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Broken Adventure

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@theaceoffire Enjoying B(horny) Adventure as always. But I do hope we go back to more detailed interactions between Sarah and the world she's in. Rick and Morty felt like 2 chapters of interaction, and 5 or so of 'Grandma Sarah can't talk right now, too busy, then too comfy.' My favorite parts of the story were when Adam and/or Sarah actually try to learn about and move through the world, rather then research it and give summaries about what they found. Hopefully this comes as helpful criticism and not complaining.

Separate Topic:
We going to get a One Piece Jump?? Because there are some pretty good choices there, the drawbacks can ALL be negated by Sarah or Adam alone, there's PLENTY of stuff to do and study, and I can only imagine the shenanigans. I mean it's a world where you can just be born strong enough to throw boulders, resist or control flame, Sail powered ships exist alongside self made cyborgs and laser weapons. Studying the metaphysics alone would probably be worth it. Not to mention getting to see your take on how Devil Fruits and Haki work! One of my favorite parts of this story is how you connect the metaphysics and reality together to make sense. Like with Pokemon and why trainers exist.
 
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To add onto my previous comment:

I really really wanna see what happens when Sarah's Badass perk combines with a One Piece body, Specifically the FREE Perk that guarantees your physical attributes can reach city buster level if you just work for it. Then add her Sorceress physical benefits and other shenanigans for infinitely more shenanigans.

Link for the Jumpchain I'm talking about for anyone who wants it:


Oh my….. is that a 1200 point drawback limit? :)
 
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Arc 3: Basic Business By Balamb Badass Bewilders Both Beauties Badly.
  • Threadmarks
    • Cid hummed. "I'll be honest, some of these parts are more easy to construct and produce than existing hardware that goes into our prototype Junction system testbed systems. Through these sections here, I'm not sure how to produce them with existing equipment."

    Not without several weeks of intense programming. Several custom devices would have to be put together, as all of this stuff COULD be made with his current facilities… But far too slowly. "These components are originally pressed into flat sheets because it is far too slow to allow each layer to harden, making this more thick layered design... Too impractical... I'm sorry, but isn't that terribly warm? You may remove the cloak if you wish."

    Sarah seemed to slump. "Thank goodness, the overcoat and hood was just a tad too much."

    And she awkwardly struggled off the outermost layer of... Quite an outfit. Oh my.

    Honestly, he'd seen weirder outfits, but not many. "That's probably better."

    The woman who was covered in clothes (And apparently under the big robe, a squished silly silk top hat, and what might be a scarf? No, scarves.) probably nodded. "Yeah, much. Thanks! But back on topic, if you add a catalyst agent you can keep that polymer liquid long enough to injection mold the pieces and then spray the solidifying chemical to keep it in shape until it stabilizes."

    Mrs. Heartilly clearly had no idea what was going on as this covered woman, Sarah No-known-last-name, pulled out more design schematics from somewhere in her layers. "Since no one cares how nice the production equipment looks, I made a variety of designs that can be put into assembly lines easily enough. They are modular, have few moving parts, and should be easy to maintain and alter to work in most setups."

    Cid blinked… And glared. "They do." He pointed. "They happen to match EXACTLY the hardware setup we use in our own facilities. It would be very simple to set up and build."

    Rinoa perked up! "Wonderful!"

    The glare shifted. "Yes, it is very good that these schematics so perfectly work with the equipment inside our top secret, secured and hidden reserve construction facilities. The ones with limited access." He pointed at one page. "This extruder and printer machine, for example, fits perfectly in my personal design room. The one I built for myself so theoretically no one knows about it."

    The woman looked… less perked up. "Ah… Still yay?"

    The mound of fabric huffed. "I mean, of course it does! If I can decipher and scan Lunar Kingdom equipment, something basic like remotely examining a little flying ship like this Garden is child's play!"

    What?

    Mrs. Heartilly seemed on the same boat. "What!?"

    Sarah pushed the plans forward. "Even basic people could cast [[Scan]] on this place, though it might cause problems if you don't modify your own Junction system to handle the data gathered better. The magic is not limited to a scale, only the ability to understand the results and the time it takes to scan the desired target."

    Cid's head hurt. "You used [[Scan]] on this entire Garden and your hardware didn't explode?"

    The cloth pile shifted. "I'm STILL using [[Scan]] on the whole place, it has a lot of moving parts and I don't want to miss anything."

    Sigh. Of course she was.

    Never mind that [[Scan]] DID have a limit. The limit was causing brain death on the user if they asked for too much data. Half the safeties in the Junction system when it came to that spell was ensuring that LESS data was displayed for the caster so that they wouldn't be driven to madness or spontaneously destroy their own body to defend themselves from the information overload.

    Then again, there was a REASON that Lunar Kingdom fruits and vegetables were considered country defining goods. Astounding taste and long lasting freshness aside, it easily improved the user if consumed over time on a foundational level.

    Most kingdoms would purchase individual drops of juice or scraps of vegetable from the moon and use it to create basic soups and drinks for those undergoing training. Even so heavily diluted, the stuff had an easily observed benefit for people and as for the wealthy?

    Well, they would be far less healthy and much more fat if it weren't for the mystical benefits of those nearly always sold out fruits and veggies.

    And no one could duplicate the results. They tried.

    As for the odd containers the fruits came in? Most analysis equipment just gave up, or claimed it was undetermined metal or alloys.

    Forget trying to understand Lunar Kingdom equipment, most facilities couldn't understand their packaging material. "I trust you won't share any details of my facilities with others?"

    Since he couldn't stop her. Clearly, she had connections with the Lunar Kingdom and the Bone Sorceress that h̖̮̲̗̻ͅu̦̘ͅn͎̣͚̺̠g̱͎͕̱͉e̻̖̹̜̼r̫̫͎̟̬͇e̘̩̙͈d͓̖̘ there.

    Sarah nodded. "Of course not, I'm not even scanning your people, their Junctioned Guardian Forces, or any para-magic samples yet." She waved a cloth covered arm at her still bewildered partner. "Rinoa says [[Scanning]] a comrade or business partner before making a contract is rude."

    She pointed down at the (Previously secret) automated construction facility. "I only scanned this place so I could design the equipment you would need to make my stuff."

    Rinoa coughed, nudging her friend, who paused. "What?"

    The women gestured at Cid. Sarah pulled back. "Huh. No, good point. Sorry, Headmaster Cid. It was rude to just tell you that I recorded schematics of all the equipment within the nearby territory."

    A sharp elbow made her alter her statement. "I mean, it was rude to [[Scan]] the massive magical and potentially deadly building that my boss and sexy girlfriend…" Another, MUCH more embarrassed nudge! "What? Fine, I'll try again. Sorry for [[Scanning]] your stuff."

    Rinoa slumped, her head in her hands. "I thought that flying building stuff was part of a dream last night. And why can't you just follow my ban list!? Remember!? You are on a speaking limit!"

    The banter went back and forth. 'I am allowed to talk business!' 'Confessing to accidental corporate espionage was NOT needed for business!' 'Wait, are you sure about that?' 'Sort of?' 'I think ALL businesses have some level of espionage if they want to stay in the market.' 'Really? Wait, no! Do NOT distract me from this!'

    This really did remind him of younger years. "Now, Mrs. Heartilly…" Seeing her look, he sighed. "Rinoa then. Let's just move on for now and focus on hammering down some paperwork to solidify the contract a bit."

    Still, his curiosity was perking up a bit. "But if you made these MCards, Sarah… What were you studying to do so?"

    The clothing pile shifted. "Ah, well, basically I studied Rinoa's customized Junction system she shares with her dog, Angelo, and one of these."

    And both of the others went quiet as a strange silver skeleton, some alien beast curled into a ball, was placed on the table. Sarah pointed. "From what I can tell, this is a para-magic converter."

    Oh!? "Tell me more."

    And the woman… Began dismantling the tiny creature, bone by bone. "Each section of the beast is forged from a specific creature, enhanced and stabilized by True Magic, then sealed and secured by this strange silver substance."

    Astounding. "To what end?"

    A huff. "Something far more useful than what my equipment can do. It converts any nearby ambient magic into a specific spell." She carefully lifted the skull. "Once you cast a para-magic unit at THIS point…"

    An indication and the empty eyes seemed to glow white as the jaws opened. "Yeah, force magic into this skull and any and all magic nearby and cast at this thing gets converted into the same para-magic."

    A nearly covered single finger poked into the jaws.

    "[[Blizzaga]]."

    And now the eyes glowed bright blue, and the jaw closed.

    Carefully, the woman reassembled the skeleton. "Place this in a practice facility or as a target for training, and instead of damaging the room or wasting power? It all gets converted into more units of the master para-magic template."

    This… This was game changing. "Astounding."

    She sighed. "Yeah, and Rinoa was impressed too, but I wasn't able to recreate the thing. Otherwise I might be able to make artificial [[Draw]] points or something similar."

    The woman waved at the incredible MCard selections. "I accidentally designed all these prototypes while failing to recreate this equipment."

    The MCard, to allow her to better work with magic during her testing. The Hi-MCard, to better store the related magic and attempt to act as a [[Draw]] target like existing points. And the X-MCard, trying to allow mass spell storage without the heavy risk and danger from concentrating that much power in one place. Brilliant work, all of it... Probably required a lifetime of research.

    It was sort of like the trials and tribulations he and his researchers had faced with the Junction system, but approached from a different direction. "How many of those spell converters do you have?" Because reproducible or not, there was potential there.

    Sarah sighed. "Nowhere NEAR enough. And it doesn't make free power either! You got to give it access to para-magic for it to work, and stronger spells requires more power to duplicate. It is also less efficient than natural [[Draw]] points, and so normal collection would still be a good idea…"

    Cid nodded. "But the ability to choose a rare spell to duplicate is worth not generating a surplus of more basic magic like [[Cure]], for example." He had three Gardens to support… Well, considering recent events, basically two and his wife. "I have a proposal."

    Rinoa seemed to be out of it for now, but at least Sarah seemed interested. "Yes?"

    He waved at the astounding ball of bones. "Instead of auctioning these treasures, rent them to the Gardens." That way he wouldn't have to fight NORG hiding in the basement about who owned the stupid things, but they could still use them.

    Touching the tiny thing… It was disturbingly warm. "In return, not only will we establish an ongoing cooperation contract with Rinoa Heartilly, representative of the Forest Owls of Timber, but we will help provide a number of related spell units to go with the MCards that you can auction instead."

    And, of course… "Along with a hefty percentage of profit sharing, and various discounts and other benefits." Cid was one of the few people who heavily invested in the less obvious benefits for his children/his SeeD mercenaries.

    Revolutionary medical research, cutting edge equipment and armor, advanced training, personal lodging and transportation, VIP services in multiple nations, even ones at war with each other…

    Rinoa looked exasperated when Sarah glanced at her. "What, you are looking for my input NOW!?" She pointed a finger at the clothing. "You know you were skirting dangerously close to restricted topics Sarah! What would Shiva say!?"

    The cloth pile shrugged. "Something about how adorable we are, and then probably start molesting us."

    And that was enough of that. A polite cough caught Rinoa off guard, who started blushing and trying to apologize, "It's fine, but I gather that you are at least interested in the proposal?"

    Why was she still blushing?

    Sarah coughed. "Rinoa, he's asking if you are interested in the contract he offered, not about being molested by Shiva."

    Ah. Right, teenagers.

    The woman was turning a worrying shade of red though. "How about a short pause for refreshments and to talk amongst yourselves?"

