So I was rereading some of the early updates, and came across this from the end of the Gertrud fight. Apparently we can deliberately let go of grief that is still inside our 100m range. We should remember this during future Science, especially when we get around to testing what happens when grief coalesces, and also when/if we need to dispose of excess grief and don't have a Kyubey on hand. It's much safer than pushing the grief out beyond our range.
Puella Magi Adfligo Systema
- Thread starter Firnagzen
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So I was rereading some of the early updates, and came across this from the end of the Gertrud fight. Apparently we can deliberately let go of grief that is still inside our 100m range. We should remember this during future Science, especially when we get around to testing what happens when grief coalesces, and also when/if we need to dispose of excess grief and don't have a Kyubey on hand. It's much safer than pushing the grief out beyond our range.
By the way, the concept of a "traveling witch"? In Episode 1, when Gertude's barrier fades for the first time, Mami remarks to Homura that "the witch has fled". So yes, witches can move. Can even move in a directed way. e: I mean, not that wpgn doesn't prove this anyway, but regular witches too.
Higure
Witch of Faith
- Location
- The Golden Land
Hmm. Don't have much to say for this except "worth a shot", but have a Mami.
Code:
[Bimg]http://i.imgur.com/n1eHZKz.jpg[/Bimg]
Come to think of it, the feel we got in the warehouse might have been a witch that had "traveled" through there recently.
PhantomFractions
I can (not) type fast enough
- Location
- Australia
Well, RE: QB-feeding, I was hoping to tell Mami that we were going to meet with it in order to get rid of some grief prior to actually doing so. Reasoning for this was:
Gonna support [x]Muramasa
Because while I agree with Kinematics that getting a quantitative comparison of how much grief it takes to match a seed's lifetime energy output (from the only being in the franchise able to do so) is absolutely need-to-know Information - it might be best to first establish a precedent/routine of "I call, you show up, I feed you, you go away" to dissuade it from lingering after every feeding session.
Maybe call it up mid-week and feed again - get quantitative comparison then?
Anyway, I'm not interested in the "how" or "what happens to seeds that QB eats" that Kine's got in the vote right now. I'm interested only in "how much do I need in order to be preferable to a seed?"- but that info can be obtained later.
- to avoid any possibility of horrible misunderstandings where we appear to be conspiring with it (Mami wouldn't be looking at the situation logically, I think, she'd be more caught up in the emotion of 'betrayal').
- With the warning of imminent QB Mami could be given the choice to avoid speaking with it or to come with us to yell at it (confrontation and catharsis of telling QB what she really thinks of it).
Gonna support [x]Muramasa
Because while I agree with Kinematics that getting a quantitative comparison of how much grief it takes to match a seed's lifetime energy output (from the only being in the franchise able to do so) is absolutely need-to-know Information - it might be best to first establish a precedent/routine of "I call, you show up, I feed you, you go away" to dissuade it from lingering after every feeding session.
Maybe call it up mid-week and feed again - get quantitative comparison then?
Anyway, I'm not interested in the "how" or "what happens to seeds that QB eats" that Kine's got in the vote right now. I'm interested only in "how much do I need in order to be preferable to a seed?"- but that info can be obtained later.
While we're considering long-term goals and Kyuubey backstabbing..
Scenario 1: Kyuubey can't extract more grief from a seed than a magical girl puts into it. He gets grief from the wish, and the witching, but not the deep pool of grief below the unused state ("zero point").
Sabrina gives access to that pool, so Kyuubey.... does nothing. His current MO is perfectly fine, except that now he can get 1000x as much grief out of each grief seed if it goes through Sabrina first. The system becomes more efficient, but no gain is made on the human side.
Whether Sabrina can un-witch a witch is irrelevant. She still has to clean the seed before that, which means all that grief goes to Kyuubey. That the girl comes back to life is a minor side effect, as long as it doesn't cause a rise in entropy. Even if it does cause a rise in entropy, he wouldn't work against it as long as the total gained from the seed outweighed the amount lost from un-witching.
Scenario 2: Kyuubey uses mass farms of grief seeds as slowly percolating grief generators, and considers their value in the course of thousands or millions of years. Depending on the rate of grief generation, a fully emptied grief seed might outweigh the amount gained from percolation, over time.
If the +0 portion of the seed is worth a week's worth of cleanses, the -0 portion is worth over 750 years' worth (based on rough estimates of capacity). If the grief drip produced the equivalent of 1 marble per week, then an emptied seed is worth 30,000 years' worth.
Implications of what he's said so far lean away from scenario 2, though, so I'd give this a low priority consideration.
