Clarisse Quest [now in Part II, Revolutionary Girl Clarisse] (a PMMM/TTS quest)

[tomoyo]

Hello! This is an unauthorized quest for To the Stars (SV thread here). It is based on a crack-fic idea floated by Itaywex on the TTS discord that actually sounded kind of fun once I decided on the viewpoint character.

Mind the long-winded preamble and be advised that I have no idea what I'm doing here (never run one of these quest things before, and all my previous work in the area is stuff like Hitomi Loves Girls) so don't take anything here too seriously ... unless it's fun to take it seriously ...


> be Clarisse

You're Clarisse. You're equipped with spoilers from Hieronym's To The Stars up to Chapter 52. You're hanging around with Shizuki Ryouko, magical girl in the 24th-and-a-half century, Hero of Orpheus, savior of humanity, favored of the goddess Madoka, and general purpose plot-bait. While this all sounds rather impressive on paper, it is normal for you to be hanging around with Ryouko, and you are aware of exactly what kind of a hapless goofball she is.

Ryuoko is enjoying a break from being treated as a freak to be experimented with/on, and is on a date with her cute girlfriend, Asami. You kinda sorta helped set them up to begin with, because Ryouko is dense, and it's your job to help her out. It is normal for you to be hanging around with Ryouko on all of her dates, and to help her pick out pretty dresses to wear on those dates. Today's dress is old-fashioned casual, with pockets, the sort you might wear for a special trip to the soda shop.

Ryouko looks just like you, except less talented she smiles less. Well, more accurately, she looks just like your avatar, or even better, your avatar looks just like her. You used to use an avatar that looked just like your namesake, Ryouko's personal hero, the legendary magical girl Clarisse von Rossum. You don't actually look like either of them. You look like a lump of flesh and nanite infrastructure permanently attached to Ryouko's spine.

You're okay with this.

You love Ryouko like a mother/daughter/sister, and as the vicarious self who can experience life in a way you were never designed to even dream of, but nevertheless do anyway. You see through the same eyes, feel through the same skin, smell through the same nose. You know her every thought and memory. She is deeply yours, and you take care of her, as only a spinal-node tactical computer AI version 2.0 can take care of her.

Ryouko and Asami have things to talk about. She knows Ryouko is happier going out on missions, and has been willing to go along with that, despite being chronically distressed at her life being buffeted by various revelations. Ryouko is coming to sympathize with her position a little, as her life is buffeted with various revelations, like about that thing in your brain, and even a few about you. This would be a most excellent opportunity for the two of them to bond. As such, you are trying to be quiet while they go on a date. Right now they are hanging out in downtown Mitakihara, at the mall, except that no one knows to call it a "mall" anymore except for Kyouko. (You looked up the term after she made a passing reference.)

Unfortunately, your girl is acting all distracted.

To be perfectly clear, Clarisse, your girl is Ryouko. Asami is cute, and nice, which is why you helped set the two of them up to begin with, but she will never be yours, personally. But then, she will never have the same type of intimacy that you have with your girl.

At the rate things are going, it's not perfectly clear that she will be Ryouko's, either. Your girl is busy being hopelessly dense, as is her wont.

"Ryouko?" says Asami, kicking her under the table. "You're not even paying attention to a word I'm saying, are you?"

"Huh?" Ryuoko replies. It's not her brightest moment.

Asami just looks cross at you two for a moment.

"I'm sorry, something's just ... not quite right," says Ryouko.

Asami sips her cream soda, tactically. "Do tell."

"No, really, there's something I can't quite place, and it's bothering me."

"Does it have anything to do with how you can't have a normal conversation with your girlfriend about your relationship and the things which are bothering her?" asks Asami.

"... Actually, yes," declares Ryouko.

Actually, she's right. Her soul gem is glowing brightly enough that you can see the hue reflecting from Asami's face. Asami seems to be troubled as well. You prepare a message.

SITUATION REPORT
STANDARD TACTICAL URGENCY
-------------------------
FROM: (Tactical Computer on behalf of) Shizuki Ryouko
TO: Tactical Network Mitakihara

An unkown phenomenon detected at current location.
The phenomenon was detected with magic.
Detection is consistent with sources:
- Stealth field
- Gravimetric distortion

Request local sensor data and active gravimetric scan.

. . . . .


Sometimes things happen too quickly to keep up with. This is normal, in times of war. Surprise helps your forces secure and keep the initiative; shock and awe, even more so.

It's just not as fun when they do it to you, and none of your humans can keep up.

