Should have said 'Silas' instead.
But seriously, who were we, what we were doing, and what is our 'default' state?
We are not a part of Foundation, but a known entity to Ichiro. We are not exactly the boy Nanami knew. We know Big Sister, who is a mystery of her own. Was there a Big Sister back in the world of Revolution? I find it unlikely.
So pretty much however this ends up, Silas' personality is going to go through some major revisions. I guess the best case scenario is being able to shove everyone into the same timeline, and have Silas end up as an amalgamation of all his memories and personalities?
Silas is just going to ascend and become a Magical Girl, forming a surprise crossover with PMAS as LuciD takes off the mask to reveal he was actually Firnagzen all along.
More seriously, I think a lot of the problem is that the cross between universes here (Nanami, Big Sister, and Reina) is only partial, plus whatever aspects of SCP-055 Nanami picked up. We could seriously consider finishing the merger instead of re-separating them, since that would mean Nanami and Big Sis could exist in the same world - although for a proper Good End, I'd say we would have to find a way around 7mi's SCP properties.
Of note is that we don't know what separating the universes again would do to our relationships with Yumika and Hana, among other things. I certainly wouldn't consider it a Good End if we're forced to give up some of our friends for the sake of our other friends.
Maeda wanting to recruit Silas is interesting, but dangerous. I'm not sure where I want to go from there, because there's a lot of room for error and Securing of friends, and friends don't let friends get Secured.
Maeda wanting to recruit Silas is interesting, but dangerous. I'm not sure where I want to go from there, because there's a lot of room for error and Securing of friends, and friends don't let friends get Secured.
That reminds me. What do we want to do in response to this? We know very little about Yuuko, other than that she is SC/Foundation, seems to be a Maeda backer, and has a crush on Silas.
We could try and 'seduce' her into joining SELF, or just protecting us from Maeda in general? Sounds like an incredibly bad idea, especially since we know so little about her, but it's an idea.
We could try being open about it? Leave some kind of deadman switch for if they use amnestics on us, like telling Big Sis to watch out for us or asking Shinohara to watch what happens from outside the room with her power. Then we could try and make friendly contact, and offer some kind of alliance between Maeda's faction and SELF. I'm not sure how likely this is to not end with our memories erased, but again it's an idea.
Also, I am very sad that it was Yuuko that was the one that got a crush on Silas, rather than Shinohara.
Oh well, the ship must live on!
'We' can do whatever we want, but it's going to have to pass through Silas before anything happens, and I don't think he's the type to seduce people for personal profit. So that much at least is pretty much out.
I'm still quite nervous about exposing the SELF to the Student Council. Beyond it being only just founded as a secret organization (making revealing ourselves now reek of whimsy), we're still not to a point yet where we have a good defense against Foundation shenanigans should they choose to employ them. Hana and Yumika don't even know about Big Sister yet, and she's my personal pick for Member #4, especially since like Shinohara she's a SCP herself. Big Sis is also likely the best able to get around Foundation blockers to reinform or rescue captured SELF members if that ever becomes a thing, so I'd like to have at least her be on board and introduced to both Yumika and Shinohara before we expose ourselves. Encouraging our Conspirators to write down what's transpired in the past few weeks and hide the record somewhere Big Sis can point them to would also probably be smart, since Big Sis alone might not be believed if a total wipe occurs.
I don't expect Maeda to preform a total wipe, especially since she doesn't yet know that we've known about the Council for a long period of time (although we did get wiped when observing her once, recall). But actually contacting her is a dangerous prospect, and I don't think we're fully prepared to do so yet. So I personally think poor Yuuko is going to get shut down. I do want to contact her and see if she's amenable to the SELF at some point though.
He may not be the smoothest operator, but it is within his capabilities to manipulate people. And since ultimately he thinks the SC presents most danger to Shinohara, it's not entirely for personal profit either.
He wouldn't do that to have Yuuko join SELF, because ultimately the deception will be discovered, and then Hell hath no fury...
But maybe inducting her in the circle of our close acquaintances could be done. If she likes Silas, and knows that Shinohara is his friend, that might give her pause if something incriminating is discovered.
Big Sis is also likely the best able to get around Foundation blockers to reinform or rescue captured SELF members if that ever becomes a thing, so I'd like to have at least her be on board and introduced to both Yumika and Shinohara before we expose ourselves.
I don't think she would like that. She seems to be content to operate from the shadows and act anonymously.
As far as I am concerned, she is already on board.
Well, that's certainly an idea. I guess we'll need to make sure Silas doesn't let anything slip about SELF though.
Pros:
After we get memory wiped, we should be off their radar.
Cons:
Being amnesticized is not supposed to be fun, and may have problematic effects on us. We haven't seen Silas get amnesticized yet, so we don't know for sure how he'll react.
We may get penalties to our rolls for a while from the amnestics.
'We' can do whatever we want, but it's going to have to pass through Silas before anything happens, and I don't think he's the type to seduce people for personal profit. So that much at least is pretty much out.
I'm still quite nervous about exposing the SELF to the Student Council. Beyond it being only just founded as a secret organization (making revealing ourselves now reek of whimsy), we're still not to a point yet where we have a good defense against Foundation shenanigans should they choose to employ them. Hana and Yumika don't even know about Big Sister yet, and she's my personal pick for Member #4, especially since like Shinohara she's a SCP herself. Big Sis is also likely the best able to get around Foundation blockers to reinform or rescue captured SELF members if that ever becomes a thing, so I'd like to have at least her be on board and introduced to both Yumika and Shinohara before we expose ourselves. Encouraging our Conspirators to write down what's transpired in the past few weeks and hide the record somewhere Big Sis can point them to would also probably be smart, since Big Sis alone might not be believed if a total wipe occurs.
I don't expect Maeda to preform a total wipe, especially since she doesn't yet know that we've known about the Council for a long period of time (although we did get wiped when observing her once, recall). But actually contacting her is a dangerous prospect, and I don't think we're fully prepared to do so yet. So I personally think poor Yuuko is going to get shut down. I do want to contact her and see if she's amenable to the SELF at some point though.
"THERE'S NO PRIVACY IN THIS SCHOOL, IS THERE?!" the Kaichou yelled exasperatedly. "GODS, I WANT THE OLD OFFICE BACK! SIX! AMNESTICS! NOW!"
