Arisu Geas: An Extraction-Contraption Expedition

[DracoOmega]

>Ground level

[E-Nazrin]

>Ground level

>You double back to Korindou under the trees without any real incident, and find it roughly the same as you left it. The new tidiness and fresh paint is still odd, but at least you didn't miss any other huge changes.

>You follow the well-cleared dirt road southeast, toward the human village, and soon notice a narrower dirt road off to the left, marked with a tall, painted signpost.
>The signpost is of plain wood, topped by a circular sign reading "Nightbird's Roost." The letters are bright green over bright white, underlined by a slithering shape that you're willing to guess is a lamprey. The edges of the sign gradually fade to black, giving the impression of the store name being a bright spot in the darkness. On top of the sign is an unpainted, carved wooden figure of a sparrow, with some sort of tiny hat on its head that you can't precisely identify at this distance.

>You're pretty sure there wasn't such a clear road to Mystia's before, let alone one openly advertised. At least it makes your job easier.

[DracoOmega]

>Follow the road

[E-Nazrin]

>Follow the road

>You turn and follow this new road, roughly to the east. The scent of grilling meat removes any doubt of the road heading to Mystia's, and makes your mouth water eagerly.
>As you approach, you hear two male voices chatting in the distance, with occasional soft laughs.

>Soon, you emerge into a well-trimmed, grassy clearing, Mystia's modified yakitori stand standing clear in the middle. It now has a strikingly similar copy of the sign you saw earlier on top of it, and the loose cloth screen behind the seats has been painted a gradient green-to-black similar to the sign's coloring, but nothing else seems to have changed about it.
>Mystia's home is nestled in the treetops on the other side of the clearing - she lives in a moderately large treehouse, apparently still attached to some of her bird roots. You don't think it was painted dull purple before, but it's also relatively unchanged.

>Through the screen, you can see the back of someone wearing the red hakama and white gi of a miko suit sitting at one of the customer chairs, pulling a stick of grilled lamprey to his mouth to chew on it.
>Behind the grill is a dark-haired fanboy in a stained white apron, grinning as he chats with his customer.

>"Yeah, Mystia's been good recently. Came back a few hours ago with a cute new yukata before she crashed for the night. Well, morning. Looked a little worried about something, but she just said to take care of the stand."

>They don't seem to have noticed you yet.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Must they have taken over everything?
>Well, the food still smells great, at any rate.
>Steel ourselves for potential further irritation and proceed to the attendant

[E-Nazrin]

>Must they have taken over everything?
>Well, the food still smells great, at any rate.
>Steel ourselves for potential further irritation and proceed to the attendant

>For fuck's sake.
>Mystia's food is known to be quite good in general, but just about anything would strike your fancy at this point, you think.

>You approach the stand.

>"A yukata?" the miko-suited person asks, in a male voice, "What, is she taking night sparrow love seriously, or something?"
>This is enough to make you favor one of the seats further away from the miko-fanboy as you push the screen aside to enter the stand.

>The fanboy behind the grill laughs at his customer's comment for a moment, before you enter the stand. He stops immediately and turns to you.
>"Oh, sorry! I didn't see you... there..."
>He trails off for a moment, eyebrows raised in surprise.

>The other fanboy turns to look at you as well, half-eaten lamprey-on-a-stick still in his mouth. He looks a little more alarmed than the shopkeeper, but says nothing.

>The fanboy behind the grill laughs for a moment, and recovers. He gives you a friendly grin. "Well! Alice Margatroid! That's unexpected! Welcome to the Nightbird's Roost! Whatcha want?"

>_

[Hello Purvis]

>"A lamprey skewer, please."
>If one of them gives us the slightest bit of guff, have Shanghai shoot him. Not in the mood for this business anymore.

[E-Nazrin]

>"A lamprey skewer, please."
>If one of them gives us the slightest bit of guff, have Shanghai shoot him. Not in the mood for this business anymore.

>The shopkeeper fanboy nods, and gathers up a few of the utensils he'll need. "You want large or small? Large's 500 yen, small's 300."
>The fanmiko silently chews on his lamprey, eyes darting between you and Shanghai.

>Thankfully, these two seem to be keeping benign so far. But you keep her on alert - you've had enough trouble with subtle seduction attempts in the past.

[DracoOmega]

>"Large, please."
>Pay up

[Hello Purvis]

>Quietly direct Shanghai to keep an eye on fanmiko. He's cruisin' for a danmakuin'.

[E-Nazrin]

>"Large, please."
>Pay up

>He nods, and sticks the cash in a pocket of his apron.
>You have spent ?500.

