Crasian01
Insane Incubator
What about the demons? How well are they doing?
Clarisse Quest [now in Part II, Revolutionary Girl Clarisse] (a PMMM/TTS quest)
- Thread starter tomoyo
- Start date
- Sci-Fi
What about the demons? How well are they doing?
- Location
- Central Standard Time
We do have to deal with the demons before we can try to do this relatively safely.
And if we do try ribboning the witch, we should bring emergency firepower (The Big Railgun) in just in case.
- Location
- Oooooooh emotional roller coaster
Judging from the pixellation, they're probably around ~85% integrity.
- Location
- Oooooooh emotional roller coaster
Current votes!
[3] @PlanckConstant 's plan, involving:
- [3] do not fetch Nanami
- [5] proactively fight demons first for cubes, fight witch afterwards
Can anyone tell me why @Vyslanté and @Void spirit 's votes don't group properly in the vote tally?
[1] @AlphaDelta 's plan, involving
- [1] Fetch Nanami
- [1] Let the two sides harm each other
- [1] Massive alpha strike to take out survivors all at once
[2] Attempt to ribbon the witch after beating it up
Not without better consensus.
[3] @PlanckConstant 's plan, involving:
- [3] do not fetch Nanami
- [5] proactively fight demons first for cubes, fight witch afterwards
Can anyone tell me why @Vyslanté and @Void spirit 's votes don't group properly in the vote tally?
[1] @AlphaDelta 's plan, involving
- [1] Fetch Nanami
- [1] Let the two sides harm each other
- [1] Massive alpha strike to take out survivors all at once
[2] Attempt to ribbon the witch after beating it up
Not without better consensus.
- Location
- Can't read map
No idea.
Wrong format of vote as we used small "x" instead of big "X" inside []???
- Location
- Oooooooh emotional roller coaster
No, it still shows up, it just shows up you voting for PlanckConstant. Like, the vote is literally [✗] PlanckConstant.
- Location
- Can't read map
If we are going to use ribbon on witch we might as well put cowboy hat on Clarrise then use Ribbon as lasso (magical artefact so will easily change length at need) or tie common rock shiny gemstone to each end so we get bola.
Now to forget above. It is just too silly.
Now to forget above. It is just too silly.
- Pronouns
- Him/He
[X] Fight the demons first, save the witch for last.
-[X] if you can, remove all grief cubes and then exit the witch's barrier. You want to see what the witch does, or if the demons come back before killing the witch. If you can't remove the grief cubes, that's fine. You can see what happens the empty ones inside the barrier.
[X] Have Ryouko teleport you back out, so you can get Nanami, and then regroup everyone.
-[X] Have Homura turn on time stop and don't let up until everyone is ready to attack.
[X] Have Homura time stop during battle. Have Kyouko and Nanami trade off killing the demons one-by-one. Don't start attacking the next demon until the one we're attacking is dead. Ryouko is Support. Have Ryouko try and tie magic 'strings' to those to to preserve their freedom of movement in timestop. Try to avoid letting the witch get involved.
First, these demons/grief cubes need to be contained. Witches are everywhere, but we don't want QB nuking the city or witching out all the MGs to clear the board. Getting that variable locked the fuck down is very important. If we have grief cubes we can decide if we want to spread them or do something else, but first we need to get them out of 'the wild'
As for tactics, typical pull/alphastrike strat. Take the demons out one-by-one, abuse the fuck out of time stop, and then pull back to figure out what else to do. The demons being free is something we need to stop ASAP, but the witch is a lesser issue. Once we kill demons we may need to go kick Oriko's face in, hide the cubes, or something. If the worst comes to worst we can leave the witch, but we can't leave the demons here to spread.
-[X] if you can, remove all grief cubes and then exit the witch's barrier. You want to see what the witch does, or if the demons come back before killing the witch. If you can't remove the grief cubes, that's fine. You can see what happens the empty ones inside the barrier.
[X] Have Ryouko teleport you back out, so you can get Nanami, and then regroup everyone.
-[X] Have Homura turn on time stop and don't let up until everyone is ready to attack.
[X] Have Homura time stop during battle. Have Kyouko and Nanami trade off killing the demons one-by-one. Don't start attacking the next demon until the one we're attacking is dead. Ryouko is Support. Have Ryouko try and tie magic 'strings' to those to to preserve their freedom of movement in timestop. Try to avoid letting the witch get involved.
First, these demons/grief cubes need to be contained. Witches are everywhere, but we don't want QB nuking the city or witching out all the MGs to clear the board. Getting that variable locked the fuck down is very important. If we have grief cubes we can decide if we want to spread them or do something else, but first we need to get them out of 'the wild'
As for tactics, typical pull/alphastrike strat. Take the demons out one-by-one, abuse the fuck out of time stop, and then pull back to figure out what else to do. The demons being free is something we need to stop ASAP, but the witch is a lesser issue. Once we kill demons we may need to go kick Oriko's face in, hide the cubes, or something. If the worst comes to worst we can leave the witch, but we can't leave the demons here to spread.
- Location
- Oooooooh emotional roller coaster
Yeah no.
Maybe Mami could lengthen it for you. Unless it's immune.
I'd love to hear more on why this is the case, to better inform future decisions!
(Last I heard, we were wary of Kyuubey's request that we prevent their spread.)
- Pronouns
- Him/He
QB is likely willing to see the entire city destroyed to stop the spread of demons. If he figures out we aren't doing any containment, he may go for a 'nuclear' option to stop the demons.
Of course, killing the demons doesn't mean that we take 'spread demons' plan off the table. Once we have some grief cubes we can choose to spread demons, or not. But if demons are out here and spreading, we have no control and no leverage when it comes to demons.
If we're one of two sources of demon infestation, we have leverage. We can also make the point to Oriko that we no longer need to talk to her or fight her to do demon things, and killing her is an entirely valid strategy, along with ignoring her since she doesn't have anything irreplaceable.
Having Grief cubes gives us lots of options, but those options are basically worthless if the city has a bunch of demons already running around.
