Spirit Pulse : Mugen No Sekai [IC]

[Airen]

Ayra Lilygrove
Shinar ~ Great Wound
11/16/2026
Monday - Night

---It didn't take very long for Lucille to pinpoint Eliza's location.

While the blonde had done a bit of grumbling about getting close to the knightess, it seemed that Eliza Cross was always on the radar of the authorities over here; they seemed to treat her like something of a natural disaster, a force that both couldn't be directly overcome, but also wasn't actively dangerous to anyone, thus...

They just kept an eye on her.

That's how Lucille finds her right away, mere minutes after you ask about it.

The four of you walk together, through a city that remains perpetually enclosed in choking, supernatural mists. There is no sounds of any sort of night life. No people wandering the streets, no machinery buzzing in overnight factories, no cars or trains....

Just silence.

Like the fog around you was swallowing all sounds; while you seemed to be immune to its more poison-esque effects, the further away you get from LOVELESS the thicker the fog becomes, to the point where it becomes almost impossible for you to see more than a few feet ahead of you. Your sixth sense does a bit better, able to pinpoint the reiki-signatures of the other three, but it became very clear rather quickly that if anyone wandered too far off from the group, well...

Even that sense would fail, losing track of them in the swirling energies of the mists.

---This doesn't seem to bother the two natives. They move with a much clearer purpose then you and Asuka, using landmarks and general street knowledge to make their way through the walls of endless white, and finally, after about half an hour...

You arrive at the "Great Wound."

---The first thing that becomes apparent, is a hollow, droning sound emanating from a wall of darkness. It's like the land simply comes to an end a mile or so in front of you. It does so casually, a clear hole in concrete, earth and sky that reveals the appearance of some sort of bizarre void, a gaping wound in the world that had sucked up local reality like a black hole, leaving nothing but a massive spiritual scar in the land that lingered just beyond the fog walls, slowly eating away at the edges of the land that remained, moving slowly -like a glacier- but nevertheless moving closer, atom by atom...

Not an apocalypse that would kill everyone right away, but something that would probably become an issue in a hundred or so years.

---Not that sleeping at night would be easy, if you could see something slowly chipping away at reality outside of your windows.

A familiar blonde knightess is standing here, at the quite literal edge of the world.

"..."

Staring into the black-hole like phenomena in the distance, her back to the four of you.

Almost like...

---She was waiting for something to crawl out of it.

[Katie]

Ayra Lilygrove
Shinar ~ Great Wound
11/16/2026
Monday - Night

Can’t tell if I hate the fog or this void more.

Agreed.

Their entire trip to… whatever this is, has been unsettling to the bone. It’s as if the entire area was designed to trap a person by themselves, subjecting them to crushing isolation. It’d be even worse if she had to navigate this by herself. And in that case, how was Eliza holding up so well? Were her willpower and senses much better than anyone else's?

Speaking of Eliza, there she was. The fog had abated, enough for Ayra to see her mentor at the end of the world. An eerily finite existence, where she smothers the errant thought to see what lies beyond. If it’s called the Great Wound…

It’s unlikely anything is coming back. Even so, why is Eliza waiting? For what?

“Eliza,” Ayra speaks up, her voice confidently carrying itself over the droning hum, “Asuka and I have wandered into… this by accident.”

For a moment she doubts it is Eliza, but brushes the thought away. It’s paranoia. Her mentor is in front of her. Trust what you see.

“And what are you waiting for?”

[Rafflesiac]

Logan Starbright
Akarana Corridor
11/17/2026
Tuesday ~ Morning

Multivac’s eyes glitter with iridescent data as Logan’s shine with excitement. Possibility after possibility bubbles into his mind and out of his mouth as half-vocalized mumbles and formula as he excitedly approaches the door. He reaches out to the handle, but pauses.

Logan turns to face Multivac with a childlike smile. “Thank you!”

And with that, he opens the door to put his new power to use!

[Airen]

Ayra Lilygrove
Shinar ~ Great Wound
11/16/2026
Monday - Night

Allowing your voice to overcome the dull, relentless droning of the bizarre phenomena, you call out to your old mentor from the edges of the wall of mists. The knightess was always the sort to wander off by herself, away from public eyes, so the idea that she would maintain her psyche better in a land that seemed designed to trap people by themselves made a little bit of sense, but the almost eerie way she was standing there, looking into a wall of churning darkness, well...

