Nuuuh! I've never watched Madoka Magica! (I absolutely love it, though.) I don't know if I will be able to participate... I literally skipped all the prologue and jumped to the character selection because the warning the parser gave at the start. Oh dear.
> Slams desk.
> SATORI!
Eirin. She's literally the SHINTO GODDESS OF KNOWLEDGE for Christ's sake.
That, or Satori.
>Satoriiiii
>Pick Patchouli.
>Just kidding. Pick Sanae.
Eirin would have overall high potential as a partner, but her... "curiosity" in Mr.Contractor is a dangerous liability. Sanae's problematically whimsical, but friendly and familiar with the outside world and lacks ulterior motives. Patchouli outright doesn't want to work with us. Alice would probably be a good level-headed partner who mostly wants to solve the problem and get things over with, but...>You tell Yukari of your decision.
Oh wait, we're mostly gonna be interacting with bubbly young girls because it's Madoka Magica, aren't we?
>Sanae the bubbly young girl it is!
>Groan and get up.>You get up and examine whatever is covering you.
>Examine the garment and wherever we are.
>Not to mention wearing a trenchcoat around is sort of weird and offputting...>You throw the trenchcoat around yourself. Leaving your eye exposed, for now.
>Sigh and put it on, though. It'll be necessary for now.
>"An agent who will contact us... later. Great. It would have been nice to get some basic information before getting dumped in an alley. What does she expect us to do like this?">"I don't know..." Sanae shrugs, Wow that trenchcoat looks ugly... "Maybe we should just walk around, and get our bearings? Maybe see if we can find some place to hole up that isn't an alley?" I'm glad I don't have to wear that... It would probably look even worse on me...
>Grimace. "I wonder if our money is any good here... for new clothing or otherwise. Do you have anything on you?">"Money wise, I have some mon. I also have my gohei and spellcards." And... a surprising amount of faith... I don't remember being allotted this much today... Hmm... I should probably investigate this once we settle down...
>Inventory.>Inventory:
>"But yes, we may as well look around and see what we're going to be dealing with.">Sanae nods in agreement. "You should probably cover your eye before we go. People might notice it peeking out of the opening like that." I wonder how people will react... Probably not well...
>Start towards one end of the alley.
>"Yes, that's true." Regretfully cover our eye. "We're going to need to think of a cover story for ourselves soon enough, as well. Just saying we're from out of town will only do for so long. Hopefully this world has shrine maidens.">"Yeah..."
>Exit the alley and behold!>You exit the alley and find yourself on a street of some kind. At random intervals, several odd, metal wagon-like constructs pass by at a significant speed. Thankfully they all seem to be keeping to the wide, black part in the center of the street.
>Look at the bridge Sanae's pointing at.>You look. It seems to span a stream or river from what you can tell. Several of those odd vehicles are passing over it.
>"...Hmm. In which direction do you think we should go right now? You are the expert here, after all.">"I'd say away from the bridge. If it does lead to some kind of downtown area, maybe we can find a mall or a clothing store... To go to when we have money, of course. Unless you want shoplifting to be our first major action here..."
>Also, look out for anyone walking by or any dropped papers.
>Take note of what kind of clothes people here usually wear.>You observe, committing what you see to memory.
>"Fair enough. It might also be a good opportunity to see what kind of money is used here.">You head away from the bridge, coming to a street intersection. Sanae explains the mechanics of something called a "crosswalk" to you as she presses a button. After waiting a few minutes, a symbol of a walking person appears on a display, and the two of you cross.
>Head down the direction away from the bridge.
>"Ah, a shopping area. This should be interesting.">The two of you make your way towards the structure. The crowd getting increasingly denser as you move.
>Enter.
>Look at Sanae for her reaction.>"So... I guess that was the agent..." Sanae frowns.
>Open the envelope. "Please let it be money. Or somewhere we can stay."
>Continue towards the shopping mall. Tempting as it may be, we're nowhere near prepared to bump into potentially risky people.
>"Money and a letter. We can see how much it is once we're somewhere less crowded.">You take the letter out of the envelope, before placing it, along with the money, in a coat pocket.
>Stow away the money, but take out the letter to read.
>"Good news: there's enough money to last us for some time. Bad news: there's nothing about this world or a place to stay, so we're still stuck stumbling around blindly.">"Figures..." Sanae says as she takes the letter from you.
>Pass Sanae the letter.
>"Not like you can return it now. Besides, they'll likely figure out that Yukari took it. Let her deal with that.">You examine the storefronts.
>"...In any case, we need food and new clothes. Something tells me bottomless pockets are not in vogue here, so we'd also need a bag to carry all of that in."
>Look at the storefronts.
>Head into the clothing store.>You do so.
>...how much are we capable of shifting around our third eye and the heart-shaped tentacles that go along with it? The hearts might be passable as accessories, but it'd probably be ideal if we could mostly keep them hidden under our clothes. Hmm, we can't just have a third eye bulging out our shirt, is the main problem. Perhaps cutting a hole into the back of a shirt pocket? Is it realistic to have the eye shifted down more around our waist long-term? Of course, these methods would make it almost impossible to use, compared to having it simply underneath a light jacket we can unzip... that might be easier.>You could try to move your third eye a little, but it would be quite uncomfortable if it has to be away from its natural position for a prolonged period of time. The tentacles, on the other hand, could be easily compressed against your skin without much issue. Though you'd personally prefer them to hang free as much as possible. Of course, you may not have much of a choice...
>On the flipside- if we have it placed in a shirt pocket, it would be nearly invisible other than a bulge, but it's possible to see through less dense fabric a bit when it's right up against your eye. Could we get any meaningful mindreading done with that level of obscuring on our third eye's line of sight?>If your third eye can see it, that is, at a minimum, make out a silhouette, you should be able to read it. You've had it read someone through fog before, as well as a few times in darkness, so a lighter fabric shouldn't be too different you think.
>"I'm mostly trying to decide how to cover my..." Gesture at our chest. "If I can't find anything, I'll just get a loose jacket or something.">"Hmm..." Sanae taps her chin, "Maybe we can disguise it as a corsage or something? Though then again, it'll always look like you're going to a prom or something..." she frowns a bit.
>Can we comfortably have our third eye most of the way lidded for prolonged periods of time? So we could keep it in a pocket without it rubbing against fabric or anything. Well, it should be okay so long as it's not wide open.>You can squint it a bit, though it requires some mental effort.
>Begin browsing for shirts that'd have a pocket of appropriate size, placement, and fabric for our eye. We probably won't be able to tailor it to actually fit our eye in until later, but that's not a big deal.>You note where the shoe section is, before starting to browse for shirts.
>We should probably find some more appropriate footwear, too. We can't just walk around everywhere in slippers.
>Long sleeves would work a little better with our tentacles, rather than bunching them all up within a short-sleeved one. Red will blend in with the eye and the rest of our current clothes, so let's take that.>You grab one of the red longsleeve shirts and head off to the shoe section.
>Next, some comfortable shoes. We probably won't get to fly around much while we're here.
>Does this store sell hats? If so, how fashionaaabluh are they?>Looking around, you notice a sign on the other end of the store indicating a hat section. You're not close enough to see any.
>Look for simple black shoes without much laces or frills.>You look, soon finding some simple black shoes for ?3000.
>Just in case, take a moment when not much people are around or looking in our direction to at least roughly count how much money we actually have.
Okay, yeah, we don't have enough money to spend on superfluous things like a hat (SADLY). Just some clothing for us and Sanae is gonna take off a notable chunk of the funds, and god only knows how huge of a portion it'll take to rent somewhere to stay. We can't sleep in an alley for a month, no matter how much money it'd save... then there's food.>You grab the shoes and soon find an area labeled "fitting room"
>Take the shoes and look for somewhere we can try stuff on. If we do, go ahead and make sure stuff is comfortable.
>Whether that goes well or not, go find Sanae after and see how she's doing.
>"Don't worry about it.">"I'm not going to get ALL of them" Sanae frowns, "I just want to see which ones I like the most."
>Look at Sanae's pile of clothes.
>"...that said, is all of that truly necessary? We'll also need to pay rent and for food, so we don't actually have that much to spare. ...Unless your plan is to sleep on the streets for a month and a half?"
>"Honestly, I'm not sure she gave us enough money no matter how frugal we are, but we'll have to see how much rent is before we can really tell.">"Yeah..."
>Nod. "Alright, I'll wait while you pick out what you're getting.">Sanae nods, before heading into the fitting room.
