MarisaStory: A Certain Magical Internet

[Third Eye Lem]

Milky Way Magician:

>How long ago was our 'real' run-in with Umami?

> A few years ago, specifically around the middle of November of 2009.

>Casing Yuuka's place, huh? Bet she'd like to know that. Maybe it'd make up for freaking her out with these dream incidents.

> It may, or may not. Aside from Skella, there's no connection between this dream and the previous one you had...Then again...Hmmm. This is something you should consider discussing with her if you get the chance.

>"The main cop I've heard of is a bored princess, ze. Unless you were afraid of runnin' into Reimu..."

> Umami shudders. "Neither of those two would make my day...Then again, those two angels seemed kinda creepy too, the older one seemed to have a crazy look on her eyes...Like she was gonna murder someone." Umami pauses for a moment. "That reminds me...They also said something along the lines of "If Marisa is still alive after you beat her, would you mind finishing her off? We'll pay you extra!" I scoffed at the idea, I'm a thief, not a murderer...But the extra reward wouldn't be--"

> You fail to catch the rest of Umami's sentence, as your consciousness becomes conscious again. Everything fades to black as Umami mouths something along the lines of "Hey! I'm not done with you!" but your body has other ideas. About time too, you think, too much time has been spent not investigating Eientei and possibly saving Alice and Medicine from those mole people.
> You awaken back within the mushroom grove, in the flower bed you plopped down in earlier. Mokou is leaning up against a tree, taking a smoke. Maple is doodling while Mini-Medi-Mari snoozes on her head. What will you do?

> _

[E-Nazrin]

Salem Superstar:

>Assess mental recovery. Get up if there's been any meaningful improvement so we can get this taken care of!

Earthen Artisan:

>How's our drawing going?!

[Third Eye Lem]

Salem Superstar:

>Assess mental recovery. Get up if there's been any meaningful improvement so we can get this taken care of!

> Well, you certainly feel refreshed. It's not as good as regular sleep but you feel a lot more focused and alert now. Where's a Five-Hour Energy when you need it?

Earthen Artisan:

>How's our drawing going?!

> It. Is. AWESOME! You even slipped Mokou-sama into the picture too! The three of you look so chill together. You even started on a sleeping Marisa, but it's only-half done so far. Oh well, maybe later.

> _

[E-Nazrin]

Ceramic Conjurer:

>"Ahhh, that helped, ze. I miss anything?"

Cinder Confuciusornis

>"Not much. Got Rumia under control. You ready?"
>Let's not advise the fairy about the Nexus stuff, especially at this point. Don't need distractions for her...
>And make sure SHE doesn't encourage Marisa bleeding unicorns.

Loaming Illustrator:

>Show off our picture!
>Try not to blurt out too much about that unicorn visitor. Right?

[Third Eye Lem]

Ceramic Conjurer:

>"Ahhh, that helped, ze. I miss anything?"

> The parser scrambles to conjure an answer to this, but...

Cinder Confuciusornis

>"Not much. Got Rumia under control. You ready?"

> It looks like the player(s) have it under control. :V Marisa nods in readiness.

>Let's not advise the fairy about the Nexus stuff, especially at this point. Don't need distractions for her...
>And make sure SHE doesn't encourage Marisa bleeding unicorns.

> You shoot a glance at Maple, whom was putting the finishing touches on one of her pictures.

Loaming Illustrator:

>Show off our picture!
>Try not to blurt out too much about that unicorn visitor. Right?

> Your lips are sealed...Metaphorically speaking. You show Marisa the picture like an eager kindergartener, and she smiles in approval.
> "Not bad, ze. You got Mokou's good side."
> "I have a good side?" Mokou replies with a chuckle.

> _

[E-Nazrin]

Pentacle Exorcist:

>"Well, it's at least the side that ain't settin' people on fire!"
>Start the march off on a beeline for Eientei. We've delayed long enough!

Pyro Palaelodus:

>Keep an eye out for an opportunity to give Marisa the full story about Rumia when the fairy's distracted.
>On a similar note, try to keep the squad from running into her without reason.

[capt. h]

Pyro:

> "Hey fairy, distract yourself for a bit. I have some stuff I need to tell doll girl I'm sure someone like you wouldn't be interested in. Wouldn't want smoke coming out of your ears."

