Scene #8229: Billy Tanner and the Magical Girls

Owner	Pose
Strawberry Princess	HAITI, NORD DEPARTEMENT SAINT-RAPHAËL ARRONDISSEMENT 17:15 'Pastel brutalism' is the keyword here. On a forested mountainside, far enough from other signs of civilization that nobody else has to worry about their thaumonuclear experimentation, a campus of cheerfully-colored utilitarian buildings is perched. Concrete footpaths swoosh between them, dividing up segments of lush greenery and intact old-growth forest. The nearest city can barely be seen gleaming on the horizon in the evening sun. Less cheerfully, a couple of the buildings are windowless. Those with electromagnetic senses might discern they're where all the computers are. Other points of interest present themselves, too. Immediately apparent, there's the blue girl sitting perilously on the fourth-story roof of one of the residential complexes, Strawberry herself sitting on a bench and poking at some kind of video game handheld, and the labcoat-wearing woman who stands out from the local staff by dint of her narrow height, straight hair, and sharp green eyes, chatting up a military-looking young man. "Security advisor would be the natural choice. We're not close to the Dominican Republic, and yet..." All trails converge on the cavern-like entrance carved directly into the mountainside, (presumably) where nuclear activity is contained behind solid rock. But before the natural flow of the footpaths can carry anyone there, the woman in the labcoat proactively makes contact. "I see a number of familiar faces," she says, holding out a hand for anyone to shake. Her other hand stays in the labcoat pocket. "How long has it been? Nearly a year? I was just talking to this young man about his career path. I'm glad you all could come, too- there is a bit of progress to show." "For the rest of you, I am Lucija Velt, director of the Reignition Project. Have you read up on us? Or do I have an excuse to go into the whole spiel? I do enjoy it."
Stanley Padgett	One new arrival, at least. STANLEY MARIGOLD PADGETT is standing here, looking slightly out of place from the rest of these fair folks from FANCY FACTIONS. But someone had urged him to come see how the rest of the Multiverse worked, and here he is. Besides. Home was getting weird and he wanted a day off from TOWER DEFENSE FACTORY PLANET SCHOOL TIME. He does lift a hand to those around, and then blinks a bit. "We had a note or two on this in Multiversal History class, but that's just because Miss Princess was a talking point on one of our chapters."
Ishirou	"Ms. Velt!" Ishirou says with an upbeat tone and gives her a handshake. Though it's been a while, he is still happy to see the Director. Ishirou himself is in a comfortable-looking sweater, colored in a pastel green. He also has a pair of shorts on, which are in a normal beige color (normal for him that is), and with a small box with arms floating nearby. "Oh wow, the last time I was here was..." a pause, "It was the assassination attempt, wasn't it..?" he asks, not entirely sure. He knows it's /been/ a while on that front at least. Though the last time he's seen her personally was on the boat which lead to finding and fighting Strawberry. He also looks at the military-looking young man and nods once. They didn't meet before, but he's aware he exists. He's glad, at least, he's here and not where they were before. He also gives Strawberry a warm smile and a wave. He looks up to see blue sitting on top of the building. "You know it's hard to say hi when you're up there.." he complains.
Kale Hearthward	Kale Hearthward is coming off of a couple days leave. A trip to the Reignition Project sounds like the sort of (ironically) low-energy thing that'd be good for dipping his toes back into things. "Director Veldt," he says, accidentally mispronouncing her name a bit, and shakes her hand. "A whole year... I guess it has, hasn't it." He gives a wave to Strawberry - it's been a few months since he's seen her, as well, and a more cautious wave at the girl up on the roof. And then Stanley says something that gets his attention, and that he has to comment on. "You hear that, Miss Princess?" he calls over to her. "You're in the history books!"
James Bond	'Military' is not so much evident in the young man's clothes (a variation on the 9-to-5 suit in shades of light blue) as it is in his bearing and his stoic, pensive expression. He stands at a poorly disguised attention, hands at his sides, fingers anxiously half-curled in search of something to do with them. Short brown waves would threaten to become curls, were they any longer, framing a brow not yet creased by its tendency to furrow, and blue-grey eyes that brim with uncertainty. Judging solely by the softness and shape of his face, he'd look like he'd be more at home playing in a band, were it not for his demeanor and outfit. Upon noticing the arrival of familiar faces (unfamiliar to him) he turns, out of habit, legs spaced evenly apart, hands clasped behind his back. One is extended, again and again, for anyone who cares to indulge in a handshake. The guest badge on his suit jacket reads 'William Tanner.' He introduces himself as "Billy." "Shall I see myself out, ma'am?" he asks Director Velt, with a note of self-conscious apprehension.
Hellwarming Trio	"Belt!" "Velt." "That's what I said." "Nah, you said Belt." "No way." "Yeah way!" "Girls, please. Let's not embarrass ourselves in front of Director Belt." Coming up to the Director, the three youkai slow to a stop in front of her and touch down nearby, with Utsuho and Rin hurrying up to accept her handshake like old hats at the handshake game while Satori has to actually take a moment to feel one out properly. "A pleasure to meet you, Director. Satori Komeiji, master of the Palace of the Earth Spirits." Of course she has to go into all that each time. "I've heard a bit about your work here, but I'd like to hear about it from a more..." Satori pauses, glancing over at Utsuho and Rin as they hurry over to bother Billy. "... Informed source." The two harassing Billy, meanwhile, circle around him several times like they're checking him out or something. "How you doing, bro? Find out anything interesting?" "Did you get to figure some stuff out since then?"
Stanley Padgett	"Hi, Billy! I'm Stanley, Stanley Padgett." You gotta BET Stanley's shaking the hand of the young man his age-ish. "...I'm not with any of the groups, just sort of... tagging along. Nice to meet you." The earnestness of that 'nice to meet you' makes it certain that this is not just some idle filler statement. He's genuinely happy to meet new people.
Veve Joueur	Veve's steps are a bit tentative as she enters the compound, boots and knees clacking in an irregular tempo. Anxiety twists in her chest at the complete lack of familiar faces present, but she knows so few faces in the first place, so that's no surprise. Getting acquainted with more people will make a good secondary goal, one she'll have to work at for some time Her primary goal, though, is learning about the projects of the Multiverse, and where talent is being directed. To that end, she smiles apologetically at Director Velt, and takes the offered hand with fog wisping slowly out of her shoulders. "A pleasure to meet you, Director Velt. I only know of the broad strokes of your project, but I suppose if my ignorance gives you an excuse to wax eloquent on your passion, I will appreciate the opportunity to listen." Veve gives a light curtsy to everyone at once, and says "As I am a new face here in general, let me introduce myself. My name is Veve Joueur, and I am looking forwards to making all of your acquaintances."
