Spirit Pulse : Mugen No Sekai [IC]

[Satehi]

Eva Ellet
SLEIPNIR - Artificial Park
11/16/2026
Monday - Morning

“Something I want to do besides being a Tamer…?”

Eva gave a confused look at Alexia, as she repeated the question. Not because she hadn’t understood the meaning- all the words made perfect sense- but when put together, they had a meaning that was… just odd. Alien.

It wasn’t an idea she’d ever given much thought to.

Eva had been a Tamer since she was created- it was a decision that had been made for her even before she was capable of making decisions. As a result, she had naturally taken it for her goal- partly because she felt it would have been wrong to do so otherwise since she was a machine built for exactly that, but also because she didn’t mind. She understood that there were people who thought differently- but even if it was not something that she had decided for herself, being a Tamer was a good goal. It gave her direction, reminded her that there was a purpose in her existence.

And, it was also what her creator had expected of her, once. She had already failed their expectations once. She didn’t want to do it again.

Naturally, Eva had desires of her own- even outside of the very standard answers like world peace and happiness, but those were mainly about things that she wanted to happen. As far as things in particular she wanted to become or do…

“…There isn’t really anything in particular. I guess I’d like to become someone that people respect and can rely on… like Mr. Isaac, from the Rose Cross, if you know him? Or from the sounds of it, your student…?”

Truth be told, the subject of her own goals was a subject Eva felt awkward discussing.

“Anyways…”

Although she was reluctant- it felt like she was being treated as if she were a little girl who easily got lost- she decided to take Alexia’s offer to hold hands after all. The possibility that it would make their trip to the common room and perhaps a change of topic happen much faster was worth the risk of being seen by anyone she knew.

“Let’s go?”

[Verg Avesta]

Blaise Pendragon
Demonic Server, Hali Bay
11/16/2026
Afternoon, Heavy Winds

".................."

Uh...

"........

Nani?

What?

"

No, no, no, no... this wasn't happening right now. Blaise's face, which had been all too serene before thanks to the moment Isamu, now twisted like he had bitten into a particularly sour lemon. There were far too many questions and far too many retorts swimming around in his head, and it took just about all of his mental fortitude to not make this moment devolve into an Abbott & Costello routine. Instead, he took a moment to calm down, pinched the bridge of his nose, let out a great big sigh... and stared at the young girl still struggling in the all too adoring clutches of the vampire.

... This wasn't going to end well, was it?

There was practically no route he saw here that could end well.

"... First of all - in all the ways I can say: No," Blaise finally replied, fixing a stern stare at Tsukiko. "You don't know where it's been, you don't know why it's here, and most important of all - considering where we are - you don't know what it is. So put it back where you found it. Immediately."

If Blaise was completely honest, his mind simply refused to believe that a normal young girl would be wandering around the Demonic Server all on her own. And what was it he heard about fire-breathing? Yes, it's quite like that this girl... was something far more than she appeared. In other words, it was already a threat to the fragile peace and quiet that they had acquired after deciding to just ignore the biggest trouble-maker on the beach.

Then again...

"......"

Blaise frowned as he stared at the little girl.

And sighed again.

... He couldn't just ignore this, could he? No matter what it was, it still was a child - and a particularly lost looking one.

"Or rather, just put her down. You can't keep her or take her home - she's not some kitten that you found by the side of the road. That's a child, in case you haven't realized," Blaise replied in a deadpan voice, before turning his eyes towards the girl. "... Don't worry. She won't hurt you. The fang-n-glasses over here just lacks a thing we call common sense. She'll snap out of it at some point."

Having made things a bit more clear, he coughed into his balled up fist and continued.

"That being said... are you alone, kid? Where are your parents? You're not lost, are you? Though then again, this is quite the easy place to get lost at..." Blaise said, glancing around for a moment. "Listen... are you hungry? If you want, we're just about to start cooking. You can come eat and tell us where you're coming from and where you last saw your mom and dad. I'm sure we'll be able to find them. Or, if nothing else, we can alert the authorities and have them search for them."

Yes, despite Blaise knowing that this girl could potentially spell trouble, he couldn't help it...

