Spirit Pulse : Mugen No Sekai [IC]

[Bloble]

Mokujima Chris
Himawari ~ Dirac Sea
??/??/????
???

"...it's fine. Kids, aren't scary."

Chris rises, clacking across the room and out of sight of the laptop camera as she bends down next to the television and pulls open a cupboard, rummaging through it. She fishes out something heavy and moves onto a nearby cardboard box.

"You were right," she says. "To suspect." Thinking of Verity as a COMP instead of a human makes it easier. Yes, a COMP. No doubt with some interesting construction, if Alexia was responsible. Her Plume must be somewhere strange then. Was it placed physically in the computer? Or has the girl managed to somehow divest herself of flesh and hop directly from machine to machine somehow? Questions to be answered later; there are more important ones now. "If Sensei, hadn't mentioned you earlier... I would've become your enemy."

Chris finds what she's looking for and triumphantly tucks it under her arm along with its siblings, before awkwardly waddling back towards the table.

Electronics are scattered across the desk. Mostly gaming oriented, older systems and handheld peripherals packed away but held onto for nostalgia, and a hope they might spontaneously become haunted. Chris turns the laptop on its side, swiftly popping open the back panel and revealing the motherboard beneath. For a moment she wonders if the digital representation of Verity would be bothered by the treatment, then dismisses the notion. What, will her avatar fall over? Is she going to be embarrassed that someone is looking at her underwear or something? COMPs don't work like that.

Cracking open her first find, a heavy duty gaming console, Chris draws her screwdriver and gets to work.

"Sensei, somehow, noticed you. And told me." How had Alexia' memory dump even known about Verity? Did Robin tell her? But then how had Robin himself known? Surely he wasn't present during the mess back at the base, or else he'd have helped out. Then had he noticed her laptop's stowaway just after contacting her? The thought stings Chris' pride as a Spirit Smith, even though she knows the fairy is abnormally good with electronics himself. If anyone could notice such a thing, it would be the one who griefs MMOs for fun. And of course it's already too late to ask him; Demons like that have an allowance for questions and it'll be a while yet before this one is in the mood for another Q&A.

The processor pops out of the console along with several thick bundles of wires. Chris plugs them, one by one, into the back of the computer.

"Leaving, the drivers, to you," she grumbles. "No overclock. Keep the heat down. I need that, to last." Next is an old VR headset. She never liked those too much, but certainly did pack a lot of power into a small package...

Chris pauses, looking into the camera again, tilting her head in an owlish way.

"So?" Mokujima Chris asks. "Who else, was in the group? Besides me."

A random low-ranking Tamer without significant accomplishments would not be considered an enemy by most. Not unless there is prior cause to suspect them as one. Following that train of thought, and the mention of a betrayal... Chris glances at the irritating mark on her arm. One she has seen a duplicate of, very recently.

"Logan?"

[Airen]

Mokujima Chris
Himawari ~ Dirac Sea
??/??/????

(BGM On)

"Logan is one."

She states calmly, screens once again exploding in with windows and reports. If the strange A.I doesn't like you moving around her temporary home she doesn't say anything about it, indeed, while you get the disconcerting feeling that she can actually see you regardless of whether or not you were in the view of the camera (and thus, felt like she was more similar to a genuine ghost than a normal A.I, one that doesn't even require her plume to exist) she doesn't really acknowledge the movements at all, your brief imaginings of the young girl falling over or getting embarrassed at exposed parts remaining just that, imaginings.

As expected of course, although for some reason...

It feels like under different circumstances, that might have actually been a problem, like...

---This one was supposed to have a body, a humanoid sort of form.

Of course, it's merely a brief flash of strangely nostalgic musings.

"Ayra Lilygrove, Raz Stone, Lexie Davis, Namasaki Shuichi, that reporter who was here earlier," listing some familiar sounding names off, the girl's avatar has stopped it's static failings, the roar of fans much quieter now, "The Creator too, although how helpful she ever actually was is suspect, loves her riddles too much, always wants to feel like the smartest person in the room... And she's smart enough that it's true a lot of the time, which makes it worse."

She grumbles about Alexia with absolutely no sense of shame.

Like how a child might complain about their parents.

"But I digress... There were quite a few people at the base, enough to fill out a small company. Company in the Military Unit sense I mean, not like... A business company. I have two sister units that were also designed to help look after everyone, although I don't know where they are now."

She explains, still in that calm, clear voice she's taken on after 'recognizing' you.

"...Where are we by the way? Is this a ship?"

Although surprisingly...

She doesn't seem to be super aware of what's going on around her...

[Bloble]

Mokujima Chris
Himawari ~ Dirac Sea
??/??/????

"R-Raz Stone!?"

The screwdriver slips out of Chris' hand, loudly rolling across the desk.

The reflexive yelp is the loudest noise Chris has made in weeks. She flails for the screwdriver, finally getting her fingers around it an inch from the edge. The rest of Verity's explanation falls upon numb ears, as Chris silently mouths "Raz Stone" to herself two or three more times. Yes, there are other names she knows, presumably the most familiar ones picked from a much larger list, but none of them are quite as much of an adrenaline shot to the heart as that one.

"T-t-there's, no way..."

Could she get his autograph? Could she ask about his next single? Could she breathe the same air as him? No, sacrilege. An idol is not to be touched outside of a handshake event, and then only if one has purchased the ticket! But, what if, a private handshake event...?

No, that's enough. Mind, out of the gutter. Seal off that name for now.

"Y-your sister unit... my COMP, might've met one... self-designated: Burroughs." Once more Chris regrets that Daisuke hadn't brought in the girl for questioning, as she unscrews the Nerf Gear and hooks up its memory banks to the computer. Instead he allowed her to run off after scrambling his brain a bunch, costing them who knows what. "She was, here. The ship."

Speaking of which. How was Verity able to see the space around the machine, but not the rest of the ship?

"You haven't, interfaced with it yet? I was, hoping, you'd tell me. We'll go, to the bridge, in a bit. Maybe, a direct connection..."