    Rinoa jumped up! "YES!" Dragging the cloth pile away. "ThanksWe'llProbablySayYes, ButPleaseExcuseUsForAMoment, ThankYouBye!"

    And the door slammed shut. Though he could still hear the muffled shriek of embarrassment

    Yep, teenagers.

    ~~~Broken Adventures~~~

    The horde feasted silently on emotions.

    A secretary turned to the other. "There is another."

    Nods.

    The listener was wide eyed. "Three girls, one submissive, one dominant, one the fluffy molestor."

    The guy near the chart whined! "I have to rewrite the entire mapping! I wasn't prepared for the Triple Triad Trio Tsunderes!"

    The woman next to him gave a firm slap! "Damn it Jim, hold it together! Some sacrifices must be made to ensure a brighter tomorrow!"

    Carl from finance just left for some coffee. Sometimes it felt like he was the only guy who did anything around here.

    ~~~Broken adventure~~~

    Sarah grinned! "I think that went well!"

    Rinoa was a freaking out girl.

    The betrayer of the list nodded. "With those designs he can get my cards set up, and he will probably let me [[Scan]] a few people before we leave, so that is good."

    Rinoa needed to focus.

    The Stupid Sexy Sorceress hummed. "Though how many of those bone balls should I hand over? Probably less than a thousand."

    Rinoa threw her logic out the window and decided to derail this crazy train, despite the fact that damage control as a concept was entirely dead by this point. "No. There are three Gardens, tell him you have three of your tiny bone monstrosities, and be done with it."

    The Plan Plunderer paused. "Rinoa? You alright?"

    Calm. Peace. Don't freak out. "No."

    This was fixable, right?

    Sarah sighed, and wrapped her in those warm arms. Much warmer, actually, since her disguise had like twenty layers of cloth over her sinfully seductive body. "Was the spell converter too much?"

    No shit. "Yes."

    She hummed. "Are you sure? It doesn't make more spells from scratch, and I made it very inefficient. It just converts ambient scraps of power into the targeted para-magic. Any nearby [[Draw]] points would be redirected to this thing, so the overall power dynamics won't change that much. Right?"

    Nope. "Most [[Draw]] points are fragile, change location, and can end up being nearly any spell. Places and locations with more than a single stable [[Draw]] point are valuable enough to build a city there, and if one becomes unstable or shifts it can change the entire political and financial landscape of a region."

    If a common spell shifts to something rare, it brings disaster as others fight over it. If a valuable one shifts to something more basic, entire industries might pull out of the area to more profitable ventures.

    Gaining a [[Draw]] point could expand the population as it basically was a gold mine, losing one from instability could cause a ghost town.

    All that was bad enough. "Even a shitty area with three stable [[Draw]] points with near useless spells is so valuable that people will move their entire family tree to that location. Because they may shift, or change what spell they offer, or consolidate into a single more powerful magic, or who knows what."

    Sarah finally seems to get it. "And the stability from the bone balls?"

    Fuck. "Locations with lots of unfocused magic, like the Gardens, can already spawn several stable [[Draw]] points. Your bone machines can not only be reliable, but purposefully placed in a secure location that belongs to a particular person… And might cause competitor [[Draw]] points to dry up as they work."

    And that was just the tip of the issue. "Not to mention that you can PICK what magic gets generated. No, worse: That OTHER people can pick what gets generated."

    There was heavily desired but limited magic out there. Spells that were so valuable they were basically national resources. The support spells that were so hard to gather, like [[Meltdown]] that destroyed the target's ability to resist magic or physical attacks. Or [[Triple]], that let the user cast three times at once, with theoretical GF effects that could drop the unit cost down to one…

    But more than that were the legendary and rumored options. Like the valuable [[Pain]], that could inflict poison, darkness, and silence on a foe at the same time with every hit. Or [[Holy]], only capable of being found in the strongest of monsters in the most dangerous of areas.

    All that would change with one of these bone balls though. Any random [[Fire]] [[Draw]] point would eventually and safely let you build up a deadly and valuable supply of astounding magic to work with, or recover your supplies of spells after battle.

    It was scary. "How inefficient is the conversion rate?"

    She shrugged. "Growth cut by half. It takes two [[Fire]] units to generate a new copy of [[Fire]]. The math gets a bit wonky when you are shifted between power levels… Not sure how many [[Thunder]] a [[Blizzaga]] could generate, for example."

    So… that wasn't too bad. "They would have to get rid of lots and lots of low level spells to duplicate the more deadly and valuable stuff. That should limit abuse, since that low level stuff is what armies are built on."

    Rinoa felt her mind double checking information from her resistance cells. "Yes, we can work with this. In fact, this can be a good thing. I think?"

    After all, it was better for any distributed fighting force like her own if the foe's power concentrated down into a few, easily avoidable powerhouse officers while the general infantry of opponents got slightly weaker and less resources.

    There already existed some GF abilities to 'Upgrade' magic, from [[Something]] to [[Something-ra]] to [[Something-ga]]. The skills were… Uh… [[Mid Mag-RF]]? And the other one to get up to the final stage was like [[High Mag-RF]], that seemed right. "Can you make it more expensive? I think the existing spell alteration abilities that GFs have cost five units of magic to compress it and reach the next level of potency."

    Sarah shrugged. "I can set it to whatever you want." The ball of bones glowed. "There, basically every five units of a spell can duplicate a new copy of the master template. If they all are the same spell at least, you would still get more bang for your buck using higher power spells on a bone ball with something simple like [[Cure]] in it."

    Her heart slowed down. Right, this could be handled. "We will make Cid promise to not tell people how many of these things he has and to not brag about being able to alter the spells being generated."

    Because it was best to assume the information would get out sometime anyway, otherwise she would try and make him promise to keep the stupid things secret.

    At least any fallout would hit these heavily defended (Physically, magically, financially, and politically) facilities rather than Timber. THEY could handle pressure like this, the Forest Owls can not. "And let's offer him nine, three for each Garden." Oh wait. "But not any for the Garden Dad's army works with." Because duh.

    If this palace was going to be a target, might as well make it a BIG one. Crap.

    Sarah opened her arms, still wrapped up in that silly 'disguise' with all those layers of clothing. "Do you need a hug?"

    Sniff. "Yeah."

    The hug was nice.

    ~~~Broken Adventure~~~

    Sarah grinned as they headed down to meet with some selected students and get a tour.

    The talks with Headmaster Cid had gone well!

    Things were a bit on hold now, as he went off to get the facilities restructured to rapidly produce MCards (And cause the Gardens to become even MORE of a financial giant than it was previously), and the other set of three bone balls got shipped securely to the distant Trabia Garden and, for obvious reasons, NOT Galbadia Garden.

    While nominally the Balamb Garden was apolitical, and had good ties with both of the other structures, the Galbadia Garden was closely connected to the military and weapon research… And uh. Better to not tempt them with such things.

    On the other hand Trabia Garden was the newest place constructed and attempted to focus on protecting oneself and the other members like a family, something closer to Cid's dream apparently. At least, they were trusted to protect Cid's plans and secrets, as well as to handle the new 'equipment' securely and responsibly.

    Compared to that, getting her permission to [[Scan]] the place was nearly super simple! The man just seemed interested in having copies of the schematics she found for some reason, and it was his place anyway.

    The production of MCards should be fully in swing by the end of the week, and shipments of filled magic cards would be sent to Tinder before the Auction, no problem!

    That should fix the financial issues, give Rinoa something to work with to improve Timber quite a lot, and now that [[Scan]] let Sarah get the needed samples directly? Only rare stuff not likely to be used in the field was on the list for Cid to get a hold of now!

    Oh, and [[GF: Quezacotl]] should have [[HP-J]] so once Sarah scanned someone with it she could try out that strange 'soak' force field other people had. That would just leave [[Eva-J]] and [[Luck-J]] to get a hold of, and then she should be good!

    Who even had that? Something to look up later, it sounded like one of the more rare stats to be enhanced by GFs and likely needed her to go find it in the wild.

    Wait, did Rinoa just say something?

    And now she was on the ground.

    Uh. "Hello?"

    A muffled voice was struggling. "Who just puts a pile of clothing in the hallway!?"

    Rinoa was NOT helping, looking all sparkle eyed and grinning! "Are you alright… You?"

    Well, Sarah was fine. If anything, the thick layers of clothing prevented whoever this was from breaking something when they collided.

    The voice struggled, and somehow the third coat and the second scarf got twirled together. "Uh, help? I think I'm stuck! Though this is surprisingly comfortable."

    Not that it would hurt if Sarah fell normally anyway anymore. While there seemed little point in Junctioning para-magic to her abilities, Adam had already ensured that as more research clarified how this whole mess can best function and be made more efficient, that the optimum limit of True Magic 'units' would get supplied to support each Stat as she improved.

    Her boss was smirking. "Welp, let me help you two out! Hold still Sarah!" And then started pushing and pulling fabric around.

    A quiet 'eep' quickly proved that this was not NEARLY as helpful as Rinoa expected this to be.

    Sighing, Sarah shifted and just… Yes, twist there, move this, and up! "I'm fine!"

    Still tied to this short person though. "You alright?"

    ~~~Broken Adventure~~~

    Someone had left a stupid metal POLE around the corner!

    Though thankfully wrapped up in padding and clothes and scarves and uh… Rags? A pillow case? The heck?

    Point is, this pretty lady 'trying to help' was making this worse by accident. Eep! "That is MY skirt!"

    The lady blushed. "Sorry! It was just tangled with the belts… Uh. Hang on, I can fix this."

    And then suddenly the world shifted, twirled, and… The pole was standing up.

    And hugging her.

    Wait, what?

    Soft whispers lingered in her ears. "Y̡o̶͠ú͢ ̡͢a̶̡lr̴ìg̡̨h̶́t?"

    Late nights watching the stars as the moon drifted by. The sounds of family off in the distance, celebrating. A song unheard, humming through darkness and dancing in the mists. A clear bell of unclear intentions, and the lingering colors of h̪̭̳͍͔̭̱u͓̺̼̗ͅn̝̟̞̰g̝̯̟̫̩̞e̖r͎̠̝̳.

    Shadows part as a hood leaned closer.

    Was she to die?

    Selphie Tilmitt felt her heart beat fast as her vision adjusted… And saw silver beauty.

    Eyes that cared, metal and warm and soft and glowing in the dark. Silver light softly glowing in the dark cavern of fabric, with a faint impression of perfect lips and fabulous hair and… Those eyes.

    Her rampant thoughts jerked when the pretty lady from before tapped her shoulder. "Hmm?"

    An amused voice was in the background. "I said, I already called dibs on her."

    It wasn't even a choice. Her mind didn't even check in or bother to take a vote.

    Selphie heard her voice just… blurt it out. "Wait, that was an option!?"

    And the deadly beauty chuckled, making her insides go all funny. "She certainly thinks so. Claimed 'dibs' on me and my Guardian Force a few days ago."

    So a lady with tastes? "Then… Uh. Can you call dibs on me too?" Because hot damn.

    The pretty woman shifted to be in her viewing range. "Let's talk a bit first, alright? Now hold still while I untangle this mess."

    Hold up! "Now let's not get hasty there…" Crap, she didn't know her name yet. Uh. "My name is Selphie, nice to meet you both!"

    And no, she wasn't going to mention the ongoing hug, who would risk losing THAT just to make it easier to breathe or straighten out some clothing? Headmaster Cid would understand her being late to guide those two VIP's anyway, all these dangerous sexy metal women tied up in layers of random clothing hanging about.

