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White White's attempts to put off her responsibilities could only go so far in the end. She'd met a bunch of people, been surprisingly socially successful, done surprisingly less work than anticipated in the meantime, and surprise-surprise! She had gotten full of herself over it. She committed to hosting an event- if one could call it that- and rented a private meeting room in the Dorado only to remember the most important thing of all; she can't give a presentation! The room is fine, the pizza is fine (she sampled it to be sure of course), but the big official longtable dominating the center of the room creates a vibe antithetical to White's very nature (or at least her composure) whenever she's stood at the end. She can't sit still before the attendees begin to arrive, and by the time they do she's seemingly tried to redecorate by stringing all six pizza boxes from the ceiling like lightless lamps.

     The first person to arrive ends up being the first to see her move with any sense of urgency at all; she's seen them coming through the hallway wall and quite plainly flees at a jog into a storage closet in the back of the room. She's already brought all the chairs out that she can around the table, so much so that there are two stacks of extra ones (that might have been stolen from adjacent rooms) visible in the corners as one enters and there's even a three-wide leather couch on one side of the table near the front that *definitely* didn't come with the room. For at least a few minutes as people begin to trickle in White is strangely quiet in the storage closet, giving the rest of you an implicit opportunity to get settled in and... Enjoy some of the hanging pizza? Most of it's just pepperoni, but there's one that's ham and pineapple too, and another that's... A S'mores dessert pie, conspicuously missing a slice.

     There's a whiteboard out too, though it's flipped away from the table right now, and the markers are on the ground beneath it. If anyone looks at the other side while White is away, it seems like she was trying to draw some kind of reference picture with a scribbly blob in the middle, fourteen locks around it, and then some stick figures are smooshed into the bottom left corner all tiny-like. She might not have finished! There's a white three-ring binder on the floor by the storage room as well that seems to be full of 'Shiro-sensei's Primers for Newbies' printouts. There's no graphic design or particular organizational effort put into them besides numbering and titling by topic, and they're a little too stiff to be a good script.
Rita Ma      The Grand Dorado is something Rita always has jumbled-up feelings about. Sure, it's beautiful. But a concentration of this much wealth shouldn't exist while anyone, anywhere, is hungry, right?

     Thoughts like that percolate through her brain, slowly and wordlessly, while she looks up at skyscrapers and weaves through crowded streets. When she arrives at the meeting room, she's in a melancholy mood.

     That is, until White scampers away. Then Rita stares after her like she's seen a cryptid in the woods. All prior thoughts blank out. Huh?? What?? Is she-- didn't she invite me here??

     White can hear, from her spot in the closet, the thunk of Rita putting a cooler on the table. Then the shff-shff of the hanging boxes being investigated. Next-to-last, a sniff that could be innocently throat-clearing, if she didn't know what she knows about Rita's senses.

     Finally, a second slice of S'mores dessert pie is silently slid under the storage closet's door.
Kukuru Despite her sleepy demeanor, Kukuru is one of the early arrivals at White's big event! It's hard not to be when she's able to just show up at the drop of a hat, but she also knows the importance of arriving properly instead of just barging in without signs of her approaching.

That means, instead of teleporting directly into the room, she arrives outside the building (teleporting there, of course) first, then takes the elevator up like a normal person that actually has to wait for the elevator. She's dressed in her usual white blouse and green-brown skirt combo that probably isn't going to be great for the food prepared today, but she's made larger messes in that outfit before, and she's always managed to clean those out.

As she approaches the meeting room, Kukuru can hear it before she even gets there: White's nervous, isn't she? She's seen this kind of thing before from other new recruits, and she's even seen it back home and on TV a couple of times, too: A new face, ready to put forth a good first showing, getting the pre-flight jitters before her big moment?

Absolutely adorable. Oh, what Kukuru would give to just have some time to scoop White up, to shake her around gently, to reassure her that everything's going to be fine and nobody's going to notice even if she forgets something after the fact... But no. This is White's moment, and she's not going to make things any more awkwardly mortifying for the new Concord Partner than it must already be.

As she's running through all these thought processes, White might very well see Kukuru just going in circles for a good minute or two, hands covering her face for the first half as she tries not to get overloaded with self-inflicted emotions. Once she's good, though, the wannabe-mother figure heads on in with a cooler full of assorted weird drinks in tow, and-

"Ceiling pizza..." She murmurs absent-mindedly to herself, the power of food drawing her attention almost immediately. Spotting Rita, she starts to call out to her with the start of an excited "Riii-" and then stops herself as she realizes what Rita's doing with the pizza. Kukuru closes her mouth as she holds her palms together over her mouth, watching with bated breath to see if White'll take the bait!

The high-pitched squeaking noise coming from the back of her throat might make it even more obvious she's totally watching, though. It's too cute of a sight not to, despite her best efforts to stay quiet.
Petra Soroka     Petra is certainly not the first to arrive, because she comes straight from work to get here, which necessitates her daily ritual as the Extraction Team Captain. Walking down the hallway outside Mountain of Smiling Body's cell to make sure there aren't any corpses (never human! She's got the highest clerk survival rating of any department, earning her a hefty 100 credit bonus annually!), filling out the schedule for Parasite Tree's works to keep Noyo from getting turned into a sapling, and cleaning off the blood up to her elbows from working with Bloodbath (a task made considerably easier by having Fourth Match Flame as her EGO now, since the heat dries it so she can crumble it off!).

    This is, sort of, company-related work, given that Petra's reasoning for getting involved with White is that Angela views her as an ally; and it's also sort of a business meeting anyways, which implies a dress code. Petra considers both of these things, and then discards them, because never in her life does she want her plans for the day to include a corporate lunch in the Grand Dorado that she wears business casual to. Instead, she swings by the locker rooms to change into her pre-work clothes: jeans and a hoodie that (probably ironically) has 'KICK ME' printed on the back of it, with her hair tucked into a black beanie. She completes the outfit with the Eggpack on her back and Cinder on her arm.

    And because she isn't among the first to arrive, she doesn't see the stringing or the scampering, only the results-- pizza boxes on the ceiling, and White not present. She settles down in a chair sort of awkwardly, chattering with Cinder and Angela until other familiar faces are around, with her eyes upturned to the boxes.

    "She's a spider, so... do you think, like... she does that with all her food? I wonder if it's a comfort thing."

    Petra respects planned performance and decorum (sometimes) enough not to go snooping around the room before White shows herself. Rita gets a cheery wave of greeting and then a faintly distraught look when she places a slice of pizza on the ground for no knowable reason to Petra. She also has more small talk to fill the air with.

    "You know, I've never actually been to the Grand Dorado before, besides a quick transition hop between warpgates in the hub. I don't really know if that's weird, because of, like, I know you, Ange, and Doctor Eggman, and plenty of other people I'm close to pass by here all the time; or if it's not weird at all because I'm not really a business type or anything. It's pretty, though."
Timespace Riders      Not even Woz can complain about pizza. As he enters with his king, however, he does spare the hanging boxes a look of puzzlement, followed by a quizzocal glance towards White.

     Sougo, naturally, notices these, too, but as he hangs his navy peacoat on the back of a chair, he answers Woz's subsequent glance towards *him* with a cheery shrug.

     Neither is the first to see her, and thus both are mildly confused at first as to her absence. Sougo even checks his watch. "Um... okay," he says with a confused but pleasant tone, "I guess we can just have some pizza while we wait..."

     "Indeed, my liege," says Woz, still sharing in the same level of confusion. Both of them gingerly take pizza from the hanging boxes. Between bites of his pizza, Woz investigates the other side of the whiteboard, his brow furrowed with interest.

     "What's this? Huh. 'Shiro-sensei's Primers for Newbies...' Haha, I like that..." Sougo takes one, offers another to Woz and volunteers himself to pass them out generally.

She's a spider, so... do you think, like... she does that with all her food? I wonder if it's a comfort thing.

    "Perhaps. I thought instead that it might be an intersection of decor and libations," offers Woz.

You know, I've never actually been to the Grand Dorado before, besides a quick transition hop between warpgates in the hub.

     "You should come by more often!" Sougo offers brightly. "It's so much more than a business park. There's great restaurants here, there's a lot of pretty views and a whole lot to do besides."
Rita Ma      "Hi, Ms. Kukuru!!" Rita says veeery quietly, as if making too much noise could spoil the attempt at luring White out. She makes up for it with the enthusiasm of her wave!

     She's similarly bright about seeing Petra, but that comment makes her face scrunch a little. She pulls out her phone while still crouching just outside the closet. Tap-tap-type.
Angela Angela can neither eat pizza or travel or even, as of yet, travel specifically to the Grand Dorado without help. That help can be an agent but Angela wants to get as much Eggpack time as she can while she still has reason to use it. She's not sure if she can really reasonably ask Petra to carry an Eggpack one she's able to go outside on her own power. She's kind of grown attached to the Eggpack.

The agent Cinder arrives as well--from the Control Team of Lobotomy Corp--he has red hair with blackened tips and is wearing a suit that seems to be both ashen and still smoldering as if she had just been engulfed in flame--but she isn't injured. She is unarmed, at present, because this is the Grand Dorado nothing bad would happen here right? She's also leaning happily against Petra--until she sees the pizza boxes hanging from the ceiling.

Her first instinct, since she didn't see White scampering away, is to stare at the pizza boxes. She gazes on up at them for a while and pokes one of the hanging pizza boxes with an index finger.

Huh, she thinks, she really is a spider, isn't she? ... ... Wait, how does that work with pizza? ... Don't think too hard about it, Cinder.

Cinder sits next to Petra. "But they're still in the boxes right...? Maybe she wanted to go for a vibe?" Cinder's not sure, though. "Oh you've never been? ... I mean it's my first time out here too, but I figured since you were offered a place by the Director herself and all."

"This is my second time looking around here myself." Angela adds. "As you might imagine I do not have much occassion to come around here. I suppose there was a world where I could have let the Agents visit this complex instead of your facility."

Her gaze trails towards Sougo and Woz, closing her eyes with a small smile. "Hello again, you two. It is fortunate you could make it." And she bobs her head to Kukuru to indicate the same for her and then--

--she 'looks' to Rita. "Ah, Rita. Gebura wished to talk with you later. But not today, of course, we have other business today. Cinder, would you mind collecting the primer? Perhaps she wished for us to go through the primer first?"

Cinder hops back up and walks to the binder on the floor and picks up Shiro-sensei's Primeres for Newbies and sets it on the table. "Er, should I just open it up and start from the first page?"

"Yes, please do." Angela says.
White White's pen-named primers seem to come in ten volumes of different lengths, some more thoroughly revised than others. In order, the titles go, "The System", "Outsider Survival Guide", "Heroes and Demon Lords", "Reincarnations", "Rulers and Keys", "Blame it on the Elves", "Godhood and Conjury in a Nutshell", "Administrators", "Taboo" and "Cause of War". The survival guide and 'rulers and keys' ones are much longer than the rest it seems, and she seems to bounce between trying to write actual primers for visitors or detailed information for fellow conspirators. It's also missing some context that isn't quite basic enough for a primer, but hey, she tried.
Kuroto Dan      Kuroto Dan has heard White over the radio before. Or rather, he supposes, more so a text to speech program followed by several people hounding her for details that felt almost begrudgingly answered. The person had to be annoyed, right? She wouldn't be using a program like that to talk to people unless she thought less of most of the people there. Or maybe it's something different and he's just ascribing his own feelings on her...

     No. Of course he isn't. He's probably right as usual.

     Well, whatever the case, he's not about to turn down a free explanation of all the questions people have been pestering White with. Opportunities like this to get answers like this without the banal squabbles on open channels is rare, after all.

     With his mind up, Kuroto doesn't show up as himself, but instead, Genm, an armored individual known as a Kamen Rider.

     Perhaps a bit too armored actually, he looks less like a warrior, and more like some sort of mascot. After a brief scan of the room and a distinct lack of anyone who fits the bill of 'being a spider', he disengages the form, flipping open his belt buckle as he shifts into a more appropriately human-shaped appearance.

     "I had better not have taken time out of my schedule only for the host to get cold feet."

     Did she chicken out, or is this some sort of calculated social move? She's part of the Concord, after all, he can't really put that past her. For now, however, he'll just play along, reaching up to grab an entire box of pepperoni pizza for himself. A box which he does not eat, at least for now, as he'd have to remove his helmet to do so. But he was left an offering, and it'd be rude of him not to take it.
Natsuki Nuki Natsuki Nuki, the 'Lady Nue' of Concord Acquisitions and a fairly freshly minted partner in the grander (Dorado) scheme of things, tried to do her homework before engaging with the others of her level. White, who had come from less orthodox means (at least, to the eyes of an internal track monster), was a bit of an enigma with some key markers that Natsuki lined up with.

Particularly, that White highly resembled a Jorogumo school media head from the student council Natsuki was a part of in college. This gave White a huge boost to the aggressive chimera woman's estimation of her, despite their mostly mundane hangouts of 'sit down food' and 'hiking trip'.

Interest in Demon Army Commanders and the general status of her coworkers and similarly situated spirits in the wide world, they had shared some secrets and talked past each other on other topics. Despite fighting through some preconceived notions (or simply crediting White for the difference and moving on in mutual general silence on the matter), Natsuki had decided she liked White on her own, and when there was a prompt to show up she had settled in early!

Settled in near the head of the meeting room, she stared forward for a while in black blazer, red button-down shirt, black skirt and dark leggings, checked a nice watch on a slightly fuzzy forearm and sighed as she got out her flip phone and started texting someone.

On the table before her, a mini-spider jumped out of a pocket it had been nesting in and looks around, then up, where there *should* be several pizzas...

Before starting to engage in spider semaphore. A wavy dance of arms and limbs and bouncing left-right drew Natsuki's attention, where she was pointed at a blank wall.

"Hah? Yeah, I'm a little pissed too. These are normally catered. They *come* with catering. You have to *decline* catering. Next door has catering! And desert!" She scoffs, spitting the words 'next door'.

The spider's dance goes into arachnid overdrive. Natsuki closes her phone. "I'm sat down. Early! What gives, lil' one?"

And that is why Natsuki pokes her tiger-eared head around the doorframe of the meeting room first before swearing in Japanese (a variation of 'stupid bastard') and cussing out whoever designed the little besides-room screens describing the booking. "They should be on the right! Ch..."

Sulking in now a hair late with a little spider on her shoulder, Natsuki looks up at the hanging pizzas and reaches down to pull a pepperoni slice box down and sourly drop it in front of her less-than-exalted place at the table to flick open with a finger and pinch a slice.

'I had better not have taken time out of my schedule only for the host to get cold feet.'

Natsuki looks up in Executive Compensation Sympathy to Dan, offering a slice. "They didn't forget to book catering." She adds, while her shoulder spider gestures for Kuroto to take a seat besides in one of the few remaining seats.

"Didn't know it was bring-your-own, either. You're a Partner, Cure Glow?" Natsuki asks across towards the cooler and cooler-owner.
White White's absence only lasts a few minutes, and the first sign that she's back is, strangely enough, a man's confused voice. A little bit low-toned but not nearly a whisper, it sounds like he's simply appeared mid-sentence asking "-have you been?! The young miss and the Demon Lord have been worried sick, hoping you would return when..." He stops when the door opens, and you see White pulling a stranger along out of the theoretically single-entrance storage room by his wrist while he's still in the middle of craning his neck to look around. He reflexively tries to stop as he crosses the threshhold into the meeting room (while White kneels down to pick up the floor-pizza and carry it with her, oblivious to the intended sentiment) and sees the horde of unknown people waiting there. White doesn't even notice him plant his foot and he stumbles as he's pulled along another few steps to the end of the table. He takes it with *some* grace, but looks absolutely lost.

     The man himself is a couple inches taller than White, and looks like a very pale european man with sharp facial features and black, brushed-back hair. His eyes are dully red, and sunken in slightly like he's gone several nights without sleep lately. He wears a slightly odd mix of armor and clothing, with what looks like part of an older style of butler's uniform layered alongside an overcoat and a cloak, and only his right arm is protected by a clawed gauntlet. He has a sword at his hip on the same side, a somewhat overlong saber.

     White stands alongside but a step behind the man, moving her hand from his wrist to his shoulder and producing a few sheets of notebook paper from her sleeve to push firmly into his unarmored hand, which he accepts with only faint hesitation and concern. He tries to skim the contents, but only with partial attention at first. "... Lady White, would you please explain where we are?" So asked, White silently contemplates for a short time, makes a bit of a face ('Ugh, what a pain.'), and stands on her tip-toes to whisper something into his ear. He makes a face next that looks like reluctant acceptance, and White oh so bravely turns to address the crowd in her faint voice. Her body language looks like she's trying to shout with how she leans in, but it still comes out barely above a stage-whisper. "This is Merazophis. He's the Fourth Army Commander. He will be my teaching assistant." Merazophis tries to politely bow at the introduction, but the energy *really* has to be scrounged up from his deepest depths to overcome his bafflement. Especially when White sidles out from beside him and slides onto the pilfered couch, shedding all possible aggro onto her substitute while she tries to stop her heart from using her ribcage as a punching bag.

