[X] Don't start any conversations, but participate if someone talks to you.
-[X] If Nanoha, explain as much as you can how you view the present situation and why; including how things are done in Gensokyou as you understand it, if need be. She gets that much of a privilege.
-[X] If Hayate, ignore her for now; you've made your case. If she apologizes, well, it wouldn't be proper if you don't take an apology gracefully, right?
-[X] If anybody else, roll with it as you deem fit.
[X] Go to your room and wait for someone to come get you.
-[X] Do tell someone that you hope that someone comes soon.
--[X] If someone can't promise someone comes soon, go back to your normal routine.
You sit on the seat nearest the door, opposite Hayate, Fate, and Vita, and Nanoha sits down next to you after you curl your wings in front of you. You close your eyes and sink into the seat as the helicopter rises and turns to the south. For a minute, you even think the entire trip will be in silence. Then you hear a gentle cough and feel people watching you.
"Flandre?" You open one eye and direct it at Fate. "Why did you kill those people, the ones resisting the ground forces?" You close your eye and release your breath. After a moment, you lean back and look at her.
"... What am I, do you remember? And how strong do you think I am?"
"You're a vampire, of course," she says neutrally, then frowns in concentration. "As for your mage rank ...." You shake your head.
"Uh-uh. Physical strength." She doesn't look like she gets it, and you sigh. "Okay, so I'm a vampire, and that means I drink blood. It also means that going out in sunlight is bothersome. I get energy from blood, so simply being outside during daylight - unless I'm sheltered from the sun - means I need to take in more blood. Fighting, and danmaku, and my powers, they all take energy, too. So does actually exerting myself - I asked how strong you think I am because I'm capable of ripping out one of those street lamps and using it as a club with raw physical strength alone." Fate blanches at that, and you see Vita gripping her hammer - you only just notice that she never dropped her Barrier Jacket. "Of course, things like size matter, so it isn't easy ... unless I use more energy. Which comes back to blood. I drink ..." you tilt your head to the side, "... about a teacup of blood a day. Diluted with tea, of course, and it isn't fresh, either. But that's enough to be comfortable, for a while. But if I want to cut loose? If I want to smash apart buildings, throw cars around, and shrug off powerful Sparks from mages? During the day? Then I need more blood, and - if possible - fresh blood.
"And it helps with healing, too, having fresh blood. Everything's easier, I'm more focused and alert .... And besides, they shot me first, so it was self-defense!" You sigh again. "And, of course, I was really upset. I don't get to do much, there's no one I can play with. I like to feel good about myself, too, and the best way I know is to do something I'm really good at." Fate looks away from you as you smile at her. You sink back into your seat and close your eyes, and the rest of the trip passes in silence.
You nod to them and wave as you hop out of the helicopter and hurry inside. You pause at the door, wondering if any of them will want to talk more, but the helicopter lifts off and heads away. You shrug and let the door swing closed. You stroll past the offices, past the meeting room, and - there! You float into the air and drift behind one of the soldiers, coughing lightly when you're right behind him. He jumps, startled, and tries to back away after he turns and sees you. However, the wall is right behind him, and you jab your wings forward, punching the tips into the wall, and he's trapped. You smile sweetly.
"Hello~ I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to be in my room for a while, but I'm getting bored, and I want something to do. Soon. Really soon, I want something, do you understand?" You give off just enough power to be visible, and he pales and starts shaking.
"Yes-yes-yes! Yes! S-soon! You'll get it soon!" You blink, then narrow your eyes. You'll be getting something?
"Really? You're not just saying this to make me leave, are you?" He shakes his head desperately, and you stare at him for a moment, then cut off the power and pat his head. "Yay! I'll be waiting~" You pull your wings back and drop to the floor, then run off toward your room. You'll be getting something! You wonder what it is ....
On the one hand, you think you need to discuss with certain people just what you mean by "soon" .... but on the other, Juliet thinks she finally got your Device working! You look over at Tarbin as she sits down in the waiting area. You don't know why her being off-duty meant you didn't have tea with her yesterday, but she's certainly been more polite since she came to get you. You hover at the reception desk, keeping yourself high enough that you can see the screens on the wall, even though you can't tell what's being said.
"Meister Sabiu will see you now," the receptionist says, and you focus on her. She smiles and holds out a card, and you gently take it from her. "Have a good day," she says, and then you drop to the ground and dash through the building to Juliet's office. She shakes her head at you as you quiver in anticipation.
"I told them ...." She sighs. "Good morning, Flan. How are you doing today?"
"I'm - I'm excited!" You wiggle anxiously, and she sighs again.
