> Give Kyouko and hug, thank her for staying with us and apologize for making her worry in the first place.
You do so, and send your words gratitude internally.
The Princess looks jealous.
> ask Hitomi to bring a pot of tea
> ask the princess to sit down
> prepare yourself for a long explanation of the state of affairs of the Star Empire and where grief potatoes come from
> … and why you think this is bad and why you don't like it.
"Hitomi?"
"Yes?" she asks.
"Might we impose upon you for some tea?
She looks a bit uncertain.
"It will take a while to ready the tea room—"
"There's need to be so formal," you say. "Just something everyday. Simpler is better."
"Ah," says Hitomi, uncertainty fading. "Of course," she smiles.
Ryouko narrows her eyes.
"Is this to be a ritual humiliation?" she asks, skeptically.
"We don't do that sort of imperial melodrama here," you say. "While I'm certain you've had much more rarefied tea experiences than we can possibly offer, I want to offer you our simple hospitality in a spirit of goodwill and sorority. If you truly wish to understand, you can start there. It will be idiomatic for the whole experience."
Ryouko inhales.
"If you say so," she says.
"… I'll be back in a few moments," says Hitomi.
Kirika has excused herself — or perhaps Hitomi has gotten her to excuse herself. Madoka was a little unsure about whether or not she should be here, but Shizuki Tomoyo insisted on sending her up with a tray of refreshments, and she's here now. This is a distraction, because Madoka wearing a black dress, with a white sash and white ribbons, and a little silver necklace with a heart. It's a good thing you have something very important to worry about, because a distractingly cute pink girl is
not what you need after watching yourself make out with Gretchen.
You make introductions.
Madoka seems a little wowed by the idea of an
actual princess, but you reassure her and the others that she's a person like everyone else.
"I take it from all this that you're a democracy, then," says the princess, as she sips the tea.
"Indeed," you say. "I am glad you are aware of the concept. I had wondered if it might be suppressed."
"I do have a bad habit of reading forbidden books," says the princess, slightly pleased with herself.
"We are in twenty-first century Japan," says Nanami. "We've got an emperor, for ceremonial purposes, but the government is representative. Ryouko and Clarisse come from a twenty-fifth century democracy, of a different sort."
The princess nods.
"Well, I hope that you prosper," she says, "though I fear I am skeptical. While democracy is a beautiful idea, it has always proved sadly transient in practice. To be ruled by the people, sooner or later, means leadership which is fickle, short-sighted, corrupt, and intemperate. In the end, stability, strength are more important than self-rule, and will deliver more prosperity to more people. Better to be ruled by a benevolent monarch with justice and measured liberty — at least, if one can be freed from the exigencies of succession."
"Your Empress, I suppose?" you remark.
"Indeed," says the princess. "The Star Empire has democratic neighbors, and they thrive, but it is under the umbrella of imperial protection that they do so. I have no doubt they would be quite different otherwise."
You look around to the others.
"… well now," you say. "These are somewhat tendentious assertions. Of Governance, though, I must say that our democratic processes are not hampered by the same prejudices against use of technology."
"Ah," says the princess. "I wouldn't know about that, I'm afraid."
"Speaking of which," you say, "I should probably warn you that you have an awful lot of technology inside you right now."
To her credit, she does a very good job of masking her sudden discomfort. You can only just barely tell.
"What sort of technology?" she asks.
"Military grade cybernetics," you say. "Communications, computing, memory, translation, enhancements to your senses, skeletal reinforcements…"
She places the teacup down on the table very carefully.
Madoka reaches out a hand. "It's a little scary at first," she says, "but it's okay. You're still you."
"Oh," she says, a little blankly. "Thank you, Gretchen."
Madoka gives her hand a squeeze, then lets go.
You blink a few times.
But of course, if the princess knew Madoka, it would be by that name. And Madoka must assume she's confused. She looks a little confused herself. Best not to say anything.
"Besides the cybernetic implants generally," you say, "there is, in particular, a tactical computer that is embedded on your spine. I would strongly appreciate if you were to avoid damaging it by rejecting it as incompatible with your self image."
"Ah," she says — worry on her voice. "Of course. It would be quite rude of me. My counterpart will no doubt have need of it."
"Also," you say, "the tactical computer is technically my original body.
"I have a Clarisse inside of me?" asks the princess, confused, looking down at herself.
"Yes," you say. " Moreover, I believe that you are interfering with my operation, so if you could figure out any way to stop, it would be very helpful."
Among other things, there ought to be data over there which you can access, Ryouko's memory data of the past couple of days — and any recordings from your own sensors that might help a little. And because you are getting better at understanding magic, you're pretty sure that it is a soul interference thing, her psyche walling you out of that space.