Lilian Rook	Lilian quickly has something to do before reaching Velt. She has to do a little bit of math. Four storeys averages to slightly over 56 feet. A^2 + B^2 = C^2. Lilian stops 85 feet away, just to be safe, taps a faintly glowing fingertip under her jaw, and raises her amplified voice. "So they're still keeping you around? That means you must have been on exceptionally good behaviour, for a bluetonium terror." says Lilian. "Well? Did they give you a face yet? Or do I have permission to go rummaging through photographs for your darling angel looks of old?" This is just a girl talk thing. Don't worry. She doesn't plan to spend a whole lot of time on Blueberry, unless the girl follows her for some reason. Enough to check up on her, hear what she has to say, hear what she doesn't say, and verify the situation. And maybe get carte blanche to find photos, and have some sketching to do in her downtime. "It's good to see you with all your blood inside you, Director." Lilian says with that kind of half-smile reserved for someone precious to someone precious, and a casual ease of someone who has totally forgotten she was an inch shorter, ten pounds less toned, and without a facial scar, the last time they met. And practically dressed like an old-fashioned doll, rather than in a short-sleeved and breezy summer top and pleated skirt. "You've been busy in at least half the way I was hoping you'd be. I should have done more than send a few emails. Apologies, but personal business was pressing." Blissfully oblivious to what that probably implies, given her state. She glances sideways to the young man, though. "I'm shocked he pulled it off." she says, to nobody in particular. She already knows most of the people here, but not Veve. Her curtsy seems to amuse her in some way. Enough that she even returns one, though only with back heel and one hand, because she wouldn't go to the extreme lengths of respect to match a total stranger's gesture perfectly. That would imply equal standing. "That's a good attitude. It'll serve you well." She touches her hand to her collar. "Dame Commander Lilian Isabelle Rook. Paladins, as are these five, and one special contact here."
James Bond	"I don't know," Billy answers, clearly unused to dealing with Utsuho and Rin, trying to keep track of them circling him with limited success. "But I've... started to figure some things out. I think people in situations like mine are vulnerable to getting picked up by outfits like the Service. So..." He sighs, one hand squeezing the other behind his back as he shifts in place. "Being away from all that has given me the chance to start looking through it all, I guess." "It's nice to meet you, too, Stanley," he says, although it's hard to miss the brief flick of his eyes towards Director Velt, meant to gauge her reaction to Stanley and Veve's presence. Eyes back on him, "It's one thing to read about the Project, but quite another to stand in the midst of it. I hope your visit can give you some insights the textbooks otherwise wouldn't." Someone else arrives, heralded by the closing of a car door. It's Bond, striding up in a three-piece, steely gray suit, with a striking emerald tie. Billy seems to tense up at his presence, though Bond hasn't looked his way once following his arrival. The agent's attention, as Lilian's had been at first, is on the bluetonium terror, as he fishes in his coat pocket for a cigarette. "You look well."
Strawberry Princess	"No, no, stay, stay." Velt tugs the fabric of Tanner's sleeve. "This organization has a strong relationship with the Paladins. You are likely to meet our colleagues again, should anything unfortunate happen. Besides, they may have questions of you. Aren't you an acquaintance of a certain James Bond?" "Oh, did she now?" Velt arches an eyebrow at Stanley, amused. "Do you hear that, Strawberry? You're famous." Strawberry, over on her park bench thirty feet away, rubs her face and groans in quiet embarrassment- louder, when Kale joins in. "Now I feel old. This is awful. Come on." Her video game bleeps sadly in defeat. Velt gives Ishirou an earnest smile. Her grip is firm. "Ah, yes. The assassination. I'm still grateful for your help." Turning to Billy Tanner, she touches her temple and just below her heart: "Here and here, the Americans got me. You see what I mean." She clucks her tongue and shrugs, voice dessicatingly dry. "It is like this. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride." Blueberry, up on the apartment building's rooftop, gives Ishirou a grumpy thumbs-down. Seems being unable to say 'hi' is just fine by her. When Lilian calls up to her, though, she shifts her head in a way that indicates rolling her eyes, and then drops off the rooftop to catch herself with sparkling translucent wings only feet above the ground. That'd put Lilian, of course, fifteen feet inside the aura. "Prick," she says to Lilian, carefully out of Strawberry's earshot. They did give her a face, etched into the crystal of her head; curly hair that can't bounce, a button nose, pouty-sneering lips. "I do what I want, you know." But the fact that she's copping an attitude about it means that she is playing nice. "And don't play scared. Strawberry says I have to learn to interact like a 'normal person'. Whatever that means. So you get off clean, this time." But then she smiles a little shyly- she can smile now!- at Bond. "Yeah. I'm doing well. I can't say it's just like old times. But... it's closer than I thought I'd ever get. So thanks. What about you?"
Strawberry Princess	Velt's smile broadens as Satori and Veve introduce themselves. "Ah, charming. And very old-fashioned, for people so young." (The director, herself, looks mid-forties.) "Don't apologize, I insist. I do love the sound of my own voice." The Director starts walking towards the cavernous entrance carved into the mountainside, beckoning the rest of the group to follow. Strawberry takes a second to ease herself up from the bench, betraying achey knees, but then trails the group ten or twenty feet behind. She seems to feel she's an accessory to the show, not the main feature. "Where to start... ah, the Project's goal is the elimination of the concept of the magical girl." She gestures broadly without looking back. "There exist monsters that threaten our world, against which conventional weapons are... inconsistently effective. And there are children empowered to fight them. This is an abomination. Between twelve and seventeen, two-thirds of these children are grievously injured or die." "A few solutions are in the works. All have different geopolitical implications, should they be the first to succeed. If magical children are a force for anything now, it is national sovereignty and self-determination. An equalizing deterrent: defense budgets cannot buy them. There is a new nuke, and everyone has it. Thus, a multipolar world." She walks for a few more moments. Her shoes clack on concrete, then on stone. "Tell me. How do you think this would change, if money could make them? If one of those other solutions came to be first."
Stanley Padgett	Stanley blinks a bit, and then holds up a hand to Velt. Yes, he IS waiting to be called on.
Strawberry Princess	Velt happens to look back over her shoulder, then does a little double-take at Stanley. "Yes?"
Stanley Padgett	"If the magical kids and the critters they have to fight come hand in hand, you'd just have a tipped balance until someone stole it?" Stanley looks around a bit, and then sticks his hands in his pockets. "Now one side will just have more magical kids, and there's still magical kids showing up?" He scuffs his toe, and expects to be told he's wrong, but it was worth a shot. Better to be wrong than ignored.
Ishirou	Ishirou frowns up at Blueberry, "Aw come on...I won't bite!" he looks at Strawberry as if to ask 'help?'. At Kale's comment, he turns to look at him. "How is it you know exactly what to say to make any situation worse? It's like you have a skill or something...or some sort of magical ability that we overlooked. I actually think I need to see if I can detect this...it'll be a good paper." The problem is that you don't know if Ishirou is serious or not. About the paper, not about Kale's mythical skill at saying the worst things ever. He also gives Veve a smile and a wave. "Ishirou, like Lilian said I'm with the Paladins. Nice to meet you!" he says, and then asides to her when they start walking, "It's fine, everyone here is pretty nice and welcoming, no need to be bashful!" "Hi Utsuho, Rin, and Satori...glad someone is here to keep an eye on them this time around.." he says, though probably only teasing. To Billy, he asides to him, "Try not to think too hard about anything they say...you'll either go insane or as thick as they are.." he says, helpfully. At Stanley, Ishirou just stares a little, "You know this isn't a classroom right, you can just...talk or ask a question or something.." he says with a weird look. "I mean, I do all the time.." To the question the Director posted, he used to think he knew the answer, but with his view on things forced to change lately...both because of what happened at home and because of what happened to him personally he's not so sure. Worse, he has no idea how to approach the problem. It's a problem without a clear-cut answer, one that is both dangerous to answer, and absolutely necessary to answer...and right now he just feels lost.
Strawberry Princess	Velt clucks her tongue. "Half-right. What does stealing a technology mean, if you can't afford to make it?" She nods her head towards the rest of the group. "At Langley last year, they found and destroyed one competing technology. Freezing the corpses of magical girls, and using a precisely subdued Endling- apologies, monster- to control them. Most of the world lacks the resources to do such a thing." A pause. "And the moral will, I hope."
