5330/System Tower: Floor 70

System Tower: Floor 70
Date of Scene:	21 June 2017
Location:	The System <TS>
Synopsis:	The Tower makes its return to Britannica. This time, there is no puzzle. What, Wild Wolf is evolving..!
Cast of Characters:	Lexicon, 675, Rebecca Chambers, Yomi Isayama, 619, Deelel

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Lexicon has posed:
    Lexicon had been reading when it happened. The lights in the Cathoderal suddenly dimmed, prompting her to look up. When they didn't recover, she had tucked a bookmark in place and stepped outside. Fortunately, it didn't take long to find the latest manifestation of the System Tower. Because it had appeared right in the main square of the town this time.

    And that is where Lexicon can be found, her arms folded, her fingers rapping impatiently on her sleeve as she stares up the blackened, metallic face surrounding the large entry doors. Glowing in ominous cyan beside them, the number 70.

    Lights throughout Britannica are dim or out completely. The resource lines, such a staple of the System's architecture, are barely visible beneath the light powdering of snow so common in the Silver Drive. Some can't even be seen at all, so dim that they don't stand out.

    While Lexicon silently glowers, Stylono fusses to and fro beside her, chattering with some uniformed guards about the resource shortage. Her concern is apparently helping the citizen programs, and ensuring peace is maintained. Crisis recovery mode, if one were to compare functions. In the Cathoderal's front garden, Index and Codex watch over the fence, but are staying out of the way. Not that this stops Index from glowering at the tower the same way Lexicon is.

Cirra Constantine (675) has posed:
    With such intense power problems with the most recent arrival of the System Tower, Cirra Constantine can only take the local transportation so far.

    This appears to be on the back of a local motorcycle analouge.

    The single person two wheeled vehcile skids to a halt just behind Lexicon and Stylono. It powers down with a whine and the Judge swings her leg over the seat to step off, noticably not wearing her Judge armor today, but a simple pair of black slacks and a charcoal blazer.

    She powered the motorcycle by paying the owner with the items she recieved from her previous adventures int he system.

    "It even grows more bold as it increases in pwoer." she says as she removes her helmet, letting her hair hang freely.

Rebecca Chambers has posed:
Rebecca had been off, reading a book on biochemistry, since that's what she studied in college and always likes to keep up to date on her studies. Not to mention, she doesn't even need reading glasses, so she doesn't have to worry about that. Instead, Rebecca was just having some time to herself, when the distress signal went out. Almost immediately, Rebecca bookmarked her page, got up quickly, and changed into her uniform, slipping on her kevlar vest last. After all, you don't want to head into a mission unprotected!

Getting there isn't a problem either. A warpgate arrives near where Lexicon and Stylono are, and not long after that, Rebecca comes rushing through it, her Beretta holstered but ready to be used, and a look of determination and eagerness upon her face. She looks around to get a good sense of her surrounding area before looking to Lexion and Stylono. She speaks in a tone that indicates that she's definitely not in the mood for anything funny today.

"I got the signal, and I came as quickly as I could," Rebecca states. "I can't believe the Tower is back, but I'm gonna do everything I can to help you deal with it. Just like I've always done in the past!" She emphasizes this by taking out her Beretta and pointing to her loaded clip before putting it back in. "I'm ready to move when you are. Just say the word!"

Yomi Isayama has posed:
"Wow, right in the middle of the city?" Where once there was no Yomi, suddenly there is, the girl dropping down from a low rooftop and striding toward the Tower. How did she get up there in the first place? Such is a high school girl's secret.

It was probably Ranguren's doing.

"Well, whatever's in there this time, you know you've got my help, Lexicon." Yomi looks this way and that, checking on who is here... then pauses as she sees Index and Codex. "...are those your sisters? They look just like you."

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
The urgency of Lexicon's broadcast message, or such as it is from her ('crap' is probably only the start, should the situation fester and worsen), prompted Sanae Kochiya to take a more express route than her more usual, leisurely light biking. Fortunately, after leaving the System Hub, and entering Britannica, the source of the frustration is both apparent and relatively closeby. "Ah, wow," she says, to no one in particular considering she's currently floating at middling building height for the city itself. Even from here, the practical lack of any distinctive glowing is quite obvious. The sickly pulsating from the last few times has turned into an even more ravenous drain. "It's definitely gotten hungry."

    But there's little time to waste on analysis like that. She drifts in at a pace that is both hurried an measured, keeping flight in order to allow the groups of civilians below to be safely evacuated. There doesn't seem to be much in the way of actual mayhem around the Tower itself, besides the fallout from the lack of precious 'Resources,' but with the Tower, you never really can be too safe. Monsters could eventually come pouring out, or something! "Miss Lexicon," she calls down, once she's close enough to gauge that she's within ear shot. She notes the presence of other staples of the Silver Nation, but Stylono in particular seems busy with other matters. There are some other Elites arriving around the same time, as well; she either knows them directly, or their distinct out-of-towness is noted.

    On her unseen, gathered wind, she eventually floats down to be closer to eye level, though never quite seems to land. She's in high alert mode, even already having her wand at the ready. ...despite that, she breaks out of her serious look for a moment to turn to Yomi, with a broad and warm smile. "Yes, and they're twin magicians. Isn't that incredible?" And adorable.

Lexicon has posed:
    People begin arriving. Stylono waves off the Britannica Guardsmen and then immediately addresses the elite arrivals, "Miss Chambers, thank you for coming so quickly." The agent gets a little bow of greeting. Likewise, she turns towards Yomi, "Miss Isayama. And I see miss Constantine and miss Kochiya as well. Thank you for your prompt responses."

    In response to Yomi, Lexicon is about to answer (without looking) when Sanae does the exposition for her. She blinks briefly, glancing towards the priestess, "...That's right, it's just as Sanae says. They're quite talented, too." Turning, she skims her eyes over the gathered respondants, lingering on Cirra for a moment. And then Cirra's motercycle. And then back to Sanae. With one hand, the DCC gestures, "/She/ rented a motercycle."

