Okuu Quest After - A Z-Machine Adventure

[DracoOmega]

>Well, keep shooting and poke our head out enough to see. If the above commands seem at all possible, once we can see, attempt them

[Hello Purvis]

>Well, keep shooting and poke our head out enough to see. If the above commands seem at all possible, once we can see, attempt them

>You keep firing and go closer to the surface. The way looks clear!
>You dash out from the sphere, and close the last couple yards, leading with your feet and firing along the way.
>With that little space, and with your covering fire, Kanako cannot escape. She raises her arms to deflect your attack, but the weight of her woulds is that her defense cannot hold against your momentum. You  smash through her guard, and your foot connects squarely with her check.
>The danmaku around you evaporates, the noise of it all combining into a sudden, loud rushing sound. Kanako begins to tumble from the air.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Catch her!

[Kilgamayan]

> Ask Stargazer to help us catch her

[Hello Purvis]

>Catch her!

>You swoop down and catch her. Again, you brace yourself for impact, and this time you are not so disappointed. Still, she isn't as heavy as she should be; more like an armload of books than a woman that doesn't fit many definitions of small.
>Still, it is more than enough to strain your wing. You need to land, now.

> Ask Stargazer to help us catch her

>Stargazer doesn't reply.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Find a nearby rooftop, free of people, to land on

[Kilgamayan]

> Can we detect where Stargazer is?
> Do we know what part of the city we're above?

[communist unity (comm-unity)]

> How long have we been fighting, and how is our current physical state?
> When we land, reset our stopwatch with the phone.
> How far are we from Nitori, and would we have enough energy to carry Nitori back to Reimu's when we get there?

[Hello Purvis]

> Can we detect where Stargazer is?
> Do we know what part of the city we're above?

>You try to find Stagazer. She's...ah, she's joined with you. But it's not like before, it doesn't feel like she sleeping so much as she's out cold. Dashing into that last attack must have been too much for her.
>You're above the uptown region.

>Find a nearby rooftop, free of people, to land on

>You find a relatively high rooftop and land on it. Minoriko follows you down.

> How long have we been fighting, and how is our current physical state?
> When we land, reset our stopwatch with the phone.
> How far are we from Nitori, and would we have enough energy to carry Nitori back to Reimu's when we get there?

>At least ten minutes. And honestly, you really want to lie down.
>You reset the stopwatch after placing Kanako on the roof.
>You're not terribly far away from Nitori's, but carrying her is out of the question now.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Set Kanako down, and lie down ourselves. We can rest a bit, as long as we don't let ourselves just collapse with exhaustion, either
>When Minoriko lands: "I think there are a few things you ought to tell me, now."

[Doll.S CUBE]

> Ask Minoriko to check on Nitori, and if possible, to bring her back here

> Hold the questions off for later, we need to save Nitori

[DracoOmega]

>Kanako said the Foundation had no agents here at the moment. And we need a rest before we'd be able to do anything drastic to save her, either. We can go after a little bit

[Serela]

> Ask Minoriko to check on Nitori, and if possible, to bring her back here

>Lets not. Minoriko probably can't bring Nitori, she also doesn't know anything about her, neither does Nitori (likely) know her or would trust her; and we only just MET Minoriko, it's kind of rude to start sending her on errands she isn't well suited to do at all.
>Besides, Kanako said the foundation has their hands full trying to get us, first, so it'll probably be fine to wait until we can get Nitori ourselves.

[Hello Purvis]

>Set Kanako down, and lie down ourselves. We can rest a bit, as long as we don't let ourselves just collapse with exhaustion, either
>When Minoriko lands: "I think there are a few things you ought to tell me, now."

>You lay down. Oh man, when did a roof ever feel so good? You know, you've spent a lot of time on roofs today...
>"I'll tell you anything you like," she says. "Everything."