Scnario 3: Kyuubey can extract the full quantity of grief from a grief seed.
Based on information given thus far, this seems incredibly unlikely. If it can, however, then nothing Sabrina can do will make any difference to its operations.
--
Given that anything Sabrina provides in terms of grief extraction is additive with Kyuubey's current operation, and thus will not affect his witch project, what development lines can Sabrina take to make it more worthwhile to not cause witchouts?
Project 1: Arbitrary grief generation. As proven in the conflicts with Oriko and Sendai, extensive use of magical girl powers produces a lot of grief. A low supply of grief seeds makes that unsustainable, however with Sabrina's powers, there is no practical limit. If Kyuubey is operating under Scenario 1, this is the most lucrative gain we're likely to have to offer.
However direct conflict works against Sabrina's own goals, so another method of non-confrontational conflict is needed.
...
Magical Girl Superbowl?
One would consider that problematic in terms of logistics, in terms of needing to have this be an ongoing thing around the world, yet needing Sabrina's cleansing potential. However we do have one other option: Completely empty seeds. A completely empty seed can hold thousands of normal cleanses. A single empty seed would be able to sustain a couple dozen girls needing full cleanses every minute, for a couple of hours, and barely make a dent in its capacity.
The downside of this is needing to maintain a supply of emptied grief seeds. If the Incubators do not destroy the grief seeds they collect, then given the time it seems to take to recover a magical girl from a grief seed, it's likely we wouldn't run out for decades, at the very least, possibly centuries.
Given the estimates of a sustainable magical girl population, best estimates were maybe 1 magical girl per population of 20,000. That puts the top end world population of magical girls at 350,000. We can use that high end for a grief production estimate if we're under Scenario 1.
1 seed used per week, at possibly 40 marbles per seed, times 350,000 girls, is 14 million marbles.
Two dozen girls getting 50% cleanses every 60 seconds for 2 hours would generate 2400 marbles. Approximately 6000 such matches would need to be held each week to generate 14 million marbles' worth of grief, which requires a magical girl competition population of 144,000.
Include training time, and possibly two matches per week, and you can significantly surpass Kyuubey's (theoretical) grief production rate.
So: Lifting of the masquerade; complete public acknowledgement; does not require Sabrina's direct supervision for logistics; and all the girls likely get paid sports players' salaries as a bonus. All while surpassing Kyuubey's standard production mechanism.
Plus, since the production is dependent on long-term persistence of survival for the magical girls, it negates the value of continuing to push the witch system, unless the actual witchout produces vastly more energy than the grief seed harvesting.
It would need additional considerations for girls who might actually witch, and how un-witching them affects them, but I don't see any significant downsides, other than the sports industry as a whole. Then again, I'd love to see Kyuubey negotiating the girls' contracts...
Of course, to figure out if that's viable, we need numbers on Kyuubey's grief collection rates and conversion rates on what he can pull per seed.
Scenario 1: Kyuubey can't extract more grief from a seed than a magical girl puts into it. He gets grief from the wish, and the witching, but not the deep pool of grief below the unused state ("zero point").
Sabrina gives access to that pool, so Kyuubey.... does nothing. His current MO is perfectly fine, except that now he can get 1000x as much grief out of each grief seed if it goes through Sabrina first. The system becomes more efficient, but no gain is made on the human side.
Whether Sabrina can un-witch a witch is irrelevant. She still has to clean the seed before that, which means all that grief goes to Kyuubey. That the girl comes back to life is a minor side effect, as long as it doesn't cause a rise in entropy. Even if it does cause a rise in entropy, he wouldn't work against it as long as the total gained from the seed outweighed the amount lost from un-witching.
Scenario 2: Kyuubey uses mass farms of grief seeds as slowly percolating grief generators, and considers their value in the course of thousands or millions of years. Depending on the rate of grief generation, a fully emptied grief seed might outweigh the amount gained from percolation, over time.
If the +0 portion of the seed is worth a week's worth of cleanses, the -0 portion is worth over 750 years' worth (based on rough estimates of capacity). If the grief drip produced the equivalent of 1 marble per week, then an emptied seed is worth 30,000 years' worth.
Implications of what he's said so far lean away from scenario 2, though, so I'd give this a low priority consideration.
Scnario 3: Kyuubey can extract the full quantity of grief from a grief seed.
Based on information given thus far, this seems incredibly unlikely. If it can, however, then nothing Sabrina can do will make any difference to its operations.
--
Given that anything Sabrina provides in terms of grief extraction is additive with Kyuubey's current operation, and thus will not affect his witch project, what development lines can Sabrina take to make it more worthwhile to not cause witchouts?