> "I think I see a distraction up ahead. Go look at that."

> Wonder if Cirno would fall for that.

[E-Nazrin]

Phlogistinator:

>Hey now, we can be more subtle than that. Maple doesn't seem to be a complete moron and seems to respect us, it's probably worth keeping it that way.
>... actually, we can probably be a little more blatant about wanting privacy, considering that much.
>"... yo, uh, Maple. While we're on the way, I wanna talk to Marisa personally for a bit. Mind heading up and watching the skies for a little while?"

[Third Eye Lem]

Pentacle Exorcist:

>"Well, it's at least the side that ain't settin' people on fire!"
>Start the march off on a beeline for Eientei. We've delayed long enough!

> Mokou laughs heartily as the three of you backtrack through the woods. It's time to take the house of eternity back.

Pyro Palaelodus:

>Keep an eye out for an opportunity to give Marisa the full story about Rumia when the fairy's distracted.
>On a similar note, try to keep the squad from running into her without reason.

> However, you feel it's prudent to tell Mari what Rumia revealed to you, about the Nexus and all that. An item of incredible power like that shouldn't be in others' hands...And to be fair, probably not hers either, but you figure if things go south, you can just take it from her. Surely, Mari would understand!

> "Hey fairy, distract yourself for a bit. I have some stuff I need to tell doll girl I'm sure someone like you wouldn't be interested in. Wouldn't want smoke coming out of your ears."
> "I think I see a distraction up ahead. Go look at that."
> Wonder if Cirno would fall for that.

> Maple chews you out for insulting her intelligence like that. The tongue lashing is severe enough that you all don't pay attention to where you're going, take a wrong path into the Night Grove, and end up being eaten by ravenous youkai. BAD END NUMBER...WHATEVER

>Hey now, we can be more subtle than that. Maple doesn't seem to be a complete moron and seems to respect us, it's probably worth keeping it that way.
>... actually, we can probably be a little more blatant about wanting privacy, considering that much.
>"... yo, uh, Maple. While we're on the way, I wanna talk to Marisa personally for a bit. Mind heading up and watching the skies for a little while?"

> "Oh, sure! I can do that!" Maple flies up through the branches and into the night sky.
> "What was that all about, ze?" Marisa asks.

> >

> Mokou tells you about what Rumia said....The Nexus, the impending competition over it, Gengetsu and Mugetsu's involvement...Everything. Mokou has this pensive look about her as she speaks, which is unusual. You don't recall her being this serious before.
> "So yeah...I dunno about you, but this reeks of all kinds of foul play," Mokou says while puffing her cigarette. "I couldn't keep it to myself...If it were me, I'd grab that Nexus and throw it into that Orin's personal incinerator. That thing is simply too dangerous to exist...That is, if it's existing to begin with. (sigh) I don't know, it sounds a bit ambiguous as well, what do you think?"

> _

[E-Nazrin]

"So wait, ze. You're saying someone's offering phenomenal cosmic power for being really good at beating people up in a video game?"

"That's what Rumia heard, apparently. Not sure I buy it. Don't think it's a good thing, either."

"Does sound kinda excessive, ze. M&G're probably lying, but... hmm. Maybe I'll have to think about makin' my own guild, then..."

"Careful. Remember who you're talkin' to when it comes to easy wish-granting."

Frown. "I don't think I'd be asking for straight-up immortality, ze."

"Then what would you ask for, and what problems wouldn't you see with it, huh? Rumia was giving me her sob story about turning into a youkai 'cause her parents got killed and saying she wanted them back. I didn't bother telling her 'cause she wasn't gonna listen anyway, but given her whining about people meat I was gonna suggest she'd end up eating them."

"C'mon, I'm not gonna be that stupid..."

Stamp out a cig. "That's what everyone thinks. Doesn't mean it's true. These things always come with a catch. Watch for it."

"Yeesh, fine. I'll be careful, ze. That all ya worried about?"

"Mostly. I'm in on Guildies to compete with Kaguya on there. Considering the help I'm giving during naptime..."

Do the math. "... sure, we can team up after this."

"Right. Thanks."