Kale Hearthward	"I mean, I'm impressed," says Kale. "I would have thought Ishirou would have been the first of us to be in a museum, or something." "If you could make them on demand... open warfare for control of whoever or whatever can make the most or the best of the magical girls," suggests Kale, who does not hold up his hand or wait to get called on. "Alternatively a lot of cold war and the like, jockeying for the same." "Admittedly I'm cheating a bit, I've seen something like this play out on my world. Not... to create child soldiers, thankfully, but... I could tell you how things are shaking out there, as an example."
Ishirou	Ishiriou immediately claps back at Kale, "Please, when I was a machine, I was /state of the art/. The best of the best in chassis, processing power, and scaning ability. A musem is the last place I'd be."
Hellwarming Trio	Unfortunately for Billy, Utsuho and Rin are actually coordinated in their circling! They're probably not doing it on purpose, though, since they're not lobbing fireballs or magic bullshit his way, but they just so happen to be on the complete opposite sides of him for the first few revolutions before finally stopping once he speaks up. "Sounds rough, yeah, especially for humans. You've all got some weird head stuff going on, right? But hey, you're out of it now." "Yeah! Don't have to rush it, either, since you got outta that whole mess and in here. The Baker's teacher knows her stuff, so you're in good hands and in a good place!" As if struck by a flash of insight, the pair look towards Stanley, then towards Billy, then go right into stage-whispering some probably-needed explanations. "Baker." Utsuho points over at Strawberry. "Baker's teacher." Rin points over at Velt. They both wave broadly at Strawberry once they realize they haven't greeted her, too, and then Blueberry by association! Satori, meanwhile, keeps her attention on Velt while giving Veve and Kale a brief curtsey in greeting. Ishirou gets a light chuckle from her in response, meanwhile, and she glances over at Rin and Utsuho. "Were they that much of a handful last time?" Soon after, she's following the Director into the entrance. She has to double back briefly to nudge Utsuho and Rin to follow (who promptly try and nudge Billy along to join them), and then it's time to get EXPLANATIONS. "Bridesmaid...?" "Marriage. You know, that human ceremony." "Oh! Is it-" Satori promptly shuts Rin up by pressing her hand down on her head. "So as you were saying... It sounds as though your world' magical girls are considered more like resources and weapons than people." If she had glasses on, she would be pushing them up dramatically right about now. "But why stop at the age of seventeen?" Satori asks a little too stiffly, as though she's trying to play the part of a helpful question asker. "If they could be made by pooling more resources, then I wager this world's rule would be determined by whoever could get the most money the fastest. Or..." Satori looks mildly troubled as she pauses for a moment, then continues. "... Whoever could kill the other nation's magical girls first?"
James Bond	Tanner is bidden to stay--and so he does, albeit with that same uncertainty of just what to do with himself. "An acquaintance, sure," he admits, warily eyeing the James Bond he doesn't know. "We'd run into each other during training or around HQ, sometimes. We were told that man, codename 'Archangel,'" he says, discreetly nodding towards the Bond Velt knows, "Was a domestic terrorist. Right now, I'm more worried about him than the Americans," Billy adds under his breath. "Are you sure it's alright for him to be here, ma'am?" Following along with Velt, he makes sure to keep 'Archangel' in his sight at all times. Her question--about the effect of money, were it able to buy magical girls, draws a soft grunt of discomfort from him. He's young, but knows where he came from. "I'll... keep that in mind, thank you, sir," he says to Ishirou. Maybe he already drew the conclusion that the hellions are a little different. Certainly, being circlestrafed does have an effect on people. "Baker...?" Billy gives Strawberry and Velt an uncertain smile, like he'd just been told the two of them were aliens--already putting Ishirou's advice to use. "I think lots of people do, whether they know it or not. It's just that... the world is kinder to some kinds of head stuff than others. Especially if it's the kind that can make someone else richer or more powerful, or keep gears turning somewhere." The 'domestic terrorist' takes a pull of his cigarette, considering Blueberry's question as much as appreciating her smile. He had hoped, fighting desperately in that crater, that one day she might be able to. "Your friend the prick talked me into defecting," he dryly grins. "Things are different, now." Bond frowns thoughtfully, searching for some way to put a concept he'd been denied the chance to even think about for many years. "To say nothing of some fairly significant and frightening personal discoveries... it's as if I spent a long, long time with most of what's inside me pressed into a very small corner. The pressure is gone, and everything is starting to take the shape it ought to be. Sometimes it's frightening, because I don't see those shapes as anything recognizable. Sometimes looking at it directly makes me feel..." The corner of his mouth twitches down. "A pit in my stomach. Queasy, almost. But sometimes it's surprisingly nice. I don't think I'd go back, given the chance."
Veve Joueur	Veve nods to Lilian, a polite smile on her face. "Dame Rook. Your reputation precedes you, I'm glad to put a face to the name." She purses her lips, the concept of factions having briefly left her mind. "Ah, right, Paladins. I am an autonomous weapon contracted to the Concord, and I am here in that capacity. That is... appropriate, correct?" Veve also bows her head in response to Ishirou, fog leaking out of her arms with a quiet hiss. "Apologies if I came across that way, Ishirou, you all seem very pleasant." Veve naturally gravitates towards the back of the group alongside Strawberry, looking across the rest of the group, seemingly just absorbing the sight. She listens intently to Director Velt's explanation, drawing her face into a frown when appropriate. "These magical girls are, effectively, compulsory child soldiers, then? You mentioned that they "are empowered", is it known what force is empowering them? Is the cycle cruel by happenstance, or by design?" Veve doesn't answer the following question, not even registering that it's directed at her. She just listens to everyone else's responses, absorbing the discussion with the same focus that she did Director Velt's speech.
Lilian Rook	"Only if you ask nice--" Lilian blinks. "Apologies, it's automatic by now." she says, casually confessing to meangirling on autopilot without the slightest hint of shame. "What an exceptionally presumptuous demand, coming from the one who worked so very hard to make herself a statistically maximized nightmare. And what an attitude as well. Blowing off my leg like that caused me no end of trouble, you know. Don't assume it'll work twice." Despite that fucked up sequence of conversational forks, Lilian laughs anyways. It is somehow more genuine, if very dry, than most of her laughs. "If I figure out how, then I assure you, you'll be the first to know." she says. "It gets easier, but you have to force it to get easier. It's like building a habit." Her eyes wander around Blueberry's face. "Not bad. I can only assume you chose every little detail. I'd have something to say about having your resting expression be so contemptuous, but I feel as if I'd be throwing stons in glass houses." She finishes with a thin smile. "I'll accept a fifth of those thanks, seeing as that would be how much I did it for your sake, as opposed to doing it for Strawberry's." The way she blink-stares at the innocent question is a bloodied betrayal of how seldom anyone ever asks her how her life has been. "Better in most ways. Heavier, in others." She rifles through a year of her memory, flipping through scenes as if turning the pages of a stop-motion animatic book. A hundred more complicated explanations swirl around in her head, percolate and mix into partial coagulation, and are burnt in rapid succession. Lilian opens her mouth, and says "I have a Coven." instead. "It's a lot to take in. And not all of them are safe." Paying Veve due attention, Lilian waves a hand airily, and says "It doesn't matter much to me. I have friends and contacts in the Concord as well. And I'm not certain I'd judge a self-proclaimed 'autonomous weapon' on those sorts of character merits alone." She glances Meaningfully at Ishirou. Given that the assembled personalities are relatively close now, Lilian reaches into her fancy messenger bag (seriously, why is it never a purse?) and produces her very own gamebrick. Black, but conservatively stickered with a very pretty lily, a sword and ring icon that Lilian herself must have sketched, and a certain fox-eared chibi that may have been done by Tamamo, after experience with the sacred artform of Pictochat. A cheery startup jingle plays, and she falls in with Strawberry, her insidious plan being to walk very slightly faster and then allowing her to catch up several times. "Obviously, rich nations would multiply exponentially in mahou, and poor nations would not. The demand for magically-derived force projection would be beyond all means to control, and few nations truly have a shortage of impressionable and economically desperate youths with no one to look out for them. The random nature of mahous guarantees that the disparity in power between countries plateaus considerably. And there is nothing that rich and powerful people who didn't earn any of it hate any more than being less rich and powerful than everyone else."