Seeing a lost child just awakened some instincts inside him that even he didn't fully understand. What he did know was that young kids were always hungry, often lost, and quite likely to panic if there wasn't a responsible adult figure around to support them. So he would take care of these things, at least for now.

... After all, there was not a shred of responsible adult in the bespectacled vampire that still held onto the girl.

[Kuroyuki]

Hiyori
SLEIPNIR - Bottom Level, Endless Hall
11/16/2026
Monday - Morning

Nothing! Absolutely nothing out of the normal are in any of those rooms as well! They were absolutely positively empty as they were supposed to be! The only thing in the other rooms was the standard issue not too soft and not too firm bed that everyone started out with! And it was so middling that almost everyone got rid of them as soon as they could! AHHHHHHH, I don’t want to talk with that smug know-it-all stowaway! I actually ended up floating in front of it for a little bit wondering if I really had to talk to them…No Hiyori! You have to swallow your pride so that you can save Ludwig and Lexie! ? You’re a COMP of Justice after all! I give the stowaway’s door a loud knock before entering.

“Excuse me!”

I opened the room to find… No one there? That’s weird. I didn’t pass her on the way in… And I didn’t find her in the hallway… Don’t tell me! She’s aiming to surprise me from behind! I can see that smug stowaway getting a kick out of surprising a poor COMP like that! Their room looked nice though for a mere stowaway! If I didn’t know any better, she smuggled her room into this room because it had a computer, tons of old fashioned books and magazines, and a mini-fridge! Not just a mini-fridge! A mini-fridge filled with caffeine! A myriad of energy drinks and coffees. Wait is that even a limited edition holiday flavor from last year?!

It was only when I realized when I decided to check the computer that I saw… Plasma marks?! When did that happen?! I am pretty sure that I wasn’t that far away thanks to this endlessly looping hallway. Like even if I didn’t sense the magical signature of the spell being used, I should’ve been able to hear the spell going off and hitting the SLEPNIR’s bulkhead! Especially since it actually did damage to it in comparison to my spell from earlier! M-maybe Genesis or someone took a repair torch to this room and that smug stowaway just happened to choose this room. Yes! She was clearly taking advantage of her mysterious aura and this atmosphere to take scary me more!

Regardless! The computer is open and has something I could read. Maybe the loop’s spell is on the computer itself. If that’s the case, then she must’ve been the culprit pulling an innocent prank even if I didn’t have time for this. So I decided to casually look at the computer. I’m not prying, the screen was left like this so anyone can just so happen to look at it like me.

And to be honest, the articles were weird! Like those weird tabloids talking about all of the crazy stuff. You would think that with the amount of information in the magical age that these kinds of things would just outright disappear! Well, I can’t exactly look for information to argue against these articles when I don’t have a connection to the web… Well actually Article #2 and Article #3 could be real. Article #2 was believable… It’s not like Ross and I followed space too much. So it could’ve happened… And Article #3 was far in the past and I didn’t know too much about Myra even though Ross had it searched earlier. Also another weird thing was that the name Mokujima showed up again… Was Mokujima.

Eventually, I heard footsteps and saw the warning pop-up. Something about that timing and the general atmosphere made me decide that I need to actually follow this computer’s suggestion. I looked around the room rapidly. The closet and underneath the bed are classic hiding spots, but because they’re such classic hiding spots that means that everyone would check those locations first. I can’t hide under the desk even though I am smaller than most kids. The fridge would be a good choice if it wasn’t so filled with all of the drinks already! So that meant only one place left! The cardboard boxes on the shelf. It was halfway filled and I can use that to my advantage!

Rigid Rabbit beginning sneaking mission!

I jumped into the box and stopped breathing as best I could (I didn’t need to breathe but it felt right). No one would expect someone to be able to hide in a cardboard box! After all it’s just a box!

[Airen]

Blaise Pendragon
Demonic Server, Hali Bay
11/16/2026
Afternoon, Heavy Winds

"A fire breathing child, I feel this distinction is kind of important!"

The vampire frowns. She's not a mind-reader by any means, but the look you're giving her in this instance is an easy enough one to read, the look that always appears when this person manages to dive head-first into shenanigans, as well...

Shenanigans seem to be drawn most strongly to her out of all of the members of this little 'gang,' or at least she would be the biggest magnet for it, if not for well...