>Figure out where we pay for the clothes, then wait for Sanae.>You glance about and locate a counter where purchases are being made.
>"Good. ...Is it alright to leave what you didn't pick there?">"There was a convenient little hamper in there for clothes you don't want. Most clothing stores have one." she explains.
>"I see.">You head over to the counter with your items.
>Head over to the counter.
>Pay.>You pay.
>"Hmmm... we should go change into our new clothes, too."
>"Alright, let's go. Then we can explore more... normally.">You follow Sanae to where she saw a restroom and enter. You then enter the nearest unoccupied stall and change your wardrobe, stuffing your old clothes into the shopping bag. You feel some discomfort around your third eye, but you'll have to deal with it for now until you can modify that pocket.
>Go to find a restroom and change.
>She has a weird taste in color combinations- green hair, orange shirt, blue skirt? But it's not like she can read OUR mind... "Hmm, it's plain compared to Gensokyo, but you look a lot more like all the other people here now. That's good. How about me? Mmn, I need to change the pocket still, but that'll have to wait until I have something better suited for tailoring the fabric.">"You look like you'll blend in. You know, I honestly didn't expect you to wear red, though it looks nice on you." she smiles, "By the way, are you able to do... you know... right now? Or do you need to modify the pocket first? Just curious."
>"If there was someone important I could tug the shirt and manage it, I think, but right now the pocket's just a double layer of fabric in the way. Oh, and thank you.">Yes.
>That's an accurate enough statement, right?
>"I suppose we should see about a place to stay, now? Do you think there's anything else we should look into purchasing?">"No, not really, unless you're hungry or something."
>"Perhaps we should ask someone to point us in the right direction, then.">Sanae nods.
>Are we even aware of the concept of apartments?>You're unsure.
>"Well, we may not have much of a choice due to our budget. We'll check out our options.">"Yeah."
At least mind reading will probably ease stuff like this later.
>What did it look like? How similar was it to the one Yukari showed us before sending us there?>It looked exactly like it...
>"...Looks like asking around will have to wait. We're risking a confrontation by staying in this area.">"So you saw that too..." Sanae replies as she follows you.
>Head towards the exit.
>Talk quietly.>"Yeah... that probably would've been useful..."
>"Yukari said those things govern magic, here. It might know something's up already, even if it has no idea what. I'm curious about following it, but... ah well, we don't know anything yet. If only I could have read it, just for a moment..."
>Sigh. "We don't know enough to investigate. Still, let's try to act normal and just look into somewhere to rent. It'd be suspicious to dash off the moment we saw it.">Sanae shakes her head. "No. We'd need to find an apartment complex office and speak to someone about renting an apartment there, I'm pretty sure."
>...frown. "Would a shopping mall have anything about places to rent? It's not like you would buy a house at a market..."
>"Oof. It only reminds me how impossible this would have been without you.">"Yeah. I'd hate to imagine what would've happened if it was just you and some other person who's never seen the outside.. Imagine if you picked Patchouli or something."
>"Let's find a shop we can buy something to tailor my pocket with. We can't keep missing out on opportunities like that.. and, honestly, this is rather uncomfortable.">"Alright, I'll keep an eye out."
>Walk along and just see what kind of shops are about.>The two of you walk along.
>"Perfect, in fact!">You head inside and begin browsing.
>Peruse for suitable items!
>Well, the materials may come in handy later, and we might enjoy doing a better job than just plain scissoring out the pocket... we can afford it.>You grab the kit and make the purchase
>Go ahead and purchase the kit.
>"Alright, I'll need to head back to the restroom and fix this up, now. Next time, we'll be ready.">"Alright." Sanae nods, "Do you want me to come with you, or do you want to meet up somewhere?"
>"You can get us some food if you like, or pick some other store to meet up at. I don't mind either way.">"Well I'm not really hungry right now, so unless you want something, I guess we can meet back at the entrance? Unless there's some other store you want to look at."
>If affirmative, then begin to execute plan, go to do tailoring, etc.
>"Alright, the entrance is fine.">You make your way back to the restroom, catching a glimpse of that odd creature again as you go, unfortunately, like last time, it scampers away before you can attempt to read it.
>Proceed with the plan!
>"Alright, I'm good to go. Comfy and fully functional.">Sanae nods. "Let's get going, then."
>Frown and talk quietly. "I did see... it, again, but it was before the tailoring.">she frowns as well, "Do you think it's following us...?"
>"If it can sense our power in some way, it might be. Although, honestly, we don't know if it normally acts that way... hopefully we can get more information from the agent within a day or two.">"Yeah..." Sanae agrees. Speaking of the agent... I wonder when we'll see them again...
>Go ahead and start walking along, keeping an eye out for anything of interest.
>Glance around casually whilst we wait for traffic to clear.>You glance about, and see a flash of white retreating around a corner.
>Whisper to Sanae as we continue on. "I think I saw it in a corner. It's definitely following us.">"Should we do something about it?" she whispers back.
>"We don't know the area enough to lose it without looking suspicious dashing through alleys, I think... hopefully my reading can get us through a confrontation if there is one. Let's just head to the apartment complex.">"Got it."
>"Alright. Time to find out if this was an elaborate plan by Yukari to force us to sleep in an alleyway.">Sanae laughs a bit, "It's surprising to hear you crack a joke, Satori."
>Head on in!
>Well, we can at least comfortably afford the first month, having about 87000 on us right now. Yukari said the loops last about a month and a half, though. But we'll have a month to figure that last part out, and we should hopefully have a decent chunk of money left.>"So we'll take it, then?" Sanae asks How much money do we have again, anyway....?
>"Hmmm... that sounds like it might work."
>"Mmm... yeah, we'll take it!">You agree to purchase the apartment, and pay the first month's rent up-front. The landlord shows the two of you to your door and hands you the keys, before leaving.
>"Yeah, we'll see what we've got for the next month or so.">Doing a quick check for a certain white... thing... you place your key in the lock and turn.
>Open the door and check it out!
>...glance around for stalking white creature, too.
>How large is the bed?>Large enough for two people to share, though it would feel a bit awkward you think.
>"This seems comfortable enough. I didn't think to ask if it was furnished, that would have been a problem."
>Look out the window. "...this is going to take a bit of getting used to, though."
>"A bit more sun and people than I'm used to, as well.">You already found a futon in the closet during your initial inspection of the apartment.
>We'll have to see how much a futon is. ...or construct a miniwall through the middle of the bed.
>Ah, a knock! "I hope that's her, because I honestly don't have the slightest idea what to do from here.">You answer the door, revealing a blonde girl in a hoodie. Her green eyes meet yours.
>Answer the door.
Oh, somehow I'd misread it to say there was no futon found.>"Ah, well hopefully I can help clear things up." she says as she steps inside.
>"Ah, the bearer of good news, I see. You can tell us all about it." Step back and invite her inside. "Although I'm glad you're here, we still hardly know a single thing about... well, anything."
>Respond in kind.>Oriko takes a seat. "Ideally, we have a month and a half before the witch that will destroy this world is born. So we have that time to both prevent its birth and to stop whatever is causing time to loop here. In addition to that: from what I've seen, once the witch is born it will be nearly impossible to kill, at least not by anyone of this world. To be honest, since you two arrived here, whenever I try to glimpse that moment again I only see darkness and uncertainty... So you may have a chance if it ever comes to that, though I can't say anything for certain."
>"Likewise. My name is Satori Komeiji, and my partner's name is Sanae Kochiya."
>"Since you said we have limited time, let's cut to the chase. The leading question of the day is of course 'What do we do from here?", but anything about this 'Kyubey' would be nice, too. "
>"So taking it easy until this witch appears is not an option... Am I right in assuming you don't really know anything about its birth or the time loops either?">"Unfortunately, I know very little about its birth. All I know is that it happens after the city is ravaged by something, and that it was spawned from a magical girl with pink hair. There was another magical girl there as well, one with purple eyes and long, raven hair, carrying a shield of some sort. Before I could continue using my powers to gain more insight, that same raven-haired girl showed up out of nowhere and put a bullet in my Soul Gem. Or, rather, she would have if Lady Yukari hadn't pulled my Soul Gem out of that loop at the last moment. According to her, that girl apparently kills me near the beginning of every loop she has witnessed."