"Yamigawa-kun!" Maeda rushed to him before any of the others could react. "Sorry 'bout this…" she said. Silas didn't even have time to think before she jammed something sharp into wrist and -
[...]
Silas was walking home, in a bit of a daze. He blinked a few times, trying to remember what exactly went wrong with his attempt to atone to Maeda… but nothing came up. Huh. That's a shame.
And you did remember our failure to observe Maeda last time.
By the way, can someone explain that scene to me? Turns out the unidentified female student was Nanami, after all - I mean, who else would have a basket full of Derpy Dango with them, - who has seemingly managed to switch from 'practically invisible' to 'unrecognizeably generic' for a moment.
And to think all this time I thought it was a plot by the SC to amnesticize the entire class and distract them from Maeda's absense.
Why would she do this when we declared our intention to follow Maeda? Who did Maeda want to meet with? What happened to us? If we ended up amnesticied, why did Big Sis get affected? Why did Silas have a fast heartbeat and held a dango in his hand? Did Nanami stop him? But wasn't she in class giving away dangos? And why would she do that? Why the symptoms of her involvent are different from what we saw during the movie night, where Big Sis had a perfectly clear account of our actions, just a different one?
The memory gaps do not seem to be consistent with each other. Does it mean they were caused by different circumstances?
It's his innate skills that we are rediscovering by having him do things. It says it on the Character Sheet that Silas does not know his true strengths.
Normally I would expect QM to create his character retroactively (i.e. look at what the players prefer doing, and give him abilities based on that as if he knew how to do it all along and just forgot), but in this case it looks to me that he has his personality and abilities pre-defined (perhaps during chargen), and we need to discover what they are. Mostly because of some offhand comment about Silas having a hidden skill that can't readily be guesed.
Should have guessed it, really. Kei and Yuuko are practically mirrors of each other (they'd make a great comedy duo), so when Kei got his assumptions about us, it is hardly a surprise Yuuko might have made some of her own.
On an unrelated note, still can't figure out the logic behind Nanami's nickname for Kei. Saa-kun is because he is Sai-las, Maa-chan and Yuu-chan are self-explanatory, but why Kocchan?
...does Nanami have nicknames for people in Drama Club? She was supposed to be in Drama before her disappearance... I think?
Should have guessed it, really. Kei and Yuuko are practically mirrors of each other (they'd make a great comedy duo), so when Kei got his assumptions about us, it is hardly a surprise Yuuko might have made some of her own.
Honestly, I was guessing that Kei was the one who got the crush on us, but hoping it was either Shinohara or Yumika. Yuuko didn't really register as a possibility to me, because I didn't think she really interacted with us much during that.
I do love note making. Its fun to look back at what I've previously written about quotes in this story and update them with new information. And remind myself of a few weird things.
1) Ichiro correctly predicted that this week was going to be calm and productive.
2) The police are currently out in force directly outside of school. This might change next week. 7a) Nani had an "Annoyed with Yuuko" modifier last time she had a character sheet. Considering current events, I can't imagine why.
7b) Nani has a trait that prevents Silas from ignoring her. Its working terribly right now. Of more of a note, the trait reads: Clingy Osananajimi - Nanami's defining character trait seems to be "the girl who is best friends with Silas." Everything she does, every action she takes… she does it because she is best friends with Silas. Which is a little weird, but endearing all the same. (Nanami will occasionally accompany Silas during his turn. When she does, +5 to Success Threshold and resolve as if all stats were +1. Nanami may occupy one or more of Silas's [SOCIAL] and [AS] actions, turning it into a [SOCIAL] Talk: Nanami action. Nanami cannot be ignored.)
So it might have changed from "Silas" to "Maa-chan"
I do love note making. Its fun to look back at what I've previously written about quotes in this story and update them with new information. And remind myself of a few weird things.
Well, do share them with the class. I, for one, greatly enjoy speculation, and people are complaining that small details are getting forgotten over time. You could make it a thing and maintain something like a personal notes post in the middle of the thread, and if it attracts interest, we could even threadmark it.
Not quite. Maeda is probably Close Friends with Kei and Yuuko (giving somebody a termination/memory switch requires immense amount of trust, and that is a rare commodity for the SC who are paranoid of everything and everyone), and since Nanami is best friends with her, the relationship between her and the underclassmen is at the very least cordial. Her vow only mentions four people by their names: Silas, Maeda, Yuuko and Kei... though the last two may have been awarded that honor only because they were around at the time.
The entry on Nanami's sheet said 'Annoyed with Dorima', who is both antagonistic towards Silas and is outright hostile to Maeda.
The actions of Nanami towards Maeda (as in, following her like a lost kitten) is probably due to players interference. Silas is still the closest personal tie Nanami has. Not sure if the trait applies to anyone else.
Well, do share them with the class. I, for one, greatly enjoy speculation, and people are complaining that small details are getting forgotten over time. You could make it a thing and maintain something like a personal notes post in the middle of the thread, and if it attracts interest, we could even threadmark it.
That said...
Not quite. Maeda is probably Close Friends with Kei and Yuuko (giving somebody a termination/memory switch requires immense amount of trust, and that is a rare commodity for the SC who are paranoid of everything and everyone), and since Nanami is best friends with her, the relationship between her and the underclassmen is at the very least cordial. Her vow only mentions four people by their names: Silas, Maeda, Yuuko and Kei... though the last two may have been awarded that honor only because they were around at the time.
The entry on Nanami's sheet said 'Annoyed with Dorima', who is both antagonistic towards Silas and is outright hostile to Maeda.
The actions of Nanami towards Maeda (and her following her like a lost kitten) is probably due to players interference. Silas is still the closest personal tie Nanami has. Not sure if the trait applies to anyone else.
remember remember, 7mi can't be seen by phoneposting members.
In any case, I doubt she's swapped so easily to clinging to Maeda. Rather, I think she likes Maeda as a friend totally naturally, and is scared of what being closer to Silas might do to him and his current life, so instead 7mi is choosing to investigate this "Foundation" thing and see if they can help her not be what she is. I suspect she's operating under much the same principles and objectives as we are, but from inside the Council chambers instead of outside of them.
I exclusively phonepost, and I can see it. It's just hard and a little annoying, because you have to highlight the words (which can be really hard sometimes) and either copy and paste into something else or use the Look Up option (slightly faster, but only shows about half a line of text, making it annoying if you try to use it on a longer message).