Project 1: Arbitrary grief generation. As proven in the conflicts with Oriko and Sendai, extensive use of magical girl powers produces a lot of grief. A low supply of grief seeds makes that unsustainable, however with Sabrina's powers, there is no practical limit. If Kyuubey is operating under Scenario 1, this is the most lucrative gain we're likely to have to offer.
However direct conflict works against Sabrina's own goals, so another method of non-confrontational conflict is needed.
...
Magical Girl Superbowl?
One would consider that problematic in terms of logistics, in terms of needing to have this be an ongoing thing around the world, yet needing Sabrina's cleansing potential. However we do have one other option: Completely empty seeds. A completely empty seed can hold thousands of normal cleanses. A single empty seed would be able to sustain a couple dozen girls needing full cleanses every minute, for a couple of hours, and barely make a dent in its capacity.
The downside of this is needing to maintain a supply of emptied grief seeds. If the Incubators do not destroy the grief seeds they collect, then given the time it seems to take to recover a magical girl from a grief seed, it's likely we wouldn't run out for decades, at the very least, possibly centuries.
Given the estimates of a sustainable magical girl population, best estimates were maybe 1 magical girl per population of 20,000. That puts the top end world population of magical girls at 350,000. We can use that high end for a grief production estimate if we're under Scenario 1.
1 seed used per week, at possibly 40 marbles per seed, times 350,000 girls, is 14 million marbles.
Two dozen girls getting 50% cleanses every 60 seconds for 2 hours would generate 2400 marbles. Approximately 6000 such matches would need to be held each week to generate 14 million marbles' worth of grief, which requires a magical girl competition population of 144,000.
Include training time, and possibly two matches per week, and you can significantly surpass Kyuubey's (theoretical) grief production rate.
So: Lifting of the masquerade; complete public acknowledgement; does not require Sabrina's direct supervision for logistics; and all the girls likely get paid sports players' salaries as a bonus. All while surpassing Kyuubey's standard production mechanism.
Plus, since the production is dependent on long-term persistence of survival for the magical girls, it negates the value of continuing to push the witch system, unless the actual witchout produces vastly more energy than the grief seed harvesting.
It would need additional considerations for girls who might actually witch, and how un-witching them affects them, but I don't see any significant downsides, other than the sports industry as a whole. Then again, I'd love to see Kyuubey negotiating the girls' contracts...
Of course, to figure out if that's viable, we need numbers on Kyuubey's grief collection rates and conversion rates on what he can pull per seed.
- Location
- spinning
@Kinematics:
Additional considerations:
Assume that Sabrina does not give any particular direct benefit when extracting from grief seed (mostly scenario 3):
Then if she saves the soul, that is still one additional MG who can witch out again. Assuming constant number of MGs, benefit of this depends on wish value, though long-term increase in girls' average potential is likely even if Kyubey doesn't work for it, just from natural causes in crushing gems.
Furthermore, she makes it possible to make massively more puella for given population, so this may not actually be a downside at all. All of Mitakihara could contract and there wouldn't be a population crash. I'm unsure where the limit lies, but clearly Sabrina is not worthless.
For scenario 2: If you assume investment now in particular is superior to investment later, then it still beats !Sabrina - and depending on numbers, by considerable amount.
For sport, that's a great use for most-damaging sport - even if I am only familiar with it through SV, so I think we could make it one dangerous.
Additional considerations:
Assume that Sabrina does not give any particular direct benefit when extracting from grief seed (mostly scenario 3):
Then if she saves the soul, that is still one additional MG who can witch out again. Assuming constant number of MGs, benefit of this depends on wish value, though long-term increase in girls' average potential is likely even if Kyubey doesn't work for it, just from natural causes in crushing gems.
Furthermore, she makes it possible to make massively more puella for given population, so this may not actually be a downside at all. All of Mitakihara could contract and there wouldn't be a population crash. I'm unsure where the limit lies, but clearly Sabrina is not worthless.
For scenario 2: If you assume investment now in particular is superior to investment later, then it still beats !Sabrina - and depending on numbers, by considerable amount.
For sport, that's a great use for most-damaging sport - even if I am only familiar with it through SV, so I think we could make it one dangerous.
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It depends on several factors that we have no clue about, so it's hard to say whether it's better or not. If each seed lasts long enough... the idea of tormenting a witch for hundreds of thousands of years or more for the sake of continued grief production is extremely unpleasant, but hard to surpass efficiency-wise.
