Maribel Quest Followthrough - A Z-Machine Adventure

[DracoOmega]

The essential problem with a great many project ideas we could propose is that they'd take too much time to complete. And those that wouldn't just aren't big or impressive enough to count in her mind. An invasion like this takes a day at most (once they set out to do it). Building anything with enough size and wow-factor will take substantially longer than that (a mansion is on the scale of months, at the very least, and some of the others are still weeks). Beyond a short time, even Renko won't be able to keep them together.

I wish I had something constructive to add, but I don't really have any good ideas at the moment, either. Maybe after I sleep for a bit... >.>

[Kilgamayan]

> "I'm very into the jet idea. Not just because it will serve as a way to make Kanako and Utsuho not want to strangle each other anymore, but because, from what I understand of the kappa, they have the brains and the willpower to pull it off. The things the kappa do might seem mundane by our standards, but it really blows their minds, so who are we to step on their fun? It would still be something huge by Gensokyo's standards."
> "This is quite the interesting conundrum. I wonder...what do you think the fairies are more interested in? Having fun or gaining the respect of other races here?"
> "...Not to say they don't want both! Just...which one is a higher priority for them?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "I'm very into the jet idea. Not just because it will serve as a way to make Kanako and Utsuho not want to strangle each other anymore, but because, from what I understand of the kappa, they have the brains and the willpower to pull it off. The things the kappa do might seem mundane by our standards, but it really blows their minds, so who are we to step on their fun? It would still be something huge by Gensokyo's standards."
> "This is quite the interesting conundrum. I wonder...what do you think the fairies are more interested in? Having fun or gaining the respect of other races here?"
> "...Not to say they don't want both! Just...which one is a higher priority for them?"

>"Actually," says Renko, frowning. "given how many people around here fly, I don't think people in general would care much about it. Not to say that the other things aren't good, though."
>"And which?" She chuckles. "Depends on when you ask them."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "It's not about the flight, it's about the speed, and the lack of magic involved. I know it sounds silly, but Gensokyo doesn't seem to know a whole lot about the outside world, so technology we take for granted amazes them. Nitori's pretty hell-bent on making her air conditioner, for one, and the kappa on the whole are already planning a university despite not having many teachers for it."
> "...Actually, maybe THAT could be something for you! You could be a professor at the kappa university! With your knowledge of the outer world's science, you'd be a big hit there, I'm sure."

[Hello Purvis]

> "It's not about the flight, it's about the speed, and the lack of magic involved. I know it sounds silly, but Gensokyo doesn't seem to know a whole lot about the outside world, so technology we take for granted amazes them. Nitori's pretty hell-bent on making her air conditioner, for one, and the kappa on the whole are already planning a university despite not having many teachers for it."
> "...Actually, maybe THAT could be something for you! You could be a professor at the kappa university! With your knowledge of the outer world's science, you'd be a big hit there, I'm sure."

>She nods. "I can see where you're coming from, but it's still not, you know...impressive. I mean, the faeries wouldn't even be doing that much other than grunt work. At least with my idea, they're actually doing the thing that's supposed to be meaningful."
>She shakes her head when you suggest being a teacher. "If I'm going to teach a sham, I'd train con men."

>_

[Serela]

>"Hey, the science of the outside world isn't a sham, you know that. Computers and refrigerators and stuff like that... it wouldn't stop working in Gensokyo. Err, I don't think they would, at least. Magic doesn't trump EVERYTHING that science can do. Although, at least it tends to be more eco-friendly."

[Kilgamayan]

> "But it's not a sham to them! Think about it! If science was really that unimportant here in the face of magic, why would an entire species be absolutely fascinated by it, with the rest of the area at least curious? Look at us, and how we're amazed at all the things we can do with magic. They're the same way! They're amazed at all the things they can do without it! If you led them into their very own industrial revolution, they'd probably revere you forever!"
> This is meant to be spoken with a tone of excitement, rather than simply shouting it.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Hey, the science of the outside world isn't a sham, you know that. Computers and refrigerators and stuff like that... it wouldn't stop working in Gensokyo. Err, I don't think they would, at least. Magic doesn't trump EVERYTHING that science can do. Although, at least it tends to be more eco-friendly."