Stanley Padgett	Stanley wasn't entirely wrong, so that's nice. But the rest of the explanations make him a little bit uneasy... as he watches the rest of the Paladins suss out things. He does stop to take in the rest of the people around him, before responding to the others. "...So you just want to stop the cycle all together? Eliminate both sides? Monsters and kids?" He rubs at his own belly a bit self conciously, and looks to Strawberry and Lilian pacing each other. "...Let the powerful stay powerful, without having to maim innocent kids who just... have magic?" The whisper of Mercutio builds in the back of his head.
Strawberry Princess	"You will find," Velt says breezily to Tanner, "that like guns, men and countries are useful or dangerous depending wholly on which end of them you are facing. You may know him as a domestic terrorist; I know him as a man who saved my life. Does that trouble you?" Strawberry gives Tanner a comforting, 'please-bear-with-her' grimace. They can commiserate about being British. "That's just how I looked," Blueberry says to Lilian. "I don't think it's contemptuous at all. Sure you're not just projecting your inferiority?" She sniffs. It's banter. "God, talking normally is hard. I hate it. Doesn't it ever get easier?" "A coven," she repeats, believing she suddenly understands. "That is a lot. Which one are you hot for? That's why you're working out, right?" James Bond manages to get Blueberry to go silent when Lilian couldn't. She chews on his words for a good ten seconds. "Congrats on slipping the leash," she finally says, arms crossed and face averted. "I think I know what you mean. About... the shape. Now that I can't just pack it in and wait to expire. I guess you wouldn't have any advice." Strawberry pipes up, in that hoarse-unsteady voice of hers, to help with Satori and Veve's questions about the fundamentals. "We 'burn out' somewhere around seventeen, Satori. Our magic just- just sort of runs out. You can get it going again with a different power supply, but that's... well, if that were easy, there wouldn't be a Project. You know?" To Veve, a little unsteadier still: "The monsters. Uh, the monsters empower us, I mean. Special ones do it as a... byproduct? Or a symbiotic relationship? Why it's always kids... we don't know. Maybe because their brains are still growing? We don't even know why they do it. It's not like the special ones are friendly. They could have wiped us all out, if they didn't." "The people who run the world see everyone as resources or weapons, Satori Komeiji," Velt continues. "But you, Kale, and Lilian are correct. Because magical power cannot be bought, wealth is not military power, for perhaps the first time ever. If money and magic become fungible, our fragile peace collapses, and the old masters of the world become its masters again." "Many countries live in fear of that. Others would like it very much. And so there is an American bullet lodged in my skull. But a man without enemies is worthless; isn't that so?"
Strawberry Princess	As she talks, Velt keycards through security doors until she reaches a cargo elevator. Once everyone's aboard, it starts to grind slowly downwards, further into the mountain. "No, Stanley. A return to the prior status quo, where the richest prevail, would be abhorrent. How can we avoid that, and yet spare children the burden of war?" Velt nods her head towards Strawberry, who unslings the narrow carrying case from her back. It's the kind of thing you might use for a camera tripod- not a bad guess, given Strawberry's humble outdoorsy look- but inside is a bi-forked and winged magical wand, a little too small for her, with an ugly gunmetal reactor connected to its central gem. It might just be placebo, but it feels like just being near it makes your skin prickle. "A former magical girl's magic can be reignited with an external power source connected properly. Children can be spared the horrors, and can make a sober decision whether they want to risk their lives as adults. It is cheap, comparatively. And yet more money cannot pull more former magical girls out of thin air. You see? This is why it is crucial that we succeed. And not others." "The technology still needs refinement," she admits. "It is... excessively burdensome to reproduce. But I hope you will be willing to help us when we need it, now that you understand the gravity of the situation. In the meantime... with the help of the Paladins, some advancements have been made." She taps her foot impatiently for the elevator doors to open.
Lilian Rook	"Perhaps I'm projecting your snotty attitude undeservedly on those cherubic cheeks of yours." says Lilian, still entirely differently than she'd say it to Petra or Charlotte or some other teenaged girl. "Sort of. It doesn't get easier, so much as you get better at it. Or rather, you eventually start to forget how convenient it was not to, and it begins to feel more normal, once you start being able to predict people the same way everyone else does. I'd like it if you listened to Strawberry, but I wouldn't begrudge you for making an exception for especially terrible people." Lilian stares at the awful little gremlin girl in a few seconds of disbelief. "I have a girlfriend." she says. "You tried to kill her. Or did you really think I'd do all that for a 'close friend'?" Lilian sighs. "Of course, I needn't bother ask the same question of you." Her attention drifts uncomfortably down to her exposed arms. But only a little uncomfortably. "It's not that big of a difference. I got a new mentor, is all. And her exercises are more strenuous than my previous one." A moment goes by. "Besides. Those girls might be even worse off than I, right now. It's not the time or place. And I have lots to think about for the timing, when I'll . . ." Her attention interrupts itself. "Hold the phone. Beg pardon? How are 'coven' and 'hots' automatically related concepts? Hello?" Aligned with Strawberry, Lilian appears to be playing some sort of cutesy top down village life game with a fraction of her attention. Her save file has 120 hours on it, which is apparently enough to reach mid-game. "It's less that it runs out, and more that you 'scar up'. The channels are makeshift, and not particularly designed for humans to actually use. They burn and scar, or they scab up with time, or both. It's surgery, rehab, to undo it. Or prosthetic to compensate for it." Lilian says. "How ironic, in the dramatic sense. Your personal motto turned out to be so very appropriate in more ways than you appreciated. You're far more perceptive than you give yourself credit for, as always." She smiles. "I do wish you'd let me take care of that." Lilian pipes up when Velt mentions the bullet. "I worry about your taste in vengeful mementos."
Ishirou	Ishirou is broken out of his thoughts by Lilian's comment in regard to Veve. "Huh..? Oh, yeah I guess so...haha.." he says with an embarrassed hand to the back of his neck. "I like to think I grew out of that though, right?" "You know, Ms. Velt, we never really got a chance to go into the details...you know, on account of the... literally every problem that's come up. The assassination, Langley, London...then the trash fire that has become my home right now.." he sighs. /That/ is an ongoing awfulness he's gotta come up with a solution to... "Magitech is something of a specialty of mine, and I think this would qualify.." he says, with a thoughtful expression.
Stanley Padgett	Stanley falls quiet, and sighs, letting the others answer for now, but he does sort of look at Tanner and Bond, and then back to Veve. "You already said that being a magical kid is... like mostly lethal for them. Are you just going to keep them from fighting then?" He grumbles. "How do you make everyone else do that too?"
Lilian Rook	"She doesn't." Lilian says offhandedly to Stanley over her game. "Magical adults do."