Left this bit out, but wanted to note that it wouldn't actually be that dangerous for the girls. I envisaged all the soul gems on a secure table on the sidelines with someone constantly cleansing them, while the girls went all out on the field. No risk of accidentally breaking soul gems, and any physical injuries are trivial to fix.
The idea just popped up while trying to come up with some way to bypass the problematic limits that make most suggested solutions thus far just mean that Kyuubey can keep using the witch system on top of anything Sabrina offered. The fact that it helps resolve so many different issues (including the masquerade and logistics) meant I didn't even try to come up with a project 2.
However, as always, the idea can't go anywhere until we get some solid numbers from Kyuubey. Perhaps we can arrange a longer talk with him later, rather than getting some quick questions answered now, but we need to talk to him.
- Location
- spinning
@Kinematics:
Well, in that case Scenario 2 still requires the incubators to go out their way to torture the witches.
If it is just default always-on behaviour that they extract from, then keeping them on earth and feeding them marbles from filled up seeds makes no difference.
However, if they torture then bootstrap/investment thing is needed.
As for sport, hence why "most-damaging" instead of dangerous. It doesn't really make use of their magic abilities, however...Maybe use that XKCD Bizarro-verse for american football instead at least, what's with it's 1,2 deaths per match.
Well, in that case Scenario 2 still requires the incubators to go out their way to torture the witches.
If it is just default always-on behaviour that they extract from, then keeping them on earth and feeding them marbles from filled up seeds makes no difference.
However, if they torture then bootstrap/investment thing is needed.
As for sport, hence why "most-damaging" instead of dangerous
. It doesn't really make use of their magic abilities, however...Maybe use that XKCD Bizarro-verse for american football instead at least, what's with it's 1,2 deaths per match.I'm not going to pretend to be able to make up a proper sport for this offhand. Whatever it is is going to need to account for the superhuman abilities and meta-abilities of all the players. Figure it's not really an issue until this is even confirmed as workable (and for that we need numbers).As for sport, hence why "most-damaging" instead of dangerous
- Location
- A friendly desert community
Quidditch.
(Also I love your plan. I want this to happen longterm. My MSY sense is tingling...
)Kyousuke-monk is also a plan that would be hilarious. 'Miracles! Nervous systems--how do they work???'
- Location
- Germany
I do not see Kyuubey agreeing to us lifting the masquerade since this would after a time lead people to start asking certain questions that would endanger his supply of new willing meguca- and i do not think even our spectacular capabillity to wring the last bit of grief from a seed would offset that danger .Then there is the proven reluctance of the Incubators to allow for changes in their MO...
Onmur
Archangel of Nutella.
I'm seeing this in a new light:
Under the Radar pt. 11
You consider the masses of Grief that's been trailing you around the whole day. It's currently hidden in the manicured greenery around you, but that can't really stand. You turn off the main path, slipping away from the crowds.
"Mami, Homura?" you call out telepathically as you turn a corner down a sidepath. You pace up and down, making sure that there's no one to observe you.
"Sabrina? Is something wrong?" Mami replies immediately. "School's almost done, I'll be right out!"
"Yes?" Homura asks, the quiet question almost drowned out by Mami.
"No, there's nothing wrong," you reassure Mami first. "I'm near the school, actually, but I'm going to do something with the Grief really quick, and uh, if you sense something Witchy nearby, that's just me."
"Noted," Homura says.
"O-oh, OK," Mami says. "Be careful, please?"
To your surprise, Homura interjects. "Mami, I doubt there is much that Sabrina can't handle."
"O-of course," Mami says hastily. "Just..."
"I'll be careful," you say, pulling Aurora's Seed out of your pocket. You focus, and Grief begins pouring back in, endless, ropy streams of deep purple funelling down into the tiny orb. "And I'll see the both of you soon, OK?"
"Yes," Homura agrees.
"See you soon, Sabrina," Mami says.
You sigh as that connection closes. But you've business to handle and no time for dawdling - you're on the clock, after all. Homura's little book of Witches you slip into your bag, still encased securely in its shell of Grief. You focus on packing away the Grief back into Aurora quickly, and finally... "Kyuubey."
"You've caused me a significant amount of work, Sabrina." Kyuubey's telepathic, child-like voice sounds in your head instantly, accompanied by its white-furred form slinking out from the bushes.
"Your problem, not mine," you say with a hint of satisfaction as you slide Aurora's Grief Seed into a pocket. "I have Grief for you."
"Very well," Kyuubey says. It turns around and sits on its haunches, the aperture on its back sliding open obligingly.
