Kisume Quest V - A Z-Machine Adventure

[Hello Purvis]

> Do it in the other hand.

>You summon another flame. Yumemi's face breaks into a broad grin. "Yes! Yes! Zvarri! This is exactly what I needed! You must come with me at once!"
>She bustles toward one of the corners of the workshop without waiting for you to reply.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Zvarri? The hell? ...Maybe she's so excited she's mixing her language use.
> Regardless, pick ourselves up off the floor and float over to where she is.

[Hello Purvis]

> Zvarri? The hell? ...Maybe she's so excited she's mixing her language use.
> Regardless, pick ourselves up off the floor and float over to where she is.

>Possibly so.
>You pick yourself off the floor, extinguishing the flames to keep from accidentally setting the floor or your clothes on fire. She stops beside a strange device made of smooth black material, it looks something a panel of glass and metal on a couple of steel rods connected to a stand. The panel is elevated and angled down toward the standard. You note some cords extending from it and connecting to a machine panel a few feet away.
>"You just put your hands under this and do that again!" she says.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Uh...like this?"
> Put our hands under the panel and summon fire in both of them.

[Hello Purvis]

> "Uh...like this?"
> Put our hands under the panel and summon fire in both of them.

>"Yes, yes, just like that!" thats Yumemi, as she dashes over to the machine panel and starts to fiddle with it. "Again!" she says after a moment.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Can we sustain our fire?

[Hello Purvis]

> Can we sustain our fire?

>You can sustain it without something for it to burn for a good while; you've never really tested any longer than necessary to cook something, but you know you can do it for at least that long with no problems. Once you set it to burn something, it's out of your hands and will burn out normally.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Let's pretend like we're cooking, then, except sustain it in both hands.

[Hello Purvis]

> Let's pretend like we're cooking, then, except sustain it in both hands.

>You keep the flames going, and Yumemi messes with the instrument panel. "Yes, fascinating..." she says, though you don't think she's talking to you. "If only those fools hadn't tossed me from the University. Ugh."
>She looks at you and says, "Cease the fire, then do it again."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Stop, wait a second, then fire it up again.

[Hello Purvis]

> Stop, wait a second, then fire it up again.

>You stop, wait a moment, then do it again. Yumemi makes impressed noises near her machine. After a minute she says, "Again."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Again!

[Hello Purvis]

> Again!

>She fiddles with her machine panel while you do, then says, "Again," after a moment.
>You have the feeling that this won't be stopping anytime soon.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Give it another go, but talk this time.
> "What exactly am I doing here?"

[Hello Purvis]

> Give it another go, but talk this time.
> "What exactly am I doing here?"

>"You're using magic, are you not?" says Yumemi, as you do it again.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Well, yeah, but what's your panel doing with it, and how long will it take?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "Well, yeah, but what's your panel doing with it, and how long will it take?"

>"Measuring it," she says, not looking up from whatever she is doing. "Monitoring some things. Recording. How long? Who could possibly answer that? There's no maps for the unknown!"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Frown.
> "So all the people and time-sensitive stuff we left back where Ruukoto and I came from..."

[Hello Purvis]

> Frown.
> "So all the people and time-sensitive stuff we left back where Ruukoto and I came from..."

>"This is time sensitive, too!" says Yumemi. "I have to beat Canus' pets to whatever discoveries about the literal existence of magic there are to be made! I lost my position at the university over this, I'll never let them beat me to publishing the results of this and getting credit! It's not like you can go back until Ruukoto is ready, anyways. Again."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Sigh.
> "I guess."
> Keep firing off as requested.

[Hello Purvis]

> Sigh.
> "I guess."
> Keep firing off as requested.

>You keep creating and dismissing fires. At first, Yumemi is very insistent that you not vary your routine, doing it the same way each time. Then she asks you to change it, holding the fires longer. There doesn't seem to be any sign of her slowing down with Chiyuri walks back into the room, saying, "Okay, the laundry should be ready in a little while, so we-" She stops and frowns at the two of you, then puts her hands on her hips and says "Professor?"
>Yumemi doesn't seem to acknowledge her, instead looking up at you and saying, "Again."
>Chiyuri gives a loud sigh. Then she fishes something out of her shorts pocket and flings it at Yumemi. You don't really see what it is, but it smacks into the side of Yumemi's head with 'thwack', then clatters to the floor with a metallic jangle.
"Gah! Ow!" Yumemi cries, jerking away, then rubbing the her temple and glaring toward Chiyuri. "Be careful, you dimwit! You could have put my eye out!"
>"You weren't planning on looking in this direction anytime soon, Professor," says Chiyuri, putting her hands on her hips again. "Did you even begin to plan a next move with her?" Though the question was posed toward Yumemi, she looks toward you.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Shrug.
> "I'm the least-knowledgable here about the layout of that complex. Assuming I can borrow a bucket here, though, I think it would be easier to get my stuff before trying to rescue my friend. Busting her out of the medical lab is going to cause a stir, whereas pilfering stuff from a locker probably won't for a while."

[Hello Purvis]

> Shrug.
> "I'm the least-knowledgable here about the layout of that complex. Assuming I can borrow a bucket here, though, I think it would be easier to get my stuff before trying to rescue my friend. Busting her out of the medical lab is going to cause a stir, whereas pilfering stuff from a locker probably won't for a while."

>"Oh right, Ruukoto said you wanted a bucket," says Chiyuri. "Alright,that's no problem.  So, once we bust your friend out, what's next on your list?"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "After getting my stuff and my friend, all I can think of is going home while making sure Emperorface can't ever follow me."

[Hello Purvis]

> "After getting my stuff and my friend, all I can think of is going home while making sure Emperorface can't ever follow me."

>"That might be a problem," says Chiyuri, as she sits on the counter beside you. "If the Emperor decides he wants it, it's going to be difficult to convince him otherwise. Especially if he makes a big national deal of out it."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Near as I can tell, trying to talk him out of it is only one possible make to make sure he doesn't follow."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Near as I can tell, trying to talk him out of it is only one possible make to make sure he doesn't follow."

>"I wouldn't bother," says Yumemi. "He won't have any interest in listening. He's well beyond things like that."
>Chiyuri shrugs. "Not unless he could be convinced it's a losing proposition anyways. But, we don't really know what he knows about Gensokyo. Or why he really took and interest. As far as everyone's concerned, the Professor is a crackpot, so it's curious that he took an interest at all."
>"Hmph, clearly it was a gamble on his part," says Yumemi. "Could you that again, now? Like last time?"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Fire it off again.
> "If we're thinking about getting that close to him, what's to say I don't just knock him off?"

[Hello Purvis]

> Fire it off again.
> "If we're thinking about getting that close to him, what's to say I don't just knock him off?"

>"That...might work," says Chiyuri. "I don't know if he's actually declared a successor privately. It's been one of the things we've been trying to get Ruukoto to figure out, actually."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Do you think he would? From the sounds of things, it seems like he's too egomaniacal to even consider the possibility that he wouldn't be in power tomorrow."