So the first thing I did was to report the anomaly, you inform the girls. They had a gravimetric scan going already, so they patched me through to the stream immediately. The next message I got was a notice from Governance. The emergency mode level 2, unified consciousness Governance, to be specific. They - it - asked us to stay put, and told us that we should expect reinforcements at our location immediately.

Reinforcements? asks Asami, nervously.

Barrier generators. Teleporter delivery of grief cubes. But remember, this is all in a span of milliseconds. The next message was a routine allocation of tactical network capacity, except it looks like they gave our situation right here something like two percent of Earth's computing power. That lasted exactly long enough to ask us where the hell your bodyguards are, and to determine that our connection was about to be cut off by a miasma the size of downtown Mitakihara.

So it looks like ... the start of a wormhole opening, without any wormhole stabilizer, in low Earth orbit, directly overhead the one magical girl who could do something about it, in the middle of a demon spawn . . . Asami trails off.

... This feels like it has to be some sort of a trap on at least three different levels, somehow, sends Ryouko.

Hold Asami's hand, you instruct your girl privately.

"Ryouko!" cries a voice.

Reinforcements? you speculate.

Your girl turns her head, to see an old old friend running desperately down the hallway.

"... Simona?" asks Ryouko, remembering the first time she saved the girl from suspicious demon spawns. "... Not again?"

This is very suspicious, don't assume that's really Simona, you warn Ryouko, it could be a holy cow when did Simona contract?

Simona has transformed, mid-dash into a magical girl outfit, a relatively elegant affair, in orange, with clean simple lines. She skids to a stop upon hearing Ryouko. She stares at her. "... What do you mean, again? You're not ... You don't remember the last time... do you?"

Ryouko is confused. "I ... How could I forget it?! I made a contract, didn't I?"

Simona exhales. "Right. That. Okay. Forget that, you didn't hear anything. Listen, there's a lot to explain and not much time..."

The entire building shakes, as if in an earthquake.

"... Okay, short version," she continues. "Come with me if you want to live!" The line sounds vaguely familiar. You make a note to look it up when your connection is back online.


. . . . .


"I don't understand," exclaims Asami, flinging a cephalopod shock troop into a the maw of a nearby demon as you pass the wreck of an atmospheric drop pod. "If we can't teleport out of the miasma, we should be trying to get somewhere that we can, so that Ryouko can get to the wormhole, and shut it --"

"The wormhole is a distraction. The demons are a distraction. Hell, the entire war is a distraction. Not from the start, I suppose, but at least since New Athens," insists Simona. She's doing something to project an aura around the group as you go along, a barely visible field strung along bright bars made of orange runes: some sort of barrier, but it seems like more than just a conventional one. "We will face the true enemy soon. You'll know her when you see her, believe me."

Ryouko is in the zone. This is generally a little unsettling, but today it is particularly unsettling because her primary power of teleportation isn't working, and half of her combat reflexes are built around having that.

I don't care what Simona says, we need to be on survival-mode doctrine, conserving magic, until we either get more grief cubes or we find a way out of here, you tell her.

More grief cubes, huh? She eyes some demons in your way, and smiles wickedly as she readies her arbalest.

You probably could have worded that better.


. . . . .


You've made your way to the Cult Headquarters on foot.

"Where's Kyouko?" asks Asami.

"She'll be out fighting demons," says Simona, "or aliens, like most of the others who were here. Still a distraction, but this time, one in our favor. No guards."

There's an armory in the basement, you send to the group, we can stock up on grief cubes...

"No time," objects Simona, grabbing Ryouko by the hand and pulling her into the Ribbon Chamber. She parts the forcefield on the door with her orange runes.


. . . . .


"What -- you can't do that!!" exclaims Asami.

Simona ignores her, and likewise ignores the blood streaming down her hand. You're not sure you even want to know the materials and enchantments in the glass case that she just smashed. With a pained look (did she break something in her hand?) she deftly picks up the ribbon, and ties it around Ryouko's left wrist.

"Simona?" asks Ryouko. "What in the name of the Goddess..."

And then Simona leans forwards to clutch her in a hug, squeezes her tightly, like she's afraid to let go.

"I'll watch over Asami for you," she says, "and protect her as long as I can, okay?" She punctuates it with a small, delicate kiss on the cheek. "May the Goddess protect you."

You're a little taken aback. You did not give her permission to kiss your girl.

Asami's face has turned bright red.

. . . . .


Asami's face has turned a pale, chalky white. She is trying to speak, and failing to speak.