You yourself, but that was a bitter fate you'd fight till the very end-!

"She was watching us from the bushes, her clothes and hair are a mess, not even wearing shoes... So it's probably someone who's been wandering around for awhile... Few weeks at least, judging by how messed up the clothes are..."

Of course, even as she lacks common sense, it seems some sort of maternal-esque instinct has also awakened in the vampire, enough that she's already done a casual once-over of the child's condition even as it once squirmed in her arms, but...

"..."

Where the 'older ones' talk, the little girl simply watches at first.

Her struggles cease after a bit (as she seems to clue into the fact that the person holding her actually isn't going to do much beyond that) and her gaze turns to you as you speak to her, eyes wide and unblinking like a precocious cat that has accepted the fate of being adored by humans against it's will, listening to you speak, the questions about where her parents are, if she's hungry, what she could tell everyone about her current situation, and...

"..."

...It takes her awhile to say anything in response to it.

Peering up at you with something more akin to curiosity that suspicion, the girl does seem to be trying to work over the situation in her head a bit, refraining from speaking likely because that is what her parents -whoever they are- would have wanted her to do, but eventually...

"...Hungry."

---Childhood innocence wins out.

Her words are accompanied by the growling of her stomach...

"But Mom said... Don't talk to strangers..."

Her voice is quiet.

Quiet and mostly calm... But also a tad uncertain...

"If that's the case, we just need to introduce ourselves right? Then we won't be strangers, and you can eat with us just fine! I'm Tsukiko~ You can call me Tsuki~ What's your name?"

...It's hard to tell if Tsukiko knows what she's doing or not, the more time you spent around her the more you're starting to think her original aloof, cold personality was just a very fragile mask she put up in a vain attempt to look cool, because she just...

Has a habit of saying things that can be taken in quite a few ways...

Saying you're trustworthy is the sort of thing a suspicious person would say after all, kids can still pick up on those sorts of things-!

But...

Against all odds, or perhaps because the vampire really doesn't mean any harm and she can sense that...

"...Fia... It's um... Really Fiammetta... But Mom only says that when I'm in trouble..."

The girl responds after a moment, admitting her name aloud, before...

Looking questioningly at you...

As if waiting for you to fulfill your part in this little ritual...

[Airen]

Sariel
Vatican City
12/22/2026
Evening, Thunder Storm

---Is he the one responsible for all of this?

It's a question that must be asked naturally, his appearance here is both convenient and suspicious, a person whose mannerisms come off as both encouraging and dangerous, as if there were two different forces inside of that body struggling for control... Certainly, his words come across as almost too reasonable, a bit too bright in this day that seems to be rapidly spiraling down the drain, and...

"..."

He takes awhile to really answer you, but...

"...On some level, the responsibility is mine."

When he does, the words aren't the expected ones; an admittance of some form of guilt, although the way he says it is with an actual, pure emotion for once, actual sadness, actual guilt, not that ambiguous voice that had appeared up until now...

"I let them lead me astray, didn't notice until it was too late. I didn't stop it, so it is my fault."

...And it's not exactly the admittance of guilt you were looking for, rather than saying that he was the instigator of things, he seemed to be saying it was his fault because he didn't stop whatever this was from happening...?

"This is a nightmare. In a quite literal sense, I just wish I had realized that sooner..."

A chuckle.

Bitterness floods the voice for a moment, then... It returns to the ambivalence from earlier.

"It's all a bad dream, and bad dreams can be... Dangerous... Especially when they're not your own, and yet they come to find you anyway... It was a convenient nightmare, the death of a parent, and real or imagined it spread through this town like a virus... Now there's no returning to the logic of the dream... It has become a simple fantasy, anything can happen, as is the nature of fantasies, the rules were bent too much, so..."

---And a return to the ambiguously worded statements, the nonsense poetry, or perhaps...

"The World is Strange, too strange, and now, everything is gathering here..."

...The best he can do under these circumstances.

Perhaps he doesn't completely understand himself...?

Either way...

"As for your other questions... Of course. As I said before, my intentions are heroic, so I will do my best in the time remaining to me."