> Ask Minoriko to check on Nitori, and if possible, to bring her back here
> Hold the questions off for later, we need to save Nitori

>Kanako said the Foundation had no agents here at the moment. And we need a rest before we'd be able to do anything drastic to save her, either. We can go after a little bit

>Lets not. Minoriko probably can't bring Nitori, she also doesn't know anything about her, neither does Nitori (likely) know her or would trust her; and we only just MET Minoriko, it's kind of rude to start sending her on errands she isn't well suited to do at all.
>Besides, Kanako said the foundation has their hands full trying to get us, first, so it'll probably be fine to wait until we can get Nitori ourselves.

>You worry about Nitori for a bit, then decide to take Kanako at her word.
>"I'm sorry I couldn't have been of more use," says Minoriko. "But Suwako was right, I would have just been in your way. The closest I am worshipped for battle is protecting crops..."

>_

[Kasu]

> "I see...  Well, back to the matter at hand, how did you reawaken and what was your place on the island before that?"

[DracoOmega]

>"Look, I'm sorry for trying to push you. I hope you can understand where I was coming from. It's almost a miracle in and of itself that I'm still in one piece, here."
>Did we have any idea who Minoriko was in the old Gensokyo?
>If not: "Worshiped? So, you're a god, too, then, are you?"
>"They said you send the crow spirit to me somehow. How'd you do it? And more importantly, why?"
>"Can gods not be sealed here like youkai, can? Or were you in on their deal to start with?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "I see...  Well, back to the matter at hand, how did you reawaken and what was your place on the island before that?"

>"I was naturalized into this world to begin with," says Minoriko, as she lays Suwako down. "I was...well...not quite a key member of the plot, but I was a supporter."

>"Look, I'm sorry for trying to push you. I hope you can understand where I was coming from. It's almost a miracle in and of itself that I'm still in one piece, here."
>Did we have any idea who Minoriko was in the old Gensokyo?
>If not: "Worshiped? So, you're a god, too, then, are you?"
>"They said you send the crow spirit to me somehow. How'd you do it? And more importantly, why?"
>"Can gods not be sealed here like youkai, can? Or were you in on their deal to start with?"

>"I'm not upset," she says.
>You're pretty sure she is a figure the humans liked. That's about all you know.
>She nods. "I am goddess of the Harvest."
>"I found it," says Minoriko. "That crow is what was left of you after the youkai was removed from you. Kanako let the spirits roam freely, not wanting to confine them away and possibly risk hurting them. As for why? Well..." she gestures toward the defeated goddesses. "Because I hoped you could do it."
>"Not safely, no. We're not wholly physical beings like you are. So by extension, I did cooperate."

>_

[Kasu]

> "Are you aware of how may spirits are roaming around?  Also, is there anyone else who is conscious of the change?"

[DracoOmega]

>"I don't just mean why did you send the spirit to ME, but why did you attempt to undo what they had done at all?"

[UncertainJakutten]

> "If you initially supported it, why did you want us to defeat Suwako and Kanako for you? What changed?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "Are you aware of how may spirits are roaming around?  Also, is there anyone else who is conscious of the change?"

>"There's a fair number of them," says Minoriko. "Beast youkai like yourself left animals. Others left other things. But they don't all come at the same time. And...I'm sorry it was so hard on you. I had no idea what it'd be like to awaken, to use your word. And there's two others that are aware, my sister Shizuha and miss Koishi. Shizuha won't be a problem for you now, even though she is still fully in favor of it. She couldn't stop you without catching you asleep.

>"I don't just mean why did you send the spirit to ME, but why did you attempt to undo what they had done at all?"

> "If you initially supported it, why did you want us to defeat Suwako and Kanako for you? What changed?"