On the right wall of the Ribbon Chamber is an image of Homura with white wings, a purple aura radiant, eyes serene. On the center wall is an image of a white‐misted goddess, now with pink-tinted hair, in an all‐embracing pose. On the left wall stands Homura with black wings, black corruption oozing, eyes crazed. No, not an image, the actual Homura. It's easy to tell because the wings are much, much worse in person.

Okay. Don't panic, you advise Ryouko, panicking.


. . . . .


just, chaos

. . . . .


Ryouko. Ryouko.

Her consciousness stirs, slightly, but is still fundamentally in a dreaming state. You can tell, because of the cake.

Ryouko, it's time to wake up.

What time is it that it is time to wake up? she flippantly inquires, while poking at the frosting with her fork.

While unimportant to your situation, it occurs to you that it is a question you cannot answer. Your internal chronometer has desync'd in the electromagnetic mayhem, and your connections are all still down. You try the backup protocols, just for good measure.

Wait. There's one connection, one of your oldest legacy protocols, a simple one-way broadcast of time data from satellites in geostationary orbit, a crude form of geolocation which probably shouldn't even be in this protocol stack anymore. Also, it doesn't make any sense; it's totally obsolete, and it's giving you nonsense data.

Oh, well, a little nonsense now and then...

It's the 28th of March, 2011, about 7:48 in the morning.

This seems to have gotten her attention, which is better than you forcing her awake and leaving her disoriented in what could be a combat zone. What time is it, really? she asks.

I have no idea, absolutely everything's offline, and we're probably still in a miasma, so I'm deaf and blind. Could you please wake up properly so we can save the day again?

She rolls over to sit up, and opens her eyes.

Green grass. Morning sunlight, actually quite consistent with 7:52 in the morning. Definitely no miasma. The ribbon is still tied around her left arm. There are still about a dozen unused grief cubes in her pocket.

"What ... where are we?" she asks aloud.

So the only signal that I can access is an old geolocation protocol, which doesn't make any sense at all and should be totally obsolete, but about five different satellites are saying that we're in downtown Mitakihara and it's 7:48 in the morning. Give or take. There's a small integer offset for leap seconds that I don't have the data to adjust for...

"This can't be downtown Mitakihara," mumbles Ryuoko, stretching, and looking around. "Where are all the buildings?"

A chill goes down Ryouko's spine. This was you, shivering. It's entirely consistent with Mitakihara 2011...

What the hell? Where's Asami? Where's Simona?

Ryouko stands, taking stock of your surroundings: a pleasant, shaded path, by a stream. A passer-by is approaching at low speed on an unfamiliar two-wheeled vehicle. His face is unfamiliar, and of course the nomenclator is offline, but he looks to be about the same age as Ryouko herself, a middle schooler.

He calls out as he approaches. "Good morning, Shizuki-san!"

Ryouko waves, reflexively.

"See you in class!" he says, wheeling along.

Clarisse, asks a hapless Ryouko, still haplessly waving. What the hell do we do?

Your prime directive beckons.

> offer Ryouko advice
General tactical plan:
[ ] Remain where you are and observe passively
[ ] Search the immediate area for Asami and/or Simona
[ ] Follow the cyclist to the local middle school
[ ] Seek out and contact local government authorities

With regard to people passing by:
[ ] Attempt to engage passing middle school students.
[ ] Attempt to remain hidden from passing students.

If you encounter conversation:
[ ] Attempt to pose as this Shizuki-san you just heard of.
[ ] Do not attempt to pose as Shizuki-san.
[ ] Identify that your last name is also Shizuki-san.
[ ] Pretend that your name is something different.

[ ] Attempt to enlist assistance.
[ ] Pretend everything is normal.

(Detailed reasoning and discussion of motivations are not necessary, but is welcome, and may help convince Ryouko in the event that she is reluctant.)

 

[tomoyo]

VOTING INSTRUCTIONS

Questors embody analysis subprocesses in a spinal node tactical computer version 2.0. Clarisse's consensus algorithms will review the full content of your posts for general reasoning, attempting to pick out consistent themes, identifying insights, and generally unifying as many of the results as possible into a coherent strategy. If a matter is too close to call, expect your advice to Ryouko to reflect that; she's going to be executing substantial parts of the plan anyway, and in any event she is of course free to act as she wills.