It was a bit odd, but then again...

This entire scenario was odd.

"..."

The woman turns her head to glance back towards you. It's a slight movement, one that makes it very apparent that she was unwilling to turn the majority of her body away from the gaping maw in front of her, but one that reveals the face of the person nevertheless, the face of a woman that seems dead-serious in a way that you hadn't seen in years, but that splits to a momentary smile as she regards you and understands exactly what it is you had just said to her...

"...Ah."

...In other words, the mask of an invincible mentor returns the moment it becomes apparent she needs the mask.

"That must be quite the story..." She says in a remarkably accepting way, body still mostly turned towards the darkness. "Was it a summoning circle? That's how I always wind up here."

---Indeed, there is one thing off about this Eliza.

Rather than her normal body, this one felt a bit like a Demon -specifically a hero type- much like Lucille had been complaining about earlier. A body without actual physical substance, rather, a form made entirely out of concentrated reiki, like a demon or a ghost...

"Apparently someone is summoning me... Or well, doing their best to summon me. I come here every night, then I go back home every day, forgetting about it until the next night."

She explains, before turning her gaze back to the maw before her.

"As for what I'm waiting for, well..."

Here she pauses, thinks about something, then...

"...Something is going to come out of this soon." She speaks ambiguously, as if not wanting to give details away. "When it does, well... I'll hold it back as long as I can, it's what I always do today... Then the cycle starts over."

[Bloble]

Daisuke
Brewed Awakenings, Aoyama
11/17/2026
Tuesday

"This feels like cheating somehow..."

He can't explain why, but that's the feeling Daisuke gets. As if getting back to Chris couldn't possibly be so easy. Then again, Robin is a habitual cheater. Even cheating his way out of a personal favour to make it about helping Chris in the end... what kind of selfish demon would do that!?

Still, the COMP won't turn down the mission, now that he's accepted. He straightens up, flattens his tie, adjusts his glasses, steps towards the door... and pauses. Turns back.

"Um... what about Lexie? We can't leave her. She's part of the squad! It's okay since she's close by now, but if we go far away..."

Chris wouldn't want him abandoning one of her friends. Nor would Daisuke himself want to abandon two of his friends. That just wasn't the SDCD way! Shuichi might be fine with it, but he was too hands-off about this kinda stuff! When you're that exceptional, you tend to overestimate other exceptional people! But it's no good; sure, Lexie and History were cool and strong, but even cool and strong people need someone to watch their backs. Operating alone simply goes against protocol. Even Chris herself never-!

"Ah." It connects. In a leap of logic more like a person than a machine. "Ah!" He punctuates it with a clenched fist striking an open palm, as custom dictates when one gets a Eureka moment. "Chris, Chris! You should hang out with her!"

His buddy's doppelganger is alone too, isn't she? No, Robin doesn't count! He's the kind of person who gets you into trouble, not out of it! But if she were to partner up with a friend...

Daisuke mercilessly turns his beaming expression onto the gloomy girl.

"I think Lexie went to that Devil place near the bakery. You can still catch her! Just tell her what we're up to, okay? And that we'll keep an eye out for her sis. I'm sure she'd help you out, too. Alright?"

[Katie]

Ayra Lilygrove
Shinar ~ Great Wound
11/16/2026
Monday - Night

“No, we… It was the clock tower at Saint Vivienne’s,” Ayra responds, clarifying their circumstances. To put it more bluntly… “Asuka and I are physically here, unlike your… predicament.”

As far as we can use the word physically, anyway. But isn’t that insane? Eliza, I mean.

The fact that she’s like a Hero-type demon is just…

When man becomes more myth than life, they leave a demon in their wake. But isn’t the bigger question how exactly Eliza could leave such an impression?

Well, it’s not that she can’t, but more… who is capable of doing this, isn’t it?

I suppose she definitely could leave that larger than life impression… Doesn’t this mean the summoner is the biggest Eliza simp ever?

There’s also the question of how they know about Eliza in the first place, but there’s no point in speculating.