>"...also, 'a contract with Kyubey'? The same one that was following us?">Oriko nods, "Kyubey approaches girls and offers to grant them one wish in exchange for becoming Magical Girls and fighting witches. Of course, that is only half the story, it seems. Thanks to that first vision, I learned that should a magical girl let their Soul Gem become fully corrupted, they turn into the very thing we fight. It's nothing more than a deadly cycle if you think about it..."
>Grimace. "That's a lot to take in. I see why one of the very few details Yukari bothered to tell us was that we shouldn't make a contract with this Kyubey, no matter what.">"Yeah..." Sanae agrees, Although, the prospect of having a wish granted in exchange does seem tempting... But I bet miracles could do much more than that... Probably... Maybe...
>"Hmm... so we need to find a magical girl with pink hair, and the one with raven hair is apparently rather dangerous. Do you have any idea why she tried to kill you?">Oriko shakes her head, "No, unfortunately..."
>"As for basic knowledge's sake, could you explain a bit more about soul gems, witches, and the magic of this world? As well as whatever you know about Kyubey.">"I honestly wouldn't be the best person to explain all of this, considering I was only recently contracted before Lady Yukari saved my life, but I can explain what little I do know, from both my first vision, my experience, and what Lady Yukari has told me."
>Glance at Sanae. "That wish doesn't sound so tempting anymore, does it?">Sanae jumps a bit. "S-Sorry..." Oh yeah... mind reading... forgot about that...
>"I see... so magical girls don't have a choice about fighting witches to fulfill their contract. They literally have to in order to continue living. I imagine fighting witches is dangerous, as well.">Oriko nods, "Indeed."
>Frown. "So, as long as this pink-haired magical girl is around... unless she dies fighting a witch, sooner or later, she'll become a world-ending disaster?">"If her soul gem is corrupted, then it will certainly happen."
>"Your power is very impressive. Hmmm... so we should play dumb, like we haven't heard anything from you. The biggest problem there is that I'm concerned that Kyubey might be onto us already, given he was following us around right away, but I have no idea whether he can tell just how unusual we are or not.">"Normal people are unaware of magic, it seems. The only way that they'll even encounter a witch is if they are either intentionally pulled or accidentally wander into a witch's barrier. In addition to that, Magical Girls usually keep their natures as Magical Girls secret, and usually only transform when they're ready to fight."
>Frown. "So, most magical girls aren't aware of how witches are born? It seems like it'd be hard to keep that a secret over time... if we're supposed to play dumb, how much would the average person be expected to know about any of this?"
noting that yukari never mentioned that magic is a total secret in this world, etc
>Gensokyo has it's own assortment of silly hats. Some things never change, it seems.>"I would agree that Kyubey could probably tell if you were masquerading as magical girls or not. Given that neither of you has a soul gem anyway..." Oriko dispels her transformation.
>"Heh, that would certainly make it harder for us to masquerade as magical girls. We could perhaps obscure ourselves with magic, but it'd be a mad scramble of changing our clothes the old fashioned way. I suppose Kyubey would immediately know something's up anyway, given that we haven't contracted with him. Playing dumb will have to do."
>"We could theoretically have our Gensokyo clothes on underneath normal ones for a quick change, if that's ever necessary, though." Perhaps if in the future Kyubey knows the truth, but we're still fooling other girls for the sake of simplicity.
>"Hmm... that's probably a good idea. If normal people aren't even aware of magic, we'll need some kind of in to the magical girl scene in this town to try and locate the pink-haired one. Although perhaps if we're lucky, she hasn't even contracted yet. Preventing that entirely sounds like the easiest way to stop the witch from occurring.">"Hopefully that's that case... Though depending on what kind of person they are, and what their current situation is, dissuading them might be easier said than done..."
>"Mmm... so that comes down to us bumping into the witch or the familiar. It's good that you know the best times for us to do this, since I don't imagine we'd want to be stuck near these things for any longer than we have to. It'd be unfortunate if we were forced to defend ourselves, and got discovered that way.">"It would be very unfortunate..." Oriko agrees, before having a vision, "I should go. Kyubey will be in the area soon, and if I don't leave within the next five minutes he's likely to notice me. It was a pleasure meeting you, Satori and Sanae. I'll come to you when I have more information, or when Lady Yukari has something important to tell you."
>"Yes, thank you. We'll see you again!" Bow as well.>"Take care, you two." Oriko bows, before making her way out of the apartment.
>...Do we have a clock in our apartment?>Yes. Two, in fact. One in the living/dining room, one in the bedroom.
>"If we go after the familiar, it would be the first chance to meet this Magical Girl to begin with. And if not, meeting her before she goes on a hunt might make her think we're following her. So let's not. It's not like we even know what she looks like, anyway...">"I guess it all depends on when we want to meet this magical girl... We could also take the rest of the day off if we really wanted, but honestly I feel that we should do at least something else today..." I'm kinda leaning towards the familiar myself, since it's the first opportunity...
>"...And I'm not sure yet. We might end up fighting a witch at some point, so it would be nice to see one in action, but meeting it face-to-face will be pretty bad. On the other hand, the familiar wouldn't greet us with cookies either..."
>"Hmm... the familiar is both first, and apparently less dangerous, so let's do that. She said 90 minutes, so we'll need to leave in..." Note the time on the clock.>You note the time.
>"Still, that's not for awhile."
>"What... IS tv? I should probably learn more about this world if I'm going to pretend to be a functioning member of society.">"Well, it's sort of like watching a play, but on a screen rather than in-person. It's just for entertainment, really. We actually have one back at my shrine, but we can't get any outside world channels, so we only have some DVDs of movies and TV shows. By the way, a movie is..."
>Let's go ahead and watch TV with Sanae for awhile and have her help teach us to blend in.>Sanae goes into a long explanation of the distinction of movies and TV shows, and then explaining the concept of channels before turning on the TV to show you some examples. She scrolls through a few channels to demonstrate the variety of "entertainment" a TV has to offer. You see a glimpse of a news channel, which Sanae explains is an outside world alternative to newspaper. Another channel appears to be showing some kind of cooking competition, and Sanae proceeds to explain the concept of "Reality TV" to you. Yet another channel has some kind of show made of animated drawings, about human teenagers piloting giant, human-shaped vehicles, or "Mecha" as Sanae calls them. Sanae gets particularly excited about this and explains to you what "cartoons" and "anime" are, and how this particular genre of "anime" is one of her favorites. She then tells you how businesses use television to advertise their products when an advertisement for some kind of beverage named "MORNING RESCUE" interrupts the program.
You know, things that don't really need much explaining for the players, but are technically a good way to waste time for Satori. :V
>"Oh... it's already time to go! I was so distracted by the TV I almost missed it. Let's get ready to go.">Sanae stands up, "We should be able to tell by looking at the sun's relative position in the sky. It's afternoon, so the sun will be in the west, meaning if we were facing towards the sun, south should be to our left, so we would need to move roughly diagonally between those two directions." Unless the sun sets in a different direction for whatever reason in this world... Maybe we should've bought a compass at the mall...
>Frown. "...wait, but which way is southwest?"
>"That's useful to know. I don't normally see the sun very often, as you might imagine. Alright, you can lead the way!">You follow Sanae out of the apartment and allow her to lead the way out of the complex and down the streets. You notice evidence of Kyubey following you again after about ten minutes.
>Follow Sanae!
>Whisper to Sanae. "He's following. Gotta play dumb as soon as the familiar appears.">"I noticed." she whispers back, "How would we even know when it appears, anyway?" she whispers back.
>Look visibly shocked and concerned. ...this shouldn't be hard, considering that, to -some- degree, we probably actually feel that way?>"W-What's going on...?" Sanae takes a step back
>"U-uuuhhh... that's... different."
>"S-Sanae, run!">You turn and look.
>Turn and see if we can dash away in the opposite direction from that thing!
>It'll have to do. Hopefully Oriko's prediction was precise enough the magical girl will arrive in the nick of time... run for it!>You make a run for it.
>Is the blonde girl wearing normal clothes right now?>She's still transformed at the moment. Her outfit consists of a pair of yellow and black knee-high boots with striped leggings. She's wearing a yellow skirt with a black stripe running along the bottom. Above that is a brown, corset-like garment, which separates the skirt from a white top, and ends beneath her *ahem* assets. Her long sleeves have puffs on the upper arm. On her head is a small, brown hat with a tuft of white fur. Right below it, on her right side of her head, is a hair accessory with a floral pattern, and a brilliant yellow gem sitting in the center of it. Her soul gem, you suppose.
