can't
really blame them for it because the wild mimesises of the ritual did give that impression. Even if the slighted artist in her wants nothing more than to march to the cathedral and wring out a masterpiece.
"People will see it as you choosing a side. But we'll have your back. Thank you, Kaika-senpai." Kinben relaxes. "I'm sorry that this turned into such a heavy conversation. Do you have any more questions before we continue our day?"
"What sort of unresolved grudges are we dealing with here?" She knows all too well how those can end up, best to get a clear idea.
"Well. First, the elephant in the room. The overwhelming majority of demons in Kivotos attend Gehenna Academy. It's not all demons, of course, but it's mostly demons. There are some students at Trinity who are racist, and we often get shouldered with that label. My response?" Hantei looks at her watch, and starts counting out loud.
"Three…two…one…Nother? Could you turn on the tv, please?"
Nother takes a long gulp of coffee, jitters in place for a moment, and runs to the television set.
"I should've said half a cup." Kaika laments quietly. Ah, well, it'll be a novel experience, dealing with a hyperactive little sister.
The television clicks on, and the screen shows nothing but fire. "This is the Kronos Journalism Academy, reporting to you live from downtown! Gehenna's Hot Springs Development Department has brought heavily modified construction equipment to the center of Market Street, and has started drilling! Valkyrie Police Academy is on site, but are unable to stop the notorious terrorists! We can only hope that the Prefect Team gets here in time!"
"I don't care about race. I just have pattern recognition. Hell, I SUPPORT the Eden Treaty. Working alongside the heroes in the Prefect Team is a dream come true. But this? This is the norm. This is what the Pandemonium Society gives club funding to." Hantei rants.
"Not everyone feels like that about the Prefect Team, though. They're like us, an enforcement group. If we ever go to war, those 'heroes' you look up to are who we'll be fighting." Kinben's voice is quiet.
"As long as the war doesn't go further than bruised egos and property damage, I don't terribly mind, honestly." If they go back to the bad old days Maestro showed her the bones of, well.
Let's just hope things don't go there, for everyone's sake.
Kaika whistles merrily as she strolls through the courtyard, pleased as punch that her deliveries had gone off without a hitch. It had been a bit of prepwork, setting up those anchor points and data curses to make
sure everything got where it should, but the payoff is worth the trouble.
It doesn't take long to arrive at the
HQ building for the Justice Task Force. The decor and the furnishings are ornate, but with the constant hustle and bustle of squads coming and going, nobody is taking the time to absorb the atmosphere.
As expected, Hasumi is sitting at a table, surrounded by stacks of paperwork. She holds herself in a dignified manner, but there are slight bags under her eyes. It's clear that she, too, has been drinking a good deal of the JTF coffee.
"Ah, welcome back, Kaika-san! How are you today?" The tired beauty opens the conversation.
"Better than you, it looks like. Do you want a magic pick me up?" Kaika offers, making a bit of light curl up around her finger purely for show.
"Thank you, yes please," Hasumi answers with some relief. She allows Kaika to work her magic, a neat little curse that turns stress and anxiety into energy, as she continues to speak. "Given how soon you arrived, I take it that Hantei and Kinben passed on my request?"
"Ayup. I need to pick a side before people start playing games and you're the best option." The magus says as she casually shoves her hand into a fold of space and pulls out a sketchbook, "Aight, so. Infra, vehicles, infantry. Which do you want to go over first?"
She gives the overly fancy,
distressingly open room a long look. Christ, those massive windows. She isn't an Enforcer and she still feels her neck fucking prickle. "I'm going to assume infra because I can't imagine anyone with good battle instincts being at ease here."
Hasumi rubs her temples. "Very astute, Kaika-san. But given how often President Tsurugi forgoes the use of doors entirely… your time is precious and I'd rather not waste it."
Kaika blinks, then mutely raises her right hand. Her left conjures a wooden board just in time for her fist to burst through it. Threads of blue clay shoot out, catching the splinters before they can get too far and fixing the whole thing with a small ripple the moment her arm's out of the way.
"Not an issue, you have
no idea how many sins ether clumps cover for." She says after her show is done, the prima materia flowing into a little ball that she tosses carelessly into imaginary number space.
Hasumi stares at the display before her in a manner not dissimilar to when she looks at a parfait, complete with drool. Seeming to catch herself, she shakes her head, ruffles her wing feathers, and clears her throat.
"Well then. In that case, yes please. Very much. How soon can you start?"