>"One large lamprey, coming right up!"
>He pulls out a fair-sized dead lamprey from the stand's storage, spears it on a narrow bamboo skewer along with a few mushrooms and a little bit of leek, and sets to grilling.
>Oh god that smells so good.

>Quietly direct Shanghai to keep an eye on fanmiko. He's cruisin' for a danmakuin'.

>You direct Shanghai to focus on the quiet one. This soon turns into a staring contest, as fanmiko slowly forgets to remove the last few bits of lamprey from his skewer.

[DracoOmega]

>Let him stare. The less he speaks, the less we have to listen
>Wait for the food to be ready

[E-Nazrin]

>Let him stare. The less he speaks, the less we have to listen
>Wait for the food to be ready

>You decide to give the crossdresser the silent treatment until he actively does something stupid. He returns the favor, still staring at Shanghai with wide eyes.

>The chef isn't as quiet. He flips over the delicious lamprey and tries to make conversation.
>"So. Alice. Heard you haven't been going out for a while?"

[Hello Purvis]

>Let him stare. The less he speaks, the less we have to listen
>Wait for the food to be ready

>We've been physically violated twice over for trying to play along; had to pay for it, and then had our vengeance taken from us via cowardice. Then there's these people are our dining place.
>We want not even the hint of guff from them. We want them properly terrified in submission. It makes us less irritated by them.

[nolrai2]

derp!

[E-Nazrin]

Ground level.

Don't worry, kid, I've posted replies to previous pages of content before. And everyone forgets the > for commands sometimes.

>We've been physically violated twice over for trying to play along; had to pay for it, and then had our vengeance taken from us via cowardice. Then there's these people are our dining place.
>We want not even the hint of guff from them. We want them properly terrified in submission. It makes us less irritated by them.

>It's been a trying day, and even noon is still some distance away...
>Intimidation certainly worked at Korindou, but how do you intend to go about it here?

[Hello Purvis]

>Let Shanghai watch him for now. She can be our intimidating glare. They are beneath our notice at this time.
>As for the chef, he has earned our personal attention. "And this is your business, how...?"

[E-Nazrin]

>Let Shanghai watch him for now. She can be our intimidating glare. They are beneath our notice at this time.
>As for the chef, he has earned our personal attention. "And this is your business, how...?"

>One of the advantages of having dolls is the option of having multiple routes to express yourself. Disconcerting ogles are especially effective.

>The fanboy behind the grill shrugs at your question. "Guess it's not? Just trying to chat - Mystia likes to keep the atmosphere here friendly. You rather talk about something else?"

>Mikoboy finally balks under Shanghai's glare, and turns away, tearing off a rather oversized portion of lamprey and chewing furiously. Looks like that was enough to get him nervous.

[Hello Purvis]

>Let Shanghai keep it up. It's nice to make someone else squirm for a bit.
>In fact, it's nice enough we can be nice to the guy making our food!
>Nod toward the chef. That is...an acceptable answer. "I've simply had my fill outworlders and their being involved in apparently everything already today. Perhaps I am being a bit short with you."

[E-Nazrin]

>Let Shanghai keep it up. It's nice to make someone else squirm for a bit.
>In fact, it's nice enough we can be nice to the guy making our food!
>Nod toward the chef. That is...an acceptable answer. "I've simply had my fill outworlders and their being involved in apparently everything already today. Perhaps I am being a bit short with you."

>Good to see one thing going right today!
>You allow the chef a hint of civility as he flips over the lamprey again. He nods. "Not a fan, eh? 'fraid the fanboys have gotten a hand in most things now, for better or for worse. Hope I'm not among the worse of 'em?"

>The miko-suited fanboy hacks a little, choking on the oversized piece of lamprey he just tried to down.
>"You okay, Takeyuki?" the chef asks.
>Mikoboy coughs a little, then replies, "Y-yeah. Just a bit much."
>"Take your time, man."

[WHMZakeri]

>Continue ignoring Maiden-boy.

>Think about our major sources of pain today.
>Realize it's not really the Fanboys themselves, just Gensokyo's reaction to the fanboys makes us son i am disappoint.
>"In fact, now that I think of it, it may even be fair to say you yourselves aren't the problem, rather it's the sudden changes that have been made to Gensokyo and it's people."
>Still doesn't mean we can't blame them, though.

[nolrai2]

> "And some other things too.."

[Hello Purvis]

>Continue ignoring Maiden-boy.

>Think about our major sources of pain today.
>Realize it's not really the Fanboys themselves, just Gensokyo's reaction to the fanboys makes us son i am disappoint.
>"In fact, now that I think of it, it may even be fair to say you yourselves aren't the problem, rather it's the sudden changes that have been made to Gensokyo and it's people."
>Still doesn't mean we can't blame them, though.