>"Oof... I think I'm alright... That was quite an experience..."
>"...Um... Thank you for saving, but... Who are you? And what was that... that... all of that?"
>Shudder. "I don't want to imagine what would've happened if you'd just taken a few more seconds to show up. I really can't thank you enough.">"So, what are you, anyway? Some kind of superhero?" Sanae asks, playing dumb.
>Frown. "...pulled into a barrier? Magic potential? Contracted? I'm sorry, but I'm kind of lost here...">"I'd be happy to explain and clarify things for you, but it'll be better do it in a place a bit less public." says Mami, "If you don't mind, we could all go to my place and Kyubey and I can answer your questions there, unless there's somewhere you need to be, of course." I wouldn't want to bother them with this if they're busy.
>Nod. "Then sure, we're coming. ...Wouldn't we get attention on the way there, though? Both of you are pretty... noticeable...">Mami promptly dispels her transformation and smiles. She's now wearing a uniform of some kind. Her soul gem is now a ring, much like Oriko's
>"Wow! That's pretty cool." At Mami's un-transformation. Then at Kyubey, "I guess that takes care of that, then... alright, let's go!">Mami grabs a blue bag that appears to have been tossed against the wall hastily, before leading the way
>Follow!
Well, her knowing is unavoidable regardless.>Mami blinks.
>"Wow, this is your apartment? We just moved in a couple doors down!"
>"Tea sounds lovely! ...jeez, Kyubey really has been watching us, huh?">"I find the both of you quite intriguing and unusual, it's only natural that I observe in order to determine why that is." says Kyubey
>"Oh, this is quite nice.">"Yeah." Sanae nods in agreement as the two of you make your way to the back.
>Go ahead and head to the back to sit.
>"So Kyubey, you said we have.... potential to become magical girls?">"She does, yes." Kyubey indicates Sanae, "However, I currently rank her potential to become a magical girl lower than most potential candidates on account of how unusual her magic potential is. In your case, I'm honestly unsure about your status as a candidate... While you both have irregular magic potentials, hers is closer to what would be considered normal than yours. Yours, on the other hand, is one of the most unusual I have ever seen: It's rather odd, atypical of any other magic potential I have sensed, in fact, it seems somewhat inhuman..."
>Shake our head. "I don't know.">Kyubey studies you for a moment.
>"Oh, thank you!">"You're welcome." Mami pours the cups and has a seat at the table. Maybe I should offer some food too? Nah, I shouldn't get carried away. We're here for a serious discussion anyway...
>Enjoy tea.
>"So, you're a magical girl... because of Kyubey? And you fight things like that monster from earlier">Mami nods, "I made a contract with Kyubey in exchange for having a wish granted, and now it's my duty to fight Witches."
>"So witches are even worse than that thing was?">"Much worse. Witches spread the seeds of disaster across the world. Unexplained disappearances, suicides and murders are often the result of a witch." Mami sips her tea. "Not to mention that they are the source of familiars like the one that attacked you today. Which, if they break away from their masters, can become problems in their own right."
>"Unexplained disappearances and deaths... like we almost were." Shudder. "After hearing more about it, you really do sound like a superhero.">Mami laughs a bit. "Well, if you put it that way, then yes." she takes on a more serious tone, "But please understand that unlike a superhero, I'm not invincible. Being a Magical Girl is a dangerous experience, I risk my life every time I fight a witch or familiar. "
>"I see... it's easy to get excited hearing about magical powers and fighting bad things, but real life isn't a cartoon. Although... I admit I'm curious about the part where Kyubey grants a wish. How does that work?">"It's simple" Kyubey speaks up, "When you form a contract with me, you make a wish, and I will grant it." he tilts his head "Normally I wouldn't approach someone as unusual as the two of you with an offer like this so quickly, but if you wanted, one of you could make a contract with me to witness a wish being granted first-hand."
>Shake our head. "No, this... well, Mami's made it clear this is serious. If I just made a wish on a whim, it sounds like I might really regret it later. It'd have to be something worth endangering myself for.">"A wise choice." says Mami, "I couldn't agree more, Miss..." Oh my! I can't believe I forgot to ask them what their names were...
>"Oh! Everything was happening so fast, I didn't even introduce myself. I'm Satori Komeiji." Bow, and then look to Sanae for her turn.>"Sanae Kochiya." Sanae bows as well. Huh... introductions kinda slipped my mind too...
>"Although... I imagine most people never even have the chance for something like having a wish granted. I'll have to think about whether there's anything I want enough, that I'd fight witches for it.">"It's a rare opportunity, yes. So you shouldn't take it for granted." Mami looks you in the eyes, "Remember that you only get one wish if you decide to contract with Kyubey, and that there are no do-overs."
>It seems like someone may really BE wishing for do-overs, considering the time loops... but we can't talk about that here.>"The extent of a wish I can grant is limited only by a girl's potential." he replies, "Though, even candidates with low potential can still have a wide range of possible wishes granted to them. However, you are also correct in that beings with extremely high potential are rare."
>"Really? So for someone with a lot of potential, you'll grant even unreasonable wishes? Although I suppose there probably aren't many people like that."
>"Oh, so the girl's potential itself helps grant the wish? At first I thought you were more like a genie. Come to think of it, what... ARE you, anyway? No offense meant, I'm just curious.">"I am a Messenger of Magic." he answers.
>Smile at Kyubey.
>"Mmmph... so even if we hadn't been noticed right away, we'd still have been doomed if it wasn't for you. So... people just get unlucky and stumble into a barrier like a fly in a spider's web, huh?">"That's a good way of seeing it. Though entering one accidentally is less common than being pulled in, like you probably were, or being influenced to come by the witch itself. Like I said, witches generally tend to seclude themselves within their barriers and spread their curses from the shadows."
>"I see... so witches can cause problems even for people who don't wander close to their barrier. That's a bit scary to think about.">"Well, their victims still need to get within a certain range of the witch for the witch to be able to apply a kiss to them. So it's not like you're at risk of being attacked by a random witch on the other side of the world or anything. However, you are right in that the edge of this range isn't close enough to the witch to be at risk of entering the barrier."
>"That covers the unexplained suicides you mentioned earlier... how dreadful. I assume normal people can't see those marks, the way they can't see Kyubey?">"Correct." Mami nods. She hasn't touched her tea in a while... does she not like it?
>Enjoy a bit of tea as we listen to Sanae and Kyubey. Well, he isn't really lying... just conveniently leaving parts out.>You take a sip.
>"While magical girls are born from hopeful wishes... how poetic."
>Sip our tea more. Well, this is a unique chance here. If we just flat-out say no, we might not have many reasons to hang out with Mami further and get more involved with the magical girl world. We have a mission to complete, and it'd be nice to have something more to work with than skulking around looking for pink-haired girls. Of course, the conundrum is we have absolutely no actual intention of becoming magical girls...>"I understand." Mami nods, "It's better that you take your time to think about things when it comes to something like this." she pauses, "If you want, you could tag along with me on a witch hunt sometime. Maybe it will help with your decision."
>"I'll need to think about it for while. This is all a lot to take in at once, honestly. If witches are even worse than what we saw earlier, it sounds pretty intimidating..."
>"Oh? I'd like to say yes, but is that really safe? I suppose you'd be there to protect us, but...">"Mami is a skilled veteran, and has been a Magical Girl for over two years. She has also mentored inexperienced Magical Girls in the past." says Kyubey, "You would be rather safe if you entered a witch's barrier with her protecting you."
>"Oh! That's quite the resume. In that case, it sounds like a great idea.">"Yeah, I wouldn't mind tagging along either." Sanae agrees. Might as well see what these "witches" look like.
>"Okay! Sounds like a plan.">Sanae nods in agreement.
>Finish our tea, and start to get up. "Alright. We'll leave you to the rest of your day, then. Thank you for the tea... and again for rescuing us, of course!">"Yeah, thank you so much, for everything." Sanae smiles.
>"See you tomorrow!">Mami shows you out of her apartment, and the two of you head two doors down to your own. The sun is beginning to set.
>Head back to our place. ...which shouldn't take long, heh.
>"Yes. Unlike how Kyubey just seems eager to snatch up contracts, Mami really wanted to make sure we made the right decision for ourselves. I honestly feel a little bad for deceiving her, but... well, we have good intentions.">"Yeah." Sanae agrees, If, goddesses forbid, she ever finds out our deception or the truth about us, I hope we can make things up to her... "So, what do you want to do now?"