Hellwarming Trio	"Heh. You don't need to be worried about Teach." Utsuho points Bond out to Tanner, just in case. "Yeah, unless you piss him off or something. But you're cool, so you ain't gotta worry about that! But if ya do, you'll be seein' us real soon after." Rin flashes Tanner a mischievous snicker, but she might be joking there. (She is not.) With Strawberry helpfully explaining some of the limits of magical girls, meanwhile, Satori starts making some connections in her head and nods slowly. Velt explaining further about how magic is tipping the balance of power away from money, too, has her furrowing her brow in thought. "I see... That explains the name of the project, and all this security. The secrecy, and the gravity of it all... You've taken quite the task upon yourselves, especially to fight against... Human nature, I guess?." She comments to both of them, purposely looking away when Velt swipes them all into the elevator. She's actually been looking away almost every time Velt takes some kind of identification or key out of her pocket, almost like she doesn't want to see any of them. "Am I correct in assuming you're not concerned about former magical girls such as Strawberry Princess taking advantage of such power to become those new masters? I know plenty of youkai would be more than eager to do exactly that, given the chance." Despite keeping her eyes off Velt's ID, however, she does glance over briefly at the prickly feeling, unable to help herself from eyeing the wand and rubbing her arm uncomfortably. Utsuho and Rin, meanwhile, are all too eager to stare at everything and anything, itching be damned. "All that said, my pets have spoken quite highly of... Almost everyone here. You can count on our help." "I've got plenty of power to spare, so I can cover all that stuff." "And I can be all sneaky-like if you need to watch out for weirdoes! And... Stuff." Rin frowns slightly at the end, as though she's realizing she's rather useless in this situation. "But.. Uh. Just relatively speaking, could that stuff charge up someone that isn't already a magical girl?" "Hypothetically."
Kale Hearthward	"That's good..." Kale also waits impatiently for the elevator. "I can't imagine, losing your powers - but then getting a second chance to help with them. I'd do a heck of a lot for that chance, personally."
James Bond	Tanner's jaw works silently, as if he were chewing on Velt's words in a literal sense, his eyes flicking towards Strawberry. Between Strawberry's grimace, Utsuho and Rin's reassurance, Velt's assertion, he relents. "...yes ma'am, it does worry me. But... not in a way that's going to be a problem, I promise." He is able to take his eyes off Bond, though his pensive frown remains. "'Powerful people' will be what they are," says the older boy to Stanley with a frown. "How to 'make' people do something is really tough to do right. Especially where those people are concerned. This place is... trying to walk a delicate tightrope, I think. It depends on support from some of those people," he says, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "But the Project also wants something that some of those people can only interpret as a threat. Like the Americans, for example," he says, nodding when Velt mentions the abhorrence of a return to the status quo. He seems more used to the elevator than he should be. "So it's a thing, with her," Billy concludes with discomfort, after Lilian's mention of vengeful mementos. He sighs--but his brief glance towards her says he'll do his best to make sure she doesn't collect any more. Over by Blueberry, Bond exhales, a thin trail of smoke gradually dispersing a few feet from him. He snubs it out, on the way to the elevator. "Thank you," he says with a smile. Blueberry's guess about his perspective is proven right, with a shake of his head. "No, I don't suppose I would. To be honest, sometimes it's difficult for me to divorce the way I used to to things and the way I should, if you know what I mean. I lean on the others for examples, but there are times..." Trailing off, he forms a different thought, before the memory of his outburst with Hiromi takes up too much space. "I may not have any advice, but I have a radio. If you'd like to talk to someone in a similar situation, I'll make the time. You ought to know," says Bond, "It's a tremendous relief for me to see you here, smiling. Figuring out how to do all of this." His rare smile is warm, disarming.
Stanley Padgett	Stanley makes another sort of uneasy noise, and sighs. "And here I thought I was having problems with people just trying to like... out me or kill me or something." A soft smile at Billy, and the American kid scuffs his shoe on the concrete. "Though it's nice to hear that there ARE adults who are stepping up to help kids. Like... Like my foster dad is."
Ishirou	"Stop trying to measure up pain and stuff to each other.." Ishirou says as an aside to Stanley. "It isn't a contest, and you're no less a person or elite for having less of it than another. In fact, I am sure Strawberry would be pretty mortified to think that anyone has that kinda fear with them, the fear of being killed because you got power is pretty awful." "Just...be someone responsible with it."
Veve Joueur	Veve follows Lilian's glance at Ishirou, and her smile strains at his response. "Well. I'm glad to hear that the lines drawn in the sand aren't so rigid as to be impassible, Dame Rook." "I do wonder, a little, why those who would hope to grow and farm magical soldiers wouldn't instead turn those resources to poaching them from other nations. Still, a means of creating magical girls would turn children into cattle, an absolutely unbearable idea. The Reignition Project seems to be a hopeful wish for the best future of many, and I'd like to provide whatever help I am able to aid in realizing it." Veve taps a finger on her cheek when Strawberry's wand is revealed, no discomfort showing on her face. She examines it with a similar social performance of interest that someone would when shown an impressive baseball card collection--whatever her true level of curiosity in the subject is, she's making it obvious that she looks interested. "Are these scar channels literal? If the monsters are targeting children for the flexibility of their brains, would there be any trace of their intent in the manner or location of these burned-out channels?" Veve pauses, drawing back and patting down her skirt. "Apologies. I wouldn't presume to be able to bring up questions that you hadn't already considered, as a newcomer here."
Strawberry Princess	"It won't make sense to let them fight, Stanley," Strawberry says gently as she re-packs her wand. "Any magical kid who- who dies, is someone who can't be a smarter, more experienced reignited adult. Right? Hopefully, in a few years... everybody will just see it as a waste. A risk for no reason, when you could let them grow up." "You're a teen hero, right? I was too. Maybe that seems- I don't know, unfair, to you. Pointless. For someone to have the power to help, but not letting them, just because they're a kid." She chews her lip, eyes falling to the elevator floor. "But it's... it's different here. It just is. I've seen a lot of twelve-year-olds die. That's not fair either." Strawberry pulls out her PlayBrick too- it's pink, with glow-in-the-dark buttons and smothered in cutesy sparkly stickers- and boots up the same farming game as Lilian in solidarity. She's got more playtime sunk into it, but doesn't seem to be much further ahead. "Have you done the witch sidequest yet, Lilian? The potions she does are... they're pretty good." Blueberry squeezes in between Strawberry and Lilian, slouching coolly against the wall. "So what if you have a girlfriend?" "Blueberry??" "I'm just saying-" "They're not like that!!" "-no problem!" Again, Blueberry rolls her eyes at Lilian- or gives the impression of doing so, at least. "Come on. You've got powers that make you different from everybody else, you've got a couple of people who understand you, you fight monsters together for years. People get puppy crushes. Don't be innocent." She chews over Bond's offer for a few moments afterwards, then nods, hesitantly. "Alright. Thanks. I guess you'd halfway know. If you're okay to talk about it, then... I'll see when I can make room on my schedule, alright?" There's no way this brat has a schedule. That's just to make herself sound important. "'Human nature'," Velt grumbles, in Satori's direction. "An utterly worthless concept. A man sees a fish on land and says its nature is to choke. There is no human nature, only behaviors created by conditions. To change the conditions is sufficient." Then, off-handedly: "The devices could power you up as much as jumping in a nuclear reactor. Take it as you may."