    Seriously, Balamb Garden was awesome!

    The voice near her ear chuckled. "Good morning, Selphie. This is Rinoa, and my name is S͠a̶̧rąh̵̵."

    These WERE her two VIP's! "Oh! We finally found you both!"

    A pause.

    Rinoa leaned further into view. "We?"

    Oh right. "Me and my..." Well, sort of friend? Wasn't an asshole, but the guy was absurdly compatible with all sorts of GFs and it really affected his mind. Meh, screw it. "Friend. He's a bit quiet but he knows a lot and is super reliable out in the field!"

    Guy was like a bit of a social star in the school, which was astounding considering how he talked to few people and barely said anything. "We had been looking everywhere because the Headmaster didn't tell us where you two were going!"

    Sarah the Hugger hummed. "When did you two split up."

    Uh. "We didn't?" Crap. "I might have left him behind again."

    Seriously, that boy was too quiet! "Just head back uh…" A bit of (Mmm) wiggling got one hand sort of pointing the right direction. "That way? And we should find him following me back there."

    Because Squall could somehow just fade back into the background sometimes, it wasn't HER fault he maybe kind of gets left behind now and then!

    And her new bondage bestie just ignored the weight of carrying another person to go down the hall in full hug mode. Best day ever!

    Rinoa was smirking, and… Yeah, she was super hot too. But something about the smile seemed off. "Should I help you get untangled now?"

    No! Stop helping! "I'm good, no time to waste! Onwards, to find Broody McBroodster!"

    That was a TEASING smirk, you sexy jerk! Don't you DARE ruin this for me!
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • Ah, teenagers in love. Doesnt matter how old they get or how much they snoop deep into your personal secret stuff.
    They will still be horny teenagers, especially when aging is optional and there is HUGS.
     
    Arc 3: Bondage Buddies!
  • Threadmarks
    • Squall mentally grumbled as he followed his missing 'partner'.

    He didn't resent her or anything, but Selphie was 300% pep and optimism in an itty bitty box. Just listening to the girl was exhausting, and his teachers and leadership loved teaming them up as they 'complimented' their personalities.

    Another reference to how 'moody' and 'quiet' he was.

    =Shiva: Well, you don't talk a lot.=
    =Ifrit: BAH! Real men talk with their fists!=
    =Shiva: Just emote more, smile a bit! And focus on more than just on spell Junctioning and optimization.=
    =Ifrit: Emote your fist into their face! Oh, but with fire too! Fire fist!=
    =Quezacotl: {Sigh.}=

    It took YEARS of training to not twitch all the time, and no one else seemed to have the same issues with their Guardian Force Junctions. Heck, many people couldn't even summon their partners, or use all their abilities… Sometimes the compatibility was so low that they couldn't cast certain spells!

    Not exactly his problem. Not the main one.

    =Shiva: Well, if they can't appreciate how awesome you are, forget them!=
    =Ifrit: Uh. He will, won't he? Sort of? He connects to us really weirdly after all.=
    =Shiva: Normally, yes. But my origin pattern got enhanced this cycle, and us magical templates can store parts of his personality and memories for him.=
    =Ifrit: All I heard was 'Blah blah blah, Ifrit is awesome, Shiva is a frigid jerk, go punch stuff.'=
    =Shiva: Hush you. Listen Squall, go talk to Cid again! I know he has Diablos hidden away somewhere, he's such a sweet boy!=
    =Ifrit: Yeah, guy can take a punch. But he keeps squishing me with his gravity magic.=
    =Shiva: And there are lots of GFs you haven't even met yet!=
    =Ifrit: Someday I'm going to squish HIM though! With my fist!=
    =Quezacotl: This is why I avoid everyone normally.=
    =Ifrit: You might fly around in lightning storms a bunch, but I did punch you into a mountain!=
    =Shiva: {Sigh} Please don't bring that up again.=

    Could he junction the maximum limit of magic to every stat? Yes.

    Was his accuracy (Due to his strange nature) at 100%? Yep. Getting critical hits were simplicity itself too, as well.

    Could he theoretically Junction any and every Guardian Force out there? Sure.

    Was it worth this? The frustration, the emotional training, the mental issues?

    =Shiva: GFs are friends you just haven't met yet!=
    =Ifrit: Plus new people to punch!=
    =Shiva: {Sigh}=
    =Ifrit: In the face. I was implying that you would be punching other GFs in the face as the most optimum bonding exercise.=
    =Shiva: Thank you, Ifrit. We get it.=
    =Ifrit: Because I punched [[GF: Brothers]] in the crotch and they were like SUPER pissed at me.=

    Well, maybe. The jury was still out on the topic.

    =Quezacotl: Huh. Heads up, I think your partner is in trouble!=
    =Shiva: Oh! Hey Master! Wait, I can't hear me from there, can I?=
    =Ifrit: Oh shit! What the FUCK is going on with that M͉͕̮̦a̮̮̳͉ͅgi͚c!?=

    Wait, what?

    Squall blinked at a walking pillar of clothing being guided by a beautiful woman and… His partner, blushing up a storm, tied up, and not looking AT ALL angry or frustrated at the situation.

    The pile of belts, pants, skirts, shirts, towels, capes, scarves, hats, rags, coats, gloves, mittens… Well, the pillar of cloth seemed to be moving in slightly wrong ways.

    One of those wrong ways was due to it heading HIS way,

    Was that a monster? A robot? Please don't be a GF. Please!

    It nearly made him stop scowling.

    =Shiva: Huh, Sarah's being a bit more openly kinky than usual.=
    =Ifrit: Which one is Sarah? The squishy non-partner or the tentacle cloth monster?=

    Oh, there we go. That was a close one.

    The attractive woman lit up! "Oh! Is this your partner?"

    Huh, did Selphie actually act as a wing-woman for him? Forget relationships, just trying to talk to people was a frustrating experience. That was surprisingly understanding of…

    Selphie seemed to blink and focus. "Oh! Broody McBroodster!"

    God damn it. And people wonder why he scowled all the time.

    He gave a solemn nod. Because he WAS glad she noticed he had fallen behind, and she HAD come back, intentionally or otherwise. And, on some level he refused to acknowledge, it was good to see she hadn't hit someone or tripped like normal.

    =Shiva: I'm sure it is a friendly nickname…=
    =Ifrit: Either way, I say respond with some friendship fists.=

    No, he wasn't going to rely on waves of lava and punches to get through life. It was infuriating enough that doing so had actually WORKED for the stupid GF in the first place!

    Suddenly his attention was tugged by beautiful eyes. "Hi! My name is Rinoa, and Sarah and I are the VIP's that Cid sent you to show us around!"

    Huh. Surprisingly helpful. "Squall."

    Selphie wiggled in her restraints. "That's moody emo language for 'It is lovely to meet you, my name is Squall Leonhart!'"

    ....Well she wasn't WRONG.

    Those rich and warm eyes seemed overjoyed at his mild reaction. "Oh you are just super precious!"

    And then this 'Rinoa' paused. "Wait, didn't I see you hanging out with that beefcake last time I came around here?"

    Who?

    Selphie blinked too. "Beefcake? Oh, do you mean Seifer Almasy?"

    SEIFER was beefcake!?

    Why!? Why did he have to know this!?

    Rinoa nodded! "That's his name! I tried to get him to date me, but he was too busy 'training' each day for his 'duels' with this guy!"

    Uh… Well, that did seem likely. The jerk found Squall's ability to work so well with the Junctioning system a near personal challenge to overcome.

    Selphie grinned. "Yeah, a lot of us girls working on the Garden Festival thought they were a couple, but it is just a lot of manly grunting and gunblade fighting. Fun to watch though."

    ...What?

    =Shiva: Oh! That would explain why he keeps bothering you. Sexual tension!=
    =Ifrit: Don't punch during sexy times, it sounds great but there are a lot of squishy bits and you both can get hurt.=
    =Shiva: Do you think that is why he gave you that facial scar when you gave him his? Forbidden romance!?=
    =Quezacotl: I'm a bird shaped storm spell, don't bring me into your kinky human hijinks.=

    Oh for fucks sake! "Just sparring."

    Rinoa sparkled! "Hey, are you both official SeeD mercenaries!? Are you between contracts!?"

    What?

    Selphie perked up! "Yep! Me and Zell and broody here are all in a party and uh… I'll be honest, I only pay attention to Seifer because he has these abs and he's tall and uh. Yeah. But I know he has teammates! Probably."

    Just… Put that aside from now. All of it. This was one of his VIP protection and guide targets. Be professional. "Seifer is an active SeeD mercenary."

    And a jerk. Squall was 80% sure that the man only passed the SeeD graduation exam because SQUALL had managed to do so first.

    No, stay focused. "His team is currently in medical, I am unaware of who is currently working with him for contracts."

    =Shiva: It would explain why neither of you two healed your scars, if it is some sort of mating thing that we all forgot because of the GF memory issue before it got sort of fixed.=
    =Ifrit: He kept the scar because it was manly!=
    =Shiva: How are scars manly!?=
    =Ifrit: Well, women can get cool scars too I guess… But they are totally Badass!=
    =Shiva: Most of the time scars just mean you should dodge better.=
    =Ifrit: Meh, dodging is for scrubs! Real hard core fighters exchange blows together!=
    =Shiva: Huh, now that you say it like that it DOES sound a little gay.=
    =Quezacotl: I hate you both.=

    Focus. Don't react to the bullshit.

    Rinoa grinned! "So if I hire both of your teams, can I dictate training requirements?"

    What?

    The pile of cloth shifted. Oh, there was a person inside. "What are you thinking about, Rinoa?"

    She had a nice voice too. This was probably Sarah, although her fashion sense implied mental issues or someone who tried to equip far too many GFs like some fellow students.

    Ignoring carefully repressed memories of his younger years, where he tried to dress up in skirts and shorts only because Ifrit and Shiva had preferences and hadn't THAT taken a while to get used to, Squall focused. "Within limits, and only if it is mission essential. It must be discussed prior to contract completion and noted within."

    His partner (Still bound to the uncaring woman of cloth) both turned to the pretty woman looking smug. "I'm probably going to be hiring two teams for long term deployment to Timber, to act as security and protection during a series of Auctions and construction projects. Another series of teams and merchandise caravans will be hired to deliver custom goods to us as well, so I'll need additional people there too."

    The clothing shifted. "We'd certainly have the money for it, if Headmaster Cid even bothers to argue with us. The new tools are going to sell like mad even if they are more basic and lower quality than my normal work."

    He was missing some context.

    Rinoa grinned! "Right, so uh. Theoretically, if I needed your team to NOT be visibly armed, due to the high security nature of the actual auction specifically and the risk of collateral damage with volatile equipment being handled and sold…"

    She seemed to stop the clothing from saying something. "Not that it WOULD explode or something, but just to be careful, alright? And shush, no talkie right now." She turned back to Squall. "Could I require that your team use physical combat only? For that period at least."

    At least Selphie also looked confused. "It shouldn't be a problem. Zell Dincht is a hand-to-hand combat master. I am unaware though if Seifer has trained in any combat techniques that don't require a gunblade." Probably had though, the ass was competent.

    She smirked. "And you?"

    His ability with magic meant that he rarely had issues even if he needed to [[Draw]] more at later times to restock. "I am passable at hand-to-hand, though it is not my specialty."

    Selphie snorted. "He means he takes four times longer to win, he still kicks everyone's ass in combat class even without his weapon."