     Merazophis seems used to 'Lady White' being a flake in these situations though, and seems to have great tolerance for it. After perusing the notes again quickly, his expression changes from hesitant and well-masked anxiety to something a little more concentrated and well-grounded. White didn't leave him high and dry completely, at least. "... I apologize for my disarray. As stated, I am Merazophis, currently honored with leading the Fourth Demon Army under Demon Lord Ariel. I am led to understand that you, like Lady White, come from other planets and have taken an interest in ours. Lady White appears to have an unusual amount of investment in this, so I will do my utmost to communicate what she intended clearly." He bows again more confidently.
Petra Soroka [ansi(243,"There's great restaurants here, there's a lot of pretty views and a whole lot to do besides.")]

    Petra squints dubiously, shifting in her chair to sit un-professionally with her knee up to her chest. "But aren't they, like, all the sorts of restaurants you do business talks at? Like... I mean, I like a fancy restaurant for a date as much as anyone, but it feels like there's a difference between restaurants for that, and, restaurants with, like, professional expectations."

    She turns her eyes to the door, and thereby the rest of the building that she had to pass through to get here. "Well, I guess people do have to, like, live here too. It *is* a pretty nice area."

". . . but I figured since you were offered a place by the Director herself and all."

    Petra falls into thought for a short bit after Cinder brings Yuuki's invitation up again, and her eyes briefly slide over to Rita before she looks back to Cinder. "No, that's true, actually. I should look around the city some. It's kind of irresponsible of me not to."

"Cinder, would you mind collecting the primer?"

    Petra automatically starts to get up when Cinder does, both because of an order being issued and because of just habitually staying nearby, and then hesitates. After a moment, she decides that it's a lot of text for Cinder to have to read alone, and follows her up to the front of the room, palms planted to lean on the table and look past Cinder's shoulders at the books along with her.

    "'Blame it on the elves'..." She echoes quietly while scanning them. For some reason, that one caught her eye.

"I had better not have taken time out of my schedule only for the host to get cold feet."

    Petra lifts her head to look at who else came in, and may be the only person to ever smile like that upon seeing Genm. "Oh, hey, you're coming to help White out too? I wouldn't really worry, she's seemed pretty reliable so far."

"You're a Partner, Cure Glow?"

    Petra knows Rita is not a Concord Partner, but, the other half of the question confuses her. She lifts an eyebrow at Rita and silently mouths, 'Cure Glow?'

"-have you been?!"

    "Ah-- some random guy?!"

    If White herself had just scuttled out of the closet alone, Petra might not have reacted with so much shock, but a mysterious man in the closet jumpstarts the encounter theme in her head. White addressing everyone smooths that over, because it recontextualizes this man as just a vessel for her to speak through, which is the normalest thing in the world, actually. Petra nods and acquiesces, tapping Cinder on the shoulder to retreat back to their seats together.

    Once seated, she turns around to address White with her elbow slouched over the back of her chair, "You're also from a different world than that one? I thought you hadn't been unified that long?" And then she naturally turns back around to expect Merazophis to answer the question she directed at White.
Angela Cinder's eyes start to glaze over. "Um Angela, I'm not sure I quite get it--perhaps you should give it a try? I guess they have Taboos too?" She slides the binder over to Angela who flips through it at a remarkable speed until she notices that Petra's reading as well and slows down to make it manageable, her eyes rapidly flitting down the pages. Her horrible curse mostly comes in handy for reading and noticing subtle moments as they are stretched out into nigh-infinity. It is certainly not 'worth it' but the least she can do is go through the primer but to those paying attention she spends roughly twice as much time on 'Reincarnations' as she does the other elements. She can feel Carmen throbbing in the back of her skull.

Cinder uses the opportunity to pull down a pizza.

"...Curse Glow?" Angela asks, gaze slowly slanting to look at Rita Ma, accusing and with growing suspicion. "That sounds like a Magical Girl name, Rita. Are you getting involved in some dangerous business?"

She says 'dangerous business' as if being a magical girl was similar to getting involved with some bad influences.

Ah, she thinks as White returns, she did not flee in a panic she was simply retrieving a colleague. A little late is something she'll have to dock points from but otherwise bringing a local to assist is a logical move. It helps spread out the expository role.

"Thank you for assisting with the teaching, Merazophis." Angela says.

"Mhm! Help us out, teach!" Cinder's enthusiasm is returning.

"Yes." Angela says to Merazophis. "Commander White has been hard at work recruiting allies. Some of us have offered to assist and I imagine all wish to know more or they would not be here. If you can help us, I am sure our assistance would be more efficient than if we simply tried to help without any foreknowledge of your world or its situation beyond what we've gathered bits and pieces from here and there."

Cinder smiles as Petra agrees to look around the city more. The Concord feels like a benevolent paradise compared to how The City is managed, even considering The Nests (not all Nests are created equal and sometimes you might be better off staying in the Backstreets. Moving between Nests is nearly unheard of).

"Blame it on the elves," Angela says. "I suppose that goes back to Potimas." She gives a small nod to Dan. "Do not worry, she was simply running a bit behind." She says before pausing. "Cinder, eat one to three pizza slices. We should be polite."

When Petra asks about reincarnations she adds, "I suspect it may involve the 'Reincarnations' chapter."
Sarracenia      Sarracenia is also not the first to arrive. And after what she overheard on the radio she was hesitant to even come. But, eventually the princess arrives in her usual red royal gown, long black gloves, rusty red metal lotus hair barrette, and of course her crown and satchel purse.

     The hanging pizza is a bit odd, but considering White is a spider (despite discussions to the contrary) Sarra makes the best of it. After grabbing one of the primers she pulls out a leaf power-up, gains raccoon ears and a tail, and floats at the appropriate level to browse the pizza options. She takes a couple of pepperoni and one of the dessert pizza slices. She is just about to nibble on one when White comes out of the closet, which leaves Sarra staring a bit with the tip of the pizza slice just held between her lips as she watches White pull that man out with her.

     Sarra floats down after a few moments and lands in a chair, still with her ears and tail and finally takes that bite as she listens to Merazophis. As he bows, Sarra bows lightly in her chair. "Greetings Merazophis. I am Princess Sarracenia Sundew, Crown Princess of the Sundew Kingdom. I am quite curious about the goals of this Demon Army since it does not seem to be the typical 'destroy all life' sort of demon army." She also bows toward White. "It is good to see you again, Lady White."

     Rita, Kukuru, and Natsuki also receive greetings. "Hello! It is good to see you as well Miss Rita, Miss Kukuru, Miss Natsuki!" Woz and Sougo receive at least a bow.
Rita Ma      Rita is patiently crouched by the closet door for long moments. When the door is flung open again, she 'ahh-!!'s backwards, recovers, and then perkily head-bows to White and... her vampire butler?? That's probably it.

     She shoots him a sympathetically understanding look when White sets him up. Poor guy. "Hi, Mr. Merazophis! It's good to meet you!"

     Rita skitters back tablewards, seating herself naturally near Petra, and craning her neck to look around at Angela on the backpack: "Oh! This is about Ms. Nonon, isn't it? I'd be happy to. She has my number, after all!" There's no business-anxiety. Talking to Gebura is just nice!

     She's just opening her cooler- there's enough sashimi in it to share, if anyone asks, but she isn't presumptively overriding White's offerings- and taking a little chopstickful of raw fish when Natsuki makes her freeze mid-chew.

     Cure Glow
     Ulk.

     "Ah, no, I'm not with any of the factions, actually! I just got an invitation from Ms. White for being interested in her, I think! And I do most of my Elite work as just 'Rita'." Oh, god. Not that she'd mind cutting Natsuki in on the ruse, but now isn't the time!

     "So, um, you're not in the Paladins with your sister?" Second bite. Homph. When she's done with that one, she finds a lull to politely put away her chopsticks and raise her hand like she's in class.

     "Sorry if I'm interrupting, Mr. Merazophis. But if it's okay to ask questions now- what's a 'demon lord', and why does she need an army anyway? You both seem really proud of it."
Lilian Rook     Lilian has never spared a thought about how much money a city cost to build in her entire life and she is not about to start now!

    She may have, however, sort of passively forgotten that White is Angela's friend ver. Concord. It's not as if she had developed a headcanon to the contrary, or even decided that she wasn't in the Concord, but rather, it'd sort of slipped her mind ever since, and she hadn't an opportunity to re-suppose it, Given that White is so quiet. She feels a tiny bit silly, dressing up for her second ever visit to Grand Dorado on short notice.

    Of course she's Concord. That quietness is borne from experience. It's the silent intensity of a consummate professional. The text messages she uses to communicate with the broadband convey a harmless social persona for the purposes of networking; she herself used to be saccharine as can be on the public bands for that reason! Text is the necessary tool of those who have forgotten the spoken word of ordinary folk. White had told her enough about her espionage days to gather why; and Lilian had seen that black magic. She's the commander of a Demon Lord's armies for Christ's sake!

    Lilian completes her preparations, scans her skeletal Elite dossier on White ahead of leaving, catches priority Warpgate timing, prays she doesn't find any Concord Elites she used to piss off all the time there, thinks about it, secretly hopes she does find them, and arrives in the boardroom just in time for . . .

    "Beg pardon? Is this the wrong . . .?"

    Lilian looks around the room several times, sees too many familiar faces to really lend any credence to the idea the address was incorrect, then hears Sougo say 'Shiro' out loud and frowns. "Do you think something came up? I can imagine her being called away-- no, she probably has no shortage of enemies who would . . ." Lilian mutters, turning her gaze down past her fingers touched to her lip in thought. "No, perhaps she's testing us. Surely, sitting down here and waiting would be nothing more than an embarrassment. Someone like her would definitely want to vet the competency of her potential allies in some fashion."

    Unfortunately, since Lilian doesn't see White, she's thinking it all out loud.

    '-have you been?! The young miss and the Demon Lord have been worried sick, hoping you would return when...'

    Lilian looks up the instant she hears it. "There it is . . ." she murmurs, thoughtfully. "Perhaps it isn't us who are being tested, but . . ."

    'This is Merazophis. He's the Fourth Army Commander. He will be my teaching assistant.'

    "Oh! You're Meramera!"

    Lilian covers her mouth about two seconds too late. She returns a bow just quickly and smoothly enough to almost get away with it, and replies before anyone can think too hard. "Think nothing of it." she says, followed by "I don't believe that anyone here ranks above you in the first place." in that faintly heatheroid way that 'any of those people, right?' out of sheer habit.

    §Okay but he clearly dressed up as a vampire on purpose, right? Is this a bit? Is this all part of the presentation?§
Timespace Riders      Sougo, in keeping with being a good student, and Woz, with being a good chronicler, start from the beginning and continue, betweeen conversation, as much as they're able to before White makes her appearance.

     "Hi, Genm," says Sougo conversationally, briefly looking up from his primer in order to do a double-take. With a smile he doesn't bother to hide, "Wait, did you come here in Level 1--oh, there it is."

No, perhaps she's testing us.

     "Perhaps," says Woz. "My own preparations for this meeting have led me to believe that Commander White is present." Meaning he read the book to know when to arrive on time.

     And then, with the new arrival, Woz purses his lips expectantly. Sougo beams, at him, and at White.

This is Merazophis.

     "Hi, White!" The fact that she's come from the closet isn't lost on Sougo, nor is her barely-above-a-whisper introduction. She's shy! That explains it. The only thing to do then is to make her feel as welcome as he can, with the same bright greeting he'd given her before.

5t "Nice to meet you, Merazophis. I'm Sougo, and this is my retainer Woz."

     "Hail to you, Commander."

Are you getting involved in some dangerous business?

     Woz looks away. Sougo sits like a little angel, hands folded politely.

     Sarra receives a smile and a little wave from Sougo, and an inclination of the head from Woz.

     "I'd like to pick your brain a little bit about your personal experiences working for a Demon Lord," says Sougo, "Since I want to be the greatest, kindest Demon King of Time. If you don't feel comfortable answering, that's fine! But I'd really like to know... what's the toughest part of your job?"
Petra Soroka [ansi(153,"I suppose that goes back to Potimas.")]

    Petra nods at Angela, trying to recall the lore White recounted. Her memory for dense political worldbuilding is middling at best, highly variable with how much she likes the person, and White hadn't made quite enough of an impression for Petra to start remembering *other* people's names, even though hers was at least locked in there. "That makes sense, right."

"Cinder, eat one to three pizza slices."

    "Oh, I should do that too. I'll probably stick to just one though, and have some of the..." Petra assumes, by default, that Rita didn't bring a cooler of food just for herself at a catered meeting, but she hesitates when Rita opens it to reveal what it actually *is*. Pizza and sashimi is a combination that somehow makes both of them simultaneously feel less appetizing to Petra, which puts her in a predicament, because Rita puts a lot of pride into her food, and Petra already started suggesting she'd have some.

    But she's brave. She's so brave, for girls. "... Have some of the sashimi too, if that's cool with you, Rita."

"And I do most of my Elite work as just 'Rita'."

    Oh, no. Angela's suspicion was right. Rita must be getting involved with *magical girls*, of which Petra has only met one who was actually a benefit to her life as a whole. That one being the maneating monster with a personality disorder.

    A short time afterwards, when it's inconspicuous, Petra lowers her voice to talk to Rita in the chair beside her privately. "Hey, Rita, why'd Natsuki bringing up that name make you seem so worried? Are there magical girls causing problems for you? I'll deck them if you need."
Natsuki Nuki Natsuki has half a slice of pizza left after folding and two neat bites, having not overtaxed herself to make sure she could still snappily respond to any questions or prompts but also mad enough to be hungry. Chewing with a bit of spite, she crosses legs and lifts from her slight forward lean to stare alerted at--

Did White pull this grandpa from a closet? Did the Concord keep vampires in closets? Wasn't one of the top bosses of this outfit a vampire? Did the others just sort themselves into convenient and dark areas of the meeting rooms? Was that normal? How many demon armies were they operating on here?

'This is Merazophis. He's the Fourth Army Commander.'

Natsuki would raise a glass in toast but this catering lacks even lager beer service so the Nue cannot lift a fine and frothy Sapporo - instead she toast-indicates with a folded slice held in thumb, forefinger, and balanced on middle. There's no 'nice to meet you' or 'hi' or anything. This is a business meeting. This is a pitch, isn't it? This is...

Not giving Merazophis a full smile yet, Natsuki's red eyes shift towards Sarracenia, brow quirking before a smile splits the Osakan woman's lips and lifts her mask-patterned cheeks beneath her eyes. No playing games with her name, then. "Sarracenia, didn't know you were looking for demon armies. Don't you have a castle force? Looking to upsize?" She asks conversationally, toasting the princess with her folded-held slice, going in for a bite rather than standing and bowing.

She's sat down now. She had spent her one courtesy getting up on getting to the right conference room.

"Fourth Commander Merazophis," Natsuki begins. "I've heard a little from Commander White about your organization - but not your leader, organizational goals, and current conflicts enough. Just that there is 'a Hero', an army, and some struggle between. From an investment or assistance perspective, could you provide an executive summary?" Natsuki rattles off, quick as you like and equally as dispassionate -- ending with the crust crunch of a bite of pizza.

She hasn't even picked up the primer. Opened not a page. Nope! The primer is for later. Put a speaker in front of her and Natsuki is laser-focused on the speaker.

Okay. Not... not *laser* focused.
'Curse Glow?'

Natsuki shakes her head. "Cure Glow. Like Cure Star, Cure Milky, Cure Glow, and Cure Horizon." Natsuki recites. "The 'Pretty Cure' powers, defenders of the galaxy," She adds, reciting, an 'eto...' following. "And so on and so forth. Defending music, arguing over plants," A dismissive sidehand wave. "They're probably the only things keeping that Galactic Alliance of nincompoops-" Nin-kommu-poo-pu. "-and morons flush in free universal stability." Natsuki offers, rolling off the full intro for the fellow Partner she knew. It was like a business referral! "Huh? Yeah? It is mahou shoujo. She's a 'cool power' type." She really thinks she's helping with each curse laid down. She is a master of debilitating hexes.
Natsuki Nuki 'And I do most of my Elite work as just 'Rita'.'

Natsuki nods knowingly, hiding a further mouthed 'ma-ho sho-jo' syllables to Kuroto, Sougo and Woz, and Angela on her side, before snapping up her slice and looking over at the sashimi course in the cooler. "Of course of course -- Oh, is there fatty tuna? Unagi? I'm smelling something good, slide it over!"

She's the most helpful incarnation of doom and foul weather!

'So, um, you're not in the Paladins with your sister?'

"She thinks that being a solo ninja hero will solve 'everyone's' problems, or being part of some super ninja organization. She's an idiot. It'll never solve my problems given eternity, so, we're disagreeing to disagree."
Kukuru "'Primers for Newbies'? Ooh, this looks useful..." Kukuru murmurs as she takes one of the printouts from Sougo, giggling softly when she realizes what the king is up to. "It'll be good for if someone here forgets some details, mhm. Hehe. Nice job, Sougooo~" She adds with a slow nod, as though she believes she's not the only person that would do that.

"I wonder if it's a comfort thing."
"You should try eating stuff while hanging over something. It's really comfy, if you can find the right position." Kukuru asserts to Petra with another nod, pointing at the ceiling briefly. "Like the roof, or around those pillars with the extra bits you can hang off of..."