Strawberry Princess	Velt brushes off Veve's apology. "No, no. You ask an interesting question. But answers are still sparse. The channels are literal. Some conclusions could be drawn if we knew more. Yet we still only begin to understand this magic. It wasn't known to us until the monsters came, and remains an enigma." Strawberry chimes in quietly: "The channels are a shape. Different for each of us. You see it in a dream, when you get your magic. And you can feel it out if you shut your eyes. Angling, branching, curving. Cold and bright, but no color. Not even white. I can't explain it." The cargo elevator finally comes to a stop, at least a hundred feet underground. Its doors squeal open. Beyond them is a control room; complicated instrument panels from sixty years in the past, and monitor displays from a hundred years in the future. Beyond an angled pane of foot-thick, darkened glass is a clean white room, and suspended in it is an elaborate flower-like assemblage of fuel rods and coolant pipes. At the assemblage's center is a chunk of the London Terminarch's core, taken from the ruined city nearly a year ago by some of those present. "If you feel you can contribute, Ishirou, feel free to. Most of the work is in coaxing the Non-Atomic Matter of the wands to cooperate. Though, we have found a more direct path of late." She gestures to a staffer at the controls; a few button-presses later, the fuel rods are contracting inwards, reverting the 'flower' to a crackling bud. "Our proof of concept, thanks to you. If a piece of a Terminarch's- apologies, a special magical-girl-creating-monster's- core can be retrieved, we can reignite its entire connected coven remotely, through the sympathetic connection. The transfer remains inefficient, and some bespoke tailoring is still required-" Strawberry withdraws her wand again, and despite the reactor being off, its central crystal flickers weakly with energy- "but this should more than treble our returns on effort, when we move to scaling up."
Ishirou	Ishirou's face grows some concern at Veve, "Sorry, did I say something to upset you?" he asks, not exactly sure what. "Or maybe I'm not being exactly clear...I /was/an android at one point, and home convinced me to both be a soldier...and that I didn't have emotions or anything. It was...complicated, how I got to this point, and requires a lot of stories! That's the reason for her comment!" To Veldt, "Well, I think I'd need to get a better...non-combat scan of both ends of the connection. It was hard to do it when we had to deal with that weird monster a while ago..." he says, though when the wand was there he does take a moment. "POD, direct scan," he says and starts making a slow and steady scan of the wand, its connection and magic, and all that. Trying to get a good picture of it from this end of the magic connection.
Kale Hearthward	"Ah, there it is..." Kale perks up a bit, in ways that he didn't consciously realize he was down in. Like a sound you don't realize you're hearing till it's gone. "Yeah, we brought that back," he says to Stanley and Veve, gesturing to it. "Snuck straight on in past the hazards and brought it out." "Speaking of... don't suppose you have some leads on some more terminarch cores, director?" he asks Velt. "I mean, if you're making this much progress with just one, you've got me wondering what all you can do with two."
Stanley Padgett	"...it does hurt, a bit, to hear that. But I get where you're coming from too." Stanley sighs, as he looks up at the clean room with the Monster Core inside of it. "...I suppose asking if you want or need my help in... helping the kids of your world is a little weird then." Kale's words get Stanley to step forward and reach his hand for the window. "...So weird seeing all of this stuff when it was like... two pages in class this semester."
Hellwarming Trio	"Behaviors and conditions... Hmm. I see. No wonder they think so highly of you all." Satori lets out a satisfied noise at Velt's answer, still looking like she's mulling over something. "I haven't seen enough to know what a human raised by yokai or a yokai raised by humans would be like, but I can't deny the changes in these two." As content as Satori might seem at that moment, when that bit about jumping in a nuclear reactor comes up, she immediately turns to Rin and shakes her head. Rin looks like she's about to protest, but clams up and then huffs while facing the wall of the elevator instead. Utsuho, meanwhile, just gets shit-eating grin for the rest of the ride down. They're all still listening, though, especially when Strawberry mentions that bit about the channels. There is a nonzero chance they're going to try and remember having such dreams, even if they already have their own weird magic. Eventually, there's more rooms! Control panels, too, and monitors, and all sorts of stuff that the yokai don't really understand yet stare at anyway. Although the core is unfamiliar to them, the power contained in that secured room is easy enough to notice. Utsuho in particular watches the process, and then she turns to Strawberry a few moments later. "So it's gonna be like a... A big fuse or something for whole groups of fruit princesses?" She asks with an intrigued glint in her eyes, eventually looking back at the core again. "Or is it more like... Yeah, reigniting them so they can get their powers back even though they're all older now?" Another pause. "What would it take to juice this thing up? Er. Scaling up, and all that?"
Lilian Rook	"Right?" says Lilian to Kale, absentmindedly, now focusing very intently on her game. "I keep saying Strawberry is stronger than me, but she never believes it. If that happened to me, I'd--" Whatever fucked up thing she was going to casually drop by accident is interrupted by a little fanfare jingle and a soft exclamation, whereupon Lilian gently taps Strawberry to show her her Rare Bug. This distracts her long enough to half-form a confused grimace at Stanley. "'Out'? Your entire school knows about you already, don't they? They hired a fake PMC to slap your hands. Were you hoping to keep it secret? If so, why did you and your little Scooby Gang start telling everyone here?" However, she is then distracted by Veve, apparently reserving a portion of lax focus for every running point at once. "There are for some people. Don't be mistaken. I'm merely a very good Paladin because I'm so very bad at being a Paladin." Lilian pauses to give the second thought the contemplation it's due. "Who knows. I don't think we've been in a position to ask. And the only woman researching this in-depth isn't interested in Endlings." But she's back to Gaming in short order. "Don't bother. He can't stand hearing that." she says to Strawberry, without looking away from the screen. "Oh, I love her! Isn't she just the cutest? Sometimes these mainstream depictions of witches hit just right, you know? I'm still trying to fill out her selection, but I'll admit that I gravitated to her right away." She looks askance at Blueberry muscling her way in, bristling with autonomic discomfort. "Like what?" she dares ask. "I'm not stupid enough to go pushing the limits of that woman's love. She might have my head if I fooled around like that. Besides. Have you seen her? It's not as if I'm dissatisfied or anything." Lilian sighs. "We haven't done anything together for years. My 'Coven' and I. We just met. And I still haven't met the last member." She considers using a name, then decides against it, falling back on convention instead. "Autumn Bloom is especially . . . not great with people. She's had a hard time. You would too, if Strawberry was born in another country and you didn't find her for twenty years." Lilian makes an affirmative noise at Velt that is hard to pin down as any utterance in particular. "Human beings are born pathetically hollow creatures." she says. "Very few people can truly be said to have an irreplaceable 'core' to them, but everyone likes to believe they have one, and so they confabulate one retroactively. Then, they do the same to the rest of humanity, to explain what they've seen in the past. In reality, they're all born as empty containers, and once they're filled up to capacity, they take the shape of whatever was poured into them. Humans filled with different values may as well be different species." However, it's the core that finally gets her full attention. Enough to get her to pause the game and lower her PlayBrick at least. "Just seeing it again makes her skin prickle. Cold, unpleasant goosebumps run up her arms. "That's . . . very promising, Director. But there's something else I'd like to know first." Lilian says. Her face is carefully held in such a mask of politely neutral patience that she could only be choosing to pause on the enormity of what Velt is saying by active will. "Does this mean that Strawberry will finally be able to leave those death sticks at home? I don't care if it's still a five minute limit or not. Tell me that I'll be able to paint her fingernails."