    Surprisingly his partner got a glare for that. "Shush. He said passible, don't argue with him."

    Rinoa turned back to the now uncomfortable SeeD mercenary. "For my own satisfaction and assurance, would I be permitted to require a few sparring matches between you and Seifer? Should you both be hired under my contract, and it doesn't intrude on the mission itself, and it is a limited number of times per day to ensure no one is caught unprepared for emergencies?"

    Alright, all his mental warning signs were going off but he couldn't see the trap. "Just normal spars?"

    She innocently shrugged. "No weapons of course, since the contract would require no weapons during the auction itself. Basically only melee allowed, to verify skill levels. That is why I would need the assurance, "

    =Shiva: Say yes!=
    =Ifrit: Holy shit, she wants you to punch the pretty boy!? Best girl ever!=

    Something was wrong, something was wrong, something. Was. Wrong.

    But what!? "Can we choose the location and time for the spars?" Oh, right. "And it won't just be me against the other party leader?"

    If it was just spars, it could count toward normal mission training sessions, the light version that ensured deployed SeeD teams stayed fit despite low combat scenarios.

    Rinoa hesitated. "I will require a small variety of environmental hazards. To prove competency despite the weather or damaged terrain."

    It sounded… Sort of reasonable? "We shall see." Reasonable enough to not blatantly refuse the woman, at least.

    =Shiva: Say yes! Say yes! Say yes!=

    And THAT was certainly making him MORE suspicious.

    The cloth lady leaned closer. "Where are you going with this, Rinoa?"

    The response made the column of costume jerk back and his partner go wide eyed… And blush.

    This was VERY suspicious.

    ~~~Broken Adventure~~~

    Sarah was honestly impressed that, with little warning and almost no time to set something up… Rinoa had managed to justify a potential contract that would require this young man and a declared 'beefcake' to basically mud wrestle daily.

    And based on Selphie's reaction, she was ALL on board with this plan.

    And from the whispered conversation as she enjoyed being carried around and gossiping with Rinoa, Selphie was looking forward to her muscular teammate Zell joining in on the dirty fun.

    At least her Boss's 'Hire a harem' plan seemed on track. Or maybe it was just a side effect of all the people who were old enough to be sent on contracts being physically fit, mentally hooked up to something that made long term commitments a bit hard, and surrounded by heavy magic fields all the time.

    It was a bit noticeable how, even wrapped up like this and having [[Enc-Half]] activated, Sarah still got some appreciative looks now and then from those sensitive enough to para-magic. And unlike her, Rinoa seemed to flaunt her compatibility with para-magic, on some hard to describe level.

    Huh. 'Research' said she basically had the potential to awaken to an Aspect of Reality and transform into a Sorceress at some point.

    Well, that would do it.

    Though hopefully it wouldn't be triggered without another Sorceress dying nearby, it was already annoying that Sarah herself terrified all the local monsters away when not suppressing herself like this.

    Without Adam's bullshit, they'd have to go find [[GF: Diablos]] to [[Draw]] a sample from first and gain [[Enc-Half]] herself. That or possibly give Angelo an accidental heart attack or something.

    And that seemed a bit unlikely.

    Speaking of which, Rinoa was totally going to hire this boy's team at this point. Selphie was basically claimed already, so… Yoink!

    "[[Scan.]]"

    Sarah ignored Squall's flinch and Selphie's wriggle as the data got passed through.

    Oh good! [[Hp-J]] at last! And the data was enough for 'Research' to get [[Card]], [[Card Mod]], [[T Mag-RF]], and [[Mid Mag-RF]]. Apparently Selphie had [[GF: Quezacotl]], which saved a lot of time. And Squall was the first person to have THREE GFs at the same time, though it only gained Sarah [[F Mag-RF]], [[Ammo-RF]], and something called [[Mad Rush]].

    Thanks to that, Sarah could refine [[Fire]] and [[Thunder]] type magics, 'Research' could look into the existing GF skill that reinforced a basic spell up to its [[Something-ra]] level, and she could now force monsters to warp into cards and then into physical items. Or, thanks to Ifrit, change random junk into interesting ammo. Huh.

    Though something was a bit off with that Squall boy, his Junction system was WAY connected to his conceptual nature. Very odd.

    That was an issue for later though.

    For now, the Warehouse was already building up reserves of [[Fire]], [[Fira]], [[Firaga]], [[Flare]] (Neat! So hot that it counted as non-elemental damage!), [[Thunder]], [[Thundara]], [[Thundaga]], and [[Aero]]. The last of which was a basic wind attack.

    Sure, she had working para-magic samples of some of those from before, but this refinement ability let her convert some of that endless material the Warehouse generated into a more valuable and (by comparison) limited resource. So, win win basically, and it meshed well with Shiva's [[I Mag-RF]] skill.

    More data for 'Research' to nom! Woo!

    That said, the two SeeD warriors also had magic that her [[Scan]] picked up in reserves and equipped to specific stats, but it was all basic stuff she had [[Scanned]] from people on the way in before Rinoa got worried they'd get caught or in trouble for examining random people like that.

    While most people couldn't equip a LOT of magic, even basic non-combat fighters understood the benefit of hanging out with others who knew [[Esuna]] or [[Cura]]. So this whole thing with Headmaster Cid was to get samples of the really rare stuff, the magic that is only taken on dangerous missions or special events.

    Now, if 'Research' was correct, Sarah just needed to take an expedition out to find [[GF: Cactuar]] to round out [[Luck-J]] and [[Eva-J]] and finish her collection.

    Oh, the other GFs had various skills like the refinement stuff, but Sarah and Adam could figure out those things eventually anyway. And some would only work on THIS Jump… [[Card]] for example relied on universal laws that were down right odd really, although the [[Card Mod]] should still work elsewhere.

    Probably had to do with using the Jump Document to directly gather Shiva in the first place, since [[Doom]] would work in any Jump at any time while these scanned skills could act a bit oddly.

    Anyway! "So what's the plan?"

    Her front passenger grinned up and whispered. "Rinoa and I are messing with Mr Serious Pants a little while we wander around people watching. Between us, Cid wanted you two distracted so he can get all kinds of stuff done, though I don't know exactly what."

    Redesign and build an entire equipment facility, build/test/stockpile an entire new market of goods to be sold, evaluate and verify the quality and stock of available magic for auction, justify and define price ranges, on top of a number of other jobs and tasks and whatever craziness Rinoa was setting up right now?

    Uh. Yeah, that poor Headmaster.

    At least he would be making mountains of cash from this. "How's the teasing going?"

    Her cute nose wiggled. "I think Rinoa is trying to convince Squall that artificial environmental contaminants could test sparring adaptability and mental flexibility… And that they should be added to the theoretical contract."

    What?

    The whisper was quieter. "Oil wrestling."

    Oh. Oh! "How can I help!?"

    If this harem had any sort of voting system, both Shiva AND Sarah was totally putting Selphie on the ballot!

    ~~~Broken Adventure~~~

    Edea gave the child a smile while accepting the report. "Thank you, dear."

    Oh, their little pouts were so adorable! Though very few of her adopted actually called her 'mother', they would always be her little ones.

    The wittle baby sighed. "Yes ma'am. We will be arriving at the border of the Balamb Region within another three hours, the city port in an additional two. A vehicle will be procured at that time."

    Oh he tried to be so adult! "Very good time, Captain Amano. Let me know when we are near home."

    He saluted. "Yes ma'am!"

    And in his little uniform like a big boy!

    She relaxed on her personal chair in the ship, though it did look like a throne. Her darlings insisted on it, and it just wouldn't do to deny them little things like this.

    And yes, she still missed her old home with dear Cid and even the long gone smaller orphanage they had built together… But this White SeeD Ship had basically become a floating home all of its own now.

    It was… Just so heartbreaking that she had so many little ones NEEDING a home like this.

    Absently she ensured the distribution of heat through the massive support structure of the ship and dumped any excess into the ocean below… And that her little ones were all nice and cool despite the somewhat poor design of some of the air circulation equipment. Shifted a few sea currents, altered the wind a little, basic things.

    Being the Sorceress of W͔͈͚̼e̜a͚̬̬͈̖t̜̘̱̲̖h̼̙̼̘̲̖͕e͖̩r͔̪̗͇ could have some subtle uses too! See children?

    Your mom isn't a one trick pony!

    True, her husband got a bit frustrated when she captured [[GF: Quezacotl]] from the skies and drug up [[GF: Ifrit]] from the earth, but collecting [[GF: Shiva]] was mostly skill! Lots of finesse! Tons of it!

    But no, she was getting too much attention and being 'at risk' and blah blah blah. Plus a few of the children were too tempting for outsiders to ignore, and needed to hide away too.

    At least she used the 'vacation' to do a few useful things like get that [[GF: Cerberus]] to heel and, of course, find more babies to save and maybe stop one or two TINY invasions…

    Sigh. She really wasn't good at the whole 'staying under the radar' thing, was she?

    At least that looming threat that had been clouding her heart had vanished recently, in the last decade or so. Not entirely sure why, though she suspected the sudden h̰̮̥̩̖ͅu̩̼̘n̹̩̠g͈̪e͍̤̭r from the moon was related to it.

    Oh! "Ellone darling! Come over and share some tea with your old Matron."

    The young girl blushed. "Thank you, Ms. Kramer."

    Daw, she was always so bashful. The young girl did enjoy sharing tea though, such a good child despite also having such dangerous powers. Thankfully not a full Sorceress like herself, just… A lady with certain abilities.

    Speaking of which. "You seem troubled."

    She winced. "My connection changed."

    Oh? "Is… Is this bad?"

    The girl had a strange sort of telepathy, and could join with others across time and space… She could share senses like a Guardian Force or view past events together with her temporary partner.

    But… that was it. No control, no raw power like her own… Just a way to find her 'siblings' from the orphanage. Or those she met later in life.

    Ellone sighed. "I don't know. They aren't in danger or hurt… But it feels…"

    Oh dear. "Ominous? A future threat?" That fear that had shrouded her own life for so many years? The risk that had her fleeing while her husband protected the other little ones and prepared for the future?

    She shook her head. "No."

    Oh! Thank goodness.

    Ellone winced. "It's more… It now feels crowded? But crowded in a way that it is mostly the same extra people at the same time?" And she blushed. "And the new connections are probably positive? But perverted. VERY perverted."

    Edea paused. What? "I'm sorry?"

    She looked away. "At first I just thought Selphie was really into some kinky stuff but now Squall is involved and uh… More and… Uh."

    Sigh. Teenagers. "Look child, growing up can cause a number of changes in any young boy or girl… And when they are in a relationship..." Hadn't she covered this before? At least with young Selphie and the other girls, Cid was responsible for telling the boys. Less uncomfortable for them.

    Ellone just looked confused. "Some of the memories don't even seem to be from either of them either, but someone else entirely connected to one of them. And I STILL don't know how you can DO that with a GF and not get frozen or have your tongue get stuck in the first place!"

    Uh. No, she hadn't covered THAT before. What the heck was her dear Cid TEACHING over there!?

    Wait. Don't get distracted. "Try not to focus on it for now, I'm sure it will all make sense later."

    It better! Cid, kinky sex time was for bedroom time ONLY, not giving a todo list for the impressionable little ones! Though now some part of her was considering the possibility that maybe her husband had managed to summon a physical avatar for private use in an easily Junctioned away form.

    They were supposed to test toys and gadgets like that together, reunion gift or no!

    Or maybe the kids got into his private workshop again? Goodness knows HER little ones sometimes stumbled on her own private tools and gadgets and so forth. Poor dear had blushed for weeks, but these things happened.