She's totally done this before.

"It is fortunate you could make it."
Kukuru beams at seeing Angela forma.Eggpack, scurrying over briefly to give her a nice big closeup of her face in lieu of teleporting over there. These days, she knows better than to show up unexpectedly in people's homes! "Hiii, Angela~ Oh,I found some new books I need to bring you some time. There's some really big animals in one of them, and another one's got these tasty-looking meals using them..."

"I had better not have taken time out of my schedule only for the host to get cold feet."
Wait, is that what happened? Suddenly looking worried, Kukuru hurries over to Genm while whispering in hushed tones. "Do you think that's what it is? Oh dear, I should get some extra socks for her... Wait. What if she's allergic to... Toooo... Whatever that hypoallergic stuff is for?"

"Hi, Ms. Kukuru!!"
Oh, right. She can be quiet, can't she? "He-llo, Ritaaaa...!" Kukuru returns the waving excitedly, double-handing it and bouncing in place briefly. She doesn't want to scare White away from emerging, either!

"Didn't know it was bring-your-own, either. You're a Partner, Cure Glow?"
"Bring your own? Oh, no, were we supposed to bring more stuff? I thought..." Kukuru pauses as she considers what had been on the invitation after Natsuki reminds her of that, and she distinctly remembers seeing something about pizza. There's pizza there, but was she supposed to bring even more pizza? Is this one of those unspoken rules of human conduct?

"Cure... Huh?" That also gets a confused noise out of her, but she's not sure whether Natsuki's actually looking at Rita or someone next to her. Rita freezing up gets a curious look, but...

Maybe Rita's just being polite? Kukuru's not too worried about that, at least.
Kukuru "It is good to see you as well Miss Rita, Miss Kukuru, Miss Natsuki!"
"Sarra! Hello, hellooo... Hehe. Fancy entrance today. Oh, be careful not to get any of that on your tail." Kukuru gestures at the pizza, then at Sarracenia's power up'd tail before grabbing a slice of the ham and pineapple for herself. "I've heard that can be super hard to clean off."

White and Merazophis arrive!

Before she can get too worried about what she did or didn't do wrong, though, White arrives (and not from the closet, even!) Regardless, Kukuru breathes out a sigh of relief as all of her worries fade in seconds, clapping wholeheartedly even though she's only heard her introduce Merazophis thus far. Listening intently, Kukuru nods slowly as he explains the reason for today's event, then claps again as he concludes his initial explanation.

"He-llo, Mera... Zophis! Hiii, Whiiite!" She calls out to the two, bobbing on her heels a bit before holding up one of the printouts labeled 'Taboo'. "Questiooon... How much should we be studying from these? I know there's all sorts of different taboos in different places, but some people get way more upset than others about them even when someone doesn't know them by heart.  Shooould... Is Ariel super strict about that?"

"Oh! You're Meramera!"
Lilian using that kind of nickname for anyone gets Kukuru turning away to clutch at her chest and face again. Really, she can't put up with this level of heart-pounding adorableness forever! She needs a moment to breathe, clap her hands over her mouth, then turn to greet Lilian properly. "H.. He-llo, Liliaaan! Ah, were you hoping to join the Concord finally? You're always welcome, you knoooow~"
Angela Angela frowns when she doesn't get a greeting back from Sougo OR Woz. Things do get missed, of course, so she isn't too concerned just yet and--why are THEY looking away when she asked about dangerous business? Are Sougo and Woz planning dangerous magical boy activities?! Is that why they neglected to say hello? Her suspicions are only growing! But this is a MEETING she can't interrogate Sougo and Woz now about their magical inclinations?! She does not need to breathe but she breathes in through her teeth anyway. Yes, they're acting largely normal but something is clearly the matter. They've gotten involved with a BAD CROWD. Well, Angela isn't going to lose her friends to magical girls. Rita is one thing--she's experienced in carrying a great power within her that can endanger those around her but Sougo and Woz? No, she has to rescue them before they start shouting attack names and transformations and--

Oh god, the signs were there all along...! She makes a note to contact Sougo and Woz privately later since they clearly are avoiding the matter now.

Sundew didn't greet her either, though she also didn't greet Cinder or Petra. What a relief, it's just spite, Angela decides. At least that's normal.

"I suspect so, but I did not want you to be surprised when she contacted you--and wnated to assure you that the matter is being considered."

''Oh, I should do that too.''

"Indeed. As generous Miss Rita may be, it would be rude to the host to not sample their prepared meal."

''I do most of my Elite work as just 'Rita'''

Angela's consideration of Rita becomes slightly more worried. She's just dabbling, she tells herself, that's all.

''The Pretty Cure powers, defenders of the galaxy.''

"...I see, thank you for informing me of this, Lady Natsuki..." Her gaze turns back to Rita. "Rita. If something is the matter, you can talk to us." Sorry, Commander White, Angela is now way more concerned for Rita than she was moments before. She gives Petra a knowing nod, worry writ upon her face.

''Kukuru offering books''

Angela keeps her face neutral. "Thank you, Miss Kukuru, I shall look forward to adding them to the collection."
Kuroto Dan      "They didn't forget to book catering."

     Genm takes the slice that Natsuki offers, opening his entire box of untouched pizza to stuff it inside before taking a seat, crossing his right leg over his left as he then places the box on his lap.

     "She has done the bare minimum, that is correct. There are plenty of people in this world that can't do even that. Though, I have a feeling this... unprofessionalism is some sort of test."

     "Oh, hey, you're coming to help White out too? I wouldn't really worry, she's seemed pretty reliable so far."

     Genm then turns to face Petra. It's hard to really gauge just exactly how he's feeling when he sees her, but given how he just lazily turns his head back to look away, it's probably good?

     "Of course she's reliable! There is not a single member within the Concord who-" Genm pauses as a couple of individuals come to mind that immediately make him frown, to the point he doesn't even bother to finish the sentence, instead moving on. "I came here for an explanation first, whether I help after that is yet to be determined, but considering she had the decency to leave offerings, I'm likely to give her at least a portion of my blessing."

     "I am Merazophis."

     "Kamen Rider Genm." He uses his hands to dramatically emphasize each syllabal of his name. "I also respond to Shin Kamen Rider Genm, God Genm, or just simply 'God'. Now that introductions are in order, feel free to carry on."
White White sits there, on the couch, watching everyone else react to Merazophis like it has nothing to do with her at all anymore. She subtly waves at the people she recognizes when making (proverbial) eye contact, still holding that smores pizza slice. She refuses to throw it out just because it's been on the floor, but she's still going to wait until most people aren't looking at her before she eats it. Wasting food is a sin!

     Merazophis, for his part, does excellently as a designated social decoy owing to his vast experience. He has the demeanor of a professional house-servant (because he was one originally) and manages to tonally strike a balance between humbly helpful and assuredly competent when he speaks. Petra's blurting attracts a vague look, but isn't acknowledged further; he was confused as well, only moments prior after all. "It appears that Lady White planned to explain the reincarnations as part of the overall discussion, so- Lady White herself is reincarnated from a planet called Earth, onto our own planet whose original name has been lost. She was one of a number, some twenty or so young people who likewise died and were reincarnated together... Or rather, at the same time."

     He pauses then to turn to Cinder and Angela, the technological elements present seeming hard for him to understand. He instead focuses on Cinder and Petra while answering Angela, not seeming to know where to set his gaze if not a person's eyes. "That is... Heartening to hear. Given that the context for our battle is hidden from most of our world, it is difficult to truly make them understand beyond the violence." Hearing Potimas's name come up even surprises him a little, and Merazophis turns to White, who just vaguely nods at him in return.

     Sarracenia's formal greeting and introduction are met with the same gentle wave from White as the others, but Merazophis is more deliberate about his courtesy in the face of titles. He bends again as if to bow but instead kneels, a hand over his chest and his gauntlet folded behind his back. "It is my pleasure to make your acquaintance, Princess Sarracenia Sundew. I hope that I might humbly elucidate what is hidden to your satisfaction." He lingers briefly, then stands again so as not to leave others ignored; royal allies deserve respect, but the emphasis is on 'allies' overall. He's somewhat less sure how to respond to 'Kamen Rider Genm' as a name, but approaches it with forthright sincerity. Hearing 'god' surprises him, and he can't help but muse, "Then White has found other gods unrelated to the Administrators... Regardless, I deeply appreciate your consideration."

     He kindly replies to Rita, "It is a pleasure.", though some undescribed thought starts to cross his mind as he memorizes the faces of each present guest one after another, like a question he knows he shouldn't ask is starting to nag at him. Somehow, looking at White helps him tamp down the compulsion. Lilian's blurting of White's nickname makes White very slightly slump to the side, attacked from concealment with a weapon she forgot she left unattended, but Merazophis looks innocently oblivious. He's probably never heard White call him that before! He doesn't even have the hunch to look at her for confirmation this time, either. "I... Suppose so. My form of address is little concern, save that the Young Miss Sophia might take offense. I shall pay it no mind." So gracious.

     Sougo's preemptive personal query is interesting, something to derive an impression from in return just as Sougo looks to form one himself, and Merazophis approaches it with a quiet seriousness. "... There are many answers I could offer casually, and a few that may be too personal. In the interest of time, for now, I will answer... Having what was built with great effort amount to naught, in the face of fortune's ill turns. I am not a man of talent, so I find it hard to endure when all possible efforts are still insufficient."
White White chooses now to start sneakily eating the floor-snack, while staring through her eyelids at Rita when she hears 'Cure Glow'. She does at least try to justify her presence a little though when people start talking about the primers, and since she can't quite admit that she's still not done working on them she has to instead quietly note, "Don't worry. Those are for... Others that might help later." Rita's questions seem like a sound place to start addressing broader subjects though, and Merazophis is oblivious to magical media sensations and transforming warriors himself. "Then, to begin with our forces. The Demon Lord, the position, is a result of a Title, "Great Demon Lord" affording a significant amount of power to one representative among demonkind. They are, under typical circumstances, the strongest living person. Our Demon Lord Ariel is the strongest in history, but is not truly a demon herself. She acquired the title by force to try and steer the world's fate and break a deteriorating cycle. The army's purpose is much like you would expect; to wage war on humanity and control necessary strategic locations for this purpose. To put it very shortly such that we can build upon the concept easily, Lady Ariel wishes to destroy The System, returning the world to how it was before forces that you may deem supernatural came to possess it. If we do not, the System itself will eventually prevent the reincarnation of souls as living beings on that planet, and the planet itself will die." Then carrying on from Natsuki's prompt, he bends the top sheet of White's notes down to reconfirm something and returns his gaze outward at you all. "The obvious catch is that Demonkind has a population generously estimated at around 6 percent of the total humanoid population of the world. Humanity essentially owns the planet through numbers. What's more, the Hero is an existence specifically designed to stop demons from ever changing this paradigm. The Demon Lord is the strongest, this is true. But the Hero will be elevated to her level or beyond by the System should they ever meet. It seems... That Lady White as well triggers this 'elevation' of the Hero's power, as a technically foreign god. Worse, the power does not come from nowhere. It is the planet's own life, and the greater the disparity in strength... The more severe the consumption."
Lilian Rook     'Kamen Rider Genm.'

    "How are Proudpick's knees, by the way? O Lord Genm?" Lilian asks, conversationally, when there's a spare moment.

    'Rita. If something is the matter, you can talk to us.'

    "Angela." Lilian nods rather than waves. "No worries. It's all under control." Beat. "Probably."

    'H.. He-llo, Liliaaan! Ah, were you hoping to join the Concord finally? You're always welcome, you knoooow~'

    Lilian brushes her hair back, head tilt and finger sweep as spot-on arrogant as always. "You don't have to tell me. An express invitation from Director Yuuki Kuran isn't something I'd throw away."

    'and Cure Horizon.'

    §Avoid eye contact. Don't react.§

    'Are there magical girls causing problems for you? I'll deck them if you need.'

    "Why would you punch a . . . ?" Lilian doesn't even finish her question. She just trails off in disbelief looking outright disgusted at Petra.

    'Hail to you, Commander.'

    §Jump Scare. God that's going to take some getting used to.§
Rita Ma      "Oh! Of course, Petra! Here." Judging by the spare little wooden plates in Rita's cooler, she'd expected to serve a fair few people. She hastily arranges some fish on rice and drizzles on some sauce- but she was having her own completely plain? Does she think Petra's too much of a weenie?- before handing it over with metal chopsticks.

     It's very fresh. Like very very fresh. Like 'barely had time to chill', 'still a tiny bit pinkish' fresh. That and the way it's cut yield a chewy, almost delicately crunchy texture, like off-the-vine veggies.

     She's distracted halfway through handing it to Petra, though, by Natsuki.

     "The 'Pretty Cure' powers, defenders of the galaxy..."
     "Ahhhhhh..." Frozen in place, anxious-defraying.

     "They're probably the only things keeping that Galactic Alliance..."
     "Ahhhnnnn...!" Poor Rita might be flustered by the praise. That's surely why she looks desperate-pleading.

     "She's a 'cool power' type."
     "N-no! I mean- maybe more than than 'cute powaa', but- wait, I don't have a type! I told you, I had to redesign the magical outfit, so the blue frills were just--"

     "Are there magical girls causing problems for you? I'll deck them if you need."
     Slowwwly, Rita's head pivots back around to Petra with a look of absolute horror. She takes a second to find her words. "... N--! No! Don't! I mean, they're really sweet girls, and they just-- nnnh, forget you heard anything, okay!"

     In desperation to end the conversation, Rita chopstick-shoves a wad of fish and rice into Petra's mouth. Thank goodness. And yet, the cat's out of the bag . . . Rita's dire secret from Petra, and the nature of her double life, revealed . . .

     Ssssssigh. Only food-talk can save her mood now. She looks back to Natsuki, keeping her chopsticks in Petra's mouth until she feels her finish chewing. "It's mackerel, rockfish, and flounder, Ms. Natsuki. Have all you want. Back home we don't serve it with the rice, but I think most people here are used to that."
Petra Soroka [ansi(243,"The 'Pretty Cure' powers, defenders of the galaxy,")]

    That sounds literally as mahou shoujo as something could *possibly* be. Rita's *life* might be at risk! However, listing them as a group of four makes Petra's feelings about the L-Corp magical girls rise to the surface of her mind instead of her feelings about Meika or the messy tide that is Hibiki Tachibana, and that mollifies her some.

    "Oh, cute... a matching team. Wait-- Rita, *teammates*? Who are they? Are they friends of yours too?"

"She's an idiot. It'll never solve my problems given eternity, so, we're disagreeing to disagree."

    Futaba *is* an idiot. Knowing that Natsuki is in the Concord, compared to her sister, makes Petra's opinion of her raise further, for reasons that she can't quite articulate. She opens her mouth to ask what Natsuki's problems actually *are*, but, they're here to talk about someone else's problems, and that'd be rude.

"Of course she's reliable! There is not a single member within the Concord who-"

    Gosh, everyone in the Concord is really nice, huh. Even Kukuru is, now that Petra is less mentally unwell. Petra is suffused with the odd feeling that she's in a room full of friends and trustworthy allies, an assumption that feels natural despite being only acquaintances with some of them. Her idly fond scan across the room passes right over Sarracenia, and then abruptly snaps back.

    "--Wait, huh? The princess is here too?" Somehow, Petra managed to not notice her talking and floating. "God, she'd be my first target if *I* had a demon army."

"Why would you punch a . . . ?"

    Petra looks betrayed at Lilian's disgust. She thought Lilian would be the one to *best* understand her wariness!

    "I mean-- like, you know, sometimes Hibiki needs to get smacked around some-- r-right? I don't know, she just looked..."

"... N--! No! Don't! I mean, they're really sweet girls, and they just-- nnnh, forget you heard anything, okay!"
"No worries. It's all under control."

    Petra pauses, then leans back in her chair, settled down. "Yeah, okay. I just wanted to, like, make sure. I'm glad it's fine."

    After a bit, unprompted, she announces as if she was being accused of something, "Like, some of my favorite people are magical girls. But, you know, they can cause a lot of problems sometimes too. Better to be safe than sorry."
Timespace Riders Nice job, Sougooo~

    "I'm just being proactive! White put so much work into making them it'd be a waste not to pass them out. You should be praising her!"

She thinks that being a solo ninja hero will solve 'everyone's' problems, or being part of some super ninja organization. She's an idiot.

    "Um..." Sougo, a student of history, is a bit perplexed by this, though not so much unfamiliar with pop culture that he thinks to ask: "Are we... talking about 'ninja' historically, or, like, you know..."

    "The second," says Woz. "A ninja in the same way that my Shinobi armor is."

There is not a single member within the Concord who-

    If side eyes could kill, Dan Kuroto would be getting up from the ground with some kind of rant about being God directed at Woz. Not that he's incorrect to feel Woz is unreliable--the retainer knows this is quite reasonable based on his previous behavior, which contributes more, not less, to his annoyance.

I am not a man of talent, so I find it hard to endure when all possible efforts are still insufficient.