Ryouko looks to you, and takes a deep breath…
The interference fades.
Unfortunately, Ryouko's most recent memories don't seem to have been recorded in your absence. But you can see the princess's thoughts, now, and her thoughts about you. She has a mixed set of emotions running through her right now, and one of them still feels roughly as if she had suddenly found out there was a cephalapod living inside her. But a Clarisse inside of her is okay, in a way that a generic technology inside of her isn't. She is rationalizing it to herself like that, anyway. She appears to have made a habit of using you as an anchor, and much more strongly than you had expected.
Thank you, you say, internally, sharing a bit of gratitude.
The princess blinks.
"Oh my," she says.
Here. Relax, you say, allowing yourself discretionary access to her brain chemistry — just slightly more than you'd use with
your Ryouko, you notice, with a tiny bit of sympathy for Machina.
"Are you better?" you ask.
Ryouko nods.
Kyouko munches a sandwich.
"The Empire's attitudes towards technology lie near to the root of its current crisis," you say. "Please understand, though, that if we are upset with the way things are, it need not follow that we are upset with you. Indeed, we hardly know you, at least not in this form. Our complaint is against your state."
Nanami nods.
You take a sip of your tea.
"I am the state," says the princess, unironically.
Your tea does something interesting and tries very hard to go out our nose. You only just manage to stop it.
"Well, obviously not
all of it," adds Ryouko, as you start coughing.
"Oh, dear," says Hitomi, handing you a napkin.
"I thought that was Napoleon," says Kyouko, who vaguely recalls hearing a quote like that once.
"You're thinking of… um… King Louis," says Nanami, who's just looked it up internally.
"Thank you," you say to Hitomi.
"I am the white-hot tip of humanity's spear," says the princess. "I am the hope of our defenders, and I am the vehicle of annihilation, against those would stand against us."
She glares at Kyouko, who is finishing a sandwich.
"Huh?" says Kyouko.
Ryouko sighs. "You
could try to be just a
little impressed."
"I'm sure that your armies are very impressive," says Hitomi, "but you have arrived in a peaceful land. All we have is a small self-defense force."
"Well… okay," she says. "That's different."
She's frustrated. She wants to articulate, that she is legitimate, that she belongs where she is — because on some level, she's not entirely sure that it's true, and if it weren't true, that would be terrifying.
"It's not a bad thing, to protect people," you tell her. "But I hope that if we wage war, it is in pursuit of peace."
Madoka nods.
"I suppose I haven't had much time to contemplate peace," says the princess. "But I suppose that
you have some ideas about changing the world. That new girl, Asami. She's your doing, is she not?"
You shake your head. "There are lots of things I would like to change about your empire," you say, "but I didn't hide Asami from Simona as a plot. I did it, firstly, because she was terrified, and second, because she's your counterpart's girlfriend."
"… oh," says Ryouko, adjusting an internal model. "I see. You were looking out for one of my Star Avengers. I guess it's not too surprising that your Ryouko would have one who's artificial."
"Well, she's not an artificial being in our universe," you say. "She's just an ordinary girl, and that speaks to just how narrow the distance is between us. We all have souls, after all. And there aren't any Star Avengers."
"Oh, of course," says Princess Ryouko. "That's an imperial name, you wouldn't call them that…"
"No, Ryouko has
friends," you explain. "She doesn't lead a special task force like you do, and she only has one girlfriend."
"What?" asks the Princess. "Just the one?"
Kyouko looks confused. "You have
more than one girlfriend?" she asks.
"We were aiming for a circle of twelve," says the princess. "With regular visitors, of course."
"Oi," says Nanami. "Not gonna lie, that's a little bit freaky."
"Well, I'm the star princess," says Ryouko, batting her eyelashes at Nanami a little. "It would be
quite selfish of me to only have one girlfriend."
Nanami looks somewhat uncomfortable.
"Wow," says Kyouko, narrowing her eyes. "I mean, I got the impression your universe was messed up. But that's, like,
seriously messed up. Jesus."
The princess looks back at her. She's still smiling, but has just shifted to a more defensive mindset.
"But I have so many worthy admirers," she says. "It would be terrible for me to disappoint them."
This fact seems, unfortunately, to be another anchor of her self-esteem, so it's hard to know exactly what to say about it here.
Kyouko tries to form words, and sort of fails for a moment. She shakes her head. "Depraved," she finally says.
"Kyouko!" you exclaim. "Please. You're insulting a guest."
"Well,
someone needs to tell her that polygamy is
wrong," says Kyouko.
"Kyouko, I would ask you to exercise caution as you judge someone who was raised in a very different culture from your own," you tell her.
Kyouko shakes her head. "Isn't the point of this to talk about the things that are wrong with her civilization?" she asks. "When did we drag in the moral relativism?"
