Nero - Twelfth - 02
La Oliva
July 20th - 13:03
Options, options, options.
The world is open to me, hell, the universe might be as well.
Food is good too, even if the cut on my arm, and my Mab damned shoulder still hurt like a bitch under my new jacket. Playing hopscotch with moving cars… worth it.
Pathing, Pathing on the wall... should I take a left at Jupiter or a right?
Beep Beep
New Route: I stood up, walking for the door as I dialed 717445-02 and waited for the third dial tone before saying…
I flick through the directions with a half amazed smile, biting into another forkful of cheese cake.
Huh, I wouldn't end up anywhere near Jupiter, closer to Neptune than anything if I'm reading this gravity slingshot equation right.
…
I could go to Pluto if I wanted to. Starting here, all I had to do was stand up, walk out the door, and follow the Path. No matter how this death game goes, no matter that I have a one in twelve chance of dying?
That, the sheer possibility right there, makes it worth it. The chance at godhood isn't bad either.
The waitress gives me a worried look as I start laughing, but I wave her away. The amount of money I've spent here is more than enough to have them ignore a few idiocracies.
Nice solid tables, private booths with tinted glass windows, and polite staff that don't ask questions when you take a booth to yourself and pay in cash.
Money ceased to be a problem this morning slash late last night, since I figured out how to get my Diary to cough up a few dozen thousand grand. Well, the local equivalent, it's Yen here of course, but I don't know the exact conversion for moon-money.
...I should
really stop calling things 'moon' whatever. It's kinda mean, and will probably get my ass handed to me at some point.
Anyway, getting money was fairly simple, park my ass in a Internet Cafe with an expensive travel agent open, and then aim the Path at the other side of the world. Private airlines are fast and expensive, and those credit cards my phone reeled off didn't seem to have a charge limit.
So I just entered the information into somewhere other than the directed site for hiring a private jet and was my money woes taken care of for now. A dozen max load bank cards and as much as I could get out in various other methods have left me with more than I know what to do with.
A new phone up to Academy standards was the first purchase, as a measure to keep my Diary at least somewhat protected from day to day risk. I'm, eh, still figuring out how to use it, since I jumped straight to the strange digital paper model.
"Here's your meal Mr. Laplace, just call me over if you need anything else, okay sir?"
I must have been lost in thought, didn't notice her there.
"Thank you, I will."
She smiles and bows before leaving me to my thoughts.
Where was I? Oh, options.
Now, where did I… A couple seconds of searching finds me my deck of tarot cards and I pull a stack of ten off the top. Not actually going to do a reading, I just need something to represent the 'Paths' available to me.
First priority is learning Japanese. I can think of about three different viable ways off the top of my head, and a couple others beside.
One, represented by the Fool, is just learning the language normally. Take advantage of their no-doubt efficient courses to speed it up. However, I suck at learning languages, there's a reason I dropped french back in secondary school. It's also going to take time, time one tends not to have when being chased down by eleven people out for one's blood.
Secondly, far more fun, and with about ninety percent chance to end with me either dead or mind slaved, Misaki. One of the Level 5 Espers, with the ability 'Mental Out'. Said ability is basically mind control in its most powerful form and should easily be able to add the Japanese language to my gray matter.
Could also end up with me and the Path under her control, which isn't really the happy ending I'm looking for.
Tower can mark that one, since it is gonna end in ruin. I'm not a huge fan of having a glowing star in my eye either, which might be an actual side effect of her mind control powers, assuming the series wasn't just using it as a tool to inform the viewers.
Third option, and technically the fourth and fifth as well, is getting access to Testament.
Four of Cups to mark that little device, with the Nine and Two of Swords to represent the other ways.
Testament is a… machine seems like a cheap term, but it is correct.
To be more exact and dramatic, it is a neural interface that uses biophysical principles to 'install' information into a human brain. Mostly only effective on theoretical knowledge, it uses all five sense to interface with the target, allowing an insane rate of information transfer.
And by insane, I mean 'Can teach a blank slate enough to function in society' in roughly a week, maybe less.
Those were mind linked clones though, not sure if they count as baseline.
Either way, it was made by one Shinobu something, a purple haired girl who eventually regretted her part in the City's dark side and tried, or will try, to make amends.
She is a near perfect in, but I have no idea how to convince her to actually use the device on me. Four of Cups.