With a grand wave of your arms, you gather the majority of the Grief before you, a tremendous mass of spheres drifting in the air, loosely gathered into a granulated cloud. You make a fist, and will the majority of the Grief down into small, incredibly dense lumps. Two of them. The signal of Witch sings in your senses, sharp and acrid.
Kyuubey tilts its head, half turning to fix you with its unblinking red gaze.
"Will this be a problem, Kyuubey?" you ask, with a careless gesture at the Grief. You direct the remaining, uncompacted portions of Grief -a nice round one thousand- into your slingbag
"It shouldn't be!" Kyuubey says. "Please deposit one in my back."
A crook of your finger directs one of the tiny lumps into Kyuubey's back - it vanishes from your senses an instant after it passes the threshold. The cover slides shut, and Kyuubey wiggles on the spot, busy tail waving in the air behind it. "This is acceptable," it declares a moment later.
"Right," you say, bringing down the next compressed sphere of Grief. It hums in your senses, declaring its presence to all who might be able to detect it. Kyuubey obligingly slides its back open, and you drop the transmuted Grief in.
"What have you been trying to accomplish with the Grief Seeds, Sabrina?" Kyuubey asks as it accepts the new lump.
"Sorry, I'm not taking any questions," you say, pulling out your phone and checking the time. Two minutes to make it to the school... You turn, and begin walking away. "Bye, Kyuubey."
Kyuubey doesn't follow you, sitting in the middle of the path and watching with its unblinking, glassy stare.
You break out into a brisk trot, and make it to the school gates just as the school bell rings to signal the end of the school day, audible even from out here. The voices of the students rise to a hubbub, a few people beginning to trickle out in ones and twos.
Mami bursts from the school doors a moment later, school bag in hand. Her head swivels wildly as she hunts for you, and upon spotting you standing outside the gate, runs over, golden drills bouncing. She slows to a walk as she approaches, expression becoming apprehensive. Fearful and apprehensive, afraid that you've found some reason to discard her.
Your heart aches at the sight. Mami... shouldn't be this way. She shouldn't be jumping at shadows, worried that the slightest mistake she makes will offend you. She shouldn't be terrified of being alone.
But this is something that will take time to heal. Time, and friendship, and acceptance.
You smile at her, hiding your own worry, and you hold out a hand to her. She reaches out and takes it in her own, fingers interlacing with your own.
"I'm here," you say, squeezing her fingers between yours. "I'm here, Mami."
Mami takes a shuddering breath. "I... yes," she says.
"Mami! Sabrina!" A familiar, boisterous shout.
You look up to see Sayaka, Madoka, and Hitomi approaching, Homura trailing a step behind. Sayaka's carrying a bag in either hand - her own and Hitomi's, you guess, considering that Hitomi isn't carrying one. Madoka waves at you.
You wave back with your free hand, smiling at them. "Hey, everyone," you call.
"Hi, Sabrina!" Madoka says.
"Hello," Hitomi greets you, dipping her head slightly to you.
"Hello, Sabrina," Homura says in her quiet voice.
"Hi, Sabrina!" Sayaka says brightly, stopping and placing one bag on the floor. "Have I ever mentioned how it's so unfair you don't have to go to school?"
"No, you haven't," you say, rolling your eyes.
"Well, it totally is," she says.
You shrug. "Well, it's not like I haven't been keeping busy. How's school been?"
"Eh, same old, same old," Sayaka says.
"Miss Saotome broke up with her boyfriend again," Madoka offers.
Hitomi shakes her head slowly. "Miss Saotome has terrible taste in boyfriends," she opines.
Homura nods. "She does."
Sayaka starts, eyeing the time traveller with an annoyed look, but doesn't say anything.
"Say, are we waiting for anything?" you say, gesturing down the road.
"Ah... my father's sending his driver to pick me up," Hitomi says, dipping her head with an embarassed blush. "I told him it wasn't necessary, but..." Her exasperated shrug speaks volumes.
"Yeah, that," Sayaka says, her earlier exuberance gone.
"Ah, I see," you say. You glance at Mami. "Hey Mami, do you mind if we invite everybody over tonight? Nagisa, too?"
Mami looks over at you. "Sure! You don't have to ask, Sabrina."
"Maybe not, but I should," you tell Mami, smiling at her. You look at the others, and ask, "So, hey, would you girls like to come over tonight?"
"Ah, sure," Sayaka says. "I think my parents wouldn't mind me out for a bit, anyway..." She reaches into her pocket and pulls out her phone, rapidly tapping out a message.
Madoka nods, beaming. "I'd like that!"
"Thank you for the offer, but I'm expected home," Hitomi says, shaking her head ruefully.
