Thankfully, [[Harvesting]] one of the bugs gave 'Research' enough data to find out that it was a smell based pheromone that was overriding the survival instincts of these stupid monsters. And how to target the correct molecular sequence magically.
Eventually.
But NOW, after using True Magic to clean the two humans plus dog up? No more bugs!
Speaking of which, True Magic acts funky and is expensive when doing custom stuff. Apparently spells and the stuff gathered as para-magic are sort of short cuts that are partially subsidized by rules that exist in the current reality.
Raw 'True Magic' could do anything for a related cost in resources, but if those actions line up with the local rules and so forth? Nearly free to use.
It was why natural build up of magic tended to match the stuff seen on [[Scan]] and found at [[Draw]] points, because reality tended to resolve in those directions, to decay into those patterns.
But since they had been in the middle of nowhere, and Sarah was frustrated, and summoning ice spikes everywhere with massive waves of [[Water]] keeping the road clear became super frustrating... Well, using some True Magic to force all of creation to clean them on a fundamental level and then block smells was WORTH the boosted cost and having her bone wings flare into view for a bit.
Plus, she got a usable sample of [[Odorless]] which, sort of similar to [[Blind]] and [[Silence]], blocked a target from generating or carrying scents when moving through the environment. Sure, [[Blind]] prevented vision and [[Silence]] blocked sound (And most voice activated para-magic), but the idea was basically the same.
Probably wasn't included in the standard Junction system detection algorithm because it wasn't super battle related. 'Equip [[Odorless]] and now your disgusting foe is much less stinky for the fight!' would be useful but not necessarily worth the time and hassle of hunting down creatures and slowly draining away a full 100 unit supply.
From what 'Research' could tell, [[Odorless]] would boost stats when Junctioned similar to [[Silence]] too… Hmm. Would there be similar magic for other senses? Like [[Numb]] or [[Lost]] to mess with the sense of touch or the sense of direction? Something to look up later.
But WITHOUT random bug attacks, they managed to reach the main road eventually and were now (finally) at
Balamb Garden.
It took another half hour or so to actually reach the gate.
Sarah frowned. "Sheesh, this place is huge."
Rinoa was disgustingly peppy. "Yep! A lot of it is actually designed for growing food or making it easier to support the Training Center where the more diverse monsters live to [[Draw]] magic from and train, but they got lots of other stuff too."
She waved to one side. "More normal plants and dignitary stuff is that way, in the Quad, and they do meetings and stuff over there. That side, on the left, has the medical center and the food facilities too… Garden's have the best Infirmary and medical programs around, and not only patch up the students and outsiders but do cutting edge research."
And they were still not at the front gate yet. Holy crap.
Rinoa's stomach rumbled and she winced. "Ah, and their food is amazing… Let's head that way? I've heard their Cafeteria use some pretty amazing monster meats and ingredients, some dishes are near legendary."
Huh. "Like what?" They had some T-Rexs around somewhere right? She mentioned that. "Dino steaks?"
She led the way towards the entry gates. "Hot dogs."
Angelo was having fun running around the two in circles, now that the bugsicles were not a thing.
Sarah stared blankly. "I'm sorry. What?"
The woman smirked. "Yep! World famous hot dogs. They sell out every day, most of the time before breakfast is over... I was being given VIP treatment last time and even I couldn't get a hold of one during my visit."
Bullshit. "You're fucking with me."
Rinoa giggled. "I think it used to be a special pastry, but somehow there was a mixup? Instead of making a meat filled bun, they used the most expensive and delicious ingredients to make high quality bread and custom sausages, cooked it with magic, and a legend was born."
Shiva was laughing in her head. "There is no way that is true."
She crossed her chest. "I swear it is! There is even a
standing order during emergencies to ensure the strategic Hot Dog preserves can withstand hostile enemy invasions! They have fan clubs, influence over foreign political parties, merchandise!"
Huh. "Guess I'm going to be trying out a hot dog then."
She sighed. "No, it's near lunch. They'd have sold out hours ago, and you are not allowed to reserve them or try to cut lines… Plus, no one is stupid enough to sell one if they are lucky enough to snag their own."
