I wouldn't worry about that. If anything, the fact that we're taking precautions should be reassuring, since if there's one concern Mami has consistently expressed since the beginning, it's that Sabrina needs to take her own safety more seriously.
It's possible to be both worried that someone keeps carelessly risking injury and hurt that they don't trust you. Mami's not expressing that Sabrina needs to take her own safety with regards to Mami more seriously.
I wouldn't worry about that. If anything, the fact that we're taking precautions should be reassuring, since if there's one concern Mami has consistently expressed since the beginning, it's that Sabrina needs to take her own safety more seriously.
Seconding Torg. Saying that we don't trust Mami won't help our case. And, to be honest, we don't need to? Like we could subdue Mami in seconds by rotating our stored grief out of hammerspace and into all her organs. (Or if we can't directly do that rotate it around Mami and *then* into her organs). Well, there's probably some methods that are *less* violent but I think my point is made. If we use our powers to their fullest extent then we could beat her.
But, we probably shouldn't consider that an option. For obvious reasons.
EDIT: On a somewhat lighter note, it occurs to me that the crux of Sabrina's explanation for how the Witchbomb is less of a problem in this timeline is literally "everything will be alright because I am here."
I want to use privacy to keep Kyubey from butting in to the middle of the conversation and dropping a turd at a critical moment like he did when we lichbombed Mami. This is about keeping the rat out of the conversation until it's over, not about keeping him from learning anything specific from it.
As to disarming, I don't particularly care one way or the other. I think it's a basic, sensible precaution and Mami would understand it as such, but I'm not married to it. If others think it's counterproductive, I'm fine not doing it.
As for Mami's thought process, another consideration is that she isn't necessarily thinking in terms of the suffering the Witch experiences, but is perhaps thinking in terms of the suffering the Witch inflicts.
Think of a zombie movie where someone got bitten. There's a period of time before they turn but the outcome isn't in question. The Witchbomb is that you and your Magical Girl friends have all been bitten. You might be able to delay the transformation for a time, but it will happen eventually if you don't die first. And what is presented as the correct response in a zombie movie to someone finding out they or a loved one has been bitten?
The ones who get everyone killed are the ones who hold out hope that maybe they're immune or can find a cure before they turn, hide the zombie bite from the other survivors and eventually turn anyway.
I am not saying anyone has to agree with this line of reasoning, whether in PMAS, normal PMMM, or a random Romero zombie flick. I am saying we need to treat this as a line of reasoning Mami may be inclined toward and address the reasoning rather than just rely on making it too emotionally painful for her to pull the trigger.
We ARE working on that cure. We CAN safely contain an infected victim even after they've turned. We DO know that the Saints got close to a cure even with everything that was stacked against them. Sabrina's powers CAN ensure that there will never be a drought of Grief Seeds that leads to a Witch out.
These are things I want to emphasize as a way to address the logical side of Mami's reasoning. But how can we address them if we convince ourselves there was no reasoning?
In terms of that suffering the lack of a witch at that exact moment is countered by the fact that in any situation where someone kills themselves/their friends to prevent witching, witches/familiars from other areas can just mosey on into this magical girl-less area and do their thing just as easily, probably even a little easier until a new girl contracts or moves into the area. Whether or not Kyuubey assists in this by luring witches in or politely informing girls it thinks are to its profit of a free spot, or just sees to contracting replacements right there after, it certainly wouldn't be surprising if it did. Given the time it probably would take for a girl to go south without witches to hunt it wouldn't take very long at all for things to resume, possibly even with interest until a girl more likely to not immediately die comes around (which could be bad in its own way if they farm familiars).
Harm reduction isn't an especially convincing line of argument, and likely wasn't thought deeply on if at all in the perhaps 30 seconds she had been thinking. As for now, the better idea would be to distribute clear seeds or quickly iterate on the Soujuu process until we have something that works for a large number of girls and publish the information on Meguca.jp.net.