Homura nods silently.
"Alright then!" you say, clapping your hands together. "And I'd like to invite Nagisa too," you add, reaching for your own phone with your free hand.
Madoka beams at you.
You dial Shin's phone number, and wait while it rings. A car pulls up while you wait, a sleek thing that you don't recognize the make of, and an older man emerges to open the door for Hitomi. The green haired girl gives him a severe frown for that. Sayaka holds out the bag that's still in her arms for Hitomi, and she accepts it with a smile, before saying her goodbyes.
"Bye, Hitomi," you say as the phone continues to ring - before being cancelled.
You frown down at your phone, and it buzzes with a message a moment later: Currently in a meeting.
Whoops.
You thumb-type a message in response. Sorry, was wondering if I could invite Nagisa over today? In response to Mami's questioning look, you reply, "Nagisa's uncle is in a meeting, apparently."
Mami nods. "Shall we start heading home?"
"Yes, let's," you agree. You keep your phone in hand as you start walking, angling towards home. "Say... Mami?" you ask a moment later, as Homura draws abreast of you, Madoka and Sayaka just behind and beginning their own conversation.
"Yes, Sabrina?" she asks, giving you a smile.
"Um... you used to be in the archery club?" you ask, as you idly thumb the button for the crossing at a traffic light.
"Oh, yes," Mami says. "I had to quit, though, because being a magical girl took up a lot of time."
"Ah," you say. "What kind of bow did you shoot, anyway?" Your phone vibrates in your hand - a message arriving. Tomorrow would be better.
"Umm... just a yumi. A smaller one," Mami says. You glance up from typing a reply -OK.- to see a look of faint confusion on her face.
"No western bows," Homura volunteers quietly.
A look of understanding dawns on Mami's face. "Ah, yes," she affirms, giving Homura a nod. "We only had yumi in the archery club, not the western style bows."
"Ah, I see. But aren't those..." you gesture well above your head, indicating the extreme height of the typical Japanese bow.
"Yes, they are," Mami says, nodding.
"Wow, that must've been quite fun," you say, trying to picture it.
"It was," Mami agrees. "But, ah, I guess I just don't have the time for it any more..."
You squeeze her hand comfortingly, and try to change the subject. "Say, Madoka, how about you?" you call, looking over your shoulder at her.
"A-ah?" the pinkette looks at you, confused.
"What clubs are you in?" you ask her.
"Oh! I'm in the Gardening and Crafts clubs," she says.
"Softball here," Sayaka says, still looking subdued. Madoka gives her a concerned look that the bluenette doesn't seem to notice, before giving you a worried glance. You shrug, puzzled.
"I haven't joined any clubs yet," Homura offers. "I don't think I will."
"Ah, yes," Mami says. "There's never enough time, right, Homura?"
Homura nods, and the conversation lapses after that.
[] Write-in
Yumi, Japanese bows, are typically two meters or so tall.
The next conversation will bring you home, so vote accordingly.
"Mami, Homura?" you call out telepathically as you turn a corner down a sidepath. You pace up and down, making sure that there's no one to observe you.
"Sabrina? Is something wrong?" Mami replies immediately. "School's almost done, I'll be right out!"
"Yes?" Homura asks, the quiet question almost drowned out by Mami.
"No, there's nothing wrong," you reassure Mami first. "I'm near the school, actually, but I'm going to do something with the Grief really quick, and uh, if you sense something Witchy nearby, that's just me."
"Noted," Homura says.
"O-oh, OK," Mami says. "Be careful, please?"
To your surprise, Homura interjects. "Mami, I doubt there is much that Sabrina can't handle."
"O-of course," Mami says hastily. "Just..."
"I'll be careful," you say, pulling Aurora's Seed out of your pocket. You focus, and Grief begins pouring back in, endless, ropy streams of deep purple funelling down into the tiny orb. "And I'll see the both of you soon, OK?"
"Yes," Homura agrees.
"See you soon, Sabrina," Mami says.
You sigh as that connection closes. But you've business to handle and no time for dawdling - you're on the clock, after all. Homura's little book of Witches you slip into your bag, still encased securely in its shell of Grief. You focus on packing away the Grief back into Aurora quickly, and finally... "Kyuubey."
"You've caused me a significant amount of work, Sabrina." Kyuubey's telepathic, child-like voice sounds in your head instantly, accompanied by its white-furred form slinking out from the bushes.
"Your problem, not mine," you say with a hint of satisfaction as you slide Aurora's Grief Seed into a pocket. "I have Grief for you."
"Very well," Kyuubey says. It turns around and sits on its haunches, the aperture on its back sliding open obligingly.
