Renegade Incubator Quest (PMMM)

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Blackness...

"...ought... ...explanation... ...might be best..."

You furrowed your brow, a...
Opening

Spectral Waltz

Scatterbrained Writer
Location
Walking the Endless Corridors
Blackness...

"...ought... ...explanation... ...might be best..."

You furrowed your brow, a voice? Was someone in your room?

Were you dreaming?

"...Sure! Just ask..."

"...ayaka-chan, I think... ...Backwards..."

More than one voice, they all sounded oddly familiar too? they were fading in and out, like form down a long tube or something? It was hard to describe...

What was that name? Sayaka-chan? Japanese for sure, and wasn't that from something?

"Wow, that's pretty!"

"This is a Soul Gem."

Shouldn't you be waking up right about now? You weren't normally this lucid in a dream... Then again, your dreams usually had pictures... This was less like a weird virtual reality experience and more like listening to a radio-play being recorded at the other end of a long tunnel...

Were your eyes closed even?

Wait... What did she just say?

"Mami?" Your voice came out oddly high as a mumbled whisper. Sayaka? Soul Gems? Only you were dreaming weren't you? Dreaming about Madoka?

You cracked one open...

"It's a jewel created by the girls that are chosen by Kyubey, born of their contract. It identifies them as a Magical Girl and is the source of their magic power."

In front of you, a familiar face framed by an even more distinctive hairstyle and almost immediately something pings in your mind, a sudden burst of information.

Mami Tomoe
Status: Contracted
Current Affiliates: None
Original Wi-


You tear your gaze away just as you can hear her voice starting to resonate in your head, like a recording of her at the time of wishing. She seems close to you as well, and you instinctively scramble backwards, trying to back away and give some space to this girl you... Just met? Sorta know but have never met?

What the fuck is going on here?!

"What do yo-Ah!"

"Kyubey-san?!"

For a moment your vision tracks over the other two as you turn, and if the sight of similarly distinctive features wasn't enough to spark recognition your mind once again helpfully supplied a weird little status report, or at least it started to.

Right before your legs slipped out from under you.

Desperately you tried to regain your footing but all you succeeded in doing was overbalancing. Something was wrong with you, your proportions were all off, what was this?! What was happening!?

What-!

*THUMP*

You hit the floor in an undignified sprawl and tried to roll, catching a flash of red eyes and white fur in the glass underside of the table as you scrambled to all fours and... Wait... All fours?

"Oh no! Kyubey are you alright?"

You stared up into the concerned face of Madoka Kaname.

She was talking to you.

...No way...

"Kyubey-san?"

...Madoka Kaname, Sayaka Miki, and Mami Tomoe...

You knew this scene... This was Mami's apartment right? But that meant...

Local Calendar: March 25th, 2014 Your brain helpfully supplied the date for you.

No...

You turned and ran for the window, ignoring the alarmed cries of the girls behind you.

"What is he doing? It's not a witch is it Mami-san?"

"I don't know! I don't sense one!"


A familiar face stared back at you from your reflection in the glass...



Fuck.

Puella Magi Magica Madoka - Renegade Incubator Quest

"Ah um... Kyubey-san? Is... Is something wrong?"


You had all of their attention now... Mami was peering down at you with concern, a flustered Madoka and a curious Sayaka flanking her on either side. You're pretty sure you weren't supposed to do what you just did originally...

May as well treat this as real for now anyways? Crazy as that sounds...
[] How do you respond?



Hello and welcome to Renegade Incubator Quest my answer to PMMM's grim and gritty magical madness in the form of a shipping quest!

Yes you heard me right, a shipping quest!

In brief? You, the questers, have collectively taken over the Mitakihara Incubator and severed it from the incubator network. You still have the powers of telepathy and the ability to make wish contracts but you have lost the ability to resurrect yourself, and furthermore you will still expected to do your part in the fight against entropy! If energy from Mitakihara starts to drop or you otherwise out yourself to the incubator collective they'll come after you and try to set things right, and worse still, if you manage to die in the course of events a regular incubator will simply replace you, and you just know they'll start undoing all your hard work!