    Ellone paused. "Huh, that's a pretty lady. But why is she hanging out with a tentacle cloth monster?"

    How old WERE those kids again!? "Look away dear!" Your poor innocence! It is at risk! At risk, she says!

    ...She wasn't looking away, was she? Drat.

    As the ocean vessel sliced towards her husband, Edea forced the weather to stay calm and the currents favorable. And if it was a tad bit warmer and she was blushing slightly, that wasn't important. The extra speed was… Just because she was worried for her babies and poor little Ellone, obviously.

    Though she couldn't help but wonder at the timing of being called home to her handsome husband at the same time that rampant sexuality seemed to have taken over her husband's facilities, nor that he seems to have been experimenting with topics they mentioned that one time on their second honeymoon. And potentially succeeded as well. Mmm.

    Maybe a bit faster. The ship could handle it.
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • Poor Ellone is about to get the talk about consentacle time from Edea.
    Well, some things simply have to happen every time an Adam is around.
    Fire, the color blue, planetary bodies getting it on and somehow tentacles.
    Every. Single. Time.
     
    Arc 3: Gathering SeeDs.
  • Threadmarks
    • Zell Dincht blinked. "Uh. Good morning ladies? And pile of belts?"

    Selphie giggled next to a tower of cloth as the pretty woman smirked.

    Oh, and the broody bastard was there too, but meh.

    The mound of material huffed, and a surprisingly lovely voice could be heard muffled from within. "My Boss thought this would be a good disguise. I'm under cover."

    Literally. He could see four covers at least, unless that side one was a cape or cowl. Still, no reason to insult the nice people. "Well, it is doing a great job! I don't recognize you at all!"

    Selphie grinned. "Zell, these are our clients, both to show around today and probably to work for later. Headmaster Cid is working with them on some big project, and Balamb Garden will be setting up some sort of collaboration thing over in Timber that we would be needed to defend."

    Huh. He felt a grin tug his lips as he almost absently began a punching routine. "Oi! That sounds like a blast!"

    Of course, stick-in-the-mud captain had to drag the scene down. "Let's get to work."

    Still, the broody brat was a good leader, bummer to hang out with as he was. A short kick to twist back on topic and he was like SUPER professional. "Sure. Where you been so far, Selphie?"

    The pretty stranger smirked. "Well, she was a bit tied up before…" Why was his partner blushing? Wait, BOTH of his teammates? The heck!? "...But we were going to visit the Library first to spend a bit of time until Headmaster Cid needed us again. Oh, and this is Sarah, and I'm Rinoa."

    His eyes lit up! Taking pretty ladies (Honestly he was assuming based on Sarah's voice, but it seemed like a good bet) to go visit ANOTHER place with pretty ladies!? Score! "Sure! Let's DO this!"

    Squall grunted. "No flips or cartwheels in the halls, Zell."

    Damn buzzkill!

    ~~~Broken Adventure~~~

    Rinoa grinned as the VERY fit blond boy with facial tattoos seemed to just unconsciously flex and punch and kick as he eagerly talked about all sorts of stuff with an equally peppy Selphie.

    Thankfully that seemed to have brought the new girl out of her funk when she insisted Sarah put her down earlier instead of exposing her ability as a Sorceress to animate the clothing to tie her snuggle buddy up better when she got untangled.

    Though… The possibility was intriguing and she WOULD be revisiting the idea at some point. Maybe a custom outfit with lots of strong leather straps and thinner soft clothing strips? Mmm.

    No, focus. "Yeah, and since we want to avoid weapon use during the Auction, I thought we could do a series of unofficial spars while you guys were deployed with us…"

    The guy's bright grin somehow sparkled! "Oi!? A bit of bim bam bow action!?" For a moment his fists ACTUALLY moved so quickly she couldn't track them. Holy crap!

    Squall for some reason twitched. "Not indoors, Zell."

    Selphie giggled as Zell stuck his tongue out at his leader.

    And uh. Oh my, that was certainly a good length. Uh. Right, spars. "So out of curiosity, what kind of fighting techniques do you know already? Squall already told us you were the combat master when it came to hand-to-hand and close combat."

    The guy (literally) did a flip, and began listing of a LONG list of combat forms and so forth that Rinoa couldn't follow or remember if she tried.

    It uh. It took a while.

    And was still going.

    Yeah, no. "Right, those all sound amazing, but what about grappling techniques?"

    The guy blinked. "Uh. Well, I trained where I could but some of the styles like Sumo were just too difficult to properly practice with my low body mass."

    He flexed a heavily muscled and sculpted arm. "So if I need that stuff I tend to go with Jiu-Jitsu or Judo variants, though I tend to practice more with aggressive styles like Muay Thai and…"

    And he was off again.

    Still, that was good enough. A glance at Selphie got a knowing nod: Plan Wrestling Mania was a go!

    Zell shutting up was almost as shocking as his attack speed. "...Oh. We're here." He got shifty eyed. "Hey uh… They are like super serious about not being too loud or rowdy here, yeah? And it's a totally a no brooding zone, so try to ignore Grumpy McGrouch pants over there."

    Squall didn't even look before his hand whipped out at a near invisible speed, smacking the blond's head. "Let's go."

    Selphie grinned at a pouting Zell who was rubbing his new bruise, but he honestly earned it.

    And then Sarah paused next to her. "Huh. Didn't expect this many librarians."

    Hmm?

    Rinoa blinked.

    Oh my.

    Professional, suit and tight dress wearing ladies. Dozens of them. Some with cute glasses, others with seeming innocent skirts with slits a bit too long, many with soft blushes.

    All of them clearly young and with ambition, with more than a few clearly eager to help the young men (And women) who seemed lost in this beautiful wonderland of literature. Small clusters of SeeD students swooned near clear leaders of the bibliographic wonderscape.

    Oh, and the library itself was nice too.

    She blinked as a wall of ties, coats, shirts, belts, and so forth blocked the view of heaven. "Rinoa, come back to us."

    Dem skirts though. "Warblargh?"

    And she was in a hug. No! So little time! "Shh, it'll be alright. The sexy librarians will still be there, you have time to fan girl and say hi to everyone."

    How could her dad have not shown her this heaven LAST time they visited!? That JERK! 'Oh, we have little time to look around' her FOOT!

    A soft voice whispered. "Don't worry, I've [[Scanned]] the outfits. We can have Shiva model them later."

    ...Best harem member ever!

    Selphie seemed to be giggling at something, and Zell was blushing for some reason, but whatever. "Right. Right! Let's go expand our views and talk with the stern hotness about some high class works of classical fiction all up in this bitch!"

    Wait, no. That didn't come out right. "I mean, uh. Let's go meet all the nice people!"

    Nailed it!

    ~~~Broken Adventure~~~

    Cid hummed. "The schematics are TOO good."

    The technician nodded. "Instead of pointing out a general way to be installed, these machine components are made to handle any existing issues with our current production line to exacting standards. We could literally drop the new parts in and get started, but it is better to use parts designed for OTHER locations on the production chain and note down what issues pop up."

    They pointed at the plans. "We found and corrected over a dozen issues that were too small or niche to address or fix in the past and documented them all. It will slow production by a few days, but overall we should see a 14% production rate increase."

    Considering their deadline was easily handled either way, taking a few days to fix existing problems and then adjusting the plans slightly would be worth the delay. "Do so, keep me informed."

    Clearly everything to do with these gadgets was handled by the clothing coated engineer. Ms. Heartilly seemed to not even notice how odd it was for all the schematics being modified on the fly as the discussion went onwards based on the topics covered.

    Or at least, she didn't react when Sarah decided to leave an entire shipment of 'example' MCards for Cid to reference and ensure quality control. As if they could easily transport thousands of those devices without anyone noticing the method used.

    He had people already installing the excess MCards into a secured room at the Training Center, so that teams working locally could take new missions to harvest magic from the monsters for pocket money and store it for Garden use efficiently and without effort.

    By the time the manufacturing lines get up and running, he should have whole SeeD teams using their down time to gather low level spells that would be burned as fuel for these 'Bone Ball Magic Converters', filling MCards during battle or just [[Drawing]] spells like normal and then dumping the magic into their reinforced backpacks full of Hi-MCards for storage.

    Just swap out the full ones for a fresh set, and the secured room would automatically drain the Hi-MCards into the protected reinforced safe full of X-MCards until needed later.

    No one even needed to ENTER the spell vault, so no risk of infiltrators getting away with lots of valuable time and effort. And, once the Garden had lots of disposable low level spells to work with? He could directly spend that dross to generate rapid reserves of [[Esuna]] and other valuable spells that were so slow to regenerate after being pulled from a [[Draw]] point.

    He already had a team setting up a deployment room and procedure so outgoing teams could quickly connect to personal spell nodes, swapping out whatever they had been using to the more stressful but powerful Junction setup needed for actual battle.

    It should drastically improve deployment times, as these new 'fake' party members had ingenious software that allowed very efficient estimation about the user's maximum Junction limits per spell per stat before magic transfer, to allow rapid setup with almost no risk of over Junctioning or burdening the SeeD fighter.

    Walk in with your trash [[Cure]] and [[Fire]] equipped, walk out with [[Full-Life]] and [[Firaga]]. Bam, done, and with the maximum number of units you can handle at that moment safely.

    And hopefully this would cut down on the accidental [[Draw]] point incidents that occured in a facility with such heavy magic like this one. Temporary nodes would crop up with spells ranging from the very basic to the ultra rare, and every damn time SOME student decide it worth the risk of trying to [[Draw]] from it themselves. Despite the warnings. Every time.

    Sure, it could go well. That woman last year managed to [[Draw]] a full two [[Bio]], which was very unexpected.

    But when it went bad? It went VERY bad. The Junction system did NOT like having the [[Draw]] point vanish mid transaction, or even worse: Shifting which spell was being targeted.

    No deaths so far, but corrupted spell units forcing a student to dump their entire supply was a common enough issue along with minor burns or injuries.

    But with those… Disturbing moon skeleton balls? All that ambient power should hopefully become far more reliable and stable, cutting those scenarios out entirely if they were lucky.

    Sure, being able to easily pick and choose which spells to increase with no risk, competition, or publicity was VERY lucrative, and having an unknown source of rare spells would allow political deals to be made and treaties to be established… But as incredible as those things were, Cid honestly was more ecstatic at having the local magic flow stabilize.

    If for no other reason, then it should reduce issues when his wife visits. Sorceresses tended to make ambient magic levels fluctuate heavily when they stay in one area for more than a few months, and every time it DID his dear Edea would feel an unreasonable urge to go on a journey and do SOMETHING outrageous.

    'Oh honey, I just went to go get some bedroom toys', and she'd bring back a freaking Malboro. Or that one time when she wanted a better kitchen knife and decided that it was best to go find a few from a freaking Tonberry tribe. Because of how cute they were.

    He STILL believed that the build up from her living here was why Balamb Garden was one of the few places on this planet with SIX stable [[Draw]] points, either that or the numerous GFs that she would dominate and drag over to 'play' with her little menagerie of monsters.

    Yeah, sure. They had T-Rex's in the Training Center for combat and spell gathering purposes. Totally not because his wife loved to ride the things and insisted they were just a bit grumbly sometimes.

    Sigh, he still loved that woman. How many hours were left? She should be here soon.

    Right, focus. "Are the sample collections going well?"