>"Honestly, I'm not sure. The time we've got between now and after school tomorrow is quite a lot more than just an hour, but we've got all the basics covered at this point.">"We should eat dinner, chill out, and go to bed then, I guess?" she asks, "And then find something to occupy us until Mami gets home tomorrow? Or we could discuss what our next move is..."
>"Mmm, that's probably good. We'll worry about tomorrow when it gets here.">"Alright." Sanae pauses, "So I don't think an apartment would come with food already stocked in it, so I'm going to see if I can find a grocery store or something. Do you want to come with, or stay here?"
>"Mm... we should probably keep sticking together for now, on the offchance anything happens.">You leave the apartment with Sanae, after walking around for about an hour you locate a grocery store, catching a glimpse of Kyubey along the way. After spending a grand total of ?12600, the two of you make your way back "home" with your arms full of shopping bags, having purchased enough food to hopefully last a week.
>Go to the store with Sanae. What we get isn't terribly important, so long as we try to keep the cost to something that seems reasonable.
wait what about rent tho (as nice as it would be for you to forget to subtract 44000 from our funds)//Didn't I already do that?
>Dinner, eating, TV, sleeping, etc>Sanae prepares dinner for the night, and the two of you eat while watching TV. After a while, the two of you get ready for bed.
>"Perhaps we can take turns. You can have it for tonight, regardless.">"Alright," Sanae nods.
>Look around. Is Sanae still asleep?>You look around, you are in a windowless room in the back of the apartment. Your modified longsleeve shirt is folded up neatly near the futon, next to your shoes. Right where you left them.
>Dress ourselves and check on Sanae at least, then.>You get dressed and leave the room...
>Do we have daily ablutions or some sort of hygiene maintenance?>Hygiene-wise, you do bathe on occasion. Though, you will shower sometimes if you need to cleanse yourself quickly.
>How good are we at cooking?>You're the second best cook in your "family". Only Rin "Orin" Kaenbyou is better than you.
>Look at the time.>You locate the nearest clock and determine that it's 10:19 AM.
>>If it's still early morning, go to the kitchen and try to cook something up for breakfast.
>Stay put and finish cooking.>You continue.
>"Perfect timing.">Reading a mind is like second nature to you. However, it does require that you third eye can see someone unobstructed. Darkness isn't an issue, but physical objects blocking the view are. For instance, even though you can read minds through the shirt fabric, it does, in fact, impair the range at which you can read someone's thoughts.
>Is it tasking or resource consuming to read minds, or is it just like raising an arm or blinking?
Just noticed I misspelled Taxing as tasking...>"Ah, okay."
>"Eggs and rice. Nothing grandiose."
>Summary of previous day.>After Yukari threw the two of you into this world, Sanae suggested the two of you looked around for a mall or clothing store to use when the two of you got money. As the two of you headed downtown, you soon found a mall. A mysterious figure bumped into you along the way, handing you an envelope containing money and a letter from Yukari.
>Misc skills/powers that we have that could be useful in our adventure?
>(including nonmagical abilities of ours which are better than the average person's)>In addition to mind reading, you are capable of inducing hypnosis. However, this requires direct, unobstructed eye contact with your third eye, so it won't work through fabric. Once you have put someone in a hypnotic trance, you can either use suggestion to make them think/say exactly what you want, or, more commonly, you can induce amnesia.
>So if we hypnotize someone, we can make them forget it happened after, and keep our third eye secret?>You could.
>Can we awaken trauma during hypnosis?
>After making sure there's nothing in any visible windows (like kyubey) staring at us, try to float in the air for a moment, just to make sure whether or not we can.>You check for windows and Kyubey, and finding the coast clear, you float a few inches off the ground. It takes slightly more effort to maintain than in Gensokyo, but it seems like it's possible.
>"And breakfast is served.">You bring breakfast to the table and have a seat. Sanae grabs her bowl and begins to dig in.
>Let's eat!
>Does Awakening Trauma require direct -third- eye contact, or just eye contact? Does it take long for us to do enough to copy an attack, e.g. could we pull it off while having a conversation with someone and maintaining eye contact?>Unlike hypnosis, your third eye does not need to make direct, unobstructed, eye contact to awaken trauma. However, you still need it to read someone in order to extract information from the memory. Making normal eye contact for a few seconds is enough. Alternatively, physically touching their forehead can also work, though doing it through touch will automatically bring the memory to the front of their thoughts.
>"We should think of a reason we left home and moved here. Unless people in this world move around all the time?">"Good idea. Who knows when someone's going to ask about that." Hmm... let's see... Maybe we could say we came from a neighboring city or town to look for jobs or something...
//I don't know if Satori knows about "jobs" and "school"
>How many outfits do we have?>Only the one you came with, plus the one you bought yesterday.
>How do we and Sanae look right now?
>"It should be a reason we could back up sufficiently...">"Any ideas?" She probably already knows about my brainstorming already...
>"The ones you've considered may work the best. Your ideas may be better than ones I could come up with in such a place.">"Maybe we should research the neighboring towns and cities, then. Then we could claim we came from one of them and have the knowledge to back it up in case people ask questions." Sanae takes a bite of her breakfast, Hopefully people won't ask too many questions though...
>"What about the place you came from? Do you think it exists in this world?">"Suwa? It might, considering other places and trends from our outside world seem to exist here. I don't know how different it'll be from the Suwa I know if if does exist..." Though Suwa might throw a wrench into the "Looking for work" story... Considering It's a major industrial city...
>"Does it cover enough work types that people would doubt us if we said "we're looking for something unique" in terms of work?">"No. I don't think so... were should be fine if we said that. " That could work...
>Nod.>"We'll go with that, then." Sanae nods as well, finishing her last few bites.
>Have we finished ours yet?>Almost.
>Then keep eating.>You finish your meal.
>"Oh?">You put your dish away and sit in the small amount of space left on the couch.
>Put away our dish and sit on the couch if there's space.
>"It didn't sound like a witch would do anything like that... maybe a magical girl looking to beef up her weaponry, though. Although, what one would girl do with THAT much stuff?">"I have no idea..." Don't they have magic weapons anyway? Maybe I should ask Mami later... or Oriko if we run into her today...
>"Doesn't make much sense for why one would raid a military base... Perhaps just more firepower alongside their weapon. Or for an unrelated purpose aside from the weapons themselves?">"Maybe..." Definitely going to ask Mami or Oriko about it if I remember... Sanae leans back, "So... Anything you want to do until we do that thing with Mami later, or do you just want to stay here until then?"
>How well can we handle being in a crowd of people? Is it painful?>In a crowd, if your third eye can read people, your mind will be flooded with their thoughts. However, with some minor conscious effort, you can "tune out" most of the background noise and only hear those that your third eye is focusing on.
>Does our third eye blink, or is it impossible to close normally?>Your third eye doesn't really blink. You can close it, but it takes a lot of effort and it will spring back open when you get too fatigued.
>Have we tested if our danmaku works in this world, as our powers still do?>You have not.
>"Danmaku? At least, to see if it works or not.">"Um... Sure..." Sanae replies, "But is there a place where we could... you know... do that without being seen?" Especially by that Kyubey thing...
>"Drat...">Sanae seems to think. What if we intentionally found another one of those familiar barrier things and practiced in there...? If Kyubey doesn't follow us and nothing unexpected happens if might work... might be too risky, though...
>"Well, as long as we covered any windows in our apartment for a moment... it's probably best not to try to fight a witch ourselves. After all, if our magic didn't work as well as expected?" Shudder.>"I see..." Sanae frowns, "Wait... A-Are you suggesting we practice danmaku in here!?!" There's no room for that...
>"I did test flying earlier. A little floating was only slightly harder than usual. Our other powers... probably work, although it may be a little more of a strain than normally."
>"Just shooting a little, not big patterns.">"There isn't any real room for that in here, though..." Besides, we'll have to explain the inevitable scorch marks on the walls to visitors... There's also the noise...
>"If we try it on something disposable and explain that the sounds were of something like a toy?">"Maybe..." Could work...
>"You do have a point, though. At best we can only do a few bullets in here.">Sanae nods in agreement.
>"Making a plan for all of this seems silly, but it may still be necessary.">"Yeah... We'll probably have to use it eventually... " Hopefully only if there's no other choice...
>Nod.>"So... Do you want me to find something to use as target practice, then?" A pillow or something probably...
>"Lets hope not."