    Sougo sighs. "Yeah," he says. "But you still gotta," he says knowingly. "Thanks for the honest answer. You and White have given me some good stuff to think about."

    He leans over and whispers something to Woz, who nods and procures (somehow) a little notepad and pencil for Sougo, who begins fastidiously taking notes as Merazophis begins his explanation. He underlines 'break deteriorating cycle' and draws a little connecting arrow to 'hard work amounts to nothing'. Every so often, he cross references something the other Commander says, and, after a second request, has a highlighter to draw through connections in the printout White gave him.

What's more, the Hero is an existence specifically designed to stop demons from ever changing this paradigm.

    Sougo taps the pencil's eraser to his chin and scribbles a note down. First, a paraphrased explanation, next a page number, next 'if you want to be the hero, get the whole story;' a quote from White.

    ...but the Hero will be elevated to her level or beyond by the System should they ever meet.

    Sougo frowns, pauses in his writing, and looks between Lilian and Petra as if to ask them 'am I the only one drawing a bigger conclusion here?' He scrawls down 'systemic change resisted by actors empowered by the system to preserve it even at the expense of everyone else.'

    His hand shoots up, like he's in school, eager and attentive. "What exactly does this Hero think they're preserving? Also... who benefits from the System staying the way it is?"
Rita Ma      Rita, after a while, slump-sighs and tries to regain her focus on the meeting. She bears being stared at by Merazophis with a politely understanding smile. (She doesn't understand, but people from White's world sure like staring at her. It's the clothes, right? It's the clothes. They must only have, like, medieval clothes, or something.)

     "Lady White herself is reincarnated from a planet called Earth..."
     "Oh. So she was originally human. I wondered," Rita says distractedly, and doesn't say why that wondering occurred to her.

     "to wage war on humanity..."
     Her face drops, just then. Her focus gets melancholy but shrewd.

     "returning the world to how it was before forces that you may deem supernatural came to possess it."
     "So you say you're making war on humanity to save the planet," Rita says dubiously, double-checking her facts. "But everyone hates you because you can't tell them why. Why not? Did humans make the System? Won't people believe you if you show them? Does the 'hero' have them brainwashed, or something?"
Petra Soroka [ansi(243,"Lady White herself is reincarnated from a planet called Earth, onto our own planet whose original name has been lost. She was one of a number, some twenty or so young people who likewise died and were reincarnated together... Or rather, at the same time.")]

    Petra's brow furrows, knuckles squashed into her cheek and elbow on the table. "Oh, so... it's not a natural thing for everyone like some, interplanetary Buddhist stuff, but specific and rare? I guess it's relevant for her keeping her memories somehow? That's really interesting."

"What's more, the Hero is an existence specifically designed to stop demons from ever changing this paradigm."

    Petra, for the most part, absorbs the the explanation of the Demon Army with the rote acceptance and focus of listening to an academic lecture: unquestionably true, attempting to commit to memory, mildly interesting but not particularly personally gripping. *That* line, however, makes Petra clap her hands on the table and lean forwards in excitement.

    "Oh, dude, I am *so* down to beat the shit out of some special privileged-ass hero as part of a war on humanity. Are you kidding me? Sign me the-- wait, sorry for swearing." Petra's morality is impenetrable. "So the system's designed to specifically benefit some icon of humanity at the expense of harming you guys and destroying the planet as a whole? I thought it was made for, like, the elves, or something?"
Sarracenia      'Oh! You're Meramera!'

     Sarra blinks a few times. "Meramera?" she repeats. It must be some sort of nickname that Lilian heard from White judging by Lilian's own reaction to it. It makes Sarra giggle just a bit and ponder how Lilian is actually kind of endearing...in those rare moments when she is -not- threatening to have you killed or talking about how worthless you are. A thought which of course makes her sigh softly and grumpily bite her pizza again.

     'Sarra receives a smile and a little wave from Sougo, and an inclination of the head from Woz.'

     Sarra is surprised at the rather amicable return greeting and ends up giving a bit of an awkward smile in return. She really is not good at handling people not hating her unexpectedly.

     'Sarracenia, didn't know you were looking for demon armies. Don't you have a castle force? Looking to upsize?'

     Again surprised but in a different way, Sarra giggles lightly before shaking her head. "I suppose in practical terms I am looking to downsize. I would prefer to be strong enough not to need my fighting force to fight at all. I am just curious. I like to get out and see new worlds. It allows so many opportunities for heroism and networking. What brings you here?"

     Natsuki bringing up Rita's precure name makes Sarra laugh lightly since she can imagine how Rita is going to react. The reaction she gets is even better, and Sarra can't keep herself from laughing out loud even as she looks apologetically toward Rita. She promised Rita she would only tease sparingly though, so she doesn't say anything to add to it.

     'Kamen Rider Genm...or just simply 'God''

     Sarra frowns at this introduction. "So...you are Genm." Sarra does not sound like it is a pleasure to meet him.

     'It is my pleasure to make your acquaintance, Princess Sarracenia Sundew. I hope that I might humbly elucidate what is hidden to your satisfaction.'

     Sarra is again surprised! Someone who appreciates royalty and shows proper manners toward them! The princess practically beams with appreciation. "Why, thank you Fourth Army Commander Merazophis~ It is nice to meet someone who knows how to show proper respect to a royal~" In acknowledgement of his respect, Sarra bows again and lifts the side of her skirt in as close to a curtsey as she can do while sitting.

     'God, she'd be my first target if *I* had a demon army.'

     Perhaps the first thing that has not surprised Sarra comes from Petra. Sarra rolls her eyes at Petra, then joins the others in looking aghast at Petra offering to punch magical girls. Of course, if she had not recently met Hikaru and Lala then Sarra might not be as quick to dismiss the notion. The princess has had her share of misfortune with magical girls. "Willing to send a demon army after a harmless princess and willing to punch magical girls? How low can you get?"

     All the talk of magical girls that eat people does shift Sarra's opinion toward punching them, but she can only shake her head. "Besides, if Miss Rita did need someone decked, I am sure she could handle the decking quite effectively."

     'The army's purpose is much like you would expect; to wage war on humanity and control necessary strategic locations for this purpose. To put it very shortly such that we can build upon the concept easily, Lady Ariel wishes to destroy The System, returning the world to how it was before forces that you may deem supernatural came to possess it.'

     Sarra hmms. "But, not to destroy humanity..." she says, trying to be charitable as in the more black and white sense this would mean she and White would have to be enemies. "It is to save the world and presumably all the people on it?" She frowns at the idea of a 'Hero' who's purpose is to protect a system that is destroying the world. "Has anyone-" Rita starts asking things before Sarra, so Sarra just lets Rita ask those questions that Sarra was about to ask.
Angela Earth... Like Petra. Will Petra one day reincarnate and turn into a rat, Angela wonders. Normally she would've thuoght reincarnating as a rat would have been an insult but after meeting White who reincarnated as a spider, apparently, well that doesn't seem like as much of a problem actually. And after meeting Heyalexa, Angela is starting to think quite warmly regarding rats as well. It's comforting knowing that, since Petra talks about how long she doesn't expect to live for, that she will come back as some kind of powerful rat-themed demon commander. Well, she doesn't KNOW that will happen but it's a nice possibility considering she herself plans on living and she has no plan on ending that any time soon.

Angela realizes she's losing focus on the actual meeting due to all this magical girl talk. The insidiousness knows no bounds, but ... there may be magical girls out there that do not eradicate human life simply by existing, or endangering worlds with their love or something like that? She might have to investigate...

"While context is helpful," Angela says, opening her eyes again. "The ethics of the conflict matter less to me than assisting the one who has done me a kindness. My situation at present is a bit precarious but ideally before any serious conflict happens I'll be in a position to lend a proper hand." She hesitates a moment but Cinder beats her to the punch.

"Are you a blood fiend?" Cinder asks Merazophis. "Or uh--I guess people use 'vampire' too. The Director of the Concord is a blood fiend too."

Angela nods just to lend some administrative weight to Cinder's words.

She listens to White's explanation. Despite what she said, it certainly seems like ''ethics'' might be related to the situation after all. It's nice! Angela may set aside morality but it is nice when you're actually doing something for the greater good after all and it'sh ard to get any 'greater' than stopping the planet from dying. She doesn't really want to think about other 'greater goods' in her life to complicate the matter.

She looks to Petra for a moment and then back to Meramera.

"Yes, I am certain Petra can crush the Hero if that will help." Angela says, judging from past experience entirely.

She isn't sure what changed Lilian's opinion of magical girls but she'll have to investigate this Hikaru and Lala. She trusts the Dame Commander, of course, but she can't help but wonder what magical girls you can rely on are like.

''I thought it was made for, like, the elves, or something?''

"Yes. We should discuss why the elves are tob lame." Angela adds.
Natsuki Nuki "Pretty Cure." Natsuki reconfirms for Kukuru if it's the most natural thing possible. Didn't Kukuru know about Pretty Cure? It was Pretty Cure! The sweet girls (and older generation of adult guardians of the galaxy slash universe (lower case)) who saw after... mahou... shojo... stuff!

Natsuki herself was a bit more of a 'foolish, tiny lights!' type now, but at one time she had dreamed of being a transforming hero. She, just...

Aged out of being a transforming hero.

'...I see, thank you for informing me of this, Lady Natsuki...'

"Sure." Natsuki offers out, nodding with a bob of button-ears and a tumble of platinum blonde bangs. "The younger two ask for help, Milky and Star, so they're not hopeless." She admits, with a smirk. "Or, they're saving up their power for later, but, that's commendable too."

'Shin Kamen Rider Genm, God Genm, or just simply 'God''

"Kami-samaa," Natsuki puts a little shine on the ~a sound like a kohai looking for either a raise or a favor and not a petitioner before god. "Thank you for gracing us with your presence. It's nice to have a senior around for providing experienced insights." Natsuki preens, gassing up Genm with the precise intention to highlight him as the knowing superior and her the mere upper-level manager. Merely.

With 'who's going to be fielding this executive summary' neatly nailed and buttoned up save for the top bob for comfort, Natsuki 'graciously' accepts her

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPLEASE SHUT UP

sashimi-grade and freshest-caught delicacies, pulling mackeral and flounder out with a big grin. "This is perfect, thanks. The redesign slipped my mind." She decides with a post-bribery clarity, and pulls a pinched slice right up to finger-chomp it right at the table.

Not defensive of Rita//Cure Glow's food and satisfied she gave a good account of the expert consultant at the table (and started no further inquests!).

For the rest of the pieces, she reaches up into her ponytail and draws out two shiny black chopsticks to serve the rest, not spearing every fresh piece of fish on her dang finger-claws. This, of course, settles her. "This'd go a long way with just a dash of soy sauce or rice vinegar." She appreciates quietly, absolutely tasting the difference in beyond-fresh fish and having the street-level clarity on exactly what that tasted like.

Woz handles the proper answer on what flavor of Ninja (dumb) Futaba is, merely giving an agreeing-chirp of a scoff, and nodding. "Like the armor."

Finally, inexorably, back to poor Meramera the Middlemeramanager, eyebrow rising higher over dark mask around eyes. An ear flicks, and she finishes the thin piece of flounder she's working on with a slower bite.

"Which means that if, say, Miss White wanted us all to jump the Hero in the street, that Hero would scale up at the cost of your planet to match or beat us all. Because they've 'out-voted' you in terms of the world or the system or... whatever. Got it." That was much easier than reading paper!

"So. How would one attack the system? Is there some magical... seal, some divine ritual, some link between Hero and world? Is it--"

A second thoughtline running in parallel finally kicks in, clicks in, and Natsuki's eyes try to snap around Merazophis to find White. Something she said, something about 'going back too far' settles into place and. . . A dark look of sympathy crosses the Nue's eyes before she grumpily goes for one of Genm's slice of Kami-sama pizza slices in the lap besides. "Don't want to go back, huh. Guess I learned why." She mutters, and doesn't elaborate.
Lilian Rook     'I mean-- like, you know, sometimes Hibiki needs to get smacked around some-- r-right? I don't know, she just looked...'

    "What in god's name are you talking about?" Lilian says, as if it inconveniences her to do so. "How in the world is Tachibana a magical girl? She's a government agent with a transformation gadget." This distinction is totally meaningful.

    Then she catches Sougo's gaze, raises an eyebrow, and says, stiff and prickly, "Beg pardon? Do you need something?" translated as 'hey. what are you looking at me for.'

    Unfortunately, as cute as it would be to share a moment of warm and fuzzy understanding, the elephant in the room is too large to ignore.

    'The army's purpose is much like you would expect; to wage war on humanity and control necessary strategic locations for this purpose.'

    "Setting aside what it means that a score of people that you know of were incarnated into a completely different world from Earth, and there is an artificial reality-governing ruleset in place that sounds as if it mimics something normally only found on Earth, which has been introduced at some point in the near past," Lilian begins, tonally holding the posture of politely putting a pin in something for later, but dragging out the length and specificity on purpose to make her meaning clear. "I can't quite help but notice another issue being quickly passed over here."

    "Please explain to me how it came to be that, in order to prevent the gradual annihilation of all life, it is critically necessary for Ariel's personal army to conquer all of humanity." says Lilian. Using the name she just learned instead of the title she's used a dozen times already feels pointedly intentional. "How is humanity incapable of fixing it? If they aren't, why exactly are they interested? Failing that, why is it so impossible to inform or negotiate with anyone outside Ariel's followers? And failing that, how is it that coercing or manipulating the humans necessary to correct these circumstances is more difficult than global conquest?" She pauses to take a deep breath.

    "In other words, how is it that you aren't able to accomplish the same task without all-out warfare that needs to take into account the total population of the planet? It almost sounds as if I'm being asked to side against nineteen in twenty of all people in the world for little reason other than it would benefit the one asking." Leaning forward onto the table, pizza completely ignored and forgotten, Lilian rests her chin against the back of her hand, propped on one elbow. "I can't even see the compelling case that Ariel is your best hope. Whether or not she's the strongest in history doesn't actually matter, does it? The Hero will always be stronger than her anyways."
White White gazes across the table, somehow staring even harder at Rita. She has no idea that this is becoming a complex for the other woman. She gently shakes her head 'no' when Rita concludes that she was originally human, which probably doesn't help her understand either. Merazophis, on that note, doesn't seem to know the answer either and can't offer much besides an apologetic look on White's behalf for the confusion. Sougo's thanks are met with an understanding nod from a man who's had a similarly younger man ask him an existential question or two before (though Merazophis is only perhaps in his mid 30's realistically). His questions are addressed in a set, after Rita's, as the need to be a firm advocate and dispel negative perceptions is a priority, as well as something White would be completely ill-suited to doing herself. "It is not that we cannot tell them why, but that the information cannot propogate freely enough to be believed. As a former human myself, I speak from experience; our world is completely lacking in the means to verify information that Lady White and yourselves would expect. People simply do not believe what they are told, and despite the Taboo skill existing as an inbuilt way of disseminating some of the most crucial parts of our history, the god who designed the System- and the contents of Taboo- has a twisted mind."

     He takes a moment to think on his phrasing, stepping away toward the whiteboard. White points at the markers on the floor, and Merazophis uncaps one and seems mildly surprised with recognition of its purpose. He resumes while turning the whiteboard over, "I am not from the premodern era myself, so my account may be limited, but to my understanding some six centuries ago, perhaps more, humanity was significantly more advanced in technology than they presently are. Potimas, the creator of the Elves, was an inventor of prodigal skill. He created technology that could use the planet's life force as fuel, and advanced into other subjects like the extension of the human lifespan."

     "These experiments created what are known as 'Demons' today, and his experiments were also the eventual source of Taratects, Vampires, Goblins, and other species of monster. But consuming the planet's life led to war with the dragon gods who also called the planet their home, and in the aftermath the god D made humanity an offer. She would sustain the planet, or at least make the means to do so, but humanity would need to give up their only remaining patron to serve as the System's core. The angel, Sariel. And once, the goddess my own homeland worshipped as well, unknowing of her fate. More importantly, in a sense... Lady Ariel was raised by the Goddess Sariel, in that era. I believe that is her most pressing motivation. To save her mother. Saving the world is something that the rest of us around her are more focused on, but they require the same steps in theory." he temporarily pauses, asiding to answer other things. "Yes, I am what you would call a vampire. No, the Hero does not fully understand his position. He inherited the position from his brother unexpectedly, and is not mentally fit for the role. He is only a boy of fifteen years, after all, bent by the mental subversion of a Ruler skill no less and... Far more naive than his esteemed elder brother. The current one, himself, is a reincarnation. As are several of his allies."