    Apparently she can't let that digital segway go.

    "I recognize all of you," Lexicon states evenly, "So you're already familiar with what the Tower does and what to expect inside." Turning, she glances up the face of the building, "It appears randomly, so I don't think this is 'boldness' so much as 'poor luck'. Either way, naturally our mission is to clear the floor and get rid of it."

    Heels click on the pavement behind the gathered group, though all that can be seen behind various heads and shoulders is two blue bunny ears. The analysis program Bunnabelle circles around those gathered, giving Cirra's bike a wide berth, before she comes to a stop and takes a moment to catch her breath. Once she straightens, the doll-like program announces, "I'll observe and take measurements! I was on the verge of something before Lady Emerald Soul cleared it in Arcade last night. My hope is that I can pick up where I left off."

Deelel has posed:
Lexicon's world had proven tobe much like Deelel's in many ways and she'd been happy to help but she woners about just what's happening now. Well the message frm Lexicon clers things up pretty cast all things considered it's timeto gt to work or so she thinks Deelel seems to be redy for a fight abd both Yomi and cirra get a look from here.

"This is not quite like anything I have encountered in the past here."

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
Ah, it's Bunnie, as Sanae has decided it should be shortened to (though not aloud). She'd thought to ask if they should try and wait for her arrival, or at least to double check that she's on notice to receive any artifacts that might survive leaving the Tower, but now that will no longer be necessary. "Random, I wonder," she does seem to ponder, for a moment. The priestess has that look like she's going to go on one of her mental tangents, and before long, any such fears would be confirmed. "In my world, random number generators are actually just really long, sometimes irrational numbers, and you cut off as much as you need at a time. It 'seems' random enough, but if there's even a trace of a pattern in the number..."

    She's just taking her thoughts of the System as a computer to its logical conclusion. As she's about to launch into more about how the decay of atomic nuclei and other phenomena can offer a true random generator, but that even her world might basically be a giant computer -- a tiny manifestation of Kanako Yasaka physically appears over her shoulder to gently thwap the back of her head with a folded fan. "--ouch, I'm sorry for getting carried away, Lady Kanako!" The small being gives a satisfied nod and vanishes just as quickly as she'd appeared, and leaving Sanae to rub at the back of her green-haired head. "In any case, that will be for Miss Bunnabelle to determine. Let's see what the Tower has in store for us this time!"

Rebecca Chambers has posed:
A nod is given to those Rebecca recognizes as they arrive here. Those she does not, she simply acknowledges mentally, as after this mission they will be acquainted in some form or other. But for now, the primary task at hand remains to get in there, clear out the problem, and get out. If only it were that easy, but when you're with S.T.A.R.S., you learn to deal with tasks that most would consider difficult and view them as easy. At least that's what Rebecca would say if someone complained about it.

"I'm glad I got the distress signal in time," Rebecca replies to Lexicon. "I wasted no time in getting here, because I've seen firsthand how dangerous the Tower can be." She sighs. "The fact it keeps coming back is a bit troublesome, but that's nothing we can deal with now it seems." Her stance straightens and her voice goes firm again. "Whether it's random or not is irrelevant. We have to deal with it whenever it appears! And whatever's in there must be dealt with!"

As soon as Rebecca finishes speaking, she hears Bunnabelle speaking, and Rebecca turns and cocks an eyebrow. "Observe and take measurements?" Rebecca seems confused, before realizing that there might be something she's missing here and shakes her head. "Of course, do what you need to. I'll be sure to stay out of your way."

Cirra Constantine (675) has posed:
    Cirra raises an eyebrow as she crosses her arms, "Is there something wrong with that?" she asks Lexicon, especially after the Bunny-woman gives the motorcycle a wide berth.

    Moving closer to the tower, Cirra summons her crystaline sword and stands ready to enter. "Unfortunatly the problem of the tower presents a singular path." She points her sword up over her shoulder, "Up."

Yomi Isayama has posed:
"Oh, Sanae! Hello." Yomi glances back over to the twins and smiles. "They look so young... and totally adorable." Yes, she said it out loud, even if Sanae didn't. She grins back at Lexicon. "You must be proud of them. And you can just call me Yomi, you know. No need to be so formal."

Yomi is about to say something else when a strange phenomenon happens around Sanae's head. For a moment, she just... stares. "There is -far- more to you than I understand, isn't there..." She lets out a sigh and an amused smirk, "But I guess that's both ways. I know you were curious about Ranguren last time. If we have to fight in there, I'll bring him out again."

Yomi unslings the bag from her shoulder and unzips it to pull out her sword, Shishiou, though keeps it in its scabbard. "I'm ready to head inside, in any case, no matter what we may find."

Lexicon has posed:
    "Ahh, miss Deelel as well," Stylono greets her fellow Program from another System, "You're correct. The Tower has grown a lot more ... ravenous since you were last here to help us with it. It's having an effect across the entire Drive."

    Lexicon, meanwhle, stares blankly at Sanae when the priestess starts going into the particulars of programmed random number generators. When pulled out of it by a miniature version of the Moriya goddess, Lexicon nods once to the tiny manifestation of Shinto divinity, "Thank you."

    In response to Cirra, Lexicon gestures to Sanae, "This one insists on a segway. I was pointing out your superior choice." She has no explenation for Bunnabelle's behavior, though. To Yomi, the DCC nods once, "Yes. I am quite proud, though they're not ready for this kind of crisis just yet."

    Bunnabelle explains herself for Rebecca's sake, and those who might not have met her yet: "My name is Bunnabelle. I am an analysis program and my current assignment is to study and attempt to understand the System Tower." She bows briefly, tugging out the edges of her dress in a courtsy, "While I cannot fight, I hope my efforts will go a long way towards resolving the Tower once and for all."

