[X] Time to reverse the question-and-answer segment. "Now then, what can you tell me about the Symphogear? What else can it do, and why does it work the way it does? Also, what the hell are Noise anyway?"
-[X] Also ask if they have had to deal with gods; Chris said something about people called Custodians. Not every god is the same after all and for all you know there could still be some nasty stuff sleeping out there, last thing you need is the Mycenaeans also being a thing in this dimension and your possible poking into Photon Energy being a catalyst in awakening them.
Now that the most immediately important questions are out of the way, it's time for you to turn the tables a bit. "Alright, my turn now," you say as you move to take a seat. "What can you tell me about the Symphogear and its functions? If it's fused to my body, I'd like to know what exactly I'm dealing with."
"I'd be happy to help!" Elfnein volunteers as she moves to your former spot at the head of the table. "To put it simply, a Symphogear is a form of armor that allows its wielder to use the power of a relic fragment. Does your world have legends of tools and weapons possessing incredible powers back in ancient times?" After a brief search of your records, you nod in confirmation. "In this world, many such weapons were real items built through methods that have since been lost to time. While only fragments of many such weapons survive, it is possible to draw out a significant fraction of their power using phonic gain, which is generated through singing."
"However," Elfnein continues, "not all people are compatible with all relics. As the original creator of the Sakurai Theory and the Symphogears is no longer with us…" Here everyone's faces make a series of complicated expressions. Hibiki's face expresses a deep sorrow tempered with vindication, while Miku seems to be more irritated than anything else. Chris, however, has by far the most uncertainty on her face. Her expression cycles from deep-seated hatred to righteous fury to extreme sadness and back again. Whoever this Sakurai was, she clearly inspired a number of contradictory emotions in her.
"Ahem! Pardon me for bringing down the mood." Elfnein continues. "As I was saying, most people are not compatible with any relics at all, while a lucky few are compatible with one. Chris is an example of a naturally compatible wielder, while Hibiki and Miku gained their compatibility after being cleansed of the Curse of Balal during the Frontier Incident."
"Wait a moment, please," you interrupt her after searching through your data banks. "Are you saying that the mythological Curse of Babel is verifiable and real in this world?" That makes no sense!
"That is exactly what I'm saying!" Elfnein beams at you. "Getting into the metaphysics of the Curse would be a lecture in its own right, but I can summarize it by saying that it was a network jamming system enacted by the Custodian Enki to protect humanity's individuality and free will from Shem-Ha after she became language."
"I'm sorry, after she
what?" You chime in. Became language? What does that even mean? That doesn't even begin to make sense! Your logic processors begin to overheat trying to untangle that statement before you forcefully cut them off from doing so.
"Ah, I'm afraid I can't be of much help there, I only know what Tsubasa and Maria were told by the copy of Enki on the moon," Elfnein says. That doesn't make your confusion any better; in fact, it makes it considerably worse! "Hibiki, do you know anything else about the process? I know you hijacked her connection briefly during the final battle…"
Hibiki starts in her seat, evidently not expecting to have been called on. "Um, not really? I remember feeling connected to everyone on Earth for a moment, but I couldn't really put the feeling into words properly…" she chuckles in a self-deprecating manner and leans her head on Miku's shoulder. "Sorry I can't be more helpful!"
"That's quite alright," you say, your head spinning, "this is already a lot to take in as it is." And isn't that an understatement! Mythological weapons are one thing; considering Mazinger Z and the God Scrander were literally made from the severed arm of Zeus, you can wrap your head around the concept easily enough. Becoming language though, that's something else entirely… Actually, the comparison to Mazinger brings something else to mind.
"What else can you tell me about the Custodians?" You ask Elfnein. "Chris mentioned them a few times when she found me, but she did not go into any detail. I assume they're the gods of this dimension?"
"Not anymore they're not!" Chris takes the opportunity to butt in. "Enki's dead, Shem-Ha's dead, and all the rest ran off to who knows where thousands of years ago. We're free of them now, and good riddance!" She then leans back in her chair, lounging comfortably.
"It's a bit more complicated than that, but Chris got the gist of it." Elfnein replies. "Enki died defending humanity from Shem-Ha, then his artificial copy was killed when Shem-Ha hacked and blew up the Marduk facility on the moon." Again with the moon! What's wrong with the moon in this universe?! "Shem-Ha was defeated in battle by Hibiki and the other wielders, but didn't truly die until Hibiki and Miku rejected her and her philosophy while escaping from the collapsing Yggdrasil. The other Custodians all left in fear of Shem-Ha's power and haven't been seen in approximately five thousand years." That just raises further questions, but you'll save them for later.