Meh, they'd be here for a couple of days. "I can keep an eye on the place, scan a few, and make our MurGumPF!"
Rinoa hissed! "Shh!" Smiling at the suddenly paused crowd she laughed. "Oh, I know you want to make sculptures of those things... But you have to buy a permission license from the Headmaster first! Best do things by the book and all!"
A dozen suspicious men and women hesitated… And went back to whatever they had been doing.
She whispered to Sarah, while smiling at the others. "World. Famous."
Ah. So uh. Don't mention that you can casually recreate an unlimited supply of the things. The Queen of the Lunar Kingdom gave an awkward nod, and her friend sighed and let go.
And paused, looking a bit shifty. "That said, uh. If you can do what I think you were going to imply you were going to do, and not get caught doing whatever it was that you were theoretically thinking about potentially doing?"
Sarah gave a thumbs up.
She grinned. "Great! But for now, we can enter easily enough for free as it is during operating hours after checking in, and get whatever is available over at the Cafeteria. All their food is awesome, and I'm hungry as all heck after that walk."
Considering it was a military facility that helped trained kids and orphans from five years old up to twenty for world wide combat and teaching careers, the security was fast, competent, and pretty simple.
Probably wouldn't have been if Sarah hadn't hijacked the [[Scan]] para-spell when it was used on her and fed it false data, as whatever the hell it would show the poor guard would likely set off a LOT of sensors, but it was easy enough to spoof something innocent and get through with Angelo loving this whole trip.
Seriously, she's the best dog! Despite not being on a leash AND exploring a new place, the dog was silent, close at Rinoa's side, and kept her senses on anyone who got a bit too close as they passed by. Maybe animals were smarter here?
Probably had to be, with so many dangerous things out there in the wild.
They reached a directory, just before a central elevator cluster and a wide ringed path… But clearly most of the people passing by knew where they were and where they were going, so it was easy to get close.
Rinoa pointed to the sign. "We're heading to A13, the Cafeteria. The other side, the right half of the circle, leads to the Library and Training Center, plus the vehicle parking and maintenance bay. The Dormitory also has guest and visitor housing, but we need to go meet with the Headmaster first."
They both ignored the obvious path to responsibility up the elevator and headed towards food. "I'm surprised a place this big dedicates so much room to literature." It would be an eighth of the entire city/building/structure, right?
The other woman shook her head. "From what I know, the Quad and the Training Center are on opposite sides and take up the most space. Aside from the public accessible spaces, the Quad has training and diplomatic facilities as well as farms and food production facilities while the Training Center has to support all the wildlife that breeds in there. Together they are the majority of this place, but most of that is limited to outsiders like us."
Huh, it made sense. "It's amazing you remember all this. How long were you here last time?"
Rinoa blinked. "A few hours? But I got this pamphlet. I've mostly been reading from this for a while now."
Sarah stared at the paper the other woman waved about.
That cheating jerk! "Right, well. Let's go get some food, then meet with Cid, and… And I'm done for today. Yes, in fact: A nap. Get this done, and I am going to have a full on, snooze till everyone else loses, nap."
Rinoa turned the page in her documentation. "You're not missing much, most of the thing is a sales pitch that I am pulling sections of useful stuff out of. For example: 'They say a wise Shumi named NORG helped fuel the Garden of SeeDs' and that with only minor fees, you too can make all sorts of advanced deals and arrange more complicated services…"
She flipped to another section. "Though a suspiciously large amount of these pages just cover how handsome this
NORG is and how attractive his hands are."
Wait. "What?"
Rinoa hummed. "Yeah, half this thing reads like a love letter to this one dude from the Shumi village, and even when free not many others kept the thing when we left. I kept it because Cid left contact information on the back page, it's how we got an appointment so quickly."
Whatever. "Let's get some food and go meet this guy later." Plus, mark the entire culinary facility so that 'Research' can automatically scan everything made, all ingredients being used, and any procedures followed.
If someone accidently made hot dogs into a near religious experience, there may be other things to gain from a bit of observation as well!
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Cid Kramer blinked at his to-do list. "Don't I know a Heartilly?" Seriously, that name seemed very familiar. Like, within the last year or so.