It’s fun.

Well, Eliza needs our help right now.

Does she? She seems to have whatever this is on lock.

People mess up.

Her summoner doesn’t think so, it seems.

“Well, when we get back, I’ll put in a word with Merlin and everyone else. They can figure out something, surely,” Ayra continues, though she has a bet that if the “awake” Eliza was aware of it, she’d refuse any help. She’d rather fight this by herself than ignore it entirely. Not that Ayra could blame her—she’d probably do the same thing.

“Regardless, do you need some help?” She looks at Tsukiko and Lucille, not expecting them to pitch in considering the circumstances. Asuka, well, she’s the type to stick by her no matter what. She hopes the girl could refuse her if she crossed the line. “It’ll be easier with at least two Knights.”

[Airen]

Cosmos Fairchild
Demonic Server - Forest
11/16/2026
Monday - Afternoon

"...Planetary Administrative Computer: X-23."

Simple words.

Eyes focusing entirely on you now, as if interested in the fact that you had managed to raise your voice at him, the golden-haired man answers your questions with words that continue to sound completely foreign to your ears.

"Known Aberrant Unit, conspiring with Zerah Meir in the Uprising. Managed to escape containment. Was damaged in the process and chose to reformat itself as a human in order to hide and recover its strength... The usual emergency protocol for your unit type."

He speaks softly.

Casually.

Emotionlessly, like he was reading some sort of bizarre trivia off of a mental checklist. The words remain unfamiliar of course, nonsensical, because it's not like someone can just come out of the blue and drop this sort of world-shattering knowledge on you like this, it's a crazy thing to say really...

What was he saying?

You were some sort of computer?

Nonsense, clearly.

Nevertheless...

He continues towards you. The rain falls around him, around all of you, and yet in your eyes the reality of everything around you but the golden-haired man becomes somewhat distant, like a spotlight had been shone on him, casting everyone else into shadows at the edges of your sight...

"...Yet here you stand, still a human. How curious."

There's no malice in him.

Nothing in him really, like staring into a void, a black hole, something that drew in everything and let nothing out.

An emotional dead end, a hollow man that simply went through the motions of humanity, masking everything with a perfect smile.

And smile he does.

Even as Lailah moves to push you behind her, alarmed at the sudden interest the man was showing in you specifically. Or as Daniel narrows his eyes and a knife appears in his right hand, or as Aurora's eyes light up with a sudden righteous fury...

He smiles at you, ignoring them all as if they suddenly weren't important in the slightest.

No.

He just stares at you, smiling a hollow smile.

"...But tell me then, what do you think your name is X-23? I'm curious."

He tilts his head.

"Where do you think you came from?"

[Airen]

Ayra Lilygrove
Shinar ~ Great Wound
11/16/2026
Monday - Night

It was certainly strange.

While it was not impossible -in theory- for modern day humans to be summoned as Demons, the nature of summoning made such a thing extremely unlikely to occur. For the summoner, if one wants a specific entity, some sort of strong tangible connection to the demon in question must exist, or it's impossible to call for them specifically. Because it's impossible to know exactly what would count as a "strong connection" to the future form of a person, it's next to impossible to find that sort of catalyst, even using one's own existence as a catalyst doesn't seem to work, because the "future form of the self" always seems to be different in some regard...

That makes sense.

You are not the same person at the end of your life as you are at the start of it, nevertheless...

This summoning is strange.

This does not seem to be the future form of Eliza Cross, it seems to be the Eliza of the present, her mind and soul pulled here and put inside of a reiki body. It's such a specific summoning, so out of place and bizarre, that it cannot be accidental, especially if the summoner keeps doing it over and over and over again in a loop. They want Eliza specifically for some reason, and have a tangible enough connection to her to make that summoning happen as many times as they want...

It's bizarre.

It means the summoner must be someone that knows her, specifically, someone that knows the "present" her, actually...

Now that you're looking at her...

She looks a little younger than the present Eliza, just by a few years...

Still...

“Regardless, do you need some help?” She looks at Tsukiko and Lucille, not expecting them to pitch in considering the circumstances. Asuka, well, she’s the type to stick by her no matter what. She hopes the girl could refuse her if she crossed the line. “It’ll be easier with at least two Knights.”