With a grand wave of your arms, you gather the majority of the Grief before you, a tremendous mass of spheres drifting in the air, loosely gathered into a granulated cloud. You make a fist, and will the majority of the Grief down into small, incredibly dense lumps. Two of them. The signal of Witch sings in your senses, sharp and acrid.
Kyuubey tilts its head, half turning to fix you with its unblinking red gaze.
"Will this be a problem, Kyuubey?" you ask, with a careless gesture at the Grief. You direct the remaining, uncompacted portions of Grief -a nice round one thousand- into your slingbag
"It shouldn't be!" Kyuubey says. "Please deposit one in my back."
A crook of your finger directs one of the tiny lumps into Kyuubey's back - it vanishes from your senses an instant after it passes the threshold. The cover slides shut, and Kyuubey wiggles on the spot, busy tail waving in the air behind it. "This is acceptable," it declares a moment later.
"Right," you say, bringing down the next compressed sphere of Grief. It hums in your senses, declaring its presence to all who might be able to detect it. Kyuubey obligingly slides its back open, and you drop the transmuted Grief in.
"What have you been trying to accomplish with the Grief Seeds, Sabrina?" Kyuubey asks as it accepts the new lump.
"Sorry, I'm not taking any questions," you say, pulling out your phone and checking the time. Two minutes to make it to the school... You turn, and begin walking away. "Bye, Kyuubey."
Kyuubey doesn't follow you, sitting in the middle of the path and watching with its unblinking, glassy stare.
You break out into a brisk trot, and make it to the school gates just as the school bell rings to signal the end of the school day, audible even from out here. The voices of the students rise to a hubbub, a few people beginning to trickle out in ones and twos.
Mami bursts from the school doors a moment later, school bag in hand. Her head swivels wildly as she hunts for you, and upon spotting you standing outside the gate, runs over, golden drills bouncing. She slows to a walk as she approaches, expression becoming apprehensive. Fearful and apprehensive, afraid that you've found some reason to discard her.
Your heart aches at the sight. Mami... shouldn't be this way. She shouldn't be jumping at shadows, worried that the slightest mistake she makes will offend you. She shouldn't be terrified of being alone.
But this is something that will take time to heal. Time, and friendship, and acceptance.
You smile at her, hiding your own worry, and you hold out a hand to her. She reaches out and takes it in her own, fingers interlacing with your own.
"I'm here," you say, squeezing her fingers between yours. "I'm here, Mami."
Mami takes a shuddering breath. "I... yes," she says.
"Mami! Sabrina!" A familiar, boisterous shout.
You look up to see Sayaka, Madoka, and Hitomi approaching, Homura trailing a step behind. Sayaka's carrying a bag in either hand - her own and Hitomi's, you guess, considering that Hitomi isn't carrying one. Madoka waves at you.
You wave back with your free hand, smiling at them. "Hey, everyone," you call.
"Hi, Sabrina!" Madoka says.
"Hello," Hitomi greets you, dipping her head slightly to you.
"Hello, Sabrina," Homura says in her quiet voice.
"Hi, Sabrina!" Sayaka says brightly, stopping and placing one bag on the floor. "Have I ever mentioned how it's so unfair you don't have to go to school?"
"No, you haven't," you say, rolling your eyes.
"Well, it totally is," she says.
You shrug. "Well, it's not like I haven't been keeping busy. How's school been?"
"Eh, same old, same old," Sayaka says.
"Miss Saotome broke up with her boyfriend again," Madoka offers.
Hitomi shakes her head slowly. "Miss Saotome has terrible taste in boyfriends," she opines.
Homura nods. "She does."
Sayaka starts, eyeing the time traveller with an annoyed look, but doesn't say anything.
"Say, are we waiting for anything?" you say, gesturing down the road.
"Ah... my father's sending his driver to pick me up," Hitomi says, dipping her head with an embarassed blush. "I told him it wasn't necessary, but..." Her exasperated shrug speaks volumes.
"Yeah, that," Sayaka says, her earlier exuberance gone.
"Ah, I see," you say. You glance at Mami. "Hey Mami, do you mind if we invite everybody over tonight? Nagisa, too?"
Mami looks over at you. "Sure! You don't have to ask, Sabrina."
"Maybe not, but I should," you tell Mami, smiling at her. You look at the others, and ask, "So, hey, would you girls like to come over tonight?"
"Ah, sure," Sayaka says. "I think my parents wouldn't mind me out for a bit, anyway..." She reaches into her pocket and pulls out her phone, rapidly tapping out a message.