"Immediately. I will spend a few days familiarizing myself with the ideation ingrained in the building and figuring out matrix schemas." She says, ideas already bubbling up and being scratched into an empty page of her sketchbook (which she'd left floating while doing her demonstration) without even looking. They're just quick and dirty doodles to get the concepts down. "Hm, what sort of defenses would you like out of this? I can really strengthen something focused on misdirection if I make the ritual on the new moon. A literal fog of war combined with doors and windows leading to where the defenders want, I'm thinking. On top of walls and armored shutters popping up as needed, that's being included no matter what I do."
Hasumi considers Kaika's words carefully. "I like all of the ideas you have brought up, Kaika-san. Intellectually, I can understand a little bit of the opulence around us. Students should feel comfortable coming to us with their troubles, after all. But it has also been a source of many headaches. Having reactive defenses like you just described will give us the best of both worlds."
Hasumi stands up, and dusts herself off. "Would you like a tour of the building? We can go over the regular points of failure, and give you a better idea of the building's history as we go?"
"Of course!" She says with a bob of her head and a beaming grin, "I'm currently pondering how to make people inside the building feel safe despite it not
looking fortified. Maybe make the genius loci give a passive data feed on the defenses? It would allow anyone in the JTF to trigger them on reflex if the mimesis doesn't react fast enough for some reason. Knowing you can make a half meter thick wall spring out of the ground in a fraction of a second is very reassuring."
The pair continue to walk and talk for over an hour. Over the course of that time, Kaika notices several areas that the JTF had overlooked. The detainment cells in particular are a point of concern.
"...You're saying that you want President Tsurugi to test the cells, Kaika-san?" Hasumi's face bears an expression of mild confusion.
"Where there's one there's more. Tsurugi can knock out a peer, but then what?" The magus says, spinning a hand on its wrist, "Don't worry, though, I have
plans for the cells. The prisoner's physicality won't matter once I'm done with them."
From a nearby cell, a pair of Sukeban listen in. "Y'hear that? They're gonna throw the mad dog in the slammer! This is hilarious! Can you imagine the face she's gonna make? Like a confused puppy in the pound!"
"Quiet down, or they're gonna hear you!" The other hisses, "Don't you get it? If we play our cards right, we can escape when that freak of nature breaks out! We'll be back on the streets, stealing cake again in no time!"
"They don't realize that if they get loose, they'll be in range of Tsurugi, do they?" Kaika whispers with a giggle.
Hasumi sighs. "I guess I really am the only person who thought that the cells were fine…"
By the time the pair finish their tour, Kaika has an entire notebook full of ideas. After going over them with Hasumi, the overwhelming majority of said ideas got the go ahead, with an added request to have Hantei and Kinben along so they could learn how to maintain the more esoteric components.
As Kaika walks to her next class, refining her notes as she goes, Chie approaches her. Given her posture, and her glancing around nervously, she probably isn't using Self Hypnosis right now. "Hello, Kaika-senpai! Do you have some time after school today?"
"I have something immediately after school, but I can wrap it up in about an hour or two. Or tell Hasumi I'm starting tomorrow instead if it's urgent." Kaika says after a moment's thought.
On hearing Hasumi's name, Chie gets a little more jittery. She stops to consider her words very carefully, before continuing. "Well, I was hoping you could join me and some of our Millennium friends to see a movie. But if it's JTF work…"
A dematerialized yet still hyperactive Nother starts bouncing in place. "Wait, is Chie taking us to see Dinosaur Tornado?!? The previews on tv looked so cool! Can we go, sis? Please? Pretty please?"
"It isn't urgent work, I just need to take a few days working the building over before the new moon." Kaika says with a chuckle, weaving a little data packet for Paimon to compose into a text to Hasumi. She would already be inclined to going on account of needing to nurture her connections with Millennium, but with Nother so excited she has the perfect excuse. Nobody is going to curse her out for being a good big sister when it isn't compromising anything urgent. "I assume it's Dinosaur Tornado? Nother is going to be heartbroken if it isn't."
Chie winces slightly, and her smile becomes slightly strained, but she nods in affirmation. "Y-yes. It's an old movie, but it's a popular one to poke fun at, so it gets replayed every so often."
"Sure, I'm always down for some mindless fun." Kaika says with a smile, "Already told Hasumi that Nother decided to drag me to the movies."
The school day continues, and lunch time inevitably comes. Hasumi once again sits in the JTF building, going over the paperwork as she nibbles on apple slices. Yes, her self control was inevitably going to crack, leading to another late night parfait binge, but at the very least, she was trying.