If you are willing to install Firefox, you can in fact install the Stylish addon (if you aren't afraid of the controversy surrounding its privacy settings; if you are, you can use its open source fork Stylus instead), and use one of the Invisitext addons for SV.
Here's what it looks like, the text is revealed on tap.
Of course, whether you want to use a separate browser for a single quest is entirely up to you...
Shinohara's eyes were down. She was bobbing her head, tapping her finger against the wall behind her. "Maeda's angry," she replied, simply. "It's… ah… not safe to be around when Maeda's angry."
Hello Shinohara-san. We're looking for your sister Hana. She's not you because she's an emotion eater and would be demi-psycotic right now, as she has been with all future encounters with strong emotions.
Less snarky: Its kinda strange to see Hara act like this with such an obvious target. Especially since she isn't on the radar of the SC yet…
Not by Big Sister, no. Well, by her, too, but he was always being watched by Big Sister, and that never felt strange at all. But today, he felt someone... else was watching him. Someone just out of sight. And that bothered him
"Well, it isn't like you're doing any better!" Reizei fired back. He was grinning devilishly. "Or do I have to remind you how half of your members ran off with Hanamura after he founded the Computer Club?"
Nanami sighed. "Yeah… well, the whole not existing thing is kind of a downer for me." She chuckled darkly. "No one sees me or remembers me except Maeda, after all… and Maa-chan can't be around all the time... Argh." Nanami turned to face him. Silas looked into his friend's eyes and was quickly wrought with concern. She looked… broken, almost. "Why am I even doing this?" she shook her head. "It's not like you're actually even talking… to… me…?"
The camera zoomed in on a giant insignia looming on one of the walls. It read in big, imposing words:
Antimemetics Division
Secure. Contain. Protect.
There was a loud crash. Mikado had dropped someone's drink all over their lap. "Oh, oh, sorry, sorry… um… let me just get that… yeesh… uh… Yumika?"
"I'm coming!" Yumika came rushing over with a box of paper towels.
Neither Silas nor Nanami seemed to notice or care about the noise.
"Now… I'm not exactly one for accusations, but you didn't know something like that would happen, right?"
He knows he knows he knows he knows "-W-What? No… I didn't…"
"No no, Silas-kun, you're fine!" Hanamura beamed at him. He had unnaturally white teeth. "I'm not talking about you. I'm talking to you." he jabbed his finger towards his chest - no, past his chest, and his eyes scrunched up and his mouth drooped low into a scowl. Silas tried backing even further against the wall, feeling against the rough surface. Hanamura want on talking, "I want to know if you planned something like this. 'Cause if you did, you and I might start having some problems… you know? I dislike it when people disrupt my peace."
"...e-eh… what…?" Hanamura wasn't looking at him. He was looking past him. But when he turned around, there was nothing there, save for a tiny, almost inconspicuous hole in the wall. A little light was shining through, bright and blinding, making Silas turn away quickly.. "...Hanamura-kun, are you…?"
"Renji-kun and Riku-nee are hurting really bad. Kuroda-kun's act was less convincing today. I had to help Yoshi-kun into class this morning because he kept tripping and stumbling. And Hana-san…" Yumika paused. "Even me… Even I feel all woozy. It's been like this all morning. It took so much effort to get everyone to school… but we can't even last to the end of the day..."
She spun around. "But you? Sai-kun - you're perfectly fine. No sleepiness, or headaches - whatever hurt us didn't hurt you. No - whoever it was didn't hurt you. I don't understand. Or maybe I do. Maybe I do."
"Yumika…?"
She balled her hand into a fist; it trembled slightly. She clenched her teeth. And her eyes - they pierced him, full of pure, untempered rage. "You're not part of whatever this is, are you, Sai-kun? You're not… you didn't help start this, did you? Because if you did, you can just leave this club right now," she punctuated harshly. "And don't come back. I don't make friends with people who hurt the people I love."
"Anyway, we should probably get going! It's not right to just waste a whole day just moping around, amirite, Sai-kun?
Silas felt like he had just landed from a big fall, with all the fuzziness and disorientation that came with the feeling. "...eh? Chii-kun? Tetsuo-kun?" he looked around; an old, disused television screen sat on the other end of a wide room. It looked like a space for tables and chairs used to be in the middle of this place, though they had all been removed long ago. The lights were noticeable dim here. This wasn't Computer Club. "Reina-senpai? ...why... I s-swear, Chii-kun, if you're hiding somewhere to s-spook me again, it's not gonna work..."
Silas steadied his breath. He must have gotten lost. Yeah. He'd just need to... find the door, and get back to the Computer Club room so they could finish their game of Dungeons and Dragons. He slid open the sliding door, letting a rush of cool air break the stale, drafty atmosphere of the room.
Silas felt a light tugging at his arm, and looked behind him. A girl with brown twintails was there, standing at the threshold to the brightly-lit, warm Drama Club room. "...I was gonna say that we should probably get going, but I guess you beat me to it, huh, Sai-kun?" Yumika smirked.
"Command never gets us our food on time, so for the evening rations we ended up with bacon onigiri and liberty eggs. Whatever those are." she rolled her eyes playfully.
"Nn?" Yumika asked, quickly swallowing down a bite of… was that onigiri wrapped in slices of bacon? How had he never thought of that before? "What is it?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying. They probably have people all over the school."
"...I dunno, Allen. This sounds like some sort of wacky conspiracy shit."
"C'mon. You have to trust me here. I… I-I'm pretty sure that there's at least one member in your Computer Club. I've been using my big bro to look into the school's Intranet, and there's this encryption code that-"
"Why do you care?"
"I just… I don't want anything bad to happen to you guys, alright? Didn't you hear what happened at Drama-"
"Then say no more," she winked. "...Hey. Sai-kun. I don't know why, but I have... the strangest feeling that next week is going to be nice, calm, normal, and productive, don't you think?" An entire unsaid conversation passed between them. They giggled innocently.
Shinohara just tilted her head a tiny bit and gave him a crooked, thin, guilty grin. "Yumika-san has a lot of demons inside of her." Conscientiously, she changed the subject, glancing at the increasingly agitated - looking Mikado, burning crimson underneath whatever Yumika seemed to be teasing him about. Kuroda, Rakuyma and Reizei seemed to be jumping in. "...our friends really are interesting, aren't they?"