Madoka nods, beaming. "I'd like that!"
"Thank you for the offer, but I'm expected home," Hitomi says, shaking her head ruefully.
Homura nods silently.
"Alright then!" you say, clapping your hands together. "And I'd like to invite Nagisa too," you add, reaching for your own phone with your free hand.
Madoka beams at you.
You dial Shin's phone number, and wait while it rings. A car pulls up while you wait, a sleek thing that you don't recognize the make of, and an older man emerges to open the door for Hitomi. The green haired girl gives him a severe frown for that. Sayaka holds out the bag that's still in her arms for Hitomi, and she accepts it with a smile, before saying her goodbyes.
"Bye, Hitomi," you say as the phone continues to ring - before being cancelled.
You frown down at your phone, and it buzzes with a message a moment later: Currently in a meeting.
Whoops.
You thumb-type a message in response. Sorry, was wondering if I could invite Nagisa over today? In response to Mami's questioning look, you reply, "Nagisa's uncle is in a meeting, apparently."
Mami nods. "Shall we start heading home?"
"Yes, let's," you agree. You keep your phone in hand as you start walking, angling towards home. "Say... Mami?" you ask a moment later, as Homura draws abreast of you, Madoka and Sayaka just behind and beginning their own conversation.
"Yes, Sabrina?" she asks, giving you a smile.
"Um... you used to be in the archery club?" you ask, as you idly thumb the button for the crossing at a traffic light.
"Oh, yes," Mami says. "I had to quit, though, because being a magical girl took up a lot of time."
"Ah," you say. "What kind of bow did you shoot, anyway?" Your phone vibrates in your hand - a message arriving. Tomorrow would be better.
"Umm... just a yumi. A smaller one," Mami says. You glance up from typing a reply -OK.- to see a look of faint confusion on her face.
"No western bows," Homura volunteers quietly.
A look of understanding dawns on Mami's face. "Ah, yes," she affirms, giving Homura a nod. "We only had yumi in the archery club, not the western style bows."
"Ah, I see. But aren't those..." you gesture well above your head, indicating the extreme height of the typical Japanese bow.
"Yes, they are," Mami says, nodding.
"Wow, that must've been quite fun," you say, trying to picture it.
"It was," Mami agrees. "But, ah, I guess I just don't have the time for it any more..."
You squeeze her hand comfortingly, and try to change the subject. "Say, Madoka, how about you?" you call, looking over your shoulder at her.
"A-ah?" the pinkette looks at you, confused.
"What clubs are you in?" you ask her.
"Oh! I'm in the Gardening and Crafts clubs," she says.
"Softball here," Sayaka says, still looking subdued. Madoka gives her a concerned look that the bluenette doesn't seem to notice, before giving you a worried glance. You shrug, puzzled.
"I haven't joined any clubs yet," Homura offers. "I don't think I will."
"Ah, yes," Mami says. "There's never enough time, right, Homura?"
Homura nods, and the conversation lapses after that.
[] Write-in
=====
Yumi, Japanese bows, are typically two meters or so tall.
The next conversation will bring you home, so vote accordingly.
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Onmur
Archangel of Nutella.
Yeah Mami, stop shadowrunning, already.Firnagzen said:
Just exactly what's what up with the blueberry?
Maybe it's the reminder that she's living off the Shizuki's kindness, due to the fire?
It was always onto us.
Aranfan
Team Plasma Grunt
Wait, Kyuubey can talk without telepathy?
CompassJimbo
Where’s Your North?
- Location
- The former Rubber Capital of the World
[X] Converse with the girls about what they did at school
[X] Ping Mami and ask her if we should drop the lichbomb once we've arrived at her apartment.
[X] Tell her that Nagisa's not coming over. Not today, anyway.
[X] Ping Mami and ask her if we should drop the lichbomb once we've arrived at her apartment.
[X] Tell her that Nagisa's not coming over. Not today, anyway.
- Location
- spinning
Hm. What I take away from this that Kyubey has probably some variant of scenario 3 - even if he can't get grief from seed directly, let it hatch and eat the barrier empty, given he can process transmutated grief. This means that Sabrina would be simply different method, as far as getting grief from seeds goes.
Sayaka might also be down due not being in hospital with Kyosuke anymore
Sayaka might also be down due not being in hospital with Kyosuke anymore
Jackercracks
In a British accent
- Location
- England
He might be able to get grief from barriers directly, but just finds it more efficient to have magical girls do it. More trauma that way, so more witches created and less work for him. The bastard.
Of course, we wouldn't be the only Mitakihara meguca with a hero complex...