Asking your inevitable question (heroism is the soul of a knight after all) you glance back at your present companions. Lucille seems mostly unamused, blatantly listening to the conversation but not moving to join it either, a persistent frown plastered across her face. Asuka is already gearing up to do as a squire does -that is, support the knights- and the younger Tsukiko is...

"...?"

...Gone?

Where did she go?

She was here a second ago, right? Had she been eaten by the fog? Ran away for some reason?

"That's... Not untrue."

Eliza chuckles, snapping your attention back to her.

"But well, I'm basically a ghost right now. Holding the line is tailor made for me, they can't damage me in a way that actually matters. Even if I fall, I just wake back up at home, oblivious." She frowns, not sounding pleased by this information, as if she thought it a bit dishonorable that her awake self was so carefree. "If you are here physically, then... Well, it's riskier for you. I don't know what will happen if something happens to you."

As always, the mentor looks out for her students.

"...Not that I'm saying it will of course. I know better than anyone how strong you are... But I worry, you know?"

She smiles.

"You, Tsukiko, Logan... Even all grown up, I still worry."

A bit too much of a mama bear, Eliza...

[palad1n]

Cosmos Fairchild
Demonic Server - Forest
11/16/2026
Monday - Afternoon

"...Planetary Administrative Computer: X-23."

...What?

"Known Aberrant Unit, conspiring with Zerah Meir in the Uprising. Managed to escape containment. Was damaged in the process and chose to reformat itself as a human in order to hide and recover its strength... The usual emergency protocol for your unit type."

What is he... talking about?

Is he saying that she's... a computer?

That doesn't make sense. That doesn't make sense at all--

"...Yet here you stand, still a human. How curious."

She could see him. She could hear him. Her eyes and ears are working fine.

She could also feel her heartbeat, her breath becoming more and more rapid the more she listened to the man as she broke out in cold sweat from what he had casually revealed - all signs and proof of her being a human.

Because she is human.

There is no way she's not human--

"...But tell me then, what do you think your name is X-23? I'm curious. Where do you think you came from?"

The man's hollow smile filled her vision.

All other sights and sounds became irrelevant, fading into the background as Cosmos hyper-focused on the man known as Bakst.

Because he's wrong, and she has to deny him with all of her being.

"I... I am..." She clenched her fist, gripping Illia tighter, "I do not know what X-23 means or where it came from, nor do I care. Because my name is Cosmos Fairchild," she declared with as much confidence and determination as she could muster, her tone and volume rising the more she talked. "A human girl found and adopted by Mary Fairchild, who called the Vatican as her home! I'm not a computer or whatever you just called me!"

[Airen]

Ludwig & Lydia
SLEIPNIR ~ Anna's Room(?)
11/17/2026
Tuesday - Morning

Many revelations.

Taken slightly aback by the little sibling-esque spat that had taken place between User and COMP, there is a brief moment where Rice hesitates in her initial charge towards an explanation, a slow, mischievous grin crossing her face as she tries in vain to keep from commenting on the situation, and indeed-

"Older men huh...?"

-she fails at containing her words, a single comment passing through that again sounds like it's coming from someone much older then her appearance might suggest. It lasts only for a moment of course, the return of seriousness falling over the face of the gradient-haired girl, who continues on without waiting for any sort of reaction.

"Burroughs and I are... Well, it'd be weirder if you could read our minds. It'd be like... Trying to mind read the planet itself, difficult for a human to grasp."

She doesn't elaborate, merely shrugging off the implications of it.

"When it comes to Genesis..." Here she pauses, raising a hand to rest beneath her chin in thought. "It'll totally work if I help you translate his mental format... And he doesn't try and resist it. If he resists it, even I'll fail, his specs are crazy... So, we'll be ethical about this and ask him straight up if he'll let us peek at his memories! He's always been curious about his own amnesia, so as long as we ask him nicely and stress that it's important, I'm sure he'll say yes-!"

...Would it really be that simple?

[Zurvan]

Ludwig & Lydia
SLEIPNIR ~ Anna's Room(?)
11/17/2026
Tuesday - Morning

While that certainly sounds a little too easy...