Your goals are simple.
  1. Find a better way than the cycle of grief to produce energy.
  2. Keep the other incubators from discovering anything is wrong... For long enough that you can fix this at least...
  3. Find love for each of the Mitakihara Magical girls. You can pair them with each other or with others, but do know that the Yuri goggles are at full power for this quest.
Good luck!
 
Getting Your Bearings
[X] Why do you ask? I feel fine. No need to worry.

You take a deep breath and let it out before realizing how strangely unnatural it feels to do that. Like flexing a stiff muscle, not painful, more like a sense that your body is letting you do it only grudgingly.

You turn away from the reflection in the glass -your reflection- and look up at the trio. Mami is standing closest to you, Sayaka flanking her on the left while Madoka stands half behind her on her right.

You blink and tilt your head. "Why do you ask?"

The trio are almost taken aback by the near dismissal of what you just did.

"A-are you sure Kyubey-san? I've never seen you do that before..."

"I feel fine. No need to worry."

You smile to cover the fact that your mind is racing at a million thoughts a minute. Why are you here? Why are you... Him? It? Everything feels natural to you as you are right now but the more you pay attention to that the more you realize that you aren't moving naturally at all. Your tail (you have a tail now!) twitches unconsciously but aside from that you cannot help but notice that not only are you not breathing, you're not moving at all. Your paws (Paws!) aren't getting tired of sitting...

While you think, the girls give you another round of odd looks before Sayaka shrugs. "Alright... If you say so?"

She glances at the other two, Madoka giving her a slightly blank look in return while Mami thinks for a moment and then gives a dignified nod in your direction. "If you say so Kyubey-san. If you are having any trouble you need not hide it from me though."

You pad back over towards the table as the girls resume their seats, still thinking. This is still early in the normal timeline right? Mami is still alive at least, though this conversation only took place a single episode before her death. But that could easily give you a week? Maybe two? You'd like to tell yourself that you're only wondering that to try and determine when in the grand scheme of things you've popped into this madhouse but the truth of the matter is, the moment you think of that, you realize that you could change things.

What if Mami doesn't die?

What if Sayaka doesn't become a witch?

In the background you can hear Mami explaining the system of contracts to the other two girls. And you resist the urge to correct her, explain the whole thing before realizing that Kyubey -Or well... You now you suppose- Was supposed to be the one giving this explanation.

And then remembering that knowing all those details... Witchbomb... Lichbomb... Everything else terrible with this system... Well it probably wouldn't help anyone to tell them right now right?

Still... You're in a unique position you realize. You don't necessarily have to let the girls make their wishes, you don't have to let any girls make their wishes, do you?

Just like before, the thought prompts a sudden rush of information into your mind...

Local Time to end of Cycle: 53:31:40
Cycle Energy Quota: 134% achieved


A quota? So the incubators had some sort of minimum numbers to reach every 'cycle'? Of course... 'Pushing back entropy'... It looked like Kyubey had already met it's quote for the cycle you had arrived in, so you had a little over two days before the next cycle started before you would need to start figuring out how to meet the next one? A series of names spring to mind, following the information.

Listing Resources | Sorting Type: Descending By Potential | Display: 10 Per Page

1. Madoka Kaname (Handle with Care, Extremely High Potential)


You feel nauseated despite being fairly certain you lack anything resembling a stomach...

'Resources'

If seeing that face reflected in the window hadn't done it, that little title was making it abundantly clear what you'd fallen into here.

You only feel worse as you read the other names on the list along with the little notes next to most of them.

2. Kanon Miyashiro
3. Mitsuru Bella
4. Sayaka Miki
5. Nagisa Momoe
6. Kirika Kure (Caution Advised)
7. Misa Yamashiro
8. Kita Nakahara
9. Chiaki Maita
10. Chitose Yuma (Caution Advised)


...Hold up...

You're pretty sure you recognize at least a few of those names besides Sayaka, but before you can contemplate further you realize that Mami is still talking.

"...hy don't you come along with me tomorrow while I take out some witches?"

"Huh?"

"It'll be better for you to see through your own eyes what it means to fight witches. Once that happens you can think about whether or not you have a wish so great that you'd risk putting yourself in danger."


...This might be a good time to interject? Or you could just keep going with the flow for now... More time to think would probably be helpful right?