[palad1n]

Sariel
Vatican City
12/22/2026
Evening, Thunder Storm

There were quite a few things that flew over Sariel's head. Dreams, Nightmares... She couldn't understand why the man specifically mentioned them, why he said The World is Strange, or what he meant by everyone gathering here, but Sariel understands that the man is blaming himself for something that's not his fault. That fact puts her at ease a little.

After all, that nature is quite similar to Cosmos' own.

That's why...

"...I understand." She finally said. "Then please excuse me for a moment; I'll inform my... friends about our arrangement, and then we can go to where Cosmos is. Naturally, I expect you to honor your words and extend your protection to them as well."

The angel in the end decided to trust him.

There are quite a few reasons why. First of all, the city is obviously not safe, and with Mary now here, getting to regroup with Cosmos would allow them to better asses the situation in a safer place. Secondly, the way to LOVELESS would likely be dangerous, which is where the man comes in; he's obviously strong, and having him would better ensure Mary's safety. Thirdly, even if communication breaks down and the man eventually attacks Cosmos, they would be prepared for it rather than having the man suddenly appears out of nowhere...

However, those are all the rational 'why,' and if Illia is here, the man is still suspicious enough that the COMP would never show him the way. The mere threat and risk of things going wrong is simply too high to be acceptable.

But that's why the biggest reason why Sariel did this is not out of any rational reason; no, the reason why Sariel did this is a simple one, yet one that is almost unthinkable for an angel.

She decided to believe in him.

Indeed, one of Sariel's abnormal qualities that differentiate her from most of her fellow heavenly hosts is that she often wanted to believe in humanity's capability to do good. Sariel wanted to see the best in people, dislike fights, and is overall an optimist who believe that everything can work out if people just talk with each other rather than fighting; and the man in front of her, despite all the warning signs and suspiciousness, hadn't attacked her, nor had he turned down the opportunity to talk, and his self-blame for her is practically a sign that at least, his heart is in the right place.

That's why she decides to trust him, for now.

With that, Sariel slips back into the bar and closes the door before the man could see Mary and Saria; if nothing else, her wings should have done a good job of obscuring his vision, and the moment the door closes and she's back to facing the two, Sariel takes a deep breath to calm herself down.

Goodness, the amount of anxiety she's feeling right now is more than the entirety of her life combined.

"O-okay. So," She began in a low voice, her voice trembling a little. "The plan for now is to head to where Cosmos is. T-there's a man outside who's looking for her, but he promised that he'd talk with her before doing anything and to protect us on the way there, so I think... I think that's what we should do. Of course, Lady Mary should don the hood up just to be safe..."

If Saria failed to recognize Mary before she lowers the hood, then the man outside shouldn't be able to recognize her just from a glance either... hopefully. God, she's practically just grasping at straws now.

"C-Cosmos is in LOVELESS, by the way... We'll go together, but I think I'd have to leave in the middle of the way to see how Lady Lailah is doing and to report... If -if anything happens, please protect Lady Mary, Saria." She paused, realizing that maybe she should explain some things better first. "Oh, um, currently aside from us and Lady Lailah, everyone in the city - angels and humans alike - seems to have vanished, and Lady Lailah is currently with a Foreign Goddess who is approaching the city while seemingly wanting to destroy it, but-but it's not her fault, someone has apparently programmed her to do so, and there's footsteps all over the city so it's not safe, which is why maybe regrouping with Cosmos would be the best course of action..."

God, is she even making sense? Could Mary and Saria follow her? But there's no time, so little time to decide...

Of course, she knew that Mary could be stubborn, and she might be reluctant to leave the city... And in the end, Mary is still the Pope, so she should have the final say in all this. So Sariel clasped her hand together in front of her chest to better calm herself down while looking at the revived Pope, her eyes seeking answers and approval.

"Of-of course, that is merely what I thought we should do... If Lady Mary thinks it's a bad plan and we should do it differently, then... then I'd follow it through, no matter what."

[Airen]

Logan Starbright & Mokujima Chris
Simulator
11/16/2026
Monday - Late Morning

---Ultimately, things come to a sort of truce.

A break from the running, the social anxieties that some sort of outside force seems to have used to play the group as a whole like a fiddle; certainly it seems like you must have been baited into coming here, the timing of Eve's awakening, the coincidentally empty simulator room, the temporary disappearance of the Goddess, all sorts of little things that had lined up and drawn you into this place, yes...