"I should probably mention then," you begin, "that mining Japanium ore may or may not have played a role in awakening the ancient Mycenaean gods in the Universal Century dimension, so if we go on that field expedition we should be extremely careful to make sure that we don't repeat the same mistake."
"Thank you for warning us ahead of time," Elfnein replies as she reels back slightly in shock, "I'll make sure to bring that up with the Commander when requesting authorization for the trip. Were these gods hostile to humanity, then?"
"Extremely," you confirm grimly. "Some of them thought humanity was only fit to serve as their slaves, while many others simply wanted to exterminate them entirely. Only Zeus stood against the rest of them, and when his arm was cut off it was eventually dug up and became an extremely important weapon in protecting us from them when the Mycenaeans returned."
"Just like Enki, then…" Elfnein mumbles. Upon seeing your look of confusion, she clarifies. "He also lost an arm in battle with Shem-Ha, and when it was found thousands of years later it was mistakenly classified as the Silver Arm Airgetlam and was turned into a Symphogear." That's an interesting coincidence; what are the odds?
Elfnein then coughs slightly. "Getting back on track, Symphogear compatibility can also manifest as a result of a person fusing with a relic. In Hibiki's case, the fusion was slowly killing her, but as you aren't an organic being you hopefully shouldn't have to worry about relic cancer or its symptoms. Then again, we have no idea what role the Getter Rays will play in your fusion going forward, so if it's alright with you I would like to schedule regular checkups to monitor the progression of your condition." You see no reason to refuse her request and agree without hesitation. "Thank you! I hope you won't experience any problems as a result of the fusion, but if anything does happen it would be better for us to catch them as early as possible."
"One other noteworthy feature of the Symphogear is their ability to transform over time," Elfnein continues. "As a wielder's self-image changes, so too do both their armor's features and the song in their heart change. We've never seen a Symphogear change as greatly or as abruptly as yours did, but I believe that would likely be a result of the Getter Rays based on what you told us about them. There are a few other transformations that Symphogears are also capable of. When all 301,655,722 locks are opened at once, the end result is a miracle made manifest, known simply as X-Drive." Elfnein says. "This form has nearly limitless power and can allow its wielder to survive re-entry into Earth's atmosphere, among other things," which implies they've actually done that, something that strikes you as completely insane. "There is also the Amalgam form, but as that requires pieces of a Philosopher's Stone to be absorbed by the Symphogear I do not believe that you will be capable of manifesting it." That's just as well, really; something tells you you'll have your hands full managing your Symphogear as it is.
"Finally," here Elfnein's expression changes to a very grave one, "there are the monsters known as Noise, Alca-Noise, and Karma-Noise. As the names suggest, the latter two are both based on the original. The first Noise were created as weapons by ancient mankind as a nearly unstoppable killing machine; normal weapons would pass right through them to no effect. Only by bringing them 'in tune' with our dimension via phonic gain could they be destroyed without mutually annihilating along with their victim. The Symphogears were originally designed for this purpose, though after all of the Noise were destroyed in the Frontier Incident they were repurposed for unusual search and rescue incidents, like
rescuing a crashing space shuttle that had engine trouble.." She then pauses as you raise your hand for a question.
"If all the Noise were destroyed, then where do Alca-Noise and Karma-Noise come from?" You ask her. If the original template is gone, then you would imagine that it would be difficult to craft additional weapons based on said original.
"Certain alchemists, including but not limited to the Bavarian Illuminati, copied the formula for Alca-Noise centuries ago; as long as they retain the copied formulae, they can continue to mass-produce Alca-Noise indefinitely until arrested or otherwise stopped." Elfnein replies. "As for Karma-Noise, our theories are less well-developed there. We know that they are unique in their black coloration, extreme size, and resistance to damage, but aside from that we know very little about them. They have only ever appeared when the Gjallarhorn was activated, so it is entirely possible that we will never encounter them again now that it's been destroyed." That's a relief; you only encountered a single Karma-Noise in your most recent battle, but you can already tell that it will be making return appearances in your nightmares sooner or later.
Hibiki, Miku, and Chris then all check their phones in perfect sync. "It's from Kirika and Shirabe." Miku reports. "They've arrived and are very excited to meet you. Well, as excited as Shirabe ever gets, at least. Do you want to head down with us to meet them?"
"You should probably get some practice in with your Symphogear, as well," Elfnein adds in. "You could head down to the simulator now, or you could meet with the others first and head down as a group." Hm, what to do? Every minute of sim time is precious, but you also want to meet your new allies as well…
Vote Choices:
[] Go greet the newcomers first; it's only polite, after all.
[] You'll catch up with the new wielders soon, but you've waited long enough. It's time to get to that simulator and see what you can do with its code!
[] Write-In