Of course, killing the demons doesn't mean that we take 'spread demons' plan off the table. Once we have some grief cubes we can choose to spread demons, or not. But if demons are out here and spreading, we have no control and no leverage when it comes to demons.
If we're one of two sources of demon infestation, we have leverage. We can also make the point to Oriko that we no longer need to talk to her or fight her to do demon things, and killing her is an entirely valid strategy, along with ignoring her since she doesn't have anything irreplaceable.
Having Grief cubes gives us lots of options, but those options are basically worthless if the city has a bunch of demons already running around.
- Location
- Can't read map
But how would here demons multiply?
If I understand it right normally they would spawn in reaction to human emotions, but witches eat all grief so demons unable to spawn.
Now witches can multiply by one or more familiar of their killing several peoples and growing into witch, followed by it spawning own minions, few who grow into witch...
But what of demons? Currently only way to get them is having overfilled cubes become demon, beat into back into cube, overfill, keep going into circle... where is there ability to spawn new copies?
Demon numbers would stay same or lower to zero as cubes get thrown into hole on Kyubey's back, not rise.
What am I missing?
If I understand it right normally they would spawn in reaction to human emotions, but witches eat all grief so demons unable to spawn.
Now witches can multiply by one or more familiar of their killing several peoples and growing into witch, followed by it spawning own minions, few who grow into witch...
But what of demons? Currently only way to get them is having overfilled cubes become demon, beat into back into cube, overfill, keep going into circle... where is there ability to spawn new copies?
Demon numbers would stay same or lower to zero as cubes get thrown into hole on Kyubey's back, not rise.
What am I missing?
- Pronouns
- Him/He
I think the implication is that demons/witches feed on the same emotions, leading to absolute fucking bullshit like what's going on, where they're fighting each other over food.
If these Demons can fight and kill witches, it'll be almost impossible to ever stamp them out entirely. While witches and demons may feed on people, there are a lot of fucking people and causing twice as much misery and extracting magic from it is a possible bad end here.
If these Demons can fight and kill witches, it'll be almost impossible to ever stamp them out entirely. While witches and demons may feed on people, there are a lot of fucking people and causing twice as much misery and extracting magic from it is a possible bad end here.
- Location
- Oooooooh emotional roller coaster
Some remarks and food for thought!
And really, what are the implications of Incubator involvement with grief cubes in the 25th century?
else is thinking of these amazing plot opportunities dangers!
Hmm. It's hard to pin down. Where exactly is the ability to spawn new copies in the 25th century?
And really, what are the implications of Incubator involvement with grief cubes in the 25th century?
And by 'food', we ultimately mean 'people'. omnomnom.
Be Oriko. For some reason -- entertaining Kirika, perhaps -- you want to spread demons and grief cubes. What might you consider doing to mitigate the appeal of the nuclear option, or limit its impact? Or is that option your motive to begin with?
I'm glad someone
- Location
- Oooooooh emotional roller coaster
It's a little hard to integrate all this input, but I think what I'm hearing looks mostly like this:
[3] (no particular need to fetch Nanami)
[2] fetch Nanami, for time stop abuse / alpha-strike tactics
[6] Fight the demons first
[1] Let the two sides wear each other down
[5] Proceed to fight witch after fighting demons
- [3] Attempt to ribbon the witch
-- [1] use massive Nanami firepower as an emergency backstop in case it goes wrong
[1] Leave witch alone, study whether the demons respawn
[1] Do not let demons run amok in the city, hold on to grief cubes
Will leave this to run for a bit yet.
[3] (no particular need to fetch Nanami)
[2] fetch Nanami, for time stop abuse / alpha-strike tactics
[6] Fight the demons first
[1] Let the two sides wear each other down
[5] Proceed to fight witch after fighting demons
- [3] Attempt to ribbon the witch
-- [1] use massive Nanami firepower as an emergency backstop in case it goes wrong
[1] Leave witch alone, study whether the demons respawn
[1] Do not let demons run amok in the city, hold on to grief cubes
Will leave this to run for a bit yet.
- Location
- Can't read map
By the way, seen this on SB thread of PMMM:
They seem somewhat stronger then familiar, but of course weaker then witch.
Meanwhile just how many familiars can witch spawn, as well as usual number of wraiths? Wraiths have to pass trough familiars first.
And have already asked how do wraiths increase own numbers. Seems to me witches eat all available emotions before wraiths can spawn in response to them. So unless something happens, wraiths here shouldn't be a problem. They will die out soon...
Wait... I think on SB PMMM thread might have been mention of wraith able to steal some MG ability, piece of he soul some mention like that... there might be time to get ability back before it is digested by wraith like other emotions into cube.
so bad case of wraith eating chunk of witch... gaining her ability to spawn lesser minions that grow to new bigger wraith...
I hope I am wrong...
Otherwise familiar only on anime and films, not other material, so here's some possible wraiths if things go badly and QM is evulz..
That's a question... can wraiths kill a witch?
They seem somewhat stronger then familiar, but of course weaker then witch.
Meanwhile just how many familiars can witch spawn, as well as usual number of wraiths? Wraiths have to pass trough familiars first.
And have already asked how do wraiths increase own numbers. Seems to me witches eat all available emotions before wraiths can spawn in response to them. So unless something happens, wraiths here shouldn't be a problem. They will die out soon...
Wait... I think on SB PMMM thread might have been mention of wraith able to steal some MG ability, piece of he soul some mention like that... there might be time to get ability back before it is digested by wraith like other emotions into cube.
so bad case of wraith eating chunk of witch... gaining her ability to spawn lesser minions that grow to new bigger wraith...
I hope I am wrong...
- Location
- Oooooooh emotional roller coaster
Wraith Arc is interesting but we're playing with more TTSy rules that have never shown this happening. As such, you should probably not expect to encounter any of these. (Wraith Arc spoilers.)
You're welcome to vote to wait and watch and see!
If this were the case, it seems to me Kyuubey would be unconcerned. But perhaps he's faking concern to see how you react, or to test you, or get information?
I have caught up!