    "Effectively," Lexicon adds on as she turns to face the doors, "She's a scientist studying this thing. It's still /our/ job to clear the floor's trial." She grabs on and hauls the door open, stepping inside.

    The iterior, once one passes through the 'impenetrable shadow' of the doorframe, reveals itself to be a large stone arena. By the degradation, it's an ancient ruin that hasn't seen inhabitation in a very long time, with walls crumbling and the odd collapsed pillar or caved-in ceiling. The arena floor itself is reasonably intact, though overgrown with various wild grasses. Creatures move about in the tall grass, the distinctive dog-like Fenris virus, each one colored in hues of blue, purple, and pink. Even as people enter, these viruses don't pay them much mind, more intent on sniffing around in the tall grass than fighting.

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
Sanae gives an awkward, perhaps modest kind of laughter to Yomi's insinuation that there's more under her surface. "I guess you could say that, but the thrust of what I said is true. I'm a wind priestess!" That there are other bits going on behind the scenes isn't relevant to her business in the System, and in fact, with the nature of the DCCs being what it is, the fact that she's working as an agent of her temple might draw suspicion of her motives. ...or she could be worrying a lot over nothing. "It's good to see you again though, Miss--Yomi," she mid-course corrects, as that offer was extended to Lexicon. Plus, Yomi called her by her given name, so it makes it doubly okay. "While I'd love to see more of you and your partner, let's hope it won't come to that, instead," she adds outwardly, at least.

    Cirra is the one that Sanae would otherwise know best, having been through a couple of floors with her in presence by now, though she recognizes Deelel, as well. Her uniquely fitting presence in the System would be hard to forget. Rebecca Chambers seems extremely goal oriented -- she's probably a professional of sorts, and is another face that Sanae has seen around here before. It's quite a contrast to her own 'action tourism' that she often feels engaged in. Bunnie's all set, it seems. Stylono is tending to the populace. Lexicon is using her second tier swears. It seems like everything is good to go. She rolls up a detached sleeve (which immediately slips right back down), and gives a nod of her head.

    Then, she wastes no further time with socializing and weird meta-theorizing. Instead, she files in behind Lexicon as the doors are swung open. You'd almost think this kind of phenomena would suck you in, or teleport you in with a bright light, or something. Regardless, on the other side, this level of the Tower seems more...well, sedate? Compared to the usual. It's still distinctly fantasy oriented, and seems to be some kind of ancient ruin or relic site. There are also the colorful wolf spirit looking things, though they don't seem to be aggressive for the moment. "I don't know what I was expecting, but colorful dogs in this setting wasn't it." The tall grass, though...she has a feeling like this should be familiar to her, somehow, but she honestly doesn't recognize how.

    "I'm going to take a look around," she announces for sake of clarity, step-hovering off to take a closer look at some of the partially collapsed columns, looking for any markings on what this place's purpose might have been.

Rebecca Chambers has posed:
"I appreciate the explanation," Rebecca replies to Bunnabelle. "I've been here a few times but I'm still not accustomed to the way things work." She nods. "I'm hoping all of our efforts can resolve this issue once and for all. But it's going to take a while before we can do that." She runs a hand through her hair before drawing her Beretta and activating the laser sighting on it. "Whatever the trial is, I'm ready for it!"

Rebecca lets Lexicon take the lead while covering her from the back. She doesn't know what the trial for today entails, but she wants to be ready for anything, and part of that means covering an ally whenever entering an unknown situation. The door apparently takes some effort to open, but it finally opens, and Rebecca passes in through the 'impenetrable shadow.' Proving that it's not quite as impenetrable as one might think it is.

The arena setting is of no surprise to Rebecca, as she knows anything can happen during these trials. The sight of the Fenris virus does get Rebecca a little concerned, but given that they're paying her no heed, nor are they bothering anyone else, she decides to let it go for now. Nevertheless, her senses are on high alert, as she knows anything can change. "I'll look around too," Rebecca says as she moves to search an area where a pillar had collapsed, hoping that there might be something buried among the debris that she can use.

Cirra Constantine (675) has posed:
    Cirra hmns at Bunnabelle, "Until we figure out what the goal of the floor is, stay close to someone." She turns and enter the perpetual shadow...

    To be greeted by the ancient arena. "Oh?" she tilts her head as she told she has superior choice. "Well." she permits herself a small smile, "I suppose I might."

    She looks at the dogs wandering through the tall grass. "Hmn. Perhaps they move in a pattern."

Deelel has posed:
Deelel says "That is very troubling, I have to admit."

She doesn't have much more to say as she needs to focus on everything ahead now, she's already lookinglik she's ready for a fight and Sanae is looked at for a moment. She recalls Sanae and is glad to ee here Cirra is also notice and that makes her happy. The Judge was quite good at her job up close and she thinsk they will likely need that with what is to come.

" LEt's go shall we?"

She pauses at the dogs and watches for a moment.

"Could we distract them somehow?"

Yomi Isayama has posed:
The exorcist gives Sanae a light pat on the shoulder. "A wind priestess, huh? I suppose that makes sense now." She drops her hand to rest it lightly on the hilt of her sword. "I always hope I don't have to resort to calling him out. But, well... you know how it goes." Yomi wrinkles her nose in distaste and shakes her head.

"You know, for how dangerous I'm sure they are, those things are a little cute. I think the purple one is my favorite." Since they don't seem to be aggressive, Yomi feels a bit more at ease to joke around. She still has a careful grip on her sword, but this place seems harmless so far. Deelel's comment draws her attention, and she gives a little shrug. "Do we have to distract them? They don't seem to have much interest in us. Best not to provoke them if we don't have to, right?"

Lexicon has posed:
    "...Yeah," Lexicon admits, eyes wandering around the ruined surroundings the Tower has presented. When the priestess wanders off to inspect one of the pillars, Lexicon herself steps down closer to the arena level, one hand tapping the backs of cracked and crumbling stone benches as she passes them. It's hard not to wonder what purpose such a place served, even in something as non-sequitor as the System Tower.

