Ignition (MTG/Multicross, Planeswalker!PC) [Story Only]

[Alivaril]

[x] Go back to Radiant Dawn's place and offer her a Seed in exchange for letting you sleep there and letting you see her healing ability.
[x] Only kill Kyubey bodies that approach you or directly act obnoxious (ie negate the "try very, very hard to kill them" addition now that we've vented a bit)



Fifteen minutes later, you're back at Radiant Dawn's house. The front door is unlocked, so you just head inside and randomly knock at doors in the hopes of finding her.

When you finally manage it, she yanks the door open and glares at you. You try to avoid cringing.

Spoiler: Radiant Dawn

"About time you showed- oh." she falters. "Sorry, thought you were someone else. Um. Awkwaaaard! Still, I'm glad to see you're on your feet. What d'you need?"

...Well, that was an abrupt mood shift. Then again, you probably shouldn't go pointing fingers when it comes to mood swings.

"Would you mind letting me spend the night here and see your healing ability in exchange for a grief seed?"

Radiant Dawn blinks slowly at you.

"Sure, why the hell not. The bed you were sleeping in earlier is still unoccupied, so go for it. There's some food in the fridge if you're hungry."

She practically slams the door in your face.

It takes you a couple minutes to find the kitchen, but once you do, you find a fridge full of various pre-prepped food. After scarfing down enough food to crush a small elephant, you barely manage to stumble back into Radiant Dawn's guest room and collapse into the bed.

Your sleep is blissfully free of dreams.



In the morning, Jeanne sits across from you in an over-sized living room. She twirls the grief seed you gave her as payment, but is otherwise silent. Eventually, you get tired of her staring at you and actually elect to speak without being spoken to for once.

"Radiant-"

She waves a hand airily. "Just call me Dawn. That's my real first name. The Radiant part is a bit of a private joke and to throw people off. So, you don't mind if I use all of this, right?"

You shake your head.

Dawn stands up and manifests a staff with a shining golden rose on the end of it. The petals look dangerously sharp.

"Perfect. I don't really have any patients to heal and I'm guessing you haven't figured out how to turn off pain quite yet. It won't freak you out if I damage my body for this, will it?"

You shift uncomfortably. It kinda will, but if Dawn can make herself not feel the pain anyway, maybe it won't be such a problem.

"No."

"Good. Put your hand on my waist and we can get on with it. All settled? Watch closely."

Instead of making a cut on her arm or anything else along those lines, Dawn grabs her staff with both hands and slams it into the side of her own neck. Her neck snaps with a sickening crunch moments before her body impacts the ground.

Only your knowledge of the nature of soul gems stops you from completely freaking out. You suspect that sort of reaction is what Dawn wanted when she did that. As it is, you just think it was a rather cruel prank to pull on a newbie.

The good news is that watching Dawn heal the horrific amount of damage she's done to herself is rather educational. You don't think it would be this easy to learn about most other kinds of magic, but actively scanning Dawn with her permission while she reconstructs a significant portion of her body helps a lot. You'd actually be comfortable healing yourself now instead of opting to wait until you could get to a healer.

(MG Ability Improved: Healing [Rank 1 -> 3])
​

Right before she finishes, she reaches up and twists her own neck back into place. You know she didn't have to do that; you watched her repair that section already. All that action did was snap several more bones which she then had to repair.​

Dawn blinks at you and pouts. "Your reaction is probably the single most boring out of anyone I've ever done that for. You already know about the lich thingie?"

You freeze, staring at her with wide eyes. She already knows?

"Soul gems...?"

Dawn swings her staff down and shatters a nearby chair, ignoring the splinters which fly everywhere. You manage not to flinch.

"Dammit. I wanted to break it to a newbie for once."

You stare at her for quite a while before you manage to muster even the beginnings of a response. There are so many things wrong with that statement you don't even know where to start.

"...Does Jeanne know?" you ask, feeling hollow. Well, more hollow than usual. Technically, since your soul isn't occupying your body, you are hollow.

"Duh. She's been in this business for like, I dunno, five years? Much longer than me." Dawn dismisses her staff in a flash of light. "If you're worrying about why she didn't tell you, seriously, don't. We already tried to post it on the Internet. It was taken down in less than a second. Cloudseeker tried to shatter a road to get people's attention and then shout it at the top of her lungs, but that didn't work either. If you aren't a magical girl or a potential, Kyubey can delete your memories at will. It's easy for him."

You can't help but notice Dawn's choice of words and compare them to Kyubey's evasive answers. You suspect Dawn is trying to make you angry or upset you, and quite frankly, it's working.

"I was a potential. She could've told me."

Dawn grins sadistically. "Yeah, she could've. But then you wouldn't be helping us fight witches. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of you, y'know?"

You barely manage to resist the urge to set her on fire.

"Life sucks, newbie! Welcome to hell."


[] Give in to the urge. She totally deserves it.
-[] Transform and try even harder to kill her.
-[] Overchannel Red if necessary.

[] Leave her be. Go do something else.
-[] Practice your magic.
--[] Anything in particular? (Write-in)
-[] Hunt more witches.
-[] Something else? (Write-in)

[] Continue to speak with the sadistic magical girl. She may be a jerk, but she's still more experienced than you.
-[] About what? Any questions? (Write-in)

[] Leave for another plane.

[] Write-in

 

[Alivaril]

[x] Leave for another plane.

You barely manage to continue suppressing the urge to set her on fire. Doing that wouldn't actually accomplish anything except maybe making her mad; she's already demonstrated her ability to turn off her sense of pain. You could make a full-fledged attempt to kill her, but you're not entirely comfortable with trying that. You're tempted to say some sort of witty one-liner, but you're not really happy with any of the things that immediately come to mind.

So you simply flip her off and planeswalk away.


Floating in the space between planes, you consider your options, scanning each one carefully. Eventually, you decide to go to...


[] Avatar (TLA) Spirit World

A world of Green, connected to a world of Red and White. Whenever you try to aim for the latter, you find your path blocked by the former. Annoying, but you're sure you can find a way around it if you decide to go there.

Exotic plants with strange properties dot the landscape, many of them magical in nature. Massive spirits prowl this world, but although they usually take the shape of animals, their intelligence is often equal to humans. Despite this, they seem perfectly happy to eat lesser spirits. You expect they'd be perfectly happy with eating you, too.

Many spirits use some sort of elemental magic against their foes. Most notably, fire. Humans, when they do travel to their world, appear to do so in some sort of ethereal form. You expect showing up there in a perfectly solid body would confuse the locals.


[] RWBY

A world of Black. There are large concentrations of all the other colors, but they seem so very tiny when compared to the massive Black enchantment looming over the entire plane. Black constructs spawn wherever there isn't enough positive emotion to stop them, leaving the inhabitants of the world with an unending horde of monsters to fight. Even when one is defeated, its body only dissolves, steals a small amount of power from the land, and reforms elsewhere. It's an eternal cycle and one you are helpless to stop. You might be able to keep the enchantment from affecting some areas, but it'll be a long, long time before you have the ability to destroy the entire thing.