>"Because at first, it sounded wonderful. A world where just a few people could grow enough food to feed thousands." She sighs. "And it's true. I alone was able to grow enough to to feed a sizable amount of the people here, even with the salty soil, thanks to the wonders here. But, there was a problem. People had moved away from the soil. They had isolated themselves from the food they ate. It wasn't right. And isolated as they are, I was starting to be isolated as well. So I acted."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"I only fully regained my memories when I put back on the items that I'm wearing now. The crow spirit joining with me just gave me the sense that the world was wrong. My sister has found her cat spirit, now, but do you know how we could awaken her fully?"
>"Also, can you see the other spirit with me? I think she may be unconscious now. You said other youkai left other things. Is this a spirit that should belong to someone else?"
>"And really, why did you pick me, as opposed to say, Reimu? She's already beaten both Kanako and Suwako. And me.... If you wanted to pick the person with the best odds to beating them, I might have to admit it would have been her..."

[Kasu]

> "I see...  So it was kind of an issue with all of the imports and what not?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"I only fully regained my memories when I put back on the items that I'm wearing now. The crow spirit joining with me just gave me the sense that the world was wrong. My sister has found her cat spirit, now, but do you know how we could awaken her fully?"
>"Also, can you see the other spirit with me? I think she may be unconscious now. You said other youkai left other things. Is this a spirit that should belong to someone else?"
>"And really, why did you pick me, as opposed to say, Reimu? She's already beaten both Kanako and Suwako. And me.... If you wanted to pick the person with the best odds to beating them, I might have to admit it would have been her..."

>"It...didn't?" say Minoriko, frowning. "I had thought it would have happened with just your youkai aspect returning to you, over time. So...I'm not sure, then. at least, not that way."
>She nods. "I saw it, and I am pretty sure I recognize who she is. She too was a special case."
>"I had no idea how to awaken a human," says Minoriko. "Otherwise, I would have."

> "I see...  So it was kind of an issue with all of the imports and what not?"

>"Not just imports," says Minoriko. "It's that people no longer knew who grew their food, or where it came from. Imports were a part of this, but that would have been fine if more people were willing to plant something for themselves, or for others. But there's so many that don't, people become alienated from their food, and from the ones who grow it and harvest it."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "So that spirit in me right now is another special person? Who is she? I'd like to be able to better communicate with her. Does she have a human body here to go with, like Orin and I did?"
> "And if you could see her, why couldn't Suwako? I can't believe Sanae was able to detect her immediately yet Suwako fell for the same trick twice."

[DracoOmega]

>"You recognize her, then? Special case, how? Do you have a name? Maybe we can find her."

>"Who else do you know whose memories are still intact?"

[Kilgamayan]

> If we get out of this alive and restore Gensokyo proper, we are so demanding health benefits and vacation time from Kanako for our reactor maintainence work after all the shit she's put us through. Hell, tack dental onto that, too.

[Hello Purvis]

> "So that spirit in me right now is another special person? Who is she? I'd like to be able to better communicate with her. Does she have a human body here to go with, like Orin and I did?"
> "And if you could see her, why couldn't Suwako? I can't believe Sanae was able to detect her immediately yet Suwako fell for the same trick twice."

>She nods. "She's the beastial part of Keine Kamishirasawa, and yes. Keine is here. I'm not exactly sure where, though. I didn't keep track of people as Kanako and Suwako did."
>"Suwako's not very attentive," says Minoriko. "She's prone to missing little things sometime."

>"You recognize her, then? Special case, how? Do you have a name? Maybe we can find her."

>"Who else do you know whose memories are still intact?"

>"She special insomuch as her ability is to sense the flow of history and set it. As well, to some degree, she can change it. I'm not very sure about the details. History doesn't affect me much."

> If we get out of this alive and restore Gensokyo proper, we are so demanding health benefits and vacation time from Kanako for our reactor maintainence work after all the shit she's put us through. Hell, tack dental onto that, too.

>She really does owe you. Especially since you think you kinda owe her tea by custom, now...

>_
>"I've pretty

[DracoOmega]

>"Well, even if you don't know where she is, a name could be enough to find her in the phone book."

>"And do you know if anyone other than Kanako, Suwako, Koishi, yourself, and your sister are aware of the change that's happened?"

[Kilgamayan]

> Recall any personal memories of a Keine Kamishirasawa