    Because why send out missions if local students might already have a rare spell or two in their Junction system already? Cid was willing to give VERY good prices for a single unit of each right now, and this was a very quick way to build up a master template library for future reproduction and reserve gathering.

    An assistant passed notes. "Surprisingly well, though the more rare and valuable magics are of course still an issue. We are reaching out to contacts as we speak, and plan on asking the White SeeDs arriving with Matron Kramer for assistance as well when they arrive."

    Hmm, that should do it for the majority. His wife traveled constantly, and she would likely have had her babies, no matter what age they actually were, [[Draw]] spells she found valuable along the way. She did love to dote so. "Hmm, Trabia Garden might have a few as well, they are in a very remote location. Send them a Junction system message, I'm sure we have a few local students who are in parties with members up there."

    She nodded. "Yes sir."

    Good, things were going well. "And the verification?"

    A nod. "The auction is verified, outsiders are very interested, and Timber is in full swing to set the thing up. Galbadian forces are staying quiet, though Timber hasn't been a major war focus for years now, and what we checked has come through as confirmed."

    Always important to not just trust an innocent face, Cid learned THAT the hard way. After all, it was easy to send an innocent patsy off to convince the short sighted and distract from some more complicated plan in the background.

    Crud. "I best get back to work then until we get everything up to the next stage of deployment."

    Damn paperwork. If it wasn't to fund Garden development and his wife's desire to help the lost ones, he would have shoved this job off on some moron years ago.

    Well, let's go read another partition to force all non hot dog related cuisine to be banned from the compass. Again.

    Oh, right. "Out of curiosity, how is Squall's mission going on?"

    He'd always been a solid boy, reliable. If anyone could attempt to keep those girls and their wandering hands busy, he'd probably manage it.

    The woman blushed. "Ah… Well, they nearly ran straight to the Library." The blush darkened. "For books probably. To read something."

    Sigh. Teenagers.

    It wasn't a surprise that so many students ended up finding relationships with someone they 'bumped into' at that place. Or that the mandatory uniform regulations for the location get relaxed more and more each year. Or that so many of the young men and women fill up the lines to become another of those 'Librarians'.

    He had swapped out half the rare and valuable books for cheap replacements in the more out of the way sections of the place to avoid damaging them with various… Stains… And despite having nearly 200 staff working in the place no one had noticed.

    It was a wonder that anyone actually checked OUT anything. Well, anything readable at least.

    Ah well. He had been young once too.

    And the books were either duplicates or secured, and everything was available digitally on the network anyway…

    Distracted, he tried to remember. Where HAD Edea stored that librarian outfit?

    No, right. Paperwork. Sigh.

    ~~~Broken Adventure~~~

    Fury Caraway wanted to shoot someone. "I'm sorry, what?"

    The man flinched. "The target has evaded surveillance again, but the teams are in pursuit."

    Maybe he SHOULD shoot someone. "She's a 17 year old girl. With a dog, who has tracking equipment built into the collar."

    Another moron spoke up. "For a resistance leader, she is quite talented and popular…"

    He GLARED the idiot down. "She can't drive. Or blend in. Nor does she attempt to. Her funds are limited." And they lost her. AGAIN.

    Someone in the back grumbled. "She's very tricky sometimes."

    Damn it! "Your team was on the SAME DAMNED TRAIN! They went to a town with a SINGLE ROAD OUT OF IT!"

    Just how! "HOW did she escape surveillance THIS time!?"

    At least it was easier to handle now that she wasn't here in Deling City with the numerous dangerous roads she could sneak down and the buses and… Damn it, Julia, he couldn't protect their daughter!

    And now they were quiet. Which was beyond unacceptable. "Well!?"

    The lamb for slaughter was pushed forward. "Her companion drove through the wilderness and they abandoned the vehicle in the ocean. We detected them from records having gotten on a shipping vessel but are still trying to determine their destination. It was assumed she was heading to Balamb Garden at fist."

    ...What? Something didn't sound right about that, but it could be worse. Look on the bright side Fury, just… Focus on it. "At least this other person didn't let her drive."

    Damn it, Julia. Why did you drive that night? He had men to drive for you, back when you were warm and smiling and here and knowing what to do with a sad little girl and…

    He might be unable to give his little girl what her lost mother could, but he had to try anyway. "Which of her minions was it this time? That Watts fellow?"

    Shifty boy, not nearly good enough for his girl. But at least he stood by her, despite her moronic actions that kept trying to make HIS people take action against HIS daughter. Joining a fucking resistance cell indeed.

    Politically, and according to national patriotism, he should just let the stone gears of war grind her away. He theoretically should let her actions speak to her punishment, and then break his oaths and soul further by denying justice to keep her safe anyway, to steal her from the noose and keep her away from the fighting and away from the nation her own mother met him in.

    But her eyes were Julias. And she inherited her last name and gumption. And his love, worthless as it was.

    At least, if nothing else, she LED the blasted groups. She was his little girl, after all.

    The looks though were odd. "What?"

    One spoke up. "We verified the woman to be a tattooed lady named 'Sarah', who recently joined the Forest Owls. She is not of any known organization or nationality, and seems to blindly follow the target's whims."

    What. "Where did she come from?"

    Silent shuffling.

    No. "A detectable accent? Other contacts within Timber?" No, no no. "Recognizable equipment!? At least something from Timber if not Galbadia!?"

    Damn it! "Well, do we have surveillance of the woman, if nothing else!?"

    One nodded. "Yes sir, I've an image here."

    It was a bit blurry and there was some odd interference, but even so he could see his little girl dragging what seemed to be raw sex on legs down a street.

    Shit. "I shouldn't have complained about that Watts boy."

    Triple shit! "So either an enemy agent has captured my daughter for political advantage over our military, or she has potentially eloped with an unknown woman and is on a romantic cruise."

    Why did those seem EQUALLY horrifying to him? Damn it!

    He could almost HEAR his love laughing at him! Little Rinoa always had been near impossible to manage. He wasn't able to deal with this shit!

    But he had to try. "I want a network of operatives at every harbor they could have aimed for or passed through. Include a time window BEFORE we lost track of her, just to ensure we miss nothing. And ready my reserve strike team."

    If it was love, he'd be furious but stay hands off.

    If someone took his little girl, a nation would b͚͖̜̻̘͚ṳ̗̥͔̲͈r͈͇͎͍̣n̦̱̰̟̳.̩̖͙͕̠̝̳

    ~~~Broken Adventure~~~

    Sarah carefully used telekinesis to adjust her strange disguise again. If she was allowed to use some True Magic, it would be easy enough to just animate the outfit like the Lunar Kingdom and make the thing move on its own, but… Well, the wings would pop out.

    Those things slightly gave the game away.

    And it was getting a bit late. "Rinoa, they will be here tomorrow. Let's have Squalls team lead us to somewhere with a bit of nature and have some dinner."

    Only Selphie seemed to not be out of it, as Zell was right next to Rinoa blushing as they tried to be suave while talking to a very stern and tall woman wearing tight clothing and imperious glasses. Oh, and Squall just seemed to be distracted by something internally, whatever was going on there.

    Wait, never mind. Selphie was just quietly giggling while staring at Rinoa and glancing at Sarah, she was equally distracted as the rest.

    Still, it only took a bit of prodding most times. "Welp! Time to hit that old dusty trail!"

    Rinoa blinked. "Huh?"

    Now to pull a Yuffie.

    Sarah reached out, using her object manipulation abilities to keep the complicated outfit from getting in the way, and just stole her Boss from her mental lovey dovey 'step on me senpai' dreamland. "Ahem: Yoink! Mine now!"

    Zell blinked, one arm already blocking what he had thought was an attack. "Hang on, what?"

    Sarah grinned, not that anyone could see it. "Yep. And I'm taking this one too."

    One arm and a bit of belt wrapping was enough to secure a wrangling Rinoa still trying to return to Library seduction station while the other managed to snag Selphie mid jump/squeal.

    Some girls just LOVED to be stolen, apparently. "You good there?"

    Selphie used the closeness to whisper. "Uh… Wrap me up again?"

    Daww, what an adorable blush. "Sure. Come along boys, Squall? Please lead the way to somewhere nice to sit outside."

    Zell blinked, his own face confused at how Sarah had managed to lift two women, wrap them in what seemed to be living belts, scarves, and various cloth straps, and wasn't keeping up mentally with the situation. "What?"

    Squall on the other hand was a SeeD leader. "Yes ma'am. This way."

    Zell was slowly being left behind, even as Rinoa tried to talk through the leather belt gag. "Wait, hang on! How did she do the… And the grabbing? Wait, are you jerks leaving me BEHIND!? You broody bastard, don't just go along with this!"

    While Rinoa seemed to be pouting (But comfortable, Sarah knew how to… Uh. Yeah.), Selphie was in her mental happy space. Her whisper was soft. "A bit tighter."

    Oh. Alright. "Better?"

    Her red face was smiling. "Mmm."

    Looks like that was better. And 'Research' said it wasn't tight enough to mess with blood flow, so that was fine. "Basically I am looking for somewhere mostly secure and secluded, with nearby gardens or grass or just nature for atmosphere, where I can use some of my more strange abilities to serve dinner for my Boss here."

    The Rinoa log just grumbled on her right shoulder.

    Sarah grinned. Just accessing stuff from the Warehouse shouldn't make her wings and tattoo flare up. As long as she didn't try to enhance them with magic, at least. "Anywhere we can go?"

    Squall was carefully looking forward only, especially as Selphie hadn't stopped making quiet noises over there. "The Quad, A12. More secure than other options."

    A distant Zell seemed to be catching up. "Wait up, you smug silent asshole!"

    Squall didn't even pause. "There are a few meditative gardens restricted to SeeD potentials and graduates. My standard location should be available."

    Oh, that would be helpful! "That sounds perfect. It will also give me a chance to try and recreate a few dishes I recently gained information about."

    As in, information gained TODAY.

    Those hot dogs were insane. Over half of the damned Cafeteria was para-magic hardware and a specialized [[Scan]] setup… As each customer ordered one of the limited number of hot dogs, the staff would use the data to customize the recipe PER PERSON.

    Not just targeting guy12 or whatever in general, or 'athletic woman' or similar, no. They would design a custom hot dog specifically targeting Jane Scrimshaw, based on how hungry she was, recent meals, allergies, current body temperature, favorite smells, health level, sickness levels, and so on and so forth. And do the same for Greg Bernson, and the next person in line, etc.

    'Research' had been studying the ongoing scans of the entire kitchen all day, because cooking here was a PROCESS, not a task. It was why there was no buffet or self serve, and why the costs were so high and the quality of the ingredients so astounding.

    Even NORMAL food here was custom tailored to the moment, just… The hot dog took that to the extreme. A near stupid level of care was taken here.

    For example, this morning? Two hot dogs, sold one after the other, contained NO similar ingredients between the two. Not even in the dough, unless you counted water. And both customers nearly collapsed from satisfaction eating the things.

    Not one person who had one even bothered to consider condiments or seasonings. Just, the way it was handed to that one person? Literal perfection.

    The daily limit wasn't due to rare ingredients or snooty cooks, it wasn't even due to Balamb Garden trying to build up publicity or a legendary product to call in customers…

    It was a limit of how often the advanced sensor equipment could be activated safely.

    Like, holy crap.

    Not that she could say anything out here, in public. Nor could she recreate the hot dogs themselves, not with how much they were beloved in this Garden.

    But the stolen [[Scan]] equipment? And the various procedures recorded that the staff took based on those scans? THOSE were things Sarah could pass over to 'Research' to work with.

