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Puella Magi Adfligo Systema

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Hm. Sayaka seems to get the power, but none of the innate skill and control that magical girls normally have when it comes to their power.

And she didn't get the wind power from Mika. No wind to properly set the atmosphere for us.
 
Firnagzen said:
And hypnosis, I think."
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And like that we can automate powers. We now win. Forever. GG people.
Guilop said:
Hm. Sayaka seems to get the power, but none of the innate skill and control that magical girls normally have when it comes to their power.

And she didn't get the wind power from Mika. No wind to properly set the atmosphere for us.
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We should really get a cape of +5 dramatic flapping in the breeze at some point.
 
Firnagzen said:
And hypnosis, I think."
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I wonder if it's like mind control/fuckery like that one meguca that kept controlling witches and screwed with Oriko, or if it's like more traditional trance hypnosis.

Also, since OP shared the music he uses while he writes the story, I'll share the music I think of while reading the story, since I don't listen to music too often while I read this (I'm just copy pasting the link since this is mobile and super late at night)
 
Um, help? I took a break from the thread again and I don't remember what threadmark I was on. Again. Last thing I remember was visiting Oriko and Kirika with Mami and Making progress with Oriko. I think.
 
It's beginning to dawn on me that I have really bad timing when it comes to posting things that I actually want other people to read. :V
 
As for what to do, I imagine letting Nadia know that we got a lead on someone we've been keeping an eye out for and taking a quick sweep of the industrial district wouldn't take all that long. Might want to start of Oriko's little hideaway, as it's entirely possible she bumped into it and has been squatting there the last few days, and given that witches are being drawn to Mitakihara she may well have been keeping herself afloat.

Edit: Alternately, see if Homura's willing to take a quick look herself.
 
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Firnagzen said:
"Here," Yuuki says decisively, pulling up a map of Mitakihara and zooming in on a location out to the east. You recognise it, even in glowing, translucent light - you've been there often enough. The old industrial district.
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Some good news: it's still in Mitakihara and not Kasamino. We don't need to worry about involving Kyouko.

(Wouldn't entering a Barrier cause the same kind of sudden loss of signal? I assume that radio waves can't travel in or out of one.)

Even though we're probably several days too late to do any good, I don't want to just give up on Kuroki without at least trying to save her.

I see three options, here:

1. Do it ourselves. Fly a search pattern over the area before going to Sendai and sense for meguca or Barrier with our grief sense.

2. Delegate. We asked Masami and Hiroko yesterday if they'd be willing to do a mission for us for the express purpose of having them look for Kuroki if we got a hit on the phone trace.

3. Do both. Call up Masami and Hiroko, search until we have to leave, then let them continue the search after we're gone.

I'd prefer to do #3. We should do at least some of the searching ourselves, in case our grief sense is the only way to overcome Kuroki's stealth powers, and the trip to Ishinomaki only took about an hour so we've got lots of daylight left.
 
Muramasa said:
Can we take a moment to set up speckled enchantments? Something to suppress the feeling of active grief and then compress what we have into our bag?
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I doubt it'd work, but should be a thing to try if we're gonna do other enchantments.

So, this is a good opportunity, actually.

We can:

[:V]- Ask Nadia if she wants to see something cool. Grief is amazing![/:V]
- Remind Mami about the anti pain ring Speckled Enchantment. Did it feel all that witchy? Does she think we could make a few enchantments like that and carry them around without being too obvious?
- If so, consult with Mami and Nadia which sort of Enchantments you should make. You'll want protective enchantments, enchantments to boost your senses, maybe a telepathy enchantment so you can telepathy with Mami without going through KB... what else?
- And try a Speckled Enchantment that'd suppress the witchy feeling.
- Let Mami and Nadia analyze any Speckled Enchantments you make, if they want to try and copy them.
 
Retsof said:
So uh, I forget the backstory for this particular sidequest?
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Took a little longer to compile this than it should have. The quote function was acting up.

PREVIOUSLY ON PUELLA MAGI ADFLIGO SYSTEMA....

Firnagzen said:
Homura considers that for a moment. "Kuroki Matsuko," she says. "She is... typically a magical girl about now."