"Silas." Shinohara held a finger to his lips. "...if I'm your friend, then you have to trust me to tell you that, whatever emotion it is that's keeping you from them, it's bad. I can feel it. I know. It's eating at you, almost worse than the thing that eats at Yumika." she whispered.
That was the primary thought going through Silas's mind as he noted that a few more of those clandestine Metropolitan Police vehicles were parked outside his school than usual - the more innocent-looking ones with the hidden emergency lights fit in subtly, but the large, ominous, and horribly-out-of-place white van with the sunglassed man in the driver's seat certainly didn't. The only thing that would have made the MetroPol more obvious would have been if they had decided to stick a giant satellite dish to roof of their vehicle.
"Silas, aren't you even a little bothered by this cold?" Allen asked, rubbing his gloved palms together to generate a smattering of heat from the friction.
To that, Silas actually laughed. A little. Very, very quietly. "Oh - haha, err… n-not really. I'm used to it! It's… comfortable, almost."
"Comfortable?!" Both of them said in disbelief. The main door shut closed behind them.
"Oh, you wanted to talk to me? Why, Silas, I'm so flattered!" Chihiro was positively jubilant. "Sooo… what's the talk of today, huh? International politics is a good one! We could do something about moral philosophy, too! Do you like video games? I like video games. We have so much in common - "
"Hanamura-san," Toyotomi-sensei called sternly, blowing his whistle, "You and Yamigawa-kun are lagging behind! Keep pace with your classmates!"
"S-Sorry, sensei!" Silas panted. "Hanamura-kun… haah… can we… haah… can we continue t-this some other time?! I can't… haah… I can't breathe…"
"I woulda gone for 'sausage,' but eh. Whatever floats your boat, Silas-kun! Anyway, so glad I get to talk to you, completely normally, without any weird shit going on! I've been waiting for the chance! It's pretty difficult, you know? Things always seem to be getting my way; I feel like I'm disliked by God or something, haha!"
Abruptly, Silas thumped his fist to his chest. "Long live the Revolution!" he barked. "Like the Revolution, I am red-blooded. Where the Revolution walks, I too shall walk. Where the Revolution falls, I too shall fall. Enemies will fall before me like… like wheat before a scythe!" he shouted, waving an invisible flag to his mirror. "Viva Revolution! Viva Merika!"
His face was flushed, and he was a bit out of breath from the shouting, but he hadn't stuttered.
Compared to him, she was dressed lightly for the weather; green jacket with a pink undershirt; a skirt with thick leggings for warmth. Briefly, Silas wondered how she could stand this kind of weather wearing such a thin layer of clothing - even he wouldn't be brave enough to wander outside the snow wearing that.
"When I'm around too many people, my stomach just… knots up. It's not good for me. Something about being surrounded by so many vibrant dish - ah - people messes with me a lot. It's like… being submerged in water while you're throwing up from food poisoning."
"Your too happy-sounding. You're smile is too wide. You keep shifting the position of your feet, like you're never quite comfortable in your seating position, and your finger hasn't stopped tapping the table for at least a minute." Hana clenched a fist. "You taste like red food coloring. You're putting off saying something again, aren't you? Wait - "
"This was all last week. She... she said she had a hunch. She was making plans about... asking you to participate in a poll, or something, with another student. Only it wouldn't be a poll. They wanted you in the same room with this student to test his... stress response? Or something? To that movie from two weeks ago?"
At that, the tiniest flicker of Evil!Yumika's smile . "I mean that, besides investigating you, Hana-chan, they're also investigating each other. I ah… I don't understand why, but Ichiro-kun in particular is convinced that there is some sort of anomaly within the school or within the Council, so he's been having friends of his audit his own Council members. Especially a... particular person..."
"Who?" Hana prodded.
"..." Yumika put her hand on her head. "It's Maeda-san," she said. "She's... part of this, too. Somehow."
"Ohhh...? S-So she and Ichiro-kun... they're... leaders?"
"But of course. Where my eye falls there is no darkness. It's just a matter of knowing to look. And, thanks to Miss Matsuoka, I know to look." She made a satisfied humming noise. "Still. The revelation that they've used my assets to get to you is… troubling. I will be taking extra precautions from now on. I shouldn't let myself be discovered."
Her head started lull backwards. Her eyelids flitted shut. "I'm gonna take a nap. Please don't wake me unless it's a homicide or something. Actually, even in that case don't wake me up."
"What if the homicide was me?"
"Then I will be sad." Hana said matter-of-factly. She yawned again. "...please do not get involved in a homicide, Sai-kun. I don't think my poor psyche will be able to handle it.
So we have proof that Yumika's multitool works. Or that someone else disabled them. Of other note is that the computer club has them despite Hanamura being himself…
The word "remember" triggered a deep gag reflex in Maeda's throat - but she was quick to suppress it. She couldn't lose her cool in front of her kouhai like that. Not again, not ever.
So this is either the mind reacting negatively to the antimeme that is Nanami or is just not liking the absolute failure that her last contact with her brought.
"Someone told us to come and save you, though!" Kei insisted. Maeda flinched slightly. "And Yamigawa-senpai was standing right outside when we left. Who else could have done it?"
First: like Spectrum "I would speculated but I am too busy being distracted by 'comfy' thighs…"
A but risky considering what you've seen them do Nani, but ok… I guess this is as good a way as any to get intel.
Nanami's body was taut. She edged closer to Maeda, unsmiling. "Taking advantage of innocent love for something like this, Maa-chan? That's low. You wouldn't do that for real, right…?"
A familiar voice. "Y-You're scaring me, Maa-chan," it muttered, "W-With all this talk of… turning Saa-kun into an… an asset, I d-don't get it! I don't recognize you anymore… w-where did my Maa-chan go?"
What is interesting is despite these doubts about everything relating these two… This works. Either this Madea doesn't actually exist or Nanami is very much overriding Madea into someone she wants her to be…
liked to shorten her surname around her inner circle - she said that "Nai" just sounded cuter. She liked those cheap, dango with the stupid, derpy faces drawn in, for some reason. She dabbled in the performing arts, but never really got into it like Yumika-san. She became Student Council rep in Middle School on a dare and begged Maeda to take her place one evening because the stress was killing her and of course Maeda couldn't say no. She ruined her first confession from a guy - by chance, she was right next to Maeda when it happened - because she made a joke about herself being gay.