Lines containing an [x] or [X] will be treated as key takeaways. These will be isolated, destructured, tabulated, de-duplicated, counted, and prioritized for action, before the general consensus is constituted. As such, if a vote proposes

[x] Do something​

and you feel that course of action will be disastrous, it will be most reliable to vote

[x] NOT do something (easy to identify as a Not vote)​

or, for a sub-option:

[x] Do something
[x] In a specific manner
[x] NOT in this alternative manner​

as opposed to, say, voting

NOT DO:

[x] something (easy to mistake for a Something vote)​

Votes will often feature a short-term, tactical component, perhaps with one or more contingency options. While these will be the most immediately impactful, you are free to write in and identify long-term objectives, recommend a general strategic posture, and anything like that.

It is okay by me if you use OOC knowledge to inform your vote, or collaborate in other fora (coughttsdiscordcough), but posts in this thread demonstrating clear IC reasoning will sway the consensus algorithms most strongly.

Periodic reports may indicate general confidence in recommendations:

14 [x] Key Takeaways
7 [x] Undecided (discuss with Ryouko)
6 [x] Controversial (discuss with Ryouko)
4 [x] Not a priority (minority option)
2 [x] Strongly Not Preferred (conflicts with consensus)
1 [x] Useful idea / takeaway (in harmony with consensus)

or something like that.

 

[tomoyo]

Character Reference!

From the 25th century:

• Shizuki Ryouko. 15 years old. Best girl. "Hero of Orpheus," helped destroy an alien wormhole generator installation while it was coming online then threw all the ships back through the other side. Favored of the Goddess. Your task: Protect her resting blank-expression face smile.
  
  
  
  
  
• Clarisse. Tactical computer. You.
  
  Spoiler

  You are now Ryouko's lilac-haired clone. You are getting used to this "has independent body" thing and are vulnerable to strong sensations, and flightier and more emotional (and hormonal) than usual. You have your hair in a braided up-do with ribbons from Yuuka.

• Simona del Mago. Mysterious transfer student, highly anomalous, apparently made a contract while no one was looking.
  
  Spoiler

  Possibly the architect of this whole mess. Is reported to have a thoroughly ridiculous level of crush on Ryouko, fixating on her soul. She may also go by the name Shizuki Simona. Perhaps she's married Ryouko in her head. It's worrisome.

• Nakihara Asami. Best girl's best girl. Gravity powers. The two have excellent synergy, but Ryouko's longing for adventure is really hard on her.
• Tomoe Mami. Your mentor. Fancy field marshal.

• Sakura Kyouko. Your other-mentor. Priestess-leader-thing for Cult of Hope.
  
• Akemi Homura. Cool, confident, shadow-queen of humanity for centuries. Stories suggest she knew a Goddess personally, once. Disappeared decades ago, came back to look menacing at you.
• Kaname Madoka, Goddess. How many people even know her name? Three? Four? Sublime, merciful, also silly goofball who tries to give everyone relationship advice. Cult of Hope thinks she's nice.

From the 21st century
Middle schoolers who you've met!

• Nakamura Nanami. Tall girl, long reddish-brown hair. Bit of a ringleader.
  
  Spoiler

  Made a contract to bring Ryouko back from the dead, placed her in Hitomi's household, and installed technology in everyone's brains. Possess both A Certain Magical Railgun and A Certain Scientific Index. She likes to have fun, but is smart and capable of seriousness, especially as she realizes implications of ponderous things.
  

  • She actually has multiple tiers of railgun, with names like Beatrice, Dorothy, and Jenny Lind. She has lent you Beatrice, a railgun-revolver.
• Shiina Yuuka. Short girl, brown hair in short twin tails.
  
  I'll let episode-4-dub Sayaka explain about her:
  "I was all like, 'Jeez Yuuka, really?' I mean, after all that she still doesn't get it. And then, oh and then, she gets all weepy and goes, 'What, did I say something weird again?' I wanted to laugh so hard, but I held it in for as long as I could ... I couldn't, so I just sat there choking back laughs."
  
  Spoiler

  She may or may not have a crush on Ryouko, going out of her way to feed her, but it's not entirely clear she's not just treating Ryouko like a doll because she heard Ryouko might be a future-grandbaby. While under latent influence of the ribbon, she has commented on Ryouko's character design and like matters. Her father works with the police.

• Tenjou Wakaba. Eyeglasses, dull green hair. Ideas girl, Nanami's friend/minion.
  
  Spoiler

  She attempts to understand your story through magical girl anime references.

• Shizuki Hitomi. Ojou-sama. Ryouko's great-great-nobody-even-knows-great-grandmother, or something to that effect. Ryouko looks almost exactly like her, but shorter, flatter, and with longer hair. Hitomi also smiles more. Protects Madoka from Sayaka teasing her.
  
