Keine Quest (Part 5): Broken History

[DracoOmega]

>"Okay, I see. And this feeling, has it changed at all? I remember you saying there was something of her around the crater."

>"It grows fainter," she says. "Nothing else changes. And yes, there was something that reminded me of her there. It's not quite the same. It resembles her a little, though. I can't say exactly how or why."

[Hello Purvis]

>"So nothing at all has made your sense of her grow less faint?"

[DracoOmega]

>"So nothing at all has made your sense of her grow less faint?"

>"The sense of her is strongest there," she says. "Nowhere else is it as strong." She frowns. "Unless you meant something else?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Would this imply, then that her sense of you would be strongest there?"
>Resist the urge to shove her arm into a fissure.

[DracoOmega]

>"Would this imply, then that her sense of you would be strongest there?"
>Resist the urge to shove her arm into a fissure.

>She shakes her head. "Her sense of me would be strongest here. Because that's where I am."
>Assuming it didn't do horrible thing to her when it closed, that might be the thing most likely to get a reaction. Judging by Patchouli's expression, she might almost be willing to do it for you if that didn't require her to leave the room.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Ran, what's the likelihood that putting her hand in one of those fissures would wound her for life?"
>Patchy is the genius here...

[DracoOmega]

>"Ran, what's the likelihood that putting her hand in one of those fissures would wound her for life?"
>Patchy is the genius here...

>Mugetsu all but jumps when you say this. You see her shrink away, looking at both you and the rest of the room fretfully. Ran glances at her, then frowns. "The gaps that Yukari makes won't close on their own in a way that severs anything in them. But these are... much less cleanly made, to say the least. I'd imagine the presence of material in them would at least delay their closure. Probably. I wish I could say for certain."
>You're rather certain she would say so, if asked. Or even if not asked.

[Hello Purvis]

>"I was thinking more of being exposed to whatever is beyond them."

[DracoOmega]

>"I was thinking more of being exposed to whatever is beyond them."

>"I don't think it should be any more harmful than it was to us when we passed through it," Ran replies. "The route we took to Kyoto and what lies beyond those fragments is essentially similar."
>"The lattice itself sustained no physical damage," Patchouli adds. "It is not biological, of course, so there might be additional risks than just those from spatial contortion."

[Hello Purvis]

>Look to Mugetsu. "Can your sister read?"

[DracoOmega]

>Look to Mugetsu. "Can your sister read?"

>"Read?" Mugetsu tilts her head to the side. "You mean, like books? Of course."

[Hello Purvis]

>Nod.
>"Then perhaps we can try to get her attention. If you cannot feel her very strongly, and really do not know where she is, I think that it may be the same for her. So, if you were to place a part of yourself through there, she may feel it, at least enough to try and investigate. Obviously, it would be impractical and dangerous to do this for long. But if you put a message through, it would hopefully remain there long enough for her to find it."
>"Before you ask, if something goes wrong, I will take you to the best doctor I know. She owes us some favors."
>Leave whether she likes it or not unspoken.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Nod.
>"Then perhaps we can try to get her attention. If you cannot feel her very strongly, and really do not know where she is, I think that it may be the same for her. So, if you were to place a part of yourself through there, she may feel it, at least enough to try and investigate. Obviously, it would be impractical and dangerous to do this for long. But if you put a message through, it would hopefully remain there long enough for her to find it."
>"Before you ask, if something goes wrong, I will take you to the best doctor I know. She owes us some favors."
>Leave whether she likes it or not unspoken.

>Mugetsu nods nervously as you explain your plan. Her attempts to keep a brave face are... less successful than endearing. "...what sort of message?" she asks.
>Well, you've already proven rather successful at getting people to do things they don't like, these last couple days.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Let her know where you are, and that things have gone horribly wrong. That we're out here, trying to help. All that sister stuff you'd probably want to include."