     Then to Sarracenia primarily, he elaborates, "Lady Ariel holds an unabiding hatred for both humans and demons because of what happened to her mother-figure, but she does not act on a drive to wipe them out. She may not wish them any kindnesses, but the war is still a tragedy. Lady White attempted to... Skip some of the expected steps, prior to her last inconvenient confrontation. After which she was forced to escape here, I infer, and hence met all of you."
White White looks a little sullen, in her mild way as she hears that. She'd tried so hard to be clever after all, so who wouldn't be frustrated when divine intervention tries to strike her dead? Still, Merazophis carries on. "In the end, the war is not a pleasure, or the end goal. There is a clear path to victory, but that path is lined with blood. As are many other such paths." Angela's elaboration about her own priorities seems to belatedly bring a small, slightly relieved smile to Merazophis's face, and even White seems to look suddenly thoughtful. He finally loops back around to Sougo, then. "In essence, the self-titled 'Dark God D' is our greatest obstacle. She, from what Lady White has kindly explained to the rest of us, is fickle and easily bored, seeing our world as her preferred dollhouse. She wants to be entertained, at any cost. We had reached a point where diplomacy seemed feasible after much effort, with regards to the other reincarnations from Earth like the Hero Prince Schlain Analeit. D is the reason that turned into an attack on Lady White instead, as Schlain is... Easily manipulated. Even by our side, in the past. If we could circumvent D's interference, the war would have ended by now most likely."

     As to Natsuki's question, Merazophis has to consult the notes again briefly and looks back at the whiteboard scribbles in sudden recognition. "Ah. The System's Core, where Sariel is contained, has a sort of emergency access function according to Lady White. It can normally only be opened by the 'keys' possessed by all fourteen Rulers- essentially designated owners of very particular Skills- being present. It has never been used, of course, because it is all but impossible to get fourteen Rulers to cooperate... And that is before you consider that three of those rulers had been the same individuals for the last six centuries, and were inherently opposed to each other. Two, now following Potimas's death."
White White can't help but flinch a little at Lilian's pushback, but Merazophis is valiant, and seems to have been somberly prepared for the battle of optics to take the forefront. While some of her specific concerns were touched on, he attempts to linearly answer and summarize. "To conquer isn't the goal. Only to circumvent, by way of vastly fewer-numbered forces. In effect, we need uninterrupted access to several key locations, a crucial possession belonging to only fourteen specific individuals in the world to be brought all together at once, and enough military power to ensure that using those things goes uninterrupted for as long as possible. Diplomacy has been sabotaged repeatedly by both the divine and humanity's other actors. If I might speak somewhat tangentially to illustrate a point..." he says, bracing himself with a breath. "The demon armies are not 'of' demonkind any longer. Enough commanders have died or been replaced that more are monsters- or ex-humans as might be said- than not. The demons themselves are not to be exalted above humanity, as they *are* humanity. Only descending from more privileged fathers. It is likely that demonkind itself will collapse before humankind does, following the war, given the losses involved."
Kukuru "Thank you, Miss Kukuru, I shall look forward to adding them to the collection."
Predictably, Kukuru beams. "Great! I'll make sure to bring pleeenty over soon. I think you'll really get a kick out of the space jokes book, too. And there's even one about romance between three older people that I couldn't finish, but I heard was super good..."

"You should be praising her!"
Giggling even more, Kukuru calms down enough to nod once at Sougo before glancing between him and White. "I thiiink.. I'll just praise both of you, then. You're both doing wonderful jobs, being so humble and helpful all the time, trying to get everyone up to speed with this kind of big gathering, and..."

The last bit has her turning to White a little more, but remembering what Sougo's been through (or at least what little she's seen) has her grinning at him as well. "... Facing your fears head on, even when it'd be so much easier and comfier to not do anything at all. Even little steps make for a looot of distance over time, so keep it up."

"Lady White herself is reincarnated from a planet called Earth, onto our own planet whose original name has been lost."
The idea of someone dying and returning on a completely different planet has Kukuru going quiet, and she munches on a slice of pizza as a thoughtful noise comes from the back of her throat for a while. Eventually, however, that thoughtful look turns into a concerned frown, and She tries to be nonchalant as she walks all the way around the room to get to White's couch instead of just going towards her directly.

It's not so subtle, though, when Kukuru slumps over the back of said couch and leans in to whisper. "White...? Do you miss them?" She asks quietly, pausing for a moment before realizing she might've left some important detail out. "Your family from your Earth, I mean. It's been a while, right? So...  If you wanna see them, just say the word and I'll take you right over."

"Those are for... Others that might help later."

Knowing that the primers are for later does give her a small sense of relief, at least, since it means less required reading for the time being. Kukuru wasn't prepared to do any heavy reading today, after all!

"It is the planet's own life, and the greater the disparity in strength... The more severe the consumption."
"What exactly does this Hero think they're preserving?"

"Sounds like it's super important to balance that out, then, or your home might be in real bad... Hmmm. Oooor. Or." Kukuru narrows her eyes as she starts thinking. After a good twenty seconds and after hearing Sougo's questions, she finally snaps out of it and raises her hand as well. "Oh! Would the Hero agree to help restore that balance? If not... What if we put the Hero somewhere else, then? Theeen there's no problem stopping Demonkind from rebalancing things, right?" She asks, as though doing any of those things would be so easy. "Like another country, another world, in the ocean..."
Kukuru "You don't have to tell me. An express invitation from Director Yuuki Kuran isn't something I'd throw away."
Kukuru nods slowly, her eyes widening at first as she strokes her chin like she's just come up with a truly ingenious idea (that anyone could see coming from a mile away). "I seeeee... Hehe. That's great to hear, dear. I'll-mmm. That's... Yep, that's very good to hear."

"The 'Pretty Cure' powers, defenders of the galaxy..."
"Ahhhhhh..."
"I had to redesign the magical outfit, so the blue frills were just--"
"Pretty Cure."

Dense though Kukuru may be, even she's able to pick up on those kinds of context clues! Also, Natsuki spelling it out super plainly for her certainly helps. She looks over at Rita, pinches two fingers against one side of her mouth, then makes a zipping motion towards the other side before nodding slowly at Rita. Is her secret safe, or is Kukuru getting the completely wrong idea?

She's getting the completely wrong idea. Can she really help it, though? It's so cute seeing her get flustered about her secret identity, even if it's already out in the open like this. "Hmm... Well, I hope your... TV show work goes suuuper good, Rita. Just make sure to hydrate and eat up properly, too." She says with a big ol' wink at Rita that has never been subtle ever, pauses, then looks over at Natsuki again.

"Wait... Does it have to be a secret? I know some people like to keep their transforming identities and their regular ones separate, but-" A pause, a glance over at Genm, and then back to Natsuki. "Natsukiii. Do you have a... TV show, too?"
White White looks up as Kukuru leans over the couch beside her, her hair shifting a little. Unfortunately, Kukuru's first point hits a sort of dud topic, as White just faintly admits, "I didn't have one. I wasn't human." So as not to just dead-stop the kind offer, she tries to add, "The closest thing was... Oka-sensei. She reincarnated too. But now there's the Demon Lord." Then the suggestion to simply *move* Schlain so that he's not a problem comes up, and White looks a little dejected. "... Tried that. I put him on an island, but someone found him. Weirdly quickly." She looks like she might be thinking of trying it again, though.
Timespace Riders Even little steps make for a looot of distance over time, so keep it up.

    "I'm doing my best."

Beg pardon? Do you need something?

    "Well... nevermind! It's probably about to come up anyway, don't worry."

Oh, dude, I am *so* down to beat the shit out of some special privileged-ass hero as part of a war on humanity.

    "That's the spirit," says Sougo. "I mean, about stopping the perpetuation of this System thing and saving the planet, not the... other thing." Sougo has liked the magical girls he's met, even the two who really didn't seem to like him at all. "You can count us in, too. We'll do whatever we can to help, but it sounds like brute force is exactly what the Hero specializes in. Maybe there's a way we can reach this Hero and get them to see what they're really fighting for?"

    Woz, also, seems quietly pleased with Petra's enthusiasm.

Like the armor.

    "Well, I'd rather that than the alternative, you know?" Sougo, not being American, doesn't have the cultural touchstone of 'knowing classmates who joined the Army to blow the enlistment bonus on a Camaro, married out of high school and came back with trauma and no spouse,' but Natsuki can probably pick up on the emotional vibe he's grasping at even if he doesn't have the experience to know how to put it to words. Futaba being a little bit stupidpilled is at least preferable to being a glorified military contractor.

How is humanity incapable of fixing it?

    "It is possible they are not even aware the problem exists, Dame Commander. The material suggests a certain paucity of information regarding the war," he says, holding up his own primer.

    "That aside," continues the retainer with a sweep of his hand, "They no doubt believe the demons to be their enemies. Assuming an attempt were made to explain the problem--and, further, assuming such an attempt were allowed to succeed," he frowns, "Who among the human population would believe the words of a demon, over those of their Hero?"

    "I am given to believe, based on what has been revealed to us thus far, that this state of affairs is enforced externally."

People simply do not believe what they are told, and despite the Taboo skill existing as an inbuilt way of disseminating some of the most crucial parts of our history, the god who designed the System- and the contents of Taboo- has a twisted mind.

    Woz doesn't look pleased to have inferred correctly.

    Sougo flips through his notes. "And that probably is a contributing part of why there's a 'cycle,'" he reads from his notes. "Yeah. Okay..."

He inherited the position from his brother unexpectedly, and is not mentally fit for the role. He is only a boy of fifteen years, after all, bent by the mental subversion of a Ruler skill no less and...

    Sougo, oddly, smiles. "I have a good feeling about this," he says.

    Woz rubs his temple as if taken by a sudden headache. "What I believe my Demon King means is that he is confident in his own 'Ruler skills' to counteract those at work upon the Hero," he says after a sigh.

    Sougo beams.

If we could circumvent D's interference, the war would have ended by now most likely.

    "How much do you know about how well D can gather information?"
White White meets Merazophis' gaze again at the further question from Sougo, both of them seeming at least curious where he's going. 'Meramera' puts voice to the answer after whatever their shared gaze tells him is interpreted. "Most gods can be categorized and compared to one-another. Dragons, Angels, and such have kin. Patterns and cultures. As far as D is concerned... We have almost nothing. Only that she is not permanently vigilant, and can be distracted." At that, White tries to bravely add her own personal experience. "She calls herself the Underworld Manager. But she skips her work as much as possible. She can't pay as much attention to the System while she's actually working."
Angela Angela is mollified when the matter of the elves is gone into. She notices that smile, though it's harder for her to read White's own expression. It's good to know that her standard operation procedure with dealing with others is still functional. 'Morality' is something flimsy that everyone disagrees with and ethics are largely gone by vibe. They are not wholly useless, but she knows what her goal is (be a helpful Concord member to its newest Partner). That is what all is in service towards. Her other goal of 'Try not to look like a monstrous freak' is a little less relevant than that but she thinks that plan is still going strong. So long as White doesn't visit Lobcorp during work hours, it'll at worst seem somewhat awful instead of apocalyptically horrifying and she can have a normal relationship with someone that doesn't have that poison of her situation getting in the way.

Cinder reaches for Petra's hand, resting it on hers. All this stuff is a lot to hear about all at once but she thinks she gets the gist of it. She can go through the primers a few more times to catch what she has missed. Lilian's concerns worry her--it seems like everyone was so gungho about lending White a hand that the sudden appearance of legitimate concerns is kind of a surprsie.

Angela knows her loyalty priority but there is something that throws a wrinkle into the situation.

"So it is not even that you would object to peaceful solutions--it is that such attempts have been actively sabotaged, possibly beyond the point of recovery." Angela says. "Is that correct?"

She leans back in her chair. Her own chair. The Eggpack picks up a pizza slice and swishes it around even though Angela obviously can't take a bite. She is just doing this to be part of the social event, rather than with an intent to eat.

"And 'conquering' is not the goal, but a potential means to an end. I understand this situation quite well, Commander White. Merazophis. I too had to take harsher paths when I did not have the aid of the Multiverse at my disposal. I cannot say whether or not softer touches are available even with the multiverse--"

She folds her hands together. "But you should use the opportunity to get to know the resources and capabilities of your allies. They may have unusual abilities that can grant you what you need in easier to manage ways."
Rita Ma      "TV show work" coming from Kukuru strikes Rita mute for a few moments again. And she was so reassured by zippermouth, too! "Ah, uh, thhhhank you, Miss Kukuru? But, um..." She's too stricken in her tangled web of lies to even try to straighten that one out. She just pushes the Bribe Cooler towards Kukuru next, oblivious to the incentive she's creating.

     "This'd go a long way with just a dash of soy sauce or rice vinegar."
     "Mmm! I hear soy sauce is good, but I didn't grow up with it." Words spoken at the pace of a winding-down fond sigh. Rita poaches one more munch of her own fish. "In most worlds, hwareo-hoe goes with all kinds of dips. We always used vinegar and seaweed stock."

     "I wasn't human."
     "Huh. Really, Ms. White?" That seems to surprise Rita in a thought-provoking way. She does a little finger-to-lips puzzle-solving animation, and then ties it off to:

     "Oh. You can read minds, then."
     What a weird leap.
     She's a little uncomfortable with the idea, but it's not the most important thing in the world, and she lets the topic slide along.

     Merazophilis's explanation warms her up to the idea of a 'war against humanity' from strictly negative to warily neutral. She taps her chopsticks together restlessly, rotating something else in her head.

     Four little questions, asked with a pleasant evenness:
"If 'hero' is a title you can inherit, is there any point to killing him at all?"
"We're not-- most of us aren't 'outside gods'. Would he respond the same way to us?"
"Out of those fourteen 'Ruler Skills', how many are held by enemies you'd call a 'monster' or 'dragon'?"
"If you can't prove this to the people of your world, how can you prove it to us?"
Timespace Riders Only the fact that she is not permanently vigilant, and can be distracted.

She calls herself the Underworld Manager. But she skips her work as much as possible. She can't pay as much attention to the System while she's actually working.


    "That's good for us," says Sougo with a nod, writing it down.

    "It means that theoretically, there's something we can distract her with; hopefully, more than one something. Sounds like you guys have already had success with that! Plus, there's her job..." He hesitates for a moment.

     "Stop me if this is too much for a briefing like this, but I'm going to spitball a couple ideas here. There's a.... guy, I know," says Sougo with a little frown of distaste, "Who's really good at causing problems you can't ignore, right when you also have *another* problem you can't ignore."

    "You said she treats your world like her favorite dollhouse," says Sougo. "So I think we have a solid jumping-off point to work from, there. It sounds like in order to get what you need, she's going to need to be looking away a lot, so..." He taps the eraser against his chin a couple times.

    "'Bread and circuses' is only going to work for so long, right? Eventually she'll turn her attention back to the System and see what's happened. And by then she might catch wise to what we'd be doing. That's when we start causing problems for her at work," he smiles.

    "Doing stuff that'd get her in serious trouble for ignoring it, if not worse. All you guys would have to do is just capitalize on each one as much as possible."

    "The idea would be to make as much progress as you can until we can't use that tactic anymore, or... really, really optimistically, until there's no more System to kill the planet."

    His smile takes an impish shade. "Speaking of... I can be pretty, um, distracting, when I want to be. Maybe I could be one of those distractions, and get a little more insight into what kind of person she is--offer a little insight into what other kinds of tactics could keep her busy besides just new toys and fires at work. Do you know, maybe..."

    "Whether she's doing the dollhouse thing because it's all she has, or just because she doesn't have any stake in anything? That's important, when you're dealing with someone who acts that way..."
Sarracenia      'Yes, I am certain Petra can crush the Hero if that will help.'

     "The hero should really only be crushed if they turn out to be a villain. If they are heroic then they should be convinced to join the noble cause!" Sarra objects to Angela.

     'How in the world is Tachibana a magical girl? She's a government agent with a transformation gadget.'

     "I think when technology borders on magic it may as well be the same thing. So, I think she counts." Sarra says to Lilian. Then, Lilian asks many good questions. Questions Sarra is not sure she would have thought to ask. But, she still can't help adding on to Rita's. "Yes, how did White come to have this knowledge? Are you saying all of this is being done just on her word? While I hate to say it since White seems quite nice and sincere, it would be rather unwise to dive in simply on the word of one person. Is there some way for us to see this System or this D in action?"

     Sarra causes a bit of trouble relating to magical girls and Lilian on the radio, and the princess can't help a bit of an impish smile as Petra ends up the target of some Lilian rage instead of her.

     The idea of distracting D is mentioned, and Sarra perks. "Oh! I can also draw a lot of attention! And drawing a malevolent god's attention to cover the heroic work of others sounds pretty heroic in itself, so I would be happy to help in that!" Sarra pauses a moment. "...er...assuming it can be proven, of course."
Petra Soroka >Lore
>Lore>Lore
>Lore
>Don't say 'God Deez Nuts'
>Break out an angel mom in prison
>The invincible unbeatable hero is fifteen years old
>People are annoying and won't listen or work together (duh)


    "--Wait. Hold on. Back up." Petra has been doing her best to nod along, but the long explanation has been visibly taking a toll on her attention span. Suddenly, though, she shoots upright and leans her hands on her knees intently.

    "... The hero is fucking *fifteen*?! He's a *kid*?! The person who's preventing the strongest Demon Lord in history and her entire army from doing anything is *fifteen*?!"

    Petra groans and leans wayy back in her chair, arms draped over the back in defeat. "Well, fuck, that's *so* annoying. We can't kill him, so can we just, like, gaslight the hell out of him so he gets out of the way? He's easily manipulated; can't we just do it back and get it over with? Ugh."

"... Tried that. I put him on an island, but someone found him. Weirdly quickly."

