Too Much Information
cordova
(not) a devil
- Pronouns
- They/Them
You break the silence by saying "yeah." Annette, Shouko and Carla follow along immediately. Heather takes a few seconds and then...
...yeah, of course she doesn't just say 'yeah.' Heather would never just go along with anything. Well, would she? You don't know her.
"That doesn't answer any of the important questions." She swivels her chair around to face Emmy, making this awful gr-gr-grinding sound on the crappy restaurant floor.
"Why not?" Emmy replies. Anne moves a little closer, as if to block Heather off from her.
"You shouldn't mention rare phenomena to fuck with me!"
"Emotional attacks are hardly rare."
"Do you or do you not know this guy's attacking pattern?"
"We were about to discuss information needed for combat, before you so kindly interrupted," Anne replies.
"In case you so kindly forgot, a single rogue emotional manipulator destroyed the Pacific Northwest Witches' Federation from the inside! And you all acted like this wasn't important, like it didn't matter to you, like you didn't care about our health, let alone not sacrificing Portland to darkness! And now someone with the same powerset is murdering girls one by one and... and... and... this is why I do everything my way, you know? You said you invited me because I'm capable, you totes don't care about anything I have to offer."
Heather says totes with an affected South Cali accent, a heresy against the soil you're all gathered on. She breathes heavily. Emmy looks over at Anne, Anne looks down at her. Anne points a finger-gun at the dusty lampshade hanging over your table. (Anne: -1 magic, -1 lucidity, -5 inspiration, Emmy: -4 magic)
The dusty blue light of the evening sun from the windows disappears. The lights on the ceiling disappear. The light of every other dusty lampshade disappears. Only the single light above Anne's head remains, radiant.
You want to yell 'what are you doing?' [Elly: 3d10: 7] [Anne (+Emmy): 5d10: 37] Your voice disappears. Heather stops speaking, nobody else dares to. The shuffling of line cooks, the chattering of families, the giving and receiving of orders; this is all overwritten. Anne smiles. You can't really look away from her. She casually runs a hand through her own auburn hair before speaking.
"I care about everything you have to offer, okay? I'm going to explain everything in time. Please stop worrying."
Her smile's very warm. You feel at ease.
The lights go on.
Your head feels a little fuzzy. (-10 lucidity, -10 inspiration)
You try to piece yourself together.
"Yeah, uh... the knife's enchanted, right? Can he use magic? Toy with your emotions?"
Sure, speak as if Heather never said anything.
"Our killer has shown none of his own magical ability. However, nightmare events on nights where he's killed girls tend to take the form of lost loved ones. You probably understand how this destroys the effectiveness of missions against him, right?" Anne responds.
"Yeah."
Your mind escapes you. You blurt out the second thing on your mind, something that's just been bugging you. Who cares if it's relevant?
"Uh, has anyone ever told any of you about magical feedback?"
Everyone looks blankly at you. You catch yourself for a second. Why are you even saying this? Is it relevant to anything? Are you dumb or something? (-1 lucidity). Then you think about whatever Anne did to shut up Heather. You keep going.
"You know how if you're too flashy with your magic or you say something concerning magical affairs and someone overhears it, there's always a storm of nightmares around that person but whenever you find them they don't seem to remember anything?"
Carla interjects. "That's not a real phenomenon."
"But when I first became a magical girl I always made mistakes like that—"
"Nothing happens when you let people hear about magic?" Annette replies.
"Okay?"
Does magic just work differently on the West Coast? Are you just playing from a different rulebook to everyone else? Maybe it's because of the gap between your magical potential and everyone else's? That's kind of an egotistical thing to say.
"If such a phenomenon existed, the South Cali Witches' Association would surely be aware of it," says Anne.
"Such a phenomenon exists, and it should have punished you for whatever trick you pulled in front of everyone—"
Anne laughs at you.
"In case you somehow didn't notice, without some kind of order we're going to kill each other before we murder the murderer. What laws do you think govern magic and magical girls?"
"The law of bonds!"
"What do you mean?"
"We're governed by the same laws that govern other human interactions! We're made or broken by our ability to unite with and understand each other!"
"You seem to be awful at that," says Emmy. You look for support in the other four girls. They don't give you a knowing glance or anything. Each girl evaluates the situation in her own way.
"And your wife is a terrible leader!"
Heather claps for you. The always sleepy Emmy snaps awake, clasps her fists.
"She's my girlfriend, and she's a great leader!"
"A great leader doesn't have to silence everyone by force!"