"Though... now I'm wonderin' if that M&G pair has it out for me, ze. Did I tell ya about the Skella dream-memory things I've been gettin'? While I was out I had one about some raccoon punk I met a few years ago. Apparently those stupid 'angels' tipped her off to try and steal this." Brandish staff. "No such luck of course, but if they're the ones sicing Rumia on me over this 'Nexus' too..."

"Considering the whole incident solving business, I don't think people after you is that unusual."

"Yeah, but that Nexus thing might be a reason to see whether Guildies mess is related to the dream world they're from, ze. Closest thing we got to a lead if those rats at Eientei don't cough up anything useful."

----
>Discuss any further revelations or vetoes from this dissemination of information and call Maple back down if nothing profound arises. Maybe we can at least let her in on the part with the dreams and angel-demons messing around, at least.

[capt. h]

Mokou and Marisa:

> On the topic of great powers coming with catches, discuss catches/conditions behind Marisa and Mokou's powers (specifically the fire powers in the latter case, since immortality has multiple clear downsides, whereas the downsides to wielding fire, if any, are not clear).

[Third Eye Lem]

(A/N: From now on I'm just gonna type my replies in NotePad Editpad, that's like the third time I lost a post because I'm a fucking moron who can't control his own hands. This is not IRC, you idiot! (headdesks through the planet))

>Discuss any further revelations or vetoes from this dissemination of information and call Maple back down if nothing profound arises. Maybe we can at least let her in on the part with the dreams and angel-demons messing around, at least.

Mokou and Marisa:

> On the topic of great powers coming with catches, discuss catches/conditions behind Marisa and Mokou's powers (specifically the fire powers in the latter case, since immortality has multiple clear downsides, whereas the downsides to wielding fire, if any, are not clear).

> While you're busy discussing the nature of supreme power and immortality, the very world starts to bend and warp around you...It seems your conversation is causing a singularity that's dissolving time and space, and it's causing existence to eat itself! Pretty soon, everyone will be reborn...


source

> AS ONE-EYED CUPCAKE MONSTERS!!! RAWWWWWWR!
> (hyperactive childish giggling)
> Oh gods...That was priceless! The look on your face...!
> (STATIC NOISES)


source

> I wish I had a camera so I could take a look at your stupid-- (finally notices the viewers) I mean, stupid handsome faces! Hehe...Damn, I thought I had you fooled completely. (giggles) No, I'm not The Parser, but I am Tewi, local prankster and all-around lucky rabbit of Gensokyo! Nice to meetcha!
> Hmm? What've I been doing since Marisa left me here? Well I certainly haven't been hiding under Mari's bed like a coward, no sir! In fact I was...Conducting important surveilance operations with Alice's dolls! Gotta keep an eye out for those bogies and whatnot. And boogies. Yes, boogiemen exist in Gensokyo. I'm not making this up.
> How'd I recover? Well, funny thing about non-lethal injuries...They're easy to spring back from. But I gotta say, that hit to the Solar Plexus hurt like hell...It's like those armored goons set my nerves on fire! Good thing Mari was there to save me, I owe her...Don't tell her I said that, though. I know where you live.

> ...With all that malarky outta the way, you may be wonderin', "Tewi, you adorable little diva! Why did you hijack the story and how did you manage to do it?!" Well, I can't say how, that's my little secret, and "hijack" is such a strong word...It's more like, you run into a commerical break on TV, so you switch to another channel for a few minutes so you can keep your brain from being turned into a fruit smoothie by the blades of corporate capitalism. In other words, those girls are gonna be in the forest for a while, so why watch them when you can watch me?
> Oh, don't give me that look. Let's be honest--Mari's hogged the spotlight for far too long. Mokou had her shot and no one cares about a dumpass hipster fairy artist. Or that silly unicorn girl for that matter. She's not gonna show up in the story again, no sir! Let's just give her a break from all the hustle and bustle of incident solving and just relax, just the two of us...Or however many are here, I can't quite tell.
> ...
> "I'd be able to tell if I got out from under the bed?" Pshaw, I can see just fine from under here...I gotta say, Mari and Alice have good taste in floor molding at least. Very Victorian-era.