The kid's behavior is clearly becoming erratic as well. Verity couldn't have gotten that banged up, could she? Then again, a simple laptop can't support a complex artificial intelligence in the first place. Which brings to mind how exactly Alexia's 'daughter' is even functioning in this situation. Is she some kind of data being that can separate itself to some extent from her physical vessel? A literal ghost in the shell that haunts machines? Sakurako would be so jealous if she found out.

Chris squints at her laptop and the space around it, half-hoping her eyes will spontaneously turn the world into easily-understood numbers again so she can see exactly what's going on with Verity. But of course life can't be that convenient.

The hard way it is, then. Debugging time.

"...when is. The last time. You were

given a bath

de-fragmented

?"

[Verg Avesta]

Blaise Pendragon
Aoyama, Brick Lane
11/17/2026
Morning, Storm

It was hard to look at this place in the same way again.

In the light of his muddled memories, questions rose to Blaise's minds - ones that he wasn't sure he wanted answered. He loved this place, and the people he knew here. This had been his home for as long as he remembered, and he had always been proud to be part of it - to help it and to protect it. As he got older, he might have started stretching his wings for a bit, but he never strayed too far from home. So now, now that he had gained new insight into his own fuzzy past... it made the oh-so familiar scenery look decidedly unfamiliar.

Or perhaps it was the rain falling down on the shopping district, dyeing everything with soft glow of the grey morning.

--- Even Kaguya was silent. Weird, considering she had seemed so intent on berating him earlier.

Instead, he heard a song... and a voice that was now vaguely familiar to him as well. Not because of any buried memories of the past, no, but rather, because of last night. Moving under an awning jutting out from a nearby store - still closed - Blaise directed his eyes upwards and saw the source of the sound. That emerald-haired, bespectacled woman that he had encountered not too long ago. Well, the actual length of time was unknown, but it can't have been too long ago.

... Weird. Now that he looked at her, however, didn't she remind him of someone else? That was strange.

However, be that as it may, it didn't change the fact that the fae had given Blaise some important advice last night. And as such...

"--- Hey. Oba-san."

Speaking out clearly, but not too loudly, Blaise waited a lull in the song to interrupt the creature. He lifted his hand into a greeting and flashed a quiet smile.

"Thanks for the help last night," he continued. "Somehow or another, it looks like we both made it out. And I think your advice was a big part of it."

While Blaise did feel natural distaste towards the fae, there was something he hated more.

--- Not giving credit where credit is due.

[Kuroyuki]

Rossweisse & Hiyori
Aoyama, Tokyo ~ Streets
11/16/2026
Afternoon

"Pictures? Oh sure, I've got one where she's in a chef hat and it's just the cutest thing~"

‘Show me! Show me!’

"..."

I watched as Hiyori and Miss Starbright rapidly bond at the expense of Miss Charlotte’s expense. Speaking of Miss Charlotte, she looked like someone hit her with a surprise spell or a sucker punch. Granted, I think I would react the same way if I remembered my childhood and my family members did the same thing… However, once Hiyori mentioned those scientific terms that she heard from Miss Charlotte on the SLEPNIR.

"Hmm, well, can't have my photos known to anyone-! You two are coming with me-! I'll never allow it-!"

“...”

‘Wait! Wait! I really want to see her when she was cute and cuddly’

I let myself be dragged away while Hiyori tried to struggle futilely again for the second time today. I’m starting to see a trend with Hiyori’s power-saving form… That she was entirely unable to resist anyone’s grasp unless she used magic to increase her strength. Before I get dragged away though, I should say something to Miss Starbright even if I feel on edge by her presence. It would be rude especially since she has been nothing but cordial.

“Nice to meet you Miss Starbright. I hope we meet again soon.”

‘Noooooooo! Quickly! Show me the picture before she drags us awayyyyyy!’

[Katie]

Ayra Lilygrove
Saint Vivienne ~ Dormitories
11/16/2026
Monday - Night

This is absurd.

Aster: Well, to be honest, I was also pretty skeptical… but seeing Sarah clinches the deal.

Do you think the fake squire is probably the result of the same kind of phenomena?

Aster: Maybe? But the difference is, everyone acknowledges Sarah hasn’t died, yet the imposter is localized to Avalon. Same principle, but I think the latter is on a much lower scale than the former.

Makes sense.

It’s then Ayra feels the sudden onset of dizziness, doing her best to control her instincts and not stumble. The duty of a Knight is to appear infallible, and she doesn’t want to cause a ruckus in the middle of the dorms. Aster’s already caused enough havoc on accident, anyway. It’d be horrendous if the real thing also collapsed.

Aster: Everything okay?

Tired, I guess.

Aster: You’re allowed to take breathers, remember that.

Her eyes scan across the couches. Aislynn, probably, but she only has Aster’s words to go about it, Catherine with two girls. Seems she’s busy with her own problems. Truthfully, she feels like lying down, but no rest for those willing to stop the wicked.

"Did you find your impostor?"

“Yeah,” Ayra finally says, before forcing her way onto the couch with who is presumably Aislynn. Her eyes finally register what’s playing on the television. Inception. Bizarrely topical. “It’s been settled. Thanks for the help.”

Aster: Is this even her? We could just like, ask, right, and say you needed her?

What if they can’t recognize her either? She might blend in, but that doesn’t mean people can put a name to her face.

Aster: Worth trying.

“Ah, right. I’m looking for Aislynn Wevere? Someone told me she’d be sleeping in the dorms…”

[Satehi]

Eva Ellet
Saint Vivienne ~ Dormitories
11/16/2026
Monday - Evening

“… I see.”

It was a small relief to know that she had been jumping to conclusions, and that this creature was not a shadow after all. The idea that she had one was concerning, and from the way Catherine had described herself… Eva liked to think she knew herself well enough to know she wasn’t harboring any issues of that magnitude.

Not that she would have expressed that sentiment aloud.