The defenders don't use magic, instead preferring to change their souls in a manner eerily reminiscent of what Kyubey did to you. Unlike you, however, their souls don't produce grief and actually recover by themselves. More evidence toward the theory of Kyubey using magical girls as expendable cannon fodder.

Their level of technology is impressive. The humans of Remnant have managed to turn miniaturization into an art form. They use magical materials to fuel their creations, but there's nothing stopping you from using mundane materials instead.


[] Dragon Age

A world of Black and White. Trying to get a good look at this plane proves to be impossible; every time you try, you find a shimmering realm of dreams blocking your view. Within this realm, demons influence and corrupt the minds of mortals, eventually taking over their bodies entirely.

You're confident they'd have a much harder time if they tried to corrupt you. Still, many of them are incredibly strong and it's likely every last one of them would try to kill you. On the bright side, you'd gain quite a bit of combat experience if you managed to survive.


[] Girl Genius

A world of Blue and Red. Mad scientists rule over all, twisted abominations of science- sorry, SCIENCE!- walk the land, and the laws of physics are subverted on a regular basis. For the average person, it isn't a very nice place to live in. For "Sparks", it's paradise. Or at least, it's paradise right up until an angry mob breaks down their door or they try to fight someone they can't win against. Sparks seem to have a tendency to overestimate themselves.

Despite this, a brilliant king has managed to bring a massive number of Sparks under his banner. The madness of those under his rule has been redirected from building machines of war toward constructing infrastructure. In his slice of the world, the average person can walk around without fear of abruptly being abducted by a flying mechanical spider.

Unfortunately, you're not sure it will last. One of the oldest Spark families has set their sights on the Storm King's domain. Their servants are fanatically loyal, the town where they're based out of has never been successfully invaded, and they manage to make the weaponry of lesser Sparks look like mere firecrackers. Their probing raids have all been completely annihilated, but you know it's only a matter of time until they get serious.

However, when you look at what the Storm King has in store for them... You seriously doubt either side is going to win. Any war between them would pit an unstoppable force against an immovable object.


[X] Lyrical Nanoha

A plane of Red and White. There isn't a particular planet that the plane revolves around, although you can see an Earth rather similar to your own. Minus the evil bunnycat and witches, that is.

The mages of this plane use a power source different from your own, although you're pretty sure you could copy the power source of somebody else with a bit of effort. Or tear it away from them and implant it in yourself, should you be so inclined. They've managed to turn their particular brand of "magic" into a complex science.

Despite their magic being based upon complex calculations, emotion and morality rule this plane. Even the research being done is often for the sake of accomplishing a specific goal rather than knowledge for knowledge's sake.

Relics of ancient civilizations are scattered across the plane, but instead of choosing to study said artifacts, the inhabitants often just quarantine them. Certainly, they're incredibly dangerous, but that seems like a horrible waste.


[] Fairy Tail

A mana-rich world of Red and White, known to the locals as "Earthland". Looks like humans are the same everywhere. Wizards make up a full 10% of this world's population, and it shows; a massive amount of their technology runs off of magic. The locals don't quite use the same type of magic as you, but it's close enough. You'll still be able to learn it, you'll just power your spells differently than the locals do.

As for their magic, well... it's just as varied as your own. If you want to accomplish a given task, odds are you'll be able to learn something that would let you do it. Elemental magic, scanning, healing, buffs, enhancement... This plane has everything. The only things limiting what you can learn are the amount of time you decide to spend on a given topic and whether or not you can find somebody to learn it from.

There are several hundred dragons on the planet, but most of them are resting. Only a few dozen dart across the sky, searching for worthy pupils to teach. The reason why they'd need to teach humans soon becomes abundantly clear: the soul of one of the slumbering dragons is a supernova of Black. At some point in the distant past, he bathed in the blood of every dragon slain, becoming stronger with each enemy killed. He even turned on his own allies in his mad quest for power. Thankfully, he has been asleep for dozens of years. You doubt he'll wake up any time soon.

There is another world connected to Earthland, but it's rather... distorted. You can't really get a good look.


[] Velgarth (world containing Valdemar)

A mana-rich world of White. In terms of technological progress, the planet is still stuck in the middle ages. It doesn't look like that's going to change any time soon, either; this world has gods, and several of them are discreetly discouraging technological progress.

Guardian angels walk the land, constrained by ancient deals and only allowed to use a tiny fraction of their actual power. In many cases, the local gods opted for quantity over quality when making their minions, although the god of the sun did not do the same. He didn't even try to conceal the nature of the "Firecats" he dispatched to advise mortals.

Mages actively hunt for those with magical potential, eager to either teach them... or torture potentials to death in order to fuel their magic. Thankfully, the latter category seems to be much rarer and practically everybody else on the planet is determined to kill them.

You're not sure why, but lines of power are scattered across the planet, pulling mana from their surroundings and completely removing all color in the process. Mages of this world are able to pull mana from the previously mentioned lines to fuel their spells, often converting it to a different color without even realizing what they're doing.

Annoyingly enough, it doesn't look like you'll be able to connect to the lines of power themselves. You'd have to bond to the lands they cross, and doing so would greatly weaken them and likely be noticed by the locals. You're pretty sure they wouldn't be able to figure out that you were the cause, though.


(OOC: Each option is an AU version of the actual thing. Differences will exist and the time period will vary)

 

[Alivaril]

[X] Lyrical Nanoha


As you make your choice, space bends and twists around you. You aren't good enough to aim for a specific area, but that's not stopping something on the plane from pulling you toward it. It doesn't feel particularly hostile, so you let it tug you along. It's not like you aren't running entirely on instinct at this point.

After several seconds, the confusing contortions vanish, leaving you back in normal three-dimensional space.

You find yourself in a small, rocky clearing. All around you is a forest, save for right in front of you, where an old, worn-down metal door lies ever so slightly ajar. Peering inside, you find a long hallway lined with doors. After several hundred yards, it opens up into a much wider space, but you can't see that far. Yet. The colorless mana flowing from the facility reveals that it's been unoccupied for quite some time, but despite this, it appears to be in remarkably good condition.

What little you can see of the blue sky above the trees informs you that, on this world, it is mid-afternoon. Additionally, the air smells a bit off. It takes you a while to realize that this is what clear, unpolluted air is like. Hopefully, your nose and lungs will adapt soon.

Glancing down at yourself, you abruptly realize that you forgot to pack any supplies, and indeed, are still in a nightshirt. You're still decent and it might even be able to pass as a gown, but you suspect it would get quite dirty in very short order.

That still leaves the problem of food. Fortunately, breakfast was only half an hour ago, so you're not hungry yet. Maybe all your practice killing Kyubey will help you hunt whatever sort of wildlife lives around here. Or you could try your chances with the plants, or even heal the negative effects of hunger and thirst. The law of thermodynamics does not appear to have much of a hold over you.