Harm reduction isn't an especially convincing line of argument, and likely wasn't thought deeply on if at all in the perhaps 30 seconds she had been thinking.
I maintain the problem is not that she hasn't thought deeply enough about the situation. The problem is that the situation is such that the more deeply you think about it, the more hopeless it becomes. Even your objection to her chosen course of action is simply pointing out ways in which the situation is more hopeless than it seems.
I don't think telling Mami that she's being too optimistic is the right way to make her less suicidal.
Edit:
Seriously, that is what we want, right? Our goal isn't to go debate bro on Mami and demolish her bad arguments with facts and reason. Our goal isn't to make her submit and admit she was wrong. Out goal is to help her process this information and not be broken by its many horrible implications.
We ARE working on that cure. We CAN safely contain an infected victim even after they've turned. We DO know that the Saints got close to a cure even with everything that was stacked against them. Sabrina's powers CAN ensure that there will never be a drought of Grief Seeds that leads to a Witch out.
These are things I want to emphasize as a way to address the logical side of Mami's reasoning. But how can we address them if we convince ourselves there was no reasoning?
I agree that we can use the fact that we *exist* to address any potential concerns that Mami has.
I didn't note them in my mock-plan because I believe that the timeline has diverged enough as to make applying Tetris-logic to PMAS Mami counterproductive. As I've stated, the situation is very different.
So we should keep the fact that we change the equation in mind (Isn't that why we made our Wish?) but we also shouldn't assume that our specific worries are correct before asking her about her thoughts.
Edit: By counterproductive I mean that we will fall into the trap of thinking that Tetris Mami is the same as PMAS Mami, which is false.
I agree that we can use the fact that we *exist* to address any potential concerns that Mami has.
I didn't note them in my mock-plan because I believe that the timeline has diverged enough as to make applying Tetris-logic to PMAS Mami counterproductive. As I've stated, the situation is very different.
So we should keep the fact that we change the equation in mind (Isn't that why we made our Wish?) but we also shouldn't assume that our specific worries are correct before asking her about her thoughts.
Edit: By counterproductive I mean that we will fall into the trap of thinking that Tetris Mami is the same as PMAS Mami, which is false.
Whereas the trap I'm regularly shocked I have to raise a warning about is thinking "nah, it'll be fine" constitutes a plan.
Like, it could work. As I keep arguing, Mami is the smartest member of a cast of very, very smart girls who are all way smarter than they're usually given credit for. She could jump right past Tetris and casually no-sell the Witchbomb because she works out how Sabrina's presence changes the game faster than even she could quick draw a musket.
But I don't want to rely on it. I want to hedge against the possibility that it'll take just a little longer to get to "but with Sabrina none of that applies" than it does to get to "everything is hopeless and we all have to die".
I want to make sure she understands we're taking the problem seriously, and that our confidence we can fix this is well founded and not just another example of us being overconfident and reckless.
I don't see how it's counterproductive to consider things from "Tetris-Mami"'s point of view so we'll have our ducks in a row and be ready to counter that thinking if it does come up. Whether we agree about how likely it is to come up or not.
I think that telling her that "Tetris-Mami" wasn't wrong is a way of establishing that we are taking those worries seriously, and drawing a line between the situation "Tetris-Mami" was in and the situation we're in now. It also serves as a way to get her to open up about those thoughts if they do come rather than stewing on them silently because she assumes we wouldn't accept them as valid thoughts. And it primes her to be ready to look for the "but" that's coming even as her mind whirls through the horrifying implications of the Witchbomb.
I feel like in general, I'm giving the impression I think Tetris is the right call, when I'm trying to say Tetris wasn't wrong given the horrible situation she was in, and using that as a starting point to discuss all the reasons it isn't the right call in this situation.