It would have been highly rude to Catherine’s shadow, who had generously explained the situation to her. And even putting that aside, from the way Catherine’s shadow described her role, it would seem that she was helping out Catherine a lot, in her own way… she had no idea her friend had these problems.

It felt weird, to be thankful to an entity that her friend was so evidently not.

“Thank you for letting me know…”

But even though she was grateful towards Catherine’s shadow…

“… but I’m afraid I can’t take your offer.”

… going back indoors, away from the nightmare, was not an option she was willing to take.

“There’s still questions I need answered, and there’s someone out here who has the answers. I can’t go back inside until I’ve heard them.”

Why Liesl’s group was so completely intent on secrecy, why exactly all this world changing stuff had happened…

Those were all things she needed to know.

“If this is just a nightmare, and not actually real… then it’s a nightmare I’ll just have to face.”

[Airen]

Blaise Pendragon
Aoyama, Brick Lane
11/17/2026
Morning, Storm

"----Oh?"

The fae, who had been singing it's strange song with closed eyes, keeps those eyes closed for a time as a questioning word carries the last of it's tune to it's end, a musical sort of existence that again brings to mind long summer nights, the sights of dancing lights amidst golden woods and the feeling of a pleasantly warm wind upon the body.

"So I did something worth being thanked, did I?"

It smiles a chesire cat smile, bit too wide, bit too unnatural, all with a spark of amusement lighting up its eyes. Of course, fae often have strange rules they follow when it comes to socialization, but this one had already proven itself to be remarkably close to humans for beings of it's nature, so the vague chill that runs down your back at the sight is minimal...

Still there of course, because even the most tame of fae are still beings of whimsical nature, but minimal-!

"Internalization of fantasies as reality... What a strange child, most of you humans would simply let such things pass right through you, commit them to the abyss of the unconscious, and yet..."

She rocks back and forth in place, balance a bit too perfect at times, not falling over when she should and instead floating in positions that are decidedly unnatural, like the twenty degree angle it holds for a moment, like a stationery motorcycle rounding a turn at the absolute brink allowed by it's momentum. It stays like that for awhile, blatantly defying physics and looking you over with curious eyes, as if the fact that you had immediately walked over to it instead of going about your own business was somehow...

Amusing?

Whatever it is...

"Well, if you've already accepted that it's something that actually happened, I suppose little can be done about it now. I thought healing your physical wounds might be enough, but..."

It stops blatantly defying the concept of a center of gravity, before patting the ground at it's side in a gesture that could mean a lot of things, really...

"The damage is evident enough already, you were shaken by the experience."

It states calmly.

It's words aren't phrased as a question either, it's not asking you to confirm that you were damaged by it, no, it's simply stating the fact of the matter.

The you it sees now is very different than the one it had met last night.

"Well, if you bothered to drop by and say hi, I suppose I should bother the owners of this establishment for their baked human foods." The entity stands up. "The matriarch of this bakery makes... Cinnamon Buns the size of a human head, within them exists a disturbing amount of sugar to be sure, but I hear that such things are good for raising human spirits."

It starts towards the door of the bakery, physical form still...

Strangely reminiscent of someone else?

"If I tell them its for the Pendragon Boy it should be a simple enough matter to acquire the heart-attack buns, or would you prefer something else perhaps?"

She turns, blinks at you, and...

"...I do not believe we have any meats."

Says that bluntly.

Although...

You're not sure what she's actually trying to say there...


----

Eva Ellet
Saint Vivienne ~ Dormitories
11/16/2026
Monday - Evening

"Someone out here who knows the answers?"

The golden-eyed girl tilts her head to the side, reaction so sincere that it was pretty clear it found this particular reasoning for your actions to be quite perplexing, but...

"Ah. You must mean the possessed girl."

Eventually she nods, although the term she used to describe whoever she was talking about doesn't actually make that much sense to you...

"The one who bashed my head against the wall, right?"

...Until she adds this anyway.

"Filled to the brim with vengeful spirits that one, I could tell she was completely unstable the second her reiki touched me, although other me didn't notice a thing!" The shadow approaches, chuckling all the while. "Miss head smash needs an exorcism to mellow her out, get rid of all the excess souls kicking around in there..."

A pause, those strange golden eyes peering right into your own without fear... While Catherine's eyes are normally somewhat emotionless and restrained, the eyes of someone who always considered the best course of action before acting, the eyes peering at you now are alight with a strange amount of obvious emotion, a certain sort of giddiness for one, like she was having fun just being alive right now and wanted everybody to know it, but behind it-

"I'm saying she's probably dangerous too, get me?"

-also obvious worry.

"And while this is probably a dream, and thus technically isn't real... Well, sometimes dreams can hurt you for real, that's the sort of feeling this place gives me. It's not a normal dream by any means."

A pause.

A pause as if the shadow really wanted to end it dramatically there, then...

After about two seconds...

Fails to restrain herself...

"Although if you insist on persisting, I insist on coming along! I mean, I might as well smash her head into a wall as revenge right? You're cool with that, right? If I just do it once or twice there shouldn't be any memory loss~"

Ah.

The shadow's a bit more violent than the normal Catherine too.


----

Ayra Lilygrove
Saint Vivienne ~ Dormitories
11/16/2026
Monday - Night

"...Aislynn."

Catherine frowns.

The expression is remarkably unfitting for someone who seems to have another girl draped over her shoulder (one who definitely seems to be the daughter of the nurse and the sister of Evita, now that you're really close enough to make out the finer features) but fitting enough for a student council president type who was really searching her memory for answers...

"...Hmm."

...As expected, it doesn't seem to click for the girl right away. It's an obvious contrast to how she had been behaving earlier, where she had clearly and cleanly seemed to know who most of the students were on sight, as well as what 'shady behavior' from them looked like, but...

Aislynn had implied people perceived her strangely, and indeed...

"Ah yes, Wevere. How could I have forgotten..."

After a good thirty seconds, Catherine finally answers the question, pointing towards the sleeping girl at your side.