"I can see that. Now, Flan, I told them to make sure you understood, but I'm not certain that this will work," she begins, and you freeze. "I do believe I've identified the problem, and I've stripped out all those extra things they wanted, like the limiters, so all it's good for right now is a Barrier Jacket ... well, Knight Armor, I suppose." You blink rapidly, then tilt your head in confusion. She continues as she leads you into the next room. "You see, originally it had been planned to build you a Storage Device - they need less maintenance, they're not very good AIs, and all that. They use the Mid-Childan magic system, which calls its protective gear a 'Barrier Jacket.' Well, that was causing problems - sit down, please - so I decided to do something different. This one is a high-quality, stripped-down Armed Device, which uses the Belkan magic system, and its protective gear is called 'Knight Armor.' Armed Devices tend to be a bit more rugged than their Mid counterparts, so I'm hoping it can survive your power fluctuations." You nod quietly.
She finishes preparing for the activation, then hands you a simple metal wristband with a flat red gem inset. "_____," you whisper to it, then slip it on. You take a deep breath ... then another, and another, and then push power through the Device. "Set up," you say as you feel the connections being made, and then whirling light surrounds you, mostly red. Then you're standing not in the brown uniform you arrived in, but a replica of your clothes, from the shoes to the hat. You squeal quietly and fidget as Juliet watches ... and then a minute passes. And a second, and you squeal again and hug Juliet.
"Alright, alright ... okay, Flan, now I need you to take it off." You jerk in surprise. "I want to make sure it's still fine after you remove it, then we'll go down to the testing chamber and see if it works properly, then you can take it with you if it's fine. Since it hasn't exploded yet, I think it will be, but I'd like to check all the same." You nod -"And bring down the Device properly, don't just cut off its supply," - and dispel the armor. You were definitely going to do that properly even if she hadn't reminded you ... probably. Maybe. You hand the Device over to her and spend the next ten minutes waiting as she studies it. Then she hands it back to you. "Alright, to the testing chamber," she says triumphantly, and you clap your hands joyfully. You activate the Device again and follow her to the chamber.
Once you get there, you spend another ten minutes floating in the target area as Juliet tests the Device's protective capabilities. You talk to her during the test, so you know what your new toy is capable of - it turns out that anything below an attack that is "Rank B+ in power or higher, unless it has particularly penetrative capabilities" is simply shrugged aside by the armor and its associated barriers. Repeated C-rank hits in quick succession do punch through very easily, though, so she warns you to not be overconfident. You giggle at that. After the test, though, a thought strikes you.
"Hey, Juliet?" She grunts in response as she studies your Device. "I was wondering ... there's something I wanted to try a while ago, but that didn't work out, so maybe I could try it here?" She pauses and looks over at you, and you put your hands behind your back and sway from side to side. "You see ...." You quickly explain the basics of spell cards to her. "It only lasts for a minute, but I want to see if I made it right, and that means I need something to hit me hard enough to be noticeable, so ...."
"Let me see it - the card itself, I mean," she says, and you pull out a 'Maze of Love' card and hand it to her. She studies it, makes some notes, and holds it against part of her desk for a moment, then hands it back to you. "One minute, you said? Then I'll hit you with one attack at the twenty-second mark." You take the card back and head out into the testing area.
You fly up into the center of the room and hold the card out in front of you, then you pour power through it. "Spell Card ... Set," you say quietly, and then the power loops back, and the Maze of Love bursts out. You hover there, bullets flying out in a twisting, curling spiral all around you, glittering colors splashing against the walls. Then Juliet launches her attack - and the orb she fired splashes harmlessly against you. You grin as the spell card continues to its natural end, and you grin at her as you bounce back into the room. She sighs and shakes her head. You flop onto a row of chairs and wiggle back and forth, and she chuckles at your antics.
"That was very pretty, Flan," she says, and you beam at her. "And also ..." she holds out your Device, "... just fine! Don't overuse it, though - and if you have any problems, set up an appointment to have it seen, okay?" You throw yourself at her, hugging her tightly, and take your Device.
"Thank you, Juliet!" You run back to Tarbin and show her your new Device.
"Finally got it, huh? Ready to go back?" You nod eagerly, and she leads the way back to the car. The ride back is uneventful, though you start yawning halfway there, and when you finally do get to your room, you decide to take a short nap ....
You wake up as someone raps on your door and slips a letter under it. "Sleep well?" You mentally snort at Headless - you're allowed to sleep for a day if you want! You hurry forward and grab the letter, opening it onto the desk by the door. There's a map of the city, with two locations marked, one of which you recognize as this building; a letter that you can't read; and what seems to be a ticket of some kind. Hmm ....
What do you do?
[ ] Follow the map to the other marked location.
- How? (Fly, run, hijack a car ...)
[ ] Ignore it.
- What do you do instead?
[ ] Show it to Balfour so he knows where you're going, then follow the map.
[ ] Other?
What do you name the Device?
[ ] Loki
[ ] Write-in