Because if I thought that was the right call in our current situation, I would be voting to just give Homura a cryptic warning not to tell Kyubey Madoka exists, tell Madoka to make her Law of Cycles wish and done with it. I think we can all do better than that. If I didn't think we could do better, what would the point of any of this be?
So long as we aren't promising some suicide pact (I don't know where I got the impression anyone was suggesting it but I had the impression), I'm fine with most things. If we want to say we do not blame her reaction or think less of her for it that is also fine (I don't blame her for her reaction or think less of her for it. That doesn't require us to say we'd do the same, which I also am not saying anyone here would unless they explicitly say so).
As I've said before, Mami is really smart. The speed at which she put together the pieces fits pretty well with her figuring out the implications of the Witchbomb faster than the others and acting on them immediately during Tetris.
It also fits nicely with her twinging on to Homura acting weird in Rebellion and covertly planting that ribbon on her.
That's why I want to ask her to disarm to the extent that's possible at the start of a Witchbomb conversation, because she will rush ahead of us during that conversation and we'll have to react quickly to get our arguements out before she can act on the same conclusions that led to Tetris the first time. It's also why I want to make sure we've thought this through from her perspective as much as possible ahead of time, rather than suggesting the obvious answer of just telling her and then asking her to talk to us about what she's feeling.
Fresh Meat!
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Yeah also not a fan of the whole disarm stuff really, it kinda suggests we dont trust Mami and also you cant really disarm a Magical girl in a normal way without removing their soul gems.
Honestly knowing Mami I wouldnt even be suprised if she know how to use her ribborns without transforming.
As it is we aren't going to be in nearly as visceral a situation as she was in timeline three, and I think as quick as Mami is, we are faster when we explicitly expect sudden movements. As it is rather hard to maintain an emotional peak for more than a minute or two, and a panic attack for more than about 30 minutes (and that's more on the extreme end), it is improbable for her to react violently out of sheer emotional turmoil without warning after having exhausted herself, provided the vote at the time has listened to what she said and addressed it.
Since everyone here has made it clear we know what Mami has done in other timelines and both understand she wasn't just shooting people because she was crazy, and are willing to bend over backwards to help her feel better and find purpose that helps her do good, she is unlikely to attack Sabrina or herself after having tuckered herself out enough for them to talk.
From what I can tell, a potential Telling Mami About Witches includes two parts
Set-up and telling her
Addressing her concerns
This'll be in two sections, likely with a vote in the middle
Keeping in mind some of the things that were discussed:
Mami Witchbomb Plan:
1) Buy sufficient plushies. These include, but are not limited to: Axolotl, nudibranch, seal, centipede. Note that we should avoid plushies that are primarily white so that Kuybey can't use camouflage to hide among them.
2) Prepare a comfy spot, making it magically private is optional but may be useful. Add plushies.
3) Explain the Witchbomb to Mami in said spot
4) Hugs
5) Ask Mami what her thoughts are
6) Address concerns
Things to keep in mind: The context is different from Tetris. Respect the Mami. We change the equation.
From what I can tell, a potential Telling Mami About Witches includes two parts
Set-up and telling her
Addressing her concerns
This'll be in two sections, likely with a vote in the middle
Keeping in mind some of the things that were discussed:
Mami Witchbomb Plan:
1) Buy sufficient plushies. These include, but are not limited to: Axolotl, nudibranch, seal, centipede. Note that we should avoid plushies that are primarily white so that Kuybey can't use camouflage to hide among them.
2) Prepare a comfy spot, making it magically private is optional but may be useful. Add plushies.
3) Explain the Witchbomb to Mami in said spot
4) Hugs
5) Ask Mami what her thoughts are
6) Address concerns
Things to keep in mind: The context is different from Tetris. Respect the Mami. We change the equation.
1) Kyubey's presence is not required for him to talk or to listen in. He prefers being physically present so he can use body language as part of his manipulations, but it is not strictly required. Avoiding white plushies would be good for the purpose of not triggering Mami with reminders about Kyubey, but it will not do anything to impede him in any way. Time stop or privacy can keep him out. Otherwise, we're trusting him to just not feel like adding in commentary to make things worse during a delicate social situation.