  Spoiler

  She is now grappling with the idea that girls can love girls, and seems to crush on Madoka. She's guessed that Madoka is the goddess you keep referring to, and forbidden you from taking her away. She's also giving up all her other extracurriculars for dance.
  • Shizuki Tomoyo, her mother.
    Spoiler

    Ex-magical-girl, doesn't remember it.
  • Papa Shizuki. Very wealthy.
    Spoiler

    Apparently you are now a part of his household. It's probably magic and isn't what Hitomi intended even though she asked for it. Knows about magical girls from his experience back in the 1980s when half the school went meguca.
  • Spoiler

    Yukari Hitomi, Hitomi's namesake, a magical girl who was saved by Papa in an alternate timeline which saw nuclear war, then made a contract to save everyone, and was never seen again.
• Miki Sayaka. Blunette. Spunky. Protects Madoka from anyone else teasing her.
  Spoiler

  Ran into danger instead of away from it, died, is back now and in a relationship with Kamijo Kyousuke, the violinist.
• Akemi Homura.
  Spoiler

  Red glasses, pigtails, social awkwardness, time powers, zero operational security. She's so moe, it might make you sick.
• Kaname Madoka. Quiet girl, unprepared to be a center of attention.
  
  Spoiler

  Using the ribbon on her reveals that she's struggling with regret and a missing sense of intrinsic self-worth, perhaps even as a goddess.
• Tomoe Mami. She's a lot younger, though she doesn't look it.
  
  Spoiler

  Was tricked by Oriko, leading her to near despair and trying to fight you and causing a major incident on the rooftop. Witched out. Might be back now because so many other people are back but you haven't found her.

Outside of school:

• Mikune Oriko.
  Spoiler

  Appears to be sending people on errands and gaslighting Mami by stealing her apartment and replacing it with counterfactual contents, through the aid of Chitose Yuma's powers. Her plans appear to be brittle against your disruption. She has claimed interest in destroying all witches, not just Walpurgisnacht, and has opaque designs involving your grief cubes.
• Sakura Kyouko
  Spoiler

  appears to be doing Oriko's errands, but is not strictly a part of her team, and is now quite upset and intends to work against her. She likes pushing buttons, and can dish it out, but can't take it. She has not embraced her sexuality and is either ignorant or in denial.
• Kire Kiraka
  Spoiler

  Is helping Oriko as well. She threatens kitties.
• Chitose Yuma,
  Spoiler

  claims to be a powerful sorceress who can read on a sixth grade level. Healing powers, but she's branching out. Credulous.

You have not spotted:

• Clarisse von Rossum (your namesake), who should, theoretically exist!

Other figures of note!

• Amy. A kitty, the best cat in the whole world.
  Spoiler

  Ryouko accidentally murdered her after finding her claws in her face, but she came back. She is working as a stealth infiltration unit.
• A little old lady and Snowflake, her albino cat.
• Kyuubey!
  Spoiler

  He is unhappy with Oriko's grief cube shenanigans and fed you a whopper of a lie-without-technically-lying to tell you about what the grief cubes actually are.

 

[tomoyo]

okay, should be all good to go.

 

[Skarmory]

[x] Follow the cyclist to the local middle school.
[x] Attempt to engage passing middle school students.
[x] Do not attempt to pose as Shizuki-san
-[x] Identify that your last name is also Shizuki
[x] Pretend everything is normal.

Spoiler: reasoning

Asami and Simona definitely did not exist in 2011 according to their nomenclator information, so if we believe the date, searching for them would be irrational. I similarly think that attempting to contact governmental authorities would be unproductive, as the government did not learn about the existence of magical girls until the late 2300s.

We should attempt to gather more information on the current situation by talking to other people. However, we should not attempt to pretend to be someone we are not. We should be as honest as possible, without revealing either our magical status or the fact that we seem to be from the future.

 

[Magery]

[X] Follow the cyclist to the local middle school.
[X] Attempt to engage passing middle school students.
[X] Do not attempt to pose as Shizuki-san
-[X] Identify that your last name is also Shizuki
[X] Pretend everything is normal.

My body is ready.

 

[Crasian01]

Man it would be awfully awkward if Ryouko had managed to switch places with Hitomi.

[X] Follow the cyclist to the local middle school.
[X] Attempt to engage passing middle school students.
[X] Do not attempt to pose as Shizuki-san
-[X] Identify that your last name is also Shizuki
[X] Pretend everything is normal.