> Ok, fine, put the cattle prod down, geeze! I'll get up if you want me to. But I'd rather not, I heard some angry movement noises outside and that's not boding well. At least Mari has my Blessing of Good Luck since she technically caught me...From the Jaws of Death that is. I owe her, but don't tell her I said that--gah, I'm repeating myself!
> Whatever, I'm tired of sitting around doing nothing anyways, so...Whaddya want me to do?
> _

[capt. h]

> Tell us a tale.

[E-Nazrin]

>Touch fluffy tail.
>Be Doc Scratch.

[Third Eye Lem]

>Touch fluffy tail.
>Be Doc Scratch.

> Hands off the goods, bucko!
> Doc...Scratch? Who in the hell are you talkin' about

> Tell us a tale.

> (grins) Oh, I have so many stories to tell, you don't even know. Whaddya in the mood for?

> _

[capt. h]

> Tell us the story of the world where angels and demons live in harmon-no, wait, that's been done before.

> Tell us the story of the clever earth rabbit who lived with the lunatic princess.

[E-Nazrin]

>LUKAQUEST.AVI
>Tell the tale of Medicine's return and our valiant efforts against the molerat robots.
>Share the story about how you hacked into Alice's dolls.

[Third Eye Lem]

>LUKAQUEST.AVI

> "If this was Yuka instead, I'd laugh. But instead, I must merely chortle," Tewi says as she does just that. "And look, I got the Narrative Framework to...Work!"

>Tell the tale of Medicine's return and our valiant efforts against the molerat robots.

> Tewi stares at the audience with a flat expression. "Maybe this was a bad idea...If this was TewiStory instead..."

>Share the story about how you hacked into Alice's dolls.

> Tewi perks up at this. "Oh! That's not very hard to do. I gotta say, Alice's security network is lacking, I've already figured out how to bypass her main security controls...Like this!" Tewi presents a spell card, which has various lines and nodes running across it, branching from the central spell circle pattern used to create the spell. "See, with this I can easily look at one of the letters on the card..." Tewi taps a node, which enlarges a section of magical lettering on the circle. "...And edit it as I please." Tewi then drags a letter out from the highlighted section, rewrites it with her finger, and then drags it back into place. "I just commanded one of the dolls to go clockwise around the house instead of counter-clockwise," she explains. "Ain't magic magnificent?"

> Tell us the story of the world where angels and demons live in harmon-no, wait, that's been done before.

> Tewi tilts her head. "I know of a story at least...It's called The Gray Garden. The story itself isn't that great, but the characters are hilarious. Yosafire's such a goofball!" Tewi chuckles a bit more, then sneezes. "Bless me...Sorry about that. Mari needs to clean up her room, seriously!"

> Tell us the story of the clever earth rabbit who lived with the lunatic princess.

> Tewi grins. "I could tell you about myself, but you guys seem to know enough about me for now...How about I tell you about our warren mother?"

> _

[capt. h]

> What's a warren mother?

[E-Nazrin]

>Roll for seduction.
>Conjure mirror.
>Hug doll for comfort.

[Third Eye Lem]

>Roll for seduction.

> "I can roll around seductively, would that work?"

> What's a warren mother?

> "...Slept through biology class, didn't you? Ok, I'll explain. Our Warren Mother is--or was--the eldest female inaba in our group, they're usually in charge of all the big decisions and stuff. Our mother's name was Getrude. She was a kind old gal, but you didn't wanna cross her...She'd get back at you in a big way. Just like me! (chuckles) In fact, if it wasn't for Gertrude-sama I might not be the loveable prankster I am today." Tewi's normally cheerful expression softens into a more somber one.

>Conjure mirror.
>Hug doll for comfort.

> Tewi pulls out a hand mirror she pilfered from Mari's dresser. "Gertrude saw a lot of me in her...Said I was a lot like her when I was her age...I may not be her blood, but she treated me like her own daughter all the same..." Tewi sniffs and huggles a spare doll she swiped from Alice's room. "I sometimes wonder if she made the right call...What would she think of me, sitting here like a scared child, hiding from all these monsters outside?" It looks like Tewi's getting a bit misty-eyed over this.

> _

[E-Nazrin]

>To be fair, maybe you need time to recover? Feeling any better yet?
>So was she eaten by a fox or what?

[Third Eye Lem]

>So was she eaten by a fox or what?