>"Yeah, but the only reason it hasn't stopped working is just dumb luck," says Renko. "We're just lucky, severely lucky, being wrong hasn't bitten us yet, and this place is proof that we've gotten pretty much all of it wrong. It's not that magic trumps everything, its that magic proves there's so many exceptions to the axioms we build the whole thing on that it's just useless."

> "But it's not a sham to them! Think about it! If science was really that unimportant here in the face of magic, why would an entire species be absolutely fascinated by it, with the rest of the area at least curious? Look at us, and how we're amazed at all the things we can do with magic. They're the same way! They're amazed at all the things they can do without it! If you led them into their very own industrial revolution, they'd probably revere you forever!"
> This is meant to be spoken with a tone of excitement, rather than simply shouting it.

>She shakes her head. "At least until physics takes a vacation for some reason I don't understand and someone gets killed. Or a lot of someones in the case of that jet. You can't use them anymore, Maribel they don't really work. And what does it do for the faeries, anyways?"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Agh, I really wish you could meet some of these kappa, just so you can see for yourself how much it means to them. I'm willing to bet, though, that physics hasn't taken too many vacations on them yet, if they're still going at it with such gusto."
> "But okay, the fairies, yes. I've been thinking on that, and I'm not actually sure your plan will get them the respect you want it to. Bear with a bit on this, I'm going somewhere with it. You said that the shrine maiden has lost fairy fights before, right?"

[Serela]

>"I think you're thinking about this the wrong way. Physics doesn't just like, disappear out of nowhere and suddenly technology stops working. That stuff only happens when someone uses magic to PURPOSEFULLY do something that normally isn't possible. You don't just randomly start floating into the air because gravity decided to take a break, you only do it when you use magic to fly. And the world outside Gensokyo, from what I've heard here, doesn't HAVE any magic, or at least not enough to use, so physics and such never doesn't work, because there's no magic to stop it with."

[DracoOmega]

>"I don't think exceptions make a rule useless. I mean, look at the progress of the science we know. Some of Newton's laws are technically wrong, because they fail to account for relativity, but on the scale the people normally operate on, they're right enough that it doesn't make a difference. You can't call the vast, vast majority of the world a 'fluke', just because there's some exceptions here. If anything, Gensokyo is the fluke. What we see here may enhance our understanding of how the universe operates, but it doesn't render all that humanity has done wrong, mishanded, or useless."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Agh, I really wish you could meet some of these kappa, just so you can see for yourself how much it means to them. I'm willing to bet, though, that physics hasn't taken too many vacations on them yet, if they're still going at it with such gusto."
> "But okay, the fairies, yes. I've been thinking on that, and I'm not actually sure your plan will get them the respect you want it to. Bear with a bit on this, I'm going somewhere with it. You said that the shrine maiden has lost fairy fights before, right?"

>"It's rare, but it can happen, yeah."

>"I think you're thinking about this the wrong way. Physics doesn't just like, disappear out of nowhere and suddenly technology stops working. That stuff only happens when someone uses magic to PURPOSEFULLY do something that normally isn't possible. You don't just randomly start floating into the air because gravity decided to take a break, you only do it when you use magic to fly. And the world outside Gensokyo, from what I've heard here, doesn't HAVE any magic, or at least not enough to use, so physics and such never doesn't work, because there's no magic to stop it with."

>"I don't think exceptions make a rule useless. I mean, look at the progress of the science we know. Some of Newton's laws are technically wrong, because they fail to account for relativity, but on the scale the people normally operate on, they're right enough that it doesn't make a difference. You can't call the vast, vast majority of the world a 'fluke', just because there's some exceptions here. If anything, Gensokyo is the fluke. What we see here may enhance our understanding of how the universe operates, but it doesn't render all that humanity has done wrong, mishanded, or useless."