    It would be really strange if having all Warehouse food quality getting upgraded became the highlight of this Jump instead of the overpowered background option and the new magic system… But if the food came out as good as she EXPECTED it to be?

    Sarah was willing to take that risk!
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • When Edea shows up, Sarah's cover(lol) will be instantly blown and she can stop imitating a pile of clothes. Till then however? She'll live her imitation tentacle monster life happily. Rinoa is a good girl, ya see?
     
    Holy Hawt Dawggity Dawg, Batman Adam will love all the data to work with.
    Time to find a way to visit that cooking sect the other Shard!Adam accidently set up.
    It is also nice to see Selphie achieve.... selfactualisation... early. Even if it makes the Boys uncomfortable for a bit.
     
    On the one hand, I now understand exactly how the hotdogs live up to their hype.
    On the other hand, how can they have a 'strategic hotdog reserve' if every hotdog is made from scratch on demand? Maybe the SHR is in fact the equipment and employees needed to make them? Or possibly even a diversion to protect the that same equipment and employees?
     
    Norr said:
    On the one hand, I now understand exactly how the hotdogs live up to their hype.
    On the other hand, how can they have a 'strategic hotdog reserve' if every hotdog is made from scratch on demand? Maybe the SHR is in fact the equipment and employees needed to make them? Or possibly even a diversion to protect the that same equipment and employees?
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    The scanning equipment, including some spares, and their ingredient stores probably.
     
    Well enhance food enough (or almost any other stuff) to conceptual lvl and you basically can shape (material) reality. food exist within the chemistry table after all (somewhere there^^), and supernatural elements only cheat the 'system' harder :D

    Still yeah, if that system is that precise to everyone then that 'super prototype' win against the system that work to mix men, magic and summons with possible máxime shenanigans and with restrict combinations, when compared to the pretty much infinite number of ingredients combinations (when we add magic to the mix). Because you can use that lvl of precision of the tastes of a person (specially that fast) to adapt that system to predict other stuff. or to detect other things.

    Plus this is the more 'elite' system that can not be used by all of these super soldiers while the other system can be mass produced so, to me, that means this is the higher tech :D

    Still this say something about the food of the moon kingdom, and the number of time travel shenanigans that one could had improve the other. just like Squall enhanced lvls of being a main character/super soldier ^^.
     
    Arc 3: Witch meeting? Nah, we're hungry.
  • Threadmarks
    • Rinoa quickly forgave her covert lover when the food came out. "Oh my god, this pumpkin pie is divine!"

    It was only a single slice, but it was just cool enough to be refreshing yet had a crispy crust like she loved, and some sort of homemade whip cream on top. But that wasn't all.

    It soothed the slight burn from the previous tacos, which had been sinfully spicy yet seductively delicious.

    Both had gone perfectly with the chilled fresh milk, that was nearly a milkshake that had strawberry ice cream in it instead of ice. Or was it vanilla ice cream and pressed strawberry purée?

    The chuckle from her disguised partner made her focus. "No, really, did you use magic to make this!? It's amazing!"

    At the dry look, she flinched. Right, totally a normal woman, not a Sorceress. "I mean, I know you are a wizard in the kitchen, but holy crap!"

    That covered it, right? Right?

    Thankfully, the others were apparently far too distracted by THEIR food to even notice. Each person had a custom made drink and individual servings of amazing looking dishes.

    Meh, fair enough that they were busy eating, it was hard to stop chewing long enough to gush over how good it was. "Why didn't you make this stuff before?"

    Sarah hummed. "From what I can tell, these so-called 'targeted meals' lose their impact if they are received more than once a week. They'd still be amazing, but your body would adapt and it would lose the big impact and wow factor, if you will."

    She waved at the table (from nowhere) and a large basket of crispy fries showed up. "So while ALL my food should taste better, special meals like this one will be restricted for our own good to once a week or so. Or even once a month."

    She ignored the horror on the other faces, Rinoa could probably 'convince' her number one harem girl to bend the rules here or there. "So we won't get to eat this all the time?"

    The clothing pillar shrugged. "High quality, stop talking and close your eyes to enjoy it good food? Yes. Food that makes you have a religious experience? No. And it is too good to cheapen it, since that reaction is the WHOLE POINT of the process."

    Sarah pushed some custom ketchup, which was SO good… But not near-orgasmic. Made these fresh fries taste even more astounding though. "Snacks like this, or meals of similar quality will be easy enough. And since we will be here a few days, I can continue studying... " Her eyes flickered to the local students guiding them. "...Cooking techniques."

    Oh. So THIS is what came from studying the hot dogs!? No wonder everyone refused to share theirs! It would be morally offensive to even consider it! "New order: You are cooking all our meals from now on."

    Selphie, Zell, and to a much lesser degree Squall himself, nodded. Angelo was too busy gnawing on a massive bone from one of the morons that attacked the party on the way to the Garden earlier, although Sarah had done some sort of seasoning and stuff to it first.

    Sarah shrugged. "Yes boss." And now there was fresh hot bread and somehow she felt SUPER ready to eat some more. Oh good lord, the SMELL! Mmm!

    The clothing piled looked to one side. "Huh. You guys enjoy this, I'll be right back."

    What? Rinoa knew something was going on, but first this slightly warm butter on the hot torn bread and ermahgod… Mmm!

    ~~~Broken Adventure~~~

    Another set of snacks to keep them all occupied, and her friends (And new friends!) should be good to go! Sarah nearly had an accident here or there, but so far? Only a bit of glowing tattoo! The wings stayed hidden entirely!

    Wiggling and waddling her way to the exit, she was mentally glad that she didn't automatically activate True Magic for ALL her old skills. Not entirely, anyway. Just for the stuff involving dimensions and space and so on and so forth.

    True, she hadn't expected ANY reaction from pulling stuff from the Inventory or her Warehouse, but hey! Only becoming a minor night light? She could work with this! Better than sprouting wings every time she wanted a sandwich.

    Which was good right now, as she opened the gate for the walled meditation garden and looked outside. "Yes?"

    There were like thirty people of various ages, boys and girls, and ALL were drooling. The guy in front was fidgety, but clearly drooling… Though ALL of them stepped back slightly after seeing her outfit. "Uh. Hey! Sorry to bother you..." He carefully took another step back. "Ma'am?"

    She nodded. Well, shifted her outfit up and down.

    He seemed relieved. "Ma'am then. But uh, my team and…" He glanced back. "...I guess a few other people, we just happened to smell something AMAZING over here! Is there an event going on or something? We know the Garden Festival is doing all kinds of test events and stuff to get ready for it…"

    The raw hope was adorable. "No, I'm afraid this is just a simple get together and a bit of a picnic."

    As one, the entire mass of people slumped.

    A glance back at the eagerly consuming party members… Heh. Why not?

    She grinned at the group. "That said, I DO have a lot of food with me. As long as no one asks how I made it or how I have so much, I don't mind sharing with everyone."

    One of the more uptight girls started to frown before her friend tugged her back and began to whisper about not letting her ruin this for her too. Which implied some sort of background story, possibly involving black market cuisine… Heh.

    The guy was eager… But hesitant. "Are you sure? We all can pay of course but…" He waved at the group. "Quite a few of us showed up." And apparently set up a line, subconsciously. Holy hell, hot dogs had created a pavlovian response through the years of living here, it seems.

    Meh. "I don't want to bother my friends, but it won't be a problem as long as you guys have another meditation garden I can quickly set up some tables at. Or at least somewhere nearby, I can work with near anything."

    Four people instantly volunteered the nearest four mediation groves… Apparently part of the reason this crowd showed up was because the smell of the food had spread out and got ALL the studying and 'meditating' students teeming with hunger. Huh.

    Meh, she could work with this.

    Right. "Then let's get going!" A quick hand wave indicated the locations. "I'll set up this one for drinks, non-alcoholic only I'm afraid, that one for desserts, this one for soups and salads, and the last one for entrées. And don't bother with paying for me, my Boss is from Timber and we are in the middle of setting up a collaboration with Balamb Garden for a long term contract… So let's just call this a bit of a morale building exercise!"

    Plus, having his students rabidly supporting Rinoa's cause wouldn't HURT her negotiating power at all. "In fact, go ahead and call up your friends and teammates if they aren't here already, I want to see if you all can actually finish off my extra picnic supplies. I might have made a bit too much."

    As the cheer went up and they all moved with military precision (Mercenary schools for the win, apparently) Sarah began pulling out tables, high quality bone plates and utensils (She did have a theme to follow, after all), and a variety of fake drink taps that directly interfaced with the Warehouse to have a limitless supply.

    Not like she actually had ANY stored away food, this stuff was pretty much being infinitely generated by the Warehouse to let 'Research' scan the consumers and improve her use of the Cafeteria techniques.

    And so many wonderful test subjects! Hee hee hee.

    Oh right, no evil giggling, laughing, or cackling. That was on Rinoa's list of 'not to say', for some reason.

    Right, now that the drink station was set up let's go set up the soups and salad bar! Might as well use moon produce, it had similar enhancement effects like the expensive stuff used in the local hot dogs, if only a tad stronger.

    Nothing negative, a quick setup of ongoing [[Scan]] would keep an eye on that and ensure no allergies got set off either, but why NOT use the better ingredients for this thing? That just made the collected data more valuable for 'Research' to work with!

    Oh, she should make some cakes to go with the pies!

    ~~~Broken Adventure~~~

    Zell slowed down from gnawshing down on some of the best meatballs he had ever had. Period. "I… I think I actually lost track of time."

    Has that EVER happened to him before!? Even when sleeping he had issues calming down from eager plans to do more training or try new combinations.

    When did he last just… Had his mind shut down like this? "This stuff is amazing."

    It was not a good enough description of this, there had to be better words, but honestly Zell was a fighter more than a food critic. Though he was rapidly becoming a food fanatic. "I would double my workout routine to work this stuff off if I could get this every day."

    Well, emotionally he'd want to, but honestly he was already running out of time due to how much he pushed his passion for fighting.

    Selphie moaned over her barbeque pulled pork stuffed baked potato. "Don't mention exercise, I'm going to have to train for hours to make up for this food binge."

    He did notice though that she didn't even remotely pause eating. Which was understandable.

    The brood meister on the other hand grunted something, probably agreement, and continued to enjoy his strangely red (but amazing smelling) ribs.

    Zell blinked. Wait, were those MONSTER ribs!?

    Huh. Their new client must have spent a BUNCH of Gil then to get these ingredients. That or Timber was far richer than he expected from class.

    Speaking of which. "Hey, where did the secret agent lady go?"

    Selphie was drinking from some sort of fruit drink and waved to the side. "Sarah had to go do something, and said she'd be right back."

    Oh, alright.

    ...Actually. "How long ago did she say that?"

    The three SeeD students blinked… And then hardened.

    Squall nodded. "We will go check on her situation."

    Their preparation fell apart moments later as Rinoa just chuckled. "Nah, she's good, everyone relax. She's just sharing the extra food with those students from earlier."

    ...There had been students sniffing around this feast EARLIER!?

    Zell blinked and double checked the table.

    The still full table, covered in hot and fresh food on gleaming bone dishes.

    Despite them all eating without restraint for quite some time now… And the hard core training that SeeD mercenaries went through every day ensured ALL of them could out eat a normal soldier by a massive margin.

    They hadn't even eaten half of it, and all three of them had over a dozen clean plates to the side already. "Holy cow, how much food did she MAKE!?"