His assistant nodded. "She leads a resistance cell against Galbadia in Timber and is the daughter of Fury Caraway who leads the Galbadian forces."
Oh. Huh. "Well, I wonder why she is so desperate to meet with me then. There hasn't been an uptick of violence or military action in Timber lately, correct? And I had reports that the odd Monster Wave left nearly no casualties or deaths either."
More paperwork was passed over. "No sir."
Hmm. No scheduled actions, no cover ups, honestly everything on most of the war fronts had fallen into a holding pattern these last few years since the Sorceress Adel suddenly retreated and began solidifying her defenses back home.
So why? "Well, make sure her people and protection detail are given top treatment, a secure room, and work her into the afternoon meeting slots for tomorrow." If it was something critical, she would let him know and he could adjust his schedule accordingly.
The woman nodded. "The room's been prepared."
Cid paused. "Are we lacking in available space?" They shouldn't be, right? The other diplomatic envoy wouldn't be showing up for a month, dear Edna wouldn't get back here for another few days, and the other visitors and customers could easily be convinced to leave if required. Would be eager for it, if discounts or closer relations to the Garden itself were involved.
She shook her head. "No sir, but she declined additional facilities for her dog."
What? No. "I don't intend to force anyone, wealthy or not, to be forced to share a single facility for their entire retinue. Unless it was a direct request from the young lady?" If so, maybe this was more urgent than the situation seems to call for.
Why else would someone force their team members, security staff, and diplomatic advisors into one room? Did they fear attack even within his own walls? In Balamb Garden itself!?
The woman… Blushed? "Sir, the two women seemed very close to each other and were fine sharing the room. Insistent, in fact."
There was an awkward silence that apparently his assistant felt a need to fill. "The dog was very well behaved, and Lady Heartilly appreciated the complimentary pet bed."
Oh for goodness's sake. "Please don't tell me I have two love struck women running away from the war effort and an overbearing father to elope in my Garden."
The office was quiet.
Good grief. "Just… Just set up an afternoon meeting and feel free to delay any reports or outgoing messages involving the young ladies for as long as possible."
A wry smile and a nod. "Yes sir."
Damn it, his wife was going to tease the hell out of him for helping out these two roaming romantic resistance movement morons.
Why did people always come to HIM when it was romantic stuff!? He just wanted to defend his wife and planet from a deadly future Sorceress trying to collapse time!
But NO, it was young men and women crossing oceans to be with their destined lovers or 'secret' trysts in the deadly Training Center or another few women who wanted to be hired as a 'sexy librarian' and so on and so forth!
The library had over SEVEN librarians, male and female! And ALL of them wore overly sexualized outfits! Hell, half the men wore the dresses!
Sigh. At least it drastically improved the scholastic records for the over-sexualized magically enhanced super soldier mercenaries. No one was willing to break the rules too badly if it cut off the best cuisine in the Cafeteria and restricted 'studying' in the library or late night 'training' sessions.
Had he ever been that young?
Flickering memories of his darling Edea were carefully placed aside.
Of course he hadn't. He'd never do anything silly for love, like building an orphanage from scratch or frantically transforming it into a global resistance powerhouse to defend his better half from future potential danger.
Cid grumbled. Better get rid of some paperwork, at least that pile of lies and misspelled fictions were more believable than his own internal excuses. Not to mention that the gears of bureaucracy waited for no man, and the day to day relied on such things being handled promptly.
Also, he might need the related money soon to help out two young ladies drastically over their heads in political pressure and other such problems. Because he was a grumpy old softy of a man who should have learned better by now, but still helped out love struck fools like a moron.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Sarah blinked. "Holy shit."
Rinoa looked up from laying on the sinfully squishy bed. "Huh?"
She pulled up an illusionary schematic, showing the recently [[Scanned]] Balamb Garden. "This whole city/building/thing is a ship."
The tired woman on the covers didn't even look willing to undress, much less get ready for bed. "Wuzzuh?"
Sarah was pulling more and more data. "Well, I agreed to not scan anyone before we talk to Headmaster Cid out of courtesy, but I did mark the Cafeteria for…" Hot Dog investigation purposes? How odd was her life. "...Reasons. And found out that the foundation was much more complicated than expected."