"First," you say, "it's hardly
moral relativism if I am less concerned about personal relationships than I am with
civilization-scale atrocities. Second, there are complications to her situation, and whatever you think of it is probably inaccurate. And third, my dear, I will point out that my own Governance future has no qualms about polyamorous relationships, not for their own sake anyway. It's the power imbalances necessarily associated with a royal harem that concern me more."
You leave unsaid that there are lots of things that governance Kyouko has done that she would object to, if she knew about them, and that taking advantage of her position is one of them.
Kyouko's mouth hangs open, and Nanami looks a little bit disgusted at you.
Hitomi leans over to whisper something to Madoka.
"Are you a Christian?" asks the princess. "You sound like a Christian."
"Yeah?" asks Kyouko. "Got a problem with Christians?"
The princess shrugs. "I wasn't the one who eliminated your kind."
"You did
what?" asks Kyouko.
"Ryouko!" you exclaim. "You're antagonizing my … my girlfriend!"
"Oh, I thought she said she was a Christian," says Ryouko. "You can't very well serve the lamb god and have two girls being together."
"Like you'd know the first thing about it, you genocidal maniac—"
"Both of you!" you exclaim, standing up. "Stop this!"
"Oh, great," says the princess, rolling her eyes. "
This Clarisse thinks she's my mother, too."
This stings a bit — less on account of what she specifically said, and more because of the last time.
It's different when you can see inside like this, though. She's expecting an oddly specific type of response. Those words were an invocation of sorts, a ritual, a protocol — in a way, it is a plea for help. She's looking for a way to lose an argument, not because she really cares, but more as a way of not dealing with any of these challenges any more. More importantly, she expects this will lead to reassurances, and reminders of how much you love her. On some level she knows this is a very immature way of asking for them, but she wants a little to be babied, while also reminded of her importance. Implicit in all this is the idea that you will recognize this plea, and grant it.
But you are not inclined to spoil the girl any further.
"I'm not your mother," you begin. "And this is important. I'm not playing your little games."
Something turns cold inside of her.
"Be quiet, then," says Princess Ryouko, annoyed, waving a hand at you.
You prepare to chew her out— and you find yourself unable to speak.
You stand there a moment, your mouth open.
… The internal part isn't working either.
The princess smiles.
"Why don't you sit down?" she suggests with a smile, laced with a sliver of cruelty.
No. You won't. You won't let her do this to you. How can she make you do things? You're programmed for loyalty, not obedience, and this is
definitely not in her best interest, let alone your own Ryouko's best interest.
You just stand there, fighting this, shaking.
It's not your programming. It's magic doing this, isn't it? Ryouko's soul, claiming your entire self as part of its dominion. You were grateful when that meant the two of you you would return from the dead together, but this is different.
Ryouko blinks and looks at you, earnestly surprised.
"How are you not sitting down?" she asks.
Madoka speaks up.
"Stop it!" she cries. "Look, you're hurting her."
The princess does look, suddenly uncertain, and the force that is trying to make you sit down becomes weaker — enough that you can muster the strength to speak to her internally.
Ryouko, you say to her.
This isn't right. Please let me go.
You share your feeling of wrongness, a hint of the terror.
She is startled. When she does let you go, you almost fall, but Kyouko catches you.
"Are you all right?" asks Kyouko. "What was that? Are you hurt?"
You catch your breath for just a moment.
"That," you say bitterly. "That, since you ask, is
exactly why I like the other Ryouko more."
And then you see it play back in her memory —
"What's wrong, Clarisse?" asked Princess Ryouko.
Clarisse smiled, but looked away.
The two of them had been dancing, a waltz, among the roses, under the stars. It was wonderful, and yet, the princess could tell, something was weighing on her handmaiden's mind.
"You can tell me," she proposed, but Clarisse just shook her head.
"Come come," she said. "How about a kiss?"
"No," said Clarisse, quietly, shaking her head.
"Clarisse? Come now, aren't I your favorite Ryouko?"
And her Clarisse just looked so sad, so heartbroken...
"I don't know what you just did," declares Kyouko, "but that was seriously messed up."
"… she shouldn't even be able to do that," says the princess, objecting, as if this fact were a robust defense.
You shake your head. "You may have freer use of your soul than I do, Princess, but you trespass where you have no right. I am not your minion, I am a
person. And so is your Clarisse. So is Asami. So is every soul that has suffered so that you can be the Star Princess.
Ryouko looks over to Madoka.
"Okay, I get it," she whines. "Can I go home now?"
"Huh?" says Madoka.
Ryouko expects Madoka to send her home.
"Whenever you're ready," says the princess, turning away.