---It seems like some sort of mastermind must exist.

Of course, the idea that someone could break this far into a Tamer base is an absurd one; if there are areas that could be thought of as impregnable, this one would certainly be one, considering the implications that it lies in a sort of 'dimension' all it's own, an in-between space that serves as a defense for the "Soul Sea," that is said to sleep beneath Aoyama, but...

It also cannot be denied that something is going on, and to that end, a few orders (or perhaps suggestions) are given and taken, and thus:

-In terms of camera footage, there is... Nothing wrong? Things happen as they appear to have happened, with Chris and Eve running into the room with Logan not far behind... The door does seem to close on it's own however, although it's impossible to tell through footage if this is because someone had used magic to close the door directly or hack it shut...

There is no sign of the blue haired girl from earlier in it, she doesn't seem to exist at all, but considering her apparent power-set that wasn't surprising...

Still, with what access to the cameras you can get, there is something more surprising about the footage from a few minutes ago, namely...

---It cuts out for a bit, all camera cut off for a minute or two, and when it all comes back online...

No one is around anymore...?

At least, no one seems to be in the common areas, things like bedrooms and the lower floors aren't things you can access, but the guest areas that had been thriving with life just a few moments ago... Are now empty.

Empty and silent.

Although there is someone standing in a raincoat outside by the front door, shivering a bit in the rain, as if waiting for someone to let them inside...

As for Chris, well...

Yamuna simply beams at you getting along with Logan now, although the way she's standing and looking around the area makes it seem like she's a bit on guard herself, looking, perhaps, for the girl that had apparently locked you in here awhile ago, but...

"...Can't pick up a trace with my senses alone."

...It seems even the senses of a Goddess can fail, still, when it comes to Eve...

"..."

When she hears her name called, and is told she should do whatever she wants, the girl takes one last look down the hallway (frowning as she does) before walking back to Chris, and...

"...Instructions received from Administrator. Preliminary scans show that Mokujima Chris can function as a secondary Administrator, I will protect you until you reunite with... Daisuke, was it? I will submit to an inspection at that time, to ensure no further damage was sustained..."

She blinks, then...

Extends her hand.

"Contract?"

A simple question, made with the tilt of her head...

[Rafflesiac]

Logan Starbright
Simulator
11/16/2026
Monday - Late Morning

One firm, confident handshake with proper eye contact (from his end, at least) later, Logan strides to the console to review the video logs. Nothing out of place pops up. Not that many traces would be left behind on a digital log like this in the first place, given her nature. May as well go over the current footage on the off chance Verity’s presumed ‘others’ aren’t as careful.

The screen goes dark. Logan switches feeds to another camera to no avail. He brings up each accessible camera - and nothing. The outside can’t be observed. The blackout’s during the last few minutes, when I spoke with Yamuna and then with Chris. Verity’s handiwork? No, it’s too obvious that something’s different from normal. Then is it that reality ceased to exist for several minutes? How patently absurd. Time catches up to the present and the world reasserts itself on the screen. But it’s strange. It’s far too strange.

“No one’s around?” he mumbles unconsciously. In the SDCD? Their home base, moments before a major operation?

I don’t like this, Logan.

The hallways filled with bustle and chatter, the common rooms filled with casual conversation, the libraries filled with readers and relaxers - all empty. All silent. He can’t help but think of the simulation he left mere minutes prior. Then his eyes catch a shivering figure on the very edge of the screen, standing outside the base in the rain. A victim? A perpetrator? Either way, they’re a lead.

Logan turns away from the terminal to address the group. “There’s no sign of her. However, the feeds cut out during our conversation. Once they returned, they displayed no people or activity save a figure at the front door. I’ll-” He digs his fingers into his palm, and then draws Amelia from his pocket, twirling her once as she expands to full size. “I assume the camera’s been tampered with in some way to display dummy footage, but I suggest we move as a unit to confirm the situation.”

[Bloble]

Mokujima Chris
Simulator
11/16/2026
Monday - Late Morning

"Contract?"

Chris stares at the proffered hand for a moment, before the light of recognition flashes in her eyes.

So she'd found an internet connection after all. Good. At least it wouldn't get boring down there.