"Sure, it's worth a shot."

The ESPer is only too accepting to having his own abundant curiosity sated. Rothschild is a place full of secrets, many of which the people aboard wish to hide or keep to themselves, while other secrets open up new roads to power. The magical expertise that Alexander holds, the knowledge Loki no doubt possesses, martial techniques found only in Adala's head... and god knows just how much mystery lies in the mind of Chiyoko.

Genesis, at least on the Spirit Smith front, has been a reliable and helpful person... He doesn't seem the type that would be too upset if the mind probing is asked with sincerity, even if it's an uncomfortable topic.

Well, for most anyway.

A past spanning back to when the SLEIPNIR first appeared on Xanadu... telling events that could elucidate more about Marlene... more information on the Master System...

---Really, Ludwig would have tried and get a glimpse even without Rice prompting the idea.

Lydia meanwhile...

"It-it's not like that-!"

Oh dear...

"Rice... you meanie."

Her big sister image is shattering...

Don't say anything Lud... I need to figure this out.

---Intentionally?

[Airen]

Ludwig & Lydia
SLEIPNIR ~ Anna's Room(?)
11/17/2026
Tuesday - Morning

"Right? Right?"

Rice nods eagerly at Ludwig's affirmation of her plan, that strange, shimmering hair of hers scattering around her frame like a sort of liquid fire.

"All this cloak and dagger stuff won't get us anywhere in a situation like this, best to just be upfront about things," she continues to nod repeatedly, beginning to resemble a sort of over-sized bobblehead in her eagerness in this matter. "With how secretive everyone on this ship is, the mastermind types would never see something so straightforward coming-!"

The nodding stops soon after this -in response to Lydia's beginning to cry- soon replaced by a small hand resting beneath her chin in some sort of deep analysis of the behavior. With the hand comes a humming sound, a thinking sound, and soon after that-

"There, there..."

-she takes a step forward and tries to pat Lydia's head in a big-sister esque way herself-?!

"Of all the options on the ship, he's probably your best bet!"

---Oh dear.

There's definitely a bit of sibling teasing energy in this one!

Meanwhile...

"Hah... Finally..."

Anna breaks her spell of silence once more, gazing down at the paper in front of her with an oddly triumphant expression lit up on her face. It's a perfectly content smile, the sort of smile one might make in a chess game, when checkmate is in sight and their opponent has absolutely no idea of their upcoming loss, indeed-!

"If this is a legitimate formula from those guys... They might have finally slipped up and given us a reason to investigate further..."

She says it aloud, but...

You sort of get the sense she's talking just as much to herself as to you.

---Yes.

Her smile is a victorious sort of smile.

[Zurvan]

Ludwig & Lydia
SLEIPNIR ~ Anna's Room(?)
11/17/2026
Tuesday - Morning

And so the next move is planned.

Watching the lovable bobblehead go up and down, Ludwig nods with sincerity as well. He's not quite as convinced things would really be so easy, reading minds is seldom such a straightforward endeavour after all, but the sentiment behind it is one he appreciates and shares. All the secrecy is more of a nuisance than it is helpful!

---It probably is there for good reason, really, but such is the fate of the ever-curious.

Despite starting off in a worse way than Burroughs had been when the mind reader encountered her, Rice is proving to be a real blessing to the boy. Perhaps there's some truth to these girls having some kind of to everyone on the planet.

...Or it's frighteningly easy to get on the Karlfeldt heir's good side?

"Still, we should remain cautious. It's possible that Genesis might force us out when he regains his memories. Priorities can shift fast, motivations changing and all that. Or perhaps the old version of him has implanted defences to keep prying eyes out... or ensure whatever is learned can't be retrieved."

Ludwig shares some of his concerns, still of mind that the attempt to gain this information is worth doing, just to avoid possible panic when things go awry. He moves away from Rice again, facing Anna.

But not before sharing one final titbit of peculiarity.

"Wouldn't be the first time another entity responded to my dive in the depths of memory either..."

Not a second after he says it the ship's captain flashes a smile full of spirit as she reveals having completed the counter spell. The mere visage of that proud beaming grin automatically puts one on Ludwig's face as well. With the shattering of his enforced-stoic mask last night, there is nothing to hide away the warm feeling that blossoms in his chest as he watches Anna find success.