(Currently in Japan, trying to figure out where urobutcher lives and how I can kidnap him and make him read tts).
[X] PlanckConstant
[X] DO NOT Attempt to ribbon the witch after beating it up
Under normal circumstances I'd be cautious of ribbonning a witch, and with demons around and what seems like a weird labyrinth there are too many variables for us to make this kind of experiment safely.
(Currently in Japan, trying to figure out where urobutcher lives and how I can kidnap him and make him read tts).
[X] PlanckConstant
[X] DO NOT Attempt to ribbon the witch after beating it up
Under normal circumstances I'd be cautious of ribbonning a witch, and with demons around and what seems like a weird labyrinth there are too many variables for us to make this kind of experiment safely.
Dies irae, dies illa. Solvet saeclum in favilla. Teste David cum sybilla.
- Location
- Oooooooh emotional roller coaster
(This vote didn't quite go how I expected it to, and the update didn't go how I expected at all. I blame Clarisse.)
[4] (no particular need to fetch Nanami)
[2] fetch Nanami, for time stop abuse / alpha-strike tactics
[7] Fight the demons first
[1] Let the two sides wear each other down
Ryouko's enthusiasm for combat has evaporated.
The first reason for the lack of enthusiasm is the witch. It's different when you think of it as a person. It's just… sad.
She looks like a beetle of some sort, with six legs, but wearing medieval style chain mail along its back, and a vaguely humanoid armless torso wearing plate armor and a helmet, situated in between giant pincers. Through the slots in the helmet shines a firey red glow, which worsens as the demons apply their laser attacks. It seems that they're not doing much to penetrate the armor, but the heat is getting to it, and the creature moans, perhaps in pain.
The other reason for this is the time-stop. It just makes things too easy. It's more of a chore than a challenge.
The one small hangup is that Ryouko can't seem to do the trick where she teleports a thin strip of the ground to connect her the demons. The time-frozen ground will have no part of it. Instead, she relies on her arbalest, firing a shot with an attached string then teleporting away with half of the demon as its time starts up again.
Ryouko is explaining demon fighting to Kyouko in broad strokes, but aside from pointing out weak spots, a lot of it just doesn't apply really in a time-stop, or in a labyrinth, like the part where they will gladly fade through solid walls in the miasma. Or the part where you should really fight with a group and watch your back, because sometimes the whole miasma can shift like the wind so that there are demons behind you where it was just safe.
"You definitely want to go after these guys in a group if you can," she says.
"Izzat why you're in a military?" asks Kyouko.
"Oh, no," says Ryouko, shaking her head. "Demon hunting is, um, more of an occasional ceremonial duty."
Kyouko looks at her funny as she pauses to aim at a demon, fires, and slices it neatly in half.
"Don't mention this to Kyuubey, incidentally" you add in.
"Right," she says.
Ryouko looks back to where Homura is holding back nervously.
"Say, Homura," she says, "I have a question for you."
"… yes?" she asks.
"If time is stopped," she asks, "how are we breathing? Shouldn't the air be stopped too?"
Homura looks at her, puzzled.
"And if we're moving around," she continues, "why isn't there a big gust of wind when you let it go, from us moving faster than sound?"
"I … I don't know!" says Homura. "It's magic."
"Forget breathing," you say. "We really shouldn't even be able to see without a fresh supply of photons. Having ambient light while time is stopped is unrealistic." You ponder. "We could probably just treat it as being in a magical simulation that just happens to affect the universe outside."
Kyouko, a little bored, decides to take on the next demon. "Yaah!" she cries out, slicing into it with her spear, a great gash ripping off its head and one of its arms.
"Another big slice through the center of mass," you tell her. "It can still use the other hand to fire a laser beam."
"Hmmph. Is this better?" she asks, applying the requested violence.
It doesn't really look like she's too satisfied with the combat either.
[1] Do not let demons run amok in the city, hold on to grief cubes
You retreat to a sheltered corner and have Homura drop the time-stop, to make sure none of the demons are still active and to let the grief cubes condense. The miasma lingers a moment, fading.
The four of you collect fourteen grief cubes.
Of these, just two are saturated in excess of normal capacity. The others are completely empty.
"Well." you say, as Ryouko counts them again a few more times, just to make sure.
"Fourteen?" asks Homura. "That's more than …" she trails off.
"More than what?" asks Kyouko.
"That's more than she had," says Homura. "And I know I used more than two… so…"
"Okay. First, everyone use the empty ones right now," you say. "They're pretty much like grief seeds, just, smaller. Secondly, and most importantly, do not. Tell Kyuubey. Anything."
Homura looks a little surprised at this remark, and looks at you, so you explain to her.
"I am not sure what he is up to exactly, but he is very interested in these things, and he is not being forthcoming about his true intentions."
She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, then nods. "I understand. He's… he doesn't really care a lot when magical girls die, does he? It's just something that happens, to him." She opens her eyes again, and blinks a few times, smiling like she's just found a way to chase off some very sad thoughts.
"Are you all right?" you ask.
"Yeah," she says, a determined look in her face. "Let's do this."
Topping off everyone present leaves nine empty cubes.
[5] Proceed to fight witch after fighting demons
[4] Leave Kyouko to take the lead
[2] (+3 -1) Attempt to ribbon the witch
Ryouko regards the witch.
"You know better," she says to Kyouko. "What's our approach?"
"Let's just … keep it dignified," replies Kyouko. "As best we can. Do that slicey thing."
Ryouko nods, solemnly.
With two teleports, Ryouko slices off the witch's torso, then cleanly cuts the body of the beetle part in half longitudinally. Kyouko then strikes the torso through with the point of her spear.
The scream is at least mercifully short.
"Yowch," adds Kyouko, banishing the weapon and shaking her hands through the air. "That's really hot."
"Should we back away before ending time-stop, then?" you ask, quietly. "Just to be safe?"
"Give me a moment," says Kyouko.
She turns towards the witch, and, re-summoning the spear as a support, kneels down on her right knee. She bows her head, and recites a short prayer.
"May the souls of the departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace."
"Amen," says Homura, solemnly.