"That would be her."

Her frown deepens.

"I'd be careful with that one though, she's..." struggling to come up with words for the shape of her opinion on the girl, the brunette eventually just shrugs. "...Got a bit of a bad reputation amongst the students, not very popular, although it's hard to say why exactly... Just feels like... She's not the sort of person you should show your back to, you know?"

At your side, the girl in question sleeps quietly away, hurting no one and-

"..."

Actually... Looking at her...

---A vague feeling of unexplainable distrust does shoot down your spine. A pure nervousness, like sitting on a couch with a bear or a shark. Considering how harmless she actually is right now it's a very bizarre gut reaction, but it is still there, like something deep inside of you...

Was warning you to keep an eye on her.

It didn't seem to need a real reason to do so.

Her existence alone was apparently a red flag, because she d̸̜͈̪͛o̶͈̭̞̓͘ͅe̸̹̝̦̓͆͂͘s̶̡̱͍͛̋ǹ̸̝̭̙̌'̶͔͕̆̅͘t̵̓ ̼̺ ̷̟̭̂̐̆b̷͇̰̈́̂͛ē̴̲̆ͅl̵̥̦̲̑͜ơ̷̡̟͇͛͜n̴̗͎̺̰̏͝͝g̷̝̥͌͆̓ ̡̠ ̴̪̻̀̈́̓́î̷̫͝͝n̶̺̚͝ ̸̪̎͋̍ẗ̵̛͍͕͙́ḣ̸̢̟̟͓͗i̴͖͈̅̋̂s̷͕̀̚ ̵̣̅̐w̶̳̳̽̒o̶͖͊r̶͔͕̈́l̴̡̝͓͂͌d̸̫̀͐̐.

"Although... I've never seen her do anything bad myself... Maybe I shouldn't have said anything..."

For a moment, Catherine too looks confused about her perceptions of Aislynn.

Strange.

This Aislynn has a very strange...

Aura...

Just as she said...

[Katie]

Ayra Lilygrove
Saint Vivienne ~ Dormitories
11/16/2026
Monday - Night

Aster: What in the world made your heart rate spike so hard?

Those feelings are both right and disgusting. She knows what she felt, and for a brief moment, thought about acting on it. But Aislynn is their only lead. And it is wrong to judge with incomplete information. The justice she strives for can’t be betrayed this easily.

I just… thought she didn’t belong. Probably the world’s idea of rejecting foreign bodies.

Aster: That’s the aura she has, huh… Unfortunate. Are you sure you’ll be okay?

Tsukiko probably dealt with this as well. If she can do it, so can I.

“Well, I was asked to wake her up, so…”

Ayra trails off, steeling her mind. She’s just here to shake Aislynn awake, not strangle her. If she’s going to do something problematic, at least have it be on her terms, among other things. Gently, she moves to shake the other girl awake, trying not to be too rough.

Tsukiko was a pretty light sleeper, but who knew what anyone else was like?

[Satehi]

Eva Ellet
Saint Vivienne ~ Dormitories
11/16/2026
Monday - Evening

“…I see.”

Liesl was dangerous. Eva had suspected as much, given the affairs she was involved with, but Shadow Catherine had confirmed it.

And this dream, as Catherine called it, did not seem to be one where you could simply wake up from without any trouble if something bad happened. It was abnormal…

-Even so.

“Even so, if I let this chance go, and something happens that I could have prevented if I had known about what was going on…”

… Eva hadn’t spent very long in this new reality. Only a handful of hours, really. She still didn’t really understand her own situation, and perhaps if she were to spend more time, she would find some things to complain about, but-

-Her mother, Leah, had seemed happier in those few short hours here than she had ever been in months in the old world.

That fact alone was enough for Eva to be sure that this reality was valuable.

“… I’d probably think about it forever. That’s why I can’t just quit here.”

As such, even if Catherine decided to back out- not that she would have blamed her, given the dangers, Eva intended to keep on going.

"Although if you insist on persisting, I insist on coming along! I mean, I might as well smash her head into a wall as revenge right? You're cool with that, right? If I just do it once or twice there shouldn't be any memory loss~"

Eva’s expression brightened up a bit at the offer.

“Naturally. It’s only fair, considering what she did to you.”

Even if Eva had put on a brave face and said some resolute words earlier, she hadn’t forgotten the earlier incident with the nightmareish creature- it still scared her. The knowledge that her friend was willing to help out was no small comfort.

And, well, there was something… very amusing about the way Shadow Catherine acted so unlike the Catherine she was used to.

[Airen]

Eva Ellet
Saint Vivienne ~ Forest Outskirts
11/16/2026
Monday - Evening

"Nice, nice."

Cackles the shadow at your agreement with her somewhat violent terms, golden eyes sparkling in the darkness with both amusement and clear supernatural power. Interacting with this Catherine was a little strange, while she doesn't seem to have the filter the normal Catherine does, the longer you interact with her, the more certain you are that she still feels like the Catherine you knew...

It's just strange.

Is this what shadows are normally like? She's remarkably benevolent for such an entity, her main difference seeming to be the aforementioned lack of a filter and more clearly expressed emotional states, but if shadows were repressed thoughts and Catherine's shadow was just this erratic ball of emotion, then...

What did that mean exactly?

What was the other Catherine repressing?

Everything?

All her emotions?

Why?

This grandma of hers? Was this how her family operated, or was it something else...?

...It raises a lot of uncomfortable questions if you look deep enough into it, but-

"So let's see, where did she run off to~"

-seemingly just happy to be alive, Shadow Catherine walks forward a bit, eyes tracing the grass and dirt of the ground beneath your feet. The storm had let up a bit, the thunder cracks and lightning strikes no longer an uncomfortable constant, although the deep gashes in the ground and exploded trees do tell the story of the battle that had been happening here...

It's a bit surreal, especially because of how suddenly it had ended...

"Bullet Shells? She's not using reiki slugs?"