>Not true. There are the invasions of privacy and introduction of weird things. There is plenty they have to answer for.
>So let's not say this.
>But this one seems tolerable, so far.
>"Perhaps. It is still quite irksome to find two once familiar places quite different than they should be in the space of...half an hour or so? I suppose you are not so bad, in comparison."

>_

[E-Nazrin]

> "And some other things too.."

>The parser is afraid it does not understand the appropriate context for this command! Apologies, sir.

>Continue ignoring Maiden-boy.

>At least he seems harmless enough.

>Think about our major sources of pain today.
>Realize it's not really the Fanboys themselves, just Gensokyo's reaction to the fanboys makes us son i am disappoint.
>"In fact, now that I think of it, it may even be fair to say you yourselves aren't the problem, rather it's the sudden changes that have been made to Gensokyo and it's people."
>Still doesn't mean we can't blame them, though.

>Not true. There are the invasions of privacy and introduction of weird things. There is plenty they have to answer for.
>So let's not say this.

>You muse over the implications of recent events and experiences for a moment, and bite back a relatively scathing conclusion.

>But this one seems tolerable, so far.
>"Perhaps. It is still quite irksome to find two once familiar places quite different than they should be in the space of...half an hour or so? I suppose you are not so bad, in comparison."

>Your chef still seems not-obnoxious enough to warrant tolerance, and you give him a fairly restrained summary.

>He nods. "Thanks. That's about the best complement someone like me can get out of one of Gensokyo's big figures, especially the first time meeting you."
>A chuckle. "Self-centeredness aside, what's the other place that's changed? Assuming the stand's different than you remember, at least."

>He flips the cooking lamprey over again, shakes it a little, and lifts it off the grill. "Ah, and I think this is ready."
>He offers it to you.

[DracoOmega]

>Take the skewer with a nod
>Dig in

>"Kourindou is... unrecognizable. And staffed by people far more... unpleasant than the proprietor I'm accustomed to dealing with."

[Hello Purvis]

>"It's a pain to go there now. As for here, you are well aware."

[E-Nazrin]

>Take the skewer with a nod
>Dig in

>You express some silent appreciation for his work, take the lamprey onna stick, and take a bite.
>oh god that is wonderful this is why you keep eating yesssss
>You manage to restrain your bliss enough to avoid notice, thankfully.

>"Kourindou is... unrecognizable. And staffed by people far more... unpleasant than the proprietor I'm accustomed to dealing with."

>"It's a pain to go there now. As for here, you are well aware."

>The cook chuckles. "Yeah, Rinnosuke seems like a really generous guy. It's a pity, but I think he fobbed off shopkeeping on fanboys to keep in business - if Perfect Memento was any indication, he's not so good at insisting on prices and payment. And I guess he's gotta be more cash-conscious if he's helping fund the kappas' research, like I hear."
>"You like the new color scheme and stuff here? It looks a lot better than an unmarked path off the road to Korindou, doesn't it?"

>The miko fanboy finishes off his lamprey and dumps the stick into a bin on the far end of the stand.
>"I better get back to the shrine before Reimu decides I'm slacking off." he says, getting to his feet a fair distance away from you, "Thanks, Seigo."
>"No problem. Later." the cook replies, giving him a nod.

[DracoOmega]

>So Reimu's been drafting them, too? Whatever happened to standards?
>Then again, she was always lazy...

>"The sign and more visible path are certainly suitable additions."
>"And what research is this you say he's funding?"

[Hello Purvis]

>Was Rinnosuke ever the sort to fund things in the past?

[E-Nazrin]

>So Reimu's been drafting them, too? Whatever happened to standards?
>Then again, she was always lazy...

>In retrospect, the detached sleeves should have tipped you off. You must see Reimu too often, if that escaped your notice this whole time.
>While perhaps more understandable than Rinnosuke, Reimu's implicit approval is still worrying...

>"Bye." the miko fanboy says, giving your cook a little wave. He gives you a nervous look for a moment, and walks out the screen to leave.

>"The sign and more visible path are certainly suitable additions."
>"And what research is this you say he's funding?"

>Seigo raises an eyebrow when you mention 'more visible path,' but he nods and leaves it at that.

>The research question gets you a shrug. "Dunno. The kappa seem to be on the verge of a breakthrough on a new outer world tech every few days. They're always working on getting harddrives bigger than megabytes, but they do a lot more than that."

>Was Rinnosuke ever the sort to fund things in the past?

>Rinnosuke's one overwhelming interest has always been stuff from the outer world, and his willingness to allow severe debts shows he's nowhere near stingy: You don't think he's actively funded anything in the past, but funding ways to get stuff 'from' the outer world sounds like a plausible explanation.