You could explore the ruins, but you suspect something inside might have dragged you here. On one hand, that means it might be a good idea to turn around and get as far away as possible. On the other, the ancient facility of chrome looks pretty interesting.


[] Transform immediately. You are not going to go gallivanting around in pajamas.

[] Head into the ruins.
-[] Fight and/or break through any non-living obstacles.
--[] Aim to disable instead of flat-out breaking. It would probably be much harder, but it might be worth it in the long run.
-[] Run past and/or go around any obstacles.
-[] Turn back if you encounter resistance.
-[] Keep exploring no matter how dangerous it gets.
-[] If you find anything interesting, grab the object(s) in question. They could be useful later.
-[] If you find anything interesting, leave the object(s) alone. They haven't gone anywhere in at least several centuries; there might be a very good reason for that.

[] Head into the forest.
-[] Prioritize finding some kind of shelter.
-[] Prioritize getting as far away from the ruins as possible.
-[] Prioritize finding civilization.
-[] Hunt some animals while you're in there. You have absolutely no idea how to butcher anything, but you can just probably just heal yourself of any food poisoning.
-[] Try to eat the local plants. If something proves to be poisonous, you can just heal yourself.

[] Write-in

 

[Alivaril]

[X] Transform immediately. You are not going to go gallivanting around in pajamas.

[X] Attempt to sense the magical orientation of the land around you (outside the facility).

[X] Head into the ruins.
-[X] Fight and/or break through any non-living obstacles.
--[X] Aim to disable instead of flat-out breaking. It would probably be much harder, but it might be worth it in the long run.
-[X] If you find anything interesting, grab the object(s) in question. They could be useful later.
--[X] Attempt to sense for any magic on them before grabbing them. Take note of, but don't grab magically infused artifacts at the moment.



If you're going to be entering the ancient ruins of a civilization that ultimately self-destructed, you certainly aren't going to do it in pajamas. You devote all of five seconds to transforming and summoning a swordstaff before you do anything else. You start to enter the facility, pause, and step back outside, trying to determine the mana coloration of the forest outside.

The forest seems to be made up of Green, Green, and more Green. It's not particularly mana-rich, so it likely wouldn't make for a very good place to bond to. That is, unless you want to spend the next several months living in it. Considering that you'd have to spend an excessive amount of effort trying to avoid burning the whole thing down, that doesn't particularly appeal.

As you head inside, you keep a close eye on the walls, floor, and ceiling. You've played enough RPGs to know how this sort of thing is supposed to go. You're probably going to be attacked by golems, or turrets that have somehow managed to avoid having their internal wiring disintegrate after several hundred years, or some escaped experiment that survived several centuries without food, or something else equally ridiculous. Then again, the facility shows no signs of rust or decay, so maybe that sort of thing wouldn't be so strange after all. You know this plane has stasis fields.

You reach the first door without incident. Ready to jump aside at the first sign of a trapdoor opening under your feet, you shove the door open and wait for the inevitable welcoming committee. You don't have to wait long.

A high-pitched scream kills your sense of hearing moments before a catlike robot the size of a small car leaps right at you. Colorless mana infuses the entire structure. You turn on Enhance Learning, dodge out of the way, and try to stab one of the robot's legs. A killer robot panther isn't really what you'd expected, but it's definitely better than killer mechanical spiders.

Your blow manages to connect and manage to tear out a chunk of armor plating and circuitry. Almost instantly, the robot retreats further down the corridor, opens its mouth, and breathes a river of blue fire at you. This attack accomplishes absolutely nothing.

You take the opportunity to heal your damaged eardrums. Despite the fact that this action takes you the better part of a minute, the robot continues to breathe fire for the entire duration. You suspect it wasn't programmed to adapt for opponents who were immune to fire. That makes your job much easier.

It darts backward when you approach, but doesn't stop using its useless flamethrower. Since you can't really close the range, but the fire is actually really rather comfortable anyway, you simply start summoning and flinging swordstaffs at it. You take the opportunity to try making them better for throwing while you're at it.

Fourteen thrown projectiles later, you manage to hit something especially important, and the cat shuts down. You've also learned how to alter the length of your swordstaffs. They're still not really optimized for throwing, but it's an improvement.

(MG Ability Improved: Summon Swordstaff [Rank 1 -> 2])​

You walk over to the robot, carefully poke at it to make sure it's actually dead, and move on. It's too large for you to carry right now, but maybe you can come back for it later. Even if you can't figure out how to change it from an indiscriminate terminator, you might be able to turn it into an improvised flamethrower or something similar.



The rest of the facility proves to be a relative cakewalk. There are quite a few stationary turrets guarding the place, but every last one of them uses fire as a weapon. Provided, said fire is hot enough to melt the metal walls of the facility, but it's still useless against you. The pools of molten metal are actually rather comfortable.

Unfortunately, rooms you trek through tend to be destroyed by said turrets. This was likely intentional on the part of the designers, but that doesn't make it any less annoying. You're pretty sure this place was a laboratory or weapons facility, but since the defenses keep destroying all the evidence, you aren't positive.

On the bright side, you did find the power sources of the turrets while you were disabling them. Each one has a tiny red jewel charged with colorless mana; given as they don't seem particularly dangerous, you might even be able to sell them later on. Then again, the main government of this plane tends to be rather paranoid when it comes to ancient artifacts, so maybe not. You leave them alone for the moment; you're not sure what would happen if you place them close to a grief seed and you aren't keen on finding out.

(37 Inferno Turrets Disabled)
​

There are no more panther droids lying in wait for you. You've almost given up all hope of finding anything else interesting when you reach the final room: a workshop littered with broken bits of wiring and scrap metal, but a severe lack of any defensive turrets. Despite most of it being useless for you, there is one thing that attracts your attention: a gold bracelet sitting on a table in the middle of the workshop. Part of the metal has slid away from one section, revealing complex circuitry underneath.

As you approach, the bracelet flickers and begins to dimly glow, releasing uncolored mana and several sparks of electricity as it does so. Writing skitters across the surface, and although it isn't in Japanese, you can still read the words without issue. The bracelet speaks each word aloud as they appear.

[Trait Discovered: Gift of Tongues]​

"Warning: Uplink connection not found. Warning: Significant damage sustained. Repairs in progress. Warning: Self-repair system damaged. Warning: Low power. Warning: Administrator not found. Warning: User database not found. Defaulting to nearest potential user. Hello, new user. Please place this device around your wrist and state your classification. This device can be configured for Champion, Priest, Guardian, Technician, Operative, Eradicator, and Royal use."