Layers of protective armor, defensive structures, hookups for thermal energy and so on and so forth. And aside from the hidden production rooms and mechanical labs and stuff, something had really stood out. "Like, I'm pretty sure that this entire place is physically capable of moving."
Rinoa was barely awake. "Silly Sarah, we crashed the sea earlier. You can't make the city into a boat. Not without a sea."
Nope. "More like an airship. I'm going to have to review some of these more strange shapes and structures near the generator rooms and whatever is going on with the dangerous para-magic power reactor some madman designed near the base of this mess, but I'm pretty sure this whole place can fly."
The leader of the Forest Owls was out of it. "If a boat had a sea, it would be a coat and you'd be warmer because if it had a gee it would be a goat and goats eat coats."
Sarah paused. "What?"
"Zzz."
Oh.
Well, it was pretty late. It was easy enough to use a bit of True Magic to clean the woman up, [[Harvest]] away her clothing, and get her under the covers.
...That bed did look amazing though.
But she needed to double check the production of the MCards, and…
Shiva poked her mind.
Fine, fine. "Move over, bed bug." Better not steal all the covers, though based on past nights the woman WAS a hugger so it shouldn't be an issue.
As for the rest, it could wait until tomorrow. "G'night, Angelo."
A soft 'woof' came from the corner dog bed. Good girl.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Rinoa was peace. An island of calm in an ocean of serenity.
Sarah was standing to one side, saying nothing (She was on probation), and waiting for her cues (They had a plan. A real one!)
Rinoa was confident. Her mind was a palace and her body a kingdom that followed her commands with utmost enthusiasm and dedication.
Angelo was a good girl.
Rinoa was still waiting and the appointment was ten minutes ago. "Something is wrong."
Sarah tried, again, to use hand signs, gestures, and hip movement to say something supportive without using her impossible magic, technology, or raw mind power. A bit hard without permission to talk, but the thought was appreciated.
Finally, it was their turn. The woman gave them… A supportive smile? "Don't worry you two, Headmaster Cid will get everything straightened out right away!"
Uh. "Thank you?"
A wide smile. "Much of the staff are rooting for you two!"
Wow, the Gardens really had astounding customer support. "Right." Let's do this! "Come, Sarah."
The other woman silently followed into Headmaster Cid's office.
The assistant seemed to be blushing. "Oh my… So forceful."
What was that? "I'm sorry?"
She waved them forward. "Right ahead, feel free to sit at the table. He'll take care of everything." And then left with a wink.
Huh. "Right, Sarah!"
She nodded?
Rinoa pointed at the table. "You said something about having prototypes ready for stuff to sell?" Probably designs and stuff, that plus some of the veggies would be enough to convince Headmaster Cid to consider a more in depth contract.
Another nod.
Good. "Place them on the table, enough for samples, and I'll let you do the presentation. Don't give too many details, alright? And look to me before answering anything just in case."
This would be fine. They would be fine. She was mostly an adult and she could handle this!
The door opened and a tall man with rich brown hair and cool blue eyes strode in, looking weary. "Sorry for the delay, I'm Headmaster Cid Kramer. Would you be Miss Heartilly?" His vision flickered between the two. "Or Mrs.?"
Right! "Just call me Rinoa, Headmaster. This is my... " Partner? Lover 1 of 8? Secret Sexy Sorceress Secretary? "...Partner, Sarah."
The man didn't even blink. "I see! Lovely to meet you both, and feel free to just call me Cid, or Headmaster if nothing else is easier. Now, you ladies wish to speak to me?"
Right. "This is a secured room, yes?"
A solemn nod. "Yes. Many deals and transactions require that outside parties stay uninvolved when possible."
Good. "Long story short, the Forest Owls have recently gotten access to some valuable goods and we are planning on having an auction in Timber."
The man paused fully, a folder of paperwork half placed on the table. "I'm sorry?"
Stay on topic, keep things short, be professional Riona! You can do this! "We have gained rare goods and plan on setting up an auction within the next two months to raise funds to develop Timber, to fund the resistance cells within the area, and to better develop financial ties and relationships with other organizations that do not wish Galbadian influence to spread further."