[] Say Something
-[] To all three of them (Write in)
-[] Wait until you can catch one alone (Write in who)
[] Stay Silent

Since the witch hunt isn't until tomorrow, that means you have to figure out what you're doing tonight.
[] Stay here with Mami
[] Follow Madoka home
[] Follow Sayaka home
[] Go out on your own for the night.
 
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Wish Warning
[x] Say Something
-[x] To all three of them (Write in): Mami's right. The lives of Magical Girls aren't easy ones, and the demands of the job are great. Magical Girls who make a Wish that isn't what they truly desire inevitably regret it, so be sure before you do it.
[x] Check your knowledge base for known ways of harvesting energy and their efficacy.


"A moment if you please?"

After having been silent for much of the remainder of the discussion after your little episode the girls are startled to see you pad up behind them as Mami sees them out the door. You give Madoka and Sayaka a solemn look, or at least you try to since your face seems determined to twist into that cutely bland smile when you aren't paying attention to it, like some sort of horrifying reverse resting bitch face.

You cut that train of thought off as Sayaka tilts her head. "Neh Kyubey... You sure you're alright?"

"Quite sure... I just have to tell you one thing before you go." It is difficult to hit that appropriate note of solemnity for what you are about to say while still keeping up that 'default' tone but you do your best. "The life of a magical girl isn't easy and the job you are asked to perform is demanding. Magical girls who make wishes that aren't what they truly desire inevitably end up with regrets, so think carefully, and be sure that you know what you want before you do it."

A moment of silence follows your pronouncement. Madoka looks thoughtful, while Sayaka looks slightly taken aback, though the latter rallies faster than the former. "Yosh! Not to worry! I'll be sure to think super carefully on it!" Madoka nods too. "We'll be sure to think carefully. Good night Kyubey, Mami-san."

The door closes behind them, and for a few minutes there is a pleasant silence, or well... Relatively pleasant anyways. While you listen to Mami bustling about cleaning up the remnants of the little tea party you decide to try and actively dip into this knowledge pool you seem to have in your head.


...in effect, any being with this 7th dimensional structure (see: SOUL) within them is capable of producing energy from nothing, thus allowing for the reversal of entropy. However, two issues present themselves. First and most important is that the three-dimensional forms of these beings create shells around their SOUL preventing it from exerting significant force on the known universe. Thus a container that can allow the SOUL to remain coherent within our universe yet does not block it's interactions with our universe is necessary in order to unlock it's energy-producing potential.

The second issue is that while the SOUL can interact with the outside world once freed of it's body. The mind is still necessary in order to stimulate energy production. We have determined that this is due to a curious quality of SOUL-bearing life forms wherein their SOULs interact with their minds to generate something they call 'emotions'. The entanglement that results from the production of 'emotions' is what allows the mind to unleash the power of the soul into this world when appropriately prepared. However, entanglement often ceases to function at even relatively insignificant dista-


"Kyubey-san?"

You jump slightly, looking up at a crouching Mami Tomoe as she kneels down next to you, looking worried. "You can tell me if something is wrong, right? After you were acting weird earlier..."

Seems she's still a little hung up on that earlier huh... You suppose she is supposed to have known the incubator for a while right?

What do you tell her?
[] It was nothing important.
-[] If it was important, I promise you would be first to know.
[] Remain Silent.
[] Say something else (Write-in)


Afterwards? Mami is going to bed soon... How do you want to spend the night? Do you even need sleep? (Choose 2)
[] Keep Mami company, play up the cat part of bunnycat and snuggle her at least until she falls asleep.
[] Contact Homura (Write in what you say)
[] Teach Madoka and Sayaka about Meguca telepathy before they go to bed.
[] Just read some more from your little brain knowledge thing (Write in up to 3 topics to study)
[] Go out and investigate some of the potential candidates on your earlier list. (Write in up to 3 names)
[] Write in...



1. Madoka Kaname (Handle with Care, Extremely High Potential)
2. Kanon Miyashiro
3. Mitsuru Bella
4. Sayaka Miki
5. Nagisa Momoe
6. Kirika Kure (Caution Advised)
7. Misa Yamashiro
8. Kita Nakahara
9. Chiaki Maita
10. Chitose Yuma (Caution Advised)
 
Passing the Night...
[X] Higure


"The network is malfunctioning. My brethren and I are usually in constant contact..." Mami's eyes widen for a moment. "Bretheren? Like..." She seems a little disconcerted but you push forwards. "Think of it like your internet. We share what we learn and what's happening around us, so we can coordinate. My connection just failed. It is problematic, but...I am unharmed."