"Lead us, then! What's your plan, E-li-za-be-ta?"
"Is anyone here good at scrying from mirrors?"
"I'm good at scrying. Not necessarily with mirrors, but I can figure something out," Carla replies.
"Every city has dozens of security cameras and thousands of cars. The guy I met—"
"Of course."
"Shut up, Anne. Anyway, the guy I met seems real and physical, not like an apparition or anything, and he like jogs regularly. He's definitely being caught by mirrors hundreds of times per day. We should be able to hunt him down pretty easily like this. Was that your plan?"
"We thought seeking him out was inadvisable," replied Emmy.
"Were we going to camp out until he came to us?" says Annette.
"Yeah?" says Anne.
"I agree with your girlfriend. Elizabeth should lead us. I prefer her plan to sitting around and waiting for a certain someone to try to kill us."
"I like her plan," says Shouko. Carla nods along.
"It's a good plan," says Heather. Something about her tone immediately irks you, but you can't figure out what it is.
"The South California Witches' Association is paying for the hotel."
"That's great. Let's go there!"
You get up from your seat and begin to walk to the exit. Shouko, then Carla, then Heather, then Annette immediately follow you.
"I don't actually know where I'm going," you tell everyone. Annette cups her hands around her mouth, calls for Anne and Emmy. They say that they're paying for the meal. With their money or the Federation's? (Association's?) You don't really know. You're kind of proud of yourself, so you don't really care.
Finally, you leave. Emmy says 'come with', you let Emmy show everyone the way, and begin to walk the streets of Burbank.
Silence, again. It doesn't actually feel welcome, even after the shouting matches and displays of magic earlier. It's a little disquieting.
You realise, you think everyone realises, that this mission will take a long few days.
(Again, really sorry for the wait, writing isn't so easy...)
You're not entirely sure of the effects of Anne's spell. It had some kind of mental effect on you, didn't it? You listened more to her and less to Heather, but everyone ended up turning against her. Did she falter? Is she just not good at magic?
Anyway, who do you want to talk to try to talk on your way to the hotel?
[X] Anne.
[X] Emmy.
[X] Heather.
[X] Annette.
[X] Shouko.
[X] Carla.
[X] Nobody. You're going to listen to a podcast.
[X] Nobody. You're going to get lost in your thoughts.
What do you want to talk about?
[X] Write-in.
...yeah, of course she doesn't just say 'yeah.' Heather would never just go along with anything. Well, would she? You don't know her.
"That doesn't answer any of the important questions." She swivels her chair around to face Emmy, making this awful gr-gr-grinding sound on the crappy restaurant floor.
"Why not?" Emmy replies. Anne moves a little closer, as if to block Heather off from her.
"You shouldn't mention rare phenomena to fuck with me!"
"Emotional attacks are hardly rare."
"Do you or do you not know this guy's attacking pattern?"
"We were about to discuss information needed for combat, before you so kindly interrupted," Anne replies.
"In case you so kindly forgot, a single rogue emotional manipulator destroyed the Pacific Northwest Witches' Federation from the inside! And you all acted like this wasn't important, like it didn't matter to you, like you didn't care about our health, let alone not sacrificing Portland to darkness! And now someone with the same powerset is murdering girls one by one and... and... and... this is why I do everything my way, you know? You said you invited me because I'm capable, you totes don't care about anything I have to offer."
Heather says totes with an affected South Cali accent, a heresy against the soil you're all gathered on. She breathes heavily. Emmy looks over at Anne, Anne looks down at her. Anne points a finger-gun at the dusty lampshade hanging over your table. (Anne: -1 magic, -1 lucidity, -5 inspiration, Emmy: -4 magic)
The dusty blue light of the evening sun from the windows disappears. The lights on the ceiling disappear. The light of every other dusty lampshade disappears. Only the single light above Anne's head remains, radiant.
You want to yell 'what are you doing?' [Elly: 3d10: 7] [Anne (+Emmy): 5d10: 37] Your voice disappears. Heather stops speaking, nobody else dares to. The shuffling of line cooks, the chattering of families, the giving and receiving of orders; this is all overwritten. Anne smiles. You can't really look away from her. She casually runs a hand through her own auburn hair before speaking.
"I care about everything you have to offer, okay? I'm going to explain everything in time. Please stop worrying."
Her smile's very warm. You feel at ease.
The lights go on.
Your head feels a little fuzzy. (-10 lucidity, -10 inspiration)
You try to piece yourself together.