    Rinoa shrugged. "No idea, but the real problem is that we haven't even reached the extra dessert options she's been working on." A hand pointed out a SECOND table to one side. "She did say not to worry though, the same ability that lets her store her stuff will keep our food fresh when we are done eating. So don't worry about wasting it."

    Oh thank god. Zell had felt his heart nearly rip out of his chest at the idea of all this food spoiling, it was FAR too high quality for such a terrible fate.

    Right, let's see how good these corn dogs were.

    The first bite was a song to his S̗͚̭̞͚͔͔o̟͓̥̲̹u̜̬̟͕̳l̺̳̞!

    ~~~Broken Adventure~~~

    Sarah blinked.

    This might have gotten out of hand.

    There were now TWENTY meditation gardens serving food, drink, candy, snacks, finger foods, and after a certain number of animals showed up, one specifically offering custom pet food and a play area while their owners chowed down.

    How many people were IN this garden!? And don't think Sarah didn't see YOU people sneaking in, Cafeteria workers! She had scanned you this morning, you aren't getting away with your sneaky ways!

    Like, she didn't stop them from eating or anything, but just taking off your uniform didn't make you stealthy. Sarah had CAUGHT you! Yes you!

    At this point, the line had turned into a sort of ring. By the time someone had filled up at one end, they had snacked on something from the start of the path and wanted a bit more of that too.

    All along this roundabout journey, victims of hunger would randomly just find a spot to sit and start eating their collected food in joy and more than a bit of desperation, before eventually heading off to a bathroom or getting back in line.

    And uh. Sarah wasn't sure why.

    After all, 'Research' was still examining the techniques used in the Cafeteria and extrapolating other procedures and methods used for food preparation and processing, and nowhere NEAR done. There was likely a whole database of skills and techniques that Sarah didn't even know or guess about yet.

    So uh. Why this big of a draw?

    These guys and gals were acting like a dehydrated man in a desert given water, or a hospital patient stuck on hospital food being given an awesome sloppy joe. A person on a diet during their cheat day, or a person dating a vegetarian who finally got a steak and wanted to finish it without being judged…

    Sure, there was a happy and satisfied atmosphere going on here… But also a desperate and needy one. As if someone would soon steal it all, or snatch away the opportunity.

    Maybe it was because they thought the food would run out?

    But Sarah had already refilled ALL the serving dishes a dozen times or more by now, and none of those bowls and platters were at all SMALL. There was no limit on refills, no fees, and no warnings implying a limit was coming to cause this kind of panic.

    Any idea, Shiva?

    Huh. Didn't know GF's could fall asleep. Wonder when that happened?

    As she shuffled the annoying mound of clothing around (But it made Rinoa happy, and it was a bit fun freaking students out with wiggly belt bits), something kept nagging at the back of her mind.

    Nothing dangerous, not exactly. And so she set it aside.

    But in the distance, the titanic tectonic plates sh͔i̱̰f̤̖̪̯t͓̖̳ḛ̱͎ͅd͉̬ and the heavy wind s̗͕̱͔w͖͙̤̖̩ir͚̯͔̻͈͇͙l͇̗͍͖ed̻.

    Later she should probably hand out a few raincoats. Or get Rinoa to wear a sheer white shirt.

    Along with the others.

    Heh.

    ~~~Broken Adventure~~~

    Headmaster Cid leaned back, satisfied at a job well done!

    Somehow, impossibly, he had caught up with his more annoying paperwork! ALL of it!

    It practically seemed impossible, a never ending beast of a foe that grew with silent responsibility and furious tedium, waiting for an unwary foe to fall to it's never ending clutches of redactions and clarifications and restructurings.

    It was so very VERY rare to have any pauses at all between the various staff bringing in and out the endless waves of forms and verifications and notes and memos and so on and so forth. Even the small, easily handled tasks had to be read to ensure nothing was misfiled or improperly filled out, or (in the worst cases) literally about something unrelated to the topic being covered.

    Such things were almost never intentional, just… Some of the kids were absolutely abysmal with paperwork, and sort of gave up when doing reports or filling out forms. But not today!

    As he moved the last sheets to the outbox, he felt a silly urge to take a picture of his (very rarely) empty inbox for posterity. Maybe frame it for harder times!

    Right. "Bring me the reference material for the second edition of the contract, please."

    ...What?

    Cid blinked.

    Where WAS everyone?

    ~~~Broken Adventure~~~

    Carl from accounting HAD come down here to find out where the senior staff had wandered off to, if for no other reason than to ensure that whatever excuse they'd make up would be one he could match as well.

    He may not ENJOY the endless gossip and so on and so forth, but he wasn't a snitch after all. And it would have been VERY bad if he was the only guy left in the empty office and he had to make up some excuse for the rest.

    That said, normally they were good about ensuring that Carl knew whatever cover story they were going to use. He may not want to be involved, but they knew he didn't mind keeping the others out of trouble. Carl was just a solitary dude, not a jerk.

    So it was more than a bit shocking to stumble into a massive impromptu festival. "How did all this start?"

    Denise shrugged, eating another small pastry. "Mmm. The romantic runaways were sent off by the Headmaster of course…" And took another bite.

    It was hard to blame her, he himself had some light watercress sandwiches (And a spot of mild tea no less! How lovely!) and it was hard to keep proper decorum.

    That said, it was delaying the story a tad.

    She made a visceral moan and blushed, before pretending nothing happened and going on. "Well, they bumped into team Buff, Dark, and Perky… Oh these are so good!"

    Which was who? Oh, Mr Dincht, Mr. Leonhart, and Ms. Tilmitt. Honestly, the nicknames those people came up with. He took another small bite and repressed his own embarrassing joy of the act. Marvelous.

    Denise waved it all away. "Long story short, We think there is now a love-hexagon or something going on, but during a romantic dinner, Ms. Sarah, the one in the odd fetish gear? You know the one, right?"

    If THAT complex mess of an outfit was fetish related, it WAS very odd. And undirected. More confusing than erotic, at least in Carl's opinion, but he tried not to judge.

    Still, he nodded.

    She waved. "Apparently she can just store away stuff through some sort of equipment or skill or special spell, and when one of the students asked about it just started sharing with everyone."

    What? "You mean all of this…"

    Carl gazed at the hundreds of currently open meditation gardens, all bustling with visitors and students and staff and what seemed to be a small army of pets and… Was that just a random Blobra!? What was IT doing out of the Training Center!?

    Well, besides the obvious. The odd blob seemed perfectly happy enjoying a massive bowl of what seemed to be pudding.

    Was this some strange sort of pseudo-cannibalism?

    Denise grinned! "Yep! No idea how she is able to keep all the food fresh and somehow keep track of it all, but not only is she still refilling all the buffet tables but she also separated out the food by ingredients so people who are allergic can easily avoid something risky."

    That was… Surprisingly, refreshingly responsible. "I'm relieved that she is at least ensuring the safety of our people."

    She nodded. "Yeah, and even when the…" A quick glance. "...Less intellectual students avoid reading the many warnings and notes about each dish, she's personally noticed and warned them in person first. Somehow. No idea how it works or even how this is possible."

    Carl hummed. "Perhaps she has further modified her personal Junction system while designing the testing equipment we've been reviewing recently. Do you know if… If…"

    Ah, Denise somehow discovered a room serving deviled eggs. And what seemed to be freshly made cheese omlettes.

    Well, she would be out of it for a half hour or so.

    Hmm.

    Right, he should try to find Brandon, he tends to keep an eye on things within the more social of the staff. And if he was anywhere down here, he would be in the room serving the most variety of steaks and meat dishes possible… From the smell, that direction?

    Though there was some astoundingly lovely baby carrots near the salad room that he wanted to check for quality and crispness… Maybe a short detour was in order.

    ~~~Broken Adventure~~~

    Edea was honestly concerned right now. "Sweetie?"

    Ellone was still blindly drooling in bed.

    The nice boy who always loved medicine (He became a REAL doctor! Such a good boy.) sat back. "From my [[Scan]] and my equipment, medically she is not at risk."

    The girl twitched. "...De spetti! Eat the spaghetti!"

    Her little helper seemed lost. "It almost seems like a forced dream state, but all my tests indicate it is not harmful. Not by itself at least. Just… Very, very distracting."

    Edea frowned. The only reason she wasn't s͕̲͕̳u͍̰̲̜̙̥m̤̹m̝̦o̗̘̹̠n̩̲̗͍i̺̤n̹͇͎͓̫͚̫g̺̲̩̪̝ͅ ̦̹t̳̫̖̭̬̬h̘͕͉̜̬̹̜e̲͓͕̜͎ ͈͕̲̺̝w͓͖̝͔ͅr͎a͖̩̠̦͇͇̗t̗̫h͚̹ ̰̥o̺̫̖̻̦f͖̞͈͈̫̩ ̤n̟͕̜at̺͎ṵ̼r̰e̲̣̗͙͍ was that Ellone was clearly not in pain nor panic.

    Still, this was very troubling. "Ellone dear, please talk to me."

    A weak hand wave. "Later, am om nom nom."

    If this was a less stressful situation, she'd be cooing over this. "Are you alight, baby?"

    Ellone… Sort of focused? "I'm fine mom, just let me taste what Squall, Zell, and Selphie is eating. Oh god! Quistis just found the crème brûlée! Oh yeeees..."

    Blushing, the doctor left while Edea was a bit distracted. But how couldn't she be?

    She called her mom! Eee!

    It was so HARD to get the little ones to do that. One of the older ones had been convinced that she was too important or powerful or whatever, and the others sort of went along with it… They'd still call her mom in private, but on the Ship in public? The best she could get was Matron.

    Still, she limited herself to a kiss on a forehead and making sure the girl was snug in the covers. "Get better soon, dear."

    Ellone's eyes widened! "Nuuu! Don't eat cake at the same tiiimeEEP!"

    ...Yes, some bedrest might be best.

    ~~~Broken Adventure~~~

    It was COLD. "How good was the tip?"

    Her coworkers were ALSO shivering. "Terrible, can't even be sure those two were ON the stupid ship, but it's all we got."

    But this ship had done some badly documented cargo exchange and was heading to Trabia Garden, north of Balamb Garden in the frozen ass end of NOWHERE. "I can't believe it cost so much to find another ship heading this way."

    Because there was nothing THERE but Trabia Garden. And from what Rinoa's supposed plans were, she was clearly heading to ONE of these stupid things. Crap intel or not, this was the best lead they had.

    Hell, it was one of the ONLY leads they had. Speaking of which. "What about the other teams?"

    A general groan. "No updates, but there is a little hope for the ones heading to Fisherman's Horizon. They keep better records, and as a massive trade hub on that huge transcontinental bridge? If anyone saw anything they should know."

    Not to mention that, being a town built on a bridge between the withdrawn Esthar and their own home of Galbadia, the people there would hopefully be very helpful since the Army's commander had no foul intentions on at least one of the two people being tracked.

    It had cost tons to build that freaking monster structure over such an impossible gap between continents after all, so when doing some basic requests for either nation they'd be willing to help out.

    Theoretically willing, at least. The blasted place was ALSO extremely pacifistic, so if they sniffed even a BIT of political action going on here everything would get blasted complicated QUICK.

    Still, potential paperwork and diplomatic mess included, it sounded better than this boat heading to ice hell. "If we are doing an update, go ahead and send out that we are on point to the theoretical target landing harbor in…" Oh god. "...Eight hours."

    A loud groan echoed in the freezing air and BELOW freezing water. At least, that's what the sea spray felt like when it tried to reach up and drown them all.
     
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