Magical Lotus - Mahou Shoujou Byakuren - Episode 3

[Hanzo K.]

>Chuckle a bit. It's magic. Handy ability this. Almost makes having a cellphone unimportant.

[Oldmansour]

>Chuckle a bit. It's magic. Handy ability this. Almost makes having a cellphone unimportant.

>"Lemme try."
>The kasha squints in your direction and leans forward. Helllloooo?

[Hanzo K.]

>Smile brightly. You catch on quick! it took Kiku a while to get the hang of this. Lily caught on rather fast herself, but I don't think it was this fast.
>"Oh! I should tell the others!"
>Let's try for a Confrence Call with the rings! Hello? Testing, Testing. Can everyone hear me?

[DracoOmega]

Don't you think the 'conference call' might be kinda rushing things? Given that at least Kiku has never even been introduced to Rin and Orin herself is very new to all this. It feels a bit like suddenly shoving someone on-stage, without even knowing the other people there. At least to me.

[Hanzo K.]

Don't worry, this'll be a good way to introduce them. We'll have to anyway, so better now when we're free, than later when we're in a pinch.

[DracoOmega]

I still feel at the very least we should take things a bit slower for Rin's sake. This has already got to be a little overwhelming without her being thrust into a mental conversation with someone she has never met. To say nothing of Kiku potentially considering it an indiscretion (her being a rather private person and all)

[Hanzo K.]

She's catching on fairly quickly. Perhaps even faster than Lily. Plus, Kiku doesn't seem to have much trouble with Groups. And theoretically she'll welcome the addition of a new ally.

[Hello Purvis]

Draco has the right of it. We should have some class.

[Hanzo K.]

Fine, since you guys don't wanna get introductions outta the way when we're actually safe and able to do them easily.
I don't see what the big deal is anyhow, it's not a lengthy rambling thing, just a simple introduction to the rest of the group, like what you'd get when transferring to a new school like Sanae did previously.

[DracoOmega]

It's not a matter of time invested - as you say, we have time and we're not really in a rush. As I see it, it's a matter of being respectful to the various parties involved. Rin has only just spoken her very first words in this manner and given her initial reaction, we should probably give her some time to get used to it before we thrust other people, who she doesn't even know, into her head. At least to me, this sort of communication feels a bit more intimate or personal than simply talking on the phone or in person would be, so I'd like to be mindful of that. And Kiku in particular is a woman who is used to a lot of formal boundaries, so outside of an emergency, I think it much better to at least ask her permission before trying to initiate a conversation in her head with a 'stranger'.

Honestly, I think it would be better to simply introduce them in person first, if there's not a pressing reason to do otherwise, though I'm not categorically opposed to doing otherwise if we take it a bit slower and ask the other parties involved ahead of time, rather than assuming on them.

>"Oh! I should tell the others!"
>Let's try for a Confrence Call with the rings! Hello? Testing, Testing. Can everyone hear me?

>So hold off on this for a bit

[Oldmansour]

>Smile brightly. You catch on quick! it took Kiku a while to get the hang of this. Lily caught on rather fast herself, but I don't think it was this fast.

>Rin chuckles a bit bashfully. "Feels kinda weird, though, havin' someone else's voice in your head."

[DracoOmega]

>"Yes, it is a strange sensation, but I find myself already growing accustomed to it. And it has many uses, such as discretely sharing information too sensitive to speak aloud around other people. I have even been able to reach at least as far as the shrine of the Metal Tiger from here with it; its range is perhaps even further than that."

[Oldmansour]

>"Yes, it is a strange sensation, but I find myself already growing accustomed to it. And it has many uses, such as discretely sharing information too sensitive to speak aloud around other people. I have even been able to reach at least as far as the shrine of the Metal Tiger from here with it; its range is perhaps even further than that."

>Rin retrieves her windbreaker as you fill her in on your telepathic abilities. "So is that a part of the ring's power of ours?" She pauses, then adds, "Let me try that again. Do we need to have our rings on to do that?"

[DracoOmega]

>"I... suppose I am not sure; it had not occurred to me to try."
>Remove our ring for a moment, and place it on a table or something beside us
>Then try to communicate telepathically to Rin again: Can you still hear me?

[Oldmansour]

>"I... suppose I am not sure; it had not occurred to me to try."
>Remove our ring for a moment, and place it on a table or something beside us
>Then try to communicate telepathically to Rin again: Can you still hear me?