Catherine doesn't comment on it however, although whether that's because she can't perceive it for some reason, is following her own advice about pretending it doesn't exist, or is just razor focused on finding Liesl and ignoring everything else...

Is sort of unclear.

"We've got an old-fashioned gunner on our hands. That, or one who just likes to use special rounds... Gunslingers that have the time to personalize their ammo always rub me the wrong way, they're the type of people that have a plan to kill absolutely everybody they meet." She clicks her tongue once in what seems like distaste. "It's a paranoid way to live. These seem like... Cryo Rounds. Ice Bullets."

She fiddles with a shell casing she's picked up from the dirt.

"...Ohhhh, nasty. Think these are supposed to get into your bloodstream, freeze you inside out, tear apart your circulatory system... This one's a mean lady."

She sounds both disgusted and impressed there...

"Annoyingly light-footed too, all this mud and she's barely left tracks... But barely isn't none. Pretty sure she went this way..."

So saying, the brunette starts off with her eyes again glued to the dirt, heading deeper into the woods.

...Quite the eager tracker.

"Stick close to me~"

She calls back to you.

"These dreams have a lot of weird... Rules to em, staying in any one place for too long is a bad idea~"

____

Ayra Lilygrove
Saint Vivienne ~ Dormitories
11/16/2026
Monday - Night

The strange urge shoots through you again when you touch her.

Declaration that there's something wrong with this person, that they don't belong, shouldn't be trusted, shouldn't exist at all and that maybe you should just reach over and do something about the issue right now, with the something being left entirely up to the worst parts of your imagination... It's a frightfully intrusive thought, one that does not fit your normal mindset and almost seems to come from outside of it, like a prompting from the metaphysical World for you to do it's dirty work for it, a thing that happens from time to time in those that are particularly attuned to it's will, but...

You weren't really one of those people, that was more in line with ESPers.

Which meant that if you were feeling it, well...

The World really didn't like this girl, to the point where it almost feels like...

Feels like...

Like she's suffering some sort of curse...?

Regardless...

"..."

...Slowly, the feeling starts to fade away. The second adrenaline shot fades, the weird intrusive thought backs off, and once you're sure you've got yourself back under control...

"..."

You shake her lightly.

Just to test.

"..."

No response, so you shake a bit harder.

"..."

Still no response, so you shake a little bit harder, pushing the border of what can come across as non-violent to an outside gaze (thankfully Catherine seems to have turned her attention back to the television) only to find that-!

"..."

Yep.

Still nothing...

Was she just a heavy sleeper? Or was this an enchanted sleep like what had been done to Aster? If it was, it seemed like she'd wake up when morning came or if you brought her to the nurse, but...

Maybe something more creative would work too?

Water was always a classic...

______

Rossweisse & Hiyori
Tokyo ~ JAXA
11/16/2026
Afternoon

"Bye~ Have fun kids~"

Abandoning you to your fate, Miss Starbright just waves at the both of you with a smile on her face that was somehow both motherly and mischievous, like she was doing her best to maintain the air of a dignified noble in spite of actually wanting to laugh out loud at the absurd behavior of her niece, but...

She somehow manages to make it work.

Even if only just barely...

As for the both of you, well... Once the one that had the power to resist refuses to do so, the fate of the both of you is set in stone-! Across the cafeteria you go, pulled with a surprising amount of force by the suited woman towards one of the many doors you had passed on the way here; the woman touches her finger to a pad on the wall, popping open the door and dragging the both of you inside, before spinning in place, mumbling some stuff to herself, and tapping in a few more commands on this side's version of the same wall pad, both freeing Hiyori from the woman's grasp and leaving you both free to look around yourself, even if only for a few moments.

It seems to be a small classroom of sorts, five steel tables lining the floor, thirty-six chairs at the tables and everything facing an old fashioned wooden podium where the teacher was probably supposed to stand... For a government-facility it's remarkably low-tech, perhaps a bit disappointingly so, however-!

"Okay. Cameras off, audio recorders disabled..."

Voice from behind you catches your attention, a voice that has changed from the jokey embarrassed tone it had taken earlier for the sake of not drawing her aunt's attention, voice that now accompanies a woman approaching you with much more oomph in her step, presence suddenly so overwhelming that you find yourself taking a step back instinctively, back hitting a wall that you hadn't realized was there, and-

"Explain."

Demands the woman, her arm shooting out with both precision and power to slam into the wall next to your head, more or less pinning you to the spot, her earlier smile replaced by a deathly serious line...

---Yes.

It seems that...

You've found yourself on the receiving end of a "kabedon."

"Who the hell are you two?"

She's not yelling, but...

She definitely seems more serious now than before...

"Destruction of Sequential Phenomena is not something random kids say-!"

[Rafflesiac]

Logan Starbright
SLEIPNIR - Hallway (Outside the Hangar Bay)
11/16/2026
Monday ~ Evening

“I beat her?”

The absolute bafflement is clear in Logan’s voice. He’d spent over a decade studying and training and struggling and trailing behind his star sister no matter what he did, never matching up to her in skills, looks, or achievements, never being good enough. Perfection was her middle name. His was adequate. He hadn’t become a Knight. He hadn’t been strong enough. He hadn’t earned love.

And yet, Sarah had struggled too. While he’d been cloistered in his room with tomes and tinctures, she’d stressed and suffered out of his sight. He wasn’t the only person who had to toil each and every step to reach even the closest milestone. He wasn’t alone. And…

Logan wants to doubt Eliza, to believe that she’s merely trying to cheer him up, but that smile isn’t a lie. Against all odds, wisdom, and irrefutable truths, he surpassed Sarah in at least one thing that mattered. Just that once, even if it was an irrelevance from years ago, he’d done well.

His next words are a quiet mix of disbelief and a hint of pride. “She was proud of me?”

Sarah Starbright, the Sarah Starbright, was proud of him. Proud of someone like him, without glory, strength, or value. She was proud to call him her brother, her family. Despite her obligation to work harder than him, to surpass him, to be better than him and everyone, the moment he succeeded even once she still felt joy for him. He’d been acknowledged. He’d been loved.