>Nod.>"Alright." Sanae gets up and heads towards the stairs, I think I saw some extra pillows up here...
>"I'll look too."
>Start looking for something disposable as well.>You look...
>Check on Sanae.>You check.
>"Ah, good. I couldn't find anything useful down here.">"Yeah... we don't really have much..." Hopefully we won't need to accommodate any guests overnight any time soon...
>"Maybe we could try and have something from outside? At least, nothing stolen.">"Like what?" Surely she doesn't mean something like trees or rocks, right?
>"Something more disposable than pillows.">"So... trash...? Or do you mean going to the store to buy targets?"
>Give a light shrug.>"Wouldn't that attract unnecessary attention?" She couldn't have forgotten about Kyubey already, right...?
>"Maybe we can even shoot towards the sky."
>"The ground? I am just considering alternatives to something we likely wouldn't want to waste.">"Hmm... Oh! Wait! I have an idea!" Sanae sets one of the pillows down, and seems to summon her gohei from a skirt pocket. I need to see if my miracles work here anyway... Now let's see...
>Look around, possibly with our eye and reading if it's already out, in search of possible onlookers...>You check. Nobody but you and Sanae. Thankfully, there does not seem to be any open windows nearby, as you had forgotten to close the blinds and curtains...
>"I hope it's fine to use faith for such. If you are, that is."// last one before I go to bed.
>"That seems like a lot to do for one instance... Although it lets us determine if we can perform danmaku, it doesn't show if it damages significantly or not, and that may be a problem if we have to use danmaku...">"Oh..." Sanae frowns, I didn't think about that...
>Sanae already did it, let's not chastise her about it. It's probably for the best that we don't destroy our own things, anyway.>You decide not to chastise her any further.
>"Well then, let us begin!"
>Fire a few bullets at the pillow.
>Test a few stronger shots.>You do so. They too strike the pillow with a satisfying noise, while leaving it unscathed.
>"Hm...">"What is it?" Sanae asks, Is something wrong?
>How much energy did those take up. Was it a breeze/trivial?>About as much as normal.
>"Seems it may be just like normal.">It depends on the intent. Most danmaku is spellcard level, only able to damage clothing and leave light injuries on humans and youkai, being only able to kill fairies and similarly fragile beings.
>How much damage does danmaku regularly do? Enough to destroy clothing and cause slight harm, or enough to destroy buildings and kill, or something else?
>Let her answer it. We'll read them from here...>Sanae walks to the door and opens it, revealing Oriko.
>"Good morning.">"Good morning, Miss Komeiji." Oriko bows, "I assume everything is going well so far?"
>"Yes. We're meeting up with our neighboring magical girl later, and she's going to take us with her as she hunts a witch.">"If he hasn't guessed what you really are by now, then hopefully he won't be able to without actually witnessing your natures."
>Frown. "Kyubey can tell that our magical potential is very strange, but I don't know how much he truly suspects. But it does help that there's no way he could possibly guess what we really are... probably?"
>"Hopefully.">"Well, I should probably get going. Like I said, I only wanted to check on the two of you. Though I do have a few minutes if either of you have any questions to ask."
>Nod.
>Compare our height with Oriko and Sanae>Of the three of you, you are the shortest, and Sanae is the tallest.
>Also, compare other sizes
>Be glad Sanae cannot read our thoughts.>You feel relieved that mind reading doesn't go both ways...
>"Hmmm... I suppose that's about it for now.">Oriko nods, "Farewell, then."
>"We'll keep on our guards.">Oriko nods, before seeing herself out.
>Think about Orin and the others... Wonder if they'll be alright without us>T-They'll be alright... Orin is good at taking care of herself and Okuu...
>Look a bit sad
>Sigh.>"I'm sure they're fine." Hmm... Maybe we could ask Oriko the next time we see her if there was a way we could contact them... Maybe with a letter or something...
>"I'm just thinking about my pets... I wonder how they reacted when I suddenly disappeared."
>Consider the off chance that it could be one of our pets, and how things at home would change with them gone...>You ponder if the black cat Oriko mentioned could be one of your pets...
>Or it could be a different cat from Gensokyo?>You ponder if it would be one of your other pets, or another random cat from Gensokyo.
>"Maybe your right. It'd be best to worry about the upcoming situations...">"Yeah..." We still have some time to kill before those... "So, do you want to keep practicing until then, or is there anything else on your mind?"
//Does anyone have any plans they'd like to consider? We've already confirmed that danmaku works out here, but not it's strength...>You already tested flight earlier. It seems like you can, though it takes slightly more effort to sustain.
>Are we capable of flight out here?
>"Well, since you said this place is a lot like our Outside World, how about you tell me more about it?">"Well, there's not much difference, except that there's no magical girls and I'm pretty sure this city doesn't exist in our outside world."
>"Right, but I don't know very much about the Outside World to begin with.">"Well..."
>Stay a while, and listen.>You allow Sanae to speak, and she goes on to explain various things about the outside world to you, mainly differences between outside world customs and gensokyo customs and explaining things like cars and something called an "airplane"... It's a lot of information to process, and she help clarify things you're unsure about. When the conversation is finally finished, you noticed about an hour has gone by.
>Time until Mami meetup?>You're unsure when her school lets out, but if it's similar to when you met her yesterday, then you'd say another couple of hours.
>"I appreciate the information, it was very helpful, but you should work on paraphrasing.">"Well... I figured since you knew next to nothing about it, I should be thorough. Sorry." Sanae scratches her head, I hope she isn't too annoyed with me... "So, what now?"
>What kind of books do we tend to write?>They usually involve animals, ranging from guides on pet care (drawn from personal experiences) to pleasant tales for readers of all ages. You also write horror on occasion, and sometimes you branch out to other genres.
>"I would suggest going to see Mami, but I don't know when students get out of school.">"Wasn't she coming home from school when we first met her?" Sanae asks, "If so, depending on the distance between here and wherever her school is, it'll probably be a little bit before the time we met her yesterday."
>Revival time.Ponder how fairies would fare in this fair land. Could they even become magical girls? And what about other immortals...>You ponder...
>"What do you think about danmaku here? Mainly how it's used. Given we'll most likely see it important to survival, it might lose some of it's beauty..."
>Nod.>They might fare fine against familiars, maybe... You haven't seen any witches yet, so you can't make an accurate judgement in that regard.
>Wonder how fairies would fare against thoseminionsWitches and familiars. Maybe they'd hold up against the latter, at least...
>"And what about spellcards?">"Well since spellcards usually have a specific pattern written on them, they shouldn't really lose anything. It would still be painful and disorienting to anyone who hasn't seen any before, though." Now that I think about it, we actually have no idea how danmaku and spellcards would react to the beings here... It could be more powerful for all we know...
>Do we need to physically possess spellcards?
>"It might be beneficial to test, given what we'll eventually have to stop...">"Yeah. But on what? Should we try to hunt down one of these witch things ourselves after we're done with Mami?" Assuming we can find one...
>"Maybe..."
>"Familiars are weaker, so if we dared to do such a thing, that'd be best. If a witch proved more powerful than expected, or our danmaku weaker than we hoped, our lives would be at stake. Hmmm... though I'm curious about using my ability to copy attacks from magical girls here. Perhaps I'll have a good chance with Mami today.">"Maybe." Oh yeah, she can do that...
>While Mami is actually fighting and using her attacks, can we make them into spellcards just by being within mind reading range?>Yes.
>How difficult would it be to peek our third eye out in some fashion for less obstructed sight? (For the sake of extra reading range while, say, Mami is particularly distracted fighting the witch)
Unsure if something like this was answered before, but...>No. Really the only "tell" is when you reveal that you've read their thoughts.
>Are there any tells to our abilities? Even minor ones? Such as something changing with our eye's appearance while reading a mind, or the person who's mind we're reading feeling a chill.
>How can someone be immune to mind-reading?>The easiest way would be for them to cut off their conscious mind. It's the reason you can't read... ...Koishi...
>This doesn't seem compatible with telepathy, as in the case of Kyubey. Perhaps he is a more powerful telepath than we are?>You wonder... If he is, then it seem he is unable to read your mind at least. You wonder if it's because with telepathy, they're already projecting their surface thoughts to you...
>Do those familiars have minds to read?>The one you encountered yesterday did. But it was relatively single minded.
>"Though it may have to be done discreetly, unless it's fine for her to see that sort of thing...">"Yeah..." She'll probably have questions if she noticed it... Sanae nods, "So... anything you want to do to pass the time? We have a few more hours." Unless she wants to practice some more, we can probably watch TV until then... or maybe we can go out and buy a board game or two...