My other two routes, one is a mad woman out for a miracle, the elusive Stripper Lady.
I'm not making this shit up, this city has some damn weird rumors.
Harumi Kyo something, a scientist who created a mental network that enables Espers to increase their level by listening to a sound file known as Level Upper.
It also slowly burned out their neurons, condemning them to coma's while Harumi uses them as a massive meat-computer farm.
Oh! And it lets her access all of their powers combined. I make a note to grab a copy to use as a bargaining tool, if I remember right it is easily downloadable from sites outside of the Cities reach.
Yeah…. Maybe not agitate the crazy?
Fuck it. She probably can't beat Pathing if I set it too 'the fuck away', so death isn't a reason to avoid her.
The fact that she is probably focused on her own issues, and that I don't have anything to offer other than Pathing's powers is, however, a reason to avoid her.
I stop for a second as I reach for another card, looking up at the waitress who has returned with the second course, then down at the tarot cards that she raises an eyebrow at, gesturing with the dish.
Well, I feel kinda silly now.
The cards are quickly gathered up and slipped into their pack.
I don't need the things for this, but it was kinda fun.
This gravy is more fun though, breakfast was hours ago.
Right, Mental Out, actually learn it, or Testament.
Those are my options, not counting looking for a translator than will probably get broken, or magic slash esper abilities.
Testament has a chance of being able to give me some other skills too, so that seems to be the best plan.
...After I finish this deliciously expensive food. I nearly died a dozen times yesterday, I think i've earned it.
-
Crossing the bridge towards the 'Lab' district, I ping Pathing again. I'm not using it to get to said district because I don't feel like running.
I'm going to Ninth
…
Take me to Marie White
…
Nothing.
I've tried a few dozen ways of phrasing it, but the limits seem to be roughly knowing the area, or seeing it on a map.
Names don't work, though building addresses do for the most part.
Even 'high priced restaurant on the main street' worked, though I'm theorizing that is due to me being able to see the place from the main street, and probably half remembering it from yesterday morning.
But then,
Ninth in Academy City doesn't give me anything.
Same for any tries using 'hospital' as a keyword, unless I was just trying to head to the hospital itself.
The limits of this Diary of mine seem to be pretty abstract, and I don't get the feeling I will be able to find any other Holders with it, at least not that easily. It just defaults to its prediction of wherever I am currently going, which isn't the most useful when you consider how many times I tend to stop to windowshop.
Being that she is likely in Anti-SKILL custody at the moment, I am going to leave her till I at least have the language skills to tell my side of the story.
So, off to see the purpled haired scientist girl. Other plans are going to have to wait until I have Japanese under… my… belt.
I came to a stop, staring at the gorgeous piece of engineering on display through the glass.
"That, is a nice bike." Not quite the towering mech I played with yesterday, but I could hardly take that thing out on the street without abusing Pathing to drive it. At least for now. I have plans~!
-
After about fifteen minutes of admiring the motorcycle and trying to figure out enough Japanese to buy the thing, I gave up, resolving to come back later, and finished my trip to 'Nagatenjouki' Academy. Not even going to try and pronounce that name.
Looking up at the gates from the pavement, I have to admit that it's a nice place.
Got to be pretty competent as well, if it had a hand in creating Shinobu and possibly Accelerator.
Never did get around to finding a translation for those extra materials for my Quest, they died before I needed them. The dice
really hated them.
I'm getting off topic again, it's time to invade a school!
…
That sounded far less impressive than I wanted it to. Sighing, I activated my Diary and started spamming Path's to inside each of the rooms I could see windows of, the roof, and pretty much every inch of the school that I could get a Path to lock onto.
beep-beep beep-beep beep-beep
I let my eyes unfocus a little, the text flickering back and forth as I take a peek at the various Paths available. Any exact one is going to be useless, since I can't really think of a place that equates 'Purple haired scientist agrees to install Moonspeak into your brain meats'.
So I was going for the next best thing, spamming Path's for common variables that will work to let me move freely inside the school.
Hmm~
A lab coat is showing up in pretty much every Path that I have to talk with people in, my glasses too. Yay for stereotypes I guess.
I make a mental note to look into laser eye surgery or contacts once I have the language skills, my crappy eyesight could be a hinderance in this death match.