>"Newton's physics only fall apart when you go down to a quantum level, or when you start to factor the speed of light into things. The only reason we hadn't gotten in trouble over that was because we couldn't do anything with it. This is different, Maribel. This is literally gravity deciding it's not going to work. It's Biology deciding it's going to toss aside evolution and pretty much everything else. This is entropy quietly bowing out. Maribel, everything we knew is wrong to the point there's pretty much no way it can be effectively salvaged. Science is dead. There's point in even worrying about it. If the kappa want to do things, well...fine for them."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Renko, when we went searching for this kind of stuff together, what were you really hoping to find, then? Weren't we looking for things that weren't explainable by science as we currently understood it? Wasn't that the whole point?"

>"And how is flying 'gravity deciding not to work'? Why can't it be some sort of repulsive force that counteracts it? There's a lot about the true nature of gravity that we don't understand as it is. Perhaps there's some way to directly interact and affect it, and the ability to fly here is just a manifestation of the manipulation of that force? Saying that flying MUST be 'gravity not working' seems really premature...."

[Kilgamayan]

> "And the fairy fight. Right. It's rare, but it can happen. I think the phrase you used was 'got lucky'? Let's say you fight this mansion and win. People will be in one of two minds about it. Some will just think the fairies got lucky again, and some will give you the credit for organizing them. If you keep hold of the mansion through assault after assault? If you go all megalomania and destroy places in Gensokyo one by one? All that will do is swing people thinking they were lucky over to giving you credit. Either way, no one is going to give them any credit. It's all going to go to you, or get lost in the black hole of 'luck'. The fairies themselves won't gain any respect, because they won't be the ones doing the unexpected, you will."

[Doll.S CUBE]

> She couldn't have just decided that science was wrong when she learned of magic, that mysterious benefactor must have done something to change her world view like that.

> "Also the gravity isn't working doesn't make sense, this place does not act like outer space you know."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Renko, when we went searching for this kind of stuff together, what were you really hoping to find, then? Weren't we looking for things that weren't explainable by science as we currently understood it? Wasn't that the whole point?"

>"And how is flying 'gravity deciding not to work'? Why can't it be some sort of repulsive force that counteracts it? There's a lot about the true nature of gravity that we don't understand as it is. Perhaps there's some way to directly interact and affect it, and the ability to fly here is just a manifestation of the manipulation of that force? Saying that flying MUST be 'gravity not working' seems really premature...."

>She looks back toward the ground and sighs. "Yeah, but I didn't think we'd end up disproving the whole thing pretty much irrevocably..."
>"If it were just that, I might agree with you," says Renko. "But you know there's a whole other land floating up there above the clouds? It's optional, Mary. The whole thing is."

> "And the fairy fight. Right. It's rare, but it can happen. I think the phrase you used was 'got lucky'? Let's say you fight this mansion and win. People will be in one of two minds about it. Some will just think the fairies got lucky again, and some will give you the credit for organizing them. If you keep hold of the mansion through assault after assault? If you go all megalomania and destroy places in Gensokyo one by one? All that will do is swing people thinking they were lucky over to giving you credit. Either way, no one is going to give them any credit. It's all going to go to you, or get lost in the black hole of 'luck'. The fairies themselves won't gain any respect, because they won't be the ones doing the unexpected, you will."

>"The reason no one gives them any credit is because it doesn't really do anything," says Renko. "The Shrine Maiden still solves the problem, and so on. That's what's different here. This time, we're going to make a difference. Not just a single fluke, but a whole series of victories."

> She couldn't have just decided that science was wrong when she learned of magic, that mysterious benefactor must have done something to change her world view like that.
> "Also the gravity isn't working doesn't make sense, this place does not act like outer space you know."

>It's possible.
>Renko chuckles. "Now you're just approaching it wrong from both ways."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "A whole series of victories? What happened to 'we could lose the mansion tomorrow and it wouldn't matter'?"

[Serela]

>"If it were just that, I might agree with you," says Renko. "But you know there's a whole other land floating up there above the clouds? It's optional, Mary. The whole thing is."

IT'S TENSHI ISN'T IT

that makes SO MUCH SENSE

too bad Maribel doesn't know who the hell that is

[Hello Purvis]

> "A whole series of victories? What happened to 'we could lose the mansion tomorrow and it wouldn't matter'?"