"She's forgetting them... because of me...?" Nanami stared at herself in horror. Almost immediately, she pushed Maeda aside, rushing to get out the door. She didn't want to be here, she was ruining things again, it would be better if she weren't around, people were better off without her -
So, the problem now is that Madea forgetting is putting her in danger but also her forgetting is forgetting a past that doesn't exist? We're going to need to pay more attention here.
"...I'll get you back," Nanami responded. Her voice quivered. "All of you. And Saa-kun, too. And Yuuchan, a-and Kocchan... Every memory, every thought, every detail. I-I need save you from whatever this... stupid delusion y-you have is..."
I'll make you at peace with yourself," Nanami said. "But that'll only happen if you will see me again." Her heart thrummed with determination. "I'll make you see me. I'll do it. You watch. I won't be forgotten anymore."
"You're gonna be alright, Nanami," she whispered to the space in front of her. "I have friends. We're - we're close. We're smart, too. And we know a thing or two about things that aren't supposed to make sense. And… we're gonna try to get him to see you again. Okay? I promise." Maeda cringed slightly; her smile faded. She hated making promises she might not keep.
For the last time, Six, we don't have Site-01 operational yet!" one of the boys shot back. Silas recognized him as the Student Council Kaichou. "Until we get basic functionality, we can't enact proper procedures for -"
"Proper procedures?! All we need is a locked office or room or something! She's not Keter, for Christ's sake!"
"How do we know?! We don't take chances with these kind of things! You, of all people, should know that!"
"...Did someone leave the door unlocked?"
All eyes turned to Silas. "Um… hi," he said, lamely.
"THERE'S NO PRIVACY IN THIS SCHOOL, IS THERE?!" the Kaichou yelled exasperatedly. "GODS, I WANT THE OLD OFFICE BACK! SIX! AMNESTICS! NOW!"
"Yeah, I'm…" Maeda sniffs. "Oh god, I'm so sorry, you guys, I-"
"No, senpai, don't apologize, we-"
"If we'd been better at following you we could have-"
"It was the movie and Ichiro's fault, not-"
"You're not at fault, really, Maeda-dono-"
"We don't mind, senpai, you were just hurting-"
"Guys, guys!" Maeda's body shakes as she giggles. "... I think I get it. Still, though, that doesn't excuse me… God, I've been delusional all week, haven't I?"
"Maybe a little… You gave a lot of us a scare, you know!" Kei insisted, "But you're not anymore! You're… you're you, now."
"What's going on? Mikado-kun?" Kamasaki-sensei appeared at the doorway, took one look at Rakuyama and Reizei lying on the floor in the centre of the club room, and rushed to the both of them. "Oh dear, oh dear... what happened here?"
"Overd- uh - over-exhaustion and stress, or something, sensei!" Mikado said hastily. "I'm not sure why..."
He nearly gave himself away by saying that the Vocaloids got OD'd on amnestics. Sentient Tree immediately jumped to the conclusion that he was a Foundation spy, while I gave him the benefit of the doubt since he has the kind of luck that would let him avoid memory erasure. The question is still up in the air.
"Hanamura-kun? No, no no," Maeda said. "He's… alright. I mean, he's a bit of a philanderer, but he's not nearly as bad as Mikado."
"As bad as Mikado…?"
"- not important," Maeda replied quickly, averting her eyes. There's a story there… Silas realized. "Anyway, Hanamura-kun is fine. But Dorima-san? She gets on my nerves."
The later updates leave it ambiguous. Him following Maeda's lead could be either because of his pre-existing loyalties to the Foundation, or due to his infatuation with her. Could easily be both.
I had to take the last few days to collect my thoughts about this last update. They're still not fully collected, but I should probably get them out anyway.
Firstly, it's been brought up that the last time we saw Nanami's character sheet, she was annoyed at Yuuko. If we look at the old sheet, she was also annoyed with Kei, Allen, and Dorima, and it's due to this trait:
Protective - As Silas's childhood friend, Nanami is naturally inclined to think negatively of people who dislike him. (Nanami automatically becomes Annoyed at characters that have a negative REL or have a rough introduction with Silas.)
She was annoyed with Kei and Yuuko because they had just been introduced by shining a flashlight in Silas' eyes and trying to probe him for bugs.
Interestingly, although Nanami was upset by the idea of Maeda using Yuuko's crush for something underhanded, she didn't seem to be bothered by the crush itself. In fact, she calls it "innocent love". Although Nanami is clingy with Silas, it doesn't seem to be romantic in nature. Actually, the way she is so focused on Silas reminds me of Big Sister. I wonder if it's possible that she, Big Sis, and Reina are somehow all different aspects of the same entity. Might explain why Silas can't be aware of more than one at a time. Alternatively, I wonder if her clingyness is connected to her non-existance. Maybe she feels the need to inject herself into Silas' life as a way to keep herself from disappearing.
This makes me think that whatever Mikado's relationship with Maeda is, it's not as a full-time spy. If they're blind without the bugs, it probably means Mikado isn't regularly feeding them intel.
This is important. Nanami isn't just concerned that Maeda isn't acting like "the Maa-chan she knows". It's that she's gotten noticeably worse in the past few days. Which is odd, since I'd think she'd be doing better after Hana ate her paranoia. I get the feeling it has to do with the way she keeps scratching her neck without realizing it. Was she injected with something? Or is there something else?
I was actually working on a different picture when I realized February 14th is just a couple days away. We don't celebrate that (at least, I don't think so, since March 8th serves essentially a very similar function), but Mihokujin definitely do, and such a good opportunity for teasing simply can not be passed over in a Highschool quest!
Being on a bit of a tight schedule, at first I was tempted to copy make something in the vein of Pyrite Heart, but eventually decided against it, since it would breach the borders of deniable shipping that I wanted to stay inside of. Therefore, may I present to you...!
Halfway through the picture I remembered Karne's omake and decided to roll with it. The funny thing, it's entirely plausible that the in-game current date is actually October 12th.
The drawing depicts Silas sleeping around... books, notes and other assorted stationery. As well as a dream bakemono, who looks a little bit contemplative... and maybe mildly disappointed about something.
William Arthur Ward used to say: "The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires." You can clearly see Silas awakening his inner talent by demonstrating that the less you know the sounder you sleep, and actively inspiring Hana to plop down right beside him.