Mami takes a moment, appearing to digest your explanation. "This doesn't... This isn't a regular occurrence right?" You shake your head though you suppose you wouldn't know. After all you're an outsider in this universe. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

For a moment you feel a frisson of panic. Mami couldn't contact another incubator could she? What would happen to you if the network found out? What would happen if they tried to reconnect you? What would they do if they couldn't?

"It is an internal issue..." For once you're glad for the default tone that keeps your panic from entering your voice, even though it sounds far too cutesy for what you're actually saying. "I am sure it will resolve itself in due time."

Mami gives you a doubtful look, then turns away, her expression falling once she thinks you can no longer see her. Feeling bad for her, you trot alongside as she makes her way back into her sitting room and gathers the last few teacups. Determined to make yourself of use if possible, you seize a plate in your mouth and follow along, awkwardly tilting your face to try and keep from spilling any crumbs onto the floor.

You stick close to her for the remainder of the evening as she reads a book, then gets ready for bed, curling up on or around her in your best impression of an actual cat while you attempt to access more of your internal stores of knowledge.

You start with Mami herself.

Mami Tomoe
Status: Contracted
Current Affiliates: None
Original Wish: "I wish... I wish someone would save me! Please! I want to live, I want to be tied to life... I can't... I don't want to die..."
Weapons: Multiple muskets, can be independently directed using Ribbon Manipulation (See 'Powers')
Powers: Ribbon manipulation, magical ribbons can be used for defensive and indirect offensive purposes. Enchantment aptitude.


Much of this is stuff you saw earlier, though the little recording of her wish makes your heart (Do you even really have one any more) twist painfully in your chest. However, appended to the end appears to be some additional information.

Direct Notes:
-Very powerful, highly skilled magic use, unlikely to be taken out in direct combat without additional factors.
-'Romantic' attitude, loneliness, and pride create simple and consistent handles to trigger a final spiral if needed.
-Friendly demeanor makes her trusted by potential contract candidates.
-Hostility towards contractee Homura Akemi (Relation to Anomaly possible, investigate)


You feel sick again, and the twisting feeling in your chest becomes even more painful. Mami glances at you over the top of her book as you shift, but after a moment returns to reading as you resettling yourself where you've curled up by her legs.

You push that document away and try to move on. You won't do those things to her, you won't allow it. You need to focus on other things.

Though the effectiveness of magic's use in pushing back entropy cannot be understated, corrupted SOULs (Designate: 'Witches') have been demonstrated to produce energy as well. Due to their higher dimensional nature this energy is often contained within folds in space-time (Designate: 'Witch Barriers' or simply 'Barriers') preventing it from assisting in pushback efforts. While exceptionally powerful Witches have been demonstrated to be capable of moving outside of their Barriers, these Witches often represent extinction level threats and while their energy release would be great, the potential loss of an entire civilization's energy production is better avoided.

Should a supermassive witch come into existence regardless, policy states that we must attempt to obtain as much energy as possible and evacuate all Incubator units in the area.

Consumption of a defeated Witch via it's former SOUL gem (Designate: Grief Seed) can generate a significant amount of energy regardless of the power or lifespan of it's generator. While it is technically possible to restore a SOUL gem from a Grief Seed, the amount of energy required to reverse the conversion process is such that few -if any- Magical Girls will ever generate enough energy for such an action to be worth the cost. Additionally, the effects of having acted in a corrupted state are liable to cause psychological damage, causing a rapid reversion into a Witch unless treated with extreme care.


By now Mami is brushing her teeth while you discover that the tiles of her bathroom floor are rather comfortable once warmed, and you attempt to digest this information. You could perhaps use this, but given you don't have access to the larger incubator network, it would be difficult at best, and the massive energy loss could warn them that something was up.

Still... Something to keep in mind perhaps?

You idly wonder what grief seeds taste like as you trot back into Mami's room while she slips under the covers, moving to curl up in the crook of her waist.