> "N-No...She passed away peacefully at the age of 231. Her body's still around, actually...In return for giving us rabbits a proper home, Gertrude-sama volunteered her body towards Eirin's medical research. At first...The other inaba were against it, but she wouldn't hear a word of it. I remember her words well..." Tewi wipes a tear from her eye. " 'I'd rather continue to keep helping my children, instead of becoming compost.' Heh, she really was a selfless leader..."

>To be fair, maybe you need time to recover? Feeling any better yet?

> "Oh, don't worry about it. I just got nostalgic, is all...I'll be fine."
> Tewi takes a moment to compose herself, before daring a peek out from under Mari's bed. Not much has changed, save for the still-open wardrobe filled with Marisa's outfits. A quick (albeit nervous) peek out the window shows no threats, just an almost completely black forest. Tewi shudders, she isn't used to this kind of darkness.
> "This is so stupid..." Tewi grumbles as she closes the shades on the window. "I shouldn't be sitting here cowering, I should be getting stuff done! Mari can take care of herself." Tewi stares at the floor in thought for a moment, then looks back at the audience with a grin. "Maybe you guys have some ideas?"

> _

[E-Nazrin]

>We did some recon work with the dolls, right? Anything interesting from that?
>What's in the other direction from Eientei from here? They're gonna be headed there, probably, but maybe we can get some help from the other sides of Gensokyo... or jump a step and try to investigate the molerats. We got a way to go underground?
>Actually... have we hacked into their computers yet? I mean, obviously we're making the desktop backgrounds images of Alice and Marisa making out, but there might be something useful on the 'net too, right?

[Third Eye Lem]

>We did some recon work with the dolls, right? Anything interesting from that?

> Tewi scrunches her face as she thinks of a response. "How should I say this...There's something--multiple things, probably--that're out there, but I can't tell what they are yet. Every time the dolls come back with a visual, all they show me is blackness. Either our "guests" are invisible, or some kinda chameleon ghost robots or something."

>What's in the other direction from Eientei from here? They're gonna be headed there, probably, but maybe we can get some help from the other sides of Gensokyo... or jump a step and try to investigate the molerats. We got a way to go underground?

> "Let's see...Eientei's to the East, right? As far as I know...The west is kind of uncharted territory if it hasn't been taken over by the woods already. I've heard some nasty stories though, stuff about a bloody lake and passages to the demon kingdom. Not really places worth visiting unless you're on vacation, eh? Eh?" Tewi grins and wiggles her eyebrows in a sarcastic manner.

>Actually... have we hacked into their computers yet? I mean, obviously we're making the desktop backgrounds images of Alice and Marisa making out, but there might be something useful on the 'net too, right?

> "I haven't even considered that yet!" Tewi says, stroking her chin while also grinning. Somehow you're getting the feeling she was wanting you to ask her about this. But when she speaks again, her grin kinda fades. "Then again, I was still messed up after Mari brought me back...So I had the dolls make me some tea and I took a short nap. I haven't had the time to do any serious hacking yet. Besides...Snooping around in the witches' personal stuff feels like I'm betraying them. I mean, Mari saved my life for god's sake! I can't violate her trust like that!"

> This justification warms the audience, but come on, we all know what she's thinking. Knowing this, Tewi's concerned scowl twists and contorts into a burst of laughter.
> "Oh gods, who am I kidding, I'm gonna delve so deep into their PCs, I'm gonna hit the gooey molten quad-cores!" Tewi laughs for a bit more before composing herself. "Sure, we can take a look at their Kappatops...Unless you had something else in mind?"

> _

[E-Nazrin]

>Sounds like optical camo. Time to investigate Nitori.
>If we want to play nice(ish), we could always just log off the accounts of whoever we fuck with, or at least admit in IM that it's us while investigating. Of course, it's not like we won't leave them some interesting surprises... heheheh.
>Get crackin'.

[Third Eye Lem]

>Sounds like optical camo. Time to investigate Nitori.

> Tewi ponders with a skeptical look on her face. "Kappagirl's pretty shy as of late, actually...She hardly ever visited Eientei in the past, but she hasn't appeared much at all since she started spearheading KanaKorp's technology division. Still, might be worth checking out, she is friends with Mari after all."