    Petra clicks her tongue loudly. Heroes love to be conveniently blessed by fate so that everything goes their way to continue to perpetuate The System. "Encase him in concrete and drop him to the bottom of the ocean. --Ugh, but I'd feel really bad doing that to a kid who literally doesn't even know what he's doing."

"If they are heroic then they should be convinced to join the noble cause!"

    "It's a title, dipshit. They're not heroic or villainous, they're fucking nothing."
Kukuru "People simply do not believe what they are told, and despite the Taboo skill existing as an inbuilt way of disseminating some of the most crucial parts of our history, the god who designed the System- and the contents of Taboo- has a twisted mind."
"That's so sad... How much were people hurt before that they wouldn't trust each other anymore?" Kukuru asks, not realizing Merazophis is about to answer that very question. When he does, meanwhile, she goes quiet again while trying to comprehend most of it, sympathizing far more with Ariel's desire to save her mother than she would have expected to initially.

"If you can't save the people closest to you... Yeah, I guess saving the world wouldn't really be appealing, either. But the Hero being a child..."

Kukuru's frown deepens, and she crosses her arms while hunching over like she's trying to think more. Sadly, she doesn't quite get anywhere with that attempt, but it does help rearrange her thoughts when White answers her other questions.

"I didn't have one. I wasn't human." "She reincarnated too. But now there's the Demon Lord."
The first response gets something of a relieved sigh from Kukuru, especially a hearing that White's already has something resembling a parental figure that's still alive. "Oh, good! Good... It's important to have someone like that, mhm. And you can always count on the rest of us to be there for you, too." She adds, gesturing around at the gathering of people here for White today.

"Ah, uh, thhhhank you, Miss Kukuru? But, um..."
Needing a moment to take her mind off harder topics, Kukuru brightens up considerably when Rita offers her the Bribe Cooler. Luckily, that incentive being created is something she isn't even aware of at first, and she gladly partakes of Rita's offerings alongside the pizza. Getting a terrible idea, Kukuru carefully arranges a piece of mackerel along a slice of pizza, and then devours it gladly.

She's tempted to take more, but she'll restrain herself for now. Everyone else needs to eat, too! "Thank you, Rita~ AAand..." Wait, she was supposed to be quiet. That's what the zip-mouth thing was a signal for! Kukuru does, thankfully, keep quiet about the magical girl topic after that and without further blatant gestures!

"... Tried that. I put him on an island, but someone found him. Weirdly quickly."
"If 'hero' is a title you can inherit, is there any point to killing him at all?"

Knowing the Hero's age means some of Kukuru's previous suggestions have to go out the window quickly, although she still seems troubled about something. "Someone must've taken him away from there, then. Or some.. Thing? Merazophis mentioned the System does some weird stuff when the power imbalance is too big, so maybe it's also doing soooome... Um."

She holds her hands out for a moment, then closes them together to demonstrate. "Distance-y... Time stuff? And with the Taboo thing being needed just to get some people to listen to stuff they should be..." Kukuru wrinkles her nose slightly. "Whoever made the System like that sounds like the real big problem here. It sounds like killing the Hero wouldn't even change anything, sooo... Is there anyone else we can convince or do.. Something at?"
Natsuki Nuki 'Please explain to me how... it is critically necessary for Ariel's personal army to conquer all of humanity.'

Natsuki, who had quietly taken a few text messages with a few clicks of her thumb and then tucked the phone back into inside jacket pocket for her to murmur and subvocalize on the radio, primarily while looking a lot at Lilian. The question, though, is one she circles back to.

"To echo the question: Does the Demon Army have an exit plan for this conflict that doesn't result in them having to genocide all humans? Releasing Sariel and generating a new world-paradigm, fine, everyone wants a paradigm shift to benefit them and a personal stake means your Demon Lord will probably seek to carry out the goal. But that's the problem, isn't it? It's a personal motivation."

'How is humanity incapable of fixing it?'

Natsuki comes off the vampire presenter for a moment, overquestioning eyebrow-quirk aimed back at Lilian.

"Because it's not in their interest? Because it's morally convenient for them to be the majority, powerfully in control, and holding the world hostage in their 'inferiority' to actually be supreme and all-deciding? Because they don't know the world works that way and wallow in the prophecy, turning all of their petty lives and needs into a demand that should be met?"

"Because their hero is fifteen years old and apparently either a sweet boy or an idiot and the Planet would make up *all* the difference in the fight between them and the Demon Lord, causing the whole problem in the first place? If the System will suck the blood from every stone to make sure their divine bookie-ing matches out, it's just asking a rigged game to not be rigged, or the house to stop taking an edge. Both paths don't go anywhere. Ariel is the strongest, and wants it more. Of course she's going to run over the Hero without the world's help. Haven't you ever seen Dino Mystics Super Defensor?"

No. That's local media. But it tells the tale of three color-coded armored knights with the power of ancient dinosaurs drawing on prehistoric power to defeat the evil magic of modern mages. One of the better seasons! Once you got over how plastic the toys got.

"Plus, they're already bid in. Their guardian is the System. Why ask the humans again? Nothing doing. I'm sure prior Demon Lords have tried peace and sideways. They've already put the hero on some pleasant island!" Well, White did. And Ariel bounced them for it.

'It can normally only be opened by the 'keys' possessed by all fourteen Rulers- essentially designated owners of very particular Skills- being present.'

"Okay. So what about not normally? We can run a distraction, like Sougo thinks, and go easy on the Hero so they don't draw all the power out of your world, but we need to crack that vault to calm Ariel down, and then all the social reconciliation can happen without 'one side wins' claws at the throat."

'Natsukiii. Do you have a... TV show, too?'

"Sound Demon Super Defensor was one of the most panned seasons of Super Defensor. People don't want to see a yokai hero that much, it turns out."

'Mmm! I hear soy sauce is good, but I didn't grow up with it.'

Very distracted, instantly, Natsuki looks at Rita, then down at her lap and phone. ". . ." She starts texting very quickly, though it takes a while for complex character fit-ins. "I think the concierge can find a bottle of dark soy sauce in the Grand Dorado." She offers. Of course they can, but, NOT knowing soy sauce? The entire Kikkoman themesong plays in a minor key in Natsuki's head as she texts with fury to fix this further injustice.
Kukuru "Sound Demon Super Defensor was one of the most panned seasons of Super Defensor. People don't want to see a yokai hero that much, it turns out."
Kukuru takes out a little notepad, a cheap little clicky pen that sticks for a second when she pushes the button, and then writes that down. She makes sure to do that in proper print-style letters, too. "That... SOUNDS-" she adds the extra emphasis because she thinks it makes her sound clever. "-like something everyone at home might enjoy. Hmm.. Thank you, Natsuki~"

She might've also completely forgotten her own replacement for addressing the magical girl identity already. She certainly doesn't sound like she's playing dumb like before, because she sounds genuinely interested.
Sarracenia      'I didn't have one. I wasn't human.'

     Sarra blinks as it finally dawns on her. "Wait...you were -not- human before you reincarnated?" Sarra asks, confused. "So...your Earth had magic and non-human creatures? What were you before you became a spider?"
Lilian Rook     'Potimas, the creator of the Elves, was an inventor of prodigal skill. He created technology that could use the planet's life force as fuel, and advanced into other subjects like the extension of the human lifespan.'

    "One of these things is not like the others . . ." Lilian mutters in irritated sing-song, one finger to her radio earpiece.

    'But consuming the planet's life led to war with the dragon gods who also called the planet their home, and in the aftermath the god D made humanity an offer.'

    "God or dragon god? Beg pardon if it seems pedantic, but this is a lot to absorb already; and it matters." she says.

    'humanity would need to give up their only remaining patron to serve as the System's core'

    "Because of the purpose of that agreement was for the vengeful planet to slowly wipe out humanity as punishment, when it couldn't win in war, then it sounds like it's succeeding."

    'Lady Ariel holds an unabiding hatred for both humans and demons because of what happened to her mother-figure, but she does not act on a drive to wipe them out.'

    "Then what is she?" asks Lilian. Glancing sidelong at Petra, Lilian is so distracted not showing her lip curling in annoyance over something irrelevant to both Merazophis and White that it doesn't occur to her that Ariel could be either rather than neither.

    'Lady White attempted to... Skip some of the expected steps, prior to her last inconvenient confrontation.'

    "Good for her." says Lilian. She pauses after the over-emphatic punctuation, then sits up, trying to dig a little more sincerity out of her chest. "I mean it. Something isn't a bad idea because you failed any more than a good idea because you succeeded. I'm already certain, even from hearing only this much, that someone had to try."

    ' D is the reason that turned into an attack on Lady White instead, as Schlain is... Easily manipulated. Even by our side, in the past. If we could circumvent D's interference, the war would have ended by now most likely.'

    "So it isn't even that you need help defeating the Hero, but rather, your opponent is the goddess that was in your way in the first place." Lilian raises an eyebrow. "That's a rather more severe situation than you let on at first. If 'D' will actively tamper with anything you do to oppose her, what makes you think that you'll be able to dismantle the System even if you win your war?"

    'It can normally only be opened by the 'keys' possessed by all fourteen Rulers-'

    Lilian can't help but sigh. She tries to keep it small, but hot frustration vents forcefully through the metaphorical gap. For an instant, it's as if she already knows all Fourteen of them, has already tried, and has already lost hope. "Of course."
Lilian Rook     'The demon armies are not 'of' demonkind any longer. Enough commanders have died or been replaced that more are monsters- or ex-humans as might be said- than not. The demons themselves are not to be exalted above humanity, as they *are* humanity. Only descending from more privileged fathers. It is likely that demonkind itself will collapse before humankind does, following the war, given the losses involved.'

    Running out of patience with someone who isn't Merazophis, Lilian leans back in her chair and waves off. "No, no need for that. I've left my 'race war' days behind me." she says. "I'm not interested in knowing who counts as what. I have only two very simple points of critical contention."

    Lilian lists off on her fingers. "One is that war sounds like a very conveniently noble cause to drive Ariel's personal rise to power at the expense of most of the planet. Two is that, above all else, I'm still a defender of humanity. A backways justification about they have to be conquered to save them won't be good enough. Even if this grand, metaphysical utilitarian goal is just as you say, I'm not so detached from reality as those who are prone to forgetting that this is, fundamentally, a request to participate in the mass ending of lives. So, as a defender of humanity, it isn't so simple for me to take up arms against all the world's established order and put their collective will to the sword."

    It's difficult not to be taken in by her energy. The gravity with which she can speak, motivated to define and delineate and and put hard ideological facts down like game pieces, isn't something one commonly encounters anywhere. It's just sort of funny. There hadn't been anything about that at all in her Titles.

    "But as far as I can discern, the goal of your 'Demon Lord's army isn't to wage war on humanity." Lilian says. "Essentially, the one goal you share with Ariel is to wage war on 'D'. Isn't it?"

    Straightening up in her chair, she continues on, "Then, is fighting the Hero even strictly necessary? Certainly, he'd be deployed to a strategic scale conflict at your desired point, but that's only if they know, can, and have the time. He isn't a Ruler, is he? And if he is, then does his power scale up to anyone who fights him, or only non-humans? Furthermore, is the cooperation of the Rulers required, or merely their keys?"

    'I am given to believe, based on what has been revealed to us thus far, that this state of affairs is enforced externally.'

    "Canny as usual." Lilian says to Woz, nine parts bland sincerity to one part chagrin. "The fortunate thing means that, rather than self-interested, they're gullible and stupid. If they can be compelled externally by image like 'the Hero' then they can be compelled by other means. Ones that simply aren't available to people who don't pass for fellow humans."

    'How much do you know about how well D can gather information?'

    "Seconded."

    '... Tried that. I put him on an island, but someone found him. Weirdly quickly.'

    "D is almost certainly watching him, then. Perhaps not constantly, but frequently enough. That boy has essentially been made her personal favourite; her indulgent insert. Nothing she doesn't like will happen to him easily, or stick for long, but I imagine he attracts her attention when it does."
Lilian Rook     'I think when technology borders on magic it may as well be the same thing.'

    The sequence of backseated radio dialogue through subvocalizers and wave broadcasters takes Lilian's early irritation and explosively amplifies it. The distraction reaches such a crescendo that she ceases looking at Petra entirely, stops tapping her foot, and looks to Merazophis with an apologetic little glance. "Please don't mind me. Continue your presentation." says says, pushing out her chair and standing up.

<J-IC-Scene> Lilian Rook says, "I don't have a transformation, costume, special attack, magical accessory, or magical girl name, so try again"
<J-IC-Scene> Sarracenia says, "Hikaru and Lala seemed to think you had at least a few of those~"
<J-IC-Scene> Petra Soroka says, "--You *do* have special attacks, though. You even named and invented them."
<J-IC-Scene> Petra Soroka says, "No wait-- I know better than that. I'm shutting up."
<J-IC-Scene> Sarracenia says, "And I am fairly certain you have a magical girl name now."
<J-IC-Scene> Lilian Rook says, "No I don't think you know better at all and I can't rely on you for anything."
<J-IC-Scene> Angela says, "If having an enemy and having magic power was enough to be 'a magical girl', half of the Outsiders would be magical girls. It is a role and genre. It is a pathos."
<J-IC-Scene> Petra Soroka whines unhappily. "I'm sorry!"
<J-IC-Scene> Angela says, "There are conventions."
<J-IC-Scene> Lilian Rook says, "I don't care if you are. The outcome seems to always be the same regardless."
<J-IC-Scene> Sarracenia says, "Certainly! They should also have a heroic heart, fight for justice, and protect the weak."
<J-IC-Scene> Lilian Rook says, "If you can't help yourself from ganging up with Sundew then there's no hope from you at all."
<J-IC-Scene> Petra Soroka whimpers like she's been punched. "Auuuugh... I-I'll shut up, I promise."
<J-IC-Scene> Lilian Rook says, "Can you un-speak?"
<J-IC-Scene> Petra Soroka shakes her head.
<J-IC-Scene> Lilian Rook says, "Then what *fucking* use do I have for you shutting up *after*?"

    Lilian grabs Petra's hand by the wrist, presses her palm down against the tabletop, pulls a utility knife from her bag, and slams it point down through the back of Petra's hand and into the table. Lilian sighs and flicks hair back into place with her fingers.

    'Because it's not in their interest? Because it's morally convenient for them to be the majority...'

    "Yes, yes, all those reasons and more." says Lilian, seating herself again. "I'm no stranger to how idiotic humans can be en masse, but I'm asking rather than supposing. Humanity didn't invent this divine system of order where their favourite always wins; their hopes and dreams and their pride as the chosen people are all part of the dollhouse too." Her chair scrapes lightly as she pulls it back in.

    "So. Merazophis. How many keys do your forces currently possess out of the fourteen? What intelligence do you have about the remainder?"
Timespace Riders The hero should really only be crushed if they turn out to be a villain. If they are heroic then they should be convinced to join the noble cause!

    "The 'hero' is an easily manipulated child. Fifteen summers, yes?" the retainer confirms with a brief glance towards White and Merazophis. "One who has recently lost a family member and is unfit for the role besides, for what it may esteem. He has been forced into that role to preserve the interests of those who care not at all for his needs, and for this, he is someone I am Kamen Rider to."

    "That fact notwithstanding, surely even an aspiring hero such as yourself would agree that fifteen is too young by far to be subject to grand, sweeping judgments of good or evil."

We can't kill him, so can we just, like, gaslight the hell out of him so he gets out of the way?

    "That's one of the things I'm considering, yeah," smiles Sougo.

It's a title, dipshit. They're not heroic or villainous, they're fucking nothing.

    "Indeed," says Woz, finishing his second slice of pepperoni.

People don't want to see a yokai hero that much, it turns out.

    "As you said, Lady Nue. Much may be traced back to 'holding the world hostage in inferiority.'" That remark probably isn't strictly about the show.

Certainly, he'd be deployed to a strategic scale conflict at your desired point, but that's only if they know, can, and have the time.

    Sougo smiles at Lilian and nods. "I was thinking the same thing," he says.

Nothing she doesn't like will happen to him easily, or stick for long, but I imagine he attracts her attention when it does.

    "Not to mention," Sougo says, gesturing towards Lilian with the eraser before continuing to scrawl notes, "He can only be in one place at one time. Otherwise he wouldn't have been picked up from that island so fast. So... that's another under the 'stuff she can't ignore' column..."
Rita Ma      Rita is briefly too busy watching Kukuru's combination of "hot pepperoni pizza" with "chilled raw near-bloody mackerel" to fully process Natsuki's words.

     She breaks her gaze from the spectacle with a little "huh?" youkaiwards, ransacks her working memory for the syllable-sounds, retrospectively assembles them into words, and then says "Oh."

     And then her hands go up, grateful-but-appeasing. "Oh! I, um, I didn't mean I hadn't had a chance to try it! It's just, dietary restrictions, and all! Not that I still wouldn't want the Dorado's blend to serve to my friends, so I'm still thankful Miss Natsuki, but it's not like I'm urgently--"

     WHAM.

     Rita's facing away from Petra. The normal reaction on hearing a noise like that is to look around for its source. Instead, her head and eyes snap to the exact point of the knife-wound like they're magnetized.