The double doors slam open, and the sound of exhausted foot shuffling and zombie-like moans echo through the building. Several groups of underclassmen flee as the President of the JTF stumbles to a nearby couch, falls backwards onto it, and splays out with her head leaning over the back. The gurgling noise sounds like it's coming from a dying animal.
"Welcome back, President. Would you like some tea?" Hasumi gets up, not even slightly ruffled by the display before her. "Thank you as always for your hard work. It's never easy when we're spread so thin."
Tsurugi raises a hand to stop Hasumi, before reaching into her sleeves for a bottle of iced tea and a rice ball. "I'm fine. Rest."
Hasumi returns to her seat. "If you're sure, then very well. Please take it easy yourself. Later, I'm going to need you to sign a few papers. Kaika-san agreed eagerly to help with -"
Suddenly, a dull "thud" echoes through the room. Hasumi and Tsurugi both jump with a start, and look up just in time to see a piece of night sky close behind the gigantic bento it deposited on the table in front of Tsurugi.
A letter done up in expensive stationery flutters off from the top of the box, unfolding as it lands on the President's lap.
My deepest apologies for not having been able to give you the attention and respect a warrior such as you deserve. Even as little as I can remember paints a fresco of dazzling violence from the hands of a brilliant soul. Please accept this as a token of thanks for your role on our moonlit escapade and an invitation to join me on another, at your convenience.
-Kaika Fukajo, Magus of Spirit
Tsurugi reads the letter carefully. Then she reads it again a second time, confused. "...Eh?"
Apparently there's something tied to it being read, as the bento itself gently unfolds itself into four parts. The first, a duo of bottles full of an amber liquid and a drinking glass decorated with a relief of Tsurugi's shotguns firing. The next, full of dumplings, flatbread and salted pork fat of all things. Another, revealing itself as a bowl, utensils and a serving ladle. The last one the size of the previous three put together, a deep,
deep pit of brown-red stew.
It's all steaming fresh (or in the case of the bottles, so cold they mist over), filling the air with the scent of spices and bread straight out of the oven.
Tsurugi looks at the feast in front of her, before turning to look at Hasumi. "Umm…what…do I do? The letter…" She holds out the letter to her friend, unsure how to put words to the questions in her mind.
Hasumi takes the offered letter, reads it, and sighs. "The answer is yes, Tsurugi-san. She's flirting AND picking a fight. Don't worry, it's safe to eat."
"Oh…okay…" Tsurugi's expression becomes somewhat anxious, and her voice becomes uncharacteristically meek and quiet. She takes a moment to think, before a shaking hand picks up a spoon and delivers a scoop of red stew to the enforcer's mouth.
It is like fireworks are going off on her tongue. An orchestra where she can effortlessly single out a dozen different ingredients even as they dance together into a greater whole. What's more, she can taste the earnestness of the cook. This Kaika wants to spend time with her, get to know her, get to fight her again. Curiosity, joy, awe, determination,
interest, they all come across as clear as the star anise.
Tsurugi stops for a moment, thinking hard while blushing furiously. After about a minute of staring blankly forward, she slaps her cheeks, screams for a second, and starts shoveling food into her mouth like a starving beast.
"Tsurugi? Is something wrong?!" Hasumi's face bears an expression of deep concern. Tsurugi, however, waves her off.
"Earnest feelings…demand earnest responses," She wheezes out between bites.
After that, there are no further interruptions to the President's meal. The stew disappears. The dumplings vanish. The pork fat is savored, though it too disappears. Bit by bit, the meal is eaten, until the last drop of spruce beer is consumed.
"Ehehehe~"
Tsurugi stands up once again, fully rested and energized. Red energy seems to waft from her as she walks over to Hasumi's desk, looks at the patrol schedule, and crosses one of the sections out.
"KIYAAAAA!!!!!"
Hasumi sighs, as Tsurugi runs through a nearby wall. Calmly, she picks up her radio. "Squad nine, take a normal lunch, the President is taking your afternoon patrol."
The rest of the school day goes by in a blur. While Kaika technically missed a few classes, the fact that she was assisting the JTF meant that she got a special exemption for the time spent. The rest of her classes were simple affairs, with Nother's silent celebration providing Kaika plentiful entertainment.
It feels like no time at all before the trio are on a bus, headed to the Millennium district for a state of the art movie experience.
"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Kaika-senpai, but we deliberately chose this movie so we could speak freely without being overheard," Chie admits, as she squishes Dachi gently in her hands. "It's bad. Famously so. Nother MIGHT like it, but I'd be ready to buy her a toy afterwards."