>If we want to play nice(ish), we could always just log off the accounts of whoever we fuck with, or at least admit in IM that it's us while investigating. Of course, it's not like we won't leave them some interesting surprises... heheheh.

> Tewi grins. "I like the way you think, player! But I'd rather leave Mari with an actual working computer. She probably needs it more."

>Get crackin'.

> As this is all going on, Tewi descends back into the living room, and heads for Alice's Kappatop. "Alice on the other hand...She's probably not gonna need this where she's going."
> Tewi opens up Alice's Kappatop, and it springs to life from its standby mode. The screen boots up, revealing a picture of Mari and Alice in a field of flowers together ("Crap, she beat me to it!") and several Shimejis wandering the desktop. Each virtual construct is based off of one of Alice's dolls, but what's more, each of them is named after a specific program. "Huh...The demon actually figured out how to turn these things into program shortcuts, neat! Too bad it's also kind of impractical. And a bit taxing on the CPU...Seriously, I could probably cool off a bowl of soup at this fan's speed."

> Notable programs include:

• Skype
• IRCUdere (IRC chat program)
• Full Moon (web browser)
• Dragon Mail (email client)
• WinAMP (music and media player)
• RollIt! (movie player and editor)
• Spell Card GET! (spell crafting editor)
• Loose Leaves (multipurpose text editing suite ala OpenOffice)
• Cool Timer (stopwatch program, can count up or down from a certain time)
• Steam
• Desura
• Origin (lolwhat)
• Danmaku Solitaire (a card game/RPG/STG)
• 3D Pinball
• 3D Ultra Pinball
• Paint.net
• Various 3D modeling and posing programs (presumably to design new clothing and dolls?)
• RPG Maker VX Ace Tri Hardcore Gold Xtra-Large Game Of The Century Edition (now with a not-fake 3D engine and editor!)
• Various emulators and gamepad programs (IE Joy2Key)
• Shortcut to GUILDES! Beta

> _

[E-Nazrin]

>Guildies beckons. Let's get brain cancer.
>Is there anything left open right now, or is it just the dolls burning CPU? Or anything running in the background?
>Well, we can definitely leave traces of Inaba in a spellcard or two, but that can probably wait until after we play nice. Or while waiting for responses...
>Try and log in on one of the instant messaging programs and see who we can guess at from the contacts. Don't beat our head TOO hard against any passwords she didn't leave lying around... if that's even a problem. There are other ways to look!

[Third Eye Lem]

>Guildies beckons. Let's get brain cancer.

> "Do I even need to put a bad ending here?"

>Is there anything left open right now, or is it just the dolls burning CPU? Or anything running in the background?

> "Hmmm, there's this one Dropbox folder open...I wonder if there's any pr0n in it!" Tewi giggles. "Oh, and the IRC cilent is open too, I guess. People always leave these on."

>Well, we can definitely leave traces of Inaba in a spellcard or two, but that can probably wait until after we play nice. Or while waiting for responses...

> "Why bother waiting? I can slip a bug in, no problem. Heh..."

>Try and log in on one of the instant messaging programs and see who we can guess at from the contacts. Don't beat our head TOO hard against any passwords she didn't leave lying around... if that's even a problem. There are other ways to look!

> "Nah, this is a piece of cake. I can use this..." Tewi takes out a spell card, which has nothing more than a simple rectangle on it. "...To read the bytes being sent, and figure out what the credentials are." Tewi hits the "login" button on Skype without entering anything, and Skype returns the traditional "login failed" error. A quick glance at the spell card reveals the data that was meant to be entered, data that won't be posted here. Even Tewi knows not to share someone's password with anyone!

> A list of contacts open up as Tewi logs in correctly this time. "Who are these people...? Trick question, I know who they are already, heh. Looks like Hina, Mystia, Yuyuko-sama, Wriggle, Wasabi--Wakasagihime, Chen and Parsee are online. Huh...The vampires aren't though, they must be busy. Chen seems to have left a message for Alice, though."

> _

[E-Nazrin]

>Snoop on the recent messages, both IRC and Skype.
>Dropbox we can prank with but probably won't have anything we can help at Eintei with... just leave her some Marisa porn, if she doesn't have some already.
>Any sign of Nitori contact readily available?
>How well do we know the people currently logged in on Skype?