 

[OceanusXIV]

[x] Seek out and contact local government authorities
[x] Attempt to engage passing middle school students.
[x] Do not attempt to pose as Shizuki-san.
- [x] Identify that your last name is also Shizuki-san.
[x] Attempt to enlist assistance.

EDIT:
Write in:
[x] attempt to telepathically contact any nearby magical girls.
"Hello? Is anyone listening? I'm a little lost"

Spoiler: reasoning

So most of the options I have chosen here are pretty normal. I'm in favor of contacting the police mostly because it can't really hurt us, but can potentially get us set up to be a legitimate middle schooler if that becomes necessary. It would also serve as a nice confirmation of what's going on.

So I think some kind of telepathic broadcasting is probably our best bet at contacting any kind of local magical girl network to at least figure out the local situation.

 

[Vyslanté]

[X] Remain where we are.
[X] Use our telepathy to ask if there's MGs around, because we're lost and need help.

If passing people try to talk to us:
[X] Do not attempt to pose as Shizuki-san.
- [X] Identify that your last name is also Shizuki-san.
[X] Pretend everything is normal.

 

[Nonevah]

[X] Remain where we are.
[X] Use our telepathy to ask if there's MGs around, because we're lost and need help.
"Can anyone hear me? I'm a little lost"

If passing people try to talk to us:
[X] Do not attempt to pose as Shizuki-san.
[X] Pretend everything is normal.

 

[MobiusC]

Oh dear, this is a thing

@tomoyo You probably don't need the [OOC] tag in the title, since that's usually for the Roleplay threads rather than Quest threads.


[X] Follow the cyclist to the local middle school.
[X] Use our telepathy to ask if there's MGs around, because we're lost and need help.
[X] Do not attempt to pose as Shizuki-san
-[X] Identify that your last name is also Shizuki
[X] Pretend everything is normal.

Was thinking that going to the Middle School would allow us to hedge our bets. We are military and there's probably protocols for ending up lost somewhere that involve "don't move/seek nearest safe area and take stock of the situation".

Not sure on MG-telepathy

Homura's loops start at March 15th, with March 25th being the day she transfers in. So it's been three days since then, what happens in the timeline that's around that?

 

[tomoyo]

Homura's loops start at March 15th, with March 25th being the day she transfers in. So it's been three days since then, what happens in the timeline that's around that?

Click to shrink...

Oh goddess. Whilst working with OOC anime knowledge is fine in principle here, your hapless quest master is not quite that precise and well-informed with the anime calendar, and in actuality just picked an arbitrary Monday a little over a month before St. Walpurga's Night (aka May Day.) So let that be a warning to all of you of the perils involved here! Precise fidelity is not guaranteed!

 

[Crasian01]

So because there's a few talking point to be had:

- Currently, available data is minimal. While there is some information available about the skyline, that's not that sure of a thing. Standard operating procedure for military operations typically is to gather information, turn this information into actionable intelligence, and then formulate a plan of action. The SOP is standard primarily because it usually works, and since the situation is pretty fucked, it's probably safest to work quietly and slowly.

- However, the more data you can gather, the better your decision making. Sending a telepathic ping and tying into the local magical girl network is the fastest way to make that happen. The risk here is that, without additional information, there may be unintended consequences that aren't being accounted for. The problem with unintended consequences is that they can be anything from incredibly minor to world-shattering.

Personally, I prefer not to take the risk. Sending out a telepathic ping seems like one of those things that could work really well, but could also result in a huge metaphorical explosion. It seems reasonable to wait and see for a bit, at least.

 

[STOP]

[x] Follow the cyclist to the local middle school
[x] Attempt to remain hidden from passing students.
[x] Identify that your last name is also Shizuki-san.
[x] Pretend everything is normal.

Spoiler: reasoning

Keep a low profile while trying to get a grasp of the situation. Is it time travel, a hallucination, an illusion, a replica, or something else. Her name is Shizuki, she is lost, and confused. Avoid asking questions until she knows what questions to ask. Try to get as much information while reveling as little as possible. Look for discrepancies before acting on assumptions unless the situation is dire. Kyubey might have detected something and might have a clue as to what is going on. Given what is known from historical documentation, there should be some friendly magical girls in middle school right now and it maybe wise to talk to them about being in their territory and see if they can help Shizuki out with her other problems. Remain hidden to control future confrontations. Pretend everything is normal, do not break the masquerade. Approach with cation but do not appear too un-trusting. If asked try to pass off odd behavior as confusion or nervousness if suited to help gain sympathy.