>"Maybe just some more TV. Hard to think of much else important with the big event coming up soon. Our first look at a magical girl in action... and at a witch.">"Alright." Sanae nods and reaches for the TV remote, I wonder what's on right now...
>Teevee~>You watch TV with Sanae for a while. You seem to be on some kind of nature channel, watching several programs about animals that live in some place called africa.
>"So, some of these are real and some... aren't, right? Aside from not looking real, how can you tell when one's fake?">Sanae turns off the TV "Well if it's overacted it's definitely fake." I'm pretty sure some reality shows are too, but it's kinda hard to tell with a few of them...
>"Alright, should be about time.">You do a quick check. Yup. You have your spellcards with you.
>Make sure we're properly ready!
>"Alright, let's go out and wait for her.">Sanae nods and begins heading for the door.
>Head out>You step outside with Sanae.
>Widen our eyes like Sanae, dropping our jaw a bit.>"I can allow you to do it as well, if you wish. No contract required. As long as I'm close enough to all of you to act as a relay."
>"Magical girls can do that? Incredible."
>Look at Sanae, and try to... think at her.>"Of course, I can, Sator-wait..." Did she seriously just-
>"Can you hear me?"
>If successful, frown at Kyubey. "Wait... does this mean you can hear our thoughts?"
>How easy is it to tell the difference between something from telepathy and something from our mind reading? ...it would be bad if we mixed them up at some point.>You're not sure. You figure that your own mind reading can probably detect the thoughts NOT being sent through telepathy, plus it requires that your third eye is actually looking at the person.
>Chuckle, returning our attention to Sanae. "Try not to get too used to hearing voices in your head. We wouldn't want that to become a habit."//Assuming this is intended to be spoken aloud.
Italics and brackets seem like a good system. >_> Since the main point of my question was, how easily we can tell the difference between a mind-read thought or a telepathically sent thought. How terrible it'd be if we mistook mind reading for telepathy and -replied- to it!>Mami nods, "That's the plan, hopefully." [If they thought about it overnight, and are having second thoughts, I'd understand.] "Are you ready?"
>...we probably can't do any kind of nonverbal message at Sanae since Kyubey's staring at us, but, she's right.
>Wave at Mami and smile. "So... we're going to find a Witch, huh?"
>"Sure.">You do so.
>Lock our apartment's door behind us.
>"Just in case, is there anything we need to know before we head out?"
>Is our eye visible to the others, or covered by the pouch?>covered of course.
>"We'll be careful. The familiar was intimidating enough, I can hardly imagine what a witch would be like...">Mami nods, "Let's get started then."
>Follow Mami!
>"I see... so, you can sense where they've been?">"A soul gem will glow when it detects the magic residue of a witch. Once it picks up a trail, you simply have to follow it."
>"Oh, I see. So you just check out creepy places until you pick up the scent of a witch and track it from there.">"Precisely." she nods as you walk along the busy road, [We'll follow the highway past the hospital, towards the Red Light District, pass a few common suicide spots, then do one last pass by the hospital... There's usually at least one witch or rogue familiar somewhere along that route.]
>"That makes sense, since familiars are supposed to be weaker. I can only imagine what a witch will look like.">"To be honest, they can look like anything. Every one I've seen has looked different than the last. However, this also means that it's possible for them to appear deceptively weak or strong. So you shouldn't judge a witch based on its appearance alone..." her soul gem suddenly flashes, "I've picked up a trail. Judging by the intensity of the flash, there's likely a barrier within a few blocks of us." [Too soon to tell if it's a witch yet...]
>"Huh... I see. Oh! Guess we'll be finding out firsthand pretty soon.">The two of you follow Mami. The soul gem flashes at intervals, if it's brighter, Mami keeps going, if it's dimmer, she changes direction until it flashes again.
>Follow Mami.
>"The witch's really close, then? Hopefully it'll all go well...">"Yeah." Sanae nods, "So... what'll happen if things go bad...?" [Surely she has a backup plan if things go sour.]
>Keep following Mami.
>Look into the alleyway. Anything we can see or feel from there?>Not really.
>"So... how do we enter it? I mean, if these 'barriers' are made by witches to protect them, wouldn't simply walking into them be either difficult or lead into traps?"
>"Of course.">Mami begins to walk through the circular image.
>Watch whatever it is Mami is doing.
>Follow her inside!>You enter....
>"Wow... got it!">"We'll be right behind you." says Sanae.
>Be ready to attempt to read attacks off of Mami if we get a chance, whilst we follow.
\\Hmm? What's watchin' Kyubey gonna do, though? It'd probably be weird to have someone staring at him like a hawk, if anything.
>"Yeah, we're okay!"
//Yeah, Sanae watching Kyubey wouldn't do anything useful either.>Mami opens her mouth to speak before being interrupted by Kyubey, who is still with the three of you.
>"...That wasn't a witch, right? It went down kind of easily..."
>Speaking of Kyubey, is he with us or did we leave him behind at some point?
>"Right... so witch barriers are full of familiars? It didn't seem as powerful as the one the other day, at least.">"Well, like witches, some familiars may be stronger than others. It usually depends on the witch they've spawned from." Mami replies.
>Follow Mami as necessary
>"Is it a trap?!">"We're about to find out..." Mami replies.
>Stay alert!
>"It killed it's own familiar..."
>Be ready to attempt spellcard creation off Mami!>You get ready as Mami takes aim. Waiting for a gap to form in the swarm before firing off two shots in rapid succession at the witch.
>Stay a "safe" distance behind Mami, just don't get too close to the back edge of the platform...>You do so.
>Do we think we can replicate what Mami just did?>Yes. It's fresh in both your mind and hers, you should be able to do so with little difficulty.
>How do we store attacks in blank spellcards? How long does it take?
>Keep watching the battle.
>We can replace attacks on recollection cards freely, yes? If so, make that attack into a spellcard.>Yes, you can wipe a card for reuse at any time.
>How many open cards do we have?
>Aha, spell get. Even if danmaku doesn't work as well as hoped versus a witch (It'd probably be fine on weak familiars...?), we should be safe when copying magical girl attacks... probably?>The witch stamps its feet one more time, and a shockwave erupts from the cage, carrying the red glow with it. It passes through all the familiars and immediately ignites them.
>Continue watchin'.
...This might be a long shot, but...>You don't think you can copy familiar summoning... You could probably emulate familiars with danmaku, but they'd be glorified projectiles at that point.
>Can we copy summoning familiars off the witch? If yes, what about its igniting shockwave?
>Can we use magic recorded in our spellcards without declaring them? (for instance, if Tiro Volley involves summoning a wall of muskets, can we summon a musket outside of it?)
>>If yes, can we do it willy-nilly or are there conditions like, for example, having to hold the spellcard in question in our hand?
>For someone who's supposed to be a harbringer of disaster, that witch is sure acting like a spoiled child...>This horror does have some personality, you'll give it that...
>Get ready to copy Mami's next attack.
>Go ahead.>New spellcard acquired:
>"That was definitely amazing.">"Thank you." Mami replies as she picks up the Grief Seed. [I should probably explain what this is if they ask.]
>"The witch looked more like a bird than like a plant.">Sanae snickers while Mami chuckles a bit.
>Nod. "It looks like it might be, just a bit...">"Well, if I do this with the grief seed, like so..." Mami taps the seed to her soul gem, and black specks begin to flow from the latter to the former. You sense the mental activity of the sleeping witch within the seed spike for a moment.
>"Wow! I guess that's a pretty good reward for fighting witches. Apart from saving people from them, of course. If they can hatch back into witches though, what do you do with the Grief Seed when you're done with it?">"I give it to Kyubey." Mami replies, "He can dispose of them safely." [I wonder if I should invite them over after patrol... I probably shouldn't, they might have plans.]
>"What do you do with them, Kyubey?">"I dispose of them safely." he replies.
>"That's....">Mami nods, "We still have the rest of the route to patrol and then we're done for the day." [I'd expect at most a rogue familiar. It's not often that I get two witches in a day... besides, one would probably be enough for them.]
>Sigh.
>"...fine, I guess we don't really need to know..."
>Turn to Mami.
>"So, what's the plan now? Do we keep going?"
>"I see. Shall we go, then?">Mami nods and leads the way.
>If Mami starts going, follow her.