Nothing else is really standing out as common enough to be worth grabbing, though I take note of the fact that the third window on the left side, ground level, doesn't lock properly. There are a couple other bits, people with keycards and the like, but without actually seeing who 'blondie on the left' is, it isn't much help.
A quick search yields a store in which I find a labcoat and a drink, after which I step outside and reluctantly slip my glasses on, wincing as my one of my bags shoulder straps catch on my arm. Hitting cars left bruises.
Don't get me wrong, I love what my glasses do for me and the crystal clear sight of this futuristic metropolis is bloody stunning. It just depresses me how bad my eyes have gotten.
After a minute of admiring the site of Academy City in all its glory, I push the depressing state of my eyes out of mind and run a hand through my hair. Confidence bubbles up through my mind, my gait lengthening as I laugh outloud. The mild apprehension and growing sense of loss for my old world are washed away near instantly.
Confidence, a smile, and pretending to know what you're doing. That's all you really need in the end.
I stride through the ornamental gates with an easy loping stride, glancing lazily around and nodding to the gate guard.
Let's find us a purple haired scientist.
Nagatenjouki Academy
15:26
Finding Miss Shinobu was easier, and harder than I thought it would be.
Getting access to the school was easy, occasionally pinging Path's and glancing at my rapidly changing future to ensure security wasn't about to show up and open fire on me.
The difficult part was finding the purple haired girl. Almost an oxymoron that, she has bloody purple hair. However, I am in anime land, and the genetic variance of hair color seems to be just as diverse as the medium would have you believe.
It was the third purple haired girl I spotted that turned out to be Shinobu, and I could only really tell because she was wearing a lab coat. An unhealthy amount of reliance on things that the anime probably only used to highlight key characters? Yes.
Successful deduction? Also yes.
Cute scientist found though, following the anime appearance rather than the manga so no crazy fish eyes.
"Hello, Nunotaba-san, is it?" I offer a hand to shake, smiling easily.
"...Yes." She shakes my hand, giving me an odd look as I mentally sigh in relief that she knows enough English that I'm not going to have to try and backhack Pathing into acting as a translator.
"You can call me Laplace, I'm here to ask you for a favor and offer one in return."
Shinobu gives me an apathetic look, probably expecting something along the lines of research help of something like that, if I remember her backstory right.
"I need you to use Testament to install Moonspeak into my brain. In return I can either give you enough cash to set you up for the rest of your life, or help you with that little issue with your
Sisters."
There we go, she freezes for a moment, before brown eyes widen as a look of panic breaks the emotional apathy that seemed all encompassing. "
W-what?! How do- No, not here,
follow me." Given that I don't speak Japanese yet, I follow, bemused, as she grabs my sleeve and drags me into a nearby lab. Keycard and password locked as it is, this is probably the most secure place on campus.
…
hahahahaha, nah, they probably have an underground complex knowing this series.
Might have to look into that.
"Right, who are you? And why do you know about Radio Noise if you can't even speak Japanese?" She's a lot cuter when she's panicking.
I tap her on the shoulder as she starts looking around. "Calm down, I haven't told anyone, and I'm fairly sure the way I found out isn't really going to work for anyone else."
Grinning, I lean in. "And that means I can help you with them rather easily. You finish the data stick yet?"
She pushes me back as her eyes widen. "How do you know about that? I haven't even started yet! And tell me who you are already!"
I point to the roof as a thought occurs. "Any chance this place is bugged?" Because, well, this is Academy City. There are invisible nanobots that spy on people if I remember my wiki-walk right.
She shakes her head, which moves her hair enough for me to affirm, yes, purple is her natural hair color. Works better than I would have thought.
"Right then, you can call me Laplace. The equivalent of a L 5 Precog told me, along with most of a potential future that reaches about two years ahead of now. The fact that Testament has been used to program the clones, that Level Upper is a directive or reversed use of the tech and that clones are
human when you really get down to it. I'm in a death game for more power than the fucking One-Way Road and need your help."
Enough truth and shocks to the system leave her off guard, so now when I make the offer properly, bluntly pressing the button that is Radio Noise?
"I need Japanese faster than I can learn it, and I need anything else you can give me using Testament. In return I'll help you fix the mistake you made with the Sisters, and give you a hand shutting down the Level 6 Shift Project."
What can she do but agree?