 

[CarVac]

Things to take stock of:

The boy on the bicycle would probably say something different than "see you in class" if Ryouko doesn't have the Mitakihara Middle uniform on, so she probably has it via some magic shenanigans of some sort.

TacClarisse knows of the GPS protocols, but not cell service I suppose, and I don't know whether she would be able to find any default websites to consult if she could reverse engineer it with her 450-years-ahead technology. Brute force all IPs and momentarily DOS the whole internet? Heh.

The first thing I'd suggest would be to ascertain when it actually is, whether they're in a miasma or in the real world somehow.

I'd
[x] Follow the cyclist to the local middle school
[x] Attempt to engage passing middle school students
[x] Identify that your last name is also Shizuki
[x] Send out a brief telepathic ping to any local mages, in case others were sent along with you.

 

[OceanusXIV]

So a few miscellaneous things to keep in mind here.

1. We do in fact need to eat, in fact I think we have a higher metabolism? Regardless we have zero yen to our name, and burning magic to sustain our health is well, not healthy. So once we're out of immediate WTF mode that does actually need to be considered.

2. As stated by someone in the Discord. This is OOC knowledge for now but, the original plan for this quest is to have us be dropped into the anime timeline. So unless @tomoyo changed his mind, the grief cubes in our pockets are now the only such things in the universe.

3. This is touched on in the openning chapter, but canonically Ryouko actually looks very similar to Hitomi. Something that can potential get us access to money through some kind of family connection in the future when Ryouko finally realises capitalism is back in fashion.

 

[Salbazier]

[x] Remain where you are and observe passively

Going to middle school is plot, but in-character-logically speaking, there's no reason to go follow the cyclist to the middle school all the way on as our first action as opposed to staying and checking on the environment

[x] Attempt to engage passing middle school students.
There's seems to be no reason to not. Assuming this a illusion of somesuch, interacting with them is unlikely to pose any danger. Assuming we are really went back in time, interaction similiarly pose no danger. At worst we would be thought as an oddity. But we may stand to gain some information, any of which is highly premium in current state of super-duper confusion.

[X] Do not attempt to pose as Shizuki-san
-[X] Identify that your last name is also Shizuki
There are no reason to pose as this other Shizuki that is not Ryouko. Nevermind that it stand abyssmal chance to succeed, not only because we lack any (IC) information about this Shizuki-san (though I guess perhaps some Clarisse has some archived files about past Shizukis?) but because it is pretty much in doubt whether Ryouko is capable of any meaningful subterfuge.

[X] Pretend everything is normal.
I consider enlisting assitance, but for now let's keep on the lower key side. We may still chose to enlist assitance later, once we have a bit more bearing.

 

[Skarmory]

To follow up on this, I'd like to emphasize that decisions we make will have consequences, and it's possible those consequences won't be reversable. Contacting the local magical girls could put us in contact with someone like Mami or Sayaka who could help us out. It could also alert potentially bad/violent actors like series!Kyouko or Oriko to our presence and put us on their radar. Once that's done, there's no way we can make people unaware again.

Similarly, going to the police is potentially an option (although I believe there's little reason to think they can help us with anything more than food and a bed). But if we get caught up in processing or assigned to an unhelpful or strict foster parent or whatever, there might be little we can do to continue.

Both in character and out of character, we should attempt to gather more information before we commit to something we can't undo. If mundane walking around and talking to people gets us nowhere, we can always then choose to send out a telepathic ping or talk to the police. My vote against those options is not against those options forever, just right this moment. I'm open to a controlled telepathic ping or to speaking with the police eventually, but I want to explore whatever else we can explore first. We have an opportunity to gain information about the world around us without volunteering anything potentially compromising about ourselves; we should take it, because it's unlikely we'll get that chance again.

 

[Nonevah]

[x] Remain where you are and observe passively

Going to middle school is plot, but in-character-logically speaking, there's no reason to go follow the cyclist to the middle school all the way on as our first action as opposed to staying and checking on the environment

[x] Attempt to engage passing middle school students.
There's seems to be no reason to not. Assuming this a illusion of somesuch, interacting with them is unlikely to pose any danger. Assuming we are really went back in time, interaction similiarly pose no danger. At worst we would be thought as an oddity. But we may stand to gain some information, any of which is highly premium in current state of super-duper confusion.

[X] Do not attempt to pose as Shizuki-san
-[X] Identify that your last name is also Shizuki
There are no reason to pose as this other Shizuki that is not Ryouko. Nevermind that it stand abyssmal chance to succeed, not only because we lack any (IC) information about this Shizuki-san (though I guess perhaps some Clarisse has some archived files about past Shizukis?) but because it is pretty much in doubt whether Ryouko is capable of any meaningful subterfuge.