Maria Montessori also said that the greatest sign of success for a teacher is to be able to say, "The children are now working as if I did not exist." Clearly, by whichever metrics you go by, Silas' qualities as a tutor are undeniable!
As for the picture I've mentioned... I'll be holding it hostage until the next update hits. >:-] Your move, Karne. I know you closed that vote!
And Happy Valentine's Day to you, folks!
From now on, I'll be making each update even smaller - instead of grouping each of the [SOCIAL] or [AS] actions together into a single update, I'll be staggering them across multiple updates! Furthermore, Silas's actions will now be chosen once per update. Hopefully this will make me write fasterbetter fucking help, you absolute... fuck, I can't think of any more insults.! That's the plan, anyway. Buuuut if you know me, you'll know that there are noooo promises. (Help me)
I guess I just got tired of sitting on this snippet for weeks while I tried to work out the next half of the [SOCIAL] actions. Sooo... here it is! A New format! New horizons, etc etc.
"That's the third donut you've stepped on in the past five minutes," Hana noted wryly.
"I know…" Silas moaned. Once again, they stopped, and Silas produced a little fork from his pocket to clean the jelly and creme off of his dress shoes. "That's… kind of… odd."
"You're still tired, aren't you."
"W-What gave it away?" Silas tried to smile. "I-It's the floor's fault for having so many donuts, anyway."
"That is stupid and asinine," Hana snarked.
"What gives you the right to use those words? New rule. Big words are banned." Silas bemoaned, getting up. His shoe was now free from muck. They moved on.
"Maybe you just need to have more spatial awareness…" Hana suggested after they had walked a few meters down the street.
"I'll keep that in mi - a-agh!" Squish-squish. Silas reeled back. Once more, he'd managed to press his dress shoes against the center of a donut - this one was chocolate with sprinkles.
"You were saying?" Hana seemed to be fighting back a smirk.
"S-Shut up," Silas reddenned, stepping down to clean the gunk off his shoes.
They weren't exactly in a hurry. The building was maybe another thirty seconds that-a-way, and class wouldn't start for another thirty minutes. Hana sat down on the curb next to him. He briefly wondered if she cared if she got her skirt wrinkled and dirty, but after a few seconds of introspection, he decided that he was too tired to psychoanalyze his friend so just get to cleaning the gunk godsdammit.
"...so many donuts…" he muttered. Hana just giggled mockingly in response.
A few uniformed police officers were walking by, talking animatedly. One of them stopped suddenly, then gestured towards the distance with their baton, laughing. The other one rolled her eyes and muttered, just loud enough for Silas to hear. She said something about "only half a week in Mick Territory," in weird, accented Amberrish and then slapped him on the shoulder.
Then she took a large donut from a plastic bag she was carrying with her and promptly shoved it into the other officer's mouth. He seemed to choke for a bit, but he eventually swallowed it down. The two walked off, guffawing like the foreigners they are.
Silas thought it was mildly interesting, and then turned back to his shoe. He didn't want to hold Hana back for too long.
<><><>
"Hey, um, Sai-kun."
"Un?" Silas said, stretching his arms out. The walk seemed to have shaken some of the tired from his body.
"Can you… um…" She looked at him sideways. "Could you please go in first? I'll… I'll enter class a few minutes after."
"Hmm? Why?"
"I don't… really… like people. Yeah? So, if I go in there, and you're with me, the rumor mill is going to start assuming things, since it's not normal of me to walk with people." She bit her lip. "They… they already say pretty… there's already a bunch of pretty horrible things about me floating around in the rumor mill. I… don't want to add to that list. You know?"
Rumor mill?
"Also, um…" Hana started to blush. "There's this… persistent rumor, going around, that you're… some sort of Casanova-type secret charmer who's seduced Yumika-san, and that that's why she's accepted you into her in-group so easily. Either that or that you're an incubus. Compound that with the fact that half the class seems to think I'm a vampire or something, and, uh… y-you get the idea…" She turned away.
"O-Oh! Of course!" Silas nodded his head. "I can do that. I… I honestly had no idea there was a rumor mill." People were talking about him. They really were.
"Yeah…" Hana shrugged, grinning awkwardly. "It's… it's only annoying dribble, most of the time. Still, I'd still rather not… you know… add to it." A few students in knee-high socks and weird, exotic-looking makeup strode past. "...People talk about me enough already," she added, with a hint of bitterness.
"Ah…" Silas replied sympathetically.
"So… could you do this for me?"
Silas nodded. "Of course! I-It's the least I could do, ahah… S-So, um, I'll be seeing you at Murakami?"
Hana grinned. "Sure thing. Let's meet on the station going home. Or… did you want to go home to change clothes first…?"
"No, it's fine. I kind of like this uniform."
They exchanged their goodbyes, and Hana idled out in the hallway, pulling out her phone. Silas stepped into Class 4-1, feeling the weight of the classroom's eyes seep into his bones. Now he couldn't stop thinking that some of them were talking about him.
Hana came in quickly after he'd sat down, and took her seat, looking at no one. She looked red, and was scowling. Silas wondered why she would be - and Yumika entered the room. She was equally red, biting her lip. She avoided looking at anyone in particular, and took her own seat near the front of the class.
For a critical second, Silas felt the pressure of the room's eyes start to lean into Yumika and Hana. Silas thought that right then and there was where it would start. Someone would start to say, "Hey, aren't Yumika-san and Hana-san acting a little strange?" And then then the buzzing would travel all over the room, and then Yumika and Hana would be even more embarrassed and oh my god this is all my fault how could I be so irresponsible this was my -
But it wasn't to be - at that very second, their history sensei had popped her head into the door. "Class! I have something critical to attend to downstairs, so I will be absent for the first thirty minutes of the block. Don't get your hopes up. Maeda-san, please start the class without me, and record absentees on my ledger, all of that. When I'm back, I want all of you to have taken notes on the first five pages of Chapter 7."
"Hai, sensei," Maeda nodded in affirmation, and their teacher disappeared back into the hallway. She marched to the front of the class: "Rise…"
Silas's classmates groaned collectively as they went through their morning routine. It was to be another normal, boring day. Silas didn't see either Hana or Yumika so much as cast a glance at each other for the entire block.
The [SOCIAL] action Observe: Class 4-1 (and similar permutations) will succeed regardless of the dice roll. Taking it will provide Silas with intel, though much of it may be useless.