It really is quite pleasant... You can see why cats do this.

Finally, you turn to your last subject of curiosity, Soul Gems themselves. You find several designs listed, yet details are sparse, from what you can gather, each design is intended for a different species with a different dimensional signature.

Unfortunately, either the incubators haven't performed any experimentation using Soul Gems belonging to one species on the souls of another species, or the one you've replaced didn't bother to download any of that data. You suppose that makes sense since it probably wasn't relevant to it's job here on earth with humans. You wonder what Soul Gem documentation would look like anyways. Patch 1.47: Fixed 'Witch-Out' bug afflicting all current gems. Going over 100% grief capacity will no longer be possible and reaching capacity will simply cause a failure of all spellcasting until grief is reduced.

If only it would be that easy...
But you know it won't be...

What you really need is some way to encourage magic use without witches to fight and some way to remove the waste Grief caused by magic use without resorting to corrupted soul gems.

Which means you're going to need to start experimenting...

By the time you finish working through your myriad thoughts and impressions from the data, dawn is almost upon you...

March 26th, 2015
Dawn of a New Day

[] Stay with Mami, prepare for this afternoon's witch hunt with Sayaka and Madoka. (Skips to after school)
[] Head out, go to school with Madoka and Sayaka
-[] Stick around just long enough to greet Mami when she wakes up before heading out.
[] Something else (Write in...)


 
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Prelude to Witch Hunt
[X] Stay with Mami, prepare for this afternoon's witch hunt with Sayaka and Madoka. (Skips to after school)
-[X] See if you can check what data the original Kyubey collected on the magical girl recruits.


You take a while waiting for Mami to get up. You would think that one as disciplined as her would rise early but instead you end up watching nearly an hour trickle by minute by minute before you realize that you are quite bored.

You are extremely comfortable snuggled into the crook of her legs and you manage to distract yourself for a time with watching the sunlight slowly crawl along the walls and the revelation that with all the reading you did you didn't actually spend any of last night sleeping.

You're pretty sure that should be a lot more disconcerting than it seems right now.

You do at least manage to spend a little while musing on the potential effects on your mental health that never sleeping might have as well as wondering if you didn't sleep or if you simply can't sleep like this. Still, that distraction only lasts you for so long before you return to boredom. A quick glance at the clock tells you that it's 8:26 am.

You wonder if Mami set an alarm...

Three minutes and twenty-one seconds later, a buzzing fills the air and Mami stirs, displacing you from your warmed space with a little shift as she mumbles something incoherent before sitting up with a yawn and blinking as she looks at you. "Ooahn~ Oh! Good Morning Kyubey-san." She does a little half bow where she's sitting before swinging her legs over and flipping the covers away, forcing you to slink out from under them. For all that she seemed quite surprised to see you she manages to take it in good stride as she rises and goes about her morning routine, though you're forced to slink back under the covers when you realize that will entail getting dressed. Just because you've become a weird alien thing doesn't excuse you being a pervert damnit!

"Eh... Kyubey-san? Where did you go?" You take the question to mean that it's safe and are glad to see your suspicions prove correct as you poke your head out from under the covers to see a fully-dressed MamI in her schoolgirl's uniform.

...Come to think of it, you had forgotten she actually attended school.

You make it to halfway through breakfast before you realize that Mami has been giving you funny looks with greater and greater frequency. Admittedly you were staring a little bit at the sight of her with her hair down before she put it back up and carefully curled it back into those distinctive drills but you stopped once she had the typical look back and you're starting to realize that she might not have been looking at you because of your staring.

Do you even blink anymore?

You try to blink.

You're pretty sure you succeeded? It feels weird...

Now it's time for her to head off to school, and you end up with a choice.

Prelude to a Hunt
[] Follow Mami to School
-[] Ask her why she keeps giving you those funny looks
-[] Try to telepathy Madoka and Sayaka on the way, see if you can figure out how that works anyways.

[] Ditch Mami, you can catch up to her later...
-[] ...but go to school anyways, maybe you can find some of those potential candidates?
-[] Stay at her home and do more research
-[] Head elsewhere in the city (Where?)
-[] Do something else entirely (Write in)
 
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