James Bond	Billy seems uncomfortable, having only a month or so left as a 'teen hero,' at Strawberry's answer to Stanley. But Bond, uncomfortable though he may be as well, chimes in. "I was nineteen when I joined the Service. The same as Tanner." "You joined the Service?" asks Billy in mild confusion. "I was the best. Double 0 before thirty," Bond answers matter-of-factly, before turning to Stanley again. "When I was your age, three years seemed like an abominably long time. Now, I blink, and another one's gone by. There's so much I wish I could have done, people I could have kept in my life, that maybe I would have, if the work hadn't been in the way. There are young men that never came back from assignment, who exist, here," he says, tapping his temple, "As young men. Forever. Because there wasn't any Director Velt on my world to give them the chance these children will have." "We appreciate you understanding," he says, over the soft beeps of gamebricks. "Even if it hurts." Bond either buys Blueberry's bit about having a schedule, or pretends convincingly enough to seem that way. "Of course," he says cordially, before stepping through the elevator. Billy is lost in thought, at the sight of the core, or perhaps in light of what's been revealed to him. Bond turns to something more businesslike in tone. A familiar kind of manner, for him. The objective-focused, briefing room table voice. "What can you tell me about these other initiatives?" he asks Velt. The tone, of course, implying the real question: what's your need for wetwork, where they're concerned? "If you'd like a fact-finding mission, I'm happy to help. Ms. Joueur could even come along, if she likes." He'd heard the 'weapon' part, it seems.
Stanley Padgett	Stanley sighs, as the adults all start in on him, the young one in the room. His hand rests on the glass, and he slumps his shoulders. At least it's not ALL out of hate or vague rude disinterest. "It'd be nice to have help to distance myself from whatever's going on, but then..." He trails off, and taps the glass, before looking to Bond and Ishirou and Strawberry. But not Lilian. "If you three are serious about that, then I'd like help. And I'll help you guys too." He adjusts the tie he's got on, and pushes a hand through his hair. "But I'm taking away from Ms. Velt here, sorry." He takes a few steps back, away from the glass, and to the back of the group.
Veve Joueur	Veve winces at Ishirou and shakes her head, her smile immediately reinstating itself. "No, no, nothing of the sort, don't worry, please. Someday I'd like to hear your stories, if you want to tell them." The key on her back twists, clanging on the wall of the elevator, and she whips a hand behind her to hold it still. Upon exiting the elevator, Veve blinks a few times at the futuristic monitors and abstractly more futuristic displays, looking dazzled by the artificial lights. She tracks the motion of the reactor, eyes narrowed in thought, and opens her mouth, then closes it again to avoid drawing the burden of attention, expression softening. Stanley, though, is something she can't ignore, given the topic of conversation. "Not only would it defeat the purpose of the project if you asked that, but the priority of your safety extends beyond this world's borders, as well. Children should not be fighting for their lives, not when others can do it for them. Nor should they invite more danger onto themselves just because they can." Her words are stern, but her voice is soft, underlined with a soft buzz. "I understand the urge, really. But children should learn of the world in class, as your peers have. Not by being thrust into its cruelest realities firsthand." Veve walks up next to him, peering into the glass, then turns back to the Director. "You said that the whole coven of magical girls is reignited simultaneously, correct? Doesn't that mean that reentry into the responsibility of combat is not wholly voluntary?"
Strawberry Princess	"If that happened to me, I'd--" "Yeah," Strawberry says, with no further elaboration. She makes a slightly face-scrunched smile as she stares down at her happy farm game. A sudden topic swerve follows. "... I like what they did with the witch's alternate costumes, too. A red windbreaker like that might be nice. You know?" "It is funny that you should ask," Velt says to Kale, failing to put a laugh in her voice. "A Terminarch's core being so preserved is not normal. It is the killspot, and disintegrates totally if struck with enough force. In the future, we can make attempts to kill them delicately, but the covens of new Terminarchs won't burn out for five more years. At present, we know of..." She counts on her fingers. "McMurdo Terminarch, frozen in time at the South Pole. Kinshasa Terminarch, grew into space, parts still sometimes de-orbit. And London, already harvested. Slim pickings. We can try to research more, and look into the feasibility of Kinshasa harvesting." Ishirou's scanning shows that Strawberry's reactor isn't really a reactor in the traditional sense. It still uses a contained fission reaction to heat coolant and generate electricity, but the electricity is almost an afterthought. Most of the energy being dumped into the core is just redirected and focused radiation, which it readily absorbs. The structure of the crystal has been carefully modified and teased to enable it to take in energy from outside. Where that energy goes is a mystery; it seems to just disappear into the crystal's interior, with no evidence of the crystal storing it per se. The fact that a soft glow of magic illuminates Strawberry's scarred metaphysical channels at the same time must be related, but it's not apparent how anything flows between the wand and her. Strawberry stops herself from laughing when Utsuho talks about 'whole groups of fruit princesses', and shakes her head. "Yeah. I think it won't do them much good unless they're already burned out, from being too old. But when we get this thing just right... a lot of people are going to be able to fight again, so the kids won't have to." Velt cuts in. "To 'juice it up', the greatest help would be more Endling materials. The fragment's absorbency can be increased by contaminating it with pulverized Non-Atomic Matter from Endlings with relevant powers. A matter of trial and error, but..." She wobbles her hand. 'Ehn'. "Acquiring salvage rights is difficult for us. Especially as Strawberry favors the total body erasure."
Strawberry Princess	A subtle wince comes over Velt's face when 'death sticks' are mentioned. "Yes," she says to Lilian. "Strawberry will be able to leave the reactors behind. Efficiency of the Terminarch method will increase over time, so how soon depends on the rate of our progress, and how much of a reduction in power she is willing to accept. Her maximum energy draw, we have reason to believe, is... uniquely excessive." Already knowing the answer, she asks: "Strawberry. Would you accept being weaker if it meant not being irradiated?" Strawberry, who knows she knows the answer, crosses her arms and can't meet Lilian's eyes. "No. If I let someone down because of it, and they died, then..." Velt throws her hands up. "You see? Years, then." "The other initiatives... we've rarely dared interfere directly, so let me think, Mr. Bond." Velt rubs the back of her neck and looks up at the ceiling. "We know of the Langley project, with the 'zombies'- not completely unlike Blueberry." "Hey!" "But the raid there set them back years, if not destroyed it completely. We have suspicion of another initiative in Europe, based on unusual trade in the Endling salvage market, but nothing proven. If you're willing to investigate that..." She trails off with: "Well, I'll send you the files." Blueberry's face contorts in something like disgust when Lilian poses her coven hypothetical. "Ugh. I don't believe you it's that bad. She'd go ballistic if it were." "I think you'd end up okay without me, Blueberry. Even if it- you know, took a little longer, maybe." "... Yeah. Maybe." Pocketing her game, Strawberry bends down- it's hard to register exactly how gangly she is until you see the lengths she has to go to to not be tall- and puts her hand on Stanley's shoulder. "Thanks, Stanley. You're a lot older than twelve, anyway, aren't you? Maybe- I'm being a hypocrite, probably. But if you want to pitch in, I'd be happy to have you. Just... be safe, when you do." She cracks a hapless little smile. "If you get hurt bad, I'll blame myself. You know? And if you ever want to talk about the teen hero thing- I'm here. I did all that, too."