<><><>
Silas was not a very shrewd person. He accepted this as fact. He knew trying to be clandestine around Maeda would be difficult.
That didn't make the shock any less strong when, while he was leaning on the door he knew Maeda was eating lunch in, to see if she was with any one, Maeda herself had come to the door and casually rolled it open, causing him to completely lose balance and stumble inside.
"Come in, come in!" She had said, smiling warmly, stepping back just so he didn't end up falling into her chest. "Usually I don't like letting people eat with me on days like this. But I think I can make an exception for you in particular, Ya - mi - ga - wa - kun!"
Due to a low roll, Maeda has COUNTERED Silas's action and targeted him with a TALK!
"Sugar?" Gently, the Class Representative took a teaspoon of sugar and piled it into Silas's drink. It melted into the liquid almost immediately, tiny particulates swirling on the surface.
Silas looked at her quizzically, still in shock from the suddenness of his situation.
"No tricks, Yamigawa-kun. It's sugar. If I wanted to drug you, I would have done so with the coffee itself. Much more subtle."
"Oh… kay…" Silas responded. He took a sip. It was nothing like the shoukakora piece he had wrapped tightly at the bottom of his bento, but coffee was coffee. Even when it was being served in a teacup.
"This is the second time you've tried something like this, you know." Maeda twirled a string of hair around her forefinger.
"It… is…?" Silas blinked. "It… is."
"Yep! Last time, though, I was a bit more… firm, in my reaction to you."
Silas said nothing. Maeda was a small girl, really; she wasn't any taller than your average sensei, and she had a rather lithe body. But, for some reason, sitting before him, glasses opaque and chin up, Silas felt like a gazelle who had wandered into the den of a tiger.
...Why, oh why, did he do these things to himself?!
"...Am I intimidating to you?" Maeda seemed genuinely concerned. She leaned forward and lowered her glasses slightly, letting light filter through so Silas could see her eyes.
"Y-Yes…"
"Really? Why would that be? I am Maeda Kirino, your Class Representative. Nothing more, nothing less. Right?"
"I-I believe so, yes."
"Then why do I intimidate you?" Maeda's voice was almost sing-song. "Unless you think there's something nefarious and ulterior about me, of course. But that would be ridiculous."
Silas said nothing.
Maeda leaned back. Rays streaked across her glasses, obscuring her pupils again. "You know more than you should."
Silas said nothing.
"...is that because you recognize me on a different level? Or is it because you're a snooper, snooping in things a student shouldn't snoop in?"
Silas said nothing. His heart was racing. He took a bite from his taco rice.
"...you're surprisingly difficult to crack. I can't read you. I can't tell if your silence is out of malicious intent or if you're too scared to speak. Ararara… guess it can't be helped." Maeda sat back into her chair, taking another sip from her coffee.
"For the record, Yamigawa-kun, I don't think you're malevolent. I believe you're just a curious student. I can't fault you for that. Though I would very much appreciate it if you would stop attempting to follow me around during lunchtime like some sort of weird, creepy stalker-with-a-crush. Could you sate your curiosity a bit around me? Please?"
"U-Uh…"
"It's just a simple request," Maeda shrugged. "And, you know, I kind of like my privacy. If you really want to chase mysteries, I'd suggest you chase them elsewhere, you know? So… do you promise?"
"I… I promise," Silas said without thinking.
"Really?"
"Y-Yeah…" Silas stared at the floor. "I… I'm r-really sorry. I shouldn't have… I shouldn't have been so… so brash." He was scared. He didn't want to look her in the eye.
"Do you really, really promise, then?"
"I do. I'm sorry." Silas said again. "R-Really! Please s-stop staring at me…" It wouldn't be until much later that he would come to realize the weight his own words had held on him.
Silas has promised not to spy on Maeda anymore! -50 ST to Observe: Maeda, Observe: Yuuko and Observe: Kei attempts indefinitely.
Maeda startled him by laughing - it was a light, trilling laugh, far removed from her icy coldness he had perceived her to have. "I'm not, Yamigawa-kun. I just wanted to get that promise out of you." She paused, as if pondering whether or not she should elaborate. "...that's all. You really shouldn't be so terrified! Besides, I've the strangest feeling that I won't need to hold you up to that promise for very long."
"...oh." Silas let out a long breath of air he didn't realize he had been holding in. Fingers shaking slightly, he took the teacup and swallowed a few gulps of coffee.
"Do you like the blend?" she asked amiably.
"...I rate it a 3 out of 5."
Maeda clicked her lips. "Only three?"
"It's…" Silas shifted his feet uncomfortably. "It's… I think there's too much milk. I prefer… bitterer coffee."
"Really?" Maeda raised an eyebrow. "Hum. Me, I always thought rich dark roast was just something people said they liked, while chugging milky coffee in private."
"Not me," Silas insisted. "Err… there's something about bitter coffee t-that reminds me of… w-well, you know, it's just nice."
"Hmm." Maeda didn't seem to know what to make of that. She produced a stick of pocky from a wrapped package next to her bento box, and stuck it between her teeth. "Aff noshished - " she gulped the Pocky down " - excuse me. I've noticed you're closer to Yumika-san nowadays. Is she treating you alright?"
For some reason, the way Maeda worded that rubbed him the wrong way. "What do you mean, 'treating me alright'?," he said, somewhat indignantly. "Yumika-san has been nothing but the second-most amazing person I-I could ever have the pleasure of knowing."
"I didn't mean to imply anything to the contrary!" Maeda laughed. "It's just… it's strange. Yumika-san doesn't reach out to people like she reached out to you very often. Or at all."
"...really?"
"Yeah. She focuses so much attention on her in-group, sometimes she even forgets to catch up with her older friends. Like poor me…" She laughed again. She fixed a serious gaze on him. "Hey. Forgive me if this sounds rude, or intrusive. You're not in Drama because you like her, are you?"
"Of course I like her. She's an awesome, supportive person." Silas said automatically. Maeda looked like she was about to say something, but he cut her off. "B-But… if you mean in… the other way… t-then, no. I don't…" Silas struggled to articulate the words. "...It would be inappropriate. A-And rude, and mean, and… yeah."
"Ah. That's good." Maeda nodded. "Between you and me, Yumika-san has a lot of… bad experiences with people who try to flirt with her. She doesn't really... how do I articulate this? She's... she likes being close to people, but only so much. I think the closeness of a real romantic relationship is actually kind of scary to her! Hah. Imagine that. Yumika-san, scared of something. So uncharacteristic of her, right?"