>"Might be worth a shot, in case we go somewhere where jewelry's a bad idea."
>Placing your ring on the desk to your left, you once again stretch your thoughts out to Rin. This time, however, the kasha gives no indication of contact received.

[DracoOmega]

>"I gather you didn't hear that, then?"
>"Try sending something to me. Let's see if we can still receive messages without them."

[Oldmansour]

>"I gather you didn't hear that, then?"
>"Try sending something to me. Let's see if we can still receive messages without them."

>"I didn't."
>"Yes, Mistress." Rin replies, almost automatically. She squints and leans slightly forward again. Weirdly, the sound of her voice does not come into your head, but from your ring, "Hello?"

[DracoOmega]

>This is actually audible through the air? With our ears?
>"Keep talking."
>Lean our ear towards the ring, then pick it up and put it on while Rin continues to speak through it.

[Oldmansour]

>This is actually audible through the air? With our ears?
>"Keep talking."
>Lean our ear towards the ring, then pick it up and put it on while Rin continues to speak through it.

>Indeed. Like a walkie-talkie, without the static.
>"Yes, Mistress."
>Her voice continues to come over the ring as you reclaim it. "But this's even weirder. 'course, it is magic, so weird's only normal. Right?" Although you placed it back in your finger in the middle of her sentence, her speech continued to come over your ring.

[Hanzo K.]

>"It's rather like a Walkie-Talkie, but without any static! Amazing...I suspect Patchouli would want to figure out how to do this without getting such a power, knowing her."
>Come to think of it, it'd be handy to have something like this even after all's said and done.

[DracoOmega]

>While keeping the ring on our finger: "Try that again, if you would?"

[Oldmansour]

>"It's rather like a Walkie-Talkie, but without any static! Amazing...I suspect Patchouli would want to figure out how to do this without getting such a power, knowing her."
>Come to think of it, it'd be handy to have something like this even after all's said and done.

>Rin looks a mite confused. "Is it supposed to work that way, though?"

>While keeping the ring on our finger: "Try that again, if you would?"

>Orin nods then squints again. This time you hear her voice in your head, "Experiment three." Weirdly, she pronounces the word properly telepathically. Quad-syllable words tend to give her trouble.

[Hanzo K.]

>"Heard it up topside, like usual. Seems you don't have trouble with quad-syllable words with that method though. I wonder why? Perhaps the mind is a separate thing from the body..."

[DracoOmega]

>"Heard it up topside, like usual. Seems you don't have trouble with quad-syllable words with that method though. I wonder why? Perhaps the mind is a separate thing from the body..."

>Excise the bit about her pronunciation. No need to point out her verbal struggles so bluntly....

>"Well, it seems that speech transmitted audibly remains audible after the ring is reworn, but I wonder if the inverse is true? Try saying something a little lengthy, if you could?"
>Partway through, remove our ring.

[Oldmansour]

>"Heard it up topside, like usual. Perhaps the mind is a separate thing from the body..."

>"Well, it seems that speech transmitted audibly remains audible after the ring is reworn, but I wonder if the inverse is true? Try saying something a little lengthy, if you could?"
>Partway through, remove our ring.

>Orin ponders that for a moment, then starts reciting part of the notes she took in english class today. When she gets about halfway through, you slide the ring off your finger again, and her voice stops abruptly, and does not continue over the ring.

[DracoOmega]

>Put the ring back on, hopefully before she finishes what she was saying

[Oldmansour]

>Put the ring back on, hopefully before she finishes what she was saying

>Quickly, before she gets to the bottom of her sentence, you replace the ring again. And sure enough, you hear the rest of Rin's sentence in your mind's ear.

[DracoOmega]

>"Well, it seems that whatever mode of communication used at the start of an utterance continues until the end of it, whether the ring is removed or replaced during that time."

[Oldmansour]

>"Well, it seems that whatever mode of communication used at the start of an utterance continues until the end of it, whether the ring is removed or replaced during that time."

>Rin seems a mite confused. "Come again?"

[DracoOmega]

>"Well, when you tried to communicate with me while my ring was off, it came through my ring as sound, yes? And remained as sound, even after I put my ring back on. But when you use the same method of communication while my ring is on from the start, it comes through into my mind and does not revert to making sound once the ring is removed. But if I put the ring back on while you are still speaking this way, I can once again hear it in my mind."