    Sanae's inspection turns up very little. At a distance the ruined columns are stereotypically Roman in shape, fluted and made out of a yellow stone. The top is long gone, but the base of one of them had survived whatever weathering could be going on in the Tower. It sports numerous thorn-like designs, cast in ribbons of spikes and horns. Rebecca's inspection turns up more of the same, broken stone and reliefs of brambles.

    Deelel observes the Fenris. There's seven or possibly eight of them milling around on the grassy arena floor, ducking and shuffling about in the tall grass. At some points only their upraised tails can even be seen, while they root around for whatever it is that attracts a Virus' interest. The purple one Yomi pointed out seems to be slightly bigger than the others, milling around the center. Though unlike the rest, it pauses, then circles around. After circling around again, the purple Fenris starts digging, throwing up clods of dirt and sod.

    This attracts Lexicon's attention, and she shades her eyes against the sun coming in through the gaping hole in the arena roof. As the Fenris digs deeper, it shoves its head into the hole, then hauls back out-- sporting horns. Sparks shoot off the virus from either side, drawing the attention of the other Fenris in the arena. The horned wolf throws its head back in a howl, its body glowing with pixellated light, rapidly expanding. The light shatters into pixels, revealing a car-sized wolf covered in crimson and gold armor, with clear weapons affixed to it in various places. Even the name, for those able to scan it, shifts from 'Pack Fenris' to 'Mariwogeus'.

    When the altered wolf howls again, the sound is much louder, shot through with a mechanical undertone like grinding metal.

Rebecca Chambers has posed:
Rebecca seems intrigued by the broken stone as well as the brambles. They're nothing like anything she's seen before, but then again, most of the stuff in the Tower is like that. Still, something about it intrigues her. She takes a couple of samples and puts them into her pocket. "I'll try to look at them later. I've still got work to do." She stands up and dusts herself off before starting to look around. It's then that she sees the Fenris digging, and she frowns a little, wondering why it's suddenly doing that. "Did it find something?" She wonders aloud.

A moment later, Rebecca gets her answer. The Fenris is replaced by a horned wolf... then it turns into a larger wolf than ever, and almost immediately, Rebecca's eyes go wide and she lets out a gasp of shock and horror. "W-what is that? What just happened to it?" She manages to get out before she steps back a couple of steps, not taking her eyes off this new creature.

When that howl goes out, Rebecca clamps her hands over her ears, gritting her teeth as the awful cacophony assaults her hearing. "Unnngh!" She cries out, hoping that her ears don't ring for too long once the altered wolf is done howling.

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
Again, she's not sure what she expected. There's a good chance that whatever writing system Sanae found, she might not be able to read, given the apparent age of the crumbling arena structure. Still, civilizations this age loved their reliefs and carvings of daily life and activities, so she'd hoped to stumble upon something to that effect. Bummer. The Tower does not give its secrets up easily. "Hmm...nothing much, really," she announces, with some slight disappointment, in contrast. "I guess whomever created this place wasn't too focused on the cultural arts." Instead, maybe it was purpose built, instead of a social hot spot.

    Since the architecture isn't yielding its clues to her, maybe the 'dogs' might. She turns her attention there next, and is actually approaching one of the patches of tall grass on foot, when that first howl echoes through, and the digging begins. Well, that's certainly more interesting, and it gets even moreso when the transformation begins, and completes -- though she does visibly wince at the changed Virus' new sound. "So...it looks like they have other ways of growing, too," she says, in that over-loud way that implies she might have some short term hearing loss, from the proximity.

    Sadly, despite her game experience, she has no display HUD to highlight the change in species. Accordingly, she tries to speak to it as though it is still the pup that Lexicon claimed these are examples of. "Hey, don't be scared. Growing up was a weird experience for me, too!"

Yomi Isayama has posed:
"I wonder what he's digging at..." Yomi's curiosity is answered almost immediately, and her eyes widen. "That is slightly less cute. ...still kinda cute, though." She considers for a moment. "It might be more cute if it didn't seem like it was going to attack us. That's how this place works, right?" Giant monster appears, brawls ensue. Maybe if they don't initiate combat, it will ignore them!

But then it howls again, and Yomi cringes... but instead of drawing her sword, she strides forward, casting a glance aside to Sanae. "I'll be ready for the worst, but... It may yet not be aggressive. Let's find out, shall we?" Though she keeps her sword's scabbard in one hand, Yomi takes a deep breath and looks up toward the strange horned wolf. "Surely you don't want to try to eat us, right?" Maybe her calmness in the face of gigantic horned wolf comes from the fact that she keeps a terrifying nue as a companion. That and Sanae probably tastes better than she does.

Cirra Constantine (675) has posed:
    As the Fenris transforms, Cirra looks up at it, sword in hand. Then Sanae tries talking to it.

    Cirra sighs, "I get the feeling that isn't going to work." She holds her sword up right and draws a card from the air beside her. Stabbing the card through with her sword and into the ground, tendrils of crysal vines burst out of the ground to try and entrap the boosted Fenris or some of it's followers, "The Briar!"

Lexicon has posed:
    Mariwogeus, as the newly minted monster is known, fixates its gaze on Yomi when she approaches it. 'Gaze' is generous, given its eyes are concealed behind a thick red visor now, though she does at least appear to be the focus of its attention. The giant wolf shifts to look up towards Sanae, then back down towards Yomi. The other Fenris seem just as surprised as the humans (and 'others') around it.

    "Watch it!" Lexicon calls out, "It's a virus, don't expect it to think like a person!" The DCC, to her credit, thrusts her hand aside. Her own body is surrounded by pixellated light, transforming herself into the white-clad, red-eyed Silver Soul. Processors wink into place around her body, like free-floating armor, while she hauls her axe out of digital storage.