Though, he and Anna are not the only ones enjoying the moment.

Lydia, face still at the stage of beginning to sob, recovers faster than lightning. Her trap seemingly springing as Rice makes physical contact with the COMP's holographic form, Lydia's arms move in sync with the ends of her mouth curling into a victorious smile of her own.

The arms of Ludwig's armor companion snake around the small girl's body, with only a few moments left before her hug attempt lands.

This time, the end result is all but assured-! Indeed, maybe there is merit to making plans be so straight forward that they defy belief!

But the potential swapping between sisterly energy states is not what occupies Ludwig, no...

Instead, he moves in next to Anna, eyes quick to try and gleam more information as ever. It's not unlike the times of old where he spent his time with Anna in the cockpit, trying to get an understanding of the ship's systems and displays, as he brings her lunch.

...Those were the days.

Lots has happened since, and much more is likely still ahead. His family, Ruina, Arcadia, Binit...

His satisfied smile washes away.

"...Were you always suspicious of my family?"

As he considers just how he's been viewed by Anna and Adala all this time.

[Airen]

Daisuke
Brewed Awakenings, Aoyama
11/17/2026
Tuesday

"...Okay."

The doppelganger of Chris speaks softly, nodding at you once after only about five seconds or so of silence.

"I'll talk to Lexie." She nods, first at you and then at Robin, who is smiling in that mysterious fae way again. "I... We will follow you afterwards."

She nods again, before motioning her head towards the disassembled gun still on the table in front of her.

"I would go with you two right now... But the things I need are in this town..."

A pause.

"...I suppose Lexie can help me shop. She likes to do that sort of thing..."

And leaves it at that...

As for Robin:

"It's not cheating, not at all!"

The fae's smile stretches out in that slightly-too-wide way, like it was doing its best impression of the Chesire Cat in Alice in Wonderland.

"As a fairy, I should at least help with the opening stages of a dangerous quest I assigned~!"

It cackles in its usual selfish demon way, then-

"So, here you go! I'll have to close it behind you two -keeping a door like this active drains me a lot- but do your best!"

-opens the door.

There's no fanfare with it. There's no explosion of light or obvious energy, just a bathroom door opening out into what seemed to be an entirely separate Brewed Awakenings lobby, one so eerily similar to the one you were standing in now that it almost felt more like staring into a mirror then into a different room, nevertheless...

There is a difference.

Behind you, the outside world that could be viewed through the window was sunny, blocked only by curtains and window shades. In contrast with this, in the twin room in front of you, the world outside the windows was...

Dark.

Dark with the sounds of rain and the occasional boom of thunder, not only that...

"...I thought I told you I never wanted to see your face again."

There are people speaking on the other side, in some part of the room that you can't see from where you're standing...

The first voice isn't one that you recognize, but the one that follows...

"Oh... Uh... Risu! Hi! This isn't what it looks like! I'm a good guy this time, I swear! A protagonist! No, a protagonist is too much... I'm uh... A supporting character maybe?"

...Sounds like a slightly nervous, Aislynn Wevere.

[Airen]

Ludwig & Lydia
SLEIPNIR ~ Anna's Room(?)
11/17/2026
Tuesday - Morning

"Eh?"

A noise made simultaneously by two different women, one tall and one short, one obviously supernatural and the other the picture of a mostly normal (as far as normal existed nowadays) human. For Rice, it's the mild sound of confusion that comes at being caught in a sudden embrace -or perhaps, the sound of wondering how she had fallen for so blatant a trap- while for Anna, it's a sound that's a bit more difficult to pinpoint the exact nature of, nevertheless...

It happens simultaneously.

"Counter-!"

Rice says in a suddenly focused way, as smaller arms respond to larger ones with a grapple of her own. For Lydia (who can suddenly feel physical sensation again) the smaller girl's body is almost alarmingly solid, a hyper-refined shell of something that feels like it could be hit by a freight train or an orbital rod and suffer no obvious damage. Of course these girls were obviously special, so the idea that they were made of a similarly unique material made sense, nevertheless...

She's not given much time to think about it.