"No," you say. "We're not done yet. Because if you are not very, very careful when you go back, you are going to be responsible for even more souls. Trillions of trillions. It might be the most important thing in the world."
> explain where grief potatoes come from
You explain it to her.
"You don't like that, I guess," she says.
She has the idea that she's supposed to feel bad about this. She doesn't actually feel bad. It's too abstract, it's numbers, there's nothing there for her mind to really grasp, no sense of people.
"… You would have me tear down the Empire itself," she says.
"A trillion times over," you tell her.
"I can't
do that," she whispers.
You shake your head.
"I think you can," you tell her.
She considers this.
"It makes you very sad," she concludes.
She takes a deep breath.
For you, then, she says.
For the sake of Clarisse.
With determination, with intention, with a practiced skill, she reaches inside herself for that internal lever, for her self-concept, and she pulls on it with all her might, and she holds it there.
There is a light around her and a bit of a wind, and a magic that burns like a fire.
It fades.
"… Ryouko?" you ask.
She shakes her head.
"No," she says. "Still not
your Ryouko."
"If it's really the same soul…" you begin.
"A moment ago," says Ryouko, "I half imagined I could pretend I was the good one. But of course, that doesn't work, does it?"
She's also a little annoyed with herself for cheating… or for
having to cheat.
She turns to bow to the others.
"I thank you very much for your hospitality," she says. "I am sorry for abusing it so. I'm, um … trying to do better. I
will do better …"
The room turns blue and everything freezes.
Now? you ask yourself.
The dark figure comes into the room from behind you.
"What are you doing?" asks Simona.
"I was speaking to the princess," you say, "about the problems of her empire—"
"Are you
trying to cause a paradox?" interrupts Simona. "You've turned her against her fate. If she doesn't accept the role as a living goddess, you won't survive the cataclysm." She studies the room. "Why are we doing this in Mitakihara?" she continues. "Ryouko was
supposed to be going to school in America!"
"… why America?" you ask her. "What happens there?"
"Nothing happens there!!" exclaims Simona. "It's quiet! Safe! She'd actually have a chance at a normal life! … relatively normal, anyway." She sighs. "Maybe we can steal a little bit of Homura, and rewind things."
"You wanted Ryouko to be happy in a place where nothing ever happened, where she didn't matter?" you ask. "Are we even talking about the same person? Have you actually met the girl?"
"Oh,
spare me the lecture, Maggie," she snaps at you. "You are
not the only one who cares about Ryouko, and she matters enough already."
And with that name, something clicks. You can see her soul gem — or what
used to be her soul gem — and it swirls pitch black with corruption.
A message appears overlaid in your vision in the nomenclator system in a runic alphabet, though the meaning is clear.
Abraxas. The witch of paradox.
This must be a barrier. It's a lot like Homura's timestop. You think you've located the interference — you could wake the other half of your self, and Ryouko...
"If you won't cooperate," says the witch, with a sigh, "I guess we could just leave
Governance Ryouko in the Star Empire to save everyone." She bites her lip. "What does that do to the Salem project, though…"
> If you're going to paradox everything, you should commit to it now
[] Fight the paradox witch
-[] wake Ryouko through your link to her
-[] wake Kyouko with handholding
-[] (write in tactics)
[] Attempt to reason with the witch
-[] (write in)
[] Ribbon Madoka and ask her to save the witch
[] Apply feathery restoration magic to Abraxas from within yourself
[] Avoid paradox: Redo this meeting with the Princess, sacrificing her character development
[] Avoid paradox: Sacrifice your Ryouko to be the one who saves the Star Empire
[] Avoid paradox: Go to the Empire to save everyone, yourself
[] Avoid paradox: (write in some other scheme)
POSTSCRIPT — Additional options to facilitate the use of the Star Staff against Abraxas.
[x] Paradox yourself a compatible feather
-[x] Implore aid in the 1980s
--[] Relay it via an
Yukari / Hitomi ribbon-swap
--[] (write in some other vehicle for its delivery)
--[] Maybe you can just swap places with
Kinomoto Sakura for a moment
--[] Rely on Simona's discretion
--[x] Rely on Tomoyo's discretion
(Remember, I am on your side.)
-[ ] Borrow it from the Star Empire, in accordance with your duties
--[] (propose a scheme for its delivery)
--[] Rely on Tomoyo's discretion
Remember that you need it there in the future under your current plans.
-[ ] Borrow it from the 2011 future
--[] (propose some scheme or vehicle for its acquisition and delivery)
--[]
Trust in the future and believe
I am
100% confident that you will find a compatible feather in the 2011 future.
-[ ] From the Governance timeline
--[] Rely on some unknown party's discretion
--[] (propose some scheme)
The universes are pretty good at corresponding so far, so hopefully one exists, but lots of unknowns.