>"How often do these type of attacks happen?">"You mean when witches attack humans? It's more frequent than I would like..." Mami frowns slightly, [There's only so much one magical girl can do...], "However, thanks to my efforts, it's less frequent than it would be if there were less Magical Girls in Mitakihara. "
>Frown.>"And that's true, but all of them have either left town or have gotten themselves killed, either from witches or from other Magical Girls..." she frowns, memories of a few of the past girls she's mentored well up in her mind. One memory, consisting of a redhead with a ponytail, seems to linger for longer than the others, "When I was answering Sanae, I was referring to magical girls that are currently active in Mitakihara."
>"...Huh? But Kyubey said yesterday that you mentored other Magical Girls before..."
>Grimace. "Killed by other magical girls?">"Unfortunately yes. Grief Seeds, being a somewhat limited resource, cause a lot of competition between magical girls. That's why, in certain situations, magical girls will fight over one... In fact, it's more common than you may think."
>"I... see.">Mami nods, "I'm sure both of you have a lot to think about after today." [Perhaps I should invite them over for a tea party sometime...]
>"...So... shall we part our ways for now? It was quite a lot of revelations, and I'd like to think over them..."
>Nod.>"You too." Mami smiles.
>"Well, then. Take care!"
>Head back into our apartment.
>"Hmm?">You pick it up and examine it.
>Pick it up and examine it.
>...Open it.>You open it.
>Check the contents. If there's a letter, read it.
>"It appears we have nothing better to do than chase after a cat.">You hand the letter to Sanae
>Pass Sanae the letter.
>While she's reading, examine one of the... cellphones, supposedly.
>Close the cellphone for now. We can figure it out later.>You do so.
>"Perhaps. It might be also worthwhile to check out the school. I wonder if it's the same one Mami goes to..."
>"In any case, you had questions for me, right?"
>"No, I could read the familiars and the witch as easily as anyone else. Well, except for Kyubey."
>"They did seem to have a bit of a one-track mind, but to be fair, I didn't get to observe for too long. I copied some of Mami's attacks whilst she fought, for that matter; even if our normal danmaku turns out to be ill-suited for fighting witches, the attacks she used should fare well, I hope.">"That will be useful." Sanae nods [I wonder which ones she copied... Probably that really cool one at the end, definitely...]
>"Maybe we should have some signals I could give you, if we need to communicate in public?">"Like what?" [You mean so you can send me nonverbal responses if you read my thoughts?]
>"Yes, like a hand signal. Maybe something for Yes, something else for No, and a third one for More Complicated.">"Hmm" Sanae begins thinking of what such a numbered list would be made of... and how long it would be...
>"Or, you could think of a numbered list, and I could try to say a number out loud, as part of the conversation."
>"No, I meant if we were in a situation, you would think of a list at that time.">"Oh." [we could try it... we will probably have to tweak it a bit to make it effective, though...]
>"Perhaps saying the number out loud could be swapped for a hand signal. But yes, maybe it would be best to try it out before drawing conclusions. Can you think of a list like that? You can ask me anything you like.">"Hmm..." Sanae goes through a list of questions rather quickly in her mind, before settling on one, "Among your pets, which one is your favorite?" [1. Orin, 2. Okuu, 3. Other, 4. Unsure, 5. None of them, you like them equally... ...I think I'm doing it right...?]
>Do we have a favorite?>Do you?
>"I have at least 5 pets, so I couldn't possibly answer that question without more time to think.">Istead of saying that, let's go with a 4 then.
>"I have at least 5 pets, so I couldn't possibly answer that question without more time to think."
>Istead of saying that, let's go with a 4 then.>"Oh, alright." Sanae replies, [So... unsure?]
>"Right.">"Hmm..." Sanae thinks for a moment, "What do you think of the outside world customs you've experienced so far?" [1. Interesting, 2. You don't like them. 3. You think they're strange, 4. Unsure]
edit:
>"again with a different question?"
>If no one objects, go with 3.
>Frown slightly.>"I-I mean we are in privacy now, aren't we...?" Sanae replies, [About the answer I expected. Should we do more or do you think the system is good for now...?]
>"...'The outside world'? That's not exactly something I'd voice out loud."
>"In any case, they are rather interesting. Still, with my current understanding of them, I'm not sure I would last for 3 days if I was alone."
>"How about one more? This time, ask a fake question out loud but a different question privately, and I'll try to answer them both at the same time.">Sanae nods, "What would you like to do for the rest of the night?" [How much do you miss Gensokyo? 1. Not much yet, 2. A lot, 3. Somewhere in between]
>"Well, it'd be nice to learn how to use the cellphones. Aside from that... it's still a little too early to sleep, so... we can waste an hour or three watching TV, I guess.">"Alright." [Same here. I can also teach you how to use the phone if you want.]
>"Please do.">Sanae nods and takes the blue cellphone, before walking you through what each of the buttons are and their functions. After a bit you believe you have a basic idea of how to work these things.
>"Alright, I think I get how to use it now.">Sanae nods [If you really want to, later I can show you how to customize it, like changing your ringtone and notification messages, maybe add a sticker or two to the outside... Anyway, what's the plan for the rest of the night?]
>Shake our head. "Thanks for offering, but I'm fine with how it is.">"Alright." Sanae relaxes on the couch and grabs the remote, "Any genre in particular you want to see or do you just want to channel flip?" [I wonder if there's a mecha anime on...]
>"As for plans... Like I said, there's basically none. We agreed to seek out the cat tomorrow, it's rather late to be looking for other things to do outside, and there's not much to do in this apartment. So there's pretty much just the TV."
>"I don't really have a preference yet. Channel flipping is fine.">You allow Sanae to have full reign of the remote...
>...Nothing, it seems.>You ready yourself for bed and retire for the night.
>Go to sleep.
>Take in our morning surroundings.>You are lying on the futon, in the secluded windowless back room.
>Get up and put our shirt and shoes on.>You get dressed, disguising your tendrils and eye once more.
>Hope that Okuu and Orin haven't started a fire while we're gone.
>Yes, she wouldn't do that intentionally, but accidents happen... And it's not just Okuu and Orin, either...>You sigh and exit the room. Sanae's already making some breakfast it seems.
>Sigh and shake our head. We're still here for more than a month, at least. It wouldn't do to work ourselves into a depression...
>Go and... check on Sanae.
>Head into the kitchen.>You do so.
>"Good morning, Sanae."
>"I did sleep well. Anything you want to talk about?">"Not really." [I don't think she'd want to hear about me dreaming about being a space dolphin that shoots lasers...] "So, are we leaving after breakfast, or do you want to wait a bit?"
>"I'd prefer after breakfast. Not much point in putting it off.">"Alright" [Almost ready...]
>"Were they curvy lasers?"
>What is Sanae cooking?>Some kind of breakfast onigiri by the looks of it.
>Wait warmly~
>"Ah, thank you.">"No need to thank me. You made breakfast yesterday, so I'm just returning the favor"
>Dig in.
>How does it taste?>It's pretty good.
>Stop eating for a moment.
>"...fair enough."
>Continue.
>Is Sanae also eating?>Of course.
>Continue until we are finished.
>"That was pretty good. ...Out of curiosity, are you in charge of cooking at your shrine or is it one of your goddesses?">"It's usually me." Sanae replies, [And when it's not me it's usually Lady Suwako.]
> "And how does her food taste?">"Well, I learned from her so that should give you a good idea." [Lady Kanako's cooking, on the other hand...]
>"Ah, I see.">You put the dish away.
>Stand up and put the dish away.
>Inventory
>Ah, right, the cookie...>You feel a bit bad if Koishi really did want to share her cookies with you... You wonder if it's still edible at this point...
>Where did we leave the cellphone?
//That's fine.>You inspect the cookie.
>Inspect the cookie.
>>If it looks fine, try breaking a small piece off and eating it.
>"I'm not particularly sure, but I had it ever since we were sent here, so... it's probably from Gensokyo. It's also rather stale after two days, so forgive me for not offering.">"It's fine." [I wasn't going to ask anyway.]
>...Is there anything among the food we have that would make a good treat for a cat?
>...Well, if the cookie is still sort of edible, it wouldn't be nice to Koishi to just throw it out, so... do our best to eat it.>You steel yourself and eat the rest of the cookie... Koishi would be smiling probably if she were here.
>After that, take some bits and pieces of meat with us.
>"Indeed. ...Alright, I think I'm ready.">"Same."