Yes.

For soon she feels the pitching of gravity and the world turning upside down, as Rice executes what seems to be some sort of painless suplex-?!

As for Anna...

"...Were you always suspicious of my family?"

"Didn't I tell you awhile back?"

She responds in a strange way.

It's not surprising of course that she might hold something against the Karlfeldts, the inner-family tensions of the Main and Branch lines were the sort that could very well involve acting directly against each other, especially in a family that was far more used to the life of a Dark Summoner (who did as their powers allowed them to do) rather than a Spirit Tamer (who was beholden somewhat to the law), still...

"I told you I thought they were shady when they first picked us all up from the orphanage back then, didn't I? I never changed my mind on it."

Eh?

She did what now?

You don't remember that at all...

[Zurvan]

Ludwig & Lydia
SLEIPNIR ~ Anna's Room(?)
11/17/2026
Tuesday - Morning

The world flips upside down.

Snatching victory from the jaws of defeat only to be sent right back into the floor, Lydia lies still looking upwards, wondering where this flawless plan went wrong.

But, at very least, she did regain her physical state... for now.

Still... this doesn't do at all! The tiny girl has rebelled twice now when all she would be forced to endure is a simple hug... Sure, with Burroughs Lydia might have gone a bit overboard as she wasn't used to the proper balance, but even there it was nothing special-!

She'll definitely try again.

She will get this hug.

The momentary lapse is enough for the COMP AI to not catch on the little dialogue between Ludwig and Anna, which is perhaps for the best. The boy, whose emotional state is no longer protected by a mask of stoicism, lifts up his head as he looks towards with an eyebrow thoroughly raised. The confusion is plastered all over his face, mouth slightly agape and a dazed look in his eyes. He pauses for a moment, thinking, and indeed nothing like that springs to mind.

In fact, he was fairly certain Anna was not there...

And so, ever-curious as he is, the mental connection between him and his sister grows lively on his side.

[Back in Ruina... before the Karlfeldts took us from the ruins of Brighter Days. Was Anna... with us? She wasn't, right?]

Revealing to Lara that he does in fact remember certain parts of their shared past, Ludwig cuts through the dagger and cloak business with another straight forward approach, idly hoping his sister knows more of what happened and that she's willing to share it.

Though... Anna's remark does present another question.

One the mind reader can't help but voice.

"...Wait, you knew about where we came from?"

---What does the seemingly normal girl of these alien origins?

[Airen]

Logan Starbright
SLEIPNIR ~ Simulator - Naraka
11/17/2026
Tuesday ~ Morning

"...Heh."

The last words you hear from Multivac are amused ones, floating musical notes inside of a dimension of static.

"I told you Char, secret techniques... Boys always like that sort of thing...~"

But static falls to silence.

Pushing through the static door, a blanket of heat once again envelops your skin as a cold data universe gives way to the burning depths of a replica of Buddhist hell. You do not plummet from the sky -instead finding yourself standing adrift one of the many rocks on the lava river- and all in all, your teleportation was a surprisingly smooth one, the sensation not of bizarre supernatural motion like the spirit pulse, but the simple act of stepping from one room into another...

"...Oh? You're back already?"

...In this world, only Charlotte awaits now.

Standing ahead of you with her arms crossed, a lone empress that no longer seems to have her knight by her side. The arms of her suit jacket have been torn to shreds by some sort of magic, revealing arms that are surprisingly toned for someone that you had initially marked as a sort of high-society princess, and while she's clearly been roughed up in a few places by her battle with Jessica, her lack of reaction to her bruises, cuts (and what seems like electrical burns) implies the same sort of tolerance to pain that a Spirit Tamer gains over time, that is...

Unless a limb has suddenly gone missing, they are unlikely to care.

Another aspect that doesn't match a princess-like aura... But seems a bit more fitting for an empress, still...

"You're pretty fast." She says casually, shaking her arms out of her ruined jacket before tossing it into the magma flow next to her, revealing a simple white dress shirt beneath. "It took me a lot longer to get out the first time, I'm impressed."

---She hasn't dispelled the field yet, so it seems that -as far she is concerned- her 'training' isn't over.

But at the same time.

---Right now, she's just talking to you. Praising you even!