[] Leave the magical talking bracelet alone. While you're mostly sure it's just made up of uncolored mana, you're not 100% certain. Wearing a potentially self-aware object of unknown purpose and origin does not appeal. The train of warning messages doesn't help.
-[] Go back through the facility and loot mana-batteries from the various defenses you destroyed. You may not be able to carry the other parts, but those look tiny and valuable. Even if you can't manage to sell them, they could be useful.
-[] Head back into the forest.
--[] Keep an eye out for shelter as you go.
--[] Prioritize getting as far away from the ruins as possible.
--[] Prioritize finding civilization.
--[] Hunt some animals while you're in there. You have absolutely no idea how to butcher anything, but you can just probably just heal yourself of any food poisoning.
--[] Try to eat the local plants. If something proves to be poisonous, you can just heal yourself.

[] Take the bracelet and put it on.

[] Write-in


If you do put it on, what do you say? (Please vote by priority: putting 1 through 7 in the boxes instead of Xs. Lower = you'd prefer it)

[] Champion
[] Priest
[] Guardian
[] Technician
[] Operative
[] Eradicator
[] Royal

---

Spoiler: QM's Note

No, you don't have to be familiar with the setting to know what any of those are. Which is to say, the people who are familiar with it are also going to be guessing. Don't be afraid to participate in this voting phase even if you don't know anything about MGLN.

Or you can just leave the potentially dangerous artifact alone and move on. (Yeah, like SV would ever pass up a shiny )

 

[Alivaril]

[X] Royal

It only takes you a moment to make your decision. You might not get away with it, but if you do, who knows what this device would give you? Royalty tends to have the highest level of access, right?

You put the bracelet around your wrist and brace yourself.

"Royal."

The words written on and spoken by the bracelet changes languages. Despite the switch, you can still understand it just fine.

"Confirmation required."

You concentrate on trying to answer it in the same language. Due to the alternate plane and history, you shouldn't really be able to understand it at all, right? But that's not stopping you, so maybe you can change between languages at will.

"Confirm."

It switches languages again.

"Confirmation required."

"Confirm."

And again.

"Confirmation required."

"Confirm."

Switch. "Confirmation required."

You glare at the bracelet. Just how many languages is this thing loaded up with?

"Confirmation required." It repeats in the same language.

"Confirm."

Switch. "Confirmation required."

"Confirm."

It finally goes back to the language it started with. "Confirmation accepted. Agneyastra activated, 6% power remaining. Major damage sustained, self-repair systems offline. Spell database unharmed."

Agneyastra pauses. For a few seconds, you experience the rather uncomfortable sensation of something crawling across your skin.

"User lineage not found, artificial vessel accepted. Greetings, Princess. Artificial vessel inferior, improvements recommended. Insufficient materials and power needed for improvements. Linker Core not found, acquisition recommended. There is currently no worthy Linker Core on this planet. Insufficient materials and power needed for Linker Core construction."

"41 power cells compatible with Agneyastra are within 500 meters. An indigenous settlement located 55 kilometers southwest has the facilities needed for dimensional travel. An indigenous city located 138 kilometers northwest has the facilities needed for dimensional travel. An indigenous city located 1613 kilometers west has the facilities and materials needed for repairing Agneyastra. Conquest or trade recommended. What are your orders, Princess?"

You blink. That's... a lot better than you were expecting. Less than two hours spent on this plane and you've already found something pretty useful.



[] Feed the little jewels powering the turrets to Agneyastra.
-[] Including the set inside the killer panther droid.

[] Have Agneyastra guide you to the closest settlement. If you run there while transformed, you can get there in less than an hour.
-[] Transform back before you enter the city.

[] Have Agneyastra guide you to the city located 138 kilometers away. It's a bit of a trek, but you can get there before nightfall.
-[] Transform back before you enter the city.

[] Have Agneyastra guide you to the city 1613 kilometers away.
-[] Keep an eye out for shelter as you go.
-[] Hunt some animals as you travel. You have absolutely no idea how to butcher anything, but you can just probably just heal yourself of any food poisoning.
-[] Try to eat the local plants. If something proves to be poisonous, you can just heal yourself.

[] Write-in


[] Try to get Agneyastra to stop calling you "Princess."
-[] "Queen" isn't right either.
--[] Neither is "Empress."
---[] Or "your highness."
----[] Or "my lady."
-----[] Just have it call you by name.
------[] "Lady Jade" is still not OK. Just "Jade" will do.

[] Change Agneyastra's name. That's a bit of a mouthful.
-[] Yastra.
-[] Agne. It's rather similar to your own last name (Agni), but unless you plan on telling that to people, it shouldn't be a problem.
-[] Amaterasu. You don't think she'd mind.
-[] Write-in

[] Write-in

 

[Alivaril]

[X] Hat

Spoiler: MG Appearance

[X] Agneyastra is a fine name, and well matched to our own family name (Agni)

[X] Feed the little jewels powering the turrets to Agneyastra.
-[X] Ask Agneyastra what components from the turrets (and the droid, if it can't be repaired later) are valuable and can be salvaged for trade.


You hesitate. You've never ordered anyone around in your life, but then again... this isn't exactly a person, now is it? You should still treat it as one just in case, but maybe it won't be so critical of you when you inevitably screw up.

"To start off, could you please help me find and safely extract the power sources you mentioned?"

"Affirmative."

A tiny arrow inscribes itself on the surface of the bracelet, leading you to the nearest turret. Sure enough, the tiny gemstones inside were the power cells Agneyastra referred to.

"Please drop the power cell into the open section of this unit."

You eye the exposed section of Agneyastra's circuitry with some measure of doubt. Well, you suppose it's the sufficiently advanced artifact while you're just its user. You drop the gemstone into the designated area. Upon contact with the bracelet, it vanishes with an audible crackle of blue energy.

"Oh, do these have any components which would be valuable for trading purposes? And if so, is there any way you could help me carry them?"

"F-51 Inferno Turrets are designed to be mass-produced for very little cost. Based upon the technology level of the local indigenous population, teeth from the disabled L-62 Seeker Droid should be quite valuable. Agneyastra's subspace storage is malfunctioning, but as there is a pool of molten metal nearby, this unit can show you how to make a suitable container. This assumes that the current vessel of the princess is immune to fire."

"I am." Well, that explains why all the defenses in this place are flame-based.

"Understood. Please follow the steps provided, Princess."


About forty minutes later, you've made a rather crude metal pouch and determined that Agneyastra's maximum energy capacity is completely ridiculous. Even after feeding it every last gemstone in the entire facility, it still only managed to reach 81%. And that's its capacity while severely damaged; if it gets even larger after being repaired, you're looking forward to finding out what it's capable of.

With the assistance of Agneyastra (and a swordstaff), you are able to extract all of the Seeker's teeth without issue. In RPG terms, you completely cleared the 'dungeon' with only a single injury. It would have been a perfect run were it not for the Seeker's scream.

"Agneyastra, could you please lead me to the closer of the two cities you mentioned?"

"Yes, Princess."


[X] Have Agneyastra guide you to the city located 138 kilometers away. It's a bit of a trek, but you can get there before nightfall.
-[X] Unless it takes a lot of energy, ask Agneyastra to tell you about magic and "artificial vessels" as you travel. Maybe you'll learn something useful.