2) We should offer reassurances that things are in fact materially different due to Sabrina's presence immediately before we give the explanation, and go into details about those material differences immediately after explaining the Witchbomb. This is probably a matter of that being obvious to you that we'd do that and it not needing to be stated, but I think being explicit helps.
Imo, the first step to any hypothetical "Witchbomb Mami" plan should be "tell friends who know Mami and the witchbomb that we're thinking about if/when/how we should tell her, and ask for their input".
So the ones that come to mind are...
1: Homura (she's likely to lean towards caution/pessimism but i think her input would still be valuable, and it might be a good idea to inform her beforehand regardless)
2: Sayaka (especially if she gets looped in on the... loops, we could tell her some of how Mami struggled with the Witchbomb in previous loops - though I'm uncertain about going as far as telling her about Tetris)
3: Oriko? (is Umika witchbombed? Maybe we could get her and Oriko alone after this to ask Oriko about any "witchbomb Mami" possibilities she'd seen? Though they would be outdated...)
4: Kirika (she might not be particularly close to Mami but she has been a regular source of advice for Sabrina's Mami-worries, so why not?)
5: Kazumi? (I don't remember whether Kazumi is witchbombed or not)
Also on a bean-related aside: proposal to use "beans" instead of "bomb" when it comes to talking about secrets on the lower end of the cognitohazardousness spectrum. Spilling metabeans, loopbeans, godbeans(debatably), etc.
(EDIT: Basically, using "beans" instead of "bomb" when "bomb" doesn't feel quite right, such as due to the secret not being sufficiently heavy or harmful in a way that warrants calling it a "bomb")
If Umika figured something out, I would have expected her to talk to Niko about it when Niko gave her team the option to learn the horrible truth she'd figured out.
Niko was feeling very alone in knowing the Witchbomb when we talked to her about it, and I don't think Umika would have wanted her to feel alone like that.
[X] I don't know
[X] Speculation:
-[X] Sabrina doesn't exist in the main timeline she knows about through her metaknowledge.
--[X] Incidentally, if that's destiny, fuck destiny.
-[X] Perhaps Sabrina can change things, but Feathers crudely shoves things back on track when Sabrina's back is turned.
-[X] Oriko said Sabrina and Homura working together could change destiny. Perhaps Homura's involvement can "lock in" changes.
--[X] Sabrina and Homura are not united on Oriko. If this is true, fixing that is how we save Oriko.
[X] Oriko questions:
-[X] Can you confirm or deny the speculation?
--[X] If not, what did you mean when you said that?
-[X] In your first answer: Who is "she"? What is the missing fragment? Why is "she" searching for it? Where is it?
[X] Sabrina questions
-[X] Don't conceal answers about Sabrina
[X] Explain Madokami's ascension and the Rebellion
-[X] Don't identify Homura or Madoka
-[X] Don't mention the loops or why Madoka's potential was so high
-[X] Avoid the Witchbomb. The Law of Cycles wish was to eliminate Witches before they're born. Don't elaborate further.
[X] for yourself, Iterate through...
-[X] Everything Oriko wants to ask.
-[X] Your own questions about...
--[X] Your status before you woke up in the alley
--[X] Where your clothes came from (in the alley)
--[X] What you've done when tranced, when it was significant
--[X] What you recall Homura's feathers are supposed to look like
--[X] Why your potential was strange
--[X] Who the voice you've been hearing belongs to
--[X] "Who is dreaming?"
--[X] Where is the missing fragment?
You suck in a breath between your teeth. That's a tricky question to answer, isn't it? You think you know what that might be, but you have to be careful about what you reveal, because much of it isn't yours to reveal. But then, your friends and allies deserve to know, and... maybe this is the time to do it.