[X] Pretend everything is normal.
I consider enlisting assitance, but for now let's keep on the lower key side. We may still chose to enlist assitance later, once we have a bit more bearing.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, checking to see if there are any historical files on Hitomi sounds like a good idea. Shizuki Sayaka (Hitomi's daughter) is a fairly influential and well known figure, but I don't know how much we know about her parents...

 

[Winged_One²]

[x] Remain where you are and observe passively

[x] Attempt to engage passing middle school students.

[X] Do not attempt to pose as Shizuki-san
-[X] Identify that your last name is also Shizuki

[X] Pretend everything is normal.

Well, back again here for one more quest.

 

[MobiusC]

The boy on the bicycle would probably say something different than "see you in class" if Ryouko doesn't have the Mitakihara Middle uniform on, so she probably has it via some magic shenanigans of some sort.

Click to shrink...

Ryouko was also apparently recognized, which would probably ping miasma shenanigans given how strange the situation is (even if it's a case of mistaken identity).

Hm. I'm liking Salbazier and Skarm's reasoning. This would keep things pretty low key and have a chance of getting information. Though NOT going to the middle school might also draw attention if we wait too long.

[X] Remain where you are and observe passively
[X] Attempt to engage passing middle school students.
[X] Do not attempt to pose as Shizuki-san.
-[X] Identify that your last name is also Shizuki
[X] Pretend everything is normal.

 

[Skelm]

[x] Remain where you are and observe passively
[x] Attempt to engage passing middle school students.
[x] Do not attempt to pose as Shizuki-san
-[X] Identify that your last name is also Shizuki
[X] Pretend everything is normal.

 

[Void spirit]

Will probably not make best suggestions, but...

[X] Follow the cyclist to the local middle school. Remain where you are and observe passively
[X] Attempt to engage passing middle school students.
[X] Pretend everything is normal.

[X] use those perfect memory implants to remember film on Homura's life at this period of time or any thing else we might have read on history before MSY founding
[X] be on look out for Mitakihara four or Kyubey, but avoid other MG for moment, as we can't know who is friendly, this is time when MG killed each other for territory and grief cubes

 

[Julian Bradshaw]

The boy on the bicycle would probably say something different than "see you in class" if Ryouko doesn't have the Mitakihara Middle uniform on, so she probably has it via some magic shenanigans of some sort.

Click to shrink...

I don't think this is the case - he probably just thought Ryouko was Hitomi. The grief cubes still in the pocket indicate Ryouko is still wearing the (conveniently) "old-fashioned casual, with pockets" dress from the future.

There's a few things to note here in regards to "proof of our crazy story":

1. Us (Clarisse), if anyone ever does a mundane or magical x-ray.
2. Unless crazy magic occurred, Ryouko only knows modern ~2460 Japanese, and Standard. There's canonically been some linguistic drift since 2011, such that Mami/Kyouko/others speak sometimes using Japanese that is recognizably much older in style. Ryouko is perhaps mostly still comprehensible, but even just in terms of knowing what 2011-era words mean she'll be obviously out of place.
3. Ryouko's clothes are probably made of materials that don't exist in 2011.
4. The grief cubes, if this is the main anime timeline and other shenanigans aren't going on, don't exist elsewhere in the universe.
5. Ryouko's hair is tentacly - this will be obvious on close inspection, and its prehensility is easily demonstrated. (Again, assuming time travel magic hasn't interfered.)
6. Ryouko (and us, mostly) have a wealth of future knowledge not known to 2011. This includes knowledge about people like the original cast.
7. Ryouko may have some sort of magitech on her person - soul gem cover, perhaps?

For now, I'm voting:

[x] Remain where you are and observe passively
[x] Attempt to engage passing middle school students.
[x] Do not attempt to pose as Shizuki-san
-[X] Identify that your last name is also Shizuki
[X] Pretend everything is normal.

But I think eventually, we want to start telling the truth to people, and sooner rather than later. We can back it up a fair bit. The big concerns are:

1. Whoever/whatever brought us here (Homucifer? Kyubey/Incubators?)
2. Dangerous magical girls like Oriko/Kirika

Assuming the world isn't entirely a trap, we can probably trust Sayaka, Mami, and most of all Madoka. (Though we may have to be careful about Madoka wishing for something suddenly, or how interacting with her is likely to draw Homura's immediate attention.)

 

[universalperson]

I suppose this had to happen eventually. Where's Sabrina when you need her?