"Don't worry, I can make a small curse so she isn't disturbed by our conversation if she does like it." Kaika says with a shake of her head, "Good thinking, though. If we had just spent a bit of time chatting in a cafe someone may've suspected. But nobody will even look our way in the movie theater."
Chie, ever weak to praise, starts to giggle with a big goofy grin on her face. Nother is too excited about dinosaurs to care about movie reviews, and continues bouncing in her seat. It's times like these that Kaika is thankful that Nother is subjectively corporeal, as in her current state she's not drawing the attention that a visible and audible wild child would. Her bus fare is also free.
A few minutes and a small firefight at stop 13 later, the bus arrives at a very fancy, three story movie theater. Chie has their tickets ready in advance, so they get to skip the lines and go straight to the concession stand.
Kaika has plenty of money to go around, so for the first time in her life she gets one of those huge popcorn buckets she dreamed of as a little kid. She then gets herself thirty something red licorice coins because she's never outgrown her love for them. 10/10 texture and flavor.
Chie is slightly more modest with her purchases, buying herself a much smaller bag of popcorn. However, as the only other person who can see Nother making puppy dog eyes, Chie breaks and buys her a red licorice coin before Kaika can stop her. It looks like the sugar rush isn't stopping anytime soon.
At least the coffee should be fading soon enough, small mercies.
The trio lumber into their designated viewing room, Kaika spilling small amounts of popcorn as she walks. She can feel ideation flow as Nother weaves a small curse of her own, but she's too busy trying to find her seat to look at what mischief her sister is up to.
"Over here - wow. You look like you're here for the long haul." A somewhat scrawny girl with coke bottle glasses waves at the group, directing them to the seats next to her. She and her companion, a dainty girl with white hair wearing a slightly oversized jacket, are seated close to the back of the theater. For snacks, they have foregone popcorn entirely, choosing what appear to be Skittles and energy drinks.
Ah, yes. R&D trail mix.
Maybe she should introduce them to the magus energy potion? It was quadruple espresso with energy drink instead of water, some blood full of magic energy and as much preworkout mix as the sludge would accept. Then you add curses to turn the dozen health issues this would cause into
more energy.
As Kaika looks at the cans of Monster MAX and ponders, a flash of white crosses her peripheral vision. The nature of Nother's cursework becomes apparent to Kaika as she notices a few of the spilled kernels vanish into Nother's maw, her incorporeal state no longer a hindrance to her snack time.
Ahh, her baby sister's first solo curse, so precious. She snaps a quick picture, Paimon making sure the camera caught the weave of ideation Nother was using.
Noticing Kaika's distraction, Chie takes the lead in the conversation. "Kaika-senpai, these are my friends, Aika and Natalie! They're hoping to get into the Engineering Department at Millennium!"
"Pleasure to meet you, and I wish you the best. What're you working on lately?" This would be a loaded question amongst magi, but in this world it is simply a way to engage the nerds.
Natalie adjusts her glasses and flashes Kaika a grin as the pair take their seats. "Well, Kaika-san, you are looking at the president of the amateur inventor's club!" Natalie preens. "Over the course of the year, we've made about a dozen small gadgets that have seen widespread use among the students of Millennium! That's right, you're looking at the proud inventors of the EMP Stylus, the incendiary ink eraser, and PencilBot, the desk robot pencil sharpener!"
Natalie begins to deflate after that. "Sadly, nothing we made really caught on OUTSIDE of the school. And when it comes to club funding, Millennium Science Academy is very much a meritocracy. Our club is getting the axe, so if we want to keep doing what we love, we need to make something to impress the Engineering Department."
The previews end, and Dinosaur Tornado begins. The chatter in the theater doesn't go down very much, and Kaika quickly finds use for the cursework she had come up with on the bus ride here. She glances at the screen on occasion; so far, the movie looks like it's just Jurassic Park with Kivotos citizens instead of normal humans, with a Pomeranian paleontologist named Bob Barker as the lead instead of Alan Grant.
"As for what we're making to do that with?" Natalie continues, with a conspiratorial glint in her eye. "A lot of Millennium Students are out of shape. Physical Education is an elective, and most of us have science to do. So, why not make an affordable exoskeletal frame? Nothing huge and expensive like a full weapons platform. Just a brace to help mechanically assist with lifting and moving large loads."
"So miniaturization is the name of the game here, while keeping it easily mass produced to be affordable. And of course, the biggest hurdle would be how to make it act in tune with the user, which I can help with." Kaika puts together after swallowing a fistful of popcorn.