Silas vaguely recalled something about how a large portion of Drama Club had gone off 'with Chii-kun' to form Computer Club. "Huh…"
"Forgive me again if I touched on something personal," Maeda nodded her head. "I just want to make sure you don't hurt her by accident."
"...why are you being so nice to me?"
"Hmm?" Maeda said through her impassive, opaque gaze. "Why wouldn't I?"
"You…" Silas narrowed his eyes. "Y-You… you caught me trying to spy on you. A-And… you seem to suspect the things… you seem to… you t-think you know w-what the extent of my knowledge a-about you is. So… w-why are you so willing to just… sweep it under the rug, and s-start offering me… weird, helpful advice? I-I don't understand…"
Maeda pondered her answer for a moment. "...I want to know more about you," she said slowly, "because you are very interesting. I want to try to figure out what drives you to want to spy on me so wantonly. What do you hope to gain?"
"Information," Silas blurted. What am I doing? WHY AM I TELLING HER ALL OF THESE THINGS?! "T-The more things I know, the more absolute my information is, t-the better I can act to protect the things I care about."
"...and what do you think you'll be able to do, with information about me?"
Silas's cheeks burned. "...I won't tell. I… I'm bad at t-this game. B-But I'm not an idiot."
"C-Can I ask a question, then?" Silas asked. Maybe if he kept up the pressure, he could retake control of this situation. Or something.
"Shoot! We have until the end of lunch," Maeda said, shrugging.
"You…" Silas gulped. "Your… 'last response,' as you called it, you… y-you can do that again, if you wanted to. You could… e-erase this memory, at any second." He glanced at her hand. Whatever it was holding was hidden behind her blazer pocket. "...And my information w-would be worse-off for it. Tell me why you haven't done it yet."
"Oh, that! The amnestics weren't necessary last time, Yamigawa-kun. They are even less necessary this time. Besides, it won't really matter if I amnesticize you right now or not, will it? Since you have an… external source of information?"
Silas widened his eyes. She knows about the Conspiracy?! "I - " he choked.
Maeda's smile grew brighter. She knows about the Conspiracy. She knows. About. The Conspiracy! How? How?! Dammit, dammit, dammit! Now I've gone and gotten Hana-chan and Big Sis in trouble...
No no no no NO NO NO this is falling apart I can't cope with this I can't you can bb dammit calm down you are in control you are absolute water is wet earth is hard objects left unsupported fall towards the center of the Earth -
Maeda nodded, seeming to come to a decision in her mind. She got up. Silas felt his heart jump out of his chest. He started irrationally shielding himself from her - his arms went to cover his neck, his chest, any bit of exposed flesh on his body. But it was fruitless. Her hand emerged from her pocket, and she went for his wrist, and -
And… and she pulled him up. "Come on. The bell's about to ring. You should get to class already," she said.
"...Y-You're just going to…?"
"Yamigawa-kun, your fear is misplaced. I think we might be good friends!" She said, almost perkily. "Seriously. You should calm down. Stress is a real killer - I should know. You really should go now. Class is about to start!"
"M-Maeda-san…?"
"I'll see you later, Yamigawa-kun," Maeda took him by the wrist and walked him to the door. With her free hand, she placed Silas's bento box into his arms. "Do well in class! Kamasaki-sensei speaks highly about you behind your back, you know. You ought to take that as a good sign. But don't get complacent!"
"I-I won't," Silas said absently. He felt himself being pushed out the now open sliding door. He was in a sort-of-quiet hallway. The door slid shut behind him.
The only sound in his ears for a while was the sound of his heart thumping against his chest. It took the dinging of the School's P.A. system to rouse him back to reality. And even then, he nearly tripped over three people on his way back to class.
...I was wrong, Silas forced himself to realize. I was wrong. She doesn't know what I've done. Not yet. if she knew the extent of my subterfuge and whom I'm involved with, then she definitely would've erased my memory. Especially if Yumika-san is telling the truth, and she'd turned herself into a honeypot. That would be too much for her to leave me loose like a thread in this whole mess. No; she can't know about the Conspiracy.
If anything, she seemed…
...she…
...she sounded like she was… trying to connect with me. Like I was an old friend.
Silas, not knowing what to make of the information swirling around in his head, groggily made his way back to class. His heartbeat didn't start to die down until long after their Calculus teacher had begun her lecture.
He promised himself he'd talk to Yumika about this later.
Maeda Kirino: +-? REL Note: Meganekko Presence is active.
<><><>
Silas is developing the Skill: Subterfuge due to his constant insistence on spying on his classmates without regards to their desire for privacy. If he takes the Observe action two more times, the 1st Level of the Skill will be unlocked.
Silas has learned more about Maeda's Personality! Warden of the Peace - Maeda wants to avoid direct conflict as much as possible, and will actively work to subvert what she sees as threats to the peace. She wants, above most things, stability and normality for her classmates in particular, and for society in general.
Maeda has the special ability to force Promises, semi-temporary status effects which apply penalties if a character takes a specific action, or refuses to take a specific action.
Maeda has a special relationship stat, Loyalty. Loyalty is gained by fulfilling Promises, ??? and ???. High levels of Loyalty will impart special bonuses independent of REL growth, but will give Maeda the power to force control over a character's actions if she feels she needs to.
+REL if Maeda believes that Silas has done an action that will maintain the peace and/or normality of the school.
-REL if Maeda believes Silas is causing disruptions to the peace and/or normality of the school.
Maeda does not like direct confrontations, physical or otherwise. She will always try to diplomatically destroy her enemies. When that doesn't work, however...
???
Silas has discovered one of Maeda's traits! Meganekko Presence- Maeda's supernatural ability is the power to change the opacity of her glasses at will. In fact, the percentage of opacity can often be used as a measurement for how devious she is being - for example, if you can't see Maeda's eyes through her glasses, run the hell away. (During a social interaction, Maeda may choose to subtract the difference between her COUR stat and and another's COUR stat from their Success Threshold. This may occur if Maeda is present, even if she is not directly involved. Furthermore, at any time, Maeda may choose to withhold information about her REL from her Character Sheet.)
<><><>
(Coming up next turn: A nice, polite, stress-free chat with Yumika. Apologies for the lack of a vote.)