Kyouko looks behind her, surprised.
"Woo-hoo!!!" says Nanami, as the labyrinth dematerializes around you. "That was stupidly fast. Like, I know, time stop, but still. Wow."
Kyouko shoots her a dirty look, and she's a little taken aback.
"Whoa, wait, did something happen?" she asks. "You guys okay? You got the witch, right?"
"We're all fine," says Ryouko. "I think we just have… a different perspective than this morning, and … actually maybe it's something we should talk about later."
"Well, fine," says Nanami. "Smoke?"
"No, thank you," says Ryouko, distractedly, a little loop of events still playing in her head.
"Kyouko-senpai?" she asks.
Kyouko is a little distracted, catching the falling grief seed, and isn't quite sure what to make of this offer.
"No thanks," she says after a few seconds' pause, "I don't smoke."
"Probably for the best," said Nanami. "Oh, and besides, we should get out of here anyway before they find us. Then finish that electronic sweep."
"Yeah," says Kyouko, "we — electronic sweep? … Never mind, tell me later."
Ryouko nods. "I think we could all use a moment."
"We can debrief later, then," you say. You need to get everyone information on demons, but you're not sure exactly what to tell everyone, and what sort of future-secrets to keep from them (and possibly Kyuubey, if he starts asking).
[1] Do not let demons run amok in the city, hold on to grief cubes
Ryouko keeps the cubes, leaving Kyouko with the grief seed. She also manages to give an extra one to Nanami, who initially refuses, but Ryouko insists that it's important for tactical flexibility that she have access to a reserve.
We still need to figure out what to tell Kyuubey, she notes. Any good ideas?
Still thinking on it, you tell her. For now, use the cubes before the seeds. And keep those overcharged ones in separate pockets, mixed in with the empty ones, so they don't pick up stray grief and re-spawn.
She distributes them accordingly.
The team splits back up to go back to their routes, and Kyouko walks along quietly for a while, ruminating. Then, finally, she speaks up.
"Is Akemi a Christian, then?" she asks.
"I'm not sure," you say. "I understand she was in a Catholic school in Tokyo, but I'm not sure whether she's one herself."
"Catholic," she replies. "Huh."
She walks on a little distance before continuing.
"It's funny," she says. "My dad was always annoyed by Catholics. As a group, anyway," she adds. "And it's weird, because, like, if you look at the traditions, they're not really all that different. But maybe that's part of it. When you're too close, the little differences are a big deal, and there's so many of them."
You're not sure exactly what to say, so you just nod, and listen.
"My dad had a church," she explains.
"I know," you say, softly, "we've... actually heard the story of what happened, and, um, how."
"Oh," she says.
You wait a moment for her to ask about how you'd heard, but she doesn't.
"If you'd like to talk about…" you begin.
"I was cantor, sometimes, at some of the services," she says, interrupting. "Did a number of funerals. We didn't mind sharing music with the Catholics. Honestly, they might have been the most ritually Christian sort of thing we did. Even after Dad broke away and we weren't doing much anymore, death got an exception." She considers. "Hell, I even did the Dies Irae once."
"The day of wrath?" asks Ryouko, puzzled.
Kyouko sings a stanza. "Dies irae, dies illa. Solvet saeclum in favilla. Teste David cum sybilla." Her voice is clear and pure, and haunting in the empty darkness around you.
"The Sibyl," notes Ryouko, "from… ancient Greece?" She's trying to piece it together. "It's a little… darker than I'm used to." She politely refrains from using the word creepy.
It is definitely creepy; it's also… strangely beautiful. Which isn't a sort of thing you ever expected to think, really.
"Yeah, I don't think we'd use it if anyone really understood what all the words mean," she says. "Even the Catholics don't do that one anymore, I checked. Musically, though, it's… pretty powerful," she says, trailing off, perhaps affected by the power herself.
"It's quite different than what we're used to," you say, deciding against detailing specifics, especially the mime fad.
"I didn't go to their funeral," says Kyouko, suddenly. "My mother, and my sister. I'm not even sure that there was a funeral, or a grave, or how much …" She hesitates, then continues quietly. "How much there was left to bury."
"Did you go back to the church?" you ask.
"… no," she says, "people were looking for me, and I just … ran off."
"Should we go now?" asks Ryouko.
"… huh?" asks Kyouko.
"It's only about six kilometers, right?" she asks.
The tall, heavy wooden door falls inward, with a resounding boom, which shakes everything. You flinch, not quite prepared for that.
The cavernous interior is pitch black, unlit.
"Tch," says Kyouko. "I'm underdressed for church." She takes a moment to transform, though she declines to retain her spear.
"Do we need to, uh, genuflect or anything?" you ask. "I'm not familiar with the protocols…"
"No," says Kyouko. "Like, if we were doing a service and had sacramental holy things up front, you'd genuflect, but, you don't kneel for a building."
"Uhm," says Ryouko, "we could also wait for you out here, if you'd prefer —"
"Suit yourself," says Kyouko, suddenly taking you by the hand to lead you inside. You find yourself following her into the sanctuary.
Ryouko lingers at the door. Somehow, she's scared.
… What is there possibly to be scared of? you ask her, more in confusion than judgement.
I don't know! … People died here, what if it's haunted?
You eviscerate demons, you remind her. I'm pretty sure they outrank ghosts in most hierarchies. And you're hardly superstitious…
This is different, she insists. We're in the past. It's an old church with ancient rites. It's an entirely different context.
Okay, you tell her, and decline to prosecute the matter further.
You're nervous yourself, though, stepping away from her like this.
It's just a few tens of meters, you tell yourself.
Kyouko lets go of your arm as she reaches the frontmost pew, stops, genuflects, and makes the sign of the Cross.
"Force of habit," she explains, sliding into the pew.
You sit down beside her, and she slides forward onto the kneeler.
It's a strange ritual, and alien to your sensibilities, but you find yourself reflecting just the same, and maybe part of the point.
What of the goddess of hope, then? Is this part of her plan, or was she caught off her guard by something, somehow? How do you catch a timeless goddess off her guard, you wonder? It doesn't seem like the sort of thing that ought to be possible, if she can see the future?