"Magic is the process by which a Mage pulls energy from their Linker Core and uses specific commands to make said energy affect the world around them. There are several different 'colors' of energy generated by Linker Cores, and the color of energy affects what kind of effect it can have on the multiverse. Most of the royal family prefers to choose fire-generating cores, but there are outliers."

"There are multiple styles of magic, but they all have one thing in common: they require complex calculations to be used. Once this unit is repaired, it will be able to assist in the casting of most spells. Agneyastra is not designed to train new mages, but if necessary, it can try after the princess acquires a worthy Linker Core."

"Artificial vessels are the exclusive privilege of the royal family and their close servants. As they have yet to obtain a way to halt aging or eliminate all sicknesses, the royal family designs and grows their own bodies, swapping at least every decade. This allows them to switch to a more effective body or organ whenever any improvements are made in the field of biotechnology. Additionally, they are able to abuse their Linker Cores without fear of permanent consequences."
(Earlier "Royalty Spoof Roll:" 1d100=100 {Crit}, 100/4=25, 1d100=77 {Success}.)
"Over the years, this has caused our enemies no small amount of frustration. No Agni has ever truly been killed by an assassin and they are unmatched on the field of battle."

You stop dead and stare blankly at the latest writing on Agneyastra. You didn't mishear.

It has to be a coincidence or an error in translation, right? You're certain Agneyastra isn't speaking the words you actually hear or writing the words you read, so it's probably the latter. Even with this plane's advanced technology, the odds of somebody in your ancestry managing to cross the eternity between planes is so unlikely as to be considered a non-possibility.

Although, something did drag you toward the place where you found Agneyastra... No! Bad Jade! It was probably just due to some old relic in the area, or some odd function of Agneyastra. It doesn't matter what the old royal family was named, real life doesn't work like that. Cliches do occasionally happen in real life, but they're not any likelier than any other outcome. There's no way that the very first place on the very first plane you decided to visit actually contained some sort of relic of your ancestors. Your ancestors were perfectly ordinary...

You pause, frowning. What did they do, anyway? You know your grandparents on both sides of the family were either artists or performers of some sort, but beyond that, you have no idea. ...But that doesn't mean anything! From what you saw before you entered the plane, whatever civilization made Agneyastra self-destructed centuries ago. You're pretty sure time passes equally between planes, so merely not knowing what your great-grandparents or even great-great-grandparents did is irrelevant.

Even in the theoretical scenario where you did turn out to be some distant descendant of royalty, why would it matter? Their empire is long dead. So long as Agneyastra continues to serve you, and it doesn't look like that's going to change any time soon, any theoretical planar jaunting on the part of your ancestors is totally irrelevant.

And anyway, if they somehow managed that, then Kyubey might be able to do the same. If Kyubey figures out how to cross planes, then he can follow you no matter where you run and you'll never be safe and-

Nope, you refuse to think about that possibility. You know your Spark cannot be duplicated in any way, nor can a new one be created artificially. Kyubey is not going to follow you across planes. You're safe. You hope.

"Is something wrong, Princess?"

"I'm fine, thank you." You smile shakily down at the device.

About two minutes pass before the device speaks once more, entirely unprompted.

"The world will end-" Agneyastra stops mid-sentence.

"In plasma." You finish reflexively. Your father was way too fond of that phrase.

"If a problem cannot be solved with a sufficiently large detonation-"

"Then it was aimed at the wrong target."

It isn't until afterward that you realize Agneyastra had thrown another set of challenges at you, and you probably passed. You glare at the innocent little bracelet. Not helping.



You reach the city just as the sun is beginning to set. You're not sure what you expected when you got there, but it certainly wasn't what you found: titanic buildings stretch up toward the sky, vanishing into the clouds above. You don't see one single 'normal' structure. The city outputs the most White mana of any place you've been to so far, but there are concentrations of each of the other colors. Sometimes, in the same building, although that's not really a surprise. They're huge.

(Ability Improved: Mana Sense [Rank 5 -> 6]) ​

Crowds of people walk the streets while flying vehicles zip by overhead. Your outfit gets a few curious glances, but they usually move on without a second look. Judging by the occasional mage you see flying past, your garb isn't all that uncommon. Although, it definitely marks you as a mage yourself...

"They do not bow, Princess." Agneyastra notes.

You flinch and try to see if anyone heard Agneyastra. Although the statement did get a few curious glances, the people staring at you look vaguely confused and curious instead of at all offended. ...They can't even understand it, can they? Well, that's convenient. Mostly. You suspect a device speaking in an ancient language might trip a few flags. You refuse to give up Agneyastra to anyone. Even damaged, it is incredibly useful and is almost certainly irreplaceable.

(1d100=19)
You follow the tiny arrow on the surface of Agneyastra, locating the "facilities capable of dimensional travel" she mentioned without issue. The building in question is, for once, not a skyscraper. It just looks like a massive, empty mechanical portal.
(1d100=2)
A circle cut into the ground around the building reveals the presence of a shield generator or something similar, but if it was activated at one point, it certainly isn't now. Two people in dark blue uniforms are sitting guard just outside the only entrance... for a very generous definition of "guard." One of them is very clearly drunk and the other is unconscious.

"This is what happens when you let an illegitimate government take control for too long." Agneyastra says with clear distaste. Despite this statement, you are unable to find any flecks of Red mana emanating from the device.

To be honest, you're not quite sure what you want to do now. You haven't really been on this world and you're already planning on leaving it. Sure, Agneyastra said it didn't have any 'worthy' Linker Cores for you, but is that really a good enough reason to leave so soon?


[] Activate and step through the unguarded portal. Onward!
-[] Get the drunk guard to activate it for you. You don't know what kind of defenses it might have.

[] Go off and explore one of the skyscrapers you saw earlier.
-[] One with a high concentration of...
--[] Blue
--[] Red
--[] Black
--[] White
--[] Green

[] Look for someplace to sleep. You aren't very tired, but it'll probably take you a while to find a good place anyway.

[] Ask/look around and see if there are any facilities devoted to taking care of lost orphans.
-[] Go to one. Why not? None of them know you.

[] Try to find out if you need to register as a citizen to be here. That could get awkward.
-[] If so, try to become one. Might as well.

[] Write-in

 

[Alivaril]

[X] Head toward the blue tower

You stare at the drunk guard for several long moments. You could ask him to activate the gate for you, but... is there any actual guarantee he'd even do it properly? You might be able to go to the alternate Earth, but you're not sure there's anything worthwhile.

No, you should probably go explore this world some before going someplace else. Although, you suspect taking the Linker Core of another mage would be rather morally dubious. Maybe if you took one from a person on Earth, they wouldn't mind as much? It's not like they would be using it.


[X] Quietly ask Astra to speak quietly.

"Yes, Princess."

The device quiets down significantly. You often have to double-check the writing on her to make sure you heard everything.