"Mm." Chris nods, reaching out to take the hand...

And pauses at the last second. She raises an eyebrow.

"One condition."

There are too many discrepancies. The android is a complete stranger. She just had her mind tampered with. Her goals might not align completely with Chris' own. And Daisuke hasn't been returning her communications. For a cautious person like Mokujima, it is ridiculous to accept a contract with someone so easily, especially when said contract seems to be COMP-like in nature. Best to establish rules first. She's already contracted with a demon, so it should be easy enough to draw up terms preventing most forms of betrayal.

Those threads of logic... are not what she has in mind at all. The tall woman's condition is much simpler.

"I'll protect you."

And with that, she takes Eve's hand, reopening the temporary contract that had formed all those days ago when the mud was blasted away and that blasted tattoo appeared.

To test out that connection, Chris reaches out, and...

"Did you see something in the hall?"

Asks a question, her mental voice much clearer than her physical one.

“There’s no sign of her. However, the feeds cut out during our conversation. Once they returned, they displayed no people or activity save a figure at the front door. I’ll - I assume the camera’s been tampered with in some way to display dummy footage, but I suggest we move as a unit to confirm the situation.”

The other Tamer says something ridiculous, drawing a metal rod - must be his COMP - from his pocket.

Mokujima blinks.

So they won't be given time to regroup, huh? And here she'd hoped that enemy would leave them alone for a few minutes at least.

"...not the cameras," she deduces, quietly. "They already fooled... our perceptions once."

Rather than something simple like tampering with camera footage, it's far more likely that whatever technique the perpetrator used to travel right under the SDCD and Yamuna's noses was just turned upon them in a different manner. "Phase shift? Alternate dimension...?" She mumbles the ideas, mostly to herself, hypothesizing. If there's some sort of phase shift going on, they could be occupying the same physical space as the others without being able to perceive or be perceived by them. Like ghost on another plane of existence. But that's an easily-tested hypothesis. All one needs to do is cause a change in the physical makeup of the base and see if there is an imperceptible reaction to it.

More worrying would be the possibility that they never left the simulation to begin with. This could all be an elaborate recreation of the SDCD base and they'd be none the wiser for it. Chris' hand finds the long object in her pocket, and she is reassured. If that's the case, there is still an escape route.

Of course, it's possible that they're here, as normal, and everyone else was simply kidnapped. But that, of all ideas, is the most ridiculous one. If someone had attacked the SDCD base over the course of two minutes, when the cameras came back on at least half the rooms would be smoldering craters.

Yes, for now, a phase shift or perception trick is the most likely explanation. And also the most convenient.

"...my room," Chris suggests. "Will... need tools."

The solution is simple. She just needs to come up with a way to pierce that veil. To perceive something that has fooled even the Goddess standing next to her.

She is confident she can manage it. It'll be two birds with one stone. Finding the culprit and clearing up this mysterious situation in one go. A spell formula or program should be enough. Or maybe an old fashioned gadget will do the trick. There's plenty of material to work with, so it's only a matter of time. She's less confident about making the meetup, but that's not important here. The base is empty, which means there is less chance of interruption. Furthermore, she still has access to all the facilities. Including the ones she hadn't previously been allowed to touch except in emergencies that never arrived. But now that the situation has changed, no one would yell at her for taking advantage of the mainframe and high level materials to smith up a way out. Might need to go a few days without Daisuke... but he'll be fine with Shuichi there to watch him, and she's survived years without a COMP before.

Chris steps over to a panel in the wall, pulling it open with a click, revealing a console within, which she immediately accesses, her fingers a blur. She can at least download the data for the simulation they were trapped in. Unless that was deleted as well.

As for the figure at the front door.

"...oh. The base is, fortified. Can't breach, easily."

This is the SDCD headquarters after all. So whoever's waiting out there in the rain can't get in. Not unless someone from the inside opens the door for them at least, which Chris has no intention of doing.

"I'll give you... the intercom password."

Don't have to let them in to talk to them. Far better to converse from the safety of the base. Logan's COMP should be able to make the necessary network connections. Not like anyone else is using them right now. Whether that figure he's talking about is yet another victim of the perception-stalker or a natural predator of their realm will be for the Rothschild Tamer to find out.