Ishirou	"I can't really say much...I am technically only five.." Ishirou says to Stanley. "Though my situation is...a heck of a lot different...but they're not wrong," he says, "I wasn't given the chance to grow up normally, and I'd do a lot for that chance if I could." "There are a lot of people who'd want nothing to have the chance to grow up first, before having that kinda responsibility thrown in their laps. I know it's' going to sound awful to hear it, but...your ability to make a decision isn't the same as when you are an adult. Having the wisdom of experience makes a breath of difference." "But...well, I suppose you already have psychic ghost power just..." he sighs, "Don't push people away who want to help you, alright? Lilian isn't trying to be mean, she really is trying to give you advice. Strawberry and Blueberry have the best experience in this than anyone I know..." "James can probably also tell you a thing or two." He turns back his gaze. This was interesting data, he'll see if he can track the data to see if there is anything he can figure out with where it's going. The connections between it and Strawberry don't seem to make exact sense. He considers this, it's something outside of the natural laws of physics...but magic in a way he can't fully understand. Perhaps that's the nature of the beast, that the terminach's themselves work under different laws of physics, and they bring that with them. "Well, I'd love to help...and if possible like to look at one of these in the wild.." "I have a theory, that the nature of the beast is based on completely different physics...but I can't determine where the energy actually goes..? Back to its dimension..? Back to a part of it? Is there more of it we can't perceive?"
Stanley Padgett	Stanley snorts a bit at Strawberry's touch, and sighs. "18 next month. So... I was expecting to be cast adrift then anyways, might as well help people out. But Dad pushed that issue early, so... I'm relying on the kindness of others already."
James Bond	"I'm sorry... black market, ma'am? Is there really an interest in trading lopped off body parts from these god-awful things?" Billy's face scrunches up somewhere between distaste and discomfort. "Thank you," Bond says to Velt, with a curt, professional nod. By comparison, he hardly seems surprised. "Once we're done here, I'll head to the Aegis, review them and then forward them to our analysts for any additional insight." He reaches into the inner pocket of his jacket, procuring that most useful of gadgets, the standard issue pen and standard issue notepad. His personal frequency is written for Blueberry, torn off, folded and handed over. "For when you have an open spot in your schedule," he says.
Hellwarming Trio	"If they already have to be burned out, then... You need the kids to get old enough to burn out, but waiting that long means there's other kids coming in to take their place. And if that's happening, then..." "Yeesh. That makes this whole thing way rougher. Unless you've got enough burnt out folks that we can try and get this done quicker, right? And that means-" "Acquiring those materials without erasing the body. That sounds difficult, if it needs to not be..." Satori looks towards Strawberry, then towards Utsuho. She lets out a quiet thinking noise, then turns right on back to Velt when Ishirou brings up what can and can't be seen. "do you know the locations of any other Endlings? He sounds like he has a good eye for these kinds of things, and if it truly dies, then Rin should be able to see its spirit if it has one." That gets the kasha to perk up. "Hey, yeah! And then I could try talking to it, or sampling a bit." Satori doesn't say anything else there. She just looks tired.
Lilian Rook	"You think? I need a new spring jacket. I've sort of taken a liking to bright and wine reds lately." Lilian remains in animated talk with Strawberry about cute fashion choices while Velt explains to Kale. "One day, I want to try a hat. A good-looking one, not a Halloween prop. Do you know what I mean? Just to see how it is." When Strawberry talks to Utsuho, Lilian looks up, makes eye contact with Velt, and then says "Put a pin in McMurdo, please. Just in case. I think I might have an idea. As for salvage rights; don't worry about them. And trial and error? Forget years. I promised you my unconditional cooperation, didn't I? Something as simple as weeding through clear probabilistic choices for the greatest returns is childsplay to me." She breathes such a sigh at the word 'yes', only to suck it back in through her teeth when Strawberry utters its opposite. "That power has held you back as often as it's helped. Can't you take your foot off the gas for even a moment? I understand what you're thinking, but you can't keep going at this rate. I won't allow it. I'll pry that reactor off your wand and I won't give it back until the moment you need it. Velt is doing this for you, not just 'the future'. We are too." A little angrily, Lilian turns back to Velt. "At least tell me you can design it to switch power supplies in the field. If it's a matter of power, then there's no excuse for using that poison for low power applications. It's not as if something has to be rendered into its constituent particles every single time." She falls off into moderate impatience with Blueberry. "It is that bad. You know full well it's that bad. If we had each other this entire time, do you think I'd turn out the way I am? How many of them do you think are as strong as I am? People can get by, one day at a time, with a lot less than you'd think. Ballistic is what happens when you completely run out of all other options, and the more power you have, the more of those you get. The stronger you are, the easier it is to bend yourself into shapes people don't think are possible."
Strawberry Princess	"'Another dimension'. It's impossible to prove, but we've always strongly suspected the same thing. They come from nowhere, and their bodies aren't like normal matter. If that is where the energy is routed through..." Velt shrugs, hands staying in her labcoat pockets. "It sounds plausible, but does it tell us anything useful? Well, we'll call you in for a fight when we can." Billy actually coaxes a laugh out of Lucija, albeit a short one. "No, no. The market is very official. Their bodies have properties that can't be replicated on Earth, you know. So they find niche application, high-performance parts." Blueberry unfolds the paper to look at the frequency, nods solemnly, then folds it back up to clutch it in her palm. She glances at Strawberry out of the corner of her eye, reminded to behave. "Thanks. I... really do mean it. Thank you, James." Velt seems vaguely surprised when Satori asks: "No, Endlings aren't in a place. They appear and we snuff them out, hopefully inside the chrysalis. As they live, they grow stronger without limit. Ideal termination time is inside half an hour. When we get a call for one, we'll pull you in." That last idea makes her scrunch her eyes shut and breathe out quietly, briefly overwhelmed by the idea. "Talking to an Endling's 'spirit'... I'd never thought of that. I don't think we'll like what we learn. But you might as well try." Strawberry gives Stanley a sympathetic grimace-smile. She's probably trying to come up with something comforting to say, but then Lilian's words hit her from behind like a brick. She pulls herself back upright and turns sharply. "Lilian, don't say gross things like that. You don't have the right to take it away from me." The breath she was going to spend on her next sentence escapes her as a sigh instead. A beat passes; her shoulders droop. She fidgets with the corner of her jacket. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said 'gross'. But... you know that's how I get to be myself. It's- it's not right, to say you're doing it for me, and then to threaten to change me like that. That's not okay. It's really not. Don't joke." Velt knows well enough to give that exchange a good ten or fifteen seconds of space. Finally, though, she pipes up: "The energy sources are innately additive. She's already been using the remote fueling for... minor uses of her powers, in the field. Someday she'll be able to fly with it."
Lilian Rook	Lilian freezes up the instant her frustrated little rant goes horribly wrong. It's strange to see. Lilian turning pale. Shoulders bunched up. Jaw tightened. Eyes wide. Her breath stopping in her throat. She looks as if she was just slapped. "No that's . . . Strawberry that's not what I mean. I thought-- I misunderstood. I didn't mean take it away! I meant-- I thought this thing would take over! That without the reactor, nothing would change. I didn't realize . . ." Her eyes wander away. Her hand squeezes her upper arm. "I didn't realize that's how it already was. It's . . . you're not supposed to ask about these sorts of things. I'm sorry. I overestimated where the project was. I got . . . excited, at the thought that you finally didn't need that thing anymore. I should have realized you weren't clinging to it unnecesarily."
Strawberry Princess	Strawberry crumples with nearly-equal horror the moment she realizes she's drawn blood. Her shoulders draw in, minimizing her silhouette; her eyes fall to the floor; she squirms a little in place, as if she could shuffle off the clammy dread of having hurt her friend. "I'm sorry," she says, very quietly. "I... I wasn't thinking straight. I should've known that's not what you meant, too. I should've- just assumed the smarter thing." "... that's still not okay, though," she says, even quieter. Her voice is vibrato. "Even if I were poisoning myself for no reason. If I decided that's Strawberry Princess, it's not okay to rescue me from it. Because then... that's not rescuing 'me'. Just someone made-up."