Logan can’t say anything more. His vision blurs with warmth as a small and intense heat smolders in his heart.

[Verg Avesta]

Blaise Pendragon
Aoyama, Brick Lane
11/17/2026
Morning, Storm

"......?"

Blaise blinked in confusion.

Meats?

What did the fae mean by that? The Mokujimas were a bakery, after all. Why on earth would they carry meats? Sure, there might be some stuff where you needed diced bacon or somesuch, such as cheese-and-bacon croissants, but those were mostly cafe food, weren't they? Not that he would say no to such a thing right now, either. The cherry coffee had woken him up, more or less, but he still hadn't eaten any breakfast...

"Eh, that's fine. Too much meat in the morning can make your body sluggish," Blaise replied, still unsure if that was what the fae had meant. "A sugary cinnamon bun on the other hand..."

He paused for a moment.

Was this alright? He had many people to meet... many things to explain. He wasn't quite sure what he was actually going to do yet, but... an inkling of a plan had started to form in his head while he made his way over to the Brick Lane street. It was a plan that had been born out of giving a good, hard look at the embarrassing weakness of last night and how he had to resort to... that to keep his immature emotions under check. Try as he might to act different, Blaise was still just a brat where it counted, and he knew it. He wasn't as put-together and level-headed as he liked to portray himself as.

But he needed to be. If he wanted to protect his daily life, and most importantly, his friends.

He needed to learn to control his flaring emotions. Most of all, his fear. His weakness.

He needed to slay it.

But... he also knew that with his newfound memories, Aoyama was most likely not the place where he could achieve that or learn it. There were too many confusing things here at the moment... too many things that would make him waver.

But if not Aoyama... then where?

... He had never even left Aoyama in the first place.

What was even outside of it?

"......"

Suddenly, the boy realized he had fallen silent for a good half a minute. Awkwardly, he rubbed the back of his head, and then offered a ghost of a smile towards the fae.

"... Yeah. Cinnamon bun would be lovely right now. Thanks, Oba-san," he finally replied. "Again, you have some pretty good advice, y'know?"

With that, he started towards the door of the Mokujima Bakery. It might have been early in the morning, but... they were bakers.

--- Bakers were always up at ungodly hours.

[Airen]

Blaise Pendragon
Tokyo, Aoyama ~ Brick Lane (Smokey Island Bakery)
11/16/2026
Monday - Morning

Now that you thought about it, there were some small fae-like touches to the interior of the Smokey Island Bakery.

Gentle light streams in through the windows in spite of the mild storm outside, a comforting sort of early-morning golden light that seems designed to drive the darkness of the early morning away, a world inside a world, a minor mystical barrier separating the inside from the outside in a way that went just an inch or two beyond the purely physical. The scattered decorative plants were visibly flourishing, leaves shining comfortably with the health of nature... Neither are things someone would notice unless they were actively looking for it, aware of the fact that a fae had taken up residence in this space, but now that you knew, well...

Hosts of minor enchantments could be seen, small things that were designed to simply make life more comfortable for the residents of the building, a far-removed cry from your own home, where magic was just as present but somehow more overt like the azure door that liked to move around from time to time while not being connected to anything physical, or how your grandfather's shadow had a tendency to swallow up the entirety of every room he was in...

More blatant, but also less graceful...

"Sluggish? Yes, I suppose it does."

In response to your confusion, the fae does as fae often do, smiling a vague sort of amused smile that could mean pretty much anything at all, although the amused eyes have a hint of... Sympathy in them as well for some reason?

A strange fae, this "Robin," still-

"Sugar is what your kind do best anyway. The obscene amount of ways humans utilize it are fascinating in their own right~"

-she had led the way inside, door staying open on it's own long enough for you to come into the building, before whatever enchantment had been holding it open had gently closed it behind you as if with an invisible hand... But putting the small touches of magic aside, there was a clean, slightly sweet, yeasty aroma that somehow smelled warm, like you were inhaling a blanket on a cold winter day. On one of the back tables, off in the corner of the room far away from the rest, was what seemed to be a CB radio repair in progress... It looked like a piece from the early 90s, a very old-fashioned piece of technology that someone was carefully taking apart and putting back together, although the repair-person themselves seems to be missing, but...

More loudly...

And perhaps more importantly...

---A booming, cheerful voice.

One that comes echoing out to you the moment the ding of the door's bell fades to a quiet nothing...



"Our bakery uses only the finest ingredients! Upper-crust goods for not much dough!"

---Pure enthusiasm.

A sales pitch thrown out with absolutely no hesitation, one loaded to the brim with puns and fired off like a shotgun blast without shame, long before the woman speaking had even realized who she was speaking to-!

For the woman known collectively on Brick Lane as "Mrs. Mokujima," to children but "Yakitate!! Japan!" to most of her fellow adults (for some reason) such a pitch isn't out-of-character in the slightest-!

"She's as enthusiastic as Titania..."

Says Robin, somehow looking both amused and horrified at the same time, like she couldn't quite wrap her head around the fact that the woman behaves like this all the time in spite of living here herself, while...

"Oh, it's Pendragon-kun."

...the woman, seeming to finally realize exactly who it is that just wandered through her doors, lowers her pointer finger with a giggle, and-!

"It's been awhile! How can I help you? Are you hungry? Whatever you want, on the house!"

"This is how you lose money you know."

Says a certain fae with a Cheshire cat smile, recovering from it's earlier expression and acting with the usual smugness of a fae, in spite of it's plan having been exactly this outcome-!

"It's fine, it's fine~" She claps her hands together, flour shooting into the air, before removing her gloves and stepping closer to the counter, "I'd be more offended if he tried to pay!"

---Truly.

In spite of lacking the powerful spiritual auras normally associated with Aoyama residents.

She was one of the more overwhelming people in town.