But then, how did you catch Oriko off guard, if she can see the future too?
Your train of thought is interrupted as you hear a small noise, and realize Kyouko is crying — or, she's been crying, but she's making small crying noises now.
You lean forward tentatively to see if she's all right, worried about her soul gem.
"Kyouko," you whisper in the smallest of whispers, "are you…"
A moment later, she's holding onto your hand for comfort. A few minutes more and she's sobbing on your shoulder. Eventually she's just lying down on the pew with her head sideways in your lap.
"Thank you," she says quietly, still sideways.
"I'm glad that I could help," you tell her, squeezing her hand.
She sits up, and rubs her eyes gently, most of the tears already evaporated.
"Say," she says. "Where's your officer gotten off to, batman? Did she get bored?"
Ryouko has in fact left the front steps of the sanctuary, to scare off a few kids from the neighborhood. They seem to regard the property as haunted as well, and were egging each other on to investigate. Right now, it's possible they think she's a ghost or a witch, which is a little ironic, and you explain as much to Kyouko.
"Ah," she says. "I dunno. I can't find this place scary. It's part of my home. Not the first time I've been here crying in the dark, not by a long shot." She pauses. "Prettier with light, though."
You nod. "I'm sure it must be." Must be seems gentler than must have been, you think.
She runs her hand through her hair to de-muss it a bit, a distant look on her face.
"Okay," she says. "I'll show you."
"Hmm?" you ask. "Should we come back?"
She shakes her head, then sits, quietly concentrates, and for a few moments it seems that nothing is happening. Then you notice that it seems a little brighter, that the stained glass windows are glowing, gradually brighter, as if the sun were slowly rising outside. Except the windows were broken when you got here, especially the big ones in the front of the sanctuary, and… is that music? An organ, playing. Pie Jesu, an understated little arrangement.
Illusion magic, you think to yourself. The magic that she'd lost.
"Well, if they thought the church might be haunted before," says Ryouko, "they're certain of it now."
"Eh," says Kyouko. "I'll deal with them later, I guess."
"Should we get back to the patrol?" asks Ryouko.
"I wouldn't bother," says Kyouko. "At least not on that side of the city. It's pretty rare to find more than one witch a night, they're almost territorial. Actually, I probably shoulda said something, but I had a lot on my mind. Sorry."
"Oh," says Ryouko.
"Oh, and you said there was that electronic sweep, too," she says. "I mean, if you want to finish that, it's another thing."
"Right. That is important," you note. "And, we have a police interview in the morning, and we ought to plan our approach for that. Then maybe get everyone together for a debrief, afterwards, in the early afternoon?"
"That's good," says Kyouko. "That was good, but, I think I need a little time alone to figure myself out, anyway."
"See you tomorrow, then, I suppose," you say, waving.
"Count on it," she says. "And … Clarisse?" She tilts her head, looking back at you with a crooked grin.
"Yes?" You are slightly worried.
"Hell of a first date," she says.
"A first —"
Your mouth hangs open, and your face is beet red. You can see exactly how red, and Ryouko takes note of it as well.
That was a date? you ask Ryouko in confusion.
Well, you started teasing her, notes Ryouko, then you took her out to dinner, showed her some new things, and you were holding hands and smiling just a moment ago, and it was pretty cute…
I did what?
And you exchanged cell phone numbers... adds Ryouko.
It just gets worse...
You weren't kissing in there, were you? she asks.
Of course not! you exclaim, looking back on what you did do, as material for a retort, and...
Oh.
Oh, no.
No, no, it couldn't be. Please.
A shocking revelation has struck you, and you look for a way to deny it, but …
Well, there really is no use, is there? Go on. Admit it.
Oh goddess, Ryouko … I'm … I'm as hopelessly oblivious as you are!
Wait, what? she asks.
And now there are little butterflies in your stomach and you are retroactively nervous about absolutely everything and you really don't know what to do with yourself.
You and your girl are walking back in the direction of your abandoned patrol, which leaves you with just a little bit too much time to contemplate.
We should really figure out tomorrow morning, you reiterate.
Are you sure that you don't just want a distraction? asks Ryouko.
It really is important, you insist.
But it's also a distraction, notes Ryouko.
Nanami interrupts.
Hey! she sends. Got a response!
Oh, how very perfect, another very important distraction. You open the connection. The location is a little odd; it's not exactly where you'd expect to find Mami, but maybe on second thought they wouldn't deal with a middle schooler at the regular facilities…
Oh.
Oh, no.
No, no. It couldn't be.
Clarisse?! asks the sender. Praise the goddess! I don't know what's going on at all, and I don't know what happened to Mami. Help. Please.
Machina, is that you??! you reply, rhetorically, since the digital signature is valid. Of course it's her. Oh, goddess, where to begin… Okay, first of all, where are you?
It's some sort of a holding cell, she says. We're alone right now, but there are some men claiming to be police officers who have been asking a lot of questions, and we've mostly just not been answering, and Mami … Clarisse, she doesn't even know I exist, I'm just a voice in her head to her right now. What's going on??
> engage important distractions
Figure out Mami / Machina.
- [ ] Debrief Machina on everything.
- [ ] Keep quiet about a few things for the moment:
- - [ ] the goddess, Kaname Madoka
- - [ ] the fact that the goddess might not be working
- - [ ] the existence of witches
- - [ ] Mami dying earlier
- - [ ] the fact you're dating Sakura Kyouko
- - [ ] the fact that you have your own body now
- - [ ] the vague, nascent plans to re-found a MSY
- - [ ] (write in)
- [ ] Share 2011-era protocols and drivers
- [ ] Invite her into the main chat
- [ ] (write in important question)
- [ ] Break Mami out of prison now
Figure out anything at all about tomorrow morning?
- [ ] (write in)
Figure out anything at all about Kyouko?
- [ ] (write in)
Figure out anything about the grief cube / demon debrief?