    Mariwogeus' gaze immediately snaps to Lexicon's transformation and it ducks into a hostile posture. Cirra's on top of things, however, as crystalline vines erupt from the arena floor around it, ensnaring the great wolf. Straining on the crystal strands, Mariwogeus snarls. At its shoulders, the circular blades protruding on the outsides of the beast's legs begin to spin, throwing off sparks as it sets about cutting itself free.

    The smaller, un-transformed Fenris scatter. Not because of Cirra's attack, though. Their retreat began the instant Mariwogeus turned openly hostile. And it's not any of the gathered heroes that the little virus-wolves run from, but Mariwogeus itself.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel Says"humm if that;s the case it may be best to leave them be."

She looks at them are they move about. She'll attempt to ty and keep herself unnoticed. The one Yomi spotted looks like an alpha some sort? They could take it out and maybe cow the rest of the beasts here. Then comes the howl and she now moves to get her weapon ready just in the event it's needed. The Mariwogeuns is the prime target here and she'll join in the attack at this point. She'll attempt to move past her allies and catch the disc on the return fly before launching it aggain hopefully she can make an opening as it looks like it's time to fight. Or she could be making a hell of a bit mistake.

Rebecca Chambers has posed:
When a monster runs away from one of its own (if you wanna call it that,) then you know something is genuinely dangerous. And that's why Rebecca goes wide-eyed even more than before. "Oh hell no. You gotta be kidding me! They're scared of its own kind?" She draws her Beretta and levels it at Mariwogeus, but doesn't pull the trigger just yet. She doesn't want to risk firing unless the others are, since she doesn't know what might happen if she attacks.

Then Deelel goes in with an attack of her own, and Rebecca takes this initiative to fire a couple of shots at Mariwogeus. "Go back to where you belong! Too bad I didn't bring any silver bullets!"

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
'Don't expect it to think like a person!' Of course that's true, despite Sanae's wishful thinking to apply anthropomorphism to every creature's actions. In her defense, in Gensokyo, there are a lot of beast youkai that literally have become (if quirky) mostly human. Still, when it reacts with bestial impulses to the signs of apprehension and aggression around it, and even its former comrade Fenris move to get the hell away from it, it's becoming clear even to her that the Tower's intent wasn't to have a pleasant coming of age story with a wolf Virus. "This still feels a bit off, somehow...like maybe we're missing a component of what we're supposed to be doing." Though the Tower has not frequently voiced complaints against those that might take shortcuts in the battle floors, unlike the puzzle ones.

    Still, something occurs to her as she's amassing her wind power, which causes the nearly imperceptible breeze that's nearly omnipresent about her to strengthen to detectable levels. "It only became like this when it found that thing and grew the horns. If this were a game, maybe targeting the horns would do something special!" Acting quickly on this impulse, she draws forward a few motes of magical energy with the wand that's never quite left her hand, even in the calmest of moments on this Tower floor. Rather than firing as distinct elements, they move into a symmetric, six-pointed constellation, focusing their power onto a point before projecting it as a narrow beam. She'll aim directly for one of the conspicuous crests, trying to make the best use of what of Cirra's restraints remain.

    "Sorry," she adds, just under her breath.

Cirra Constantine (675) has posed:
    "It's trying to cut through!" Cirra shouts, she takes up her sword with both hands. She runs laterally around the trapped Mariwogeus and leaps forward, swinging her sword in a sharp diagonal slash.

    "The others have retreated, focus on this one!" She hits the ground and rolls backwards through the grass from her strike.

Yomi Isayama has posed:
As the horned beast inspects her, Yomi can't help but notice the other Fenris starting to act strange. "Huh... I bet this one wasn't expecting this to happen to it either." She smiles faintly at the DCC's warning, not looking behind her because turning your back on a giant monster was just asking for it. "I didn't expect it to be like a person, but these are all acting like animals..."

The thorns come up, and Yomi reaches over to lightly nudge Sanae. "Don't worry. You keep an eye on those horns, okay?" Raising her voice so the others can more easily hear, she calls out, "I'll have Ranguren try to keep it in check!" Her hand closes over the hilt of her katana and draws it forth, shimmering in the light that.... looks like sun, but aren't they indoors? This place is strange.

"Ranguren!" Behind her, the giant nue shimmers into existance, breathing out heavy puffs of steam. "Try to pin it down!" As the exorcist darts off toward Mariwogeus' flank, Ranguren lets out a growl and leaps forward, attempting to bowl the horned wolf over.

Lexicon has posed:
    "Ah--!" From the arena stands, a blue-clad figure calls out. It's Bunnabelle, the doll-like program who followed everyone in. Currently surrounded by holographic screens, she pokes at them whiel data scrawls past, "Miss Kochiya might be correct! That Virus... The horns aren't a part of its code!" Pushing her screens aside, she leans forward on the railing and points, "Try to separate the horns from the rest of it!"

    Deelel leads the charge as Mariwogeus attempts to break loose, the Disc striking the side of its face, ricocheting off into the upper shoulder, and then returning to the Program. Crystal vines break as the wolf shifts its weight. Rebecca's pistol scores several direct hits, sending off sprays of small red pixels much like Deelel's Disc did.

    As Mariwogeus starts breaking loose, thrashing around and carving into the crystal ropes, aiming for a specific part of its body gets harder. Sanae finds this with her magical laser, as it lands all over the virus' face and shoulders. Of note, while most of it sheds red sparks when damaged, the horns shed blue light instead. And then Ranguran jumps into the mix. A large, unidentifiable creature slamming into Mariwogeus is enough force to break it loose of the remaining Briar crystals. Bowled over, it quickly rights itself, springing out from under the bulkier nue.

    Mariwogeus skids to a stop, tearing up sod, the ring-like blades on its shoulders spinning at high speed. It springs back again, just as Lexicon comes streaking in with her axe. The maneuver results in a clean miss, the DCC wrenching her weapon from the ground, "Break the horns off. That's harder than you make it sound, damnit!"