"Yeah, uh... the knife's enchanted, right? Can he use magic? Toy with your emotions?"
Sure, speak as if Heather never said anything.
"Our killer has shown none of his own magical ability. However, nightmare events on nights where he's killed girls tend to take the form of lost loved ones. You probably understand how this destroys the effectiveness of missions against him, right?" Anne responds.
"Yeah."
Your mind escapes you. You blurt out the second thing on your mind, something that's just been bugging you. Who cares if it's relevant?
"Uh, has anyone ever told any of you about magical feedback?"
Everyone looks blankly at you. You catch yourself for a second. Why are you even saying this? Is it relevant to anything? Are you dumb or something? (-1 lucidity). Then you think about whatever Anne did to shut up Heather. You keep going.
"You know how if you're too flashy with your magic or you say something concerning magical affairs and someone overhears it, there's always a storm of nightmares around that person but whenever you find them they don't seem to remember anything?"
Carla interjects. "That's not a real phenomenon."
"But when I first became a magical girl I always made mistakes like that—"
"Nothing happens when you let people hear about magic?" Annette replies.
"Okay?"
Does magic just work differently on the West Coast? Are you just playing from a different rulebook to everyone else? Maybe it's because of the gap between your magical potential and everyone else's? That's kind of an egotistical thing to say.
"If such a phenomenon existed, the South Cali Witches' Association would surely be aware of it," says Anne.
"Such a phenomenon exists, and it should have punished you for whatever trick you pulled in front of everyone—"
Anne laughs at you.
"In case you somehow didn't notice, without some kind of order we're going to kill each other before we murder the murderer. What laws do you think govern magic and magical girls?"
"The law of bonds!"
"What do you mean?"
"We're governed by the same laws that govern other human interactions! We're made or broken by our ability to unite with and understand each other!"
"You seem to be awful at that," says Emmy. You look for support in the other four girls. They don't give you a knowing glance or anything. Each girl evaluates the situation in her own way.
"And your wife is a terrible leader!"
Heather claps for you. The always sleepy Emmy snaps awake, clasps her fists.
"She's my girlfriend, and she's a great leader!"
"A great leader doesn't have to silence everyone by force!"
"Lead us, then! What's your plan, E-li-za-be-ta?"
"Is anyone here good at scrying from mirrors?"
"I'm good at scrying. Not necessarily with mirrors, but I can figure something out," Carla replies.
"Every city has dozens of security cameras and thousands of cars. The guy I met—"
"Of course."
"Shut up, Anne. Anyway, the guy I met seems real and physical, not like an apparition or anything, and he like jogs regularly. He's definitely being caught by mirrors hundreds of times per day. We should be able to hunt him down pretty easily like this. Was that your plan?"
"We thought seeking him out was inadvisable," replied Emmy.
"Were we going to camp out until he came to us?" says Annette.
"Yeah?" says Anne.
"I agree with your girlfriend. Elizabeth should lead us. I prefer her plan to sitting around and waiting for a certain someone to try to kill us."
"I like her plan," says Shouko. Carla nods along.
"It's a good plan," says Heather. Something about her tone immediately irks you, but you can't figure out what it is.
"The South California Witches' Association is paying for the hotel."
"That's great. Let's go there!"
You get up from your seat and begin to walk to the exit. Shouko, then Carla, then Heather, then Annette immediately follow you.
"I don't actually know where I'm going," you tell everyone. Annette cups her hands around her mouth, calls for Anne and Emmy. They say that they're paying for the meal. With their money or the Federation's? (Association's?) You don't really know. You're kind of proud of yourself, so you don't really care.
Finally, you leave. Emmy says 'come with', you let Emmy show everyone the way, and begin to walk the streets of Burbank.
Silence, again. It doesn't actually feel welcome, even after the shouting matches and displays of magic earlier. It's a little disquieting.
You realise, you think everyone realises, that this mission will take a long few days.
(Again, really sorry for the wait, writing isn't so easy...)
You're not entirely sure of the effects of Anne's spell. It had some kind of mental effect on you, didn't it? You listened more to her and less to Heather, but everyone ended up turning against her. Did she falter? Is she just not good at magic?
Anyway, who do you want to talk to try to talk on your way to the hotel?
[X] Anne.
[X] Emmy.
[X] Heather.
[X] Annette.
[X] Shouko.
[X] Carla.
[X] Nobody. You're going to listen to a podcast.
[X] Nobody. You're going to get lost in your thoughts.
What do you want to talk about?
[X] Write-in.
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