- [ ] (write in)
[4] (no particular need to fetch Nanami)
[2] fetch Nanami, for time stop abuse / alpha-strike tactics
[7] Fight the demons first
[1] Let the two sides wear each other down
Ryouko's enthusiasm for combat has evaporated.
The first reason for the lack of enthusiasm is the witch. It's different when you think of it as a person. It's just… sad.
She looks like a beetle of some sort, with six legs, but wearing medieval style chain mail along its back, and a vaguely humanoid armless torso wearing plate armor and a helmet, situated in between giant pincers. Through the slots in the helmet shines a firey red glow, which worsens as the demons apply their laser attacks. It seems that they're not doing much to penetrate the armor, but the heat is getting to it, and the creature moans, perhaps in pain.
The other reason for this is the time-stop. It just makes things too easy. It's more of a chore than a challenge.
The one small hangup is that Ryouko can't seem to do the trick where she teleports a thin strip of the ground to connect her the demons. The time-frozen ground will have no part of it. Instead, she relies on her arbalest, firing a shot with an attached string then teleporting away with half of the demon as its time starts up again.
Ryouko is explaining demon fighting to Kyouko in broad strokes, but aside from pointing out weak spots, a lot of it just doesn't apply really in a time-stop, or in a labyrinth, like the part where they will gladly fade through solid walls in the miasma. Or the part where you should really fight with a group and watch your back, because sometimes the whole miasma can shift like the wind so that there are demons behind you where it was just safe.
"You definitely want to go after these guys in a group if you can," she says.
"Izzat why you're in a military?" asks Kyouko.
"Oh, no," says Ryouko, shaking her head. "Demon hunting is, um, more of an occasional ceremonial duty."
Kyouko looks at her funny as she pauses to aim at a demon, fires, and slices it neatly in half.
"Don't mention this to Kyuubey, incidentally" you add in.
"Right," she says.
Ryouko looks back to where Homura is holding back nervously.
"Say, Homura," she says, "I have a question for you."
"… yes?" she asks.
"If time is stopped," she asks, "how are we breathing? Shouldn't the air be stopped too?"
Homura looks at her, puzzled.
"And if we're moving around," she continues, "why isn't there a big gust of wind when you let it go, from us moving faster than sound?"
"I … I don't know!" says Homura. "It's magic."
"Forget breathing," you say. "We really shouldn't even be able to see without a fresh supply of photons. Having ambient light while time is stopped is unrealistic." You ponder. "We could probably just treat it as being in a magical simulation that just happens to affect the universe outside."
Kyouko, a little bored, decides to take on the next demon. "Yaah!" she cries out, slicing into it with her spear, a great gash ripping off its head and one of its arms.
"Another big slice through the center of mass," you tell her. "It can still use the other hand to fire a laser beam."
"Hmmph. Is this better?" she asks, applying the requested violence.
It doesn't really look like she's too satisfied with the combat either.
[1] Do not let demons run amok in the city, hold on to grief cubes
You retreat to a sheltered corner and have Homura drop the time-stop, to make sure none of the demons are still active and to let the grief cubes condense. The miasma lingers a moment, fading.
The four of you collect fourteen grief cubes.
Of these, just two are saturated in excess of normal capacity. The others are completely empty.
"Well." you say, as Ryouko counts them again a few more times, just to make sure.
"Fourteen?" asks Homura. "That's more than …" she trails off.
"More than what?" asks Kyouko.
"That's more than she had," says Homura. "And I know I used more than two… so…"
"Okay. First, everyone use the empty ones right now," you say. "They're pretty much like grief seeds, just, smaller. Secondly, and most importantly, do not. Tell Kyuubey. Anything."
Homura looks a little surprised at this remark, and looks at you, so you explain to her.
"I am not sure what he is up to exactly, but he is very interested in these things, and he is not being forthcoming about his true intentions."
She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, then nods. "I understand. He's… he doesn't really care a lot when magical girls die, does he? It's just something that happens, to him." She opens her eyes again, and blinks a few times, smiling like she's just found a way to chase off some very sad thoughts.
"Are you all right?" you ask.
"Yeah," she says, a determined look in her face. "Let's do this."
Topping off everyone present leaves nine empty cubes.
[5] Proceed to fight witch after fighting demons
[4] Leave Kyouko to take the lead
[2] (+3 -1) Attempt to ribbon the witch
Ryouko regards the witch.
"You know better," she says to Kyouko. "What's our approach?"
"Let's just … keep it dignified," replies Kyouko. "As best we can. Do that slicey thing."
Ryouko nods, solemnly.
With two teleports, Ryouko slices off the witch's torso, then cleanly cuts the body of the beetle part in half longitudinally. Kyouko then strikes the torso through with the point of her spear.
The scream is at least mercifully short.
"Yowch," adds Kyouko, banishing the weapon and shaking her hands through the air. "That's really hot."
"Should we back away before ending time-stop, then?" you ask, quietly. "Just to be safe?"
"Give me a moment," says Kyouko.
She turns towards the witch, and, re-summoning the spear as a support, kneels down on her right knee. She bows her head, and recites a short prayer.
"May the souls of the departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace."
"Amen," says Homura, solemnly.
Kyouko looks behind her, surprised.
"Woo-hoo!!!" says Nanami, as the labyrinth dematerializes around you. "That was stupidly fast. Like, I know, time stop, but still. Wow."
Kyouko shoots her a dirty look, and she's a little taken aback.
"Whoa, wait, did something happen?" she asks. "You guys okay? You got the witch, right?"
"We're all fine," says Ryouko. "I think we just have… a different perspective than this morning, and … actually maybe it's something we should talk about later."
"Well, fine," says Nanami. "Smoke?"
"No, thank you," says Ryouko, distractedly, a little loop of events still playing in her head.
"Kyouko-senpai?" she asks.
Kyouko is a little distracted, catching the falling grief seed, and isn't quite sure what to make of this offer.
"No thanks," she says after a few seconds' pause, "I don't smoke."
"Probably for the best," said Nanami. "Oh, and besides, we should get out of here anyway before they find us. Then finish that electronic sweep."