"I... don't know," you say, then amend, "Not for sure."
"Not for sure?" Yuki echoes sharply.
"I have speculation," you say. "And..." You sigh. "So. I have speculation that is based on some knowledge of my own about a possible future. Call it a one-off, extremely limited precognitive event, let's say?"
Yuki arches an eyebrow, setting down her teacup and focusing entirely on you. She's not the only one either, the levity fading from Umika's face as she, too, turns her full attention on you, blue eyes intent behind her glasses.
"I have knowledge of a potential future," you say slowly. You've been sitting on these secrets for too long - and maybe you can't reveal the whole truth, but... it's relevant, here and now. "It's by no means guaranteed or anything, but well... if that's destiny, then fuck destiny."
"Ah. Walpurgisnacht?" Yuki says, her expression one of intense concentration. You can practically see the gears whirling behind her eyes, working through the implications with ferocious energy.
"... I was wondering how you knew about that," Umika says. "I actually tried to divine it, but came up empty-handed."
"That's part of it," you say. "But I... OK, so. I..."
You rub your hand over your face, closing your eyes briefly. You've been sitting on this particular secret for so long. And sure, you trust your friends. But you've been sitting on this particular secret for so long, even as it burned to keep these secrets from your friends. And they deserve to know, but you're just... afraid.
Afraid of things going wrong.
Afraid of your friends being scared off.
Afraid of Kyuubey finding out.
A gentle squeeze of your hand grounds you, warm fingers tracing over the back of your palm, then your wrist. You shiver, leaning into Mami's presence even as you manage a smile for her.
"Take your time, Sabrina," Mami says softly. "I'm sure nobody here insists that you tell everything right this moment, right?"
"Certainly not," Yuki says. Her eyes remain intent, but she leans back deliberately. "As Miss Tomoe says - please take your time."
"Right, yeah," you say, taking a shuddering breath, then another. "First. I... some things I will gloss over. Feel free to ask for more detail, and I'll clarify as I can, but... a lot of this is just not my story to tell. It's interwoven with other peoples' stories and secrets, you know?"
You can't help but regret that Sayaka's not here, you have to say. She deserves to know as well, after all.
"Of course," Yuki says, nodding.
"So," you say, chewing on your lower lip. "The Witch that Sayaka was... shoved into? was one that was significant to Sayaka in the future I'm aware of. That much I know for a fact, and also that prior to the intervention of, ah, Feathers, Sayaka was nowhere near that Witch. So I speculate that Feathers was trying to do some kind of... course correction?"
Yuki shudders.
"I hope you take no offense, but that is a terrifying thing to say, Miss Vee," she says.
"... well, it might be slightly more reassuring to note that I can change that future, and I have been working on exactly that to make sure all my friends are safe," you say, meeting her eyes steadily. "I'm... sorry that it's come up like this, but just... Ugh. I hope you understand why I've wanted to be cautious about this whole thing. It's less a can of worms and more Jormungandr in a tin."
"Certainly I understand," Yuki says, inclining her head - but her frown remains unabated, her arms folded within the depths of her cloak. "But I trust you understand in turn my concern."
"Yeah," you say grimacing and rubbing your face. "... Sorry."
"To be clear, I have no intention of breaking off our alliance," Yuki says, turning her glare fully on you. "My word is law, and I remain convinced of the worth of being your ally, especially in the longer term. But I expect you to respect that you are asking a lot of us all. And I think it is far from unreasonable to say that we want to know the full scope of this... issue so I can better understand what I'm facing."
You exhale, quashing the flare of guilt. In some ways, it's almost a relief to be rebuked like this. You've been keeping secrets, and of course people aren't happy with that. And it's not like you're glad to be scolded, but there's a certain rightness to the pushback. You're not the sole person with a stake in this, not the single person guiding your collective courses.