>"Because we still won, Mary," says Renko. "We still did it. We still beat them all, drove them out, and won."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "But that's not the 'whole series of victories' that would get the fairies any respect. You drive them out, then get kicked out yourself the next day, and people go back to thinking what they always did about fairies, because it was just another fluke. They'd probably forget about you, too, to be honest."

[Doll.S CUBE]

IT'S TENSHI ISN'T IT

that makes SO MUCH SENSE

too bad Maribel doesn't know who the hell that is

That makes so much sense.

[Hello Purvis]

> "But that's not the 'whole series of victories' that would get the fairies any respect. You drive them out, then get kicked out yourself the next day, and people go back to thinking what they always did about fairies, because it was just another fluke. They'd probably forget about you, too, to be honest."

>"You can't say it's just another "fluke" when there's more like a dozen of them in rapid succession," Renko says. "It isn't just getting lucky against a powerful foe once. It's taking down several of them, practically at the same time. People are gonna notice!"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Ok, so people notice. And then what? Why is it so important that people notice in the first place?"

[Kilgamayan]

Actually, Tenshi does sound very plausible, now that I think about it.

> "Are...are you even aware of what you're saying at this point? You're not even staying internally consistent. You said it would be okay even if you lost the next day, as long as you won that once. That would be it. No more victories, just you getting booted out of the mansion. How does that get the fairies any respect, when you tell me you need the series of victories for that to happen?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Ok, so people notice. And then what? Why is it so important that people notice in the first place?"

>"Because they'll know, they'll know it worked!"

> "Are...are you even aware of what you're saying at this point? You're not even staying internally consistent. You said it would be okay even if you lost the next day, as long as you won that once. That would be it. No more victories, just you getting booted out of the mansion. How does that get the fairies any respect, when you tell me you need the series of victories for that to happen?"

>"No, you're just not thinking about what I said. Just taking the mansion would be a series of victories. It isn't just going to be move in and it's done. It's going to be taking down a bunch of powerful people the one way they didn't think could happen, that no one thought would happen!"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "But major fairy victory has been done before, by your own admission. To Reimu, no less. Of course people don't expect a bunch of fairies to rise up as one, because they won't, not even after this. It won't have been the fairies getting together to form an army of their own volition, it will have been you gathering them together. Your doing, not theirs. Still all the respect for you and none of it for them."

[DracoOmega]

>"I get it. They'll know it worked. And why's that important?"

>"And what was that about a whole other land in the clouds, anyway?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "But major fairy victory has been done before, by your own admission. To Reimu, no less. Of course people don't expect a bunch of fairies to rise up as one, because they won't, not even after this. It won't have been the fairies getting together to form an army of their own volition, it will have been you gathering them together. Your doing, not theirs. Still all the respect for you and none of it for them."

>"You're missing the point. What you're talking about really didn't affect anything. Most people don't even know about it. This will. No one will be able to ignore it."

>"I get it. They'll know it worked. And why's that important?"

>"And what was that about a whole other land in the clouds, anyway?"

>"Just like I said before, why was it important when someone sailed around the world, or first climbed Mount Everest?"
>"I don't know much about it, really. It's some place that's way up in the sky. It's apparently too high up to fly to. But it floats, that's the important part."

[Kilgamayan]

> "That doesn't change the fact that the credit's not going to go to the fairies just because they were involved. If the fairies want respect, they'll need to get it by acting of their own accord. Rising up as one by themselves and taking out that mansion by themselves. No leadership and organization from you, no secret weapon from your friend. Nothing but fairy work toward a fairy goal. Otherwise, it's just them doing grunt work for you and your friend."

[DracoOmega]

>"Well, they were exploring. They were discovering things that no one before them had seen or known. And neither of their exploits hinged on harming others. Not all things that can be done should be done, no matter what kind of mark they'd leave."
>"Look, Renko... is this about proving that the things you know and the things you can do still mean something here? That you can still accomplish something other people here can't?"