"Yeah," says Kyouko, "we — electronic sweep? … Never mind, tell me later."
Ryouko nods. "I think we could all use a moment."
"We can debrief later, then," you say. You need to get everyone information on demons, but you're not sure exactly what to tell everyone, and what sort of future-secrets to keep from them (and possibly Kyuubey, if he starts asking).
[1] Do not let demons run amok in the city, hold on to grief cubes
Ryouko keeps the cubes, leaving Kyouko with the grief seed. She also manages to give an extra one to Nanami, who initially refuses, but Ryouko insists that it's important for tactical flexibility that she have access to a reserve.
We still need to figure out what to tell Kyuubey, she notes. Any good ideas?
Still thinking on it, you tell her. For now, use the cubes before the seeds. And keep those overcharged ones in separate pockets, mixed in with the empty ones, so they don't pick up stray grief and re-spawn.
She distributes them accordingly.
The team splits back up to go back to their routes, and Kyouko walks along quietly for a while, ruminating. Then, finally, she speaks up.
"Is Akemi a Christian, then?" she asks.
"I'm not sure," you say. "I understand she was in a Catholic school in Tokyo, but I'm not sure whether she's one herself."
"Catholic," she replies. "Huh."
She walks on a little distance before continuing.
"It's funny," she says. "My dad was always annoyed by Catholics. As a group, anyway," she adds. "And it's weird, because, like, if you look at the traditions, they're not really all that different. But maybe that's part of it. When you're too close, the little differences are a big deal, and there's so many of them."
You're not sure exactly what to say, so you just nod, and listen.
"My dad had a church," she explains.
"I know," you say, softly, "we've... actually heard the story of what happened, and, um, how."
"Oh," she says.
You wait a moment for her to ask about how you'd heard, but she doesn't.
"If you'd like to talk about…" you begin.
"I was cantor, sometimes, at some of the services," she says, interrupting. "Did a number of funerals. We didn't mind sharing music with the Catholics. Honestly, they might have been the most ritually Christian sort of thing we did. Even after Dad broke away and we weren't doing much anymore, death got an exception." She considers. "Hell, I even did the Dies Irae once."
"The day of wrath?" asks Ryouko, puzzled.
Kyouko sings a stanza. "Dies irae, dies illa. Solvet saeclum in favilla. Teste David cum sybilla." Her voice is clear and pure, and haunting in the empty darkness around you.
"The Sibyl," notes Ryouko, "from… ancient Greece?" She's trying to piece it together. "It's a little… darker than I'm used to." She politely refrains from using the word creepy.
It is definitely creepy; it's also… strangely beautiful. Which isn't a sort of thing you ever expected to think, really.
"Yeah, I don't think we'd use it if anyone really understood what all the words mean," she says. "Even the Catholics don't do that one anymore, I checked. Musically, though, it's… pretty powerful," she says, trailing off, perhaps affected by the power herself.
"It's quite different than what we're used to," you say, deciding against detailing specifics, especially the mime fad.
"I didn't go to their funeral," says Kyouko, suddenly. "My mother, and my sister. I'm not even sure that there was a funeral, or a grave, or how much …" She hesitates, then continues quietly. "How much there was left to bury."
"Did you go back to the church?" you ask.
"… no," she says, "people were looking for me, and I just … ran off."
"Should we go now?" asks Ryouko.
"… huh?" asks Kyouko.
"It's only about six kilometers, right?" she asks.
The tall, heavy wooden door falls inward, with a resounding boom, which shakes everything. You flinch, not quite prepared for that.
The cavernous interior is pitch black, unlit.
"Tch," says Kyouko. "I'm underdressed for church." She takes a moment to transform, though she declines to retain her spear.
"Do we need to, uh, genuflect or anything?" you ask. "I'm not familiar with the protocols…"
"No," says Kyouko. "Like, if we were doing a service and had sacramental holy things up front, you'd genuflect, but, you don't kneel for a building."
"Uhm," says Ryouko, "we could also wait for you out here, if you'd prefer —"
"Suit yourself," says Kyouko, suddenly taking you by the hand to lead you inside. You find yourself following her into the sanctuary.
Ryouko lingers at the door. Somehow, she's scared.
… What is there possibly to be scared of? you ask her, more in confusion than judgement.
I don't know! … People died here, what if it's haunted?
You eviscerate demons, you remind her. I'm pretty sure they outrank ghosts in most hierarchies. And you're hardly superstitious…
This is different, she insists. We're in the past. It's an old church with ancient rites. It's an entirely different context.
Okay, you tell her, and decline to prosecute the matter further.
You're nervous yourself, though, stepping away from her like this.
It's just a few tens of meters, you tell yourself.
Kyouko lets go of your arm as she reaches the frontmost pew, stops, genuflects, and makes the sign of the Cross.
"Force of habit," she explains, sliding into the pew.
You sit down beside her, and she slides forward onto the kneeler.
It's a strange ritual, and alien to your sensibilities, but you find yourself reflecting just the same, and maybe part of the point.
What of the goddess of hope, then? Is this part of her plan, or was she caught off her guard by something, somehow? How do you catch a timeless goddess off her guard, you wonder? It doesn't seem like the sort of thing that ought to be possible, if she can see the future?
But then, how did you catch Oriko off guard, if she can see the future too?
Your train of thought is interrupted as you hear a small noise, and realize Kyouko is crying — or, she's been crying, but she's making small crying noises now.
You lean forward tentatively to see if she's all right, worried about her soul gem.
"Kyouko," you whisper in the smallest of whispers, "are you…"
A moment later, she's holding onto your hand for comfort. A few minutes more and she's sobbing on your shoulder. Eventually she's just lying down on the pew with her head sideways in your lap.
"Thank you," she says quietly, still sideways.
"I'm glad that I could help," you tell her, squeezing her hand.
She sits up, and rubs her eyes gently, most of the tears already evaporated.
"Say," she says. "Where's your officer gotten off to, batman? Did she get bored?"