"Typically?" you ask.

"The Incubator tends to seek her out after Sayaka becomes a magical girl," Homura says. "She is... a strong, but emotionally fragile magical girl."
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Firnagzen said:
"So... about that girl you mentioned, Kuroki Matsuko?" you say. "What can you tell me about her?"

"Her powers are better for hiding than anything else," Homura says. "She's very withdrawn. Avoids people."

"Hmm," you say, summoning the Grief blob carrying your notebook. "Well- actually, if she becomes a Witch, could you point out which one for me?"

Homura nods, expression flat. She grabs the notebook and pages through it rapidly. "This one," she says, pointing it out to you.

A doll-like Witch, you read in Homura's neat handwriting. A giant doll with huge, frizzy blonde hair and a pink vest. Tries to hide, while Familiars in cartoon planes dive bomb attackers.

Interesting.
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Firnagzen said:
You tap your chin, eyeing the notebook. The Witch sounds familiar to you.

Not exactly relevant at the moment, though. Unless perhaps it is.

"So... Homura," you say, tucking the notebook away again into its little sphere of Grief. "If we find this Kuriki, do you think we can keep her alive?"

"Kuroki," Homura corrects. "Kuroki Matsuko. I..." she glances away. "I think you can. But I don't think she's worth the effort. Even less than Miki Sayaka."

"Ah," you say, pressing your lips together. There's more than a bit of that going around, huh. Not so much killing her as unwilling to save her, but still.

You exhale. "Well, thank you for the information, and your opinion," you say, smiling at Homura. "It's always appreciated."
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Firnagzen said:
It's... you have better things to do. You need to go and see what Kyouko wants - and she does want something, and maybe you could go and see about Kuroki if you had time.
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Firnagzen said:
You walk over to the computer, tucked away in a corner, and boot it up. You'll look up that girl Homura mentioned - Kuroki Matsuko. You have a name, and presumably she's living around Mitakihara. That's enough of a starting point for you to try searching her up.

And so you do, keeping a sharp eye on the clock. Phone directory... Facebook that hasn't seen much use. Hm. Catholic school, it seems like. Seisen International. No listed address, though, but that's somewhere to start searching. She doesn't seem to have done anything particularly noteworthy, in terms of her academics or school competitions.

Well. Your eyes flick over to the clock again. Time to go.
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Firnagzen said:
"Eh," Kirika says. You can hear the grimace in her voice. "Worried. Whatcha need?"

You hide the grimace, a tiny pang of guilt spiking at you. "Well. Just a little thing - if you have the time, try and find a Kuroki Matsuko on the Internet? I tried, but I didn't have the time to finish it."
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Firnagzen said:
"OK," Kirika agrees. "Tomorrow. You in a rush about that Kuroki girl, by the way?"

Mami raises her eyebrows at you, smiling. "Hm?"

"Sooner is better than later, but..." you consider for a moment. "In your time."
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Firnagzen said:
"Say, Sabrina?" Mami asks, between dainty bites. "What was that printout you asked Miss Kure for?"

"Oh," you say. Well. There's a matter of some contention with yourself, isn't it? You've been dickering over whether you should spend some time to do something with that information or not. "Uh, I had Kirika do some research for me, because she has a lot of time spare to spend on the Internet and all, yeah?"

Mami nods, scarfing down some fish.

"There's a magical girl named Kuroki who hasn't been seen in the last few days," you explain. "And, uh-"

Mami smiles at you. "You want to look for her?"

"I'm not going anywhere," you say, reaching across the table to cover her hand. "I might want to spare a bit of time to try some Grief devices to see if I can locate her later, but I'm going nowhere. I'm here, Mami, and this -you- are important to me." You sigh. "She's been missing for a few days. An hour or two won't make much of a difference."
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Firnagzen said:
With Grief in hand, you focus. Your attention sharpens on the blob of Grief, will and need moulding and shaping it. You need Kuroki's contact information. Will and need and control and a touch of fiat.

By my will be done.

A single card forms in your hand - not so much a book as a faux-business card of finely pressed linen paper, smooth and glossy to the touch. It sings of Witch in your mind, but that's alright. Printed across it in gold-embossed words are a single phone number and a name.