     A full beat passes.

     "Ms. Rook?!?" She lunges to cover Petra's hand with her own, trying to keep it from moving and worsening the wound. I can heal her-- wait, no, she wouldn't want to see that. Pinprick eyes dart across the table. "Ms. Kukuru! Please fix her! What's wrong with you, Lilian?"
White White slowly nods at Angela, confirming the interpretation with little hesitation. She almost soundlessly admits, "I'm trying not to kill reincarnations. To avoid making Oka-sensei sad." Rita's out-loud conclusion about a prior statement leaves White headtilting in surprisingly unsubtle confusion trying to figure out how she arrived at that. Merazophis fumbles slightly with a couple of Rita's questions though, and White seems to be more personally acquainted with the answers, so she attempts to take a turn answering despite struggling a little to project her voice. "Not anymore. So I don't plan to." is the first answer. "Probably not, except maybe for Miss Natsuki or Mister Genm." she somewhat-uncertaintly answers second. "None." is her third answer about ruler skills in the hands of monsters; she considers trying to specify the ones she knows about but ends up delegating to Merazophis with a glance, and he checks the notes again to be safe.

     Fourth, though, leaves her at pause for a little while longer. It's a 'people stuff' question, which is hard to be sure she's going to get right. "... We could share the information from Taboo with Telepathy. But I don't have Taboo anymore." She squirms a little when the next questions from Sougo are also a bit outside of Merazophis's personal wheelhouse, and she once again has to step up as the expert on D. 'Don't say it. Don't say it!'

     "She's good at everything she does, so she's bored constantly. The System is fun to her because she can't predict how it goes. That's why she even made a way to break the System." White slowly puts together aloud. "I was her favorite distraction, so nothing I did went unnoticed. But I was the only one who could hack the Ruler locks without the keys. Now I don't think I can anymore."

     She seems to run out of steam there for now, and Merazophis tentatively picks up after. "... Young Miss Sophia possesses Telepathy and Taboo, and could possibly share it with others that way. Lady Ariel likely could too, and could provide personal accounts if your concerns about their reliability could be assuaged somehow. I imagine what remain of Potimas's... 'Computers' may have some kind of record as well, given his obsessive qualities." He then redirects his attention to matters about the Hero, where frustrations seem to be politely shared. "Unfortunately, Schlain also possesses a unique skill, a gift D gave each of the reincarnations. 'Divine Protection'. It is similar to Probability Manipulation, only that we do not know its trigger conditions, frequency, or maximum effect. Or more simply... He is very, very lucky. Sometimes against his own will, but in ways that technically benefit him in the future, such as by causing him to overcorrect for a held-back attack against someone who would kill him, even without his intent or understanding. I can only imagine D selected him as the Hero herself, given the break from precedent and the serendipity of such a young hero possessing such a skill. As for his rescue from that island... I believe he 'fortunately' was discovered by a certain human mage by the name of Ronandt, who had close ties to his brother Julius. A notable exception among humanity's mages, capable of teleportation."
White White is somewhat steeled by what reassurance she gets from Natsuki's speaking on the matter, and she's heard similar rebuttals about the 'killing tons of humans' part of the plan a few times, so it feels like now is the time to dispense with some of the groundwork explanation. She can always make Meramera do more Q&A sometime if people really have more questions that aren't going to put them off of helping, and her priority has to be getting that help and not inviting people to help the humans instead. So... She stands up abruptly! Then sits down again as the gazes of the entire room threaten to melt her face off, but she probably has their attention regardless if Merazophis's own confused look is anything to go by.

     "There are... Things I don't have, that would help avoid more killing." she starts, summoning a mental list and trying not to think about the people around her as she reads from it... Not like closing her eyes helps in that regard! "Someone who can find things from far away. Machines, mostly. Or someone who can heal a spirit, or extend someone's life. Or someone who can block a god's sight, or at least block telepathy. Someone who can duel a dragon or keep him busy for a long time. Someone who can make a really big barrier to keep people out of a cave. Someone who can block teleportation. Someone who can alter existing magic." She almost seems to come out of a trance, having to un-dissociate like she's coming up for air after dunking her head underwater.

     Merazophis tries to step in, while she does so. "I believe Lady White is trying to say that, provided enough of these specific tools, she believes the most arduous path is avoidable. Aside from D, we must be wary of the lower administrator Guliedistodiez, who is a dragon himself if a young one from my gathering. Also, the Pontiff of the Word of God, who is primarily responsible for how resistant humanity has been to demon coexistence, and adamantly refuses to allow the System to be destroyed for reasons some of you have already speculated on." White, relatively somewhat recovered from her recitory dive, shakes her head at Sarracenia. "I was a spider. But after I died, D gave me human memories. I became a spider again anyway."
White White watches Merazophis close his own eyes a moment as if in imitation of White's sagely veneer when Lilian pounds a knife through Petra's hand, in a way Rita might recognize as familiarized self-restraint. He did admit to being a vampire after all, but he must have lived with it for some time, as it only takes him a moment to discard seemingly any thoughts at all about the violent display, or Petra's blood. White looks somehow innocently confused like she's looking at some sort of public display of affection she doesn't quite understand, while her elected speaker plainly refocuses when he speaks to Lilian.

     "I empathize with your position. I will be brief then, on the facts; of the Ruler Keys numbering 14, we know the exact ownership of 12, our forces possess 8, and the humans possess 4. The location of the last two was lost, as according to Lady White's notes they vanished from her possession when she fled the planet, and she suspects that new Rulers of Pride and Sloth may need to be found, or else new candidates trained to acquire the skills and thereby the keys. The humans possess Mercy, Charity, Chastity and Temperance for certain. The keys can be acquired from their owners by way of coercion or death, but only Rulers can possess a key. For those such as Temperance's holder, Dustin, we would require an especially permanent means of slaying him to take his key, as the special reincarnation Temperance provides would maintain the key in his own possession. Keys are only physical objects once given form deliberately by their owner otherwise." He pauses momentarily. "As for your evaluation... Were it possible to simply defeat D, that would be ideal. We have yet to find credible proof that it can be done however, given we do not even understand her nature. It is vexing."
Natsuki Nuki 'It's just, dietary restrictions, and all!'

Because it is utterly unthinkable someone would turn down good, premium dark soy sauce without some lethal health issue, Natsuki has no problem with the denial. Rita is getting some anyway!

In fact, someone with a suit comes in to bring her a bottle!

While Lilian Rook goes about getting out a knife and ramming it through Petra's hand for disrespect and overall lack of decorum in the middle of a 'public' meeting, Natsuki lifts her eyes from texting and muttering in the sidebands and channels to click closed her phone and cross her hands forward on the meeting table. Between thumbs and layered fingers, black spade-head with two black-and-red eyes stare out, direly interested in the bloody goings-on.

But she's still on Rita for a moment, as the bottle is dropped off besides her and the Very Professional Dorado concierge turns and about faces without even looking at the wound. Natsuki only murmurs a "For that, it'd be mirin." cryptically and nothing more.

On to Lilian, Natsuki is back to business. "I think you're failing to see the win-win." U(w)in-u(w)in, pronounced while thumbs tap out two beats across her tail's head while the snake tastes the air and stares at blood. Natsuki, more sanguine, smiles and quarter-lids her eyes, looking only at Lilian for a moment. "As a defender of 'humanity', don't you think that a situation engineered by a goddess designed to hold humanity hostage at the world's expense so she can run up her favorite golden child - literal, child - is detestable? And, with the true protector of Humanity tucked under this System, isn't the natural path to peace: to restore Sariel as the protector of Humanity and then sue for a peace pact between Ariel and Sariel to end the cycle? I'm sure there's a very fancy pen and some smooth talkers that can sort that out. And I don't think we've talked about 'killing all humans' - only that the minority group is at war with the majority, which also has a secret weapon that could end the world. This seems like..."

Her eyes keep on Lilian (and the snake's, on Petra still) before pulling away to Merazophis to see the salaryman's take. "A delicate problem for experts, and not an army. Right? Hence a meeting, and not a briefing. Powerful allies, who aren't a part of the Demon Army or fanatics. Paladins, even."

She's not looking at Lilian, but who else in the room?

'As you said, Lady Nue. Much may be traced back to 'holding the world hostage in inferiority.''

"It's not the farmer's fault for pulling at the dirt where they can. I don't have any problem with farmers. But not all land is for farming. And not all land is the farmer's. 'Being a farmer' isn't a perfect check you can cash for anything. Usually, it's a check for nothing and spends just as well. That's why you blame magistrates, and when you can't, a god is the next best thing."
Petra Soroka "So, as a defender of humanity, it isn't so simple for me to take up arms against all the world's established order and put their collective will to the sword."

    It *is* so easy to be taken up by Lilian's energy. Petra actively hurtles herself into it, even, recontextualizing her opinions and plans for the war in an instant. There's approximately nothing in the multiverse that could get Petra to similarly declare herself a 'defender of humanity'-- she's kind of nakedly its nemesis, mostly on Lilian's behalf-- but she's not about to fight a war opposed to Lilian about something she doesn't care about that much.

    More specifically, Lilian's articulated arguments dispel the effect of Petra simply taking everything that's loredumped to her for granted. She doesn't *actually* have to throw her entire lot in with the first person in an ideological conflict to explain themselves to her-- she can throw her entire lot in with Lilian instead, every time!

    Which is a form of mental acquiencence of her free will that's dramatically enhanced by the radio chatter going on. When Lilian scolds her, the color drains from Petra's face and she goes silent and tense, only nominally still paying attention to the lecture to stay polite. The hand that Cinder took goes stiff and carefully extricates from hers to join the other in being balled up in her lap in terrified remorse, right up until Lilian grabs it and skewers it to the table.

    She strangles back a shriek, and even with the blood welling up around the knife, letting out that partial-noise makes her look more guilty than anything. She un-clamps her lips for a whimpering gasp, and then quickly pulls the knife out to free up her hand and worsen the bleeding considerably, so that she can shove it between her thighs and squeeze to put pressure on it and keep it out of polite company's view.

    "Hhk-- R-Rita, no, don't... it's fine. I-I did something fucked up, so it's fine. Don't-- don't worry about it."

    Effortfully, Petra scootches in her chair to angle just slightly away from Rita and signal that she's engaging in conversation with... essentially at random, while tense and shivering, Sougo. "E-er-- well, also-- if it's D personally doing it, then-- we just outnumber him straight up, in terms of-- um, moving that boy places. D locating him, I mean. We can't keep him away, but we can make that something D has to pay attention to, uh-- like, a-- a lot. Or something."
Angela Cinder startles when Petra's hand is stabbed for multiple reasons, one of which is that her hand was on one of Petra's hands until Petra took it away. Even if Lilian wouldn't have punched through her hand to get to Petra's, that's still pretty spooky! She feels an ache in the back of her hand even without being harmed at all.

But the other aspect of it is that stab wounds are pretty serious and Petra's her girlfriend and she says, "Hey--!"

But an Eggpack claw is on Cinder's shoulder and pushes her down into her seat before she can finish saying whatever she was going to say.

"This is the situation." Angela says. "Do not intercede on their agreement with one another."

Then she looks to Rita on her Eggpack. Her eyes are thoughtful, calculating--but ultimately she adds, "And we should not distract from the purpose of this meeting because of the arrangement."

She looks back to White. "Divine fortune, augmented luck. Hm. I feel uneasy about trying to destroy a fiften year old's spirit to stop him without physically harming him even if the alternative is killing him. I can see why you needed allies, this seems like a complicated matter." She considers further and then offers something else.

"Would not the simplest method not be to provide her with a form of entertainment that keeps her from being concerned with the world at all?" Angela suggests. "Rather than blocking her sight, could it be redirected?"
White White is still curious about the hand-stabbing thing, but doesn't seem to even know how to *begin* asking the right questions about it, so she doesn't volunteer herself for a fumble either. Instead, she looks over to Angela. "Possible." she quietly answers, hesitating a few seconds with her example over a strange feeling of improporiety before adding, "... We played Street Fighter for two days straight. After I found out what I was. I'm not sure she was very distracted though."
Petra Soroka "She's good at everything she does, so she's bored constantly."

    "She sounds like a real, b-bitch. Is that alright? To say that?" Petra is a bit woozy from pain, even though she's trying really hard to not seem like she is. "L-like, wow, nice ennui. Some of us have shit we c-care about, though."

"Or someone who can block a god's sight, or at least block telepathy."

    Petra quietly raises a hand to volunteer (the one that's only lightly streaked with blood, and patterned with red denim-spots from touching her jeans). "Ohh. I can. I can do that, if Lilian wants me to."

"After I found out what I was."

    Petra squints in confusion, sure that she's missing something but unable to keep her mind still long enough to figure out what. "Like... a spider? Are you just the most-- most interesting person in the world, and that's why she likes you best?"
Angela "Who won?" Cinder asks before she can stop herself.

"...Mm..." Angela murmurs. "Perhaps a game that utilizes twinstick controls..." She looks to Petra when she offers herself. "...I know you are able to block telepathy in close range, but are you able to do so over greater distances? I don't imagine we could have you standing next to everyone whom we wouldn't want this Goddess to see?"

''Are you just the most--most interesting person in the world''

Angela gives a small nod to Petra indicating she's curious about this question at all and is totally acting like the knife in the hand is nothing to be concerned with.
Natsuki Nuki 'He is very, very lucky. Sometimes against his own will, but in ways that technically benefit him in the future, such as by causing him to overcorrect for a held-back attack against someone who would kill him, even without his intent or understanding.'

Being told the 'rules of the Legend' gives Natsuki more ammo, the sort of person to pore over stories big and small of the fifteen year old all-blessed divine special boy. . .

And has to hold back her own grimace, something that didn't come out of her when swerving from 'cool, let's just back the demons' to 'of *course* we aren't genociding the stupid poor colonizers and their demon-hating religion' thanks to a bit of magic backed smooth talking.

It wouldn't have taken a lot to get her to switch tacks for a friend or a Partner, but Lilian was loudly a Paladins Chevalier and Defender of Humanity. The change to the 'inside line' win-win, of course, was thanks to the Dame Commander's natural charisma - and magic too.

It helped it'd be a *lot* of money to wipe out humanity. The marketing budget alone would easily eclipse the operational budget! Raising a professional dark army was a difficult thing in the early 2000's! She couldn't just Nobunaga history to gaslight everyone into liking the most obvious demon lord plant of time!

Thinking of historical demon lords...

"Sougo and Woz are probably your best bets at the table for sandbagging against the Hero. These Kamen Rider types fight clean *and* fair enough that I think Sougo," And not Woz. "-wouldn't trigger a death prevention chance. But what a pathetically petulant power! 'My pick has the power to win no matter what' - that's more rigged than horse races."

'Are you just the most--most interesting person in the world.'

Natsuki laughs, loud birdsong rolling out of her as she sit backs and unsteeples her hands at the table, Kodoku sliding down into her lap.

"Miss White is the Concord Partner from that world."
Rita Ma      "It's not fine! You don't get to say that!" Rita says to Petra, wild-eyed desperate. "You don't get to say that! It's awful to you, and it's awful to me too!"

     She winces at the knife-pulling-out, swallows drool, and squeezes Petra's wrist uncomfortably tight- maybe to keep the bleeding down, maybe out of panic.

     "So nobody should be her friend because we're not supposed to be hurt by her getting stabbed?" she barks at Angela. "Maybe you aren't but I am! Shut up and don't jerk around her girlfriend!" But the brief glance she shoots at Cinder is accusatory too.

     'Get back up,' it says. 'Why do I care more than you?'

     Over Petra's head, metaphorically and literally, with a distraught-betrayed look: "You told me to tell you if you started slipping, Lilian. You are. Apologize and leave."
Sarracenia      'It's a title...'

     "I -know- it is a title." Sarra huffs in annoyance. "I did not say he is obviously good and we should convince him to join the noble cause. I said 'if he is heroic'. Although...it does sound as though he barely has a mind of his own."

     'People don't want to see a yokai hero that much, it turns out.'

     "That is unfortunate." Sarra says. "I learned long ago that a hero can come from anywhere. I think seeing a show about a heroic yokai would be quite interesting!"

     'I think the concierge can find a bottle of dark soy sauce in the Grand Dorado.'

     Sarra looks toward Rita. "I thought you said you could not eat plants, Miss Rita?"

     Lilian asks some more good questions, then...attacks Petra rather brutally! Despite herself Sarra is on her feet in an instant. "Oh my god! Lilian!!" Sarra exclaims. She rushes over to join Rita, already pulling out green mushrooms despite knowing how unlikely it is that Petra will use one. Instead of handing them to Petra, Sarra hands them to Rita to hand to Petra. Maybe they will actually get used then.

     Though, then Petra turns away from even Rita. And makes excuses for Lilian's terrible behavior again. "So, this is your benevolence toward criminals, huh?!" Sarra exclaims before looking around at those that seem to just take the attack in stride. The princess looks at each one, then lets out a frustrated growling cry.

     'Do not intercede on their agreement with one another.'

     Sarra freezes as she hears that, then turns her head just enough that one eye can look at the Eggpack. "...their agreement...?" the princess says in quiet disbelief. That makes everything clear for Sarra. She looks back toward Petra, then just...leaves the green mushrooms on the table.