    The giant wolf isn't having any conversation, though. With Lexicon right in front of it, the beast disconnects the blades on its shoulders. These hit the ground to either side of it, immediately tearing off across the arena floor. The beast's horns flash, and the blades turn horizontal, then arc around in a fashion reminiscent of boomerangs, becoming an immediate threat to everyone in front of it on their quest to reattach to Mariwogeus' shoulder mounts.

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
Head of a tiger, legs of a snake...? The form of this particular nue might be incredibly different from the one she's used to, but it's no less interesting! But she cannot allow herself to be distracted with Ranguren, since she has her own motivations, even before Bunnabelle breaks in to confirm her suspicions. When she does, though, Sanae spares a glance in her direction -- the arena had a spectator mode!? It makes a sort of sense, if so. "Bunnie," she calls out, letting her self-decided nickname out without realizing, "How'd you end up up there? Ah...right, will do!"

    The combination of distracting elements, and the Mariwogeus (a real mouthful) beginning to break free of its bindings at just the wrong time, leads to her beam going slightly astray. It seems some still finds its mark on the prominent crest-like horn structure, but most of the magical potency was dumped in areas she didn't intend to hit. It's also an incredibly mobile opponent for its size, with several options for proxy weapons, apparently. Going the laser beam route would take too long for this threat level. It seems like Lexicon has the right idea, though being just her and Ranguren at first means the strategy is limited. "This is going to be a really bad idea, but...change of plan, Yomi!"

    Avoiding one of the sawblades working its way back to its host organism, Sanae nonetheless follows the trajectory. She's on foot, or at least seemingly so, though the more attuned to such things would note that her wind gives an extra impulse. Approaching from a slightly different direction, the priestess leaps up with her paper wand held overhead, before swinging it down in a cutting motion at the horn, again. This would seem pointless at a glance, but again that's deceiving; mid-swing, an enormous amount of atmospheric pressure concentration essentially forms the laughable instrument into a decently long blade.

    Of course, this also opens her up to retribution while she's hanging in the air, whether she strikes or not. The goal is to overwhelm it with nearby targets while striking the point of interest.

Cirra Constantine (675) has posed:
    Things get more difficult as more damage piles on to the Mariwogeous it starts thrashing around, making any attacks more difficult to land on the horns.

    "Tch." Cirra grunts as the monster gets free and launches its circular blades around the arena. The Judge dives as one comes flying at her. She rolls to quickly kip up to her feet and brings her crystal sword up to deflect the second weapon as it slashes past.

    On previous levels, her armor prevented the accumulation of small wounds, or at least the visibility of them. Now though her clothes are getting torn and frayed by the slashing blades. Never the less, the Judge turns around and begins to focus.

    Normally her armor would hide much of this as well. Her body begins to smoke - black inky smoke that curls tightly in spirals as her eyes glow golden as her own blood is deconstructed into Magic Particles, force feed directly into her msucles.

    Cirra flexes her legs and bursts forward across the ground - the flats she was wearing blasting apart at the seams, leaving her feet bare as she leaps upwards, flipping over in a tight summer sault as she lands on the Mariwogeous' back half.

    The golden eyes, smolduring judge rushes forward, lifting her sword up. "HRAAAAHG!" and aims to pour her MP into every thing she can to slice off those horns from her head.

Rebecca Chambers has posed:
This thing is crazy, and Rebecca can see that. It puts some B.O.W.'s to same as well. Regardless, whether it's digital or bio-organic, it doesn't matter. Rebecca's got to take it out and fast! She fires a couple of more shots, aiming as best as she can at it. But she doesn't wait to see if her bullets hit.

Instead, Rebecca moves quickly to the side, attempting to get out of the way of a possible counter-attack. It's possible and it could happen at any time. She pulls back as well, trying to give herself a little extra distance between her enemy and herself. "What else can it do?" She wonders aloud.

Yomi Isayama has posed:
And now it can shoot sawblades. Because that is a thing.

Rather than dodge the incoming blade, Yomi plants one foot and spins around, swinging Shishiou upward to deflect it away from her. "Change of plan... what?" Looking back, the exorcist sees Sanae and Cirra both charging the wolf, o she quickly marks a few possibilities as non-viable. Probably not safe to blast the thing when others were in close. "Ranguren, just keep it distracted!" Yomi then darts forward as well, but not to attack the horns. She needs to make sure she's close in case either Sanae or Cirra need backup... or someone to catch them after those leaping attacks.

Ranguren, for his part, growls softly... then plants his front feet and lets out a bellowing roar with enough force to blow hot wind against the Mariwogeus. Operation: giant divine beast distraction is go.

Deelel has posed:
In the spirit of may bold or perhaps foolish sorts? Deelel has gonein her disc isput to use and it hits the thigns face andshoulder. The vines shift about and Deelel is concerned she's not sure what the thing is going to do next wo she starts to move rapidly just not sitting still. Thankfully Deelel's companions pack a lot of heat to use the human phrase. She is hauling bitmap here as the wolf doesn't seem to be happy with them and it's now running away, wait? She wuill launches her disc again but she's left wide open to the thing's next attack if it makes one.

"Get back here and fight like a Basic!"

Lexicon has posed:
    "Huh?" Bunnabelle seems taken aback, almost looking offended, "'B-Bunnie'..?!" She drops it with a sigh, eyes closing briefly, then explains, "I just didn't jump down into the arena like all of you. It's perfectly safe for me up here so long as you keep Mariwogeus down there and don't let it up here." Well, even if no one else can see it, at least Bunnabelle knows what to actually call this thing. It sure isn't a Fenris at this point.