Mami stirs, lifting her head a little from your shoulder to peer curiously at the card. "Is that it?" she asks.

"Yup," you agree, sighing. You can't help but wonder if it would have been better to check Homura's book of Witches - you'd be able to check the worst case scenario, too. But then, you can't leave Mami right now, and you can't let her see the book, either.

"Isn't that a good thing, Sabrina?" Mami asks, her gaze flicking up to you.

"Yeah, but... I mean, if she's been missing for four days, I can't imagine no one's tried calling her yet," you say. Nevertheless, you grab your phone from your bag with a few marbles of Grief.

You set the card down on your lap -you only have the one free hand, since not hugging Mami is obviously not an option- and snatch the phone from the air, eyeing the charge. It's been a few days since you've charged it; probably time to charge it again. Later, though.

You flip it open and dial.

"Sorry, the number you have dialed is unavailable." An automated message is the only response you get.

You scowl.

"Nothing?" Mami asks, her mouth tugging into a disappointed expression.

"Nope," you agree, heaving a sigh. "It was a long shot, anyway."

Mami sighs too, burrowing her head against your shoulder. "What's next?"

"Next I check in with Ishinomaki," you say. "Confirm that they're good for tomorrow, and to see if... Well, they have a girl who does tech, right? Magical hacking and so on. Maybe she could try and track the phone or something."
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Firnagzen said:
"Right. One more thing... I want to commission your sister for two things, but I'm not sure what she's capable of?" you ask.

"Ah, familiar territory," Yuuna says. "What do you require?"

"Well, do you know if she can track a phone from her phone number?" you ask.

"Ah. Yes, she can do that," Yuuna says. "I take it this is partial payment for the cleansing?"

"I- well, no, that's free of charge," you say. "But I'd take it as a favour. The number is..." You read it off the little card.

"Noted," Yuuna says, voice guarded. "I'll tell Yuuki. What was the other thing?"

"Well... I was wondering if she can do anything like create a legal identity?" you ask.

"I... have no idea," Yuuna admits. "I can check with her. Later. Why do you need it?"

"I, uh, don't have one. And I'd appreciate it," you say. "In that case, I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Presumably so," Yuuna responds, and ends the call.
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Firnagzen said:
"Ahem," you say, interrupting rather pointedly. "Good to hear things are going... OK. Hey, I might need a favour from you girls at some point, to help to find someone? Not at the moment, I'm following up on some other things at the moment, but I'll be happy to pay you for it if I need your help?"

"We'd be happy to," Hiroko says. "Right, Masami?"

"Right, right," Masami says. "Yeah, let us know. We can bring Ono along, too!"

"That's the idea," you allow, and exchange a few more pleasantries before ending the call. You relax against the sofa -and Mami- with a satisfied little noise. That's all done, then, and with about half an hour to spare before the picnic. Which means it's time to go, really.
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Windlass said:
We've gotta offload some of this grief...
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If we don't want to give it to Kyubey, investigating the grief obelisk route still seems totally in theme for this quest. Giving out the viral grief I talked about in the past like candy so we can get the materials for a grief tower providing cleansing to the entire planet? Working with people to achieve something that may take years to do on our own? Definitely seems like a monument to the power of cooperation.
 
Why have we not been giving it to bunnycat? Sure he is rather unpleasant, but there aren't many other options at the moment...
 
Retsof said:
Why have we not been giving it to bunnycat? Sure he is rather unpleasant, but there aren't many other options at the moment...
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I think it mostly has to do with his presence upsetting Mami, and people not wanting to leave Mami's side for any length of time.

We probably should just step away for a few minutes later to deal with it, but if nothing else we should be able to offload it while she's in school tomorrow.
 
The Narrator said:
I think it mostly has to do with his presence upsetting Mami, and people not wanting to leave Mami's side for any length of time.

We probably should just step away for a few minutes later to deal with it, but if nothing else we should be able to offload it while she's in school tomorrow.
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There's a very, very obvious practical issue with that mentality. Like seriously, can't we just call Kyubey to offload grief the next time we step out and go to the bathroom?
 
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