Somehow seeming more focused, if not also slightly confused, Cid sat at the table. "Go on."
It was working! She sounded hella adultish! "Because of the value of the material and the nature of the event, I, representing the Forest Owls, wish to hire two SeeD teams for a long term deployment to Timber. Specifically to act as security for both the auction specifically and for the transportation of goods two and from the location of pickup."
Her eyes caught some of the paperwork in that folder. Why was Cid carrying around pictures of churches? They were beautiful though.
No! Focus! "Due to the high profit potential of the venture, we believe that not only will this be a desirable contract in the short term, but that it would be valuable to become partners in a longer sense using your connections and production abilities to reach wider markets while granting you access to our rare and exclusive resources."
The man paused. "I see." Did he have a headache? "Give me a moment, I just need to grab a different set of documents."
And he was gone, taking the folders with him.
Uh. "I think that went well!"
Sarah gave a thumbs up!
Hang on. "Wait, what's all that stuff on the table?" Those weren't veggies or whatever. Looked like metal cards or decorative fake books or something.
Sarah gave a variety of hand gestures that didn't help at all. Uh. Alright.
Cid came back, looking slightly frustrated but far less stressed. "Right, sorry about that. Now, let's talk a few more details about what these 'rare goods' are to be auctioned and the nature of risks and rewards SeeD mercenaries might face while working on such a defensive contract."
She held back a fist pump. Heck yeah! "Exclusive rights to the trade and sale of future Lunar Kingdom produce, in substantial quantities, and of impeccable quality."
Ha! His expression was priceless!
Her attention was pulled by Sarah doing something with her hands. Uh? Oh! "Right, and we have some stuff we were hoping you could produce, Sarah basically designed it after studying some Lunar Kingdom equipment and we are willing to license Balamb Garden to manufacture it for a small cut of the gross profit." And uh.
Well, that's all she really knew about whatever Sarah had been trying to say. "Sarah? Go ahead." And do whatever the hell you were planning on doing with whatever that stuff on the table was.
The woman stood with a grin, and with her tattoo's mostly hidden and that overly thick outfit on she only looked… Slightly otherworldly. A minor goddess, at most! Not like the terrifying Moon Sorceress at all, probably!
This was going to work, as long as Sarah didn't mention something impossible or war inducing and stayed quiet about those DAMNED hot dogs and… uh. Huh.
Sarah was waving her hand at several of the cards, while using… Sign language?
What the hell, why was Cid able to understand her!? Although that was impressive. "Sarah, you can talk now."
The two gesturing people paused. ""I/She can talk!?""
Damn it! And they had looked so professional before! "Yes, you can talk."
Sarah grinned! "Right! Well, basically I really wanted to come buy or trade for some samples of a bunch of para-magic samples and maybe [[Scan]] the Guardian Forces here at Balamb Garden, but while the Junction system is pretty useful most of the time it sucks for collecting, trading, sharing, and trading magic."
Don't mention the artificial [[Draw]] points, PLEASE don't mention the artificial… Hang on, no. Stay calm, they had talked earlier and made a list of what she could say. This would be fine.
Sarah held up a rectangle. "Basically I've got three varieties of this, a magic card! I call them MCards, and they act like a fake person or a fake attempt at using [[Draw]] on a foe for cheap and convenient methods of handling para-magic!"
That was technically fine, right? Probably?
Cid at least seemed flabbergasted. "May I?"
A thin rectangle with [[Firex10]] on one side was handed over.
And the man was focused like a laser. "Fascinating. Astounding! And the Junction system instantly recognized it as a potential [[Draw]] point AND a selectable party member for magic transfer! This is revolutionary!"
Sarah snorted. "It's usable, sure, but I had to cut back nearly all the good stuff to keep those stupid things cheap. Honestly, the best part about the basic MCard is that it is usable during a battle as if there was a passive enemy nearby to [[Draw]] from, and it makes it easy to buy and sell magic without wasting a lot of Gil on hardware."
Cid jerked back. "Use it during a battle!? And risk damaging it!?"
She shrugged. "Yeah, but I figure if it goes bad the small units of para-magic inside would be easy enough to defuse from exploding and it is safe enough to trade around… And what more can you expect for something that cheap?"