    And now everyone is going straight for Mariwogeus' face. Sanae charges it first, and the beast jerks in her direction to attack, though too late when the priestess slams it in the face with her wind-empowered wand. The impact knocks its head down towards the ground, feet digging in to either side to keep it from getting cratered. With a snarl, it keeps its head bowed and thrusts its entire body forward, attempting to headbutt Sanae. Using its horns like a fork, Mariwogeus attempts to scoop the priestess up and, by throwing its head back, hurl her behind itself.

    It finds Cirra landing on its back as it's dealing with Sanae, and after it tries to throw the priestess, Mariwogeus gives its body a violent shake. Its movements result in only a clipping hit against its horns as it tries to throw Cirra off its back. One horn, cracked from Sanae's earlier blow, snaps off completely.

    Pelted with gunfire, Mariwogeus twists enough to recover its sawblades, one after the other. This puts it face to face with Ranguren's attention-grabbing roar, and the beastly virus responds in kind with its metallic howl. Ranguren's taunt is even enough that Mariwogeus doesn't even seem to respond to Rebecca shooting it, her bullets striking it and sending off red sparks of damage. It also ignores Deelel's taunting, because Ranguren is bigger and louder.

    Lexicon skirts around the side, bringing her axe up and then dropping in for another power attack. However, Mariwogeus chooses that moment to pounce on its Nue opponent. The DCC's axe misses its head and instead strikes the middle of the back, interrupting the leap and slamming the wolf-monster into the ground. But not hitting where she'd intended. With a frustrated growl, she wrenches her weapon free in a spray of red pixels, "Damnit! Hold still!"

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
The positive of moving in to melee range is that it makes it easier to hit specific parts of an enemy, even a large if incredibly mobile one. Though it's not as clean a strike as she'd have liked, it does nonetheless manage to crack the strangely structured crest, so it's proven to not be invulnerable. "I...I think I managed to chip it a bit," she calls, by way of both alerting the others to the brief window of success, and also as encouragement. Of course, she was also half-expecting what comes next, as doing a jump attack always comes with this risk. When the Mariwogeus turns its attention and aggression onto an obvious target, namely her, and perhaps with some tell she hadn't noticed as a participant, like a brief light flicker highlighting her, she braces her body as best she can.

    The ceremonial robes' blessings function basically as armor, so it's not as brutal as it could have been from the looks, but the resounding 'THMP' of being bucked away does leave her momentarily spiraling through the air. "Ahhhh!" At least, if she can holler like that, she's not gravely injured in the immediate term. Ending up at the back is precisely what she doesn't need in several factors, however, and she manages to re-orient herself in the air in time to make a grab at the beast's lower back. It's less to gain an advantage of being atop it than stopping herself from tumbling even further, but whatever works. Regardless, she speaks up again, somewhat winded, "Could have been...worse." She'll probably have some bruising to deal with later.

    Regardless, staying too close to where those sawblades are nominally mounted seems like a colossally bad idea, so whether Sanae manages a momentary hold or not, she'll be drawing back under her own, slightly wobbly, power. Maybe a more medium range approach would work, and she can somewhat return fire in kind, here. Keeping her distance, behind and slightly to the side, just like Yomi had suggested, she draws her wand again. This time she traces a five-pointed star shape in the air with it, which forms a glowing line in the process, eventually solidifying into a magical seal that hovers in the air for a moment. "It's been a while since I experimented with this, but it seems like a good time!"

    With another gesture, she directs the still-glowing circle to level in a horizontally oriented fashion, and it begins spinning rapidly, eventually becoming enough of a blur that it looks mainly like a disc of rings of different light intensities. Unless you have some kind of high frame rate camera vision, anyway, which Bunnabelle can not be discounted for. It flies like a frisbee at the remaining point of the horn crest.

Cirra Constantine (675) has posed:
    The violent shake throws Cirra's swing off, and then throws her off as well. Arcing through the air, Cirra flips over and lands barefoot in the grass, one hand digging into the soft earth to slow her slide down.

    It's thrashing too fast to accurately shoot with her sword's rifle form, so she'll have to keep trying to engage it at close range.

    Running back in, Cirra jinks from side to side despite being barefoot, and leaps at the Ican'tSpellItAtThisHour, swinging her sword in two horizontal slashes at the head, trying to at least keep it occupied long neough for someone to hit the remaining horn.

Yomi Isayama has posed:
This situation is a bit different from what Yomi is used to, mostly because all but one of her usual allies are focused on mid to long range attacks. Having so many in close makes her usual tactics slightly harder, but hopefully they heed her warning to not follow it directly as it leaps.

Ranguren's taunt worked quite a bit better than Yomi had hoped, and the nue stands its ground, growling as the creature leaps for it. But once a quick glance tells her than everyone is out of the way, the exorcist calls out, "Ranguren, Houkouha!"

The nue's growl turns into a louder roar as it opens its mouth, and a burst of energy blasts out, trying to catch Mariwogeus right in the face mid-pounce! Normally, the Roar Wave is enough to shatter stone or crush cars, but perhaps Ranguren held back only slightly. They don't want to kill the creature this time. "As soon as the blast fades, go for the horns again!"

Deelel has posed:
Deelel is not sure what this thing is going to do next as he allies attack the thing, she is ppen though she doesn't click ot this but the Virus seems to be not very happy either. She isn't about to cause issue here. She tracks Sanae and Cirra as she moves and attacks again but it seems that the beast.

"Null unit."

Is all Deelel ahs to say to the thing further as she attemps to help bring the thing down.

"These things are getting noticably stronger!"

Lexicon has posed:
    Mariwogeus is caught in Ranguren's point-blank energy blast, right in the face. Getting knocked down mid-pounce by Lexicon makes the monstrous wolf-thing a very easy target, given the agility it'd shown before. There's an explosion of red and blue sparks, blasted back by the impact, and the smoldering Virus staggers back a few steps. Disoriented and damaged, it's much easier to hit with precision.