     Rita gets mad. That is something Sarra was not certain Rita could do. And it makes Sarra mad that Rita is mad. Sarra stands by Rita, obviously in agreement despite hating and being hated by most of the people involved. "I guess you really are not a magical girl after all." is all Sarra finally adds to what Rita says.
Timespace Riders These Kamen Rider types fight clean *and* fair enough that I think Sougo wouldn't trigger a death prevention chance.

    "Aw, thanks for the vote of confidence,#-1 FUNCTION (NATSUKI,ANSI) NOT FOUND Sougo warmly offers. "I think... in addition to that, we fight with out feelings as much as our bodies or our skill. I'm willing to lose, if it means I reach the other person in the end."

Lilian sighs and flicks hair back into place with her fingers.
Ms. Kukuru! Please fix her! What's wrong with you, Lilian?


    The sound startles Sougo, who had been looking at Petra. "Um..." he frowns. Then he sighs. It's just going to sound like ganging up if he chimes in without thinking about what he says. He knows Lilian well enough to know that just generically tone-policing (even about something like what just happened) will have no effect at best and make her angry and feel attacked at worst.

I-I did something fucked up, so it's fine. Don't-- don't worry about it.

    "Okay," Sougo says defeatedly. 'Okay,' meaning 'I'm dropping this for now,' rather than 'I cosign this and won't question it if it happens again.' "Nevermind."

    For a moment--really more of an instant--, Sougo flickers in his seat, as if the room were displayed on a monitor and it dropped a frame. His watch is a fraction of a second slower.

    Woz sighs, reaches over and takes Sougo's hand. The Demon King squeezes back, and offers him an appreciative, as-mollified-as-the-situation-will-allow frown.

We can't keep him away, but we can make that something D has to pay attention to, uh-- like, a-- a lot. Or something.

I wish you wouldn't do that.

    "Right," says Sougo after a moment's pause.

Do not intercede on their agreement with one another.

     Sougo squeezes Woz's hand a little tighter.

     Woz clears his throat. "Sire, the time draws near for your next appointment. I shall gladly convey you thither and remain here to gather information."

     Sougo takes a steadying breath. "...Yeah," he says with forced brightness. "I got so caught up talking strategy I almost forgot." The two of them stand up, and Sougo wraps his retainer in his arms. "Thanks, Woz," he says, with more gravity than is due a ride to an upcoming obligation.

     "I live to serve," says Woz with equal weight, returning the gesture with one hand and reaches for his scarf with the other. Gently breaking away from the embrace, he takes Sougo's hand gently in his, leads the Demon King away from the table, and flings the scarf outwards.

     The gray garment expands impossibly, wrapping around the two Kamen Riders like a whirlwind before constricting and vanishing like water down a drain, leaving nothing in their place. A few minutes pass before Woz returns--notable in the length of the absence in that he's gone for Rita doubling down and demanding an apology.

     Taking a seat with a sharp sigh, he procures Sougo's notes and his pencil and resumes where the Demon King left off. Pausing, he tucks the loose (damp, now) end of his scarf under the table, and continues his scribing with quietly aggrieved purpose.

     The pencil stops, and hits the notepad with a little thud. "Please pardon the interruption," he says, inclining his head. "I believe ere I left we were discussing ways to tie up the Hero, on from discussing ways to occupy D? What else have you tried, Commander White?" His tone is tersely businesslike, in the way that those without the liberty not to be are when they decide their best option is to finish their work quickly.
Kukuru "Beg pardon if it seems pedantic, but this is a lot to absorb already; and it matters."
Inwardly, Kukuru feels a bit more relief at hearing that coming from Lilian. She's already struggling to keep up even halfway, but hearing someone she knows for a fact is far better about retaining these kinds of things feeling a similar way... Well, it's no excuse not to keep trying to keep up, but she doesn't have to feel so bad about the struggle.

"'My pick has the power to win no matter what' - that's more rigged than horse races."
"Oh! Oh. I have an ideaaaa. Can we make someone else the Hero instead? Liiiike White or someone else we know, so our pick is also the one that gets D's favor." She asks, sounding skeptical already while still pitching it out there. Hearing about Ariel being willing to play video games with White certainly helps spur that mental process along.

"Ms. Kukuru! Please fix her! What's wrong with you, Lilian?"
"Hhk-- R-Rita, no, don't... it's fine. I-I did something fucked up, so it's fine. Don't-- don't worry about it."
"You don't get to say that! It's awful to you, and it's awful to me too!"


This puts Kukuru in a heart-wrenchingly difficult situation. On one hand, she trusts Lilian and Petra enough to believe that whatever happened to cause this probably makes a lot more sense in the between-them context than it does to anyone else. On the other hand, Rita's pleading with her directly, and there's still everyone else here having to be around all the stabbing going on.

What would she do at home? She'd normally crack down on stabbings at the dinner table, but does this even count as a dinner table? It's way too big for that, and the pizza boxes are strung up rather than being on the table. People ARE still eating near it, though, and she's pretty sure most of them don't have the same immune system she does.

No, she's overthinking this. There's still other people here, and that's enough to make this an Incorrect Behavior in her mind. After standing there for way too long going through those thought process, Kukuru finally settles on a gently scolding tone: "Lilian, you shouldn't stab people around food. There's a time and place for roughhousing, and doing it somewhere it'll hurt people other than you and Petra isn't either of those things. Okay?"

Kukuru turns to Petra afterwards, holding one hand out with the healing nanites already starting to flow. The other goes right into her pocket, then comes back out a second later with a clean bath towel. "Hand, please. We gotta close and clean that up so you don't get an infection or make it worse."

She avoids scolding Petra at that last part. She actually sounds concerned, but she's trying to keep her tone somewhat even there.
White White is, peculiarly, more clammed up than normal. Both Petra's quesiton and Cinder's question pluck at her tender pride enough that she simply doesn't want to answer! 'Come onnn, I don't play fighting games! It should be illegal not to let me have a single round even as a beginner, she should be executed! Remove her from the unemployment section immediately, she's a fraud!!' she grumpy-rants to herself in recollection, trying not to think about her relationship to D. What does it even mean to have someone else's memories anyway? She still hates D. It's not like she's a copy of her just because she remembers like, half of the times she slacked off at school pretending to be a teenager. It's upsetting to think that anyone would conclude it's somehow familial or even closer than that, so she just refuses to say it aloud! Fortunately for her, Merazophis doesn't know the whole story, so he's kind of stumped too.

     Natsuki helps pull her out of the quiet grumpy-funk though, as she nods in commisserated annoyance about Schlain's obnoxious Special Boy gifts. Given everyone is starting to pay attention to Petra and Lilian's 'interaction' though, it both takes a little pressure off of her and makes her pay more attention as well. Merazophis, an onlooker, seems rather lost about what even to do right now; he's not as unsympathetic as White, but he's acquainted with certain rules of decorum about servant treatment that were expected to be upheld, and they leave him with two possible reactions. He hedges his bets, stepping around the table as others attempt more direct treatment and drawing a thick handkerchief from his coat pocket to slide across toward Petra. "You need not return it." he tells her, not quite expecting to be the focal member of this debate as he looks at Lilian searchingly. He's confused, and perhaps reevaluating her.

     White still hasn't made any ground on interpreting what just happened, or knowing what she should do about it. She doesn't *think* there is anything? So, she doesn't. Instead she thoughtfully teleports herself and the couch she's sitting on over to beside Woz, where she can speak at a more normal tone and pace, and perhaps separate herself from the confusing display nearby. "We took advantage of a coup one of the other reincarnations started. Got him away from home for a while, to hide. And when his Mercy skill was new, we got him to use it on the elves we wanted to save. That made him pass out for a couple of days." Kukuru's suggestion, meanwhile, gets an almost woeful headshake. "I was a candidate, but I don't have Titles anymore. I'm not in the System."
Angela This is why, Angela thinks, she needs to get free as soon as possible. She doesn't even know what she would do if she wasn't depending on Petra and Lilian's assistance. How can she know what is even real when she has to consider her goal before everything else?

"I am being their friend by respecting their choices." Angela won't remark on her fear in the slightest. "Who am I to be their lord and master? Careless intercession does more harm. At least in my experience."

''You told me to tell you if you started slipping, Lilian.''

Angela's eyes flick to Lilian and then back to Rita. "...So you had your own arrangement? ... I see." There's that look in her eyes again but ultimately she eases back. It's Rita's arrangement. Not Angela's.

''...Their agreement...?''
5r"Do not read into it." Angela says.

Cinder's fingers are curled into fists. She feels Rita's gaze upon her. She tries to get up again but Angela maintains her grip. Her shoulders are shaking. Rita's seen it before. It's fear. Everything she has can be taken away in an instant if she says the wrong thing. Or even the right thing. She's already pushing against that line and she doesn't know exactly how far she can push it.

But can she even be human if she says nothing at all?

"I..." She says. "Don't like it when--"

She grimaces when the Eggpack claw digs into the back of ''her'' hand, pain scattering her thoughts. And before she can continue.

"We best depart." Angela interrupts. "We will discuss the policy at a later date." The coldest look from Angela Cinder's ever seen pushes away whatever courage Cinder may have marshalled once more and she goes silent, standing up this time, looking miserable.
Natsuki Nuki The 'drama' with a pierced hand and a strong message is one that develops more like a wine - and spills nearly as red. It's Merazophis' handkerchief that saves Natsuki's forgotten pocket-rag of similar providence, forgotten with the sweet-scented rush of blood.

Of course, it's a cut of meat immediately hidden by social swell and tight squeeze both.

Sougo, besides, has to hold hands and then dip out. The table seems resolved, the meeting called on merits. Well, almost all merits.

'Oh! Oh. I have an ideaaaa. Can we make someone else the Hero instead? Liiiike White'

Natsuki shakes her head. "It's hard to change the favorite horse. Changing it randomly doesn't help either -- plus, you can't do it by defeat, or the world might end. White's already said-" Though not today. "That she'd rather not pursue that path. So let's work on the things she's asked for, for now. Gathering information is the next step. Information, and,"

Natsuki slowly stands, gesturing out at Petra, paused for Cinder's mild stammer and then seizing up. Her fingers curl close, turn over, and then knuckle motion at the other side of the table. "Clean up."

She doesn't mean the pizza boxes. She'll just leave those for someone else to clean.
Lilian Rook     'What's wrong with you, Lilian?'

    Lilian sighs, puts her hand to her face, and tilts back her head. "Why does that question always sound like it came out of nowhere when you . . ." she starts to mutter to herself, curtailed by a soft 'oh'. She looks away from the ceiling through her own palm. "Apologies, Rita. I forgot to give you any warning, didn't I? That extremely careless of me."

    'Hey--!'

    Lilian's gaze slides over to Cinder with a completely different look behind her eyes than with Rita. There isn't even a glimmer of introspection. Just the shadow of her bangs and the flat, impatient affect of "Yes?"

    'Do not intercede on their agreement with one another.'

    Lilian looks away again, and instantly loses interest in Cinder.

    'Divine Protection'. It is similar to Probability Manipulation, only that we do not know its trigger conditions, frequency, or maximum effect. Or more simply... He is very, very lucky. Sometimes against his own will'

    "As I thought, that sounds almost identical to being watched over by God." Lilian says. "Something that complicated . . . I suppose I wouldn't disbelieve that it's all handled automatically, if Commander White is indeed the favourite choice for 'D' to watch, but even then, if her motivation is sheer boredom, any attempt to distract her would best go through her favourite narrative plaything and his high-adventure escapades, no?"

    She looks passingly pleased at White just listing off a sequence of specific abilities and personnel that she needs. "So you've already thought it through that far. have you?" she says. "So this meeting really was just for everyone else. No wonder."

    'I will be brief then, on the facts; of the Ruler Keys numbering 14, we know the exact ownership of 12, our forces possess 8, and the humans possess 4.'

    Lilian's eyes widen. She sits up a little straighter too. "That's far better than I'd dare hoped." she says, fingertips hovering halfway to her mouth. "Forgive me for saying so, but I'm so used to things going a certain way that I was expecting you to say that the humans have all fourteen and you have no idea where they are. That's . . . I'm impressed, actually." she says, as if it's inherently surprising.

    'The humans possess Mercy, Charity, Chastity and Temperance for certain. The keys can be acquired from their owners by way of coercion or death, but only Rulers can possess a key.'

    "What sort of--" Lilian cuts herself off trying to ponder whatever the overarching theme is, and shakes her head. "The keys being powerless without their Rulers is fine, so long as we don't require a specially suitable candidate to take possession of them. Especially those four virtues." she says, giving the impression that she would be staring at the room if it were less impolite.

    'Were it possible to simply defeat D, that would be ideal.'

    "But that's what we're discussing right now." Lilian says. "Defeating 'D'. If she's truly a god, then whether we do it through arms or through proxies and faith is essentially immaterial. The fact is that she is our enemy, and humanity is little more than a collection of pieces that she has set up."

    'I think you're failing to see the win-win.'

    "And so, funnily enough, Miss Nuki, I believe I'm thinking along similar lines to you. My concerns about whether Ariel wil be content to have no interest in humanity once her mother is freed are second to what Sariel will think, and third to what 'D' will stoop to once she's losing; though they're ranked only in the sense of bronze, silver, and gold."
Lilian Rook     'A delicate problem for experts, and not an army. Right? Hence a meeting, and not a briefing. Powerful allies, who aren't a part of the Demon Army or fanatics. Paladins, even.'

    "She has a good eye." Lilian says, agreeing towards White, and utterly head empty as to the slightly groanworthy wordplay.

    'Ohh. I can. I can do that, if Lilian wants me to.'

    "You might as well try and make yourself useful for once."

    'Miss White is the Concord Partner from that world.'

    Lilian tries not to laugh, and narrowly succeeds.

    'You told me to tell you if you started slipping, Lilian.'

    And then her regulation is spent. Rough impatience crawls back into her voice.

    "Slipping from what to what? Unlimited to finite patience?" she gasps, gesturing without looking, and saying almost-plaintively "It's Petra! You know what--"

    'Apologize and leave.'

    ". . ."

    Lilian pushes out her chair, places her fingers on the table, and stands. Holding her eyes shut and her breath in, counting to four, Lilian exhales, and turns around.

    "Having all that fun as 'Cure Glow' must have gone to your head." Lilian says, shouldering her bag again. "I'm not taking advice from the fucking liar who's stringing her along. Don't talk to me again until the world stops revolving around you."

    'I guess you really are not a magical girl after all.'

    "And don't gasp and say it like it's some damning revelation, Princess." Lilian rolls her eyes, not so much as glancing at Sarracenia while she walks out. "I only told you ten million times before; it's your own fault you didn't believe me."
Rita Ma      "Slipping from what to what?"
     The soy sauce being offered to Rita is very far away. White and Merazophis's explanations are rattling distantly in the back of her head, heard but not processed. The hot sweet blood slicking her hand is close, but even it can't pull her eyes off Lilian.

     "You used to know," she says, from that place past feeling.

     "I'm not taking advice from the fucking liar who's stringing her along."
     Breath flutters in her chest. Further past, still. "Stop behaving like an animal," says the one who's drooling.
Petra Soroka "...I know you are able to block telepathy in close range, but are you able to do so over greater distances?"

    Petra closes her eyes and thinks for several seconds, before coming up with: "No," and then adds later, "So I'd just need to be handcuffed to whoever we need to be out of sight. Or... get our hands stuck with the special glue that forces us to stay together."

"Miss White is the Concord Partner from that world."

    Petra nods silently, as if such a thing should've been self-evident and it's silly that she didn't consider it first.

"It's not fine! You don't get to say that!"

    And then her blood runs cold, and also hot, slick and sticky-tearing off her hand when she suddenly repositions to twist back around to Rita. The look on her face is lingeringly pale and sick from shock, but pained for a new reason, jaw taut as she forces words out.

    "N-no-- no. Rita, you don't get it, and it doesn't *involve* you. It's literally just me, and it's *fine* for Lilian to do..."

"It's awful to you, and it's awful to me too!"

    Anger flashes across Petra's face, and her next sentence rises up like bile in her throat. She could maybe choose to stop it, but she doesn't.

    "Okay. Then as long as I accept that, then I *get* to say it, right? That matters *less* to me than what Lilian wants-- b-*both* of those. I don't think I've ever been unclear that I'll do anything for *Lilian*, and if I fuck up, then I *fucked up*."

    Petra pushes her chair out and wobbles to her feet, a fresh new splatter of blood from her hand flinging to the ground. She looks at Sarracenia's mushroom, Kukuru's fretting, Rita's protectiveness, Merazophis' handkerchief, and Sougo's discomfort in the exact same way, squeezing her wounded hand into a fist for seemingly no purpose besides making the bleeding worse, with two fingers not fully bending.

    "Don't try and help, don't try and defend me, don't act like you understand, and don't use *me* to look at Lilian like *that*. Maybe fucking let me take a tiny consequence for literally *once*, okay?"

"Stop behaving like an animal,"

    Petra's breath hitches, and she tries her best to keep her stare level at Rita. "Don't talk to her like that. Not even you."