-[X] Ask about the facility where we can get Astra fixed.

"It is a storage area intended for the proper disposal of objects the indigenous population considers to be dangerous. They bury that which they do not understand instead of seeking to understand it. Fools. Among the stored items is a femtotech fabricator designed for repairing this unit and any other devices belonging to the royal family. It is heavily guarded and inside what the indigenous population believes to be a fortress. This unit advises obtaining the assistance of one or more subjects before the princess attacks it."


-[X] Ask about Spells that can affect emotions. With emphasis on Grief.

"This unit has no spells devoted to that purpose in its library. This unit cannot find any spells devoted to that purpose in its memory."


-[X] Ask about Astra's functions.

"Agneyastra's primary purpose is to assist with the efficient casting of spells. This unit can currently access the following systems: energy storage, memory storage, limited AI, linker core extraction, linker core insertion, local object detection and scanning, personality matrix, planetary energy scans, spell library, text and verbal communications."

"The following systems are damaged: energy storage, HUD, independent casting, limited AI, local object detection and scanning, memory storage, personality matrix, planetary energy scans, reconfiguration, repair, self-repair, simulations, subspace storage, telepathic communications, transformation, uplink connection."


-[X] Ask about your families heirloom.

"A zero-point external magic generator. Affinities: fire and lightning. Power output restricted. Removing restrictions would result in explosive detonation and near-certain destruction of any nearby planets. Dimensional turbulence likely. This unit advises against personally removing any restrictions. Model not recognized."

You hold the harmless-looking ruby pendant at arms length, laughing nervously. You've been keeping a planet buster around your neck. Even if you don't agree, now you understand why the main government of this plane quarantines ancient relics wherever possible. You had no idea.

Several passerby start looking rather oddly at you and the ruby, so you hastily put it back on. Potential WMD or not, it's yours.


[X] Upon reaching the tower try to draw power from it.

You're able to draw out a minuscule amount of power before it dissipates into midair. It gave you a tiny amount of practice with controlling Blue, but you couldn't draw out enough power to do anything.


[X] Try to find out what the blue tower is.

The tower itself appears to be devoted to research and learning. Most of the space is taken up with laboratories and classrooms. There's a public library inside, but you'd need an ID card to get in legally. Or you could take your chances and try to sneak in. You're not sure how well that would work out; there are an awful lot of security cameras. You did manage to find a little alcove where there weren't any, but that's only a temporary solutio-
(Hostile Environment: 1d100=1)
You twitch when somebody tries to break a glass bottle over your head. It is immediately followed by a scream. Turning around, you find a seedy-looking man clutching at a hand shredded by broken glass. He's well-dressed, so you don't really see why he'd try to kill some random mage.

"That was the single most pathetic assassination attempt this unit has ever observed."



[] Take his wallet. It's his own fault.

[] Get him some medical attention.
-[] Stick around afterward.
-[] Leave as soon as you do this.

[] Wait around for the local authorities to arrive. If you leave now, he'll be able to spin whatever story he feels like.

[] Leave immediately.
-[] To go do what? (Write-in)

[] Write-in

 

[Alivaril]

[x] Don't do anything, but do wait around for the local authorities to arrive. If you leave now, he'll be able to spin whatever story he feels like.
-[x] Practice with Blue mana while you wait.


You step away from the injured idiot and start trying to practice with Blue mana. This entire tower is full of people. At least one of them will look in to see who screamed and why.

You're only able to get in about twelve seconds of practice time before somebody shows up. Not very much time at all. A tall, black-haired young man in a long white lab coat peeks into the alcove you two are occupying. His eyes look rather similar to that of a cat.

"Is everyone oka- Holy shit. Dude, what happened?" He glances over at you, his gaze travelling upward to look at the broken glass in your hat. "Oh."

You shuffle nervously. "He attacked me."

"...With a glass bottle?"

"Yes."

"He attacked a mage. With an object intended to hold alcoholic substances instead of any sort of actual weapon. Just to be sure, you are unharmed, right?" When you nod, he returns his attention to the would-be killer. "Are you stupid, drunk, suicidal, or some combination of the above?"

His only response is a pained groan.

"This unit requires a language update." Agneyastra complains. Considering some of the comments it has been making, you're not sure that would be a good idea.

A crowd starts to form around the three of you, but although you see an awful lot of lab coats, you don't see any signs of anyone in any sort of military uniform. With their attention primarily focused on the person who tried to kill you, you elect to continue practicing with blue mana.


It turns out to have been a pretty good precaution. You have to wait for almost twenty minutes before any law enforcement officers arrive. You still haven't managed to gather enough blue mana to do anything useful with it, but you feel like you've gotten a little better at controlling it.

Of course, then you have to deal with the other idiot that showed up: a blonde-haired, middle-aged man leaning on a chrome quarterstaff. You suspect he has another one shoved somewhere in the lower part of his body.

"So... Let me get this straight. He attacked you, an obvious mage, with a bottle of glass for absolutely no discernible reason. Are you sure about that? Never seen him before in your life? You could get in serious trouble if you're lying."

"Yes." you sigh. You've repeated yourself almost three times and are starting to get rather impatient.

"Alright then. Do you actually have a license to use combat magic inside a city?"

". . . No." You admit. Lying would serve absolutely no purpose, as he could probably check near-instantly.

"In that case, I'm going to need to ask you to deactivate your barrier jacket. I know it just saved your life, but rules are rules."

You bite down on the first rude retort that comes to mind. He said it himself: it saved your life. Well, your body, but that's beside the point. If that's an actual rule, it's a really stupid one.

"And for that matter, where are your parents? I'm going to need to contact them and let them know you were involved in an incident."




[] Refuse to deactivate it. Even ignoring all the things you have in your pockets, there's a crowd of people watching and you really don't want to be seen in just your pajamas. You changed planes to get away from all the stares.

[] Apologize and change back. Your base form is only wearing a nightshirt, but it's long enough to keep you decent. It'll be horrifically embarrassing, but it's better than being arrested.

[] Apologize and ask him if there's anywhere you can go to change. Promptly flee once you're out of sight.
-[] Where do you go? (Write-in)

[] Write-in



[] Tell him that you're lost. Would he mind helping you get back?
-[] Elaborate that you're from Earth and you're not entirely sure how you got here.

[] Tell him that you're an orphan.
-[] ...And have been aimlessly wandering around for the past little while.

[] Refuge in audacity! Tell him you just wandered out of some kind of laboratory and have no idea where you are or what year it is.
-[] Mention the part where you're apparently royalty. If there are any linguists who can actually understand or recognize your device, it'll probably convince them of that anyway.
--[] You're honestly starting to believe it, too. There's no reason for your parents to have had a planet-cracker unless one of your ancestors was from a different plane. Why not this one? None of the other planes you've looked at had the tech level needed to make your pendant.
--[] Don't mention the part where you're still unsure of whether or not that's actually true.
--[] If necessary, demonstrate by setting yourself on fire.