    Sanae's sawblade star lands first, diving into the smoke and shooting out the other side amidst a shower of blue hit-sparks. Deelel's disc strikes as well, bouncing off and dispersing the smoke as it does so. This gives Cirra a clear swing (actually two) with her sword. The second horn, clearly damaged between Ranguren, Deelel, and Sanae, cracks but doesn't break.

    However it seems to be damaged enough to disrupt whatever the horns are doing to the Fenris. The monster, staggering, begins to glow white, with the portion of its head affixed to the horns glowing blue instead. 'Separate the horns from the body', Bunnabelle had said.

    Still close, despite Ranguren's roar, Lexicon hauls her axe up. System Resources flash, and as she brings the weapon down it leaves a white light-arc, "EIN SCHLAG!" Her aim point isn't the shape of the horns, but right where the blue meets the white, and weakened as it's become from the barrage of focused attacks, the DCC's axe cleaves the two colors completely apart.

    Immediately, the bulk of Mariwogeus' body shrinks down to its former self, a purple and blue Pack Fenris which, as far as dogs go, looks completely confused and only a little banged up.

    The blue code hits the ground a few meters away, bouncing to a stop. As the glow fades, it resolves into a worn metallic headpiece, sporting a single segmented, curved horn. It apparently had two, but the other has been broken off.

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
As soon as the empowered Fenris returns to normal, Sanae allows the sawblade/star to dispel, with it dissolving into motes of magical light and energy. She looks intensely relieved at the fact that it's relatively unscathed despite what had happened to it, and then that lump she took earlier catches up with her and she doubles over, before crumpling to the ground in a coughing fit, and clutching her stomach. No, there's no anime trickle of blood at the corner of her mouth, denoting a serious injury, but it's plain to see that she was basically ignoring the pain until that point. "Gurgh...it's a good thing I ate light today," she says, managing to inject a little bit of humor into it despite everything. She'd waive off any attempts to help her back up, as well; she's fine where she is for a while longer.

    Though that strange headpiece is now in her head. It seems a bit of an odd inclusion here, and it reacted with that Fenris very strangely. "Do you think that object is going to be persistent? It seems important somehow, though...I'm not sure what gives me that impression."

Cirra Constantine (675) has posed:
    Landing back on the ground once the headgear has been removed from the virus, Cirra gives a sigh as the black smoke wafts away from her body. She rubs her hand through her hair to get it out of her face. "Is that the end of it?" she looks aruond the floor, but it doesn't seem to be disappearing. So she glares at the Fenris. "Shoo, before we use trial and error to finish the floor."

Yomi Isayama has posed:
Once the headpiece breaks off, Ranguren... remains out. He's still breathing puffs of steam, he still has his teeth bared... but he's just standing there, looking at the Fenris.

"There you go..." Yomi steps forward, reaching out to pat the Fenris. It may still be a virus, but she's pretty confident it won't try anything with Ranguren right there. "Don't go putting on any more weird things, okay? Go on to your pack now." Turning her head, she glances back at the others. "Everyone okay? ..Sanae, you look like you've seen better days..."

At mention of the headpiece, she flicks her gaze toward it. "Not sure, but I don't think we should leave it here. Either destroy it or take it with to keep safe."

Lexicon has posed:
    The Fenris glances at these tall, loud humanoids around it. At the edges of the arena, the other Fenris peek out, and the dog-like virus shoots a look their way. It responds to the shoo'ing by trotting back to its pack. There's some trepidation at first, but eventually the other virii seem to accept its return to their numbers. Happy Ending.

    The real excitement happens when a certain doll program suddenly shrieks. Not in fear, but in excitement. Bunnabelle pushes her screens aside, leaning so far over the railing that she nearly falls over the side, "--That! That! That item that came off Mariwogeus! That's one of the artifacts I've been searching for!" Recovering before she falls off, the rabbit-eared program fails to compose herself, "We can remove that from the Tower! I can study it even when the Tower hasn't manifested! The data I can get to further my research..! Please, I must have it!"

    Lexicon, to her credit, reverts to her regular form almost immediately with a tired sigh. The Fenris trots off, and she collects the discarded headpiece to look it over. "...Nnh. It's equipment. But it doesn't..seem to be compatible with any format I'm aware of." One eye closing, she lets out a second sigh, "I'm not sure what good it'll do, but I'm OK with handing it over to Bunnabelle." Glancing over her shoulder, she asks, "Anyone object to that?"

Cirra Constantine (675) has posed:
    When it's called equipment, Cirra looks over with a raised eyebrow. "System?"

    "You don't just... wear it?" she asks a little incredulously. But she shrugs, "I don't see a reason to keep it from her."

    "I could however do with a pair of shoes."

Deelel has posed:
Deelel is looking to be a bit worn out but she's still looking at the thing making sure its down and she watches the code it seems to be done? Is it dead? She take a moment ot hold back and look the thing over and then checks everyone else. "Please tell me there's nothing more. I'm not sure we could handle anything on this level right away..."

Lexicon has posed:
    The Tower chooses this moment to disappear, depositing everyone inside into the square in the middle of Britannica itself. The lights and resource lines are already back up to full glow, and various citizens have been peeking out of their homes to see if it's really over. Life soon returns to normal in the Silver City.

    With no objections voiced, Lexicon passes the horned headpiece to Bunnabelle, then turns back to the Cathoderal, where Stylono and her younger sisters wait. "You can all stay at the Cathoderal for the night if you want, otherwise, thanks for helping and have a good evening."

    Meanwhile, Bunnabelle accepts the horned headpiece with both hands, her holographic screens scrolling with huge amounts of data while she stares almost irreverantly at it. One hand traces the shape of the horn from tip to where it's attached. After a moment, she nods once, firming up her resolve, "I won't let you down..! But if you find anything else, please tell me!"

    With that, the bunny-eared program dips in a bow, then turns and scurries for the System Bus, likely in pursuit of the Tower's next location.