"... more than fair," you admit, squeezing Mami's hand in yours and drawing strength from the touch. "Alright. So. The next thing... the reason I'm confident that we're not particularly doomed or anything is that I'm not in that future that I know about, despite it being something that I would intervene in, you know?"
Mami's hand tightens for a moment, and you can feel the tension abruptly thrumming through her body for a moment before she deliberately relaxes, nestling a little more firmly into your side.
"So you believe your actions are... a sort of spoiler, against that future," Yuki says, pursing her lips. "And... ah, I see. That's the source of your confidence in changing the future that you foresaw. Have you verified this? That is to say, you have definitively encountered an event that you foresaw, and through your actions, caused a different outcome?"
"Yes, I have," you say firmly. "Too many such instances to even begin listing, frankly, and the effects have rippled out, to say the least, and things are already substantially different." You chuckle lightly. "That we're even having this conversation is proof."
"And I can verify it, from a different angle," Oriko says. "Sabrina has defied my foresight many times over."
Silence settles in, thick and cloying and full of busy thoughts - Yuki looking pensive, and Umika looking almost... excited. Contemplative, but excited. Oriko's eyes flick over to you, seafoam green meeting yours for a second, before she smiles slightly and collects her teacup from the table once more, taking the moment to snuggle up against Kirika.
You... have a question on the tip of your tongue. Oriko once said that you and Homura could change destiny, and you want to confirm that. It may just be that without the both of you aligned on a topic, Feathers has an opportunity to slip in.
Homura's come around on Sayaka. Not totally, but thanks to you giving Homura the opportunity to see Sayaka in a different light, Homura's opinion of Sayaka has risen starkly. And you know that Homura knows that Sayaka dying would drag Madoka down, too.
And Feathers hasn't hit Sayaka since that first time. Granted, it was you who opened the door to it affecting the world, somehow, someway, with that incident with your Barrier - and you've been steadfast in not giving it another opportunity since then. Maybe it's just that Feathers hasn't had that opportunity. But you can't help but wonder.
Homura has not changed her opinion on Oriko...
... and Oriko prophesized her own death.
And so the question is: is it simply that you and Homura aren't aligned on the topic?
But.
This is one question you're not willing to voice out loud. Not here. You trust Yuki, and you'll extend the trust to the rest of her group. You trust Umika, and you trust Kazumi and rest of the Saints. But.
You don't know them.
You don't mind the focus on yourself. You're already someone who interacts oddly with magic, with destiny. If they haven't already put two and two together, especially with that entire oddity with Toshimichi Akane, then this conversation, here and now, only highlights it. You made a weird Wish, gaining weird power, and your very nature is weird, defying karma and destiny and time. You'll own that.
You do not want that sort of attention on Homura.
Homura doesn't want that sort of attention on her. And her secrets you have no qualms of keeping.
So you bite your tongue for now.
"So I've got a question, Oriko," you say as the silence drags out. "The first answer you got - do you have any sense of additional details or anything? Who is 'she', what is the missing fragme-"
Oriko's already shaking her head.
"I don't know. Miss Misaki's magic didn't restore my memory, just provided me with prompts," she says, and hesitates, setting her teacup down. "But I'll make the attempt to ask."
You nod, and as Oriko sets quill to paper once more, Yuki stirs.
"Miss Vee, it sounds to me that your vision of the future was a more... definite thing than Miss Mikuni's foresight," she says, fixing you with her gaze. "That is to say, Miss Mikuni had flashes that changed with circumstances, whereas you have knowledge of a singular course. Is that correct?"
"That's correct, yes," you say. "I... assume you want to know more of that?"
"You assume correctly," Yuki says.
"Well... I'll speak in the loosest of terms. Because, again, much of it isn't my place to tell," you say, meeting Yuki's eyes steadily. Because on this matter you will not be swayed. "And I must emphasize - please, please be careful of where and when you share the information about this. The results could- no, will be catastrophic if the information gets into the wrong hands, and I think you'll understand why."