[DracoOmega]

>"Let her know where you are, and that things have gone horribly wrong. That we're out here, trying to help. All that sister stuff you'd probably want to include."

>Mugetsu nods along. "She'll know what I feel. I won't need to tell her." She pauses. "...thank you."
>"Are you planning to write a message on paper and have her leave it inside?" Ran asks.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Very well. But you may still add what you like."
>Nod to Ran.

[DracoOmega]

>"Very well. But you may still add what you like."
>Nod to Ran.

>"That's ok," Mugetsu says. "You can write what you want. When she seems me, she'll know and it won't matter."
>"I should say that I don't know whether the message will remain readable once released inside there," Ran says. "It may simply end up passing through to... wherever. But it can't hurt to try, I suppose."
>"I'll fetch pen and paper," Patchouli says, standing up and walking off. A few moments later she returns with a small sheet of parchment and a black pen and lays it on the table next to you.

[Hello Purvis]

>Gesture for Mugetsu to approach it and do her thing.

[DracoOmega]

>Gesture for Mugetsu to approach it and do her thing.

>Mugetsu looks curiously at you, then at the pen and paper on the desk. "You want me to?"
>With a hint of a frown, she walks over to it, picks the pen up rather uncertainly and starts to scribble on the paper. Her handwriting is rather awkward from what you can see, and every now and again she tilts her head as if she isn't quite sure how to go about what she's doing. After a short while, she hands it to you.
>"Will that do?" she asks.

[Hello Purvis]

>"It would mean more coming from you, I think."
>Once it is done, read!

[DracoOmega]

>"It would mean more coming from you, I think."
>Once it is done, read!

>"I don't think so," Mugetsu says. "But I don't want to disappoint you."
>You read the note Mugetsu handed you. The handwriting is something of an uneven scrawl. It looks like it was written by someone with very, very little practice. Still, it's legible with some effort and there is a surprising lack of misspellings despite the penmanship. It reads:
>Sis, it's me. Where are you? Some strange people wanted me to write this note to you. They say things are all messed up. I don't really understand, but I hope you can find it and come home. I'm really worried about you. Please come home. Mugetsu.

[Hello Purvis]

>"That works."

[E-Nazrin]

>A small smile. That concern is really cute.

[DracoOmega]

>"That works."

>"Ok," Mugetsu says. "I'm glad it's good enough."

>A small smile. That concern is really cute.

>You smile at her. She's trying to be helpful, even if she doesn't seem to entirely understand.

[Hello Purvis]

>"I don't suppose there's any way we can make this be any less likely to be ravaged by  whatever's on the other side?"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"I don't suppose there's any way we can make this be any less likely to be ravaged by  whatever's on the other side?"

>"I suppose I could give it some temporary physical reinforcement," Patchouli says. "Although without knowing for certain what forces apply inside the slivers, I can't guarantee how effective if would be."
>"A more likely outcome is that it would simply be lost," Ran says. "To be honest, I think the odds of her finding it may be rather slim, no matter what we do. Unless these projections are actually something that live in the space between worlds. I've never known there to be such a thing, though."

[Hello Purvis]

>Nod to Patchy. "Something is better than nothing."

[DracoOmega]

>Nod to Patchy. "Something is better than nothing."

>"Very well," she says. "Hand me the paper."

[Hello Purvis]

>Do so.

[DracoOmega]

>Do so.

>You had the paper back to Patchouli and she sets it on the table in front of her. With a focused expression, she places her hands in the air above it and starts to gesture with them. Several concentric circles of glyphs appear atop the paper, first yellow, then red, then blue. The paper glows softly for a moment and takes on a metallic sheen, then returns to normal. Patchouli hands it back to you.
>"Here you are," she says. "I applied a standard conservation spell that I use for the rest of the books in the library. Fireproofing, waterproofing, and wards against a variety of other things. I also tossed in amplified structural stability, although this will be more temporary. That shouldn't be an issue in this case."