"Got it in one, Kaika-san," Aika responds. "Ambitious though it may be, we've got a prototype of the frame ready. But it runs on a miniature computer that needs to be programmed to move alongside the wearer. It's a coding nightmare, but we don't want to get it wrong and end up like Piledriver Industries in Iron Girl Two."
"Hm, mass producing a curse… I'd have to make a mimesis whose sole purpose is to copy that particular weave. And of course, the curse would unravel if it goes unused for long enough, but if it can get a new one by getting an 'update' from the server the mimesis is hosted in… yes, this should be quite doable." Kaika says, working it over as she speaks before finishing up with a nod.
"No need to go that far, Kaika-san," Aika continues. "Just having you use one to make it work while we record the results would be ideal. Halo sciences are an inescapable part of life in Kivotos, but if our technology depends on them to function, then that limits how far that technology can go. For example, two of our classmates have underslung wand attachments to their guns that shoot pixelated fireballs on command. Is it impressive? Very much yes. Does it help further the scientific process for the Haloless? Not really, no."
Underslung wands of fireballs. Only you, Kivotos.
"Hah, fair nuff. I suppose it wouldn't do for your software to be something from a third party, either." The magus says with a shake of her head, "Sorry, I tend to get carried away when it comes to my work."
"So I take it you're interested, Kaika-san?" Natalie picks back up with a grin. "Our offer is this. You come visit Millennium for a day. You wear the prototype, make it work with a Mimesis, and do a full motion capture routine. This may or may not include taking a PE class at Millennium. Once we get all the data we need, the prototype is yours. Thoughts?"
"I'm going to need some light modifications on the prototype. Nothing much, just a camera visor and some finger actuators if it doesn't already have them." Kaika says with a bob of her head, "Beyond that, I'm all for it. I'll just have Paimon hop onto the computer and cook up a quick MMI curse."
Natalie holds out a hand, and Kaika grasps it in a firm shake. "Done and dusted. We'll be back in touch regarding the specific time, but it'll definitely be sometime early next week. Now if you'll excuse us, we'd like to leave before the second act starts."
The pair exchange contact info and gather up their things in a rush. As Aika picks up her can of Monster MAX, a brief look of confusion crosses her face. "That's funny, I could have sworn I had half a can left…oh well, it's not the first time I've lost track, and won't be the last."
Oh no.
Kaika turns to look at the seemingly empty seat next to her. As she feared, Nother is sitting in it with her pupils almost fully dilated.
She's going to have to get into a goddamn curse duel with her little sister just to sap her energy, fuck.
The pair of Millennium Students make their exit just in time for the tropical storm to hit the park, just like in the movie Kaika remembers. However, there doesn't seem to be a Dennis Nedry analog in this movie. Instead of the fences going down, the dinosaurs are getting sucked into the storm. Just like… Sharknado… DID THEY JUST MIX THE MOVIES?!?
She's keyed up enough that this forces a hysterical laugh out of her. Sure, fuck it, she'll just enjoy the hour of relative silence she has left before Nother explodes. Dumb fun is fun.
Chie winces a little bit, and brings out Dachi for snuggles as the two sisters watch Kivotos' infamous classic to its conclusion. The apatosaurus reaching out of the tornado to eat a mechanical Hammond expy despite being an obligate herbivore. The horribly forced romantic subplot between Barker and a sparrow meteorologist named Michelle Hawk. Every. Cringe. Moment.
The sparkle doesn't leave Nother's eyes for a second.
It's well past dark when Mr. Fredericks finally returns home. The life of an Academy faculty member is always full of strange surprises, but what little grip on reality the mechanical man may have had is unraveling a little more each day.
Mr Fredericks opens his front door with care and deliberation, steps into his cozy apartment, and closes the door behind him as he removes his shoes and suit jacket. However, as soon as the door closes behind him, Fredericks hears a loud THUMP coming from the direction of his small kitchen.
Shaking, the mechanical man reaches into the coat pocket hanging next to him, and pulls out a derringer. "Hello? Is anyone t-t-there?" He calls out, the stutter in his voice interacting oddly with his light autotune.
As he rounds the bend, he sees a large package on his countertop that wasn't there when he left this morning. He looks around the apartment, and sees that all of his windows remain locked, and none appear to be broken.
"W-w-what's going on?"
There's no answer, other than a paper taped to the package.
'Apologies for the distress.' Say the printed out letters, lacking any signatory.
Mr Fredericks looks at the letter. He looks at the box. He looks at the letter again. He picks up his phone, and hits three buttons.
"Hello? Valkyrie Police Academy? There's a p-p-package on my table. No return address, no s-signatory, doors and windows are locked. N-no, it doesn't make sense. Please send someone?"
".