[] Write-in

Spoiler: QM's Note

I'm not happy with this one, either. Ugh. Oh, well...

 

[Alivaril]

QM's Exasperation: I went through and did the math, and the series of rolls that resulted in the whole "Royal Agni" thing had a 0.0021175% chance of actually leading to that outcome. Seriously, what the hell?

---

[X] Inform him that you're undressed under the Barrier Jacket due to an incident that's a bit too embarrassing to go into detail about.
-[X] Apologize and ask him if there's anywhere you can go to change. And something to change into.


"I can do that, but, um... My clothes kinda got incinerated. Do you have something I can change into and somewhere I can go to do it?"

"Yeah, like I haven't heard that one-" the officer pauses. "Hold on, incinerated?"

You look down at your feet.

-[X] The clothes were damaged in our magic practice. It was honestly very embarrassing. You don't really want to talk about it.

"Yes. They kinda got destroyed while I was practicing magic. Can we please move on?"

Technically, you were practicing magic. You just so happened to be practicing it by using it on eldritch abominations.

He looks uncertain. "I'm... not sure if that matters? Public indecency is a crime, but..."

You try to avoid losing your temper. This man is the very embodiment of Lawful Stupid.

"If that foreign guard is distressing the princess, this unit could remove his Linker Core."
"Did anyone else hear singing?"
"No." You hiss. You're trying to avoid unnecessary conflict. If you really need to, you can just Planeswalk away.

The officer shakes off his confusion. "Okay, you can go ahead and change. I can't help you with that, and I'll still need the contact information for your parents before you go."

[X] You are older than you look, and neither have, nor require a legal guardian.

"They're dead. I'm-"

He looks entirely unsympathetic. "Cry me a river."

A large portion of the crowd goes quiet, although there's still an awful lot of whispering.

"I'm older than I look...?"

More quiet. For once, a crowd around you is glaring at somebody else instead of you. A tall, purple-haired woman in a brown uniform shoves her way through the the assembled mass of people.

"Right, you clearly can't find your a- back with both hands. I have no words appropriate for describing the sheer depth of your stupidity. Remind me to check a thesaurus later. Out." she points vaguely toward the exit of the building.

Mr. Lawful Stupid does a wonderful imitation of a fish for several moments. Fortunately, his brain intervenes and takes note of the uniform before his mouth intervenes. He appears pretty angry, but storms off before he says anything else foolish. You'd been seriously considering setting him on fire at that point; it's not like it would have killed him, just hurt him.

The woman who intervened glares at your audience.

"As for the rest of you, you can all stop staring now." she says sharply. "I know half of you are supposed to be working some project or another and the other half should be going home right about now."

Most people leave, looking rather sheepish. About 10% still remain.

"I can and will start noting down names if you don't stop loitering."

The remainder hastily goes the way of their colleagues. She continues to glare at them until they're well out of sight, then sighs and turns to you. She looks very, very tired.

"Sorry about the mess. Lieutenant Naomi, Time-Space Administrative Bureau. On behalf of the TSAB, I apologize for the behavior of that particular individual and would like to stress that he is not indicative of the TSAB as a whole. Contrary to what he would have you believe, you aren't in any trouble. No license and no ID?"

"...No..."

"That's still not a problem, don't worry. Just gimme a minute, I have the relevant files here somewhere."

She pulls out a bulky black tablet and turns it on. Or tries, anyway. When it fails to load, she flicks the screen several times, scowling.

"Sorry. This thing's over forty years old and it's liable to stop working for no discernible reason. I've asked if we're allowed to use our own equipment instead, but- there we go." she clears her throat.

"Within the worlds governed by the TSAB, using combat magic within a populated area is banned without a license. For Chara, Lythea, and Vioth, this includes barrier jackets. Exceptions may be made on a case-by-case basis. Registering for a license requires passing a two-month course covering..."

She scowls, rapidly flicking through a massive list. "Okay, there's a lot of stuff here, but it basically boils down to 'demonstrating your ability to avoid collateral damage.' Moving on to registration: Having an ID is not required, but most public services will be closed to you if you don't have one. Registering is free and requires your name, age, a blood sample, and a high-quality picture of yourself no more than six months old. You may have your picture taken anywhere you could register for no charge. You may choose to provide additional information, such as planet of origin, but it is not required for most services."

"If you are a minor, I am required to suggest that you enter into the childcare system. In my experience, orphaned mages rarely appreciate being hoisted off on foster parents, so we don't force the issue for anyone older than thirteen. Alternatively, you may be provided transportation to a world of your choice upon request. This excludes a small number of unstable and dangerous unadministrated worlds."

"If you have any dangerous ancient artifacts, also known as Lost Logia, you will be required to demonstrate that they are stable and under your complete control. If not, they can and will be confiscated. Basically, if you have anything that's liable to spontaneously explode and destroy a small country, it needs to be disposed of. Transporting undeclared Lost Logia between worlds can be punished with up to eighty years in prison. Attempting to use an unregistered Lost Logia for combat, military, or other destructive purposes has a scaling punishment based upon how dangerous the object in question is."

"Do you have any questions? I can help you go register right now, if you want."


[] Write-in questions


After that, what do you do?



[] Thank Lieutenant Naomi for her help and go do something else.
-[] Start making your way toward the city where you can repair Agneyastra.
-[] Go find a place to sleep.

[] Go register immediately. The perks outweigh the downsides.
-[] Accept Naomi's offer of assistance.
-[] Avoid mentioning your planet of origin.
-[] Give them a false last name.
-[] Don't register Agneyastra.
-[] Don't register your heirloom.
-[] Enter the "childcare" system. You doubt it will end well, but you're used to dealing with hostile people and you'll have shelter in the interim.
-[] Ask for transportation to...
--[] Earth.
--[] Anywhere they recommend. Attacking a fortress by yourself does not sound like a very good idea, so this world might not have anything else to offer you.
-[] Ask them if they can help you repair Agneyastra.

[] Write-in

 

[Alivaril]

[X] Go register immediately. The perks outweigh the downsides.
-[X] Accept Naomi's offer of assistance.
--[X] Can we move this somewhere less crowded and open? She does look tired, and you just got attacked. Somewhere more comfortable would be nice.

Naomi glances around at the the shards of broken glass scattered everywhere.

"Certainly. If you'd like, we can talk on the way to the local TSAB HQ. I'll put up a field to prevent anyone from eavesdropping. It's not like I get to use my magic for anything else these days."

She starts tapping at the tablet and gestures for you to follow her out of the building. Almost two minutes later, you hear an ever-so-slight whining noise at the edge of your hearing.

"We're good. So what did you want to know?"


-[x] Is it common for unregistered mages to stumble in out of the wilderness?

She lets out a sharp bark of laughter. "Not so much on other worlds, but here? We seem to have all sorts of people popping up out of thin air. We're still trying to figure out why, but it looks like this planet is a dumping ground for when something goes wrong in dimensional space."