[Airen]

Logan Starbright
SLEIPNIR - Hallway (Outside the Hangar Bay)
11/16/2026
Monday ~ Evening

"Of course she was proud of you, did you think she wouldn't be?"

Haunting words.

Ones that don't fit your worldview at all and that continue to ring out in your mind throughout the duration of this impromptu meal with Eliza, one that had finally come to a proper head as taco shells are finished in the oven, as a table cloth is produced for the box you two had been using up until now and as the knightess herself had grown quiet in that way she always does around mealtimes, when the replacement of all the calories she burns being the sort of high-speed Tamer she is comes to the forefront, and a heartwarming conversation leaves itself at a good place, yes...

It had lasted for a bit longer, another fifteen minutes or so before the knightess had had to leave, apparently receiving a summons from her "Aunt" to come to the bridge for one reason or another... That one was a bizarre relationship, for as stoic as the Admiral often presented herself as being to others, she did seem to have an awful lot of what seemed like adopted family...

Still...

Oddities of Eliza's familial relationship with Adala aside, her departure had left you free to finally makes your way over to a Rice that had gone strangely quiet after awhile...

Were you worried?

It's not like she had ever been particularly far away, you weren't the best sensor on the SLEIPNIR, but you were pretty confident in your ability to feel dangers that were only a room or two away, still...

Quiet is quiet.

While you don't really think anything bad has happened, a part of you is always keen to assume the worst about things, and so...

You march back down the hall once Eliza has left, turn once into the hanger bay, take a few strides more towards the ship that still seems to be unlocked, and-

"..."

On the bed, a familiar looking girl has taken residence, fingers scrolling through screen after screen of a tablet in her hands, a perpetual frown and narrowed eyes showing that all her attention is being put onto it. She doesn't seem to be hurt anywhere, nor does her body language scream at any hidden dangers, just...

Complete and utter focus on what she's looking at...

With a hint of...

Annoyance?

Either way, she doesn't seem to have noticed your entrance into the room either, so...

[Airen]

Cosmos Fairchild
Rose Cross Headquarters - Park
Monday - Morning
11/16/2026

"You want me to stop calling a brat a brat? Should I stop calling the toaster a toaster too?"

As always, Alyx is quick with rebuttals and insults, although the way her gaze drifts back and forth between you and Daniel shows that her heart isn't really in it right now. Indeed, sibling suspicion has definitely overwritten everything else as you speak, to the point where the girl actually seems to be only half-listening to your words at first, because her brain is already putting forward some twisted, worst case scenario narrative for why you would be hanging around with an obviously older man, but...

"Wait... NWAB... They sent you...?"

At the end, she blinks at you, like a computer that had been lagging ever so slightly up until now... Her voice is almost incredulous, the gaze going from you to Daniel as if to ask him to poke a hole in the story that doesn't seem to add up from her end, but-!

"It's true. I did ask your sister here for her assistance. But worry not, it is not a particularly dangerous task and she will be under my complete protection for the duration."

Hat still in hand, Daniel does another polite and clearly practiced bow. It's a gesture that seems far more fitting for a butler than an NWAB Agent, one that had clearly been absorbed into the man's muscle memory at some point in his life and was now being used to deflect the soon-to-be-righteous wrath of someone that thought she might have to 'talk' to him about putting the moves on someone she perceived to be her kid sister. The polite movements, when combined with Daniel's naturally gentleman-like aura, are enough to turn suspicion to disbelief and thus...

"Seriously...? But why her...?"

She remains off guard for awhile, pushed onto a back foot she hadn't expected to be pushed too...

Then, after a moment's thought, in which a bunch of different emotions -from jealousy to concern- battle for dominance...

"...You sure you can handle..." She gestures to the still bowing man. "That? Have you even ever left the city before...? You're not gonna freak out on him or anything right?"

She asks a simple question...

One that was a bit embarrassing yes, but she had never shied away from embarrassing you in front of others...

[Verg Avesta]

Blaise Pendragon
Tokyo, Aoyama ~ Brick Lane (Smokey Island Bakery)
11/16/2026
Monday - Morning

"U-uh..."

Blaise couldn't help but to blink owlishly, stupefied by the sudden cheer and warmth that greeted him inside the bakery - especially when it came with such a volume.

... Now that he thought back upon it, he had always been a bit intimidated by this woman. Though that was only logical considering how, in a place such as Aoyama, she was one of the most overwhelming people despite all the weirdos running about. The juxtaposition between her absolutely normalcy and her... attitude... was stuff of legends on its own, which had definitely earned a certain reputation and atmosphere to the bakery.

An atmosphere that, in all honesty, made Blaise feel slightly - just a bit - better during this rainy morning.

"Oh, uh, um... good morning, Mrs. Mokujima," Blaise greeted the older woman, feeling like he had reverted to a kid for just a moment. "Eh, I mean... it's alright? I earn my keep these days, so I don't mind paying, really---"

Though, before the boy got any further.

"Good mornin', Ane-san!"

A bellowing female voice shouted right next to Blaise, scaring the bejesus out of the boy. Hastily looking at his side, the boy saw Kaguya, the COMP AI having finally materialized. She also had her arms behind her torso in a military-esque fashion and was performing a perfect 90-degree bow towards Mrs. Mokujima, the tips of her bunny ears almost touching the ground. The look of utmost seriousness and respect on the delinquent girl's face...

... Blaise couldn't help but to scratch his cheek a bit sheepishly.

Sometimes it was like the emotions he felt towards different people came out completely unfiltered through Kaguya. After all, out of the many adults in Aoyama, he did respect the owner of this bakery a lot.

"We'll happily take ya up on yer offer, Ane-san!"

Thus bellowed out Kaguya once more, before shooting Blaise a warning glare. Indeed, the AI was seemingly telling him not to push further with the intent to pay... and for once, Blaise took the advice. After thinking it over, he could only see more trouble in the horizon if he decided to be stubborn.

So, instead...