Yuki motions for you to continue, her expression focused and giving nothing away. Umika also nods, that odd blend of excitement and consideration bubbling in her expression and posture.
It feels like you're standing on the edge of a precipice. The first time you've shared these secrets with anyone.
"Well. The crux of this is that at some point in the future, someone is- uh. Someone... will be going to make a Wish?" You scowl. "Tenses are hard. The Wish is to eliminate all Witches, before they're born, and that Wish gives rise to what's known as the Law of Cycles. And the magnitude of that Wish... that girl became an atemporal existence, becoming the Law itself. Because she Wished to eliminate all Witches with her own two hands, past, present and future."
That gets shocked, indrawn breaths from just about everyone around the table.
"But Witches do exist!" Kirika points out, bright and chipper.
"I've noticed," you say drily. "But it's... look, it's a vision of a future, that I... thought hadn't happened yet? Because Witches still exist?"
"Or... 'The Law is broken'," Oriko quotes softly. "And so Witches exist once more."
"So we are dealing with the outcome of something defying a monstrously powerful Wish," Yuki says. "And there are few enough things that can outright contravene a Wish, in my experience."
She sighs, and drags her hand down her face, that blank mask finally falling away to reveal grim contemplation as she stands, her cloak draping over her form.
"Please excuse me," she says. "I need a moment to think. By your leave, Miss Misaki? I won't go far, perhaps to the end of the corridor." Her eyes flick over to you. "Rest assured that I stand by what I said, Miss Vee, and I most certainly will not reveal this to anyone. Especially not over telepathy."
"Feel free," Umika says. "Just mind any of the doors marked green, those lead outside of our private space."
Yuki nods, and heads to the door.
[] Follow Yuki
- [] To do what?
[] Wait for Yuki to return, then continue
[] Write-in (word count limit: 150 words)
=====
I am so sorry this update took so long - first it was the sickness, then just being sapped of energy to write. But here's hoping that I can keep this energy rolling!
Also, this update is... somewhat open to course-correction, since this reveal is a pretty big moment for Sabrina. So I'll do what I can if I've misinterpreted the vote or such.
Well, I think this went well. Everyone has gotten both the scope and idea of what they might be dealing with and how the Sayaka comes into play. Something to add maybe in the future is that in our opinion it wasn't a better future. Magical girls lives were still violent and often times short, still resource dependent even if the ending was much kinder and that curses remained as wraiths. And what they lacked in variety and power they made up for it in sheer quantity. It was a kinder future, not necessarily a better one. That's our job. Plus, it sacrificed a wonderful young girl to make our lives easier and that's incubator's shtick, so fuck it on general principle.
As for Yuki, I think we can trust her to be ok. Maybe ask her to head to a clear seed. And if she needs to vent we're here. Admittedly my paranoia is acting up, but I trust Yuki.
Maybe set up an additional privacy sphere for Yuki to vent in, just in case?
Also, check up on how the others are taking it. Mami especially; she's a smart girl, and I don't know if she knows Madoka has god like potential , but if she does, it wouldn't be all that difficult for her to put the pieces together.
We're talking about beings capable of destroying and recreating the entire universe. As someone who lives in the universe, she was always going to have a stake in this whether she knew about it or not. At least this way she's on the same team as the only people who can actually do anything about it.
[] Squeeze Mami's hand
[] Follow Yuki
- [] Ask if she wants to talk about it
While I think it's entirely plausible that Yuki would rather be left alone...
If Yuki does need to talk to someone about this, she's the only one here without any close companions in on the loop. Oriko & Kirika have each other, Umika will have Kazumi, and Mami has Sabrina.
So I reckon I'm willing to come across as a bit overbearing if it means making sure she has an outlet if she needs one.
I'm in favor of leaving Yuki alone for at least a bit, she explicitly asked for time to think and left for privacy. Risky sure, but I hope she can survive at least 15 minutes without bombing.