Ryouko has in fact left the front steps of the sanctuary, to scare off a few kids from the neighborhood. They seem to regard the property as haunted as well, and were egging each other on to investigate. Right now, it's possible they think she's a ghost or a witch, which is a little ironic, and you explain as much to Kyouko.
"Ah," she says. "I dunno. I can't find this place scary. It's part of my home. Not the first time I've been here crying in the dark, not by a long shot." She pauses. "Prettier with light, though."
You nod. "I'm sure it must be." Must be seems gentler than must have been, you think.
She runs her hand through her hair to de-muss it a bit, a distant look on her face.
"Okay," she says. "I'll show you."
"Hmm?" you ask. "Should we come back?"
She shakes her head, then sits, quietly concentrates, and for a few moments it seems that nothing is happening. Then you notice that it seems a little brighter, that the stained glass windows are glowing, gradually brighter, as if the sun were slowly rising outside. Except the windows were broken when you got here, especially the big ones in the front of the sanctuary, and… is that music? An organ, playing. Pie Jesu, an understated little arrangement.
Illusion magic, you think to yourself. The magic that she'd lost.
"Well, if they thought the church might be haunted before," says Ryouko, "they're certain of it now."
"Eh," says Kyouko. "I'll deal with them later, I guess."
"Should we get back to the patrol?" asks Ryouko.
"I wouldn't bother," says Kyouko. "At least not on that side of the city. It's pretty rare to find more than one witch a night, they're almost territorial. Actually, I probably shoulda said something, but I had a lot on my mind. Sorry."
"Oh," says Ryouko.
"Oh, and you said there was that electronic sweep, too," she says. "I mean, if you want to finish that, it's another thing."
"Right. That is important," you note. "And, we have a police interview in the morning, and we ought to plan our approach for that. Then maybe get everyone together for a debrief, afterwards, in the early afternoon?"
"That's good," says Kyouko. "That was good, but, I think I need a little time alone to figure myself out, anyway."
"See you tomorrow, then, I suppose," you say, waving.
"Count on it," she says. "And … Clarisse?" She tilts her head, looking back at you with a crooked grin.
"Yes?" You are slightly worried.
"Hell of a first date," she says.
"A first —"
Your mouth hangs open, and your face is beet red. You can see exactly how red, and Ryouko takes note of it as well.
That was a date? you ask Ryouko in confusion.
Well, you started teasing her, notes Ryouko, then you took her out to dinner, showed her some new things, and you were holding hands and smiling just a moment ago, and it was pretty cute…
I did what?
And you exchanged cell phone numbers... adds Ryouko.
It just gets worse...
You weren't kissing in there, were you? she asks.
Of course not! you exclaim, looking back on what you did do, as material for a retort, and...
Oh.
Oh, no.
No, no, it couldn't be. Please.
A shocking revelation has struck you, and you look for a way to deny it, but …
Well, there really is no use, is there? Go on. Admit it.
Oh goddess, Ryouko … I'm … I'm as hopelessly oblivious as you are!
Wait, what? she asks.
And now there are little butterflies in your stomach and you are retroactively nervous about absolutely everything and you really don't know what to do with yourself.
You and your girl are walking back in the direction of your abandoned patrol, which leaves you with just a little bit too much time to contemplate.
We should really figure out tomorrow morning, you reiterate.
Are you sure that you don't just want a distraction? asks Ryouko.
It really is important, you insist.
But it's also a distraction, notes Ryouko.
Nanami interrupts.
Hey! she sends. Got a response!
Oh, how very perfect, another very important distraction. You open the connection. The location is a little odd; it's not exactly where you'd expect to find Mami, but maybe on second thought they wouldn't deal with a middle schooler at the regular facilities…
Oh.
Oh, no.
No, no. It couldn't be.
Clarisse?! asks the sender. Praise the goddess! I don't know what's going on at all, and I don't know what happened to Mami. Help. Please.
Machina, is that you??! you reply, rhetorically, since the digital signature is valid. Of course it's her. Oh, goddess, where to begin… Okay, first of all, where are you?
It's some sort of a holding cell, she says. We're alone right now, but there are some men claiming to be police officers who have been asking a lot of questions, and we've mostly just not been answering, and Mami … Clarisse, she doesn't even know I exist, I'm just a voice in her head to her right now. What's going on??
> engage important distractions
Figure out Mami / Machina.
- [ ] Debrief Machina on everything.
- [ ] Keep quiet about a few things for the moment:
- - [ ] the goddess, Kaname Madoka
- - [ ] the fact that the goddess might not be working
- - [ ] the existence of witches
- - [ ] Mami dying earlier
- - [ ] the fact you're dating Sakura Kyouko
- - [ ] the fact that you have your own body now
- - [ ] the vague, nascent plans to re-found a MSY
- - [ ] (write in)
- [ ] Share 2011-era protocols and drivers
- [ ] Invite her into the main chat
- [ ] (write in important question)
- [ ] Break Mami out of prison now
Figure out anything at all about tomorrow morning?
- [ ] (write in)
Figure out anything at all about Kyouko?
- [ ] (write in)
Figure out anything about the grief cube / demon debrief?
- [ ] (write in)
Last edited:
DarkLight140
Credit to Team
- Location
- Lost in my thoughts
And they claim the future cured all those terrible genetic deficiencies. Ha!
- Location
- Central Standard Time
Whiskey.
- Location
- Oooooooh emotional roller coaster
Ahem:
— Chapter 31: Aspects of LoveShizuki Ryouko said:
- Location
- Can't read map
Well you made Claisse all confused by actually having body and appropriate sensations, separation from Ryouko.
Then there is potentially going insane in way of split personality disorder. Dozens of voices arguing what to do until consensus of some kind is achieved....
Probably nothing to worry about.... but she is not at her best at moment.
Especially ironic as Clarrise was pointing in cannon those interested into Ryouko, gave some advices. Shipped her with Asami like when reading together those messages from peoples matriaches wish to set her up?
Meanwhile Ryouko was blind.
But now Clarisse doesn't see when herself is target in this quest...
Probably nothing impor... wait a sec...
nah, don't care that much for weirdness anymore, so instead ask how no earlier contact. *shrugs*