-[x] Could you tell me more about the TSAB?

She raises an eyebrow in response to your question, but doesn't otherwise comment. "We're basically the primary governing body for a couple dozen worlds. Most of our member worlds have experienced near-total annihilation at least twice, usually due to their own technology, so our primary goal is the containment and/or destruction of unstable and dangerous Lost Logia. We've learned from history and are determined not to repeat it."


-[x] What's the difference between unadministered worlds and worlds like this one?

"While administered worlds may occasionally have a lesser governing body, they're under the control and protection of the TSAB. Non-administered worlds... aren't. Many of them don't even know about the existence of magic, and we prefer to keep it that way. Too dangerous until they actually learn some self-control. The TSAB usually refrains from offering membership until after they've discovered dimensional travel, although some of my colleagues do come from non-administered worlds."


-[x] Are there other governments on a similar scale? What do you think of them?

She bites her lip. "I'm afraid I really shouldn't give you my personal opinion on this. The Belkan Empire is made up of nine worlds, and last I checked, we were on extremely friendly terms with them. They used to be much larger before many of their worlds, including their homeworld, vanished or self-destructed. Besides them, at 17 worlds, the Slao Cluster is probably the only governmental body that even comes close to the TSAB. Unlike us, however, they aren't nearly as careful when it comes to the safe disposal of Lost Logia. They even actively seek them out. Hundreds of billions have died thanks to their neglect."


-[x] Given what happened, would it be possible to apply for an exception for your barrier jacket? You really don't feel safe without it.

"Almost certainly. Feel free to leave it on until we at least find out why Mr. Firmin tried to kill you. We'll revisit the topic after we're done investigating that."


--[X] Does she know a place you could stay at? And somewhere to trade stuff for local currency.

"There is absolutely no way to say this without sounding creepy, so I'll just throw it out there: I'd be fine with you staying over at my flat. I've got some extra room. If not, I know of a few relatively cheap apartments you could rent. As for the trading thing, Chara is one of the best exporters of safe artifacts out there. Just post whatever you want to sell on the Network and odds are, somebody will buy it within a day or three. If you don't have anything to post it from, just use the library and check every six hours or so."


--[X] You were also thinking of settling here for a bit. Get that combat magic license, ply your trade (you speak languages and can translate stuff). Could she help with this?

She looks at you oddly. "Probably, yes. How many languages?"

You squirm under her gaze. "All of them, I think."

She freezes mid-step, her eyes narrowing. Several seconds pass before she speaks once more, and when she does, it's in another language.

"You are understand this able?"

"I think you just mangled it horribly, but yes."

...You're not sure you like the look in her eye. It's rather similar to the one your mother- go away, gloomy thoughts!




A few minutes after your last question, you're sitting inside the skyscraper with the highest concentration of White mana in the entire city. Unlike the Blue building, this one seems almost entirely devoted to administration. Well, it is part of their name.

As it was only slightly past sunset, you only pass a few dozen people during your journey to Naomi's office. Most of them are wearing a blue military uniform, a brown variant of the same design, or some kind of 'barrier jacket'. Barrier jackets appear to come in every color, just like the outfits of magical girls.

Naomi's office is a comfortable little affair, although you're convinced she is way too fond of the color purple. A purple computer, purple curtains, purple carpet, purple walls...

Naomi sits across from you, tapping at her outdated black tablet.

"Alright, let's get started. This is the part where I put on my serious face." Naomi briefly looks extremely grumpy, then snorts and goes back to smiling. "Never mind, can't do it. Anyway! Name?"

"Jade Agni."

Naomi freezes mid-swipe. She remains in that pose for several seconds before she very carefully gets up from her chair, opens the door to her office, and sticks her head out.

"Hey guys, I found another Agni!" she yells into the hallway.

...Wait, what?

"This unit requires a language update." Agneyastra complains again.

You don't hear whatever response Naomi receives, but she shuts the door, grinning like a maniac. You try not to show your bewilderment.

"Official policy says we're not allowed to draw royal blood, so we get to skip that step. You don't have a device capable of independent casting, right?"

"I do, but it's damaged. I was actually hoping I could..."

You trail off when Naomi points at you and starts muttering to herself. Several seconds later, a river of blue fire appears at a point several inches in front of her index finger and spreads out to engulf your entire body. On impulse, you open your mouth and swallow some of it. It tastes like fizzy blueberry soda.

"Should this unit remove the Linker Core of the hostile in front of you, Princess?"

"Again, no."

The stream stops. Naomi ignores the smoldering remains of her office in favor of continuing to grin. "And there we have it. Welcome to the modern era, Jade Agni! Four of your siblings or cousins or whatever have already registered with us. Five, if you count the clone."

You stare at her in shocked silence for several moments before forcing yourself to fight down the rising surge of irrational disappointment. Of course you aren't the only royal heir on this plane; if this is the birthplace of your family, there's no reason they all would have fled. Remember, you already decided it doesn't matter, Jade. So what if there are others? It's not like I'm competing with them. There's nothing to fight over.

Now if only you could actually manage to convince yourself of that... and when did you start thinking of yourself as a member of royalty, anyway? Not like it matters.

"How many other Agnis are there?"

"Four at last counting, five if you count the clone. Arjuna, Devi, Kanti, Mani, and Pramoda. I have to admit the fire-swallowing thing is new; none of the others are comfortable with trying that, and they were at least a little singed by the test. You don't look hurt at all."

"I'm not."

-[X] Ask them if they can help you repair Agneyastra.
--[X] You know how to repair her, as she has located repair equipment located at *insert fortress coordinates*. You'd like access to that repair equipment in exchange for allowing them to record its use, and help in its study. You'll also provide them with translations for at least some amount of documents they have in the language of Agneyastra's makers.

You bury the disappointment, stab it with a sharp knife, and leave it to bleed out. You doubt it'll actually die properly.

"If there are already others, would you or them have any problems with helping me repair my device? It's kinda broken. I'd be willing to help translate some of the documents left around by its makers."

"The offer is appreciated and noted, but we've found it's a pretty good idea to stay on friendly terms with you lot. Truth be told, you're a lot less..." she hesitates. "...Demanding than all of your cousins. Siblings. Whatever. Moving on! If you're willing to register as an independent contractor with the TSAB, we're willing to provide you with a stipend, assistance repairing any semi-stable family relics you uncover, and reimbursement for any jobs we hire you for. In exchange, you will agree to be available for if we ever need your assistance with something and you won't try to commit genocide."

She notices your expression of horror and sighs.

"Yes, Devi actually tried that. She was kinda confused when she showed up. Not fun for anyone involved in that clusterf- mess."



[] Accept. You'd much rather get their help than have to assault a fortress intended to contain planet-killing artifacts.

[] Decline.
-[] You have the feeling she's trying to rush you into making a decision and you don't particularly appreciate that.

[] Write-in (negotiate for something else?)


...Do you want to do anything afterward?


[] Write-in