"Uh, well, in that case... I guess I'd go for a cinnamon bun? And maybe something to drink?" He replied, hesitating just for a moment. "Just a little pick-me-up for the morning, y'know. Since..."

He left his words vague and gestured towards the gloomy rain outside - that should explain things well enough.

After giving his order, the boy took a seat at the counter, allowing himself to relax for a little bit. Kaguya however behind his him, almost like a goon or an underling waiting for orders... but from him or from Mrs. Mokujima, he didn't know.

Still, while he was here, Blaise figured he could do with some small-talk. Warm himself up for the rest of today.

"But yeah... guess it's been a while, Mrs. Mokujima. I've been fine, mostly. Busy. Got myself tangled up in some business with a vam--- a friend or two of mine. You know how it can be in this town," the boy said, a hint of a smirk appearing on his face. "How about you? The bakery seems to be doing well. Though... are you handling things alone today? Chris-nee isn't helping you out?"

That older girl he had remembered now, once more... she still lived here, right?

Suddenly, Blaise really hoped he hadn't stepped on some social landmine.

[Airen]

Blaise Pendragon
Tokyo, Aoyama ~ Brick Lane (Smokey Island Bakery)
11/16/2026
Monday - Morning

"Oh we're doing just fine here!" She beams. "Good morning, Kaguya!"

If she had noticed you were feeling a little overwhelmed at her attitude, she doesn't show it in the slightest. Of course Mrs. Mokujima had always been like this, loud and exuberant, filled with the sort of boundless energy that can overwhelm even those neck-deep in the supernatural, the sheer force of her personality serving as it's own sort of perfectly mundane power.

"Sales are up! So I guess you could say we're... On a roll~!"

She giggles again, before spinning off towards the back, towards a massive brick oven, while somehow acquiring a particularly large spatula somewhere along the way-! The old-fashioned metal door opens at her touch, roaring flames making themselves known to the world for a moment, casting their heat out into the old building, before she retrieves her pan from the inside of it and comes spinning back the same way, completely at ease with each and every little thing around herself in that way that only those who were truly comfortable with their life could really do...

---Truly she was a baker.

---As normal as she was, being this awake this early in the morning was...

Just somehow wrong-! Bakers just weren't like other humans-!

"Chris normally helps on weekends, so she's not here right now, but I can tell her you were looking for her later!" Cheerfully agreeing to pass on a message, the woman grabs an apron from a hook on the wall, before making her way over to Robin, "But don't worry dear I'm not alone, Robin here helps me nowadays when Chris isn't around~"

She pushes the apron towards the fae, who accepts almost instinctively, eyes that strange mix of amused and overwhelmed again, although the practiced way the fae puts on the apron before stepping behind the counter herself hints at the truth in the older woman's words.

After all, as 'tough' as some people think Demons might be, even they can get overwhelmed when it comes to social matters if you know what you're doing and the older woman definitely seems to know what she's doing in this case...

"I suppose I've been recruited to make the tea then?"

Asks Robin, who gets only an enthusiastic nod as an answer.

"...Hmm. Quite. Very well."

The fae smiles smugly, as if to declare this was it's own idea and absolutely not the result of being overwhelmed by the home's matriarch-!

"Normally I'd go with an herbal blend... But something with more caffeine seems better to shake the bad dreams away."

It winks at you, then disappears into the back itself, humming that same song from earlier...

"But tangled up in some sort of business, huh? Is it something I can help with?"

The older woman smiles, practiced hands glazing -massive- cinnamon buns without what seems to be her conscious input.

"The community has to watch out for each other, you know? My husband should be back soon too, so if it's a technical thing, we can probably bully him into it~"

She winks.

"You can just leave it to me!"

Yep.

Still overwhelming-!

[palad1n]

Cosmos Fairchild
Rose Cross Headquarters - Park
Monday - Morning
11/16/2026

Even though she's careful not to let it show on her face, a part of Cosmos is delighted to see that brief flash of jealousy from Alyx's expression; as far as she could remember, this is the first time her sister had expressed jealousy towards her, and it felt... good, even though she knew it's wrong.

She silently prayed for forgiveness and strength to rise above such sentiments.

"...You sure you can handle..." She gestures to the still bowing man. "That? Have you even ever left the city before...? You're not gonna freak out on him or anything right?"

Cosmos smiled ruefully at Alyx's concern.

How is she supposed to answer that? That the first time she went outside the city was to another world like Ruina? That in the span of a single day (is today still count as the same day she fought Chokmah?) she'd already experienced numerous breakdowns and freak outs? That she had a panic attack from just seeing a crowd?

Could she handle going to North Pole alone? Probably not.

But at least she has Mister Daniel - and hopefully Miss Sofia - by her side.

"Mister Daniel's with me, so you don't have to worry. Even if you don't have any faith in me, at the very least you could trust the strength of a NWAB member, couldn't you?" She said as she put her hand on Alyx's shoulder with a small smile, careful not to let anything strange shows on her face. "Just... tell mother about this so she wouldn't worry, would you?"

But whether Cosmos realized it or not, she didn't promise that she would be able to handle it or that she wouldn't freak out.

[Rafflesiac]

Logan Starbright
SLEIPNIR - Hangar Bay (Inside Alexia’s Ship)
11/16/2026
Monday ~ Evening

Logan sighs softly when he sees Rice splayed out on someone else’s bed, gazing intently at what is presumably Alexia Wright’s tablet. Made herself right at home, didn’t she? Her set frown contrasts his slight smile. Having established her whereabouts and status, Logan looks around at the interior of the ship, noting the retrofuturist decor, assorted devices in various states of repair, and… security camera? Rice turned that off, right? A brief surge of worry tries and fails to settle in his full stomach as he approaches Rice and lightly taps Amelia against the tablet.

“I’m sorry for making you wait like that. Thanks again for your help.”

Amelia’s next to talk. “So how’s it look in here, kid? Is that tablet everything we need to look at, or should we peek under the bed too?”

Logan, for his part, scans the ship for any books before sitting on a stool.