Or at least that's what you think, up until she tilts her head a bit to the side, grins at you in a mischievous way that makes your neck hurt (again, what was up with that phantom pain?) and asks...

"...So mission accomplished, good job, good job." She nods, a bit awkward in her praise. "Ready to get dunked into the lava?"

[Satehi]

Eva Ellet
Saint Vivienne ~ Nurse's Office
11/16/2026
Tuesday – Noon

“That’s… very oddly specific, yes.”

Eva thought quietly for a moment. She had no idea that plumes were so… interestingly distributed, for lack of a better word. And given the context of their discussion up until now…

“It’s too specific to dismiss as pure coincidence. In which case… I guess this would lend credence to the idea that they’re artifacts from a more ancient form of humanity, or something similar enough, right? That’s why they react to humans, why they’re distributed this way, and why they’re all so similar.”

But there was still one problem – not a major one, given all the evidence so far, but certainly one that she would like to know.

“… Going along with this hypothesis, is there an explanation for where those… ‘original’? humans are now? Any records or ideas of what caused them to go away, leaving all of these things behind?”

[Airen]

Eva Ellet
Saint Vivienne ~ Nurse's Office
11/16/2026
Tuesday – Noon

A number of puzzle pieces were starting to fit together, although the full picture continued to be beyond your grasp. If the Plumes were the remnants of some sort of ancient computer used by humans, their willingness to serve as the assistants of humans made sense, they were once again doing a task that they had once done long in the past, in essence, it was likely that assisting humanity was their intended function as artificial intelligences...

It made sense, at least to a degree. A Cosmic AC would have been the computer in charge of administrating the Cosmos -at least, if AC meant Administrative Computer anyway- a planetary AC was probably in charge of administrating a planet, and the smaller plumes, the ones that humans used as personal assistants...

If the chain was the same all the way down, then they were probably something like Personal Administrative Computers.

---Of course, this doesn't answer the collective amnesia of the plumes, or the mystery of where this hypothesized ancient humanity had gone, and to that question Leah's answer is relatively simple.

"Considering the artifacts extend out into space, it seems likely that they exist somewhere out in the cosmos themselves now." The obvious answer, even if not a particularly satisfying one. "There's no direct explanation for why exactly they might have chosen to leave the planet, but if I had to take a guess..."

She pauses, head still resting on her chin, eyes still sparkling with an amused sort of light.

"...The planet became too dangerous for them. Earth has had its fair share of existential threats plague it, so perhaps something happened that made it impossible for them to stay here?"

She chuckles.

"Plumes have always had anti-demon qualities inherent to their design, even before being reforged into what they are now... So if you twisted my arm on it, I'd say that their exodus from the planet was demon-related, which would be fair..."

She glances out the window.

"The more... Friendly relationship we have with the demons now is... New. New and miraculous really, in the old texts humanity and demons are bitter enemies." She straightens her posture a bit, the chair squeaking slightly at the movement. "Even now we still get rough with each other occasionally... But it was way worse in the past, or so I've gathered from my studies. One side almost entirely wiping out the other was considered a normal result."

[Katie]

Ayra Lilygrove
Shinar ~ Great Wound
11/16/2026
Monday - Night

“I get it. Asuka, Connor, Mirelle… I worry about them a lot.” Whether or not the Eliza in front of her isn’t quite like the real one doesn’t matter at the moment. It’s a bit embarrassing to admit these feelings in front of Asuka, but one can only respond to sincerity with sincerity. “Doesn’t matter if they’re older or younger… As soon as they become your responsibility, you can’t help but fuss over them.”

She can only hope she’s training them right, at least, to face the world head on and with pride. Their success is her success. That’s how it ought to be as someone’s teacher, right?

If only everyone was like that.

“Still, I promise we’ll be fine.” It’s an empty promise she can’t help but make. At the very least, she’ll guarantee Asuka’s safety, but she can’t just come out and say that right now. They’d launch into an annoying lecture about how she needs to take better care of herself.

Because you do?

Shut up.

Once again taking stock of her surroundings now that she’d said her piece, Ayra finally processes that someone is missing. Someone Eliza would easily recognize.

“Where’s Yonagi?”