He froze, half instinctively trying to hide the 'fragile' item from theoretical damage and his mind catching up to the conversation. "How cheap?" He examined the material carefully. "Less than 8,000 Gil?"
Sarah paused… And glanced at Rinoa.
What!? Don't look at ME! I don't know what it's made of! I don't know how much it cost you to make it, how easy it was to produce, how rare the parts were! Shit!
Rinoa tried to explain all that with her hands while also carefully explaining non-verbally that she was on her own but if it DID cost less than 8,000 Gil then maybe reconsider because the Headmaster had clearly been impressed by this MCard and…
Sarah gave a firm nod! Good! More than that, GREAT! Best girlfriend/harem member/Impossible Sorceress! Mind sisters, together forever, reading thoughts like magicians!
She turned to Headmaster Cid with a confident smile. "The basic MCards are manufactured for an estimated 100 Gil a pop, these next enhanced versions were about 500 Gil, and X-MCards will be about 5000 Gil after all the manufacturing equipment is properly set up."
NO! No that wasn't what the hand gesture/slash/finger jab meant at ALL! Cough. "Sarah."
Another nod and a smile, which clearly meant ANYTHING damn it! "Yeah, I also think the Headmaster would know best how to price these things, I made the design limits based off of the cost of valuables I read about in Timber. Not sure how profit margins work in the real world."
The stunned man suddenly had a headache again, clearly. "I'm sorry, you say 'YOU made'? As in, this was your design?"
And Sarah had the gall to blush. "Ah. Uh… Oops?"
Argh! "This is why I took your talking privileges away!"
Sarah shrugged. "Look, we'd have to explain things to Cid eventually anyway. He's been heavily involved with the Junction system and the related developments made over the years, He'd have noticed the similarities and stuff. Plus, when we get production set up he'd find out that I know too much about how this design works for him to believe any cover story."
Stop being reasonable! "I had a plan! It was a good plan!"
She squinted. "You were going to pretend that my stuff came from the Lunar Kingdom like the other goods and just HAPPENED to be compatible with a device made by humans despite not being in direct contact with the planet for decades."
Rinoa pointed hard. "Headmaster Cid is a nice man and he looks totally gullible! Right? You'd believe us if we told you that crazy mad science stuff she makes came from the moon, right!?"
Cid, bless his heart, nodded. "Of course, Ms. Heartilly."
She waved BOTH arms at the man! "See!? A good plan!"
Sarah sighed. "Fine, I'm sorry I accidentally told the Headmaster of a mercenary work force that the advanced equipment we are planning on collaborating with on production was designed by me yesterday. Can I not be banned from talking again?"
Hmmph! "I don't know!"
She whined. "Oh, come on!"
Wait...This was a chance. "You banned me from driving a car." This could be her way out!
Sarah glared. "You crashed into the sea."
Ah ha! "And you VERBALLY crashed into the sea! It totally counts!"
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
An assistant whispered to the crowd. "I don't know, it got harder to hear, but I think the Mistress was 'punishing' the sex goddess by refusing to let her speak?"
The support staff mostly sighed and swooned. "So romantic!" "Mmm, that woman could step on me any time." "Did you see the restrictive clothing!?" "There were probably so many kinky toys under that coat, I just know it!" "True love finds a way!"
Wait! "Shh! I think they are arguing about who gets to be the Dom next! Something about being allowed to drive the relationship!?"
The supportive group oohed and awed! "Best gossip ever!" "We're blocking her asshole dad from knowing, right?" "Hell yeah, true love deserves nothing less!" "Yeah, plus: Fuck Galbadnia in general." "I replaced the last report, it now says the girls were spotted at that sea trade inspection point." "You really have to find better excuses, you've used that same inspection point for ALL fake paperwork for the past month!" "Meh, it works and no one checks that crap." "Shh, I can't hear anything!"
Carl from finance groaned at his desk. "Guys, can you keep it… Down…" A dozen furious eyes glared from across the room. "
Eep! Never mind!"
Trying to stay focused while working was NOT worth having those men and women getting angry that he was interrupting their one-true-pairing relationship symposium extravaganza.
